Tammuz 16, 5765 / July 23, 2005

Tammuz 16, 5768 / July 19, 2008

The apostle Peter (Acts 11) was instructed by God in a vision to take the Gospel to gentiles, though he would not previously have allowed himself contact with them.

¹ Now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ² And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those who were circumcised took issue with him, ³ saying, "You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them." ⁴ But Peter began speaking and proceeded to explain to them in orderly sequence, saying, ⁵ "I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came right down to me, ⁶ and when I had fixed my gaze on it and was observing it I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the air. ⁷ I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat.' ⁸ But I said, 'By no means, Lord, for nothing unholy or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' ⁹ But a voice from heaven answered a second time, 'What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.' ¹⁰ This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky. ¹¹ And behold, at that moment three men appeared at the house in which we were staying, having been sent to me from Caesarea. ¹² The Spirit told me to go with them without misgivings. These six brethren also went with me and we entered the man's house. ¹³ And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying, 'Send to Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter, brought here; ¹⁴ and he will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.' ¹⁵ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' ¹⁷ Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?" ¹⁸ When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, "Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life." – Acts 11.

Now, Peter is writing to some of these believing gentiles who are scattered throughout various countries.

 “Peter, an apostle of Yeshua the Messiah, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Yeshua the Messiah and be sprinkled with His blood: may grace and peace be yours in fullest measure. Blessed be Yahweh, the Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” – 1 Peter 1:1-5.

In today’s Apostolic portion (1 Peter 2), Peter tells these “aliens and strangers” (v.11) who “once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (v.10), that “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (v.9).

David said, “You have given a banner to those who fear You, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah. That Your beloved may be delivered, save with Your right hand, and answer us! God has spoken in His holiness” – Psalm 60:4-6.

“Priest” is not a title of exaltation; it’s a position of responsibility. As a “nation of believers” in this world, we are to reflect the holiness of the One who showed mercy to us. We are to be lights in this world, showing the way of holiness.

Now, with this perspective, let us go back to the beginning: Genesis.

God first established the priesthood of the firstborn to lead in the way of holiness: when a firstborn failed to perform, God replaced him with another. Cain was a firstborn, but because of his sin, the office was given to Seth. Reuben was a firstborn, but because of his sin, the office was given to Joseph.

In time God said, (Numbers 3:12) “Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every first-born . . . So the Levites shall be Mine.” In today’s portion (v.9), God further states, “they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual hukah / statute” (third category commandment). This Levitical Priesthood had / will have its function in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, and the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

Isaiah says of the future, “Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, and foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers. But you will be called the priests of Yahweh; you will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast” – Isaiah 61:5-6.

We know that Yeshua came as a Priest according to the original order of the firstborn – the Malchi-tzedek priesthood; He was of the Tribe of Judah, not Levi. He is the ultimate High-priest that the others typify. This does not automatically abolish the office of Levitical Priest in the Temple. Levitical Priests have a responsibility to portray Yeshua to the people (partly through animal offerings). When, over 1900 years ago, they had grossly failed in their duty, the Temple was destroyed: this was not the first time, and it was not forever. (Solomon’s Temple was destroyed and offerings ceased; Herod’s Temple was destroyed and offerings ceased: Ezekiel’s Temple will have animal offerings restored because that is appointed by God.)

In every family, there is to be a priest of the family – preferably the firstborn. This is not a Temple position, but a family position of responsibility. Peter tells us that this applies as well to believing gentiles.

As patriarch of the family (it’s still hard for me to feel that old), I have the primary responsibility to act as priest for the family; I take this as a grave responsibility, not something to show off how exalted I am. It doesn’t make me any more worthy than anyone else, and it’s no basis for a title.

(V. 1) A Levite, to be ordained as priest, must first show that his own atonements are through Yeshua. Laying their hands on the bull implies confession of sins and need of atonement – the bull representing Yeshua.

(V. 2) Three kinds of unleavened loaves were brought: unleavened breads were made with twice as much oil as unleavened loaves, and unleavened wafers were made without oil. This is seen to signify that the priests were to be satisfied with being servants of God, regardless of their degree of personal wealth. It should not be too hard to see how that this is not generally accepted today by those in “ministry”.

(V. 4) After confession and atonement, then the candidate must be “baptized” – immersed in a mikvah.

(V. 6) The High Priest’s Crown of Sanctity refers to the head-plate inscribed with Kodesh l’Yahweh / Holy to Yahweh.

(V. 7) Anointing was performed (making the candidate Messiah Priest) by pouring specially perfumed olive oil upon his head.

Psalm 133:1 A Song of Ascents, of David.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity!  ² It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes.  ³ It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for there Yahweh commanded the blessing – life forever.

(V. 20) Blood was placed on the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toe. Through the ear is hearing and understanding. Through the hands are actions of faith. Through the feet one follows God. Consider ourselves: do we have a right attitude about hearing what God says? Do we have a right attitude about doing what God says? Do we have a right attitude about going where God says? For one who is to lead others in right ways, these things are of even greater importance.

(V. 40) Every elevation offering, and every peace offering, is accompanied by unleavened wheat-oil bread. This bread is completely burned upon the Altar. Also, wine is poured onto the Altar. (Elevation offerings go up in smoke, making a pleasing aroma to God.)

Now, going to Matthew, we see that Yeshua went into the Jordan mikvah, and then He was anointed with the Holy Spirit. The order here is the same as in Exodus 29.

“Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod; and you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. Then you shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.” – Exodus 29:4-7.

