Is there a "way" to approach our Creator? Is there any information He gives us regarding this? The answer is Yes! Perhaps you have read the book of Leviticus many times and thought "man, this is almost as hard to read through as Numbers!". Well, the book of Leviticus and the Tabernacle shows us many things including the method we must use to approach Yahweh our Father. The Scripture tells us that YHWH (God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) would dwell with His people in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle. He would come and reside above the Mercy Seat in the inner most room in the Tent (Holy of Holies), Only the High Priest was allowed in this area of the Tabernacle, and only once per year at Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) when the sins of the nation would be forgiven as the High Priest sprinkled the blood of the Yom Kippur sacrifice upon the Mercy Seat between the Seraphim. But before we get too in-depth there, lets start from the outside and move in.
The Tabernacle, in one level of understanding, represents the method required to enter into the presence of the Holy One of Israel. Now we know from the book of Hebrews that Yeshua (Jesus) is the High Priest. Only He is able to go into the Divine Presence. He is the intermediary between YHWH and us. We cannot be a High Priest, but YHWH does say Israel is to be a nation of priests. Exo 19:5 ‘And now, if you diligently obey My voice, and shall guard My covenant, then you shall be My treasured possession above all the peoples – for all the earth is Mine – Exo 19:6 ‘and you shall be to Me a reign of priests and a set-apart nation.’ Those are the words which you are to speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl." and Rev 5:10 and made us sovereigns and priests to our Elohim, and we shall reign upon the earth. The Priests did enter the Holy Place, which is the outer room of the tent. So how did the priest prepare to enter the Holy Place? This is where we see how we need to approach our Creator. The first thing one must do to enter the Holy Place is to desire to. Then, we must enter the outer courtyard of the Tabernacle. There is only one entrance, and it is a narrow gate. The parallel here is that one must "repent" or turn back to Yahweh and start the journey through the narrow gate or narrow way. John the Baptist preached repentance, to turn from sin (1 John 3:4 sin is lawlessness.). He preached to turn back to God (YHWH). So once we decide to turn back to God we start walking toward him. He can only be found in His Holiest Place. So we choose to enter through the narrow gate and into the outer courtyard. Once inside the courtyard we first come to the altar of burnt offering. Now when the priest prepares himself to actually go into the Holy Place he must first offer a sacrifice on the altar of burnt offering. (See diagram above). The whole offering is burnt on this altar. It is a picture of us needing to offer our whole selves to Him. To sacrifice our desires, thoughts and whole beings for Him. Yeshua taught this when He said, "The first commandment is to Love Yahweh your God with all your heart, mind and being." The hymn that says "just as I am without one plea..." really isn't true. We must change the way we are and give up our own ways for His ways. Next, the Priest would wash his hands and feet at the laver. (see diagram above). This is called a "mikvah" or immersion. John the Baptist did not invent a new practice with baptism, this practice was given by YHWH to His people much, much earlier. Most Christians know that this baptism, or mikvah, is a sign of cleansing ourselves and following the way of our Creator. So after we repent of our own desires and way of life, sacrifice our entire being to follow our Creator and King, we then wash ourselves by getting rid of all the filthiness. We cannot enter into the Holy Place without doing this. If the Priest did not follow the sacrifice and mikvah correctly they would die when entering the Holy Place. This is symbolic of the fact that we cannot enter into Yahweh's Holy Place by doing it our way, only His. To enter into the Tent of Meeting the Priest also had to put on special clothing, made of white linen. White linen garments are mentioned many times in the Scriptures. We must wash ourselves, be clean, and put on holy garments, meaning living a pure Torah observant life. When the Priest would enter the Holy Place they had various tasks to perform, such as keeping the Menorah lit, new showbread to place and placing incense on the altar of incense. The Holy Place requires a much more in-depth study, so I will concentrate on the altar of incense. The Priest would bring in coals from the outside Altar of Burnt Offering and place it on the Altar of Incense, which sat next to the curtain separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, where God's Shekinah (Holy Presense) would dwell above the Mercy Seat. The Priest would then place incense on this Altar. The smoke from the sweet incense would go up and permeate into the Holy of Holies. In Rev. 5:8 the incense is called the prayers of the saints. In Revelation John was seeing the actual Tabernacle in Heaven. We know that the earthly Tabernacle was a representation of the actual. So