Love Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom and welcome to Ve-ahavta Yisrael, a Hebrew phrase which means "you shall love Israel." We hope you'll stay with us for the next 30 minutes as our teacher Dr. Baruch shares his expository teaching from the Bible. Dr. Baruch is the senior lecturer at the Zera Abraham Institute based in Israel. Although all courses are taught in Hebrew at the institute, Dr. Baruch is pleased to share this weekly address in English. To find out more about our work in Israel, please visit us on the web at loveisrael.org. That's one word: loveisrael.org. Now, here's Baruch with today's lesson.

Dr. Baruch Korman: We saw last week that the children of Israel experienced a great victory. But we also saw that there was pride among some of what we might call soldiers. When the word of God commanded the people to divide up equally the spoils, some of the soldiers did not want to do that. They wanted to keep everything for themselves because these other individuals remained with the vessels, or we could translate that as with the supplies. They did not go out and risk their life.

But what we're seeing is that with God, staying with the stuff is a very important assignment, and therefore they should share equally. This is the judgment of God, but there was a disagreement. Now, we're going to see special attention given to what that spoil was, what they plundered from their enemies. And there's also going to be good news that I'll mention later on. With that said, get out your Bible and look with me to the book of Numbers.

We're in Numbers chapter 31. We began this chapter last week and we're now ready for verse 25. Numbers chapter 31, beginning with verse 25, says, "And the Lord spoke to Moses saying..." This is a statement of revelation. God is getting ready to speak to Moses, but we're going to find that what Moses hears isn't just for him, but it's for all the children of Israel.

Verse 26 says, "Lift up the heads of the plunder of the captives both of man and beasts, you (Moses) and Eleazar the priest and the chief leaders of the witness (the congregation)." Lift up the head is an idiom in Hebrew which means to count. What God is wanting to do is to show the people how great this victory was and how God moved mightily to secure victory for the people. There's a wonderful mention here of God's faithfulness to save. We'll get to that in a few minutes.

Most Bibles will say "divide" in verse 27, but when we look at it, it's the Hebrew word for half. So we're dividing in half, meaning there's going to be one half for one group and another half for a second group. It says, "And you shall divide in half the plunder between the ones who participated in the war that went out for the army and between all the congregation."

Verse 28 says, "And you shall lift up (the word is "meches" meaning a tax or tribute) a tribute unto the Lord from the men of war that went out to the army, one soul from five hundred, both of men and of cattle and of the donkeys and of the flock." Primarily when we deal with this plunder from a battle, the first and foremost mention is the livestock, whether cattle, donkeys, or the flock, which can consist of sheep or goats.

Verse 29 says, "From this half, you shall take and give it to Eleazar the priest as a donation (terumah) unto the Lord." Verse 30 continues, "And from the half taken from the children of Israel, you shall take one out of fifty, both from the men and from the cattle, the donkeys, the flock, and all the domesticated animals. And it shall be given to the Levites, the keepers of the charge of the Tabernacle of the Lord." So there's a special offering unto the Lord, but the recipients are the Levites.

Verse 31 says, "And Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as the Lord commanded Moses." When you look at this in the Hebrew language, the verb "vaya'as" (and he did) is singular, not plural. Many Bibles will translate this as "Moses and Eleazar did," but Moses is being singled out by the text. It's what Moses did and Eleazar the priest, and they did just as the Lord commanded Moses.

Verse 32 says, "And it came about that the plunder in excess of the plunder which the people of the army had plundered of the flock was six hundred and seventy-five thousand." Verse 33 says, "And the cattle were seventy-two thousand." Verse 34 says, "The donkeys were sixty-one thousand." And then verse 35 says, "And the souls of man from the women who did not know by lying with a male, every soul was thirty-two thousand."

Remember, we learned last week that those women who never were intimate with a male were not going to be put to death. But the women who were old enough to have been married were put to death because their husbands were killed in this conflict and they would pose a threat to the children of Israel. Verse 36 says, "And it came about that half of the portion of the ones who went out in the army, the number of flock were three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred."

Verse 37 says, "And the tribute unto the Lord from the flock was six hundred and seventy-five." Verse 38 says, "Among the cattle, it was thirty-six thousand, and the tribute unto the Lord was seventy-two." From the donkeys in verse 39, there were thirty thousand and five hundred and the tribute unto the Lord was sixty-one. Verse 40 says, "And the souls of man were sixteen thousand and their tribute unto the Lord was thirty-two souls."

Verse 41 says, "And Moses gave the tribute, the donation unto the Lord to Eleazar the priest, just as the Lord commanded Moses." Something that is being emphasized here over and over is how Moses did exactly what the Lord had commanded him to do. There are also two special blessings that are going to be taught to us within this passage of scripture.

Verses 42 through 46 detail the half given to the congregation. From the flock, it was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand and five hundred. The cattle were thirty-six thousand. The donkeys were thirty thousand and five hundred. And the souls of man were sixteen thousand. Verse 47 says, "And Moses took from the half of the children of Israel that which was taken, one from fifty, from both man and from beast, and he gave them to the Levites, the keepers of the charge of the Tabernacle of the Lord, just as the Lord commanded Moses."

