B'midbar - From the Wilderness to the New Jerusalem
Transcript(from the video captions)
So good to see all of you today. What a special day for this Shabbat. So glad to see everybody. Let's pray. We Shabbat shamayim we bless and sanctify you. We thank you for your Shabbat. We thank you for all that you're doing. And that you are in our midst. May we sense your presence today as you move in and through us in Yeshua's name. So I have a question for all of you today and this is the question. What are you counting? Right now. What are you counting? Omer, I heard the Omer. It's good. This is wasn't a strict question but it could have been one. It's a little rhetorical, I know. Yes, what are you counting? Well, I'm glad some of you are counting and hopefully all of you are counting the Omer. But a lot of times what happens is in our society we can be counting other things. And they're not necessarily bad but they're things. Days to retirement. Job promotions. Good stuff, right? Calories. In my case children.
I don't count them typically till they they come but yeah. It's it's there. Time. Age. Right? Yeah, these are things that that come up, right? Or how about this? Have you have you ever felt like just being a number in a company before? That you were just treated like a number. I know we've all had that. A metric. A statistic. No offense to you HR professionals, a payroll ID. Yeah. These are all things. Performance review. How are you performing? This is our world. This is what we have. And this is really how a census works. Typical when you think of a a census, you're trying to get a head count for a total. A total and a lot means good, a few means bad in the world, right? It's typically how things work. The larger the numbers, the stronger the army, the more successful a company, the more powerful a kingdom is how the world works. But Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory, points out the very danger of counting is that people can disappear into a crowd. Individuals become expendable in that model. But when God commands us at Bamidbar, at on the brink of of the wilderness there, he doesn't say
just merely count the people, but literally he says Shu el Rosh, something very different. Lift up the heads of the entire assembly, Kohath bene Israel, of all of Israel. Lift up the heads. What does this mean, lift up the heads? By by clans and their fathers' houses. Bemis par Shemot, according to their the number of their names, individuals. Kol zakhar, uh here we go. Every male. Every male, one by one. Where the ladies? The ladies are there. They're counted there, too. Always. A patriarchal society. Today, of course, women serve in the military in Israel. But, the point is that everyone counts. God counts what counts. And that's what we begin to see in this week's Torah portion. Because Pharaoh counted slaves. Kings count armies. Corporations count productivity. That's the CEO's job. And empires count power and control. But, God sees things very differently. See, he lifts up the heads of everybody. He knows everyone's name. Does he really need to count us when he knows every hair on her head? That's our God. He sees the person. He counts souls individually. That's what matters to God. The living
soul is what matters. That's why everybody had a Kapehr, a redemption price when they came into the land. Everybody had a price on their head. Rashi says this, because God loved us, he counts us very often. He's obsessed with counting us. But, not because he wants us to be large in numbers, although he wishes that all would come to the knowledge of God. But, God is mighty within us, regardless of our numbers. Ramban Nachmanides says that every single person in those days would stand before Hashem, before Mosha and Aharon, and before their tribal leader that knew all the intricate details of the tribe. Named, recognized, dignified. Everybody's dignity preserved. Everybody God knows your name. That's the place where God knows your name. No one is anonymous in the kingdom of God. You know, whenever I take my children somewhere, they like to go out they're obsessed with fishing now and that's been our new thing, which is good. Fishing is good. But whenever we go somewhere whenever we get back into the car, I always remember to count them before we pull away. Some of you I can see some head nods. Yeah, you you acknowledge
this. But it's not because I forgot one of them. It's because well, just in case. No. It's but they're my pride and joy. I mean, come on, you know, like yeah, this How much more our God who is our Vina Malkenu, our father, our king. To be counted by God is to be remembered by God. And God says you are not forgotten. I remember. You belong to Hashem. So for 7 weeks we've been building up technically 6 weeks, but we're coming on the 7th week of counting the Omer. And we're now at right at the Rosh Chodesh. Just like the Torah portion except one forward because we're going to Sivan Torah portion was at Iyar, right in that range. And we're moving on our our 49-day counts right towards receiving the Torah. Towards Har Sinai towards Har Zion, Mount Zion, where the Messiah will step in foot. And towards Yerushalayim Shelomo Allah, that's of course, Jerusalem above. That's what we await. And that perhaps becomes the question of Bamidbar. Am I keeping score in totals or am I really counting what counts? Because we know what God counts. So, what are we counting? Is the question. The wilderness is not just merely empty
