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Bechukotai “In My Statues Lev. 26:3 – 27:34 |
Curse and blessing formulas seem to have been a common feature in Ancient
Near Eastern covenants. They were a way of guaranteeing that both parties
would abide by the terms and conditions. In the Torah are two principal
passages of blessings and curses. Deut. 28 where we have fourteen verses
of blessings for obedience followed by fifty-four verses of curses for
disobedience. Lev. 26 is the other passage. The laws of cause and effect
are still very much at work. Sin still reaps punishment. Obedience to G-d still
results in blessing. The curses and blessings of the Torah generally speak to
the national level. When Israel on the whole will observe the commandments
of Torah, she will reap the benefit of blessings. When a person realizes that
national blessing is contingent on national obedience, his or her small life can
seem quite inconsequential. What can my small contribution make? One
should always suppose that their life is the single measure that could tip the
balance of all Israel toward curse or blessing. Each sin is the ruin of all Israel
each obedience is the blessing of all Israel. In doing so: we model our
Master. If we walk in His statues and keep His commandments, He will
bestow blessing upon us. He will shower the land of Israel with abundant
rainfall. We will experience agricultural prosperity peace and even military
success. Lev. 26:11 we have the promise of the blessing that one day He will
return His dwelling Presence to His Temple and cause Himself to dwell
permanently among His people. The blessing of G-d’s Presence resting
directly upon the righteous is seen fulfilled in part by the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit upon the believers. He says He will walk among us, a level of intimacy
lost since Eden. If we will walk in His statutes and commandments, He will
walk among us. We must make every effort to walk in a manner worthy of the
L-rd, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and
increasing in the knowledge of G-d. His promises to meet us with terror,
consumption and fever, sickness and plague are the results of sin. We will
suffer agricultural loss and military defeat. Does this mean every sickness,
loss and failure is the direct consequence of sin? No. G-d’s ways are infinitely
higher than our own. The Master refuted such simplistic theology. The book
of Job refutes such simplistic theology. G-d does on occasion use or
physical condition to chasten us and correct us. The plagues of Lev. 2:6 are
curses on a national level. Smitten with terror, blight, and plague, a people
should seek after G-d. But if not, G-d will strike with a second curse of seven
more punishments. He will break down your pride of power. The land will not
yield its produce on the trees their fruit. If this is not adequate the L-rd sends a
plague of wild beast to take children and destroy livestock. The fourth curse is
to bring a sword an invading army. The inhabitants of the rural areas retreat to
the safety of walled cities. Then plagues break out. The curse goes on to
speak of ensuing famine and food rationing. The curses escalate as those
now suffering starvation while trapped in cities under the siege of foreign
armies turn to cannibalism. The sixth curse is exile. After the sixth curse the
seventh expression is one of redemption. Confession and retribution are the
prescription of repentance. If Israel will repent G-d will remember the
covenant and return her to her land. The L-rd has never abandoned Israel.
Though the Jewish people have wandered far from Jerusalem and the fresh
fields of the Galilee, the L-rd has stayed with them. The curses of Lev. 26 are
cautionary and prophetic. It is sad and difficult to read the curses in the light of
Jewish history, but it is good news. We eagerly await the time when Messiah
will usher in the age of blessing. Lev. 27 is one of the most complicated
chapters of Torah. It deals with the difficult area of vows and sanctifications to
the Temple, which can be made by a person. The vowing of a person and
property is a serious matter which the Torah designs worth of rigid legislation.
Perhaps because of our fickle human heart we may make a vow to make a
sizable donation to the work of the kingdom and even declare that we will do
so. Circumstances and heart attitudes change. We will be tempted to renege
on our promise. The Torah tells us we should honor our word even without an
oath. A person’s word ought to be as good as a vow. Too often we separate
between our words and actual intentions. A man says he will quit smoking but
within a few hours of nicotine craving he forsakes his plan. A woman says she
will return a phone call but does not. Daily life is filled with innumerable such
broken promises and little white lies.
