Bechukotai

BECHUKOTAI

Leviticus 26:3 – 27:24

Haftarah

Yirmeyahu “Jeremiah” 16:19 – 17:14

Brit Chadasha

Ephsiyah “Ephesians” 2:11 – 19

Please Pray this

Prayer

First before reading.

In the name of Yahushua

Our Messiyah,

I pray for the Spirit of Understanding

The Spirit of Knowledge and

The Spirit of Wisdom

As I read through this Parashas.

This Torah Portion Becchukotai means “In my statutes” is the 33^rd reading and it appears in the first verse of the reading, which generally promise good things if the Torah is followed and negativity if Spiritual principle are not followed, Deut 28: 1 -14, 15 – 68.

Parashas begins with the Heavenly blessings that await the Yisraelites people if they live up to the covenant which יהוה have given to them, in order for them to receive the Shekinah.

The only reason we study Torah, is to learn the Ten luminous or commandments, and within those ten are 612 specific commandments. Why do we need to learn them, it is to come to ultimate state of understanding. The ultimate state of knowledge is to come to the understanding that we really do not know anything, that no matter what we have learned so far, it is nothing compared to true understanding.

The only way our spiritual work actually reveals Light is if we diminish our Ego in everything that we do, that the purpose of all our spiritual work is this consciousness of lowering ourselves.

When we look at the way nature works, on the trees and other vegetation as they grow from a mere seed. The light of growth exists in all the earth, but there has to be a diminishment of the light in a specific point, a deterioration of the shell around the seed before it can draw all the Light of growth from the earth and become a plant. The same is true for our spiritual life, if we are doing our work properly, it feels as if we are in a endless competition as every tree in the forest fight to beak through many difference layers before reaching the light.

The majority of humanity does not know that we are in a spiritual struggle as the plant in a forest is in a struggle for light. However, our social structure uses that competitive desire within us to focus on the wrong set of criteria, to advance in this world, instead of in the world to come.

I often tell people that knowing that we do not know does not refers to Torah studies, but to who we are. We are gods with an ego, and it is the reprogramming of our ego which is of importance to us. It is the reprogramming of our ego, the diminishing of our ego, why spiritual rules were made. These rules when apply to the physical sense make no sense to us, but as we work within them, we must be aware that whatever progress we have made, there is still a long distance to go.

A the core  and purpose of our spiritual growth, what we need to understand is that we may have accomplish some ground, in comparison to what the CREATOR has in store for us, we still have a long way to go. If we see our spiritual work as nothing, we have done a lot. Why? Because this is a sign of how much we have grown.

The point I wish to make is this! Sometimes we think of reducing the influence of our ego, the desire to receive, as a nice addition to our spiritual development. However, if the purpose of diminishing our ego is not at the heart of our spiritual life, then we have accomplished nothing.

As believers we need to be very careful to avoid the traps of religious thing, the thinking that all progress must be outward. This state of mind is not spiritual accurate, for the level of surrender comes from the level of sacrifice and bring with it tremendous joy and inspiration.

By minimizing our self importance we make room for the Holy Spirit to join us, so that this sense that our journey is endless is accompanied by sheer delight in that journey, and when we feel this way, it is a sure sign that we are growing.

The Statues we learn in chapter 23, represent a particular harvest day in the Land of Yisrael, when we celebrate these day, we might not see the spiritual growth, however, certain spiritual blessing is ascribe to everyone who by faith in Messiyah Yahushua celebrate these days.

This story evolves into the description the admonition, a sobering account of punishment, and curses that will be the inevitable outcome of any attempt to violate the terms of the Covenant.

Although EL YAHWEH mercy is display in El Yahushua Grace preventing all of these curses to overcome the believer who sins. This Grace is given to all Hebrew people who believe that El Yahushua is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the Earth.

A careful examination of the history of the Church, we will see that those who believe in El Yahushua and keep his Commandments were regularly persecuted, up until the year 324, when the church became the religion of choice for the Roman Empire.

The Church was promise, fame, and fortune if they violate the terms of the Covenant, and security from human persecution. That is why the Shekinah was never seen in any church since then.

The blessing that EL YAHWEH promise in this Parasha, are still in store for those who choose to be obedient to the terms of the Covenant. El Yahushua improved on the original Covenant Moses negotiate between ABBA YAHWEH and the Hebrew people at Mount Sinai, when He died on the Cross. The terms and condition of this new covenant are seen plainly in what we call today the renewed Covenant.

But the essence of the Covenant at Mount Sinai can still be seen in the application of the Principles of the Renewed Covenant.

