Towards, unto, into and in Theos

And the children of Yisra’el removed from Rameses, and pitched in Sukoth. (Numbers 33.5)

This is the first stage of the journey mentioned in Numbers 33, as it details the individual journeys that make up the journey as a whole. The journey from Rameses is what we have dealt with in the previous blog when looking at the motivation for the flight from Mitsraym. Rameses represents the passover night and this first leg of the journey is the evidence of that direction out of bondage unto the land of promise.

The name Sukoth, as it appears in the Old Testament, seems to relate to at least two different locations. The first is mentioned in Genesis:

And Ya’aqob journeyed to Sukoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Sukoth. (Genesis 33.17)

The Hebrew is very simple here. Ya’aqob built ‘booths’ (sukoth סכת) for his cattle and because of this the name of the place is called Sukoth (סכות). The term ‘cattle’ means ‘possession’ and is not restricted to what we think of, in English, as ‘cattle’. It often refers to sheep and goats also. These dwelling places were built alongside Ya’aqob building a house and indicates him eschewing his, heretofore, nomadic existence in favour of a sedentary one. In fact, if this was his intention, it soon became undone by the actions of his sons in massacring the locals because one of them had defiled their sister.

The second location is the one referred to here in Numbers 33 and also in Exodus 13 as the end point of the first stage of the journey from Mitsraym. In Exodus 13 we see the revisiting of the theme of the feast of unleavened bread, whose starting out point was the passover night. It is the passover which is the impetus for the journey, in time, of the feast of unleavened bread. Similarly, it is the passover night which is the impetus for the journey of the absence of the corruption of leaven within the house of Yisra’el. The conclusion, on the seventh day, is another feast unto Yahweh. The feast describes the progression from the sacrificial passover lamb to the final feasting before Yahweh, a beginning to an end. The exclusion of the corruption is seen in the unblemished lamb which saves the beginning of the strength of Yahweh (his firstborn) and it continues through the absence of leaven amongst those who have partaken of the lamb. In the passover and feast of unleavened bread there is a continual memorial of that salvation as it is kept, especially in the land, by the children of Yisra’el and rehearsed in speech unto their children. We see, therefore, that Yahweh’s firstborn is the beginning of a journey, shared by those who have partaken of the unleavened bread and are therefore similarly uncorrupted as the lamb without blemish was. They come to the end of that journey of uncorruption in a final day of convocation, or sabbath.

The same pattern is repeated in another feast which is named with the same Hebrew as the places mentioned above – sukoth (סכות).

Speak unto the children of Yisra’el, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days to Yahweh. (Leviticus 23.34)

The feast of sukoth (translated ‘tabernacles’ in Leviticus 23), has a similar time span to the feast of unleavened bread, beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, rather than the fifteenth day of the first month in the case of the feast of unleavened bread. As with the feast of unleavened bread, which is preceded by the passover, the feast of Sukoth is preceded, some five days earlier, by the day of the atonements. It is, similarly, punctuated, at the beginning and the ending, by holy convocations. These effective sabbaths, as no work was to be done on them, work as bookends for the feasts. The purpose of this feast, like with the feast of unleavened bread, is to reflect on the past journey, especially once established in the land:

And you shall keep it a feast to Yahweh seven days in the year. It shall be an ‘olam statute in your generations: you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are in Yisra’el shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Yisra’el to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Mitsraym: I am Yahweh your ‘elohym. (Leviticus 23.41-43)

Here, the booths are temporary dwellings that the children of Yisra’el, once established in the land, would erect in their dwellings to depict the temporary nature of the dwellings that their fathers lived in while they undertook their wilderness journey. Contrariwise, Ya’aqob was erecting more permanent booths for his cattle, as well as a house for himself, while Yahweh clearly wanted him, as his forefathers, to be a stranger and pilgrim through the land which he would inherit at a future time.

