Tag: priesthood

Parashah Emor (Speak) Leviticus 21 – 24

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There is enough in here to fill a book. I could write a whole chapter of a book just on Leviticus 23, the designations of the Holy Days…oh wait! I already did- it’s Chapter 7 in my book.

God tells Moses and Aaron the requirements for priesthood: about who they can marry, keeping clean (ceremonially) and who may eat of the holy foods. He also tells them those who serve must not have a blemish or an unnatural (today we would say challenged) physique.

It also, as I mentioned above, designates the Festivals of the Lord, the 7 Holy Days (not holidays, but Holy Days- read my book) that God has separated and commanded us to observe:

The Sabbath

Passover Passover is not 7 days long: it is just from the evening meal until midnight, when the angel passed over.

Hag Ha Matzot The next seven days are called Hag ha Matzot, the Festival of Unleavened Bread. First Fruits is also celebrated the first day after the first Shabbat after Passover starts.

Shavuot Festival of Weeks, which includes the counting of the Omer and is celebrated by Christians as the Pentecost (50 days). For Jews it celebrates also the giving of the Torah, although that is civil, not biblical.

Rosh HaShanah The bible declares this day as Yom T’Ruah, the memorial celebration with sounding of trumpets. The civil holiday it has become is a new year celebration. According to God, the new year begins 14 days before the Passover, with the month of Aviv (now called Nissan)

Yom Kippur The Day of Atonement is when we ask God to move from the Seat of Judgment to the Seat of Mercy and forgive us for our sinfulness and the sins we have committed. Of course, we are to ask forgiveness every day, but this was a special time, and the only time that the Cohen HaGadol, the High Priest, was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies.

Sukkot The Festival of Tabernacles is when we build small tabernacles, or open roofed shelters and live in them for a week, to recall the way we lived in the desert for 40 years. Today (not from Torah but a Rabbinical add-on) we also celebrate Sh’mini Atzeret, the Eighth Day, also called Simchat Torah (Joy of Torah). On that day we read the final lines of the Torah, then while the congregation sings (and dances in some synagogues) the Torah is turned back to the beginning, and the cycle of reading starts all over again.

The one thing I want to discuss today is at the very end of this parashah. Leviticus 24:22, where God says:

Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for the home-born; for I am the Lord, your God

This command is one of the most important of all commandments in the Torah, as far as I am concerned, because it signifies clearly that God makes no distinction between your geographic origin, your parent’s beliefs, or whether you are white, black, or multi-colored: as far as God is concerned, His laws are for everyone and it doesn’t matter where you are from or how you were raised. There is only one God, Adonai; there are only His rules and laws; like them or not, you are subject to them if you say you worship Him.

If you profess to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob then these laws are for you. Period.

Most, if not all, Christian religions teach differently, and any religion that says these Holy Days do not need to be observed or that any part of the Torah is not necessary, by definition that religion cannot be worshiping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

If you are being told the Torah, the holy days in Leviticus 23, or that the Old Covenant is all just “Jewish” stuff, then you need to find out who you are worshiping, because it ain’t the God Moses worshiped!

 

Today’s Priesthood: In the Right or In the Way?

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The Kohanim (Priests) in the Bible were not there to serve the people: they were there to serve God. Their services were to prepare the sacrifice. True, sacrifices were made for the benefit of the people, but wasn’t it also as a service that God demanded? He was to be sacrificed to morning and evening, and the Ner Tamid (Eternal Light) was to always be lit, as well as the sacrificial fire in the Altar. The Kohanim also were to serve God by instructing the people about the laws and by rendering judgements based on the Torah. It was God who made the decision, though- the priest had the ritual vest with the Urim and Thummim,  which was the means by which they served God in receiving His guidance and decisions. They also maintained the Tabernacle, and later, the Temple.

The job of the Priest was to serve God by sacrificing to Him (on behalf of the people who bring the sacrifice), to intercede with God on behalf of the people and to act on God’s behalf when rendering judgements for the people in court. Everything they did was to serve God.

I wonder if that is still what the Kohanim of today are doing? Are today’s Rabbis, Priests, Ministers, Chaplains, etc. serving God or are they acting in place of God? I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way: what I mean is when we go to our Kohen to ask for God’s advice and guidance, is he or she praying to God or are they just telling us what they learned in Cemetery (uh, I mean, Seminary) school?

God gave us the rules and laws we are to live by in the Torah, and the Torah was (up until a century or two after Yeshua was resurrected) the place where the Kohanim went to find out what God said we should do. Today it seems only the Rabbi’s still honor Torah, but that isn’t always where they go for answers. If you ask an Orthodox or a Chasidic Rabbi what to so, you are more likely to get a Talmudic interpretation that one from the Torah. The Talmud is a wonderful and rich compilation of Jewish studies and discussion about the Torah, but it is not the Torah, and it is not scripture.

