Please follow and like us:

Reflection for Emor

“Torah Corrections”

Matthew 5:38-42
Galatians 3:26-29

excerpted from TorahScope Apostolic Scriptures Reflections

This year (2010/5770), our Torah portion for this week is Emor (Leviticus 21:1-24:23), and the midpoint of the Counting of the Omer has about passed. Moses’ Teaching continues to instruct Ancient Israel in the ways of holiness. Our parashah includes various regulations regarding the priesthood, with special instructions about the usage of “sacred donations” to be granted to the presiding priests.[1] A high point of Emor is the summarization of the moedim or appointed times in Leviticus 23. Finally, some details about how to properly kindle the menorah and place the showbread in the Tabernacle, bring our reading to a close.[2]

Interestingly, when the Jewish Sages decided to choose a Haftarah selection to correspond to Emor, they chose Ezekiel 44:15-31—which details what the priesthood will look like in the future, in the restored Temple. Some think that the Levitical priesthood as described in the Torah, is at odds with the future priesthood described by the Prophet Ezekiel. Yet it is clear that this future priesthood has far more in common with the original Levitical priesthood than not. If anything is to be realized, it is that with God’s salvation history plan in motion, changes are to be expected. Such changes enable us to appreciate what He has done in the past, and what it has taken for Him to enact restoration and redemption for His people.

Within the Gospels, we know that Yeshua caused many problems for the religious leaders of His day, because too many of them had forgotten the true meaning of the Torah. The Torah was not as much concerned with their purity minutiae, as much as it was for taking care of people, and seeing that righteous behavior manifested itself among God’s chosen. Relatively late in His ministry, Yeshua directly admonished the leaders of the scribes and Pharisees, for not properly understanding and applying Moses’ Teaching:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the Torah: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone” (Matthew 23:23, WMB).

Yeshua did not mince His words, and was direct in referring to the main Jewish religious leaders as “whitened tombs” (Matthew 23:27, WMB). While they craved positions of power, they did not largely deserve them.

Yeshua did, of course, emphasize the weightier matters of the Torah in His teachings. The Messiah’s main exposition of the Law is seen in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chs. 5-7), which is affluent with examples of what it means to “fulfill” the Law. Contrary to the Torah somehow being abolished by what was said, the Lord discussed some of the critical aspects of what it meant to really obey it. It is true that there is not a litany of reiterations about how to arrange the showbread, light the menorah, or even how (and when) to properly observe the appointed times. Instead, the principal focus throughout the Sermon on the Mount, were those key ethical and moral issues, which are so foundational for human beings living a blessed life on Earth.

Over and over again throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua brought to light the very essence of the Torah. The Sermon on the Mount includes much which molds our psyche as His followers! From the opening Beatitudes,[3] to defining true disciples,[4] to how to handle lateral relations with others,[5] to admonishing alms givers,[6] to delivering the Lord’s Prayer,[7] to making a distinction between the Kingdom of God and the worship of wealth,[8] to describing the proper way to judge,[9] etc.—Yeshua focused His words on the Torah’s essential principles, and how they reflect the true intentions of the human heart.

As a teacher who relied on the Torah, there should be no question how Yeshua provided deeper meanings of much of what we are considering this week in Emor. The consequences for the half-Egyptian, half-Israelite young man for blaspheming the Divine Name (Leviticus 24:10-16), obviously had a dramatic impact on the desert assembly. If you consider the actions required of those who heard the blasphemer, to actually place their hands on his head before his execution took place (Leviticus 24:14), it is reminiscent of what was required of a transgressor when an animal sacrifice was to be offered on the altar for atonement of one’s sin (i.e., Leviticus 4:15).

In His Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua made quotations from something you may have been considering this week—with the distinctive qualifier, “But I tell you…” The Messiah provided an extremely merciful interpretation of Torah commandments, elevating the principles of love and forgiveness to a significantly higher level than was perceived by many in His audience:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth’ [Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21]. But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:38-42, WMB).

