Sons and Daughters of the Covenant

This weekend was very special for us. We celebrated the Bar Mitzvah* of our third child and first son, Mattan. Truthfully, after the crazy year we have had, we weren’t sure if or how we would be able to celebrate. By God’s grace, the last of the Covid-19 restrictions were lifted just in time to have a traditional celebration as he and we had dreamed.

Matti’s weekly scripture portion was Numbers 16 and 17. Under the guidance of his father, he studied diligently and prepared to chant the verses of scripture that he chose from the portion and to give a commentary on what he had learned from the portion. Watching him study so devotedly and approach the mentorship with his father and the other leaders in the community who met with him was a special experience. He truly went through a process of embracing the role of becoming a “Bar Mitzvah,” a son of the covenant.

In this section of scripture, Korach and a group of men that he incites and leads, revolt against Moses and Aaron. They come against the order God has set for the role each tribe should fill. As a Levite, Korach was already in a place to have special ritual duties, but he was not content with the position he had and rebelled against the authority God had set. The rebellion is quenched and punished by God, but it is notable that the sons of Korach, his descendants, did not follow in their father’s rebellious footsteps. They submitted themselves to the ordained leadership and are the writers of the Psalms from which we have some of the most anointed worship songs we sing Psalms 42, 46, 84, 87 and more. It is so encouraging and such a picture of God’s redemption that the sons of Korach were not bound by the mistakes of their father but were privileged to make good choices and then be instrumental in penning words that touch eternity.

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Here is an excerpt from Mattan’s Bar Mitzvah commentary regarding the rebellion of Korach in Numbers 16-17 and Aaron’s staff that budded. 

God told Moses to take the marked staff of representatives from each of the twelve tribes, including Aaron. Through them God would make clear whom he was choosing to be the high priest. 

So, Moses put the staffs in the tent of meeting before the Lord. The next day Moses came to the tent of meeting and saw that on the staff of Aaron, almond flowers were blossoming! 

Moses presented the staffs to all the tribes and returned them to their owners.

So, what is a staff? A staff is a rod, a baton, or a stick used to support and assist in walking. Beyond that, a staff symbolizes leadership, identity, and authority. Leadership – as a shepherd in front of his flock or as a baton in the hand of the orchestra conductor. Identity – as a staff in the hand of Moses and Aaron. Authority – as a golden scepter in a king’s hand.

There were two reasons I chose these specific verses from the weekly Torah portion:

1. In the verses I heard: “matteh, matteh” – “staff by staff” in Hebrew, and it sounded like my name (Matti). So, it was special to me, as if God called me by name; and it was also funny at the same time.

2. Ever since I was a child and even now, I like to play with sticks. When I hold a stick, I feel like my hand is longer and I can reach things that I could not reach with empty hands. I would take broomsticks and practice on them as if I had a weapon. I did not know that the passage I would read in my Bar Mitzvah would be about a stick! 

I believe this is a message for me from God, and I hope for you too. The message I received from this passage is that if we despise one who is sent from God, that is, a person whom God has chosen, then we are also despising God. A man or woman of God is not perfect, but neither are you. This person is simply a messenger and God is the sender. If the person being sent is despised, then the sender is also despised. The High Priest was chosen by God, and he was to be a bridge between God and the people. Today on my bar mitzvah, I want to say that my High Priest is Yeshua who took my sins upon him and made a way for me to be in touch with God.

I want to tell you a secret about me. I love superheroes. My favorite is Spiderman. Thinking about superpowers encourages me to seek what heroism God has placed in my life. I understand from today’s chapter that the story of the staff is a story about us. Each of us is a staff in the eyes of God. I declare today that I want to be a rod in the hand of God. I don’t want to leave God’s hands empty. Therefore, I want to give my life to be a staff in the hand of God, to find the “heroism” that is within me and to fulfil the call that God has given me.

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The Bible is filled with ceremonial events, Old Testament and New Testament alike. We need ceremony to mark significant events, changes, milestones. When Yeshua was ready to begin his ministry, God the Father attended His “immersion-ordination” by speaking from heaven.

This week as we prepared for the Bar Mitzvah, we also had the honor to immerse in water one of our young women, who is just about to finish her army service. She also engaged in a ceremonial act of covenantal commitment.

This week’s ceremonies were important for our son, and this young woman, but they were equally important for the rest of us, to witness anew a transaction of decision and declaration of Faith that has weight in the spiritual realm. We have all been given the divine gift of free will. We must choose to walk in service and relationship with God, and to renew our covenant with Him regularly.

*The bar mitzvah is the coming-of-age ceremony in which, at age 13, a boy becomes directly answerable to God’s commandments according to Jewish tradition. Girls celebrate their bat mitzvah at age 12.