Numbers 6:22-7:89 Chavurah Shalom Satuday 10/28/17

Our Parashah for this week begins with the Aaronic Benediction, the blessing with which the Priests were to bless the people of Israel. This was one of the chief du- ties of the priest, Deuteronomy 10:8; 21:5. We understand that by the time of Yeshua, this would be the normal means of closing out the twice daily sacrifices, any of the major festivals at Temple, and the Saturday services at the . From Psalm 118:26, the priests would pronounce a welcome upon the worshipper as he entered into the Temple, and then upon finishing the days services, the priest would then bless with this Aaronic Benediction as they prepared to depart from the Temple. It is believed that this was the blessing pronounced when the Mishkan was set up and become operational, Leviticus 9:22. In some Jewish groups today, only a priest is permitted to speak the Aaronic Bene- diction, and only after the ceremonial hand washing is performed. If there is a Le- vite present, he would assist the priest in the washing, and then the priest would of- ficiate the Benediction. If however, no Levite is present, the priest would wash his own hands, and perform the Benediction. The structure of the blessing is carefully developed: the first line has 3 words, the second line has 5 words, and the last line 7 words, giving a crescendo throughout the blessing. The number of consonants increase as you go from 15 to 20 to 25. The Divine Name is the 2nd word of each line. This 3-fold use of the Divine Name emphasizes the real source of the blessing - it is not the priests, but God alone who blesses His people. The last phrase "give you peace" is strongly remi- niscent of the ending of Psalm 29:11.--JPS Torah Commentary, p. 51. The last line of the passage indicates that the priests were responsible for invoking the Name of God upon the people, "let them place My Name upon them," but the final refrain once again indicates the true source, "and I will bless them." Even the sages understood that the priests were simply the conduit through whom God's blessings would be pronounced upon His people. This repeated emphasis on the divine source of the blessing is projected into even bolder relief when it is con- trasted with the formula of welcome pronounced upon the worshiper (by the priest?) as he entered the Temple: “We bless you from the House of the Lord” (Ps. 118:26).--JPS Torah Commentary, p. 51. Thus it was both a privilege and a duty to the people of God.

- 1 - The Sages further interpreted the blessing: the first line refers to material blessing, the second line to spiritual blessings of Torah knowledge and inspiration, and the third line to God's compassion above and beyond what one deserves, as expressed in the forgiveness of sins and the giving of peace. We have thought on this briefly as we thought of the Haftarah of Jeremiah 31. This prayer is included in the daily Shacharit prayers found in the Complete Artscroll . Thus it is expected that the men are to pray this prayer every morning as part of the morning blessings, which are uttered prior to the actual study of the Torah. It is interesting to note that there is both a corporate nature and an individual nature to the blessing. The YOU in the blessing is singular, and thus is bound up in the one-to-one relationship which He desires with all of His people. However, there is also a basis in the larger, corporate nature of God’s family. The framework of the blessing is corporate, as verses 23 & 27 reflect, that the sons of Aharon shall bless the children of Israel. He could have given this blessing to the individual, to the individual household, to Abba, but He gave it to the Priest. The priests represented God to the people and the people to God as he offered up the sacrifices. God’s blessings coming through the mediatorial work of the priests point to the ultimate Priest and Mediator of the Blessings of God, Yeshua our Messiah. V. 23 - Thus you shall bless the Children of Israel. This means that ADONAI is the one who wrote this prayer to be prayed over the people on a regular basis. Use this formula as you pray, rather than come up with your own. This is very close to the same idea found in Matthew 6:5-15. When we were at Capernaum, K'phar .next to the synagogue, there was the ruins of an old house ,כְּפַ ר נָ חוּם ,Nachum There were several small rooms that could be pointed out, and Rabbi Ben Alpert did a brief teaching on "going into your closet" to pray, based upon the Matthew passage. While many make close association of this Model Prayer with the Ami- dah, we will in this case make a close association with the Aaronic Benediction. So, when you as the spiritual leaders of Israel pray over Israel, pray this prayer! The rabbis identify this formula with the blessing recited by Aaron at the conclu- sion of the first public service in the newly consecrated Tabernacle (Lev. 9:22), thereby deducing that it should be recited by the priests while they are standing, with hands raised, in Hebrew.--JPS Torah Commentary, p. 51. The First Blessing: Bless, Keep You

