Weekly Scriptures: Leviticus 26:3-27:34; Jeremiah 16:19-17:14; Matthew 21:33-46; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

This week’s Torah portion completes our reading from Leviticus. Chapter 26 echoes Deuteronomy 28 (which comes later in the Torah cycle), being the covenant conditions for blessings or for curses. Chapter 27 covers various applications of the principle of redemption. Let’s see if we can discover a single theme from what seems like two separate themes.

Israel, Covenant and the Law

Chapter 26 is a useful chapter to quote when someone claims that the Christian Church has replaced Israel. The blessings of God have come upon Gentiles who live by faith in Jesus, but not to the extent that Israel is now lost and their blessings have been transferred to us. If so, then have the curses for disobedience been transferred as well? It can’t be that!

The fact is that Israel remains a distinct people. Even today, if Israelites seek to live according to the covenant God made with Moses, then Leviticus 26 applies to them until the curse of the law is removed.

Foreshadowing Jesus

This takes us to chapter 27, which deals with principles of redemption. Both chapter 26 and chapter 27 anticipate the ministry of Jesus the Messiah.

Many from the Tribes of Israel have come to faith in Jesus. Through the New Covenant in Jesus’ blood, foreseen by Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-37), those Israelites who live by faith in Jesus have been redeemed from the curse of the law.

Chapter 26, simple though it seems to fulfil in its requirements to keep God’s statutes, has proved too much for human flesh. It is not that the law is faulty (Psalm 19 and Psalm 119 still speak of the greatness of God’s Torah). But Israel had to learn that they needed help, to release them to walk with God according to the spirit of the Torah, free of the consequences of the curse of sin. Only Jesus could do this through his redeeming sacrifice, which fulfilled the requirements of the law once for all.

For Gentiles?

So how is this relevant to Christians from the Gentile world? There is a sense in which the laws of God apply to us too, though not in terms of the covenant made at Sinai. We managed to sin without knowing about the requirements given to Israel, but when we discovered what sin was – transgression of God’s law - we also were able to find redemption through Jesus.

We entered the same community of faith to which the first believers from the Tribes of Israel belonged. Until then, we (without knowing it) lived under a curse. That is, our future outside of Jesus was heading towards a lost eternity. Jesus took away that curse for us.

So, for both Jew and Gentile, though by different paths, chapters 26 and 27 of Leviticus point to our need of Jesus. The Jews suffered much so that we could learn from their failed attempts to live by the principles of chapter 26. One such lesson comes from the Babylonian captivity, fulfilling verse 35, as shown in 2 Chronicles 36:20-21:

And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfil the word of the Lord by Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept her Sabbath, to fulfil seventy years.

God’s Indescribable Gift

As we reflect on our Torah portion this week let us remember with thanks what it has cost Israel for us to inherit the blessings of the covenant God gave to Abraham. We have received full redemption by the power of Jesus’ blood so that we can enter God’s covenant family through grace, the curse of the law being removed.

A suitable New Testament reading to balance these perspectives for us is Galatians 3-4. Read both the Torah portion and the passage from Galatians carefully and prayerfully, giving thanks to God for his indescribable gift, and pray for those who are still living outside such wonderful grace, whether Jew or Gentile.

Author: Dr Clifford Denton

Weekly Readings: Leviticus 21:1-24:23; Ezekiel 44:15-31; 1 Peter 2:4-10

This week we resume the Torah Reading Schedule at Leviticus 21-24, chapters which give details about the Jewish feasts, Sabbaths and - importantly - the priestly ministry.

The ministry granted to the Levitical priesthood – including its dress code, rituals, responsibilities and regulations - seems a world away from the modern Christian life. And yet, according to Peter, we are all part of a "royal priesthood" (1 Pet 2:9). This ministry is not dead, nor is it irrelevant, it would seem. In Jesus, and in us through Jesus, it is fulfilled.

Like the Levites, each of us has received a calling from God to serve Him with our whole lives. We may not be required to offer up burnt offerings and sacrifices to the Lord on behalf of the people, but nevertheless we can learn a lot from these chapters about our priestly calling.

Set Apart

First, these chapters give us an awe-inspiring shadow of our new identity and position in Jesus.

Like the Levites, we have been set apart for God (Heb 10:10) – our lives are no longer our own (1 Cor 6:19-20). God undertook to provide for the priesthood out of the sacrifices that had been offered to Him in worship – in other words, to share with them out of the gifts given to Him (Ezek 44:28-29), freeing them from dependence on material wealth and worldly work, unto complete dependence upon Him.

Likewise, for us, in spiritual terms our provision has been made by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, our eternal Great High Priest – opening the way for us to partake in "every spiritual blessing" (Eph 1:3) and freeing us from dependence on fleshly effort or worldly securities.

Emphasised unmissably in Leviticus 21-24 is the formidable requirement for the priesthood to remain pure and undefiled. Under the Mosaic covenant this purity was outward, achieved through ceremonial washing and sacrifice. The priests weren't even allowed to sweat inside the Temple (Ezek 44:18) – and no 'defective' person (i.e. with an illness or disability) was allowed to minister (Lev 21:16-23).

We know that God is not against those who are ill or disabled (as the ministry of Jesus amply shows) - but this is a physical shadow of God's desired spiritual reality: His underlying purpose is for us to be pure and without defect on the inside, in the heart (Ps 51:10; Matt 5:8). Only through Jesus' sacrifice, which renders us eternally blemishless in the eyes of the Father, and through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit in our day-to-day lives, can this be achieved.

Ministering to God

Secondly, we see in Leviticus 21-24 a glimpse of how God wants His people to attend to Him. To attend to Him! What humility the Lord displays in asking to be ministered to by imperfect, broken humans – He who is tended to by angels and heavenly beings beyond our imagining! Our Heavenly Father does not need anything from us, yet He nevertheless requests that we minister to Him – care for Him, tend to Him, pour out our love upon Him - as Mary did when she bathed Jesus' feet in perfume and her own tears, drying him with her hair. What an indescribable privilege!

As part of their ministry, the Levites were always presenting sacrifices to God, for one reason or another – sacrifices with purposes such as repentance, thanksgiving, remembrance and freewill praise. So today, Christians are encouraged to "give thanks continually" (1 Thess 5:18) and to "offer God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that profess His name" (Heb 13:15). We are called to be living sacrifices (Rom 12:1) who every day offer God all that we are, for His glory.

Ministering to Others

Finally, these chapters reveal something of how God wants us to minister to other people. The priestly role doesn't just involve attending to God (though it is about this before and above all else) – it is also outward in focus, about tending to the needs of others. In Leviticus this partly meant handling people's sacrifices and being intermediaries between them and God – now it means interceding for people and encouraging them in the direction of Jesus, so they can draw near and know the Lord for themselves.

The Levites were also required to tend to the lamps in the sanctuary and keep them burning with a constant oil supply; so we are given the responsibility of tending to the spiritual welfare of God's temples (that's us, and each other) to make sure that the fire of the Holy Spirit is kept burning (1 Thess 5:19).

Ezekiel 44:23 reveals another vital aspect of this outward ministry: priests had the responsibility to teach the people to distinguish holy from common, clean from unclean. So today, as God's people we are given the responsibility of holding out the word of life to a dying world, being living examples of what is right and clean through the power of the Holy Spirit, and speaking wisdom into the lives of others. This we do humbly, because we know that our righteousness is not from us – but from God.

What would the Church look like if believers took this ministry seriously – and sought to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, who fulfils the priestly role perfectly? This week, why not ask God to reveal more to you about your part in His royal priesthood?

Author: Frances Rabbitts

The regular cycle of Torah readings will begin again next week, so this week we have the opportunity to divert a little from the cycle. Let's go back to the time of Jesus and look at what happened when Jesus went to his own local synagogue and joined in the regular readings from the scriptures.

If a person were called forward to read a scripture in church today, we would listen in expectation to see if it were relevant to us, hoping to feed on the word.

2,000 years ago, in the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus came forward to read from the Prophet Isaiah. Did Jesus share a scripture that he had privately prepared, just as we might in our churches? Or is there a context to this incident that brings an element of awe to this passage from Luke?

In Jesus' day, the Sabbath readings were prescribed from the Torah. Typically, four men, each considered mature in the community, would be given a share of the weekly parashah (Torah portion). They would come forward, stand to read and sit to teach briefly on an aspect of the reading. The teaching would be interactive (hence they would be seated to show equality). Following this would come the Haftarah reading, where one more trusted man from the community would come forward in the same way to read from the Prophets.

The origin of the Hafatarah (a Hebrew word translated as parting or taking leave) is uncertain. One theory is that the tradition of this additional reading came from the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, the Seleucid King who invaded and ruled Judea ruthlessly from 168 BC prior to the time of the Maccabean Revolt. He forbade the reading of Torah as one of his strategies to destroy Judaism. Therefore, the Jewish leaders contrived a way of preserving their readings of scripture by taking parallel readings from the Prophets that reflected something from the prescribed Torah readings.

By the time of Jesus, Torah reading had been restored and the Haftarah reading was also preserved. This is still the tradition today.

It would be interesting to go back to Jesus' day and visit a synagogue (meeting place) and see how Torah and Haftarah readings were made relevant to the congregation by those who stood to read and sat to teach, and how the congregation interacted and discussed the passage. Would it be dry ritual or full of life? We might learn something from this structured approach to scripture where Torah was central.

So Jesus stepped forward and took the scroll of Isaiah. All eyes were fixed on him and all ears were open. He read from Isaiah 61 from verse 1 (as we have it in our Bibles) to halfway through verse 2:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. Because He has appointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

But where was this on the weekly schedule and what relevance would Jesus bring through it? The prescribed Haftarah reading nearest to this is on 21 Elul (24 September this year), when the reading is the whole of Isaiah 60. The following week the Haftarah begins from verse 10 of Isaiah 61.¹ Jesus' reading extended one week's portion and preceded the other.

Furthermore, these readings are in the middle of what is known as the 40 Days of Awe, the days leading up to the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) in the month of Tishrei, which follows Elul. My thought is that he read on 21 Elul and went beyond the prescribed reading.

Understood in this way, this was a very special day indeed! A reading from the Prophets that was a fulfilment of prophecy, all timed within the yearly cycle! It was no wonder the congregation was shocked and did not know quite how to react. Jesus extended their Haftarah reading right in the midst of the season leading up to the High Holy Days of Israel, not just reading from the Prophets but announcing who he was and is as Messiah of Israel!

Just as the Passover was fulfilled by his sacrifice three and a half years later, so his ministry began in his own town with this timely announcement as fulfilment of the exact scripture (give or take a verse) that they would have been reading anyway. This was the first place that Jesus went after his baptism and temptation in the wilderness (which also overlapped the Days of Awe). A day of awe indeed! He came to announce the opening of God's acceptable "year" first to his own little town.

Note that he did not finish verse 2 of Isaiah 61, which goes on to announce the beginning of the Day of vengeance of our God. That is reserved for a future time after the Gospel has gone to the entire world. We, today, are still halfway through Isaiah 61:2!

2,000 years on from that day in Nazareth, multitudes have had time to assess what came upon that congregation by surprise. Millions are still coming to faith in that carpenter from Nazareth who took his own town by surprise. He really is the Messiah of Israel, King of the Jews and Saviour of the world. How slow some people are to perceive it!

Oh that our own Bible readings would retain such life and relevance as we meet together in our own assemblies week by week. Yet if he is amongst us they will surely always be fresh and relevant, and bring new aspects of revelation of who he is - just as on that day.

Author: Dr Clifford Denton

Weekly Reading: Luke 4:16-30

Weekly passages: Leviticus 16:1–18:30; Ezekiel 22:1-19; Hebrews 9:11-28.

This week's Torah portion - Acharei mot ('after the death') - deals with the distinction between the holy and the profane, between the sacred and the secular, and is often linked with the next portion, Q'doshim ('the holy ones').

It begins with a reminder of how Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu both disobeyed God's instructions about taking fire only from the altar of sacrifice to light the incense on the Golden Altar in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle.

Both the Menorah and the Altar of Incense were to be lit only with fire from the altar of sacrifice, which itself came from heaven (Num 16:46; Lev 9:24). Aaron's sons offered unauthorised fire for the Altar in the Holy Place ('strange' fire, from another place). And "fire came out from the Presence of the Lord, and consumed them" (Lev 10:1-3). This may have seemed harsh, but it emphasised the need to recognise the awesome sanctity of the Holy One of Israel.

Moses tells Aaron that even the High Priest was not to enter the Holy of Holies just when he chose, but only at the Lord's prescribed times, and in His prescribed ways. God had told them: "Among those who approach me, I will show Myself holy" (Lev 10:3). Aaron wisely remained silent. In His covenant love, it seems that God was trying to prevent further 'accidental' deaths due to the Israelites (even priests) coming into His Presence casually, not understanding His holy nature. The veil in the Tabernacle was thus to demonstrate His holiness. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews also reminds us that we too are to "worship God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire" (Heb 12:28-29).

God is the Holy One, the Holy One of Israel

There is in many groups today a great superficiality in our awareness of God's holiness. Entering God's Presence in church as a social gathering, or focusing on opportunities for 'church business' does not recognise that we are in the Holy of Holies, and distractions (chatting or music) often compete with prayer or the reading of His word.

Yes, He is our Father. In Jesus, He is an intimate Father whom we may call Abba, the Aramaic term for Dad or Papa. There is a place for both, but we do not have the right to approach God casually. He is not a buddy, or a white-haired old gentleman. God's nature is q'dosh, Holy, which means 'separate from' and, at a deeper level, 'totally other than'.

