Torah: Num. 25:10-30:1
Haftarah: 1 Kgs. 18:46-19:21

Long ago, the Jewish sages created the parsha, a reading calendar to be read annually throughout all the synagogues every Sabbath. They are from the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), and the Haftarah (selected readings from the prophetic books or Nevi’im or Ketuvim 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.

This post will be about the parsha reading Pinchas (Phineas), which was read this year on July 4. This Torah portion covers the story of Phineas’ zeal, the new census, the daughters of Zelophehad, the appointment of Joshua to succeed Moses, and directions for offerings to be given at their proper times. The Haftarah portion covers the story of Elijah’s journey to Mount Sinai as he fled for his life from Jezebel after he killed the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel. It was there at Sinai (Horeb) that God gave Elijah instructions about the successors of the kings of Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel, as well as his own successor. I won’t get into everything, but I will discuss the sections I believe I can explain in relation to the Messiah. So let’s get into it.

Phineas and the Zeal of the Lord

Adonai said to Moshe, ¹¹ “Pinchas the son of El‘azar, the son of Aharon the cohen, has deflected my anger from the people of Isra’el by being as zealous as I am, so that I didn’t destroy them in my own zeal (Num. 25:10-11, CJB).

When I studied the story of Phineas and what he could possibly have to do with Messiah, I was absolutely blown away. First, I want to explain how the zeal of Phineas is a foreshadowing of the Messiah’s zeal for righteousness, and secondly, I want to explain how God’s covenant of peace with him forever foreshadows God’s covenant of peace forever through the Messiah. It’s all there in the Bible, and I will show you by book, chapter, and verse.

Phineas was the grandson of Aaron the high priest and son of Eleazar who succeeded Aaron as high priest after Aaron’s death on Mount Hor. Israel had just wandered in the wilderness for 40 years because of their lack of trust in God. They were approaching the Promised Land again finally, on its very banks, and the world was trying to do everything it could to stop them from claiming on God’s promise to Abraham. Balak had hired Balaam to curse Israel, but instead, God blessed Israel through the prophet multiple times. Since curses wouldn’t stick, Balaam suggested to Balak that he draw Israel away from the Lord into idolatry and cult prostitution in Peor, on the very banks of their greater inheritance (Num. 31:16). There was about to be one more great purging and refining of Israel before they would be counted again to claim on their promise.

24,000 people died as a result of their sin at Peor, and it could have been much worse if it weren’t for the zeal of one man: Phineas. The congregation was weeping at the tabernacle over the sin the nation was falling prey to, and Phineas was in that assembly of grief. Then Zimri, a chief of the tribe of Simeon, walked by brazenly with Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite chief. They were on their way to his tent to commit sexual immorality in the name of another god, Baal of Peor. But Phineas wasn’t going to have it. He

rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand ⁸ and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped (Num. 24:7-8, ESV).

Wow. This might be a difficult story for some, but God takes sin that seriously, and Phineas was the son of the man God appointed as the intermediary between God and Israel, that is, of the house of Aaron. It was the job of the high priest to atone for Israel’s sins, and after Phineas demonstrated his heart, God gave him and his descendants that position forever (Num. 25:13).

Phineas speared them through the belly, the seat of the body’s appetite. He got to the heart of the matter, or should I say, the stomach. Also, the act they were either about to commit or were already in the middle of could result in pregnancy, a metaphor for the propagation and perpetuation of sin in Israel. Phineas wasn’t going to have that in Israel. He put an end to their appetite and its perpetuation. Walking in and trying to have a rational discussion with Zimri about it wasn’t going to work. He was brazenly continuing in sin after tens of thousands of his kinsmen were dead and the congregation was grieving over the atrocity. He just didn’t care. If that wouldn’t change his mind, I think it’s safe to say nothing would. So what Phineas couldn’t fix with words would be fixed with action: the elimination of the sin, and unfortunately, Zimri and Cozbi with it, because they had joined themselves to it so defiantly. Zimri was a chief. Cozbi was the daughter of a chief, but Phineas didn’t care. No one was immune to God’s correction. No one was above accountability in Israel. No one could be too big to fail. Phineas was not concerned about transgressing social mores. He was concerned about God, His holiness, and that’s it. And if he hadn’t acted, the plague could have been much worse.

Okay, great, but what does this have to do with Messiah? First, I want to fast forward to the Gospel of John, and then I want to take you back to the Psalms and Ezekiel to find all the answers (at least all that I’ve discovered).

