B’har
On the mount
Leviticus 25:1-26:2
Jeremiah 32:6-27
B’chuqotai
By My Regulations
“Double-Edged Sevens”
Leviticus 26:3-27:34
Jeremiah 16:19-17:24
excerpted from TorahScope, Volume II
This week’s Torah study combines the last two portions of Leviticus, B’har (Leviticus 25:1-26:2) and B’chuqotai (Leviticus 26:3-27:34). Leviticus 26:18 summarizes the basic principle of retribution, or reaping what one sows, which the Lord is often attempting to communicate to each man and woman—especially those committed to faithfully following Him:
“If you in spite of these things will not listen to me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins” (Leviticus 26:18, WMB).
The simple if/then proposition we see, is something which must be readily grasped by each of us, without necessarily having to understand all of the profound mysteries of God’s universe. If you obey God’s instructions, then you will be blessed—but if you disobey, then you will be cursed (or, at least penalized to some degree). One does not need a great amount of formal training in the Scriptures, to comprehend the basic formula of choosing life over death, or pleasantness over adversity!
In reading through our dual Torah portion, I believe that a slightly deeper level of understanding is introduced and amplified for students, when a pattern of sevens is repeated several times in the text. Such a “seven pattern” can be applied in a series of curses upon those who disobey Him:
- “If you in spite of these things will not listen to me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins” (Leviticus 26:18, WMB).
- “If you walk contrary to me, and won’t listen to me, then I will bring seven times more plagues on you according to your sins” (Leviticus 26:21, WMB).
- “then I will also walk contrary to you; and I will strike you, even I, seven times for your sins” (Leviticus 26:24, WMB).
- “then I will walk contrary to you in wrath. I will also chastise you seven times for your sins” (Leviticus 26:28, WMB).
The fourfold repetition of the statement “seven times for your sins,” as the penalties for disobedience intensify, has profound significance for those of us who eagerly want to obey the Lord and be recipients of His blessings. If you have been paying careful attention to the Torah portions from Genesis to here in Leviticus, the call upon God’s people is to be a holy nation and kingdom of priests, who have been commissioned to bring His light to the world. In Leviticus ch. 26 we discover that the pattern of seven is like a sword with a double-edge, seeking to pierce the heart in order to separate the holy from the profane, or the clean from the unclean. As Hebrews 4:12 tells us,
“For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12, WMB).
If you take a look at the wider context of what the author of Hebrews wrote, you find that he was describing the profound privilege which children of God have to enter into His rest. Interestingly, it is from Psalm 95 that he largely drew his inspiration from, to exhort his audience to obey the Lord and not give up on Messiah Yeshua:
“Let’s fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, even as they also did, but the word they heard didn’t profit them, because it wasn’t mixed with faith by those who heard. For we who have believed do enter into that rest, even as he has said, ‘As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter into my rest’ [Psalm 95:11]; although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has said this somewhere about the seventh day, ‘God rested on the seventh day from all his works’ [Genesis 2:2]; and in this place again, ‘They will not enter into my rest’ [Psalm 95:11]. Seeing therefore it remains that some should enter into it, and they to whom the good news was preached before failed to enter in because of disobedience, he again defines a certain day, ‘today’, saying through David so long a time afterward (just as has been said), ‘Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts’ [Psalm 95:7-8]. For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterward of another day. There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For he who has entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. Let’s therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. Having then a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Yeshua, the Son of God, let’s hold tightly to our confession. For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. Let’s therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace for help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:1-16, WMB).
The righteousness of God requires Him to follow His own Instruction for the created order with fidelity. Unfortunately, we find that many of the warnings issued by Moses, to Ancient Israel in Leviticus 26, were administered down through the ages. Within the Tanakh (OT), we see many scenes of how Ancient Israel rebelled against the Lord, committed idolatry, aligned themselves with foreign nations opposed to Him, suffered military defeats, and even experienced exile to strange lands.