- 2 - ,בֶּרֶך ,and is a term related to the noun berech ,בָּרַך ,The word for "bless" is barach "knee," and thus can mean "to adore on bended knee," or "to bless someone or something." There is a form of this word at the beginning of most Hebrew bless- ings, Baruch ata Adonai Eloheynu Melech ha Olam, Blessed are You O Lord our God, King of the Universe. Our Creator deserves our adoration and praise. To have God bless motral man is surely an outpouring of His grace, for no one ever deserves such blessing. God does and has and will bless His people with posterity (Gen. 28:3), prosperity (Gen. 24:35), land (Gen. 35:12), health and victory (Deut. 7:12-16), children (Ps. 127:3), and peace (Psalm 29:11). The greatest blessing of all is His very own presence as Shield and Savior (Deut. 33:29).--Hegg, The Priestly Blessing, p. 4. The blessing of God is summed up in His keeping power. May Adonai Bless you and Keep you. The word Keep is a common Hebrew term, shamar, which means to guard, to protect, to be in charge of. We are commanded to keep His commandments by doing them. God Himself keeps us from evil so that we might be able to keep His commandments. We are prone to do wrong, and we have to struggle to do that which is right. We are pulled by the presence of evil around us. It is a very seductive thing. Psalm 91:1, Psalm 121, The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13, the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:11-20. God is the one who can guard us from all evil. How does He do that? As we keep His commandments, we are keeping ourselves towards God and away from all evil. We should note that in the Model Prayer, Matthew 6:13, the definite article appears in the Greek text before the word for Evil, thus rendering it, "The Evil One." In the Model Prayer, then, we ask our Father in heaven to keep us from HaSatan. This idea of keeping from Evil is then well attested in the Model prayer of Yeshua. Our God is able to Keep Us. That is, He is able to Guard us, Protect us. 2 Peter 2:7-9 and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, Psalm 19:12-14 Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. 13 Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me;

- 3 - Then I will be blameless, And I shall be acquitted of great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer. In both of these passages, the instruction is similar - our God is able to keep us from falling, from stumbling, from sin. We may add Jude 24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, Our God admonishes us to Keep His Commandments, by guarding them and by doing them. Yet we must be kept from evil, for we are unable to keep ourselves free without His Divine Intervention. The Second Blessing: Shining Face, Gracious This blessing is not so straightforward. What does it mean to have one’s face ,which means to shed light ,אוֹר ,shine? The Hebrew word is the word for light illuminate, or become light. Perhaps we can understand it best by understanding the opposite as it is used in the Scripture. There are several times the phrase “to hide the face” is used. Deuteronomy 31:17-18, Psalm 27:9. In both instances “to hide God’s face” is associated with anger, punishment and abandonment. It is to remove His presence. The opposite then would be to shine God’s face towards His people, to be present with them, an obvious, experienced presence of God. The majority of the time the Bible speaks of the presence of God in the Tanak, the word is panah, or in our case, His face, the face of God. In the Mishkan and the Temple, the bread of the ,פָּנָ ֛יו presence is literally the bread of the face. In Eden when Adam and Chavah hid themselves from God, they hid from the panah, the face of God. Thus to illumine His face upon you is to make His very presence known, to dwell with you as a friend, to be in right relationship. The shining out of His face brings help in trouble, Psalm 22:24, secures our salvation, Psalm 31:16, brings restoration, Psalm 80:3, is the source of joy, Psalm 89:15, and instructs in the Torah, Psalm 119:135. To live in the light of His presence is to live out the purpose for which we were created, to commune with God in the context of an abundant life. This is the idea Paul had in mind, “For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of

- 4 - darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Messiah.” 2 Corinthians 4:6. This is the same idea incorporated in the final prayer of the Shemoneh Esrei, the 18 Benedictions: Bless us our Father, all of us as one, with the Light of your Countenance, for with the light of Your countenance You gave us, Adonai our God, the Torah of life and a love of kindness, righteousness, blessing, compassion, life and peace. This is the same kind of expectation we follow in the Model Prayer, when we ask of God, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven." We are asking for intimacy with the Father. The second part of this blessing is “be gracious unto you.” This translates the Hebrew chanan, to show favor, to be gracious towards. This word is used exclusively in connection with God’s mercy and grace.--JPS Torah Commentary, p. 51. That God would dwell with us and illumine His face towards us is a matter of His pure and undeserved grace. There is a two fold truth contained in this thought. First, God’s presence is not something anyone can demand, coerce, manipulate, or create. Second, He exercises His Sovereign right to make His presence known to whom He chooses, When He chooses, and where He chooses. It boggles the mind that an altogether Holy God, the thrice Holy God, would care to make His presence known to mere man. Not only has He desired to dwell with man, He has made the way sure through Messiah Yeshua. He who sits enthroned above the K’ruvim, willingly looks toward the one with a contrite heart, the one who trembles at His word, Psalm 53, Isaiah 66:2. By His infinite grace He revealed Himself to us as Immanuel, God with us, for we see the Shekinah shining in the face of Yeshuah HaMashiach. The Third Blessing: Countenance and Peace Again there is symbolic language in the phrase “lift up His Face,” nasa' panim. The idiom nasaʾ panim, literally “lift the face,” can mean either “to look” without qualifying the action (e. g., 2 Sam. 2:22; 2 Kings 9:32) or “to look with favor” (e. g., Gen. 19:21; 32:21; Job 42:8–9), that is, “smile.” Targum Jonathan suggests that this phrase means that God will answer the petitioner’s prayer.-- JPS Torah Commentary, p. 51. This term is found most often in the context of the petitioner coming to God or the King with a request, and when he has received it, his face is lifted up. Here, it is Our Great God and King who lifts us His face

