Parashat B'Har
("On the Mountain")

Mt. Sinai, though outside the Land of Israel, is connected to it, because the numerical value of Sinai is the same as that of the Hebrew word sullam--a staircase (as seen in Gen. 28:12), and that specific one was at the site of the Temple on the only other mountain specifically called YHWH’s, Yeshayahu 2:3 et al. A staircase allows us to ascend higher toward YHWH, and the commands given here are for the same purpose.

The Land: Israel is a living land in a way that no other is. It, too, is granted a mandatory time of rest. The principle of leaving the land fallow can be beneficial elsewhere, but it is not mandated. His Land is to do what its people do, because it corresponds to us and is symbolic of His covenant people. If we do not observe this Sabbath, the Land will not be able to either. So how do we get there? Ask Him to show us His way (or path), as Moshe did. (Ex. 33:13ff) In response YHWH said His presence would go with Moshe. This meant he had to keep moving. The first step toward arriving there is recognizing that it belongs to Him just as we do. It is not like any other land we could acquire, or, by extension, anything we want for ourselves. Like Avram, we need to leave behind “our own land” to enter His. But how do we then know which path is His? Y’shua said to enter at the “upright” gate, because the way is narrow and difficult or pressing. (Mat. 7:13ff) As we saw in chapter 24, Israelites are most fruitful under pressure. But Prov. 14:12 warns us that there is a way that seems “upright” but ends in death. Y’shua was speaking of this very context. The preceding verse speaks of the house of the wicked but the tent of the upright—again a picture of Israelites on the move following YHWH’s cloud rather than expecting YHWH to come to where we are. And 14:2 defines uprightness as fearing YHWH—the beginning of knowledge (Prov. 1:7), including knowledge of how to get to His Land both literally and figuratively.

As with the weekly sabbath, there is a command to indeed work during the other six years; without this, the ceasing in the seventh means little. After any six units of struggle and toil, the pattern always has in the seventh a taste of the Kingdom, for it is the seventh millennium. The sowing itself is a picture that relates to the restoration of the image of Elohim that Adam lost. Y’shua said that He, the “Son of Adam”, was the one who sowed the “sons of the Kingdom” into the world (Mat. 13:37, 38) for the purpose of bringing about a mature new Adam. (Ephesians 4) The process of the harvest correlates with each of the "spiritual gifts" listed there: An evangelist harvests, a pastor/shepherd threshes, a teacher winnows, a prophet roasts, YHWH Himself does the crushing, then the apostle sifts the grain until it is so fine that none sticks to the flesh. In Yirmiyahu 31 the sowing is related to the Renewed Covenant, as the sowing had been related to the scattering of the northern kingdom of Israel among the nations in Hoshea 1 and 2.

This practice (called shmittah in Hebrew) is unthinkable in an agrarian society! There was not sufficient industry of other sorts to trade with other nations for adequate food, but this was precisely the intent. According to Deuteronomy 4:11, the people were actually standing UNDER this same mountain (v. 1), and a rabbinic tradition (which agrees easily with Velikovsky's catastrophic view of how major an astronomical/ gravitational event the Exodus was) says the mountain was lifted up and the community of Israel stood beneath it as a bride and groom stand beneath the chuppah (wedding canopy). The Torah, given there on Shavuoth, was the ketubah, or betrothal contract. The mountain hung over their heads as a threat if they did not obey, but Y'shua said that if one had faith, he could say to THIS mountain, "Be removed". (Mat. 21:21) If we have faith, the threat of the Torah is removed. In the same way, in order to obey this command especially, one needs a lot of faith--enough to believe that YHWH will indeed provide for three years in one harvest. (See v. 21.) For one with no faith, this is a frightening thought indeed. For one who trusts YHWH, what could be more liberating? Indeed, His law is called "the perfect law of liberty" (Yaaqov/James 1:25; cf. v. 10). It is not something one HAS to carry out, but a privilege one GETS to experience! A whole year of not having to work in the fields means one has time to study YHWH's word to his heart's content. What freedom! Why, while the world lives for "the day off", is the command to cease laboring for a day considered legalism?! What morbid reasoning! What we've always wanted--a respite from the sweat of the brow--is not only permitted, but actually mandated, and this is perceived as bondage?!

Make the grapes...inaccessible: the Hebrew phrase includes the nuance of fencing them off. It also relates to storing them up in any sort of private hoard. This open access is another foretaste of the return to the Garden of Eden. Untrimmed vines: the same word as a Nazirite, who left his hair untrimmed during his vow of separation unto YHWH. Interestingly enough, the Nazirite was not to partake of the fruit of the vine--perhaps because he himself represented such a vine.

