When we’ve finally had enough of the “house of bondage” that’s kept us doing doughnuts in the parking lot of life, the Creator of Heaven and Earth shows us the way out. Just as Pesakh (Passover) and Shavuot (Pentecost) are annual reminders of that journey to freedom and how we get to know the One […]
Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ) emphasized that vows and oaths are not to be taken lightly (Matthew 5:33-37). Why then did the Holy One of Israel give instructions about vows and oaths? Part of it is our distance from the original language and meanings of these words. Another part is we aren’t seeing the lessons from Heaven in these instructions, namely, that just as the LORD promises to give a land of rest to Israel, so too, should those who make promises be as faithful to them.
The dual Torah reading מטות Matot (“tribes,” Numbers 30-32) and מסעי Massei/Mase’y (“journeys of,” Numbers 33-36) take us to the end of the 40 years of wandering judgment against the rebellious first generation post-Mitzraim (Egypt).
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.
Yeshua repeated warned His disciples to “be ready” for the Day of the Lord. Take note that Yeshua said, “When you see the abomination of desolation” and refers His listeners to the book of Daniel. Yeshua is warning us that the “abomination of desolation” was not a one-time event.
The main reason the Temple was desecrated and destroyed was due to syncretism — blending of belief systems. The reason God destroys the Temple is not because each were and will be flawed but the hearts of the people were flawed. Let’s learn from history and not repeat it.