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Philippians 2:5-8
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Yeshua HaMashiach, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Before even the end of the first century, non-Jewish believers reading Paul’s letters outside of their original Jewish contextual matrix misunderstood them and forsook the Torah’s dietary laws. Not only did they forsake the ideas of food being tahor or tamei (ceremonially fit or unfit), but also the idea of certain animal species not being fit for consumption. It is true that when read outside of their natural context, Paul’s letters seem to indicate that faith in Yeshua makes these elements of Torah observance obsolete. The same problem actually appears with any text and ruling when read outside of its original context. Even the American Constitution ideas of freedom of press and religion suffer from an identity crisis when quoted outside of their original context and intent into today's. The Jewish community of believers on the contrary had no issue with the whole idea of tahor and tamei (Acts 15: 20, 29; 21:25). It always was part of their lives and of Torah and they understood Paul’s letters within a Jewish contextual understanding. They also continued adhering to the injunction that sin is the breaking of Torah (1 John 3:4) and that a false prophet is one who teaches to disobey it, consequently, they could not have imagined the Master or Paul teaching against these things (Deuteronomy 13:1—5; Matthew 5:19). Would it have been clear from the beginning that the Master taught non-observance to these issues, Paul would not have needed to address them. The very discussion about it in the apostolic letters tells us that there were concerns about the levels of obedience on that issue, especially concerning Gentile observance; but that there were no problems concerning the issue itself being obsolete or not. From the very start of the Nazarene Movement Yeshua himself rebuked two Asia Minor congregations for promoting the consumption of meat sacrificed to idols, which would then be tamei (Revelations 2:14, 20). I would even claim that nowhere in the apostolic texts are issues of relevance concerning consumable and non-consumable foods or of ceremonial fitness raised. Jews already knew these things as clearly defined in the Book of Leviticus. The only issues raised were concerning the levels of observance to these things concerning the new Gentiles followers of Messiah. And what did both Yeshua and Paul say about it? That whereas these are legitimate Torah concerns to be observed, it should be done within the balanced perspectives of our obligation to love and fellowship, to help those in need, and of teaching the Torah. The Master also taught that these concerns did not require a spirit of self-righteous separatism, which was what was happening in the days when he walked the earth. The whole idea of Torah wisdom rests on knowing how to apply Hashem’s commandments with balance and the right spirit, especially when these commandments cross path with each other. It is so easy to apply the outer letter of the Torah and forget its weightier matters of justice, compassion and mercy which Yeshua mentioned recalling the exhortations of former prophets (Matthew 23:23; Hoseah 6:6; Micah 6:8). May we not be guilty of the same. May Abba give us the wisdom to apply his commands in his spirit, not forgetting that from the realms of sanctified glory, of his own volition Mashiach came down. He put on the Tamei garment of humanity; being tahor he made himself tamei so he could bring us to the tahor-ness of the Father. P. Gabriel Lumbroso For P. Gabriel Lumbroso's devotional UNDER THE FIG TREE in Kindle edition click here.
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John 15:3
“Already you are clean because of the Word that I have spoken to you”. Leviticus 11 tells us about ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’. Much has been ‘lost in translation’ in this text. The first three verses tell us about permissible foods. Whereas modern science continues to find health benefits to the Levitical diet, the primary reason for these ruling is not health. If God forbids pork because of trichinosis, He should also forbid chicken because of salmonella. There are no English words for the Hebrew ‘tahor’, translated as ‘clean’, and tamei’, translated as ‘unclean’, so for the sake of textual integrity, we will keep them in Hebrew. These terms actually refer to an animal in its dead state, and technically speaking are relevant only to approaching God via the Tabernacle or later, the Temple. To simplify the idea, the carcass of any animal killed improperly, be it chicken or pig, is ritually contaminating. But when slaughtered according to Biblical standards, the carcasses of ‘tahor’ animals is not ritually contaminating. It is therefore not ritually wrong to own a pig or a cat, the difference is only in the carcass. The carcass of a man is technically ‘tamei’ (even if it were properly slaughtered; God forbid!), whereas the carcass of a properly killed cow is ‘tahor’. This understanding gives a whole new twist on the story of Abraham going to offer his son, and on Samson, a nazarite from birth supposed to stay continually remain in a perpetual state if ritual cleanliness, eating honey from the carcass of a lion. This is why also certain animals are allegeable for offering and others are not. We must understand that the conditions of ‘tahor’ amd ‘tamei’ have nothing to do with hygiene or sinfulness. A woman is ‘tamei’ after having a baby which is not a sin but actually obedience to a fundamental Divine command. These conditions have only to do with the state of being human. Human beings we have dead cells and ‘tamei’ particles in our body all the time, so that we can only enter the Presence through the blood of a ‘tahor’ animal, and/or enter a ritual bath. We must take into consideration though that these rulings only concern our relationship with the temple in Jerusalem, so until it is rebuilt, they are only applicable on a symbolic level But here is the good news: Yeshua knew and anticipated a very long Temple-less exilic period of time so He told the Samaritan woman "…The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father (John 4:21)”. At His last Seder with His disciples Yeshua also said, “… You are clean (tahor) because of the word that I have spoken to you(John 15:3), so speaking of Yeshua’s role as the heavenly High-Priest, the writer of Hebrews tells us, with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). May we always have the confidence that by virtue of the Name, obedience, righteousness, and ‘tahor-ness’ of Yeshua, we can always enter in the presence of the Father to obtain His favor. |
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