April 2024
TORAH REFLECTION
Torah Reflection 29
Behar/Behukotai (On the Mount/My statutes)
We come to the end of the commandments and judgements contained in this Book of Leviticus. Thus far they have been concerned with the daily activities and relationships within the camp of the Israelites as they prepare to journey through the wilderness towards the Land of God’s Promise to them. But now the LORD has a word for Moses about a time when that journey would come to an end and the Israelites would be dwelling in the land. They were not to know then that the journey would take another 39 years and that Moses would not actually be with them at that time.
Surprise, surprise! The first announcement regards the observance of the Sabbath! Not the weekly Sabbath this time, but a Sabbath rest for the land itself. The whole concept of land management, wherein they would be able to feed themselves and those who were the poor among them, is contained in these Torah commands (instructions for righteous living) of God. And they were quite different, even revolutionarily enlightening, compared to the practises of the nations around them at that time. (and we might note to land management practises the world over today) We already saw, in our passage last week, with the commandments of God regarding the observance of the “mo’edim” of the LORD, the directive about not harvesting the corners of the fields or gathering the gleaning from the harvest each year. These were left for the poor and the stranger among them to gather. But now God commands them, each seventh year, neither to plant crops nor to prune vineyards. But recognising that there would be produce which would grow of its own accord, none of that was to be harvested either. That was to be a part of God’s provision, without the need for anyone to work, for themselves, for the servants, for the poor, for the stranger, and for the field workers. God’s gift freely available to them for some food without any labour required to produce it. And it provided a year of rest from intensive working of the land itself. A year of recovery for the land. In Hebrew it is called a “shmitah” year.
BUT, there was another “Sabbath” to be observed too! This time it was to be a “Sabbath” of the “shmitah” years. After seven such “shmitah” years, on the “mo’ed” of Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement, at the beginning of the fiftieth year, a trumpet of Jubilee was to be sounded throughout the land. It was to be a year consecrated to the LORD, and a year of proclamation of liberty to all the inhabitants of the land. No sowing or reaping of crops and vineyards (note that this Jubilee year would be the second year in a row with no harvest). Land and possessions were to be returned to the original owner in the Jubilee year. Selling price of ‘land use’ was regulated according to the number of productive years left until the next Jubilee. But the seller could also redeem the ‘land use’ by repurchasing it at a price determined by the same formula, according to the number of productive years remaining to the next Jubilee. No opportunity for extortion or ‘market forces’ in God’s economy. No interest or usury at all. “The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me.”
So how did they manage to survive? “So you shall observe My statutes and keep My judgements, and perform them; and you will dwell in the land in safety. Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill, and dwell there in safety.” But what about those two years that the land is neither sown nor reaped? “Then I will command MY blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for THREE years. And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest.” Plus, of course, what grows of its own accord. The lesson for us here is to note the options available to these people. In principle they are options available to us today, albeit in a different environment. God told them that if they did it His way, they would receive blessing. The blessing of protection and food. But, by inference, if they did it their own way, things would be more ‘difficult’. God expects, and requires, obedience from those who belong to Him. And there are consequences which accrue for disobedience. No surprises. Clearly spelled out for their attention. And OURS. God is a promise keeper, even promises we don’t like.
The list is long and graphic. But one which we observe to this very day, should be like a beacon demanding our attention. God promised to expel them from the land as a punishment if they wantonly disobeyed Him. It happened in 587 B.C.E., the Babylonian exile. And it happened again in 133 C.E after the Bar Kochba revolution, when the Romans expelled the Jews from the land. But those promises of expulsion came with yet another promise. It’s generational. First read in full, Leviticus 26. You’ll be surprised. “Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God; I am the LORD.”
The details of the return from Babylon is recorded in the Scriptures. The return from “all the countries to which they were dispersed” is happening before our very eyes today. It is prophecy, from this passage today, confirmed by many of the prophetic Scriptures later, which we are privileged to witness at first hand. If that does not speak to your heart about the faithfulness, the mercy, the grace, the wonder, of God, and the efficacy of the Scriptures, then I wonder what will.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
TORAH REFLECTION
Torah Reflection 28
Emor (Speak)
The instructions God gave to Moses are specific and detailed. One cannot read Leviticus without being impressed by the detail. And this portion of Scripture begins with clear instructions to be given to the priests about potential ritual defilement through contact with the dead. It continues by describing the nature and characteristics of women who may be considered appropriate as potential wives for those of the priesthood. Then God spells out clearly why He has so commanded. “They (the priests) shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings made by fire, and the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. Therefore you shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy.” Most people are aware that the word “holy” simply means “set apart”, even different, or special, in modern day language. It is also notable that, although politically incorrect today, the people who are to be anointed as priests in Scripture are invariably male!! At the same time we take note that the priest “shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes”.
