PARASHAT MATTOT
Brukhim Habayim Chaverim – greetings
in the name of Yeshua our Lord and master.
What is so important about the
ability of a Human being’s ability to speak? Have we ever thought about it; on
further reflection the ability to make words come out of our mouth is not just
a bodily functionality like the five senses; for it is unique and was given to
us humans as an ability to be creative, for prayer, for disseminating wisdom
and understanding and teaching other individuals. The power of speech is unique
because God Himself uses speech for creative purposes. Humans are created in
the image and likeness of God himself – the power to use the faculty of speech
to define a reality in truth or in untruth. To create a reality for truth or
for untruth, it has the power for life and death therefore it is of utmost
importance that we must needs be extremely well aware of our faculty for
speech.
Humans have lost the ability of being
self-aware of what comes out of their mouth Yeshua Himself says thus in
Matthew 5: 33 Again, ye have heard that it
hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform
unto the Lord thine oaths:
34 But I say unto you, Swear not at
all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
35 Nor by the earth; for it is his
footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy
head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
37 But let your communication be,
Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
James
5:12 But
above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the
earth, neither by any other oath; but let your Yes be Yes and No be No; lest
you fall into condemnation.”
This Torah portion starts with Moses
instructing the Heads of the tribes about using Vows and Oaths, so that they can filter down the importance
and instructions to their fellow family members; and truly this so much a
neglected thing especially in western culture. We really do not give much
importance to what we speak and what we think – but in reality; this is all
extremely important in biblical context. According to Ramban “ The reason why
he did not address this section to all the people is because it was not
necessary to teach all the children of Israel that the father and Husband can
declare the vows of their daughters and wife’s nullified which involve affliction
of the soul, and perhaps it is even necessary to conceal these rights from them
so that they may not treat them lightly. So he heads of the tribes have a special
function and power in vows over and above the rest of the people; namely that a
single person who is an expert in the laws can release a person from a vow.
Now lets have a peek into it’s
importance: the best way to put it across to you is that “THERE IS A FINALITY
IN WHAT GOD UTTERS AND SAYS” okie what do I mean by this; simply the reality around
that we live in is because God spoke it and it is ALL SUFFICIENT for our
existence – Look at the air around us the gaseous mix is perfect – any
depletion within the parameters would cause instant death to millions – this is
what King David means when he says in Psalms 119:89 “ For eternity oh Lord your WORD
is stationed in the Heavens.
So, we must conclude that no IDLE or UNPRODUCTIVE
word ever comes forth from the mouth of the Creator – because HIS word has
power, creative power and it is no way benign or imperfect in anyway. When the
Words leave HIS mouth of God it leaves for a specific creative activity and it
will accomplish what it is sent for just as it says in Isaiah 55:11 “ So shall
my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not
return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and
it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” Just stop and think of what this actually
means – the power and responsibility HaShem contains within Himself. Further
let’s think about creation from top to down – everything was made perfect and
sufficient for an exact purpose each for its activity and time and season. When
creation was brought forth in this perfection and purpose it was a finality,
thus it says and GOD resteth on the 7th day because there was
nothing more to add or perfect within creation, nothing to enhance, no
revisions, no upgrades, no updates etc….. mind blowing aspect of God’s
attribute that we have never really imagined ever. Hashem does not need to
speak creative words again – this he has restrained within himself for a time
and season until he deems it necessary to get into the creative mode all over
again. For now he rests from creativity and is just enjoying the pleasure of everything
created. So is His word established over and in all creation unwavering,
unchanging and eternal, for now when the voice of God moves it is not creative
mode it is Sustaining mode and proactive in nature (HaShem has restrained his
creative power into sustaining equilibrium)
So where does speech come into this?
