Post by alon on Jul 26, 2018 8:05:58 GMT -8
From: MRD
This week’s readings: Par’shah 40
Date of reading: 30 June 2018/17 Tamuz 5778
Name of Par’shah: Balak
Par’shah: B’midbar 22:2-25:9
Haftara: Mikhah 5:6(7)-6:8
Brit Chadashah: 2 Kefa 2:1-22; Y’hudah 11; Revelation 2:14-15
D’rash: In the previous Par’shah we read how the second generation of Israelites are now arising to fulfill their destination to which G-d has called them; their conquest of Sichon, King of the Emori, and Og, king of Bashan is a prelude of what will happen to the pagan nations that currently occupy the land promised by G-d to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov. This par’shah begins with Balak, king of Mo’av, overcome with dread because Israel was settled close to them, fearing they would be the next nation to be conquered. However, this was not the case, since Adonai instructed Israel that the land of Mo’av would not be given to them because it was the inheritance of the descendants of Lot (Deuteronomy 2:9). Still, because of this dread, Balak consulted the services of Bil’am, a man gifted with prophecy by G-d, but who also practiced divination, hoping that he would curse Israel and thus give him the advantage to conquer them. In a brief summary, by G-d’s command, Bil’am ultimately blesses them on three different occasions, and consequently adds a prophecy regarding Mo’av’s bleak future.
Looking closer into Bil’am’s ways, let’s begin with two scriptures that appear to contradict each other. With the first group of representatives that Balak sent, G-d did not allow Bil’am to go with them. But the second group that was sent had higher status, and G-d instructed Bil’am:
B’midbar 22:20---G-d came to Bil’am during the night and said to him, “If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them; but do only what I tell you.”
But the next two verses say,
B’midbar 22:21-22---So Bil’am got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Mo’av. But G-d’s anger flared up because he went, and the angel of Adonai stationed himself on the path to bar his way.
We can reconcile this apparent contradiction with subsequent scriptures that will explain the situation more fully. After Bil’am’s donkey makes three attempts to avoid the angel of Adonai, who was ready to strike down Bil’am with the sword, the angel reveals himself to him:
B’midbar 22:32-33---the angel of Adonai said to him, “Why did you hit your donkey three times like that? I have come out here to bar your way, because you are rushing to oppose me. The donkey saw me and turned aside these three times; and indeed, if she hadn’t turned away from me, I would have killed you by now and saved it alive!”
The Brit Chadashah reveals the problem directly:
2 Kefa 2:15-16---"These people [false prophets and teachers] have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Bil’am Ben-B’or, who loved the wages of doing harm but was rebuked for his sin---a dumb beast of burden spoke out with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s insanity.”
Y’hudah 11---"Woe to them [ungodly people], in that they have walked the road of Kayin, they have given themselves over for money to the error of Bil’am, they have been destroyed in the rebellion of Korach.”
The above scriptures reveal that Bil’am had a love for money and a desire for the wealth promised by the king of Mo’av may have gotten a foothold in his heart, planning to speak words the king would want to hear rather than what G-d wanted him to speak. In B’midbar 22:35 G-d tells Bil’am to continue his journey but is only to say what Adonai tells him to say. Bil’am confirms this in vs.38 when he tells Balak, “Here, I’ve come to you! But I have no power of my own to say anything. The word that G-d puts in my mouth is what I will say.”
G-d’s rebuke will keep Bil’am in line during his appointed time with Balak as he prophesies blessings upon Israel rather than the expected curses. It is interesting to note that, by G-d’s Spirit, Bil’am pronounces three blessings which may have offset the three times he hit his donkey that was trying to protect him from the messenger of Adonai who was ready to slay him for his wickedness. Even so, Bil’am allowed this greed to rule his heart because in the end he ultimately counsels Balak that the way to weaken Israel is not by direct force but by appealing to their carnal nature through idolatry and sexual immorality. In Yochanan’s vision in Revelation, Adonai rebukes the Messianic Congregation in Pergamum for “[having] some people hold to the teaching of Bil’am, who taught Balak to set a trap for the people of Israel, so that they would eat food that had been sacrificed to idols and commit sexual sin.” (Revelation 2:14, see also B’midbar 31:15-16). It is very likely that Bil’am was quite aware of the previous incident of Korach’s rebellion and that he was attempting to bring Israel to such a state of apostacy again that Adonai would completely destroy them, as what would have happened had it not been for the intervention of Pinchas, the grandson of Aharon the high priest (B’midbar 25:10-11). After this plan failed, Israel takes vengeance against Midyan and Bil’am also is slain by the sword (B’midbar 31:1-8).
