Welcome to this week’s torah / bible study.  “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak [emor] to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:  A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean.’”  (Leviticus 21:1).  

Last week’s study “Kedoshim”, gave the laws concerning living a holy life, emphasizing its connection to loving our neighbour as ourselves.  In this week’s Torah reading continues the study of holiness, providing the laws regarding purity of the priests and the sanctity of time through the moadim (God’s appointed holy feasts and festivals).  God gives Moses instructions regarding rules of purity for the priests (כֹּהֲנִים, Kohanim), who are held to a stricter standard than the general population. 

Because the kohanim are set apart to serve Yahweh God by performing the daily and holy day offerings, additional laws of purity apply to them that do not apply to the general tribe of Levi or the Israelites as a whole.  Contact with a dead body makes a person ritually unfit for seven days. This is not a problem for the average person. It is not a sin to become ritually unfit, but it is a good deed to attend to the dead and escort them to burial. For priests, though, this presents a problem. A priest is supposed to be in a state of ritual fitness to be able to serve in the Temple. Moreover, he must be in a ritually fit state before he can eat the priestly portions of food and the sacrifices. For that reason, priests are required to maintain ritual purity. One way to do that is to avoid coming into contact with a corpse.  

As regards the set apart status of priests, for instance, they are not allowed to marry a divorced woman.  Also the priests are not to make themselves ceremonially unclean through contact with a person who had died, unless that person was a very close relative such as a father or mother, or son, or daughter.  The laws of sexual purity for the kohanim are so rigorous that a daughter of a priest (kohen) who committed sexual immorality was to be burned by fire!  The priests also have to carefully adhere to stringent laws of holiness; for example, a priest cannot marry a prostitute or a divorced woman.  The Kohen Gadol (High Priest), who had been anointed with the holy anointing oil, is compelled to even higher standards: he must marry only an Israelite virgin  “And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire”  (Leviticus 21:9).

“The woman he marries must be a virgin.  He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, so that he will not defile his offspring among his people.  I am the LORD, who makes him holy”  (Leviticus 21:13–15). 

The high priest could not even show traditional signs of mourning, such as allowing his hair to become unkempt (uncovering his head) or tearing his garments, not even for his mother or father.  Also, no kohen (priest) who was deformed, blemished, or defiled could enter the Holy of Holies.

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God.’”  (Leviticus 21:16–17).  

To be fit for serving at the altar, the priests needed to be as physically unblemished as the sacrifices they were offering.   Remember he had to make an offering to make himself clean before making he offering on behalf of the people.  The blind, the crippled, the disfigured, the maimed and the handicapped could not draw near to offer the LORD's offerings by fire. Such a priest was not disqualified from the priesthood. He still enjoyed all the privileges and rights of being a priest. He was able to participate in the services and eat the sacred offerings. He was not banned from the Temple courts. Yet his physical condition disqualified him from the altar services and from entering the Tabernacle proper. The requirement that a priest must be unblemished creates a connection between priest and sacrifice. Just as the sacrificial animals had to be unblemished to be accepted on the altar, so too the priest who brought them there had to be unblemished. 

The priests had to live according to these higher standards because they were set apart for the service of the Temple. They were God's representatives on earth. Remembering this helps explain why believers need to live at a higher standard than the rest of the world. We are a spiritual priesthood. We have a calling to represent God to those who do not know Him. 

God not only required the kohanim to be without defect, but also the offerings presented to Him were to be free of defect.  Furthermore, in order for the kohanim to partake in any of the contributions (terumot) given by the people as a source of support for them, they had to be in a state of ritual purity.  “The best of all the firstfruits and of all your special gifts will belong to the priests.  You are to give them the first portion of your ground meal so that a blessing may rest on your household”  (Ezekiel 44:30). 

The laws of holiness regarding the kohanim are strict and exacting because of the great responsibility of their position in serving God.  They are commanded to remain in a state of purity or holiness in order to offer the sacrifices in the Temple and not profane the name of God.  They were, in effect, God’s ambassadors, representing God’s holiness to the children of Israel, who were, in turn, to represent His holiness to the world. 

“They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God [Chillul HaShem].  Because they present the food offerings to the LORD, the food of their God, they are to be holy”  (Leviticus 21:6). "Do not profane My holy name, for I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites.  I am the LORD, who made you holy" (Leviticus 22:32). 

In Judaism, this is considered the most important mitzvah (commandment) of the 613 mitzvot (plural of mitzvah) in the entire Torah.  Our behaviour must exemplify our relationship with God.  In this way, we can be lights shining in the darkness.  “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house” (Matthew 5:15). 

