B’choo-ko-tai:

By My Inscription.

Haftarah:

Jeremiah 16:19-17:14

Brit Chadasha:

Yochanan (John)

14:15-21; 15:10-12; 5:39

Romans 8:27

1 Yochanan (Entire book)

The title of this week’s Torah

portion is B’choo-ko-tai, from the

root word chuqqah. The ‘ch’

sound is pronounced from the

back of the throat, commonly

heard in many of the middle-

eastern Semitic dialects. It is

identified as Strongs number

H2708 the feminine of Strongs

number H2706 or ‘chok’ meaning

an enactment, or appointment (of

time, space, quantity, labor or

usage) an appointed, or

convenient custom, ordinance,

manner, commandment, or

statute.

Custom? Covenant? One in the Same?

It comes from the root word Strongs# H2710 cha qaq, pronounced

khaw-kak' meaning to hack, that is, engrave (Jdg_5:14, to be a scribe

simply); by implication to enact (laws being cut in stone or metal tablets in

primitive times) or (generally) prescribe: - appoint, decree, governor,

grave, lawgiver, note, print, or set.

In studying Strongs #2710 in the Paleo-Hebrew we observe the 2-

letter root word khaw-kak'

The pictograph (chet) is a picture of a wall representing a

separation. The (quf) is a picture of the sun at the horizon representing

the idea of "coming together". Combined these mean "separation and

coming together". A custom brings a people separated together. To inscribe,

or a Custom; also the appointment of a specific time, function or duty. As a

custom is something that is appointed; or to write a decree or custom (seen

translated in the kjv: lawgiver, governor, decree, grave, portray, law,

printed, set, note, appoint| {str: 2710})

The Septuagint relates this word to Strongs# 2045 (Jn.5:39,

Rom.8:27). Other cognate words in the New Testament reveal it having

meanings that reflect that of a ruler (G758), a king (G935), leader (G2233),

and also meaning to write (G1125).

In fact, the corresponding Renewed Covenant reading of the entire

book of 1st John maintains the word ‘grapho’ no less than ten times,

emphasizing the significance of having His Word, His customs and decrees

inscribed upon our hearts is the very thing He uses to draw His people from

out of the nations and back together and unto Himself. This kind of usage

of the word we’ve typically witnessed as a the word used for ‘custom’ now

has opened up to reveal itself as very dramatic—for it speaks the language

of covenant. For HaShem has said ‘And the LORD thy God will make thee

plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the

fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will

again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: If thou

shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his

commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law,

and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all

thy soul. (Deu 30:9-10 KJV)

Yeshua prayed in the book of Yochanan chapter 17 that we would be

one as He and The Father are one. Yeshua has come to bring the people of

YHVH together. And yet we still find the silliest reasons to not hold hands.

At times I cannot help but feel like YHVH is sometimes in the role of a

patient teacher/parent calling across the open field to all of us. Like rowdy

and rambunctious children on the playground we’ve failed quite miserably

to learn that recess was not a time to establish ownership of property,

authority on the court, control of the jungle gym, the swings and the

monkey bars, but was simply an opportunity to learn what every child is

taught from the beginning of school; to play together, to love your

classmates, to be kind, to laugh together—to be to—geth—er.

He has called us to focus on the ‘weightier’ matters; The simple

truth—which is not to be mistaken as easy either beloved, nevertheless we

have been shown is that the truth we have been commanded to walk in

brings both blessings and curses. Yeshua, the Living Torah Scroll has

echoed it from the beginning.

The Shebet—the Scepter—The Staff—The Rod

Look at the following verse and tell me based on the paleo reference and

John chapter 17 if it now makes even more sense, ‘The scepter (shebet,

,meaning rod, staff, club, scepter, tribe) shall not depart from Judah, nor

the ruler's staff (chaqaq, meaning: to cut in, inscribe, decree, lawgiver—in

other words the authority symbolized by the staff) from between his feet,

until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples’.

