Blessed are You, 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 – especially we who were once gentiles excluded from the citizenship of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no expectation and without Elohim- have now through the blood of Messiah have gained access into the covenants and have obtained citizenship into the commonwealth of Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH, Giver of the Torah and the Guardian of Israel.
אמר אל הכהנים – This was a
command given by YHVH – Speak to the priests! – While heaven and earth remain,
this command remains. It will be obeyed when Yahshua returns, and the Temple is
rebuilt. This Torah portion says what it means and means what it says.
Lev 21:1
And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Speak to the priests, the
sons of Aharon, and say to them: ‘No one is to be defiled for the dead among
his people,
Lev 21:2 except for his
relatives who are nearest to him: for his mother, and for his father, and for
his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother;
Lev 21:3 and for his maiden sister
who is near to him, who has had no husband – for her he is defiled.
Rom
5:12 For this reason, even as through one man sin did enter into the
world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all
sinned. (Note it does
not say sin passed on to all men, but death passed on to all men therefore we
all fall under a death sentence because of our sin)
When
YHVH created man, He did not create man to die but to live forever and ever –
death was and always will be ‘’unnatural’’ in YHVH’s Created order. YHVH calls His
priesthood to distance themselves from death and minister to the ‘’living’’
with the hope of obtaining immortality in the life to come. In fact, in ancient
Israel, it was said that the Levitical priests played a more important role in a
person’s life than their parents because parents bring us into this world, but
the priests would show us the way into the next world – where His chosen would
never die.
Sadly,
for the most part the Levitical priesthood has been a monumental failure in
this regard. Christianity is no different – the focus of Christianity is that
you go to heaven when you die. For the most part they ignore the teaching of
scripture, the millennial reign of Yahshua who will teach the Torah to the nations
– Is 2
Joh
3:36 “He who believes in the Son possesses everlasting life, but he who
does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of Elohim remains on
him.”
Lev 21:4 ‘A (Heb ‘’as a leader’’) leader
does not defile himself among his people, to profane himself;
Lev 21:5 they do not make any bald
place on their heads, and they do not shave the corner of their beard, and they
do not make a cutting in their flesh.
Lev 21:6 ‘They are set-apart to
their Elohim and do not profane the Name of their Elohim, for they bring the
fire offerings of יהוה, and the bread of their Elohim, and shall
be set-apart.
Lev 21:7 ‘They do not take a woman
who is a whore or a defiled woman, and they do not take a woman put away from
her husband, for he is set-apart to his Elohim.
Lev 21:8 ‘And you shall set him
apart, for he brings the bread of your Elohim, he is set-apart to you. For I, יהוה, setting you apart, am set-apart.
Lev 21:9 ‘And when the daughter of
any priest profanes herself by whoring, she profanes her father. She is burned
with fire.
Lev 21:10 ‘And the high priest
among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil was poured and who is
ordained to wear the garments, does not unbind his head nor tear his
garments,
Lev 21:11 nor come near any dead
body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother,
Lev 21:12 nor go out of the
set-apart place, nor profane the set-apart place of his Elohim, for the sign of
dedication of the anointing oil of his Elohim is upon him. I am יהוה.
Lev 21:13 ‘And let him take a wife
in her maidenhood.
Lev 21:14 ‘A widow or one put away
or a defiled woman or a whore – these he does not take. But a maiden of his own
people he does take as a wife.
Lev 21:15 ‘And he does not profane
his offspring among his people, for I am יהוה, who sets him apart.’
”
Lev 21:16 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Lev 21:17 “Speak to Aharon,
saying, ‘No man (אישׁ מזרעך) of your offspring throughout their generations, who has any
defect, is to draw near to bring the bread of his Elohim.
Levi married a woman named
Adinah—according to the Book of Jasher—and had three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and
Merari (Genesis 46:11). Levi also had a daughter named Jochebed (Exodus 6:20).
Kohath's son Amram was the father of Miriyam, Aharon, and Mosheh.
Lev 21:18 ‘For any man who
has a defect is not to draw near: a man blind or one lame or disfigured or
deformed,
Lev 21:19 a man who has a broken
foot or broken hand, (permanently damage or crippled)
Lev 21:20 or is a hunchback or a
dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema (גּרב itch, scab) or scab, or is a
eunuch.
Lev 21:21 ‘No man among the
offspring of Aharon the priest, who has a defect, is to come near to bring the
offerings made by fire to יהוה – he has a defect, he does not come near
to bring the bread of his Elohim.
Lev 21:22 ‘He does eat the bread
of his Elohim, both the most set-apart and the set-apart,
Lev 21:23 only, he does not go
near the veil or approach the slaughter-place, because he has a defect, lest he
profanes My set-apart places. For I am יהוה, who sets them apart.’”
Lev 21:24 Thus Mosheh spoke to
Aharon and his sons, and to all the children of Yisra’ěl.
Some defects were permanent, some were
not.
Lev 22:1 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Lev
22:2 “Speak to Aharon and his sons, that
they separate themselves from the set-apart offerings of the children of
Yisra’ĕl, and that they do not profane My set-apart Name in what they set apart
to Me. I am יהוה.
Lev
22:3 “Say to them, ‘Any man (Heb - every
man)of all your offspring throughout your generations who draws near the
set-apart offerings which the children of Yisra’ĕl set apart to יהוה, while he has uncleanness
upon him, that being shall be cut off from before Me. I am יהוה.
Lev
22:4 ‘Any man of the offspring of
Aharon, who is a leper or has a discharge, does not eat the set-apart offerings
until he is clean. And whoever touches what is rendered unclean (Heb ‘’tamei’’)
by a corpse, or a man who has had an emission of semen,
Lev
22:5 or a man who touches any creeping
creature by which he would be made unclean, or any being by whom he would
become unclean, (Heb ‘’tamei’’) even any of his uncleanness; (tamei)
Lev
22:6 the being who has touched it shall
be unclean (tamei) until evening, and does not eat the set-apart offerings,
but shall bathe his body in water.
Lev
22:7 ‘And when the sun goes down he
shall be clean, and afterward eat the set-apart offerings, because it is
his food.
Lev
22:8 ‘He does not eat that which dies or
is torn by beasts, becoming unclean (tamei) by it. I am יהוה.
Lev
22:9 ‘And they shall guard My Charge,
lest they bear sin for it and die thereby, when they profane it. I יהוה set them apart.
Lev
22:10 ‘And no stranger eats the
set-apart offering. A sojourner with the priest, or a hired servant, does not
eat the set-apart offering.
Lev
22:11 ‘But when the priest buys a being
(nefesh – fem noun – can be male or female) with his money, he does eat of it.
And one who is born in his house does eat his food.
Lev
22:12 ‘And when a priest’s daughter is
married to a stranger, she does not eat of the set-apart offerings.
Lev
22:13 ‘But when a priest’s daughter is a
widow or put away, and has no child, and has returned to her father’s house as
in her youth, she does eat her father’s food, but no stranger eats of it.
Lev
22:14 ‘And when a man eats the set-apart
offering by mistake, then he shall give a set-apart offering to the priest, and
add one-fifth to it.
Lev
22:15 ‘And let the priests not
profane the set-apart offerings of the children of Yisra’ĕl, which they lift up
to יהוה,
Lev
22:16 or allow them to bear the
crookedness (Heb ‘’avon’’ iniquity) of trespass when they eat their set-apart
offerings. For I am יהוה, who
sets them apart.’”
CLV -Hosea
3:4,5 For many days shall the sons of Israel dwell without king and
without chief, and without sacrifice and without altar, and without priesthood
or thummim." Afterward are the sons of Israel returning, and
they seek Yahweh their Elohim, and David their king, and they come in awe to
Yahweh and to His goodness, in the latter days."
In the ‘’latter days’’
the reality of our joint calling as the ‘’grafted in ones’’ of Israel will
begin to ‘’call’’ us back to our inheritance – See Gen 49:1 –
Ezekiel has a
prophetic vision of the millennial Temple and priesthood – Ezekiel chapters 40 –
48-
Eze 43:4 And the esteem of יהוה came into the House by way of the gate
facing east.
Eze 43:5 And the Spirit took me up
and brought me into the inner courtyard. And see, the esteem of יהוה filled the House.
Eze 43:6 And I heard someone
speaking to me from the House, while a man stood beside me.
Eze 43:7 And He said to me, “Son
of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet,
when I dwell in the midst of the children of Yisra’ěl forever, and the house of
Yisra’ěl shall no longer defile My set-apart Name, they nor their sovereigns,
by their whoring and by the corpses of their sovereigns on their high
places.
Eze 43:8 “When they placed their
threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall
between them and Me, they defiled My set-apart Name by the abominations which
they have done. So I consumed them in My displeasure.
Eze 43:9 “Now let them put their
whoring and the corpses of their sovereigns far away from Me, and I shall dwell
in their midst forever.
Eze 43:10 “Son of man, explain the
House to the house of Yisra’ěl, and when they are ashamed of their
crookednesses, they shall measure the measurements.
Eze
43:11 “And since they shall be ashamed of all that they did, make known
to them the design of the House and its structure, and its exits and its
entrances, its entire design and all its laws, and all its forms and all its
Torot. And write it down before their eyes, so that they observe its entire
design and all its laws, and shall do them.
Eze
43:12 “This is the Torah of the House: Upon the mountaintop, all the
boundary of it, all around, is most set-apart. See, this is the Torah of the
House.
Eze 43:26 For seven days they
shall make atonement for the slaughter-place and cleanse it, and ordain
it.
Eze 43:27 And when these days are
completed it shall be, on the eighth day and thereafter, that the priests make
your ascending offerings and your peace offerings on the slaughter-place, and I
shall accept you,’ declares the Master יהוה.”
Eze 44:1
And He brought me back to the outer gate of the set-apart place which faces
east, and it was shut.
