Redeemed

  "The earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness (melo/mala - that which fills, entire contents, multitude, full length/fill, fulfill, consecrate, confirm, complete, accomplish, replenish, gather, overflow, abundance), the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded (yasad - founded, foundation, ordain, appointed, established) it upon the seas, and established (kun - establish, prepare, fixed in place, set, directed, provide, confirmed, be secure, be enduring, be securely determined, be ready) it upon the waters (nahar - a flowing, river, stream, to flow together, to sparkle, be cheerful, to shine, give light, be glad, rejoice, brightness)." (Psalm 24:1-2).

And

     "And He (Lord of heaven and earth) has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord...though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being..." (Acts 17:26-28, and Deut. 32:8).

     From Deuteronomy 32:8, cited above, we find out that the LORD set the boundaries of all of the people of the nations "according to the number of the children of Israel." Deuteronomy 32 continues: "For the LORD's portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance." (v. 9).

     The Psalms narrow down the ownership of the earth: "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession." (Ps. 2:7-8). The Creator has given all of the nations to His Son, the Messiah/Christ, Jesus, a descendant of His people, Jacob (see above). They are His to rule and to judge (see. v. 9).

     The LORD goes on to say: "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and You perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are those who put their trust in Him." (v. 12).

     These excerpts above from the scriptures completely refute the understanding that most of us have of the world, its economics, and the true ownership rights to it. However, as this week's double Sabbath reading portion shows us, it is better to have things the LORD's way. In fact, the LORD's way is more to our benefit or advantage than our own understanding, as we will see.

     The double reading portion for this week's Sabbath are B'har, meaning "on the Mount," and B'chukkotai, meaning "In My statutes".

     The reading begins in Leviticus 25:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount (see B'har above) Sinai, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) fruit; but the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard." (Lev. 25:1-4). Everything concerning the land falls under the authority of the LORD. Even the fruit of the land which they gather still belongs to the *Aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega Lord, as noted in the written Hebrew. The seventh year sabbath of the land belongs to the LORD. They will not do with the land as they see fit, but as the LORD commanded.

     We can see in the verses above that the LORD was not speaking from heaven but speaking His statutes on the mount, a physical place on the earth, as our two combined Sabbath portion titles reflect. The LORD retains His possession of the physical earth, and His authority over the land which He gives to Israel. His statutes are to rule the land. Of this land given to Israel, the LORD commanded: "The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me. And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land. If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold." (Lev. 25:23-25).

     From this foundation of ownership and authority of the physical earth and everything in it, especially the land of Israel, the LORD establishes something called "the year of Jubilee". 

     The year of Jubilee is directly connected to the Sabbath and to the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), which is one of the Feasts of the LORD. This feast is also important to us because we understand that the blood shed by Jesus Christ in His suffering and death was for the atonement (kapar - covering) or propitiation of our sins. Every seven sabbath years, or a total of forty-nine years, on the Day of Atonement the trumpet of the Jubilee is sounded throughout all of the land to announce the fiftieth year, which is the year of Jubilee. In this fiftieth year, the LORD again announces His ownership and statutes of authority of the earth and everything in it, by turning upside down everything that man has bought, sold, traded, bartered, enslaved. The unredeemed house or land that was taken or purchased, the unredeemed debt owed, the unredeemed servitude/slavery are all overturned. Land or house goes back to the original family who received it from the LORD, as He originally divided the land among the tribes of Israel. Those who sold themselves into servitude are repaid the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) price of his redemption. Those whose debts remain unredeemed by a family member are set free anyway at the year of Jubilee: "For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." (see Lev. 25:47-55).

     Today's thinking might declare that this is economically unfair and even disastrous, but it is the year of Jubilee by which the LORD retains authority by His statute to set His people free. These Torah statutes of the LORD, which are contrary to the thinking and ways of the world, paved the way prophetically for our spiritual redemption as we will see.

      The obedience to the statutes of the LORD affected the land: "If you walk in My statutes (see B'chukkotai above) and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield its fruit...I will give you peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil (ra - evil, wickedness, trouble, affliction, grievous, malignant, vicious) beasts (hay - living, beast, creature, animal, appetite), and the sword will not go through your land." (Lev. 26:3-6). If the statutes of the LORD are not kept, then the land is affected in the opposite manner. (v. 19-20).

