Read
this week’s Torah portion but please don’t just read it.
Torah
Parasha Tsav is this week’s reading.
This little portion of the Bible deals with the continued instructions
being given on offerings and sanctuary worship.
Aharon and his sons are given the priestly garments and are anointed
along with the tabernacle. All
that is within it and the priests are set apart as special for Yahweh’s
use. The offerings that are given point to
the purpose of the mishkan and the priesthood – to draw near and commune
with Yahweh Eloheynu.
To
approach the Holy One of Yisra’el there are certain steps that must
be taken. The Torah is very clear and specific about
proper worship. Not just
anything will do.
To
experience Yahweh’s presence and receive a deeper revelation of Who
He is requires obedience to Yahweh’s word.
Selah.
Adam
is instructed not to eat from a certain tree.
Avraham is commanded to sacrifice his only son. Moshe is told to take off his shoes.
And the priests go through a series of events.
These proceedings enable the Levites to minister to Yahweh before
the people in the correct manner.
What
takes place in this parasha is a prophecy made and a prophecy fulfilled. The prophecy fulfilled is that the actions
you’ll read about are a direct accomplishment of Shemot (Exodus) 28:41.
It says, “And thou shalt put them upon Aharon thy brother, and
his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify
them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.”
The prophecy made is that
the pattern of ordination that the kohanim or priests go through is
also the pattern for all believers.
Anointing
Purification
Sanctification
First,
they were annointed
In
Vayikra (Leviticus) 8:12 the kohanim were anointed with the sacred anointing
oil - “And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aharon’s head, and anointed
him, to sanctify him.” During
Torah times a person was anointed when the Ruach (spirit) of Yahweh
would minister and move through them.
Today it is no different.
The anointing of the Ruach HaKodesh is Yahweh’s mighty presence
that empowers the believer. But, don’t mistake this as some “feeling”
people experience. The
anointing is not some cheap thrill of goose bumps but an endowment of
the Living Elohim. Please
don’t dismiss and minimize the anointing as something a person “feels.” The anointing is something a person is.
Believers
are anointed with the Ruach HaKodesh.
“Now he which established us with you in Messiah, and hath anointed
us, is Elohim; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the
Spirit in our hearts,” 2 Corinthians 1:21-22.
The anointing is an endowment of Ruach power and you as a believer
have been endowed.
Second,
they were purified
In Vayikra 8:14 there is a
sin offering of a bull made for the priests and the place of worship.
Aharon and his sons laid their hands on the animal’s head as
a means of identifying with the transference of guilt.
Sin requires death, so the bull takes the place of the kohanim
as the chat’ at or sin offering. This offering purifies the defilement
of sin that has affected the mishkan.
Chat’ at offerings were given for sins that might have taken
place by accident or without knowledge.
This purification offering cleanses from unintentional sin.
Purification is a process
in every believer’s life. It
is the development of removing whatever causes life to be impure.
Being pure for each moment
in life leads to staying pure throughout life. Purity in the scriptures means to be “fair,
bright; clear, unadulterated, levitically uncontaminated; morally innocent,
clean, purged.” First man
is given or anointed with the Ruach HaKodesh, and then the Spirit begins
to work its job. The job
of the Ruach is to cleanse or purify the believer from the defilement
of sin and worldly ways. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
will see Elohim,” Mattitiyahu 5:8.
When a person is purified through Yahweh then they are clear
– their life is transparent and people see the Almighty in them. You can see straight through a purified
believer and what you should see is Yahweh Yahshua. Perhaps a different rendering of
the Mattitiyahu verse could be, “Blessed are the pure in heart for YOU
can see Elohim through them.”
Third,
they were sanctified
“Then
Moshe took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood from the
altar and sprinkled them on Aharon and his garments and on his sons
and their garments. So he consecrated Aharon and his garments and his
sons and their garments,” Vayikra 8:30.
Before the sons
of Aharon can minister in the mishkan they must be set apart through
proper preparation. The
ram offering and anointing oil acts as a type of ordination that takes
a total of seven days. What
lessons could be learned from the priests!
Before doing
any “priestly” work or sacrifices for the people they themselves experience
the sanctification of Yahweh. They look to leadership; they follow the
precepts of the Torah; they spend time in Yahweh’s presence.
“Sanctification”
is a big churchy word that literally means “setting apart.”
For the priesthood to be sanctified they had to be removed from
the ordinary for seven days. Sanctification doesn’t happen over night.
It comes over time as the believer walks in obedience to Yahweh
through the Ruach’s power. Sanctification happens as a person resists
the world and the enemy and clings to Yahweh. And the priests weren’t the only people
called to be set apart to Yahweh.
The entire nation of Yisra’el was chosen to withdraw from the
ways of the world and separate themselves.
“For thou art an holy people
unto Yahweh Eloheynu: for Yahweh Elohim hath chosen thee to be a special
people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the
earth,” Devarim 7:6.
The process
of the priesthood is not some “quick fix” for spiritual problems but
an overview of the spiritual transformation a person goes through when
they follow after Yahweh. It
is not easy. Nor is it
exactly fun. The progression
of being anointed, purified, and then sanctified was the pattern of
the kohanim and is the pattern of believers today.
Considering this, where are you right now? How is Yahweh sanctifying you or setting
you aside from the world? Did
you know that you have been given a spirit of power love and self-control? Do people see Yahweh through your actions?
Don’t
just read about this Parasha…be it…live it for the glory of Yahweh.
