Category: Sacrifice

WHEN LIFE SWALLOWS DEATH!

3/22/2013

1 Corinthians 15:53
For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

Three days is such a repeated theme in the Torah. It is on the third day that Abraham and Isaac climbed the mountain (Gen. 22:4); Israel had to purify itself then God came in their sight on Mt. Horeb after three days(Exodus 19:16); Jonah was spewed out of the fish after three days (Jonah 1:17); Joshua crossed the Jordan as on dry land on the third day (Joshua 3:2,17), and the remainder of the flesh of any offering needed to be burned after three days (Leviticus 7:17).

The theme of the third day denotes of resurrection, of corruptibility putting on incorruptibility (1 Cor. 15:53). It is also on the third day that the Master rose (Matt. 16:21), that there was a wedding in Cana (John 2:1), and the two witnesses are raised up after three and half day (Rev. 11:11).

On the other hand, Yeshua waited four days to go to Lazarus (John 11:17). The Master wanted to wait that long because the third day is actually the time when unrefrigerated meat starts to decompose (John 11:39). The disciples hesitated to open the tomb not only because of the smell, but it represented a desecration and exposure to uncleanliness. Even in the Temple, meat from peace offerings was not allowed to remain on the altar more than three days; after that it had to be burned (Lev. 7:16—18). The Master waited till the fourth day so the people would know that Lazarus was truly dead and not just sleeping.

The three daysWHEN theme speaks to us of the most wonderful process and miracle in our redemption program: that of corruptibility putting on incorruptibility. The corruptible is transformed into an incorruptible state before it is allowed to decompose. This also represents the greatest promise Hashem made to his people. Through the prophet Hoseah came the following words for an apostate Israel who would soon face exile and deportation,

Come, let us return to ADONAI; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him (Hos. 6:1-2).

One day for God is 1,000 years. In the third millennia of exile, Israel is resurrected to its former Salomonic grandeur as when nations brought their glories to Jerusalem and came to learn from the wisest king in the world. We can see the beginning of it even now.

All these scriptural themes foreshadow our passing from mortality to immortality, from the corruptible to the incorruptible, from death to resurrection.

May we always live in the understanding of these things. No matter what life throws at us in what seems at times tsunamis of troubles, may we as Children of the Most-High be perfect (Matt. 5:48) and not have a morbid attitude towards the ending of our temporal passage in this dimension. May we always remember that the end of the vanity of our sad temporal life is fullness of eternal joy; that the end of death is life and that in due time, corruptibility puts on incorruptibility; death is swallowed up by life.

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THE FRUIT OF THE LIPS

3/17/2013

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Hebrews 13:15-16
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to Hashem, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

In the sixth chapter of Leviticus we discover the daily offering called the Tamid תמיד, meaning, the perpetual offering (Lev 6: 8—13). This twice daily offering is supposed to be perpetual before Adonai. It represents the intercessory lamb perpetually standing before the Father; the one killed in the morning when Yeshua was hanged on the tree, and the second killed in the afternoon when the Master remitted his spirit into the hands of the Father.

Even after the death and resurrection of the Master, the Jerusalem disciples as well as all these new Jewish believers from the nations them continued attending the twice daily service at the Temple (Acts 2:46). The theology that Yeshua had replaced all offerings never existed in the disciples mind and it was never an issue for them. This theology that was later fabricated by non-Jewish Christian apologists lingers until today.

When believers were eventually forbidden entrance to synagogues and Temple, (just as Yeshua had predicted would happen, thus revealing that believers would continue attendance (John 16:2)) they were very distraught. It was a religious disaster. The rest of the Jewish nation and the world were soon to meet the Nazarenes outside the Temple when in 70 C.E. all people were barred access to it as the Romans burned it to the ground.

Jewish people, believers and non-believers alike then turned their eyes to the sages who seemed to have anticipated the issue. A homiletic interpretation of a verse in the prophecies of Hoseah offered an answer to the crisis. The verse says, "Take with you words and return to ADONAI; say to him, 'Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips'" (Hos. 14:2). Jewish sages and religious leaders used this verse to teach the people that when they recite the order of the offerings (words), it is as if they offered them as bulls on the altar (b. meguilah 31a). Also the word bulls in Hebrew being spelled the same way as the word fruits gave birth to the idea of offerings made in such a way being called the fruits of the lips. Until this day, Synagogue services consist of the reciting of the offerings at the appropriate times.