There is a clear association of meaning in the three homographic occurrences of Sukoth. There are two different geographical locations and one feast, all relating to the word which is translated ‘booths’. They are not the same place and the feast was not to be held in those places particularly. However, the relevance is in the association of meaning in respect of the dwelling places that Yisra’el dwelt in while they journeyed to the land of promise, and the dwelling of Ya’aqob’s cattle. There are issues relating to settled and wandering existences, that is they were antithetical being associated either with nomadism or a settled state. Furthermore, the relation of the two feasts (unleavened bread and sukoth) share a theme of, having reached the destination, the children of Yisra’el reflecting on the commencement of the journey and the beginning of their salvation that unfolded there and at that time. There is a clear theme of beginning and ending of a journey but looked at from the perspective of having achieved the end, the final salvation of which the beginning was an anticipation. Furthermore, as each stage of the journey appears to be a microcosm of the journey in its entirety, it sees the idea of beginning and ending in terms of the exit from Mitsraym and the attaining to a place of encampment (achieving grace in the eyes of Yahweh). This place (Sukoth), which was the first place of encampment on that journey, was a temporary resting place and the name given to it is compatible with the temporary dwellings (sukoth) in which they were to dwell. It is also anticipatory of the feast which the children of Yisra’el would observe (sukoth) in the land unto which they were travelling. This feast would then look back at the salvation accomplished that began at the passover and continued through the wilderness until they achieved that settled place. It sets out the first beginning and ending of a micro-journey in the context of the beginning and ending of the larger one.

Following the departure from Rameses and en route to Sukoth we find a few salient facts about the journey:

And the children of Yisra’el journeyed from Rameses to Sukoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Mitsraym, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Mitsraym, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual. (Exodus 12.37-39)

There was a significant number of people, possibly around the 2 million mark, if you include women and children. There were significant numbers of livestock. They were unable to bake leavened bread as they were on the move and could not allow the dough to mature while they travelled. They were transient not sedentary in nature. We already know that they were observing the feast of unleavened bread immediately after the passover night. Presumably the stage that occurred between Rameses and Sukoth fell in the seven days that followed the passover and, therefore, were in the feast of unleavened bread. The absence of leaven was supposed to be indicative of a lack of corruption but here we see an added dimension to the feast. The lack of leaven also spoke of the nature of the journey and the urgency by which his people left Mitsraym. We might deduce that the two are related, that is that, in urgently leaving behind the things that are not of ‘el and without delay heading forwards toward those things that are of him, we can escape the corruption of those things that Mitsraym was figurative of. Furthermore, in the next chapter, we find some other defining features of this first stage:

And it shall be when thy son asks thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shall say unto him, By strength of hand Yahweh brought us out from Mitsraym, from the house of bondage: (Exodus 13.14)

The beginning of chapter 13 is a rehearsal of what they have just been through. It details the keeping of the passover and subsequent feast of unleavened bread. As we discussed above, it deals with a future time, especially once the inheritance has been attained, when it is possible to look back at this time and reflect on the reason for observation. In this case it is similar to the feast of sukoth (tabernacles) in that it looks forward to a time of establshed, and sedentary, existence when it is necessary to look back and reflect on the salvation and subsequent wandering, or nomadic, existence.

There is an unto/unto (אל) relationship of time unfolding here. Firstly, we stand at the beginning of the journey and we see a distance between ‘here’ and ‘there’. It is a spatial distance. It is a distance that will be removed so that, as the children of Yisra’el journey forwards unto that place, there will be a closing of the gap between the ‘here’ and ‘there’ until there is no more ‘there’ but only ‘here’ because we are all, as Yahweh, standing in the one place. The ‘there’ is the prospect, in the distance, of achieving that place where Yahweh is, whereas the ‘here’ is ultimately fulfilled when we are in that place with him. This is a distance of space, as far as Mitsraym is from the land. It is also a distance of understanding inasmuch as being in darkness is far from being in light. We can therefore see, as we will look at in later posts, that the incremental nature of the unfolding stages of the journey looks to an incremental progression in understanding, whose impetus for direction is occasioned by Yahweh. This journey which he directs us on leads to an understanding which will eventually be one with his. The unfolding of this journey and the closing of the distance from ‘here’ to ‘there’ is also a journey in time. It is a journey from the ‘now’ to the ‘then’. It is a journey from this present age to the ‘olam to come, and beyond.

