Shelach Lekha (Send for Yourself) July 2, 2022
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Introduction
Introduction
This Torah Portion goes from Numbers 13:1-15:41
So far, we have discussed how God longed to show Himself to Israel. If they had come up to mount Sinai the complete restoration back to God would have been accomplished as the Lord would have tabernacled in them. They could not do it.
We have also discussed and taught on the ways of the Lord in establishing His patterns in the Menorah
How He was prophetic about the rapture
How He has hidden His mysteries in His patterns
Bemidbar
The Israelites who escaped from Egypt, witnessed the Sinaitic revelation, erected the Tabernacle, and were instructed in the operation of it (as described in Exodus and Leviticus) now prepare themselves militarily and spiritually for their march (walk) through the wilderness. They are organized as a war camp centered about the Tabernacle (1:1–10:10), but they become progressively demoralized by complaints, rebellions, and finally by apostasy, leading to their death in the wilderness (10:11–25:19).
Jacob Milgrom, Numbers, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990), 1–3.
This is not unique to the children of Israel. We also experience this in the way we have been nurtured, whether at our own house or in the things of the Lord
You need to understand
what has brought you where you are now. The message you have heard
Raised in environment not conducive to growth or wellness
Conditioned to a lifestyle and beliefs
Eg. Many religions and different denominations
Question the soil you are planted in: are you giving fruit?
I need to be able to recognize good soil (Joshua and Caleb)
Need for change
Our study today is on the basis of an alternative meaning for the word SHELACH:
This word is most commonly translated as SEND: meaning
שָׁלַח S7971 TWOT2394 GK8938814 vb. send = send forth, drive cattle to pasture, send messenger
Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 1018.
It also means:
To cause to go somewhere
therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.
Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way.
It denotes a principle of being transplanted to be planted
Picture
I am sure you would have heard this concept presented by other preachers, but I would invite you to look at the message in the Scriptures from the Hebrew perspective in a more linguistic approach.
I intend to use this Torah portion to take a closer look at what happened to the children of Israel in their journey through the wilderness into the promised land
To discuss:
Their actions
Challenges
Mindset
Reasons for the Lord to send them
How this applies to us today
Presentation
Presentation
Actions
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.”
Adonai said to Moshe,
“Send men on your behalf to reconnoiter the land of Kena‘an, which I am giving to the people of Isra’el. From each ancestral tribe send someone who is a leader in his tribe.”
A literal translation reads in V-2:
Send for you men and them explore the land of Canaan not translated with I am about to give to the children of Israel
The emphasis is on “You are sending the men”
“And every one of you came near to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.’
“The plan pleased me well; so I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe.
The Lord was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, ‘Even you shall not go in there.
The Lord spoke According to the tradition recorded in Deuteronomy (1:22, 23, 37), the initiative to scout the land stemmed from the people, not from God—constituting a breach of faith because God had already scouted the land. Hence, since Moses approved the expedition, he was condemned with the people to die in the desert.
Jacob Milgrom, Numbers, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990), 100.
So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.
Ramban also notes that no lot was used to select the scouts (cf. 1:5–15; 34:19–28), a further indication of the Lord’s displeasure with the idea of sending scouts. Therefore, God, as it were, told Moses: If you want them, you must pick them
Jacob Milgrom, Numbers, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990), 100.
Everyone was listed to go spy except Levi
Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the South, and go up to the mountains,
and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many;
whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds;
whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.
Not only did they not trust God to know that the Land was good, but they also wanted to decide for themselves if it is good.
But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”
And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.
There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
The way they saw themselves made them feel inferior
Grasshoppers
They saw themselves not God
Challenges
And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!
Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”
So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”
Complaining
Considering themselves victims
They want to return to where it is comfortable
Challenges
Don’t want to leave what is comfortable
Don’t want to learn what seems so foreign
Fear of the unknown
No understanding of how God works
Family dynamics
Different structure
Different culture
Different worship style
Other nations around
Different language
Different authority
Different Norms
Unfamiliar
Israel had to be educated
Mindset
Fixed mindset- cannot do it, I cannot learn- so that change does not happen
Mental and emotional barriers - keep you from risk of challenge
I believe the Lord is using the principle of
SHATAL
Which is the principle of planting and replanting
Consider the soil where the Lord plants
“Therefore hear the parable of the sower:
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.
But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
There are 4 different kinds of soil
By the wayside
Stoney soil
Soil among the thorns
Only one soil is good
I would propose to you God puts us in the wilderness to take us through a process of transplanting and planting
When we are planted in the wrong soil - not all the potential
Not the right environment
Then we get Uprooted
Takes away nutrients
Needs to be replanted in the right field
With the right care
To continue to reach its fullness
If we pay close attention Israel was planted for 400 years in Egypt
They needed to be uprooted - why?
Because their planting was in the world, in the darkness: Egypt
By the wayside
Stoney soil
Soil among the thorns
Only one soil is good
Three of the soils are of the world
Only one is of the Kingdom of God
There are therefore 2 simultaneous events in Shatal:
1- the planting to the world = NATA
2- replanting of the tree that has been uprooted = SHATAL
NATA
The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
Nata
“You shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a wooden image, near the altar which you build for yourself to the Lord your God.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Nata: supposes men doing his own thing, toiling the land on his way
toiling
SHATAL
It was planted in good soil by many waters, To bring forth branches, bear fruit, And become a majestic vine.” ’
Shatal
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Shatal supposes the uprooting from the things of the world to the things of God.
uprooted
It starts with repentance
Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
What does God do with Israel to uproot them from Egypt into His promise land?
