Can a son of Noach eat of everything?

Can a son of Noach eat of everything?

The world is divided in two groups of people: the sons of Israel and the rest of the sons of Noach, also called gentiles. For the sons of Israel there is a more strict diet than for the sons of Noach. Even though Noach knew well which animals were clean and unclean for the Eternal, (Gen. 7:2, 8), in the law that he and his sons received there is no difference between allowed and forbidden animals (Gen. 9:3). Obviously, a son of Noach is allowed to eat from all animals without this being a sin for him.

However, the people of Israel was called to be a priestly nation for the Eternal and therefore has the obligation of separate themselves from things and animals that produce ritual uncleanness.

Sacrifices are the Eternal's bread and He can only "eat" clean animals. That's why He will not allow His sons, who can live close to His dwelling, to eat from something that He can't receive as a sacrifice. Sons have to emulate their Father's behaviour (cf. Deut. 14:1-3).

Besides, a son of Israel who eats an unclean animal becomes ritually impure – in Hebrew tameh, טמא – and if he eats abominable animals he becomes abominable for the Eternal, as it is written in Leviticus 11:43-44: “Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby.” (KJV)

The Eternal's presence among the sons of Israel demands a more strict diet so the tabernacle is not defiled by them when entering in it. (7:21).

Noach's sons don't have the same degree of closeness to the Eternal while they don't choose to convert and enter in the covenant of the circumcision. The sons of Israel are near and the sons of Noach are far (Eph. 2:17).

Then, can Noach's sons eat unclean animals? According to my understanding of the Scriptures the answer has to be yes, they can. The rules in this chapter are only for the sons of Israel, as it is written "for you".

Now, since the first coming of the Messiah, there is a group from among the sons of Noach that has come close to the Eternal without entering in the covenant of circumcision in the flesh. When experiencing the regeneration of the Spirit and the Messiah's life of resurrection, these sons of Noach that were far off, have been made near by the blood of the Messiah, as it is written in Ephesians 2:13: “But now in Messiah Yeshua you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Messiah.” (NIVUK revised)

This means that the sons of Elokim who are not of the circumcision have closeness to the Eternal that the rest of the sons of Noach can't have. They can enter the heavenly tabernacle in their spirit. However, they can't be considered as physical sons of Israel because they are not in the covenant of physical circumcision. In the spirit, they have the same status as born again Jews, but not in their physical purpose. As long as they don't convert to be Jews and circumcise they are not commanded to keep all the 613 commandments (cf. Gal. 5:3). They don't have the same obligation like the sons of the circumcision but because they are closer than the other sons of Noach they have more obligations regarding the Torah. The sons of Noach have the obligation to keep 7 general commandments and the sons of the circumcision have the obligation to keep 613 specific commandments. Then, how many commandments do the sons of Noach that have been adopted as sons of Avraham by Messiah Yeshua have to keep? Do they have the obligation to keep these dietary commandments that we see in this week's portion?

The fact is that Noach's sons that are now adopted as sons of Avraham without the circumcision in the flesh have greater obligation than the rest of Noach's sons, but less than the sons of the circumcision. However, the writings of the Messiah's emissaries don't give a clear answer to this matter but leave an open door for those who wish to keep more commandments (Acts 15:21). This is a very difficult topic because the line between Jews and non-Jews isn't well defined in the Messiah.

In the Messiah, however, the Jew may not lower his standard from the rules given to him by the Eternal to adapt to the gentile, but the other way around, the gentile will have to learn to respect and also to keep Jewish rules to a certain degree if he wants to live in harmony with them.

I personally believe that a son of Noach regenerated by the power of the Messiah's resurrection is not obliged to keep the commandment of not eating unclean animals, except those that the Torah considers abomination (shellfishes, reptiles and insects). But, if he wants to sanctify himself and live a more devout life in a practical way he must also follow the rest of the rules about clean and unclean animals.

Now, if he belongs to a community where there are Jews, he must adapt to their lifestyle regarding food so he can eat with them. A Jew can't eat anything unclean or abominable because it's forbidden to him and if a non-Jew wants to share his table with the Jew he will have to respect these rules to avoid making him sin.

