Statutes

      This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled B'chukkotai which means "In My statutes". The title comes from Lev. 26:3-4: "If you walk in My statutes (huqqa/haqaq/hoq - ordinance, prescribed, appointed, manner, enactment, right or privilege/laws being cut into stone, engrave, to beat, strike, cut into or on, sceptre, lawgiver, appointed time, that which is established/limit, portion, statute, boundary) and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will..." Let's consider the Hebrew root meanings behind the word huqqa, or statutes. Scripture says that the LORD cut His statutes into (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) tablets of stone (eben - includes the meanings head stone, plummet stone, foundation stone, sling stone) with His own hand (see Ex. 24:12). Believers in Christ can find the image of Messiah/Christ in these Hebrew root meanings. Jesus said that the scriptures, including the LORD's huqqa statutes and the prophets, testify of Him (Jn. 5:39). Huqqa statutes, according to the Hebrew root word, also set limits and boundaries, not just for man, but for rulers and spiritual powers, and for all creation: "...the hidden wisdom of God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory..." (see 1 Cor. 2:6-10). The crucifixion: the beating, striking, cutting and engraving of God's huqqa statutes in Messiah/Christ's body, set unshakeable boundaries forever for death and hell (see Rev. 1:18, 1 Cor. 15:54-57, Hos. 13:14) that no other powers in heaven or on earth can change. 

     We see a great example of the limiting or boundary power of the statutes of God when the LORD told Job: "Or who shut in the sea (yam - from the root meaning "to roar, boiling, foaming") with doors, when it burst forth and issued from the womb; when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band; when I fixed My limit (hoq -root for "statute" see above) for it, and set bars and doors; when I said, 'This far you may come, but no farther, and here your proud waves must stop!" (Job. 38:8-11). When the people of God despise the statutes of God, we are removing the limits and boundaries that He has set that hold back destructive power. Aren't we seeing the results of that today?

     In Lev. 26, the LORD decreed that the keeping or breaking of His statutes would bring about either blessing or destruction. The LORD speaks of His consequential actions by stating, "I will...". For those who do walk and perform His huqqa, statutes, the LORD promises:

• "...then I will give you rain...the land shall yield its produce...the trees of the field shall yield their fruit." (v. 4-5).
• "I will give you peace in the land...I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword..." (v. 6).
• "...I will look on you favorably..." (v. 9)
• "I will set My tabernacle among you..." (v. 11).
• "I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people." (v. 12).

     However, if His people despise the LORD's huqqa statutes, the LORD says:

• "I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever..." (v. 16).
• "I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies." (v. 17).
• "I will punish you seven times more for your sins." (v. 18).
• "I will break the pride of your power...I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze." (v. 19).
• "I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins." (v.21).
• "I will also send wild beasts among you..." (v. 22).
• "I also will walk contrary to you..." (v. 24).
• "...I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant." (v. 25).
• "...I will send pestilence among you..." (v. 25).
• "I will destroy your high places...incense altars...idols." (v. 30).
• "I will lay your cities waste...your sanctuaries to desolation." (v. 31).
• "I will bring the land to desolation..." (v. 32).
• "I will scatter you among the nations..." (v. 33).
• "I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies." (v. 36).

     These are terrible consequences, but if we reject the huqqa statutes, we are also rejecting the limits and boundaries that keep these things from overrunning us - "all Hell breaks loose" when the LORD turns His face away from His people because of their sins of despising. However, the LORD also promises to turn back again and remember His covenant if His people will sincerely humble themselves and confess their unfaithfulness (v. 40-42, 45, see also 2 Chron. 7:14). Those who know Jesus Christ may think that these are "Old Testament" penalties, but we need to remember that Jesus identified Himself with these scriptures saying, "...these are they which testify of Me." (see Jn. 5:38-40). He also said that they would never pass away (Mt. 24:35). John Ch. 1 tells us that He is the Word (of God) that became flesh (Jn. 1:14). As we look at the Hebrew meaning of huqqa statues, we can see that Jesus became our grace as these statutes were engraved upon Him, cut into Him and beaten into Him for our sakes as He took upon Himself the penalty for our despising of the huqqa statutes of God (Isa. 53:3-6). These huqqa statutes are supposed to become written within us, on our hearts as we know the LORD and walk in His ways (Jer. 31:31-34).

     From another of this week's Sabbath reading portion from B'chukkotai, or "in My statutes", we see the consequences of despising the LORD's statutes as they fall upon His people, and the land. Amos 8:2b-3 says: "The end has come upon My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore. And the songs of the temple shall be wailing in that day', says the Lord GOD - 'Many dead bodies everywhere, they shall be thrown out in silence." His people despised the feasts and the Sabbath, cheated to gain a profit and preyed upon the poor and needy (v. 5-6). The LORD said to Israel (the northern kingdom): "Hear this, you who swallow up the needy, and make the poor of the land fail..." (v. 4). The LORD said that He would also remove His Word from them in this time when they would need it the most (v. 11-12), for they despised the prophets like Amos whom the LORD sent to them and forbade him from prophesying in the king's sanctuary and court (see Amos 7:10-13).

