VAYIQRA (Leviticus) 16-27
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Portion ACHAREI MOT (16:1 - 18:30)
CHAPTER 16

1. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe after the death [acharei mot] of the two sons of Aharon, when they came [too] close to YHWH's presence and died.

Came too close: literally, "came near", but targum Onqelos reflects this interpretation. The LXX and Aramaic add "offered strange fire", as stated in 10:1. We now pick up where we left off in the story; the teachings about clean and unclean were inserted to explain their death. They had taken a liberty they should not have. Perhaps they were feeling particularly special for having just completed the tabernacle and His presence being among them, and became too giddy. He showed them that no matter how glorious, it was not to be done for self; He loved them, but He does not belong to us; we belong to Him, and must do things His way. YHWH did not wish to have to do this again, especially to Aharon, so He gives him a special insight into the proper protocol:

2. And YHWH told Moshe, "Tell your brother Aharon that he shall not come at [just] any time into the sanctuary within the veil in front of the covering which is over the ark, lest he die, because I appear in the cloud [that is] over the covering.

In front of: literally, "to the faces of". As with Adam, after Aharon was exalted and was allowed for a while to walk with YHWH freely for a time, a restriction was placed on him, but not on Moshe (who is symbolically equated with Torah, which is the Word, and thus represents Y'shua, to whom YHWH gives the Spirit without measure", Yochanan 3:34). Like Adam, we have free will, but the consequence of one choice is death, and we must be aware of that from the outset.

3. "This is how Aharon shall enter the sanctuary: with a [young] bull (a son of the herd) for a sin offering, and a ram for an ascending offering.

4. "He shall put on a holy linen coat, and his linen undergarments shall be over his flesh, and he shall belt himself with a linen sash, and shall wrap himself with a linen turban; they are holy garments. And he shall bathe his flesh with water [before] putting them on.

This is a picture of resurrection to new life after repentance. Fine white linen robes symbolize the righteous works of the saints (Rev. 19:8): they are given to us (Ephesians 2:10), but we must put them on (Mat. 22:12). On Yom Kippur, the high priest only wore half of his garments; he did not wear the unique ones (the ephod and breastplate) that he alone used, but dressed just like the other priests. He was thus identifying with the rest of the congregation. Like Y'shua, he was divesting himself of his glory and humbling himself.

5. "And he shall take from the congregation of the descendants of Israel two goat-kids for a sin offering, and one ram for an ascending offering.

This is the Yom Kippur atonement ceremony. Two goat-kids: or he-goats. By rabbinic tradition, they were to be as identical as possible. This is reminiscent of what Yaaqov, a twin, was told to bring to his mother so that he could be as identical to his brother as possible, so that the son she knew to be the right one would actually receive the blessing. It also depicts
Y'shua, who came "in the likeness of sinful flesh" and thus bore our sins away from the presence of YHWH. The link with what comes before this is that we have freedom to go only two directions. We can become like Yaaqov or like Esau, as seen in Gen. 33:16ff. Esau returned to Seir (which means "goat", but Yaaqov went on to Sukkoth (the festival that follows Yom Kippur). Paul says the only important freedom is freddom from sin, which inherently means
"slavery" to Y'shua. These are the only two ways we can go. We must choose which goat we will be like.

6. "Then Aharon shall bring near the bull for his own sin offering, and shall make atonement for himself and his household.

"To whom much is given, of him much shall be required." The price was higher for the priest's atonement. It reminds us of Y'shua's telling us to take the long plank out of our own eyes before trying to take the speck of dust out of someone else's.

7. "And he shall take the two goats and make them stand before YHWH at the door of the Tent of Appointment.

8. "And Aharon shall cast lots over the two goats, one [designated] "for YHWH", and the other "for Azazel".

Azazel: used in modern Hebrew for "hell". Azazel was the name of a satyr (half-goat, half-demon) who was said to dwell alone in the wilderness (see note on v. 21). The term is used only here in Scripture, but the idea seems to be supported in Yeshhay. 34:11-15; Yirm. 9:11; 50:39; Rev. 16:13; 18:2, etc., where certain animals are associated with demons. Others say the name
simply denotes a "goat of entire removal" (hence our word "scapegoat"), though this etymology stems from the term for "female goat", which suggests a connection to haSatan or that the male goat is being sent to its counterpart.

9. "And Aharon shall bring the goat on which the lot 'for YHWH' fell, and shall make it a sin offering.

Literally, "make it a sin". The sin becomes embodied in that goat so that it can be dealt with. This forms the context for understanding how Y'shua "became sin for us" though he knew no sin.

10. "And the goat on which the lot 'for Azazel' fell shall be presented alive before YHWH to effect a covering over them, in order to be sent to Azazel in the wilderness.

Presented: or "stood up".

11. "Then Aharon shall bring the bull of the sin offering (which is his own), and shall make atonement for himself and his house, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is his own.

12. "And he shall take a firepan full of coals of fire from atop the altar before the face of YHWH, his hands also [being] full of incense finely ground [from] sweet fragrances, and bring it within the veil.

13. "And he shall place the incense on the fire before YHWH, and the cloud of the incense shall conceal the atoning cover which is over the testimony; this way he will not die.

Conceal: or clothe.

14. "Then he will take [some] of the blood of the bull and sprinkle [it] with his finger on the front of the atoning cover, on the east. Then in front of the atoning covering he shall sprinkle the blood seven times with his finger.

East: reminiscent of the cheruvim guarding the eastern gate to Eden. The Heb. word also means "ancient", suggesting the restoration of the "ancient Adam". (See note on v. 17)

15. "Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which belongs to the people, and shall bring its blood within the veil, and do with its blood as he had done with the bull's blood--he shall sprinkle it on the atoning cover and in front of the atoning cover.

16. "Thus he shall effect a covering over the Holy Place because of the ritual impurities of the descendants of Israel, and because of their rebellions, [which led] to all their sins. And he shall do likewise for the Tent of Appointment [of the One] that [still] remains with them through their
uncleannesses.

Rebellions: or "transgressions". "Impurities...transgressions,... sins": Impurity is not yet sin, but it is a picture of selfishness--the beginning of a tendency in this direction. (Prov. 18:1-2) Yaaqov the brother of Y'shua tells how our own desires give birth to sin, which in turn leads to death (James 1:14ff). Rebellions: willful wrongdoings. There was no other sacrifice all year for intentional sins; they had to wait until this time. All other sin offerings were for unwitting sins. This again pictures Y'shua's sacrifice, other than which there is no way to be forgiven; rather
we have only the expectation of judgment, which will, however, devour the adversary within us (Hebrews 10:26), which itself is a good thing, because it finally frees us from this evil inclination, though in the process it may destroy the mortal part of us. (1 Cor. 5:5) Still remains...through their uncleannesses: i.e., despite their impurity, He nonetheless dwells with us,
but the atonement is needed to make up for our frequent lack of worthiness.

17. "And no man shall be in the Tent of Appointment from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out. Thus he shall make atonement for himself, his household, and for the whole congregation of Israel.

Atonement is not a quick process. Even now on Yom Kippur we reiterate a long list of sins of which we have been guilty without thinking about it. But it is a positive thing, since it shows us that we can never reach perfection, and we need Y'shua, no matter how hard we try to be holy. Paul said this was one of the main purposes of the Torah. (Rom. 3:20) "No man": Literally, "all of Adam [or the whole man] shall not be in...until he comes out". But when he comes out, Adam will be there again. The point of Messiah, our Great High Priest's atonement and removal of sin is to be able to restore the "man" who is the image of YHWH. Sha'ul (Paul) writes of how,
now that Y'shua has been resurrected as its head, YHWH has "called us all [to come] out" (Jer. 23:7 and the meaning of the term "ekklesia") and given us all giftings by which to build each other up "into a complete man until the attaining of the full measure of the intended condition of Messiah." He speaks in terms of the "measure". This is perfectly timed to fit with the present season, the "counting of the measure", these 7 weeks until Shavuoth (Pentecost) which began the day after the weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread--or theFeast of Firstfruits, the day Y'shua was raised from the dead! That is when the Head ("first part" in Hebrew) of the restored Adam was "born" (firstfruits and firstborn are exactly the same in Hebrew), and the rest of the Body began to come together. He never really desired sacrifice and offering, but prepared a Body for Y'shua (Heb. 10:5)--which all these "shadows" outline for us. They are all about drawing near, and calling out a bride for Himself with which He can become one and to whom He can give His name (Jer. 23:6; 33:16) is His real goal. The unity on that first Pentecost after His resurrection was a sign and seal of the Promise that the fullness will come in the time of the Restoration of all things, when we will be "brought back to the Garden of Eden".

18. "Then he shall go out to the altar which is before YHWH, and shall effect a covering over it. Then he shall take from the bull's blood and the goat's blood, and shall put it on the horns of the altar, all around.

19. "And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times; thus he shall ritually purify it, and render it separate [set apart] from the uncleannesses of the descendants of Israel.

20. "Now when he has finished atoning for the Holy Place and the Tent of Appointment, and has brought the living goat near,

21. "then Aharon shall lean his two hands on the head of the living goat, and confess over it all the guilty crookednesses of the descendants of Israel, and their mis-steps toward all their goings-off-track, and shall designate [that] they [will rest] upon the head of the goat, and send it off
into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness.

Lean...hands: symbolically transferring the guilt to it. Normally the sinner himself was to transfer his own guilt to the sacrifice, but since the perpetrator of pesha, a rebellious sin, was barred from the sanctuary, he had to be represented by the high priest. The ritual in itself had no efficacy unless it was accompanied by genuine acts of repentance by the people. "Atoning" just means "covering up", but this was not enough. As a pledge of what was to come, the blood of bulls and goats did cover sin--sweep it out of YHWH's sight so He could dwell among His congregation. But it could NEVER "take away sin" (Hebrews 9 and 10, which is all about Yom haKippurim). That only Y'shua could do, as the "Lamb of Elohim, who bears away the sins of the world"--not an animal, but a man who came to restore "Adam's" rightful place before YHWH "at a time of setting things right". As a "man who stands in readiness" (Hebrew, a fit man, a chosen man, or a timely man, even an eternal man--all of which describe Y'shua to a "T"), in his first appearance he was indeed always "in season", often saying, "My time has not yet come"
(Yochanan/John 7:8, etc.), but then one day changing that as the time for Passover and Firstfruits drew near. (Matt. 26:17)

22. "And the goat shall carry away all their perversions upon himself to an isolated land; and he shall send the goat off into the desert.

A parallel ceremony was used in the Babylonian new year festival (Pritchard), and temple purgation rituals (by aspersion, smearing, and incense) were found among the Hittites, Egyptians, and Mesopotamians, but never together with the "scapegoat" ceremony as in Israel. Thus YHWH gave it a new meaning. Since impurity was demonic, to exorcise it was not enough;
its power had to be removed, either through curse, destruction, or banishment. The evil was sent either to where it could work against the sender's enemies, or to a place where it could do no harm, as in the wilderness, which was uninhabited except by the satyr-demon Azazel. Thus it
was "sent back to where it came from". Often, in actual fact, the option of destruction was used, however, in an elaborate ritual by which the goat was escorted some twelve miles east of Yerushalayim, to the escarpment of the Yarden gorge at a place called, interestingly enough, Azal. A scarlet cord (recall Rahav, Yehosh. 2, and Zarach, Gen. 38:28) was tied around its horn,
and it was thrown over the cliff to be dashed to pieces on the rocks below. On the way down, the scarlet cord turned white, indicating that YHWH had removed the people's sins. ("Though your sins be as scarlet, they can become as white as snow', Yeshay. 1:18) A series of signals was relayed back to the Temple courts, whereupon the people began rejoicing loudly. The rabbis
noted, though, that 40 years (the appointed time of testing and transition) before the destruction of the Second Temple, the cord stopped turning white. This was exactly the time when the Messiah, the scapegoat's antitype, was slain. So either way, there is death--either death to self and sin, or just death.

23. "Then Aharon shall enter the Tent of Appointment, and strip off the linen garments that he wore when he went into the sanctuary, and leave them there.

24. "Then he shall bathe his body with water in a set-apart place, put on his garments, come out, and perform his ascending [offering] and the people's ascending [offering], thus effecting a covering over himself and the people.

25. "Then he shall cause the fat of the sin offering to go up in smoke on the altar.

Fat: i.e., the best part.

26. "Then the one who sent away the goat to Azazel must launder his garments and bathe his flesh with water. Then afterward he may enter the camp.

Like Y'shua, he became defiled on behalf of the community, even though what he was doing was not sinful. But he was bearing away sin and death, and thus associated with these things. (2 Cor. 5:21)

27. "And the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought to effect a covering over the sanctuary, shall be carried to the outside of the camp, and their hides burned with fire along with their flesh and their dung.

28. "And the one who burns them shall launder his garments and bathe his flesh with water. Then afterward he may enter the camp.

29. "And this shall constitute a never-ending statute: in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, you shall humble yourself and do no servile labor--the native as well as the alien who is staying among you,

Humble yourselves: literally, "affliict your souls", often expressed most vividly through a complete fast. Alien: or proselyte.

30. "because on this [particular] day he shall make atonement for you, in order to cleanse you from all your sins; before the presence of YHWH you shall be pure.

31. "It is a high Sabbath of rest for you, and you shall humble yourself. [This is] a statute forever.

High Sabbath: the holiest of the holy days; Heb. Shabbaton. Rest: literally, "ceasing". Though Y'shua has made full atonement and borne away our sins, they still remain in our present lives; one day it will be fulfilled, when he returns and has a final day of judgment on the present age
as his kingdom begins. Yet this does not mean the "shadow" or "outline" (Col. 2:17; Heb. 8:5; 10:1) is to cease; rather, after that it will only be the beginning of the truest observance of this practice, as the Prince himself will be the one designated to offer the "sacrifices" during the
festival times (Ezekiel 45:17).

32. "And the cohen whom he shall anoint, and whose hand he shall consecrate to act in the role of priest in the place of his father, shall make atonement, and shall put on the linen garments--the holy garments.

He had to wear the right clothing in order to effect atonement properly. What could be a fuller description of Y'shua--the anointed one [Messiah] who acts in the place of his Father, is our priest, makes atonement for us, and who is thereafter seen only in bright white linen garments and who invites us to keep our garments undefiled and "walk with him in white"? (Rev. 3:4) He
said, "The Son cannot do anything except what he sees the Father doing." (Yochanan 5:19, 30) "In the place of" in Hebrew is literally "beneath"--reminiscent of Y'shua's reminder that "the Father is greater than I." (Yochanan 14:28) "Put on linen garments": The cohen was constantly
changing clothes in the Yom Kippur ceremony--five times--and each time he had to immerse in water, and had to wash his hands and feet both before and after each. It was a repeated awakening to the solemnity of what he was doing and a reminder to be sure he was doing each part just right, because to break a picture YHWH has designated is something serious enough to get even Moshe barred from entering the Promised Land.

33. "Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place and for the Tent of Appointment; indeed, for the priests [cohanim], and for all the people of the congregation shall he effect a covering.

Wasn't the Holy Place within the Tent of Appointment (the tabernacle)? The fact that both are mentioned here suggests the deeper meaning that he is speaking of both the "shadow" (the physical building which served as a picture, figure, or outline), AND the actual dwelling-place of YHWH--the people He is pulling together into one Temple of living stones.

34. "And this shall be to you a never-ending statute in order to make atonement for the descendants of Israel on account of all their sins, once a year."

And he did as YHWH had commanded Moshe.


CHAPTER 17

1. Then YHWH told Moshe,

2. "Speak to Aharon and his sons, and to all the descendants of Israel, and say to them, 'This is the thing that YHWH has commanded:

3. "'"Any man of the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, or lamb, or goat within the camp, or who slaughters it on the outside of the camp,

Almost any time an animal was slaughtered in ancient times, it was sacrificed "unto" something; it was rarely simply killed. So this assured that these were only slaughtered unto YHWH. For an Israelite, even seemingly commonplace things like eating and drinking must be done to His glory (1 Cor. 10:31); how much more the "larger" decisions of our lives?

4. "'"who has not [first] brought it in to the entryway of the Tent of Appointment for the purpose of drawing near to YHWH before the dwelling-place of YHWH, that man shall be held liable for [its] blood; he has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people.

Shed blood: i.e., committed murder--as if the animal were human! The only righteous way to kill an animal worthy of YHWH's altar is to bring it to YHWH. When the sanctuary exists, what their blood is about is "all Israel"; it is not to be kept solely to oneself as an individual.

5. "'"For this purpose the sons of Israel shall bring their 'drawings-near', which they have been offering in the open field, to the priest at the entryway to the Tent of Appointment, and offer them to YHWH as slaughters of peace.

The open field is symbolic of the world at large, in which people worship whatever, wherever, and whenever they choose, and is strongly reminiscent of Paul's message to the Athenians that YHWH tolerated people's worshipful acts while they were in ignorance, "but now He calls everyone everywhere to repent, because He has APPOINTED a day..." (Acts/Envoys 17:30) Y'shua called himself "the door for the sheep"--the entryway to the dwelling-place of YHWH, and the one who opened the way for a "building" to be built in which He could dwell (1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:22) and where we could draw near to Him. (Heb.10:22) "Open" here also means "on the face of" in Hebrew, so it could suggest the idea of doing our righteous deeds before men in order to be seen. Thus, YHWH stipulates that it be done behind His fence. And what is slaughtered there must be eaten there, with the exception of certain offerings that the priests could take home for their families. Furthermore, it has to be eaten within two days. (19:6) The only way to eat a bull in two days is to share it. Thus the slaughter of these animals in particular always had a sanctity and were associated with the Temple and peace--the completeness, unity, and safety of all Israel. We still benefit from it, but only in this context.

6. "'"Then the cohen shall toss the blood onto YHWH's altar [at the] entryway to the Tent of Appointment, and cause the fat to go up in smoke as a soothing aroma to YHWH.

Fat: the best. After one has tithed from his flock and given the firstfruits as an additional offering, he must still turn any of his flock animals over to the priest, who then keeps about a quarter of it, before he can partake of it. This seems oppressive, but actually the exact opposite is true. Israel's war on individualism allows our everyday lives, even our eating, but be taken out of the realm of selfishness and into the realm of holiness. Like chemotherapy that actually kills some of our cells in order to save our lives, death to self removes many chains from us. While the best we can do today is a remembrance of this command, and it is not necessarily a sin in our exile to eat beef or mutton that has not been taken to a Levitical priest, still, we must pay close attention to what it symbolizes: Anything we raise up ourselves, tend, pay for, nurture, and guard is not ours alone, but if it is worthy of YHWH, it belongs to Him and to all of Israel, not just ourselves. Like these flock animals in ancient times, we are raising the things in our own "herds" specifically to be sacrificed. Also, the entryway to the tent, as we saw in Exodus 38:8, is where women gathered to do spiritual warfare. Why? Because sin crouches at the door. (Gen. 4:7) By turning over to YHWH the things we've invested our whole lives in, we turn them into weapons for spiritual battle. As we put self away, we remove the foundation for most of the principalities and powers that could come against us. As we saw with Noakh after the rain stopped, a dove (symbolic of the Holy Spirit) will not alight on anything unclean, but an unclean thing is all the raven needs as a foothold before it takes up residence. Y'shua established a "tree" by which the "dove" could indwell us. Only He, our high priest, has a right to bring an offering to YHWH for us. We cannot offer anything YHWH will accept as long as we are "in the open field"--doing things on our own. But coming in His Name gives us the right to partake in all that is worthwhile in YHWH's eyes and in anything that He has given as a gift to Israel, His bride.

7. "'" And they shall no longer slaughter their sacrifices to goats after which they have prostituted themselves. This is an ordinance [prescribed] forever for them to [all] their generations.

Goats: Aramaic, "demons". Goats are symbolic of this since though they are clean animals, they are individualists who go off on their own rather than staying close together as a flock. But the Hebrew word for goat (sa'ar) is associated with Esau (whose territory was Mt. Se'ir, a related word), the man of the open field, the man of the world, the man who lived only for his belly. The word sa'ar also denotes "what makes one tremble with fear". The things we dread are what we are truly worshipping, even if we hate them, because we see them, not YHWH, as the ultimate reality, and He sees this as infidelity to Him. Demons are glad to take up residence in that fear. But if we fear only YHWH and His removing His presence from us, then we are free to fear nothing else.