May the Eternal help us find the balance in these matters.

Can sin be eaten?

Can sin be eaten?

Priests were established to help the people live in an intimate relationship with the Eternal. Many times people would, by mistake, enter the sanctuary being impure which generated guilt among the people. That guilt had to be removed in order for the people to keep enjoying the Eternal's presence without being exposed to the danger of His anger against sin.

In order to eliminate that guilt, they had to burn on the altar part of the animals destined for this purpose and then eat the rest. So, on the one hand, part of the sin that was transmitted to the animal that bore the guilt of the people was burnt on the altar; and on the other hand the priests ate the rest of the animal and the sin within it. Through these two ways of consuming the animal, sin was removed from the people who, thus, were atoned before the Eternal.

In the Torah this offering is not called "sin offering" but just "sin" chatat – חטאת. In other words, it is written in this verse that the priests had to eat the sin. Since the people's sin was transmitted to the animal through hand imposition, sin was in the sacrifice itself, so it is then called "sin". So when the priests ate from the sacrifice, sin entered in them, and in that way it decomposed in their intestines in the natural way and then got disposed of.

This teaches us that a priest may introduce the sin of the people in his own body, in the form of meat. This makes us think of the Messiah who took the sin of the people of Israel and the world in his body so the Eternal could forgive our sins and cleanse us to be sacred dwellings for Him and also to be able to enter the heavenly tabernacle without danger.

"...who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed." (1 Peter. 2:24 NKJV)

"In a loud voice they sang: Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise!" (Rev. 5:12 NIVUK)

Blessed be the Eternal for having given us Yeshua as heavenly priest who took our sins in his body and eliminated them! And blessed be Yeshua for his faithfulness as priest becoming responsible for our sins and taking them away to give us everlasting hope! And blessed are those who believe in the Messiah's sacrifice!

What are the rights of those who serve in the altar?

What are the rights of those who serve in the altar?

T

he Eternal chose the priests to serve in the altar. It was a hard and complicated task and many times it could take its toll on their health, because when serving, the priests wore just linen clothes and had to go barefoot. During the winter, they had to be cold while serving in the temple. Only the Eternal’s kind hand could keep them from disease. In all this, they had to remain joyous so their service would be welcome before the Eternal and for the people to be able to meet the Eternal’s joy when they brought their offerings to the sanctuary.

A person chosen to serve the Eternal in a more sacred way has to pay a high price in order to carry out his ministry. There is a greater demand of discipline, prayer, study, devotion, effort and most of all responsibility. The burden of responsibility carried by a leader is most of the time his heaviest weight, at least if he has a sensitive conscience and he wants to do things right before the Eternal and men.

To this, we can add fasting and late nights, envy and gossip from people, misunderstandings and also persecution from the ungodly. The list can be long as in 2 Corinthians 6:4-10: “Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (NIV)

A chosen one has to sacrifice more than the rest of the people, but at the same time he has the right to receive a good compensation both in this world and the next when he is faithful to his calling. The priests had the right and the obligation to eat from the sacrifices presented in the tabernacle and both temples. They could also benefit from the skins and other products that didn’t burn on the altar.

This teaches us that one who is devoted to service in the temple and everything related to it, has the right to receive an economic benefit from his work. In other words, those devoted to the study and teaching of the Torah and everything that the divine service involves have the right to receive the tithes and offerings from the people who benefits of his services, as it is written in 1 Corinthians 9:13-14: Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.” (NIV) And in Galatians 6:6 it is written: “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.” (NIV) And in 1 Timothy 5:17-18 it is written: “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain," and, "The laborer deserves his wages."” (ESV)

Kol tuv,

How can we keep the fire burning?

Leviticus 6:8-18 (6:1-11 Hebrew version)

The fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it…The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it…Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.

(Lev. 6:9b, 12a, 13 NIV)

How can we keep the fire burning?

Three times the Torah repeats the importance of not allowing the fire on the altar to go out. In order for fire to keep burning, three elements are necessary: fuel, oxygen, and heat. If one of these is missing, fire cannot burn. The fire that was on the altar in the tabernacle had fallen from heaven. The priests had the task of keeping that fire burning at all times. The heat was in the flames and in the burning coals. Oxygen came from the air around it. Wood was the only thing that needed to be added.

