You won’t get free life insurance quotes here at MessianicMusings.com. There are better sites for that. Here, we’re all about Torah and Messiah Yeshua. Here’s my Tazriah-Metsora commentary. Or listen to it! Shalom.

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashahs for today are Tazriah or “She bears seed” and Metsora or “Infected one,” covers Leviticus 12:1 through Leviticus 15:33. Now, this week’s reading covers such topics as pregnancy and childbirth, skin diseases, bodily discharges and the laws surrounding purification from all of these afflictions. I know, I know, it’s fascinating stuff, right?

Well, the point these two readings seem to drive home is this: there are plenty of things that make you unclean. Did you notice that simply touching a mildew-y cloth can make you unclean? Or marital relations between a husband and a wife can make you unclean? Or even sitting on a piece of furniture that has been used by a person with a skin disease, or even a woman who is going through her monthly cycle can also make you unclean?

Now, there are detailed in this week’s readings various ways to restore oneself to a clean state, but there’s an important distinction to be made here, and that is this: clean and unclean are not necessarily the same as sinful and holy.

In fact, what I think this week’s reading makes clear is that uncleanness is the natural state of affairs for life in this world. Let’s take a look at an example of this in:

Leviticus 12:4-5
Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-six days to be purified from her bleeding.

So, following childbirth, the mother is considered unclean for thirty-three days if she has a son, and for twice as long – sixty-six days – if she has a daughter. Why should this state of uncleanness last twice as long if she has a boy rather than a girl? For one reason only: it’s what God commanded.

But the point is, childbirth is part of life in the world. Should a husband not even give his wife a kiss on the cheek for a month or two after she gives birth, just to avoid becoming unclean? There might be some unhappy wives if that were the case.

See, a state of uncleanness and a state of sin are not always the same thing. Think about it. Let’s say you’re working in the kitchen and your hand slips and you cut your thumb. Blood seeps out. Guess what? That’s a bodily emission and you’re now ritually unclean! Does this mean you’ve sinned against the L-RD? I hope not! Does this mean you need to repent for cutting yourself? I don’t think so. But do you want to go before the L-RD in the Tent of Meeting – or, to service here – with your hand and clothes covered in blood from dealing with that cut? Probably not, right?

And if someone pats him on the shoulder or sits on a chair he sat on, they’re unclean, too. So what must one do to become clean again? We read this, for example, in:

Leviticus 15:7
“‘Whoever touches the man who has a discharge must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.

Does that sound like a sin issue? Remember, according to the Torah, simple water cannot cleanse sin; forgiveness requires the shedding of blood. So being unclean does not always equal being in a state of sin; the remedy is different.

Let’s be clear here that there is more than one type of uncleanness. In this case, we are talking about ceremonial uncleanness, which is related to the Tent of Meeting, the Temple, and situations in which one is coming into the presence of God. We serve a holy God who can allow nothing that is unclean into His presence.

But there is a type of uncleanness related to sin. So, just to be clear, that’s not the type of uncleanness we’re talking about in this passage. We’re talking about ritual uncleanness.

And the truth is, the whole world is in a state of ritual uncleanness, and you can’t avoid it. We live in an unclean world, and being unclean is not unusual at all – it’s normal. Being ritually unclean is not a sin; it’s part of living in the world.

Does that mean it’s unimportant? Certainly not. You can be ritually unclean in this world, and it’s not a problem – until you want to go into the presence of the L-RD. There is no uncleanness with God – He is eternally pure. So, as we are, as we normally exist in the world, we also are unable to enter into the presence of God because we are unclean.

Yet is this state of ritual uncleanness all that different from other ways in which we are unlike The L-RD? God is eternal; we are mortal. Those who are mortal cannot look on the face of the L-RD and live, and yet in the world to come, we will know him in exactly that way. So can we truly enter into the presence of the L-RD as we are now, or must we undergo a fundamental change? We learn this from:

1 Corinthians 15:48-57
As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed–in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

Did you catch that? Flesh and blood is what we are now and flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. In the same way, the unclean cannot inherit the clean; the mortal cannot inherit the immortal. But we will all be changed. The cleansings, the rituals, the sacrifices that we see in this week’s Torah portion are all to point us toward that promise, that future reality.

