Chukas

Parashas Chukas

Numbers 19:1 - 22:1

Please Pray this

Prayer, before reading

Prayer

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 Parasha

That the Truth of Torah may

Come forth. Amen

Chukas “Status” is the 39 Torah Portion, it begins with a detail description of the CREATOR’S rules for the Red Heifer ceremony needed to provide purification for those who have come in contact with a dead body.

This is the ordinance of the law “Zot chukat haTorah” which ABBA YAHWEH has command, saying “Speak to the Children of Yisrael that they bring you a red heifer without spot, wherein there is no blemish, and upon which never came a yok.”

The Torah Portion chukat refers to a concept called “Amatri achakmah vehi rechokah mimeni,” meaning that there is something very difficult to comprehend about the portion of Chukat.

When King Solomon said “all this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me,” he was actually speaking about the Portion of Chukat. This is a difficult portion to unpack its meaning. Zot chukat haTorah means this is something that you won’t be able to explain.

What then is this revelation that ABBA YAHWEH would share only with the likes of Moses? We know that it must include the essence of this Torah Portion which is the “para aduma,” the Red Heifer, which involve purification from “tum’at met,” the negative energy from a dead body. The other aspect of Chukat is Moses striking the rock.

The last Torah Potion Korach we learn about a rebellion against Moses, where he was accusation of some heinous crime against the Children of Yisrael. According to the Kabbilist, the secret ABBA YAHWEH revealed to Moses in this Torah Portion was due to the humiliation that Moses suffered as a result of Korach’s accusations.

On the Shabbat of Chukat, the ABBA YAHWEH gave to Moses “bila hamevet lanetzach,” the authority over death, the key to remove “tum’at met,” the negative energy that was neutralized by the sacrifice of the Red Heifer.

This great gift off Torah Portion Chukat was not a transmission of information, but of consciousness. The only difference between where we are today and bila hamavet lanetzach, the removal of our selfish ego is our consciousness.

On this Shabbat Moses got the consciousness of charity and certainty that death can be removed from him. We are told that no one knew where Moses was buried, Like Elijah the prophet he achieved spiritually maturity.

The commentators on the Torah tell us that the process of removal of tum’at met, the removal: of the energy of death, the selfish ego, does not only belong in the Torah Portion Chukat. This Portion focuses on what occurred in the fortieth years of the Yisraelites’ journey in the desert, whereas the revelation of the Red Heifer and the removal of tum’at met, took place in the  second years after the exodus.

So why is the discussion of the Red Heifer, chukat haTorah, revealed in Torah Portion Chukat. The answer is that Moses could not have received the high level spiritual maturity, had it not been for Korach.

This is why the story of Moses receiving “chukat haTorah” is where it is. Although this level of Maturity was describe by the CREATOR earlier in Torah, if it was not for the Korach in our lives and their contribution in diminishing the ego in our lives, perfection could not be achieved. Psalms 82:7 – 9, admonishes us to live like gods and not die like men. Human who reached this level of Maturity have no grave, “Elijah, Enoch, Messiyah, and Moses.”

The law of the Red Cow is described as the quintessential decree of the Torah, meaning that it is beyond human understanding. What then is the purpose of this commandment? The Torah states that it is a decree of the One who gave the Torah, and it is not for anyone to question why.

It is axiomatic, however, that since all of the laws of Torah are the product of the Kingdom of Heavens, any human inability to comprehend it indicates the limitation of the spirit of understanding in the student’s life.

There is nothing meaningless of purposeless in the Torah, and if it seems so, it is only a product of the reader inability to build their Menorah, or to develop spiritually. This chapter focuses primarily on one paradox in the laws of the Red Cow: its ashes purify believers who had become contaminated. It was regarding this aspect of its laws that King Solomon exclaimed, “I said I would be wise, but it is far from me” Ecc 7:23.

