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Bamidbar - Numbers
Started by LovingNeighbor at 05-28-2006 1:38 AM. Topic has 3 replies.
  
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 05-28-2006, 1:38 AM
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LovingNeighbor
 
Joined on 02-10-2006
Washington
Posts 397
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Balak Parasha Thoughts, Studies, and Comments
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The goal of this section is to get everybody's studies, thoughts, and opinions on anything in the weeks parasha. This includes, word studies, thoughts on verses, history, related subjects, and anything that may help us to understand this Torah Portion. Even if it's just an observation on the smallest part, it can help others who may not have seen it that way. The goal is then as we visit the parasha (Torah Portion) each year we will create a collection of studies and thoughts on this portion and everyone will benefit by having a broader view of the portion. Shalom!
A disciple should diligently search for the truth and humbly deny and reconsider it's possession.
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06-30-2007, 2:30 PM
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LovingNeighbor
Joined on 02-10-2006
Washington
Posts 397
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Balak Parasha 2006-7 Message Lovingneighbor
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Rulers of Destruction
For Parasha Balak
By Lovingneighbor 5-25-2007
This weeks Parasha is in the book of Bamidbar also called Numbers, and is called Balak which means 'Who lays waste'. In this weeks parasha:
- Balak King of Moav feared Yisra'el and sent for Bil'am to curse them
- Bil'am told his men to wait and he asked YHWH who told him not to go and not to curse them
- Balak sent again to Bil'am more honorable men but Bil'am said he cannot go beyond the word of YHWH
- Bil'am asked YHWH again and He said if them men call to you, go with them
- Bil'am went with the men though they didn't call him and YHWH was angered
- The donkey saw the angel and sword in the way and turned and Bil'am smote him
- The angel stood in the vineyard and the donkey thrust Bil'am into the wall and he smote the donkey
- The angel stood in the narrow place and the donkey fell down and Bil'am smote him
- YHWH opened the mouth of the donkey and he asked why Bil'am smote him and YHWH showed Bilam the angel
- The angel said if it wasn't for the donkey he would have smote him
- Bil'am asked if the angel wanted him to go back and he said no but speak th word I give you
- Balak aksed why Bil'am didn't come and Bil'am said he cannot do anything but what YHWH tells him
- Balak took Bil'am to the high places and Bil'am had him build 7 altars and sacrifice on them
- Bil'am spoke to Elohim and then told Balak he cannot curse who Elohim does not curse and he blessed Yisra'el
- Balak asked why he didn't curse them and Bil'am said he can only speak what YHWH tells him
- Balak took him to another high place to curse them and Bil'am had him build 7 altars and sacrifice in them
- Bilam spoke to YHWH and blessed Yisra'el again
- Balak told Bil'am not to curse or bless them but Bil'am said he can only speak what YHWH tells him
- Balak took him to another high place to curse Yisra'el and Bil'am had him build 7 altars and sacrifice on them
- The spirit of Elohim came upon Bil'am and he blessed Yisra'el again
- Balak was angry saying he was going to promote Bil'am to honor but YHWH has kept him from it
- Bil'am told Balak what will happen to his people in the latter days
- Yisra'el joined with the daughters of Moav and worshipped their elohim and YHWH was angered
- YHWH told Moshe to slay all those who worshipped Ba'al-Pe'or
- Pinchas slew the man who had the Midyanite woman and her and the plague was stopped
- Haftarah - YHWH shall cleanse and restore Hs people and they must turn to Him with their whole heart
In this weeks portion we have a common theme that flows through all the stories. It's the concepts of Rulers of Destruction. It starts with Yisra'el leaving Egypt in verse 22:5. Egypt means oppression. So we have the story of Yisra'el who prevails with Elohim that leaves their old master Egypt or oppression.Egypt is symbolic of sin which oppresses it's followers. Then we come to Balak which means who lays waste that like Egypt didn't like that Yisra'el or those who prevail with Elohim were getting so many. This by nature means that they will rule over sin. The root cause for Egypt the oppressor and Balak to want to rule over or destroy if they can't rule over them is because they are growing numerous. It's hard to rule over the masses and this has been the goal of men throughout history. They know they are outnumbered and yet they try and use various tactics to control the masses. Whether it be fear or greed or confusion or seperation. So as it says like the ox licks up the grass Yisra'el would devour them.
So who does he call to help him out? Bilam which means either not my people or destruction of the people. And his goal is to destroy Yisra'el. But as I pointed out last week that Yisra'el is wated from inside. The beginning of the word Bil'am means nothing, am means people. The nothing is likened to vanity or emptiness which is the model of idols. They are earthly only and have not got a spirit. This is as Messiah said the white washed sepulcre clean on the outside and death is inside. Death is sin and the sin inside them, their spiritual sin is wasting their life away. No army can prosper in cursing Yisra'el becuase Yisra'el's destruction comes from within. From their own wickedness we see in numbers 25:9 24,000 dying, then you have the rebbelion of Korach which destroyed them, then you have the murmuring and the people destroyed from that. Over and over again the only one who is successful at destroying Yisra'el is Yisra'el.
