Behar - (on the Mount) בהר - Halak B’Chukotai- (walk on my Statutes) הָלַךְ בחקתי - Audio Podcast May 13, 2023
Notes
Transcript
Leviticus 25:1 - 27:34
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TORAH GPS
We continue to use the Torah as our guide to do our portions
So far we have come from Genesis to now Leviticus, and God has been at work
We have talked about Vayikra in the last few weeks
So far we can summarize the book of Leviticus/ Vayikra like this:
Cumulative Summary and Overview
VaYikra Adonai el Moshe (and the Lord called to Moses), to draw near to His glorious Presence in the tabernacle.
God further instructs Moshe: Tsav (command!) the priests to receive offerings from Yisra’el. Take seven days to consecrate these men.
Ba-yom ha-Sh’mini (on the eighth day), the priests begin serving in the sanctuary. But things go wrong! Zealous to offer incense, Nadav and Avihu jump ahead of orders and die in the holy place …
The next two parashiot stress the importance of being tahor (pure/not impure). When a woman Tazria (bears seed), she remains tamei (impure) after childbirth. Only after waiting a set time can she approach the altar in a pure state. Waiting is not enough for the M’tsora (infected one). Unless God heals him, he remains barred indefinitely from the camp.
Acharei Mot (after the death of) Aharon’s two sons, God restricts access to His holy Presence. He orders the camp cleansed every Yom Kippur to restore purity lost by sin.
All Yisra’el must obey Torah, keep the covenant, and maintain holiness—in the Land, in the households, and in the nation. In short, with help from God, we all must strive to become K’doshim (holy ones), for He is holy!
But God requires an even higher standard of holiness from the priests. He tells Moshe: Emor (say!) to the priests that holy standards increase for those who live in closest proximity to God.
Perfect holiness means fitting into God’s picture and using ritual procedures to maintain purity.
Holy times must be proclaimed, and the entire camp must be purified yearly.
The drive toward holiness, so natural b’Har Sinai (on Mt. Sinai), must continue to characterize the ways of daily life.
Holiness must be grounded in the institutions and in the people who live in the communal sphere of the Holy One Himself. Only a holy nation can abide in proximity to a holy God …
Jeffrey Enoch. Feinberg Ph.D. and Kim Alan Moudy, Walk Leviticus!: And He Called (Baltimore, MD: Messianic Jewish Publishers, 2001), 157.
We talked about Nadab and Abihu -wanting to do it their own way
The people shout and fall on their faces in glorious worship!
All know, on that day, that the Lord has appeared in the midst of His people.
We talked how the word seed/sara is so similar to the word for leprous/tsara - leprosy/Tsara’at (as white as snow)
Lashon Hara
How words have power and specially evil talk
We talked about the atonement the Lord made so that we could be holy
We explained how we keep holy
bribes
Clean up our tongues: Physical tongue - Inside Tongue called THOUGHTS
Holiness is in contention with sin.
They cannot co-exist.
One will take over the other.
Sin is the separation from God, which is exactly what makes us unholy.
Holiness is the goal
In our last Torah Portion we talked about specific part of God’s Torah that shows us what the consequences are if we do not follow His Torah- That is when dealing with sin
I repeat: Holiness is an integral part of the process walking with the Lord
We said that holy standards increase for those who live in closest proximity to God.
Perfect holiness means fitting into God’s picture and using ritual procedures to maintain purity.
Holy times must be proclaimed, and the entire camp must be purified yearly.
The drive toward holiness, so natural b’Har Sinai (on Mt. Sinai), must continue to characterize the ways of daily life. Holiness must be grounded in the institutions and in the people who live in the communal sphere of the Holy One Himself. Only a holy nation can abide in proximity to a holy God …
We spoke about the Harlot too
And the way to keep alert and sanctified is through the bread of life
We finished with the feasts
Introduction
Introduction
The roadmap
One of the main objectives of the Torah Portions is to find the practical application for our own walk
In our Torah Portions today we are going to ponder on the questions:
Are all of these commandments Old Testament commandments we do not live by any more?
What do they possibly mean for the end times?
Is Vayikra just a bunch of rules on animal sacrifice that have nothing to do with us?