Hence the tradition of inviting the needy to share one’s Sabbath dinner.

Here is an interesting incentive for obeying the command to leave the corners of the fields ungleaned for the needy and the sojourner: in the sabbatical year, EVERYONE is needy! We are all on equally insecure footing, humanly speaking. Also, what is not gleaned becomes the seed for "what grows on its own", so the more generous one is during the normal years, the more there will be naturally planted for his own security in that year. It is like Yoseyf's preparation for the famine. Yet, in the final analysis, one does not trust in one's storehouses or what one leaves behind, for it is out of his control, and "treasures laid up on earth" can be consumed by vermin or stolen or ruined by disasters. If this is what we trust, it is probably what will happen. Instead, we lay up treasures in heaven by our generosity, trusting YHWH to repay as we need it.

This event would generally happen at least once in every individual's lifetime. As we have words in English for pairs, decades, etc., in Hebrew years are grouped into sevens, to correspond with the weekly cycle of seven days and the 7,000-year cycle of human history that ends with a sabbatical millennium. This cycle of seven sevens until physical liberation corresponds with the seven weeks of "counting the measure" from the Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest, culminating in Shavuoth (Pentecost), when both the letter of the Torah and the Spirit were given, resulting in spiritual liberty. Scientists have found a similar pattern in nature, which they have termed the maintenance factor which "resets all the clocks".

Shofar: the horn of an ibex or wild mountain goat or sheep. Resound: or pass through, based on the same root word as "Hebrew"--one who crosses over; LXX, "make a proclamation". During ordinary years the trumpets are sounded only on the Day of the Awakening Blast, but the Day of Atonement is prophetically linked with the Day of Judgment, and what could be a better picture of the justice of that day at the commencement of the Kingdom than the restoration of all things to the way they were originally. This is the watchword for Israel in our day--for the spirit of Eliyahu will "restore all things". This also correlates with the day of Yehudah's mourning being turned into a day of feasting.

10. "‘and you shall set the fiftieth year apart [as holy] and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a yovel to you: every man of you shall return to his ancestral heritage. Yes, each of you shall return to his [own] clan.

Liberty: release, "running free", or the "free flowing of myrrh" in Hebrew. Yovel: not the blowing of trumpets as an action, but the sound it makes. From this we derive the word "jubilee". Yoseyf's returning to the place of his birth allowed Y'shua to be born in Beth Lechem, fulfilling Micha's prophecy; the return of the House of another Yoseyf to our roots prepares the way for his second advent. And those "devout Jews" who came to Yerushalayim for that pivotal Shavuot described in Acts chapter 2 never did return to those foreign lands where they had dwelt, but stayed on in community in the holy city--another foreshadowing of the fulness of restoration that will come when Y'shua returns. YHWH told Noach that mankind's limit was 120 years; there will have been 120 sets of 50 years from creation to the time the Kingdom begins, and Man's rule will be over; YHWH's "Great Sabbath" will begin.

The need for faith doubles, because yet another year in a row is added in which there is no crop planted. Awakening blast (teruah, v. 9) can be translated either "alarm" or "shout of joy". The Day of Atonement is the Day of Judgment if you are on the wrong side of the equation. But when we count ourselves dead to sin, and thus dead to self, it is so we can count ourselves alive to YHWH; the Day the slaves go free is the Day we choose whom we will serve; we can never truly serve self. We are no longer slaves to the Land in order to feed our bellies; instead the Land becomes our servant. Following one law makes us free from the other (Romans 6-8). Teruah is the same term used of the Feast of Trumpets, which is associated with the resurrection of the dead. 1 Thess. 4:16 tells us the Messiah's return will be accompanied by a shout and a trumpet blast, which will indeed be a cause for alarm to those who are not ready for it, but an unspeakable joy to those who, being ready, "love his appearing". Likewise, the yovel is a terror to those who, selfishly, want to hold onto their slaves, but a glorious liberation to those who are being set free. Although there is a powerful theme of the restoration of private property during this year, there is also a sense in which no crops are privately owned during this year; everything belongs to the whole community. This is the perfect balance of justice in which there is total "shalom"--right is done to everyone, wealthy and poor alike. The number 50 is the numeric value of haAdam—the Man—for it is a foreshadowing of our return to our original possession in Eden. It is also the value of “His blood”, and the word yovel means, at root, to flow—for it is the flow of Y’shua’s blood that made it possible to one day get back to the Garden.

Increase: crops, yield. Aramaic, "eat only the produce directly from the field.