The seraphim ('burning ones') around His throne constantly proclaim God's supreme nature - q'dosh, q'dosh, q'dosh - Holy, Holy, Holy (Isa 6:3). They correspond to the living creatures in Revelation 4:8 who also proclaim this three-fold appellation of God's infinite holiness.

In straying from our Jewish roots, we have largely lost the sense of the transcendent nature of God. He is the Holy One of Israel. He is a being that we sinful humans cannot approach without the given protection of His prescription. Under the first covenant this was through a High Priestly mediator, and only once a year; and by the renewed covenant in Jesus' Blood, it is through the second veil that once separated us from this holy God, but which was "torn in two from top [Greek anothen] to bottom" (Matt 27:51; anothen means something that comes from above - from God), inviting us boldly "to enter the Most Holy Place" (Heb 9:3; 10:19).

The veil in the Tabernacle and the Temple had cherubim skilfully woven into it. Cherubim traditionally act as guards, as in the Garden of Eden, "to guard the way to the Tree of Life" (Gen 3:24), and in the Tabernacle they reflected God's protection, by guarding the way to His Holy Presence. At Jesus' death, God removed them allowing access even to His very Presence - but only through His Son.

So How Can We Approach Such a Holy God?

Jesus, Yeshua, told us: "I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). Although we pray to 'Our Father' in the prayer that Jesus taught us, in knowing Jesus we know the Father, for Jesus is "the exact representation of His being" (Heb 1:3), and the Son reveals the Father to whom He chooses (Luke 10:22). He tells His disciples: "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). Indeed, His Father and He together will come and make their home in those who love Him and obey His teachings (John 14:23).

But for this we need to know the Holy One. Jesus is our High Priest, and it is only by His shed Blood, offered to God as an atoning sacrifice for sin, that we may enter the Presence of a holy God. This is the only way, a new and living way, consecrated for us through His flesh, that is His Body. It is His shed Blood on the Cross alone that gives us access to the Father, and it is His way to new life. But we must draw near the Holy One in the right manner, in humble worship, our hearts and bodies washed, and come by faith in the finished work of the Son of God (Heb 10:19-22).

The Call to be Holy

Under the first covenant, God's desire to dwell with His people was expressed through a sacrifice on Yom Kippur that was an atonement for sin. Two kids of the goats were chosen by lot, one to be offered to the Lord as the sacrifice for sin and the other to be a scapegoat, where the High Priest symbolically transferred the sin of the congregation to the goat by laying his hands on its head, and the animal was then banished into the wilderness, carrying Israel's sins away (Lev 16:8-10).

This type or pattern was fulfilled in Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross at Passover, when the Lord laid upon Him the iniquity of us all - our sin and all its evil consequences (Isa 53:6). "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor 5:21), and thus be welcomed into the Father's Presence through the shedding of Jesus' Blood. This is the Father's invitation to intimate relationship with Him. But it is clear that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins, and where these have been forgiven" through Jesus' sacrifice, "there is no longer any sacrifice for sin" (Heb 9:22; 10:18) - neither prayer, nor repentance, nor good deeds. The Cross was Jesus' finished work, perfectly perfect, completely complete (Greek tetelestai).

There are also in this passage warnings against the consumption of blood (for blood represents life) and against a range of unlawful sexual practices, which defile both man and the land. For both Israel and the Canaanites before them, this defilement led to the violent removal of the people from the land. God requires morality and holiness in Gentile nations today also, as this rebellion is a desecration of God's holiness and of His Name (chillul hashem).¹ Later, Ezekiel was shown practices by people in Jerusalem which were abominations to the Lord, and received God's confirmation that He would "consume them with My fiery anger" (Ezek 22:21).

Hallowed Be His Name

This Friday at sunset is the start of Pesach (Passover), when the first Passover is remembered in Seder meals, by many Jewish people who celebrate God's redemption and freedom from slavery in Egypt, and by believers in Yeshua who celebrate their salvation and freedom from slavery to sin. Let us at this time renew our calling to be holy; to be consecrated and sanctified for the Lord, when we draw near to Him in prayer and worship. But let it be in awe and reverence for His q'dosh.

Jesus taught us in coming to our Father in prayer, to say, "Hallowed be Your Name". This means, may people understand that You are the Holy One, 'totally other than'. May people see Your holy nature through what we do and say, in the way we live. May our lives reflect Your holy Name and character, because You are holy.

Rabbinic wisdom calls this kiddush hashem,² a way of blessing God through righteous living in a way that distinguishes between the holy and the profane, a way that is characterised by honesty, integrity and holiness, and a way that brings glory to God among those who do not yet know Him.³ We must proclaim the Kingdom and heal the sick (as Jesus did). Both words and deeds are needed to bring God glory, and to sanctify His Holy Name.

God's Summary

This is an essential aspect of our relationship with Him, through the veil. He encourages us to understand His awesome holiness, by saying to all Israel, and to us (Lev 19:2):

"Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy."

Author: Greg Stevenson

References

1 Telushkin, J. A Code of Jewish Ethics 1, pp456-475, 'You shall be holy'.

2 Ibid

3 Tverberg, L. Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus, p87.

This week's Torah portion - Acharei mot ('after the death') - deals with the distinction between the holy and the profane, between the sacred and the secular, and is often linked with the next portion, Q'doshim ('the holy ones').

It begins with a reminder of how Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu both disobeyed God's instructions about taking fire only from the altar of sacrifice to light the incense on the Golden Altar in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle.

Both the Menorah and the Altar of Incense were to be lit only with fire from the altar of sacrifice, which itself came from heaven (Num 16:46; Lev 9:24). Aaron's sons offered unauthorised fire for the Altar in the Holy Place ('strange' fire, from another place). And "fire came out from the Presence of the Lord, and consumed them" (Lev 10:1-3). This may have seemed harsh, but it emphasised the need to recognise the awesome sanctity of the Holy One of Israel.

Moses tells Aaron that even the High Priest was not to enter the Holy of Holies just when he chose, but only at the Lord's prescribed times, and in His prescribed ways. God had told them: "Among those who approach me, I will show Myself holy" (Lev 10:3). Aaron wisely remained silent. In His covenant love, it seems that God was trying to prevent further 'accidental' deaths due to the Israelites (even priests) coming into His Presence casually, not understanding His holy nature. The veil in the Tabernacle was thus to demonstrate His holiness. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews also reminds us that we too are to "worship God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire" (Heb 12:28-29).

God is the Holy One, the Holy One of Israel

There is in many groups today a great superficiality in our awareness of God's holiness. Entering God's Presence in church as a social gathering, or focusing on opportunities for 'church business' does not recognise that we are in the Holy of Holies, and distractions (chatting or music) often compete with prayer or the reading of His word.

