The week of April 18-24:

Acharei Mot-Kedoshim - אחרי
מות-קדושים :
"After the death-Holy"
Torah : Leviticus 16:1-18:30
Haftarah : Ezekiel 22:1-19
Gospel : Luke 14-17

Approaching or Being Removed? Drawing near or Going into Exile? Leviticus 18

Why were the Israelites sent into exile in its historical contexts? In Leviticus 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." And also in this chapter, Leviticus 18:24-25 "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, ²⁵ and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants."

The reason that the Canaanites were thrown out of Canaan was due to their violation of these particular commandments. Sexual violations are so depraved that there is no other alternative to fix people other than to utterly destroy them. This was the charge given to Joshua upon taking over the Canaanite land. The phrase, "the land vomited out its inhabitants" is quite a sufficient description of what happens. There are two specific words that are very explanatory as to why this vomiting takes place: Leviticus 18:6 "None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the L-RD." First, the word which means "approach" in Hebrew is KARAV. For those who have studied the sacrifices, they understand that the general word for sacrifices is KARBON, which is the noun form of this verb. "To approach" or "draw near" is used in connection to approaching G-d with acceptable sacrifices, and is also used here to discuss a man approaching a woman in order to have sexual relations. So consider the parallels carefully: The way that we approach G-d by bringing sacrifices is similar to the way a husband draws near to his wife for sexual intimacy. The one action is the ultimate expression of love for G-d, an expression of proper horizontal love relationship with the Creator. The other action is the ultimate expression of human love, the most proper expression of love that the two closest "neighbors" could have with one another. In this type of love for a neighbor, the husband-wife relationship is meant to be sacred and set apart. In the same way, our relationship with G-d is sacred and set apart. By understanding both of these relationships, we now understand more fully the concept of KARAV, "to draw near."

The second word that needs to be understood is the word GALAH, which can be translated as both "uncovered," or "removed." Unlike the English grammatical structure, the Hebrew of Leviticus 18:6 reads more like this, "Man, O man, in the direction of each of flesh of your flesh, DO NOT approach for the purpose of uncovering (or removing) [her] nakedness. I [am] the L-RD." Notice two words in Hebrew for the word "flesh" which is translated as "a close relative." Remember how Paul often talks about "the works of flesh." Paul's use of flesh in his writings is very broad and has many connotations, but very frequently connotes sexual immorality. Notice also that with the "approaching for the purpose of uncovering," the two Hebrew words are side by side. The reason for this is because they are grammatically connected. The "uncovering" serves as the OBJECT of the VERB, "to approach." The bottom line is that one should only have sexual relations with one's wife.

Notice also that the commandments seem to be primarily aimed from the man's perspective. That is not particularly sexist, as modern feminists will argue. It is directed towards men for what should be fairly obvious reasons. In modern world culture, these reasons are not obvious because of different cultures' insensitivities to sexual prohibition. Yet, every day, people see the effects and consequences of these indiscretions, from unwanted pregnancies to abortions and from premarital sex to sexual infidelity to divorce. From a cultural perspective, if the U.S. had left abortion illegal, there would be anywhere between 50 to 200 million more people here in the U.S. Can you think of the economic ramifications of having the additional population with which to come up with new ideas and increase our work sector? We'd have half the population of China, and we'd have a greater need to keep jobs here in the U.S. as opposed to exporting these jobs. Instead of having 50% of dysfunctional families, there would be much greater unity in the UNITED States. But, this is a digression from the Torah.

When we look back at the Lev. 18: 24-25 verses, we also get the connection to why the Canaanites were vomited out of the land. In Genesis 15:16, G-d forwarned Abraham that "the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet filled up." When we apply this basic truth, that sexual immorality, "uncovering nakedness," does eventually lead to exile. This is a grave warning to the cultures of the U.S. The cases of domestic abuse are much higher than most Americans want to admit. "Approximately 15% to 25% of women and 5% to 15% of men were sexually abused when they were children" (Wikipedia). Some websites report a higher number. Homosexuality is not just becoming more common, it is actually being promoted as a more elitist lifestyle, one that has prestige and is specially honored in Hollywood and Washington D.C. There are probably more senators and congressman with homosexual tendencies than is reported. Finally, if you have watched any of the new comedy routines in the last 20 years, the jokes about bestiality are becoming common enough that people actually consider this perversity entertainment. Consider also that the humane society gets more air time than do advertisements promoting a Pro-Life view point. If homosexual marriage becomes legalized, it will only be a matter of time before people will begin to legalize marriages with their pets. Gross, but this is the progression that Torah gives us. The progression of the downfall goes from having adultery, to sexually abusing family members, to homosexuality to bestiality. At that point, the land vomits the people out. Consider also these statistics amongst those who say they are believers: The population who call themselves evangelical Christian have a divorce rate that is roughly at or above 50%. For evangelical pastors, the divorce rate is at about 65%, more or less. Add on top of this, with the scandalous homosexual and pedophile accusations against Catholic priests, it can be clearly understood that the sexual immorality of people who call themselves "Christians" has also reached vomit capacity. It is only a matter of time. It is no wonder that people overall reject the notion of going to church. It's not G-d that they hate; it is that the lifestyles of believers do not match what is commanded in the Bible.

The solution to this is very clear: STOP! REPENT! Whatever your sexual immoral behavior is, it must be stopped! One must FIGHT the urges of the flesh. The battle against our flesh is no longer an internal struggle. It is now a national epidemic, and for every immoral act we commit or tolerate as believers puts us one step closer to the day the land vomits us out. To stop the advance of this immorality we must begin somewhere. The place to begin is a renewed commitment amongst all those from a Bible based belief system to agree to keep the commandments that G-d has given. One place to start is with the Shabbat, the Sabbath. We must renew our commitment to keep it. But not just to keep it at all, but also to guard it. And then, we need to keep/guard it as holy, set apart. We need to stop working on Sabbath. We need to stop buying and selling on Sabbath. We need to honor people. We need to stop taking His name in vain. AND, we must stop committing adultery and all forms of immorality as described here in Leviticus. If we are going to be actively promoting a Torah-based lifestyle, it must begin with us keeping His commandments—not just talking about them, but DOING them.