Roads

      This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled Mattot-Mass'ei, which means "the journeys of the tribes", from Numbers 32 through 35. Last week we studied the testimony of the tribes of Israel found in their names. This testimony of the greatness of God was brought with them wherever they traveled and would be brought with them as they settled by tribes in the land promised to them by God. This same testimony was also purposed by God to be their spiritual warfare by which the Canaanite tribes and their false gods were dispossessed from the land before them. We believers in Jesus as Savior, also carry a "tribal" name and identity that carries our testimony of belonging to the Messiah/Christ Jesus. It is the testimony of His name, which in Hebrew is Yeshua or Yehoshua meaning "the LORD of/is Salvation." The whole family (patria/pater - a nation or tribe whose lineage runs back to a common origin, paternal [from the father] descent/father or founder of a family or tribe, the originator and transmitter of anything) of heaven is named for the Father God through His Son, Jesus (Eph. 3:14-19, see also Jn. 1:10-13, Col. 3:3-4).  Our tribal testimony of the name and sovereign power of God to save also serves the same purpose as the testimony of the tribes of Israel as stated above: "...the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord..." (Eph. 3:9-11). The powers of darkness are dispossessed by the testimony that we, the tribe of God in Christ, carry.

     The importance of this week's Sabbath revelation regarding the tribes, is that their journeys (massa/nasa - pulling up of stakes, breaking camp, setting out, to quarry stones/set out, journey, remove, set forward, cause to spring up, to quarry or to cut out, pluck out, bend a bow), also reveals a truth about our journey in faith. As we can see from the Hebrew meaning of the word that is translated as "journey" above, the same thing that causes one thing to "spring up" also causes another thing to be "plucked out" or "removed" spiritually speaking as well as physically speaking. The journey also includes the meaning of "bending the bow" which points to spiritual warfare.

     The track of the journey of the Israelites was recorded by Moses by the command of the LORD: "These are the journeys of the children of Israel, who went out of the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. Now Moses wrote down the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) starting points (mosa/yasa - place of going out or issuing from, source, spring or watercourse, exit, going forth, proceed, east as the rising of the sun, a fountain of waters, a gate, promulgation of an edict, that which is produced, utterance of the mouth especially of solemn or formal speech/deliver, bring out, draw forth, go forward, to become fair and beautiful and clean, to be freed from) of their journeys at the command of the LORD. And these are their journeys according to their starting points (mosa/yasa - same as above):" (Num. 33:1-2). Part of the meaning of "staring point" in Hebrew is to proceed or go forward. We can see why the threat of the Israelites against Moses of their desire to "go back" to Egypt would be counter to the command of the LORD to record their "starting points." We can also see from the Hebrew meaning how important our "starting points" are as we follow after the Lord. Our "starting point" throughout all of our journey must be the cross of Jesus (see Mt. 16:24-26).

     The journey of the Israelites had its own first mosa starting point of their massa journey in Rameses/Ramses, Egypt (Num. 33:3) with many other "starting points" to follow, all of which were recorded by Moses in Num. 33. In accordance with the meaning, as the Israelites were issuing the proclamation of the deliverance of the LORD, they were "plucking out" the gods of Egypt: "...on the day after the Passover the children of Israel went out (yasa - root word of mosa above) with boldness (rum + yad - be lifted up, exalt, high, to rise, become powerful + hand, consecrate, power, dominion, ministry, draw with strength) in the sight of all the Egyptians. For the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had killed among them. Also on their gods the LORD executed judgments." (Num. 33:4). The city of Rameses in Lower Egypt was associated with four gods: Amon-Re (king of all gods), Wadjet (cobra goddess), Seti (god of chaos and destruction), Astarte (goddess of fertility and sexuality). The starting point of the journey of the Israelites became the place of judgment against these false gods of Egypt. The same must also be true of the starting points along our spiritual journey in Christ. 