Do we under the Dispensation of Grace (yes) that these laws do not matter any more? or
Are we in the time of the Gentiles? - what does that mean? what does that look like?
Let us consider the idea of saved by grace to do whatever I want
Let us consider the way we, as Gentiles, have walked since Yeshua went to sit at the right hand of the Father
Remember there are feet that do not walk with the Father.
Let us look at an example to answer these and other questions
A few things happen in these two Torah Portions:
First we encounter God speaking (debar) with Moses and asking him to say (omar) to the children of Israel how they are ought to behave when coming into the promised land- The first call for order is to keep the Sabbath to the Lord on the mount
(behar) Sinai = בְּהַר סִינַי
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying,
2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord.
3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit;
The second thing to happen in these Torah Portions is the call of God not only to keep the Sabbath but also not to set up an engrave stone in the land, by "walking in God’s statutes and keeping His commandments.”
1 ‘You shall not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God.
2 You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord.
3 ‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them,
Halak B’Chukotai- (walk on my Statutes) הָלַךְ בחקתי
In the first part of the Torah portions we are going to briefly look at 7 directives or principles and, at the end, a maftir (conclusion) that is going to lead to the second object of our study today - halak-b’chukotai ( walk in His statutes)
One of the main principles to keep His statutes in keeping the sabbath. In this portion is the
Sh’mittah (release on sabbatical year) is compared to Shabbat among the festivals of Torah. Sh’mittah celebrates God’s ownership over the Land, and it mandates shavtah la’aretz (Sabbath-ceasing for the Land).
Presentation
Presentation
FIRST TORAH PORTION
FIRST PRINCIPLE
SABBATICAL ON THE MOUNT
This makes clear inference to the millennial reign
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying,
2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord.
46 These are the statutes and judgments and laws which the Lord made between Himself and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.
34 These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.
Also known as mount Horeb:
1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
6 “The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt long enough at this mountain.
Har (for b’har - on the mount) occurs 38 times in the Tanakh
17 times as Mount Sinai
16 times as Horeb
6 times as just Sinai
Shavuot n. Hebrew (shah-VOO-ote) Literally, “weeks.” Celebrated on the sixth of Sivan, which usually falls in May or June, Shavuot comes 50 days after Pesach.
It marks the anniversary of Moses’ receiving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai and the first harvest of the fruits of spring.
[ ...] , wheat would be planted after the first day of Pesach and harvested 49 days later.
Each day was noted in a tradition called counting the Omer. Along with Pesach and Sukkot, Shavuot is one of the three Pilgrimage Festivals, when the ancient Israelites traveled to the Temple in Jerusalem with gifts of the first fruit and offerings for God.
This gives Shavuot one of its other names, the Festival of the First Fruits (Hag ha-Bikurim). It is also known as the Harvest Festival and the Feast of Weeks.
Although Shavuot is not as widely celebrated as some other Jewish holidays, it is traditional to attend synagogue.
The Book of Ruth and the Ten Commandments are read.
Synagogues are often decorated with fresh fruit and flowers, recalling the harvest. People often eat dairy foods, such as blintzes, yogurt, and cheesecake, because in The Song of Songs (megillah) the Torah is compared to milk.1
1 Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, Jewish Publication Society, The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words (Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 2001), 148.
pilgrimage, a journey undertaken for a religious motive. Although some pilgrims have wandered continuously with no fixed destination, pilgrims more commonly seek a specific place that has been sanctified by association with a divinity or other holy personage.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/pilgrimage-religion/Pilgrimage-and-the-world
A journey - a trip, a quest, a travel
What did they do when they took a pilgrimage?
They walked
This is the connection between this chapter and the next
SECOND PRINCIPLE
JUBILEE
14 And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand, you shall not oppress one another.
15 According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of crops he shall sell to you.
10 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.
1 “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts.
31 if the peoples of the land brought wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day; and we would forego the seventh year’s produce and the exacting of every debt.
This segment cautions against trying to sell land in perpetuity (Lev. 25:14, 17).
The Lord owns all the Land! Labor and crop yields can be sold, but not land.
