Parshah 42 – Mattot – Tribes.

Torah - B'midbar / Numbers 30: 1- 32:42. Haftarah - Yirmeyahu / Jeremiah1: 1 - 2: 3. B'rit HaChadashah (NT) - Acts 9:1-22.

Time to talk and time to be quiet.

"Then the priest said to the men of the army who went to war: This is the Statute which Adonai commanded Moshe." B'midbar / Numbers 31:21 (JPS). This Parshah remind me of an old message that Jim Stier, the founder of YWAM in Brazil preached in the 70s and 80s .... Time to speak and time to keep silent, based on Ecclesiastes 3:7b. Here in this verse (Number 31:21), that I take as a basis for this message, the cohen (priest) Eleazar, spoke right and at the right time!! The army of Israel had just won a battle against the Midianites. They gathered all the spoil and brought them to the camp on the plains of Moav. Moshe was angry with the commanders of the army because they did not fully comply with God's instructions. At this point, after Moshe had told the commanders how they should act to correct the situation. Then, Eleazar spoke and explained to the army that all the spoil should be cleansed by fire or water before they entered the camp, and their clothes should be washed before entering the camp, even after waiting for the seven days Moshe had specified (verse 19). Why did Eleazar - the son of Moshe's brother, Aharon, the first high priest of Israel – spoke at this time? Why did not Moshe teach or clarify these specific rules for the purification of the spoil and the men of the army? Is this an old problem for Moshe, or is Eleazar one step farther to clarifying the small details of an earlier teaching? Rabbi Shlomo Yitschaki (1040-1105 CE) explains that Eleazar had to speak because Moshe was angry. Citing two previous examples when Moshe was outraged - "And [Moshe] was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aharon, who survived." (Vayikra 10: 16, NIV), for they and their father had not eaten the sin offering in the sanctuary. Another occasion is, " and Aaron assembled the people before the rock, and he said to them, hear now, you rebels! Can we get water out of this stone?" (B'midbar 20:10, ESV), when Moshe struck the rock instead of talking to her – Rashi quotes Sifre's comment that "Moshe erred because of his rage"(Sifre B'midbar 157).

