Numbers 28 - 29 The Priestly Calendar

What to say?

I often come to a Torah Portion - or really any Biblical topic - and find myself at a loss for words as to what to say. It’s become a bit of a running joke because I tend to say that and more often than not I come good and say some stuff that people seem to like.

Today, as the Blessed Lord would have it, I have been given the task of talking about to 29. These chapters are part of the Torah Portion Phineas. Whilst I mean no disrespect to any portion of the Bible, lest God zap me into oblivion, these are hardly the chapters people think to study when it comes to this particular Torah Portion. ‘Oh great, we’re up to Parashat Phineas! Let’s study !’ said nobody ever.

Before , which consists of a recap of the calendar, you have the incident where Phineas kills Zimri and Cozbi whilst love making as part of pagan cult ritual on the doorsteps of the Tabernacle. God orders the leaders of the associated pagan revolt ‘hung up’ before the sun, vengeance is vowed against the heathen Midianites and action abounds. There’s then the census, which might not be the most impressive read but it’s a precursor to war. The daughters of Tselophedad state their case to Moses regarding the inheritance of women following their father’s death. The subsequent legal decision rendered by God factors greatly in the genealogy of the Messiah himself. You also have the appointment of Joshua as the next leader to Moses. A man who is the answer to Moses’ prayer for a ‘shepherd of Israel’ whose name from the Hebrew can be translated as Jesus...

And then you have the calendar recap in .

So I suppose God wants me to diversify and I suppose He knows I like a good smiting perhaps a little to much. So the calendar it is!

I have no idea where this will go but let me tell some of what I know…so, ‘thus thinketh he knoweth Jason....’

to

Firstly, the most obvious point to point out, of all the points that one can point to, is the fact that is a clear expansion to .

If you’ve come this far, and you don’t know what is, then you either need to leave or I have failed in increasing your knowledge from a prep standard to grade 1.

But really; is a summary of the Biblical calendar and the quick go to for all things calendar related. Sure, the Bible has lots to say about the festivals spread throughout it’s pages, but remains the standard reference for how it all looks.

One of the key connections, and key difference between and is this. would often say ‘you shall present an offering by fire to YHWH’ without necessarily giving what exactly that offering is.

follows the same calendar in but it provides us what exactly those ‘offerings by fire’ to YHWH are to be on the festival occasions. What results, is a rather tedious lists of sacrifices which coincide with the calendar.

Typical of God’s style, He opens the chapter with ‘Command the children of Israel’ despite the fact that these commands primarily concern the priesthood. Again, as has been stressed elsewhere in the rants of Jason HRM, God lays bear the Temple system for His people and eliminates the chance that the priesthood, who despite having greater access to the Temple, could start their own mystery cult that was common within the Ancient World. Phrasing such a command in this way also placed the burden of responsibility on the nation in general and not just with the priests for the prescribed sacrifices. The sacrificial system was largely the business of the priests, but it was all of our responsibility.

This reminds me of a famous saying amongst the Rabbis and within modern Judaism. It comes from the Talmud and a parable where God says that ‘Whenever they study (the passages about sacrifices), I will deem it as if they had offered them before me, and I will grant them pardon for their iniquities.’ The context of this is Israel wrestling with the problem of life without a Temple after it was destroyed. Whilst the saying in essence is good (it basically says study your Bible), part of it’s meaning was true before it was long said and whilst the Temple was still standing. Studying these things, with or without the Temple, is important. God gave these things to all of us, not just to some priests in obscurity, but to all of us so we should know them and so we should study them. Regardless of a standing Temple or not.

This is the Priestly Calendar for the Temple

Now that we understand this basic fact; that is basically but with the prescribed sacrifices, you can basically read it and understand it for what it is.

Pretty much, when it comes to these festivals, these are the sacrifices offered. There you have it!

There’s more to it, as there always is, but what I really want to stress is the importance this has on the people of the Bible. Be it our wandering Israelites in the wilderness or those standing on the Temple mount with the Master himself.