8. "'"And you shall tell them, 'Any man of the House of Israel or of the sojourner who stays temporarily among you, who causes an ascending [offering] to go up

9. "'"'but does not bring it to the entry to the Tent of Appointment to do it unto YHWH, that man shall be cut off from his kinsmen.

10. "'"'And any man of the household of Israel, or [any] of the proselytes who are staying among you, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and cut him off from his people,

Israel is called to be holier than others are expected to be. Proselytes: strangers or aliens who have settled among Israel to learn about the Elohim of Israel. This prohibition of blood for them as well forms the basis for the Jerusalem council's declaration that those from among the Gentiles who were coming into the faith but who were not to be weighed down with the full force of the Torah at once (Acts 15:20, 21) were to abstain from strangled foods (a cover term for any food from which the blood was not properly drained after being slaughtered in a kosher manner), "and from blood"--as if to drive home the point. Yet even this most basic of requirements for Gentile believers is scarcely obeyed today. Set My face: concentrate His full attention against him.

11. "'"'because the soul of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to effect a covering over your souls, because it is the blood which effects a covering for the soul.'"'"

The soul of the flesh: There is great depth to these words. On the simplest level, blood is life, and it belongs to YHWH, so it is not our right to consume it. Also, the soul dwells there, so it is holier than the body itself. Taking into ourselves the soul of a wild beast can make us like it. Because of this command, many Satanic rituals include the drinking of blood. But when offered properly, blood exists to cover our souls Away from the Tabernacle, we cannot properly remove all of the blood. This is a picture of keeping the wrong company. When we take into ourselves their attitudes, we start to serve the wrong ideas. For example, in the context of goats, we take on the motivation of fear. We have lost the covering, so we feel cold and become afraid, so we look for an alternate covering--the one our companions are wearing. Looking for a covering other than the one YHWH has provided is the essence of idolatry. Reading on a deeper level, "flesh" and "glad news" are the same in Hebrew, "the soul, or life, of the Gospel is in [Y'shua's] blood", which makes atonement for us.

  1. "'"This is why I have told the descendants of Israel, 'Not a soul among you may eat blood, nor may the sojourner who is staying among you eat blood.'

13. "'"Now any man from the descendants of Israel--or any sojourner who is staying among you --who hunts game (animal or fowl) which may be eaten, must drain its blood and cover it with dust,

These are animals other than those mentioned in verse 3, which are especially clean since they are worthy of the altar, whereas these are simply "fair game" that may be eaten. They do not need to be brought to the Temple, because a wild animals is not acceptable as an atoning sacrifice. Still, what was hunted had to be trapped, then its throat slit, so that the blood, through its premature death, would not coagulate before it could be drained. Today, what we have trapped represents our commercial dealings. Out of necessity we buy or sell. The rabbis say a bird could be killed by a stone if one is in dire straits and cannot catch it any other way and he would not be cut off for doing so, but still this is a picture of selfishness, the focus being on the mere survival of the flesh. We are not to "eat" the "blood" of our inevitable brushes with the world outside the walls; its goals are not what we are to be about. Cover it with dust: Do not even look at it anymore; let the descendants of Avraham but what you see and focus your energies on instead.

14. "'"because the soul of all flesh is its blood--that is its life, so I am telling the descendants of Israel that you are not to eat the blood of any flesh, because the soul of all flesh is its blood; anyone who eats it shall be cut off.

15. "'"Moreover, anyone who eats [the carcass of] what died on its own or something torn [by wild beasts], whether [he is] a native or a sojourner, must launder his garments and bathe in water, and he will be ritually unclean until the evening. Then he will be clean.

Here it appears that there is no actual prohibition against eating these meats, but only the process of impurity. But Deut. 14:21 actually forbids them, saying we may, however, sell it to Gentiles or give it to the strangers among us--though here we see that this still renders them unclean. If priests ate them, they were punished. Exodus 22:30 says we can throw the meat of "torn" animals to the dogs. But Israelites may not eat of any of these. So this command pertains to what someone else feeds us (when we do not know it is unclean until later) or being in such dire straits that we eat anything we have to in order to survive--but see note on v. 13. We must still take responsibility for the wrong we have done, and not make it our custom.

16. "'"And if he does not launder them or bathe his flesh, he will retain his perversity."'"

Retain his perversity: or "continue to bear [the punishment for] his guilt."




CHAPTER 18

1. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

2. "Speak to the descendants of Israel, and tell them, 'I am YHWH your Elohim.

In a sense, it appears that Moshe is to tell them that he is Elohim. The term elohim means "mighty one" or "judge", and the Torah, for which "Moshe" is often shorthand, is what YHWH uses to judge us.

3. "'You shall not act according to the pursuits of the land of Egypt in which you lived, nor do as the customs of the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you [dictate], nor shall you walk in their customs;

Act: the term means "accomplish" or "make a transaction". So we are not to aim for the same type of accomplishments as non-Israelites, nor make transactions in the same way. One thing these other nations did was assign different deities to different areas of life. But YHWH does not want to just be the Master of the Sabbath, or just of our religious life or family life, but of our priorities, our time, our finances, and every other part of life--even who we marry (see below). Our employer is never to be the elohim of any area of our lives if his will conflicts with YHWH's Torah. Neither the government nor our families have a right to overrule His orders in any area of life. Walk: Do not be on the path toward the same goals they pursue.

4. "'[Rather], you shall carry out My legal procedures and observe My prescribed customs, in order to walk within them; I am YHWH your Elohim,

Neither the place we are coming from (whether the "world" at large or the Church) nor the place we are being brought (Israel, which is under many man-made rules of rabbinic Judaism) sets the rules for how we are to act, but rather the One who is bringing us there. Carry out: Actively participate in bringing about His Kingdom; it will not happen magically.

5. "'and you shall guard My statutes, which the man who does [them] shall live on account of. I am YHWH.

Guard: make sure those under your jurisdiction are getting them done, and bring correction to those who are not. This begins on the personal level, but then moves up to the congregational, and eventually tribal and national level. We need to become a firmly-established rock to build His House on. But this requires understanding (Psalm 119:144), for if we do not see their value, we will not care about guarding them. Yehezq'el (Ezekiel) 20:11-12 reiterates the same, then adds the instruction about the Sabbath, which is given "so that they may know Me". This is why He again tells us here just Who He is. If we want to know Him, these are the things we must do and the things we must avoid, for they preclude His presence. The point of all the commandments is to know His heart. The man: literally, Adam. Live: thrive or be revived. If Adam's descendants follow these instructions, he (the complete, unmarred image of Elohim) can be resurrected. But for that to take place, we must first die (to self) with Y'shua, the Head of the second Adam. (Romans 6)

6. "'None of you may draw near to any close relative in order to uncover their nakedness; I am YHWH."

What a strange way to follow up on this dignified introduction. But "Elohim" is a plural term, and this passage that seems so awkward will reveal much about the type of interpersonal relationships He intends us to have. Uncover the nakedness: not merely in the most literal sense, or verse 10 would mean we could never even change our grandchildren's diapers! It is an idiom for sexual relation. This series of commands delimits those who, due to close genetic kinship, are off limits to a man sexually. It literally says, "Each man shall not draw near to the near one of his flesh" [or, flesh of his flesh, to use Adam's idiom, for our nearest kin now are other members of the Body of Messiah, the "rebuilt Adam"]. In this context (see note on v. 5), we remember that Adam only felt naked after he disobeyed. If we follow the instructions underlying this passage, YHWH can return us to the Garden.

7. "'You shall not expose the nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother. This is your mother! You must not expose her nakedness!

B. Sanh. 54a interprets the phrase as "the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of his wife". Targum Pseudo-Yehonathan interprets it instead as a ban on incest between father and daughter, or mother and son. We now know that this practice poses a high risk of major congenital defects. But "expose the nakedness" could just as well read, " lay vulnerable their undefended parts." (Yoseyf used the term this way to refer to the weakened condition of Egypt during the famine; Gen. 42:9) This gives it a much broader application beyond mere sexuality. Paul's warning not to put a stumblingblock in one another's way is reminiscent of this idea, endangering the weaker brother by tempting him at his weakest point. Y'shua said it is better to be thrown to the depths of the sea than to cause a "little" one to stumble. Paul said the least presentable parts are those on which we confer the greatest dignity.

8. "'You must not expose the nakedness of your father's wife; it is your father's [own] nakedness.

Father's wife: i.e., it could include a wife other than your mother, if he has several. This was Reuven's sin (Gen. 35:22; 49:3ff), and that of the Corinthians. In Hoshea 2:3ff, YHWH speaks of the House of Israel's mother, who has played the prostitute. He threatens to expose her shame if she does not repent, and we are told to warn her that she is no longer His wife, but He is the One to do the actual exposing of her evil ways. But how is his wife's nakedness his own? Something may be a sin not because it has direct consequences, but because of the way it affects others around us--those we are connected to. We can only really hurt those who trust us and lower their guard. We feel as uncomfortable around those who have wronged us, betraying our trust, taking advantage of our vulnerability, as we do when our bodies are exposed in public. More often than anything this is done through our words and actions toward them. Thus this passage is really teaching us, on a deeper level, to be worthy of the trust of those around us.

9. "'You must not expose the nakedness of your sister--your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, [whether] born at home or born abroad; you must not lay bare their vulnerability.

At home or abroad: literally, "in the house or outside". "Outside" suggests that it may be a daughter of unfaithfulness, but still we are to protect them from outside enemies.

10. "'You must not expose the nakedness of your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter; you must not uncover their vulnerable parts, because their nakedness is your own nakedness.'"

Aramaic Targum Onqelos: "because they are your nakedness", interpreted as "your nakedness is reflected in them". Their vulnerability or weakness is your own, for the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If one member suffers, we all do. We can never act alone or for ourselves alone once we are made part of the Body. What affects one affects all. If we leave the doors unguarded, the wrong influences have access to anyone in the house. We may not do so willfully, but someone is still unprotected, and we are no less responsible to "cover him back up" than if we had deliberately uncovered him.

11. "'The nakedness of the daughter of your father's wife, [who is] begotten by your father: this is your sister! You must not uncover her nakedness.

12. "'You shall not expose the nakedness of a sister of your father; she is a close [blood] relative of your father.

13. "'You shall not expose the nakedness of your mother's sister; she is a close [blood] relative of your mother.

14. "'You shall not expose the nakedness of your father's brother--[that is,] you must not come close to his wife; she is your aunt.

15. "'You must not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife; you must not expose her vulnerability.

16. "'You shall not expose the nakedness of your brother's wife; this is your brother's vulnerability.

Or, "it is your brother's shame". Because of the levirate laws, we know this only applies while one's brother is alive or has sons, because it is actually one's duty to beget sons for a brother who dies without an heir. YHWH considers the bloodline of every (obedient) Israelite man to be worth preserving in this way.

17. "'You shall not uncover the nakedness of [both] a woman and her daughter; you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter in order to uncover their nakedness; they are her close relatives. This is offensive!

18. "'You must not take a woman along with her sister in order to uncover her nakedness in addition to hers during her lifetime, [which would only] cause her distress.

Cause her distress: vex, be a rival to her, harass or cramp her; literally, "put her in straits"; LXX, "in opposition to her". A prime example of this is the rivalry between Leah and Rakhel.

19. "'Neither shall you come near a woman to uncover her nakedness during [the time of] her being set aside in her uncleanness,

20. "'nor shall you give your copulation-seed to your neighbor's wife, becoming defiled by her.

Neighbor: Heb., "friend" or "associate". Proverbs 5:15 tells us to "drink water from your own well" instead of scattering your energy so far from home that you can't keep up with your real responsibilities.

21. "'Now, you must never cause any of your seed to pass through [the fire] for Molekh and [thus] profane the name of your Elohim. I am YHWH.

Molekh: a Kanaanite deity to whom people sacrificed their children. Archaeology has turned up urns filled with infants' bones on which "to Molekh" is inscribed, and the names of those offering them had names ending in "-yah"; i.e., they were Israelites. This was done in the Hinnom Valley outside Yerushalayim, and because this custom was so sickening to YHWH, the righteous king Yoshiyahu changed it to a dumping ground where garbage was burned, since it was no longer fit for any nobler use. (2 Kings 23:10) Profane the Name: treat Him as if He were just one among many equals. Or "pollute", "violate", "defile", or "make common". Cause your seed: Notice the similarity in wording to v. 20: in one case the seed is given to another family than one's own; in the second case, to another deity, which YHWH also regards as adultery. How does this apply to us now that this practice has ceased? Molekh means "the one who rules". Since the term "fire" is only implied because of historical knowledge, the actual text actually tells us not to turn our children over to the one that rules, i.e., let them learn the ways of the "prince of the power of the air" or make them give up their childhood so their parents can become wealthy by capitalizing on their children’s talents. YHWH weighs us by our fruit, and how our children turn out is a very large part of this; our flaws usually become theirs. On the other hand, we must not let our children think they are the ones that rule! Either way brings death by making them useless to Israel. The learned and wise are to be the one that rule.

22. "'You must not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; this is an abomination.

Many psychological excuses are made today for this sin. One of them is that "Elohim is love", and this outweighs His other commands. But YHWH does not accept these as valid. All of His word is true; we would do better to search out how the two truths fit together. The term "abomination" here is often used very specifically to mean an idol. That does indeed apply here. Galatians 6:5 tells us that each one is to bear his own load; homosexuality is often a man's way of worshipping someone who is just what he wants to be, but whom he cannot be or whom he is not willing to take the hard road to becoming.

23. "'Nor may you give your lying down within an animal, which results in defilement; nor shall a woman stand in front of an animal in order to copulate with it; this is a perversion.

Lying-down: probably a shortened version of the compound Hebrew word for "copulation seed", in the context of v. 20. Stand in front: LXX, Aram., "present herself". Copulate with it: Aramaic, "to let it prevail over her"; LXX, "to have connection with it". Perversion: confusion, a violation of nature; a mixing of two things that should remain distinct.

24. "'Do not defile yourself with any of these, since because of all of these [things] the nations which I am indeed sending away before your face have defiled themselves,

25. "'and the Land is defiled, and I will punish its crookedness, and the land will disgorge its inhabitants.

26. "'But as for you, you must guard My customs and My procedures of justice, and not carry out any of the repulsive things--the native-born or the sojourner who is staying among you.

27. "'The men of the Land that is before you have done all of these repulsive things; thus the Land is defiled.

28. "'That way the Land will not disgorge you for defiling it, as it [has begun] vomiting out the nation that is before you--

29. "'because anyone who does any of these abominations--indeed, the souls who are carrying them out--must be cut off from the closest part of their people.

30. "'Rather, keep that which I have entrusted to you, and thus stay away from performing any of the disgusting customs which were done before you, or defiling yourselves with them; I am YHWH your Elohim."

Portion QEDOSHIM (19:1 - 20:27)

CHAPTER 19

1. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

2. "Speak to the whole congregation of the descendants of Israel, and tell them, 'You shall be holy [qedoshim], because I, YHWH your Elohim, am holy.

Each time it says "you" here, it is plural. "Holy" means "set apart" and "separate", but, as strange as it sounds, it is impossible to be truly separate in isolation! All of the spiritual gifts cannot function unless the whole Body is present. All must be in place before true holiness as YHWH intends it can exist. We are not holy for the sake of separateness as such, nor are we truly separate until we are all together in our set-apartness. What follows is a description of how one must live if he wishes to remain in YHWH's Land and a part of His people—in short, what it means to be Israel. It means constantly separating ourselves from more and more habits, attitudes, and thought patterns, because as we walk further upward, the bar keeps being raised. It starts with the obvious sins that everyone knows are wrong, and tightens to anything that disagrees with the instructions Moshe brought down from the mountain, then anything that disrupts the life of the community. "Missing the mark" is no longer just missing the target; sin is now defined as missing the bull’s eye in any way at all. The outer rings now no longer count. Maturing as a Body is a weeding process that sifts out and throws away more than we keep. We must define what is outside, and leave it there. But there are two sides to the wall of separation. More important than being separated from all other loyalties, we are separated unto YHWH and His flock; without that element, it is just an exercise in self-righteous pride. We screen out the rest so we can concentrate our commitment on Him and His Kingdom’s priorities. The Torah is the eyeglasses that define it more sharply for us.

3. "'Every one of you shall stand in awe of his mother and father, and guard my sabbaths; I am YHWH your Elohim.

Stand in awe of: or simply, fear. Sixteen times in this passage He repeats, "I am YHWH your Elohim." The point seems to be, "Obey because of who I am, and in the obeying you will come to know Me as I am." Why the juxtaposition of honor for parents and sabbath-keeping? Because apart from your parents, you would not have been able to enter this world, and apart from the sabbath, the commandment which is a "sign", you would never be able to enter even the most basic aspects of YHWH's cycle of appointed times. Of course, pagan parents are never to be respected above YHWH's commands; Y'shua said his true relatives were those who obey YHWH. We honor our parents by keeping the Sabbath, even if they do not, because by thus being people of integrity we cast them in the best possible light, since we are the fruit by which they are known. Mother and father: Why in that order? Our first mother sinned, then our father, by failing to keep holy the one thing that was set apart; they tore down a wall YHWH had set up. The real sin was listening to the serpent's logic instead of simply obeying YHWH's command. The Sabbath is the one remaining time in this age of our fallenness during which we can deeply partake of Eden. It is a time that is elevated above time and in it we are separate from all that is outside. Our most ancient parents’ loss of Paradise for their failure to guard what was set apart warns us to be fearful of doing the same with the Sabbath. We need to see it not as a yoke of iron, but as a golden necklace, or it will become the yoke for us and be no less binding on us.

4. "'Do not turn yourself to the idols, nor shall you make cast-molten gods for yourselves; I am YHWH your Elohim.

Idols: Heb., elilim. The word stems from the word for "not", and means a thing of nought, an image, or something worthless, insufficient, and ultimately not even truly existing--an illusion that cannot deliver what you expect, which is exactly the technique that worked for the serpent in the Garden. Anything outside of YHWH is such vanity. How do we find out what this encompasses? Not by trusting our deceitful hearts, but by being deeply familiar with what is genuine, and that is defined through His instruction (Torah).

5. "'And if you slaughter an offering of peace, you shall slaughter it of your own free will [and pleasure].

Peace: or alliance/friendship. To Gentile logic, sacrifice is at best a pragmatic necessity, but hardly a pleasure. It takes training to find delight in giving our wealth and livelihood, but as we become His friends and learn His way of seeing things, we will become more and more generous as He is.

6. "'It may be eaten on the day you slaughter it, or on the next day, but anything that is left over on the third day must be burned with fire.

Must be burned: Once it is offered, the gift belongs to YHWH, and we have no say in what is done with it. We are permitted to partake, but not for long enough to begin to think of it as our own again. We have no right to stay in the place that is His, not ours, unless we bring another animal. The privilege of His mercy is not to be profaned into a right we all deserve. This truth is understood best in the season of the counting of the measure: A picture used both in the Torah and by Y'shua is of a woman making bread with three measures [se'im] of flour. (Gen. 18:6; Matt. 13:33; Luk. 13:21) Se'im is a masculine plural of a feminine word, se'ah, which indicates that a marriage has taken place. The rebuilding of the primeval Adam includes this theme twice: first, a single bride is formed of two peoples--the House of Yehudah and the House of Israel which was scattered. The letter and the spirit are joined back into one, symbolized by Shavuoth, YHWH's wedding day, which consummates the 7-week count, which is both the day on which the Torah was given at Sinai and the day on which the spirit was poured out through Yehudah but onto all nations. Then this bride is joined to her Head, Y'shua, the third but most important component of the restoration of YHWH's image . But on Shavuoth, though three measures have been used, only two loaves are made from them and waved as a wave offering (since they are leavened and cannot be burned on the altar). Since the two houses are to become one and together appoint one Head (Hoshea 1:11), continuing to think of what are now two entities as three desecrates the picture, just like eating the peace offering on the third day, since it represents this reconciliation of mankind with YHWH. His presence is between two cheruvim, yet they are joined together and are really a single piece, as Adam was before his separation from Chavvah (Eve). The separation took place only so there could be a conscious rejoining. Y'shua will wed the reunited whole house of Israel, not the two separately. What YHWH is beginning to rejoin, let no man put asunder.