Even though the Father patiently loves each and every one of His people, showering them with His lovingkindness and mercy, He is often compelled to execute His judgment in order to drive us back into His loving arms. He intensifies the punishment phases, in an attempt to turn His people back to Him. As you read the accelerating chastisements seen in this Torah portion, you will see that once the disobedient Israelites were scattered to the nations, that the Holy Land would finally enjoy its Sabbath rest:
“I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you. Your land will be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste. Then the land will enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land. Even then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, even the rest which it didn’t have in your Sabbaths when you lived on it” (Leviticus 26:33-35, WMB).
As you can read, God is very concerned about the Promised Land. Because He created Planet Earth, He knows that the very elements He designed require a level of rest in order to function efficiently. Here, we see how the Creator must fulfill His promises, but also His intimate concern for the Land promised to the Patriarchs. Now if you can imagine how much the Holy One cherishes His commitment to that “dirt” located in the Middle East, can you fathom how much He loves us, who are formed from “dirt” (cf. Genesis 2:7)? The challenge individuals face, is that unlike dirt which forms dry land, when God took those same elements and fashioned human beings, He made them in His image and likeness:
“God said, ‘Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:26-27, WMB).
Ironically, this is where the problem emanates, because human beings have been given a free will to choose what they want to do. Unlike the dust of the ground—or even the animals at large—we have been endowed with a mind, emotions, and reasoning abilities. We do not just act “on instinct.” The Creator has gifted men and women with the capacity to do and accomplish much. Just consider the mandate which came forth as the Lord uttered His first command to Adam:
“God blessed them. God said to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’ God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;’ and it was so” (Genesis 1:28-30, WMB).
From the very beginning of Creation, humanity was given the command to bear seed through reproduction, in order to fill the Earth and take dominion over it. Rule was given to the human race over all the other creatures. Humanity’s challenge was dealing with these awesome responsibilities first in the Garden of Eden, but then through the sin of Adam, outside of such a paradise in a rather hostile and unprotected environment. As a result of disobedience to later instructions, the presence of obstacles outside the Garden now were able to enact various afflictions upon the man and woman, and their offspring, turning people back toward Him:
“To Adam he said, ‘Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and have eaten from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying, “You shall not eat of it,” the ground is cursed for your sake. You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life. It will yield thorns and thistles to you; and you will eat the herb of the field. You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust’” (Genesis 3:17-19, WMB).
We all know the story too well, and can attest to the introduction of challenges and problems which ensue from the various “thorns and thistles” of life. However, the principles are absolute. By the time Moses received further instructions, the Holy One attempted to give His people an advantage over those who were simply trying to understand the Creation and their relationship to it through empirical observation.
As witnessed in Holy Scripture, God’s people have a great advantage, but it comes with an equally great responsibility—because once you read and comprehend what is being stated—you then become accountable to God’s Word. Whether it was Moses declaring it in the desert, or Jeremiah reiterating it many generations later regarding the seventy years of exile which would allow the Land to have its rest (Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10; cf. 2 Chronicles 36:21), or even Yeshua amplifying these principles in His teachings—the fact of the matter is that the pattern of sevens, quite often, can either be a blessing or a curse.
Consider, for example, the simple teaching Yeshua gave to His Disciples regarding the spiritual warfare which has enveloped the fallen world:
“When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest, and doesn’t find it. Then he says, ‘I will return into my house from which I came;’ and when he has come back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation’” (Matthew 12:43-45, WMB).
When you read the wider context of where these statements were made, you will discover that Yeshua was explaining the finer points regarding the Sabbath to some of His critics (Matthew 12:1-13). In fact, Yeshua made the provoking statement that He was the Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8), while describing why it was permissible to do good on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:12). In Matthew 12, Yeshua made some poignant quotations from the Prophet Isaiah (Matthew 12:17-21), which pointed to His redemptive work:
“‘Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout, nor raise his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street. He won’t break a bruised reed. He won’t quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice. He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice in the earth, and the islands wait for his law.’ God the LORD, he who created the heavens and stretched them out, he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it, says: ‘I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness. I will hold your hand. I will keep you, and make you a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations, to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison. I am the LORD. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to engraved images. Behold, the former things have happened and I declare new things. I tell you about them before they come up’” (Isaiah 42:1-9, WMB).