Since fields revert to the ancestral owners every fifty years, the selling price of Land diminishes each year.
The year before Jubilee, the price of Land is not even one year’s harvest (Lev. 25:16).
Yovel (Jubilee, Homebringing) creates a constructive tension between capitalism (which rewards owners of capital and land) and communism (which accords equal status to all).
Yovel eliminates oppression across generations.
Every fifty years, clans receive back their original territories, including all improvements to their holdings
Security comes from living in God’s Presence on God’s Land.
Yisra’el must never forget her status as gerim v’toshavim (sojourners and resident-settlers), set free by God and granted asylum on sanctuary land
8 ‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.
9 Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land.
THIRD PRINCIPLE
DWELLING SECURELY
19 Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill, and dwell there in safety.
God’s covenant stipulates that Yisra’el will prosper and dwell securely in the Land.
The nation must obey Torah, including
the chukim (statutes governing agriculture)
and mishpatim (ordinances governing the release of slaves and ancestral lands) [Ramban, Lev. 25:18].
Sh’mittah (release on sabbatical year) guarantees God’s miraculous provision of a triple harvest from the sixth year’s plantings (Lev. 25:21).
Such a guarantee flies in the face of human logic!
For this reason, Torah classifies agricultural requirements as chukim (statutes), not as mitzvot (commands) or mishpatim (ordinances) which are based on rationality or logic.
Clearly, dwelling securely in the Land demands radical faith!
Next we enter the principle of redeeming:
transitive verb
- to buy back : REPURCHASE
- to get or win back
- to free from what distresses or harms: such as
-to free from captivity by payment of ransom
-to extricate from or help to overcome something detrimental
-to release from blame or debt : CLEAR
- to free from the consequences of sin
- to change for the better : REFORM
- REPAIR, RESTORE
- to atone for : EXPIATE
- redeem an error
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redeem
FOURTH PRINCIPLE
REDEEMING THE LAND
25 ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold.
Failure to observe the covenant sets Yisra’el on a spiritual path that leads back to slavery in Egypt.
Torah requires next-of-kin to redeem ancestral lands.
The descent spirals from loss of moveable property (Lev. 25:14) to the forced sale of ancestral lands (Lev. 25:25–28), loss of one’s house (vv. 29–31), debt (v. 36), servanthood (v. 39), and selling oneself to a non-Jew whose family serves idols [v. 47, Rashi].
An Israelite must be impoverished before Torah permits him to sell ancestral lands.
The principle that God owns all Land immediately obligates relatives of the impoverished to redeem the sold property.
Kinsman redeemers can purchase back property even against the will of the buyer, after a two-year waiting period [Rashi; Kidd. 21].
But if no one pays the price of redemption, then at Yovel (Homebringing), the shofar proclaims, “Every man to his clan, and every clan to its Land!”1
1 Jeffrey Enoch. Feinberg Ph.D. and Kim Alan Moudy, Baltimore, MD: Messianic Jewish Publishers, 2001), 163.
FIFTH PRINCIPLE
REDEEMING HOUSEHOLDS
29 ‘If a man sells a house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year he may redeem it.
Three kinds of houses are described in this segment:
the beit moshav (residential house) in a walled city; the
beit ha-chatser (village house) in an unwalled city; and
the house of a Levite.
God calls kinsmen to redeem households from the cycle of poverty.
The beit moshav refers to commercial areas and artisan shops residing in fortified cities (Lev. 25:24–30). If these houses are sold, kinsmen have up to a year to redeem them; or they are lost in perpetuity.
The beit ha-chatser describes a village house located on farm land, surrounded by open spaces (Lev. 25:31). Kinsmen must redeem these houses, or else the impoverished must wait for Yovel (Homebringing).
Farms consecrated to the sanctuary must be redeemed or pass to the kohanim (Lev. 27:20–21).
Thus, only houses in Levitical cities possess a heritage that can never be lost. The g’ulat olam (redemption right for the ages) assures permanent housing for those who are consecrated to the Lord.
SIXTH PRINCIPLE
REDEEMING OF THE UNHOUSED
39 ‘And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave.
