Being Holy in the Midst of an Evil and Adulterous Generation

Kodoshim (Holy People)

I came up with today’s teaching from this week’s Torah Portion/Reading which is entitled Kodoshim (Holy People). It is found in Leviticus 19:1-20:27. It is a delineation of behaviors that YHVH gave to us for purposes of setting us apart as a people from the other nations of the region. YHVH was calling us to be a holy people.

Calling Evil Good and Good Evil

As I was reading and meditating on this Torah Portion, I was reminded of the horrific times we are currently living in this country of ours (ie., the United States). I believe you would agree with me that we are living in “perilous times” as Paul described to Timothy (2 Tim. 3:1).

For us, this is a time when our nation’s leaders and the citizens of our country now call that which is evil good and that which is good evil. They seek to change darkness into light and light into darkness. These go even farther, seeking to change bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter (Isa. 5:20).

Being Held Accountable

And the irony in all this is that most of the people in our western society know better (i.e., they know the difference between good and evil). For we have touted ourselves over the years as a “God-fearing” and a “Judaeo-Christian” nation. In so classifying ourselves as such, it has been become somewhat interwoven into the moral fabric of our nation the clear understanding of the difference between that which is good and that which is evil. The ironic tragedy in this is that we as a nation, in knowing better but failing to do better, will be held accountable for our sinful, rebellious lifestyles that oppose YHVH’s Torah.

The Concept of Being and Living Holy as Defined in Torah

This week’s Torah Reading, Kodoshim—Holy People—outlined for us behavior that Father deemed as abhorrent and unacceptable to Him. As well as He outlined righteous behavior that would distinguish us from the other nations of the world.

Throughout the two chapters of this reading, Father over and over inserted His demand that we “be holy as He, our Elohim, is holy” (Lev. 19:2; etc.).

Holy as a term and concept simply means “to be set apart.” 

The list of prohibitions and sanctioned-prescribed behavior is significant. Father does not expend any extra writing space in delivering his prescribed ordinances and commandments for holy living.

A Comprehensive List of Holiness Principles

Many have complained that the Old Testament was too difficult to understand. These complain that there are too many genealogies, or that the prescribed worship ceremonies are too complicated to understand.

However, in this portion, Father’s instructions regarding that which was acceptable versus what was not acceptable behavior was precise and succinct. He was quite clear in revealing to us the behaviors that were acceptable and the behaviors that were not.

So let’s take a look at a few of these prohibitions and sanctioned behaviors.

• We are to revere our parents. Anyone who is found who mistreats (ie., curses) his or her parents are guilty of a capital crime (19:2; 20:9).
• Keep YHVH’s Sabbaths (19:3).
• To abstain from idols of any kind (19:4; cf. 1 Joh.5:21; 1 Cor.10:14).
• Leave produce from our harvests for the poor and foreigner to glean (19:9,10; cf. Rut.2:2,3,15,16).
• To not steal, defraud or lie to our neighbor (19:11,12; cf. Eph.4:25; Col.3:9).
• We are not to oppress or rob our neighbor through shenanigans related to paying what is rightly owed him or her (19:13; cf. Jam.5:4; Mat.20:8; 1Cor.6:8; 1The.4:6).
• Never spread slander about others amongst the community (19:15).
• Do not stand idly by and fail to help save our neighbor’s life (19:16).
• Do not bear any hatred of a neighbor in your heart, but honestly confront the neighbor to settle the issue (19:17; cf. Mat.18:15; 1Joh.2:9,11; 3:15).
• We are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves (19:18; cf. Jam.2:8; Gal.5:14; Mat.12:31; 5:43; 22:39).
• Do not commit sexual sin, even with one’s slave (19:22).
• We are prohibited from consuming blood, practicing divination or fortune telling. Consequently we are prohibited from altering our appearance (specifically our hair and beards) as the heathen do for some of their death rituals. Nor are we to cut ourselves or have tattoos applied to our bodies (19:26-28).
• We are to keep YHVH’s feasts and revere His sanctuary (19:30; cf. Mat.21:13).
• There is a strict prohibition against the worship of Molekh, especially the heinous practice of child sacrifice to this god. Nothing short of capital punishment is warranted for this sin. And any who would turn a blind eye to those who oppose this prohibition and or follow after or support such worship practices were to be killed (20:1-5). (Horrendous parallels to today’s practice of aborting unborn babies in western society.)
• YHVH promised that He would set Himself against any who would turn to mediums and sorcerers. These along with mediums and sorcerers are to be put to death (20:6,7).
• Adultery is a capital crime requiring the death of both parties (20:10-12; Joh. 7:53-8:12).
• YHVH views homosexuality as an abomination that is punishable by death (20:13).
• Incest is prohibited. The offenders are to be cut off from the public body (20:17).