Temple stuff, sacrificial stuff, calendar stuff, all that stuff, was a big deal. It’s become a bit of a fad within the Hebrew Roots Movement to study the sacrifices and be a bit of Temple nerd, but’s there’s truth as to why this is so. It’s because the Bible invokes the imagery of the Temple, the sacrifices and the calendar much more than people care to admit. The temple, and all that came with it, was central to the life of Israel throughout the ages.

We won’t go through every festival listed today but we will go through some things from our portion mainly to stress the point my point that it’s all a big deal.

The Temple Sect

Firstly, before we even get to , let’s consider this little tid bit because not only was it a big deal in the Old Testament, but Temple stuff (I’m very scholarly I know), was a big deal in the New Testament.

So, in the New Testament the Church was called, in Greek, the ‘ekklesia’. Ekklesia doesn’t mean church, that’s a thing in and of itself and translating ‘ekklesia’ as church is a big injustice to the Bible. But at any rate, ekklesia is a Greek word which translates as ‘congregation’ or ‘assembly’. It’s equivalent is a Hebrew word ‘kahal’, which likewise translates as ‘congregation’ or ‘gathering’. Knowing some of the nuance though with kahal is fun. It tends to refer to a gathering of people within the Temple itself.

First Fruits of Zion have this to say on ‘ekklesia’ and the New Testament.

‘It may have evolved quite naturally. If the early Jerusalem believers were, every day, greeting one another saying ‘I’ll see you at the assembly’, meaning, ‘I’ll see you at the Temple’, one can imagine a natural evolution in which the believers actually began to refer to themselves as ‘the Assembly’, and in Greek ‘the Assembly’ is ‘the Ekklesia’.

The believers in Jerusalem practiced a type of communal living, selling their possessions and holding everything in common as they lived in Jerusalem. Why didn’t Paul’s congregations follow that model? Why was everyone in the Jerusalem congregation selling all they had and moving in together? Because the temple was in Jerusalem. Simon Peter did not want to back and live in Capernaum. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, did not want to go back and live in Nazareth. Nathaniel did not want to go back to Cana. And the Greek speaking Jews from the Diaspora wanted to remain in Jerusalem too, near the Temple, near the apostles, near to the Father’s House. So Joseph Barnabus sold his property in Cyprus and moved to Jerusalem. Stephen moved to Jerusalem. Ananias and Sapphira sold their property and moved to Jerusalem.

The Temple drew the apostolic community together. The believers were a Temple sect.’

Knowing this, I hope, makes knowing the things of more important. It played a huge part in the lives of Israel and the context of our Master Yeshua. Whilst I joke about the not so exciting aspect of these things; there is a definite lack of smiting in , but you should want to study this.

We won’t go through all of them today but let’s look at some points from this and understand that this stuff was a big deal.

Daily Sacrifice

Daily Sacrifice

First up is the daily sacrifice.

When we think ‘moed’, meaning ‘appointed time’, we think festival i.e. Passover, Succot, Shavuot etc. etc. Interestingly enough, the daily sacrifice was also considered a ‘moed’ i.e. an appointed time;

Numbers 28:2 NKJV

“Command the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘My offering, My food for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to offer to Me at their appointed time.’

The daily sacrifice, later known as the ‘tamid’, which comes from ‘continual’ (i.e. the continual sacrifice) derived of 2 male lambs without defect. They were offered in the morning and the ‘twilight’ (or evening depending on your translation) which in reality is more 2 - 3 PM.

The tamid also went hand in hand with the daily grain offering which was likewise offered in the morning and evening. This is indicated in 28:8 which says ‘the other lamb you shall offer at twilight, as the grain offering of the morning...’

As mentioned earlier, the commandment for these was given to all of Israel and just the priests. As such, in the time of the Temple, the sages required representatives from all of Israel to be present during the daily service of the Temple.

You might be aware that the land of Israel was divided into 24 courses whereby 24 groups of priests, from around the land, would take turns in the maintaining the Temple Service. Because the command for these sacrifices included all of Israel the courses also came with representatives of the people. The representatives were called the ‘standing men’.

The Talmud, which regardless of what you think, remains a wonderful source of history for us, says this;

The representatives were called the ‘standing men’.

