The Original Good Samaritans

By Pastor Ed Vasicek

When I was a child, I enjoyed reading Highlights Magazine, a publication for children; the magazine is still flourishing in 2012. One continuous feature of Highlights is a sketch with carefully concealed objects that blend into the picture. In today’s article, I encourage you to sleuth the hidden objects common to two Bible texts.

Most Christians are familiar with Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10:30-35. Jesus was responding to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” by means of this story. Lois Tverberg, in her (excellent and highly recommended) book, “Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus,” suggests this parable is based upon a passage in 2 Chronicles 28. I agree with her.

You remember the essentials of the parable, don’t you?  A Jewish man was going toward Jericho and was accosted by robbers who left him half dead. A priest and Levite (fellow Jews) passed by and ignored this man’s plight. A man from the despised Samaritan race, however, walked by and had compassion on the man. Luke 10:34-35 [ESV] reads,

“He [the Samaritan] went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’”

The tradition of Good Samaritan, however, seems to originate in an obscure passage, 2 Chronicles 28:15.  The soldiers of the Northern Kingdom of Israel –Samaria – had slaughtered 120,000 Judeans and captured another 200,000 as slaves.  The prophet Obed spoke a word from the Lord shaming the Samaritan Jews and admonishing them to return the captive Judeans to their homeland. Surprisingly, the people responded. As we read the response, be on the lookout for evidence suggesting that the Good Samaritan parable is a midrash (elaboration) upon these historical events. See how many similarities you can note.

“And the men … rose and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them. They clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them, and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kinsfolk at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.”

Do you catch the similarities? The city of Jericho is mentioned in both accounts. The people were clothed, given sandals, provided for, anointed, and carried on a donkey. The victims in both instances were Judeans while the heroes were Samaritans.

There are, of course, many differences between these accounts. We have a massive group involved in the 2 Chronicles passage, while only individuals are mentioned in Jesus’ parable. The Samaritans mentioned in the 2 Chronicles account were not the mixed race of Samaritans that existed at the time of Jesus. Ironically, the Samaritan Jews of 2 Chronicles (who were “racially pure”) were idolatrous while the Samaritans of Jesus’ day (of a mixed Jewish and gentile race) worshipped the one true God apart from idols.

In both the historical account and the parable, the emphasis is upon treating people humanely. Compassion is a key word. In the earlier instance, the people had to be admonished by a prophet before they would do the proper and compassionate thing. In the parable, the Samaritan’s conscience and heart were the driving force. No one but he and God could witness his actions.

As we look at both of these texts, I am reminded of something true about myself, and, I believe, each one of us.  As a disciple of Jesus Christ, I am accountable directly to him. He leads me through his Word and his Spirit, and, as I walk in the Spirit, I will manifest the fruit of the Spirit, which is love.

Yet sometimes I must be admonished to do the right thing. Like the Samaritan Jews who had intended to enslave their Judean brothers, I sometimes need to be motivated to do the right thing. This is one reason why I need the Body of Christ. And so do you.

I have long marveled at how many Christians consider church attendance and church involvement optional. Sunday is considered a family day; if we have no particular activity on a certain Sunday, then we will go to church. If we can find something more fun to do, then we will do it. The concept of Sunday being “The Lord’s Day” seems all but lost.

Church attendance is not necessary for salvation. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. But church attendance and involvement (“body life”) are necessary for discipleship and balanced spiritual maturity. Like a piece of chicken on the grill that is never turned over, some believers are burnt on one side and raw on the other. We need both an individual walk and a corporate experience.

I am not among those who legalistically believe a believer has to attend church every Sunday without fail. Family reunions or rare events do sometimes legitimately preclude church, in my viewpoint. But the default setting needs to be, “Church attendance is a priority.” Why? Is it just about giving the Lord the first day of our week? Or obeying the concept of Hebrews 10:25?  Yes, those are valid reasons. But we also need to hear God’s Word preached, and we need the church body. We sometimes resemble the Jews of 2 Chronicles 28, on the verge of doing the wrong thing. God speaks not only through the man preaching the Word, but he speaks through the Body as we share in Sunday School or fellowship after the service. He speaks through songs and prayers and testimonies.  Obed the prophet is not handy to confront us, but the fellowship of believers is even more special. Fellow believer: you need us and we need you.

