Audio Teaching

Notes

Redeemed from the Curse of Sin 

• Biblical leprosy = Lashan hara – evil speaking
• Redeemed from the curse (see. Deut. 28; Gal. 3; Isa. 53)
• It is Finished
  • What is finished?
    • Abraham’s Covenant is not finished; it is eternal (Gen. 12;1-3, 7; 13:15; 15:18-23;17:18; 26:2-5; 28:12-14; 35:10-12).
    • The Law is not finished; it is eternal (see New Covenant: Ezek. 36:24-28; Jer. 31:31-40; 32:36-33:26).
    • Jesus’ present work was finished (Lk. 4:18-19; Isa. 61:1-3). Notice what isn’t fulfilled in Isaiah’s sixty-first chapter and Joel chapter two.
      • He still had to go and preach to those of Noah’s day (1 Pt. 3:18-22)
      • The keys of death, Hell, and the grave (Eph. 4:8-10; Rev. 1:18)
      • Yeshua still has a second advent for His rule and reign.
    • The reign of sin is finished (Rom. 6-8; Deut. 30[key verses 6, 11-14).

Our Redemption, Past and Present

Lev. 14:1-9 ESV

“One of the idioms the prophets use to describe the redemptive process—and even the Messiah himself—is that of “sprouting”:

 “For as the earth sends forth its growth, and as a garden sprouts its seedlings, so will God cause righteousness and praise to sprout in the presence of all the nations.”

 “Behold, the days are coming, says God, when I will raise up a righteous sprout from David; a king will reign and prosper, and he will administer justice and righteousness in the land.”

In addition, the sages of the Talmud say that the Messiah’s epithet is “the Metzora of the House of Rabbi Yehudah the Prince,” citing the verse, “In truth, it was our illnesses that he bore and our pains that he carried, but we regarded him as a metzora, smitten by God and afflicted.”

The Talmud even records an episode in which the Messiah was seen in the guise of a metzora:

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi met Elijah the prophet standing at the entrance to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s cave. He asked Elijah, “When will the Messiah come?”

He replied, “Go and ask him himself.”

“Where is he sitting?”

“At the entrance to the city.”

“And by what sign will I be able recognize him?”

“He is sitting among the destitute people afflicted with tzara’at. But whereas the others first loosen all their bandages and then [after treating all their sores] retie them all, he unties and reties his [bandages] one at a time, thinking, ‘Perhaps I will be summoned [at any moment to reveal myself as the Messiah, and if so,] I must not be delayed [by having to re-bandage many sores].

We have seen why the Messiah, of all possible manifestations, assumes the garb of a metzora. But in this context, it is possible to interpret the names of the two parashiot that discuss tzara’at as referring to the process of redemption: Tazria, meaning “sow,” refers to the work we do to cause redemption to “sprout”; Metzora refers to the Messiah himself. Thus, the phrase Tazria-Metzora allegorically means “Sow the seeds of the messianic redemption.” – Kehot Chumash, Metzora Introduction, pg. 691, Kehot Publication Society.

• As Gentiles (Christians), our redemption begins with being saved from our sins. As a result of that salvation, we are grafted into Israel, which brings about all the other blessings of redemption.
• Elucidation from the Kehot Chumash
  • v. 7: “and he will thereby begin to purify him.”
  • v. 8: “he will thus be purified to an additional degree, although not yet completely.”
  • v. 9: “and thus he purified to an even greater degree, although still not yet completely.”
• Each Feast cycle is to take us to a higher level.
• Redemption is not a one-time thing but an ongoing process, which is what sanctification is.
  • 1 Thess. 4:3-8
  • Eph. 5:15-20

The Future Redemption

Haftara Portion: Mal. 3:1-4:5

• Will He find faith on the earth? (Lk. 8:18).
• Rev. 3:14-22
• Heb. 12
• Are you a tither and giver?
• Do you give Firstfruits?
• Is your heart turned to the Jewish people?
  • Isa. 2:2-3
  • Isa. 56:1-8