Speech is a product of the inner essence of a living being. It is the
expression of what that living being thinks, expresses, wants to say, teach or
impart, it comes from the innermost being from the essence. Now we have to be
extremely alert of what we are processing inside each of us. It is the essence
inside that is fragile and beautiful and if corruption sets inside there then
there is a sense of shame and nakedness like Adam and Eve in the garden,
But for HaShem speech is far more
infinitely dynamic and creative – because his inner essence is something we can
never comprehend, what he speaks comes out from inside of his Heart and essence
of who He is, like wise humans made in the image and likeness of Him, we also
have been given the same attributes but to a far less diminished creative
ability – Adam named the animals when God brought them before him, this is not
simple, the names Adam gave them were according to their essence of their
Beings and the purpose and role they had to play in all of creation. Adam was
endowed with creative power For God brought them before him to see what names
he would call them (Gen 2:19) ok so much for Speech – lets move on and connect
it to the Parashat
Why is this here – because taking a
vow or swearing an oath involves speech and words. Now we would realize the
importance of what HaShem was instructing the children of Israel to get
disciplined about – their words- they need to be careful of this one thing. Matthew 15:19 “But
the things that come out of the mouth come from
the heart, and these make a man `unclean. ' For out of the heart come
evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false
testimony, slander. This is what Jesus says and he is re-iterating it
to them again what God instructed in the Torah almost 1500 years before during
the time of Moses – now just stop and think about our inner selves – our
desires, our wants, our thoughts don’t they come from our inner most being, and
then it is mostly spoken out unwittingly by us. If we cannot understand our own
hearts and inner essence in our interpersonal relationships and if we are not
true to our own selves what will our relationship with God be like.
Why would anyone take a Vow – unless
it is a deep down desire from his heart either for good or bad, or why would
anyone swear an oath – whether it be either for Good or Evil – okie what is the
difference between an Oath and a Vow – One takes an Vow (like
marriage) and swears an oath. This is serious business – where God is
instructing them to realize that if they are going to be his chosen people and
a kingdom of priests to Him – they must be able to understand that Holiness
starts form within. In fact the leprous condition called Tzarat in the Book of
Leviticus is primarily caused by Evil speech. It is also one of the roots of
Tumah (impurity). What impurity starts within slowly then emanates towards the
outside resulting in Sickness, disease and distress. The choices one makes is
ultimately spoken by the mouth, and worst of all if it done via an oath or a
vow, there are serious consequences for this if one does not fulfill what he has
spoken.
In this Parashat – the Lord is
preparing the tribes to fine tune their character flaws into perfection by
indicating that the best way to become and remain holy is by guarding your
mouth and do not be trivial in the things we say and do. We have to be careful
in all our ways especially towards the Lord. In many ways even during our
prayer time we say things and make decision in the presence of the Lord and
never keep up to it – it is written in heaven and will be used one day against
us. I think this Parashat teaches us the ultimate discipline of being holy and
separated. Apart form the vows of temple offerings and sacrifices there are
also those of secular nature; as it says according to all that proceeds from a
man’s mouth he is obliged to fulfill and to do all with which he is bound his
soul too, for in the case of all the vows holy or secular he shall not profane
his word.
But what is it with the women who
have it a lot simpler than men. If a man indulges in oaths and vow’s he has to
keep it and there is no release for him. But for a women either her Father or
Husband is able to release her from it- why? But if she is a widow or unmarried
then she will retain her sin. This is because God does not want the women to
make rash decisions that could effect family and society, also that could cause
shame and disgrace to the community. The man will be able to keep a check on
her decisions if required, but there is no one for a man but the Lord himself. It
could mean that a young girl not really mature enough to understand the ways of
the world is also subject to the negative commandments of breaking the vows –
it is then that her father has the power to release her from the vow or oath so
that she does not keep on breaking it and continue sinning against the Lord.
Likewise if she is married and it is come to light by her husband, why would
her husband let her carry on breaking the vow and making her sin – he has the
power to release her form it.
We would definitely need to look at
this in the positive aspect and not in a negative aspect – since all women are
subject to commitments and society and family traditions and subjection's different from a man. In short the annulment either from a Father or Husband SHOULD
always be for the good and the betterment of the Daughter or wife an not the
other way around. This has probably been used over the ages in the wrong way
and used as a power tool in the hands of men to mistreat, subjugate, rule over,
overpower femininity for all the wrong and selfish reasons – please take a note
– this is not what the Scripture is intending – it is always for the betterment
and not for the worse.