40 As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee.
Those who lose houses and incur debts must not lose status as citizens in God’s household.
Rather, Torah requires that an indentured Israelite be treated as an employee, a hired hand or a ger toshav (resident-settler) [Fox, p. 633].
Do not degrade those who lose their houses.
Torah discourages oppression (Lev. 25:38).
Talmud adds, “One who buys himself a slave buys himself a master” [Kidd. 75a].
Degrading tasks must not be assigned, but rather natural capacities must be employed, whether skilled work fitting a hired hand or field labor fitting a toshav (settler).
In any event, at Yovel (Homebringing), the Jewish servant must go free, along with his household (Lev. 25:40–41).
One might ask why, then, does the alien slave not have similar rights (Lev. 25:44–46).
Here, the analog reflects donation of houses to the sanctuary. As the kohanim have holy status within Yisra’el, so now Yisra’el has collective status as holy among the nations!
SEVENTH PRINCIPLE
REDEEMING ALL ISRAEL
47 ‘Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the stranger’s family,
48 after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him;
sojourner: ger
The case in which an impoverished Israelite sells himself to a ger (resident alien) or to an eker (offshoot) of the ger’s clan is the grimmest circumstance of all (Lev. 25:47).
Torah prohibits enslaving its citizens forever.
Despite this degradation, one’s right to mercy is not forfeited! Kinsmen must redeem or await Yovel (Jubilee, Homebringing), as in all other cases (Lev. 25:25–28, 35–38, 39–43, 47–55).
Thus, the prosperous ger living in community must obey a rule that disadvantages himself.
Because he lives near God’s dwelling, the [in the process of being converted] [...} ger must observe all prohibitions (Lev. 25:53; 26:1), out of fear of defiling the Land and sanctuary of God.
Neither idolatry, nor perpetual ownership of Land or God’s chosen, is tolerated in God’s House.
Torah mandates that every Israelite in God’s house regain liberty and property.
In fact, at Yovel, even the Israelite slave, who pierces his ear and chooses bondage, must go free!
CONCLUSION OR MAFTIR
2 You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord.
Dwelling with God requires the nation, both Yisra’el and ger, to adopt a holy lifestyle, for “I, Adonai your God, am holy” (Lev. 19:2; cf. Lev. 18:30c, 19:3c, 19:4c, 25:55c, 26:1c, 2c).
A holy God calls a holy people to radiate holiness
Holiness must touch every area of life.
This maftir functions as a grand conclusion for the second half of the book. Yisra’el must, above all, resist idolatry and the path of descent leading to Egypt (Lev. 25:55, cf. v. 47).
In addition, she must keep Shabbats and remain on the holy path of ascent, including observing Sh’mittah and Yovel (Lev. 26:1) and approaching with reverence God’s holy dwelling (Lev. 26:2).
In the bigger picture, God’s call for Moshe and the nation to draw near to Him as a mamlechet kohanim and goy kadosh (kingdom of priests and a holy nation) reaches its summit.
b’Har Sinai (on Mount Sinai), God separates the nation to be holy to Him and to radiate holiness to the nations!
SECOND TORAH PORTION
Halak B’Chukotai- (walk on my Statutes) הָלַךְ בחקתי
This Torah Portion is the result of the previous.
To be redeemed to a holy God, we must keep holy- we must be fitting to be in His kingdom.
To be holy means to obey Him, to walk with Him, to follow His Torah.
The consequences for walking with the Lord are good - it gives life
but there are consequences for not walking with the Lord.
We are very familiar with the blessings.
But are we as familiar with the consequences for not walking with the Lord.
