Some remarks from Derek Leman
Derek Leman’s book, Yeshua Our Atonement, provides an Hebraic analysis of the idea of atonement, quite a bit different than our usual Christian view. I thought you might find some of his comments interesting, enlightening and, perhaps, challenging.
In essence, the Babylonian ritual is about the danger of demons, the necessity of religion to protect the people from harm, and the power of superstition. In Israel, the ritual is about the place where God meets with the people, and keeping it free from all pollution of sin and death. p. 17
The way to approach life is not to fear evil, but to trust the One who will somehow – and no explanation is offered about how it will all work – redeem suffering and bring an end to sin and death. The purity system in Israel . . . is very much about sin and death. p. 18
. . . impurity is a different category than sin. People and things may be pure or impure (clean or unclean). A third category, things and people being holy, is entirely different. To be pure or clean is not necessarily to be holy. p. 19
[the mercy seat – the cover of the ark of the covenant – is the atoning place – the kapporet.] This is the place on which the high priest dashes blood for purgation, once a year (at Yom Kippur, the Day of Purgation/Atonement) and in time of ritual emergency. Interestingly, and few translations make this apparent, Paul calls Yeshua the ‘atoning place’ (Greek hilastairion, which is a translation of the Hebrew kapporet) in Romans 3:25. pp. 26-27
The atoning place on the Ark is the link between heaven and earth. p. 30
The danger of being near to God’s Presence is death. The fatal thing about us that will cause death is uncleanness (impurity). Impurity defiles (pollutes). The solution is to constantly ‘cleanse’ impurity (purify it). Atonement, then, is about being near God and dwelling with him. It is about our ability to survive near his Presence. p. 31
. . . being ‘clean’ or ‘unclean’ only relates to entering the Temple courts and participating in certain rituals near the divine Presence. p. 35
The message of God’s purity laws is simple: he is the God of life, not death. This theology has its roots in Genesis, where God declares the death penalty for human wrongdoing and disloyalty. Evil is man’s choice, not God’s. Thus, death is not part of the perfect world God intended and which he will one day bring to completion. p. 38
Death is a reality of human life. Yet the laws of clean and unclean reveal something: God does not want human death, real or symbolic, near his Temple. p. 39
The ultimate end of ritual purification is the complete elimination of death. The ritual purification procedures strongly hint at this. Yeshua himself saw that in Torah there is a thread of resurrection: ‘He is not the God of the dead but the God of he living!’ (Matthew 22:32, DHE). p. 42
Shalom. I was thrilled to see this today. I receive wonderful daily email teachings from Derek Lehman, a Messianic rabbi in Atlanta. Like you, Skip, Derek has also fed me with tremendous insight and wisdom. If anyone is interested in learning more, here’s a link to his blog: http://www.derekleman.com/musings/
By the way, Skip, I’ll be attending the Phoenix conference and am really excited about it!
Thank you for the link. I am always looking for worthy teachings to read and learn from. I went there and bookmarked it and read an article already!
Shalom sister.
Being that I am a nutrition educator, my focus is on using nutrition to prevent and reverse disease. With that being stated, eating unhealthily draws one closer to death. The 1st commandment in the Bible had to do with food. Yeshua’s first test had to do with food. From my experience in the nutrition field as it pertains to spiritual discipline, getting the fleshly appetite under control starts with food.
Like! And agree!
Hi Robin.
I was just at your site looking at your business. I am impressed and so in tune with your thoughts on nutrition. If I were in Waco, I would be looking for a job with you!
I struggle in the area of Torah concerning dietary restrictions. Mostly with eating pork. We raise our own and have always eaten our own. (very into local food ideas)
What are your thoughts here (on pork in particular)? You can contact me direct at dawnlaugh@frontier.com if you would rather.