As for the Christian Priesthood, well, for the most part they have thrown the “baby out with the bath water”: the bath water being Torah and the baby being Jesus. Jesus/Yeshua lived by and preached Torah. That was the only scripture He had and, apparently, all He needed. If we are to do as Jesus did, then we need to live by the Torah. But that is not what Christians are being told, and what they say are the “teachings” of Jesus and the Apostles has been misconstrued and prostituted into a series of man-made rituals that in many ways are an aberration of God’s word.

Today we have Rabbi’s quoting Talmud instead of Torah, synagogues and (some of) the “Church” allowing homosexual Kohanim and same-sex marriages , and Christianity (for the most part) teaching that the Torah is done away with by the very same guy who is called the Living Torah. So, I ask again: is today’s Priesthood in the right or in the way?

Thomas Jefferson is supposed to have said something to the effect that the tree of liberty needs to be watered with the blood of revolution every now and then. I bring this up because we need a little “revolutionary” thinking today. The time is getting closer and closer when we will all have to decide for ourselves whose side we will be on. Will we refuse the mark of the devil or will we accept it, gladly? I think many will be accepting it and not really knowing what they are doing because, like sheep, they will blindly and ignorantly follow their religious leaders into damnation.

All the while thinking they are doing what pleases God. All because the enemy may have lost the battle, but he counter-attacked really, really well when he caused the schism between Judaism and what has come to be called Christianity. In truth there shouldn’t be any “religions”, only the one God and His laws, ordinances and regulations.

If you are not being taught:

1. the Torah is the Word of God (not the Talmud);

2. the New Covenant writings and Yeshua’s teachings did NOT do away with Torah but, in fact, confirm Torah;

3. Torah is still valid; and

4. Faith is the only way to find salvation, but without good works to demonstrate your faith is real, you are still lost

then your religious leader is not in the right, but is (actually) in the way. He or she is blocking your path to righteousness and has become a wedge between you and God. That Kohen is not interceding: he or she is interfering.

I am talking today about my feelings regarding today’s Kohanim.  And it is sad that I can, right off the top of my head, think of no less than 3 names of well known pastors that have fallen by the wayside. Do you remember a few years ago the news about the New Jersey Rabbi who killed his wife to be with his mistress? We read of pastors robbing their church, ministers getting involved in politics, televangelists using the name of God to promote their own income, and many, many other heinous activities (Catholic priests abusing young boys and girls, which I am sure is not just within the Catholic church, it’s just that they are getting all the attention right now) that we read about regularly. More and more our “godly” leaders are proving that is not what they are.

The Priesthood is an honorable and Godly livelihood, and I am sure that the vast majority of those serving are trying to serve the Lord. I mean no disrespect to any person who is in that position today, but I do admonish you to make sure you are serving God as God said to do it, and not just the way you were taught. You may not have been taught correctly; however, you will be held doubly-accountable for what you teach, so don’t you think you should make sure it’s OK with God, yourself?

When Yeshua died and was resurrected, He became our eternal Kohen HaGadol, the High Priest, the last priest we will ever need. He is the one who intercedes with God the Father, in judging us; He is our ultimate Defence Attorney.  Most of the priestly duties are unnecessary now because there is no Temple, therefore there is nothing to maintain and no sacrifices can be made. The other Levitical duties were to judge between people and to teach them God’s ways. Even in biblical days that could be done by a scribe, such as Ezra, or anyone well versed and knowledgeable in Torah.

You need to decide, for yourself, if you are being taught correctly. If you don’t think you are, discuss it with your religious leader. If that person is not going to teach you what you think you should be taught, then get the heck out of there, now! Get your bible, the one that starts with Genesis and ends with Revelations, and read it, pray for the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) to lead your understanding, and learn what God says He wants of you.

Since time does not go backward, and the Acharit HaYamim (End Days) are still in the future, then every second we live may be the one just before the End Days!  If you are walking the wrong path when the stuff hits the fan it will be too late to change roads, so you better make sure you are already on the path that is hard to travel and that leads to that narrow gate.

Teaching is a Double-Edged Sword

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I believe, and have had it confirmed by others, that God has given me a gift for teaching. My mother was a teacher, so I learned some of how it’s done while still in the womb. Her sister was also in teaching, as a Vice-Principal. My older sister is a teacher with specific skills for handling troubled children. You could say the defective gene for teaching is in my system, but I like to think that God gave me the gift, also.

Here’s the problem: when you take on the responsibility of teaching, whether it be teaching Math or the Bible, you are shaping someone’s life. If you don’t mold that person correctly you could send them to hell in a handbasket.

