Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] What do a frog in a kettle, a talking donkey, a reluctant prophet, a deadly plague, and prime time television have in common? This week's Torah Portion of course. If you want to find out how all of the pieces of this puzzle go together, stick around for this week's 5 Minute Torah Shalom and Blessings from Shalom Makin, the place where disciples of Yeshua learn, connect and grow. I'm Darren, and before I get into the five minutes of my five Minute Torah commentary, let's cover a few quick facts about this week's Torah portion. This week we are studying the 40th portion, the portion of Balak numbers 222 through 259 and here are the three things that you need to know about it. Number 1 Man vs God Balaam's plans Thwarted in this week's Torah portion, Balak, the King of Moab, hires the prophet Bilaam to curse the Israelites, but divine intervention interrupts his mission. At every step, God initially forbids Bilaam from going, then permits the journey, but with strict instructions to speak only his words. On the road, Bilaam's donkey sees an angel blocking the path, leading to a miraculous moment where the animal speaks. Despite Bilaam's intent and Balak's pressure, he is unable to utter curses. Instead, God compels him to bless Israel repeatedly, showing that no human plan can override the will of the Almighty. Number two Curses turned Blessings Prophecy of a Coming King in this week's Torah portion, we also learn about the prophecies delivered by Balaam. Although Balak intended to harm Israel through Balaam's curses, the prophet instead speaks divine blessings and prophecies of Israel's future strength. Bilaam foretells Israel's rise as a mighty and numerous nation that will conquer enemies. But even more striking are his messianic prophecies, a vision of a star and scepter rising from Jacob, signaling a future ruler who will bring forth justice and dominion. These oracles reveal God's unwavering favor toward Israel and serve as a reminder that what God has blessed cannot be cursed. The nations may plot, but the divine plan will prevail through Israel's destiny. Number three Covenant of Peace the Zeal of of Pinchas the portion ends with a dramatic and sobering episode. Israel falls into sin through immoral relationships and idolatry with the women of Moab and Midian. As a deadly plague spreads through the camp, Pinchas, grandson of Aaron, acts decisively, seeing an Israelite man and a Midianite woman openly defying God's command. He strikes them down, halting the plague. While controversial, his zeal is rewarded. God grants him a Brit Shalom, a covenant of peace, and promises an eternal priesthood for his descendants. His bold action reveals the critical importance of covenant loyalty in moments of national spiritual failure. Are you a disciple of Yeshua? There are a lot of people who say they are, but when it comes down to it, they really don't even know what it means to be a disciple. Why? Because discipleship is a concept unique to to Judaism. It's an intimate relationship between a rabbi and his student. Yeshua called 12 men to be in his inner circle of discipleship, and those 12 men changed the world. What did they know about being a disciple that we don't? I wrestled with this question when I wrote my book the Four Responsibilities of a Disciple. There were a ton of books already written on how to make disciples, but I wanted to know what it meant to be a disciple because it seems that all of these disciples that were being made in our day really weren't having an impact on the world around them like they should. I found out that there were four responsibilities every disciple should know, and that when implemented, living out these four responsibilities has the potential to change the world. If you want to know what it means to be a true disciple of our master Yeshua, then check out my book, the Four Responsibilities of a Disciple. This week's Torah commentary is called Righteousness, Seduction, and Destruction and comes from my book, Five Minute Torah, Volume 3.
[00:04:12] If we read the portion of Balak in isolation, we would have a pretty high regard for the prophet Balaam. When Balak hires him for the task of cursing Israel, Balaam tells him flat out that he cannot go beyond what the God of Israel tells him. Indeed, each time he offers up his sacrifice and opens his mouth to speak over the children of Israel, blessings instead of curses burst forth from his mouth. And at the end of the Torah portion, he simply leaves Balak and returns home. But something else must have been going on, because in numbers 31 8, Balaam is killed by the Israelites in their battle against Midian. Not only that, but the rest of the scriptures paint Bilaam as a very wicked person. The Talmud describes him as being blind in one eye and lame in one foot. This is Sanhedrin 105A. And yet he had the insight and and the persistence to nearly destroy Israel. What did he do that was so horrible and how did he accomplish it? Parashat Matot, which is numbers 32 and following, serves as an insight into his deeds. As it speaks of the Midianite women that Israel had taken captive. It says, behold, these on Balaam's advice caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peoria. And so the plague came upon the congregation of the Lord. This is Numbers 31, Verse 16. But what treachery did Bilaam devise against the Israelites, and why? First, when the Torah sets the stage at the beginning of our Torah portion, it says, and Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel. This is numbers 22 3. It describes the children of Israel as being Ra, which most English translations render as many or or numerous. But is this how we should understand this description? Was it simply the great number of Israelites that Moab feared? If we understand the word Rav to mean great, as it does in the word rabbi, then we can better understand the type of fear the Moabites had. Moab realized that Israel was in a better spiritual state than it had been in nearly 40 years. The older generation had passed away, represented by the passing of both Aaron and Miriam in the previous portion. And the younger generation was ready to take up the mantle and enter the land of promise. They were great. Their spiritual statue was noticeable. How so? Every time we entered the synagogue, we recite this passage that says, ma to vu. Oh halacha Yaakov Mishkenotecha Yisra'. El. How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel. This is from Numbers 24:5. Our sages teach us that this verse, spoken by the mouth of Bilam, is an indication of the purity of Israel. They would arrange their tents in a modest fashion so that their entrances would not face one another. They were concerned with the details of how they were living out the terms of the covenant God made with them at Sinai. Yet something went very wrong that made God send a plague against them which killed 24,000 Israelites. How did this happen? And what exactly was the sin of Balaam? Balaam advised Balak, if you can't beat them, seduce them. The Talmud teaches. Balaam said to them, the God of these Jewish people despises lewdness. Come, and I will give you advice. This is Sanhedrin 106A. The book of Revelation confirms this and adds yet another detail in John's vision of Yeshua. Yeshua addresses the congregation at Pergamum. He says, I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teachings of Balaam. Who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. This is Revelation 2:14.
[00:07:58] We can understand the problem with sexual immorality, but eating food sacrificed to idols? What's the big deal? Scripture tells us that it's the little foxes that spoil the vineyards. This is song of songs 2:15 One small compromise leads to another. As it says, the reward of one transgression is another transgression from a vote for two. Most of the time the enemy cannot destroy us outright, but if he deceives us and seduces us, then he can overcome us. How does he seduce us? He starts out with the little things. We make a small exception in one area, which leads to a small exception in another area, and eventually we find that those seemingly minor concessions have led to a major compromise. As Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof bemoans, one little time I pulled out a thread and where has it led? Where has it led? If we look at what is on our televisions today, we can see an example of this. What is commonly shown during our primetime television today would have never been acceptable 50 years ago. Like a frog in a kettle, the water around us has slowly been heating up without us even realizing it. Before we know it, we've moved from righteousness to seduction to destruction. Is that the path we desire? Or can we learn a lesson from the tactics of Balaam when he seduced the children of Israel and diligently be on our guard against supp Such compromise? The choice is ours, but turning a blind eye will never get us where we need to go.
[00:09:30] Are you living life on autopilot? Going through religious motions but feeling spiritually dead? If you're ready to wake up to your God given mission on this earth, then you'll want to check out my most recent teaching called Are you awake? Packed with deep insights and just enough humor to take the edge off. You won't want to miss it. Just click on the link right here to get started. Sam.
