Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Hello Friends, it’s good to see you.

Important to the

So, this week I gots to ‘Googling’ some things.

I’m not proud of it, but I did it, I googled a good chunk of my research this week.

This week I gots to ‘Googling’ some things.

Now, when I was in university they looked down upon Google research and Wikipedia was not at all an acceptable reference source.

Apparently, we had to read books written by people with actual qualifications and some form of expertise in the area they were talking about.

In my hay day, when I was in university, they looked down upon such a thing and research from Wikipedia was not at all acceptable (but I did that too!).

Apparently, we had to read books written by people with actual qualifications and some form of expertise in the topic they were talking about.

Now whilst there isn’t exactly a recognised scholarly institution teaching Hebrew Roots, we can certainly learn from the idea that we shouldn’t just google random things to teach us about God.

You wouldn’t trust a doctor without a degree, yet any random can teach you about God?

I think a few issues with people (in general) would be resolved if we tried a little harder with our research.

But at any rate, do as I say, not as I do, and I was doing my research on Google.

I was surprised to see my research topic, the red heiffer, in the news.

Interestingly enough it was the Australian news site, aptly named news.com.au, and the article was called the ‘First ‘red heifer’ born in Israel for 2000 years triggers armageddon fears’.

This week I gots to ‘Googling’ some things.

I’m not proud of it.

When I was in university they looked down upon Google research and Wikipedia was not an acceptable reference source.

Apparently we had to read books written by people with actual qualifications.

Whilst there isn’t exactly a recognised scholarly institution teaching Hebrew Roots we can certainly learn from the idea that we should

I’m not proud of it.

When I was in university they looked down upon Google research and Wikipedia was not at all an acceptable reference source.

Apparently, we had to read books written by people with actual qualifications and some form of expertise.

Now whilst there isn’t exactly a recognised scholarly institution teaching Hebrew Roots, we can certainly learn from the idea that we shouldn’t just google random things to teach us about God.

I think a few issues with people (in general) would be resolved if we tried a little harder with our research.

But at any rate, like a studious student I was doing research on Google and I was surprised to see my research topic, the red heiffer, in the news.

Interestingly enough it was the Australian news site, aptly named news.com.au, and the article was called ‘First ‘red heifer’ born in Israel for 2000 years triggers armageddon fears’.

It was in the lifestyle section for things that were considered ‘weird’ and ‘unusual’.

In the article an Israeli institution was on the brink of announcing that this red cow would bring the promise of purity to the world.

It said that this cow heralded ‘the end of times’ and the potential rebuilding of the Third Temple.

They connected it to ‘judgement day’ and commented that the Christians think it might announce the pending rapture which just might mean that everyone else would burn in hell.

Besides the pending ‘burning in hell’ part, I read the article, found myself nodding as I read it, paused for a few moments and in a moment of Australian brilliance I thought to myself ‘yeah, yeah nah…yeah’ (which translates as ‘yes’).

And then I laughed.

Because so much of what was said is actually right, and that fact slapped me in the face with how ridiculous that was and yet, how true.

Apparently a red cow is central to the Torah; apparently I’m ok with this.

So, we’re going to explore the mystery that is the red heiffer.

Maybe, we will understand some of the claims in the article which connect the red heiffer to the end of the world, to the purity of the world, and maybe, the coming of the Messiah.

I’m not sure I’m capable of doing this because it’s actually kind of complicated, but I’ll do my best.

To begin, we need to understand the title of the Torah portion, ‘chukat’.

Until I see you face to face.....

It’s a Chok Thing

To begin, let’s start with a story from the Midrash.

It goes a little like this;

A gentile asked Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, "These rituals you do, they seem like witchcraft!

You bring a heifer, burn it, crush it up, and take its ashes.

[If] one of you is impure by the dead [the highest type impurity], 2 or 3 drops are sprinkled on him, and you declare him pure?!"

He said to him, "Has a restless spirit ever entered you?"

He said to him, "No!" "Have you ever seen a man where a restless spirit entered him?"

He said to him, "Yes!" [Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai] said to him, "And what did you do for him?"

He sad to him, "We brought roots and made them smoke beneath him, and pour water and it flees."

