Parashat V’yikra (V’yikra/Leviticus 1-5)

Does Leviticus top your list of favorite books of the Bible?

It is pretty safe to say most people would not list Leviticus as one of their favorite books of the Bible.

When I served as a chaplain, I would often ask patients to share their favorite verse or book of the Bible.

9 times out of 10, the patient would cite the Psalms, regardless of their denominational tradition.

And it’s no wonder. Psalms engage the emotions – they help us make sense out of suffering, bring comfort in times of need, and help us verbalize our praise of our Eternal Father.

Psalms, Proverbs, the Gospels, these books tend to be among the favorites.

Leviticus . . . not so much.

Holiness, Holy-days, and Hope

I do know one Torah observant sister who did tell me that Leviticus is one of her favorites. I told her she is unusual. 😉

But you see, she understands that there is more to Leviticus than lists of burnt offerings and rules.

Leviticus is about holiness.

Yes, Leviticus outlines the sacrificial system and it can get to be a bit difficult for our modern sensibilities to read about killing bulls and doves, but I assure you, there is more to Leviticus than that. The sacrificial system was needed in order for us to understand the magnitude of what Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) came to do for us.

The LORD is holy and He requires us to be made holy. ” . . . be holy, for I am holy . . .” (Leviticus 11:44). In order to enter into a true relationship with our Heavenly Father, we must first understand the gravity of our sin – the depraved state we find ourselves in without our Savior. We realize through a thorough reading of Leviticus just what exactly is required to obtain holiness. This deepens our gratitude for what Messiah accomplished through His death on the cross! He has made a way for us to be holy as He is holy, if we believe and trust in His Name.

Leviticus is about holy-days.

Who doesn’t enjoy holidays? Leviticus defines for us the holy-days of the LORD. It is in Leviticus that what are known as the moedim (the appointed times) are explained in great detail. The appointed times refers to specific dates and times of year when the LORD desires to meet with His people. Divine appointments. Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles are two of the better known celebrations.

Sorry to be the bearer of unwelcome news, but Christmas and Easter are not moedim – they are manmade holidays of pagan origin reappropriated by some of the Christian church. Certainly the Lord Yeshua (Jesus) is our Emmanuel and our Triumphant Redeemer. The intent is good! But these holidays fall outside that which is Scripturally mandated and at worse, perpetuate many untruths.

Leviticus is about hope.

Ultimately, as I have alluded, Leviticus is about salvation and hope.

If we know what the LORD expects and what pleases Him, we can strive to live our lives for Him. But we know we will fall short. “There is no one righteous—no, not one” (Romans 3:10).

The Good News of salvation is available to all, and part of that reality started way back in Leviticus. How could we understand our need for a Savior if we didn’t know our shortcomings?

We are so blessed to be living in these days because we know the fullness of the Good News – that the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) came to the earth, lived, ministered, was crucified, buried, rose again, ascended into heaven, and poured out His Holy Spirit (Ruach haKodesh) upon His people.

The offerings outlined in Leviticus help us understand the Good News

Leviticus 1-5 describes the different offerings that were required in order for people to make themselves right with God again. We can gain a greater understanding of so much of what occurred in the New Testament (Brit Chadasha) if we understand more fully these offerings.

Offerings & Wholeheartedness

It can be hard for us in modern times, especially in the United States, to conceptualize the 5 offerings listed in Leviticus. We are accustomed to giving “an offering” – a sum of money apart from our tithe that we feel led to give to the LORD’s work. Notice, our modern understanding of an “offering” is almost always monetary.

When I traveled to Mexico and preached in the village church, I noticed something very profound. Most of the congregation members are quite poor, but like the widow who gave her mite, the brothers and sisters did not come empty-handed. One sister would bring flowers, a fragrant gift to adorn the pulpit area. A brother would carry a basket of fruit or vegetables, a first fruits offering that would bless the pastor’s family or another family in need. These offerings required planning, love, and care.

It is easy to take out our wallet and toss a few dollars into a collection plate. It would require more forethought on our part to go out to the garden (if we even have one!) and share of our harvest. If we can learn one thing from our brethren in Mexico it is to give our offering wholeheartedly.

