THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS – THE HEART OF THE TORAH

“Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise; set your heart to My knowledge. For it is pleasant if you guard them in your innards and establish them upon your lips. Let your trust remain with HaShem, I have made this known to you today, you also. Surely, I have written for you in the Torah extremely noble things, with counsel and knowledge, to teach you the veracity of true words, so that you may answer words of truth to those who send words to you.” Proverbs 22:17-22

It has been far too long since my last posting on this channel. Life has shall we say gotten in the way, as it has for the majority of everyone these days! No doubt we are living in VERY trying and challenging times! The forces of darkness are out in force and anything which remotely shines the Light of HaShem is immediately and viciously attacked and the means to which to smother that light are just insidious!

This said, as I put this together, we are just hours away from entering into Shabbat followed by Purim later this weekend! To go along with this, we also begin a whole new book in the Torah with regards to the annual reading cycle. We begin with Parashat Vayikra (Leviticus), which to many can be a very boring book with enormous details, but when we explore this book a bit deeper we find there are infinite wonders HaShem has contained in this one single book of the Torah alone!

In today’s world with so much hatred and disgust for Israel and the Torah of HaShem, I thought it might be time to post something just to perhaps offer a little reminder of the wonder of HaShem and His Torah! But before we jump into this, always remember the eternal promises HaShem has given to us regarding His Torah:

• HaShem never changes per Num 23:19/Mal 3:6/Hebrews 13:8/James 1:17
• His Word is firmly established per Psalm 119:89
• He reveals the end out of the beginning per Is 46:10
• He does nothing without first revealing it to His prophets per Amos 3:7
• He says there is nothing new under the sun per Ecclesiastes 1:9
• He says His Torah is the ONLY truth there is per Psalms 119:142
• He says His Torah is a tree of life and eternal per Proverbs 3:18-19 and Psalm 119:160
• He says His Torah is perfect and restores the soul per Psalm 19:7
• He says His Torah makes the simple one wise per Psalm 19:7
• He says His Torah Is freedom and liberty per Psalm 119:45 and James 1:25
• He says His Torah is the only good doctrine there is Proverbs 4:2
• He says His Torah will add length of days and years of life and peace per Proverbs 3:2
• He says all of the ways of His Torah are ways of pleasantness and peace per Proverbs 3:17
• He says His Torah is for our good and well-being per Deuteronomy 6:24
• He says His Torah is health for our lives per Proverbs 3:8
• He says His Torah is life to our soul and a graceful ornament for our neck per Prov 3:22
• He says His Torah is better than pearls and all desires cannot compare to it per Prov 8:11
• He says those who walk with His Torah are praiseworthy per Psalms 119:1
• He says observing His Torah is how we purify our path per Psalms 119:9
• He says His Torah is better than thousands in gold and silver per Psalms 119:72
• He says His Torah brings abundant peace to those who love Him and His Torah per Psalms 119:165
• He says there is one Torah for all per Exodus 12:49/Leviticus 24:22
• He says those who hate His Torah love death per Proverbs 8:36
• He says His Torah is the way of faith per Psalms 119:29-30
• He says His Torah makes us wiser than our enemies per Psalms 119:98
• He says His Torah is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path per Psalms 119:105
• He says one who finds His Torah has found life per Proverbs 8:35
• He says one who finds His Torah has found favor from HaShem per Proverbs 8:35
• He says Messiah Yeshua is the GOAL of His Torah, meaning without His Torah, Messiah cannot be known per Romans 10:4
• He says if we had believed Moshe/Torah, we would have believed Messiah per John 5:46
• He says His salvation is far from the wicked for they sought not His Torah per Psalms 119:155
• He says to hold fast to and guard His Torah, for it is our life per Proverbs 4:13
• He says His Torah is the bread of life per Proverbs 9:5

The Perkei Avos (Ethics of Our Fathers) 5.22 sheds some insight into the complexity of the Torah of HaShem. It says “Delve in it (Torah) and continue to delve in it, for everything is in it; look deeply into it; grow old and gray over it, and do not stir from it, for you can have no better portion than it.”

The point being made here is the Torah of HaShem is endless! Mankind will NEVER come to a point where we will stand before HaShem and tell Him we have learned everything possible to learn from it and are ready for something new! An eternity of studying His Torah will not be enough time to learn everything He has in it! Baruch HaShem!

