Parashat Matot-Masei

Me

This week we read another double Parasha, Parashot Matot-Masei, Numbers 30:2-36:13, which is the final two Parashot of Bamidbar or Numbers. As we read through Matot-Masei we see a number of events unfold. First in Numbers 30 we begin with the revelation of how serious Adonai takes vows and oaths. Then, in chapter 30 we read about Israel’s (by proxy HaShem’s) vengeance on the Midianites and Bilaam in which He instructs Moses to send in 24,000 warriors, the exact same number as those who died in the Peor Incident, and how every single warrior came back from victory alive. In chapter 32 we see the two and a half tribes choose to remain on the east side of the Jordan rather than enter and possess the Promised Land.

Then in Numbers 33 we see a synopsis of Israel’s journey from Egypt to the shore of the Jordan River. Chapter 34 Adonai recounts the borders of the Promised Land. Chapter 35 deals with the Levite cities set aside from among the other tribes, as well as the cities of refuge where one could run to escape if one accidentally killed another Israelite. Finally, in Numbers 36 we see further instructions for the daughters of Zelophehad who would receive their father’s land inheritance since he died in the wilderness without sons.

When I was in high school I had really good grades most of the way through. I have never been much of a studier, I was never too fond of homework or anything like that. But, I absorbed info pretty well, I was a pretty quick learner, and I managed to get just enough done outside of tests that my really good test grades kept my GPA looking solid. In fact, all the way through my Junior year of high school I ran almost around a 3.75 to just below a 4.0 GPA. I wasn’t top of the class material, but I definitely stayed up in the rankings.

As most of you know already, at that point in life I really wanted to go in the military, specifically in the Marines. I was in NJROTC all the way through high school, I competed on drill teams, on PT teams, on rifle teams, and was involved in our units leadership. I had a legitimate shot at either the Naval Academy or a college ROTC scholarship. However, when I rolled into my senior year I caught a terrible case of senioritis…

In fact, I barely did anything my senior year of high school I went from a 3.75 GPA walking into my senior year to graduating with a 2.56 GPA… In one year I dropped over one full grade point. If you were to go back to my senior year grade book you’d still see really high grades across the board on tests, but you’d see literally zeros across the board on anything outside of tests. I quite honestly barely graduated high school, even though I ran a high GPA most of the way through, and I only graduated because in the one class I was failing the worst the teacher hated me so much that on our final research paper project (which I only turned in a one page load of garbage) he gave me just a high enough grade to pass the class so I’d graduate. He called me to his desk, in front of the entire class, and told me the only reason he was giving me that score wasn’t because I earned it, and it wasn’t because he didn’t want to see me in his class the next year, it was because he never wanted to see me on campus again.

I ended up graduated with a 2.56 GPA and still got an advanced diploma… But, I had absolutely no shot at getting in the Naval Academy or an ROTC scholarship… In one year of not quite meeting my potential I managed to blow a really huge opportunity, and I ended up selling myself short on a huge dream I had.

We

I’d imagine most of us have probably experienced this same kind of scenario before in our own lives… Maybe it wasn’t in your grades in high school robbing you of scholarships...

But, maybe you’ve sold yourself short in a very important relationship and destroyed or almost destroyed that relationship...

Maybe you’ve sold yourself short at work and lost your job over it...

Maybe you’ve sold yourself short in your athletic aspirations and relive your glory days, but never quite achieved your dreams...

Maybe you’ve sold yourself short on your walk with the Lord and although you have a deep and fervent faith in Yeshua you just don’t make discipleship, the Great Commission, or honoring His Word a real priority...

Maybe you’re sitting here right now thinking of a whole different situation in which you’ve sold yourself short of your full potential...

God

The reality is, especially in our walks with God, at least in one way or another, we often sell ourselves short on all that God has in store for us… Maybe not in every aspect of our walk with God, but I guarantee we can all think of at least one area of our life in which we are definitely falling short of the glory...

And in Parashot Matot-Masei we see a tremendous principle right in front of our eyes that if we learn from, if we truly learn from, can change our walk in and our impact for the Kingdom of Messiah exponentially. And that principle is this:

We will never see the fullness of what God wants to do in us if we continue to sell ourselves short on the fullness of His promises.

(Repeat)

Let’s dive into the word together...

Keep in mind, as I said earlier in dealing with Bamidbar, Numbers encompases about 38 years of Israel’s 40 year journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, and as we come to a close in this book we are at the tail end of the journey. In fact, it is believed that the first two Parashot of Numbers relay events that occured in the first year of Israel’s journey, then through Korach covers events in the second year, and Parasha Chukat to Matot cover from year three up to the 40th year, and Matot and Masei are in the 40th year, and Deuteronomy (which we enter this coming week) occurs in the final weeks to months of the 40 years as Israel looks across the Jordan at the Jericho.

