“Salvation is far from the wicked (Those who do not even care to learn about HaShem’s Torah), for they sought not Your statutes (Torah).” Psalms 119:155
As I begin to put this Op together, it is 27 May 2022, the Erev Shabbat i.e. Friday and going into day #42 of fifty days of the Counting of the Omer from Pesach towards Shavuot! It is also just a few days after the horrific elementary school shooting having taken place in Uvaldi, Texas in which 19 young children and two school teachers were brutally murdered. This event is in conjunction with the escalating economic problems which are more and more consuming the American public. Expected food, water, supply and medicinal shortages along with famine are actually now being considered as becoming a very real reality in the coming months! Law and order are breaking down, debauchery, evilness, corruption, wickedness and perversion are now the norm.
Our society is embracing vile idolatry more and more it seems, especially the idolatry of abortion i.e. embracing the god of Moloch i.e. slaughtering babies in the womb in the name of convenience and/or profit!
If children survive not being slaughtered and not being offered up to Moloch, children in America are being taught they can, upon a whim, up and decide their genders can literally be anything they want it to be, despite what they were naturally born with. Homosexuality is openly celebrated and encouraged. Rebellion against HaShem and the order He established from the beginning is being taught as the normal and evidence of a person being ‘enlightened!’
Military tensions between America and China, Russia, North Korea, Venezuela, Iran, etc, are rapidly escalating by the day it seems! Our enemies are becoming emboldened especially in light of weak, chaotic and confused American leadership!
With all this said, there is one common question I have been hearing being asked from people of all faiths and status, ‘Why is G-d allowing all these problems to happen?’ The answer to this question, is found in this weeks Torah portion i.e. ‘Bechukosai’ which is found in Vayikra (Leviticus) 26:3-27:34! Is it a coincidence the answer is in this week’s Torah portion? Remember, NOTHING is a coincidence with HaShem!
My intent is to make this Op as short as possible but still convey a message…we shall see if its possible or not…:)
Before we can examine this further, always remember the following eternal characteristics of HaShem and His Torah:
- HaShem never changes per Num 23:19/Mal 3:6/Hebrews 13:8/James 1:17
- His Word is firmly established per Psalm 119:89
- He reveals the end out of the beginning per Is 46:10
- He does nothing without first revealing it to His prophets per Amos 3:7
- He says there is nothing new under the sun per Ecclesiastes 1:9
- He says His Torah is the ONLY truth there is per Psalms 119:142
- He says His Torah is a tree of life and eternal per Proverbs 3:18-19 and Psalm 119:160
- He says His Torah is perfect and restores the soul per Psalm 19:7
- He says His Torah makes the simple one wise per Psalm 19:7
- He says His Torah Is freedom and liberty per Psalm 119:45 and James 1:25
- He says His Torah is the only good doctrine there is Proverbs 4:2
- He says His Torah will add length of days and years of life and peace per Proverbs 3:2
- He says all of the ways of His Torah are ways of pleasantness and peace per Proverbs 3:17
- He says His Torah is for our good and well-being per Deuteronomy 6:24
- He says His Torah is health for our lives per Proverbs 3:8
- He says His Torah is life to our soul and a graceful ornament for our neck per Prov 3:22
- He says His Torah is better than pearls and all desires cannot compare to it per Prov 8:11
- He says those who walk with His Torah are praiseworthy per Psalms 119:1
- He says observing His Torah is how we purify our path per Psalms 119:9
- He says His Torah is better than thousands in gold and silver per Psalms 119:72
- He says His Torah brings abundant peace to those who love Him and His Torah per Psalms 119:165
- He says there is one Torah for all per Exodus 12:49/Leviticus 24:22
- He says those who hate His Torah love death per Proverbs 8:36
- He says His Torah is the way of faith per Psalms 119:29-30
- He says His Torah makes us wiser than our enemies per Psalms 119:98
- He says His Torah is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path per Psalms 119:105
- He says one who finds His Torah has found life per Proverbs 8:35
- He says one who finds His Torah has found favor from HaShem per Proverbs 8:35
- He says Messiah Yeshua is the GOAL of His Torah, meaning without His Torah, Messiah cannot be known per Romans 10:4
- He says if we had believed Moshe/Torah, we would have believed Messiah per John 5:46
- He says His Torah makes us wiser than our enemies per Psalms 119:98
- He says His salvation is far from the wicked for they sought not His Torah per Psalms 119:155
- He says to hold fast to and guard His Torah, for it is our life per Proverbs 4:13
Consider what HaShem when He begins Parashas ‘Bechukosai’ which is found in Vayikra (Leviticus) 26:3-27:34. Vayikra 26:3-5 says “IF you will follow My decrees and observe My commandments and perform them, THEN I will provide your rains in their time, and the land will give its produce and the tree of the field will give its fruit. Your threshing will last until the vintage, and the vintage will last until the sowing; you will eat your bread to satiety and YOU WILL DWELL SECURELY IN YOUR LAND.”
