Parasha Acharei Mot 5784

Me

This week we read Parasha Acharei Mot, Leviticus 16:1-18:30, and it opens with a detailed discussion on the procedures for the Yom Kippur service by the Kohanim in the Mishkan, including the process by which the Kohen Gadol is to enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement.

Chapter 17 deals specifically with the biblical reality that the life of an animal is in its blood and that sacrifices are to only be made at the Tabernacle, and not just anywhere one may desire any longer, and especially not to false gods. Verses 10-12 also hones in on the concept of the blood being the life-force by prohibiting the consumption of any blood.

And chapter 18 discusses forbidden relationships such as, but not limited to, incest, adultery, and homosexuality. Adonai then clarifies that these forbidden relationships are commonly practiced by the Canaanites and part of the reason they are being dispossessed from the Land and that if Israel assumes the lifestyles and practices of the Canaanites then the Land will vomit Israel out just as it is doing to the Canaanites.

Realistically, and we’ll see this more so begin to develop with next week’s Parasha, Parasha Kedoshim, as a whole Leviticus 17-26 has one distinct theme through out, and this is a call to holiness and in Judaism we call this section of Leviticus the “Holiness Code”. And what is most important about the Holiness Code is that it is often capped with the phrase, “You are to be holy because, I Adonai your God, am Holy.”

I’ve never really been one that fits in well… When I was in high school, I really didn’t fit into any specific groups… I was friends with people in and floated through quite a few, but I wasn’t a permanent fixture of any of the social structure puzzles in school. And I really wasn’t one to try to fit in either… I knew who I was, I knew just by being a Messianic Jew I was going to kind of be an outsider… But I was never trying to be like everyone else, I have always just been me.

I’m the same way as a rabbi… I am definitely not what a most people imagine when they think of a rabbi… I act different, I dress different, I ride a motorcycle… In general, I just don’t fit in any particular mold.

And in my walk with the Lord this is how I still live. I am not trying to be like the world around me, I’m not trying to make anyone comfortable with who I am, I’m not trying to change to be like anyone else or to meet any specific assumptions about what I should be. My only concern is what God thinks of me and if I am modeling His image and likeness in my life.

We

And this is a key reality that we as believers need to learn… The Body of Messiah has spent most of the last several decades trying to be “seeker friendly” and in turn we have created an atmosphere where we are trying to make the world comfortable in our midst… We have created an environment where we strive so much to avoid offending anyone so that they can hear the Gospel that we’ve ended up in many ways watering down the Word of God to make the world more comfortable with who we are.

But we are specifically and continually called to be set apart, righteous and holy. We are called to not look like and to not act like the world around us so that they we can glorify the Lord with our lives and so that the world around us will see Him in us and want what we have.

I think, in a lot of ways, what we have done to the Body of Messiah is turned it into an embodiment of the high school teenager trying so hard to fit in that their individuality is completely lost in the mix. And for us that individuality is the Good News of Yeshua, but we’ve somehow relegated the Good News of Yeshua as a back burner issue in order to make people feel more comfortable and not be offended so that eventually they will hear the Good News.

God

So as we dig into Parasha Acharei Mot today we are going to be establishing a foundation for the call to holiness and what this means and looks like for us as followers of Messiah Yeshua today. And with this idea of holiness before the Lord and holiness before the world in mind, I want us to consider this principle today:

A biblically holy culture should be our priority, which by its very nature is antithetical to the culture of the world around us.

(Repeat)

The truth is, the Body of Messiah is the ultimate counter-cultural reality, the ultimate counter-cultural revolution… Look at all these college and university campuses over run with people simply wanting to be counter-cultural, and the Body of Messiah, the Gospel of Yeshua has the ultimate answer to that yearning…

So let’s dive into the word together this Shabbat…

Leviticus 18:1–5 TLV

Adonai said to Moses: “Speak to Bnei-Yisrael and say to them: I am Adonai your God. You are not to act as they do in the land of Egypt, where you used to live. Nor are you to act as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, nor are you to walk in their customs. You are to obey My ordinances and keep My statutes and walk in them—I am Adonai your God. So you are to keep My statutes and My ordinances. The one who does them will live by them. I am Adonai.

Most of the rest of Leviticus 18 goes through a detailed list of forbidden relations and sexual sins which are objected to by Torah and are contrary to a set apart, righteous and holy life which reflects the holiness of God. Then, skipping down to verse 24 we read…

Leviticus 18:24–30 TLV

“Do not defile yourselves in any of these things, for in all of these ways the nations which I am casting out before you were defiled. The land has become defiled, so I will punish its iniquity, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants. You, however, are to keep My statutes and My ordinances, and do none of these abominations, neither the native-born, nor the outsider dwelling among you. “For all these abominations were done by the men of the land who were before you, and the land became defiled. If you defile it, the land will vomit you out as it vomited out the nation that was before you. For whoever does any of these detestable things, the souls that do them are to be cut off from the midst of their people. Therefore you are to keep My charge, so that you do not practice any of these detestable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am Adonai your God.”

