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THE MESSIANIC PROPHECY BIBLE PROJECT

http://www.messianicbible.com

HEAR O ISRAEL

www.hearoisrael.org

SHEEPFOLD GLEANINGS WRITTEN BY JULIE PARKER

www.sheepfoldgleanings.com

MESSIANIC ISRAEL ALLIANCE

http://www.messianicisrael.com

AZAMRA TORAH FOR OUR TIME – RABBI AVRAHAM GREENBAUM

http://www.azamra.org

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TORAH: Lev. 12:1-13:59 HAFTARAH: 2 Kings 4:42-5:19; B’RIT CHADASHAH: Matthew 8:1-4, 11:2-6 Mark 1:40-45, Luke 2:22-24, 5:12-16 7:18–35.

All references: The Scripture 1998+ unless otherwise noted

• • • In Leviticus chapters 1 through 10, Leviticus 11. If the temple of הוהי introduced the teaching of clean and unclean, holy and unholy through the food laws in הוהי resides in us, we are accountable to keep it clean. We are to eat clean foods, abhor the unclean and not eat any fat or blood. Uncleanness will contaminate our bodies and pollute the dwelling place of is not a salvation issue but a heart issue; what we put in our bodies both reflects and affects our mindset.

הוהי . It Uncleanness comes from within. If our hearts are unclean we need to make things right before הוהי .

Eating clean foods without fat or blood blesses us physically and spirituality.

If there are any contaminants in us, Contamination can enter through:   

Our eyes by what we look at, Through our thoughts and speech,

הוהי is faithful to expose in our hearts and minds to what the root causes are.

Or by associations and what we attracted ourselves to.

The Holy Place in the tabernacle is symbolic of our mind, while the Most Holy Place symbolizes our heart, and a man thinks in both places. We are holy vessels prepared in the image of and likened to a bride, we are also responsible for keeping a healthy home and dwelling place for the Ruach Ha Kodesh.

הוהי This study in Tazria looks at the spiritual side of what brings infections and moulds into our body. It deals with the laws of tumah (ritual impurity) and tahara (ritual purity).

The laws pertaining to purification, including post childbirth, purity in marriage (niddah), and leprosy are discussed. These regulations may be understood in purely hygienic terms, or for their religious significance, or both. The issue, however, is not one of clean versus unclean, but pure (tahor) versus defiled (tameh). Certainly, as Believers we strive to be pure and clean in heart before the Lord.

“Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘When a woman has conceived (Tazria), … (Leviticus 12:2 ) A word for word translation reads: Vayikra 12:2: Speak to the children of Israel, saying: “A woman that shall be caused to seed, …

Rabbi’s have pointed out that there is a redundancy to the way this is worded. The phrase “has conceived” in the first translation is the phrase “shall be caused to seed” in the second. Obviously if birth occurs, then why mention “conception”? Taking a look at עשוהי ? He was born of a woman. Was He born with a sin nature? Messiah is the only one born of a woman who DOES NOT have Adam’s blood flowing in His veins. He has the undefiled blood of the heavenly Father.

הוהי has created woman in such a way that because she contributes no blood to her fetus, she is able to bring forth a “another Adam”:

been written, “The first man Aḏam became a living being,” the last Aḏam a life-giving Spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45) And so it has

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“Something took place in the Garden. Man sinned for the first time. In so sinning, man clothed himself in corruptible flesh, and was subsequently driven from the Presence of the Almighty. In the day that we first sinned….we surely died. Even though Adam and Eve did not immediately die physically – the stench of death was all about them.

Everything regarding their mortality was offensive to the Holy One, blessed is He. The “seed” sown in the Garden bore fruit. Yes, later Eve conceived and bore a son, Cain. In pain she birthed Cain. The very act of giving birth revealed mortality, and hence death – blood is present at birth. The very act of bringing forth new life, displays death and corruption.

“But it is not only blood that represents death. It is the very material of conception that represents death – because man does not bring forth immortality, but frail mortality just like himself. Both the physical material from father and mother also represent death – at the same time that conception brings about life. Such is the irony of the state of man: living in a dying state, from the moment of conception. What was conceived in the Garden, because of sin, was death.” 7

..and has given birth to a male child, .. then she shall be unclean seven days (Leviticus 12:2)

The verse is referring to the birth of a son. But instead of using the normal Hebrew word for son “ben”, it uses the Hebrew word “zakar” , which by removing the vowel points is also the word for “remember”.

The verse therefore points to a “remembrance” through a son.

A remembrance that there will be “seven days” (seven thousand years) of history before the “8th day”. Until that time, there will be sin (referenced by “unclean”) on earth, even during the millennial period, evidenced by those who battle with satan in Revelation:

And when the thousand years have ended, Satan shall be released from his prison,

(Revelation 20:7).

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‘And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin is circumcised.

(Leviticus 12:3 )

Note: The eighth day is when vitamin K and prothrombin (immune and blood clotting factors) are at their all-time highest levels in a boy's life, making it the very best time to promote his healing

And הוהי Elohim made coats of skin for the man and his wife and dressed them. (Genesis 3:21 )

הוהי put a covering of skin on Adam and Eve, in part a thickening of flesh over their hearts that has to be cut away, pictured by this outward, literal cutting.

Because we are עשוהי ’s bride it is also our responsibility to completely remove all of the self, which stemmed from the sin of wanting to be in Elohim’s position. When Moshe spent merely 40

days in הוהי ’s presence, the glow began to return. (Ex. 34:29)

‘ And she remains in the blood of her cleansing thirty-three days. She does not touch whatever is set-apart, and she does not come into the set-apart place until the days of her cleansing are completed. (Leviticus

12:4)

• • The first word in Scripture that has the numeric value of thirty-three is k’ekhad (“as one [of us]”) right in this context, in Gen. 3:22. It is also the age when עשוהי was crucified making a way for us to be one with ABBA.

“And the esteem which You gave Me I have given them, so that they might be one as We are one, (John 17:22 )

Taking the serpent’s hint, Eve said, in effect,

be the one to make my own decisions.”

inclination for what it was. So הוהי

“It is my life and I need to

She could not see her evil imposed on her a husband’s rule.

(Gen. 3:16) Today this is seen as a curse, but it was a great blessing, if she wants to see the redemption come about.

The woman’s part in redemption is to bring the reminder of sin; the son’s part is to eradicate it.

Jewish commentator Baruch A. Levine points out that the above phrase “blood of her purification” could be literally translated “pure blood”. He suggests that the discharge of blood that occurs in the final 33 days is somehow different than the discharge of the first seven days.

Normally we know that blood outside of the body (with the exception of inside the tabernacle) is a thing of impurity, but here it is called “pure blood”. What blood purifies? We know that the blood used in the tabernacle rituals was used for atonement or a “covering over” of sin. Then of course there is the blood of עשוהי …the only blood that actually takes away sin and the only blood that truly purifies. So this blood which “purifies” for 33 days….could it be linked to the tiny amount of blood shed during the circumcision of the son?

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• • • •

‘But if she gives birth to a female child, then she shall be unclean for two weeks, as in her monthly separation, and she remains in the blood of her cleansing for sixty-six days. (Leviticus 12:5)

Thus her uncleanness lasts 80 days in all. Why does everything double for the female?

Because she is introducing another female cycle, built upon her own, into the world--a flow of blood which can defile others while she is alive.

When Moshe was also on the mountain, bringing forth a "woman" to be a bride for הוהי , he stayed for 80 days.

Positive note, while the Torah has a law about a rebellious son (Deut. 21:18ff), there is none about a rebellious daughter; apparently this was not even expected, and may be due to having more time with her mother so early in her life.

Since the daughter will one day be given away to another family, her birth may not be celebrated as much as that of a son, and this may be part of her compensation.

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In the first week was Adam created, and the rib -his wife: in the second week He showed her unto him: and for this reason the commandment was given to keep in their defilement, for a male seven days, and for a female twice seven days. And after Adam had completed forty days in the land where he had been created, we brought him into the garden of Eden to till and keep it, but his wife they brought in on the eightieth day, and after this she entered into the garden of Eden. And for this reason the commandment is written on the heavenly tablets in regard to her that gives birth: 'if she bears a male, she shall remain in her uncleanness seven days according to the first week of days, and thirty and three days shall she remain in the blood of her purifying, and she shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor enter into the sanctuary, until she accomplishes these days which (are enjoined) in the case of a male child. But in the case of a female child she shall remain in her uncleanness two weeks of days, according to the first two weeks, and sixty-six days in the blood of her purification, and they will be in all eighty days.' And when she had completed these eighty days we brought her into the garden of Eden, for it is holier than all the earth besides and every tree that is planted in it is holy. Chapter 3:8-15 13

‘And when the days of her cleansing are completed, .. she brings to the priest a lamb a year old, as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering, to the door of the Tent of Meeting.

(Leviticus 12:6 )

The burnt offering (olah or ascending offering) is to be a lamb, a year old. If she cannot afford a lamb, then she is to bring pigeon or a turtledove, to go with the one she brings as a sin offering. The “sin offering” (chatta’ah) represents not only sin, but our sin nature also.

