לֵ֣ב טָ֭הוֹר בְּרָא־ לִ֣י Create in me a clean heart O God. ~ Psalm 51:10 ~

God is holy. He demands that His people be a holy people, a separated people.

In Lev. 10:9-10 it says: Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die--it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations-- and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean.*

God’s people are to be set apart, a pure people. The Hebrew word for pure is טָ֭הוֹר tahor. Job asked, Can man be pure (טָ֭הוֹר) before His maker? Job 4:17. Because of Yeshua, yes, man can be טָ֭הוֹר, pure, before God.

God set requirements before the Children of Israel. Do not touch a dead body; do not eat strange meats and foods. Many things were common sense. There was an order, an understanding between what was clean, what was pure and what was impure. If you participated in clean living, your lifestyle was considered pure. If you participated in unclean acts, your lifestyle was considered unclean and you had to atone for your disobedience. The penalty had to be paid. A sacrifice was made, atonement was paid. Even though one may have been unclean, one could be made clean.

In this 21st century, God still expects His people to be טָ֭הוֹר, pure before Him. We are to be morally pure in thought, word and deed. Is this so really hard to do? Is it so hard to turn the television channel? Is it so hard to not visit certain websites? If Yeshua turned on my computer and visited its history, would I cower in the corner for the unclean websites that I had visited?

This Hebrew word טָ֭הוֹר is special as it denoted the purity of metals but also the purity of God’s word, The words of the LORD are pure words, טָ֭הוֹר words, Ps. 12:10 tells us. Matthew 5:8 tells us that those pure in heart, לֵ֣ב טָ֭הוֹר, will see God. God cannot look on the unclean. He cannot fill up unclean vessels; He demands a clean vessel in order to do a pure work. Habakkuk 1:13 states that [God’s] eyes are too pure to approve evil, And [He] cannot look on wickedness with favor.

There have been times in my early walk with the LORD that I was powerless to overcome some bad habits, smoking cigarettes was one of my vices. I prayed for over one year that God would take away this habit. One night, the power of the LORD gave me the ability to put the tobacco down and never pick it up again. All glory goes to God. That is the greatest thing about our LORD. He knows that we are human and need His divine help and power. One cannot recover one’s virginity but one can recover one’s chastity, whether one is single or married.

Mention the words ‘heart surgeon’ and most people think of Dr. Michael DeBakey, the renowned Houston surgeon. But I contend that Yeshua Jesus is the Best Heart surgeon ever, because He tells us in Ezekiel 36:26 that [He] will give [us] a new heart and put a new spirit within [us]; and He will remove the heart of stone from [our] flesh and give [us] a heart of flesh. I want that kind of heart surgeon working on me!

Yaacov, also known as James, said in James 3:17, the wisdom from above is first pure, טָ֭הוֹר. I want the pure heart, the לֵ֣ב טָ֭הוֹר. I want the pure heart so I can see God as Matthew 5:8 says.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure טָ֭הוֹר, whatever is lovely,
whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

~ Philippians 4:8 ~

* God addressed this command to priests under the Law - editor.