Scriptures

Leviticus 12:1-13:59

Haftorah Reading
2 Kings 4:42-5:19

B’rit Chadashah
Mary fulfills the laws of purification after Yeshua's birth: Luke 2:22–24
Yeshua heals the “lepers”: Matthew 8:1–4; 11:2–6; Mark 1:40–45
Yeshua on the misuse of the mouth: Matthew 15:11,17–20; Mark 7:18–23
On the defilement of sin: Romans 6:19–23
The apostles on the evil use of the tongue: Ephesians 4:31; James 3:1–12; 4:11–12; 1 Peter 2:1

Etz Chayeem Hoo (He Is a Tree of Life)

Yeshua is a tree of life to those who take hold of Him, and those who support Him are praiseworthy. His ways are ways of pleasantness and all of His paths are shalom. Bring us back YHVH to You, and we shall come, renew our days as of old.

As we begin to study the Torah let us never forget that YESHUA THE MESSIAH is the Living Torah, the Torah-Word of Elohim made flesh. He is the way, the truth and the life — the Living Manna sent from heaven. Without Him living in our lives through the indwelling Presence of his Set-Apart/Kadosh Spirit (Who leads us into all truth and revelation) the Written Torah can become the dead letter of the law!

Outline of This Week’s Parashah (Torah Portion):

• 12:1 The Laws of Human Contamination
• 12:2 Childbirth and Purification
• 13:1 The Basics of Tzaraas (skin disorder, e.g. swelling, scab or a bright spot) and the Procedure to Verification
• 13:4 Bahaares (white spots on the skin)
• 13:9 S'eis (skin that appears to be white like wool and sunken)
• 13:18 Inflammation
• 13:24 Burns
• 13:29 Tzaraas of the Head or Face
• 13:40 Baldness at the Front and Back of the Head
• 13:45 The Metzora (i.e., the individual with the skin disorder) Isolation
• 13:47 Afflictions of the Garments

Study Questions For This Week’s Midrash (Torah Discussion):

Some Hebrew Terms Relating to This Passage:

• Tzaraas: skin disease (improperly translated as “leprosy” in some Bibles)
• Niddah: someone who is separated or menstruous
• Tumah: spiritual impurity
• Metzora: one with a skin disease; a contraction of the Hebrew word motzi and ra meaning “one who speaks slander”

This week’s Parashah is a continuation of the subject of human contamination and delineates what could seem to be a lot of irrelevant and archaic, if not arcane, regulations relating to childbirth and skin diseases. Why is YHVH so concerned about “human contamination”? What is the greater picture here to help us gain understanding into the Father’s intent and heart behind these Torah-laws? The rabbis teach that man must not forget that even the gnats and earthworms preceded him in the creation. This is to teach man humility. But conversely, each stage of Elohim’s creation added something to that which had been created previously and that man was the final, crowning touch that would pull all the creation together to fulfill its purpose of spirituality in the performance of Elohim’s will. Man is therefore the last of the creatures to be created, but the first in significance because he is the purpose of it all and that if man is not worthy of his calling, then he has added nothing of substance to YHVH’s handiwork (ArtScroll Tanach Series Vayikra, p. 184).

All this is to say that YHVH has a plan to redeem man from his sinful or depraved (animalistic) state. Man can choose to be elevated to this higher spiritual plane or to remain in a state no better than a gnat or a worm having added nothing to the creation’s spiritual betterment. The rabbis teach, and I think we can all agree, that the creation of human life is the most sublime phenomenon in the universe. By doing so, man and woman become partners with Elohim (Ibid., p. 185). But this is a mixed blessing, for it creates a blessing and a problem. While one new person is created in the image of Elohim, one new sinner is in need of redemption from his fallen or separated state from Elohim (a result of Adam and Eve’s sin). This new life is created in a state of spiritual impurity (or fallenness) and the fact of life itself is not sufficient to raise man above the level of the gnat or worm, or to better the world spiritually. The sin issue must be dealt with at the beginning, and hence we find the laws of ritual purification as outlined in the following chapters of the Torah. Offering of atonement must be made for the past sins while one dedicates oneself to live in a state of spiritual purity in the future (Ibid.).

