The term “Beha’alotcha” is Hebrew for when you “step up.”

But that is the problem because Parasha Beha’alotcha is when Yahweh called our forefathers to step up, but they did not.

Not if it took work and not if dedication or faith was required. And our forefather’s lack of faith cost them everything, and it cost their children dearly.

So, join us for this Parasha as we learn from the mistakes of our forefathers so we can avoid receiving the same punishments.

To serve Yahweh, our Elohim, we need a good attitude; it is that attitude of gratitude that makes all the difference. But when we say we need a good attitude, what we are saying is we need a good spirit. Because that is what spirits are, in modern-day terms, is attitudes.

Romim (Romans) 12:11
11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving Yahweh;

And the reason Yahweh wants us to know what attitudes we have is because Yahweh wants us to see what we are made of.

Tehillim (Psalm) 7:9
9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous Elohim trieth the hearts and minds.

He wants us to see what we are made of. He already knows, but He wants us to know.

So, we can repent, and we can improve our character. And then, when we repent of the things that are unbecoming of Him then we can draw closer to him. When we take away the dross and become purer, now we can draw closer to Him.

Ma’asei (Acts) 3:19
19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of Yahweh.

But the problem is our forefathers did not like that.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 11:1
1 Now when the people complained, it displeased Yahweh: for Yahweh heard it; and His anger was aroused. So the fire of Yahweh burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.

Our forefathers wanted to serve Him, and they wanted to be set apart unto Him. But they also wanted to take part in the world, and that is effectively double-mindedness. That is hopping between two opinions.

Yaakov (James) 1:8
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

In Nazarene Scripture Studies Volume Six, we have a study about “Double-mindedness and Schizophrenia”. Because that is basically what schizophrenia is, double-mindedness, in biblical terms.

And double-mindedness is when we want to be set apart to Yahweh, but we do not really want to leave the world. We do not really want to do the things of Yahweh; we just want to be set-apart.

Melachim Aleph (1 Kings) 18:21
21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If Yahweh is Elohim, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word.

It is kind of like people who want to be weightlifters, but they do not want to lift any weights.

You know, our forefathers wanted to serve two masters; they wanted to serve the world, or basically Satan. But they also wanted to serve Yahweh and be set-apart at the same time.

Mattityahu (Matthew) 6:24
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve Elohim and mammon.

That cannot work because James tells us that the things of Yahweh and the things of the world are diametrically opposed to one another.

Ya’akov (James) 4:4
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses! know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity with Elohim? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of Elohim.

So basically, we have to choose between Elohim and the world. And the thing is, Yahweh is a military conqueror, and He sent His Son to conquer the Earth through love, patience, and commitment.

Shemote (Exodus) 15:3
3 Yahweh is a man of war; Yahweh is His name.

If we do not solidly choose Yahweh’s camp and help Him build His Son’s Kingdom with all that we have, then why should He be pleased with us?

Yochanan (John) 12:26
26 If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. I anyone serves Me, him will my Father will honor.

In Parasha Beha’alotcha, our forefathers were supposed to have stepped up their games, and they were supposed to have stepped up their attitudes.

They were supposed to have cashed in their childish, selfish Egyptian “take care of me, serve me, do everything for me” attitudes.

Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:48
48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Cash that in for a responsible adult spiritual attitude, it takes responsibility for the relationship. And says “you know what, I am in a relationship; it matters to me.”

Father, you matter to me. Your Son matters to me. You are my King, and You are my Father-in-law. You are the head of the house, so if something’s important to You, it is important to me.

So, I am not just going to sit here and take everything from You. I am not going to let You do everything for me. So, What can I do to help You?

Ask not what your Elohim can do for you. Ask what you can do for your Elohim!

Shemuel Aleph (1 Samuel) 3:10
10 Now Yahweh came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”

So, what can I do to help My Husband? I am supposed to be a helpmeet, maybe I ought to help My Husband. What does He need help with?

