Parashat 29 Portion 87 Vayikra 16:1-34 Yesh 60:15-22 Titus 3:4-7

Blessing of Torah.

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.

א  לָמָּה, רָגְשׁוּ גוֹיִם;    וּלְאֻמִּים, יֶהְגּוּ-רִיק.	1 Why are the nations (goyim – those outside the commonwealth of Yisrael) murmuring and muttering emptiness and vanity?
ב  יִתְיַצְּבוּ, מַלְכֵי-אֶרֶץ--    וְרוֹזְנִים נוֹסְדוּ-יָחַד: עַל-יְהוָה,    וְעַל-מְשִׁיחוֹ.	2 The kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers take counsel together, {N} against YHVH, and against His anointed:
ג  נְנַתְּקָה, אֶת-מוֹסְרוֹתֵימוֹ;    וְנַשְׁלִיכָה מִמֶּנּוּ עֲבֹתֵימוֹ.	3 'Let us break their bands (YHVH,s instruction and discipline) asunder, and cast away their cords (Torah) from us.'
ד  יוֹשֵׁב בַּשָּׁמַיִם יִשְׂחָק:    אֲדֹנָי, יִלְעַג-לָמוֹ.	4 He that sitteth in heaven laughs, YHVH has them in derision

Lev 16:1  And יהוה spoke to Mosheh after the death of the two sons of Aharon, as they drew near before יהוה, and died.

Their intentions were most probably pure and genuine.

Lev 16:2  And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Speak to Aharon your brother not to come in at all times to the Set-apart Place inside the veil, before the lid of atonement which is on the ark, lest he die, because I appear in the cloud above the lid of atonement.

The strategic placement of the opening verses in this chapter reveals the serious nature of how YHVH can and should be approached. This judgment foreshadows that there is only one way to approach the Set Apartness of YHVH – through His Son- Yashhua Ha Mashiach. The Levitical priesthood teaches Yisrael to look to Yahshua the everlasting and true hope of Yisrael.

If we look at the haftarah (a selection from one of the biblical books of the Prophets that are normally read with the weekly Torah portion – this week it is Yesh 60:15-22) and also if we look at Revelation chapter 21 we may assume that even the Levitical priesthood will pass away at the end of this age – the end of the 1000 year millennial reign of Messiah and his Bride. On the ‘’Eighth Day’’ (when Revelation 21 starts after the millennial reign) a whole new era will be upon all those whose names are in the Book of Life.

The Torah teaches us very clearly that there is only one way of atonement and there is only ONE True Elohim and His name is YHVH (the One who is echad (one)) and that His Set Apartness can only be approached and be satisfied in one way and in one way only. This is the clear pattern of teaching in the Torah and throughout all the scriptures. Man-made religion mostly rejects or obscures this ONE WAY.

The repeated phrase in the Torah portion – “ve lo yamut” “that you not die” serves as a sober reminder of the consequences for those who reject His Way.

Joh 1:18  No one has ever seen Elohim.¹ The only brought-forth Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He did declare.

This is now about the instructions for the Day of Atonements/ (Yom Kippur/ ha Kippurim)

Lev 16:3  “With this Aharon should come into the Set-apart Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering.

Lev 16:4  “He should put on the set-apart linen long shirt, with linen trousers on his flesh, and gird himself with a linen girdle, and be dressed with the linen turban – they are set-apart garments. And he shall bathe his body in water, and shall put them on.

Lev 16:5  “And from the congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl he takes two male goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering.

Lev 16:6  “And Aharon shall bring the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house.

Lev 16:7  “And he shall take the two goats and let them stand before יהוה at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

Lev 16:8  “And Aharon shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for יהוה and the other lot for Azazel.

Lev 16:9  “And Aharon shall bring the goat on which the lot for יהוה fell, and shall prepare it as a sin offering.

Lev 16:10  “But the goat on which the lot for Azazel fell is caused to stand alive before יהוה, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness to Azazel.

Lev 16:11  “And Aharon shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall slaughter the bull as the sin offering which is for himself,

Lev 16:12  and shall take a fire holder filled with burning coals of fire from the altar before יהוה, with his hands filled with sweet incense beaten fine, and shall bring it inside the veil.

Lev 16:13  “And he shall put the incense on the fire before יהוה, and the cloud of incense shall cover the lid of atonement which is on the Witness, lest he die.

Lev 16:14  “And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the lid of atonement on the east side, also in front of the lid of atonement he sprinkles some of the blood with his finger seven times.

Lev 16:15  “And he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, and shall bring its blood inside the veil, and shall do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the lid of atonement and in front of the lid of atonement.

Lev 16:16  “And he shall make atonement for the Set-apart Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Yisra’ĕl, and because of their transgressions in all their sins. And so he does for the Tent of Meeting which is dwelling with them in the midst of their uncleanness.