(Gen 49:10 NAS)

We’ve known that Shiloh has been a symbolic reference to Messiah,

the 3-letter root ‘Shin-Lamed-Heh’ declares it even; Shin meaning again,

Lamed meaning Shepherd, or Shepherd’s authority by way of the staff, and

Heh meaning to reveal pictographically declares ‘The Shepherd is revealed

again by way of His Staff’. In other words, He’s already come once as the

suffering servant and shepherd, but He is coming again, and when He

returns He will be ‘clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is

called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in

fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. And from

His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations;

and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of

the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He

has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

(Rev 19:13-16 NAS) But in Genesis 49:10 we see the word ‘khaw-kak’

meaning custom, decree, lawgiver, and inscribe is the same word translated

as ruler’s staff. The authority of Messiah is revealed symbolically in the

Shepherd’s Staff as it is His chosen instrument to direct, correct, and

protect His flock. Aaron, the first high priest in the Levite priesthood,

verified by way of his staff, inscribed with the name of his tribe. ‘And

behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of

Holies, having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered

on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and

Aaron's rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant’. (Heb 9:3-

4 NAS)

The inscribed word is said to be between Judah’s feet. At the

beginning of this Torah portion we read that ‘If we will walk…this is a call

to action. God calls us to ‘walk’ in His Word, implying motion. In the

English we have a colloquialism many would agree is a distant cousin.

When we say we need to apply life’s lessons, we say we’re going to ‘put it

into shoe-leather’. It is a decisive call to action and make no mistake

brother Judah has been given charge of the way much of that is going to

look because God’s Word has been placed between Judah’s ‘feet’ and given

charge of the scepter, the symbol of God’s authority, until Shiloh returns, at

which time Messiah’s feet will touch down; and He will return this time not

as the suffering servant, but as the warrior King, come to destroy the

nations that have rejected His call, having refused to ‘walk’ in it at which

point His Shepherd’s Staff will.

An Appeal to Sanity

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree they say. They say that because

they are us and if we are honest with ourselves then we should see the

uncanny resemblance in our cumbersome misguided footfalls and those of

our ancestors. Today’s religion is styled a la carte. You pick what you prefer,

and tell yourself it’s good for you because it looks like a vegetable—but you

know that’s a lie because it’s been deep-fried in chicken fat and had 800

milligrams of salt added before it even reached your plate. Well-meaning,

good salt-of-the-earth folks, folks that will die for The LORD are just as

guilty often times of the very same things we are. We assume. We assume

that we don’t have to follow the commandments; that they really aren’t for

us today, but in truth YHVH continually declares to us IF we will walk in

His commandment, THEN He will bless us, provide for us, protect us, keep

us healthy and so forth. We would rather die on the vine shouting hallelu-

Yah for the blood but remain stiff-necked as ever before we start to put His

Word into shoe-leather! Isn’t that true now? We would rather sing about

clinging to the Ole’ Rugged Cross than just go ahead and die to ourselves,

embrace a resurrected life created by YHVH for us to live, and finally start

living the rest of our days as saved men! This is man’s predicament isn’t it?

Well isn’t it? We have so many micro-divisions because we prefer to split

hairs or condemn someone else so harshly or on the other hand we might

be so wishy-washy we don’t want to draw the line on anything. Adam and

Chava walked in the fear of Adonai. The seed of pride was planted in the

hearts of Chava and Adam, and ever since we have been battling whether to

walk in the counsel of God, man, or confused how to differentiate between

the two!

Put the Fear of God in You!

In the book of the prophet Jeremiah YHVH says ‘40 I will make with

them an everlasting covenant not to turn away from them, but to do them

good; I will put fear of me in their hearts, so that they will not leave me.

(Jer 32:40 CJB) We read in the book of Hebrews that being moved with a

Holy Fear ‘7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen,

in reverence (Holy Fear) prepared an ark for the salvation of his household

(Heb 11:7 NAS) He listened to YHVH out of Holy Fear. God told him what

was coming and in humility and faithful trusting Noah ‘prepared’ an Ark of

salvation for him and his family and God protected them through the

storm. How about you? Are you preparing? Are you allowing your heart to

be moved with Holy fear? A heart void of reverence is doomed for the same

outcome that happened to Israel when they compromised their Holy Fear.

29 'Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep

all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their

sons forever! (Deu 5:29 NAS)

Like Trampled Heads of Grain

If we obey He is going to make us fruitful, multiply us, and Confirm

His Covenant with us—but if we ‘frustrate’ Him by rejecting walking in His

Chukkim and Mitzvot, well now, that right there is a bird of a different

color. He says ‘if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul abhors

My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, and so break

My covenant,

16 I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you a sudden

terror, consumption and fever that shall waste away the eyes and cause the

soul to pine away; also, you shall sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies

shall eat it up. (Lev 26:15-16 NAS) The word there used for ‘break’ in verse

15 is parar and is comprised of a Pey, and two

Reshs. The two-letter root is a Pey and one Resh.

