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Torah 101-Bahar-BeChukkotai Double Portion ANSWERS TO LAST WEEKS STUDY QUESTIONS (from Emor)

I.

1) Question for Leviticus 21: How does one statement in this chapter help refute the common Christian misconception of Dispensationalism? KI ANI YAHWEH MEKADESHO (21:15) = For I, Yahweh, make you SetApart. This is a very important statement that is overlooked by Christianity when they insist that Jews believed (or still believe) that rituals make them Set-Apart but now the new dispensation of Christ has come to make them holy now. The fact is, we have always been under grace and never have we been made holy by rituals in the Torah. Instead, as we see clearly here, it is Yahweh Himself who makes us Set-Apart, and this He has always done and will always do. He makes us Set-Apart when we do His will, His Torah, His commandments (Genesis 26:5). 2) Question for Leviticus 22: Two statements in this chapter and one in the previous one discuss the relationship between ritual cleanness/uncleanness and moral purity/impurity. When are these two concepts related (i.e. ritual uncleanness = bad person) and when are they not related? The three statements are LECHEM ELOHAV MIKODESHEY HA-KADOSHIM UMIN-HA KODASHIM YOCHEL (21:22) = he may eat the food offerings of his Elohim, both the Set-Apart of Set-Aparts as well as the (regular) Set-Apart (offerings). The blemish or other issue is treated as a sign of uncleanness that cannot be remedied as long as he has the problem. However, it is important to note here that said deformity does NOT cut the Levitical man off from eating the most Set-Apart offerings given to his family. What this teaches us is that PHYSICAL impurity does not necessarily mean MORAL impurity since that person is not cut off or separated in any way from the priests. Rather, it only bars such a person from doing the work of the priests, usually because the intense physical labor is incompatible with their condition or because the objects in the Tabernacle must maintain their purity. Similarly a woman or man who is ritually unclean is not a bad person either but is only barred from being in the camp or in proximity to the sanctuary. 1|Page

VELO YOCHAL MIN HA-KODASHIM KI IM RACHATS BESARO BAMAYIM (22:6) = and he will not eat of the Set-Apart offerings until he has immersed his flesh in water. Here the Torah makes a distinction between those who are in a position to remedy their uncleanness voluntarily and those who cannot. Dovetailing with the previous discussion on how a Levite with a permanent infirmity still eats of even the most Set-Apart food, it is because that Levite has no remedy for his condition that such is allowed for him. But for a regular Israelite, if they can remedy their uncleanness simply by waiting for sunset and washing and choose not to do so, they are in rebellion and are therefore cut off. VESHAMERU ET-MISHMARTI VE-LO YISU ALAV CHET UMETU YECHAELUHU (22:9) = they will keep my charge and not lift up (the offering) in a sinful way that will cause them to die. The priests who are ritually unclean and have remedy to become clean again are culpable if they do not follow these instructions. Again, being unclean ritually is not a moral issue unless you can remedy it and choose not to. If a blemish renders a Levite permanently unclean they are not judged morally inferior but are merely denied the right to serve in the Tabernacle. 3) Question for Leviticus 23: How do the details on the moedim in this chapter help us recover the entire month of the Jericho campaign as recorded in the book of Joshua? VELECHEM VEKALI VECHARMEL LO TOCHULU AD-ETSEM HAYOM HAZEH (23:14) = and bread and roasted grain and fresh grain you will not eat until that day. While the general prohibition against leavened bread remains intact from the evening of the 14th to the evening of the 21st for Pesach, and while you also can ONLY have unleavened bread during this time, this commandment is dealing with another matter. Roasted grain and fresh grain or new grain, is also not allowed until the 16 th, regardless as to how it is baked. This also is absolutely critical for interpreting a majorly important chronology in Joshua 5:
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The Israelites pitched their camp at Gilgal and kept the Passover there on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, in the plain of Jericho. 11 On the very next day after the Passover, they ate what the land produced, unleavened bread and roasted ears of corn. 12 The manna stopped the day after they had eaten the produce of the land. The Israelites from that year onwards ate the produce of Canaan and had no more manna. (Joshua 5:10-12 NJB) What this tells us is the manna stopped on the day AFTER the 16th, because prior to the 16th they could NOT eat fresh grain or roasted grain. That means it must be on the 17th, and the only day the manna ever stopped falling was on the Shabbat, so Saturday morning must be the 17th of Abib, as it is in the 2|Page