space, rather it's formative space. The rabbi saw a remez, a clue in the hidden words Bamidbar Matanah, from the wilderness to Matanah. That's Numbers 21:18. They saw it hidden there. From the wilderness to the gift of the Torah as we are going to receive it. Right in the words there. The wilderness strips away all of our false securities so God can form a covenant people capable of moving forward towards Matan Torah, the giving of the Torah. He has to strip away everything false in us, every false security that we might have. And he has to refine and strengthen our identity in him as we move forward to receive this properly. And it's in the wilderness. It's not in Egypt. It's not in empire. It's not in comfort. Although comfort's good. But that's not where we receive the Torah. No, it's Bamidbar, in the wilderness. In that place sometimes where things are kind of dry and barren and quiet. And in those spaces of uncertainty is where our God finds us and speaks to us. That's where he brings us right back into his presence. Bamidbar. Jonathan Grossman, a biblical scholar, notes this in the chapters of Bamidbar, Numbers.
He notices that the formation is not just a bunch of numbers, but rather the sanctification of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, and the sanctification of the camp itself. In fact, that is really what it's all about. God is sanctifying you and me, so he can rest his presence right within us. And we've been tracking this along our lines in our journey through the Torah. And it just keeps building and building and building for more clarity as we move forward. But surprisingly, but possibly to some of you, it's the camp that we hear about first. God is sanctifying the camp. Why? Why would that be? Because the goal is not just a holy sanctuary. The goal is Kadoshim, for us to arise to become a holy people before him. As God is sanctifying us, our hearts and our minds, we see this all over the Brit Hadasha as we read the apostolic writings. Well, this is where it begins, right in our formation, right here at Sha'arei Shalom. God has been doing that. He's been bringing us into uh unity together. The holiness of the Mishkan radiates outward towards the camp. It's in the center and it radiates out.
The presence is no longer confined at Sinai. Not that it was actually confined, but nobody touched the mountain, right? Had to be ritually pure. All these things, all these obstacles, difficulties. But, now God travels with us everywhere we go. And if we pay attention, we notice these things. We can notice these things. It's not just speculation. It's not just a concept. It's a reality in our midst. So, now we and the people here have to learn how to organize themselves around the presence of God. Just as Israel camped on Har Sinai, Israel now camps around the center of the presence, the Mishkan. And this is a portable way of God traveling with us. The presence now remains in the center of the camp. I mean, what can we do when God is in the center of the camp, right? Yeah, it's great responsibility, order, structure, unity, sacrifice, humility. All of those have to come into play now. Not that they didn't before, but we have a heightened awareness of them as the Torah brings us forward. Suddenly, everything matters. Again, not that it didn't matter before, but here we are. God's in our midst.
Alignment, holiness, boundaries, responsibilities, movement. How are we moving in the presence of God as we move forward together? This is not chaos. Rather, this is covenant formation as God is shaping us. Biblical scholar Jon Levenson once described Israel way, an aristocracy of humility. That's the true calling of Israel.
Chosen, not for self-exaltation like the world, but for covenant responsibility. Lifted up, not to dominate the nations. Although, of course, there were wars at times. God would clear out evil to make space for Israel to flourish and to bring witness to the world, but the focus is not on domination or triumphalism. No, it's bringing humility and bringing the true God everywhere we go. That's the portable nature of God within us. God desires to form us around his presence for faithful witness to the world. But we have to ask ourselves, am I keeping scores and totals, or am I counting what really counts? This is the challenge for me, for you, for us as we move forward. And it's really dependent on that. Every tribe had a place, a direction, a responsibility, differentiated. Each one had a banner, a symbol on that banner. According to the Midbar Rabbah, the Midrash, each tribe had its own symbol. Yehudah, the lion. Dan, the serpent. Shrewd. Binyamin, the wolf. Ravenous wolf, right? Zevulun, the ship. And all of the rest just flowed from Yakov's blessings in Genesis and better sheet. All of it there.
