Parashat Shemini - Shemini- Eighth- THE HEART OF THE TORAH: In this portion we find the
middle letter and two middle words of the entire Torah Scroll. The sages call
this Torah Portion the heart of the Torah because they say the Torah was
founded upon this Parashah Portion.
There
are 304805 letters in the Torah, the middle letter of Torah is the “vav” (enlarged)
of Gachon (belly) Lev 11:42 –
The
middle word of the Torah is in Lev 10:16 – “Darosh darash” and means “in
searching you must search.” (Which mean you must truly search and search the
Torah for the truth) ‘’This teaches us that the entire Torah revolves around
constant enquiry; one must never stop studying and seeking an ever deeper
meaning and broader understanding of the Torah.’’
The middle verse is found in the previous parashah (5845
verses in the Torah) Lev 8:8 and put the breastplate on him, and put the Urim and the Tummim in the breastplate.
(Light and perfections refer to Moshiach)
The sages teach that we can see from this middle
letter, word, and verse that they have to do with the spirit soul and body. The
heart or central instruction of the Torah has to do with the whole man - 1Th
5:23 And the Elohim of peace Himself set
you completely apart, and your entire spirit, and being, and body - be
preserved blameless at the coming of our Master יהושע Messiah! 1Th 5:24 He who calls you is trustworthy, who also
shall do it. One cannot disconnect the Torah from ‘’life’’ or from the ‘’Second
Writings/Apostolic Scriptures’’.
The number 26 (Parashat
Sh’mini’’) we know is also extremely significant as it pertains to the gematria
of the name of YHVH – (yud = 10, hey=5, vav-6, hey=5 total 26)
Lev 9:1 And on the eighth (shemeni) day it came to be
that Mosheh called Aharon and his sons and the elders of Yisra’ĕl.
That day was as joyous to YHVH as the day
on which (new) heaven and earth were created. (Talmud, Megillah 10b)
-italics mine.
This eighth day
was the first day (Rosh Chodesh) of the first month (Aviv/Nisan). On this day
the tabernacle and priesthood were erected and established by YHVH to be His
eternal pattern of provision for our return back into His presence – Ex 40:2 –
the establishing of the Tabernacle and priesthood were not just random events
but strategically timed to highlight YHVH’s redemptive plan throughout the
ages.
The sages tell us that there were many significant
new beginnings introduced in this parasha:
- First day of the week – (or eighth day) The book
of Leviticus introduces this concept more than any other book in scripture
– (nine references) Yahshua rose from the dead on the 8th day of the week
- sealed the promise of the Renewed
Covenant for ever - now it could
never change - He established the surety of a new beginning for all
humanity.
- Here we see the first day the princes of Israel
bring special gifts. The tribe of Judah was the first in dedicating gifts
to the altar.
- On this
eighth day Aaron’s sons become priests serving Israel performing priestly
service
- Eighth day fire descended on the altar –that came
from Elohim.
- Eighth day was the first “tamid” ie continual
offering morning and afternoon.
- First offerings eaten or totally consumed –
- First evidence of the “shechina” or presence of
YHVH entered into the tabernacle.
- First day the Aaronic blessing was spoken.
- First time new instruction given about altars. No
other altars where priestly duties carried out were to be erected - no one
could just go and erect an altar and bring an offering to YHVH.
- First time “Rosh Chodesh” – new moon ceremony conducted.
Lev 9:1 And on the eighth day it came to be that
Mosheh called Aharon and his sons and the elders of Yisra’ĕl.
Lev 9:2
And he said to Aharon, “Take for yourself a young bull as a sin offering
and a ram as a burnt offering, a perfect one, and bring them before יהוה.
Note
the order of these offerings (chap 9) – first was the sin offering which
emphasizes that without purification there can be no communication or
fellowship with the Father. The burnt offering came next which allows for
intimacy with YHVH. The grain offering follows in which we enjoy a covenantal
meal with YHVH, we” break bread” together enjoying fellowship with one another.
Finally, the peace offering is the blessing we enjoy of knowing that it is well
between YHVH and us as well as our fellowman and ourselves.
If
our relationship with Yahshua is not ‘packaged’ in the historical context of
the Living Torah, then we will not know the Messiah as he is meant to be known.
Rom 10:4
Lev 10:1 And Naḏaḇ and Aḇihu, the sons of Aharon, each took his
fire holder and put fire in it, and put incense on it, and brought strange fire
(esh zara) before יהוה, which He had not commanded them.
