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In Leviticus 1–8, the focus primarily on instructions for offerings brought by the people and the priests. Now in the Torah reading שמיני Shemini (“eighth,” Leviticus 9–11) we learn that we need to be on our guard for the things that Heaven says makes one “fit” or “unfit” to enter the Kingdom of God.
The principle that is reinforced here is that just as one prepares physically to come closer to the presence of God as it was in the Tabernacle, so too we should be constantly preparing our spirit to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, which is our lifetime goal. God is delivering us from where we were before (“house of bondage“) and preparing us to be with Him in the Kingdom.
So basically, we’re to focus on the things that are in our control. If a loved one dies in bed next to you and you become “unclean” for a period of time, that is outside your control. But there are things that are within our control, and God calls on His people to be mindful of those things and avoid them. Don’t go out seeking the detestable things.
Heaven is taking all of humanity from bondage to a way of life that leads to the second death to eternal life and rest.
Before the Flood, we are told in the Torah that the people’s thoughts were evil and inclined toward violence continually (Gen. 6:5). Think about the damage that people can do to a culture or a civilization in just a few decades. Well, just imagine a few centuries of damage that people can do if they divert away from the path of God. They have a lot of time to invent new ways of going into evil.
Arbitrary ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’ foods; Heaven’s ‘arbitrary’ mercy
When we read through the list (Leviticus 11) of what animals are “clean” (טָהֵר taher, H2891, “fit”) for human consumption and those things that are “unclean” (טָמֵא tameʾ, H2931, “not fit”), some of the carve-outs are arbitrary. For example, locusts and grasshoppers are “fit” for food, but other swarming insects aren’t.
Similarly, “arbitrary” grace of God that lifted the Gentiles from being unclean to clean. However, those of us who are Gentiles do not present ourselves to God in a “foreign” way, with “foreign” fire as Nadab and Abihu did (Lev. 10:1–2).
The reason that God called certain foods “clean” and certain foods unclean is the sovereign decision of God. He made the distinction between the fit and unfit and we are called to obey His instructions regarding what is food and what is not food even if we don’t fully understand the distinctions.
This is the lesson God gave to Peter in Acts 10 with the vision of the unclean animals. Peter and the other Apostles had a lot to learn in discernment between what the Torah actually teaches about clean and unclean versus the layers of rules going back to the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, when they were returning from the Babylonian exiles and again in the time of the Maccabees, when assimilation with the Hellenic culture was a real threat to Judaism.
These historical experiences made the Jewish people hypervigilent about not picking up any spiritual practices from the Gentiles, but they went overboard and cut themselves off of any sort of fellowship or communion with non-Jews.
Holy: Set apart to join Heaven’s rescue mission to Earth
At this point in the Torah, there is a shift from learning the Torah to actually doing the Torah. Moses has been instructing Aaron and his sons on how to be priests and now, Aaron and his sons have to put Moses’ words into action. The rituals and sacrifices that they have watches Moses perform, they now have to perform themselves.
God doesn’t set apart anything to be holy or unholy without a purpose. Everything that He calls holy and set apart is set apart for a purpose. We have not been set apart to be completely separate from the world. We haven’t been set apart to warm our hands towards the fire and watch the world burn itself out.
“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:16 NASB
Beware when diving in to save drowning humanity
We don’t perform the good works that God gives to us to pat ourselves on the back or to give ourselves a trophy.
We should live differently from the world. We don’t go out into the world to bring the ways of the world into our homes and our churches but to bring those who are in the world out of the world and into communion with God.
Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one will bear his own load.
Galatians 6:1–5 NASB
However, if we are not humble and careful, we can end up swept away back into the world, and in need of rescue rather than being the rescuer.
‘Survival of the fittest’ or ‘fit’ to be at rest?
In modern society, for the past 150 years or so, that we have seen the teaching the “survival of the fittest.” It is not a coincidence that this teaching broke onto the scientific scene in the past 150 years.
A key teaching of biological evolution is that organisms move from one form to another through a combination of natural selection and mutations. These supposedly happen just on their own. The reality is that things don’t just happen.