The “lamb” – The word used in verse 6 is “kebes” (kaf-bet-sin) and verse 8 “seh” (sin-hey). Both of these words mean “lamb” from either the sheep or the goats. However, when “kebes” is used, it is specifying a “male” lamb.

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The “turtledove”, “tor” (tav-vav-reish) or the “pigeon”, which is “yonah” (yud-vav-nun-hey). The “turtledove” is a term of endearment that Scripture uses to describe Israel, הוהי ’s beloved.

“O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the covering of the cliff, Let me see your appearance, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your appearance is lovely.” (Song of Solomon 2:14 )

It appears in TaNaK in this context in; Psalms 74:19 and in Song of Songs 5:2 and 6:9. In his book, “Kol Ha Tor” or “Voice of the Turtledove”, Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman (the Gaon of Vilna) writes that this “voice” (the collective voice of B’nei Yisra’el) heard again in the Land, in the last days, will signal the coming of Mashiach.

Hence, the “turtledove” also indentifies with “Mashiach”. 15

The Hebrew word for pigeon here is “yonah” (Strong’s #3123). Jonah is the name of הוהי ’s prophet to Nineveh. When the Pharisees asked עשוהי for a sign to prove who He was:

..But He answering, said to them, “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Yonah. “For as Yonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of the great fish, so shall the Son of Aḏam be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:38-40 )

Jonah is spelled “yud-vav-nun-hey”.

Yud=hand, connection, nun=Heir to the throne (Mashiach) and hey=revelation.

So, Jonah (or the sign of Jonah) is “the hand that points to” the “connection” of “Mashiach” in the “revelation”. Now, the numeric value of Jonah is 71 which equals “l‟Adonai” (my Master) and “milah” or circumcision. So too, this “pigeon” also identifies with Mashiach pointing the way to the Father through circumcision.

vav=hook or 16

If circumcision represents the cutting away of the “sins of the flesh”, then Messiah definitely became this for us:

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of Elohim. (2 Corinthians

5:21 )

• • • • With those concepts in mind, we can see why the placement of chapter 12 precedes chapter 13. After the cutting away of the unclean flesh, the very next thing to be discussed in chapter 13 is problems of the flesh!

These same concepts are also discussed with עשוהי :

עשוהי heals the woman with the issue of blood:

26; Mark 5:24–34; Luke 8:42–48; Matthew 9:20–

On evil speaking:

Ephesians 4:31; James 3:1–12; 4:11–12; 1 Peter 2:1; Romans 6:19–23;

On holiness :

Hebrews 12:14; 1 Peter 1:15–16; 17

On the marriage bed:

Hebrews 13:4

And הוהי spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, saying, “When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it shall become on the skin of his body like a leprous infection, then he shall be brought to Aharon the priest or to one of his sons the priests. (Leviticus 13:1-2)

The word leprosy is repeated 21 times in chapter 13. Leprosy has long been taught by the church to be the disease referred to in the Torah as tzara‟at. When the Hebrew Torah was first translated into Greek as the Septuagint, the word “tzara‟at” was translated as “lepra”, since there was no word in Greek for this condition. When it was translated into other languages, as English, were done; “leprosy” became the operative word.

As we read Leviticus 13, we clearly see that the description of “tzara‟at” differs from our understanding of leprosy (Hansen‟s disease). Most think that when people get this disease that their fingers and toes rot and fall off. In fact, it’s not like any well known, modern day, dermatological disease, as many of the symptoms don’t match. We also see from Torah this week that it infects not only humans, but their clothing and/or their homes.

LEPROSY (HANSENS DESEASE) PSORIASIS TZARA’AT MILDEW A FORM OF TZARA’AT 19

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“ And the priest shall look at the infection on the skin of the body. And if the hair on the infection has turned white, and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous infection. And the priest shall look at him, and pronounce him unclean. “But if the bright spot is white on the skin of his body, and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and its hair has not turned white, then the priest shall shut up the infected one seven days. (Leviticus 13:3-4)

A major difference of leprosy, leprosy is a much slower progressive disease. An infected person could show no change in symptoms for sometimes months.

The first thing we learn is that this happens to a “man” (adam), referring to “human being”.

Secondly we see that the symptoms appear on the skin. The word for “skin” used here in Hebrew is “owr” (Strong’s #5785) and is spelled “ayin-vav-reish”. Ayin = eye, vav = connection and reish = head. So, the eye is connected to the head, what the eye sees, our head holds that picture for a very long time.

