Tag: clean and unclean

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Anger Discussions Gossip and Slander Life With God

Lassoing lashon ha-ra (evil tongue): Grappling with gossip and slander in God’s family

Studies in Prophets and Writings

We’re taking an excursus from our exploration of Yeshua’s “apocalyptic discourse” in Matthew 24-25, Luke 21 and Mark 13 to explore one of the most pervasive sins among God’s people today. It’s not the Sabbath. It’s not sexual deviance. This is a study about kosher — distinguishing between “clean” and “unclean” — and God’s judgment on the Day of the Lord.

There is a deeper meaning of kosher and what God considers “clean.” Many are very concerned about Moses’ commands about eating kosher, but little concern about Yeshua’s command to speak kosher.

Apostle Ya’akov (James) wrote a lot about the essential matter of keeping control of what comes out of one’s mouth.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Luke 18:9-27: Enough with trust in our righteousness and other stuff!

Jeff

There are several questions posed in Luke 18 on faith, which as we’ve seen in verses 1–8 is better translated as trust. Do we trust in God’s justice or our own vengeance? Do we trust in God’s righteousness or in our own righteousness?

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Apostolic Writings Discussions

Luke 15:1-2: Loving the Lost, part 1: Yeshua shows how God makes sinners righteous

Jeff

At the beginning of a chapter with three parables about God’s seeking to bring back to the Kingdom of God those who are “lost,” Yeshua demonstrated how God makes the “unholy” “holy.”

We are in danger of making God’s name common and of no repute — i.e., “taking it in vain” — if we reject those who He is calling to Himself just because they don’t have the same understanding we have.

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Appointments With God Tabernacles

Sukkot: Feast of holiness

Sukkot, the festival of Booths or Tabernacles, is more than just remembering Israel had to live in tents between deliverance from Egypt and entrance into the Promised Land. Part of preparing to live in God’s presence is learning how to keep ourselves “clean” and holy — set apart from the evil of the world while in the world — so that we can prepare for a prophesied time when God’s people will teach the nations.

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Discussions Torah

George Washington’s vision at Valley Forge and God’s approach to sanctification (Leviticus 21–22)

A bronze statue of George Washington stands outdoors against a backdrop of autumn trees and a blue sky. Bold yellow text overlays the image, reading: “George Washington’s vision at Valley Forge and God’s approach to sanctification — Leviticus 21–22.” The bottom right corner includes a small logo for hallel.info.

These two chapters of Leviticus and the vision George Washington had at Valley Forge during the U.S. War of Independence have some interesting connections.

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Discussions Torah

Yeshua the High Priest declares clean and unclean (Leviticus 13–15)

This text could be called the “leprosy” text, except that it’s about more than examining one’s skin. There are spiritual applications, too. An example is the need to examine our hearts to see if we have surface sin or deep ingrained sin that we need our High Priest Yeshua to diagnose and atone. Sometimes we need to isolate ourselves and contemplate the issue deeply for seven to 14 days to wrestle with the issue.

God calls us “priests and kings.” But there is only one true High Priest, Yeshua, and He is the one who declares us “clean” or “unclean.”

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Discussions Torah

Animals, Holiness, and You: How Leviticus Trains Spiritual Discernment

A stylized digital illustration in a layered paper-origami and textured palette-knife art style depicts an ancient Israelite priest standing on a rocky hillside at sunset, holding an open Torah scroll and gazing across a valley filled with livestock. Animals illuminated by warm golden light stand apart from others shaded in deep blue tones, visually representing the distinction between clean and unclean animals. Above the landscape, the clouds and glowing sky subtly form the shape of uplifted hands in blessing. Rich earth tones, golds, purples, and blues create a contemplative atmosphere of holiness, discernment, and reverence. Large title text on the right reads, “Animals, Holiness, & You: How Leviticus Trains Spiritual Discernment.” A small Hallel.info logo appears in the lower-left corner.

The phrase “unclean” and “abomination” are different words. The reason that God introduces certain animals clean and fit to eat versus unclean and unfit to eat is a lesson to us to look at the character of the animals. The length of a woman’s purification is twice as long for a female child as a male child. Liberals claim this is about a lack of thankfulness for the female child, but the real issue is the health of the mother after childbirth.