The long list of blessing describe in verse 3 – 13 and the even longer list of curse verse 14 – 43 which was again repeated in Deut 28, could be misunderstood as an indication that there are many more curses than blessing. Actually, the blessing are given in general terms, and are therefore brief; the curse, however, are given in greater detail, because they are intended to awe the people into obedience to יהוה command.

This commentary will explain in spiritual term the meaning of the physical blessing, such as military victory, and prosperity that are describe in this Parashas.

The blessing and curses are all result of an inward spiritual manifestation. Since EL YAHWEH is the King of the Spiritual Kingdom, there is a spiritual and a physical blessing and curses that are associated with obedience to the Covenant.

The physical blessing, is to help us achieve the lofty spiritual heights require for us to reach maturity. It is easier for a physical fit person to climb a mountain that a man with a physical deformity, such a one leg.

Material blessing are hardly the primary reward nor is material deprivations the primary punishment; only in the World to Come and Gehinnom can there be adequate reward and punishment.

A person who enjoys good health, prosperity, and security finds it much easier to perform the commandments that will elevate him spiritually. Therefore יהוה assures us that the person who serves Him with sincerity and joy will be granted all the blessings of this world and the one to come. Conversely, one who rebels will be punished with deprivation in this world so that it will be difficult for him to perform the commandments and earn a share in the World to Come. 

Lev 26:3 ‘If you walk in My laws and guard My commands, and shall do them, - If we believe in El Yahushua “Jesus Christ” and walk in יהוה Laws and make an effort to keep them, there is a reward. El Yahushua is the visa into the Kingdom; now that we are in that Kingdom we must earn our right to remain in that Kingdom by following the Constitution of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of Heavens has a representative to looks for people to fulfill certain role in the Kingdom, He is like a headhunter. It is those who passed the test, those who fulfilled the terms of the Covenant, who will be chosen for the prime, position in the Kingdom to come.

This headhunter is El Yahushua, who Himself have passed the test absolutely perfect, that is why He has the Best Position Possible in the Kingdom, the Second in Command to the King Himself, He sits at the Right Hand of יהוה.

If we follow the terms of the Covenant by engaging in intensive Torah study, with the intention that such study will lead believers to observing the Commandments, and if we actually do perform them, we will merit the blessings given in the following verse. 

Lev 26:4 then I shall give you rain in its season, and the land shall yield its crops, and the trees of the field yield their fruit. – As rain is essential at the different stage of the growth of the wheat. Light rain is needed for the freshly planted seed, medium rain for the plain as it began to grow, and heavy rain for a plant that have a establish root system.

The promise in this verse is that anyone who believes in El Yahushua will be granted the appropriate spiritual rain, for their level of spiritual maturity, as they embark on serious Torah Study. This rain is the level of the Spirit of Understanding; we will receive during each Torah study.

Rains are needed not only to irrigate crops. They affect the climate and water supply, and, consequently, human health. The blessing will be so inclusive that the rains will come at times when they will not inconvenience people, such as the evening of the Sabbath, when believer are not traveling.

Lev 26:5 ‘And your threshing shall last till the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last till the time of sowing. And you shall eat your bread until you have enough, and shall dwell in your land safely. – This prosperity will be so complete that believer will still be busy threshing your wheat when the time for comes to harvest the grapes, and we will still be occupied with your vintage crop, when the time comes to sow next year’s grain.

The verse stress that constant activity is part of the blessing. When people are busy, they will feel spiritually fulfilled, and their spiritual health will be better, as the verse says, you will dwells securely in your land. But when believers are idle, they seek amusement and stimulation somewhere else, example TV with its spiritual contamination effects.

Those who disobey will travel from church to church, losing the discipline of home, routine, and the spiritual community. This increases the dangers of participating in sinful activity.

Lev 26:6 ‘And I shall give peace in the land, and you shall lie down and no one make you afraid. And I shall clear the land of evil beasts, and not let the sword go through your land. – One of the reasons why there is a lack of peace over a land is due to the lack of the Holy Spirit. One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is peace. The spirit that is over a country will determine the fruit of the Spirit it will produce.

When we keep the Terms of the Covenant, the Spirit of the Covenant will be upon us, and love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustworthiness, gentleness, and self-control, will be the predominant activity in that land.

Lev 26:7 ‘And you shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you. – The exploit of our enemies will be foiled in its planning stage, we will maintain superiority over them at all times.

Lev 26:8 ‘And five of you shall pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you pursue ten Thousand. And your enemies shall fall by the sword before you. – This verse stress that when the believers are united under in serving EL YAHWEH, the more we unite the more effective we will be. If 5 can 100, a ratio of 1:20, then if we have 100 can chase 10,000, a ratio of 1:100. In essence the effectiveness of the redeem community, would increase exponentially.

Lev 26:9 ‘And I shall turn to you and make you bear fruit, and shall increase you, and shall establish my covenant with you. – The determining factor that will cause EL YAHWEH to return to us is when we accept His Son El Yahushua as our Redeemer. He has sent us the Holy Spirit on the Pentecost after His accession to Heavens, to help us understand the Spirit of Torah. It is this continuous relying on the Holy Spirit to help us that will help us to produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

As a natural tree grows according to the different season of the year, our spiritual lives also grow as we participate in the Feast of EL YAHWEH. We will notice that the three Feast days also represent the three harvests in the land of Yisrael. We are promise that when the new feast day arrives, we will still be processing the old crop from the last harvest” Feast days.” What this verse is saying, as we are still trying to understand the Fruit of the Spirit we have just receive, new ones will be manifesting in our lives. Our lives will be a constant state of spiritual amazement.

Lev 26:10 ‘And you shall eat the old supply, and clear out the old because of the new. – When we have discovered the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding will be place upon the Spirit of Truth. Our testimony will be one of continuous spiritual revelation.

Lev 26:11 ‘And I shall set My Dwelling Place in your midst, and My being shall not reject you. – This is not an example of the Tabernacle been place in the midst of the Camp. This is a prophetic indicator of the purpose of Creation, to place the Shekinah within a certain type of people. These types of people are what I call the Hebrew People.

The Hebrew People is a people who were called out of the world, to be prepared to be the Bride. These people who are called out are those who choose to follow the promises that were made to Abraham, as Abraham himself took the challenge to leave his home or Ur, to a land he did not know, solely on a promise of a better future.

Lev 26:12 ‘And I shall walk in your midst, and shall be your Elohim, and you shall be My people. – As EL YAHWEH walked in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, He also requires to walk among us daily. However He cannot walk among a people who are contaminated, with the temporal things of this world.

EL YAHWEH will deal with the Hebrew people so generously and openly that His presence will be as obvious as that of a human King walking among his subjects. This verse makes clear that the blessings of this verse have not been completely fulfilled as yet, but in there entirely they are meant for the future.

This is why Beyt Lechem Ministry stresses the restoration of all things. The Jews today are not the chosen people, for they do not believe in El Yahushua “Jesus Christ.” It is those of us who believe in Him as the Messiyah, that the Holy Spirit will come and help us in our struggle to reach perfection.

Lev 26:13 ‘I am יהוה your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, from being their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk upright. – As the Children of Yisrael was brought out of Egypt by the Blood of a lamb, we are brought out of our present day Egypt “The Word” by the Blood of the Greatest Lamb, El Yahushua.

But notice that the Torah says that it is יהוה who brought us out, even Though it is we that decided to accept the challenge. It is יהוה who determine the qualification we must meet in order to fulfill the requirement to receive the Shekinah the sign of full maturity. In the process, we have one responsibility, to accept the terms and condition of the proposal and be obedient to it.

The terms and condition of the Covenant are design by יהוה to help us to develop a certain Spirit that is very essential for the Kingdom to Come. Obedience to the terms of the Covenant alone will not produce the Fruit of the Holy Spirit, it produce condemnation. Condemnation is a result of the lack of Grace. Grace come only trough belief in El Yahushua “Jesus Christ.” Without His presence in our lives, we cannot walk in Grace. For Grace help us, when we fail in keeping a “test” commandment, Grace gives us a second chance to experience that test again, so we might pass it the next time.

Since life is design for humans to prove our faithfulness, the manifestation of sin proves our unfaithfulness. We some time sin unknowingly, this can be dealt with by examining ourselves carefully and determine, why we sin and fix the reason why. 

The admonition to keep the commandment has a chain reaction of sin, composed of seven steps, each one leading to the next.

(a)  We who do not believe in El Yahushua:

(b)  we will not dedicate yourselves to study Torah, trough the Spirit of Understanding;

(c)  we will eventually stop performing the Commandments as Christian does;

(d)  we will become revolted by others who are loyal to Torah;

(e)  they will prevent other from being obedient to Torah;

(f)   They will deny that the Commandment is for them;

(g)  They will even deny that the Elohim who gave the Command, and replace Him with Yahushua our Messiyah.

(h)   

This is the only place in this chapter were specific sins are listed. The later series of seven punishments are based on the Hebrew people apathetic or negative attitude toward the Divine reaction to sin is tantamount to a stubborn continuation of those very same sins.

Lev 26:14 ‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not do all these commands, - If we choose to violate the terms of the Covenant, we disqualify ourselves from being someone who will be chosen as a bride for the Bridegroom. A harlot is someone who deliberately chooses to go after other Elohim ‘gods.’

