Parashat
Chukat.
The sages say that the commandment of the Red Heifer (para
aduma) is “beyond human understanding” The “chukat” or “statutes” of this portion
can only begin to make sense when view them in the light of Messianic redemption. These “chukat” unravel
some of the deepest mysteries of our Messiah’s deep love and desire to be
united with his bride, so that we can all one day be united to the Father. The
meaning of the word “chukat” comes from the Hebrew verb “chukak” and means to
cut upon, engrave or inscribe.
Some believe that Yahshua will always bear the scars of
his nail pierced hands, evidence that will remind us forever of the Fathers
love for us.
After his resurrection Yahshua invited Thomas to examine
the scars on his body caused by his execution.
Joh 20:27 Then He said to T’oma, “Bring your finger
here, and see My hands. And bring your hand and put it into My side – and do
not be unbelieving, but believing.”
Joh 20:28 And T’oma answered and said to Him, “My
Master and my Elohim!”1 Footnote: 1See Heb. 1:8-9.
Joh 20:29 יהושע said to him,
“T’oma, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have
not seen and have believed.”
Joh 20:30 There
were indeed many other signs that יהושע did in the
presence of His taught ones, which are not written in this book,
Joh 21:25 Now there is much else that יהושע did. If every
one of them were written down, I think that the world itself would not contain
the written books. Amĕn.
Talking of the Messiah the prophet speaks:
Isa 49:16 “See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My
hands; your walls are always before Me.
הֵן עַל-כַּפַּיִם,
חַקֹּתִיךְ; חוֹמֹתַיִךְ נֶגְדִּי, תָּמִיד
This verse is very misleading
in the English translation.
The verse starts off by
saying – behold – “hen” or pay careful attention. Then it says “al Kapaim
chakotich” which literally means “on palms I have inscribed you” Please note it
does not say that YHVH has inscribed our names on His hands. The question then
remains “on whose palms then have we been inscribed?”
I believe we were
inscribed in Messiah’s palms -Yesh/Is 49 is a Messianic prophecy.
The palms of Messiah have been “inscribed” the Hebrew root comes from
the title of this parashah – “chukat’
The “chakikot” or engravings in
the palms in Yahshua’s palms indicate that so far Yahshua has been the only man
to fully obey YHVH perfectly without any question or any form of disobedience.
Psa 40:7 Then I said, “See, I have come; In the scroll
of the Book it is prescribed for me.
Psa 40:8 I have delighted to do Your pleasure, O my
Elohim, And Your Torah is within my heart1.” Footnote: 1Ps.
37:31, Ps. 119:11, Isa. 51:7, Heb. 10:7-9.
In modern Hebrew a “chukah” is
a constitution. “The phrase in B’Midbar 19:2 “zot chuckat ha torah” this is the chukat
of the Torah” appears only twice in the Torah (see also 31:21) This could be interpreted to mean “
this is the whole essence of the Torah” or “this is the constitution found in the
Word of YHVH.”
Midrash:
We must
not say we are saved because we are obedient. We should rather say we are
obedient because we are saved.
Eph 2:8 For by favour you have been saved, through
belief,(noun) and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of Elohim, (the verb
–“saving” is an act of YHVH)
Eph
2:9 it is not by works,(actions you have
taken) so that no one should boast.
It
is important to know that we did initiate our salvation, YHVH did. If we have been called and chosen by YHVH
then works and fruitfulness will follow our lives as a confirmation of our
calling.
Joh
15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I
chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your
fruit should remain…
Joh 15:9 “As the Father has loved Me, I have also
loved you. Stay in My love.
Joh 15:10 “If you guard My commands, you shall stay in
My love,1 even as I have guarded My Father’s commands and stay in
His love. Footnote: 1See 14:15.
Sadly in the last days
there seems to be only a remnant that will guard His commands.
Rev
12:17 And the dragon was enraged with
the woman, and he went to fight with the remnant of her seed, those guarding
the commands of Elohim and possessing the witness of יהושע Messiah.
Joh 6:44 “No one is able to come to Me unless the
Father who sent Me draws him. And I shall raise him up in the last day.
So
then who does the Father chose to come to the true Yahshua?
Those
that Father knows will obey Him. So once again we are not saved and called by
YHVH because we are obedient – we are obedient because He has chosen and saved
us – even before the foundation of the world.
Eph 1:4 even as He chose us in Him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be set-apart and blameless before Him
in love,1 Footnote: 12 Thess. 2:13.
That doesn’t mean we sit
back and do nothing. We are not saved and chosen to do nothing.
2Pe 1:10 For this reason, brothers, all the more do
your utmost to make firm your calling and choosing,1 for if you are
doing these matters you shall never stumble at all, Footnote: 1Mt.
20:16, Mt. 22:14, Rev. 17:14.
What do we do? Read the previous verses and you will know.
2Pe 1:2 Favour and peace be increased to you in the
knowledge of Elohim and of יהושע our Master,
2Pe 1:3 as His
Mighty-like power has given to us all we need for life and reverence, through
the knowledge of Him who called us to esteem and uprightness.
2Pe 1:4 Through
these there have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, so
that through these you might be partakers of the Mighty-like nature, having
escaped from the corruption in the world, caused by lust.
2Pe 1:5 And for
this reason do your utmost to add to your belief uprightness, to uprightness
knowledge,
2Pe 1:6 to
knowledge self-control, to self-control endurance, to endurance reverence,
2Pe 1:7 to
reverence brotherly affection, and to brotherly affection love.
2Pe 1:8 For if
these are in you and increase, they cause you to be neither inactive nor without
fruit in the knowledge of our Master יהושע Messiah.
2Pe 1:9 For he in
whom these are not present is blind, being shortsighted, and has forgotten that
he has been cleansed from his old sins. (Even though they had been called and
chosen they didn’t do what was proper and right according to the Word)
2Pe 1:10 For this
reason, brothers, all the more do your utmost to make firm your calling and
choosing,1 for if you are doing these matters you shall never
stumble at all, Footnote: 1Mt. 20:16, Mt. 22:14, Rev. 17:14.
So once again our parashah not only points us to Messiah
it reminds us that we too must become like him in all things even to the
obedience of laying down our lives.
Php 2:5 For, let this mind be in you which was also
in Messiah יהושע, Php 2:6
who, being in the nature of
Elohim, did not regard equality with Elohim a matter to be grasped,
Php 2:7 but
emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and came to be in the likeness
of men. Php 2:8 And having been found in
fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, death even
of a stake.
Gal 2:20 “I have
been impaled with Messiah, and I no longer live, but Messiah lives in me.1
And that which I now live in the flesh I live by belief in the Son of Elohim, who
loved me and gave Himself for me. Footnote: 1Rom. 8:10, 2 Cor. 6:16,
2 Cor. 13:5, Eph. 3:17, Col. 1:27, 1 John 4:4.
Gal 2:21 “I do not
set aside the favour of Elohim, for if righteousness is through Torah, then Messiah died for
naught.”
Aliyah Rishon 19:1-17
Bemidbar/Num 19:1 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying,
Num 19:2 “This is a law of the Torah(zot chukat ha
Torah) which יהוה has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, that
they bring you a red heifer, a perfect one, in which there is no blemish and on
which a yoke has never come.
It is believed that there have been nine perfect red
heifers offered for the service of the Temple so far in history of the two
temples that have stood in Yerushalyim.
Rabban
Maimonides, who codified the Torah, prophesied that the Messiah would sacrifice
the tenth Parah Adumah in human history [at his coming].
There are conflicting reports as to the present day
existence of a Red Hefer (female cow). She is to have no blemish- if two hairs
on her body are not red then she is considered to have a blemish.
“No yoke”
could imply that there was no burden on this animal which implies our messianic
redemption did not come as a result of the effort of a man but as the result of
the perfect obedience of one sinless man – Yahshua, by the will and initiative of YHVH.
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, but He
did not open His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
before its shearers is silent, but He did not open His mouth.
Num 19:3 ‘And you
shall give it to El’azar the priest, and he
shall bring it outside the camp, and shall slaughter it
before him.
The Red Heifer or “para aduma” reminds us of the
Messiah who was slain outside the camp on the Mount of Olives. (There is
growing consensus that Yahshua was executed on the Mount of Olives – see Heb
13:9-15)
Everything about this red heifer was red – red
reminds us of blood. This points us to the fact that only by blood can death be
overcome. This is at the very heart of the mystery of the chukat of the red
heifer – death will be overturned by death.