Now, we are like all flesh and blood: unclean and mortal. But in the world to come, that will not be the case. We will be made clean, we will cast off our mortality, so that we may dwell in the presence of the L-RD in a manner that will allow Him to dwell with us.

We do not achieve this on our own; we will be changed by the L-RD. This transformation is what the ceremonies detailed here in this week’s reading point to.

While this week’s portion may seem a bit dry, a bit boring, and about things that simply do not relate to our lives today, the truths that underlie these teachings are lasting and permanent. It tells us about the nature of our humanity, our need for our Messiah, and if we listen to Messiah and obey all that He commands us to do, it hints at our future, our eternity, where we will have the ability to enter into the eternal Tent of Meeting to dwell in the house of the L-RD forever.

Shabbat Shalom.

If you’re interested in a site for an effective admin job search, that’s not what MessianicMusings.com is all about. We focus on Torah here, and the Messiah Yeshua. Here’s my commentary on Sh’mini. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashah for today is Sh’mini or “Eighth” and covers Leviticus 9:1 through Leviticus 11:47. In this week’s reading, we learn of a very critical series of sacrifices; they’re not critical because of the sacrifices themselves, but because of what they set the stage for.

A few weeks ago, in the Torah portion known as Ki Tisa, Moses prevailed upon the L-RD to show him His glory, and was rewarded with a more direct appearance of the L-RD than anyone likely had experienced since the fall from the Garden. While that much is itself highly interesting, what happens in this week’s portion is even more interesting.

After ordering a series of sacrifices, Moses explains their particular purpose. We read this in:

Leviticus 9:6
Then Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you.”

Let’s read that last part again… so that the glory of the L-RD may appear to you. Can this be right? Could the L-RD really be sharing with all of the people of Israel a kind of intimacy that he had, only a few weeks ago, shared only with Moses?

Yes! And, well… not quite.

As we will see as we go on, the L-RD does show his glory to all the people of Israel in this week’s reading; but is it quite as complete and revealing as the time when the L-RD revealed His glory to Moses, hiding Moses in the cleft of a rock? Probably not quite the same. After all, how do you hide millions of people in the cleft of a rock.

But the fact that the L-RD does this at all is a testimony to how complete the L-RD’s forgiveness can be. Following the incident with the golden calf, the L-RD’s anger against Israel was so great, He considered destroying them all and starting over with Moses alone. Now, He is showing these same people His glory. After Aaron performs all the sacrifices as Moses has instructed, we read this in:

Leviticus 9:23-24
Moses and Aaron then went into the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.

What an overwhelming experience that must have been! Remember, these are the same people who turned down the L-RD’s offer to speak to them directly, choosing instead to have Moses and his successors speak to them in the L-RD’s place. Yet here they are, struck with awe and respect at the sight of even a fraction of the glory of the L-RD.

What is their response? They shout for joy! They fall facedown in worship of the L-RD! Isn’t that the kind of response we should offer the L-RD all the time? Of course it is!

But, as with all good things, something goes wrong. There’s a fly in the ointment, and not only does it ruin a wonderful time of closeness with the L-RD between the L-RD and his people, but what happens holds relevance, perhaps, for us today. Let’s take a look at:

Leviticus 10:1
Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command.

Now, the key words there are, “contrary to His command.” And what are the results of these actions? Let’s read on in:

Leviticus 10:2-3
So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD spoke of when he said: “‘Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.’” Aaron remained silent.

So, you see, what was the result of this offering of Nadab and Abihu? It cost them their lives. The L-RD Himself brought an end to them. This has to be a sobering thought.