Following the same theme, this story illustrates  a number of such paradoxical cases of righteous people who descended from wicked parents, such as Abraham from Terach, Josiah from Ammon. As it is forbidden to drink blood in the Torah, but an infant may nurse from its mothers, whose blood supply the ingreadeance, the source of life for the child.

The underlying message of all this, as well as many other mysteries of the Torah, is that the Supreme Intelligence has granted man a huge treasury of spiritual wisdom and understanding Isaiah 11:2.

It is not the corpse that causes contamination or the ashes of the Cow that purify, it is our obedience to the principles of Torah. These laws are decrees of the King of the Universe, and man has no right to question them. In others word, an essential component of wisdom is the knowledge that man’s failure to understand truth does not make it untrue.

Contamination and purification, this chapter, seem to have no sequential or chronological relationship to the chapter before or after it. As to when the laws of the Red Cow were actually given, is not clear, what I do know that these principle was in existence from the foundation of the Kingdom of Heavens.

This law was given for the redeemed community to learn shortly after they left Egypt, but  the people were not yet commanded to carry them out, Exodus 15:25. On the first of Nissan, the second year after leaving Egypt, the day the Tabernacle was inaugurated, and the very next day, on the second of Nissan, Moses oversaw the burning of the first Red Cow. This month of Nissan was the start of the second year in the wilderness. This seems to imply that the purification process would not be implemented until the second years of our spiritual development, after we had learn what is right and what is wrong, from the Spirit of Truth.

The laws of the Tabernacle and the Kohanim, which began in Levitius, we concluded in the chapter 18 with a list of priestly gifts. Therefore,  the laws of the Red Cow belong here, for knowledge of the way to remove contamination was necessary for the individual to keep their own personal Tabernacle clean.

Maintaining the spiritual integrity of our Tabernacle is an exercise in wisdom and understands, which is the developing of the first two branches of the Menorah in our lives, or otherwise called the second day of Creation, where we learn to separate the water under the Heavens from the water above the Heavens.

Num 19:1  And יהוה spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying  -  Symbolically the Red Cow came to atone for the sin of the golden Calf, as if to say let the mother come and clean up the mess left by the child.

Red represents blood, without the shedding of blood there can be no atonement. Therefore, the Red Cow atones for the sin of the Golden Calf. This is a picture of our Master and Savor Yahushua our Messiyah, who died for the curse of our sins. He bore not yoke of bondage, for He was sinless. While Yahushua was never burnt, this Red  Cow was. However, this burning represents the removal of all sin from us, never to be seen again.

The sin of the Golden Calf is in the DNA of every believer, as the sin of Adam and Eve is still in the lives of every human. The ritual involves the use of cedar wood, hyssop, and a thread dyed with the blood of a worm, a combination that signifies atonement and repentance. A sinner has been haughty like a lofty cedar tree, and  in order to gain atonement he must humble himself as a blade of hyssop grass and a lowly worm. Just as the sin of the Golden Calf has never been completely forgiven, the ash of the  Red Cow was preserved for that purpose.

Num 19:2 “This is a law of the Torah which יהוה has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, that they bring you a red heifer, a perfect one, in which there is no blemish and on which a yoke has never come. – A believer in their second day of creation is still a child spiritually, therefore the term speak to the children of Yisrael is indicative of those who are still immature spiritually. Since the verse specifies that the cow must be blemish free, it is alluding to out Messiyah, the One who is without sin.

Num 19:3 ‘And you shall give it to Elʽazar the priest, and he shall bring it outside the camp, and shall slaughter it before him. – This Red Cow had to be burned by the Deputy Kohen Gadol. It was to be burn in the Wilderness, the service had to be performed outside the Camp, as Yahushua was crucified outside of Yerushalayim on a hill called Calvery.  The Red Heifer proclaim the provision of YAHWEH would be sacrifice outside the camp, Messiyah Yahushua blood would not be upon the Altar, He would die for the unfaithful bride, and He would be defile to make us clean.

