Leviticus 26–27: How Yeshua the Tabernacle made flesh steers us away from a cursed life

When we’ve finally had enough of the “house of bondage” that’s kept us doing doughnuts in the parking lot of life, the Creator of Heaven and Earth shows us the way out. Just as Pesakh (Passover) and Shavuot (Pentecost) are annual reminders of that journey to freedom and how we get to know the One Who delivered us, adopted us and gives us new meaning, so too, the Heavenly pattern of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) helps orient us toward our ever-present Source of help in our midst.

The Torah reading בְּחֻקֹּתַי Bekhuqotai/Bechukotai(“in My statutes,” Lev. 26:3–27:45) takes us to the end of Vayiqra (Leviticus). It is a journey rich in detailed symbolism about the real passage we all make from who we were to who we become when our slip-ups, bad choices and rebellion are forgiven on the way into the presence of the LORD.

In the closing chapters of Vayiqra, we encounter blessings for following the LORD’s instruction, curses for disregarding them and redemption for realizing the mistake for such rejection. We also see why God wants us to take our promises to Heaven serious, because Heaven has made big promises about our past, present and future, and sealing those promises with the life of the Son of God and the gift of the Spirit.

Leviticus 26: Bless me! Curse me? Redeem me!

The heart of the matter in the blessings and curses is diving into, guarding and living out God’s instructions (Lev. 26:3).

הָלַךְ halakh (H1980) = to walk, go

Derived from הָלַךְ is הֲלָכָה halakhah, which means “going [on the way],” i.e., teaching or way of life. Two passages from Devarim (Deuteronomy) help emphasize what is meant by this way of “walking”:

• • • Deut. 6:4–9 (beginning of the Shema)
      • Teach them to your children.
      • Talk of them throughout the day.
      • Make them the center of your thoughts and actions.
      • Make them what your home is known for by those who live there and by visitors.
    • Deut. 5:1 (Shema for the Ten Commandments redux)
      • שמע shema = listen carefully
      • לָמַד lamad (H3925) = learn
      • שָׁמַר shamar (H8104) = observe, guard
      • עָשָׂה ʿasah (H6213a) = do carefully

Lesson: The LORD’s instructions aren’t just for study. They’re to become how we think, respond and live.

שָׁמַר shamar (H8104) = keep, guard, observe, give heed¹

Usage of שָׁמַר includes “tending to things such as a garden (Gen 2:15), a flock (30:31), a house (2Sam. 15:16) … ‘my brother’s keeper’ (Gen. 4:9).”²

Derived from שָׁמַר is שְׁמֻרָה shemurah, translated as eyelid. Yeshua used similar watchfulness language in chastising His students for not staying alert, rousing themselves from sleepiness, when He was anguishing in prayer over going forward with His mission (Matt. 26:36–45).

Lesson: Guard the LORD’s instructions, because your life depends on them.

These blessings and curses mirror the 14 verses of blessing and 54 verses of cursing in Deuteronomy 28.² Israel had two witnesses over two generations for the way up toward the Kingdom of Heaven and the way down to exile.

These are national blessings and curses. Leadership contributes to direction toward or away from God. Political and civic leaders, often called “shepherds” by the prophets, largely are a reflection of the leadership in homes and social groups, namely congregations of believers. Leaders who aren’t “present” or “with it” in seeking knowledge, wisdom and understanding may watch as their “flocks” — families, congregants, constituents — drift toward popular trends that lack wisdom and understanding.

God speaks through challenging yet spiritually understandable means to encourage seekers to seek further:

“He said, ‘Go, and tell this people: “Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ 10 “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.” ’ ” (Isa. 6:9–10)

Yeshua quoted from this passage in explaining why He taught in parables (Matt. 13:11–15).

Curse 1: Sickness, crop failure and warfare (Lev. 26:14–17)

Does this mean that every calamity comes from God? No, the innocent of a land under God’s blessing can suffer from curses of correction along with the rebellious.

The prophet Daniel suffered exile in Babylon and Medo-Persia, praying for forgiveness, although he wasn’t responsible for the judgment.

His example shows that we should take the opportunity to reflect on our problems to see God’s provision or wandering from God’s ways on a personal or group level.

Example: Our body is broken by trauma or sickness. How much more was Yeshua’s body broken to take what was due us, though He did nothing to deserve it (1Cor. 11:27–32).

Curse 2: Drought and destruction of the House of God (Lev. 26:18–20)

Ancient sage Rashi connected “I will break the pride of your power” (Lev. 26:19) with the Temple. This interpretation is supported by the use of the phrase “pride of your power” in Ezek. 24:21.

“ ‘Behold, I am about to profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes and the delight of your soul ….’ ” (Ezek. 24:21)

The leaders were relishing in the ambiance of the House of God but neglecting respect for the teachings of the One Who would be present there.

