The BibleTruth.cc Torah Study Series

Parashat Shelach

"Send"

Bamidbar [Numbers] 13:1-15:41

The Spies Report on the Land

25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.

²⁶ They came back to Mosheh and Aharon and the whole community of the sons of Yisrael at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.

²⁷ They gave Mosheh this account: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.

²⁸ But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.

²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Yebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Yarden."

³⁰ Then Caleb silenced the people before Mosheh and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."

³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are."

³² And they spread among the sons of Yisrael a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.

³³ We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

Yisrael Rebels

14:1 That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.

² All the sons of Yisrael grumbled against Mosheh and Aharon, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Mitzrayim! Or in this desert!

³ Why is Yahuwah bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Mitzrayim?"

⁴ And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Mitzrayim."

⁵ Then Mosheh and Aharon fell facedown in front of the whole Yisraelite assembly gathered there.

⁶ YHUSHA son of Nun and Caleb son of Yephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes

⁷ and said to the entire Yisraelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.

⁸ If Yahuwah is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.

⁹ Only do not rebel against Yahuwah. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but Yahuwah is with us. Do not be afraid of them."

¹⁰ But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of Yahuwah appeared at the Tent of Appointment to all the sons of Yisrael.

¹¹ Yahuwah said to Mosheh, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?

¹² I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they."

Mosheh Intercedes for Yisrael

¹³ Mosheh said to Yahuwah, "Then the Mitzrites will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them.

¹⁴ And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, Yahuwah, are with these people and that you, Yahuwah, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

¹⁵ If you put these people to death all at one time, the nations who have heard this report about you will say,

¹⁶ 'Yahuwah was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in the desert.'

¹⁷ "Now may Yahuwah's strength be displayed, just as you have declared:

¹⁸ 'Yahuwah is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.'

¹⁹ In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Mitzrayim until now."

²⁰ Yahuwah replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked.

²¹ Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of Yahuwah fills the whole earth,

²² not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Mitzrayim and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times--

²³ not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.

²⁴ But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.

²⁵ Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea."

Yahuwah Rejects That Generation

26 Yahuwah said to Mosheh and Aharon:

²⁷ "How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling sons of Yisrael.

²⁸ So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares Yahuwah, I will do to you the very things I heard you say:

²⁹ In this desert your bodies will fall-- every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me.

³⁰ Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Yephunneh and YHUSHA son of Nun.

³¹ As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.

³² But you-- your bodies will fall in this desert.

³³ Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert.

³⁴ For forty years-- one year for each of the forty days you explored the land-- you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.'

³⁵ I, Yahuwah, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die."

³⁶ So the men Mosheh had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it--

³⁷ these men responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before Yahuwah.

³⁸ Of the men who went to explore the land, only YHUSHA son of Nun and Caleb son of Yephunneh survived.

³⁹ When Mosheh reported this to all the sons of Yisrael, they mourned bitterly.

Yisrael Goes Up and is Repelled

⁴⁰ Early the next morning they went up toward the high hill country. "We have sinned," they said. "We will go up to the place Yahuwah promised."

⁴¹ But Mosheh said, "Why are you disobeying Yahuwah's command? This will not succeed!

⁴² Do not go up, because Yahuwah is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies,

⁴³ for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from Yahuwah, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword."

⁴⁴ Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Mosheh nor the ark of Yahuwah's covenant moved from the camp.

⁴⁵ Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.

Instructions for Offerings

15:1 Yahuwah said to Mosheh,

² "Speak to the sons of Yisrael and say to them: 'After you enter the land I am giving you as a home

³ and you present to Yahuwah offerings made by fire, from the herd or the flock, as an aroma pleasing to Yahuwah-- whether burnt offerings or sacrifices, for special vows or freewill offerings or festival offerings--

⁴ then the one who brings his offering shall present to Yahuwah a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil.

⁵ With each lamb for the burnt offering or the sacrifice, prepare a quarter of a hin of wine as a drink offering.

⁶ "'With a ram prepare a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil,

⁷ and a third of a hin of wine as a drink offering. Offer it as an aroma pleasing to Yahuwah.

⁸ "'When you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice, for a special vow or a fellowship offering to Yahuwah,

⁹ bring with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil.

¹⁰ Also bring half a hin of wine as a drink offering. It will be an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to Yahuwah.

¹¹ Each bull or ram, each lamb or young goat, is to be prepared in this manner.

¹² Do this for each one, for as many as you prepare.

¹³ "'Everyone who is native-born must do these things in this way when he brings an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to Yahuwah.

¹⁴ For the generations to come, whenever an alien or anyone else living among you presents an offering made by fire as an aroma pleasing to Yahuwah, he must do exactly as you do.

¹⁵ The community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before Yahuwah:

¹⁶ The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the alien living among you.'"

