Scriptures

Leviticus 26:3 to 27:34
Jeremiah 16:19-17:14
Matthew 23:1 to 24:2
John 14:15-21; 15:10-12

Held in the study of Bechukotai, the last portion of the book of Leviticus, are YHVH’s closing remarks to the Children of Israel. We have enjoyed this ten-week study with YHVH as He finishes teaching His people His decrees, laws and regulations – in Hebrew, understood as His will, His testament and His order – with these last words spoken from His heart to His people Israel. Today may we heed His words and walk in the redemption given us since ancient days.

It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in because of their disobedience. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Yeshua the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess (Hebrews 4:6, 14).

Leviticus 26:2-13 extends to us the laws that govern the land. To those who follow YHVH’s ways there is a blessing of physical and spiritual merits, plus promises of provision and prosperity. However, in Leviticus 26:14-34, YHVH also states the other side of the consequences if we do not follow His ways and stray from His words for life. YHVH has laid out five levels of warnings to help us see the error of our ways. The promise to scatter His people among the Nations was also given in the event that after all the warnings the people still would not listen and turn their backs to His ways. Only when the Land lay desolate and was cleared of disobedience could it finally enjoy its Sabbath years.

1. "If you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, butbreak My covenant, I will do this to you 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. I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you."

2. "And after all this, ifyou do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze and your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit."

3. "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. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate."

4. "And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins 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. 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."

5. "And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you. I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas. I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.”

"Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate it shall rest – for the time it did not rest on your Sabbaths when you dwelt in it" (Leviticus 26:2-23).

Unfortunately the Children of Israel did not obey the message and fell as a nation. They were forced to leave the land and live in exiled regions among the Nations. The prophets record how the House of Judah (the Jews) fulfilled their repentance and witnessed a remnant return to YHVH and to the land. But no record is made of the same with the House of Israel (Ephraim), as they have yet never repented or returned until this day in time.

The Two Houses of Israel are in the land of their dispersion today. Very few live in the Land by comparison and of those, only a remnant obeys YHVH’s teachings. These warnings applied to our ancestors and are our heritage today. These words are still in effect through Yeshua who fulfilled the Word at Mount Sinai, which then made it applicable in our lives today. Through Him the Word was perfected and made manifest. YHVH does not leave us without hope. The Hope of all Israel rests in His Word, Yeshua the Living Word.

We repeat the last lesson’s quote from Angus Wootten’s book Restoring Israel’s Kingdom that “Ephraim’s punishment as outlined in Ezekiel 4:5 was for three hundred and ninety years. However, Leviticus 26:27-28 says that if there is no repentance the punishment will be sevenfold. There was no record of Ephraim repenting, so the punishment was for three hundred and ninety years multiplied by seven years, or two thousand and seven hundred and thirty years. The punishment has to have a starting point and an ending point. Surely, we cannot use a date later that 721 BC which marked the fall of the City of Samaria, the last bastion of the Northern Kingdom. Two thousand and seven hundred and thirty years from that date brings us to the year 2008 as the end of the punishment.

However, a better starting date could well be 734 BC that marked the year that Ephraim or the Northern Kingdom had lost all political and religious control of any territory it still held. It had become a vassal state of Assyria. Going forward two thousand and seven hundred and thirty years from 734 BC, brings us to 1996, a year in which every feast of YHVH was marked with a blood red moon. It was also the year of the Hal-Boop Comet. Further it marked the beginning of the one hundredth Jubilee/Yovel year from Noah and the fiftieth Jubilee from Yeshua. Also, it has been my experience that the vast majority of those coming to an understanding of the Messianic Age did so after 1996.

IF we confess our sins and the sins of our fathers, then when our hearts are humbled and we fulfill the costly consequences of our disobedience to His ways, then YHVH will remember His Covenant He made with our fathers Jacob, Isaac and Abraham and restore us (Leviticus 26:40-45 ref. 2 Chronicles 7:13-14)

YHVH is faithful to the curses as His is to the blessings.

Leviticus 27 Redeeming what is YHVH’s

The teachings of vows and the redeeming of vows are placed at the very end of Leviticus and handled differently than the other instructions of YHVH. "Up to this point in the Book of Leviticus, the Torah has described all types of offerings that can be brought in forms of life: animal and vegetable (grain). The only form of sacrifice that has not been discussed is one measured in the value of human life. Here the Torah introduces human life as a subject for offering, but stated that it must be in the form of a monetary payment to help support the Temple treasury, not for the Altar.

Regarding the valuation of human beings, the next sections deal with the holiness of the nation of Israel and the land of Israel. The effect of this holiness was revealed in the laws of the Jubilee/Yovel, which prevented land from being sold in perpetuity; it must be returned in the Jubilee Year. Here the Torah speaks of the holiness inherent in the individual person and the value of his soul. YHVH’s teaching assesses the payment depending on age and gender.

Yeshua is our payment for the vows we spoke through the generations. On the night He was betrayed, the High Priest or Kohan determined what His Soul was worth thirty pieces of silver. This payment was given to the Kohan, who did not put it into the Temple. Yeshua at His trial “remained silent.” He paid our redemption price and our death according to YHVH’s will. (Matthew 27:1-9; Jeremiah 32:6-9; Zechariah 11:12-13)

"What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Yeshua was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility." So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me."

