“These are the journeys of the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt by their divisions under the hand of Moses and Aaron. Moses recorded the stages of their journeys at the Lord’s command. These then are their journeys by stages” (Numbers 33:1-2; Matot/Masei Numbers 30:2 – 36:13).

As the Lord speaks the Ten Commandments to Israel from Mt. Sinai, He reminds them that it was He who delivered them out from the house of bondage, out of the land of Egypt. The remembrance of the exodus from Egypt serves as the point of departure, as well as a remembrance for a nation as it worships, celebrates, and relates to the human other, “The outsider dwelling among you shall be to you as the native-born among you. You shall love him as yourself – for you dwelled as outsiders in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 19:34; cf. Lev. 19:18). At the close of the Book of Numbers, the Lord reminds Israel of her journeys of the past forty years, the places where she stopped, and from where she set out.

There is an interesting occurrence in the Hebrew text of Numbers 33:2:

‎וַיִּכְתֹּב מֹשֶׁה אֶת-מוֹצָאֵיהֶם, לְמַסְעֵיהֶם–עַל-פִּי יְהוָה; וְאֵלֶּה מַסְעֵיהֶם, לְמוֹצָאֵיהֶם

“Moses wrote down their going out, according to their journeys, by command of the Lord, and these are their journeys according to their going out” (Num. 33:2).

In this verse מוֹצָאֵיהֶם, לְמַסְעֵיהֶם, “going out, according to their journeys,” is then reversed, מַסְעֵיהֶם לְמוֹצָאֵיהֶֽם, “their journeys according to their going out.” Why?

The going out, מוֹצָאֵיהֶם, the exodus, needs to be at the forefront of our minds, why? Because the end is caught up in the beginning. In the reverse, the journey itself became the purpose, not the destination, which again, is caught up with the going out, as we read:

“and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey …” (Ex. 3:8).

The going out begins with grace. Even with the many setbacks experienced by the children of Israel in the wilderness on the journey, the going out from Egypt began with the grace of God. The going out was then sustained by the grace of God, and it would end in the Promised Land by the grace of God.

At the beginning of every Shabbat (Sabbath) and every holiday, the Jewish people are reminded in the holiday blessings of the grace of the exodus, the going out, from Egypt. It is a remembrance of being slaves, of being exiled, and of being “the other” within a society. This ever-present reminder of our history, the current reality of others, and the possibility of experiencing this condition once again, should keep the heart compassionate and eager to serve “the other” to the glory of God (Matt. 5:16; 1 Cor. 10:31).

The going out in the life of faith in Messiah also begins with grace, and it to is characterized as a deliverance/salvation from bondage: a continuation of the exodus from Egypt theme, the Greater Exodus. The apostle Paul wrote, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves – it is the gift of God. It is not based on deeds, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship – created in Messiah Jesus for good deeds, which God prepared beforehand so we might walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10).

Of great importance in the faith life is to remember our condition when the Lord delivered us, where we started. It is easy to forget, focusing on the good feelings of the present and the victories by faith we have witnessed and received; but remembering our point of departure, and where we have been, will help us to see more clearly where we are going, and what we are to do along the way.

It is easy for the journey to become one of complaint for what we lack or have lost, but the Lord desires it to be a going out of faith-obedience that impacts the lives of those around us (Ro. 1:8), not just those like us, but those unlike us (Lk. 10:25-37). While we may not be able to make grandiose gestures of care – building hospitals, orphanages, houses, or paying for education – we can help with food, water, clothing, visitation and encouragement along the way (Matt. 25:31-46). More than that, we can all share simple acts of kindness, or use our voice to speak for those who lack a position from which to speak.

I pray that we use this going out, and the journey that has been graced to us, to be a bright light of the Gospel, and an example of the self-sacrificial love of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus to all.

From this Torah portion, let us remember the grace that we received at the beginning, the grace we continue to receive, and the grace that we will receive at our end. Let us remember that we were once enslaved, hopeless, hungry, strangers in need of aid. Let us remember where He found us, and where He might direct us to find others. Let us remember that it is the Messiah that we serve, and the living message of the Gospel that we are to share: a timeless message of eternal hope for all.

Be well. Shalom.

In John 5:8 we read, “Yeshua/Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your mat/bed, and walk.”

For weeks we have had a small bird fighting its own reflection in our kitchen window, see picture. My wife has tried numerous times to cover the window, or even to make it less reflective, but to no avail. It’s only this window, and the little guy just keeps on fighting his reflection. But once he catches sight of someone behind the reflection, he stops and flies away.

In studying and reflecting on John 5 today, pun intended, the mat/bed that had been the man’s resting place for 38 years stood out to me. Here he has stayed, beside the pool at Bethesda, waiting for his chance to be healed, made whole, and set free.

Yeshua/Jesus finds him there, and asks, “Do you want to be healed?” (Jn. 5:6). The question was an opportunity, and opportunity to stir the man, and not the water, to rightly aligned faith. It was believed that an angel stirred the waters at Bethesda (בית חסד), the House of Grace/Mercy; and if one moved into the waters while they were stirring, healing would result. Yet, this man had an excuse: no one would help him.

What may have been a legitimate hindrance for some period of time, eventually became a reason to stay put. His mat became his rest, his affliction his identity, and the waters, misplaced faith. See, the One Who heals came down, found Him, and said, “Get up!” When the man would not look up to heaven, heaven came down and in speaking to him, caused him not just to look up, but to get up.

But why not leave the mat? The man was healed, or made whole on Shabbat, the Sabbath (Jn. 5:9). Jesus commanded him to take up your mat/bed, his pervious identity and walk. Why? Others would see and recognize him by that mat.

It’s unlawful! When Messiah heals us it is inevitable that religiously minded people will see our history, in this case the mat/bed, and point to our sinful past. On the Shabbat this man was healed, by the Lord of the Shabbat. When they discovered Who had healed this man, Yeshua says something of great significance: “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (Jn. 5:17). Why was Jesus healing on the Sabbath?

Because He is the actual rest and acceptance that we are all rigidly, legalistically laboring to find, yet ignoring in self-reliance. He is the One beyond the waters that we are waiting to encounter; and until we recognize Him, we will be helplessly lost in vain attempts at self-justification.

The Judeans who confronted the man pointed, not to his healing, but to his mat: his past. See, when they confronted Yeshua, they confronted Him about the manner in which he had been given rest. Yet, as Jesus said: “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

At times, people caught up in self-justification will find us walking with our mats, in the rest graciously given, and point to the once unlawful identity we had been caught in, not to rejoice but to scorn, as Messiah taught: “For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in” (Matt. 23:13). They are still helplessly locked in misdirected faith.

Still, at times, like the little bird, we can catch a glimpse of ourselves in a reflective surface, and try to fight back the image that we see, helplessly wearing ourselves ragged in a vain attempt to overcome the shadow of ourselves, slipping into thoughts of self-justification.

Friends, He has called you to carry your mat in order to inspire others to enter the rest that only comes from the One Who came down from heaven to find us. There will always be people willing to point to your history and see its unlawfulness, ignoring the grace that has covered and now carries it. And when this causes us to fight our reflection, remember that there is another, behind what you see of yourself, Who has changed the image of you, into the image of Himself (Ro. 8:28-29).

Be well. Shalom.