Category Archives: Weekly Scripture Readings

Blood Drinking and Letting, Human Sacrifice, Tattoos, Cannibalism & Pedophilia

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Admittedly, this is a nasty and disgusting subject that, justifiably, should make a decent person’s stomach turn, but it’s in the Bible, was part of the heathen culture around ancient Israel, and, more importantly, IT IS PART OF THE HEATHEN CULTURE AROUND US TODAY! Many innocents are being victimized by evil people in high and low positions of power in our society today. Yeshua said that the devil comes to kill, steal and destroy. This is not just figurative language. It is literally happening in your neighborhood, city, state, region and country as I’m writing this. So please read on…inform yourself, so you can be part of the solution. Make no mistake, the preaching of the gospel is the best defense and offense against these horrific activities.

Leviticus 17:1–14, Exploring the concepts of sacrifice, blood letting and eating blood.

The sacrificing of animals as an act of worship or for any reason is a foreign concept in our modern, secularized society, but this was not the case in the ancient biblical world. Concomitant with sacrifices is the idea of freewill offerings,which, in the ancient world, were often made together as an act of worship to various deities. 

With regard to sacrifices, man’s first act of worship outside the Garden of Eden was to make offerings and sacrifice to Elohim (Gen 4:1–4). Making a sacrifice to Elohim was also Noah’s first act of worship after the flood (Gen 8:20). The same is true of Abraham upon receiving the covenant from Elohim (Gen 12:6). At key points in his spiritual journey, Abraham repeated this same act of worship (Gen 12:8; 13:3, 18). The same is true of the Israelites who after having received the Torah at Sinai made a sacrifice to Elohim as they entered into a covenantal agreement with him (Exod 24:4). Subsequently, YHVH instructed the Israelites to establish an entire sacrificial system as a means to be reconciled to him. Similarly, animal sacrifices and offerings being made to various deities was an important aspect of the heathen cultures of the biblical world. Even in the first century, the Greeks were still sacrificing animals in their pagan temples to their gods and goddesses (1 Cor 8:1–13; 10:20) as were the Jews prior to the destruction of their temple in A.D. 70 (Acts 21:24 cp. Num 6:13–21).

So, in the mind of the ancients, what was the purpose of sacrifice? The ritual killing and offering of an animal was part of a religious ritual either to appease or to gain the favor of a deity. 

With this concept in mind, several points should be noted. Man’s rebellion and sin against Elohim in the Garden of Eden caused man to be cut off from his Creator and incur his judgment against man’s sin. The Garden of Eden and the fall of man event is part of the mythos of many ancient civilizations Continue reading →

 

Leviticus 16—Who Is Azazel?

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Understanding the Yom Kippur Goat Rituals. Understanding and interpreting the rituals of Lev 16 can be perplexing and complicated task. This is because often encrypted in certain scriptural passages the deep and open-minded Bible student will find multiple levels of meaning and prophetic fulfillments. The serious biblical researcher understands this and is not put off by any seeming discrepancies between a surface or literal fulfillment of a scripture vis-à-vis its prophetic fulfillment. An example of this would be the virgin and child prophecy of Isa 7. There was both a historical or immediate fulfillment of this prophecy and a future one relating to the coming Messiah. 

Moreover, we must keep something else in mind when dealing with biblical passages that are difficult to understand because they contain figurative language of a prophetic nature that often employ typologies (types and shadows). By definition, a type is a person or thing that represents someone or something else. When dealing with prophetic types in Scripture, the type never perfectly mirrors that to which it is prophetically pointing. The type is merely a shadow of what is to come (Col 2:17; Heb 10:1; 8:5), and therefore it is neither a perfect representation of the reality nor its there a perfect one-to-one correlation between the two. However, there are enough similarities to deduce a correlation between the two, even as a shadow is the shape and outline of the image it represents, but it doesn’t contain all the details of it.

Having laid these things out, it is the opinion of many biblical scholars including Alfred Edersheim that the Yom Kippur ceremonies of Lev 16 were completely fulfilled by Yeshua at his first coming. Alfred Edersheim, the Continue reading →

 

Was Paul Validating the Need for Sacrifices in Acts 21?