- 5 - towards us. Again, much can be learned by considering the opposite phrase, the face that is fallen. Genesis 4:6, in ADONAI’s word to Cain, “Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?’” There is a similar remark towards Jeremiah in 3:12, “Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD; ‘I will not look upon you in anger. (Literally, I will not cause My face to fall against you.) For I am gracious,’ declares the LORD; ‘I will not be angry forever.’” In some instances, Fire goes out from the face of God and consumes either the enemy or the rebellious of His children: Leviticus 10:2; 17:10; 20:3; Psalm 34:16. On the other hand, from out of the face of God comes the light of life and of good to the righteous: Psalm 27:1; 36:10; 43:3; 44:4. (Keil & Delitzsch) In these examples, the idiom of a fallen face describes a frown in the context of anger. The opposite would be a smile in the context of favor. Thus can be understood as the Hebrew idiom of smiling at someone, to grant favor to them. The idea is that of being pleased. To look with favor, to smile. Shalom in this context is far more than the cessation of hostility. The word shalom is used as an expression of greeting or of departure, and is translated most often Peace. But the meaning of the word is fullness, wellbeing, completeness, wholeness, lacking nothing. Coupled with the Divine Favor of God’s Smile, shalom takes on a sense of friendship. Avraham was known as the “friend of God.” 2 Chronicles 20:7, James 2:23. Through faith in God and what He has promised in the Covenant, Avraham walked with God in obedience, stayed in His presence. Such an intimacy with God fulfills life in such a way that you have something to give to others. The Chumash noted that: Peace is not the absence of war. It is a harmony between conflicting forces. Within man, it is the proper balance between the needs of the body and his higher duty to the soul. In the universe it is a balance between the infinite elements as well as between the holy and the mundane. The Midrash says, "Peace when you enter, Peace when you leave, and peaceful relations with everyone." This alludes to three levels of peace: within the family, in the country where one lives, and throughout the world.--p. 47. Our Apostolic writings speak of at least three kinds of peace: the absence of strife,

- 6 - peace with God by means of a repentant heart, and the peace from God which Yeshua gives to His followers that is above all human understanding. Some have separated between the peace of God and the peace from God, but that seems a bit arbitrary. Being Blessed: the application Among the chief duties of the Aaronic priesthood is to bless the nation of Israel in the name of the LORD. The phrase "children of Israel" comes from the Hebrew "b'nai Israel," which literally means the sons of Israel, but is used in a generalized sense to refer to the entire nation of people. We can look to a few passages where no man would want to translate the phrase as referring only to men: Exodus 13:2, we don't have wombs; Exodus 35:29; Leviticus 12:1-8; 15:31-33; Numbers 5:1-4; 5:5-6. The best translation is a general one, meaning the "children of Israel," for in Hebrew, if there is a single male in the audience, it will be addressed in the masculine form. In ancient times, the High Priest would pronounce the Benediciton over the people at the morning and evening offerings. They would ascend a platform called the dukhan and pronounce the blessing with their hands uplifted. During the 2nd Temple Period, the Blessing was pronounced in the , although they would substitute ADONAI for the sacred name. After the destruction of the Temple, the practice was continued in the synagogues and it was incorporated into the final benediction of the Shemonei Esrei.--Hegg, The Priestly Blessing, p. 8. Yeshua is our Great High Priest, and as such He ever lives to make intercession for us, Hebrews 7:25. He prayed His High Preistly prayer over us in John 17. Hegg noted some interesting parallels: v. 11 Keep them in Your Name v. 15 Keep them from the Evil One v. 17 Sanctify them in the Truth v. 21 That they all may be One v. 24 That they may be with Me v. 26 That Your Love may be in them