Num 19:4 ‘And Elʽazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting. – After the Slaughter, and we know that Yahushua was not slaughter, He gave up His life willingly. Which had to be done by the  Elazar, he would perform the blood service. Standing to the east of the Tabernacle, or the Temple, so that he could see the entrance, he received the blood in a vessel and threw it in the direction of the Tabernacle. We also knew that Yahushua did this ritual when He atones for our sins.

Num 19:5 ‘And the heifer shall be burned before his eyes – he burns its hide, and its flesh, and its blood, and its dung. – Our Messiyah, which this Red Heifer represent was never burn, nor was any of His body damage or broken, yet the  ash was used for generation to atone for their decontamination. Ash like the sacrifice that Yahushua did for us will never out-live its usefulness. He dies for our sins almost two Thousand years ago, yet, His Blood is just as effective as if it was shed yesterday.

The whole burn offering speaker of Messiyah commitment as a High Priest between Heaven and earth. This system is to establish a dialog and not a monology for us to overcome our sinful nature.

 

Num 19:6 ‘And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and throw them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer. – Fire is a purifier, by placing all the ingredients into the fire, the end result will be a pure individual. Gold is made pure by going through the firry kilt seven times, just like the Blood is sprinkle towards that Tabernacle seven times in verse 4. When we bring our offering, we are showing that we have faith in ABBA YAHWEH provision for us to draw near, and also that we desire to draw near to ABBA YAHWEH. Every Altar is a proclamation that we are will, we have faith or desire to draw near to the CREATOR. We desire intimate communication with the Holy One. 

Num 19:7 ‘The priest shall then wash his garments, and shall bathe his body in water, and afterward come into the camp, but the priest is unclean until evening. – This verse describe the action of our earthly high priest, however, our Heavenly High Priest El Yahushua, who never sinned, He has no need for any atonement. He is constantly in a state of perpetual Holiness.

Num 19:8 ‘And he who is burning it washes his garments in water, and shall bathe his body in water, and is unclean until evening. -  The Kohen must immerse himself and his garments, and the contamination leaves them by nightfall.

Num 19:9 ‘And a clean man shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and shall place them outside the camp in a clean place. And they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl for the water for uncleanness, it is for cleansing from sin. – The ash were divided into three par: 1 part was stored on the Mount of Olive for future use: either to purify the Kohen performing the service in the future, or to mix with the ash of future Red Cow; 2 another part was divided among the twenty four divisions of the Kohanim, for the use in purifying the people; and 3 part was kept in the chail, an area next to the wall of the courtyard, for safekeeping, as required by this verse. It was to be in the hand of a mature believer, someone who would know how to use it properly.

 

Num 19:10 ‘And he who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his garments, and is unclean until evening. And it shall be a law forever to the children of Yisra’ĕl and to the stranger who sojourns in their midst. -  The one who were to apply the ashes, when he goes to gather, he should gather it in the day, then he should go and sanctified himself before he attempted to apply the principle of the ash to the individual. Meaning that not anyone can apply the purification of the ash.

The Torah used the Hebrew word chatas, which usually refers to a sin offering, to indicate that it is forbidden to use the ashes for personal benefit, as if they were an offering, and if one does, he must bring an offering and make restitution, as in Leviticus 5:14-16.

Num 19:11 ‘He who touches the dead of any human being is unclean for seven days. – in this verse we see an example of those things which contaminates the individual, a dead body. This would indicate any dead body.

Num 19:12 ‘He is to cleanse himself with the water on the third day, and on the seventh day he is clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day, then on the seventh day he is not clean. -  The purification must be carried out with the ashes of the Red Cow, according to the procedure outlined in the following verses.

