Category: Weekly Torah Portion Reading
Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 124 (Rise Up Come Down Jerusalem – Part 2 of Charm School)
Rise Up Come Down, Jerusalem
(Part 2 of Charm School)
The haftarah (reading from the Prophets) supplies our study this week, a continuation from “Charm School” of the Torah portion Vaetchanan. It is Isaiah 51:12-52:12. Verses and 1 and 2 supply our question and answer:
Does Jerusalem, the Bride, arise at the resurrection or does she descend to be seated (dwell)?
YES!
First one, then the other.
The foreshadowing of the restoration is found a little farther along in Isaiah:
It will no longer be said to you, “Forsaken,” nor to your land will it any longer be said, “Desolate”; but you will be called, “My delight is in her,” and your land, “Married”; for the LORD delights in you, and to Him your land will be married. (Is 62:4)
This explains the “New Jerusalem” as Eden above able to once again “marry” the physical Land of Jerusalem and Israel from which she withdrew after the first sin. Once the Land is cleansed, those who could heed the command to “Arise” at the resurrection at the Last Trump will descend adorned with the ornaments of the written and lived Word, and they will be seated, or “dwell” (sheviyah) in the Bride’s renewed intimate Edenic habitation:
Then I saw a new [renewed] heaven and a new [renewed] earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” (Re 21:1-4)
Not all who were called will be fully clothed in the garments that allow them to pass into and out of the ”cloud” of New Jerusalem as they minister to the nations and kingdoms of the millennium. Although all were educated by Moses and the Ruach in the cloud in the wilderness, not all obeyed His compassionate mitzvot with joy, and they died either in the wilderness of the exodus from Egypt or the wilderness of the peoples in the last exile (Ezek 20:35). The Cloud expels rebels and practicing sinners. They evaporate in the Light of the Word, not the cloud.
Nehemiah explains their royal priestly semi-Edenic journey, reiterating the special garments in a cloud dwelling where the Lamp was the Lamb, the Word of God, and how they ruled and will again rule the peoples from this portable Jerusalem/Temple. (Re 21)
“You, in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, to guide them on their way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go. You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth, and You gave them water for their thirst. Indeed, forty years You provided for them in the wilderness, and they were not in want; their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell. You also gave them kingdoms and peoples…” (Ne 9:19-22)
The bridal garments are garments of a royal priesthood tried in the wilderness, ready to reign and rule with Messiah Yeshua, the Living Word of the Father. He is Bread, Water, garments of righteousness, and peace that do not wear out, for those royal bridal blessings of eternal life are from the Garden above. The feet don’t swell because those feet are not exactly touching the natural earth after Jerusalem once again is married to the earth below. The Bride is adorned with beautiful mitzvot full of the Light of the Torah and the Lamp of the Word.
That is the Light with which they also will light the world when they have come to rest in the Holy City:
“I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (Re 21:22-27)
The Lamb is the Word of God, full of light that calls the Bride to arise and shine, for her Light has come. She also wears garments of glory, the 24 garments of the Word that light the way for the nations. Gates that never close have no threat from the Beast, who always strives to carry burdens of commerce through the beautiful gates of glorious Jerusalem.
You. You, Jerusalem below, are adorning yourself to arise, to prepare for your role as Jerusalem who will descend and dwell on earth to serve Adonai.
“You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.” (Ex 28:2)
Each of the eight garments of the Kohen Gadol atoned for different sins, depending on
a) the sincerity of Israel’s repentance +
b) pure intention of the Kohen Gadol.
1. The Tzitz had the power to atone for brazenness, as it was worn on the Kohen Gadol’s forehead, Metzach is synonymous with brazenness.
2. The Mitznefet had the power to atone for haughtiness. It raises the Kohen Gadol’s height when wearing it.
3. The Ephod had the power to atone for idolatry.
4. The Chosen Mishpat had the power to atone for miscarriages of justice.
5. The Me’il Techelet had the power to atone for public slander, as the golden bells which were attached to its hem made noise while the Kohen Gadol walked, a reminder to guard our tongues.
6. The Ketonet Tashbetz had the power to atone for certain capital crimes.
7. The Avnet had the power to atone for sinful thoughts, as it was wrapped around the Kohen’s torso from just above his hips to just under his heart, where its end was tucked in.
