28: Par'shah M’tzora

[alon]

From Mark:

Par’shah 28: M’tzora

This week’s readings: Par’shah 28
Date of reading: 21 April 2018/6 Iyyar 5778
Name of Par’shah: M’tzora (Person afflicted with tzara’at)
Par’shah: Vayikra 14:1-15:33
Haftara: M’lakhim Bet 7:3-20
Brit Chadashah: Mattityahu 9:20-26; Mark 5:24b-34; Luke 8:42b-48; Messianic Jews 13:4

D’rash: This portion of the deals with the laws of purification regarding tzara’at and bodily discharges. As we begin our reading, notice the difference between the requirements for the normal sin offering stated earlier in Leviticus chapter 4 and that for a person who has been healed from tzara’at, which includes not only leprosy but also other skin afflictions as well. In the normal sin offering, a clean animal without defect is presented before Adonai, the guilty party lays hands on it, the animal is slaughtered, some of its blood is smeared on the horns of the altar of incense, the remaining blood poured out at the base of the altar for burnt offerings, the designated parts offered up by fire, and the remaining parts of the animal taken outside the camp to be completely burned up. There are some small, but not insignificant, variations depending upon if the guilty party was the priest, a leader, the congregation, or an individual. The requirements for tzara’at, after being healed, are more extensive:
Two clean birds are offered—one is slaughtered in a clay pot over running water, the other live bird is dipped in the blood and water along with cedarwood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop and the healed person is sprinkled seven times. Then the live bird is set free.
The individual must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water.
He is considered clean, then enters the camp but remains outside his tent for seven days.
On the seventh day he again shaves off all his hair, including his head, beard, and , and washes his clothes and bathes his body in water.
On the eighth day he brings two male lambs and one female lamb in its first year, all without defect. These will be used not only for a sin offering, but also for the guilt and burnt offerings.

He must also bring six-and-a-half quarts of fine flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering along with an additional two-thirds pint of olive oil.
The cohen takes one of the male lambs (for a guilt offering) and the two-thirds pint of olive oil and performs a wave offering before Adonai.
The cohen takes some of the blood of the guilt offering and, on the person being purified, puts it on the tip of his right ear, the thumb on his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

The cohen takes the two-thirds pint of olive oil and pours some of it in his left hand and dips his right finger in it and sprinkles that seven times before Adonai.
Some of the remaining oil in the cohen’s hand will then, on the person being purified, be put on the tip of his right ear, the thumb on his right hand, and the big toe of his right foot and on the blood of the guilt offering.

The remaining oil in the cohen’s hand is then put on the head of the person being purified.

Finally, the sin, burnt, and grain offerings are offered to Adonai, atonement is made, and the person becomes clean.

So why the major difference between the offering requirements? The answer can be found in Deuteronomy 28, the chapter which lists the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience. The key phrase preceding the curses is in verse 15: “But if you refuse to pay attention to what Adonai your G-d says, and do not observe and obey all His mitzvot and regulations…”, that is, simply put—willful disobedience. Part of these curses relate to our par’shah lesson:

Vs. 22---Adonai will strike you down with wasting diseases, fever, inflammation, fiery heat, drought, blasting winds, and mildew; and they will pursue you until you perish;
Vs. 27---Adonai will strike you down with the boils that broke out on the Egyptians, tumors, skin lesions and itching, all incurable.
The ancient rabbis attributed leprosy as a chastisement for moral violations. Some trespasses may bring an infection on a house itself (Leviticus 14:33-34).
There are at least three recorded instances of individuals stricken with leprosy for different reasons:

Numbers 12:1-16: Miryam and Aharon began criticizing Moshe because of his Ethiopian wife. The real issue here was their claim that they could hear from Adonai just as well as Moshe could. G-d Himself states the problem more specifically, accusing them of criticizing His chosen servant. He explains to them that when He speaks to a prophet it is through dreams and visions. In a sense, Miryam may have very well had a good reason to her claim since she herself was a prophetess, as stated in Exodus 15:20. However, Adonai informs her that He speaks to Moshe more intimately, face-to-face, because He is the only one who is faithful in His entire household, and he sees the image of Adonai. The situation becomes even more serious when Adonai’s anger flares up against them and Miryam becomes stricken with tzara’at. Aharon was probably spared because he was the high priest. This possibly could have been a permanent condition had it not been for Moshe’s intercession, and therefore she only had to remain outside the camp for seven days. Today, we also need to heed the instruction about criticizing spiritual leadership. Oftentimes we do not understand the magnitude of their responsibility before G-d and the people he has entrusted them to shepherd. If G-d were to, at this moment, punish with tzara’at all those who criticized or complained about His chosen spiritual leaders, how large of a territory would be needed outside the camp to contain them?

