Torah: Numbers 19:1-25:9
Haftarah: Judges 11:1-33
Micah 5:7(6)-6:8

I am resuming my series on Messiah in the Parsha again. We’re going to see this year’s reading calendar through, so hang on. Long ago, the Jewish sages created reading calendars to be read annually throughout all the synagogues every sabbath. They are the Parsha (from the Torah, the first five books of the Bible), and the Haftarah (selected readings from the prophetic books of the Old Testament). Today, I continue my series exploring the Messiah in each of these portioned readings that was planned and scheduled in ancient days and appointed for our present days.

The double portion of Hukkat (Regulation) and Balak, scheduled for June 27, 2026, is packed full of action and material. I am hard put to fit it all into one post, but as always, I will focus on identifying the Messiah in here. Please see the references to the Scriptures that are in this week’s double portion. This time we read about the instructions for the red heifer, the death of Miriam, the time Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it, the refusal of Edom for safe passage, the death of Aaron, the attack of the king of Arad, the continued complaining of Israel and the bronze serpent, the battles with Sihon the king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan, the ironically humorous story of Balak king of Moab hiring Baalam to curse Israel, and the adulterous idolatry of Israel with Baal of Peor. The Haftarah portion includes the story of Jepthah and prophecy from Micah. It’s a lot, but here we go.

The Red Heifer

⁹ And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place. And they shall be kept for the water for impurity for the congregation of the people of Israel; it is a sin offering (Num. 19:9).

According to God’s instructions, a person became ritually unclean when he came in contact with the dead or was under the “tent” that a person died in. God gave directions for how to change from this unclean state back to a ritually clean state through the ritual of the red heifer. The priest took the red heifer without defect outside the camp, slaughtered it, and burned it completely with cedar wood, scarlet thread, and hyssop. Another priest collected the ashes and stored them outside the camp. When they needed to be used for purification, they were mixed with water and sprinkled on the unclean person or object or structure.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the red heifer, especially since some Texas farmers helped the Temple Institute breed and raise several red heifers. They have to be completely red without any off-color hairs, so it’s hard to determine if they are kosher for making ashes for ritual purification. I know several sprouted some different colored hairs as they grew up, so they are disqualified. I don’t know if they all did or not, but I can completely understand if they want to keep it on the hush right now. It has had tons of people, Christians and Muslims included, up in arms. In fact, October 7 was because of this. They called it the Al Aqsa Flood and they said they attacked because of the red heifers. They don’t want Jews to have possession of the ashes for purification because that will enable them to purify the priesthood and establish the Aaronic priestly sacrificial system again, allow them ritual cleanness to ascend the Temple Mount again in certain places, and even build a temple again. I won’t go into my opinion on this other than to say what the Bible says. Ezekiel is very specific about instructions for a temple that never existed yet, and Paul says the antichrist will proclaim himself to be God in the temple (2 Thes. 2:4). For these things to be fulfilled, there has to be a third temple. I trust what the Bible says. Concerning the political context or religious intention of its reconstruction, the Bible is silent.

The ritual of the red heifer seems so bizarre to modern minds, perhaps, but there is significant spiritual meaning behind this ritual in connection to Messiah. This thesis is not original. The author of Hebrews already establishes the connection between the red heifer and Messiah. I will simply break it down through explication.

¹³ For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Heb. 9:13-14).

Since the Aaronic priesthood is a copy and shadow of the higher priesthood that Messiah is of (Heb. 8:5), that is, Melchizedek (Ps. 110:4; Heb. 5-7), the ritual of the red heifer is too. The ashes of the red heifer cleansed a person after contact with the dead so they could enter the temple to worship or serve as priests. For that, the heifer had to die, obviously. Similarly, we, who have an unclean “conscience” because of “dead works” are purified by the death of Jesus Christ (the ashes) “through the eternal Spirit” (the water) so that we may “serve the living God.” The heifer had to be without defect. Jesus was without sin. The heifer had to be all red. Red is the color of earth, especially if you live around Alabama red clay (haha). Etymologically in Hebrew, red and earth and man are linked. Jesus was fully God and fully man. He had to become fully man to be the sacrifice. The heifer was female, a symbol of passivity and submission. Jesus submitted Himself to the will of Father God to endure the cross, and He was passive during the whole thing, so much so that even Pilate was amazed that He made no response to His accusers or tried to defend Himself (Mk. 15:5). Just like Isaiah prophesied concerning Him,

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth (Is. 53:7).