When I first read this passage, I have to admit, I thought it seemed a bit unfair. After all, there’s no golden calf around, is there? They’re not misapplying the L-RD’s name to something else, are they? They’re not worshiping a false god, right? I mean, what did they do? They simply took their censers, put fire in them, and added incense. Even the steps seem right. So what happened? What happened that it was so serious that it cost two people their lives?

The key words are right there. It was unauthorized fire, wasn’t it? It was also an action contrary to the L-RD’s command. That’s the issue.

Now, some might say, “Come on! Their hearts were in the right place! They were simply trying to worship the L-RD in their own way! Isn’t the L-RD being just a little nitpicky here?”

Yet the very question itself is misleading. If we understand the context of what is going on here, there ought to be no room for misunderstandings. Moses had ordered Aaron, very specifically, exactly what needed to be done to invite the L-RD in to this time of close fellowship between the L-RD and Israel. Aaron had done all those things, precisely.

What Nadab and Abihu did was… what? They added to the commands of the L-RD, the very words He had given through Moses. And what does the L-RD tell us about adding to His words? Let’s remind ourselves with this from:

Deuteronomy 12:32 (13:1)
Everything I am commanding you, you are to take care to do. Do not add to it or subtract from it.
That’s why I say the question is misleading. The L-RD is sincere about his words and his commands. We are to take them as genuinely as He offers them! And part of that is not to add to or subtract from anything the L-RD commands! It’s a theme that’s repeated over and over. How many times have we read of the L-RD in both Genesis and Exodus warning various heroes of the faith to do everything He has commanded of them, veering off neither to the left or to the right?

I’ll give you a hint: plenty of times.

So it’s not like Nadab and Abihu were ignorant, right? They were there when Moses gave Aaron his instructions. And they saw that all that Aaron had done was sufficient to bring the L-RD to this place and to have Him show His glory.

So, what’s with the adding to bit here? If everything’s going as planned, why are they adding to what the L-RD had commanded? Well, there’s a hint in all this: Aaron had performed everything the L-RD had commanded through Moses… but Nadab and Abihu had not. So is this act seeming quite so innocent now? I don’t think so.

It’s beginning to look more and more like a cry for attention, like a ploy to get in on the action, perhaps even take some of the credit for what was going on to themselves. It’s ego! And in an unfortunate and ironic way, they pair got the notoriety they sought, didn’t they? But not for the right reasons. Instead of being remembered for how they served the L-RD, they are remembered for how they ignored Him to, “do their own thing, in their own way.”

I think the L-RD’s being rather clear here, isn’t He? If you want to worship the God of Israel in spirit and in truth, there’s the way He has shown us He wants to be worshipped … and then, there’s everything else.

There’s obeying all that God has commanded us to do … and then, there’s doing our own thing. What the L-RD is trying to teach us here is, He does not take worship of Him casually.

Now, the trend today is, “Hey, anything goes! Whatever you do, do it unto the L-RD as an act of worship!”
And there’s some truth to that. I believe we are to live our lives as an act of continual worship. But that’s not quite what we’re talking about here, is it? Of course not. What we’re talking about here is that God made an appointed time with Israel to make his glory known to them … and for Nadab and Abihu, that wasn’t good enough. And it cost them their lives.

Let’s read on in:

Leviticus 10:4-11
Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come here; carry your cousins outside the camp, away from the front of the sanctuary.” So they came and carried them, still in their tunics, outside the camp, as Moses ordered. Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair become unkempt, and do not tear your clothes, or you will die and the LORD will be angry with the whole community. But your relatives, all the house of Israel, may mourn for those the LORD has destroyed by fire. Do not leave the entrance to the Tent of Meeting or you will die, because the LORD’s anointing oil is on you.” So they did as Moses said. Then the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, and you must teach the Israelites all the decrees the LORD has given them through Moses.”

This can be a tough passage. Moses actually orders Eleazar and Ithamar not to mourn. That’s what is meant by not letting their hair become unkempt and not tearing their clothes. That’s what grieving people did back then, to show that they are grieving.