Well, what does He say He needs help with? We have got Matthew 28 and the Great Commission, the five-fold ministry.

Mattityahu (Matthew) 28:19-20
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in My name,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amein.

And this is what our forefathers were supposed to do also. They were supposed to seek after the things of Yahweh. Because if you truly love someone with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your strength, should not we be doing something for Him?

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6:5
5 You shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

But instead of looking up and seeking Yahweh’s face, our forefathers ended up pining away for the things of the world and whining away for the things of Egypt.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 11:4
4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat?

Well, are we different? So here we are in Egypt. We are jailbroke; we are the bride; we are supposed to be setting ourselves apart as a bridal nation. Yahweh broken us from Satan’s house in Egypt. And here we are whining and complaining.

“We do not have our first-world comforts!” and “Oh! Now we want to go back to Egypt; we want to go back to Satan’s house.” “Oh!”

Oh yeah, you know Yahweh mounts a rescue operation to come save us from slavery at the cost of His Son’s life.

Yochanan (John) 3:16
16 For Elohim so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

And here we are, we are missing our old lives in the world.

Ma’asei (Acts) 7:39
39 whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,

We are missing our old lives in Satan’s house. And we can’t figure out why Yahweh is unhappy. Really?

So, this is our forefathers. Is this us as well?

“Oh! Scripture tells us to organize”.

“Oh! Scripture tells us to tithe”.

“Oh! the Scripture tells us to support our Husband’s work.”

And you know people do not say these things aloud. But when you take a look at what people actually do. It is like when the Scripture says these are those who say in their hearts; I do not need to give anything back to Yahweh. I am just going to sit here and receive. After all, it is better to receive than to give, right?

But when we are that way, like our forefathers were, do we realize that we are effectively telling Yahweh that we do not care about Him? We are effectively telling Yahweh, yeah, we know what You want. But we value the things of the world more than we value the things of You and Your Son. Do we ever stop and think about how that must make Yahweh feel?

Ephesim (Ephesians) 4:30
30 And do not grieve the Set-apart Spirit of Elohim, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Well? And if we do not stop to think about how Yahweh feels, then why do we want to be married to His Son?

So, catching up with the history. Our forefathers have now numbered their physical armies, and now they have also numbered their spiritual Army, which is the Levitical Order, at that point. And so now our forefathers head out to war, effectively. And start complaining right away.

Our forefathers’ big complaint is they are missing the comforts of Egypt. They have got first-world complaints going on.

“Oh! The inconvenience.”

“Oh! Let us elect a new leader and go back to Satan’s house; Oh!”

Father forbid! Why do not we understand that when we do that, Elohim takes that as treason?

Bemidbar (Numbers) 11:1
1 And when the people complained, it displeased Yahweh; for Yahweh heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of Yahweh burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.

You know, either we side solidly with Yahweh on His team, and we are either fighting His war. Or the way He looks at things; we are effectively traitors. We are effectively against Him, and that is not a good place to be.

Luqa (Luke) 11:23
23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

In the history the Bemidbar (Numbers) chapter 8, the Levites are now presented to Yahweh.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 8:6
6 Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them ceremonially.

That means they are now His; they are now His servants; they are now His slaves. They no longer have rights to themselves as humans. That is what it is to be a servant; we no longer have rights to ourselves.

So that is why if anyone should join Yeshua’s priesthood, we also need to think of ourselves as slaves. We no longer have rights to ourselves. We no longer have rights to our time.

Qorintim Aleph (1 Corinthians) 7:22
22 For he who is called in Yahweh while a slave is Yahweh’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Messiah’s slave.

Now, we are to listen for the still, small voice speaking a word in our ears. Whether we go to the right hand or whether we go to the left. We are supposed to be obeying Yahweh’s voice. That is what it is to be His servant.

Chapter nine is now the first month of the second year after Yahweh’s called our forefathers out of Egypt.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 9:1-3
1 Now Yahweh spoke to Moshe in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying:
2 “Let the children of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time.
3 On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time. According to all its rites and ceremonies you shall keep it.”