Hi Dawn,
I’ve never been a pork eater. My mother’s ancestry on her father’s side was Jewish so it just wasn’t our tradition on her side. My father liked it but she avoided cooking it. I never liked it. Pork is not a healthy food. It is not an omnivor not an herbivore. Scientifically, we know, due to recent advanced technology, what humans are designed to eat and why. We are designed to eat like a chimp. That means loads of plant foods, especially green veggies, and on occasion supplemental animal foods. The small amount of animal food works for our design are herbivore mammals that consume a lot of Omega 3 rich grass or fish that consumes green algae or other fish that eat green algae and green sea plants. The pig is an omnivor scavenger. It catches many of the same diseases as humans and carries parrasites, ones that also infect humans. In the Torah it is clear that God instructs His people not to eat scavengers. There is some ancient Jewish tradition that says that prior to the flood man was doing some comingling of animals and humans. It has been said the pig is the result of this comingling. I don’t know if this is true but many of the pigs organs, including the cornea and arteries can be used for human transplant. Also, thyroid medicine made from pigs is well received by humans. The pig’s eye is so similar to man’s that even under magnification it is difficult for a doctor to tell the difference. Additionally, the pig is very intelligent. I’ve also read that pork resembles human flesh. That should be enough to turn you away from pork.
Remember, Yeshua sent the demons into the pigs, not any other animal. So, from what we’ve seen in Scripture demons can inhabit people and pigs. If you’ve got pigs, they make such nice pets, of course if you don’t have a boar and you’ve handled them. I had a pet pig once, they are good creatures.
I began reading this book last week and it is very interesting and very helpful in understanding the whole atonement reality, a topic I’ve always had many questions about. Not questions about belief, rather questions of attempting to understand all atonement consists of. I’ve read many explanations but have been left bewildered at times trying to comprehend it. Leman has done a great job in illustrating and explaining many truths surrounding this valuable event.
Derek Leman is a gifted wordsmith and talented clarifier of concepts.
Michael C, I completely agree with you about Derek Leman’s book. I was very excited when I heard he was going to publish a book on the subject of atonement and pre-ordered a copy. Like you, I had not ever really understood the concept. I wrote to R. Leman and told him I learned more from his relatively small book than I had in over 30 years in church and in my personal studies. I was so impressed with his book I bought several copies and gave them out as gifts to some of my friends. I plan to go back through the book and try to absorb more of what he said. I agree that he is gifted and has the ability to make difficult biblical concepts easier to understand. It’s the same reason I appreciate Skip’s work. I guess I’m a simple man and need to have some things presented in a simple way. I’m very thankful for both of them and their work.
[the mercy seat – the cover of the ark of the covenant – is the atoning place – the kapporet.] This is the place on which the high priest dashes blood for purgation, once a year (at Yom Kippur, the Day of Purgation/Atonement)
“”and in time of ritual emergency.””
I would like to hear some examples of what kind of emergency called the High Priest to the mercy seat besides Yom Kippur. I can only speculate and would prefer a real answer.
I would really value a series of Today’s Word teachings on what exactly IS: clean, unclean, pure, impure, holy, unholy.
In regard to some things, it’s quite apparent, but other times, it’s not so obvious. And, have any of the rules changed since Yeshua’s death?
“Rabbinic Judaism’s scholars, such as Maimonides, write that people who deny the divine authority of the Oral Torah are to be considered among the heretics.”
“However, at the same time Maimonides holds (Hilkhot Mamrim 3:3) that most of the Karaites and others who claim to deny the “oral teachings” are not to be held accountable for their errors in the law”
“Because the Karaites are led into error by feeble minded parents and are similar to a tinoq shenishbah (a captive baby), or to one who was forced.[44]”
Hi Skip,
I’m wondering if Derek Leman’s book, Yeshua Our Atonement, reflects a Karaite perspective?
A number of years ago you shared a paper written by a Karaite PhD that was similar in tone
And I questioned whether the writer had a PhD, based on his grasp of the topic and his writing style
Please consider the following point from his book above
“Death is a reality of human life. Yet the laws of clean and unclean reveal something: God does not want human death, real or symbolic, near his Temple.”
