Behaalotcha - Metatron & the Tabernacle
In the Torah portion of Behaalotecha, we learn about the mysterious cloud of glory which sometimes dwelled among the people of Israel in the Tabernacle, and sometimes went before the people, showing them the way to go. This points towards the Messiah, who will dwell among us and lead us.
It says in Numbers 9:16:
“So it was continuously; the cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.”
Throughout Israel’s journey through the wilderness, the Angel of the LORD accompanied them, in the form of the cloud of glory. The cloud lifted to show when to move out, and then it traveled ahead to show them the way. When the cloud stopped, the Israelites knew it was time to camp. It says in Numbers 9:22 that they remained encamped, "whether it was two days or a month or a year".
When the cloud lifted, the priests made a special kind of sound on the trumpet that was called a tekiah. A tekiah is a long uninterrupted trumpet blast. Another kind of trumpet blast the priests used was called a teru’ah. It was series of staccato trumpet blasts, that was used to assemble the nation. There are all sorts of trumpet blasts used in Jewish history, from a series of blasts used to declare the onsets of various festivals and Shabbats, to using the shofar blast to invoke divine assistance in battle. This history of the trumpet blasts is carried on in our services for various Holy days today. It says in the Midrash:
"Six blasts were blown on Friday evening before the Sabbath. The first one warned people to cease working in the fields. The second one warned people in the city to cease working. The third warned people to kindle their Sabbath lights ... [finally the last three] a tekiah, teru'ah, and a tekiah were blown to mark the onset of the Sabbath." (b.Shabbat 35b)
Archaeologists in the old city of Jerusalem have revealed a stone, part of the second Temple from the days of the talmidim (apostles), that is inscribed with the words "to the place of the trumpeting for." Archaeologists theorize that the stone is part of a bigger sign that said, "to the place of the trumpeting for the priests", or ""to the place of the trumpeting for the separation [between holy time and profane]." This sign might have marked a station high up on the Temple's pinnacle where the priests stood to blast the trumpets at the beginning of Shabbats and festivals.
This combination of the cloud of glory and the blasting of the trumpet to indicate marching orders or the onset of Sabbaths and festivals alludes to the second coming of Messiah. His coming will be announced with the blast of the trumpets. His coming will mark the onset of the great Shabbat of the Messianic Era. His coming will be a time of war during which Israel will call for divine intervention. His coming will be a time for the congregation to assemble.
It says in Numbers 9:17:
“Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would then set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp.”
The Talmud refers to the Messiah as "Bar Nafli." This title has a double meaning. In Hebrew and Aramaic, it means, "Son of the Fallen," referring to the fallen house of David, as it says in Amos 9:11, "In that day I will raise up the fallen sukkah of David." But on the other hand, the word nafli (fallen,נפלי) sounds like the Greek word for cloud, nefele (νεφέλη). In this context, Messiah’s name could be "Son of the Clouds," an allusion to Daniel's vision of the Messiah in Daniel 7:13:
“I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him.”
It says in the Midrash:
“Rabbi Nachman said to Rabbi Yitzchak, ‘Have you heard when Bar Nafli (Son of the Fallen) will come?’ Yitzchak asked, ‘Who is Bar Nafli?’ Nachman answered, ‘Messiah.’ Yitzchak asked, ‘Why do you call the Messiah by the name Bar Nafli?’ He explained, ‘It is written [in Amos 9:111, "In that day I will raise up the fallen sukkah of David.’” (b.Sanhedrin 96b-97a)
In addition to this, the Targum on 1 Chronicles 3:24 refers to the name “Anani” (ענני) as a title for Messiah. The name Anani is based on the Hebrew word for cloud (ענן), and it means "of the clouds." It says:
“The sons of Elioenai were Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah and Anani. He is the Messiah King who will ultimately be revealed.” (1 Chronicles 3:24, Targum Yonatan)
The cloud of glory and the trumpet blasts that led Israel in the wilderness points towards the Messiah. Yeshua told His disciples in Luke 21:27 that they would see Him as "the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory", and in Matthew 24:30-31 that he would be accompanied by a great trumpet blast for the purpose of assembling the people of Israel. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 talks about how Yeshua "will descend from heaven with a teruah, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God ... Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." And it says in 1 Corinthians 15:52 "At the last trumpet ... the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed" (I Corinthians 15:52).
Just as the priests blew on the trumpet to announce the appointed times, the angels will blow on seven trumpets to announce the final judgment. It says in Revelations 1:7, "Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him.” And it says in Revelations 1:10 that Yeshua spoke with a "voice like the sound of a trumpet."
According to Gevul Benyamin, the Tabernacle was made to travel from place to place in order to point towards Israel's future exile and wandering among the nations. There’s a passage in the midrash that supports this idea:
“Rabbi Shim'on explained, ‘When the Holy One, blessed be He, told Israel to set up the Tabernacle He hinted to the ministering angels that they also should set up a heavenly Tabernacle. When the one below was assembled, the heavenly one on high was also assembled. The heavenly Tabernacle was the Tabernacle of the young man whose name was Metatron, and in it, he offers up the souls of the righteous to atone for Israel in the days of their exile.’” (Numbers Rabbah 12:12)
According to this passage, there is a heavenly priest who offers up sacrifices in the heavenly temple he is referred to as "the young man", and as Metatron.
Why does the Midrash refer to the heavenly priest as "the young man"? This is to refer to Joshua (Yehoshua) who is also called "the young man”, in Exodus 33:11:
“Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.”
Metatron is also known as the Angel of the Face [of God]. This heavenly priest offers up the souls of the righteous, suggesting that the suffering and death of the righteous is likened to a sacrifice and that the suffering and death of the righteous atones for sins in the same way that sacrifices do.
The shortened form of Yehoshua is Yeshua. This heavenly priest in this passage can be compared to what the book of Hebrews says about Yeshua, who is the high priest of the heavenly Sanctuary. Yeshua offers his own suffering and death on the heavenly altar to atone for the sins of the world.
In the Torah Portion of Beha’alotcha, we learn about the cloud that rested in the Tabernacle, and traveled to show the people of Israel the way. The cloud points towards the Messiah, who will dwell in our midst and show us the way. There’s a passage in the Midrash on this Torah portion that points towards the Heavenly Tabernacle and a heavenly priest, who offers up the souls of righteous people. The heavenly priest might very well be Yeshua, who offers up his own soul to atone for the sins of the world.
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