Shalom!

 
The parasha this week begins and ends with YHWH commanding His people to not profane His Holy Name. His character and His identity are set before us in order to honor all that He is and to give Him the preeminence in all things. In Shemot/Exodus 20, the first word of the Ten Commandments is "I am YHWH your Elohim...you shall have no other gods before me."
 
Vayikra/Leviticus 22:2 "Speak to Aharon and his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they do not profane My Holy Name by what they dedicate to Me: I am YHWH.
 
Vayikra/Leviticus 24:16 'And whoever blasphemes the Name of YHWH shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the Name of YHWH, he shall be put to death.
 

Our actions and behavior reflect on Him and affect His reputation before the world. If we act in a holy manner, as His children, His Name is set apart and made holy. If we act in a godless or wicked manner, His Name and reputation are defiled. Every choice we make in life will in someway or another reflect upon the God we serve. Our every interaction with other people will in one way or another say something about who we serve.

 
Are we treating His Name with the respect and honor that he deserves? In the broader sense, keeping His Name holy refers to obedience and uprightness of character. Torah sets forth the formula. Notice when we "keep the commandments", He "makes us holy"!
 
Vayikra/Leviticus 22:31 " Therefore you shall keep My commandments, and perform them: I am YHWH. 32 "You shall not profane My Holy Name, but I will be hallowed (be made holy) among the children of Israel. I am YHWH who sanctifies (makes holy) you
 
Yeshua said something similar about doing "good works" -
 
Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
 
Our "good works" are our obedience to His commands. Our obedience brings glory to our Father in Heaven. When we sin, we rob Him of the "glory" that He deserves. Notice what Yeshua taught us to pray in "The Lord's Prayer" -
 
Matthew 6:9 "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your Name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
 

The first and most important thing that we need to establish is that "Our Father" is the Creator and Elohim of "Heaven". As His children, do we owe Him our love and obedience? We go on to pray that His Name would be declared "holy". This happens through our lives and our conduct (Vayikra 22:31). At the end of the parasha this week, we see that a man is stoned to death for misusing the Name of the Elohim of Israel in his conduct.

 
In Vayikra 23, YHWH declares the special times He wishes to meet with His people. During these appointed feasts, He has decided to reveal His entire Messianic, prophetic program for the redemption of man and creation. In the Brit Chadasha, Rav Sha'ul (Paul) tells us that the substance of these times belongs to Messiah, meaning that in addition to the ancient meaning for honoring these days, there is yet more fulfillment to come.
 
Colossians 2:16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Messiah.
 
These verses do not say that we should not celebrate these dates, but rather the opposite. They say that we should not allow anyone to judge us in the way that we keep them. The shadow is cast by the real object and these shadows help us to have a deeper understanding of the true picture which is the redemptive work of the Messiah. Even when the true object which casts the shadow is present you cannot remove the shadow. These shadows are still pointing to something that is to come in the future, note they "are a shadow of things to come". So, when we celebrate these feasts, we rehearse and prepare for what is in the future.
 
Today YHWH is in the midst of the restoration of the holiness of His Name. Though many of His people remain in exile, He has a plan - a plan that includes revealing Himself as "YHWH, the Holy One in Israel"!
 
Ezekiel 39:7 "So I will make My Holy Name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My Holy Name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am YHWH, the Holy One in Israel.
 
May it be so and in our day!
 
Shabbat Shalom!
Ardelle