Leviticus 23

Leviticus 23

The Appointed Festivals

1 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as official days for holy assembly.

³ “You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly. It is the Lord’s Sabbath day, and it must be observed wherever you live.

⁴ “In addition to the Sabbath, these are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the official days for holy assembly that are to be celebrated at their proper times each year.

Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread

⁵ “The Lord’s Passover begins at sundown on the fourteenth day of the first month.^[a] 6 On the next day, the fifteenth day of the month, you must begin celebrating the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This festival to the Lord continues for seven days, and during that time the bread you eat must be made without yeast. ⁷ On the first day of the festival, all the people must stop their ordinary work and observe an official day for holy assembly. ⁸ For seven days you must present special gifts to the Lord. On the seventh day the people must again stop all their ordinary work to observe an official day for holy assembly.”

Celebration of First Harvest

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest. ¹¹ On the day after the Sabbath, the priest will lift it up before the Lord so it may be accepted on your behalf. ¹² On that same day you must sacrifice a one-year-old male lamb with no defects as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹³ With it you must present a grain offering consisting of four quarts^[b] of choice flour moistened with olive oil. It will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. You must also offer one quart^[c] of wine as a liquid offering. ¹⁴ Do not eat any bread or roasted grain or fresh kernels on that day until you bring this offering to your God. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live.

The Festival of Harvest

¹⁵ “From the day after the Sabbath—the day you bring the bundle of grain to be lifted up as a special offering—count off seven full weeks. ¹⁶ Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days later. Then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. ¹⁷ From wherever you live, bring two loaves of bread to be lifted up before the Lord as a special offering. Make these loaves from four quarts of choice flour, and bake them with yeast. They will be an offering to the Lord from the first of your crops. ¹⁸ Along with the bread, present seven one-year-old male lambs with no defects, one young bull, and two rams as burnt offerings to the Lord. These burnt offerings, together with the grain offerings and liquid offerings, will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁹ Then you must offer one male goat as a sin offering and two one-year-old male lambs as a peace offering.

²⁰ “The priest will lift up the two lambs as a special offering to the Lord, together with the loaves representing the first of your crops. These offerings, which are holy to the Lord, belong to the priests. ²¹ That same day will be proclaimed an official day for holy assembly, a day on which you do no ordinary work. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live.^[d]

²² “When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.”

The Festival of Trumpets

²³ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. On the first day of the appointed month in early autumn,^[e] you are to observe a day of complete rest. It will be an official day for holy assembly, a day commemorated with loud blasts of a trumpet. ²⁵ You must do no ordinary work on that day. Instead, you are to present special gifts to the Lord.”

The Day of Atonement

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ²⁷ “Be careful to celebrate the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of that same month—nine days after the Festival of Trumpets.^[f] You must observe it as an official day for holy assembly, a day to deny yourselves^[g] and present special gifts to the Lord. ²⁸ Do no work during that entire day because it is the Day of Atonement, when offerings of purification are made for you, making you right with^[h] the Lord your God. ²⁹ All who do not deny themselves that day will be cut off from God’s people. ³⁰ And I will destroy anyone among you who does any work on that day. ³¹ You must not do any work at all! This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live. ³² This will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and on that day you must deny yourselves. This day of rest will begin at sundown on the ninth day of the month and extend until sundown on the tenth day.”

The Festival of Shelters

³³ And the Lord said to Moses, ³⁴ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. Begin celebrating the Festival of Shelters^[i] on the fifteenth day of the appointed month—five days after the Day of Atonement.^[j] This festival to the Lord will last for seven days. ³⁵ On the first day of the festival you must proclaim an official day for holy assembly, when you do no ordinary work. ³⁶ For seven days you must present special gifts to the Lord. The eighth day is another holy day on which you present your special gifts to the Lord. This will be a solemn occasion, and no ordinary work may be done that day.

³⁷ (“These are the Lord’s appointed festivals. Celebrate them each year as official days for holy assembly by presenting special gifts to the Lord—burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and liquid offerings—each on its proper day. ³⁸ These festivals must be observed in addition to the Lord’s regular Sabbath days, and the offerings are in addition to your personal gifts, the offerings you give to fulfill your vows, and the voluntary offerings you present to the Lord.)

