B'Midbar (In The Wilderness)

1) Numbers 1:14–4:20

Shalom! This email comes out a bit later than usual as I am currently out of town with my family on a multi-leg road trip visiting our oldest children. In choosing “Relational depth” with my family I have found limited margin for other things, including this weekly post! My wife encouraged me to just write something less in-depth. Short and simple. Well, my brain doesn’t typically work that way. Those who know me are likely smiling now ;)

This Shabbat begins B’Midbar which means “in the wilderness” and is the first portion of the book of Numbers. The theme for this book involves “Obstacles in the wilderness that bar entry into God’s rest.”

Remember, God is pursuing Relational depth with you…and wants you to respond in faith, surrender, and obedience. He wants to bless you. He wants to use you. He wants to use you to help establish His kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. That’s the “Kingdom breadth” that won’t be fully restored until Yeshua returns.

Maranatha! The Lord has come. He is coming again. Come, Lord!

B’Midbar is comprised of the first four chapters in the book of Numbers and includes four times when God commands a different census, or counting of people.

1. Military Servicemen (Num. 1:3): Israelite males (see 1:20) twenty years or older who could serve in the army.

2. Levitical Substitutes (Num. 3:15): Levite males one month or older that God will take as His own (think “pursuing “Relational depth”) in place of Israelite firstborns.

3. Israelite Firstborns (Num. 3:40): Israelite male firstborns one month or older that God redeems with the Levitical substitutes. The logic of redemption is that God saves Israelite firstborns from death in Egypt by the blood of the Passover Lamb and then transfers the authority of firstborns to the set apart tribe of Levi with a focus on the family of Aaron.

4. Kohathite Servants (Num. 4:3): Descendants of Kohath (Levi’s son) between the ages of 30 and 50 years old who have the honor of access to care for the Most Holy Things in the Tabernacle.

Take some time and study one or more of these censuses. Remember, these are not arbitrary number games. They reflect God’s economy of holiness whereby He is fixing the problem of how a holy God can draw near—pursue Relational depth—with people and reverse the curse of separation. Furthermore, within the Torah, God is not giving instructions to create informationally-mediated religiosity but instead God desires relationally-mediated intimacy.

There are many themes you could explore in this parashah including:

• Chapter 1: The counting of the Israelite tribes but not counting the tribe descended from Levi. Instead, Levites get appointed to Tabernacle-related work.

• Chapter 2: The camping arrangement of all the tribes that centralize the manifest Presence of God in the Tabernacle in the middle of the community.

• Chapter 3: The work assignments for those descended from Levi’s three sons—Gershon, Kohath, and Merari—and their collective role in redeeming the Israelite firstborns.

• Chapter 4: The unique work assignment of Kohath’s descendants—and especially Aaron and his sons—and how their proximity to the Most Holy includes fewer barriers.

Let me help you narrow your focus on God’s plan and purpose to reunite and restore holy intimacy between God, people, and all creation by authorizing only some for the ultimate sake of the many.

Accessibility & Authorized Access

Holy means “set apart” and God does a lot of setting apart in order to reunite.

• God sets apart Israel from the nations.

• God sets apart Levi from the Israelites.

• God sets apart Kohath from the Levites.

• God sets apart Aaron from the Kohathites. Aaron is the anointed High Priest.

All this setting apart is intended to reunite God’s holy Presence into a fallen world. The Messiah is the ultimate Reuniter.

As an example of how God’s seemingly harsh instructions that exclude people from His Presence are actually mercifully designed to enable reunification—Relational depth between God and people—consider the following verses:

So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood, but the layman who comes near shall be put to death. Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, the first issue of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine. For all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine; I am the LORD. (Numbers 3:10-13)

The Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the tabernacle of the covenant law so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are to be responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the covenant law. (Numbers 1:53)

Moses and Aaron and his sons were to camp to the east of the tabernacle, toward the sunrise, in front of the tent of meeting. They were responsible for the care of the sanctuary on behalf of the Israelites. Anyone else who approached the sanctuary was to be put to death. (Numbers 3:38)

God’s distinctions and separations are for the sake of pursuing Relational depth with people and restoring all things. I’m glad you’ve joined us in this journey of pursuing Relational depth for Kingdom breadth. Please share with a friend who might also be interested.

Finally, you can dig more deeply into this, and all the previous parashiot, by using the commentary linked below.

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Readings for the Week:

Torah: NUMBERS 1:14–4:20
Prophets: HOSEA 1:10–2:20 [2:1–22 TANACH]
Apostolic Writings: ROMANS 9:22–33

Click HERE for the online Parashah commentary. (If you prefer a printed copy, please email me at thomas@faithforall.org)

Shalom,

Thomas