Lev 26:15 and if you reject My laws, or if your being loathes My right-rulings, so that you do not do all My commands, but break My covenant, - If we choose to reject the commandments, even out of ignorance, and disregard the right rulings and create our own. We in essence label ourselves as a harlot spiritually. The King will not let His Son marry a Harlot. He must only take wives from among the wise virgins.

Lev 26:16 I also do this to you: And I shall appoint sudden alarm over you, wasting disease and inflammation, destroying the eyes, and consuming the life. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. – They will sow their seed in vain, they will ask for the Holy Spirit and it will not come to them. They will panic very easily, for the Spirit of Authority is not with them. They will have a religious spirit that will consume their time, giving them false hope.

Lev 26:17 ‘And I shall set My face against you, and you shall be smitten before your enemies. And those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you. - יהוה will set His Faces against them and they will consume by the enemy who is Lucifer. Those who hate them spiritually, the Devil will rule over them, by a religious spirit, which He controlled. This is the first set of punishments, design to bring the believer back to the Straight and Narrow Path.

Lev 26:18 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I shall punish you seven times more for your sins. – The punishment of EL YAHWEH is complete. It will accomplish what it supposed to accomplish. If after the initial chastisement, if the believer did not learn his or her lesson. They will be a further seven chastisement each increasing in severity.

Lev 26:19 ‘And I shall break the pride of your power, and shall make your Heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. – The purpose of this chastisement is design to break the yoke of our pride. Heavens will become like iron and earth like bronze, not like the pure gold that is used to build the Menorah. Iron is symbolic of those in the Outer Court and those in the Holy Place are like bronze.

Lev 26:20 ‘And your strength shall be spent in vain and your land not yield its crops, nor the trees of the land yield their fruit. – The believer will try as hard as they can to be kind and gentle, but it will not be a fruit of the Spirit. 1Co 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. The believer will be like driving in a foot of snow, the engine will be revving, the wheal spinning but the car in not going anywhere fast. This curse is doubly painful. If one does not try hard, and fail to achieve, it is not nearly as aggravating as it is if one works very hard, but fail to achieve success.

Lev 26:21 ‘And if you walk contrary to Me, and refuse to obey Me, I shall bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins, - This is the third series of chastisement. If we knew that something is wrong and we still refuse to modify our behavior, EL YAHWEH will cause seven more chastisement: Wild beast; domestic animals; poisonous snakes; death of children; lose of livestock; diminution of population; and desolations of roads. The people who refuse to recognize that their misfortunes were Divinely ordained, if they were to carefully analyzed there would see that the punishment fits the crime.

Lev 26:22 and send wild beasts among you, which shall bereave you of your children. And I shall cut off your livestock, and make you few in number, and your highways shall be deserted. – EL YAHWEH would remove the domination man was given over the wild animal at Creation. The wild beast would become bolder towards us for that spiritual protection has been removed.

Lev 26:23 ‘And if you are not instructed by Me by these, but walk contrary to Me, - If after this chastisement, we still do not change our way. The plagues in the next verse will apply.

Lev 26:24 then I also shall walk contrary to you, and I Myself shall smite you seven times for your sins. – Please remember that the personnel in these verses are saved people, who refused to modify their behavior patterns. EL YAHWEH says He will walk contrary to us. Meaning instead of our Menorah growing inside of us, we will begin to lose the advancement we have made building our menorah. If we had already acquired the Spirit of Truth we would lose it.

Lev 26:25 ‘And I shall bring against you a sword executing the vengeance of My covenant, and you shall gather together in your cities, and I shall send pestilence among you, and you shall be given into the hand of the enemy. – If a King goes to war against another country and conquers it, he does not punish the inhabitants, even Though they fought against him fiercely and inflicted heavy casualties in the process. At the time they did not owed him any allegiance and were entitled to defend them, so their struggle did not represent disloyalty to him. But if a King’s lawful subject rebels against him, he will punish them, because they broke their covenant of allegiance to him. So, too, EL YAHWEH warns Yisrael that for their rebellion against the Torah they will suffer the vengeance of a Covenant.

Lev 26:26 ‘and when I break for you the staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back to you your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied. – A staff provides support. When there is a shortage of food, people feel like a cripple whose staff has been broken. Because of a shortage of firewood, several women would share an Oven. Because of the rottenness of the grain the bread will crumble in the oven. Therefore the bread will be weight to determine who get what.

Lev 26:27 ‘And if in spite of this, you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me, - There is an old saying, the straw that breaks the Camel back, what plague is too much for us, or what are we prepared to lose before we understand.

