Says these are the travels of the children of Israel ..
So today we might comment saying:
That was then, this is now!
How is this relevant to us today?
Scripture reminds us in 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, conviction, rebuking, correcting and training/instruction in righteousness,
The journey, the travels of God’s children includes us, if we too are His children.
The Word tells us that salvation is of the Jews /Israelites…
John 4:22 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews
..and it’s given to the Jews, the Hebrews, the children of Israel first, and then to the goy/gentile /heathen nations.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16/17
Numbers 33 is a reference to our own spiritual journey and our relationship with God, our Heavenly Father. The ups and downs, twists and turns of their path through the wilderness, is a journey to discover Who God is as our Heavenly Father; and to deal with personal issues in regards to our relationship with Him and the rest of God’s family.
We know all too well if a relationship is not consistently worked on by both parties, it will slowly but surely die. Communication is the basis of life and if there’s no interaction, then it will first become stale and stagnant because no effort is put into keeping it alive and fresh, then it will wither and die. The parties becoming more and more separated and the distance increases over time to the point where, even a bridge cannot reach them both to reconcile them. It is not strange then, that we have been given the ministry of reconciliation, and Messiah is the bridge because nowhere is too hard for His arm to reach.
Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Here in Numbers, the word for travel in Hebrew is
nasa
which means:
to pull up, pluck up, tear up, put away, to remove.
Original Word: נָשָׂא Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: nasa or nasah Phonetic Spelling: (naw-saw’) Definition: to lift, carry, take
This is not the kind of travel, in the sense of traveling for a holiday or a vacation journey, or for a business trip as the world thinks of travel. The travel in Hebrew concept is:
to a new life – a new destination.
So here we see the travels, the nasa, of the children of Israel, had plucked them from Egypt and pulled them up out of bondage. These travels/nasa, were taking them and removing them from slavery and bondage. The nasa was
to a new life, a new destination, in a new land.
Here it’s is worth noting that the letters nasa, are used as an acronym for the National Aeronautic Space Agency, and what are they focused on? Space exploration and travel to new destinations, though some will say it stands for never a straight answer!
As believers in Messiah Jesus we often use spiritual concepts and we call it spiritualization. These are important because otherwise we would miss some of the things God is saying to us when we read statements like Numbers 33;1; thinking it’s just a historical fact or information with no spiritual message relevant for us today. Again if 1Timothy tells us that every word of God is inspired, then, theres a reason it is there; and we should therefore take the time to see what it is there for!
In Hebrew, a spiritual concept is sometimes called an Inyan; which is more like a general idea, as opposed to something specific.
Inyan – matter, business, thing –
een-YAHN : עִנְיָן
Yesh li inyanim – I’ve got things (to do), errands – יש לי עניינים
Hayu inyanim – There were “things” – “היו “עניינים
These concepts or ideas sometimes have subheadings which some call Bechinos.. בקינוס
Such terms of speech, by way of concepts and ideas, have been used for thousands of years by the Hebrew sages and rabbis/teachers. In the re-new-ed Testament, Yeshua Messiah Jesus used them all the time and an example is when He quoted from the scriptures.
Man shall not live by bread alone
to illustrate His own situation.
He was using an Inyan – a spiritual concept.
So the scripture in Numbers 33:1 is an inyan, revealing the concept of – going from slavery to freedom. It is the story of the children of Israel and us. They left Egypt which is also the picture of us coming out of the world system/the kingdom of darkness, and into the promised land the Kingdom of the Heavenly Father; and ultimately into a new land, a new heavenly kingdom of the spirit, the eternal realm of the creator of the universe.
Every place they camped, was a new challenge and a place to learn new lessons and grow, maturing in faith.
They were learning about themselves, as well as learning of the God of their Fathers. They saw His miracles, signs and wonders but they did not know His ways; they did not know His character as Moses did. He made known His ways unto Moses, His doings unto the children of Israel. Psalm 103:7
God had taken them out of the world, now He had to get the world out of them. Their deliverance from Egypt was more than physical bondage, they were bound spiritually and needed the delivering freedom that only a covenant relationship could provide. Their whole lifestyle had to change, just as it does for every believer; the old man, the carnal flesh life lived by the 5 natural senses, had to die and be transformed into the spiritual walk of the new life and the new relationship with our Heavenly Father.
As a personal inyan, this is our story; that of our journey, our nasa, to know God our Heavenly Father after we have accepted Jesus/Yeshua as our savior/Messiah.
In Matthew 7:13 Messiah spoke of our lives as that spiritual journey, walking a spiritual road, path or way..