     The statutes of the LORD, including the statute of redemption, in the hand of the prophet Jeremiah assured that Israel would return from their prophesied captivity in Babylon. Jeremiah redeemed the field of his cousin, Hanamel (meaning "God is gracious"), as his cousin said to him: "...for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption yours; buy it for yourself." Jeremiah wrote of this request: "Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. So I bought the field from Hanamel...weighed out to him the money - seventeen shekels of silver. And I signed the deed and sealed it...according to the law and custom..." (Jer. 32:6-11). The LORD then instructed Jeremiah: "Take these deeds...and put them in an earthen vessel that they may last many days (yom - day, time, year, continually, yesterday, today and tomorrow)...Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land." Jeremiah then praised the LORD who has "made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You." (v. 13-17).

     The verses from Jeremiah, above, contain eleven instances of the use of *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega, including its connection to "the price of redemption", "the field" of Hanamel, "the money", "the purchase deed", "that which was sealed", "deed/deeds", "the heaven", "the earth".

     Earlier, the LORD had given Jeremiah this prophetic Word: "Thus speaks the LORD God of Israel, saying: 'Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you. For behold, the days are coming,' says the LORD, 'that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,' says the LORD. 'And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall possess it." (Jer. 30:2-3).

     Even though Jeremiah completed this prophetic redemption of the land of Israel while being detained in the king of Judah's prison dungeon, and even though the most powerful kingdom (Babylon) was about to lay siege to Jerusalem, Jeremiah knew, based upon the previous spoken Word of the LORD, and confirmed by the use of the written statutes given from the LORD from on the mount, that the LORD had just assured Israel that they would return to the land which He had given them.

     The captivity in Babylon and the Babylonian command over the land of Israel lasted for seventy years. Then, as the LORD promised Jeremiah, the Israelites were freed from captivity and allowed to return to their land...and the ruling king at that time paid the restoration money needed to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem that had been destroyed during the siege, and for the re-building of the temple of God that had been ruined. 

      But wait! We're not done yet with Jeremiah's fulfilling of the statute of the LORD in regard to the redemption of the land. The LORD had told Jeremiah to place the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) deeds into an earthen vessel so that the deeds could last many days. (v. 14). The Hebrew word for "days" is yom, as we see above, meaning: "day, time, year, continually, today, yesterday and tomorrow." These (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) deeds of redemption were to last not only for the seventy years of Babylonian captivity, but "continually". I believe that these same (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) deeds hidden in earthen vessels not only provided the way back home from Babylonian captivity, but provided for the return of the Jewish people to the land again in 1948, after Israel had ceased to be a nation approximately two thousand years ago when Rome destroyed it. I don't know if even Jeremiah foresaw what the LORD would accomplish by Jeremiah's obedience to His statutes.

     Not only did this prophetic action of Jeremiah guarantee the land of Israel to the descendants of Abraham through his son, Isaac, but it also became part of our spiritual guarantee and covenant with the Lord Jesus. Our covenant with God through Jesus is not a covenant regarding possession of the physical land of Israel, but the new covenant which assures us of life forever in Christ, who rose from the dead, and our inheritance through Him in the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Our inheritance is not limited to a physical city on earth, but even greater, to the City not made with human hands, but whose Maker and Builder is God. This inheritance was always promised as Abraham also waited for this City. (see Heb. 11:8-10, Rev. 21:1-4, Jn. 14:1-6, Eph. 2:4-7). Jeremiah also had a prophetic understanding of this as he received the Word of the LORD related to this. In our Sabbath reading, we see: "A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place (maqom - locality, standing place, home, country) of our sanctuary. O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake You shall be ashamed...." (Jer. 17:12-13).

      The apostle Paul refers to our guarantee of this spiritual redemption in the New Testament: "...But we have this treasure (thesauros - a casket or coffer in which valuables are kept) in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not ourselves...always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body." (2 Cor. 4:6-10, excerpt). Paul also wrote elsewhere: "...you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee (arrabon - earnest money, purchase money) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory." (Eph. 1:13-14). And: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." (Eph. 4:30).

      We can hear the echo of Jeremiah's prophetic Word, faith and obedience in these revelations of Paul, above. When Jeremiah had the *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega deeds to the field belonging to "God is gracious" (Hanamel) sealed in earthen vessels for many days to come, he also prophetically sealed our guarantee, the Holy Spirit, to all of the riches in Jesus Messiah/Christ in these earthen vessels - us. 

     If you would like to learn more about the gracious redemption commanded by the LORD on the mount, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father, the whole earth belongs to You, and You have not only redeemed the land of Israel for Your people, but You alone have also provided our Redeemer Kinsman, Jesus Messiah/Christ, to redeem and retore what was lost - our souls. What a great inheritance You have given and guaranteed to me through Your Son. I had lost all, but Your statutes of redemption and Jubilee in the flesh, Jesus, guaranteed my restoration, my life, and my salvation. I give You all thanks and praise in Jesus' name for Your eternal promises to me and to all who will receive them. 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 ΑΩ , 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.

     

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.