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 Avraham 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, now I would invite you to pick up where we left off last week in the book of Numbers and chapter 32. So the book of Numbers, chapter 32. We’re going to begin where we left off in verse 16. Now, you'll recall that there is a happening going on. The children of Reuben and the children of Gad, they wanted something. They did not want to move across the Jordan River, but rather they wanted to inherit the land east of the Jordan River, and what we would call Jordan of today and parts of Syria as well. This is where they wanted to make their home.

But Moses, he was going to say something to them, and that is it is not right that the rest of the tribes, that they fight in order to take possession of the land of Canaan and you do not. There's one people, and therefore he challenges them to remember their responsibilities to the other tribes. And they were willing to do this, and therefore they said, we will arm ourselves and we will go and assist our brothers in their battles in order to assist them in taking possession of the land. Now, let me just simply say, there is a very important word. We can use the word *lareshet*. What is that? To inherit or to take possession of. And this word is going to appear many times in our text today. So again, take out your Bible, look with me to the book of Numbers, chapter 32, and we’re going to begin in verse 16 where it says:

And they approached him and they spoke. And we have a word for, many Bibles will say either a fence or a sheep wall. What it is is basically a pen for sheep in order that they might dwell there, and we’ll recall that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, they had numerous livestock. And therefore they wanted the land to, as it says here, to make a pen for their flocks, and it says we will build for our cattle here and cities for our youngsters. Now, this word for youngsters, not the normal word for children, *yeladim*, but it's the Hebrew word *taf*, which speaks about very, very young children. And what it’s speaking of here is their desire to inhabit that land on the eastern side of the Jordan River as their inheritance in order that they might build up the next generation.

So their sheep or their flock, the word is *tzon* in Hebrew, their livestock is not just for themselves but rather that they might prolong life, that they might live in that land for many generations. Let's move on to the next verse. Look with me to verse 17. It says, and we will be armed, and then we have a word *hushim*, which means with haste. So they’re saying they agree with what Moses pointed out, that it's not right for them to simply stay on the eastern side of the Jordan River, but rather that they should go and wage war in order for all the tribes of Israel to take possession of what's called *Eretz Canaan*, the land of Canaan. And so they’re willing to do that.

Look again, it says here in verse 17: And we will be armed quickly or with haste before the children of Israel until which, if they will bring them to this place, so we will bring them to this place, but our young children will dwell in the fortified cities before the inhabitants or because of the inhabitants of the land. Now, we need to remember something, that the land of Canaan, and we’re going to be dealing with the Amorites in a few minutes, they were a very strong people that lived in the land called Amoree and also on what’s called today the Golan Heights or *Eretz Bashan*. They were there on the highland.

We see here that they understood that they were going to inherit this land. And this land was good for them, but we also need to see something: it came with a heavy price. But the children of Reuben and the children of Gad were not fearful at all. They trusted in the promises of God, that God—and we saw this last week—stated over and over that He is giving the land to the tribes of Israel. So let's press on. Look now at verse 18. It says here, and we will not return to our house until the children of Israel, every man, should take possession or inherit his inheritance.

Again, these two tribes, and we’ll talk about an additional half-tribe in a moment—actually two half-tribes, I’m speaking of Manasseh and Ephraim, these two sons of Joseph—they also are going to dwell in this area. Now, we’re going to see half-tribes, why? Because half of the tribe was on the east, but in order to maintain that connection with those on the western side, we see that some of the sons of Joseph dwelt on the western side as well. All of this was a strategy in order that there would be that connection between all the tribes of Israel. So it says here, look at verse 18 again: And we will not return to our homes until the children of Israel, *ish* meaning every man, inherits his inheritance.

Verse 19: For not to inherit, or we will not inherit with them from the other side of the Jordan River, meaning on the western side and fuller, because it shall come our inheritance unto us on the other side of the Jordan and then we have the word *mizrachah*, the eastern side of the Jordan River. So over and over they are agreeing. They’re saying we won’t go to our homes, we won’t take possession of any of this land until first all the children of Israel, that they inherit their inheritance. So they’re agreeing with Moses. They’re demonstrating submissiveness. They’re also showing obedience, and these two things go together. If we want to obey God, we must do so in humility. This is what the Scripture is telling us. Look now at verse 20.

And Moses said unto them, if—now, the word *if*, *im*, can also be understood as *mikeyvan*, which means since. And again, I think many times translators, they sow doubt into the biblical text that ought not be there, because this word *im* or *if* many times should rightly be understood as since. And this is what it’s saying. Look at verse 20. Moses is speaking unto them and says, since you will do this thing, since—and they've already promised this—that you will arm yourselves before the Lord for—and I don't know why, but the word in Hebrew is *milchamah*, which is war. So many times it’s translated in many Bibles as battle, but it’s not a battle, it is a war. And I’ll tell you why I believe that people are hesitant to translate it accurately as the word truly is. That's because we have a very different perspective in regard to war.

