Behar

BEHAR

Leviticus 25:1 -26:1

Please Pray this

Prayer

First before reading.

In the name of Yahushua

Our Messiyah, (Jesus Christ)

I pray for the Spirit of Understanding

The Spirit of Knowledge and

The Spirit of Wisdom

As I read through this Parashas

Behar, is the 32nd reading of the Torah Portion. It is usually read together with Bechukotai. The word Behar, which means “on the mountain,” is used at the very beginning of the teaching “The Creator said to Moses on Mt. Sinai….” This Torah Portion describe the Laws of bechukotai means “In My statues” and appears in the first verse of the reading, which generally promise good things if the Torah is followed and negativity things if spiritual principle are not followed.

In this Torah Portion of Behar, we read about shmittah, a time when all the Land remain fallow, or unworked, for an entire year. Shimittah occurs every seven years in the Land of Yisrael. The Torah say that the CREATOR instruct Moses to speak to the Yisraelites at Mt Sinai and tell them, “Six years shall you sow you field and  six year shall you prune your vineyard and gather in the produce of the land. But on the seventh year shall be a Shabbat of solemn rest for the land, a Shabbat to YAHWEH, you shall neither sow or prune your field.”

One of the gift of Shabbat Behar is certainty, that even when circumstances does not make sense, we can acquire the gift of centainty. On this day we consider the certainty require of people to sit and do no farming for a whole year, while the farm is overrun with weed. Shmittah and Torah Portion Behar is about setting aside logic for faith in Messiyah and ABBA YAHWEH. When we do this, then we are tamim, im YAHWEH HaElokecha, simple, and with the CREATOR.

The Shemittah/Sabbatical year has a very special relationship to Mount Sinai. It was at Mount Sinai, יהוה Shechinah was manifested. It was clear to all that the whole purpose of our existence was to be transformed by the Shechinah into a Holy People.

The concept of the Land rested, is a prophetic indicator of the purpose of יהוה for His people. The Children of Yisrael was suppose to become a nation of Mopses, a royal priesthood, and Holy Nation, a people who were fully into יהוה rest.

In this chapter יהוה is again trying to drive home the message of Creation, this time using the yearly cycle. As one day also represent one year, one Torah Cycle; so does a tree in the natural goes through four seasons, so does the believer when he goes trough a Torah Cycle.

The Land rested in the seventh year, too, teaches that the primary reason for the Creation of the universe is to bring us into יהוה rest. By leaving our field untended and undeveloped for one year, the Hebrew people demonstrate that this world is but a corridor leading to the ultimate world, that true life comes when we come into our Shimittah or Sabbatical year. When believers will stop struggling against the flesh, strive striving for material gain, for the spiritual gain of the sixth year will be a blessing for the Shimittah year.

The Shimittah year is only one in seven years; that is why the Torah states clearly that man must sow and harvest for six year, just as it took EL YAHWEH six days to Create a perfect Adam, He is still trying to Create more perfect sons today.

Lev 25:1 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh on Mount Sinai, saying,  - 39 times in this book it says that EL YAHWEH spoke to Moses, this is the 38 time in this chapter that Torah describe the occasion, when He, יהוה spoke to Moses.

On Mount Sinai, what is the spiritual connection between Shemittah and Mount Sinai? This reference teaches that not only was the Foundation, the Summary of Torah was given at Mount Sinai, so was the principle of Shemittah, as the forth commandment alluded to.

This command teaches us that not only EL YAHWEH is the Author of Torah, but also everything is design according to Torah. The year before the Shemittah year, the field will produce a crop large enough to last for three years, until the next crop become available.

From a spiritual point of view, what is יהוה purpose for us? Is it obvious that He want to bring us to a form of holiness where He can talk to us?

   

Lev 25:2 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall observe a Sabbath to יהוה. - This is the instruction for those who come to maturity, those who posses the promise land, you will be require to keep the Sabbath.

As there is a seventh day, there is a seventh year and there is also a seventh millennium. It is those who keep the seventh day that will fulfilled the seven year, that will be able to rule and reign with El Yahushua.

Lev 25:3 ‘Six years you sow your field, and six years you prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruit, - These people who come to maturity, you may sow the Torah into the hearts of the people for six years, the six days or the six years of Creation. During that time you can prune the vineyard, those who are under your spiritual care, and help them to produce the fruits of the Spirit as you help them to build their personal Menorah.

Lev 25:4 but in the seventh year the land is to have a Sabbath of rest, a Sabbath to יהוה. Do not sow your field and do not prune your vineyard. יהוה   - Whatever happens in the natural has a spiritual counterpart. Just as we are required to rest our land every seventh year, so it is in the spiritual realm. The seventh year is a sign of the Believers coming into their spiritual rest, or spiritual perfection. Heb 4:1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering into His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the Good News was brought to us as well as to them, but the word which they heard did not profit them, not having been mixed with belief in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter into that rest, as He has said, “As I swore in My wrath, if they shall enter into My rest...” And yet His works have come into being from the foundation of the world. 4 For somewhere He has said thus about the seventh day, “And Elohim rested on the seventh day from all His works, We cannot find a more compelling scripture that elucidate the very essence of Sabbath than this one. This is the verse that the Holy Spirit uses to change my mind from Sunday to Sabbath worship. This Scripture is riveted in my mind forever. That is what the spirit of understanding does to believers.

Lev 25:5 ‘Do not reap what grows of its own of your harvest, and do not gather the grapes of your unpruned vine, for it is a year of rest for the land. – Do not reap the produce of the seeds that were not planted intentionally, but that fell onto the soil during the harvest of the sixth year crop.

The fruit of the spirit of those who came to justification, initial salvation, should not be included in the harvest of those who have completed their sixth year. That is why we are told not to harvest the fruit of a tree for the first three years, and even on the forth year it is to be Holy unto EL YAHWEH.  

Lev 25:6 ‘And the Sabbath of the land shall be to you for food, for you and your servant, and for your female servant and your hired servant, and for the stranger who sojourns with you, - Those of us who reach our sixth day of Creation, will become a Pot of Manna, spiritual food for others. They can now be used to teach your servants both male and female and any new comers among the community.

This speaks volume to those who have called themselves Pastors. Have you completed your sixth day of Creation, have you become the Pot of Manna, have your made it into the Holy of Holies. Then you have no right to be called a minister, or a Kohanim. 

The obvious questions to be considered in the Shmittah year is how the believers are going to fee themselves if they cannot grow food on their land for one year. The Torah goes on to address this predicament, “Then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth produce for three years. And you shall sow on the eight year, and still eat the produce of the sixth year, until the ninth year.”

Lev 25:7 and for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land. All its crops are for food. -  This Shemitteh does not seem to apply to livestock and beast. From a spiritual point of view, livestock are those who are in the flesh, and the beasts are those who are not save.

Verse 8 – 22 describes the Yovel/Jubilee Year. The Jubilee laws drives home the to the believers that the purpose of Creation is a Divine gift and that those who take hold of it, are those who believe in El Yahushua and keep His Commandments. By counting the years as we count the Omer, we are living in expectation of the fulfillment of the Shekinah Glory, which came upon Mount Sinai forty-nine days after they leave Egypt.

The Light of the Creator flows continuously for eternity, and if we never had any doubt about it, the Light would flow to us forever. But every time we manifest doubt, we shut off the flow of the Light from the CREATOR.

The gift we received on the Shabbat of Behar is an opening to receive the kind of faith, that even when everything around us seems illogical, we will have the certainty Abraham.

Lev 25:8 ‘And you shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years. And the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. – The command to count for the jubilee is for everyone, as it is for the counting of the Omer. I see the counting of the days, the counting of the years, how about the counting of the Thousands? Maybe the counting of the Thousand will be in the Kingdom to Come. Fifty Thousand years is a little above the life span of humans, but not for gods.

 

Lev 25:9 ‘You shall then sound a broken blast on the shofar on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement cause a ram’s horn to pass through all your land. – This broken blast must be followed be preceded and followed by a long, clear shofar blast Tekiah, so that the shofar ceremony of the Jubilee is identical to that of Rosh Hashanah. This must be done in all the land, in every believer’s house. 