Malachi's final statement that before the Great and Terrible Day of YHWH, (the spirit of) Eliyahu would be sent back again to turn the hearts of the children back to the fathers, and the father back to the children, is strongly reminiscent of this verse. Returning from whatever has taken us away will strengthen the ties to our roots and the bonds to our family, since all one’s neighbors will now again be of one’s own tribe. (Remember that Y’shua said Hi strue family, though, is whoever does YHWH’s will, and as we return to our heritage as Israel;, this is the company we will keep, for the rest of Israel’s descendants will not return. Being back on the Land allotted to our family also returns us to the particular job YHWH intended for us, since certain areas are only suitable for certain types of crops or pasture.

Oppress: exploit or take advantage of. YHWH is starting to establish standards for what must and must not go on in His Land. He will kick out those who try to increase their own profit at their brothers’ expense.

16. "‘You shall increase or lower the price according to whether there are many or few years [left until the next yovel], because he is [really] selling you the number of crops.

In other words, pro-rating is a righteous concept. He can never truly sell the land away, but only its crop potential. This is essentially sharecropping. It is the basis for Navoth's refusal to sell his vineyard to King Ahav. (1 Kings 21) Navoth's name itself means "produce", from a root word meaning "sprout or germinate [abundantly] into increase."

I am: I.e., by acting this way, we become like Him.

"Carry out...observe...carry out...": This is the recipe for true security. It is not enough to just obey, or just to obey and learn from it, because what we learn from obedience to the Torah's commands is how to more generally love one another as ourselves and how to become a united community that fulfills the image of Elohim that Y'shua, its Head, began. And this entails a new level of acting on His words. Only as we truly become that community can we dwell in the land securely (lit., boldly, with a carefree heart, in confidence that our neighbor will not wrong us because we will not wrong him). If we "labor to enter His rest", letting ourselves be judged by the two-edged sword of His word, we can come boldly before the throne of grace. (Hebrews 4:11-16) Any other sort of "security" is merely a lure into a life of bondage. Observe: also means “guard”. I.e., once you realize what a treasure His commands are, we need to fence them off so no one can take them from us. This includes setting limits to remove ourselves from things that encourage the indulgence of our selfish desires.

The tree is known by its fruit, and the Messiah's Body is known by its love for one another.

This is not a question of doubt, but of information and request, because “you do not have because you do not ask” (Yaaqov 4:2) We need the pressure that pushes us to depend on Him, but this does not mean we are allowed the luxury of worry. It is the cue to ask Him to provide and be confident that He will.

This is another test, like the Manna on the sixth day, of our obedience, which bespeaks trust in Him. The sixth year's crop is greater than ever--but He will ordain only after we ask. It is only promised if we indeed ask for it. "You have not because you ask not." (Yaaqov 4:2) YHWH places us in situations from which there is no logical way out so that we will give him an open door to show what He can do for those who trust Him enough to obey. If we do not trust well enough that He will only give us good gifts, we prove not to deserve His best. Paul told Timotheos that laws are made for those who are lawless. As the law of aerodynamics can override the law of gravity without canceling it, when we follow YHWH's order and align with His way of escape, we can have a foretaste of the release from the curse (the sweat of the brow) and freedom from the oppression of the "elemental spirits of the world". (See Col. 2:8ff)

23. "‘The Land shall not be sold permanently, because the land is Mine, and you are My guests and tenants.

Permanently: beyond reclaim. It is His, but we get it back—just like land ownership under a king’s rule. He lets us keep and use the Land as long as we follow the rules of tenantship. If not, He has every right to evict us, which He did, yet promised that the seed scattered to all nations would one day be regathered back into the Land for the honor of His name, since this will far overshadow the Exodus in its greatness. (Yirmiyahu/ Jeremiah 16:14ff) Guests: another reminder that we are to “live in tents”, for He wants to bring us all the way back to Eden, where we began, and if we set down roots along the way, we cannot keep moving.

Grant: or, make provision for.

Sold away: to pay off a debt. Should redeem: in order to keep the Land in the family. This right of redemption is an important Hebraic concept, because it set the stage for Y’shua buying us back after we’d sold ourselves into sin and the false security system of being just one more of the nations of the world.

Hand has grown longer: i.e., he finds another way to increase his means and pay his debt; LXX, "if...he prosper with his hand".

An Israelite has not only the right, but the obligation, to fill his proper position.

