Starting after Sukkot 2024, Hallel Fellowship switched to a three-year cycle of Torah and parallel Bible readings (2024–2027), outlined by TorahResource. While there’s ancient evidence for a triennial cycle, a major benefit is to provide more time to mine more of Scripture for lessons.
Readings
- Leviticus 15
- Hosea 6:1–9
- Matthew 23:25–26
Corresponding reading in the 1-year Torah cycle
Insights from this week’s readings
Leviticus 15; Hosea 6:1–9 and Matthew 23:25–26 are connected by the theme of purity — moving from ritual purity, to covenant faithfulness, to inner spiritual transformation. Leviticus focuses on physical impurity and the means of restoration. Hosea warns that ritual observance without covenant loyalty is meaningless. Yeshua (Jesus) applies the same principle by condemning religious leaders who maintained external purity while neglecting inner righteousness. Together, the passages reveal that God’s ultimate goal is not merely ceremonial cleanness but a purified heart that produces faithful obedience.
Bottom line: The progression is easy to follow. Leviticus teaches how an unclean person can return to fellowship with God. Hosea teaches that outward religious acts are insufficient without love and faithfulness. Matthew teaches that true cleansing begins inside the heart and then flows outward into one’s actions. The same God who established ritual purity in the Torah ultimately seeks moral and spiritual purity in His people.
Clean, pure
One of the central Hebrew terms is טָהוֹר tahor (“clean, pure”) found throughout Leviticus 15. The Septuagint (LXX) commonly translates it as καθαρός katharos (“clean, pure”). In Matthew 23:26, Yeshua uses the same Greek root: καθάρισον πρῶτον τὸ ἐντὸς katharison prōton to entos (“first cleanse the inside”). The verb καθαρίζω katharizō (“to cleanse”) appears frequently in the New Testament regarding both ritual and spiritual cleansing. Examples include Matthew 8:2–3 (cleansing a leper), Mark 1:40–42, Luke 17:14, Acts 10:15 (“What God has cleansed”), Ephesians 5:26, and 1 John 1:7.
Bottom line: This shows that Yeshua did not reject the Torah’s concept of purity. Instead, He expanded its meaning. The ritual cleansing laws pointed beyond themselves toward the deeper cleansing that God desires in the human heart.
Unclean
The opposite term in Leviticus 15 is טָמֵא tamei (“unclean”). The Septuagint regularly translates it as ἀκάθαρτος akathartos (“without cleansing”). This Greek term appears throughout the New Testament, especially regarding unclean spirits (Matthew 10:1; Mark 1:23; Luke 4:36; Acts 5:16). The pairing of katharos and akathartos mirrors the Hebrew distinction between tahor and tamei.
Bottom line: Scripture uses physical uncleanness as a picture of spiritual defilement. Just as an unclean person needed cleansing before entering sacred space, sinners need God’s cleansing before entering His presence.
Loyal love
Hosea 6 emphasizes חֶסֶד chesed/khesed, often translated “steadfast love,” “covenant loyalty,” or “faithful love.” In Hosea 6:6 God declares, “I desire chesed and not sacrifice.” The Septuagint translates khesed here as ἔλεος eleos (“mercy”). This is significant because Yeshua quotes Hosea 6:6 twice in Matthew 9:13 and Matthew 12:7 using the exact Greek phrase: ἔλεος θέλω καὶ οὐ θυσίαν eleos thelō kai ou thysian (“I desire mercy and not sacrifice”).
The Greek word eleos appears throughout the New Testament: Luke 1:50, Luke 1:54, Romans 9:16, Ephesians 2:4, Titus 3:5, and Hebrews 4:16. In the Septuagint it frequently translates Hebrew khesed.
Bottom line: God’s complaint was never that sacrifices were wrong. Rather, sacrifices were intended to express a faithful relationship with Him. When people performed rituals without covenant loyalty, they missed the purpose of worship.
Knowledge of God
Hosea 6:6 also contains the phrase “knowledge of God.” The Hebrew is דַּעַת אֱלֹהִים da’at Elohim. The Septuagint translates this as ἐπίγνωσις θεοῦ epignōsis Theou (“full knowledge of God”). The noun epignōsis becomes important in the New Testament, appearing in Colossians 1:9–10, Ephesians 1:17, Philippians 1:9, and 2Peter 1:2–3.
Bottom line: Biblical “knowledge” means much more than information. It describes a covenant relationship. God wanted Israel to know Him personally rather than merely perform religious duties.