Yes, He is our Father. In Jesus, He is an intimate Father whom we may call Abba, the Aramaic term for Dad or Papa. There is a place for both, but we do not have the right to approach God casually. He is not a buddy, or a white-haired old gentleman. God's nature is q'dosh, Holy, which means 'separate from' and, at a deeper level, 'totally other than'.

The seraphim ('burning ones') around His throne constantly proclaim God's supreme nature - q'dosh, q'dosh, q'dosh - Holy, Holy, Holy (Isa 6:3). They correspond to the living creatures in Revelation 4:8 who also proclaim this three-fold appellation of God's infinite holiness.

In straying from our Jewish roots, we have largely lost the sense of the transcendent nature of God. He is the Holy One of Israel. He is a being that we sinful humans cannot approach without the given protection of His prescription. Under the first covenant this was through a High Priestly mediator, and only once a year; and by the renewed covenant in Jesus' Blood, it is through the second veil that once separated us from this holy God, but which was "torn in two from top [Greek anothen] to bottom" (Matt 27:51; anothen means something that comes from above - from God), inviting us boldly "to enter the Most Holy Place" (Heb 9:3; 10:19).

The veil in the Tabernacle and the Temple had cherubim skilfully woven into it. Cherubim traditionally act as guards, as in the Garden of Eden, "to guard the way to the Tree of Life" (Gen 3:24), and in the Tabernacle they reflected God's protection, by guarding the way to His Holy Presence. At Jesus' death, God removed them allowing access even to His very Presence - but only through His Son.

So How Can We Approach Such a Holy God?

Jesus, Yeshua, told us: "I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). Although we pray to 'Our Father' in the prayer that Jesus taught us, in knowing Jesus we know the Father, for Jesus is "the exact representation of His being" (Heb 1:3), and the Son reveals the Father to whom He chooses (Luke 10:22). He tells His disciples: "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). Indeed, His Father and He together will come and make their home in those who love Him and obey His teachings (John 14:23).

But for this we need to know the Holy One. Jesus is our High Priest, and it is only by His shed Blood, offered to God as an atoning sacrifice for sin, that we may enter the Presence of a holy God. This is the only way, a new and living way, consecrated for us through His flesh, that is His Body. It is His shed Blood on the Cross alone that gives us access to the Father, and it is His way to new life. But we must draw near the Holy One in the right manner, in humble worship, our hearts and bodies washed, and come by faith in the finished work of the Son of God (Heb 10:19-22).

The Call to be Holy

Under the first covenant, God's desire to dwell with His people was expressed through a sacrifice on Yom Kippur that was an atonement for sin. Two kids of the goats were chosen by lot, one to be offered to the Lord as the sacrifice for sin and the other to be a scapegoat, where the High Priest symbolically transferred the sin of the congregation to the goat by laying his hands on its head, and the animal was then banished into the wilderness, carrying Israel's sins away (Lev 16:8-10).

This type or pattern was fulfilled in Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross at Passover, when the Lord laid upon Him the iniquity of us all - our sin and all its evil consequences (Isa 53:6). "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor 5:21), and thus be welcomed into the Father's Presence through the shedding of Jesus' Blood. This is the Father's invitation to intimate relationship with Him. But it is clear that "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins, and where these have been forgiven" through Jesus' sacrifice, "there is no longer any sacrifice for sin" (Heb 9:22; 10:18) - neither prayer, nor repentance, nor good deeds. The Cross was Jesus' finished work, perfectly perfect, completely complete (Greek tetelestai).

There are also in this passage warnings against the consumption of blood (for blood represents life) and against a range of unlawful sexual practices, which defile both man and the land. For both Israel and the Canaanites before them, this defilement led to the violent removal of the people from the land. God requires morality and holiness in Gentile nations today also, as this rebellion is a desecration of God's holiness and of His Name (chillul hashem).¹ Later, Ezekiel was shown practices by people in Jerusalem which were abominations to the Lord, and received God's confirmation that He would "consume them with My fiery anger" (Ezek 22:21).

Hallowed Be His Name

This Friday at sunset is the start of Pesach (Passover), when the first Passover is remembered in Seder meals, by many Jewish people who celebrate God's redemption and freedom from slavery in Egypt, and by believers in Yeshua who celebrate their salvation and freedom from slavery to sin. Let us at this time renew our calling to be holy; to be consecrated and sanctified for the Lord, when we draw near to Him in prayer and worship. But let it be in awe and reverence for His q'dosh.

Jesus taught us in coming to our Father in prayer, to say, "Hallowed be Your Name". This means, may people understand that You are the Holy One, 'totally other than'. May people see Your holy nature through what we do and say, in the way we live. May our lives reflect Your holy Name and character, because You are holy.

Rabbinic wisdom calls this kiddush hashem,² a way of blessing God through righteous living in a way that distinguishes between the holy and the profane, a way that is characterised by honesty, integrity and holiness, and a way that brings glory to God among those who do not yet know Him.³ We must proclaim the Kingdom and heal the sick (as Jesus did). Both words and deeds are needed to bring God glory, and to sanctify His Holy Name.

God's Summary

This is an essential aspect of our relationship with Him, through the veil. He encourages us to understand His awesome holiness, by saying to all Israel, and to us (Lev 19:2):

"Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy."

Author: Greg Stevenson

References

1 Telushkin, J. A Code of Jewish Ethics 1, pp456-475, 'You shall be holy'.

2 Ibid

3 Tverberg, L. Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus, p87.

Weekly passages: Leviticus 16:1–18:30; Ezekiel 22:1-19; Hebrews 9:11-28.

Weekly passages: Leviticus 14:1-15:33; 2 Kings 7:3-20; Matthew 8:5-17

Some of the least discussed passages of Scripture are those in the Old Testament relating to the control of mildew and infectious diseases. This may be because they do not seem relevant today. But are there truths hidden in these chapters that often get missed?

Clean or Unclean?

In Leviticus 14-15 (which naturally connects with Leviticus 13, part of last week's Torah portion), God institutes a pattern for dealing with infection and disease, which had both a physical and a spiritual purpose: physically, he was safe-guarding his people against contamination. Spiritually, he was keeping them and his dwelling-place pure (Lev 15:31). The regulations unfold thus: priestly examination of the infected person (or house!) led to careful diagnosis, which was followed by a period of quarantine, then further examination (and more quarantine if necessary) until a final decision was reached: clean, or unclean.

Depending on this final diagnosis, the infected person (or building) received a pronouncement of hope or despair, acceptance or rejection, consignment to life or to death. Those declared physically 'clean' were instructed on how to re-integrate into the community and what offerings to bring to God in order to become ceremonially clean again (for an extended discussion of ritual purity, click here). Those declared 'unclean' were ostracised, written off and consigned to a limited life 'outside the camp'. They were the spurned ones, the ones with no hope. Similarly, mildew-ridden houses that remained infected after every attempt had been made to cleanse them were condemned, torn down and their materials disposed of – again, 'outside the camp'.

For all that the Levitical Law provided regarding regulations for ceremonial cleanliness, it could not cure those who had been declared unclean. It gave instructions on ritual cleanliness to those who had already recovered, it instituted measures to prevent further spread of illness, but it offered no physiological solution for those affected.

God's Compassion

Did God not care about the lepers of old, those on whom society had given up? Far from it! In 2 Kings 7, four lepers were explicitly used by God to save the city of Samaria, which was under siege by the Arameans and in a state of starvation. It was the lepers' decision to embrace their consignment 'outside the camp' – to leave their place at the city gates and go into the enemy camp to seek an end other than starvation – that the Lord used to save Israel.

Just two chapters before, Elisha miraculously healed the leprosy of Naaman, an Aramean army commander - a man who was 'outside the camp' in that he was actually an enemy of Israel. The Gospels brim full of examples of Jesus healing the sick, including lepers, not fearing to go near them. Indeed, one of the key signs of the Messiah was to make possible the impossible (as only God can do), that lepers would be healed (Matt 11:5).

So yes, the Lord cares about lepers. He does not give up on people, even if society cannot cope with them. He delights to use those who have been labelled too weak, too repulsive or too unworthy to be of any earthly use - to the praise of His glory. No-one is beyond His reach – save those who willingly consign themselves to spiritual leprosy, choosing to allow sin to consume their entire beings, and rejecting God continually and wilfully, even to the end. This is the warning hidden in Leviticus 14-15 – sin must be isolated and dealt with quickly and deftly, not treated lightly or allowed to spread and have dominion.

The Purpose of the Law

What was true for Israel is true today. Perhaps mildewed houses are not our prime problem, but every generation has need of rules for health and hygiene – and deeper still, has need for the spiritual truths of holiness and cleanliness before God. Yet, however well we do in avoiding contamination, we always have need of God to cleanse us of sinfulness and perfect us. Just as a leper was an outcast from society, so we are all outside of the Kingdom until cleansed through faith in the power of the shed blood of Jesus.

Just as the Law could not heal those who had become leprous, so the Apostle Paul reminds us that the Law was never intended to be a cure for sin – it was intended to make us conscious of it (Rom 3:20): to draw attention to the problem, to make us uncomfortable about it, to warn us about its potential to spread and affect others, to make us aware of our real need of external help - to keep us humble about our shortcomings. The one true Solution has only ever been God Himself.

True Salvation in Jesus the Messiah

In Jesus, all of this reaches its fulfilment. In compassion, he reached out and touched lepers to heal them (in so doing making himself ceremonially unclean), "taking up our infirmities and carrying our diseases" (Matt 8:17; Isa 53:4) – physically doing what the Law was powerless to do. But instead of denying the Law or scoffing at its powerlessness, he fulfilled it, encouraging those whom he healed still to go to the Temple and offer the sacrifices instituted in Leviticus 14-15 - "as a testimony" (Matt 8:4).

Indeed, the detailed regulations for ceremonial cleansing in Leviticus (which require strange ingredients including hyssop branches, red yarn and birds) are all types and shadows of Jesus (and well worth a study in their own right), whose ultimate sacrifice made eternal atonement for our state of uncleanness before God, and overcame the power of sin once and for all.

In this, God's purposes are still the same as they always were: to keep his people and his dwelling-place - no longer a Tabernacle or a Temple, but our hearts - pure, undefiled and uncontaminated by sin. The requirement for seeing these purposes fulfilled in our own lives has only ever been faith.

In a divine paradox, Jesus shows us that the way to be restored from eternal rejection to eternal acceptance, from death to life, is to join him "outside the camp" (Heb 13:13-14). This was where he was taken for his final sacrifice on the Cross – the place of ultimate self-denial, worldly disgrace and rejection.

Paradoxically, this is the pathway to life in all its fullness – and everyone who is called to follow Jesus is called to take up their crosses, join him in his suffering and identify with him in his death. Somehow, the road originally allotted to the leper, who was to all the aroma of death, must also be ours if we desire to be the fragrance of life to those who need it (2 Cor 2:15-16). The glory of the Gospel is that those who were once 'white as snow' with the leprosy of sin, can be cleansed, healed and restored and made 'white as snow' with heavenly righteousness (e.g. Isa 1:18) - all through Jesus.

Author: Frances Rabbitts with Clifford Denton

Weekly passages: Leviticus 12:1-13:59; 2 Kings 4:42-5:19; John 6:8-13; Matthew 8:1-4.

This week's Torah portion is called Tazria, meaning 'She has conceived' because it begins with regulations for childbirth.

Many have puzzled over the regulations about childbirth. It seems odd to suggest a woman would be "teme'ah" or ritually impure after bringing life into the world. Why is the period of ritual impurity twice as long after giving birth to a girl? Some rabbis have said these laws are beyond our understanding. There is certainly no definitive answer.

Women in Jewish Culture

First, let's consider the position of women. There is a famous prayer that is said daily by Jewish men which includes thanks to God for not creating them a woman. It has been viewed typically as misogynistic, but there is another view, which is that men are thankful for the religious obligations bestowed upon them. Women are exempt from many religious obligations because of motherhood (an exalted state in Jewish tradition) and its attendant domestic duties.

Contrary to our negative view of being in a state of ritual impurity during menstruation and after childbirth, this was not onerous or restrictive for women. It released them from religious obligation so they could pursue family duties. It also gave them dignity, privacy, space and time away from men. The prohibition against touching a woman in a state of ritual impurity protected women from unwanted male attention.

It also reminded husbands to respect their wives, that they wives were not theirs to own and approach as they wished, they belonged to the Lord.¹ This prohibition: "If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly period, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it" (Lev 20:18) serves as a reminder of the sacredness of the creation of life, that it is the Lord who is the source of all created life and that an appropriate order and discipline applies to the most intimate spheres of existence.

Since it was common to have large families, most women probably spent much of their lives in a state of ritual impurity, as Joshua Tilton points out: "if a woman chose, she could postpone purification until her childbearing years were over, and then purify herself. The disadvantage was that she could not enter holy places or eat holy food until she was purified, but sometimes this disadvantage was outweighed by the inconvenience of going to the Temple for purification."² This would particularly be the case if she lived a long way from Jerusalem. David Flusser comments that individuals and communities could choose the level of ritual purity they maintained.³ If they lived in Jerusalem and visited the Temple frequently they would need to maintain the highest levels of ritual purity.

