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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.
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Matthew 5:9
"Blessed are the peacemakers” As Aaron is anointed High-priest, he became a foreshadow of Messiah. The one time anointing of Aaron is remembered in Psalms 133 in the following words, Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there Adonai has commanded the blessing, life forevermore (Psalms 133:1-3). Why did David compare Aaron’s anointing to peace and unity? We have learned before of the little scheme Aaron used to get people at odds with each other back in fellowship. Jewish sages taught that we should emulate Aaron in our efforts to bring peace within our families and communities. We all search for peace and unity but seem to be plagued with division and conflicts. Maybe we have a wrong idea of what peace and unity are. Peace and unity does not mean 'absence of conflict' and uniformity. Debates from differences of opinions are healthy. They keep us intellectually alive and sharp while seeking for better answers. Also, as humans, we are naturally divided into cultural groups and thought patterns. Who said that we were all supposed to be uniformed zombies all thinking the same thing? Hashem made us human beings with free will, not preprogrammed robots. What creates our inability to be together is not the way Hashem made us, but the way we react to those that are different from us. We generally fear that which we do not understand and do not have the control over, and that is what causes the problem. We all believe in unity but because of our fear mixed with intolerance, we want that unity to orbit around us. The Master had around Him twelve men coming from diverse walks of life, culture, and religious affiliation from Israel, and He taught them to love, accept, understand each other, so they could work together. As a result, they taught about the God of Israel to the whole world. Let us therefore learn not to concentrate on what divides us but on what unites us; not on what we dislike but on what we appreciate about each other; not to merely see each other, but see Yeshua, the image of the Father in our brethren. Didn’t our Master say, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God (Matthew 5:9)? Matthew 5:9
"Blessed are the peacemakers” As Aaron is anointed High-priest, he became a foreshadow of Messiah. The one time anointing of Aaron is remembered in Psalms 133 in the following words, Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore(Psalms 133:1-3). Why did David compare Aaron’s anointing to peace and unity? It is said that when two man were at odds with each other, Aaron would go to one and said, “Hey, I know that you are having a quarrel with Benny, but wouldn’t you agree that he is a good father to his children?” The other man would then reply, “Oh, that’s for sure; he is a good father to his children!” Then Aaron would go to Benny and say, “Hey do you know what Ruben said about you?”, “I can imagine!” Benny would reply. “He said that you were a good father to your children”. “He did?” Benny would ask surprisingly, to which Aaron then added, “I know that you and him are having issues, but wouldn’t you say that he is an excellent carpenter?” “There is no doubt that whatever my issues are with him, Reuben is an excellent carpenter!” Aaron would then go and bring the precious report to Reuben. The next time Benny and Reuben met each other, they had a positive reference point about each other which helped repair their shattered relationship, all though Aaron’s efforts. Jewish sages taught that we should emulate Aaron in our efforts to bring peace within our families and communities. Let us learn not to concentrate on what divides us but what unites us; not on what we dislike but what we appreciate about each other; not to merely see each other but see Yeshua, the image of the Father in our brethren. Didn’t our Master say, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God (Matthew 5:9). Ephesians 2:14
For he is our peace … The beginning of Leviticus presents us with five types of offerings to approach God each carrying a different message. We have lost their meaning in translation but their imagery still reveals their message. These offerings are the physical outward expressions of the longings of the inward heart in seeking to approach God in full communion. The Sin and Guilt Offerings are mandatory. The Passover lamb and the daily perpetual offerings fall under these categories. The Sin Offering is for the state of being a sinner, the Guilt Offering for sins involuntarily committed (there are not offerings for voluntary sins). You see, we are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. We may have never killed or stolen, but we may have thought or wished it at times through coveting. There is a teaching in Judaism that the last of the Ten Commandments is the reason why we break the nine others. Both God and priest get a share of this offering; the offerer gets nothing. After we have acknowledged our sinful states, sinful actions and thoughts that result from it, we have the ‘Ascent Offering’ which is the only one that is totally dedicated to God. No one but God gets to partake of it. It is a voluntary offering. After we have cleansed ourselves from sin, the ‘Ascent Offering’ represents a desire for complete utter abandonment to God; a strong desire to perpetually abide with the Almighty. After dedicating our lives to God comes the Meal Offering. The Meal Offering is voluntary and now that we’ve dedicated ourselves to Him, it represents our walk with God. Only priest and God get a share. After confessing our faults and dedicating our lives to walk with God, we celebrate the Peace Offering; the one we all look forward to as it expresses the completion of our union with God. This is the one we also get a share of along with God and the priests. These usually consisted of lavish parties. God’s fellowship with us has always been expressed by a meal; it was true on Mount Horeb and it will be true at the end of the age (Exodus 24:9-11; Revelations 19:9). That is why the most spiritual thing we can do in this world, the highest act of spirituality we can practice on this earth, is to have a peaceful and joyful meal with our families. It represents our union with God. It is no wonder that in this day and age of the soon return of the Master, the enemy works like mad (and he is mad and the father of all madness; cursed be his name!) to break up families. When we break up our families we play in the devil’s hands against God’s plan. For decades now, his biggest attacks have been against the family units. First he got everybody distracted away from the daily dinner table which resulted in families breaking apart. Now the very idea of family is being redefined; ugh! Please Messiah, return soon, even in our days, so we can recline with You at that Peace offering meal with all our brothers and sisters and start the work of bringing back sanity to this world! |
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