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: Well, we are going to be looking at a scripture that the best way that we can describe it is a census. So people are going to be counted. Now, we need to realize something and that is in the scripture a census has a unique word that really speaks to it and that word is to lift up. And we'll see this in a moment.

So, what does that mean to lift up and the implication is to lift up one's head? Well, there's two things. Number one, this census is an opportunity for people to be recognized by God. A census, once it's taken, God is going to recognize those people who participate in it. And how do we participate? Well, we don't count individuals, but we count the things that are given by individuals.

So sometimes, for example, a half-shekel is given. And this half-shekel represents so you call and count those who are givers and you know how many people are responding. And it tells us something. And that is that we are called to respond to the instructions of God. We are called to be livers of a sacrificial life, those who are not thinking about what we want, but what we are called to do to demonstrate our faith in God.

Secondly, this word to lift up one's head is also an idiom in Hebrew for comfort. So God is going to acknowledge and how does he acknowledge? By comforting his people, bringing us into his purposes, his plans, so that we have the privilege of participating with God. Well, with that said, I would invite you to take out your Bibles and look with me if you would to the Book of Numbers and chapter 26.

Now, you might recall that last week I read a verse that for most English Bibles and Bibles of most languages, it did not appear in chapter 25. And I'm speaking about verse 19. In most languages, chapter 25 only has 18 verses and what they do is they take the 19th verse and they attach it to verse 1 of chapter 26. So, I want to go back and read this verse again.

In my Bible, in the Hebrew Bible, there is indeed Numbers chapter 25 and verse 19 where it says, "And it came about after the plague." And we see here that this forms a transition. And therefore, after that, we move on and we see in verse 1 of chapter 26, at least in my Bible, where it says, "And the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest saying."

So, we have this formula that speaks to revelation. And what is God going to tell the people through this revelation? Well, let's press on. Look if you would to verse 2. We have the phrase "Se'u et rosh", which means "lift up the head of all", and we have a word, most Bibles will say "congregation", but it's a word that is derived from the Hebrew term for witnessing.

So, it speaks about those who are bearing witness to their faith, their covenantal relationship with God. So, we read in verse 2, "Lift up the head of all or every witness of the children of Israel from 20 years of age and over of the house of their fathers." And then we have something: "kol yotse tsava be-Yisrael", which means "all who go out", and we have the word for "army in Israel".

Now, let me just simply say something. We have seen in Israel right now, if we talk a moment about politics, there's something that is very controversial and it ought not be. And it's this: it's called "giyus", which means to put yourself into the army, that you choose to go in. So, we speak about "Lishkat Giyus", which is basically the place that you go to enlist in the army.

And what we find is there is a significant percent of the Israeli populace that doesn't do this. And what are they? The so-called "most religious". And what I would say to you is this: that these religious ones really are not following what they should because when we look at the scripture, in order to be encouraged, in order to be acknowledged by God, what do you have to do?

Well, we just saw it: that you have to do something and that is everyone who goes out and the implication is "tsava", army in Israel. So, everyone who goes out and the implication is with the army in Israel. They are acknowledged by God. If you don't, then you're not going to be counted among the people of God. And unfortunately, today it's become a quite normal practice to exclude religious—the most religious—from military service, and this is not biblical.

Now, here again, I don't care whether this is popular or not. That's not what a Bible teacher is called to do. A Bible teacher is called to speak truth. And however people want to respond to that, that's between them and God. But what is not compromising is to share something that is not in the scripture and act like it is. This is not what a true Bible teacher does.

Let's press on. Look if you would to verse 3. "And Moses spoke and Eleazar the priest of them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan and this is by Jericho saying." So, we have this location. Notice what it says: "in the plains of Moab by the Jordan", this would be the Jordan River, and the implication is close to Jericho saying.

And we just have a similar statement: "from 20 years of age and over, just as the Lord commanded Moses and the children of Israel, the ones who go forth from the land of Egypt." Now, this is important because this expression "to go forth from the land of Egypt", well, what allowed them to go forth from the land of Egypt? Very simply, the blood of the lamb.

So, these individuals had a redemptive relationship with God. And through that redemptive relationship, they entered into a covenant. And here's what's important: that covenant was manifested by an action and what was that? Spiritual warfare, going out to fight. And what we find here is biblically, those who would not join the army, they were not part of the people of God, they were not part of the children of Israel.