And I’m going to pause. We have seen both the Catholic Pope and a Cardinal that I mentioned, Timothy Dolan from Manhattan, they both have got it wrong. And I’m not trying to pick upon the Catholic Church, I’m just saying something that we need to affirm, and that is this: it says in regard to the Lord, that He is *ish milchamah*, meaning a man of war. Now, today, it is very troublesome for many believers to hear that God calls Himself a man of war. But why is that? Because God demands justice. Our God is a God of accountability, and unfortunately today, many, many believers in many denominations, both Protestant and Catholic, are forgetting biblical truth. They’re not wanting to receive the word of God as it’s given to us, but to edit it and change it and redact it, and all of that is not allowed if we are people of the Book, people who want to receive the truth of God.

So our God is a God of judgment, our God is a God of accountability, and yes, at times God commanded the children of Israel to go to war, in this case in order to take possession of the land of Canaan. Now, of course, previously there were other people that lived there, but God is sovereign. And God said, I am giving this land to the children of Israel. He knew what He was doing. He had a strategy. He had a plan, and we need to support God’s plan. And today, in regard to the war taking place in Iran, we need to see that the Catholic leaders are not concerned about the people of Iran, what they have suffered for 47 years. Now, I don't know about you, but I am so thankful for freedom, for being a liberated people, meaning that we are free. And we have many rights under, in Israel, under the law of God, in America, under the Constitution. There’s rights. We all know about the Bill of Rights, and therefore we should be thankful for that and realize that it is a right thing for others to have that same type of freedom.

But when you are criticizing as the Pope has done and Cardinal Timothy Dolan has done about this war and made up things that are not biblical, meaning God won’t hear the prayer of those who engage in war—who says that? And I can say biblically that many people, kings and also soldiers, they prayed biblically and we know God heard their prayer. He heard the prayers of people like Joshua, and He heard the prayers of other leaders like Gideon and such that went to battle for a righteous cause. Let me just simply say, many times, not always, but many times war is necessary in order that righteousness is maintained.

War—and here again, people are often times in bondage to peace. But we need to understand something. The Hebrew word for peace, and we all know it, *Shalom*, means something very different. *Shalom*, biblical peace, is the fulfillment of God's will. And when there are people who are violating the word of God, what happens? They need to be held accountable. They need to be judged. That is, at times God calls the children of Israel, we can say it in the broader sense, God calls His people out for the purpose of war. Over and over in the Scripture we see that, and even in the New Covenant we see that when we talk about our faith, it is often times put within a context of warfare, that we’re supposed to be a godly soldier of the cross.

So we need to understand what the Bible is saying. Let’s move to the next verse, verse 21. And you pass all armed over the Jordan before the Lord until—and then we have this word *horisho*, which means until he inherits. Inherits who? Well, notice the next one, *oyvav*. What’s *oyvav*? We’re talking about his enemies. Very important. So again, we go to war, why? To render judgment upon the enemies. Now, first and foremost, an enemy of God. But also, if they’re an enemy of God, they’re also an enemy of the people of God. So to inherit, this is what the Scripture says, and it’s the word *lareshet* which means to take possession of his enemies before him, meaning before those who are in opposition to the will of God.

Look now at verse 22. Here we have a very important word, *likbosh*. What is that? To subdue. Now, again, what it means, it’s a word of victory. So God at times leads His people to go to war in order that we will subdue the enemy. What does that mean? That we’ll have victory over the enemy. And it says here, that the land might be conquered or subdued before the Lord afterwards. It says, you shall return and you shall be—well, not pure, but the word is *nekiyim*, which means that you shall be clean. Meaning that there’s no stain, no blemish upon you. So that you shall be clean before the Lord and before Israel, meaning there’s nothing that causes you to be unclean before God or before the other people of God.

But here’s a key: what must they do? They must join in the war to take possession of the promised land. Who promised them the land? God did. He says over and over, I am giving to you this land. God is sovereign. He has the right to give whatever land or whatever there is to whoever He wants. That’s what the word of God is teaching us. Now, let’s press on. Look if you would to verse 22. And it shall be this land, actually verse 22, and this land shall be for you for a possession—different word, not an inheritance, but a possession before the Lord. Verse 23: Again, and since or if you shall not do thus, behold—that’s literally what it says—behold, you have sinned against the Lord. And know, and I think this is such an important verse, it’s one of the reasons why I mentioned our call to worship, the verse that I chose: there is forgiveness, God forgets our transgressions, our iniquities, and our sins, but we have to confess them. And that’s why it says here: know that your sin will find yourselves, meaning this: if we are living in sin, that sin will be manifested.