¹³ The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. ¹⁵ And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me” (Jn. 2:13-17).

When Passover came, it was considered a pilgrimage feast. All Jews were expected to travel to Jerusalem’s temple for it, the one place they could sacrifice the Passover lamb under the supervision of a priest. The population exploded during this time. People traveled from far and wide, since there was still a Jewish diaspora from the time of the Babylonian exile. People traveled from locations that used different currency, so they would have to get it converted to be able to buy anything in Jerusalem. People do this during international travel today. It’s normal. These people also traveled too far to bring a Passover lamb with them. They would have to buy a lamb when they got there. Logistically, this is normal too. God understood this and accounted for it when He gave Moses the Torah. Speaking about tithes, God said,

 [I]f the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the Lord your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the Lord your God chooses, to set his name there, ²⁵ then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the Lord your God chooses ²⁶ and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household (Deut. 14:24-26).

Now this isn’t about Passover specifically, but I think the same logistical limitations they face during the time of Passover were the same as had when they brought their tithe.

When pilgrims got to Jerusalem, they needed to change their money and buy sacrifices. That made sense, and God allowed it. So why did Jesus drive them out with a makeshift whip over it? It’s because of where they were doing it: in the temple! The temple was supposed to be holy. It was supposed to be sacred space. Think about church or synagogue and how sacred that time and space is when you are there for a service. Now put the Black Friday rush in that same space. Is your focus going to be on God? Is it peaceful? Can you pray well there? Do you feel like worshipping in that? Think of the smells of the animals. The Jews had taken God’s sacred space and made it chaos. They took business and made the temple busy with it when it should have been a place to get away from it. Jesus was zealous for God. Like Phineas, when things weren’t the way they should be to uphold the holiness of God, He was going to do something about it. And like Phineas, Jesus didn’t care who He offended. The leaders of Israel were in the temple, the Scribes and Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, but He didn’t care. Again, Jesus was not concerned about transgressing social mores. He was concerned about God, His holiness, and that’s it.

The Apostle John left us another bread crumb to follow: “His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me’” (Jn. 2:17). Where was that written? In the Scriptures of course, specifically, in Psalm 69. Let’s jump over there and see why this event later reminded the disciples of Psalm 69 and why they connected it specifically to Jesus.

The psalmist, David, is describing himself as a man who desires God and the things of God. It brings him to grief over sin. Because of his desire and his emotional response to unrighteousness, his community has ostracized him, mocked him, and persecuted him. he says,

⁷For it is for your [God’s] sake that I have borne reproach,
    that dishonor has covered my face.
⁸ I have become a stranger to my brothers,
    an alien to my mother’s sons (Ps. 69:7-8).

Our desire for sin and our desire for God divide us and make us strangers and aliens to one another. It divided Israel in the days of Phineas and it divided Israel in the days of Jesus. David even understood this in his lifetime, which was almost right in the middle, temporally. As I read this Psalm and pictured Phineas, I could see it as if Phineas were saying it at the door of the tabernacle while Israel mourned over Baal of Peor and men like Zimri walked by in defiance. As I read this Psalm and pictured Jesus, I could see Jesus saying it while the Scribes and Pharisees disapproved and plotted against Him. John specifically quoted Psalm 69:9:

For zeal for your house has consumed me,
    and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me (Ps. 69:9).

But this was also supposed to bring to recollection the entire Psalm, which was not just retrospective on Phineas’ heart or representative of David’s heart at that time, but it was moreso prophetic of Messiah’s heart. Why do I say moreso?Because of its greater fulfillment in Messiah. Check it out:

They gave me poison for food,
    and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. (Ps. 69:21)

On the cross, they literally gave Jesus sour wine to drink, and every gospel writer recorded it (Mt. 27:48; Mk. 15:36; Lk 22:36; Jn. 19:29-30). Was this the moment the disciples remembered Psalm 69? Or what about this:

For they persecute him whom you [God] have struck down,
    and they recount the pain of those you [God] have wounded. (Ps. 69:26).

It was God Who put Jesus on that cross, ultimately. Isaiah says,

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand (Is. 53:10).

God “struck down” Jesus, God “wounded” Jesus, because it was His will to “crush Him” and “put Him to grief” that His soul would make an offering for guilt. Phineas never completely fulfilled that. David never completely fulfilled that. But Jesus did. Was it after Jesus’ resurrection that the disciples remembered Psalm 69? Possibly. They did not understand the purpose of His death until afterward.