The commentary on these verses is very clear, “Our pasuk (Verse) talks about the blessings that come to the nation when it observes the Torah properly. Had the Torah told us only these blessings, we may have thought that the blessings come when we observe the Torah and they do not come when we fail to do so, but we would not know that there are punishments associated with NOT keeping the Torah. This is why the Torah later describes the curses that come if the Torah is not properly observed. Our pasuk begins the list of blessings that we will receive if we keep HaShem’s mitzvos (Commandments). The word ‘IF’ should be understood as a plea. HaShem begs us to keep His mitzvos so that He can reward us.”
What we need to understand, is HaShem issues this same plea to His people repeatedly from Genesis to Revelation! His plea is always the same plea and one example is found in Yeshayah (Isaiah) 1:18-20 which says “Come now, let us reason together, says HaShem. If your sins are like scarlet they will become white as snow; if they have become red as crimson, they will become white as wool. If you are willing and obey (Torah), you will eat the goodness of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword (War, conflict, violence, etc), for the mouth of HaShem has spoken.” What is the significance of our sins being like scarlet or red as crimson? The commentary on these verses explains this further and says “Sin is likened metaphorically to a red stain on a garment, which is visible from afar and is hard to wash out. Repentance ‘bleaches’ it clean and white. Crimson is a deeper, darker shade of red i.e. if the sins were very serious, repentance will still help, but it will only change the crimson to the off white color of unprocessed wool.”
Tractate Kiddushin 61b from the Talmud Bavli says “If you walk in My statutes, quoting Vayikra 26:3, you will receive blessings; conversely; ‘And if you reject My statutes, quoting Vayikra 26:15, you will receive curses. However, according to the opinion of Rabbi Hanina ben Gamliel, why do I need both of these clauses? The Gemara (Commentary) answers: ‘They are both necessary, as it might enter your mind to say ‘If you follow My statutes you will receive a blessing, whereas if you reject My statutes you will receive neither a blessing or a curse.’ The verse therefore teaches us that the rejection of HaShem’s statutes warrants a curse.'”
HaShem gave Israel His Torah after His deliverance from Egypt at Mount Sinai. His spokesman was Moshe, whom HaShem had selected as His agent. Moshe, at one point, would sit and spend his time answering questions the people had concerning the Torah. His father in law, Yethro, quickly discerned this was not good as it would wear out Moshe and render him completely ineffective as a leader. Therefore, we read in Shemot (Exodus) 18:21-23 where HaShem commands the establishment of a court system: “And you shall discern from among the entire people, men of accomplishment, G-d fearing people, men of truth, people who despise money, and you shall appoint them leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, and leaders of tens. They shall JUDGE the people at all times, and they shall bring every great matter to you, and every minor matter they shall judge, and it will be eased for you, and they shall bear with you.”
Bamidbar (Numbers) 11:16-17 says “HaShem said to Moshe, ‘Gather to Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and its officers; take them to the Ohel Moed (Tent of Meeting) and have them stand there with you. I will descend and speak with you there, and I will increase some of the spirit that is upon and place it upon them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, and you shall not bear alone.’”
