Yogi Berra famously quipped, “It’s deja vu all over again.” And that seems to sum up the beginning of Torah reading בְּהַעֲלֹתְךָ Beha’alotcha (“when you raise up” [the lamps]). We have read about the Tabernacle menorah and the consecration of the priesthood before in Shemot (Exodus) and Vayiqra (Leviticus), but Bamidbar (Numbers), like Devarim (Deuteronomy), is a thematic rather than a book. And Bamidbar is like a travelogue of Israel’s journey from bondage to freedom, with snapshots of cringe-worthy waypoints that are best not revisited by future generations.

In the Beha’alotecha album of snapshots, we see a collection of lessons about remembering the One Who gave freedom and guarding oneself against resentment for the journey to that freedom.

Rather than from our vantage point of over 3,500 years in the future, put yourself in their place. It’s the second year since the Exodus from Egypt. Now, Israel is putting into action what God taught about the Tabernacle and its lessons of internal transformation. 

Numbers 8: The LORD watches the deeds of the nation of priests

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and say to him, ‘When you mount the lamps, the seven lamps will give light in the front of the menorah.’” Aaron therefore did so; he mounted its lamps at the front of the menorah, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. Now this was the workmanship of the menorah, hammered work of gold; from its base to its flowers it was hammered work; according to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses, so he made the menorah.” (Numbers 8:1–4 NASB)

* What was the point of this menorah? To bring light. 

* Who saw this light? Only the priests who were allowed to enter the Temple. 

* What did the menorah reveal? The light shined on the loaves of bread, representing the 12 tribes of Israel. 

It’s to remind them and us that God’s eyes were on all 12 tribes of Israel. They are always looking at His people. That is why the menorah was to be kept lit at all times.

Numbers 9:1–5: Anniversary of the Exodus, time to celebrate Pesakh

On the first Pesakh (Passover or Pascha), when they were in Egypt, they didn’t have to comply with the laws of ritual purity to celebrate and eat that Passover sacrifice but after Sinai, God instituted rules regarding Pesakh that required that one be ritually pure before eating of the Pesakh lamb or goat. But there are valid reasons where one isn’t able to partake of the Pesakh sacrifice at the scheduled time. 

Numbers 9:6–14: Second-chance Pesakh

There were certain exceptions in which one is given an opportunity to partake of a Pesach a month after the regular Pesach. 

* Allowed if one was unclean because of contact with a נֶפֶשׁ nefesh (H5315), a body without נִשְׁמַ֣ת חַיִּים nishmat chayyim (H5397+H2425b). 

* “observe Passover on that day” (Num. 9:6): Rashi posits, “It was the seventh day of their uncleanness.”

* In Num. 5:2–4, there was the directive to send outside the camp those with skin diseases, discharges and handlers of the dead.

*  That banishment period was seven days for leprosy (Leviticus 13 and Num. 12:15).

* And it was seven days for undertakers (Num. 19:11).

We need to understand that just as we don’t waltz into our neighbors house and raid their fridge anytime we want to do so, it is the same with God’s house. Where the LORD dwells is to be associated with life and sweetness, separate from death and stench (abominations and excrement).

It can be something to discuss with our brothers and sisters in the Body of Messiah that grace and a Spirit-led life were as much as a part of Tabernacle and Temple times as they were for post-Resurrection times,

Shavuot (Pentecost) commemorates the testimony of God coming and the Spirit of God coming to give it power. Yeshua haMoshiakh (Jesus the Christ) is the “word made flesh” (John 1:14) and “exact representation of (God’s) nature” (Hebrews 1:3). We explore the Ten Commandments and the Pentecost after Yeshua’s resurrection to see why the Bible makes so many connections between them.

Today we conclude our 50-day journey along side our ancestors in faith from Egypt to Mt. Sinai, from Pesakh (Passover) to Shavuot (Pentecost). It is something that we all experience: delivery from our own house of bondage and into the house of freedom. We need a yearly reminder of where we started and where we are going.

There’s one of those things that we should remember: God doesn’t call on us to clean up our act — to deliver ourselves — before delivering us.

