Chukat (Statute) Audio Podcast July 16, 2022
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Introduction
Introduction
This Torah Portion goes from Numbers 19:1-22:1
Chukat - Statute - Law
Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
“This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come.
Chukat - Statute - Law
4 Types of Laws - Commandments - as translated in our Bibles
Mitzvah (Mitzvot) - Commandments
Mishpat (Mishpatim)- Ordinance
Chukat/Chuk (Chukot/Chukim) Statute
Torah (Torot) Law/ Instruction
But for some Rabbinical commentaries:
Torah 613
The written Torah of Moses is filled with various imperatives of one kind or another. Mitzvah is a general term used to refer to any commandment given by God
Some rabbinical commentaries divide the Torah in 3:
Eidot- are testimonials (from the root “ed” - witness) - serve to commemorate or represent something (foreshadow of something that happened or to come)- eg. Shabbat , tzitzit, matzah on Passover, blow the shofar
Mishpatim- clearly specified laws - logical -eg. give to charity and the law of theft, murder- good for the ethical/moral unity of the community
Chukkim - w/o reason (fiats /decrees - divine - eg. sing=chukkah, Red Heifer, not mixing seeds and fabrics (kilayim)
Obedience 613
Commandements: Obedience
Eidot- Testimonies - Trust
Mishpatim- logical laws - Understanding
Chukkim - Statutes - Faith
Red Heifer
Red Heifer
Red
If we separate the two words and read from right to left, we end up with: Heifer/cow and Red, which means ground like in Gen 2:7
Ground
It is the same word used in Gen 4:10 when Cain kills Abel. Ground
Adamah
Ground which also means Adam
Adam
Adam - like the name given in Genesis 2:15
-It’s a bloody man taken from the ground that needs a Statute for his sanctification
-The Red Heifer addresses the disobedience in Exodus 32- idolatry borrowed from Egypt
Golden Calf
So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.”
And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord.
And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.”
And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”
For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.”
Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.
And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children;
That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children,
That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments;
And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle.
They did not keep the covenant of God; They refused to walk in His law,
And forgot His works And His wonders that He had shown them.
Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel,
Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation.
In spite of this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wondrous works.
Therefore their days He consumed in futility, And their years in fear.
When He slew them, then they sought Him; And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
Then they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer.
Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue;
For their heart was not steadfast with Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, And did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, And did not stir up all His wrath;
For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again.
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.
But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”
Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.
As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.
And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah,
who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.
But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
Presentation
Presentation
Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
“This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come.
‘But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the Lord, and he shall be cut off from among his people.
Because he has despised the word of the Lord, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be upon him.’ ”
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Mindset
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
“This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come.
Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?”
And Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me—me also, O my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, And of the dew of heaven from above.
By your sword you shall live, And you shall serve your brother; And it shall come to pass, when you become restless, That you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary.
And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom.
But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”
And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?”
Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.
And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, And says, “I have done no wickedness.”
Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners.
And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined,
and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.”
“Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.
And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever.
“Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything,
therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you.
And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place.
You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things.
“But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.
There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.
And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.
“You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes—
for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you.
The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, “Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, And as I have purposed, so it shall stand:
That I will break the Assyrian in My land, And on My mountains tread him underfoot. Then his yoke shall be removed from them, And his burden removed from their shoulders.
This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth, And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
For the Lord of hosts has purposed, And who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, And who will turn it back?”
“Therefore wait for Me,” says the Lord, “Until the day I rise up for plunder; My determination is to gather the nations To My assembly of kingdoms, To pour on them My indignation, All My fierce anger; All the earth shall be devoured With the fire of My jealousy.
“For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, That they all may call on the name of the Lord, To serve Him with one accord.
From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, The daughter of My dispersed ones, Shall bring My offering.
In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds In which you transgress against Me; For then I will take away from your midst Those who rejoice in your pride, And you shall no longer be haughty In My holy mountain.
I will leave in your midst A meek and humble people, And they shall trust in the name of the Lord.
The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness And speak no lies, Nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; For they shall feed their flocks and lie down, And no one shall make them afraid.”
And it shall come to pass in that day That the remnant of Israel, And such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, Will never again depend on him who defeated them, But will depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, To the Mighty God.
For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, A remnant of them will return; The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
For the Lord God of hosts Will make a determined end In the midst of all the land.
Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: “O My people, who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of Egypt.
For yet a very little while and the indignation will cease, as will My anger in their destruction.”
And the Lord of hosts will stir up a scourge for him like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; as His rod was on the sea, so will He lift it up in the manner of Egypt.
It shall come to pass in that day That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, And his yoke from your neck, And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.
The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.
You have multiplied the nation And increased its joy; They rejoice before You According to the joy of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian.
For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle, And garments rolled in blood, Will be used for burning and fuel of fire.
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him;
Then the detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him.
And they led Him away to Annas first, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year.
Now it was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.
And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha,
where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.
Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS
Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save.
Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.
and Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood seven times directly in front of the tabernacle of meeting.
Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight: its hide, its flesh, its blood, and its offal shall be burned.
And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
“This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest.
And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him; and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper,
then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop.
Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord.
And of the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the trespass offering.
The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord.
“But if the priest comes in and examines it, and indeed the plague has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.
Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,” says the Lord God.
“My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord God.
“Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace—and one builds a wall, and they plaster it with untempered mortar—
say to those who plaster it with untempered mortar, that it will fall. There will be flooding rain, and you, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it down.
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
“But if the priest comes in and examines it, and indeed the plague has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed.
And he shall take, to cleanse the house, two birds, cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop.
Then he shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water;
and he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times.
And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and the running water and the living bird, with the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet.
Then he shall let the living bird loose outside the city in the open field, and make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.
Then the priest shall wash his clothes, he shall bathe in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp; the priest shall be unclean until evening.
And the one who burns it shall wash his clothes in water, bathe in water, and shall be unclean until evening.
Then a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the water of purification; it is for purifying from sin.
which You commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land, with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from one end to another with their impurity.
Then a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the water of purification; it is for purifying from sin.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. It shall be a statute forever to the children of Israel and to the stranger who dwells among them.
‘He who touches the dead body of anyone shall be unclean seven days.
He shall purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.
Whoever touches the body of anyone who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. That person shall be cut off from Israel. He shall be unclean, because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him; his uncleanness is still on him.
‘And for an unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin, and running water shall be put on them in a vessel.
A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, the slain, the dead, or a grave.
The clean person shall sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, wash his clothes, and bathe in water; and at evening he shall be clean.
‘But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.
It shall be a perpetual statute for them. He who sprinkles the water of purification shall wash his clothes; and he who touches the water of purification shall be unclean until evening.
Summary
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.
I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;
for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.
According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.
For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.
If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.
If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
saying: “I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And again: “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.
For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp.
Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.
Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Shabbat Shalom