10/04/2014

Parashat 33 Portion 96 – B’Chukotai – Vayikra 26:3- 27:34 Yer 16:19-21 Luke 9:57-62


Blessing of Torah.
Hebrew: Baruch atah YHVH eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kideshanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu la'asok b'divrei Torah. V'ha'arev na YHVH eloheinu et divrei toratecha befinu uvfi amecha beit Yisrael. V'niyeh anachnu v'tze'etze'einu v'tze'etza'ei amecha beit Yisrael kullanu yodei sh'mecha v'lomdei toratecha lishmah. Baruch atah YHVH hamelamed Torah le'amo Yisrael. Baruch atah YHVH Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim venatan lanu et torato. Baruch atah YHVH, notein haTorah.

English translation: Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, who has made us set apart through His commandments and commanded us to actively study Torah. Please YHVH, our Elohim, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, YHVH, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, , Who chose us from all the nations and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, YHVH, Giver of the Torah.

This portion is also known as the “tochacha” or solemn warning. “Tochacha” comes from the word “hochacha” which can mean “proof.” The inhabitants of this world may soon witness the proof of ignoring YHVH’s Torah. Ignoring YHVH’s Torah is equal to ignoring YHVH’s Messiah. The most severe judgment imaginable is about to come upon mankind because Yahshua has been misrepresented or ignored.
Torah Readings:
 
1.      26:3-5
2.      26:6-9
3.      26:10-46
4.      27:1-15
5.      27:16-21
6.      27:22-28
7.      27:29-31
8.      Maftir: 27:32-34
 
 
Haftarah: Jeremiah 16:19-17:14

Our haftarah portion reminds us that we have inherited folly from our fathers.

Jer 16:19  O יהוה, my strength and my stronghold and my refuge, in the day of distress the gentiles shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have inherited only falsehood, futility, and there is no value in them.”1 Footnote: 1See Ps. 147:19, Isa. 2:3, Isa. 60:2-3, John 4:22, Rom. 2:20, Rom. 3:2, Rom. 9:4.

Aliyah Rishon 26:3-5
Lev 26:3  ‘If you walk in My laws and guard My commands, and shall do them,
Lev 26:4  then I shall give you rain in its season, and the land shall yield its crops, and the trees of the field yield their fruit.
Lev 26:5  ‘And your threshing shall last till the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last till the time of sowing. And you shall eat your bread until you have enough, and shall dwell in your land safely.

Vs 3 in the Hebrew reads: “if in my statutes (bechukatai) you will walk and my commandments (mitzvoth) you will guard (shamar) and will do them (asah)

Remember a “chuk” or statute is something which is to be engraved in our hearts and minds. We obey these statutes but do not always understand exactly what they mean, for example  the appointments found in Vayikra/Leviticus 23 where we find the words “chukat olam” is used four times – this is a statute forever – In fact some 12 times this phrase is repeated in the Torah. (These “chukot” are forever)
A “chuk” is something that reminds us of when our parents told us to do something …. When we asked “why” they said “because I said so”
However we walk this way not because we must, but because we want to. We want to please the Father because we love Him.
Joh 8:29  “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.”

Yahshua took a very serious view about how we obey the Father.

Mat 21:28  “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’
Mat 21:29  “And he answering, said, ‘I do not wish to,’ but afterwards he repented and went.
Mat 21:30  “And having come to the second, he said similarly. And he answering, said, ‘I go, master,’ but he did not go.
Mat 21:31  “Which of the two did the desire of the father?” They said to Him, “The first.” יהושע said to them, “Truly, I say to you that tax collectors and whores are entering into the reign of Elohim before you,

Aliyah Sheni 26:6-9 – Rewards of obedience.

 Lev 26:6  ‘And I shall give peace in the land, and you shall lie down and no one make you afraid. And I shall clear the land of evil beasts, and not let the sword go through your land.
Lev 26:7  ‘And you shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you.
Lev 26:8  ‘And five of you shall pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you pursue ten thousand. And your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.
Lev 26:9  ‘And I shall turn to you and make you bear fruit, and shall increase you, and shall establish My covenant with you. (Hebrew “uphaniti” YHVH will turn His face towards His people)

Aliyah Shlishi  26:10-46

Lev 26:10  ‘And you shall eat the old supply, and clear out the old because of the new.
Lev 26:11  ‘And I shall set My Dwelling Place in your midst, and My being shall not reject you.
Lev 26:12  ‘And I shall walk in your midst, and shall be your Elohim, and you shall be My people.
Lev 26:13  ‘I am יהוה your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, from being their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk upright.

