PERSONAL BEHAVIOURS OF SET-APARTNESS (LEV.19-20)
THIS SECTION IS CONSIDERED `THE TURAH WITHIN THE TURAH’ AS IT INCORPORATES MOST OF THE 10 WORDS OF THE ETERNAL BLOOD-COVENANT GIVEN TO MOSES.
YAHUSHA also said to Moses, “Tell the people of Yisharal that they must be Set-Apart because I, Yahuah your Alahim, am Set-Apart. Each of you must SHOW GREAT RESPECT FOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER NOT JUST BECAUSE THEY BROUGHT YOU INTO THE WORLD, BUT BECAUSE IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO (LOVE THEM, LET THEM HAVE IT & DON’T TAKE ANYTHING THEY DO OR SAY PERSONALLY).
And you must always observe My Shabath days of rest for I am Yahuah. JUST AS RESPECTING OUR PARENTS AFFECTS OUR PHYSICAL RELATIONSHIPS, RESTING ON THE SHABATH IS AN OUTWARD SIGN OF HOW WE FEEL ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR BRIDEGROOM YAHUSHA.
Do not put your trust in idols or make metal images of any deity for yourselves for I am Yahuah. YAHUSHA IS PASSIONATELY JEALOUS AND WON’T ALLOW HIS BRIDE TO LIFT UP ANYONE OR ANYTHING ABOVE HER FEELINGS FOR HIM.
When you sacrifice a INTIMATE-PEACE OFFERING to Me, offer it properly so you’ll be accepted by Me. The sacrifice must be eaten on the same day you offer it or on the next day. Whatever is left over until the third day must be completely burned up. If any of the sacrifice is eaten on the third day, it will be contaminated, and I will not accept it. Anyone who eats it on the third day will be punished for defiling what is set-apart to Me and will be cut off from the community.
SO THE INTIMATE-PEACE OFFERING WAS EVERYONE’S FAVOURITE OFFERING, NOT JUST BECAuSE IT WAS VOLUNTARY BUT BECAUSE ONLY A PORTION OF THE ANIMAL HAD TO BE BURNT, MEANING THE REST WAS TAKEN HOME FOR DINNER. WITH THE OTHER FOUR OFFERINGS MOST OF THE ANIMALS WERE EITHER BURNT OR GIVEN TO THE PRIESTS TO EAT, SO CLEARLY PEOPLE WERE GETTING IN ON THIS INTIMATE-PEACE OFFERING NOT OUT OF LOVE & worship BUT OUT OF GREED, MAKING THE MEAT STRETCH OVER NUMEROUS DAYS AND YAHUSHA WASN’T HAVING IT. AS WITH ANANIAS & SAPHIRAH IN THE EARLY ASSEMBLY, ONCE YOU VOLUNTARILY GIVE SOMETHING TO YAHUSHA IT LEGALLY BECOMES HIS OWN SET-APART PROPERTY AND iF YOU GO `STUFF’IN AROUND WITH IT’, THE END RESULT WILL BE DEATH!!
When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop, the same with your grape crops, do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners living among you, for I am Yahuah your Alahim.
WHILE MOST OF US AREN’T FARMERS, WE STILL GLEAN FROM THE BEHAVIOURAL PRINCIPLE OF GENEROSITY HERE. HELPING SOMEONE WITHIN THE BODY IN NEED. AND WE’RE TALKING ABOUT DESPERATE PEOPLE HERE, NOT LAZY PEOPLE. YISHARAL TOLERATED NO LAZINESS IN THEIR ECONOMY.
Don’t steal, deceive or cheat one another.
WE ARE NOT TO DECEIVE OR ENGAGE IN UNFAIR DEALINGS WITH OTHER PEOPLE. BEING SNEAKY, CONNIVING, SCAMMING AND RIPPING OFF IS SEEN AS WISE AND CUNNING IN THE WORLD, AND WHILE WE DON’T HAVE TO BE PUSH-OVERS (NOTHING WRONG WITH DRIVING A HARD BARGAIN) WE ARE TO HOLD OURSELVES TO A HIGHER STANDARD AND MAKE ALL OUR DEALINGS WITH PEOPLE FAIR AND ABOVE-BOARD (WIN-WIN FOR ALL).
