6/28/2014

Parashat 27 Portion 84 Vayikra 13:29-59 2 Kings 5:1-19 Luke 5:12-15.


Blessing of Torah.
Hebrew: Baruch atah YHVH eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kideshanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu la'asok b'divrei Torah. V'ha'arev na YHVH eloheinu et divrei toratecha befinu uvfi amecha beit Yisrael. V'niyeh anachnu v'tze'etze'einu v'tze'etza'ei amecha beit Yisrael kullanu yodei sh'mecha v'lomdei toratecha lishmah. Baruch atah YHVH hamelamed Torah le'amo Yisrael. Baruch atah YHVH Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim venatan lanu et torato. Baruch atah YHVH, notein haTorah.

English translation: Blessed art Thou, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, who has made us set apart through His commandments and commanded us to actively study Torah. Please YHVH, our Elohim, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, YHVH, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, YHVH, Giver of the Torah.

Thus the Talmud (Sanhedrin 98b) describes Moshiach as a metzora, signifying that the messianic age is a time in which evils which have infested the world and mankind rise to the surface, so that they can be decisively overcome and cured. (The Lubavitcher Rebbe)

Our Sages say that the occurrence of tzra-at was confined to biblical times, implying that later generations are not of the spiritual caliber that allows for this supra-natural affliction.
The reason for this can be understood from the opening words of the Torah's description of the metzora. "Shall occur"


Lev 13:2  “When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it shall become on the skin of his body like a leprous infection, then he shall be brought to Aharon the priest or to one of his sons the priests.

The whole sentence is written in the future tense.
ב  אָדָם, כִּי-יִהְיֶה בְעוֹר-בְּשָׂרוֹ שְׂאֵת אוֹ-סַפַּחַת אוֹ בַהֶרֶת, וְהָיָה בְעוֹר-בְּשָׂרוֹ, לְנֶגַע צָרָעַת--וְהוּבָא אֶל-אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן, אוֹ אֶל-אַחַד מִבָּנָיו הַכֹּהֲנִים.


Aliyah Sheni 13:24-39

Lev 13:24  “Or when the body receives a burn on its skin by fire, and the raw flesh of the burn shall become a bright spot, reddish-white or white,
Lev 13:25  then the priest shall look at it and see, if the hair of the bright spot has turned white, and it appears deeper than the skin, it is leprosy broken out in the burn. And the priest shall pronounce him unclean, it is a leprous infection.
Lev 13:26  “But if the priest looks at it and sees there are no white hairs in the bright spot, and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall shut him up seven days.
Lev 13:27  “And the priest shall look at him on the seventh day. If it spreads further over the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean, it is a leprous infection.
Lev 13:28  “But if the bright spot stays in its place, and has not spread on the skin, but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn. And the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar from the burn.
Lev 13:29  “And when a man, or a woman, has an infection on the head or in the beard,
Lev 13:30  then the priest shall look at the infection and see, if it appears deeper than the skin, and there is thin yellow hair in it, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean, it is an eruption, a leprosy of the head or beard.
Lev 13:31  “But when the priest looks at the infection of the eruption and sees that it does not appear deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up the one with the infection of the eruption seven days.
Lev 13:32  “And on the seventh day the priest shall look at the infection and see, if the eruption has not spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the eruption does not appear deeper than the skin,
Lev 13:33  then he shall shave himself, but the eruption he does not shave. And the priest shall shut up the one with the eruption another seven days.
Lev 13:34  “And on the seventh day the priest shall look at the eruption and see, if the eruption has not spread over the skin, and does not appear deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. And he shall wash his garments, and he shall be clean.
Lev 13:35  “But if the eruption spreads further over the skin after his cleansing,
Lev 13:36  then the priest shall look at him and see, if the eruption has spread over the skin, the priest need not seek for yellow hair, he is unclean.
Lev 13:37  “But if the eruption appears to have stayed, and there is black hair grown up in it, the eruption has healed. He is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.
Lev 13:38  “And when a man or a woman has bright spots on the skin of the body, white bright spots,
Lev 13:39  then the priest shall look and see, if the bright spots on the skin of the body are dull white, it is a white spot that grows on the skin, he is clean.

