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Korach 5770 – Place

Saturday, June 12th, 2010

Numbers 16:1-18:32
I Samuel 11:14-12:22
Romans 13:1-10

Order and hierarchy have been inherent in God’s plan from the very beginning, whether among the angels, in the Garden of Eden, among men, or within families. Although the laws that govern spiritual authority are not as readily subject to experiment and objective verification as the laws that govern chemical reactions, they are just as real and just as inviolable. A man who continually drinks dilute amounts of drano will eventually suffer from alkaline poisoning whether he learned the lessons of high school chemistry or not. He might get away with it for a short while, but the consequences of his actions will catch up with him. The same is true of those who reject spiritual authority. Women who reject the spiritual covering of their fathers or husbands, men who reject the authority of God’s anointed prophets and judges, children who reject the authority of their parents…They might live indefinitely believing that they have chosen their own path, that they have found freedom in self-governance. Really, they have left one service for another and gained nothing lasting in the transaction. After all, who is more free? The slave whose master will defend him and who trusts him with a great deal of autonomy? Or the escaped slave who has no resources, no shelter, and who has become an open and defenseless target for abuse and re-enslavement by another master? The latter may appear to have more freedom in the immediate sense of having no allegiance and no duty to a higher power, but in the long run, his available choices will be severely limited and possibly eliminated altogether.

Numbers 16:1-18:32
I Samuel 11:14-12:22
Romans 13:1-10

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B’ha’alotcha 5770 – Assignment

Saturday, May 29th, 2010

Numbers 11:25-29  And YHWH came down in a cloud and spoke to him, and took of the spirit on him and gave it to the seventy elders. And it happened when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they never did so again.  (26)  But two of the men stayed in the camp; the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other was Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. And they were of those who were written, but did not go out to the tabernacle. And they prophesied in the camp.  (27)  And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.  (28)  And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, make them cease.  (29)  And Moses said to him, Are you jealous for my sake? Would God that all YHWH’s people were prophets, that YHWH would put His Spirit upon them!

Numbers 12:1-9  And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had taken. For he had taken a Cushite woman.  (2)  And they said, Has YHWH indeed spoken only by Moses? Has He not also spoken by us? And YHWH heard.  (3)  (Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all the men on the face of the earth.)  (4)  And YHWH spoke suddenly to Moses and to Aaron and to Miriam, You three come out to the tabernacle of the congregation. And the three came out.  (5)  And YHWH came down in the pillar of the cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both came forth.  (6)  And He said, Hear now My words. If there is a prophet among you, I YHWH will make Myself known to him in a vision, and will speak to him in a dream.  (7)  Not so, My servant Moses. He is faithful in all My house.  (8)  I will speak with him mouth to mouth, even clearly, and not in dark speeches. And he shall behold the likeness of YHWH. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?  (9)  And the anger of YHWH was kindled against them, and He moved.

Many of God’s chosen ministers work long thankless hours or they work in unusual manners or circumstances. We are often tempted to take the former for granted and to shun the latter. This week’s assignment: Single out someone who receives little acknowledgment for their service and give them encouragement or some other kind of support. And when you are tempted to dismiss someone or their ministry because of their unorthodox methods or presentation, look instead at their fruit. Ask yourself if they are truly doing something wrong or if you are just offended by inconsequentials. If God is on their side, who are we to take issue with that?

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Sh’mini 5770 Assignment

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

Leviticus 10:6  And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and lest He be angry on all the people. But let your brothers, the whole of Israel, mourn the burning which YHWH has kindled.

Assignment for April 10, 2010: Be careful that your emotions don’t lead you to neglect your responsibilities to those around you. Keep close tabs on your feelings this week. If you sense that anger, resentment, sorrow, jealousy, or some other emotion is pushing you away from some task or decision on which you know other people are depending, make a conscious choice to fulfill your responsibility in spite of your feelings.

Check back and post your thoughts and experiences. Next week I’ll post a new assignment derived from Tazria-Metsora.

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Manual for Priests

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Ariel ben-Lyman HaNaviy makes a very good point in his teaching on Tzav this week. (Part A is great. Part B contains too much rabbinic mythology.) The book of Leviticus (aka Vayikra) is a manual for priests. Christian men claim to be the priests of their homes. LDS men claim to be priests of another sort. The Torah says that Israel is to be a kingdom of priests to the world, and John wrote that Yeshua has made all those who believe on him to be kings and priests. Here in Leviticus we have a manual for priests. Even though it was specifically addressed to the Levitical order, it is full of principles and patterns that apply to all priests of whatever order.