Let's move on. Look if you would to verse 5. "Reuben, a firstborn of Israel, the sons of Reuben, Hanoch, from the family of the Hanochi." Now, what we see here is that I'm not going to translate it like most Bibles will and always add the "ites". I'm going to just read it as it is in Hebrew but understand this last part where we see here, for example, if we go and we say "ha-Hanochi", this "i" on the end represents the "ites".

So, then it says "le-Pallu", of the family of the Pallui. Here again, this "i" or "e" on the end represents these "ites". Then we have, look at verse 6, "le-Hezron", from the family of ha-Hezroni. So, the same thing. "le-Carmi", the family of the Carmi. Verse 7: "These are the families of the Reubenites, they were according to the counting", and how many were they? It says here, "43,730".

So, this is the first number. Let's move on to the next family. Look if you would to verse 8. "And the sons of Pallu, Eliab, and the sons of Eliab, Nemuel, ve-Dathan, ve-Abiram. It is the Dathan and Abiram, the ones who were called of the witnesses or the congregation which incited against Moses against Moses and against Aaron in the witnesses of Korah, those who were part of the congregation of Korah, when they incited concerning the Lord."

Now, this word for incitement is really, it's a word where if you understand it, it has to do with setting a fire. Why? Well, it's speaking about destruction. When fire burns, things are destroyed. And this is what's being emphasized here in this passage of scripture, that there's going to be destruction. Move on to verse 10. "And the land opened up its mouth and swallowed them and Korah with the death of the witness, when the fire devoured 250 men and it became", notice this "nes", "a miracle".

Now, miracles have a purpose in the scripture. And the purpose of every miracle is to confirm biblical truth. So, these individuals who were part of Korah, what were they? They were disobedient. And therefore, a miracle happened to confirm what does God do when we are disobedient, when we are rebellious, when we are insightful against God and the servants of God. We can expect a response from God, a miraculous response.

Let's move on to verse 11. "And the sons of Korah did not die." So, we find something: he died, those who were part of his assembly, those who were witnessing in a similar way to Korah, they died. But it says here in verse 11, "the sons of Korah did not die." Let's move on to verse 12. "And the sons of Simeon according to their families, of Nemuel of the family of ha-Nemueli, and the next one, Yamin from the family of the Yamini, and then we have Jachin from the family of the Jachini."

And then in verse 13, "le-Zerah" of the family of ha-Zarhi, and then we have Saul from the family of the Sauli. Verse 14, "These are the families of Simeoni", and we have here "shnayim ve-esrim", which is 22,000 and then "matayim", 200. Let's move on now to verse 15. "Bnei Gad", so the sons of Gad according to their families and we have Zephon from the family of ha-Zephoni, and then Haggi of the family of Haggi, and then le-Shuni from the family of ha-Shuni.

Verse 16: "To Ozni from the family of ha-Ozni, to Eri of the family of the Eri." And then in verse 17, "la-Arod" of the family of ha-Arodi, and then the next one, le-Areli from the family of the Areli. Verse 18: "These are the families of the sons of Gad according to their census", and how many were there? "Arba-im elef ve-hamiesh me-ot", so 40,500.

Now, we're ready for verse 19. "And the children of Judah, Er ve-Onan", and what happened? There's two of them, but notice "vayamot". What does that mean? "And he died." Now, we have an interesting thing and we learn something from this. Now, we have a plural subject, two individuals were mentioned. And we would expect to have a plural verb, but we don't. We have a singular verb.

What is the message here? Why? Now, people would argue and say that's not good grammar. Well, that may be, but it's good biblical truth. Why? What that shows us having a plural subject but a singular verb, it is to teach the one who is studying the scripture that these two had something in common. And what was that? They both did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.

So, that is why we have this singular verb even though we have a plural subject. It goes on to say "Er and Onan in the land of Canaan", meaning they were killed in the land of Canaan. Verse 20: "And it came about that the children of Judah according to their family: to Shelah of the family of ha-Shelani, and then we have Perez from the family of ha-Perezi, and Zerah of the family of ha-Zarhi."

So, we have a consistency here with that "i" on the end to show the "ites" and then the definite article before the name showing that we're talking about this group of people. Let's move on to verse 21. "And the children of Perez, they were of Hezron from the family of ha-Hezroni, of Hamul of the family of ha-Hamuli. These are the families of Judah according to their number", and it says here that there was 76,500.

