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"HE OPENED NOT HIS MOUTH"  ISAIAH 53:7

3/31/2013

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Matthew 12:37
“For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

Extreme tragedy often accompanies extreme glory. On the very day when Hashem accepts the hard work performed by the Israelites in building the Tabernacle and sanctifying the priesthood, two of Aaron’s sons die (Lev. 10:1-2).

Everything was in place. The Children of Israel had performed beautifully. They were finished with the building of the Tabernacle and the priesthood was sanctified. Everything was ready for the great moment. Suddenly, fire came from heaven to light the wood on the altar and consume the offerings of the Children of Israel. God was pleased. Whereas he had been refused entrance before (Exod. 40:35), now, with the offering accepted, Moses could approach his God again (Lev. 9). Things have not changed very much. We are still only allowed in the Divine Presence by virtue of the death of an innocent victim.

No sooner was the ecstasy of joy settled that Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons, decide to make an offering of esh zarah אשׁ זרה, foreign fire to Adonai. As suddenly as before, Hashem's fire came out from heaven, but this time to devour the two young men. The Torah does not give us many details about the event; speculations by commentators abound as to God’s seeming irrational reaction. What I would like to bring out today is the boys' father's, Aaron’s reaction to Moses’ attempt at comforting him; the text says, "Aaron kept silent" (Lev. 10:3). Maybe that is the reason why the Torah itself remains silent; because Aaron was silent.

Aaron suffers this tragedy in the middle of a service when he is not allowed to mourn nor get out of character. Whereas he later acknowledges his grief and mourning heart (Lev. 10:19), Aaron does not permit himself to blot Hashem’s reputation and name by expressing his own feelings during the service. His two boys die, but he remains silent.

Jewish texts have commented on this with the statement, "By your silence you shall live." The idea is related to Aaron’s lofty position of honor as the High-Priest of the people.   As spiritual leaders, when inexplicable tragedy strikes, when what seems unreasonable and irrational happens to us, we are not forbidden to mourn or be sad, but we may we not publicize it through words of personal anger or doubts about Hashem’s wisdom and absolute justice and righteousness.

The Master agreed to that in that he taught his disciples, "By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned (Matt. 12:37). He himself, in the image of the innocent lambs daily offered on the altar was subject to a cruel and inhumane death for crimes he did not commit and yet, "he opened not his mouth" (Isa. 53:7).

May we learn from Aaron’s godly attitude. Though our hearts may be bleeding, may we learn to have control over our mouths, souls, and spirit when inexplicable tragedies strike. Hashem knows our hearts, but our mouths need not to seal our burdens on those around us who may be carrying a heavy burden of their own. Ours may the one to make them stumble and fall. 

P. Gabriel Lumbroso


For P. Gabriel Lumbroso's devotional 'UNDER THE FIG TREE' in Kindle version, click here.


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THE PASSOVER OF THE KING

3/29/2013

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Matthew 26:29
I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. … He did what was right in the eyes of ADONAI and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

As King Josiah undertook the restoration of the Temple of Hashem, the Temple's secretary handed him a Torah scroll found in the Temple. The scroll was opened at Deuteronomy 28, the passage about the blessings and the curses. As Shaphan read the text to the King, the King tore his clothes (2 Kings 22:11). In Josiah's days, most people in Israel had forgotten the Torah. They practiced religious forms and traditions inherited from earlier generations and adopted from foreign nations. They did not fully realize that their worship of God was polluted with idolatrous practices. Josiah's mother had taught her son a healthy fear of Hashem, and the words of Torah worked in his heart.

The king wanted the land to repent, but instead of sending edicts and rebuke the people, the king made repentance something personal,

And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before ADONAI, to walk after ADONAI and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant ( 2Ki 23:3).

Josiah also undertook a series of religious reforms where he deposited the priests of Ba'al, overthrew the altars to the foreign gods, and went on an all-out campaign against idolatry. This campaign culminated to a renewing of the Passover observance like no other,

And the king commanded all the people, "Keep the Passover to ADONAI, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant." For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to ADONAI in Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:21—23).

