B’ha’alotkha
When you set up
“Divine Guidance”
Numbers 8:1-12:16
Zechariah 2:14-4:7
excerpted from TorahScope, Volume III
Once the dedication of the Tabernacle was completed by the twelve tribal offering sacrifices, as described in Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89) last week, the continuing narrative found in B’ha’alotkha now turns to a series of specific instructions, as the Israelite entourage was properly prepared for its desert sojourn. But before detailing a variety of specific commands, which each intensify how Ancient Israel was to function as an orderly and dignified society, the opening verses remind the reader of the seven-branched menorah or lampstand, and its function representing illumination from the Almighty:
“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to Aaron, and tell him, “When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lamp stand.”’ Aaron did so. He lit its lamps to light the area in front of the lamp stand, as the LORD commanded Moses. This was the workmanship of the lamp stand, beaten work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was beaten work. He made the lamp stand according to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses” (Numbers 8:1-4, WMB).
Here, before the Israelites embarked on their trek, readers might take the light emanating from the menorah to be a reminder that it was ultimately the presence of the Lord, first described in Exodus 25:32-40, which would illumine and guide their path. In various ways, the seven-branched menorah can be pictured as a guiding light, which is more fully described by the Prophet Isaiah, who spoke about the coming Messiah, who would have all of the gifting required to justly guide and make rulings for people:
“A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit. The LORD’s Spirit will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight will be in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears; but he will judge the poor with righteousness, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked. Righteousness will be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his waist” (Isaiah 11:1-5, WMB).
Just as the menorah has seven branches, so too in Isaiah 11:1-5 do readers see the Spirit of the Lord providing seven important characteristics: wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, and fear. While these attributes are surely present in the ministry examples of Yeshua in the Gospels, they have surely also been required for God’s people, in their service to Him, since Ancient Israel’s journey in the wilderness. God’s instructions, given to Israel in the Torah, are to be a lamp to the feet and a light to the path (Psalms 119:105). Yet as we read in the Torah and Tanakh, there was a definite challenge for Israel to function as a light to the nations at large (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6), helping to reveal God’s goodness and grace to others. The mission of the Messiah Yeshua was specific, in that He came to not only restore the Tribes of Jacob, but also see His salvation spread to the entire world:
“Indeed, he says, ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth’” (Isaiah 49:6, WMB).
In order for God’s people to live forth this same calling—of helping to see Israel restored and salvation spread to the entire world—there are multiple challenges which must be overcome, both individually and corporately.
With some of this in mind, as we turn back to our Torah portion, let us consider how the Lord gave specific instructions to separate out the Levites, as a unique, ministering segment of the population, to handle the duties associated with the Tabernacle and its transport. Here, one finds an explanation for the Lord applying the principle of the firstborn being dedicated to Him, by employing all of the Levites in His service:
“‘and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for a wave offering on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of the LORD. The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites. You shall set the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to the LORD. Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. After that, the Levites shall go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting. You shall cleanse them, and offer them as a wave offering. For they are wholly given to me from among the children of Israel; instead of all who open the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Israel, I have taken them to me. For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for myself. I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel. I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, so that there will be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near to the sanctuary.’ Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel did so to the Levites. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them. The Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before the LORD and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron and before his sons: as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them” (Numbers 8:11-22, WMB).
In many regards, the separation of the Levites in the Torah, for Ancient Israel—may be regarded as a foreshadowing of a similar distinction expected of all men and women, who are called into the marvelous light of salvation in Yeshua the Messiah. While born again Believers are not at all to be regarded as being Levitical priests, they nevertheless are to all function in the same sort of priestly service which the Ancient Israelites had, declaring God’s goodness and demonstrating His grace and mercy—obviously manifested in the atoning work of Yeshua—to the sinful world:
“Putting away therefore all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking, as newborn babies, long for the pure spiritual milk, that with it you may grow, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Come to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious. You also as living stones are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Yeshua the Messiah. Because it is contained in Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, chosen and precious. He who believes in him will not be disappointed’ [Isaiah 28:16]. For you who believe therefore is the honor, but for those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone’ [Psalm 118:22], and, ‘a stumbling stone and a rock of offense’ [Isaiah 8:14]. For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed. But you are a chosen race [Isaiah 43:20, LXX], a royal priesthood [Exodus 19:6; Isaiah 61:6], a holy nation [Exodus 19:6], a people for God’s own possession [Isaiah 43:21, LXX; Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 4:20; 7:6; 14:2], that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. In the past, you were not a people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy [Hosea 2:23]. Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having good behavior among the nations, so in that of which they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good works and glorify God in the day of visitation. Therefore subject yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme, or to governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evildoers and for praise to those who do well. For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence he ignorance of foolish men. Live as free people, yet not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God” (1 Peter 2:1-16, WMB).