Verse 23: "Of the sons of Issachar according to their family, we have Tola of the family of ha-Tola-i, and then we have Puvah of the family of ha-Puni." And then in verse 24, we have "Jashub of the family of ha-Jashubi, and then Shimron of the family of ha-Shimroni." Verse 25: "These are the families of Issachar according to their census", and it says here that there was 64,300.

Verse 26: "And the children of Zebulun according to their families, there was first Sered of the family of ha-Sardi, and Elon of the family of ha-Eloni, and then there was Jahleel of the family of ha-Jahleeli." Verse 27: "These are the families of Zebuluni according to their counting", and we have here 60,500. Let's move on to Joseph where it says: "And the sons of Joseph according to their family", and we have two of the key children, Manasseh and Ephraim.

Now, these two became tribes in and of themselves. And it shows the preference of Joseph being used by God, Joseph suffering so much. But nevertheless, God was always with him. Therefore, his two sons, as we see here, Manasseh and Ephraim, they became tribes of their own. Let's move on to verse 29. "And the children of Manasseh were Machir of the family of ha-Machiri, and Machir begat Gilead of Gilead and a family of ha-Gileadi."

Verse 30: "These are the sons of Gilead: Iezer of the family of ha-Iezri, and then we have Helek of the family of ha-Helki." Verse 31: "And Asriel of the family of ha-Asrieli, and Shechem of the family of ha-Shechemi." Verse 32: "Shemida of the family of ha-Shemida-i, and Hepher of the family of ha-Hephri." And then we have someone that is mentioned specifically in the scripture. We have the name Zelophehad, the son of Hepher.

There was not sons, but rather daughters and the name of the daughters were of Zelophehad: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. Verse 34: "These are the families of Manasseh according to their counting", and we see here that there was 52,700. Well, let's move on to verse 35. "These are the sons of Ephraim according to their families: we have Shuthelah of the family of ha-Shuthelahi, we have Becher of the family of ha-Bachri, Tahan of the family of ha-Tahani."

Verse 36: "These are the families of Shuthelah: Eran, mishpachat ha-Erani. These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to their counting", and we have 32,500. "These are the sons of Joseph according to their families." Now, let me simply say that dealing with a genealogy isn't always the most interesting, I get that. It's obvious. But nevertheless, this is indeed the Word of God.

And it was the Holy Spirit that inspired Moses to write down these words because they have purpose. And we see simply that God is a God of order. And God remembers everyone. Everyone who has a giving heart, everyone who wants to serve, everyone who enters into a covenant with God, God is going to remember this one. He's not going to forget, he's not going to ignore, he's not going to be careless, but what can we expect?

We can expect the providence of God. Now, recently I've been talking about that word "providence" in Hebrew. It's the term "hashgachah pratit." What does that mean? What is the providence of God? Well, God's providence is if we look at it in Hebrew, it is his personal supervision. Now, I find great comfort in that, meaning this: whatever's going on in my life, God knows.

First of all, God knows all things, but God is my personal supervisor. And what that means is this, and it's true for every believer, everyone who has entered into a covenant and specifically the new covenant, we should be expecting God's supervision and God is watching and God is going to act, move, and behave in order to do what? Well, what we talked about earlier tonight and that is to bring comfort to his people.

This is first and foremost what God is doing. He's watching us because when we are going through a problem, when we need deliverance, when we need some help, we can be assured that God, he's already shown us what type of person he is. Now, I want to turn to one more scripture before we wrap up tonight. It's a short teaching, but look with me if you would to the Book of Romans and chapter 8.

There's a wonderful scripture here in Romans chapter 8 and I want us to learn it and be mindful of it because it is a scripture of promise. Notice what it says, Romans chapter 8 and verse 28. "We know that God has called us that all things are joined together for good for those who love him, those who are called by means of his purposes." And then we go on and we see something else that is good news.

Look if you would to verse 31. Says here basically, "What then? What shall we say concerning these things? If God is with us, who can stand against us?" For he, verse 32, "for he has not withheld his son, but has turned him over in behalf of all of us. And if he has not rewarded us with, will he not reward us with him all things?"

That's a verse I really want us to focus in on. Look again at verse 32. It says, "He has not withheld his own son, but rather he has turned him in behalf of us. Will he not reward us with him all things?" So, this tells us that God is not a stingy God. God is a generous God. And because he has given us his son—how did he give us his son?—on the cross, he sacrificed him.

