Category: Sacrifices

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.

0 Comments

THE FRUIT OF THE LIPS

3/17/2013

0 Comments

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!.

0 Comments

LET'S GET OUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT!

3/15/2013

0 Comments

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 Korbanot קורבנות, or 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 four years (2013). 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 Hashem, so become the man Hashem wants you to become and your wife will fall in love with you; she will fall in love with the Spirit of Hashem within you”. I think it works both ways. A man who loves Hashem will also fall in love with the Spirit of Hashem in his wife.

In the case of Israel's relationship with God, I believe that Hashem does not fail to do his part. 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 or at least not in the same venue, but distraction is. It is very easy nowadays to let our attention be stolen from Hashem by an over active social, professional, or even family and religious life. We allow ourselves to be stolen from Hashem and then we feel that Hashem is not enough. Could it be that the problem really is that we haven't invested enough in the elements of our relationship with him? Our eyes are somewhere else, on the things of the world instead of focused on the things he has for us. What kind of response do we get when we treat our spouses like they are second in our attention?

May we learn to return to Him; to say with the psalmist, "Light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death" (Ps. 13;3) and "My eyes are ever toward ADONAI, for he will pluck my feet out of the net (Ps.25;15).

0 Comments

THE HEAVENLY ADAM

3/14/2013

1 Comment

.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.

1 Comment

THE HEAVENLY ADAM

3/22/2012

0 Comments

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.

While reading much differently from its English processed translations, the Hebrew text of the second verse of the first chapter of the Book of Leviticus presents interesting messianic insights. I do not believe that this is due to some voluntary malefic action, but rather to a reading of the Hebrew with an already established theology.

Our usual translations of the verse read something to the effect of: “When any one of you brings an offering to the LORD … (Leviticus 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 an offering …” The word for ‘man’ is ‘adam’, the same as the name of the first man ‘Adam’. This did not pass the attention of Chassidic teacher Rabbi Schneur Zalman who in 1812 suggested a deeper meaning in the verse coming to the messianic conclusion of the existence of a ‘supernatural/spiritual’ ‘Adam’ who approaches God on the behalf of Israel. Based on the vision of Ezekiel in which he saw ‘a figure with the appearance of a ‘man’ or ‘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 first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven (1 Corinthians 15:47). Understanding that everything on earth was created after an heavenly pattern, we understand that Paul’s accounting of first and second refers only to the chronology of this ‘Adam’s’ earthly manifestations.

The Rabbi was right. Israel does have an ‘Adam’, who approaches God on our behalf, and who lives to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25 referring to Isaiah 53:12). He is our Burnt Offering in Hebrew called ‘olah’ or ‘ascension’, an image of a total submission and consumption in God and ascending to Him (Leviticus 1:3; Matthew 26:39; John 3:13-15). He is our Grain Offering (Leviticus 2:2; Matthew 26:26), our Peace Offering which is an image of communion and fellowship with God (Leviticus 3:1; John 14:27; Revelations 19:9). He also is our Sin Offering for involuntary sins (Leviticus 4:2; 2 Corinthians 5:21 (the word for sin in Hebrew or Greek also means: sin offering); Hebrews 9:28); and our Guilt Offering ((Leviticus 5:19; Isaiah 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 God through Him who is our Eternal Intercessory Offering in a spirit of submission and humility, in full knowledge of our sin and personal unworthiness.

0 Comments

THE SHIELD OF CONFIDENCE

3/20/2012

0 Comments

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 more worthy of a conversation between butchers than a spiritual manual on the concepts of communication with 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, God gave these important words as part of the main oracles of His manifestation on Mt Horeb. They are a substantial part of God's Word; how can so many Christians claim God's Word to be obsolete just because it seems 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 (Hebrews 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 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 (Matthew 5:17).

A closer look at the Hebrew language used in the text reveals that actually Leviticus is a lesson on approaching God with protocol, honor, and respect. It also teaches us the role of Yeshua in our lives. Even the Hebrew word for atonement; caphar' 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'. We need the protective shield of the Master Yeshua in order to approach God and this is what the Levitical offerings teach us in many levels. David actually called the Messiah: the shield of salvation.

Thanks be to Hashem. He has provided the shield/covering of the Lamb to cover our nakedness (Genesis 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 His covering, that you may approach the Father with all confidence with your requests.

0 Comments

PRINCIPLES BEHIND THE LEVITICAL OFFERINGS

3/9/2011

0 Comments

John 17:17
“Your word (Torah) is truth.”

Due to the present inexistence of the Temple Biblical texts on offerings may today seem irrelevant. They may feel like text pertaining to a distant people and past having very little to offer us today. The Law of God is perfect, pure and eternal (Psalms 19), so I would be careful about that train of thought.