This theme was actually endorsed by he who wrote the Book of Hebrews, the letter to the Messianic Jews of Israel when they barred from the Temple.. Referencing Hoseah, the epistle writer encourages the Jewish believers that while barred from Synagogue and Temple, they should offer to God sacrifices of prayer, praise, good deeds and sharing. He says, "Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name." Along with verbal offerings, they were also exhorted to do good deeds and to share, "Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God" (Heb. 13:15—16).

May we through our mouths and actions continually offer our offerings of prayer, praise, good deeds (obedience to the Commandments) and sharing, for these are pleasing to him!.

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THE HEAVENLY ADAM

3/14/2013

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.2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become
the righteousness of God.

Reading much differently from its English processed translations, the original Hebrew text of the second verse of the first chapter of the Book of Leviticus presents interesting messianic insights. I do not believe that the English misreading is due to any conspiratory voluntary malefic action, but rather to a reading with an already established theology. We must also realize that a translation always carries the bias of the translator; it is merely a commentary in another language. I heard it said one time that reading the Bible through a translation is like kissing a bride through a veil!

The usual translations of the verse read something to the effect of: “When any one of you brings an offering to ADONAI … (Lev. 1:2), but a more literal translation of the text would read, (my translation) “When a man from among you (you: 2nd person plural) desires to come near Me with n offering …” The word for ‘man’ is adam אדם, the same as the name of the first man Adam. This did not pass the attention of Chassidic teacher Rabbi Schneur Zalman. In 1812 The Rabbi suggested a deeper meaning in the verse; he came to the messianic conclusion of the existence of a supernatural/spiritual Adam who approaches Hashem on the behalf of Israel. Based on the vision of Ezekiel in which he saw ‘a figure with the appearance of an Adam, Jewish teachings sometime offer the idea of a heavenly Adam; it is to this spiritual Adam the Rabbi refers to.

This may sound far-fetched, but only until we read Paul teaching along the same lines in. The Apostle says, "The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven" (1 Cor. 15:47). Understanding that everything on earth was created after an heavenly pattern, we understand that Paul’s accounting of first and second does not refer to importance, but only to the chronology of this Adam’s earthly manifestations.

The Rabbi was right. Israel does have an Adam, who approaches Hashem on our behalf, and who "lives to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25 referring to Isaiah 53:12). He is our burnt offering in Hebrew called olah עולה or ‘he that ascends’, an image of a total submission and consumption in God and ascending to him (Lev. 1:3; Matt. 26:39; John 3:13-15). He is our grain offering (Lev. 2:2; Matt. 26:26); our peace offering which is an image of communion and fellowship with Hashem through a meal (Lev. 3:1; John 14:27; Rev. 19:9). He also is our sin offering for involuntary sins (Lev. 4:2; 2 Cor. 5:21 (the word for sin in Hebrew or Greek also means: sin offering); Heb. 9:28); and our guilt offering ((Lev. 5:19; Isa. 53: 10-11).

In studying the eternal offering ordinances in the Book of Leviticus, we learn about Yeshua’s eternal intercessory role in our lives. It is one and the same thing, and since He completes them (Matthew 5:17), if the offerings become obsolete as some teach, Yeshua also becomes obsolete, God forbid!

May we always be granted to confidently approach Hashem through him who is our eternal intercessory offering, in a spirit of submission and humility, in full knowledge of our sin, and personal unworthiness.

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ADONAI THE SHIELD

3/12/2013

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Hebrew 4:16
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

This week we are studying the gory details of the beginning of the Book of Leviticus concerning the Levitical offerings. These consist of an uncomfortable text seeming more worthy of a conversation between butchers than a spiritual manual on the concepts of approaching God. Yet, it may surprise many to know that at the age of five, Leviticus used to be the first book required of Jewish children to learn for their spiritual education.