As living stones which compose a spiritual house for the Most High, born again Believers are to be committed servants of God—in a similar manner to how the Levites were originally separated out to serve Him. (Obviously, we have to remember how the Levitical priesthood was established to be a very specific institution, and the Levites’ specific priestly calling, was a bit different than the general priestly calling upon God’s people.) Perhaps each of us can take some direction from the author of Hebrews, who commented on how the people of God are to look beyond this temporal world, to the restored Kingdom of God and Heavenly realm:
“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. If indeed they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had enough time to return. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:13-16, WMB).
Returning to our Torah portion, it was asserted that the primary years, of physical service for the Levites, were to be between the ages of twenty-five and fifty—although the senior years of wisdom from the older Levites could be offered in an assistant capacity:
“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘This is what is assigned to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to wait on the service in the work of the Tent of Meeting; and from the age of fifty years they shall retire from doing the work, and shall serve no more, but shall assist their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, to perform the duty, and shall perform no service. This is how you shall have the Levites do their duties’” (Numbers 8:23-26, WMB).
Later in the Apostolic Scriptures, Paul would inform both Timothy and Titus something similar, as they were to respect the input and influence of the older men and women in the assembly (1 Timothy 5:1-2; Titus 2:2-8).
One of the most important principles seen in B’ha’alotkha, is seen in the emphasis on how the Ancient Israelites were to follow the cloud which hovered over the Tabernacle. There was a definite need for dependence on the Divine guidance of the Holy One. Many people today surely take instruction from looking at how the people of Israel moved when the Lord directed them, and consequently how any of us should be discerning to know His will for our lives:
“On the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, even the Tent of the Testimony. At evening it was over the tabernacle, as it were the appearance of fire, until morning. So it was continually. The cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night. Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Tent, then after that the children of Israel traveled; and in the place where the cloud remained, there the children of Israel encamped. At the commandment of the LORD, the children of Israel traveled, and at the commandment of the LORD they encamped. As long as the cloud remained on the tabernacle they remained encamped. When the cloud stayed on the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the LORD’s command, and didn’t travel. Sometimes the cloud was a few days on the tabernacle; then according to the commandment of the LORD they remained encamped, and according to the commandment of the LORD they traveled. Sometimes the cloud was from evening until morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they traveled; or by day and by night, when the cloud was taken up, they traveled. Whether it was two days, or a month, or a year that the cloud stayed on the tabernacle, remaining on it, the children of Israel remained encamped, and didn’t travel; but when it was taken up, they traveled. At the commandment of the LORD they encamped, and at the commandment of the LORD they traveled. They kept the LORD’s command, at the commandment of the LORD by Moses” (Numbers 9:15-23, WMB).
In ancient times, the ability to communicate was not assisted by all of the technological devices now available to humanity, so the Lord established the use of the blowing of trumpets, to be employed in a variety of ways, to communicate to the population of Israel. (Do note that there is debate among Jewish examiners per the actual usage of silver trumpets, versus the shofar or ram’s horn, which will not be explored here.) The blowing of trumpets was to be employed for gatherings or movement, as well as warning signals and tools for advancements or retreats, when encountering enemies in battle:
“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Make two shofars of silver. You shall make them of beaten work. You shall use them for the calling of the congregation and for the journeying of the camps. When they blow them, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the door of the Tent of Meeting. If they blow just one, then the princes, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves to you. When you blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall go forward. When you blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie on the south side shall go forward. They shall blow an alarm for their journeys. But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm. The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the shofars. This shall be to you for a statute forever throughout your generations. When you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the shofars. Then you will be remembered before the LORD your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. Also in the day of your gladness, and in your set feasts, and in the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the shofars over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God. I am the LORD your God’” (Numbers 10:1-10, WMB).
