| Torah Portion | Haftarah Portion(s) | B'rit Chadashah Portion(s) |
|---|
Numbers 19.1–25.9 | Micah 5.6–6.8 | John 19.38-42 |
| | Matthew 21.1-11 |
| | Romans 13.1-7 |
Portion Outline
Torah
Numbers 19:1 Ceremony of the Red Heifer
Numbers 20:1 The Waters of Meribah
Numbers 20:14 Passage through Edom Refused
Numbers 20:22 The Death of Aaron
Numbers 21:1 The Bronze Serpent
Numbers 21:10 The Journey to Moab
Numbers 21:21 King Sihon Defeated
Numbers 21:33 King Og Defeated
Numbers 22:1 Balak Summons Balaam to Curse Israel
Numbers 22:22 Balaam, the Donkey, and the Angel
Numbers 22:41 Balaam's First Oracle
Numbers 23:13 Balaam's Second Oracle
Numbers 24:1 Balaam's Third Oracle
Numbers 24:15 Balaam's Fourth Oracle
Numbers 25:1 Worship of Baal of Peor
Prophets
Micah 5:7 The Future Role of the Remnant
Micah 6:1 God Challenges Israel
B'rit Chadashah
John 19:38 Yeshua buried by Joseph and Nicodemus
Matthew 21:1 Messiah rides into Jerusalem upon an ass
Romans 13:1 Subjection to magistrates and those in authority
Commentary
Bonus material
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Torah Portion Summary
Chukat: The word chukat means "statute." The name is derived from the second verse of the reading: "This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded" (Numbers 19:2). Chukat presents the mysterious laws of the red-heifer ceremony for purification after contact with human death. This reading also contains the story of Moses striking the rock, the stories of the deaths of Aaron and Miriam and the wars with the Amorites. The portion concludes with the host of Israel encamping on the edge of the Promised Land.
Balak: (Balak, בלק) was the name of a Moabite king in the days of Moses. It is also the name of the fortieth reading from the Torah. It comes from the second verse of this week's reading, which says, "Now Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites" (Numbers 22:2). This week's Torah reading tells the story of how Balak hires the occult prophet Balaam to lay a curse on Israel. Balaam meets resistance from God, has a conversation with his donkey and ends up blessing Israel instead of cursing them.
Haftarah Portion Summary
The Haftarah for Korach likewise concerns a change in leadership for Israel, but transports us to the time when the prophet Samuel anointed Saul as the first king of Israel. Samuel (a descendant of Kohath) gathered the people of Israel to Gilgal to "renew the kingdom" and there recounted their history as a people, from the time of the patriarchs up to the present time - when Nachash the Ammonite had threatened Israel with bondage. In response to this threat, Israel demanded a king to lead them. Samuel told the people that their present condition was a result of their disobedience to the LORD by worshipping idols and refusing Him as their rightful King.
The LORD allowed the Israelites to have a king, even though this was a tacit rejection of His Kingship, but Samuel warned that having an earthly monarch would not change their condition before the LORD. Only if the people and the new king submit to the LORD would it go well with them; otherwise, they would be punished, just as their ancestors were.
Samuel demonstrated the truth of his words by calling upon the LORD to perform a miracle to show that He would indeed punish the people if they did not follow Him. Even though it was the time of the wheat harvest and rain was rare in the climate of Israel, Samuel called for a thunderstorm to come to show the people that they sinned by asking for a king.
The people then were afraid that they had sinned by asking for a king, but Samuel comforted them with these words: "Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself."
B'rit Chadashah Portion Summary
The New Testament reading (Romans) reinforces the instruction that we are to submit to God's chosen authority. The Apostle Paul emphatically states that Christians are to submit to civil authorities, since these have been established by God. We are further warned that whoever resists these God-established authorities will incur judgment.