He said to him, "Your ears should hear what leaves from your mouth!

The same thing is true for this spirit, the spirit of impurity, as it is written, (Zachariah 13:2) "Even the prophets and the spirit of impurity will I remove from the land."

They sprinkle upon him purifying waters, and it [the spirit of impurity] flees."

After he left, our rabbi's students said, "You pushed him off with a reed.

What will you say to us?"

He said to them, "By your lives, a dead person doesn't make things impure, and the water doesn't make things pure.

Rather, God said, 'I have engraved a rule, I have decreed a decree (chukah chakakti, gezeira gazarti), and you have no permission to transgress what I decreed, as it says "This is a chok (rule) of the Torah."

There’s this Roman, who happens to be a pagan, and he reads about the red heiffer.

The pagan, like most people these days, thinks it’s a little bit odd, and so he

Rabbah Bamidbar 19:8

I quite like the story.

It starts with the gentile (Roman in some versions) saying to the Rabbi, ‘you people are crazy’, and the Rabbi responding by pointing out the irony of a pagan saying such a thing.

Unfortunately though, the Rabbi’s answer served the purpose of only sending the man away and the actual answer he gave to his students who enquired of him afterwards.

The Rabbi’s response to his students holds a truth which just about every teaching on the Red Heiffer opens with.

It’s that this law defies rationality and yet it’s a law given to us by God and one that we should obey purely because God said so.

We will try to unravel the mystery somewhat with the commandment of the heiffer but it stands that God ordained such a thing therefor it is on us to obey, even if we don’t understand.

This is the meaning of the word ‘chok’, which is the singular form of ‘chukat’, the title to our Torah portion.

It’s derived from the second verse of chapter 19 where it states ‘this is the ordinance of the law’.

It’s the word ‘ordinance’ which is a sound translation.

You might even get ‘law’ or ‘statute’ or something like that.

Our English however betrays some of the nuance with the word because ‘chukat’ are a specific type of law and ordinance.

These are the ones that don’t make sense; the ones that defy rationality.

‘Chok’, the sages teach is derived from ‘chukka’ which means ‘chiseling’ or ‘engraved’.

In the plain sense it refers to a law chiseled in stone.

The sages teach, correctly I might add, that the ‘chukat’ are special because if one performs one then it is as if the Torah is being engraved on his heart.

This is because the chukat cannot be fully comprehended and if fulfilled are done in absolute faith, or simply ‘because God said so’.

Overview of the Sacrifice

What is the sacrifice itself and why the big deal?

It goes like this.

God commanded Israel to find a red heiffer (a red cow), a perfect one without blemish, one that was never ‘yoked’; take it outside the camp and slaughter it, sprinkle some blood towards the Tabernacle, burn its ashes with cedar, scarlet and hyssop and then take the remaining ashes and store them in a clean place.

Following this the ashes were mixed with water, which could then be used to purify unclean people and unclean objects.

Got it?

What’s important, is WHO needs the ashes of the red heiffer.

There are lots of types of ‘unclean’ things and people in the Bible but not all things unclean need the water and ashes of the red heiffer.

Only people contaminated by a corpse, or objects contaminated by a corpse, required the ashes of the red heiffer.

Without the heiffer, there is no purification for corpse contamination.

I’ll say that again because it is central to understanding the importance of the red heiffer ritual.

Without the red heiffer, there is no purification for corpse contamination.

This is why the red heiffer is such a big deal.

Death is the underlying and central concept of impurity and uncleanliness in the Bible.

The main sacrifice, the main ritual for cleansing death was the red heiffer.

Without it, unclean people could not be purified.

The implication is profound.

You can build a Temple, you can find the priests, and it is all for naught without the red heiffer.

Without it, you have an unclean Temple, and you have contaminated priests (because we’re all in a status of being unclean) and you have no means of cleansing them.

This is why people go into such a fervor when a red heiffer is allegedly born.

People rightly ask does this herald the beginning of something big?

Does this announce the coming of a new Temple, and the One who would inhabit it?

Perhaps this is why the Torah literally says in verse 2; ‘this is the law of the Torah’.