While we are all His representatives, each of us has a unique role in God’s plan.  When we strive for greatness in whatever purpose God has given us in that Divine plan, and work on developing all of our God-given gifts and qualities, then we can bring honour to Him and light to the world. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”  (1 Peter 2:9). 

The kohanim and all of Israel, in fact, were not to do anything that would desecrate the Name of Yahweh, which is called ChillulHaShem.  This means they were not to commit any act or engage in any behaviour that would disgrace, shame, or dishonour God and His law, or discredit faith in Him, or even bring disrepute to those He chose to represent Him, the Creator to the universe.  Examples of ChillulHaShem are publicly desecrating the Sabbath, eating non-kosher food, stealing, and engaging in lashon hara (evil speaking).  The opposite concept to ChillulHaShem is Kiddush HaShem (sanctification of the Name of the LORD) any act that brings respect, honour, or glory to God.  Even when Israel turned from God, the kohanim were to continue serving Him in holiness. 

In the corresponding Prophetic portion of Scripture, Haftarah Emor, Ezekiel describes the Third Temple.   During the future Messianic reign on earth, the same exacting standards of holiness will be required, but only for certain kohanim, the descendants of Zadok, who was the high priest to King David and King Solomon.  Zadok kept God’s holy standards even when other priests and people did not:   “But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok [sons of righteousness], who kept the charge of My sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me.”  (Ezekiel 44:15).   The name Zadok comes from the Hebrew word tzadik, which means righteous. 

According to Ezekiel, in the Third Temple, the kohanim who are descended from Zadok, the sons of righteousness, will be the only kohanim to function in the holy order of the Temple in Jerusalem.  They will serve under Yeshua HaMashiach (the Messiah), the eternal High Priest, who is a king-priest of the order of MelkiTzedek (Melchizedek / King of Righteousness).  (Hebrews 7:1–3, 17). 

Through Him, each of us may come boldly to the Throne of grace to find mercy.  “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  (Hebrews 4:15–16). 

One of the main functions of the priest is to teach the people the difference between holy (kadosh) and common (chol) and between clean or pure (tahor) and unclean or impure (tameh).  “They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.”  (Ezekiel 44:23). 

Likewise, a major function of our spiritual leaders is to teach people how to live in purity and holiness according to God’s Torah rather than the culture of the day.  “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow Believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (James 3:1).  Why?  Teachers are leaders, and with that calling comes greater responsibility.  A teacher may have a wider circle of influence for good or for evil than the general population since they teach others not only by their words, but by example.  A teacher may be looked up to by his or her students; therefore, those who teach God’s Word are to live an exemplary life; a sobering challenge. 

Some servants of the Lord may be called to live by a stricter standard.  For example, the apostle Paul said that although all things are permissible for him, not all are helpful:   “All things are legitimate [permissible and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome).  All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life].”  (1 Corinthians 10:23). 

The truth is that as Believers in Yahshua, we are His ambassadors, royal family and priests.  We represent Him; therefore, each of us are held to a high standard of morality when interacting with the world and each other.  The Brit Chadashah (New Testament) reveals that, like priests, some of us will be judged by a stricter standard than others; for example, teachers of the Word of God.  As followers of Yahshua, how much more should our lives represent the God of Israel in the beauty of holiness!  “In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence”  (Ephesians 3:12). 

The Moadim: God’s Plan Revealed in His Appointed Feasts (Meeting Times).

“Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them:  These are My appointed festivals [moadim], the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies’”  (Leviticus 23:1–2). 

In addition to instructing the Kohanim (priests) on how to meet with and serve Him, God gave us (through the Israelites) instructions about observing the moadim (special Holy meeting times / convocations and festivals).  Only Yahweh can make and set a period as holy and these cannot be changed, substituted or other.   God’s people are to keep these times.  It is important to remember that the Lord declares that these appointed feasts are His (Lev 23:2).   They are not Jewish, only that they keep them and others do not.  Just like some food is called Chinese, Mexican etc because persons from those countries eat it; but it is just food.  They are His appointments in His Biblical calendar, setting aside these special times to meet with His people for the purpose of celebrating, remembering, and/or observing great spiritual events or truths. 

The Bible refers to the Tabernacle as the Ohel Mo'ed (אהל מעד), a term that our English Bibles translate as "Tent of Meeting." The word mo'ed can refer to an appointed time or place. The Tabernacle was God's appointed place to meet with man at His appointed times.  They were set up at creation in Genesis 1:14 before man was created; but Leviticus 23 presents a list of God's appointed times (mo'adim, מעדים).   They are the holy days which He appointed to meet with His people Israel.