Why would Moses order them not to grieve? Because Eleazar and Ithamar were members of the temple priesthood. Their garments were special garments for serving in the Tent of Meeting. Their calling and their duties in the Temple had to come before their own grief, because if they entered the Temple with messy hair and torn clothes, would that be obeying all of the L-RD’s commands? Or would it be subtracting from them?

Yes, it’s just the opposite of what Nadab and Abihu did, but the penalty is still the same, right? And after a tragedy like this, Moses doesn’t want any more tragedy on top of what’s already happened, does he? Of course not.

You know, I was talking to a friend of mine this week and the topic arose of the passing of his oldest daughter. It was several years ago and she died in a car accident. The L-RD had warned her parents in a dream that they would be losing a child. And he told me that the most amazing thing was, that after it happened and for the next few days while they held the funeral and put her in the ground, as parents, they were riding a spiritual high.

It sounds just the opposite of what you’d naturally expect. But he told me they both felt the anointing oil of the L-RD was on them, carrying them through, and so through the entire experience of losing their oldest child, they were lifted above their grief and they spent every possible moment witnesses the L-RD’s goodness to those around them, preaching His word.

And now, years later, they are still being approached by people who were at that funeral – some dropping by just on an instinct or a prompting of the Ruach haKodesh – and are being told of how being at that funeral, hearing them speak, seeing how they handled their time of grief with such amazing grace, caused people to turn their lives around and rededicate themselves to the L-RD.

I was amazed when he told me this because of how much it lined up with this week’s reading, and when I shared with him this passage on how Moses asked Eleazar and Ithamar not to grieve their brothers while on duty in the Tent of Meeting, we talked about how God is the same today as He was in the time of Moses. How the L-RD can use a time of tragedy to reach people, if they are simply willing to obey Him.

You see, being on duty in the Tent of Meeting, the job of Eleazar and Ithamar was, in their duties, to focus the attention of the people on the L-RD, not themselves. If they had grieved so outwardly, the attention of the people would have been misdirected from the L-RD to them.

The lesson we can draw from this is that while we can rejoice that the L-RD does not always deal so harshly with those who add to or subtract from His commands as He was with Nadab and Abihu, we ought not take it for granted that He is pleased when we veer off course from His explicit commands, either. It goes back to that central truth: there is obeying everything the L-RD has commanded… and then, there’s everything else.

Shabbat Shalom.

Some bloggers obsess about diet pills, but I put more of my energy into matters of the spirit. The thing that’s been on my mind lately is the power of prayer.

Prayer can work in many different ways. It can bring healing when medicine comes to the limits of its abilities. It can comfort us in a time of loss. It can help us connect to God and each other. But faith, as James advises, must be accompanied by action.

The old saying is that someone can be so heaven-minded that they are no earthly good. The other saying is that God helps those who help themselves. Neither of these sayings is a Bible verse, and they are not Biblical perspectives, however.

The truth is that the L-RD helps the helpless, not those who help themselves; also, if one is truly kingdom-minded, they would feel compelled to act in ways that make them a help to others in the world, not mindlessly contemplating the world to come.

Some folks abandon prayer because, at a critical time, they did not get something they prayer for in the way they prayed for it to be granted; that’s regarding God as a genie in a bottle, however.

The truth is, on those times when healing doesn’t come in this world or this life, and we lose someone we love, if they were in Messiah, they have simply moved on to a greater form of healing: an incorruptible body and an eternity with haShem.

Some folks write Web pages that go on endlessly about Blackberry plants in Asia or something obscure like that. But here at MessianicMusings.com, we’re all about the Torah and the Messiah Yeshua. Here’s my commentary for Passover Day 3. Or listen to it! Shalom.