¹⁷ Yahuwah said to Mosheh,

¹⁸ "Speak to the sons of Yisrael and say to them: 'When you enter the land to which I am taking you

¹⁹ and you eat the food of the land, present a portion as an offering to Yahuwah.

²⁰ Present a cake from the first of your ground meal and present it as an offering from the threshing floor.

²¹ Throughout the generations to come you are to give this offering to Yahuwah from the first of your ground meal.

²² "'Now if you unintentionally fail to keep any of these commands Yahuwah gave Mosheh--

²³ any of Yahuwah's commands to you through him, from the day Yahuwah gave them and continuing through the generations to come--

²⁴ and if this is done unintentionally without the community being aware of it, then the whole community is to offer a young bull for a burnt offering as an aroma pleasing to Yahuwah, along with its prescribed grain offering and drink offering, and a male goat for a sin offering.

²⁵ The priest is to make atonement for the whole community of the sons of Yisrael, and they will be forgiven, for it was not intentional and they have brought to Yahuwah for their wrong an offering made by fire and a sin offering.

²⁶ The whole community of the sons of Yisrael and the aliens living among them will be forgiven, because all the people were involved in the unintentional wrong.

²⁷ "'But if just one person sins unintentionally, he must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering.

²⁸ The priest is to make atonement before Yahuwah for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven.

²⁹ One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether he is a native-born Yisraelite or an alien.

³⁰ "'But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes Yahuwah, and that person must be cut off from his people.

³¹ Because he has despised Yahuwah's word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him.'"

A Man Gathers Wood on the Sabbath

³² While the sons of Yisrael were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day.

³³ Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Mosheh and Aharon and the whole assembly,

³⁴ and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him.

³⁵ Then Yahuwah said to Mosheh, "The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp."

³⁶ So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as Yahuwah commanded Mosheh.

We have already seen in a passage of Scripture cited and explained above, that Yahuwah commanded that the Sabbath day be guarded to set it apart - that no work at all is to be done on the Sabbath.  And we have been warned of the consequences of transgressing the commandment.  In Exodus 31:14-15 we are informed that

Everyone who defiles it must surely be put to death; indeed, anyone who does any work on it, then that life will be cut off from among his people.  Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, set-apart to Yahuwah; anyone who does work on the seventh day must surely be put to death.

Later, a man was caught transgressing the Sabbath when he went outside and gathered wood on the Sabbath.  Though the commandment was clear which Mosheh instructed Israel, there was still some doubt as to whether they actually should put the man to death.  After all, he was only gathering sticks - not exactly what some considered a "capital offense."  But the response of Yahuwah was clear.  The man was to be put to death - and he was.

Why is the penalty for breaking the Sabbath so severe?  Does Yahuwah really require the death of those who break the Sabbath?  Shouldn't we just regard this episode of the man gathering sticks as an aberration?   The answer comes with an understanding of what is indicated about a person who transgresses the Sabbath.

As was briefly described earlier in this study, the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant relationship between the Almighty and his people.  It has been this way since the beginning, when Elohim created the heavens and the earth.  Yahuwah declared the seventh day to be the blessed day and a day separated from the six working days.  The Sabbath is Yahuwah's day to be honored and acknowledged as Creator and Master of the universe.  Those who guard the Sabbath are agreeing with Yahuwah about who he is.  Those who transgress the Sabbath are expressing resistance and rebellion against Yahuwah.  Thus, all who are in rebellion against Yahuwah are incurring upon themselves a judgment of death.

When Yahuwah gave the sons of Israel manna in the desert, he gave them explicit instructions about how to gather it.  They were to gather only enough for each day, and on the sixth day they were to gather enough for the sixth and seventh days.  Any leftover manna would turn to worms and nastiness if kept beyond the time stated.  On that first Sabbath after manna became available in the desert, some Israelis went out to gather on the seventh day, but there was none to be found.  This angered the Almighty.

So Yahuwah said to Mosheh, "How long do you refuse to obey my commandments and my Instructions? See, because Yahuwah has given you the Sabbath, that is why he is giving you food for two days on the sixth day. So each of you stay where he is; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day." So the people rested on the seventh day (Shemot 16:28-30).

Yahuwah regards Sabbath breaking as refusal to "obey my commandments and Instructions."  This is equivalent to rejection of the authority and lordship of Yahuwah.

Probably more than any other single commandment, the fourth matter (Fourth Commandment) is indicative of one's attitude and posture toward the Maker.  Resting on the Sabbath sends the clear and unmistakable message that such people are giving Elohim his proper place of Master over the created person.  And resistance to the Sabbath indicates a clear and present rebellion against having Yahuwah as your Elohim.  Such will find themselves in a fiery situation following the judgment of all men.

Tzitzit on the Corners of Your Garment

³⁷ Yahuwah said to Mosheh,

³⁸ "Speak to the sons of Yisrael and say to them: 'Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel.