Lev 26:28 then I shall walk contrary to you in wrath. And I Myself shall punish you seven times for your sins. – It is a Fathers responsibility to punish his children, in this verse we see that EL YAHWEH took upon Himself the task of punishment. All of this is been done to bring us back to where we should have been. These chastisements are design to teach us a lesson we will not soon forget. It will also prevent us from making any similar mistake, in the future. That why Torah says doesn’t spoil the rod and spare the child. For those who He loves He chastises.

Lev 26:29 ‘And you shall eat the flesh of your sons, and eat the flesh of your daughters. – Hunger will cause even believer to do strange things. If eating one’s child flesh does not produce a change of heart nothing will.

Lev 26:30 ‘And I shall destroy your high places, and cut down your sun-idols, and put your carcasses with the carcasses of your idols. And My Spirit shall reject you. – The spiritual gain they had made in the past will be destroyed, they will be like idol which we call upon in times of trouble, but there will be no help; For the Holy Spirit would have departed from them.

Lev 26:31 ‘And I shall turn your cities into ruins and lay your set-apart places waste, and not smell your sweet fragrances. – King Saul was at this position, at the end of reign. The seven punishments for this series are: Cannibalism, destruction of defense structure, death of people, loses of the Holy Spirit, destruction of cities, desolation of the sanctuaries, and the refusal of our offerings.

Lev 26:32 ‘And I shall lay the land desolate, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be desolate at it. -

Lev 26:33 ‘And I shall scatter you among the gentiles and draw out a sword after you. And your land shall be desert and your cities ruins, - The believer will be scattered and become isolated from one another, and exile is much harder to bear when one does not have the support of the community.

The previous verse define a land that become so desolate so that its conquerors will lose hope of returning home, for they will think that their land has been desolated once and for all.

Lev 26:34 and the land enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies waste and you are in your enemies’ land. Then the land would rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. – From this verse we derive that the sin was a failure to observe the Sabbatical year. If the people did not allow the land to rest in their presence, it will rest in their absence. Because of the seventy Sabbatical that Yisrael had violated prior to and during the first temple, the Babylonian exile lasted for seventy years, during which the land made up for the rest of which it had been deprived.

Lev 26:35 ‘As long as it lies waste it rests, for the time it did not rest on your Sabbaths when you dwelt in it.

Lev 26:36 ‘And as for those of you who are left, I shall send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, and the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee. And they shall flee as Though retreating from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues. – Faintness of heart is a result of the lack of the Holy “Ruach” Spirit; this will cause the believers to be very fearful even of the blowing wind.

Lev 26:37 ‘And they shall stumble over one another, as from before a sword, when no one pursues. And you shall be unable to stand before your enemies. – The lack of the Holy Spirit will make the people so demoralize that they will become so selfish and think only of their own interests.

Lev 26:38 ‘And you shall perish among the gentiles, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up, -

Lev 26:39 and those of you who are left rot away in their crookedness in your enemies’ lands, and also in their fathers’ crookednesses rot away with them. – Exile will cause the believer to be exposed to new sins, because they will be in a land of your enemies. Because they did not understand the true cause of the exile. Those who are left in the land will continue to waste away spiritually.

Lev 26:40 ‘But if they confess their crookedness and the crookedness of their fathers, with their trespass in which they trespassed against Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, - Here is where Grace comes into the picture. Like the Prodigal Son who was wasting away in a foreign land, when we today realize that El “Jesus” Yahushua is Lord, that we still have a vise to return to the land, which we have been evicted from. We can still confess our sin and wash or hand and feet in the Blood and water that flow from His Side.

Lev 26:41 and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies – if their uncircumcised heart is then humbled, and they accept the punishment of their crookedness, - This verse speaks volumes. It describes the reason behind why things happen to us in this life. It is always because of our walk, the path we choose to walk on that will determine where we end up.

When we walk away from EL YAHWEH He will walk slowly away from us, but when we turn towards Him He will run towards. Punishment is never design to drive us away, it is to get us to correct of walk with Him.

Lev 26:42 then I shall remember My covenant with Yaʽaqoḇ, and also My covenant with Yitsḥaq, and also remember My covenant with Aḇraham, and remember the land. – When we turn around and walk back to Him, He will remember the Covenant. Remember the Prodigal Son, he did not lose his son ship, when the Shekinah was restored he continue from the place where he last dwell.

The sign of a good confession is to acknowledge that the sins of our forefathers were indeed wrong, and that the harshness and exiles imposed by EL YAHWEH were not haphazard. Only then can the repentance be considered complete.