3 ‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them,
There are 34 definitions for halak (walk). We will only focus on 13 of them for now to establish the significance of our Torah Portion
הָלַךְ (hā·lǎḵ): v.; ≡ Str 1980, 3212; TWOT 498—1. LN 15.1–15.17 (qal) go, travel, i.e., walk
2143 הָלַךְ (hā·lǎḵ): v.; ≡ Str 1980, 3212; TWOT 498—1. LN (qal) go, travel, i.e., make linear motion to another place, with any form of transportation (2Ki 7:14); travel (Ps 104:26); take, send, i.e., cause linear motion of an object, collection, or mass (Jer 32:5); go about (Zec 1:10), 2.cause to walk (Lev 26:13); walk about, walk without particular goal (Ex 21:19); 3.; follow, i.e., be an adherent of a person, group, or belief (Lev 26:3); 5. behave, conduct, live, formally, walk, i.e., go about doing certain actions in a regular, more or less consistent manner, so possibly constituting a life or lifestyle, as an extension of the act of walking as regular and patterned (Lev 20:23); live (Ps 86:11); lived for, formally, walked (Ge 5:22); 11 James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
When we obey God we walk with God:
6 This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
33 You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.
1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
PROSPER = Salah
7502 I. צָלַח (ṣā·lǎḥ): v.; ≡ Str 6743; 1. come in power, be forceful, i.e., have an overpowering force/person join (or replace?) a common force, with the result being a strong, successful action which is the will of the overpowering person or force, implying the force is swift or sudden as well as forceful (Jdg 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1Sa 10:6, 10; 11:6; 16:13; 18:10+), 2. rush, sweep, i.e., to move with rapidity and suddenness, with a focus that this movement has considerable force (
7503 II. צָלַח (ṣā·lǎḥ): v.; ≡ Str 6743; 1. succeed, i.e., to successfully accomplish a task or goal (Nu 14:41; Isa 54:17; Eze 16:13; 17:9, 10, 15; Da 11:27+); make a success (Ge 24:21); 2. prosper, thrive, i.e., be in a state of having sufficient or considerable possessions, or be in a favorable circumstance (Isa 53:10; Jer 12:1; Jer 22:30), see also domain LN 57.22–57.24; (hif) grant prosperity (Ge 39:2; Jos 1:8); 3. LN 39.52–39.61 (qal) be victorious, i.e., be in a state of having conquered an opponent (Ps 45:5[EB 4]+); (hif) cause victory (1Ki 22:12); 4. LN 65.30–65.39 (qal) be useful, i.e., be in a state of having a valid function or use (Jer 13:7, 10; Eze 15:4+); 5. LN 56.20–56.34 (hif) win a case, formally, succeed, i.e., cause a defendant to become acquitted by giving a useful, potent defense (Jer 5:28)1
1 James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
†II. [צָלֵחַ, צָלַח S6743 TWOT1916 GK7502, 7503] vb. advance, prosper (NH id.; Ph. Pi. causat. in n.pr.; Arabic صَلَحَ (ṣalaḥa) be in good condition, cf. Sab. הצלח Sab Denkm 93; Aramaic צְלַח, ܨܠܰܚ (ṣlaḥ) prosper);—Qal Pf. 3 fs. צָלֵ֑חָה Je 12:1; Impf. 3 ms. יִצְלַח Je 13:7 +, etc.; Imv. ms. צְלַח ψ 45:5; prosper, of way of wicked Je 12:1, cf. Nu 14:41; Is 53:10; 54:17; Ez 17:9, 10; Dn 11:27; c. ל rei, = be good for anything Je 13:7, 10 Ez 15:4; subj. pers., abs., Je 22:30() Ez 17:15, ψ 45:5 be successful! וַתִּצְלְחִי לִמְלוּכָה Ez 16:13 and thou didst prosper to royalty (dub.; del. 𝔊 Co Toy; > Sta vi (1886), 337 f. Krae לִמְלָאכָה i.e. harlotry). Hiph. Pf. 3 ms. הִצְלִיחַ Gn 24:21, 2 ms. וְהִצְלַחְתָּ֫ 1 Ch 22:11, etc11 Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 852.
Rewards for Walking with the Lord:
Rain in its season - Leviticus 26:4
Produce - Fruit - Leviticus 26:4
Long/Good Harvest - Leviticus 26:5
Bread and Safety - Leviticus 26:5
Peace in the Land - Leviticus 26:6
No evil beast in the Land - Leviticus 26:6
Might to deal w/ enemies - Leviticus 26:7-8
The Favour of God - Leviticus 26:9
The Covenant of God - Leviticus 26:9
Participate of the Old and Renew Harvest - Leviticus 26:10
Inherit the Presence and Acceptance of God - Leviticus 26:11
God will walk with you - Leviticus 26:12
You will become the people of God- Leviticus 26:12
You will be free to walk in righteousness - Leviticus 26:13-14
Is this list of 14 rewards referring only to the way we walk with the Lord now?
