This Torah portion
speaks of a specific kind of vow called an “Yafli neder”
or an extraordinary and amazing vow. This vow involved giving an ‘’erech’’ or valuation
to the inherent and unique “set apartness” of an object or person. So, the book
of Vayikra ends as it opened, with a chapter of regulations regarding offerings,
however in this final chapter the offerings we present are more extraordinary
and more special than the usual offerings – these offerings include ourselves
and those around us and even our possessions. The apostle Paul gives us a
special insight into these offerings and in so doing he once again elevates the
Torah.
A Living Sacrifice - “Yafli neder”
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.
אישׁ
כי
יפלא – when a man does a ( פלא) an extraordinary or
hard or difficult thing
Lev 27:1 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Lev
27:2 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl,
and say to them, ‘When a man separates (‘’פלא’’ )a vow, by your evaluation(‘’erech’’) of lives unto יהוה, (Gen 18:14 היפלא )
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ב דַּבֵּר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם, אִישׁ, כִּי
יַפְלִא נֶדֶר--בְּעֶרְכְּךָ נְפָשֹׁת, לַיהוָה. |
‘’speak to
the children of Israel and say to them – when a man makes the
extraordinary promise in offering and
dedicating himself and others and his possessions to YHVH’’
This person
wasn’t satisfied in just bringing an animal or monetary offering, he was willing
to empty himself of his life and his possessions to honour YHVH and serve his
fellow man. This ‘’ish’’ (man) was also
willing to lay down his life and pay for the mistakes of his fellow brothers
and sisters and save them and their property from the possible harsh treatment
of slave owners.
Where are
these men today? Do they even exist?
The book of
‘’Vayikra’’ begins with the various animal offerings and ends when the ‘’unique
ish’’ the man himself, is willing to be the offering unto YHVH. In this Torah
portion YHVH gives instructions to this kind of ‘’unique ish’’ this ‘’rare man.’’
Will this
happen again in the last days? - Psa 110:3 Your people volunteer (become free will offerings - נדבה) in
the day of Your might (potent power)
Verse 4
of Psalm 110 gives us the identity of a ‘’unique ish’’
Psa
110:4 יהוה has sworn and does not relent, “You are a priest forever
According to the order of Malkitseḏeq.”
Lev
27:3 when your evaluation is of a male
from twenty years old up to sixty years old, then your evaluation shall be
fifty sheqels of silver, according to the sheqel of the set-apart place.
Lev
27:4 ‘And if it is a female, then your
evaluation shall be thirty sheqels;
According to the Books of Samuel, David
paid 50 silver shekels for the threshing floor and the oxen (2 Samuel
24:24); Chronicles states that David paid 600 gold shekels for the entire site
where the threshing floor was located (1 Chronicles 21:25).
50 shekels was the price of the altar on
the Temple mount site.
A silver shekel would be worth about $10 –
One gold shekel would be worth 10 times more.
Therefore 50 shekels would be worth around $500
or around R10 000 – (for the Temple treasury) The entire Temple mount
complex was purchased for R1,2 million.
https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Weights-Measures
This Torah portion gives instructions to this unique man on how he can carry
out his intentions of giving himself and all that he has to YHVH.
Lev
27:5 and if from five years old up to
twenty years old, then your evaluation for a male shall be twenty sheqels, and
for a female ten sheqels;
Lev
27:6 and if from a month old up to five
years old, then your evaluation for a male shall be five sheqels of silver, and
for a female your evaluation shall be three sheqels of silver;
Lev 27:7 and if from sixty years old and above, if it is a male, then your evaluation shall be fifteen sheqels, and for a female ten sheqels.
Lev 27:8 ‘But if he is too poor to pay your evaluation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall set a value for him. According to the ability of him who vowed, the priest shall value him.
Yahshua teaches us similar instructions found in this Torah portion:
Mar
10:29 יהושע said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house
or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for
the sake of Me and the Good News,
Mar 10:30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come, everlasting life.
This ‘’unique man’’ would be greatly rewarded in this life and in the life to come – however YHVH goes on to give a series of instructions to ensure that such a ‘’unique man’’ would not have any ulterior motives and change his mind and break his vow –
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.”[c] Footnote: c Luk_14:26, Luk_14:33, Joh_12:24-26.
Luk 14:33 “So, then, every one of you who does not give up all that he has, is unable to be My taught one.[b] Footnote: bSee Luk_9:62, Joh_12:24-26, Php_3:7, Heb_11:26.
We need to understand that the purpose of the entire sacrificial system of Leviticus was to bring us to a place of complete surrender to Him – with no ulterior motives – if this does not happen we have not fully comprehended the purpose for the sacrificial system.
Lev
27:9 ‘And if it is a beast of which they
bring an offering to יהוה, all such given to יהוה is set-apart. (these were not
included in the normal offerings - “Yafli
neder”)
Lev 27:10 ‘He is not to replace it or exchange it, good for spoilt or spoilt for good. And if he at all exchanges beast for beast, then both it and the one exchanged for it is set-apart.
