Torah Portion 21 June 2014 Chukkat 6-28-14

8/12/2019 Torah Portion 21 June 2014 Chukkat 6-28-14

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Message 6-28-14Chukkat-Ordinance of

Bamidbar-Numbers 19:1-22:1Ivrit-Hebrews 9:11-14

IntroductionIn this weeks portion we have a unique and confusing statute the Lord gives to Moses for theChildren of Israel the instruction about the Red Heifer.

Numbers 19:1-10

1ADONAI said to Moshe and Aharon, 2"This is the regulation from the Torah which ADONAIhas commanded. Tell the people of Isra'el to bring you a young red female cow without fault ordefect and which has never borne a yoke.3 You are to give it to El'azar the cohen; it is to bebrought outside the camp and slaughtered in front of him. 4El'azar the cohen is to take someof its blood with his finger and sprinkle this blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seventimes. 5The heifer is to be burned to ashes before his eyes- its skin, meat, blood and dung is tobe burned to ashes. 6The cohen is to take cedar-wood, hyssop and scarlet yarn and throw themonto the heifer as it is burning up. 7Then the cohen is to wash his clothes and himself in water,after which he may re-enter the camp; but the cohen will remain unclean until evening. 8Theperson who burned up the heifer is to wash his clothes and himself in water, but he will remainunclean until evening. 9A man who is clean is to collect the ashes of the heifer and store themoutside the camp in a clean place. They are to be kept for the community of the people of Isra'elto prepare water for purification from sin. 10The one who collected the ashes of the heifer is towash his clothes and be unclean until evening. For the people of Isra'el and for the foreignerstaying with them this will be a permanent regulation. (CJB)

From the Jewish Study Bible: This particular rite renders this ritual unique in Biblical practices,one reason being that those officiating at the cleansing contract a measure of impurity in theprocess of performing it. Failure to undergo this process is subject to karet divine retribution.

chuqqah )349d(Meaning: something prescribed, an enactment, statute

The ritual of the Red Heifer is one that has puzzled scholars, sages and the people downthrough the ages and yet in being puzzling it is simplicity to its maximum. What I mean is this isa very special ceremony meant for purification from sin. The Red Heifer is slain outside of thecamp before the Priest and the Priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle ittowards the front of the tent of meeting seven times. Then the Heifer is to be burned to ashes,all of it, and the ashes will be collected and stored in a clean place outside of the camp. TheHeifer is not sacrificed within the Tabernacle but outside of it indicating that it is used forsomething special as though it were kept in waiting for that special moment when it would


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protect Israel and cleanse them from their sins. In the Red Heifer we can see our Messiah Yeshuawho was taken outside the camp which in His day was the city of Jerusalem and there He wassacrificed on the tree for each and every one of us. Out of His side flowed water and bloodcleansing both the earth and mankind because man had sinned and fallen short of the glory ofGod and the earth from which man had been created had been stained with the sin of mankind.

In an act of selflessness that defies imagination Yeshua offered Himself up as a redeemingsacrifice sprinkling His blood mixed with clean water upon mankind. In the Red Heifer, as withall sacrifices we see a picture, a typology of Messiah Yeshua. In its mystery the Red Heiferactually reveals what it is meant for. Its ashes stood as protection for the camp of Israel. It wouldprotect Israel after the Ruach of the Lord was removed from the midst of the camp where it hadresided until the sin of the people of Israel had been so great the Lord would no longer contendwith Israel and so left the camp and would only meet with Moses outside the camp. In this actwe see the Holy One did not abandon Israel entirely. He remained close by showing us a pictureof His protection in Messiah Yeshua who will not force Himself on us but waits patiently for usto invite Him in.

Revelation 3:19Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20Behold, I stand at the doorand knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I willcome in to him and eat with him, and he with me. (ESV)

The beauty of this is He is waiting for us to make the decision and at the same time He says thatthose He loves He corrects to bring about repentance. Forgiveness comes from repentance andwhere there is no repentance how can there be forgiveness? Often I hear people say you mustlove and forgive and forgiveness is given but if the person to whom forgiveness is given doesnot repent or acknowledge they have the possibility have acted in an ungodly way againstsomeone how do they expect to be taken back into fellowship? If others listen to only one sideof the problem and do not take the time to hear the other side they have failed inunderstanding the whole of the problem but yet they sit in judgment of the party they have not

heard from. This happens so much in the Body of Messiah you would not believe it. If peoplewant to see forgiveness in action all they have to do is look. Forgiveness can be given withoutbeing able to return to fellowship with the individuals involved because there is no repentance.There is a system the Lord put into place for brethren to be reconciled to one another and wehave failed to follow it.