Lev 26:43 ‘For the land was abandoned by them, and enjoying its Sabbaths while lying waste without them, and they were paying for their crookedness, because they rejected My right-rulings and because their being loathed My laws. – The people too will repent and seek to appease EL YAHWEH so that He will allow them to return to the land.

Lev 26:44 ‘And yet for all this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I shall not reject them, nor shall I loathe them so as to destroy them and break My covenant with them. For I am יהוה their Elohim. -  EL YAHWEH leaves the door open just in case if any of them choose to repent, they will not be totally rejected. At this present moment a door in the form of El Yahushua is still open for the people to re-enter the Land, but this must only be trough El Yahushua.

Lev 26:45 ‘Then I shall remember for their sake the covenant of the ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Mitsrayim before the eyes of the nations to be their Elohim. I am יהוה.’ ” – When we call upon His Name, EL YAHWEH will remember the Covenant made will Abraham, who EL YAHWEH also brought out of the Egypt for the same reason we are also brought out, to become Mature Sons of Elohim.

Lev 26:46 These are the laws and the right-rulings and the Torot¹ which יהוה made between Himself and the children of Yisra’ĕl on Mount Sinai by the hand of Mosheh. Footnote: ¹Torot - plural of Torah, teaching. – The word for Torah here is Torot, is in the plural sense because it refers to the two Torahs: The Written Torah and the Oral Torah. This verse emphasizes that both were given at Sinai.

Chapter 27

This chapter deals with the voluntary contributions to the temple, which was not part of the commandments that formed the covenant of the Admonition of chapter 26:46, even Though it too would seem to belong in the earlier chapters of this book, which deal with our offerings.

By excluding them, the Torah implies that such voluntary gifts, while surely commendable, are not essential as the performance of the commandments. Believer should never think that voluntary contributions could atone for laxity in what is commanded.

There are two type of sanctified property: Monetary sanctification, and physical sanctification. The difference is in the nature of the sanctity, which is reflected in many laws. An object or animal with monetary sanctification is sacred because it is property of the Sanctuary, not because it is intrinsically holy. It is forbidden to use if for any purpose other than a sacred purpose, just as it is forbidden to use anyone’s private property.

An object or animal with physical sanctification is used for an offering on the Altar, and is intrinsically holy.

Verse 1 -  8 describe valuations. Just as believers may vow to contribute specific amounts of money to the Sanctuary, so one may vow to contribute the value of oneself or another person or thing. One may do this in two ways. By declaring, for example, the cash value of an object is required of them, they then become obligates himself to give whatever that person would be worth as a commodity, such as a slave.

That, however, is not the subject of our chapter. Here the Torah speaks of a specific form of vow known as valuation. This vow involves the holiness inherent in the individual the value of his soul, as it were.

Since there is no market that can assess such a value, and no way for human beings to measure it, the Torah assign the amounts to be paid, based on the health, strength, earning capacity, or commercial value of the subject, also on the age and sex.

In the fulfillment of this kind of vow, one is require to pay a value prescribe by the Torah, a payment that goes to the Tabernacle treasury, to be used for maintenance or any other necessary expenditures, as specified in this Chapter.

Lev 27:1  And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying, -

Lev 27:2 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say to them, ‘When a man separates a vow, by your evaluation of lives unto יהוה, - When a person make a vow unto EL YAHWEH, he or she must live by it.

Lev 27:3 when your evaluation is of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old, then your evaluation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the set-apart place. – A shekel is twenty geras of silver. The value of a full-grown healthy male is fifty Shekels.

There are four age categories of valuation: one month to 5 years, 5 – 20 years, and 20 – 60 years, 60 and over. The 20 – 60 are listed first because the chapter discusses the law of an adult who vows.

Next the 5 – 20 categories, which include those over bar mitzvah age, who have not yet reach their potential, and finally the oldest group, which is past their physical prime.

Lev 27:4 ‘And if it is a female, then your evaluation shall be thirty shekels; - Talk about equality. The feminist movement would have a field day with this.

Lev 27:5 and if from five years old up to twenty years old, then your evaluation for a male shall be twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels; - These verse is going to be a point of contention when it is read. Why would EL YAHWEH make a 5 – 20 year old male more valuable that a female of similar age. The answer is, because Torah said so!

Lev 27:6 and if from a month old up to five years old, then your evaluation for a male shall be five shekels of silver, and for a female your evaluation shall be three shekels of silver; -

Lev 27:7 and if from sixty years old and above, if it is a male, then your evaluation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. –

Lev 27:8 ‘But if he is too poor to pay your evaluation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall set a value for him. According to the ability of him who vowed, the priest shall value him. – However, the Torah also makes provision for every conceivable situation. If the one who makes the vow is too poor to pay the full price, a Kohen must assess how much the poor person can afford. For the purposes of this evaluation, such necessities as living quarters, tools, and clothing’s are not included in the assessment.

