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SOME STUDY GEMS:
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Study Gem : Faith and Water
Numbers 20:8-13 “Take the rod and assemble the congregation, you and your brother Aharon. And you shall speak to the rock before their eyes, and it shall give its water. And you shall bring water for them out of the rock and give drink to the congregation and their livestock. And Mosheh took the rod from before YHWH as He commanded him. And Mosheh and Aharon assembled the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” Then Mosheh lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. And much water came out, and the congregation and their livestock drank. But YHWH spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, “Because you did not believe Me, to set Me apart in the eyes of the children of Yisra’ĕl, therefore you do not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” These were the waters of Meribah, because the children of Yisrael contended with YHWH, and He was set apart among them.
We had this same story happening before, in Exodus 17:6-7 “And you shall smite the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people shall drink.” And Mosheh did so before the eyes of the elders of Yisrael. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meriḇah, because of the ‘strife’ of the children of Yisra’ĕl, and because they ‘tried’ YHWH, saying, “Is YHWH in our midst or not?”
In Deut 33:8 both these places are mentioned, “whom You tried at Massah, with whom You contended at the waters of Meriḇah”. Also in Psalm 95:8 “Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness” – another translation says ““Do not harden your hearts as in Meriḇah, And as in the day of Massah in the wilderness”
In Numbers 20:12 where YHWH says to Mosheh they did not believe Him – the word believe is AMAN H539 – ‘āman (like when we say amen at the end of a prayer). Except in Hebrew is not a “speak” language, or a “think” language like the Greeks. Hebrew is a DO language. So when they don’t believe.. it is because they don’t DO as they are told. Moses might have put more faith in the rod – after all he knew the “rod worked” before in Exodus 17. Or maybe it is because the entire congregation is crying about water – in anger and not in faith. They had a miracle before.. where they TESTED (H4532 – massâ) YHWH, now they are FIGHTING/STRIVING (H4809 – mᵊrîḇâ / H4808 – mᵊrîḇâ) with YHWH.
Study Gem : Copper Snake on a Pole
Numbers 21:5-9 “And the people spoke against Elohim and against Mosheh, “Why have you brought us up out of Mitsrayim to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our being loathes this light bread. And YHWH sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people. And many of the people of Yisra’ĕl died. Then the people came to Mosheh, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against YHWH and against you. Pray to YHWH to take away the serpents from us.” So Mosheh prayed on behalf of the people. And YHWH said to Mosheh, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole. And it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Mosheh made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole. And it came to be, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.”
The word Serpent in Hebrew is NAHAS H5175 – nāḥāš, and the Hebrew word for Copper/Bronze is NEHSET H5178 – nᵊḥšeṯ. So in Hebrew you almost have a poem like play on words NAHAS NEHSET, which we don’t see in English on other languages. The word copper nehset can also mean to lust, and it could also reference to chains.
YHWH clearly gave the command not to make idols in Exodus 20:4-5 “You do not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of that which is in the heavens above, or which is in the earth beneath, or which is in the waters under the earth, you do not bow down to them nor serve them.” Idols, is something that you worship. This copper snake was not to be worshipped, but just to remind them of their sin. Instead, we find years later that they did indeed start to worship this copper snake, in 2 Kings 18:4 (King Hezekiah) “He took away the high places and broke the pillars, and cut down the Ashĕrah, and broke in pieces the bronze serpent which Mosheh had made, for until those days the children of Yisrael burned incense to it”
IMPORTANT SCRIPTURES / PROPHECIES:
| Num 18 – Levitical Priests duties – Guarding the duties. Gifts for the Levites as inheritance: first-fruits, tithes, offerings, best of oils, etc. The Levites must also give a tithe of all the tithe they receive. |
| Num 18:19 – Sacrifices – Eternal covenant of Salt – All offerings must have salt. Salt is the symbol of the covenant – covenant of the salt |
| Num 19 – Levitical Priests duties – Red heifer instructions. Water to use for cleansing – a law forever. |