Yahweh gives us rules for the second Passover. We talk about the rules for the second Passover in The Torah Calendar study in the chapter on “The Passover and Unleavened Bread.”

In verse 15, the calm of fire and cloud has always been there since our forefathers left Egypt. There was a call on the fire and cloud over the tabernacle by day, and then there was the appearance of fire by night.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 9:15-16
15 Now on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the Testimony; from evening until morning it was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire.
16 So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.

The thing is, whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, after that, our forefathers would journey onward. And wherever the cloud went, that is where they would go. Wherever the cloud would settle, that is where our forefathers would pitch their tents. Can we understand the spiritual implications of this?

Bemidbar (Numbers) 9:17-18
17 Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, after that the children of Israel would journey; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would pitch their tents.
18 At the command of Yahweh the children of Israel would journey, and at the command of Yahweh they would camp; as long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle they remained encamped.

Verse 22., whether it was two days, a month, or a year. Wherever the column of fire and cloud went, that is where our forefathers went.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 9:22
22 Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would journey.

And that is effectively the same thing we are supposed to do in our daily walks. We are supposed to submit to the Spirit in all things and let the Spirit lead us and guide us in all things.

And we are supposed to hear a word in our inner ear saying this is the way; walk in it whenever we turn to the right hand or whenever we turn to the left

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 30:21
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.

So, do we have that relationship with the Spirit? If we do not have that, we need to pray for that. We need to ask, seek, and knock until we get it. That is so important.

Luqa (Luke) 11:10
10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

In chapter 10, we see the silver trumpets. When one of the silver trumpets is blown, the leaders are supposed to gather together at the Tabernacle.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 10:4
4 But if they blow only one, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall gather to you.

When both of the trumpets are blown, all the congregation gathers at the tabernacle.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 10:3
3 When they blow both of them, all the congregation shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

So, in other words, the message here is it was supposed to respond as a nation. There is an ordered, organized way for His people to be; it is not just a mass of individuals.

Verse 8, notice that this is an ordinance for us forever, throughout our generations.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 10:8
8 The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and these shall be to you as an ordinance forever throughout your generations.

Now you can get around forever; you cannot get around throughout all our generations. What that means is that we are still supposed to be organizing as a nation to this day.

Now, if you are Messianic, if you are an independent, disorganized Ephraimite, or Messianic, what are you going to do if you do not believe in organization? How are you going to have all the leaders gathered together at the Tabernacle?

But Bemiḏbar (Numbers) chapter ten and verse eleven. It came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month in the second year that the cloud was taken up from above the Tabernacle of testimony.

Then in verse 12, our forefathers set out from the wilderness of Sinai and ended up in the wilderness of Paran. And things go from bad to worse. So, now they set out for the first time according to the command of Yahweh by the hand of Moshe.

They are headed towards war. Now there are two key leaders that we need to know about here. For those who are new, we are going to refer you briefly to The Nazarene Israel Study. We also have some other videos on the mystery of the Two Houses.

But in verse 14, it tells us that the camp of the children of Judah was to set out first.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 10:14
14 The standard of the camp of the children of Judah set out first according to their armies; over their army was Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

So, we need to know here about the mystery of the two houses. And you can find out all about the mystery of the two houses in The Nazarene Israel Study; we also have some other videos on the “Two Houses.”

What we need to know is that the tribe of Judah was the lead tribe of the Southern three tribes of what is called the House of Judah. The House of Judah was later called the southern Kingdom of Judah.

A lot of Christians do not know this, but the nation of Israel split after the reigns of Kings David and Solomon. And now there became two kingdoms after that.

There is a lot we could say here, and we are going to refer you to The Nazarene Israel Study. You can read about the mystery of the “Two Houses.”

But the descendants of the Jews of yesteryear are the Jews of today. Now someone will mention the Khazars. And that is all true, but it does not change the fact that Khazars also can graft into the nation of Israel. Ruth was a Moabitess.