Verse 9 – 13 discusses the Sanctification and redemption of an animal. If an animal is sanctified for use as an offering, then it may not be used for any other purpose, even a sacred one, nor may it be redeemed.

If, however, the animal is not suitable for an offering due to a blemish, it may be redeemed and its value used for the offering for which the animal was originally dedicated.

The cost of the redemption is the animal’s actual value, unlike the previous passage, which deals with a fixed valuation.

Lev 27:9 ‘And if it is a beast of which they bring an offering to יהוה, all such given to יהוה is set-apart. – It is also possible to sanctify only a part of the animal. For example, if someone sanctified only a leg as an Olah, that leg becomes holy, not the rest of the animal.  Since the limb is sacred, however, the animal cannot be used for any secular purpose. The rest of the animal be sold to someone who needs an Olah, and he will then sanctify the rest of it for the offering.

Lev 27:10 ‘He is not to replace it or exchange it, good for spoilt or spoilt for good. And if he at all exchanges beast for beast, then both it and the one exchanged for it is set-apart. – A believer cannot substitute El Yahushua for another lamb. However if we slaughter an animal for an Olah offering, it also become holy.

Lev 27:11 ‘And if it is any unclean beast of which they do not bring an offering to יהוה, then he shall present the beast before the priest; - If for example the first born animal was dedicated to be given and it developed a blemish at birth, that animal may be redeem, it is not healthy or whole.

Lev 27:12 and the priest shall value it, whether it is good or spoilt. According to your evaluation, O priest, so it shall be.

Lev 27:13 ‘But if he indeed redeems it, then he shall add one-fifth to your evaluation. – In the process of redeeming the animal, twenty percent must be added to the redemption cost.  

Lev 27:14 ‘And when a man sets his house apart, to be set-apart to יהוה, then the priest shall value it, whether it is good or spoilt. As the priest values it, so it stands. – When anything is evaluated by the Priest that is the value of the object. Whether it is high or low the Priest word is final.

  

Lev 27:15 ‘And if he who sets it apart does redeem his house, then he shall add one-fifth of the silver of your evaluation to it, and it shall be his.

Lev 27:16 ‘And if a man sets apart to יהוה a field he owns, then your evaluation shall be according to the seed for it – a ḥomer of barley seed at fifty shekels of silver. – If a field is dedicated to the Tabernacle. It must be evaluated by the seed it produces. Fifty shekel for a homer of wheat.

Lev 27:17 ‘If he sets his field apart from the Year of Jubilee, according to your evaluation it stands. – If we set the field apart up to 50 years the promise must stand.

Lev 27:18 ‘But if he sets his field apart after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the silver due according to the years that remain till the Year of Jubilee, and it shall be deducted from your evaluation. – However if the field is set apart after the Jubilee, if the owner want to redeem it, it must be calculated from that time up to the next Jubilee, which could be as high as 49 and a low as 1 year.

Lev 27:19 ‘And if he who sets the field apart ever wishes to redeem it, then he shall add one-fifth of the silver of your evaluation to it, and it shall be his. – The person who wishes to redeem it must then add 20% to the cost of the redemption money.

Lev 27:20 ‘And if he does not redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it is no longer redeemed, - There are two way in which a person can lose the right to reclaim his land in the Jubilee year. If the owner choose not to redeem it, and allow someone else to redeem it.

Lev 27:21 but the field, when it is released in the Jubilee, is set-apart to יהוה as a dedicated field, to be the possession of the priest. – The field will then become the possession of the Levites. If the owner or his sons fail to redeem the land, the land will no longer return to them after the Jubilee.

Lev 27:22 ‘And if a man sets apart to יהוה a field which he has bought, which is not the field of his possession, -

Lev 27:23 then the priest shall reckon to him the amount of your evaluation, up to the Year of Jubilee, and he shall give your evaluation on that day, set-apart to יהוה. –

Lev 27:24 ‘In the Year of Jubilee the field returns to him from whom he bought it, to him whose is the possession of the land. –

Lev 27:25 ‘And all your evaluations is to be according to the shekel of the set-apart place: twenty gĕrahs to the shekel. - All the evaluation must be done according to the currency or the foreign exchange on the day the agreement was made.

Lev 27:26 ‘However, a first-born of the beasts, which is first-born to יהוה, no man sets it apart – whether bull or sheep, it belongs to יהוה. – The first born of any animal cannot be used as a set apart animal to EL YAHWEH since it is already set a part. A first-born male animal from cattle or the flock is sacred from birth as an offering; it cannot be consecrated as another sort of offering because it is not the property of its owner. Alternatively, since the animal is holy from birth, it is not necessary to sanctify it formally.

