April 18 - Sh’mini - fire and food...What the
Word really says about men and women - 1
18 April 2015
~ 29 Abib 5775
Torah Parashah - Sh’mini - Vayikra 9:1- 11:47 p
86 RSTNE
what the Word really says about men and women
Torah - Vayikra
(Leviticus) 9:1 - 11:47 p 86
Sh’mini - “Eighth”
~ The Cohen’s service begins... The Levitical priesthood begins....
This was a sad day...because this is the start
of the temple service.... before this YHWH lived with people...but now had gone
from a kingdom of priests to a kingdom with priests....
~
I want to make a note about :
Vayikra 9:6
p 86
“And Moshe said, This is the thing that YHWH
commanded that you should do: and the tifereth (glory) of YHWH shall appear to
you.”
This is a fundamental concept in Hebrew
faith....
= dedication to obedience to YHWH brings
results. :)
Vayikra 10
Nadav and Avihu “offered strange fire before
YHWH, which He commanded them not.” “...
and fire whet out from YHWH and devoured them.”
Then an offering is offered.... and Moshe gets
upset about the way that Aahron’s living sons offered it...
Then this goes into Vayikra 11... the food
instructions.
Food instructions:
We came out of a religion that was- as they
said - “set free from rules”... so there
weren’t any instructions...
Turn to
Mark 7:15-23 RSTNE p 713
Before i read that i want to read...what most
Bibles say in
Mark 7:19 CJB
“For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and it passes
out into the latrine. (Thus he declared all FOODS ritually clean.)”
Mark 7:15:23
p 713
The ( ) that say... (“Thus he declared all
FOODS ritually clean.”) is not in ANY Aramaic or greek
manuscripts!!
You think there might be a mess with
this????!!!
Now look at the RSTNE
foot note for
Mark 7:18
“Y’shua
in no way is reversing any laws of kashrut/permitted clean foods, for if HE
even considered reversing one, He could not by definition be the Messiah! No, instead the topic here regards the
traditions of washing hands so as to be considered ritually pure. This was pure tradition finding no basis in
Torah instructions. Y’shua gives
Y’isra’el the understanding that washed,
or unwashed the hands do not change a man, or woman’s heart. That is all that
is taking place here.”
So what we find as we study Torah that the Word
talks a lot about what to eat and what not to eat...
Food is clearly something that YHWH uses to
“put a difference between” his people and the world’s people.
So what can we eat, and what can’t we
eat??....
CAN eat -
Vayikra 11:3 “Whatever splits the hoof, and is
cloven-footed, and chews the cud”
CAN NOT eat...
Vayikra 11:4 “these shall you not eat of those
that chew the cud, or those that divide the hoof: ....”
rabbit,
hare, pig
from the Mayim (water)
11:9 “whatever has fins and scales... CAN EAT.”
from the air...
CAN NOT eat...
Vayikra 11:13-14 “eagle, vulture, black vulture, hawk, falcon,
raven , nighthawk, seagull, little owl, fisher owl, and great owl, swan, the
pelican and the bat, the stork, heron and hoopoe
Insects
Vayikra 11:21-24
*
Vayikra 11:45 - “you shall therefore be kadosh,
for I am kadosh.”
Vayikra 11:47 “To make a difference between the
unclean and the clean, and between the living thing that may be eaten and the living
thing that may not be eaten."
and then the rest of the parashah is ...
Vayikra 11” 24- 47 is about “transmission of
contamination”... how unclean - gets
passed on....
Seems to me - this goes back to being set apart
and kadosh....
**
** ** ** **
** ** **
** ** **
** ** **
** ** **
** **
Let’s switch gears here...
We are going to study...
“Guardian Angel - What You Must Know About
God’s Design for Women”
by Skip Moen, D. Phil.
Sadly - statistics indicate that 40 - 50 % of all
marriages will end in divorce.
And i have to say - the reason so many STAY
married is not because somebody is teaching truth out there - it is often -
because staying married is “easier” than divorcing. Who is teaching truth??
“Something seems to be broken in the most
fundamental relationship of sustainable societies.”
