Pray that you all have a blessed Shabbat.
We are getting ready to go on a border run next week so pray for our safety.
I am going to put up the next Torah Portion as well to have them up so REMEMBER that this is this week's Torah Portion.
Anyway, let's get on with the Portion!
This week's portion is named Shelach L'cha.
It is the 4th portion in Numbers and goes from Numbers 13:1-15:41.
This portion goes through the spies searching the Promised Land,
the 10 spies' evil report, the curse of being 40 years in the wilderness,
several different offerings, the man who picked up
sticks on Shabbat, and the command of the Tzitziot.
It means according to Strong's, "Send for yourself."
What is interesting is that the word L'cha is in Scripture
732 times but is never given a meaning in Strong's.
It is used in most Bibles as the word "yourself".
But there is a deeper meaning to this term, "Shelach L'cha."
And guess where? In the Ancient Paleo-Hebrew!
Shelach L'cha
שׁלח־לך
Meaning:
To destroy the controlled fence that controls the opening.
Now isn't that something!
Their job in our view was just to look and see how the land looked like,
but to the Israelites it was to take down that fence that had been separating them from the Land that was promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Yisra'el(Jacob).
Of course there was just one problem with this sending out.
These men that were to be sent out where, well, just that. Men!
They were human beings who, when they have never been in a place before,
get frightened and worried and such.
I know when I was young, and still sometimes still now,
when we go to a new place I feel a little weird
and worried and not knowing what to do.
And what is really interesting is that, well,
that's what the word for man means in Hebrew.
There are 2 different meanings for man in Hebrew, "Iysh" and "Enosh".
But both of these words have the same root word, "Anash".
It means to be, "Frail, feeble, or sick". In Ancient Hebrew though,
we see a deeper meaning which would be the ultimate fulfillment
for what happens to almost all of the Children of Yisra'el
that were alive at this time in Torah.
Anash
אנשׁ
Meaning:
The Leader consumes life.
This picture, sadly enough, is what happened to
them because of their sin and complaining.
YHVH cannot stand with darkness, and so He consumes it,
which is why all these people died.
The men that went to spy out the land, besides Joshua and Caleb,
were scared because this was a new place with people
they never saw people they never saw before.
Instead of trusting YHVH, they tried to trust their own strength,
which is actually another possible meaning to anash, "Strength consumes life." This consuming of life is what happens when we don't trust in YHVH.
Either we consume ourselves by our "strength",
or YHVH consumes us because of our sin.
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Anyway, after the 10 spies give their evil report,
the children of Yisra'el complain and cry out,
not listening to Joshua and Caleb, and threatening to stone them with stones. Finally YHVH had enough. He was ready to completely wipe
these people off the map and make Moshe's children
into the great nation that wanted.
But Moshe once again saved Yisra'el from being destroyed.
Moshe was a truly a type and shadow of Yahshua.
He, with YHVH's help, took them out of the hand of bondage,
as Yahshua takes us out of the spiritual bondage.
He, with YHVH's help, brought water from the rock,
as Yahshua brings living water(Mayim Chayim) from the Spiritual Rock.
And in several places, Moshe acts as the mediator,
asking YHVH not to destroy His people,
as Yahshua is the mediator between YHVH and us.
There is one difference though, and this is the reason
why this generation of Yisra'el was consumed.
Moshe was not perfect. Yahshua is.
Yahshua covered our sins so that we could talk to YHVH. Moshe was just a man. That is why this generation, besides Joshua and Caleb,
were consumed by YHVH's glory.
YHVH could consume us all in a moment, but because of Yahshua's sacrifice,
He has waited to the appointed time, giving the world an
opportunity to accept His covenant and to come into His kingdom.
YHVH did not want to destroy them but because
He is perfect He could not dwell with them any longer.
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Now, to the 2 men that gave the good report, Joshua and Caleb.
These men had their own very interesting things about them.
It says in Numbers 11:28 that Joshua was Moshe's servant(or assistant).
But it was MUCH more then that.
Exodus 33:11
Thus YHVH spoke to Moshe face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the Tent.
Wow! He was there, watching and listening to YHVH and Moshe talk.
And even when Moshe left, he would stay behind.
That was one BIG reason why YHVH picked
Joshua to lead Yisra'el into the Promised Land.
