Unstuck from the Muck
Bechuqotay (In My Statutes)
Vayiqra (Lev) 26:3 – 27:34
YirmeYahu (Jeremiah) 16:19 – 17:14
Yochanan (John) 14:15-21, 15:10-12
Feeling a bit stuck in this world?
Maybe even – stuck in the muck?
How do we pull out and how do we
keep from going back there?
Before YHWH promises His people blessings andfruitfulness, that is, “if you keep His commandments and carry them out,” He commanded us first to “walk in My statutes – Bechuqotay.” We who keep His commandments (mitzvot) can easily lose sight of the
priority to walk in His chukkot, His statutes, and need this commandment.
Other dictionary meanings of chukkot are ‘customs, manners, or appointments.’ In other words, chuqah (the singular root word) is the appointment of a specific time,function or duty to gather together. A custom is something that is appointed by YHWH to bring His people together. Gathering together has been customary for the covenant-keeping people of YHWH since the days of Moshe. It’s a really good habit to get into!
Our Father first calls us to gather together as a customary thing to do on appointed times, such as Shabbat and the festivals of YHWH, before He commands us to keep mitzvot. The Book of Vayiqra (And He called) concludes with Moshe addressing all of the children of Israel, in the plural, as a nation. He concludes with the same, clear choice: ‘If bechoqotay (in My statutes) you (plural, you all) walk and keep My mitzvot (commandments), and perform them, then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. ’ (Vayiqra (Lev) 26:3-4)
Custom's Paleo Picture
The root word for bechoqotay – chuqah – means in paleo-Hebrew – a
custom that brings a people separated and scattered to be gathered together (Jeff Benner’s AHLB). Look at it’s pictographs letter by letter:
The letter chet pictures those who were once separated outside the big white fence, who then come in and gather inside His Dwelling Place.
The letter qoof not only pictures coming together as the rays of the sun on a horizon, but also that those who come together, rise up together in the power and radiance of the glory cloud.
The letter hey is to reveal and behold the gathering together in glory. From all the counsel of the Scriptures, we know Yeshua to be the glory of YHWH and the Qadosh (Holy One) of Israel. (Luke 2:32; Isa 41:14-16; Ezek 8:2-4) With Messiah in you, we have the hope of His glory revealed in and through us (Col 1:27).
Customary Convocations
According to the Torah, YHWH has appointed holy convocations for Him to meet with you every Shabbat and on each of His festivals.
Our next appointment for mishpochah to meet together on a feast day is the day of Shavuot (June 5th). One of the purposes for counting 50 days is to build expectation and faith that when we come together, we come in one accord to be set apart in spirit, soul and body unto the Messiah at His appointed time. We pray that He will show up and visit us by His Ruach HaQodesh (Holy Spirit).
You can always count on Him to keep His appointments. It is His custom to faithfully keep His covenant-made appointments without fail with those in covenant relationship with Him. Although many among of us cannot make it to every appointed gathering, our Messiah can be counted on to show up every time on His appointments. For where two or three
are gathered together in His Name, there our Messiah is in our midst. (Mat 18:20) Who would want to miss out on that?
Strength in Numbers
In our Torah portion, YHWH teaches that numbers do matter; that our strength is greater in greater numbers. We can have victory in small numbers; or we can experience magnified victory in greater numbers with those who keep the Torah and the Testimony of
Yeshua (Rev 12:17) and walk in the Spirit.
You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. (Vayiqra 26:7)
In Torah, numbers make a big difference in battle. Five brothers driving out 100 enemies would be 20 enemies chased down per man, while 100 brothers driving out 10,000 enemies would be 100 enemies chased down per man. That’s a five-fold increase for every man’s ability to route the enemy when in a larger group of 100 brothers verses just a group of 5!
The principle here is that you and I as individuals are far more effective when united with the larger community of Yisra’el. When we gather together, we can expect a greater ability in greater numbers to chase out and conquer our enemies
The House of Israel Like Leavened Bread
There are a lot of reasons individuals won’t meet with certain groups in Hebrew Roots – I have a few myself. The Messianic movement is in some ways – a mess. However, the more I study and submit to the Torah of YHWH, those reasons lose their significance. On Shavuot – we are to bring two huge loaves, not just one loaf, which are leavened and large, not unleavened and thin. You (plural) shall bring in lechem (bread) out of your dwellings for a wave offering, two loaves… (Lev 23:17a)
Bringing bread with leaven in it shows us that we are to come together not only when there’s no sin (leaven) in the camp. No congregation is perfect. We’d always stay home if we held that religious, self-righteous standard.
Of course, flagrant, rebellious sins like idolatry and sexually immorality should not be allowed in the camp. On the other hand, individuals are called to come out of their homes bringing lechem – bread with puffed up leaven – being not so perfect themselves. As long as we are living in our mortal bodies, we all continue to have a great need for our Savior Yeshua. Only He is the Author and the Finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2).
That’s one reason we need to be refilled and empowered with the Spirit of Elohim (God) as a body of believers periodically. On the other side of the coin, then the Kingdom of Heaven can be likened to leaven in a loaf, when we are filled with His Spirit. (Mat 13:33) Now that’s what I hope and pray many would expect on Shavuot. Anyone out there expecting a special gift of the Spirit as we count the days?
Purpose for His Appointed Times
When we obey His instructions and do come together at His appointed times, we can expect Him to show up and grant us greater victory over the enemies of our souls, than what we could experience when alone. We can expect and believe YHWH for conviction and repentance from sin when His Ruach (Spirit) moves in our midst. When we gather and pray together in His Name, asking Him for the changes so needed in the community, we can expect Him to heal the sick, open blind eyes and set captives free. In short, the
purpose that the Messiah came into the world is now our purpose – to destroy the works of
the devil (1 John 3:8).
