Bar’chu
et YHVH ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed!
Baruch
ata YHVH Eloheinu melech ha-olam asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim, v’na-tan lanu
eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Bless YHVH the blessed One; Blessed is YHVH, the
blessed One for all eternity. Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim, King of the
Universe, you have selected us from among all the peoples, and have given us
your Torah.)
Why it is that righteousness does not prevail in the
earth today?
Why is it not common to see the sick healed and the
dead raised back to life?
Mat 10:1 And having called His twelve taught ones
near, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to
heal every disease and every bodily weakness.
Mat 10:8 “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the
dead, cast out demons. You have received without paying, give without being
paid.
It appears that only those near Yahshua were able to
perform such miracles in his name.
Maybe that is what the Hebrew roots movement was meant
to do – draw us closer to the Father through the true Messiah.
This Torah portion may give us some valuable insight
into this challenge because you cannot have intimacy with YHVH outside of the
Torah.
Lev 24:1 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Lev 24:2 “Command
the children of Yisra’ĕl that they bring to you clear oil of pressed olives for
the light, to make the lamps burn continually.
“shemen zait zach kativ” means crushed pure olive oil.
An olive tree never dies. Neither does it ever
cease giving fruit. When some branches become old and stop giving fruit, they
are cut off so that new shoots can come up that will give fruit. The olive tree
needs approximately 10 years in order to begin giving fruit, but the most
fruitful time does not begin until 40 years have passed. The leaves are always
green. It does not need a lot of water and can manage well in a warm and dry
climate. The olives have three important ingredients, oil, water, and alpechin.
Olive oil is very healthy for the body. It is used for cooking, among other
things. It can be mixed with flour to bake cakes. It can be used on salads or
directly on bread and can also be used as fuel for oil lamps, as in this case
in the tabernacle.
“Kativ” means pounded or crushed.
Isa 53:5 But He was pierced for our transgressions, He
was crushed for our crookednesses. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
and by His stripes we are healed.
Yahshua was declared to be the light of the world.
Joh 8:12 Therefore יהושע spoke to them
again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall by no
means walk in darkness, but possess the light of life.”1 Footnote: 1
See 11:9-10.
Following Yashua means that our lives will know much
crushing and sorrow. We will also experience times of deep joy and peace.
However to be a light comes at a cost.
Oil was used to produce light.
Believers are called upon to be the light of the world –
Matt 5:14
The Bride of Messiah is called to pay the price so that
this light may be kept burning.
Mat 25:1 “Then the reign of the heavens shall be
compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went out to meet the
bridegroom.
Mat 25:2 “And five of them were wise, and five
foolish.
Mat 25:3 “Those who were foolish, having taken their
lamps, took no oil with them,
Mat 25:4 but the wise took oil in their containers
with their lamps.
We get oil from an oil
press. Gethsemane-
Hebrew: גת שמנים, Gat Shmanim; lit. "oil press"
What about the priests? Maybe they needed that oil to
spend all night in the presence of YHVH interceding for the set apart ones.
Lev 24:3 “Outside
the veil of the Witness, in the Tent of Meeting, Aharon is to arrange it from
evening until morning before יהוה continually –
a law forever throughout your generations.
Lev 24:4 “He is to
arrange the lamps on the clean gold lampstand before יהוה continually.
Lev 24:5 “And you
shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes(Heb – challot – or pierced breads)
with it, two-tenths of an ĕphah in each cake.
Lev 24:6 “And you
shall set them in two rows, six in a row, on the clean table before יהוה.
Lev 24:7 “And you
shall put clear frankincense on each row, and it shall be on the bread as a
remembrance portion, an offering made by fire to יהוה. (Shemot 25:30
Lechem panim – bread of faces)
Lev 24:8 “On every
Sabbath he is to arrange it before יהוה continually,
from the children of Yisra’ĕl – an
everlasting covenant.
Lev 24:9 “And it
shall be for Aharon and his sons, and they shall eat it in the set-apart place,
because it is most set-apart to him from the offerings of יהוה made by fire – an everlasting law.”
Midrash about covenant with YHVH – intimacy – remnant
priesthood.
The giving of the Torah can be compared to the giving of
a “ketubah” a marriage covenant.
Mt. Sinai (hovering over the Israelites) is likened to the wedding chuppah or canopy under which the bride and groom stand for their betrothal ceremony. The final event of the marriage covenant was the shared meal. Exodus 24:9-11
Exo 24:9 And Mosheh went up, also Aharon, Naḏaḇ, and Aḇihu, and seventy of
the elders of Yisra’ĕl,
Exo 24:10
and they saw the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, and under His feet like a paved
work of sapphire stone, and like the heavens for brightness.
Exo 24:11
Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the chiefs of the children
of Yisra’ĕl! And they saw Elohim, and they ate and drank.
Exo 24:12
And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Come up to Me on the
mountain and be there, while I give you tablets of stone, and the Torah and the
command which I have written, to teach them.”
The very next words that YHVH spoke to Moshe were to make for Him an offering, and in Ex. 25:8 – “Let them construct a set apart place for Me, that I may dwell among them.” A set apart place likened to the special bridal chamber prepared for the bride, where the marriage was consummated following the ceremony, a set apart place where the manifest presence of YHVH dwelt with His people.
Lev 24:10 And the
son of an Yisra’ĕlite woman, whose father was a Mitsrite, went out among the
children of Yisra’ĕl. And the Yisra’ĕlite woman’s son and a man of Yisra’ĕl
strove in the camp.
Lev 24:11 And the
Yisra’ĕlite woman’s son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. So they brought him to
Mosheh. Now his mother’s name was Shelomith the daughter of Diḇri, of
the tribe of Dan.
Lev 24:12 And they
put him in under guard, that it might be declared to them at the mouth of יהוה.
Lev 24:13 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Lev 24:14 “Bring the
one who has cursed outside the camp, and all those who heard him shall lay
their hands on his head, and all the congregation shall stone him.
Lev 24:15 “And
speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘Anyone who curses his Elohim shall
bear his sin.
Lev 24:16 ‘And he
who blasphemes the Name of יהוה shall
certainly be put to death, and all the congregation certainly stone him, the
stranger as well as the native. When he blasphemes the Name, he is put to
death.
The only time this word for blasphemy is used in Torah –
“nakav” It means to pierce.
The word “blaspheme” is not an accurate translation of
the Hebrew word “nakav.” The fact that it is only used once in the Torah in
this context reminds us that Yahshua was only pierced once for our iniquities.
When we misrepresent Messiah we too become guilty of
“piercing” him.
Lev 24:17 ‘And he
who smites the life from any man shall certainly be put to death.
Lev 24:18 ‘And he
who smites a beast repays it, body for body.
Lev 24:19 ‘And
when a man inflicts a blemish upon his neighbour, as he has done so it is done
to him:
Lev 24:20
‘Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he inflicts a
blemish upon him, so it is done to him.
Lev 24:21 ‘And he
who smites a beast repays it, and he who smites a man to death is put to
death.
Lev 24:22 ‘You are
to have one right-ruling, for the stranger and for the native, for I am יהוה your Elohim.’
”
Lev 24:23 And
Mosheh spoke to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and they brought the one who cursed
outside the camp, and stoned him with stones. And the children of Yisra’ĕl did
as יהוה commanded Mosheh.
Midrash – it is easy to get sentimental about having
intimacy with YHVH. However this Torah
portion gives us a sober reminder that there can be no lasting intimacy with
YHVH if we don’t keep Sabbath and treat others around us in a righteous manner.
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