In Yochanan/Joh 15:14 Yahshua said:   “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
Joh 15:15  “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, for all teachings which I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
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, so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name He might give you.

The following is the “tochacha” ie the proof of our disobedience:

Lev 26:14  ‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not do all these commands,
Lev 26:15  and if you(pl) reject My laws,(b’chucatai) or if your(pl) being loathes My right-rulings, so that you(pl) do not do all My commands, but break My covenant, (annul the covenant)

The pronouns used here are plural. This means that when a group of people decide to disobey the Torah, they will suffer the consequences. However when a group of people walk in obedience, they will experience the blessings.

According to the sages in the Gemara there is a concept called “arvus” (“ar-voos”), this is the joint responsibility of one Jew for another's performance of mitzvoth (commandments).

Are there sufficient numbers of people anywhere, united and committed to live a life of Torah obedience – according to the pattern that Yahshua the Messiah showed and taught us?

What follows now in verse 16 is the first of a series of 5 sets of 7 calamities that will come upon those who seek to disobey YHVH’s Torah.

Lev 26:16  I also do this to you: And I shall appoint sudden alarm over you, wasting disease and inflammation, destroying the eyes, and consuming the life. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

Hiph verb – “I  will visit you with panic – sudden alarm and terror” “wasting disease” implies that your health will be “peeled” off in strips and you will lose your dignity bit by bit and not all at once.

Lev 26:17  ‘And I shall set My face against you, and you shall be smitten before your enemies. And those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.

The first set of seven calamities include: burning fever, frustrated longing, sowing seeds that will produce crops the enemy will steal, being struck down before the enemy, being subjugated, and fleeing when no one pursues.

Lev 26:18  ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I shall punish you seven times more for your sins.
Lev 26:19  ‘And I shall break the pride of your power, and shall make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.
Lev 26:20  ‘And your strength shall be spent in vain and your land not yield its crops, nor the trees of the land yield their fruit.

Continuance of our refusing to obey Torah (and accepting the true Messiah) will cause another group of seven judgments being released, they include: the heaven would become like iron, the earth would become like copper, you extending your strength will be in vain, the earth will not yield crops, trees will not yield fruit and whatever fruit does grow it will drop off before maturity. (Iron is a symbol of crushing and copper a symbol of judgment due to disobedience and mixture)

Lev 26:21  ‘And if you walk contrary to Me, and refuse to obey Me, I shall bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins, (the people will appear to refuse to recognize that their misfortunes were divinely ordained,  and that they merely were caused by natural occurrences)

Lev 26:22  and send wild beasts among you, which shall bereave you of your children.
And I shall cut off your livestock, and make you few in number, and your highways shall be deserted.
Lev 26:23  ‘And if you are not instructed(disciplined) by Me by these, but walk contrary to Me,

Lev 26:24  then I also shall walk contrary to you, and I Myself shall smite you seven times for your sins.
Lev 26:25  ‘And I shall bring against you a sword executing the vengeance of My covenant, and you shall gather together in your cities, and I shall send pestilence among you, and you shall be given into the hand of the enemy.
Lev 26:26  ‘When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back to you your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

In the above fourth series of a seven fold increase in punishments we see how YHVH begins to withdraw revelation from the people so that they no longer have discernment to know why these things are happening to them.
These punishments include: the sword of foreign invaders, siege forcing people into cities, plague, food shortage, lack of fuel, crumbling bread and constant hunger.

Lev 26:27  ‘And if in spite of this, you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me,
Lev 26:28  then I shall walk contrary to you in wrath. And I Myself shall punish you seven times for your sins.
Lev 26:29  ‘And you shall eat the flesh of your sons, and eat the flesh of your daughters.
Lev 26:30  ‘And I shall destroy your high places, and cut down your sun-pillars, and put your carcasses on the carcasses of your idols. And My being shall loathe you.
Lev 26:31  ‘And I shall turn your cities into ruins and lay your set-apart places waste, and not smell your sweet fragrances.

The above fifth series include: cannibalism, destruction of defense structures, death of people, loss of the presence of YHVH, destruction of cities, desolation of the false places of worship, and YHVH’s refusal to accept offerings. (Similar events have been recorded in the history of Israel)

We see the coming future judgments also come in three sets of sevens in the book of Revelation (seals, trumpets and bowls)
There are similarities between the judgments in Vayikra (Lev) and those in the book of Revelation. The Tochacha is the refining fire that comes upon YHVH’s people and will lead to repentance. The judgments in the book of Revelations come upon  all the nations and bring about an almost total destruction of all life on earth.