Or is it referring to the Promised Land?
Who walked with God in the Bible? - walking found in the Bible 227 times
22 After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters.
9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
40 But he said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house.
15 And he blessed Joseph, and said: “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
6 The law of truth was in his mouth, And injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, And turned many away from iniquity.
3 Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant.
5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.
12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.
Clearly walking with God requires that we keep His commandments and statutes.
We observe however than when we do not walk with Him, He may have a different opinion:
14 ‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments,
15 and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant,
18 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
21 ‘Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins.
23 ‘And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me,
24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins.
27 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me,
28 then I also will walk contrary to you in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.
What is the warning in this Torah Portion when not walking with God?
If you do not obey Me (God says), … you will be slaves:
13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright.
14 ‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments,
15 and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant,
16 I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
How?
Consequences
Terror, waste, disease, and sorrow in the heart awaits - Leviticus 26:16
You will sow your seed in vain -enemies will eat it - Leviticus 26:16
God will be against you -your enemies will defeat you - Leviticus 26:17
You will be punished 7 more times for your sin - Leviticus 26:18
Pride will be broken - heavens like iron and earth like bronze- Leviticus 26:19
You will use strength in vain - no fruit - Leviticus 26:20
You will have 7 times more plagues - Leviticus 26:21
He will send beasts - children, livestock -few in number - Leviticus 26:22
If we do not change, God will walk against us - Leviticus 26:23-24
The Lord will execute vengeance of the covenant - Leviticus 26:25
Famine for the word will happen Leviticus 26:26
Death awaits even if you present a sacrifice - Leviticus 27:29
What do these Torah portions mean to us?
It is important to apply them in our lives?
Are all of these commandments Old Testament commandments we do not live by any more?
What do they possibly mean for the end times?
Is Vayikra just a bunch of rules on animal sacrifice that have nothing to do with us?
When we walk against God we must count the cost.
Our feet need to be cleansed to walk with God
Are clean feet only for Israel, or the Gentiles as well?
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God,
4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.
5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”
7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”
There are feet that follow God and feet that do not- Feet represent the way we walk
15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Do we live under the Dispensation of Grace (yes) that these laws do not matter any more? or
Are we in the time of the Gentiles? -
Time of the Gentiles
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
Yeshua also said:
24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
We have been told the “Time of Gentiles has been fulfilled” means until everyone has heard the gospel and we have preached it to all the world - may be true
What does the “Time of the Gentiles is fulfilled” mean? what does that look like?
Let us consider the idea of saved by grace to do whatever I want
Let us consider the way we, as Gentiles, have walked since Yeshua went to sit at the right hand of the Father
Remember there are feet that do not walk with the Father.
Let us look at an example to answer these and other questions, as we close
Closing
Closing
Walking with Lord means doing things His way - not like the Gentiles
In summary, there are three kinds of Gentiles in Hebrew:
1- Ger - a stranger who wants to enter the covenant of God - for example Cornelius
1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment,
2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.
Ger
Torah depicts ger toshavim (resident-settlers) as gentiles who settle on sanctuary lands and refrain from idolatry, but still eat unkosher food [Rashi]. Read Lev. 25:35, Acts 15:19–20. Are New Covenant priests ger toshavim? Explain.11 Jeffrey Enoch. Feinberg Ph.D.
2- Goy (Goyim) - nations - no Israelite by birth
3 The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.
3- Nakri - an alien/ foreigner (less preferable to use) - no so close association to Israelites - Ruth (who called herself Nakri)
10 So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”
Consider the Book of Daniel
The Book of Daniel talks about a number of groups included in the Gentile World
Daniel = God is judge
At the time of Daniel (605/6 BC approximately), Babylon has taken over Israel - Judah
These are non-Jews who have come to take over Israel: Gentiles
It starts off with the account of Babylon taking over - Gentiles
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.