In this portion we see Bil'am's donkey and Bil'am being the master of the donkey seeks to smite it if it will not follow him on a path to destruction or in the end he wants to kill it. Yisra'el is like the donkey and sin or the destrution of the people is their master. Once they see the messenger of Eohim (Messiah) Then their master will smite them. This is the same pattern of the childre of Yisra'el with Moshe their Messiah and the smiting of them with more burdens. Eventually When it was known that Yisra'el was not following their master(Pharoah/Sin) then Pharoah wanted to destroy them. This pattern is exactly how sin works. It want's to rule over you until one day you get the fear of YHWH also known as the beginning of wisdom and you turn or repent from the way your master(sin) was directing you. Had you not turned as numbers 22:33 says he would have slain you. In this instance your pretty sure Bil'am is evil but then it begs the question how is it that Elohim is using him. I see this just as satan and the serpent was used to test His children though they desire to do evil YHWH uses them to teach his children. The donkey sees the messenger of Elohim and his mouth is finally opened to speak against his old master (sin).
This reminds me of the prophet who told the other prophet it was ok to come and eat when he wasn't supposed to. This model of the two prophets is like the wheat and tares. They were both prophets but one was testing the other. Bil'am like satan is restrained from what they can do to Yisra'el. Just as satan was restrained with Iyov(Job). He cannot do more than what YHWH will allow to Yisra'el. All the power and authority that Balak had could ot go past the word of Elohim. Ultimatley we see this same pattern with Yisra'el who joined themselves with the daughters of Moav. Balak finds a way to destroy them from the inside out as this is really the pattern of destruction. Pinchas destroys the wicked from among them or inside them and thus stops the plague. The plague was of course destroying them from the inside. Just as they joined with the daughters of Moav the destruction was not by war but by spiritual warfare. Moshe was commanded to destroy all those who joined themselves to ba'al-Peor this word means master of the open mouth, the open mouth is likened to Sheol or hell
Isa 5:14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
Similar to the earth opening up and swallowing Korach and the rebbelious. Everyone who let hell rule over them and be their master was cut off. As Messiah said anyone who teaches you to go astray after other Elohim which is mighty ones or idols which all rule over you. Anyone who lets vanity and sin which destroys you unless you obey it will come to destruction and be swallowed by their own master. Yet if you rebel against sin and the rulers of destruction though they will seek to kill you, they will be restrained. The opposite comes from dealing with YHWH which if you obey him he brings you to life and if you rebel against Him he will surely bring you to destruction. We all must be very carefull of who we let rule over us and who we give authority to and realize that whoever you obey is your master and they will either bring your destruction or life. Shalom!
A disciple should diligently search for the truth and humbly deny and reconsider it's possession.
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07-11-2008, 11:57 PM
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LovingNeighbor
Joined on 02-10-2006
Washington
Posts 397
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Balak Parasha 2007-8 Message - The New Testament
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The New Testament
For Parasha Balak
By Lovingneighbor 7-12-2008
This weeks Parasha is in the book of Bamidbar also called Numbers, and is called Balak which means 'Who lays waste'. In this weeks parasha:
- Balak King of Moav feared Yisra'el and sent for Bil'am to curse them
- Bil'am told his men to wait and he asked YHWH who told him not to go and not to curse them
- Balak sent again to Bil'am more honorable men but Bil'am said he cannot go beyond the word of YHWH
- Bil'am asked YHWH again and He said if the men call to you, go with them
- Bil'am went with the men though they didn't call him and YHWH was angered
- The donkey saw the angel and sword in the way and turned and Bil'am smote him
- The angel stood in the vineyard and the donkey thrust Bil'am into the wall and he smote the donkey
- The angel stood in the narrow place and the donkey fell down and Bil'am smote him
- YHWH opened the mouth of the donkey and he asked why Bil'am smote him and YHWH showed Bilam the angel
- The angel said if it wasn't for the donkey he would have smote him
- Bil'am asked if the angel wanted him to go back and he said no but speak the word I give you
- Balak aksed why Bil'am didn't come and Bil'am said he cannot do anything but what YHWH tells him
- Balak took Bil'am to the high places and Bil'am had him build 7 altars and sacrifice on them
- Bil'am spoke to Elohim and then told Balak he cannot curse who Elohim does not curse and he blessed Yisra'el
- Balak asked why he didn't curse them and Bil'am said he can only speak what YHWH tells him
- Balak took him to another high place to curse them and Bil'am had him build 7 altars and sacrifice in them
- Bilam spoke to YHWH and blessed Yisra'el again
- Balak told Bil'am not to curse or bless them but Bil'am said he can only speak what YHWH tells him
- Balak took him to another high place to curse Yisra'el and Bil'am had him build 7 altars and sacrifice on them
- The spirit of Elohim came upon Bil'am and he blessed Yisra'el again
- Balak was angry saying he was going to promote Bil'am to honor but YHWH has kept him from it
- Bil'am told Balak what will happen to his people in the latter days
- Yisra'el joined with the daughters of Moav and worshipped their elohim and YHWH was angered
- YHWH told Moshe to slay all those who worshipped Ba'al-Pe'or
- Pinchas slew the man who had the Midyanite woman and her and the plague was stopped
- Haftarah - YHWH shall cleanse and restore His people and they must turn to Him with their whole heart
In this weeks portion, reading through all the summary points the light went off. The story of Bilam has always intrigued me. It seems everyone is quick to run and say how bad Bilam is and yet it reminds me of the words in the New testament where the Pharisees said how can a man do such things unless he be from Elohim. Bilam seems to talk with Elohim and yet I don't know of any other time that Elohim would talk to a false prophet or pagan prophet. So with little information in the Torah about him I have not yet been satisfied with the status quo answer that oh he was just this bad pagan prophet.