Following the time of Leviticus all the way through the Second Temple period, money would have been exchanged (think of the Temple moneychangers) in order to obtain what was needed for the offerings, but the money wasn’t just tossed nonchalantly into an offering plate. The individual seeking pardon had to be more involved than that to obtain purity.

Voluntary offerings and Mandatory offerings.

The offerings in Leviticus can be divided into two types: voluntary and mandatory.

The Voluntary Offerings

1. The Burnt Offering

The burnt offering had to be a male without blemish out of the cattle or sheep, or doves or pigeons, depending upon one’s financial ability. the Bible calls this a food offering, an aroma that pleased the LORD. It was to be killed at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting (Leviticus 1:3).

That it would be killed at the doorway is significant because Yeshua (Jesus) said, “I am the Door.” The Good Shepherd laid down at the threshold of the doorway and ultimately gave up His life for His sheep. The Lamb’s blood on the doorposts prevents death from entering our lives.

2. The Meal/Grain Offering

This offering consisted of unleavened flour & oil mixed with frankincense and salt placed over fire. Mmmm . . . if you enjoy fresh baked bread, imagine the smell of a perfumed version! Throughout the Bible, oil represents anointing and sanctification – the Presence of the Spirit of the LORD. Salt was a preservative and was even involved in covenant-making! Because of its preserving quality, salt indicates an everlasting Covenant.

2 Chronicles 13:5 “Don’t you know that ADONAI, God of Israel, has given kingship over Israel to David forever—to him and his sons by a covenant of salt?”

John 7:42 “Didn’t the Scripture say that the Messiah comes from the seed of David and from Bethlehem, David’s town?”

The meal offering, as simplistic as it may seem, gives us a picture of the Everlasting Covenant we have as children of the Most High.

3. The Shalom/Peace Offering

Similar to the the burnt offering, the shalom offering had to be of cattle, lamb, or goat. This reconciliation offering restored fellowship. It foreshadowed the shalom (peace) that we receive through the sacrifice of our Savior.

The Mandatory Offerings: Sacrifices for Unintentional Sins

4. The Sin Offering (Leviticus 4-5:13)

If you have been following this blog, you may have read about the 13 (Biblical) Attributes of God listed in the book of Exodus.

Attribute 12, נֹשֵׂ֥א חַטָּאָ֑ה Nosei Chatah, describes the LORD as the “Forgiver of sin.” This verb refers to unintentional sins, meaning He forgives our mistakes and the sins we commit it ignorance.

A form of this Hebrew term is found beginning in Leviticus 4. Chata’at means to “miss the mark,” to “miss the target.”

So the sin offering was a mandatory offering for unintentional sins against God. This offering had to be completed before a person could make any other type of offering.

Different sacrifices were acceptable depending upon an individual’s rank/social status. A bull had to be sacrificed for the sins of Israel as a whole. A male goat was brought to be sacrificed on behalf of a leader. The ordinary folk were to bring a female goat or a lamb. The poor could bring a dove or pigeon to be sacrificed as the sin offering. Did you realize this was the type of offering Mary and Joseph brought when they went to Jerusalem to present the Holy Child to the LORD?

As Allen P. Ross writes in Holiness to the LORD: A Guide to the Exposition of the Book of Leviticus, “The point is that no one was barred from access or from worship on the basis of income or ability (Ross, 89).

5. The Guilt (Trespass) Offering (Leviticus 5:14-6:7)

Like the sin offering, the guilt offering was a mandatory offering but rather than it being for unintentional sins against God, this offering is for unintentional sins against another person.

Restitution was required because the offender was guilty of trespassing against or defrauding another person. If someone’s rights had been violated, a guilt offering was necessary to make things right again. We are so very guilty, but our Savior, Messiah Jesus (Yeshua) has come to save us and take all our guilt away.