- 7 - The final conclusion of the blessing says, “So they shall place my name upon the bnai Israel, and I will bless them.” The blessing may be summed up as the honor of carrying the Name of God, living in a way that speaks forth the attributes contained in the Name. Literally, “And they (the priests) shall place My name on.” In the light of the Ketef Hinnom silver plaques, which demonstrate that in seventh (or sixth)-century Jerusalem the Priestly Benediction was worn on the body in the form of amulets, the possibility exists that the literal meaning of this phrase is the correct one, that is, that the Priestly Benediction delivered by the priests in the sanctuary was also to be placed on the Israelites as prophylactics (see Excursus 13). The usual interpretation, adopted in the translation, is that God’s Name is figuratively “placed” by the priests on the Israelites through the medium of the benediction. Alternatively, God’s name is nikra’, “called” upon Israel (Deut. 28:10). Both verbs imply ownership (Deut. 12:5; Jer. 7:10).--JPS Torah Commentary, p. 52. What does it mean to Invoke the Name of God? This has implications not only for our present passage, but also for praying "in the Name of Yeshua." One of the things we must seek to avoid as believers is the desire to be able to control or manipulate God to perform our own will. We are constantly bombarded with the concept that if we have enough faith we can whatever we want, we can impose our Will upon God. That just ain’t so!! There have been times I have desired to be able to speak an incantation as such, and see God heal the people that I have cared so deeply for. I mean, I want God to heal. I have seen God work miracles even after the doctors gave up hope, seemingly as the result of a prayer lifted up invoking His name and His presence upon the need. I have also seen younger people, in the prime of their life, die, even after fasting and prayer, and crying out for the name of the Lord. The Siddur teaches us that we should know what we are praying. We should understand the words we are speaking and what it means. Therefore in thinking of the Aaronic Benediction, I felt we should have a firm understanding of what it is that we are praying. In the passage before us we have one of the most beautiful and often repeated blessings in the Bible. Here ADONAI commands the Aaronic Priests to bless the people by calling upon His name, to Invoke His name upon the people. He gives the actual blessings themselves, by which the priests would convey the blessing

- 8 - upon the people. So we can see what God would have us do by way of blessing or benediction, and perhaps we can understand what GOD means by a blessing. What does it mean to invoke the name of God? What does it NOT mean? First of all it is not some magic incantation. There is no magical formula of speaking the name of God by which all our difficulties vanish away. There is a very pagan notion behind this that is as ancient as the people of Israel. There have always been those who have believed that by chanting the name of their god in a special way, he will do as they desire. God is the one who is Sovereign! He is the one who controls! He is far above our ability to move him to do our own bidding! Secondly, it is not some kind of spiritual shorthand by which God will bless us when we have been disobedient. The blessings of the covenants which God made with Israel and which now extend to us through our relationship with Messiah Yeshua were dependent upon a life of obedience. It depended upon the people walking the narrow pathway of righteousness as outlined in the Torah, to live a holy life of commitment and dedication to doing things God’s way, a right halakah. The blessings came as a result of living out the life outlined by the Torah. We are guilty of wanting instant gratification, and this does not provide that. This blessing or benediction teaches us that everything hinges on our very personal relationship to God – knowing Him, trusting His Word and His Way for us is best. To invoke the name of the LORD means to consider and accept what the name reveals. The Tetragrammaton, the 4 letter Name of God is shrouded in mystery, and many attempt to understand the precise meaning and pronunciation of this name. The basis of the Name is found in the Hebrew verb, Haya, "to be." The most basic understanding is Self Existence. The most commonly accepted understanding is to see a revelation of God as "I am the One who Is." That is He has existence of Himself and is dependent upon nothing else. In fact all else is dependent upon God for its existence. The entire Universe is dependent upon Him for its very existence. Every law of physics, of science, of nature, of medicine, all depends upon God and His creative will. Therefore His covenants and promises are sure for He is sure. He orders all things in heaven and upon the earth according to His own will, Daniel 4:35. Thus to invoke the name of God reminds and teaches us who God is (His Character), and what he has done (His Works), and what He promises to do (His Covenant). This invocation, blessing, benediction, reminds us that all blessings in every facet of life come from Him and

- 9 - requires our faith.