Jonathan Allen, comments that: "The phrase - the Torah statute - only appears twice in the Hebrew Scriptures, here and in chapter 19: 2 of B'midbar/Numbers), where the set of six-word "This is the statute of the Torah that Adonai has commanded” is repeated at the beginning of the enigmatic ritual of the Red Heifer. In this passage, the Lord is speaking to Moshe and Aharon and begins to include the norms for purity and ritual impurity after people contact with corpses. Here, several years late, Eleazar is demonstrating concern in the purification of people and things after the battle when essentially contact with corpse is again the issue. So that, his speech on this occasion could be interpreted as simply an application or detailed exposition of the previous rules rather than new regulations." The Samaritan Pentateuch still adds a few words currently to avoid any slight interpretation of Eleazar's rebellion against Moshe. Eleazar was simply fulfilling an important role that the Lord assigned to the Cohanim (priests): to observe and teach the rules of ritual purity. We know that immediately after the death of his two sons, Nadav and Avihu, for bringing "strange fire" before the Eternal, Aharon was instructed "You must distinguish between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, and you must to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that Adonai has spoken to them through Moshe."(Vayikra 10: 10-11, NIV). The function of explaining the Torah to the people is confirmed by the prophet Ezekiel: "They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the profane and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean."(Ezekiel 44:23, ESV). This role of the Cohanim (priests) appears in the rules for dealing with those afflicted with tzara'at (leprosy), where only the cohen had the authority to pronounce whether the person was clean or impure. Moshe also places the Cohanim in the position of arbitrators for the whole nation in difficult cases that could not be resolved by local magistrates: "You must go up to the place which the Lord your God has chosen, and appear before the cohanin, or the magistrate. When they announced the verdict in the case, you must carry out the verdict that is announced to you from that place that Adonai chose, scrupulously observing all his instructions." (D'varim/Deuteronomy 17: 8-10, JPS). Within the Body of Mashiach (Messiah) there is a need for similar roles. To enable the body to function, Yeshua "gave some for apostles, some for prophets, some for evangelists, and some as shepherds and teachers." (Ephesians 4:11, NIV) to grow and be conformed to His image (vv.14,15). Likewise, Rav Sha'ul (Apostle Paul) urged the Corinthian community to take responsibility for their own legal affairs among themselves and not to bring domestic disputes to the public, when he wrote these things to the believers, "Will any of you, when you have a case against your neighbor, dare to go to court before the unjust, and not before the saints?" (1 Corinthians 6: 1, NIV). Decisions and disputes within the community should be dealt with internally: "To the shame of you I say this: is there not a person balanced among you, who can make fair decisions when disagreements and strife arise?" (V. 5, NIV). The rabbis and teachers should teach the norms and rules that believers are called to obey, in order to be holy as God is and has called His people to be. But Sha'ul insists on speaking about lawsuits: "It is already a complete defeat for you to have you sued against one another, why do you not suffer injustice first, why do you not suffer fraud before? For you are doing injustice and defrauding yourselves, and you do this to your brother."(1 Corinthians 6: 7-8, NIV). The dispute procedure that Yeshua delineated for the disciples has a particular discussion between the two affected parts as their first step: "If your brother commits a sin against you, go and rebuke him - but in private, only between the two of you. If he hears you, you have won back your brother.” (Matthew18:15, CJB) These words of Yeshua are not far from a reaffirmation of the Torah -" Do not hate your brother in your heart, but rebuke your neighbor, with love, that you may not bear his sin." (Vayikra/Levitucus19:17, NIV) – The emphasis is on personal relationships, with the aim of bringing not only dispute resolution but restoration of relationship; Not only win the argument against your enemy, but, win back a brother. When a brother or sister sees that you love them enough to talk and teach without causing them embarrassment or shame, then you will win them, even if it is because of an offense, thus bringing unity to the Body of Mashiach: "Behold how good and pleasant it is for brothers to live in unity." (Psalm 133: 1, NIV). The next step is necessary, when no agreement is reach or the person persists in the same attitude: "If he does not listen, get one or two people with you so that every accusation can be supported by the testimony of two or three witnesses." (Matthew 18:16, CJB). Again, Yeshua is quoting the Torah, B'midbar/ Numbers 35:30 and the emphasis on witnesses come directly from the Torah again: "A single witness shall not rise against any one for any iniquity, or for any sin, whatever the sin committed; By the mouth of two or three witnesses the fact shall be established." (D'varim19:15, NIV). Why is it important? Because this protects both parties in the dispute! Not only do witnesses have to agree that the offense is material, but that you have made every effort to resolve it and the aggressor's side is also heard and considered. Rav Sha'ul confirms this to the congregations: "Every word must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses."(2 Corinthians 13: 1, ESV), the Greek verb 'establish' also means 'defend', 'stand up for somebody', having the same meaning as the Hebrew verb used in the Torah. Does it make any difference in this civilized society? Here in the United States the sense of personal justice is very strong ... for almost anything, someone takes you to a court room where lawyers eager for money will do everything to convince the judge that the person is right or else the person gets a weapon and solves in his own way an issue. I mean, it does not work, it gets worse. Some people fight for little, kills for less and worse, among the believer people had been killed by slander and by gossip. Is it because we take the pains of the other? Behold, Eleazar took the pains of Moshe for the good of the people and for Moshe himself, and not to take advantage of the situation and found his own congregation, as many people do when there is discord. You probably know cases and cases of God's men and women who have been massacred, by slander, by injustice, by gossip, and have had their lives torn apart because the congregation failed to apply the rule that the Torah established and Lord Yeshua ratified in Matthew 5:38-39: "I say to you, do not resist the wicked, but whosoever shall smite his right cheek, turn to his left also." At the beginning of my walk with the Lord, a friend asked me if this was true, I said yes. He punched me in the face that dislocated my chin and broke a tooth. I literally applied what Yeshua said. Jonathan Allen, concludes his commentary on this Parshah asking some interesting questions: "When you enter into a dispute with someone, are you conciliatory or contradictory? Do you enter to win the argument or win the person? Do you want to win at any cost? And yet you try to justify yourself by saying that the end justifies the means.” My 99 years old and wise father (nick name Earthquake) taught me: "I give an ox not to start a fight and a herd to get out of it quickly." We need people today like Eleazar, who rises to defend his brother, who stands between an angry person and an insane crowd, like a real priest!!! We do not need more accusers, we do not need more people pointing the finger, we do not need people like those who in the past almost stoned the woman caught in adultery. People forget so quickly that they also have their own sins ... and they want to do justice at all costs. My friends, may we today be the doers of the Word of God and not just hearers. May the Eternal Father help us to speak the right things at the right time, to learn to be silent when we are angry or frustrated, so as not to offend others. May He bless us and shalom to Israel! Bible Versions Used: NIV - New International Version. ESV - English Standard Bible. CJB - Complete Jewish Bible. JPS - Jewish Publication Society. Richmond, August 03, 2019. Rabbi Jaime Araujo.