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Vayikra (Leviticus)
acharai mot/kedoshim 16:1-20:27 |
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 16:23-17:9 (NASB)1
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.
17 1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, 'This is what the LORD has commanded, saying, 3 "Any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp, 4 and has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD, bloodguiltiness is to be reckoned to that man. He has shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among his people. 5 "The reason is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing in the open field, that they may bring them in to the LORD, at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the LORD. 6 "The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and offer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to the LORD. 7 "They shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a permanent statute to them throughout their generations."' 8 "Then you shall say to them, 'Any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, 9 and does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it to the LORD, that man also shall be cut off from his people.
17 1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, 'This is what the LORD has commanded, saying, 3 "Any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp, 4 and has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD, bloodguiltiness is to be reckoned to that man. He has shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among his people. 5 "The reason is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing in the open field, that they may bring them in to the LORD, at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the LORD. 6 "The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and offer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to the LORD. 7 "They shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a permanent statute to them throughout their generations."' 8 "Then you shall say to them, 'Any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, 9 and does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it to the LORD, that man also shall be cut off from his people.
It was a gorgeous day weather-wise today (Sunday) and the new filly appears to be settling in now that much of the fanfare has decreased from yesterday. I feel I've had a respite and hope I have enough “gas left in the tank” (so to speak) to do some raking in the yard here, after the cooking and washing up for the seniors club tomorrow. The chickens are SO happy to be able to get outside and have more space and fresh air! They don't even have to tell me. I can tell by watching them in the run during the day. The big red rooster is always the last one in the coop in the evening and takes a lot of encouragement. Our favorite little ankle-biter spent the day here again with her mother. Oakley had quite a day. She stepped into a post hole and got her foot soaked because groundwater had partially filled it the night before. Then she somehow accidentally rolled down the ramp at the door of the Georgian Bay Resort trailer. Here I was, bragging that her balance as a fifteen-month-old toddler was so much better than mine. I guess she had an 'off' day. But it didn't spoil anything for her. Everything is such an adventure! After the 'soaker', she had a spare pair of boots and a change of clothing and away she went, happy as the proverbial wee clam. Now, I had to stop and find out where that saying originated. It appears that someone suggested when a clam is partially open, it appears to be smiling. The first record of its use is from the US newspaper, The Bangor Daily Whig and Courier in 1841. The complete idiom is actually, “Happy as a clam at high water”. At high tide, the clam is free from predators. That would make me happy too, I would think.
We continue with the instructions for the Day of Atonement. These were instructions given to Aaron and he would, in turn, teach them to his sons, as the oldest of them would take his place after his death.
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.
In my nursing days, there were always protocols and policies laid out in huge binders. Even the most basic of duties was detailed in these binders, step by step. I suppose one might look at these pages in this third book of Leviticus/Vayikra as a book with many detailed pages of protocols and policies for the priesthood.
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 16:34.
God took special pains to impress that this Day of Atonement would be an integral part of Hebrew worship for “all time” and “throughout the ages”. Now, this is a phrase that is overlooked by all those who are not oriented to the Messianic frame of reference. In other words, these have been conveniently forgotten by the mainline church, which left the Messianic scene a very long time ago. Yes, it is for the Jews to celebrate this for all time. Since we believers are now cognizant of being the spiritual sons of Abraham, I would suppose that this imperative would apply to us as well.
29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:29.
The other imperative that God demanded the Israelites keep was that there should henceforth be no more sacrificing of any animals at any other place, anywhere, other than at the Tent of Meeting. God knew how heavily addicted the Israelites were when it came to worshiping pagan deities in the open fields, as the rest of the nations. The penalty for offering any sacrifice anywhere else but the Tent of Meeting (Tabernacle) was death, which could be immediate or after a time, but the end was the same. If a man killed an animal to sacrifice anywhere else but the Tabernacle he would be “cut off from among his people.” One of the ways God would separate His people from every other pagan nation on the earth was through this act of worship at a central location.
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them; This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, saying, 3 What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp, 4 And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people: 5 To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the LORD. Leviticus 17:1-5.
God, like the benevolent Father He is, said: “Okay, if you want to sacrifice animals so badly, then I will set up the system of sacrificial offerings, BUT—you are to sacrifice only in a specific location—that will mark you from the rest of the world. No more pagan worship!” It is like the Word, here, discriminates between two styles of living. In the fields is the pagan way of living. In the Tabernacle is God’s way of living. The price was hefty if God was not taken seriously about this. The thing about the Temple now is, WE are the temple!
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16.
And we, like the temple (tabernacle in the desert) are one with God!
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:17.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
Like the Tabernacle in the desert had an outer court, an inner court behind the first curtain, and then the deepest place where God dwelt, so do we correspond to the nature of the Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting! Our outer shell is our natural man—the flesh. The inward, behind the first curtain is our soul. The Holiest of Holies is where God dwells in our Spirit. It is the deepest part of us, and it is where we have sweet fellowship with God. Watchman Nee did an excellent teaching on this notion. He says that now that we've seen God's order, we can appreciate the perfect harmony that exists between the temple and men concerning “order and value”.
Now knowing the fact that our soul stands between body and spirit, we can understand how a lot of work gets done for the Lord in “soulish” manners. What is done in this realm is not as important or lasting as that which is undertaken in the “holy of holies” part of our spirit man! Anything that we do that is arrived at from our deepest communications from God Himself in our spirit is what is going to survive the “fire” that we all must pass through in our experiences. The church has mistakenly pounded another principle of the importance and care and feeding of “the soul” to the exclusion of the spirit man. It is no mere slip of the tongue when so many believers refer to ourselves as “body, soul and spirit”, for if we were to be perfectly honest with ourselves, we would admit to practicing that order in everything that we do and say.
To believe that the Law is no longer valid because we are now declared the Temple of the Holy Spirit is a soulish belief that does not stand to the test of logic in Romans 8:1-4. We hear many apologists make the argument that nobody could fulfill the righteousness of the Law, and yet if we let go of the workings of the soul part of us, which is so mired in our ego, protection of self, and embodies so much of the “flesh” in us, we will see Romans 8:4 in a new light. Of course, the righteousness of the Law can be fulfilled in us—but only if we walk after the Spirit! The soul is important, but not near as important as our spirit man—for that is where we meet God, behind the curtains as it were. We experience His perfect presence that judges our soulish aims and goals and places us in the right perspective with Him. We've talked about this last week: the righteousness of the law can be fulfilled IN US!
We continue with the instructions for the Day of Atonement. These were instructions given to Aaron and he would, in turn, teach them to his sons, as the oldest of them would take his place after his death.
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.
In my nursing days, there were always protocols and policies laid out in huge binders. Even the most basic of duties was detailed in these binders, step by step. I suppose one might look at these pages in this third book of Leviticus/Vayikra as a book with many detailed pages of protocols and policies for the priesthood.
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 16:34.
God took special pains to impress that this Day of Atonement would be an integral part of Hebrew worship for “all time” and “throughout the ages”. Now, this is a phrase that is overlooked by all those who are not oriented to the Messianic frame of reference. In other words, these have been conveniently forgotten by the mainline church, which left the Messianic scene a very long time ago. Yes, it is for the Jews to celebrate this for all time. Since we believers are now cognizant of being the spiritual sons of Abraham, I would suppose that this imperative would apply to us as well.
29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:29.
The other imperative that God demanded the Israelites keep was that there should henceforth be no more sacrificing of any animals at any other place, anywhere, other than at the Tent of Meeting. God knew how heavily addicted the Israelites were when it came to worshiping pagan deities in the open fields, as the rest of the nations. The penalty for offering any sacrifice anywhere else but the Tent of Meeting (Tabernacle) was death, which could be immediate or after a time, but the end was the same. If a man killed an animal to sacrifice anywhere else but the Tabernacle he would be “cut off from among his people.” One of the ways God would separate His people from every other pagan nation on the earth was through this act of worship at a central location.
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them; This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, saying, 3 What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp, 4 And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people: 5 To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the LORD. Leviticus 17:1-5.
God, like the benevolent Father He is, said: “Okay, if you want to sacrifice animals so badly, then I will set up the system of sacrificial offerings, BUT—you are to sacrifice only in a specific location—that will mark you from the rest of the world. No more pagan worship!” It is like the Word, here, discriminates between two styles of living. In the fields is the pagan way of living. In the Tabernacle is God’s way of living. The price was hefty if God was not taken seriously about this. The thing about the Temple now is, WE are the temple!
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16.
And we, like the temple (tabernacle in the desert) are one with God!
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:17.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
Like the Tabernacle in the desert had an outer court, an inner court behind the first curtain, and then the deepest place where God dwelt, so do we correspond to the nature of the Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting! Our outer shell is our natural man—the flesh. The inward, behind the first curtain is our soul. The Holiest of Holies is where God dwells in our Spirit. It is the deepest part of us, and it is where we have sweet fellowship with God. Watchman Nee did an excellent teaching on this notion. He says that now that we've seen God's order, we can appreciate the perfect harmony that exists between the temple and men concerning “order and value”.
Now knowing the fact that our soul stands between body and spirit, we can understand how a lot of work gets done for the Lord in “soulish” manners. What is done in this realm is not as important or lasting as that which is undertaken in the “holy of holies” part of our spirit man! Anything that we do that is arrived at from our deepest communications from God Himself in our spirit is what is going to survive the “fire” that we all must pass through in our experiences. The church has mistakenly pounded another principle of the importance and care and feeding of “the soul” to the exclusion of the spirit man. It is no mere slip of the tongue when so many believers refer to ourselves as “body, soul and spirit”, for if we were to be perfectly honest with ourselves, we would admit to practicing that order in everything that we do and say.
To believe that the Law is no longer valid because we are now declared the Temple of the Holy Spirit is a soulish belief that does not stand to the test of logic in Romans 8:1-4. We hear many apologists make the argument that nobody could fulfill the righteousness of the Law, and yet if we let go of the workings of the soul part of us, which is so mired in our ego, protection of self, and embodies so much of the “flesh” in us, we will see Romans 8:4 in a new light. Of course, the righteousness of the Law can be fulfilled in us—but only if we walk after the Spirit! The soul is important, but not near as important as our spirit man—for that is where we meet God, behind the curtains as it were. We experience His perfect presence that judges our soulish aims and goals and places us in the right perspective with Him. We've talked about this last week: the righteousness of the law can be fulfilled IN US!
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4.
1 Scripture reading from the NASB www.lockman.org and KJV unless otherwise stated.
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