See, Israel was being prepared not just for their own homeland, not just for their own country in which to live and thrive and develop as a people. They were being prepared in the wilderness for what God had called them out for from the very beginning—

Exodus 19:5–6 TLV

Now then, if you listen closely to My voice, and keep My covenant, then you will be My own treasure from among all people, for all the earth is Mine. So as for you, you will be to Me a kingdom of kohanim and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you are to speak to Bnei-Yisrael.”

By the time we get to HaShem’s revelation of what holiness looks like beyond the Aseret HaDibrot Israel should be well aware of what the expectations of our people are suppose to be. We may not fully understand all the finer details yet, but we’re about to, as pretty much the remainder of Vayikra (Leviticus) from Parasha Acharei Mot forward is focused primarily on defining a holy life unto Adonai. And more so, the most important aspect of all of this is not simply that we are called to be holy, but that we are called to be holy because Adonai our God is holy.

As we’ve talked about a lot here at CMC, humanity is created in the image and likeness of Adonai. When sin entered the world our sinful ways marred His image and likeness in us. And the whole purpose to Adonai calling Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob out from among the nations wasn’t to distinguish us from everyone else, it was to begin a process of redeeming His image and likeness in His creation. Hence the reason why salvation came through the Jewish people and was made freely available to all mankind… This was following the prophetic pattern of Israel being called out to set an example of holiness, or of walking in the image and likeness we were created in, and serving as a light to the nations.

But here’s the thing, if you take the time to read through the sexual morality issues we see laid out in Leviticus 18 you’ll notice that society in the world we live in today has flipped this all upside down. Most of what we see in Parasha Acharei Mot with regards to a holy sexual morality the world around us is trying to normalize, and unfortunately some has already been normalized. But, normalization by society doesn’t make it suddenly ok… Society can’t change the Word of God… His Word is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow… But the Body of Messiah is facing substantial pressure from the outside world, and even some from within, to discount or discredit a biblical sexual ethic, and for that matter, to discount or discredit a biblical faith, ethic, and lifestyle in general.

And where things get complicated is that the Body of Messiah, in a lot of ways, has kind of put ourselves in this situation… The church took it upon itself to say that the Torah no longer matters, that the Levitical law no longer matters. Well, the majority of our understanding of biblical sexual ethic is based out of the Torah. Sure, the Brit Chadashah addresses it some too, but the majority is from the Torah. And now, because we have self-edited and/or changed the Word of God to suit our theological desires we have set a precedent of a slippery slope. Because now we are seeing people who are retranslating and reinterpreting even the Brit Chadashah passages dealing with sexual ethic to fit their theological preferences and desired outcome.

And while the world around us is going completely berserk, many in the Body of Messiah are chasing rapidly right behind them. But, despite all of this, the call of Adonai for His people to be holy because He is Holy has not changed, His biblical definition of what being holy because He is Holy has not changed, and His providing atonement in Yeshua and the indwelling empowering of the Ruach HaKodesh has been for the sole purpose of realigning His people to be holy because He is Holy. So, while the world is changing, and not for the better, and while there are those in the Body who are sliding even further down the anti-Torah slippery slope and reinterpreting both Tanakh and Brit Chadashah, the Word of God and His call for us to be Kedoshim has never and will never change.

A biblically holy culture should be our priority, which by its very nature is antithetical to the culture of the world around us.

But, in the same sense that Adonai called us to be Kedoshim, He has also warned us time and time again that the world is going to go spiraling down the drain and that the world would hate us because of Yeshua.

Isaiah 5:20–21 TLV

Oy to those who call evil good and good evil, who present darkness as light and light as darkness, who present bitter as sweet, and sweet as bitter! Oy to those who are wise in their own eyes, and clever in their own sight!

Through the prophet Isaiah we see the warning about those who will call good evil and evil good, darkness light and light darkness… And this was being spoken to Israel at a point in time in which we were being called on our participation in idolatry and the very practices that caused the Canaanites to be ran out of the land. But, it is a great example of what we read in Yeshua’s Words in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 as He warns us of what keep an eye on as we await His return and are watching the signs and times of the season.

Then we look at some very relevant passages throughout the Brit Chadashah, which not only back up the call to holiness that we find throughout Torah, but especially in this latter half of Leviticus, but we see the reality of the Ruach HaKodesh in our lives to transform our hearts and minds to be kedoshim from the inside out.

First let’s look at what Paul says in Galatians 5 about the fruit of the flesh and fruit of the Ruach.

Galatians 5:13–25 TLV

Brothers and sisters, you were called to freedom—only do not let your freedom become an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Torah can be summed up in a single saying: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not destroyed by one another. But I say, walk by the Ruach, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Ruach, but the Ruach sets its desire against the flesh—for these are in opposition to one another, so that you cannot do what you want. But if you are led by the Ruach, you are not under law. Now the deeds of the flesh are clear: sexual immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, witchcraft, hostility, strife, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, just as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit God’s kingdom. But the fruit of the Ruach is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Messiah have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Ruach, let us also walk by the Ruach.