Now in chapter 31 – Moses is finally
commanded to take vengeance for the children of Israel form the midianites,
therefore he is to arm a 1000 from each tribe totaling 12,000 militant strong
to fight against Midian and take revenge. They killed the 5 kings of Midian,
Evi, rekem, Zur, Hur and Reva along with Bilaam who devised the wicked plan for
the midianite women to seduce the children of Israel. In verse 19 and twenty
Moses commanded the army to remain outside the camp of Israel for 7 days until
they had purified themselves on the 3rd and 7th day, even
the good and the plunder had to be purified through fire and water before they
were brought into the camp – with the waters of the Parah Adumah (the Red
Hifer) which we studied in earlier Torah portion. Which means the army had
become unclean and full of Tumah after the war by slaying the people of Midian
and thereafter rummaging through the plunder and piles of dead bodies making
them Tameh Met (highest form of Impurity).
Let me infer here something that is
probably important to note about human nature: WAR has a tremendous
psychological effect on people not only for the conscripted who went to war but
also those who were waiting for them to comeback home. In the heat of the pain
of war – it turns people to make unnecessary decisions and rationalizations
that could probably be against the commandments of God – Resulting in vows and
oaths and abstinence decisions etc…….. this is probably the reason why the
section of oaths and vows was written just before them going to war – to keep them
upbraided so that they do not make the mistakes of indulging in it. notice how
Moses as very particular about the women whom they never killed because they
could have been the source of another round of problems going further, but the
innocent he spared from among the spoils.
Shlomo HaMelech in his Koheleth (Ecclesiastes)
says the following almost taking the words out of Yeshua’s mouth Chapter 5
אַל־תְּבַהֵ֨ל עַל־פִּ֜יךָ וְלִבְּךָ֧ אַל־יְמַהֵ֛ר לְהוֹצִ֥יא דָבָ֖ר לִפְנֵ֣י הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים כִּ֣י הָאֱלֹהִ֤ים
בַּשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ וְאַתָּ֣ה עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ עַֽל־כֵּ֛ן יִהְי֥וּ דְבָרֶ֖יךָ מְעַטִּֽים׃
Keep your mouth from being rash, and
let not your throat be quick to bring forth speech before God. For God is in
heaven and you are on earth; that is why your words should be few.
כִּ֛י בָּ֥א
הַחֲל֖וֹם בְּרֹ֣ב עִנְיָ֑ן וְק֥וֹל כְּסִ֖יל בְּרֹ֥ב דְּבָרִֽים׃
Just as dreams come with much
brooding, so does foolish utterance come with much speech.
כַּאֲשֶׁר֩ תִּדֹּ֨ר נֶ֜דֶר לֵֽאלֹהִ֗ים אַל־תְּאַחֵר֙ לְשַׁלְּמ֔וֹ כִּ֛י אֵ֥ין חֵ֖פֶץ בַּכְּסִילִ֑ים אֵ֥ת
אֲשֶׁר־תִּדֹּ֖ר שַׁלֵּֽם׃
When you make a vow to God, do
not delay to fulfill it. For He has no pleasure in fools; what you vow,
fulfill.
ט֖וֹב אֲשֶׁ֣ר
לֹֽא־תִדֹּ֑ר מִשֶׁתִּדּ֖וֹר וְלֹ֥א תְשַׁלֵּֽם׃
It is better not to vow at all
than to vow and not fulfill.
אַל־תִּתֵּ֤ן אֶת־פִּ֙יךָ֙ לַחֲטִ֣יא אֶת־בְּשָׂרֶ֔ךָ וְאַל־תֹּאמַר֙ לִפְנֵ֣י הַמַּלְאָ֔ךְ כִּ֥י שְׁגָגָ֖ה הִ֑יא
לָ֣מָּה יִקְצֹ֤ף הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ עַל־קוֹלֶ֔ךָ וְחִבֵּ֖ל אֶת־מַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יָדֶֽיךָ׃
Don’t let your mouth bring you into disfavor, and don’t plead before the messenger that it was an error, -but fear God; else God may be angered by your talk and destroy your possessions.
Chaverim besides all the other do’s
and don’ts mentioned in scripture it is really important to pursue
righteousness and perfection – we must learn the importance and effect of the
things we say and not take it lightly – because God does not – he records
everything
Have a wonderful week
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