On the road to Emmaus, Yeshua met with two of His disciples and, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27). For our Torah studies this year, therefore, week by week we will seek to discover how all of Torah prepared the way for the coming Messiah.
4th July 2026 (19 Tammuz)
Pinchas (Phinehas), Numbers 25:10-29:40
When Israel’s enemies looked down on them camping on the west side of the Jordan, they saw a formidable nation on whom rested the covenant promise of God. While their enemies conspired to destroy them, God commanded Moses to number them, as a mighty army, a covenant people who would eventually expand and prevail over all their enemies. We must look towards the end-times to anticipate the final battle, whilst learning from the lessons of history.
Everything that we study in the Bible, especially in the Books of Torah, show us how precise and clear the God of Abraham is in all His ways, and in His expectations of His covenant people.
Even the death of Moses was to be in an ordered way:
Now the Lord said to Moses: “Go up into this Mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the children of Israel. And when you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was gathered. For in the Wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to hallow Me at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Meribah, at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.)………..
And the Lord said to Moses: “Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and inaugurate him in their sight. And you shall give some of your authority to him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. (Numbers 27:12-19)
Moses was to accept this command just as he had accepted every other command of God. Before his death he was to complete some major tasks. He was to prepare the community of Israel for their entry into the Promised Land, in an ordered way. He was to take a second census of Israel and bring confirmation of the daily, weekly, monthly and yearly offerings to God.
Soon after Israel left Egypt, God ordered a census to be taken (Numbers 1:1-2), before their journey of 40 years through the wilderness. Now, on the shores of the Jordan, before crossing from east to west to establish the nation, the nation was once more called to order. There seems to be a pattern of God bringing His people to readiness in preparation for the next stage of covenant history.
How might this apply to His preparation for the final phase of God’s purposes for His people, today?
What we learn of God’s ordered ways relating to life on earth, must surely be to teach us about His ways for all eternity. This has been the expectancy of many believers through thousands of years. When matters of life and death are considered, comparisons are often made with crossing the Jordan River, and many Christian hymns and songs make use of this imagery. For example, the beautiful song which is lovely to sing, The Sweet By and By (sweet bye and bye lyrics youtube – Search) has the following lyrics:
There’s a land that is fairer than day
And by faith we can see it afar
For the Saviour waits over the way
To prepare us a dwelling place there.
….In the sweet by and by
We shall meet on that beautiful shore
In the sweet by and by
We shall meet on that beautiful shore.
We must be careful, however, of letting our emotions drive our hopes, when we need something tangible on which to cling for our hopes of the future. Nevertheless, God’s ways do not change and surely, just as there was an ordered entry into Canaan, so there is an ordered plan for our entry into the eternal home. But let us consider this matter carefully at this crucial time in history.
Just as many Christians consider crossing over to eternal life to be symbolised by the Jordan crossing, so Jewish tradition focuses on God’s keeping an ordered account of who will enter, comparable to the census. It is taught that God keeps a Book of Life containing the names of all who will have a place in the eternal Kingdom of God. When the High Priest entered the Holiest Place of the Tabernacle or Temple on Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement), his returning safely to the community was considered to be a confirmation that those who waited in trust and faith would have their names confirmed as in the Book of Life.
The following quotation from www.judaica-guide.com illustrates how this is still the expectation today, despite the fact that there is no longer a Temple where a High Priest from the Tribe of Levi ministers:
Starting on the first day of the month “Elul” (“Rosh Chodesh Elul”), many Jews get up every night and go to the synagogue, a custom which is known as Selichot. There they pray for forgiveness until morning comes, and then go to work. The custom becomes more and more intense, and reaches a peak on the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, known as the “Yamim Nora’im” (“The Days of Awe”). During these days Jews ask God and each other for forgiveness, and greet each other with the blessing “May you be inscribed in the Book of Life”.
According to the Jewish religion, Yom Kippur is the “dead-line” for changing one’s ways and being forgiven for bad deeds. The meaning of the name “Yom Kippur” is “The Day of Atonement”. In order to be inscribed in God’s “Book of Life” (and be granted a happy new year), it is not enough to pray and be forgiven by God, but a person must also make sure he hurt no other people, broke no vows, and was forgiven by others for any sorrow he accidentally caused them. One cannot be forgiven by God for hurting other people, and therefore it is customary to do soul-searching at this time of the year, and apologize to others for anything that may have caused them pain. At the end of Yom Kippur, God’s “Book of Life” is closed and sealed until the next year.
