Leviticus 9:1-11:47
“On the eighth day, Moshe called Aharon, his sons and the leaders of Isra’el …” (Leviticus 9:1)
Excerpt:
When King David wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, he set it on a new cart pulled by oxen and driven by Uzza and Achyo. When they arrived at the threshing floor of Nachon, the oxen stumbled and the Ark began to slip off the cart. Uzza reached out to steady it. Adonai immediately struck him dead. Uzza’s intention was to protect the Ark, BUT his action was unacceptable to Elohim.
R.C. Sproul, an American theologian had this to say about the ‘strange fire:’ ”One aspect of the modern church that most saddens and concerns me is that believers are no longer encouraged to have a healthy fear of God. We seem to assume that the fear of the Lord is something that belonged to the Old Testament period and is not to be a part of the life of the Christian. But fear of God involves not simply a trembling before His wrath, but a sense of reverence and awe because of His glorious holiness. Even though we are living on the finished side of the cross, the fear of the Lord is still the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10a). God is still a consuming fire, a jealous God (Deuteronomy 4:24). When we come into His presence, we are to come as children, as those who have been reconciled, but there is to be a godly fear inspired by respect for the One with whom we are dealing.”
‘Strange fire’ in the New King James Version is translated ‘profane’ which is chalal in Hebrew and means ‘to pollute’ or ‘defile.’ The root of chalal is chol and means ‘common.’ The event of esh zarah should be a warning to each of us.
Over the centuries, the church has lost its reverence for the holy days of Elohim and has embraced ‘unauthorized’ holidays. Though the church sincerely believes it is honoring Elohim, is it sincerely wrong and, like Nadav and Avihu, it will be cast away. Though believers may not be consumed by fire as Aaron’s sons or struck dead like Uzza, they still offer profane gifts that have cut them off from the roots of their faith leaving them to spiritually die from a lack of living water. The profane fire offered by the priests who had been consecrated as ‘Kadosh l’Adonai’ cut them off from the people of Isra’el through death!
Be Holy As I Am Holy
“I made myself accessible to those who didn’t ask for me, I let myself be found by a nation … not called by my name. I spread out my hands all day long to a rebellious people … who follow their own inclinations; a people who provoke me to my face all the time … they eat pig meat and their pots hold soup made from disgusting things” (Isaiah 65:1-4).
Adonai’s reason for giving us dietary instructions: He wants us to be holy as He is holy. He doesn’t only want Isra’el to be set-apart for Him, He also wants those who love His Son to become holy, distinguishing between the ‘clean’ and ‘unclean,’ between the animals that were created as food and those that were not. Disobedience to one simple food command brought sin into the world. Because of disobedience to Adonai’s one instruction about the fruit of a tree, Adam and Chavah were kicked out of Paradise.
“But it tastes good. I like it.” This response reveals the heart condition of those who refuse to accept that Elohim has dietary instructions. Yeshua did not suffer death on the cross to redeem the pig, the eagle or the lizard. Peter understood that his vision was not about suddenly being free ‘from the law’ to have a pork roast, but that the message of salvation in Yeshua was to be shared with the gentiles.
The Real Problem with ‘Porky the Pig’
Jewish people who were forced to convert to a new religion called Christianity were called maranos. This word in Spanish means ‘damned, accursed, banned, and hog.’ This name was applied to Spanish-Portuguese Jews when they succumbed to eating the ‘flesh of swine’ in order to save their lives.
Pig in the form of pork, sausage or bacon has been used throughout Christian history to force Jewish people to convert to Christianity on pain of death. Jewish people converted to this foreign religion to avoid cruel and inhumane persecutions based solely on the fact that they obeyed Elohim’s commandments: did not eat pig, circumcised their sons, kept the Sabbath, and the Feasts of Adonai. They were forced with threat of death to disobey Adonai’s eternal commands in order to reside within the Christian community as a marano ‘pig’ convert.
The whole issue of eating pork, bacon, and ham –– the flesh of swine –– has been and continues to be used by the enemy to keep Jewish people from knowing the love of God through their own Messiah. It is eaten explicitly by people who say they know and love Jesus Christ! This is unfortunate because the Jews are looking for a Messiah who will teach the Torah in proper perspective as Yeshua did. They do not recognize a pork eating Christian Jesus as their deliverer and they never will.
“As people who obey God, do not let yourselves be shaped by the evil desires you used to have when you were still ignorant. On the contrary, following the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in your entire way of life” (1 Peter 1:14-15).
“Through those who are near me I will be consecrated, and before all the people I will be glorified” (Leviticus 10:3).
For a complete copy of this Torah portion, the readings from the Prophets, gospels, letters, and study questions, please purchase Open My Eyes: Wonders of Torah.
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