Phineas speared Zimri and Cozbi through for their sin. Jesus was speared through because of our sin (Jn. 19:34). They were speared through the stomach because of their appetite for sin. Jesus was not speared through the stomach because He had no appetite for sin. Jesus was speared through the heart because of His grief over our sin. Phineas, one man, stopped the plague. Jesus, one man, stopped God’s wrath from being poured out on us. Jesus drove the moneychangers out of the temple with a whip. Jesus was also taken and whipped at his crucifixion on our behalf.

Now I’d like to talk about my second point in the story of Phineas, which concerns the covenant of peace God established with him forever because of his zeal. This was a perpetual covenant to the line of the high priests descended from Aaron. I thought it was interesting that God called it a covenant of peace, especially since this promise was inaugurated with violence (but true peace is the fulfillment of God’s will, and as long as sin abounds, there can be no peace). Then I wondered, Is this term “covenant of peace” anywhere else in the Bible? So I began investigating, and I found the answer is yes, in one place. Moreover, I found that one place is specifically talking about the coming Messiah, and it was written by a priest! I will explain how the greater covenant of peace is fulfilled in Messiah.

To do this, we have to jump to Ezekiel, the prophetic book written by the priest Ezekiel:

³ They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God

²⁴ “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. ²⁵ They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. ²⁶ I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. ²⁷ My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ²⁸ Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” (Ez. 37:23-38).

The covenant of peace will be over all of them in the days of Messiah, that is, “David my [God’s] servant.” This will be because God delivers “them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned” and cleanses them and they will no longer defile themselves with idols, such as Ball of Peor, or such as the desecration of the temple. Instead, “[t]hey shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes” and “[t]hey shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob.”

This will happen under the authority of God’s servant David, that is, his descendant according to the flesh (since this was written long after the days of the historical David). David, the servant of God, is a messianic term. Jesus is the son of David, and the covenant of peace will be upon Israel forever through Him and He shall reign forever. He ushered in the covenant of peace with His crucifixion for our sins, that is, all the adultery (whether spiritual or spiritual and literal) and idolatry we are just as guilty of as Phineas’ and Ezekiel’s generations. This covenant of peace is greater than that given to Phineas, because it covers all Israel. Phineas ushered in the perpetual covenant of peace for himself and his descendants according to the Aaronic priesthood. Jesus ushers in the covenant of peace for all of Israel forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 11:4).

¹⁹ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross (Col.1:19).

Those whom the speaker of Psalm 69 became a stranger and alien to have the opportunity to have their status changed in Messiah under the greater covenant of peace.

²¹ And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, ²² he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, ²³ if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven (Col. 1:21-23a).

In Psalm 69, the speaker was a stranger and alien to the people. In Colossians, sinners are strangers and aliens to God. However, in Messiah, foretold in Ezekiel 37 and proclaimed in Colossian 1, these sinners can be cleansed of their sins (described in Ezekiel) and reconciled to God (see Colossians). Because Messiah takes care of our sins, He ushers in the covenant of peace that we too can be a part of, and it will last forever. His zeal will do this. Concerning this fulfillment in Messiah, Isaiah elsewhere says, concerning God’s zeal,

Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this (Is. 9:7).

May we be zealous with God’s zeal like Phineas and like our Messiah, and may we through the blood of His sacrifice for our sins enter into God’s perpetual covenant of peace. If He is not your Lord and Savior, I pray that you consider these things with a sincere heart so that God may show you His truth.

The Census

 ⁶⁴ But among these there was not one of those listed by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had listed the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. (Num. 26:64)

After the plague at Peor, God told Moses to take another census of Israel of the men who would fight for the inheritance of the Promised Land. This was a brand-new batch of folks.

And the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone (Num. 32:13).

The new generation was different. They were going to follow God and obey His commandments. This lasted until the new generation passed away themselves after taking the Promised Land:

⁷ And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. ⁸ And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. ⁹ And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel (Judges 2:7-10).

The generation of the exodus was a literal generation, and the generation that conquered Canaan was a literal generation, but they have come to also be metaphorical examples for groups of people based on their response to God. In Hebrew poetry, there is the generation of the wicked and the generation of the righteous.

Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone;
    for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man…
You, O Lord, will keep them;
    you will guard us from this generation forever (Ps. 12:1, 7).