Today, we can see that religion and the Word of G-d is still a means for profit to some individuals, some churches, and some charitable organizations. This is not to criticize those who rightfully earn their living by it, as Yeshua clearly states in Mattityahu 10:10 and emissary Sha’ul in 1 Corinthians 9:4-12. But there is a huge difference between ministry out of love for G-d and ministry out of love for profit, and the two are mutually exclusive of each other. Emissary Sha’ul says in:
2 Corinthians 2:17—"-For we are not like a lot of folks who go about huckstering G-d’s message for a fee; on the contrary, we speak out of a sincere heart, as people sent by G-d, standing in G-d’s presence, living in union with the Messiah.”
Yeshua says in:
Luke 16:13---No servant can be slave to two masters, for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can’t be a slave to both G-d and money.”
The next two verses reveal what G-d thinks about this kind of tainted heart:
Luke 16:14-15---The P’rushim heard all this, and since they were money-lovers, they ridiculed him. He said to them, “You people make yourselves look righteous to others, but G-d knows your hearts; what people regard highly is an abomination before G-d!”
Love for money as a spiritual leader opens one heart to receive bribes and pervert justice:
Deuteronomy 16:19---“You are not to distort justice or show favoritism, and you are not to accept a bribe, for a gift blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of even the upright.”
It is unwise to place confidence in a gift or talent that G-d has given us in place of trust in Him and live outside of
obedience, even if that gift or talent is used greatly for the benefit others and think we will be alright on Judgement Day. Bil’am blessed Israel by the Spirit of G-d but also offered wicked counsel to Mo’av to use against Israel and was slain for it along with Mo’av. Judgement will be the same in the future:
Mattityahu 7:21-23---"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘L-rd, L-rd!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, only those who do what My Father in heaven wants. On that Day, many will say to Me, ‘L-rd, L-rd! Didn’t we prophesy in Your Name? Didn’t we expel demons in Your Name? Didn’t we perform many miracles in Your Name?’ Then I will tell them to their faces, ‘I never knew you! Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’
References: The Complete Jewish Bible, copyright 1998 by David H. Stearn
MRD
This week’s readings: Par’shah 40
Date of reading: 30 June 2018/17 Tamuz 5778
Name of Par’shah: Balak
Par’shah: B’midbar 22:2-25:9
Haftara: Mikhah 5:6(7)-6:8
Brit Chadashah: 2 Kefa 2:1-22; Y’hudah 11; Revelation 2:14-15
D’rash: In the previous Par’shah we read how the second generation of Israelites are now arising to fulfill their destination to which G-d has called them; their conquest of Sichon, King of the Emori, and Og, king of Bashan is a prelude of what will happen to the pagan nations that currently occupy the land promised by G-d to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov. This par’shah begins with Balak, king of Mo’av, overcome with dread because Israel was settled close to them, fearing they would be the next nation to be conquered. However, this was not the case, since Adonai instructed Israel that the land of Mo’av would not be given to them because it was the inheritance of the descendants of Lot (Deuteronomy 2:9). Still, because of this dread, Balak consulted the services of Bil’am, a man gifted with prophecy by G-d, but who also practiced divination, hoping that he would curse Israel and thus give him the advantage to conquer them. In a brief summary, by G-d’s command, Bil’am ultimately blesses them on three different occasions, and consequently adds a prophecy regarding Mo’av’s bleak future.
Looking closer into Bil’am’s ways, let’s begin with two scriptures that appear to contradict each other. With the first group of representatives that Balak sent, G-d did not allow Bil’am to go with them. But the second group that was sent had higher status, and G-d instructed Bil’am:
B’midbar 22:20---G-d came to Bil’am during the night and said to him, “If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them; but do only what I tell you.”
But the next two verses say,
B’midbar 22:21-22---So Bil’am got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Mo’av. But G-d’s anger flared up because he went, and the angel of Adonai stationed himself on the path to bar his way.
We can reconcile this apparent contradiction with subsequent scriptures that will explain the situation more fully. After Bil’am’s donkey makes three attempts to avoid the angel of Adonai, who was ready to strike down Bil’am with the sword, the angel reveals himself to him:
B’midbar 22:32-33---the angel of Adonai said to him, “Why did you hit your donkey three times like that? I have come out here to bar your way, because you are rushing to oppose me. The donkey saw me and turned aside these three times; and indeed, if she hadn’t turned away from me, I would have killed you by now and saved it alive!”
