Over the last couple of days, we’ve learned a lot about the nature of HOLINESS.
I’m talking about knowledge that I can almost guarantee sets you apart from practically every believer who grew up in a Christian Church and a good majority of the pastors in existence.
Let’s have a quick recap of what you’ve learned.
-You’ve learned that HOLINESS and UNCLEANNESS can be transmitted from person to person, person to object (and vice versa), and from object to object.
-You’ve learned that only some people are authorized to acquire HOLINESS
-You’ve learned that some people are authorized to receive a greater measure of HOLINESS than others
-And perhaps most importantly, you’ve learned that if someone not authorized to receive HOLINESS acquires it or if someone only authorized to receive a certain measure of HOLINESS acquires more than he or she is permitted to receive, the consequences can be deadly fatal.
Teachings like this are very controversial in the gentile church.
They shouldn’t be controversial but they are.
Why?
They only answer I can think of is because the church has chosen to completely ignore this Torah we are studying.
As a result, in the church, the concept of HOLINESS has been greatly watered down, allegorized, spiritualized and made passive.
I can’t think of any other answer than this.
I mean it’s not like the Bible doesn’t give us sufficient detailed information such that we are unable to understand the nature and operation of HOLINESS.
It most surely does!
We’ve studied about it in Exodus, Leviticus and we are now encountering how holiness operates in full-blown, fire-breathing living color here in the Book of Numbers.
In terms of what God expects from us in terms of HOLINESS, the Bible is super direct and straightforward.
The problem is not understanding what the Bible says, the problem is whether or not we will accept what the Bible says.
Well, come to think of it, let me take that back.
Actually, to a certain degree, the problem IS understanding what the Bible says.
Because if you don’t sit down and systematically study the Bible armed with a good solid Jewish commentary or teacher at your side, you will NEVER really understand what it says.
And I would say that has been one of the biggest problems with the church over the past 2000 years.
In terms of Bible knowledge, the body of church believers remains stagnant at the elementary level.
I’ve attended quite a few Christian churches in my life, some for many years at a time, and I have never, and I mean NEVER have I learned the basic fundamentals of God’s HOLINESS protocol that we have absorbed in just over the past few days.
What happens when you go to a church?
You’re taught some elementary doctrines concerning the basics of God’s plan of Salvation, who “Jesus” is (the freaky God-man trinitarian doctrine is introduced) and then those same basic doctrines are rehashed over and over again ad infinitum ad nauseam.
It’s like repeating grade school over and over and over again well into your old age.
When this happens, your spiritual growth is seriously stunted.
This reminds of what one comedian said concerning why he quit going to church.
“I already heard all the stories. Three or four times. The dude hasn’t come back yet. You know. We’re just mulling over the same stuff here. I got it.”
I heard about a man in his 70’s, a former missionary actually, who after learning Torah, remarked that he learned more about who God is than at any time in his whole Christian life of attending church and Bible study classes.
We’ve learned a lot over the past couple of years.
However, in many ways we’re just getting started.
Think about your study of mathematics when you went to school.
In the beginning, the rules governing the relationship between numbers are pretty black and white and easy-to-understand.
But what happens when you get into algebra?
Things start getting a whole lot more complicated, don’t they?
And then what happens when you get into calculus?
At that point, those black and white fundamentals you thought were so easy to comprehend and that would never change really begin to blur.
The answers that you thought were so clear cut turn out not to be so apparent.
This is what happens when we progress from drinking milk to eating meat.
So again, don’t think that we’ve learned all the Scriptures have to say about HOLINESS.
Actually, HOLINESS is just one of the many attributes of God.
There are many other aspects of God as well such as…
…His JUSTICE
…His MERCY
…His FORGIVENESS
…His VENGEANCE…
…and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
And what makes things even more complicated is that in terms of His Attributes, God does NOT operate one-dimensionally.
In any given situation, He is NOT just expressing His attribute of JUSTICE for instance.
He will express His attribute of JUSTICE while simultaneously expressing His other attributes like the many moving parts of one smooth-operating machine.
However, since our minds are finite, the only way we can understand the many aspects of HASHEM is to examine each one individually.
And again, keep in mind, the New Testament asserts HOLINESS but doesn’t explain it.
To get a complete picture of the many colors and hues of the nature of HOLINESS and how it works, you must study the Torah.
The biggest problem we humans have with understanding HOLINESS is that it is NOT an intrinsic part of our nature or character.
However, it is intrinsic to God’s character.
I said this before and I’ll say it again.
Man cannot work his way to attain HOLINESS.
Man can only become HOLY when God approaches and endows us with His HOLINESS or to use a 2-cent seminary term, “imputes” His Holiness into us.
We must follow God’s Plan, not ours.
That was the mistake Korah, Datan, and Aviram made.
They wanted to follow their own plan in opposition to what God had already ordained.
As a result, their foolhardy actions caused them to acquire a measure of HOLINESS they had no business acquiring (remember God’s HOLINESS is so radioactively powerful that it will infect anybody who comes near to God), and they were destroyed.
Here we see clearly three attributes of God working simultaneously: His HOLINESS, His Justice and His Wrath.
At this stage, it was only the Priests who were authorized to safely and legitimately acquire God’s HOLINESS.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“I gave you milk, not solid food,
for you were not yet ready for it.
Indeed, you are still not ready.”
-1 Corinthians 3:2
“Study to show thyself approved unto God,
a workman that need not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.”
-2 Timothy 2:15
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN NUMBERS CHAPTER NINETEEN
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