the picture here is that the Priest offers up incense that is pleasing to YHWH our Creator. It represents the prayers of the Priest and people. It is interesting to note that the coals came from the Altar of sacrifice which is where the Priest started his preparation. It is a picture of prayers mixed with the sacrifice of His people to serve Him and Him alone. So what happens when prayers are offered without sacrificing ourselves, our desires and our way of living for His? If the Priest offered the incense (prayers) without using the coals from the Altar of Burnt Offering (sacrifice) then it would have been a "strange fire" before YHWH, against the direct Command on how the Priest was supposed to approach Him. In Lev 10 it says Lev 10:1 And Naḏaḇ and Aḇihu, the sons of Aharon, each took his fire holder and put fire in it, and put incense on it, and brought strange fire before יהוה, which He had not commanded them. Lev 10:2 And fire came out from יהוה and consumed them, and they died before יהוה. Lev 10:3 Then Mosheh said to Aharon, "This is what יהוה spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me let Me be set-apart! And before all the people let Me be esteemed!’ " And Aharon was silent. Aaron's sons died because they attempted to approach Yahweh in their own way and not the way God had commanded them. Our prayers must be given with sacrifice and right living. The Scripture tells us in James (Yaakov) 5:16 "The prayer of a righteous one accomplishes much". And in Pro_15:8 The slaughtering of the wrong ones Is an abomination to יהוה, But the prayer of the straight is His delight. Pro_15:29 יהוה is far from the wrong ones, But He hears the prayer of the righteous1. Footnote: 1See 28:9. Pro_28:9 He who turns away his ear from hearing the Torah, Even his prayer is an abomination1. Footnote: 1See also 15:29, Isa. 59:1-2, John 9:31, 1 John 3:22. This short paper is only a very rudimentary glimpse into the Tabernacle and what God is trying to teach us regarding how we should live and how we should approach Him. We encourage you to take to heart what our Loving Father has given to us. It is directions on how we need to come near to Him. Yes, He wants us to come to Him but it must be His way not our own. Let's not be like Nadab and Abihu and try to approach Him our own way. Please do not ignore the first 2/3 of the Scriptures and believe it is no longer relevant to us. As Paul told Timothy in 2 Tim 3: 2Ti 3:14 But you, stay in what you have learned and trusted, having known from whom you have learned, 2Ti 3:15 and that from a babe you have known the Set-apart Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for deliverance through belief in Messiah יהושע. 2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is breathed by Elohim and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for setting straight, for instruction in righteousness, 2Ti 3:17 that the man of Elohim might be fitted, equipped for every good work. The Scriptures Paul was talking about is the Tanak, or what some call the "Old Testament". It is not old, it is still in effect and to be used per Paul's admonition above. Please harken to our Father's directions and approach Him the way He lovingly teaches us to. Shalom
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Just a few questions from Bradford Scott of Wildbranch Ministries to make us think....
"Why is over ninety percent of the scriptures written by Hebrews?" "Why did Elohim choose to take upon the flesh of the Hebrews?" "Why did Yeshua observe only Hebrew feasts?" "Why were all of His disciples Hebrew?" "Why did the gospel go to the Yehudim (Jew) first, and then to the Greeks (Romans 1:16)?" "Why was the disciple who was chosen to replace Judas another Hebrew?" "Why was the apostle to the Gentiles a Hebrew?" "Could it be that the Hebrew people spoke His language, celebrated His feasts, knew His commands and were familiar with His covenants and His ways?" Hhhmmmmmm....... Do you think maybe there might be a purpose for us to understand the context within which and when it was written? Maybe then we would see all the contradictions we think are there, fade away when understanding the tongue in which it was written. Just a thought... ***All quoted information was taking from Mr. Scott's book, The Tanakh: The Dictionary of the New Testament page 3 ***Tanakh is the First Writing. What we refer to as the Old Testament. Most places in the Bible where the word "law" is used, typically is the Hebrew word "Torah". When reading the New Testament (Apostolic Writings), Westerners typically read law with a negative connotation. Unfortunately, this is due to a paradigm that has influenced the Church in a negative way. The first Believers never considered Torah (Teaching) as bad, but good. (1Timothy 1:8 But we know that the law (nomos in greek, Torah in Hebrew) is good, if a man uses it lawfully or legitimately.) The Pharisees did not use it legitimately, but added "traditions" to it which were never in the written Word. These Jesus taught against, never against the Torah or Law of God. (See Matthew 5:17-24). I wonder what He would say today if He walked into a Christian church and heard of all the "traditions" that are not in the written Word that people are condemned against. Hmmmm.
