Parasha Pinchas

Me

This week we read Parasha Pinchas, Numbers 25:10-30:1, which picks up where last week’s Parasha left off. In Numbers 24 we read of the Moabite women infiltrating the camps of Israel by playing to their major weakness… They’re human nature to fall prey to temptation, and in particular the specific type of temptation of humanity is most prey to, sexual temptation. The fact that Israel is giving into this temptation is bad enough, but then to make things worse an Israelite takes one of these women very expressively right in front of the entire nation of Israel and begins to have his way with her where everyone can see. If you haven’t caught onto it yet, this encounter wasn’t much unlike that of the Golden Calf… In essence, this would best be likened to an orgy and after the anger of Adonai was already revealed, this man has the chutzpah to make things worse.

So Pinchas, a grandson of Aaron, grabs a spear and jams it through both the man and the woman he was with, and through his zeal for HaShem the plague on Israel came to a halt, and 24,000 Israelites died. Then at the beginning of Parasha Pinchas a covenant of shalom and the Aaronic Priesthood is eternally delineated through Pinchas because of his zeal for Hashem. Next we read in Numbers 26 of the second census of Israel, all those 20 years old and over who are eligible for war. In chapter 27 the daughters of Zelophehad approach Moses about maintaining their father’s inheritance so his name isn’t blotted out of the lineage and inheritance among his tribe, then Joshua is commissioned and received authority over Israel. And In chapter 28 and 29 we see a refresher on the Moadim, the appointed days of Adonai.

Years ago Danielle and I went to a Messianic Jewish youth retreat in Tampa, FL that was orchestrated by Shoresh David Messianic Synagogue for the youth of the south east region. There were almost 400 young people at this retreat and it was an unreal and powerful time with in the Lord. It was an event that definitively secured my relationship with the Lord, my calling, and, in a lot of ways, the very direction and trajectory of my life. It even provided a fertile ground that solidified relationships that have become some of our closest over the last almost two decades.

And you guys have heard me talk before about the rollercoaster-high faith walk… Where someone will go to an event and feel the power of God but they don’t walk in that same power day after day afterwards, instead they gone from one event to the next just seeking that emotional high and in between things seem to fall apart. Well, this was something I didn’t want to see happen in my life in this circumstance. The Lord did some amazing things in my life, in both of our lives at that retreat. But it was what happened afterward that helped to take us to the next level in our walk with God.

Dani and I got back home and almost immediately began to feel the Lord directing us to make substantial changes in our lives. It began with changing the type of music we listened to… We felt the Lord directing us to get rid of all secular music out of our lives in and only listen to worship music. We did this, reluctantly at first, but I literally threw thousands of dollars worth of CDs in the dumpster to follow through with this. And we began to only listen to worship music which we noticed began to prepare the soil of our heart for the promises God had made us.

We changed the type of TV shows and movies we were willing to watch. We made the Bible a priority in our lives daily… We made prayer a priority in our lives daily… We made synagogue and being an active part of ministry at our synagogue a priority in our lives…

I knew there were promises that God had in store for my life, there were dramatic changes He had in store for me, there were directions He wanted to take me, but I had to first do the leg work to prepare fertile ground for the seeds He was planting. And honestly, I 100% believe without a doubt, you and I are in this synagogue today because of the promises God made to me back then and the willingness I had to allow Him to sift through the various areas of my life that needed to be cleaned up in order to make a holy dwelling place for Him in me, and He continues to sift through my heart and life daily.

We

And I’m sure we’ve all experienced something like this before. Not specifically at a youth retreat per se… But I’m sure we’ve all experienced God working in our lives and directing us as He is cleaning up little things here and there that detract from our walk with Him and the vision and calling He’s got for our lives.

Maybe for you it was cleaning up your marriage… Maybe you were struggling to prioritize your wife or husband and to be the godly example you’re suppose to be in your relationship. And little by little over the years the Lord has chipped away at the hard exterior in order to clean up the messy interior in order to bring restoration and healing in your marriage.

Maybe it is is your calling that God has been working on you about… You know He has called you to use specific gifts and talents He has given you for His glory and you’ve been fighting Him on it and little by little He is working on your heart. Maybe it‘s a call to pastoral/rabbinic ministry, maybe it’s call to worship ministry, maybe to children’s ministry, or maybe it is a marketplace ministry… And you know, and likely have known for years, exactly what the Lord desires for you to do but you’re running from it. But you’ve noticed the Lord is still cleaning stuff in your life up in preparation and maybe you’re starting to slowly go along with it.