In slight digression, it is worth remembering that at the time the Israelites made their covenant with God, specifically in Exodus 19:5-8 God said “If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all the people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” I have often wondered why observant Jews wear a Yarmulka (kippah). Could this be the answer? And as for ‘tearing his clothes’, we touched on that in our ‘reflection’ just a few weeks ago (Torah Reflection 24)
One more observation here is that this whole passage relates to a priesthood for whom marriage is the ‘norm’. Our beloved Rabbi Sha’ul was unmarried, and, presumably, in response to some issues in the “ekklesia’ at Corinth chose to explain his position to them (1 Cor 7). It is indeed “taking a long bow” to make an inviolate doctrine out of that, especially in the light of some most unsavoury outcomes. But there is no command about priestly celibacy given in the Scriptures. Neither, as far as I know, is it expressly forbidden.
This Scripture passage is primarily known for its detailed account of the “mo’edim” of the LORD, which appear in Chapter 23. I invite you first and foremost to take careful note of how these ‘appointed times’ are unequivocally described. “The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.” Did you know that ‘convocation’ is described in the dictionary as “a large formal gathering of people”? And that in this context, ‘feast’ is described as an “annual religious celebration”? But in Hebrew, the word translated as ‘feast’ is ‘mo’ed’ (plural mo’edim) which means ‘appointed time’. So a more correct understanding would be “God’s own appointed times of meeting.” It begs the question, how many of us would miss an appointment with our monarch, Queen Elizabeth? Not many I suggest. But these holy weekly and annual appointments with Almighty God are largely ignored by christians all over the world!
In this passage there are EIGHT ‘feasts’ proclaimed. The first is a weekly holy convocation. The Sabbath. The other seven are annual convocations. It is regrettable that the significance of these “mo’edim” is largely lost to most of us in the christian church today, because they are each, in turn, prophetic of events in the life, death, burial, resurrection, and future return, of Yeshua, our Saviour.
Passover, is a festival of eight days duration. It starts on the fourteenth day, the time of the full moon, of the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Just as the blood of the slain lamb, put on the doorposts and lintels of the Israelites of the Egyptian captivity, became the sign of salvation for them, so the blood of our Saviour, shed for us at this precise “appointed time”, metaphorically appearing on the doorposts and lintels of our being, became the means of our salvation from the captivity of sin.
The festival of Unleavened Bread, the symbol of the sinless One, eaten for the next seven days, signifies the burial of Yeshua, taking our sin with Him. It is celebrated with a special Sabbath on the first and last days. It was during this period that our Messiah rose from that grave, having conquered sin and death.
Fifty days later, the Festival of Weeks is celebrated by bringing the grain offering before the LORD. It represents the presentation of the Firstfruits of the harvest, and is preceded (ten days earlier) by the bodily ascension of Yeshua to be with the Father, and coincides with the gift of the Comforter, The Holy Spirit, to men. It is also the ‘traditional’ time of the giving of Torah to Moses on the mountain.
There is an interesting commandment tucked in between this festival and the next three. “When you reap the harvest of your land you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the LORD your God.” There is a long interval between the festivals already mentioned and the next three.. Some have noted that this interval provides a timely gap for the reaping of believers, not of the Jewish faith, to be brought into the fold, before Yeshua returns.
The final three festivals, Trumpets, Yom Kippur, and Tabernacles are , in turn, prophetically symbolic of the return of Yeshua, The Great White Throne Judgement, and the Ingathering as in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Be blessed as you study, ponder, and observe these events.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
TORAH REFLECTION
Torah Reflection 27
Acherai Mot/Kodishim (After death/Holy)
The reading this week continues with the theme of “cleanliness” before the LORD. Two weeks ago, we read about the way in which God instilled a very strong sense of “reverential fear” in the people as He consumed the offerings on the altar with His own fire, and followed that by consuming the two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, who stepped out of line by attempting to share the glory. Our reading this week picks up after that event. God was, and is, intent on instilling, in His people, the understanding of His holiness. Nothing ‘unclean’, no hint of sin, no person, however sincere, is to approach Him unless made ‘clean’ in His appointed manner. That fact is ‘blindingly obvious’ as we read this portion of Scripture.
