Shalom!

 
Suddenly this week we have jumped ahead 38 years, and without really noticing we have lost almost an entire generation. The focus has turned to the second generation of people who will be the Israelites blessed to enter the Promised Land. There's a sadness to it all, however. The generation that experienced deliverance from Egypt, walked through the Red Sea, became betrothed to the Almighty on Mt. Sinai, ate the manna and drank the water from the Rock, brought the articles for the Tabernacle, together built it and saw it filled with His Glory...this generation will not be led into the Promised Land. In fact, YHWH uses these strong words to speak about this extraordinary group of people:
 
Psalm 95:10 For forty years I loathed that generation; I said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known My ways."
 

Honestly, this leaves me speechless and fearful, as we know -

 
1 Corinthians 10:11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
 
Perhaps Shaul (Paul) had this in mind when he made the comment:
 
1 Corinthians 9:27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
 

So, now we are ready to begin to focus on this second generation of the sons and daughters of Israel, those chosen and privileged to enter the Promised Land. First, where we get the name of our Torah parashat, Chukat and some thoughts on it's meaning:

 
Bemidbar/Numbers 19:2 "This is the ordinance (chukat) of the Torah which YHWH has commanded, saying: 'Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come.
 
Torah teacher Barry Phillips (Remnant of Israel) gave some great insights on Torah round table discussion with Mike Clayton (Foundations for Life Korach).
 
The root of Chukat (statutes, ordinances) is chukah, which means to engrave or inscribe by cutting in. Like with a hammer and a chisel and carving into a piece of marble or stone. The idea is that something has been carved or etched. So if you take the Torah and you write it on paper with ink by hand, you'd have a layer of paper and an imposed layer of ink…but they're still separate. But when you engrave something, then you are removing part of the stone to reveal what it is that you're writing on it. But it's all stone, actually something has been taken away. In regards to the Holy Spirit writing the Torah on our heart, so it becomes our very inclination, He is taking out that part of us that is resistant to His decrees. So the Torah is inscribed or engraved upon us, and the resistant part of our hearts is being removed so that we will become agreeable to what it is that He is inscribing.
 
This week, the chukah we are given pertains to the preparation of special waters of cleansing with which will be used to bring people from a spiritually "unclean" (tamai) status to a "clean" (tahor) status. To the burning flesh of the red heifer, they were told to add cedar wood, hyssop and cloth stained with scarlet dye.
 
Bemidbar/Numbers 19:6 'And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer.
 
William Bullock (Korach Day One) gives his thoughts:
 
A chukah is purely relational. A chukah is not aimed at the mind of man but the heart of man.
 
A chukah is not about His Priorities like a mishpat (judgment), nor is it about visible evidence of our distinct covenant identity like a mitzvah (instruction for living). A chukah is a response of deep intimacy and unquestioning, childlike faith - something a good friend, respectful servant, or passionate lover does when prompted without needing or even desiring an explanation as to why.
 
A chukah is something a bride who is deeply in love with and completely trusts her bridegroom does simply because her bridegroom asks her to. A chukah is something we do simply because we trust our Bridegroom and believe that if we do exactly what He says, even if we do not understand it, He will cause something to happen in the Heavenly realm that will accomplish significant Kingdom purposes. Each time we see a chukah in Scripture, what we should see beyond the words on the page is our Bridegroom-King holding His Hand out to us, smiling at us with tender affection, and saying 'Do you trust me?' Each chukah, you see, provides a unique test of trust and of love. Each offers a passageway or portal from the naturally seen and understood, temporal realm of this world, into the hidden but eternal realm of the Kingdom of Heaven.
 
We are called upon by the chukah of Torah to lean not on our own understanding, but to trust in the Holy One with all our hearts and to let Him direct our paths.
 
The ashes are then gathered up, added to living water and used for a special cleansing:
 
Bemidbar/Numbers 19:9 'Then a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the water of purification; it is for cleansing.
 
The tabernacle was YHWH's "spiritual space" that He placed in our physical realm to enable Him to dwell among us. No one in an impure state could enter. The chukah of the red heifer sacrifice and the cleansing water allowed His people to make themselves spiritually clean in order to enter into "His space."
 
Zechariah connects a fountain of water in the Millennium to be the solution for sin and uncleanness:
 
Zechariah 13:1 "In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
 
Isaiah may hint at the source of this fountain:
 
Isaiah 58:11 YHWH will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
 
What originally fed the watered garden?
 
Bereshith/Genesis 2:10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden...
 
Waters for cleansing, living water, and water from the rock - it all connects back to Eden, and as Yeshua shows us - to salvation.
 
John 7:38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
 
Isaiah 12:2 Behold, El is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; 'For YAH, YHWH, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.' " 3 Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation. 4 And in that day you will say: "Praise YHWH, call upon His name; Declare His deeds among the peoples, Make mention that His name is exalted.
 
In Ezekiel's vision (Ezekiel 47:1-12), we read of the vast size of the rivers of living water of the future and the trees of life that feeds from it:
 
Ezekiel 47:1 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. 2 He brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces east; and there was water, running out on the right side. 3 And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles. 4 Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up to my waist. 5 Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. 6 He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river. 7 When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. 8 Then he said to me: "This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. 9 "And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes. 10 "It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. 11 "But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt. 12 "Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine."
 
Revelation 22:1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of Yah and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
 
And also - the Bible ends with "the free gift of the water of life" -
 
Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
 
And just one more thing. The ashes of the red heifer, added to the living water made for "clean water". There's only one other place I could find this "tahor" clean water sprinkled on the children of Israel. And it happens to be right after He gathers the exiled Israel out of the four corners of the earth and brings them home:
 
Ezekiel 36:24 "For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
 
And all this is followed by a final step of grace and mercy:
 
Ezekiel 36:26 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 "Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your Elohim. 29 "I will deliver you from all your uncleanness.
 
Amen.
 
Shabbat Shalom!
Ardelle