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.
This will probably be the last Torah Portion
that I will be able to do until we get back(probably 3 weeks).
Anyway, let's get on with the Portion!
Korach is the 4th portion in Numbers.
It goes from Numbers 16:1-18:32.
This portion goes through the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, Abiram, On,
and 250 leaders of the children of Yisra'el against Moshe and Aharon,
the destruction of these same men, the plague on Yisra'el,
YHVH's sign that the Levites were chosen by Him to be the set-apart priesthood, and the inheritance that the Levites were given.
This Torah Portion is sadly a continuation of the children of Yisra'el
complaining and grumbling against Moshe and Aharon.
This time, it is with one of Moshe and Aharon's own tribe members, Korah.
He took several men with him and, like always,
complained to Moshe and Aharon.
But this time, instead of saying that there was no food or water,
or saying that YHVH spoke to them as well,
they go to the extreme and say that
ALL the children of Yisra'el are set-apart(Kadosh),
and that YHVH was in THEIR midst.
This comes right after they just got kicked out of the Promised Land
for 40 years and were punished to die in the wilderness.
Yet, they still say that they are holy, perfect, set-apart, etc.
Now, Korah was a man from the tribe of Levi,
one of Moshe and Aharon's own family members.
Let us look into his name in the Ancient Hebrew
and see if we can find a picture into why he did this.
Korach(or Qorach)
קרח
Meaning:
The last person inside.
Hmm... this is kinda funny. If you take this and go around with it,
you could say that He was the least set-apart of all of the tribe of Levi.
He was the one that was as far away from the center as possible,
because he was last. It's funny that he would say such a thing
as "All the congregation is set-apart and in YHVH's midst",
when he himself was as FAR away from that as possible.
But then, then he took some men that
had names of importance, some good, some bad.
Dathan
דתן
Meaning:
The sealed door of life.
Abiyram
אבירם
Meaning:
The leader of the house's hand is the head of chaos.
On
און
Meaning:
The leader of secured life.
Each of these men where of importance, good and bad.
As we see many times, there was a mixing and mingling of good and evil here. Instead of living set-apart lives, they decided to mix and mingle,
and as we know, you can't be holy and unholy at the same time.
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Anyway, Moshe was starting to get tired of all this complaining,
as we see later on in Numbers, he makes a mistake
that costs him a chance at entering the Promised Land
partly because of all the complaining that Yisra'el did.
We see in this chapter how Moshe became wroth(displeased)
with Dathan and Abiram because they would not come up to him.
Number 16:12-15
And Moshe sent to call Dathan and Ab ̱iram the sons of Eliyaḇ,
but they said, “We are not coming up!
13 “Is it little that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk
and honey, to kill us in the wilderness,
that you would also seize total rule over us?
14 “Also, you have not brought us into a land flowing
with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards.
Would you bore out the eyes of these men? We are not coming up!”
15 And Moshe became very displeased(wroth), and said to YHVH,
“Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them,
nor have I done harm to any of them.”
This was one of only 3 times it says that Moshe was wroth(displeased).
He didn't get angry very much. He was known to be a humble man,
a man who was slow of speech and slow of tongue,
so when he got mad, it wasn't a good thing.
As we see later on in this chapter, Dathan and Abiram got what they deserved.
But this, along with what has been happening and what will happen later on, became a big part of why Moshe did what he did later on in Numbers.
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We see later on in this chapter how Korah
and the people with him were dealt with.
YHVH punished them for what they did.
Now, you would think that the children of Yisra'el would
humble themselves and not complain at least for a little while,
but look at this verse:
Numbers 16:41
But all the congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl grumbled against Moshe
and against Aharon on the next day, saying,
“You, you have killed the people of YHVH.”
They come out, just one day after they saw
these men being swallowed up by the ground itself,
and they go out and say that these men were people of YHVH!
When Moshe in Deuteronomy 31 says that these people
were stiff-necked(stubborn), he wasn't kidding.
This time though, YHVH has had enough,
he quickly tells Moshe and Aharon to get out of the midst of the congregation,
and then immediately starts a plague.
Moshe knew he had to hurry, so he tells Aharon:
Numbers 16:46-49
So Moshe said to Aharon, “Take the fire holder and put fire in it from the altar, and lay incense on, and go, hurry to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from YHVH, the plague has begun.”
47 And Aharon took it as Moshe commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly, and saw that the plague had begun among the people.
And he laid on the incense and made atonement for the people,
48 and stood between the dead and the living. And the plague was stopped.
49 And those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died on account of Korah.
Even with Moshe and Aharon hurrying, 14,700 people died.
YHVH had enough, and if it wasn't for Aharon making atonement of them,
they would have all died. YHVH didn't want to do this,
but because He is perfect and they weren't, He had to consume them.
