VAYIKRA (And He Called) Lev1:1–5:26; Isa 43:21–44:23; Mark 7:1–30;
Leviticus is the least read and least preached book in the Church although in biblical times it was the first one memorised by Jewish children in its entirety among the first 5 books of the Torah. Why Leviticus? One reason is because holiness is the main thread that runs throughout the book which is the foundation upon which relationship with God is built. This is reinforced throughout Scripture as an imperative: Lev 11:44 – “For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.”
(1Pet.1:14-16) “Like obedient children, do not be shaped by the cravings you had formerly in your ignorance. 15 Instead, just like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in everything you do. 16 For it is written, “Kedoshim (WHOLLY CONSECRATED) you shall be, for I am kadosh.”
Yeshua stated in the sermon on the Mount that without holiness, no-one can see God (i.e., abide in relationship) Can you imagine a blind person stumbling forward struggling to follow someone walking silently ahead through all sorts of perilous terrain? So too for anyone who is spiritually blind. Perhaps the greatest impediment any believer can face is spiritual blindness which is not limited to unbelievers alone unlike some people claim. It can be easily rectified but it requires radical redirection and begins with the choice to live a holy life in obedience to the Word of God and the leading of the Ruach ha Kodesh.
The perfect holiness of God permeates His character. Nothing in all creation can be compared to Him. He is the sovereign Creator of all that exists and is distinct, different and separate from all others. He alone is ‘Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh!’ In the Hebrew, the repetition of a word is a literary devise of emphasis, but when repeated 3 times in succession it becomes a superlative and used only very rarely in Scripture due to its strength. Our God alone is “Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh” entirely holy, set apart, clean, pure, undefiled, spotless, flawless; glorious, magnificent, awesome and strikingly beautiful. But we as His children who wear His signet ring identifying who we are and chosen to represent Him in this world willingly allow Him to consecrate our lives that we too might be holy. It is a bridal identifier of a true believer, whose fruit is evident fo al to see. (Ps.1) Scripture provides no middle ground in all of this. We must choose to live holy lives to the glory of God as those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God or not.
This is where we can see important parallels in this parasha that focuses upon the functions and duties of the priesthood regarding the sacrificial system. In fact the first 13 chapters of Leviticus concentrate almost exclusively on this in minute detail. When a person sinned they made restoration by means of a substitutionary sacrifice through the shedding of blood of an animal in the prescribed manner.
The Jewish sages made an astute observation in the opening chapter where they noticed something grammatically odd in verse 2 with the phrase, “When any of you offers up a sacrifice to Adonai…” This referred to the korban olah or burnt offering. The noun, “olah” means “to go up” because when the priest would burn the offerings on the altar, the aroma would ascend to the Lord. In Ps. 142:2, David describes our prayers like offerings of sweet smelling incense offered up to the Lord and in Rev.8:8 it describes angels holding golden bowls full of incense representing the prayers of the saints. The sages noted that the greatest sacrifice we can offer God is the totality of our lives lived unto Him as a prayer and sweet smelling aroma as described by Paul in 2Cor.2:15: “that we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which ascends] to God, [discernible both] among those who are being saved…”
The word korban, “an offering” comes from the root word (k-r-v (קרב) meaning to draw close (karov) because the sacrifices would restore closeness with Him. The book of Leviticus continues at the conclusion of Exodus where God’s glory leaves the top of Mount Sinai and moves into the Tabernacle to dwell with his people as they wandered through the wilderness. Since Moses was prohibited to enter the Tabernacle (where God’s Shekinah glory dwelt), he was given the instructions and details of these sacrifices that would now be performed by the priesthood.There were 5 types of offerings:
Ascending offering (olah); 5 varieties of meal offerings (mincha); Peace offerings (Shl’amim); Sin Offering (chatat) by sins committed by an individual, group or whole community; Guilt offering (asham)
The sacrificial system held enormous implications for everyone. The text of this weeks parasha were particular but not limited to animals (i.e., mincha – grain) from the flock because most of the people depended on these to survive. Even to this day in some place in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world a person’s wealth was bound up in their flock. Therefore, to willingly give the best of one’s flock to God in response to sin, provided that person a clearer understanding of the severity of his transgressions. Compare this if every time we sinned today we were required to give God our monthly salary or pension?
As believers, Yehsua has given His life as a ransom for our sins and we are no longer required to bring our “flocks” to God as restitution. But, we should remember that His blood shed for our sins cost Him infinitely more than our livelihood.
The laws of sacrifices in Leviticus are among the hardest in the Torah for many modern non-believing Jews to relate to particularly among the secular. It has been almost 2000 years since the Temple was destroyed and the sacrificial system came to an end. After its destruction in 70 AD, it became redundant and so a different form of theology developed under rabbinic Judaism that would replace the Temple priesthood. Blood sacrifices were eventually considered over time by most people as unnecessary, outdated and irrelevant. This rendered those biblical statements about a “Suffering” Saviour (e.g.,Isa. 53) who offered Himself as a sacrifice for sin that was recognised by the sages as something now to be ignored following Yeshua’s death and resurrection. Added to this was developed the false thinking, wrongly compared, that Yeshua’s sacrifice for sin was an unthinkable concept akin to human pagan sacrifice. This gross distortion is something which many non-believing Jews have bought into. Yet simultaneously is the tragedy whereby the majority of these same people approve and practice the murder of unborn children. Over 60 million babies have been sacrificed through abortion since 1948 that surpasses the number of Jewish people slaughtered in the Holocaust.
Following the dispersion of the Jewish people, rabbinic Judaism replaced the biblical practice of substitutionary sacrifice with observance of Torah, Tzedekah and prayer – a poor and unbiblical substitute for the forgiveness of sins. Judaism now put the cart before the horse as salvation became something earned rather than received.
Jewish non-believing thinkers have grappled with the symbolic significance of the sacrifice system and its Divine connections but have come out at the other end empty handed. The OT prophets warned that Temple sacrifices were meaningless outside of relationship with God, facing Judaism with a Catch 22 situation. Without a sacrificial system there could be no assurance of forgiveness of sins. Judaism faced the spectre of an impossible situation that until today has remained unresolved because it has rejected the one thing that could fix everything – the One who offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice and permanent solution for sin.
But there is another angle which should not be overlooked: “To God, obedience has always been his greatest desire above the sacrificial system provided for the Israelites. Sacrifice requires death; obedience gives life. The entire point of the opening chapters of Leviticus is to help us see what sin costs when we transgress God, intentionally or unintentionally, not that God delights in the death of his people or their flock.” https://joshuaensley.org/2019/03/11/obedience-is-better-than-sacrifice/#
One classic example was the incident with King Saul who decided to take the Amalakite King Agag alive and keep for himself the best sheep, oxen, calves, and lambs to sacrifice to God contrary to what he had been commanded. Instead it led to the loss of his kingdom and ultimately his life: ““Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.” (1 Sam15:22-23)
The NT has turned everything upon its head because Yeshua has become the perfect blood sacrifice and atonement for our sins. Although the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal Life through Yeshua for every true believer. Now, what Paul states in Rom 12:1-2 makes full sense as we offer unto Him our lives consecrated for His glory made possible through the sacrifice of His sinless life by His blood shed for us for the remission of OUR sins – not by our merit but entirely through His grace!
Judaism cannot offer any guarantee beyond a ‘fingers-crossed’ hope that maybe if one accrues sufficient ‘brownie points’ a person may earn their salvation. But, it comes without assurance because there is none and so eternal life is considered a taboo subject avoided and rarely ever discussed or pondered.
God provides the means for entering a right relationship with Him through Yeshua. This is beautifully illustrated here in our Torah portion. In Lev.1:5 the high priest was commanded to sacrifice a young bull before the LORD and then Aaron’s sons would offer up the blood and sprinkle it around on the altar at the doorway of the tabernacle. But, he not only sprinkled the blood around the altar, he dipped his finger in it and sprinkled it 7 times before the Lord, in front of the veil. (Lev 4:17)
Likewise, the blood of Yeshua, our ‘Great High Priest’ of the New Covenant was also sprinkled before the Lord 7 times on different occasions in the last moments leading to His crucifixion:
1Yeshua sweated drops of blood when He prayed to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane: “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” (Luke 22:44)
2He was struck in the face until it was “marred beyond recognition.” (Isaiah 52:14)
3His back was scourged with a whip. (Isaiah 50:6; Matt 27:26)
4The soldiers put a crown of thorns on His head. (John 19:2)
5They plucked out His beard. (Isaiah 50:6)
6They pierced His hands and feet. (Ps 22:16; Luke 24:39;John 20:27)
7They pierced His side with a spear and blood and water came out. (Ps 22:14; Is 53:5; John 19:34)
Isaiah revealed that God planned to lay all of our sins and iniquities upon the Messiah, “Who though in the form of God did not count equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself — taking on the form of a slave, becoming the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man He humbled Himself— obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Yeshua’s sacrifice provides us with salvation and the means to live holy lives that bring glory to His name with the promise of an eternity to dwell in the fullness of His presence when He returns for us very soon!