Lev 26:32  ‘And I shall lay the land waste, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it.
Lev 26:33  ‘And I shall scatter you among the gentiles and draw out a sword after you. And your land shall be desert and your cities ruins,
Lev 26:34  and the land enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies waste and you are in your enemies’ land. Then the land would rest and enjoy its Sabbaths.
Lev 26:35  ‘As long as it lies waste it rests, for the time it did not rest on your Sabbaths when you dwelt in it.
Lev 26:36  ‘And as for those of you who are left, I shall send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, and the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee. And they shall flee as though retreating from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues.
Lev 26:37  ‘And they shall stumble over one another, as from before a sword, when no one pursues. And you shall be unable to stand before your enemies.
Lev 26:38  ‘And you shall perish among the gentiles, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up,
Lev 26:39  and those of you who are left rot away in their crookedness in your enemies’ lands, and also in their fathers’ crookednesses rot away with them.

This situation was prophesied by Zechariah.

Zec 13:8  And it shall be throughout all the soil,” declares יהוה, “that two thirds therein are cut off and die, and one third is left therein.
Zec 13:9  “And I shall bring the third into fire, and refine them as silver is refined, and try them as gold is tried. They shall call on My Name1, and I shall answer them. I shall say, ‘This is My people,’ while they say, ‘יהוה is my Elohim.’ ” Footnote: 1Zeph. 3:9.
Zec 14:2  And I shall gather all the gentiles to battle against Yerushalayim1. And the city shall be taken, the houses plundered, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into exile, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Footnote: 1Joel 3:2, Zeph. 3:8, Rev. 16:14.

Lev 26:40  ‘But if they confess their crookedness and the crookedness of their fathers, with their trespass in which they trespassed against Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me,
Lev 26:41  and that I also have walked ( Hebrew future tense)contrary to them and have brought (Hebrew future tense) them into the land of their enemies – if their uncircumcised heart is then humbled, and they accept the punishment of their crookedness,

Vs  40-41  “ then they will confess ….but then I too will behave towards them with casualness. The commentators wonder why the repentance of vs 40 is greeted with an outpouring of His wrath as assumed by use of the future tense verbs in vs 2.

Lev 26:42  then I shall remember My covenant with Yaʽaqoḇ, and also My covenant with Yitsḥaq, and also remember My covenant with Aḇraham, and remember the land. (Note reversal of  names of patriachs)

Yakov in this verse is written with a “vav” and a yot or tittel appears over the “vav.” This happens only 5 times in the Tenach. The commentators point out on the reverse the “vav” is omitted 5 times from the name of Eliyahu. Rashi suggests that Yakov took a pledge from Eliyahu, as it were, and will return the missing letters to him when he heralds the coming of Messiah.
Whatever the real meaning is we can assume that this yot or tittel has some significance regarding Messiah.

Mal 4:4  “Remember the Torah of Mosheh, My servant, which I commanded him in Ḥorĕḇ for all Yisra’ĕl – laws and right-rulings.
Mal 4:5  “See, I am sending you Ěliyah1 the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of יהוה. Footnote: 1Lk. 1:17.
Mal 4:6  “And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with utter destruction (fathers as in Avraham, Yitchak and Yakov).

This may also explain the reversal of the names of the patriachs. Restoration will start with the sons of Yakov and bring us all back to the father of our faith – Avraham (vs 42).