7. "'Moreover, if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination; it will not be accepted.

An abomination: or "like refuse". Accepted: or "pleasing". We must do things in season; doing them at the wrong time--a "love that comes too late"--leaves an abhorrent taste in His mouth, as when the Israelites tried to go conquer Kanaan after YHWH had already pronounced their sentence on them. At one point Y'shua said his work would be finished on the third day (Luk. 13:32); now is the time to gather with him, because a time is coming when it will no longer be the right time to harvest. It will be time to sort and winnow and sift, and that time is already upon us. Continuing to come back to partake of it would make the Tabernacle seem more like a soup kitchen than a holy place, and the focus would shift from the offering to the eating, and this is not what the Kingdom is really about. (Rom. 14:17) The Temple is a place where YHWH is to be revealed, not our private barbecue grill! This would ruin the picture of sharing with the rest of Israel.

8. "'Whoever eats [it] shall bear his consequences, because he has rendered common the holy thing belonging to YHWH, and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Bear his consequences: or, retain his twistedness. I.e., he will not get back to Eden. Person: literally, soul. If a person gets "out of season"--out of step with YHWH's appointed times, especially if they are deliberately changed as they were by the self-appointed "head" of the Church, Constantine, then we bring a curse on ourselves and our children.

9. "'Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the corners, nor shall you gather up the gleanings of your harvest;

By rabbinic tradition, one was considered to have an "evil eye" if he did not leave at least 40% of his crop for the needy, provided he had the means to do so. (This was after the regular tithes.) So it is an issue of generosity vs. selfishness. How much of his hard labor was one willing to donate? It also requires faith: once he leaves it ungleaned, he also loses control over who will glean it. He cannot choose those who deserve to receive it; he has to leave that to YHWH's sovereign justice. If we worry about the part that is left behind, we will not carry out the things that we ARE responsible to do--serve each other and become a community, a Temple for Him to fill. Y’shua said when one's eye is sound (as opposed to evil), his whole body would be full of light. When our eye is clear (which Prov. 22:9 associates with giving bread to the poor), we can see clearly that the whole Land is really His, and we are only put in charge of it; it is a privilege to partake of any of it. The Hebrew word for joy also means "full of brightness". YHWH said if we did not serve Him with joy, we would end up serving oppressive enemies. (Deut. 28:47) Discouragement is the opposite of joy, and keeps us from ascending further. Removing one another's joy and courage is sin! "Fear not" and "be strong" are His commands. It takes strength to strengthen others, and that includes disciplining those who will not exercise self-discipline. And what strengthens anyone more than a peace offering in which we tell about what YHWH has done?

10. "'nor shall you thoroughly [reap] your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and the sojourner [among you]; I am YHWH your Elohim.

Of course, the poor have to go there for themselves and glean; it is not brought to them already cooked. This preserves their dignity too. I am YHWH: i.e., "This is what I am like; get to know Me better by doing this." Sojourner: YHWH wants those who pass through His Land to understand whose Land they are in, and how generous He is. They will ask why things are so different here than anywhere else, and we can tell them that it is because He is the true Elohim. This also recalls the contrast of how the Edomites and Emorites treated Israel when Moshe asked to simply pass through the Land and not even eat any of the grain. (Num. 20:17; 21:22) Generosity is a requirement for anyone who will live in His Land, for it is intended to be an unmixed representation of what He is like.

11. "'You shall not steal, nor fail to do what you have promised, nor shall you lie to one another.

Steal: We can steal things less tangible than possessions—time, authority, joy, courage, or credit. We can steal someone’s reputation through gossip, or take advantage of a kindness once given and make a person feel obligated to do more for us than we deserve. Lie to: or, trick. Although these commands very directly impact our neighbor's welfare, to fail to carry them out damages the character of the doer more than the recipient of the deeds.

12. "'Nor shall you take an oath deceptively in My Name, nor shall you profane the Name of your Elohim; I am YHWH.

Profane the Name...YHWH: Literally, pierce, weaken, or wound. This can include using it lightly, but also "weakening" its impact by substituting the names of pagan gods out of supposed respect for His true name, because this only causes greater confusion about who He is. We honor a name by bringing it glory, not shame. Who would have ever known who Nun was if it were not for Yehoshua, his son? Yet he is always called "Yehoshua ben Nun", thus honoring his father because he became great in the eyes of YHWH. In the same way, those who honor YHWH's Son also honor YHWH. Take an oath deceptively: or, complete a sham. I.e., do not try to put an appearance of authority on what is only an opinion (or worse, what is a farce) by adding His apparent endorsement. Do not call something His work is it is only your own agenda. Y'shua went further and said not to swear at all in YHWH's Name, for if our word is normally true, why do we need to risk our integrity to add weight to what should already be sufficient reason to trust what we say?

13. "'You shall not defraud your neighbor, nor rob [him]; the wages of a hired hand shall not remain with you until morning.

Defraud: or extort from, take advantage of. LXX, "injure". In a hand-to-mouth agricultural economy, workers would be paid immediately so that they could buy food for the next day--or that very evening. Thus to withhold this was to take the very bread from his family's mouths. Robbery is evidence that a man sees himself as an entity separate from the whole community and more deserving than others.

14. "'You shall not treat the deaf as of little importance, or put anything in front of the blind that would make them stumble, but you shall fear your Elohim; I am YHWH.

Treat...as of little importance: make fun of, or curse. YHWH is not fond of cruelty and making sport of those who can do nothing to strengthen themselves, especially if it is to make ourselves look better. Words have a real effect even if they are not heard by their object. Words are alive, and we are truly capable of blessing and cursing, so we must be careful what we say. This could also include speaking about someone "behind his back", since he, too, is deaf to what we are saying. Blind: In a broader sense, we are not to make things harder for those who are unable to hear or see. (It may be a different story for those who choose not to see.) How does this apply to the fact that YHWH has intentionally brought a partial "blindness" over Israel (both houses in different ways) in order to carry out another aspect of His plan? (Romans 11:25)

15. "'You shall do no injustice when deciding a case: you shall neither lift up the face of the weak, nor show partiality in the presence of the distinguished. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.

We must not give special immunity to either the poor because he "deserves a break" (see Prov.6:30f), nor the rich and powerful because of his ability to pay you. The case is to be judged strictly on the merits of what the person actually did. One is never to be fined simply because he can afford it. Our own special interests are never to be protected through the court system; there is to be no other influence than the facts. But this is also a command to judge; Paul asks why we can't judge one another, and why he had to do it for the Corinthians. Though Y'shua says that if we judge, we will be judged by the same measure, this is not meant to stop us from judging, but to learn to do it correctly, judging ourselves first; right judgment is an act of righteousness. Yes, get the plank out of your eye, but do not ignore the speck in your brother's eye. To do so is to say he is not important enough to lay our comfort on the line for. Neighbor: When Israel is functioning properly, someone in another household would not judge you unless the head of your household felt he could not render a decision, and even then only he would appeal to those at the next level up; you would not go "over his head". Even Y'shua asked someone why he had come to Him to judge a matter outside His jurisdiction. (Luke 12:14, 57)

16. "'You shall not go around as a talebearer among your people, nor shall you stand [idly] by [when] your fellow's blood [is being spilt]; I am YHWH.

Talebearer: slanderer--spreading information whether true or not for the purpose of diminishing another. Fellow: literally, one from the same flock, under the same shepherd. There is a definite connection between these two injunctions: one who allows gossip to spread or receives it without protest is like one who watches his friend being attacked and does not try to intervene. Nothing "kills" faster than words. Yaaqov (James) says the tongue has the power of life and death, and compares it to a spark that kindles a wildfire. We are our brothers''keepers. We can make amends for robbery, but we can never make full restitution for gossip, because the proverbial feathers have already been scattered to the wind and are irretrievable. We can never undo it completely, so avoid it from the start.

17. "'You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall certainly rebuke your fellow, and not put up with sin [remaining] upon him.

Your brother: YHWH never commands us not to hate His enemies, such as Amaleq. In your heart: the sins in the list are growing less and less tangible. No one knows about the hate in your heart but yourself. But it is already a sin. (Matt. 5:22) Again, the text seems to be equating hating a brother with allowing him to remain in sin and not warning him. This goes against conventional ideas that love never offends someone and always wants him to feel good. But Proverbs 13:24 says, "He who spares the rod hates his son." Failing to warn our fellows of impending danger means their blood is upon us, not them. (Ezk. 33:2-6) Withholding an opportunity to repent is the best way to prove we do not love someone. Rebuking a fool gives him an occasion to learn. (Prov. 9:7ff) Put up with sin: or bear sin because of him--i.e., share in his guilt by not rebuking him. Sin will remain in the household if we do not specifically remove it. All these commands are given in regard to someone who is in your same "flock". Both justice and mercy mean a lot more closer to home. You are more responsible for those nearest you than for those in the larger congregation. (1 Corinthians 5:12) YHWH will deal with those outside.

18. "'You shall not take vengeance nor carry a grudge against the children of your people, and you shall love your fellow as [you love] yourself; I am YHWH.

Children: i.e., those less able to receive harsh correction, or those who do not know any better. As you love: Feelings must be kept in check as well as actions. It is much easier to forgive someone you like, and reprove someone you don't, but this is never the way to divide our actions.

19. "'You shall keep My ordinances: you shall not let your livestock crossbreed with other species; you shall not sow your field with [two] different kinds [of seed]; and you shall not allow a garment of mingled wool and linen to be upon yourself.

Sow your field: i.e., the same area of the field. These are all different ways of depicting the same principle. Things must be kept distinct, so we can tell which are the crop and which are weeds. This includes mixtures like "YHWH our God"--one acceptable name with one that is not--or mixing paganism into biblical faith, which is where most of the church is today. The last prohibition symbolizes a life of purity unmixed with sin. It hearkens back to the story of Qayin and Hevel (Abel): linen comes from the earth; wool comes from a living being that can shed blood and picture redemption (which comes from heaven). There is a place for each, but the two are not to be mixed. But this was also a holy blend used in some of the priestly garments (Ex. 28:6; 39:29); it was reserved exclusively for the sanctuary, not for the lay person. However, some garments found in Dead Sea caves from c. 135 C.E. had white tassels of linen and blue tassels of wool woven together. Thus the tassels which every Israelite is to wear on the extremities of his garments (Num. 15) were of this mixture, symbolizing that they are a "kingdom of priests". (Ex. 19:6) Livestock symbolize our security and wealth. We are not to mix YHWH's peace that passes understanding with security of the type the world gives. Seed represents the Sons of the Kingdom, which are not to be sown among the sons of the evil one in unequal yokes, for how would the children of such mixed marriages be taught to serve YHWH? And garments represent our works; we must not mix kingdom works with earthly ones by using YHWH’s reputation as a way to make a livelihood for ourselves, whether excessive, honest, or not.

20. "'And when a man lies with a woman [and there is] seed, and she is a slave-girl betrothed to a man but not actually redeemed or [if] she has not been given freedom, there shall be an investigation; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free,

21. "'but [the man] shall bring his trespass offering to YHWH--to the entrance to the Tent of Appointment: a ram for his compensation [for guilt],

22. "'and the cohen shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before YHWH for his sin which he has committed, and it will be forgiven him from his sin which he has committed.

This is not a capital crime like adultery, but he has still done something he had no right to do. In Israel, a slave who belongs to another house is not to be treated as a slave by outsiders. Within the household, too, the slave is like another member of the family, and is a slave only to the head of the house. This also shows that one who is not part of a household in Israel has no protection in such a circumstance.

23. "'Now when you have arrived in the land and have planted any fruit tree, you shall count it as [having a] foreskin. Its fruit will be "uncircumcised" to you; it shall not be eaten.

  1. "'And in the fourth year, all of its fruit is set apart for the praise of YHWH.

Fourth year: The minor festival of "Tu BiSh'vat" was established to have a date by which to count the age of trees for this purpose. For the praise of YHWH: or for those who praise YHWH, i.e., the Levites. It is only consumed by those who are directly serving Him.

25. "'Then in the fifth year, you shall eat the fruit, so that it may increase its yield for you; I am YHWH your Elohim.

The fruit of a tree is indeed bitter or lacks robustness the first few years. If eaten before its time, it will be of no profit to us, and may actually harm us. The firstfruits of the edible yield belong to YHWH, but He requires all this so that the tree may become as fruitful and effective as possible for our sakes. Is He only speaking of literal fruit? A tree is a picture of a person. (Psalm 1:3, etc.) Metaphorically this extends to injunctions such as Paul's that a novice should not be a teacher (1 Tim. 3:6), but must wait until he has been nurtured to maturity and worked through the transition into his new life. The word there for "novice" (neophyte) literally means "one newly-planted"--just like these trees! Before he is pruned (before he is able to praise YHWH properly and is mature enough to teach), his fruit may be genuine, but it is not to be partaken of, because it lacks a well-rounded perspective that only time and study can bring. The revelation given to him in his patience is what will feed us all. Fifth: when one is "full of the five books of Moshe", and well-trained in this foundation, he can become a teacher who can feed others.

26. "'You may not eat [any meat] with blood, nor may you practice sorcery or observe times.

Not eat any meat with blood: LXX, "not eat on the mountains". Sorcery: enchantment or fortune-telling: nachash--the same word as the "serpent" in the Garden. But its root meaning is "whisperer", as the snake makes a hissing sound. These "whisperers" incant their secret formulas, which may or may not be genuine; the point is not whether it works or not, but that they are forbidden. It is obtaining information through the wrong channels. YHWH has a chain of command in Israel, and what we do must be above board. If you have a question, ask it in front of the proper authorities, not behind their backs. Go to the Levite to gain general knowledge of Torah; go to the high priest for a specific answer. If it is meant to be revealed, YHWH will reveal it; otherwise, it is off limits to individuals, for it belongs to all Israel, not just because we are interested; more often than not, that has no purpose beyond self-edification. Whispering also reminds us of gossip; here it is juxtaposed with not eating blood: we suck the life out of someone when he is diminished in someone else's eyes, and that is what "whispering" about him does--even when it is not overt; Y'shua says that hating someone in our hearts also curses him in a similar way. "Observe times": This clearly cannot refer to the times and seasons that YHWH has set up as signs, but rather it means considering certain times auspicious or "lucky", following horoscopes, doing magic, etc. The term can also include conjuring, producing rain-clouds by magic, etc.--in short, divination. LXX, "divine by inspection of birds", i.e., their entrails, much like today's "palm-reading".

27. "'You shall not round the corner of your head, nor mar the corner of your beard.

Round: or "strike off"; Aramaic, "cut around"; LXX, "make a round cutting of the hair"--perhaps like the type of artificial bald spot monks later made based on the superstition that wearing a certain type of cap over it would protect them or make them more spiritual. Mar: the appearance; LXX, "disfigure". Corner: edge, extremity, or side part. First of all, this assumes a man has a beard and is not to shave it (the exceptions being the Nazir, who completes a vow, and those declared clean after having leprosy, where hygiene may be one of the reasons to shave the hair). But what is the picture He is intending by this? It is part of "writing His laws on our gates". Our eyes, ears, and mouth--all the openings of our bodies, really--are like gates to our fortress, which we must guard. Not cutting the hair around them symbolizes the fact that we need to screen or filter what goes in and what comes out. Many pagan "holy" men also had distinctive hairstyles which marred the particular way by which YHWH has decided each man will look best. He wants to avoid any association with this sort of disfigurement. While there is some ambiguity to the command, the extremity would seem to be the ends, not the part close to the face. The uncut beard is a symbol of being an Israelite; Y'hezq'el/Ezekiel chapter 5 uses the cutting off of the beard to symbolize the destruction of the house of Israel, so we do not wish to participate in this picture by shaping our beards according to Gentile standards, and obscuring our Israelite identity at the very time YHWH is bringing it back to light. If a beard is thereby unruly, it reflects the fact that we are not the ones in control; YHWH is.

28. "'And you shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for [the sake of] the dead, nor shall you imprint any tattoos upon yourself; I am YHWH.

Cuttings in your flesh: reminiscent of the 450 prophets of Ba'al with which Eliyahu contended. The dead: literally, the soul. This probably relates to ancestor worship and its association with bringing the strength of the ancestor into one’s body. Tattoos: related to the term for writing, so it probably involves some words. We already have a Messiah who is marked and pierced; why do WE need to be marked and pierced? We cannot take his place. Also, pagans frequently tattooed the names of their gods on themselves, and YHWH would not be associated with this disfugurement either. Our actions are how we bear His Name, and we must not bear it in vain.

29. "'You shall not desecrate your daughter by [giving] her to the cult prostitutes, so the land may not fall to unfaithfulness, and the land become filled with lewdness.

Lewdness: or mischievous plotting. Pagan cult prostitutes were male more often than female. Putting one's very body in the service of money quickly spreads from the sexual realm to any other kind of compromise for the sake of wealth.

30. "'You shall keep my sabbaths, and you shall hold my sanctuary in reverence; I am YHWH.

The only time one could see inside the court nearest to His sanctuary and thus catch a glimpse of the Temple itself was when the doors were open, and this was only on Sabbaths and on the festivals (prescribed times), which were considered sabbaths in an even stronger sense. This is the closest we can approach to His presence, for on Sunday He turns his back and begins to go back to work. He dwells closer to our communities then; our "orbit" is much closer then. So we must be in fear concerning the attitudes we bring into our congregational gatherings.

31. "'You shall not turn [your face] to necromancers nor seek out soothsayers, in order to be defiled by them; I am YHWH your Elohim.

Necromancer: one who contacts the dead, or has a familiar spirit--i.e., who is possessed by a spirit that impersonates a dead relative. The Hebrew term is the same as a water bottle made from a sewn-up animal skin. Soothsayers: better translated "knowers"--i.e., clairvoyants. This does not mean that everything they do is fraudulent; in fact, as Paul found out, they can be irritatingly truthful. (Acts 16:17) But YHWH has not authorized knowledge to be passed on in this way King Sha'ul turned.to them for something more because he did not trust YHWH.

32. "'You shall rise up in the presence of the grey-haired, honor the face of the elderly man, and hold your Elohim in awe; I am YHWH.

Grey-haired: from the term for "aged" or "mature". Elderly: literally, "bearded", not necessarily having anything to do with age, though for one raised up in Israel from his youth, it should. Elohim: probably, "judges", in this context. He works in the earth through His servants, so honoring them is like honoring Him. They are very close to His heart. We are to show appreciation for the wisdom He has granted them and fear Him for whom He has appointed. These are the people responsible for what we have now.

33. "'If an alien stays for a while with you in your land, you must not mistreat him;

34. "'as the native among you [is treated], so shall be the alien who resides with you. Moreover, you shall love him as [you love] yourself, since you [yourselves] were aliens in the land of Egypt. I am YHWH your Elohim.

The sojourner is to be treated as part of the same "flock", since the same thing is required in regard to him as to one's "neighbor" (v. 18). The sojourner in Israel was either seeking asylum or seeking to know the Elohim of Israel, because Israelite society was too demanding for someone "just along for the ride".

35. "'You shall do no injustice in a courtroom, in measures, weights, and quantities [of liquid].

The context is that many would use slightly-differing weights which were both called by the same unit of measure, to their own advantage in commerce. All the weights that are called an "ephah" need to actually weigh the same:

36. "'You shall have righteous balances, righteous weight-stones, a righteous ephah, and a righteous hin. I am YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

Ephah: a unit of dry measure that represents a whole congregation since it is ten omers, so in a secondary sense it pictures a righteous congregation. Hin: a liquid measure. We also cannot forbid someone else from using the same rules of argument or appeal that we permit ourselves to use. We need to hold ourselves to the same standard of what we hold others to. The only difference is the measure or proportion each can tolerate, and this increases as we are trained. One should not be a leader if he cannot tolerate criticism.

37. "'and you must observe all My statutes and all my judgments, and carry them out. I am YHWH.'"

Not just perform them according to the letter, but look at them first. Scrutinize them. Look deeply into them and ask for their real meaning. Then carry that out. These are two separate commands.