Lev 25:10 ‘And you shall set the fiftieth year apart, and proclaim release throughout all the land to all its inhabitants, it is a Jubilee for you. And each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you return to his clan. – The fiftieth year is a year of release; all slaves must be set free to return to their tribes, their homes.

All Hebrew slaves must be freed even if they have not worked the usual minimum of six years, or if they have elected to remain with their master after the six years are up.

We must remember that when Torah speaks of slave, it is not slavery in the natural sense. Slavery in the Hebrew context means that that person is under authority of a Hebrew master who must treat him or her as if they were his own sons, and teach them Torah also.

After the individual who was under authority, reaches Maturity, he may choose to remain with his master or it is still his choice to go free. In the Hebrew community, been a slave is a blessed position, you will have both physical and spiritual food, and you will not be taken advantage.

During this time a servant have the right to move to another master if they wish. This could also mean that in the kingdom to come, we might have the opportunity, to move between masters after every fifty years. For example, if you were under authority to Moses, you could have the opportunity to move under the authority of David, or who ever you choose.

Lev 25:11 ‘The fiftieth year is a Jubilee to you. Do not sow, nor reap what grows of its own, nor gather from its unpruned vine. - The term Jubilee, comes from the root word yovel means ram. Thus the name of the year alludes to the blowing of the ram’s horn. 2007 was Shemittah 5768.
  

Lev 25:12 ‘It is a Jubilee, it is set-apart to you. Eat from the field its crops. – The produce of the year of jubilee may be eaten, but it cannot be harvested or sold. As long as there are food available in the field for the ownerless beasts may we keep food at home for our own animals. But if there is no food left in the field, you must remove food from our homes and make it available to everyone.

From the spiritual point of view, on the year of Jubilee we must make sure that we send people who have reach spiritual maturity “Crop of the field” out into the world, that they may be food for the unsaved. These people are what we would call today Evangelist, to Evangelize the world. El Yahushua said in Matthew 28:19  “Yahushua name and talked with them. He said, "All authority in Heavens and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore, go and make people from all nations into talmidim, immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son and the Ruach HaKodesh, 20  and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember! I will be with you always, yes, even until the end of the age." This was most certain a year of Jubilee that El Yahushua gave this Great Commission to His Disciples, for Yahushua had to fulfilled all Commandments.

Lev 25:13 ‘In the Year of this Jubilee let each one of you return to his ancestral heritage. – This ancient position is the whole purpose of creation, to produce or create perfect sons for the Kingdom. The Restoration of all things. The Kingdom of Heavens need to be restore to the original Gory it had before the rebellion of Lucifer.

Verse 14 – 55 describes a sequence of random command. But the progression of these commandments, the Torah is implying that if anyone allows greed to keep him from observing the Shemittah and Jubilee prohibitions, he will be force to forfeit his inheritance. This was the cause of Lucifer down fall. If after six years of spiritual development, or the six years of trying to create a perfect man, and these tendencies are still with us, then we have a problem.

Lev 25:14 ‘And when you sell whatever to your neighbor or buy from the hand of your neighbour, do not exploit one another. – At this stage of our spiritual development, we should not have the tendencies to cheat anyone of your neighbor in business.

This command is an extension of the general principle that one should seek to help his brethren in any way possible. The highest form of Charity is to enable someone to make a living in a honorable way, without being require to seek charity, so that the best way to help a needy Hebrew is to do business with him.

Lev 25:15 ‘According to the number of years after the Jubilee you buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of crops he sells to you. – This verse speaks of two different things here. The price we pay our neighbor for his service to us. And the other is the price one pay for the use of the time they will have access to the land.

El Yahushua gave a very remarkable illustration of this command in Matthew chapter 20 when He paid the workers the same wages regardless of when they start working.

However according to the number of years the field will revert to their original owners in the jubilee year, the buyer of the field has actually purchased the number of crops it will produce until the jubilee.

Consequently, if the buyer will remain in possession permanently, he is in violation of the previous verse’s admonition not to defraud.

Lev 25:16 ‘According to the greater number of years you increase its price, and according to the fewer number of years you diminish its price, because he sells to you according to the number of the years of the crops. – This verse stipulates the righteous method used to justify, the calculation of the rental agreement.

Lev 25:17 ‘And do not oppress one another, but you shall fear your Elohim. For I am יהוה your Elohim. – In verse 4 we see a similar expression refers to business conduct with each other. In this verse however, we see it means not to hurt each other with words.

It is forbidden to remind other believers of their earlier sins of an embarrassing aspects of their past, or to give advice that one knows to be bad. Lest one think that he can easily do so and no one will know that his intentions were malicious, the verse conclude, that we must fear יהוה for יהוה knows what is truly in a man’s heart.

It is worst to hurt someone personally than financially, because money can be replace but shame and a person reputation cannot be replace, who ever does these things will not emerge from Gehinnom.

Lev 25:18 ‘And you shall do My laws and guard My right-rulings, and shall do them. And you shall dwell in the land in safety, - This verse teaches the importance of keeping יהוה decrees, My Ordinances. The Torah exhorts those who make it into the land, who reach maturity, to remember to keep, to observe the above laws of Shemittah and Yovel.

By observing the agricultural laws are referred to as decrees that is not predicated upon human logic, and the laws of fraud and return of slaves and ancestral land are ordinances that can be understood easily.

The right to dwell securely on the land is link to the obedience of this command. Failure to observe the laws of Shemitteh and Yovel was a cause for the exile of the Children of Yisrael from the land years later. If we do not learn to practice here on earth, we will not know how to practice it when we get to Heavens. This will determine how long we will dwell safely in Heavens.

Lev 25:19 ‘and the land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat to satisfaction, and shall dwell there in safety. – This is a repetition of the identical phrase in the preceding verse. Above, the phrase assured Yisrael that in return for observing the Shemittah, they would not be exiled. Now, יהוה offers assurance that those who let their land rest will not suffer famine and be force to travel abroad to purchase food.

Lev 25:20 ‘And since you might say, “What do we eat in the seventh year, since we do not sow nor gather in our crops?” – The previous verse promises that whatever food you have will suffice, thanks to יהוה blessings; but if you lack the faith to rely on this, and ask how, only one crop can be enough for such a long time, יהוה promise to ordain His Blessings for us to such an extent that the prosperity will be plain enough to set your mind at ease.

Lev 25:21 ‘Therefore I have commanded My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth the crop for three years. – The crop of the sixth year will provide enough for three years. This would be that the crop that was harvested on the sixth year, would last all the way trough the seventh year, and into the end of the eight year when the new crop will be ready to be harvest.

Lev 25:22 ‘And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat of the old crop until the ninth year. Eat of the old until its crop comes in. – The crop from the sixth year will also last into the ninth year.

Verse 23 – 34 describes the redemption for the land. As we have seen in the verses above a land can only be rented for the number of years to the jubilee year, when it must be revert back to the original owner.

This verses place the responsibility upon the relatives of an impoverish person who rented out the land in the first place, to redeem the land even before the seven years and return the to its original owner.

As long as the family member can raise the money to pay a fair value for the field, the purchase is required to accept the monetary compensation for the years to Jubilee.

Lev 25:23 ‘And the land is not to be sold beyond reclaim, for the land is Mine, for you are sojourners and settlers with Me. – The Land of Yisrael that was given to the various Tribe, must never change ownership, as it will be in the world to come. Our inheritance must never change hands. Today when a family gets divorce, half to the wife, this must not be so in the Kingdom. The Land must never leave the family it was allotted to in the first place.

Lev 25:24 ‘And provide for a redemption for the land, in all the land of your possession. – There must always be a redeemer for the land, a person who will be the spokesman so to speak, even if the land is rented out to someone else, up until the seven years.

Lev 25:25 ‘When your brother becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and his redeemer, a close relative comes to redeem it, then he shall redeem what his brother sold. – For whatever reason, the owner of the land has to rent out his land, a close relative, a member of his own family or clan, may redeem the land for him.

Lev 25:26 ‘And when the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it, - If the man has no one to redeem it, when he does have enough money to do so he may do it.

Lev 25:27 then let him count the years since its sale, and return the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he shall return to his possession. -  He must then count the years since the rental agreement and subtract the difference. If he rented the land before with ten crops remaining before the jubilee, then each crop is worth one-tenth of the purchase price.