Do not bring shame on the Name of your Alahim by using it to swear falsely, for I am Yahuah
MAKING AN OATH AUTOMATICALLY INVOLVED INVOKING THE NAME OR NAMES OF ONE DEITY OR ANOTHER. IN FACT, IF YOU DIDN’T INVOKE THE NAME OF DEITY, IT WASN’T CONSIDERED A LEGITIMATE OATH. YAHUSHA TOLD US NOT TO MAKE OATHS AT ALL, JUST TO MAKE OUR YES, YES, AND NO, NO….AND LEAVE IT AT THAT. INSTEAD OF MAKING AN OATH AND BREAKING IT.
Do not defraud or rob your neighbor and don’t make your hired workers wait until the next day to receive their pay.
WAGES WERE PAID DAILY SO A MAN COULD GET FOOD FOR HIS FAMILY TO EAT THAT NIGHT. NOT PAYING HIM MEANT HIS FAMILY WENT HUNGRY THAT NIGHT WHICH IS UNFAIR AND CRUEL.
Do not insult the deaf or cause the blind to stumble. You must fear your Alahim for I am Yahuah.
SAYING KIND WORDS TO A BLIND PERSON WHILE MOCKINGLY PULLING FACES AT THEM OR SMILING AT A DEAF PERSON WHILE SAYING HORRIBLE THINGS TO THEM, DEMONSTRATES THE TYPE OF BEHAVIOUR OF UNKINDNESS THAT YAHUSHA HATES.
Do not twist justice in legal matters by favoring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful. Always judge people fairly.
SOME COUNTRIES TREAT RICH PEOPLE’S CRIMES LESS HARSHLY THAN POOR PEOPLE’S, WHILE IN MANY OTHER COUNTRIES THE OVERALL SOCIETY IS JUDGED INSTEAD OF THE ACTUAL PERSON WHO COMMITTED THE CRIME, ARGUING THAT IF THE CRIMINAL HADN’T BEEN IN POVERTY, ILLITERATE OR COME FROM A BROKEN HOME, THEY WOULDN’T HAVE COMMITTED THE CRIME IN THE FIRST PLACE AS THOUGH THIS PERSON HAS LESS PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT AND BE PUNISHED TO A LESSER DEGREE (SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY’RE POOR). THESE EXCUSES DON’T FLY WITH YAHUSHA!
Do not spread slanderous gossip among your people and don’t stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is threatened for I am Yahuah. Don’t keep hatred in your heart for your brother (FELLOW YISHARALITE) but confront your neighbour(ALL FRIENDS/ACQUAINTANCES - ANY PERSON WHO YOU’RE IN CONTACT WITH ON A REGULAR BASIS) directly so you will not be held guilty for their disobedience. Don’t seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Yisharalite either, but love your neighbor as yourself, for I am Yahuah.
THIS INSTRUCTING HAS BEEN SPOKEN SINCE THE VERY BEGINNING OF TIME, NOT JUST WHEN YAHUSHA WALKED THE EARTH. EVERYTHING YAHUSHA SAID WAS TO BACK-UP & FULFILL HIS OWN INSTRUCTIONS.
You must obey all of My Instructions. Don’t mate two different kinds of animals, don’t plant your field with two different kinds of seed and don’t wear clothing woven from two different kinds of thread (INTERMIXING).
If a man has sex with a female-servant whose freedom has never been ransomed or redeemed (but who is engaged to become another man’s wife), there should be an investigation and the man is legally required to pay the full-agreed price that had been negotiated between the slave owner and the future husband (who decided to pull out of the deal because the slave girl is no longer a virgin). But neither of them are put to death, because she was not free. The man however, must bring a ram as a FORGIVENESS OFFERING and present it to Me at the entrance of the Tabernacle where the priest will purify him before Me, and the man’s disobedience will be forgiven.