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashah for today is for the third day of Passover and covers Exodus 33:12 through Exodus 34:26 as well as Numbers 28:19-25. The main body of this text comes to us from the parashah known as Ki Tisa, which we studied only a few weeks ago. So while much of this week’s reading will be familiar to many of you, I’d like to focus on something I didn’t spend as much time on a few weeks ago, and that is the specific qualities named by The L-RD when He agrees to show Moses his glory.

Now, there is a context for this. You’ll remember that the people of Israel had just demanded that Aaron build them a calf of gold to worship because Moses was taking – they felt – too long on the mountain. Moses shared the L-RD’s anger at this betrayal, but also demonstrated his concern for the L-RD’s reputation by talking to Him and convincing the L-RD not to strike down the Israelites in anger, but to keep His promises to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so that the L-RD’s name would not be cursed by His enemies.

So, as this portion begins, Moses has convinced God to accompany His people into the land he promised and Moses has developed such trust and intimacy with the L-RD that he has asked to see the L-RD in his glory. We read this in:

Exodus 33:17-20
And the L-RD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the L-RD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the L-RD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

Now, this can be a disconcerting passage, in context, for it was not long before this passage that we are told that the L-RD would meet with Moses in the Tent of Meeting, and that he would speak to Moses face-to-face.

Yet here, only a few verses later in Exodus, we read that the L-RD says that no one may see His face and live. So, is the Torah contradicting itself, as some may charge? Not at all. Let’s look at the other passage in context.

Exodus 33:10-11
Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent. The L-RD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

Notice the language in this passage. The L-RD would speak to Moses face-to-face … as a man speaks with his friend. Is this a description about the physical presence of the L-RD, or is this a description about the nature of His conversation with Moses? To help us understand this passage, let’s take a look at the Strong’s entry for the word “face.”

Strong’s 6440 paniym
1) face
1b) presence, person
1f) as adv of loc/temp
1f1) before and behind, toward, in front of, forward, formerly, from beforetime, before

As you can see here, the Hebrew word used is paniym, and it can mean face, presence, person, and as an adverb, it can indicate location and temperament. It is in this context that I believe the paniym is being used – to describe how the L-RD (subject) would speak (verb) to Moses (object). Therefore, in this sense, face-to-face is not being used to describe the L-RD’s location relative to Moses, but his temperament toward Moses.

This is supported by the phrase that follows it, “as a man speaks to his friend,” which is intended to further define what is meant by the adverbial phrase, “face-to-face.”

So, how does a man speak to his friend? Usually that would mean directly, without pretense, without one’s guard up, and without the normal formality that one adopts when talking with strangers.

So, that is how it is between the L-RD and Moses when finally He agrees to show Moses His glory. We read this in:

Exodus 34:5-8
Then the L-RD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the L-RD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The L-RD, the L-RD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped.

Now, when the L-RD is revealing Himself to Moses like this, He’s not literally saying, “The L-RD, the L-RD.” Instead, He is using his personal name, which we know to be revealed in the Hebrew letters, yod-hey-vav-hey. So the L-RD is being very revealing at this time with Moses and what I’d like to focus on for the remainder of our study today are the personal qualities the L-RD reveals about Himself in this passage.

The first quality the L-RD reveals about Himself is His compassionate nature. We know this to be true by the testimony of other passages in Scripture, as well as the L-RD’s actions as revealed through the Torah and the rest of the Tenakh. For example, we read this in:

Nehemiah 9:31
Even so, in your great compassion, you didn’t completely destroy them; nor did you abandon them, for you are a compassionate and merciful God.

Compassionate, gracious, merciful. All of these words are similar and used to describe various facets of the nature of God’s character. We find that the word used here for compassion is the Hebrew word racham.

Strong’s 7355 racham
1) to love, love deeply, have mercy, be compassionate, have tender affection, have compassion
1b1) to have compassion, be compassionate
1b1a) of God, man
1c) (Pual) to be shown compassion, be compassionate

So we can see that what the L-RD is saying is that he is a loving and patient God. Why would he say that?