Daniel submitted to the King, but did not defile himself, nor did his friends
He walked with God
8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
9 Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs.
The king, Nebuchadnezzar, has 2 dreams and was disappointed no one could interpret his dream.
He wanted to even kill the wise men
12 For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
Daniel asks the king to give him “time” that he might tell the king the interpretation of his dream.
16 So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation.
He seeks his community to seek the Lord
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,
18 that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
God responds
19 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
Daniel tells king Nebuchadnezzar
28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these:
29 As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be.
30 But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.
Daniel explains the dream
31 “You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome.
32 This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,
33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
34 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Picture of Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream of the Times of the Gentiles / All are Gentiles
Gold - Babylon - idolatry - 597/606 BC
Silver- Medo Persia/ Elam - luxury - 587/538 BC
Bronze - Greeks - war - 333/332 BC
Greeks: systems (government, commerce/trading), sports, science, philosophy
Iron - Rome - 63/70 AD
Partly iron/ partly clay - feet -
how are we walking as Gentiles?
Layer upon layer, we have been separated from the ways of the Lord
From being holy - sanctified
We have been taken so far away from the Jewish content to the point of antisemitism
Do you know any Gentile church that follows idolatry, luxury, war, Greek philosophy, Greek systems?
Is it walking with God?
Do you remember the consequences for not obeying good in our Torah Portion today?
The consequences for not walking with God
Terror, waste, disease, and sorrow in the heart awaits - Leviticus 26:16
You will sow your seed in vain -enemies will eat it - Leviticus 26:16
God will be against you -your enemies will defeat you - Leviticus 26:17
You will be punished 7 more times for your sin - Leviticus 26:18
Pride will be broken - heavens like iron and earth like bronze- Leviticus 26:19
You will use strength in vain - no fruit - Leviticus 26:20
You will have 7 times more plagues - Leviticus 26:21
He will send beasts - children, livestock -few in number - Leviticus 26:22
If we do not change, God will walk against us - Leviticus 26:23-24
The Lord will execute vengeance of the covenant - Leviticus 26:25
Famine for the word will happen Leviticus 26:26
Death awaits even if you present a sacrifice - Leviticus 27:29
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream also speaks of the creation on man and beast on the six day
1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts.
2 Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea.
3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.
4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
5 “And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’
6 “After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.
7 “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.
Beasts and Nebuchadnezzar Dream
Lion is Babylon
Bear is Persia
Leopard is Greeks (spots - systems)
Iron - teeth is Rome - ready to devour
Clay - people - feet
41 Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
43 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.
Consider the parallel in Revelation:
1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.
2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.
5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.
6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.
2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.
So, why is the importance for the Times of the Gentiles?
Because we may find a lot of false doctrine in the Gentile church.
We may be heading to a rude awakening
1 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,
2 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Wail, ‘Woe to the day!’
3 For the day is near, Even the day of the Lord is near; It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles.
The Lord warned us of this
8 And He said: “Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them.
The Holy Spirit and the Word of God are essentially the way we keep from being deceived.
Remember I mentioned that:
Although Shavuot is not as widely celebrated as some other Jewish holidays, it is traditional to attend synagogue.
The Book of Ruth and the Ten Commandments are read. Synagogues are often decorated with fresh fruit and flowers, recalling the harvest.
People often eat dairy foods, such as blintzes, yogurt, and cheesecake, because in The Song of Songs (megillah) the Torah is compared to milk
8 The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes Leaping upon the mountains, Skipping upon the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall; He is looking through the windows, Gazing through the lattice.
10 My beloved spoke, and said to me: “Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away.
11 For lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth; The time of singing has come, And the voice of the turtledove Is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree puts forth her green figs, And the vines with the tender grapes Give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away!
14 “O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely.”
15 Catch us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines, For our vines have tender grapes.
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his. He feeds his flock among the lilies.
17 Until the day breaks And the shadows flee away, Turn, my beloved, And be like a gazelle Or a young stag Upon the mountains of Bether.