A similar situation exists for believers in Yeshua today. They have not totally forgotten Torah, but because of erroneous theological assumptions they have declared it obsolete and mixed it with pagan religious elements. Like in the days of Josiah, today many are rediscovering the Torah of Moses and experiment religious reforms in their hearts. Sometimes all congregations go through these reforms.

These attempts at restoration are great but they are very fragmented and confusing due to a lack of leadership. We look a lot like, "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judg. 21:25). We desperately need the King to return and as Josiah lead us with a strong hand in this reformation. When he does, he will also lead us into the marriage supper of the Lamb and partake with us from the Seder cup which he omitted to drink when he celebrated an early Passover dinner with his disciples (Matt. 26:29; Rev. 19:9).

May it be soon Abba, even in our days!

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THE COUNTING OF THE OMER

3/28/2013

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1 Corinthians 15:54

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."

 

Starting from the sixteenth of Nissan, the day after the Passover Sabbath, we are asked to count seven weeks and one day, fifty days, until Pentecost (Lev. 23:15). On the fortieth day of this counting the Messiah ascended in the cloud in the plain view of the disciples. They were at the same moment told that as He went in the cloud, so will He return (Acts 1:11). As believers this period between the resurrection and the ascension is very special. It is the period when we are told that the Messiah made all His resurrected appearances up to five hundred disciples plus (1 Cor. 15:6). 

This fifty days period is called in Hebrew s’phirat ha’omer העומר פירתס, meaning, the Counting of the Omer. It could also mean, the Recounting of the Omer,as if it were a story to be told, or even the Shining of the Omer as in cleaning. I would say that all these translations are correct in their own rights. As we count the days of the Omer, we can tell the stories of the appearances of the risen Messiah, thus shining and preparing our souls for the great day of Pentecost when in the similitude of Mt. Horeb’s events, through earthquake, wind, and fire, the Torah was sealed in the disciples hearts 2,000 years ago (Acts 2).

I would even say that remembering the resurrection is vital to our faith. Up to the time of the resurrection the disciples were weak in their faith. Many of those also who had previously believed in him because of the signs and the miracles were easily swayed by the tide of prevailing public opinion. What sealed the deal for Israel was the resurrection. After the resurrection, the whole city of Jerusalem was filled with believers who had become quite a force and even a positive element in Israel until such a time when persecution started again under Herod Antipas (Acts 12) and the wicked High-Priest who executed James (Josephus).  It is during that time that the Letter to the Hebrews was written encouraging the Jewish believers of Israel by telling them that even though things below looked bleak, they could comfort themselves and each other with the reality which is from above. Still a good advice for today!

This belief in the resurrection is the corner stone of our belief system. It is this very same belief that made innocent victimized Job say, "I know that my redeemer lives" (Job 19:25). It is also the same belief that that brought Abraham to the mountain in the face of an insurmountable trial (Heb. 11:17-19). Many people dare to challenge the authenticity of the apostolic texts, but their biggest vindication is the historically proven cruel martyrdom of each of the disciples who saw the resurrected Messiah. People can’t go through do that unless they are being told to deny something that they have witnessed to be real.

Even today as the world gets darker, it is that same faith in the resurrected ne that needs to be our beacon of light, hope, and faith, in the face of the seeming irrationalities life seems to deal us. Telling the stories of the resurrected one, particularly of the events surrounding his various apparitions during the Counting of the Omer, should give a shine to our faith and the assurance that even though death may seem prevalent, he has resurrected so that through his resurrection, corruption and death puts on incorruptibility.

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ON THE 16TH OF NISSAN ...

3/27/2013

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Luke 24:31—33
Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?

On the third day after the crucifixion, on the first day of the week, women came to the tomb to embalm the Master. To their great surprise Yeshua's body had disappeared. Though incredulous, upon hearing the women’s accounts Peter and John ran to the tomb only to be faced with the same conclusions.

Did he really disappear? Coming to them on several occasions, Yeshua soon comforted the disciple’s worries. He had resurrected and was now returning to give them his instructions for the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. While all this transpired, two disciples who had come to Judea for the pilgrimage festival of Passover left Jerusalem for the village of Emmaus (Luke 24).

