L14-6: The evangelical idea of ‘BORN AGAIN’ did NOT begin in the New Testament

“On the eighth day he is to take two male lambs without defect, one female lamb in its first year without defect and six-and-a-half quarts of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with olive oil, and two-thirds of a pint of olive oil.  The cohen purifying him is to place the person being purified with these items before Adonai at the entrance to the tent of meeting.“-Leviticus 14:10-11

Okay, so now the METSORA (Skin Disease Carrier) has been made CLEAN.

The next step is to take him from CLEAN to HOLY.

And thus begin the sacrificial offerings.

Verse 10 tells us the following things are needed:

-2 male lambs without defect

-1 female lamb in its first year without defect

-some grain mixed with olive oil

-a flask containing containing 2/3rd’s of a pint of olive oil
(some Bibles may say a “log” of oil.  This is NOT referring to a container but a measurement.  A “log” of oil would be about a pint.  The Complete Jewish Bible is accurate in its translation of this verse.)

Next, the following four sacrifices will have to be performed by the priest for the METSORA:

-OLAH (The Burnt Offering)
-MINCHAH (The Grain Offering)
– HATTA-AT (The Purification Offering)
-ASHAM (The Reparation Offering)

For those who have been diligently studying the Book of Leviticus with me from the beginning, not only the names of the five different Levitical sacrifices but their respective purposes should be second nature to you by now.

If not, click on back to the previous lessons to review.

You should notice that the only sacrifice available to a non-priest to offer, the ZEVAH or Peace Offering, was NOT required to be offered up by the METSORA.

This all the more underscores the serious price that had to be paid to take a person who had become UNCLEAN from TZARA-AT and restore them back to a state of HOLINESS.

After the necessary items are gathered, the priest had to accompany the now clean METSORA to the entrance of the Wilderness Tabernacle or later the temple.

Keep in mind that the METSORA had not yet gone inside the courtyard, he was standing at the main entry gate into the courtyard.

Confusion can arise as to exactly where certain things took place because in the Scriptures the entire Tabernacle area which includes both the courtyard and the sanctuary tent are all referred to as the “Tent of Meeting”.

And the context of what we’re studying now is a perfect example.

Although most Bibles will say the person was standing at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, he was NOT actually standing at the door leading into the Holy Place.

He was actually standing at the entrance leading to inside the courtyard.

Later this will have been the main entrance to the Temple called the AZARAH in Hebrew.

What’s interesting to consider is that when the METSORA was purified and reintegrated back into the Israelite community, he or she was literally considered a person who had been “born again”.

“Born again?” you say?!

That’s right.

The METSORA was formally an outcast from society and separated from God, but once he was reintroduced into society and had his relationship with God restored, that person was indeed BORN AGAIN.

So here, yet again, we encounter a concept that was assumed to have originated in the New Testament but in fact begins in Torah.

Of course, Yeshua, in reference to having faith in Him, amplified the Torah concept of being “born again” with greater meaning.

Incidentally, not only did the idea of being “born again” not originate in the New Testament, the idea of “circumcision of the heart” didn’t originate in the New Testament either.

Check out this verse from Deuteronomy.

“Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart;
and don’t be stiffnecked any longer!”
-Deuteronomy 10:16

Deuteronomy here is echoing the same point the Apostle Paul expounded on later in the Book of Romans.

Gaining entry into the camp of Israel and establishing a relationship with the God of Israel has always been a SPIRITUAL ISSUE far more than a physical issue.