We also have to remember that women were respected and empowered in Old Testament culture.⁴ They had the right to buy, sell and own property, and make their own contracts, rights which women in Western countries (including America) did not have until about 100 years ago. In fact, Proverbs 31:10-31 (which is traditionally read at Jewish weddings) speaks repeatedly of business acumen as a trait to be prized in women.⁵ Women were also prophets (one of the best known in Jewish tradition was Huldah, who has gates in the Temple Mount named after her) and they were officials in synagogues.⁶

Understanding Ritual Purity

Secondly, we need to attempt to understand ritual purity, something the sages of Israel grappled with but found opaque. However, we can establish the foundational principle, which is that God is eternally alive and he is the Creator of all life. Death is the opposite of his divine nature and purposes for his creation.

This makes it is easier perhaps to understand why women were considered ritually impure during menstruation, because it indicates the end of the possibility of life being conceived. It is a "whisper of death", as one woman describes it.⁷ Being declared to be ritually impure is not a judgment on character or sentence passed on wrongdoing. After all, there is nothing sinful in menstruation or giving birth. Ritual purity is simply the state mortal beings need to be in for contact with the holy immortal One.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks gives some further insights from the sages: "When a mother gives birth, not only does she undergo great risk (until recently, childbirth was a life-threatening danger to mother and baby alike). She is also separated from what until now had been part of her own body (a foetus, said the rabbis, "is like a limb of the mother") and which has now become an independent person. If that is so in the case of a boy, it is doubly so in the case of a girl – who, with G-d's help, will not merely live but may herself in later years become a source of new life. At one level, therefore, the laws signal the detachment of life from life."⁸

He suggests also that women do not need to visit the Temple to be connected to the life of God, but when they did, it was in thanksgiving for a new life and for passing safely through the danger of childbirth: "It is as if G-d were saying to the mother: for forty days in the case of a boy, and doubly so in the case of a girl (the mother-daughter bond is ontologically stronger than that between mother and son), I exempt you from coming before Me in the place of holiness because you are fully engaged in one of the holiest acts of all, nurturing and caring for your child."⁹

For a fuller discussion of ritual purity, click here.

Skin Diseases and Evil Speech

The Torah portion goes on to describe the measures to be taken when dealing with defiling skin diseases and moulds. The skin disease is called tsara'at, often translated as leprosy, but translated as 'scale disease' by Jacob Milgrom, who has sought expert diagnosis of the skin disease described here, but apparently it does not correspond to any known complaint. Why is this mystery disease defiling? Because it gives the skin the appearance of a corpse, the skin peels as though the person is wasting away. Again, it is a reminder of death standing in opposition to God's life-giving Spirit and so cannot be tolerated in his presence.¹⁰

Rabbinic commentators were puzzled as to what this condition is and why it should be given such full treatment in the Torah. They decided that it was because it was a punishment for derogatory speech, known as lashon hara, literally 'evil tongue'.¹¹ It is not the same as slander or gossip, but concerns imparting information which is detrimental to another. In Numbers 12, Miriam questions why Moses is so much more qualified to lead the Jewish people than anyone else. God hears and strikes her down with tzara'at or leprosy.¹²

'Evil tongue' is not mentioned in the Torah, but Psalm 34:13 contains the command to "keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies". The sages of Israel regarded lashon hara as one of the worst of all sins, as bad as idolatry, murder and incest combined. They said it kills three people: the one who says it, the one he says it about, and the one who listens in.¹³ In Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox district Mea Shearim, there are signs saying "Please no lashon hara".

Jewish prayer reflects the concern over evil speech. The Amidah, said at least three times a day, opens with a plea for pure speech: "Open my lips so that my mouth may declare Your praise" and also contains these words, "My God, guard my tongue from evil and my lips from deceitful speech. To those who curse me let my soul be silent; may my soul be to all like the dust."¹⁴

So leprosy was seen as a punishment for sin, particular sinful speech. Priests acted as spiritual doctors, authorising re-entry to the community by simultaneously declaring the person 'clean' physically - but by implication spiritually. They could re-join community life and worship. Moulds, however, were not seen as a punishment

Jesus: Healing, Cleansing and Restoring

In our New Testament readings, Jesus demonstrates a greater authority than the priests. In John 6, he shows that he is the prophet like Moses, promised in Deuteronomy 18:15, when he feeds the five thousand on a hillside, echoing the provision of manna in the desert and the commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai.

In Matthew 8, he heals a leper with a touch. Instead of Jesus becoming unclean, the expected outcome, the leper becomes clean. Jesus is careful to obey God's Law by sending the man to show himself to the priest. He operates within God's word while at the same time demonstrating his divine nature and authority as the source of divine healing and forgiveness of sins. Through him, those who had suffered outside the camp, cut off from the community, could be brought near to be forgiven and cleansed.

Jesus identified with outcasts so that, as Hebrews 13:12 says, he "also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood". Our response should be: "Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore" (Heb 13:13). Our place is "outside the camp", in the place of suffering where the sinners are. Or are we too comfortable inside our cosy church 'camp'? It is outside the camp that we are reminded that, "here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come" (Heb 13:14).

We seek to bring the 'unclean' the gospel; not from a superior standpoint but sharing our experience of being made clean. Like our Master, we remain clean as we "continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name" (Heb 13:15). Our clean speech, our open profession of the name of Jesus, protects and guards us from defilement of all kinds.

Author: Helen Belton

References

1 VanGemeren, WA (Gen. Ed.). New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis, Vol 4, "Sexual Ordinances", p1204.

2 Tilton, J. A Goy's Guide to Ritual Purity, Jerusalem Perspective. 30 April 2014.

3 Flusser, D, 2007. Judaism of the Second Temple Period, Vol 1, 'Qumran and Apocalypticism'. Hebrew University Magnes Press, Jerusalem, p36.

4 By the time of Jesus, women were more restricted.

5 Verses 11, 13, 16 and 18 especially. See also Rich, TR. The Role of Women. Judaism 101.

6 Levine, LI, 2000. Women in the Synagogue, chapter 14 in The Ancient Synagogue: The First Thousand Years. Yale University Press, p499-518.

7 Goldstein, EM, Rabbi, 1996. Mikveh offers women a chance to 'take back the waters'. J Weekly, 8 November.

8 Sacks, J, Rabbi Lord. Holiness and Childbirth. Chabad.org.

9 Ibid.

10 Milgrom, J, 2004. Leviticus, A Book of Ritual and Ethics, A Continental Commentary. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, p127.

11 Sacks, J, Rabbi Lord. Tazria (5774) – The Price of Free Speech. RabbiSacks.org, 24 March 2014.

12 Leviticus 19:16.

13 See Maimonides, Hilkhot Deot 7:3.

14 See 6.

Weekly passages: Leviticus 9:1-11:47; 2 Samuel 6:1-7:17; Hebrews 7:1-19; 8:1-6.

There can be no doubt that what God says goes. For Israel it even came down to careful rules about what to eat and what not to eat. Bear in mind that the conditions of the Covenant at Sinai (Deut 28-29) stipulated all his commandments (Deut 28:1) were to be obeyed. God's own people are to stand out among the nations as unique – holy to the Lord.