The original Good Samaritans were not so good. But they did the right thing and became “good” because they heard and obeyed the Word of the Lord.  The ideal is to be like the Samaritan man of the parable. I don’t know about you, but I am not always the ideal. I sometimes need an Obed.

Modern Judaism traces “Jewishness” through the mother; as the Jewish people spread out and intermarried, Jewish thinking eventually concluded that what mom taught the children more often determined that child’s convictions.

Biblically, we know that it is the man — not the woman – who transmits the line of blessing.  The one exception, however, is the Messiah.  To the serpent, Yahweh predicted the conquest of the coming Messiah in Genesis 3:15,

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

In the Apocryphal book of Sirach (Ecclessiasticus), we read the following (25:24),

“Of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her we all die.”

This stands in stark contrast to the Scriptures, especially the teaching of Paul in I Corinthians 15:21-22:

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

And Romans 5:12-14

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—  for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.  Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

In these passages, Paul felt free to disagree with Sirach. Under the inspiration of the Spirit, he begs to differ with Sirach.  Even though Eve sinned first sequentially, it was Adam’s — not Eve’s sin — that affects us.  God sent his Son incarnate as a male human being to be the Second Adam, not as a woman to be a “Second Eve.”  It was not the woman who would crush the serpent’s head, but the woman’s seed who would do so.

As the woman came from the man, the man Messiah was the seed of the woman.

With egalitarianism on the rise even in the evangelical world, we have to wonder if faithful Christians will resist the trend. Will some side with Sirach over Paul? Let’s hope not.

In my quest to discover New Testament midrash (Second Testament teachings which are expositions or expansions upon First Testament Texts), I was perusing, Paul’s Use of Isaiah In Romans by Shiu-Lun-Shum, an academic work published by Mohr Siebeck. I  have gone way beyond the thoughts expressed by Shiu-Lun-Shum, to the point that I believe we can (and Paul did) deduce the concept of salvation by faith apart from works from the originating Isaiah passages.

Shum points to Isaiah 32:17 as the foundation for Romans 5:1.  Let me quote the texts (ESV) to get us started on our journey:

Romans 5:1 reads:

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 32:17 reads:

“And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.”

We are beginning with the assumption that Romans 5:1 is indeed a midrash (explanation and expansion) upon Isaiah 32:17. If the texts themselves do not suggest this to you, then I have little more to offer. If, on the other hand, you think it likely that the two are connected, read on.

Romans 5:1 places the terms justified, faith, and peace in a logical, cause and effect western-style sequence.  I find it fascinating to see how the terms correspond to and define one another. That righteousness and justification relate is evident, and word studies delving into the original languages will make this a no-brainer (Hebrew, tzedek and Greek, dikaios).

That peace is a result of righteousness is stated in both cases, although the Romans 5:1 verse seems to be more clearly speaking of imputed righteousness whereas the Isaiah verse is more ambiguous. Still, in both verses, a condition of righteousness exists, and this righteousness results in peace.

In Romans 5:1, the cause of righteousness is faith; in Isaiah (although a bit more nebulous), faith (quietness and trust) seem to be the result. Yet, at the same time, Paul seems to teach a doctrine of regeneration that creates faith, justification, and a transformed life (evident in Ephesians 2:1-10). Thus, in Paul’s thinking, faith produces justification and justification peace with God, and peace with God results in the Spirit working within, this producing more faith (quiet trust). He adds an understanding of faith at the beginning of the cycle as well as Isaiah’s result at the end.

I would like to call your attention, however, to the equating of quietness and trust with faith. Indeed, we might argue that the first two terms serve as a definition of true faith: quietly trusting the work of Yeshua (Jesus) on the cross as our final sin offering.

The idea of quiet is not far away from the idea of “apart from works.”  Thus saving faith must be apart from works or it is not truly quiet!  Resting means NOT WORKING, by definition. All attempts at mixing works with faith (as the basis for justification)result in a loud faith, a contradiction if true faith is a quiet (resting) faith! We may be vocal about our faith, and our faith must produce works to be genuine, but the faith itself is quiet.