If we chose not to make our own choices in life, we put ourselves at the mercy of the other people’s decisions. And we will be tossed about and off track.
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2–4 NASB
Yeshua’s apostle Ya’akov (James) tells us that when we do not know why we are facing such challenges in life, that we are to ask God for wisdom on how we are the mature because of it.
One doesn’t become clean by “survival of the fittest.” One does not become holy without a conscious decision to continue in the holiness that Heaven has granted.
Ya’akov also encourages us to rejoice when we face these trials, because this is how we learn moral navigation. The difficulties of life bring us to the point of asking God for wisdom, which builds perseverance and in the process we become complete, lacking nothing.
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
James 1:5–6 NASB
If we just bounce around from one problem to another, without direction, we will be hopelessly off course and we may end up far from our destination. When difficulties come at us that want to lead us off the path of true north, we have to make a conscious decision to face those things head on and move around them while keeping our eye on our destination.
We need to pay attention to what is leading us towards life and what is leading us towards death and make a conscious decision to go on the direction towards life. We will never end up in the Kingdom without making a daily decision that we want to be in the Kingdom.
“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5:48 NASB
The word that is translated as perfect — τέλειος teleios (G5046) — literally means complete. That word is used in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible for שָׁלֵם shalem (H7999) “be complete, sound.1Brown Driver Briggs lexicon, 1022. From shalem comes שָׁלוֹם shalom (H7965), often translated as peace but more correctly understood as completeness.2Brown Driver Briggs, 1022.
You’re not like looking scrounging around for something else in the world to fulfill you. You are at peace, you are where you need to be. You’re not trying to desperately search for where you need to be. That is when we are “perfect.”
In this world and the world to come, those who are “fit” to approach God will be so because of their conscious choices to continue walking in the Way opened by Heaven and led by Messiah. Righteousness doesn’t just happen (Matt. 5:20). Holiness doesn’t just happen. One can only approach God with intent, with the “heart.”
Choose and remain on the path that leads to life
Recently, we dived into Isaiah 43–44. Before the exile to Babylon, the leaders of Israel were bringing their burnt offerings to the Temple, but they weren’t bringing their hearts and minds to the Presence of the LORD. Their hearts were elsewhere. God said don’t bother bringing your sacrifices if your heart isn’t in it.
We have to have a conscious approach to our spiritual life. If we just float through life, bouncing around between one problem to the next and not exploring what caused those problems and what we can do to fix them, to help prevent them from happening again, we will not be prepared for the Kingdom of Heaven.
It is a conscious approach to the things in life. And that’s what the lessons of clean and unclean are all about. It is about paying attention to the things that are leading you toward life and towards the realm of God, and those things that are leading towards death and the Lake of Fire (Rev. 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8).
The apostle Paul wrote about the “new creation” (Gal. 6:15; 2Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:10, 15; 4:24; Col. 3:10). That is a hint at a return to the Garden, where we will have the breath of life in us, not merely existing but living in holiness and with a purpose.
Just like with the Tabernacle, those things that are in the spiritual realm were replicated in the physical realm so we can learn holiness.
The first generation had to die in the wilderness, because they refused to die to their old selves in Egypt. The second generation were reborn and in their rebirth, they were prepared to live in the Promised Land, once the older generation, those who refused to be reborn, had all died out.
When we realize who God is, and his character revealed in His law, then we see ourselves as wretched in comparison (Rom. 7:22–25).
Like with ancient Israel as a whole, each of us must let our first generation (the “old man”) to die in the wilderness of trust in Heaven, so our second generation (“new man”) can go in and enter Heaven’s rest (Hebrews 3–4). One of the the great instructions Yeshua gave us is to receive the kingdom of God like a child. Paul also brings it out, that we aren’t to be childlike in the sense of being immature but we are to have the curiosity and trust of a child.
It’s in God’s great mercy and love for mankind to lift us up from the mire we’re knowingly or unknowingly trapped in then set us apart to join Heaven in the restoration of the world (Eph. 2:10; 2Tim. 2:21).
Summary: Tammy