Lev
27:11 ‘And if it is any unclean beast of
which they do not bring an offering to יהוה,
then he shall present the beast before the priest; (donkeys, camels and horses)
Lev 27:12 and the priest shall value it, whether it is good or spoilt. According to your evaluation, O priest, so it shall be.
Lev 27:13 ‘But if he indeed redeems it, then he shall add one-fifth to your evaluation. (fine)
Lev
27:14 ‘And when a man sets his house
apart, to be set-apart to יהוה, then the priest shall value
it, whether it is good or spoilt. As the priest values it, so it stands.
Lev 27:15 ‘And if he who sets it apart does redeem his house, then he shall add one-fifth of the silver of your evaluation to it, and it shall be his. (perhaps this was intended for widows and orphans)
Lev 27:16 ‘And if a man sets apart to יהוה a field he owns, then your evaluation shall be according to the seed for it – a cḥomer (300l) of barley seed at fifty sheqels of silver.
Lev
27:17 ‘If he sets his field apart from
the Year of Jubilee, according to your evaluation it stands.
Lev
27:18 ‘But if he sets his field apart
after the Jubilee, then the priest shall reckon to him the silver due according
to the years that remain till the Year of Jubilee, and it shall be deducted
from your evaluation.
Lev 27:19 ‘And if he who sets the field apart ever wishes to redeem it, then he shall add one-fifth of the silver of your evaluation to it, and it shall be his.
Lev
27:20 ‘And if he does not redeem the
field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it is no longer redeemed,
Lev
27:21 but the field, when it is released
in the Jubilee, is set-apart to יהוה
as a dedicated field, to be the possession of the priest.
Lev
27:22 ‘And if a man sets apart to יהוה a field which he has bought,
which is not the field of his possession,
Lev
27:23 then the priest shall reckon to
him the amount of your evaluation, up to the Year of Jubilee, and he shall give
your evaluation on that day, set-apart to יהוה.
Lev 27:24 ‘In the Year of Jubilee the field returns to him from whom he bought it, to him whose is the possession of the land.
Lev 27:25 ‘And all your evaluations is to be according to the sheqel of the set-apart place: twenty gĕrahs to the sheqel. (gerah, a weight, a 20th part of a shekel, equal to the weight of 16 barley grains or 4 to 5 carob beans)
Lev
27:26 ‘However, a first-born of the
beasts, which is first-born to יהוה,
no man sets it apart – whether bull or sheep, it belongs to יהוה.
Lev 27:27 ‘And if among the unclean beasts, then he
shall ransom it according to your evaluation, and shall add one-fifth to it.
And if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your evaluation.
Lev
27:28 ‘However, whatever a man lays
under ban for יהוה of all that he has, man and
beast, or the field of his possession, is not sold or redeemed. Whatever is
laid under ban is most set-apart to יהוה.
(kodesh kodeshim which means you cannot use it for your own benefit)
Lev
27:29 ‘No one under the ban, under the
ban among men, is ransomed, but shall certainly be put to death.
Lev
27:30 ‘And all the tithe of the land –
of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree – belongs to יהוה. It is set-apart to יהוה.
Lev
27:31 ‘If a man indeed redeems any of
his tithes, he adds one-fifth to it.
Lev
27:32 ‘And the entire tithe of the herd
and of the flock, all that passes under the rod, the tenth one is set-apart to יהוה.
Lev
27:33 ‘He does not inquire whether it is
good or spoilt, nor does he exchange it. And if he exchanges it at all, then
both it and the one exchanged for it are set-apart, it is not redeemed.’ ”
Lev 27:34 These are the commands which יהוה commanded Mosheh for the children of Yisra’ĕl on Mount Sinai.
Some of these instructions may be difficult to understand and implement, however we can take comfort in the fact that these instructions will be explained and performed by the Levitical priesthood when Yahshua returns and the Temple service is restored.
This is the calling of the ‘’unique ish’’
1Co
6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the Dwelling Place of the
Set-apart Spirit who is in you, which you have from Elohim, and you are not
your own?
1Co
6:20 For you were bought with a price, therefore esteem Elohim in your
body and in your spirit,[b] which are of Elohim. Footnote: bSee 1Co_7:23,
1Pe_1:18-19.
- 2Co 4:11 For we, the living,
are always delivered to death for the sake of יהושע, that the life of יהושע might also be manifested in
our mortal flesh,
2Co 4:12 so that death indeed is working in us, but the life in you.
2Co 2:16 To the one we are the smell of death to death, and to the other the fragrance of life to life. And who is competent for these?
2Co
3:5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to reckon any matter as
from ourselves, but our competence is from Elohim,
2Co 3:6 who also made us competent as servants of a renewed covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit, for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. (This was the spirit of the sacrificial service).
Mat 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”[a] Footnote: aSee Mat_20:16.
In the last 7 years of this age we will begin to see the restoration of these things, even now the Spirit is awakening in us the understanding and desire to walk as this ‘’unique ish’’. Maybe the road of this ‘’unique ish’’ is more narrow than we could ever have imagined.
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
Chazak chazak venitchezek – Be strong be
strong and be strengthened