Lev 27:27 ‘And if among the unclean beasts, then he shall ransom it according to your evaluation, and shall add one-fifth to it. And if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your evaluation. – If it is a first born of an unclean animal, it must be redeem plus 20% and given to the Priest.

Verse 28 – 29 speaks of Cherem/Segregated property. The word cherem is customarily used to denote destruction or something banned from human enjoyment. In the context of this passage, it refers to a person’s expressed resolution to consecrate an object and thus make it forbidden for personal use.

There are two type of cherem in the Hebrew culture: one that is for the Temple treasury; and the other is a gift for the Kohanim, and it becomes the personal property.

The Cherem of the temple is used to maintenance or other Temple related needs, or it can be sold, with the proceeds going towards the Temple treasury.

The Cherem of the Kohanim is similar to Terumah, in that the owner loses title to it and cannot redeem it. It must be turned over to the kohanim, whereupon it becomes their personal property and loses all sanctity.

Lev 27:28 ‘However, whatever a man lays under ban for יהוה of all that he has, man and beast, or the field of his possession, is not sold or redeemed. Whatever is laid under ban is most set-apart to יהוה. – Anything that is set apart onto EL YAHWEH

Lev 27:29 ‘No one under the ban, under the ban among men, is ransomed, but shall certainly be put to death. – This verse speaks of a person who is condemned to death by the court. If someone vows to contribute his monetary value or his assessed valuation as seen in verse 2 – 7, the vow is not binding, because, he shall be put to death, he has no monetary value and he shall not be redeemed in payment of the vow.

This verse states that whereas a Cherem for the Temple treasury can be redeemed, a person condemned to death for disobeying a national decree is beyond redemption.

Verse 30 – 31 describes a second tithe. During the first, second, fourth, and fifth years of the seven year Shemittah cycle, a farmer must sets aside one-tenth of his harvest, which he must protect from contamination and taken to Yerushalayim to be eaten.

It is known as the second tithes, because it is separated from the crop only after the first tithe is separated for the Levite. The Torah permits the owner to redeem the tithe for coin, whereupon the sanctity devolves from the tithe to the money, which the owner must take to the Holy City and used to purchase food or offerings that may be eaten.

Lev 27:30 ‘And all the tithe of the land – of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree – belongs to יהוה. It is set-apart to יהוה. – There is a principle here we need to pay close attention to. I believe that this is a Kingdom Principle. As we pay a tithe to those over us, the person in charge of those over us also collects tithes. Regardless of how deep the layer of authority goes, each layer receives a tithe from the people under them. I Samuel 22:7 …. Make you all captains of Thousands, and captains of hundreds; the principle of tithe is actions that will be perform in the Kingdom. If we are captains over a hundred cities or a hounded country or even a hundred planets, we all have to tithe to whom so ever is over us. If we find it difficult to tithe we will also have problem performing this same actions in Heavens.

Lev 27:31 ‘If a man indeed redeems any of his tithes, he adds one-fifth to it. – The penalty for using the Tithe for other things is that we must add 20% to the original tithes.

Lev 27:32 ‘And the entire tithe of the herd and of the flock, all that passes under the rod, the tenth one is set-apart to יהוה. – What ever we produce we must all bring 10% to the One who is in authority over us. The Kingdom of Heavens is so large; there are billion of Stars in Heavens, each with its own solar system. Each stars is under authority of someone. Some of us because of the level of our maturity will be given more responsibility than others.

El Yahushua gave a Parable of the talents: Mat 25:14  For the kingdom of Heavens is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15  And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 6  Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. 17  And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. 18  But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money. 19  After a long time YAHWEH of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20  And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, You deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21  His lord said unto him, Well done, You good and faithful servant: You hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter You into the joy of thy lord. 22  He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, You deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23  His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; You hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter You into the joy of thy lord.

24  Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that You art an hard man, reaping where You hast not sown, and gathering where You hast not strawed: 25  And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there You hast that is thine. 26  His lord answered and said unto him, You wicked and slothful servant, You knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27  You oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28  Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 33 ‘He does not inquire whether it is good or spoilt, nor does he exchange it. And if he exchanges it at all, then both it and the one exchanged for it are set-apart, it is not redeemed.

Lev 27:34 These are the commands which יהוה commanded Mosheh for the children of Yisra’ĕl on Mount Sinai. – These commands form the principle of the Kingdom of Heavens we need to learn, s that when we get there we will know how the Principles of that Kingdom operates.