“Parasha Mattot/Massei” has a very important message for everyone in Nazarene Israel (especially those in the dispersion) because it talks about how every one of us is responsible for each and every other Israelite and not just Nazarene Israelites and not just those who are already walking in repentance because Elohim has always wanted a world where we serve as our brothers’ keepers.
Elohim expects us to behave this way inside the body because Elohim expects us to understand that we are all one big extended spiritual family because that is just exactly what we are. We are brothers from other mothers. Some of us may be white, some people are black, maybe brown, maybe olive, maybe green, maybe blue, maybe purple, whatever, it does not matter. We are all supposed to serve as our brother’ keepers, even if we are not related to each other physically (more recently than Noah) but because we have the same Spirit and because we are trying to give Him the Kingdom that He wants.
If we are not able to apply that globally because (for example) our Orthodox brothers are not listening and our Christian brothers are not listening. At the very least, it is supposed to apply inside our nation of Nazarene Israel. It is supposed to apply inside Yeshua’s body because we are all supposed to be one big extended family. We are all His body. It is a very simple, basic, but powerful message that we are all supposed to have learned all the way back in B’reisheet (Genesis) chapter 4. It is basic but it is essential.
Even though this is a primary message, does it not seem like many of us in Ephraim have a hard time grasping this to the fullest extent of the concept and doing it (walking it out)? For example, some time ago, I was talking with some Ephraimites about this parasha and there was one Ephraimite sister that when we went through the whole message (that we are going to explain today) and we explained that even though Yahweh expects us to look out for each and every other Nazarene Israelite, she just could not seem to understand why it is our duty to look out for other Israelites, or even other Nazarene Israelites (she was Messianic).
Inside I am thinking, you have to be kidding me, right? because this is a basic, basic message of parasha. If we are not willing to receive the basic messages of parasha that go all the way back to Genesis chapter 4, what are we doing? So, let us dive into this parasha and let us see what our ancestors barely grasped and even then only after Moshe drilled it home. Then we are going to see what this basic message means for us in Nazarene Israel in the dispersion today.
Two weeks ago, we were in “Parasha Balak”. There, we saw that the King of Moab, Balak, tried to hire the independent minister and for-profit prophet Balaam (the son of Beor) to curse Israel and Balaam tried to earn his diviners’ fees well by cursing Israel, but he could not because Yahweh had already blessed our forefathers.
Then, last week in “Parasha Pinchas”, we saw how it was that when Balaam could not curse our ancestors, he advised the Moabites and the Midianites to send the Midianite women to seduce our ancestors by inviting them to the worship of Baal or “the Lord” and this was Balaam’s (son of Beor) council. Because when Israelite males are not dedicated to Yahweh, they can be successfully tempted with the lust of their eyes, with the lusts of their flesh, and with pride. And sexual sin with “the Lord” hits at least two of those three main points. In fact, it hits all three if we think about it because if we consider that we do not need to obey our Creator’s instructions, are we not kind of elevating ourselves to His level? Is it not basically a failure to stay humble and remember our place?
Well, to catch up with the history, our forefathers just needed to pass through the territory of the Amorites on their way to the land of Israel but then the Amorites would not let them pass through. King Sihon and then King Og both came out against them, but even though our forefathers had not been faithful to Yahweh, Yahweh still delivered them into our hand. Okay, great, praise Yah! So then what happened?
Yahweh helped us to smash the Amorites but then with all that land, are we just going to walk away? Look at all this territory. Our forefathers in Reuben (who some researchers believe corresponds to modern-day France and perhaps, by extension, the French-speaking people) and the children of Gad (which some researchers believe corresponds to the Viking world, we will talk more about that later) saw that the land they just conquered was good for livestock and they had a lot of livestock.
So our ancestors are thinking, “Why do we want to cross the Jordan for? We have livestock and this is great livestock land right here so why do we not just ask Moshe if we can take our inheritance here on this side of the Jordan because this is great!”
Bemidbar (Numbers) 32:5
5 “Therefore they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.”
Verse 5. Therefore they said, “If we found favor in your sight, please let this land be given to your servants as a possession. You do not need to take us over the Jordan. In fact, we do not really want to go because this is what we want right here so could you please just give us our inheritance in this land right here?”