And the compare it to the List from the 613 Mitzvot (Commandments) in Judaism 101
Level: Advanced
Forbidden Sexual Relations
Not to indulge in familiarities with relatives, such as kissing, embracing, winking, skipping, which may lead to incest (Lev. 18:6) (CCN110).
Not to commit incest with one’s mother (Lev. 18:7) (CCN112). See Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children.
Not to commit sodomy with one’s father (Lev. 18:7) (CCN111).
Not to commit incest with one’s father’s wife (Lev. 18:8) (CCN113). See Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children.
Not to commit incest with one’s sister (Lev. 18:9) (CCN127). See Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children.
Not to commit incest with one’s father’s wife’s daughter (Lev. 18:11) (CCN128). See Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children.
Not to commit incest with one’s son’s daughter (Lev. 18:10) (CCN119) (Note: CC treats this and the next as one commandment; however, Rambam treats them as two). See Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children.
Not to commit incest with one’s daughter’s daughter (Lev. 18:10) (CCN119) (Note: CC treats this and the previous as one commandment; however, Rambam treats them as two). See Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children.
Not to commit incest with one’s daughter (this is not explicitly in the Torah but is inferred from other explicit commands that would include it) (CCN120). See Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children.
Not to commit incest with one’s fathers sister (Lev. 18:12) (CCN129). See Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children.
Not to commit incest with one’s mother’s sister (Lev. 18:13) (CCN130). See Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children.
Not to commit incest with one’s father’s brothers wife (Lev. 18:14) (CCN125). See Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children.
Not to commit sodomy with one’s father’s brother (Lev. 18:14) (CCN114).
Not to commit incest with one’s son’s wife (Lev. 18:15) (CCN115). See Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children.
Not to commit incest with one’s brother’s wife (Lev. 18:16) (CCN126). See Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children.
Not to commit incest with one’s wife’s daughter (Lev. 18:17) (CCN121). See Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children.
Not to commit incest with the daughter of one’s wife’s son (Lev. 18:17) (CCN122). See Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children.
Not to commit incest with the daughter of one’s wife’s daughter (Lev. 18:17) (CCN123). See Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children.
Not to commit incest with one’s wife’s sister (Lev. 18:18) (CCN131). See Prohibited Marriages and Illegitimate Children.
Not to have intercourse with a woman, in her menstrual period (Lev. 18:19) (CCN132).
Not to have intercourse with another man’s wife (Lev. 18:20) (CCN124).
Not to commit sodomy with a male (Lev. 18:22) (CCN116).
Not to have intercourse with a beast (Lev. 18:23) (CCN117).
That a woman shall not have intercourse with a beast (Lev. 18:23) (CCN118).
Not to castrate the male of any species; neither a man, nor a domestic or wild beast, nor a fowl (Lev. 22:24) (CCN143).
That a woman shall not have intercourse with a beast (Lev. 18:23)
Hmmm
Makes me think of the movie “A Few Good Men”
Written by Aaron Sorkin
Jessep: (Jack Nicholson) You want answers?
Kaffee (Tom Cruise): I think I’m entitled to them.
Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I want the truth!
Jessep: You can’t handle the truth!
How many of us can really handle the truth?
How many of us can look inside and see the reason we need Laws like Lev. 18:23?
To prevent the “Forbidden Sexual Relations” above
When I was 17 – 18, I was very attracted to my view of Hinduism; it was Peace and Love
I wanted nothing to do with the of the Heart of Darkness; I didn’t even want to believe in it
Because deep down it terrified me
So with the help of my beautiful young wife, I got on the right track, went to school
And started getting A’s
Until one day she didn’t come and I almost died
But after a few months of Red Mountain wine, I got back on track and went to school
I was fascinated with Freud and Sartre and Kafka and Claude Levi Strauss
But I knew nothing of Judaism
I could tell my favorite Professor liked Claude Levi Strauss a lot, but I couldn’t understand why
Anyone, let alone all primitive societies and some very famous French anthropologists
Would invest so much energy and intellectual capital in all these “incest taboos”
But eventually I came see, or rather understand, that these mental desires are part of our
Collective Unconscious
And in this sea of desire, the old yetzer hara is a very competitive swimmer