Post by alon on Jun 21, 2019 1:10:17 GMT -8
Name of Par’shah: B’ha’alotkha (When you set up)
Par’shah: Numbers 8:1-12:16
Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14-4:7
Drash:
Numbers 8:5-8 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and cleanse them. Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification upon them, and let them go with a razor over all their body, and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves. Then let them take a bull from the herd and its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another bull from the herd for a sin offering.
It’s interesting to note that while this passage is about cleansing tevilah is not commanded. I’d think they did it before such an important ritual, but its not being listed as something they should do struck me as significant. And reading on into our haftara we again see where immersion in a mikvah is not listed as part of an important ritual:
Zechariah 3:1-10 1 Then he showed me יהוֹשֻׁ֕עַ Yehoshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and הַשָּׂטָ֛ן ha’satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to הַשָּׂטָ֛ן ha’satan, “The Lord rebuke you, הַשָּׂטָ֛ן ha’satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now יהוֹשֻׁ֕עַ Yehoshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by. 6 And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured יהוֹשֻׁ֕עַ Yehoshua, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. 8 Hear now, O יהוֹשֻׁ֕עַ Yehoshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. 9 For behold, on the stone that I have set before יהוֹשֻׁ֕עַ Yehoshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.”
יהוֹשֻׁ֕עַ Yehoshua/Joshua in our haftara was a Levite, a descendant of Aaron in post-exilic Jerusalem, about 538 BCE His name appears as יֵשׁ֡וּעַ Jeshua in Nehemiah:
הַבָּאִ֣ים עִם־זְרֻבָּבֶ֗ל יֵשׁ֡וּעַ נְחֶמְיָ֡ה עֲ֠זַרְיָה רַֽעַמְיָ֨ה נַחֲמָ֜נִי מָרְדֳּכַ֥י בִּלְשָׁ֛ן מִסְפֶּ֥רֶת בִּגְוַ֖י נְח֣וּם בַּעֲנָ֑ה מִסְפַּ֕ר אַנְשֵׁ֖י עַ֥ם יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ ס
Nehemiah 7:7a They came with Zerubbabel, יֵשׁ֡וּעַ Jeshua, Nehemiah,
As an aside, this is one of the “proofs” used by Sacred Namers and many others that Yeshua’s name is actually “Yehoshua.” Zechariah is a somewhat Apocalyptic text, and as it does here it tends to slip easily between that time and the end times. While it speaks of their own Cohen Hagadol, Yehoshua/Joshua, it makes clear Messianic references also. The Branch in vs. 8 is always biblically understood to be the Messiah, as is the stone with seven eyes. We see this mirrored in the Lamb of Revelation 5 which was Yeshua, the only One capable of opening the scroll with seven seals:
Revelation 5:6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
However there is a condition, “If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts.” Yeshua’s obedience wasn’t conditional, it was exemplary. Also the “Branch” and the “Stone” which are Messiah are set before Yehoshua and his companions. So despite the fact Yeshua can be a contraction of Yehoshua (as in Nehemia 7), and its use in that form in that scripture, Yehoshua and Yeshua are not one and the same here. Like Yehoshua the successor to Moshe, the Cohen Hagadol “Yehoshua” is here a “type,” a representation of Yeshua HaMoshiach. So the ‘Namers and other “Yehoshuaites” are all wet!
But the really interesting thing is the one who is apparently not all wet here is Yehoshua. Again, tevilah was not commanded. He is given clean clothes and is himself made clean. But not in the waters of the mikvah. Ancient Rabbis’ equated water with
. Tevilah was therefore a physical picture of a spiritual thing. Immersion into the waters of a mikvah was like immersing yourself in the Living Word:
Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Recall from last week the Hebrew mindset is that the name of Abishter is like a physical manifestation of Himself. When Yeshua says we are to be immersed into his name, He is saying we are to be immersed into Him. Going to the Word, another very real manifestation of Yeshua, we find water is never the object of "into" in any of the baptism passages. Scriptures repeatedly use the preposition "into" (Greek eis, or es) with baptism to teach that we are immersed not into water, but into Yeshua, who Himself is the Word.
Inserting "into" wherever "eis/es" appears in the Greek translations:
Matthew 3:11a “I baptize you into water for repentance, Acts 19:5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
Romans 6:3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
I need to be clear. This is not a teaching against tevilah. It is just a point I noticed and found interesting. My take is that since these men were being immersed into the very presence of God manifest either as the Shekinah or as Yeshua the symbolism of tevilah was not necessary.
