After The Death
If not that Your Torah was my delight, I would have perished in my affliction ~ Psalm 119:92
The Rabbi of Rizhin made a frightening prediction. “A day will come,” he said, “when ignorance will reign. Mediocre men will feel at ease on earth and above, while men of spirit and conscience will be alienated. The most pious will be incapable of reciting a verse from the Psalms. I tell you this so you will know, because that is how it will be.”
But we can thwart this prophecy. We can overcome illiteracy and ignorance. The Torah is at our very fingertips, and we have more educational aids than ever before. We must dedicate our lives to the study of Torah for young and old alike. It is our only Salvation. ~Living Each Day, from the scriptures. 23, Nissan.
Acharei Mot is this week’s study of Torah, translated “after the death” in our English Bibles. This week’s portion comes from Leviticus 16:1-18:30. The Haftarah portion comes from 1 Samuel 20:18-42 and the Gospel is taken from John 7:1-52.
The title of this week’s portion comes from Leviticus 16:1, “And spoke the L-rd unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron when they approached unto the face of the L-rd and died.” After, אחרי, pronounced akh-ar, comes from the verb root achar (aw-khar), אחר, meaning to delay, to remain behind, tarry, delay, late, linger, stay up late, or stayed. This word is first used in Genesis 24:56 when the Servant of Abraham says to the family of Rebekkah, “Do not delay me, since the Holy One has prospered my way. Let me go so that I may go to my master.”. The death, comes from the Hebrew word muth, מות, pronounced “mooth”. Muth is first seen in Genesis 2:17, “but do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you shall certainly die.” Strongs defies muth as crying, be dead, dead body, man, one put to death, worthy of death, or destroyer.
Acharei Mot begins with the death of Nadav and Avihu, a sort of “first-fruits” of death in the camp of the Redeemed. If you have been keeping up, back in Leviticus 10:1-2, Aaron’s sons offered “strange fire” or “unauthorized fire” to the Holy One and fire came out and consumed them. Continuously the Holy One reminds us with the words “after death” that we are to be Holy as He is Holy!
Notice Leviticus 16:1 begins, The the Holy One spoke to Moses and in Leviticus 16:2, the Holy One said to Moses. Spoke here in Hebrew is dabar which is more of a command and is used for “harsh words” and said is amar and used for “softer words”.
The Holy One will now give His instruction on the Holiest Place which is behind he veil. The dwelling place for His Shekinah. He will now focus our attention to the fact that we also must die to everything that is not holy. To teach us that we must abide in and live unto Him. We must die to our flesh, our will, our curiosities of “darkness”, perverse pleasures, insecurities, our rage, the things that offend us, our desire to criticize, complain, accuse and judge. Our thirst for control or to make a name for ourselves must also be put to death. Our opinions, our philosophies, and our ideologies must be done away with and proclaim, “Not my will, Father, but Yours be done”! In Leviticus 16, Holy One will instruct Moses and all of us to what is to happen on the 10th day of he 7th month. The Day of Atonement!
This great day of Atonement, also known as Yom Kippur is spelled out by the Holy One in Acharei Mot. The day it is to happen, the garments that that the High Priest must wear, how the people are to understand and appreciate the High Priest and his duties, how the High Priest is to enter the Holy of Holies, the obligations of the congregation, and the length of time it is to be observed.
Before diving in to the instructions for Yom Kippur, let’s look at the word atonement. The word atonement comes from the Hebrew word, Kaphar, כפר , meaning cover, to cover, to overspread, or to cover over. The word kaphar is first found in Genesis 6:14, where the Holy One tells Noach to “make for yourself an ark of gopher (גפר) wood. You shall make the ark with compartments and smear pitch on it (כפר), both inside and out”. It is interesting that Noach was to make an ark of gopher wood. Gopher is a resinous wood that oozes sap when it is cut, so it seals itself against moisture. Only twice does the word tebah, תבה, or ark, appear in scripture, both covered with pitch (kaphar). Here and in Exodus 2:3, to designate a cradle which protected Moses from drowning in the Nile. In both cases the ark plays the same role, to save a redeemer from death. A prefiguration of the ark of the covenant which contained the treasure of humanity, the Torah~Salvation.
The Day of Atonement, which is detailed here in our Father’s Word (Leviticus 16), describes the day that has been set apart to come before Him, to become Holy and live in and under His covering. Surrendering the ways of the world and proclaiming to abide in Him. Any other way will only lead to death.
Yeshua entered in as a forerunner on our behalf, according to the book of Hebrews 6:19 , “We have this hope as an anchor of the soil, both firm and steady–a hope that enters the inner place behind the curtain.” Likewise, Hebrews 9:11, “But when Messiah appeared as Kohen Gadol of the good things that have now come, passing through the greater and more perfect Tent not made with hands, He entered once for all — not by the blood of goats and calves but by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption”. Everything, according to Torah is purified by blood and apart from the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Yeshua was offered once to bear our sins, to be our covering. He will appear a second time, according to Hebrews 9:28, “to those eagerly awaiting Him for Salvation”. He will recognize those who are doing the will of His Father.
Yeshua’s blood atonement fulfilled the Torah, to give us eternal life, Salvation! By His blood (covering) we have freedom to enter in. We are still of flesh and sin is all around. His covering is our security from the spiritual death caused by sin. The Torah is the very Gospel message he spoke during His life on earth, it was His testimony.
May you delight in Torah, The Way, Truth, and Life!
~Hallelujah Girl