Abba may want to deflate the proud and those puffed up with knowledge and breathe in the sweet Spirit of humility. He is working in us the love that builds up the brethren, not what tears others down in self-righteous pride.
We are more victorious in our walk when we meet with like-minded brethren on Shabbat, festivals, work days, retreats, and anywhere His people meet. Know that He loves you and wants to give you a gift on this Feast of Weeks, Shavuot. That gift, I believe, is His Ruach Ha’Qodesh (Holy Spirit) clothing us with the power and inspiring us to be all that we can be as more than conquerors through Him Who loves us
How to Get Unstuck from the Muck
On the other hand, this Torah portion has more to say concerning the curses than the blessings for keeping His statutes. We are warned more on not walking in His chukkot, His customs and appointments. He lines out serious consequences for breaking His commandments. The Torah leaves no gray area.
How do we know that we are not keeping Torah by the Spirit in a way that pleases Him? Bad things will happen. That should put the fear of the Almighty God in every believer. In the midst of Isaiah pronouncing curses and judgment upon a rebellious people, the prophet praises our merciful Father, Who promises stability for His people during the hard times. How can He accomplish that?
YHWH is exalted, for He dwells on high. He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. There will be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. The fear of YHWH is your treasure. (Isa 33:5-6, WEBA)
Even during end-time judgments, we can expect not just to barely make it through to the end, but for an abundance of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. Yeshua is still in the saving business, and especially in our day! For where sin abounded, grace did much
more abound. (Rom 5:20) He will give us the wisdom and know-how to make it through destroyers and betrayal until they are finished – and they will be!
But the real treasure in these days is the fear of YHWH. Precious people are humble, knowing that He is so much greater than us and any power in the world. They tremble at His Word. Blessed are the meek! For they shall inherit the earth. (Psa 37:11) Mat 5:5
Curses come to wake us up that something is really wrong with our relationship with Him, if we are humble enough to acknowledge that reality. It’s like pain in the body, without which we wouldn’t know something was really wrong and in need of healing.
What pains are we experiencing in America today? Moshe prophesied of a country that sounds like the state that America is in today: ‘And you shall perish among the gentiles, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up, and those of you who are left rot away (Hebrew *muk, pine away) in their crookedness in your enemies’ lands, and also in their fathers’ crookednesses rot away (*muk) with them… (Vayiqra 26:38-39)
A sign of the curse is that many Americans are perishing by wasting away in the *muk and mire in the land of our enemies. Why isn’t it more alarming to us that people all around us, even family members, are slowly pining away with all kinds of illnesses, sicknesses, laziness and lethargies?
I confess the sins of my parents and grandparents; I saw many of them slowly waste away at the end of their lives. I was called a ‘wasto’ myself at the time I was saved, delivered and born again. Having discernment from the Torah and the Ruach, I see that much more fruitfulness could have blessed my generation, if we only hadn’t been stuck in the *muck.
So many people today are stuck on morbid TV and internet iniquities and are slowly pining away like we’ve never seen in this country. It is so bad in this country that popular shows in America today are on the walking dead and the zombie apocalypse. GMOs, Chemtrails, pesticides, legal and illegal drugs, alcohol, synthetic snake venom injections, plandemics, and so much more are slowly rotting away the health of the people of this country in epidemic proportions.
Moshe prophesied that rejecting YHWH and His Torah would cause this kind of muck with
amazing detail. I know, I’ve been stuck there. But thank Yah for the Deliverer, the Rock of our Salvation, Yeshua Ha’Mashiyach
Time for Teshuva, This is the Day of Salvation!
It’s high time we wake up and do teshuvah, confess our sins, those of the nation, and those of our forefathers. It’s high time to turn to YHWH heart and soul and seek Him for His mercy to restore covenant relationship with Him. We should make an honest assessment of our lives and allow the Ruach Ha’Qodesh, the Holy Spirit, to convict us where we need to confess our iniquities and those of our fathers. Without humbling ourselves with teshuvah, repentance, He is bound to His Word and will not remember His
covenant with our forefathers and cannot bless us. (Vayiqra 26:40-42).
The Good News is that when we cry out to Abba, wait patiently, and come humbly to Himthrough the finished work of the Messiah, Who paid our punishment for us and redeemed us from the curse of sin and death, Yeshua still delivers the captives from the *muk and the mire and sets feet upon the Rock of our Salvation!
Why wait? This is the day of Salvation! For He says, “In an acceptable time I heard you, and in a day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the acceptable time! Behold, now is the day of salvation!” (Isa 49:8) 2 Cor 6:2
Praise YHWH that He is restoring blessings to us as we keep His appointed times and His commandments out of love for Him in the Spirit of Yeshua our Savior! The Truth sets us free and free indeed as these are the days of release and prophetic times of refreshing.
I waited, waited for YHWH; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. And He drew me out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a Rock, He is establishing my steps. Then He put a new song in my mouth – Praise to our Elohim (God)! Many do see it and fear, and trust in YHWH. Blessed is that man who has made YHWH his trust, and has not turned to the proud, and those turning aside to falsehood. (Psalm 40:1-4)
Now that’s something to praise Him for! It’s a good reason for communities of believers in Yeshua to customarily come together on Shabbat and on the festivals. Praise our Elohim! Blessings BaShem Yeshua HaMashiyach,
David Klug