A Matter of Life and Death

If we doubt God's word, then read Leviticus 10 carefully. Aaron's own sons, before they had much opportunity to ease into their priestly ministry, lost their lives for unholy offerings. It is arresting for us to note how, on several important occasions of a particular principle coming into force, someone lost their life. Examples are the man who picked up sticks on the Sabbath Day (Num 15:32-36), Nadab and Abihu in this week's portion, and Ananias and Sapphira for lying to the Holy Spirit on the matter of gifts to God (Acts 5:1-5). God's word is not negotiable and is a matter of life and death.

The chief focus of our Torah Portion this week is the beginning of the priestly ministry. The rules for sacrifice for a sin offering are laid out clearly - the substitutionary offerings of the lives of the specified animals "without any blemish" (Lev 9:2-3). If we did not have this information here and elsewhere in the Torah we would not have such vivid, clear points of teaching concerning the Lord Jesus the Messiah, for whom all these things prepared the way.

Read the details slowly and prayerfully. We read them as words in our Bibles. For the tribes of Israel, it was a point to consider every day of their lives as the priests performed the ministries of the Tabernacle (and later the Temple), always with the principle of no compromise etched into their memory from this experience in the wilderness years. This is God's Torah – his teaching. There is no other teacher or teaching like this in the entire world.

No Compromise

Neither was there compromise when Jesus the Messiah offered himself up as the sacrifice for sin for all that would believe. These types and shadows prepared the way for him. The line of Aaron relinquished their priestly standing that day and a new priesthood began, through Jesus our High Priest. The Father did not compromise that day of inauguration, painful though it was. Neither can we compromise.

For all people, whether Jew or Gentile, there is now only one way to reconciliation with the Father. Many New Testament passages affirm this. For example, John 10:7-18 is Jesus' own affirmation that he himself is the door to the sheepfold (verse 9), confirmed by John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

The uncompromising principles learned by Israel in the wilderness years are now transferred to salvation through Jesus the Messiah, both High Priest and the perfect lamb slain for the sins of the world. It is, in the deepest of all ways, a matter of life and death that we realise that there is no compromise in this. What better Torah Portion to read the week after Easter and on the days running up to Passover?¹

Author: Clifford Denton

Notes

1 As an aside, especially at a time when the Archbishop of Canterbury is talking about standardising the date of Easter, it would be good and timely to reconnect Easter with Passover. What we study in this Torah Portion is deeply relevant to both Jew and Gentile.

Weekly passages: Leviticus 6:8-8:36; Jeremiah 7:21-8:3; Hebrews 7:24-8:6.

The titles given to the Torah portions read each Sabbath are each taken from a significant word at the beginning of the respective passage. This week it is Tsav, which means 'a command'. It is the third time the Lord told Moses to issue a specific command to the Israelites (Ex 27:20, 36:6, and in this week's portion in Lev 6:9).

This one is a command to Aaron covering the regulations for priestly functions - consecration, anointing and sacrifices. Each function, especially the offerings, had a specific instruction, because everything about the Tabernacle had to be performed correctly, as it was a pattern of the Heavenly reality which was the dwelling of God with His people (Ex 25:9, 40; Num 8:4; Heb 8:5, 9:23).

Consecration with Emphasis

The anointing and consecration of the priests for their service has a relevance for Christians too, as we also are called to be "a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Pet 2:5).

Of particular interest, this anointing of Aaron and his sons for consecration was to be on the lobe of their right ear, the thumb on their right hand and the big toe of their right foot (Lev 8:23). Does this seem a very odd command? Stay with me! David Blumenthal points out that some biblical texts have cantor marks over words (here underlined) to indicate how they are to be sung,1 as in this week's passage where Moses "slaughtered a ram" as a sin offering. There are only three other places where this cantor mark is added:

• in the phrase, "Lot hesitated" (on leaving Sodom, in contrast to Abraham who hurried to obey God's command when he heard it) - Genesis 19:16;
• in the phrase, "Eliezer prayed" (for a sign in choosing a wife for Isaac, followed by Rachel drawing water for him and his 10 camels – 400 gallons, the work of her hands) - Genesis 24:12;
• and in the phrase "but he [Joseph] refused" (the advances of Potiphar's wife, and he ran away quickly from evil) - Genesis 39:8.

In these passages, we can note the relevance of anointing the right ear, the right thumb, and the right toe. Each of these parts of the body is symbolic of our functions as priests, and they need to be consecrated for our walk with the Lord. So the priests were anointed on these parts for obedience to God's commands – to hear, to work and to walk/run. Are we consecrated for these vital priestly functions for the Lord?

Are we hearing what God is saying? Are we ready to work for Him? Are we walking in His path and running from evil?

Offering Ourselves in Love

James tells us that faith needs the witness of good deeds; Paul reminds us that we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared for us in advance for us to do (Eph 2:10). For this we need to listen, to work and to walk/run in obedience to God's calls. Let us offer, as priests, our ears, our hands and our feet, to be consecrated to hear what He says, to obey as He commands (to work while it is day), and to walk in His path, as He leads.

If we love Him, and obey His commands, the Father and the Lord Jesus will come to us and make their home with us (John 14:23). Then what we do will be more about Him and less about us. We may think the work we do is for Him. But if God abides in us, then we can do His work and carry His blessing to draw others into the Kingdom. To bear fruit for the Kingdom we need to remain (abide) in Him (John 15:4).

Obedience as Well as Worship

Priestly function (for us too) is to offer obedience and worship (Lev 8:36) together with blessings for people (Num 6:23-27). In Jeremiah's time (as in our day also), Israel did not always uphold this loyalty. The people came even into the Temple to claim God's blessing and protection while continuing in their evil ways. God warned them: "Has this House which bears My Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching, declares the Lord" (Jer 7:11).

In Jesus' day, too, the Temple (which should have been a holy sanctuary) was being used as a marketplace for commercial profit. This led Him to drive out the money-changers (the 'bureau-de-change') and those buying and selling, quoting Isaiah and Jeremiah: "My House will be called a House of Prayer for all nations. But you have made it a den of robbers" (Isaiah 56:7; Mark 11:17). Is this sometimes true today also?

God speaks clearly to believers (His priests). He says, of Jesus, "This is My Son, whom I love. Listen to Him" (Mark 9:2).

God's frustration with His ancient people Israel was clear. "I spoke to you again and again [Hebrew – rising up early and speaking], but you did not listen. I called to you, but you did not answer" (Jer 7:13). God still speaks to His people, but are our ears anointed for listening to His voice today? He would say to all believers today: Sh'ma! Hear (and obey).

Our Great High Priest

Aaron was, for a time, a High Priest who stood among the children of Israel. But we have a permanent High Priest who sat down at the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in Heaven, and who serves in the Sanctuary, the true Tabernacle set up by the Lord and not by man (Heb 8:1-2). This High Priest, Yeshua, Israel's Messiah, is able to save – completely - those who come to God through Him. Such a High Priest meets our needs, because He made a sacrifice for the sins of the people, once for all, when He offered Himself (Heb 7:25-27) as the Lamb of God at Passover.

Author: Greg Stevenson

References

1 Blumenthal, DR, 1994. God at the Centre, Meditations on Jewish Spirituality. Jason Aronson, p78.

Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP/Press Association Images

Weekly passages: Leviticus 1:1-6:7; Isaiah 43:21-44:23; 1 Samuel 15: 2-34; Hebrews 10:1-18.

This week's Torah portion is called Vayikra (also the Hebrew name for the book of Leviticus), which is Hebrew for 'and he called' (also the first word in Leviticus). This portion deals with the offerings the Israelites were commanded to bring to the Lord. These are the burnt offering (olah), gift or grain offering (minha), fellowship or peace offering (selem), sin offering (hatat) and guilt offering (asham). These regulations are linked back to the call Moses received from the Lord at the Tabernacle, or Tent of Meeting (Lev 1:1).¹

Physical Spirituality

Modern readers struggle with the concept of animal sacrifice. It seems primitive - barbaric even. Very few of us deal with butchery of any kind. We are often only dimly aware of the true vulnerability of our own bodies and their raw physicality. We often imagine that spirituality must transcend the physical.

However, biblical spirituality is intensely physical. "Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name" (Ps 103:1). We praise God with our bodies as well as our minds. The Hebrew word for 'inmost being' can also refer to 'entrails'! It is from the same root verb as the word for sacrifice, korban, which means 'to draw near' to God.

As Rachel Timoner points out: "The Levitical sacrifices, as substitutes for our own bodies, represent a yearning to give ourselves over, body and soul, to serve God."² So the sacrificial system was Israel's means of drawing near to a holy God.

We often imagine that spirituality must transcend the physical – but biblical spirituality involves our whole bodies in praising God.

In order to draw near, provision had to be made for the holiness of the people and the sanctuary to be maintained. In its requirement for cleansing with lifeblood, the sacrificial system involved continual physical reminders of the precious life that God bestows. However, Hebrews 10, commenting on this system, asserts that "[the Law] can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship" (Heb 10:1) and "It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Heb 10:4).

So what was the purpose of the sacrificial system if sin could not be removed?

Sacrifice: Atonement and Covering

Sacrifice provided atonement for sins: "For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life" (Lev 17:11). However, it could not remove sin. Instead, the Lord chooses to remove sin, as this week's Haftarah passage³ from Isaiah says: "I have swept away your offences like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you'" (Isa 44:22).

Atonement means that sins were covered by sacrifice. The Hebrew for 'Day of Atonement' is Yom Kippur - Kippur comes from a root verb meaning 'to cover'. So it is literally 'Day of Covering'. Atonement therefore consisted of covering sin whilst, in his grace, God chose to send sins away "as far as the east is from the west" (Ps 103:12).

The word for 'inmost being', which can also refer to 'entrails', is from the same root as the word for 'sacrifice', which means 'to draw near' to God.

A further proof that the Levitical sacrifices were not of the same order as Messiah's sacrifice is that the apostle Paul continued to offer temple sacrifices after he had become a believer in Jesus as Messiah. He even paid for other Jewish believers to offer sacrifices (Acts 21:23-26). He refers to a time when "I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings. I was ceremonially clean when they found me in the temple courts doing this" (Acts 24:17-18). He also followed the Old Testament practice of a Nazirite vow (Acts 18:18; 21:23). This means that in his eyes, the Levitical sacrifices functioned differently to Messiah's sacrifice.

Sacrifice: Purification, Consecration and Honour

Sacrifice also purged the sanctuary from defilement. The purification offering (Lev 4:1-5:13) was not required in order to purify the person bringing the offering. Only bathing is required to purify the body in Leviticus and remorse clears the conscience from moral impurity.⁴

Instead, it is the sanctuary that is purified from defilement by the purification offering. Blood is smeared on the horns of the altar to purge it (the word kippur is used again which can be translated as purgation). Blood is the cleansing agent.⁵ It also consecrated the sanctuary because blood by nature was holy to the Lord.⁶ If the sanctuary were not purified, the end result would be that the Lord would depart because he cannot remain where there is defilement.

Sacrifice was also about honouring the Lord. In the Isaiah reading, the Lord rebukes Israel (Isa 43:23): "You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honoured me with your sacrifices." Sacrifice was about acknowledging who the Lord is and the redemptive work he has done. Only the best was worthy to be presented before the Lord: the grain offering was to consist of the finest flour (Lev 2:1) and animals were to be without defect (Lev 1:3).

Sacrifice also honoured God and purified the sanctuary to keep it suitable for the Lord's presence.

Once for All: Jesus Perfect Sacrifice

We can be thankful that in Messiah Jesus all our sins are atoned for and removed. Hebrews 10 quotes Jeremiah 31's new covenant where the Lord promises once and for all to remove sin: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more" (Jer 31:34). The Lord chooses to forget our sins.

Only Jesus' unique sacrifice could make "perfect forever those who are being made holy" (Heb 10:14). This verses perfectly encapsulates the 'now and not yet' of redemption: we have been made perfect in God's sight through Messiah's sacrifice, but we are still being made holy in this life.

By the "blood of Jesus" we can enter "the most holy place" (v19), which references the high priest's annual journey into the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). We can draw near in "full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water" (v22). Just as the altar was sprinkled with blood, so our hearts have been cleansed by faith in what the blood of Jesus has done. Our bodies are washed by the water of baptism, just as God commanded ritual cleansing in water (mikveh is the Hebrew word for a ritual bath) before people approached him in the Temple.

In light of such a great salvation, the author of Hebrews exhorts believers to persevere: "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Heb 10:23-25).

Author: Helen Belton

References

1 VanGemeren, WA, 1997. New International Dictionary of OT Theology and Exegesis, Vol 4. Paternoster, Carlisle, p910.

2 Timoner, R. Giving Ourselves to God: Blood and Guts, Body and Soul. ReformJudaism.org.

3 "In the synagogue service, the weekly parshah [Torah portion] is followed by a passage from the prophets, which is referred to as a haftarah. Contrary to common misconception, "haftarah" does not mean "half-Torah." The word comes from the Hebrew root Fei-Tet-Reish and means "Concluding Portion". Usually, haftarah portion is no longer than one chapter, and has some relation to the Torah portion of the week." Rich, T. Torah Readings. Judaism 101.

4 Milgrom, J, 2004. Leviticus: A Book of Ritual and Ethics. Augsberg Fortress, Minneapolis.

5 Ibid.

6 See note 1, p1005.