IT WAS PERFECTLY LAWFUL FOR A FATHER (WHO WAS IN FINANCIAL HARDSHIP) TO SELL HIS DAUGHTER TO ANOTHER MAN AS A SLAVE-GIRL AND WHEN THE GIRL REACHED MARRYING AGE, HER OWNER WAS OBLIGATED TO EITHER MARRY HER HIMSELF, GIVE HER TO HIS SON FOR MARRIAGE OR ALLOW HER TO BE REDEEMED & SELL HER TO ANOTHER MAN FOR A REDEMPTION PRICE. ONCE AN AGREEMENT WAS REACHED, THE SLAVE-GIRL LEGALLY BECAME THE FUTURE WIFE OF THE MAN WHO HAD JUST REDEEMED HER. SO IF ANOTHER MAN COMES AND DEFILES HER, SHE IS NO LONGER A VIRGIN AND UNABLE TO BE SOLD TO THE FUTURE HUSBAND ANYMORE SO THE MAN RESPONSIBLE WAS REQUIRED TO PAY THE SLAVE-GIRL’S OWNER WHAT HE WOULD HAVE MADE, NOW THAT THE FUTURE HUSBAND HAD PULLED OUT OF THE DEAL.
When you enter the land and plant fruit trees, leave the fruit unharvested for the first three years, consider it forbidden and don’t eat it. In the fourth year the entire crop must be set-apart to Me as a celebration of praise. Finally, in the fifth year you may eat the fruit. If you follow this pattern, your harvest will increase, for I am Yahuah your Alahim.
NO TRIMMING OR PRUNING THE TREES IF THE TREE IS NOT ALLOWED TO FULLY MATURE, IT WON’T REACH ITS FULL PRODUCTIVE POTENTIAL. AND THE CROP FROM THE FOURTH YEAR WAS GIVEN TO YAHUSHA AS HIS SET-APART PROPERTY TO FEED THE PRIESTS.
Don’t eat meat that has not been drained of its blood
AT A PAGAN RITE OF DIVINATION WHERE A RITUAL MEAL WAS EATEN OVER A LARGE PIT FILLED WITH BLOOD SO THAT THE SPIRITS OF THE DEAD COULD BE CONJURED UP FROM THE BLOOD.
Don’t practice fortune-telling, divination, witchcraft or magic
THROUGHOUT ALL THEIR HISTORY, THE HEBREWS MADE ABUNDANT USE OF THE OCCULT BECAUSE WANTING TO HAVE SUPERNATURAL POWER AND KNOW THE FUTURE HAS ALWAYS BEEN SOMETHING MANKIND IS INTENSELY DRAWN TO.
Don’t round the corner of your head, destroy the corner of your beard or make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor put tattoo marks on you
SHAVING THE HEAD, TEARING OR MUTILATING THE BEARD, AND GNASHING/PIERCING ONE’S BODY WERE ALL PAGAN MOURNING PRACTICES THAT YAHUSHA DIDN’T WANT HIS PEOPLE TO BE A PART OF.
Do not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be filled with prostitution and wickedness.
A FATHER WAS NOT TO HAVE HIS DAUGHTER PARTICIPATE IN A RELIGIOUS CEREMONY THAT INVOLVED SEX ACTS NOR WAS HE TO SELL HIS DAUGHTER FOR COMMON OR GENERAL PROSTITUTION IN ORDER GET MONEY TO BUY A SACRIFICIAL ANIMAL TO SACRIFICE AT THE TABERNACLE.THE WARNING BEING GIVEN HERE IS THAT IF YISHARAL BEGINS TO DRIFT INTO CEREMONIAL RELIGIOUS PROSTITUTION, THEN THE WHOLE PROMISED LAND WILL BECOME DEFILED AND WILL FALL INTO DEPRAVITY, ANOTHER INDICATION OF JUST HOW ORGANICALLY INTERTWINED THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND OF YISHARAL ARE.
Keep my Shabath days of rest, and show reverence toward my sanctuary, for I am Yahuah
INSTEAD OF OFFERING “RELIGIOUS SEX” AS THE HEATHENS DO TO HONOR ME, FOLLOW MY ACTUAL INSTRUCTIONS AND REST ON THE SHABATH DAY.
Don’t defile yourselves by turning to mediums or to those who consult the spirits of the dead, for I am Yahuah your Alahim.
