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Reflection for Tzav

“Sacrificial Matters Examined”

Mark 12:28-34
Romans 12:1-2
1 Corinthians 10:14-23

excerpted from TorahScope Apostolic Scriptures Reflections

This week in Tzav (Leviticus 6:1[8]-8:36), readers witness how various commandments regarding sacrifices were delivered via Moses to Ancient Israel. The concept of sacrifices being a steady feature of worship of the Holy One, is seen via a selection of different descriptions:

“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: the burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning; and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it…The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not go out; and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning. He shall lay the burnt offering in order upon it, and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out…Every male among the children of Aaron shall eat of it, as their portion forever throughout your generations, from the offerings of the LORD made by fire. Whoever touches them shall be holy’” (Leviticus 6:8-9, 12-13, 18, WMB).

Tzav concludes with the consecration of Aaron and his sons, and the dedication of the Holy Place and the altar. When the Jewish Sages chose a corresponding Haftarah reading, they turned to the Prophet Jeremiah (7:21-8:3; 9:22-23[23-24])—who soundly rebuked the citizens of Jerusalem with an ironic form of rebuke—in how God did not command them to offer sacrifices, but instead really commanded Israel to walk with Him and obey Him:

“For I didn’t speak to your fathers or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices [al-divrei olah v’zavach][1]; but this thing I commanded them, saying, ‘Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. Walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ But they didn’t listen or turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them. Yet they didn’t listen to me or incline their ear, but made their neck stiff. They did worse than their fathers” (Jeremiah 7:22-26, WMB).

Obviously from reading Leviticus, the various commandments to offer sacrifices were issued to Israel from the Lord—but by the time of Jeremiah’s generation, worship of the Lord may have only been perceived in the form of outward rituals, and not a heart orientation toward Him as King. Lamentably, the record in Jeremiah is that various residents of Jerusalem had actually been participating in child sacrifice, by offering up children as burnt sacrifices to the gods Molech and Baal:

“They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I didn’t command, nor did it come into my mind. ‘Therefore behold, the days come’, says the LORD, ‘that it will no more be called “Topheth” or “The valley of the son of Hinnom”, but “The valley of Slaughter”; for they will bury in Topheth until there is no place to bury’” (Jeremiah 7:31-32, WMB).

“‘Because they have forsaken me, and have defiled this place, and have burned incense in it to other gods that they didn’t know—they, their fathers, and the kings of Judah—and have filled this place with the blood of innocents, and have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I didn’t command, nor speak, which didn’t even enter into my mind. Therefore, behold, the days come,’ says the LORD, ‘that this place will no more be called “Topheth”, nor “The Valley of the son of Hinnom”, but “The valley of Slaughter”’” (Jeremiah 19:4-6, WMB).

This sad testimony was a horrible rebuke to those, who should have been obeying the Lord with all of their hearts. What might this mean to us, as we consider Passover soon upon us? Since a primary part of the traditional seder meal is to pass on to future generations, and especially to children, the message of Israel’s oppression, deliverance by God, responsibilities before God, and salvation through faith in Israel’s Messiah (for Messianics)—perhaps you might want to pause and interject how various generations subsequent to the Exodus forgot about God’s mighty deeds. The Passover instructions in the Torah depict how children will ask their parents what the remembrance means to them:

“‘For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two door posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you. You shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever. It shall happen when you have come to the land which the LORD will give you, as he has promised, that you shall keep this service. It will happen, when your children ask you, “What do you mean by this service?” that you shall say, “It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and spared our houses.”’ The people bowed their heads and worshiped. The children of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did” (Exodus 12:23-28, WMB).

One of the things you might also wish to consider, during the Passover commemoration coming up, is simply what the instruction of the Torah should cause us to do. Yeshua the Messiah was asked by the scribes, about what the most important commandment in the Torah was. Yeshua did not resort to describing what the minutiae of the various sacrificial offerings were and what they meant, but instead quoted directly from the Shema, and how people are directed to love God with their whole beings and love neighbors as themselves:

“One of the scribes came and heard them questioning together, and knowing that he had answered them well, asked him, ‘Which commandment is the greatest of all?’ Yeshua answered, ‘The greatest is: “Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” [Deuteronomy 6:4-5]. This is the first commandment. The second is like this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” [Leviticus 19:18]. There is no other commandment greater than these.’ The scribe said to him, ‘Truly, Rabbi, you have said well that he is one, and there is none other but he; and to love him with all the heart, with all the understanding, all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself [Deuteronomy 6:5], is more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ When Yeshua saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from God’s Kingdom’” (Mark 12:28-34, WMB).

The feedback from the scribe, included a summary statement on how the commands to love God and neighbor are much more important than all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices prescribed in the Torah. Obviously, this scribe got it! He understood that all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices were not nearly as important, as the love one should have for the Creator and his or her fellow human beings. Yeshua commended the respondent with recognition of his intelligent reply, and understanding that the Kingdom of God was really not about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but rather about love.

The Apostle Paul instructed the Romans, in their difficult time of not getting along, that they needed to offer themselves up together as a living sacrifice, and in so doing they would be able to serve one another appropriately:

“Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God. For I say through the grace that was given me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith” (Romans 12:1-3, WMB).

Paul understood that if followers of the Messiah truly loved the Lord with all their hearts, minds, souls, and strength—that they would willingly offer their lives up to service unto the Lord. In so doing, this would allow the dedicated followers to not be conformed to this world, but rather be conformed to the image of the Messiah (Romans 8:29), by having the renewed mind transformed to embrace the will of God in their respective lives. This becomes the ultimate sacrifice of a person to the good, acceptable, and perfect will of the Almighty.

Finally, Paul also warned the Corinthian Believers about what it would mean for them as declared Messiah followers, to be involved in the sacrifices of pagan temples. In this passage regarding the Lord’s Supper, and what is remembered as the seder meal Yeshua participated in with His Disciples before His execution, Paul reminded the Corinthians—like Jeremiah did during his generation—that the sacrifices offered by the nations were offered to demons. Consequently, Believers should not partake in their idolatry:

“Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men. Judge what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, isn’t it a sharing of the blood of Messiah? The bread which we break, isn’t it a sharing of the body of Messiah? Because there is one loaf of bread, we, who are many, are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf of bread. Consider Israel according to the flesh. Don’t those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? What am I saying then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I don’t desire that you would have fellowship with demons. You can’t both drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You can’t both partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?” (1 Corinthians 10:14-22, WMB).

When it comes to remembering the Passover, and the various commemorations employed to recall the deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt—one should not take this season very lightly. Rather, with sober remembrance for what the angel of death did to the Egyptian homes—and more importantly what the Messiah accomplished at Golgotha—we should eat of the seder meal with great caution and reverence. Additionally, as one partakes of the cup and the bread this Passover, remember these words of admonition:

“For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Yeshua on the night in which he was betrayed took bread. When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.’ In the same way he also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body. For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep. For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest your coming together be for judgment. The rest I will set in order whenever I come” (1 Corinthians 11:23-34, WMB).

This is an appropriate time of year to do some self-examination. As you approach the Passover seder, take some private time to examine yourself, and determine what your true heartfelt motives are for partaking in this remembrance. Are you caught up in the ritual? Or are you doing this because you love God and your neighbor as yourself? Are you remembering the Passover because you are truly grateful that He has led you into deliverance?

Are you truly interested in passing this commemoration on to the next generation of Believers?

Be blessed and know that our sacrifices do matter. Consider offering yourself up as a living sacrifice as instructed by Paul, and how all Believers can function together as a sacrifice. This is a good time of the year to remove the leaven of your life!