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		Always Being Ready     Acharei Mot/Kedoshim   (Lev 16:1 - 20:27)

Vayikra/Leviticus 20:24   I am the L-rd your G-d who has separated you from the peoples.

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Verses 24-26 of Vayikra chapter 20 form a little text block almost at the very end of parashat Kedoshim, "Holy People", that draws Acharei Mot and Kedoshim together around the idea of Israel being distinctly different from the other nations. Scholars have pointed out that the content of the verses presents a chiasm structure: ABBA for 24-25a-25b-26, each of which carries one instance of the verb HerbrewBodyText(בדל).

Used only in the Hifil and Nif'al stems - to separate, divide; to be separated, divided - the verb בדל only appears 42 times in Tanakh, with significant concentrations here and in the first Creation account in the first aliyah of B'resheet. Richard Elliott Friedman comments that in our text "G-d is distinguishing Israel from other nations just as G-d distinguishes light from darkness and distinguishes sea from dry land in Genesis 1. It is a matter of separating and making distinction among things, not a matter of hierarchies."

Stephen Sherwood points out that "there is a word play between verses 24 and 26 on the word בדל: The Name ...

HaShem: literally, Hebrew for 'The Name' - an allusion used to avoid pronouncing the Tetragrammaton, the so-called 'ineffable' name of G–d
HaShem has separated the Israelites from the peoples; the Israelites must separate the clean from the unclean."¹ Robert Alter puts it this way - "Israel has been set apart by G-d to be holy, to be different from other nations. Israel in its turn is enjoined to realise its distinctive character by relinquishing the indiscriminate consumption of all living things and setting apart the clean from the unclean"² - but that seems too tight a focus; it must be about about more than just dietary regulations. John Hartley suggests that "in the promised land Israel is to live differently than the people whom she is going to drive out, because G-d has set her apart to follow His decrees and laws,"³ but even that seems very small when compared with Rav Sha'ul's vision: "They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Messiah who is G-d over all, blessed forever. Amen" (Romans 9:4-5, ESV).

Let's take a closer look at the way that HaShem has chosen Israel and set her apart from the other nations. The first significant text comes from the moment Israel arrives at Mt. Sinai: "Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples. Indeed, all the earth is Mine, but you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Shemot 19:5-6, NJPS). Conditional, certainly, but a very clear distinction as Israel becomes a treasured possession among - the Hebrew text uses the preposition מִן, 'from' rather than בְּתוֹךְ, 'amongst' - all the other people groups. While all the nations are and will remain important to HaShem, Israel alone has the status of being a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Moshe confirms HaShem's position to the entry generation on the plains of Moab: "For you are a people consecrated to the L-RD your G-d: of all the peoples on earth the L-RD your G-d chose you to be His treasured people" (D'varim 7:6, NJPS). The two key words here - קָדוֹשׁ, the adjective "holy or consecrated", בָּחַר, the verb "to choose" - emphasise that Israel has been set apart from the other nations and chosen by HaShem for Himself.

HaShem has chosen Israel to be His portion or inheritance among the nations since the very beginning: "When the Most High gave nations their homes and set the divisions of man, He fixed the boundaries of peoples in relation to Israel's numbers. For the L-RD's portion is His people, Jacob His own allotment" (D'varim 32:8-9, NJPS). Israel is one of the determining factors in HaShem's allocation of the locations or national homelands of the nations. Balaam sees this almost as the first thing he says when hired to curse Israel by the king of Moab: "As I see them from the mountain tops, gaze on them from the heights, there is a people that dwells apart, not reckoned among the nations" (B'Midbar 23:9, NJPS). Israel dwells לְבָדָד, alone or in isolation, set apart from other nations, not יִתְחַשָׁב, thought of or considered to be among the nations. Even though the other nations fight and bicker over Israel's land, trying to take possession of it or exercise authority over it, HaShem has promised to take issue with them and restore His original allocation: "For lo! in those days and in that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will contend with them over My very own people, Israel, which they scattered among the nations. For they divided My land among themselves" (Joel 4:1-2, NJPS).