Now that are the standing men? It says ‘command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘ You shall be careful to present my offering’. How can a person’s offering be made while he is not standing by its side? The early prophets divided Israel into twenty four courses, and for each course there was a delegation of standing men to serve as representatives at the Temple in Jerusalem composed of priests, Levites and common Israelites. When the time for a course to go up to jerusalem came, it’s priests and Levites went up with the Israelites to the Temple in Jerusalem.

- m. Taanit 4:2

The standing men, stood in the Temple court and witnessed the sacrifice and in the time of the Temple they said the accompanying prayers. Within modern Judaism today there is a prayer called ‘the Amidah’ which literally translates as the ‘standing prayer’. It has it’s ancient roots in the practice of the Temple.

So you had the priests performing this service every day with the people and Levites watching. The Talmud further describes the scene, which occurred daily, and says;

‘The Levities broke into song. When they reached a break between songs they sounded a tekiah (the shofar) and the people prostrated themselves....’

- m. Tamid 7:3

This scene is very much the origin of the Psalms. Sure, Judaism has developed liturgy however in Ancient Old Testament days the Psalms were that which accompanied the sacrifices. Not that the modern liturgy is bad, but the original service, of say the first temple, has not been properly preserved. The service of the second temple, of which the Talmud and the Bible mostly describes, we know much more about. With respect to much of the Jewish liturgy the historical evidence suggests that some of the prayers, such as the Shemoneh Esreh (the Amidah), existed at the time of second temple and was recited as part of the Temple service. So when you speak the Amidah, from a current liturgy, it connects you to something that is very ancient; no less the sacrificial system and the believers of the 1st century who centered themselves on the Temple.

Whilst we’re on that note. You may have heard it said that the prayer service, which coincides with the sacrificial system, was developed after the destruction of the second Temple and by implication is some fabrication of Judaism. This is not true. Whilst it has been developed since the destruction of the Temple it was commonly understood that the prayers and sacrifices were ‘both/and’, not ‘either/or’. The prayers and the sacrifices go hand in hand and it was a way for all of Israel to participate in the Temple service. Just think, as the priesthood sacrificed the first lamb in the morning, so too rose all of Israel around the world and recited the same prayers, sang the same songs, as the one who held the blade and cut the sacrifice.

The prayer service to coincide with the sacrifices is not foreign to the New Testament.

Here we have Peter and John going to the Temple for the hour of prayer.

Numbers 28:2 NKJV

“Command the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘My offering, My food for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to offer to Me at their appointed time.’

Acts 3:1 NKJV

Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.

The Angel of the Lord appeared to Cornelius, during the hour of prayer;

Acts 10:1–4 NKJV

There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.

And most significantly, our Master was crucified at the time of the morning sacrifice and died at the time of the twilight sacrifice;

Mark 15:25 NKJV

Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.

Mark 15:34 NKJV

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Required for all people.

The standing MEN

Prayers with the sacrifices

Acts + times of prayer

Sabbath Sacrifice

Following the daily sacrifice we come to the additional sacrifices for the weekly Sabbath. Notably, the Shabbat offerings doubled that which was offered of the tamid sacrifices during the rest of the week.

So, just like in the wilderness with the double portion of manna that was required, so to the Temple had it’s double portion. There’s a lesson in that for us. 1) about preparation for the Sabbath and 2) about the fact that the Sabbath should be extra special. Eat a little more, spend a little more time with the family, give God your day; whatever it is, there’s a way for us to still honour the ‘double portion’ of the Temple and the Sabbath. Notably, the two portions of chala (bread) which are traditionally eaten on the Sabbath, hearken back to double portion of the Sabbath.

Rosh Chodesh

The Rosh Chodesh sacrifices kind of sets the standard for the following sacrifices with the rest of the moedim. The sacrificial order of 2 bulls, one ram and 7 lambs appears also in the sacrifices for passover, feast of weeks and feast of trumpets. It sort of appears in Yom Kippur and Succot but it’s 1 bull, one ram and 7 lambs in those cases (with other variations too). I have no idea why the fall feasts change it up and only have 1 bull. At least I’m honest!

This imagery alludes me. Rashi suggests that the bulls represent Abraham, the ram represents Isaac and the sheep represent Jacob. He comes up with his reasons such as Abraham is the Father (the bull), Isaac had a ram sacrificed in his place, and Jacob who shepherded. The suggestion is unlikely but it’s worth mentioning.