Maybe it’s just in your own discipleship… You know you want to go deeper in your walk with God, but you also know there’s some crap in your life that you haven’t changed, cleaned up, or gotten rid of that is hindering your walk. But, little by little you are becoming more and more submitted to the Lord in every aspect of your life and little by little you are seeing all those crappy areas begin to shift as the Lord prepares your heart to be fertile grounds for the promises He’s made to you.

Or any number of other issues the Lord maybe working in you about.

God

And I believe we see this very same reality alive and well in Parasha Pinchas today. Since Adonai first called Abraham out from his father’s house He has had something amazing in store for the people of God. The problem is, much like you and I, Israel just couldn’t out of our own way… In Egypt we griped and complained about slavery and the work load, as soon as we get out we gripe and complain about the journey. We see the Presence of God and hear His voice speak and 40 days later we build a Golden Calf and worship it and in essence spiritually return back to Egypt. We see the Promised Land right before us and hear it is exactly as God promised it would be, and we immediately reject it because we don’t think we can take it...

Yet, to this end, there’s a powerful principle I believe God wants us to take away from Parasha Pinchas today...

We must let the Lord clean out our old man before we can walk in the fullness of His promises for our lives.

I’m going to repeat that again, listen closely...

Let’s dive into the text a bit...

Numbers 26:1–4 TLV

After the plague, Adonai said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron the kohen saying, “Take a headcount of the entire community of Bnei-Yisrael, sons twenty years old and upward, by their ancestral houses, all who can serve in Israel’s army.” So Moses and Eleazar the kohen spoke with them on the Moabite plains by the Jordan across from Jericho saying, “Just as Adonai commanded Moses, a census will be taken of all men of Bnei-Yisrael who came out of Egypt, from 20 years old and upward.”

This isn’t the first time Moses was instructed to take a census of Israel. This was the whole premise of the early chapters of Numbers, in fact, the Hebrew name for the Book of Numbers has nothing to do with numbers. The Hebrew name is Bamidbar, meaning in the wilderness. Numbers is the English name of the book because believers who had know connection to the Jewish roots of faith in Yeshua saw the book open up with a counting of Israel and a ton of numbers… Hence, now we call this book of the Bible Numbers… It’s really amazing we didn’t just end up calling it counting in English…

However, in the first census Moses was counting those of age 20 and above who were eligible for war in the first generation out of Egypt. These folks were intended to go into the Promised Land and to take possession of it… But they couldn’t get out their own way fast enough… They cleaved to Egypt, to the old ways, to “easier times”… They thought at least enslaved in Egypt they knew what to expect… However, this walking by faith thing is a real nail-biter… And we don’t always know what’s coming next.

So, here in Numbers 26 the Lord commands Moses to count Israel again, all those age 20 years old and above who are eligible for war. We read that there are 601,730 fighting aged men counting, that’s a total of 1,820 less than the 603,550 who were counted in Numbers 1. Then we read:

Numbers 26:63–65 TLV

These were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the kohen when they counted Bnei-Yisrael on the plains of Moab across from Jericho. Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the kohen when they counted Bnei-Yisrael in the Sinai wilderness, because Adonai had said they would surely die in the wilderness. Not one of them was left, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Not a single person alive in that first generation out of Egypt when Moses first counted Israel was alive when this count was taken, except the two spies who brought a good report. After Israel rejected the Promised Land God told them that they would wonder for forty years in the wilderness while every single person of the first generation that rejected it died in the wilderness. Then their children would take possession of God’s promises to Israel.

See, the first generation was so engrained in the ways of the world, in the mindset of Egypt, and more specifically the mindset of slavery, that they couldn’t see past it to believe in faith. They were use to Egypt providing for their needs… They were used to Egypt taking care of them… They were used to and comfortable in the old ways. Even though they did nothing but cry out against their suffering in Egypt, in the face of the changes and spiritual journey they were now facing, the way they remembered Egypt seemed easier.

Whereas this new generation, a new man if you will, didn’t know anything about Egypt or the old ways. They didn’t know slavery, only freedom in HaShem. They didn’t know what it was like waiting on Egypt to provide food for them, all they knew was God’s miraculous provision. They only knew clothes and shoes that miraculously didn’t wear out in the wilderness. They only knew walking by faith… They only knew God’s divine provision… They only knew the miraculous. So the old man, the first generation had to be removed from the picture for the new man, the second generation, to thrive.

There’s our principle again...

We must let the Lord clean out our old man before we can walk in the fullness of His promises for our lives.

See, at this point, the whole first generation has died off. The sin of the Midianite women and the plague that followed was the last remaining remnant of what was holding Israel back from experiencing the fullness of what God had in store.

