Torah: Leviticus 9:1-11:47
Haftarah: 2 Samuel 6:1-7:17

A pastor begins a sermon with an analogy to help the overall message be cohesive. This morning, my pastor began and closed his sermon series through Numbers with the metaphor of a child on a long car ride continually asking, “Are we there yet?” He compared the congregation to that child. He said that the parent may gun the car the last little bit of the drive to get there a little faster, and that he would do the same for us by covering six chapters one morning so we could get done with the book. He’s not preaching Numbers because he wants to. He’s preaching it because he has the goal of preaching through the Bible before he retires so he can say he preached the whole Bible. His bragging rites are his destination, and he just wants to get there. He, I believe, is the child in the car complaining, “Are we there yet?” And as a mother of four children, I know that when one child starts asking those kind of questions, the rest are quick to join. He is leading his congregation into the same mindset and perpetuating this devaluation of the Torah. In his coverage of Numbers, there is so much he is not covering. He uses it as a springboard for his theology. His theology is not entirely wrong. He has the essentials for salvation. What is wrong is using the Bible to justify your theology, and when it’s doesn’t, skip it or misapply it. He uses it to argue points the book itself negates. On covering the appointed days (without actually talking about them), he said it was important for Israel to teach their children so as to pass it to the next generation, and he’s right. But then he followed it up by saying, “So that’s why we bring our children to church on Sunday, the Lord’s day.” Oh boy, I just wanted to slap my forehead. I’m not against gathering and worshipping on Sunday, obviously, but to use Numbers to justify why we gather on Sunday is just beyond me. He’s an ordained minister with a doctoral degree. He should know better.

You’re not going to find richness and treasure in the Torah if you’re not looking for it. You get what you look for. Jesus promised that if you seek, you will find (Mt. 7:7-8). If you’re not looking for Jesus in the Torah, you won’t find Him there.

I’m not telling you the name of my church primarily because I don’t want to defame the body of Christ, but I have to call out this attitude as wrong when very few believers will. I bring this up because it is part of a larger thematic problem. The prophets had to do the same thing for Israel. The Apostles had to do the same thing for the early church. They didn’t want to, but they had to.

I have tried. This church brags so much about unity, and it’s good to be unified, but they frame it as though anyone who disagrees with their interpretation is trying to sew division. By being raised in a Calvinist church, I felt comfortable here in a way that I could partner with this body and still help inject a fresh perspective that I believe the church largely lacks. But ideas like predestination and replacement theology have become so regular in small groups and at the pulpit that I am pained and tortured every Sunday. Because I have a hard time keeping quiet in the face of Biblical misrepresentation, and not wanting to be the dissenter in the room, I have had to physically remove myself from Sunday school classes. There is not room for dialogue. I tried facilitating a home Bible study covering a pre-existing book or video series, but the church does not want me doing that because I am a woman, even though my husband would be right there with me in full support and I would not be teaching in a position of authority. If I am a tree, I am poorly planted and languishing.

My friend who is a Biblical archaeologist, Dr. Kevin Dieckilman, believes churches need to be open and fluid with each other, facilitating a cross-pollination of sorts so that no single church or denomination becomes its own echo chamber. But why do I bring all this up? Because this is what’s happening in the Christian evangelical community.

A few years ago, my husband and I were ready to join a different church. We met in a pastor’s office, ready to commit. We understood their statement of faith and we agreed. When we went into his office, I noticed a lot of John Calvin quotes on the walls, and a big beautiful copy of his book Institutes of the Christian Religion in the middle of his coffee table. Before he allowed us to join, he showed us another statement of faith, with very Calvinistic leanings, that we would have to agree to if we ever wanted to be more than pew warmers. We could not, by conscience, agree to such Christian exclusion concerning the definition of predestination, and we chose not to join that church. But something he told us stuck with me. He said all the Baptist churches are going this way. The Baptist seminary will not hire new faculty unless they are essentially Calvinist. My current church will not hire a new pastor unless he is Calvinist, I have learned. And Calvinism (or reformed theology) and replacement theology most oftentimes go hand in hand. The evangelical Christian world is heading into full on reformed theology and replacement theology. And I’m beginning to see that maybe this is why God has called me to write this blog series for a year about Messiah in the Parsha. I’m not saying I’m all that, because I am most definitely not. What I am saying is I’m just following the Lord and His Spirit, and this is how He appears to be using me in however big or small a way. Gideon was not a warrior, but He was called on to fight. Moses was not a public speaker, but he was called on to “speak to the people of Israel” time and time and time again. Amos was a shepherd and he was called to be a prophet. Mary, a poor Jewish girl in a Roman Empire, was called upon to be the mother of the King of Kings. Like Mary, all I can say is, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Lk. 1:38).

