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This week we have a double Torah portion with Mattot meaning “tribes,” Numbers 30:2-32:42, and Masei meaning “journeys of,” Numbers 33:1-36:13.
Chapter 30 contains Adonai’s instructions regarding the making of vows to the Lord or the making of a binding obligation; in other words, a promise that cannot be broken. Both men and women were under certain requirements that, when these vows were spoken, they could not be broken. However, we see that the regulations regarding vows were stricter for men than for women. If a man made a vow, he “…shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth” (verse 2). For a woman, however, if she made a vow in her father’s home when she was not married and he heard it, if he did nothing, then the vow stood. However, if the father heard it and forbade it, than the vow did not stand because the father had forbidden it; and the daughter was forgiven, or released, from the obligation. This was also the same for married women. If a woman made a vow when she was not married or made a vow after she was married, if the husband heard of either of these vows and said nothing, then the vow stood; but if he forbade it, then either vow was forgiven by the Lord.
Yeshua was familiar with this concept of making vows. In Matthew Chapter 5, verse 34, Yeshua says, “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God…,” and verse 37: “But let your statement be ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’ and anything beyond these is evil.” This is not a prohibition of taking an oath; for example, Messiah answered under oath in Matthew 26; but it is rather an admonition to allow the integrity of one’s own character demonstrate the commitment that one will do as one says he or she will.
Unfortunately, in our modern society, this commitment to do what we say we are going to do seems to be fading and demonstrating another example how our society is falling away from the Word of God.
One more comment about vows: In today’s society, when we think about taking or making a vow, we perhaps think of joining the priesthood, or more commonly, of the vows spoken during a wedding ceremony. For those of us here today who are married or those who are engaged and even for those for whom, perhaps, marriage is a future option, I hope that the lessons in this chapter and the importance of taking and making vows will be a reminder to us about the marriage commitment we have made before God or perhaps will make in the future and the great importance that the sanctity of marriage has in God’s economy.
Chapter 31 contains the command from the Lord to wipe out the Midianites. Back in Numbers 22, the Moabite and Midianite elders had conspired to engage the services of Balaam, a renowned magician, to cast a curse on Israel. And then in Chapter 25 the sons of Israel sin again by having sexual relations with the daughters of Moab and worshiping Moabite gods. In addition, righteous Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest, sees Zimri, a Jew, going to sleep with a Midianite woman and kills both of them with a spear. Due to these sins, God commands the destruction of the Midianites except for the women who have not had relations with men. The end of Chapter 31 details all the animals, gold, and other material that were taken and the offerings that were made to the Lord from these and from the officers in charge of the army.
While from our modern perspective this wholesale destruction of Midian seems terrible, we must remember that the falling away of the Jewish people was a terrible sin, which was both punished by a plague upon the Israelis and with the killing of the Midianites as well as Balaam himself. In fact, Balaam is seen as one of the great enemies of the Jews on par with Haman, who is mentioned in the Book of Esther.
In Chapter 32, the tribes of Reuben and Gad petition Moses to request not to cross the Jordan River with the rest of the tribes but to stay in the land of Jazer and Gilead, part of modern-day Jordan. Moses is not happy with this request as it seems divisive that two of the tribes would not stay with the rest to capture the Promised Land that God was giving them. In fact, Moses compares this to the report of the 10 of the 12 spies who were initially sent to scout the Promised land and how they discouraged the rest of the people from continuing on the path the Lord had set before them, which caused the Lord to be angry with the Israelis and caused them to continue their wilderness journey for 38 more years. But the men of Gad and Reuben respond to Moses and tell him that they will build a safe haven for their livestock and families and that their men will cross over with the rest of the Israelis and will not return until Canaan is captured and Israel’s enemies destroyed. This satisfies Moses, and he grants that they can settle where they want.
Chapter 33 begins Parasha Masei, which means, “journeys of,” and is a retelling of all of the journeys that the Israelis took from the time they left Egypt until they reached the Jordan. Each of these steps would have reminded the people of different memories; for example, times when they obeyed the Word of God, times when they were disobedient, battles they had fought, and great losses they had suffered such as the death of Aaron in verse 38. This chapter ends with a reminder of the importance of driving out the enemies they will encounter once they enter the Promised Land.
Chapter 34 lays out the boundaries of the Promised Land that was to be divided or apportioned among the Israelis. Adonai provides detailed instruction regarding the location for each boundary starting with the description of where the southern border would be, a description of the western border, a description of the northern border, and then finally a description of the eastern border. Eleazer, the High Priest and Joshua, the leader after Moses, were to apportion the land along with a leading representative from each of the remaining tribes except for the Levites.
Chapter 35 discusses the cities of refuge. As I just mentioned, the Levites did not receive a portion of the land as an inheritance. Deuteronomy 18 expounds on this. The Levites were to be given a portion of the sacrifices made to the Lord. In the same way, they were not to directly be given any land; but, from the rest of the land that was apportioned to the other tribes, the Levites were to receive 48 cities within the Promised Land. Out of these 48 cities, 6 cities were to be designated as cities of refuge. This meant that, if a person accidentally killed someone, the killer could flee to one of these cities of refuge; and no revenge could be exacted upon him from the family of the person who was killed. To differentiate between intentional and unintentional killing, Numbers 35 states that intentionally striking someone so that person dies or attacking someone in hatred and that person dies is intentional and punishable by death. However, if the death occurred through unintended circumstances, that person could flee. The killer, termed manslayer in the NASB, was safe in that city; but, if he left the safety of the city of refuge and was seen by the victim’s family, revenge could be taken by the blood avenger of the person who was initially killed.
And, finally, Chapter 36 discusses the inheritance of land when a marriage occurs. This chapter specifically deals with the situation of the daughters of Zelophehad. These daughters were concerned about their father’s inheritance since there were no sons in the family. Since that was the case, the inheritance which God said the daughters could keep would vanish when the daughters married since that land would pass to their husbands’ household. In this case, the Lord gives Moses the solution that the daughters of Zelophehad needed to marry within their own tribe; and in that way, the land would be kept among themselves.
So what can we learn from these two parasha?
We can take away the importance of the relationship between words and actions. Simply put, if you make a promise to do something, then do it!!
We can understand the gravity of falling away from God, something that in the Bible was punished in certain situations by God Himself.
We can see that, if we keep focused on God throughout our lives, there will be connecting points in our journey through life when we can look back and see how God helped us through both the good and the difficult times.
We can understand that although we, at Shema, live in different locations, we can still come together as God’s people to serve Him in the way He would have us to go.
We can understand the importance of boundaries. Just as God instructed Israel on the boundaries of the Promised Land, so, too, has He given us boundaries to live our lives according to the instructions He has given us in His Word.
We can see that God provides us refuge in His Word and in His Precious Son, our Messiah, who intercedes for us at the right hand of God.
And, finally, we have His eternal inheritance as sons and daughters of God through putting our faith and trust in Messiah Yeshua and recognizing that belief in Him, and Him alone, is the path to eternal salvation.