As Cleopas and his travelling companion still grieve the death of their Master, a stranger joins them on their journey. As their new travelling companion wonders about their conversation, they ask, "Don’t you know what happened three days ago in Jerusalem? We thought that the famous Galilean prophet, Yeshua Hanotzri הנוצרי ישוע was the Messiah. We thought he would be the one gathering back the Children of Israel from the four corners of the earth and re-establish us as a sovereign country but alas, the Temple's authorities did not approve of him; they turned him in to the Romans to be crucified as a traitor and a criminal. To top it all, some our friends went to the tomb this morning and found it empty. We are still shocked at the whole thing; and also confused."

Upon hearing this account, starting with Moses and the prophets, the stranger demonstrated to the disciples that all had happened according to Scripture and that they should not worry. Upon hearing the words of the old prophecies in their messianic perspective, the two discouraged disciples were filled with hope again. As they sat at the table, the stranger initiated the meal with a blessing; the disciples then realized that their travelling companion was the resurrected Master. Right away they decided to return to Jerusalem.

This story is everyone’s story. In confusion and discouragement, we often leave Jerusalem to return to the same old ways. As with the other disciples, no empty tomb and no amount of convincing preaching could have changed the mind of these Jewish disciples. They needed to see the resurrected Master and he is the one who needed to open their eyes. As a matter of fact, It is also the only way that Israel as a nation can and will eventually see and recognize it’s Messiah, not through smart preaching or exposés of circumstantial evidence, but when he comes in the clouds at the end of this age (Zech.12:10; Acts 1:11). As soon as they recognized their beloved Master, they repented, and returned to Jerusalem.

Weather Jew or Gentile, meeting the resurrected Master should create in us a spirit of Teshuvah  תשובה, of repentance that brings us back to the origins of our faith, to the place where we belong, to Jerusalem. After three days of Yeshua's absence, the disciples were already straying from the faith, but the Master ran after them. He met them at the tomb, and in their house where he spoke with Thomas (John 20:27). He even met them on the road to Emmaus, just in order to bring them back to Jerusalem where they were to remain until the next pilgrimage festival of Shavuot  שבעות on Pentecost (Acts 1:4).

In these days of preparation leading to the awesome Day of Yom Hakippurim הכיפורים יום and the fall festivals, may our meditations grant us the presence of the Master that causes us to repent and return; to repent from our straying, and return to the Jerusalem where we belong.

May we also be found doing his will on the Day of his coming.  

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ON THE 15TH ...

3/26/2013

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1 Peter 3:18--20.
 For messiah also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 



As the disciples of long ago, last night we experienced a Seder in the absence of Yeshua. Was he really absent? It was somber evening for them. Just the night before, the Master was teaching them a new way to celebrate the Seder. What they didn't know was that on the night of the Passover, they would be without him.

On the night of the fifteenth of Nissan, as they go together for a customary Seder after the Mt. Golgotha events, they really didn't know what to make of everything. On the Sabbath of the fifteenth of Nissan, they attended the synagogue service with a mourning heart. All their hopes of salvation, of Yeshua taking over Israel, of him kicking the Roman Empire out, of establishing Israel back to the glorious days of Solomon were shattered. They did not understand what was happening and indeed, what was happening on that fifteenth of Nissan Sabbath?

When he wrote his letter to the Jewish/Gentile congregation of Rome, Peter who at the time did not know gave us a clue. He says that Yeshua

… went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water"  (1 Pet. 3:19-20).

Much is written in the Book of Enoch about the events surrounding Noah and the flood, and the early disciples were familiar with it. Jude also makes mention of these things (Jude).

May we take this Shabbat to reflect on these things.

What have we learned through the events of the two past days? How have we understood the analogical parallelism the Master made of himself in the Seder elements? How do these apply to those who "formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah" (1 Pet. 3:19-20)? How does it apply to us today? Or tomorrow? To our children? 


These question would surely make good fifteenth of Nissan Sabbath discussions.