The
purpose of YHVH is to conform us into the image of Messiah. The Hebrew word for
“image” is “damut” “dam” is the Hebrew word which means blood.
Num 19:4 ‘And
El’azar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle
some of its blood seven times toward
the front of the Tent of Meeting.
Seven times could be pointing to the 7000 years YHVH extends His atonement to
mankind in order to bring him to perfection to enter into the Eighth Day or
eternity. This causes us to face the fact that for a period of seven thousand
years we will be confronted with the contamination of death.
Num 19:5 ‘And the
heifer shall be burned before his eyes – he burns its hide, and its flesh, and
its blood, and its dung.
Num 19:6 ‘And the
priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and throw them into the midst of the fire burning the
heifer.
“The hyssop was used in connection with the Messiah’s death, which
connects him with the deliverance from Mitzrayim, when hyssop was used to
sprinkle the blood on the doorposts.
Hyssop was also used in the cleansing process from “tzaraat”
(“leprosy”Lev 14) which symbolizes sin. In this parasha hyssop was used in the
cleansing from ritual uncleanness caused by contact with death.
Psa 51:7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I am clean; Wash
me, and I am whiter than snow.
The scarlet
red wool yarn reminds us of how we too are bound to Messiah in his death. In
the commentary on Leviticus 14:4 in Parashah 28, Metzorah, there are several
details about the significance of the three elements used in this cleansing.”
The cedar
reminds us of the execution stake upon which our Messiah was executed.
Num 19:7 ‘The
priest shall then wash his garments, and shall bathe his body in water, and
afterward come into the camp, but the priest is unclean until evening.
Num 19:8 ‘And he
who is burning it washes his garments in water, and shall bathe his body in
water, and is unclean until evening.
Num 19:9 ‘And a
clean man shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and shall place them outside
the camp in a clean place. And they shall be kept for the congregation of the
children of Yisra’ĕl for the water for
uncleanness, it is for cleansing
from sin.
“Water of uncleanness” in Hebrew “mei nidah”
The verb “nidah” is a piel verb which means to exclude or
expel.
The noun “nidah” refers to a woman having her monthly
cycle.
Lev 15:19 ‘And when a woman has a discharge, and the
discharge from her flesh is blood, she has to be in her separation (nidah) for
seven days. And whoever touches her is unclean until evening.
Some describe a woman’s monthly period as a time when her
womb “weeps” because it has not produced life.
This in some mysterious way can be compared to the seven
thousand years man experiences a kind of mourning or weeping because he or she
is not able to create or produce a righteous life in ourselves.
We cannot make ourselves righteous. The only
righteousness we will have in this life is the righteousness of YHVH in
Messiah.
2Co 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for
us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of Elohim.
We don’t have intercourse with our wives during nidah;
not because they are dirty, but because this a “choke” or instruction we are to
strictly observe. We need to remind ourselves that for “seven days” (figurative
of 7000 years) are unable to produce the kind of life that we will be able to
produce on the “Eighth Day.”
This brings us to one of the most important spiritual
lessons we can ever learn in these 7000 years – our knowledge of Messiah is
initially very impartial but grows as we seek YHVH with all our hearts to love
and obey Him in all things as did Yahshua His only brought forth son.
Every time this law of the red heifer was applied – it
was a reminder that we too need to continually be sprinkled with the knowledge
of how Messiah is the only one who can cleanse and present us perfect to the
Father.
Let us remind ourselves that this “chok” of the red
heifer will be reinstated when Messiah returns – Mat 5:17-19.
Why? Because this obedience will lead to a deeper
understanding and love for Messiah – BECAUSE
THEN AND NOW OUR KNOWLEDGE OF MESSIAH IS STILL VERY SUPERFICIAL – THERE IS MUCH
MUCH MORE WE STILL NEED TO LEARN AND UNDERSTAND ABOUT YAHSHUA.
Num 19:10 ‘And he
who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his garments, and is unclean until evening. And it shall be a law forever to the
children of Yisra’ĕl and to the stranger who sojourns in their midst.
Num 19:11 ‘He who
touches the dead of any human being is unclean for seven days.
Dealing with death is at the very heart of YHVH’s redemptive mission. His ultimate
purpose is to overcome death by death and in so doing give life.
Num 19:12 ‘He is
to cleanse himself with the water on the third day, and on the seventh day he
is clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day, then on the
seventh day he is not clean.
