Bechu-Kotai – “By My Regulations” – by Raphael ben Levi
Lev.26:3–27:34; Jer.16:19–17:14; Matt.21:33–46
God may sometimes be mysterious and His ways beyond comprehension, but He is never ambiguous! And here in this parasha He clearly set out His terms for the Israelites for living under His covenant. The first word in in v3 of Lev.26 is the conjunction “if,” a very small and humble word yet it demands a decision which holds life changing consequences for every person. It’s a word that demands a choice which is inescapable and unavoidable. God provided the Israelites with clear terms in the hope that they would make wise choices that would lead to blessings that offered no middle ground. Lev. 26:3: “If you follow My statutes and carefully keep My commandments, 4I will give you…” that follows a list through to v. 11.
The other “if” in this chapter is in v.14ff to v.38 beginning with the words, “But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant…”
8 verses describe blessings for obedience but 24 for disobedience because God knew the heart of man with the propensity towards sin as opposed to obedience to His Torah.
This was a Jewish literary device used in Scripture whereby the length of a description is significant such as with the comparison between the creation narrative with the establishment of the tabernacle. When we compare the time taken to describe the building of the Tabernacle, (hundreds of verse) to the story of the entire creation of the universe, (only around 30 verses) we see how much more difficult it is for mankind to make a home for GOD than it was for Him to even create the universe.
In context with the blessings and curses in this parasha, the amount of verses devoted to the consequence of disobedience underscores a warning to the Israelites against the consequences of apostasy.
On first glance, when one reads the conditions for blessing and the consequences of disobedience, what normal person would not choose blessings over curses! Yet this must also have been the first response of the Israelites. What it illustrates is that our best intentions are empty without a godly application. (E.g, the Parable of the Good Samaritan)
Yeshua summed things up nicely when He shared this principle with His disciples in Jn.14: “If you love me, hold on to my commands”. Another translation puts it this way: “Loving me empowers you to obey my commands.” And He follows this up with the best of all promises: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever. 17 He is the Spirit of truth…”
Yeshua promised every true believer, 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will see me no longer, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 The one who has my commands and holds on to them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I too will love him and show myself to him.”
Three times in this short passage, Yeshua reiterates the message: “If you love me hold on to my commandments” three being the number representing completeness. It is a great wonder and investment to allow God’s love to permeate our lives. But it comes as a direct consequence of walking in obedience with integrity and faithful intent. How much do we love God? This is a very important question frequently asked by those who seek to draw ever closer to Him.
God judgements may appear to be stern yet He uses it not as a form of revenge but in mercy reconcile us to Himself that we might enjoy the full benefits of His salvation. In Lam.3:32-33, the prophet Jeremiah said that, “…if He (God) causes grief, then He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness. For He does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.”
The Jewish race has suffered more than any other people on the face of the earth and part of the reason for this comes under the umbrella of His stern judgement, but the fact remains that despite everything they will never be destroyed. They experienced exile following the destruction of the 1st Temple and returned 70 years later to become a nation again only to face the destruction of their 2nd Temple a few centuries later followed this time by a 2000 years of exile. The 9th of Av known as ‘Tisha B’Av’ is where world Jewry mourns the destruction of these two temples, but it accompanies a hope that replaces hopelessness as fulfilled out of the ashes of the Holocaust when the nation of Israel was reborn on May 14th 1948.
Despite the rampant and steady increase of vicious anti-Semitism globally, Israel remains alive and well against the backdrop of hardcore anti semitism and so it will be until God’s eternal plans reach completion.
Israel is unique among the nations. Their history is not a matter of growth and decline like every other empire through the ages. Instead, it is fully dependent upon the conditions laid out here in ch. 26 of our parasha. If Israel would stay true to its mission, it would flourish. If it rebelled, it would suffer all the consequences as listed. But notwithstanding these things, God has undertaken to remain faithful to His covenant promises.