year Tanakh points to for the Jericho campaign, 1405 BCE. It also proves that the omer count had to begin on the 16th and not Sunday, because in 1405 BCE it had to be a Friday! 4) Question for Leviticus 24: Leviticus 24 talks about blaspheming in the Name of YHWH, but how is this concept applied differently by Yshua on the one hand and the Pharisees on the other, at the same time and in the same act, as recorded in the NT? (Mar 3:28) Truly I say to you, that all sins and blasphemies (gadaph) that the sons of man will blaspheme will be forgiven them. (Mar 3:29) But he who blasphemes (gadaph) against the Ruach haKodesh has no forgiveness ever, rather he is guilty before the eternal judgment." The Aramaic reads a little differently than the Greek because it is SONS OF MEN in Aramaic as opposed to the Son of Man or Yshua in the Greek, but either way the thought is the same. YHWH is most gracious to forgive blasphemies, except for that of Ruach ha Kodesh because the Ruach ha Kodesh is simply another title for YHWH Himself! Therefore to blaspheme against the Ruach is to deny its powerYHWHs powerto set up the kingdom. As Yshuas kingdom rolls out, the penalties become harder, and anything that could prevent his sacrifice and resurrection meets with this higher punishment. As such, blaspheming against the RHK cannot be repeated today. Still, reviling the power of YHWH in any form is never a good idea, but even going from the Greek, at least he is gracious enough to forgive those who blaspheme HIM as sent by his Father. Heres another example: Act 18:5 And when Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was impeded in discourse, because the Jews stood up against him, and reviled (gadaph), as he testified to them that Y'shua is the Mashiyach. Here reviled can be thought of as blasphemy because the reviling is against YHWHs own redemptive model of what He meant to do with His Son. The crowds may have thought they were only insulting Paul but they were actually insulting Elohim out of their own ignorance. And this brings us to a key point. Luke is saying there is blasphemy for that 3|Page

reason, going against the will of YHWH, but the rabbis also used this definition when Yshua went against their Oral Law (Mat 26:63) But Y'shua was silent and the high priest said to him, "I adjure you by the living Elohim, that you tell us if you are the Mashiyach, the Son of Elohim." (Mat 26:64) Y'shua said to him, "You have said it! But I say to you that from now on you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming upon the clouds of heaven."279 (Mat 26:65) Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "Behold he blasphemes! Why therefore do we need witnesses? Behold now you have heard this blasphemy.280 By the written Torah Yshua is blameless. He has not only accurately answered a question but, in addition to that, he has further kept Torah by not reviling (QALAL) a leader of his people! Nor is it blasphemy to quote the book of Daniel when in fact Yshua was supposed to justify his views from the Scripture! But in the minds of the Pharisees it became blasphemy because Yshua in their mind could not be the Mashiyach. 5) Haftorah Question of the Week: Ezekiel 44:15-21 Ezekiel 44:19 talks about transmitting sanctification to the people from the Set-apart garments of the priests, but Haggai 2:11-14 seems to say the opposite, that the unclean things defile the Set-apart objects. How do we resolve the apparent contradiction, assuming there is one? Ezekiel 44:19 When they go out into the outer court to the people, they will put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the set apart chambers so that they will not transmit Set-Apartness to the people through their garments. This is very curious because usually it works the other way around. How do you transmit sanctification through clothing? In Haggai chapter 2:11-14 for example we are told that unclean things will defile the set-apart ones rather than have the unclean ones be made sanctified.
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'Yahweh Sabaoth says this, "Ask the priests to give a ruling on this: If someone is carrying consecrated meat in the fold of his gown and allows the fold to touch bread, broth, wine, oil or food of any kind, will that become holy?" ' The priests replied, 'No.' 13 Haggai then said, 'If anyone rendered unclean by contact with a corpse touches any of these things, will that become unclean?' The priests replied, 'It will become unclean.' 14 Haggai then spoke out. 'It is the same with this people,' he said, 'the same with this nation, in my view -- Yahweh 4|Page