Lev 25:28 ‘And if his hand has not found enough to give back to him, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee. And it shall be released in the Jubilee, and he shall return to his possession. – If however he cannot afford to raise the cash to redeem the land, he must wait until the ends of the sixth year, when the land will be automatically revert to him.

It is the same way in the Kingdom of Heavens, El Yahushua do not have the required personnel to redeem His kingdom from Lucifer, for the people who are supposed to be coming to maturity, have not being doing so. Therefore, Lucifer can remain on the land for a long time. Adam sold the land to Lucifer when he sinned. El Yahushua is our Kinsman Redeemer, however He needs faithful servants to rule and reign in that Kingdom.

The job of Lucifer is to keep the believers from coming to maturity, by getting them to follow a path that does not led to maturity. Thus the invention of Christianity.

Lev 25:29 ‘And when a man sells a house in a walled city, then his right of redemption shall be at the end of the year after it is sold. His right of redemption lasts a year. – The law for the redemption of a house in a walled city is to be within one year of the sale of the property. This house can be redeem at anytime, but not after one year.

The essence behind this law is that the house is vital for the safety of the city, when a new occupancy moves in and become a part of the defense of that city; it is never wise to continuously replacing him. Therefore for the good of the defense of the city, the integrity of the defense must be maintained.

Lev 25:30 ‘But if it is not redeemed within a complete year, then the house in the walled city shall be established beyond reclaim to the buyer of it, throughout his generations. It is not released in the Jubilee. – Not even the Year of Jubilee can over turn this judgment.

Lev 25:31 ‘The houses of villages, however, which have no wall around them are reckoned as the field of the country. The right of redemption belongs to it, and they are released in the Jubilee. -  Any house in an undefended part of the land must be release in the year of Jubilee.

Verses 32 – 34 speak of the cities of the Levites. Since the Levites did not receive provinces, as the other tribes. Instead, they were given forth-eight towns scattered around the country, each of which was surrounded by a ring of open land, two Thousand cubits around the city.

The following laws apply to rental of both house and land in the cities of the Levites, whether the particular property was owned by a Levites or another Levite had inherited it.

Lev 25:32 ‘As for the cities of the Lĕwites, and the houses in the cities of their possession, the Lĕwites have a right of redemption forever. – The Levites and the Priesthood has the eternal right to redeem their land anytime. Whether in a field or a walled city.

Lev 25:33 ‘And that which is redeemed from the Lĕwites, both the sale of a house and the city of his possession shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, because the houses in the cities of the Lĕwites are their possession in the midst of the children of Yisra’ĕl. – Since the Levites only heritage in the Land is their cities and the surrounding areas, they cannot be deprive permanently of any part of their property.

Lev 25:34 ‘But the field of the open land of their cities is not sold, for it is their everlasting possession. – The lands surrounding their cities cannot be sold or even rented out to anyone else.

Verse 35 – 38 discusses what should happen when a brother become impoverished. The highest form of charity is to lend a helping hand to prevent a person from becoming poor. This includes offering him a job, or a loan, investing in his business, or any other form of assistance that will avoid poverty. The basis for this principle is the commandment that we should strengthen each other.

Lev 25:35 ‘And when your brother becomes poor, and his hand has failed with you, then you shall build him up, that he may live with you, if he is a proselyte or a citizen. -  This verse teaches that if your brother becomes impoverished and you know about it, the verse stresses twice that you must regard his plight as if it was you. This verse expressions brings home the importance of everyone should feel a responsibility to help him.

We should not wait until he becomes poor. When a beast of burden load begins to slip it take only one man to help, but when the animal falls under the burden not even five men cannot lift it back to its feet. The term proselyte or citizen, means any one in the Kingdom, this does not include the unsaved person.

Lev 25:36 ‘Take no interest from him, or profit, but you shall fear your Elohim, and your brother shall live with you. – The terms interest or profit, these two terms are synonymous. In effect, therefore, the prohibition against interest is mentioned twice, so that those who charge it are in violation of this command.

Lev 25:37 ‘Do not lend him your silver on interest, and do not lend him your food for profit. – It is not permitted for us to lend money to our brother for gain. It must be done in love.

Lev 25:38 ‘I am יהוה your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, to give you the land of Kenaʽan, to be your Elohim. – Just as in Egypt EL YAHWEH differentiated between the first born and those of were not firstborn, so, too, He will know if someone has illegally accepted interest, no matter how he tries to launder the transaction. Alternatively, EL YAHWEH liberated us from Egypt so that we would accept all of His commandment, even the difficult ones, such as the prohibition against charging interest.

Verse 39 – 43 describes a Hebrew slave, even Though there is no such thing. Slaver in this sense means that a Hebrew person comes under the influence of another. In the Spiritual sense, we should never be a slave to none other than El Yahushua. But through sin, believer sometime come under the influence of another temporary. They do not lose their status in the religious or civil community.

In this status, their movement is limited for a specific period of time; they are not free to resign their position. Their mast must treat them with such delicacy and consideration. Anyone who sell himself as a slave to a Hebrew person, purchase himself a righteous Master.

Lev 25:39 ‘And when your brother who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, do not make him serve as a slave. – From a spiritual point of view if one of our brother become a slave to substance abuse, we should not look upon him with distain. This Hebrew person should not be worked as a slave labor. He should not be assign to do the sort of degrading tasks that would be given only to a slave, such as having him bring his master food, but rather he should be invited to sit at your table with your family for dinner.

Lev 25:40 ‘But as a hired servant, as a settler he is with you, and serves you until the Year of Jubilee. – We should treat him as a friend; he may even dwell with you until the time when he is release from his substance abuse. Notice in the previous chapter when a person was found with any contamination, they were secluded for seven days, then examine. Here we see the year of release is every seven years.

Lev 25:41 ‘And then he shall leave you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own clan, even return to the possession of his fathers. – Under no circumstances do the Hebrew children of a Hebrew slave to a Hebrew master ever belong to the Master; even those who were born to the slave when he was in servitude. This verse teaches us that during one’s years of slavery, his master is responsible for the up keep of the slave’s family. It is this reliance upon the master that he and his children leave when the slave years end.

Lev 25:42 ‘For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Mitsrayim, they are not sold as slaves. – The Hebrew people are already servant of EL YAHWEH they cannot be sold and treated as common slave. They cannot play the harlot to other masters. They must be treated with dignity, another Hebrew person cannot pray for the destruction of another brother.

Lev 25:43 ‘Do not rule over him with harshness, but you shall fear your Elohim. – It is incumbent on every Hebrew person to remember not to rule over another person with harshness. The Spirit of gentleness should be with us, and to be shown even to those who are less fortunate than us.

Verse 44 – 46 speak of the Non Hebrew slaves. Having said that an owner’s right over his Hebrew slave are limited, the Torah states that one may purchase slaves from among the surrounding nations. Such slaves become the property of their owners, indefinitely.

Lev 25:44 ‘And your male and female slaves whom you have from the nations that are around you, from them you buy male and female slaves, -  When Torah says to buy a slave, it is not like slavery in the southern USA in the 17 century. Torah style slaver is that the person has the same right as a famely member.

Lev 25:45 and also from the sons of the strangers sojourning among you, from them you buy, and from their clans who are with you, which they shall bring forth in your land, and they shall be your property.  -  There is also another kind of slave. This type does not accept the doctrine of Torah. We should pay them a fair waves, yet they are not treated the same as a family member.

Lev 25:46 ‘And you shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession, they are your slaves for all time. But over your brothers, the children of Yisra’ĕl, you do not rule with harshness, one over another. - They are not release in tha Sabbatical year, they are slaves forever.

Verse 47 – 55 describe how a Hebrew person is own by a non-Hebrew. The ultimate degradation is for a Hebrew to be sold as a slave to a non-Jewish resident. In that rather unpleasant scenario, the Torah place a responsibility upon his kinsman to redeem him, but they must do so without depriving the owner of his legitimate property rite.

Lev 25:47 ‘Now when a sojourner or a settler with you becomes rich, and your brother with him becomes poor, and sells himself to the settler or sojourner with you, or to a member of the sojourner’s clan, - A sojourner is stranger from another land who have come into the Land of Yisrael to embrace the Elohim of Yisrael. He has a right to be redeemed by another Hebrew brother. This is not so for a person who does not accept the Elohim of Yisrael.

