Post by R' Y'hoshua Moshe on May 16, 2007 23:20:45 GMT -8
Hope For The Future
Parashah B’midbar
By Reuel D.
Parashah B’midbar
By Reuel D.
The Hebrew word for “hope” is “tikvah”. It can mean to bind together in the sense of a cord that is wound together. But, it can also mean to gather something together, and within that context it can mean to have a future expectation…A future expectation of a binding, or gathering together. The word can be used in a variety of contexts, but to me it means that when we are gathered to God, bound to Him, and wound about Him, we have the hope of also being gathered to Him in His future Kingdom. This is the ultimate hope for mankind and believe it or not, the very reason for our existence. We have “tikvah” (hope) in God’s promises because He always keeps them. He never fails. He is faithful, even when we are not. And, this should be a source of hope in our lives everyday. If we are His children, He promises that He will not leave us or forsake us. The book of Hebrews teaches us in chapter 11:1 that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. The hope that we have manifests itself in what we call, “faith”. The Hebrew word for “faith” is “emuna”, which really means to “trust”. Because of our hope that is in God’s promises we place our trust in Him. And, when we hope and trust in His promises it will provide what we need to weather the storms and trials of this life.
The name of this parashah; “B’midbar”, means “in (the) desert”. As the Children of Yisrael continue in their desert wanderings something had to keep them going. Think about it, the Children of Yisrael were walking through a wilderness and a desert that had very little creature comforts (including very little food and water). Sound fun? To many of them it may have not seemed logical to wander through a desert wasteland when everything they needed was back in Egypt. Also, with God’s people today, we sometimes go through dry times in our lives. Sometimes in our lives it can feel like we are wandering through a fruitless desert. And, to some of us at certain points in our life perhaps following God feels like it is aimless, and tedious without much hope on the horizon. We may ask ourselves, “what am I doing?”. Why am I doing this? We need something to keep us going, something to motivate us so that we continue putting one foot in front of the other, lest we give up.
Even when things look hopeless we can have hope in the God of Yisrael because He is greater than all things…He is greater than the discouragements, the sins, and the obstacles that so easily weigh us down and make us ineffective for His Kingdom. We may not be able to overcome these things, but He can do it for us. Even when we feel like we are in some of the most hopeless situations…all we have to do is turn our eyes to the One whom created the world and everything in it. This is what Hebrew term “teshuvah” means. It means to turn our eyes from the things that are distracting us in this world and turn to the One whom alone can give us “tikvah” in a world that is fallen and in a world that provides so much discouragement on our journey.
The Elohim Of Yisrael has many wonderful promises and covenants that He will keep with His people if we simply continue to put one foot in front of the other turning our eyes towards Him. Besides the many miracles Adonai has performed in our own lives, the past wonders that Adonai has performed should also be a source of hope for us as well. Sometimes when we loose hope we need to remember all the times past that Elohim has intervened in the history of man and in the history of Yisrael. And, if we turn to Him in hope and trust, He will once again encourage us and deliver us from whatever dry place of despair we have found ourselves in. Adonai wants us to live for today, but He wants us to place our hope in a future that He promises us, and not to worry about the troubles that the world promises to give us tomorrow. The children of Yisrael had “tikvah”, they had hope for the future. It was “tikvah” that kept them putting one foot in front of the other through their desert journeys. Indeed, Adonai had renewed their hope because He had delivered them from Egypt as He has done for so many of us on a spiritual level. But, the hope and journey does not end there! We have many more miracles to look forward to if we are patient.
We have the hope of a future reward greater than we could ever imagine or understand. In this week’s parashah Moshe also had these hopes. The book of Hebrews chapter 11:24-26 tells us, “By faith, Moshe, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Par`oh's daughter, choosing rather to share ill treatment with God's people, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time; accounting the reproach of Messiah greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward.”
Moshe had hope in the future reward. Rav Sha’ul (Paul) in the first book to the Corinthians chapter 2:9 tells us, “But as it is written, "Things which an eye didn't see, and an ear didn't hear, which didn't enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him." So, in other words, we can do our best to imagine how wonderful our future will be with God in His Kingdom, but our best efforts will pale in comparison to what Adonai has planned for His people. We are looking forward to a time when those whom are faithful to the God of Yisrael will rule and reign with His Son, Yeshua The Messiah. Our Rabbi and Messiah Yeshua tell us in Yochanan (John) 14:1-3, "Don't let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many homes. If it weren't so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.” Adonai wants to encourage His people, and if we continue with Him, in do time He will give us that encouragement.