     In another reading portion from this "Journeys of the Tribes" Sabbath, there came a moment where the road the tribes had traveled together would diverge. At a request approved of by the LORD and enacted by Moses, the tribes of Gad, Reuben and half of the half-tribe of Manasseh claimed their land inheritance on the eastern side of the Jordan River rather than the western side where the rest of the tribes would settle in the promised land. At the time, Moses had attained the promise from the three Israelite tribes that they would still fight with the other tribes in the dispossession of the Canaanites from the eastern side of the Jordan. The time came when the battles were done, and the tribes had settled in peace on the eastern side: "Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass." (Josh. 21:45).

     Joshua then called the tribes of Gad, Reuben and the portion of the tribe of Manasseh to him and told them that they had kept their promise to the other tribes to fight with them: "...now therefore, return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan. But take careful heed to do the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him with all your heart and with all your soul. So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents." (Josh. 22:1-6). The two tribes and the part of the third tribe separated from the other tribes of Israel at Shiloh (silo - place of rest, tranquility and prosperity; an expectation belonging to the kingdom of the Messiah/Christ [see Gen. 49:10]; an epithet of the Messiah/Christ: that which belongs to Him) (Josh. 22:9). This was not a divergence in the road caused by strife and division, but with the approval of God and Moses, at a "starting point" that carried the testimony of the Kingdom of the Messiah/Christ. The three tribes that would inhabit the eastern side of the Jordan River built an altar of witness to testify of their unity in identity and in the worship of the LORD with the tribes that inhabited the western side of the Jordan River (v. 10, 26-27). Roads may diverge, and tribes may separate, but their commonly held love for the LORD and faith in the Messiah/Christ Jesus will always be a point of unity among them (see Eph. 4:1-6, 11-16).

     From another reading portion from this "Journeys of the tribes" Sabbath, the prophet Jeremiah wrote that the Israelites had abandoned the road upon which God had directed them, and chose instead the spiritual roads of foreigners, who worshipped false gods: "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters (see mosa starting point above), and hewn for themselves cisterns - broken cisterns that can hold no water...Have you not brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) LORD your God when He led you in the way (derek/darak - way, road, journey, manner, path, course of life/tread, walk, march, expressing wine or oil by tread, to bend a bow in order to string it by stepping on it)? And now why take the road/way (see derek/darak above) to Egypt, to drink (sata - drinkers, drunkards, to feast) the waters of Sihor (sihor/sahar - dark, turpid, muddy/dim or dark)? Or why take the road/way (derek/darak above) to Assyria, to drink (see sata above) the waters of the river?" (Jer. 2:13, 17-18). God's people were walking along the way of nations who worshipped idols and false foreign gods, seeking success in war, fertility and prosperity that these gods falsely promised. The aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega LORD also said to His people: "But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble; For according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah." (v. 28). The LORD's way had led His people safely "...through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and the shadow of death." (v. 6, see also Ps. 23:4, Isa. 9:2, Amos 5:8, Mt. 4:16). Chapter four of Jeremiah, also a part of this week's reading, tells us that remaining on the road of the LORD was not just for the sake of the well-being of the Israelites, but had even more far-reaching implications: "If you will return O Israel, says the LORD, Return to Me; And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, then you shall not be moved. And you shall swear, 'The LORD lives, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness'; The nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him they shall glory." (v. 1-2). As Israel returns to the way, the road of the LORD in their journey, the nations will be blessed as well.

     The way that God was leading them was the way of the aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega LORD (YHWY: "Behold the hand, behold the nail"). Jesus said emphatically: "I am the way (hodos - way, road, journey, route, highway, a progress, mode or means, manner), the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (Jn. 14:6). We are told by Jesus to walk Him as a road. When we veer off of that road for any of the various reasons that the cares and desires of life create, we walk the way of foreign false gods, as the Israelites did above.

     Paul wrote about the road of our journey: "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk (peripateo - to walk, tread all around, to progress, follow as a companion, conduct one's self) in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving." (Col. 2:6-7).

     There is a poem written by Robert Frost titled "The Road Not Taken." It is about the choice a man made when the road he was on divided in the woods. He decided to take the part of the road that few if any had walked, while leaving behind the road that had been worn by the feet of many. His poem ends:

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

   

     Jesus spoke of how narrow is the gate and the way or road which leads to life, and that there are few who find it. (Mt. 7:13-14). However, that road less traveled makes all the difference. It is worth it to take that road, and to stay on that road of life.