1. 12:2 One may rightly ask why new life begins in tumah/spiritual impurity? Could this have anything to do with David’s statement in Psalms 51:5, “Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” The basic premise of all the false religions and humanistic philosophies of the world is that man is innately good and that any evil attributes he may possess are largely due to his evil environment. Do you believe this? Or have you taken responsibility/ownership of your own sin and the sin nature in you?
   
   12:5 One may also ask why a woman remains in a state of ritual impurity only seven days for a male child and two weeks for a female child? To some of our minds that may have been “leavened” by the “women’s rights” agenda of the 1960s, this may seem sexist. One thing is certain, YHVH is not a respecter of persons. He does not value one gender above the other. Both male and female were made in his image (Gen 1:27). Therefore, Elohim is both male and female. For Elohim to view women as inferior he would be showing favoritism to one part of himself over another, and this is not possible. One explanation the rabbis give for the eight-day compared to the 14-day period of ritual impurity is that a male child has to be circumcised on the eighth day. A brit m’lah is to be a joyous occasion. If a woman were still in a state of ritual impurity she would not be able to participate in her son’s circumcision (ArtScroll Tanach Series Vayikra, p. 187).
   
   12:6 Why did the new mother have to bring a sin offering for her newborn child—after all isn’t childbirth a glorious and joyous event? To answer this question we ask a question. What was one of the curses Elohim placed on Eve for her part in bringing sin into the world? (Gen 3:16) Labor pains were decreed upon woman for punishment for her part in original sin. The rabbis teach that the sin offering Torah demands her to give after giving birth is to atone for that. As believers in Yeshua, we might rather see this offering as pointing to ancient Israel’s need for atonement from sin in the Person of Yeshua the Messiah, who was yet to come. Does this not underscore the seriousness YHVH places on sin and that all have sinned and fallen short of his glory (Rom 3:33), and that we are all in desperate need of a Redeemer who would deliver us from that “certificate of sin debt that was against us” and nail it to his cross (Col 2:14)?

2. This Parashah discusses various skin disorders. The KJV says leprosy, but this is a mistranslation. The rabbis teach, as does Matthew Henry in his commentary, that these skin disorders “[were] a plague often inflicted immediately by the hand of God” (Matthew Henry Concise Commentary, p. 111). Before you react by saying that Elohim doesn’t do this (we will cite some biblical examples of it below in Question 3), consider for a moment that perhaps this is an act of the loving hand of Elohim, a judgment-unto-repentance, to bring you, his child, out of sin and back to him. Next time you have an ailment, a trial, a setback, or some other problem in life, before ascribing its occurrence simply to time and chance, reflect for a moment and consider this: perhaps, you are reaping the consequences for some sin that you have committed? Is there a sin in your life that you have not confessed and for which you have not repented? Is Elohim trying to get your attention? In the case of sickness, it could be as simple as your eating unhealthful foods or unclean meats, not getting enough exercise or enough rest. Or it could be the result of gossip, slander, bitterness, unforgiveness or anger. It could be smoking, excessive alcoholic consumption, sexual promiscuity… or violating some of YHVH’s Torah commands that you know you should be keeping.

3. The Jewish rabbis (and Matthew Henry) teach that the skin disorder mentioned in this Torah portion is a result of sins of the mouth such as slander, gossip, murder with the mouth, false oaths and pride as well as sexual immorality, robbery, and selfishness. [T]zaraas is not a bodily disease, but the physical manifestation of a spiritual malaise, a punishment designed to show the malefactor that he must mend his ways. The primary cause of tzaraas is the sin of slander” (ArtScroll Tanach Series Vayikra, p. 190). For proof of this, the rabbis cite the similarity between the Hebrew word for skin disorder (m’tzora) and the word one who spreads slander (motzeyra). They say that these skin disorders are “[d]ivine retribution for the offender’s failure to feel the needs and share the hurt of others. YHVH rebukes this antisocial behavior by isolating him from society, so that he can experience the pain he has imposed on others—and heal himself through repentance” (ArtScroll Chumash, page 610). They then cite the examples of Miriam’s skin turning white when she slandered Moses. We must not forget the examples of Gehazi and King Uzziah, as well.
   