In the beginning of our Parashah we read the following passage, “Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Yisra'el, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, every male, one by one”. The Hebrew phrase for “Take a census” in our passage is “soo et rosh”, which literally means to “lift up the head”. This phrase can have multiple meanings, but the positive aspect is that the people would be uplifted and exalted. Adonai was lifting up the heads of the various tribes of Yisrael to prepare them to enter in the land of promise! He was giving them hope for the future battles they would fight. In the book of Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) chapter 29:11 Adonai says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says YHVH, thoughts of shalom, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end.”
As the Elohim Of Yisrael is lifting up the heads of the various tribes having them counted and organized, He also appoints to them certain positions around the Mishkan. He instructs them to be gathered around the Mishkan, the dwelling place of Adonai in a certain order. He is not only organizing them, but He is wrapping the hope of Yisrael around His presence. So too, Adonai seeks to gather His people today so that He may dwell in our midst while we are on our journey to the land of promise. But, to do this we must all first go to the place in which He has appointed for us. It is not so much that we are not capable of occupying other positions within the camp, but when each of us take the places and roles appointed for us, the congregation will operate in shalom and in a orderly manner. Rav Shaul (Paul) writes in 1Corinthians 14:33 the following, “for God is not a God of confusion, but of shalom. As in all the assemblies of the holy ones”.
And, as we do the things we were created to do this also creates hope for the future. As we seek to be at shalom with people in our congregation and as we move forward God will also be apart of the camp, which for Him includes the center. And, if He is dwelling in our center than it can be said that God is with us. And, that is something that creates “tikvah”, the hope that fosters life in the congregation of Yisrael. When the Elohim of Yisrael is our center than we will have “Emmanuel”. “Emmanuel” literally means “God With Us”, but is also a title for Yeshua The Messiah. The hope we have in God maintains our covenant with Him. As the people of Yisrael were gathered around the dwelling place of Elohim and were gathered to Him they formed a visible shape. I believe that as Adonai looked down upon the camp of Yisrael He saw a covenant people. From a birds eye view the camp of Yisrael which was centered around the Mishkan, the dwelling place of God, looked like a cross. Why would this be significant? Some point to the cross of Messiah, which inevitably has it’s connections. But, the real reason I found this interesting was because when the people gathered in the prescribed formation they also formed the shape of one of the ancient Hebrew alphabet letters.
This letter is the last character in the Hebrew aleph-bet. It is the “tav”. Our modern Hebrew looks a little different, but in ancient times this Hebrew character “tav” resembled a cross +. And, why may this be significant you may ask? The Hebrew letters are actually pictographs that relate information other than their intended sounds. In the case of the Hebrew letter “tav” it symbolizes a “mark”, a “sign”, or a “covenant”. With the Children of Yisrael it was as if God was marking His spot, just as one may in a similar fashion mark an X on a map to designate the location of his valued treasure. Although, Adonai’s future hope was that He could mark His spot in each one of our hearts.
Every time that Adonai looked down upon Yisrael He saw them as a people in covenant with Him. If you have done “t’shuvah” which includes turning from a life without God and have faced God to seek a loving relationship with Him as your Heavenly Father, than you have also sought to enter into a covenant relationship with Him. From this point on you have “tikvah”. And, regardless of what some may teach in error, it is not only the Jew that has permission to enter into this covenanted camp. The Goyim and those of the Nations are also encouraged by the God of Yisrael to enter into and become part of the camp of Yisrael and partake in it’s covenants (Yeshayahu/Isai. 56). The scriptures make this clear from the beginning to the end. Whether we are Jewish or Gentile we can enter into the covenant of Yisrael and become part of the camp of God. If we have done this and continue in His covenant we will have “tikva olam”, which means “hope everlasting”. And indeed, if we continue in His covenants as found throughout scripture, than this is also a sign to God that we are His people. If this is your case…you have been marked!
