Behar Bechukotai: Blessing or Curse

Today is a sobering yet hope-filled reminder straight from the Word of God.

We’re diving into this week’s Torah portion—covering Lev 26 & 27- which closes out the book.  And in it, we are faced with a very real choice: blessing or curse, obedience or rebellion, covenant or compromise. It’s about walking with God on His terms, not ours.

If you’ve been feeling distant from God, uncertain about your value, or unsure how to get back on track—this message is for you. Because not only does He lay out His expectations, He also shows us His mercy… and invites us to return.

Let’s go to the mountain, and let’s learn to walk in His statutes.

Behar/Bechukotai | בהר/בחקותי |

 "On the Mountain/In My Statutes"

Torah: Leviticus 25:1 - 27:34Prophets: Isaiah 61:1-11; Jeremiah 16:19 - 17:14, 32:6-27Brit Hadashah: Luke 4:16-21, 13:1 - 15:32; John 14:15-21, 15:10-12; 1 Corinthians 7:21-24; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Galatians 6:7-10; 1 John 1:1-10

Every single day, we’re faced with choices. Some big. Some small. But all of them add up. And even those that seem even the slightest

My favorite analogy of this was from one of my old mentors in business, Ronnie Hatfield.  To really teach me this, he used a golf club.  Even the slightest angle on your club face will results in huge difference in trajectory and end point.

  And today, we’re diving into a passage that lays it out plain. It’s not sugar-coated. It’s not poetic. It’s straightforward: If you obey Me, I will bless you. If you walk away, you’ll face consequences.

Let’s open to Leviticus 26.

[Read Leviticus 26:1–13] 

26 Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God.

2 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;

4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

5 And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

6 And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.

7 And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.

8 And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

9 For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.

10 And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.

11 And I set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.

12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.

13 I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

These are the blessings. God promises rain, provision, peace, victory, multiplication, and perhaps most important: His Presence.

“If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and perform them...” God begins with an “if.” That’s covenant language. This isn’t one-sided. It’s a relationship.

It’s also a conditional statement.  In order to receive the promised blessings on the backend of those sentences, you must first me the conditions of the front end of the statement. 

Such as a contract.  But this is better than a contract it’s a covenant.  Do you think, even for one minute, that God would forsake what He has written.  He won’t.  You can absolutely stand on these promises.

I also need to say that obedience is not legalism. I’ll never understand how simply doing what God ask you to do as something framed in the negative.  Obedience isn’t legalism.  Obedience is loyalty. Obedience is love. Yeshua said in John 14:15: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

Let us ask ourselves.  How well are we loving Him?

It’s really not that complicated.  The bible teaches us that we are the bride. Right? So how would let’s look at this from a mere human perspective.

If Chad didn’t like onions, but I cooked them and offered them up to him every night, would he feel loved?

If I celebrated Chad’s birthday, but on the actual date of birth of my ex-husband, would Chad feel loved?

If Chad asked me to meet him for date night every Friday night, but I stood him up and went looking for him on Sunday morning, would he feel loved?

Probably not.  Chad would be pretty upset and hurt. And that would be really sad.  But how are we making God feel when we ignore what He asked of us?  When we think we know better?  It’s really sad for Him too, I’m sure. 

We pity bad marriages.  But it’s quite hypocritical.  We are that bad wife sometimes.

Let’s keep reading—this time the warning. [Read Leviticus 26:14–39]

14 “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, 15 and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. 17 I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.

18 “‘If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. 19 I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. 20 Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit.

21 “‘If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve. 22 I will send wild animals against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few in number that your roads will be deserted.

23 “‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction but continue to be hostile toward me, 24 I myself will be hostile toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. 25 And I will bring the sword on you to avenge the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. 26 When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.

27 “‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, 28 then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over. 29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. 30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies[b] on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you. 31 I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. 32 I myself will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled. 33 I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins. 34 Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 35 All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.

36 “‘As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them. 37 They will stumble over one another as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies. 38 You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you. 39 Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’ sins they will waste away.

This is heavy. The curses. Disease. Defeat. Desolation. Exile. But hear me: these are not God throwing a tantrum. These are a roadmap of mercy. They are God’s GPS saying, “You’re heading off-course.” He doesn’t bring consequences to destroy us, but to redirect us.

Galatians 6:7 says: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”

And Jeremiah 17:5 adds: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength.”

It’s not going to do us anything running around thinking we are smarter than God, or that we know better what He meant.  It would behoove us to read His word,  learn what He likes, what He doesn’t like.  Spend time with Him.  Talk with Him.  Build that relationship.  And learn that when we are disciplined, it’s because He loves us.  And it’s these bumpy road that are flashing caution lights to “turn around” and go back.  Back to our first love.  Back to Him in repentance.

Now comes my favorite part. [Read Leviticus 26:40–42]

40 “‘But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, 41 which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

Kind of reminds me of 2 Chronicles 7:14  14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

If they confess, turn from their wicked ways… then I will remember My covenant, forgive their sins, and heal their land.

What a good, good Father. Even when we blow it. Even when we’ve walked away. Even when we’ve faced the consequences—God says: “Come home. I’m still your God.”

Isaiah 61:1-2: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me… to proclaim liberty to the captives… to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Sound familiar? That’s exactly what Yeshua read in the synagogue in Luke 4:16–21. He said, “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Let’s draw it out. On this side: Blessings. On that side: Curses. Let the Word speak for itself. Where are you today?

• Are you walking in obedience?

• Are you seeing the fruit of blessing?

• Or are there places where we need to return?

  • We need to regularly do self audits, and judge ourselves first.  How do we stack up?  On our own… no good.  But with repentance, we can be washed clean as snow.