Our sin will find us out. And let me just share with you, that is a most unpleasant experience. It's one that brings shame upon you and humiliation. We don't want that. That's why we should not live in sin, but live in the righteousness of God. How do we do that? Well, first of all, we accept that gospel. Secondly, we implement the instructions of God, the commandments of God, the precepts of God, the laws of God into our life. When we are living in obedience to the will of God, we won't experience shame, but we will receive praise from the Lord. And we are called to live a praiseworthy life. Look now at verse 24.

And build for yourselves cities, cities for your children, and this means your younger children, and again these pens for your sheep. And it says, and that which goes forth from your mouth, do. So what you have said that you’re going to do, be sure to carry it out. Now, I realize that Messiah says, let your yes be yes and your no, no. Anything beyond that is not good. But we need to realize that if we make a vow—and again, Messiah warns us against making vows and taking oaths—but if we do, then we need to carry out whatever goes forth from our utterance, whatever we say. So we’re supposed to be people that obey, not just the word of God, but what we say as well. We want to have a good testimony. So notice it says, from everything that goes forth from your mouths you shall do.

Verse 25: And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said to Moses, saying, your servants, they will do just as—and then we have the word *Adoni* meaning my master—is commanding. Again, it’s in the present. Why is that important? *Metzaveh*, because in the present it shows it's emphasized. They are emphasizing that they want to obey what God has commanded them. And then it says, verse 26: Our young children, our wives, our cattle or livestock, and all, and we have the word *behemot*, which means all of our domesticated animals like cows and sheep and goat and such. All of that, he says here, and all of our domestic animals, they shall be there in the cities of Gilead.

Now, again, Gilead is in modern-day Jordan. So they are understanding that the land of Israel is just not the land of Canaan, but it goes beyond that. And of course, when we read in the Scripture the promised land is from the river in Egypt all the way to the Euphrates rivers in Turkey and Iraq and such. So we’re talking about a vast amount of land that God has promised uniquely in covenant to the Jewish people, to the children of Israel. Now, let’s press on. Look if you would to verse 27. And your servants, they will pass over all armed, then we have the word army, they’re all armed for the army before the Lord, why? Well, we have it again, *lei milchamah* for war, just as my master is speaking.

Verse 28: And Moses commanded them, Eleazar the priest and Yehoshua the son of Nun and the chiefs of the fathers, meaning of the tribes, and it says to the children of Israel. So we have the word *matot*, *matot* is tribes, another word for the term *shevet*. So it simply means the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel. Now, one of the things that I’d like to point out is that we see over and over that all of Israel is being spoken of here, not just a portion. They must be a unified people. And how do we experience this unity? Well, we find unity by obeying the word of God, submitting to His instructions. And this is what the word of God is commanding us.

Let’s move on to the next verse, verse 29. And Moses said to them, if or since the children of Gad and the children of Reuben that they will pass over with you the Jordan and every one of them armed for again war before the Lord, and the land will be conquered or the land will be subdued before you. And it says here, and you shall give to them the land of Gilead for a possession. So again, Moses is agreeing if they, these two tribes, Bnei Reuben, the children of Reuben, Bnei Gad, if they indeed will participate in taking possession of the land of Canaan and making sure all of Israel receives its inheritance, if so, then they can go back to the east side of the Jordan River and take possession as we see here, take possession of the land of Gilead for a inheritance.

Verse 30: But if they will not pass—and the implication is pass over armed with you—they will not do something: they will not take possession in your midst of the land of Canaan. So if they don't fight, then there is no inheritance for them. Very serious terms that it's saying here. That we will take possession in the midst of the land of Canaan. So if they don't, then they’re going to have to do what? They’re going to have to go and dwell in the land of Canaan and do what? Fight the enemy for their inheritance. They are not going to be allowed if they don't come armed for war, they’re not going to be able to have the eastern part of the Jordan River, the other side. They’re going to have to settle in the land of Canaan. This is the *chiddush*, the new thing that Moses is saying.

Now, let’s look at verse 31. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered saying, what the Lord has spoken to your servants, thus we will do. So again, over and over we see that these two tribes, Bnei Reuben and Bnei Gad, they are agreeing with Moses, that they understand that they need to take part in the war. Not in just a battle, but in the war in its entirety, in order that all the tribes take possession of the land of Canaan. Then, only after that are they able to return back to the land of Gilead and dwell in these places.

Let’s press on to verse 32. And we will pass over again armed ones before the Lord, the land of Canaan and with you for an inheritance we will inherit from the other side of the Jordan. So again, they’re affirming yes, we’re going to take part in the war, and it’s only after that that we will take possession of the land on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Verse 33: And Moses gave to them, to the children of Gad and the children of Reuben, and here’s what we talked about earlier, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan.

