Acharei Mot אחרי מות

1. Acharei Motאחרי מות “after the death” Leviticus 16:1-18:30

2. naming our portion Acharei Mot וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה אַחֲרֵי מֹות שְׁנֵי בְּנֵי אַהֲרֹן בְּקָרְבָתָם לִפְנֵי־יְהוָה וַיָּמֻֽתוּ׃

3. Wide is the gate to destruction

4. Wide is the gate to destruction Lev. 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. Rom 1:26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, Rom 1:27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

7. Wide is the gate to destruction Lev. 19:31 “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God. Lev. 20:6 “If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.

8. Wide is the gate to destruction Allah is an enemy to unbelievers. - Sura 2:98 On unbelievers is the curse of Allah. - Sura 2:161 Fight them so that Allah may punish them at your hands, and put them to shame. (verse cited in Newsweek 2/11/02)

9. Wide is the gate to destruction Lev. 18:24 “Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, Lev. 18:3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. Jer. 10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen… Deut. 18:9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. Lev. 20:22-23 22 “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. 23 And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them.

10. חֻקָּה Chuqqah [Lev 20:23 KJV] 23 And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. statute, ordinance, limit, enactment, something prescribed Verb Root: chaqaq to cut out, decree, inscribe, set, engrave, portray, govern to cut in or on, cut upon, engrave, inscribe

11. Narrow is the way to salvation Lev. 20:22-23 22 “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. 23 And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. Rev. 3:15-16 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue (vomit) thee out of my mouth. Mar. 7:8-9 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men… And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

12. From Egypt to Canaan Lev. 18:2-3 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. Egypt= the world, bondage, slavery, the old sinful man Canaan= where we are heading, the conquest of being the people of God, We are not to live like we did when we were in the world but God is placing us in the midst of others that need to see our light. We are not to assimilate to them but we are to stay holy/separate/set apart even in the midst of Canaan. Interesting Note: Ham the son of Noah uncovered his father’s nakedness (in our Torah portion) and his son was cursed which was Canaan. Ham also had a son named Mizraim (Egypt).

13. Acts 15 & The Heart of the Torah Acts 15:1 And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, [and said], Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. Acts 15:5-6 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command [them] to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. Acts 15:7-9 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up… And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them (the Gentiles) the Holy Ghost, even as [he did] unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Acts 15:19-21 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and [from] fornication, and [from] things strangled, and [from] blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. Acts 15:28-29 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

14. Acts 15 & The Heart of the Torah Abstain from pollutions of idols: [Lev 19:4 KJV] 4 Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I [am] the LORD your God. Fornication: [Lev 18:6, 20, 22-23 KJV] 6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover [their] nakedness:.. 20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife... 22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it [is] abomination. 23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith… things strangled, and from blood: [Lev 17:10, 15 KJV] 10 And whatsoever man [there be] of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. ... 15 And every soul that eateth that which died [of itself], or that which was torn [with beasts, whether it be] one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe [himself] in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean. Hear Moses (Torah) read on the Sabbath Day (keep Shabbat)

15. Acts 15 & The Heart of the Torah [Lev 18:3 KJV] 3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. The Gentiles were saved from the world (Egypt) but they needed to be sanctified before going out to the nations (Canaan) He calls us & justifies us He separates/sanctifies us (salt) He empowers us (light) He sends us out to dark places

16. Acts 15 & The Heart of the Torah He called light out of darkness (Gen. 1:3) He separated the light from the darkness (Gen. 1:4) He empowered the lights- one to rule the night the other by day, to declare times and seasons He places them in the sky- “And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth” Gen. 1:17 Why is it that God declares light on day 1 but it doesn’t benefit the world until day 4? What day did Yeshua come although he was slain since day 1?

17. He calls us קָרָאqara, Call to meet, encounter This is when we encounter God. By His grace and mercy He saves us and speaks light in our darkness. His Spirit hovers over the void of our selfishness and pride and forms beauty from ashes, life from death. Gen. 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou? Matt. 4:18-22 And Yeshua, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left [their] nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James [the son] of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

18. He sanctifies us 1 Thess. 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and [I pray God] your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Yeshua Messiah. How are we sanctified? Exd. 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it [is] a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that [ye] may know that I [am] the LORD that doth sanctify you. Lev. 20:7-8 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I [am] the LORD your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I [am] the LORD which sanctify you. The Torah doesn’t save us but the Torah sanctifies us! [1Co 6:11 KJV] 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Yeshua, and by the Spirit of our God.

19. He empowers us Matt. 10:1 And when he had called unto [him] his twelve disciples, he gave them power [against] unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Luke 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

20. He sends us out Mark 16:15-20 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then the Lord Yeshua, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.

21. Separate in the midst How can we be holy & set apart but still remain in the midst of darkness and evil? How can we have unity without compromising what we believe? We have to sanctify ourselves and separate from others to be empowered to “Go” back into the world. Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Yeshua withdrew to a solitary place to be alone with God and pray. Luke 4:42 And when day came, He departed to a lonely place; and the multitudes were searching for Him, and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from going away from them. We can’t dig a hole and hide but we also can’t compromise and lose our light and saltiness!

22. Separate in the midst Matt. 5:13-17 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Why did Yeshua immediately talk about not abolishing the Torah right after a teaching on salt and light? The Torah is what sanctifies us and makes us “salty” and full of light or separate from darkness.