"HE OPENED NOT HIS MOUTH": ISAIAH 53:7

For P. Gabriel Lumbrosos devotional 'UNDER THE FIG TREE' in Kindle version click here.

Matthew 12:37

“For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

Extreme tragedy often accompanies extreme glory. On the very day when Hashem accepts the hard work performed by the Israelites in building the Tabernacle and sanctifying the priesthood, two of Aaron’s sons die (Lev. 10:1-2).

Everything was in place. The Children of Israel had performed beautifully. They were finished with the building of the Tabernacle and the priesthood was sanctified. Everything was ready for the great moment. Suddenly, fire came from heaven to light the wood on the altar and consume the offerings of the Children of Israel. God was pleased. Whereas he had been refused entrance before (Exod. 40:35), now, with the offering accepted, Moses could approach his God again (Lev. 9). Things have not changed very much. We are still only allowed in the Divine Presence by virtue of the death of an innocent victim.

No sooner was the ecstasy of joy settled that Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons, decide to make an offering of esh zarah אשׁ זרה, foreign fire to Adonai. As suddenly as before, Hashem's fire came out from heaven, but this time to devour the two young men. The Torah does not give us many details about the event; speculations by commentators abound as to God’s seeming irrational reaction. What I would like to bring out today is the boys' father's, Aaron’s reaction to Moses’ attempt at comforting him; the text says, "Aaron kept silent" (Lev. 10:3). Maybe that is the reason why the Torah itself remains silent; because Aaron was silent.

Aaron suffers this tragedy in the middle of a service when he is not allowed to mourn nor get out of character. Whereas he later acknowledges his grief and mourning heart (Lev. 10:19), Aaron does not permit himself to blot Hashem’s reputation and name by expressing his own feelings during the service. His two boys die, but he remains silent.

Jewish texts have commented on this with the statement, "By your silence you shall live." The idea is related to Aaron’s lofty position of honor as the High-Priest of the people.   As spiritual leaders, when inexplicable tragedy strikes, when what seems unreasonable and irrational happens to us, we are not forbidden to mourn or be sad, but we may we not publicize it through words of personal anger or doubts about Hashem’s wisdom and absolute justice and righteousness.

The Master agreed to that in that he taught his disciples, "By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned (Matt. 12:37). He himself, in the image of the innocent lambs daily offered on the altar was subject to a cruel and inhumane death for crimes he did not commit and yet, "he opened not his mouth" (Isa. 53:7).

May we learn from Aaron’s godly attitude. Though our hearts may be bleeding, may we learn to have control over our mouths, souls, and spirit when inexplicable tragedies strike. Hashem knows our hearts, but our mouths need not to seal our burdens on those around us who may be carrying a heavy burden of their own. Ours may the one to make them stumble and fall.

Patrick Gabriel Lumbroso

THE SHABBAT OF RESURRECTION

John 5:28

Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice

This is the fourth day of the S'phirat Ha'omer  העמר םפירת, the Counting of the Omer. The Master has appeared in his resurrected body to several of the believers. Cleopas and his companion who met him on their way to Emmaus are probably sharing notes with those to whom he appeared in the upper room and with the women who saw him at the tomb (Luke 24). The event that may have become the greatest conversation piece at that time might have been the fact that at the time he committed his spirit unto the Father,

 Yeshua cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many (Matt. 27: 50—53).

It seems actually that all the resurrected apparitions of the Master appeared during the first forty days of the Counting of the Omer.

One of the days of Chag Hamatzot  המצות חג or Unleavened Bread is usually a Shabbat. Ezekiel 37 is usually read in synagogues on that day. It is interesting that Ezekiel 37 is all about the resurrection of Israel it its own land, an event significant as to the coming of Mashiach.

The schedule of the Book of Ezekiel provides us with timeline of events we can refer to as we see History unfolding. Ezekiel 34 exposes the false shepherds who lead Israel astray and announces the Good Shepherd, the David who comes to be the true king of Israel, a prince among us. Ezekiel says that at the time of his rule,

I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am ADONAI, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. And they shall know that I am ADONAI their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares ADONAI (Eze. 34:25-30).