Lev 26:43  ‘For the land was abandoned by them, and enjoying its Sabbaths while lying waste without them, and they were paying for their crookedness, because they rejected My right-rulings and because their being loathed My laws.
Lev 26:44  ‘And yet for all this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I shall not reject them, nor shall I loathe them so as to destroy them and break My covenant with them. For I am יהוה their Elohim.
Lev 26:45  ‘Then I shall remember for their sake the covenant of the ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Mitsrayim before the eyes of the nations to be their Elohim. I am יהוה.’ ”
Lev 26:46  These are the laws and the right-rulings and the Torot1 which יהוה made between Himself and the children of Yisra’ĕl on Mount Sinai by the hand of Mosheh. Footnote: 1Torot - plural of Torah, teaching.
Commentary (FFOZ)
“It is tempting to suppose that all of the curses of the law have been removed in Messiah. It is common teaching, based on Galatians that, "Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Torah." (Galatians 3:13). This seems to indicate that the Torah has lost its teeth, so to speak. In Messiah, the curses are removed, but the blessings remain. But is this really true?
On closer examination, it becomes obvious that "the curse of the law" spoken of in Galatians 3:13 is the curse for disobedience listed out in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. Moreover, in Paul's view, the curse of the law brings death.
Therefore it is incorrect to suppose that there are no longer any consequences for sin. The ultimate consequence of condemnation has been removed--nailed to the stake. But the laws of cause and effect are still very much at work. Sin still reaps punishment. Obedience to YHVH still results in blessing. Disobedience to YHVH still results in consequences dire.” End of quote.
The most infamous sermon on the topic is probably Jonathan Edwards's "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," preached to great effect at Enfield in New England in 1741. In this sermon Edwards is unrestrained in the language that he uses to describe God's wrath:
“The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you and is dreadfully provoked. His wrath towards you burns like a fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince. And yet it is nothing but His Hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment.
O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in. It is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it and burn it asunder. …Consider this, you that are here present, that yet remain in an unregenerate state. That God will execute the fierceness of his anger implies that he will inflict wrath without any pity.
God will have no other use to put you to, but to suffer misery; you shall be continued in being to no other end; for you will be a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction; and there will be no other use of this vessel, but to be filled full of wrath. … [God] will not only hate you, but he will have you in the utmost contempt; no place shall be thought fit for you, but under his feet to be trodden down as the mire of the streets. …And seeing this is his design and what he has determined, even to show how terrible the unrestrained wrath, the fury and fierceness of Jehovah is, he will do it to effect. There will be something accomplished and brought to pass that will be dreadful with a witness. When the great and angry God hath risen up and executed his awful vengeance on the poor sinner, and the wretch is actually suffering the infinite weight and power of his indignation, then will God call upon the whole universe to behold that awful majesty and mighty power that is to be seen in it.”
There are very few people on this earth that can speak like this. Yet when Yahshua teaches about hell it is almost always in the context of people who are believers.
Aliyah Reviee 27:1-15
Lev 27:1  And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Lev 27:2  “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say to them, ‘When a man separates a vow, by your evaluation of lives unto יהוה,

Hebrew would read: “when someone makes an extraordinary vow to YHVH, involving your appraisal of human souls.”

The Hebrew word for “seperates” is “pala” Strongs 6381 and can also mean: to do extraordinary or hard or a difficult thing, to be marvellous, be wonderful, be surpassing, be extraordinary, separate by distinguishing action.

A person can pledge the worth of an individual, in which case the Torah prescribes how much the person must pay -- depending on the gender and age of the individual who is being "assessed." An animal which is pledged to the Temple must be offered on the altar if it is fit for sacrifice -- otherwise it must be "redeemed" for its value. If the owner chooses to redeem it, he must add one fifth of its value to the redemption price. The same rule applies to a house which is pledged to the Temple.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe stated that every person was born to a mission in life that is distinctly, uniquely and exclusively their own. No one--not even the greatest of souls--can take his or her place. No other person can fulfill that particular aspect of YHVH's purpose in creation in his stead – end quote.

1Co 6:20  For you were bought with a price, therefore esteem Elohim in your body and in your spirit,1 which are of Elohim. Footnote: 1See 7:23, 1 Peter 1:18-19.
We know that the blood of Messiah was the price paid to redeem us. Why do we need to be redeemed? Like these Israelites after we dedicated ourselves to YHVH we defiled ourselves through our disobedience to the covenant of YHVH - His Torah.

Why would you want to redeem something that was dedicated to YHVH?????
BECAUSE IT LOST ITS VALUE AND BECAME USELESS!!!!!

After an end time people have been refined, there will be a special redeeming by bringing specific offerings  to YHVH as specified by the Torah.

Note:  Lev 27:29  ‘No one under the ban, under the ban among men, is ransomed, but shall certainly be put to death.

Hebrew for ban is “cherem” ie something that was devoted to YHVH but has become defiled is then set apart to destruction.