Num 19:13 ‘Anyone who touches the dead of a human being, and does not cleanse himself, defiles the Dwelling Place of יהוה. And that being shall be cut off from Yisra’ĕl. He is unclean, for the water for uncleanness was not sprinkled on him, his uncleanness is still upon him. – If anyone becomes contaminated through a dead human and neglected to purify himself with the ashes of the Red Cow, even though he immersed himself with, he remain in his state of contamination. Consequently, if he intentionally enters the Sanctuary or Courtyard, he is subjected to the Heavenly punishment of kares, meaning that his soul is cut off from the Hebrew people. 

Num 19:14 ‘This is the Torah when a man dies in a tent: All who come into the tent and all who are in the tent are unclean for seven days -  This verse teaches the principle of contamination under a tent, or any other sort of building. Therefore, if a dead body is in one room of a house or under a tree, any person, or vessel that is anywhere in the house of general area becomes contaminated.

When a dead body is carried into a church is a definitely no, no. Church who makes it a practice to bring a dead body in the vicinity of a church also fined themselves violating this same principle of Torah.

Num 19:15 and every open vessel which has no cover fastened on it, is unclean. – Anyone who has an open mind, but do not believe in Messiyah is unclean or unsaved. That is why when we are admonish to have an open mind, we must be careful. Our mind must be open to the influence of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Understanding, the Spirit of Knowledge and the Spirit of Wisdom.

Num 19:16 ‘Anyone in the open field who touches someone slain by a sword or who has died, or a bone of a man, or a grave, is unclean for seven days. – In the open field where there is no roof over the body, contamination is conveyed only by actual touching the dead body or the grave site.

Verse 17 – 20, the Torah gives the process of purification. First fresh water from a spring or river is put into a vessel, the Ash is poured into it and they are mixed together.

If the tent is made of materials that can become defiled, it must be purified. Building that are anchored to the ground do not become contaminated.

A pure person should apply the ash water upon the contaminated person or vessels on the third and seventh day, after which the person and vessels are immersed in a Mikveh to conclude the purification process. Verse 20 repeated the law of verse 13 that one who enters the Sanctuary while contaminated is liable to keres.

  

Num 19:17 ‘And for the unclean Person they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for cleansing from sin, and running water shall be put on them in a vessel. - How the ashes were to be used and applied in these cases. A small quantity of the ashes must be put into a cup of spring water, and mixed with the water, which thereby was made, as it is here called, a water of separation, because it was to be sprinkled on those who were separated or removed from the sanctuary by their uncleanness.

As the ashes of the heifer signified the merit of Messiyah, so the running water signified the power of the Word, who is compared to rivers of living water; and it is by His operation that the righteousness of Yahushua HaMashiach is applied to us for our cleansing. Hence, we are said to be washed, that is, sanctified and justified, not only in the name of Yahushua, but by the Spirit of YAHWEH, 1 Co. 6:11; 1 Pt. 1:2.

This is the same as the Blood and the Water that flows from the side of Yahushua Messiyah. It is for our ritual cleansing from ritual contamination. 

Num 19:18 ‘And a clean man shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and shall sprinkle it on the tent, and on all the vessels, and on the beings who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, or the slain, or the dead, or a grave. - Those that required deliverance by the Blood and the Water, must submit themselves to the righteousness of the Word, before they can benefit by the righteousness of Messiyah, while they submit not to the grace and influence of the Spirit, do but deceive themselves, for we cannot put asunder what YAHWEH has joined, nor be purified by the ashes otherwise than in the running water. It is the word that break up the rocky area of our lives, as it is the water of the Red Sea that destroy the Pharaoh armies in our lives.

The red cow is a portable red sea; it carries the same spiritual effect. As believers we may get delivered once from our demonic influences, yet we are in constant need of sanctification. Our first visit to the Laver is for freedom from demonic influence. As believers we need to have our hands and feet constantly wash by the water that flow from Messiyah side.