In Ezekiel 37, after the introduction of the David, of the one who died, and behold is alive forevermore, who has the keys of Death and Hades, (Rev. 1:18) Israel becomes a nation resurrected in its own land. Interestingly enough, the next two chapters tell us about the war of Gog and Magog, and starting with Ezekiel 40, the Book of Ezekiel ends with the rebuilding of the Messianic third Temple

May it be soon Abba, even in our days!

For P. Gabriel Lumbroso's other devotional 'Under the Fig Tree' in Kindle edition click here.

THE PASSOVER OF THE KING

Matthew 26:29

I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. … He did what was right in the eyes of ADONAI and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

As King Josiah undertook the restoration of the Temple of Hashem, the Temple's secretary handed him a Torah scroll found in the Temple. The scroll was opened at Deuteronomy 28, the passage about the blessings and the curses. As Shaphan read the text to the King, the King tore his clothes (2 Kings 22:11). In Josiah's days, most people in Israel had forgotten the Torah. They practiced religious forms and traditions inherited from earlier generations and adopted from foreign nations. They did not fully realize that their worship of God was polluted with idolatrous practices. Josiah's mother had taught her son a healthy fear of Hashem, and the words of Torah worked in his heart.

The king wanted the land to repent, but instead of sending edicts and rebuke the people, the king made repentance something personal,

And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before ADONAI, to walk after ADONAI and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant ( 2Ki 23:3).

Josiah also undertook a series of religious reforms where he deposited the priests of Ba'al, overthrew the altars to the foreign gods, and went on an all-out campaign against idolatry. This campaign culminated to a renewing of the Passover observance like no other,

And the king commanded all the people, "Keep the Passover to ADONAI, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant." For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to ADONAI in Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:21—23).

A similar situation exists for believers in Yeshua today. They have not totally forgotten Torah, but because of erroneous theological assumptions they have declared it obsolete and mixed it with pagan religious elements. Like in the days of Josiah, today many are rediscovering the Torah of Moses and experiment religious reforms in their hearts. Sometimes all congregations go through these reforms.

These attempts at restoration are great but they are very fragmented and confusing due to a lack of leadership. We look a lot like, "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judg. 21:25). We desperately need the King to return and as Josiah lead us with a strong hand in this reformation. When he does, he will also lead us into the marriage supper of the Lamb and partake with us from the Seder cup which he omitted to drink when he celebrated an early Passover dinner with his disciples (Matt. 26:29; Rev. 19:9).

May it be soon Abba, even in our days!

THE COUNTING OF THE OMER

1 Corinthians 15:54

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."

Starting from the sixteenth of Nissan, the day after the Passover Sabbath, we are asked to count seven weeks and one day, fifty days, until Pentecost (Lev. 23:15). On the fortieth day of this counting the Messiah ascended in the cloud in the plain view of the disciples. They were at the same moment told that as He went in the cloud, so will He return (Acts 1:11). As believers this period between the resurrection and the ascension is very special. It is the period when we are told that the Messiah made all His resurrected appearances up to five hundred disciples plus (1 Cor. 15:6). 

This fifty days period is called in Hebrew s’phirat ha’omer העומר פירתס, meaning, the Counting of the Omer. It could also mean, the Recounting of the Omer,as if it were a story to be told, or even the Shining of the Omer as in cleaning. I would say that all these translations are correct in their own rights. As we count the days of the Omer, we can tell the stories of the appearances of the risen Messiah, thus shining and preparing our souls for the great day of Pentecost when in the similitude of Mt. Horeb’s events, through earthquake, wind, and fire, the Torah was sealed in the disciples hearts 2,000 years ago (Acts 2).

I would even say that remembering the resurrection is vital to our faith. Up to the time of the resurrection the disciples were weak in their faith. Many of those also who had previously believed in him because of the signs and the miracles were easily swayed by the tide of prevailing public opinion. What sealed the deal for Israel was the resurrection. After the resurrection, the whole city of Jerusalem was filled with believers who had become quite a force and even a positive element in Israel until such a time when persecution started again under Herod Antipas (Acts 12) and the wicked High-Priest who executed James (Josephus).  It is during that time that the Letter to the Hebrews was written encouraging the Jewish believers of Israel by telling them that even though things below looked bleak, they could comfort themselves and each other with the reality which is from above. Still a good advice for today!