³⁹ You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of Yahuwah, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes.

⁴⁰ Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your Elohim.

⁴¹ I am Yahuwah your Elohim, who brought you out of Mitzrayim to be your Elohim. I am Yahuwah your Elohim.'"

First, note that this instruction is directed to "the sons of Yisrael (Hebrew bnei Yisrael)."  It is, no doubt, applicable to all the male population of the family of faith.  The traditional Orthodox Jewish interpretation says that women are excluded from this command.  But others have argued that the phrase "sons of Yisrael" is often a "generic" designation for all who belong to Elohim.  But it should be clear that, in the least, the men of faith should be "doing" this commandment.  (I personally am convinced that women should wear the tassels, too.)

The commandment is simple to understand.  The commandment instructs us to wear tassels on the corners of our garments.  The word tciyci (tassel) needs some explanation.  The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament defines this Hebrew term as follows:

I #yci, Bauer-L. Heb. 504m; Sam. sÌiÒsÌÝt, pl. sÌiÒsÌiyyot; MHeb., JArm. lock of hair, ringlet, thread or tassel displayed at the edge of a garment; Akk. sÌiÒsÌiÒtu a movable part of the loom (AHw. 1105b; CAD SÌ: 214); Syr. sÌuÖsÌiÒtaÒ tassel, strand, ringlet; Mnd. sÌusÌiata pl. (Drower-M. Dictionary 391a) plaiting; Arb. sÌiÒsÌat, sÌiÒsÌiÒyat a tool used in weaving to make the warp and woof even (Lane Lex. 1755b: refers to the spur of a cock, the horn of a bull or cow, and also a peg for picking out dates, as well as the weavers’ tool); cockspur.

—1. varo tciyci mop of hair Ezk 8₃.

—2. tuft, tassel to be sewn on to the edges of an outer garment by the Israelites Nu 15_38-39

Tzitzit is used in the Tanach with basically two meanings.  As it is in our verse in review, it could mean a thread or tassel hanging from the edge of a garment.  And this word in other places refers to a lock of hair.  (Our word could take on further nuances in non-Scriptural literature.)

The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament also describes our word:

It is debated whether tzitzit indicates the fringe around the edges of a garment or a tassel at each corner; Snaith suggests the threads were twisted in groups to form "a fringe of tassels." A cord of blue was to be placed on each tassel. Traditionally they were woven out of eight threads tied into five knots. These tassels served to remind the people to keep Yahweh's commandments and not to follow their own desires (Num 15:38ff; cf, Deut 22:12; Mt 9:20; Mt 14:36; Mt 23:5). For a faith based on a saving history and a law, memory is crucial to preserving its integrity. It also means "a lock"; in a vision the Spirit transported Ezekiel by a lock of hair to Jerusalem (Ezek 8:3).

So, the Hebrew lexical studies are in agreement that in Bamidbar (Numbers) 15, tzitzit refers to the strings hanging down from the garment.  It seems that there was to be a weaving or twisting and tying off of the loose threads of the garment at the corners.  This, of course, makes perfectly good sense.  But these tie-offs in other clothing could be done in a more concealed manner, as with most modern clothing.  The garment to be worn by those who call upon His name must have tassels at the corners which extend away from the rest of the body of the garment.

Furthermore, on the tassel on each corner, a chord of blue should be attached.  The significance of the color blue may be that it calls to mind certain elements of the tabernacle which were also to be blue, including the floor of the temple which Shlomo (Solomon) built.  It is thought by some that blue represents the righteousness and set-apartness of Elohim.  Thus, the blue in the tassel is a reminder to the one wearing this garment that he is set-apart to Elohim's purposes.  This also is described by the explanation that follows:

It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of Yahuwah, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot,  so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be set-apart to your Elohim (Bamidbar 15:39,40).

So then the meaning of the tassels on the corners is what makes the wearing of such tassels significant.  It is not merely the wearing of some randomly contrived element of the garment that Elohim is after.  The many stranded tassel hanging from the garment which includes the color blue is to be a reminder of the many faceted instructions which Yahuwah has given to his people to live by.  These instructions are righteous (Romans 7:12), which the blue strand calls to mind.  Yahuwah's instructions include multiple statutes which make up the whole Torah (covenant, or set of instructions).  Thus, the tzitzit package of woven threads serves as a reminder of the righteous Torah his people are to obey.

Yahuwah's people need such a physical reminder.  Many times throughout the Torah and the rest of the Scriptures, exhortations are given to remember Elohim and to do his commandments, and conversely, not to forget Elohim or forget to do his commandments.  We need to be constantly reminded to do the right thing.  The tzitzit serves us in this way.  We carry on our clothing a perpetual reminder to please Elohim in everything we do.