In pagan culture a person might vow himself or his children as a human
sacrifice or in lifetime service to the religious establishment. Human sacrifice
is completely outside of parameters of G-d’s worship system. An
extraordinary vow would be to dedicate oneself or another to life long service
in the Temple. If a vow like this is taken the Torah offers a system of valuation
for a person’s life whereby that person must be redeemed. The price is paid
to de-consecrate the person on whom the vow has been made. The Torah
sets the valuations. They are constant whether the vowed person is strong,
weak, sick, healthy; Hebrew or Gentile. Adjustments are made based on
gender, age and financial status of the person responsible for paying the vow.
Paying the price was not optional. If a person was too poor to pay the price,
the priesthood was to interview the person paying and find out what they could
afford. It was not possible to leave it unpaid. The price had to be set
regardless of how low. Vowing an unclean animal it was presented to the
priesthood but the original owner had the right to redeem it by paying the
assigned value plus 1/5 of the value. The 1/5 was a penalty fee for misuse of
sacred property. An animal fit for sacrifice could not be redeemed. If a man
vowed his house or property it became the property of the priesthood. The
priest determined a fair market price. To redeem it the price needed to be
paid plus 1/5 its value. If a man vows a field, the value of the field is to be
deduced by a formula, which considers the amount of seed required to sow
the field. To redeem it the person would pay the valuation price plus 80
shekels plus 1/5th. You cannot give to
G-d what He already owns such as the first-born. The sacrifice and offering of
the firstborn were brought with the tithes as a part of the annual feast of
Sukkot. The Torah goes on to discuss the law of the tithe. Tithes are ten
percent collection taken from agricultural produce as a donation to the Temple
system. A tenth of the produce of the land, the field, the orchards and the
vineyards belongs to G-d. The Torah allows for a person to redeem his tithe.
Because it already has been designated it already belongs to G-d. He must
pay the full price of the produce plus 1/5th the value. The increase of herds
and flocks were to be tithed as well. The tithe of the animals were sacrificed
as peace offering and eaten by the owners. The tithes of the animals were
brought to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage of Sukkot.
Near Eastern covenants. They were a way of guaranteeing that both parties
would abide by the terms and conditions. In the Torah are two principal
passages of blessings and curses. Deut. 28 where we have fourteen verses
of blessings for obedience followed by fifty-four verses of curses for
disobedience. Lev. 26 is the other passage. The laws of cause and effect
are still very much at work. Sin still reaps punishment. Obedience to G-d still
results in blessing. The curses and blessings of the Torah generally speak to
the national level. When Israel on the whole will observe the commandments
of Torah, she will reap the benefit of blessings. When a person realizes that
national blessing is contingent on national obedience, his or her small life can
seem quite inconsequential. What can my small contribution make? One
should always suppose that their life is the single measure that could tip the
balance of all Israel toward curse or blessing. Each sin is the ruin of all Israel
each obedience is the blessing of all Israel. In doing so: we model our
Master. If we walk in His statues and keep His commandments, He will
bestow blessing upon us. He will shower the land of Israel with abundant
rainfall. We will experience agricultural prosperity peace and even military
success. Lev. 26:11 we have the promise of the blessing that one day He will
return His dwelling Presence to His Temple and cause Himself to dwell
permanently among His people. The blessing of G-d’s Presence resting
directly upon the righteous is seen fulfilled in part by the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit upon the believers. He says He will walk among us, a level of intimacy
lost since Eden. If we will walk in His statutes and commandments, He will
walk among us. We must make every effort to walk in a manner worthy of the
L-rd, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and
increasing in the knowledge of G-d. His promises to meet us with terror,
consumption and fever, sickness and plague are the results of sin. We will
suffer agricultural loss and military defeat. Does this mean every sickness,
loss and failure is the direct consequence of sin? No. G-d’s ways are infinitely
higher than our own. The Master refuted such simplistic theology. The book
of Job refutes such simplistic theology. G-d does on occasion use or
physical condition to chasten us and correct us. The plagues of Lev. 2:6 are
curses on a national level. Smitten with terror, blight, and plague, a people
should seek after G-d. But if not, G-d will strike with a second curse of seven
more punishments. He will break down your pride of power. The land will not
yield its produce on the trees their fruit. If this is not adequate the L-rd sends a
plague of wild beast to take children and destroy livestock. The fourth curse is
to bring a sword an invading army. The inhabitants of the rural areas retreat to
the safety of walled cities. Then plagues break out. The curse goes on to
speak of ensuing famine and food rationing. The curses escalate as those
now suffering starvation while trapped in cities under the siege of foreign
armies turn to cannibalism. The sixth curse is exile. After the sixth curse the
seventh expression is one of redemption. Confession and retribution are the
prescription of repentance. If Israel will repent G-d will remember the
covenant and return her to her land. The L-rd has never abandoned Israel.
Though the Jewish people have wandered far from Jerusalem and the fresh
fields of the Galilee, the L-rd has stayed with them. The curses of Lev. 26 are
cautionary and prophetic. It is sad and difficult to read the curses in the light of
Jewish history, but it is good news. We eagerly await the time when Messiah
will usher in the age of blessing. Lev. 27 is one of the most complicated
chapters of Torah. It deals with the difficult area of vows and sanctifications to
the Temple, which can be made by a person. The vowing of a person and
property is a serious matter which the Torah designs worth of rigid legislation.
Perhaps because of our fickle human heart we may make a vow to make a
sizable donation to the work of the kingdom and even declare that we will do
so. Circumstances and heart attitudes change. We will be tempted to renege
on our promise. The Torah tells us we should honor our word even without an
oath. A person’s word ought to be as good as a vow. Too often we separate
between our words and actual intentions. A man says he will quit smoking but
within a few hours of nicotine craving he forsakes his plan. A woman says she
will return a phone call but does not. Daily life is filled with innumerable such
broken promises and little white lies.
In pagan culture a person might vow himself or his children as a human
sacrifice or in lifetime service to the religious establishment. Human sacrifice
is completely outside of parameters of G-d’s worship system. An
extraordinary vow would be to dedicate oneself or another to life long service
in the Temple. If a vow like this is taken the Torah offers a system of valuation
for a person’s life whereby that person must be redeemed. The price is paid
to de-consecrate the person on whom the vow has been made. The Torah
sets the valuations. They are constant whether the vowed person is strong,
weak, sick, healthy; Hebrew or Gentile. Adjustments are made based on
gender, age and financial status of the person responsible for paying the vow.
Paying the price was not optional. If a person was too poor to pay the price,
the priesthood was to interview the person paying and find out what they could
afford. It was not possible to leave it unpaid. The price had to be set
regardless of how low. Vowing an unclean animal it was presented to the
priesthood but the original owner had the right to redeem it by paying the
assigned value plus 1/5 of the value. The 1/5 was a penalty fee for misuse of
sacred property. An animal fit for sacrifice could not be redeemed. If a man
vowed his house or property it became the property of the priesthood. The
priest determined a fair market price. To redeem it the price needed to be
paid plus 1/5 its value. If a man vows a field, the value of the field is to be
deduced by a formula, which considers the amount of seed required to sow
the field. To redeem it the person would pay the valuation price plus 80
shekels plus 1/5th. You cannot give to
G-d what He already owns such as the first-born. The sacrifice and offering of
the firstborn were brought with the tithes as a part of the annual feast of
Sukkot. The Torah goes on to discuss the law of the tithe. Tithes are ten
percent collection taken from agricultural produce as a donation to the Temple
system. A tenth of the produce of the land, the field, the orchards and the
vineyards belongs to G-d. The Torah allows for a person to redeem his tithe.
Because it already has been designated it already belongs to G-d. He must
pay the full price of the produce plus 1/5th the value. The increase of herds
and flocks were to be tithed as well. The tithe of the animals were sacrificed
as peace offering and eaten by the owners. The tithes of the animals were
brought to Jerusalem for the pilgrimage of Sukkot.
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