Leviticus 26:3-27:34
(In a regular year, read with Parashah 32; in a leap year read separately.)
“If you live by my regulations, observe my mitzvot and obey them; then I will provide the rain you need in its season, the land will yield its produce, and the trees in the field will yield their fruit” (Leviticus 26:3-4).
The Israelites will receive blessings for living according to Adonai’s regulations. The threshing season to extend until the grape harvest which will extend until the time for sowing seed. Their population will increase; they will eat as much as they desire and live securely in the Land. They will have shalom and lie down with peaceful sleep. Wild animals will no longer roam the land. There will be no war; the enemies that pursue them will be chased by few and fall before them. Adonai will put His Mishkan in the midst of them, will walk among them, and be their Adonai, and they will be His people.
“I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, so that you would not be their slaves. I have broken the bars of your yoke, so that you can walk upright. BUT if you will not listen to me and obey all these mitzvot…” (Leviticus 26:13).
BUT –– there is that little word again. BUT, if the Israelites will not listen to Him nor obey all of His instructions; if they loathe His regulations and reject His rulings, then they will cancel the covenant.
To cancel Adonai’s covenant, they have to loathe His regulations. ‘Loathe’ means ‘to feel intense dislike or disgust’ for something. Though gentile believers may not actually loathe Torah, they cancel Adonai’s covenant by living as though His regulations have been abolished or nullified. They even suggest that Adonai’s instructions were only for the Israelites.
“These things happened to them [Isra’el] as prefigurative historical events, and they were written down as a warning to us who are living in the last days” (1 Corinthians 10:11).
Marcion of Sinope lived around 144 CE. He believed that Jesus was the Savior sent by God, but rejected the Hebrew Scriptures and the God of Isra’el. He believed the God of Isra’el was a God of law and full of wrath, and Jesus of the New Testament was full of grace and love. He was called a ‘dualist’ because he wanted to separate the Bible into two parts: the Old Testament and New Testament. For these beliefs, he was labeled a heretic.
Once considered heresy by the early church, the dogma that strongly challenged established doctrines is embraced and accepted by Christianity as truth. Every Bible has a page dividing the Old Testament from the New. The God of the Old Testament is referred to as the God of law and judgment; the God of the New Testament as the God of grace and mercy. The heresy flourishes cancelling Adonai’s covenant. Those who choose to embrace all Scripture from Genesis through Revelation as breathed by Elohim and useful for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults, and training in righteous living are judged as ‘legalists’.
Yeshua is the visible image of the invisible Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh who is the Elohim of Isra’el and Yeshua’s divine Father (Colossians 1:15). As the physical expression of Elohim, Yeshua is indeed merciful, compassionate, long-suffering and forgiving just like his Father. And, like his Father, Yeshua will judge and reward.
“Pay attention!” [says Yeshua,] “I am coming soon, and my rewards are with me to give to each person according to what he has done” (Revelation 22:12).
Disciplinary Action
“Listen, children, to a father’s instruction; pay attention, in order to gain insight” (Proverbs 4:1).
When the children of Isra’el disobey His rulings, Adonai will discipline them “seven times over” in all manner of ways so they return to Him. The word ‘discipline’ comes from the Latin word for ‘pupil’ or ‘disciple.’ The dictionary defines discipline as ‘the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior.’ In Hebrew, the word ‘discipline’ is musar and means ‘chastening.’ When someone is being disciplined, they are being trained to obey rules, learn self-control and develop godly character.
“God is dealing with you as sons. For what son goes undisciplined by his father? All legitimate sons undergo discipline; so if you don’t, you’re a mamzer [born out of wedlock} and not a son! Furthermore, we had physical fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them; how much more should we submit to our spiritual Father and live! For they disciplined us only for a short time and only as best they could; but he disciplines us in a way that provides genuine benefit to us and enables us to share in his holiness. Now, all discipline, while it is happening, does indeed seem painful, not enjoyable; but for those who have been trained by it, it later produces its peaceful fruit, which is righteousness” (Hebrews 12:7-11).
Some of Adonai’s disciplinary action against Isra’el includes terror, wasting disease and chronic fever that will blind them and make them weak. He will break their pride. They will sow seed for their enemies to eat. The land will not produce nor will their trees. He will make the sky like iron and their soil like bronze. He will set His face against His people so their enemies will defeat them; they will flee when no one is chasing them.
He will bring a sword against them which will execute the vengeance of His covenant. They will huddle in their cities, sick and without bread. He will make them eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters. He will lay waste to their cities and desolate the sanctuary. He will disperse them among the nations until the land has paid its sh’mittahs and Yovel. Those who live in the lands of their enemies will waste away with guilt over the misdeeds of their ancestors as well as their own.