Anway, The Hebrew word Torah is defined as "Teaching" and comes from the word Yarah which literally means "to point at" or the idea of guiding an arrow to the mark or bulls eye. In other words, Torah (Teaching) means to "hit the mark". It is also interesting to point out that the word sin, in hebrew katah, means to "miss the mark". So, can it be true that it is bad to "hit the mark"? God forbid! Can it be true that it is good to "miss the mark"? Again, God forbid! 1 John 3:4 says, "Whoever commits sin transgresses the law, for sin is the transgression of the law (Torah/nomos). So, if we call the law bad, and not keeping the law good, then we are saying "hitting the mark" is bad and "missing the mark" is good. Wow! God forbid! Yes indeed, the paradigm that exists in today's Western Christianity is scary. Somewhere it is written, "In those days they shall call good evil, and evil good." If we were discussing the laws of our nation or state or locality with someone who didn't want to keep them, they would consider those laws in a negative light, in spite of the fact the laws were put into place to protect the individuals and the society. The same holds true with the Biblical (God's) Law. Those who don't want to keep it consider it in a negative light even though it is there to protect and guide the individual and society at large. Indeed, Paul when teaching Timothy was correct when stating the Law (Torah, or Teaching) is good. We should believe him and not those in today's times who, as Peter said 2,000 years ago, 2Pe_3:16 "as also in all his letters, speaking in them concerning these matters, in which some are hard to understand, which those who are untaught and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do also the other Scriptures." It is that simple. Torah is good, teaching how to hit the mark is good. Missing the mark is bad, sin is missing the mark. What is the mark? It is God's law Brad gives a straight forward talk with his usual sense of humor explaining in simple terms how we have come to 'muddle the water' when it comes to the dietary laws spoken of in Leviticus 23 and how the 2nd Writings have been taken out of context to justify our desire to eat almost anything and everything that the culture has dictated as food, which is completely contrary to what YHWH declared as food to eat.
An easy read, but I warn you....a challenging one! http://www.wildbranch.org/teachings/lessons/lesson26.html Introduction Part 1http://www.wildbranch.org/teachings/lessons/lesson23.html What is "Under Law"? Part 2http://www.wildbranch.org/teachings/lessons/lesson24.html What is "Under Law"? Part 3 http://www.wildbranch.org/teachings/lessons/lesson25.html What is "Under Law"? Part 4http://www.wildbranch.org/teachings/lessons/lesson160.html Adoption of Sons Israel had a Book. They called it the Tenakh¨the sacred writings were called the Tenakh. Say that word together out loud. When you get to the end of it, it's like you're clearing your throat. It's from three letters: T is for Torah; N is the Hebrew word for the prophets Nedi'im; K is for their word for writings Ketugim.
They had a Book that was unlike any other book that had existed before, because it contained truths and ideas that had never hit the world before. This Book said that instead of there being little tribal gods all over the place, there was one God, that this God is holy and just and loving and good, and that He created all things and plans on redeeming all things. This Book, unlike any of the other mythologies or religions of the peoples around Israel, said that human existence is not just an endless cycle of repetition over and over and over again, but that it is a story. This Book said that it is God's story, and that the story had a beginning - that God said: Let there be light and there was - that it had a middle - there was a fall and God has begun this work of redemption¨and that one day it will reach a climax. There's going to be an end to this story. There is something to look forward to. This Book said that this God created human beings in His own image. That means that they have an indescribable splendor about them, and that they are accountable to this just and holy God. That means they carry an indescribable responsibility, and that they can now know how to live. Because of this Book, mankind is not stuck in darkness anymore. It is very hard to recapture what the world was like before this Book came to it. Those ideas changed the way that the world thinks and feels. This Book so defined Israel that they called themselves simply The People of the Book. Other people are known for other things . . . for their power, for their armies, for their industry. Israel was a People of the Book. To help his or her child learn the Book was every parent's greatest responsibility. To be able to grow up and teach this Book ¨to become a rabbi¨that was the greatest ambition. Let me give you an example to show you just how much they loved the Book: When a young man fell in love and wanted to be married to a young woman, in order to ascertain whether or not he was worthy of their daughter, the custom was that her family would give this prospective, wannabe groom a test on his knowledge of the Tenakh just to see if he deserved the bride. The more desirable the girl was considered to be, the more beautiful and intelligent she was, the more wealthy her family was and so on , the higher the score he had to get on the Tenakh. It was the only education system where, if you passed the test, you'd actually lose your Bachelor's Degree! I thought that was kind of funny. The Israelites showed their reverence for this Book in a thousand different ways. They didn't have a Book with a cover like we do. It was all in