Jesus was submissive and passive like a female heifer. The heifer had to have carried no burden. Jesus never carried the burden of sin. The heifer had to be burned outside the camp. Jesus was crucified outside the city wall of Jerusalem. The heifer, as it was burned, had to be burned with cedar, scarlet thread, and hyssop. These three things were also used in the ritual cleansing of a leper, and concerning these materials and their connection to Messiah, I’ve already explained in my earlier post “Going Down to the River” under the section Lepers Are Cleansed. The ashes had to be stored outside the camp. Jesus was buried outside the city. The ashes took cleansing effect when mixed with water and sprinkled on the unclean. Now check out what the author of Hebrews does combining Jesus’ blood with “pure water”:

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Heb. 10:19-22).

In this passage, the author of Hebrews ties sprinkling and water to purification. Now the blood of the sacrifice on the day Israel made the covenant with God at Sinai or of the goat on Yom Kippur could be used for sanctification and atonement too, but the same principle applied in the ashes of the red heifer concerning those in contact with the dead. We, who either are or once were spiritually dead in our sins, are or were unclean, but by the sacrifice of Messiah, mixed with water (the Holy Spirit) (Heb. 9:14; Jn. 7:38-39), we are made alive and pure and ready to serve with good works (see Heb. 10:24). Also, the author of Hebrews is saying that just as the Mosaic covenant was initiated with sprinkling, the new covenant (which is a Jewish concept by the way, see Jeremiah 31) is initiated by the sprinkling of Messiah’s sacrifice and the Spirit. Joel likens it to rain (Joel 2:23, 28). Well, rain is like being sprinkled upon, right?

In summary, the red heifer teaches us the spiritual significance of Messiah’s sacrifice for us, that by receiving sprinkling with His sacrifice (blood or ashes) and with the Holy Spirit (water), we are made spiritually clean unto eternal life and are purified to serve Him as a type of priesthood through worship and good works (see also 1 Pet. 2:5). But this purifying effect doesn’t take place until the ashes and water are combined and sprinkled on the person. For Messiah’s purification to take effect on you, you have to receive Him and let Jesus the High Priest apply His sacrifice to you combined with receiving the Holy Spirit when you believe.

When Moses Struck the Rock When He Shouldn’t Have

¹² And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them” (Num. 20:12).

God told Moses to speak to the rock, that it might bring forth water for the congregation of Israel in the wilderness. But instead of speaking to it like he was told, he struck it, and he didn’t strike it only once, but twice. Moses just lost his sister, Miriam, so he was grieving. Israel was constantly complaining, so they were ticking him off while he was already probably emotionally compromised. Usually, we are more prone to do and say things we shouldn’t when we are tired or distressed. Moses was in a weak spot, and he gave into frustration. Aaron, by his side, didn’t do anything to help or encourage or correct. He lost his sister too.

Moses was told to strike a rock once before to provide water for the people:

^“’6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.’ And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel” (Ex. 17:6).

In my earlier post, “After He Had Let Go,” under the section The Rock Moses Struck, I explain how this rock represented Messiah Who was struck for us so that we can receive living water unto eternal life. Again, this is not an original thesis of mine, but one that goes back to the days right after Messiah. The Apostle Paul says,

10 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, ² and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ and all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. ⁵ Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

⁶ Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did (1 Cor. 10:1-6).

Jesus was the Rock that was struck.

But Moses was not supposed to strike the rock again. This time, He was supposed to speak to it. He did not, and thus he did not uphold God as holy in the sight of Israel. As a consequence, Moses and Aaron would not enter the promised land. This reminds me of a New Testament passage:

⁴ 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, ⁵ and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ 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 (Heb. 6:4-6, emphasis mine).

Now I’m not saying Moses and Aaron lost salvation. That clearly isn’t the case, especially when Moses spoke with Jesus on the mountain at His transfiguration (Mt. 17:3). But like Paul said to the Corinthians, this is an example for us of a spiritual reality. Jesus was crucified once for all (Rom. 6:10), and in a sense, whoever professes Christ and apostatizes crucifies Him again in a metaphorical sense (Heb. 6:6). They strike Him again when they shouldn’t. Like Moses didn’t uphold God as holy, such hypocrites are “holding him up to contempt.” They, in the spiritual reality, won’t enter the Promised Land of heaven as a consequence.