     If you would like to know more about the importance of the road of the LORD, you can join me in my prayer: "Father, You have ordained and directed the road by which Your people are to journey. It is a road that not only builds up the faith of Your people and leads them to You, but also pulls down enemy strongholds of spiritual wickedness. This road followed by Your people also brings the knowledge of You and Your glory to all nations. Your road is the road of righteousness, and I pray that I will always walk on this road and follow its path. There are wide roads that many follow to destruction, but then there is the narrow road that few find that leads to life in You, and in Your Son, Jesus. This is the road that I desire to walk with You.  I ask this in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as Α Ω , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.

Journey

The title of this week's Sabbath reading portion is Massai, meaning "Journey", and is found in Numbers 33. What an enlightening picture it contains for all who follow the Lord! In this Sabbath reading, Moses was given a commandment from God. He was to make a record of all the places the Israelites had journeyed up to the point where they are encamped by the Jordan River, across from Jericho, at the crossing point into the Promised Land. We usually consider a journey to be about where we are going to, or our destination. However, the LORD had a different viewpoint in recording the journey. He wanted the journey to record where the Israelites had departed from at each stage of travel. Although our Hebrew title, Massei, means "journey", its root word is massa, which means "pulling up of stakes, breaking camp, point of departure, removed, go forth, set aside, be plucked up, to bend a bow". "Now Moses wrote down the starting points of their journeys at the command of the LORD. And these are their journeys according to their starting points..." (Num. 33:2). The Hebrew word used here for "starting points" is the word and root, mosa/yasa, which mean "watersprings, go out (forth), come out, source of a spring of water, place of departure, exit, lead out, deliver, to come out of". The journey was not just about "the going to", but more importantly "the departure from". In Moses' list of departures, there are forty-two named places, covering forty years (v. 38) of journeys. The number forty-two, which is the list of places of departure in Num. 33, also has a profound meaning in the Hebrew tradition, and rabbinical teaching. I will just give you some of the more important points here: The number 42 is written as the Hebrew letters mem bet. Those two letters refer to the written Torah, which begins with the letter beth, and the oral Torah, which begins with the letter mem. The Kaddish is a series of prayers said in the synagogue sanctifying the name of God. That name, according to rabbinical teaching, is composed of 42 letters from the Genesis account of creation. Here also is a direct quote: "The Kaddish is the means for the elevation of the sons of Israel from one stage to the next in their journey of life, leading ultimately to "Olam Haba", the world to come." (See 2 Pet. 3:11-13: "...we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."). The name of God in Ex. 3:13-14, "I AM THAT I AM", equals the number 42 in gematria, which is the number value assigned to Hebrew letters. The Messiah's genealogy is expressed in three sets of fourteen, which equals forty-two (see Mt. 1:17). Forty-two months is alo involved in the revealing of end time events and the antichrist figure (Rev. 11:2, 12:6, 13:5). So, the forty-two places of departures listed in the journeys of Israel in Numbers 33 has great significance in scripture. The first place of departure from this week's Sabbath reading, which took place on the first dy after Passover, was from the Egyptian city of Rameses (Num. 33:1), which means "child of the sun (god). Rameses was built with the slave labor of the Israelites, and named after the Pharaoh. The Israelites would later speak of wanting to go back to Egypt, but once God causes us to depart a place in our journey, we are not to go back unless He brings us back. Some of the places departed from by Israel had pleasant names like "tabernacle"/Succoth, "resting place"/Rephidim, "beauty, goodness, glisten"/Mount Shapher, "sweetness, sweet fountain"/Mitheah, "pleasantness, goodness, acceptance"/Jotbathah. Many places departed from had unpleasant names like "to beat violently"/Dophkah, "graves of lust, longing, desire"/Kibrothhattavah, "bonds, prisoner"/Moseroth, "the