In Psalm 12, “this generation” is a wicked unbelieving generation. In Psalm 14, we see this same metaphor applied to the righteous:

There they are in great terror,
    for God is with the generation of the righteous (Ps. 14:5).

This is not a literal generation per say, but it groups the type of people that they are. Again, this metaphor is used in Psalm 24:

³ Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
    And who shall stand in his holy place?
⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not lift up his soul to what is false
    and does not swear deceitfully.
⁵ He will receive blessing from the Lord
    and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
⁶ Such is the generation of those who seek him,
    who seek the face of the God of Jacob (Ps. 24:3-6).

The psalmist was not speaking to a single generation. These words did not become obsolete when the psalmist’s generation passed. The “generation of those who seek him” is a metaphor for those who are clean and pure.

This metaphor continues into the New Testament. Jesus said,

“An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah (Mt. 12:39).

Jesus was not talking about the entire literal generation that lived during His earthly ministry, but a type of people, a wicked people, a metaphorical wicked generation.

The Apostle Paul allegorizes the generation of the exodus for us as a negative example.

¹⁴ Do all things without grumbling or disputing, ¹⁵ that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world (Phil. 2:24, emphasis mine).

Paul is referencing the song of Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 32:

They have dealt corruptly with him;
    they are no longer his children because they are blemished;
    they are a crooked and twisted generation (Deut. 32:5, emphasis mine).

Like the faithful of Israel had to live among the generation called crooked and twisted until they passed away, Paul is saying that we too must live like Joshua, Caleb, and all that new generation that outlived the wicked generation, that we must be like the new generation that took the promised land, that we must be blameless and innocent, shining like light.

The author of Hebrews also allegorizes the first generation and the second generation. Quoting Psalm 95,

⁷ Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
⁸ do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
    on the day of testing in the wilderness,
⁹ where your fathers put me to the test
    and saw my works for forty years.
¹⁰ Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
    they have not known my ways.’
¹¹ As I swore in my wrath,
    ‘They shall not enter my rest.’” (Heb. 3:7-11).

Speaking to the Jews of his day, the author says not to be like the first generation, which was wicked and rejected God, but to be like the second generation, which inherited the Promised Land. If we are of the generation of the righteous, that is, the generation of faith, we will enter the eternal Promised Land, a place of rest coming for all believers. This leads me into the next section, about Joshua. We can consider this next section an extended metaphor.

Succession of Joshua

¹⁵ Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, ¹⁶ “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation ¹⁷ who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” ¹⁸ So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. ¹⁹ Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight (Num. 27:15-19).

Moses was going to die. Moses gave the Torah, but he himself was unable to keep the faith perfectly, and he was appointed to die in the wilderness as a consequence for failing to uphold God as holy to the people of Israel. His successor, Joshua, would lead the people in and out, “that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” Pay attention to that specific phraseology Moses used, because we will come back to that.

Now it is a Jewish teaching that when the Messiah comes, He will be greater than the Torah. Where the Torah was weak, He will take precedence. I believe the Messiah is Jesus. In Hebrew, His name is Yeshua. This is a version of the name Joshua. In Hebrew, Joshua is Y’hoshua. For example, Joshua the high priest in the book of Zechariah is actually the Hebrew name Yeshua, but we translate it Joshua.

So applying the Moses-Joshua succession to Messiah, we can say that where the Torah was inadequate (as Moses died in the wilderness for inadequacy), Jesus leads us into the promised land of eternal life. Paul used this type of comparison in a lot in his writings.

¹⁵ We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; ¹⁶ yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified (Gal. 2:15-16).

Paul was not saying the Torah was done away with, but he was appealing to the Jewish tradition that when Messiah came, He would take precedence. By the time of Paul, the Torah was a list of do’s and don’ts to the people, not a demonstration of faith in the Greater One.

Moses (the Torah) became ineffective to bring the people into the Promised Land. His successor (Yeshua) would be the one who would see to the fulfillment of all the promises. Moses asked that Israel would not be like sheep without a shepherd, and God answered His prayer by setting apart Joshua. Speaking of Jesus, Matthew writes,

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Mt. 9:36) (see also Mk. 6:34).

Matthew uses the same language Moses used. This time, the answer was Jesus. Mark says, “And he began to teach them many thing” (Mk. 6:34) in response to this condition of indirection. Jesus would step in, like a shepherd, and lead the people in and out of the Scriptures and show them the path to eternal life, much like Joshua did for the Israelites. Jesus said,

¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³ He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep (Jn. 10:11-15).