Lev 25:48 after he has been sold, there is a right of redemption to him – one of his brothers may redeem him, - It is wrong for a Hebrew to ever sell himself to an unbeliever. It is also wrong for a believer to see his brother been sold and does nothing. It is incumbent on his brother to free his brother at the earliest possible moment.

Lev 25:49 or his uncle or his uncle’s son does redeem him, or anyone who is a close relative to him in his clan does redeem him, or if he is able, then he shall redeem himself. – His family should be the first to redeem him, however if the family is not available, then any Hebrew brother may do so.

What does this mean from a physical sense? If for example if I knew that a brother was in debt to a creditor, it is incumbent on me to pay off his debt, and allow him to pay me back interest free.

Lev 25:50 ‘And he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that he was sold to him until the Year of Jubilee; as the days of a hired servant it is with him. – The same principle to reach maturity is the same principle to get out of debt.

Lev 25:51 ‘If there are yet many years, according to them he repays the price of his redemption, from the silver of his purchase. – The one who is been redeemed must pay the fair market value for the person who is been redeemed.

Lev 25:52 ‘And if few years are left until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he repays him the price of his redemption. – If there are a few years left in the contract, ten percent per year must be paid for his redemption.

Lev 25:53 ‘He is with him as a yearly hired servant, and he does not rule with harshness over him before your eyes. – If the servant was hired as a yearly worker, and he was not treated with any cruelty and he is not redeem by anyone, he shall only be redeem in the Jubilee year. A Hebrew person is forbidden to stand by and tolerate the sight of their fellow Hebrew being subjugated harshly.

Lev 25:54 ‘And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children with him. –

Lev 25:55 ‘Because the children of Yisra’ĕl are servants to Me, they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Mitsrayim. I am יהוה your Elohim. – The whole purpose of Creation is for EL YAHWEH to create a perfect Bride for His Son. These brides to be are those who are part of the redeem community, therefore we are set apart from been subjugated to any other husband, except for El Yahushua.

A Hebrew person, who falls under the servitude of another master, is tantamount to adultery. We are not required as a set apart bride to participate in such activity, or bondage.

Lev 26:1 Ye shall not make for you elilim or pesel or set up matzevah, neither shall ye set up even maskit (carved stone) in your land, lehishtachavot (to bow down) unto it: for I am YAHWEH Eloheichem. -  In this verse and the next, Torah list three primarily symbols of our faith through which a person can remain strong spiritually: The avoidance of idolatry; the observance of the Sabbath, which is our testimony that we are His People and that Elohim is the Creator of all things.

Adherence to these commandments, a Hebrew will find the spiritual strength to observe all the other, thereby preserving his faith in the most adverse circumstances.

The single greatest test of idol worship is the Sabbath. It was created by man, as was the golden calf. The golden calf like Sunday worship was created with the best of intention. Like a very popular statement, which says that, the road to hell is pave with good intention.

Lev 26:2 "'Keep my Shabbats, and revere my sanctuary; I am יהוה. – This one of many illustration of the goal of Creation. The Sanctuary out line the steps to achieving that most illustrious of all goals. The outline of the two Altar in the Outer court and the three altars in the Holy Place, led us to another one of the objects that illustrate our Ultimate Destination, the Ark of the Covenant.

The contents of the Ark: the Ten Commandments, Aaron Rod and the Pot of Manna, is symbolic of the inner dealings of their character.

The Ten Commandments, fulfilled Jeremiah 31:33 and Hebrew 8:10 “"For this is the covenant I will make with the house of Isra'el after those days," says יהוה: "I will put my Torah within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their Elohim, and they will be my people.”

Aaron’s Almond rod, that buds, is a representation of the Menorah, the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 11:2 describe it as The Spirit of יהוה will rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and fearing of יהוה.

The Pot of Manna, represent the capability of the mature believer to teach from what have been accomplish within them. The fruit of the spirit, which Galatians wonderfully describe. 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 humility, self control. Nothing in the Torah stands against such things.

Haftarah

Jeremiah 32:6  - 27

Jer 32:6 And Yirmeyahu said, “The word of יהוה came to me, saying, -

Jer 32:7 ‘See, Ḥaname’ĕl son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy my field which is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.” ’ – One would not have expected,

(A.) That a prophet should concern himself so far in the business of this world; but why not? Though ministers must not entangle themselves, yet they may concern themselves in the affairs of this life.

(B.) That one who had neither wife nor children should buy land. We find (ch. 16:2) that he had no family of his own; yet he may purchase for his own use while he lives, and leave it to the children of his relations when he dies.

 (C.) One would little have Thought that a prisoner should be a purchaser; how should he get money beforehand to buy land with? It is probably that he lived frugally, and saved something out of what belonged to him as a priest, which is no blemish at all to his character; but we have no reason to think that the people were kind, or that his being beforehand was owing to their generosity.

(D.) It was most strange of all that he should buy a piece of land when he himself knew that the whole land was now to be laid waste and fall into the hands of the Chaldeans, and then what good would this do him? But it was the will of YAHWEH that he should buy it, and he submitted, Though the money seemed to be thrown away.

Jer 32:8 “So Ḥaname’ĕl my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of יהוה, and said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Binyamin, for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption. Buy it for yourself.’ And I knew that this was the word of יהוה. – His kinsman came to offer it to him; it was not of his own seeking; he coveted not to lay house to house and field to field, but Providence brought it to him, and it was probably a good bargain; besides, the right of redemption belonged to him, and if he refused he would not do the kinsmanship justic.

It is true that he might lawfully refuse, but, being a prophet, in a situation of this nature he must do that which would be for the honor of his profession. It became him to fulfil all righteousness. It was land that lay within the suburbs of a priests’ city, and, if he should refuse it, there was danger lest, in these times of disorder, it might be sold to one of another tribe, which was contrary to the law, to prevent which it was convenient for him to buy it.

It would likewise be a kindness to his kinsman, who probably was at this time in great want of money. Jeremiah had but a little, but what he had he was willing to lay out in such a manner as might serve most to the honor of YAHWEH and the good of his friends and country, which he preferred before his own private interests.

Jer 32:9 “And I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Ḥaname’ĕl, my uncle’s son, and weighed out to him the silver, seventeen sheqels of silver. - How fairly the bargain was made. When Jeremiah knew by Hanameel’s coming to him, as YAHWEH had foretold he would, that it was the word of EL YAHWEH, that it was his mind that he should make this purchase, he made no more difficulty of it, but bought the field.

He was very honest and exact in paying the money. He weighted him the money, did not press him to take it upon his report, Though he was his near kinsman, but weighed it to him, current money.

It was seventeen shekels of silver, amounting to about forty shillings of our money. The land was probably but a little field and of small yearly value, when the purchase was so low; besides, the right of inheritance was in Jeremiah, so that he had only to buy out his kinsman’s life, the reversion being his already.

Some think this was only the earnest of a greater sum; but we shall not wonder at the smallness of the price if we consider what scarcity there was of money at this time and how little lands were counted upon.

Jer 32:10 “And I signed the deed and sealed it, took witnesses, and weighed the silver in the scales. - He was very prudent and discreet in preserving the writings. They were subscribed before witnesses. One copy was sealed up, the other was open. One was the original, the other the counterpart; or perhaps that which was sealed up was for his own private use, the other that was open was to be laid up in the public register of conveyances, for any person concerned to consult.

Due care and caution in things of this nature might prevent a great deal of injustice and contention.

Jer 32:11 “Then I took the deed of purchase – that which was sealed according to the command and law, and that which was open – The deeds of purchase were lodged in the hands of Baruch, before witnesses, and he was ordered to lay them up in an earthen vessel (an emblem of the nature of all the securities this world can pretend to give us, brittle things and soon broken), that they might continue many days, for the use of Jeremiah’s heirs, after the return out of captivity; for they might then have the benefit of this purchase. Purchasing reversions may be a kindness to those that come after us, and a good man thus lays up an inheritance for his children’s children.

Jer 32:12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruḵ son of Nĕriyah, son of Maḥsĕyah, in the presence of Ḥaname’ĕl my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Yehuḏim who sat in the court of the guard. -

Jer 32:13 “And I commanded Baruḵ before their eyes, saying,

Jer 32:14 ‘Thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Take these deeds, both this deed of purchase which is sealed and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, so that they remain many days.” –

Jer 32:15 ‘For thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.” ’ - What was the design of having this bargain made. It was to signify that Though Yerushalayim was now besieged, and the whole country was likely to be laid waste, yet the time should come when houses, and fields, and vineyards should be again possessed in this land.

