Replaced

This Sabbath's reading portion has a double title, Mattot-Mass'ei, which means "Tribes-Journeys of", and continues in the Book of Numbers, or B'Midbar, in Hebrew, which means "In the wilderness". Most of us think of being in the wilderness, spiritually speaking, as being a type of punishment, or persecution. However, throughout this journey in the wilderness for the Israelites, God pulled down strongholds of spiritual darkness and harm, represented by earthly kings and nations, and replaced them with His kingdom, through His Word, and the obedience of His people to that Word. We have read that the tribes of the Israelites were referred to as armies. These "armies" did not cross the wilderness aggressively, but miraculously defeated enemies who attacked them. We have seen so far in Numbers that the human kings and nations that sought to destroy Israel had names that provided a picture of spiritul wickedness, including demonic worship. In a way, the tribes on their journeys were spiritual bait by which the enemy was drawn into their own destruction. We can see this in another portion from this Sabbath in which the LORD said of His people in the wilderness: "I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal(s) (kelulot/kalla/kalal - betrothal, bridehood/a bride as perfect, young wife, crowned/made perfect and complete, to put a crown upon), when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holiness to the LORD, the firstfruits of His increase. All that devour him will offend; Disaster will come upon them,' says the LORD." (Jer. 2:2-3). As His people kept this covenant relationship of being joined to the LORD, they saw victory over their enemies. When they broke this relationship, they suffered tragic losses in the wilderness. Paul wrote about this kind of spiritual warfare this way: "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (sarkikos/sarx/saroo/syro - nature of the flesh, human/of natural or physical origin) but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled." (2 Cor. 10:4-6). Paul said that the weapons or tools used in this type of warfare are not natural or human. He also wrote in another place that the enemy is not natural or human: "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles (methodeia/metahodeuo/hodos - cunning arts, deceit, craft, trickery, lie in wait/with, among, against, travel, journey/way, highway, road, property, a mode or means) of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph. 6:11-12). So this warfare is not against humans, but against angelic royalty of wickedness and darkness, including the devil. We can notice here from the Hebrew meanings of the words that one of the methods that the devil and these angelic princes of spiritual wickedness uses is to travel or journey with/against the people of God, and to usurp property for their rule. We will also see that not only are these spiritual princes, or strongholds, pulled down or dispossessed, but they are replaced by the knowledge of the kingdom of God, which is established through our obedience to Christ, as Paul wrote above. This is true with the Israelites in the wilderness, as well as the believers in Christ. We will see how the journey of the Israelite tribes established the kingdom of God, and even the Gospel of salvation! No wonder the spiritual enemies of God came against them all along this journey in many different "wiles". In Numbers 33, part of this Sabbath's reading portion, Moses makes a record of the starting points of the journey of the Israelites after they left Egypt. Their beginning point came on the day after Passover: "...the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of the Egyptians. For the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had killed among them. Also on their gods the LORD had executed judgments." (Num. 33:1-4). The LORD was judging these gods of wickedness as well. As Moses listed the stops along the journey in this chapter, many of the places are familiar, because we read of them in Exodus, and earlier in Numbers. However, as a student of scripture pointed out to me, there are many places on this list that are appearing for the first time, not mentioned previously, in the journey of the Israelites. Why did the LORD command Moses to make this record of the journey at this point in Numbers, and why are there new stations of encampment added? The meanings and root meanings of the names of many of these never before mentioned places bring to mind our journey in Christ: "to be yoked to, attached", "lifted up, ealted, to rise up", "make white, purify, cleanse from filthiness", "dripping in pieces, to moisten, sprinkle, drops of dew", "assembly, assemble together", "beauty, elegance, goodness, pleasing, to be bright, glisten", "quaking terror that drives out enemies, or the reverential fear of God", "place of assembly, to praise God in choirs", "burdened, oppressed, in exchange for, in place of", "lowly, humble", "sweetness, sweet fountain", "wealthy princes, ambassadors", "bind as a prisoner, chastisement", "sons of twisting, torturous", "cavern, cave, hole, of the slashing place", "to please, accepted, rejoice, make a thing good or right", "passage, servile, pass over, cross over, cease to exist, vanish", "the back(bone) of an exceedingly great man". This was a spiritual journey for the tribes as much as it was a physical journey with a promised and prepared destination at its end. This is also our spiritual journey in Christ. For the Israelites, there were challenges by their enemies all along the way, as there are for us in our journey. However, as they were obedient to the voice of the LORD, those enemies were defeated, and the Israelites replaced the might of an enemy with the kingdom of God and His righteousness (see also Mt. 6:33). We can also see this spiritual dispossession and replacement process again in one of this sabbath's reading portions from Jeremiah 1: "Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me (Jeremiah): "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms (see also Mt. 24:6-7), to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build (bana- build up, repair, restore, have children, establish [a house, a temple, a family], build a foundation [see also Eph. 2:19-22]) and to plant (nata - plant, fastened, fix in place, establish, set upright)." (Jer. 1:9-10). The prophet, by the Word of God, was not only given the calling to destroy, but to build up at the same time. Many are familiar with the aspect of spiritual warfare that pulls down strongholds, but God's plan also requires us to build and plant His kingdom by our obedience to Christ (see above) in replacement. We tend to forget that second half of the formula! If we fail to do that, we just leave a void that can be refilled again by evil. Jesus told a parable about the return of unclean spirits after a house has been swept clean until the latter evil condition ends up being worse than the former evil condition (Mt. 12:43-45). The first of the tribes to be settled were Reuben, Gad, and one half of the half-tribe of Manasseh. These tribes settled on the eastern side of the Jordan River in the territory of Gilead ( (Num. 32:26, 29). Although these tribes settled on the eastern side of the Jordan River, the men were still expected to cross over the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega [Rev. 1:8, 21:6, 22:13]) Jordan (yarden/yarad - descender, flowing down/go down, subdue, bring down, cast down, take down) with the rest of the Israelites to help them subdue the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) land of Canaan (Kena'an/kana - merchants, traffickers, the depressed, low/bring low, bring down, into subjection). As the Israelites cross over the Jordan to take possession (ahuzza/ahaz - possess by inheritance, something seized/hold, take, fastened, to be joined, to adhere, to cover) of Canaan, the territory is transformed from a place ruled by the coins of merchants who traffick (including human trafficking), and bring low, into the aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega land that it was ordained by God to be. Taking possession of this aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega land also means becoming fastened or joined to the Aleph-Tav Himself, Jesus. The tribes who settled Gilead, took the land that had belonged to the enemy kingdom of Og (meaning "long-necked" because he was a Rephaim giant), king of Bashan (fruitful), and the enemy kingdom of Sihon (warrior, tempestuous, sweeping away, carrying every thing before him), king of the Amorites, both of whom had been defeated and killed when they previously attacked the Israelites (Num. 32:33, see also Num. 21). The two kingdoms mentioned above were to be aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega kingdoms as written in Hebrew, and therefore they were taken back from these two royal, oppressive rulers who had ascended to the thrones in kingdoms that were ordained to belong to the Messiah and His people. As the Israelites took possession of these aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega kingdoms, they built villages (haua/hava - life-giving, living place/to breathe, declare, show), and changed the names of other cities (Num. 32:34-38). The prophet Isaiah also wrote about this building and planting that is done by the obedient people of God who understand His purpose for them: "Those from among you shall build the old waste places (harba/horeb/hereb/harab - decayed, desolate, dry/parching heat/sword, knife, dagger, axes, destructive cutting instrument, acrid/absence of water); you shall raise up the foundations (mosada/yasad - foundation of a building, of heaven, of earth/establish, appoint, ordain) of many generations; and you shall be called The Repairer of the Breach (peres/paras - gap, breaking, rupture/break down, use violence), The Restorers of Streets (paths) to Dwell In...That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. And they shall rebuild the old (olam/alam - ancient, everlasting, hidden time/secret thing) ruins, they shall raise up the former (rison/risa - first, former, before old time/beginning time) desolations (samen - astonishment, amazed, waste, ravage, horror, desolate, put to silence), and they shall repair (hadas - renew, repair, make anew, produce something new) the ruined cities (ir/ur - city, town, excitement, terror, anguish, anger, fortified/stir up, incite, hot, ardent, arouse a serpent from its hiding place, excite to a brawl, raise up a spear, exposed, make naked), the desolations of many generations." (Isa. 58:12, 61:4). It is very interesting to see the difference between the Hebrew word for "city" used here in Isaiah, and the names of some of the towns and cities that the Israelites built after dispossessing the Amorites in Gilead. Some of the names of the towns and cities mean: "crown", "crown of hidden treasure", "helped by Jehovah", "high, exalted", "house of wholesome, calm water", and "God is raised/ascending". If you would like to know more about how the LORD works in us to dispossess the enemy kingdoms in order to replace them with His kingdom, you can join me in my prayer: Our Father, in Christ, You have made me salt and light. Even as I have been changed into a new creation, I want to bring that same renewal in Jesus' name to my family, my nation, and to all of creation, as it groans for the manifestation of the sons of God. You have placed me on a journey where my steps, in obedience to You, cause spiritual wickedness to be dispossessed, and to be replaced with Your Kingdom of Light. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I can be, as Isaiah prophesied, a Repairer of the Breach, and a Restorer of the Paths to Dwell In. Your Word says that "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever." Let this be done in Jesus' name, AMEN."