[alon]

2 Chronicles 26:1-23: Our next example is Uzziah, who was king of Judah for 52 years. He did what was right in the sight of Adonai and experienced great success as long as he consulted with Him. He accomplished military victories, engaged in much building activities, increased, trained, and equipped the Israeli army, and had experts create and build military artillery. His fame was known far and wide, until his strength turned him arrogant and he became corrupt. Indeed, he overstepped his G-d-given sphere of influence when he attempted to offer incense in the Temple, a position strictly reserved for the priests, the descendants of Aharon. When a large number of priests gathered and stood up to him and warned him of his error, Uzziah, ready to burn incense, responded in anger at which point tzara’at broke out on his forehead. The priests quickly threw him out of the Temple and even he himself hurried to get out, no doubt realizing his great folly. Unlike Miryam, he lived in a separate house with this affliction for the remainder of his life while his son performed his kingly duties. While it is G-d’s desire to bless those who walk in obedience, the trouble begins when we cease to be humble and grateful for His provision and success, and we become arrogant, taking the credit for these things ourselves. Deuteronomy 8:11-20 warns against this overconfidence in one’s self which leads to forgetting Adonai and His mitzvot. Deuteronomy 17:16 also applies to Uzziah’s situation, warning the king not to acquire many horses for himself, meaning that he should not put his full confidence in his military power. Psalm 33:16-17 says, “A king is not saved by the size of his army, a strong man not delivered by his great strength. To rely on a horse for safety is vain, nor does its great power assure escape.” Likewise, Psalm 20:8 says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we praise the name of Adonai our G-d.” But perhaps Uzziah’s greatest failure was neglecting the he was to write out for himself and heed, to fear Adonai his G-d, so that he will not think he is better than his kinsman (Deuteronomy 17:18-20). Similarly, it would be to our benefit to engage in serious study of His Word, with humility.

2 Kings 5:1-27: Our final example is Geichazi, assistant to Elisha the prophet. Na’aman, a highly respected Syrian military commander sought out Elisha for healing of his tzara’at. After bathing in the Yarden River seven times at the command of the prophet he received his healing and returned to express his gratitude and offer him a gift, but more importantly, to confess his belief in Adonai, the One True G-d. Elisha steadfastly refused any payment, and when Na’aman saw that he couldn’t convince him to receive it, we see that his next response shows how genuine his commitment was to Adonai: he requests to take back some soil of Israel to his country so that he may offer sacrifices only to Adonai. Elisha understood that grace and salvation in the One True G-d was to be freely offered to all and that those who had a heart to receive it would joyfully pay the cost to Adonai after becoming His talmidim. This concept continues in the Brit Chadashah when Yeshua sent His disciples out to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven with accompanying signs and wonders, and to freely share the Good News as they freely received it. Note that one of the signs was to heal those with tzara’at (Matthew 10:5-10). In 1 Corinthians 9:4-18, emissary Sha’ul states that although he and others who share the Good News should receive payment for it, he does not make use of that right so as not to bring any hindrance, and therefore offers it free of charge. Now back to Geichazi, who had a completely different spirit in the whole matter. His first error was to make a false judgement against Elisha, thinking that the prophet was too easy on Na’aman by not accepting a gift from him. (2 Kings 5:20). Next, he pursues Na’aman and obtains some payment from him through deceit, claiming that it was for two guild prophets who had just come to them after he had left. After stashing away the so-called gift, he returned to Elisha, who inquired where he had been and once again lies, saying he hadn’t gone anywhere. Elisha’s judgement on him, or rather G-d’s, seems harsh but appropriate: the tzara’at of Na’aman shall cling to him and on his descendants forever. The root of Geichazi’s sin was greed and the Jewish people had a unique term for this serious offense---the evil eye. Yeshua makes this point in Matthew 6:22-24: “The eye is the lamp of the body. So if you have a ‘good eye’ [that is, if you are generous] your whole body will be full of light; but if you have an ‘evil eye’ [if you are stingy] your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can be slave to two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can’t be a slave to both G-d and money.” Emissary Sha’ul confirms this point in Colossians 3:5, defining greed as a form of idolatry. Being an assistant to a prophet was no small matter and it is a ending that Geichazi chose to forfeit such an honor. Proverbs 1:19 says, “So are the ways of all greedy for gain---it takes the lives of those who get it.”

Today, we may not necessarily be stricken with some wasting disease for the sins of unjust criticism, pride, or greed but we may suffer in the form of lost or withheld blessings, meagerness of soul (Psalm 106:15), or some other consequence. Let’s live above the temptations that the world has to offer and greatly value our relationship with G-d and our walk in .

References: The Complete Jewish Bible by David Stearn, copyright 1998, and an article on a website that I could not locate again

MRD