While throughout much of the Sermon on the Mount, what Yeshua directly confronted regarded various interpretations of the Torah—here Yeshua directly quoted from the Torah. Did the Messiah actually nullify the Law? As Moses originally instructed, the punishment for striking an Israelite male or female servant, and dislodging a tooth or destroying an eye, was freedom from enslavement:

“But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise. If a man strikes his servant’s eye, or his maid’s eye, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake. If he strikes out his male servant’s tooth, or his female servant’s tooth, he shall let the servant go free for his tooth’s sake” (Exodus 21:23-27, WMB).

In actuality, there is no nullification at all of this commandment, but there was definitely a nullification of some of its First Century application. As John R.W. Stott describes, “the scribes and Pharisees evidently extended this principle of just retribution from the law courts (where it belongs) to the realm of personal relationships (where it does not belong). They tried to use it to justify personal revenge, although the law explicitly forbade this”[10] (cf. Leviticus 19:18). So much is missed if we do not try to read the text carefully, and so many people falsely think that within the Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua was some complete radical who was anti-Law. This was far from being the case. If anything, Yeshua did not want His followers to play along with those who would misuse the Torah in such a gross fashion.

A complete nullification or abolishment of Torah instruction, equates to the Pentateuch’s commandments having no more bearing on people today—including informing us as to how God thinks and acts in history—and we can effectively ignore it in Bible reading. When you go back and consider the teachings of Messiah Yeshua, you should marvel at not only how the Lord buildt on the foundation of Moses, but how He exemplified the heart of the Father in how the Torah’s commandments ultimately embody love. In the complicated world of the First Century, perhaps because of all of the terrible things the Jewish people had experienced (the Exile to Babylon, the Maccabean Crisis, the Roman occupation), many had been hardened and calloused against the need to love—or at least express a degree of respect to non-Jews. The Torah’s commandments, originally put into place to safeguard the weaker parts of society, had been abused by many who had forgotten their original intent. Yeshua not only brought people back to what Moses originally wanted Ancient Israel to do, but then proceeded from there as He would provide a final sacrifice for human sin!

How many ways can “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” be abused? How many people in positions of religious leadership today misapply the Word of God, and use it to justify their own self interest—and are not able to be held accountable when they have committed error? Admittedly, the Exodus 21:23-27 statutes left some details to be determined by the judges and magistrates of Israel—and Yeshua as the ultimate authority instructed His followers in how to properly respond to how it had been misapplied in His day.

Instead of striking back in vengeance at those who strike on the cheek, Yeshua said to turn one’s cheek (Matthew 5:39), and be sure to love one’s enemy and pray for those who persecute (Matthew 5:44). Does this seem somewhat odd to you? How about responding to someone who wants to sue you for your shirt, and then you offer him your coat also (Matthew 5:40)? What about when someone forces you to go a mile, and you offer on your own initiative to go another mile (Matthew 5:41)? Surely, while the imperative to love neighbor is one of the most important Torah commandments (Leviticus 19:18), here we see significant clues of how those who misuse the Torah for their own purposes will be judged by a perfect, Heavenly Father (Matthew 5:48). Messiah followers are not to reciprocate any misuse or abuse of Torah commandments.

The ultimate upgrade which the Messiah offers His followers, is greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:20). There are many people who claim that they are following the Law, who have missed it. Even today in the Messianic community, we see a broad array of perspectives regarding the application of the Torah. Many people truly desire to be those who embody its high principles of ethics, morality, and justice. Still, others misuse the Torah as a stick to beat others with—or as something only to be followed by the few, and not the many. As the Lord bid His followers, “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16, WMB). If you do not know how to apply the Sermon on the Mount in the Twenty-First Century, understand the work of Yeshua, or even where to begin with all this—as He said, “Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you” (Matthew 7:7, WMB). Seek the Father’s will in urgent and diligent prayer. Always desire to be one who can make an impact by good works:

“Even so, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16, WMB).

Expose the false ways of others not by repaying evil with evil (Romans 12:17)…but by responding with good!