Isaiah 30:15 probably contributed (at least in concept) to Romans 5:1. I suggest thatPaul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, contemplated these two verses and was thus guided to write Romans 5:1. This is obviously an opinion.  Isaiah 30:15a reads:

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”

Here we see similar concepts, in this case returning (which can be translated “repentance”) is added into the mix, thus further defining faith as repentance and rest. The idea of “quietness” once again suggests a lack of works.  The believer ceases striving to work for his justification but instead trusts with a repentant heart. Works flow as the true evidence of justification, but not as a cause or contributor toward justification.

This, then, ties into the Sabbath concept of believers having “entered that rest,” as stated so eloquently by the writer to the Hebrews 4:9-10.

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

Conclusion

Paul and the author of Hebrews both derive the doctrine of salvation by faith (trust) apart from works, under the inspiration of the Spirit, from the First (Old) Testament terms, “rest, quietness, Sabbath.” Although the Second (New) Testament expounds this doctrine more directly, it is implicit not only in Genesis (as Paul argues in the case of Abraham’s justification in Romans 4:1ff) but in Isaiah as well.

Paul summarizes the mutual exclusivity of laboring/working for salvation (not resting, non-quietness) with believing most succinctly in Romans 4:4-5

⁴Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness…

Despite the criticism leveled at the Reformers, they knew exactly what they were talking about when it comes to justification by faith alone. They did not invent it, nor did Paul, nor did Isaiah. The idea was God’s!

Fidelity to Jacob Theology

Psalm 16:2 in the ESV reads, “I say to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.’”

This verse can be a bit difficult to translate, but it is probably a mother text for several Second Testament midrashim.  The word for “good” (tov) covers a lot of ground, and can refer to good in the sense of character or good in the sense of something positive, a blessing, privilege, or cause for rejoicing. We can run with this verse in all directions when it comes to possible midrashim.

Moral Good

We could understand this verse to teach the truth that we are helplessly lost sinners. Apart from God’s grace –his propensity to be good to undeserving sinners– we would be doomed.

If the New Testament authors were led to interpret Psalm 16:2 thusly, this could be the basis for Romans 7:18, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.”

Philippians 3:9 could have been a Spirit-inspired expansion of this mother text, “… and be found in him [Christ], not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith…”

Good In the Sense of Being the Source of Blessings

The idea of “good” here in this context is not necessarily merely moral good, but may refer mostly to God’s gift of good things.  God is the only ultimate source of good things, any blessings we have.

James 1:17 may be a Midrash on this, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

This idea of “good” might help explain a somewhat difficult passage. In Mark 10:18 Jesus states, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone…”  Yet Jesus refers to himself as the “good shepherd” in John 10:11.

The solution might be as follows: In Mark, Jesus is referring to God alone as the source of all good—including Jesus’ human nature.  In John 10, the issue is that of character.

Of course Jesus may have been toying with the inquirer to lead him to recognize that Messiah Jesus was good precisely because he was also God. Still, the first interpretation seems more contextual.

The Combination of the Two

It could be that New Testament authors teach about goodness in both directions, finding dual concepts here in Psalm 16:2. Thus Paul might be applying the term “good” from Psalm 16:2 in Romans 7 while Jesus and James used the term “good” to refer to God as the “good” source of everything worthwhile.

Psalm 116 and 2 Corinthians 4: A New Midrash Detected!

By Ed Vasicek, Midrash Detective

I found another midrash while researching 2 Corinthians 4!  The quotation in 2 Corinthians 4:13 from Psalm 116:10 put me on the trail.  So I have concluded that Paul was using Psalm 116 as a loose outline for 2 Corinthians 4:7-18, expanding upon the concepts and adapting them for the New Covenant era.

The “starting text,” Psalm 116:3-19 is in bold. The 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 text follows in normal italicized font.

3 The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. 4Then I called on the name of the LORD: ”O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; our God is merciful.
6The LORD preserves the simple;
 when I was brought low, he saved me.
7Return, O my soul, to your rest;
 for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.8For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling;

7But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

9I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.

10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12So death is at work in us, but life in you.

10 I believed, even when I spoke,
  ”I am greatly afflicted”;
11 I said in my alarm,
 ”All mankind are liars.”

13Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak,

12 What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD,
14I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.

14knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

15 Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of his saints.

16So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

16O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
You have loosed my bonds.
17I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the LORD.
18I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people,
19in the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD!

