Kedoshim/Holy ones
Leviticus 19:1-20:27
Amos 9:7-15
This week I would like to take you on a ‘journey’ to the book of Acts, by way of Amos. In the torah portion this week the Holy One of Israel lays out the measuring line for His people; the litmus test for who they really will and should be.
Leviticus 19 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
If you were not to know anything else or expect anything else of God’s first born, this would be it: Holy! There may be some guidance on how to live and respond to different life situations and circumstances, but at the end of the day you can ignore all the discussions and arguments about the details of their lives, the issue and promise is: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. What a gift that is, especially if you don’t misunderstand the word “shall”. If you can see that it’s not a performance word, but rather a promise word directly from the lips of our Heavenly Father! You essentially will be holy, because I am holy! You might be tempted to say that He has quite a job on His hands, but I would say “no” to that because He is God, and nothing is too difficult for Him! That goes beyond a promise to a guarantee! Now let’s take that thought and include the Lord God Almighty’s promises and apply them to the Gentiles. I believe part of the key for this is in Amos, but it has added authority the way it’s used in Acts 15. You may have never really noticed today’s haftorah portion in Acts 15, but it’s there as the ‘proof text’ used by the Jewish leaders of the body of Christ to accept the inclusion of the Gentiles into the household of God. I’m pasting in the Acts 15 version but be sure to go to our reading in Amos 9 to see the whole verse.
Acts 15:16 ‘After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up; 17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My Name, Says the Lord who does all these things.’
Yes, this is Amos 9:11-12 with a little ‘apostolic hermeneutic’ interpretation (this may need some explanation at another time, but for now just know that somehow the apostles of that day had this authority). For the sake of space and time I will shorten a discussion of all this but know this was the verse used to help all the other Jewish believers accept that a Gentile could even be ‘saved’! Read all of Acts 15 and let Holy Spirit open it up to you! I believe what the Lord is saying here, is that this “fallen tabernacle” traditionally represents the Jewish people in a fallen state and also the promise of the Messiah being raised from the dead. Try not to fall into a big theological hole here or let your intellect keep you from rejoicing in what is here! Just as in Amos, God basically tells Israel that when He restores them and gathers them unto Himself from the nations; He will also cause the Gentiles to seek Him (and find Him through Jesus)! Going back to the Leviticus 19 promise to Israel, now you Gentiles that may be reading this, through the “raising up of that fallen tabernacle”, are going to be made holy!
Forgive me if this seems convoluted, but let your heart and spirit spend time with it and you may begin shouting for joy! Know for sure today, with all of our shortcomings and faults, that what Jesus has accomplished is adequate to make us holy! Let us all enter into this glorious truth and together, Jew and Gentile, glorify the Most High God, our Heavenly Father! by john eisner
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