Lev 10:2 And fire came out from יהוה and consumed them, and they died before יהוה.
Nadab
means “generous” one who freely gives without considering too much the consequences
of his actions. Abihu means “He is my Father” perhaps there was a familiarity
in his life which cost him his life. We need to note that these were not evil men,
but they were misinformed and ignorant of the consequences of their actions (offering
strange fire). This is why the letter, and the intention of the Torah is
central and critical to our lives yesterday, today and in the future. Failure
to embrace and obey YHVH’s Torah will have catastrophic repercussions for every
single human being on the earth – past present and future - Isa 24:5 For the earth has been defiled under its inhabitants,
because they have transgressed the Torot, changed the law, broken the
everlasting covenant. Isa 24:6 Therefore a curse shall consume the earth, and those who
dwell in it be punished. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth shall be
burned, and few men shall be left.
Why? I believe the answer is found in the following verse:
Lev 10:3 Then Mosheh said to Aharon, “This is what יהוה spoke, saying,
‘By those who come near Me let Me be set-apart! And before all the people let
Me be esteemed!’” And Aharon was silent.
This is clear in the way religious
people respond to YHVH with their doctrines, liturgies, and religious practices.
We see this powerfully manifested in so called Christian praise and worship. If
you discern carefully you hear an emphasis is on the praise and honour for ‘’Jesus’’
and not for YHVH - Joh
4:22 “You worship what you
do not know. We worship what we know, because the deliverance is of the Yehuḏim.[b]
Footnote: b Psa_147:19, Isa_2:3, Isa_14:1, Isa_56:6-8,
Eze_47:22-23, Zec_2:10-11, Zec_8:23, Rom_2:20, Rom_3:2,
Rom_9:4, Rev_21:12 and Rev_21:24. Joh 4:23 “But
the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the
Father in spirit and truth, for the Father also does seek such to worship
Him.
Imagine reciting the
‘’Shemah’’ in the following manner – ‘’Hear Church of Jesus Christ, the Torah
has been done away with by Jesus and now you shall love Jesus Christ and not
YHVH with all your heart soul and strength and Jesus is the main focus of your
worship’’.
‘’All heaven declares The glory of the risen Lord Who can compare with The beauty of the Lord Forever He will be The Lamb upon the throne I gladly bow the knee and worship Him alone’’ (blasphemy)
Improper worship is DANGEROUS | R.C. Sproul calls out worshiptainment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQTx5k60Q3I&t=12s
Isa 42:8 “I am יהוה, that is
My Name, and My esteem I do not give to another, nor My praise to idols.
Isa 48:11 …… And
My esteem I do not give to another.
Heb 1:3 who being the brightness
(reflection) of the esteem and the exact representation of His substance, and
sustaining all by the word of His power, having made a cleansing of our sins
through Himself, sat down at the right hand Psa_110:1 of the
Greatness on high,
Heb 1:4 having become so
much better than the messengers, as He has inherited a more excellent Name than
them.
Joh 5:30 “Of Myself I am
unable to do any matter. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is
righteous, because I do not seek My own desire, but the desire of the Father
who sent Me.
Aharon
must have known deep in his spirit that some great violation of YHVH’S set
apartness had taken place. His sons were not wicked they were unwise and maybe
a little too presumptuous with the Set Apart matters of YHVH. It appears that
YHVH can and does become extremely angry when He is knowingly or unknowingly
misrepresented and when He no longer remains the chief focus of our praise and
worship.
In youth, one learns to talk; in maturity, one
learns to be silent. This is man's problem: that he learns to talk before he
learns to be silent (Rabbi Nachman of Breslav).
ייןH3196
ושׁכרH7941
Lev 10:9 “Do not drink wine or strong drink,(Heb
‘’fermented grape juice or strong drink) you, nor your sons with you, when you
go into the Tent of Meeting, lest you die – a law forever throughout your
generations,
Lev 10:10 so as to make a distinction between the
set-apart and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean,
Lev 10:11 and to teach the children of Yisra’ĕl all the
laws which יהוה has spoken to them by the hand of Mosheh.”
The priests should always
possess clarity of mind to insure righteous rulings and judgments.
Lev 10:12 And Mosheh spoke to Aharon, and to Elʽazar
and Ithamar, his sons who were left, “Take the grain offering that is left over
from the offerings made by fire to יהוה, and eat it
without leaven beside the altar, for it is most set-apart.