Lev 27:3  when your evaluation is of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old, then your evaluation shall be fifty sheqels of silver, according to the sheqel of the set-apart place.
Lev 27:4  ‘And if it is a female, then your evaluation shall be thirty sheqels;
Lev 27:5  and if from five years old up to twenty years old, then your evaluation for a male shall be twenty sheqels, and for a female ten sheqels;
Lev 27:6  and if from a month old up to five years old, then your evaluation for a male shall be five sheqels of silver, and for a female your evaluation shall be three sheqels of silver;
Lev 27:7  and if from sixty years old and above, if it is a male, then your evaluation shall be fifteen sheqels, and for a female ten sheqels.
Lev 27:8  ‘But if he is too poor to pay your evaluation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall set a value for him. According to the ability of him who vowed, the priest shall value him.
Lev 27:9  ‘And if it is a beast of which they bring an offering to יהוה, all such given to יהוה is set-apart.
Lev 27:10  ‘He is not to replace it or exchange it, good for spoilt or spoilt for good. And if he at all exchanges beast for beast, then both it and the one exchanged for it is set-apart.
Lev 27:11  ‘And if it is any unclean beast of which they do not bring an offering to יהוה, then he shall present the beast before the priest;
Lev 27:12  and the priest shall value it, whether it is good or spoilt. According to your evaluation, O priest, so it shall be.
Lev 27:13  ‘But if he indeed redeems it, then he shall add one-fifth to your evaluation.
Lev 27:14  ‘And when a man sets his house apart, to be set-apart to יהוה, then the priest shall value it, whether it is good or spoilt. As the priest values it, so it stands.
Lev 27:15  ‘And if he who sets it apart does redeem his house, then he shall add one-fifth of the silver of your evaluation to it, and it shall be his.

Aliyah Chamishi 27:16-21
This section discusses the endowment of land to the temple. If land which was part of the family lot (given to his ancestors when Israel was divided amongst the Tribes), then the redemption price is a fixed amount, depending on its harvest yield. If the owner chooses not to redeem it, it may be redeemed by any other individual. In this event, or if the land remains un-redeemed, the land becomes the property of the priests during the next Jubilee year. (in other words it was possible to lose your inheritance – the only exception according to the sages is if a son of the original owner chose to redeem the land)
Lev 27:16  ‘And if a man sets apart to יהוה a field he owns, then your evaluation shall be according to the seed for it – a ḥomer of barley seed at fifty sheqels of silver.
Lev 27:17  ‘If he sets his field apart from the Year of Jubilee, according to your evaluation it stands.
Lev 27:18  ‘But if he sets his field apart after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the silver due according to the years that remain till the Year of Jubilee, and it shall be deducted from your evaluation.
Lev 27:19  ‘And if he who sets the field apart ever wishes to redeem it, then he shall add one-fifth of the silver of your evaluation to it, and it shall be his.
Lev 27:20  ‘And if he does not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it is no longer redeemed,
Lev 27:21  but the field, when it is released in the Jubilee, is set-apart to יהוה as a dedicated field, to be the possession of the priest.

Aliyah Shishi 27:22-28
Land which was purchased and then consecrated by the buyer can also be redeemed, but it reverts to its original owner when the Jubilee arrives. All firstborn livestock are sacrificed in the Temple, and their flesh is consumed by the priests. A person also has the option of dedicating and consecrating any of his belongings specifically for the use of the priests.
Lev 27:22  ‘And if a man sets apart to יהוה a field which he has bought, which is not the field of his possession,
Lev 27:23  then the priest shall reckon to him the amount of your evaluation, up to the Year of Jubilee, and he shall give your evaluation on that day, set-apart to יהוה.
Lev 27:24  ‘In the Year of Jubilee the field returns to him from whom he bought it, to him whose is the possession of the land.
Lev 27:25  ‘And all your evaluations is to be according to the sheqel of the set-apart place: twenty gĕrahs to the sheqel.
Lev 27:26  ‘However, a first-born of the beasts, which is first-born to יהוה, no man sets it apart – whether bull or sheep, it belongs to יהוה.
Lev 27:27  ‘And if among the unclean beasts, then he shall ransom it according to your evaluation, and shall add one-fifth to it. And if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your evaluation.
Lev 27:28  ‘However, whatever a man lays under ban for יהוה of all that he has, man and beast, or the field of his possession, is not sold or redeemed. Whatever is laid under ban is most set-apart to יהוה.

Aliyah Sheviee 27:29-34
The "Second Tithe," which must be consumed by its owners in Jerusalem, is briefly mentioned -- as well as the rules for redeeming this tithe if it is too burdensome to transport to Jerusalem. Also discussed is the animal tithe -- every tenth animal is offered as a sacrifice, and the meat consumed by its owners. With this we conclude the Book of Leviticus.
Lev 27:29  ‘No one under the ban, under the ban among men, is ransomed, but shall certainly be put to death.
Every doomed one which is doomed of humanity shall not be ransomed; he shall be put to death, yes death.
Hebrew word for “ban” is “cherem” it means something or someone who completely and entirely been dedicated by YVHY for complete and utter destruction.
Lev 27:30  ‘And all the tithe of the land – of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree – belongs to יהוה. It is set-apart to יהוה.
Lev 27:31  ‘If a man indeed redeems any of his tithes, he adds one-fifth to it.
Lev 27:32  ‘And the entire tithe of the herd and of the flock, all that passes under the rod, the tenth one is set-apart to יהוה.
Lev 27:33  ‘He does not inquire whether it is good or spoilt, nor does he exchange it. And if he exchanges it at all, then both it and the one exchanged for it are set-apart, it is not redeemed.’ ”
Lev 27:34  These are the commands which יהוה commanded Mosheh for the children of Yisra’ĕl on Mount Sinai.

Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you Yahweh, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of the Torah – Ameyn

Please note these notes are under construction and are subject to correction and are in no way a final authority on any subject.
CHAZAK! CHAZAK!  VENITCHAZEIK! -  BE STRONG! BE STRONG! AND MAY WE STRENGTHEN OURSELVES.

9/12/2014

Parashat 32 Portion 95 Vayikra 25:39-26:2 Yesh 24:1-6 John 13:12-20


Blessing of Torah.
Hebrew: Baruch atah YHVH eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kideshanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu la'asok b'divrei Torah. V'ha'arev na YHVH eloheinu et divrei toratecha befinu uvfi amecha beit Yisrael. V'niyeh anachnu v'tze'etze'einu v'tze'etza'ei amecha beit Yisrael kullanu yodei sh'mecha v'lomdei toratecha lishmah. Baruch atah YHVH hamelamed Torah le'amo Yisrael. Baruch atah YHVH Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim venatan lanu et torato. Baruch atah YHVH, notein haTorah.



English translation: Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, who has made us set apart through His commandments and commanded us to actively study Torah. Please YHVH, our Elohim, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, YHVH, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, , Who chose us from all the nations and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, YHVH, Giver of the Torah.

According to the Torah slavery has never been abolished. In fact while heaven and earth are still here slavery may still be practiced. The kind of slavery that has been practiced in the world today and in the past is for the most part forbidden by Torah because it violates the Torah instructions for slavery.

Today slavery manifests itself in human trafficking – here follows a description of slavery from Wikipedia.

“Human trafficking is the trade in humans, most commonly for the purpose of sexual slavery, forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others; or for the extraction of organs or tissues,] including surrogacy and ova removal; or for providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage; or for commercial exploitation. Human trafficking can occur within a country or trans-nationally. Human trafficking is a crime against the person because of the violation of the victim's rights of movement through coercion and because of their commercial exploitation. Human trafficking is the trade in people, and does not necessarily involve the movement of the person from one place to another. Human trafficking represents an estimated $31.6 billion of international trade per annum in 2010. Human trafficking is thought to be one of the fastest-growing activities of transnational criminal organizations.” End quote.

Today forbidden slavery is also seen in the practice of cheap child labour.
“Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful.”
Because slavery is practiced in a manner that is forbidden by Torah it has reached levels of cruelty and abuse that defy human imagination and most people today choose to ignore it - perhaps one of the biggest human injustices of our times.
Of all people Yisraelites were meant to understand and practice slavery in the world in such a way that slaves would be some of the most well treated people on the planet.
There is a saying amongst the sages that he who purchases a slave purchases a master.
It is because of this cruelty and violation of YHVH’s Torah that a complete destruction will come upon mankind – (also haftarah of our Torah portion)
Isa 24:1  See, יהוה is making the earth empty and making it waste, and shall overturn its surface, and shall scatter abroad its inhabitants.
Isa 24:2  And it shall be – as with the people so with the priest, as with the servant so with his master, as with the female servant so with her mistress, as with the buyer so with the seller, as with the lender so with the borrower, as with the creditor so with the debtor;
Isa 24:3  the earth is completely emptied and utterly plundered, for יהוה has spoken this word.
Isa 24:4  The earth shall mourn and wither, the world shall languish and wither, the haughty people of the earth shall languish.
Isa 24:5  For the earth has been defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the Torot1, changed2 the law, broken the everlasting covenant3. Footnotes: 1Torot - plural of Torah, teaching. 2Jer. 23:36. 3This is the only reason, according to all Scriptures, why the earth shall be burned in the day of judgment – see also 13:9, 13:11, 26:21, 66:24, Mic. 5:15, Zeph. 1:2-18.
Isa 24:6  Therefore a curse shall consume the earth, and those who dwell in it be punished. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth shall be burned, and few men shall be left.

As we look carefully into the instructions of slavery in the Torah we discover the essence and framework of our redemption.

Gal 5:1  In the freedom with which Messiah has made us free, stand firm, then, and do not again be held with a yoke of slavery.

Many believers like to claim they are free. But are they really free?