  Second Aliyha: "At the conclusion of the quarantine period, the priest either declares the individual pure or impure. The Torah then discusses what is done in the event that the tzara'at spreads after the individual was declared pure, or if there is raw skin within the tzara'at, or if the tzara'at has spread over the entire body.
We need to remind ourselves that the judging of tzra-at was the responsibility of Aaron and his sons. It was the responsibility of the individual to submit themselves to these priests when these various markings appeared on their skin.
We can assume that this Levitical priesthood was and will be so endowed with the spirit of wisdom and understanding that when they are confronted with a person with the skin condition known in the Torah as “Tzra at” they will be enabled by YHVH to pin point the exact reason and remedy for the healing of tzra-at." - end of quote

Midrash on the implications of what this Torah portion is teaching us.

Why would this condition exist in the first place?

This condition was obviously YHVH’s way of drawing our attention to the fact there was some kind of infringement knowing or unknowing of the Covenant between Himself and His set apart ones. This would obviously imply that there was some kind of transgression or misunderstanding, knowing or unknowing of the Torah.

Interrogative Statement:

 When Yahshua returns, we trust and believe and hope that we will be with him – to rule the nations of the world for 1000 years. We also believe that when he returns he will be accompanied by some very important people – Moshe, Aaron, Yehoshua, Calev, Eliyah, Yirmeyahu, Yochanan the immerse, Kepha, Shaul, King David, Shlomo (Solomon), Adam, Chavah(Eve) and Noach to mention only a very few.

There are going to be two groups of people on the earth – The Common wealth of Yisrael and the Nations.

The Common wealth of Yisrael has a constitution and a marriage covenant with YHVH – it is contained in the Torah.
The truth and application of the Torah will be determined by YHVH and whoever YHVH appoints. YHVH’s primary appointment to be in charge of all matters is Yahshua – there will be NO arguments or debates with Yahshua regarding the Torah’s message and application.

Rev 2:26  “And he who overcomes, and guards My works until the end, to him I shall give authority over the nations,
Rev 2:27  and he shall shepherd them with a rod of iron, as the potter’s vessels shall be broken to pieces,1 as I also have received from My Father. Footnote: 1Ps. 2:9.

Rev 19:15  And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations. And He shall shepherd them with a rod of iron. And He treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Ěl Shaddai.
Rev 19:16  And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written: SOVEREIGN OF SOVEREIGNS AND MASTER OF MASTERS

Mat 5:17  “Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets.1 I did not come to destroy but to complete. Footnote: 1The Law and the Prophets is a term used for the pre-Messianic Scriptures.
Mat 5:18  “For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done.1 Footnote: 1Lk. 16:17.
Mat 5:19  “Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the heavens; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens.

All of the religions of the world have a major problem with the above statements. That is why most of the followers of these world religions – including Christianity and Judaism may not find themselves with Yahshua when he returns.

Mat 7:21  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ shall enter into the reign of the heavens, but he who is doing the desire of My Father in the heavens.
Mat 7:22  “Many (or most) shall say to Me in that day, ‘Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your Name, and cast out demons in Your Name, and done many mighty works in Your Name?’
Mat 7:23  “And then I shall declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!’1 Footnote: 1 See v. 15. – lawlessness or Torahlessness.

Why would Yahshua want anyone to be part of his kingdom then if they now refuse to acknowledge that he has been appointed by YHVH to teach all the nations how to walk and live according to the Torah of YHVH.

In other words if you don’t like the perfect plan and purpose of YHVH now why will you be part of it then?

Those amongst us who are coming into the restoration of the Truth will understand what is being said.

It must be made perfectly clear that this is not some person’s subjective truth but it is the only Truth that is taught and will be established by Yahshua and accepted by the Creator of All.

We believe this absolute truth is revealed by the Spirit of YHVH in the 66 books of the scriptures – from Genesis to Revelation.
We understand that we do not possess the full knowledge of this truth but we acknowledge that the absolute truth is contained within its chapters.

Back to our Torah portion:

The truth of the above interrogative statement will become evident in the age to come when a skin condition called tza arat appears on your body because you are somehow out of sync with the teaching of Torah.
You will willingly submit to Aaron or one if his sons for its diagnosis and cure.