Some may say that Yeshua initiated a new Temple-less era, but the Bible and other documents pertaining to His times tell us that for forty years after the resurrection of the Master, that is until the roman invasion of Jerusalem, for the most part the Jewish disciples of Messiah continued Temple attendance as a sect of Judaism. Can we learn something from these long descriptions in Leviticus? When compared with our social, moral and legal systems today, much indeed should be learned gleaning and learning from Temple and offering protocols.

Here are some examples. That a court of judges makes a mistake in judgment is understandable, so the Torah acknowledges that appointed judges can sometimes err and therefore cause the people to sin; for these a public admission through an offering is required (Leviticus 4:13). I am thinking of the court convened to condemn Yeshua. God provides for these judges to eventually confess and publicly acknowledge their error which will atone for the Jewish people of the day. We learn that God is also understanding of our financial pressures and makes provisions for cheaper offerings to be made (Leviticus 5:1-11); that thought God understands involuntary mistakes, they still require acknowledgment and retribution. A thief also is required to restore that which he had gotten deceitfully plus a fifth to the person he stole from. He is also supposed to make amends with God fro breaking His commands.

The process by which these things are done is also quite interesting. The person comes to the altar and confesses their sins to God, (not to the priest). He basically transfers his sins on the poor animal to be executed. Then, except for the bird offering, the offerer is the one who has to kill the animal, hear it die, get splattered with its fluids, and feel its life’s warm blood run through his hands. Along with having to pay for a good quality animal, one of the best of the flock, this represents a very good illustration of the horribleness and cost of disobedience and sin according to God which should provoke in us a healthy fear of the Lord.

This makes me wonder though: Christianity at large claims a theology that affirms they are no more sinners. As a result they invalidate the Torah proclaiming it obsolete. Then, as reality dawns of their sinful state, they realize that they are still in need of social structure, moral guidance, and a penal system, so they institute their own sense of law and righteousness. The question is: Why didn’t they keep God’s Laws in the first place?

0 Comments

HEAVENLY PROTOCOL

2/16/2011

0 Comments

John 14:6
“No one comes to the Father except through me”.

From New-Age type meditations to quantum physics, many books have been written on how to approach God. Why don’t people just read the Bible? In the Tabernacle, later to be the Temple, we are taught all the details concerning the protocol to observe when desiring an audience with the Almighty. Here is how it goes:

Our sinful nature prohibits us from approaching God. We only do it by proxy through the mediation of the blood of a kosher animal, so first we must bring an offering to the altar. The offering was not designed to atone for sin; it only served as an acknowledgement and a confession of sin (Hebrews 10:4; 9:13). It was the same before He was manifested about 2,000 years ago, as it is now: only the work of Messiah done at the foundation of the world cleans the conscience from sin (Hebrews 4:3; 9:14; 1 Peter 1:20). From Genesis to today, the formula never changed; we approach the Father through the sole mediating agency of the Son (John 14:6; Hebrews 4:14-16; Psalms 2:12).

After we have brought the animal and offered it, only the priest can go further into the precinct of the Tabernacle/Temple. To do so, he has to go through the laver and wash his hands and feet. He probably washed at home that morning, but these are ritual washings against ritual contamination for priests only. We remember how Yeshua did the same to His disciples on the day He died. The disciples had already washed their bodies as well as their hands before eating as was done in Jewish customs; all they needed now was to wash their feet which Messiah did for them that night. In essence, Yeshua was treating His disciples as priests, which fulfilled Messianic prophecies (Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9). Yeshua Himself is the laver wherewith we are clean to approach the Father (John 15:3).

Finally, the continual incense burning in front of the Ark showed the prayers offered unto God. When Zechariah came to the Temple, the angel who said, “Your petition has been heard”, appeared to him as he was offering the incense (Luke 1:13). Our prayers are brought before God and He answers each one of them; He will vindicate His people (Revelations 5:8; 8:3-4).

May we then, having laid our sin on the altar, trust in the righteousness of our High-Priest in Heaven Yeshua HaMashiach, and through Him have the confidence to draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

0 Comments

WHEN LIFE SWALLOWS DEATH!

THE FRUIT OF THE LIPS

LET'S GET OUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT!

THE HEAVENLY ADAM

THE HEAVENLY ADAM

THE SHIELD OF CONFIDENCE

PRINCIPLES BEHIND THE LEVITICAL OFFERINGS

HEAVENLY PROTOCOL

Thanks for thinking of us... even a tiny donation is a blessing to us...

If you would like to receive our free daily devotions, please leave us your email. Blessings to you!

Archives

Categories