Dr Clifford Denton.
Chukat: Numbers 19:1- 22:1.
13th July 2024/7 Tammuz.
So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. (Numbers 21:9)
Picture by Helen McNeill
In this week’s portion we read about the sprinkling of water containing the ashes of the Red Heifer as a means of purification and also of the Bronze Serpent which could provide healing of those bitten by serpents. These are two of a number of God’s provisions in the Old Covenant, which are now fulfilled in the New Covenant.
The New Covenant replaces the Old Covenant, but in what way? Jeremiah was the Prophet who announced God’s plan for this. Moses had faithfully brought all of God’s teaching to Israel but by the time the nation had settled into the Promised Land, it was clear that, despite all God’s provision through the Priestly system of the Old Covenant, a greater provision was need. Jeremiah put it this way:
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah – not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.
The writer to the Hebrews, having quoted from Jeremiah, made it clear that the New Covenant replaced the Old:
In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:13)
On superficial reading, it might seem that we can now disregard all that went before and turn our attention entirely to what we call “The New Testament”. It is unfortunate that the Bible has been divided into what we call Old and New Testaments, which has the effect for many Christians of blurring the continuity of all Scripture. When the writer to the Hebrews spoke of the old vanishing away, we must consider what was meant more carefully.
Much can be understood in the way the ordinances which came through Moses are shadows of fulfilment in Yeshua and through the giving of the Holy Spirit.
There is a layer of necessary understanding beneath all that we read in the Torah. For example, in our portion this week we find the need of purification represented by the Red Heifer, which was killed outside the camp. Our need of purification is as relevant today as it was for the Children of Israel. However, the need for the Red Heifer is removed because the Red Heifer points to Yeshua:
We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore, Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. (Hebrews 13:10-14)
Likewise, the brazen serpent was a type and shadow of Yeshua on the Cross:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:14-16)
These are just two examples of how study of Torah is a preparation for our understanding of the New Covenant. We are born into this world as human beings, just as were the Children of Israel – with the same needs as they had. Ultimately, their journey, like ours, is not focussed entirely on the Promised Land. Nevertheless, while our present era continues with biblical prophecies still to be fulfilled, God will continue to work out His redemptive purposes, keeping in focus His call on the nation of Israel and the Land that God gave them. But for all mankind, the journey is to a higher destination, the Kingdom of Heaven to which Yeshua, our Saviour, is leading us.
We are pilgrims on this journey with all the challenges that the world and satan can still throw at us. Our pilgrimage is typified by Israel’s journey to the Promised Land. We learn about our journey through theirs, of our needs through theirs, of our redemption through God’s teaching in their lives. This is God’s way of teaching us, as well as them, in our case by prayerful study, in their case by their journey through the wilderness.
The forty extra years that Israel journeyed with Moses to Canaan are compressed into a few chapters of our Bible, perhaps giving an impression of a shorter journey. Forty years is a long time. It was not easy. This week, we read of the death of Miriam and of Aaron, the elder sister and the brother of Moses, who himself now approached 120 years of age. In human terms he could be easily forgiven for being impatient with Israel when he struck the rock at Meribah instead of speaking to it, but such impatience was not permitted for the one who was to lead God’s people into the Promised Land. All this speaks of Yeshua, the one who would bring true living water (the Holy Spirit) when He suffered for us on the Cross, as a lamb led innocently and humbly to the slaughter.
Those who feared the giants in Canaan and became the generation to perish did not have an easy journey to the borders of Canaan. Far from considering this as “Old Testament” which is no longer relevant, we are to learn from this about ourselves. As we read in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (Chapter 10, verse 11):
Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
Our journey of faith will continue to bring trials until our Saviour returns to take us into the eternal Kingdom. Just like the Israelites, we are called to persevere. As James exhorted us:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)
There are those who expect the journey of faith to be without undue pressure and will, sadly, be unprepared for the days ahead. The New Testament brought a new way to salvation and strengthening for the journey, but our human nature is no different from those who went before us.
The Bible speaks clearly of the days that are coming on the earth, especially relevant is what is written in the Book of Revelation. These things can be understood through God’s teaching of Israel in the days of the Old Covenant (the Torah). Our study of the pilgrimage of Israel prepares us for our pilgrimage. Moses is fulfilled in Yeshua. The water from the rock is God’s provision of the Holy Spirit. Without God’s provision through the New Covenant, we would have little hope of enduring through the journey ahead and fail like the Israelites on their journey to Canaan.
Now is the time for us to be deeper students of the Scriptures, able to read the Torah and find application for our lives as New Covenant pilgrims. What better place is there to do this than in our own homes with our families?
One thing that we may surmise from our own experience, is that over the forty years of Israel’s journey through the wilderness, there may have been times when God’s voice did not seem as evident as at other times. In a few brief chapters of the Bible, soon after the Israelites had been forbidden entry into Canaan, we have the description of the final steps of their journey. We might easily lose the reality of the many years taken. Likewise, for us in the coming days, there may be seeming silence from Heaven as the last years of our pilgrimage on earth take place. It is more appropriate than ever, therefore, knowing how the Israelites faith was tested, that we prepare ourselves by careful understanding of all the Scriptures, so that we will endure through difficult days in full faith of our Lord’s return. If Moses could lose patience and falter in faith, dare we consider ourselves impervious to doubts and fears? Always remember these things and hold fast to the promises of God.
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. (Psalm 37:4-5)
(Other studies in this series are posted in the School of Biblical Family Life section of our website www.tishrei.org)