As EL YAHWEH appointed Jeremiah to confirm his predictions of the approaching destruction of Yerushalayim by his own practice in living unmarried, so he now appointed him to confirm his predictions of the future restoration of Yerushalayim by his own practice in purchasing this field.

It concerns ministers to make it to appear in their whole conversation that they do themselves believe that which they preach to others; and that they may do so, and impress it the more deeply upon their hearers, they must many a time deny themselves, as Jeremiah did in both these instances. YAHWEH having promised that this land should again come into the possession of his people, Jeremiah will, on behalf of his heirs, put in for a share.

It is good to manage even our worldly affairs in faith, and to do common business with an eye to the providence and promise of YAHWEH. Lucius Florus relates it as a great instance of the bravery of the Roman citizens that in the time of the second Punic war, when Hannibal besieged Rome and was very near making himself master of it, a field on which part of his army lay, being offered to sale at that time, was immediately purchased, in a firm belief that the Roman valour would raise the siege.

Jer 32:16 “And after I had given the deed of purchase to Baruḵ son of Nĕriyah, I prayed to יהוה, saying, - In this verse we have Jeremiah’s prayer to EL YAHWEH upon occasion of the discoveries YAHWEH had made to him of HIS purposes concerning this nation, to pull it down, and in process of time to build it up again, which puzzled the prophet himself, who, Though he delivered his messages faithfully, yet, in reflecting upon them, was greatly at a loss within himself how to reconcile them. In that perplexity he poured out his soul before YAHWEH in prayer, and so gave himself ease.

That which disturbed him was not the bad bargain he seemed to have made for himself in purchasing a field that he was likely to have no good of, but the case of his people, for whom he was still a kind and faithful intercessor, and he was willing to hope that, if YAHWEH had so much mercy in store for them hereafter as he had promised, he would not proceed with so much severity against them now as he had threatened. Before Jeremiah went to prayer he delivered the deeds that concerned his new purchase to Baruch, which may intimate to us that when we are going to worship YAHWEH we should get our minds as clear as may be from the cares and incumbrances of this world. Jeremiah was in prison, in distress, in the dark about the meaning of YAH’s providences, and then he prays. Prayer is a salve for every sore. Whatever is a burden to us, we may by prayer cast it upon YAHWEH and then be easy.

Jer 32:17 ‘Ah, Master יהוה! See, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is no matter too hard for You, - Jeremiah adores EL YAHWEH and HIS infinite perfections, and gives him the glory due to HIS name as the Creator, upholder, and benefactor, of the whole creation, thereby owning HIS irresistible power, that he can do what he will, and his incontestable sovereignty, that HE may do what HE will.

Jer 32:18 who show kindness to Thousands, and repay the crookedness of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them – the Great, the Mighty Ěl, יהוה of hosts is His Name, - At any time when we are perplexed about the particular methods and dispensations of Providence it is good for us to have recourse to our first principles, and to satisfy ourselves with the general doctrines of YAH’s wisdom, power, and goodness. Let us consider, as Jeremiah does here,

1. That EL YAHWEH is the fountain of all being, power, life, motion, and perfection: He made the heaven and the earth with his outstretched arm; and therefore who can control him? Who dares contend with him?

2. That with him nothing is impossible, no difficulty insuperable: Nothing is too hard for thee. When human skill and power are quite nonplussed, with Ěl, יהוה are strength and wisdom sufficient to master all the opposition.

3. That HE is Elohim of boundless bottomless mercy; mercy is hHIS darling attribute; it is his goodness that is his glory: "You not only art kind, but You showest lovingkindness, not to a few, to here and there one, but to Thousands, Thousands of persons, Thousands of generations.’’

4. That he is a EL of impartial and inflexible justice. His reprieves are not pardons, but if in mercy he spares the parents, that they may be led to repentance, yet such a hatred has he to sin, and such a displeasure against sinners, that HE recompenses their iniquity into the bosom of their children, and yet does them no wrong; so hateful is the unrighteousness of man, and so jealous of its own honor is the righteousness of YAHWEH.

5. That YAHWEH is a EL of universal dominion and command: He is the great  EL, for HE is the mighty Elohim, and might among men makes them great. He is Ěl, יהוה of hosts, of all hosts, that is HIS name, and he answers to his name, for all the hosts of heaven and earth, of men and angels, are at his beck.

6. That he contrives every thing for the best, and effects every thing as he contrived it: He is great in counsel, so vast are the reaches and so deep are the designs of his wisdom; and he is mighty in doing, according to the counsel of his will. Now such a Elohim as this is not to be quarrelled with. HIS service is to be constantly adhered to and all his disposals cheerfully acquiesced in.

Jer 32:19 great in counsel and mighty in work, for Your eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds. –

He acknowledges the universal cognizance EL YAHWEH takes of all the actions of the children of men and the unerring judgment HE passes upon them: Thy eyes are open upon all the sons of men, wherever they are, beholding the evil and the good, and upon all their ways, both the course they take and every step they take, not as an unconcerned spectator, but as an observing judge, to give every one according to HIS ways and according to his deserts, which are the fruit of his doings; for men shall find YAHWEH as they are found of HIM.

Jer 32:20 ‘For You have set signs and wonders in the land of Mitsrayim, to this day, and in Yisra’ĕl and among other men. And You have made Yourself a Name, as it is this day. – He recounts the great things EL YAHWEH had done for HIS people Yisrael formerly. HE brought them out of Egypt, that house of bondage, with signs and wonders, which remain, if not in the marks of them, yet in the memorials of them, even unto this day; for it would never be forgotten, not only in Yisrael, who were reminded of it every year by the ordinance of the passover, but among other men: all the neighbouring nations spoke of it, as that which redounded exceedingly to the glory of the EL of Yisrael, and made HIM a name even to this day.

Jer 32:21 ‘And You have brought Your people Yisra’ĕl out of the land of Mitsrayim with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great fearsome deeds. – This is repeated, that YAHWEH brought them forth, not only with comforts and joys to them, but with glory to himself, with signs and wonders (witness the ten plagues), with a strong hand, too strong for the Egyptians themselves, and with a stretched-out arm, that reached Pharaoh, proud as he was, and with great terror to them and all about them. This seems to refer to Deu. 4:34. 2. He brought them into Canaan, that good land, that land flowing with milk and honey.

Jer 32:22 ‘And You gave them this land, of which You swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. – He swore to their fathers to give it them, and, because HE would perform HIS oath, he did give it to the children and they came in and possessed it. Jeremiah mentions this both as an aggravation of their sin and disobedience and also as a plea with YAHWEH to work deliverance for them. It is good for us often to reflect upon the great things that YAHWEH did for his church formerly, especially in the first erecting of it, that work of wonder.

Jer 32:23 ‘And they came in and possessed it, but they did not obey Your voice nor did they walk in Your Torah. They did not do all that You commanded them to do, so You brought all this evil upon them. – He bewails the rebellions they had been guilty of against YAHWEH, and the judgments YAHWEH had brought upon them for these rebellions. It is a sad account he here gives of the ungrateful conduct of that people towards EL YAHWEH. HE had done every thing that HE had promised to do (they had acknowledged it, 1 Ki. 8:56), but they had done nothing of all that HE commanded them to do; they made no conscience of any of his laws; they walked not in them, paid no respect to any of his calls by his prophets, for they obeyed not HIS voice. Therefore he owns that YAHWEH was righteous in causing all this evil to come upon them.

Jer 32:24 ‘See the siege mounds! They have come to the city to take it. And the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword and the scarcity of food and the pestilence. And what You have spoken has come about, and look, You see it! - He commits the present state of Yerushalayim to the divine consideration and compassion: Behold the mounts, or ramparts, or the engines which they make use of to batter the city and beat down the wall of it. Again, "Behold You seest it, and takest cognizance of it. Is this the city that You has chosen to put thy name there? And shall it be thus abandoned?’’