What we see in ch.26 is the application of the words that God spoke to Cain in Gen.4: “Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” (Vs 6-7)
Some scholars interpret the word “chattat” translated as “sin” is more accurately translated here as a “sin offering.” Throughout the Tanakh this word is used interchangeably but here it incorporates both meanings of the word: sin and a sin offering: “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, a sin offering is crouching at your door; (sin) desires to have you, but you must master it.” Cain was given a choice and his actions would have consequences that would resonate through the ages even as with Israel, minus the covenant promises.
Many believers choose to live under the bondage of a slave mentality as did Cain for similar reasons to him. To allow the pain of God’s surgical knife to deliver us from all the negative poisons that drain our lives from experiencing the fullness of God’s blessings: addictions, uncontrolled emotions such as anger, resentment, rage, unforgiveness, revenge and blind hatred – takes great courage and faith to allow the Divine surgeon access in the deepest recesses of our lives.
Some people blame others for the mess they find themselves in as an excuse to ignore rather than deal proactively with their situation, yet blaming others is the suicide of liberty because it causes us to look away from ourselves and point fingers in the wrong direction. Self-condemnation is equally counter-productive for those who live under its heavy weight of destruction.
No matter how many of our problems may be rooted in things such as generational curses, abuse, betrayals and every other evil source, deliverance can occur only when we allow God (however reluctantly) into the situation and humble ourselves under His mighty hand.
But the good news is that God sent His Son into the world to set the captive free! In Rom.8, Paul wrote that 1“…There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death… 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
One theme that stands out clearly in this parasha is the immutability of God’s covenant with Israel – a reality that’s irrevocable despite the frequent poor choices made by the Jewish people that has defined their pathway unto this day. God announced to the Israelites the following solemn words to the Israelites in Deut. 30:19 “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”
It is tragic to know that so much sorrow and suffering experienced by the Jewish people could have been avoided if their hearts had not been hardened to the pathway of righteousness. But here is something interesting. The 7-year shemitah, the sabbath of years, was a finite period that had a set beginning and end, and in the same way God takes us through seasons that lead to new beginnings!
Because He is God, He will use every situation including every circumstance beyond our control, for His eternal purposes. Nothing can ever jeopardise God’s eternal purposes even in the smallest measure.
God frequently reminded the Israelites that He was their God who brought them out of slavery to freedom. 1500 years later, Yeshua said: “I have come that you may have life and life in abundance,” and “…whoso the Son sets free shall be free indeed!” Is it really that simple? Yes, but not so with its life application. The incomplete gospel is when we restrict the gospel to knowing Yeshua as our Saviour but not as our Lord. The difference is as momentous as an impassable chasm.
The Haftarah (prophetic portion) for this week (Jer.16:19–17:14) mirrors the theme of promised blessings for obedience and punishment for disobedience.
Because God alone is the One who grants us blessings, Jeremiah promised that those who place their trust in man instead of God will reap the consequences. Interestingly, in contrast to the portion in Leviticus, Jeremiah opens with specifying the negative consequences of disobedience and then follows with the promise of blessings for righteous living. In ch.17:5-6, he wrote, “Cursed is he who trusts in man, who makes mere flesh his strength, and turns his thoughts from the Lord. He shall be like a bush in the desert.” Then, he follows on by saying, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (v’s 7–8)
The Haftarah ends with the beautiful proclamation that God alone is the hope of Israel, source of life-giving water, our healer and Saviour. We too, when we place our trust fully upon God and walk in His ways will never disappointed. And Jeremiah concluded in v’s. 13-14: “LORD, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water. Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.” This is the heart cry of one who recognises their own weakness and dependance on the living God.
Dear friend, I would exhort each one of us to make the wise choice to live in the fullness and abundance provided for us through Yeshua and drink deeply from the water of Life offered to those who walk hand in hand with Him.
And in all of this, brokenness is the starting point as echoed in the cry of the prophet: Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.” (I.e., have your perfect way in my life)
Dear chaverim, may each one of us learn from the pitfalls of Israel rather than repeating them.
And so as we come to the end of our Torah readings from Leviticus we say the traditional blessing: “Chazak chazak v’nitchazek” (“Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened”)
