Bamidbar / Num.30:1–36:13
Haftarah: Yermiyahu / Jer. 2:4-28; 3:4; 4:1-2
The Messianic Writings: Luke 13:1-9 & Mark 11:12-23
Matot means Tribes
Masei means Journeys
The themes of these parashot
1. Chap. 30 The promises and their fulfillments
2. Chap. 31 The War against Midiam
3. Laws on the spoils of war
4. Chap. 32 The tribe of Reuben and Gad ask not to cross the Yarden
5. Chap. 33 List of the various stops where the children of Yisrael walked.
6. Chap. 35 Designation of cities for the Leviim (6 cities) and refuge cities (42 cities).
7. Avoid spilling innocent blood.
8. The limits of the land of Yisrael.
9. Warning of not sticking to other people or their idols.
Mashiach in this parashat
33:37-39 “They departed from Kadesh and camped on Mount Hor, at the end of the land of Edom. Then the priest Aharon climbed Mount Hor at the command of HaShem, and there he died, the year forty after the children of Israel had left the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. Aharon was one hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.”
In camp number 33 since the departure from Egypt, the High Priest Aaron died on a mountain, the mountain called Hor, which means “mountain“.
He was a Mashiach, an anointed one, the first to be called Mashiach in the Scriptures, cf. Leviticus 4:3, 5, 16.
3 “‘If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the Lord a young bull without defect as a sin offering[a] for the sin he has committed.
- 5 Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull’s blood and carry it into the tent of meeting.
- 16 Then the anointed priest is to take some of the bull’s blood into the tent of meeting.
This event is a prophetic figure of Yeshua Ha’Mashiach, who also died on a mountain, at the age of 33, which coincides with the number 33 of Israel’s days since the departure from Egypt.
33:37-39 “He died, the year forty after the children of Israel had left the land of Egypt.”
This alludes to the death and resurrection of Mashiach 4,000 years after Adam’s creation.
In B’reshit / Gen. 13:10 Egypt is compared to the Garden of Eden.
10 Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
In that way there is a connection between the expulsion of Adam and Java from paradise and the departure from Egypt of the children of Israel.
Therefore, in the same way that Aaron, the anointed one, died 40 years after the departure from Egypt, Yeshua the Messiah died 4,000 (100 x 40) years after the departure of the first men from the Garden of Eden.
Moreover, Aharon died on the first day of the 5th month, exactly 3 1/2 months after the date of departure, on the 15th day of the first month.
The 3 1/2 months allude to the 3 1/2 years of the Messiah’s ministry, after which he died, and was resurrected.
As Aharon died 3 1/2 months after the date of departure, Yeshua died 3 1/2 years after he began his public ministry.
Aharon was three years older than his brother Moses, who died at age 120.
Those three years also tell us of the Messiah, who had three and a half years of ministry, who was 30 and a half years old when he died, and who spent three days inside the earth before he was resurrected.
Mount Hor is mentioned three times in the text.
35:19 “The blood avenger, (goel hadam), he himself will put the murderer to death; he will put him to death when he meets him.”
From this, we learn that there is a person who is called goel hadam, “redeemer of blood” or “avenger,” who has the responsibility to search for and execute the murderer.
Who was it that killed the first man and is therefore called a murderer by our Master Yeshua, according to John 8:44 and 10:10?
The answer is: “the adversary.”
Who is Adam and Java’s closest relative?
The answer is Messiah ben Adam, the Son of Man, who was the prototype that HaShem used for the creation of Adam.
Who, then, has the responsibility to seek out and execute the one who murdered the human being?
The answer is Yeshua Ha’Mashiach, as written in Yohanan / Jn. 12:31:
“The judgment of this world is already here; now the prince of this world will be cast out.”
In John 16:11 it is written:
“and of judgment, for the prince of this world has been judged.”
In 1 John 3:8b it is written:
“The Son of Adonai manifested Himself for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil.”
35:25, 28 “And the congregation shall deliver the murderer from the hand of the blood avenger, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of refuge to which he fled; and he will live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with holy oil… for the murderer must have remained in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the murderer will return to his land.”
