Nu 1-4
Bemidbar, BeMidbar, B’midbar, Bamidbar, or Bamidbor (בְּמִדְבַּר — Hebrew for “in the wilderness of” [Sinai], the fifth overall and first distinctive word in the parashah), is the 34th weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה, parashah) in the annual Hebrew cycle of Torah reading and the first in the Book of Numbers.
The Parashah tells of 1) the lineage, structure and geography of the layout of “the church in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38) which in Nu 22:41; 23:8-10; 24:5-9,17-23 awed Balaam (and is matched by the 4×3 East,South, West,North format of the Gates and relative Tribal location in the vast cubic New Jerusalem – compare Nu 2 and Rev 21:10-13); 2) the census and the priests’ duties. It constitutes Numbers 1:1–4:20. The parashah is made up of 7,393 Hebrew letters, 1,823 Hebrew words, 159 verses, and 263 lines in a Torah Scroll (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, Sefer Torah). Jews generally read it in May or early June.
Nu 1:52; 2:2-24
Is 11:10-12
Micah 4:4-8
Great treasure is hidden in Nu 1-4, this week’s Portion.
YHWH has made fulfilment of His promises to Abraham, THROUGH OUR OBEDIENCE to “the Way of the LORD” which righteous Abraham learned and perfected as father of faith & faithfulness (Gen 17:1; 18:18,19; 26:5; Lk 20:21; Acts 24:14; James 2:14-26), the CONSUMMATION (completion) OF THE GOSPEL.
Today’s Portion, Bemidmar, PROVES that Israel’s heredity/lineage (expressed as “every man under his vine and under his fig tree;” and as “every man by his own camp; every man by his own [heraldic] standard…with the ensign of their fathers’ house, beneath the Ensign” of “the Shepherd and (Corner)Stone” of the House of JACOB, his/their name “remaining” – Gen 49:24; Is 29:22-24; 49:5-8; 65:9,10,18-25; 66:22; Lk 1:33), is both CONFIRMED by the Blood of the Hebrew New Covenant, by Y’shua-Jesus ratifying “the promises to the fathers” (Ps 105:8-11; Rom 15:8), and CONSUMMATED WITHIN the perpetual DYNASTY of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in Christ (Gen 12:3; 28:14; Rom 9:7; Gal 3:29), within the Twelve Tribal-affiliated (Rom 11) Gates of the New Jerusalem as the Eternal City of the God of “Abram the HEBREW” and his redeemed and adopted “heirs of the world” through the righteousness of God which is by faith (Rom 4:13-16; 11; Rev 21:12)
Namely, the City to which Abraham LOOKED, by “seeing Jesus’ Day and being GLAD” (Jn 8:56-58; Heb 11:9-18)
THIS (Israel’s inheritance of the future through Abraham’s promised inheritance of the New Jerusalem, in order to be given the gates of YaH’s enemies – Gen 22:15-18) is that which is written in Gen 18:18,19, as: “SO THAT the LORD may bring upon Abraham THAT WHICH HE HATH SPOKEN (prophesied) of him,” namely the future world along with Hebrew eternity for all who cleave to the God of Jacob by joining themselves to and as co-heirs and Israel’s inheritance (Is 54:3; 55:5; Rom 11), remaining loyal to the remnant of Israel and to His everlasting covenant as “one new man,” in spirit and in truth (Is 14:1; 56:6-8; Matt 8:11,12; Rom 4:13,16; 11:17-29; Heb 13:20,21).
The physical analogy described above is profound in that both the actual wilderness camp of the House of Jacob, and the “reserved” victorious Messianic “Israel of God” (the heirs of the righteous throughout Israel’s generations, that Balaam previewed/”advertised” in a trance – Nu 24:2-9,14-23) toward the end of the coming millennial age (Rom 11:1-5; Gal 6:16), when Gog and Magog strike out at Israel in vain, have a PARALLEL description (Rev 20:6-10 – “the CAMP of the saints and the beloved City”).
The Camp Arrangement
The set-up of the Israelites’ camp is described in the first three chapters of Numbers. Numbers 1:1-4 describes how God asked Moses to divide up the Israelites and take a census of the Israelites a little over a year after the Exodus.
“1 And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls; 3 From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies. 4 And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.”
[NOTE: “the first day of the second month, in the second year” was 1st Iyyar, 1444bc, one month after the Tabernacle was set up. The Tabernacle was first set up on 1st Abib, 1444bc—see Exodus 40:2, 17]
The camp was arranged into east, south, west, and north sides as documented in the diagram above.
God arranged that Moses, Aaron, and his sons (the Priests) would camp “in front of” (i.e. closest to) the Tent of Meeting (Numbers 3:38). God also instructed that the Levite camps be adjacent to the tent on the 3 other sides (South, West, and North), while those of the other Israelites were to be “far off” (Numbers 2:2).
Since we are of “the one (and only) sheepfold” of the household of YHWH which is the household of Abraham (Is 56:6-8; Jn 10:16; Gal 3:29; Eph 2:11,12), Gen 18:19 (which is so pivotal we should all know it by heart) is why we are to submit to the Divinely-given Abrahamic injunction to EVERY generation of the seed of Abraham, confirmed by Y’shua the Seed of Abraham, to learn the righteousness of “the Way (of YHWH)” in order to “keep justice and judgment” to be conformed to the Divine Nature by walking in Y’shua, to “remain forever” inscribed for Life, in Him (Ex 19:5-8; Is 26:9,10; 35:8; 51:1-7; Matt 5:19; 23:23; Lk 20:21; Acts 24:14; Rom 3:31; 7:25-8:14,29; Eph 4:23;24; Col 2:6; 3:9,10; Heb 5:11-14; 1:1-11; 1 Jn 2:3-6,17,28,29; 3:3-10)
