Acharei Mot, After the Death
Vayiqra (Leviticus) 16:1 – 18:30
Ezekiel 22:1-19
Romans 3:19-28; 9:30 – 10:13 Galatians 3:10-14
The Torah forbids the uncovering of nakedness outside of the undefiled marriage bed. Yet where in the world do people uncover nakedness more than any other?
- 43% of all internet users view pornographic material online
- 75% of people “accidentally” view pornographic site(s)
Other shocking statistics on the online pornography epidemic can be found in the article below:
Internet Porn epidemic: By the Numbers
Believers engaged in the world battle by fending off the enemy’s flood of images enticing them to uncover nakedness. Starting with the instructions on holiness in the Torah, what does our Father in Heaven have to say about how His children can overcome sexual sin?
The Covering in Yom Kippur
Before YHWH commands His people to ‘not uncover nakedness’ in this Torah portion, why does YHWH give instructions to the priests for the Day of Atonements, Yom Kippur?
Aaron’s two sons were supposed to succeed him as priests but were now in the grave as a result of drawing near to Elohim with strange fire. As a father, Aaron may have wondered how anyone in Israel could draw near to Elohim – so qadosh, so set-apart, so just and Almighty. Our Father in Heaven provided the solution – atonement, His covering for the whole house of Israel, removing their sins. How do we understand how He covers His people and what His holy covering is to apply to our souls?
Covering for Nakedness
Was Adam’s body covered in his perfect, sinless state as a son of Elohim? If so, by what? Adam was created in the image of Elohim (Genesis 1:27). What was he covered with?
How may Master Yeshua reveal the mystery of Adam’s original covering?
When Yeshua is seen in His glory, we see Him clothed in blazing white light.
In the ‘Transfiguration’ (Matthew 17), Yeshua was suddenly covered in glory, the same Shekinah glory recorded in the Torah:
“His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. . . a bright cloud overshadowed them.” Matthew 17:2
In Acts 1:9, the disciples saw Yeshua ascending into the Heavens in the glory cloud.
The writer of the Hebrews uses similar terminology, applied to Yeshua the Messiah:
Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person. Hebrews 1:3
Paul often referred to the community of believers in Yeshua as ‘the body of Messiah’ (Romans 12:5, 1 Corinthians 12:12,27; Ephesians 3:6; 4:12; 5:23)
Therefore, if we are the body of Messiah, will we not be clothed in the brightness of His glory when transformed:
‘in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye’? 1 Corinthians 15:52
In a vision, John saw ‘the bride, the wife of the Lamb ‘having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone…’ Revelation 21:9,11 The Bride of Messiah will be clothed in the glorious, holy Light of the beautiful and majestic, Messiah Yeshua!
Will this not be the fulfillment of John the Baptist’s prophecy of Yeshua immersing and covering His people? ‘He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.’ Matthew 3:11 Where there is fire, there is light. To be clothed with the holy fire of the Holy Spirit is to be clothed with the blazing white Light, the glory of the Messiah Who covers us.
The Need to Cover Nakedness
That’s ‘the sweet bye and bye’; but let’s go back to the nasty now and now – back to reality in a fallen world and the fallen sin nature of man. None of us are walking around quite yet clothed in brilliance and the white light of holy fire. How are we to be covered?
After falling into sin by eating of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve saw something about themselves they hadn’t seen before. They saw their naked, uncovered flesh and were ashamed. Ever since then, we have a problem with nakedness needing to be covered.
Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Genesis 3:7
Adam and Eve lost their holy covering of brilliant Light, the glory of God in their pure, sinless state. After all:
‘Elohim created man in His own image, in the image of Elohim He created him.’ Gen 1:27.
Elohim is a Consuming Fire (Deuteronomy 4:24).
What did YHWH Elohim do to cover the revealed shameful nakedness of Adam and Eve?
YHWH Elohim made garments of animal skins for Adam and for his wife and clothed them. Genesis 3:21
YHWH slayed animals using their skins to cover them. Fig leaves were not doing the job. Our attempts to cover our nakedness must be submitted to our Father in Heaven for Him to clothe us in righteousness. Only the covering He provides is acceptable to Him.
Atonement Covering on Yom Kippur
In Leviticus Chapter 17, we learn about the proper handling of blood when slaughtering and offering animals. When the sons of Israel brought sacrificial animals to the priest, the high priest sprinkled blood upon the altar and on the curtains entering the Tabernacle.