This is not what is said in Scripture, but we take a look at what Moshe responds to and what they, kind of reading between the lines and (with the spirit that they are speaking with is), are really saying is, “We know that Elohim has called us to establish a Kingdom for Him, but to us, the Kingdom really is living in nice houses and having a good inheritance.”
That is our contribution to the Kingdom; it is enjoying His blessings so why do you all not just go on over there on the other side of the river; enjoy yourselves conquering the land and there will be more for you there, right? And do not forget to write and do not forget to let us know how it goes because we will be back here. You know where to find us, we will be here enjoying our inheritance so see you all. You all have a good time over there on the other side of the Jordan!
And I do not know because Scripture does not say this, but Moshe is an extremely humble guy and he puts up with insults to himself pretty well, but he does not always like it when people insult Yahweh or when they are going to disobey the instructions of the Spirit (kind of like an insult to Yahweh) and sometimes Moshe does not like that, so I just imagine that Moshe tries to speak to their hearts. He tries to speak to them in the language of trust. He is bringing them close, and he is saying; “What are you doing?”
“Okay whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa okay, hold it, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, let me see if I have this right here, okay. So what you are telling me is; what you guys are asking, okay. You are asking that you can just stay here and be comfortable and you are going to let all the rest of your brothers go on to war, so they are going to fulfill Elohim’s command? So you are not going to do your part? You are not going to go to war? No, not you, just them?
“What, what are you thinking? You know you have what you want so you do not care if Yahweh gets what He wants? Is that right? I mean, that is your extent of your dedication to Elohim is give me, give me, give me, give me my blessings and that is all? You are not going to go out to war for Him? Is that you? So as long as you get what you want, you do not really care about Elohim and you do not really care about your brethren? Is that it?
“I mean, did you even stop to think for two seconds about how Elohim is going to see this? You do not want to fulfill His command? You do not want to go out to war with the rest of your brethren, or did you stop for a moment to think about how this is going to discourage the hearts of your brothers?”
They are supposed to go conquer the land for Elohim so there can finally be a Kingdom for Elohim here on this earth. You know our ancestors fell away way back in the Garden and so there are all these other evil human kingdoms that have arisen. We had Babylon, we had the Edomites, we had Egypt, we had the Assyrians, we had the Moabites, but you are okay with that right, just as long as you get your inheritance here?
“Yahweh is calling us to build Him a Kingdom and you are not up for it? Because you are focused on what you want; you are focused on enjoying your blessings right here in this world rather than focusing on what Elohim wants, right? So you know if what we are saying is true, then you are not even really in this for Elohim are you? You are just in this for you, right? And you do not see anything wrong with that, right?
“Come on guys, that is what this means to you, brothers? That is what this means to you, to love Yahweh with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your strength? Are you just going to focus on enjoying His blessings and who cares what He wants? Am I getting this right? Come on, did we not learn anything these last 40 years walking around in circles because our forefathers were focused on themselves? Our forefathers only wanted what they wanted, so anytime we had to do something for Elohim there was complaining.
“Forgive me for saying, but you know, your daddy dropped dead in the wilderness because Yahweh could see that he was only focused on himself and still you did not learn anything? Still you did not learn what love for Yahweh Elohim is? Still you did not learn you have to show Elohim your sincerity through what you do for Him by laying down your life as a living sacrifice. We passed through the Reed (Red) Sea being immersed into Yeshua’s death and we are rising up. You did not learn any of that? You did not catch any of this?”
Bemidbar (Numbers) 32:14
14 “And look! You have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of Yahweh against Israel.”
Verse 14. He said, “Now look, you know your daddy has dropped dead and you have risen in your fathers’ places, but you are not changed. You are not transformed. You have not laid down your life as a living sacrifice. You are still seeking the blessings for you. You are still a brood full of sinful men. You are not seeking Elohim’s will. You are not seeking His direction. You are not seeking His will. You want what you want. What kind of a bride are you?
“You know Elohim wants a bride. You know, a bride is a helper, but you are just thinking about you? You are just thinking about how to enjoy your inheritance and your houses and raising your families. You are not thinking about the nation. You are not thinking about your husband at all, that is for sure. Why are we having this conversation? Why do I have to explain this to you? I thought you guys had what it takes to figure this out. I thought you had what it takes to love Yahweh your Elohim. If not, I guess maybe we have to spell things out long hand.