Joh 8:31  So יהושע said to those Yehuḏim who believed Him, “If you stay in My Word,(Torah) you are truly My taught ones,
Joh 8:32  and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Joh 8:33  They answered Him, “We are the seed of Aḇraham, and have been servants to no one at any time. How do you say, ‘You shall become free’?”
Joh 8:34  יהושע answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone doing sin is a servant of sin.
Joh 8:35  “And the servant does not stay in the house forever – a son stays forever.
Joh 8:36  “If, then, the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
Joh 8:37  “I know that you are the seed of Aḇraham, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.

Shaul goes on to describe that true freedom from sin and bondage is only found in Messiah.

Gal 3:27  For as many of you as were immersed into Messiah have put on Messiah.
Gal 3:28  There is not Yehuḏite nor Greek, there is not slave nor free, there is not male and female, for you are all one in Messiah יהושע.
Gal 3:29  And if you are of Messiah, then you are seed of Aḇraham, and heirs according to promise.

So we know Yahshua came to set the captives free, but we also know when a people do not walk in perfect law of liberty – Torah – they will soon become slaves again.

Genuine lasting freedom can only exist when we are covenanted to YHVH through His Messiah according to the Torah.

We see in the opening verses of this Torah portion that there are some who are called to freedom – vs 39-43 and there are others in the nations that always will be slaves – vs 44 - 46

Lev 25:39  ‘And when your brother who dwells by you (Hebrew “imach”) becomes poor, and sells himself to you,(Heb ‘lach”) do not make him serve as a slave.
Lev 25:40  ‘But as a hired servant, as a settler he is with you,(“imach”) and serves you(“imach”) until the Year of Jubilee.
Lev 25:41  ‘And then he shall leave you,(“imach”) he and his children with him, and shall return to his own clan, even return to the possession of his fathers.
Lev 25:42  ‘For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Mitsrayim, they are not sold as slaves.
Lev 25:43  ‘Do not rule over him with harshness, but you shall fear your Elohim.

Yahveh’s will is that His people should prosper, because only then would they be able to be in a position to help struggling brothers and sisters.
Why don’t His people prosper?
Why do so many of His children suffer poverty and lack?

Lev 25:44  ‘And your male and female slaves whom you have from the nations that are around you, from them you buy male and female slaves,
Lev 25:45  and also from the sons of the strangers sojourning among you, from them you buy, and from their clans who are with you, which they shall bring forth in your land, and they shall be your property.
Lev 25:46  ‘And you shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession, they are your slaves for all time. But over your brothers, the children of Yisra’ĕl, you do not rule with harshness, one over another.

From vs 44 – 46 all second person pronouns have masculine endings, whereas in verses 39 -43 all second person pronouns have feminine endings. Why?

Midrash:

It would appear that the pronouns with feminine endings are not referring to the master but could be referring to a group of people. In this case the “Kehelah” which is a feminine Hebrew noun meaning the assembly of Yisraelites. This can be compared to the Bride of Messiah.
We gather then that there are those who are called to be part of the Kehelah of Yisrael and those who are not.
Those who are called to be part of the Kehelah DO NOT ACT WITH AN INDEPENDENT CONSCIENCE BUT WITH THE MIND OF HIM WHO IS THE HEAD OF THE KEHELAH.

When Yahshua says “seek first the Kingdom of YHVH …. He is not addressing an individual but a group of people.

Mat 6:33  “But seek first the reign of Elohim, and His righteousness, and all these matters shall be added to you.

1Pe 2:9  But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a set-apart nation, a people for a possession, that you should proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light,

All the second person personal pronouns in the above verse are also all plural.

Yahshua came to reveal the highest calling given to YHVH’s creation – TO HEAR YHVH AND TO AGREE WITH HIM AND TO OBEY HIM.

This was the life that Yahshua came to show us.

Joh 6:38  “Because I have come down out of the heaven, not to do My own desire, but the desire of Him who sent Me.
Joh 6:39  “This is the desire of the Father who sent Me, that all He has given Me I should not lose of it, but should raise it in the last day.

Joh 4:34  יהושע said to them, “My food is to do the desire of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.

The issue of Shmittah and Yovel reveal the very core of YHVH’s Being – that of redeeming and setting free in such a manner that the person never get themselves back into bondage.
By the end of the Messianic age the whole Kehelah (Called out ones/assembly)of YHVH will be free. The corporate ministry and mind of His people will be such that a fellow Yisraelite will be assisted as many times as they need to be until they no longer make decisions that will get them back into bondage again; where they need to be sold into some form of servanthood.
This only applies to the Kehelah of YHVH – those in the nations will serve the Kehelah for ever.