Not only did our Kohen Gadol, Yeshua, sprinkle His precious, innocent blood upon the Mercyseat, but He perpetually sprinkled His blood upon the altar of our hearts and upon the doorway to believing souls. The blood of Messiah serves as a complete covering, an atonement for all sins affecting the inner conscience. His blood covers the gateways to believers’ souls; to protect us when defiling, sinful thoughts come our way. He covers the on-guard believer to keep the temptations of the adversary from entering the soul. The blood of Yeshua is forever there to cleanse us of all unrighteousness, including all sexual sin.
Abba Emphasizes: Do Not Uncover Nakedness!
Our Heavenly Father instructed us on the vital need and the great value of coverings when He repeated the prohibition to ‘uncover … nakedness’ a whopping fourteen times in Leviticus Chapter 18. Why did He get so detailed about such a sensitive subject?
Because He knew that parents would seldom teach their children this. Most parents, like me when I raised a child, rarely if ever make it perfectly clear to their children to never ‘uncover … nakedness,’ outside of the set-apart, holy state of matrimony.
But Abba is emphatic about not uncovering nakedness! Isn’t the silence of parents and teachers a reason why adultery, pornography, and sexual immorality are so rampant in the church; and if we are honest, a problem in the Hebrew Roots community as well?
The first Book of the Scriptures and the first Torah portion that Torah-observant Jews teach their children is this portion – Acharei Mot. Jewish parents teaching their children to never ‘uncover … nakedness,’ is a key to success in strong family units in the Jewish communities and to their productive lives. Do you not agree?
Which of the following sayings do you think is of God, and which are not?
- Parents, start teaching your children the Book of Leviticus, starting with Acherei Mot. Teach them to abstain from uncovering nakedness, and dietary restrictions and to not commit idolatry (the basis for the council of Jerusalem’s decision in Acts 15:20).
- Do not teach children out of the Book of Leviticus. Christian pastors say, “Preach out of any book, just do not preach out of the Book of Leviticus.”
Paul wrote that the Torah is a tutor, a schoolmaster, a custodian that leads us to the Messiah. If you want to lead your child to the Messiah, start by teaching them Acherei Mot. Then they’ll see their need for a Savior to cover and free them from shameful sins.
Therefore the Torah has become our tutor (custodian, guardian) to lead us to the Messiah, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. Galatians 3:24-25
Just maybe we wouldn’t have as many problems with porn addictions and sexual immorality among believers in the Messiah if we would go by a good old Jewish saying to teach children at a young age to not uncover nakedness. Just then maybe divorce rates wouldn’t end up as high in the church as they are out in the world.
Young kids like to specialize in grossology – the study of all things gross. There’s a lot of gross stuff in the Book of Leviticus. Kids can relate to the book better than sophisticated adults can. Children need to be taught that uncovering nakedness is gross, disgusting, and unacceptable. Teach them pornography and all smut is filthy. If we don’t, the world will teach them that uncovering nakedness is glamorous, cool, and widely acceptable.
Paul asked a question I’ve often asked, but rarely do I get an answer to: What advantage has the Jew? Why won’t the Joes among us answer that question?
I believe it would benefit us if we would not dismiss all Jewish sayings and all Jewish customs as “leaven of the Pharisees.” As we do with Christian theology, we need to have discernment on what is truly grounded in the Word of God, and what is not.
Of course, we need to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. That leaven is among all faiths and in all religions, and anyone in a leadership position has to come to terms with it. My point is that we shouldn’t immediately think about ‘those Jews,’ when we first hear that warning by Yeshua. The leaven of the Pharisees is much closer to home than that.
Messiah's Covering by His First Covering
For those who have shamefully sinned and ‘uncovered … nakedness,’ there is cleansing for the soul and atonement – a covering by the One Who was stripped of His garments and hung beaten and bloody upon the cross. Our Messiah’s naked body was covered in His own blood for the sake of all who would turn to Him for the covering for sin that we all inherited from Adam and Eve. When they committed the first sin, Adam and Eve realized that they were naked and were ashamed of themselves. Immediately YHWH slaughtered an animal and covered them with the hide – a type of the slain Lamb of Elohim, covering us and taking away our sin and the shame of sinful nakedness.
And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Isaiah 53:2-3
No Madonna – the naked body of the Messiah was not sexy! It was not attractive, certainly not sexually enticing. On the cross, Yeshua displayed for us the true ugliness of smut and sexual sin. Yet He bore the curse of adultery in His body for our sakes.
Oh, what the Messiah has done out of love for us! The passion of His heart burns bright for His Bride! Yeshua longs for the day when Abba tells the Son to go rapture His Bride, who has made herself ready, and to bring her home once and for all.
Yeshua is coming for a holy Bride whose garments are without spot or wrinkle, the robe of righteousness provided by the lover of her soul, her Messiah.
Covered by Yeshua Ha’Mashiyach,
David