18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.* For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

*possibly a reference to the New Jerusalem

Quoted from the ESV

The Holy Spirit and the Dove

By Ed Vasicek, Midrash Detective

Around Thanksgiving time we often refer to turkey as “the bird.” In African American churches, the “first lady” (the pastor’s wife) often serves fried chicken, “the Gospel bird,” for Sunday dinner.

Yet there is a bird that carries sacred overtones, namely a type of pigeon we refer to as a “dove.” God the Holy Spirit has chosen the dove as the symbol for his presence. This figure is first implied in the creation accounts when the Holy Spirit “hovered” over the waters (Genesis 1:2).

A few weeks ago, we were blessed by a baptismal service. While baptizing, I followed the command of Jesus and baptized our candidates, “in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” We call this idea of One God in Three Persons “The Trinity.” Just as the word “Bible” is not found in the Bible but refers to a collection of all the inspired Scriptures, so the word “Trinity” is a composite of the Bible’s teachings about the nature of God.

As we look at the Holy Spirit in His dove-like representations, we need to remember that the Holy Spirit is a “He,” not an “It.” Like the Father and Son, He is an uncreated Person (has always existed and is self-derived), He is God, and He is equal in attributes and glory to the Father and Son.

The idea of the word “holy” is “set apart, pure, distinct from creation.” Both the Old Testament word (ruach) and the New Testament word (pneuma) are sometimes translated as “spirit” or “wind” or “breath.” The translation depends upon the context.

In several instances, the dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit. As we examine the Biblical background, we can see why the symbolic dove reminds us of the Holy Spirit’s qualities.

First, please note in Matthew 3:16-17 how the Holy Spirit empowers:

Notice all three Persons of the Godhead are involved in this episode: the Father’s voice from heaven, the Savior Who is God the Son incarnate, and the Holy Spirit, represented by the dove.

Many Jews believed that the era of the prophets ended during the time of Ezra (with Zechariah and Habakkuk). The Rabbis said that God no longer spoke audibly through the prophets, but only through dove-like cooing heard by men of God:

“The Talmud states that a Bat Kol (heavenly voice) was heard (on two separate occasions) declaring that Hillel and Samuel were worthy of the Shekinah (Divine Presence)…” [From Jesus the Pharisee by Harvey Falk, p. 43; referring to Rabbi “Samuel the Little"]

“…And I said to him, ‘I heard a Bat Kol [a Divine voice], cooing like a dove, and saying, “Woe to the children, that because of their sins I destroyed My house and burnt My Temple and exiled them among the nations of the world.’”” [The Talmud, Berachot 3a]

In contrast to a quiet whisper or dove-like cooing, the Father spoke clearly; the dove did not just “coo,” but appeared.

But why did Jesus need the Holy Spirit’s power and the approval of the Father if He were God the Son?  The answer is in the “kenosis” (emptying) of Christ, explained in Philippians 2:5-11. Jesus worked no supernatural miracles until the Spirit came upon Him, and He did so with the Father’s permission.

Second, please note that The Holy Spirit brings dove-like qualities to the believer. In Matthew 10:16 we read, “’Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.’”

Doves are gentle and do not bite. Part of the fruit of the Spirit is gentleness. A dove is perhaps the gentlest of birds. As the Holy Spirit controls us and leads us to spiritual maturity, we grow in becoming gentle.

A dove is also straightforward and innocent. There is nothing arrogant, proud, or insidious about a dove. The symbol of the dove is used universally to represent the idea of peace for good reason.

Third, the Holy Spirit creates.  In Genesis 1:2 we read of the Spirit hovering. The Jewish Rabbis rightly understood the Holy Spirit to hover “like a dove.”

Just as the Holy Spirit was active in the physical creation of the earth, and just as God “breathed” into Adam the “breath of life,” so the Holy Spirit brings the lost person to life and creates faith in him.  We call this regeneration or the “new birth,” a concept elaborated upon by Jesus in John chapter 3. In that chapter, Jesus compares the Spirit (pneuma) to the wind (also pneuma), unpredictably coming upon whom He wills.