“After being baptized, Yeshua came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.’ ” – Matthew 3:16-17.

[Side issue: see KIPPOT]

Readings:

Reader 1*  Amen.  ¹ "Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them to minister as priests to Me: take one young bull and two rams without blemish, ² and unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil; you shall make them of fine wheat flour. ³ "You shall put them in one basket, and present them in the basket along with the bull and the two rams. ⁴ "Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. ⁵ "You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod; ⁶ and you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. ⁷ "Then you shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.

Reader 2*  Amen.  ⁸ "You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. ⁹ "You shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and bind caps on them, and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute. So you shall ordain Aaron and his sons. ¹⁰ "Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. ¹¹ "You shall slaughter the bull before Yahweh at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ¹² "You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. ¹³ "You shall take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar. ¹⁴ "But the flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

Reader 3*  Amen.  ¹⁵ "You shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram; ¹⁶ and you shall slaughter the ram and shall take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar. ¹⁷ "Then you shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head. ¹⁸ "You shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to Yahweh: it is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to Yahweh. ¹⁹ "Then you shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. ²⁰ "You shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear and on the lobes of his sons' right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar. ²¹ "Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on his sons' garments with him; so he and his garments shall be consecrated, as well as his sons and his sons' garments with him.

Reader 4*  Amen.  ²² "You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail, and the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination), ²³ and one cake of bread and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is set before Yahweh; ²⁴ and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and shall wave them as a wave offering before Yahweh. ²⁵ "You shall take them from their hands, and offer them up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering for a soothing aroma before Yahweh; it is an offering by fire to Yahweh. ²⁶ "Then you shall take the breast of Aaron's ram of ordination, and wave it as a wave offering before Yahweh; and it shall be your portion. ²⁷ "You shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering which was waved and which was offered from the ram of ordination, from the one which was for Aaron and from the one which was for his sons. ²⁸ "It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the sons of Israel, for it is a heave offering; and it shall be a heave offering from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, even their heave offering to Yahweh.

Reader 5*  Amen.  ²⁹ "The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, that in them they may be anointed and ordained. ³⁰ "For seven days the one of his sons who is priest in his stead shall put them on when he enters the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place. ³¹ "You shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place. ³² "Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ³³ "Thus they shall eat those things by which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration; but a layman shall not eat them, because they are holy. ³⁴ "If any of the flesh of ordination or any of the bread remains until morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

Reader 6*  Amen.  ³⁵ "Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; you shall ordain them through seven days. ³⁶ "Each day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall purify the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to consecrate it. ³⁷ "For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy. ³⁸ "Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one year old lambs each day, continuously. ³⁹ "The one lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; ⁴⁰ and there shall be one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering with one lamb. ⁴¹ "The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to Yahweh. ⁴² "It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the tent of meeting before Yahweh, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there.

Reader 7*  Amen.  ⁴³ "I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My glory. ⁴⁴ "I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to minister as priests to Me. ⁴⁵ "I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. ⁴⁶ "They shall know that I am Yahweh their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am Yahweh their God.

Isaiah 61:1-9

Reader 8*  Amen.  ¹ The Spirit of Lord Yahweh is upon me, because Yahweh has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; ² to proclaim the favorable year of Yahweh and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, ³ to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that He may be glorified.

Reader 9*  Amen.  ⁴ Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, they will raise up the former devastations; and they will repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. ⁵ Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, and foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers. ⁶ But you will be called the priests of Yahweh; you will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. ⁷ Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, everlasting joy will be theirs. ⁸ For I, Yahweh, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; and I will faithfully give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them. ⁹ Then their offspring will be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them because they are the offspring whom Yahweh has blessed.

Psalm 60    (To be sung.)    For the choir director; according to Shushan Eduth.

A Mikhtam of David, to teach; when he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram- zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.

¹ O God, You have rejected us. You have broken us; You have been angry; O, restore us. ² You have made the land quake, You have split it open; heal its breaches, for it totters. ³ You have made Your people experience hardship; You have given us wine to drink that makes us stagger. ⁴ You have given a banner to those who fear You, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah. ⁵ That Your beloved may be delivered, save with Your right hand, and answer us! ⁶ God has spoken in His holiness: "I will exult, I will portion out Shechem and measure out the valley of Succoth. ⁷ "Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet of My head; Judah is My scepter. ⁸ "Moab is My washbowl; over Edom I shall throw My shoe; shout loud, O Philistia, because of Me!" ⁹ Who will bring me into the besieged city? Who will lead me to Edom? ¹⁰ Have not You Yourself, O God, rejected us? And will You not go forth with our armies, O God? ¹¹ O give us help against the adversary, for deliverance by man is in vain. ¹² Through God we shall do valiantly, and it is He who will tread down our adversaries.

1 Peter 2:1-25

Reader 10*  Amen.  ¹ Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, ² like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, ³ if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. ⁴ And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, ⁵ you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For this is contained in Scripture: "Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed." ⁷ This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, "The stone which the builders rejected, this became the very corner stone," ⁸ and, "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.

Reader 11*  Amen.  ⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; ¹⁰ for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. ¹¹ Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. ¹² Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. ¹³ Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, ¹⁴ or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. ¹⁵ For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. ¹⁶ Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. ¹⁷ Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.

Reader 12*  Amen.  ¹⁸ Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. ¹⁹ For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. ²⁰ For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. ²¹ For you have been called for this purpose, since Messiah also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, ²² Who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; ²³ and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; ²⁴ and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. ²⁵ For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.