A few friends and I recently met and had a discussion with a rabbi about what it means to be the people of God and to walk in His commandments. According to the rabbi, a person needs to strive to keep as many of the 613 Mitzvot (commandments) as instructed in the Torah. I challenged the rabbi that as a result of the New Covenant, which was instituted by Yeshua the Messiah, we are no longer obligated to keep all of the 613 commandments according to the covenant given at Mt. Sinai. I further explained that we should seek to obey the commandments of the LORD in keeping with all of the Bible through an understanding of the fulfillment of the New Covenant. The rabbi saw things differently.
As we continued in our discussion about the New Covenant, we decided to read the verses in Jeremiah chapter thirty-one which specifically speak of the New Covenant. We read in Jeremiah 31:31-34 how the New Covenant is to be different from the covenant given at Mt. Sinai and that the New Covenant provides complete forgiveness of sin. We also read in Ezekiel 36 in connection to the New Covenant about the giving of the Holy Spirit:
I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. – Ezekiel 36:27
The rabbi understood this verse to mean that the giving of the Holy Spirit to God’s people is in order to enable them to keep all of the 613 commandments. However, I then explained that the giving of the Holy Spirit to the people is a fulfillment of the New Covenant and does not obligate one to keep all of the commandments from Mt. Sinai. Again, we were understanding the prophecies of the Bible from two different perspectives.
Towards the end of our discussion I shared with the rabbi that all of the covenants in the Bible were instituted at specific times and provide specific instructions relating to the people with whom God was communicating. I also stated that God is ultimately concerned with our listening to His voice over and above simply following a list of commands. I then shared Scripture from the prophet Jeremiah to support this view:
For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’ – Jeremiah 7:22-23
Obeying the voice of God is the heart of the message of the Bible which has its ultimate fulfillment in the New Covenant which includes the complete forgiveness of sins along with the filling of the Holy Spirit. It is by means of the empowering of the Holy Spirit as prophesied in the New Covenant that we can truly walk in God’s commands and live a life pleasing to God. The rabbi listened but was unwilling to agree with me that the New Covenant releases us from the obligation to fulfill the 613 commandments given at the covenant of Mt. Sinai.
The conversation that my friends and I had with this rabbi reveal an honest discussion about what God demands from us today in relation to what He has revealed to us through the pages of the Bible. Obviously, how one views the Scriptures regarding the New Covenant as well as Yeshua either being the Messiah or not will greatly influence how one will respond to this subject, however, I believe that the Bible is consistent and provides clarity on this issue. In the pages of this week’s Torah Portion we read how the LORD Himself provides light on this subject of how God enables His people to walk with Him in harmony and keep His commandments.
Murmurings In The Desert
This week’s Torah Portion contains several accounts of the complaining against Moses and the LORD for which the nation of Israel has become famous during the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. There are three main incidents which are recorded in Numbers chapters eleven and twelve which highlight these complaints:
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- A General Complaint (Num. 11:1-3)
- A Complaint Regarding Food (Num. 11:4-35)
- A Complaint Against Moses (Num. 12:1-16)
These three incidents of complaining unfold in the Scriptures one after another and reveal the not so beautiful side of the human condition.
The first account of these three murmurings appears in the beginning of Numbers chapter eleven, however, no specific complaint is recorded in these verses:
Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the LORD and the fire died out. So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burned among them. – Num. 11:1-3
The people complained, the LORD heard it, and the anger of the LORD was kindled: both metaphorically and literally.
Although it is clear in the above verses that the people erred in their act of complaining which brought about God’s judgment, it is unclear what exactly they were complaining about. The phrase in verse one which reads “Now the people became like those who complain of adversity…” is uniquely worded in Hebrew as “ויהי העם כמתאננים רע” – “Vayehi Ha’Am K’mitonenim Rah” which is literally translated “Now the people were like those who complain to themselves of evil…” The word for complain (מתאוננים – Mitonenim) is in the reflexive form which is an action that one does for or to oneself. The act of complaining is usually selfish and is generally focused on the wants or desires of an individual or group.