This is a poignant lesson for us in the last days. Specifically talking about the last days, Jesus said,

¹⁰ And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. ¹² And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end will be saved (Mt. 24:10-13).

The New Testament also likens such false prophets and teachers to Balaam (1 Pet. 2:15, Jude 1:11, Rev. 2:14), a man whose story we will cover in this post.

I pray that if you are a believer, that you will uphold God as holy in all you do, that your love will abound, that God’s truth will live in your heart, and that you endure to the end.

The Bronze Serpent

⁸ And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live (Num. 21:8-9).

This section is not going to be hard to do since Jesus already did the work for me. Again, I will just explain it out. The story in Numbers is short enough that I can just quote it:

⁵ And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” ⁶ Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. ⁷ And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us” (Num. 21:5-7).

The people had been poisoned by the serpents after they griped and complained and loathed God’s miraculous provision of manna. The damage had already been done. Unless God intervened, they were going to die. So God told Moses to make a bronze serpent for the people to look upon, and if they looked up to it, they would not die from the poison.

Jesus called Himself the bronze serpent:

¹⁴ “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God (Jn. 3:14-18).

Most Christians may not understand that the most popular verse in the Bible is couched in the story of the bronze serpent. The bronze serpent is another strange story. Why would looking at the object of their torment bring healing? The answer comes in Messiah. Paul says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). Just as looking at the image of the source of their poison brought the Israelites life, so looking at the Son of God who became sin (the source of our eternal torment unless God intervenes) brings us eternal life.

The Israelites rejected the manna but later looked on the serpent for healing. The Jews crucified the Bread of Heaven, Jesus (Jn. 6:51), but later put their faith in Him as the Son of God (Acts 2:37-41). The serpents brought the fatal poison to the Israelites. The serpent of the garden of Eden brought the fatal poison of sin to Adam and Eve, for on that day, they did die, spiritually (Gen. 2:17). The Israelites were doomed to die from the poison unless they had an antidote. We are “condemned already” unless we receive the antidote to our sin, Jesus. The parallels are staggering. Of course the comparison matches. Jesus made it!

Messiah in the Story of Jephthah

The story of Jephthah is a struggle for me to swallow. This man clearly had a heart that trusted in God, but he wasn’t perfect. He was a judge of Israel, sent to be a messiah to deliver them from the Ammonites. But before he delivered them, they rejected him:

² And Gilead’s wife also bore him sons. And when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, for you are the son of another woman” (Judges 11:2).

Then, when they realized they needed his help to drive out the Ammonites, they came to him and offered to make him their head (leader) if he defeated the Ammonites.

Jesus, likewise, was rejected by his people. Isaiah says,

He was despised and rejected by men,
    a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
    he was despised, and we esteemed him not (Is. 53:3).

The Apostle John says, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (Jn. 1:11).

But when we realize our deep need for Messiah to save us from sin, and we come to Him, we have to make Him our head. He already defeated sin on the cross. When we make Him our head, full victory comes in our own hearts.

One day, Israel will receive Jesus as their head, and on that day, victory will come. Paul says, “For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?” (Rom. 11:15). And elsewhere, he says, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:26). As God raised up judges like Jephthah to defeat enemy after enemy, God raised up Jesus Christ to give us victory over the enemy of sin (Mt. 1:21) and one day full victory over the last enemy, death (Rev. 20:14).

Baalam with His Eyes Uncovered

As if this portion didn’t have enough of Messiah in it, it just keeps getting better. There is so much about Messiah in this, I’m having trouble with where to begin. First, I will begin with the prophecy of the coming King out of Israel and conclude with the only way I see how to reconcile the coming King with God as King: they are one in the same.

Balak’s vision is of the last days (the acharit-hayamim)(Num. 24:14). This is the first time we get an oracle of the last days since Jacob’s oracle over Judah in Genesis 49, and that oracle involved the Messiah too, which is agreed upon by both Jews and Christians. (For my explanation of Jacob’s oracle, see my post He Lived: The Lion of the Last Days.) Here, it’s like Balaam picks up where Jacob left off concerning the Messiah King. He is described as a Star and a Scepter:

I see him, but not now;
    I behold him, but not near:
a star shall come out of Jacob,
    and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;
it shall crush the forehead of Moab
    and break down all the sons of Sheth (Num. 24:17).