Moen talks about how “marriage in the fallen
world seems to be a case of -“Can’t live
with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em.”...
and even though at sometime most of us might
have laughed about this... it shouts of
truth...
“When it comes to long-term committed
relationships between men and women, there seem to be more days of stress and
misunderstanding and discouragement than there are days of bliss and living
happily ever after.”
Moen goes on to say
“on the other hand, we have the mythology
of the church’s view of marriage.”
“The real problem is ignorance about the
Scriptural view of marriage and, perhaps even more fundamental, a non-biblical
view of the relationship between men and women and the roles and
responsibilities of both.”
“A defective understanding of God’s design for
women” (and men!!) “leads directly to broken relationships.”
*
Maybe you remember going to christian
bookstores...???
I don’t do that any more... but if you can
remember back then... there was always a ton of books for helping marriages...
but they clearly aren’t fixing the problem!!!
Who is teaching truth??!!
-Nobody really knows what YHWH says in His word
about men and women....
and
obviously this is the PROBLEM.
**
Side note....
I was thrilled to read Moen’s comment:
“Genesis sets the stage for all that God
reveals to us about who we are who He is.”
How many times have we prayed -
“Abba teach us who You are and who You say we
are...” ??!!!
And we are clearly learning in Brad Scott’s
study of B’re’shiyt (Genesis) ... that the B’re’shiyt sets up the entire rest
of the book!!! :)
*
I want to review some things about
translations... and studying the WORD...
Moen teaches that there are
2 problems with an approach to
understanding/ studying the Word - that
relies on the TRANSLATED words...
1.
The translation often hide linguistic clues
that show words that are related in Hebrew.. to each other and / or to the
story in general.
-
“Without the Hebrew architecture, a
reader never sees the intentional structural connections.
2.
Translations often substitute many different words for the same
underlying Hebrew word.
-
this is because translations tend to
follow the grammar and syntax of the translated language.... and repetition
isn’t always stylistically in good taste....so they often put in a synonym
rather than simply repeating the original word.
-
sometimes the context seems to call for
another meaning or nuance
In Hebrew - the order of the words in a
sentence matters ... and that is lost in translation
In Hebrew - words are related as we are
learning ... by root words and brother and sister words... and that
relationship doesn’t show up at all in translation... so we miss a LOT of
connections!
For example:
B’re’shiyt 1: 26-27
p 9
“And
Elohiym said, Let US make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of
the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the
earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
27
So the Word of Elohiym created man in His own image, in the image of Elohiym He
created him, male and female He created them.”
Many teachers have noted that this establishes
equality between male and female, assigning dominion to both without
distinction.
Humanity is tied to earth b/c Adam was created
from the dust of the ground....
BUT this also makes clear that humanity is tied
to YHWH since Adam was created in the likeness and image of YHWH.
The word
“image” = tselem
The word
“likeness” = demut
Tselem - “image”
- is a masculine noun and
Demut - “likeness” -
is a feminine noun.
One thing we need to understand about the
Hebrew language is that it is a phenomenological
language...
A phenomenological language - means that it
portrays life THE WAY IT APPEARS.
Greek, on the other hand....is a concept
oriented language, attempting to uncover the relationship behind the
appearance.
So when people talk about “qualities of human
being in terms like free will, mortality, self-consciousness and spirituality
-
they are using terms that belong to the
greek world...
-
these descriptions are things -
qualities, characteristics -
=== rather than ACTIONS.
Hebrew is much more relational and event
oriented...
“What it means to be created in YHWH’s
image might be much more like what it means to be flowing water than what it
means to be a chemical compound of hydrogen and oxygen...
In other words -
“the idea of being human just might be about what we DO rather than how we are
constituted.”
-
We talked here at HLM about this last
Shabbat - how DOING is very significant... and just BEING doesn’t really cut it
and this is why!
So let’s go back to - tselem and demut
= image and likeness....
demut is often used in comparison of two
dissimilar things...
the pictograph of demut = path - chaos- nail -
seal.
=
dalet - meme- vav- tav.
It could mean “the path securing a covenant
over chaos”...