This belief in the resurrection is the corner stone of our belief system. It is this very same belief that made innocent victimized Job say, "I know that my redeemer lives" (Job 19:25). It is also the same belief that that brought Abraham to the mountain in the face of an insurmountable trial (Heb. 11:17-19). Many people dare to challenge the authenticity of the apostolic texts, but their biggest vindication is the historically proven cruel martyrdom of each of the disciples who saw the resurrected Messiah. People can’t go through do that unless they are being told to deny something that they have witnessed to be real.

Even today as the world gets darker, it is that same faith in the resurrected ne that needs to be our beacon of light, hope, and faith, in the face of the seeming irrationalities life seems to deal us. Telling the stories of the resurrected one, particularly of the events surrounding his various apparitions during the Counting of the Omer, should give a shine to our faith and the assurance that even though death may seem prevalent, he has resurrected so that through his resurrection, corruption and death puts on incorruptibility.

"HE OPENED NOT HIS MOUTH" ISAIAH 53:7

Matthew 12:37

“For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

Extreme tragedy often accompanies extreme glory. On the very day when Hashem accepts the hard work performed by the Israelites in building the Tabernacle and sanctifying the priesthood, two of Aaron’s sons die (Lev. 10:1-2).

Everything was in place. The Children of Israel had performed beautifully. They were finished with the building of the Tabernacle and the priesthood was sanctified. Everything was ready for the great moment. Suddenly, fire came from heaven to light the wood on the altar and consume the offerings of the Children of Israel. God was pleased. Whereas he had been refused entrance before (Exod. 40:35), now, with the offering accepted, Moses could approach his God again (Lev. 9). Things have not changed very much. We are still only allowed in the Divine Presence by virtue of the death of an innocent victim.

No sooner was the ecstasy of joy settled that Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons, decide to make an offering of esh zarah אשׁ זרה, foreign fire’ to Adonai. As suddenly as before, Hashem's fire came out from heaven, but this time to devour the two young men. The Torah does not give us many details about the event; speculations by commentators abound as to God’s seeming irrational reaction. What I would like to bring out today is the boys' father's, Aaron’s reaction to Moses’ attempt at comforting him; the text says,  "Aaron kept silent" (Lev. 10:3). Maybe that is the reason why the Torah itself remains silent; because Aaron was silent.

Aaron suffers this tragedy in the middle of a service when he is not allowed to mourn nor get out of character. Whereas he later acknowledges his grief and mourning heart (Lev. 10:19), Aaron does not permit himself to blot Hashem’s reputation and name by expressing his own feelings during the service. His two boys die, but he remains silent.

Jewish texts have commented on this with the statement, "By your silence you shall live." The idea is related to Aaron’s lofty position of honor as the High-Priest of the people.   As spiritual leaders, when inexplicable tragedy strikes, when what seems unreasonable and irrational happens to us, we are not forbidden to mourn or be sad, but we may we not publicize it through words of personal anger or doubts about Hashem’s wisdom and absolute justice and righteousness.

The Master agreed to that in that he taught his disciples, "By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned (Matt. 12:37). He himself, in the image of the innocent lambs daily offered on the altar was subject to a cruel and inhumane death for crimes he did not commit and yet, "he opened not his mouth" (Isa. 53:7).

May we learn from Aaron’s godly attitude. Though our hearts may be bleeding, may we learn to have control over our mouths, souls, and spirit when inexplicable tragedies strike. Hashem knows our hearts, but our mouths need not to seal our burdens on those around us who may be carrying a heavy burden of their own. Ours may the one to make them stumble and fall.

THE MASTER'S PERSPECTIVE ON RITUAL PURITY

John 1:4

In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

Studying the Biblical laws of clean and unclean seem to take us to a world far removed from our present society. We cannot though, read these passages in the Book of Leviticus and assess them according to the dynamics of our present world; we need to understand them according to their own context.

