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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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Ephesians 2:14
For he himself (Messiah) is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility. Everything about the Tabernacle was designed to mirror immortality. It is the reason why offerings were salted and why honey and leaven were forbidden on the altar. Resinous shittim wood also like cedar is resistant to corruption. On the third after the offering meat turns rancid, so after two days (on the third day) any meat from peace offerings was to be burnt. Anyone who partook of the meat of a peace offering on the third invalidated the offering and was regarded as cut off (Lev. 7:16—21). This brings us into the third day reoccurring theme of the Tanach. Rather than seeing corruption, on the third day meat from a peace offering put on incorruptibility through being burnt. The fire of the altar, a fire which originated from heaven, lifts the offering back to heaven in the form of smoke (Lev. 9:23-24). In the story of Samson, we see an example of the Angel of the Lord, rising back to heaven through the smoke of a burnt offering called in Hebrew the olah or that which rises (Judg. 13:20). The peace offering is the only one in which the offerer partakes. It is symbolic of communion and fellowship with Hashem through a meal. Hospitality was a big thing in the East and to invite someone to eat showed a great level of acceptance and relationship. In the same way eating with God shows he accepts us. Moses and seventy-three other people ate with Hashem on the mountain and the whole congregation of Messiah’s people will eat with him at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Exod. 24:11; Rev. 19:9). The Passover Lamb is a shadow of Messiah, a peace offering that people partake of. Paul often used the imagery of the peace offering to describe Messiah’s role in our lives (1 Cor. 10:18; Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:14; Col. 1:20). In the manner of a peace offering, the Master's body was not allowed to see corruption (Ps. 16:10; 49:9) but rose from the tomb on the third day. Hoseah prophecied on the resurrection of Israel’s great Diaspora (exile) in the following words, 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 (Hoseah 6:1-2). Seeing as with Hashem one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Pet. 3:8), the prophet prophesied of the resurrection of Israel on the third millennium of the present exile, third millennium in which we presently witness the resurrection of the Jewish state which contains a strong Messianic first fruit element of believers which brings it incorruptibility. In this day, in our day, the peace offering is finally being consumed. At the time appointed, at the sound of the great shofar of the Last Day, it will rise to him in immortality and find fellowship with Hashem. All those who partake of Messiah’s offering of peace are part of this everlasting promise. 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!. .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. 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. Hebrews 5:8
Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. There is an American expression: “The devil is into details”. It is funny that the enemy is given this attribute. The enemy doesn’t know anything. All does is copy God. He merely tries to be a counterfeit in order to deceive us. God is the One really into details; nothing is more evident in this week’s reading sections, one on Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu who perished for offering ‘unauthorized incense’, and the other on Uzzah who perished because of touching the Ark of God not being authorized to do so (Leviticus 10:1-2; 2 Samuel 6:6-7). These two stories are very similar; that is why they are read together. Their similarity lies in the lesson that they teach. Both stories happen at a time of spiritual ecstasy and jubilation. In the incident with Nadab and Abihu, it was the eighth day of the dedication. Fire had just come from heaven and the people saw the glory of Adonai. Can you imagine the jubilation and the spiritual ecstasy? We can easily picture the joy, the shouts, the dancing, the clapping of the hands (Leviticus 9:23-24). It was the same when David was bringing the Ark into Jerusalem; we are told of musicians, of dancing, of joy, and merry-ing (2 Samuel 6:5). In both cases tragedy strikes for what could be considered in our eyes, a small disobedience in protocol. These two events teach us a very important lesson, a lesson often forgotten and ignored by people of faith today. They teach us that religion without the parameters of Torah is unacceptable to God. God told us how to come to Him how to worship Him; how to honor Him, and He also told us how not to (Leviticus). Oh, but that goes against our natural instinct and desire for spontaneity. We won’t to be able to follow the ‘leadings of our own hearts’, only act in the obedience of commands, as that wouldn’t be ‘natural’. Really though, this is nothing more than pride acting out in the form of an inability to submit to instructions and wanting things our own way. We understand that we cannot approach a high earthly dignitary such as a King or a President without going through protocol hoops; if one just bursts through security without permission and unannounced he’ll surely be arrested. The difference is that in the case of an earthly dignitary, they try to protect the dignitary, in the the case of God, these rules are to protect us. We simply cannot approach God on our terms. It ist His privilege. But no; people always want to try to find new ways to approach Him. They even use ways borrowed from the pagans such as ecstatic speaking, or manifestations that are not of His Spirit.. The simplicity in which He told us to do things is not enough; we must tweak it and give it our own imprint. It is the pride of man which leads to destruction. May we learn to be in the details as He is in the details. Obedience is not a small thing: in obeying God we emulate the Master. Matthew 3:11