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 16:18-20 says “Judges and officers shall you appoint in all your cities, which HaShem, your G-d, gives you for your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert judgment, you shall not respect someone’s presence, and you shall not accept a bribe, for the bribe will blind the eyes of the wise and make the words of the righteous crooked. Righteousness, righteousness shall you pursue so that you will live and possess the Land that HaShem, your G-d, gives you.”
Devarim 17:8-13 says “If a matter of judgment is hidden from you, between blood and blood, between verdict and verdict, between affliction and affliction, matters of disputes in your cities, you shall rise up and ascend to the place that HaShem, your G-d shall choose. You shall come to the Kohanim, the Leviim, and to the judge who will be in those days; you shall inquire and they will tell you the word of judgment. You shall do according to the matter they will tell you, from that place that HaShem will choose, and you shall be careful to do according to everything they will teach you. According to the Torah that they will teach you and according to the judgment that they will say to you, shall you do; you shall not deviate from the word that they will tell you, right or left. And the man who will act with willfulness, not listening to the Kohen who stands there to serve HaShem, your G-d, or to the judge, that man shall die, and you shall destroy the evil from among Israel. The entire nation shall listen and fear, and they shall not act willfully any more.”
In other words, the ‘Halakah’ or ‘The way to walk in the Torah of HaShem’ is determined by the anointed Sanhedrin and their recorded right rulings for how to walk in the Torah. Where are these recorded rulings of the Sanhedrin? They are contained in the Mishnah and expounded upon in the Jerusalem and Babylonian versions of the Talmud which form the initial basis for the Oral Torah. Point is, once again, we see the Oral Torah IS derived from HaShem Himself and IS required for us to know how to walk in service to HaShem. To reject the Oral Torah is in fact sin and is in fact the rejection of HaShem and His Torah Himself! Keep this in mind as we proceed.
The following entries are derived from the book ‘The Handbook of Jewish Thought’ by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan:
11:5 – “Therefore, only the Sanhedrin had the authority to appoint a king or High Priest over Israel. Only the Sanhedrin could appoint minor Sanhedrin’s, declare voluntary war, or add to the area of the Temple or Jerusalem. Similarly, only the Sanhedrin had the jurisdiction to judge an entire tribe, and apostate city, a false prophet, or a rebellious elder. If a High Priest was guilty of a capital offense, he could be judged only by the Sanhedrin.”
11:7 – “As representatives of all Israel, the Sanhedrin also administered the Temple. The Sanhedrin would judge the fitness of the Kohen-Priests for service and prepare the Red Heifer. They would also provide corrected copies of the Torah.”
11:8 – “The Sanhedrin was the FINAL authority in all questions of the Torah. Whoever believes in the authority of the Torah MUST accept the decisions of the Sanhedrin as binding.”
11:9 – “It is a positive commandment to obey the Sanhedrin in all questions of Torah law. It is thus written, ‘You must follow all that they declare to you, from the place G-d shall choose, and you must observe all that they teach you’ quoting Deuteronomy 17:10. This includes all questions of tradition and Torah interpretation, as well as legislation passed by the Sanhedrin.”
11:10 – “It is forbidden to dispute the authority of the Sanhedrin. It is thus written, ‘You must follow the law that they teach you and the judgment that they declare to you; you must not turn aside…to the right or to the left’ quoting Deuteronomy 17:11.”
11:11 – “Decisions of the Sanhedrin must be accepted even if they appear to be mistakes or illogical.”
11:24 – “Any legislation enacted by the Sanhedrin is called a ‘Rabbinical Commandment’ as distinguished from a commandment from the Torah. Even legislation enacted by the Sanhedrin of Moses is considered a Rabbinical Commandment.”
Tractate Avodah Zarah 5a from the Talmud Bavli says “The Sages taught with regard to the verse: ‘If you walk in My statutes (Leviticus) 26:3, in this context, ‘IF” is a term that means nothing other than supplication i.e. HaShem is hoping that the Jewish people will observe the Torah. And similarly, it is stated ‘Oh that My people would hearken to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways, I would soon subdue their enemies’ (Psalms 81:14-15). And it states: ‘Oh that you would hearken to My commandments! Then your peace would be as a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea. Your seed also would be as the sand, and the offspring of your body like its grains (Isaiah 48:18-19).'”