All the issues of ritual impurities in the Bible have to do with separating the holy from death, decay and corruption. All the regulations mentioned about ritual purity in the Torah can be understood in the idea that God, being life itself cannot, and does not have anything to do with whatever decays and dies. All the earthly elements therefore that represent him must be (at least symbolically) free from corruption. We easily see these ideas in the gold covered acacia wood that makes the Holy Ark, a wood with the properties of cedar that fights corruption. Salt also, which is a preservative has to be added to meat offerings and the meat discarded within three days before it turns rancid. Of course, as long as we are in this mortal body and on this temporal earth, we cannot fully get rid of corruption; the whole idea is therefore a message from the Father to teach us about himself.

Ritual uncleanness has nothing to do with us committing any particular sin. For example, a woman has done nothing wrong when she enters her monthly time and even less when she has a baby, the fulfillment of one of Hashem's greatest commandment, but yet, at these times she is considered ritually unclean. Being ritually unclean is a mere acknowledgment of our mortal human condition. Also the condition of ritual uncleanness mostly relates to the Temple and its service. All one needs to do to be ritually clean again is immerse in a mikveh (ritual immersion pool).  

The best way to understand it is to relate it to protocol. There is certain protocol to enter for example in the presence of a President of any country, or even in the presence of a King; it doesn’t mean that we are criminals.  

In the days of Yeshua, some people went overboard in their concerns with ritual purity. The Master tells us about it in this story about a dying wounded man on the road to Jericho. Both a Levite and a priest pass him by but choose not to help him because they were concerned about ritual cleanliness which forbids the touching of blood (Luke 10:25—37). This shows a misunderstanding of the idea. The Master himself who is sinless and coming from the halls of heaven was not afraid to put on the impurity of humanity and make himself impure in order to rescue us from our mortality. Again, ritual purity is not about having committed a sin; one can obey every dictum of the Torah and still be impure. It is solely about our human condition.

May we in our sense of righteousness not be found to be like the afore-mentioned Levite or priest who because they were so concerned about their own purity, failed to obey the commandment to reach out to those in need. The Master did not discard the practices of ritual purity which came from him to start with, but he does teach us to have a proper balance and perspective in our commandment observance; he says, "These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others" (Matthew 23:23).

WHEN LIFE SWALLOWS DEATH!

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 days 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.

ON THE THIRD DAY ...

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. 

LIVING FAITH OR DEAD RELIGION

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 altar above, from Hashem 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 the altar above.

Homiletically speaking, this fire teaches us much. It teaches us that faith in Messiah cannot be something originated from earthly personal emotions or charismatic style gatherings; it must be something kindled by the spiritual reality of Hashem, from the spiritual fire that 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 redemptive messianic faith, it is nothing more than meaningless rote rituals; a self-evident truth as of before Yeshua’s manifestation on earth (Rev. 3:14; Rom. 3:2). We can see it in the patriarchs that we know of such as Abraham whose faith was based on belief in the resurrection (Heb. 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's redemptive power is similar to an offering on a cold altar. Godly actions, even in obedience to Torah, consumed by any other elements than this consuming faith in Messiah's work actually becomes idolatry. Maybe this is the idea behind Yeshua’s rejection of many who will come to him in the end all proclaiming their good works for him while lacking faith in his power to redeem them.(Luke 13:26-27; Matt. 7:21-23); they offered strange fire (Lev. 10:1-2).

May our faith be more than an earthly emotional high originating from the mechanics of sounds and lights over-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 the Pharaoh outside of us and the one inside as well, and lead us, even by night, through to the Promised Land!

THE TAMID OFFERING

http://yedideiadonai.weebly.com/1/post/2013/03/the-tamid-offering.html

Hebrews 7:25

He always lives to make intercession for them.

