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.
Now we come
to the very heart of the Torah – ‘’Vayikra’’ or ‘’and He called’’ -
traditionally the first book children learn in the
Rabbinic system of education. What is YHVH calling us to? A life of ‘’sacrifices’’ Luk 9:23 And He said to them
all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his
stake daily, and follow Me. Luk 9:24 “For whoever wishes to save his
life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake shall save it.
Rom
12:1 I call
upon you, therefore, brothers, through the compassion of Elohim, to present
your bodies a living offering – set-apart, well-pleasing to Elohim – your
reasonable worship. Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you prove what is that
good and well-pleasing and perfect desire of Elohim.
Contrary to
popular and religious opinion – the ‘’sacrificial system’’ was never done away
with or replaced by Yahshua. In fact, Yahshua teaches that ‘’sacrifice’’ is at
the very heart of our faith. ‘’Leviticus’’ comes from the Hebrew word
‘’Levite’’ and ‘’Levite’’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘’lev’’ or heart. ‘’Levi’’
means ‘’my heart’’. All those who surrender themselves to ‘’this life’’ will
know and have the Heart of the Father.
Act 13:22 ….. ‘I have found Dawiḏ the son of Yishai, a man
after My own heart, who shall do all My desires.’ Act 13:23 “From
this one’s seed, according to the promise, Elohim raised up for Yisra’ěl a
Saviour, יהושע,
ויקרא
- to call out
to - that is, properly address by
name - A primitive root; to encounter. S7121
Lev 1:1 And יהוה called to Mosheh, and spoke
to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying,
The
Tabernacle is erected and now from the Most Set Apart Place YHVH is ‘’calling’’
His People by name to engage in a life of ‘’sacrifice’’ it is the
‘’reasonable’’ (Gk ‘’logikos’’ or logical) worshipful response for an Israelite
called by YHVH – Rom 12:1
Lev
1:2 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl,
and say to them, ‘When anyone of you brings an offering to יהוה, you bring your offering of
the livestock, of the herd or of the flock.
CLV ‘’Speak to the sons of Israel and
say to them: When any man among you brings (Heb ‘’karav’’) near an approach
present (Heb ‘’korban’’) to Yahweh, from the domestic beasts (from
the herd or from the flock) shall you bring near your approach present.’’
קרב qârab : to come near, approach, enter
into, draw near
קרבּן qûrbân: offering, oblation
Midrash:
When a Hebrew man approaches YHVH – he doesn’t approach YHVH empty handed. In
fact, YHVH is very specific as to how he should be approached.
Lev 1:3 ‘If his offering is a burnt offering (Heb
‘’korban olah’’) of the herd, let him bring a male, a perfect one. Let him
bring it at the door of the Tent of Meeting, for his acceptance (Heb ratza – to
be pleased that a debt has been satisfied) before יהוה.
Lev
1:4 ‘And he shall lay his hand on the
head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted on his behalf to make
atonement for him.
Lev
1:5 ‘And he shall slaughter the bull
before יהוה. And
the sons of Aharon, the priests, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood
all around on the altar which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
Lev
1:6 ‘And he shall skin the burnt
offering and cut it into its pieces.
Lev
1:7 ‘And the sons of Aharon the priest
shall put fire on the altar, and lay the wood in order on the fire.
Lev
1:8 ‘And the sons of Aharon, the
priests, shall arrange the pieces, with the head and the fat on the wood which
is on the fire on the altar.
Lev
1:9 ‘But its entrails and its legs he
washes with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar as a burnt
offering, an offering made by fire, a sweet fragrance to יהוה.
Lev
1:10 ‘And if his offering is from the
flock, from the sheep or from the goats as a burnt offering, let him
bring a male, a perfect one.
Lev
1:11 ‘And he shall slaughter it on the
north side of the altar before יהוה.
And the sons of Aharon, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood on the altar all
around.
It appears that only the burnt offering was to
be slaughtered on the north side. The Hebrew word for “north” comes from
“tzaphan” which implies that which is hidden or secret. The burnt offering
would always then remind us of the complete offering Yashua made of himself.
Perhaps the burnt offering (‘’olah’’) would be an opportunity for YHVH to
reveal mysteries and give special insights to the men who made such offerings.
Lev
1:12 ‘And he shall cut it into its
pieces, with its head and its fat, and the priest shall arrange them on the
wood which is on the fire on the altar.
Lev
1:13 ‘But the entrails and the legs he
washes with water. And the priest shall bring it all and burn it on the altar.
It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a sweet fragrance to יהוה.
Lev
1:14 ‘And if the burnt offering of his
offering to יהוה is
of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or young
pigeons.
Lev
1:15 ‘And the priest shall bring it to
the altar, and shall wring off its head, and burn it on the altar, and its
blood shall be drained out at the side of the altar.
Lev
1:16 ‘And he shall remove its crop with
its feathers and throw it beside the altar on the east side, into the place for
ashes.
Lev
1:17 ‘And he shall split it at its
wings, but not sever it. And the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood
that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a sweet
fragrance to יהוה.
Lev 2:1 ‘And
when anyone brings a grain offering to יהוה,
his offering is to be of fine flour. And he shall pour oil on it, and put
frankincense on it,
Lev
2:2 and he shall bring it to the sons of
Aharon, the priests, and he shall take from it his hand filled with fine flour
and oil with all the frankincense. And the priest shall burn it as a
remembrance portion on the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet fragrance
to יהוה.
Lev 2:3 ‘And the rest of the grain offering is for
Aharon and his sons, most set-apart of the offerings to יהוה by fire.
The text states that a remnant of the grain offering that was not put on
the fire was kept aside for Aaron and his sons - THIS REMNANT OFFERING WAS MOST
SET APART – “KODESH KODASHIM” OF ALL THE FIRE OFFERINGS PRESENTED TO YHVH.
Maybe one of the reasons why this offering is called ‘’most Set Apart’’
is that only a very small remnant of YHVH’s people are willing to lay down
their lives, forsake all, and follow Him or maybe it was the poorest of the
poor who were willing to set aside some of their meagre food rations to bring
an offering or approach gift to YHVH.
Lev
2:4 ‘And when you bring as an offering a
grain offering baked in the oven, it is of unleavened cakes of fine
flour mixed with oil, or unleavened thin cakes anointed with oil.
Lev
2:5 ‘But if your offering is a grain
offering on the griddle, it is of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil.
Lev
2:6 ‘Divide it into bits and pour oil on
it, it is a grain offering.
Lev
2:7 ‘And if your offering is a grain
offering, in a stewing-pot, it is made of fine flour with oil.
Lev
2:8 ‘And you shall bring to יהוה the grain offering that is
made of these, and shall present it to the priest, and he shall bring it to the
altar.
Lev
2:9 ‘And the priest shall take from the
grain offering a remembrance portion, and burn it on the altar, an offering
made by fire, a sweet fragrance to יהוה.
Lev
2:10 ‘And the rest of the grain offering
is for Aharon and his sons, most set-apart of the offerings to יהוה made by fire.
Lev
2:11 ‘No grain offering which you bring
to יהוה is
made with leaven, for you do not burn any leaven or any honey in an offering to
יהוה made by fire.
Lev
2:12 ‘Bring them to יהוה as an offering of the
first-fruits, (‘’korban reshiet’’) but they are not burned on the altar for a
sweet fragrance.
Lev 2:13 ‘And season with salt every offering of your
grain offering, and do not allow the salt of the covenant of your Elohim to be
lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you bring salt.
Num
18:19 “All the contributions of the set-apart gifts, which the
children of Yisra’ěl present to יהוה, I have given to you and your sons and
daughters with you as a law forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before יהוה
with you and your seed with you.”
2Ch
13:5 “Do you not know that יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ěl has given the reign
over Yisra’ěl to Dawiḏ forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of
salt?
Mat
5:13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt becomes tasteless,
how shall it be seasoned? For it is no longer of any use but to be thrown out
and to be trodden down by men. (it is impossible for pure salt to lose its saltiness and like the Most
Set Apart Place a salt crystal is a perfect cube with 8 equal sides)
Lev
2:14 ‘And if you bring a grain offering
of your first-fruits to יהוה,
bring for the grain offering of your first-fruits green heads of grain roasted
on the fire, crushed heads of new grain.
Lev
2:15 ‘And you shall put oil on it, and
lay frankincense on it. It is a grain offering.