CHAPTER 20

1. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

2. "In addition, you shall tell the descendants of Israel, 'Any man of the sons of Israel or of the sojourners who are living in Israel, who gives any of his seed to Molekh shall certainly be put to death; the people of the Land shall stone him with stones.

Stones: the word for building materials, hence, not small stones, but ones large enough to make a stable house from. The actual practice was to throw the person off a cliff and then finish killing him by crushing him with these stones. The result would be a pile of stones that resembled a memorial altar, so that all of Israel would be reminded of the seriousness of this offense. It is also the responsibility of the whole community to make sure a person does not do this in the first place, and to care for those who do keep His commands. It would also resemble the ruins of a house, for turning our children over to the ways of our pagan neighbors does cause the House of Israel to fall, as it did for the Northern Kingdom. But there is hope: by returning to the obedience to YHWH's direct commands even when we would do otherwise if the decision was left to us, we can rebuild the house.

3. "'And I myself shall set My face against that man, and shall cut him off from the nearest part of his people, because he has given some of his offspring to Molekh, resulting in the defilement of My sanctuary and to the desecration of My holy name.

4. "'Moreover, if the people of the Land indeed conceal their eyes from that man in order to avoid executing him,

Conceal their eyes: refusing to acknowledge that a capital offense has taken place. While we are permitted to sympathize or to mourn the loss, the execution must be carried out. Putting up with evil deeds is indirectly participating in them, for it hinders righteous judgment and thus prevents His house from being set in order. It disrupts the chain of command YHWH has set up for Israel, stopping up the flow He intended. Letting people off the hook can be based just as often on laziness, fear, or ignorance as on true compassion and mercy. If it goes against His clear command, we know it is wrong, even if it feels right.

5. "'then I [Myself] will concentrate My attention against that man and his family, and shall cut off [both] him and those who follow after them in committing prostitution with Molekh, from the innermost part of their people.

If we carry out his order, only the offender is YHWH's enemy, and the rest of his family survives; if we fail, and He has to personally makes sure it gets done, all those associated with him will also incur his wrath. Those who ignore His command out of a false sense of mercy are counted just as guilty. No matter how logical they may seem, training our children to make room for such prevailing opinions that oppose YHWH's direct command is actually another form of turning them over to the generic "molekh"--i.e., the one that rules. In our day, politically correct tolerance is such a ruling philosophy.

6. "'And the person who turns to those who have familiar spirits, and to the soothsayers, in order to follow them to commit prostitution, I will concentrate My attention against that person, and cut him off from the nearest part of his people.

It is human nature to want to know what is ahead and around the corner so that we can have the upper hand when it comes, but we are not even promised tomorrow; we have not even finished carrying out the orders He has given, so why are we concerned to take on the responsibility that He has not yet given? Tomorrow belongs to Him, not to you, and He counts it tantamount to prostitution when we seek information about from another source when He has not chosen to reveal it. These information sources are unauthorized. Going to another spiritual advisor when YHWH has put you under a different authority is making light of one's spiritual parents. (See v. 9.)

7. "'And you shall set yourselves apart, and be set apart, because I am YHWH your Elohim,

8. "'and you shall observe My statutes and carry them out; I am YHWH who is setting you apart.

He sets us apart, but we must enter the open door He gives us or what He does for us will still lack results. His orders are not a smorgasbord from which we can pick and choose; we must "eat" all that He "puts on our plate" in order to be strong in every area, for He knows what is best for us, even when it does not all "taste" pleasant. In this context, walking through the door means setting ourselves apart unto not only self-discipline, but judgment by the entire community of Israel. We have been bought; we are only able to surrender to Him or to an enemy. There is no option of serving self.

9. "'Also, any man who considers his father and mother insignificant shall certainly be executed; he has despised his father and his mother. His [own] blood shall be upon him.

Despised: cursed or taken lightly. Certainly be executed: literally, "be killed dead". Father and mother in a Hebrew context extend beyond the immediate family. The terms include anyone in authority over us. Blood...upon him: i.e., he and no one else will be held responsible for his death, because he did not take seriously enough those whom YHWH has set over us.

10. "'And a man who commits adultery with a[nother] man's wife--who commits adultery with his fellow man's wife--[both] the adulterer and the adulteress shall certainly be executed.

The rulers of Rome decided to take YHWH's bride for themselves, so there must be some type of death to pay for this.

11. "'And a man who lies with his father's wife (who has uncovered the nakedness belonging to his father) both of them shall surely be executed; their [own] blood shall be upon them.

Lies: i.e., has sexual relations. Both: since his seed is now in her along with another man's. When the woman taken in adultery was brought to Y'shua for judgment, her partner was not, in violation of this command. The Corinthian man who was doing this was outside the Land of Israel, and the local Body had no jurisdiction to execute him, so Paul said to hand him over to haSatan for the destruction of his flesh--the next best thing that could be done.

12. "'And a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be executed; they have produced confusion. Their blood shall be upon them.

This was Yehudah's sin, though unwittingly. Confusion: The same person would thus be both their child's father and his grandfather. And it would not be clear which was the father. How could the child not be confused? But the word signifies a shameful mixture or a scrambling of the natural and divine order. It destroys the picture YHWH intended to reveal about His own nature when He created a marriage of one man with one woman.

13. "'And a man who lies with a male in the same way that one lies with a woman, both of them have done an abominable thing. They shall certainly be executed; their blood is upon them.

Abominable: abhorrent, detestable, disgusting--a far worse offense than merely sinning (missing the target), no matter how glorified it is in society today. So excusing it by saying that we have our sins, too, is not using the same measure in YHWH's eyes, for most are not sins unto death. The male body is not equipped to receive semen; this foreign substance, like a cancer, totally confuses the immune system and can cause it to stop functioning altogether.

14. "'Also, a man who takes both a woman and her mother--this is heinous scheming! They shall burn both him and the [women] with fire, [so] there will be no lewdness among you.

With fire: a punishment otherwise accorded only to a priest's own daughter. (21:9)

15. "'And a man who lies with an animal shall certainly be executed; you shall kill the animal as well.

Note the progression of deeper and deeper admixture or confusion of the intended order. These sins are deviating further and further from the right way.

16. "'And if a woman should approach any animal in order to have sexual relations with it, you shall indeed execute both the woman and the animal; you shall be sure to put them to death. Their blood [is] upon them.

It is doubtful whether the animal would ever initiate such an act; it takes a perverted human to do come up with such an idea. But just in case, it is specified clearly that this outcome is for cases in which the woman was the one who seduced the animal.

17. "'Now if a man takes his sister (the daughter of either his father or his mother) and has seen her nakedness, and she has seen his, this is a shame [a pity], and they shall be cut off in front of the eyes of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his guilt.

Takes: for the purpose of sexual relations or marriage. A brother's special duty is to defend and guard his sister's purity; instead, he has literally made defenseless her most vulnerable part. Thus his actions are diametrically opposed to his intended position. Tamar's full brother avenged her half-brother who had so violated her. Though this is not the main point here, if merely marrying one's cousin intensifies the likelihood of genetic defect, how much more would a father mixing DNA with his own sister's?

18. "'And if a man lies with a menstruous woman and reveals her uncleanness, he has emptied out her fountain, and she has revealed the fountain of her blood; both of them shall be cut off from the nearness of their people.

Emptied out: or uncovered.

19. "'And you shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, nor of your father's sister, because he has laid bare his near kin; they shall retain their guilt.

Near kin: or "remnant"; bare: or defenseless.

20. "'If a man lies with his aunt, he has uncovered the nakedness of his uncle. They shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.

This could mean their own children will die before they do. This highlights the value of the child in Israel.

21. "'And if a man takes his brother's wife, this is an impurity [niddah]; he has uncovered his brother's nakedness. They shall be childless.

Childless: literally "stripped". The punishment fits the crime. But it is a great irony. If a man dies childless for reasons in which he bears no guilt, it is his brother's DUTY to take his wife and try to give his brother children, so he will NOT be without descendants. The impurity lies in doing so while his brother is still alive, because he is mixing the seed of two different men within her. And mixture is the core meaning of "impure".

22. "'Thus you shall guard all My statutes, and all My ordinances, and carry them out; [if you do so] the Land to which I am bringing you in which to live will not vomit you out.

Vomit you out: Aramaic, "eject you"; LXX, "be aggrieved with you".

23. "'And you shall not walk according to the statutes of the nation which I am sending away from before you[r face], because they have done all these [things], and this made me feel sick.

Sending away: the same word as for "divorcing". Sick: disgusted or repulsed.

24. "'But, [as] I have told you, "You shall certainly take possession of their Land", and I Myself am giving it to you to possess--a land gushing with milk and honey! I am YHWH your Elohim, who has distinguished you from the nations."

Take possession of: Since YHWH says He will destroy those who destroy the Land (Rev. 11:18; compare 1 Cor. 3:16ff; 6:19ff.), He would not destroy these peoples Himself, lest the Land be destroyed as well. It would probably only be taken over by another unclean people. He therefore had His people participate in His cleansing of the Land. This way they also had a stake in it, and would be the more motivated to care for it properly. He trained them in the "house rules" before they entered so that the Land could be pure from the time they took over. He is now training us again while we are still outside the Land so that when we go back in, we will not defile it.

25. "'So you shall make a distinction between the clean and unclean animals, and between the unclean and clean fowl, and you shall not defile your souls by beast or by fowl, or by anything that swarms the ground, which I have delineated for you as unclean.

26. "'Thus you shall become holy, because I, YHWH, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to become My own.

Thus you shall become holy: It was too big a jump from the beginning of this passage to this point, but the parts in between were the steps to holiness. He starts with where we are, and takes us through the varying degrees of selfishness which we must address in order to be able to love our neighbor as ourselves. This fits well with the fifty days in which we are now "counting the measure" until we arrive at maturity (Ephesians 4:7-13). The focus all along is becoming like Him.

27. "'And if there is found in them a familiar spirit or a wizard, man or woman, they shall certainly be executed; they shall kill them by stoning. Their [own] blood is upon them.'"

A familiar spirit: or one who contacts a departed relative's "ghost"; wizard: or "knower". They are responsible for their own deaths; the community is not. Be executed: LXX, "die the death".

  

Portion EMOR (21:1 - 24:23)
 

CHAPTER 21

1. Then YHWH said to Moshe, "Speak [emor] to the priests, Aharon's sons, and you shall tell them, 'None [of you] may be defiled for the soul among his people,

To the priests: men held to a higher standard because they have a special privilege of being the authoritative teachers of Torah. Defiled for the soul: in this context, touching the body of a dead person (as is more explicit in v. 11, and the Aramaic interprets it this way), but the word for soul in Hebrew very often connotes "life", not death. Because this wording does allow it, we could also read this as saying we should not let the affairs of ordinary life interfere with our service to YHWH. Y'shua referred to this as losing our lives for his sake (Mat. 10:39) and letting the dead bury their own dead. (Luk. 9:59-62; cf. 1 Kings 19:19-21; see also 2 Timothy 2:4) However, there are exceptions for the very closest relatives only; YHWH does not normally want religious duties to take precedence over our true responsibilities to our own families. (Mark 7:11)

2. "'except for his relative who is close to him, for his mother and his father, and for his son or his daughter, and for his brother.

Relative who is close(st) to him: rabbinically interpreted to be one's spouse. In ancient Israel, it was the family’s duty to bury a relative; there were no funeral homes. Israelite burial was most often in a cave and with the other members of one's family, rather than fully enclosed in the ground, due to belief in the resurrection. An ordinary priest could not prepare his cousin, uncle, or aunt for burial; he was restricted to those closest to him, which would be his filial obligation. And he did not even have to touch the corpse to be defiled; simply being in a room with a dead body would render one ritually impure. For this among other reasons, a body was normally buried within 24 hours of death.

3. "'Also for his virgin sister, who is close to him and has not been [betrothed] to a man--for her he may become ritually impure.

It is the deadness of the corpse--which is now nothing but meat and bones, with no soul--that defiles a person. The whole community depends on the Levites being uncontaminated so they could enter the Temple to do their duty.

4. "'A leader shall not defile himself among his people, in order to profane himself:

The priests are the ones to whom judgment is given when questions arise. (Y'hezq'el 44:24) They must be especially unimpeachable. Leader: literally, master or husband--one who has to be faithful to and love the entire community, so he may not allow anything to contaminate him, so he can be there for them any time they need him. His people: even among Israel (a set-apart people) or more specifically, among the Levites, he is never to be "one of the sheep"; he is a shepherd, and is not to be involved in civilian affairs. (Compare 2 Tim. 2:4.) The Levites were substituted for the firstborn (Numbers 3:12), and both Israel as a whole (Ex. 4:22) and Efrayim in particular are called YHWH's firstborn (Yirmeyahu 31:9), so they are a picture of what Efrayim is called to be. We too must be careful not to partake of anything that stunts us spiritually or keeps us from always being ready when it is time to serve Israel.

  1. "'They shall not make their heads bald, nor shall they shave off the edge of their beard, nor shall they make a cutting in their flesh.

Make their heads bald: LXX, "You shall not shave your head for the dead with a baldness on the top." Edge: corner, side, or extremity; LXX, "the face of the beard". The general population is not to "mar" the edge of the beard (19:27); the priest is particularly told not to shave it. Personal taste or creativity had no say here. He must continue to look like a complete man, and the beard of any Israelite is already to be distinctive in being unmarred. But in this particular context, these practices were pagan mourning rituals. Recall that these priests had grown up in Egypt, where preparation for death consumed the greatest energies of one’s life, especially among leaders, as proven by the thousands of mummified bodies found there in the past century of archaeology. But Israel is not to be a people that focuses on death, but on the Torah, which is life. (Deut. 32:47)

6. "'They are holy for their Elohim; they shall not profane the Name of their Elohim, because they [are the ones who] bring near the fire offerings of YHWH [and] the bread of their Elohim; thus they are set apart.

Profane: pierce, puncture, or "wound the Name": to misuse it, to represent Him wrongly, or to render His name of no effect by not using it at all, but always substituting euphemisms or translations for His actual name, YHWH. Fire and bread: They also tend the oil, the blood, etc.; why are only these two things mentioned? Fire represents YHWH's presence, and the bread from heaven (which Y'shua identified with Himself, Yochanan 6:50) was to be gathered "a word a day". (Ex. 16:4) So bread is linked with YHWH's word (Deut. 8:3), and symbolizes the Body of Messiah--His community. They symbolically bring the unity of Israel into YHWH's presence, and teach the unity of YHWH to the people. As Moshe himself learned, there is no margin of error for the keepers of the symbols by which YHWH makes himself known. The Levites' fruit is offered to YHWH Himself, and others will eat of it in order to learn of Him, so what they present must be undefiled and the purest among the pure.

7. "'They shall not take a woman who is a prostitute [as a wife], nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband, because he is set apart to his Elohim,

This is the standard for priests; the prophet Hoshea was told to do just the opposite to portray how serious Israel's spiritual condition was. The only way the invisible Elohim could be known at this point was by seeing the lives of those He allowed into His presence--His "gatekeepers".

8. "'so you shall set him apart, because he brings near the bread of your Elohim; he shall remain holy for you, because I, YHWH, the one who is setting you apart, am holy.

If we are to represent Him in His holiness, we, too, must be holy. But we must also recognize and honor the holiness in and be careful to treat as holy those whom YHWH has declared to be holy. We must recognize that these men are not to be defiled, and if we are unclean, it is our responsibility to avoid touching them with our uncleanness.

9. "'Moreover, if a daughter of any priest defiles herself by playing the prostitute, she is profaning her father, and she shall be burned with fire.

Profaning her father: Aramaic, "She has become degraded from the level of sanctity that is her father's." She is actually assigned a place with Molekh.  As seen with Aharon's sons, only fire can purge anyone who profanes that lineage.  It is not clear whether she was to be killed before being burned. This severe a sentence should prove a great deterrent.

10. "'Now the priest who is greatest among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and whose hand is consecrated to put on the garments--his head shall not be uncovered, nor his garments torn,

Greatest: that is, the high priest. He has an even higher standard to follow than the ordinary priests (compare Luke 12:48 and Yaaqov 3:1), and this position was one from which he had no option of resigning. One who has lost a relative has suffered the only true loss--that of contact with another's soul. For the high priest, there is an exception (v. 11), for he belongs to another world, and Y'shua took this seriously (Mark 3:33-34). Garments torn: The Talmud stipulates that at a blasphemy trial the presiding judge must tear his garments. This tells us that it is not the high priest's responsibility to participate in this type of trial. (Compare Yochanan 12:46) Qayafas, the high priest who presided over Y'shua's trial, did tear his clothing. (Mat. 26:65) But it was not the high priest's job to be the judge of individuals, but, as a Levite, only to rule on matters of lifestyle [halachah] where there was ambiguity. Qayafas was indeed an illegitimate high priest, because it was to be a father-to-son dynasty of with succession only at the death of the father; by this time, since the Hasmoneans had broken this chain by usurping the priesthood (being priests of another order), the position had often gone to the highest bidder, especially during the Roman occupation. His head shall not be uncovered: His anointing is not to be something thoughtlessly exposed to the world at large to be trampled by swine. (Mat. 7:6) The Aramaic targum interprets this as, "He shall not let his hair grow wild."

11. "'nor shall he come near any dead body; he shall not defile himself [even] for his father or mother,

Dead body: This does not mean that of a sacrificial animal, but of a fellow human being. Father or mother: Not even this cardinal responsibility of every firstborn son applies to the high priest. When Y'shua told one of his disciples to let the dead bury their dead (Mat. 8:21ff), he might have meant that this man should not wait until his father died and was buried to come follow, since there was work to be done for the kingdom right away. But if the man's father had already died, then Y’shua held him to a standard as high as the high priest’s, so those who leave all to follow Y'shua take on the sanctity of not just a priest, but the high priest. The Israel He rules is, after all, a "kingdom of priests" (Ex. 19:6). Once one has put his hand to the plow (a reference to Elisha burning the plow in order to sacrifice his father's oxen, feed the people, and follow Eliyahu, 1 Kings 19:19ff), if he looks back, he is not fit for the kingdom. The man must have done the right thing, for the next thing we read is that Y’shua and His disciples (apparently including this disciple) got into a boat. (Mat. 8:23) There is a reason this is mentioned in this context, for no word of YHWH's is wasted. A boat is something that isolates one from security and from everyone who is not in the boat, and sets him apart to whomever else is in the boat with him. They all have to paddle together to go in the right direction, and they have someone calling out the rhythm to tell them when their oar-stroke must fall to accomplish this goal. This is the job of the priest--to do whatever the Word says, no matter how it makes him feel personally.

12. "'nor shall he leave the set-apart place, nor profane the sanctuary of his Elohim, because the [crown showing] devotedness of the anointing oil of his Elohim is upon him; I am YHWH.

13. "'And he must take a wife [only] during her virginity.

The LXX adds, "from his own tribe".

14. "'He may not take a widow, or a divorcee, or one defiled, or a prostitute, but must take a virgin from his own people as a wife.

Again, he is held to a higher standard of purity than even the other priests, who could perhaps take a wife whom another man had known, provided she was not promiscuous. The high priest's wife must be absolutely pure. This shows why Sha'ul (Paul) worked so hard to present to the Messiah a bride who was a pure, modest virgin bride. (2 Cor. 11:2) He will not marry a harlot, so we must be separated from any connection to the unfaithful assembly which he calls by such a name. (1 Cor. 6:16; Rev. 17, 19)

15. "'And he shall not desecrate his seed among his people, because I am YHWH who sets him apart.'"

Desecrate his seed: i.e., treat it as common, sowing it among those not as set-apart as he, or scatter it among women other than his wife. A pure Levite pedigree was to constitute the high priestly line. But mixing Y'shua's teaching with the teaching of Babylon is the same thing; it has left us a defiled people. There has to be a rebirth. We are still not fit to be his bride. But his bride is a city built of many living stones, not just one individual. Only by putting away self and being committed to becoming an active part of this can we truly be purified.

 

16. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

17. "Speak to Aharon, telling [him], 'No man of your descendants throughout their generations shall draw near to offer the bread of his Elohim if there is a blemish in him.