Titus 3:10Warn a divisive person once, then a second time; and after that, have nothing moreto do with him. (CJB)

If a divisive person does not repent of what they are doing you are to warn them once and thentwice and then after that you are to have nothing more to do with them but this seems to be

overlooked by the Body in their desire to point the finger at someone and say they areunforgiving. Forgiveness is a given but if the other people involved do not repent what do theythink is supposed to happen? It is not a lack of love but an act of love for the Body they serve into protect them from the attack of the enemy but the enemy will still come at them and theattack is not always from outside of the camp but more than likely it comes from within.

Mark 8:33But, turning around and looking at his talmidim, he rebuked Kefa. "Get behind me,Satan!" he said, "For your thinking is from a human perspective, not from God's perspective!"(CJB)


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I say to those who would call for forgiveness to first see Satan in the camp and tell him to getbehind and leave the camp. Until you deal with the root of the problem you will not be able tobring unity, forgiveness and love. Love can triumph over all things but when the turmoil of lifethreatens to snuff out the light of love what can one expect? Messiah stands at the door andknocks when are you going to open the door and invite Him in? Once you do then maybe trueforgiveness and repentance can happen.

Hebrews 9:11-1411 But when the Messiah appeared as cohen gadol of the good things that are happeningalready, then, through the greater and more perfect Tent which is not man-made (that is, it isnot of this created world), 12he entered the Holiest Place once and for all. And he entered notby means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus setting peoplefree forever. 13For if sprinkling ceremonially unclean persons with the blood of goats and bullsand the ashes of a heifer restores their outward purity; 14then how much more the blood ofthe Messiah, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself to God as a sacrifice withoutblemish, will purify our conscience from works that lead to death, so that we can serve the living

God! (CJB)

The Red Heifer was more about the outward effects of sin than the inner problem. So is the restof the sacrificial system, it deals with outward sin not whats on the inside. It takes Messiah todeal with the inner struggles and this is just as true for Believers as it is for unbelievers. There isso much turmoil in the Body of Messiah and it is getting worse brought on by the judgmentalattitude of the people of God.

2 Timothy 4:1I solemnly charge you before God and the Messiah Yeshua, who will judge theliving and the dead when he appears and establishes his Kingdom: 2proclaim the Word! Beon hand with it whether the time seems right or not. Convict, censure and exhort withunfailing patience and with teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not have

patience for sound teaching, but will cater to their passions and gather aroundthemselves teachers who say whatever their ears itch to hear. (CJB)

This is happening and has been happening for quite a long time now. As we multiply theteachers the problem grows because each interprets what the Word has to say without acommon denominator. The common denominator is Torah and Messiah. Messiah is Torah andTorah is Messiah but you would not believe it based on what many teachers are going aroundsaying today. If a teacher proclaims the word, no matter what, if they convict, censure andexhort the people will not listen just as Israel did not listen in the Wilderness and they will besentenced to die as Israel was. A lost generation is the lesson we need to learn but we goforward unafraid of the consequences proclaiming love and forgiveness but have really, truly

listened to some of the teachers we have placed ourselves under today?

The prophetic gift is more than prophesying about the future. The future is taken care of, all youhave to do is read the Bible my friends. God has it all taken care of. The prophetic gift is aboutexhortation of the Body of Messiah in such a way as to cause them to examine themselves andwatch what they are saying and doing. Exhortation is tough to listen to at times but the giftexists for a reason to call the people of Israel back to their God through their Messiah Yeshua. Itis to convict the people so they understand they can be sprinkled with the water mixed with the


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ashes of the Red Heifer, the Red Heifer that is Messiah to cleanse them if they wander outsidethe camp for even a brief moment.

Blessings, love and forgiveness through Messiah Yeshua,

Mordecai Silver

Torah Man says: All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men donothing.

Tree of Life Messianic Ministries

PO Box 467

Organ, NM 88052

866-874-7250 (toll free)

866-800-2390 (fax-toll free)

www.etz-chayim.org* [email protected]
http://www.etz-chayim.org/http://www.etz-chayim.org/http://www.etz-chayim.org/

Torah Portion 21 June 2014 Chukkat 6-28-14

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