He gives them the LAW
Law
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you have come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving to you,
and you make an offering by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering or in your appointed feasts, to make a sweet aroma to the Lord, from the herd or the flock,
Numbers 15:16 (NKJV)
One law and one custom shall be for you and for the stranger who dwells with you.’ ”
Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners.
And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined,
and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.
Why is God giving them the LAW?
W/o law WE do not know Him
We do not know what to do
We do not understand rightiousnes
We cannot change our mindset
Proper process of uprooting and planting
Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
1- Principle: of Strictness or Carefulness -
Sachirut - care over their life and their walk with God and their relationship with others
Vs 1
Righteous man takes care not to be drawn into the ways of the world: careful who he associates with
Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.
For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?
But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
Take care of people inside the House of God
Not persuaded by the council of the wicked
Does not keep company with those who try to persuade him with words or doctrine - careful who you listen to- other philosophies
Everyone else is doing it, I might as well do it- Leshon Hara- you need to keep holy - Lashon Tov
Hard to observe Shabbat if people do not understand you- especially your family and friends
Internal examination: Examine your conduct: Christmas and other pagan festivities
Even in what I am teaching you - are we doing this like the whole house of Israel
All of us act automatic thoughts - formed in our upbringing- habits
Some people is just easy to follow the majority
Taught what to think vs how to think
Happy man guards
If Israel wants to be happy they need to learn a new path- same for us
What is the wicked= murders, thieves, etc. Is this what scripture tells us?
rashaim (wicked) = in any religious system - a believer can be wicked. (Job 18:5-6). Righteousness comes from Yeshua’s name His character in us= you can sit in a flowerpot but that does not make you a flower. You can eat Chinese food, but that does not make you a Chinese person. You can go to church every weekend. That does not make you holy
To be a wicked person is the person ignores the Torah
The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does their destruction come upon them, The sorrows God distributes in His anger?
They are like straw before the wind, And like chaff that a storm carries away.
2- Principle of Quickness, diligence, keeping memories, zeal
ZERIZUT
And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it.
So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
Summary
Same transplanting to be planted happens to us from Secular Christianity to a Messianic Context
Comfort
I want to do it, but I don’t understand it- I will stay where is comfortable
Same case we have to be educated in Messianic Gospel - move from Western culture to Kingdom Culture
Apprehension - Hebrew culture is foreign
Taught Christianity is one thing and that Judaism is this other different thing and they will never meet.
Need for a change
Don’t want to leave what is comfortable
Don’t want to learn what seems so foreign
Fear of the unknown
No understanding of how God works
Family dynamics
Different structure
Different culture
Different worship style
Other nations around
Different language
Different authority
Different Norms
Unfamiliar
Israel had to be educated;; so do we
I need to learn Hebrew
Started with: Marcion, Chysostom, Saint Augustin
Marcion
MARCION (Μαρκίων, Markiōn). Second-century ad teacher and perhaps the most infamous heretic in early Christianity. Marcion was a native of Pontus (now northern Turkey) who arrived in Rome around ad 140 and joined a church. After developing his own distinct theology and scriptural canon, he formed his own sect (later known as Marcionites) and planted congregations throughout the Mediterranean.
Marcion is best known for denying that the God of the Jewish Scriptures (for Christians, the Old Testament) was the same as the God of Christian Scriptures. His own scriptures were limited to one Gospel (Luke) and 10 letters of Paul. Marcion’s views about God, Christ, the canon of Scripture, and the relation between Judaism and Christianity prompted the early church fathers to clarify their positions on these issues.
One quote:
The Old Testament is the revelation of the creator. It predicts the Jewish Messiah. Jesus is not the fulfillment of the Old Testament. The Old Testament god worked evils, contradicted himself, and delighted in wars.
CHURCH HISTORY: FROM CHRIST TO PRE-REFORMATION, PAGES 86-87
Chrysostom
Adversus Judaeos (Ancient Greek: Κατὰ Ἰουδαίων Kata Ioudaiōn, "against the Jews") are a series of fourth century homilies by Saint John Chrysostom directed to members of the church of Antioch of his time, who continued to observe Jewish feasts and fasts. Critical of this, he cast Judaism and the synagogues in his city in a critical and negative light.
There are modern scholars who claim that an abuse of his preaching fed later Christian anti-Semitism, and some, such as Stephen Katz, go even further, saying it was an inspiration for paganNazi anti-semitism. Indeed, during World War II, the Nazi Party in Germany abused his homilies, quoting and reprinting them frequently in an attempt to legitimize the Holocaust in the eyes of German and Austrian Christians[citation needed].[1][2] Anglican priest James Parkes called the writing on Jews "the most horrible and violent denunciations of Judaism to be found in the writings of a Christian theologian".[3] According to historian William I. Brustein, his sermons against Jews gave further momentum to the idea that the Jews are collectively responsible for the death of Jesus.[4]
Wikipedia
Saint Augustin:
Systematic theology - outside this system you are a heritec
Culturalization of the Gospel
Moving from customs and truth to relative truth
To be come one flock - makes no sense
We have been conditioned the Law has been done away with
Face difficulty
If we do not change, Israel will not come to Messiah
Jewish also experience the same: Yeshua is not their Messiah - He is the pagan god of the gentiles, etc.
How to deal with Difficulties in being transplanted
To develop Zerizut take it as a delight= value
Heb 1:3
Upholds the Torah by His word
John 1:1-3
Col 1:17
Paul takes delight in the Torah
Rom 7:22
Yeshua and Torah are one in the same: To believe in Yeshua or the Torah separately you are only clinging to an idea. The word is alive because Yeshua is alive. Yeshua is alive because the word says He is alive. The Torah says He is Salvation.
Shabbat Shalom