We know that the word, the utterances, the precepts of Yahweh are ‘of ‘olam’. That is they have the values of the age to come, because that is when his will is going to be achieved. His covenant is ‘of ‘olam’ because that is when his agreement with those faithful fathers will be accomplished, when the division that exists between him and his people will be taken away and when unity will be there. If the word is ‘of ‘olam’ then we can assume that what will be available at that time will be the complete, unadulterated, word of Yahweh. We are facing towards that time, we are looking unto that age. As much as the word is ‘of ‘olam’ it is also ‘to ‘olam’ or ‘unto the age’. As we become closer to that word, and closer to that age, we also can take that trajectory towards its perfect revelation. In the age, as anticipated in the feasts of unleavened bread and sukoth, the reciprocal conversation of man unto his son will also be in a directional orientation, this time towards the times that we now inhabit. It is a reciprocal relationship of the word which exists in time, and in space, and in understanding.

And it came to pass, when Phar’oh had let the people go, that ‘elohym led them not through the way of the land of the Pelishtym, although that was near; for ‘elohym said, Lest perhaps the people repent when they see war, and they return to Mitsraym: But ‘elohym led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Yisra’el went up harnessed out of the land of Mitsraym. And Mosheh took the bones of Yoseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Yisra’el, saying, ‘elohym will surely visit you; and you shall carry up my bones away hence with you. (Exodus 13.17-19)

‘elohym is aware of the vulnerable nature of the children of Yisra’el and that, in such a parlous state, if he took them the quickest way to the land, they might rebel when they saw conflict and return to Mitsraym. Instead he takes them down and away from that point, as he knows he needs to bring them to Horeb to receive the covenant. They are also on the side of the Red sea which is toward Mitsraym and they are yet to cross it.

And they took their journey from Sukoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. And Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: (Exodus 13.20,21)

From the point of leaving Mitsraym to arriving at Horeb they are led by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. In this second stage of the journey they are led by Yahweh to a place called Etham. This staging post of the journey appears to be the only mention of such a place. It is positioned at the edge of the wilderness and also gives its name to the wilderness of Etham which they enter into on their emergence from the Red Sea after having passed through it. Only when the reference is to the wilderness does the name Etham, in Hebrew, stand on its own. In the previous occurrences of the word it is prefixed either by ‘in’ (the letter beth ב being appended to the beginning of the name) or ‘from’ (the letter mem מ being appended to the beginning of the name). All of these variants have homographic occurrences.

In the first instance the homographic ‘otham/’etham (אתם) occurs 463 times in the Old Testament. It is mostly translated ‘with them’ or just ‘them’. This is because it is a construction of the word ‘eth (את) and the suffix ‘m’ (מ). The suffix (מ) means ‘them’, whereas the word ‘eth (את) is a very common word and quite unique to Hebrew. This word is often not translated at all but is called ‘the sign of the direct object’. Where it is translated it is done so as the word ‘with’. The ‘sign of the direct object’ seems to fulfil a particular function in Hebrew as it precedes a word which is the direct object of the verb in a given sentence. In Genesis 1 for example it says:

‘elohym (he) created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1.1)

Here the sentence is clearly split into a) a subject – ‘elohym; b) a verb – he created; and c) two objects – the heavens and the earth. In the Hebrew both of these objects are preceded by the word ‘eth (את). In a kerubic pattern of speech the subject of the speech is the one giving utterance – the creator both in word and action; the verb is the directional speaking from one to the other – the energetic means by which the words are spoken, the things are created; and the object is that which receives that speech, that which is created. In this verse there are two direct objects. There are a number of occurrences where there is an accumulation of occurrences of ‘eth (את) which is finally summed up by ‘otham (אתם) – them.