Without this knowledge, he could not have brought them into the Land,
and even more importantly, he wouldn't have had the faith
to give the message to Yisra'el that he gave.
Now to Caleb. It says in chapter 13 that he was t
o represent the tribe of Yehudah(Judah).
But look at these verses:
Numbers 32:11-12
‘Not one of the men who came up from Mitsrayim, from twenty years old and above, is to see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Yitsḥaq, and Yaʽaqoḇ, because they did not follow Me completely,
12 except Caleb son of Yephunneh, the Kenezite,
and Joshua son of Nun, for they have followed YHVH completely.’
Wow! Caleb wasn't even a pure born Yisra'elite.
His father was a Kenezite, a foreigner.
So how could he, not being a pure-born Yisra'elite,
be the one to represent the tribe of Yehudah(Judah)...
Unless... He was grafted in!
If He wholeheartedly kept YHVH's instructions,
and did exactly as YHVH told them to do,
more then all the rest of the Yisra'el, wouldn't it make sense that
YHVH would give him the honor of leading what would end up
being the tribe that would being the one that would bring forth the Messiah? Remember, there isn't anything new under the sun.
So if we can be grafted into His kingdom now,
I believe that YHVH would allow people to be
grafted into His kingdom then.
He said time and time again that the Torah was for,
"the native-born and the stranger that sojourns in your gates",
so wouldn't it make sense that the blessings are too?
YHVH, when looking at Caleb, didn't see Caleb's father.
YHVH saw what Caleb did for Him and how his faith was.
He allowed Him not just to be grafted into the tribe of Yehudah,
but to be the one to represent them when they went in to spy out the land.
One last thing, check out which tribes these 2 came from:
Numbers 13:6,8
From the tribe of Yehuḏah: Kalĕḇ, son of Yephunneh.
8 From the tribe of Ephrayim: Hoshĕa, son of Nun.
Wow! Judah and Ephraim!
Even here we see how these 2 tribes were always together, always connected. Still, even today, they represent who we are as a people.
A lot of people use Judah to represent the Truth of YHVH
because they kept doing the Torah,
and a lot of people say that Ephraim represents
the Spirit of YHVH because they accepted Yahshua as the Messiah.
We may have been separated for a time, but:
John 4:23-24
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers
shall worship the Father in spirit and truth,
for the Father also does seek such to worship Him.
24 Elohim is Spirit, and those who worship Him
need to worship in spirit and truth.”
WOW! One day, we will be united, Judah and Ephraim, spirit and truth,
in YHVH's kingdom, and in YHVH's Promised Land, Yisra'el.
HalleluYAH!!
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Now to chapter 15. Here we see several additional offerings.
Remember, we most know what these offerings are about, and what it means. That is why it is so important to go back to the Ancient Hebrew
and look at what each word and letter meant to them.
Maybe one day in the future, I can do a study on each offering,
but for now all I can do is ask that you look into it yourself.
Each word will mean something, just as the names for each
Torah Portion mean something, so look and see
what treasures you can find in Scripture!
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Now to the last 5 verses in this Torah Portion, the instruction of the Tzitziot.
We know that YHVH wanted us to do this to remember
all the commands of YHVH and to put a cord of blue in it.
But why blue?
Well, let's see into the Ancient Hebrew and look at what they thought.
Tekeleth
תּכלת
Meaning:
The sign of the covering is the authority of the covenant.
Now look at this again for a moment. Who is the authority of the covenant?
Before you say YHVH, look at it again.
It says the SIGN of the covering. Who is our covering?
Who allows us to be in covenant with YHVH?
YAHSHUA THE MESSIAH!
This, to the Yisra'elites back then,
was a sign of their salvation, of their faith.
It let the world see that YHVH was their authority.
And it does the same thing today. Nothing has changed. He is always the same. We have seen multiple times in this Portion
that there truly is nothing new, only renewed.
I'll end with the last verse:
Numbers 15:41
“I am YHVH your Elohim, who brought you
out of the land of Mitsrayim, to be your Elohim.
I am YHVH your Elohim.”
Until next time...
Shalom!
Christian Montanez Dodd
Servant and Emissary of Yahshua, Child of YHVH
HalleluYAH!!