Blemish: disfigurement or defect. This command is given not because YHWH is cruel or unfriendly, but because there must be a clear distinction between those who are serving His Temple and those who are not, i.e., who are focusing on their individual selves instead of the whole Body of Messiah.

18. "'For no man in whom there is a blemish shall draw near--[neither] a blind man, or one who is lame or disfigured or deformed,

Lame: from the same root word as Pesakh (Passover), that is "skipping", i.e., hobbling, with one leg less sound than the other. This is the same idea as the next two categories: The term for "disfigured" literally means "flat-nosed"--in other words, truncated in some way. Deformed: literally, prolonged or over-extended--anything superfluous, too long; LXX, "with his ears cut". This may be why Y'shua healed the ear of the high priest's servant. (Yochanan 18:10) While the high priest at that time was not one truly qualified by his pedigree, apparently Y'shua either wished to simply uphold the office of the one who might have been next in line to act in the high priest's position were he to become defiled on Yom Kippur, or he felt that the servant was a man worthy of that position; otherwise it would make no difference whether he was disqualified to serve. It is not right to have the Body of Messiah have one arm much longer than the other (i.e., too much mercy and not enough judgment), because there is imbalance, nor should any of the giftings be emphasized over the others. This says nothing about whether YHWH loves these people as individuals, but because they are a picture of imperfection, they are not suitable to be "object lessons" in the sanctuary, and are thus not to be seen there. He provided the best for them (v. 22), and the Talmud says these people were permitted to do certain jobs in the temple precincts, such as sorting the wood. Wood is a picture of men, and some of the wood brought in for Temple use had defects, just as they did, and they were the judges of which was suitable for the altar, and which could only be used for the hearth on which the bread was baked. They were in a higher position than most in Israel, but they were a picture of imperfection, a vivid reminder of the effects of the fall of Adam into sin, and thus were especially out of place in a place dedicated to teaching purity, holiness, and redemption from the curse. So they were hidden away. But a special promise is given to such people in Yeshayahu/Isaiah 56:3-8, provided their heart is right, as well as their actions, despite their outward defects.

19. "'or a man who is broken-footed, or broken-handed,

Broken-footed: a picture of not walking in the Torah; broken-handed: a picture of one with defective works.

20. "'or one [who is] hunchbacked, or a dwarf, or with a spot in his eye, or scabbed, or having a rash, or one with crushed testicles.

Hunchbacked: a picture of one who does not walk uprightly. A spot in his eye: confusion, obscurity, disability; or, idiomatically, one in which something stands in the way of generosity. Others even say, "with unusually-long eyebrows"! Scabbed: LXX, "having a malignant ulcer". Scabbed or having a rash: qualities not allowed in an animal brought for sacrifice either (22:22), and associated with leprosy, a picture of wanting another's position. Crushed testicles: damaging to the seed, and unable to carry on the line of Israel into new generations. Also, only through the "Seed" (Y'shua) could salvation come. Nothing less than a perfect body can depict the man in Ephesians 4, which does walk uprightly and in balance, is generous, lives up to its full potential, appreciates its assigned place, and wants to bear spiritual offspring. Corporately we have to become this man; individually, we only need to fulfill our particular role properly. The whole burden is not on individuals, but the entire community.

21. "'No one of the descendants of Aharon the cohen in whom there is a blemish shall come near to offer the fire offerings of YHWH: a blemish is in him; he shall not come near to offer the bread of Elohim.

22. "'He may eat of the bread of his Elohim--of the most holy things, and of the [other] holy things.

This is his food (22:7) and he has no other livelihood. He shares in the rights of all Levites, so they will not be denied him, whatever his condition as an individual.

23. "'But he shall not enter into the veil, nor shall he draw near to the altar, because there is a disfigurement in him, and he must not profane my set-apart places, because I am YHWH who sets them apart.'"

Set-apart places: perhaps plural to remind us that Yaaqov, who was called a complete man, dwelt in tents (Gen. 9:27; 25:27), an idiom for being a student of YHWH’s instruction under Shem. If one does not dwell in tents, he may not enter THE Tent.

24. So Moshe told [this] to Aharon and his sons, as well as to all the descendants of Israel.


CHAPTER 22

1. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

2. "Tell Aharon and to his sons to treat as sacred the holy things of the descendants of Israel and not profane My holy Name in [regard to] what they devote to Me; I am YHWH.

Treat as sacred: or "separate himself from". These are things that Israel made holy; He accepts some optional things being declared holy unto Him, but not others (see note on v. 19).

3. "Tell them, ‘Out of all your descendants throughout your generations, any man who draws near to the holy things which the sons of Israel set apart to YHWH while his uncleanness is upon him shall be cut off from before Me; I am YHWH.

4. "'Any man of the descendants of Aharon who is leprous, or has an [intestinal] issue, shall not eat of the holy things until he has become ritually pure, and whoever touches anyone's uncleanness or a man whose seed has gone out of him,

5. "'or a man who touches any swarming thing which is unclean to him or touches a man who is unclean to him by whatever form his uncleanness [may be]--

Swarming thing: LXX, "unclean reptile".

6. "'the person who touches it shall be ritually unclean until the evening, and shall not eat of the holy things unless he bathes his flesh with water.

As long as he continues to put self first (which is what ritual uncleanness depicts), he cannot partake of any of the sacrifices (each of which is a picture of Y'shua). For leaders, the standard is higher; grace gives way to a penalty and finally "repossession" for those who continue taking advantage of it.

7. "'And when the sun goes [down], he shall be ritually clean, and afterwards he shall eat of the holy things, because this is his food.

I.e., it cannot be withheld from him longer than until the end of that day, since his allotted food is always holy. He is not to get food from anywhere else. This puts the lesser difficulty involved in eating only kosher foods into perspective!

8. "'He shall not eat a carcass [of an animal that has] died [of natural causes] or anything torn, because it is unclean; I am YHWH.

9. "'And they shall observe what I have given them to guard, and shall bear no sin on account of it when they pollute it; I am YHWH who is setting them apart.

This is what Sha'ul (Paul) was talking about when he wrote of "the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:1ff; James 1:15). Like the law of gravity, it is still in effect, but as the law of aerodynamics is also true and overrides gravity, because Y'shua has borne our penalty for falling short, we can draw near (a term for offering temple sacrifices) with full confidence (Hebrews
10:22).

10. "'No one who has become alienated may eat of the holy things; neither a guest of the priest nor a hired servant of his shall eat of the holy thing.

11. "'However, if a priest purchases a person [soul] with his [own] money, he shall eat of it; also, anyone born in his house--they shall eat of his bread.

Money: literally silver. When we remember that Y'shua is called our great High Priest, and that silver is the price for blood (his included), and thus symbolizes blood in many cases, we can see that those purchased by his blood as slaves to righteousness (Romans 6:16) are permitted to eat of his bread--partake of and participate in his Body--not just the crumbs that fall from it. Anyone born in his house: Acts 16:31 also says those who believe and their households can be saved.

12. "'But a priest's daughter, if she comes to belong to an estranged man, she shall not eat of the heave offering of the holy things,

Estranged person: literally one known to you but who acts as a stranger--who has given up any connection to the community; i.e., an apostate. Qayin is a prime example.

13. "'but if a priest's daughter returns to her father's house after being widowed or divorced and has no children, she shall eat of her father's bread, but no one who is estranged [from Israel] shall eat of it.

Paul echoes this thought in 1 Timothy 5.

14. "'And if a man [happens to] eat of a holy thing through ignorance, then he shall give its [value] plus one-fifth to the cohen along with the holy thing.

15. "'they shall not profane the holy things of the descendants of Israel--that which they lft up to YHWH

16. "'and thus cause them to bear the guilt of commiting a trespass by eating their holy things, because I am YHWH who makes them holy.'"

"Committing trespass by eating...": Sha'ul (Paul) likewise warns of eating in an unholy manner the meals that were meant to bring us together into community. (1 Cor. 11) In his scenario, "bearing the guilt" meant becoming sick and even dying.

17. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

18. "Speak to Aharon and his sons, and to all the descendants of Israel, and tell them, 'Any man of the house of Israel or of the proselytes in Israel, who brings his offering near for any of his vows or any of his free-will offerings that they bring near to YHWH for an ascending offering--

19. "'on your own volition, a perfect male of the oxen, sheep, or goats--

Though a freewill offering, there were still parameters around what could be offered. In some matters there is leaveway; YHWH accepts love from our hearts, but He forbids us from offering what He does not meet His standards. Just because Constantine dedicated the Feast of Ishtar (Easter) to what he thought of as YHWH, does not mean He is obligated tpo accept it; He will not accept Sunday worship as equivalent to the Sabbath, which He Himself prescribed. "To obey is better than sacrifice." (1 Shmuel 15:22)

20. "'you shall not offer that which has a blemish, because it shall not be acceptable for you.

21. "'And when a man brings near a slaughter of peace offerings to YHWH to mark off his vow as separate, or a freewill offering from the herd or the flock, to be acceptable it must be completely sound, without any defect in it.

To mark off his vow: LXX, "to discharge his vow".

22. "'You shall not bring near to YHWH [anything] blind or crippled or mutilated, or [one with] a running sore, a scratch, or skin disease, nor shall you set any of them upon YHWH's altar as a fire offering.

Mutilated: or maimed; LXX, "with its tongue cut out". A scratch: LXX and Targum Onqelos, "warts".

23. "'Now with an ox or the lamb [that is] overstretched or stunted, you may make a freewill offering, but for a vow it is not acceptable.

Overstretched or stunted: with either overextended/superfluous/overgrown or dwarfed/ contracted members. LXX, "having lost an ear or had its tail cut off". We can give gifts to YHWH which are not perfect from our excess, but where a promise has been made, only what is perfect is allowable. Acceptable: or "pleasing".

24. "'And you shall not bring near to YHWH [anything] bruised or crushed, torn apart, or cut off; even in your Land you shall not do this.

The Aramaic and Greek translations say this verse specifically deals with injuries to the testicles.

25. "'Nor shall you bring near the bread of your Elohim--or any of these things--from the hand of an estranged person's son, because their corruption is in them and there is a blemish in them; they are not acceptable for you.'"

26. Then YHWH told Moshe,

27. "When an ox, sheep, or goat is born, and it has been under its mother for seven days, then from the eighth day onward it will be favorably accepted as a "drawing-near"--a fire offering to YHWH.

28. "But you shall not slaughter a herd or flock animal and its offspring on the same day.

On the same day: literally, in one day, or "on day one"--possibly a hint that Sunday worship is not acceptable to YHWH, or possibly the day that the animal is born. In Revelation 12, the enemy tries to do just this to the woman, Israel, and her child, the Messiah.

29. "Now when you slaughter a thanksgiving sacrifice to YHWH, of your own free will you must slaughter it.

30. "It must be eaten on that day; you must not leave any of it until morning. I am YHWH,

31. "and you must observe My commands and carry them out; I am YHWH,

32. "and you must not profane My holy Name. Rather, I will be treated as holy among the descendants of Israel. I am YHWH, the One who is setting you apart,

33. "the One who is bringing you out from the land of Egypt to become an Elohim for you; I am YHWH."


CHAPTER 23

1. Then YHWH told Moshe,

2. "Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall tell them, 'The following shall be the appointed seasons of YHWH which you shall proclaim--holy rehearsals. (These are My appointed seasons):

Rehearsals: or encounters; each of the first coincided with an important event in the life of Y'shua in his first coming. It stands to reason that the latter group may also signify on what day the prophesied events that are yet to be fulfilled may take place. The root word is "calling out", which coincides with "ekklesia", the assembly that Y'shua came to call back out of the Gentile world and back into the covenant of Israel.

3. "'Work is to be done six days, and in the seventh day [there is] a sabbath of desisting, a holy gathering; you shall do no work at all. It is a sabbath to YHWH in all your dwellings.

Note that the first appointed time when YHWH allows Himself to be met by us is the Sabbath, and we could thus deduce that it is the most important; in any case it is the most frequent. Holy gathering: Aram., "You should be assembled." Though it is better to do it poorly than not at all, the Sabbath is not properly celebrated unless we are gathered. We cannot carry out its symbolism alone. The first and most basic of His appointed seasons is the seven-day cycle, because it rehearses the seven millennia of history, the seventh of which is the Kingdom, when we will cease from our labors, and harvesting (gathering its citizens) will no longer be permissible. Work: i.e., remunerative or which meets earthly needs; the opposite of service to one another. Dwellings: not an excuse to stay home, because the word chiefly means "places of sitting", which includes sitting together in the gathering mentioned above.

4. "'These are the appointed seasons of YHWH--holy rehearsals which you shall proclaim in their appointed seasons.

Proclaim: call out loudly, preach, summon, invite, choose, give a name to.

5. "'In the first month, on the fourteenth of the month, between the evenings, is the Passover to YHWH.

Between: from a root word meaning "discernibly distinct". Evenings: most literally, "mixtures" or "transitions"--i.e., so "between the evenings" means the time after there is a noticeable difference marking the fact that day is waning and the time there is a noticeable transition from dusk to darkness, i.e., around sundown, the end of the fourteenth, since the lamb must be kept
until the fourteenth before slaughtering it.

6. "'of the fifteenth of that month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread unto YHWH; you shall eat unleavened [food] for seven days.

7. "'On the first day you shall have a holy gathering; you shall do no work of service,

Holy gathering: Aramaic, "a sacred occasion".

8. "'and you shall bring near a fire offering to YHWH for seven days; then the seventh day shall be a holy rehearsal; you shall do no work of service.'"

According to Exodus 12:16, the only permissible labor on the high days of the festivals other than the Sabbath and Yom Kippur is that which has to do with the preparation of food.


9. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

10. "Speak to the descendants of Israel, and you shall tell them, 'you enter the Land which I am giving to you, and have reaped its harvest and brought in the sheaf [omer]--the beginning of your harvest--to the cohen,

Reaped its harvest: literally, "cut off its cutting-off". The work of an evangelist (Eph. 4) is to sever the grain from the field (which Y'shua says represents the world)--the first of a series of procedures involved in making bread (something YHWH can use) out of many grains of wheat. The measure called the omer was the basket-measure of the final processed results of one
sheaf of grain. According to the mishnah, 16 pounds of harvested grain, after being fully processed, produce five pounds of sifted flour. This reminds us of Gideon's sifting down of his army at YHWH's command--and becoming a formidable barley loaf!

11. "'then he shall wave the sheaf before YHWH so you will be accepted [favorably]; on the day after the sabbath the cohen shall wave it.

This is the Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest, the day Y'shua was resurrected (compare I Cor. 15:20).

12. "'And you shall prepare a lamb--a perfect one, a year old, for an ascending offering to YHWH--on the day that you wave the sheaf.

13. "'And its grain offering shall be two-tenths [of an ephah] of flour mixed with oil--a fire offering to YHWH, a soothing aroma; and its drink offering, a quarter of a hin of wine.

14. "'Now you shall not eat bread, roasted grain, or fresh ears [of barley] until this very day, until you have brought the offering to your Elohim. [This is] a never-ending statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling-places.

You shall not eat: i.e., eat nothing from the harvest until the firstfruits are offered. This very day: or "selfsame" day, but the word used literally means "substance" or "bones", which immediately reminds us of Y'chezq'El/Ezekiel's vision of dry bones coming back together again. This fits perfectly, because this is the day on which the counting of the measure--the time of a Body, which is also called "one bread", growing into a mature person--commences. "Until you have brought the offering": Y'shua is called the Firstfruits (same as Firstborn in Hebrew) of the resurrection, and this was the "very day" his "flesh and bones" rose from the dead. The Body--to be gathered in from the lost sheep scattered throughout the world in many "dwelling-places"--could not be born until the Head was.

15. "'Then from the day after the Sabbath you shall [begin] counting off for yourself seven complete sabbaths--[that is.] from the day you bring in the omer of the wave offering.

Sabbath: the next sabbath after the Passover, according to the Tzadduqim (Sadducees). The P'rushim (Pharisees) interpreted it as the "high sabbath", the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so it is not always the day after a weekly sabbath by the rabbinical reckoning, which followed the Pharisaical.

16. "'[Count] until the day after the seventh sabbath; count fifty days, then bring near a food offering to YHWH.

Passover was the wheat harvest; Shavuot ("weeks") was the barley harvest, so whenever barley is mentioned in Scripture, it falls during this season: the story of Ruth, where it is specified clearly; Gideon's victory and Y'shua's feeding of the 5,000, where it is implied.

17. "'You shall bring bread from out of your dwelling-places to be a wave offering--two loaves; they shall be of two-tenths [of an ephah] of flour. They shall be leavened and baked [as] firstfruits to YHWH.

Leavened: this is why they had to be a wave offering; no leaven can be offered on the altar. Leaven is a picture of sin. Y'shua, who was sinless, came first, so that we who have leaven in ourselves can become bread for him--one loaf representing the kingdom of Yehudah, to whom he came first, and the other the" lost sheep of the House of Israel", the sheep of the "other
flock", who were scattered among all nations.

18. "'And in addition to the bread, you shall bring near seven male lambs--perfect ones, a year old; one bull, a son of the herd; and two rams. They are an ascending offering toYHWH, along with their food offering and their drink offerings, as a sacrifice [or slaughter] of peace offerings.

The literal language does not say to burn them, though that is what was done, but rather to bring near those who ascend to YHWH; thus it can have a secondary (or perhaps truly primary) meaning of the people that are brought back into the Land as the dry bones,along with the Head, or firstfruits, because a person who immigrates to Israel today is called an "ascender". Each blood sacrifice had its bread offering, coinciding with what we are to become--"one bread and one body"--because Y'shua's blood was shed.

19. "'And you shall offer one he-goat to be a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old, to be a slaughter as peace-offerings.

20. "'the priest shall wave them, in addition to the bread of the firstfruits, [as] a wave offering before YHWH in addition to the two lambs; they are holy to YHWH for the priest.

For the priest: Who but Y'shua is called our great high priest? And as the prince in his Kingdom, he will indeed offer the sacrifices on the festivals. (Y'chezq'El/Ezekiel 45:7-22)

21. "'And you shall make a proclamation on this very day; it is a holy rehearsal to you. You shall do no work of service; [this is] a never-ending statute in all your dwelling-places throughout your generations.

22. "'Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not completely reap the corner of your field, nor shall you gather up the gleaning of your harvest; you shall leave them for the needy and for the sojourner; I am YHWH your Elohim.'"

Ruth, a "type" of the Northern Kingdom's return through Y'shua's acting as kinsman-redeemer, benefitted from this law; a way was made for her to survive, though Naomi had lost the link to her inherityance. But Boaz did more than he was required to. The level of one's generosity was often measured by the amount he left in his field. In general, reaping is done in a circle, which corresponds to the annual festival cycle. If it is followed, the poor--and the Northern Kingdom, who had placed themselves outside that cycle-- are truly cared for. If the field is a square, it will have four corners left, resembling the horns of the altar. Y'shua says the field represents the world, and Yeshayahu/Isa. 11 says YHWH will gather the outcasts of both houses of Israel from the four corners of the earth. Y'shua told his disciples to gather what was left over of the barley loaves he had multiplied. In Kefa/Peter's vision that opened the door for Gentiles to join the commonwealth of Israel, the sheet was let down by its four corners. Our tzitziyoth (fringes with a thread of blue to remind us to obey "heaven's" commands) are also to be placed on the four corners of our garments.

23. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

24. "Speak to the descendants of Israel, saying, 'In the seventh month, on the first of the month, you shall have a high sabbath--a reminder, an awakening blast, a holy rehearsal.

Seventh month: This day is often called Rosh ha Shanah (the head of the year), but only on the civil calen-dar; YHWH changed Aviv to the first month for the holy festival calendar. The biblical name for this day is the Feast of Trumpets, or the Day of the Awakening Blast. This puts the focus on the heavenly rather than the earthly. Reminder: a warning that the day of judgment is about to come after only nine more days. Awakening blast: or acclamation. This day has long been associated with the resurrection of the dead in Jewish tradition. One of its events is called the "last trump", and Sha'ul (Paul) tells us that at that time indeed the dead will be raised. It
is likely to actually be on a Rosh haShanah (the modern name for the Feast of Trumpets, meaning "head of the year"). This is the only festival that falls on a new moon, which never predictable, because it commences only when the new moon is actually sighted. Thus this is called the "hidden day". One way of describing it was "no man knows the hour or the day", so when Y'shua said this his hearers would immediately know which festival he was talking about without actually saying it, just as if someone in pagan culture said, "when the stockings were hung by the chimney with care." But if one is watching for the signs (as with watching the moon), he can estimate fairly closely when it will appear.

