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Today is the 29th day of the Omer counting. During the Counting we remember the
journey from the depths of slavery in Egypt (at Pesach) to the heights of entering
God’s presence through covenant relationship at Mt. Sinai. For disciples of Yeshua
is added the significance of the Acts 2 event when the Holy Spirit descended upon
the believers who had gathered in Jerusalem as instructed by Yeshua.
There is the Word of God for all time, and the Word of God for this time and it is
the interplay of the two, rightly divided, that is essential for us to interpret,
particularly in these end times where we are warned by Yeshua (Matt.24) about the
exponential increase of deception. We must differentiate between the music of
those things that draw us closer to Yeshua and the noise of events that seek to
distort and destroy our relationship with Him.
It’s important for us as believers to embrace the whole counsel of Scripture rather
than by arbitrary selection that result in ignoring great chunks of God’s Word (some
people even choose to ignore the entire OT because in their view it no longer
remains relevant!)
Lev.23, is a chapter where the Lord spoke to Moses and told him: “Speak to the
Israelites and tell them, ‘These are the Lord’s appointed times which you must
proclaim as holy assemblies—my appointed times.”
To ignore God’s biblical feasts is to neglect the heart of God which are termed
“moedim” meaning appointed times or “fixed seasons” established for sacred
gatherings and worship. Throughout the year, these biblical feasts abound are of
major significance to the Jewish people and present disciples of Yeshua with types
and shadows which find perfect fulfilment in Him. These include the command to
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count the Omer (Lev.23:15-16) that bids us retrace our 50-day journey from Pesach
to Shavuot. “15 “Count seven full weeks from the day after Passover (the day you
bring the bundle of grain as an offering presented to the Lord) 16 until the day after
the seventh week. This is a total of fifty days. Then bring a new grain offering to
the Lord. 17 Bring two loaves of bread from your homes to present to the Lord.
Bake them with four quarts of flour. They are the first harvested grain for the Lord.”
The Omer was a measurement for gathering together a sheaf of barley (one tenth
of an ephah – around two quarts) the first cereal crop harvested at Pesach.
During Temple times on the second day of Unleavened Bread following Pesach
known as ‘Reshit Katzir’ (the beginning of the harvest) an omer of barley was cut
down and brought to the Temple as a special offering and waved by the priest
before the Lord in all directions. A lamb was then sacrificed as a burnt offering with
unleavened bread mixed with oil, and wine (Lev.23:13) – a beautiful picture of
Yeshua the Lamb of God slain for our sins.
Only after the wave offering was offered were people permitted to harvest their
crops. So let’s take a moment to examine the sequence of events that link Yeshua
with the counting of the omer.
On the same day that Caiaphas interrogated Yeshua, three elders from the
Sanhedrin went out to a barley field not far from Jerusalem. As the Romans bound
and crucified Yeshua, these same elders bound up the standing barley into bundles
or sheafs to make it easier to reap.
As the harvest began, the reapers gathered the barley and carried it in baskets to
the Temple. The baskets contained more than enough grain to constitute a full
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sheaf’s worth (an omer, עמר ) to fulfil the command of (Lev 23:10) to “…bring in the
omer of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest (and) wave the omer before the
LORD…” That same night (Saturday) and throughout the night, the priests in the
Temple threshed, roasted, and ground the barley into flour. In the period that the
priests refined the freshly milled flour, sifting it through 13 sieves, Yeshua was
raised from the dead.
The next day on Sunday morning, while the women discovered the empty tomb, the
high priest was busy mixing the barley flour with oil and frankincense to prepare it
as a bread offering. The priests mixed the flour into dough with olive oil and
incense. Caiaphas took the batch of dough in his hands and waved it before the
LORD as a wave offering.
After the morning sacrifice and the additional Pesach sacrifices (described in
Num,28:24), Caiaphas offered a portion of grain offering on the altar as a memorial
portion and concluded the ceremony by sacrificing a single male lamb as a burnt
offering to accompany the new grain. That day began the 50-day count to the
festival of Shavuot.
God designed things so that the ritual of offering the first fruit of the barley omer in
the Temple coincided with the resurrection of Yeshua! The apostle Paul connected
the two events: “Messiah has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those
who are asleep” (1Cor. 5:20).
So let us throw aside every encumbrance that prevents us from running the race
well as our hearts are filled with steadfast joy and wholehearted love for the One
who is our all in all!
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Parasha EMOR (Speak) Lev. 21:1 – 24:21; Ezek. 44:15 – 31; Luke 14: 12-24
By Raphael ben Levi
Ps.133 begins with the words: “How good and pleasant it is when brethren dwell
together in harmony.” Harmony is one thing you cannot do on your own. One may
sing beautifully but for harmony we need others.
When Joseph was ruler in Egypt and invited his brothers back for the second time
Jacob instructed them to bring some gifts (mizmer’at HaAretz – ‘the best fruits of the
land’ Gen.43:11) The Sages taught that when the brothers came to Joseph they
were to sing him a song, and from this he would know in the fullest sense who they
were and how his true identity lay entwined with theirs. Their history as a family was
punctuated with disharmony but every measure of disunity would be transformed
through an amazing series of Divine interventions.
As we draw close to the dramatic conclusion, the sages say that when the brothers
appeared before Joseph, they began to sing melodies to him in such beautiful
harmonies that Joseph broke down completely overwhelmed and revealed his
identity to them. Something very startling and significant had occurred. The
shattered harmony between the brothers was suddenly restored in a moment.
(Gen.45:4)
Here is a totally different story yet it contains similar elements. Once when the late
Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach was in the USA on a singing tour, a distinguished doctor
approached him with a special request: “I would like to conduct an experiment
tomorrow in the mental institution where I am assigned. Can you come and do a
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concert for the patients? They have not spoken for a half a year and I’d like to see
their reactions.”
It was a very sad occasion. He went there and sang some beautiful melodies but
with no reaction. Afterwards, he told the doctor,
“You know something? If you don’t mind, would it be possible to pull down the
shades to make it dark? Let’s just light one candle and sing,”
Then, something extraordinary happened. There was a girl sitting next to him who
was one of the top singers in that part of the country. The doctor said that she
hadn’t spoken since she had been admitted, not even a word. Anyway, he was
singing next to her when after about seven minutes of darkness, the most
unbelievable harmony came out of her. They couldn’t stop singing, it was so
beautiful.
It is out of the darkest moments in life that some of the most beautiful harmonies
are made. But we cannot create them in isolation from others. This is why the Word
of God appeals for us to walk in harmony.
Despite the fact that every believer falls short of God’s perfect standards, He
nonetheless regards us as His special possession, which keeps us humble. To fail
well is when we allow God to pick us up and embrace us in His arms of love, once
more reconciled and reinstated along His pathway, hand in hand having learned
from our mistakes rather than consistently repeating them. Scripture declares that
we can do all things through Yeshua who is our strength! Nothing is impossible
because one true believer with God is always a majority enabling us to scale every
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obstacle that prevents us from walking in obedience to His will. This, together with
cleaving to the love of God will always will always ensure us victory though it may
not take the form and shape we expect. That is why God commands us to love the
sinner but hate the sin because we cannot truly love God yet retain offences
against our neighbour if we earnestly desire to experience true victory.
There were some Jewish parents whose child stubbornly refused to attend Yeshiva
or participate in the religious life of the community despite every known coercion or
persuasion. Finally in desperation, the parents brought him before a famous rebbe
who was making a special visit at the time. The parents lamented their situation and
sought his advice. The rebbe looked intently at the boy and in a severe tone of
voice said, “Just leave him to me for a couple of hours and when you return you will
see the difference.”
No-one knew what he did but after his encounter with the rebbe, the boy was
transformed and went on himself to become a famous rebbe. Years later, when he
was known as the greatest rebbe of his generation, his disciples would sit around
him and ask, “You are such a great scholar. How did you get your deep insight into
the Torah?” He would simply reply, “When did I learn to study Torah? When did I
truly learn to study the holy Torah? I learned everything when the great Rebbe, held
me silently against his chest.”
Some of the commands we see in our parasha may appear at first glance strange
and arbitrary but they contain strong relevance when we properly understand the
context and culture of the time. For example, in Lev. 21:12 the priests were
forbidden to make bald patches on their heads. In 2Kgs.2:23-25 is contained an
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account when Elisha was on his way to Bethel, a place notable as one of two
thriving centres for idolatrous worship in the Northern Kingdom. Despite this, there
existed a remnant of godly people, known as the “sons of the prophets” mentioned
in 2Kings 2:3. As Elisha was returning, we read that “little children” (“na-ar katan”)
came out of the city, and mocked him, (v.23). The Hebrew word used here for
“children” (“Na-ar”) refers to the relative immaturity of grown men and the word,
“Katan” meaning small, here probably refers to quantity, size, number, status, or
importance, not age.
At first glance, Elisha’s response seemed totally disproportionate and inappropriate
for someone who was a godly prophet: “So he turned around and looked at them
and cursed them in the Name of Adonai. Then two she-bears came out of the
woods and mauled 42 of them” (v. 24).
Without going into a full explanation, the taunt against Elisha went far beyond
baldness to the lie accusing him of being a counterfeit and ungodly prophet. We
understand this from the command from this week’s Torah portion where the
priesthood was forbidden to make bald spots on the head, something equally
applicable to all the Israelites, because it was part of an occultic rite commonly
practised among the pagans. Elisha made it clear to those who mocked him—and
to all who were watching—that they were not only slandering him but the One he
represented by falsely accusing him of rebelling against God’s Torah.
Likewise, the priesthood was strictly commanded not to shave the edges of their
beards or make gashes in their flesh, for a similar reason as the Canaanite priests
also performed these rituals in their occult practices.
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To be holy is to be separated, or set apart from the world. Although we are in the
world we are not of the world. This means that like Elisha, we will face much ridicule
in this life for promoting godly values that are in direct opposition to the standards
set by society at large. Particularly now in this specific end-time slot the forces of
evil are increasing exponentially emboldened by the godlessness and corruption
within society throughout the world.
Even within the church there are many who gloss these things over based on the
premise that God’s grace cover all sin so it is not of any consequence. God’s
redemption came at a price far greater than we can ever fully appreciate and to
relegate it to a form of cheap grace is to trample underfoot the most sacred
sacrifice of God who voluntarily laid down His life for you and me.
It is not as though we are in the business of pointing fingers at others, but we
should nonetheless arise as advocates for righteousness in the fierceness of God’s
love. For if we as believers, of all people look the other way when sin manifests we
are accomplices by default. And if we should neglect to stand and be counted and,
as the sages said, to ‘sanctify the name of God’ then who will be left to represent
Him?
The concept of sanctifying the name of God (‘Kiddush Ha Shem’) in Judaism is
considered to be the highest purpose of the people and descendants of Israel (i.e.
to represent Him well to the nations) and so it is no less true for us as believers.
As we reflected last week, unless our lives are underpinned by holiness we are
building upon a house of cards. This is a double edged sword: we do not love our
lives even unto death, and the package is far from being a bed of roses. It is in
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some ways a bitter-sweet fellowship of His suffering which stands in solidarity with
Him against everything that opposes godliness and righteous living.
We are a people who do not pander to mediocrity, but meet all expressions of
unrighteousness resolutely whatever the situation, whether politically incorrect or
not.
The Jewish sages tell us that the best way to live our lives is as though the entire
world were held in the balance, and any one thing we do could tip the scales. This
presents an interesting challenge but just think if we were to live like this
consistently the whole year round instead of intermittently or perhaps never at all?
There was once an old, frail man praying fervently at the Western Wall in Jerusalem
who had survived years of incarceration in a concentration camp and subsequently
made Aliya. He had clearly suffered much; that was apparent from his broken
appearance. When questioned, he said that the thing he drew strength from above
everything was his decision to worship God unconditionally, wholeheartedly and
consistently in the midst of every circumstance. His example was one that tipped
the scales for him personally and the world surrounding him.
Then, there is a story about the extraordinary episode of fifty Hungarian orthodox
Jewish youth transported to Auschwitz in 1944 who were immediately selected for
the gas chambers. They were herded into the gas chambers and knew that it was
the end. However, they were determined to make their stand even in the face of
death. One of them stood up and inspired the others to sing and dance unto God as
they prepared to die. The guard who overheard all of this summoned the camp
commandant. He was filled with fury at his inability to quell the celebration. The
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youths were lost in worship, spurred on by the knowledge of the eternal hope that
lay before them. In a fit of rage, the camp commandant cancelled the gassing and
decided to torture them one by one, savouring the thought of imposing an even
more agonising death. He removed them from the gas chamber and placed them in
a holding block. However, the next morning a high ranking Nazi officer arrived at
Auschwitz to acquire slave labour workers, and just happened to pass by the
barracks where the fifty youths were being held. Immediately he had them
requisitioned and placed onto the waiting truck. God intervened to spare each one
of these young men from certain torture and death, and all survived the war to tell
their tale. It was a tipping point that transformed their lives.
The Novardok Yeshiva in the Russian Empire, was one of the biggest and most
important yeshivas established in 1896. Because there were no dormitory facilities,
the young men had to rent rooms. In this town lived a woman who was a widow and
owned a large house that she rented out to the Yeshiva students. She had become
very bitter from the many traumas she had experienced in life and expressed her
anguish in her behaviour against her boarders. She often yelled and ridiculed them.
On some Friday afternoons, she turned off the water supply, so that there was no
hot water for bathing. Other times, she turned off the electricity for no apparent
reason. Consequently, the boarders all left except for one person: Yosef Geffen.
One morning, the woman saw Yosef and began screaming at him, “You must be
crazy! How can you still stay in my house? Why don’t you leave like all the rest of
them?” Yosef paused and answered her gently. “I stay here for your sake. I realise
that you live alone and I fear that one night you might fall or become ill and call out
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for help and there would be no one to hear your cries. I understand why you speak
harshly because of the manner in which life has treated you.” It was a tipping point.
The widow’s demeanour instantly changed. She turned pale and burst into tears.
Afterwards, she never said anything but kind words to the boarders and soon her
house was filled to capacity.
The celebrated author, David Kossoff, in his forward to, “The Book of Witnesses”,
wrote about an incident that he would never forget. “This book is for my father, who
died long ago. Once, when I was small, about eight, I was with my father, who was
a loving man, in a narrow street in the East End (of London). A huge labourer
suddenly roared down at us that we had killed Jesus. My father asked him why he
was so unhappy, and the fist lowered and the shouting stopped and he began to
cry. We took him with us to my aunt for tea.” It was a tipping point.
Transformation comes at great personal cost, and most people choose sameness
in preference to allowing the pain of God’s scorching light burn up our impurities.
Yet, it is this concealed gift which allows His life to shine within us the brightest. It is
the mark of a true hero; one who tips the scales.
During the Temple period, everyone sang the melodies as they worshipped God.
The Psalms were written specifically for singing, but following the destruction of the
2nd Temple these melodies were lost in exile. Since then, the Jewish people have
the Torah but have still not yet regained its melody, but one day soon they will
worship at His feet and proclaim Him as their Lord and King. The word ‘worship’ in
Hebrew implies a ‘kiss,’ or to give reverence with a feeling of awe and devotion.
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Prov.24:26 states that “An honest answer is as precious as a kiss on the lips.” (i.e.,
a sign of true friendship).
In biblical times, people would greet a friend with a kiss on the cheek as an open
expression of friendship and mark of relationship between friends. Of course, there
was also the counterfeit as with Judas Iscariot: “Yeshua looked at him with sorrow
and said, “A kiss, Judas? Are you really going to betray the Son of Man with a
kiss?”
The highest position we can achieve is when we kneel in the presence of Yeshua,
like I shared a couple of weeks ago about the unnamed woman who anointed
Yeshua’s feet with the most precious ointment and dried them with her tears. It was
a kiss that drew the attention of the Divine with a glance containing a million words
of infinite love that would memorialise her action forever. It was a tipping point…
However, many who heard Yeshua’s teachings remained spectators. They returned
home to their daily routine with unresponsive hearts. Yeshua lamented their apathy
quoting from Isai.6:10: “For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are
hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their
eyes, and listen with their ears and understand with their heart and turn—and I
would heal them.”
God is the biggest secret in the world. He is so obvious yet so hidden. He has
clearly revealed Himself through Yeshua but so many people apply the criterion of
convenience to determine what they choose to receive or reject. But one day soon
the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the deaf will hear, ushering in one of the
greatest, earth-shattering events in history: “And I will pour on the house of David
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and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they
will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns
for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” (Zech.12:10)
Mourning will be turned into dancing, and sackcloth replaced with ‘garments’ of joy!
(Ps.30:11) As Job declared: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now
my eye sees You!” (42:5) In the Millennium all nations will make a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem annually at the Feast of Sukkot, paying homage to the King of Kings
who shall rule and reign from the city of the King of Kings.
So, today as we see God’s end plans unravelling before our eyes, let’s engage as
never before as His ‘labourers in the vineyard’ for His praise and glory alone for is
that not in itself sufficient?
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