Lev 16:17  “And no man should be in the Tent of Meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Set-apart Place, until he comes out. And he shall make atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the assembly of Yisra’ĕl.

Lev 16:18  “And he shall go out to the altar that is before יהוה, and make atonement for it. And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around.

Lev 16:19  “And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and set it apart from the uncleanness of the children of Yisra’ĕl.

Lev 16:20  “And when he has finished atoning for the Set-apart Place, and the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat.

Lev 16:21  “Then Aharon shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and shall confess over it all the crookednesses of the children of Yisra’ĕl, and all their transgressions in all their sins, and shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a fit man – Heb “iti” a timely or ready man.

Lev 16:22  “And the goat shall bear on itself all their crookednesses, to a land cut off. Thus he shall send the goat away into the wilderness.

Lev 16:23  “Aharon shall then come into the Tent of Meeting, and shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Set-apart Place, and shall leave them there.

Lev 16:24  “And he shall bathe his body in water in the set-apart place, and shall put on his garments, and shall come out and prepare his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people,

Lev 16:25  and burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

Lev 16:26  “And he who sent away the goat to Azazel (one who departs- Prov 20:14 same word used – by extension the goat that carries away evil) washes his garments, and shall bathe his body in water, and afterward he comes into the camp.

Lev 16:27  “And the bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Set-apart Place, is brought outside the camp. And they shall burn their skins, and their flesh, and their dung with fire.

Lev 16:28  “And he who burns them washes his garments, and shall bathe his body in water, and afterward he comes into the camp.

Lev 16:29  “And this shall be for you a law forever: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you afflict your beings, and do no work, the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.

Lev 16:30  “For on that day he makes atonement for you, to cleanse you, to be clean from all your sins before יהוה.

Lev 16:31  “It is a Sabbath of rest for you, and you shall afflict your beings – a law forever.

Lev 16:32  “And the priest, who is anointed and ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place, shall make atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, the set-apart garments,

Lev 16:33  and he shall make atonement for the Most Set-apart Place, and make atonement for the Tent of Meeting and for the altar, and make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.

Lev 16:34  “And this shall be for you a law forever, to make atonement for the children of Yisra’ĕl, for all their sins, once a year.” And he did as יהוה commanded Mosheh.

 The Passover and Day of Atonement are related though different:

Pesach (Passover) is the time of the sacrifice or atonement for personal sin—initial repentance from sins committed before being born again.

Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is the time of the atonement or covering of the individual’s as well as the corporate sins of Israel committed in ignorance (Heb. 9:27) during the past year. On-going repen­tance is needed by Believers and the community of Believers to stay in right-standing (righteousness) before YHVH (1 John 1:9).

Yom Kippur & the Great & Terrible Day of YHVH

Yom Kippur is the day when:

YHVH’s judgment upon the earth will occur prior to the Second Coming of Yeshua the Messiah cul­minating in the battle at Megiddo.

The beast and false prophet are thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev19:20)

Satan will be judged and cast into the bottomless pit. (Rev 20;2,3)

It is the time when YHVH will have the last word on man’s 6000 (rebellious and sinful) years on earth.

Rewards and punishments are meted out to humans.

The Babylon the Great system is judged and destroyed. (Rev 18:21)

The earth is cleansed and readied for Messiah to “touch down” upon the Mount of Olives.

The restitution of all things talked about in Acts 3:21 occurs.

All these things must occur before Yeshua the Messiah can bring peace to this earth and establish his world-ruling kingdom. Those who would oppose his sovereign rule must be eliminated. Righteousness will prevail.

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 Yahveh, 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.)

Parashat 28 Portion 86 Vayikra 15:1-33 Hosea 6:1-9 Matt 23:25-26

The Ruach of YHVH has given us this week’s Torah instruction in the form of a chiastic structure.

1.  Introduction  (vs 1,2)

    B. Abnormal male discharge (vs 2b-15)

C.       Normal male discharge   (vs 15,17)

X.  Marital relations     (vs18)

                              C. Normal female discharge (vs 19-24)

                     B. Abnormal female discharge  (vs 25-30)

        A.  Summary (vs 31-33)

We see the focus of the Torah portion is on marital purity. We can safely assume this can also refers to a “bride without spot or wrinkle” waiting and preparing for her soon coming Bridegroom.

Sadly the reality today is that believers who desire to be part of the Bride of Messiah have been profoundly defiled by false doctrines and disobedience to the Torah – the marriage covenant between YHVH and Yisrael.

1Pe 1:23  having been born again – not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible – through the living Word of Elohim, which remains forever,

The end of this parashah contains a serious warning - Lev 15:31  ‘Thus you shall separate the children of Yisra’ĕl from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness when they defile My Dwelling Place which is in their midst.