In the book of Yechezk’el (Ezek.) 9:4-6 we read the following account, “The glory of the God of Yisra'el was gone up from the Keruv, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer's inkhorn by his side. YHVH said to him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Yerushalayim, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done in the midst of it. To the others he said in my hearing, Go you through the city after him, and strike: don't let your eye spare, neither have you pity; kill utterly the old man, the young man and the virgin, and children and women; but don't come near any man on whom is the mark: and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the old men that were before the house.”
Here in the book of Yechezek’el (Ezek.) we read of a remnant of the people of God who remain faithful, and they are set-apart from the unfaithful. The way that this was done was by placing a “mark” on the foreheads of the men whose souls were vexed by the unrighteousness around them. The Hebrew word for “mark” here in this passage is literally the word “tav”. This is the very same symbol that the camp of Yisrael is forming in this week’s parashah. The message in Yechezk’el is clear, those whom are in covenant with the God Of Yisrael have hope and will be spared from the coming judgment. We must cling to the covenant of God! In the book of Yeshayahu (Isai.) 8:16 we read that Adonai says the following to the Prophet, “Bind up the Testimony, seal the
among My disciples.” In the book of Revelation chapter 14:12 it says the following about Adonai’s disciples, “Here is the patience of the holy ones, those who keep the mitzvoth (commandments) of God, and the faith of Yeshua."But, three verses before our previous passage in the book of Revelation we read about the disciples of the Anti-messiah whom will have their own peculiar mark to indicate their covenant relationship with him. It says, “Another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
This mark will indicate that they are in covenant with HaSatan and not the God of Yisrael. Their hope will not be in Adonai, but it will be bound up in the lies of The Enemy and in the hope that this World has to offer. But, the “tav” of Adonai is a mark or sign of Biblical Judaism. It has been found that some archaeologists have even mistaken Jewish graves for Christian burials because the graves were marked with the sign of the cross, which was actually a “tav”. This includes graves that predate the birth of Yeshua. Although misrepresented over the centuries, and regardless of how un-tasteful some may think this may sound, the Christian sign of the cross is really a continuation and fulfillment of the Jewish sign of the cross. It is a continuation of the covenant between the God of Yisrael and His people.
If we have chosen not to enter into a covenant relationship with the God of Yisrael and His Son, Yeshua The Messiah, than we are certainly without hope in this World and can only expect a most unpleasant future judgment. But, there is hope! The book of Ephesians chapter 2:10-13 tells us the following about those Nations that had once been separated from God, “For we are his workmanship, created in Messiah Yeshua for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them. Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "uncircumcision" by that which is called "circumcision," (in the flesh, made by hands); that you were at that time separate from Messiah, alienated from the commonwealth of Yisra'el, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Messiah Yeshua you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Messiah.
What a wonderful hope and promise that Adonai has given to both Jew and Gentile! Those whom have been made near by the blood of Messiah now are apart of all the covenants of Yisrael. In the future both Jew and Gentile will make up the camp of Yisrael and they will all have hope as a covenant people. The first census conducted by Moshe could be counted, but the second census that will occur under Messiah at the end of the age will be a future fulfillment of the Avrahamic covenant. In B’resheet (Gen.) 22:16-18 Adonai says to Avraham the following, "I have sworn by myself, says YHVH, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your seed greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies. In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."
The seed of Avraham and his spiritual descendents will be as numerous as the sand of the sea and will be so many that no human could number. After the book of Revelation details the 144,00 Messianic Jewish believers from each tribe whom are witnesses for Adonai on the Earth in the end of days, it immediately goes on to describe the following in chapter 7:9, “After these things I saw, and behold, a great crowd which no one was able to number them, out of every nation, even tribes and peoples and tongues, standing in front of the throne, and before the Lamb, having been clothed with white robes, and in their hands palm branches.”
And, with this passage describing the Nations that were once without hope, I connect our haftarah reading found in the book of Hoshea. It says in chapter 2:19-23, “I will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion. I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know YHVH. It will happen in that day, I will respond," says YHVH, "I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they will respond to Yizre`el. I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not my people, 'You are my people;' and they will say, 'My God!'"
We should hope in God and not what the World has to offer us. For it’s ways lead to sin, vanity, and despair. If we are in Messiah than God will never leave us or forsake us and we will remain inside the covenant signified by the "tav" that the camp of Yisrael formed.
To conclude, Mishlei (Prov.) 23:17-18 states,
“Don't let your heart envy sinners; but rather fear YHVH all the day long. Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.”
Amein v’amein!