The blowing of trumpets was to be used for a variety of important occasions, including during the appointed feasts and at the first of the month. In various ways, blowing trumpets was to function as a means to establish order within the community, as they could only be blown by designated leaders. The key for us reading today, is to understand how the Lord has in the past, and will in the future, use the sound of the trumpet to warn His people on a variety of levels. Knowing this means of communication, especially in light of what is going to eventually come, is critical for us to acknowledge in view of the Second Coming (i.e., 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16). A major Tanakh prophecy which details the future Day of the Lord, is Joel 2:1-2:
“Blow the shofar in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD comes, for it is close at hand: A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn spreading on the mountains, a great and strong people; there has never been the like, neither will there be any more after them, even to the years of many generations” (Joel 2:1-2, WMB).
Our Torah reading references a need for some local scouting knowledge, provided by the relatives of Moses’ father-in-law, so that the community of Israel could understand how they were to adequately transverse the territories they would encounter in their journey. It is here, that upon taking up the Ark of the Covenant to lead the procession, that a wonderful proclamation was made—one which is traditionally declared in the Shabbat service of the Jewish Synagogue, when the Torah scroll is brought forth to be canted to the congregation:
“Thus were the travels of the children of Israel according to their armies; and they went forward. Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, ‘We are journeying to the place of which the LORD said, “I will give it to you.” Come with us, and we will treat you well; for the LORD has spoken good concerning Israel.’ He said to him, ‘I will not go; but I will depart to my own land, and to my relatives.’ Moses said, ‘Don’t leave us, please; because you know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes. It shall be, if you go with us—yes, it shall be—that whatever good the LORD does to us, we will do the same to you.’ They set forward from the Mount of the LORD three days’ journey. The ark of the LORD’s covenant went before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them. The cloud of the LORD was over them by day, when they set forward from the camp. When the ark went forward, Moses said, ‘Rise up, LORD, and let your enemies be scattered! Let those who hate you flee before you!’ When it rested, he said, ‘Return, LORD, to the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel’” (Numbers 10:28-36, WMB).
Moses confidently requested the Lord to scatter the enemies of Israel, forcing them to flee, simply by putting a primary emphasis on leading the march with the Word of God. Clearly, Moses’ priorities were in the right place.
But despite having the Levites doing their work properly, with adequate communication signals, with some scouts familiar with the territory and the Ark at the vanguard of the movement of the population—there was still a propensity for a number of grumblers to complain about their new circumstances. Upon hearing the complaints, the Lord was angered, to the point of sending some consuming fires to the outskirts of the camp:
“The people were complaining in the ears of the LORD. When the LORD heard it, his anger burned; and the LORD’s fire burned among them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. The people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire abated. The name of that place was called Taberah, because the LORD’s fire burned among them. The mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly; and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, ‘Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; but now we have lost our appetite. There is nothing at all except this manna to look at.’ The manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium. The people went around, gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it. Its taste was like the taste of fresh oil. When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it. Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and the LORD’s anger burned greatly; and Moses was displeased. Moses said to the LORD, ‘Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why haven’t I found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them out, that you should tell me, “Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which you swore to their fathers”? Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, “Give us meat, that we may eat.” I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favor in your sight; and don’t let me see my wretchedness’” (Numbers 11:1-15, WMB).
Moses was so upset with the recalcitrant, complaining Israelites, that he pleaded with the Lord by rhetorically posing a series of questions about his relationship to them—and specifically how he was going to handle the burden of leadership. In a retort reminiscent of the advice given to Moses earlier from his father-in-law (Exodus 18:13-27), the Lord commanded Moses to gather seventy elders of Israel, in order to endow them with the same Spirit which was guiding Moses, in order to share the burden of leadership:
“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; and bring them to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you. I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you don’t bear it yourself alone. Say to the people, “Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, and you will eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, ‘Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.’ Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat. You will not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it is loathsome to you; because you have rejected the LORD who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, ‘Why did we come out of Egypt?’”’ Moses said, ‘The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, “I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month.” Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?’ The LORD said to Moses, ‘Has the LORD’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not’” (Numbers 11:16-23, WMB).