But YHVH was merciful enough to accept the atonement of sin that Aharon made.
Remember though, this was all YHVH's plan, because now when we see this,
we can know not to make the same mistake.
Each thing that happened to Yisra'el, everything that is in the Scripture
is so that we can learn. Shaul(Paul) told Timothy this as well.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is breathed(inspired) by Elohim and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for setting straight, for instruction in righteousness,
17 that the man of Elohim might be fitted,
equipped for every good work.
YHVH had this happen so that we could be closer to Him.
Thanks to Yahshua, we don't have to do the sacrifices physically.
But we still have to sacrifice ourselves spiritually everyday.
We are a living sacrifice to Him. Each one of these offerings
and sacrifices that Yisra'el did had a spiritual meaning as well.
Each thing that happened to Yisra'el was so that the next
generation could learn and not do the same.
Remember, YHVH loves the whole world(John 3:16),
but He must punish sin because He cannot live with sin.
He has given us this time to purify ourselves.
He has given us this time to read about what happened to
our forefathers so that we don't make the same mistake again.
HalleluYAH!
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Now to chapter 17. Now normally, YHVH would tell Moshe to
tell Yisra'el to do something for Him, like an offering.
But this time, YHVH wanted to show them who was
to be the one that He chose to.
He wanted the children of Yisra'el to know that YHVH
chose Moshe and Aharon to be the leaders of the people.
So he tells Moshe:
Numbers 17:1-5
And YHVH spoke to Moshe, saying,
2 "Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and take from them a rod from each father’s house, all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. Write each one’s name on his rod,
3 and write Aharon’s name on the rod of Lĕwi,
for there is one rod for the head of each father’s house.
4 “You shall then place them in the Tent of Meeting
before the Witness, where I meet with you.
5 “And it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose buds,
and I shall rid Myself of the grumblings of the children of Yisra’ĕl, which they grumble against you.”
YHVH knew that they weren't going to listen by just hearing Him,
so He decided to allow them to be a part of this so that
they would have no doubt who was the leader.
So when we see in the next verses this:
Numbers 17:8-9
And it came to be on the next day that Moshe went into the Tent of the Witness and saw that the rod of Aharon,
of the house of Lĕwi, had budded, and brought forth buds,
and blossomed and bore ripe almonds.
9 And Moshe brought out all the rods from before
YHVH to all the children of Yisra’ĕl.
And they looked, and each man took his rod.
That must have been a very scary scene for Yisra'el.
They're looking at these rods, realizing that they
were wrong the whole time(again).
YHVH wanted them to KNOW that Moshe and Aharon were to be their leaders.
He showed them the witnesses to this.
And as we see, Yisra'el knew it too.
Numbers 17:12-13
And the children of Yisra’ĕl spoke to Moshe, saying,
“See, we shall die, we shall perish, we shall all perish!
13 “Anyone who comes near the Dwelling Place of YHVH dies.
Shall we be consumed – to die?”
Moshe and Aharon must have smiled at this time.
YHVH once again showed His power, but this time
Yisra'el couldn't doubt it. It was in their very hands.
Praise Yah!
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In chapter 18 we see the blessings that YHVH gives to the Levites
because of their duties in the set-apart place.
YHVH did not give them a land inheritance since YHVH was their inheritance.
Numbers 18:20-21
And YHVH said to Aharon, “You are not to have an inheritance in their land, nor have any portion in their midst. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Yisra’ĕl.
21 “And see, I have given the children of Lĕwi all the tithes in Yisra’ĕl as an inheritance in return for the service which they are serving, the service of the Tent of Meeting.
Let us look and see if we can't find a picture of why
YHVH picked the Levites in the Ancient Hebrew.
Leviy
לוי
Meaning:
The authority secures the hand(of work)
Through this meaning, we see that YHVH chose the Levites to do His work.
He, being the authority, secured and guided their hands
to do His set-apart doings. He put them in the center of the camp,
the heart so to speak. They were the closest to Him.
YHVH chose these people to guard and protect the set-apart place.
If they, along with the rest of Yisra'el, would have only obeyed and trusted YHVH, they would have gone into the land easily
and YHVH would have blessed them forever...
BUT there is a reason for everything. Because they disobeyed and
were scattered all over the earth, Yahshua could come and die to
save us from our lawlessness. Because they didn't trust YHVH,
we could enter the kingdom. And because they didn't listen to
what YHVH said, now all things can be complete.
Yisra'el had everything they could want and yet they disobeyed
and threw it all away. But because of that,
now we can be united, and soon, very, very soon,
Yahshua will return and reign over all the earth,
this time for eternity, with no sin and no death.
Until next time...
Shalom!
Christian Montanez Dodd
Servant and Emissary of Yahshua, Child of YHVH
HalleluYAH!!