PARASHAT VAYIKRA - 'and He called...'

Friday 7 March 2014                                                                                                    Adar 2  5  5774

Parashat Vayikra             ‘and He called…’                             by Shelley Wood Gauld

Lev 1:1 - 5:26 (6:7), Is 43:21 – 44:23, Heb 10:1-18 & Heb 13:10-15

The ‘am segulah’ – chosen covenant people of God – were drawn out of a country where lives were spent in preparing for death. Life was wasted on preparing for another time, another unknown reality – ‘the after-life’. The pyramids of Egypt bear testimony to this anomaly. The God of Israel would teach His people another way to live out their lives as He dwelt among them. They would be taught how to live and how to approach Him and come into relationship with Him ~ how to draw near to the source of all life. The emphasis would be on life and living, not on death.

For the life of the creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. (Lev. 17:11)

The wilderness Tabernacle was made with the finest materials, exquisitely decorated, handled with the utmost reverence — and it was splattered with blood. Blood was sprinkled on the brazen altar’s four horns, on the priests’ garments, on the horns of the altar of incense, and before the parokhet in the Holy Place. Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, it was also splattered before and on the kapporet in the Most Holy Place. Animal sacrifices were repeatedly offered by individual worshippers and priests.

We recoil at the thought. In technologically advanced countries, we rarely see blood in the quantities that the ancients saw it. Our world is far more clinical. Meat comes from abattoirs and warfare is usually conducted from a “safe” distance. And there is no longer such a sacrificial system. We have to make a real effort to grasp the significance of the life-blood. Indeed, essentially it remains somewhat of a mystery.

The ancients saw blood flow every time they slaughtered an animal, every time they engaged in a bloody hand-fought battle. And they observed that when it flowed, it drained the life from the body… The loss of blood led to death.

The nation of Israel was taught to separate the holy from the commonplace, ‘the sacred from the profane’, the tahor (clean) from the tamei (unclean).  They were taught to separate themselves from pagan nations and to be ‘set apart’ as the people of God. But even this ‘set apart’, ‘kadosh’, nation was bound to fall short of the holiness of God and the perfection of His commands, so a sacrificial system was provided as a means of keeping them in right relationship with each other and HaShem. 

With Israel, the precious blood of animals was not offered to appease God, but to draw near to Him. The word ‘korban’, usually translated as ‘sacrifice’, comes from the root word ‘karov’ ~ meaning ‘to draw near’. The offering of the life of an animal to pay the price of sin was a means of drawing near to Him, of restoring fellowship with Him. It was an act of heartfelt acquiesce. They did not, therefore, offer sacrifices grudgingly. They offered them willingly, because their ‘korbonot’ brought them closer to HaShem.  The blood of an animal was proof that a life had been taken, so that another, the life of the worshipper, could be restored to God. And in this way, pardoned Israelites also regained full membership into the holy community of Israel.

Notice the types of creatures that were acceptable as sacrifices: male and female oxen, sheep, goats, turtledoves and pigeons. All gentle, peaceful. Notice that sin (chatat) and guilt (asham) offerings were burnt outside the camp. Notice that the slaughter could be performed by anyone, but that it was the cohanim who collected the blood in a bowl and carried it to the brazen altar. The blood was the essential element ~ because life was in the blood. Notice that no blemished or stolen creature could be offered. God’s ‘am segulah’ could not serve Him with anything acquired dishonestly.

If the kohen gadol (high priest) sinned inadvertently (there was no sacrifice or pardon for deliberate sin), he brought guilt on the entire community. But also note that it was a source of pride that this most distinguished of personages would not hesitate to acknowledge his sin and seek atonement. The ‘blood service’ in such cases was performed inside the Holy Place; the blood being sprinkled on the altar of incense before the parokhet (veil). The rest of the animal was burnt completely, outside of the camp. When it came to atoning for sin, none of the Israelites were ‘above the law’. The same principles applied to all ~ from the greatest to the least amongst them.

For the cohen hagadol [high priest] brings the blood of animals into the Holiest Place as a sin offering, but their bodies are burned outside the camp. So too Yeshua suffered death outside the gate, in order to make the people holy through his own blood. (Heb. 13:11–12)

The writer of the Book of Hebrews understood the Torah. He knew it well ~ and saw that the sacrificial death of our ‘korban’, Yeshua, fitted perfectly within the framework of God’s commands to Moses. Our Yeshua went like a lamb to the slaughter, he died ‘outside the camp’ (the walled city of ancient Yerushalayim) and his blood was poured out, His life was given, so that we could be reconciled to HaShem and each other.

The Torah provides a sure foundation for the understanding of the Brit Khadashah (New Covenant)… How privileged we are to have access to it. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living; thus anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work”. 2 Tim 3:16-17