Chukat (Ordinance) B’midbar/Numbers 19:1-22:1
Chukat (Ordinance) B’midbar/Numbers 19:1-22:1
Bless each of you tonight as we study G-d’s word. I would like to begin with my two questions of the week. I believe this Torah portion presents us with a few points that we will have to dig in order to find an answer.
First, the title of this portion, chukat, gives us a clue as to what will follow. In Hebrew this word is used for laws that are hard to understand or find what G-d is saying through them. In English this word can be best translated as ordinance. This tells us that this law is different from other commandments of Torah.
Not Rules By the Present – B’chukotai (In My Statutes) Lev.26
Torah Portion: B’chukotai (In My Statutes) Leviticus 26:3-27:34
HafTorah: Jeremiah 16:19-17:14
Our Torah portion this week is one of two places in the Bible that we read a listing of blessings and curses that hinge on obedience to G-d. Here there are 11 verses that talk about blessings and 36 verses that tell us the consequences of disobedience. I would like to propose that here we read the last line of the story first. I think we now are in and have been in the age of the curses. We see disobedience to G-d’s word on every side.