P.S. Here is an interesting thought. I have heard it taught that David was able to eat the bread of the Tabernacle without repercussion because he was also a priest, but of a different order. Being a foreshadowing of the Moshiach ben David, he too was a priest of the order of Melchizedek, which consists of a royal priesthood, men who are both kings and priests simultaneously. If Yeshua has made all those who believe on him to be both kings and priests, then this line of reasoning implies that all believers have the same (or parallel) responsibilities and privileges as the Cohanim. That does not mean that they are above the Law any more than David was. On the contrary, both priests and kings are held to a higher standard. I am not saying that this is a correct interpretation, only that it is a possibility worth considering.

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Ki Tisa 5770 – Honorable Priorities

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

God wants obedience. He said that if we love him, we will keep his commandments. Yet, Moses and Elijah both appear to have disobeyed God and were honored for it.

Moses came down from Sinai to find the people worshiping and sacrificing to the golden calf, and God said, “Step aside, Moses. I’m going to destroy these people and start over with you.” Moses refused and appealed to God’s reputation to convince him not to destroy Israel. “What will the Egyptians think of you?” God honored Moses’ plea and spared the nation. (Exodus 32:7-14)

Although God had said that the only place authorized for making sacrifices was at the place where he would “put his name,” Elijah built an altar at the other end of the country. After he put the sacrifice on it and soaked it with water, he asked God to light it for him, and God did, sending fire from heaven to consume it, stones, water, and all. (1 Kings 18:18-40)

Why didn’t God push Moses out of the way and finish what he started? It’s not like Moses actually had any real power. Who is man that God should listen to him? Why didn’t he tell Elijah to go to Jerusalem for his contest with the prophets of Baal? Why did he honor Elijah’s disobedience in such a spectacular manner?

The truth is that neither Moses nor Elijah were actually disobedient. If you have been keeping Torah for long, then you have probably realized that there are times when you must break (or stretch) one law in order to keep another. For example, it’s good to work on the Sabbath in order to free a trapped animal or to heal an injured man or feed the hungry. That’s not disobedience at all, but sometimes it takes a great deal of wisdom to weigh the competing priorities. The same thing is going on in both of these stories.

In the Torah, God never named the specific place that would bear his name. It is possible that he could change the location authorized for sacrifices or even authorize multiple locations. There is some room for interpretation in that law (Deuteronomy 12:11). On the other hand, there can be no compromise with Baal or his prophets. We are not to tolerate them, and especially not in the land of Israel. That is God’s land, and they were interlopers. Elijah took the fight into the place they thought of as their own, rebuilt one of God’s altars and proved who was the real owner. He understood God’s character well enough to know which rule took precedence in that situation.

God gave Moses authority over and responsibility for the people of Israel. He was their judge, teacher, and protector. He was the man whom God used to free them from captivity. When they fought the Amalekites, Moses’ upraised arms enabled their victory. When they complained against God, his intercession saved them from destruction. Moses, by divine appointment and as a type of the Messiah, was a spiritual covering for Israel. When God threatened to destroy them, Moses was duty-bound to intervene even against God himself. His role as Israel’s leader took precedence over any possible role as the progenitor of a new people, and he honored God by putting his own life on the line to save his disobedient, ungrateful people.* “God if you will destroy these people, then destroy me too, because otherwise I will have failed them, you, and myself.” Like Elijah, he had a heart that understood God’s.

I pray that YHWH will bless me with such understanding, with such love, with such a relationship with him, that I will know how to obey him even when obedience seems impossible, how to honor his calling, his people, and his Torah. Barukh YHWH!

*What a great example for all leaders and husbands! Moses put his own life in jeopardy because his love for God and his people demanded it.

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Tetzaveh 5770 – Set Apart and Carried Away

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Some Torah portions are much harder to study and teach than others. I love everything about Genesis; it’s stories lend themselves very well to theological concepts. Exodus and Leviticus with their detailed descriptions of the priestly duties, the tabernacle, and the various articles of worship is not so easy to parse. On one level, it is very simple: make this object in this manner and do this with it. There’s nothing complicated about that. However, God threw a very large wrench into this simplistic understanding when he said to Ezekiel,

Ezekiel 43:10-11  You, son of man, give the children of Israel an account of this house, so that they may be shamed because of their evil-doing: and let them see the vision of it and its image.  (11)  And they will be shamed by what they have done; so give them the knowledge of the form of the house and its structure, and the ways out of it and into it, and all its laws and its rules, writing it down for them: so that they may keep all its laws and do them.