Continuing on with this Torah portion, ‘Bechukosai’!
Vayikra (Leviticus) 26:6-9 says “I will provide peace in the Land, and you will lie down with none to frighten you. I will cause wild beasts to withdraw from the Land, and a sword will not cross your Land. You will pursue your enemies; and they will fall before you by the sword. Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand; and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. I will turn My attention to you, I will make you fruitful and increase you; and I will establish My covenant with you.”
Vayikra (Leviticus) 26:10-13 says “You will eat very old grain and remove the old to make way for the new. I will place My Sanctuary (Temple) among you; and My Spirit will NOT reject you. I will walk among you, I will be Elohim unto you and you will be a people unto Me. I am HaShem your Elohim, Who took you out of the land of Egypt from being their slaves; I broke the staves of your yoke and I will lead you very high.”
The commentary says “The term ‘Mishkan’ literally, ‘Dwelling Place’, generally refers to the Mishkan (Tabernacle) that was built in the Wilderness after the Jews left Egypt. But in our Pasuk (Verse) HaShem says that ‘He will’ in the future tense, place His Sanctuary among the Jews. This cannot mean only the Mishkan, because the Mishkan was already built when this promise was given. We learn from this that the term ‘Mishkan’ also includes the ‘Beis HaMikdash’ i.e. the Temple in Jerusalem, which is where HaShem would dwell in the future.”
So, we can clearly see there are enormous benefits to walking in the Torah of HaShem as opposed to what most of Christendom in its Replacement Theology spews out in its anti-Torah doctrine of ‘change’! And then our society today constantly asks the questions as to why HaShem would allow all these terrible events to take place and the stability of our country to crumble while our enemies are emboldened? To teach the Torah is the problem and the source of all bondage and destruction as Replacement Theology teaches, is the height of rebellion and rejection of HaShem! Keep this in mind!
Now HaShem addresses what will happen if we as a people reject His Torah and by default embrace idolatry and determine to go our own ways according to our own desires. You read what He says Himself and then see if you can see any similarities to today!
Vayikra (Leviticus) 26:14-17 says “But IF you will NOT listen to Me and will NOT perform all of these commandments; if you consider My decrees loathsome (As Christendom and its Replacement Theology absolutely decrees His Torah to be loathsome), and if your being rejects My ordinances, so as not to perform all My commandments, so that you annul My covenant, THEN I will do the same to you; I will assign upon you panic (Terror), swelling lesions (Pandemics), and burning fever, which causes eyes to long and souls to suffer; you will sow your seeds in vain, for your enemies will eat it (Economic destruction and theft – consider the millions of illegals pouring into the country and stealing our economic benefits reserved for US citizens?) I will turn My attention AGAINST you, you will be struck down before enemies and those who hate you will subjugate you, you will flee with no one pursuing you.”
This sounds just like America today being consumed with the effects of terrorism, pandemics, inflation, the illegals pouring across our border stealing our resources. Meanwhile our enemies are emboldened and becoming more and more threatening. Our military power and effectiveness will be quickly eroded and we will be humiliated before our enemies and we are seeing this happen now, with the focus no longer being about training to defeat our mortal enemies, but rather focusing on embracing homosexuals and transgenders!
Vayikra (Leviticus) 26:18-20 says “If despite this you do not heed Me, then I shall punish you further, seven ways for your sins. I will break the pride of your might; I will make your heaven like iron and your land like copper. Your strength will be spent in vain; your land will not give its produce and the tree of the land will not give its fruit.” The commentary on these verses also includes the desecration of HaShem’s Name as well as desecrating HaShem’s Shabbat’s! Why is this significant? What greater form of desecration exists than for Replacement Theology to teach the Shabbat of HaShem is now done away with and replaced by either Sunday or any day of the week we choose, just cannot be the Seventh Day of the Week?