As you can read, Israel has been chosen to be a light to the nations (Heb. l’or goyim). All of those who compose the Commonwealth of Israel (Ephesians 2:11-13), Jewish and non-Jewish alike, have the responsibility of pointing people to the One True God, by demonstrating an earnest obedience to Him and thus being blessed by Him. But this can only happen by us being one with Him who is the epitome of Israel—the Messiah Yeshua—the quintessential Israelite.
In Matthew 12, a demon-possessed man confronted Yeshua, and some condemning Pharisees (possibly of the stricter School of Shammai) said that He was operating via the power of Beelzebul or Satan (Matthew 12:22-37). After Yeshua explained the difference between casting out demons by Beelzebul versus the Spirit of the God, He then explained what is often referred to as the unpardonable sin. This is when a person denies or blasphemes the Ruach HaKodesh or Holy Spirit, which must be indwelling His followers if they are to truly have salvation. Those who claimed that the Messiah operated via the power of Satan were blaspheming the work of God, and so Yeshua made a profound statement about the accountability for the very words one utters:
“I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37, WMB).
It is not just a matter of doing something against the Torah which will merit condemnation; Yeshua the Messiah raised the threshold for disobedience. One will be held accountable for making careless statements, without understanding the foolishness of speaking from fleshly inclinations. This is why James, the half-brother of Yeshua, admonished Believers to be slow to speak:
“So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:19-21, WMB).
More important for us to not overlook from the scene of Matthew ch. 12, though, is how Yeshua directed those delivered from demons—that they could have seven more demons come back—if sinful behavior was not rectified and corrected:
“When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest, and doesn’t find it. Then he says, ‘I will return into my house from which I came;’ and when he has come back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation” (Matthew 12:43-45, WMB).
What is it that the Lord may specifically be trying to say to us? If we are set free from a demonic influence or stronghold, we must ask our Heavenly Father to fill up the void left empty with His presence! Our nature in Adam is fallen, and as humans our propensity is to think and speak things which will probably judge us. Perhaps if we decrease, He might increase. Yeshua the Messiah is looking to spend eternity with us, and He wants us to receive all of the rewards we can in His Kingdom! Notice how in Matthew ch. 12 He was asked about His mother and brothers, and He said that those who obeyed His Father may be considered part of His family:
“One said to him, ‘Behold, your mother and your brothers stand outside, seeking to speak to you.’ But he answered him who spoke to him, ‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’ He stretched out his hand toward his disciples, and said, ‘Behold, my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother’” (Matthew 12:47-50, WMB).
Do you want to spend eternity with Yeshua? Perform and accomplish the will of our Father in Heaven. Follow the instruction manual He has given us. Do the best that you can do, to follow the directions He has given us in order to receive His blessings. Pray for the Lord to send you His Holy Spirit, and be empowered to accomplish good works. Make sure that you are born again!
We are each created in the image and likeness of God. Think about how you are as a parent and how you interact with your children. Have you ever asked a son to do the weekly task of taking out the garbage, or a daughter to empty out the dishwasher for her mother? Can you relate to the joy you receive when your son or daughter has actually performed these tasks on their own initiative? Our Heavenly Father is the same way. When He looks down from Heaven and sees us obeying Him, He smiles down upon us and is able to bless us.
I believe that as we search the Scriptures and understand more about His Word, we will find that everything we know for a joyful and fulfilled life is embodied in it. We should be renewed every day to do the good works He requires of us, which in turn will testify of who He is to the sinful world in which we live. If we do not obey the Lord, then the double-edged sword of His Word will have its way—whether we like it or not!