Parshah 39 - - Statute - B'midbar / Numbers 19: 1 to 22: 1. Haftarah – Shoftim/Judges 11: 1-33. Brit Hachadashah (NT) Yochanan/John 3: 10-21.

The Shepherd's staff

In the commentary on this Parshah made by Jonathan Allen, he quotes the following fact: Moshe and Aharon gathered the congregation before the rock and said to them, "Listen you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?" And Moshe raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. "There came out much water, the community and their animals drank. (B'midbar/Numbers 20: 10-11, JPS), but the instructions given to Moshe had simply been: "You and your brother Aaron must take the rod, gather the community and before their eyes command the rock to produce water, so you must produce water for them from the rock and give water to the congregation and its animals "(verse 8, JPS). Censuring the people and hurting the rock seems to be the things that go beyond the mandate, the fact that Moshe uses the pronoun “WE" is particularly problematic."

It reminds me of the fable of the little ant ridding on an elephant: they were crossing a wooden bridge, with the weight of the elephant the bridge began to tremble, but the little ant shrieked: look what WE are doing!

How many times in my life have I done the same? How many times in my life have I voluntarily or involuntarily tried to appropriate the glory due to the Eternal? Have mercy on me, O Most High!

This Parshah is very rich in legal details (laws, statutes, rules, etc.), but is also rich in historical details. It is not the type of Parshah we focus on one subject from start to finish. Because of the richness of the text, we have to think carefully about how to approach the most prominent issues.

Right from the beginning we are faced with a ceremony which 99% of Christians (I believe, is my own conclusion) do not know the origin and the meaning: the Redemptive work of Yeshua Ha Mashiach is shown here in chapter 19:2 to 4: "... .. Tell the children of to bring you a red heifer, perfect, without blemish, that has never been under a yoke. Give it to Eleazar the cohen, and he shall bring it outside the camp and be sacrificed before him. Eleazar the cohen shall take of the blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the tabernacle of the congregation." (BVN).

In Hebrews 9:11 to 15, we see the explanation of this ceremony and its application: "When, however, Yeshua Ha Mashiach came as cohen ha gadol (high priest) in the greatest and most perfect tabernacle, not made by hands human beings, not by blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, entered the Most Holy Place once and for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Therefore, if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled upon the defiled ones, sanctify them, much more the blood of Yeshua, who by the Spirit himself offered himself without blemish to God, will purify our consciousness of dead works, to serve the living God." (BVN).

As the heifer was taken out of the camp to be slain (B‟midbar/Numbers 19:3), Yeshua ha Mashiach shed his blood, out of the camp. (Hebrews 13:12)

Next, we see one of the pillars of Christianity and again, I can say that most are unaware of the origin of baptism. If you ask in the churches who started the baptism, almost all will affirm that it was Yochanan the Immerser (John the Baptist), however we see here that, in the desert, more than a thousand years before Yochanan/John was born,God instituted this act, representing the purification of people.

In chapter 20, we see the account of the death of Myriam, sister of Aharon and Moshe. Myriam was a blessed woman, she took Moshe from the waters of the Nile, led him to his own mother to raise him, led the people in a glorious song after the passage through the sea. It is true that she spoke bad things about Moshe, but this was not the high point of her life, the high point was the security she conveyed to the people, always with Moshe and Aharon.

Immediately after Myriam's death, the people murmur for lack of water. In verse 8 we read: " You and your brother Aaron must take the rod, gather the community and before their eyes command the rock to produce water. "(JPS). The rest of this story is well known, as well as its consequences.

The commentators were interested in finding out who the staff belongs to - was it from Aharon or from Moshe? - and why was told to Moshe to take the staff and gather the congregation? Jacob Milgrom explains that "this could have been the staff of Aharon, which had once bloomed and was kept before the Eternal, or even the rod or staff that was used during the plagues in Egypt, for example:" When Pharaoh says to you: Perform a miracle, speak to Aharon, to take his rod and cast it before Pharaoh, so that it may become a serpent." ( / Exodus 7: 9, JPS).

However, it was more likely to have been the staff of Moshe, used in performing the miracles of God during the Exodus and in the desert, for example, "Raise the rod, reach out to the sea and divide it into two" (Shemot/Exodus 14:16, JPS) This rod was used in the previous example of drawing water from a rock -" Then the Lord said to Moshe, pass before the people; take with you some of the elders of Israel, and carry the rod with which you struck the Nile, and go . I'll be there before you on the rock in Horeb. You must hit the rock and water will flow out of it so the people can drink."(Shemot / Exodus 17: 5-6, (JPS).

Please notice the great difference between this passage from Shemot / Exodus and that from B'midbar / Numbers which we are studying today. In the first the Eternal spoken to hit the rock, the second He says to speak to the rock ... two completely different actions.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch assumed that the staff was Moshe's, but he was more concerned with the meaning. He commented: "The staff was not being used by Moshe since the victory over Amalek- „Moshe said to Y'hoshua / Joshua, choose some men for us, and go out to do battle with Amalek. Tomorrow I will be at the top of the hill, with the rod of God in my hand.‟ (Shemot / Exodus 17: 9 JPS). The staff of God in the hands of Moshe designated it as being sent by God. "And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire poured out to the ground, and the LORD sent hail to the land of Egypt. "(Shemot / Exodus 9:23, JPS).