Huh? Israel is supposed to look at God’s house, note the dimensions and materials…and be ashamed? How could the ins and outs of the Tabernacle or the Temple make the people ashamed of anything? It was built by people who lived long before Ezekiel and was used almost exclusively by the priests. What does any of it have to do with Joe the Shepherd or Tina the Chef?

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, then you’ll know that I don’t believe anything in the Torah has only one meaning. Very little, if anything, in this universe is single dimensional. It turns out that there are so many things to talk about in these seemingly dry, technical passages, that I have difficulty focusing on any one thing! In Tetzaveh we can learn about the character of God, the role of the Messiah, our relationship with both of those, salvation from sin and judgment, the role of a father in his family, and much more. Let me give you just one example that shows how much God loves his people.

Exodus 28:36-38  And you shall make a plate of pure gold, and carve on it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO YHWH.  (37)  And you shall put a ribbon on it, and it shall be on the miter; to the front of the miter it shall be.  (38)  And it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, so that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which will sanctify the sons of Israel in all their holy gifts. And it shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be accepted before YHWH.

The High Priest wears a gold crown of sorts. Engraved across the front, resting on his forehead, are the words, “Set Apart to YHWH.” This torah portion tells us that this is because he takes onto himself the “iniquities of the holy things.” What a contradiction! How can holy things be sinful? These things are holy because they are set apart from other things, not because they are perfect. The Hebrew word for holy is kadosh, and it literally means “set apart.” The holy offerings of Israel are like you and me. In fact, they are you and me. We aren’t perfect, and we never will be. There is no way in heaven or on earth that you and I can present ourselves to God perfectly unblemished. We need a High Priest who will take our meager, pathetic offerings and take responsibility for their faults onto himself. Through the blood of Yeshua, our Messiah, shed by the thorns dug into his forehead, our inadequacies are lifted off our own heads and placed on his. Without God’s grace to accept that shift, we would be without hope. We would be condemned as forever separated from our Creator, set apart forever, but away from him and not to him. In his mercy, he provided a way for us to approach him, to offer him our broken and scarred hearts as if they were a perfect and holy living sacrifice, completely acceptable in the highest court of Heaven.

What greater love could there be?

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Terumah 5770 – Only Let Us Be Called

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

Exodus 25:2,8  Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering….And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

The Tabernacle wasn’t built to look beautiful or to give the priests a place to work or the community a focus, although it might have also done all those things. It was built specifically so that God would be able to dwell among his people. He didn’t tell us exactly how it allows him to do that, only that it does. In order to build it, he asked those Israelites who had a heart to give, to bring a terumah, a lifting up. The rabbis tell us that this refers to something offered up to God off the top, from the very best. God didn’t ask them to bring whatever they felt “led” to bring, but he asked for a very specific list of items. Platinum or lead or solid oak planks wouldn’t do, even if those things might be quite valuable to their owners. They weren’t suitable to the task at hand. God didn’t promise them anything in return. There were no riches in store for those who gave up these costly items, only the satisfaction of their love for God fulfilled.

In many ways, the Tabernacle is a pattern around which we are to build our lives. God has blessed us with many gifts, but there are specific things which he has entrusted to our care that he wants us to return to him so that he may live among us. I can’t tell you what that might be for you. That’s between you and God. However, I can tell you that it isn’t your leftovers. He wants your first and best, your terumah. He doesn’t promise you anything in return except his presence. He asks that you sacrifice your time, your gold, your planks of shittim, or bolts of linen, whatever it is that he has given especially to you so that you can demonstrate your love for him by giving it back.

This is love for your Creator: surrendering your best without asking anything in return.

See also: Love Is the Law, Isaiah 4:1, and Revelation 1:20.

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Fear Goeth Before Destruction

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Matthew 25:25  I was afraid and hid your talent in the ground.

We are all afraid from time to time. Some of us are afraid for much longer periods. This is no excuse. God has entrusted each and every person with some job to do for his kingdom. If you have lived for more than a few decades, then you probably only have to look back at your life to see plainly what talents God has entrusted to your care. If you betray that trust by burying his talent in the ground, he might not be so understanding when he returns to see how you have used it.

