Torah Pearls #34 – Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1-4:20)

Interesting discussion as always, but Nehemia, why would you think that the firstborn would have a part in the tabernacle? Why would those who were expected to build their altars of earth or uncut stone, which could be done anywhere one can find rocks or dirt, need to go to a tabernacle to connect with the Master? Didn’t He promise to come to them when they remembered Him with an offering? (Ex 20:24-25, [TNK: 21-22]) One would need that kind of a system if Israel was to be a nation of priests; not for themselves, but to the rest of the nations. Of course, that plan was abandoned when Yahovah disowned them, dumped them on Moses, after the golden calf.

Were all of the mixed multitude (not of Abraham’s DNA) already assimilated, or assigned to various tribes at this point? How might the number of non-birthright Israelites be included in the counting…or were they counted at all? The Scripture considers all who were in the desert -in the camp- to be Israel.

Hi, regarding the remarks about the pope’s Swiss guard (established 1501): they have always been Catholics, up to this day. The Swiss were probably chosen simply because Swiss mercenaries (= hired soldiers) were renown for their superb fighting skills, fierceness and loyalty. Groups of Swiss fighters were highly sought after during the Renaissance and fought for many different princes, dukes, kings etc., which resulted with Swiss even sometimes fighting Swiss in several battles.
thanks for your always interesting and edifying teachings.

Get that Freemasonry garbage outta here. Claiming all gods are actually the same God shows an absolute multitude of ignorance not only pertaining to Yah and his Extremely specific and simple ways but to the study of other religions as a whole. Lots of family and friends who err in this way and dedicate themselves to their own made up God and made up ways to go with it.

In the German language, there is a noun “Schlamassel” which means a mess, a word still used today.
Your teachings are excellent, I always enjoy listening to and learning from them every year.

another blessing Thank You.. we are redeemed indeed! hallelujah!

My question exactly!! 22300 is MORE than the 22273, making all the redemption shekels irrelevant. Please clarify, Nehemia!!

I think Numbers is one of the most interesting books of the Bible because it is very likely prophetic and much of it may pertain to our time.

After the Exodus, Joshua and Caleb urged Israel to enter the promised land. They were ignored and Israel was forced to wander in the desert for 40 years, subjected to periodic attacks by bands of hostile gentiles.

In 27CE (or thereabouts) Yeshua and John the Baptist urged Israel to enter the spiritual promised land. They were ignored and Israel has now spent coming up on 40 Jubilee years wandering outside the land, subjected to periodic attacks by bands of hostile gentiles.

So the entry into the land under Joshua (with Caleb) may have prophetic implications for the second coming of Yeshua (with Elijah). If we are in the period just before the second coming, that would correspond to the 40th year of wandering. And a good part of Numbers is devoted to just this period.

The death of Miriam (whose name means “rebellion”) may symbolize the end of the “wicked and adulterous” generation in Matthew 16:4. And we have seen that the postwar generation seems to differ from previous generations in that it is less wedded to the traditions of it’s elders and more willing to reexamine it’s basic beliefs.

The death of Aaron and his replacement by Eleazer may symbolize a changing of the guard in the Jewish religious leadership.

In John 3:14-16, Yeshua identifies himself with the brazen serpent. The fiery serpent episode where people look upon the brazen serpent (Yeshua) and are healed seems to forecast the birth of a Jewish church. And in fact, a growing Jewish Messianic church has appeared in the last few decades.

Unfortunately, I cannot decode the rest of the prophecy. The identity of Balaam is key. Taken literally, the last part of Numbers 25 would seem to forecast some kind of a sex/corruption scandal involving Israeli men and women of Jordan or Arabia, ultimately leading to a successful Israeli attack on one or both of those countries. But I somehow doubt that this is really what is being predicted. There seems to be a religious component to the “whoredom”. However, in the unlikely event that what I have described actually takes place, then brace for impact because I think that is just about the last significant event before the entry into the promised land.