“If you turn away from following Him (just like what you are talking about) and just focusing on you and your house, your family, and your inheritance. You are going to enjoy His blessings and that is what building His Kingdom means to you? You know that is going to upset Him right? Because it is not His will. You are seeking to do your will just like our forefathers. If you do this thing, He is going to leave us to the natural consequences of our stupid and selfish choices again.
“And in case you have not noticed, I [speaking of Moshe] am old now. I am getting ready to die. I am not going to be around to intercede for our people again.”
I do not know because Scripture does not say this, but I guess the message must have gotten through (this is not just about us enjoying our inheritance, it is more about helping Yahweh get His inheritance) which if we think about it, is supposed to be an ‘obedient us’.
So, are we helping Yahweh get an ‘obedient, willing us’ who loves Him with all of our heart, with everything we do, with every thought? It must have had an impact because they came near to Moshe and this very important word in Hebrew, Vayigash, which means to come near. We also saw this when Judah approached Joseph, he came near to him. It is talking about a certain intimacy. It is talking about the language of trust. We are talking about how can we establish the correct rapport between us?
“nâgash” נָגַשׁ H5066; A primitive root; to be or come (causatively bring) near (for any purpose); euphemistically to lie with a woman; as an enemy, to attack; religiously to worship; causatively to present; figuratively to adduce an argument; by reversal, to stand back: – (make to) approach (nigh), bring (forth, hither, near), (cause to) come (higher, near, nigh), give place, go hard (up), (be, draw, go) near (nigh), offer, overtake, present, put, stand.
They came near and they said, “You know, you are right. You are absolutely right but we still like this land so can we do this? Let us build sheepfolds here for our livestock and we are going to renew these cities we have just burned. That is where our little ones are going to dwell but every one of the men who is aged 20 or older (between the age of 20 and 50). We are going to arm ourselves and we will go out to war with the rest of our brothers. We are going to remain at war with our brothers until we have brought them to their places also.
“Then, Elohim will have what He wants, and our brothers will also have what they want. So when everyone has what he wants, Yahweh first, (because that is why we are here right?) and then our brothers second, then we will come back to our inheritance. Is that fair? Does that work? Is that good?
“In the meantime, our little ones are going to dwell in the renovated fortified cities, and we will not even come back to our homes until every one of our brothers in Israel has received his inheritance [let us think about the Great Commission here].”
He said “Because you are right, Elohim called us to build Him a Kingdom on this earth for Him so we can shine His light like a city on a hill, so it is not about us, it is about Him.”
Baruch HaShem Yahweh, I guess they got it! But sometimes, do you not kind of have to wonder when the rest of us are going to get it as well?
What I mean by that is, when are we also going to get the fact that Yeshua gave us a mission to accomplish for Him (really for His Father) and because of that, it is not about us living in paneled houses while Yahweh’s house lies in ruins. It is not about us enjoying the blessings of Yahweh by living in the developed world, or living in the United States, or Europe, or the land of Israel, or some nice country because it is not about us. It is not about us receiving our inheritance. It is not about us receiving our blessings.
It is about us humbling ourselves to serve our Husband Yeshua and fulfilling the Great Commission that He gave us to do for Him. It is about living that kind of sacrificial lifestyle that leaves a better world for our children and our children’s children.
Yeshua told us to go into all nations and immerse disciples in His name and to teach them or to train them to do everything that He said to do. As we explain (in context) in Torah Government, in Acts 15 Order, and in other places, what Yeshua wants is for us to build Him a global spiritual government which is His unified global ministry. That is what He says He wants and as we show in our studies on Revelation & the End Times, really it is the only logical, only intelligent choice. Europe is going to collapse because unified Europe is based on what is called the Coudenhove-Kalergi Plan (which is a very old plan) which calls for flooding Europe with Muslim migrants who will then start a civil war and the United States is going to first suffer a civil war and then it is going to get nuked.
So I suppose if we choose to put our families through all that by seeking the blessings of living in the developed world, it is our choice, but I do not think it is a choice that Elohim wants us to make and if you are living in the Zionist state of Israel, then you are going to have to leave anyways when the abomination that makes desolation is set up on the Temple mount.