Whatever we may desire or whatever we may imagine, it is according to God’s order and design that we complete our earthly journey and enter into eternal life with Him. So what symbolism can we take validly from this week’s portion as significant for our hopes for entry in the Heavenly Kingdom?
The Israelites were to cross the Jordan for an inheritance in this life. Moses, himself, did not cross the physical Jordan or give the impression that it was a metaphor for being taken into God’s eternal presence. Indeed, like all others of whom we read in the Scriptures, he was to simply come to the end of his earthly life at that place. Elsewhere in Scripture, rather than a “crossing over a river” the symbolism is of being taken to a higher place. Take, for example, the way Elijah was taken into Heaven:
Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. (2 Kings 2:11)
Yeshua, likewise, was taken up into Heaven:
So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. (Mark 16:19)
Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11)
We have the descriptions of eye witnesses to help us understand the way Yeshua went from this life to the heavenly domain, but it was not the crossing of a river. The description “taken up” describes a transfer from this lower earthly place to a greater reality of the heavenly existence. Yeshua was able to come and go from one reality to the other, as we read in other parts of the Gospel account:
Now behold, two of them were travelling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. (Luke 24:13-15)
…….So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.
Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” (Luke 24:33-39)
It is true that life is like a journey, and we can draw much from the wilderness journey of the Children of Israel. As Paul said, what they learned of righteous living became our examples (1 Corinthians 10:6). Nevertheless, the entry into Canaan is not to be the overused metaphor of passing into eternal life by crossing a river. We must build a better expectation based on Yeshua’s teaching. When Lazarus was raised from the dead (John 11) he had gone from this life to the next and back again without crossing a river. These are some other things that Yeshua said:
I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. (John 11:25-26)
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. (John 10:27-28)
Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:1-3)
Yeshua builds a picture of passing from this life to the next which transcends the imagery of crossing a river. Much else is said in the New Testament writings that builds a different expectation and this is what we should study at this crucial time of history.
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Corinthians 4:13-18)
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4)
The warning, therefore, is to not to over-allegorise the journey from Egypt to Canaan. These were real people on a journey to a real Promised Land on this earth as the then present stage in God’s redemptive plan. We must learn what is to be learned but not force truth so hard that it becomes error, leading to romantic speculation, and even imagery borrowed from other religions, including the Greek myth of crossing the River Styx from this life to the next.
So what should we learn from this week’s Torah portion? It is the time in God’s covenant purposes that we are in, not the geographical position where we stand, that should motivate our thoughts, prayers and preparations. With signs all around of Yeshua’s soon return, we can learn most from our portion by the way God told Moses to order the community. God’s order is a major theme in the New Testament, just as it was in the Tanach. Listen to the Apostle Peter:
……the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless. (2 Peter 3:10-14)
The Children of Israel were on the edge of the Jordan, prepared by God through Moses, for crossing into the next period of covenant history. Discipline and order was called for. This is the common theme throughout the Bible and takes us up to today. People who live through faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are to live a life of ordered and dignified witness waiting always for the next step of faith, both personal and corporate.
Does God keep a Book of Life as is considered across the Jewish world? Revelation 20:12 indicates that God does keep a record of those who will attain eternal life. There is something likened to a census prior to the final entry of all who are saved through faith in the One True God entering eternal life:
And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
However, we must be careful. In our portion this week, we read of the offerings to be made on all the appointed times of the Feasts of the Lord. These Feasts can no longer be held in the manner of those former days. There is no Temple nor any Levitical High Priestly ministry on Yom Kippur, except that all the Feasts are now fully focussed on Yeshua HaMashiach, our High Priest of the New Covenant, and He fulfils the purpose of every offering. Right now, as the Writer to the Hebrews said:
….Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.
Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. (Hebrews 7:22-27)
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Whether Jew or believing Gentile, it is timely to consider together how to become one ordered body of true believers in the One True God through the atoning sacrifice of His Son, Yeshua, (the One New Man of Ephesians 2), waiting for that great moment of His return to gather together His treasured people for eternal life. We can certainly take this from our meditations on how God ordered Israel to cross the Jordan.
He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:31)