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There’s a homonym for “owr”. When you replace the “ayin” with an “aleph” you get “ohr” which is “light”: When the “eye” (ayin) is connected to the head, there is “skin and flesh”. When the “aleph” (Master) is connected to the “reish” or “head” instead, there is “light”. While verse 2 reads a leprous infection, the Hebrew says “nega tzara’at” (or plague of tzara’at), a double word play. The letters in “nega” or plague (nun-gimmel-ayin) when rearranged and the vowel point changes, it becomes “oneg” or delight. And, the letters in tzara’at can be rearranged to spell “Atzeret” (holiday or great day).

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In the Sephrei Mussar (Ethical Writings) the sages teach that when Adam and Chawah were created, they were beings of “light”. But, when they sinned, the “light” was covered by skin. But, the skin has pores that let enough of Elohim’s light in to guide us. However, they add when we sin, “Nega Tzara‟at” (plague of tzara’at) covers those pores and we are in darkness, outside the camp; which is where these “metzora‟im”, those diagnosed with tzara’at, were made to dwell, until they were pronounced clean by the Priest. They say that when we “teshuva” (repent and return), we change the owr [skin] to ohr [light]), the “Nega Tzara‟at” (plague of tzara’at) is turned into “Oneg” and “Atzeret” (a delight and a great day).

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The Hebrew word here for “swelling” is “sehayth” which literally means an “uprising”; which you can take that to mean either “swelling” or “revolt”. It’s spelled “shin-aleph-tav”.

“Scab” is the Hebrew word “sappach'ath” (samech-pey-chet-tav), which means “lesion” and is from the root word “saphach” which means to be “joined or attached to”. The “bright spot” or “bohereth” in Hebrew (beit-hey-reish-tav), which means both “bright” and “inflamed” or “inflammatory”.

SUMMARY: “Swelling, scab, bright spot” ~ “sehayth, saphach, bohereth” ~ “uprising, joined to, inflammatory”. These marks on the skin (or on the light) are the fruits of some sin. This is why the priest needed to examine him. Just as we are called to examine our fruit often. Not to condemn or shame one another; but, to keep tzara’at (the fruit of sin) from spreading in the camp.

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• • If we examine the root of the all-inclusive disease, tzara, on a deeper level: The first letter is tzadik, a "righteous person." The Torah reinforces the inference that the leper being discussed is a tzadik. When describing the leper in the initial verse, (Leviticus 13:2), he is referred to as adam ("a man"), the highest form of the synonyms for human being.

The second two letters of the root tzara are reish and ayin, which spell ra, "evil." Thus, the entire root, tzadik, reish, ayin, alludes to a righteous person who simultaneously has bad or experiencing negativity in his life. If he were 100% righteous, he would not be vulnerable to bad things happening to him. Because this tzadik has a speck of gravitation toward evil in the depths of his consciousness, he is open to negative events occurring in his life. The purpose of this suffering is to rectify the iota of evil still within him.

“But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and these defile the man. “For out of the heart come forth wicked reasonings, murders, adulteries, whorings, thefts, false witnessings, slanders. “These defile the man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.” (Matthew 15:18-20)

Lashon hara, the evil tongue commonly associated with gossip, is very serious in Elohim’s eyes. If you think about it, it is probably one of the most widely disobeyed of all His commandments.

‘Do not go slandering among your people. Do not stand against the blood of your neighbour. I am הוהי . (Leviticus 19:16)

James, the brother of עשוהי , also teaches:

Brothers, do not speak against one another. He that speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against Torah and judges Torah. And if you judge Torah, you are not a doer of Torah but a judge. (James 4:11)

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You will be held accountable on the day of Judgement

“The good man brings forth what is good from the good treasures of his heart, and the wicked man brings forth what is wicked from the wicked treasure. “And I say to you that for every idle word men speak, they shall give an account of it in the day of judgment. (Matthew

12:35-36)

Paul also speaks to how words can tear down a community or a family:

For I fear lest, when I come, I do not find you such as I wish, and I be found by you such as you do not wish – lest there be strife, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, slander, gossip, puffings up, unrests, (2 Corinthians 12:20)

Words are powerful…it was by the Word of Elohim that the creation came into existence,

Genesis 1:3.

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Words are spoken…words are heard…and words are responded to, this is the basis of a relationship. The Israelites entered into a relationship when the Word of Elohim spoke to them from Mount Sinai and when they said “yes” to the covenant and entered into an intimate relationship with their Elohim. Now, tzara’at becomes the symbol that the relationship has been damaged…by “words”…the very means through which the children of Israel first entered into that relationship.

The words the Almighty gave to the Israelites were Spiritual Words.

The words we speak are also from the spirit because we use the breath of life that the Father has given us to speak them.

The following is a profound quote from Rambam:

“This is the way of those wicked people who sit and mock: first they speak nonsense…and then it leads to speaking badly about the righteous….and then they will speak badly of the prophets and find fault in their words…and this will eventually lead to a denial of God and the principles of faith…gossip is not so much a problem in itself, but it represents the planting of a seed for future ills. It is the initiation of a slow, downward path.”

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We abuse a person when we directly or indirectly speak of them in a negative way. As soon as the words are uttered, irreparable damage has been done. We abuse speech itself when what we speak is neither positive nor constructive. This can bring about a regression in the speaker’s character, which can ultimately lead to disastrous results.

The point is…merely speaking nonsense can be an abuse of the gift of speech given to us by our Creator! Words have consequences. The Words of the Almighty always have purpose:

so is My Word that goes forth from My mouth – it does not return to Me empty, but shall do what I please, and shall certainly accomplish what I sent it for. (Isaiah 55:11)

We truly become disfigured when we use words to condemn, not communicate. Those who abused others with their words are themselves afflicted, we become bitter towards that person. Language is a great gift to mankind, and it must be guarded if it is to achieve the purpose for which it was sent. If עשוהי is the living Word, then our words should reflect our relationship with Him at all times!

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The word plague ([nega) was used 46 times in Leviticus 13. The same three Hebrew letters are also translated as the word touch (naga)!

but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohim has said, ‘Do not eat of it, nor touch (naga) it, lest you die.’ ” (Genesis 3:3) “And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike (naga) the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin, and you, none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.

(Exodus 12:22)

‘And when any of the beasts which are yours for food dies, he who touches (naga) its carcass becomes unclean until evening.

(Leviticus 11:39)

It was the touch of the Master that brought healing:

For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions fell upon Him to touch Him.(Mark 3:10)

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In Matthew we find a story of also see עשוהי עשוהי reaching out to a man with leprosy (tzara’at), physically healing him and making him “clean”. We following the commandments of Torah in sending him to the Priest and making an offering:

And when He came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. And see, a leper came, and bowed before Him, saying, “Master, if You desire, You are able to make me clean.” And stretching out His hand עשוהי touched him, saying, “I desire it. Be cleansed!” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And

(Matthew 8:1-4)

עשוהי said to him, “See, mention it to no one. But go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Mosheh commanded, as a witness to them.”

Interesting that it is by the touch of Yeshua that this man is made clean? We have learned that if a clean person touches something unclean, He also will become unclean. Yet עשוהי ’s touch makes the 30 unclean, clean!

How many times have we been guilty of gossip, pride, or having a critical spirit about others?

Let no corrupt word come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for the use of building up, so as to impart what is pleasant to the hearers. And do not grieve the Set-apart Spirit of Elohim, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and displeasure, and uproar, and slander be put away from you, along with all evil. And be kind towards one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as Elohim also forgave you in Messiah. (Ephesians 4:29-32)

Unclean is not a state that a believer faces any longer. The blood of Messiah is so powerful that it cleanses us. As a believer, you become clean and holy. It is our job, however, to act out holiness….to BE holy. Otherwise, we may find ourselves separated from intimacy with the Holy One.

Therefore, “Come out from among them and be separate, says הוהי , and do not touch what is unclean, and I shall receive you. (2

Corinthians 6:17)

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The sages teach that one of the names of Messiah will be the “leprous one”. The reason why we no longer suffer this tzara’at is because עשוהי has been “touched” by this “plague”. He has taken on our sin, our leprosy. Because of His love for us, we are healed by His touch!

Truly, He has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains. Yet we reckoned Him stricken, smitten by Elohim, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our crookednesses. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5)

Not only are we healed, but look who CAN’T touch us!

We know that everyone having been born of Elohim does not sin, but the one having been born of Elohim guards himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. (1 John 5:18)

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With the subject of disease being the main focus of our readings this week, you may wonder why our parasha is named Tazria, referring to conception and birth. What is the connection?

Bear in mind that Elohim’s punishments are aimed at helping the sufferer correct his ill ways and begin a new life – corrected of his former faults.

As we begin our parasha, alluding to conception and birth, it teaches us that just like the case of tzara’at, all the rituals of the Torah are intended to help a person have a spiritual rebirth in their lives by correcting their past ways and starting anew.

PRAYER:

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be pleasing before You, O הוהי , my rock and my redeemer.

(Psalms 19:14)

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