So this means...demut = in HIS likeness =
“Being human is ACTING according to YHWH’s
path to life.
It
means standing against chaos.
.. It also means knowing what is permitted
and what is not and acting accordingly.”
Moen says...
“Any behavior that denies, negates or
rejects these goals is not human behavior - and the creatures that exhibit non-human
behavior are not creatures that exhibit YHWH’s image.”
“In the perfect creation, nothing prevents
human beings from taking on the image and likeness of YHWH. They are human because they act as YHWH’s
representatives.”
“But when sin entered the picture, something
tragic occurred.”
“Human beings began to move in other
directions.
-Over time, those who were designed to be
human -rejected waking this path. They eventually arrive at a destination not
intended for human beings. human beings
are intended to arrive at the full expression of “our image and likeness”
(The lake of fire was not meant for humans!!! )
Every one of us have been created to be
reflective... to reflect YHWH’s light to others..... BUT we all will
reflect whatever it is that we are actually committed to.
“Human being is manifest by acting
as YHWH would act, being the reflected image of the YHWH
who creates, sustains and brings about
order.”
TSELEM - is about transferred
authority and order over what destroys.
-
tsade - lamed - mem
Understanding tselem and demut - teaches us that the image of YHWH
is not a static element.
“I reflect YHWH’s image as the order maker,
when I act as the order-taker. It is action
without the relationship that constitutes the image.”
Wow is this a big deal!! We’ve heard forever it is about the
relationship I have with a guy whose names starts with a J. But what i am saying today - what Moen is
saying the WORD says - BASED ON THE HEBREW WORDS.... based on what it really
says is... If i want to be in HIS image,
then i have to DO something.
I am tired of people complaining that they feel
“far away” from YHWH.... well... If i feel far away - then i better get my
life lined up with Torah - because that is how i am blessed.
“We are manifested as human beings when we
act humanly, when we act in ways that manifest the image and likeness of YHWH.”
“
In the same way
-
The
divine name of YHWH is a verb
-
The image of YHWH is a verb.”
Wow this is a big deal!
*
The phrase.....
“In our image” = “be-tsalmenoo” =
and this means =
the house of desire for authority over chaos to secure life.”
In other words ... “being
in YHWH’s image is limited to the boundaries set by YHWH.
“We are like Him because we are designed
to bring life-ordering actions in the house, but our authority is limited.”
“Human beings are order-makers within an
ordered structure. That ordered
structure surrounds what it means to be “male and female”.
“To be created in YHWH’s image is to reflect
divine action.”
“Carrying His image is a dynamic flow
within the boundaries He sets. Our
actions outside those boundaries make us something other than human.
Human being is progress in the direction
of righteousness.”
We must understand this... this says what we
talked about last week.... that if we are going to BE holy we have to DO
something to BE it!!!
If we are going to be human.... then we have to
be progressing in the direction of righteousness!!
We have to be growing and DOING ... in order to
BE.
We could say this another way...
To be human is to ACT LIKE YHWH ACTS... to
reflect His choices... It is not to BE YHWH... but to reflect Him.
~~**~~**
So let’s look at the words - “male” and
“female”...
“Male” in Hebrew = zakar.
It is a noun that appears 82 times in the Word.
It is most likely derived from a root that
means “to be sharp pointed”.
“It stands in complementary opposition to the
Hebrew noun for female...
Female in Hebrew = neqevah.
Neqevah is derived from a verb that means “to
pierce”.
Okay we can see the sexual metaphor... but Moen
says there is much more to this...
So let’s talk a little more about Hebrew
words...
Zakar - we already said -
means “male”
But zakar is a homophone.
A homophone
is a word that is spelled exactly the same way in Hebrew - (Zayin - kaf - resh
) - but it has a different meaning.
{wow !
talk about confusion....?!! but
don’t panic}
Moen says...
“As a
verb - “zakar” - suggests some
very interesting possible connections to the Genesis creation account.”
The main meaning of the VERB -- ZAKAR = “To Remember” !!
*
We can say... “Well ... ‘to remember’ - that is
a cognitive, or thinking process.”