With hundreds of thousands of Israelites, the need to spread the responsibilities of leadership was critical, but the gift of meat to eat, to the complainants, became a subtle form of punishment. Their over consumption resulted in the meat literally spewing forth from their nostrils! Nevertheless, the Lord placed His Spirit upon the seventy elders, who began to prophesy and carry some of the workload:
“Moses went out, and told the people the LORD’s words; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them around the Tent. The LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did so no more. But two men remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad; and the Spirit rested on them. They were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran, and told Moses, and said, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!’ Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered, ‘My lord Moses, forbid them!’ Moses said to him, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!’” (Numbers 11:24-29, WMB).
Interestingly, the narrative, in an aside, records how Moses’ faithful servant Joshua, was concerned that two of the elders were not present at the moment the Spirit was placed upon the seventy elders. In a fit of loyalty to Moses, Joshua ran to him with the news of Eldad and Medad prophesying in the camp, without what he may have perceived as legitimacy derived from being in the presence of Moses, when the Spirit was conveyed to the other elders. Moses actually responded with a strong indication that he desired that all of the Lord’s people would be prophets, guided by His Spirit, thus connoting how God can endow His Spirit upon whomever He desires.
Our parashah concludes with a thorough description of the incident when Miriam and Aaron challenged the leadership of Moses. From this passage and others, the Jewish Sages connected many of the issues of leprosy and the problem of the evil tongue. There was to be a commensurate punishment for this, similar to the seven-day banishment of Miriam from the encampment of Israel:
“Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman. They said, ‘Has the LORD indeed spoken only with Moses? Hasn’t he spoken also with us?’ And the LORD heard it. Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all the men who were on the surface of the earth. The LORD spoke suddenly to Moses, to Aaron, and to Miriam, ‘You three come out to the Tent of Meeting!’ The three of them came out. The LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward. He said, ‘Now hear my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so. He is faithful in all my house. With him, I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see the LORD’s form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?’ The LORD’s anger burned against them; and he departed. The cloud departed from over the Tent; and behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. Aaron looked at Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. Aaron said to Moses, ‘Oh, my lord, please don’t count this sin against us, in which we have done foolishly, and in which we have sinned. Let her not, I pray, be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.’ Moses cried to the LORD, saying, ‘Heal her, God, I beg you!’ The LORD said to Moses, ‘If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn’t she be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.’ Miriam was shut up outside of the camp seven days, and the people didn’t travel until Miriam was brought in again. Afterward the people traveled from Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran” (Numbers 12:1-16, WMB).
Thankfully, Moses had a sincere love for his sister Miriam, and he interceded for her with the Lord, in order to restore her to the camp after the affliction of leprosy abated, which He did. This is a tremendous example for how, despite the lamentable presence of many problems in assemblies of God’s people—it is critical that prayerful intercession for those in sin, can still be restored through God’s grace and mercy. Without going into all of the consequences of a sin like speaking ill of someone, suffice it to say, the wise admonition derived from these episodes, can be summed up in the ancient adage, If you do not have something good to say about someone else, do not say anything at all! This can also include the use of sarcasm, when trying to more subtly put someone down, by expressing what is in the heart by trying to make it seem humorous. Sarcasm is not a fruit of the Holy Spirit!
This lengthy parashah of B’ha’alotkha, contains considerable wisdom which each of us should take to heart, as we reflect upon the desert sojourn of the Ancient Israelites, and seek to be instructed by the Lord. Ultimately, we should each understand how Moses was depending on the Almighty for His Divine guidance, throughout each of the circumstances described. He modeled a sincere faith in the Lord, and turned to Him consistently for how to handle the difficulties of his leadership role. He had difficult tasks to face, and a service to perform—which few in the history of God’s people since have had to accomplish. And so, in whatever capacity we serve the Lord and His Kingdom—let us appeal to Him and let Him direct us, so that we can bring honor and glory to Him, and His purposes.