This act of complaining by the people is further characterized by the word “adversity,” however, the Hebrew literally uses the word רע – Rah which means evil. We see the word רע – Rah used for the first time in the Bible in the Garden of Eden:
Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. – Gen. 2:9
God clearly instructed Adam to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (רע – Rah) and warned him that death was the penalty for disobedience in this regard (Gen. 2:17). Everything in the earth and in the Garden of Eden which God had created was good until Adam and Eve chose to disobey the command of the LORD. They ate the forbidden fruit and brought evil into the world. Evil is the polar opposite of good and represents rebellion against the LORD. The complaining of the people was characterized by evil.
For the sake of time and space, I will not explain in detail the other two occasions of the murmurings of the people, however, I would like to point out that the LORD consistently responded in anger to each incident:
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- “…His anger was kindled…” – Num. 11:1
- “the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people” – Num. 11:33
- “So the anger of the LORD burned against them…” – Num. 12:9
Each complaint stirred the LORD to burn against the people in anger. The evil desires of our hearts which express themselves in selfish motivations are an affront to the LORD and can never please Him.
Getting To The Root Of The Problem
The anger of the LORD was clearly expressed in each of the three incidents in reaction to the complaining of the people. Beyond judgment and punishment, the only solution that the LORD provided in this context was the giving of His Holy Spirit:
The LORD therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone. – Num. 11:16-17
Moses was overwhelmed with the continual complaining of the people and was ready to exit this life in order to forever avoid it. God’s solution was to place His Holy Spirit upon seventy of the elders of the people so as to assist Moses and relieve the overwhelming weight of the people and their evil complaining.
The answer of the LORD to Moses regarding the overall situation of the constant complaining of the people was a spiritual solution: literally the giving of His Holy Spirit to others. In a similar manner, we need to be able to discern the source of evil in our midst and find real solutions to everyday situations by the power of the Holy Spirit and not simply rely on limited human resources.
Understanding The Evil Within
Yeshua taught on this subject of understanding the source of the evil which defiles us when He confronted the Pharisees for their accusation against His disciples for not having ritually purified hands before eating. Yeshua explained to the people at that time that there is something more important than unwashed hands:
After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. [If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]
When He had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” – Mark 7:14-23
When people believe that evil and defilement are only on the outside of our bodies it is easy to become proud and think that we are holy within ourselves. However, when we recognize the evil within our own hearts we become accountable for our words and actions. It is only by recognizing the evil which brings defilement within us that we can repent from this evil and receive real cleansing.
Renewed From Within
Our words and our actions reveal that which is in our hearts. Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden sin entered the world and evil is the natural inclination of our hearts. The only solution today to the evil which resides within us is to receive the Holy Spirit of God. Yeshua taught this truth in his discussion with a Jewish religious leader in His day:
Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Yeshua by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Yeshua answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Yeshua answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. – John 3:1-6
Yeshua explained to Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom of God unless one is born again. Yeshua was also declaring that there is no other remedy for the evil within apart from new birth by the Spirit of God.
Our flesh will always want to be satisfied with various sources of fulfillment with a continual demand for more. We can never fulfill every desire of the flesh nor can we totally restrain the evil desires within us by our own strength or remedies. The only way to master the evil desires in our hearts and to truly be satisfied in this life is to be born again by the Spirit of God.
It is only by means of new life in the Spirit that we can have victory over the evils of the flesh and conquer the evil desires of our hearts. The benefits of the New Covenant in Yeshua are complete forgiveness of sins and the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Spiritual new birth is the only means to truly know God, listen to His voice, and walk with Him on this earth.
Shabbat Shalom!
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Torah Portion: Num. 8:1 – Num. 12:16
Haftara: Zechariah 2:14 – Zechariah 4:7
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Here is a word that is very appointed for the times we live as a global Church. Yes, may the Holy Spirit release ALL that His people need, in the name of Yeshua!