Part of the Golden Rule is concern for other people. One way to view the somber warnings in the Torah reading Bechukotai (“in My statutes,” Leviticus 26–27) is God is concerned about the world so much that its lifeline — Israel — has to remain pure.
Tag: Leviticus 27
We’ve all had days when we are so physically or mentally exhausted that we long to go home and relax, or better yet, nap. The LORD gave our forefathers in faith memorials and reminders in time to nudge us to seek Him Who can truly bring us rest from guilt, fear, loneliness, etc. That’s the lesson in the combined Torah readings בְּהַר Behar (“on mount” Sinai) and בְּחֻקֹּתַי Bechukotai (“in My statutes”) that wraps up the book of Leviticus.
The Book of Leviticus may seem like a lot of dos and don’ts for a Tabernacle service that hasn’t existed for two millennia. But what’s revealed at the end, in Torah reading בְּחֻקֹּתַי Bechukotai/Bekhuqotai (“in My statutes,” Leviticus 26–27), is that it is the gospel of hope, promises from Heaven of the new covenant, that our past can be removed, setting us up for a bright future ahead of us.
We often think that the walk of Torah only concerns itself with one’s relationship with God and one’s relationship with others. This is not true. An observant reading of the Torah shows us that God also concerns Himself with how we treat the land that sustains us. That’s a key lesson of the dual Torah reading of בְּהַר Behar (“on mount” [Sinai]) and בְּחֻקֹּתַי Bechukotai (“in My statutes”), which covers the last three chapters of Leviticus.
God promised the land of Israel as a special inheritance to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and they were expected to respond by treating the land itself with dignity as much as He expected them to treat Him and their neighbors with dignity.
Sins against the Land are atoned by exile, not by blood. Learn more through this Bible study.
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 […]
There is no freedom in a society without a baseline of laws that help people balance their rights and responsibilities to themselves and to their neighbor. There’s also no freedom in a place where people do not consider each other as brothers and sisters. At Mt. Sinai, God made all those who left Egypt kinsman under the law. At Pentecost, Yeshua made all those who believe in Him heirs of Abraham and the freedom and responsibility that comes with being sons and daughters of God.
At the end of the book of Vayiqra (Leviticus) in dual Torah reading בהר Behar/בחקותי Bechukotai, we look back at the journey through the parable of the Tabernacle. At the end of the book of Shemot (Exodus), the LORD moved into the newly created Tabernacle, and everyone had to get out. “And He called out” (Vayiqra) from the Tabernacle at the beginning of Leviticus for the people of Israel to draw near to Him. Vayiqra teaches how God is helping us move closer to Him and to each other.