We Are to be Different Than the Rest

These prohibited behaviors, and so many others from this Torah Portion, were actually being practiced by the nations dwelling in the land of Canaan.

The horrifically sinful practices of these people nauseated Father to the point that He instructed us not to follow their example. These people were ultimately wiped out from the Land.

In Leviticus 20:23,  Father is recorded as commanding us:

“And walk ye not in the customs of the nations which I drive out from before you; for they have done all these things, and I have abhorred (ie., detested) them” (LXX).

Thus it was the sins of the inhabitants of Canaan, in great part, that caused Father to expel them from the Land. And the land would be turned over to Israel as originally promised (Exo. 3:8, 17; 13:5; 33:3).

Father gave us these holiness instructions so that we may be set apart from all other peoples of the world (20:26). 

Note: I address the concept of holiness in more detail in my post entitled: “Irresistible Holilness–Torah Portion Shim’mini.”

Our Calling to be Holy is a Manifestation of YHVH’s Grace

In His love for us, Father selected us from all the people nations of the world. His love for us was of such a degree that He instructed us to be holy as He is holy.

On this issue, the Apostle Peter wrote:

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:14-16; ESV).

Torah is Done Away With

Yet today, Christian pastors and preacher (and dare I say some Hebrew Roots teachers) are teaching the false doctrine that Torah has been done away with. Or that Torah is only for the Jews.

Such doctrine is of course a lie from the pit of hell. Even secular, non-Hebrew Rooters, anti-Torah advocates, fundamental/charismatic/traditional Christians inherently recognize that it is wrong to lie, kill, steal, commit adultery, condone and or practice homosexuality, have and or support the practice of abortions, etc. Yet there is a movement afoot in many segments of our society—be they secular or religious—that is promoting rebellion against the God that gave us the Bible as His instruction manual for proper, Godly living.

The Land Will Vomit Us Out

Father warned us:

“And keep ye all my ordinances and my judgments; and ye shall do them and the land shall not be aggrieved with you, into which I bring you to dwell upon it” (Lev. 20:22; LXX).

The ESV is a bit more graphic:

“You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out” (ESV).

It is clear that Israel violated YHVH’s Torah over and over throughout her history. And it is no secret that she was vomited out of the Land on at least three-occasions, just as the previous occupants were.

Today’s Application of Leviticus 20:22

Now, many will reject that any of this applies to the citizens of the U.S. and that this only applied to Israel. Well, I used to think that way. But lately, given all the terrible things we are witnessing in our government and in our society today, I have a sinking suspicion that at some point, our nation is going to have to “pay the piper.”

In other words, we as a so-called “Judaeo-Christian” nation that knows right from wrong, are going to have to answer for our rebellion against God and His Torah. As well as we will have to answer for this nation’s unrepentant sins. It’s not a question of if, but of when.

Indeed, unless we as a nation humble ourselves , pray, and seek the face of our heavenly Father, and turn from our wicked ways, we may face the same punishment that Israel faced at least three-times in her history.

We Must Stand For Holiness

YHVH has given us in this Torah Reading–these holiness instructions– so that we may be set-apart from all other peoples of the world (20:26).

So with all the sinful rebellion we currently see going on around us, I believe we have a few responsibilities set before us:

1. We must live holy and righteous lives.

Father has graciously given us His Torah that instructs us in righteous, holy living. Failure to live holy lives may result in our being rejected by our Master when He comes to judge the world.

Did not Master warn us of the following:

“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended and the floods came, and winds blew and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Mat. 7:22-27; KJV).

Have we not, for instance, witnessed of late those who profess to be true, dyed-in-the-wool believers in Jesus Christ (ie., Christians and such), doing God’s work, but are admitted homosexuals or even adulterers?

We currently have a former mayor of an Iowa town-a presidential candidate-who professes to be a practicing Christian. This individual also proudly professes to be a gay-man married to another gay-man. He had the nerve recently to criticize and condemn any self-professing Christian who would reject his sinful lifestyle.

The message that is being spread by this individual throughout the whole of this nation is one of rebellion. His message encourages the rejection of the Truth of the Bible, to be replaced by a false-biblical truth made up to justify one’s sinful lifestyle.

He is spreading the lie that the Bible does not speak out against homosexuality. Others like him are spreading a twisted Truth that God and Jesus loves everyone, regardless who and what you are.

