39.2 Par’shah Hukkat

[alon]

39.2 Par’shah Hukkat

This week’s readings: Par’shah 39
Date of reading: July 13, 2019/10 Tamuz, 5779
Name of Par’shah: Hukkat (Regulation)
Par’shah: B’midbar 19:1-22:1
Haftarah: Shof’tim 11:1-33
Brit Chadashah: Yochanan 3:9-21; 4:3-30; 12:27-50

D’rash:
B’midbar 21:4-9---Then they traveled from Mount Hor on the road to the Sea of Suf in order to go around the land of Edom; but the people’s tempers grew short because of the detour. The people spoke against G-d and against Moshe: “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? To die in the desert? There’s no real food, there’s no water, and we’re sick of this miserable stuff we’re eating.!” In response, Adonai sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit the people, and many of Isra’el’s people died. The people came to Moshe and said, “We sinned by speaking against Adonai and against you. Pray to Adonai that He rid us of these snakes.” Moshe prayed for the people, and Adonai answered Moshe, “Make a poisonous snake and put it on a pole. When anyone who has been bitten sees it, he will live.” Moshe made a bronze snake and put it on the pole; if a snake had bitten someone, then, when he looked toward the bronze snake, he stayed alive.

Here we see the people continue to complain, quick to forget Adonai’s provision, and fail to understand His ways and the discipline he wishes to instill in them. Earlier, He responded to their complaint for meat with an abundance of quail. Their complaint now brings them poisonous snakes. As new believers, HaShem often shows mercy and provision because He understands we are just starting to learn His ways. But after some time, we are expected to grow and mature, learn and apply His rulings, and submit to the discipline He administers for our good. Otherwise, if we choose to remain in a state of immaturity, consequences steadily become more painful. One commentary mentioned that the people were plagued by these snakes for some time. HaShem may also allow the consequences of our wrong choices to linger so that we can come to know the difference between serving Him or sin (see Divrei-Hayamim Bet 12:7-8).

Verses 8 and 9 state that if anyone was bitten by a snake, he would be healed if he looked upon the bronze snake. Two Hebrew words are used for “look”. In verse 8 it is “ra’ah” (Strong’s H7200) which has numerous applications but the ones applied to our context of Scripture would be “gaze” or “take heed”. The second word, “nabat” (Strong’s H5027) in verse 9 is more specific and supports our chosen definitions in verse 8. It means, “a prim. root; to scan, i.e. look intently at; by impl. to regard with pleasure, favor or care: ---(cause to) behold, consider, (look) down, regard, have respect, see.” In short, take a hard look with serious consideration on why this happened, with the purpose of taking diligent care not to repeat this action.

The snake may have also brought to mind the rebellion in the garden by Adam and Havah and the fact that the sacrificial altar in the Mishkan was overlaid with bronze, which served as a reminder of the cost of sin. This leads us to the most direct Scriptural reference of the bronze snake used by Yeshua Himself to illustrate the way in which He would die to secure eternal salvation for all who would believe in Him:
Yochanan 3:14-15---"Just as Moshe lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that everyone who trusts in Him may have eternal life.”
There were other tangible signs used by YHVH to remind those in the desert not to rebel against Him:

1). The firepans used unlawfully to offer incense by the 250 men in Korach’s rebellion were hammered into plates to cover the Altar (B’midbar 17:1(16:36)-5(16:40)).
2). Aharon’s staff that budded, fully with flowers and ripe almonds, was placed in front of the Testimony (B’midbar 17:16(1)-26(11)).
3). Tzitziyot, which were a mitzvah, served to remind the people to obey and not go astray (B’midbar 15:37-41).

Other than Tzitziyot, our friends and family can make a great replacement for the bronze snake. How many times has it occurred in casual conversation when one of them brings up something we are ashamed of? It usually takes the form of, “Oh, that reminds me, do you remember when you…”. This is probably why some people won’t attend their high school class reunions! However, for most believers today, the bronze snake has been replaced by a good memory. It’s a good idea on occasion to recall our past, which might make us wince and groan but also remember the forgiveness and peace we received from HaShem and the continued fellowship we have with Him through His Word.

1 Corinthians 6:11---Some of you used to do these [evil] things. But you have cleansed yourselves, you have been set apart for G-d, you have come to be counted righteous through the power of the L-rd Yeshua the Messiah and the Spirit of our G-d.

References: The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, copyright 1990 by Thomas Nelson Publishers; Scriptures taken from the Complete Jewish Bible, copyright 1998 by David H. Stern

MRD

[Elizabeth]

One thing I kind of wonder about is that G-d told Moses to make a snake for people to look upon ..... how have people traditionally reconciled that with His command not to make a graven image?

It seems there must be more to the less encompassing approach of the commandment having to do only with the worship of idols considering He did tell people to make graven images in this instance as well as in building the Temple.

It's not a terribly big deal, but it just seems to give credibility to that command only having to do with idol worship instead of making graven images more broadly. I think we can give power to the adversary by going to either extreme sometimes is another reason I bring it up. he doesn't have as much say so as we sometimes give him when we take things too far because it can give him some level of fear and priority that way I think.

[alon]

Jul 13, 2019 5:49:11 GMT -8 Elizabeth said:

One thing I kind of wonder about is that G-d told Moses to make a snake for people to look upon ..... how have people traditionally reconciled that with His command not to make a graven image?

It seems there must be more to the less encompassing approach of the commandment having to do only with the worship of idols considering He did tell people to make graven images in this instance as well as in building the Temple.

It's not a terribly big deal, but it just seems to give credibility to that command only having to do with idol worship instead of making graven images more broadly. I think we can give power to the adversary by going to either extreme sometimes is another reason I bring it up. he doesn't have as much say so as we sometimes give him when we take things too far because it can give him some level of fear and priority that way I think.

God also commanded images of Seraphim to be on the Mercy Seat and huge ones in the Temple itself. He is God, and can, for His own reasons command exceptions to the rules. 

Many think this was a type of Yeshua, and I can see how they would. But the serpent tempted Chava to sin, and has been a type of sin ever since. I think it represents our sins being nailed to the tree when Yeshua was executed. The Temple as well as the Ark were physical representations of heavenly things, and God had them portrayed as He wanted. He can do that. Our responsibility is to trust Him that when we look at the snake (confess our sins) He will save us. And we do not worship either the snake or the Seraphim, but God alone.

Dan C