Leviticus

This week's sabbath reading portion begins what we refer to as the Book of Leviticus. "Leviticus" is a Latin word meaning "of the Levites". It is about the law pertaining to the priests (hakohen/kahan - priest, prince, mediator of religious services to God/a prophet, predict, undertake anyone's cause, riches, abundance, opulence, glory, as a bridegroom makes himself splendid), who were from the Israelite tribe of Levi. The Hebrew phrase used for the Book that we call "Leviticus" is Va-yikra, meaning "And He (the LORD) called", and it is also the title of this sabbath's reading portion, which covers Leviticus chapters 2 through 5. The priesthood played a vital role in God's provision for covering the sins of His people, and forgiving them. The LORD accomplished this with a system of sacrifices and offerings. This sacrificial system and priesthood would be a prophetic image of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ that would cover our sins and destroy the power of death forever. We also have been called to be a priesthood before God, based upon our acceptance of the Chief Cornerstone of life, Jesus (1 Pet. 2:5, 9-10, Rev. 1:6, Rev. 1:5-6, Rev. 5:10). There are many specifics in the law regarding the priesthood, and the offerings to be brought before God, but one main idea repeated in this week's reading is: "So the priest shall make atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them." (Lev. 4:20, 26, 5:13, 16, 18). The idea of ministering atonement, or kapar in Hebrew, is very powerful. The individual Hebrew letters of the word for atonement, kaph, phe, reysh, carry the meaning "to be covered by the palm of the hand or wings in order to gain entrance to the Most High". The meaning of kapar, or atonement is "to overspread, to cover, to purge, make atonement, make reconciliation, to expiate, cleanse, forgive, be merciful, receive pardon, make expiation for an offender". Our priesthood before God, based upon these meanings, is an awesome responsibility. The apostle Paul wrote: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation (katallage/katallasse - adjustment of a difference, restoration to favor, atonement/to reconcile those at variance, to change mutually), that is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Cor. 5:17-21). Not only is man reconciled to God through this priestly ministry received from and through Christ, but in so doing, man is also being reconciled to "all things" which are of God, including "a new creation". A new creation is not found only in the New Testament, but in the Old Testament, or Tanakh, as well, by the prophet Isaiah when writing of priests and Levites (Isa. 66:21-24). The apostle Peter also looked at our "priestly" role in reconciling the old and new creations. As Peter wrote of the current heavens passing away, and earth being melted away by the fervent heat of the day of the Lord, he also said that we: "...in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God...according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells...looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless." (2 Pet. 3:10-14). Three times Peter wrote that we were to be looking towards with expectation, thereby hastening, the new heavens and the new earth. Again we are placed in the middle, in reconciliation, between the passing away of the old, and the manifestation of the new. There are some other unusual reconciliations to which the priesthood is connected. The Jewish rabbis have written of the "four levels of existence", and although the idea may seem unfamiliar to us on its surface, I think we can learn from it. Because I don't rely upon men's interpretations and doctrines, we will also be reading several scriptures that confirm this principle of which the rabbis wrote. The rabbis have also connected the four levels of existence to the priesthood, as we will see, which is also pertinent to our priesthood in Christ, as we will see. The first level of existence is Atzilut, meaning "near". This first level contains the presence of God. Some of the prophets also had a direct encounter with this first level of Atzilut, and so are included in it. Moses, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and in the New Testament, Paul, who was caught up to Paradise, and John the Revelator saw into, or were called up into, this first level. Regarding the priesthood, the High Priest is also included in this first level as he alone was allowed to come into the presence of God one day a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, to apply the blood of the sacrifice to the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle/temple. Our High Priest, Jesus, also inhabits this highest level with His Father (Jn. 10:30, Acts 2:32-35, Eph. 1:20-23). He has also joined us with Himself in this Atzilut level (Jn. 17:19-26). The second level of existence is Beriah, or "Creation", which existed before the Garden of Eden, and is associated with the archangels. The priests of God are connected to this level according to the rabbis. The third level of existence is Yetzirah, or "Formation", which would include the lower creation of the Garden of Eden, the souls of men, the realm of angels (both good and bad). It is called the "mixed realm". The Levites of the priesthood are associated with this level. Lastly is Asiyyah, or "Making", which is solely the physical realm of creation. The rabbis associated this level with the general congregation of Israelites. All four levels of existence were represented therefore in the tabernacle of Moses, as we can see. If we follow this