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“Matot”
(Tribes)”
This Torah
portions starts off as a message to the leaders
of the tribes. God is truth. His Word is truth.
He is utterly faithful, and cannot lie. God’s
beloved sons and daughters must be like Him. We
must speak the truth. We should carry though with
our commitments, promises and contracts. Our yes
should mean yes, and our no, no. In special circumstances,
if we testify under oath, take a vow to faithfully
uphold and support the Constitution, or make a
marriage vow, we should carry them through.
Chapter
30 deals with vows. If a man makes a vow, and
later regrets it, it is very important that he
carry through on it. Otherwise, he is breaking
a solemn commitment to His Creator, and the Lord
will consider him to be guilty, and there will
be consequences. Single women who are still living
at home can make a vow, but they are under the
authority of their fathers. So, if they do make
a vow, their father can override it within one
day of hearing it, and nullify it, if they think
it is a bad or foolish vow. And, God Himself will
back up the authority of the father. God has established
the family, and it has an authority structure.
The father is the head of the family, and he has
the final say.
If a woman
who is married makes a vow, and the husband hears
about it, he can overrule it; but again, it only
has a one day time limit. God Himself will back
up the authority of the husband, since God has
placed the husband as the head of the wife. Women,
if the Lord acknowledges that the husband is the
head of the home, and honors the authority of
your husbands, shouldn’t you?
Widows
or divorced women are not under the authority
of fathers or husbands, and so when they make
a vow, it can’t be overridden by fathers or husbands,
and they are expected to keep it, or suffer the
penalty of breaking that oath.
Chapter
31 describes the judgment of the Midianites and
the consequences of war. Instead of blessing the
people chosen to bring the message of salvation,
and the blessings of God to the world, they took
part in an anti-Israel alliance with Moab, and
hired Bilam to come and curse us. They also took
Bilam’s advise and tried to corrupt us by engaging
in sexual immorality and idolatry and false religion,
so that God Himself would judge us. The Lord of
the whole Earth was displeased with the Midianites,
and decided that it was time to punish them. Does
the Righteous God have the right to punish a society
of rebellious, corrupt human beings? Can the Judge
of the whole Earth use other human beings as instruments
of His judgment? The answer to these questions
is yes.
12,000
warriors, 1,000 from each tribe, went to battle,
and totally defeated the Midianites. The kings
of Midian, along with all the men, were killed!
Bilam, the corrupt prophet who prostituted his
ministry was there among the Midianites, and the
man who loved money lost everything, even his
life!
But, there
was a problem. The leaders of the army had spared
the women and children - and remember, these were
the same women who had been so sexually perverse,
and so religiously corrupt; these were the same
women who had purposely tempted and corrupted
our men, so that God’s judgment fell on us. The
women were attractive, but didn’t the leaders
of the army realize the danger of bringing these
women back with them? Didn’t they see the danger
of a repetition of the disaster that had happened
back at Baal-Peor?
Moses
certainly did. He was angry with the leaders of
the army, and instructed them to eliminate this
grave danger to the Holy People. Only those Midianites
who could be assimilated into the Holy Nation
would be spared - the virgin girls. The male children
and the women who weren’t virgins needed to be
killed.
Sin, especially
sexual immorality and false religion, is very
dangerous. It’s terribly destructive to us, and
offensive to God. We shouldn’t tolerate it or
bring it close to us. We need to take radical,
even harsh action, to prevent ourselves from being
corrupted by anything that would drag us down,
that would cause us to fall away from the Living
God. Are there any alluring Midianite women in
your life? Things that may look pretty and promise
pleasure, but will separate you from God and His
ways? Be honest, and identify those things, and
take radical action to get rid of them, before
you are corrupted by them!
The men
who had killed anyone, or touched a dead body,
had been defiled. Death didn’t exist in the beginning.
It is a result of sin. There is something unpleasant
and wrong about it. The people who came in contact
with death couldn’t draw near to God at the Mishkan
(Tabernacle) until they were sprinkled with the
ashes of the red cow which were mixed with water,
on the third day, and on the seventh day. Then,
after they washed their clothes and bathed they
were clean, and could draw near to God. Thank
God for the death of the Messiah, which separated
Him from God for a short time, but enabled us
to have life, and draw near to God forever!
Sin spreads.
Not only were the Midianites corrupt, but some
of their uncleanness was transmitted to their
possessions, and so the items taken from them,
like clothing, and things made from wood and leather,
had to be washed. Even metals like gold, silver,
bronze and iron needed to be purified - not by
water but by fire.
The spoils
of war needed to be divided properly. Half went
to the soldiers who engaged in the fighting, and
took the risk, and half went to the rest of the
congregation, who supported them and enabled them
to go. But, the Lord must not be forgotten! He
is the One who enables us to have any victory
at all, and He supports the congregation and the
warriors, and therefore something from all of
the resources that come to us must go to Him!
The Priests
and the Levites must be supported, just as our
local congregations need to be supported today.
For the half that went to the warriors, one in
500 of the people, the cows, donkeys and sheep
went to the Lord’s representatives - the Priests.
From the half that was given to the congregation,
who took less risk, and didn’t work as hard, a
higher percentage must go to the Lord - one out
of every 50 of the people, cows, donkeys and sheep,
and these went to the Levites who assisted the
Priests.
After
this, the officers of the army, who had not used
good judgment when they brought back the Midianite
women, reported to Moses, that after taking a
census of their troops, they had discovered that
not one Jewish soldier was killed in the fight
against the Midianites! Wow! Normally, some losses
are to be expected, but in this case, there were
no casualties! The Lord had been protecting the
army of Israel, and given us a supernatural, amazing
victory! Out of their gratitude, the leaders of
the army wanted to do something special for their
good and gracious God, and so they brought a special
korban - an offering that would help them draw
nearer to the Lord - of gold jewelry - about 6,700
ounces of gold - which was an enormous amount!
This offering brought a measure of atonement to
the leaders of the army - who had erred by bringing
the Midianite women back with them.
Chapter
32 describes the first settlement of the Land
of Israel by the new generation. The territory
on the east side of the Jordan river, the land
of Yazer and Gilead (parts of present day Syria
and Jordan), that had been captured from Sihon,
king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan,
was land that was suited for livestock.
The tribes
of Reuben and Gad had a very large amount of livestock,
and so they wanted that territory as their inheritance.
Moses and Eleazer the High Priest were concerned
that a similar situation might be developing that
developed at Kadesh-Barnea - that part of the
people were unwilling to enter the Land, and discouraged
the rest of the people, which angered the Lord,
and resulted in 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.
The leaders
of the tribes of Gad and Reuben assured them that
this was not their motivation - they were willing
to enter the Land, and fight with the other tribes,
but they really felt that the land on the east
of the Jordan should be theirs. They assured Moses
and Eleazar that they would be willing to send
their men of war across the Jordan, with the rest
of the Jewish people, and fight until the Land
was conquered, and only then would they return
to their homes.
Moses
agreed to this proposal after warning them that
if they reneged on their promise, be sure that
their sin would find them out - an expression
that is still used in our culture - this it its
origin. And, you can be sure that your sin will
find you out! Sin always has consequences, and
no sin that is ever committed will be left unpunished,
or not dealt with in one way or another - either
in this life, or on the Day of Judgment. You will
not get away with anything! Think about that the
next time you are tempted to do something wrong.
So, Moses
gave the land to them, and to half of the tribe
of Joseph as well, the half-tribe of M’nashe.
They began building cities, and settling their
families and livestock there. The settlement of
the Land of Israel had begun, just as the Faithful
God, who speaks the truth, and keeps His promises,
had promised Abraham some 400 years earlier! And,
if we are faithful, the Faithful God will surely
see to it that we enter into our inheritance as
well! He has promised us an inheritance which
is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade
away, reserved in Heaven for you, who are protected
by the power of God through faith.
Shalom,
Rabbi Loren
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