Today, because there is no temple, the Book of Leviticus is 'tossed under the bus' of irrelevancy. Yet, in full knowledge of what will happen to the Temple, Hashem gave these important words as part of the main oracles of his manifestation on Mt Horeb; they are a substantial part of the Tanach תנך. How come so many people dare to can claim the words of Hashem irrelevant and obsolete just because they sometime seem so far removed from their current culture that they don't understand it?

In spite of Paul's statement that the Levitical offerings were never intended for salvation (Heb. 9:9), many people endorse the notion that the Levitical offerings were for the purpose of sin atonement and that therefore they are obsolete in these post Yeshua-death-and-resurrection days. If it is so, somehow Yeshua forgot to inform the disciples who lived with him for three years, as in the Book of Acts, they attend the twice daily worship times at the Temple, which consists of an animal offering (Acts 3:1). Also, when Paul came to Jerusalem, he paid the expenses for the animal offerings to break not only his own Nazarite vow, but that of four other Jewish believers in Yeshua (Acts 21). History books tell us that Jewish believers in Israel actually continued Temple attendance until it was destroyed. The sacrificial system was never an issue for them; they always understood that for the Jewish people, these were forever ordinances. Yeshua himself said that he did not come to abolish the Torah (that includes the sacrificial system of worship), but to complete it (Matt. 5:17).

A closer look at the Hebrew language used in the text reveals that actually Leviticus is a lesson on approaching God with the protocol, honor, and respect he deserves. It also teaches us the role of Yeshua in our lives. Even the Hebrew word for atonement; kaphar כפר reveals the nature of the offering as not being a ransom, or a price for sins, but a protective covering; a shield. God is holy and a consuming fire towards all that is unclean and impure. We need the protective shield of the Master Yeshua in order to approach Hashem and this is what the Levitical offerings teach us in many levels. David actually called the Messiah: the shield of salvation (Ps. 18:35)..

Thanks be to Hashem. He has provided us the shield/covering of the Lamb to cover our nakedness (Gen. 3:21) that we may approach Him confidently with our requests. Yeshua simply brought the final piece of the puzzle that activated the whole system: his innocent death as a righteous person.

May you and yours also all come under ihs covering, that you may approach the Father with all confidence with your requests.

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THE SLEEP OF DEATH

3/23/2012

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Luke 22:46
"Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation."

The first chapters of the Book of Leviticus teach us about the importance of offerings as means of approaching God. In the forty-third chapter of Isaiah, God complains that Israel has become weary of Him; that His people give their attention to idols of metal, stone and wood, and that when it come times to serve Him, they are not available. They are like a spouse who has become bored in their relationship with their lover.

The Sages of Israel put it this way:
A man stands engaged in his business transactions all day long without growing weary, but when it is time to pray to Me, then he is too weary.
A man stands engaged in his business transactions all day long without getting weary, but if his friend says to him, “come and pray”, he replies that he is not able to do so.
A man will sit all day long without getting tired, but as soon as he gets up to say prayers he feels tired.
A man will sit all day long without growing drowsy, but as soon as he sits down to study he feels drowsy. (Lamentations Rabbah chapt 10; Ester Rabbah 4:8).

I am a married man of thirty two years. My wife and I have raised 6 children. One thing we have learned is that it takes work to keep a marriage relationship alive and interesting. One of the best marriage advice I ever received is, “Your wife loves God, so become the man God wants you to become and your wife will fall in love with you; she will fall in love with the Spirit of God within you”. I think it works both ways. A man who loves God will also fall in love with the Spirit of God in his wife.

In the case of Israel and God, I think that God does not fail to keep things exciting for us. The problem was that Israel got its eyes off Adonai and distracted by the false glitter of idols.

Today idolatry is not such a problem, but distraction is. If we feel that God is not enough, maybe we do not invest ourselves enough in the elements of our relationship with Him. Our eyes are somewhere else, on the world, instead of focused on the things He has for us.

May we learn to return to Him; to say with the psalmist, light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death (Psalms 13:3); My eyes are ever toward the LORD, for he will pluck my feet out of the net (Psalms_25:15).

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SERVE GOD ... IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH.

8/18/2011

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John 4:23
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.