25. "'shall do no work of service, and you shall bring a fire offering to YHWH.'"

Work of service: the normal Temple ceremonies which continued every sabbath and on the other festivals; on this day, the focus is completely on blowing the trumpets and this one offering. Perhaps it correlates with our works being tested by fire so they will survive on the great Day of Judgment
26. [Again] YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

27. "Also, on the tenth of this seventh month there shall be the Day of Atonements [coverings, sealings-over]; you shall have a holy rehearsal, and you shall humble yourselves, and bring to YHWH an offering made by fire.

Rehearsal: also a "calling together" (convocation). Only on this high holiday is the strictness of the sabbath observed, and even more so. Humble yourselves: often translated "afflict your souls", which is taken to mean a complete fast. It could just as well read "suppress your appetites", so this is a legitimate interpretation, especially in light of Yesh./Isa. 58:3. This
is why "no work at all", not even preparation of food, is allowed. Traditionally, one also does not bathe or anoint one's body with fragrances. When Y'shua said to do these things while fasting, he was referring to a personal fast, which is more than is required, but this one is a corporate fast required of everyone in the community, so no one has to humbly hide the fact that he is fasting. It could also mean "be busy about your soul", not with things of the body, which is why all of these are set aside and left unattended--so there can be complete concentration on repentance. "Bring...fire": in the original Hebrew, there were no vowel points, and the word for "fire offering" is spelled exactly like "woman" or "wife", so on the deeper level it tells us that when we suppress our own appetites, we can bring YHWH a bride, because when we get our eyes off ourselves, we can become one body. (See note on v. 30.) At the end of Yom Kippur, we are to bring an offering to YHWH, but first Y'shua tells us to get things right with our brothers, and leave the offering until then. (Matt. 5:24)

28. "And you shall do no work at all on this very day, because it is a day of atonements, to make atonement for you before YHWH your Elohim.

29. "For any person who is not humbled on this particular day shall be cut off from his people,

30. "and anyone who does any work at all on this particular day, I myself will banish that soul from the innermost part of his people.

"Particular": Heb., etzem, which means "selfsame/essence/substance", but more commonly "bone", "body member", or "binding together". So this is a day for bringing Yoseyf's bones back to the Land (Gen. 50:25; Y'chezqel/Ezekiel 37) after they have been dead to their identity and separated individually to themselves. When they become un selfish and are reunited with Yehudah, they will form one body who is a bride for YHWH (37:20; v. 27 above). Banish:
cause to stray away, or destroy. He is like the one who comes to the wedding feast without the proper garment and is cast into the "outer darkness", away from where all the joy is. (Matt. 22:13)

31. "You shall do no work at all; [this is] a never-ending statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling-places.

Working on this day is an abomination, because it pictures us trying to save ourselves from YHWH's wrath by our own good works rather than resting in the fact that our sins are covered because of what Y'shua has done, because this day foreshadows the final Day of Judgment. On this day alone is it possible for willful sins to be forgiven, and on this day alone does the high
priest make atonement in the holiest place for the entire community as a whole unit. How does it bind us together? See Yeshayahu/Isaiah 58.

32. "A sabbath of desisting it is for you, and you shall humble yourselves [beginning] in the ninth of the month at evening [sundown]; from evening to evening you shall keep your sabbath."

This is the only festival actually called a "sabbath" rather than a Shabbaton ("high sabbath"). Thus there are 53 sabbaths in a year. The ninth: the evening of the ninth actually begins the 10th of the month, since, as we see in the creation account, the day begins at evening, in darkness, just as we begin our lives in the dark womb, and the Day of YHWH will begin with wrath and great terror on the earth. Yoseyf's dream tells us that the moon symbolizes a woman (his mother), and thus it represents the bride of YHWH as well. A bare sliver of moon is visible on the Day of Trumpets. By the evening of the 9th, the moon is 2/3 full, yet still needs to be further clothed until we reach the fullness of joy at the next festival, Sukkoth, on the 15th. These festivals include the opening of gates, so symbolically we are entering gate after gate, progressing higher and higher through the various courts, getting closer to the Temple itself, which we finally reach
at Sukkoth, when there is total revelation. But the number 10 symbolizes a complete congregation, so on the 10th we should be putting our own selves away, thus enabling our joy to be made complete.


33. YHWH also spoke to Moshe, saying,

Also: this passage is linked to the one before it. One reason we strive to purify our souls on Yom Kippur is to be ready for Sukkoth, which is called "the season of our joy".

34. "Speak to the descendants of Israel, saying, 'On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, there shall be a Feast of Temporary Dwellings [Sukkoth] to YHWH for seven days.

35. "On the first day there shall be a holy gathering: you shall do no work of service.

36. "Seven days you shall bring a fire offering to YHWH; on the eighth [sh'mini] day, you shall have a holy rehearsal, and you shall burn the fire offering unto YHWH. It is an affectionate farewell; you shall do no work of service.

Affectionate farewell: called the "eighth conclusion" [Sh'mini Atzeret], this day is a separate festival tacked onto Sukkoth, since technically Sukkoth only has seven days. In more recent times, a ninth day (sometimes celebrated concurrently on the eighth) called "Rejoicing in the Torah" has been added. This is the day on which Y'shua called out loudly in the temple
that if anyone was thirsty for living water (a symbol of the Torah as interpreted and applied through the spirit, not just the letter), they should come to him and drink. (Yochanan/John 7). Holy rehearsal: an ingathering of the flock, because "atzeret" also means to assemble and enclose, as in an embrace or in a sheepfold.

37. "These are the appointments of YHWH which you shall proclaim holy rehearsals, to bring a fire offering to YHWH--an ascending offering, and a food offering--what pertains to each day on the day to which it belongs,

Proclaim: or summon the people for.

38. "in addition to the sabbaths of YHWH, and besides your gifts and freewill offerings which you shall present to YHWH.

39. "That is, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you gather in the increase of the land, you shall keep the Feast of YHWH for seven days; on the first day is a high sabbath, and on the eighth day, a high sabbath.

40. "And you shall take for yourselves on the first day, the fruit of majestic [ornamental] trees, palm branches, and boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and shall rejoice before YHWH your Elohim for seven days.

Fruit of majestic trees: traditionally, the citron [etrog], which looks like a large, bright lemon; trees with interwoven foliage: traditionally, the only one that meets this requirement is the myrtle [hadassah]. These four constitute what is called a "lulav", held together and waved in four
directions, symbolizing the reuniting of the community that constitutes the image of Elohim from the north, south, east, and west. Long willow branches were also gathered in a valley west of Jerusalem called Motzah ("the source"), and carried in a swishing motion all the way to the temple, where they circled the altar of burnt offerings seven times (on the seventh day as Yehoshua had done at Yericho) and then built a "sukkah" [booth or hut] out of them over the top of the altar. Trees represent people, so these different species prefigure the gathering of many kinds of people into YHWH's Temple of living stones.

41. "Thus you shall keep a feast to YHWH seven days per year [as] a never-ending statute throughout your generations; in the seventh month, you shall celebrate it [by dancing in a circle].

The wave offering itself may have been a gracefully-choreographed dance.

42. "You shall live in temporary dwellings for seven days; all who are home-born in Israel shall live in temporary dwellings,

Live: literally, "sit", not necessarily sleep, though this is traditional. Temporary dwellings: Hebrew, sukkoth. But it is being in them during the the days, not the nights, that counts. Home-born: literally, "springing up from the native soil" or "growing spontaneously in(to) Israel";
most who live in Israel or are part of its community at large were not born there. Deuteronomy 16:14 tells us that this includes slaves born in the household. In another sense, it could refer to those who are of Israelite stock, though not born in the Land, who "spring up" from among the nations unexpectedly as they are doing in these last days. Sukkoth is one festival that will certainly be celebrated in the Messianic Kingdom and all nations will be required to send representatives to Yerushalayim for it. (ZecharYah 14:16-19).

43. "So that your descendants shall know that I caused the sons of Israel to live in temporary dwellings when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am YHWH your Elohim.

Yet literally they lived in tents, not sukkoth. But YHWH dwells in a "sukkah of darkness and thick clouds" (Ps. 18:11), so the sukkah was present with them within the Tent of Appointment.

44. So Moshe announced the appointed times of YHWH to the descendants of Israel.


CHAPTER 24

1. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

2. "Command the sons of Israel, and they shall bring pure olive oil, crushed violently, for the illumination, to cause a light to burn continually.

"Pure": clear or transparent, from the first pressing--only the finest virgin oil, which has not been crushed and therefore has no pulp in it. This is the oil given willingly, before the real pressure is applied. "Oil" is based on a root word meaning "to shine", and "olive" is based on a word for "brightness". The transparentness and brightness both remind us of what Adam was like before his fall, and what Y'shua has made it possible for us to corporately become again. Crushed: or beaten; we, the kernels of wheat and barley, also have to be crushed for our "grain offering" to be of any use to YHWH. All together it is a wonderful picture of Y'shua's suffering in the garden of Gath-sh'maney [which itself means "wine press of the oils"]. He sweat great drops of blood there because that was the real crushing--the real test of His willingness. The later suffering was merely a result of this choice. This oil is transparent, a revelation of the true heart. "Lamp" here specifically refers to the central column of the menorah, from which all the
other candles on it are lit. It is also known as the "servant", because the rest depend on it and are lower than it. Y'shua is called "the firstborn among many brethren", and he was "the greatest" who knelt down to serve them just before he poured out his life for them in the ultimate sense. Thus he is exalted as the most important of the perpetual lights in the heavenly temple.

3. "Outside the veil of the testimony in the Tent of Appointment shall Aharon arrange it in order from evening until morning before YHWH perpetually--a never-ending statute throughout your generations.

Arrange: literally, set in order, or set in rank as in battle formation.

4. "He shall arrange the lamps on the ritually-pure lampstand before YHWH continually.

5. "And you shall take flour, and bake twelve cakes with it; two tenths [of an ephah] shall be in each cake.

Twelve cakes: one for each of the tribes. Two tenths of an ephah: that is, two omers, which symbolize two people, yet they are really one. The loaves were shaped to imitate the two cheruvim that faced each other and were made out of a single piece of gold. Likewise, an omer is worth only half a sheqel, which is each person's temple tax, showing that another person must
always be present for any of us to be complete. A sheqel is also a measurement of weight, so this shows us that alone no one carries enough weight, authority, or importance before YHWH, but united we do.

6. "And you shall set them in two rows, six per row, on the pure table before YHWH.

7. "And you shall put pure frankincense on the row, and it shall be the bread of remembrance, an offering made with fire to YHWH.

Pure frankincense: literally, transparent whiteness. Remembrance of what? It is put on the bread to remind us that when we are truly a community again, we will become like Adam was before he fell (transparent instead of befleshed, so that light could shine out from him), and again accurately reflect the image of YHWH. When we do come to maturity and overcome the
effects of Adam's fall through the power he has made available, Y'shua says we will "walk with him in white" (a symbol of righteousness, Rev. 3:4-5)

8. "On each sabbath he shall arrange it before YHWH continually, [being taken] from the descendants of Israel, an eternal covenant.

9. "And it shall belong to Aharon and his sons, and they shall eat it in the holy areas, because it is most holy to him of YHWH's offerings made by fire--a never-ending statue."


10. Now the son of an Israelite woman, being [also] the son of an Egyptian man, went out among the sons of Israel, and a man of Israel and the son of the Israelite woman struggled with each other in the camp,

Why did they need to struggle, when Torah gave them the solution to any dispute? One of them must not have counted the Torah of much value. It also pictures the struggle within us between the hybrid church (which is part Hebraic, part "pagan) and being totally Israelite.

11. but the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name, and took it lightly. So they brought him to Moshe; now his mother's name was Sh'lomit, the daughter of Divri, from the tribe [branch] of Dan [judge].

Blasphemed: literally, "pierced" or "wounded". Aramaic, "pronounced the Name in provocation"; LXX, "named the Name", and the term could mean "pronounce distinctly", but this is an interpretation biased by practices that were already current, borrowed from the Babylonian idea of being afraid to speak the name of one's deity at all. There are many more commands to know and use YHWH's Name; reverence is one thing, but total substitution obscures what He wants us to know about Himself. But there is a clear death penalty for taking one's parents lightly (20:9) , and this may have been the reason for the sentence he received. (v. 23) His only connection to Israel was his mother, and apparently he turned on her, and was therefore blaspheming the Name of YHWH. Shlomit means "peaceable"; Divri means "I have spoken" or
"my business". Dan means "judgment". Because of this verse, it is tradition that the Counterfeit Messiah spoken of by Daniel and other prophets will be from the tribe of Dan, and will be contending with the true Messiah. Note that he is the opposite of Ephraim and Menashe, the sons of Yoseyf and an Egyptian woman. Because their father was an Israelite, they could still
inherit from Israel; the same would not be true if it went the other way. On another level, if we take the meaning of the names, the result of trying to make peace in an age when division is still the rule (since the tower of Bavel, and since Y'shua said he came to divide the chosen from those close to them who chose not to be holy) and saying that what name we use for YHWH is our own business results in us taking his true Name lightly. From the branch of the judge: the Messiah is the judge and is called the righteous branch, but we are also called his branches (Yochanan 15:1). Thus it appears that a secondary interpretation is that it is the hybrid church--part Israel, part
pagan--will struggle with the full-blooded, observant Israelites "within the camp".

12. And they put him under guard until [the verdict] could be clarified for them by the mouth of YHWH.

13. So YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

14. "Bring the reviler outside the camp, and all those who heard [what he said] shall lean their hands on his head, and the whole congregation shall stone them.

Lean their hands on his head: treat him like the "scapegoat" Azazel (or any sin offering) and remove the sin from their midst.

15. "And you shall declare to the sons of Israel that whenever anyone takes his Elohim lightly, then he shall bear [the consequences of] his sin.

16. "And whoever wounds the Name of YHWH shall certainly be put to death. The whole congregation indeed shall throw stones at him. As it is done to a proselyte, so shall it be done to a native, if he blasphemes the Name: he is put to death.

Wounds the Name: literally, "pierces" or "punctures"; we certainly put holes in it by substituting other titles, especially "God", since it is specifically the name of a pagan deity as well.

17. "And when a man strikes the life from any man, he shall certainly be put to death.

18. "And whoever strikes an animal mortally, shall make restitution [satisfaction] for it--soul for soul.

I.e., one for one--so the owner of the lost animal has what he had before.

19. "And when a man causes a disfigurement in his fellow, as he has done, so shall it be done to him:

20. "fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; however he has caused a disfigurement in another man, so shall it be done to him.

This is to limit the victim from trying to out-do the offense; in practice, a fair sum of money as compensation was usually exacted by the judges rather than literal wounds.

21. "Now he who kills an animal shall compensate for it; but anyone who strikes a human being mortally shall be executed.

22. "There shall be one [and the same] legal procedure for [all of] you, whether sojourner or native."

23. So Moshe spoke to the descendants of Israel, and they brought the reviler to the outside of the camp and stoned him with stones. Thus the sons of Israel carried out what YHWH had commanded Moshe.

Reviler: the one who had treated the Name of YHWH with contempt or dishonor. Stones: literally, "building material"--for he had removed himself from being a "living stone".

Portion B'HAR (25:1 - 26:2)
CHAPTER 25

1. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe in Mt. Sinai, saying,

2. "Speak to the descendants of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you arrive in
the land which I am giving to you, then the land shall keep a sabbath unto
YHWH.

The land: Israel is a living land in a way that no other is. It, too, is
granted a mandatory rest. The principle will probably hold true elsewhere,
but it is not mandated, in the same way as we shall see below, that no
Israelite is to be enslaved, but others may be. While this does not seem
politically correct in our day, and to some extent this value of
compassionate treatment of all men does stem from a desire to extend YHWH's
blessings to others, still He never required this, and to despise as sinful
those who practice otherwise may be harsher treatment than He calls for.

3. "‘Six years shall you sow your field, and six years shall you prune your
vineyard, and gather in its fruit,

As with the weekly sabbath, there is a command to indeed work during the
other six years; without this, the ceasing in the seventh means little. The
sowing itself is a picture that relates to the restoration of the fallen
Adam, the image of Elohim in mankind. The season of the seven weeks of the
Counting of the Measure is the precise context for Sha'ul (Paul's) imagery of
becoming a complete/perfect new man in Ephesians 4. The process of the
harvest itself correlates with each of the "spiritual gifts": An evangelist
harvests, a pastor/shepherd threshes, a teacher winnows, a prophet roasts,
YHWH Himself does the crushing, then the apostle sifts the grain until it is
so fine that none sticks to the flesh. Matithyahu 13:37 tells us that the
Son of Man [Ben Adam], elsewhere called the Head of the Body, the image of
the invisible Elohim, is the one who does the sowing of the "good seed".
Lukas 8:11 tells us that the seed is the Word of Elohim. In Yirmiyahu 31 the
sowing is related to the New [Renewed] Covenant, as sowing had been related
to the scattering of the northern kingdom of Israel among the nations in
Hoshea 1 and 2.

4. "‘But the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest for the land--a sabbath
for YHWH--and you shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.

This practice is called "shmittah" in Hebrew. In an agrarian society,
this was unthinkable! There was not sufficient industry of other sorts to
have enough to trade with other nations for adequate food, and this was
precisely the intent. This is the only command specifically linked to Mt.
Sinai (v. 1), and there is a reason. According to Deuteronomy 4:11, the
people were actually standing UNDER the mountain, and a rabbinic tradition
(which agrees easily with Velikovsky's catastrophic view of how major an
astronomical/ gravitational event the Exodus was) says the mountain was
lifted up and the community of Israel stood beneath it as a bride and groom
stand beneath the chuppah (wedding canopy). The Torah, given there on
Shavuoth, was the ketubah, or betrothal contract. The mountain hung over
their heads as a threat if they did not obey, but Y'shua said that if one had
faith, he could say to THIS mountain (in particular, in a Hebraic mindset),
"Be removed". (Mat. 21:21) So the removal of the threat of the Torah is
linked to faith. In the same way, in order to obey this command especially,
one needs a lot of faith--enough to believe that YHWH will indeed provide for
three years in two of which one does not harvest. For one with no faith,this
is a frightening thought indeed. For one who trusts YHWH, no thought could
be more liberating; indeed, His law is called "the perfect law of liberty"
(Yaaqov/James 1:25; cf. v. 10). It is not something one HAS to carry out,
but a privilege one GETS to experience! A whole year of not having to work
in the fields means one has time to study YHWH's word to his heart's content.
What freedom! Why, while the world lives for "the day off", is the command
to cease laboring for a day considered legalism?! What morbid reasoning!
What we've always wanted--a respite from the sweat of the brow--is not only
permitted, but actually mandated, and this is perceived as bondage?!

5. "‘You shall not reap the aftergrowth from kernels spilled from your
harvest that grow on their own, nor shall you make the grapes from your
untrimmed vines inaccessible, because it is a year of rest for the land.

Make the grapes...inaccessible: the Hebrew phrase includes the nuance of
fencing them off. Untrimmed vines: the same word as a Nazirite, who left his
hair untrimmed during his vow of separation unto YHWH. Interestingly enough,
the Nazirite was not to partake of the fruit of the vine--perhaps because he
himself represented such a vine.

6. "‘The land's sabbath shall be yours for food, and for your male or female
slaves, and for the one you have hired, and for your guest [tenant] --[all
who are] living among you,

7. "‘and for your livestock and the animal living in your land; all its
produce shall be for consuming.

Here is an interesting incentive for obeying the command to leave the
corners of the fields ungleaned for the needy and the sojourner: in the
sabbatical year, EVERYONE is needy! We are all on equal footing. Also, what
is not gleaned becomes the seed for "what grows on its own", so the more
generous one is during the normal years, the more there will be naturally
planted for his own security in that year. It is like Yoseyf's preparation
for the famine. Yet, in the final analysis, one does not trust in one's
storehouses or what one leaves behind, for it is out of his control, and
"treasures laid up on earth" can be consumed by vermin or stolen or ruined by
disasters. If this is what we trust, it is probably what will happen.
Instead, we lay up treasures in heaven by our generosity, trusting YHWH to
repay.

