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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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Romans 1:20
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. In Leviticus 15 we are instructed about the issues surrounding the women’s menstrual cycle ending with a water immersion (Leviticus 15:19-24). These are commonly referred to as the “laws of Niddah’. When read within the context of Western mentality, these passages often invoke feelings of misogynist archaism. Right away we must correct ourselves and define to our minds that when our culture differs from that of the Bible, it is not God that is ‘off’. We must observe the moon to find the festivals that speak of redemption. Because a woman’s body contains more water than that of man (one pint), women are uniquely tuned to the moon which affects tides on the earth. In places where people still practice natural childbirth, it is a common practice for hospitals to have more nurses on duty during the full moon because they expect more deliveries The moon is born preparing to give life (Levitical festivals) and after two weeks it is full (Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles come two weeks after the rebirthing of the moon, during the full moon). Then the moon wanes and prepares to die, only to be ‘born again’ after a few days. In the same manner each month a woman’s body prepares to give life; this preparation comes to fullness after two weeks and then gets ready to die as it sheds the lining of the uterus, only to start again the same process. Here is an explanation from Ariel and D’vorah Berkowitz in their book: ‘Torah Rediscovered’: In the Jewish community, the teachings found in Leviticus 15:19-24 are called niddah, which means that during her monthly menstruation a woman is declared to be “impure.” She remains in this state for a period of seven days, at the end of which she goes to the mikvah. (For those unfamiliar with the term, the mikvah is simply an immersion pool.) When she emerges, she is declared “pure.” What does this mean? Was she in sin? Did she do something wrong to be considered impure? How is it that simply passing through the mikvah made her pure again? There was no sin involved. God has called women to live a special teaching reminder of a crucial truth within the redeemed community, one that must be repeated each and every month. Here’s how the teaching picture works: As a new creation in Messiah, we are created to bring forth His life in how we live. Insofar as we do this, we are tahor, or pure (Torah teaching: that which is of life is pure). If we enter a time of walking in the flesh, then during that period we do not bring forth life. Not bringing forth life is death, which is impure, or tamei. When we realize we have been walking in the flesh and confess our sin, we come to the end of that impure period. All we need to do in order to walk in the place of life again is to know ourselves in the “Mikvah.(water immersion)” Messiah Himself is our Mikvah. In Him we are pure, able to let His life come forth through us again. All in all, In giving us the ‘Laws of Niddah’, the Torah elevates the women’s cycle from a mundane reality to the understanding of deep spiritual truths concerning life, death, and rebirth: the whole plan of redemption. May we glorify Him in all things as we are created to glorify Him! |
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