If today you know you’ve been walking in disobedience… or maybe just half-heartedly… there’s no better time than today to return. He’s waiting. Just like the father in Luke 15, He’ll run to you.  He says, “Come home. I’m still your God.”

 We just talked about obedience and return. But now let’s talk about your value. Because some of us return to God thinking we’re worthless. Because we’ve all messed up pretty badly.  We’ve all done some pretty rotten nasty things, so how can we be any good to such a clean, pure and Holy God?

But Leviticus 27 shows something different.

Let’s read Leviticus 27:1–8.

27 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate a person to the Lord by giving the equivalent value, 3 set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels[a] of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel[b]; 4 for a female, set her value at thirty shekels[c]; 5 for a person between the ages of five and twenty, set the value of a male at twenty shekels[d] and of a female at ten shekels[e]; 6 for a person between one month and five years, set the value of a male at five shekels[f] of silver and that of a female at three shekels[g] of silver; 7 for a person sixty years old or more, set the value of a male at fifteen shekels[h] and of a female at ten shekels. 8 If anyone making the vow is too poor to pay the specified amount, the person being dedicated is to be presented to the priest, who will set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford.

This is about dedication—voluntary offerings. People gave themselves, animals, property—willingly to God. And guess what? God received it. But He didn’t just say “thank you”—He assigned value to it.

You know what that means? You’re not random. You’re not overlooked. You’re not worthless.

1 Corinthians 7:23: “You were bought with a price.”

Now let’s look deeper. In Leviticus 27, it says if someone wanted to redeem what they gave, they could. They just added a little more. This is not about penalties. This is about grace.

Jeremiah 32:6–15 — Jeremiah buys back land. Why? To show that God restores.

Some of you feel like you’ve lost your value. You’ve failed. You’ve let your offering fall by the wayside. But God is saying: “You can redeem it. It’s not too late.”

1 John 1:9 — 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

God will do the purification.  He just needs our heart first.

Today, I want to challenge you: What do you need to rededicate to God?

• Your time?  Time with Him, time serving others

• Your voice?  Praising Him, teaching His word, encouraging others

• What else may you need to redeem?

You are valued.  You were bought with a price.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” – Colossians 3:23-24

Charles Spurgeon said “Consider how precious a soul must be, when both God and the devil are after it.”  Seriously really think about that.  The devil spends thousands of years fighting for it.  Jesus died for it.  You are a very precious commodity.

Have you ever had something was so so precious to you but that someone else didn’t value?  For us it may be that first vehicle we gave a teenage kid.  We worked so hard earning money and saving, to give a good gift to a child. But the child didn’t work hard for it, so he took it for granted, and wrecked it.   That old saying.. no skin off his nose.  He didn’t understand the value.

Maybe it’s something sentimental.  Something holding precious memories.  Something delicate.  But then someone comes by hazardous and carefree and knocks it over and breaks it.  No skin off their nose. But you heart shattered with it. 

Is that how we treat our salvation?  Is that how we treat ourselves?

Those are trivial things.  But think about Jesus now.  He literally died for us. The agony of knowing what was coming.  The agony of betrayal by those you’re dying to save. The physical anguish of the torture and death.  Now imagine God even.  If Jesus cried over Lazarus dying, don’t you think God would also be pained over Yeshua’s death.  Such a high price paid, but do we truly value it?  Or do we take it for granted.  When is the last time we thanked him for what He did for us?  When is the last time we thought about how much we are worth to Him?

Let’s not be that haphazard person, or the spoiled rotten teenager.  The gift of our salvation really is priceless.  That’s our value.  That’s how much we are worth.

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” – 1 Peter 1:18-19

Today I just want us to remember when we pray that we consider the great price He paid for us.  And apologize for not realizing value and the worth of ourselves.

“So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” – Ephesians 3:17-19

So where does this leave us?

It leaves us with a choice.

We’ve read the blessings. We’ve read the curses. We’ve seen the Father’s longing to restore, redeem, and receive us again.

And we’ve been reminded of our value—not in gold or silver, but in the precious blood of Yeshua, poured out for each of us.

We are not accidents. We are not worthless. We are not too far gone.

We are redeemable. Restorable. Returnable.

The question now is: What will we do with all of this?

Will we return? Will we repent? Will we rededicate? Will we live like we’re truly loved and valued by the Most High God?

This week’s Torah portion doesn’t just ask us to reflect—it demands that we respond.

Let’s return to obedience—not out of fear, but out of love.

Let’s rededicate—not out of guilt, but out of gratitude.

Let’s walk as people who know the price that was paid for us… and who live like we’re worth it.

Today is the day.

No more delay. No more halfway. No more bargaining.

God has drawn a line in the sand and said, “Choose this day whom you will serve.”

So let’s choose well. Let’s choose life. Let’s choose blessing. Let’s choose Him.

And as we pray, may we not only confess—but commit.

Because He’s not just calling us to feel sorry. He’s calling us to come home.

________________________________________________________________________

You’ve just heard one of the most clear-cut teachings in all of Torah—Leviticus 26 and 27. God lays before us life and death, blessing and curse. But more than that, He reminds us of His love, His covenant, and His power to redeem—even what we thought was lost.

We are not too far gone. We are not beyond His reach. You were bought with a price—and your value is not determined by what you’ve done, but by what He’s done for you.

So now, the choice is yours.

Will you walk in His ways? Will you return? Will you rededicate?

This week, I encourage you to sit with Leviticus 26. Read Isaiah 61. Revisit Luke 4. And ask the Holy Spirit to reveal where you need to realign, repent, and rise up.

Don’t forget to share this with a friend who needs encouragement, and subscribe so you don’t miss the next teaching. Until next time, may you walk in truth, cling to grace, and live like you’ve been bought with the blood of the Lamb.

Shalom, and I’ll see you next time.