Tag: Parashat Emor

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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.

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Discussions Torah

Leviticus 21–24: How the High Priest deals with death

The first tombs in the Bible were caves. This burial cave was found in the Bitan Aharon nature reserve. Photo by supplied by David Padfield © Padfield.com and released under a Creative Commons License.

In the Torah reading אמר Emor (“to say, speak or tell”), we will spend most of our time together discussing how God instructed the High Priest and the priestly line to respond to the reality of death around them. We will also ponder how God teaches us to give and receive charity and the difference between legalism and obedience in keeping Torah and God’s appointed times, aka the festivals of Yisrael.

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Discussions Torah

Leviticus 21–24: What good is holiness?

Illustration from the 1728 Figures de la Bible; illustrated by Gerard Hoet (1648–1733) and others, and published by P. de Hondt in The Hague; image courtesy Bizzell Bible Collection, University of Oklahoma Libraries via Wikipedia Commons.

The Torah reading אמר Emor (“say,” Leviticus 21–24) calls YHWH’s servants to model a different way of life and keep anniversaries of important things Heaven has done, is doing and will do to make things right again, particularly the mission of Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ).

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Appointments With God Discussions Torah

Overview of Shabbat and God’s appointments (Leviticus 23)

How do we proclaim a Holy Day? By making it a priority in our schedule to show up and attend to it. (Photo by Dwayne Blee/Freeimages.com via Creative Commons license)

An appointment can be a place, a time or an event. When we use the word moedim, it’s an appointment or an assignment. The Tabernacle of Meeting is the Tabernacle of Appointments. When we “proclaim” His holy days, God can work in us to sanctify us. How do you proclaim an appointed time? Proclaiming is an active verb, not a passive verb. It’s not something we say, it’s something we do. You proclaim an appointed time or moedim by what you do on that day. You either do it or don’t do it. You show up or you don’t. If you do it, you are proclaiming it. If you ignore it and don’t do it, you aren’t proclaiming it.

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Discussions Torah

Priests separate themselves for holy work (Leviticus 22)

Priests separate themselves for holy work

Is this of any value to us in the 21st century? Just as in Leviticus 21, Leviticus 22 is about the function and lifestyle of the High Priest in the physical plane. I want to reiterate this to try to not move this in the 21st century. Imagine you were living in Moshe: You were only a year beyond Mitsraim (Egypt), and you are learning this for the first time.

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Discussions Torah

Purity of Messiah as Melchizedekian priest foretold (Leviticus 21)

Purity of Messiah

All of Leviticus is primarily addressed to the priesthood, but Leviticus 21 is about qualifications of the High Priest, not regular priests or the lay Israelites. There are things that other Israelites can do, within limits that are totally forbidden to the High Priest. His family, descendants of Aharon (Aaron) is held to a higher standard than other families. This chapter also shows us how holy — set apart — our High Priest, Yeshua, was to be.