Our choices can cause irreparable harm to others, including the next generation. That’s a key lesson from the Torah reading אמר Emor (“say,” Leviticus 21-24).
The Holy One of Israel loves mercy more than rote obedience, and He loathes hypocrisy. God looks at our conduct, as well as the heart behind our actions. We can fool those around us, we might even fool ourselves, but we can’t fool God.
Birth and “the walking dead,” aka lepers. The two couldn’t be more different different. The first brings life into the world, and the latter is a mark of life that is headed out of the world. Yet in human body’s sometimes gross processes of fostering the new, we see similarities with the indeed gross processes that unravel the body, making it waste away.
The Torah readings תזריע Tazria (“she will conceive,” Leviticus 12–13) and מְּצֹרָע Metzora (“leper,” Leviticus 14–15) weave a thread of Heaven’s wisdom between the realms of life and death, showing us in stark imagery how Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ) indeed is making this happen: “The last enemy that will be abolished is death” (1Corinthians 15:26–27 NASB).
There are a lot of symbols in the Bible that God blended together for the redemption of the first-born of the womb, not only of human beings but also donkeys. They all point to the first and only born of Heaven: Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ).
The first part of this Bible study on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread looks into two major lessons from four types leaven. This second part focuses on important lesson of redemption of the first-born.
What is the big deal about unleavened bread during Passover time? If it was only about the practicality of eating on the go during Israel’s exodus from slavery in Mitzraim (Egypt), why does matzah show up in the offerings of God’s House, the teachings of Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ) and in apostle Paul’s writings to early believers?
The first part of this Bible study on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread looks into two major lessons of matzah.
Why does the New Testament have such a large discussion about the Israel’s high priest and the offerings of the Tabernacle (Hebrews 4–14) in connection with Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ)? In the Torah reading ויקרא Vayikra/Vayiqra (“and He called”), covering Lev. 1:1–6:7, we have the “what” and “why” the various qorbanot (“offerings” aka “sacrifices”) in the Tabernacle services that were revealed to all the children of Israel. In the next Torah reading, God reveals to the Levites and priests how the sacrifices are to be processed and presented to HaShem (the Name).
Heaven has communicated this through the Torah, Prophets and Writings: Actions matter; obedience matters; animal offerings don’t. We were designed to be close to God, in communion with Him. Obviously, the Fall made that much more difficult, but that desire is still innate within us. And this is where we learn how to come closer to HaShem.
“Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.” (James 5:13–15 NASB)
Sickness is nothing new in Earth’s history. How were these instructions from Messiah Yeshua’s apostle Ya’akov (James) for anointing the sick with oil an expansion of the Torah method for consecration of Israel’s priesthood and leaders? What is the connection between prayer, trust (faith) in God, forgiveness of sin and healing of physical conditions?
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution.” (Exodus 25:1–2 NASB)
Are we offering the Creator of Heaven and Earth — and by extension, those around us — the best of our time and resources? After Heaven gave the best to Earth to remove from memory sin, transgression and iniquity, in the birth, death and resurrection of the Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ).