Bar’chu et YHVH ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed!
Baruch ata YHVH Eloheinu melech ha-olam asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim,
v’na-tan lanu eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Bless YHVH the blessed One;
Blessed is YHVH, the blessed One for all eternity. Blessed are you, YHVH, our
Elohim, King of the Universe, you have selected us from among all the peoples,
and have given us your Torah.
Lev 21:1 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aharon, and
say to them: ‘No one is to be defiled for the dead among his people,
א וַיֹּאמֶר
יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, אֱמֹר אֶל-הַכֹּהֲנִים בְּנֵי אַהֲרֹן; וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם,
לְנֶפֶשׁ לֹא-יִטַּמָּא בְּעַמָּיו.
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1 And YHVH said unto Moshe: Speak unto the priests
the sons of Aaron, and say unto them: There shall none defile himself for the
soul (nefesh) among his people;
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We
assume that this applies to dead people, however the word death (Heb. “Mut”) is
not used. We may thus assume this implies to those who have sought to separate
themselves from YHVH and His Torah.
This
instruction in the Torah was possibly the reason the Muslims built a grave yard
in front of the eastern gate of the Temple Mount in Yerushalayim.
“The Hebrew name of the Golden Gate is Sha'ar HaRachamim (שער הרחמים), Gate of Mercy.
According to Jewish tradition, the Shekhinah (שכינה) (Divine Presence) used to appear through
the eastern Gate, and will appear again when the
Anointed One (Messiah) comes (Ezekiel 44:1–3) and a new gate replaces the present
one; that might be why Jews used to pray in medieval times for mercy at the
former gate at this location
The Ottomans also built a cemetery in front of the
gate, in the belief that the precursor to the Anointed One, Elijah, would not
be able to pass through the Golden Gate and thus the Anointed One would not
come. This belief was based upon two premises. First, according to Islamic
teaching Elijah is a descendant of Aaron, making him a priest or kohen. Second,
that a Jewish kohen is not permitted to enter a cemetery. This second premise
is not wholly correct because a Kohen is permitted to enter a cemetery in which
either Jews or non-Jews are buried, such as the one outside the Golden Gate, as
long as certain laws or Halakha regarding purity are followed – Wikipedia. “
Lev
21:2 except for his relatives who are
nearest to him: for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for
his daughter, and for his brother;
Lev
21:3 and for his maiden sister who is
near to him, who has had no husband – for her he is defiled.
Lev
21:4 ‘A leader does not defile himself
among his people, to profane himself;
Lev
21:5 they do not make any bald place on
their heads, and they do not shave the corner of their beard, and they do not
make a cutting in their flesh – see also 19:28 -
Lev
21:6 ‘They (the priests, sons of
Aharon) are set-apart to their Elohim and do not profane the Name of
their Elohim, for they bring the offerings of יהוה made by fire, and the bread of their
Elohim, and shall be set-apart.
Lev
21:7 ‘They do not take a woman who is a whore or a defiled woman, and they do
not take a woman put away from her husband, for he is set-apart to his
Elohim.
Lev
21:8 ‘And you shall set him apart, for
he brings the bread of your Elohim, he is set-apart to you. For I, יהוה, setting you apart, am set-apart.
Lev
21:9 ‘And when the daughter of any priest profanes herself by whoring, she profanes her
father. She is burned with fire.
Lev
21:10 ‘And the high priest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil was
poured and who is ordained to wear the garments, does not unbind his head nor
tear his garments,
Lev
21:11 nor come near any dead body,(nefshot
met) nor defile himself for his father or his mother,
Lev
21:12 nor go out of the set-apart place,
nor profane the set-apart place of his Elohim, for the sign of dedication of
the anointing oil of his Elohim is upon him. I am יהוה.
Lev
21:13 ‘And let him (the High Priest) take a wife in her maidenhood.
Lev
21:14 ‘A widow or one put away or a
defiled woman or a whore – these he does not take. But a maiden of his own people he does take as a wife.
Lev
21:15 ‘And he does not profane his
offspring among his people, for I am יהוה, who sets him apart.’ ”
Lev
21:16 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Lev
21:17 “Speak to Aharon, saying, ‘No man
of your offspring throughout their generations, who has any defect, is to draw
near to bring the bread of his Elohim.
Lev
21:18 ‘For any man who has a defect is
not to draw near: a man blind or one lame or disfigured or deformed,
Lev
21:19 a man who has a broken foot or
broken hand,
Lev
21:20 or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a
man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch.
Lev
21:21 ‘No man among the offspring of
Aharon the priest, who has a defect, is to come near to bring the offerings
made by fire to יהוה – he has a defect, he does not come near to bring the bread of
his Elohim.
Lev
21:22 ‘He does eat the bread of his
Elohim, both the most set-apart and the set-apart,
Lev
21:23 only, he does not go near the veil
or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest he profanes My set-apart
places. For I am יהוה, who sets them apart.’ ”
Lev
21:24 Thus Mosheh spoke to Aharon and
his sons, and to all the children of Yisra’ĕl.
Midrash:
Referring to the gentiles – the
prophet says YHVH will take priests or kohanim.
Isa 66:21 “And from them too I shall take for priests –
for Lĕwites,” declares יהוה.
What
did Yahshua mean when he said - Luk 9:59
And He said to another, “Follow Me,” but he said, “Master, let me first
go and bury my father.”
Luk 9:60 And יהושע said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and
announce the reign of Elohim.”
Luk
9:61 And another also said, “Master, I
shall follow You, but let me first say good-bye to those in my house.”
Luk
9:62 But יהושע said to him, “No one, having put his hand
to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the reign of Elohim.”1
Footnote: 1Lk. 14:26, John 12:24-26.
We should consider also that the
priests were to be like offerings presented to YHVH without spot or blemish.
2Co 4:12 so that death indeed is working in us, but the
life in you.
We should also consider that the
instructions regarding the role of the Levites will continue until the end of
the millennium.
“As believers around the world are being drawn back to the roots of their Christian faith and thus embracing the lifestyle and teachings of Yeshua (Jesus) and the apostles, there are often questions about some major parts of the Torah. It’s easy for most people to acknowledge the validity of commandments like the Sabbath and dietary instructions, but what about the priesthood? What about animal sacrifices? Isn’t Yeshua our High Priest? Isn’t He our sacrifice?
Let me first state that I agree with Yeshua that not a jot or a tittle will pass from the Torah until heaven and earth pass away and all is accomplished (Matthew 5:17-19). According to Revelation 21:1-4, heaven and earth won’t pass away until there is no more crying, mourning, pain, and death. Since we still have crying, mourning, pain, and death, it follows logically that nothing from the Torah has passed away. Indeed, Yeshua lived and taught the Torah throughout His ministry. And the apostles followed in His footsteps by continuing to keep the Torah throughout the New Testament (See my articles, 5 Reasons Christians Should Keep Torah, Christians and Torah – What's the Point? and Should Christians Keep The Sabbath?). With regard to the topic at hand, Yeshua even instructed people to give offerings at the Temple (Mark 1:40-45). And Paul participated in the Temple services when he took a Nazarite vow, which requires an offering (Acts 21:20-16).
In addition to the references in the New Testament indicating a continuation of the Temple services and sacrifices, most believers acknowledge the reality that a future earthly priesthood, Temple, Levites, and animal sacrifices will be reinstituted in the millennial kingdom (Ezekiel 40-48; Zechariah 14:20-21). Indeed, God declared that His covenant with the Levitical priesthood can never be broken, just as His covenant that says David will always have a son—that is Yeshua, the son of David (Matthew 15:22; Mark 10:47)—to reign on his throne:
"For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.” The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Thus says the Lord: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.” (Jeremiah 33:17-22)
Having made that clear, I also agree with Scripture that Yeshua is our High Priest in the heavenly realm (Hebrews 7:15-17). And it is impossible for animal sacrifices to take away our sins (Hebrews 10:4). Our eternal atonement is found only in the Messiah, not anything else. But these facts are not in conflict with the validity of the earthly priesthood and animal sacrifices.
One might ask, “But wouldn’t the reinstitution of animal sacrifices in the millennium take away from the value of the Messiah’s sacrifice?”
Not at all! Messianic theologian Tim Hegg notes the following in his Hebrews commentary:
Since the animal sacrifices were never given to make the infinite payment for sin which God requires, a payment only the infinite and eternal Son of God could accomplish, we recognize that offering a sacrifice at the Tabernacle or Temple could in no way diminish the value of Messiah’s death.
Animal sacrifices have always been a shadow that points to the reality accomplished in Messiah’s work. They aren’t given to accomplish eternal atonement, but rather they are given to point to that which does. Therefore, animal sacrifices made before and after Yeshua’s sacrifice are simply memorial in nature and thus do not devalue Yeshua’s sacrifice. Christian theologian and former chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary, John F. Walvoord, echoes Tim Hegg’s assessment in his book Israel in Prophecy:
Some have felt it impossible to have a system of animal sacrifices subsequent to the one sacrifice of Christ on the cross in light of New Testament passages stating that the sacrifice of Christ makes other sacrifices unnecessary. Though varied explanations have been given for Ezekiel 40-48 which unfolds these details, no satisfactory explanation has been made other than that it is a description of millennial worship. In any case, it is clear that the sacrifices are not expiatory, but merely memorials of the one complete sacrifice of Christ. If in the wisdom and sovereign pleasure of God the detailed system of sacrifices in the Old Testament were a suitable foreshadowing of that which would be accomplished by the death of His Son, and if a memorial of Christ’s death is to be
enacted, it would not seem unfitting that some sort of sacrificial system would be used.
It’s important to note that although we affirm the validity of the Torah—including the earthly priesthood and animal sacrifices—we must also acknowledge that many aspects of the Torah cannot be kept today, due to the fact that the elements required to biblically observe them do not exist right now. When it comes to commandments concerning the earthly priesthood and animal sacrifices, they cannot be applied because there is no physical temple in Jerusalem at which to make sacrifices. This doesn’t take away from the validity of these parts of the Torah; it’s merely an acknowledgement of the reality that some commandments are impossible to keep right now in our current context.”
In conclusion – perhaps the world is in such a mess because the spiritual leadership that exists is in such a mess.
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu
Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn
ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you
have given us your Torah of truth, and have planted everlasting life within our
midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of the Torah – Ameyn