Different individual expressions. God is a God of diversity. He loves diversity. But he will not permit us to move into being isolated factions. And that's exactly the call in the midbar. Because every banner of the tribes faced inward towards the center of the camp. We have banners, but they face towards the presence of Hashem. That banner will represent our individuality, our distinction, our different gifts and talents, our diversity as we come together as a multitude. But yet the center of God is in the camp and it must point towards him. Everything must go towards him for the sake of Hashem, I am the kingdom of heaven. Every tribe mattered. Every banner mattered. Every soul mattered. It was all about our souls. But even so, the divine presence among us matters most. That's what matters. Moshe Rabbeinu once made that argument. He was right. And then we see how the Leviim are removed from this census to have their own because originally it was the bechor, the firstborn was set apart for the role of being the kohen, the kohanim. And they would still have a role like that. But it was after the golden calf
incident that we see that the Levites stepped into the role when no one else would. When Moshe said, "All there on Adonai's side, come to me. They came. And that's how our service should be. When when there's a need, when there's a call, when there's a cry, we step into action. And we just fill the need. We don't wait for somebody to call our name. We step into it. Of course, we have to have order. But that's the idea as we see because of their faithfulness, they were lifted up or lifted into sacred Mishkan service before God. And that's how they get there. But these roles are not interchangeable. Anyone unlawfully stepping into the role of a a Levi, a Levite, will be put to death. And anytime a Levite would try to usurp the role of a Kohen, the same. Seem harsh? This is order. This is not discrimination. This is different diversity, differentiation in our God. Because that's how we move, and that's that's the power of God within us, in us, and through us as we move together according to our call and our roles. So, the camp functions properly when we embrace our true calling and identity in Hashem.
That's when everything starts to really work really well. Because the structure itself is not for God's sake, it's for ours. That's why there's structure. For our sake, and we could say for the sake of the whole world, because how good will our our witness be if we are fracturing and becoming factions. God forbid. So, today we see a world that it's not just about individuality, but it goes even further. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks says, "Individualism." When individuality becomes individualism, then it becomes all about me, and I forget my place among the community. This is an important distinction. It's not an accusation. This is This is the word of God coming to us and how we can form healthy in his presence. So, we see that today. But, the Torah tells a different story than personal autonomy, which is is good and and we want to be autonomous. But, it's not just about self-definition. We Yeah, we have to find who how who we are and what our calling is and and really solidify in that identity and everything has to happen. But, the Torah tells us that when the presence of God is in the center,
everything functions. But, without the presence of God in the center, everything collapses under the weight of individualism. That's the warning we have as God is showing us. God desires to form his presence around us for faithful witness to the world and for us, it's right here in this area. Right in the triangle area. We're a powerful witness to this world. And it starts with us in our own families. But, that's where we are. But, the challenge becomes, am I keeping score and totals? The world can be very obsessed with keeping score, with winning. And winning can be good. I'm competitive, sure. But is that really what it's all about? Or it's about counting what counts because at the end of the day you and those of us that have been around for a while, we really know with our innermost parts, it's no mystery what counts. We know. And may God speak to us on that. So as we move forward, we we move into the imagery of Revelation, the power of Revelation as it comes out in the book of Revelation and Yochanan now hears something powerful and similar. The numbering of a people. Tribes are counted once again.
