Post by alon on Jun 28, 2019 12:42:20 GMT -8
Name of Par’shah: Sh’lach L’cha (Send on your behalf)
Par’shah: B’midbar 13:1-15:41
Haftarah: Y’hoshua 2:1-24
Brit Chadashah: Hebrews 3:7-19
D’rash: B’midbar 15:32-36---While the people of Isra’el were in the desert, they found a man gathering wood on Shabbat. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moshe, Aharon and the whole congregation. They kept him in custody, because it had not yet been decided what to do to him. Then Adonai said to Moshe, “This man must be put to death; the entire community is to stone him to death outside the camp.” So the whole community brought him outside the camp and threw stones at him until he died, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
Our Rabbi had recently posted a lesson about this man, along with Nadav and Avihu, Aharon’s sons who offered strange fire, and Uzah, who tried to steady the Ark when the oxen stumbled. The point of the lesson was that each of these men died for blatant disobedience after all likelihood of multiple warnings.
The Scriptures do not give us any details of what this man was like before his execution but let us form a scenario on how he may have come to this point of defiance. Going to the previous par’shah in B’midbar 11, we see that the people complain about their hardships to Adonai, and fire broke out from Him as punishment on the outskirts of the camp. Very soon afterwards, the mixed crowd grew greedy for an easier life while the people of Yisra’el renewed their weeping, wishing for meat to eat. YHVH granted their request with a great abundance of quail but struck some of the people with a terrible plague for being greedy over it. Now this man obviously wasn’t killed in either of these events, but, even though he didn’t outwardly express any complaints or greed, he may have entertained these thoughts within his heart; or maybe he witnessed these punishments from a distance and began questioning if YHVH was being unfair or too harsh. In B’midbar 13 and 14 when the spies returned from reconnoitering the Land, ten of them lightly mentioned its fruit but greatly emphasized the difficulties in conquering it. Only Y’hoshua and Kalev tried to strongly encourage the people, even tearing their clothes as a sign of intensely communicating to them on how good the Land was and that YHVH would give them the strength to conquer it. Yet despite this encouragement the people were already dismayed, even making plans to appoint a leader to take them back to Mitzrayim. This man may have been involved in the potential coup d ‘e’tat and his heart further hardened when Adonai’s punishment for that first generation was forty years of wandering in the desert until they all died out. He may have even participated with the group that was remorseful afterwards then presumptuously tried to conquer the Land without approval and was further disappointed when their enemies defeated them.
By the time we get to our Scripture in B’midbar 15:32-36, realizing that the Promised Land was not going to be a reality for him, and that his life would eventually end in the desert, his heart may have already reached a point of anger, resentment and complete disregard for the mitzvot of YHVH. Any corrections he would have received to instruct him in the laws of Shabbat were probably met with a “rolling of his eyes,” reluctant obedience with hardness of heart. His final disobedience, therefore, required the death sentence so as not to infect the whole community. The conclusion is that HaShem was righteous in His judgement.
Today, there is nothing new under the sun (Kohelet 1:9). There are people who develop their own ideas and perceptions on how things should be in this world and get annoyed or even distraught when someone, or even YHVH Himself, comes into conflict with them. Ignorance of HaShem’s
, or rejection of it, means something else will fill that void---almost always a faulty belief. An example is when death-deserving criminals who would be executed is considered murder; that faulty perception will certainly come into conflict with . Another is that guns are bad or wrong; since when did guns become free-choice beings? The problem lies within the heart of the ones holding the guns. Or maybe those who believe that killing any animal is always wrong---they won’t be celebrating Pesach, not to mention having a difficult time understanding the cost of sin associated with the sacrifices.
There are others who make poor choices in life or indulge in carnality, seeking comfort and pleasure for themselves and not apply the necessary discipline and responsibilities (especially spiritual ones) to succeed in life; and when they start experiencing the pain and consequences of their choices, to Whom do some point their fingers to?
Mishlei 19:3---A person’s own folly is what ruins his way, but he rages in his heart against Adonai.
I like the more direct and down-to-earth Good News Translation:
Proverbs 19:3---Some people ruin themselves by their own stupid actions and then blame the L-RD.
The whole issue can be summed up in one of the verses of our Brit Chadashah reading:
Hebrews 3:10b---"…I [HaShem] said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, they have not understood how I do things’; …”
When we don’t understand HaShem’s ways, we can formulate our own faulty beliefs that will conflict with and create animosity towards Him. But when we understand and embrace His ways then we can accept how life works in this imperfect world marred by sin. The discipline of the “desert life” He leads us in is to help us grow in holiness and maturity (D’varim 8:2-5; Hebrews 12:5-11). If not, we become like that man who was bitter and hardened his heart to the point of never experiencing the life of YHVH.
Most of us know that the first generation that came out of Mitzrayim died out in the wilderness as punishment for unbelief and possibly assume that they all had a similar attitude as that man. However, there probably were some who, despite knowing they would never enter the Promised Land, made a choice to accept their consequences, repent and follow HaShem and His ways out of a heart of love and learn to cultivate the abundant life in their hearts. In other words, they made what life they had remaining count and prepare for the future life after they died.
This should be considered besorah tova. The mercy of HaShem is always available to those who genuinely repent, no matter how late in life that may be. There may be regrets over lost opportunities and the life in HaShem that could have been, but in these cases the familiar saying holds true: “Better late than never.” The life of HaShem through His Word is always available no matter how late an individual comes to experience it. It is Yehova’s will that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Kefa 3:9).
Tehillim 119:67, 71---Before I was humbled [KJV-afflicted], I used to go astray; but now I observe Your Word…It is for my good that I have been humbled [KJV-afflicted]; it was so that I would learn your laws.