scrolls. Genesis was written in a scroll. When the rabbis debated whether or not a book was sacred¨whether it belonged in the canon of sacred scripture¨they debated in particular about three books. They debated about Esther, because the word ?God? is never mentioned in Esther; they debated about Ecclesiastes, because it expresses a rather cynical philosophy where there is no God; they debated about The Song of Solomon. If you wonder why they debated about that one, go home and read The Song of Solomon, if you're over eighteen and married. They didn't ask: Should it be counted Scripture? What they did ask was: Does the scroll on which it is written render the hand unclean? This is a very picturesque, action-oriented language. Here's what is behind their question. In order to eat, of course, you had to have clean hands. This was very important in Israel's system. When you were reading most scrolls or most writings, you could eat while you were reading. That was OK. Sometimes crumbs would get in the scroll, and then mice or rats might be attracted to it, and they would gnaw it or destroy it. Ordinarily, that would be OK , but not for the Book. If a scroll were considered to be part of the Book Genesis, Exodus it was a record of the words of God, then you could not eat while you were reading it. That scroll had to be preserved and could not be lost. That scroll was precious. A sacred scroll ?rendered the hand unclean.? They were People of the Book who loved the Book. Before there were kings in Israel, Moses told the people: When he "a potential king" takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are the Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Deuteronomy 17:18-20 They loved this Book. They said: If we're going to have a king, he's got to write the Book down and read it each day. Think of how long that would take. They loved it so much that in Jesus' day an historian by the name of Josephus, writing to a Gentile audience, tried to explain the Jews' passion about the Book in this way: Time and again we have given practical proof of our reverence for our own scriptures. It is an instinct with every Jew, from the day of their birth to regard them as the decrees of God, to abide by them and, if need be, cheerfully die for them. Time and again the sight has been witnessed of prisoners enduring torture and death rather than utter a single word against them. Ever have a discussion with someone who is politically liberal about the US Constitution? Have you ever had someone tell you that :"the separation of Church and State" is guaranteed by our Constitution? Well, you know that they are taking Jefferson's words from his letter to the Danbury Baptists out of context, and actually saying he said something which in reality is actually the exact opposite of Jefferson's intended meaning. You Constitutionalist Patriots out there understand exactly what I am saying. You know that a true Historian has to go back to the original historical and cultural context and worldview of the late 18th century to understand the actual meaning of our Constitution, and how it is to be interpreted correctly. It cannot be correctly applied using early 21st century thought processes and cultural viewpoints that are being propagated by the self described ruling intelligensia of today, far removed from the culture, worldview and moral norms of the 1780's.
So,what does that have to do with the Bible, you ask? Everything! If today's citizens, only 2 centuries removed from our Nation's founding, in general have such a hard time understanding the original meaning and intent of the US Constitution, how much more is it difficult for today's Christians to understand the true original intent of the Holy Scriptures written from 3500 to 2000 years ago! You cannot attempt to understand the 1st century writings from a 21st century Western mindset based upon Greek thought processes. You must study and attempt to immerse yourself in 1st century Middle Eastern Hebrew thought processes. Otherwise, you end up like the political liberals of today, quoting scriptures out of context and giving meaning to these scriptures which at times has a meaning exactly the opposite of what is supposed. Ever run across scriptures that seem to contradict from a 21st century Christian interpretation standpoint? Well, the Scripture itself says that it cannot contradict. How is it that the Apostolic Writings say that sin is violation of the Torah, yet so many interpret Paul to say that Torah was "nailed to the cross"? If so, then there can be no more sin if the Torah is no more. And what about Yeshua in Mathew 5:17 - 20? I hope you think about any seeming contradictions in the Bible and realize that it cannot be so. Then take the time to find out the "original intent" so as to clear up these seeming discrepancies. YHWH told us we would find Him if we search for Him with all our heart. I hope you take this time. You will be blessed!!! Most people believe that Yeshua rose on Easter Sunday. The date of Easter was and is originally set by the Catholic church by Constantine at the Council of Nicea in 325 a.d. and occurs on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. This date was chosen because it coincided with the pagan Roman citizen's day of worship of their fertility goddesses (Asteroth, Ishtar, Eostre, Astarte, Diana, Isis, Venus, etc). In fact, the term Easter did not exist in the New Testament until the King James writer's chose the term from the ancient Anglo Saxon worship of their fertility goddess, Eastre. Interesting enough, they use this term in place of the original word Pesach or Passover. See Acts 12 of KJV and others. (Reference any quality encyclopedia or dictionary to find this basic history.)
