Adonai said to Moshe, “Speak to Aharon and his sons and to the entire people of Israel; tell them: ‘When anyone, whether a member of the house of Israel or a foreigner living in Israel, brings his offering, either in connection with a vow or as a voluntary offering, and brings it to Adonai as a burnt offering, in order for you to be accepted, you must bring a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep or the goats.”-Leviticus 22:18-19
At this stage, all of the study we did of the Hebrew words for the different sacrifices should come in handy.
Notice in verse 18, it talks about someone offering a “burnt offering” whether as a vow or voluntary offering.
The “burnt offering” is referring to the OLAH sacrifice.
And then notice from verse 21, it talks about offering up a “peace offering” whether in fulfillment of a vow or a voluntary offering.
The “peace offering” is referring to the ZEVAH sacrifice.
The point I’m making is that God is not being redundant here.
The OLAH (verses 18-20) and the ZEVAH (verses 21-22) are two different kinds of sacrifices each with their own protocol, purpose and requirements.
At this stage, we should we have a fairly good understanding of the differences between these sacrifices.
God is making it clear that for either of these sacrifices, NO DEFECT can be on the animals.
And as we learned earlier, the list of defects that would prevent an animal from being a suitable sacrifice is pretty much identical to the list of defects that would disqualify a priest from officiating over the sacrificial rituals.
Notice the patterns?
Both the sacrifice AND THE sacrificer must be without defect or blemish.
And just as the sacrifice must come from a certain prescribed group of animals, so must the sacrificer come from a certain prescribed people group-the Levites.
Ultimately, what do these patterns point to?
Did not Messiah also have to be a blemish-free sacrifice?
Did not Messiah also have to come from a certain people group (the Tribe of Judah)?
Did not Messiah have to be a priest of a certain type (according to the order of Melchizedek instead of the line of Aaron)?
It’s all about the patterns folks!
When you grasp the patterns, the logical continuity of the Scriptures will open up to us like a beautiful, flowing river.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“As for husbands, love your wives,
just as the Messiah loved the Messianic Community,
indeed, gave himself up on its behalf,
in order to set it apart for God,
making it clean through immersion in the mikveh,
so to speak,
in order to present the Messianic Community
to himself as a bride to be proud of,
without a spot,
wrinkle or any such thing,
but holy and without defect.”
-Ephesians 5:25
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