Lev 10:13 “And you shall eat it in a set-apart place,
because it is yours by law and your sons’ by law, of the offerings made by fire
to יהוה, for so I have been commanded.
Lev 10:14 “And the breast of the wave offering and the
thigh of the contribution you eat in a clean place, you, and your sons, and
your daughters with you. For they are yours by law and your sons’ by law, which
are given from the slaughterings of peace offerings of the children of
Yisra’ĕl.
Lev 10:15 “The thigh of the contribution and the breast
of the wave offering they bring with the offerings of fat made by fire, to
bring as a wave offering before יהוה. And it shall
be yours and your sons’ with you, by a law forever, as יהוה has
commanded.”
Lev 10:16 And Mosheh diligently looked for (דָּרֹשׁ דָּרַשׁ) the goat of
the sin offering and saw it was burned up. And he was wroth with Elʽazar and
Ithamar, the sons of Aharon who were left, saying,
טז וְאֵת שְׂעִיר הַחַטָּאת, דָּרֹשׁ
דָּרַשׁ מֹשֶׁה
‘’Drash, drash’’ or in
‘’searching you must search’’ a call to diligently search all scripture - Joh 5:39 “You search (Heb ‘’drash’’) the Scriptures, because you think you possess
everlasting life in them. And these are the ones that bear witness of Me.
When we diligently search the scriptures,
they will all lead us to Messiah Yahshua – Rom 10:4 – we can assume that Aharon’s
refusal to eat the sin offering was to remind us that ultimately there was only
one person – the Messiah- who was able and worthy of being our sin offering.
Lev 10:17 “Why have you not eaten the sin offering in a
set-apart place, since it is most set-apart, and Elohim has given it to you to
bear the crookedness of the congregation, to make atonement for them before יהוה?
Lev 10:18 “See, its blood was not brought inside the
set-apart place. You should have eaten it without fail in a set-apart place, as
I have commanded.” (Aaron and his sons could not remove the crookedness of the
nation only Yahshua’s blood which was presented in a set apart place not made
by hands-)
Lev 10:19 And Aharon said to Mosheh, “See, today they
have brought their sin offering and their burnt offering before יהוה, and matters
like these have come to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it
have been right in the eyes of יהוה?”
Lev 10:20 And when Mosheh heard that, it was good in
his eyes.
Moshe was deeply concerned
over the consequences of any form of disobedience from the priests and feared
additional calamity because of this departure of Aarons when they did not eat
from the sin offering as they were supposed to. Aaron sensed that this
departure would be a once off event that YHVH had prompted him to follow. Moshe
was satisfied with his answer because he knew and understood that it seemed to
have come by YHVH’S leading.
Now we
come to the dietary laws – it
is significant to note the recent world covid pandemic can be traced to the
eating of unclean animals – and the worst may yet be on its way.
How does one bring together ‘’the
heart of the Torah’’ with dietary laws?
In the Hebrew mind YHVH brings
together the Spiritual realm with the physical realm – (‘’may Your will be done
….’’Mat 6:10) right belief will result in a righteous walking out of that
belief.
YHVH has created a reality in
the heavens that will be manifested on earth - in fact if the reality within us
is not the revealed reality of that which is in the heavens, we will not be
able to endure the coming trial which is coming upon all mankind to refine us
and prepare us for the coming Messiah.
Lev 11:1 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying to
them,
Lev 11:2 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, saying,
‘These are the living creatures which you do eat among all the beasts that are
on the earth:
Lev 11:3 ‘Whatever has a split hoof completely
divided, chewing the cud, among the beasts, that you do eat.
Lev 11:4 ‘Only, these you do not eat among those that
chew the cud or those that have a split hoof: the camel, because it chews the
cud but does not have a split hoof, it is unclean to you;
Lev 11:5 and the rabbit, because it chews the cud but
does not have a split hoof, it is unclean to you;
Lev 11:6 and the hare, because it chews the cud but
does not have a split hoof, it is unclean to you;
Lev 11:7 and the pig, though it has a split hoof,
completely divided, yet does not chew the cud, it is unclean to you.
Lev 11:8 ‘Their flesh you do not eat, and their
carcasses you do not touch. They are unclean to you.
The Children of Yakov
The
LOST TRIBES of Yisrael WILL Return & Here's How
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENOqHWAXq70
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.