That teaches us how important it is to keep the heavenly fire burning on the personal altar that each one of us has within. Every morning more wood must be placed on the fire.

What is wood?

Wood is the product of the life and death of a tree. It is written that the Torah is a tree of life, compare with Proverbs 3:18. The Messiah also compared himself to a tree, compare with Luke 23:31; John 15:1. This teaches us that the flammable material that keeps the flame alive in our hearts is the Torah and the Messiah. The life and death of the Messiah has created enough fuel for us to burn for eternity in the presence of the Eternal. Every morning more fuel must be added to the fire in the heart so that we can burn constantly before the Eternal.

Fuel is added to the fire through prayer, praise and studying of the Scriptures, which all those who are faithful engage in each morning. The only way to keep the heavenly fire burning in our lives is to keep adding more fuel. It must be a daily activity.

Dear disciple, if you feel that the fire in your spiritual life is about to go out, then you need to take this command seriously and you need to pray, read, and study the sacred Scriptures every morning.

There is oxygen in the air. The Hebrew word for wind is ruach - רוח. Ruach is also translated as “Spirit”. This teaches us that the Spirit of the Eternal is oxygen for spiritual fire. If the Spirit is missing in our prayer and reading the fire will die out. Neither should you let heat be lacking in your dedication to the Eternal. Heat symbolizes the love and intensity of our devotion, in Hebrew kavanah - כונה.

Make sure that the fire does not go out in your life!

Shavua tov,

Is there any condition to receive forgiveness?

Leviticus 5:11 – 6:7 (5:26 Hebrew version)

If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving his neighbour about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him, or if he finds lost property and lies about it, or if he swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that people may do- when he thus sins and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, or whatever it was he swore falsely about. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day he presents his guilt offering. And as a penalty he must bring to the priest, that is, to the LORD, his guilt offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for any of these things he did that made him guilty.

(Lev. 6:2-7 NIV)

Is there any condition to receive forgiveness?

S

in against another person is not only against men but also against the Eternal. In order to obtain forgiveness from the Eternal of sins of robbery committed against a fellowman it's necessary to make a full restitution of what was stolen also adding a fifth of its value. The return of the goods can't be delayed; it has to be done on the same day that the sin offering is presented before the Eternal. That is the way of receiving forgiveness from the Eternal for being guilty before Him.

The Eternal can't forgive our sin against our neighbour, only the neighbour himself can. If we don't fix the issues with the neighbour to the extent of our possibilities, the Eternal can't forgive us either.

Our Rabbi teaches about this in Matthew 5:23-24: “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift." (NIV) And in 1 John 4:20 it is written: “If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen." (NIV)

Now, if we have tried, as much as we can, to do our part with our neighbour, then we can be sure that the Eternal forgives us and receives us in the heavenly tabernacle where an everlasting sacrifice speaking on behalf of every repented sinner can be found.

Dear disciple of the Messiah: Believe in the forgiveness from the Eternal according to what's written. Believe in Messiah Yeshua's sacrifice. Believe that through the sacrifice and work of the heavenly High Priest the Eternal receives you with arms wide open, because it's written: “In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for any of these things he did that made him guilty.”

Blessed be the Eternal for forgiveness of sin in Messiah Yeshua! We are free from guilt, halleluyah!!

Shabbat shalom,

How should a repented sinner be treated?

He is to lay his hand on the goat's head and slaughter it at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the LORD. It is a sin offering.

(Lev. 4:24 NIV)

How should a repented sinner be treated?

A sinner who repents and seeks forgiveness and rectification before the Eternal is treated with a lot of respect by the Torah. When someone came to the tabernacle with a sacrifice everyone could see it. But they couldn't see what the sacrifice was for though; either a burnt offering or a sin offering. Since animals for sin offerings since sin offerings were slaughtered in the same place as burnt offerings, no other than the repented sinner and the priest knew what the sacrifice was for. Thus, the repented sinner was protected against people's gossip, as no one else knew that his offering was presented for a sin.