Contrary to what is commonly assumed, the five korbanot ,קורבנות offerings described in the beginning of the Book of Leviticus are not meant for sin atonement. While the sin and guilt offerings portray an acknowledgment and confession of sin, the others are statements of thankfulness, gratefulness, praise, and dedication. The main atonement offering in the Levitical system is what is called the Tamid תמיד, the daily perpetual morning and evening offering (Lev. 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 theme from where the synagogue service and daily personal prayers were conceived. 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 informs us that the disciples attended these lamb offering based services. Peter and John are also mentioned going to the temple’s evening service (Acts 3:1). This is important information as it teaches us that the disciples of the Master continued to attend Temple services and liturgies even after Yeshua’s resurrection. They had never stopped.

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.

At his last Passover on earth, our Master was nailed to the cross at the time the priests offered the morning offering. 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. At the end of the whoel thing this same high-priest declares, "it is finished'. Our Master, the high-priest from above, 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). As Yeshua was put in the tomb just before dusk, Jewish families put their striped and pieced unleavened breads in their ovens.

The Tamid is therefore a perfect picture of the intercessory role of Messiah in our lives. As the writer of the Letter sent to the Messianic believers of Jerusalem says of him, "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" (Heb. 7:25).

Yeshua the innocent righteous victim,  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). 

THE FRUITS OF THE LIPS

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!.

YOU ALONE ARE WORTHY

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 (Heb. 10:4; 9:13). As it is now, the same principle applied before his manifestation about 2,000 years ago,: only the work of Messiah done at the foundation of the world cleans the conscience from sin (Heb. 4:3; 9:14; 1 Pet. 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; Heb. 4:14-16; Ps. 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 this washing is not for hygiene; it is a ritual washing against ritual contamination designated 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 the Master did for them that night. In essence, Yeshua was treating his disciples as priests, which fulfilled messianic prophecies (Exod. 19:6; 1 Pet. 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 (Rev. 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 המשיח ישוע, 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 (Heb. 4:16).

THE HEAVENLY ADAM

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: 2^nd 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.

THE LANGUAGE OF THE OFFERINGS

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 of man in seeking to approach Hashem in full communion.

The sin and guilt offerings are mandatory (Lev. 4; 5:15). The Passover lamb and the daily perpetual offerings fall under these categories. There is a difference between the two. The sin offering concerns itself with our natural state of being a sinner, while the guilt offering is for sins involuntarily committed (there are not offerings for voluntary sins (Heb. 10:26)). The difference is that we are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners and that from the time of our birth. 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 share in these offerings; he who offers doesn't.

After we have acknowledged our innate sinful state and the sinful actions and thoughts that result from it, we have the burnt or ascent offering called the olah עולה, (Leviticus 1:3). It is the only offering that is to be totally dedicated to God; no one but Hashem gets to partake of it. It is a voluntary offering. After we have cleansed ourselves from sin, the olah represents our desire for complete utter abandonment to God; a strong desire to perpetually abide with the Hashem. After dedicating our lives to God comes the meal offering. The meal offering is also a voluntary one; now that we’ve dedicated ourselves to Hashem, this offering  represents our walk with God. Only priest and God share in it.

After admitting to our sinful nature, confessing our faults, and dedicating our lives to walk with Hashem, we celebrate the peace offering, the one we all look forward to as it expresses the completion of our union with Hashem. This is the one we get to share in, along with God and the priests. Peace offerings usually consisted of lavish parties.

Fellowship with God has always been expressed by a meal; it was true on Mount Horeb and it will be true at the end of the age (Exod. 24:9-11; Rev. 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 (blessed be his name), the enemy (cursed be his name!) works like mad to break up families. The breakdown of the family unit in Western societies is a tool in the Adversaries' hands against God’s plan. For decades now, the devil's biggest attacks have been against the family units. First he got everybody distracted away from the daily dinner table and into T.V. and so many evening school activities, and now the very idea of family is being redefined; ugh!

May our Master soon return, even in our days,  that we may recline with him at that peace offering meal with all our brothers and sisters (Rev. 19:9) and start the work of bringing sanity back to this world!

ADONAI THE SHIELD

Hebrew 4:16                                                                                                             Nissan 1/ בניסן א

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.