Shalom!
 
Our parasha this week contains so many interesting topics including priestly duties, purifying the camp, the wife accused of unfaithfulness, the nazarite, the Priestly Blessing, and the consecration of the Tabernacle. In this email, however, I'm going to choose something you might have missed. The topic is "confession and repentance." These words are both found in Bemidbar 5:7. Perhaps these concepts, these heart issues, are at the root of everything else in Naso.
 
Bemidbar/Numbers 5:6 "Speak to the children of Israel: 'When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit in unfaithfulness against YHWH, and that person is guilty, 7 'then he shall confess (yadah) the sin which he has committed. He shall make restitution (shuv) for his trespass in full, plus one-fifth of it, and give it to the one he has wronged.
 
The Hebrew verbal root for the word "confess" is "yadah" (yud, dalet, hey). According to TWOT (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament) the primary meaning is "to acknowledge or confess sin, God's character and works, or man's character." "Yadah" emphasizes recognition and declaration of a fact, whether good or bad. In the above verse, we notice that the sinner is "recognizing and declaring" his sin. We have another example of what it means to "confess," demonstrating the idea that one is making known the sin to Elohim and not hiding it:
 
 
Psalm 32:5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to YHWH," And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
 
Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
 
But this same verb referring to "confession" in the above verses, is also used to "publicly proclaim or declare God's awesome attributes and/or His works." This is the idea of "confessing" Elohim's great character. In other words, a second translation of "yadah" is "praise":
 
Psalm 86:12 I will praise You, O Adonai my Elohim, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore.
 
 
Psalm 57:9 I will praise You, O Adonai, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations.
 
Another Hebrew word for "praise" you may be more familiar with is "hallal", from which we get "Tehillim", i.e., the Psalms (of praise):
 
Psalm 113:1 Praise YHWH! Praise, O servants of
 YHWH, Praise the name of YHWH! 2 Blessed be the name of 
YHWH from this time forth and forevermore! 3 From the rising of the sun to its going down YHWH's name is to be praised.
 
Psalm 22:3 But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
 
The third way a word with the root "yada" is translated into English is as "thanks":
 
1 Chronicles 16:34 Give thanks to
YHWH, for he is good; his love endures forever.
 
Psalm 97:12 Rejoice in
 YHWH, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
 
And a fourth way worth mentioning. The root word of the name "Yehudah" (Judah) is also "yadah":
 
Bereshith/Genesis 29:35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Now I will praise YHWH." Therefore she called his name Yehudah. Then she stopped bearing.
 
It is interesting to note that in Ya'acov's (Jacob's) prophetic blessing over his sons, he says that Yehudah's brothers will "yadah" him.
 
Bereshith/Genesis 49:8 "Yehudah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise: Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father's children shall bow down before you.
 
Is it possible that the above verse is saying, "in the future, Yehudah, your brothers will not only 'praise,' but 'confess'...i.e., 'recognize and declare' who you are?"
 
To summarize, we have seen four words which come from the root "yadah":
  1. confess
  2. praise
  3. thank
  4. Yehudah
Let's expand on the word as it is translated as "confess" in Bemidbar 5:7. It appears that the transgressor is "confessing" audibly to the victim. "Confession" needs to be the foundation for a real change in heart and perhaps lifestyle. One "confesses" to the one whom he sinned against, but he also acknowledges that his guilt is against YHWH. These steps are what will allow Elohim to make you into a new being, a vessel of "praise."
 
We have also noticed that "shuv," translated mostly as "return, repent, restore," is in our same verse, translated as "make restitution:
 
Bemidbar/Numbers 5:7 'then he shall confess the sin which he has committed. He shall make restitution for his trespass in full, plus one-fifth of it, and give it to the one he has wronged.
 
What is true "repentance"? What does it mean, to "make restitution"? It is not simply to cease from sin. It expresses a radical change away from sin, to agree with Elohim, and a decision to forsake the wrongdoing. It means to return to His way of holiness. It involves "godly sorrow":
 
2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
 
True "repentance" returns you to the origin of Yah's plan for you. "Repentance" begins with "confessing." The act of "confession" is a prerequisite for "repentance." This means an admission of sin (not just to YHWH, but first to the person you have affected with your sin). In the book of 1 John, we read very familiar verses on "confessing." But notice verse 7 speaks of "walking" in "fellowship with one another." Is John also reminding us that we must first "confess" to one we have sinned against, before the Almighty will "forgive us"?
 
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Yeshua the Messiah, His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
 
Is this why Ya'acov (James) speaks of "confessing" in order to be "healed"?
 
James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed...
 
Finally, true "repentance" comes not merely by understanding the sin against fellow man, but by understanding the nature of the Mighty One with whom we are in relationship. In other words, the more we see Elohim as glorious and holy, the more we will see sin as something to weep over. Perhaps this is why "confess" and "praise" come from the same Hebrew root. "Repentance" is less about feeling bad over behavior, and more about feeling awe towards YHWH. The more glimpses we have of His glory, the more we mourn over falling short. This is what causes us to be brokenhearted over that which separates us.
 
Thus we understand that YHWH is the vertical aspect of our obligation to "confess/repent," and the relationships with each other are the horizontal dimension of our responsibilities. Recognizing both of these areas helps us to truly see our sin. The horizontal and the vertical dimensions are exactly how Yeshua summed up the whole Torah:
 
Matthew 22:36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Torah?" 37 Yeshua said to him, " 'You shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the first and great commandment. 39 "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 "On these two commandments hang all the Torah and the Prophets."
 
Our brother and our Elohim...a person cannot "love YHWH" without "loving his brother" who is made in the image of YHWH:
 
1 John 4:20 If someone says, "I love Elohim," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love Elohim whom he has not seen?
 
These are all issues of the heart. Bemidbar will continue to make reference to the heart - the test for the jealous husband's wife, the Nazarite who desires to be fully devoted, and tribal dedications for the Tabernacle. The absolutely amazing part, however, is that it is YHWH's heart's desire to "bless His children":
 
Bemidbar/Numbers 6:23 "Speak to Aharon and his sons, saying, 'This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel....
 
To end, I love how Israeli kids responded to the the kites of fire, the Palestinians had sent across the Gazan border - Kites of love
 
 
Shabbat Shalom!
Ardelle