   It would be well for us to pause at this moment and to consider our own behavior with respect to our tongue. Thankfully, we’re under the grace of Elohim. But in the book of Acts Ananias and Sapphira found out what happens when one sins with one’s mouth and Elohim pulls back his hand of grace. They were instantly struck dead.
   
   As we get closer to the end of the age and to the return of Messiah, it is likely that Elohim will begin to require greater spiritual accountability of his people, especially of leaders in the areas we are discussing. He wants to instill within people the true fear of YHVH-Elohim and a repentant and contrite heart, and to turn people away from spiritual lukewarmness (Rev 3:14–21). It is likely that such rapid judgments as happened to Miriam, Korah et al, Gehazi, Ananias and Sapphira and others in Scripture will begin to occur soon, in our day, and may already be occurring.
   
   What steps are you taking to sanctify your tongue, to break any bad habits that you may have in this regard that may bring curses on you or sow seeds of discord among the brethren thereby bringing a curse upon the assembly? May YHVH’s Spirit help us all to not sin with our tongue, and may we hold ourselves accountable and responsible to walk in the fear of Elohim at all times.
   
   The time for playing fast and loose with our mouths and other members of our bodies is finished. We are all being called to account by Elohim. Be hot or cold. Not in-between! Yeshua is not coming back for a Babylonian (half world and half Word-orientated lifestyle), sin-spotted bride—but one without spot and wrinkle. Where are you at?

4. A skin disease was like a red flag, which if a person had it was regarded as a judgment from Elohim for the sin of slander, gossip, murder with the mouth, false oaths and pride as well as sexual immorality, robbery, and selfishness. That person was considered to be physically and spiritually contagious and so was put outside the camp of Israel until the disease was gone. According to Rabbi Hirsch, quarantine was a means of shocking the sinner into recognizing his moral shortcomings and his need to repent (ArtScroll Chumash, p. 613).
   
   What if each time we sinned with our mouth we were quickly struck with a visible sin disease for all to see resulting in our being quarantined and shunned? Perhaps the incidences of lashon hara (the evil tongue) would greatly diminish. If you received heaven’s judgment each time you misspoke, how would you change your speech habits and heart attitude toward others? Now live your life from this point on as if the next time you spoke evil of someone (without a righteous and biblically justifiable reason) you would be instantly judged by YHVH in a visible and public way.

5. What is the connection between Leviticus chapters 11 and 13? Both involve the mouth. The former Torah passage deals with uncleanness that goes into the mouth through what we eat. This defiles the man from within. The latter passage deals with what comes out of the mouth and how the man with a defiled heart corrupts society through the wrong use of his mouth. What did Yeshua say about this in Mark 7:14–23? What were the penalties in the Torah for eating unclean meats? (Read Leviticus 11.) Though the Torah calls eating unclean meats an abomination and declares that doing so defiles a person, interestingly there are no set penalties for doing so. Now what are the penalties for speaking gossip and slander? It is skin disease and required excommunication from the camp of Israel. Both eating unclean meats and speaking gossip and slander are sins to be sure, but the penalties for the one is much greater than for the other indicating the seriousness YHVH places on the right usage of the mouth. Ponder this for a moment: How easy it is for us to overly focus on what goes into our bellies, while at the same time ignoring the raw sewage spewing out of our mouths.
   
   In conclusion, lest anyone think that clean and unclean meats is not a serious issue, YHVH clearly states in Isaiah 66:17 that in the end times during the day of Elohim’s wrath (referred to as the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord) those who are found to be eating swine’s flesh and other abominable foods will be consumed by the fire and sword of YHVH Elohim. We can infer from this that by then if people still have not repented of their sins and are refusing to turn to YHVH and obey him, they probably deserved to die because of the rebelliousness of their hearts. This all the more underscores the fact that the mouth—what goes in and what comes out of it—are difficult issues for humans to deal with, but YHVH demands that we take personal responsibility for the use of our mouths.
   