Lesson: Are we paying “lip service” to God, our families, our employers or our friends? What message does that send about the One we represent?

Curse 3: Wild beasts unleashed sevenfold (Lev. 26:21–22)

Here’s the heart of the matter:

“‘If then, you act with hostility [קֶרִי qeri, H7147] against Me and are unwilling to obey [שָׁמַע shamaʿ, H8085] Me’…” (Lev. 26:21)

Sages had a lot to say about this verse, connecting it to a deep problem that ran through Israel’s history:

Rashi: “Our Sages take the word קֶרִי keri from its relationship with the verb kara, ‘to happen, occur”: ‘If you walk occasionally with Me’—if you follow the commandments every now and again.”³

Rashbam: “Here is the correct explanation. ‘If you walk with Me only by chance’ and not regularly—like a man who cannot be relied on to follow the ways of his Creator. It is like Balaam saying to Balak, ‘Stay here beside your offerings, while I seek to happen upon [the LORD] yonder’ (Num. 23:15).”⁴

Ibn Ezra: “… as when the Philistines put the Ark on a wagon and turn the cows loose to see where it will go: ‘If it goes up the road to Beth-shemesh, to His own territory, it was He who has inflicted this great harm on us. But if not, we shall know that it was not His hand that struck us; it just happened to us by chance’ (1Sam. 6:9).”⁵

Our ancestors in faith treated the LORD and His instructions with indifference, so He treated certain generations with indifference. The goal was turning the hearts of the people and their descendants from stone to flesh (promise of the New Covenant, Jer. 31:31–34) and restoring favor.

Lesson: The Ten Commandments are reminders to respect our vertical relationship with our creators (parents and the Creator) and our horizontal relationships with the people around us.⁶ Love via the Golden Rule (Lev. 19:18; ) (and Hillel’s version, “what you don’t want to happen to you, don’t do to others”) have power after we learn respect for ourselves and other people.

Curse 4: Siege (Lev. 26:23–26)

“… I will intensify the famine among you and break the staff of bread.” (Ezek. 5:16)

Curse 5: Starvation and desolation (Lev. 26:27–32)

Prophet Yemeriyahu wrote about the famine before Babylon besieged Yerushalayim and started exiles between 605–581 BC.

“Should women eat their offspring, the little ones who were born healthy?” (Lam. 2:20)

Curse 6: Exile (Lev. 26:33–39)

Here’s the completion of the matter: repentance, redemption and return (Lev. 26:40–45).

And here’s the good news: Though our world veered away from God by the choice of the first two people, Yeshua became our leader toward God and toward life, to all who would choose it (Rom. 5:15–21).

Lesson: God’s nation of priests (Ex. 19:5–6; 1Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6; 5:9–10) are called to be pure and wholly devoted to modeling God’s better way, because we are part of of God’s rescue message to the planet.

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2Cor. 5:20–21)

Weren’t the Law and the curses of the Law nailed to the cross with Yeshua?

Aren’t we “redeemed from the curse of the Law” (Galatians 3:11–14)?

“On closer examination, it becomes obvious that ‘the curse of the law’ spoken of in Galatians 3:13 is not the curses for disobedience listed out in Leviticus 26 or Deuteronomy 28. Instead, the ultimate curse of the law is death—not mortal death—but eternal separation from God.” [^6]

With Yeshua, wasn’t the Torah “nailed to the cross” (Col. 2:13–14)?

“The ‘certificate of debt’ (Colossians 2:14), which has been taken out of the way and nailed to the cross, is a list of sins. The Messiah took upon Himself condemnation (i.e., death) for those sins when He became ‘a curse for us’ (Galatians 3:13).” [^7]

That’s why there is now no condemnation for those whose past is covered by Yeshua and whose present is transformed by the Spirit (Romans 8).

Leviticus 27: Vowing to remain a nation of priests

Types of promises (vows and oaths)⁷

• נֶדֶר neder (H5088) = verbally setting apart a service, abstention (Nazirite vow) or qorban (offering)
• אָלָה alah = the general uttering of oaths and curses as part of that larger catagory (cf. קָלַלqalal)
• אָסַר asar = be bound or joined to or in (cf.אֱסָר/אִסָּרissar, “bond,” Num. 30:2)
• חרם kherem = to devote something to destruction
• שָׁבַע shavah = make a statement or a promise” (with an oath invoking God and pledging something valuable)

“When a man makes a difficult vow” (Leviticus 27:2)

makes a difficult vow = יַפְלִא נֶדֶר  yap̱liʾ neḏer

The root verb פָּלָא palaʾ (H6381) means to be marvelous. “(T)he thrust of פָּלָא is ‘to be beyond one’s capabilities,’ and hence, unsolvable or inaccessible, and such are God’s mighty and wonderful acts.”[^10]

• “Is there anything ‘too hard’ for the LORD?” (Gen. 18:14)
• “If a case comes before you which is ‘too difficult’ for you” (Deut. 17:8)
• “This commandment is not ‘too difficult’ for you” (Deut. 30:11)
  Why make it?

