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We are already in our second parasha now, titled Tzav. This parasha
reads from Lev. 6:8-8:36. The first two chapters of Tzav discuss offerings
that have already been mentioned in the previous chapters, which are;
the elevation offering (olah), the meal offering (minchah), the peace
offering (shelamim), the sin offering (chatas), and the guilt offering
(asham). Previously, however, the Torah addressed itself primarily
to the people who brought those offerings, now the Torah speaks to
Aaron and his sons and their personal offerings and their inauguration
into the Priesthood. The first thing that had to be carried out in
the Temple each morning was the removing most of the previous day's
ashes from the main Altar and replacing two logs of wood on the fire.
The fire was to never go out in between time. If you notice, the Kohen
had to wear one set of clothes to gather the ashes and then another
to take the ashes out to a clean place. Up until now the commandments
regarding the offerings were introduced with either the word say or
speak. Now when they are introduced with "command" the Sages explain
the Kohen are being reminded to be especially zealous in performing
these services, so the word command is used. By taking the ashes from
the previous day's service, which must be done to keep them from mounting
up, this also was said to symbolize the national declaration that
today the nation would continue to serve YHVH as they had done yesterday
according to his dictates. According to the Midrash, the Altar of
the Tabernacle was used for approximately 116 years. It was used 39
years in the desert, 14 in Gilgal, 13 in Nob, and 50 in Gibeon (Rashash).
During all those years, the fire of the Altar burned continuously,
yet its thin copper layer never melted and its wooden structure was
never charred. I found it interesting that only a sheep could be brought
for an asham (guilt) offering and a sheep is the only animal whose
tail was placed on the Altar. (Rashi) Also there was a form of the
peace offering that was offered that was a thanksgiving/peace offering.
With this offering there were 4 types of bread offered along with
the animal.
There
were unleavened loaves mixed with oil, unleavened wafers smeared with
oil, and loaves of scalded fine flour mixed with oil. The fourth one
was leavened bread (Lev.7:11-15). However, no loaves from this offering
were placed on the Altar, so this does not contradict 2:11 which prohibits
leavened bread from being put on the Altar. An interesting point to
notice here is, this offering reminds you of the way they did at Passover.
The flesh must be eaten on the day of its offering and none of it
should be left until morning. The Talmud says there were forty loaves
in this offering, ten of each kind listed above. One loaf of each
kind is given to the Kohen. It is said the leavened loaves represent
the two essentials of life in the days of the here and now, food and
well being. In this offering, the person has been blessed in some
area of his life and by offering this thanksgiving/peace offering,
he acknowledges that his food and well being (the leavened bread)
are all attributed to the mercy of YHVH and he rededicates himself
to YHVH by acknowledging that idea with the loaves and animal sacrifice.
Part of the animal here is burned on the Altar, a part was given to
the Kohen and the rest goes to the one who brought it. When one brings
this thanksgiving offering for a miracle that was done in his life,
it is only for that one little particular miracle that he happened
to become aware of in his own life. So he can only eat the meat for
that one particular day because tomorrow there will be other miracles
to be thankful for! In our Shemonah Esrei prayers, if you remember,
we thank YHVH for the miracles that are with us everyday, morning,
noon and night. Just because we do not see them in our own lives doesn't
mean they are not being performed in many other people's lives everyday,
or even behind the scenes in our own lives. We are also warned in
chapter 7 that we not only don't eat blood, but not to eat the fat
of the animal either. Harmful toxins are stored in the fat of animals,
so it was for our protection that we should not eat animal fat. We
also see a service in chapter 7 where the Kohen perform a wave offering
before the meat is put upon the Altar. We see the breast of the animal
and the right shoulder used here. These two pieces are raised up and
waved before YHVH in all four directions and then up and down.
These
motions signify that YHVH controls existence everywhere, in all four
directions and above and below. This service takes place only in a
peace offering to teach that a major component of being satisfied
with one's lot in life is the recognition that he belongs to YHVH
and his perception of his life must be based on that alone. You are
where you are and you are with who are with because that was ordained
to be in your life for one reason or another. There are no "accidents"
in life or no "plan B" when it comes to YHVH and your life. Man (especially
meJ) always has need of a plan B in case plan A fails. YHVH knows
all outcomes ahead of time, so why should he ever need a plan B? R'bachya
had an interesting idea on why these two particular parts of the animal
were waved before YHVH. He said, "The breast houses the heart, which
is the seat of our desires; and the thigh represents the ability to
move." Thus by lifting up these two parts before YHVH, we acknowledge
that we give over all our heart's desires and our walk in life to
the service of YHVH. I liked that! Chapter 8 goes into the consecration
of Aaron and his sons as Kohanim. You will notice that it was Moses
who was performing these offerings connected to Aaron and his sons.
At that time Moses was acting in the office of the High Priest. He
did the slaughtering and he did the anointing of Aaron and his sons.
There was a bull offered and two rams. The bull was offered outside
the gate. You'll notice here the thigh was burned on the ram offering,
this is the only case of a peace offering thigh that was burned, normally,
it was a gift to the Kohen along with the breast. Only the breast
was given to Moses. Personally, and once again this is my opinion,
for what it's worth, I believe in this case where these men were being
designated as priests, Moses could not offer up the thigh himself.
This was not an ordinary peace offering, but a special inauguration
offering. While Moses could and did offer up the breast portion as
a wave offering, he could not offer up the thigh. Moses could make
a designation that his heart (symbolizing the breast) would be totally
dedicated to carrying out YHVH'S will, yet it was not his designated
place however, to walk before YHVH as the High Priest of the people,
that was Aaron's job. So only Aaron could offer up the thigh representing
his acceptance to walk (the walk being symbolized by the thigh) in
the office YHVH had designated to him. As far as anointing Aaron and
his sons with the oil, we can easily see a picture in this as to what
areas Moses was led to anoint. First he anointed the right ear lobe.
This would signify they would always hear the voice of YHVH and follow
no other. The ear is part of the head where our thinking processes
take place.
So
this also signified they were to think on the things they were to
do in the service of YHVH. The right thumb symbolized what they reached
out and touched in life. The duties that were assigned to their hands
to carry out. Then the right toe symbolized where and how they walked
in life. Today we can see it as watching what we say and think, what
we touch, and where we go. There were rules they had to go by in their
lives, there are rules we should be going by today in our own lives.
They weren't to touch dead bodies, eat unclean foods, touch unclean
animals, or not do like today's world, where we go visit Uncle Fred
once a year at the cemetery and put flowers on his grave. The only
thing Uncle Fred can do for you there, is put you in the realm of
darkness (death) and cause you to charge your credit card for a bunch
of flowers he'll never know you bought. Cemeteries are not places
to go for a visit! "Let Fred be dead" and go on with the things in
life you were called to do. There is a time to mourn and a time to
go on with your life. 1st Peter 2:9 says we are a royal Priesthood,
shouldn't we conduct ourselves accordingly? Also, if you are holding
onto bad memories of what someone did to you who is deceased now,
you're keeping your thoughts in darkness! You're hurting yourself,
not the other person. Just as Aaron and his sons were given great
responsibilities, so too, are we given great responsibilities today.
We are to teach people what they should be doing with their lives
as far as Torah and Yeshua goes. Teach them what they should be thinking
on, what to eat and what not to eat, where it's ok to go and where
to stay away from. Teach them what light and darkness are, and clean
and unclean. Once they have the Torah and Yeshua in their lives, they'll
be done with Fred and about $75.00 dollars ahead for the flowers they
never bought to put on a grave they never should have been visitingJ!
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