The Brit Chadashah reveals the problem directly:
2 Kefa 2:15-16---"These people [false prophets and teachers] have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Bil’am Ben-B’or, who loved the wages of doing harm but was rebuked for his sin---a dumb beast of burden spoke out with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s insanity.”
Y’hudah 11---"Woe to them [ungodly people], in that they have walked the road of Kayin, they have given themselves over for money to the error of Bil’am, they have been destroyed in the rebellion of Korach.”
The above scriptures reveal that Bil’am had a love for money and a desire for the wealth promised by the king of Mo’av may have gotten a foothold in his heart, planning to speak words the king would want to hear rather than what G-d wanted him to speak. In B’midbar 22:35 G-d tells Bil’am to continue his journey but is only to say what Adonai tells him to say. Bil’am confirms this in vs.38 when he tells Balak, “Here, I’ve come to you! But I have no power of my own to say anything. The word that G-d puts in my mouth is what I will say.”
G-d’s rebuke will keep Bil’am in line during his appointed time with Balak as he prophesies blessings upon Israel rather than the expected curses. It is interesting to note that, by G-d’s Spirit, Bil’am pronounces three blessings which may have offset the three times he hit his donkey that was trying to protect him from the messenger of Adonai who was ready to slay him for his wickedness. Even so, Bil’am allowed this greed to rule his heart because in the end he ultimately counsels Balak that the way to weaken Israel is not by direct force but by appealing to their carnal nature through idolatry and sexual immorality. In Yochanan’s vision in Revelation, Adonai rebukes the Messianic Congregation in Pergamum for “[having] some people hold to the teaching of Bil’am, who taught Balak to set a trap for the people of Israel, so that they would eat food that had been sacrificed to idols and commit sexual sin.” (Revelation 2:14, see also B’midbar 31:15-16). It is very likely that Bil’am was quite aware of the previous incident of Korach’s rebellion and that he was attempting to bring Israel to such a state of apostacy again that Adonai would completely destroy them, as what would have happened had it not been for the intervention of Pinchas, the grandson of Aharon the high priest (B’midbar 25:10-11). After this plan failed, Israel takes vengeance against Midyan and Bil’am also is slain by the sword (B’midbar 31:1-8).
Today, we can see that religion and the Word of G-d is still a means for profit to some individuals, some churches, and some charitable organizations. This is not to criticize those who rightfully earn their living by it, as Yeshua clearly states in Mattityahu 10:10 and emissary Sha’ul in 1 Corinthians 9:4-12. But there is a huge difference between ministry out of love for G-d and ministry out of love for profit, and the two are mutually exclusive of each other. Emissary Sha’ul says in:
2 Corinthians 2:17—"-For we are not like a lot of folks who go about huckstering G-d’s message for a fee; on the contrary, we speak out of a sincere heart, as people sent by G-d, standing in G-d’s presence, living in union with the Messiah.”
Yeshua says in:
Luke 16:13---No servant can be slave to two masters, for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can’t be a slave to both G-d and money.”
The next two verses reveal what G-d thinks about this kind of tainted heart:
Luke 16:14-15---The P’rushim heard all this, and since they were money-lovers, they ridiculed him. He said to them, “You people make yourselves look righteous to others, but G-d knows your hearts; what people regard highly is an abomination before G-d!”
Love for money as a spiritual leader opens one heart to receive bribes and pervert justice:
Deuteronomy 16:19---“You are not to distort justice or show favoritism, and you are not to accept a bribe, for a gift blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of even the upright.”
It is unwise to place confidence in a gift or talent that G-d has given us in place of trust in Him and live outside of
obedience, even if that gift or talent is used greatly for the benefit others and think we will be alright on Judgement Day. Bil’am blessed Israel by the Spirit of G-d but also offered wicked counsel to Mo’av to use against Israel and was slain for it along with Mo’av. Judgement will be the same in the future:Mattityahu 7:21-23---"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘L-rd, L-rd!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, only those who do what My Father in heaven wants. On that Day, many will say to Me, ‘L-rd, L-rd! Didn’t we prophesy in Your Name? Didn’t we expel demons in Your Name? Didn’t we perform many miracles in Your Name?’ Then I will tell them to their faces, ‘I never knew you! Get away from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’
References: The Complete Jewish Bible, copyright 1998 by David H. Stearn
MRD
and off because people are seeking but they aren't seeing. I don't know how to say this exactly, but it's almost like if a relationship with G-d weren't something some people thought they could somehow buy their way to, I don't know if they would know where or how to start looking. I just think there are some who exploit that, but there are people seeking. I just know I'm not doing enough to share what I know, but I don't know what or how to do more. 