8. "‘And you shall count for yourself seven sabbaths of years--[that is]
seven times seven--and the total of the days of the seven sabbaths of years
shall forty-nine years for you.

This event would generally happen at least once in every individual's
lifetime. As we have words in English for pairs, decades, etc., in Hebrew
years are grouped into sevens, to correspond with the weekly cycle of seven
days and the 7,000-year cycle of human history that ends with a sabbatical
millennium. This cycle of seven sevens until physical liberation corresponds
with the seven weeks of "counting the measure" from the Firstfruits of the
Barley Harvest, culminating in Shavuoth (Pentecost), when both the letter of
the Torah and the Spirit were given, resulting in spiritual liberty.
Scientists have found a similar pattern in nature, which they have termed the
maintenance factor which "resets all the clocks".

9. "‘And you shall cause the shofar of the awakening blast to resound in the
seventh month, on the tenth day of the month; on the Day of Atonement shall a
ram's horn resound throughout all of your land,

Shofar: a ram's horn. Resound: or pass through, based on the same root
word as "Hebrew"--one who crosses over; LXX, "make a proclamation". During
ordinary years the trumpets are sounded only on the Day of the Awakening
Blast, but the Day of Atonement is prohetically linked with the Day of
Judgment, and what could be a better picture of the justice of that day at
the commencement of the Kingdom than the restoration of all things to the way
they were originally. This is the watchword for Israel in our day--for the
spirit of Eliyahu will "restore all things". This also correlates with the
day of Yehudah's mourning being turned into a day of feasting.

10. "‘and you shall set the fiftieth year apart [as holy] and proclaim
liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a yovel to
you: every man of you shall return to his ancestral heritage. Yes, each of
you shall return to his [own] clan.

Liberty: release, "running free", or the "free flowing of myrrh" in
Hebrew. Incidentally, this is the verse inscribed on the Liberty Bell in
Philadelphia. Yovel: a blowing of trumpets, from which we derive the word
"jubilee". Yoseyf's returning to the place of his birth allowed Y'shua to be
born in Beth Lechem, fulfilling Micha's prophecy; the return of the House of
another Yoseyf to our roots prepares the way for his second advent. And
those "devout Jews" who came to Yerushalayim for that pivotal Shavuot
described in Acts chapter 2 never did return to those foreign lands where
they had dwelt, but stayed on in community in the holy city--another
foreshadowing of the fulness of restoration that will come when Y'shua
returns. YHWH told Noach that mankind's limit was 120 years; there will have
been 120 sets of 50 years from creation to the time the Kingdom begins, and
Man's rule will be over; YHWH's "Great Sabbath" will begin.

11. "‘It is a yovel, the fiftieth year: it is a year for you. You shall not
sow nor reap the aftergrowth from kernels spilled from your harvest that grow
on their own, nor shall you make the grapes from your untrimmed vines
inaccessible,

Yovel: from the word for a trumpet. The need for faith doubles, because
yet another year in a row is added in which there is no word for "awakening
blast" (teruah, v. 9) can be translated either "alarm" or "shout of joy".
The Day of Atonement is the Day of Judgment if you are on the wrong side of
the equation. It is a day of afflicting one's soul (23:27), but when we
count ourselves dead to sin, and thus dead to self, it is so we can count
ourselves alive to YHWH; the Day the slaves go free is the Day we choose whom
we will serve; we can never truly serve self. We are no longer slaves to the
Land in order to feed our bellies; instead the Land becomes our servant.
Following one law makes us free from the other (Romans 6-8). Teruah is the
same term used of the Feast of Trumpets, which is associated with the
resurrection of the dead. 1 Thess. 4:16 tells us the Messiah's return will
be accompanied by a shout and a trumpet blast, which will indeed be a cause
for alarm to those who are not ready for it, but an unspeakable joy to those
who, being ready, "love his appearing". Likewise, the yovel is a terror to
those who, selfishly, want to hold onto their slaves, but a glorious
liberation to those who are being set free. Although there is a powerful
theme of the restoratin of private property during this year, there is also a
sense in which no crops are privately owned during this year; everything
belongs to the whole community. This is the perfect balance of justice in
which there is total "shalom"--right is done to everyone, wealthy and poor
alike.

12. "‘because it is a yovel [leading forth]; it shall be holy for you. You
shall eat its increase from the field.

Increase: crops, yield. Aramaic, "eat only the produce directly from the
field.

13. "‘In the yovel year, you shall return every man to his ancestral
heritage.

Malachi's final statement that before the Great and Terrible Day of YHWH,
(the spirit of) Eliyahu would be sent back again to turn the hearts of the
children back to the fathers, and the father back to the children, is
strongly reminiscent of this verse.

14. "‘And if you sell anything to your associate, or buy anything from your
associate's hand, you shall not oppress each other:

Oppress: literally, "each man shall not wrong or mistreat his brother."

15. "‘You shall buy from your associate according to the number of years
after the jubilee; he shall sell to you according to the number of years of
produce;

16. "‘You shall increase or lower the price according to whether there are
many or few years [left until the next yovel], because he is [really] selling
you the number of crops.

In other words, pro-rating is a righteous concept. He can never truly
sell the land away, but only its crop potential. This is essentially
sharecropping. It is the basis for Navoth's refusal to sell his vineyard to
King Ahav. (1 Kings 21) Navoth's name itself means "produce", from a root
word meaning "sprout or germinate [abundantly] into increase."

17. "‘Now you shall not wrong one another, but shall stand in reverence of
your Elohim; I am YHWH your Elohim.

By acting this way, we become like Him.

18. "‘So you shall carry out the statutes I prescribe, and observe my
ordinances, and carry them out; then you shall dwell securely in the land,

"Carry out...observe...carry out...": This is the recipe for true
security. It is not enough to just obey, or just to obey and learn from it,
because what we learn from obedience to the Torah's commands is how to more
generally love one another as ourselves and how to become a united community
that fulfills the image of Elohim that Y'shua, its Head, began. And this
entails a new level of acting on His words. Only as we truly become that
community can we dwell in the land securely (lit., boldly, with a carefree
heart, in confidence that our neighbor will not wrong us because we will not
wrong him). If we "labor to enter His rest", letting ourselves be judged by
the two-edged sword of His word, we can come boldly before the throne of
grace. (Hebrews 4:11-16) Any other sort of "security" is merely a lure into a
life of bondage.

19. "‘and the land shall yield her fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and
dwell securely on it.

The tree is known by its fruit, and the Messiah's Body is known by its
love for one another.

20. "‘Now you may ask, "What shall we eat in the seventh year, if indeed we
are not going to sow or gather in our produce?"

21. "‘Then I will ordain my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it will
bring forth fruit for three years.

This is another test, like the Manna on the sixth day, of our obedience,
which bespeaks trust in Him. The sixth year's crop is greater than ever--but
He will ordain only after we ask. It is only promised if we indeed ask for
it. "You have not because you ask not." (Yaaqov 4:2) YHWH places us in
situations from which there is no logical way out so that we will give him an
open door to show what He can do for those who trust Him enough to obey. If
we do not trust well enough that He will only give us good gifts, we prove
not to deserve His best. Paul told Timotheos that laws are made for those
who are lawless. As the law of aerodynamics can override the law of gravity
without canceling it, when we follow YHWH's order and align with His way of
escape, we can have a foretaste of the release from the curse (the sweat of
the brow) and freedom from the oppression of the "elemental spirits of the
world". (See Col. 2:8ff)

22. "‘And in the eighth year you will sow and [keep] eating of the old fruit
until the ninth year; you shall [still] eat of the old fruits until the crops
come in.

23. "‘The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, because the land is Mine,
and you are My guests and tenants.

He lets us use the Land as long as we follow the rules of tenantship. If
not, He has every right to evict us, which He did, yet promised that the seed
scattered to all nations would one day be regathered back into the Land for
the honor of His name, since this will far overshadow the exodus in its
greatness. (Yirmiyahu/ Jeremiah 16:14ff)

24. "‘And in all the land of your inherited property, you shall grant a
[right of] redemption for the land:

Grant a right of redemption: LXX, "allow ransoms".

25. "‘If your brother has become poor and has sold away some of his
property, then his [near] kinsman who can redeem it shall redeem whatever his
brother sold.

26. "‘But if the man has no one to redeem it, and his own hand has "grown
longer" and he finds enough to redeem it,

Hand has grown longer: i.e., he finds another way to increase his means
and pay his debt; LXX, "if...he prosper with his hand".

27. "‘then let him calculate the years since its sale, and refund the
remaining balance to the seller, so he can return to his ancestral property.

28. "‘But if he is not able to restore it to him, then whatever was sold
shall remain in the hands of the buyer until the yovel year, but in the
yovel, it shall be released and he shall return to his property.

The property will be restored regardless of whether one attempts to
redeem it beforehand. This parallels a great wall of separation that is being
built in our day between those who just wait for the "rapture" or say, "We'll
still be saved no matter how we live, because of YHWH's grace", and those who
want things to be as right as they can be in the meantime, selling all for
the "pearl of great price" and "buying back" the land of our own hearts as
quickly as we possibly can. As soon as we can "afford" it--as soon as there
are enough undefiled stones available, YHWH's altar must be built so the rest
may be purified as well. As the yovel approached, it became more affordable
to buy back both one's own land and that of his brothers. The apostles, at a
Shavuoth long ago, began this process, and perhaps they could "afford" it in
their day, but they were only Yehudah. They had to go out and find the rest
of the tribes before the Kingdom could really begin. The burden was a
tremendous one, but now, perhaps as for those hired at the eleventh hour in
Y'shua's parable, the task is within reach, so it must by all means be
finished.

29. "‘Now if a man sells a house for dwelling within a walled city, he may
redeem it until the end of the year in which it was sold; his opportunity to
redeem it shall last a complete year.

Literally, "a year of days shall be his redemption [right]."

30. "‘But if it is not redeemed by the time a full year is up, then the
house in the walled city shall become fixed [confirmed] permanently as the
buyer's dwelling; it shall not be released in the yovel.

A walled city is a concentration of men. Those who buy into the city,
like Lot, become part of it, choosing to gain their livelihood through trade
rather than agriculture. Nothing can ever make a citizen back out of it, but
once you sell out of it, you cannot get back in either. Those who taste the
power of the world to come--who put their hand to the plow, in this season's
terms--are not permitted to look back. We have burned our bridges, and given
up our rights to one life in order to partake of another.

31. "‘But the houses in the villages that have no wall around them shall be
counted as the fields of land; they may be redeemed, and they shall be
released in the yovel.

Villages: or "courts"--perhaps similar because of the way they were laid
out. In the open country, we are open to the attack of the Amaleqites, whose
atheistic religion is "chance". Things can happen to you, and you are
dependent on your own wealth--what you can do for yourself--to see you
through; you may even be required to sell yourself off to pay such debts.
Once you become a citizen of a certain Walled City, "there is no shadow due
to turning", because we live by faith in the faithful One.

32. "‘Now [as to] the Levites' cities, and the houses of the cities they
inherit, for the Levites there shall be never-ending redemption [rights].

33. "‘So whatever anyone purchases from the Levites [as ransom] shall be
released in the yovel--the sale of a house or the city of their
possession--because the cities of the Levites are their inheritance among the
descendants of Israel.

34. "‘And the fields of open [common] land belonging to their cities shall
not be sold, because it is their eternal inheritance.

"Common land belonging to...": This sounds contradictory, but the land of
the Levites was not to grow food on, because they received that as the tithes
of the rest of the nation; it was used to raise sacrificial animals. It was
"common" because flocks wander from place to place, but only those from that
particular city would have grazing rights there.

35. "‘Now because your brother becomes poor and his hand has been dislodged
with you, you shall restore him to strength, so he may live [be revived] with
you [as] a guest or a tenant.

Has been dislodged: LXX, "fail in his resources"; With you: Aramaic, "by
you". He is not to be a freeloader; this is a loan, not a gift. (YHWH does
not want His people to be the kind that people expect to be beggars.) But
his brothers are also responsible to see that he does not need to move away
from Israel (for the tribes all need each other) nor sell himself to a
foreigner in order to pay his debts.

36. "‘You shall not take any interest or bonus from him, but fear your
Elohim, so your brother may live with you.

Interest or bonus: Aramaic, "advance or accrued interest".

37. "‘You shall not give him your money with a "bite" [usury], nor shall you
lend him your food for interest;

38. "‘I am YHWH your Elohim, who brought you forth from the land of Egypt,
to bestow on you the land of Kanaan, and to be your Elohim.

39. "‘So if your brother [who dwells] with you becomes poor, and sells
himself to you, you shall not subject him to the service of a slave,

Poor: LXX, "lowered". Sells himself: This is the type of slavery the
Israelites practiced--that someone could pay off his debts through work when
he was unable to pay with money or goods. Our older brother Y'shua was
endowed with richness of spirit so that he could redeem us from the bondage
to the flesh which we imposed on ourselves by choosing to walk in the ways of
the Gentiles instead of living as Israel.

40. "‘but he shall be with you as [if he were] a hired laborer or sojourner,
and shall serve with you until the year of yovel;

I.e., not that he is to be paid, but he is to be treated as a person with
rights.

41. "‘then he shall depart from you--and his children along with him--and
return to his own clan, and to the property of his ancestors shall he return,

42. "‘because they are My servants, which I brought forth from the land of
Egypt; they shall not be sold the way a slave [is sold].

The reason given is not that it is wrong to own a slave or that all human
beings ar to be treated with equal dignity (which is not true according to v
.44), but because the Israelites in particular belong directly to YHWH. We
are our brother's keepers as well; if it is in our power and we have the
right to redeem, we are not to allow anyone of His to remain enslaved (see
vv. 47-49).

43. "‘You shall not subjugate him with cruelty, but shall fear your Elohim.

Subjugate: or dominate; LXX: oppress or violently strain.

44. "‘Any slave or bondwoman you have shall come from the nations that are
around you; from them you may purchase slaves or bondwomen.

All people are not counted as equal by YHWH if they do not choose to
become part of the community of Israel. A way has been provided for anyone
to be nothing but an Israelite, but if they feel no need to make this a
priority, they do not receive any of the benefits that come with it. Is a
"part-time" Christian Zionist really any different from an "Arab Israeli"?
Both keep one foot outside Israel "just in case".

45. "‘You may also acquire [slaves] from the foreigners who sojourn among
you and from their families whom they have fathered in your land, and they
shall be your property.

Foreigners: the Aramaic Targum Onqelos adds "uncircumcised".

46. "‘And you shall take possession of them for your children after you to
inherit as property; they may be your slaves for as long [as you wish], but
as for your brothers, the descendants of Israel, you shall not subjugate them
with cruelty.

47. "‘And if a sojourner or foreigner with you grows rich, and your brother
[who dwells] by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or
sojourner [who is] with you or to the offspring of the sojourner's clan,

Offspring of the sojourner: the Aramaic interprets this as referring only
to those who revert to heathenism; LXX: "a proselyte by extraction".
Whatever their customs may have been, the Land has its own rules, and while
they live there they must abide by them.

48. "‘after he is sold there shall be a [way] for him to be [rightfully]
bought back; one of his relatives may redeem him--

The story of Ruth is a vivid example of this, and a foreshadowing of
Y'shua, who came to seek out and buy back the lost sheep of the House of
Israel, who voluntarily gave up their right to be part of the covenant, and
so had to have it bought back by a relative who is still in good standing.

49. "‘either his uncle or a son of his uncle may redeem him, or any who is a
kinsman of his flesh from his clan may redeem him, or if his own hand has
grown longer, he may redeem himself.

50. "‘And he and his purchaser together shall calculate from the year he was
sold until the year of the yovel, and the price of his sale shall be
commensurate with the number of years; it shall be [considered] for him like
the days of a hired man.

Price: literally, "silver".

51. "‘If there are still many years, he shall weigh out the repayment of his
redemption-price from the money for which he was bought.

Weigh out: or divide; Aramaic, "return".

52. "‘If there are only a few years left until the yovel, then he shall
calculate together with him, and according to the value of his years he shall
refund [from] his redemption-price.

53. "‘As a hired [hand] he shall be with him year by year, and he shall not
subjugate him with cruelty in your eyes,

Subjugate him with cruelty: Aram., "work him ruthlessly". It is the
responsibility of the rest of the sons of Israel to watch out that no one
among them is treated this way.

54. "‘and if he is not redeemed within these years, he shall [still] be
released in the yovel year--[both] he and his children with him,

55. "‘because the descendants of Israel are servants unto Me; they are My
servants, whom I brought forth from the land of Egypt. I am YHWH your Elohim.


CHAPTER 26

1. "‘You shall not make worthless illusions or carved images for yourselves,
nor raise up memorial pillars, nor establish imaginary showpieces of stone in
your land to bow down in reverence to, because I am YHWH your Elohim.

Carved images: LXX, "gods made with hands". Memorial pillars: "standing
stones", not forbidden in all cases, for Yaaqov, Moshe, and Y'hoshua set some
up, and in the Kingdom there will be at least one dedicated to YHWH in Egypt
(Yesh. 19:19). They may have words written on them, but may never be carved
into images or be worshipped themselves. Imaginary showpieces of stone: the
root word is clearly the same as "image"; both ideas depict something that in
itself is not real--either it is all in one's mind or it depends on something
else for its existence, and therefore cannot truly assist its worshippers.

2. "‘You shall keep My sabbaths, and stand in awe of My sanctuary; I am
YHWH.'"

Only on the sabbath, the festivals, and the New Moon was the gate opened
so that one could see--and thus stand in awe of--His Temple. Through them,
we learn what His Body --the real temple--is [to be] like.


Garb of the ordinary Levitical priests.


Portion B'CHUQOTHAI (26:3 - 27:34)
3. "‘If you walk in My statutes [b'chuqothai], observe My commandments, and
carry them out,

Statutes: Heb., huq-- one law governing all creation, spiritual as well
as physical, such as the feasts that coincide with the natural seasons.
[Asher Eder]. The ideal is that hearing the commands will make one want to
carry them out, and when one reads the next few verses, who would not want to
obey an Elohim like this? Doing is to lead to observing (learning from) His
commands, which leads us to His heart--the Spirit of the letter--which in
turn makes us want to carry them out even more fully. Walk in them: not
simply do them, but become them--let them bringing change so we can become
more and more like Y'shua, who embodied them.

4. "‘then I will give you your rains in their [proper] season, and the land
shall yield her produce, and the tree of the field shall give its fruit,

In season: There are many proverbs about how irritating something that
comes in the wrong season is, and in this case it could be a matter of life
or death. Water is a symbol of the teaching of the Torah, which is best
learned "in season"--at the times when the feasts are to be celebrated.
Trees are symbolic of people as well; their fruit, watered by Torah through
the festivals, is a lifestyle that produces righteousness and justice.

5. "‘and your threshing shall last until the vintage, and the vintage shall
last until the time for sowing, and you shall eat your bread until you have
enough, and shall dwell securely in your land.

Last until: or "overtake"; Aramaic, "precede". The harvest would be so
abundant that you would still be harvesting one crop when the next was ready.
The result would be that everything would be in season, as it was in the
Garden of Eden when there were no seasons, only a perfectly-balanced climate
and environment. But until "that day" when everyone sits under his own vine
and his own fig tree, the seasons are signs for us that point the way there.

6. "‘Moreover, I will grant peace in the Land, and you shall relax, and no
one shall make you tremble from fear. And I will rid the land of harmful
beasts, and no sword will pass through your Land.

Relax: Aramaic, "dwell undisturbed". We who have lived in a land with
few major security threats have much less of a feel for how wonderful this
would sound to a nation used to ruthless marauding bands where there was no
international court of appeal and there were dangers on every side. Harmful
beasts can also metaphorically include evil spirits, especially when we read
about the patterns of "seven more" below in light of Y'shua's statement that
an ousted evil spirit will try to bring back seven more spirits if the right
measures are not taken. (Mat. 12:45)

7. "‘You shall also put your enemies to flight, and they shall fall by the
sword before you;

Even if they try to enter, they will be scared off if you simply "flex
your muscles".