This was never fulfilled by earthly Judaic kings; perhaps for a time, or partially, but never fully. The nations to be judged include Edom, the Amalekites, the Kenites, and Assyria. No Jewish king ever conquered all these nations. Rather, Assyria conquered Israel. Yet concerning this King, “His enemies will be his possessions” (Num. 24:18, CJB). This is the Messiah. His reign over the nations is coming, and when it does, the people of the nations better be on the right side. Now is the time to choose.

Jesus is the Star. As a sign of this, God even made a star appear for His birth:

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, ² saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”…the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ¹¹ And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh (Mt. 2:1-2, 9b-11).

These men of the nations got it right. They recognized Him. Jacob prophesied, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples” (Gen 49:10). Balaam’s oracle of the scepter rising out of Israel is the same scepter Jacob prophesied coming from Judah. The wisemen from the other nations got it. They understood. Unfortunately, many peoples and nations do not and will not.

This comes to pass in the last days, according to Balaam. And the author of Hebrews concurs with this, identifying it as Jesus:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world (Heb. 1:1-2, emphasis mine).

You can see that the heir to the kingship, God’s kingship, is His Son, Jesus (or Yeshua). But wait a minute, isn’t God supposed to be Israel’s king? Wasn’t Israel evil in the days of Samuel for wanting a king? How does this jive together then? Yes, as we saw in my last post about the portion Korach, Korah: Our Negative Example, God is Israel’s King, and Israel was evil to desire an earthly king. And this week, in this portion, within the same story, Balaam acknowledges God is Israel’s King:

“No one has seen guilt in Ya‘akov,
or perceived perversity in Isra’el;
Adonai their God is with them
and acclaimed as King among them” (Num. 23:21, CJSB).

Yet there is a king coming, not here yet, but coming, and His kingdom will be exalted.

Water shall flow from his buckets,
    and his seed shall be in many waters;
his king shall be higher than Agag,
    and his kingdom shall be exalted (Num. 24:7).

Question: How do you get better than having God as your King? How is an earthly king better than God as King? It’s not. The truth of God as King and the prophecy of the coming King, I argue, is only reconciled in Messiah, fully God and fully man. This was God’s plan all along. Israel took a detour with desiring an earthly king, but God still brought about His King, Jesus. Just like Abraham tried to help God along with the program by having Ishmael,

God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him” (Gen. 17:19).

God had a plan. Abraham tried to figure it out and help God along, but God had an original plan. So too, God has a plan with this Star, this Scepter rising from Jacob (Israel). In 1 Samuel, Israel tried to help God along with the program, but God said, “No, no, I’ve got this guys.” God still let Abraham have Ishmael. God still let Israel have a king. But Ishmael was not the plan. So too, an earthly human king was not God’s plan. God’s plan was Himself incarnated as the Messiah, Jesus Christ, Yeshua. That’s the only way God can be King without being rejected as King (1 Sam. 8:7) and the Star and Scepter can rise and be exalted. So both God and Messiah can be King and there is no conflict, because the Messiah is God Himself. The kingdom is His, and one day, He’s coming to claim on what is rightfully His.

Balaam prophesies through the destruction of Assyria by Babylon (Num. 24:23-24). Now fast-forward to the time of Babylon, and the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, has a dream. Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream picks up where Balaam’s vision leaves off. Babylon is the people who destroyed Assyria, but even they will be destroyed, on through the silver (Medo-Persian empire), bronze (Greek empire), and iron mixed with clay (Roman empire), to the kingdom established by the Stone God hewed out of the rock that became a mountain and filled the earth forever. That is the kingdom of Messiah, the kingdom Baalam saw too. The continuity of the progressive timeline from Jacob, to Balaam, to Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel, is amazing, and it’s all pointing to the same end: the rule and reign of Messiah. And even this day, we can see Him, and have seen Him (Jn. 1:14), but still, His full reign on earth we can say (like Balaam did) is coming, but not yet.