As I write this, the funny thing is this brings back full circle a prophecy over me years ago. Visiting my brother’s-in-law church, not knowing who I was, a woman stood up and prophesied over me. My brother-in-law, the pastor, just preached a Christmas sermon about being like Mary and letting God birth His will in us as did Mary. This woman prophesied, “God has already put it in you,” and that I would birth something for God, and that I knew what it was. I think there was more to it, but it was hard to listen to all of it partially because, as a child of the frozen chosen, this was way out of my comfort zone, and partially because I hoped she wasn’t falsely announcing another pregnancy for me. My brother-in-law was able to vouch for her to me later as well, since I didn’t know her. I knew what she was talking about. She was talking about what this blog series is a part of.

Do not let this discourage you from being involved in the church local and the Church global. Gather together. Fellowship. Serve. Learn from one another. I will not forsake the church nor forget God’s chosen people. I walk in this balance, wherever that takes me.

Most people I know do not know about my blog, let alone its contents, and if they do know, they don’t pay it attention. Not everybody, but most. So if you are reading this blog and have been reading it, it’s for you.

So let’s get into the Word now. As I catch up on the Torah schedule, my post for today is about Shmini (Eighth), scheduled to be read April 11, 2026. This portion covers the first sacrifice Aaron and his sons make to the Lord after being consecrated, the dramatic death of Nadab and Abihu, Arron’s two eldest sons, the laws for kosher animals, the death of Uzzah, and the establishment of the Davidic Covenant. This might sound like a weird pairing of content in the text and an odd parsing of the Scripture into reading portions, but we’ll take a deep dive and find the spiritual meaning of all this and what it has to do with Messiah.

The Torah portion begins with obedience to God’s directions for sacrifice and an acceptance of that sacrifice, then has the event conclude with the tragic death of Nadab and Abihu for violating those instructions. The Haftarah portion begins with a violation of the Torah (carrying the Ark on a cart instead of poles), which leads to the death of Uzah, and concluded with great reverence, obedience, and joy in the Lord by David, who then receives the Davidic Covenant.

The Davidic Covenant

I thought this excerpt from my study Bible was good, so I decided it would be better at explaining the Davidic Covenant right now:

The covenant has immediate and future messianic connections. Shlomo, as son of David, would build the Temple. But the Messiah, as Son of David, would rule over Isra’el in peace and security. The Davidic Covenant established the continuation of the Torah, Temple worship, and the priesthood, as well as the covenant of Sinai, while leading into the messianic kingdom to come. But since this has been interrupted in history, it required restoration (tikkun) and renewal. This restoration is described by the prophet ‘Amos, who declares that after the Diaspora of Isra’el, God will raise up the tent of David and raise its ruins. This will restore the Kingdom of Isra’el and include nations (Gentiles) who are called by God’s name (Amos 9:11-15). Isra’el will again be in the Promised Land in blessing and peace, and will never again be rooted out of the land.

The Gospels claim that the beginning of this restoration is connected to Yeshua as Messiah and king of Isra’el. Miryam (Mary) is told that her son Yeshua would be great and that the Lord God would give him the throne of his father David, and that he would reign in his kingdom over the house of Isra’el (Ya’akov) forever (Luke 1:26-33). In Acts, Luke explains how the response of the early Jewish disciples (talmadim) to the Gentiles’ turning to the God of Isra’el through the good news of Yeshua is consistent with ‘Amos’s prediction. Yeshua would soon reign over the throne of Davbid over the house of Isra’el, and that kingdom would include the Gentiles called by the Lord. As a result, they gave certain commands to the Gentil believers that connected them to Isra’el yet maintained their Gentile identity (Acts 15:13-21).

The obvious conclusion is that the future holds a time when this will all be completed. Yeshua will return to Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) and all of Isra’el (living and dead) will be gathered to the Land of Promise. Gentiles called by the Lord will be included in this regathering, and God’s kingdom will be restored to Isra’el (Acts 1:6). At that time, the Messiah will reign from Yerushalayim upon the throne of David and the Torah will go forth from Tziyon (Zion) and the word of the Lord from Yerushalayim. The nations will stream to the house of the God of Isra’el, there will be eternal shalom, and the nations will never again learn war (Isa. 2:2-4).

Replacement theology adherents miss this covenant in their belief that the throne of David is in heaven, the Isra’el of God is the church, and the kingdom will not include a restoration of Isra’el in the land. They believe that God is finished with Isra’el and that Isra’el is not a people before God because they rejected Yeshua. Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah), however, makes it clear that such will be fulfilled. The righteous Branch of David will execute justice and righteousness in the earth (not heaven), and the throne of David will continue (Jer. 33:14-18). Yirmeyahu says that as long as the Noachide Covenant remains unbroken (the fixed patterns of heaven and earth), so too the Davidic Covenant will remain unbroken and those who reject the idea that God remains faithful to Isra’el and Judea are in error (Jer. 33:23-26).

Whereas the kings of Judah erred and were disciplined by the Lord, the Heir to the throne (Jesus) obeyed perfectly. Whereas Nadab and Abihu erred in their Aaronic priestly role (tradition says they were drunk at the time), unable to distinguish between clean and unclean, Jesus (the Priest of the higher order) (Ps. 110:4, Heb. 7:11) was fully sober when He went to the cross, consciously aware of everything as He entered the heavenly tent of meeting by His death. He said He would not drink wine again until in the restored kingdom (Mt. 26:29, Mk. 14:25, Lk. 22:18). They offered Him wine to drink at the cross, but He did not drink it (Mt. 27:34). Unlike Nadab and Abihu, Jesus went into the heavenly tent of meeting fully sober, able to distinguish between the clean and unclean (Lev. 10:10).

Clean and Unclean

⁴⁴ For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. ⁴⁵ For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” (Lev. 11:44-45).

In the Torah portion, right after the judgement on the sons of Aaron for failing to discern holy from common and clean from unclean, we receive the most detailed list of kosher instructions for clean and unclean animals in the Bible.

By obeying these instructions, eating only animals that were clean (tahor), the Israelites kept themselves tahor. The unkosher animals, and those who partook in them, were unclean (tamai). “The term tamai is used only in relation to moral and religious deficiencies that contaminate the soul and character of man, particularly incest and idol worship, and to characterize the absence of ritual purity…The English words clean and unclean are therefore to be understood as purity and defilement in a spiritual-ritual sense” (Complete Jewish Study Bible, 142). When Jesus said, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him” (Mk. 7:14-15), “he was raising the issue of kosher to a higher level” (CJSB, 142) by explaining superficial adherence and Pharisee traditions that went beyond the Mosaic Covenant did not make one clean. Rather, the tamai that came out of a person through their words and deeds rendered them tamai, such as anger, lust, divorce, swearing, and revenge (see Jesus’ sermon in Matthew chapter 5). At the end of His sermon addressing what makes one tamai, Jesus quotes Leviticus 11:44-45: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48). Luke renders Jesus’ words as, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Lk. 6:36). Holiness, perfection, tahor, is therefore linked to mercy. Mercy does not exhibit ungodly anger, does not lust, seek divorce, swear falsely, nor seek revenge. Mercy forgives, loves, and seeks reconciliation. This is the higher level of tahor Jesus was trying to get to, which the Levitical law represented through the imagery of food.

The Old Testament metaphorically uses clean and unclean animals to describe rebellious sinners and followers of God. For example, in Psalm 22, the suffering servant describes his persecutors as dogs, lions, and bulls of Bashan. Though bulls are kosher, Bashan represented pagan sin deserving judgement, for Bashan is the kingdom that attacked Israel in the wilderness and refused them peaceful passage (see Num. 21:33). All these animals, therefore, are tamai, unclean, and the people they poetically represent are unclean.

In the New Testament, unclean animals are used to describe Gentiles and sinners, who at large were not worshippers of God, living in a state of rebellious sin that made them tamai. Jesus called unclean people dogs and pigs (Mt. 7:6) and Gentiles dogs (Mt. 15:26). In the Book of Acts, Peter has a vision involving unclean animals:

¹⁰ And he [Peter] became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance ¹¹ and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. ¹² In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. ¹³ And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” ¹⁴ But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” ¹⁵ And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” ¹⁶ This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven (Acts 10:10-16).

Peter later expressed to Gentiles seeking him what the vision meant:

“You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean” (Acts 10:28).

The unclean animals represent the Gentiles, who were considered unclean and not followers or worshippers of God. What else does this extended Biblical metaphor teach us? By the time we get to Acts, it says that God can make unclean animals clean animals. When we begin to follow and obey the Lord, we are His sheep. Those Gentiles are the sheep of a different fold Jesus taught the Pharasees about, the very Pharasees who threw out the blind man Jesus healed on the Sabbath (who I discussed in my post The Sin Offering and the Guilt Offering He Called for): “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd” (Jn. 10:16). The unclean animals, the Gentiles, would become His sheep, clean animals. Jesus makes the tamai into tahor.

My big take away for you at the end of this post is that you trust in the perfect and better Priest than Aaron’s line, the Eternal Heir to the throne of David Who brings the world and you (if you believe) peace, the One who perfectly distinguishes between the clean and unclean, the One Who can make you clean. Until next time, God bless.

The Shepherd calls His sheep, they come¹
Some steady cant, some ready run.
You will not find within His flock
Members of another stock.
There are no horses, pigs, or bears,
No crocodiles, lions, or hares.
There are no unclean, no tamai,
Nor are His sheep found in a sty.

“Feed my sheep” the Shepherd said²
To one He left in His stead,
Also saying, “Rise, kill, and eat,”³
Of those with clawed, uncloven feet.
How can this be? Can he do both?
Can choicest fruit spring from wild growth?⁴
Can a leopard change his spots?⁵
If the Shepherd blots out his blots.⁶

1. Jn. 10:27
2. Jn. 21:17
3. Acts 10:13
4. Rom. 11:17, 11:24
5. Jer. 13:23
6. Ps. 51:1, 9; Is. 43:25, 44:22; Acts 3:19