It is, of course, a horrendous twisting of Scripture for purposes of justifying their rebellious, sinful lifestyle. And sadly, untold numbers of foolish citizens are buying into this satanically founded twisting of Biblical Truth. As we saw earlier, homosexuality IS seen by Father as an abomination, punishable by death. Case closed. No if and’s or buts.

And then we have, of late, the abortionists who have sought to turn the entire nation, including Christians, to their side. These have been putting forth a message that it’s better for the unborn, aborted child that they not be subject to whatever terrible life they may have to endure in their unfortunate future. And of course, the other popular stance perpetrated by the abortionists is that a woman must have full control over what happens to her body and that the unborn are NOT people. 

And let us not fool ourselves: abortions are nothing short than Molekh worship. Recall that one aspect of Molekh worship was the sacrificing of babies to this pagan god. Is it not, then, possible that hasatan has simply altered the practice of sacrificing children outside the womb to a fallen angel who calls himself Molekh, to today sacrificing children inside the womb to that same fallen angel who calls himself Molekh? I truly believe this to be the case.

 

 

 

Yet preachers, ministers, and pastors throughout western society remain silent on both these issues. Everyone of them seems afraid to speak out against either of these issues. And as watchmen, is it not their job to speak out against such abominations—at least teach their congregants and assembly members that these behaviors are abhorrent to God? 

 

Indeed, many will argue that none of what I’m saying matters to believers in Jesus Christ. Some of these will contend that there is only one commandment given to us by Jesus Christ that we are to follow: we love one another.

 

Yet these same individuals fail to take into account that Master when asked by a Torah scholar which of the commandments was the greatest of all, responded with:

 

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind…and that the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And that on these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets” (Mat. 22:38-40; ESV).

 

So regardless how these false believers in Messiah choose to twist the Scriptures to justify their sinful, rebellious lives, in the end, it is the keepers of Torah—the commandments of our Father and of our Master, who also possess the testimony of Messiah, that separates and calls out from all the so-called self-professing Christians, who the true children of the Most High are. These will be the very ones that will receive eternal life and reign with our Messiah forever and ever (Rev 6:9; 12:17).

 

Friends, let me be clear on this. Contrary to conventional wisdom, holiness is not a simple thing to achieve. It’s downright hard at times. Some in our Faith Community actually believe all it takes to be holy is blind obedience to the set of principles, ordinances and commandments found in Torah. These could not be further from the Truth.

 

Holiness is a lifestyle and a mindset. It is a heart-centered love for the Creator and for one’s fellow-man. Holiness is looking at the example that was set before us by our master Y’shua Messiah and following it. And it should be no shocker that following Master’s example is no “walk in the park.” That old, carnal nature has a disappointingly bad habit of showing up and getting in the way of our walk from time to time. However, if we are true disciple of Y’shua Messiah, we have been given a helper in the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that helps us readily walk circumspectly before YHVH our Elohim, not as fools, but as wise; and to walk in the ways of YHVH as His holy people (Eph. 5:15; Deu. 28:9: KJV).

 

We don’t keep Torah to be saved for Torah cannot save us. We keep Torah (ie., those instructions that still apply and the spirit of those Torah commandments that no longer apply) because we have elected, as children of the Most High Elohim, to please our heavenly Father. We choose to keep Torah because our Master Yeshua Messiah kept Torah and He admonished us to imitate Him and do the works that He did. Master taught:

 

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do…” (Joh. 14:12; KJV).

 

2. We must warn this nation that her rebellion and sin will ultimately result in her devastation, unless she turns real soon from her rebellious ways and turns to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

 

Now, this is a tough one for me. For there are some, primarily in the charismatic, fundamental side of Christianity, that believe we as disciples of Jesus Christ must through a public display of protest, stand against the rebellion we are now seeing take place in this nation. Some of these individuals propose doing extreme things like standing outside abortion clinics and creating a scene during those clinic’s hours of operations, with the express intent of dissuading any woman who would seek an abortion to turn away and not abort her child. These same groups believe disciples of Jesus Christ should confront gay and lesbians wherever they may be (eg., their rallies and other events) and cause a disturbance to disrupt their various activities.

 

I personally am not convinced this is what Master would have us do.

 

The other side of this equation involves those believers who choose instead to oppose the rebellion and sin via tweets and facebook posts; and other online mediums in order to express their outrage over these individual’s activities and lifestyles.

