Towards, unto, into and in Theos

These are the journeys of the children of Yisra’el, which went forth out of the land of Mitsraym with their hosts under the hand of Mosheh and ‘Aharon. And Mosheh wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of Yahweh: and these are their journeys according to their goings out. (Numbers 33.1,2)

This chapter of Numbers describes the journeys of the children of Yisra’el from the time they left the land of Mitsraym until they are on the brink of crossing the Yarden and entering the land proper under the hand of Yehoshua’. As the chapter progresses we follow them from the passover night through to their passing through the Red Sea and out the other side through the wilderness of Sin until they reach Horeb, the mountain of ‘elohym. After receiving the commandments and the pattern of the tabernacle they proceed, again by stages, until they reach Kadesh and are on the verge of entering into the land. Each stage is described like the following one:

And they departed from Rephidim, and pitched in the wilderness of Sinay. (Numbers 33.15)

There are 3 words being used in this chapter that we will focus in on because of their relation to the theme of journeying. Firstly, in the first three verses particularly, we see the use of the word yatsa’ (יצא) translated as ‘went forth’ or ‘brought forth’. Next we see the word ‘departed’ (as in the verse above) which is also translated ‘journeyed’ and is related to the word ‘journeys’ in the first two verses. This is the Hebrew word nasa’ (נסע). Finally, we have the word translated ‘pitched’ in the verse above. This is the Hebrew word hanah (חנה) and it is closely related to the word for ‘grace’. The journeys of the children of Yisra’el are associated with their going forth, the pitching of the camp is associated with grace.

Firstly, therefore, let us consider ‘going (or bringing) forth’. The Hebrew word here, as we saw above, is yatsa’ (יצא). The noun which is related to this verb is motsa’ (מוצא) and it occurs in verse 2 of Numbers 33 and is translated ‘goings out’. This noun is used to describe springs of water because they proceed out of the ground. It is also repeatedly used to describe speech as well:

And thou shall remember all the way which Yahweh thy ‘elohym led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou would keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with the man (ha-man המן), which thou knew not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by all that goes forth from the mouth of Yahweh shall man live. (Deuteronomy 8.2,3)

Towards the end of their wilderness journey, therefore, Mosheh encourages the children of Yisra’el to reflect on the way which Yahweh has led them and to reflect on the fact that only by the words of Yahweh which go out of his mouth shall the man (ha-‘adam האדם) live. Of course, ultimately, it is the man who quoted this verse, while being tempted in the wilderness, who lives because of the utterances of his father.

The verb ‘to bring forth’ (yatsa’ יצא) is often used in journeys. For example, of ‘Abraham:

So ‘Abram departed, as Yahweh had spoken unto (אל) him; and Lot went with him: and ‘Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And ‘Abram took Saray his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of kana’an; and into the land of kana’an they came. (Genesis 12.4,5)

As with the children of Yisra’el, this journeying of ‘Abram was evidently a progression. He left ‘Ur and came to Haran. He left Haran and came into the land. He then separates from Lot when their cattle are too many for them to be together without strife. When he has accomplished these stages on his journey he has fuflfilled the command given in Genesis 12:

Now Yahweh had said unto (אל) ‘Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto (אל) a land that I will show (reveal/manifest to) thee: (Genesis 12.1)

‘Abram has to complete these stages of progression as he progressively receives more of the promises and the covenant. First, leaving the land (‘Ur), then his father’s house (Haran), and then his kindred (Lot). On his journey to the land, as he casts off these hindrances he progressively has more of Yahweh, and his will, manifested to him. Yisra’el, his descendants, also come out of a place of darkness and proceed in stages towards the land promised to their father. They should be following the same pattern although it is a small number of individuals who truly follow in the steps of their father ‘Abraham, namely people like Kaleb, Yehoshua’ and Mosheh.