Leviticus gives us a portion, and the Gospel gives us the full picture

I hope you have been able to see how each one of the offerings in the book of Leviticus relates to the Good News! As Rabbi Sha’ul (Apostle Paul) said, it may seem as though we are looking through a glass dimly, but we know that one day we will indeed see Him face to face. If we study the Scriptures in depth, we will find that passages that seem obscure or completely irrelevant to us can actually be extremely revelatory and far more intriguing than we initially expect.

I hope you found this short study on the five offerings of Leviticus 1-5 of blessing to you. I’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below or consider subscribing to our monthly newsletter!

https://adonaishalom.com/index.php/2021/09/10/what-does-yom-kippur-have-to-do-with-messiahs-return/

Charitable Giving and Ma’asar Kesafim

To our ears, doing “charitable deeds” or participating in “charitable giving” is like a fancy way of saying doing “good works, or “donating money.” Every year, the IRS will let you deduct some of your good deeds from Caesar’s bill, right? Charitable giving is tracked, graphed, sought-after, solicited, pleaded for, telethoned for . . . and for good reason – there is a healthy motivation when all parties involved win. But how charitable is our charitable giving, if it is done for a reward?

You may know that charitable giving was built into the legal system of ancient Israel. Today, the expectation to practice ma’asar kesafim, or, the giving of 10% of one’s income to the poor is standard tithing and ethical practice in Judaism. Certainly, Torah teaches generosity:

“If there is a poor man among you — any of your brothers within any of your gates in your land that ADONAI your God is giving you — you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother.  Rather, you must surely open your hand to him and you must surely lend him enough for his need — whatever he is lacking. Watch yourself, so there is no unworthy thing in your heart saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of cancelling debts, is near,’ and your eye is evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing. Then he may call out to ADONAI against you, and it will be a sin upon you. You must surely give to him, and your heart is not to be grieved when you give to him — for because of this thing ADONAI your God will bless you in all your work and in every undertaking of your hand.

Deuteronomy 15:7-11, TLV, emphases added

The generosity required by the justice of the Almighty does not diminish the giver’s net worth. Paradoxically, the individual who is sincerely generous will prosper and see increase according to Scriptural promises.

Besides help for the needy, tithes and offerings are also intended to support the work of ministry and preparation for the moedim (appointed times/feast days), brought into the house of the LORD. Sadly, many prosperity Gospel organizations have distorted this teaching, pressuring adherents to tithe, not out of love in righteousness, but out of a sense of obligation: warning that if one fails to tithe or does not give enough in offerings, blessings will be withheld or calamity will result. The true Gospel message related to tithing is simple. We are to give back what already belongs to the Most High, both in tithes and offerings, with thankfulness and pure motives.

Tzedek, Tzadik, & Tzedakah: Justice, Righteous(ness) & Charity

It’z not to overwhelm you with highly foreign looking words starting with “tz,” but these are some important Hebrew terms to learn when studying the Scriptures from a Hebraic perspective. Hint: the initial “t” is almost silent and the tz makes the “ts” sound you hear in the word “it’s.”

A “charitable deed” in Hebrew is “tzedakah.” This word is very interesting because it is comprised of the Hebrew alephbet letter tzadi (tzadik) צ which is derived from the term for “righteous” or “righteousness.” A “tzadik” refers to a Righteous person; tzedakah, a righteous deed.

To be “charitable,” then, requires a solid dose of “righteousness,” or else the giving is, as Qoheleth would say, “in vain!” There is none righteous, no, not one (Rom.3:10) – only our Master and Teacher, Messiah Yeshua, the Righteous Branch, Christ our Righteousness. He is the only One worthy of the honorific: “Tzadik.” But precisely because Messiah Jesus died on our behalf and believers are, by faith, clothed in His righteousness, all believers have the opportunity to live in righteousness, not to earn salvation, but to reflect it.

Too many “once saved always saved” sermons have led uninformed believers to mistakingly believe that nothing is required to live into their sanctification. Sanctification is a process, bestowed fully at salvation; but, like the Kingdom, is an “already-not-yet” reality: we are saved and sanctified, but we need the Ruach haKodesh, the Holy Spirit, to continue His sanctifying work in us – a partnership in a sense – between the Almighty and the believer.