The message we have from the Word is to trust in God’s delivery then follow like Israel did, even when it looks impossible, even when it looks like you will be overcome by your past, like Israel backed up against the sea, or die from thirst and hunger along the way. Even when it looks lie God is leading you from one dead end to another over and again.

The continual message is faith, faith and more faith. Paul tells us we go from faith to faith (Rom. 1:17), like stepping stones on a path from Egypt to the Mountain.

Their deliverance was unique in the history of the world. And one of the lessons that’s been emphasized again, and again, quite forcefully is respect. Respect the One who delivered you from Egypt and give respect to the one who’s bringing you to freedom, again preceding the recitation of the 10 words.

The culmination is recorded in Exodus 19–20. Every one of the Ten Commandments teaches a lesson about respect. Respecting God, respecting ourselves and respecting other people.

The book of Ruth shows us that there were people of the nations who, despite the fact they were descended from people who did not choose to follow the God of Abraham, they can make a different choice than their ancestor’s made.

We can all say, like Ruth said, in so many words (Ruth 1:16), “My ancestors, the people who I came from, they went down a bad path, but I’m not going to go that way anymore.” They decided to go a different route. And that route, to paraphrase Robert Frost, “I took a different road and it made all the difference.” Each of us can choose to go a different way.

Ruth, by taking the “path less traveled” changed the course of her life and the lives of her descendants by joining the people of faith rather than to continue to live with a people without faith.

Commandments 1–3: Respect the One Who brought you out

God took Israel out of the house of bondage. When they started to ask to return back to Egypt, they were taking God’s reputation and saying that it had no effect on them. They were lowering God’s reputation, rather than holding it high. They were to carry the story of God’s deliverance with them and remember that they had been delivered by the hand of the LORD.

Commandment 4: Respect the Creator

So they were supposed to not only remember God as the one who took them out of the house of bondage, but He is also the one who created everything. He was not just some random spirit being who happened upon them. This is the Creator of everything doing this.

This is not a thread of something jumping down in the midst of history to do one thing. This is the Creator of the heavens and Earth Who got everything started everywhere. He is doing something spectacular on the Earth and those living here need to pay attention.

Commandment 5: Respect your creators

They were repeatedly told to remember who created them and where they came from, not just from HaShem,

What are we going to eat? What are we going to wear? What’s going to protect us from the elements? Where do we belong? These four important questions are behind the census of ancient Israel described in Torah reading בְּמִדְבַּר Bamidbar (“in the wilderness,” Num. 1:1–4:20).

Through this object lesson, we learn how Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) is Israel’s ultimate inheritance, and we discover why bringing Israel and all nations into what the Land represents leads us to true rest for our restless hearts.

““Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, every male, head by head from twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel, you and Aaron shall number them by their armies.” (Numbers 1:2–3 NAS95)

This book starts off with a census of all the tribes of Israel as well as the mixed multitude in the second year after the Exodus. At the time of the Exodus, the children of Israel had been scattered throughout the land of in Egypt, even thought they were concentrated in Goshen. Now they are congregated all in one place.

The men in this count include men 20+ years old not counting invalids, people who are terminally ill, or children. They only counted the men who were able to hold a sword in case of conscription into battle. There were 603,550 men counted of all the tribes of Israel, excluding the tribe of Levi. The Levites were counted as well but the parameters of that census were different.

God and Moses spoke on a regular basis, every time you see the phrase “The Lord spoke to Moses…” that is when God came to speak with Moses directly. God would come down in the cloud and cover the tabernacle. When the people saw that happen, they knew that God and Moses were meeting together and that seems to have happened quite often.

The count of the Levites were different. Rather than merely counting the adult male Levites , they counted all the Levite males who were one month old and older. They also counted all the first born sons of Israel with a similarly broad brush. This census was not for the purpose of ascertaining how many could serve in battle, as Levites did not serve in the army but in God’s tabernacle.

If you look at Ex. 30, there was an earlier census but they didn’t count heads, they counted the coinage they those being counted were required to bring with them, which was a half-shekel per person.

The children of Israel belong to God, not the king

When David did his census, as recorded in 2 Samuel 24:1-17 and 1 Chronicles 21, he didn’t do it properly. David counted heads without collecting the half-shekel.