And again, where’s Bashan? It’s on the Golan Heights. And it says, the land, that land for its cities in its territories and the cities of the land round about. So they’re going to inherit all of that land on the eastern side. But again, that’s only under the condition that they come armed for war and they assist the other tribes of Israel taking possession of that land. Verse 34: And the children of Gad built up Dibon and Atarot and Aroer, Atarot-shofan, and Yazer and Jogbehah, and the house of Nimrah and the house of Haran, the cities, the stronghold, the fortified cities and the sheep pen for the flocks.

But look now at verse 37: But the sons of Reuben or the children of Reuben, they built up Heshbon and Elealeh and Kiriathaim and Nebo and Baal-meon and changed the name. And it says also Sibmah, and they called names, the names of these cities which they had built. They gave them names. Verse 39: And the children of Machir went, the son of Manasseh to Gilead, and he took it and took possession of the Amorite which were there, meaning the Amorites which were dwelling in that place. Moses gave Gilead to Machir, the son of Manasseh, and he dwelt in it. Verse 41: And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small cities and called them Havoth-jair. So he named it after himself. And then look at our last verse, verse 42: And Nobah went and took Kenath and her daughters, meaning her villages, and called it, meaning called that place Nobah according to his name.

Now, what I want you to see is that God is very clear here. He wants us to understand that there is one people of God. And because there’s one people of God, there are some consistent things. For example, when we look at the commandments of God for every believer, for everyone who recognizes the authority of God, they’re called to do something. And that is to implement His word, His statutes, His precepts, His laws, and His commandments into our lives. That’s what faith causes us to do. So if we have faith, that faith is going to demonstrate obedience to the word of God. Now, so many times people struggle. If they hear obedience to the word of God, they’re at peace. But if they hear obedience to the commandments of God, they lash out with legalism.

Well, let me just conclude by saying: what is legalism? Legalism, rightly understood, a theological doctrine, one that is false, says basically this: unless you obey, you are not belonging to God. That’s not true. We belong to God by faith. Faith in that gospel, we become the eternal people of God. So faith will cause us to submit, faith, a true faith, a saving faith, will cause us to obey the word of God, every aspect of the word of God, all of His instructions, all of His precepts, all of His laws, all of His commands. Now, be careful. Does that, that obedience save us? Of course not. We are not saved by good works, but we’re saved by God's grace, saved by the blood of the Lamb.

What Lamb? Messiah Yeshua, that is Jesus of Nazareth. When we are saved by His work on the cross, we become a new creation and we think differently. I don't know why that’s controversial. I don't know why that’s problematic. When we are in Messiah, we will think very differently than the rest of the world. Why? Because we’re called to demonstrate the mind of Messiah. And when we demonstrate the mind of Messiah, we are going to begin to have a witness that testifies to the character of Messiah. What was His character? Well, we know. He was tempted at all points, but He never sinned. Very important that we see that. He never violated the word of God. Can we say it differently? We sure can. He never violated the commandments of God, and we ought not either.

We need to be people that take the fact that we being saved are recipients of the Holy Spirit. And we should study all the commandments in the word of God, all the instructions that we find, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, through His guidance. What do we want to do? We want to implement those commandments, these instructions, these precepts, these laws into our life. Why? So that we can be saved? Of course not. In order to receive the Holy Spirit you first have to be saved. So the Holy Spirit is given to a individual after receiving the gospel. And that Holy Spirit, He goes to work within us to cause us to be regenerated. That’s also can be thought of as being born again.

Why? So we can live differently. That’s what we’re called to do. And we see today that the children of God and the children of Reuben, they lived differently. They were not thinking of themselves, but they were thinking of the next generation, their children, their young children. That's a good thing to do. And they were also thinking about the other tribes. And together they all submitted, that’s a good thing to do. They all submitted in order to take possession of the land of Canaan. And we see today God is faithful. Why do I say that? Because God has brought the people back to the land of Israel just as He promised to do in the prophecy of Jeremiah, the prophecy of Ezekiel, the prophecy of Isaiah, and throughout the minor prophets as well.

We all know that in the last days God’s going to do that, and He’s doing it. There is indeed a nation of Israel. But because the nation of Israel is tied to the plan of God, we find that more and more people who belong to this world, they are hostile to Israel. They don’t want God's covenantal promises to be fulfilled, not to the Jewish people and not to believers. Why? Because they are in opposition to God’s wonderful plan, His wonderful purposes, and the priorities that they should have, they rebel against. Let’s not do that. Let's be individuals that are humbled, individuals that are submissive, and individuals that have a testimony that they bear witness that they are obedient to every aspect of the word of God. I’ll close with that. Until next time, shalom from Israel.

Guest (Male): We hope you'll 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 our work in Israel, please visit our website loveisrael.org. There you'll find articles and numerous other lectures by Baruch. These teachings are in video form. 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.