Return, repent
Hosea 6:1 begins with the call, “Come, let us return.” The Hebrew verb is שׁוּב shuv (“return, repent”). The Septuagint translates it with forms of ἐπιστρέφω epistrephō (“turn back, return”). This Greek verb becomes one of the primary New Testament words for repentance and conversion. Examples include Acts 3:19, Acts 11:21, Acts 14:15, Acts 26:20, and 1Thessalonians 1:9.
Bottom line: Repentance in Scripture is not merely feeling sorry. It means turning back to God and restoring a broken relationship.
Inward purity
Matthew 23:25–26 focuses on inward purity. Yeshua contrasts the “outside” (ἔξωθεν exōthen) with the “inside” (ἔντος entos). The Pharisees carefully cleaned the exterior while neglecting the interior. This language echoes many prophetic critiques, including Isaiah 29:13, where people honor God with their lips while their hearts remain distant.
The Greek term καθαρίζω katharizō used by Yeshua in Matthew 23:26 appears repeatedly in the Septuagint translating Hebrew roots such as טָהֵר taher (“cleanse, purify”). Examples include Leviticus 14:7, Leviticus 15:13, Psalm 51:2, and Ezekiel 36:25.
Bottom line: Yeshua’s message was not revolutionary but deeply rooted in the Torah and Prophets. He was calling Israel back to the original intent of God’s commandments.
Robbery, greed, plunder
Another key term in Matthew 23:25 is ἁρπαγή harpagē (“robbery, greed, plunder”). Yeshua says the inside of the cup is full of greed and self-indulgence. The related verb ἁρπάζω harpazō (“to seize, snatch”) appears in Matthew 11:12, John 10:12, Acts 8:39, 2 Corinthians 12:2–4, and 1Thessalonians 4:17.
In the Septuagint, forms of harpazō often translate Hebrew גָּזַל gazal, (“rob, plunder”), חָטַף khataph (“snatch”), and טָרַף taraph (“tear away”).
Bottom line: Yeshua reveals that impurity is not merely a ceremonial issue. Greed, exploitation, and selfishness can make a person spiritually unclean even if they appear religious on the outside.
Washing
Leviticus 15 repeatedly speaks of washing with water. Water in the Torah often symbolizes purification and restoration. This theme develops through the prophets, especially Ezekiel 36:25: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean.”
The Septuagint uses katharos (clean) and katharizō (to cleanse) language here as well. This imagery reaches fulfillment in New Testament passages such as John 3:5, Titus 3:5, Hebrews 10:22, and Ephesians 5:26.
Bottom line: Physical washing was never merely about hygiene. It pointed toward God’s promise to cleanse His people inwardly through His Spirit.
Messiah the Cleanser
Leviticus 15 establishes humanity’s need for cleansing. Hosea 6 reveals that covenant loyalty and knowledge of God matter more than empty ritual. Matthew 23 shows that the deepest impurity lies within the human heart. Yeshua fulfills the Bible’s trajectory by providing the cleansing anticipated by the Torah, the restored covenant relationship proclaimed by the Prophets, and the inward transformation promised in the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31–34; Ezekiel 36:25–27).
Bottom line: God cares about both the outside and the inside, but the inside comes first. Rituals, traditions, and religious practices have value when they flow from a heart devoted to God. Through Messiah, God provides the cleansing, mercy, and transformation necessary for His people to walk in true holiness.
Related studies
Leper Messiah cures the toxic mold of the soul (Leviticus 14; Isaiah 53)
How the Messiah breathes life into ‘the walking dead’ (Leviticus 12–15)
Leviticus 14-15: Don’t tell God what He can and can’t do. Just don’t.
How did God deal with those who slander Him personally? Can such a person receive a pardon? The Torah defines the unpardonable sin as speaking evil against God. How does one speak evil against God? When one says that there is something that God doesn’t have the strength and power to do, that is speaking evil of God. According to the Jewish sages, God used the penalty of “leprosy” or tzarat to punish busy-bodies, gossips and slanderers who habitually spread evil speech (lashon hara) among their neighbors. When a tzarat was healed, he or she had to undergo a profound ritual…
Leviticus 12–15: Dishing and spreading the dirt is easy; preventing its spread is hard
Leviticus 14–15: Yeshua, the Healer of our leprous lifestyle
Leviticus 15:1-16:19: Uncleanness of mankind and cleansing on Yom haKippurim
Leviticus 14: Cleansing the ‘leprous’ houses of our souls
Messianic prophecy in Elisha and four leper ‘saviors’ (2nd Kings 7)
Yeshua the High Priest declares clean and unclean (Leviticus 13–15)
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