“It is difficult to understand this section fully because we know so little about the details of dedicating things to the Lord in ancient Israel (cf. Exod 34:19-20; Deut 23:21-23). The chapter discusses dedicated persons, clean animals, unclean animals, houses, and lands. Firstborn animals cannot be dedicated because they belong to the Lord already.”⁸

“ ‘The first offspring from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the first offspring from cattle and sheep. You shall redeem with a lamb the first offspring from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. None shall appear before Me empty-handed.’ ” (Exodus 34:19–20 NASB)

First-born male cattle and sheep must be dedicated to the LORD. First-born boys and first-born donkeys must be redeemed. You can’t keep the donkey without offering the lamb.

Lesson: Coming into the LORD’s presence is costly.

“ ‘When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the LORD your God will surely require it of you. However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you. You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God, what you have promised.’ ” (Deut. 23:21–23 NASB)

Vows and oaths are promises, the first underscored by the thing given and the latter by the authority invoked to seal it. The value of the vow underscores the desire to get closer to the LORD. So, it’s better to consider the cost of the vow and make it wisely, than to make it and then have to pay a larger amount to redeem it.

Oaths underscore the veracity of the promise by the authority “co-signing” the oath.

Yeshua warned against foolish vows and oaths.

“ ‘Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the LORD.’ But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be, “Yes, yes” or “No, no”; anything beyond these is of evil.’ ” (Matthew 5:33–37 NASB)

“And you shall not swear by my name in an unjust matter, and you shall not profane the name of your God; it is I who am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:12 New English Translation of the Septuagint)

The LORD is the one with authority over us, not the other way around.

Lesson: Don’t destroy the perception of Heaven’s authority by invoking it for what Heaven knows is not true.

Details on vows in Leviticus 27:

Valuation of people (Lev. 27:2)

Arachin, or valuations, for “difficult vow”⁹

Ages	Valuation of males	Valuation of females
1 month–5 years	5	3
5–20	20	10
20–60	50	30
60-plus	15	10
Vows from the poor	Sliding scale: Valuation was determined by the priest.

These figures are thought to be the average valuations of slaves or laborers, what they’re capable of producing. Yeshua and Yosef were sold for 30 shekels of silver.

Substituting sacred animals (Lev. 27:9–10)

The consecrated offering and the substitute are both consecrated. The original isn’t made common again.

Vowing an unfit animal (Lev. 27:11–12)

An unclean animal or something unfit for an offering was given a valuation for a vow. Animals fit for offering couldn’t be redeemed, but unfit ones could be.

Vowing a house (Lev. 27:14)

Could be redeemed for the valuation plus one-fifth.

Vowing a field (Lev. 27:16)

Fields were valued based on the amount of seed needed to sow it. So a field that required an omer of barley seed was valued at 50 shekels, one that needed two omers, 100.

The command to return lands at the Yobel (Jubilee) led to calculated deductions in the value of a field for a vow based on the number of crops until the Yobel.

The field could be redeemed for the valuation plus one-fifth.

Can’t vow a first-born (Lev. 27:26–27)

First-born of livestock and people already belong to the LORD. First-born clean livestock are brought as freewill offerings at the pilgrimage moedim (Pesakh, Shavuot and Sukkot). First-born unclean livestock are sold and the funds given at the House of God.

One can’t substitute another offering for the first-born.

Cherem (set-apart) vows are totally given over to God (Lev. 27:28–29)

“These are apparently the spoils of certain types of war that belong absolutely to the Lord.”¹⁰

Cities of the Negev were given as cherem (Num. 21:1–3).

Cherem couldn’t be sold, but priests could resell what was given to them. Cherem couldn’t be redeemed.

• Achan sinned in keeping items from Yericho, which was declared cherem.
• Samuel told Saul that all Amalekites were cherem, and lost his crown for sparing Agag.
• Ahab lost his life for sparing Syrian leader Ben-Hadad.
• Anias and Saphira lost their lives for retaining some proceeds from land they said was totally devoted to God (Acts 5:1–11). This wasn’t technically a cherem, because it was an offering and not something securing a vow. However, the principle of cherem applied.

Tithed produce can be redeemed at a one-fifth premium (Lev. 27:30–31)

Tithed livestock can’t be substituted or redeemed (Lev. 27:32–33)