He neither complains of YAHWEH for what he had done nor prescribes to YAHWEH what he should do, but desires he would behold their case, and is pleased to think that he does behold it. Whatever trouble we are in, upon a personal or public account, we may comfort ourselves with this, that EL YAHWEH sees it and sees how to remedy it.

Jer 32:25 ‘Yet You, O Master יהוה, have said to me, “Buy the field for silver, and take witnesses”! although the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ ” - He seems desirous to be let further into the meaning of the order EL YAHWEH had now given him to purchase his kinsman’s field: "Though the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and no man is likely to enjoy what he has, yet You hast said unto me, Buy You the field.’’

As soon as he understood that it was the mind of YAHWEH he did it, and made no objections, was not disobedient to the heavenly vision; but, when he had done it, he desired better to understand why YAHWEH had ordered him to do it, because the thing looked strange and unaccountable.

Though we are bound to follow YAHWEH with an implicit obedience, yet we should endeavour that it may be more and more an intelligent obedience. We must never dispute YAH’s statutes and judgments, but we may and must enquire, What mean these statutes and judgments? Deu. 6:20.

Jer 32:26 Then the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyahu, saying, - We have YAH’s answer to Jeremiah’s prayer, designed to quiet his mind and make him easy; and it is a full discovery of the purposes of YAH’s wrath against the present generation and the purposes of his grace concerning the future generations.

Jeremiah knew not how to sing both of mercy and judgment, but YAHWEH here teaches to sing unto him of both. When we know not how to reconcile one word of EL YAHWEH with another we may yet be sure that both are true, both are pure, both shall be made good, and not one iota or tittle of either shall fall to the ground.

When Jeremiah was ordered to buy the field in Anathoth he was willing to hope that YAHWEH was about to revoke the sentence of his wrath and to order the Chaldeans to raise the siege.

"No,’’ says YAHWEH, "the execution of the sentence shall go on; Yerushalayim shall be laid in ruins.’’ Assurances of future mercy must not be interpreted as securities from present troubles. But, lest Jeremiah should think that his being ordered to buy this field intimated that all the mercy YAHWEH had in store for his people, after their return, was only that they should have the possession of their own land again.

 HE further informs him that that was but a type and figure of those spiritual blessings which should then be abundantly bestowed upon them, unspeakably more valuable than fields and vineyards; so that in this word of YAHWEH, which came to Jeremiah, we have first as dreadful threatenings and then as precious promises as perhaps any we have in the Old Covanant; life and death, good and evil, are here set before us; let us consider and choose wisely.

Jer 32:27 “See, I am יהוה, the Elohim of all flesh. Is there any matter too hard for Me?”- The ruin of Judah and Yerushalayim is here pronounced. The decree has gone forth, and shall not be recalled.

YAHWEH here asserts his own sovereignty and power: Behold, I am Jehovah, a self-existent self-sufficient being; I am that I am; I am the Elohim of all flesh, that is, of all mankind, here called flesh because weak and unable to contend with YAHWEH (Ps. 56:4), and because wicked and corrupt and unapt to comply with YAHWEH.

 YAHWED is the Creator of all, and makes what use he pleases of all. He that is the EL of Israel is the Elohim of all flesh and of the spirits of all flesh, and, if Israel were cast off, could raise up a people to his name out of some other nation.

If HE be the Elohim of all flesh, HE may well ask, Is any thing too hard for ME? What cannot he do from whom all the powers of men are derived, on whom they depend, and by whom all their actions are directed and governed?

Brit Chadasha

Luke 4:16-21

Luk 4:16 And He came to Natsareth, where He had been brought up. And according to His practice, He went into the congregation on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. - The opportunity Yahushua had for it: He came to Nazareth when He had gained a reputation in other places, in hopes that thereby something at least of the contempt and prejudice with which his countrymen would look upon him might be worn off. There he took occasion to preach:

[1.] In the synagogue, the proper place, where it had been His custom to attend when He was a private person. We ought to attend on the public worship of YAHWEH, as we have opportunity. But, now that he was entered upon his public ministry, there he preached. Where the multitudes of fish were, there this wise Fisherman would cast his net.

[2.] On the sabbath day, the proper time which the Yisrael spent, not in a mere ceremonial rest from worldly labour, but in the duties of YAH’s worship, as of old they frequented the schools of the prophets on the new moons and the sabbaths. It is good to keep sabbaths in solemn assemblies, as it was Yahushua practice. If keeping the Sabbath is good enough for Messiyah is it not good enough for us also?

Luk 4:17 And the scroll of the prophet Yeshayahu was handed to Him. And having unrolled the scroll, He found the place where it was written: - It was the practice of Judism to allow a Rabbi to read and explain the scripture He had just read. The call Yahushua had to it.

[1.] He stood up to read. They had in their synagogues seven readers every sabbath, the first a priest, the second a Levite, and the other five Israelites of that synagogue. We often find Yahushua HaMashiach preaching in other synagogues, but never reading, except in this synagogue at Nazareth, of which He had been many years a member. Now he offered His service as He had perhaps often done; he read one of the lessons out of the prophets, Acts 13:15.

The reading of the scripture is very proper work to be done in religious assemblies; and Messiyah Himself did not think it any disparagement to him to be employed in it.

[2.] The book of the prophet Isaiah was delivered to him, either by the ruler of the synagogue or by the minister mentioned verse 20, so that he was no intruder, but duly authorized on this occasion. The second lesson for that day being in the prophecy of Esaias, they gave him that volume to read in.

[3.] This valide the concept of the Parasha reading of the scripture every week. Yahushua had to be in the right place t the right time for Him to had that Scripture inplace for Him to read.

Luk 4:18 “The Spirit of יהוה is upon Me,¹ because He has anointed Me to bring the Good News to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send away crushed ones with a release, Footnote: ¹Isa. 61:1-3. - The text Messiyah read and expound upon. He stood up to read, to teach us reverence in reading and hearing the Torah. When Ezra opened the book of the law, all the people stood up (Neh. 8:5); so did Messiyah here, when He read in the book of the prophets. Now the book being delivered to him,

[1.] He opened it. The books of the Old Testament were in a manner unfullfilled till the Holy Spirit opened them, Isa. 29:11. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to take the book, and open the seals; for he can open, not the book only, but the understanding.

[2.] He found the place which was appointed to be read that day in course, which He needed not to be directed to; he soon found it, and read it, and took it for his text.

[3.] The exile of Yisrael who need spiritual sight, freedom from exile and sin, and a remarriage to their King.

[4.] the concept here is one of liberty, or  jubelee for the exiles of the nation.

Luk 4:19 to proclaim the acceptable year of יהוה.”¹ Footnote: ¹Isa. 61:1-2. - Now his text was taken out of Isa. 61:1, 2, which is here quoted at large. There was a providence in it that that portion of scripture should be read that day, which speaks so very plainly of the Messiyah, that they might be left inexcusable who knew him not, Though they heard the voices of the prophets read every sabbath day, which bore witness of him, Acts 13:27. This text gives a full account of Messiyah’s undertaking, and the work he came into the world to do.

The acceptable year of YAHWEH. He came to let the world know that the Elohim whom they had offended was willing to be reconciled to them, and to accept of them upon new terms; that there was yet a way of making their services acceptable to HIM; that there is now a time of good will toward men.

It alludes to the year of release, or that of jubilee, which was an acceptable year to servants, who were then set at liberty; to debtors, against whom all actions then dropped; and to those who had mortgaged their lands, for then they returned to them again. Messiyah came to sound the jubilee-trumpet; and blessed were they that heard the joyful sound, Ps. 89:15. It was an acceptable time, for it was a day of salvation.

1. Messiyah came to be a great Physician; for he was sent to heal the broken-hearted, to comfort and cure afflicted consciences, to give peace to those that were troubled and humbled for sins, and under a dread of YAH’s wrath against them for them, and to bring them to rest who were weary and heavy-laden, under the burden of guilt and corruption.

Luk 4:20 And having rolled up the scroll, He gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the congregation were fixed upon Him. - Here is the attention and admiration of the auditors.

Their attention : The eyes of all them that were in the synagogue (and, probably, there were a great many) were fastened on him, big with expectation what he would say, having heard so much of late concerning him. It is good, in hearing the word, to keep the eye fixed upon the minister by whom YAHWEH is speaking to us; for, as the eye effects the heart, so, usually, the heart follows the eye, and is wandering, or fixed, as that is.

