We believe the names of the main characters will prove useful in understanding this teaching; therefore we will begin with a little background and the definitions of the names.
The scene:
If you’ve read our section on manna you should know that the congregation rejecting the manna in favor for the foods of Egypt was likened to sin and this caused the true Church to divide into many denominations. That story precedes what we’re discussing here by exactly one chapter in the Torah. We do not believe this is a coincidence, but before we get into this explanation we must first take a look at the main players:
Moses- is He that is drawn from the water/Torah and the papacy sits upon his seat.This union then brought the anger of His priesthood and the rebellious. Why?Aaron- is the high priest and represents HaShem’s royal Priesthood.
Miriam- means rebellion and her name fits perfectly to this story.
Cushite- Cush is another name for Ethiopia and was also the name of the son of Ham (or he that saw his father Noah’s {“rest”} nakedness) who told his brothers rather than correct the problem himself. When Noah woke up and heard of Ham’s sin he said:
“’Curse be Canaan; a slave of slaves shall he be to his bothers.’ He also said, ‘Blessed by the L-rd my G-d be Shem (or Blessed be the L-rd the G-d of Shem); and let Canaan be his slave. God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his slave.”
Why didn’t Noah curse Ham if he is the one who did the offense? He cursed a descendant of Ham. You see, Moses married a Cushite woman, the daughter of Ham’s youngest son Canaan. Canaan means humiliated and it is this one who was humiliated and enslaved to his brothers.
Note that Canaan’s brothers were not Shem and Japheth, they were Cush, Egypt, and Put; therefore this must be symbolic of something. With this in mind we put in the meaning of the names and we have:
“’Curse be humiliated; a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers.’ He also said, ‘Blessed by the L-rd my G-d be Name (or Blessed be the L-rd the G-d of Name); and let humiliated be his slave. God enlarge (root- deluded) expansion, and let him dwell in the tents of Name; and let humiliated be his slave.”
Note that Japheth means expansion, but its root is ‘pathah’, which means roomy in a negative connotation (i.e. air headed or deluded). The reason we mention this is if the root means roomy in a negative connotation, then the word that means expansion must mean roomy in an expansive way.
Now ‘humiliated’ is slave to his brother, ‘Name’ (could this be Yeshua? This is why we capitalized the word “name” if you haven’t already guessed) And he is also slave to the one HaShem enlarged, who is expansive (taking it in simplest sense). We suspect this means that he is enslaved to E’phraim because it was E’phraim who got the multiplicity factor (expanded in number) from Abraham and was later thrown in among the Goyim to become one with them. It is foolish to be numbered among HaShem’s children and then to throw it all away senselessly just as E’phraim did 2500 years ago. So, if Ham is represented by the humble (humiliated) then would not his sons also be under the same judgment? If so, Cush is humbly enslaved to Yeshua; and E’phraim will dwell in the tents of Yeshua who enslaves the humble (willingly, we add). And Moshe was married to the daughter brought forth from this union. The humbled under Yeshua are all those called by his name even those among the Goyim and what few realize is the Lost Tribes (called E’phraim in the Haftarah) are in the body of the Talmudine. It is the “daughter” of these, we believe, Moshe married.
Could it be because when Moshe, or the symbolic equivalent- the papacy (we'll explain why we say this when we get up the site on the papacy just bear with us for now), married the “daughter of humbled Goyim and E’phraim”, and this “bride” brought many of her “customs” to the marriage that angered the self-righteous leaders and rebels of our faith? (Yeshua predicted this would happen in Matt.13.24)
A common complaint about our Church is that Her traditions are pagan. This isn’t entirely true, but what is true is that the traditions of the Torah are mixed with pagan traditions and in time became our current traditions (see our other writings on the holidays for support to this claim). This was the will of HaShem because it brings more people to Him, but Protestants and some Catholics did not understand this (they talk about salvation by grace up until they get to the Churches Laws and then scream "pagans!"). Therefore might Aaron and Miriam be from this group since they are angry at the Church’s revelation?
For the Word reads: “Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he married, for he married a Cushite woman;” Its whole rendering is:
“Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he married, for he married a Cushite woman; and they said, ‘Has the L-rd indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?’”This is also a complaint from those not in the Catholic faith as well as by some Catholics regarding the pope. ‘Has the L-rd indeed spoken only through Pope John Paul? Has he not spoken through us, the followers of Christ also?’ The answer is, of course, yes! Hashem speaks to all of the Talmudine, however, its not that simple because . . .well, the Great IAM can say it best Himself:
“And the L-rd heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all men that were on the face of the earth. And suddenly the L-rd said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, ‘Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.’ And the three of them came out. And the L-rd came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward.”This same pillar of cloud was HaShem who led them out of Egypt and stayed with them until they entered into the Promise Land. This cloud is also found when it descended upon the Temple because Hashem was present, for it was Hashem and His presence that dwelled within it just as He dwelt within His Son.
“And he said, ‘Hear My Words: If there is a prophet among you, I the L-rd make Myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is entrusted with all My house. With him I speak Mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in dark speech; and he beholds the form of the L-rd. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?”Moses, the one drawn forth from the water (Law); the one on which the authority of Peter’s seat is derived and both Moshe and Peter married the Goyim which would later cause problems among their flock. This should be clear that HaShem speaks of Yeshua within His Church, because no believer would challenge HaMoshiach Himself just as Aaron and Miriam do here. But they do challenge the authority of Yeshua’s representative on earth that is the Pope and the Magisterial Bishops who maybe flawed by their own individual words, but in whom HaShem speaks to collectively when they come together by the wishes of the Ruach HaKadosh.