This teaches us that the Eternal is very careful not to put anyone to shame, especially when the person comes to Him in repentance. Instead of exposing him in public, He protects him. He, not only covers his sin through the atoning power of the sacrifice, but also protects his honour through this law we are studying in this portion.

Let's learn from our heavenly Father and do the same, never embarrassing someone who repents from a sin and never revealing others' forgiven sins.

Blessed be the Eternal for His love, His forgiveness and respect toward men!

What does the salt teach us?

Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.

(Lev. 2:13 NIV)

What does the salt teach us?

Salt has two main purposes: to season and to preserve. Food without salt lacks flavour and salted food remains in good conditions for a longer period of time. Due to this facts salt had to be present on the Eternal's table. All the sacrifices on the altar had to have salt. Sacrifices are food for the Eternal (Lev. 21:22) therefore they have to be seasoned with salt. All food needs salt; and, since salt has the ability to preserve food it also symbolises the everlasting.

The salt of the Salt Sea, called salt of Sodom, which was normally used in Israel in ancient times, never loses its flavour. For this reason, salt symbolises the everlasting and it's used as a sign of covenant. The main aspect of a covenant is its perpetuity that's why the salt is a good symbol for it.

When the Eternal established the offerings in the tabernacle He also commanded the use of salt as a remembrance of His everlasting covenant with the people. When a covenant is a "salt covenant" – brit melach, ברית מלך – it means that it is a firmly established and perpetual covenant. This expression appears twice in the Scriptures (Nm. 18:19; 2 Chron. 13:5).

Salt had to go, not only with all the offerings that were meant for the altar but also with the incense and the showbread. It was even used for the altar's ramp so the priests wouldn't slip and fall.

It’s highly recommended to always have salt on a Jewish table. After the temple's destruction, the table of a Jewish home is considered an altar. That's why after the blessing over the bread, it's customary to sprinkle salt on the bread or dip the bread pieces in salt before eating them. Thus, we remember the covenant before the Eternal.

The text that we've highlighted teaches us that we can approach the Eternal only on the basis of a covenant. It's impossible to do it otherwise. The Hebrew word usually translated as sacrifice is korban – קרבן – (in this case it was translated as offering). The word's root is karav – קרב – which means approach, bring near. Sacrifices are not only brought close to the Eternal but are also a means for getting closer to Him. Now, without salt the sacrifice is not acceptable before the Eternal. In other words, without covenant there is no closeness to Him.

All the covenants between the Eternal and men are platforms for men to approach the Most High.

Blessed be the Eternal for the covenants He made with Noach's sons, Avraham, the people of Israel, David and the Messiah, through which men can get close to the Eternal and be welcome!

Blessings,

Was Moshe a mediator?

Exodus 34:27-35

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.

(Éx. 34:27 NIV)

Was Moshe a mediator?

When the people sinned with the golden calf there was a change in the Eternal's attitude towards them. Hadn't it been for Moshe's devotion and intercession for his people, they would have been destroyed. It was because of Moshe that the Eternal forgave the people and renewed His covenant with them. But the covenant's renewal wasn't directly with the people but with Moshe and Israel.

HaShem made a covenant with Moshe and since he didn't want to split from his people, they also benefited from that covenant. If it wasn't for Moshe the people wouldn't have a covenant. So Moshe was a mediator between the Eternal and the people of Israel.

The same happened with Messiah Yeshua who was raised up as a prophet like Moshe (Deut. 18:15, 18). The covenant was renewed with the people of Israel because of him, as it is written in Isaiah 42:6 and 49:8: “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations... Thus says the LORD: "In a time of favour I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages” (ESV) And in Jeremiah 31:31-33 it's written: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (ESV) And in Matthew 26:27-28 it is written: “Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (NKJV)

The renewed covenant with Israel has been established through Yeshua the Messiah in a similar way to the renewed covenant with the people of Israel through Moshe. The difference is that the covenant renewed through the Messiah is much more powerful than the first renewal. The one who rejects the covenant's renewal in the Messiah won't be able to get hold of that covenant's power and will never be delivered from his sins.

Blessed be the Eternal for Yeshua the mediator of the renewed covenant with the ancient Israel!

Shabbat shalom,