1/27/2024

Parashat 29 Portion 96 ‘’Acherei – mot’’ Vayikra/Lev 17:1-16 Yesh/Is 66:1-11 Yoh 6:52-59

Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, who has made us set apart through His commandments and commanded us to actively study Torah. Please YHVH, our Elohim, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, YHVH, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, YHVH, Giver of the Torah.

אשׁר ישׁחט – in earlier days the head or priest of every family would slaughter animals for household use.

Lev 17:1  And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,

Lev 17:2  “Speak to Aharon, to his sons, and to all the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say to them, ‘This is the word which יהוה has commanded, saying,

Lev 17:3  “Any man from the house of Yisra’ĕl who slaughters (אשׁר ישׁחט) a bull or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp,

Lev 17:4  and does not bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to bring an offering to יהוה before the Dwelling Place of יהוה, blood-guilt (Heb – dam chashav – or blood judgment) is reckoned to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people,

 

In ancient near eastern cultures, it was not considered proper to slaughter an animal without deep consideration of the value of the life of the animal. Its blood was considered to have significant worth and was associated with the worship of YHVH or sadly in many other instances for the purpose of pleasing or worshipping angry gods and demons.

Lev 17:5  in order that the children of Yisra’ĕl bring their slaughterings which they slaughter in the open field. And they shall bring them to יהוה at the door (threshold) of the Tent of meeting, to the priest, and slaughter them as peace offerings to יהוה.

Lev 17:6  “And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of יהוה at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall burn the fat for a sweet fragrance to יהוה.

Lev 17:7  “And let them no longer slaughter their slaughterings to demons, after whom they whored. This is a law forever for them throughout their generations.” (in a modern context - any celebration that does not honour the One True Elohim of Israel and His only brought forth Son should be considered with suspicion)

 

Lev 17:8  “And say to them, ‘Any man of the house of Yisra’ĕl, or of the strangers who sojourn among you, who offers a burnt offering or slaughtering,

Lev 17:9  and does not bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to do it to יהוה, that man shall be cut off from among his people.

Lev 17:10  ‘And any man of the house of Yisra’ĕl, or of the strangers who sojourn among you, who eats any blood, I shall set My face against that being who eats blood, and shall cut him off from among his people.

 

Gentile believers are not excluded from this responsibility or guarding all aspects of Torah.

 

Heb 10:28  Anyone who has disregarded (disregarding – present tense)the Torah of Mosheh dies without compassion on the witness of two or three witnesses. Heb 10:29  How much worse punishment do you think shall he deserve who has trampled the Son of Elohim underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was set apart as common, and insulted the Spirit of favour? 

 

Lev 17:11  ‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your lives, for it is the blood that makes atonement for the life.’

Lev 17:12  “Therefore I said to the children of Yisra’ĕl, ‘No being among you eats blood, nor does any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.’

Lev 17:13  “And any man from the children of Yisra’ĕl, or from the strangers who sojourn among you, who hunts and catches any beast or bird, which is eaten, shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust,

Lev 17:14  for it is the life of all flesh. Its blood is for its life. And I said to the children of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Do not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Anyone eating it is cut off.’

Lev 17:15  “And any being who eats a carcass or what was torn by a beast, be he a native or a stranger, he shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and shall be unclean until evening. Then he shall be clean.

Lev 17:16  “And if he does not wash or bathe his body, then he shall bear his crookedness.”

 

This is just another confirmation of the Apostle Paul’s teaching why the Torah was given- why the Torah is so important -  to show us the exceeding sinfulness of sin – Rom 7:13

 

Even as seekers of the truth, we often don’t realize the seriousness of sin. There is a great deception and delusion amongst many believers that sin is no longer such a serious issue. The modern grace doctrines could in fact be doctrines of demons – YHVH has clearly shown us the path of our redemption.

 

Lev 18:1  And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying, 

Lev 18:2  “Speak to the children of Yisra’ěl, and say to them, ‘I am יהוה your Elohim. 

Lev 18:3  ‘Do not do as they do in the land of Mitsrayim, where you dwelt. And do not do as they do in the land of Kena‛an, where I am bringing you, and do not walk in their laws. 

Lev 18:4  ‘Do My right-rulings and guard My laws, to walk in them. I am יהוה your Elohim. 

Lev 18:5  ‘And you shall guard My laws and My right-rulings, which a man does and lives by them. I am יהוה

Midrash on how we can contextualize this Torah portion into a relevant application for present day believers.

Short Summary of ‘’The Threshold Covenant’’ - H. Clay Trumbull. The Threshold Covenant; or, The Beginning of Religious Rites – written 1896 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/49216/49216-h/49216-h.htm

The primitive altar of the family would seem to have been the threshold, or doorsill, or entrance- way, of the home dwelling-place. This is indicated by surviving customs, in the East and elsewhere among primitive peoples, and by the earliest historic records of the human race. It is obvious that houses preceded temples, and that the housefather was the earliest priest. Sacrifices for the family were, therefore, within or at the entrance of the family domicile.

In Syria and in Egypt, at the present time, when a guest who is worthy of special honor is to be welcomed to a home, the blood of a slaughtered, or a " sacrificed," animal is shed on the threshold of that home, as a means of adopting the newcomer into the family, or of making a covenant union with him. And every such primitive covenant in blood includes an appeal to the protecting Deity to ratify it as between the two parties and himself.  While the guest is still outside, the host takes a lamb, or a goat, and, tying its feet together, lays it upon the threshold of his door. Resting his left knee upon the bound victim, the host holds its head by his left hand, while with his right he cuts its throat. He retains his position until all the blood has flowed from the body upon the threshold. Then the victim is removed, and the guest steps over the blood, across the threshold; and in this act he becomes, as it were, a member of the family by the Threshold Covenant – ‘’brit miphtan’’

It would seem to have been in accordance with this primitive law of the East that Yahshua said : " He that entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep I am the door (threshold covenant).

If any man enters in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and shall find pasture. The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

The threshold, as the family altar on which the sacrificial blood of a covenant welcome is poured out, is counted set apart, and is not to be stepped upon, or passed over lightly; but it is to be crossed over rever- ently, as in recognition of Him to whom all life belongs. " On passing the threshold," in Arabia, " it is proper to say, ' Bismillah/ that is, ' In the name of God.' Not to do so would be looked upon as a bad sign, alike for him who enters and for those within."  In Syria the belief prevails " that it is ‘’unlucky’’ to tread on a threshold."

THRESHOLD COVENANTING IN THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY.

Marriage customs in various parts of the world, in ancient and modem times, illustrate this idea of the set apartness of the threshold as the family altar. In portions of Syria, when a bride is brought to her husband’s home, a lamb or a kid is sacrificed on the threshold, and she must step across the outpoured blood. This marks her adoption into that family.

In the building of a house, as a new home, the prominence given to the laying of the threshold, or to its dedicating by blood, is another indication, or outcome, of its altar-like set apartness. In Upper Syria a sacrifice is often made at the beginning of the building of a new house, and again at the first crossing of its threshold.

Because the threshold is recognized as an altar, nearness to the altar is nearness to YHVH, or to the gods worshiped at that altar. Hence appeals are made, and justice is sought at the gate, or at the threshold, as in the presence of mighty ones or Elohim.

See the Scriptural references to this idea. Moshe stood “in the gate of the camp,” at a crisis hour in Israel’s history, when he would execute judgment in YHVH’s cause. (Ex 32:26)

Exo 32:26  And Mosheh stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, “Who is for יהוה? Come to me.” And all the sons of Lěwi gathered themselves to him. 

All Israel was aroused to do judgment against the sinning Benjamites because of the appeal of the dying woman who fell at the door of the house, “with her hands upon the threshold.”(‘’saph’’)[ the Levites concubine - Judges 19:25-30] Boaz “went up to the gate,” to meet the elders there, when he would covenant to do justice by Ruth and the kinsman of Naomi.[ Ruth 4:1-10]

Pro 8:34  “Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at the posts of my doors. 

YHVH’s call to Israel, through the prophets, was: “Establish judgment in the gate,”[ Amos 5:15] and “Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates.”[ Zech 8:16] A reference to a just and righteous man is to “him that reproveth in the gate.”[ Is 29:21]

It is written in the Torah, that, when a bondman would bind himself and his family in permanent servitude to his loved master, “his master shall bring him unto YHVH [or to the place of judgment and of covenant], and shall bring him to the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall [thenceforward] serve him forever;”[ Ex 21:5-6] or, as it is elsewhere said, the master shall thrust the awl “through his ear, unto [or into] the door.” Here, apparently, the master and servant appeal together at the household altar, in witness of their set apart covenant.

When it is understood that the inscribing, on the doorways, of dedications to protecting deities, was common among primitive peoples, it would seem to be in accordance with that custom that the Hebrews were commanded to dedicate their doorways to the one living Elohim. It is said of the words of the covenant of YHVH with his people, as recorded in Deuteronomy 6 : 4– 9 and 11 : 13– 21, “Thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.” To this day, among stricter Jews, these covenant words inscribed on parchment, and enclosed in a cylinder of glass, or a case of metal or of wood, are affixed to the side-posts of every principal door in the house. This case and inscription are called the “mezuza.” On the outside of the written scroll, the divine name, Shaddai, –“the Almighty,”– is so inscribed that it may be in sight through an opening in the case or cylinder. This name stands for “the Guardian of the dwellings of Israel,” whose protection is thus invoked above the primitive altar of the household on the threshold of the entrance way.

Originally the covenant sacrifice at the threshold was with the one Elohim of life. But as monotheism degenerated into polytheism, the idea came to prevail of different deities at the gates. Each gate of an Assyrian city was dedicated to a special god, and named after it, – as the gate of Bel, the gate of Beltis, the gate of Anu, the gate of Ishtar.

EARLIEST TEMPLE ALTAR.

A temple is only a more prominent house. As a house was the dwelling of the earlier priest of his household, who was in covenant for himself and his family with the guardian deity of that household; so, afterwards, a temple was a dwelling for the deity guarding an aggregation of families, and for the priests who stood between him and the community.

In all stages of the transition from house to temple, the sacredness of the threshold, of the door, of the entranceway, of the gate, was recognized in architecture and in the ceremonial. Often the door, or the gate, stood for the temple, and frequently the threshold was an altar, or an altar was at the threshold.

Yahshua did not hesitate to say of himself as the Way to YHVH: “I am the Door: by me if any man enter in he shall be saved.”[ John 10:9]

Light is thrown on the dream of Jacob at Bethel by the shape of the ancient temple in the East. In his vision it was probably not a ladder, but a conventional stepped-temple structure, with its stairways rising heavenward, and its sanctuary, that Jacob saw. The angel ministers were passing up and down the steps, in the service of the Most High Elohim, who himself appeared above the structure. When Jacob waked he said: “Surely YHVH is in this place [or sanctuary]; and I knew it not.... How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of YHVH, and this is the gate of heaven;” and he took the stone which had been his pillow at the threshold of that sanctuary, and set it up for an altar pillar.[ The word “sullam,” here translated “ladder,” is a derivative from “salal,” “to raise up in a pile, to exalt by heaping up as in the construction of a mound or highway.” Comp. Isa. 57 : 14; 62 : 10; Jer. 50 : 26 – Gen 28:10-22]

“Gen 28:12  And he dreamed and saw a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached to the heavens, and saw messengers of Elohim going up and coming down on it.

“ladder” in Hebrew is “sulam” this is the only place in scripture where this word is used. The gematria for “sulam” and “Sinai” are the same – 130.

The events and message that come from these two locations (Sinai and Mount Tzion) reveal YHVH’s complete redemptive agenda (gateway thresholds) for mankind. These two places have influenced the life of man on this planet more than any other places in history.

The same message Moshe received on Sinai, Yahshua will proclaim (has proclaimed) from the temple mount or Mount Zion (mount Moriah) in the future – Is 2:2-4

Leaping over the threshold is at times spoken of in the Scriptures as if it had a taint of idolatry. Thus Zephaniah, foretelling, in the name of the YHVH, the judgments on idolaters, says: “In that day I will punish all those that leap over the threshold. מִפְתָּן [ Zeph 1:9] This is explained in the Targum as “those that walk in the customs of the Philistines.” Yet the Scriptures sometimes refers to the temple threshold as a fitting place of worship, and its recognition as a set apart altar as commendable. Ezekiel prophesies that the restored Prince of Israel (Messiah) “shall worship at the threshold of the gate of YHVH’s house; Eze 46:1  ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “The gate of the inner courtyard facing east is shut the six days of work, but on the sabbath it is opened, and on the day of the new moon it is opened. Eze 46:2  “And the prince(Messiah) shall enter by way of the porch of that gate from the outside, and he shall stand by the post. And the priests shall prepare his ascending offering and his peace offerings. And he shall bow himself at the threshold of the gate, and shall go out, but the gate is not shut until evening.’’

 Ezekiel sees, in a vision, “the esteem of the YHVH ... over the threshold of the house.” [Ez 10:4 and 9:3] Again YHVH complains of the profanation of his temple by idolaters “in their setting of their threshold by my threshold, and their door-post beside my door-post, (this is what the church has done) and there was but the wall between me and them.”[ Eze 43:8  “When they placed their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My set-apart Name by the abominations which they have done. So I consumed them in My displeasure. Eze 43:9  “Now let them put their whoring and the corpses of their sovereigns far away from Me, and I shall dwell in their midst forever.]

 That it was the threshold or doorway of the tabernacle, which was counted set apart, is evident from the wording of the Levitical laws concerning the offering of blood in sacrifices. “This is the thing which YHVH hath commanded, saying, What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it without the camp, and hath not brought it unto the door of the tent of meeting, to offer it as an oblation unto YHYV before the tabernacle YHVH: blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people: to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, even that they may bring them unto YHVH, unto the door of the tent of meeting, unto the priest, and offer them for offerings of peace offerings unto YHVH. And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of YHVH at the door of the tent of meeting and burn the fat for a sweet savour unto YHVH.... Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among them, that offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice, and bringeth it not unto the door of the tent of meeting, to offer it unto YHVH; even that man shall be cut off from his people.”[ Lev 17:2-9] It was at the doorway of the tent of meeting that Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the set apart priesthood;[ Ex 29:4] and it was there that the bullock was offered, and its blood was poured out as an offering at the base of the altar.[ Ex 29:10-12] It was at the doorway of that tent, above the threshold, that the pillar of cloud descended in token of YHVH’s presence, when Moshe met YHVH there in loving communion, while the people stood watching from the doorways of their own tents.[ Exod. 33 : 8– 10; see, also, Num. 12 : 5; 20 : 6; Deut. 31 : 15.]

The altar of burnt offering, at the base or foundation of which the blood of the offerings was outpoured, was itself at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and he who offered an offering to YHVH offered it at that threshold.[ See, for example, Exod. 40 : 6, 29; Lev. 1 : 3, 5; 3 : 2; 4 : 4, 7; 8 : 1– 36; 12 : 6; 14 : 11, 23; 15 : 14, 29; 16 : 7; 17 : 4– 9; 19 : 21; Num. 6 : 10– 18.] A post of honor in the temple was as a guardian of the threshold, as was also the place of a keeper of the gate. In the assignment of the priests and Levites to service, by Jehoiada the priest, in the days of Athaliah, a third part of them were in attendance at the “threshold,” and a third part “at the gate of the foundation.”[ 2 Chron. 23 : 4, 5.] Later, in the days of Josiah and Hilkiah, the guardians of the threshold had the care of the money collected for the repairs of YHVH’s house.[ 2 Chron 34:8,9] And a keeper of the threshold, or of the door, of the house of YHVH, was always mentioned with honor.[ 1 Chron. 15 : 23, 24; Jer. 35 : 4; 52 : 24, etc.] When the Psalmist contrasts the house of Elohim with the tents of wickedness, he speaks of the honor of a post at the temple threshold, not of the humble place of a temple janitor, when he says: “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand [elsewhere]. I had rather stand at the threshold of the house of my Elohim, Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” [ Ps 84:10- For a day in Your courts Is better than a thousand days. I have chosen rather to be a doorkeeper In the House of my Elohim, Than to dwell in the tents of the wrong.] See also Ex 38:8 set apart woman stood guard at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

At Jerusalem the Temple was built on Mt. Moriah, where the ark of the covenant rested after its return from Philistia, [ 2 Sam 6:1-19] and where David erected an altar to YHVH after the staying of the pestilence from Israel. [ 2 Sam24:15-25] And it is supposed that this same Mt. Moriah was where Abraham offered a sacrifice to YHVH on an altar he had built for the sacrifice of his son.[ Gen 22:1-13] And this site of the Temple at Jerusalem is held set apart to-day, in view of its being deemed by multitudes a Set Apart place from the beginning of the world. Now we can understand why Jerusalem will become a cup of trembling for all nations –

In a prophecy of the Messiah as the foundation, or threshold, of a new temple, it was declared by YHVH: “Behold, I lay [or, I have laid] in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone of sure foundation.”[ Isa. 28 : 16; 1 Pet. 2 : 6.] again, it was the promise of YHVH to the Israelites that they should be restorers of worship on former foundations. “They that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.” [ Is 58:12]

NEW MEANING IN AN OLD RITE. How the significance of the Hebrew passover rite stands out in the light of this primitive custom! It is not that this rite had its origin in the days of the Hebrew exodus from Egypt, but that YHVH then and there emphasized the meaning and set apartness of a rite already familiar to Orientals. In dealing with his chosen people, YHVH did not invent a new rite or ceremony at every stage of his progressive revelation to them; but he took a rite with which they were already familiar, and gave to it a new and deeper significance in its new use and relations.

Long before that day, a covenant welcome was given to a guest who was to become as one of the family, or to a bride or bridegroom in marriage, by the outpouring of blood on the threshold of the door, and by staining the doorway itself with the blood of the covenant. And now YHVH announced that he was to visit Egypt on a designated night, and that those who would welcome him should prepare a threshold covenant, or a pass-over sacrifice, as a proof of that welcome; for where no such welcome was made ready for him by a family, he must count the household as his enemy.[Ex 12:1-20] In announcing this desire for a welcoming offering by the Hebrews, YHVH spoke of it as “YHVH’s passover,” as if the pass-over rite was a familiar one, which was now to be observed as a welcome to YHVH.[Ex 12:11] Moshe, in reporting YHVH’s message to the Hebrews, did not speak of the proposed offering as something of which they knew nothing until now, but he first said to them, “Draw out, and take you lambs according to your families, and kill the passover”– or the threshold cross-over;[ Exod. 12 : 21, 27.] and then he added details of special instruction for this new use of the old rite.

A WELCOME WITH BLOOD. A lamb was the chosen offering in the welcome to YHVH. Each household, or family, was to take one lamb for this offering. No directions were given as to the place or manner of its sacrifice; for that seems to have been understood by all, because of the very term “pass-over,” or threshold cross-over. This is implied, indeed, in the directions for the use of the blood when it was poured out: “Kill the passover,” in the usual place; “and ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is at the threshold [Hebrew, saph which can mean basin, goblet, bowl and secondly can mean threshold, sill], and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is at the threshold.”[ Ex 12:22]

In that welcome with blood there was covenant protection from YHVH as he came into Mitsrayim/Egypt to execute judgment on his enemies. The Mitsrites/Egyptians had already refused him allegiance and put themselves in open defiance of his authority. They were now to be visited in judgment. [ Exod. 2 : 23– 25; 3 : 7– 10; 5 : 1, 2; 6 : 1– 7; 10 : 21– 29.] But in order to the distinguishing of YHVH’s people from his enemies, the Hebrews were to prepare a blood welcome at their doorway, and YHVH would honor this welcome by covenanting with those who presented it. “And Moshe said, Thus saith YHVH, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of cattle.... But against any of the children of Yisrael shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that YHVH doth put a difference between the Mitsrites and Yissrael.” [ Exod. 11 : 4– 7.] In furtherance of this purpose, YHVH asked for the offering of the threshold cross-over by the Hebrews: “For YHVH will pass through [the land] to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts [of the Hebrew homes], YHVH will pass over [cross-over or through] the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.”[ Ex 12:23] Obviously the figure here employed is of a sovereign accompanied by his executioner, a familiar figure in the ancient East. When he comes to a house marked by tokens of the welcoming covenant, the sovereign will covenant-cross that threshold, and enter the home as a guest, or as a member of the family; but where no such preparation has been made for him, his executioner will enter on his mission of judgment.[ Compare Josh. 2 : 1– 21; 6 : 16– 25.]

BASIN, OR THRESHOLD. It is strange that sometimes the Hebrew word for “threshold” (saph) in this narrative is translated “basin” in our English Scripture. It is because of this that the identity of the passover sacrifice with the primitive Threshold Covenant is so generally lost sight of. This word ‘’saph’’ occurs many times in the Old Testament text, and in nine cases out of ten it is translated “threshold,” or “door,” or “door-post,” or the like.[ 549 - See, for example, Judg. 19 : 27; 1 Kings 14 : 17; 2 Kings 12 : 9, 13; 22 : 4; 23 : 4; 25 : 18; 1 Chron. 9 : 19, 22; 2 Chron. 3 : 7; 23 : 4; 34 : 9; Esther 2 : 21; 6 : 2; Isa. 6 : 4; Jer. 35 : 4; 52 : 19, 24; Ezek. 40 : 6, 7; 41 : 16; 43 : 8; Amos 9 : 1; Zeph. 2 : 14; Zech. 12 : 2.] It would seem that it should be so translated in this instance. In some cases where saph is translated “basin,” or “cup,” the term “threshold” would be more appropriate, as when included in an enumeration of the temple furniture.[ Jer 52:19] Bronze and silver thresholds were often mentioned in the furniture of Babylonian and Assyrian temples; and they might well have had mention among the Hebrews. It is possible, however, that there was a cavity, as a blood receptacle, in the threshold of houses or temples where sacrifices were so frequent; and this would account for the use of the word saph as “bason,” even where it referred to the threshold of the door.

Among primitive peoples, as among the Jews, no indignity could equal the refusal of a special guest-welcome, in a rude trampling on the blood of the threshold sacrifice, instead of crossing over it reverently as a mode of its acceptance. Hence the peculiar force of the words of the Jewish-Christian writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, concerning the mistreatment of YHVH’s threshold sacrifice is found in Heb 10:28  Anyone who has disregarded (disregarding – present tense)the Torah of Mosheh dies without compassion on the witness of two or three witnesses. Heb 10:29  How much worse punishment do you think shall he deserve who has trampled the Son of Elohim underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was set apart as common, and insulted the Spirit of favour? (sacrifices or offerings is the most discussed topic in scriptures as well as the most neglected)

Midrash on how this teaching can help in restoring scriptural family life in these last days.

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.