Typically on this day (Rosh Chodesh) Israelites would gather together despite the new moon (aka start of the new month) not been a Sabbath. In the Bible people gathered, sounded the shofar and the prophets frequently taught on the Sabbath and the New Moon.

Sin offering of goat typically at end of sacrifices

Spring Festivals

From hereon the additional sacrifices described coincide with what we traditionally would call the ‘moedim’ i.e. the yearly festivals.

I’m new to this additional sacrifice business so I fear I only have random facts to point out for you. Please keep in mind each festival warrants its own study...

Firstly, there is no additional sacrifice for passover. Passover is the sacrifice of the lamb and given the whole thing that happened with Egypt and Passover it makes sense that this one is left alone.

Secondly, if you count the amount of sacrifices required for unleavened bread they account to 70. We will discuss this number further a little later. It also happens to be 7 times the amount of sacrifices needed for a new moon.

Thirdly, and yet again, these events with all the additional sacrifices was a big deal. The rabbis record how people, when sacrificing for the Passover, had to come and go in allotted groups of people. They would allow 1 group in, complete the sacrifice with trumpet calls and allow the next group in etc. etc. In the Temple there was a procession of priests on shofars and rows of priests passing bowls of blood to be splashed on the altar. The used not the same bowls for fear of blood congealing and so the whole process was quite the logistical feat. The Levites chanted the Hillel Psalms during the process. The records state that the kidron valley ran red with the blood. I don’t joke, it was a big deal;

‘As the first group of Israelites went out, the second entered, as the second went out, the third entered…meanwhile, the Levites chanted the Hillel’.

Sefer Hagadah pg. 175

As with the tamid offering, the sacrifice of Passover corresponds to Messiah. In particular His first coming and His death as the Passover Lamb. All the while the valley ran red with blood, the shofars blasted and the Levites sung the songs of Praise. Context is a striking thing when considered as part of your Biblical studies.

Shavuot

70 in total for unleavened bread

70 in total for unleavened bread

Large numbers of people sacrificed for Passover

Red Heiffer cleansing

Shavuot

First fruits was a big deal.

Next up is Shavuot.

Next up is Shavuot

Holy Spirit + Giving of the Torah

This festival corresponds to the presentation of the first fruits and so happens to be the day when Israel received the Torah and the day, in the New Testament, when the Holy Spirit was given.

For brevity sake I will move on quickly but yet again, this day, was quite the scene in Israel. People would meet outside their towns and march in a large procession to Jerusalem. The first fruits were presented in ornate baskets and the people recited the accompanying liturgy which was recorded in the Book of Deuteronomy for this occasion as they arrived at the Temple. Custom was to have a flute player lead the way and they came via the Mt of Olives. Those that needed cleansing probably came early to do so (there’s evidence of that in the New Testament) and there would have been thousands of people. They put a lot of effort into decoration their bowls and the scene would have been phenomenal.

Throughout His life, our Messiah would have participated.

Fall Festivals

Random facts again.

Rosh Hoshanah, same as RC

Firstly, Yom Teruah has a total of 19 sacrifices which follows a similar pattern to the new moon. I don’t know why!?

Yom Kippur actually had a lot of sacrifices....

Secondly, if you factor in all that the Scripture has to say about Yom Kippur then the order for the service in that day was massive. The number of sacrifices required was immense and would have been quite literally a full day of sacrifices and Temple worship.

Succott double the sacrifices JUST LIKE THE SHABBAT

Thirdly, Succot warrants it’s own mention.

Succot

Succot is pretty special. It’s a 7 day festival, the third of the pilgrimage feasts, and one where Israel is commanded to dwell in booths (temporary dwellings) for 7 days.

The imagery invokes that of a Wedding Feast which it mirrors in ancient custom. If you follow the narrative of the feasts then you’ve just come through the coming of the King, which is announced by the Shofar blast on Yom Teruah, you’ve survived the judgement which is Yom Kippur, and here; the King takes his bride.