You do not need Yeshua to graft into the nation of Israel. It did not change with Yeshua. That is not new with Yeshua, going back to Rahab. People have always been able to graft into the nation of Israel.

Galatim (Galatians) 3:29
29 And if you are Messiah’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

And then, in verse 22, we see the children of Ephraim set out according to their armies. Now Ephraim was seventh in the line of march.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 10:22
22 And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set out according to their armies; over their army was Elishama the son of Ammihud.

And we will talk at some other time about what it means that Judah was first, and Ephraim was seventh.

But as we see in The Nazarene Israel Study, the tribe of Ephraim was the lead tribe of the ten Northern tribes. What is later called the Northern House of Israel. Also called the northern House of Ephraim. Later this is called the Northern Kingdom of Ephraim.

And the point is that Ephraim is the lead tribe of what were later became the lost ten tribes of the Northern house of Israel. And that is who Yeshua said that He came for on His first trip, now sometimes also called the House of Joseph.

Mattityahu (Matthew) 15:24
24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

But you can read all about why that is in The Nazarene Israel Study; we also have some other videos.

But in the Bemidbar (Numbers) chapter 11, we see things go from bad to worse. Our forefathers set out to war, some army. Now Bemidbar chapter 11, our forefathers began complaining.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 11:5
5 We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;

And it displeased Yahweh. Why? Because what are they doing? They are missing Egypt.

“Oh! What an inconvenience!

“Oh! We want to go back to Egypt now! Oh!”

Well, we also need to know about what is called the mixed multitude. Again, this is not taught much in Christendom. But back in Shemote (or Exodus) chapter 12 and verse 38.

Shemote (Exodus) 12:38
38 A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds—a great deal of livestock.

About the time of the first Exodus, we saw that a mixed multitude went up with our forefathers also. And flocks and herds a great deal of livestock. And these are people with a partial commitment to the nation of Israel. They want to get something, but they do not necessarily want to give anything back. Sound familiar?

Now in verse 4, this same mixed multitude who came up out of Egypt with our forefathers yielded to their intense craving to eat meat.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 11:4
4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

“Oh, give us fish and cucumbers!”

(Oh, it just sounds yummy!)

“Oh, give us onions, melons, leeks, and garlic!”

(Mmmm, what a great combination!)

Finally, Moshe had enough. Moshe cries out.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 11:11
11 So Moses said to Yahweh, “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me?

And in compassion Yahweh says He is going to take some of the Spirit that is on Moshe; He is going to put it on seventy of the Elders of Israel.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 11:17
17 Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone.

And this is where we get the concept of the seventy members or seventy-plus members of the Beit Din Gadol, the council. The Babylonian parallel to that would be something like the U.N General Assembly or something that is not Yahweh-focused, not Yeshua-focused.

But notice what is happening here, okay? This is what we are talking about every week, our forefathers, instead of rejoicing that they are called to be Yahweh’s bridal nation, to begin setting themselves apart for His son. What do they do? They begin complaining.

It is like, Oh! Okay, they want physical meat They have a craving. We talked about this before. They have a craving to eat physical meat instead of enjoying the good spiritual meat of being Yahweh’s intended bride for His Son.

So, what happens? They get quail for a whole month.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 11:19-20
19 “You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days,
20 but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised Yahweh who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?” “

They are without refrigeration. They are vomiting it up; they are spewing it out until the heaves come out of their nostrils. Or alternately, do not you just plain get sick of eating the same thing day after day after day? Quail’s delicious; it is like pheasant, but if you eat the same thing for a whole month. Does it not make you want to heave? Give the technicolor rainbow?

Well, this is what Yahweh thinks about complaining. When we complain, we are missing something, some inconvenience. We do not want to tithe; we do not want to organize; we do not want to submit the congregational discipline, and we do not want to do the things it takes to be Yahweh’s set-apart bridal nation. That is not a good place to be

And so now Yahweh takes Moshe and takes part of His Spirit and puts it on seventy of the Elders of Israel outside the camp, and they prophesy one time.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 11:25
25 Then Yahweh came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied, although they never did so again.

