Emor (Speak) Leviticus/Vayikra 21:1-24:23
1.How are G-d’s appointed times a picture of our walk of faith? List the biblical holidays and how each one fits into your spiritual journey.
The word mo’ed means an appointed time.
Ohel mo’ed was a tent of meeting. It was a place where man could meet G-d.
So the mo’adim listed in this Torah portion are times when we and G-d can meet.
Passover
celebrates Israel’s freedom from slavery in Egypt.
For us at Passover we celebrate our salvation experience
We were freed from the power of sin.
This marks the time we began a training period in this new life
Learning what it means to be freed from slavery.
Counting the Omer
Psalms 90:12, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
A symbol of our training time, leaving Spiritual Egypt behind.
An important time of growing in our faith,
A time to learn about who we are and what G-d expects from us.
It emphasizes the importance of time
Reminds us to use the time G-d gives us to grow spiritually and to serve Him.
These 49 days are special for another reason.
This period covers the time Yeshua was with His disciples on earth after His resurrection.
As you count, think of this time as being a special time with the Messiah.
Shavuot
We celebrate the giving of Torah.
A time to celebrate and grow into the fullness of what G-d has for us.
During Shavuot the Holy Spirit fell on the believers as they were together in Jerusalem.
The gift of the spirit enables us to move forward in our faith pointing us toward the next upcoming holiday of Succoth.
Rosh Hashanah
Is known as, “The Day of Blowing.”
It begins a ten day period of time of reflection and repentance.
The shofar is blown calling people to repent.
Yom Kippur
The day the High Priest in Jerusalem entered the Holy of Holies to offer the sacrifices on behalf of the sins of the people.
A day for us to remember that Yeshua, the Lamb of G-d, was that sacrifice for us.
Succoth
It is the last holiday of G-d’s calendar.
It is known as the season of our rejoicing.
We live in a fragile succah for eight days
This emphasizes our complete dependence on Him and the joy He brings us.
We celebrate G-d’s faithfulness to the children of Israel and His watch care over us.
As the new year begins spiritual lessons will begin again in the next cycle of G-d’s calendar. We must not allow ourselves to become complacent in our walk with Him. What a wonderful blessing we have in these biblical holidays and what order G-d brings to our lives through His life-giving time table!
2.In Leviticus 23:22 we read instructions for reaping a harvest. It says to leave sheaves that have fallen on the ground and the borders or corners of the field. The end of that verse says to leave them for the poor and the stranger. In Hebrew the word for “leave” is taazov. That word is stronger than leave. It means to abandon or forsake. What is G-d teaching the Israelites and us in using this word taazov?
This verse seems out of place in this chapter about Biblical holidays.
Portions of the crops were to be left for the poor to take.
Anything overlooked on the ground was to be left.
Borders or corners of the field were to be left.
So if Taazov means forsake or abandon,
This means the farmer was not to involve himself in the allocation of these leftovers.
He removed himself completely from the picture
The poor were to come and take for themselves.
What is scripture saying here?
Scripture is telling us these parts of the field did not belong to the farmer.
They were not the farmer’s property – they belong to the poor.
What spiritual truth is this verse teaching us?
One of our battles is how we view our possessions.
Society and our flesh says accumulate all you can.
We work hard and whatever we have is from our own efforts.
This verse tells us that G-d is our provider.
Whatever we have belongs to Him and it is on loan to us.
G-d expects us to use what He has put in our care for whatever purpose He has.
This does not mean we are to sit around and do nothing,
It does mean we align our thoughts with the Father’s view.
We must change our view
He is the source of all we have
We must use what we have to do His will on this earth.
When we give or help others it should never be done to honor to ourselves.
We should praise G-d for allowing us to be used to bring honor to Him.
We should thank Him daily for all that He has given us.
One more point.
Did you notice, the farmer does not take the food to the poor or stranger?
The poor must come and take it themselves.
Two points to this process.
If the farmer was involved, he the owner would be helping the poor. G-d might be left out of the picture and honor would go the farmer.
Also the poor had to make the effort to go dig up the food themselves.
They took part in feeding their families.