BUT - in Hebrew - mental activities are
intimately connected to actions.
In Hebrew - Zakar describes a presence of
mind that is taken to heart.
Let me say that again....
In Hebrew - Zakar describes a presence of
mind that is taken to heart.
In other words...
“It is thinking that becomes doing.”
let me repeat that too...
In other words...
“It is thinking that becomes doing.”
-
Hebrew doesn’t make the same
distinctions we find in greek.
-
In Hebrew a person is not separated into
spirit, soul, body...
-
In Hebrew it is only a whole person.
and let me tell you how Skip Moen describes
this “whole person”....
“There is only the whole person - the embodied,
YHWH-breathed animated being who stands between heaven and earth.”
Let me say that again - because this is who we
are....
“There is only the whole person - the
embodied, YHWH-breathed animated being who stands between heaven and earth.”
Mizmor (Psalm) 103:18
p 532
“To
such as keep His brit (covenant) and to those that zakar (remember) His
mitzvoth (command, instruction) to do them”
= The purpose of zakar is not simply to bring
something to mind... It is also to bring
something to mind IN ORDER TO ACT UPON IT.”
Zakar - is “necessary for human existence
and is a fundamental bond of mutual remembrance that unites YHWH and man”.
Now think about what Moen is saying here...
This means that there
are a lot of “PEOPLE” on this planet who aren’t behaving very human.....
Remembering... so that I DO
something...unites YHWH and me.
wow.
So do you see how the homophone of zakar -
zakar meaning “male”
and
zakar meaning “to remember”
are connected?? !!
Moen asks...
So “Is part of the divine image the activity of
remembering where i came from, whom i serve and whom i depend on?”
-
“The homophone of zakar suggests that a
man is human in the action of bringing to mind the necessity of obedience to
YHWH and DOING what is required.”
We know that over and over in Torah - - the
whole book - YHWH repeats.. invites us to remember!
Over and over man is called to remember
YHWH and his obligation to YHWH the creator... to serve Him and HOW to serve
Him....
Think about this... it makes so much sense...
I’ve taught for years and years that there are 2 powers in the world... YHWH
and hasatan... and if it is not one it is the other...
Well, no wonder why YHWH gets so ticked off
when we worship him wrong... when we go
over here and say - Yah, i am going to do this and it is for you and i really
really am thinking of you when i do this..
And YHWH gets mad - mad enough to kill Yisra’el
at the golden calf...ECT....b because what we know now is that - if we aren’t
doing it the way His Word says to do it.. it is from the OTHER POWER!!! No wonder!!!
Moen says...
“In a sense, Adam bears the image of YHWH
as the one who is called to remember what YHWH said, who YHWH is and to act
accordingly!”
Abraham Heschel - one of Judaism’s great
contemporary sages said...
“To believe is to remember.”
Moen goes on to say....
“There is another indication that remembering
is essential to what it means to be a man.”...
We’ve just learned that Zakar has 2 meanings.
ZAKAR =
1.
zakar = male
2.
zakar = to remember.
~
Hebrew has 2 words that are translated as
“MAN”
1.
Adam = the individual man or the person - Adam
2.
“ish” - B’re’shiyt 2:23 p 10
Moen
says this “introduction of ish is important b/c it allows the Hebrew word play with the word for woman
- ISHSHAH.
ISH has a homophone....
1.
“to show oneself to be strong”
2.
“to fix in mind” (ie remember)
Moen says...
“Adam’s unique task was the One that made
him a male - to remember what YHWH said and do it.”
**~~**~~
FEMALE
“Neqevah” = female
Moen says...
“The B’re’shiyt 1 account unifies neqevah
(female) and zakar (male) in the creation of human beings.
-What is essential to being human must be
found in the combination of zakar and neqevah.”
Neqevah ...
-
The Arabic cognate not only means “to
pierce, to make a hole”,
-
but also to “single
out” and “to appoint as a leader”
Divre Hayamim Bet (2 Chronicles) 28:15 p 667
= “an appointment to a high office
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 62:2
p 344 = describes being given a new name (naqav), as something of importance
and value.