With this said, now that we are beginning to enter into the annual reading cycle of the Book of Vayikra (Leviticus), we immediately learn Vayikra is THE Heart of the Torah of HaShem! Is it a coincidence Vayikra is in the middle of the Torah? Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy!

From what is revealed in His Torah, it has always been HaShem’s desire to dwell among His people beginning with the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve. Adam acting as the first Kohen HaGadol (High Priest) performing the services of the Garden as the servant of HaShem! Before the incident of eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which caused Adam and Eve to be expelled from the Garden.

HaShem then makes a way for Him to dwell among His people which we see as He rescues Israel from Egypt and meets with them at Mt Sinai and calls one man to meet with Him i.e. Moshe. He commands the Mishkan (Tabernacle) to be constructed, precisely according to the tavnit (Blueprints) HaShem gave to Moshe, with zero deviation allowed! When the Mishkan was completed, HaShem’s Presence rested upon the Ark in the Most Holy Place and once again, He was able to dwell with His people with Aharon being the Kohen HaGadol (High Priest) and the Levites officiating the services as the people come before the King motivated out of love, devotion and loyalty. Remember HaShem told Israel per Shemot (Exodus) 19:6 “You shall be for Me a kingdom of kohanim (Priests), and a holy nation.”

In order to be a kingdom of kohanim and a holy nation, how did Moshe and Aharon know exactly how to perform the services and what the specifications were concerning the korbonot (Offerings)? Or just knowing what exactly HaShem meant by the word ‘Holy’ and what it all entails and how to apply it our lives throughout every generation to include ours today? It is ALL encapsulated in the Book of Vayikra!

The commentary from the Steinsaltz Chumash introduction to Vayikra says “The book of Leviticus is referred to in ancient sources as ‘The Priestly Code,’ as a large part of the book deals with matters that concern the priests: The laws of the sacrificial offerings, the instructions pertaining to the priests duties and the manner of their consecration, the commandments that apply specifically to priests, and the gifts that the people are commanded to give to the priests. Nevertheless, a significant number of the commandments included in this book are not limited to priests. Leviticus contains practically no narrative sections.”

The point is, if we want to understand how the Mishkan and the Mikdash (Temple) operates, Vayikra where we get an in-depth look into these services!

“The sacrificial rites performed in the Temple express the manner in which man relates to the concept of sanctity (Holiness). As the boundaries of sanctity are more clearly defined and man seeks to attain sanctity, the antitheses of sanctity, sin or impurity, also becomes clearly evident, and these concepts are dealt with extensively as part of the laws of the offerings.”

This goes right along with what HaShem commands each of us today in Ezekiel 43:10-12 which says “You Ben Adam (Son of Adam)! Tell the family of Israel of the Temple and let them be ashamed of their sins, and measure the design (Study everything). And if they are ashamed, the form of the House and its design, its exits and entrances, and all its appearance, its laws, all its decoration, and all its regulations make known to them and write it down before their eyes, that they may remember its form and its decrees and perform them. This is the teaching of the House; the mountain, its entire boundaries all around, is most holy. Behold! This is the teaching of the House.”

In other words, we are commanded to study and learn EVERY single aspect of His House (Temple) and how it operates, the services, even the decorations in it, because everything in His House is teaching us something about HaShem and how to apply it to our lives in our walk with HaShem!

Consider what the Steinsaltz Chumash introduction to Leviticus further says “The Tabernacle is a symbolic microcosm of the universe, and the erection of the Tabernacle may be likened to a miniature reenactment of Creation. When HaShem created the world, He not only created new beings; He also created distinctions between those beings. The creation of light necessarily created a separate reality of darkness. Similarly, the manifestation of divine sanctity in the world highlights and sharpens the distinction between the sacred and the profane!”

There is absolutely no doubt in mind, since HaShem led me to begin to study the Temple and He led me to Joe Good of HaTikvah Ministries and I took His only Temple course, I was immediately astounded by how much was revealed and it ultimately made HaShem’s Word come alive and I was hooked and wanted more and more! The idea of sanctity and the profane suddenly was no longer some abstract, religious concept, but I was beginning to learn there are very real left and right seat limitations we are to have in our lives as we walk with HaShem!

When Paul in his letter to the Corinthians likens us to the Temple of HaShem, was he saying we are literally the Temple of HaShem and the structure standing in Jerusalem is no longer needed? Not a chance! Paul was teaching a very well known and understood concept among Torah observant Israel, in that we are to taking what we are to learn from the Temple of HaShem in Jerusalem and apply those principles to our own lives!

“The central message of Leviticus is that the concept of sanctity is not limited to the Temple, although the Temple is its focal point. Sanctity must be manifest in every facet of life, in every action. The commandment ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy,’ is reiterated several times in the book of Leviticus. It appears in different contexts in elation to the most intimate aspects of life as well as in relation to the communal aspects of life. The book of Leviticus includes a comprehensive list of those with whom it is forbidden to engage in sexual relations, as well as a set of prohibitions concerning types of food that are unfit for a holy nation; it also contains the social precepts fitting for a holy society, such as the prohibition of usury and the precept ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself” per Leviticus 19:18.”

Wait a minute, but I thought Yeshua ended the Temple and the Torah, changed the Feasts of HaShem and ushered in a whole new doctrine devoid of the Torah? My point is, when we read the Apostolic Writings once we are learning about the Temple and what holiness truly is, suddenly we see there truly is nothing new in the Apostolic Writings and Yeshua taught NOTHING new and all the accusations against Paul being a teacher of lawlessness (Without the Torah) are resoundingly false! Why? Because what is taught in the Apostolic Writings has its foundation in the Torah and the Temple of HaShem!

If we want to know the difference between what HaShem considers to be purity and profane or light and darkness, His Temple is the means to learn it and the book of Leviticus is THE source to go to!

Consider the very first topic discussed in Vayikra 1 is HaShem telling Israel about the Olah Korbonot (Burnt Offering). The wording in Hebrew is very interesting because in English it is translated “When any man of you brings an offering to the Master, if you shall bring your offering from animals, from the cattle or from the flock you shall bring your offering.” In Hebrew it is worded differently because HaShem says “When any man brings, of you, an offering to the Master…” He is right up front teaching when we bring an offering to HaShem, we are to understand it is as though the man who is bringing the offering is offering up himself to HaShem! Gee, could this be why HaShem uses the Hebrew word ‘Korbon’ because this word in Hebrew means ‘To draw near to HaShem!’

HaShem then says if this Olah Korbon is being brought, it must be an UNBLEMISHED male and it must be brought to the entrance of the Ohel Moed (Tent of Meeting). Then He says it must be slaughtered precisely as He commands, meaning there is no fear, no pain and death is instant for the animal! Then He says it is Aharon’s sons i.e. the Kohanim (Priests) who will collect the blood and present it and cast the blood on the Mizbe’ach (Altar) in very specific locations on the Mizbe’ach and it MUST be done in a very precise manner otherwise it will not be accepted! Again, we see right off the bat, HaShem is teaching us about the concept of Kedushah (Holiness). The korbon is then cut up in precise pieces and laid on the Mizbe’ach and then it is burned and HaShem says it is a pleasing aroma to Him!

Now, if the Olah Korbonot is from the flock it has the same restrictions but must come from either a male sheep or male goat. If his Olah Korbonot is from the birds, then it must come from a turtledove or from a young pigeon. What determines what type of animal a person will bring to HaShem? In most cases it depends on what they can afford. What if a person is so poor they cannot afford an animal, does HaShem make a provision? In His mercy and kindness He does and it is called a Mincha (Bread) korbonot and must be comprised of high quality flour and olive oil will be poured over it and will place frankincense on it before being placed on the Mizbe’ach to be burned!

So, with this all said, what have we all just learned in the first few verses of Vayikra concerning the concept of kedushah (Holiness), korbonot (Offerings), His mercy and compassion and how we are to take these concepts and apply them to our lives. If what we just discussed could be likened to a drop of water’s worth of info, that drop of water is from an ocean the size of all the oceans on Earth with regards to the amount of detailed info just waiting to be explored!!!

I plan on addressing much more concerning the details of the Temple in future Op’s, depending on what all is going on in the world! I believe we are truly on the cusp of the Birth Pains as HaShem brings the world closer and closer to the Final Redemption….may it be so very soon in our days!

Shalom

SOURCE MATERIALS:

• Steinsaltz Chumash
• Leviticus A Parsha Companion by Rabbi David Fohrman