So this year I saw a pattern in looking through the story. The pattern is that Bilam is just like the New Testament. It starts by the destroyer and king who was afraid of Yisra'el trying to use Bilam (New Testament) against Yisra'el (the Torah). Balak is following the pattern of Korach in that he was a ruler and he was afraid of Yisra'el so he tried to destroy them because they would interfere with his power. In this same way Korach challenged Moshe, and in the same way, Pa'roh wanted to destroy Yisra'el, and in the same way many Jews of Mashiach's time wanted him killed to protect their power. Balak's pattern is not new, it shows up in the text over and over again.
Bilam is going to be used against Yisra'el but he was commanded not to go with the men of Balak. In this way I see the New Testament being used by many people against Yisra'el through the years, and yet the New Testament is an extension of the Torah and not meant to be used against Yisra'el but it was to be a blessing for Yisra'el in their journey. How many times is it used to do away with the Torah. But the fact is if anyone really reads it they will find it supports the Torah and the keeping of the law it doesn't turn law keeping into curses. You cannot curse the Law or Torah if YHWH has not cursed them.
Balak sends honorable men to try and get him to disobey the Word given to him from YHWH and even if he wanted to, he can't. In many ways this is like the words of Mashiach. No matter how hard you try and twist his words to go against the Law or the Torah (which is the same thing the pharisees were trying to do and the same thing that satan was doing trying, to twist the scriptures to say something they weren't saying). For honor and riches men have been twisting the words of Mashiach and the New Testament in an attempt to do away with the Torah, the law, and Yisra'el and in the end it will not work. In many ways they have tried so hard that the Jews don't accept the text in the same way they hold Bilam as just a pagan prophet instead of seeing that YHWH spoke through bilam like the other prophets and actually blesses Yisra'el through him.
So Bilam went with the men that he shouldn't have which is like the Bible being used by men who shouldn't have it. The donkey took Bilam into the field, ( the world) , the vineyard (Yisra'el), and the narrow place ( the elect). It was allowed to go and Bilam wanted to kill the donkey, but instead struck it. The donkey may be like the prophets who have actually been persecuted based on the New Testament and yet those prophets of old have foretold of the word going out and we knew the New Testament would be misused and mixed with the nations, but it had a purpose and was allowed to go out to the nations becuase within the misuse and abuse of the servant of Elohim came the blessings for Yisra'el. I see this paralleling the path of the new testament. Men are getting rich by it and saying lies and actually using it to try and curse scattered Yisra'el by discrediting the law with it, but in the end it will not succeed but like Bilam will not only bless Yisra'el but will also show what will happen to these people who have misused it in the latter days.
At one point Balak doesn't want Bilam to say anything, good or bad. See the mechanics of this is that the Bible may be being spread to teach what you do doesn't matter and Mashiach did it all for you and the law is not important to salvation, but the fact that the word is spreading causes people to read and see through the lies and what they intended to be a curse which by definition is breaking of the torah, becomes a blessing (causing Scattered Yisra'el to keep Torah.) This is what has happened out of Christianity, Messianic Believers have cropped up. They can no longer shut up the word of Elohim because once it gets into some peoples hands they will hear the real message.
The message of Pi'nechas shows that there will come a time when the mixing of lies with the word of Elohim will be stopped and truth and justice will reign and a covenant of peace will be made for those who call a lie a lie. Peace is only had with Elohim when you obey His Torah, when the blood or teachings of His son's offering and sacrifice penetrate your heart and cause you to stop sinning. The New Testament is in my opinion meant to be a blessing for scattered Yisra'el and like Bilam cannot be used to curse Yisra'el but will be allowed to be misused by others while it also does it's job of blessing the chosen of Yisra'el. Shalom!
A disciple should diligently search for the truth and humbly deny and reconsider it's possession.
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