God wasn’t pleased. Yoab, David’s top commander told him “Don’t do this. This is wrong.” But David didn’t listen. But why would God send the plague if the Israelites weren’t counted in the right way? I know He’s the Almighty God, and He can do whatever he wants. But is there a rhyme to the reason?

“But Joab said to the king, “Now may the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?”” (2 Samuel 24:3 NAS95)

Yoab said David would have 100 x more men available to him in time of a real need if he doesn’t do the census but David ignored the warning.

As a direct consequence, God enacted a plague on the people of Israel to killing enough of them that David’s census was no longer an accurate reflection of the country’s military or tax base. You don’t want to be on the receiving end of the shrinking, do you?

At the time of this census, there were about 1.3 million “valiant men who drew the sword.” The plague that God struck on the land of Israel killed 70,000 of them.

Why did God bring the plague? Why was God so upset that David performed this censu...

Like the pattern of the Tabernacle reveals the character and plan of the God and the LORD’s Messiah, the pattern of the LORD’s appointed times (מוֹעֲדֵי יְהוָ֔ה mo’adey YHWH) in Torah reading אָמַר Amar/Emor (“say,” Leviticus 21–24) gives us memorials in time for the patient care of Heaven toward us and our role in the LORD’s appeal to the world.

This time, we’ll take a look at the overview of the annual appointments of the LORD, outlined in Leviticus 23. Didn’t the LORD say He hated them (Isa. 1:14)? So why should we care about them?

Today’s talk on Parashat Emor will focus on the moedimin Lev. 23. When we talk about the Moshiach, the “word made flesh [who] dwelled among us.” Lev. 23 is a snapshot of God’s appointments with mankind. The Messiah is the direct representation of the LORD.

Leviticus 23 is a great starting place to learn what patterns of God and His Son Yeshua are like. The feastivals of the Lord give us the message of the Lord throughout time, that He’s looking to take us to the Kingdom of Heaven. Lev. 23 is the roadmap of our salvation.

A snapshot of time

Okay, well today we are going through the Torah passage, called Emor, which means “say” in Hebrew, and it’s kind of interesting because there are a couple of different ways that the word “say” comes through in Hebrew. One of which is amarand the other one is davar.

The primary meaning of the wordDavaris “word,” but it also means “to say.” One of the things we have when we get over to the Apostolic times, especially in the Gospel of Yokhanan, mentioned in John 1, he says “…The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

And that is a very interesting little glimpse into what we’re going to be looking at today. Parashat Emor covers Leviticus 21-24, but we are focusing specifically on Leviticus 23, to give an overview of the moedim. We’ll talk more about the word moedim in particular.

When we’re talking about “the Word made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), this is a particular passage where we can see in one big snapshot, the big main appointed times — the appointments that God made with mankind — how they’re linked together. That’s similar to how Hebrews 1 talks about the Moshiach (Messiah) as the direct representation of the LORD.

‘If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father’

So we can see as we go through today’s lesson, how the Moshiach is the direct representation of what we looked at so far in Vayiqra (Leviticus). Yeshua (Jesus) is the direct representation of the Tabernacle itself, the Mishkhan, which was built “like the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.”

So thus, these appointments in time fit with that pattern. The life of Yeshua also shows us this pattern. We’ll dive into here today into Leviticus 23.

“Moshe declared to the children of Israel the appointed times of the LORD.” (Lev. 23:1)

Well, what we just read is a huge. We are going out to the end of the diving board into a pool that is really, really deep, like going off to the continental shelf. Imagine you’ve just been going out and you look over the edge and just you cannot see the bottom.

Well, this little broad brush is covered over a huge portion that takes up a whole lot of Scripture. In particular, what we’ve seen in the last part of Leviticus 23 is what a big portion of the book of Revelation covers. A lot of Revelations parallels what you see about these appointed times in the seventh month — trumpets, atonement, dwelling with God, New heavens and a new Earth.

If God makes an appointment, will you show up?

The Bible calls these the Lord’s appointed times. It does not say Jewish at all. All the translations from KJV forward will say exactly the same thing.

What does “the Lord’s prayer” have to do with Moshe’s (Moses) asking God to show him “Your glory”? You might be surprised. And what does Pesakh (Passover) have to do with tithing, remission of debts every seven and 50 years, and pilgrimages to Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) for Pesakh, Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot (Tabernacles)? Here’s the thread through all of these topics: We are to remember from Whom our sustenance and wealth come and from Whom our freedom comes from the things that hold us captive.

The traditional Torah reading for Yom Zacharin shel Pesakh, the day after the seventh and last day of Matzot (Unleavened Bread), is Deuteronomy 14:22–16:17. When we look at the themes of this parashah (section), we can see why it was selected long ago as a bookend for the festival: 

* Deuteronomy 14:22–29: Instructions on the tithe, especially the third-year tithe to benefit those locally.

* Deuteronomy 15:1–23: Shmitah (Sabbatical year) and the remission of debts

* Deuteronomy 16:1–17: Instructions on the three pilgrimage moedim (appointments): Pesakh (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot (Booths or Tabernacles)

We are to remember from Whom our sustenance and wealth come and from Whom our freedom comes from the realm of bondage. 

Remission of debts

The Israelite’s refusal to honor the Shmitah is what led to the exiles from the Land. 

“It shall not seem hard to you when you set him free, for he has given you six years with double the service of a hired man; so the LORD your God will bless you in whatever you do.” (Deuteronomy 15:18 NASB)

The wealthy took advantage of the debtors and refused to release them at the end of their contract. Our ancestors in faith or flesh had forgotten the their predecessors’ history, when they were slaves and subjected to servitude and even genocide while in Egypt. 

The remission of debts is an important lesson of Pesakh (Passover) and Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement). The sins, transgressions and iniquities of the people have to be removed. 

* The blood of the Pesakh lamb/goat, selected on the 10th day of the first month on God’s calendar, covered the gates of a home, blocking the LORD’s Destroyer (wrath) from the firstborn of the family or households inside the night of the departure from Egypt (Exodus 12).

* On the 10th day of the seventh month, the blood of the goat for the LORD and the goat for Azaz’el (scapegoat) covered and removed, respectively, the sins, transgressions and iniquities (rebellion) of the people of Israel (Leviticus 16).

How much more is Yeshua (Jesus) — those patterns made flesh (John 1:14) — the “Lamb of God Who takes away [literally, carries] the sins of the world” (John 1:29). He bore the iniquities, intercedes for the transgressors and makes tzadiq (righteous) the many (Isaiah 53:11–12).

Matthew 6:1–13; Luke 11:2–4: ‘Forgive us our debts’

The Lord’s prayer reviews many of the themes of today’s Torah reading. 

““Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.

 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.

 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’] “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” (Matthew 6:9–15 NASB)

The Mashiakh (Messiah) emphasized the lessons in the Shmitah (sabbatical year) and Yobel (Jubilee) remission of debts, as seen in the “Lord’s prayer” (Matt. 6:9–13; Luke 11:2–4).

It seems bizarre that the Bible packages instructions for purifying new mothers and newborns together with what look like public health instructions for dealing with chronic skin diseases and toxic mold. And this passage in Leviticus 12–15 (Torah readings Tazria and Metzorah) comes between a big failing of the priesthood (deadly use of “strange fire” in Leviticus 10) and Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16). 

Discover the important messages that come from these passages, unwrapped as a packaged set. Why are the instructions for purify childbirth packaged together with those for cleansing the “walking dead?” Why does the miracle of birth require a sin offering? What is it about baby girls that doubles the exclusionary period from the Tabernacle? Why is there an elaborate ritual for the cleansed leper? How is the rebirth of the leper similar to the resurrection of Israel from the house of bondage?

So we can start to see links to Pesach (Passover) and the forethought, continued caring and compassion of God and the one and only Son of God, the Lamb of God.

Vital vocabulary for Leviticus

* offering, gift = קָרְבָּן qorban(H7133a)

* holy = קֹדֶשׁqodesh(H6944)

* clean =טָהוֹר tahor(H2889)

* unclean =טָמֵא tamé(H2931)

* leprosy =צָרַעַת tzaraʿat(H6883)

* leper =הַמְּצֹרָעha-metzorah(H6879)

We will see these terms on a regular basis in the book of Leviticus.

Kodesh does not mean “perfect”, it means “set-apart.” A holy people are not a perfect people. It means that they are set-apart, called out  and chosen by God for a purpose. It’s about selection and refinement. 

“Blessed are you L-rd our G-d, King of the World, Who sanctifies us with His commandments and commands us about the washing of hands.” (N’dilat Yadayim prayer)

The Korban, which means “that which approaches” such as an offering. It does not remove sin in and of itself. The Prophets make that exceedingly clear. God allows it to approach the Presence because it is tahor or ritually clean. 

Tahor literally means “clean.” It doesn’t block entry towards the divine Presence. What is tahor is fit to be korban,. It doesn’t make one set apart by God, but it does keep one kodesh. 

Tame doesn’t make one sinful or wicked. It makes one unfit to enter the Tabernacle to approach the Presence. The realm of God is about life, the realm outside of God’s presence is about death. Death is swallowed up by life, life is not swallowed up by death. 

“Before Adam and Eve sinned, there was no ritual unfitness, because humans had never experienced death.” (First Fruits of Zion, Unrolling the Scroll, “Tazria,” page 455)

Trying to enter God’s presence while tame is rebellion, trying to equate the fallen creation with the perfect Creator. 

Why is the new mother tamé?

The need for a sin offering might be a reminder of two big ways humanity is off-target from God’s original plan. 

*  1. A consequence of the fall is greater pain for humans in childbirth than for mammals, and it has nothing to do with the size of our brains in proportion to our bodies. Most young mammals have larger heads in proportion to their bodies than adult mammals do.  (Gen. 3:16)

*  2. Birth is the beginning of a march towards death. (Gen. 2:16-17; 3:1-5, 19)

“The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4–5 NASB)

This lie sounds very modern but it’s actually very old, going back all the way to the beginning.  The lie of “Did God really say?” Or “Does God really know….” We try to find naturalistic reasons that we die such as the telomeres of our DNA raveling as we age.

The Hebrew word for leprosy is tzaraʿat. It did not resemble

“‘From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.'” (Luke 12:48 NASB)

The closer we are to God, the closer God looks at us. We may come to God as we are, but we shouldn’t stay as we were. A key lesson of the Torah reading שמיני Shemini (“eighth”; Leviticus 9–11) is the more understanding God gives us, the more God expects of us. This is also why the sacrifice of Yeshua (Jesus) was the only sacrifice that could take away our sins, transgressions and iniquities (Lev. 16:15, 18, 27; Heb. 9:13; 10:4).

It was the eighth day — not the Eighth Day festival aka Shemeni Atzeret — but the eighth day of the priestly ministry of Aaron and his four sons as priests to HaShem. That day ended on a very sour note.

Aaron’s oldest sons, Nadab and Abihu decided to bring fire pans with incense, inspired by the fire that came down from the Divine. This incense is symbolic of one’s prayers before God. What is so strange to us is that these two young men, after all, if you saw a divine miracle, wouldn’t you be inspired to pray to God? Of course. Yet God strikes these two men dead? What are we missing here? 

We are told they brought “strange fire,” literally, “alien fire.” That phrase comes up in a few other places in Scripture. It could also be translated “offensive fire.” 

When Moses comes to Aaron to explain what God did and why, he said:

“Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘It is what the LORD spoke, saying, “By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.‘” So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.” (Leviticus 10:3 NASB)

Prayers in and of themselves aren’t disrespectful to bring to HaShem. Burning incense in and of itself is not a sign of disrespect to Him. It can be disrespectful if it is not done correctly. 

Heart of the matter

There’s another example of Levites approaching God with burning incense that God treated as offensive, we read about it in Numbers 16, in the story of Korach (Korah). 

We know this story and what happens when Korach and his followers bring their incense pans and fire. 

“Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company be present before the LORD tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron. “Each of you take his firepan and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before the LORD, two hundred and fifty firepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan.” So they each took his own censer and put fire on it, and laid incense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.” (Numbers 16:16–19 NASB)

Is the act of bring a firepan with incense in and of itself offensive? No, after all, Aaron, in this story, brings a firepan, too. The difference is that Korach’s act was inspired by insubordination and rebellion. HaShem killed Korach and his followers the same way He had struck down Nadab and Abihu. They were honoring HaShem but they were not respecting Him. 

The closer you want to be to HaShem, the more honor and respect you must show Him. The longer you walk with God, the closer you get, the more HaShem expects of you.

The priests who knew too much

Now let’s look a descendant of Aaron, Eli, who was also high priest and had two errant sons. 

“Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD…. Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for the men despised the offering of the LORD.” (1Samuel 2:12,17 NASB)

Notice how much more patient God was with Eli and his sons than with Aaron and his sons. God tolerated Eli’s son’s horrible behavior for many years. Why? 

No, this isn’t a case of duct-taping Bible passages together into a hodge-podge teaching. There is an important link between instructions to priests about keeping the Tabernacle altar fire burning, the command to destroy the memory of back-stabbing Amalek, the reluctance of later generations to carry that out fit, Queen Esther’s bold intervention for the Yehudim (Jews), the memory of deliverance from slavery at Peskah (Passover) and the freedom brought by Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ). Strap in your brain for a wild ride.

The Torah reading צו Tzav (“command,” Leviticus 6:8-8:36) covers the five offerings (qorbanot) of Leviticus 1-5 from the perspective duties of the priesthood. Today’s we’ll focus on the instructions for the עֹלָה ‘olah (“that which goes up,” i.e., burnt) offering and what they teach us about tending the “coals” of our hearts so they “burn” long and hot for the Kingdom of God, rather than roaring up and down like a bonfire a the mercy of the fuel supply.

From the Shabbat Zachor readings related to Purim (festival of Esther), we learn that the power of the sneak-attack adversary called Amalek (Deuteronomy 25:17-19) oppresses the people of God in each generation. King Shaul (Saul) failed to deal with the grave threat of Amalek, revealing that God always has wanted devotion from the heart and not just from the ceremony of offerings (1Samuel 15). The descendants of Yehudah (Judah), Ben Yamin (Benjamin) and Amalek also played roles at the time of Israel’s exile in Babylon and later Persia, at the time of Esther.

Although God’s name isn’t mentioned in the book of Esther, there are several mentions of the well-known time references for Pesakh, which is a lesson about God’s not leaving His people in bondage or exile without one anointed to offer himself or herself for the sake of the people. That’s why the leap month in Israel’s calendar is inserted before the 12th month, to keep Purim and Pesakh connected.

If we are honest with ourselves and with others, we want God to be unfair. We want Him to give us mercy. But if we don’t want Him to give others mercy, He will not give us mercy (Matt. 7:2; Mark 4:24; Luke 6:38). Neither atonement nor forgiveness are fair, yet we want it that way. 

Contrary to popular belief, not all offerings of the Tabernacle are equal or identical. When we confuse them and lump them all together, it’s too easy to dismiss them and throw them out as obsolete. וַיִּקְרָא Vayiqra (“he called out,” Leviticus 1–5), the beginning reading from the Torah book by the same name, teaches us that God has a purpose in mind for each of the offerings. We’ll learn what each are and more about what God is trying to teach us.

4 kinds of offerings

Often called “sacrifices,” the best way to translate the Hebrew word קָרְבָּן qorban is “that which draws near.” The Hebrew word that does mean “sacrifice” is זֶבַח zebakh.

The first offering described in Vayiqra is the עֹלָה olah (“that which goes up,” i.e., burnt).  It’s all burned up, all of it is consumed in fire. None of it is eaten. This is a voluntary offering for atonement. The one bringing the offering places his hands upon it and declares the reason for it before the officiant kills it for the priest to offer on one’s behalf. 

The second offering is מִנְחָה minkha (grain). It is a voluntary offering but there is no atonement associated with this offering. The elements of flour and oil can be presented either pre-cooked or raw. The portions that are burned are mixed with incense and salt but can never include honey or fruit sweetening. The portions that are not burned are gifts to the priests.

The third offering type are שְׁלָמִים shelamim (“things that are complete or at peace”). The person bringing it places his hands on it and declares the reason for the offering before killing it and giving it over to the priest. It is not an atonement offering. The animal is carved up and part of it is burned up but part of it is eaten by the person bringing the animal, unless it’s the peace offering of Shavuot. The peace offering of Shavuot is shared by the priests and the entire community.

The fourth offering type is תֶחֱטָא בִשְׁגָגָה tekheta bishegagah (“sin with error or inadvertence,” i.e., unintentional goof). But the type of offering presented is different depending on who committed the sin: priest, congregation, king. The offering for unintentional sin of a priest, congregation at large, the leader of the community or a common person are not consumed and is split up and burned in different areas and the blood disposed of in various places. 

There is a difference between atonement and forgiveness. Atonement covers over sin while forgiveness is a pardon or a removal of sin. 

God can grant: 

* Atonement only

* Forgiveness only

* Atonement and forgiveness

* Neither atonement nor forgiveness

Leviticus 5:1–4 has examples of passive, rather than active sins. 

Power isn’t only in the blood?

Blood is not the only thing that can atone or forgive. This is important for Christians to understand. A grain offering also can atone for sins of omission. But what about this?:

“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” (Hebrews 9:22 KJV)

The writer of Hebrews was well-schooled in the Torah, thus the use of “almost all things.” From later in the book of Vayiqra, we an important exception to atonement by blood:

“And any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. ‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to mak...

Amongst all the details of Israel’s Mishkan (Tabernacle), described yet again in the Torah section פקודי Pekudei (“countings,” Exodus 38:21–40:38), these elements help us see what the LORD is doing to move us from where we were to where we are and on into His presence. The same God Who commissioned the Mishkhan wants to live with us too. That is very good news. That’s the gospel of Yeshua the Mashiakh.

The book of Shemot (Exodus) ends with the exclusion of Moshe and everyone else from God’s Presence as the LORD moves in. Once Moses set up everything and the Presence of the Lord entered in, the handoff from Moses to Aaron and his sons was complete. 

Everything in the Tabernacle is there to teach us about God’s character. 

The book of Vayiqra (Leviticus), which we will start studying next week, is God’s instructions for how to respond to His call to enter His presence.

The Tabernacle is a reminder of ourselves as a tabernacle of God to the world. It’s a lesson to us as a nation, as a people and as those who want to be true representatives of the LORD, as patterned by the Messiah Yeshua. 

“Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.” (Exodus 25:8–9 NASB)

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!” (1Kings 8:27 NASB)

Lessons from the Tabernacle elements

What is the gate of the Tabernacle? It’s the proper entrance. All who wanted to approach the LORD must do so through the door designated. The lesson: Ba’als, Buddhas, etc. are not the way to connect with the true Divine. 

The witness to the world is there is a living Tabernacle/Temple (John 1:14): Yeshua the Anointed (Jesus the Christ). There is one Door to approach the Presence (John 10:7–10).

“So Jesus said to them again, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’” (John 10:7–10 NASB)

The shepherd is supposed to take care of the needs of their flock, not only for their physical and spiritual needs. But in Yeshua’s day, the shepherd’s were leading their people astray. 

What is an altar? What is the point of it? The altar shows us that the separation between God and us is death. Death can’t enter into God’s presence. 

It is at the altar where qorbanot (offerings) “go up” as a “soothing aroma” before the LORD.

The Letter to the Hebrews ties a connection between the altar of the Tabernacle and the red heifer offering whose ashes cleansed deeper but was offered outside the camp (Hebrews 10:10–13).

The altar is a mercy for the world. The fact that God’s presence is highly segregated is a blessing to mankind because mankind in its present condition would die if they met God in His fullness. 

We can come as we are, but we are to leave a changed man or woman. Being in God’s presence should change us. 

Why is there a washbasin in the Tabernacle? What does it teach us?

It shows us about Yeshua cleansing us from unrighteousness as we approach the Father (1John 1:9–10).

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:9–10 NASB)

What is in the Holy Place? Several things are in this inner sanctum,