Well, because ever since the fall in the Garden, man’s core instinct is not to trust the L-RD. And we don’t trust because we lack faith. So in showing Moses His glory, his true nature, we see here that part of that picture is compassion – racham – which speaks about a loving, merciful, tender and affectionate nature that the L-RD possesses.

Nearly everything that follows this self-description of the L-RD to Moses is an elaboration on this same concept. Take “slow to anger” as an example. Now, some would point to certain passages, such as the flood, and question the L-RD’s slowness to anger. What we often lose sight of, however, is that for One who is unable to allow anything unholy into His presence, the L-RD is incredibly patient.

Prior to the flood, the earth was around for nearly 2,000 from the time of Adam’s creation in the Garden. The L-RD could have justly wiped out the earth then and there, after the man and woman ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He could have destroyed the earth after Cain took Abel’s life. Any number of stops along the way, the L-RD could have poured out His full wrath upon us all, and yet he did not. In fact, even when the flood waters rose around Noah’s ark, he had already promised a Messiah many times over. In the midst of the judgment and correction of the flood, he was showing his compassion and his slowness to anger.

I mean, the Torah only speaks of six thousand years of history, and the first two thousand years are known among the rabbis as the time of desolation. In all that time, only Enoch pleased God sufficiently in his obedience that the L-RD took him up to heaven without suffering death first. Think of two thousand years and millions (if not billions) of people living in all that time, and yet humanity still fell short of God’s perfect standard and often rebelled against whatever He did reveal, such as in the Garden. I’d call that patient, slow to anger and whatever else you can dream up.

We know that He is abounding in love and faithfulness and maintaining His love to many. But it’s the next part of the L-RD’s description of Himself to Moses that seems at odds.

On the one hand, the L-RD says He forgives wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet in the same breath, He reveals that He “does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” Right?

So how can God, on the one hand, forgive wickedness, rebellion and sin, yet still say He does not leave the guilty unpunished? After all, they are almost diametrically opposed concepts! Either a person is forgiven and not punished… or a person is punished in their guilt, but not forgiven. Right? That’s what the world would say.

Yet with the L-RD, there’s a solution to this seeming contradiction. You see, if we stand on our own before the L-RD, we do indeed fall short of his standard. However, we are not on our own before the L-RD, are we? No, we have the promised Messiah, Yeshua, interceding between us and the L-RD, acting as our advocate and redeemer, paying a price for that forgiveness that would have been beyond us on our own.

So there is the answer. If those who practice wickedness, rebellion and sin remain in their sorry state, then the L-RD’s justice will be visited on them, just as the L-RD promised. If, however, they do repent and turn to the Messiah Yeshua, God will indeed forgive them.

Does that mean the guilty go unpunished?

Not at all; if one truly trusts in the Messiah Yeshua, the punishment has indeed been dealt out; yet instead of falling on those who committed these things, the punishment falls on the head of our Messiah Yeshua.

So the L-RD could offer forgiveness to the guilty – and we’re all guilty – and yet honestly say that He punishes the guilty. Because anyone who is guilty and repents can be forgiven while, through the work of our Messiah Yeshua, their guilt is still punished.

There is much to learn about God from these character-revealing words, and as we look over all it teaches us about who God is, there is a single word that comes to mind each time I witness a new layer of meaning revealed. You’ll recognize it from our Passover Seder.

Dayienu! It would have been enough! So let’s recount the L-RD’s goodness now, and each time I share a quality, I’d like you to respond with, “It would have been enough!”

If the L-RD was gracious and compassionate, but was not slow to anger… It would have been enough!

If the L-RD was slow to anger, but was not abounding in love and faithfulness… It would have been enough!

If the L-RD was abounding in love and faithfulness, but was not maintaining love to many… It would have been enough!

If the L-RD was maintaining love to many, but was not forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin … it would have been enough!

If the L-RD was forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin, but was leaving the guilty unpunished … it would have been enough!

