Shalom All,

Before I start this week’s study which follows below, I will add a word on this week which is being celebrated as Passion Week, Easter etc. Try not to get caught out with the Yahshua dying on Good Friday and rising and Easter Sunday theology.  Relevant scriptures are:

Mat 12:40  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Joh 11:9  Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. Mat 27:46  And about the ninth hour(3pm) Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Mat 28:1  In the end of the Sabbath (weekly one; but NOT the annual one relevant to when He died), as it began to dawn toward the first (day) of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.  There is no way to get 3 complete days and 3 complete nights (to fulfil Jonas / Jonah) between 3pm Friday and 6a.m Sunday.  3p.m being ninth hour and Sunday being  PART OF THE 1st day of the week.  Christianity has His death and resurrection completely wrong. 

He died 3p.m Passover (not Friday) and rose complete 3 days and 3 nights after.  He was not discovered by Mary until after darkness of first day of week which starts after sunset the seventh day.  If sunset is say 6pm what we call Saturday night, He rose any time after then.  Remember in Genesis 1 evening and morning is 1st day etc not midnight to midnight!!  Mary went to tomb about sunrise what we call Sunday morning.  By then he had already risen for a few hours.  So in future when you see “first day of week” do not automatically think Sunday; but think in bible terms, from sunset Saturday night.

Shalom All Again,   Welcome to this week’s Torah / Bible reading study called “Tzav“ (meaning to order or Command): Leviticus 6:8 (1) –8:36;  Jeremiah 7:21–8:3; 9:22–9:23; 1 Corinthians 15:1–58.  “The LORD said to Moses: ‘Command [Tzav צַו] Aaron and his sons, saying: This is the law of the burnt-offering”  (Leviticus 6:8–9).  

Last week, in study section “Vayikra”, God spoke to Moses from the Tent of Meeting, giving him the laws of the offerings (korbanotקָרְבָּנוֹת), detailing the circumstances under which they would be offered in order to draw close to Him. This week’s Torah / Bible section is entitled “Tzav”, which means to order or command.  What was God instructing Moses to command Aaron and his sons?  He was commanding the Hebrew priesthood (lineage of Aaron) to observe their rights and duties as the kohanim, who in study section“Tzav” are commanded to always keep the fire on the altar burning and never to extinguish it (Leviticus 6:13).  For this reason, those we today call the Jewish people, when they light their Shabbat candles on Friday sunset to usher in the Sabbath, it is customary not to blow out the flame; but to let the candles burn down completely. May our hearts, however, always burn brightly with the fire God Himself lit there, never to be extinguished by the cares of this world or deceits of the enemy and his agents. 

In Tzav, the priests are given the procedure for offering the obligatory sacrifices on behalf of all the nation of Israel.  These days, as these offerings are read in the synagogues, few of the Orthodox Jews will connect those offerings to the death and resurrection of Yahshua.  The Messiah believing ones, Messianic Jews, will.  The event remembered by Christians under the guise of Easter.  However, the Messiah’s death had nothing to do with Easter which is in honour of a pagan goddess Ishtar; but a completely different event of the Passover remembrance of Exodus 12:14 and sacrifice.  The priests’ offerings comprise the following five categories: the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. 

The holy Temple and all the sacrifices that take place in it point toward immortality and incorruptibility. The sacrifices are not about death; they are all about life.

In 1 Corinthians 15:53, Paul speaks of the resurrection, saying, “This perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.” As a Pharisee and a follower of Yahshua from Nazareth, Paul firmly believed in the physical resurrection of the dead. He looked forward to that day when our failing mortal flesh will be transformed into an immortal state (Acts 13:31, 26:6).  The laws of sacrifice allude to the transformation from mortality to immortality and from corruption to incorruptibility.  Spiritual death to life.  YHWH is not a God of the dead; but the living or to be living.  In Leviticus 7:16-18, YHWH commands that the meats of the sacrificial service are not to remain beyond the third day:

But if the sacrifice of his offering is a votive or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice, and on the next day what is left of it may be eaten; but what is left over from the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire. (Leviticus 7:16-17).