So Jesus is the new Joshua, the one Who leads us in and out, the One Who shepherds us, The Good Shepherd Who takes us into the Promised Land, eternal life. He was commissioned in the sight of Israel by the banks of the Jordan river too, just like Joshua was commissioned on the banks of the Jordan:

¹⁶ And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; ¹⁷ and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:16-17).

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (Jn. 1:29).

This was a public event along the Jordan. Others were being baptized too, and the Pharisees came out to talk to John. Just as Joshua was publicly commissioned on the banks of the Jordan with purpose, so was Jesus.

Elijah

¹⁰ He answered, “I have been very zealous for Adonai the God of armies, because the people of Isra’el have abandoned your covenant, broken down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. Now I’m the only one left, and they’re coming after me to kill me too (1 Kgs. 19:10, CJB).

Just like Phineas, Elijah was very zealous for God. Just like Phineas combatted Baal of Peor, Elijah combatted Baal on Mount Carmel. Just like God gave Moses directions concerning his successor, Joshua, God gave Elijah instructions concerning his successor, Elisha, and indeed the successors of Syria (Gentile nation) and Israel (covenant nation). Jehu would be the one king of Israel who could be commended by God in any way, the one who joined with the faithful of Israel to God and the one who combatted Baal too.

I can see why the sages connected this portion in the haftarah to this particular portion in the Torah. There are a lot of parallels. Does this parallel extend into the New Testament in any way? I think it does.

John the Baptist is called Elijah (Mt. 11:14). He is the one whom God sent ahead to prepare the way for Messiah:

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts” (Mal. 3:1).

In a sense, this Elijah, John the Baptist, had a successor too: Jesus. John the Baptist said, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie” (Mk. 1:7) (see also Jn. 1:15, 27, 30). Just like Joshua was able to bring Israel into Canaan when Moses could not, and just like Elisha was given a double portion of Elijah’s spirit (2 Kgs. 2:9-15), so too Jesus takes the greater role over John the Baptist, the Elijah of that time. Even in Elisha’s death, he brought men to life through his bones (2 Kgs. 13:21). Jesus, likewise, brings men to life through His death. As Elisha was the successor with a greater portion of the Spirit, performing more and greater miracles, Jesus is the greater over John the Baptist.

Offering at the Proper Time

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the people of Israel and say to them, ‘My offering, my food for my food offerings, my pleasing aroma, you shall be careful to offer to me at its appointed time’” (Num. 28:1-2).

God was very specific about when Israel offered what sacrifice. It had to be the right sacrifice at the right time. Concerning Jesus, who fulfilled all the offerings, Paul says,

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Rom. 5:6, emphasis mine).

This was done at the specific time in history God wanted it to be done, and it was done once and for all:

For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified (Heb. 10:14).

Just as the sacrifices and offering in the temple were to be given at their appointed times, Jesus’ offering of His own life was likewise given at its appointed time, but instead of a repeating daily, weekly, monthly, and annual calendar of sacrifices, His was made only one time in the universe, the true Sacrifice for our sins and guilt, and the offering by which we can draw near to God and be accepted.

The Offering of Sukkot

There is so much I could say about all the offerings right now, but I will refrain for now due to the length of this post. But I do want to take some time and talk specifically about the offerings commanded to be made at Sukkot, the last mo’ed (appointed time) on the holy calendar, and what that has to do with God, the world, and Israel. On the first day of Sukkot, thirteen bulls were supposed to be offered, along with other items, which remain the same throughout the seven days of Sukkot. But the number of bulls changes every day. The pattern counts down by one daily until you get to seven bulls on the seventh day, and then only one bull is offered on the eighth day. The total number of bulls adds up to 70. The Talmud offers an interesting insight into this pattern concerning the world.

According to the Talmud, Sukkot 55b,

“Rabbi Elazar said: These seventy bulls that are sacrificed as additional offerings over the course of the seven days of Sukkot, to what do they correspond? They correspond to the seventy nations of the world, and are brought to atone for their sins and to hasten world peace. Why is a single bull sacrificed on the Eighth Day of Assembly? It corresponds to the singular nation, Israel.”

According to tradition, 70 nations went out from Babel over the earth. These are the original nations or people groups.