It is possible that is also a hidden reference to Yahshua
coming into the world on the “third day” or his birth being around the end of three
thousand years after the creation of the first Adam. We are possibly coming to
the end of the sixth day – during the “seventh day” Messiah will return.
Num 19:13 ‘Anyone
who touches the dead of a human being, and does not cleanse himself, defiles
the Dwelling Place of יהוה. And that
being shall be cut off from Yisra’ĕl. He is unclean, for the water for
uncleanness was not sprinkled on him, his uncleanness is still upon him. (Law
forever)
Num 19:14 ‘This is
the Torah when a man dies in a tent: All who come into the tent and all who are in the tent
are unclean for seven days,
Num 19:15 and
every open vessel which has no cover fastened on it, is unclean.
Num 19:16 ‘Anyone
in the open field who touches someone slain by a sword or who has died, or a
bone of a man, or a grave, is unclean for seven days.
Num 19:17 ‘And for
the unclean being they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for
cleansing from sin, and running water shall be put on them in a vessel.
“In Yezekel/Ezekiel 36:24-30,
it is written,
“For I will
take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and
will bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you
shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I
cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put
within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will
give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to
walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them. You shall
dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and
I will be your Eloha. I will save you from all your uncleanness: and I will
call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you. I will
multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you may
receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.”
Aliyah Sheni 19:18-20:6
Num
19:18 ‘And a clean man shall take hyssop
and dip it in the water, and shall sprinkle it on the tent, and on all the
vessels, and on the beings who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, or
the slain, or the dead, or a grave.
Num 19:19 ‘And the clean one shall sprinkle the unclean
on the third day and on the seventh day. And on the seventh day he shall
cleanse himself, and shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and shall be
clean in the evening.
Num 19:20 ‘But the man who is
unclean and does not cleanse himself, that being shall be cut off from among
the assembly, because he has defiled the set-apart place of יהוה – water for uncleanness has not been
sprinkled on him, he is unclean.
Num 19:21 ‘And it
shall be a law for them forever. And the one who sprinkles the water for uncleanness washes his garments.
And the one who touches the water for uncleanness is unclean until evening.
Num 19:22 ‘And
whatever the unclean being touches is unclean. And the being who touches it is
unclean until evening.’ ”
Num 20:1 And the children of Yisra’ĕl, all the
congregation, came into the Wilderness of Tsin in the first month, and the
people stayed in Qaḏĕsh.
And Miryam died there and was buried
there.
Num 20:2 Now
there was no water for the congregation and they assembled against Mosheh and
against Aharon.
Num 20:3 And
the people contended with Mosheh and spoke, saying, “If only we had died when
our brothers died before יהוה!
Num 20:4 “Why have
you brought up the assembly of יהוה into this wilderness, that we and our
livestock should die here?
Num 20:5 “And why
have you brought us up out of Mitsrayim, to bring us to this evil place? – not
a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to
drink.”
Num 20:6 Then
Mosheh and Aharon went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the
Tent of Meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the esteem of יהוה appeared to
them.
Messianic Midrash – the death of Miriam Aaron and
Moshe before they entered into the Promised- Land should serve to remind us
that one day in the future only the Messiah is able to lead us into our
inheritance.
Aliyah Shlishi 20:7-13
Num
20:7 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Num 20:8 “Take the
rod and assemble the congregation, you and your brother Aharon.
And you shall speak to the rock
before their eyes, and it shall give its water. And you shall bring water for
them out of the rock and give drink to the congregation and their livestock.”
Num 20:9 And
Mosheh took the rod from before יהוה as He commanded him.
Num 20:10 And
Mosheh and Aharon assembled the assembly before the rock. And he said to them,
“Hear now, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”
Num 20:11 Then
Mosheh lifted his hand and struck the
rock twice with his rod. And much water came out, and the congregation and
their livestock drank.
The Messiah was only struck once (execution 2000 years
ago) Now there is no more “striking” only talking with great respect and
honour.
Num 20:12 But יהוה spoke to
Mosheh and to Aharon, “Because you did not believe Me, to set Me apart in the
eyes of the children of Yisra’ĕl, therefore you do not bring this assembly into
the land which I have given them.”
Num 20:13 These
were the waters of Meriḇah, because the children of Yisra’ĕl contended with יהוה, and He was
set apart among them.