slashing place, cut"/Horhagidgad, "shadow of death, deep darkness"/Zalmonah, "darkness, perplexed"/Punom, "familiar spirit, practice of necromancy/Oboth, "wasting, to pine and pass away/Dibongad, and their final place of departure when they cross the Jordan River will be: "house of desolation" and "meadow of whipping and scourging"/Bethjesimoth-Abelshittim. The LORD had stated that He would bring judgment against all the gods of Egypt (Ex. 12:12), and many of these places of departure represented those demon gods of darkness and suffering. One place of departure, Pi Ha hiroth, was a place sacred to Typhon, a demon god of Egypt. The departures in the journeys of the Israelites therefore evidently involved God's subduing of the powers of darkness. When the Israelites stayed or "encamped" at a place, the Hebrew word and root hana/hanan was used, which means "dwell, abide, lay siege against/mercy, gracious, favored, pity". The LORD laid siege through the presence of His people and His tabernacle, which was the foreshadowing of His Son, the Messiah Jesus, while at the same time, protecting and covering them with His mercy and favor (when they cooperated!). When the Israelites departed from Egypt, they departed as the armies of the LORD (Ex. 12:41). They were a spiritual army as well as a natural army, I believe. What does all of this mean regarding our walk in Christ? We also are being brought to a destination, and the journey is filled with a series of departures, as well as the reaching of an expected conclusion or end (see Jer. 29:11). Each departure in that journey accomplishes God's victory in spiritual warfare through His Work of Christ in us. Paul wrote: "...if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (ktisis - the act of creating, of God creating the worlds, complete change or transformation); old things (archaios/arche/archo - from the beginning, original; the first place: principality, rule of angels, demons; to rule over) have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Cor. 5:17). This verse, according to the Greek meanings of the words used here, refers to the passing away of the ancient spiritual rulers of darkness. Within us, as we abide in Christ, the God of creation is causing the ancient principalities and rulers to pass away, and a new (never before seen, unheard of, unprecedented) creation pertaining to all things has come to pass. We see this same idea in the rabbinical teachings, as discussed above, in the meaning of the number forty-two. Paul also wrote: "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus...For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working (energeia - by superhuman power, energy, operation) by which He is able even to subdue (hypotasso - put in subjection underneath, put in a certain order) all things to Himself." (Phil. 3:14-15, 20-21). Christ is able to subdue all things beneath Him, including the primeval spiritual rulers of wickedness and chaos, through His transformational work in us, and into His body. This is a fulfillment of one of the prophetic shadows found in the forty-two "departures" of the Israelites throughout their forty year journey to the Promised Land. Our spiritual journey in Christ is essential, and accomplishes a finished work that re-orders and re-news creation. Are we willing to accept the departures, and their work of subduing spiritual powers, that the Lord has placed in our journey, or are we continually looking back (see also Gen. 19:24-26), going back, and repeatedly rehearsing the old things of the past in our minds, resulting in the re-enpowering of those ancient evils, and the undoing of His accomplished work through us? Let us accept the departures, if we wish to move upward in Him. If you would like to experience the beginning point and the departures found in a walk with Christ, you can pray with me: "Father, as you have shown us through the journeys of the Israelites, You led Your people by pillars of smoke and fire, and caused them to depart, or be removed from, places of spiritual strongholds as You judged the gods of Egypt. You accomplish a transformational work in and through me also as I continue my journey of departures with Jesus Christ that affects all things, including rulers and principalities of spiritual powers of wickedness. I can see the creation power of God at work in this journey, bringing me to new heavens and a new earth. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, Who leads me to follow the path of Christ in my journey. I ask these things in Jesus' name. AMEN."