Ephesians 2 paints a picture of regeneration, the idea of being brought to spiritual life. The text tells us that we were spiritual dead before we came to faith (vs. 1), but that God supernaturally brought us to life (vs. 5); thus we are “born of the Spirit” (John 3:6).

Fourth, The Holy Spirit provides us a new beginning.  In Genesis 8:6-12, we read about Noah sending out the dove to determine when to disembark from the ark so that humans could have a fresh start on the earth. So the Holy Spirit closes eras (Genesis 6:3) and He initiates eras.

The Spirit is active during those spiritually monumental times. He was active in Creation, the Flood, the Exodus and the during the Giving of the Law (which was given on Pentecost, by Jewish reckoning) and the ministry of Jesus; He came mightily to initiate the Age of the Spirit at Pentecost and He will be active during the Tribulation and the Millennium (Joel 2 has implications both for Pentecost, the Tribulation, and Millennium).

When we come to Christ through repentance and faith (as a result of regeneration), we are a new creation. Our old lives have given way to our new lives (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).

Fifth, the Holy Spirit is an agent of purification. I have previously written an article on the fire-like cleansing of the Spirit hinted at in Isaiah 4:4-5. This relates to the baptism by the Spirit predicted by John the Baptist (Luke 3:16) and experienced in Acts 2. This baptism by the Spirit is characteristic of all believers (I Corinthians 12:13), contrary to teachings made popular by Pentecostal groups.

In Leviticus 12:8, the dove was among the sacrificial animals that could be offered to ritually cleanse the children of Israel. When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple, they offered a pair of doves (Luke 2:24).

It is possible (but uncertain) that three categories of animals used in Old Testament sacrifice in some ways reflect the Persons of the Trinity.  The Father is perhaps represented by the strength of the bull, the Son by the lamb or goat (often used interchangeably, as per Exodus 12:5), and the Spirit by the dove.

Associating the dove with a sacrificial animal could be understood to reflect the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Because we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we are free to look directly into the face of God and to be slowly but amazingly conformed to His holy image (2 Corinthians 3:16-17).

Conclusion

Just as a dove comes from above to dwell on the ground, so the Holy Spirit comes down to the believer from above to help us in our earthly pilgrimage. The more we learn to listen to His voice, seek His leading, and feed our souls in His Word, the more powerfully He works in our lives (Romans 8:5). Are you a Spirit-led Christian? Does your life demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit?

Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement

By Ed Vasicek, Midrash Detective

This year, the Jewish people will celebrate their most solemn holiday of the year, Yom Kippur – known to us as The Day of Atonement from sunset October 7 through the 8th. In modern Judaism, this is a time to grieve over ones sins, repent, fast, and find God’s forgiveness.

In Biblical times, this holy day involved the covering of sin by the payment of a penalty. The NIV of Leviticus 5:5-6a captures the idea of atonement: “When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned and, as a penalty for the sin he has committed, he must bring to the LORD a female lamb or goat…”

No animal sacrifices could attain salvation, but merely made the individual ritually and socially clean. Hebrews 10:4 is blunt: “…it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” From a New Covenant perspective, we can see that Yom Kippur also foreshadows a massive and complete spiritual cleansing.

I.  Yom Kippur Under the First (“Old”) Covenant (Leviticus 23:26-32, 16:5-34)

The Old Covenant provided sacrifice to cover unintentional sin, but not defiant sin. Numbers 15:30 (ESV) reads, “But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people.”

God may graciously forgive such defiant sins, but not on the basis of animal sacrifice. God justly forgives what he forgives on the basis of the sacrifice of Messiah (Romans 3:25-26). Before Yeshua, the individual sinner could only offer God repentance and cast himself upon God’s mercy. God’s character and faithful love would be the source of the repentant sinner’s hope. It is that character and faithful love which would one day send the promised Messiah, Yeshua, to settle accounts.

Psalm 51 was written to express David’s repentance after his adulteress affair with Bathsheba: Verses 16 -17 ring clearly: “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

David had committed high-handed sin, not merely unintentional sins. The Yom Kippur sacrifice could make a covering for the entire nation’s sins (Leviticus 16:21), but could not save the soul.

The Ritual of Yom Kippur (Leviticus 23)

The people prepared for The Day of Atonement by fasting and confession of sin (32). The priest entered the Most Holy Place, a compartment in the Tabernacle where the Ark of the Covenant was housed.