     It is interesting as we read the above from Amos 8 that in this assigned reading chapter of Leviticus 26, the LORD brings up three specific statutes:

• "You shall not make idols for yourselves...for I am the LORD your God." (v. 1).
• "You shall keep My (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Sabbaths..." (v. 2).
• "...and reverence (yare - fear, revere, be afraid, honor, respect, be in awe, to tremble, wonderful illustrious deeds, terrible acts) My sanctuary: I am the LORD." (v. 2).

     For the last two Sabbath reading portions, we have studied the powerful, prophetic and miraculous aspects of the Sabbath that perhaps we had not considered before. Here in Lev. 26:2 is the mention of the Sabbath again. Truly, I cannot help but think because of its prominence in the Word of God, that the foundation of the LORD's relationship with man and the rest of creation is based upon the Sabbath, and Jesus, the Son of Man, is Lord (even) of the Sabbath (Mt. 12:7-8). The true meaning and observance of the Sabbath results in benefits and blessings for us, as well as for all creation: our own delight in the LORD, our own spiritual elevation in the LORD, and our own inheritance in the LORD (see Isa. 58:13-14). We can see from the above reading from Amos 8 that Israel (the northern kingdom) was judged in part for despising the Sabbath.

     Another statute that the LORD brings up in Lev. 26:2 is to "reverence My sanctuary." The word "sanctuary" is the Hebrew word and root miqdas/qadas, and means "hallowed part, holy place, sanctuary, asylum/hallow, dedicate, prepare, set apart, purified, clean." We often view the LORD's sanctuary as a physical place only. However, part of the meaning of miqdas sanctuary is "asylum". The definition of asylum is "a place of refuge and protection, a place providing care and protection to the needy." In the verses from Amos above, we can see that the king had his own miqdas sanctuary, but the poor and needy were left to be victims of the greedy (see Amos 8:4-6). Israel did not reverence the miqdas asylum sanctuary of the LORD, neither the physical place nor the spiritual place, according to His statutes. 

     The spiritual miqdas sanctuary of the LORD, His asylum for the poor and needy, is very precious to Him. We see this as Solomon honored the idea of the miqdas sanctuary as asylum for his wayward brother, Adonijah, who had had himself crowned king, and then took hold of the horns of the altar in fear of repercussions from the rightful (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) King, Solomon. He asked Solomon to swear that he would not put his (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) servant to death. Solomon had his brother removed from the altar and promised him safety if he proved himself to be a worthy man (1 Kings 1:50-53). When there is nowhere left to run, we can run into the asylum sanctuary of the LORD.

     In another example of miqdas asylum sanctuary, Isaiah the prophet had been threatened and hated because of the prophetic Word that he had obediently brought to the people. The LORD said to Isaiah: "...nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. The (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow (qadas, see above); Let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. He will be as a sanctuary (miqdas, see above)." (Isa. 8:12). The LORD added that while He would be an asylum sanctuary for Isaiah, He would also become "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense" to both of the houses of Israel (v. 14). The terms "a stone of stumbling" and "a rock of offense" are also used to refer to Jesus in scripture (see Mt. 21:42-44, 1 Cor. 1:22-25, 1 Pet. 2:6-8). While it is a gracious God who will be our asylum sanctuary when we are in times of need, the idea of it is often offensive to others and causes them to stumble, because that sanctuary may be extended to those who, like Isaiah, are not accepted by the self-righteous. Jesus was criticized because He ate with "tax collectors and sinners". Jesus answered them saying, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (see Mk. 2:13-17, Mt. 9:9-13).  The huqqa statute of the LORD commands us to reverence His miqdas sanctuary. The miqdas sanctuary cannot help but change the life of the one being saved from destruction. Jesus didn't join the others in their sin, but His presence brought them into the miqdas sanctuary of the Lord, their only hope. The miqdas sanctuary is not just a holy physical place, but a hallowed Person, the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) LORD. There is a song called "Lord Prepare Me to be a Sanctuary". We cannot lose the truth of the miqdas sanctuary of the LORD, and our being that asylum in His image and walking in the statutes that He has written on our hearts for those who are in need.

     In a final example of the miqdas asylum sanctuary of the LORD, He promised the Israelites whom He had dispersed among the Gentile nations: "...yet I shall be a little sanctuary (miqdas/qadas - see above) for them in the countries where they have gone. Therefore...I will gather you from the peoples...where you have been scattered, and I will give you the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) land of Israel." (Ezek. 11:16-17). The people were scattered by the LORD, but He still offered to be their little sanctuary while they were in exile. Part of that little miqdas sanctuary carried the promise of "return".

     If you would like to know more about keeping the LORD's statutes, you can join me in my prayer: "Dear LORD of all, write Your statutes and all of Your Word in and upon my heart, even as the Living Word, Jesus, dwells within me. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit whom You have sent to guide me into all truth and to declare to me what is the Lord's. Help me to walk in Your statutes and to love Your Word. Let them become my manner of living because You have exalted even them above even Your own name (Ps. 138:2) for my sake. Forgive me when I have not observed Your statutes, and cleanse me from sin. I ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as Α Ω , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.