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Discussions Torah

Leviticus 5: When you’re guilty and you know it, raise your offering

Richard Agee

Leviticus 5 sounds very similar to Leviticus 4 in a lot of ways. Both passages discuss unintentional violations of God’s commandments and sin offerings, but the “guilt offering” we’re looking at today is different.

When you pray to God earnestly, you feel relieved that you can release those things that only God can hear, release them to Him and find relief. We don’t approach our High Priest with animals. We are God’s Temple. When we come to God with our sins, the High Priest brings His sacrifice and our repentance to God and we received God’s forgiveness. Without God’s Spirit increasing in us, we will not grow.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Life With God

Phillipians 2:1-11: Regard others better than yourself

Jeff

We are to “regard one another as more important than yourselves” (Phil. 2:3). As the Messiah considered mankind more important than His standing with YHWH, so too, we should consider our brothers and sisters in faith worth our humbling ourselves. When God went to such lengths to make peace with us, we should be willing to go to great lengths to make peace and keep peace with others.

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Discussions Torah

Meanings of the burnt, grain and peace offerings (Leviticus 1–3)

A digital collage-style illustration visually representing the burnt, grain, and peace offerings described in Leviticus 1–3. The left panel depicts a burning altar with stacked wood and flames, symbolizing the burnt offering. The center panel features a stylized stack of flat, circular breads and loaves, representing the grain offering, with an ornate archway in the background. The right panel shows a joyful group of people gathered around a table with food, symbolizing the peace offering as a shared meal. The title "Meanings of the Burnt, Grain, and Peace Offerings (Leviticus 1–3)" is prominently displayed in bold, red text at the top. The bottom left corner features the website "hallel.info."

The entire book of Leviticus is about the function of Israel’s high priest. Yeshua (Jesus) is our High Priest, and as we study Leviticus, we learn more about what Yeshua is doing for us in God’s presence.

Leviticus 1-3 starts with instructions about how to give free will offerings to God. These are not offerings of punishment but offerings of gratitude and love of God. We also learn how the High Priest prepares and gives these offerings to God. We can see the New Testament fulfillment in Yeshua as we read through Hebrews 5.

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Discussions Prophets and Writings

Faith in God by Naaman vs. Gehazi and King of Israel (2Kings 5)

A photo of the Jordan River saying "The Jordan River didn’t cleanse Naaman, God responded to Naaman’s humility, honesty and integrity.

In 2nd Kings 5, we should see a connection between Yeshua (Jesus) and Elisha the prophet. Aramite captain Naaman, a pagan, was not the only one being examined in his healing from leprosy. The king of Israel and Elisha’s servant Gehazi were also being examined or tested.

In an account of Yeshua’s healing 10 lepers, only a Samaritan, a “foreigner,” returned to give God praise. Both Naaman and the Samaritan paid spiritually by having to acknowledge that salvation comes from Israel, not from their false views of God.

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Discussions Torah

Exodus: From dwelling in bondage to dwelling with God

"Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:25,20:1-17)" by Gustave Doré
Gustave Doré (1832–1883), "Moses Comes Down From Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:25, 20:1-17)," La Grande Bible de Tours, Wood engraving, Public domain (U.S.), Wikimedia Commons, 1866.

If we can choose just one word to summarize the book of Exodus, it’s reconciliation. God used Moshe (Moses) to bring the descendants of Israel out of Egypt to be His people. Even after the golden calf was made, God still wanted to reconcile to His people Israel, and Israel wanted to reconcile to Him. The people of Israel were willing to give much to be reconciled to Him to the point that Moshe had to tell the children of Israel to stop giving because the coffers were overflowing with gifts. They wanted Him to dwell with them.

God said through Paul that He began a good work in us. God will complete the good work. We are to be living stones. We will surround the Creator of Heaven and Earth and His Son, Yeshua (Jesus) the Mashiakh (Messiah). There will be no temple there, because the temple will be there all the time. The only temple will be the people He saved.

God ultimately used the Messiah to reconcile the world to Himself, no longer recognizing their transgressions. A clean slate, it’s all new. He doesn’t pay attention to our sins, transgressions and iniquities. We are to be ambassadors to reconcile people to God.

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Anger Apostolic Writings Discussions Life With God Torah

Real meaning of ‘eye for an eye’: God’s lessons in peace-making

A biblical man and a woman weighing each other on the scales of justice with northern lights. The Real Meaning of "eye for an eye" God's lessons in peacemaking.

Last time, we discussed lashon ha-ra (evil tongue, i.e., gossip, slander and divisiveness) and how it is one of the latter-day plagues among God’s people.

In this excursus, we will explore a related principle taught in Torah by Yeshua and His apostles: proportionality. A number of Christians often consider “eye for an eye and tooth for tooth” an example of the “old covenant” not to live by anymore and quote Yeshua to that effect.

Rather, we’ll see that “eye for an eye” is a Bible parabolic idiom teaching proportionality. The point of justice is to restore the offender to the community, not extract a pound of flesh.

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Discussions Torah

Exodus 39-40: Designs for the Tabernacle implements shows God has a place for each of us

Drawing from the book The Bible and Its Story (1908) written by Charles F. Horne & Julius August Brewer.

There is a lot of exactness described in Exodus 39-40 for the design of the furniture and implements of the Tabernacle of Israel. One lesson we can draw from this is every piece of furniture had its own exclusive place. Every item had its irreplaceable function in God’s house. We were all brought to God’s High Priest first. Yeshua the High Priest presented us to the Father. When God calls us to Himself, He calls us to our irreplaceable task too.

Another lesson from the directed precision is God trained the people to stay where He stayed and move when He moved.