Exodus Journey (PDF)
Matot Masei Slides (PDF)
Massei Notes (PDF)
Massai Numbers 33:1 – 36:13
Overview of Massei (“Journeys”) Numbers 33:1 – 36:13
Israel has arrived at the final destination in the Wilderness Journey: Shittim (or Acacia Grove in the KJV). We know that the entire journey took 40 years and that they were camped at Sinai for 13 days less than a full year; but we don’t have any further break-down of their time spent between Sinai and the end of that journey. It has been suggested that Israel camped at Kadesh Barnea (after the bad report of the ten spies and the failed attempt to take the Promised Land) for most of the remaining 38+ years; and they “sprinted to the finish line” as they traveled to Moab (Numbers 33:16-37). We know from the last two weeks’ Portions that Israel was camped at Shittim long enough for the women of Moab and Midian to seduce the men of Israel into the worship of their pagan gods…and we see the conclusion of that event in this week’s Portion.
Chapter 33 – The Journey from Egypt to Canaan
As we conclude the Book of B’Midvar (Numbers), the locations of the desert wanderings are listed for us – all 42 of them. Unfortunately, many of these place names have been lost to history. These are the names by which they were known at the time of the Exodus, but they have been destroyed, rebuilt, renamed, and destroyed again a dozen times since then. But we do learn two things from this passage: the date of Aaron’s death (the 1st of Av – Yeshua’s is the only other date of death recorded in the Bible); and God’s warning if Israel does not completely subdue The Land…which they did not do. And those areas where the Canaanites were left (Golan Heights, Gaza, and the central areas around Jerusalem – known today as the “West Bank”) are still thorns in Israel’s side today.
The 40-year Journey seems to be broken into three groups of encampments: 1) from Egypt to Sinai; 2) from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea; and 3) from Kadesh to Shittim at the end. The Massei Power Point slides compare those 42 stops to the 42 generations of Yeshua (broken into three groups of 14) in Matthew’s genealogy. Anyone who can count will notice in Matthew that there are only 13 generations listed there in the final group of three; some would suggest that there was one generation left off the list…but I don’t believe that the Holy Spirit would make a mistake like that! It has been suggested that the 13 listed generations preceded Yeshua’s First Coming; and the “Final Generation” – when the Sons of God will be revealed on Earth (Romans 8:19) – makes the 14th generation before Yeshua’s Second Coming.
The chapter concludes with Yehovah’s battle plan to Joshua for the conquest of Canaan:
Drive out all the inhabitants
Destroy their icons (images)
Destroy their statues
This was the only time when Yehovah commanded total destruction of a people group; therefore I believe that those were not His People…but rather they were the genetic mutations resulting from the Sons of God (Satan’s fallen angels in Genesis 6:1-4) procreating with the daughters of men to produce the Nephilim. They were never part of Yehovah’s Plan, and Satan was using them to thwart that Plan; therefore Yehovah had them destroyed by Joshua. Unfortunately not all of them were destroyed (Joshua 15:63; Judges 1:1, 8, 21 to name just a few references); and those remnants are still causing Israel trouble today in those same areas of Canaan: Golan Heights, the mountains of Judah (today’s cities of Jericho, Ramallah, Jenin, etc.).
Chapter 34 – Israel’s Borders
Today Israel occupies only a small portion of the land that God promised to them. We see here (in the Power Point slides) that Israel’s future borders will extend from the Nile to the Euphrates River and from central Saudi Arabia all the way to Turkey’s southern border. See the Power Point slides for the comparison of Israel’s borders today with those borders promised here.
Chapter 35 – Cities of Refuge
Yehovah promised each of the 12 Tribes a portion of The Land according to their census; to the Levites He promised 48 cities. And of those 48 cities, He designated six of them (three east of the Jordan and three west) to be Cities of Refuge. Israel had no police force, no judicial system, no prisons; a man guilty of murder was punished by the victim’s next of kin with the eye-for-eye form of punishment. The Cities of Refuge provided a means by which a man guilty of accidental murder (we would call it manslaughter today) could flee to the nearest City of Refuge, plead his case to the city elders and, if they are convinced it was accidental he was allowed into the city and its protection from his avenger. There he could live his life free from the threat of his avenger; but he must remain within those city walls … until the death of the High Priest. Then he was free to leave and return to his previous life. At first glance, this is another one of those weird Middle Eastern customs that has no meaning to us in the 21st Century. But when we overlay Yeshua on this story, we see a perfect fit! Yeshua is our City of refuge; Yeshua is our High Priest; with His death, we are freed from sin leading to death! What an awesome God we have!!
Chapter 36 – The Daughters of Zelophehad Revisited
This portion concludes by restating and clarifying the ruling Yehovah gave Moses concerning the distribution of a man’s inheritance to his daughters when there are no sons. That inheritance could only transfer if the woman married a man from her same Tribe; in that way, there could be no dispute when the land returned to its original owner in the Year of Jubilee. We see again that this was the foundation of Yeshua’s claim to the Throne of David when He returns. Halleluiah!
While the Book of B’Midvar tells of just a few of the events during Israel’s 40-year Exodus, we see patterns developing: patterns of Yeshua in the Tanak. We see Yeshua in the formation of the Camp of Israel, in the Red Heifer Sacrifice, in the Brazen Serpent, in the Rock from which water poured and in the Cities of Refuge. He is throughout the Tanak. Yeshua said, “Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life; and they are they which testify of Me.” (John 5:39)
As we finish reading these final verses of the Book of Numbers, we say:
“Chazak, chazak, ve-nitchazek!” “Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened!”
Haftarah Reading (Jeremiah 2:4–28; 4:1–2.)
This week’s Haftarah is the second of three “haftarot of affliction” read during the Three Weeks of Mourning for Jerusalem, between the 17th of Tammuz & the 9th of Av. The haftarah readings in the annual cycle usually reflect the theme of the weekly Torah reading, but these three do not; instead they are prophecies from Jeremiah & Isaiah foreshadowing the fall of Jerusalem. We read first from Jeremiah 2:4-8 of God’s chastisement of Judah & her leaders – a message that also applies to us in America today:
“Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: “What injustice have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me, have followed idols, and have become idolaters? Neither did they say, ‘Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and the shadow of death, through a land that no one crossed and where no one dwelt?’ I brought you into a bountiful country, to eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered, you defiled My land and made My heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ and those who handle the law did not know Me; the rulers also transgressed against Me; the prophets prophesied by Ba’al, and walked after things that do not profit.”
The Portion continues with God’s chastisement of Israel, but then concludes with His conditional promise of her restoration. We read from Jeremiah 4:1-2:
“If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord, “return to Me; and if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, then you shall not be moved. And you shall swear, ‘The Lord lives,’ in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him they shall glory.”
In this week’s Torah Portions, there is an entire chapter devoted to instructions concerning vows: vows made by men; vows made by women; vows made by widows and divorcees; and vows made by a wife in the presence of her husband. There is a lot of time and space dedicated to this subject of vows. We see in this week’s Brit Chadashah reading, Yeshua’s very concise discussion about this same topic: our use of vows and oaths. We read Yeshua’s words from Matthew 5:33-37:
“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”