Remember what Yahushua said to Peter, when he refused to have Him wash his feet. Yahushua said you cannot be my disciples if I do not wash your feet. Peter said to Him wash my whole body Master, and Yahushua a man who is clean, who is already set free by water baptism, only need to have their hand their works, their feet their walk washed in the Water that flows from Messiyah Side “Red Cow.”

This water must be applied by a bunch of hyssop dipped in it, with which the person or thing to be cleansed must be sprinkled, in allusion to which David prays, Purge me with hyssop. Faith is the bunch of hyssop wherewith the conscience is sprinkled and the heart purified.

Many might be sprinkled at once, and the water with which the ashes were mingled might serve for many sprinklings, till it was all spent; and a very little lighting upon a man served to purify him, if done with that intention.

In allusion to this application of the water of separation by sprinkling, the blood of Yahushua is said to be the blood of sprinkling (Heb. 12:24), and with it were are said to be sprinkled from an evil conscience (Heb. 10:22), that is, we are freed from the uneasiness that arises from a sense of our guilt. And it is foretold that Messiyah, by the Blood and Water that flow from His side, shall sprinkle many nations, Isa. 52:15.  

The application is the blood and the water to our lives situations is the sprinkling, any characteristic trait that may cause us to become unclean, we must be washed in the Water that flows from the side of Yahushua.

Num 19:19 ‘And the clean one shall sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day. And on the seventh day he shall cleanse himself, and shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and shall be clean in the evening. - The unclean person must be sprinkled with this water on the third day after his pollution, and on the seventh day, verse 12–19. The days were reckoned (we may suppose) from the last time of his touching or coming near the dead body; for he would not begin the days of his cleansing while he was still under a necessity of repeating the pollution; but when the dead body was buried, so that there was no further occasion of meddling with it, then he began to count his days.

Then, and then only, we may with comfort apply Messiyah’s merit to our souls, when we have forsaken sin, and cease all fellowship with the unfruitful works of death and darkness. The repetition of the sprinkling teaches us often to renew the acting’s of repentance and faith, wash as Naaman, seven times; we need to do that often which is so necessary to be well done. 

Num 19:20 ‘But the man who is unclean and does not cleanse himself, that being shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the set-apart place of יהוה – water for uncleanness has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean. - Though the pollution contracted was only ceremonial, yet the neglect of the purification prescribed would turn into moral guilt: He that shall be unclean and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off.

It is a dangerous thing to contemn divine institutions, Though they may seem minute. A slight wound, if neglected, may prove fatal; a sin we call little, if not repented of, will be our ruin, when great sinners that repent shall find mercy. Our uncleanness separates us from YAHWEH, but it is our being unclean and not purifying ourselves that will separate us forever from him: it is not the wound that is fatal, so much as the contempt for the remedy. 

Num 19:21 ‘And it shall be a law for them forever. And the one who sprinkles the water for uncleanness washes his garments. And the one who touches the water for uncleanness is unclean until evening. -   The one who sprinkles, this cannot refers to the one who throw the water to purify a contaminated person, because verse 18 implies that even after sprinkling the water on the tent, the person goes on to sprinkle it on the vessels and people; clearly, if he were to have become contaminated, he would be disqualified from further service.

When Yahushua our Messiyah was on the Cross, darkness fell for three hours, this was a sign of Him bearing our sins, and He became contaminated for our purposes, causing Our Father Eyes to close for three hours. He could not look upon His Favorite Son who became contaminated, as He sprinkled us with the Blood and Water from His Side, which is an example of the cleansing water of the Red Cow.

Num 19:22 ‘And whatever the unclean being touches is unclean. And the being who touches it is unclean until evening.’  -  This verse refers back to a person who touches a corpse, and it reveals that his degree of contamination is so severe that he can pass on the contamination to another human. The second person, however, does not require the same seven-day process describe above. He need only immerse himself in water, and then remains contaminated until the evening. Any person who touches a unclean person becomes unclean until evening when they wash in the Water that flows from the Side of El Yahushua.