But Eldad and Medad are prophesying inside the camp. And Yeshua (or Yehoshua), the son of Nun, says, “Stop them, Moshe!”, “Stop them!”

So, then Moshe says the same thing that Shaliach Shaul will say later in First Corinthians 14.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 11:29
29 Then Moshe said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all Yahweh’s people were prophets and that Yahweh would put His Spirit upon them!”

Is that we should all earnestly desire all of the spiritual gifts, but especially that we may all learn to prophesy.

Qorintim Aleph (1 Corinthians) 14:1
1 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.

Why? Well, it is because when we prophesy, we are doing what Yahweh has been asking us to do all along, which is to hear His voice and then to do everything He says.

But when we prophesy, we are hearing His voice, then we are speaking according to it, and that is extremely desirable. That is what prophesying is, to hear Yahweh’s voice and then to speak according to it.

And you can learn about that in our video on The Two Different Types of Prophecy; it is in the video collection on Spirituality and Heart Matters. You can also read more details in our study in Nazarene Scripture Studies, Volume One, which is called about “Speaking in Tongues.” And it also goes on to talk about how we can learn to prophesy.

But before we move on to chapter 12, first let us take a look at Bemidbar (Numbers) chapter 11, verse 34 where the name of the place where the people died is called Kibrot Hatta’avah because that is where they buried the people who yielded to their fleshly cravings to eat meat.

So, what does it mean that they died because they yielded to their cravings? What is the modern-day parallel? We can all pray about that.

Then in chapter 12, Miriam and Aharon spoke against Moshe because of the Kushite woman he had taken, or Moshe had taken a Kushite woman.

Now there are two main interpretations of this. One is that Kush is in modern-day Ethiopia, which means that Moshe took an Ethiopian wife. However, we know that Moshe’s wife, Sephora was the daughter of Yitro, the priest of the Midian.

There is also a Kush (or Kushan, which could be an intensive of Kush) in the Midian.

It is also mentioned in Habaqquq 3 and verse 7.

Habaqquq (Habakkuk) 3:7
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; The curtains of the land of Midian trembled.

Also, the people in that region of the Kushan region in the Midian are known to have a darker skin color than average.

Why? We do not know. But it makes sense that Moshe had taken a woman from Kush (or Kushan) in the Midian because that is where Sephora’s father lived because he was the priest of the Midian.

So basically, Miriam and Aharon are committing what is called the Lashon HaRa, it is also translated as the bad tongue or the evil tongue. So basically, they are bad-mouthing Moshe. They are talking about him behind his back.

Now one of the things we cover in our study about “Lashon HaRa: The Evil Tongue” is that, yes, you can talk about real things.

There is a rabbinical doctrine; you are not allowed to say anything real if it is defamatory, meaning you are not allowed to speak the truth in love. Whereas we know we are commanded to speak the truth in love.

And if there is a problem with something, we are supposed to talk about it. We are supposed to speak the truth in love so as to put the evil outside the camp. Yeshua our Elohim also tells us that we are supposed to talk about it. But we are supposed to go directly to the person, first in private. That is discussed in Matthew chapter 18.

Mattityahu (Matthew) 18:15
15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

And we talk about the Matthew chapter 18 process in our study Covenant Relationships.

Now, if you go to the Israelite privately to address a real concern and you approach them in love. And they do not want to listen to you. Yeshua tells us then we are supposed to take one or two more witnesses for a total of two or three.

Mattityahu (Matthew) 18:16
16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY WORD MAY BE ESTABLISHED.’

Now, preferably we want to take Deacons or Elders in the congregation. Because then Yeshua tells us that if we talk to them privately, we have another witness or two with us. If they do not listen to us, then we are supposed to basically put them outside the congregation. We have no choice but to let them go.

Mattityahu (Matthew) 18:17
17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the assembly. But if he refuses even to hear the assembly, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

But the point is it is an organized procedure. And it builds towards something. It builds a better nation. It helps us all to step up. You do not just talk trash about people behind their backs.