Death could have a number of implications….

Lev 15:1  And יהוה spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying,

Lev 15:2  “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say to them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his flesh, his discharge is unclean.

Some have also questioned whether or not the word "flesh" (Leviticus 15:2) actually refers to the sex organ, but, of course, it does. As Keil puts it, "The fact that the same term `flesh' (Leviticus 15:19) certainly refers to a sexual discharge points unmistakably to a secretion from sexual organs."

Lev 15:3  ‘And this is his uncleanness in regard to his discharge; whether his flesh runs with his discharge, or his flesh is stopped up by his discharge,(lit – man’s emission of seed is caused to cease flowing) it is his uncleanness.

“Stopped” Heb – “chatam” – verb hiphyl – to cause to be stopped.

Lev 15:4  ‘Any bed becomes unclean on which he who has the discharge lies, and any object on which he sits becomes unclean.

Lev 15:5  ‘And anyone who touches his bed has to wash his garments, and shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

Lev 15:6  ‘And he who sits on any object on which he who has the discharge sat, has to wash his garments, and shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

Lev 15:7  ‘And he who touches the flesh of him who has the discharge has to wash his garments, and shall bathe in water, and shall be unclean until evening.

Lev 15:8  ‘And when he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his garments, and shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

1Co 15:33  Do not be led astray, “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

Lev 15:9  ‘Any saddle on which he who has the discharge rides becomes unclean.

Lev 15:10  ‘And whoever touches any of that which was under him is unclean until evening. And he who is carrying them up has to wash his garments, and shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

Lev 15:11  ‘And anyone whom he who has the discharge touches without rinsing his hands in water, shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

Lev 15:12  ‘And the earthen vessel which he who has the discharge touches has to be broken, and every wooden vessel has to be rinsed in water.

Lev 15:13  ‘And when he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, and shall wash his garments, and shall bathe his flesh in running water, and be clean.

Lev 15:14  ‘And on the eighth day he takes for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and shall come before יהוה, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall give them to the priest.

Anything or anyone that comes into close contact with one whose seed is defiled or one whose seed is  not producing life will be defiled. And only and offering that reflects the complete offering made by Messiah is able to cleanse us. This should cause us to be very careful with whom we allow to come close to us.

2Jn 1:10  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house nor greet him,

2Jn 1:11  for he who greets him shares in his wicked works.

Lev 15:15  ‘And the priest shall prepare them, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him before יהוה because of his discharge.

The following two verses speak of a normal emission of seed. Even this normal emission requires a cleansing in water. Why? Since the fall of man, man’s seed produces sin and death. This will change when Messiah presents us perfect to the Father one day.

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good.

Rom 3:10  As it has been written, “There is none righteous, no, not one!

Rom 3:11  “There is no one who is understanding, there is none who is seeking Elohim.

Rom 3:12  “They all have turned aside, they have together become worthless. There is none who does good, no, not one.”

In this regard much Christian doctrine and understanding about sin and grace needs to be radically changed. Grace or favour is only effective to the extent that we have received revelation of our desperate need of it.

Revelation of the Torah of YHVH through the Ruach of YHVH is the only way we can come face to face with our true condition. Then only can we appropriate and appreciate the deep work of redemption accomplished for is in Messiah. Many pastors and teachers think that they can put people on a serious enough guilt trip to cause them to repeat a sinner’s prayer and this somehow is sufficient for our salvation. Many dear Christians have been deceived because the only way we can come to a true knowledge of our state and our need for redemption is through the obedient application of ALL of the Torah.

Gal 3:19  Why, then, the Torah? It was added because of transgressions, until the Seed should come to whom the promise was made. And it was ordained through messengers in the hand of a mediator.

Gal 3:20  The Mediator, however, is not of one, but Elohim is one.

Gal 3:21  Is the Torah then against(Gk missing the promises) the promises of Elohim? Let it not be! For if a law had been given that was able to make alive, truly righteousness would have been by Torah.

Gal 3:21  Is the Torah then against the promises of Elohim? Let it not be! For if a law had been given that was able to make alive, truly righteousness would have been by Torah.

Gal 3:22  But the Scripture has shut up all mankind under sin, that the promise by belief in יהושע Messiah might be given to those who believe.

Gal 3:23  But before belief came, we were being guarded under Torah, having been shut up for the belief being about to be revealed.

Gal 3:24  Therefore the Torah became our trainer unto Messiah, in order to be declared right by belief.

Gal 3:25  And after belief has come, we are no longer under a trainer.

See also Matt 5:17-19 – while heaven and earth are here all of the Torah will be here. Many Christians believe that they no longer need a “trainer” because the Torah has been done away with.

Rom 7:12  So that the Torah truly is set-apart, and the command set-apart, and righteous, and good.