A person who offered a peace offering needed to eat the meat of the sacrifice within two days. One who ate of a sacrifice from the altar on the third day or later invalidated the sacrifice.  Eating of the peace offering on the third day incurred the penalty of excision. The person was to be “cut off.” Three days after the slaughter, the meat began to turn rancid.  As an earthly reflection of the heavenly dwelling place of God, the Sanctuary naturally shuns death and mortal corruption.  Though the sacrificial system requires the death of the sacrifice, it avoids the decomposition of the sacrificial meats. Better that the meat be burned than decompose. The same striving toward incorruptibility explains why all the sacrifices were salted, as Leviticus 2:13 says, “With all your offerings you shall offer salt.” Salt functioned as a preservative. The same striving toward incorruptibility explains why the construction of the Tabernacle used only the resinous shittim wood. Like cedar wood, shittim resisted decay.  The Tabernacle and its services symbolize immortality.  The sacrifices and the Tabernacle worship point toward life, the imperishable world, and the worship of the Immortal One. 

KorbanotOlah (עלהקרבנות Burnt Offerings).

“Let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD” (Leviticus 1:3).  KorbanotOlah are voluntary offerings that is to be completely burnt.  Nothing is to be eaten. To offer it, the worshiper brings a male animal without blemish to the door of the Tabernacle.  A male or female dove or pigeon can be offered if a person does not have the means to offer a bullock, ram or goat.   The Israelite (including grafted in stranger) then places his hands upon the head of the animal offering with the knowledge that this innocent animal is about to pay the price for their sin.  After the worshiper asks Yahweh God for forgiveness, the animal was slaughtered. 

Minchah (מִנְחָה Meal Offerings).

Tzav also describes the duties for the Minchah (present or gift) or the Meal Offering in which the people of Israel also give grain offerings. The priests burned a fistful (Kometz) of this offering on the altar and eat the rest. Often the choicest flour is mixed with oil and salt to make a cake, but it cannot contain leaven or honey.  Although honey has a pleasant smell when it boils, it smells bitter and unpleasant when it burns.  The offering was to be sweet smelling, as was the incense offered with it.  Salt and leaven represent two entirely different things: salt preserves things, while leaven changes them radically.  Leaven is associated with sin, pride, hypocrisy, false teaching and worldliness (1 Corinthians 5:6–8, Luke 12:1, Galatians 5:9, Mark 8:15).  While Tzav seems to specify grain, elsewhere we see also vegetables and animals given for a Minchah (Genesis 4:3–4; 1 Samuel 2:15–17). 

It is interesting that both Cain and Abel offered a Minchah and not a Korban Olah (not a sin offering).  Cain and his offering were not accepted and Able and his offering were.  Abel offered a fat portion of the firstfruit of his flock; however, the Bible does not indicate that Cain brought firstfruit of this produce; though KJV Gen 4:4 says “also brought of the firstlings”.  It says that he brought the fruit of the ground, which seems to indicate that the quality of the offering was substandard.  It could be inferred from this that Cain did not offer the Minchah in faith or with a good attitude (Hebrews 11:1–2, 4; 1 John 3:12). 

When God rejected Cain and his offering, he became embittered.  God graciously told him that if would do well, he would be accepted.  Cain, however, chose not to follow God’s advice.  May we strive to follow God’s advice completely and offer Him what He states, when He states rather than a substitute.  “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?  But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:7).

Shelamim (שְׁלָמִים Peace Offering).

The Shelamim (which is related to the word shalom) is a voluntary offering that expresses a sense of well-being, praise, and thanksgiving, such as when Jacob and Laban made a treaty with one another (Genesis 31:54).  This offering is similar to the burnt offering; however, while male or female animals were acceptable, but not birds.  They are not fully burned as are burnt offerings, but only specified portions of fat and internal organs were placed on the altar.  A portion of the Shelamim is to be eaten by the priests and even by the one making the offering. 

Lev 7:23  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat.

Lev 7:24  And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn with beasts, may be used in any other use: but ye shall in no wise eat of it. Lev 7:25  For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people. Lev 7:26  Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings. Lev 7:27  Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. 

