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!.