Then we see what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

1 Thessalonians 4:1–8 TLV

Finally then, brothers and sisters, we ask you and appeal in the Lord Yeshua—just as you received from us the way you ought to walk and please God (as in fact you are walking)—that you keep progressing more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Yeshua. For this is the will of God—your sanctification: to abstain from sexual immorality; to know, each of you, how to gain control over his own body in holiness and honor— not in the passion of lust like the pagans who do not know God; and not to overstep his brother and take advantage of him in this matter— because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, as we told you before and solemnly warned you. For God did not call us to impurity, but in holiness. Consequently, the one who rejects this is not rejecting man, but God, who gives His Ruach ha-Kodesh to you.

For this is the will of God—your sanctification… And what does sanctification mean? It is the process of being made holy… You are to be holy because Adonai your God is Holy… And through His Ruach HaKodesh we are in this process of sanctification, the process of being made holy.

For God called us not to what (impurity), but instead to what (holiness). He has called us to be Kedoshim, and time and time again throughout the Word of God we see

Peter continues this discussion of the concept of our being called to be holy in 1 Peter 1:13-16

1 Peter 1:13–16 TLV

So brace your minds for action. Keep your balance. And set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Yeshua the Messiah. Like obedient children, do not be shaped by the cravings you had formerly in your ignorance. Instead, just like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in everything you do. For it is written, “Kedoshim you shall be, for I am kadosh.”

And Peter carries this thought process a little further in 1 Peter 2:9

1 Peter 2:9 TLV

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Peter reiterates, in light of Messiah Yeshua, the yearning of the heart of the Lord that we read earlier from Exodus 19:5-6…

Exodus 19:5–6 TLV

Now then, if you listen closely to My voice, and keep My covenant, then you will be My own treasure from among all people, for all the earth is Mine. So as for you, you will be to Me a kingdom of kohanim and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you are to speak to Bnei-Yisrael.”

Ultimately, it is a call to holiness, a call to be kedoshim. It is a call to walk out of the darkness and into the Light of Messiah. It is a call to leave everything of the world behind, everything that is in stark contrast to the Word of God. It is a call to be kedoshim because the Lord our God who not only created us in His image and likeness but who gave His one and only Son that we could be redeemed from darkness to light, from fruit of the flesh to fruit of the Ruach.

The enemy has strived since he first tempted Adam and Chava to try to undermine the call of God for His people to be Holy. We see that throughout the narrative of the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob… We see it in the both the Exodus and Wilderness journey of Israel… We see it in the narrative of Saul, David, and Solomon (along with the whole long line of kings of Israel and Judah… We see it with the countless communities of followers of Yeshua that Paul, Peter, and James are encouraging in their walks through their letters in the Brit Chadashah…

So, why should we be surprised that the Body of Messiah would be facing the same battle of dark verses light, of flesh verses Ruach, of the ways of the ways of this fallen world verses the ways of the Kingdom of God? I would pose to you that what should be a much greater surprise and concern is the Body of Messiah’s willingness to throw in the towel on the call to holiness rather than to give into the transformation of the Ruach HaKodesh in our lives so that we can in fact be kedoshim…

A biblically holy culture should be our priority, which by its very nature is antithetical to the culture of the world around us.

For far too many in the Body of Messiah today, the perspective is that God will meet us where we are, He wants us to come to Him as we are, and He never expects us to change at all…

But, the truth is, the Lord absolutely wants us to come to Him as we are, He will absolutely meet us where we are… But once we encounter Yeshua, He absolutely does NOT want us to stay where He met us… Salvation and the indwelling of the Ruach HaKodesh is suppose to be transformative, it is suppose to convict us of the areas in our lives that are not in alignment with the will and Word of God and guide us as we realign our hearts, minds, and walks with Him. He desires to make us holy because He is Holy.

You

(Call worship team back up and unmute)

As we move further into the Holiness Codes found throughout the remainder of Vayikra which realistically begin with Parasha Acharei Mot, I want to encourage you to invite the Ruach HaKodesh to reveal any areas of your life that are not modeling what it means to be kedoshim, any area you haven’t yet fully surrendered to the Lord, or that you’re maybe even trying to lie to yourself about.

What areas of your walk look more like the world than like the Kingdom of the Lord?

What ares are there that you’re maybe a little too comfortable compromising on?

We

We are called to be Kedoshim because Adonai our God is Kadosh. We are called to be Kedoshim, to be righteous, holy, and set apart so that the world around us will see the Presence of God in their midst. We are called to become fully surrendered to the Ruach, to walk away from the ways of the world. We are commanded to turn away from the fruit of the flesh, not to cleave to it and reinterpret Scripture to make us more comfortable with the sin in our lives rather than allowing the freedom and deliverance found in Messiah to permeate our lives and congregations.