³⁹ “Remember that this seven-day festival to the Lord—the Festival of Shelters—begins on the fifteenth day of the appointed month,^[k] after you have harvested all the produce of the land. The first day and the eighth day of the festival will be days of complete rest. ⁴⁰ On the first day gather branches from magnificent trees^[l]—palm fronds, boughs from leafy trees, and willows that grow by the streams. Then celebrate with joy before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹ You must observe this festival to the Lord for seven days every year. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed in the appointed month^[m] from generation to generation. ⁴² For seven days you must live outside in little shelters. All native-born Israelites must live in shelters. ⁴³ This will remind each new generation of Israelites that I made their ancestors live in shelters when I rescued them from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

⁴⁴ So Moses gave the Israelites these instructions regarding the annual festivals of the Lord.

Leviticus 22

Leviticus 22

1 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell Aaron and his sons to be very careful with the sacred gifts that the Israelites set apart for me, so they do not bring shame on my holy name. I am the Lord. ³ Give them the following instructions.

“In all future generations, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean when he approaches the sacred offerings that the people of Israel consecrate to the Lord, he must be cut off from my presence. I am the Lord.

⁴ “If any of Aaron’s descendants has a skin disease^[a] or any kind of discharge that makes him ceremonially unclean, he may not eat from the sacred offerings until he has been pronounced clean. He also becomes unclean by touching a corpse, or by having an emission of semen,⁵ or by touching a small animal that is unclean, or by touching someone who is ceremonially unclean for any reason. ⁶ The man who is defiled in any of these ways will remain unclean until evening. He may not eat from the sacred offerings until he has bathed himself in water.⁷ When the sun goes down, he will be ceremonially clean again and may eat from the sacred offerings, for this is his food. ⁸ He may not eat an animal that has died a natural death or has been torn apart by wild animals, for this would defile him. I am the Lord.

⁹ “The priests must follow my instructions carefully. Otherwise they will be punished for their sin and will die for violating my instructions. I am the Lord who makes them holy.

¹⁰ “No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offerings. Even guests and hired workers in a priest’s home are not allowed to eat them. ¹¹ However, if the priest buys a slave for himself, the slave may eat from the sacred offerings. And if his slaves have children, they also may share his food. ¹² If a priest’s daughter marries someone outside the priestly family, she may no longer eat the sacred offerings. ¹³ But if she becomes a widow or is divorced and has no children to support her, and she returns to live in her father’s home as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food again. Otherwise, no one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offerings.

¹⁴ “Any such person who eats the sacred offerings without realizing it must pay the priest for the amount eaten, plus an additional 20 percent. ¹⁵ The priests must not let the Israelites defile the sacred offerings brought to the Lord ¹⁶ by allowing unauthorized people to eat them. This would bring guilt upon them and require them to pay compensation. I am the Lordwho makes them holy.”

Worthy and Unworthy Offerings

¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁸ “Give Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites these instructions, which apply both to native Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.

“If you present a gift as a burnt offering to the Lord, whether it is to fulfill a vow or is a voluntary offering, ¹⁹ you^[b] will be accepted only if your offering is a male animal with no defects. It may be a bull, a ram, or a male goat. ²⁰ Do not present an animal with defects, because the Lord will not accept it on your behalf.

²¹ “If you present a peace offering to the Lord from the herd or the flock, whether it is to fulfill a vow or is a voluntary offering, you must offer a perfect animal. It may have no defect of any kind. ²² You must not offer an animal that is blind, crippled, or injured, or that has a wart, a skin sore, or scabs. Such animals must never be offered on the altar as special gifts to the Lord. ²³ If a bull^[c] or lamb has a leg that is too long or too short, it may be offered as a voluntary offering, but it may not be offered to fulfill a vow. ²⁴ If an animal has damaged testicles or is castrated, you may not offer it to the Lord. You must never do this in your own land, ²⁵ and you must not accept such an animal from foreigners and then offer it as a sacrifice to your God. Such animals will not be accepted on your behalf, for they are mutilated or defective.”

