Archive for the ‘Parsha 31 – Emor’ Category

Emor 5770 – Bride, Priest, Citizen

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Leviticus 21:13-15  And he shall take a wife in her virginity.  (14)  He shall not take a widow or a divorced woman, or profane, or a harlot, but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.  (15)  And he shall not defile his seed among his people. For I, Jehovah, do sanctify him.

2 Corinthians 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one Man, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

The High Priest was only to marry a virgin. There is nothing wrong with marrying a woman who is not a virgin, but the High Priest had to keep himself to a much higher standar– beyond simple right and wrong–because of his close contact with YHWH. He is also a type of the Messiah, for whom we are preparing ourselves as a bride. In practical terms, it is impossible for us to be pure. Everyone has sinned and therefore the whole body of his people has also sinned. Our theology is corrupt, our behavior is corrupt, our minds and hearts are corrupt. On what basis can Paul say that he intends to present the Church to Yeshua as a pure virgin?

Solely on the basis of Yeshua’s righteousness imputed to us through his blood which takes away our impurity. He more than covers us, more than forgives us. He cleanses us, making us whole and pure again.

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Ezekiel 44:23  And they shall teach My people to discern between the holy and common, and between the unclean and the clean.

1 Peter 2:4-5  For having been drawn to Him, a living Stone, indeed rejected by men, but elect, precious with God;  (5)  you also as living stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

We have become the bride of Messiah, and we have also been made priests, not of the orders of Aaron or Melchizedek, but that of all believers. From the beginning, when Israel was chosen from among the nations, she was chosen to be God’s bride and a nation of priests to the world. Set apart and made holy, we are tasked with teaching the world the difference between unclean and clean, drawing them closer to their creator and interceding on their behalf.

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Leviticus 22:18  Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel, and say to them: Any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, who offers his sacrifices for his vows, for all his free-will offerings, which they will offer to Jehovah for a burnt offering…

Leviticus 24:22  One judgment shall be for you whether an alien or a native; for I am Jehovah your God.

1 Peter 2:9-10  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for possession, so that you might speak of the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;  (10)  you who then were not a people, but now the people of God, those not pitied then, but now pitied.

We are the bride of Messiah, we are a nation of priests, and we are citizens of the Kingdom of God.  We have been reborn into the nation of Israel, wild olive shoots grafted into a cultivated tree. As citizens, whether physically circumcised or only spiritually, we are expected to behave ourselves as children of the King, not flaunting privilege, but obeying a higher standard.

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Emor 5769 – Created to Become Unequal

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Leviticus 21:1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them…

On some sense, I am sure that everyone is created equal, but I have yet to define what that sense might be. From birth we are all different. Some are stronger, some are hairier, some have different parts, and those differences confer varying responsibilities and powers.

God holds the physical descendants of Aaron to a higher standard than he holds the rest of us. For example, he deals with their sexual immorality much more harshly. The daughters of Aaron must remain virgins until married. If they don’t, the penalty isn’t just stoning. It’s burning.

Aaron’s sons are held to a higher standard than his daughters. Emor gives a short list of things that a priest may not do that other of God’s people may:

  • Touch the corpse of anyone who is not an immediate relative.
  • Shave his head or disfigure his beard.
  • Marry a woman who has sex outside of marriage or who has been divorced.

The High Priest has an even higher standard than that. He may not

  • Touch the corpse of even immediate relatives.
  • Marry a widow or any non-virgin.
  • Leave the sanctuary while performing the duties of his office.
  • Bring anything unclean into the sanctuary.

Paul alluded to this same concept when he told Timothy and Titus his standards for Church leaders. He never intended those lists to be taken as absolute laws for all believers. (Or even for all church leaders, for that matter!) He was illustrating how good leaders must have a different code of behavior. There is no sin in preparing and burying a corpse nor in having a rebellious child, but God said that his priests shouldn’t do those things.

That God’s standards for some people might be different than his standards for others only surprises the inheritors of the so-called Enlightenment. Many good things have come from the philosophical and theological revolutions of the past, but some things have also been lost and corrupted.

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Emor 5768 – Mercy and not Sacrifice

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

Leviticus 21:1-3. A priest should avoid touching the dead or going into a place where someone has just died, but such defilement is not sin! Sacrifices atone for sin and remove barriers (uncleanness) between us and God, however God said that mercy is more important than sacrifice. Obedience to the law in Leviticus 21:1-4 might keep a priest from being temporarily disqualified for his function in the Temple, but remember the Good Samaritan who made himself more like God by risking defilement to help an injured stranger. “Be holy, because I am holy.” Be merciful, because he is merciful. God did not so revile uncleanness that he refused to make himself unclean for us. Rather he sent his Son to touch and to raise the dead and to become one of the dead for the sake of mercy.

Leviticus 21:4. Leaders aren’t necessarily better than anyone else, but God holds them to a higher standard as they must hold themselves. They are the example that everyone else is looking toward. It’s not an easy thing to be a good leader. There are great rewards, but great demands as well.

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Emor 5767 – The Son of Peaceful

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007

The son of a woman of Israel and a man of Egypt went out among the sons of Israel. And this son of the woman of Israel and a man of Israel struggled together in the camp. And the son of the woman of Israel blasphemed the name of YHWH, and cursed. And they brought him to Moses. (And his mother’s name was Peaceful, the daughter of My Word, of the tribe of Dan.) …And YHWH spoke to Moses saying, “Bring forth the despiser outside the camp. And let all that heard lay their hands on his head. Let all the congregation stone him.” -Leviticus 24:10-14

The Torah does not name names for the sake of entertainment. This man was the son of a peaceful woman, the daughter of a man of God’s Word, but she made the mistake of marrying an Egyptian man. No doubt she was a good influence on her son, but her husband had a powerful influence as well. Her son grew into a violent, blasphemous man. Be very careful whom you choose as a mate. It isn’t just your own happiness at stake, but the very lives and souls of your children.

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