   “But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” (Matt 12:36)

Haftorah Reading – 2 Kings 4:42-5:19
Humble Yourself That You May Be Lifted Up

1. 5:5 ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothing. According to the NIV Study Bible, this equates to 750 lbs. of silver and 150 lbs. of gold. By comparison, King Omri of Israel paid only two talents of silver for the hill of Samaria upon which he built the capital of his kingdom (1 Kgs 16:24). In today’s market, that is $120,000 in silver, and $1,310,400 in gold. This brings up two issues: First, what will a person pay to have good health? Sometimes all the money in the world cannot purchase good health. If you are healthy, how thankful are you for it? Second, how many ministers or ministries do you know today who would turn down a $1.5 million charitable donation if YHVH said no? Would you? Maybe such a heart of obedience and such ambivalence to materialism is what contributed to the prophet Elisha having such a powerful prophetic and healing anointing in the first place. What can we learn from this if we are seeking to be used of YHVH in a greater capacity in the ministry?

2. Although Elisha was a mighty prophet in Israel and by the world’s standards was worthy of wealth and prestige, his chief concern was the feeding and healing of those in need, without respect of persons or nationality, as this Haftorah portion evidences. YHVH had blessed the prophet with powerful and miraculous spiritual gifts, yet fame and glory had not tainted him. What was his primary ministry focus? How does this compare with that of Yeshua’s—and ours?

3. Israel was a vassal state of Syria, and though the two nations were technically at peace, bands of Syrian marauders still ravaged some of the border towns of Israel. This, however, did not stop Elijah from blessing his enemy, Naaman, a military man. Yeshua addresses the issue of blessing our enemies in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:43–48). As difficult as that may be, this is the higher way to walk. When was the last time you blessed your enemies? How often do you do it?

4. Elisha did not cater to Naaman’s pride, which dictated that pomp and parade accompany the healing. YHVH, through his servant, dealt with Naaman’s physical sickness, as well as his sin of pride. The Torah teaches that the sins of pride, selfishness, and robbery are root causes of the skin disorder that plagued the Syrian. This story demonstrates that YHVH is as concerned with the root causes of an ailment as much as the ailment itself. Many of Yeshua’s miracles demonstrated this same concern. Humility and self-negation were the cures to what ailed Naaman. As Matthew Henry states in his commentary, “When diseased sinners are content to do any thing, to submit to any thing, to part with any thing, for a cure, then, and not till then, is there any hope of them.” The same is true of the lost sinner in need of Yeshua, the Savior and Redeemer. Henry continues, “The methods for the healing of the leprosy of sin, are so plain, that we are without excuse if we do not observe them. It is but, believe, and be saved; repent, and be pardoned; wash, and be clean. The believer applies for salvation, not neglecting, altering, or adding to the Saviour’s directions; he is thus made clean from guilt, while others who neglect him, live and die in the leprosy of sin.”
   
   So often our pride clouds our ability to clearly see and then uncover the root causes of sickness and other ailments plaguing our lives. Do you have a pride problem?
   
   When was the last time you took a hard and serious look at yourself? When was the last time you confessed your sins to someone else? James 5:16 says, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Perhaps your pride will not allow you to do this, and therefore keeps you from being healed! Let’s follow proud Naaman’s example, humbly wash in the humble Jordan River of Yeshua’s forgiveness and healing. The root of the Hebrew name Jordan/Yarden literally means “to go down or to descend.” One always went down to the Jordan, which at the Sea of Galilee is more than 700 feet below sea level and at the Dead Sea into which it empties is some 1400 feet below sea level. At this spot, the Jordan river is the lowest spot not only in Israel, but on planet earth!. What does this tell us that we must do in our spiritual walk in order to be lifted up spiritually? James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Master, and he shall lift you up.”