Or, rather, let us learn hence to keep the eye fixed upon Messiyah speaking to us in and by the minister. What saith my Lord unto his servants?

Every person in that assembly knew what that scripture in Isaiah ment to them. They also knew that there was a seat left in the Synagogue for the Messiyah to come and sit in.

To their supprise Yahushua when over to that seat reserved for Messiyah only and sat in it.

Luk 4:21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been filled in your hearing.” – The official announcement that Yisrael’s nightmare of national exile was over, and that the regathering process had began that very day in that very synagogue in Ntzeret. Can you just imagine the tension in that room that day. Who dare Rabbi Yahushua BenDavid to proclame Himself the Messiyah.

Do we as believers know when scripture is being fulfilled in our lives? Or are we looking for a grander events?

Galatians 5:1 – 13

In the former part of this chapter the apostle cautions the Galatians to take heed of the Rabbinic judaizing teachers, who endeavoured to bring them back under the bondage of the law. He had been arguing against them before, and had largely shown how contrary the principles and spirit of those teachers were to the spirit of the gospel; and now this is as it were the general inference or application of all that discourse.

Since it appeared by what had been said that we can be justified only by faith in Yahushua Messiyah, and not by the righteousness of the law, therefore he would have them to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Messiyah hath made us free, and not to be again entangled with the yoke of bondage. Observe,

1. Under the gospel we are enfranchised, we are brought into a state of liberty, wherein we are freed from the curse of the law Deut 28: 15 – 68;

2. We owe this liberty to Yahushua HaMashiach. It is He who has made us free of the curse of the law that was place on the outside of the Ark, Duet 31:26; by his merits He has satisfied the demands of the Deut 28:15 – 68, the Law that is against us, and by His authority as our High Priest He has discharged us from the obligation of those carnal ordinances which were imposed on any one who breaks the Laws that was place in the Ark, Exodus 40:20.

3. It is therefore our duty to stand fast in this liberty, constantly and faithfully to adhere to the gospel and to the liberty of it, and not to suffer ourselves, upon any consideration, nor persuaded to return back to the law of Moses that cannot saved or justify anyone. This is the general caution or exhortation, which in the following verses the apostle enforces by several reasons or arguments.

Gal 5:1  In the freedom with which Messiyah has made us free, stand firm, then, and do not again be held with a yoke of slavery. – There are two sets of Laws, one was place on the inside of the Ark “Exodus 40:²⁰ And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark:” and  another set was ‘Deut 31:²⁶Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the EL YAHWEH, that it may be there for a witness against thee.’ The laws that is against us is found in Deut 28: 15 – 68 “¹⁶ Cursed shalt You be in the city, and cursed shalt You be in the field. ¹⁷Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. ¹⁸Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. ¹⁹Cursed shalt You be when You comest in, and cursed shalt You be when You goest out. ²⁰YAHWEH shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that You settest thine hand unto for to do, until You be destroyed, and until You perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby You hast forsaken me.  ²¹YAHWEH shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither You goest to possess it.” El Yahushua took the curse of the sin for anyone who believe in Him. If anyone only believe in the law alone to save them, then when they sin there is no atonement for there sin, therfore the curse of the Law will be upon them.

Gal 5:2 See, I, Sha’ul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Messiyah shall be of no use to you. – Circumcision will never save anyone. It is a logical step after one is saved by the Blood of Messiyah.

Gal 5:3 And I witness again to every man being circumcised that he is a debtor to do the entire Torah. – anyone who is circumsize is in dept to keep the law if they want to progress to full maturity. It is just like a person who register at a school of higher learning, they are indepted to the school to fulfill the requirement of the institution. Circumcision is a sign that we will circumsize our heart.

Gal 5:4 You who are declared right by Torah have severed yourselves from Messiyah, you have fallen from favour. – A person who is declare righteous by Torah is one who never sin. For Torah require absolute perfection. The only person who never sin was Yahushua, He did not require grace. Grace is for people who have commited at lease one sin. If a person sin, he or she need a savor, who will atone for there sin. Yahushua, was never under grace, He was under the Law, for He never sinned. Grace is for human who have sined and fallen short of the requirement of the Law.

Atonement comes only from one source, that is Yahushua HaMashiach, unless He atone for us, we would fall under the condemnation of the Laws of deuter 28:15 – 86, if we obey the law after we are forgiven, we will fall under the blessing of the Law, Duet 28:1-14 “¹And it shall come to pass, if You shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of  EL YAHWEH, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the EL YAHWEH will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: ²And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if You shalt hearken unto the voice of the YAHWEH your Elohim. ³Blessed shalt You be in the city, and blessed shalt You be in the field. ⁴Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. ⁵Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.  ⁶Blessed shalt You be when You comest in, and blessed shalt You be when You goest out”

Gal 5:5 For we, in Spirit, by belief, eagerly wait for the expectation of righteousness. - Those of us who walk by the Spirit, walk with an eager expectation that He who start a good work in us, will complete it, that we may become the Ark of the Covenant, a sign of full maturity.

Gal 5:6 For in Messiyah יהושע neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any strength, but belief working through love. – This holds true eternally. First, that circumcision is an act of love to seal one’s faith, not to establish it, and neither the Jews, the circumcised, not the Akrobustia the  “tossed away foreskinned ones” have any ranking, or special standing over the other. Neither the House of Yisrael should see circumcision, or the lack thereof as a means of a spiritual rank over and above the other, but as something that the individual in YAH’S decent order must do on his own.

Circumcision avails nothing in the sense that if abused.

Gal 5:7 You were running well, who held you back from obeying the truth? – Paul in this verse stated the obvious. You are doing well, you are carrying your cross as you should, however someone as detour your journey to perfection. The believer is admonish to recover from their false path, and engage them to be more stedfastness in the future, he puts them in mind of their good beginnings, and calls upon them to be more diligent to obeying the Truth.

1. He tells them that they did run well; at their first setting out in there journey to perfection they had behaved themselves very commendably, they had readily embraced the Scriptual Judism, and discovered a zeal in the ways and work of it; as in their baptism they were devoted to YAHWEH, and had declared themselves the disciples of Yahushua Messiyah, so their behaviour was agreeable to their character and profession.

(1.) The life of a Believer is a race, wherein he must run, and hold on, if he would obtain the prize.

(2.) It is not enough that we run in this race, by a profession of faith, but we must run well, by living up to that profession. Thus these believers had done for awhile, but they had been obstructed in their progress, and were either turned out of the way or at least made to flag and falter in it. Therefore,

2.                       He asks them, and calls upon them to ask themselves, Who did hinder you? How is it that they did not hold on in the way wherein they had begun to run so well? He very well knew who they were, and what it was that hindered them; but he would have them to put the question to themselves, and seriously consider whether they had any good reason to hearken to those who gave them this disturbance, and whether what they offered was sufficient to justify them in their present conduct.

3.                        

(1.) Many have started in the right path, and run well for awhile-run within the bounds appointed for the race, and run with zeal and alacrity too-are yet by some means or other hindered in their progress, or turned out of the way.

(2.) It concerns those who have run well, but now begin either to turn out of the way or got tire in it, to enquire what it is that hinders them. Young converts must expect that Satan will be laying stumbling blocks in their way, and doing all he can to divert them from the course they are in.

But, whenever they find themselves in danger of being deceive, or being lured to follow another path. Whoever they were that hindered these believers, the apostle tells them that by hearkening to them they were kept from obeying the truth, and were thereby in danger of losing the benefit of what they had done in the faith.

The gospel which he had preached to them, and which they had embraced and professed, he assures them it was the truth; it was the only true way that justification, sancitification and salvation could be fully discovered.

In order to them to achieve full maturity and  enjoy the advantage of it, it was necessary that they should obey all the commandment of Torah, that they should firmly adhere to it, and continue to govern their lives and hopes according to the directions of Torah.

If therefore they should allow themselves to be drawn away from Torah, they will be guilty of the greatest weakness and folly.

[1.] The truth is not only to be believed, but to be obeyed, to be received not only in the light of it, but in the love and power of it.

[2.] Those who do not rightly obey the truth, who do not stedfastly adhere to it live in the realm of darkness or lies.