 

Others, of course, choose to do nothing at all. These simply stay cloistered away in their own little groups, churches, fellowships, congregations, or even in their own homes, and act as though nothing is going on around them. These tend to be focused solely on their relationship with the Almighty and are not concerned about anyone outside their little Faith Communities.

 

The Great Commission

 

For me, being fully cognizant of all that is going on around us these days, I am primarily (maybe exclusively) concerned with doing that which our Master instructed us to do as His disciples:

 

“Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mar. 16:15; ESV).

“Go. Teach all nations to carry out all the things that I have commanded you” (Mat. 28:19,20; Rood’s Chronology).

 

And as much as I get really worked up at times when I see and hear of the rebellious and sinful things going on in our society these day, I have to force myself to come back to center and do that which our Master commanded us to do. For I do not see anywhere in Scripture where Master instructed us to stand out in front of abortion clinics and yell and scream at those women who come to those facilities seeking abortions. Nor do I see anywhere in Scripture where Master instructed us to confront gays and lesbians and all the others at their various activities about their lifestyles. I do not see anywhere in Scripture where we are to be political activists and publicly stand in opposition against one political party or another, or even vice-versa.

 

Paul counseled Timothy:

 

“No soldier on duty gets involved with civilian affairs, since he has to please his commanding officer” (2 Tim. 2:4; CJB).

 

Now, I’m not opposed to those who believe they’ve been called to be social and political activists and decry the present day woes of our society. If these truly believe they’ve been called to do such things, well I believe that’s between them and Master.

 

A Unique Calling—A Great Burden

 

However, as far as I’m concerned, I believe we have been called to be a holy people and to do that which our Master Y’shua Messiah commanded us to do.

 

I fear that when we exchange the basics of our call as disciples of Messiah with that of being social and political activists, we run the risk of sullying our holy reputation and fail at being good witnesses for Messiah.

 

A great burden has been placed upon us and we cannot fail in fulfilling the tenets of that call. We must walk out our Faith in fear and trembling (Phi. 2:12) and we must live holy and righteous lives. In addition, we must do some form of evangelism. This is the heart of our calling as disciples of Messiah—that being to make for Master disciples—and teach them all that He has taught us.

 

What’s a Disciple to Do? Call to Action

 

The world around us is going to do what it’s going to do. However, I believe that we must set our sights on being a Holy People unto our Father. Now, none of this which I am saying is to allow for sinners—those who willfully violate any of the ordinances outlined in this week’s Torah Portion—to take up residence in our homes and fellowships. We as a holy people cannot have fellowship with the rebellious violators of Torah. For Paul wrote to the Corinthian and Ephesian Assembly of Messianic disciples:

 

“Do not yoke yourselves together in a team with unbelievers. For how can righteousness and lawlessness be partners? What fellowship does light have with darkness…Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (2 Cor. 6:14; Eph. 5:11; KJV).

 

Otherwise, whatever role the Holy Spirit has placed you in the Body to perform, do it with all your heart and strength. If you have been placed in the Body in a teaching role, it is incumbent upon you to teach that which our Master taught us as well as teach those who are unfamiliar with the commandments of YHVH, YHVH’s Torah.

 

Paul instructed his young apprentice at the time, the evangelist Timothy:

 

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time is coming when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Tim. 4:1-4; KJV). [If you are so led and wish to hear more on members of the Body not enduring sound doctrine, I invite you to read/listen to my post entitled: “Endure Sound Doctrine I Will Not.”]

 

If we have been placed into a leadership position over an assembly or fellowship, for instance, we must safeguard against violations of these holiness commands taking hold within our groups. This was in great part what the evangelist Timothy had to contend with when he was placed over the Ephesian Assemblies as an overseer by Paul. Many members of the assemblies in Ephesus had departed from the true Faith and had given themselves over to false teachings—what Paul referred to as “fables and myths” (1 Tim. 1:4; 4:7; 2 Tim. 4:4). This in great part was Timothy’s charge/assignment:

 

“To stay on in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach different doctrine or to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. These promote empty speculations rather than God’s plan, which operates by faith” (1 Tim. 1:2-4; CSB).

 

And lastly, if we have any voice within or without the Faith Community—such as a blog, podcast, social media presence, etc.—we must warn the people of the world of the consequences of their rebellion and sin and invite them to repent, seek YHVH’s forgiveness, be baptized and become a true disciple of Y’shua Messiah. This is NOT political or social activism I’m talking about. It’s pure and simple evangelism as the Spirit of YHVH directs.

 

So I encourage you today to stay the course, keep the Faith, and let us through our righteous, holy living, glorify our Father which is in heaven.

 

Shalom and Blessings to you, your family and your fellowships.