Rather than focus on what we want and rather than focus on enjoying Elohim’s blessings, (maybe living in a nice place, enjoying our houses, enjoying our inheritance) why not focus on what He wants? Why focus on ourselves? Why not focus on Him if we seek to be His faithful Proverbs 31 bride? And that is to say, why not just do what Yeshua says because Yahweh is going to bring us and relocate us back to the land of Israel after the Great Tribulation and Armageddon anyway, but in the short term the land of Israel is going to be cleansed of all its abominations.
We cover that in our study on Revelation & the End Times, but for right now, we can focus on the Two Houses, Judah, and Ephraim. But really our job is to focus on Yeshua. Our job is to focus on pleasing our Husband by learning what He wants and doing what He wants (by preparing ourselves, by refining ourselves spiritually, by obeying His Torah). So for right now our job is to build Him that Spiritual Kingdom that He wants. Our job is to build Him that city on a hill and not necessarily in the already developed world that is going to be nuked and destroyed. Can we see the parallels between the Torah portion and the Renewed Covenant?
Bemidbar (Numbers) 32:20-21
20 “Then Moses said to them: “If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before Yahweh for the war,
21 and all your armed men cross over the Jordan before Yahweh until He has driven out His enemies from before Him,”
Verse 20. Moshe said to them, “Okay if you will do what you just said you will do, right, and all your adult males from 20 years of age to 50 years of age are going to arm themselves for war before Yahweh. And all your adult men of war are going to cross over the Jordan before Yahweh until He has driven His enemies out from before Him and the land is subdued before Yahweh.
“Yeah, then afterwards, yes afterwards, if you help Yahweh get what He wants and then help all your brothers come to their places, afterwards you may return, and you will be blameless before Yahweh and before all your brothers in Israel because you helped Yahweh to get what He wanted, and you looked out for your brothers as well (You served as your brothers’ keepers). And if that is the case, yes, this land that you want right here, this shall be your possession before Yahweh.
“But, uh brothers, if you do not do what you just said and you do not help Elohim get what He wants, then behold, you will have sinned against Yahweh, and you can be sure that your sin will find you out because Yahweh is in control of all things.”
But brothers, the question is, how many of us are helping Yeshua to get His Kingdom? How many of us are helping Yeshua to get His unified, global ministry? How many of us are helping Him to sit on the throne that He sacrificed unto the death for and that He so richly deserves? How many of us are just simply enjoying our inheritance, enjoying the blessings of Yahweh, and enjoying living our lives in the world no matter whether we are in Europe, or the United States, or in Israel, or some other nice place (it does not even have to be in the developed world)?
How many of us are living our lives in the world instead of laying down our lives to serve Yeshua and to serve Yahweh? How many of us are spending the good spiritual gifts He gives us on ourselves without any real thought of giving anything substantial back to Him without any thought of laying down our lives in service, to Him, and that is to ask, how many of us are truly seeking to serve Him with all of our heart, with all of our soul, and with all of our strength? How many of us are just simply seeking to be served by Him?
You know, the way Yeshua is, He sets us on His throne, and He girds Himself with a towel and He washes our feet. He will do that, but then He waits patiently for our conscience to get us and to nag at us until we are finally convicted of our sin. We do not need to be receiving His blessings, we need to be the ones girding ourselves in a towel and washing His feet. That is what He died for. We are His servants. We were bought with a price.
You know, we say, “What a lofty admirable goal!” We say we want to be His helpmeet. We say we want to be the bride of the Son of the King of the universe but if a bride is described as a helper, are we helping Him to obtain the Kingdom His Father sent Him to get or are we not helping Him to get the Kingdom His Father sent Him to get?
And if we are not, then how are we any different than our ancestors in Reuben and Gad? What kind of a reward can we expect? Are we headed for everlasting life or are we headed for eternal punishment for being lukewarm and disobeying the voice of our Elohim?
Sisters, forgive me, I need to talk just to the brothers for a moment. Brothers, do we want to marry a selfish, lazy helpmeet of a bride who only focuses on what she wants? And, if we do not want to marry a selfish, lazy bride, then what about Elohim? A word to the wise is sufficient.