The Master tells the story of how a certain king was giving a wedding feast for his son. He sent out his servants to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast. The servants had two critical pieces of information. They were to declare the appointed time and the appointed place of the banquet.   As God summoned Israel to appear before Him, He decreed an appointed place and appointed times. The appointed place was the Tabernacle (and in later years, the Temple in Jerusalem.) The appointed times are the biblical festivals. 

Since the destruction of the Temple, the appointed place has been removed, but the appointed times continue.  God explains that the appointed times are to be "a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places" (Leviticus 23:14). That means that they are never to be cancelled. They are never obsolete or done away with. They are to be celebrated and observed wherever we live.  The appointed times are part of the biblical calendar. The biblical calendar is a lunar calendar.   It is based on the phases of the moon as in Gen 1:14. The waxing and waning of the moon determines the day of the biblical month.  The tiny sliver of the new moon always appears on the first day of the month; the full moon indicates the middle of the month; the disappearance of the moon indicates the end of the month. 

In Leviticus 23 God declares certain days on the biblical calendar to be mo'adim, that is, "appointed times." They include the weekly Sabbath, the Feasts of Passover and Pentecost, Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths.   "The LORD's appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, My appointed times are these" (Leviticus 23:2). God does not refer to them as Jewish festivals. He refers to them as "my appointed times." They are God's holy days. Paul asks, "Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also" (Romans 3:29). The Bible never offered Gentile Christians any alternative festival days. To say that Gentile believers are not expected to keep God's appointed times is the same thing as saying that Gentile believers are not supposed to have any holy days or days of worship.   Neither the Gospels nor the Epistles grant the Gentile believers their own special festivals. 

In the days of the Apostles, both Jewish and Gentile believers observed God's appointed times together. They met in the synagogues and in the Temple on the Sabbath and festival days to celebrate and observe God's holy days. When Gentile Christianity left the cradle of Judaism, the Gentile Christians began to neglect the appointed times.  The Sabbath day was replaced with Sunday observance. The timing of Passover was changed to celebrate pagan Ishtar (Easter).  The other festivals fell into disuse or were also replaced as with Xmas.   Is this what God intended for believers?

It is true that the Apostles never commanded the Gentile believers to keep the appointed times, but neither did they tell them not to. They were silent on the matter because they were taught as part of the laws of Moses which the gentiles were taught (Acts 15:21).  In those days, the idea of not keeping the appointed times simply had not occurred to anyone. 

SHADOW OF COLOSSIANS 2:16-17.

The festivals are like a shadow cast by Messiah (Colossians 2:16–17). Each of God’s appointed times alludes to aspects of redemption and the revelation of the Messiah.  Thus  some are kept as memorials.  Almost all of the appointed times commemorate some act of redemption from Israel’s history.  For example, the Passover commemorates the exodus from Egypt.  At the same time, the biblical festivals create an eschatological blueprint. They lay out the pattern of redemption because they schedule out God’s appointed times for interacting with man. Each appointed time foreshadows one of the appointments on God’s master plan of redemption. In that regard, the LORD’s appointed times are also the appointed times of Messiah: “Times and epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority” (Acts 1:7). They represent the appointed time “of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Matthew 24:36).

The Messiah’s death and resurrection imbued all the rituals of Passover with new life and new meaning. The death of the lamb became a solemn reminder of the death of the Saviour.  The matzah of the seder meal became a reminder of the Master’s body as the Passover lamb. The cup of the seder became a reminder of His blood, the cup of the new testament. The bitter herbs became a reminder of their heartbreak on that fateful day.  The first day of the Omer became a reminder of the day they found the empty tomb. As they counted the days until Shavu’ot that year, they would have remembered the days that the risen Yahshua walked among them.  Ten days before Pentecost, the disciples must have remarked, “On this day, one year ago, He ascended from the top of the Mount of Olives.” Imagine gathering with the believers in the Temple on the second Shavu’ot after the ascension.  The disciples must have said, “Last year, only about 120 of us gathered together. This year we are thousands and thousands, all zealous for the Torah.” To those early believers, it must have been perfectly clear that the festivals foreshadow the Messiah.