And ‘elohym made -‘eth (את)- two great lights; -‘eth (את)- the greater light to rule the day, -‘eth (את)-and the lesser light to rule the night: he made -‘eth (את)-the stars also. And ‘elohym set them (‘otham אתם) in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth (Genesis 1.16,17)

Here we see the furtherance of the creative process with a series of objects having been created and preceded by the sign of the direct object and then being referred to, cumulatively, as ‘them’. Creation is a fundamental figure for the creative process of speech. The moral creation of substance from what is not seen, that is the spirit of ‘elohym, is at the core of the meaning of the name, of manifestation and, by implication, of the kerubic relationship at the heart of the meaning of the kaporeth. Yahweh (the subject) has spoken (the directional energy of the verb) to an object or objects which are the outcome of his creative speech and, being created by him, and in his image, can be seen as such and, in the case of the human creation, can (hopefully) reciprocate such. Indeed, they can then go on and engage in manifestational behaviour similar to that of his. The multiple singular objects of creation are gathered together into one ‘them’, so that, even though ‘them’ expresses a plural, it expresses a singular cumulative plural, a many in one.

Thus shall they know that I Yahweh their ‘elohym am with them, and that they, even the house of Yisra’el, are my people, says ‘adonay Yahweh. And you my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your ‘elohym, says ‘adonay Yahweh. (Yehezq’el 34.30,31)

Here in Yehezq’el we can see the repeated use of the formula at the heart of the name of Yahweh – I will be to them for ‘elohym and they shall be to me for a people. This promise of becoming Yahweh in the end, at the conclusion of the manifestational journey, finds a present tense fulfilment here. They shall know, that is in the future, that I, Yahweh their ‘elohym, am with them, and that they are his people. Here the creative process of subject, verb, object ends up with the many individually created objects becoming one object, his singular people, which become indistinguishable from the subject, Yahweh their ‘elohym. At the point at which the creative sentence is complete the subject and object become one by virtue of the directional energy of the verb (‘to be’). The process of becoming Yahweh over the course of the journey is fulfilled when they are ‘with him’, in one entity.

The homographic ‘etham/’otham ( אתם) is used in the second verse here in Yehezq’el 34 but is translated as ‘you’ (‘ye’ in the KJV text), indicating a second person plural. Thou/thee indicating the singular ‘you’ in the KJV and ye/you indicating the plural ‘you’. This is not as common as the translation of ‘etham/’otham ( אתם) as ‘them’ or ‘with them’ but it does occur a significant number of times. One of which is in Hoshea’ 1:

Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son. Then said he, Call his name Lo-‘ammy: for you are not my people, and I will not be to you [for ‘elohym]. Yet the number of the children of Yisra’el shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, You are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, the sons of the living ‘el (אל). (Hoshea’ 1.8-10)

Hoshea’ has been commanded to take a wife of whoredoms and to have children with her. We considered the naming of the children of Hoshea’ in a previous blog when we considered the inversion of אל to לא (lo’). The homographic אל can be not only the title ‘el, as we see in verse 10 of Hoshea’ 1 but also a less common version of the negative – ‘no’/’not’. However, the more common version of the negative is lo’ (לא) which, clearly is a direct inversion of אל. Here, the more common lo’ (לא) is used as a prefix to the names of two of his children – lo-‘ammy and lo-ruhamah – translating as ‘not my people’ and ‘not mercy’, because, as a result of the infidelity of his bride Yisra’el, Yahweh would not show mercy to them and they would not be his people. Both of these characteristics are indicative of the name. That is, Yahweh calls his name in Exodus 34 as:

Yahweh, Yahweh ‘el (אל), merciful amd gracious, longsuffering and abundant in lovingkindness and truth’ (Exodus 34.6)

and he says:

Since the day that I brought forth my people Yisra’el out of Mitsraym, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Yisra’el to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose Dawid to be over my people Yisra’el. (1 Kings 8.16)

Yahweh is speaking to Shelomah, in the context of the building of the temple for his name in Yerushalym, that, at the point that he brought Yisra’el out of Mitsraym, they were his people then and, more so when they were led by his faithful shepherd Dawid, Shelomah’s father.