It seems clear that HaShem has chosen Israel and set her apart by bearing His name and being the repository for the Torah, His foundational instructions for life and living. Yet to Israel have been added those from the nations who are called in Messiah Yeshua to be a part of the commonwealth of Israel. Together with those of Israel who have a faith relationship and connection with G-d, HaShem is gathering His people from all the nations: "Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made" (Isaiah 43:5-7, ESV). Originally spoken to ancient Israel, that promise now includes everyone who calls on the name of Yeshua. This is declared by the Spirit speaking through Peter - "it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:21, ESV) - and by Rav Sha'ul, echoing the prophet Joel: "For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved'" (Romans 10:13, ESV). This means that Sha'ul can write to the congregations in Corinth as those who are "called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah" (1 Corinthians 1:2, ESV).

We can sense the tension between the two imperatives to remain separate from and to be involved with those around us. While Jeremiah rebuked the exiles in Babylon for their standoff-ish attitude towards their new neighbours: "Build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their fruit ... And seek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled you and pray to the L-RD in its behalf; for in its prosperity you shall prosper" (Jeremiah 29:5,7, NJPS), Isaiah urges them as they return, "Leave! Leave! Get out of there! Don't touch anything unclean! Get out from inside it, and be clean" (Isaiah 52:11, CJB). Rav Sha'ul will quote this verse to call for separation in marriage and in business from those who are not disciples of Yeshua: "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14, ESV). James seems to go even further: "Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with G-d? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of G-d" (James 4:4, ESV). Yet Yeshua spent much of His ministry years in the company of those His world considered to be sinners; He seemed to be a magnet for them: "the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Him" (Luke 15:1, ESV), so that "as Yeshua reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Yeshua and his disciples" (Matthew 9:10, ESV). So much so that Yeshua rebuked the chief priests and elders of the people because "the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of G-d before you" (21:31, ESV). How separate is that?

Just how separate should we be and when? How do we draw close to people in the ordinary ways of life, work and recreation - the contexts where we meet, talk, share and discuss such critical issues as child-care, the state of the economy, politics, last night's football game, whether smooth is better than crunchy peanut butter - if we are separate? It is impossible to build up trust and meaningful friendship at arms length; all we communicate is judgement and criticism, neither of which helps in showing the love and compassion that are to be the hallmarks of the good news of the kingdom of G-d and expecting people to be interested in becoming a part of it. It is significant that in the Great Commission, Yeshua told His disciples to "Go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). For the word translated 'go', Matthew's Greek text uses the verb poreu,omai, which although it is sometimes used to mean "go, proceed, travel" is also frequently used as "conduct oneself, live, walk". This suggests that Yeshua's original words to the disciples in Hebrew began with לְכוּ, the Qal mp imperative form of the root הלך, to go or walk, which is widely used to talk about the way you live: how you live out your life as well as where you live. And that implies connection rather than separation.

So the question for us today is are we always ready to be separate from the world and what does that mean? I think we should understand this through the lens of Rav Sha'ul's words: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Romans 12:2, ESV). We know that Yeshua prayed for the disciples because although they were not of the world, they were absolutely in the world. We cannot and should not try to escape from this world and live a life of total isolation, behind a brick wall; on the contrary, we must live with, have conversations with, contribute to community projects with, laugh and cry with, the many precious souls - all made, just like us, in the image of G-d - whom Yeshua is longing to include in His kingdom. But we must always show the values of the kingdom, demonstrate "the hope that is in us" (1 Peter 3:15), so that we stand out from the crowd in a way that will encourage questions and make others want to have what we have. It is a challenge to be separate and fully engaged at the same time, but it can be done by the Spirit working within us if we are ready to listen to His promptings and obey His nudgings. If the kingdom is to grow and branches to be pulled from the fire, we must always be ready.

1. - Stephen Sherwood, Berit Olam: Studies in Hebrew Narrative and Poetry - Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002), page 78.

2. - Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses, (New York, Norton, 2004), page 473.

3. - John E. Hartley, Leviticus, Word Biblical Commentary, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1992), page 341.

Further Study: D'varim 14:2; 1 Kings 8:52-53; John 17:15-19; 1 Peter 1:14

Application: Ask the Maker of Conversations to show you how to have your mind renewed and be separate while at the same time remaining engaged and being winsome for the kingdom in a way that will make you a magnet for people who are seeking the truth and know there must be more to life. Then go out there and start those conversations. Do you prefer smooth or crunchy?

Comment - 09:45 20Apr26 Bill Fourie: Israel is a distinct people,chosen,treasured and separate. There is a difference between Jew and Gentile. Believers In Messiah do not replace Israel,our roots. But we are thankful to have been included in the Abrahamic Covenant as co-heirs joint-heirs of salvation.

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© Jonathan Allen, 2026

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