Does this have implications for us now?

Php 2:12  So that, my beloved, as you always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much rather in my absence – work out your own deliverance with fear and trembling,
Php 2:13  for it is Elohim who is working in you1 both to desire and to work for His good pleasure.


There have been and always will be serious consequences to our obedience or disobedience to Torah – see Devarim/Deuteronomy chapter 28.

Deu 28:1  “And it shall be, if you diligently obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim, to guard to do all His commands which I command you today, that יהוה your Elohim shall set you high above all nations of the earth.
Deu 28:2  “And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim:
Deu 28:3  “Blessed are you in the city, and blessed are you in the field.
Deu 28:4  “Blessed is the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your livestock – the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
Deu 28:5  “Blessed is your basket and your kneading bowl.
Deu 28:6  “Blessed are you when you come in, and blessed are you when you go out.
Deu 28:7  “יהוה causes your enemies who rise against you to be smitten before your face – they come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
Deu 28:8  “יהוה commands the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and shall bless you in the land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you.
Deu 28:9  “יהוה does establish you as a set-apart people to Himself, as He has sworn to you, if you guard the commands of יהוה your Elohim and walk in His ways.
Deu 28:10  “And all peoples of the earth shall see that the Name of יהוה is called upon you, and they shall be afraid of you.
Deu 28:11  “And יהוה shall make you to have plenty of what is good, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land of which יהוה swore to your fathers to give you.
Deu 28:12  “יהוה opens to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. And you shall lend to many nations, but you do not borrow.
Deu 28:13  “And יהוה shall make you the head and not the tail. And you shall be only on top, and not be beneath, if you obey the commands of יהוה your Elohim, which I command you today, to guard and do.
Deu 28:14  “And do not turn aside from any of the Words which I am commanding you today, right or left, to go after other mighty ones to serve them.
Deu 28:15  “And it shall be, if you do not obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim, to guard to do all His commands and His laws which I command you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you:
Deu 28:16  “Cursed are you in the city, and cursed are you in the field.
Deu 28:17  “Cursed is your basket and your kneading bowl.
Deu 28:18  “Cursed is the fruit of your body and the fruit of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
Deu 28:19  “Cursed are you when you come in, and cursed are you when you go out.
Deu 28:20  “יהוה sends on you the curse, the confusion, and the rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the evil of your doings by which you have forsaken Me.
Deu 28:21  “יהוה makes the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess.

Deu 28:45  “And all these curses shall come upon you, and they shall pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim, to guard His commands and His laws which He commanded you.
Deu 28:46  “And they shall be upon you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed, forever.

We are living in a time when YHVH seems to wink at our ignorance.

Act 17:30  “Truly, then, having overlooked these times of ignorance, Elohim now commands all men everywhere to repent,
Act 17:31  because He has set a day on which He is going to judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed,

Let us try and paint a picture of our modern day situation – Why would people get Tzra’at? Maybe not in this age but surely in the age to come.
Let’s start off with SEX.

Maybe something is wrong if more than 90% of all couples that get married are NOT virgins.
Oops where did this tzr’ at suddenly come from?
The reason is that most people never receive proper instruction according to Torah, nor did they have role models to guide them regarding Scriptural sexuality. Today we are misguided by pagan ideas of the Greek culture. We need a whole new foundation for kosher sexuality.
In the Jewish/Hebraic society when a boy reached the age of puberty, he had a bar mitzvah – a right of passage into adulthood.  The boy would read from Torah and give a brief homily. He would also promise his father that he would not take a girl’s virginity unless he had entered into a marriage covenant with her.
It has been said that by the time a Jewish boy reached the age of 18 he was meant to be married. If he was not married by the age of 21 the rabbi would find him a wife.
The ancient sages unanimously agree that the most set apart book in the Tenach is “Shir Ha Shiarim,” the Song of Songs. Many scholars of scripture feel the book should never have been included in the canon of scripture because of its erotic content.
It was taught and expected of Jewish/Hebrew woman that their husbands would at all times feel sexually satisfied.