These two characteristics of ‘people’ and ‘mercy’ are removed on account of the infidelity of Yisra’el and their desire to serve other ‘elohym, the ‘elohym of the nations round about. Here he uses ‘ye’/’you’ to describe them as he speaking to them in a kerubic conversation. This kerubic conversation, however, is not of a kerub speaking to a willing and receptive kerub who is willing to reciprocate but rather to a hard hearted, disobedient and stubborn opposite who is in an antagonistic relationship with Yahweh. In this context the name cannot be fulfilled but, nevertheless, Yahweh promises a future time when it will be said of them ‘you are my people’:

And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be to you for ‘elohym, and you shall be to me for a people. I am Yahweh your ‘elohym, which brought you forth out of the land of Mitsraym, that you should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright. (Leviticus 26.11-13)

At the point that he brings them out of Mitsraym they become a people to him. They forsake him so he sends them forth to the nations whose ‘elohym they have sought after. Yahweh’s unity with his people is seen as occurring in an acceptable place: the tabernacle; the temple for his name; the land promised to the fathers. These geographical locations are in keeping with Yahweh and serving him. Serving other ‘elohym ends up in a journey away from these things. We can see the journey towards the land is a journey towards the fulfilment of his name in his people. Straying from that earnest endeavour leads to a journey away from that destination of becoming him.

Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as Yahweh my ‘elohym commanded me, that you should do so in the land where you go to possess it…And Yahweh spoke unto you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only a voice…And Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it…And lest you lift up thy eyes unto heaven, and when thou see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, should be driven to worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your ‘elohym has divided unto (them) all nations under the whole heaven…I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go over Yarden to possess it; you shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. (Deuteronomy 4.5,12,14,19,26)

Yahweh’s creation is of a kerubic nature. It is created speech. He creates the commandments, which are plural but are to be obeyed as a singular because, being many, they are the reciprocation of the singular ‘el who has given utterance to them. They have been given to his people to keep en route to the land but with the express intent of obedience in the rest which is to be offered when they achieve that destination. It is anticipatory in nature. Keeping now in anticipation of a perfect obedience in that time and place to come. However, it is clear that, because the people are flesh and are weak, when they achieve that destination their gaze will be directed away from Yahweh and toward other ‘elohym. The result of this turning away will be an exile into those foreign lands until such a time when he will return their captivity with the intent to utterly fulfill his name in them.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Yerushalym: and they shall be to me for a people, and I, I will be to them for ‘elohym, in truth and in righteousness. (Zecharyah 8.7,8)

This return to the possession of the land, and specifically to Yerushalym, the place where he delights to set his name there, indicates the final steps in the journey to fulfilling Yahweh’s name. He brought them out of Mitsraym to make a people and a name. They did not obey the commandments once in that possession which was indicative of serving and becoming one with them. He cast them out to wander in a journey away from him. He gathers them once again to bring them in to make them to become one with him.

In this journeying from the land of Mitsraym to the land of promise we can see in these steps, these stages of the journey, these launching forth points and coming to rest destinations, which then become the launching point for the next stage, microcosms of the journey as a whole. The initial energetic propulsion from Mitsraym driven by the name revealed and the judgment of Mitsraym’s ‘elohym which comes to rest at Sukoth. Sukoth stands as a place looking toward the rest of the land but remembering the temporary dwelling in the land. The setting out from this point to come to ‘Etham, redolent of the creation of a people and the prospect of a land in which to obey his created word and to become one with him. Yet mindful of the possibility of a relapse into a journey away from him. Yet Yahweh will always manifest his mercy and his purpose of creating that people and fulfilling the kaporeth relationship with those he has called will not go uncompleted.