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Acts 21:23–27, Vow.  When Paul offered a sacrifice, is this  proof that the sacrificial system is still in force today, even after the death of Yeshua the Messiah on the cross? Some people say yes despite what the writer of Hebrew’s lengthy discussion about how Yeshua’s death replaced the sacrificial and Levitical systems (Heb chapters 8–11; 10:10). 

The rituals that Paul and his fellow Israelites did in Acts 21 actually fits the description of one who is coming out of a Nazirite vow (see Num 6:1–21). This was a sin offering and was the only way that the Torah allows one who has taken a Nazirite vow legally to terminate his vow to Elohim. A sacrifice was to be made at the door of the tabernacle (later the temple) by a priest. 

Today, one can’t technically do a Nazarite vow, since there is no way legally to come out of it unless, of course, one stays a Nazirite until he dies. This is because there is no tabernacle or temple, and there is no Aaronic priest who is available to make the sacrifice. However, in Paul’s day, the priesthood still existed, and the temple still stood. 

The sacrifice for coming out of a Nazarite vow is the only example of a disciple of Yeshua performing any sacrifice after Yeshua’s resurrection. Therefore, this sacrifice was a special exception for believers doing a sacrifice, else how could one legally come out of a Nazarite vow?

Why would Paul involve himself in a sin-sacrifice in Acts 21:24 after the death of Yeshua? We mustn’t read too much into the text. It is true that coming out of a Nazarite vow involved a sin offering. However, Acts doesn’t say that Paul was coming out of his own Nazarite vow. What the text says is that he was acting as a wealthy patron—an act of charity—for four individuals who, presumably were unable to afford the costs of paying for the necessary sacrifices to exit a Nazarite vow. 

Admittedly, this is a perplexing passage. None of the Bible commentaries I examined on this text could give an adequate explanation as to why Paul would involve himself in this particular ceremony to prove to the Jerusalem mob that he was Torah-observant. The Acts text just doesn’t give us enough background information on the subject. One thing seems certain though. Paul was not making a sin offering for himself. His paying for the sacrifices of the Nazarites seems to have been a public relations gesture to appease those in the Jewish mob who were slandering him. It is a logical overreach and reading into the text to take Paul’s act of charity as him making a doctrinal statement favoring the continued validity of the sacrificial system after the death Yeshua, especially in light of what the other apostolic writers had to say about Yeshua’s fulfilling that system by his death. Certainly, the writer of Hebrews makes this point abundantly clear.

 

How Do You Come Before the Throne of Elohim in Heaven?

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Leviticus 16:1—The Protocols for Coming Into the Presence of the Almighty Creator

How do humans come into the presence of YHVH Elohim? There is one proper way to do so, and many improper ways. The Torah’s discussion pertaining to the rituals associated with the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) reveal to us what the proper protocol is and also alludes to the fact that there is an improper way to approach the Almighty Creator as well—something which brings disastrous results.

Now YHVH spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before YHVH, and died… (Lev 16:1)

Elohim killed Nadab and Abihu because they came into the holy of holies in the Tabernacle of Moses (a representation of Elohim’s heavenly throne room) in a careless and indifferent manner. Not only were they intoxicated with alcohol, but they failed to follow the proper ceremonial protocols outlined by YHVH Elohim to come into his presence. The next few verses lay out what those protocols are to come before the King of the universe. To not follow those protocols brings the death penalty on the person. Such a person is entering illegally as an unauthorized trespasser.

Before exploring how to enter the presence of Elohim properly, let’s bring this abstract concept down to a level we can understand. For example, who hasn’t seen signs on private property that say something like this: “Private Property, No Trespassing,” “Government Property, No Trespassing,” “Unauthorized Entrance Prohibited,” “Violators Will Be Prosecuted to the Full Extent of the Law,” or “Violators Will Be Shot”? What happens to an uninvited intruder who climbs over the fence around the White House or Continue reading →

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 4-22 Through 4-28-18

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Achrei Mot-Kedoshim — Leviticus 16:1 – 20:27
Haftarah — Amos 9:7-15
Prophets — Isaiah 60:1 – 66:24; Jeremiah 1:1 – 2:37
Writings — Job 26:1 – 32:22
Testimony — Acts 20:1 – 24:27

Our annual Scripture Reading Schedule for 2017-2018 is available to download and print.

Most of this week’s blog discussion points will be on these passages. If you have general comments or questions on the weekly Scripture readings not addressed in a blog post, here’s a place for you to post those. Just use the “leave a reply” link below.

The full “Read Through The Scriptures In A Year” schedule, broken down by each day, can be found on the right sidebar under “Helpful Links.” There are 4 sections of scripture to read each day: one each from the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings, and from the Testimony of Yeshua. Each week, the Torah and haftarah readings will follow the traditional one-year reading cycle.

Weekly Blog Scripture Readings for 4/22/18 through 4/28/18. This week is the third week of seven complete weeks of the count of the omer.

 

The Similarities Between Sin and Germs 

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How Leviticus chapters 12, 13 and 14 relate to you

These several chapters are some of the most difficult ones in the Torah for us to wrap our brains around spiritually. What is the relevance of these arcane laws of ritual impurity and “leprosy” to modern people? With a little thought, we can see that there are some deep and relevant spiritual truths contained in these biblical passages!

As Matthew Henry points out in his classic gospel-oriented commentary on the Bible, after the laws concerning clean and unclean foods in Leviticus 11 come the laws concerning clean and unclean persons. As germs are contagions causing physical disease, so man is infected with the spiritual contagion of a sin nature that brings about spiritual disease ultimately leading to death. Henry explains that man imparts his depraved sin nature to his offspring at conception, which is why the woman needed to go through ritual cleansing after childbirth. Similarly, the Bible teaches us that the plague of leprosy (Heb. tsaraas referring to a generic skin disease) was a judgment by Elohim against the sins of rebellion, greed and misuse of the tongue (e.g. Miriam, Gehazi and King Uzziah).

The spread of and cure for spiritual diseases is similar to those of physical diseases, as we’ll discuss below. First, however, let’s compare and contrast how physical germs are similar to spiritual sin “germs.”

What are germs?

With the help of several modern health care professionals, we first need to learn about germs. 

“Our bodies are pretty amazing. Day after day, they work hard—digesting food, pumping blood and oxygen, sending signals from our brains and much more.

“But there is a group of tiny invaders that can make our bodies sick—they’re called germs.

“Some kids may think that germs are bugs or cooties or other gross stuff. Actually, germs Continue reading →

 

Leviticus 12–15: Dealing With Contagious Sin Pathogens in Oneself and in the Church

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Overview of Parshiot Tazria-Metzora (Lev 12–13 and 14–15)

Often these two parshiot are combined in the yearly Torah reading cycle depending on how the biblical calendar falls for the year. Their combining is likely due to the fact that each is relatively short and deals with related subjects: namely, the ritual purity laws. 

As we shall see, the causes of ritual impurity involve sin issues. As a remedy to this problem, the Torah prescribes procedures that the afflicted person had to follow in order to be deemed cleansed and thus be readmitted into the camp of Israel after having been temporarily expelled. All the rituals prophetically pointed to Yeshua’s atoning death on the cross.

These two parshiot dealing with diseased and unclean persons immediately come after the laws concerning clean and unclean meats (Lev 11). What the Israelites ate as well as the state of their physical bodies was an important aspect of holiness in the eyes of YHVH.

From these two parshiot, we learn that an unclean person could only become clean through the atoning blood of a sacrificed animal or through ritual cleansing of water by which he was reconciled to Elohim and brought back into the camp of Israel. 

What can we learn from the juxtapositioning of these subjects (i.e. the laws pertaining to unclean meats and unclean people) in the Torah? Simply this. Man can easily become impure and defiled because of his innately depraved, crooked, and wicked heart that is at enmity with the laws of Elohim (Jer 17:9; Rom 8:7). 

Since the fall of Adam, man has been in a state of impurity from Elohim. Thus, sin separates him from the presence of Elohim and from his fellow Israelites. Only the sin- Continue reading →