So did Yeshua actually rise from the dead on the day of the worship of a pagan fertility goddess? Or did He rise on a day Yahweh already had set aside for observance? The truth is Yeshua rose from the dead in fulfillment of what the Bible calls Yahweh's Holy Day of First Fruits. The Day of First Fruits always falls on the day after the weekly Sabbath (7th day), during the week of Unleavened Bread. The significance of the Messiah's resurrection is not that it was on a Sunday, but that it was on the Day of First Fruits as Yahweh had determined. Did you ever wonder about the significance of the tombs opening and the Holy ones who had fallen asleep being raised after the Messiah's resurrection and that they went into Jerusalem and appeared to many? (see Matt 27:52-53) Or did you wonder about the meaning of 1 Cor 15:20 where it says "but now Messiah has been raised from the dead, and has become the First Fruit of those having fallen asleep" and v 23 "and each in his own order; Messiah the first fruits then those who are of Messiah at his coming." Before and during Yeshua's time, on the Feast of First Fruits, the high priest would bring a sheaf of the first fruits of the harvest, and wave the sheaf before YHWH. The High priest would say a blessing, thanking YHWH for the sheaf of the grain and would proclaim trust that YHWH would provide for the rest of the harvest. Can you see the parallel here? After Yeshua's resurrection, the holy men of old that arose are the sheaf of the first fruit, and those Believers who will be resurrected on the last day are the rest of the harvest that Yeshua trusts that YHWH will provide. So, should we observe the resurrection of our Savior on Easter Sunday or the Day of First Fruits or does it really matter? Some may say it doesn't matter to me but then again we don't worship ourselves; we worship the Creator, YHWH. So, the real question we should be asking is, does it matter to Him? In Deuteronomy chapter 12, YHWH commands Israel not to worship Him the way the nations worship their false gods. Are we, like the Pharisees, violating His Torah by our traditions? YHWH is the same yesterday, today and forever. Well, Spring is just around the corner! How exciting! Trees bud. Baby animals are born. Everything just seems to start fresh. If we do a little research, we find that the Biblical New Year is in the spring. How interesting! The first month in the Biblical calendar is Abib and Passover falls on the 14th day of Abib which correlates to the Gregorian calendar months of March/April. Now, Passover was instituted by YHWH. Unlike our man-made traditions, many of which where instituted by the Catholic Church in the Constantinian era. In Leviticus 23 it states, "And YHWH spoke to Mosheh, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, 'The appointed times of YHWH, which you are to proclaim as set-apart gatherings.....(He goes on to explain them). By verse 14, YHWH states "a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings". Some versions say everlasting, perpetual. So, big question here......can anyone tell me when the generations stopped? To my knowledge they are still going. We know that the Scriptures say that YHWH is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. And in Matthew 5:17-19 states: "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law (=Torah =Teaching) or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete. (FYI - complete or fulfill does not mean do away with but to bring to it's full meaning) For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, (I don't think that has happened yet) one yod or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Law (=Torah=Teaching) till all be done. Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the heavens; but whoever does and teaches them, shall be called great in the reign of the heaven."
If this it true, and I believe in the infallible Word of our Creator, then why has the church not taught and/or celebrated this. Why have we, the church, accepted Constantine's (the Catholic Church's) traditions over the Biblically commanded, 'law forever throughout your generations'? Mind you the 'forever, perpetual, everlasting' word is reiterated multiple times throughout Scripture. Don't take my word for it, go verify it yourself. There are enough public records from the Constantinian era online to verify all that was instituted by them and of course the Bible speaks for itself. One word of caution, be careful not to think, "well, that is not what it means to me. I grew up with these Constantinian traditions and I'm just fine." It really shouldn't matter what we think. We need to learn to be more reverent to our Creator and be concerned with what He thinks. And He is dead serious when He states not to mix the holy and profane. Read the many examples of what happened to those that did mix the holy and profane in the scriptures. I challenge you to check these things out for yourself. It says, study to show yourself approved. Are you up to it? "Today Contemporary Christianity has not only allowed truth to fall, but it has thrown truth in the street as a gesture of religious tolerance and compromise. It has given the adversaries of scripture exactly what they need to substantiate their claims that what most present as Christianity is nothing more than redefined pagan mythology. Educated theologians know that; yet they continue to present a compromised gospel filled with pagan tradition that never had anything to do with Christ. There has never been a more important time in the history of mankind for those called out as servants of our Creator to confront the philosophy and vain deceit that would lead people away from our Savior."-- Richard Rives This 2 hour interview on www.godslearningchannel.com will grab your attention and hold it. The link will download to your computer making it easy to re-watch and share with others. Make sure you're really ready to watch this, because the scripture says, Jas 4:17 To him, then, who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin and Hos 4:6 “My people have perished for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being priest for Me. Since you have forgotten the Torah of your Elohim, I also forget your children." We have the responsibility to check out everything presented to us and 'hold onto what is good'. Prepare to be challenged! http://www.waytozion.org/video/TooLong%20Richard.asf |