declares -- the same with everything they turn their hands to; and whatever they offer here is unclean. (Haggai 2:11-14 NJB) The risk is the oppositethe Set-Apart becomes profane, except here. Why? Because in another form this can be fatal, like touching the Ark of the Covenant illegally and being killed, and many other examples in Tanakh. Its like electricity going through your body for a fatal electric shock. But in the Gospels we have one woman who touches Yshua from his tzit tzit and gets healed. She is lucky to be alivebecause Yshua found and blessed her to minimize damage from the power going out of him without it being uncontrolled. Yshua is a transformer for his own raw power. He adjusted the power after finding her to in effect save her life. Because Yshua is at the top of his game, in some cases, he can heal with a word or at a distance, but always through actively controlling it. The power though was not in his clothes but in him, whereas the priests had no power in themselves, but in the garments that were processed according to YHWHs command. Its a beautiful image, that though drained he thought of the woman rather than his own fatigue. He finds her, helps her and blesses her. As should we! When we provide comfort to others, we let our power shine from within us, who we are in Yshua, rather than by what we wear.

II.

QUESTIONS FOR THIS TORAH PORTION (Bahar-BeChukkotai) Please NOTE: For clarity and time constraints, if I elect to not read the whole parsha (which is the case this week) I may still ask questions relating to the portions I did not read!

1) Question for Leviticus 25: Why do we have to go all the way through to near the end of Leviticus to in effect catch back up with the chronology given all the way back at the end of Exodus? 2) Question for Leviticus 26: There is a Hebrew term in this chapter that has become part of the name of one of the presidents of the United States. What is the term, who is the president and what does it mean? 3) Question for Leviticus 27:

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How is one core assumption that runs through both Leviticus 26 and 27 contradicted by Rabbinic tradition? 4) Haftorah Question of the Week: Jeremiah 16:19-17:14; 32:6-27 Jeremiahs scribe is listed along with his father and grandfathers names. Together they all spell out a message. What is that message? 5) Renewed Covenant Commentary: Luke 4:16-21, Galatians 5:1-13 and Ephesians 2:11-19 Luke 4:18 42) Aramaic literally reads, "free those who are oppressed by the power of forgiveness", but that could leave the wrong impression that the power of forgiveness is oppressing them! Instead, the verse says, "free those who are oppressedhave their oppression endbecause of the power of forgiveness. This is a great example of how a "word for word" translation could potentially result in an unintentional meaning. Luke 4:19 43) This language is specific to either a Land Sabbath (shemittah) or a Jubilee (yovel) year according to Torah, when the land is required to rest. The occasion that Yshua is referring to here, is him freeing the captives in Sheol after his death (Isa_58:6; Isa_61:1-2). Yshuas burial and resurrection occurred in the year 30 CE, during a Land Sabbath. Galatians 5:2 60) If a person is immersed (baptized) or circumcised to please the status quo, it profits them nothing. Paul is referring to traditional, religious, Pharisaical, peer group circumcisions that are required before acceptance into status quo religious organizations. Christians who have been baptized into the name of a denomination can likely relate to this as well. Many Christians choose to be re-baptized after realizing their former baptism was into a denominational religion, rather than into the Kingdom of Elohim. Galatians 5:3 61) The word tob has multiple meanings; the root means "to return" and this covers several related ideas. Semitic thought has always viewed morality as a straight path (Isa_40:3, Mat_3:3). An evil person is one who is lost or has taken a crooked path, but if he repents he is said to have "turned back." That is why a variant on this word, teshuvah means "to repent." In this case, Rav Shaul is literally "returning" to his main point. 6|Page