The property will be restored regardless of whether one attempts to redeem it beforehand. This parallels a great wall of separation that is being built in our day between those who just wait for the "rapture" or say, "We'll still be saved no matter how we live, because of YHWH's grace", and those who want things to be as right as they can be in the meantime, selling all for the "pearl of great price" and "buying back" the land of our own hearts as quickly as we possibly can. As soon as we can "afford" it--as soon as there are enough undefiled stones available, YHWH's altar must be built so the rest may be purified as well. As the yovel approached, it became more affordable to buy back both one's own land and that of his brothers. The apostles, at a Shavuoth long ago, began this process, and perhaps they could "afford" it in their day, but they were only Yehudah. They had to go out and find the rest of the tribes before the Kingdom could really begin. The burden was a tremendous one, but now, perhaps as for those hired at the eleventh hour in Y'shua's parable, the task is within reach, so it must by all means be finished.

30. "‘But if it is not redeemed by the time a full year is up, then the house in the walled city shall become confirmed permanently as the buyer's dwelling; it shall not be released in the yovel.

Those who buy into the city, like Lot, become part of it, choosing to gain their livelihood through trade rather than agriculture. Nothing can ever make a citizen back out of it, but once you sell out of it, you cannot get back in either. Those who taste the power of the world to come--who put their hand to the plow, in this season's terms--are not permitted to look back. We have burned our bridges, and given up our rights to one life in order to partake of another. Those who live within a wall are a picture of those who have chosen visible security over living out in the open where only YHWH can protect them. But denominations are also like walled cities. They seem to provide a system of answers, but then they do not let us move when YHWH’s cloud moves on as it so often does, and the energy goes into the “party” structure rather than into serving one another.

Villages: or "courtyards"--perhaps similar because of the way they were laid out. In the open country, we are open to the attack of an enemy. But this is how all of Israel is now—a tiny land surrounded by hostility on every side. If you are not willing to trust in YHWH, it is a terrifying place and you will find no rest there. It is foolish even to go. But once we realize that we need miracles to survive there and we cannot defend ourselves, we are free to rest and have our Sabbath, and we will. (Compare Psalm 23:5; Prov. 3:24)

33. "‘So whatever anyone purchases from the Levites [as ransom] shall be released in the yovel--the sale of a house or the city of their possession--because the cities of the Levites are their inheritance among the descendants of Israel.

34. "‘And the fields of open [common] land belonging to their cities may not be sold, because it is their eternal inheritance.

"Common land belonging to...": This sounds contradictory, but the land of the Levites was not to grow food on, because they received that as the tithes of the rest of the nation; it was used to raise sacrificial animals. It was "common" because flocks wander from place to place, but only those from that particular city would have grazing rights there. Eternal: The Torah will not permit Israel to give any of it to a Palestinian nation.

Hand has been dislodged: LXX, "fail in his resources"; i.e., no longer be able to afford it. Live: or, be revived. He is given respite from normal responsibilities in order to have space to catch up on his debts, but this is not freeloading either. He must still pay—but only “at cost”, with no profit to the lender. With you: Aramaic, "by you". He is not to be a freeloader; this is a loan, not a gift. (YHWH does not want His people to be the kind that people expect to be beggars.) But his brothers are also responsible to see that he does not need to move away from Israel (for the tribes all need each other) nor sell himself to a foreigner in order to pay his debts.

Interest or bonus: Aramaic, "advance or accrued interest".

A bite: an idiom for usury.

39. "‘So if your brother [who dwells] with you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to the service of a slave,

Poor: LXX, "lowered". Sells himself: This is the type of slavery the Israelites practiced--that someone could pay off his debts through work when he was unable to pay with money or goods. Our older brother Y'shua was endowed with richness of spirit so that he could redeem us from the bondage to the flesh which we imposed on ourselves by choosing to walk in the ways of the Gentiles instead of living as Israel.

42. "‘because they are My servants, which I brought forth from the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold the way a slave [is sold].

The reason given is not that it is wrong to own a slave or that all human beings ar to be treated with equal dignity (which is not true according to v .44), but because the Israelites in particular belong directly to YHWH. We are our brother's keepers as well; if it is in our power and we have the right to redeem, we are not to allow anyone of His to remain enslaved (see vv. 47-49).

44. "‘Any slave or bondwoman you have must come from the nations that are around you; from them you may purchase slaves or bondwomen.

No Israelite is to be enslaved, but others may be. While this does not seem politically correct in our day, and to some extent this value of compassionate treatment of all men does stem from a desire to extend YHWH's blessings to others, still He never required this, and to despise as sinful those who practice otherwise may be harsher treatment than He calls for. All people are not counted as equal by YHWH if they do not choose to become part of the community of Israel. A way has been provided for anyone to be nothing but an Israelite, but if they feel no need to make this a priority, they do not receive any of the benefits that come with it. Is a "part-time" Christian Zionist really any different from an "Arab Israeli"? Both keep one foot outside Israel "just in case". However, the rest of Scripture defines the relationship of a master to slave in an Israelite household. The slave is not to be mistreated at will, but is considered like one of the children—having no authority but treated like one of the family and having all his needs met while he serves.

