Prepare

We have been in the Book of Leviticus, which is Latin and means "of the Levites (priests). In Hebrew, this third book of the Bible is called Va-yikra, or "And He called". We read last week of the glory and the privilege of the priesthood, and its ministry before God and the people. The priests made the atonement for the sins of the people, and the people were forgiven. The priests brought reconciliation between God and the people, who had been separated from each other by sin. This is a prophetic pattern of the ministry of Christ on our behalf. Last week we read that we also have been given, as priests of God, the ministry of reconciliation, reconciling all things back to God through the atonement and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. What a privilege and trusted responsibility we have been given by God! This week's Sabbath reading is titled Tzav, meaning "Command", and we will see the importance of the command of God regarding this priestly service. This week's reading portion includes Leviticus chapters 6 through 8. This Sabbath is also Shabbat Ha-Gadol, the Great Sabbath before Passover. What do these two topics, the priesthood and the Passover, have in common that they should be joined together in this week's reading? One answer is preparation. On the day when the Passover lamb was to be killed, Jesus commanded His disciples to prepare (hetomazo/hetomas/heteos - make ready, make necessary preparations, to level the road before the king's arrival, to prepare the minds of men to give Messiah a fit reception/prepare and make ready to receive one coming/fitness) for the Passover that they would share together (Lk. 22:7-13). Even the first Passover, during the slavery of the Israelites in Egypt, required a specific preparation (see Ex. 12). During the Passover meal observed by Jesus and His disciples referred to above, Jesus explained to the twelve the meaning of the Passover elements, the bread and the wine (see also Gen. 14:18-20), and how they applied to His coming sacrifice, and the new covenant that was being given to them because of this. He also revealed the presence at the Passover table of His betrayer, meaning Judas (Lk. 22:14-22). It is very revealing of the hearts of man that immediately after these very somber and tremendous revelations, the disciples began to argue regarding which one among them should be considered the greatest (Lk. 22:24). Does man have no shame, no humility, no reverence? The answer is no, they don't. Perhaps we consider ourselves to be exceptions to this sad condition? The chapters this week from Leviticus describe the solemn consecration and service of the priests, and the connection of these things to Christ. The priests put on priestly aleph-tav garments (Lev. 8:10), and were consecrated with the aleph-tav anointing oil (v. 12). The priests laid their aleph-tav hands (v. 14, 22) upon each offering brought to the aleph-tav tabernacle (v. 10): "Everyone who touches its flesh (of the offering) must/shall be holy..." (Lev. 6:27). These offerings were not to be prepared and handled lightly. Even the aleph-tav ashes (hadesen/dasen - fat ashes/to anoint, to smear) of the aleph-tav burnt offering (haola/ala - to go up, ascent, go up in smoke/raise, recover, restore, to go up, light, raised, arose, to lift oneself) were to be treated with reverence by the priests (Lev. 6:8-11). From the meaning of the Hebrew words used, we can see the promise of resurrection in the smoke of the burnt offering. How dangerous to treat them profanely, or with unclean hands and hearts! There are other interesting connections of the priests, the offerings, and the tabernacle itself to Christ. Aaron the high priest is written in Hebrew as aleph-tav Aaron. His sons were his aleph-tav sons. As mentioned in previous posts, aleph, tav are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and Jesus used them to describe Himself in the Book of Revelation, as "the Alpha and the Omega (translated from Greek), the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End". So many details surrounding the priests, their clothes, the anointing oil of their consecration, the tabernacle, and the offerings, were connected to the aleph-tav of Christ in this week's Sabbath portion. All of these things (aleph-tav dabar- *words matter, speech, say, talk, arranging in order, to lead flocks to pasture, to rule, subdue, to follow) were done at the command (Tzav) of the LORD (Lev. 8:36). The anointing (masiah/masah - anointed, specifically the Messiah/anoint, smear, spread a liquid, consecrate) of the priest (Lev. 4:3) is directly connected to the Messiah. We can see that the consecration, the atonement, forgiveness and reconciliation ministry of the priests in the tabernacle, which was a prophetic picture of Christ's ministry for the world, required a solemn pattern to be followed, according to the exact commands of the LORD. Other reading portions from this week's Sabbath reveal what happened when the priests and the people did not follow this aleph-tav pattern of the Messiah. The prophet Jeremiah was also from the line of the priesthood (see Jer. 1:1). Jeremiah is commanded by the LORD to stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and expose the iniquities of God's people, calling upon them to mend their ways. The word of the LORD to His people was: "Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Ba'al (a false god), and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, 'We are delivered to do all these abominations'? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, says the LORD." (Jer. 7:1-10, excerpt). I believe that this Word of the LORD is being addressed to the priests, because the activities being described, the burning of incense and standing before the LORD in His house, would involve the priests. The LORD said that His command to the forefathers when they first left Egypt wasn't concerning the burnt offerings and sacrifices, "But this (written in Hebrew as aleph-tav dabar - see above *meaning) is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be Your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.' Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and dictates (serirut/serar - imagination, lust, stubbornness, twisted, hardness of heart/to be an enemy,to be a hostile opponent) of their evil hearts and went backward and not forward." (Jer. 7:22-24). If the priests and people of God continued to ignore this (aleph-tav dabar), God's voice, the LORD warned: "...they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. Then death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of those who remain of this evil family..." (Jer. 8:2-3). More important than the sacrifices themselves, is the obedience to the voice of God. The sacrifice is only effective if it is the result of obedience to the voice of Him who commands us. Another portion from this week's Shabbat Ha-Gadol reading is: "So Samuel (the priest, prophet, judge of Israel) said: 'Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness as iniquity and idolatry. Because you (referring to King Saul) have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king." (1 Sam. 15:22-23). Saul was very proud of the numerous sacrifices that he had offered to the LORD on this occasion, but he had not done it in accord with what the LORD had told him to do. Jesus' sacrifice was the fruit of His obedience to His Father, and in turn, that effective sacrifice produced much fruit (Phil. 2:5-11). His obedience brought glory to God His Father. Our own obedience results in the effective defeat of evil spiritual powers in the heavenly realms (2 Cor. 10:3-6). As we see witchcraft, the occult, iniquity and idolatry begin to pervade this era, is it because God's people have refused to obey His voice? Passover was the deliverance from death. Jesus repeatedly declared that He, the Aleph-Tav, was the living bread of eternal life. (Jn. 6:32-51). When we leave out The Aleph-Tav, the Messiah Son of God, from any of these aleph-tav things, we walk in death rather than life. Finally the prophet Jeremiah mourns: "For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt. I am mourning; Astonishment has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead, is no physician there? Why then is there no recovery for the health of the daughter of my people?" (Jer. 8:21-22). This is the heart of a true priest. Where were the cries of the other priests in the land? Jeremiah called on the Balm of Gilead (rare perfumed ointment produced in the Gilead region, and used medicinally), and the Physician who can heal his people. Both of these terms were associated with the Messiah, the Anointed One, who is Christ. Jeremiah was calling for the Aleph-Tav associated with the priestly service of atonement, forgiveness and the reconciliation between man and God. Another of this week's reading portions that is assigned to this Shabbat Ha-Gadol, the Great Sabbath before Passover, is from the prophet Malachi, whom tradition says was a Levite, the tribe of priests. Again, this portion deals with the priesthood and the people of God. It also speaks about a necessary preparation: "Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the LORD, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,' says the LORD of hosts. But who can endure the (aleph-tav) day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the (aleph-tav) sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness.' (Mal. 3:1-3). Part of the preparation for the arrival of the LORD is the purification of His aleph-tav priests. Only then will the offerings be restored to offerings of righteousness, as the LORD had intended them. As a result of this preparation and purging of the priests before the aleph-tav day of the LORD and His coming, much of the same wickedness that Jeremiah and Samuel noted, such as sorcerers, adulterers, perjurers, exploiters, and oppressors, will be judged (v. 4-5). We also are called to be the priests of God in Christ (1 Pet. 2:9-10, Rev. 1:5-6, 5:8-10). However, in this office, God is looking for aleph-tav priests, who are, in these aleph-tav dabar things, obedient to the voice of God. We saw above that Jesus' disciples did not understand what it meant when Jesus said: "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat." There is a preparation for Passover and its expression in Communion (see 1 Cor. 11:27-32). There is a preparation of consecration for the priesthood so that the hands that touch the offerings are holy, and there is a preparation of purifying, purging, cleansing and refining for the priests of the aleph-tav day of the LORD's coming. If you would like to know more about this important command (Tzav) to "prepare", you can join me in my prayer: "Heavenly Father of all, Your Son, Jesus, has commanded us to go and prepare a place for Your Passover, the Sacrificed Lamb given for life. You have commanded Your aleph-tav priests to lay their aleph-tav hands upon this precious Offering that You have sent for our sins. Help me by Your Holy Spirit to obey Your voice, because our obedience is even more precious to You than an empty sacrifice offered without the presence of Your Aleph-Tav Son, Jesus. If I have been slow to obey Your voice, forgive me Lord, and prepare me to offer righteous offerings of obedience to You. I ask these things in Jesus' name. AMEN."