The Bible is pretty specific about this: check out these verses:

Proverbs 22:6       Yacov (James) 3:1-2    Luke 6:40 (this one demands we teach by example)

2 Timothy 2:15     Mattitayu (Matthew) 5:19    Nehemiah 8:8      Romans 2:21

There are other verses, but from these you can get the idea that there is great power in teaching. The power to mold and shape someone, which is the same power to turn them aside from the truth and lead them to wrongful decisions. There is the power to save, and the power to destroy.

In the world today there are many teachings, both right and wrong. There are teachings that tell us somethings are bad and there are teachings that tell us the same, exact things are not bad.  The Catholic church says priests are not to get married, but the other Christian religions and the Torah teach that the Kohanim (Priests) are allowed to marry (but there are restrictions on the type of woman they are allowed to marry.) Another teaching is that being kosher is only for Jews, but Yeshua was kosher and we are told to be like Yeshua, to “Do what Jesus would have done”, so why is it taught that we don’t have to keep kosher? If you read my book you will learn more on how this idea that kosher laws are done away with is wrong.

The world teaches you to look out only for yourself and the Bible teaches us to care for others as much as ourselves. The world teaches to live for today and the Bible teaches us to live for Eternity.

So many different things, and all seemingly opposing each other. For those of us who want to teach about God’s way and to lead others to the salvation that Yeshua made possible, we have to work against the world and all the teachings therein. Then, we have to work against all the wrongful teachings that the Christian world has proliferated: Yeshua did away with Torah, Torah is just for Jews, Jews are Christ-killers and because they rejected Jesus God has rejected them so the Christians are the new Chosen People (this is called Replacement Theology), the church leadership shouldn’t get married, or (at the other end) the church leaders can be homosexual. Eat anything you want but you can’t drink alcoholic beverages or dance, and there are hundreds of other teachings, each religion with it’s own ideas, and all claiming this is God’s way.

God has no religion, only commandments. They’re all in the Torah- there is nothing “new” in the New Covenant writings. Get with the program , people!

Then there’s the big one, which I think will send more people to hell than anything else we are being told: if you’re a good person you get to go to heaven. That is a lie from the pit of Sheol (hell) and even Yeshua says He is not good, only His father in heaven is good. So, then, who can be good if only God is good?

What we are being taught is a roadmap, a sort of spiritual GPS, and it is sending us somewhere… but to where?

Here’s is a lesson I offer that is true: we are all sinners. No one is good, no one is worthy, and no one has a snowballs’ chance in Heck of being saved without Yeshua HaMashiach. Simple, straight-forward, Biblically sound, and awesome to realize. Scary actually.

If you want to teach about God, make sure you read the verses I quoted above, and don’t forget this: Yeshua said those who sin and teach others to sin will be the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. The good news is that you may be teaching wrong things and still be saved, as this verse implies, and the bad news is I don’t think you will hear Yeshua say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Not if you teach others to sin. Here’s the really bad news: how will you feel if you are in Heaven and people you taught did not make it because of your teachings? Through all eternity you will know they are suffering because of you.

To teach God’s word means you need to live God’s word, and I am the biggest failure of all in doing this. I am teaching do what I say (actually, what God says) and not what I do. Truthfully, we all do this, teach what we can’t do, since we are all sinners without hope of redemption on our own, so no one is going to live a perfect life. That was done already, and we only needed it for the one time. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try, because we can sin less.

Here is another lesson you can count on as being true: we will never be able to say we don’t sin at all, but we can always sin less than we do now.

If you want to teach, think about it. You don’t know what you are getting into. If you have the gift, use it, but if you aren’t sure then ask those who are faithful and spiritually mature. Trust their judgement and, more than anything, ask God what He wants you to do. Ask Him to show you what gift(s) He has given you, and work with those. There is nothing more satisfying than doing good for the Lord, and if my gift was toilet cleaning, I would clean the toilets so well that no one would even want to use them, for fear of making them dirty again.

Of course, I am glad that’s not my gifting, but my point is this: whatever God leads you to do, do it well. Do what we are told to do in Colossians 3:23 (I am really breaking my rules about not giving exact locations today, aren’t I?) and you will always feel a sense of fulfillment from your work.

I love doing what I do…this blog, writing my book (c’mon, already- buy it!) and being able to give the message at my place of worship, now and then. And I always, always, always  hold myself up to the Word of God, making sure everything I say and teach about is able to be found in the Bible. I also tell everyone, including you, to test me and verify whatever I say is in the Bible to really be there.

I once read you shouldn’t believe everything you read, but then I didn’t know what to do!

Be careful when you teach because the ones you are teaching are depending on you to guide them to the truth and to their salvation. Don’t let them down.