Foreigners: the Aramaic Targum Onqelos adds "uncircumcised".

47. "‘And if a sojourner or foreigner with you grows rich, and your brother [who dwells] by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner [who is] with you or to the offspring of the sojourner's clan,

Offspring of the sojourner: the Aramaic interprets this as referring only to those who revert to heathenism; LXX: "a proselyte by extraction". Whatever their customs may have been, the Land has its own rules, and while they live there they must abide by them.

The story of Ruth is a vivid example of this, and a foreshadowing of Y'shua, who came to seek out and buy back the lost sheep of the House of Israel, who voluntarily gave up their right to be part of the covenant, and so had to have it bought back by a relative who is still in good standing.

50. "‘And he and his purchaser together shall calculate from the year he was sold until the year of the yovel, and the price of his sale shall be commensurate with the number of years; it shall be [considered] for him like the days of a hired man.

Price: literally, "silver".

Weigh out: or divide; Aramaic, "return".

53. "‘As a hired [hand] he shall be with him year by year, and he shall not subjugate him with cruelty in your eyes,

Subjugate him with cruelty: Aram., "work him ruthlessly". It is the responsibility of the rest of the sons of Israel to watch out that no one among them is treated this way.

55. "‘because the descendants of Israel are servants unto Me; they are My servants, whom I brought forth from the land of Egypt. I am YHWH your Elohim.

Israel is His wife; none of His people may sell themselves off to anyone else permanently.

CHAPTER 26

Make: literally, accomplish. Worthless illusions: one Hebrew term for an idol, rooted in the word for “not”. So this could just as well be translated, “things that are not”. I.e., though they are depicted with these physical representations, they cannot endure because they do not really exist. Either they are all in one's mind or they depend on something else for their existence, and therefore cannot truly help their worshippers. They are delusions, and as such, in our day when physical idols are hardly the vogue, they also represent unrealistic ideas that we worship—security, for example. Carved images: the LXX interprets it as "gods made with hands". Memorial pillars: "standing stones", not forbidden in all cases, for Yaaqov, Moshe, and Y'hoshua set some up, and in the Kingdom there will be at least one dedicated to YHWH in Egypt (Yesh./Isa. 19:19). They may have words written on them, but may never be carved into images or be worshipped themselves. Establish: literally, give—i.e., not just do them yourself, but teach others to do the same. Imaginary showpieces of stone: the root word is "image", and in Psalm 73:7 the Hebrew term is used of wishful thinking. The root word means “watchtower”, and comes from a still older root meaning to surmount. The term for “stone” means the kind that can be used for building, so the scenario here is again of a stronghold built in our heads or hearts. A tower built to surmount—that is an allusion to the Tower of Bavel, which aimed to circumvent YHWH’s ability to judge again, so men could be in control. 2 Cor. 10:4-6 paraphrases this very passage: “The weapons of our warfare are not physical, but powerful for YHWH to pull down strongholds, demolishing imaginations and every high thing that raises itself up against the knowledge of Elohim, and bringing every though into captivity to the obedience of Messiah.” He is the “strong tower” that YHWH has established; any other needs to be undermined. Instead of these thi9ngs that “accomplish nothing”, what should we spend our energies on? The things that do endure. What does YHWH say lasts forever? His mercy (giving preference to others, Ps. 100:5); His faithfulness (reliability, Ps. 100:5); His righteousness (the things He says are right to do, Ps. 111:3); His righteous judgments (social rulings by which Israel must live, Ps. 119:60); His praise (Ps. 111:10); the remembrance of His Name (Ps. 135:13); the Word of YHWH (which is both Torah and Y’shua, 1 Kefa/Peter 1:25); and His kingdom and reign (Ps. 145:13). Doing these things instead of following our natural selfish inclinations and merely personal wishes is the way to pull down the other strongholds that control our minds, and in turn take back the control of our tongue, which Yaaqov/James says means we are in control of our whole bodies. So how do we accomplish these things? He immediately gives us the keys:

Stand in awe: We should not have respect for anything He does not respect, but what He has established, we must recognize and do homage to. Only on the sabbath, the festivals, and the New Moon was the gate opened so that one could see--and thus stand in awe of--His Temple. They are all pictures of the Kingdom. Through them, we learn what His Body --the real temple--is [to be] like.