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ON NISSAN THE 14TH ...

3/25/2013

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Luke 23:54  
It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.

It had been a long twenty-four hours for Yeshua the Master. As an innocent victim, he has been condemned to a cruel death by both religious and secular authorities. John the Immerser compared Yeshua to, "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29)! At the time of the morning lamb offering, Yeshua is nailed to a cross-beam and hanged on a stake; one of the most cruel form of death of the day. He will stay there until the afternoon time of prayer, the time of the second lamb offering.

At the time when the Temple was bustling with activity, when in an assembly-line style the priests would kill the lambs of the thousands of people who had come for the pilgrimage festival, our Master committed his spirit to his, and our heavenly Father. As he entered the tomb, the prepared lambs and unleavened breads entered the ovens.

Then,

There was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. It was the day of Preparation (of the Passover lamb, the 14th of Nissan), and the Sabbath (of the 15th of Nissan, the first day of Unleavened Bread which is a Sabbath) was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath (of the 15th of Nissan) they rested according to the commandment (Lev. 23: 6-7; Luke 23:50—56).

The disciples probably all had their Seder together; we can imagine Peter leading the event and how confused and distraught they must have been. According to the narratives, the events had not yet clicked in their minds as the fulfillment of prophecy. It would take the Master himself to come and explain it to them.  For the first time since they knew him, they had a fifteenth of Nissan Seder without their beloved Rabbi.

As they passed the Kiddush cup, they remembered what he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes" (Luke 22:17-18).

As they washed their hands, they silently remembered the Master washing their feet. It was an even more somber moment as they passed the charoset and remembered that this was the cue for Judas to go do his work.

Then after dinner, what must have gone through their mind as they passed the Afikomen, as they remembered the Master's words, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise when they drank the (3rd) cup after they had eaten, when he said, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood" (Luke 22:17—20).

The full meaning of these words would not be fully revealed to them yet. They were grieving for the loss of their Master and it must have been difficult to end the Seder with the customary psalms of praise.

They would spend the second day (the 15th of Nissan) in this somber mood, until on the third day …

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ON NISSAN THE 13TH ...

3/25/2013

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Luke 22:17-18
 "Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." 


On this late afternoon of the thirteenth of Adar 30 CE the Master saw the Day of the Pesach  פסח preparation approaching. The narratives left us by Luke, Paul's faithful scribe who collected his information from those who were first hand witnesses say,

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Yeshua sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it." They said to him, "Where will you have us prepare it?" He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there." And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God" (Luke 22:8—16).

Yeshua said that he will not eat that Passover with the disciples until he eats it in the kingdom … at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb ((Rev.19: 9). In the meantime, he had to prepare his disciples for the next day's Passover Seder without him. Most people were ready one night ahead and the master decided to follow the sometimes traditional pre-Seder celebration. Adding a new wrinkle to the age-old tradition, he,

… took a (Kiddush) cup, and when he had given thanks he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes" (Luke 22:17-18). (He did not drink it; did he take a Nazarite vow?).


The Master also added to the traditional hand-washing part of the Seder,

Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Adon, do you wash my feet?" Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand." Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Yeshua answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Adon, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you" (John 13:5—10).

It is the priests who washed their hands and their feet before they enteried the Holy, the first chamber of the Tabernacle; that is why peter objected. But the Master was enacted Moses ancient words, "And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests …" (Exod. 19:6), which Peter later bestowed on the disciples (Jews and Gentiles) of the Roman congregation, " But you are a … a royal priesthood" (1Pet. 2:9).

And at the time of the dipping in the charoset,

After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, "Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Yeshua loved, was reclining at table close to Yeshua, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Yeshua, said to him, "Adon, who is it?" Yeshua answered, "It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it." So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly" (John 13: 21—27).

, Then after dinner,

… he took the (Afikomen) matzah, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the (3rd) cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood (Luke 22:17—20).  

The Master and the disciple ended their pre-Seder Seder with the customary singing of Psalms 136, "And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives" (Matt. 26:30).