The appointed times of YHWH are like annual rehearsals for the appointed times of redemption and blueprints for the work of Messiah. The spring festivals of Pesach, the Omer, and Shavu’ot all received a messianic fulfillment in the Master’s first coming.  The fall festivals of the Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Shemini Atzeret all point toward His second coming.  They are a “shadow of what is to come” (Colossians 2:17).   Even so, come quickly Master! 

The following are the festivals or moadim mentioned (see Lev 23):

Shabbat (Sabbath) on the seventh day;

Pesach (Passover and Unleaven Bread) for eight days beginning at sundown on the 14th day of the first month of Nissan;

Bikkurim (Firstfruits);

Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) fifty days after Pesach ends;

Rosh Hashanah (New Year) on the first day of the seventh month (Tishrei);

Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) on the 10th day of the seventh month; and

Sukkot (Tabernacles) for eight days beginning on the 15th day of the seventh month. 

God introduces these appointed meeting times with the weekly Shabbat.  A holy day reminding us that God is the Creator of heaven and earth.  It testifies to the fact that God is still actively involved with His creation and sustaining it.  That is the starting point for faith. 

Since the human race, through the Israelites example, are commanded to keep the Shabbat “in all your dwelling places (Leviticus 23:31),” the Shabbat forges a link between the Creator and every believer in Him household.  The other appointed times above are sometimes referred to as the Feasts of Yahweh.   God says they are His appointed times, His moadim. 

The festivals are a balance between feasting and fasting; for example, Sukkot is a time of joy and feasting in contrast with Yom Kippur which is a somber time of fasting and repentance.  “For everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven”  (Ecclesiastes 3:1).   

The Hebrew word for festival, chag, shares the same root with chug, which means circle.  This reminds us not only of the cycle of the Biblical calendar; but also the cyclical nature of life itself. 

Not only do the seasons cycle and return over and over again, but also times of sorrow may be turned to joy, tragedy to triumph and darkness to light.  These moadim were not merely meant to be remembrances of times past in relation to God’s actions; each one gives clues to God’s future plan of redemption for them and the world.  That is, each of these moadim or appointed feasts points to the Messiah in profoundly spiritual ways. 

A summary of the purpose of the memorials o these feasts is:

Jewish eschatology teaches that the fall festivals allude to the time to come. First comes the judgment on Rosh HaShanah when the court is convened, then the confessions of iniquity on Yom Kippur when the court issues its verdict, and after that, the rejoicing of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret.

Likewise, the time to come commences with a great day of judgment, corresponding to Rosh HaShanah.  After that, it is written, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness” (Ezekiel 36:25). And the LORD says, “I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant” (Jeremiah 50:20). These passages correspond to Yom Kippur. 

After that comes Sukkot when we dwell in booths for seven days. In this regard, the prophet Isaiah says, “There will be a sukkah to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain” (Isaiah 4:6). This is why it is called the season of rejoicing.  Finally, Shemini Atzeret concludes the festivals, corresponding to that day when the time of the nations will be finished and Israel will rejoice. 

The sound of Messiah’s shofar will announce His arrival, the inauguration of His kingdom, and His coronation. The world will repent and renounce its wickedness. He will bring a fresh revelation of God to the world, transcending the revelation at Sinai, and the Torah will go forth from Zion as it once did from Sinai.  The trumpet blast that heralds His arrival will be a warning to the wicked. He will rebuild the holy Temple in Jerusalem. He is the son who was bound like Isaac, and in his merit God will forgive Israel their sins. He will fill the world with the fear of the LORD, and all nations will stand in judgment before Him. He will gather the exiles of Israel, for He “will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other” (Matthew 24:31). Then “the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:52). 

We are privileged to see how Yahshua has either already fulfilled these feasts in His first appearance on earth or will fulfill them at His Second Coming.  Fulfill means to uphold not cancel.  Yahshua fulfilled the festivals of Pesach (the Passover sacrifice of a lamb on Nisan 14) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) with His final sacrificial/atoning death on Nisan 14 as the unblemished Lamb of God.  (Isaiah 53; John 1:36; Hebrews 9:11–14, 22–24). 

The Torah commanded the Israelites to bring the "sheaf of the first fruits" of the grain harvest to the Temple on the day after the Sabbath of Unleavened Bread. The first grain to ripen in the land of Israel is the barley crop. The harvest ritual of offering the first fruits of the barley harvest in the Temple is called the Day of the Omer. An omer (עמר) is a biblical unit of measure that indicates about one sheaf's worth of grain.  Year after year, the day of the first fruits of the barley reminds us of the resurrection of Messiah, the "first fruits of those who are asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20).  

