Tag: Parashat Kedoshim

Categories
Apostolic Writings Atonement Discussions Torah

Leviticus 16; Hebrews 4–10: ‘Because we have a great High Priest…’

Mosaic from the church of Sant'Apollinare in Clase, Ravenna, Italy, circa mid-6th century AD. Photo by Dick Stracke via Wikipedia Commons.

Here’s the lesson of Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement): The LORD wants us to enter His “rest.” He wants our old way of life to be covered over and the guilt taken away, so we can enter His presence.

This study of the combined Torah reading אחרי מות Acharei Mot (“after the death”) and קדושים Kedoshim (“holinesses”), covering Leviticus 16–20, will be focusing on Hebrews 4:14–10:39. This which dives deep into the role of Yeshua (Jesus) as our High Priest, so we can learn Heaven’s lessons in the parables of the Tabernacle and Yom haKippurim.

Categories
Discussions Torah

Leviticus 19:19-34: The dangers of blending the Sacred and the Profane

A digitally illustrated image features a large, ornate scale at the center, with a background of farmland and rolling hills. Two sheep stand symmetrically on either side of the scale, surrounded by grapevines and plants. The scale's balance pans contain mismatched elements. The text overlay in bold black letters reads: "The dangers of blending the Sacred & the Profane" with a Bible reference to "Leviticus 19:19-34." A logo in the top right corner includes the text "hallel.info." The artwork has a vintage, biblical illustration style.

Lev. 19:19-34 may seem like a disjointed collection of rules about managing servants, textiles and crops. But when we see that these are used as symbols elsewhere for characteristics of people, we can learn God’s lessons that transcend culture and time.

Categories
Discussions Torah

Leviticus 19: The LORD defines what is holy

Leviticus 19 is about God wanting us to be as holy as He is. If we couldn’t be holy as God is holy, God wouldn’t have told us to even try to be holy like Him. If it was utterly too difficult to do, He wouldn’t have told us to do it. This is not a random chapter, inserted out of the blue to dumbfound us. This isn’t merely a book of dos and don’ts.

Categories
Anger Apostolic Writings Discussions Life With God Torah

Real meaning of ‘eye for an eye’: God’s lessons in peace-making

A biblical man and a woman weighing each other on the scales of justice with northern lights. The Real Meaning of "eye for an eye" God's lessons in peacemaking.

Last time, we discussed lashon ha-ra (evil tongue, i.e., gossip, slander and divisiveness) and how it is one of the latter-day plagues among God’s people.

In this excursus, we will explore a related principle taught in Torah by Yeshua and His apostles: proportionality. A number of Christians often consider “eye for an eye and tooth for tooth” an example of the “old covenant” not to live by anymore and quote Yeshua to that effect.

Rather, we’ll see that “eye for an eye” is a Bible parabolic idiom teaching proportionality. The point of justice is to restore the offender to the community, not extract a pound of flesh.