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.
ונטעתם כל עץ - planted all kinds of
trees – this may sound insignificant but it is deeply profound.
Lev 19:23 ‘And when you come into
the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for
food, then you shall reckon their fruit as uncircumcised. For three years it is
as uncircumcised to you, it is not eaten.
Lev 19:24 ‘And in the fourth year
all its fruit is set-apart – praises to יהוה.
Lev 19:25 ‘And in the fifth year you eat its fruit, so that it increases its yield to you. I am יהוה your Elohim.
Gen
17:10 “This is My covenant which you guard between Me and you, and your
seed after you: Every male child among you is to be circumcised.
Gen 17:11 “And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall become a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
Symbolically circumcision signifies the removal of any hinderance that could impede our enjoyment of our covenantal relationship with YHVH. Before Abraham was circumcised, he fathered Ishmael after he was circumcised, he fathered Isaac – the son of promise.
The scriptures compare righteous men to mature trees. (‘’circumcised’’
Jer
17:7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in יהוה, and whose trust is יהוה.
Jer 17:8 “For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and does not see when heat comes. And his leaf shall be green, and in the year of drought he is not anxious, nor does he cease from yielding fruit. Also see Ps 1.
This process takes time immature carnal men are ‘’unfruitful’’ and grieve the Spirit of YHVH.
Rom
8:7 Because the mind of the flesh is enmity(hatred) towards Elohim, for it does not subject
itself to the Torah of Elohim, neither indeed is it able,
Rom
8:8 and those who are in the flesh are unable to please Elohim.
Rom 8:9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of Elohim dwells in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Messiah, this one is not His.
1Co
2:14 But the natural man does not receive the matters of the
Spirit of Elohim, for they are foolishness to him, and he is unable to know
them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1Co 2:15 But he who is spiritual discerns indeed all matters, but he himself is discerned by no one.
The scriptures also teach that young converts should first learn to grow in the favour and wisdom of YHVH before giving themselves to the teaching and ministry of the word. 1 Tim 3:6 teaches that young converts should not be allowed to be leaders and elders in the Assembly.
Heb 5:13 For everyone partaking of milk is inexperienced in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature whose senses have been trained by practice to discern both good and evil.
This
opening instruction of this Torah portion lays a foundation for the rest of the
instructions found in this portion. If these spiritual foundations have not
been established in the life of a believer the evidence is seen in the
following verses which are evidence of an uncircumcised heart –
Even the disciples of Yahshua seemed to have followed this pattern after his departure from earth – they were first mentored by the Master before they went out to minister, to make disciples not converts.
Deu
30:6 “And יהוה your Elohim shall circumcise your heart and the heart of your
seed, to love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being, so
that you might live.
Lev 19:26 ‘Do not eat meat
with the blood. Do not practise divination or magic.
Lev 19:27 ‘Do not round the corner
of your head, nor destroy the corner (Heb – edge) of your beard. (‘’bok
baardtjie’’ and small or no mustache)
Lev 19:28 ‘And do not make any
cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor put tattoo (קעקע)
marks on you. I am יהוה.
Lev 19:29 ‘Do not profane your
daughter by making her a whore, so that the land does not whore, and the land
becomes filled with wickedness. (mothers sexualizing daughters with
revealing clothing is a very unhealthy practice)
Lev 19:30 ‘Guard My Sabbaths and
reverence My set-apart place. I am יהוה. See
1 Sam 15:23
Lev 19:31 ‘Do not turn to mediums,
and do not seek after spiritists to be defiled by them. I am יהוה your Elohim. (if you disregard the
sabbaths you open up demonic portals for all kinds of deception)
Lev 19:32 ‘Rise up before the
grey-headed. And you shall favour the face of an old man, and shall fear your
Elohim. I am יהוה.
Lev 19:33 ‘And when a stranger
sojourns with you in your land, do not oppress him.
Lev 19:34 ‘Let the stranger who
dwells among you be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as
yourself. For you were strangers in the land of Mitsrayim. I am יהוה your Elohim. Jer 29
Lev 19:35 ‘Do no unrighteousness
in right-ruling, in measurement of length, in weight, or in measuring
liquids.
Lev 19:36 ‘Have right scales,
right weights, a right ěphah, and a right hin. I am יהוה your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of
Mitsrayim.
Lev 19:37 ‘And you shall guard all
My laws and all My right-rulings, and do them. I am יהוה.’”
Lev
20:1 And יהוה
spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Lev 20:2 “Say to the children of Yisra’ěl, ‘Any man of the children of Yisra’ěl, or of the strangers who sojourn in Yisra’ěl, who gives any of his offspring to Moleḵ, shall certainly be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. (73 million abortions annually – 200 000 each day)
Return of the ancient gods – Jonathan Chan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OehIpZOAL1k
Lev 20:3 ‘And I, I shall set My
face against that man, and shall cut him off from the midst of his people,
because he has given of his offspring to Moleḵ, so as to defile My set-apart
place and to profane My set-apart Name.
Lev 20:4 ‘And if the people of the
land at all hide their eyes from the man, as he gives any of his offspring to
Moleḵ, and they do not kill him, (abortion carries the death penalty)
Lev 20:5 then I shall set My face
against that man and against his clan, and shall cut him off – and all who go
whoring after him, even go whoring after Moleḵ – from the midst of their
people.
Lev 20:6 ‘And the being who turns
to mediums, and to spiritists, to go whoring after them, I shall set My face
against that being and cut him off from the midst of his people.
Lev 20:7 ‘And you shall set
yourselves apart, and shall be set-apart, for I am יהוה your Elohim,
Lev 20:8 and you shall guard My
laws and do them. I am יהוה, who sets you
apart.