Words are so important. Much of our theology seems to be lost in translation. Call it nit-picking if you may, but the exact meaning of words used to describe our service to God in Hebrew should be reflected in our understanding of the Torah, otherwise, we might be led into error. Sad to say though, translations usually reflect the cultural and ethical understanding of the translator, that is why a preliminary knowledge of Hebrew is essential for biblical understanding.

Words describe feelings but they also describe tasks we must do. If as manager of a company I give a man some instructions, I expect him to do exactly what I ask. If he disobeys because to him the words I speak have a different meaning, we are going to have problems. We can imagine what happened at the tower of Babel work site when Adonai came to confuse their languages.

English has the word ‘worship’. It is a good word but it is a very subjective. It fails to represent a specific action. It can mean anything from the act of singing and praising to charitable giving. In Hebrew there are words for, ‘to give’; ‘to thank’; ‘ to sing’; to pray; ‘to praise’ or to shine something; to ‘magnify’ or to make something bigger in our eyes; ‘to serve’ which means to practice any of the Torah commands; ‘to cleave’ meaning to be glued to something or someone. The one translated as worship is: ‘shacha’, which is to prostrate.

To serve (Deuteronomy 10:20) is the word ‘to work’. To serve God means to do the commandments and since many of the commandments are Temple related, Jewish sages have concluded that the act of praising prayer takes the place of temple offerings thus we are taught about the ‘sacrifice of praise’, ‘the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name ‘(Hebrews 13:15).

Moses told the people to ‘fear the LORD your God, he said, You shall serve him and hold fast (cleave) to him (Deuteronomy 10:20). Yeshua gave further instructions on this commandment and said, the hour is coming … when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth (John 4:23). This little vocabulary lesson may give extra meaning and sense to Yeshua’s words that can now be understood as ‘the hour is coming when the true ones who obey His commandments will prostrate in spirit and in truth. This statement follows Yeshua telling the Samaritan woman that Samaritans didn’t know what they were doing cause salvation was of the Jews (John 4:22).Yeshua was not saying, as it is usually taught, that Temple worship would be over (how could that be since Ezekiel speaks of a third temple?) but He was prophesying about the soon coming time of Diaspora when all those who worship Adonai would do it using prayers from the heart or the ‘sacrifice of praise’.

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THE CORBAN

3/6/2011

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Hebrews 4:14,16
Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Yeshua the Son of God, … Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Exodus ends on the great Biblical paradox: God is to live within us but due to the sinful nature we contracted in Eden, He can’t! He must therefore ‘tweak the system’ so to speak, in order to make it happen.

In the first verses in the Book of Leviticus, the Almighty says, “The man who desires to approach Me needs to bring Me a ‘token of approaching’ from his flocks or from his herds” (Leviticus 1:2: Literal translation by me). It is unfortunate that for ‘token of approaching’ most English texts use the word ‘sacrifice’, as it does not convey the idea meant in the Hebrew text. The Hebrew word used here is ‘Corban’, a Hebrew word found non-translated in the text of the Gospel of Mark (Mark 7:11). What is a ‘Corban’?

The Torah teaches that life is in the blood, For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement (covering) for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement (covering) by the life (Leviticus 17:11), so the blood of a biblically clean animal is brought forward instead of ours which is corrupted by sin. The Hebrew word ‘Corban’ is actually a derivative from the verb ‘to approach’, making the object brought forward to the altar not a gift to show virtue nor a bribe to gain brownie points with God, but a token that helps us come near to God by proxy.

It seems that the principles of approaching God have remained the same from the times of the establishment of the sacrificial services until now. We only approach the Almighty God Creator of Heaven and earth by proxy, through the agency of a clean creation. In the days of the Tabernacle/Temple it was through the agency of a clean animal, now it is through the agency of a sinless human: Yeshua. The Torah is truly a tutor which teaches us this principle (Galatians 3:24). In a sense this confirms the idea that, I am the LORD, I change not (Malachi 3:6).

May we all grow close to our ‘Agent’, Yeshua HaMashiach, that He may confess us to His Father.

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WHEN LIFE SWALLOWS DEATH!

THE FRUIT OF THE LIPS

THE HEAVENLY ADAM

ADONAI THE SHIELD

THE SLEEP OF DEATH

SERVE GOD ... IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH.

THE CORBAN

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