The peace offerings allude to the Master’s resurrection on the third day. The Master rose on the third day, as Scripture says of Him, “You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow your Holy One to undergo decay.” The mortal body of Yahshua did not undergo decay. In this regard, the worship system of the Tabernacle foreshadows our transformation in Messiah. Through the resurrection in Messiah, repented and forgiven human bodies will be changed from corruptible to incorruptible: “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him” (Hosea 6:2). We will pass from the mortal to the immortal:

For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:53-55). 

Peace with God

When a person is not at peace with God, he has no peace. God is the absolute subject of reality, so to be at war with God is to be at war with reality.  Instances of the public peace-sacrifice are the offering of the ram at the installation of the priests (Ex. 9.), and the annual offering of two lambs along with two loaves of new wheat bread at Shavuot (Lev. 22:19).  Peace offerings are the sacrifices that are shared by the worshipper and the priesthood. In Leviticus 7, the Torah reiterates the laws of the peace offerings, adding details about which parts of the animal are to be retained by the priesthood, who is fit to eat a peace offering, how quickly the meat has to be eaten and what to do if not all the meat is eaten by the deadline.  A peace offering could be eaten by anyone, anywhere, so long as that person was in a state of ritual purity when he or she ate it.

The Torah lists several different types of peace offerings, including votive offerings brought in fulfilment of vows, freewill offerings and the thanksgiving offering. The Passover Lamb was also a type of peace offering.  Peace offerings, however, were never brought for sin. They do not atone or expiate. Instead, the peace offerings represent relationship, fellowship and peace between God and man. Eating of the peace offering was like eating from God's own table. When a person is not at peace with God, he has no peace. God is the absolute subject of reality, so to be at war with God is to be at war with reality. 

Human beings often live unhappy lives as we flee from pain and pursue pleasure, trying to find comfort in the material world. A person does not realize that the reason for his constant angst is that he does not have peace with God. When a man does not have peace with God, he cannot have peace with himself or with others. He rages at those who tread on his dignity or offend his pride, and he justifies his own actions at the expense of relationships with his friends and family. He uses other people to try to prop up his fragile ego. He attempts to slake his thirsty soul with vices and to satisfy his fleshly appetites with indulgences, but all of it is useless.  Unless we have peace with God, there is no peace. "'There is no peace for the wicked,' says the LORD" (Isaiah 48:22). The good news is that there can be peace with God. The Apostle Paul says, "While we were [still God's] enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son" (Romans 5:10). God wants peace with human beings more than human beings want peace with one another. That is why He gave His Son as a sacrifice—a peace offering between God and man.

How great is peace! Now I know that peace is the culmination of all things in this world; but how do I know that it is to be so in the World to Come? It is said, [in Isaiah 66:12], "Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river." The Rabbis said, "Great is peace, seeing that when the King Messiah comes, he will publish peace, as it is said [in Isaiah 52:7], "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace."  

Chatat (חַטָּאת Sin Offering).

Chatat are offered for unintentional sins (Leviticus 4:1–4), sins due to carelessness, inadvertence or ignorance as KJV words it.   The status of the offender dictates the class of chatat.  If the offender is the high priest or the whole community of Israel, it is considered a more serious transgression because it impacts the welfare of the entire nation.  A young bull is required and it is burned outside the camp.If the offender is a leader, such as the king, a male goat is to be brought.  If it is an individual, a female sheep or goat is to be brought.  For these latter two, the priests are to eat the sacrifices within the Tabernacle grounds.  The chatat is also required for three sins of omission.  Withholding testimony, becoming impure due to an interval of forgetfulness, violating an oath unintentionally. 

Asham (אָשָׁם Trespass / Guilt Offering).

Leviticus 6:5–7 details the guilt offering of a ram for the following:

unintentionally using sanctuary property for personal use; forestalling punishment for one’s sin when one is uncertain one has sinned or for unknown sin, and lying under oath or defrauding a person in regards to a found article, a deposit, loan, etc.  For an Asham, it does not suffice to simply offer a sacrifice.  The offender has to make restitution plus add an additional fifth of the value.  “For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble; and the day that comes shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch”  (Malachi 4:1).  Feeling guilty when we sin is healthy; it is a sign that we must make amends.  However, to keep feeling guilty after restitution has been made and the sacrifice has been paid is not healthy.  We can receive Yahshua's sacrifice as our own once we acknowledge our guilt, make amends and repent.  Which means to turn from committing that sin and return to God.  The sin separated us from Him and will continue to do so until repented and forgiven. 

