“As God is my witness, I will do that.” Such words can roll off our tongues easily, but we can forget that One is witnessing such a vow and watching to see whether we respect the Creator enough to follow through. That’s why Moshe (Moses), Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ) and His apostle Ya’akob (James) warned us against dragging the LORD in to co-sign on our promises. That’s a key lesson in the dual Torah reading מַּטּוֹת Mattot and מַסְעֵי Massei (Numbers 30–36).
The Torah double portion מַּטּוֹת מַסְעֵי Matot-Massei (Numbers 30–36) focuses on vows. The theme of this section, echoed by Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) and His apostle Ya’akov (James), is say what you mean and mean what you say.
This is true whether we are engaging with our equals, our leaders or those who are in a more vulnerable and marginalized position in our society. We should also communicate honesty and forthrightly with God, because no idle word will be forgotten by our God. Every comment, every joke, every insult will be noted and accounted in His book.
Paul, an apostle of Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ), wrote in Romans 9–11 that it was necessary for believers from the nations (“gentiles”) to be “grafted in” to Israel so “all Israel will be saved.” The dual Torah reading מטות Matot (“tribes”) and מסעי Massei (“journeys of”) (Numbers 30–36) goes through great detail on how the 12 tribes (plus Levi) must be kept together yet distinct. From this and Paul’s writings we learn the key Bible lesson of strength in the whole — Israel — when it is made of up parts defined by their integrity of mission and morals.
When we make a vow to God, we must be willing to keep it even if it’s hard. Yet God also extends grace and forgiveness when we make vows rashly without informed consent.
We also learn that although God’s law protects women who make rash vows through the agency of their fathers or husband’s but when they act with evil intent, their deeds will not go unpunished.
We also learn from the prophet Jeremiah that when a nation is evil and rotten at the top, at the people follow their leaders on the path of evil, not only does the nation suffer the consequences, but even nature suffers.
This is the lesson of the Torah passage מטות Matot / מסעי Massei (“tribes” and “journeys of,” Numbers 30-36).
Why wasn’t I born tall? Athletic? In a prosperous country? To wealthy parents? In a loving, stable home? There are so many ways popular culture, our peers and we ourselves can tell us that we are less than valuable. We might glean from a cursory pass through the Torah readings מטות Matot (“tribes”) and מסעי Massei/Mase’y (“journeys of”), covering Numbers 30–36, a few more points of discrimination against us: born a woman, born in the wrong family.
Yet we will discover in this Bible study after lifting the hood on the full message from Heaven, rather than pulling soundbites convenient to our bias, that where we start out in life and where we find ourselves doesn’t have to define what truly matters: “the content of our character,” to quote Martin Luther King Jr.
Here’s what Moses, Isaiah and apostle Paul have to say.
I used to find Yeshua’s actions in clearing the Temple of commerce very odd and seemingly out of character compared to the common teaching that Yeshua was always “meek and mild.” But the Yeshua (Jesus) in Scripture often shows His zealous side, which matches very well with the zealousness of Pinchas and Eliyahu (Elijah) and even His cousin Yokhanan (John the Baptist).
As we’ll see in this study of Torah reading פינחס Pinchas (“Phinehas,” Numbers 25:10–30:1), sages of Israel saw a thread of connection between Melchizedek, Pinchas and Eliyahu. And the author of Hebrews connected the same thread to Messiah Yeshua Himself.
Are we thankful that Heaven’s faithfulness isn’t like our faithlessness, making promises we can’t keep (out of hopefulness) and won’t keep (out of deception)? In the double-header Torah reading of מטות Matot (“tribes,” Numbers 30–32) and מסעי Massei (or Mase’y, “journeys of,” Numbers 33–36), we learn why Yeshua (Jesus) taught that vows and oaths were no flippant matter, why Heaven’s “new covenant” promise is dependable to remember our iniquities no more (Jeremiah 31:31–34) and how being “grafted in” to the people of God has been the plan (Romans 11).