Category: Inspiration

The Heart of the Scroll

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn Applied Theology, InspirationLeave a comment

“And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, ‘Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy’” (Lev. 19:1-2).

וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר. דַּבֵּר אֶל-כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם–קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ:

כִּי קָדוֹשׁ, אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם

At the very heart of the Torah (the center of the scroll), the rabbis say, is the portion called קְדֹשִׁים/Kedoshim, or holy ones. Speaking to all the congregation of the children of Israel, כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, this portion is concerned with how we live life in the human community, together.

The usual practice for naming the weekly portion is to take the first key word in the portion, typically from among the first words. קְדֹשִׁים/Kedoshim is unusual, as it is the fourteenth word of the portion. Why would this be? It has to do with who the Lord is addressing, again, כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, “all of the congregation of the children of Israel.” The message of this portion is not an exclusive message to Moses, Aaron, the elders, or the prophets and kings to come; but to all in covenant relationship with the Lord. Making קְדֹשִׁים/Kedoshim the name of the portion would include all that came before it.

The prominent rabbinic commentator, Rashi, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhak, teaches that קָדוֹשׁ, holy, is separation from sin. It is not that sin is absent from our surroundings, but those sanctified by the Lord God do not partake of sin, or respond to sin in a sinful manner. We will, as we all know well, cause, experience, or step into the midst of ungodly situations, that is part of human life; but how we respond once we recognize it is of great importance.

Holiness, then, is not lived in isolation, alone in a cave; but in everyday life, with all kinds of people.

In Leviticus 20:26, the Lord says again, “you shall be holy.” This results from the transformation of life by the power of God, according to His Word, and its application to life in faith. How can we do this?

Again קְדֹשִׁים/Kedoshim, holy ones, is the fourteenth word in the verse above. For many reasons, fourteen is connected to perfection, deliverance, and grace. Relating to a complete cycle of weekly time as found in Genesis 1 and the date of Passover found in Exodus 12:6 (another message to all Israel), it is viewed as a double portion (7+7) of wholeness/peace (שָׁלוֺם/shalom), and yet it also relates to the number five, representing grace (1+4=5).

Our walk with the Lord begins with an exodus, a deliverance from bondage to sin, by His grace (Eph. 2:8-10). The Lord’s deliverance ushers in wholeness and peace before Him, enabling us to live a life in set-apart relationship with Him. We are then called to live out the grace received, not only with the covenant community around us, but also the broader human community.

What does this do?

Because we are His we will: consider the poor; we will not steal; lie or deceive one another; we will not withhold wages; curse the deaf; place a stumbling block before the blind; we will use correct weights and measures; we will love our neighbor; we will love the stranger because we were once strangers in Egypt; we will show respect; and we will guard what He has called holy. The covenant Lord is active in the world, and we are His witnesses.

As we read this portion called קְדֹשִׁים/Kedoshim, we cannot help but hear echoes of the Decalogue, which unfold into instruction regarding faith-obedience and family purity, community relationship, and covenant faithfulness. The Decalogue itself opens with a reminder of God’s grace, and then defines for a freed nation of slaves what freedom from oppression should look like.

This portion opens with a call to holiness in Leviticus 19:2, and it ends with a call to holiness in Leviticus 20:26. In these verses we are dealing with קְדֹשִׁים, holy ones or set-apart ones – a condition defined by distinction, a result of grace received.

Our position in Messiah Yeshua is that of קְדֹשִׁים, holy ones, or set-apart people. It is important, in faith to Messiah, that we recognize a change in status, and therefore identity: from sinner to saint, from slave to free. This change in identity, is not based upon how we think or feel about it; but rather, on the completed work of Messiah on the cross.

Once delivered from sin and death, to life and faith, we must be taught how we are to live. The holy ones of God, קְדֹשִׁים, have been set-apart, made holy to God to be about their Father’s business, discipling the people of God as we move toward eternal promise.

The “heart of the Torah” is calling for His people to be holy or goodly in distinction, and it is announced within the context of community. In this portion the Lord emphasizes loving action toward the poor, the stranger, the neighbor, and care as concerns different seasons of human life and nature. We find the means of obedience in community, but it is a community that recognizes distinction. This is made clear: there are poor, there are strangers, there are blind and elderly, rich and poor, those who buy and those who sell – life distinctions. The community, as a whole, כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, “all of the congregation of the children of Israel,” is called to be holy – but it is not called to be wholly uniform.

As the apostle Peter wrote, “But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (I Pet. 1:15-16). In your conduct, by loving those who deserve your love, and those who, according to human reckoning, do not, be holy, as He is holy (Lev. 19:18, 34).