God’s Faithfulness to Israel

He crouched, he lay down like a lion
    and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?
Blessed are those who bless you,
    and cursed are those who curse you” (Num. 24:9).

In Tucker Carlson’s interview with Ted Cruz, Tucker said that God’s promise to Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3), was just about Abraham, and not his descendants. If Tucker actually understood the Bible, he would plainly be able to see that the promise extended to the descendants, to the nation of Israel. Balaam said so, and it’s recorded in the Bible! The promise held true well after Abraham’s day and it still holds true today. Then Micah, again much later, continues the same prophecy:

Then the remnant of Jacob shall be
    in the midst of many peoples
like dew from the Lord,
    like showers on the grass,
which delay not for a man
    nor wait for the children of man.
And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations,
    in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
    like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
which, when it goes through, treads down
    and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries,
    and all your enemies shall be cut off (Mic. 5:7-9).

And here is the fate of people like Tucker who ignore God’s clear promise and edict:

And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance
    on the nations that did not obey (Mic. 5:15[14]).

Clearly, Tucker and his followers are not like the wisemen of Matthew’s gospel. They knew He was King of the Jews. He’s still King of the Jews. He never stopped being King of the Jews. And when you mess with the Jews, you light the fuse of God’s wrath. Right after all the sins Israel committed in the wilderness, Balaam called them righteous (Num. 23:10), that there is no guilt nor perversity in them (Num. 23:21). Remember, God would have spared Sodom if there were ten righteous in it. There are definitely more than ten believing faithful Jews, folks. In Micah’s day, Israel is acting perversely and backslidden, but God’s retribution is coming down on the nations based upon how they treat them. The Church itself has been full of perversity and backslidden ways, but would we ever say God would forsake the Church? Israel today largely does not believe in Messiah Jesus, but why should the pattern be different now? It shouldn’t change, and it hasn’t.

¹² God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed” (Num. 22:12).

Then again Balaam said,

God is not man, that he should lie,
    or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
    Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
²⁰ Behold, I received a command to bless:
    he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it (Num. 23:19-20).

And in the New Testament, Paul backs this up:

²⁸ As regards the gospel, they [the Jews] are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Rom. 11:28-29, emphasis mine).

People like the wisemen are on the right side. People like Tucker are on the wrong side. Their time is coming. God will see to it. Just like God took the attacks of the king of Arad, Og king of Bashan, and Sihon king of the Amorites, and turned them into victories for Israel, God will still make sure no weapon forged against Israel will prosper (Is. 54:17). Just like Just like God took what Balak king of Moab intended for a curse and made it a blessing to Israel three or even four times over, God will take any slander and curse against His chosen people today and turn it around to bless them.

Conclusion

When God called Abraham righteous, it was because of his faith (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3). Abraham was the father of the faith, and he was also known for digging life-giving wells. As the new generation of Israel rose in the wilderness, just before the story of Balak and Balaam, they stopped by a well, and instead of complaining, they sang. Instead of ingratitude, they celebrated. This indicates a strong change in attitude, like an attitude of faith? True, they weren’t perfect, because 24,00 of them fell to idolatry with Baal at Peor (Num. 25:9), but something was changing in Israel. I think it was the change of faith, the kind of faith that God counted Abraham, the well-digger, righteous for, the kind of faith that enabled Balaam to call Israel righteous. My hope and prayer for you and the world is that we put our faith in the cleansing ashes of Jesus’ sacrifice, that we look to the One lifted up as the antidote to our sin, that we embrace the Messiah we once rejected, that we recognize the Star, the Scepter, the King, and by doing so may too be counted righteous. Until next time, God bless.

Pure as an unblemished red heifer,
Fed my burden, transformed to fodder,
Solidly the color of ocher,
Washing me white with Holy Water,
You became my sin as the serpent,
Refined to bronze in Righteous Wrath's furnace,
Healing me when I look up, repent,
As instructed by Adonai's auspice.
Of Abraham You are the Brightest Star,
Of Jacob You're due to hold the scepter.
You came and yet your coming seems so far,
But You will always be my Preceptor.
May I live still and still never forget
You came and yet Your coming is not yet.

Sources

The Bible. English Standard Version. Biblegateway.com. Accessed 14 Jul. 2026.

The Bible. Complete Jewish Bible. Biblegateway.com. Accessed 14 Jul. 2026.