Let’s talk about marriage and family.
Women were to be treasured and protected in a Hebraic family. Remember it was not woman who were circumcised. A woman was meant to be protected by either her husband or her father or her sons.
Widows were meant to be adopted into families. If they had no children they were allowed to enter into a Levirate marriage. This would ensure that the family would have their inheritance in the year of jubilee.

Deu 25:5  “When brothers dwell together, and one of them has died, and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not become a stranger’s outside. Her husband’s brother does go in to her, and shall take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her.
Deu 25:6  “And it shall be that the first-born son which she bears does rise up for the name of his dead brother, so that his name is not blotted out of Yisra’ĕl.
Deu 25:7  “But if the man does not desire to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate to the elders, and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Yisra’ĕl, he does not agree to perform the duty of my husband’s brother.’
Deu 25:8  “The elders of his city shall then call him and speak to him, and he shall stand and say, ‘I have no desire to take her,’
Deu 25:9  then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, and remove his sandal from his foot, and shall spit in his face, and answer and say, ‘Thus it is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’
Deu 25:10  “And in Yisra’ĕl his name shall be called, ‘The house of him who had his sandal removed.’

Oops! where did this Tzra-at suddenly come from?

Let’s talk about money:

Mal 3:7  “From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My laws and did not guard them. Turn back to Me, and I shall turn back to you,” said יהוה of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what shall we turn back?’
Mal 3:8  “Would a man rob Elohim? Yet you are robbing Me! But you said, ‘In what have we robbed You?’ In the tithe and the offering!
Mal 3:9  “You have cursed Me with a curse, for you are robbing Me, this nation, all of it!
Mal 3:10  “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, and let there be food in My house. And please prove Me in this,” said יהוה of hosts, “whether I do not open for you the windows of the heavens, and shall pour out for you boundless blessing!
Mal 3:11  “And I shall rebuke the devourer for you, so that it does not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor does the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” said יהוה of hosts.
Mal 3:12  “And all nations shall call you blessed, for you shall be a land of delight,” said יהוה of hosts.

Deu 26:12  “When you have completed tithing all the tithe of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it to the Lĕwite, to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, and they have eaten within your gates and have been satisfied,
Deu 26:13  then you shall say before יהוה your Elohim, ‘I have put away the set-apart portion from my house, and also have given it to the Lĕwite, and to the stranger, and to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all Your command which You have commanded me. I have not transgressed Your commands, nor have I forgotten.
Deu 26:14  ‘I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it for any unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of יהוה my Elohim, I have done according to all that You have commanded me.

Ooops! Where did this tzra-at come from?

Finally:
Gal 5:13  For you, brothers, have been called to freedom, only do not use freedom as an occasion for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Gal 5:14  For the entire Torah is completed in one word, in this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”
Gal 5:15  And if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
Gal 5:16  And I say: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not accomplish the lust of the flesh.
Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you desire to do.
Gal 5:18  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under Torah. (meaning to be under the curse of Torah- why would the Torah be a curse? Because of wilful ongoing disobedience)
Gal 5:19  And the works of the flesh are well-known, which are these: adultery,1 whoring, uncleanness, indecency, Footnote: 1Only Textus Receptus contains adultery.
Gal 5:20  idolatry, drug sorcery, hatred, quarrels, jealousies, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions,
Gal 5:21  envy, murders, drunkenness, wild parties, and the like – of which I forewarn you, even as I also said before, that those who practise such as these shall not inherit the reign of Elohim.1 Footnote: 11 Cor. 6:10.
Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustworthiness,
Gal 5:23  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no Torah.
Gal 5:24  And those who are of Messiah have impaled the flesh with its passions and the desires.
Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Gal 5:26  Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Yes maybe it is difficult or even impossible for us to walk in obedience to the Torah. This is not an excuse that will free us from its curses.

Let us rather have a heart that wants to obey every word of YHVH trusting Him to make a way where there is no way – as it will be one day.

Tzra-at is a special gift from YHVH to get those who are in covenant with Him back on track.

Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”

(Blessed are you Yahweh, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of the Torah – Ameyn

Please note these notes are under construction and are subject to correction and are in no way a final authority on any subject.