Matthew 25:30  Cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Yeshua does not suffer from Nice Guy Syndrome. He is compassionate when he deems it appropriate, and at other times he is unmerciful and violent. Many, many times we are commanded not to fear obedience or its consequences, but to fear God instead. You were created for a purpose. If you do not fulfill that purpose, of what use are you?

Matthew 7:19  Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire.

Fear may keep you safe and warm today, but it will destroy you when it really counts.

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Love?

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Leviticus 19:18  Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19:34  But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 6:5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Deuteronomy 10:12  And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

Deuteronomy 10:19  Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 11:1  Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.

Deuteronomy 13:3  …for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 30:16  …I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

Joshua 22:5  But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Joshua 23:11  Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.

Nehemiah 1:5  …O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments…

Psalms 31:23  O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

Psalms 97:10  Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.

Proverbs 10:12  Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

Proverbs 17:9  He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.

Matthew 5:44  …Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

Matthew 19:19   …Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Mark 12:29-31  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is,  Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:  (30)  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  (31)  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Mark 12:33  And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.

John 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John 15:9  As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

John 15:12  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Romans 12:10  Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

Romans 13:9  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Ephesians 4:2-3  With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;  (3)  Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ephesians 5:1-2  Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;  (2)  And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

Ephesians 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

1 Thessalonians 3:12  And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:

1 Thessalonians 4:9  But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.

1 Timothy 6:11  But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

Titus 2:4  …teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children…

Hebrews 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works…

Hebrews 13:1  Let brotherly love continue.

James 2:8  If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well…

1 Peter 1:22  Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.

1 Peter 2:17  Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

1 Peter 3:8-9  Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:  (9)  Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

1 John 3:11  For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

1 John 3:18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

1 John 4:7-8  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.  (8)  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

1 John 4:21  And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

2 John 1:5-6  And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.  (6)  And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

Love. Love. Love. Love. Love.

We are commanded over and over again to love, but do we even know what love is? The scriptures are clear to an extent: To love God is to obey his commandments. To love others is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to heal the sick. We have heard these things so many times that they have become meaningless!

What does it really mean to feed the hungry? Do we all need to go volunteer at the local Rescue Mission? Should we haul a pot of soup under the nearest bridge? What? What if there aren’t any destitute nearby? What if you don’t know where to find them? Should we just give some money to the Salvation Army and let them handle it? Is it enough just to be kind to those closest to you?

What does it really mean to obey God’s commands? Do I love God if I wear my tzitziyot religiously? Do I love him if I read the Torah and teach it to others? What!?

It truly bothers me that I am asking these questions. I feel that I should know without any hesitation what it means to love in every circumstance. I pray for the time when God’s law will be fully written on my heart, but that day isn’t now. There are many things that I don’t understand, many instances in which I have not shown love or even knew what love would be.

I have written a book examining the manual on marital and familial love, and I intend to write a few more, but still my understanding of love has not approached what it ought to be. This will be the focus of my Torah studies from now on because if keeping Torah doesn’t teach you to love, then you are not keeping Torah. “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees you will in no case enter the kingdom of heaven.” The pharisees didn’t love God; they loved their traditions. If you obey all the rules and say all the right things, yet don’t have love, you don’t have anything.

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Mishpatim 5770 – Property Rights

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Mishpatim lists a seemingly random set of commandments, but a closer look shows that they are not really so random. The common theme is property rights.

Exodus 21:1 Introduction
Exodus 21:2-11 Rights of a master over a slave.
Exodus 21:12-36 Rights of a person over his own life and limb
Exodus 22:1-15 Rights of the owner of livestock, crops, and other property
Exodus 22:16-17 Rights of a father and future husband over a daughter and future bride
Exodus 22:18-23:19 God’s expectations of those to whom he has delegated authority
Exodus 23:20-23 God’s expectations of those under delegated authority
Exodus 23:24-33 Rights of God over his property
Exodus 24:1-18 Closing

A word about the rights of fathers over their daughters…I wrote in A Commentary on Marriage in the Bible that a father always has the right to veto his daughter’s choice of husband. I no longer believe that to be completely true. Matot (Numbers 30-32) says that a father may annul the vows of his unmarried daughter still living in his house. I have had occasion since then to learn something of the life of an unmarried daughter who is not still living in her father’s house, and it seems to me that Matot should be taken literally on that point. If she left her father’s house with his consent and has lived on her own for many years, then she should probably be accorded the status of a widow or divorcee, responsible for her own finances, decisions, and vows.

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