PARASHAH PHINCHAS (PHINEAS)
(Numbers 25:10-30:1) Week 41
PHINEAS: “The Bronze One” … Grandson of Aaron…Son of Eleazer
COVENANT OF SHALOM: Adonai extends the Covenant of the Priesthood to all future generations of Aaron because of the defensive actions of Phineas for the Nation of Israel.
SHALOM: The Peace of God; The 3rd letter in Shalom looks like an “I” yet is a broken line instead of whole. This reflects that even though Shalom / Peace was reached, it was by an act of violence by Phineas as he defended the honor of the Divine Presence of the Mishkan.
KOL DEMANAH DAKKAH: The Still Small Voice!
CENSUS: To Count by the lifting of the chin … The entire assembly of Israel, 20 years old and over by their clans, all subject to Military duty were to be counted.
THE SECOND CENSUS: The first census was counted at Mt. Sinai when the Nation of Israel was largest. The Second Census was taken after the first generation had died in the dessert and was done to ‘parcel the Covenant Land’ to the 12 Tribes of Israel, by ‘Lot’
Not one man was re-counted the second time! The entire generation had died off as Adonai promised except for Caleb, and Joshua.
THE DAUGHTERS FIVE! There were five daughters of Tz’lof’chad. Their names were Machlah, No’ah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirtzah. The five daughters of one Israeli man who had died, petitioned Moses to distribute the portion of land their father would have inherited, to them. This was NOT the practice in the ancient days. Only sons received the inheritances. Moses petitioned Adonai, and He awarded the portion of the deceased man to the daughters! Adonai said: “They are correct”.
This set a new inheritance STANDARD for the Nation of Israel, bequeathing the inherited land to daughters if there were no sons of the deceased, BEFORE giving the portion to his brothers.
Consider Moses, the Leader of the Nation of Israel:
WHO WAS MOSES?
He was a Hebrew male baby, born during the Command by Pharaoh to kill all Hebrew male babies.
He was set apart, by Jochabed his mother, in a tiny handmade ark, set adrift in the reeds of the Nile River.
He was watched over by big sister Miriam, who hid on the river bank to intercede for baby Moses.
He was FOUND by the daughter of the ENEMY and pulled out of the river to be adopted into royalty.
He was a Hebrew boy raised as an Egyptian Prince, by the daughter of Pharaoh.
He had a Hebrew heart as a young man…he saw and felt the oppression of his people’s slavery.
He had ZEAL, like PHINEAS, and ACTED in defense of His people with an act of retribution, then fled for his life.
He settled in Midian, in the house of Jethro, and became a shepherd, and like a son to Jethro.
He married Jethro’s daughter Zipporah, living 40 years there, before Adonai called him to deliver his people out of Egypt.
He was a reluctant hero! He was humble, fearful, unsure…BUT OBEDIENT.
He executed every command of Adonai to the exacting detail which it was given to him.
MOSES WAS THE VERY EXPRESSION OF ADONAI TO THE NATION OF ISRAEL, AND WORLD AT LARGE!
Moses was a leader, of the first order, never failing, persevering, looking to God for answers…
Moses was human, and so he missed the mark on one occasion at the Well at Kadesh! The only time in his shepherding of the Nation that Moses FAILED to execute the exact instruction of the Lord, He suffered severe judgement! As the EXPRESSION OF ADONAI, Moses failed to express the full character of God in that moment as he struck the rock twice, instead of speaking to it. This was a misrepresentation of Adonai. Moses was human.
Moses is remembered in biblical history as being the MOST HUMBLE MAN who ever lived, according to Adonai. He accepted his punishment without a word of disappointment to the Lord, but simply begged for a successor who could LEAD THE PEOPLE OUT, THEN LEAD THEM IN, to the Promised Covenant Land!
I don’t know how YOU feel about Moses, but for me, he was a giant of a man and the embodiment of self-sacrifice, long suffering and reliance upon the Lord. His failure at Kadesh shows us that we all WILL FAIL to represent God in this mortal life, but He is just to forgive us and have compassion for us, bringing us close, once again, to HIM.
Please consider who Moses was, and what His life means to YOU today from Torah study~
THE HOLY TRANSFERENCE: The crown, the robe, the royal throne
Adonai instructs Moses to commission Joshua to take his place as the Leader of the Nation of Israel. There is a laying on of hands ceremony before the Kohanim and the General Assembly. Adonai instructs Moses to give Joshua SOME of his authority at the transference of power, so the people will begin to listen to Joshua!
All Israel listened as Joshua taught from the TORAH, which was his first step into leadership, as Torah Leader and Teacher!