Why? Because this was the only way for us to experience that eternal redemption. And I want us to look at a couple verses as we wrap up, verses that I recite frequently. Look if we would to the Book of Hebrews and chapter 9, the Book of Hebrews and chapter 9. I want us to read verse 12. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 12 where it says this: "And with his blood and not with the blood of goats or calves, he entered one time and for always into the holy place and this holy place would be the Holy of Holies in order to obtain eternal redemption."

Now, what's interesting here is there's two words for redemption in the Hebrew language. One is "geulah", which focuses in on the outcome of redemption. But the other word is "pedut" and the word "pedut" has to do with the payment for redemption. So, there's an order here that we have to understand. First, there's that payment. What is that payment? We've already talked about it: it must be blood.

So, he did not withhold his own son from us, but he gave him, turned him over for us all. And then the question is, if he did not withhold his own son, but sacrificed him for us, how much also with him? There's the key. What's being emphasized is "with him". How much more together with him will he give to us? What will he give to us? All things.

So, if he sacrificed his son, why would we think that he would withhold anything back? He won't. And this is all a testimony of his wonderful and abiding love for those who are in a covenantal relationship and specifically a new covenantal relationship. Let me just simply say to you: if you are not in that new covenant which is ratified as Messiah taught on the night that he was betrayed, when he took the cup and he says, "and this is the cup after supper", so it's the cup of redemption.

And he says, "This is the new covenant which is ratified by my blood." In the scripture, there is a relationship between blood and what we could think of as a payment. So, blood represents a payment and when blood is shed, it speaks about death. So, what do we know? We know that God did not withhold his own son, but he gave him to us freely and how much more together with him will he give to us? What? All things.

So, this is a testimony of God's love, how much he was willing to provide for us so that we could have that eternal redemption. And that's really at the heart of how we find ourselves as the people of God. Once there was the law of Moses, all the covenants are good, but the superior covenant is the new covenant, a covenant of redemption which as we talked about was ratified in Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 10, ratified not with the blood of goats or calves, but rather with his own very blood, purchasing something for us that's better.

And what is that? Eternal redemption. And what's being emphasized here is not the outcome—the outcome's wonderful—but what's being emphasized here is the high price that God paid. And that high price, his only begotten son's blood, signifies and tells us and assures us how very much he loves us. So, because he first loved us, what are we called to do? Love others.

And we can be assured of something: when we walk in love, we are going to be under the authority of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. When we do what we want rather than what God wants, we're not going to have access to that anointing. We're not going to have access to God's provision. We are going to be empty, we are going to be alone, and we're going to be committed to what we want rather than what God wants.

And when we are committed to what we want realize, there is going to be an absence of God's presence, his power, his provision in our life. So, let's be wise. Let's not walk according to our own imaginations, our own desires, our own wants because more often than not, what we want is rooted in our sinful nature. It is only when we are individuals that take out this heart of stone and replace with a heart of flesh—and I'm talking about a heart that can feel things, that can grieve, that can mourn, a heart that can be moved by compassion.

And that's what Messiah was so many times and he's our example. Many times in the New Covenant, we see that Messiah was moved with compassion and it caused him to bless, to heal, to help, to respond. And when we are people of faith, that faith is going to work in our life. It's not going to be idle. It's not going to be stagnant.

But that faith is going to work in our life to cause us to get involved, to cause us to behave in a way that demonstrates the character of God. Let me close with this. I made mention tonight that many times we have that word "edah". It's translated "congregation", but again the root of it has to do with the term "le-ha'id", which means to bear witness, to testify.

That's what we're called to do and redemption through the blood of Messiah uniquely allows us to do just that. To testify to others, to show others our faith. Not that we simply believe that Messiah came into this earth, but we believe that he came into this earth to lay down his life. And this sacrifice is an example for us that we need to be people that as well live sacrificially.

To be willing to be that living sacrifice, to put ourselves on that altar. Why? Because we know something and that is flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. That's what we're passionate about. That's what we're committed to: the kingdom of God. And we look forward, every true believer looks forward, to leaving this world—God's time, not ours—leaving this world and being brought into the kingdom experience whereby we will be with Messiah.

And wherever Messiah is, we shall be also always. There's that key word, always. We can be assured that through our new covenant faith that we are going to have that eternal relationship with God, with the son of God, and with the Holy Spirit. That that Holy Spirit will move in our life to bring about a submissiveness to the plans, purposes, and the will of God. Well, I'll close with that. Until next time, Shalom from Israel.

Guest (Male): Well, we hope you will benefit 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 week, may the Lord bless you in our Messiah Yeshua, that is Jesus, as you walk with him. Shalom from Israel.