²⁶ And the Lord said to Moses, ²⁷ “When a calf or lamb or goat is born, it must be left with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a special gift to the Lord. ²⁸ But you must not slaughter a mother animal and her offspring on the same day, whether from the herd or the flock. ²⁹ When you bring a thanksgiving offering to the Lord, sacrifice it properly so you will be accepted. ³⁰ Eat the entire sacrificial animal on the day it is presented. Do not leave any of it until the next morning. I am the Lord.

³¹ “You must faithfully keep all my commands by putting them into practice, for I am the Lord.³² Do not bring shame on my holy name, for I will display my holiness among the people of Israel. I am the Lord who makes you holy. ³³ It was I who rescued you from the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. I am the Lord.”

Bible Sabbath Fellowship Friday February 9th, 2018 @ 10pm est

Host Paul Nison and 9 other guest fellowship and discuss Torah related topics.

If you would like to be on the panel email me at the website http://www.TorahLifeMinistries.org contact tab.

Join me for my next raw food health retreat at this link
http://healthwatchman.com/florida-raw-retreat/

The Torah Portion for this week
Torah Portion #18 Mishpatim (Exodus 21:1-24:18)
https://youtu.be/lxRWCtiElc4

Leviticus 21

Leviticus 21

Instructions for the Priests

 1 The Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

“A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean by touching the dead body of a relative. ² The only exceptions are his closest relatives—his mother or father, son or daughter, brother, ³ or his virgin sister who depends on him because she has no husband. ⁴ But a priest must not defile himself and make himself unclean for someone who is related to him only by marriage.

⁵ “The priests must not shave their heads or trim their beards or cut their bodies. ⁶ They must be set apart as holy to their God and must never bring shame on the name of God. They must be holy, for they are the ones who present the special gifts to the Lord, gifts of food for their God.

⁷ “Priests may not marry a woman defiled by prostitution, and they may not marry a woman who is divorced from her husband, for the priests are set apart as holy to their God. ⁸ You must treat them as holy because they offer up food to your God. You must consider them holy because I, the Lord, am holy, and I make you holy.

⁹ “If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she also defiles her father’s holiness, and she must be burned to death.

¹⁰ “The high priest has the highest rank of all the priests. The anointing oil has been poured on his head, and he has been ordained to wear the priestly garments. He must never leave his hair uncombed^[a] or tear his clothing. ¹¹ He must not defile himself by going near a dead body. He may not make himself ceremonially unclean even for his father or mother. ¹² He must not defile the sanctuary of his God by leaving it to attend to a dead person, for he has been made holy by the anointing oil of his God. I am the Lord.

¹³ “The high priest may marry only a virgin. ¹⁴ He may not marry a widow, a woman who is divorced, or a woman who has defiled herself by prostitution. She must be a virgin from his own clan, ¹⁵ so that he will not dishonor his descendants among his clan, for I am the Lordwho makes him holy.”

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁷ “Give the following instructions to Aaron: In all future generations, none of your descendants who has any defect will qualify to offer food to his God. ¹⁸ No one who has a defect qualifies, whether he is blind, lame, disfigured, deformed,¹⁹ or has a broken foot or arm, ²⁰ or is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or has a defective eye, or skin sores or scabs, or damaged testicles. ²¹ No descendant of Aaron who has a defect may approach the altar to present special gifts to the Lord. Since he has a defect, he may not approach the altar to offer food to his God. ²² However, he may eat from the food offered to God, including the holy offerings and the most holy offerings. ²³ Yet because of his physical defect, he may not enter the room behind the inner curtain or approach the altar, for this would defile my holy places. I am the Lord who makes them holy.”

²⁴ So Moses gave these instructions to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

Leviticus 20

Leviticus 19

Leviticus 18

Leviticus 18

Forbidden Sexual Practices

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. I am the Lord your God. ³ So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life. ⁴ You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God.⁵ If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them. I am the Lord.

⁶ “You must never have sexual relations with a close relative, for I am the Lord.

⁷ “Do not violate your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her.

⁸ “Do not have sexual relations with any of your father’s wives, for this would violate your father.

⁹ “Do not have sexual relations with your sister or half sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born into your household or someone else’s.

¹⁰ “Do not have sexual relations with your granddaughter, whether she is your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for this would violate yourself.

¹¹ “Do not have sexual relations with your stepsister, the daughter of any of your father’s wives, for she is your sister.

¹² “Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister, for she is your father’s close relative.