(Ah! I hear. But that was the “old testament”, Jesus did away with all that. Did He? Well, actually, Jesus did tell us when all that will end. And it will end. You can read it for yourself in Matthew 5:18. It will be “when heaven and earth pass away”. So as long as you and I are still living here, nothing of ‘God’s instructions for righteous living’ have yet passed away, have they? Or are the words of Jesus unreliable. Of course not.)
But the events, about which God now instructs Aaron, apply to a ONCE a year observance, known in Hebrew, as “Yom Kippur”. An annual ‘day of atonement’. We will reflect on this in a bit more detail next week. It is most solemnly observed universally by Jews, but completely ignored by christians! (as indeed are all the “Feasts (appointed times) of the LORD”. That is in spite of the command of God that this ‘appointed time’, be a statute FOREVER. It is also clear from this passage of Scripture that the instructions applied equally to the Israelites AND the “strangers who dwell among you.” So Aaron, the only person allowed to enter the Holiest Place in the Tabernacle, the place where God said He ‘would dwell among the people’, was instructed about the manner of his approach to God. First he was to present the blood of a bull as a sin offering, and the blood of a ram as a burnt offering. He was also to completely wash his body and change his clothes to put on special linen garments. That required a physical cleansing in addition to his spiritual cleansing. Complete cleanliness. At the same time, he was to accept from the people offerings of TWO goats. One would be chosen, by lot, ‘for the LORD’, and the other as a “scapegoat” to ‘ritually’ take away the sin of the people The detailed instructions are better read than told.
The lesson here for us however is clear, since we do not have the same procedures today, and the prophet Malachi informed us that ‘God does NOT change’, (Malachi 3:6) that God is particular about the manner of our approach to Him. Now it is true, that confessed sin is covered by the atoning blood of our Messiah, Yeshua. For that reason, it is my conclusion, that in the same way that God required both a sin offering and a burnt offering from the people then, so He requires that we too come penitently before Him, cleansed from sin (both known and unknown) each time we come to Him with our offerings of worship, praise and intercessory prayer. No exceptions.
As chapter 18 of our text opens, there is a change of subject. Moses is told to remind the people of what they had left behind in Egypt, and to look forward to where they were going, Canaan. Both countries had similar idolatrous, and immoral, ways of life. “Do not walk in their ordinances”. Full stop. God is intent on teaching His people a new, a better, a more caring way to conduct themselves. We SHOULD be able to pick up a lesson here too. When we commit ourselves to God’s way, He expects that we turn our back on the ‘ordinances’ of the life we have been saved from. But since we are NOT physically going to another land, our charter is to live in accord with His ordinances, which are made clear as we continue our study of His word. “Do not defile yourselves with their perversions”, God says. And we know very well how grossly perverse nations and institutions have become in our modern world today as rebellion against the Creator of this Universe is quite blatant, even to being taught in our schools. “You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgements, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you.” Can it be any more clearly expressed?
“You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” This whole Scripture passage is repetitious regarding holiness, being separate, being different, standing out, from those around us who are NOT of the kingdom of God. And there is much detail of practices to be avoided. The land of God’s promise is a land “flowing with milk and honey”. Good pasture to provide grain and food for the cattle. Good wild vegetation to provide for birds and insects. A good land. And then God returns to a familiar theme. Their own diet. “You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, and you shall not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird , or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. And you shall be holy to Me, for I. The LORD an holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.”
A number of times God returns to this theme of diet in the Scriptures. Is it possible that it might be important to Him? And yet, in our day, amongst believers, it seems to be such a contentious issue doesn’t it?. May God give us grace to understand.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
TORAH REFLECTION
Torah Reflection 26
Tazria/Metzora (Conceived/Leprosy)
Ritual cleanliness after childbirth is a Biblical commandment. Forty days for birth of a boy, eighty days for a girl. Why? There has been much speculation as commentators have attempted to rationalise this. The truth is much simpler! Because God said so. And you will ‘scratch your head’ for a very long time before you get a better answer. And after the time God specified, whether for a boy or a girl, the resumption of attendance to her normal life of faith and obedience involved her presentation before the Priest with a burnt offering and a sin offering. The lesson. God would not permit ANY uncleanness to come before Him THEN, and He won’t permit it NOW. (even though the sacrificial system is no longer operative). It is good practice to seek God’s gracious forgiveness every time we approach Him for any reason.
