Vayikra
(Leviticus) acharai mot 16:1-18:30 |
Meaning
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Day Two
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Haftara
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B'rit Hadashah
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1 Our Father, we receive Your Words and hide Your commandments with us; 2 we incline our ear unto wisdom, and apply our hearts to understanding; 3 We cry after knowledge and lift up our voices for understanding; 4 we seek it as silver; and search for it as for hidden treasures; 5 We declare that we shall understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. Declaration of Proverbs 2:1-5
Leviticus 16:1-17 (NASB)1
18 “Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. 19 “With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it, and from the impurities of the sons of Israel consecrate it. 20 “When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat. 21 “Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. 22 “The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. 23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there. 24 “He shall bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes, and come forth and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 “Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar. 26 “The one who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp. 27 “But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire. 28 “Then the one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, then afterward he shall come into the camp. 29 “This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; 30 for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the LORD. 31 “It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statute. 32 “So the priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on the linen garments, the holy garments, 33 and make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar. He shall also make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 “Now you shall have this as a permanent statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as the LORD had commanded Moses, so he did.
Welcome to the second day of the week! I checked the spot every once in a while yesterday to see if that juvenile bear returned, but didn't see any sign of it. My son in law and Richard were back there back and forth to the beaver ponds on Saturday, checking for downed trees and my son in law marked a better trail. Apparently its not as rigorous as the one we were using last fall, but the distance is about the same. I wonder if that bear was watching them and it peaked curiosity and that's why he/she showed up Saturday evening. The boys reported a large amount of moose scat back there also. It appears that we have a thriving ecosystem in that back one hundred and forty acres or so.
My grandson had trail cams up several years ago and he collected a lot of photographs of martens, moose, and bear. Raccoons made it into the barn last summer and thankfully, were unable to break into the chicken coop to decimate the chickens. We had the trail cams in there and that's how we discovered what sort of critter was breaking in! The mystery was how they were getting in. I mixed up a little shaker of an assortment of every pepper that I had in the kitchen and shook it on the floor in that annex they were getting into. I put some in areas where it wouldn't be easily tracked into the coop on our own boots. That appeared to solve the problem. I left the bottle there in case it's needed.
But on the subject of Torah, this goat thing every year on the Day of Atonement is fascinating. How many years did we all go through the Passion Week of Messiah never knowing the connections that it had with the the Passover observed by the Jews? All those forty plus years I never realized that the death of Messiah occurred at exactly the same time that they slaughtered the lambs for Passover at the temple in Jerusalem. While Messiah hung on that cross, over at another location in the city of Jerusalem, the Passover observance was being held and the implications of the that feast shifted from prophecy into history. This fills me with wonder and gratitude that even if it did take forty plus years to come into this knowledge—at last I have come into it!
Please note that these things of which we speak this week contain laws (or commands, or mizvot) that only the priests and the Levites would have to know and/or be involved in.
20 And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. Leviticus 16:20-22,
The people could know about all these things but it would be ludicrous to expect them to carry these things out to ‘fulfill the law’ when it wasn't their office or their capacity to do so. The Levites who were all the ‘support staff’ in the tabernacle weren’t qualified to carry out any of those priestly duties either. Each segment of the society in Israel was bound only to carry out and obey those laws which were specific to their segment of the population.
29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: 30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. 31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. Leviticus 16:29-31,
Here we see the differences between the sabbaths. Not only was there a weekly sabbath but with the onset and completion of some of the feasts of Yahweh, now there would be other sabbaths on ‘high days’. In the Gospel of John we see this:
31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. John 19:31.
Therefore: the "high" Sabbath that was to begin at sunset of the day when the Messiah was killed was the annual Holy Day/Sabbath of Passover, not the weekly Sabbath. How long did we all read these Gospel accounts and never know the connection of the Sabbaths to the ‘high’ Sabbaths? This is amazing stuff! Because well intentioned Bible preachers and teachers have recommended that their new recruits and ‘babes in Christ’ not read the ‘Old’ Testament, because “it’s not as important”, and so, many believers never know, as Paul Harvey used to say: “the rest of the story”! At this time in history, because Messiah completed His mission during His first appearance in the skin of a man upon the earth, He completed those first spring feasts. When He returns, He shall complete the fall feasts with that fantastic and great in-gathering of the harvest of souls! Then, after He cleans up this planet, we'll have much time to go through that list of queries that I've been amassing...
My grandson had trail cams up several years ago and he collected a lot of photographs of martens, moose, and bear. Raccoons made it into the barn last summer and thankfully, were unable to break into the chicken coop to decimate the chickens. We had the trail cams in there and that's how we discovered what sort of critter was breaking in! The mystery was how they were getting in. I mixed up a little shaker of an assortment of every pepper that I had in the kitchen and shook it on the floor in that annex they were getting into. I put some in areas where it wouldn't be easily tracked into the coop on our own boots. That appeared to solve the problem. I left the bottle there in case it's needed.
But on the subject of Torah, this goat thing every year on the Day of Atonement is fascinating. How many years did we all go through the Passion Week of Messiah never knowing the connections that it had with the the Passover observed by the Jews? All those forty plus years I never realized that the death of Messiah occurred at exactly the same time that they slaughtered the lambs for Passover at the temple in Jerusalem. While Messiah hung on that cross, over at another location in the city of Jerusalem, the Passover observance was being held and the implications of the that feast shifted from prophecy into history. This fills me with wonder and gratitude that even if it did take forty plus years to come into this knowledge—at last I have come into it!
Please note that these things of which we speak this week contain laws (or commands, or mizvot) that only the priests and the Levites would have to know and/or be involved in.
20 And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. Leviticus 16:20-22,
The people could know about all these things but it would be ludicrous to expect them to carry these things out to ‘fulfill the law’ when it wasn't their office or their capacity to do so. The Levites who were all the ‘support staff’ in the tabernacle weren’t qualified to carry out any of those priestly duties either. Each segment of the society in Israel was bound only to carry out and obey those laws which were specific to their segment of the population.
29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: 30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. 31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. Leviticus 16:29-31,
Here we see the differences between the sabbaths. Not only was there a weekly sabbath but with the onset and completion of some of the feasts of Yahweh, now there would be other sabbaths on ‘high days’. In the Gospel of John we see this:
31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. John 19:31.
Therefore: the "high" Sabbath that was to begin at sunset of the day when the Messiah was killed was the annual Holy Day/Sabbath of Passover, not the weekly Sabbath. How long did we all read these Gospel accounts and never know the connection of the Sabbaths to the ‘high’ Sabbaths? This is amazing stuff! Because well intentioned Bible preachers and teachers have recommended that their new recruits and ‘babes in Christ’ not read the ‘Old’ Testament, because “it’s not as important”, and so, many believers never know, as Paul Harvey used to say: “the rest of the story”! At this time in history, because Messiah completed His mission during His first appearance in the skin of a man upon the earth, He completed those first spring feasts. When He returns, He shall complete the fall feasts with that fantastic and great in-gathering of the harvest of souls! Then, after He cleans up this planet, we'll have much time to go through that list of queries that I've been amassing...
29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: 30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. 31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. 32 And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments: 33 And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation. 34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses. Leviticus 16:32-34.
1 Scripture reading from the NASB www.lockman.org and KJV unless otherwise stated.
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