Joy in the Messiah

שְּׁמִינִי
Shemini / Eighth
Leviticus 9:1-11:47
HafTorah Portion 2 Samuel 6:1-7:17
Brit Chadasha Acts 10:9-22

     Shemini gets its name from the first sentence in this Torah portion. ‘It came to pass on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel.’  Leviticus 9:1. 
     There are three chapters in Shemini. Chapter nine describes offerings of atonement. In chapter ten the sons of Aaron are consecrated and begin their position as the priests in the Tabernacle, including the disobedience of Nadab and Abihu with strange or alien fire. God consumes the offering with fire and also consumes the sons of Aaron.  In chapter eleven, God gives His people the Torah of clean and unclean food, which also compares to His people's clean and unclean/pure and impure behavior and statutes.
     The five prior Torah portions lead up to the performance in the Tabernacle. describing the instructions for building the sanctuary. The first two Vayikra and Tzav detail the sacrificial offerings to be brought. Everything is in God’s order and the priests (Aaron and his sons) are consecrated for seven days. The eighth day is when the service of the mishkan will begin. Leviticus 9:23 states: ‘Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting and when they came out, they blessed the people. God’s glory was then revealed to all the people.’
     Suddenly greatness turns to tragedy. Nadab and Abihu are consumed by fire from Elohim.  After the incident, it simply says that Moshe gave the reason to Aaron, which causes Aaron to ‘hold his peace/remain silent’.  ^‘And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke, saying:
‘By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people
I must be glorified.  And Aaron remained silent.’  Leviticus 10:3.
     There are many theories about the strange fire.  Teachings include that the two sons merely showed an exorbitant amount of awe and love towards God, especially right after they saw the sacrifice. Others claim they got ahead of instruction, while others claim they were presumptuous by using ‘alien’ fire. 
     A verse in the Brit Chadasha is often translated into a monetary meaning. Luke 12:48 states: ‘From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.'  But this verse can just as easily mean our standing and knowledge of the Word.  The more we learn and progress into a relationship with God, the more that is expected of us.  If we know about clean and unclean foods, as in Leviticus 11, why would we stray and eat unclean foods? We have been given much in the sense of His teaching and instruction, therefore much is required.
     Nadab and Abihu were priests, thus much was expected of them. But they strayed from His timing and proceeded in their own way.  This was true of Queen Vashti in Esther 1:9-11 and Korach in Numbers 16. This was also true of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11. Uzzah acted presumptuously in 2 Samuel 6:6 as did Hananiah in Jeremiah 28.
   After God strikes Nadab and Abihu, He strangely forbids any mourning. Leviticus 10:4-7: ‘ Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come here; carry your cousins outside the camp, away from the front of the sanctuary.” ⁵ So they came and carried them, still in their tunics, outside the camp, as Moses ordered.⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair become unkempt and do not tear your clothes, or you will die and the Lord will be angry with the whole community. But your relatives, all the Israelites, may mourn for those the Lord has destroyed by fire. ⁷ Do not leave the entrance to the tent of meeting or you will die, because the Lord’s anointing oil is on you.” So they did as Moses said.’
     Still clad in tunics, possibly burnt tunics, the sons of Aaron were to be disposed of outside the camp with no mourning by Aaron, only the relatives and others may mourn. Aaron and his other sons are not even to leave the tent of meeting. 
     In the episode of Lot and his family, the instructions were to not look at the destruction of Sodom by fire. Lot’s wife rebelled and turned to salt. Yeshua tells us to not look behind or mourn and to let the dead bury the dead in Luke 9:60-62. 
     Leviticus 10 is sandwiched between the consecration of the priests and the clean and unclean foods. Clean and unclean, pure and impure. Does the consecration make us, now priests of God, clean? Do the foods we consume make us pure or impure? Or is it the fire within us that is either strange fire or fire of God that will render us clean and pure? 
     The prophet Jeremiah likens God’s word to fire in Jeremiah 20:9. Hebrews 12:29 says God is a consuming fire.  We will be tested with fire, 1 Corinthians 3:13, Yeshua is revealed through fire, 2 Thessalonians 1:7, and is fire, Revelation 1:14. Lamentations 2:4 speaks of fire as destruction. In Luke 9:54 two disciples asked Yeshua if they should call fire down from the heavens for destruction. In Numbers 16:35 fire consumes the 250 followers of Korach. In 2 Kings 1 God through fire consumes the men who stood against Elijah. 
     God’s fire is pure, whether for guidance or death. When we try to make our own fire, we become impure. God is clear: ‘By those who come near Me, I must be regarded as holy;
And before all the people I must be glorified.’ Leviticus 10:3.

שְּׁמִינִי 
Shemini / Eighth
Leviticus 9:1-11:47
HafTorah 2 Samuel 6:1-7:17
Brit Chadasha Acts 10:9-22     

     There are three chapters in Shemini. Chapter nine describes offerings of atonement. Chapter ten is about the disobedience of Aaron’s: Nadab and Abihu with strange fire. In chapter eleven, God gives His people the Torah of clean and unclean food. 
     This Torah portion begins with commands about the eighth- day offerings. This whole process reveals the glory and holiness of Adonai. Leviticus 9:1 ‘It came to pass on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel.’ Leviticus 9:5-7: ‘So they brought what Moses commanded before the tabernacle of meeting. And all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord. ⁶ Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord commanded you to do, and the glory of the Lord will appear to you.” ⁷ And Moses said to Aaron, “Go to the altar, offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people. Offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them, as the Lord commanded.” Leviticus 9:22-24: ‘Then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people, blessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and peace offerings. ²³ And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people, ²⁴ and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.’
     When the people witnessed this miraculous event, they surely felt the glory and holiness of the LORD as the fire consumed the offerings. 
     In Luke 2:21-38 the glory of the LORD was quite visible again on the eighth day.  Simeon a ‘devout’ man declared the salvation of the LORD.  Contrary to what is often taught, the Holy Spirit did appear before Yeshua’s death. Simeon was covered with the Holy Spirit, the Ruach HaKodesh, thirty years before the death and resurrection of Yeshua, Luke 2:25-26. In Luke 2:29-32 Simeon declared God’s anointed salvation: ‘Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles (nations/goyim) and the glory of Your people Israel.’
      Simeon’s declaration that a light had come to the Gentiles, referencing the prophet Isaiah, connects him to the Torah. Rabbi Sha’ul also quotes the prophet in Acts 13:47. ‘For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
     Isaiah 42:6 ‘I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand;
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles…’  
      Isaiah 49, especially Isaiah 49:6 ‘Indeed He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
    The ‘Light to the Nations’ comes in the form of Yeshua, who is the walking and living Light, the Torah of God. 
     Isaiah 9:2 ‘The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.’