According to Dr. Baruch,

“The meaning of the number thirteen is found when the numbers one and twelve are combined. We have learned that twelve refers to the people of G-d and the number one relates to HaShem; therefore, the number thirteen speaks of a unity between G-d and His people…The numbers six and seven are related to this idea. The only way that there can be unity between man and a Holy G-d is when sinners are made holy (7) by the grace of God (6).”

Thirteen is also the numerical value of the word love in Hebrew and the covenant name of God, YHWH. So the bulls of the first day of offering could imply the unity of God and mankind.

Regarding the seventh day, we have seven bulls being offered. Dr. Baruch says Christians often interpret seven as the number of completion (as I have done even on this very blog), and we can get that from Genesis 2:1-2, but that’s not its meaning in Scripture from a holistic approach. Seven is more associated with holiness and rest. So the nations, by the end of the seventh day, are brought to holiness and rest in God. You could also say completion I guess, but it’s not just that.

The sages have already been cited in the Talmud as understanding the bull of the eighth day as the singular nation of Israel. Yitzchak Reuven of the Temple Institute also discusses the eighth day as a day between God and Israel, a private day. How could Biblical eschatology correspond to this teaching? Romans 11:25 says,

“a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”

This verse indicates that once the Gentiles who will be saved are brought into salvation, the partial hardening on Israel toward the Gospel will be lifted, and they will be brought into salvation as a nation too. I’m not indicating all Jews are hardened. Quite the contrary. The Scripture says the hardening is “partial.” On that last day, Israel will believe on a large scale, like a revival scale. This follows the pattern of Numbers 29 according to the sages. Atonement is made for the nations, and then Israel on the last day.

Let’s look back at the salvation of the Gentiles or other nations again. In Revelation 7:9-10, we get a picture of all these nations at the end:

“⁹ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”

White is the traditional attire worn on Yom Kippur, and palm branches are traditionally used to worship God during Sukkot.

In the temple times, the sacrifices were made in the temple, but when Messiah came, He fulfilled these sacrifices in His own temple, His body (Jn. 2:21)? Now consider this passage from the Talmud that quotes Rabbi Yoḥanan,

“Woe unto the nations of the world that lost something and do not know what they lost. When the Temple is standing, the seventy bulls sacrificed on the altar during the festival of Sukkot atones for them. And now that the Temple is destroyed, who atones for them?”

Well, if you understand Jesus is the temple of God’s presence as He Himself declared, then He atones for them. Those atoned for from the nations proclaim, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

The sacrifices of Sukkot are about bringing back in the nations that dispersed at Babel and the salvation of Israel, all of which comes ultimately through Messiah, Jesus. I would like to close this post with a question. Are you a part of that? If you’re not sure, the Gospel is simple. All have sinned (Rom. 3:23), but whoever believes in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Savior of the world will be saved (Acts 16:31). He died for your sins (1 Cor. 15:3). All you have to do is receive that truth and believe it (John 1:12). Confess your sins to God (1 Jn. 1:9), ask Him to forgive you because of the atoning work of Jesus on the cross, and commit your life to Him. Then you will be among the throng before the throne of God rejoicing in His salvation.

Conclusion

I pray that you have a zeal for God like Phineas and Elijah, that you trust in the Messiah’s zeal to stop God’s wrath on you, that you would be counted among the generation of the righteous through faith and good works, that you would rely on Jesus as the successor to the greater covenant of peace, knowing that He has fulfilled all things at the proper time for both Israel and the world. Until next time, God bless.

Looking upon a wicked generation,
There is a God Who rightly is jealous
For people living in aberration.
His servants are similarly zealous.
Phineas, who took action in his zeal,
Was of the generation of righteous,
And by his actions did God's wrath repeal--
Placed covenant of peace on the pious.
Elijah, who called himself God's servant,
Himself was replaced with a successor,
And over these stories is a descant:
The greater one comes after the lesser,
Yet Messiah, Greater, took the spear's tip
And our lashes from vindication's whip.

Sources

The Bible. English Standard Version. Biblegateway.com. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

The Bible. Complete Jewish Bible. Biblegateway.com. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

LoveIsrael.org. “Hebrew Numerology-Seven.” HEBREW NUMEROLOGY, explained. Number SEVEN explained.

LoveIsrael.org. “Hebrew Numerology-Thirteen.”HEBREW NUMEROLOGY, explained. THIRTEEN, explained.

Talmud Sukkot 55b. Sefaria. Sukkah 55b:10 with Connections