Pey in the Paleo is a picture of an Open mouth.

The Resh is a picture of a man’s head.

Translated pictographically together they mean

open the head and specifically refers to the trampling of grain by a bull on

the threshing room floor as the heads of grain are opened and threshed by

the bulls. This is what we do when we frustrate YHVH by not walking in His

inscribed Word. We essentially trample it making it of no effect, and where

it concerns a contract, in this case His Covenant, we are the ones who make

it null and void! We trample His word beloved if we soft-pedal God’s truth

to a heart yet dull to Him. If we are His priests and a holy nation then we

are not only called to be blessed but we are called to serve YHVH. YHVH

says ‘13 'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt

so that you should not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and

made you walk erect. (Lev 26:13 NAS) He broke the bars of our yoke so that

we should not be their slaves. Whose slaves? Egypt’s! But now He says

because you ‘18having been freed from sin, you became slaves of

righteousness. (Rom 6:18 NAS)

So what is the route back to restoration? He says if your

uncircumcised heart becomes humbled…uncircumcised in the Hebrew

comes from Strongs# H6188 and is the word ‛a re l or aw-rale' and literally

means the foreskin is exposed, specifically to be naked. Who else had to

stand naked before God before they could be covered by Him again? He

called out to Him as if He couldn’t see Him, but He already saw and He

already knew, He was just giving him a chance to tell the truth. Adam,

where are you son? Isn’t that like our Heavenly Father? He already sees,

already knows, but He leaves a door for us to come back. With a heart of

humility we can come back and be restored.

Real Humility

Have you ever considered what humility really is? They say a picture is

worth a thousand words. Let me show you something my Father drew for

you. In the pictographic language of Paleo

Hebrew, Humility is revealed to us in

the 3-letter root word of the Kaf, the

Nun, and the Ayin. Strongs# 3665, it

is pronounced kaw-nah', and it means

to lower, or to subdue. But when we

examine the Paleo we receive much

more, so much more. Kaf is an open palm. The Nun is a picture of the seed,

and the Ayin, a picture of the eye means ‘to be lowered’ or a bundle as

carrying a bundle or load on the shoulders causes a person to become bent

over and lowered. But if we examine the two-letter root word found in the

Kaf and the Nun we see a deeper word picture forming. The Kaf means the

open hand and the Nun means the seed. Together they mean to stand, to

take root, sure, and base. Pictographically translated it means the ‘opening

of a seed’, and when the seed opens—the roots begin to form the base of the

plant by going down into the soil. The plant then can rise out of the ground

forming the stalk of the plant because of the strong root system which

supports it. The Ayin comes in because it means to know or to observe and

to understand. So what are we coming to understand then? It is the fact

that the way we can remain united in right standing covenantal

relationship with YHVH by way of humbling ourselves before Him. By

doing so He becomes our root that feeds and nurtures us on the land and

causes us to thrive and bear fruit! Notice though that it always comes back

to the heart? The heart is the mechanism that all of this is possible. It is like

the piece of land that YHVH’s covenant can flourish and so we have to be

sure to tend it, to work the land daily and keep it clear of those things that

would choke out God’s ability to establish a strong root system in our lives

so that we can thrive. ‘18 do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you

are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the

root supports you. (Rom 11:18 NAS)

In the book of Romans Paul is making an appeal to both Jews and

non-Jews, emphasizing our focus should not be on what we think we

should be entitled to, rather become humble because we don’t stand on our

own, we’ve been grafted in and it is He, the ‘Root of Jesse’ from the line of

David, Yeshua the Messiah who supports us and that not of ourselves. And

when we consider that none of us are Lone Rangers, that all of us are able

to thrive because He supplies our needs, we are all operating with a heart of

humility and gratitude and can then become echad, or one because we are

now not being prideful, but moving in the spirit of reverence, loving one

another as we read in First John three, ‘16 The way that we have come to

know love is through his having laid down his life for us. And we ought to

lay down our lives for the brothers! 17 If someone has worldly possessions

and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how can he be

loving God? 18 Children, let us love not with words and talk, but with

actions and in reality! 19 Here is how we will know that we are from the

truth and will set our hearts at rest in his presence:’ (1Jo 3:16-19 CJB)

Through the humble heart..moved to action, obeying His inscribed word

upon our heart. Let us continue beloved, because this is how YHVH

teaches His priesthood how to draw near to Him!