Over and over, it is shown how obedient Moses was to what God told him. We're seeing how great a victory the children of Israel received because they were obedient to the Lord's command to go out, and the Lord provided a mighty victory. These numbers represent this tremendous victory of the people. Verse 48 says, "And the captains drew near to Moses, those who were over a thousand of the army and those who were leaders over a hundreds."

Verse 49 says, "And your servants said to Moses, 'Lift up the heads (count) of the men of war which are in our hand and there is not missing from us a man.'" This is the blessing I was speaking of. Not only was it a great victory, but of those soldiers who went out, not one lost their life. This is a tremendous example of what we should expect when we follow the word of God. When we are obedient to the word of God, we're not going to suffer loss, but we're going to experience success.

There is an inherent connection between obedience to the truth of God and demonstrating success and not suffering loss. Verse 50 says, "And let us bring near the offering of the Lord every man who is found to have a vessel of gold for armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, or a necklace." This is the second blessing. They have gold, which is precious, and they are donating it. It says they are doing this to make atonement concerning our souls (our lives) before the Lord.

Through this large amount of gold taken by victory through plunder, they are using it to see themselves being renewed in their relationship to God. Atonement is good, but realize that redemption is better. Atonement is from the word of God, and it should not be spoken of adversely, but we need to understand it in its proper way. Atonement is good, but we don't find perfection through it.

There's a very important verse in Hebrews chapter 7, verse 11 where it tells us that God is interested in perfection. If perfection was from the law (meaning the Levitical priesthood), there would not be a need for a change. But there was a change in the priesthood. According to the Torah, we think of the Levitical priesthood, those priests who came from the tribe of Levi. This is good, but there's something better, and that is redemption.

Through redemption, not only is our sin forgiven, but our sin no longer exists. That's why through the New Covenant, which is indeed a covenant of redemption, the scripture says all of our sins are forgiven and all of our sins are forgotten. Atonement is good, but redemption is better. Never think that the Torah is not good. Paul says in Romans chapter 7 that the Torah is good, holy, and righteous. But the Torah cannot minister to us perfection. It's good, but it's not perfect.

Messiah came into this world to minister to us in a unique way whereby we could be perfect in the presence of God. That perfection is an outcome of redemption. Verse 51 says, "And Moses took and Eleazar the priest the gold from them, every vessel that was made." Verse 52 says, "And it came about all the gold of this offering which was lifted up to the Lord was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels." This was found from the leaders of thousands and leaders of hundreds.

Verse 53 says, "And the men of the army, they had plundered every man for himself." This is why they didn't want to divide it, because every man did so for himself. Verse 54 says, "And Moses took and Eleazar the priest the gold from the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds and they brought it unto the Tent of Meeting for a memorial to the children of Israel before the Lord."

They took some of that gold and they didn't keep it for themselves, although that's what they wanted to do in the flesh. They offered it unto the Lord as an elevation offering as a testimony. They did it for a memorial of the children of Israel before the Lord. They gave in order that God would remember His covenantal promises, and God's always committed to that. God loves to show Himself faithful to His covenantal promises.

We are going to be the recipients of the goodness of God through His covenantal promises. What is a covenant? The Hebrew word for covenant is "brit," and a covenant is a container of blessings. There are obligations, and God is always faithful to His obligations. We need to be faithful to Him so we can be recipients of these covenantal blessings. Messiah died on that cross to fulfill the character of the law of God.

The law is good, perfect, and righteous, but it cannot minister perfection. It is correct in the presence of God, but it cannot cause us to become perfect. Messiah came into this world to minister to us in a unique way whereby we could be perfect in the presence of God through faith in the Gospel message. Through the law, Moses says, "I put before you both blessing and curse, life and death."

Messiah died on the cross and took death and the curse for us. What remains is life—eternal life—and blessing. It's only when we focus on the word of God that we are going to be able to live the life and receive the blessings that God wants to provide for us. He is a good, gracious, generous, loving, and faithful God. But it is only when we submit to His truth and acknowledge His absolute authority over us that we're going to be the people who have the anointing from the Holy Spirit.

That anointing will lead us into God's will so that we can do His will and find the blessings from obedience. One is not saved by obedience, and neither are we saved by works. But Messiah says to the church in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 several times, "I know your works." Works are not the basis for salvation, but works manifest our faithfulness. If we're faithful and we are led by the anointing of the Spirit, we're going to be abundant in good deeds.

That is having that proper witness and testimony that is pleasing to God. We need to humble ourselves. It's through this humility that we'll be better able to hear from God. When we are prideful or walking in arrogancy, we're not going to hear from God. But when we are humble and approach God submissively, recognizing His absolute authority over our lives, we can experience that anointing that empowers us. We find through the anointing God's provision. We will also learn God's perspective so we can understand with discernment what God is calling us to do. Shalom from Israel.

Guest (Male): We hope you have benefited from today's message and share it with others. Please plan to join us each week at this time and on this channel for our broadcast of loveisrael.org. Again, to find out more about us, please visit our website loveisrael.org. There you will find articles and numerous other lectures by Baruch. These teachings are in video form. You may download them or watch them in streaming video. Until next time, may the Lord bless you in our Messiah Yeshua, that is Jesus, as you walk with him. Shalom from Israel.