Another exercise in etymology will lead you to the discovery that another Hebrew term, “tzedek” means “justice.” True justice cannot exist apart from Incarnate Righteousness. Yeshua has ascended to the Father; we must now embody the virtues of kindness, humility, righteousness, justice; veritably, all of the Fruits of the Spirit! We cannot settle for the world’s misguided attempts at justice or mislabeling of sin as “social justice” precisely because of the world’s blatant defiance and devaluation of all things righteous.

Free righteousness or righteousness-free?

I alluded to this above, but it is truly a travesty that such a large portion of modern-day “Christianity” neglects deep reflection around the topic of righteousness. Yes, we have been given an amazing free gift, the free gift of righteousness as children of God, but too many assemblies, fellowships, and churches have taken a “righteousness-free” posture eliminating discussion of moral righteousness, Godly duty and obligation, and even ethics; preferring political allegiances and cultural norms.

The past year has highlighted this reality. “Conservatives” vs “liberals” on everything from mask-wearing to presidential picks. Most Christians fall into the “conservative” camp, but the label has been tarnished by the unwavering following of leaders who would dismantle the democracy we enjoy. Rather than accept the temporary burden of wearing a mask to protect those around oneself, battle cries waged that freedom was being stolen. Selfishness reigned as the Great Commandment to love your neighbor as yourself was archived along with all the other commandments that a rebellious people are uninterested in keeping.

True Biblical Christianity must be rooted in the fullness of the Hebrew Scriptures. Most Torah scholars would agree that bearing temporary discomfort for the benefit of another is not only a right decision, but the only right decision. Biblical justice involves caring for someone else, regardless of your personal sentiments. Does that other person deserve your compassion? Does that person live by the same standards to which you hold yourself and your family? Perhaps not. But righteousness puts aside one’s own preferences, seeking only to the do the will of the Father, which is to exercise love and share the Good News of salvation. The New Covenant bolsters the concept, exhorting believers to “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.” (Romans 12:10, NKJV, emphasis added)

Messiah’s instructions in Matthew 6:3-4

Righteousness is demonstrable, yet lest we become “puffed up” as Rabbi Sha’ul would say, our Master Yeshua has words for us:

” . . . when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” Matthew 6:3-4, NKJV

” . . . when you do tzedakah, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your tzedakah may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, shall reward you.” Matthew/Mattityahu 6:3-4, TLV

Yeshua was addressing an issue in which people were doing their charitable giving with the hope of being seen or recognized in the public sphere for their philanthropy.

The Talmud was influenced by Jesus’ teachings

Midrash teaches: “The deeds of the righteous are always performed expeditiously; no time is lost in undertaking a mitzvah or in its execution.” (Bamidbar Rabbah 10:5; The Wisdom of the Hebrew Alphabet, Rabbi Michael L. Munk) The Talmud, written after Yeshua’s life on earth, arguably draws upon the wisdom He shared with His disciples. In discussion about the Hebrew alephbet, the dalet, written “ד”, can be examined in depth, demonstrating that its origin as “door” also alludes to the alms-seeker who may appear at one’s door. In his book, Rabbi Munk explains, “In a further lesson derived from the shape of the letters, the Talmud notes that the face of the ד is turned to the left, away from the ג, to show that the dal [beggar] should not have to face his gomel [benefactor]. Assistance should be given discreetly and with the greatest tact to preserve the self-respect of the recipient. In the highest form of charity, neither gomel nor dal should be aware of the other’s identity.” (Munk, 80).

When I came upon this fascinating analysis of the alephbet, Rabbi Yeshua’s words immediately came to mind. He said, “don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” The dalet ד is literally turned toward the left, so that no shame is unnecessarily placed upon the less privileged. Jesus was undeniably concerned for the well-being of the poorest of people, wisely instructing the disciples to conduct their good deeds in secret.

Tzedakah and righteousness are terms missing from the vocabulary of the modern church, but true believers have the opportunity to reclaim them as an awakening to the Hebrew roots of the Bible is occurring globally.

The greatest witness we can make is to live righteously for the healing of the nations.

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