[3.] There is the same reason for them obeying the truth, that there was for our embracing it: and therefore those act very unreasonably who, when they have begun to run well on the road to maturity, they must never allow themselves to be hindered, so as not to achieve to the mark of the highest calling.

Gal 5:8 That persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. - He argues for their stedfastness in the faith and liberty of the New Covenant. That they were to be the carefull of that persuasion whereby they were drawn away from it: This persuasion, says he, cometh not of him that calleth you.

The opinion or persuasion of which the apostle here speaks was no doubt that of the necessity of their being circumcised in order to be saved. He when on to ilucidate that keeping the laws of Torah in its self is the definition of perfection, but it cannot save anyone. The perfection that the law required can only be achieve by having faith in Yahushua HaMashiach in the business of justification.

We are saved to do good works, and good work are obeying the commandment of the Kingdom of Heavens. Many socalled teacher used terms like the “Law of Moses” Moses never created any law, he wrote what the creator says he must write. How mant time in Torah it says “Ans YAHWEH spoke to Moses saying” then how come it is Moses Laws.

False Christian teachers uses this term when they do not want to obey the commandments, they called it the law of Moses. If it is the law of Moses then we are justified to break it. If it is the Word of the Creator Father YAHWEH, and HIS Words does not change, then we must obey it.

To convince them of their folly, Paul tells them that this doctrine did not come from him that called them, that is, either of YAHWEH, or by whose who were authority to teach the gospel.

It could not come from YAHWEH, or from one of the Mature Believers, for it was contrary to that way of justification and salvation which EL YAHWEH had established from the foundation of the world.

Nor could they have received it from Paul himself; for, whatever some might pretend, he had all along been an opposer of circumcision as a symbol to be saved. He would never pressed the use of it upon anyone, it must be a free choise, much less imposed it upon them as necessary to salvation.

Since then this Doctrin did not come from him who had called them, he leaves them to judge for them selves, and sufficiently intimates that it could be owing to none but Satan and his instruments of deception.

Who by this means were endeavouring to overthrow their faith and obstruct the progress of the gospel, and therefore that the Galatians had every reason to reject it, and to continue stedfast in the truth which they had before embraced.

1. In order for them to  judge between the different doctrine in religion which there are among Christians, it concerns us to enquire whether they come, that calleth us, whether or no they are founded upon the authority of Yahushua HaMashiach and his apostles.

2. If, upon enquiry, they appear to have no such foundation, then they should no submit to them, but reject them.

Gal 5:9 A little leaven leavens all the lump. – The danger of spreading of this infection, and the ill influence it might have upon others, are a further argument which the apostle urges against their complying with their false teachers in what they would impose on them.

If we notice that it was not that the flour was contaminated, but leaven was place in the flour. Even a small amount of leaven, a small wrong interpretation of scripture such as: “Moses law, judaizer, Jewish laws” cause one to have doubt on the validity of Torah.

It is possible that, to extenuate their fault, they might be ready to say that there were but few of those false or unenlighten teachers among them who endeavoured to draw them into this doctrine and practice.

Now, to obviate such pretences as these, and to convince them that there was more danger in it than they were aware of, he tells them that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump—that the leaven of Christianity have tainted and corrupted the journey to perfection; erroneous principles such as  “Trinity, Christmas, easter, good Friday, holy communion, the law was nail to the cross” when a christian tell you that the law was nail to the cross ask them which one of the law “Exodus 40:20 or Deut 31:26”, they will not be able to answer that question.

The whole lump of the Christian society was infected by these false teaching to the point that there are four majour flaw in the Christian Bible in Genesis 1:1.

Paul warned us that He were greatly concerned not to yield in this single instance, or, if any had done so, to endeavour by all proper methods to purge out the infection from among them.

It is dangerous for any assemble to encourage those among them who entertain, especially who set themselves to propagate, destructive errors. This was the case here. The doctrine which the false teachers were industrious to spread, and which some in these churches had been drawn into, was subversive to the assembly, as the apostle had before shown.

The only sure way to prevent this contamination is to ask for the Spirit of Understanding, Knowledge and Wisdom, when we listen or read the Torah. The Spirit will led us into all Truth. It is not the teaching of man that convince us, the convincing of man is always from the Evil-one.

A good Torah Teacher will always ask you to listen to him with the Spirit of Understanding and allow the Holy Spirit to convence you. Never listen to anyone who tell you that you must!

If these were indulged in the commandment of man, who will tell you to comply to certain Laws, even Though it is written in Torah, do not do it. A believer shoulc fulfilled the commandment out of love for our Messiyah, and not because we are told to.

Contagion will spread further and wider if we allow ourselves to be imposed upon by anyone. The liberty of the Gospel is for us to learn at our own pace, and not be push by any religious leader.

Gal 5:10 I trust in you, in the Master, that you shall have no other mind. And he who is troubling you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. - That he might conciliate the greater regard to what he had said, he expresses the hopes he had concerning them: I have confidence in you, says he, through YAHWEH, that you will be none otherwise minded.

Though he had many fears and doubts about them (which was the occasion of his using so much plainness and freedom with them), yet he hoped that through the blessing of YAHWEH upon what he had written they might be brought to be of the same mind with him, and to own and abide by that truth and that liberty of the gospel which he had preached to them, and was now endeavouring to confirm them in. Herein he teaches us that we ought to hope the best even of those concerning whom we have cause to fear the worst.

That they might be the less offended at the reproofs he had given them for their unstedfastness in the faith, he lays the blame of it more upon others than themselves; for he adds, But he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. He was sensible that there were some that troubled them, and would pervert the gospel of Messiyah (as ch. 1:7), and possibly he may point to some one particular man who was more busy and forward than others, and might be the chief instrument of the disorder that was among them; and to this he imputes their defection or inconstancy more than to any thing in themselves.

This may give us occasion to observe that, in reproving sin and error, we should always distinguish between the leaders and the led, such as set themselves to draw others thereinto and such as are drawn aside by them. Thus the apostle softens and alleviates the fault of these Christians, even while he is reproving them, that he might the better persuade them to return to, and stand fast in, the liberty wherewith Messiyah had made them free.

But as for him or those that troubled them, whoever he or they were, he declares they should bear their judgment, he did not doubt but YAHWEH would deal with them according to their deserts, and out of his just indignation against them, as enemies of Messiyah and His church, he wishes that they were even cut off—not cut off from Messiyah and all hopes of salvation by him, but cut off by the censures of the church, which ought to witness against those teachers who thus corrupted the purity of the gospel. Those, whether ministers or others, who set themselves to overthrow the faith of the gospel, and disturb the peace of Yosrael, do thereby forfeit the privileges of Messiyanic communion and deserve to be cut off from them.

Gal 5:11 And I, brothers, if I still proclaim circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling-block of the stake has been set aside. – If the message is circumcision like that done by those who placed it before growth or maturity, or before even the message of salvation itself, then why is Paul persecuted, since that would put him in accord with those who oervert the message? He is being percecuted for putting the Blood of Yahushua before circumcision.

To some who practice Judism the Stake “Cross” is a stumbling block, since they do not believe in Messiyah, therefore they do not have access to the abundant grace Messiyah died for. However, Paul himself believe in Scriptual Judism, to him, Justification initial salvation and the redeemtive walk is found only in Messiyah.

Gal 5:12 O that those who disturb you would even cut themselves off! – A little play on words. Paul wants them circumcised, or cut off from the assembly of the congregations of the Galatians.

Now if Paul and others could have given into this opinion, that circumcision was still to be retained, and the observance of the law of Moses joined with faith in Messiyah as necessary to salvation, then their offence against it would have been in a great measure removed. They might have avoided the sufferings they underwent for the sake of it.

Thus the apostle clears himself from the unjust reproach which his enemies had cast upon him, and at the same time shows how little regard was due to those men who could treat him in such an injurious manner, and how much reason he had to wish that they were even cut off.

Gal 5:13 For you, brothers, have been called to freedom, only do not use freedom as an occasion for the flesh, but through love serve one another. -  The end of the exil, or galut. This new freedom is to bring unity and harmony between Yisrael’s two house, as we serve each other in equality and truth, not as a new license to engage in the individual temporal pleasures of the flesh.

The new or better covenant is one base on love. The old covenant was base on obedience to the Law. In the old the law says You shal not steal, the new covenant is if You love me you will not steal.