The priest made his initial entrance with the blood of a bull that had been sacrificed to make atonement (covering) for his own sin. He would then leave and retrieve two goats (as determined by lot), one of which was sacrificed. He would sprinkle the goat’s blood atop the Ark to atone for the sins of the people.

The second goat was called the scapegoat and would be allowed to live. The priest would lean into the goat with his weight while confessing the sins of the nation (Leviticus 16:21) thus creating a substitute by pressing himself into the goat, and symbolically transferring the sins of the people he represented (Israel).[1]

This goat would then be released into the wilderness.

The Talmud tells us that the priest would tie a red ribbon on the scapegoat.  If, after laying hands on the goat, God had accepted the sacrifice and forgiven the people, the ribbon would supernaturally turn from red to white. If not, the ribbon would remain red.

The ribbon ceased changing color in 30 A.D., probably because Jesus had presented himself as Messiah. The Talmud comments: “Forty years before the Temple was destroyed the following things happened: The lot for the Yom Kippur goat ceased to be supernatural; the red cord of wool that used to change to white (as a symbol of God’s forgiveness) now remained red and did not change…the western candle in the candlestick in the sanctuary refused to burn continually while the doors of the Holy Temple would open of themselves… “ (Tractate Yoma 39:b).

An explanation is offered in the same tractate: “Why was the first Holy Temple destroyed? Because of three things: idol worship, adultery, and murder. But in the second Temple in which time the Jewish people were occupied studying the Torah and doing good deeds and acts of charity, why was it then destroyed? The answer is: It was because of hatred without a cause to teach you, that hate without a cause is equal to these sins and that it is as serious a crime as the three great transgressions of idol worship, adultery, and murder” (Yoma 9).

Whom did the Jewish people hate without a cause? I suggest the answer is “Yeshua.”

Yom Kippur foreshadows a massive and complete spiritual cleansing in two time frames.

II. Yom Kippur And the Cross

The Messiah’s atoning work on the cross is foreshadowed by both goats. Our Savior served as both priest and sacrifice: “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” (Hebrews 9:14)

God’s word tells us that Yom Kippur represents heavenly realties in Hebrews 9:22-10:1 (NIV,  passim), “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness…

“For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.

“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people… The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming–not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never…make perfect those who draw near to worship.”

Yeshua’s death was not merely atonement, but an actual removal of sin; its concern is not ritual uncleanness, but the removal of guilt of sin from our souls before a holy God.

The priest pressed his weight into on goat; in like manner, the Father laid all our sins upon the Messiah (Isaiah 53:5); indeed, “God made him who had no sin to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Paul seems to be sharing the Corinthian text as a Midrash based upon both the Isaiah verse and the Yom Kippur ritual.

The second goat is thought to picture the burial of Christ; the ashes of our sin were left in the grave and are no more. J. Wilbur Chapman, in his Gospel song, One Day, captures the idea:

Living He love me; dying He saved me;

Buried He carried my sin far away;

Rising He justified freely forever;

One day He’s coming – O glorious day!

III. Yom Kippur and End-Time Israel (Zech. 12:9-13:1)

Those of us who believe in a literal future fulfillment for Israel’s promises place these Zechariah verses at the end of the coming seven-year Tribulation with Armageddon looming.

The survivors of Israel will repent en masse. Their rejection of Yeshua as Messiah will transform into belief. Zechariah 12:9-10 (ESV) indicates:  “And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”

Zechariah 13:8-9 (ESV) provides us with more details:

“In the whole land, declares the LORD, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive. And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”

Romans 11:25-29 (ESV) reads,

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;

“and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Perhaps Zechariah 13:1 reminds us most of Yom Kippur: “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.”

Have you experienced the cleansing symbolized by The Day of Atonement?

[1] See, The New Testament and Rabbinic Judaism by David Daube, pp. 224-246 for a detailed study about the “laying on of hands.”

Numbers 13 and the Apostolic Pattern

By Ed Vasicek, Midrash Detective

When scouring the New Testament for Midrashim (explanations, interpretations, and applications) mothered in Old Testament passages, one usually begins with a New Testament text and seeks to trace its origins backward to the Old Testament. Today, I intend to do the reverse, probing an Old Testament text and then postulating New Testament Midrashim.