It is at the Mount of Olive, on this night of the 14th of Nissan that Judas and the Temple guards would meet Yeshua to bring him to his Sadducee enemies. During the course of the night he would face all the authorities of the land: Caiphas the High-Priest, Herod the Jewish leader, and finally Pilate, the Roman governor who, washing his hands of his fate would find no fault in him (Matthew 27).  

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"HE OPENED NOT HIS MOUTH"  ISAIAH 53:7

3/24/2013

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Matthew 12:37
“For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

Extreme tragedy often accompanies extreme glory. On the very day when Hashem accepts the hard work performed by the Israelites in building the Tabernacle and sanctifying the priesthood, two of Aaron’s sons die (Lev. 10:1-2).

Everything was in place. The Children of Israel had performed beautifully. They were finished with the building of the Tabernacle and the priesthood was sanctified. Everything was ready for the great moment. Suddenly, fire came from heaven to light the wood on the altar and consume the offerings of the Children of Israel. God was pleased. Whereas he had been refused entrance before (Exod. 40:35), now, with the offering accepted, Moses could approach his God again (Lev. 9). Things have not changed very much. We are still only allowed in the Divine Presence by virtue of the death of an innocent victim.

No sooner was the ecstasy of joy settled that Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons, decide to make an offering of esh zarah אשׁ זרה, foreign fire’ to Adonai. As suddenly as before, Hashem's fire came out from heaven, but this time to devour the two young men. The Torah does not give us many details about the event; speculations by commentators abound as to God’s seeming irrational reaction. What I would like to bring out today is the boys' father's, Aaron’s reaction to Moses’ attempt at comforting him; the text says,  "Aaron kept silent" (Lev. 10:3). Maybe that is the reason why the Torah itself remains silent; because Aaron was silent.

Aaron suffers this tragedy in the middle of a service when he is not allowed to mourn nor get out of character. Whereas he later acknowledges his grief and mourning heart (Lev. 10:19), Aaron does not permit himself to blot Hashem’s reputation and name by expressing his own feelings during the service. His two boys die, but he remains silent.

Jewish texts have commented on this with the statement, "By your silence you shall live." The idea is related to Aaron’s lofty position of honor as the High-Priest of the people.   As spiritual leaders, when inexplicable tragedy strikes, when what seems unreasonable and irrational happens to us, we are not forbidden to mourn or be sad, but we may we not publicize it through words of personal anger or doubts about Hashem’s wisdom and absolute justice and righteousness.

The Master agreed to that in that he taught his disciples, "By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned (Matt. 12:37). He himself, in the image of the innocent lambs daily offered on the altar was subject to a cruel and inhumane death for crimes he did not commit and yet, "he opened not his mouth" (Isa. 53:7).

May we learn from Aaron’s godly attitude. Though our hearts may be bleeding, may we learn to have control over our mouths, souls, and spirit when inexplicable tragedies strike. Hashem knows our hearts, but our mouths need not to seal our burdens on those around us who may be carrying a heavy burden of their own. Ours may the one to make them stumble and fall. 

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THE MASTER'S PERSPECTIVE ON RITUAL PURITY

3/22/2013

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John 1:4
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

Studying the Biblical laws of clean and unclean seem to take us to a world far removed from our present society. We cannot though, read these passages in the Book of Leviticus and assess them according to the dynamics of our present world; we need to understand them according to their own context.

All the issues of ritual impurities in the Bible have to do with separating the holy from death, decay and corruption. All the regulations mentioned about ritual purity in the Torah can be understood in the idea that God, being life itself cannot, and does not have anything to do with whatever decays and dies. All the earthly elements therefore that represent him must be (at least symbolically) free from corruption. We easily see these ideas in the gold covered acacia wood that makes the Holy Ark, a wood with the properties of cedar that fights corruption. Salt also, which is a preservative has to be added to meat offerings and the meat discarded within three days before it turns rancid. Of course, as long as we are in this mortal body and on this temporal earth, we cannot fully get rid of corruption; the whole idea is therefore a message from the Father to teach us about himself.