Galatians 5:4 62) Some seek "justification" through observance of Torah, others seek it by not observing Torah; both pursuits are based on man's religion. The answer is to observe Torah in YHWH and His Mashiyach and live righteously as Y'shua did. Put trust and Faith in YHWH, not in works or religion, but as co-laborers with Mashiyach! Galatians 5:6 63) This can also mean "perfected." Galatians 5:10 64) Maran, always refers to Y'shua as "our Master" and is a common narrative term throughout the NT. Galatians 5:11 65) In other words, if he went back and preached salvation through physical circumcision in the context of tradition, rather than Torah. Rav Shaul clearly indicates that religious tradition, which overruled Torah, was the majority view within the religious welter of his day. Therefore, if he preached the "party line" he would no longer be persecuted. But persecution came about because he exposed religious tradition and taught that Torah requires understanding and a circumcised heart before physical circumcision. 66) The upright "stake" brings to mind the "pole" which YHWH instructed Moshe to hold up in Num_21:8. A brass serpent was put upon the pole and when the people looked upon it, they were healed from the bite of the snake. So it is, that when people are bitten by the "serpent" (Gen_3:15), they must look to Mashiyach for healing and deliverance. The cross was introduced by pagans; it was formerly a symbol of the Babylonian sun god as cruciforms indicate. Later, Julius Caesar and his heirs struck coins with symbols of the cross (solar wheel) to commemorate the sun god. The Roman Emperor Constantine was a sun worshipper who became a Christo-Pagan and advanced Hellenized Christianity, making his "version of Christianity" the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Greek "stauros" also denotes an upright stake; the verb stauroo means to drive stakes. The Greek "xulon" denotes a timber or a log or any piece of dead wood. Bullinger's Companion Bible notes that, "Our English word "cross" is the translation of the Latin crux; but the Greek stauros no more means a crux than the word "stick" means a "crutch." See Pole, The Standard, in Appendix. Galatians 5:12 7|Page

67) Or, literally "cut off" which, given the subject matter, has an ironic and almost dark humorous twist. Ephesians 2:11 18) This pertains to physical circumcision alone, without Torah context/teaching. See footnote on Gal_6:13 and Jer_9:1-26. Ephesians 2:12 19) "Devarim" is the Hebrew cognate for the Aramaic "duboree" which literally means "words". Devarim is the Hebrew name for the fifth book of Torah, also called Deuteronomy. "These are the words which Moses spoke unto all Israel" (Deu_1:1). It is these words that form the basis of the Kedoshim "Set Apart" believers in the household of Elohim. Clearly, "fellowcitizens" of Israel (The Israel of Elohim) are called to have YHWH's Set Apart (Holy) "words" (Torah) written upon our hearts according to Jer_31:33. See also Rom_11:16-36. 20) Greek reads "strangers to the Commonwealth of Israel". Aramaic reads "strangers to the duboree of Israel and to the covenant of the promise." YHWH identifies Israel according to their obedience to Covenant, rather than after the flesh. The Renewed Covenant in Jer_31:31-34/Heb_8:8 is first made with Israel and Judah and then offered to others from the nations who choose to live in obedience to the Covenant. Furthermore, in a very interesting admission, translator John Wesley Etheridge translates duboree d'Aisrayl here as "polity of Israel" but adds in his footnotes regarding this phrase, "the manners, or regulations, of Israel." In other words, he is looking at the nations' divorcement from the intricate rules of Israel and not some obscure moral distillation of Torah, as a bad thing! This reading might even go beyond my own rendering of "citizenship of Israel" but the point is the same. If the Ephesians are citizens of Israel, then they are subject to her "words" and "regulations" as well! Ephesians 2:14 21) Aramaic for wall is syaga. Ironically, this exact term was picked up by the Talmudic rabbis in Pirkei Avot (Sayings of the Fathers) 1:1 that commanded, "make a fence around the Torah." Y'shua specifically warned against this activity in Matthew 15, rebuking the Pharisees in the process. Later on, Y'shua said he was the "door/gate" using a synonym for syaga, known as taarea, which is a homonym "torah" and "teachers," meaning the Pharisees. So while the Pharisees are busy erecting their fence, Y'shua is pulling it down, allowing everyone access!

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Ephesians 2:15 22) The grammatical structure here fully guarantees that namusa is referring to "customs" as in the traditions of the Pharisees, not Torah itself. Mashiyach abolishes the "enmity" (hatred or animosity) that has been brought against YHWH by religious tradition and false interpretations of Torah, which was a heavy burden that people could not bear. Christian theologians, however, twist this verse and teach that it was YHWH's Torah that brought the hatred and that Mashiyach did away with Torah, which is a very reckless and evil theology. Mashiyach sent the Ruach haKodesh to write YHWH's Torah upon the hearts of his people, not abolish it. See Eighteen New Testament Misconceptions #11: Commandments Nailed to the Torture Stake in Appendix. 23) Qnoma can mean "core substance" or "occurrence." Although Greek reads "self" Aramaic does not; "self" leads to assumptions of "personhood" which breeds idolatry.

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