All animals mentioned, except for the foxes, are ceremonially clean animals: stag, the turtledove, dove, flocks, the gazelle
Fig tree- Israel
Winter is over - summer is here - green leaves, flowers
Grapes - Sukkot
This already happened at the mountains of Bether: 135 AD Many followed a False Messiah: Bar Kokhba
Bether translated as “separation” speaks of tribulation and separation - a distant mountain - out of reach
Ezra ben Solomon says, For the hills of spices: An allusion to the departure of the Glory.
Bether was also known as the House of Blade - The House of Turtledove
8 “Who are these who fly like a cloud, And like doves to their roosts?
It is also reported that the war against the oppressors
It lasted 3 and a 1/2 years
The Roman empire went after him, Bar Kokhba, and killed him in 135 AD
This reported to be a very bloody battle that the blood reached the horses’ mouths
There is a parallel here with Revelation again
14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.
15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”
16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17 Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
17 Until the day breaks And the shadows flee away, Turn, my beloved, And be like a gazelle Or a young stag Upon the mountains of Bether.
Explains the reversed Bether when Jesus comes
Our Torah portion warns us of this
25 And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
26 When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.
Yeshua reaffirmed this:
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.
21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.
22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
23 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.
24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Paul pleads with the Gentiles not to be arrogant - because the time of the Gentiles will be fulfilled
Don Finto, Debbie Smith, and Michael Smith, Your People Shall Be My People: How Israel, the Jews and the Christian Church Will Come Together in the Last Days (Grand Rapids, MI: Chosen, 2016) Put it like this:
Paul assured his Gentile converts that God was not finished with Israel.
He warned the Gentiles against arrogance.
He reminded them that they were grafted into Israel’s olive tree.
He spoke of the spiritual sap that comes from Jewish roots. He indicated that the Gentile Church cannot be holy in a complete sense without her Jewish older brother, whose birthright she has usurped.
He told the Gentiles that they were to make the Jews jealous through their love and faith (see Romans 11).
And yet the Gentile Church has not only failed to protect the Jews, but she has often participated in and even initiated persecution.
Why? The enemy is a deceiver, and the Church has been deceived.
Early in Gentile Church history, its leading scholars began to turn against the Jews.
John Chrysostom, in the late third and early fourth century, gave eight “Homilies against the Jews.”
He assaulted their character as murderous, greedy, immoral, vicious criminals. “As for me I hate the synagogue . . . I hate the Jews.”
It was Spanish “Christian” rulers Ferdinand and Isabella who exiled, tortured and killed thousands of Jews during the fifteenth-century Spanish Inquisition.
The great Protestant theologian and reformer Martin Luther became a hater of Jews by the end of his life.
Their synagogues should be set on fire. . . . Their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed. . . . They should be deprived of their prayer books and Talmuds. . . . Their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death to teach anymore. . . . Passport and traveling privileges should be absolutely forbidden. . . . Let the young and strong Jews and Jewesses be given the flail, the ax, the hoe, the spade, the distaff, and spindle, and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their noses.
Gerhard Kittel, eminent German New Testament scholar, published a book in 1933 on the “Jewish Question.” His counsel? That they should accept discrimination and defamation as their due as second-class citizens whose lot is to wander “restless and homeless on the face of the earth.”
The pogroms had their origin in “Christian” lands such as Russia and Poland. The origins of the Holocaust? Christian Austria and Germany, countries whose church ledgers were filled with those who had been properly baptized and confirmed.
The Church has been deceived, serving as a pawn in the hands of her enemy.
If only Satan could annihilate the Jews or keep them from the revelation about the Messiah who has already come.
What more effective way than to use the very ones claiming to be His followers in achieving that annihilation! Or even assimilation.
The plans of God will be delayed as long as the Jews do not “come home.”
The prophet Jeremiah said, “I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety” (23:5–6). This prophecy had its partial fulfillment in the first coming of the Messiah. Its final fulfillment is yet to come. Judah has not yet been saved, and Israel does not yet live in safety.
So when you hear Babylon has fallen - this is good thing for us!!! Messiah is coming
8 And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”
14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.
15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”
16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
25 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;
26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”
Get ready for the harvest - it will not come without tribulation
Are you ready?
This is the Torah Portions for Today
Shabbat Shalom