PARASHAT BAMIDBAR - 'IN THE WILDERNESS...'

Parashat Bemidbar ~ in the Desert                                              Shelley Wood Gauld

Num 1:1-4:20, Hosea 2:1-23, Rom 9:22-23

On the first day of the second month in the second year following the exodus from Egypt, Moses was instructed by HaShem to take a census. The first to be counted were all non-Levite men 20 years and older who were able to serve in Israel’s army (603,550). Next, all Levite men one month and over (22,000). And finally the firstborn males of all non-Levite families were counted (22,273).

On the night of Pesach (Passover), the firstborn in every Israelite home had been spared. For this reason HaShem stated that every firstborn male would belong to Him and serve Him alone. After the incident of the golden calf/ox, however, the Levites, the only tribe who were blameless in worshipping this effigy, were granted the privilege of serving HaShem as the priestly tribe. Adonai said to Moshe, “Take the L’vi’im in place of all the firstborn among the people of Isra’el...” (Ex 3:44)

In addition to conducting a census, Moses was instructed to arrange the tribes into an orderly encampment ~ in marching order, military fashion. The camp consisted of concentric rings of authority. At its heart was HaShem’s earthly throne room ~ the Most Holy Place ~ which contained the Ark of the Covenant and was filled with His sh’khinah. It was housed within His earthly dwelling place ~ the Mishkan (Tabernacle). Adjacent to the Mishkan, on all four sides, lay the tents of the Levites, with those of Moses and Aaron’s families pitched in front of the entrance to the Mishkan.

Some distance from the Levites, the other tribes were arranged in four triad groups; with a leading tribe flanked by one other tribe on either side. Each of the tribes was identified by a tribal banner. Jewish tradition holds that the colours of these banners corresponded with the colours of the tribal stones on the high priest’s breastplate and that most of the insignia [symbols] on the banners were Israel’s tribal blessing symbols, based on Jacob’s blessings of his sons in Genesis 49.

“Adonai said to Moses and Aaron, ‘The people of Isra’el are to set up camp by clans [tribes], each man under his own banner and under the clan’s symbol; they are to camp around the tent of meeting, but at a distance.’ ” Lev 2:1-2 

The triad group to the east of the Mishkan consisted of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun ~ with Judah, the largest tribe and royal line of Israel, as the designated leader. According to the rabbis, Judah’s banner was emerald green, bearing the image of a lion. The triad group to the west of the Mishkan, closest to the Most Holy Place ~ ‘HaShem’s earthly throne room’ ~ consisted of the descendants of Jacob’s beloved Rachel. They were Ephraim, Manasseh [sons of Joseph] and Benjamin. The leading tribe was in this triad was Ephraim, which inherited the blessing of the firstborn. Its banner was black and bore the image of an ox (or calf). Undertones of Messiah are seen in these two tribes of Judah and Ephraim: Yeshua as king and sacrificial offering; and Yeshua as Lion of Judah and HaShem’s firstborn.

Another association can be made between Ephraim and HaShem’s earthly ‘throne room’, with its ‘keruvim’ (cherubim) above the Ark. Israeli teacher and rabbi, Rav Amnon Bazak, has stated that there is solid linguistic evidence to support the idea that the Hebrew word ‘keruv’ (cherub) can also mean ‘ox’ ~ because it has the same root as the aramaic ‘karba’, meaning ploughing; and the ox is the classic ‘ploughing beast’. He points out that in Ezekiel’s vision of the throne of HaShem, the word ‘chayot’ (living creatures) is used in Chapter 1, but the word ‘keruvim’ (cherubim or oxen) is used in Chapter 10. He suggests that the ‘heavenly chariot’ which bore the throne of HaShem away from the temple (directly prior to the Babylonian exile) was carried by oxen... He also points out that Moses, Aaron, Nadav, Avihu and 70 of the elders saw HaShem on his ‘chariot’ on Mount Sinai (Ex 24: 9,10) and that what they saw correlates with Ezekiel’s vision (Ez 1:26). He therefore proposes that it was oxen that this group saw carrying HaShem’s throne.

Thus when Moses delayed in returning from the mountain and the Israelites feared they had been abandoned by HaShem, they made an ox -- or golden calf -- in an attempt to bring Him back! Aaron agreed to this, but the situation soon spiraled out of control and the people started indulging in revelry and worshipping the symbol, rather than what it represented... This might explain why the Levites (including Aaron and his sons) did not worship this idol. Bazak states:

“From Aharon's point of view, the calf was never intended to serve an idolatrous purpose; he himself declares, "There will be a festival FOR GOD tomorrow" (32:2). Aharon's sin lay in the artificial attempt to "bring down" the Divine Presence on the back of a keruv-ox, by means of a "do-it-yourself" calf, instead of waiting for the Divine Presence itself to choose its seat and location.” http://www.vbm-torah.org/parsha.61/21ki-tisa.htm

In the Brit Khadashah is one more noteworthy link with HaShem’s throne room ~ and a firstborn son in a wilderness setting. At the completion of Yeshua’s 40 days of temptation in the wilderness, “He was with the ‘chayot’ and the angels were ministering to Him.” (Mark 1:13) The Hebrew word ‘chayot’ means ‘living creatures’, and it is usually translated as ‘wild animals’. ‘Chayot’, in conjunction with the reference to angels, immediately evokes in Jewish minds, however, the ‘living creatures’ of Ezekiel’s vision (Ez.1:5). HaShem’s only begotten firstborn son was ministered to by the ‘chayot’ of His heavenly Father’s throne room...

As with Torah as a whole, the wilderness camp is gem with a myriad of brilliant facets; each one illuminating aspects of HaShem’s marvelous ways...

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