SHABBOT SHALOM! THIS WEEK'S SCRIPTURES

 

 

 

A narrow gorge near SdeBoker in the Negev south of Beer Sheva.

 

 

The reading for this week of June 23-29 is called Pinchas-"Phinehas":

TORAH: Numbers 25:10-29:40
 HAFTARAH ("Haftarah of Affliction"): Jeremiah 1:1-2:3

(Usual Haftarah: I Kings 18:46-19:21. During the three-week period "between the straits", two of the normal Haftarah portions are replaced by readings calling Israel to sober contemplation of her sin and deserving of severe judgment, of the Love of her God which is calling her to repent and return to Him.)

*Numbers 25: 11, 13. "Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aharon the Priest has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with my zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal. He was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel".

  The Hebrew word kinah may in Biblical usage be translated either zeal (NKJV) or jealousy (NASB). Holy zeal is a burning passionate jealousy on behalf of something or someone good and deeply loved. It is important to know that the same word when ignited by the flesh refers to mere envy (Proverbs 23:17). . David sang of his zeal for God's House (Psalm 69:9) which consumed him, a song which would be found to be prophetic of the Messiah, Who was to come (John 2:17). Zechariah 1:14 records YHVH's zeal for Jerusalem-and Isaiah 9:6-7 speaks of His zeal for His Son and the establishment of His Righteous Kingdom on Earth. Phinehas was zealous for "the honor of his God" (25:11,13 NIV). 
 
PLEASE PRAY: For the awakening of a burning zeal, a holy jealousy in believers in Israel for the things of God-based on truth and knowledge (Rom 10:2)-a zeal which will be necessary in turning away God's wrath so that his people in this later generation are not consumed.

*Numbers 26:1-2: "And it came to pass, after the plague, that the LORD spoke to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying: 'Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel from twenty years old and above, by their fathers' houses, all who are able to go to war in Israel."-Numbers 26:64-65: "But among these there was not a man of those who were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest (Numbers 2) when they numbered the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Sinai. For the LORD had said to them, 'They shall surely die in the wilderness.' So there was not left a man of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun."

 With the 24,000 who died in the plague brought on by the seduction of the women of Moab, the older generation which had rebelled is finally passed. A new numbering takes place.

*Numbers 27:16. "Then Moses spoke to the LORD, saying 'Let YHVH, the God of Spirits of all Flesh set a man over the congregation.'"

This name, almost exactly the same as was used in Numbers 16:22, only this time using the personal name YHVH, implies the sovereign knowledge the LORD has of the inner workings of all human beings. It is noteworthy that Moses uses this name in requesting the LORD's appointment of a new leader-and the Lord responds by referring specifically to the "spirit" within Joshua (27:18).

*Numbers 27:18-20: "Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and inaugurate him in their sight. And you shall give some of your authority, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient."

It was not enough that Joshua was skilled and experienced after serving over forty years under Moses' leadership. Something more was necessary; something beyond Moses' natural abilities, something bespeaking the high authority of Heaven had affected the rebellious people in such a way that they had continued to follow and respect him in the desert for 40 years. This particular "authority" (NKJV) of which he was to pass some on to Joshua is Hebrew hod -"a grandeur or majesty related to royalty" ("splendor" in Psalm 45:3 NASB); this would result in the congregation listening to and obeying his word. This sovereign enabling for leadership was passed on here by the laying on of hands and public releasing of God's charge ("inaugurating") into Joshua.

PLEASE PRAY: For leaders in the five-fold offices of the Body of Messiah in Israel, that they will be faithful in mentoring and in God's timing "passing on" their mantles to faithful ones God shows them in the generation rising up behind.

*Numbers 28:2. "Command the Children of Israel, and say to them, 'My offering, My food for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to offer to Me at their appointed time."
Timing is an important aspect of our worship. Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 speaks of times and seasons, and of the necessity of timing in the manifesting of the beauty God desires to bring forth in His creation. Here in Chapters 28-29 are presented anew for the next generation the "appointed times" of the LORD: Daily (morning and evening), Weekly (Sabbaths), Monthly (Rosh Chodesh-Head of the Month), Springtime: Pesach (Passover), Matzot(Unleavened Bread), Shavuot (Weeks, Pentecost); Fall: Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Sukkot (Feast of Booths/Tabernacles, containing instructions for each of the eight days)-all these times of the Lord and their relevant offerings are here laid out fresh before His army goes into their new Land.

*Jeremiah 2:1-3 (ESV): "The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Go and proclaim in
the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD,

"I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who ate of it incurred guilt; disaster came upon them, declares the LORD.'"     

portions taken from Israel prayer list