The parsha begins אם בחוקותי תלכו If you will walk (fulfill) my chukim (describing the category of mitzvos which do not have an apparent rationale or reason) you will then be blessed. Why does the Torah begin first with Chukim to bring about bracha and not mitzvos from the other categories such as mishpatim, aidus, etc.?
Upon the words אם בחקותי תלכו the Medrash brings another passuk which possesses the word חק and that is אם לא בריתי יום ולילה חוקות שמים וארץ לא שמתי. If it would not have been for my covenant with Torah which is learned day and night, the chukim of heaven and earth would be non - existent. What is the connection between these two usages of the word חק?
The Medrash states that the beginning of the berachos commences with the letter aleph in the word אם and ends with the letter ת with the word קוממיות. In contrast the curses that follow the berachos begin with the letter vov with the word ואם and end with the letter ה with the name .משה The berachos are hinted straight in order from letter aleph to tov the last letter of the Aleph Beis. In contrast the curses are concentrated with adjacent two letters but in a backward order from letters vov to hey.
The Meshech Chachma elaborates on an explanation which enlightens us with a new insight that the definition of beracha is in nature itself and not in what is seen as the supernatural. Hashem created nature which every aspect and atom of it being expressions of incredible miracles to which we have unfortunately become so desensitized and calloused. The display of Supernatural miracles to mankind are not the desired state of Hashem's world. These aberrations of nature occur from time to time only in order that we should remember and come to realize that nature itself is Hashem's constant ongoing miracle. As the sefarim tell us that the gematriah of הטבע is אלהים. There is enough room in nature for the beracha to be manifested without using the supernatural. Hashem's world was created to be aligned with the Torah. The more Yisrael fulfills the mitzvos of the Torah the more shefa is infused into nature for us to receive.
ונתתי מטר ארצכם בעתו ואספת דגניך ונתתי עשב בשדך לבהמתך ואכלת ושבעת The reward for the mitzvos is that nature itself should flow forth its shefa and bounty of sustenance as Hashem originally planned in order to deliver to every creation its needs and all from an exacting balanced symmetrical nature.
The gemarah in Shabbos 118b writes הקורא הלל בכל יום הרי זה מחרף. Someone who recites the Hallel which deals with supernatural events every day is deemed as blasphemy. The reason being that it insinuates that in respect to the hidden miracles found in nature there is no necessity to thank Hashem as nature works on its own or they are orchestrated by some other power besides Hashem ch"v. In contrast is the Chazal in Berachos 4b that someone who says אשרי יושבי ביתך every day he is בן עולם הבא. The perek of Ashrei is in alphabetical order which conveys that one is thanking Hashem for the order and laws that are really miracles of nature from A to Z. This type of praise is commendable even every day.
With this we can understand why our Chachamim established to daven every day ברכת יוצר in which we recite in alphabetical order אל ברוך גדול דעה הכין ופעל וכול' thanking Hashem from aleph to tav on the nature that He created which are replete with greater and more intricate programs of miracles than colossal nano computer programs, even though we don't view them as such since it has become already part of our second nature. Even on Shabbos they added another order of Aleph Beis אל אדון על כל המעשים ברוך ומבורך בפי כל נשמה גדלו וטובו דעת ותבונה so we can appreciate more the miracle and the beracha of nature manifested with each molecule within a perfect order of scientific complexities and processes and that's not even an eight of the story..
The order of nature in every atom is so impeccable and perfect and yet it is still not acknowledged by science that only an infinite creator could have intentionally formed a universe where משביע לכל חי רצון every form of life is supported. The Chukos of heaven and earth aligns itself with the ordered letters of our Torah and therefore the passuk which introduces the reward for listening to the Torah specifically points out the chukim for the heavens and earth also have chukim it is source. Why does oil burn and not vinegar? We don't understand why Hashem chose these atoms over others, it is a chok without an explanation. Further proof that nature is a chok since we find that Hashem could also make a miracle and vinegar will also be capable to burn when necessary (Taanis 25). The Shefa that comes as a reward for mitzvos fulfillment comes in this world in the form of nature חוקות שמים וארץ which is given through the order of the letters of the Torah and mitzvos. The Medrash says that Adam Harishon called Hashem הויה which refers to the One and only Hashem who created everything from nothing. The Meshech Chachmah explained that Adam Harishon understood to a degree, the creation of the universe from nothing. He fathomed the spiritual foundations that were created in the upper world which were the source for the lower worlds and their contents. These spiritual lights descended through all the worlds until they took on a physical form of elements and three dimensional objects that exist in the world we live in.
Avraham was the first individual who worked with the reverse process. He examined the physical creation on earth and noticed the small miracles in nature. From there his thoughts ascended into the higher spiritual worlds in order to find out the sources of the physical world as it appears. It was through this process that he found the creator הויה. Avraham realized Hashem through Adonoi שאו מרום עיניכם וראו מי ברא אלה (Yeshaya 40.26). Lift up your eyes and see who created these.
To add on to this thought we can say pshat in the passuk (Tehillim 139,5) אחור וקדם צרתני . Man was created in the back and in the front. Chazal speak of two Adams, one who was totally created by Hashem and who called Hashem הויה. He came to recognize Hashem at the source קדם to the point which was humanly possible. Yet there was another אדם named Avraham האדם הגדול בענקים Medrash Bereishis Rabba 14,6 א"ר לוי האדם הגדול בענקים זה אברהם למה קורא אותו גדול שהיה ראוי להבראות קודם לאדם הראשון אלא אמר הקב"ה שמא יקלקל ואין מי שיבא לתקן תחתיו אלא הרי אני בורא את האדם תחלה שאם יקלקל יבא אברהם ויתקן Avraham was the beginning of the second edition of Man. His discovery of Hashem came from אחור to קדם through starting in the lowest world of physical nature and its miracles and then with profound thought, relentless searching, avodah and deveikus, he reached the highest world and attained there the deep recognition of Hashem as being the creator of everything from nothing.
We recite two times a day the שמע ישראל declaring Hashem's oneness. In the letters of שמע is hinted these two pathways through which man discovered Hashem in this world. The first way was Adam Harishon's perspective who was connected to קדם at the source and from there he tracked them down to אחור to all the physical emanations on earth. He handed his mesorah to שם עבר משותלח (see Meshech Chachma). That is why Avraham was the first to call Hashem Adonoi which represented the pathway of finding Hashem through nature.
The letters of שמע is the acronym of שם מתושלח עבר who carried the mesorah of Adam Harishon to discover Hashem and all the elements in the physical world at their roots above in elevated spiritual lights. Yet on the other hand שמע is also the acronym of שאו מרום עיניכם the אחור view on creation like Avraham through which on can fathom and understand the achdus in the world which emanates from הויה אחד .
Both avenues lead to recognizing the Achdus of Hashem. This is one of the reasons that every time instead of saying the name of הויה with its proper pronunciation we say the word אדני in its place. "והשגה זו עיקרית בכוונת הבריאה" (see Meshech Chachmah). It appears that the learning of Kabbalah is the studying of the universe through the lens of the קדם mode and then to bring it down to the אחור into the world of עשייה. To bring the tikkun of Adam and the world to its finish, we need both אחור וקדם perspectives. An allusion to this is the gematriah of אחור קדם which equals משיח עה"כ.