Being brought forth, or going forth is also associated with birth. The birth of plants, as they proceed out of the earth, and the birth of children as they proceed out of their fathers. Thus:

And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and ‘elohym saw that it was good. (Genesis 1.12)

and:

And, behold, the word of Yahweh came unto (אל) him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. (Genesis 15.4)

Out of the darkness of the earth comes the birth of the plant. Out of the darkness of the woman’s womb, by the impetus of the man’s seed, comes forth the man, the heir to the promises. The fruitfulness of life out of death in respect of plants and people is beautifully articulated by Iesous:

Amen, Amen, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit. (Ioh.12.24)

It is through the bringing forth of Iesous out of the grave that there will be the creation of much fruit.

So we see the bringing forth of the children of Yisra’el from Mitsraym with the hope that out of death (that of the firstborn) will be born plenty and fruitfulness. That outcome is dependent on the journeys that will follow that first departure.

These journeys, as we saw above, are repeatedly characterised by the phrasing:

And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red sea. (Numbers 33.10)

The word translated as ‘removed’ here is the verb nasa’ (נסע). This word seems to carry the ideas of journeying, as in the patriarchs, of going forward and not back as in the case of the children of Yisra’el when pursued by the Mitsraym and, finally, of breaking down the camp in order to go forward on a journey. These ideas are particularly relevant in the context of the journeying of the tabernacle and, therefore, of the ark and the kaporeth upon it.

And when the tabernacle sets forward, the Lewyym shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Lewyym shall set it up: and the stranger that comes near shall be put to death. (Numbers 1.51)

and:

And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Yisra’el went onward in all their journeys: But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. (Exodus 40.36,37)

We see, in the second passage that the journeying of the camp was dependent on the movement of the pillar of cloud. The journeyings of Yisra’el were an outcome of the determination of Yahweh that it would happen and were deemed to be in an onward trajectory. In the first passage we see the twofold nature of these stages in the journey. The outset is signified by the word nasa’ (נסע) while the conclusion of these stages is marked by the word ‘pitched which is the Hebrew hanah (חנה). This, as we have seen in a previous blog is from the word for ‘grace’. It signifies that the camp has come to rest after a period of disruption, but progress, that is a prerequisite to rest. We see an antithesis here. Disruption in travel which leads to progress is counterpointed by the rest of grace which is indicated when the camp is re-established, the tents are pitched once again and the tabernacle is reared up, according to its pattern.

We have considered the meaning of grace in the previous blog and determined that to reside in grace is to be in harmony with the revelation of the gracious utterances of Yahweh. It is to be in that kaporeth relationship associated with the revelation of his covenantal name. In figure, therefore we see the bringing forth, the birth, as it were, of the journeyings of Yisra’el out of Mitsraym. Furthermore we see the disruptive progress in a perpetual onward direction that is necessary before we come to a point of re-establishing the grace which goes along with that kerubic relationship at the heart of the tabernacle.

This shall be the service of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation, about the most holy things: And when the camp sets forward, ‘Aharon shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail (paroketh), and cover the ark of testimony with it: And shall put thereon the covering of badgers’ skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof…And when ‘Aharon and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation. (Numbers 4.4-6,15)

Twice in the above verses we have the use of the verb to set forward (nasa’ נסע) and the noun ‘camp’ (mahaneh מחנה) which is closely related to the word ‘to pitch’, carrying with it the sense of grace.

This is when we see the relevance of the ark and the kaporeth to the journey. We have already seen that the movement of the camp was dictated by the movement of the cloud that was upon the tabernacle. We now see that the order of movement of the camp was thus:

And they departed from the mount of Yahweh three days’ journey: and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh went before them in the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them. And the cloud of Yahweh was upon them by day, when they went out of the camp. And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Mosheh said, Rise up, Yahweh, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. And when it rested, he said, Return, Yahweh, unto the many thousands of Yisra’el. (Numbers 10.33-36)

The word ‘rested’ is from the family of words that includes the name ‘Noah’. We noted, in the previous post, that the letters of Noah were an inversion of the letters for the word ‘grace’. Thus demonstrating a relationship of juxtaposition between Noah and the grace that he found in Yahweh’s eyes. The word ‘grace’ is part of a family of words that includes the words ‘to pitch’ and the ‘camp’ and one of the words for ‘host’, as in multitude. It was a multitudinous camp that pitched under the stability of the presence of Yahweh’s cloud above the re-erected tabernacle and ark that lay within. The word for ‘rest’ which is related to Noah’s name is used, as well as the occurrence above, in a description of the coming to rest of an entirely different ark on the mountains of ‘ararat. (We considered in a previous post the relationship of the ark of Noah with the ark of the covenant.) We also see a reference to ‘elohym resting on the seventh day:

