11 episodes

We invite and encourage you to join the reading schedule that has so inspired the Jewish community since before the birth of “The Church.” At the same time, we challenge you to read the portions on your own, mining God’s rich, spiritual garden, gleaning the precious nuggets that lay in store for you. A Messianic commentary for each portion has been provided to assist you in your journey to become a more mature child of HaShem. May His Spirit richly bless you as you “Study to show thyself approved!” 2 Timothy 2:15

Leviticus (Messianic) Vol. I - The Harvest Torah Teacher Ariel ben-Lyman HaNaviy

    • Religion & Spirituality

We invite and encourage you to join the reading schedule that has so inspired the Jewish community since before the birth of “The Church.” At the same time, we challenge you to read the portions on your own, mining God’s rich, spiritual garden, gleaning the precious nuggets that lay in store for you. A Messianic commentary for each portion has been provided to assist you in your journey to become a more mature child of HaShem. May His Spirit richly bless you as you “Study to show thyself approved!” 2 Timothy 2:15

    24 Vayikra (Part A) - He called - 1:1-5:26

    24 Vayikra (Part A) - He called - 1:1-5:26

    As I stated in a previous parashah, God's system of animal sacrifices, with their ability to cleanse or “wash” the flesh, was never intended to be a permanent one. Conversely, the animal sacrifices were not intended to be a “temporary fix” either. In fact the etymological background of the word Torah (the root word being an archery term meaning to “direct towards the goal”) also suggests that the fullest measure of HaShem’s atonement (Hebrew=kafar is usually translated “to atone,” “to cover over,” “make reconciliation,” “pacify,” “propitiate,” “purge.” ) was not found in the earthly copies, but rather, in the heavenly originals. Yet, during the time period of the TaNaKH, the animal sacrifices were authentically God's system. In other words, if you were a citizen of this community of former slaves, and you wanted to operate within a covenant relationship with its Savior, then you had no choice but to participate in the sacrificial system when approaching the Holy Tabernacle/Temple where God concentrated his Glory. There was no room for circumvention. Why would HaShem require exclusivity? Because, in his established order of things, only the blood could make atonement for their lives (read Leviticus 17:11). Tim Hegg makes a case for the meaning of the word kafar rpk as “wipe off, smear on” in this quote from a short paper available from his site at torahresource.com as of 3-20-07...

    24 Vayikra (Part B) - He called - 1:1-5:26

    24 Vayikra (Part B) - He called - 1:1-5:26

    With the tamid explained we are better poised to examine the remaining five offerings of Leviticus chapters 1-5. These five are the types of offerings introduced in the opening pages of Leviticus: 'Olah (Burnt Offering) – Lev. 1:1-17 Minchah (Grain Offering) – Lev. 2:1-16 Sh’lamim (Peace Offering) – Lev. 3:1-17 Chata’at (Sin Offering) – Lev. 4:1-35; 5:1-13 ‘Asham (Guilt Offering) – Lev. 5:14-26 The first three could easily be considered “freewill offerings”, brought before HaShem by anyone at various times in the life of anyone in the community. The last two were required to make restitution for various sins. Such korbanot (chata’at and ’asham) are referred to as “expiatory”. The expiatory korbanot shall occupy the bulk of the latter part of this commentary.

    24 Vayikra (Part C) - He called - 1:1-5:26

    24 Vayikra (Part C) - He called - 1:1-5:26

    HaShem’s intent is to draw us close to him in genuine, loving fellowship. To this end, he has designed the entire flow of the Torah to lead us to the goal of developing the kind of trusting faithfulness that produces obedience and surrender to his Son, Yeshua HaMashiach! In the Torah, we see that a broken and contrite heart is the seedbed that will produce such a trust in HaShem. The sacrifices make up for the fact that we are less than perfect (sinless or blameless) in our attempt to secure a right relationship with our Heavenly Abba. Does the Torah expect perfection? No. Rather, it anticipates our failures and shortcomings, and consequently, makes the necessary provisions for them to be taken care of. Consider the example of the parents of Yochanan the Immerser (John the Baptiser) in Luke 1:6. The Torah states, in no uncertain terms that, "Both of them were righteous before God, observing all the mitzvot and ordinances of ADONAI blamelessly." Today HaShem is still speaking…bidding…indeed "calling" unto his children. The B’rit Chadashah (Apostolic Scriptures) informs us, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Hebrews 1:1-3, KJV) Yes, HaShem is calling to us through the person of his only, unique Son! He desires for us to draw close to him in with a true heart! The paradox lies in the fact that unless he draws us, we will not seek his face, yet he bids us to seek him so that in seeking, he may indeed be found!

    25 Tzav (Part A) - Give an order - Leviticus 6:1-8:36

    25 Tzav (Part A) - Give an order - Leviticus 6:1-8:36

    The Torah promises that when we surrender to the Ruach HaKodesh and become living vessels to be used for his glory, that he places the Torah on our inward parts—our hearts! Yeshua described us as the “Light for the world” (read Matt. 5:14-16)! What a blessed description of our spiritual function, given at the mouth of the Source of all Light—the Messiah himself! When we allow his Light to be kindled within us, the entire world is made to see the wonderful goodness of his perfect grace and mercy! The entire world gains a chance to become involved in the perfect plans and purposes that our Loving, Heavenly Abba has prepared for those who genuinely love him! We must keep our eternal lamp lit for those around us to see! How do we accomplish this? The Torah tells us that we must daily maintain these temples. As living lamps, the day-to-day activities of this world can fill us with ashes, as we attempt to maintain a constant flame upon the altar of our souls. It is up to us to change these ashes—remove them from our lives on a day-to-day basis! As with the actual eternal flame, HaShem understood that in order to perform this mitzvah, the priests had to monitor the flame on an everyday basis. So it is with our lives today. We must not let the Flame of the Good News of the Messiah’s atoning death extinguish from our temples for even a single day! The world needs to see this Light continually! Yet, for us, it will also entail a daily maintenance of removing the ashes, and checking to see if the Flame is burning brightly. How do we accomplish this awesome task? In the Mishkan, HaShem saw to it that the priests never had to want for supplies, with which to perform their daily functions. Do you think that our God is any different today? In Romans chapter 12 we read, “I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God’s mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please him; it is the logical “Temple worship” for you.” (Verse 1) We see here in this passage that our lives are likened to the service of the priests of which we are reading about in Leviticus! Yes, as believers in Messiah we are all priests unto our LORD! Just as the light, holiness, and sanctity of the Mishkan was maintained by daily service, so too our lives are to be maintained and marked by a constant “performance of the mitzvot,” that is, a consistent surrendering to his Light and holiness!

    25 Tzav (Part B) - Give an order - Leviticus 6:1-8:36

    25 Tzav (Part B) - Give an order - Leviticus 6:1-8:36

    And who were Moshe and Aharon? Why, they were the very ones standing before the people now being demonstrated as HaShem’s anointed chosen ones! I’m sure that the golden calf incident wasn’t completely erased from the memories of these two great leaders, or from the people as well. Imagine what they must’ve been thinking that day! Were they perfect? Far from it! Would they yet make serious mistakes in the future to come? Would HaShem still punish them for these shortcomings? Well, I think you get the idea. By reading ahead into the narrative we find that even though they were chosen for an awesome task which placed them in the very presence of God—sometimes on an everyday basis, their lives were lived out the same way that HaShem expects us to live as his children today…. By faith. Anointed? Surely! Right down to their decorated belts (read 8:6-13, 30)! It is easy sometime to place the “Old Testament saints” into some sort of different reality of life than that of our own today. We imagine that with all of that glory radiating from the Holiest Place that they were more than human and that it was easy to serve God. We complain that we live in a day and age when the voice of God is difficult to hear. Did Moshe and Aharon really have it easier? What about our LORD Yeshua? He was 100% human just like Moshe and Aharon—just like you and me! 100% human and yet 100% God! Moreover, the Torah tells us that, in facing temptation—he did not sin! What an awesome reality for me to rest my faith in! Moshe and Aharon sinned, and HaShem forgave them. They turned around and sinned again, and still HaShem forgave them! And these were the two men that handled all of that “holy stuff” that we are reading about in our current Torah portion! Where does that place you and me? Yeshua became like us—frail and human, so that he might intimately identify with our weaknesses—including Moshe and Aharon—and thus become our ultimate High Priest! Because of his anointing we are also counted as anointed!

    26 Sh’mini (Part A) - Eighth - Leviticus 9:1-11:47

    26 Sh’mini (Part A) - Eighth - Leviticus 9:1-11:47

    Here in the pages of our text, we find in no uncertain terms, the definition of what is "food" and what is "not food.” We also find the counterpart to our peculiar word "tamei.” It is the Hebrew word "tahor", translated as "clean.” Going back to our hermeneutic principle of context, these concepts of "tamei" and "tahor," as outlined in Leviticus chapter 11, fall right in the middle of a series of chapters dealing with such subjects as the consecration of Aharon and his sons as high priests (chapter 8), the details concerning sin offerings and sacrifices (chapter 9), the consequences of failing to establish a difference between the holy and the unholy (chapter 10), and the beginnings of the rulings concerning "unclean flesh," known as leprosy (chapter 12). It is within this context that HaShem explains "what is kosher" and what is "not kosher,” and consequently, what is "food" and what is "not food.” Is God the God of the Gentiles? Surely he is. It stand to reason, therefore, that the paradigm was being set in the TaNaKH that there be one Law for both the native born as well as the stranger in matters pertaining to covenant privileges. One standard was to be established and agreed upon for all Isra'el, a standard she would be held accountable for to eventually share with the surrounding nation groups as well (read Deut. 4: 1-14). Since all men share the same Creator, we can, therefore, conclude that these distinctions of holy and unholy are applicable for the surrounding nations, as well as for Isra'el. Our God is exclusive. Our God is consistent.

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