I am proposing that Numbers 13 certainly was the basis for the Midrash in the book of Hebrews. But this Torah text may have influenced how Jesus went about naming twelve men to serve as apostles as well. In one sense, apart from their application in Hebrews, these verses are not exactly Midrashim because they are not explained in the New Testament. In another sense they might be something akin to Midrashim because they could explain why Jesus behaved as he did in reference to choosing apostles.

Many have observed that the Old Testament books of Genesis, Deuteronomy, Psalms and Isaiah have much influence upon the New Testament authors (and Paul in particular). Richard Hays calls them, “…. a de facto canon within the canon…”[1]

The fact remains, however, that the New Testament draws upon many portions of the Old Testament, and Numbers 13:1-33 [NASB] qualifies as a key passage:

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses saying, ‘Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.’  … These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.

“When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, ‘Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country. 1See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many.  How is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications? How is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.’ Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes…

“Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs…

“When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation … and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.  Thus they told him, and said, ‘We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.  Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. …’

“ Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, ‘We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.’ But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us’ …”

Pulling Back and the Hebrews 6 Passage: The Obvious Midrash

The most obvious Midrash on this passage comes from the famous Hebrews 6:4-6  [ESV] passage.

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

Just as the Israelites had seen God’s miracles of deliverance from Egypt and received the Law, so those among New Covenant believers had seen evidences of God’s power and grace; some of these professed believers had been indoctrinated and were seemingly convinced that Jesus was truly the Messiah.  Just as the ancient Hebrews “tasted… of the goodness of the coming age” [the fruit and produce retrieved by the spies] but could not enter the land of Canaan because of unbelief, so those who taste the firsfruits of the Messianic era – but later shrink back in unbelief — cannot enter the Promised Land.

In Numbers 14:39-45, the Children of Israel experience a change of heart and decide to attempt the conquest of Canaan.  Moses forbids them, informing them that God had tightly closed their window of opportunity. They refuse to heed Moses, make an attempt at attack, but are overwhelmingly defeated.  It was impossible to renew them to repentance.  Thus the writer to the Hebrews applies the same paradigm to professing believers who do not merely fall away into sin, but deny Jesus as Messiah and view their profession of faith as a farce. Being unconvinced that Jesus is the Messiah crucified and raised for them, they align themselves with the unbelieving soldiers and religious leaders who crucified Jesus because they believed he was a fraud.

The concept that much of Hebrews is a series of Midrashim on Numbers is evident. Less evident is the suggestion I am making: Numbers 13 is the source for some of Jesus’ behavior with his disciples — and his appointing twelve of them as apostles.

The Tradition of Nick-naming Leading Disciples

In Numbers 13:16b, we read, “Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.”

Since the rabbis tried to base their view of the relationship of a rabbi to his disciples as a continuity of Old Testament practice, what better example is there than that of the relationship of Moses to Joshua? Moses is the model rabbi, Joshua the ideal disciple.

The practice of nicknaming disciples was Rabbinic practice at the time of Jesus.[2] So when Jesus nicknamed James and John as  “the sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17), or Simon as “Peter” (Matthew 16:18), this practice itself may have been something like a Midrash on Numbers 13:16b. At bare minimum, this Numbers text exemplifies the practice.

In addition, a Rabbi would often single out his leading disciple for special honor, as Moses did with Joshua (perhaps creating the spiritual equivalent of a “firstborn”). David Friedman, in his book, They Loved the Torah comments:

I see Shim’on as Yeshua’s Torah-observant…. talmid hakham…a Hebrew technical term meaning the leading student (of a rabbi). Every famous rabbi who daily taught the same students had a talmid hakham, his chief student. This is the student who figured most prominently in narratives about his rabbi. In first-century Judaism, the chief student was trusted by his rabbi to learn and pass on the rabbi’s teachings.[3]

The Idea of 12 Apostles

The fact that Jesus chose 12 apostles – not 11 or 13 – is significant.  The number in itself seems quite reasonable since Israel was made up of twelve tribes (Levi, 10 other “full tribes,” and the subdivided tribe of Joseph, which consisted of the “half tribes” of Ephraim and Manasseh).