Par’shah: B’midbar 13:1-15:41
Haftarah: Y’hoshua 2:1-24
Brit Chadashah: Hebrews 3:7-19
D’rash: B’midbar 15:32-36---While the people of Isra’el were in the desert, they found a man gathering wood on Shabbat. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moshe, Aharon and the whole congregation. They kept him in custody, because it had not yet been decided what to do to him. Then Adonai said to Moshe, “This man must be put to death; the entire community is to stone him to death outside the camp.” So the whole community brought him outside the camp and threw stones at him until he died, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
Our Rabbi had recently posted a lesson about this man, along with Nadav and Avihu, Aharon’s sons who offered strange fire, and Uzah, who tried to steady the Ark when the oxen stumbled. The point of the lesson was that each of these men died for blatant disobedience after all likelihood of multiple warnings.
The Scriptures do not give us any details of what this man was like before his execution but let us form a scenario on how he may have come to this point of defiance. Going to the previous par’shah in B’midbar 11, we see that the people complain about their hardships to Adonai, and fire broke out from Him as punishment on the outskirts of the camp. Very soon afterwards, the mixed crowd grew greedy for an easier life while the people of Yisra’el renewed their weeping, wishing for meat to eat. YHVH granted their request with a great abundance of quail but struck some of the people with a terrible plague for being greedy over it. Now this man obviously wasn’t killed in either of these events, but, even though he didn’t outwardly express any complaints or greed, he may have entertained these thoughts within his heart; or maybe he witnessed these punishments from a distance and began questioning if YHVH was being unfair or too harsh. In B’midbar 13 and 14 when the spies returned from reconnoitering the Land, ten of them lightly mentioned its fruit but greatly emphasized the difficulties in conquering it. Only Y’hoshua and Kalev tried to strongly encourage the people, even tearing their clothes as a sign of intensely communicating to them on how good the Land was and that YHVH would give them the strength to conquer it. Yet despite this encouragement the people were already dismayed, even making plans to appoint a leader to take them back to Mitzrayim. This man may have been involved in the potential coup d ‘e’tat and his heart further hardened when Adonai’s punishment for that first generation was forty years of wandering in the desert until they all died out. He may have even participated with the group that was remorseful afterwards then presumptuously tried to conquer the Land without approval and was further disappointed when their enemies defeated them.
By the time we get to our Scripture in B’midbar 15:32-36, realizing that the Promised Land was not going to be a reality for him, and that his life would eventually end in the desert, his heart may have already reached a point of anger, resentment and complete disregard for the mitzvot of YHVH. Any corrections he would have received to instruct him in the laws of Shabbat were probably met with a “rolling of his eyes,” reluctant obedience with hardness of heart. His final disobedience, therefore, required the death sentence so as not to infect the whole community. The conclusion is that HaShem was righteous in His judgement.
Today, there is nothing new under the sun (Kohelet 1:9). There are people who develop their own ideas and perceptions on how things should be in this world and get annoyed or even distraught when someone, or even YHVH Himself, comes into conflict with them. Ignorance of HaShem’s
, or rejection of it, means something else will fill that void---almost always a faulty belief. An example is when death-deserving criminals who would be executed is considered murder; that faulty perception will certainly come into conflict with . Another is that guns are bad or wrong; since when did guns become free-choice beings? The problem lies within the heart of the ones holding the guns. Or maybe those who believe that killing any animal is always wrong---they won’t be celebrating Pesach, not to mention having a difficult time understanding the cost of sin associated with the sacrifices.There are others who make poor choices in life or indulge in carnality, seeking comfort and pleasure for themselves and not apply the necessary discipline and responsibilities (especially spiritual ones) to succeed in life; and when they start experiencing the pain and consequences of their choices, to Whom do some point their fingers to?
Mishlei 19:3---A person’s own folly is what ruins his way, but he rages in his heart against Adonai.
I like the more direct and down-to-earth Good News Translation:
Proverbs 19:3---Some people ruin themselves by their own stupid actions and then blame the L-RD.
The whole issue can be summed up in one of the verses of our Brit Chadashah reading:
Hebrews 3:10b---"…I [HaShem] said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, they have not understood how I do things’; …”
When we don’t understand HaShem’s ways, we can formulate our own faulty beliefs that will conflict with
and create animosity towards Him. But when we understand and embrace His ways then we can accept how life works in this imperfect world marred by sin. The discipline of the “desert life” He leads us in is to help us grow in holiness and maturity (D’varim 8:2-5; Hebrews 12:5-11). If not, we become like that man who was bitter and hardened his heart to the point of never experiencing the life of YHVH.Most of us know that the first generation that came out of Mitzrayim died out in the wilderness as punishment for unbelief and possibly assume that they all had a similar attitude as that man. However, there probably were some who, despite knowing they would never enter the Promised Land, made a choice to accept their consequences, repent and follow HaShem and His ways out of a heart of love and learn to cultivate the abundant life in their hearts. In other words, they made what life they had remaining count and prepare for the future life after they died.
This should be considered besorah tova. The mercy of HaShem is always available to those who genuinely repent, no matter how late in life that may be. There may be regrets over lost opportunities and the life in HaShem that could have been, but in these cases the familiar saying holds true: “Better late than never.” The life of HaShem through His Word is always available no matter how late an individual comes to experience it. It is Yehova’s will that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Kefa 3:9).
Tehillim 119:67, 71---Before I was humbled [KJV-afflicted], I used to go astray; but now I observe Your Word…It is for my good that I have been humbled [KJV-afflicted]; it was so that I would learn your laws.
