From Eliyahu

Hello friends,

In Bamidbar/Numbers 10, Israel is gathered in holy array, and following the Cloud of Glory, pulls up camp to make an orderly departure from the wilderness of Sinai. Their final destination? The promised Land!

Exciting Climax of the Ideal Israel: This chapter reveals the exciting climax toward which the previous chapters of Numbers have been pointing, in giving us all of the details of how the armies of Israel were Divinely set in order, after the pattern of the heavenly armies. Israel, His Covenant People, were prepared by His hand to glorify Elohim in their victorious procession home! Now, gathered and set in order, Israel departs, following the cloud toward victory over all of her enemies. This is the glowing picture of Israel's destined triumph that is developed in the first ten chapters of Numbers. True, Israel does not live up to this potential in the chapters that follow, but those failures are not in view here. In many ways, this is the high water mark for Israel in the Torah, demonstrating the special status of Israel as the chosen people of YHWH, in order and walking in unison with His will as His holy nation. This is the established pattern of the ideal Israel in its fullest and greatest potential.

It is a little bit astounding that the full prophetic significance of the Numbers Ten Israel has been largely overlooked. Not by the Biblical prophets who did see it and wrote about it, but by rabbis and Christian scholars alike, and just about everyone else who have simply failed to see the prophetic themes of the Numbers Ten Israel carried forward throughout the rest of the Scriptures.

Prophetic Connection with the Remnant: One obvious prophetic connection that is far from the minds of most people, though more familiar to Messianic believers, is the prophetic reference drawing from the Israel of the Exodus, pointing to the Second Exodus, the Greater Exodus, found in verses like these:

“As in the days of your coming forth out of the land of Egypt, I will show them marvelous things.” Mic 7:15

Therefore behold, the days come, says YHWH, that they shall no more say, As YHWH lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, As YHWH lives, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries where I had driven them. They shall dwell in their own land. Jer 23:7-8

These verses point forward to the gathering of the Remnant of Israel back to the Land in the Second Exodus in the last days, and thus draw on the Israel of the first Exodus as a prophetic type or picture of the greater Exodus soon to come. You can find many more verses that help to fill out this Remnant picture here.

The Final Prophetic Fulfillment of Ideal Israel

In our midrash of the first ten chapters of Numbers we have shown how the divisions of the armies of Israel mirror the divisions of the heavenly armies. This is well illustrated in the symbols of the standards of the four camps on the east, south, west and north. These symbols being the faces of a lion, man, bull and eagle, respectively. These same four symbols from the standards of the armies of Israel are prophetically associated with the beings of the armies of heaven by the prophet Ezekiel and the Apostle Yochanan/John in the Revelation. This suggests, among other things, that the armies of Israel are or will be, in some sense, an extension of the armies of heaven. This very idea points to a future convergence of the heavenly armies with the armies of Israel. Yes, this is an amazing truth!

But there is more.. Certain concepts and words dominate the prophetic picture in Numbers that are expanded upon later in Scripture. Examples are: the Cloud of Glory, trumpets and trumpet blasts to gather, organize and direct the divisions of Israel, the concept of the removing of Israel from one place to another, pulling up and a general upward direction in the Hebrew words describing the movement of Israel in breaking camp, and the emphasis of moving at the command of YHWH through His designated commanders.

David Saw It: In all of this there are Divine clues pointing to the place where the heavenly armies and the armies of Israel converge. David saw it:

3 Our Elohim comes, and does not keep silent.
A fire devours before him. It is very stormy around him.

4 He calls to the heavens above,
to the earth, that he may judge his people:

5 “Gather my holy ones together to me,
those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”

6 The heavens shall declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge.  Psalm 50:3-6

Here David prophetically sees the coming of Elohim in glory! He comes in storm clouds of fire. This harkens back to the fiery Cloud of Glory over Israel. We are told that He is not silent, but comes with a command for heaven and earth. His command is this: “Gather my holy ones together to me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” Again, this harkens back to Israel at Sinai, where we first entered into covenant with Him through sacrifice, also where we were gathered by the sound of the silver trumpets. Yet, the "coming" reported here is not past, but future, pointing forward to His gathering of His "holy ones" to Himself when He "comes!" This is pointing to the final fulfillment of Ideal Israel at the coming of the Lord! Yes, the coming of the Lord is the time and place where the armies of heaven and the armies of Ideal Israel will converge.

Messiah and Apostles Told Us: Elements of this same picture emerge throughout the prophets, and then are revealed in great clarity through the mouth of Messiah and His talmidim. For example, Messiah told us plainly of His coming "after the tribulation":

But immediately after the tribulation ... the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then .. they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet[G4536 salpinx], and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Matt 24:29-31

Here in Matthew 24 Messiah draws together multiple prophetic strands. One of them is the strand of Ideal Israel originating in Numbers, and later picked up by David and others. Coming in the clouds in glory, commanding His angels,  the great sound of a trumpet [not a shofar], gathering together the chosen ones - all of these reveal the final fulfillment of the Ideal Israel prophetic picture from Numbers as elaborated upon by the prophets. Finally, mention of the "four winds" from which the chosen are "gathered" by the angels, bring the armies of heaven and the armies of "chosen" Israel together - the "chosen" being the Remnant of Israel (including those grafted-in) who are in "covenant with" Him "by sacrifice" - His sacrifice for them. All of this is about the meeting between the "chosen" of Israel of every age at this "first resurrection," with the armies of heaven, and with the Lord Himself, at His return. This is for a purpose: to defeat all enemies and to establish the Millennial Kingdom of Messiah in Jerusalem.

To listen to some people you would think that Paul got everything he wrote about the coming of the Lord out of thin air as totally "new" revelation. Not so. Paul was a Torah scholar who understood all of the above very well, illuminated for him by the Holy Spirit. In our latest Midrash we will consider verses from Paul that Christians think apply as special revelation to a separate gentile group they call "the church" - and to an event nobody had ever heard of before which they call the "pre-trib rapture of the church." In reality, Paul draws from these same figures of the Ideal Israel originating in Numbers to explain the resurrection of chosen Israel and the coming of the Lord to "gather" them at and by the "last trumpet." In context, Paul is no more speaking of a "pre-trib rapture of the church" than he is describing a cheeseburger from McDonald's! Both of these were equally foreign to Paul, who had nobody in view but believing Israel, including gentiles who were grafted-in. Listen to the latest program for more on what Paul wrote about this.

The Final Revelation: Of course, the final picture of the Ideal Israel at the coming of the Lord is found in the Revelation of Messiah to Yochanan/John. Here is what John saw:

I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has names written and a name written which no one knows but he himself. He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood. His name is called “The Word of God.”

The armies which are in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in white, pure, fine linen.

Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty.

He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”  Rev 19:11-16

Yes, here we see the coming of the Lord in glory! The armies of heaven are riding with Him. Now, notice who are joined to this group:

..He is Lord of lords, and King of kings. They also overcome who are with him, called and chosen and faithful. Rev 17:14

With this prophetic picture the armies of Ideal Israel "are with Him" and the angelic armies, overcoming evil in the final battle at the end of the great tribulation. After the battle, they will rule the Kingdom of David "on the earth," from Jerusalem. (Rev 5:10)

If you are as excited about being a part of this highest triumph of Israel as I am, please join me for this inspiring Midrash teaching!

Blessings and Shalom,

Eliyahu Ben David

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