The Torah commands us to count each of the intervening days. The forty-nine-day count-off is called the "counting of the omer." During the forty-nine days of the omer count, the wheat crop in Israel ripened. By the end of the omer count, the crop was ready for harvest, and the first fruits of the wheat crop were offered as a bread offering in the Temple at Pentecost.

The days of the counting of the omer are an important part of the cycle of sanctification for believers. In Judaism, the forty-nine days of the counting of the omer are traditionally regarded as a time of spiritually shining up the soul in anticipation of Pentecost. In Messianic Judaism, the forty-nine days are extra special because they include the anniversary of the forty days that the risen Messiah was among His disciples; they include the anniversary of His ascension, and they culminate with the anniversary of the day the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the twelve apostles in the upper room.  After comes the festival of Pentecost. It is called Pentecost because that is the Greek word for "fifty." Its Hebrew name is the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot, שבועות) because there are seven weeks of days between the beginning of Unleavened Bread and the festival of Pentecost.

According to Judaism, the day of Pentecost is the anniversary of the day God spoke the Commandments of the covenant from Mount Sinai (Ex 20 – 24:7), commonly called the ten commandments; but there was much more than 10. According to the book of Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles which enabled them to miraculously speak the languages of the visiting Jews from around the world and explain to them the wonderful works of God and His promised Messiah Yahshua.

Yahshuathen became our Bikkurim (Firstfruits) of the barley harvest held on when He resurrected on as the first of all who will rise from the dead on the Last Day.  (Psalm 16:8–11; Acts 2:24–28; 1 Corinthians 15:20–23). 

Shavuot (Pentecost or  50 days count) is a celebration of the giving of the Torah.  Count 50 days from the day of Passover NOT from the weekly Sabbath after Passover.  If do the latter you will always get the pagan Sun day worship.  Just like most other pagan days are on Sun day i.e. mothers and fathers day, Easter Sun day etc.  With God’s feast, none are always on the same day every year.  The wording of the English translations give impression counting should be from the day after the weekly Sabbath; but it is actually after the annual Sabbath.  That wsay both the criteria are met, 50 days and seven weekly Sabbaths.  On this same day (Sivan 6), Yahshua poured out His RuachHaKodesh (Holy Spirit) onto His chosen 11 apostles (12 minus Judas).  The Ruach wrote the Torah on their hearts, empowering the Believers to live holy lives  (Joel 2:28; Jeremiah 31:31–33; Acts 2). 

The Fall festivals of Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets or New Year) and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) will be fulfilled when the shofar blows and Yahshua returns for the second time to establish His reign on earth.   It will happen this way:  In this offering of Himself, Yahshua also fulfilled Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).  “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet [shofar]; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”  (1 Corinthians 15:52). 

“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness.”  (Psalm 30:11).  

Each of these God-appointed times contains lessons about the Messiah Yahshua.  What He has already accomplished, such as salvation and redemption, as well as what He is doing in our midst now, sanctification, and what is yet to come, resurrection. 

Although many feel that these moadim are not meant to be observed by non-Jewish followers of Yahshua, in the time of the apostles, Gentile believers in Yahshua as the Messiah celebrated them alongside Jewish Believers.   When the Gentile Church became increasingly alienated from its Hebraic roots, they adopted pagan (anti God) celebrations, such as Christmas, Easter, Mother’s and Father’s days.  All of which honour the host of heaven (planets and associated beings) or “mother earth”. 

Scripture definitely indicates, however, that both Gentile and Jew (foreign nations and that of Israel) will celebrate Sukkot together in Jerusalem in the time to come.  We do not have to wait until then to enjoy God’s appointed times.  We are commanded to keep them now in Exodus 23:14 and Lev 23.

Through observing these divine appointments today, we can come into a beautiful unity with all of God’s family as the commonwealth of Israel, the one new man.  Which though refers to Israel and Judah, can similarly be applied to Jew and Gentile united in Messiah.  We may also use these opportunities to grow in our relationship with the One who initiated them, drawing ever closer to Him and flourishing as the holy ambassadors of His Kingdom that we are called to be. 

James 1:1-18.  Some scriptures to note.

Jas 1:1  James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. [these were scattered among the Gentiles / other nations so, in brief, New Testament scripture was not to non Israelites; but mainly those scattered outside Jerusalem]

Jas 1:2  Mybrethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. [to love is to keep Yahweh’s commandmentsincluding His holy appointed times and Not change them or mix with keeping other times]

Jas 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: Jas 1:14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Jas 1:15  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 

Shalom and happy studying.