This is not what i was taught about women... I
was taught that a woman wasn’t valuable for much.
I was taught that a woman could not teach -and
a woman could certainly not teach a man - even if teaching burned in her.
I was taught that women were not called to lead
- they couldn’t be leaders... even though it burned in her to do so....
Neqevah =
homophone...(of verb construct)
1.
neqev = “to pierce”
2.
neqev = “a prepared setting for precious
stones
= “a purposeful
boundary, a designed setting”
-
this seems odd to us because we don’t
really see the connection....
BUT...
Moen says...
“If neqevah is “the pierced one”, perhaps the
homophone suggests that she is also the “boundary
-setter”, “the designed setting” for human dynamics.
This may point us toward the complementary
roles of the female
=
= “Appointed to a high office revealing
her identity, a conduit for all subsequent name-giving identity and the one who
maintains the boundaries.”
Now let’s make a note here... we talked at length for a long time about
persons who have gifts who are mature and persons who have gifts who are
immature...
Well think about how people work....
Before i learned how to love Kevin - his way -
i loved him mine and i bought him nice sweaters etc, and he bought be
sweepers!... But we were immature and
what did we know???!!!
Before we matured.. Ronda and i would find a
book and say something like - if only our husbands could read them - then they
would become the leaders they “should” be etc...
We as women were setting boundaries and
leading.... but we weren’t doing it very mature.
and men... well - NOBODY bothered to teach them
who they are and that they are called to remember and LIVE what YHWH says....
~~**~~*~*
Immediately after YHWH’s announcement of the
creation of Man as male and female... the Word tells us He blessed them and
gave them
what Moen calls -
The Prime Directive.... (B’re’shiyt 1:28 p 9)
be
fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over
it.
“The Prime Directive” is mutual, functional,
ordering and purposeful. Both genders
are entirely involved in the effort and the operation.”
-”Neither is given hierarchical priority.”
~~**~*~*~*~*~~
So Moen says....
“The interrelationship of the words -
tselm and demut - image and likeness
zakar and neqevah - male and female
Adam and ish -
suggest the following:
1.
To be human is to act as a reflector of YHWH’s
actions. Human being is a VERB, not a
noun.
2.
Both male and female are necessary
complements of what it means to be human.
3.
Masculine and feminine genders are needed to
comprise the entity known as Man.
4.
Male and female equally receive the Prime
Directive
5.
No hierarchy of assignment or subordination
relationship is implied in the divine command.
6.
The male may be connected to the idea of
remembering the place of Man, the authority and the sovereignty of YHWH and the
action obligations that result from remembering
7.
The female is described not only as the one
whose very existence supplies a name for all who come after her but also as the
one who is specifically designed and equipped for a high office or royal
appointment. And we will find out she
is also the counselor and leader.
8.
The female may be connected to the idea of
protecting boundaries.
Summary....
B’re’shiyt 1:31
- “everything that He had made; and see; it was very tov”
All of it was very good.
= everything is in harmony. :)
“YHWH created an ordered existence. Man, created as male and female, reflects
that order. If
i am going to experience true humanness, my life needs to reflect YHWH’s action
and order.”
“Being human is a verb and not a noun. Just as YHWH is known in the manifestation of
His actions, so the creature that reflects YHWH’s image is manifest in
action. Being human is being like the
order-making Elohiym. My life needs to
exhibit order-making.”
Man is an order-take and an order maker.. Man,
both male and female express what it means to be human by DOING waht protects
and continues life, in harmony with the will of YHWH . My unique sexuality equips me to perform
these roles.”
“The Prime Directive is a description of
the acts that manifest what it means to be human: to be fruitful and to increase, to act as
YHWH’s regents to steward the earth, to act with designated authority.
I must work toward the Prime Directive.”
“Being human means acting in harmony with
YHWH”s creation.
Where my life exhibits or endorses chaos,
disharmony or life threatening behavior, I am not actings as a human
being.
Biology is not enough to make me human.”
Human being is a process, not a state of
existence. I am truly a work in progress.
AMEIN.
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