Mekarot: JPS Study TNK, Westminster Leningrad Codex, Rav S, my father and others
Par’shah: Numbers 8:1-12:16
Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14-4:7
Drash:
Numbers 8:5-8 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and cleanse them. Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification upon them, and let them go with a razor over all their body, and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves. Then let them take a bull from the herd and its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another bull from the herd for a sin offering.
It’s interesting to note that while this passage is about cleansing tevilah is not commanded. I’d think they did it before such an important ritual, but its not being listed as something they should do struck me as significant. And reading on into our haftara we again see where immersion in a mikvah is not listed as part of an important ritual:
Zechariah 3:1-10 1 Then he showed me יהוֹשֻׁ֕עַ Yehoshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and הַשָּׂטָ֛ן ha’satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to הַשָּׂטָ֛ן ha’satan, “The Lord rebuke you, הַשָּׂטָ֛ן ha’satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now יהוֹשֻׁ֕עַ Yehoshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by. 6 And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured יהוֹשֻׁ֕עַ Yehoshua, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. 8 Hear now, O יהוֹשֻׁ֕עַ Yehoshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. 9 For behold, on the stone that I have set before יהוֹשֻׁ֕עַ Yehoshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.”
יהוֹשֻׁ֕עַ Yehoshua/Joshua in our haftara was a Levite, a descendant of Aaron in post-exilic Jerusalem, about 538 BCE His name appears as יֵשׁ֡וּעַ Jeshua in Nehemiah:
הַבָּאִ֣ים עִם־זְרֻבָּבֶ֗ל יֵשׁ֡וּעַ נְחֶמְיָ֡ה עֲ֠זַרְיָה רַֽעַמְיָ֨ה נַחֲמָ֜נִי מָרְדֳּכַ֥י בִּלְשָׁ֛ן מִסְפֶּ֥רֶת בִּגְוַ֖י נְח֣וּם בַּעֲנָ֑ה מִסְפַּ֕ר אַנְשֵׁ֖י עַ֥ם יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ ס
Nehemiah 7:7a They came with Zerubbabel, יֵשׁ֡וּעַ Jeshua, Nehemiah,
As an aside, this is one of the “proofs” used by Sacred Namers and many others that Yeshua’s name is actually “Yehoshua.” Zechariah is a somewhat Apocalyptic text, and as it does here it tends to slip easily between that time and the end times. While it speaks of their own Cohen Hagadol, Yehoshua/Joshua, it makes clear Messianic references also. The Branch in vs. 8 is always biblically understood to be the Messiah, as is the stone with seven eyes. We see this mirrored in the Lamb of Revelation 5 which was Yeshua, the only One capable of opening the scroll with seven seals:
Revelation 5:6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
However there is a condition, “If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts.” Yeshua’s obedience wasn’t conditional, it was exemplary. Also the “Branch” and the “Stone” which are Messiah are set before Yehoshua and his companions. So despite the fact Yeshua can be a contraction of Yehoshua (as in Nehemia 7), and its use in that form in that scripture, Yehoshua and Yeshua are not one and the same here. Like Yehoshua the successor to Moshe, the Cohen Hagadol “Yehoshua” is here a “type,” a representation of Yeshua HaMoshiach. So the ‘Namers and other “Yehoshuaites” are all wet!
But the really interesting thing is the one who is apparently not all wet here is Yehoshua. Again, tevilah was not commanded. He is given clean clothes and is himself made clean. But not in the waters of the mikvah. Ancient Rabbis’ equated water with
. Tevilah was therefore a physical picture of a spiritual thing. Immersion into the waters of a mikvah was like immersing yourself in the Living Word: Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Recall from last week the Hebrew mindset is that the name of Abishter is like a physical manifestation of Himself. When Yeshua says we are to be immersed into his name, He is saying we are to be immersed into Him. Going to the Word, another very real manifestation of Yeshua, we find water is never the object of "into" in any of the baptism passages. Scriptures repeatedly use the preposition "into" (Greek eis, or es) with baptism to teach that we are immersed not into water, but into Yeshua, who Himself is the Word.
Inserting "into" wherever "eis/es" appears in the Greek translations:
Matthew 3:11a “I baptize you into water for repentance, Acts 19:5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
Romans 6:3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
I need to be clear. This is not a teaching against tevilah. It is just a point I noticed and found interesting. My take is that since these men were being immersed into the very presence of God manifest either as the Shekinah or as Yeshua the symbolism of tevilah was not necessary.
Mekarot: JPS Study TNK, Westminster Leningrad Codex, Rav S, my father and others