Servants of God are sealed. I know some people write really deeply into that, but they are sealed in Hashem, their salvation. Free from judgment. They are they are walking faithfully in their God. They belong to God. This is a people assembled before God. In Revelation 7:4, then I heard the number of those sealed. Similar to Bamidbar. 144,000 sealed from every tribe of Bene Yisrael. There's the 144. But like Bamidbar, the tribes are once again named. And this is what really counts. Yehudah, Reuven, Gad, Asher, and the rest of Israel. They're all there. Except for one. That's for another time. Yes, there's mystery in here, but we see the formation coming about of the midbar. The imagery echoes the midbar, the wilderness. We see all of that. A holy people assembled for a sacred purpose. But then something astonishing happens. Yohanan hears the numbering of a mighty army, and when he turns he see he sees something that looks quite different. And that's Revelation 7:9. After these things I looked and behold a vast multitude expansion that no one could count. We have echoes of Beresheet, of Genesis, of the promise
to Abraham. From every nation and tribe and people and tongue. Notice the symmetry in the text. Everybody is counted. Standing before the throne and before the Lamb of God. They are standing before the throne. That's really close to God's presence. But these aren't people that just look good in their life. That just acted the part. These are people that made great sacrifices in their life. They made great descent at times spiritually. Even at times in those days martyrdom. For the sake of God. We could call it Kiddush Hashem in Jewish thought. That got that close to the presence of God. But the point is that God is saying that the heights sometimes don't look like they look like in this world. But everybody counts. Not that everybody wants to have a life of martyrdom. But the truth is that God counts us all. Revelation transforms the meaning of warfare. Warfare now doesn't actually mean going out and conquering nations in the same way. Because it's not about triumphalism. Again, it's not about violence. It's not about worldly power, but rather here's what it's about. Faithful witness.
Kadosh, holiness. Endurance. Service, avodah. And allegiance to the lamb of God, our Messiah. The same allegiance that the Levites had at the golden calf when they came forward. The kingdoms of this world trust in numbers and armies and power and money and property and prestige and and fame, but God forms faithful witnesses unified and sustained by his presence. That is the greater treasure. That's the treasure that we hang hang on to, that we cling to. And that's what we move towards this week as we receive the Torah. They are counted. You are counted. You are known. You are protected in that place. Your soul is protected. You're lifted up in that place before the presence of God.
So we learn that Midbar, the wilderness, strips away false securities and realigns us back to the kingdom of God. That we live in the world. We understand the way the world works. But we have a higher calling here to maintain. It to be teaches dependence on God. And how we move together in the presence of God instead of around ourselves. So, how do we respond to this as we think about this now as we think about the Bamidbar message. And we move towards Shavuot. Number one, re-center your life around the presence of God. You say, "I don't know what that means." Pray. It will come to you. It comes. It can be as simple as reordering your priorities around what counts. That's it. You're not looking for the flashing lights, and although we're going to celebrate that next week. Laser light show, not really. Prepare your heart for Har Sinai is the point. Number two, strengthen strengthen the camp instead of fragmenting it. If what you're doing is bringing some kind of fragmentation, even if it's something that you hold fast to, just rethink it and understand the unity, the power of achdut as we come together.
And remember that you matter. Every tribe mattered. Every banner, every soul counts and matters, but the presence of God matters most. That's quintessential in our presence. And then number three is be a faithful witness onward. Because we can't change what's behind us, but we can move forward to the upward prize of God and our calling in Messiah. So, onward we go. Revelation's people conquer not through war and battles, but rather through faithfulness to the lamb, which does include spiritual battles, yes, but it's a very different posture. It's a very different way. Not triumphalism, not fear, but rather faithful witness to God everywhere you and I go. Faithful witness in the world. And that's really the heart and the center of the whole idea of tikkun olam, but Messianic Jews, Messianic believers, we have a unique calling in that. Because God desires to form his presence around faithful witnesses in the world. And the question becomes, am I counting what God really counts?
And with that, just have a few more things. If you think about what's going on in your life, right? What's at in the center of your camp? Think about whatever is in the center of our corporate camp here and in in your visual individual lives is what shapes our reality and the people surrounding it. So, the choices we make going forward will shape our future and our witness to the world. And with that, let's pray.
Avinu shebashamayim, we bless and sanctify your name. We We you so much for your love and for your presence in our midst in a very unique and special way as we celebrate the Matan Torah this week. As we celebrate Matan Haruach, the Holy Spirit and the presence of God coming to us because of what our Messiah who lowered himself for our sake enabled us to receive your true presence in our midst. Help us to really take hold of that reality in every facet of our lives but gradually and one step at a time according to how you order it for us. In Yeshua's name. Shabbat Shalom. >> Shabbat