If the L-RD was NOT leaving the guilty unpunished, but had withheld from us the Messiah … it would have been enough.

Yet the L-RD has richly blessed us in all these many ways and yet has also offered us the promised Messiah, Yeshua, to take our punishment upon Himself. It is more than we have earned, more than we deserve, and praise be to the L-RD for all He offers us, both through His Torah and His Messiah.
Dayienu! IT IS ENOUGH AND MORE THAN ENOUGH!

Shabbat Shalom.

Some commentaries are, quite frankly, run-of-the-mill after a while; others are like diamond rings, rare and exciting to give because you know you stumbled across something important to teach. This commentary is one of the latter. Here it is, my commentary on Tzav! Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashah for today is Tzav, or “Command!” and covers Leviticus 6:8 through 8:36 – though in Jewish Bibles, it is Leviticus 6:1 through 8:36 because of a difference in numbering. In this week’s reading, we encounter a series of sacrifices once again. This time, however, they revolve around the ordination of Aaron and his sons, at the time of the dedication of the Tent of Meeting.

By now, we are becoming familiar with the offerings this passage describes; sin offerings, guilt offerings, wave offerings, fellowship offerings and so on. Yet as I was studying through this week’s parashah, one element that stood out to me was the clear message about not eating fat.

Now, those who become exposed to the kosher concepts of clean and unclean meats usually grasp first and foremost the prohibition against the eating of blood. This is why there are procedures for “koshering” meat that including salting and soaking it to draw out the blood. However, trimming away the fat is just as important, as this week’s parashah makes clear. We read in:

Leviticus 7:22-25
The L-RD said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘Do not eat any of the fat of cattle, sheep or goats. The fat of an animal found dead or torn by wild animals may be used for any other purpose, but you must not eat it. Anyone who eats the fat of an animal from which an offering by fire may be made to the
L-RD must be cut off from his people.

This passage reflects a similar passage from last week’s reading, which I’d like to review briefly before we dive into our study. We read in:

Leviticus 3:14-17
From what he offers he is to make this offering to the L-RD by fire: all the fat that covers the inner parts or is connected to them, both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys. The priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the L-RD’s. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.

Now, the question that occurred to me is, why would the fat of an animal be prohibited by the L-RD for human consumption? Now, the reason for the prohibition against consuming blood makes sense; on a spiritual level, we know the Torah teaches that “the life is in the blood.” Even on a human level, we know that blood is unsafe for human consumption because it is part of the body’s waste disposal system. Diseases are frequently transmitted by blood, as well. Yet why is fat targeted by the L-RD to be prohibited as food?

To answer this question, I first turned to the Torah itself, which defines the fat as a “choice part” of any sacrifice. This helps to explain why it is reserved for the L-RD; just as the L-RD reserves the first-born in the Passover for Himself, requiring them to be ransomed back; just as He asks for the first fruits of the agricultural harvests, as a sign that we acknowledge the

L-RD’s place in our priorities; so, too, does he ask for the “choice parts” of an animal sacrifice, which includes the fat.

The Jewish Encyclopedia also indicates some other levels of meaning for the fat. We read as follows:

JewishEncyclopedia.com
It is held to indicate grossness and the wickedness of disposition (Job 15:27). A heart covered with fat is a sign of irresponsiveness and indifference (Psalm 17:10; 119:70). The fat of beasts is mentioned as rich food (Deuteronomy 32:14). Figuratively, fat connotes the choicest part of anything (of oil, Numbers 18:12; of wine, Number 18:12; of wheat, Deuteronomy 32:14, Psalm 81:17, Psalm 147:14).

This helps to answer the spiritual reasons why the L-RD reserves the fat for himself and does not allow it as food for human use. On a human level, it is also understandable, since animal fat is generally thought of as being more negative than positive for human consumption by most health experts.

Now that we have dealt with the question of the fat, I’d like us to turn our attention more closely to the purpose of this week’s parashah, which is the ordination of Aaron and the priesthood, at the time of the dedication of the Tent of Meeting.