¹³ “Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s close relative.

¹⁴ “Do not violate your uncle, your father’s brother, by having sexual relations with his wife, for she is your aunt.

¹⁵ “Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, so you must not have sexual relations with her.

¹⁶ “Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife, for this would violate your brother.

¹⁷ “Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. And do not take^[a] her granddaughter, whether her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, and have sexual relations with her. They are close relatives, and this would be a wicked act.

¹⁸ “While your wife is living, do not marry her sister and have sexual relations with her, for they would be rivals.

¹⁹ “Do not have sexual relations with a woman during her period of menstrual impurity.

²⁰ “Do not defile yourself by having sexual intercourse with your neighbor’s wife.

²¹ “Do not permit any of your children to be offered as a sacrifice to Molech, for you must not bring shame on the name of your God. I am the Lord.

²² “Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin.

²³ “A man must not defile himself by having sex with an animal. And a woman must not offer herself to a male animal to have intercourse with it. This is a perverse act.

²⁴ “Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for the people I am driving out before you have defiled themselves in all these ways. ²⁵ Because the entire land has become defiled, I am punishing the people who live there. I will cause the land to vomit them out. ²⁶ You must obey all my decrees and regulations. You must not commit any of these detestable sins. This applies both to native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.

²⁷ “All these detestable activities are practiced by the people of the land where I am taking you, and this is how the land has become defiled. ²⁸ So do not defile the land and give it a reason to vomit you out, as it will vomit out the people who live there now. ²⁹ Whoever commits any of these detestable sins will be cut off from the community of Israel. ³⁰ So obey my instructions, and do not defile yourselves by committing any of these detestable practices that were committed by the people who lived in the land before you. I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus 17

Leviticus 17

Prohibitions against Eating Blood

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Give the following instructions to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel. This is what the Lord has commanded.

³ “If any native Israelite sacrifices a bull^[a] or a lamb or a goat anywhere inside or outside the camp ⁴ instead of bringing it to the entrance of the Tabernacle^[b] to present it as an offering to the Lord, that person will be as guilty as a murderer.^[c] Such a person has shed blood and will be cut off from the community. ⁵ The purpose of this rule is to stop the Israelites from sacrificing animals in the open fields. It will ensure that they bring their sacrifices to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle, so he can present them to the Lord as peace offerings.⁶ Then the priest will be able to splatter the blood against the Lord’s altar at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and he will burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ⁷ The people must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by offering sacrifices to the goat idols.^[d] This is a permanent law for them, to be observed from generation to generation.

⁸ “Give them this command as well. If any native Israelite or foreigner living among you offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice ⁹ but does not bring it to the entrance of the Tabernacle to offer it to the Lord, that person will be cut off from the community.

¹⁰ “And if any native Israelite or foreigner living among you eats or drinks blood in any form, I will turn against that person and cut him off from the community of your people, ¹¹ for the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the Lord.^[e] It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible. ¹² That is why I have said to the people of Israel, ‘You must never eat or drink blood—neither you nor the foreigners living among you.’

¹³ “And if any native Israelite or foreigner living among you goes hunting and kills an animal or bird that is approved for eating, he must drain its blood and cover it with earth. ¹⁴ The life of every creature is in its blood. That is why I have said to the people of Israel, ‘You must never eat or drink blood, for the life of any creature is in its blood.’ So whoever consumes blood will be cut off from the community.

¹⁵ “And if any native-born Israelites or foreigners eat the meat of an animal that died naturally or was torn up by wild animals, they must wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water. They will remain ceremonially unclean until evening, but then they will be clean. ¹⁶ But if they do not wash their clothes and bathe themselves, they will be punished for their sin.”

Leviticus 16

Leviticus 16  The Day of Atonement

1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, who died after they entered the Lord’s presence and burned the wrong kind of fire before him. ² The Lord said to Moses, “Warn your brother, Aaron, not to enter the Most Holy Place behind the inner curtain whenever he chooses; if he does, he will die. For the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—is there, and I myself am present in the cloud above the atonement cover.

