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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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1 Corinthians 15:46
But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. We are told about the person who sprinkles the red heifer water for purification, And it shall be a statute forever for them. The one who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening(Numbers 19:21). In other words, the one who purifies others defiles himself in doing so. Blood is ritually unclean and the red heifer water is blood based. Therefore he that even touches that water is made impure by it but yet, while it is unclean, it purifies others, and while he who touches it defiles himself, he purifies others. How can an impure element purify? It may seem like a contradiction but is it really? To what can it be compared? When I clean my house I usually get dirty and I have to wash myself afterword; even the washing agents that I use are dangerous to me. When I do dishes (the old fashioned way) I put my hands in dirty dishwater to scrub plates and silverware then rinse the dishes clean onto a dish drainer. I dirty my hands to clean a dish. While this seems to be a contradiction, it is very consistent with the principles of God’s Kingdom. It is impossible for one to ascend unless he first was down, or descended from above. Before being first, we must hold the inferior position. Also in the same manner, serving precedes leading; lowliness comes before exaltation and poverty before wealth. The carnal is before before the spiritual, the corruptible before the eternal. Adam was the first, Yeshua the last, but in the end, the first becomes last and the last becomes first! Please Abba, may He who was first and made Himself last to take us back as firsts with Him return soon to establish a first-class kingdom on earth in these last days. |
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