Chukat/Balak | Erev Shabbat: Ordinance of/Balak

Join us for our Erev Shabbat service we will be going through the weekly teachings from Monte Judah. This week's teaching will cover a double portion. First, Chukat - “Chukat” (Ordinance of) talks of the mysterious rite of the Red Heifer. This particular sacrifice is burned outside the camp. Its ashes are then sprinkled in water to make the “waters of purification.” If a person would become defiled by coming in contact with a dead person or animal, he would have to be cleansed from this defilement by being sprinkled with the waters of purification. Then he would be able to go to the temple again. A large amount of ash was produced by the sacrifice, but it was distributed extensively to all villages for use by the tribes. When a new sacrifice took place, a portion of the original ashes would be used in every new sacrifice, thus every sacrifice and resulting generation would have ash from the original sacrifice of Moses and Aaron. This portion also addresses the issue of Moses striking the Rock instead of teaching the children of Israel to “speak to the Rock.” Consequently, Moses was guilty of not believing the LORD and was kept from entering the promised land himself. Next, Balak - This portion speaks of the Moabite king Balak, who hired the prophet Baalam to curse the children of Israel so that Israel would not conquer his kingdom. Despite his initial resistance, Baalam agreed and came to Balak, setting up three locations to curse Israel. Instead, all he could speak were blessings. These blessings (from an enemy) are some of the most powerful blessings ever spoken upon Israel. In fact, most synagogue services begin with the words “How good and lovely are your tents O Jacob, your tabernacles O Israel...” We learn in a later parashah that Baalam counseled the Moabites and Midianites to send their daughters to Israel to draw them away from the teaching of Moses and invite them to their pagan festivals, with the intent that God would reject Israel and remove His protection of them, causing them to fall prey to their enemies. Scripture Readings from: Numbers 19:1–22:1, Judges 11:1–33, John 3:10–21, Numbers 22:2–25:9, Micah 5:6–6:8, I Corinthians 1:20–31 #shabbat #SabbathService #hebrewrootsteacher https://www.bnaishalom.tv/watch-live https://lionandlambministries.org/ https://lionandlambministries.org/resources/torah-cycle-readings https://llgive.com