Leviticus 27:30-33 Tithe

A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to YHVH; it is holy to YHVH.

The teaching of the Tabernacle opened with the command for the Children of Israel to bring their freewill offerings to help set up the Mishkan (Exodus 25:1-2). Now at the close of the teaching of the Tabernacle we have instructions for the tithe again. In earlier teachings, the tithe was the first commandment for the Tabernacle after the teaching of the Sabbath. The silver collected became the foundation of the Tabernacle. This represented redemption, just as tithing is a redemptive act of the people of God. Once the Tabernacle was/is built, the tithe is then used for maintaining it. This commandment to tithe is important for the continued provisions for the daily upkeep and operations of the Kingdom of YHVH and for the priesthood. The priesthood survived on the tithes.

History of Rabbinic Authority and the Tithe

With the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the priests were out of their element. It was during this time that they experienced competition for their authority. In 70 more years, their authority would be in the hands of the Rabbis. In Scripture, it was the priests that YHVH gave the authority to, not the rabbis. Rabbinic writings contain only the views of the rabbis on how the sacrifices and offerings were to be conducted; they do not contain the views of the priests who had conducted them. The rabbis rejected all Sadducean views, and the priests were primarily Sadducees. The rabbinic writings declared that the rabbis were the ones with the authority not the priests. If the Temple were ever rebuilt, the priests would have to operate under rabbinic law, whereas Scripture states that this is clearly under the domain of the priests. With the rabbinic authority in place, the rabbis laid down the law for the priests.

It was Akiba, the father of rabbinic Judaism, who put into motion the rabbinical order in place of the priests. His decisions effectively demolished the priestly authority and nullified YHVH’s law of the tithe that provided for their support. Akiba authorized the law of gathering the grain far too early so that the grain not gathered was free from the tithe. He went further to maintain that the grain was free from tithes unless it was stored in a protected barn. If it was stored in a court to which two people had keys, it was unprotected and free from tithes (Mish. Ma’aserot 3.5; Mish. Ma’aser Sheni 4.8).

These interpretations effectually abolished the whole system of tithes. Abolishing the whole system of tithes effectually eliminated the livelihood of the priests, which effectually eliminated the priesthood as a competitor for rabbinic authority. In this way, Akiba was able to firmly establish his own Judaism over that of the priests to make the Torah what it "should have been." It was Akiba’s involvement in the Bar Kokhba rebellion that led to the never before complete expulsion of all Jewish people from the land of Israel for eighteen centuries.

Today we are learning to rebuild and maintain the Tabernacle of YHVH (His Kingdom), just as the Israelites did. If we are reading this lesson we are part of the remnant of Ephraim and Judah rebuilding and unifying together in a fulfillment of prophecy. We are coming back in record numbers, living out Ezekiel 37. YHVH is rebuilding David’s fallen tent by placing the desire to know Torah, God’s teaching and instruction, in our hearts. We are the fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:31-34. Our tenth or tithe is a command for today just as it was for the Israelites in Leviticus. It was needed to fulfill the vision, not for the receiver but for those who gave the tithe. The tithe we give is our seed. By giving the tithe, the seeds we give bring provision into our lives. It is like making a deposit into YHVH’s bank of blessings. That is why we give with a joyful heart! Selah. (Luke 12:41-44)

The Book of Malachi is foundational to our understanding of this (Malachi 3:6-12). We are to bring the whole tithe in. Often we are distracted by other needy causes but the tithe must be brought in first before we give out offerings or gifts. Offerings and gifts are not tithes taken from the tithe to YHVH, but are over and above the giving of tithes. Redeeming or substituting the tithe is not an option without a cost, as every tenth unit was to be counted and set apart holy unto YHVH (Leviticus 27:31-33). This is a spiritual realm as well as a physical realm. Malachi speaks of a storehouse. We are to put our tithes into YHVH’s storehouse, the place that teaches the true gospel and feeds YHVH’s true manna: those who teach how to know the difference between holy and unholy, distinguish between clean and unclean, how to teach and keep YHVH’s moedim (His appointed feasts), and how to keep His Sabbaths holy are true priests and prophets who serve in His Tabernacle today (Ezekiel 44:23-24; 22:26).

Yeshua is the manifestation of the spoken Word at Mount Sinai (John 1:1, 14). Yeshua spoke all the commandments to the Children of Israel at that time. Yeshua commanded us to keep His Word and again exhorted us in John 14 to keep His commandments and walk in them.

If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever -- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him (John 14:15-21).

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you (John 15:10-12).

Chazak! Chazak! Venischazeik!
Be Strong! Be Strong! And May We Be Strengthened!

Shabbat Shalom,
Carl and Julie Parker

References:
Sabbatical years: various Internet resources.

Restoring Israel’s Kingdom by Angus Wootten

Rabbi Akiba’s Messiah: The Origins of Rabbinic Authority by Daniel Gruber

Redeemed Israel Reunited and Restored by Batya Wootten

Past Parshot: www.messianicisrael.com/sheepfold-gleanings/
Sheepfold Gleanings written by Carl and Julie Parker: www.sheepfoldgleanings.com
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