Lev 20:9 ‘For everyone who curses
his father or his mother shall certainly be put to death – he has cursed his
father or his mother, his blood is on him.
Punishments
for Sexual Immorality
Lev 20:10 ‘And a man who commits
adultery with the wife of another man, who commits adultery with the wife of
his neighbour: the adulterer and the adulteress shall certainly be put to
death.
Lev 20:11 ‘And a man who lies with
the wife of his father has uncovered the nakedness of his father, both of them
shall certainly be put to death, their blood is upon them.
Lev 20:12 ‘And a man who lies with
his daughter-in-law: both of them shall certainly be put to death, they have
made confusion, their blood is upon them.
Lev 20:13 ‘And a man who lies with
a male as he lies with a woman: both of them have done an abomination, they
shall certainly be put to death, their blood is upon them.
Lev 20:14 ‘And a man who marries a
woman and her mother: it is wickedness, they are burned with fire, both he and
they, that there be no wickedness in your midst.
Lev 20:15 ‘And a man who has
intercourse with a beast: he shall certainly be put to death, and the beast you
kill.
Lev 20:16 ‘And a woman who
approaches any beast and mates with it: you shall kill the woman and the beast,
they shall certainly be put to death, their blood is upon them.
Lev 20:17 ‘And a man who takes his
sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and sees her nakedness
and she sees his nakedness: is it loving-commitment? And they shall be cut off
before the eyes of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, he
bears his crookedness.
Lev 20:18 ‘And a man who lies with
a woman during her sickness and uncovers her nakedness: he has laid bare her
flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood, both of them shall be cut
off from the midst of their people.
Lev 20:19 ‘And do not uncover the
nakedness of your mother’s sister nor of your father’s sister, for that is
laying bare one’s own flesh, they bear their crookedness.
Lev 20:20 ‘And a man who lies with
his uncle’s wife: he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness, they bear their sin,
they die childless.
Lev 20:21 ‘And a man who takes his
brother’s wife: it is uncleanness, he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness,
they are childless.
You
Shall Be set apart
Lev 20:22 ‘And you shall guard all
My laws and all My right-rulings, and do them, so that the land where I am
bringing you to dwell does not vomit you out.
Lev 20:23 ‘And do not walk in the
laws of the nation which I am driving out before you, for they do all these,
and therefore I loathed them.
Lev 20:24 ‘But I say to you, “You
are going to possess their land, and I Myself give it to you to possess it, a
land flowing with milk and honey.” I am יהוה your
Elohim, who has separated you from the peoples.
Lev 20:25 ‘And you shall make a
distinction between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean birds and
clean. And do not make yourselves abominable by beast or by bird, or whatever
creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.
Lev 20:26 ‘And you shall be
set-apart to Me, for I יהוה am set-apart, and have
separated you from the peoples to be Mine.
Lev 20:27 ‘And a man or a woman in whom there is a medium, or who are spiritists, shall certainly be put to death, they are to stone them with stones. Their blood is upon them.’”
Paul also gives sound
teaching on need for solid spiritual foundations – without these foundations
people have little idea about what is offensive to the Set Apart Elohim.
Heb 6:1
Therefore, having left the word of the beginning of the Messiah, let us go on
to perfection,[a] not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead
works, and of belief toward Elohim, Footnote: a Mat_5:48. Spiritual
maturity – evidenced in circumcised hearts.
Heb 6:2 of the teaching of
immersions, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of
everlasting judgment.
Heb 6:3 And this we shall do, if
Elohim indeed permits.
Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for
those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have
become partakers of the Set-apart Spirit,
Heb 6:5 and have tasted the good
Word of Elohim and the powers of the age to come,
Heb 6:6 and fall away, to renew
them again to repentance – having impaled for themselves the Son of Elohim
again, and put Him to open shame.[b] Footnote: bSee Heb_10:26-31.
Heb 6:7 For ground that is
drinking the rain often falling on it, and is bearing plants fit for those by
whom it is tilled, receives blessing from Elohim,
Heb 6:8 but if it brings forth
thorns and thistles, Gen_3:18 it is rejected and near to being
cursed, and ends up by being burned.
Heb 6:9 But although we speak in
this way, beloved, we are persuaded, concerning you, of better matters which
possess deliverance.
Heb 6:10 For Elohim is not
unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love which you have shown toward
His Name, in that you have attended to the set-apart ones, and still
attend.
Heb 6:11 And we desire that each
one of you show the same eagerness, to the entire confirmation of expectation
until the end,
Heb 6:12 in order that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through belief and patience inherit the promises.
Yahshua said you will know a tree by its
fruits- Mat
7:16 “By their fruits you shall know them. Are grapes gathered from
thornbushes or figs from thistles?
Mat
7:17 “So every good tree yields good fruit, but a rotten tree yields
wicked fruit.
Mat
7:18 “A good tree is unable to yield wicked fruit, and a rotten tree to
yield good fruit.
Mat
7:19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown
into the fire.
Mat 7:20 “So then, by their fruits you shall know them –
Finally
- Gal 5:19 And
the works of the flesh are well-known, which are these: adultery[a],
whoring, uncleanness, indecency, Footnote: aSome manuscripts omit 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.[b] Footnote: bSee 1Co_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.
‘’ Against such there is no Torah’’ implies that the fruit of the Spirit is without end. That is, one can never find a legislated prescription by which one can measure love joy peace…The work of the Spirit is not measured by a fixed measure but is unending.’’ Jn 3:34 Yahshua had the Spirit without measure.
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.