Not surprisingly then, Succot has double the amount of rams and lambs ordained for sacrifice each day. Succot is to the other festivals what the Sabbath is to other days. It’s special and it crowns the Holy Days. Is it any surprise that the Sabbath is intimately connected to marriage in the Bible and Hebraic thought just as we’re seeing her with Succot?

Of all the festivals this was the most grand. The sages say ‘he who has not seen the rejoicing’ at Succot has never seen true rejoicing. Thousands of people thronged to Jerusalem and the additional sacrifices herein would have accommodated the abundance of worship from the people nicely.

I don’t know why the number of bulls sacrificed each day reduces in the additional sacrifices. Again though, just like Unleavened Bread, the number of sacrifices equals 70. Traditionally speaking, this corresponds to the nations who have long been associated with this number. This, in part, is why Succot is called the ‘Feast of all Nations.’

Hebraic though has long understood these sacrifices as been for the nations benefit. A sage, Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi once stated, ‘Had the nations of the world realised the good the Temple did for them, instead of destroying it, they would have built fortifications around about it to protect it.’ - Numbers Rabbah 1:3

The Succot Service

The service for Succot would have been something else to witness. Notwithstanding the abundance of sacrifice but some of the traditional practices which flourished from hereon would have been awesome to see.

Firstly, Succot required the waving of the etrog (written about elsewhere in Scripture) which was completed in awesome fashion. People cut down large palms branches with the fruit and in a large procession entered the Temple and walked around the altar 7 times.

Secondly, the water pouring ceremony took place throughout the 7 day festival. During this time a large procession followed the High Priest who drew water from the pool of Siloam and poured the water over the altar in the Temple. Whilst this occurred 4 large lamp stands were set up in the outer court which apparently lit up the whole city. The sages say that the Levites without number played instruments, sounded the shofar and that well known sages danced all night and joy abounded throughout all of Israel.

Meanwhile, the Sadducees complained that the water drawing had no Biblical basis and technically, they would be correct. The Pharisees of the time point out in rebuttle that there are 3 words spelled defectively in with regard to the additional sacrifices. When you take the 3 letters that are variations of the usual spelling you come up with the word for water, ‘mayim’. The Pharisees said it was a sort of Torah code which justified the whole wonderful procession. It actually doesn’t quite justify it but Yeshua, when present in the Temple during Succot, declared ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink...’.

Knowing the history teaches us that Yeshua said these words as the water drawing ceremony took place. Again, context is a wonderful thing.

Concluding the additonal sacrifices we have the 8th day of Succot, which is described as it’s own separate appointed time. Here, the sacrifices are reduced again and the sages say it’s because this part of the feast doesn’t include the nations but is rather a more intimate experience between just God and his bride, Israel. Taken prophetically this is rather profound. The 8th day corresponds to that time period after the millennial reign were it’s correctly put that there will be no nations.

Walking around the altar

The Water Pouring and Yeshua

The eighth day

Appointed on Mt Sinai?

Every festival warrants it’s own novel and corpus of teaching so above will have to suffice as just a little taste of what it might have been like to experience the calendar in all its sacrificial glory.

I will stress this again though. It played a big part in Israel’s life and if you hadn’t realised this yet, it served as the prophetic timeline of the Messiah. The spring feasts speak of His first coming, the fall feasts speak of His second.

The thoughts re the tamid.

Whilst we’re here though, let’s circle back for a second and allow me to point this one little verse out. It’s in relation to the daily sacrifice and it says;

Numbers 28:6 NKJV

It is a regular burnt offering which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.

What stands out is that YHWH says the tamid offering was ‘ordained’ at Mt Sinai. A fact which many a commentator and scholar refute.

If we accept what God says though, which I would suggest is smart, then this can be understood in connection to the burnt offerings that occured in the covenental ceremony of (verse 5). It is the only place where sacrifices like this are mentioned and must be the source of the daily tamid offering. In , Moses takes the blood of the sacrifice, now understood as the source of the daily offering, and with it he sprinkles the people and the book of the covenant sealing our union with God.

Exodus 24:6–8 NKJV

And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”

The tamid offering then recreates the covenental ceremony of Israel at Mt Sinai, right before the sin of the golden calf.

