Tag: Leviticus 18

Categories
Apostolic Writings Atonement Discussions Torah

Heaven’s firewall: How Yom Kippur teaches us to filter thoughts through Yeshua (Leviticus 16–18; 1Corinthians 5–6)

Heaven's firewall: How Yom Kippur teaches us to filter thoughts through Yeshua (Leviticus 16-18; 1Corinthians 5-6). Adobe AI artwork of a woman with exposed brain divided between dark and bright hemispheres.

This study of Torah reading אַחֲרֵי מוֹת Acharei Mot (“after the deaths,” Leviticus 16–18) with 1Corinthians 5–6 explores complex modern moral issues, including organ donation, gender identity and spiritual decay. The seemingly paradoxical dual character of God as “high and lifted up” and “God with us” helps us understand the Messiah’s role as high priest and the two covering-removing offerings of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).

These passages emphasize the need for spiritual discernment. Like a firewall against cyberattacks, we must filter thoughts and experiences through God’s words and recognizing whose voice we are listening to as we navigate the complexities of life, be they ancient or modern.

Categories
Torah readings

Torah reading Acharei Mot (אחרי מות): Leviticus 16–18

Studies in Torah

Should we feel shame for going against the Creator’s instructions? What do we do about that guilt?

Discussed at length in the New Testament letter to the Hebrews, Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement) is one of the most important lessons in the parables connected to the Moedim (appointed times) of the LORD and the Tabernacle. It teaches the grace and mercy the Creator offers by covering all offenses, pointing to the work of the Mashiakh (Christ).

Yom haKippurim, the focus of the Torah reading אַחֲרֵי מוֹת Acharei Mot (“after the deaths,” Leviticus 16–18),  is about freedom from the old life and getting closer to the Giver of Life.

Categories
Apostolic Writings Discussions Torah

Toward a more relevant Torah for today’s world (Leviticus 16–20)

Toward a more relevant Torah for today's world (Leviticus 16-20). Image of a mezzuzah at an angle above a Torah text.

Some are concerned about making the Bible more relevant to modern society, by playing down or sidestepping the “icky” or seemingly backward depictions and instructions in it. However, among the key lessons from the dual Torah reading אחרי מות Acharei Mot (“after the deaths”) and קדושים Kedoshim (“holies/holy”) (Leviticus 16–20) is that the what seems obsolete is anything but that — especially for how they undergird the gospel of Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus).

Categories
Torah readings

Parashot Acharei Mot (אחרי מות) & Kedoshim (קדושים): Leviticus 16–20

Studies in Torah

Should we feel shame for going against the Creator’s instructions? What do we do about that guilt?

Discussed at length in the New Testament letter to the Hebrews, Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement) is one of the most important lessons in the parables connected to the Moedim (appointed times) of the LORD and the Tabernacle. It teaches the grace and mercy the Creator offers by covering all offenses, pointing to the work of the Mashiakh (Christ).

Also part of the dual readings of אחרי מות Acharei Mot (“after the deaths,” Leviticus 16–18) and קדושים Kedoshim (“holies/holy,” Leviticus 19–20) are instructions on eating blood, nakedness and sexual perversion, discernment of things that shouldn’t go together, the “golden rule” and banishment from the people of Israel.

Yom haKippurim is about freedom from the old life and getting closer to the Giver of Life.

Categories
Atonement Torah

Why Christians should still celebrate Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16)

Get over it!: Why Christians need the Day of Atonement now more than ever (Leviticus 16). A woman walks across a cable foot bridge while looking at a lake at sunset.

The Torah reading מות Acharei Mot (“after the deaths,” Leviticus 16–18) takes us through the mysterious and somber rituals of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).

Some may read the Letter to the Hebrews in the Apostolic writings and think that because Yeshua (Jesus) was offered once for all sins, transgressions and iniquities then Yom Kippur is a relic of the “old covenant” between Heaven and Israel.

Instead, we learn throughout the Bible that this annual memorial is really an essential lived-out reminder of Yeshua’s “new covenant,” through which Heaven transforms the whole world into a land of peace. Let’s explore four reasons why Yom Kippur is even more important for believers in Messiah Yeshua to celebrate.

Categories
Discussions Torah

Don’t do dumb stuff, and don’t be like everyone else (Leviticus 16–20)

Don't do dumb stuff, and don't be like everyone else (Leviticus 16-20)
Don't do dumb stuff, and don't be like everyone else (Leviticus 16-20)

There’s an old saying that is common among parents who are trying to teach their children to resist the temptation to follow their peers into making disastrous life-changing mistakes: “If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?” 

God was preparing the children of Israel to enter the Promised Land, a land where the Canaanites who, by God’s account, lived immoral or amoral lives. Underlying the lessons in the Torah passages אחרי מות Acharei Mot and קדושים Kedoshim (“after (the) death” and “holiness,” Leviticus 16–20) on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) and morality is that God did not want the Israelites to follow His laws on autopilot — not in apathy or indifference — but mindfully and purposefully. Learn more through this Bible study.

Categories
Apostolic Writings Atonement Discussions Prophets and Writings Torah

Leviticus 16: Acknowledge the shame, then let Messiah remove it

Life is a terminal condition. The only hope to live forever is to avoid rebellion against the Source of all life, to repent when we do rebel against the God of Israel and to put oneself in the hands of the LORD’s Messiah always. The Torah reading אחרי מות Acharei Mot (“after the death,” Leviticus 16–18) centers on Yom haKippurim, (“Day of Coverings,” or Day of Atonement). We learn from Isaiah 53 and Hebrews 10 that we can’t accept the offering of Yeshua (Jesus) for our sins, transgressions and iniquities and for our salvation without acknowledging that we had a hand in the death of the Christ.