“But if their uncircumcised hearts will grow humble, and they are paid the punishment for their misdeeds; then I will remember my covenant with Ya‘akov, also my covenant with Yitz’ak and my covenant with Avraham; and I will remember the land” (Leviticus 26:41-42).
Sun-god Worship
“I will destroy your high places, cut down your pillars for sun worship and throw your carcasses on the carcasses of your idols” (Leviticus 26:30).
The Hittites worshiped the sun-god as Hepa; the Egyptians worshiped the sun as Ra. The Romans and Constantine worshiped the Sol Invictus while the Greeks called the sun-god, Apollo. Surya was the Hindu sun-god, and Utu was worshiped as the sun-god in Mesopotamia. These are only a few of world’s cultures that worshiped the sun as it rose on the eastern horizon.
Sunday, the first day of the week, has Roman roots as it was named after the Sol Invictus and originally called the ‘Venerable Day of the Sun.’ The Roman catholic church authorized Sunday as the ‘new’ sabbath based on the decision by the Council of Laodicea. With this monumental change from the practices of the first-century church, the Sol Invictus was worshiped, not HaShem of the Hebrew Scriptures. Every denomination that observes Sunday is the Sabbath has embraced this catholic mandate; even more deceived int believing it is the weekly holy day to remember Jesus’ resurrection.
In the following quotation, note that the catholic church states that the Sabbath is the third, not the fourth commandment. The third commandment about idols was removed and the tenth commandment was divided in order to have Ten Commandments.
“All of the doctrines the church accepts as Biblical truth are written in the catholic catechism for the third commandment.”
The Tabernacle and Temple faced east because Yeshua will arrive from that direction and put an end to sun-god worship. Those in Isra’el who worshiped the sun-god faced east with their backs toward the Temple. Sun-god worship is a disgusting practice that fills the land with violence.
“He brought me into the inner courtyard of Adonai’s house; and there, at the entrance to the temple of Adonai, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of Adonai and their faces toward the east; and they were worshiping the sun toward the east. He asked me, ‘Human being, have you seen this? Does the house of Y’hudah consider it a casual matter that they commit the disgusting practices they are committing here, thus filling the land with violence, provoking me still more? Look! They are even putting the branch to their nose! Therefore I will act in fury, my eye will not spare, I will have no pity. Even if they cry loudly right in my ears, I will not listen to them’” (Ezekiel 8:16-18).
Vows, Consecration, and the Tithe
The sanctuary shekel was based on silver, two-fifths of an ounce or 20 gerahs to the shekel. If someone made a vow to Elohim to give Him an amount equal to a human being, the number of shekels varied between men, women, and children; babies, youths and the aged. For a house to be consecrated to Adonai, the priest would determine its value based on good and bad points. Tribal land could be bought and sold based on its production and proximity to the Jubilee year. Firstborn animals could not be consecrated as they already belonged to Elohim. No person sentenced to die could be redeemed, they had to be put to death.
“All the tenth given from the land, whether from planted seed or fruit from trees, belongs to Adonai; it is holy to Adonai…. All the tenth from the herd or the flock, whatever passes under the shepherd’s crook, the tenth one will be holy to Adonai” (Leviticus 27:30-32).
“These are the mitzvot which Adonai gave to Moshe for the people of Isra’el on Mount Sinai” (Leviticus 27:34).
Yeshua and the Tithe
“Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! You pay your tithes of mint, dill and cumin; but you have neglected the weightier matters of the Torah — justice, mercy, trust. These are the things you should have attended to — without neglecting the others!” (Matthew 23:23)
“But woe to you P’rushim! You pay your tithes of mint and rue and every garden herb, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You have an obligation to do these things — but without disregarding the others!” (Luke 11:42)
“This Malki-Tzedek, king of Shalem, a cohen of God Ha‘Elyon, met Avraham on his way back from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him; also Avraham gave him a tenth of everything. Now first of all, by translation of his name, he is “king of righteousness”; and then he is also king of Shalem, which means “king of peace.” There is no record of his father, mother, ancestry, birth or death; rather, like the Son of God, he continues as a cohen for all time. Just think how great he was! Even the Patriarch Avraham gave him a tenth of the choicest spoils. Now the descendants of Levi who became cohanim have a commandment in the Torah to take a tenth of the income of the people, that is, from their own brothers, despite the fact that they too are descended from Avraham. But Malki-Tzedek, even though he was not descended from Levi, took a tenth from Avraham. The one about whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one h
as ever served at the altar; for everyone knows that our Lord arose out of Y’hudah … It becomes even clearer if a “different kind of cohen,” one like Malki-Tzedek, arises, one who became a cohen not by virtue of a rule in the Torah concerning physical descent, but by virtue of the power of an indestructible life. For it is stated, ‘You [Yeshua] are a cohen FOREVER, to be compared with Malki-Tzedek’” (Hebrew 7:1-17).
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