The church has taught most of us that all sins are created equal but the Torah shows us otherwise. God not only looks at the sin but at the motive of the heart of the person committing the sin and the extent of their influence in the community at large. God provided different rules and consequences for different kinds of sins based on the severity of the sin and the intent (or lack thereof) of the sinner. This chapter tells us how God wanted the people, the priests and the rulers to make atonement for their unintended wrongdoings against Him.
Author: Richard
Leviticus starts with instructions about the three most important non-festival related offerings: whole offerings, sin offerings and peace offerings. Although we no longer have a Temple to offer up literal lambs, goats, bulls and doves, we can still discover what type of offering we can offer in our days that would be a “pleasing aroma” to Him.
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Exodus 12–40 recap
When Yeshua told the elders that the scriptures speak of Him, many of us had no idea how much Messianic foreshadowing is found in this book. The exit from Egypt after Passover and the journey to Canaan was orderly, not chaotic. The journeys to and from Egypt, for Abraham, Joseph, Jacob and the Messiah are a lesson for us.
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Exodus 1-6 recap
We need to look back on what we have learned in Exodus. Exodus is the most powerful book in the Bible because it reveals many aspects of God’s character. One of the lessons of the Book of Exodus is that often, the good deeds of great men are “seldom remembered” while the memory of “men who do great harm” live on.
This was true of both Joseph and Moses. As far as Egyptian history is concerned, both of these great men were rejected because of the arrogance of the Pharaoh. We are blessed by God that we have the Torah from God Himself, who made sure their deeds is recorded for us. God has not kept His will a secret. It’s all in the Bible.
Moses’ final words about the “statutes and judgements” have a particular significance for us during Sukkot. There are no amendments to the statutes of God. And we aren’t allowed change or alter God’s judgements. We should read them not to challenge them but to understand them, wrestle with them and apply them to our lives.
The Temple, as envisioned by King Solomon was meant to be a “house of prayer for all nations.” Yeshua was upset at the fact that the priests of His time had lost sight of that mission to the point that they set up sales tables in the courtyard where the Gentiles were supposed to pray. However, the Bible tells us that even in the Messianic age, there will be a temple for God to dwell.
Yom Kippur, also called the Day of Covering or the Day of Atonement, has two meanings to the people of God. When God “reasons” with mankind, it is not a conversation of compromise and obfuscation. God judges the sin of each man, woman and child and no one has a defense against God’s judgement, except the defense provided by Yeshua.