Rom 7:14  For we know that the Torah is Spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin.

Lev 15:16  ‘And when a man has an emission of semen, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until evening.

Lev 15:17  ‘And any garment and any leather on which there is semen, shall also be washed with water, and be unclean until evening.

Lev 15:18  ‘And when a woman lies with a man, and there is an emission of semen, they both shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

Parashat 28 Portion 85 Vayikra 14:1-57 2 Kings 7:1-20 Luke 17:11-19

Why would YHVH allow such a contamination to appear on His chosen people?

Perhaps one of the reasons is that even His chosen have great difficulty to recognize and confess their sins.

     Pro 16:2  All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, But יהוה weighs the spirits.

     Pro 18:17  The first to state his own case, seems right, Until another comes and examines him.

     1Jn 1:8  If we say that we have no sin, we are misleading ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

     1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, He is trustworthy and righteous to forgive us the sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

     1Jn 1:10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.

Lev 14:1  And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,

Lev 14:2  “This shall be the Torah of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest,

ב  זֹאת תִּהְיֶה תּוֹרַת הַמְּצֹרָע, בְּיוֹם טָהֳרָתוֹ:  וְהוּבָא, אֶל-הַכֹּהֵן.

2 This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: he shall be brought unto the priest.

Note the future tense of the Hebrew verb – “ti heyeh.” Does this imply some future application?

Lev 14:3  and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall look and see, if the leprosy is healed in the leper,

Lev 14:4  then the priest shall command, and he shall take for him who is to be cleansed two live and clean birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.

Lev 14:5  “And the priest shall command, and he shall kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water.

Lev 14:6  “Let him take the live bird and the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water.

According to Rashi the Hebrew words “ yikach otah” – “he shall take it”  says the bird is singled out to indicate that it is treated separately from the three other items used in this ritual. The cedar wood and the hyssop are tied together with the red thread. Then the bundle is held together in the right hand together with the bird and they dipped into the blood water mixture.

For Messianic believers the above ritual naturally draws our attention to the death and resurrection of the Messiah.

The Torah is implying that the only cure for man’s contamination is Messiah – Yahshua. Man’s condition is so serious that YHVH would send His only son to be the cure.

This hidden Messianic message is also found in the mysterious “chok” of the Parah Adumah -  the statute of the ashes of the Red Heifer. We find this in Numbers 19:2 - Parashat 39 – “Chukat” vs 10 of the same chapter says this is a statute forever – “le chukat olam.” (see also Numbers 19:6)

Lev 14:7  “And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the live bird loose in the open field.

Lev 14:8  “And he who is to be cleansed shall wash his garments, and shall shave off all his hair and wash himself in water, and shall be clean. Then after that he comes into the camp, but shall stay outside his tent seven days.

Lev 14:9  “And on the seventh day it shall be that he shaves all the hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shaves off. And he shall wash his garments and wash his body in water, and shall be clean.

Lev 14:10  “And on the eighth day he takes two male lambs, perfect ones, and one ewe lamb a year old, a perfect one, and three-tenths of an ĕphah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and one log of oil.

Lev 14:11  “And the priest who is cleansing shall present the man who is to be cleansed, with these offerings, before יהוה, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

Lev 14:12  “And the priest shall take one male lamb and bring it as a guilt offering, and the log of oil, and wave them as a wave offering before יהוה.

Lev 14:13  “And he shall slaughter the lamb in the place where he slaughters the sin offering and the burnt offering, in a set-apart place. For the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest. It is most set-apart.

Lev 14:14  “And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

Lev 14:15  “And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand.

Lev 14:16  “And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before יהוה.

Lev 14:17  “And of the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest puts some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the guilt offering.

Lev 14:18  “And the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he puts on the head of him who is to be cleansed. And the priest shall make atonement for him before יהוה.

Lev 14:19  “And the priest shall make the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. Then afterwards he slaughters the burnt offering.

Lev 14:20  “And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. And the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.

Lev 14:21  “But if he is poor and is unable to afford it, then he shall take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and one-tenth of an ĕphah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and a log of oil,

Lev 14:22  and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford, and one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.

Lev 14:23  “And he shall bring them to the priest on the eighth day for his cleansing, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, before יהוה.

Lev 14:24  “And the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before יהוה.

Lev 14:25  “And he shall slaughter the lamb of the guilt offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

Lev 14:26  “Then the priest pours some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand.

Lev 14:27  “And the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before יהוה.

Lev 14:28  “And the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of the right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the guilt offering.

Lev 14:29  “And the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he puts on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before יהוה.

Lev 14:30  “And he shall prepare one of the turtledoves or young pigeons, such as he is able to afford,

Lev 14:31  that which he is able to afford, the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, with the grain offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before יהוה.