Please consider the area of authority Moses FIRST gives Joshua for the people. TORAH TEACHING!
Moses KNEW the heart of Adonai, from drawing near to Him. This is our lesson!
The Lesson of Leadership:
If we step up to the call, in obedience and intimacy with Adonai, like Moses, we will rely totally upon the Lord, not on ourselves.
Whether in our own home, business, community, church or wherever our influence may be felt, our leadership is ONLY as pure and strong as our intimacy with Adonai! We are continually on the brink of failure, in our mortal existence here, as sojourners in a broken world.
The Lesson of Leadership:
Throughout our journey thus far in Torah, we SEE Adonai RECOVER, again and again, His intimacy with those whom he loves. His motives for His people are so PURE that there is always LIFE, LIGHT, and UNITY as the outcome of His motivations, as he FATHERS and LEADS!
This is our lesson from Adonai for our own relationships, territory, leadership. Are we leading like this?
KORBANOT: Sacrifices
Why do you think Adonai brought Joshua and the people BACK to the Sacrificial Laws, just after His commissioning as Leader of the Nation?
Remember to Remember!
“We must be reminded, lest we forget, and cease to CARE”! Remember to remember the Lord!
THE LESSON OF KORBANOT:
We must be reminded of the Life for Life Principle from Adonai our Creator who is HOLY. Kodesh, Kodesh, Kodesh Adonai! Holy, Holy, Holy Lord!
The barbaric people of the Nation of Israel had to SEE the price for drawing near to a Holy God. The price was a life for a life! Where sin brought DEATH, there had to be a death sacrifice!
This Life for Life Principle was a foreshadow of the coming Messiah, our suffering servant, Jesus, who offered up his life, for our sin, so that we might have eternal life in him!
The Old Covenant sacrificial system was a “shadow” of the ultimate Sacrifice of the Son of God!
Adonai reminds the new leader and his people, HOW TO DRAW NEAR TO HIM…as they enter into the Covenant Land of Israel.
Drawing near to our Father is HIS delight for US.
In the New and Better Covenant of Messiah Yeshua, our redeemer, it is a once and for all, payment for our sin! There is NO NEED for death to re-occur over and over again!
Yeshua died ONCE and ROSE victoriously over sin and death. IT IS FINISHED!
HAFTARAH (Old Covenant) READING: 1 Kings 18:46-19:21
A lesson in Spiritual Warfare by the Prophet Elijah: Elijah, a prophet of the Lord Adonai, is embattled with false prophets of the god Baal! We know the evil of this in the Spiritual Realm! Queen Jezebel, a Queen for Baal, orders Elijah’s death.
When WE speak out FOR the KINGDOM of God amidst the people of the kingdom of darkness, there WILL be death threats!
As Elijah hid, exhausted from these spiritual battles, he prayed for Adonai to take his life. Adonai sent The Angel of the Lord, to comfort and feed Elijah, and raise him back up for battle. Twice, Yeshua came to Elijah during a 40-day vigil as he sought the Lord. The shepherd knows His sheep and the sheep know the sound of the Shepherd’s voice!
Elijah heard the still, small, whisper of Adonai!
The whisper of the voice of God has powerful instruction for us today!
Elijah heard God’s command to appoint Hazael as King of Syria, and Jehu as King of Israel! Elijah heard instructions from the Lord to transfer his own prophetic appointment to Elisha!
All this he accomplished at Adonai’s whispering commands.
Do we kneel before the Lord when we NEED to hear from HIM?
Do we SEEK him in the hidden place, and wait upon Him?
BRIT CHADASHAH (New Covenant) READING: Romans 11:2-32
“I have kept for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal”. Adonai assures Elijah, as recounted here by Paul many years later, that he has set apart 7,000 men for HIMSELF. Israel WAS NOT LOST! Nor, will they ever be.
There IS and will BE a remnant of Israel from which light, life and unity will continue under Adonai’s care and provision.
Paul was a master teacher and used the symbolic Olive Tree to teach the ‘grafting in’ lesson! Dead branches on the olive tree must be torn off by the Father, but new WILD OLIVE BRANCHES will be grafted into those spots on the trunk of the tree!
As some of us wear the gorgeous necklace of the Menorah and the Fish, we wear it humbly! We understand that we are the WILD olive branch! Without the Olive Tree and its life from Adonai, there would be NO PLACE for us to thrive! We have been grafted INTO eternal life according to Adonai’s BLUEPRINT for CREATION.
Therefore, we pray for, hope for, and look to Israel as the center of our faith! Jesus is the VINE and we are His WILD OLIVE BRANCHES!
Jesus sustains our life in the Spirit, which we share with the Nation of Israel.