8. "‘five of you shall pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten
thousand to flight, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.

9. "‘For I will turn My face toward you and make you fruitful, and multiply
you, and establish my covenant with you.

Turn My face: Aram., "turn with My Memra [living Word]..." Estanlish: or
confirm; i.e., re-establish.

10. "‘And you will eat long-lasting provisions that you have stored up, and
you will clear out the old in the face of the new.

Long-lasting provisions: Aramaic, "old grain". We can both be sustained
by the ancient revelations, and also partake of the spirit behind the
letter--the "new treasures" as well. What more could we ask for? This is
like a dream--the best one could ever hope for in a world where there are
still enemies. Yet there is more...

11. "‘I will also set my tabernacle [dwelling place] among you, and my soul
shall not abhor you.

This is the goal of all of the commands, because they are what allow us
to begin to think in the patterns by which He thinks, and to know His mind.
Physical security is nothing if we are not of one mind--if we do not also
form a community He can come to dwell amidst. This would be the Kingdom
itself, were it accepted.

12. "‘And I will [always] walk among you and be your Elohim, and you will be
My people.

My people: or "My countrymen". This hearkens back to the Garden of Eden!
A nation that did obey Him and thus come to know Him intimately would be an
oasis of peace, freedom, and joy in the desert of the "normal" patterns of
this fallen age.

13. "‘I am YHWH your Elohim, who has brought you out from the land of the
Egyptians, from being their slaves, and I will break the bars of your yoke
and let you walk upright.

From being: or, "so that you will no longer be". Walk upright: or
"straighten up".

14. "‘But if you will not listen to Me, and [if you] do not carry out any of
these commands,

15. "‘and if you reject My statues and your soul abhors My ordinances, so
that you will not carry out all of My commandments, so that you annul My
covenant,

Annul: or "break"; Aramaic, "alter". This is what we have done more
frequently.

16. "‘this is in turn what I will do to you: I will indeed appoint over you
[as overseers] sudden terror, a wasting lung disease, a burning fever that
will consume away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away in sorrow. More
than this, you will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.

Sudden terror, wasting lung disease: LXX, "perplexity and the itch" (or
scab). Consume away: Aramaic, "obscure the vision of".

17. "‘And I will set my face against you, and you will be struck down before
your enemies; those who hate you will tread you down, and you will run away
when no one is chasing you.

Struck down: Aramaic, "shattered". Part of the curse is to be terrified
of things that do not even exist; it is the logical conclusion of such a
state of mind.

18. "‘And if [after] these things, you will still not listen to Me, then I
will punish you seven more for your sins.

After: Aramaic, "in spite of". Listen: i.e., obey. Still: His intent in
all of this is to make life outside of the covenant as hard as it can be so
there will be motivation for stubborn people to come back into the good
things they once had. The same pattern is seen in the plagues in Egypt and
in the book of Revelation where over and over it is said, "Still they refused
to repent!" Seven more: seven ways or seven times. This is why it has taken
until our day for the exile of the Northern Kingdom to near its end. Angus
Wootten calculates from 734 B.C., when the majority of the Northern Kingdom
became vassal to Assyria, Ezekiel was told to lie on one side for 390 days
for the number of years YHWH would punish Israel, and the other side for 40
days for Judah's years. In Jeremiah 16 YHWH doubled Ephraim's sentence (to
780 years), but here it also says that if our ancestors would not repent, He
would increase their punishment seven times (to 2,730 years). So there are
two sentences running concurrently for Ephraim. The first ran out in 46
A.D., right when Paul began his missions to the Gentiles. Individuals from
Ephraim began responding to Y'shua, and Hosea's judgment of "no pity" was no
longer in effect. But Hosea's other sentence--that of not being a people--was
not up... until right around 1996! If we begin counting from 722 B.C., when
the capital city of Samaria was finally destroyed, we come out to 2008, so in
any case we are within the time frame when the curse is lifting and Efrayim
is realizing again that he is to be notr just a group of redeemed
individuals, but the corporate people of YHWH.

19. "‘And I will cripple the [proud] majesty of your [firmly-established]
power, and your heavens shall be like iron, and your earth like brass,

Iron and brass: symbols of stubbornness (Isaiah/Yesh. 48:4; Jer./Yirm.
6:28); they would not yield rain or crops.

20. "‘and your energy will be spent in vain, because your land will not
yield its increase, nor will the trees of the Land yield their fruits.

21. "‘But if you walk casually in relation to Me and will not not listen to
Me [or obey], I will add seven [more] plagues upon you according to your sins,

Walk casually: LXX, "perversely", but the Hebrew term comes from a word
meaning "a chance encounter", as if to say they were just accidents, part of
the normal ebb and flow of life on earth, and things would eventually
improve. But with all the promises made if one would obey, they were meant
to make one sit up abruptly and ask if and where he had gone wrong when ANY
of these things came upon him. The Torah is all about relationships, and
these things are not punishment but chastisement--a means of keeping us from
going further away when you have exhausted all the better reasons to come
back. The roadblocks get tougher and tougher, because after the 49th step
there is no more covenant (cf. Heb. 10:26), and that is where they are
heading (v. 15). After that, someone has to die for the covenant to remain
in effect--and that is exactly what happened. But it is better to die and be
unable to go further into sin than to go that far.

22. "‘and send against you wild animals that will rob you of your children,
cut off [chew away] your livestock, and decimate your [own numbers], so that
your pathways become desolate.

Pathways: Often used metaphorically for the "ways" of wisdom and
righteousness.

23. "‘And if you [still] will not let yourselves be corrected by Me in these
matters, but will [continue to] walk in opposition to Me,

In opposition to Me: in one sense, when we kept Sunday as "sabbath", YHWH
stayed home. Was the spirit that was meeting with us really His? In another
way, yes, He met us where we were, but we must realize that where we were was
not acceptable to Him, and move on from there.

24. "‘then I will also walk in opposition to you, and I myself will strike
you seven [more times] on account of your sins,

Seven more plagues: Perhaps this relates to the plagues in Revelation
that come in sevens, His final attempt to get some recalcitrants of the House
of Yoseyf to recognize who they really are, stop sitting on the fence, and
repent. Seven more: We have completed the former sentence of "seven times",
or are very close. Now we are at another crossroads; what will we do with
this opportunity?

25. "‘and I will bring a sword upon you that will avenge the quarrel of
[the] covenant, and when you are gathered together in your cities, I will
send pestilence among you, and you will be delivered into the hands of the
enemy.

Gathered together: to escape the armies outside the walls. But it will
be "out of the frying pan, into the fire"--a worse thing will await them in
the place of supposed safety, because there is no hiding from YHWH.
Pestilence: Based on the word for "talk" or "declare", so it may imply the
"plague" of an informer who gives away the secret to how to enter the city.

26. "‘And when I have broken the shaft of your bread, ten women shall bake
your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread in rations, and
you shall eat, and not be satisfied.

In rations: or "by weight".

27. "‘And if despite [all of] this you do not listen to Me, but walk in
opposition to Me,

28. "‘Then I will walk in furious opposition to you; I Myself will also
discipline you seven [times] for your sins,

Furious: or "boiling".

29. "‘and you shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your
daughters you shall eat!

30. "‘And I will annihilate your cultic worship-platforms, and cut down your
sun-pillars, and cast your corpses on the monuments of your images, and My
soul will abhor you.

Corpses...monuments: both the same word in Hebrew, in an interesting play
on words. Both refer to a lifeless body or form.

31. "‘I will let your cities become decayed ruins, and make your sanctuaries
desolate, and I will not delight in the sweet fragrances of your soothing
aromas.

32. "‘And I will bring the land to [such] desolation [that] your enemies who
settle there shall be appalled at it.

Appalled: or horrified, made desolate. Indeed, until the people began to
return, it had become scarcely more than desert in some areas and
malaria-infested swamp in others.

33. "‘And I will scatter you among the pagans and draw out a sword after
you, and your land shall be devastated and your cities [made into] ruins.

Scatter: the word also means "sow"; Hoshea brings out both meanings by
naming his son "Yizra'el"--Elohim will scatter, or Elohim will sow. (Hos.
1:4-11) A sowed harvest will later be reaped, and that was the blessing
within the curse. By Y'shua's time, the fields were "white unto harvest".
Ruins: Go there today and you will see many such cities, but they are being
reestablished and resettled (cf. Isaiah 61:4).

34. "‘Then the land will enjoy her sabbaticals as long as it lies desolate
and you are in your enemies' lands; then [indeed] the land will rest and
enjoy [be paid back] her sabbaticals.

From the beginning of the United Kingdom, for 490 years the people did
not obey the command about leaving the land fallow in the Sabbatical year.
The Babylonian captivity ended after exactly 70 years, fulfilling YHWH's
promise to the day.

35. "‘As long as it lies desolate it will rest, because it did not rest on
your sabbaticals when you lived on it.

36. "‘And as for those who are left alive of you, I will send timidity into
their hearts in the lands of their enemies, and the sound of a leaf driven
[by the wind] will send them running, and they will disappear as if running
from a sword, and they will fall [on their faces] when no one is chasing them.

37. "‘And one of them shall stumble over another as if [running] in front of
a sword, when no one is pursuing, and you will have no power to resist your
enemies.

38. "‘And you will be exterminated among the Gentiles, and the land of your
enemies will burn you up.

What could be a better description of the Holocaust? But these promises
must also have been fulfilled in many other ways for the Northern Kingdom,
who left the covenant first.

39. "‘And those who are left of you shall rot away on account of their guilt
in their enemies' lands, and also on account of the guilt of their fathers
with them, they shall rot away

Rot away: putrefy, pine away; Aramaic, "wither away".

40. "‘But if they admit to their guilt and the guilt of their ancestors in
the unfaithful treachery by which they have trespassed against Me, and also
that they have walked in hostility to Me--

But if they: LXX, "And they shall..." Admit to: literally, "throw up
their hands for"; Aramaic, "confess". Guilt of their ancestors...treachery:
or treason--betrayal of one's NATION. Yirmeyahu 16 clarifies that this means
admitting that our fathers inherited only lies. Half-truths, yes, but those
are still not truths. The key to our returning is that we right their wrongs
rather than continuing to let their effects continue. Walked in hostility:
Aramaic, "acted stubbornly".

41. "‘(I also walked in hostility to them and brought them into the land of
their enemies)-- If their uncircumcised heart should then be brought into
subjection, and they accept the punishment of their iniquity,

If their...heart should...: Aramaic, "Only then will their foolish heart
break down..." Accept the punishment for: or "pay for"; Aram., "acknowledge
their guilt".

42. "‘Then I will remember My covenant with Yaaqov, and also My covenant
with Yitzhaq, and My covenant with Avraham I will remember; I will also bring
the Land to remembrance.'

Note that he lists them backwards, just as we are moving back to our
roots.

43. "The land itself shall be left behind by them, and shall enjoy her
sabbaticals, while she lies desolate without them; and they shall accept [the
punishment of] their iniquity, because--because indeed--they despised My
ordinances, and because their soul abhorred My statutes.

Compare Hoshea 8:12, where the House of Efrayim counted His Torah "a
strange thing". Still many do, and this is how Y'shua judges who will be
counted greatest and least in His Kingdom.

44. "Yet even after all this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I
will not reject them, nor will I abhor them so as to utterly destroy them so
far as to nullify My covenant with them, because I am YHWH their Elohim.

45. "For their sakes I will bring to remembrance the covenant of their
ancestors, whom I brought out from the land of Egypt; I am YHWH."

Ancestors: Aramaic, "ancients".

46. These are the statutes and the ordinances and the instructions that YHWH
made between Himself and their descendants in Mount Sinai, by the hand of
Moshe.

Himself: Aramaic, "His Memra" [Living Word].


CHAPTER 27

1. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

2. "Speak to the descendants of Israel, and tell them, ‘When a man makes an
extraordinary vow, by your valuation the souls shall belong to YHWH:

Valuation: Aramaic, "equivalent value", i.e., to substitute for his life
if it is impossible to fulfill the vow.

3. "‘Your valuation shall be like this: for the male from twenty to sixty
years, your valuation shall be fifty sheqels of silver, according to the
sheqel of the sanctuary.

4. "‘and if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty sheqels.

Thirty sheqels: this is the price for which Y'shua was sold, and he was
evaluated by the chief priest (Mat. 26:14). A field (representing the whole
world) was also purchased with it! The fact that it is the price of a woman
hints that it was a bride price, and this stands to reason since his bride
was the one needing to be paid for, not he.

5. "‘If [the person] is from five to twenty years old, your valuation shall
be twenty sheqels for the male, and ten sheqels for the female.

6. "‘And from a month old up to five years, your valuation shall be five
silver sheqels for the male, and three silver sheqels for the female.

7. "‘And from sixty years and above, your valuation shall be fifteen sheqels
if it is a male, and ten sheqels for the female.

8. "‘But if he is too poor [to pay the price at which] you value [him], then
he shall present himself before the cohen [priest], and the cohen shall set a
value on him; according to the hand of the one who vowed, the priest shall
set a value [tax] upon him.

Hand: ability to afford.

9. "‘And if it is a beast from which men [may] bring an offering to YHWH,
any such thing from among them which is given unto YHWH shall be holy;

10. "‘he shall not replace it or exchange it, a good [one] for a bad, or a
bad [one] for a good. But if he shall exchange any one at all, then [both]
it and the one substituted shall be holy.

11. "‘But if it be an unclean beast, from which they do not bring near as an
offering to YHWH, then he shall present the beast before the cohen,

12. "‘and the cohen shall set a value on it, according to whether it is good
or bad. As you, the cohen, set the value, so will it be.

How can an unclean beast be consecrated to YHWH? The idea behind these
verses seems to be that someone made a vow to YHWH along the lines of, "Get
me out of this situation, and I will give you..." Sometimes the vow is rash
and he actually needs the use of the thing he vowed to give, so he can pay a
certain amount of money to have it back, but he has to pay a 20% fine (v. 13,
etc.) for again profaning something that was made holy. There are
exceptions; some things cannot be used in the Temple, and some things can
never be bought back, because they are too holy.

13. "‘But if he shall redeem it at all, he shall add one-fifth to your
valuation.

14. "‘But if a man consecrates his house to be holy unto YHWH, then the
cohen shall evaluate it, as to whether it is good or bad. Whatever the cohen
sets as the value, that is what it will be.

That is what it will be: Aramaic, "so shall it stand".

15. "‘And if the one who consecrated his house wants to redeem it, he shall
add one fifth to the price of your valuation, and it shall be his.

16. "‘And if a man consecrates to YHWH [part] of a field from his ancestral
heritage, then you shall value it according to the [amount of] seed [growing]
in it: a chomer shall be valued at fifty silver sheqels.

Chomer: 100 omers. From this valuation we derive the fact that an omer
(which symbolizes one person) is worth half a sheqel (each person's temple
tax, as in Exodus 30:13ff.)

17. "‘If he consecrates his field from [as of] the yovel year, according to
your valuation it shall be established.

18. "‘But if he consecrates his field after the yovel [year], then the cohen
shall calculate for him the price according to the years that remain until
the yovel year, and it shall be deducted [pro-rated] from your valuation.

19. "‘And if the one who consecrated the field ever wants to redeem any of
it, then he shall add one-fifth to the price of your estimation, and it shall
be confirmed to [be] his.

Confirmed: perhaps by checking the records of property ownership.

20. "‘But if he [himself] does not want to redeem the field, or if he has
sold the field to another man, it never to be redeemed again.

21. "‘But when it is released in the yovel, it shall become holy to YHWH
like a devoted field; it shall become an inheritance for the cohen.

Devoted: The Arabic word harem comes from the same root--meaning
something off limits to everyone else.

22. "‘And if what he devotes to YHWH is a field he purchased rather than one
of the fields of his ancestral property,

These could not be sold permanently, but had to be returned to the clan
that owned them at least once every fifty years.

23. "‘then the cohen shall calculate for him the portion of the value to be
paid up to the year of yovel, and he shall appoint your valuation that day as
a thing set apart unto YHWH.

24. "‘In the year of the yovel, the field shall return [revert] to him from
whom it was bought, to whom it had belonged as an inherited possession.

25. "‘Now all your value-estimations shall be according to the sheqel of the
sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall [equal] the sheqel.

26. "‘However, a firstfruit from the animals, which is a firstborn unto
YHWH, shall no man consecrate, whether it be ox or sheep; it [already]
belongs to YHWH.

The same holds true for a firstborn of human beings. They already belong
to YHWH. However, He took the Levites in exchange for all the firstborn
(Numbers 3:12) with the payment of five sheqels. Thus, after the five
sheqels had been paid to redeem Shmu'El (Samuel), he was no longer considered
Hannah's firstborn, and thus he could be dedicated to YHWH after all.

27. "‘And if it is [the firstborn] from an unclean beast, then he shall
redeem it according to [whatever] value you assign, and shall add one fifth
[of the value] to it; or if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold.

28. "‘In any case, any devoted thing which a man consecrates to YHWH, from
anything that belongs to him, whether man or animal or inherited field, shall
neither be sold nor redeemed; it is most holy to YHWH.

29. "‘No devoted thing which is dedicated by a human being may be ransomed;
[it] will certainly be put to death.

Which is dedicated by a human being: Aramaic, "that involves a human
being"; LXX, "that which is dedicated of men"--possibly like what Yifthach
did (Judges 11). Put to death: or die prematurely.

30. "‘And all the tithe of the land,[ whether] from the seed of the earth
[or] the fruit of the tree, is YHWH's; it is holy unto YHWH.

Note that the tithe had nothing to do with money, but only agricultural
products.

31. "‘And if a man redeems any of his tithes at all, he shall add a fifth of
its [value] to it.

32. "‘Now concerning the tithe of the flock and the herd: of all that pass
under the rod, the tenth shall be holy for YHWH.

In the process of bringing the Body (which is also called "one bread", 1
Corinthians 10:17) to maturity with the "measure of the fullness of the
stature of the Messiah" (Eph. 4), the job of the pastor/shepherd is to thresh
(break the grain-head away from the stalk from which it grew and loosen the
husk from around the kernel so the "teacher" can winnow). Yeshayahu/Isaiah
28:27-29 gives us more details about how this is to be done. The tool that
both the shepherd of the flock and the one who threshes use is the rod (cf.
Psalm 23:4), or a reed (Yesh./Isa. 42:1-4). The same instrument used to
protect the sheep also keeps them in line: a shepherd will even break the
legs of the sheep that habitually wanders, and then carry it on his
shoulders, where it can become intimately attached to the shepherd and
realize that he really does need him. The way a shepherd counted his sheep
as they entered the narrow doorway to the fold was to have them walk under a
rod. In Y'chezq'El/Ezekiel 20:37, when YHWH promises to restore the scattered
House of Israel from among the nations (breaking us away from what we grew up
on--the world, and from the hull of useless relationships), He will cause us
to "pass under the rod" and then it will mean He is purging out the
rebellious ones, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (Mat.
25:32ff; see also Rev. 11:1 and 21:5 for the measuring reed as an instrument
of judgment. This separation is the essence of holiness.) But it is part of
the process of re-entering His covenant. Y'shua's role as the Good Shepherd
(Yochanan 10) is outlined in Ezkl. 34.) Here, all the sheep are to be
counted by tens, and every tenth one, good or bad, is to be set aside as for
YHWH, being devoted for priestly use or consumption. Y'shua, who is called
the Lamb of Elohim, was born in what the Mishnah says was a Levitical
shepherd's field at Migdal Eder (Mic. 4:8) in Beth Lechem-Ephratah (5:2, the
fruitful part of Bethlehem, not downtown like the traditional site chosen by
the guesswork of Constantine's mother).

33. "‘He shall not take into consideration whether it is good or bad,
neither shall he exchange it [for another]; indeed, if he does exchange
[another for] it, then both it and its substitute shall be holy; it shall not
be redeemed.'"

34. These are the commands which YHWH gave to Moshe for the descendants of
Israel in Mount Sinai.

For the descendants of Israel: Aramaic, "to relay to the Israelites."