Heb 9:28  “Messiah was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation”.  In fulfilment of Scripture, Yahshua became our guilt offering, paying the price for repented sins once and for all.   “Though the Lord makes His life a guilt offering, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in His hand”(Isaiah 53:10).  A repented sin is one se strive to stop committing. 

While the guilt offerings by the priest on the altar of the Temple only covered sin, Yahshua’s death and resurrection actually removed sin for all time.  As Yochanan (John the Baptist) said when he saw Yahshua coming to him at the Jordan River, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”  (John 1:29). 

Though Yahshua endured an agonizing death to atone for the sin of the world, He rose again on the third day (ofcourse not day number three which we call Tuesday, but 3 days after His death).  Because He was completely sinless, death could not hold Him.  Had He not borne our sins, He wouldn't have died at all.  If when we die, or when the books are opened are we are judged (Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works) unrepented sins are found on our record, death may well hold us.  It is therefore imperative to our salvation, we know what sin is (1Jn 3:4  Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law) and make the change in our life style and belief. 

Though the Messiah did not die at this time of year as celebrated by Christians, I am writing a little about the day of His death as it is this weekend Christians are remembering the occasion.  “Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus [Yahshua].… With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away”  (John 19:38).  On what is called “Good Friday”, Christians remember the horrific death that Yahshua suffered to reconcile the world back to God.  As I stressed in opening, He did not die on a Friday; but a Wednesday.  Because Jewish burial customarily takes place within 24 hours, in keeping with Jewish practice, they sought to bury Yahshua right away.  Also because of Deu 21:23. 

They also prepared Yahshua’s body for burial with tahara, ritual purification.  In this ritual, the body is cleansed, and then dried and dressed in takhrikhim, a simple white shroud  (Mark 15:46–47).  “Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.  Taking Yahshua’s body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen.  This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs” (John 19:39–40).  Although Yosef and Nakdimon carefully prepared Yahshua's body for burial, when the women came to the tomb after High Shabbat had ended, it was empty and the burial linen was left to the side.  Yahshua had already risen from the dead.  When Yosef and Nakdimon performed the mitzvah of preparing Yahshua’s body for burial, they were performing the duties of the KhevraKadisha.  A burial association that ensures the body is correctly prepared for burial and protected from desecration.   By wrapping Yahshua in linen, they were practicing the custom of takhrikhim, providing the proper burial garment for the deceased. 

Since one of the annual Sabbaths was quickly approaching (1st Day of Unleaven Bread), there was insufficient time to complete the preparations before the holy day of the Passover season began; therefore, Yahshua was placed in a sealed tomb until the close of the High Sabbath day.  Thus, Yahshua was buried in a rich man’s tomb in fulfilment of the Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 53:9  “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death,

though He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.”  

However, more important than how Yahshua was buried is that He rose from the dead and gained victory over death.  Hallelujah!  Both spiritual and physical death has been defeated through Yahshua’s victory, as Saul of Tarsus (Paul) said:  “But Messiah has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits [bikkurim]  of those who have fallen asleep.  For since death came through a man [Adam], the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.  For as in Adam all die, so in Messiah all will be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:20–22).  This is the ‘Good News’ of the gospel to share with the world so that they can be sure of their place in the olamhabah (the world to come).  If death Is the result of sin, how Could Yahshua Die Sinless?  "The Messiah, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians 5:7).  Since Yahshua’s death, burial and resurrection occurred in a Hebraic context, examining Jewish customs surrounding death, burial, mourning and resurrection can further understanding of wrongly titled “Good Friday” and “Resurrection Sunday”. 