So, you can read all about that in a study on “Lashon HaRa: The Evil Tongue” and you can find it in our study on Covenant Relationships.

Now we come to our half to a prophetic portion, and the rabbis chose Zechariah Chapter 2 through part of verse 4 because the Torah portion talks about a menorah, and Zechariah also talks about a menorah.

Well, there is lots of good stuff in Zechariah. We talk about it extensively in our study on Revelation and the End Times, that is, Revelation Simplified on YouTube. So, we will talk about Zechariah much more in other locations.

But for this week, we are going to go straight to our Brit Chadasha or our renewed Covenant portion. Let us come to Luqa or Luke chapter 17 and verse 5, where the apostles ask Yeshua to increase their faith. One of my favorite passages in Scripture.

Luqa (Luke) 17:5-6
5 And the apostles said to the Master, “Increase our faith.”
6 So the Master said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Now, most people make a disconnect after verse six because they read verse 5 and verse 6, and they stop. What they miss is Yeshua’s explanation, which begins in verse 7. And that is why so many people seem not to understand this passage.

Now Yeshua asks do you want faith? Well, okay, which of us having a servant that plows or tends sheep or does anything for us, works in the field, works in the automotive shop. When our servant comes in from the field, my servant comes in from working; we say, “ah oh, you poor thing,” saying, “all come in at once, oh, sit down to eat oh you poor thing, you have done your job.”

Luqa (Luke) 17:7
7 And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’?

But is not that what we think?

In verse 8, Yeshua says, no! Rather his master is going to say to him, “well, first, you make me something to eat.”

“And you stay girded up.”

“And you are going to serve me, and then after I have eaten and drunk, now afterward, that is when you are going to eat.”

Luqa (Luke) 17:8
8 But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’?

He says, “does the master thank the servant because he did his job?”

“Does the master thank the servant because he did those things that were commanded of him?” I think not.

Likewise, with us. You know we have done everything Scripture says to do when we have completed the whole Torah, we have done everything in the fivefold ministry; we should say we are unprofitable servants. We are doing only that which it is our duty to do.

But brothers, sisters, let us be honest. Do not we expect a reward? You know, like we did everything Scripture says to do, right?

“We paid our tithes.”

“We helped the poor.”

“We helped Yeshua grow the Kingdom that His father sent Him to grow.”

We expect a reward for that?

Yeshua says no. He says after we have done everything that Yahweh says to do, that is what we should say, “we are unprofitable servants” because we have only done that which is our duty to do.

Luqa (Luke) 17:10
10 “So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ “

But if the righteous person is barely saved, then what happens to the sinner? What happens to those that do not want to pay their tithes? They do not want to help the poor; they do not want to help Yeshua with the Great Commission.

Well, what we need to see here in this passage is how the apostles asked Yeshua to increase their faith, and Yeshua told them, “increase your humility.” Because when we are not pretending anything before Elohim, we are just being real. We are not “putting on airs”; we are not pretending that well Yahweh is the King; these are His Commandments, but sin does not matter much.

So, when we are going to be humble enough to be real before Elohim, we are going to do everything that He says to do. And then we are going to humbly put forth our petition with joy and with thanksgiving. That is when He is going to answer our prayers. Because we do not have an entitlement complex, that is when He is going to answer our prayers.

We show that attitude of gratitude. That we are going to do all the things for Him just because we love Him. We are not expecting a reward. That is when He is going to throw the mountain into the sea.

Mattityahu (Matthew) 11:29
29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

So, if we want more faith, we need to pray for more humility. And that is when we can realize that just because we are responding to His call, that does not make us anything special. That does not mean we deserve a reward; that just means we are finally doing what He designed us to do from the start.

Well, this realization is not flattering to our ego, but that is kind of the point. Because when we know our place and do our jobs, He takes care of the rest.

And that is how Yahweh wants us to step up today, by knowing our places.