The prevention of the spread of disease is extremely important for community health. Well, wouldn’t you know it, here in our Torah portion today, God assigned to the Priesthood the duty of disease control! And by extension, the skill and knowledge to be able to discern the difference between harmless malady, and dangerous signs of infection. The Bible defines the differences as between ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’. It is an example of ‘social distancing’ in the fact that the ‘unclean’ were not allowed to participate in the gatherings around the Tent of Meeting until the Priest was satisfied that infection was eliminated.
The whole portion this week concerns various ways in which ‘uncleanness’ is found within the community. It covers personal matters of disease, as well as the incidences of mould and deteriorating penetration of decay in clothing as well as housing. I was gratified to learn that losing ones hair (baldness) was not a reason for exclusion! And even more pleased to be in such good company as the prophet Elisha, no less!! But many things are included, with clear instructions how to proceed to a position of “Cleanness”. Our Bible uses the word ‘leprosy’ many times in this passage, but a more inclusive word to use is probably ‘infectous sores’ which cover a wide range of conditions.
But the fact that these people were being instructed about matters which would also be applicable to the time when they would eventually arrive in that land of God’s promise, (they were not living in houses constructed of mortar and plaster in the desert wilderness) was in itself an indication that when God provides such instruction, those instructions have application to all generations. This may well be the major lesson that we can receive out of this specific passage of Scripture.
There are two problems for us to come to terms with. The first is that in our ‘christianity’, we have, in large measure, been conditioned to see the Torah of God as obsolete. We have been taught that it has no relevance to us today. We are told that we are “under the new covenant” (which hasn’t actually been instituted on earth yet). I have even heard it preached from a pulpit that “Jesus kept the Torah so that we don’t have to”. Well some of these instructions are of an extremely practical nature. Housing mould, for example, if you have experienced it, is very difficult to remove. It cannot just be ‘washed off’. It is described in this passage as a plague. The prescriptive treatment is carefully specified here. It is practical and it is effective, even to the extreme of tearing the building down and starting again!! It is equally effective today. The second problem is in the fact that we have been completely cut off from our Hebraic roots. As a result we seem to no longer give heed to the instructions God gave to the people for correct and righteous living, We have disregarded particularly those instructions of God which our culture finds ‘inconvenient’. These are God’s instructions. They are not suggestions which we may or may not choose to follow.
It is clear from our reading of the Scriptures, that on more than one occasion, people suffering ‘leprosy’ were healed. They were changed from being ‘unclean’, and isolated from community, to becoming ‘clean’ again and re-entering society. And there is a notable difference between, for example, the healing of Naaman, the Syrian army commander, (2 Kings 5) and the healing of the faith filled ‘leper’ who presented himself to Yeshua.(Matthew 8) In the first example Naaman presented himself to Elisha the prophet with a gift of money (which Elisha quickly rejected). He was told to wash in the Jordan River seven times. But Elisha was careful not to touch Naaman, in compliance with the laws we read in this passage. And as we know, Naaman was healed. But he was not an Israelite, and he was not required to show himself to a priest for confirmation of his new “cleanness”. In contrast, Yeshua reached out to the leper and touched him (an act which would immediately render Yeshua ‘unclean’). He then instructed the cleansed leper to ‘show yourself to the Priest’ in order to verify his new state of ‘cleanness’.
There are two observations to make here. Firstly, the prophet Elisha was not a priest himself and was subject to the laws of Tazria. Which he observed. In the second case, Yeshua, whilst not functioning as a priest at that time, (later to take on Himself the title of our Great High Priest) presents a tangible example of fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 53. Bearing our iniquity, ‘uncleanness’ , in His own body. Then to ensure that all that iniquity had indeed been removed, instructed the man to ‘show yourself to the priest’, in verification.
His shed blood is available to make ‘clean’ anyone who seeks it. Just like the leper in Matthew 8.
Shabbat Shalom
RS