Creation, including mankind, was not intended to suffer death.  The first book of the Torah, Bereshit (Genesis), reveals death as the judgment of God upon mankind for their spiritual fall in the Garden of Eden.  After Adam and Chava (Eve) failed their test of obedience, God said:  “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground [adamah], since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return”  (Genesis 3:19).   When Adam and Eve sinned, all of mankind came under the curse of the broken law.  Yahshua brought opportunity of redemption to us from that curse (death).  Luk13:3  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 

The name Adam was taken from the word for ground or earth — adamah, since the man (Adam) was taken from the ground (adamah).  This Hebrew wordplay reveals a spiritual truth: sin has brought physical death to all of mankind and with it, a return to the earth (adamah).  Thus ends a person’s physical existence on earth, with the spirit separating from the body.  Yahshua’s death, however, was not due to His own sin, since He was sinless.  He died when He took upon Himself the sins of the world and all the guilt that comes with it. “But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins.  And in Him is no sin” (1 John 3:5).  The gospels of Mark, Matthew and John report that Yahshua was handed over to the Roman soldiers, who clothed Him in a ragged scarlet cloak, jammed a crown of thorns on His head, and mocked Him saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Thankfully, Yahshua’s death wasn’t the final word.  Just as He promised, death could not hold Him (John 2:18–22; Matthew 26:31–32).

“He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25).  The sting of death is sin (1 Corinthians 15:56), and in Yahshua, death has lost its sting!  Therefore, we can live confidently without any fear of death or dying, as we know that when we pass from this life, our lives continue eternally with our loving Father in Heaven. 

Leviticus 6.

The strange laws of Leviticus 6 seem to indicate that anyone who touches a grain offering or a sin offering becomes automatically sanctified. "Anyone who touches its flesh will become consecrated" (Leviticus 6:27), the Torah says. What does this mean? It seems strange to imagine that a person could go into the Tabernacle and touch the flour from a grain offering and it would make him holy just like that. Is that what the Torah really means to teach? 

These passages do not refer to consecration by means of a casual touch. The sages explain that consecration occurs only when some of the particles of the most holy sacrifice are transferred to the person or object touching them. For example, if a sin offering is cooked in a clay pot, the porous nature of the clay inevitably absorbs some of the meat of the sin offering. As a result the pot takes on the same sanctity as the sin offering itself and cannot be removed from the sanctuary or used for something else. The Torah says it must be broken.  Also the earthenware vessel in which it was boiled shall be broken; and if it was boiled in a bronze vessel, then it shall be scoured and rinsed in water. (Leviticus 6:28).

A bronze vessel, however, is not porous like clay. Therefore, it can be scoured clean and reused for other purposes. Similarly, a garment on which some of the blood of a sin offering is splashed must be cleaned inside the sanctuary before it can be removed. Until the "most holy" blood is removed, the garment takes on the "most holy" status of the sacrifice.  These laws are the source of many of the complex and technical rules that regulate a kosher kitchen in Traditional Judaism today.  The law of the clay vessels brings to mind a passage from the Apostle Paul. In 2 Corinthians 4:7, Paul compared believers to jars of clay containing valuable treasure. Though our mortal bodies are perishable and temporary like a clay jar the treasure contained within them is immortal: the death and resurrection of Yahshua:

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels ... always carrying about in the body the dying of Yahshua, so that the life of Yahshua also may be manifested in our body (2 Corinthians 4:7-10). 

It is not a perfect analogy, but the law about clay pots used for cooking the sin offering has some similarity. A clay pot used to prepare a sin offering was no longer just an ordinary clay pot. It was something holy, connected with the sin offering. Yahshua can be compared to a sin offering in His death and resurrection. We are like the clay pots that contain this fabulous treasure. The presence of Yahshua within us consecrates forever.  Though we still occupy mortal bodies, these are not ordinary clay pots. We are holy because of the holy treasure within us. 

The altar fire was holy fire ignited by the presence of God. This sacred fire was never to be extinguished. “The fire on the altar is to be kept burning on it. … [The] fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out” (Leviticus 6:12–13).

The Torah says that the priests used flames from the altar to light the menorah, and they used the coals from the altar to burn the incense on the golden altar. Fire brought from some source other than the altar is referred to as strange fire.  How did they keep the fire burning when transporting the altar? The Tabernacle was made to be portable. Numbers 4:13 explains that when it was time to move the Tabernacle, they were to take the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over the top of it. How would this work if a fire was continually burning on the top of the altar? An explanation is that they covered the holy flames with a large, overturned copper pot. Starved of oxygen, the fire would be reduced to hot, live coals that could be rekindled when the coverings were removed from the altar. 