How? Living as joint heirs with Messiah, living out, by His grace, His perfection and peace, while sharing the grace we have received in the complex arena that is human life.

Still wrestling with this? We all are; but we thank our Abba/Father for His grace, mercy, love, repentance and forgiveness through the blood of the Lamb that today we can labor to believe Him (Jn. 6:29) today more fully than we did yesterday.

Be well. Shalom.

“Where are you?”

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn Applied Theology, InspirationLeave a comment

וַיִּקְרָא יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים, אֶל-הָאָדָם; וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ, אַיֶּכָּה

“And the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9).

אַיֶּכָּה/ahyecha, “Where are you?” The Lord, approaching Adam and Eve in the cool of the day asks this question. Certainly He knew where they were, but Adam and Eve did not. They were in a place of fear, hiding their previously unrecognized, yet now fig-covered nakedness. They were not in His presence, even as He was so close by.

There is a story told of a great Hasidic rabbi. He was a philosopher, a mystic, a very great man among the Hasidism. He was in jail, and the warden of the jail was a biblical scholar, so he came to see the rabbi and said, “Rabbi, I heard you were here, I know you are a great scholar, you must answer me something. In Genesis I read that God asked “Ahyecha,” “Where are you?” Is it conceivable that God didn’t know where Adam was?” And the rabbi answered, “God knew, Adam didn’t.”

Can anyone relate to this? No, not to the specific sin of Adam and Eve, sewing fig leaves together, then hiding from God as He approached for their evening walk, but the not knowing where they were part?

There are times in life, when we are under duress, distress, or experiencing any number of disruptive waves of stress when we do not recognize where our thoughts have moved us.

The Baal Shem Tov, the recognized founder of the Hasidic Jewish movement taught: “Wherever a person’s thoughts are, that’s where he is present.”  

God always knows where I am. The Good Shepherd is always nearby, attentive and watchful. And the Holy Spirit is present, ministering the grace of Yeshua/Jesus. There are times, however, when I do not know where I am. No, I’m not just writing about myself, but also you dear reader.

Some of you may not experience these issues, so my effort will be to give hope to those of us who do: when we do not know where we are, the Father is calling to us in order that we move toward His voice: “Where are you (fill in your name)?” “Oh, Abba, thank you. I wasn’t were I should be.” He redirects and moves us by His mercy and grace.

I over think … everything. I live in my head, and unfortunately there are times when I take the skills of an exegete and turn them inward rather than to His Word. There is a remedy for this, in the Word, that Paul gives us … point of fact, Paul was an over thinker as well … he writes:

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil. 4:8).

Paul recognizes that our thoughts can transport us to a hiding place of anguish, anxiety, judgment, worry and sorrow. Meditate on the good, and there, as the Baal Shem said, “that’s where he is present.” In His presence, what does the Word tell us, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11).

When our thoughts go to the good gifts that have come from the Father (Jas. 1:17), simply too many to list, hear Paul once again, “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Phil. 4:9).

Following Paul’s example, the imitation of discipleship, our thoughts focused on Messiah will keep our hearts, minds, and motivations present with Him. Do we not have the mind of Messiah (I Cor. 2:16)? With His mind, by the Spirit, we can think on and rejoice in the good the Father has shown us, and there, not in the anguish, anxiety, judgment, worry and sorrow, we will be. Hallelujah!

When we keep our minds present on our first love, to Him we will store up the treasure that matters. I have not found that what so easily distracts me, or transports me from Him, is of much use in a healthy lifestyle of faith, as it is often the death throes of the old man. But where that good store and that good treasure is, as Messiah said: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21).

To be where our heart is, let that, O Lord, be with You.

Where are you? Harken to His voice, and in just a short turn, you will be with Him, and there, in His joy, even with great pressure on every side.

Be well. Shalom.

Moses, Leprosy and the Tongue

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn Applied Theology, InspirationLeave a comment

The portions of Leviticus that address the issue of leprosy (צָרָעַת/tzara’at) contain some of the most difficult laws of Scripture to understand. Why did the Lord demand such a separation for someone in medical distress? Was it an actual medical problem at all? Or, were the laws of the leper concerned with something else entirely?

“The one with leprosy who has the plague-mark shall wear torn clothes, the hair of his head is to hang loose, he is to cover his upper lip and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ All the days during which the plague is on him he will be unclean. He is unclean. He is to dwell alone. Outside of the camp will be his dwelling.” (Leviticus 13:45-46).

Some rabbinic commentators have concluded that leprosy is connected with gossip or talebearing, and not related to the medical condition now called Hansen’s disease. The reasoning behind this is found in the calling of Moses, as he attempts to excuse himself from the calling of the covenant Lord, as we read in Exodus 4:1, “But look, they will not believe me or listen to my voice. They will say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’” The Lord then gives Moses three signs to demonstrate in Egypt, one of which is not demonstrated; rather, it is a sign to Moses himself: “The Lord also said to him, ‘Now put your hand within your cloak.’ So he put his hand inside, and when he took it out, his hand had leprosy – white as snow. Then He said, ‘Put your hand back into your cloak.’ So he put his hand back in, and when he took it out it was restored again as the rest of his skin” (Ex. 4:6-7).

Leprosy is connected to “they won’t believe me…” Moses reveals his feelings and fears about the children of Israel in this simple statement. When the Lord had Moses place his hand in his bosom, literally meaning to “place inside of you,” and bring it back out, He revealed the heart of Moses; but when the Lord had Moses reverse the procedure He revealed Himself to be the healer of men.

Scripture is replete with verses warning against spreading gossip and receiving gossip; as we read, “A talebearer goes about revealing secrets, so do not associate with a babbler (Pro. 20:19); and, “You are not to go up and down as a talebearer among your people. You are not to endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord” (Lev. 19:16). The gossip, as we discover in Leviticus, seeks out opportunities to slander his neighbor, thereby endangering their life and livelihood; quite the opposite of “love thy neighbor as thyself.” The gossip separates, divides and destroys the peace of a home and community; therefore, the one spreading the gossip will be separated by dis-ease in his own body.

The separation of the leper, however, was not without mercy and time for repentance. As we read in later verses of this portion, the Torah gives instructions regarding leprosy of objects: a house, leather and even garments. These, the rabbis explained, were warnings to the owner that something in his life was out of order. It also provided visible evidence that that which he had been doing in private, in a whisper, is now exposed for all to see. If this exposure did not cause him to repent, it was not upon his possessions that leprosy would come, but upon his person, in which case he must cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ as he walked through the streets of the community. As the leper called out “unclean!” he was actualizing the condition that his whisper had placed the target of his gossip in, in the minds of his listeners – an unclean, suspicious place of separation – unbeknownst to its target. Yet, by his pronouncement of “unclean!” everyone within range of hearing would know of his leprous – separated, isolated – condition.

Gossip, and the spiritual condition it reveals in us, is not in keeping with the ministry of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus, or with the scriptural revelation of the renewed man enlivened by the Holy Spirit. Gossip is a thing of the flesh, rooted in envy and spite, being watered by bitterness. Gossip does not seek the best for neighbor, stranger or enemy, in the form of self-sacrificial love, but rather seeks to destroy the one Messiah died for.

Messiah said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt. 12:34); “For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander. These are the things that make the man unholy; but to eat with unwashed hands does not make the man unholy” (Matt. 15:19-20). The apostle James warns followers of Messiah as regards the dangers of the tongue, “And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is a world of evil placed among our body parts. It pollutes the whole body and sets on fire the course of life – and is set on fire by Gehenna” (Jas. 3:6).

It is self-control produced by the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5) evidenced in the life of the believer that will douse the flaming tongue. Still, the wayward tongue is only but an outward sign of the inward condition of the heart: a heart in need of regeneration. The apostle Paul exhorts us when he writes, “Get rid of all bitterness and rage and anger and quarreling and slander, along with all malice. Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other just as God in Messiah also forgave you” (Eph. 4:31-32). By faith in Messiah, as we are progressively sanctified, the heart is cleaned of all the roots of bitterness and turmoil that spring out into unhealthy, and unfaithful, speech. We must arrest each thought, before it is announced, with the mind of Messiah who looked not on our miserable condition, but looked at each of us gracefully and with love to save us.

When we speak, let us be mindful: 1) of our words, 2) of our audience, 3) of the needfulness of our words, 4) of the impact of our words on those present and not present, 5) of our witness for Messiah, and 5) our need for continued reformation of the heart by the Holy Spirit.

James teaches us, “Know this, my dear brothers and sisters; let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger – for human anger doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. So put away all moral filth and excess of evil and receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (Jas. 1:19-21).

How then shall we live? Not with gossip, but with grace.

“In other words, that definite distinction that Christians make between hating sin and loving the sinner is one that you have been making in your own case since you were born…You dislike what you have done, but you don’t cease to love yourself…Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.” CS Lewis

Be well. Shalom.