Thanks for this rebroadcast – I always get a little misty hearing that story of Reggie’s last day. I was a big fan, and remember getting choked up as he held the Lombardi Trophy after sb31(#32 was the last one I ever cared to watch). Peduyay Yehovah – gotta be better than his best day. I can only hope and pray for a similar message.

Yes, “Lavern and Shirley” is a spin-off of “Happy Days”

Didn’t Jacob say of Levi that he was a sin of blood, or something like that, could that be why Yehovah chose Levi?

*[[Gen 49:5]] KJV* Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

Nehemia,
I have a quick language question. The Hebrew name for Numbers is Bamidbar בְּמִדְבַּר or “In the desert.” I believe the root or shoresh of the word is d’bar דבר which means “to speak to one another.” As I look at the meaning in my Maskilon root dictionary, all the meanings have to do with speaking, words, things, commandments, etc. Nothing I can see with the definition of a desert. What is the relationship between d’bar and “desert?”

It is not that I have not thought this over. My thoughts are that as I read about the children of Israel in the desert, the Torah usually states “God spoke to Moses” using דבר (d’bar) instructing Moses to אָמַר (amer) tell the Children of Israel. My thoughts were that the root of desert came from God giving to the Children of Israel over the 40 years. He provided for them, gave them food and water, gave them the Torah and generally developed them into the group of people that would settle the land. This was my best rationalization. I am curious what you would have to comment on this.

Shalom,

Geoff
Fort Collins

What is the Hebrew word for Testimony, and is it the same as the word witness?

You are so right !

Exciting study. Yehovah be with You

Not to nit-pick… But the meter is not based on a physical object – it has been defined as a “fundamental constant”. The kilogram is based on a physical object though. There is a great radio lab on this actually: http://www.radiolab.org/story/kg/

“The SI base unit of mass, the kilogram, is the last remaining physical artifact. All other base units have been defined in terms of fundamental constants. In 1999, the 21st CGPM recommended that national measurement institutes (NMI) continue their efforts to refine experiments that link the unit of mass to fundamental or atomic constants with a view to a future redefinition of the kilogram.”

http://www.nist.gov/pml/wmd/metric/mass.cfm

You guys make this so fun, even better the third time around. Padua Yehovah – tears. Oh, btw, I am American – What’s a meter?

If you do the math, the 7500 Gershonites (Num 3:21-22), 8600 Kohathites (Num 3:27-28), and 6200 Merarites (Num 3:33-34) add up to 22,300. Verse 39 states that there were only 22,000. What happened to the other 300?

Keith Johnson’s comment regarding the title: Numbers vs. In The Desert.
Anyone making an in-depth study of Torah via English and using a KJV must note the peculiarities which occur. These are shown through repetition and italicisation in the KJV text. Assistance is given to the English reader, or Freemason, later on in the Psalms where the Hebrew alphabet is given. I recently read somewhere, or heard, that the term matrix is given in the Torah. It is also given in the Qur’an. God’s reckoning is based entirely on high level mathematics but he has given us many clues in low level maths that any literate sheep-herder could use.
I’ll listen to the rest of the audio now.

Concerning the idea of the first born I surmize is in reference to the male babies only, as is shown through the command of the king of Egypt to the midwives to kill the male babies when they are born. But, the midwives did not obey the King of Egypt and excused themselves from obeying the command of the king of Egypt by saying that the Hebrew women are stronger than the Egyptian women and have their babies before they arrive. So, the King of Egypt ordered his soldiers to throw the male babies into the Nile river to drown them. GOD blessed the midwives for their mercy towards the male babies and HE showed mercy on them by not allowing the King of Egypt to take revenge upon the midwives. So the midwives were redeemed through their faithfulness in GOD’s people. This is a theam throughout the BIBLE.

Really really good gentlemen. Thank you so much for sharing.
Shabbat shalom