So it is here, at the tail end of Israel’s journey that we find Numbers 32 and the odd request from the tribes of Ruben and Gad...

Numbers 32:1–5 TLV

The sons of Reuben and Gad had very large herds and flocks, and, they saw that the territory of Jazer and Gilead were ideal for livestock. So the sons of Reuben and Gad came and said to Moses, Eleazar the kohen, and the princes of the community saying, “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon— the territory Adonai conquered before the community of Israel—are suitable for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” Then they said, “If we have found favor in your eyes, let this territory be given to your servants as a possession. Don’t make us cross the Jordan.”

Ruben and Gad approach Moses and basically say, “Listen man, we’ve got a ton of livestock and all this land we just took from the Midianites seems pretty ideal for livestock. So, if it’s cool with you, I think we’d like our inheritance here… I mean, I know God said our inheritance is suppose to be across the Jordan over there, but I think we’re good here… What do you think?”

Now, if you pay close attention to how they word things it may sound pretty similar…

Numbers 32:4 TLV

the territory Adonai conquered before the community of Israel—are suitable for livestock, and your servants have livestock.”

In Genesis 13 we read about Lot and Abraham kind of going separate ways. Abraham was called by God to leave his father’s house and leave everyone behind and travel to an unknown land that Adonai would show him and it would be an eternal inheritance by covenant with him. Abraham was sold out and on board and immediately pack up his stuff and rolled out. But, somewhere in the back of his head he was thinking, “You know what, this all sounds great, but what good does an ‘eternal inheritance’ do me if I’ve got no offspring to inherit it after I’m gone…?” And Abraham sells himself short a little and takes his nephew Lot along with him even though God said leave everyone of your family but your wife behind.

Ultimately things get a little crowded in the land of Canaan between Abraham’s and Lot’s livestock and households...

Genesis 13:5–13 TLV

Now Lot, who was going with Abram, also had sheep and cattle and tents, so that the land could not support them living together, because their possessions were many, and they were not able to stay together. So there was a quarrel between the shepherds of Abram’s livestock and the shepherds of Lot’s livestock. (Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land then.) So Abram said to Lot, “Please, let there be no strife between me and you, or between my shepherds and yours, since we are relatives. Isn’t the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If to the left, then I’ll go to the right, and if to the right, then I’ll go to the left.” Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the whole area surrounding the Jordan was well watered in its entirety (before Adonai destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah)—like Adonai’s garden, like the land of Egypt—till you come to Zoar. So Lot chose for himself the whole area surrounding the Jordan. Lot journeyed to the east, and they separated from each other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the valley. And he moved his tent from place to place near Sodom. But the people of Sodom were evil—very great sinners against Adonai.

Abraham tells Lot he doesn’t want any bad blood between them so they should go their own ways… Keep in mind, there wouldn’t have been any strife if Abraham hadn’t sold himself (and God’s promise) short to begin with… But they go their separate ways and Lot chooses the east side of the Jordan (likely in this same area as Ruben and Gad) because it looks like good land for livestock, which is exactly what the tribes of Ruben and Gad said.

Getting back to our Parasha this week, we see Moses’ response to Ruben and Gad, and he doesn’t hold back punches as he unloads all his thoughts on them...

Numbers 32:6–15 TLV

Moses replied to the sons of Gad and Reuben, “Should your countrymen go to war while you dwell here? Why do you dishearten Bnei-Yisrael from going across to the land that Adonai has given to them? Your fathers did this when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to look over the land. They went up to the Valley of Eshcol and viewed the land, but they discouraged the hearts of Bnei-Yisrael not to enter the land which Adonai had given them. The anger of Adonai was aroused that day, and He swore an oath saying: ‘The men who came out of Egypt, from 20 years old and upward, will not see the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, for they have not followed after Me with a whole heart— except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they were wholehearted after Adonai.’ The anger of Adonai burned against Israel and He caused them to wander in the wilderness 40 years until all the generation doing that evil in Adonai’s sight was gone. “Now look, here you stand in the place of your fathers as a brood of sinful men to add more to Adonai’s great wrath against Israel! If you turn away from Him, He will repeat again leaving this people in the wilderness, you being the cause of this people’s destruction.”

Moses has seen this before, he has spent enough time in this wilderness with this crazy bunch of hooligans, and he is most definitely not down for another 40 trips around the son reliving the same mess all over again… He flat out tells them, “You are pulling the same crap that your fathers’ did when they rejected the Land at the evil report of the ten spies. After everything we’ve been through, after everything that has happened… After this great victory you just saw HaShem provide us… And you have the audacity to pull this crap…?”

This is our principle at it’s fullest...

We will never see the fullness of what God wants to do in us if we continue to sell ourselves short on the fullness of His promises.