In Matthew 19:28 [NASB], Jesus indicates a correspondence between the number of apostles and the number of tribes:

And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “[4]

Let me suggest that selecting twelve men to be apostles may also be an idea that Jesus adapted from our text in Numbers. Just as Moses sent twelve men to prepare for establishing the Kingdom of Israel in the land of Canaan, so the Messiah sent twelve men to establish his spiritual kingdom, the church.  The Matthew 19:28 text quoted above (“the regeneration”) also suggests a millennial purpose in mind. We could include both the current church and Millennium under the common banner of the Messianic Era.

Perhaps I have missed it, but in my pursuit of Jewish parallels, I find nothing in Judaism that is similar to the idea of apostleship.  David Stern prefers to translate the term “apostle “(“sent one”) by the word, “emissary.”  Still, Rabbinic Judaism has no apostles in the sense that the 12 experienced the office. It could be that the Spirit directly led Jesus to name the 12 Apostles. Yet that leading may have come through Jesus’ study of Numbers 13; if so, we can conceive of an apostle as both a representative authority and as a scout of sorts.

As representatives of both the church (Jesus’ assembly) and the nation of Israel, the 12 laid the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20).  Yet, once again, the Jewish nation fails to respond in faith and so does not enter the promised land of the earthly, Millennial Kingdom. Just as the nation of Israel experienced a delay in conquering and dwelling in the Promised Land, so the Jewish people are yet wandering in the spiritual wilderness until a generation arises that believes.

The Forty-Year Preparation Period

The unbelieving Israelites over the age of 20 – with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, the two faithful spies – had to die off before the new, purified generation would inhabit the Promised Land (Numbers 14:30, 33).

The new generation, under Joshua’s leadership, would begin the conquest (Joshua 1:1-3). In like manner, the Jewish people in Jesus’ day were given one generation – forty years – in which to repent, believe in Jesus, and thus bring down the millennial rule. Acts 3:17-23 [ESV] records Peter’s words. Peter may be, in a sense, the “new Joshua.”

“And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.  Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’”

Just as Yahweh was not surprised at the unbelief of the Exodus Israelites yet held them accountable, so he was not surprised at the unbelief of the Jews in the first century. Jesus came to him own, but his own rejected him (see John 1:11). Both of these events were in the Sovereign plan of God.

We can only take our parallels so far: differences between these accounts surface. If Jesus began his ministry (or was crucified) in 30 A.D., then the people of Israel had 40 years to turn to him before judgment came; the Romans destroyed the Temple in 70 A.D. This also explains an amazing statement in the Talmud (Rosh Hoshanna 31b), “For forty years before the destruction of the Temple the thread of scarlet never turned white but it remained red.” The implications of such phenomenon mesh well with Christian expectations.

When Israel repents and receives the Messiah, the Father will indeed send the Christ to rule. Zechariah tells us that “he whom they have pierced” will first reveal himself to his kinsmen; they will mourn and repent when they see him (Zechariah 12:8-14), and the surviving remnant of Israel will all believe (Zechariah 13:8-9). Because God is sovereign and controls history — and the human heart, he can make good on seemingly remote promises.

Unlike the conquest of Canaan, which took 400 years to complete, the Messiah will immediately reign over the entire earth when he establishes his kingdom on our planet (Zechariah 14:8-9).

Conclusion

The events in this section of Numbers at bare minimum parallel the structures and plans of Jesus and his disciples. I would suggest that Jesus might have actually structured his kingdom with these passages from Numbers in mind.

Because of the kenosis, God the Son was limited during his stay on earth; the Son emptied himself of the use of his supernatural powers apart from the Father’s permission and the Spirit’s power.  While in such a humble state, he did not know “the day nor the hour” when his kingdom would be established on earth (Matthew 24:36). Before he emptied himself he knew; now that he is exalted (Philippians 2:5-11), he knows. The Living Word, I believe, typically relied upon the written Word.

Jesus apparently followed the same pattern that Moses followed, and the people (i.e., the Jewish people) mostly followed the same pattern of unbelief.  Caleb and Joshua proved a faithful remnant, so a faithful remnant of Israel chose to believe (Romans 11:5). God was not surprised in either instance, nor were his plans thwarted. Currently God is grafting in gentiles for his glory (Romans 11:17-21) until the time he restores the natural branches.