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The Torah reading for this week’s parasha is entitled Kedosheem which means Holy Ones. It is taken from the book of Leviticus 19:1-20:27.
Adonai said to Moses, “Give these instructions to the entire community of Israel. You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.”
Laws and statues were given to make people holy – unlike so many laws of our times, such as laws about marriage, abortion, gambling, taxes, and homosexuality which often makes the people unholy.
You must understand’ that Holiness is the most glorious attribute belonging to the nature of God. This attribute of Gods holiness is the root, the decorum on which all other attributes must flow. Every blessing, every gift, every fruit, every decree, all judgments of His are holy.
God words are holy, His name, His Spirit, His Heaven, His throne, His Son, His angels, His love. His wrath – He hates sin and His enemies with a perfect and holy hatred.
God calls His creation and creatures to be holy, But God himself is Holiness. He is holiness, holiness, holiness. His essence, His core, His very being is solid, purely pure, and undefiled Holiness. I believe that God’s holiness is the crown up his glory.
“It’s noteworthy to mention that” the word holy is recorded more times in this book of Leviticus than in any other book of scripture.
Also, anyone who studies these chapters will notice that the Shema of Israel and the commandments of God echo throughout these verses.
Israel was to give reverence to Adonai in holy worship. The Israelis were commanded to honor their father and mother, who are God’s representatives in the family.
They were to keep the sabbath and keep it holy. They were commanded to stay away from idols and were forbidden to make any graven images.
Verses 6 – 8 are all about the peace offering. I will only say, learn of these verses and you will learn of the peace that comes from Messiah our sin bearer.
In the Promised Land Farmers were to leave part of the crops on the edge of their fields so that the poor and the strangers could come and glean from what remained. This showed both the love and respect of God for the poor and the stranger.
Verses 11-17 teach how to love our neighbors by holy living. We are not to lie, swear falsely, or profane God’s name, which is holy.
Israelis were not to defraud or rob fellow Israelis. Employers were to pay their workers at the end of every day.
Verse 18, God’s people were not to hate their brothers. Scripture says, “whoever hates his brother has not the love of the Father.”
God’s people were allowed to rebuke their neighbor but not to sin against him by harming him.
God’s people should not seek revenge. They were not to bear a grudge against their people. They were to love their neighbors as themselves.
In verse 19-35, Adonai repeats that the Jewish people were to keep the Lord’s statutes. These verses covered laws about agriculture, slavery, sacrifices, pagan and occult practices, sexual sins, the way to relate to foreigners, the elderly, and on accurate weights and measures.
Chapter 20, some of the same statues are repeated, along with new ones, and penalties and punishments are now included.
These are laws against child sacrifice, adultery, homosexuality, incest, and bestiality, turning to mediums and those who consult spirits of the dead, cursing father and mother, and the eating of blood. Kosher dietary laws must be kept.
For certain offenses, the penalty was capital punishment. For some sins, the offender was to be stoned to death. This was the case with Achan after his greed and rebellion were found out.
In closing: We have a loving, graceful, and forgiving Father in Heaven, who has given us His only Son as our sin bearer. Not only is Yeshua bearing our sins, but He has also washed us in his holy and atoning blood. This is called justification. We are justified through the blood of Yeshua our Messiah.
We are now in the process of sanctification, which means becoming holy, learning to live a holy life. God has given us the help of the Holy Spirit, who has been poured out into our hearts.
We are learning to die to self. Here is where we pick up our cross and follow Messiah. Here is where we pray, beg, and plead to the Father that Messiah would be formed in us in a larger and saving way. Here is where we go from faith to faith.
And by faith and grace, we will meet Messiah and enter into holy glorification. All sins, all transgressions, all inequities, will be removed from us. We will become kedosheem – holy ones.
We will have holy and glorified bodies, we will live in His holy Kingdom with His holy angels, and behold the holiness of the Father, the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
So, let us purpose in our hearts to be holy, as God is holy.
Let us know Him in the beauty of His holiness.
Let us beg Adonai to allow and help us to live holy, righteous, and sanctified lives. And let us never “ever” forget “that no one will see God without Holiness.”