See, this is the tribes of Ruben and Gad’s (and the half tribe of Manasseh’s) struggle… They are selling themselves short… They are seeing the land right before their eyes and they see it is really good. The Lord has just provided a huge victory to Israel here, so why can’t this be good enough? But, good enough isn’t the same as the best… They know what they see here, they don’t know what lies ahead over there. But, God’s promise wasn’t an eternal inheritance on the east side of the Jordan, it was an eternal inheritance in the Land of Canaan, in the Promised Land. And anything short of the fullness of God’s promise is selling ourselves, and Him, short...

And listen, when we sell ourselves short, the worse part of that reality isn’t even that we’re robbing ourselves of greater blessing… It’s that we’re robbing God of blessing… We’re robbing God of honor… We’re robbing God of glory through our lives...

After Moses blows a fuse on them, they tell him, “Yeah, no… Maybe we didn’t explain ourselves well enough… What we meant to say is we’ll build some shelters here for our livestock and our families and then we’ll go over the Jordan with our brothers and fight with them to gain their inheritance, and we won’t come back here to what we want as our inheritance until they all have theirs.”

Sure, they are willing to go fight for the rest of Israel to have God’s promised inheritance, but they don’t want it… In essence the Promised Land just isn’t good enough for them, or maybe the land of Gilead is good enough that they just don’t really care… Either way, they reject the fullness of God’s promises, they reject the fullness of God’s desire and blessing for them, they reject the fullness of relationship with Him. And truth be told, after all is said and done, these two and a half tribes on the east of the Jordan are the first to walk away from covenant relationship with HaShem… Why? Because...

We will never see the fullness of what God wants to do in us if we continue to sell ourselves short on the fullness of His promises.

How many times in our own lives can we think of where this is exactly how we’ve acted? Where we have rejected the fullness of what God has in store because where we are right now seems comfortable, seems good enough, seems manageable… But, it just isn’t quite what He’s got truly in store for us...

We found ourselves in a similar potentiality as a congregation the last ten months… Take a look around you… This building, this property is our home, this is what God has told us is our home. But, after the hurricane we found ourselves in the chapel at ESBC and it was great. It was a home-away-from-home, but it just wasn’t quite home. We could have, and did, make due there for a long time if needed… But, we also know God has a greater promise in store for us here. We could have easily said, “You know what… This is just easy enough… Meeting here long term could save us a ton of money, a ton of headache if and when another storm comes through… The harvest here can be good enough, the sustenance here can be good enough…” But, we would been selling ourselves short on the fullness of what God has in store for us in our own synagogue.

Remember Yeshua’s parable of the ten virgins?

Matthew 25:1–12 TLV

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish ones took their lamps, they took no oil with them. But the wise ones took oil in jars along with their lamps. “Now while the bridegroom was taking a long time, they all got drowsy and started falling asleep. But in the middle of the night there was a shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. Now the foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, since our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, ‘No, there won’t be enough for us and for you. Instead, go to those who sell, and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were going off to buy, the bridegroom came. And those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. Now later, the other virgins came, saying, ‘Sir, Sir, open up for us!’ “But he replied, ‘Amen, I tell you, I do not know you.’

The five virgins who weren’t prepared, brought a lamp but no oil are selling themselves short (not too much unlike our two and a half tribes who were willing to fight for their brothers’ inheritance, but didn’t want it for themselves). They took a gamble on taking the easy way out, and it blew up in their face… In this parable Yeshua is warning us to be ready, to be prepared for His return no matter what. We can’t sell ourselves short by thinking we followed the instructs on the “repeat after me prayer” once years ago, so we are good to go… We can’t sell ourselves short on having the belief in Messiah but not the faith, practice, and lifestyle that back that belief up…

We will never see the fullness of what God wants to do in us if we continue to sell ourselves short on the fullness of His promises.

You

What divine promises are you selling yourself short on today?

Maybe you feel a call from God on your life to go into ministry and you just feel too comfortable in your current position to make the leap?

Maybe it’s in your personal walk with the Lord? You keep telling yourself tomorrow will be different, tomorrow I’ll make time for discipleship practices, but today I’m too busy… And tomorrow never comes...

Maybe it’s in your home life…

Maybe it’s in your career...

Maybe it’s in your education...

We

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

If we’re truly honest with ourselves, there is likely at least one area of our life we are selling ourselves and God short in… Today is the day to change that… Tomorrow is never promised, but today is right here and right now...

In Romans 12 Paul says,

Romans 12:1–2 TLV

I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy, acceptable to God—which is your spiritual service. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

This is a lifelong practice and call… Every moment of every day in every situation… There isn’t a “grass is greener on the other side”… If we are going to be followers of Messiah we have to be all or nothing… When we sell ourselves short, we are simply reliving the reality of the two and half tribes who chose to settle short of the Promise and ultimately were the first to fall away… We can’t have one foot in the world and one foot in the Body, it will never work out… All or nothing…

We will never see the fullness of what God wants to do in us if we continue to sell ourselves short on the fullness of His promises.