Numbers 26:65 (TLV)

Not one of them was left, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

And here’s the beauty of this picture… Notice the only two of the first generation who gets to go into the Promised Land… Joshua and Caleb. These are the only two spies who bring back a good report of the Land and who are encouraging Israel to charge forward and take the Land. They are the only two of that generation who really had the faith to trust in God’s fulfillment of His promises. And they end up being the leaders of Israel going into the Land, with Joshua taking over the anointing of Moses. But, here’s the beauty of it… Joshua was a blood descendant of Israel, but Caleb wasn’t. Caleb was a Kinnizite, which, in the original promise to Abraham about the covenant of the Promised Land, the Kinnizites were one of the original inhabitants of the land that would be displaced. So, it took a Jew and Gentile together (One New Man) to lead Israel into the promises of God.

In two weeks we will begin reading Devarim, Deuteronomy, which is the final book of the Torah. Deuteronomy is Moses reiterating to Israel one final time, at the shores of the Jordan with the Promised Land right before this second generations eyes, everything that has happened since Egypt and how important it is for them to remain faithful to HaShem. But, in order to get to this point, the point of finally entering into and possessing the promises of God, the Lord had to hack away at the old man of the first generation to clean up the hearts and faith of Israel.

We see this same concept in the promise of a new heart in Ezekiel 11 during exile.

Ezekiel 11:17–20 TLV

Therefore say, thus says Adonai Elohim, “I will gather you from the peoples and collect you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. When they come there, they will remove all of its detestable things and all of its abominations. Then I will give them one heart. I will put a new Spirit within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow My laws, keep My ordinances and practice them. They will be My people and I will be their God.

(Speak to this)

We must let the Lord clean out our old man before we can walk in the fullness of His promises for our lives.

We see Paul speaking to this same idea as well:

Romans 6:1–7 TLV

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound? May it never be! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who were immersed into Messiah Yeshua were immersed into His death? Therefore we were buried together with Him through immersion into death—in order that just as Messiah was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become joined together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also will be joined together in His resurrection— knowing our old man was crucified with Him so that the sinful body might be done away with, so we no longer serve sin. For he who has died is set free from sin.

And again in Ephesians 4

Ephesians 4:22–32 TLV

With respect to your former lifestyle, you are to lay aside the old self corrupted by its deceitful desires, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self—created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. So lay aside lying and “each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. “Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun go down on your anger, nor give the devil a foothold. The one who steals must steal no longer—instead he must work, doing something useful with his own hands, so he may have something to share with the one who has need. Let no harmful word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for building others up according to the need, so that it gives grace to those who hear it. Do not grieve the Ruach ha-Kodesh of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness and rage and anger and quarreling and slander, along with all malice. Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other just as God in Messiah also forgave you.

We must let the Lord clean out our old man before we can walk in the fullness of His promises for our lives.

You

You can probably think of times in your own life where you’ve experienced this very same reality. The Lord was hacking away at your old man in order to make you renewed in Him.

Perhaps it is in your home life, and the Lord is trying to do a new work in your family.

Maybe it’s in your work life work life...

Maybe you’re feeling the Lord taking you down a path toward ministry of some sort and you know He is wanting to clean up your old man first.

Maybe He’s just wanting to make you a better disciple and example before your friends and family...

No matter what it is, the principle is the same...

We must let the Lord clean out our old man before we can walk in the fullness of His promises for our lives.

We

If our worship team will make their way back up to the stage.

I think for far too long we’ve had this wacky idea that once we proclaim in faith in Yeshua and repent of our sins that that’s all she wrote and all is good from there. It’s like we completely forget, or better flat out ignore, that sanctification is a process… We should be daily allowing the Ruach HaKodesh to clean out the our hearts and lives. Sanctification is a work in progress… Becoming and living as Kedoshim is a work in progress. Some days will be easier than others, and some won’t.

And we needn’t attempt to compare our progress in this process to anyone else. Some of us are really good at putting on a show as though we’ve got no baggage remaining from our old man, or like we haven’t sinned and fallen short of the Glory recently. But truth is, we are all either a train-wreck being cleaned up and/or one dumb throttle issue from being a train-wreck if we don’t rely on the Lord for our strength and our Sanctification.

We must let the Lord clean out our old man before we can walk in the fullness of His promises for our lives.

Are we willing to let Him daily clean out the closets in your life? Are we willing to admit we aren’t always perfect or spot on? Are we willing to recognize we didn’t have things better in the old man? Are we willing to give the Lord our all and to trust in His promises?