For in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exodus 20.11)

The above passage set, as it is, in the ten commandments, and giving the rationale behind the sabbath observance, notes that the sabbath is a time of rest because ‘elohym rested after creating the heavens and earth. We can see the rest of the sabbath as being a piece of anticipatory manifestation because it is a work undertaken by the children of Yisra’el not only in recognition of the past but in acknowledgment of the future. Thus the rest of the sabbath is the rest of the age to come. A time of rest from the struggle with the flesh.

Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, make me to know now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, My face shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. (Exodus 33.13,14)

As we have seen above, in the context of the revelation of Yahweh’s name to Mosheh, he seeks and finds grace in the eyes of Yahweh while he is leading his people and, because of the face of Yahweh being before them and leading them, he will find rest.

Remember the word which Mosheh the servant of Yahweh commanded you, saying, Yahweh your ‘elohym has given you rest, and has given you this land. (Yehoshua’ 1.13)

The rest that the children of Yisra’el were aiming towards was the inheritance of the land. We know, however, that, ultimately, Yehoshua’ could not give them a true rest as the writer to the Hebrews says:

For if Iesous had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest to the people of Theos. (Hebrews 4.8,9)

The name Iesous here, as in Acts 7, refers to Yehoshua’ who, clearly, gave them rest from their enemies, only inasmuch as keeping the sabbath day is observing the rest of Yahweh. However, what is clear in this is that the journey stands for another journey, or series of journeys which end up in encampments of rest for a time only but anticipate a greater, fuller and more permanent rest.

The order of the breaking down of the camp shows us the order of preeminence and the way in which the journey is effected. The first, in order, was the cloud which indicated ‘elohym and his directional intent to lead the people to rest. Secondly, came the ark, with the kaporeth on top of it, covered by the paroketh and the covering of badgers’ skins and carried, by means of the staves that ran through the rings on the side of the ark and that protruded outside of the covering, by the kohathy. After which came the rest of the elements of the tabernacle and then the camp, in order.

It is, after the cloud, the kaporeth on top of the ark that leads the congregation of Yahweh’s people to the land. It is the kerubic relationship of ‘elohym with man that is an outcome of the dwelling of ‘elohym with man, shown in the cloud, that leads the people to their next station of rest en route to the final destination of rest which is, figuratively, the land but is, in truth, the inheritance of Yahweh.

We see, therefore, an onward direction with a purpose looking toward and facing the rest to come but we also see the mechanism of accomplishing that in the kaporeth upon the ark of the covenant. In this sense there are two distinct, and yet conjoined, ideas of ‘unto’. The first being that of ‘unto the rest’ of the onward journey and that of ‘man unto his brother’ of the kerubym on the kaporeth. The latter is the means by which the former is attained.

The individual stages of the entire journey follow the pattern of the entire journey. That is, they commence with a ‘setting forth’ and end with an encampment, a rest of grace. We can see these stages in a number of ways. Firstly, as acts of anticipatory manifestation. The stages are microcosms of the whole. Enacting one in small form is to anticipate the enacting of the whole. Furthermore, we can see these progressions by stages to be necessary progressions, by stage, in understanding. Thus, it is necessary to put in place one step before being able to put in place the next. If we see the journey as a journey of understanding, which it must be if the impetus for that journey is the revelation of Yahweh, then the stages of that journey must be progressive. We already saw this, above, in the stages of journeying in ‘Abraham’s pilgrimage and how they mirrored his progressive relinquishing of the burdens of the flesh and, as a result, received more revelation from Yahweh and further indications of the substance of the covenant made with him. This must clearly be the same with individual believers who are following his, and the Lord’s, example. Furthermore, in future posts we will endeavour to look at this progression in stages in other journeys, particularly the journeys of Iesous around the land.