"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me … He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. The fire of the altar was to be kept burning continuously (Leviticus 6:12). It was to never be put out. Even when travelling the fire of the altar was to be kept low under a brass cover with coal still seething in order to use them to light a new fire at the time of the next offering. The whole idea was to preserve the original fire with which God lit the original first offering (Leviticus 9:23-24). That first fire was not of human origin. It came from the throne of God Himself and became the medium by which everything burnt by and on it transcended back to the heavenly realm. Without this fire, the altar is no more than a glorified barbecue pit and nothing burnt on it goes any higher than our atmosphere, much less transcends to the heavenly sphere. It is the meaning behind Yeshua’s mystic saying, No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven (John 3:13). This is also why the sons of Aaron were punished for bringing to the altar ‘strange fire’, a fire which did not originate from above. Homiletically speaking, this fire teaches us much. Faith in Messiah cannot be something originated from earthly personal emotions or charismatic meetings. It must be something kindled from the spiritual reality, from the spiritual fire which is from above. This is the whole difference between ‘living faith’ and ‘dead religion’. Our obedience to commandments may be all good and well but without being enflamed by faith in Messiah, it is nothing more than rote rituals, and since Messiah was created and revealed to His people from the beginning of the creation (Revelations 3:14; Romans 3:2), this truth is self-evident as of before Yeshua’s manifestation on earth. We can see it in the patriarchs that we know of such as Abraham whose faith was based on belief in the resurrection (Hebrews 11: 19), of David who in the Psalms incessantly speaks of Messiah, of Job (Job 19:25), and of a host of others. In essence spirituality not enflamed by a consuming faith in Messiah is similar to a, offering on a cold altar; and godly actions, even in obedience to Torah, consumed by any other elements than this consuming faith in Messiah becomes idolatry. Maybe this is the idea behind Yeshua’s rejection of many who will come to him in the end proclaiming all their good works for Him (Luke 13:26-27; Matthew 7:21-23); they offered strange fire (Leviticus 10:1-2). May our faith be more than an earthly emotional high originating from the mechanics of sounds and lights used in today’s pulpits. May our faith come from an all-consuming fire (yet safe and controlled like Moses’ burning bush) to challenge the powers that be, to deliver us from ‘Pharaoh’, and bring us even by night through to the Promised Land! Hebrews 7:25
He always lives to make intercession for them. Contrary to what is commonly assumed, the five offerings described in the beginning of the Book of Leviticus are not meant for sin atonement. While some of them portray acknowledgment and confession of sin, others are simply statements of thankfulness, gratefulness, praise, and dedication. The main atonement offering in the Levitical system is what is called the 'Tamid', the daily perpetual morning and evening offering (Leviticus 6:8-13). Like two book ends, the 'Tamid' opened the day's offerings, and closed it. These two offerings are the foundation of the two main prayer services in the Temple, and are still today the origins of synagogue services. When Luke in the Book of Acts mentions, And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes … (Acts 2:46), he says that the disciples attended these services based around a lamb offering. Peter and John are also mentioned going to the temple’s evening service (Acts 3:1). This teaches us that the disciples continued to attend Temple services and liturgies after Yeshua’s resurrection. The two lambs offered one in the morning and one in the evening provided a continual 'lamb' presence on the altar before God. Those who did not come to the Temple prayed in synchronicity in their homes facing Jerusalem. It is important now to notice that at His last Passover on earth, our Master was nailed to the cross at the very time the priests were offering the morning offering. Then all day while Yeshua was on the cross, throngs of locals and pilgrims offered their Passover lambs. The Mishnah records that at the end of the ordeal towards mid-afternoon, the High-priest who worked hard in the hot Jerusalem sun says, 'I thirst', and is offered a drink. He then exclaims, 'it is finished'. Our Master concurred these very words while on the cross then remitted His Spirit to His Father at the very time of the evening offering that closed the day's services (Mark 15:25,33,34). On that evening, as Yeshua was put in the tomb just before dusk, Jewish families put their striped and pieced unleavened breads in ovens. The Tamid is therefore a perfect picture of the text in the Letter sent to the Messianic believers of Jerusalem, Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25). Yeshua truly stands at the right hand of the Father always ready to intercede for us because, The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working (James 5:16). |
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