8. The Michnasayim, which cover the Kohen from the waist to above his knees, had the power to atone for sexual misconduct. (The Temple Institute. 2-6-22)
Reb Tzadok HaKohen from Lublin writes: “The concept of Shabbat is mentioned twelve times in the Torah, and we know that everything on Shabbat is double, so essentially Shabbat is represented by the number twenty-four. This idea is also reflected in the fact that a bride adorns herself with twenty-four ornaments, and the Shabbat is referred to as the bride. A Torah scholar (familiar with the 24 books of the TANAKH) is akin to Shabbat, and the Priests and Levites were the quintessential Torah scholars of Israel, so it is appropriate that the Priests are referred to as Levites twenty-four times in Scripture.”
We are a royal priesthood, adorned with bridal garments more numerous than that of the Kohen HaGadol. If the Kohen HaGadol could die upon serving without all eight garments in place, so we should diligently study and apply the whole Word, lacking nothing. Whom we serve on Shabbat is the sum of those garments.
Like the 24 earthly courses of the kohanim and Leviim put on their garments of beauty and glory, we put on 24 garments of the royal priesthood. What “good” are our 24 garments of Yeshua’s righteousness?
They shine the Light of truth, exposing sins, leading many to repentance, and atoning for them among the nations of the world where our little tabernacles are scattered…
Time permitting, we’ll give practical examples of how the priestly garments provide insights into how we can put on our 24 royal priesthood bridal garments each day to bring the Light of Yeshua to the nations and kingdoms among which we live.
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Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 122 (Charm School)
Charm School
Have you ever seen something in a Judaica catalog or shop that made you scratch your head? Symbols are always a hot topic in our circles, and often the discussions are full of extremes. In our quest to be willingly obedient to the Word of Adonai, sometimes it’s obvious we never went to charm school. Or charm and symbol school.
Frank Houtz, may his memory be for blessing, did an excellent job addressing fears of idolatory in words and symbols in his lecture, “Discerning Between Good and Evil” (2010), and he presents a reliable hermeneutic to identify customs that are indeed evil from those that mean exactly what those who use them believe them to mean.
In Creation Gospel Workbook Six, we address some of the controversy: “The Magen David (Star of David) is a good example of symbolism that has been appropriated by some pagan religions. Because of that, some believers with a poor hermeneutical skill set have averred that the Magen David is a pagan symbol. Without adding anything but common sense to Houtz’ insightful, careful work with the subject, the obvious questions are, “What is the symbol’s primary source, and what did the Magen David mean to the people who began to identify with it?”
If pagan cultures at some time appropriated the symbol, it has no bearing on what it originally meant to those who began to use it, for the Fourth Day of Creation of sun, moon, and stars antedated by far any pagan identification. I’m sure no Christian wants Christianity judged by the number of cross necklaces worn in mug shot photos or at lewd, filthy concerts. Just because trees have been worshiped as gods and used as pagan symbols doesn’t mean we can have trees in our yards.
The symbol of the Magen David is accepted universally as a symbol of the Jewish people. It is not so much an ancient Israelite symbol, but more cultural and ethnic identity. At this point in history, it is the observance of the Biblical moedim that sets apart Israel from the heathen nations, making the association of the Magen David with paganism antithetical. The Jewish people have long been associated by other nations both with the moedim of Scripture as well as the symbol of the Magen David. Monotheism. (*Scroll down for full communication from Frank)
But what about other symbols, like charms? There is a fine line between a symbol of remembrance or identification and believing the symbol itself has power that belongs to the Creator. For instance, in times past, our congregation was accused of worshiping a Torah scroll. No, we respect the Word; it is valuable to us.
Now if we marched the scroll down to the local ATM, held it up to the machine and believed it would miraculously spit out $10,000 every time, there’s a bronze serpent problem.
Twenty-four ornaments of the Bride are based on the richness that Israel used to seduce her lovers instead of her Bridegroom who gave them to her:
“…and the LORD will make their foreheads bare. In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, crescent ornaments, dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets, finger rings, nose rings, festal robes, outer tunics, cloaks, money purses, hand mirrors, undergarments, turbans and veils. Now it will come about that instead of sweet perfume there will be putrefaction; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp…” (Is 3:18-24 NASB)
In the Shabbat livestream, we’ll examine the spiritual significance of each of these bridal ornaments, but one of them, the amulet, is a head-scratcher. That’s primarily because we’re only familiar with the corruption of the symbol, not the Scriptural, Hebrew meaning of it that makes it an ornament fit for a bride.
amulets [lehashim] ?????? a whisper, i.e. by implication, (in a good sense) a private prayer, (in a bad one) an incantation; concretely, an amulet:—charmed, earring, enchantment, orator, prayer.
Are they forbidden magic and superstition, or is there a more ancient use?
The variety of necklace-type adornments links the wording of how to lay tefillin to wearing a pendant, amulet, necklace, etc.
My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you. Keep my commandments and live, and my teaching as the apple of your eye.
Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. (Pr 7:1-3)
My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man. (Pr 3:1-4)
The above is very much like the description of how Yeshua grew in Scriptures and with people, the exact vertical/horizontal relationship found in the two greatest commandments, love Adonai and love your neighbor. “And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Lk 2:52)
My son, observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother; bind them continually on your heart; tie them around your neck. When you walk about, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk to you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; and reproofs for discipline are the way of life… (Pr 6:20-23)
A permitted Bridal amulet should have the Word in some form that draws you to hear the voice of the Ruach guiding you and protecting you from sin. The writing is silent, “whispered,” like the Ruach in a still, small voice. Traditionally, Jewish amulets contain a verse of Scripture. Those containing mystical combinations of Hebrew letters are sketchy because of the Scriptural understanding of an amulet’s function: to remind the wearer of Adonai’s protective power. If the wearer doesn’t understand the words or symbols, it is not the thing to wear because it’s missing the mark.
Different contexts of lachash, the root of amulet, which is connected to protection from harm:
Positive
“O LORD, they sought You in distress; they could only whisper a prayer, Your chastening was upon them.” (Is 26:16)
“The captain of fifty and the honorable man, the counselor and the expert artisan, and the skillful enchanter*.” (Is 3:3)
Negative
“If the serpent bites before being charmed, there is no profit for the charmer.**” (Ecc 10:11)
“For behold, I am sending serpents against you, adders, for which there is no charm, and they will bite you,” declares the LORD. (Je 8:17)
The Word destroys the venom of the serpent, which is the “trick” of snake charmers. They remove the fangs and venom ducts before training it. If the snake bites before that, it harms. The Bride has no fear of snakebite, for the Word neutralizes venomous lies. The serpent may bite, but it cannot destroy. Shake it off. This enrages the serpent in Revelation.
*The context is honorable people, so likely an orator or Scriptural wordsmith who is skilled with writing prayers for amulets.
**Literally, “master of the tongue”
As an ornament of the Bride, an amulet represents a hushed prayer, a reminder of Scripture for protection. The daily prayer, the Amidah, is prayed in a whisper. Although silent, the amulet connects the wearer with the Scriptural prayer. It’s fine to wear a necklace or any other jewelry with Scripture or its symbols if it is a reminder of the One who holds the power.
Why are amulets associated with protection? If we read the contexts around the Proverbs passages concerning the binding of Torah around the neck or fingers, the promise is that it will “keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.” (Pr 6:20)
Scripture mentions snake charming as the evil example of amulet use. It is not the amulet that will prevent the snake from biting; it is the relationship of the wearer to the Word on the amulet and the One to Whom the prayer is directed. One cannot behave any way one wants and expect the “amulet” of tefillin or a Shema necklace to protect him or her.
Snake venom is false doctrine…another reason the 24 ornaments should be completed. The number twenty-four represents the original number of the books of the TANAKH. The more we immerse in the Word, the Son of Elohim, the more protection we have against evil. Using it as a magic charm undercuts the actual use of an amulet, a piece of jewelry that reminds us of our intimate relationship with the Bridegroom and the Word He sent us to bind us to Him. A “hamsa hand” charm can no more prevent evil than not stepping on a crack will preserve our mothers’ backs or pointing a cross at a vampire will keep it away.
If there were vampires. Which there is not.
Except for vampire bats.
There’s those.
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Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 121 (Dog Food)
Dog Food
Your lips, my bride, drip honey;
Honey and milk are under your tongue,
And the fragrance of your garments
Is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
The Torah, the Word of Adonai, is compared to milk and honey. The more we learn, the more we do. The more we learn, the more we can speak with spiritual intelligence.
Midrash Rabbah 4§22 says:
If one can make his words pleasing like honey and milk mixed together when he is speaking [under your tongue], then he is fit to say words of Torah [honey drops from your lips]…he must incorporate multiple branches of Torah knowledge in his addresses, like the different tastes of honey and milk mixing together.
The “different tastes” can mean incorporating different parts of Scripture into one’s words, or it can mean selecting the words to fit the understanding level of the hearers. Incorporating different parts of Scripture in an exhortation or teaching is likened to the twenty-four adornments of the Bride listed in Isaiah. Just as the high priest may not serve if he is missing even one of his eight garments, so the Bride should be well-versed (!) in all of the Word so that she may present them as delicious meals that are both appreciated and digested. The Midrash continues:
Before one undertakes to present a reproachful sermon to an audience, he must determine that his message of inspiration and reproof will be so appealing to its recipients that it can potentially turn them around, transforming ‘unclean’ sinners into pure and holy people. Only when one’s sermons meet this ‘milk-and-honey’ standard-when they resonate with the masses and inspire them to repentance-does he have license to give them; otherwise, they are better left unsaid.
Anyone who says words of Torah in public, and they are not pleasing to those who hear them is like the bride, who is pleasing to people when under her wedding canopy, it would have been better for him had he not said them. If the audience does not appreciate them, the words of Torah that he is imparting will suffer disgrace. One must ensure that he teaches Torah using the choicest of words, entirely free of inaccuracy or imperfection.
A teacher should not teach according to his or her own disappointments, hurts, anger, fears, or grief. Those words will not be beautiful, nor will they move people to repentance. Life experiences inform what we teach, but personal emotions should never be allowed to direct the Word in a way to inflict one’s own anger, fear, or disappointment onto the hearers. Those types of tantrums disguised as teaching or preaching bring reproach to the beautiful Word.
Additionally, if the teacher is unfamiliar with the whole Word, or the teaching is not in harmony with the whole Word, the teacher will teach inaccurately. This is the danger of fixation on one doctrine. There is another danger as well…
Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. (Mt 7:6)
While this sounds harsh, look at the Torah clues to Yeshua’s warning. Dogs may eat trafe, or “torn” meat, that which does not meet the criteria of food for the holy community. Such food is not slaughtered precisely, without cruelty, according to high standards. Dogs slaughter and eat their food through strangling and tearing. Yeshua isn’t calling people dogs and pigs; he’s using the analogy to show how the food offered needs to fit the eater.
Pigs do not recognize as valuable what is valuable to humans. They only value what goes into their stomachs. The beautiful pearls of Scripture are not useful to them.
It’s important to know your audience or students. Teach over someone’s head, and the time is wasted. Insult their learning level, and the time is wasted. In a mixed audience, try to hit somewhere in the middle. Teach to the students’ needs, yet stretch them to holier places. Challenge with milk and honey until they can consume holy meat without tearing it in the processing.
If they are “hogging” on a single doctrine, consider whether the pearls of Torah will be trampled in their pursuit. Their appetites may need to change before the whole Word is appreciated.
The prophets often proclaimed the Word to people who didn’t heed their words, nor did they repent. They often tore and trampled the prophets or killed them.
On the other hand, a remnant heard. If you are inspired of the Ruach HaKodesh to proclaim the Word, then do so. You might be planting seeds of repentance such as Stephen planted in Paul even as he was being martyred. Stephen’s dying sermon was full bridal adornment, taking the hearers on a TANAKH tour. Peter’s Shavuot sermon moved thousands. We don’t have control over what the hearers do with the Word, whether they will let it encourage them or cause them to repent.
The remnant heard and repented, passing along the Scriptures we have today. What is the balance then? Milk and honey, or fiery hellfire diatribes?
It’s not that you can’t speak hard words, but how they are delivered. Kindness and truth are intrinsic to the Torah. Truth draws the spirit, while kindness draws the soul.
If we disregard the whole person who is listening, our lecturing may reveal a soul sickness within ourselves, not those whom we are “reproving and correcting.” Moses and Aaron paid dearly for “you rebels.” The Israelites weren’t rebelling, they were grieving.
When someone says, “It’s just the way I feel,” it’s all and only about what they feel. Assume that whatever follows will not be balanced with truth or balance. The person is telling us plainly that facts don’t matter and he or she has no concern for the object of their words or actions in that situation. He or she is telling the truth about one thing: the person only cares about how he feels.
Maniacal social media posting usually gratifies those who are “with” us, distances even more those who aren’t, and confuses others. Such careless dissemination of the Word is only marginally for the benefit of the hearer or reader. It is primarily for the careless, soul-controlled sower worshiping his or her current perceptions.
Who knows how much inaccurate “out loud” thinking has dropped into a reader’s or hearer’s heart when we fancy ourselves a Stephen being martyred for truth? The Word is beautiful. Delicious. Fragrant. Pleasing. It is the teacher’s job to instruct so that the beauty of the Word is imparted.
It is also important for the student to find a teacher who has the ability to impart the Word in a way that is milk, honey, and eventually, meat to the soul. Not every teacher fits every student. If the teacher’s delivery doesn’t click, then it’s no reason to tear or trample the sower. Find a teacher able to click and coach into holier spaces of service.
A few weeks ago, Ulpan-Or Hebrew Newsletter wrote:
The Hebrew word for donkey (in general) is “khamor” – ????.
Khamor also refers to matter / material / clay – ????.
Both are derived from the same Hebrew root – ???
In Exodus the verse states:
???? ??????? ?????? ?????????, ????? ?????? ?????????, ???????????, ??????? ??? ????? ????????, ??????
When you see the donkey of your enemy being overburdened by its burdens, don’t ignore it. It’s incumbent upon you to help relieve its burden.
You observe “khamor”, meaning – your physical body and the coarse materialism of life – and you see that it is your enemy, opposing all things spiritual, and feeling overburdened by the sublime responsibilities of the soul. You may then think of ignoring your body so that it does not distract you from fulfilling your calling. You may even want to punish the body through asceticism and self-affliction.
Says the Torah: No! You are responsible to support, refine and elevate the material aspect of your being – the “khamor”, even if it appears to be your enemy. Thus, our Torah portion reveals the following principle:
At times, when we are unable to hear the voice of the spirit within us, we must listen to our material body’s voice. (summarized from Ulpan-Or Newsletter, July 19, 2024)
Throwing harsh words into the ether is like screaming to make yourself heard in the crowd around the Tower of Bavel. Throwing harsh words at believers without understanding their physical and emotional state is not something a teacher should do. Like the Israelites complaining about the water, there may be more to know about the situation before firing off Word canons.
Most likely, the fiery words of Torah are falling on uncomprehending ears. Another stick thrown on their donkey. A trampled pearl. Torn beyond recognition. Shouldn’t they hear the Word as milk and honey, as truth to the spirit AND kindness to the soul?
This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God… (Ja 1:19-20) If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? (Ja 2:15-16)
Sometimes what the body and soul need are milk and honey. Nurture a disciple, know them, and form a relationship. Just as a mom knows what her children can eat or not at each stage of growth, the teacher selects the Words. No tearing or strangling necessary when the students grow into appeciating solid, holy meat fit for a nation of royal priests.
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Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah 119 (The Filling Station)
The Filling Station
When I was around four years old, my aunt borrowed my dad’s work truck, probably to carry a load of tomatoes to market. If you’ve never had a freshly-picked southwest Arkansas-grown Bradley tomato, you don’t know what you’re missing.
My Aunt Frances took me along, and she pulled into a filling station to get gas. For those of you too young to know what a filling station is, it’s a lot like a gas station, but there’s someone there to pump the gas, often dressed in a uniform. He checked the tire pressure and cleaned the windshield while the gas pumped. Eventually, they called that “Full service.” Back then, it was the only kind of service.
The attendant asked my Aunt Frances what kind of gas she wanted. My aunt wasn’t sure what Dad used, so she asked me, “Hollisa, what kind of gas does your daddy put in this truck?”
Happy to have the right answer to a very adult question, I replied, “He gets Fillerupregular.”
Nowadays, I suppose it’s even more important to select the right kind of fuel for different kinds of engines.
In the Kingdom of Heaven, often disputes arise about grace vs works because we are pouring the wrong kind of fuel. The fuel is wrong because the question is wrong. The question is wrong because of a misunderstanding of the fundamentals of salvation, grace, obedience, and holiness. Like my four-year-old understanding of gasoline, often we simply parrot what we’ve heard someone say, someone older or wiser than we. We memorize the answer before we understand the words.
There is a reason two cheruvim guard the entrance to the Garden. Death cannot dwell there. Sin falls under the legal purview of death. Rebellion and transgression sins transfer a person under the custody of death. To allow a sinner to enter the holier spaces of the Presence is to consign them to the custody of death. It’s like trying to drop a quarter into the slot only big enough for a dime. The way to the most powerful dwelling of the Divine Presence grows narrower as we walk with Adonai.
Salvation begins the walk, but sanctification is a lifelong process of letting the Ruach HaKodesh shape us and strip away impairments that might delay our ability to stand and serve in holier places of the Presence. Adonai does not want us foolishly scampering into a holier place than that for which our obedience has prepared us. Just as there is glory to glory, life to life, growth to growth, so there are different kinds of “death.” Death is a matter of separation.
The Mishkan drew levels of holiness in the Camp of Israel. The pattern of the kohanim illustrates how a nation of priests should approach the holy spaces of ministry in holy garments so that they are not cut off…
You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. You shall speak to all the skillful persons whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister as priest to Me. These are the garments which they shall make:..(Ex 28:2-4) … “They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they enter the tent of meeting, or when they approach the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they do not incur guilt and die.” (v. 43)
Even the Kohen HaGadol could die from his service!
It doesn’t mean he wasn’t saved from the second death, but that he couldn’t fit into that holy space in disobedience.
Rashi comments to the passage above:
“When they enter the Tent of Meeting…and die.” See that you have learned from this verse that a Kohen who performs the service lacking any of the Kohen’s garments in subject to death.” This is a death “at the hands of Heaven,” not execution by the courts.
It may or may not have an immediate visible effect to the natural eye.
Rashi to Ex 28:41
“With them you shall dress Aaron your brother and his sons with him; you shall anoint them [with anointing oil], and you shall fill their hand, and you shall sanctify them, and they shall be Kohanim…” “Any filling of the hands in Scripture is an expression of inauguration when one enters upon a matter to be acknowledge as holding it from that day on that is called filling of the hands…filling the hands connotes taking full possession of something, e.g., a position of authority.”
Even though Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu had died in a holier place of the Presence than their obedience and level of consecration permitted, nevertheless, Aaron was required to stay in the Mishkan because the anointing oil was upon him. The authority and responsbility had been poured into his hands.
As Kohen HaGadol, his consecration had prepared him for the realm of holiness, the incense service, for which his sons had not yet been authorized. Obedience and consecration fills our hands with the authority of the Holy One to serve in the holier places, and unlike the rest of Israel, Aaron was limited in how he could grieve. The anointing prepares us for the suffering we will do in order to “fit” in those holier places of the Presence.
How does this enrich our understanding of Boaz’ statement to Ruth not to appear before Naomi “empty-handed” in the House of Bread, Beit Lechem?
Filling our hands with offerings when we approach the holy places such as Mishkan, Mikdash, or even our local congregation, is an affirmation of our position as a Kingdom of Priests willing to serve in the holier spaces. Juxtaposed with these extensive explanations of the Kohen HaGadol’s garments in Exodus 28 is a comprehensive list of oil-infused matzah “lechem,” “challot,” and “rakik” in Exodus 29:2-3.
Ruth was engaging in an act of consecration on the threshing floor of Beit Lechem. Boaz acknowledged her clean garments, her anointing, her request for a holier place of the Presence of Adonai. A marriage should create a holy place for the family to thrive in the service of Adonai. Most likely, Boaz had been longing for this moment of pouring into her hands this promise of a closer place in his home, extending his authority into her hands to minister on his behalf, encouraging Naomi of restoration.
This should inspire us to never have a garment lacking as we await the Bridegroom. Let us never lack for oil to anoint our gifts of “poor man’s bread” or for oil of anointing on our heads and hands as royal priests of the Kingdom. As we grow in obedience, we will grow in respect to our salvation and step into the holier places attained only through service and suffering for the sake of the Word.
What if we despair of family or friends who don’t seem to be preparing to stand in the holier places of the Presence?
“Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” (Ro 14:4)
While it is important to pray for the unsaved, yes, often the saved are not interested in dwelling in holier places in eternity. Maybe they are so consumed with their own interests that we doubt their salvation. The good news is that there are many realms of holiness, just like the Israelite camp. Although many servants may not be able to stand in the Temple, there are less holy spaces that they can be made to stand where the brightness of the Divine Presence will not bring about the second death.
Yeshua taught in Luke 14:7-11 that we shouldn’t make assumptions about one another’s “place” in the Kingdom, but to remain humble servants:
And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place. But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
If we strive to obey the Word, let it not be in order to gain a reward of a higher position over others, but for the intimacy of holier places to serve and linger near the “livelier” realms of holiness.
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