YAHUSHA IS PROTECTING US FROM COMING INTO CONTACT WITH A DEMON WHO IS PRETENDING TO BE THE SPIRIT OF A DECEASED PERSON, BECAUSE DEAD PEOPLE ARE GONE, THEIR PHYSICAL BODY IS DESTROYED AND THEIR INNER ESSENCE (SPIRIT) IS ASLEEP, WAITING TO BE AWOKEN AT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT (OR THE FIRST RESURRECTION IF THEY ARE YAHUSHA’S BRIDE).
WE ARE NOT TO COMMUNICATE WITH UNCLEAN, FALLEN SPIRITS OF THE ENEMY
Stand up in the presence of the elderly, and show respect for the aged and you shall be favored by them. Fear your Alahim, for I am Yahuah.
MAKING SURE AN OLDER PERSON’S NEEDS ARE MET AS THEY GRADUALLY BECOME PHYSICALLY FRAIL AND POSSIBLY UNABLE TO CARE FOR THEMSELVES. IT ALSO MEANS THAT WE SHOULD RESPECT AND APPRECIATE THE WISDOM THEY HAVE GAINED THROUGH MANY YEARS OF LIVING.
Don’t take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land, but instead treat them like native-born Yisharalites and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt.
FOREIGNERS ARE TO BE TREATED FAIRLY AND EVEN THOSE WHO WISH TO GIVE UP THEIR PAGAN DEITIES IN EXCHANGE FOR THE REAL, LIVING ALAHIM OF YISHARAL ARE TO BE WELCOMED WITH OPEN ARMS. THIS OF COURSE FORESHADOWED THAT TIME WHEN YAHUSHA WOULD COME AND OFFER FOREIGNERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE GRAFTED INTO YISHARAL THROUGH BELIEF IN HIM.
And don’t use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight, or volume. Your scales and weights must be accurate. Your containers for measuring dry materials or liquids must be accurate, for I am Yahuah your Alahim Who brought you out of the land of Egypt
DO NOT CHEAT EACH OTHER OR FOREIGNERS IN YOUR BUSINESS PRACTICES.
So you must be careful to keep all of My Instructions by putting them into practice. I am Yahuah”.
“So you must MAKE A DISTINCTION between clean and unclean animals, and between clean and unclean birds, not defiling yourselves by eating any unclean animal or bird or creature that scurries along the ground. I HAVE IDENTIFIED THEM as being unclean for you. You must be SET-APART because I, Yahuah, am SET-APART. And I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own. Men and women among you who act as mediums or who consult the spirits of the dead must be put to death by stoning for they are guilty of a great evil.”
The EXACT SAME Hebrew word is being used to indicate the separation of Yisharal from the world AND for the separation of CLEAN animals from UNCLEAN animals: to 'set apart' or 'distinguish from another' Are you catching the true meaning and significance of this? In the same way that Yahusha makes a distinction between Yisharal and all the other nations of the world is the SAME WAY we are to make a distinction between CLEAN and UNCLEAN things in our lives! And remember that Yisharal possessed no special merit of their own for Yahusha to declare them CLEAN, as opposed to everybody else in the nations being declared UNCLEAN. The same goes for the issue of CLEAN and UNCLEAN animals. No animal of its own merits 'deserved' to be declared CLEAN and the opposite is also true. CHOSEN and UNCHOSEN and CLEAN and UNCLEAN were all based on Yahusha's sovereign decisions which He made for His own good reasons. While the issue of not eating unclean animals has nothing to do with pagan worship (it's an instruction for all time) and must be obeyed to this day, HAIR, BEARDS & TATTOOS are directly related to idol-worship here in Leviticus, which is the KEY BEHAVIOUR that Yahusha hates, not just the rigid lifestyle of never cutting the hair, beard or having tattoos or earrings.
IN THE 21st CENTURY, SHOULD YAHUSHA'S BRIDE HAVE LONG HAIR & BEARD & NO TATTOOS OR EARRINGS (EVEN IF IT'S A CUSTOMARY PRACTICE THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH PAGANISM?) IS THIS THE TAKE-AWAY HERE...OR SHOULD WE BE SET-APART IN BEHAVIOUR?