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
…and in Mark 4 He describes the types of people and characteristics who will nasa/ travel along the paths.
Everyday is a new challenge and we take up our cross daily the symbol of death to the self life, to follow Him, not to follow our own way, not to follow religion, not to follow other people or popular preachers, nor ideas or idols. We must go forward and upward as there is no standing still in God; and in this statement we could insert an Inyan. Our walk could be likened to climbing a steep incline or hill, one covered in ice. A person can only go forward with consistent effort, and must keep going or they will slide backwards/backslide. We cannot stand still and every day in our walk it either brings us into a closer relationship with the Father and deeper within the boundaries of His kingdom; or further away from the light into the darkness of this worlds systems and all its’ temptations..
The ground has to be prepared so that when the seed of the Word of God is sown into our hearts, the ground is ready, all the stones and thorns have been pulled out and the soil is deep enough to allow healthy growth. Here in Mark 4 is another inyan:
In this first verse that seems at first glance to be just a statement, or headline, or title of what is to come next, here is the word nasa. The letters in Hebrew are:
nun, samek, ayin – n’sa
The meanings in the letters of the word help to remind us everyday that we have the opportunity to:
rise to a new level of faith- nun
dependence on the father – samekh
and to Ayin – see His miracles at work in and through us.
Our nasa is a spiritual one because, it’s not by the energy of the flesh that we journey through the wilderness and enter into the Kingdom of the Heavens.
In Numbers 33:1 – 36:13 All the inhabitants of the land must be dispossessed and all their imagery had to be destroyed, then they could enter and possess the land.
No compromise. No negotiations. No diplomacy.
Luke 21:9 In your patience possess ye your souls – By your endurance gain ye your lives…
We are to be calm and serene, masters of ourselves, and superior to all irrational and disquieting passions by keeping the carnal flesh submitted to the spirit.
Before we can possess our souls we must clean out the land and in this case the land is us.
We too are to show no mercy, our feelings are irrelevant, we are to clean out the land. It seems ruthless and we are not to be shocked at the intensity and seeming lack of compassion; because these are the enemies of our souls. They are stumbling blocks to our spiritual growth and we are to purge our own lives and take possession of our God-given inheritance once and for all. We must be brutal and unforgiving toward sin and we must be merciless and cold blooded toward the flesh if there is any hope of driving out the enemies we have given refuge to. We must be hard with ourselves and refuse to be swayed and seduced into accepting any peaceful co-existence because, it will only be a false peace.
If we are to be Holy and set apart, the land/us, must be cleansed. If not these areas which remain will be as thorns in our sides, and pricks in our eyes vs.33:55,56. The consequences of not driving out every last resident will be a continual source of trouble. Any remnant left in a wound will fester and cause infection and further devastation and we should not underestimate its potential; think of how painful an eyelash can be! The removal is far less painful than the unending torment of their presence, which will not end until the root cause is permanently removed. We must not invite them to stay or see them as part of our personality and be comfortable with them. Once we allow sin to establish its stronghold, we are faced with the inevitability of 2 most unpleasant alternatives; either we allow it to fester and in the end give up to its deadly effects or, consent/agree to being kept still, as it is permanently ejected from us. If we don’t, vs. 55/56 warn us those that remain will be our ruin. The fight for our inheritance is right now, today. The inhabitants will cause us harm if we don’t drive them out.
We are often so quick to move forward and unwilling to wait. We want to get there quickly the sooner the better, we have a problem with it taking too long; this is why we need to develop patience. Our Father sees this not as arriving at our destination, but as the process of our maturing through the experience. We learn to trust in Him, we learn to walk according to the still small voice, we learn not to complain, not to get frustrated or irritated. We learn that He will supply our needs and we learn His word and His ways. It requires a long time because we learn slowly, line upon line and precept upon precept. Our true self is always exposed when we are under pressure, this is the refining of silver and the furnace for gold.Job 10. All the impurities come to the top when heated and that is what is required, for us to see and deal with the flaws in our character. This is the reason we have trials in life, they are for our ultimate good.
There is a future Exodus ahead for us and we are in the wilderness now, on our journey our nasa, camping and moving from level to level, learning and being prepared to enter in to the promised land – heaven. Their journey, their travels their nasa is also ours and we have the benefit of His. written Word and His grace to strengthen our resolve so we can endure and end in victory; meanwhile these are the travels, our travels, our nasa towards our final exodus.
Come quickly Lord Jesus.
Shalom aleikhem
chaverim and mishpachah!
Peace to friends and family.
Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week.
Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.
You are very precious in His sight.
Not sure ..you can be…
SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..don’t delay one more minute,
SAY IT RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name.