Journey

This is the story of a man whose actions almost destroyed a country. He was also a man with whom God created a covenant.
Abraham (Abram) was a man who had been called out of his homeland by God to journey to a place that He would show him. His home city of Ur, and his family's later dwelling city of Haran/Harran were both centers known for their temples dedicated to moon worship, particularly to a god called Sin, who was associated with that form of worship. The most common symbol of this moon worship was a crescent moon.
"Now the LORD had said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse (bitterly curse) him who curses (make light of, trifle, dishonor) you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."   Gen. 12:1-3
The two mentions of "curse" in the above verses, while the same in English, are two different words in  Hebrew. The first mention, for those who dishonor Abram, is much more severe. In a certain way, I would also think that this puts an even greater onus on Abram (and us). Imagine if Abram's own behavior caused others to disrespect or slight him?
The above verses are the first mention of the covenant that God made with Abram. Abram did go into Canaan with his wife, and his nephew Lot. Abraham left most of his family in the pagan city of Haran, but brought with him the possessions, and people (souls) that he had acquired there, and journeyed to the land to which God was directing him.
Abram journeyed through Canaan until he got to Shechem (to load a burden on the back or shoulder), and the terebinth tree (strong tree, ram as food and sacrifice, pillar, door post, lintels) of Moreh (teacher, early rain, watered, to direct or instruct, to shoot arrows). The LORD appeared to Abram here, and promised to give this land to Abram and his descendants (v. 7). From all of the meanings of the places in Canaan to which Abram journeyed, we are perhaps given a portrait of a humble, crucified Christ, who subjected Himself to the will of His Father. Even the Hebrew meaning of the word "Canaan" makes it a place of either humbling oneself, a place of bowing the knee, to bring oneself into subjection, or to be severely humbled by God, or by others, even vanquished.
Abram continued his journey and pitched his tent (ohel:covering, tabernacle, to be clear, to shine) between Bethel (House of God: ram for food/sacrifice, doorpost and lintel) and Ai (heap of ruins, overturned, iniquity, perversity, crooked, wicked). In this place, Abram built an altar, and called upon the name of the LORD. Could it be that Abram was positioned between these two places, between the place of iniquity and perversity, and the house of the ram's provision and sacrifice, in order to act as an intercessor?
However, Abram journeyed again to the south (negev: parched), where he found extreme famine conditions. Because of these conditions, he journeyed on to Egypt. Abram was evidently familiar enough with Egypt to know that the Egyptians at that time coveted beautiful women, and collected them, like other people collect stamps. Abram instructed his wife, Sarai, that as they enter Egypt, she should pose as his sister, instead of his wife, so the Egyptians wouldn't kill him to get to her. Sure enough, the princes of the land spotted Sarai, and told Pharaoh about her. Pharaoh then took her into his house. Abram was treated well by Pharaoh in return, and given servants and animals in exchange for his "sister" (v. 16). This could not have been Abram's finest hour (yet he would do the same thing again at a later date with a different king: Gen. 20). Because of Abram's deception, Pharaoh will now be "cursed", as the LORD had promised Abram in the beginning:
"But the LORD plagued (nagah: to reach violently, to strike) Pharaoh and his house with great (gadowl: great in intensity and magnitude, even as God Himself) plagues (negah: wound, sore, stripes, disease, mark) because of Sarai, Abram's wife."  Gen. 12:17
These terrible things must have puzzled Pharaoh. What had he done to deserve it? He  eventually found out:
"And Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, "She is my sister"? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife. Take her and go your way."  Gen. 12:18-19
Pharaoh had his men "escort" Abram and his wife away, again with all of the possessions that Abram had.
Abram wisely returns to the place between Bethel and Ai (see above), to the place where he had been before, where he first built an altar to the LORD, and called upon His name (Gen. 13:3-4). He would find, however, that the people and goods that he had brought with him, both from Haran, and additionally from Egypt, would cause a great deal of strife for his household (v. 6-7). This would bring Abram to other turning points in his journey in the future.
Learning from Abram's example, I think that we must give great thought to how we act, the choices we make, and the "stuff" we bring with us on the journey that God has assigned us. Our choices will make the difference in our own walk, and will have repercussions, good or bad, for those we meet along the way. The manner in which we, God's people, make our journey, will also impact our nation, bringing possible bitter cursing, or honor and blessing, destruction and ruin, or salvation and revival. Like Abram, we have been placed between those two different places for a purpose. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit bless us, guide us, and help us as we make our journey through Canaan land.

Our Father has a journey for us.

"Strength for the Journey"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqvmopOBUZY