Vayikra (And He Called)
Leviticus 1:1–6:7; Isaiah 43:21–44; Hebrews 10:1–18
“The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting.” (Leviticus 1:1)
In last week’s Parasha, the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was completed and the cloud rested over it, signifying that the Divine Presence had come to dwell within it.
Jewish men touch the Torah with the fringes of their tallits (prayer shawl) as it passes during a Torah procession at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
This Shabbat, a special reading (Exodus 12:1–20) is added to the Torah Portion, which is Vayikra. This special reading details the laws of Passover, since the festival of Passover (Pesach) is but a couple of weeks away.
This Sabbath also marks the first of the Hebrew month of Nisan, which God ordained as the first month of the Biblical calendar. Biblically speaking then, the New Year begins today!
“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, ‘This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.’” (Exodus 12:1–2)
According to Jewish tradition, the Israelites received the first commandment to sanctify the New Moon after being delivered from Egypt (Exodus 12:1–2).
The plague of darkness judged Amun and Ra, which is depicted in the tomb of Ramses IV. The sun-god Ra has the head of a falcon and the sun-disk resting on his head. The plagues revealed that Egypt’s gods were powerless and that the God of Israel was the one true God.
In the Hebrew reckoning of time, the month begins at the New Moon, and a day begins at sunset, in keeping with the creation account in Genesis.
“… and the evening and the morning were the first day.” (Genesis 1:5)
In having a lunar calendar, the Israelites made a solid departure from the Egyptian solar tradition of Ra worship.
God made Nisan the first month of the year because it was the month in which the Jewish people were freed from slavery in Egypt.
So too, may we remember our freedom from the slavery of sin and death through Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah.
The Signs on the Door, by James Tissot
Vayikra: Finding a Deeper Revelation of Yeshua (Jesus)
“You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:6)
The oldest name for Vayikra (Leviticus), the Third Book of Moses, is Torat Kohanim (Law of the Priests). It describes the Temple sacrifices, the functions of the priesthood (Kohanim), and the duties of Israel, the priestly nation.
Vayikra has so much information about serving God that, even though there is no longer a Temple or Temple sacrifices, Jewish children begin their study of Torah with this book.
Far from being irrelevant to New Covenant Believers, Vayikra can bring deeper insight and fresh revelation that will enrich our relationship with the Lord.
Moreover, a failure to understand the spiritual principles that are behind the blood sacrifice and substitutionary atonement makes it truly difficult to understand the significance of Yeshua’s death on the Roman execution stake.
The significance of Yeshua’s shed blood cannot fully impact our soul unless we come to understand the laws of blood sacrifices and sin-offerings found in Leviticus.
They are foundational to understanding our faith.
Orthodox Jewish men read from the Torah scroll in Jerusalem.
Who Can Bring an Offering to the Lord?
“Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:8)
Chapter One of Vayikra deals with the various types of burnt offerings and sacrifices.
In Hebrew, the offering is called a Korban, which is derived from the word karov, meaning near. So, the offering made a way for the person to draw near to God.
When we take even baby steps to draw near to God, just like the father of the prodigal son, our Creator will see us from afar off and run to meet us!
Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.
The Lord instructed Moses to speak to the children of Israel about bringing their offerings to the Lord.
“When any man [adam] of you brings an offering to the Lord…” (Leviticus 1:2)
The Hebrew word for man in this verse is adam, which is the root of adamah meaning earth, ground, or even dirt.
In this context, the word adam means not only man, but all of humankind, regardless of race or gender.
“So God created the man [adam] in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
This reveals that it was not only a Jewish male who could bring an offering to the Lord, but anyone – even a foreigner’s offering would be accepted by God.
“If any of you—either an Israelite or an alien living in Israel—presents a gift for a burnt offering to the Lord, either to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, you must present a male without defect from the cattle, sheep or goats.” (Leviticus 22:18–19)
Goats and sheep grazing near Jerusalem
Even a foreigner could come to the Temple to pray and God would hear their prayers and answer them, so “that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel.” (1 Kings 8:41–43)
Peter received an incredible revelation in perceiving that “God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.” (Acts 10:34–35)
We are all created in God’s image: Jew and Gentile, male and female. “… according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Messiah is all and in all…” (Colossians 3:11)
This Torah scroll is opened to reveal Leviticus. The text is handwritten.
An Offering Without Blemish Means Giving Our Best
“If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect [tamim]. You must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord.” (Leviticus 1:3)
Leviticus specifies that the burnt offering was to be without blemish. The Hebrew word for without blemish is tamim, from tamam, which means pure, perfect, undefiled and whole.
On a personal application level, we can see that God doesn’t want the leftover, tainted, or blemished stuff that we were going to throw away anyways.
All too often, our gifts and offerings to God and to others consist of what is extra, what we don’t really want, or what is easy to give.
Such gestures are not sacrifices at all, and can even be interpreted as an insult. When we give our leftovers or garbage, we can be conveying the message that “this is not good enough for me, but it is good enough for you.”
Thank offering unto the Lord: a Bible card published some time between 1896 and 1913
A sacrifice must cost us something.
King David said, “I will not give to God that which costs me nothing.” (1 Chronicles 21:24)
It’s evident that something must coincide with the act of sacrificing, and that something is sincere repentance, good deeds, and the regeneration of the heart.
Ultimately, it’s only Messiah Yeshua, as the Messianic prophecy in Malachi 3 indicates, who can affect such an inward change that our offerings can once again be acceptable to God.
“He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.” (Malachi 3:3–4)
Praying at the Western (Wailing) Wall
Tamim: A Pure Sacrifice
Scripture makes it abundantly clear that Yeshua the Suffering Messiah (the sacrificial offering), was found to be without fault, sin, or blemish.
For example, Pilate symbolically washed his hands in a basin and said, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.” (John 19:6)
A less direct, but prophetic testimony of His purity, perhaps, comes from the inspection process for the Passover sacrifice.
During the time of the Temple, before the Passover lamb was slain as a sacrifice and offered to God, it was to be inspected for four days in order to make sure that it was a pure and without blemish (tamim).
Similarly, before Yeshua was slain on Passover as the unblemished Lamb of God, He entered Jerusalem and taught in the Temple for four days in full view of the people and religious leaders.
Yeshua Teaches in the Synagogue, James Tissot
Atonement: Being Reconciled to God
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that He will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2)
The Torah reveals that our sins separate us from God (Isaiah 59:2), and that the offering (also called oleh in Hebrew, which means to go up) or blood sacrifice is necessary to reconcile us to Him.
“For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” (Leviticus 17:11)
The sacrifice made atonement for the one giving the offering.
The word atonement in English actually comes from at-one-ment, and originally it meant to be at one, or at harmony with someone.
Behind this word is a sense of a dispute being resolved and a relationship reconciled.
Similar to the word atonement, the Hebrew word koper means to atone, to reconcile, or to bring back into unity, persons at variance with one another.
The atoning sacrifice, therefore re-establishes a right relationship with God.
Children playing in Jerusalem
The Temple Sacrifice and the Covering for Sin
Since the Temple in Jerusalem no longer exists and sacrifices cannot be offered, a new way of covering sin has been developed by the rabbis.
According to Rabbinic tradition, instead of the blood sacrifice, three things are now sufficient to cover our sins: Teshuvah (repentance), Tzedakah (giving of charity), and Tefilah (prayer).
Nevertheless, God’s ways are not our ways.
He still requires a blood sacrifice and without it, all we have is a vague hope that our names are written in the Book of Life.
But when we place our faith in Yeshua’s “once-and-for-all-time” sacrifice of his own life, we have an assurance that our sins are forgiven.
Yeshua’s blood not only covers our sins, it removes them – as far as the east from the west!
“He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12)
Yeshua’s atoning sacrifice did far more than the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of the red heifer could ever do, since they could only make the penitent ritually clean. Only He is able to make the repentant sinner inwardly clean (Hebrews 9:11–15; 10:4).
“My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.” (Psalm 57:7)
Burnt Offerings and Being Reconciled to God
“It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.” (Leviticus 1:17)
Leviticus emphasizes that the burnt offering presented to God has a pleasing aroma.
In Hebrew, the phrase is reiach nichoach l’YHVH—a satisfying aroma to God. The root of nichoach is nuach, which means comfort or rest.
Do you wonder how the roasting flesh of one of God’s creatures can be a pleasing or comforting aroma to God?
Since this burnt offering could only be offered to God with a free and willing spirit, it’s the person’s heartfelt desire to be restored into right relationship with God that brings comfort to His heart.
The resulting reconciliation also brings rest to the soul of man.
Israeli couple rest and meditate on God’s creation.
A Living Sacrifice
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” (Romans 12:1)
As Believers in Messiah Yeshua, we are to be living sacrifices.
When we freely choose to be led by His Spirit, rather than submitting to the desires of our flesh, it is a sweet aroma to God that brings Him great pleasure and even comfort.
Every sacrifice costs something, but with it also comes the promise of a reward.
Yeshua’s sacrifice on the execution stake (cross), has brought hundreds of millions of people back into a right relationship with God.
He is our example of a living sacrifice.
Every sincere act of self-sacrifice for the good of another holds the promise of a future reward.
And really, there’s nothing to lose in offering our lives as a living sacrifice, since Yeshua promised that “He who loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39)
A pure, spotless lamb.
As the Jewish People prepare for the upcoming festival of Passover (March 6–14), let’s pray that this year they will recognize Yeshua as the long-awaited Messiah.
May we also draw near to God with faith, hope, and love through the Passover Lamb, Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah).