An important biblical principle is shown in / Leviticus 27:32, "A tenth part of the herd or of the flock, of all that passed under the shepherd's staff, the tenth part shall be holy unto Adonai."(CJB) This is an important principle: only those who passed under the staff were covered and protected. But most people only read thinking about tithing.

When King David says, "Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff comfort me." (Tehillim / Psalm 23: 4, ESV), he is confirming that he himself was under the authority of the Eternal.

The Prophet Yechezk'el / Ezekiel announces how God was about to solve the problem of his people during the time of the exile in Babylon: "As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you , says Adonai Elohim, I will cause you to pass under my staff, and I will cause you to obey the covenant obligations" (Yechezk'el / Ezekiel 20: 36-37, BJC). It will not be a selection; however, some will return to Israel, but some will not: "I will cleanse the rebels from the midst of you, and those who transgress against me I will take them from the land where they are, but they will not enter the land, then you will know that I am Adonai "(v. 38, BJC).

The prophet Yirmeyahu / Jeremiah made the vital connection between this process of returning to Eretz Israel and the Mashiach, he says: "In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places around , and in the cities of Judah, flocks will again pass through the hands of the keeper, says Adonai. "(Yirmeyahu / Jeremiah 33:13, JPS).

After the return, Adonai promises that people will have a normal life, that the daily routine of agriculture will be resumed, throughout Eretz Israel. Immediately following, the prophet explains how this will happen: "Behold, the days come, says Adonai, that I will fulfill the promise which I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will bring down a Branch of Righteousness from David, He will do what is just and right in the land, and in those days, Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell in safety and this is the name by which she will be called Adonai Tzidkenu, the Lord our Righteousness" (Yirmeyahu / Jeremiah 33:14 -16). TheBranch of Justice or Renewal of Justice is one of the expressions used to describe the name of Mashiach, He will do the following: "He shall raise up a standard for the nations, and shall assemble the banished ones of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. "(Yesha'yahu / Isaiah 11:12, BVN).

In the Jewish synagogues, we pray three times a day this portion, so may God fulfills this promise promptly: "Blow the great shofar for our freedom, raise the banner high to gather our exiles, and gather us from the four corners of the earth, Baruch ata Adonai, Blessed is he who gathered the dispersed of his people Israel. " The Jewish people is serious when the matter is related to Mashiach, even if it means judgment and separation: “Therefore I will save I will raise up a shepherd, who is in charge of them, and he will feed them, my servant David, he will feed them and be their shepherd.” (Yechezk‟el / Ezekiel 34: 22-23, BJC).

How serious are we as believers, to see Lord Yeshua returning to Jerusalem? Are we ready to see Him ruling the nations with an iron rod and destroying His enemies with the sword of His mouth? Do we really want this to happen? Or is it that many believers will be scandalized by the "lack of love" of Yeshua for the people, and will they protest against Him, fighting for human rights? The Lord Yeshua Ha Mashiach, made it very clear: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne, and all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people and he shall put the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. "(Mattityahu / Matthew 25: 31-33, BJC).

As we are approaching the great and terrible day when Lord Yeshua Ha Mashiach will return, it is essential to make sure of this principle: only those who pass under the staff are covered and protected by Him. We may say that He already has the rod in His hand and prepares to use it, as Yochanan / John the Baptist said: "He has a shovel with him and will clean his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn and burn the chaff in unquenchable fire. "(Mattityahu / Matthew 3:12, BJC).

It is by the fruits we produce that we have the security of having passed under his "staff" and we know we are counted as his sheep. Beware of a current idea around, which it says that God's grace is so great that you can do whatever you want, and in the end, He will save you (once saved, saved forever). This has no biblical foundation. In Revelation 2:10 we see that it is the faithful unto death who will receive the crown of life and not those who simply say that they believe in Yeshua. We must not only receive Him as our Savior, but submit our lives to Him as Lord and King.

This Parshah still tells the story of the bronze serpent (B'midbar / Numbers 21: 4-9) and we see the relationship that this has with what Lord Yeshua spoke in Yochanan / John 3:14. This Parshah also tells the story of Aharon's death and the passing of the anointing to his son Eleazar. This Parshah ends by telling the story of the victory of the sons of Israel over two mighty kings, King Seon of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan.

Let us pray that our lives will be like this, we will go through struggles and difficulties sometimes even fail, but, in the end with the strength of the Mighty One of Israel, we will be victorious, because He sent His Son, who loved us and gave Himself as a sacrifice to save us and keep us under His staff. May He bless you!!!

Bible Versions Used: JPS - Jewish Publication Society. ESV - English Standard Version. BVN - New Life . BJC - Complete Jewish Bible.

Richmond, July 12th, 2019. Rabbi Jaime Araujo.