Know Before Whom You Are Standing

Vayikra {16:1} HaShem spoke to Moshe (Moses), after the death of the two sons of Aharon (Aaron), when they drew near before HaShem, and died; {16:2} and HaShem said to Moshe, Speak to Aharon your brother, that he does not come at all times into the Kadosh (holy) place within the Parochet (Veil), before the Kapparet (covering) which is on the Aron (Ark); that he not die: for I will appear in the cloud on the Kapparet. {16:3} Herewith shall Aharon come into the Kadosh place: with a young bull for a sin-offering, and a ram for an olah (burnt) offering.

The circumstances of the death of Aharon's son had quite the impact! A whole series of mitzvot (commandments) and regulations followed that event, specifically to insure that no one ever entered into HaShem's presence inappropriately anymore. Thus as we read Parsha Achare Mot we find that it continues the theme of tahor (clean) and tamei (unclean), but relating it now to the Kohanim (Priests). Just as the ordinary Israelite had restricted and conditional access to the Tabernacle / Temple, the Kohanim were now being advised of their limits and the cautioned approach they needed to take before entering into HaShem's presence. So, not only did the average Israelite have to be in a state of tahor before entering into the Tabernacle / Temple, but the Kohanim also had to be in a state of tahor prior to coming to minister before HaShem. Thus, once again, as in the previous Parshot, we see in these verses the contrast between the holy and the profane, between a pure G-d and an impure humanity.

Entrance behind the Parochet was limited to the Kohen HaGadol (High Priest), and then only to once a year on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). Even then, the Kohen HaGadol could enter only after an elaborate ceremonial atonement procedure, a procedure that highlighted the inadequacy of the daily korbanot (offerings) to bring atonement for sin.

The sacrifices for Yom Kippur taking place outside the Kadosh place, with only the Kohen HaGadol and the drawn blood from the korban allowed into the Kadosh Kedoshim (Holy of Holies), perfectly pictures the atoning work of Mashiach Yeshua. HaShem was showing bnei Yisrael (the children of Israel) that true atonement had to take place behind the Parochet, not in the Outer court where all the korbanot were offered. The Kadosh Kedoshim, as we learned, was a picture of the Brit Chadasha (renewed covenant), it pointed to the time in the future when the substitutional blood of bulls and goats would no longer point to Mashiach because He became the more perfect kaporah (covering / atonement):

Ivrim (Hebrews) {9:13} For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh: {9:14} How much more shall the blood of Mashiach, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to G-d, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living G-d?

Tehillim (Psalms) {40:6} Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears have You opened: burnt offering and sin offering have You not required. {40.7} Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of Me, {40.8} I delight to do Your will, O My G-d: yes, Your Torah is within My heart.

I would also like us to look at another passage from this week's Parsha:

Vayikra {18:1} HaShem spoke to Moshe, saying, {18:2} Speak to bnei Yisrael (the children of Israel), and tell them, I am HaShem your G-d. {18:3} After the doings of the land of Mizrayim (Egypt), in which you lived, you shall not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, where I bring you, you shall not do; neither shall you walk in their statutes. {18:4} My chukim (judgements) shall you do, and my statutes shall you keep, to walk therein: I am HaShem your G-d. {18:5} You shall therefore keep my statutes, and my chukim; which if an ish (man) do, he shall live in them: I am HaShem.

In this and last week's Parshot, HaShem dealt with states of ritual purity and impurity, states which if not adhered to could lead to a person's physical death should they enter into the Tabernacle / Temple tamei. Now in the latter half of Parsha Acharei Mot, HaShem cautions bnei Yisrael regarding other death possibilities. However, unlike the laws of tahor and tamei, these precautions do not depend on the existence of a Tabernacle / Temple, they depend solely on the existence of G-d. HaShem makes that perfectly clear when He says not once but several times "I am HaShem your G-d," before and during the giving of His judgements and statutes. Therefore, these chukim and statutes need to be adhered to merely because G-d says so.

HaShem had been dealing with ritual purity as a prerequisite to coming into His presence, but here HaShem was making it very clear that these are not the only requirements of a holy and pure G-d to an unholy and impure humanity. And just in case anyone might think that they could avoid the Tabernacle / Temple and, therefore, live as they pleased apart from the Tabernacle / Temple community, HaShem presents in this Parsha His requirements which are not Tabernacle / Temple dependant. Contained herein are a series of laws that one might live by, and the only reason HaShem gives us for obeying them is "I am HaShem your G-d." Good enough reason, would you not agree?

Rabbi Jack "Yaacov" Farber is the spiritual leader of Congregation Melech Yisrael in Toronto, Canada.

Copyright 2005