³ “When Aaron enters the sanctuary area, he must follow these instructions fully. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He must put on his linen tunic and the linen undergarments worn next to his body. He must tie the linen sash around his waist and put the linen turban on his head. These are sacred garments, so he must bathe himself in water before he puts them on. ⁵ Aaron must take from the community of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

⁶ “Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the Lord.^[a] 7 Then he must take the two male goats and present them to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle.^[b] 8 He is to cast sacred lots to determine which goat will be reserved as an offering to the Lord and which will carry the sins of the people to the wilderness of Azazel. ⁹ Aaron will then present as a sin offering the goat chosen by lot for the Lord. ¹⁰ The other goat, the scapegoat chosen by lot to be sent away, will be kept alive, standing before the Lord. When it is sent away to Azazel in the wilderness, the people will be purified and made right with the Lord.^[c]

¹¹ “Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the Lord. After he has slaughtered the bull as a sin offering, ¹² he will fill an incense burner with burning coals from the altar that stands before the Lord. Then he will take two handfuls of fragrant powdered incense and will carry the burner and the incense behind the inner curtain. ¹³ There in the Lord’s presence he will put the incense on the burning coals so that a cloud of incense will rise over the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—that rests on the Ark of the Covenant.^[d] If he follows these instructions, he will not die. ¹⁴ Then he must take some of the blood of the bull, dip his finger in it, and sprinkle it on the east side of the atonement cover. He must sprinkle blood seven times with his finger in front of the atonement cover.

¹⁵ “Then Aaron must slaughter the first goat as a sin offering for the people and carry its blood behind the inner curtain. There he will sprinkle the goat’s blood over the atonement cover and in front of it, just as he did with the bull’s blood. ¹⁶ Through this process, he will purify^[e] the Most Holy Place, and he will do the same for the entire Tabernacle, because of the defiling sin and rebellion of the Israelites. ¹⁷ No one else is allowed inside the Tabernacle when Aaron enters it for the purification ceremony in the Most Holy Place. No one may enter until he comes out again after purifying himself, his family, and all the congregation of Israel, making them right with the Lord.

¹⁸ “Then Aaron will come out to purify the altar that stands before the Lord. He will do this by taking some of the blood from the bull and the goat and putting it on each of the horns of the altar. ¹⁹ Then he must sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times over the altar. In this way, he will cleanse it from Israel’s defilement and make it holy.

²⁰ “When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat. ²¹ He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness. ²² As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land.

²³ “When Aaron goes back into the Tabernacle, he must take off the linen garments he was wearing when he entered the Most Holy Place, and he must leave the garments there.²⁴ Then he must bathe himself with water in a sacred place, put on his regular garments, and go out to sacrifice a burnt offering for himself and a burnt offering for the people. Through this process, he will purify himself and the people, making them right with the Lord. ²⁵ He must then burn all the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

²⁶ “The man chosen to drive the scapegoat into the wilderness of Azazel must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water. Then he may return to the camp.

²⁷ “The bull and the goat presented as sin offerings, whose blood Aaron takes into the Most Holy Place for the purification ceremony, will be carried outside the camp. The animals’ hides, internal organs, and dung are all to be burned. ²⁸ The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water before returning to the camp.

²⁹ “On the tenth day of the appointed month in early autumn,^[f] you must deny yourselves.^[g]Neither native-born Israelites nor foreigners living among you may do any kind of work. This is a permanent law for you. ³⁰ On that day offerings of purification will be made for you,^[h] and you will be purified in the Lord’s presence from all your sins. ³¹ It will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. This is a permanent law for you. ³² In future generations, the purification^[i] ceremony will be performed by the priest who has been anointed and ordained to serve as high priest in place of his ancestor Aaron. He will put on the holy linen garments ³³ and purify the Most Holy Place, the Tabernacle, the altar, the priests, and the entire congregation. ³⁴ This is a permanent law for you, to purify the people of Israel from their sins, making them right with the Lord once each year.”

Moses followed all these instructions exactly as the Lord had commanded him.

Bible Sabbath Fellowship Friday February 2nd, 2018 @ 10pm est

Host Paul Nison and 9 other guest fellowship and discuss Torah related topics.

If you would like to be on the panel email me at the website http://www.TorahLifeMinistries.org contact tab.

The Torah Portion for this week
Torah Portion # 17 Yitro (Exodus 18:1-20:26)
https://youtu.be/tDlouWQfP-o