idea of the rabbis, we can see that the priesthood is the connection that runs from the lowest level of creation, the physical realm of earth, to the highest, which is the presence of God. The rabbis also wrote that the four colors associated with the priestly garments, gold, blue, purple ("mixed" level), and red ("For God so loved the world, that He gave [the red blood of] His only begotten Son..."), represent the four levels mentioned above. We can see this same connection in the New Testament. Jesus taught His disciples to pray "The Lord's Prayer" (Mt. 6:9-13). This is very much a priestly prayer, as we can now understand: "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." We can see the priestly connection, or reconciliation, to the first level as taught by the rabbis, above, when Jesus said: "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Jesus also said the following to His disciples, which has priestly overtones: "If you forgive/remit (aphiemi/apo - to send away, forgive, keep no longer/separate) the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain (krateo/kratos - be master of, rule over, continue to hold/strength, dominion, power) the sins of any, they are retained." (Jn. 20:23, see also Lev. 4:40, etc). In another part of scripture, Jesus brought this priesthood to mind when He said: "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth, concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." (Mt. 18:18-20, 16:18-19). We see here again the joining of the earthly, or physical, creation with the first level in heaven through the believer-priest, and the presence and name of Jesus. One more example before we move on. Paul wrote of the reconciliation achieved across the different levels: "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 8:39, Eph. 3:9-11, 17-19). Paul's affirmation sliced through all of the levels and joined us directly with the highest level of the Father through Jesus. It is the name of Jesus, in whom we have received our priesthood, that reconciles the levels of the creation with the highest level, that of the glory of God the Father, through His total humility and obedience, of which we should also be of the same mind (see. Phil. 2:5-11). This necessary humility and obedience of Christ, which should also be of our mind, is also revealed in this week's sabbath reading portion, as was pointed out to me by a student of the original Hebrew scriptures. The title of this third Book of the Bible, "and He called" in English, has a special hidden element that only becomes revealed in the actual reading of the Tanakh, the Hebrew "Old Testament". The word "called" written in Hebrew (va-yyikra) has an unexplained smaller sized aleph letter at the end of the Hebrew word. This unusual miniaturized version of the ending aleph letter does not change the spelling or meaning of the word itself, so why is it there, and in miniature size? The rabbis have this explanation: the small aleph is there to remind us that when God calls someone, he/she must decrease and become smaller, so that God may become larger in his/her life. Interestingly, John the Baptist said something similar in what appears to be a comment on the levels of existence, and their connection to his purpose. John was of the priestly order, his father being Zacharias the priest (Lk. 1:5, 8-9), as well as being a prophet. John said this: "He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony." (Jn. 3:30-32). This is the small aleph at work in John's life. As he decreased, Jesus, the heavenly level from above increased. This is very important to our walk as priests as well, if we are to be effective in reconciling all of creation to the glory and presence of God in the name of Jesus. Finally, in these first chapters in Leviticus, or Va-yikra, there is a repeated reference to the "sweet savor/aroma" to the LORD from the offerings which the priests oversaw (see Lev. 1:9, 17, 2:2, 9,12, 3:5, 16, 4:31). The Hebrew words used for the expression "sweet savor/aroma" mean "a restful, delightful, pleasing, soothing, sweet scent that breathes and touches with acceptance". We have this same idea from the New Testament: "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance/savor of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance/sweet savor of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." (2 Cor. 15-17). That sweet aroma, produced by the priests overseeing offerings in the tabernacle, that pleased, soothed and delighted God, and caused the breath of acceptance to come from Him, is the fragrance of Christ and His triumph and knowledge, the same fragrance that is diffused by us, His priests. As we continue in the Book of Leviticus (Va-yikra), we will be learning more about the priesthood, and how it applies to our walk of faith and spiritual purpose. If you would like to learn more about the priesthood of the tabernacle, and our priesthood, you can join me in my prayer: "Father of Glory, You have made us priests of Christ before You. Lead us by Your Holy Spirit as we learn more about that priesthood so that we can fulfill it as you have called us to do. Help us to be ministers of reconciliation through Christ, joining all creation to Your presence and glory, as we have been joined to You in Christ. All creation groans for this manifestation of the sons of God, diffusing the fragrance of Christ to those who are both living and perishing. Let the knowledge and victory of Jesus, fill the whole earth through us, as we become less, and Christ in us becomes more. I ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN."