Tzav

Heart of The Torah

Leviticus 6 provides an unexpected view of the heart of the Torah.

People think of leviticus as boring and unuseful ritual

Leviticus is filled with morality and ethics -

Portion starts in vs 8 but want to mention vs 1-7. Lev 6.6-7

Leviticus 6:6–7 TLV

25 He is to bring his trespass offering to Adonai, a ram without blemish from the flock, according to your value, for a trespass offering, to the kohen. 26 The kohen shall make atonement for him before Adonai, and he will be forgiven concerning whatever he may have done to become guilty.”

The order is reconciliation first, followed by offering to God for atonement.

Reminiscent of Yeshua’s words in Mat 5.24 in the sermon on the mount - leave your gift at the Altar and first go and be reconciled with your brother.

Too many, even amongst us, are trying to come to the altar of worship with their fellowship (shalamim) offering for God and have not followed the Torah’s requirement and Yeshua’s Halacha to be first reconciled to your neighbour.

This is the heart of the Torah.

Attitude Toward God

Read the sacrifices and associated process with a desire to understand the type of relationship God is looking for.

We can see that God is available - He makes himself available. Lev 6.13

Leviticus 6:13 TLV

6 Fire is to be kept burning on the altar continually—it must not go out.

The relationship God is looking for is continuous so your interaction and attidue toward God should reflect that.

The sacrifices and altar were open to be accessed depending on the circumstances of daily life. The circumstances, the ups and downs, are opportunities to interact with God according to this sacrificial pattern.

We are also to have an attitude that recognizes and admits our sin. We should understand the seriousness of our sin and how it builds up and weighs us down.

Sin is like plaque build up and it gets in the way and the longer we don’t deal with it the worse it gets and eventually leads to rot. We need to take the opportunity offered by God to cleanse our lives and communities of the build up of sin.

Sin that is not dealt with properly is deadly.

This is why sacrifice and atonemen had to be made not only for people but also for the tabernacle, the altar itself, and other things. The build up of sin that is not dealt with can force out the presence of God in your life.

Worship invovles sacrifice.

Our worship should cost us according to our means.

What you can afford should be your worship, but a worship that doesn’t invovle payment lacks a fundamental understanding of what this relationship looks like.

2 Samuel 24:24–25 TLV

24 But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you at a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to Adonai my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver. 25 Then David built there an altar to Adonai, and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. So Adonai was moved by prayer of entreaty for the land, and restrained the plague from Israel.

The Sacrifice of Yeshua

The Bible talks a lot about the Sacrifice of Yeshua.

John says that Yeshua is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Reference to the corban Pesach.

Matthew records Yeshua’s words that Yeshua came to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many.

Paul says Messiah loved us and gave himself for us as a sacrifical and pleasing aroma to God.

God provided everything for a restored relationship - the priesthood, the instructions for the tabernacle, Moshe the prophet, the deliverance from Egypt.

The point to make here is that once again God has provided what is necessary for a relationship - He has provided the sacrifice of Yeshua for you and me.

Our allegiance to King Yeshua is how we tell Abba we love Him and we want a relationship with Him.

And because we have been purchased with a costly offering, we are now told to give our lives up as an offering for others as well.

To summarize -

Are you seeing the heart of the Torah?

Are you holding the right attitude toward God?

Are you living as an offering given to others?