Omer Readings ((pdf)
God’s Separations (pdf)
Kedoshim Slides (pdf)
Kedoshim Notes (pdf)
Overview of Kedoshim (“Holy Ones”) Leviticus 19:1 – 20:27
This week’s Portion, Kedoshim (“Holy Ones) is a change of focus from the previous Portions. Last week’s Portion was the focal point of Leviticus: chapter 16 – the Day of Atonement. The chapters leading up it showed us how to become holy. The Day of Atonement was when God called us holy; and this Portion and all the rest of the chapters show us how to maintain our holiness.
Greek thought in the Church stresses separation of Good and Evil. Torah, and specifically Leviticus, teaches separation of Holy from Common (or Good); there is no Torah consideration for Evil. We must always strive for holiness, and only reluctantly settle for Common (or Good).
Chapter 19 Yehovah’s Commandments for Holiness
This chapter gives a long list of commandments where Yehovah draws the line between right & wrong:
- Reminders to not worship idols, remember Shabbat, honor your parents, and Peace Offerings
- The Law of Gleaning: leave for the poor any grain left standing in the corners of your fields and that is spilled on the ground
- Honest Dealings with Others:
- Don’t steal
- Don’t use Yehovah’s Name in vain
- Don’t curse the deaf
- Don’t pervert justice
- Don’t be a gossipmonger
- Love your neighbor
- Do not mingle seeds nor linen & wool
- Law of the Trees: fruit from newly planted trees is considered unclean for the first 3 years, set apart in the 4th year and is available to eat in the 5th year and thereafter.
- Do not practice Canaanite customs:
- Don’t drink blood
- Don’t “shave the sides of your head”
- No Piercings
- No Tattoos
- No Temple Prostitutes
- No Sorcery
- No Unrighteous Judgments
Chapter 20
You will be cut off from God if you:
- Sacrifice your Firstborn to Molech
- Practice Sorcery
- Curse your Parents
- Practice Sexual Immorality (Un-holy “Mixtures”):
- Man with a Woman not his Wife
- Man with Man
- Woman with Woman
- Mankind with Beast
Do not walk in the manner of the Gentiles, “And you shall be holy unto Me: for I the LORD am Holy, and have severed you from other people, that you should be Mine”
The Haftarah Reading (Ezekiel 20:2-20)
This week’s haftorah reiterates Yehovah’s repeated requests to observe the commandments, to keep the Shabbat and give up idol worship. This follows the same theme of the Torah Portion, which discusses many of these same commandments, including the obligation to sanctify the Shabbat and reject idolatry. Ezekiel goes on to mention Yehovah’s punishment of the Israel in the desert, namely that they did not enter the Holy Land. He then admonishes the children of Israel not to follow their fathers’ ways, but to observe the laws and to sanctify the Shabbat. We read Ezekiel 20:2-20:
“Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live,” says the Lord God, “I will not be inquired of by you.” ’ Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Then make known to them the abominations of their fathers. “Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On the day when I chose Israel and raised My hand in an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I raised My hand in an oath to them, saying, ‘I am the Lord your God.’ On that day I raised My hand in an oath to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ the glory of all lands. Then I said to them, ‘Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’ But they rebelled against Me and would not [a]obey Me. They did not all cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, ‘I will pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.’ But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles among whom they were, in whose sight I had made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt. “Therefore I made them go out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. And I gave them My statutes and [b]showed them My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them.’ Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them. But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them out. So I also raised My hand in an oath to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ the glory of all lands, because they despised My judgments and did not walk in My statutes, but profaned My Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. Nevertheless My eye spared them from destruction. I did not make an end of them in the wilderness. “But I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols. I am the Lord your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’”
The Brit Chadashah (Mark 12:28-34)
The Torah Portion is a rather long list of “laws” which Yehovah gave to us so that we might attain holiness. Yeshua, while dealing with the Pharisees attempts to entrap Him, summarized all of Torah in just two “commandments.” We read from Mark 12:28-34:
“Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” Yeshua answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Now when Yeshua saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” But after that no one dared question Him.”