Our ultimate judgment will not be based on how much we knew, but by how much we cared.

Mat 25:31  “And when the Son of Aḏam comes in His esteem, and all the set-apart messengers with Him, then He shall sit on the throne of His esteem.
Mat 25:32  “And all the nations shall be gathered before Him, and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates his sheep from the goats.
Mat 25:33  “And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34  “Then the Sovereign shall say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the reign prepared for you from the foundation of the world –
Mat 25:35  for I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,
Mat 25:36  was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.’
Mat 25:37  “Then the righteous shall answer Him, saying, ‘Master, when did we see You hungry and we fed You, or thirsty and gave You to drink?
Mat 25:38  ‘And when did we see You a stranger and took You in, or naked and clothed You?
Mat 25:39  ‘And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and we came to You?’
Mat 25:40  “And the Sovereign shall answer and say to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, in so far as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.’

Lev 25:47  ‘Now when a sojourner or a settler with you becomes rich, and your brother with him becomes poor, and sells himself to the settler or sojourner with you, or to a member of the sojourner’s clan,
Lev 25:48  after he has been sold, there is a right of redemption to him – one of his brothers does redeem him,
Lev 25:49  or his uncle or his uncle’s son does redeem him, or anyone who is a close relative to him in his clan does redeem him, or if he is able, then he shall redeem himself.
Lev 25:50  ‘And he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that he was sold to him until the Year of Jubilee; as the days of a hired servant it is with him.
Lev 25:51  ‘If there are yet many years, according to them he repays the price of his redemption, from the silver of his purchase.
Lev 25:52  ‘And if few years are left until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he repays him the price of his redemption.
Lev 25:53  ‘He is with him as a yearly hired servant, and he does not rule with harshness over him before your eyes.
Lev 25:54  ‘And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children with him.
of Mitsrayim. I am יהוה your Elohim.

Lev 26:1  ‘Do not make idols for yourselves, and do not set up a carved image or a pillar for yourselves, and do not place a stone image in your land, to bow down to it. For I am יהוה your Elohim.
Lev 26:2  ‘Guard My Sabbaths and reverence My set-apart place. I am יהוה.
These last two verses address the main reason why we fail to obey YHVH’s instructions.
  1. Vs 1 speaks of all those issues that we have valued more than the desire of the Father – idolatry.
  2. Vs 2 speaks of not embracing the heart of Sabbath.
Yahshua did most of his miracles on sabbaths.
Isa 58:13  “If you do turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My set-apart day, and shall call the Sabbath ‘a delight,’ the set-apart day of יהוה ‘esteemed,’ and shall esteem it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words,
Isa 58:14  then you shall delight yourself in יהוה. And I shall cause you to ride on the heights of the earth, and feed you with the inheritance of Yaʽaqoḇ your father. For the mouth of יהוה has spoken!”

The previous verses explain what our true spiritual duty is and what it means not to seek your own pleasure and own ways.
Isa 58:5  “Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his being? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to יהוה?
Isa 58:6  “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loosen the tight cords of wrongness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to exempt the oppressed, and to break off every yoke?
Isa 58:7  “Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, and cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh?
Isa 58:8  “Then your light would break forth like the morning, your healing spring forth speedily. And your righteousness shall go before you, the esteem of יהוה would be your rear guard.
Isa 58:9  “Then, when you call, יהוה would answer; when you cry, He would say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and the speaking of unrighteousness,
Isa 58:10  if you extend your being to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted being, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness be as noon.
Isa 58:11  “Then יהוה would guide you continually, and satisfy your being in drought, and strengthen your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Isa 58:12  “And those from among you shall build the old waste places. You shall raise up the foundations of many generations. And you would be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.

The Sabbath (shmittah) is about taking stock of your life and asking yourself if your life is significantly connected in bringing genuine freedom to people’s lives. This will secure your own liberty.

Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of the Torah – Ameyn

Please note these notes are under construction and are subject to correction and are in no way a final authority on any subject.
Joh 13:12  So when He had washed their feet and taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?
Joh 13:13  “You call me Teacher and Master, and you say well, for I am.
Joh 13:14  “Then if I, Master and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
Joh 13:15  “For I gave you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.
Joh 13:16  “Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is an emissary greater than he who sent him.
Joh 13:17  “If you know these teachings, blessed are you if you do them.
Joh 13:18  “I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but that the Scripture might be filled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’
Joh 13:19  “Now I say to you, before it takes place, that when it does take place, you shall believe that I am.

Joh 13:20  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send, receives Me. And he who receives Me, receives Him who sent Me.