Vayikra (Leviticus) 26:21-22 says “If you behave casually with Me and refuse to heed Me, then I shall lay a further blow upon you, seven ways, like your sins. I will incite the wildlife of the field against you and it will leave you bereft of your children (Could this be a metaphor for the insane, violent people such as school shooters who attack schools and slaughter the children?) Decimate your livestock, and diminish you; and your roads will become desolate (Look at the inflation along with the gas prices destroying businesses and transportation across the country, truckers are not able to transport because its too expensive i.e. the roads are becoming desolate!)” Again, what is a more casual attitude towards HaShem than to embrace Replacement Theology thinking everything He has established from the beginning is now tossed away with and replaced?
Vayikra (Leviticus) 26:23-26 says “If through these you will not be chastised toward Me, and you behave casually with Me, then I, too, will behave casually toward you with casualness; and I will strike you, even I, seven ways for your sins. I will bring upon you a sword, avenging the vengeance of a covenant, you will be gathered into your cities, then I will send a pestilence among you and you will be delivered into the hand of your enemy. When I break for you the staff of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will bring back your bread by weight; you will eat and not be sated.” Sounds very much like the lockdowns of COVID and now the new pandemic beginning to emerge i.e. Monkeypox, which is spread by the ultimate form of rebellion against HaShem i.e. homosexual sex!
Vayikra (Leviticus) 26:27-32 says “If despite this you will not heed Me, and you behave toward Me with casualness, I will behave toward you with a fury of casualness; I will chastise you, even I, seven ways for your sins. You will eat the flesh of your sons; and the flesh of your daughters you will eat (How many abortions result in the harvesting of human organs and flesh for use in our food, cosmetic and medicinal products? Point is, how literal is this today?) I will destroy your altars and decimate your sun idols, I will cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols, and My Spirit will reject you. I will lay your cities in ruin and I will make your sanctuaries desolate; I will not savor your satisfying aromas. I will make the land desolate, and your foes who dwell upon it will be desolate. And you, I will scatter among the nations, I will unsheathe the sword after you; your land will be desolate and your cities will be in ruin.” How many of America’s cities today are on the verge of collapse because of the violent crimes, corruption, debauchery, perversions, idolatry, etc?
Remember, HaShem also gives very strong prophetic decrees concerning the destruction of the End of Days Babylon i.e. the United States of America, in Jeremiah 50-51! I would encourage you to read those chapters yourselves and see how close to the final destruction of the US by the Hand of HaShem, we truly are!
This Op isn’t intended to condemn anyone, it is intended to answer the questions people are asking as of late as to why all terrible these things are happening in the US today! The answer is plain as day, walk in the Torah of HaShem, and He will bless everyone, reject Him and His Torah, and then all these terrible things will come as the result! Neither I nor you make the rules…HaShem, He is Master of the Legions of Heaven!
The Haftarah for this Torah portion is from Yirmiah (Jeremiah) 16:19-17:14 and it begins with “HaShem, my Strength, my Stronghold and my Refuge in the day of travail, to You nations will come from the ends of the earth, and say ‘Our ancestors inherited only falsehood, futility that has no purpose….” In other words, the gentiles will awaken and come to HaShem and say ‘Our ancestors inherited nothing but lies i.e. Christendom and its Replacement Theology, and now we recognize only You, HaShem, Master of Legions, are the One and Only true Elohim and there is no other….its all futile outside of HaShem!’ How often is this happening today with people being awoken out of their slumber by HaShem and realizing everything they were taught in the systems of religion are nothing but futile, worthless lies? Believe me, it is happening more and more each day! My point is, its a gigantic indicator we are truly at the end! May it be so very, very soon in our days!
Shabbat Shalom!
SOURCE MATERIALS:
- The Milstein Edition Chumash with the Teachings of the Talmud by Artscroll
- The Koren Tanach by Koren Publishers
- The Steinsaltz Talmud Bavli
- The Talmud Yerushalmi
- The Kehati Mishnah