Ritual uncleanness has nothing to do with us committing any particular sin. For example, a woman has done nothing wrong when she enters her monthly time and even less when she has a baby, the fulfillment of one of Hashem's greatest commandment, but yet, at these times she is considered ritually unclean. Being ritually unclean is a mere acknowledgment of our mortal human condition. Also the condition of ritual uncleanness mostly relates to the Temple and its service. All one needs to do to be ritually clean again is immerse in a mikveh (ritual immersion pool).  

The best way to understand it is to relate it to protocol. There is certain protocol to enter for example in the presence of a President of any country, or even in the presence of a King; it doesn’t mean that we are criminals.  

In the days of Yeshua, some people went overboard in their concerns with ritual purity. The Master tells us about it in this story about a dying wounded man on the road to Jericho. Both a Levite and a priest pass him by but choose not to help him because they were concerned about ritual cleanliness which forbids the touching of blood (Luke 10:25—37). This shows a misunderstanding of the idea. The Master himself who is sinless and coming from the halls of heaven was not afraid to put on the impurity of humanity and make himself impure in order to rescue us from our mortality. Again, ritual purity is not about having committed a sin; one can obey every dictum of the Torah and still be impure. It is solely about our human condition.

May we in our sense of righteousness not be found to be like the afore-mentioned Levite or priest who because they were so concerned about their own purity, failed to obey the commandment to reach out to those in need. The Master did not discard the practices of ritual purity which came from him to start with, but he does teach us to have a proper balance and perspective in our commandment observance; he says, "These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others" (Matthew 23:23).

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WHEN LIFE SWALLOWS DEATH!

3/22/2013

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1 Corinthians 15:53
For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 

Three days is such a repeated theme in the Torah. It is on the third day that Abraham and Isaac climbed the mountain (Gen. 22:4); Israel had to purify itself then God came in their sight on Mt. Horeb after three days(Exodus 19:16); Jonah was spewed out of the fish after three days (Jonah 1:17); Joshua crossed the Jordan as on dry land on the third day (Joshua 3:2,17), and the remainder of the flesh of any offering needed to be burned after three days (Leviticus 7:17).

The theme of the third day denotes of resurrection, of corruptibility putting on incorruptibility (1 Cor. 15:53). It is also on the third day that the Master rose (Matt. 16:21), that there was a wedding in Cana (John 2:1), and the two witnesses are raised up after three and half day (Rev. 11:11).

On the other hand, Yeshua waited four days to go to Lazarus (John 11:17). The Master wanted to wait that long because the third day is actually the time when unrefrigerated meat starts to decompose (John 11:39). The disciples hesitated to open the tomb not only because of the smell, but it represented a desecration and exposure to uncleanliness. Even in the Temple,  meat from peace offerings was not allowed to remain on the altar more than three days; after that it had to be burned (Lev. 7:16—18). The Master waited till the fourth day so the people would know that Lazarus was truly dead and not just sleeping.

The three daysWHEN  theme speaks to us of the most wonderful process and miracle in our redemption program: that of corruptibility putting on incorruptibility. The corruptible is transformed into an incorruptible state before it is allowed to decompose. This also represents the greatest promise Hashem made to his people. Through the prophet Hoseah came the following words for an apostate Israel who would soon face exile and deportation,

Come, let us return to ADONAI; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him (Hos. 6:1-2).

One day for God is 1,000 years. In the third millennia of exile, Israel is resurrected to its former Salomonic grandeur as when nations brought their glories to Jerusalem and came to learn from the wisest king in the world. We can see the beginning of it even now.

All these scriptural themes foreshadow our passing from mortality to immortality, from the corruptible to the incorruptible, from death to resurrection. 

May we always live in the understanding of these things. No matter what life throws at us in what seems at times tsunamis of troubles, may we as Children of the Most-High be perfect (Matt. 5:48) and not have a morbid attitude towards the ending of our temporal passage in this dimension. May we always remember that the end of the vanity of our sad temporal life is fullness of eternal joy; that the end of death is life and that in due time, corruptibility puts on incorruptibility; death is swallowed up by life.
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