Lev
2:16 ‘And the priest shall burn the
remembrance portion, from its crushed grain and from its oil, with all the
frankincense, an offering made by fire to יהוה.
Laws
for Peace Offerings
Lev
3:1 ‘And if that which he presents is a slaughtering of peace offerings, (Heb ‘’shelamin’’ from root
‘’shalam’’ a celebration or anticipation of restoration of wholeness and well -being) if he is bringing it of the herd,
whether male or female, he brings a perfect one before יהוה.
Mat
5:23 “If, then, you bring your gift to the slaughter-place, and there
remember that your brother holds whatever against you, Mat 5:24
leave your gift there before the slaughter-place, and go, first make peace with
your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Lev
3:2 ‘And he shall lay(Heb ‘’samach’’ to lean upon) his hand on the head of his offering, and slay it at the door of the
Tent of Appointment. And the sons of Aharon, the priests, shall sprinkle the
blood on the slaughter-place all around.
A
recognition that the well being of another was given in exchange for my own wellbeing.
Lev
3:3 ‘And from the slaughtering of peace offerings he shall bring a
fire offering to יהוה, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on
the entrails,
Lev
3:4 and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them by the loins, and
the appendage on the liver which he removes with the kidneys.
Lev
3:5 ‘And the sons of Aharon shall burn it on the slaughter-place upon the
ascending offering, which is on the wood, which is on the fire, as an offering
made by fire, a sweet fragrance to יהוה.
Lev
3:6 ‘And if that which he presents is from the flock, for a slaughtering
of peace offerings to יהוה, male or female, he brings a perfect
one.
Lev
3:7 ‘If he is bringing a lamb as his offering, then he shall bring it
before יהוה,
Lev
3:8 and shall lay
(‘’samach’’) his hand
on the head of his offering, and slay it in front of the Tent of Appointment,
and the sons of Aharon shall sprinkle its blood on the slaughter-place round
about.
Lev
3:9 ‘And from the slaughtering of peace offerings he shall bring
near – as a fire offering to יהוה – its fat, all the fat tail which
he removes close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails and all
the fat that is on the entrails,
Lev
3:10 and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the loins, and
the appendage on the liver, which he removes with the kidneys.
Lev
3:11 ‘And the priest shall burn them on the slaughter-place as food, an
offering made by fire to יהוה.
Lev
3:12 ‘And if his offering is a goat, then he shall bring it before יהוה,
Lev
3:13 and shall lay his hand on its head and slay it before the Tent of
Appointment. And the sons of Aharon shall sprinkle its blood on the
slaughter-place all around.
Lev
3:14 ‘And from it he shall bring his offering, as an offering made by
fire to יהוה, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on
the entrails,
Lev
3:15 and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the loins, and
the appendage on the liver, which he removes with the kidneys.
Lev
3:16 ‘And the priest shall burn them on the slaughter-place as food, an
offering made by fire for a sweet fragrance. All the fat belongs to יהוה.
Lev
3:17 ‘An everlasting law throughout your generations in all your
dwellings: you do
not eat any fat or any blood.’ ”
Lev
7:11 ‘And this is the Torah of the slaughtering of peace offerings
which is brought to יהוה:
Lev
7:12 ‘If he brings it for a thanksgiving, then he shall bring with
the slaughtering of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and
unleavened thin cakes anointed with oil, or cakes of finely blended flour mixed
with oil.
Lev
7:13 ‘Besides the cakes, he brings as his offering leavened bread
together with the slaughtering of thanksgiving of his peace offerings.
Lev
7:14 ‘And from it he shall bring one cake from each offering as a
contribution to יהוה: to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offerings,
it is his.
Lev
7:15 ‘As for the flesh of the slaughtering of his peace offerings
for thanksgiving, it is eaten the same day it is offered, he does not leave any
of it until morning.
Lev
7:16 ‘And if the slaughtering he brings is a vow or a voluntary
offering, it is eaten the same day that he brings his slaughtering, and what
is left of it is eaten the next day,
Lev
7:17 but whatever is left of the flesh of the slaughtering on the third
day is burned with fire.
Lev
7:28 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Lev
7:29 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ěl, saying, ‘He who brings his
slaughtering of peace offerings to יהוה brings his offering to יהוה
from the slaughtering of his peace offerings.
Lev
7:30 ‘With his own hands he brings the offerings made by fire to יהוה. He
brings the fat with the breast, to be waved as a wave offering before יהוה.
Lev
7:31 ‘And the priest shall burn the fat on the slaughter-place, but the breast
(Heb ‘’chazeh’’ comes
from ‘’chazah’’ or ‘’vision’’ comes from ‘’revelation’’ or ‘’chazon’’) shall be Aharon’s and his
sons.’
Lev
7:32 ‘And the right thigh (Heb ‘’shok’’)you
give to the priest as a contribution from the slaughtering of your peace offerings. (שׁוק – hind leg – also
‘’Shook’’ to overflow)
Midrash – The ‘’Mishkan’’ the ‘’Korbanot’’ or offerings were
meant to be both internalized (‘’chazon’’) and externalized (‘’Shok’’)
Lev
7:33 ‘He among the sons of Aharon, who brings the blood of the peace offerings,
and the fat, the right thigh is his for a portion.
Lev
7:34 ‘For the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the
contribution I have taken from the children of Yisra’ěl, from the slaughterings
of their peace offerings, and I give them to Aharon the priest and to
his sons, as a law forever, from the children of Yisra’ěl.’ ”
Midrash:
Korban(offering) is all about Kavanah (condition of our hearts)
Korban
is the way of why we exist - Joh 6:53 יהושע therefore said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you
eat the flesh of the Son of Aḏam and drink His blood, you possess no life in
yourselves.
Joh
6:54 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood possesses everlasting
life, and I shall raise him up in the last day. Joh 6:55 “For My
flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. Joh 6:56 “He who
eats My flesh and drinks My blood stays in Me, and I in him. Joh
6:57 “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so
he who feeds on Me shall live because of Me.
Joh
6:58 “This is the bread which came down out of the heaven, not as your
fathers ate the manna and died. He who eats this bread shall live forever.” Joh
6:59 He said this in a congregation, teaching in Kephar Naḥum. (Village of comfort)
Mic
6:8 He has
declared to you, O man, what is good. And what does יהוה require of you but to do
right, and to love loving-commitment, and to walk humbly with your
Elohim?
Destruction
of the Wicked
Mic
6:9 The voice of יהוה cries to the city – and let sound wisdom see Your Name! “Hear
the Rod and Him who appointed it!
Mic
6:10 “Are there still treasures of wrongness in the house of the wrong,
and the short measure that is an abomination?”
Mic
6:11 Would I be innocent with wrong scales, and with a bag of false
weights?
Mic
6:12 “For her rich men are filled with cruel unrighteousness, and her
inhabitants have spoken falsehood, and their tongue is deceit in their
mouth.
Mic
6:13 “So I also, I shall strike you with a grievous wound, to lay you
waste because of your sins:
Mic
6:14 “You shall eat but not be satisfied, and your inside be empty. And
you shall store up but not save, and what you save I shall give to the
sword.
Mic
6:15 “You shall sow but not reap, you shall tread the olives but not
anoint yourselves with oil, and make sweet wine but not drink wine.
Mic
6:16 “For the laws of Omri are strictly observed, and all the works of
the house of Aḥab, and you walk in their counsels. Therefore I give you for a
ruin, and your inhabitants for a hissing, and let you bear the reproach of My
people.”
Mic
7:7 As for me, I look to יהוה, I wait for the Elohim of my deliverance,
my Elohim does hear me.
Mic
7:8 Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. When I have fallen I have risen,
when I sit in darkness יהוה is a light to me.
How can
religious people say the ‘’offerings’’ have been done away with?
Our
entire existence is defined by ‘’offering’’ - Luk 9:23 And He said to them all, “If
anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his stake
daily, and follow Me. Luk 9:24 “For whoever wishes to save his life
shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake shall save it.
Luk
9:25 “For what is a man profited if he gains all the world, and is
himself destroyed or lost?
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 – Amein.
Introduction to the
5 Levitical Offerings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tpmqs6_E8L8
Burned Offering:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkShglfHzbM
Grain Offering:
(306) Tabernacle of Moses:
Leviticus 2 Grain or Meal Offering by Dr. Terry Harman - YouTube
Peace Offerings:
Peace
Offerings – Part 2