This had to be a time of great anticipation for Aaron and his sons, a time of great humility. After all, it was only a few weeks ago that we read of how Aaron bent to the pressure of the people and made for them a golden calf to worship, calling to by the L-RD’s holy name, but exchanging the worship of the true God of Israel for a graven image of a created thing, a calf.

We remember that Aaron repented of his sin and was offered restoration, and now he is about to be ordained into the service of the L-RD. Surely he must have been humbled by the task that lay ahead of him. If he had any lingering doubts about the fullness of the L-RD’s restoration of him, certainly those doubts must have been washed away with the many offerings he and his sons were required to perform as part of their ordination.

You see, these sacrifices were never themselves what offered remission of sin; the law required them to be made as an annual reminder of sin, but the sacrifices themselves were a shadow of Messiah’s sacrifice. And here, it was a reminder to Aaron and his sons of the L-RD’s forgiveness through the work of the Messiah, though in their day, Messiah had not yet come.

So do these sacrifices hold any relevance for us today? After all, they were meaningful while the Temple was standing, but the popular sentiment among believers today is that Yeshua’s sacrifice replaced all that and made all these things irrelevant. Right?

About the only way you’ll hear most believers talk about the sacrifices described in this week’s parashah is as something that will happen during the time of Jacob’s Troubles – the time of the Tribulation – and even then, they never talk about it in a positive light.

But is that the proper view of these sacrifices? Is this part of the Torah done away with? The answer, of course, is, “No.” Yeshua Himself said this in:

Matthew 5:17-18
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

Heaven and earth are still here, right? And that means nothing has disappeared from the L-RD’s Torah. So why are the sacrifices not offered anymore, if it’s not because of Yeshua’s sacrifice being greater?

It’s because the sacrifices were performed in the Temple, and the Temple is no longer standing in Jerusalem. Why? Because the Romans came in year 70 of the Common Era and destroyed it. If it were still standing, the Jewish system of sacrifices would continue to this day. They will also be conducted in the millennial kingdom because we know that everything the L-RD established here in the Torah was a reflection of His kingdom.

With the Temple destroyed, we can praise God that Yeshua is our fully sufficient sacrifice, so does the future re-establishment of the sacrificial system mean that Yeshua’s sacrifice is not sufficient? Not at all! Listen to this in:

NIV Hebrews 10:1-8
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming–not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Messiah came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am–it is written about me in the scroll–I have come to do your will, O God.’ First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made).

That is why the sacrifices will start up again when the Temple is re-established; because they will serve the same purpose … to fulfill the requirements of the Law, to serve as a reminder of sin, and to be a reminder of Yeshua’s perfect sacrifice; just as it was then, so will it be in the kingdom.

So the sacrifices are as relevant for us today as they were in the time of Moses and Aaron. They mean the same thing; they themselves are not the source of our forgiveness, but they are a reminder of what is the source of our forgiveness. The only reason they are not practiced today is that the Temple no longer stands, but they will be practiced again in the world to come, and will serve to remind us of all the L-RD has done.
And all of this ties in to the ordination of Aaron and his sons. As we read in:

Leviticus 8:33-36
Do not leave the entrance to the Tent of Meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed, for your ordination will last seven days. What has been done today was commanded by the L-RD to make atonement for you. You must stay at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting day and night for seven days and do what the L-RD requires, so you will not die; for that is what I have been commanded.” So Aaron and his sons did everything the L-RD commanded through Moses.

Just as Aaron and his sons spent a full seven days in the Tent of Meeting, in the presence of the L-RD, as part of their ordination, what this week’s reading holds for us is a reminder that in order to serve the L-RD, we all need to spend time in his presence, with constant reminders of all he has done for us surrounding us at all times, so that we know from where our forgiveness comes; it comes from our fully sufficient sacrifice: the Messiah Yeshua.

Shabbat Shalom.