The altar can be compared to a man’s heart. Just as the fire had to be kept burning on the altar, so too we must keep our hearts aflame with the love of God.  Yahshua teaches that it is our duty to love Him with all our hearts, souls and minds and to show that love by loving our neighbour as ourselves.  Fire is a good analogy for love.  Just as a fire sometimes burns hot and bright, we sometimes feel love passionately. The love of God can fill us with an intense yearning.  It can blaze forth from us with acts of compassion and kindness.  At other times, a fire burns low but steady. The love of God can warm our hearts even when we do not feel the intense heat of passion. Whether it is blazing hot, burning steadily or smouldering in bright coals, the important thing is that we never let the love of God be extinguished. We should not feel spiritually depressed or unworthy when the flame has burned low, as if there is something wrong with us. 

The Tabernacle altar demonstrates that it is natural for a fire to burn hot and then burn low. Instead of feeling as though something has gone wrong with our spiritual lives, we need simply attend to our duties. Remove the ashes. Add fresh fuel, fan the coals and stoke the fire of love again. 

Leviticus 7

Psalm 107 describes four different reversals of fortune: those lost on a long journey who find a city, those released from bondage, those who recover from a life threatening sickness and those who survive a violent storm at sea. The sages mandate that the survivor of one of those scenarios should bring a thanksgiving offering. 

Leviticus 7 describes a particular type of peace offering called the todah (תודה), which means 'thanksgiving.' The thanksgiving offering differs from the peace offering in that it must be eaten on the same day it is sacrificed.   All other peace offerings must be eaten within two days, but the Thanksgiving offering is only allowed a single day.

The Torah also prescribes extra measures of bread to accompany the thanksgiving offering. The mandate to eat the thanksgiving offering on the day it is offered is intended to generate a large, festive meal around this particular sacrifice. In order for the entire animal and all the breads to be eaten in one day, the offerer is required to host a large banquet.  Family and friends would be recruited to participate in the mitzvah of the thanksgiving offering.  Of course, once the assembled company was seated and ready to share in the sacrificial meats of the thanksgiving offering, they would inquire about the occasion. The host would then offer his testimony explaining why he had chosen to make a thanksgiving offering. Thus the ritual requirement of a large feast functions to proclaim the glory of YHWH. 

Anyone could bring a thanksgiving offering at anytime. One who had survived a sickness or seen a remarkable answer to prayer would be inclined to bring a thanksgiving offering to the LORD. An abundant harvest, a favourable verdict, the birth of a child and numerous other happy events might occasion a thanksgiving offering.  From the laws of the thanksgiving offering we learn the principal of proclaiming the LORD's goodness. When we have special reason to be thankful to YHWH, we should make the effort to express our gratitude. Even though we can no longer bring the sacrifice of the todah, we can still host a festive meal, invite friends and family, and share the LORD's goodness with them. It is a unique privilege to be able to publicly thank the LORD for His goodness.

A spirit of gratitude is evidenced throughout Paul's epistles. Over and over again he exhorts his readers to give thanks to God. His salutations always include declarations of this own gratitude. He is always giving thanks and always telling us to do the same. For Paul, prayer was primarily a reflex of gratitude.  Gratitude is probably the most important key to living in happiness and contentment. A gratefully hearted person is grateful in every situation. An ingrate is never happy.

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Yahshua, giving thanks through Him to God the Father (Colossians 3:17). 

Jeremiah 7:21–8:3; 9:22–9:23:  A few scriptures to note.

Jer 7:23  But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. Jer 7:24  But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

Jer7:28  But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

Jer 7:31  And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.

Jer 9:23  Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: Jer 9:24  But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD .. 

May we learn from these lessons.  Not be disobedient as our forefathers, nor rejoice that we know Yahweh God when we may only know traditions and theology of denomination.  

1 Corinthians 15:1–58  is a summary of the gospel.  Here are a few verses to note.

1Co 15:12  Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 1Co 15:13  But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

1Co 15:14  And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 1Co 15:17  And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 1Co 15:18  Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 1Co 15:19  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 1Co 15:20  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

1Co 15:35  But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?1Co 15:40  There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another…..  1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. …  1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. … then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 

Shalom and Passover Happy holidays to come.  We do it all properly on God’s Holy Day of Passover,