Eze 44:2 And יהוה said
to me, “This gate is shut, it is not opened, and no one enters it, because יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ěl has entered by it, and it shall be
shut. (Jn 14:8,9)
Eze 44:3 “The prince, as prince,
he sits in it to eat bread before יהוה, coming in by way of the
porch of the gate, and going out the same way.”
Eze 44:4 And He brought me by way
of the north gate to the front of the House. And I looked and saw the esteem of
יהוה filled the House of יהוה, and I fell on my
face.
Eze 44:5 And יהוה said
to me, “Son of man, set your heart and see with your eyes and hear with your
ears, all that I say to you concerning all the laws of the House of יהוה and all its Torot. And you shall set your heart to the entrance
of the house, with all the exits of the set-apart place,
Eze 44:6 and shall say to the
rebellious, to the house of Yisra’ěl, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “O house of Yisra’ěl, enough of all these abominations of
yours,
Eze 44:7 that you brought in sons
of a foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My
set-apart place to profane it, My house! That you brought near My food, the fat
and the blood, and you broke My covenant because of all your
abominations.
Eze 44:8 “And you did not guard
the charge of that which is set-apart to Me, but you have set others to guard
the charge of My set-apart place for you.”
Eze 44:9 Thus said the Master יהוה, “No son of a foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or
uncircumcised in flesh, comes into My set-apart place, even any son of a
foreigner who is among the children of Yisra’ěl.
Eze 44:10 “And the Lěwites who
went far from Me, when Yisra’ěl went astray, who strayed away from Me after
their idols, they shall bear their crookedness.
Eze 44:11 “And they were
attendants in My set-apart place, as gatekeepers of the house and attendants of
the house, slaying the ascending offering and the slaughtering for the people,
and standing before them to attend to them.
Eze 44:12 “Because they attended
to them before their idols and became a stumbling-block of crookedness to the
house of Yisra’ěl, therefore I have lifted My hand in an oath against them,”
declares the Master יהוה, “that they shall bear their
crookedness,
Eze 44:13 and not come near Me to
serve as My priest, nor come near any of that which is set-apart to Me, nor
into the Most Set-apart Place. And they shall bear their shame and their
abominations which they have done.
Eze
44:14 “Yet I shall make them those who guard the duty of the House, for
all its work, and for all that has to be done in it.
Rules
for Levitical Priests
Eze
44:15 “But the priests, the Lěwites, the sons of Tsaḏoq, who guarded the
duty of My set-apart place when the children of Yisra’ěl went astray from Me,
they shall draw near to Me to serve Me, and shall stand before Me to bring to
Me the fat and the blood,” declares the Master יהוה.
Eze
44:16 “They shall enter My set-apart place, and they shall draw near to
My table to serve Me, and they shall guard My charge.
Eze
44:17 “And it shall be, when they enter the gates of the inner courtyard,
that they put on linen garments, and no wool shall come upon them while they
attend within the gates of the inner courtyard or within the house.
Eze
44:18 “They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on
their bodies, they shall not gird themselves with sweat.
Eze
44:19 “And when they go out to the outer courtyard, to the outer
courtyard to the people, they shall take off their garments in which they have
attended, and shall leave them in the set-apart rooms, and shall put on other
garments, and they shall set-apart the people in their garments.
Eze
44:20 “And their heads they shall not shave, nor shall they let their
hair grow long – they shall keep their hair well trimmed.
Eze
44:21 “And no priest is to drink wine when he comes into the inner
court.
Eze
44:22 “And they do not take as wife a widow or a divorced woman, but take
maidens of the seed of the house of Yisra’ěl, or widows of priests.
Eze
44:23 “And they are to teach My people the difference between the
set-apart and the profane, and make them know what is unclean and clean.
Eze
44:24 “And they are to stand as judges in a dispute, and judge it
according to My right-rulings. And they are to guard My Torot and My laws in
all My appointed times, and set apart My Sabbaths.
Eze
44:25 “And they are not to defile themselves by coming near a dead man.
Only for a father or mother, for a son or daughter, for a brother or unmarried
sister they defile themselves.
Eze
44:26 “And after his cleansing, they count seven days for him,
Eze
44:27 and on the day that he comes into the inner court of the set-apart
place to attend in the set-apart place, he brings his sin offering,” declares
the Master יהוה.
Eze
44:28 “And it shall be to them for an inheritance, I am their
inheritance. And you give them no possession in Yisra’ěl – I am their
possession.
Eze
44:29 “The grain offering, and the sin offering, and the guilt offering
they are to eat, and all that is dedicated in Yisra’ěl is theirs.
Eze
44:30 “And the first of all the first-fruits of all, and every
contribution of all, of all your contributions, belong to the priests. And the
first of your ground meal you give to the priest, so that a blessing rests on
your house.
Eze
44:31 “The priests are not to eat any bird or beast found dead or torn to
pieces.
See
also chps 45 and 46
Jer
33:18 And for the priests, the Lěwites, there is not to cease a man to
offer ascending offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to
slaughter continually.’ ”
Blessed are you YHVH,
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 – Amein.