One the other point, those who question the Church’s authority belong in one of two groups- true priests (albeit some misled priests) and the rebellious believers (others are covered a few chapters later in the Korite rebellion). HaShem yells at both of them, then departs from their sight and strikes the rebellious one with leprosy:
“And the anger of the L-rd was kindled against them, and He departed; and when the cloud removed from over the tent, behold Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned towards Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.”The leprosy of Miriam:
Aaron doesn’t get struck with leprosy because, as a priest of the Most High who has faith in HaShem, he did bend to peer pressure and was angry at Moshe’s marriage to the Goyim, but returned as soon as HaShem affirmed Moshe’s authority. But Miriam was also a rebel (by her name), which means she resisted all authority and tradition and would not easily return. Note that both were punished, however with the loss of HaShem’s presence: “He departed”; Miriam got an additional punishment for her rebellion for she was struck down with leprosy. Leprosy was a horrible disease that literally ate away the skin of its victim and this leprosy turned her skin “white as snow”- a bad thing? Maybe not:
“Come let us reason together. Says the L-rd: though your sins are like scarlet they shall be as white as snow . . .” Is.1.18So did Miriam get an additional punishment? Yes, the Refiner’s fire because HaShem “‘ . . . disciplines him whom He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives.’ For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Heb.12.6,11
The righteous priest, at once sees his error, but what he can’t understand is why HaShem punishes the rebellious even more (we also struggled with this because many of our friends are Protestant and very good people). Therefore, they go to Moses- the seat of Peter and say:
‘Oh, my L-rd, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.’This is a fascinating passage, which we might not have understood at all if HaShem hadn’t led us into a study of the Eucharist just recently. In Jn.6.53, Yeshua tells us that:
“ . . .unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you . . .."When those in the Church show through scripture that the Holy Eucharist is indeed His spiritual Body and Blood, the next fearful question we get from those not in good standing with the Church is, are we not saved? The reason for this worry is the scripture quoted above in John. But we, the Talmudine in the Catholic Church always answer, yes, you are among the saved. You can’t still be in mortal sin and alive if you are in Yeshua but you can make mistakes. This is what Aaron is saying to Moses, that Miriam only looks dead but she is not dead. Protestants who do not consume the Consecrated Eucharist may look dead, but may not be actually dead. Once they came forth from their mother, the Church (even Protestants are considered Catholics, just not Catholics in good standing), they consume only half the flesh (“of whom the flesh is half consumed”) because they don’t consume the Consecrated Eucharist, however they still get a portion of Yeshua’s spiritual flesh from the Word of G-d. The Church realized this fully only in the end of this twentieth century (Vatican II) and loosened the judgment upon those not able to accept Yeshua in the Eucharist, due to ignorance. But after the judgment was loosened, the Talmudine wondered why not just welcome these lost sheep into the fold (say all Protestants are Catholic). After all, their rebellion makes them look dead, but in the heart they are still very much alive. Moses was also puzzled, therefore he (our pontiff) went to Ad-nai and said:
“And Moses cried to the L-rd, ‘Heal her, O G-d, I beseech Thee.’ But the L-rd said to Moses, ‘If her Father had but spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.’”Moses (the Church) really doesn’t want those outside her punished any longer, but Hashem is far wiser. He knows that for the rebellious to be holy they must go through this “wasting of the flesh” or chastening (this is the true reason Protestants can not consume the Eucharist without going through RCIA (Roman Catholic Rite for Adults). It is the will of the Father, not the will of the Church. They need this “wasting of their flesh” to heal. It is this wasting of the flesh that HaShem likened to a Father spitting in her face. Yeshua once put spit in the face of a blind man as well:
“And He took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the village; and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands upon him, he asked him, ‘Do you see anything?’Having your father spit in your face is only bad if your father isn’t the Father or even His Only Begotten Son, and just as this man was healed of his blindness in proper time, so too must the rebellious heal in a “perfect” period of time, known only by the Great IAm. This rebellion of the Talmudine was greatly unfortunate because while Yeshua healed their blindness and turned their scarlet sins white as snow, the whole congregation was still hurt:And he looked up and said, ‘I see men; but they look like trees, walking.’ Then again He laid his hands upon his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and saw everything clearly.” Mk.8.23-25
“So Miriam was shut up outside the camp seven days; and the people did not set out again on the march till Miriam was brought in again. “The Protestant Reformation handicapped the entire Church, not just the Catholic Church, for there is but one Church, founded by the Rock of Salvation and all other “true” faiths are merely sub-groups of this church and therefore, if they are not “in the camp" (part of the mother Church) they are “outside the camp” (not in good standing). But here lies a wonderful promise, one day this division will heal and the rebellious will return to her whom they misunderstood. Actually, they don’t return on their own, the Talmudine who are still "in the camp" brings them back, “Miriam was brought in again”. Unfortunately we as the One Church can’t “set out” until those outside the camp have returned.
“After that the people set out from Haze’roth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.”Haze’roth means a yard enclosed by a fence. The Oral Law is a fence the shepherds built up around the Torah by the rabbis to keep the sheep from scattering. Such a fence was later built around the Brith HaDoshah by His Church.
Paran, means ornamental- it comes from the root Pa’ar 6286 which means to gleam or to explain oneself. Literally, it is a desert in Palestine. Working from the root, could HaShem mean that after we set out from the fence (not that we don’t need the Oral Law, but that we need it as a starting point after the first reconciliation takes place) we will enter a wilderness where we will shine brightly like an ornament? And might not the wilderness be the same one talked about a few chapters later, loosely known as the Korah rebellion or the Great Apostasy?
Of course, soon after this we as a people rejected the Promise Land, and then all our fathers over the age of twenty (except two, Caleb and Joshua), died in the desert of sin. But the sod of this, is another story . . .
Copyright (C)1999 C.Foegen
