בס”ד

Parashat Balak: Numbers 22:2-25:9
Haftarah: Micah5:6-6-8
In the previous week’s blog we discussed the unique relationship between Israel and Edom. Edom came from Esau and one only needs to study the interaction between Esau and Jacob to understand that Edom constantly wants to thwart HaShem’s purposes with Israel. This was clearly seen in parashat Chukat when Edom refused to allow the children of Israel to pass through their land. There are numerous places where Edom is mentioned in the Bible as an enemy of Israel. One such place is the book of Obadiah where it is Israel’s defeat of Edom and the judgment that is placed on Mount Seir which brings about the Kingdom of G-d upon the earth. This takes place through the work of the Messiah.

In this week’s Torah portion there is a reference to this. In Numbers chapter 24 Bilaam sees a vision of Messiah. This is the vision where the sign of Messiah’s coming is seen as,

“…a star shall come from Jacob and a scepter shall rise from Israel” Numbers 24:17

It is most significant that the next verse also speaks about how Edom and Mount Seir will be defeated and how this will ultimately lead to Israel’s exaltation in the world.

“And it shall come about that Edom shall be conquered and it shall come about that Seir shall be conquered by his enemies; and Israel does valiantly.” Numbers 24:18

This portion of Scripture is important for people today as the context for the fulfillment is the last days. For it is written that Bilaam’s prophecy concerns the end of this age,

“…Come I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the last days.” Numbers 24:14

Hence it becomes quite clear that G-d has not cast away His people, but Messiah will return to deliver Israel in the last days from Edom and those who unite with Edom. If one studies the allotment of land given to Edom it is in modern Jordan. It is my belief that the battle that the prophet Obadiah speaks to between Jacob and Esau (Israel and Edom) is seen in the current conflict between the Israelis and the “Palestinians”.

The desire to create a Palestinian State in the allotment of land given to Jacob is simply another attempt to thwart the purposes of G-d with Israel. It is not an accident that when Jacob sees the vision of the ladder (the ladder represents the way between man and G-d) in Genesis 28 (by the way when Yeshua spoke about this passage He changed the word ladder to the Son of Man-see John 1:51) the promise of world-wide blessing was dependent upon his descendants spreading out in the land of Israel (see Genesis 28:14). This same promise is restated in Isaiah 54 where ultimately Jewish people returning to the land of Israel and inhabiting the former places where Jews dwelt 2,000 year ago is necessary for the Kingdom to be established.

The question which much of the Church needs to answer is whether it is going to embrace the whole counsel of the Word of G-d, or take only a portion of G-d’s message? I will conclude with this thought: The book of Revelation which speaks a great detail about Israel in the last days is called the revelation of Messiah Yeshua (see Rev. 1:1). If one thinks that Israel and the Jewish people are no longer important to G-d, then I doubt whether such a person truly knows the Messiah of the Bible.

Shabbat Shalom