Chapter 7:1-89 This chapter is very repetitive and consists of the listing of the various gifts from the 12 tribes for the functioning of the Mishkan in its movements, and thus for the functioning of the Nation of Israel as it followed the commandments of God and made their journey into the Land of Promise. These were the personal offerings of the leaders of the tribes for the celebration and dedication of the Mishkan. The princes of the tribes themselves brought these things for the Mishkan and the Altar, rather than delegate them to a servant. It was their humble contributions and must be brought by their own hand to be effective as their own offerings. Moreover, there was only an interval of at the most forty days between the anointing of the tabernacle, which commenced after the first day of the first month (cf. Ex. 40:16 and Lev. 8:10), and lasted eight days, and the departure from Sinai, on the twentieth day of the second month (Num. 10:11), and from this we have to deduct six days for the , which took place before their departure (Num. 9:1ff.); and it was within this period that the laws and or- dinances from Lev. 11 to Num. 6 had to be published, and the dedicatory offer- ings to be presented. Now, as the presentation itself was distributed, according to vv. 11ff., over twelve or thirteen days, we may very well assume that it did not entirely precede the publication of the laws referred to, but was carried on in part contemporaneously with it. The presentation of the dedicatory gifts of one tribe- prince might possibly occupy only a few hours of the day appointed for the pur- pose; and the rest of the day, therefore, might very conveniently be made use of by Moses for publishing the laws. In this case the short space of a month and a few days would be amply sufficient for everything that took place.--Keil & Delitzsch. The twelve tribal chieftains jointly contribute expensive gifts to the completed and consecrated Tabernacle. These gifts consist of six carts and twelve oxen for the use of the Gershonites and Merarites in transporting the dismantled Taber- nacle. Then, individually and on successive days, each chieftain contributes to the consecrated altar the identical gift, as follows: one silver bowl and one silver basin, each filled with choice flour and oil for cereal offerings, one gold ladle filled with incense, and the same number and kind of sacrificial animals. The

- 10 - contribution of each chieftain is duly recorded and the totals are summed up (vv. 84–88); the names of the chieftains are identical with those listed in 1:5–15, and they follow the order of the camp in 2:3–31. The conclusion, verse 89, describes how God communicated with Moses.--JPS Torah Commentary, p. 53. The offering of the leaders is quite interestingly the Chanukkah, the Dedication Of- Rather, “initiation offering” (also in vv. 84, 88), gifts brought upon .חָנֻכָּה ,fering initiating the use of a structure. In the same way, the holiday of Hanukkah ce-le- brates the time when the Temple altar, purified and reconsecrated by the Mac- cabees, was once again initiated into use. The Bible records initiation cere- monies for homes (Deut. 20:5), temples (1 Kings 8:63), altars (Num. 7:10–88; 2 Chron. 7:9), and city walls (Neh. 12:27). Initiation should not be confused with dedication/consecration, the latter being performed by anointing (cf. v. 88).--JPS Torah Commentary, p. 53. ADONAI had promised to meet with Moshe from above the Mercy Seat, the Kap- poret, in the Holy of Holies, Exodus 25:22. Exodus 40:34–35 explicitly states that Moses was not able to enter the Tent because of the density and power of God’s Presence. It was only after the first public service after the seven-day consecra- tion of the Tabernacle, was Moses (and also Aaron) permitted to enter the Tent (Lev. 9:23).--JPS Torah Commentary, p. 59. Moshe went into the Tent of Meeting, much like a Cohen would do, at the request of ADONAI. Most would understand that Moshe stood outside of the veil, the one which separated the Holy from the Most Holy. There Moshe would hear the Voice as a ,קוֹל ,of God. Both the Septuagint and the Targumim regard this use of kol circumlocution, meaning God Himself. This then is regarded as the forerunner of the bat kol, the daughter of the voice, that comes out of the heavens as we see later, particularly at Yeshua's immersion. The place of God upon the earth is consistently portrayed as above the Cherubim, on top of the Ark of the Covenant: Exodus 25:22; 1 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 6:2; 2 Kings 19:15; 1 Chronicles 13:6; Psalm 80:1; 99:1; Isaiah 37:16. This is regard- ed as His footstool, while His throne is seen to be in the heavens above. The Cherubim symbolize the guarded Holiness of ADONAI, guarding the way into the Presence of God.

- 11 - There are only two of the traditional 613 Mitzvot connected to our Torah: Numbers 6:23-26 Positive Commandment 26 The Priestly Blessing Numbers 7:9 Positive Commandment 34 Kohanim bearing the Ark

- 12 -