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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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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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