This is actually what is been referenced in (in a deeper level kind of way...);

Lamentations 3:21–23 NKJV

This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

The lament is drawing on the renewal of the covenant each morning via the tamid offering and invoking the fact that we should have been consumed following the sin of the Golden Calf. The lament is really about the destruction of the Temple but the Golden Calf is still attributed to some of Israel’s greatest calamities.

Such imagery reminds us again of the Glory of our Messiah. He renews us every morning and His compassion fails not. The renewal each morning is a reference to the tamid.

He is the continual sacrifice and we are commanded to join with Him every day of our lives.

The Mountain

Continual sacrifice reminds of the covenant of the King every day.

Also reminds us of Messiah who ascended the mountain and ordained the law for us.

The imagery of Moses on the mountain is further invoked by our Master when He himself ascended and gave new revelation of Torah.

Matthew 5:1–2 NKJV

And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

We often miss the less obvious Moses associations with Yeshua. But make no mistake, Yeshua’s ascent up the mountain where He taught the law intentionally invokes that same law which was ordained on top of Mt Sinai and identifies Him with the One of whom the covenant was with.

Temple Destroyed?

By now, maybe you’ve been enticed to study the sacrifices further and maybe, just maybe, you’ve learnt something.

What now though?

The temple was destroyed was it not?

Well, yes. Yeshua said it would happen;

Matthew 24:1–2 NKJV

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

But guess what?

Yeshua sat up on another mountain called the Mountain of Olives. There, His disciples asked;

Matthew 24:3 NKJV

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

What now?

And Yeshua’s answer is rather bleak. But there’s symbolism in not just what He says but were He says it. The Mt of Olives is the place in Ezekiel where the Spirit of God ascended after departing the Temple.

Ezekiel 11:23 NKJV

And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city.

And in the Bible it is where the Glory of the Lord will return;

Zechariah 14:4 NKJV

And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.

So the image of Yeshua, sitting on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the Temple as He teaches and prophecies is rather profound. It is the place where He subsequently departed and it is the place where He will return.

In the meanwhile we are still able to connect with Him during the festivals and every day as shown through the additional sacrifices. We are still able to pray and join with Him as in the days of old.

The appointed times are still available to us though the Temple is not. The commandment to obey the moed still stands, as it does with the moed of the daily sacrifice. Every day therefore recommit yourself to the King.

In fact, in an exciting allusion, the Taberncale is once referred to as the ‘tabernacle of meeting’ (). Only, the word for ‘meeting’ is moed; meaning that it could be rendered as the ‘Tabernacle of Appointed Time’. This lends to the rather fascinating and true insight that the appointed times of God are like the tabernacle pitched in time. Connecting with the moedim then is akin to walking into the Temple courtyards itself.

Last Point

Finally, I’ll point this out.

The start of chapters 28 is a little unique in Hebrew. It says ‘Command the Children of Israel’ or even ‘issue a command to the children of Israel’.

There is only 3 other times when a set of commandments are opened with that same phrase in the Hebrew. They are 1) () the commandment to bring oil for the menorah 2)( ) to cleanse the camp of lepers and 3) ()the division of the land of Israel.

We are right to see a connection and allow me to suggest this;

Obeying God’s ways, meeting Him in a place outside of time (i.e. His appointed time) 1) shines light to the world 2) cleanses your of impurity and 3) gives you an inheritance amongst the sons of Israel. (Of course, by God’s grace).

Therefore, meet the Lord at His appointed times and bring the sacrifice.

Will He restore the sacrificial system? Let’s argue that some other time. Needless to say, He will be back in His own time which will just happen to coincide with the calendar of .

Fin.

I said before that the most obvious point to point out, of all the points that one can point to, is that is an expansion to .

That was a lie. The most obvious point to point out, of all the points that one can point to, is the fact that Yeshua is the Messiah. He is the embodiment of the calendar we have just read. The One who holds time in His hands.

Don’t act surprised. I’ve said before that Yeshua is the point of every lesson that I would ever share.

His mercies renew every day, but there’s a few of those moedim that He hasn’t fulfiled just yet.

Though His mercies renew every day, the clock is ticking.

The clock is ticking.