Parashat EMOR (Speak) Lev. 21:1 – 24:21; Ezek. 44:15 – 31; Luke 14: 12-24
Our Torah portion this week, all 4 chapters, focus on holiness, and we could easily spend all our time on any one of the four chapters in this parasha but today by way of introduction I simply want to share very briefly one thing.
The Bible contains many instructions (the Talmud identifies 613) of which more than half are related to the Temple service and by virtue of this impossible to keep since there is no longer any Temple – and although every instruction of God should attract our full attention we are faced with an issue.
The NT teaches us that our problem is not in the instructions themselves but in our fallen nature. This is our dilemma. No matter how hard we may strive for holiness we will fail miserably when our righteousness is dependant solely upon adherence to the Law. No reason then for God to have sent Yeshua into the world to sacrifice His life for us! True holiness is instead an outflow of a restored relationship with God that cannot be replaced or counterfeited otherwise it morphs into a monster! And all of this through the redemptive blood of Messiah Yeshua. Its transforming power is all about our choice to allow Him to have His perfect way in our lives. And although we do this imperfectly let us nonetheless be a part of the fellowship of the unashamed who love not our lives even unto death in the knowledge that now nothing can ever separate us from the love of God! He never uses coercion or bully tactics to make us comply to His will but He does sometimes employ subtle persuasions. Maybe today is the time that we need to raise up our hands and surrender our lives fully unto God!
Yeshua invites us to come unto Him all those who are weary and heavy laden because He (alone) can give you rest. The One who created the universe is He who can restore our lives to what we were created to be. Yeshua needs never again to be an afterthought! He alone is “the Way the Truth and the Life” revealed to the world in the fullness of time. And that good work which He has begun in our lives, that maybe doesn’t look too good at this moment, He will bring to completion because God is faithful and never fails! He is the architect of all things visible and unseen who has established for us the means by which we can experience eternal life when we submit our lives to Him.
There is a story told of one of our sages (Kotzker Rebbe) who once asked his students where God was to be found. They answered him: “He fills all the world with His glory.” He shook his head and said, “No, I asked where is He to be found, not where He is. No, no, God is to be found in the place where you open your hearts and let Him in!” Let’s respond to the One who invites us to open our hearts to Him. He can be rediscovered no matter what place we may find ourselves in right now. People may have betrayed and failed you, even those you had trusted or honoured and respected but Yeshua never! He sticks closer than a brother and stands knocking at the door of your heart and continues to knock and having done all will knock. The question is whether you are willing to open the door and allow Him in?
A man saw a snake dying in flames and decided to free it from the fire. As soon as he caught it, the snake bit him causing excruciating pain. The man immediately dropped the snake and the reptile fell back into the burning flames.
At this point the man, looking around, found a metal pole and used it to take the snake from the flames again, saving his life.
Another person who had seen what happened approached the man and asked him: “That snake bit you! Why are you trying to save his life?” The man replied: “The snake’s nature is to bite, but that won’t change my nature, which is to rescue it.”
The analogy is clear. God is seeking to rescue us from the fires of Hell if only we allow Him.