Three times there is talk here of the death of the High Priest.
Again, there is the number three in relation to the death of the High Priest, which is an allusion to the death of the Messiah.
The only thing that could accidentally free the murderer from his exile situation is the death of the High Priest “who was anointed with holy oil.”
The Torah highlights the fact that the High Priest had been anointed to allude to Yeshua, the Anointed One, in Hebrew Ha’Mashiach.
Through His death, we are delivered from the consequences of our sins that we have mistakenly committed.
Beloved Ajim (brothers(as),” if you are suffering a “jail” for having done terrible things by mistake, you must know that Yeshua’s death has also provided for you to be free from those consequences and they will not be raised against you in the final judgment.
35:33 “So thou shalt not contaminate the land in which ye are; for blood defiles the earth, and no atonement can be made for the earth, for the blood shed on it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.”
Here we see the gravity of a crime of murder.
A murderer must be tried by the authorities of each country, for HaShem justice to be established in the world.
According to Jewish law, a person who has not been warned by two or three people before committing murder cannot be tried to death.
The Torah stresses the importance of not leaving alive the murderer who has been sentenced to death, lest the land of Israel be contaminated.
The shedding of innocent blood on earth is one of the things that bring divine judgment upon Israel and the nations.
The way to avoid divine judgment for murders is to execute murderers.
If the murderers are not judged correctly, all the people will be the object of judgment for the innocent blood that has been shed on the earth, cf. 2 Kings 24:4.
However, when the murderer repents, the law will not be applied in its rigor and the guilty must be acquitted of the death penalty and receive a less severe penalty.
But where there is no repentance, the law must be applied in full force to prevent the earth from being polluted and cursed.
How can HaShem forgive the repentant sinner if the only way to make atonement for murder is for the culprit to pay with his own blood, according to this text?
How can HaShem forgive and acquit the guilty while remaining righteous?
In Proverbs 17:15 it is written:
“He who justifies the wicked, and the one who condemns the just, are both equally abomination to HaShem.”
If a judge justifies the wicked, he is committing an act abominable to HaShem.
How then will the Heavenly Righteous Judge be able to justify the wicked one who repents and remain righteous?
The only answer is: Through a substitute.
The animals that died in the temple could not fully represent man.
They were not true substitutes.
They are only a shadow of the one true sacrifice for the sins of all men throughout history, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
The death of Yeshua Ha’Mashiach is the only legally just basis on which HaShem can remain just in forgiving and justifying a sinner who repents of his sin, as written in Romans 3:24b-26:
“Mashiach Yeshua, whom Adonai publicly exhibited as a propitiation by his blood through faith, as a demonstration of his righteousness, because in his tolerance, Adonal overlooked the sins committed before, to demonstrate at this time his righteousness, so that he may be just and be the one who justifies the one who is of Yeshua’s faith.”
The only way HaShem can demonstrate to the whole world his righteousness by forgiving repentant sinners is by publicly displaying the bloody death of the One who died in the place of man, as written in 2 Corinthians 5:21:
“To him who knew no sin, he made sin for us, that we might be made righteousness of Adonai in him.”
So, when you feel accused by your conscience that has been awakened by the message of the Torah and through the conviction of the Rush/ Spirit of Holiness that has been sent to convince the world of sin, you must know, that there is a substitute who suffered in your place so that all the mortal consequences of your sin do not have to come upon you.
Through your repentance, HaShem transfers the ultimate consequence of your sin to the Substitute, so that you do not have to die for your sins but be forgiven and justified.
Justification by faith in Yeshua’s blood puts you in a situation of innocence before the Heavenly Tribunal and you can have peace with HaShem, as written in Romans 5:1-2:
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace for ado nay through our Adon Yeshua Ha’Mashiach, through whom we have also gained entry by faith into this grace in which we are steadfast, and we boast in the hope of the glory of Adonai.”
Blessed be Adonai for this exchange of roles!
Jazak, Jazak, Venitjaze!
Be strong, be strong, and we will get stronger!
Shabbat Shalom Mishpochah!