Tag: Parashat Emor

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Prophets and Writings Torah

Clearing the ‘sins of the fathers’: How repentance breaks generational curses (Leviticus 22; 1Kings 2; 1Samuel 21–22; Matthew 12)

"Clearing the 'sins of the fathers': How repentance breaks generational curses." Brass balance scale has one round stone on one side but nothing on the other side. Two stacks of flat round stones are behind the scale.

God has a grand design unfolding over eons and generations, using even flawed individuals to fulfill prophecy. This study explores how through King Saul’s massacre of the priests who gave fugitive David some of the retired Bread of the Presence, God removed Eli’s sinful priestly line as foretold years earlier. Though Saul faced due punishment, God first used his wickedness to kill Eli’s descendants as promised.

Generations after that promise and hundreds of years after the instructions given in Torah reading אָמַר Emor (“say,” Leviticus 21–24), David felt convicted for the priests’ and neighboring villagers’ death but not for what might be considered a minor Torah breach. Yet Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) affirmed that God held David guiltless. God’s plan surpassed surface events, working through personalities with long-term consequences.

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Discussions Torah

‘You are the light of the world’: Importance of an ‘othered’ people for a world dismayed by darkness (Leviticus 21–24)

'You are the light of the world': Importance of an 'other' peoplee for a world dismayed by the darkness (Leviticus 21-24)

The otherness (aka holiness) of the Kingdom of God can be a preservative for the world and an offense. Heaven’s messages and messengers can bring life-saving hope or abhorrent reminders of a life that’s being squandered. A key lesson from the Torah reading אָמַר Emor (“say,” Leviticus 21–24) is the ongoing and recurring work Heaven does through us by way of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ).

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Discussions Pentecost/Shavuot Torah

The Torah secret to Spirit-led transformation at Pentecost (Leviticus 21–24)

The Torah secret to Spirit-led transformation (Leviticus 21-24). Dove flies amid clouds in a blue sky.

Two of the great characteristics of the Creator is that He is both the Holy One, vastly different from us, and God With Us, wanting to be near us.

The otherness of God is a key theme of the Torah reading אָמַר Emor (“say,” Leviticus 21-24), how God is separate from us, how He called the priesthood to be separate from the rest of Israel in service to Him and how we are to live separate from but near to the rest of the world.

This separation, called “holiness,” is not to be taken as a source of arrogance or pride, but as a lesson to the world that God cares so much about us that He does not want us to live in physical and moral filth and disorder. Rather, Heaven wants us to live in physical and moral cleanliness and order. 

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Discussions Jubilee Pentecost/Shavuot Torah

Heaven seeks from us authentic worship and service (Leviticus 21–23)

Heaven seeks from us authentic worship and service (Leviticus 21-23)
Heaven seeks from us authentic worship and service (Torah reading Emor, Leviticus 21-23)

We love great actors when they’re on the screen or stage, but they’re odious when they fill the pews or the pulpits. A key lesson in the Torah reading אָמַר Emor (“say,” Leviticus 21–24) is that those in the service of the Creator of Heaven and Earth (Ex. 19:6; 1Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10) must deeply respect what they’re bringing closer to the Presence: “good gifts” of the heart cry of humankind. And those who bring those gifts must not pretend they’re transparently offering their best, what Heaven has set aside in them from normal ways of an Earth in need of healing.

Parallel to that lesson in Emor is an overview of the key weekly and annual appointments of Heaven with Earth. Two key dates among them are the weekly Shabbat (Sabbath) and the annual Shavu’ot (Pentecost). Both are tied to the Yobel (Jubilee), an ever-50-years reminder that Heaven has an eternal home for humanity and that the path home requires a declaration of freedom from the past.

From these lessons Heaven has provided in time, we can come to understand how Torah is the “law of liberty” (James 1:25; 2:12) that guides us on how to be free in His Kingdom, brought to reality by Yeshua haMashiach (Jesus the Christ). That’s not only freedom from physical debts but also freedom from spiritual debts that we have piled upon ourselves. Learn more through this Bible study.

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Discussions Torah

God wants mercy more than rote obedience (Leviticus 21–24)

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.

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Discussions Torah

Leviticus 23: Witness what Messiah has done, is doing and will do

Like the pattern of the Tabernacle reveals the character and plan of the God and the LORD’s Messiah, the pattern of the LORD’s appointed times (מוֹעֲדֵי יְהוָ֔ה mo’adey YHWH) in Torah reading אָמַר Amar/Emor (“say,” Leviticus 21–24) gives us memorials in time for the patient care of Heaven toward us and our role in the LORD’s appeal to the world.This time, we’ll take a look at the overview of the annual appointments of the LORD, outlined in Leviticus 23. Didn’t the LORD say He hated them (Isa. 1:14)? So why should we care about them?

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Discussions Torah

Leviticus 21–24: A great High Priest fit for saving the world

In the Messianic Age, Messiah Yeshua is the one and only High Priest, forever. But the descendants of Aaron/Zadok will not be pushed to the unemployment line. (Photo by Tijmen van Dobbenburgh /Freeimages.com via Creative commons license).

Rules about “clean” and “unclean” in Leviticus 12–15 (Torah portion אמר Emor, “say”) apply primarily to the priests of Israel, and they are object lessons to teach us about “our great High Priest,” Messiah Yeshuah (Christ Jesus). Priests were held to a higher code of conduct than the regular native-born Israelites, and that will be the case in the Messianic age, too, as described in this week’s parallel reading, Ezekiel 44:15–31.