Vayikra “and He called”
It is customary for religiously practicing Jews to read from an annual cycle of weekly Old Testament readings called Torah Portions. This is said to be the same reading schedule that was taught every Sabbath in the Synagogues during the times of Jesus in the first century.
As Christians exploring the Torah portion cycle we must maintain a balance of including the Old Testament, the prophets, and the gospels in our weekly bible study.
Torah Portion Name and Readings-
Vayikra is the Hebrew word for “and He called”, this is the name for the weekly Torah Portion reading for the Leviticus starting in chapter 1 verse 1 and going through chapter 6 and verse 7.
Prophets and New Testament-
It is also important to point out that along with the Torah portion readings and teachings, there are what are called Haftarah portions which are readings from the Bible in the books of the prophets. This week’s haftarah readings come from the book of Isaiah in chapter 43 verse 21 through chapter 44 verse 23.
The gospel readings incorporated with the weekly Torah portion readings come from the book of Matthew in chapter 5 with verses 23 through verse 30.
Torah Portion Overview-
In this torah portion, we get the first set of priestly commands for how to handle the different sacrifices that would be brought to the Tabernacle (and later, the Temple). First we are told the instructions for the different burnt offerings, then the grain offerings, then the well-being or peace offerings. Next it specifically calls out that the fat and blood belong to the Lord. It is interesting that this is mentioned in the priestly commands. This is to let the priests know that they are not to eat of the fat or blood of the sacrifices (and neither is anyone else). Next come the sacrifices that have traditionally been called “sin sacrifices”. However, if you read them you’ll notice that not everything that has a “sin sacrifice” is a sin. So why would this be? Today, we understand that it is more appropriate to refer to them as purging or purification offerings. They are for cleansing unintentional sins, but they are more than that. They are for cleaning, because Yahweh wants a clean house and a clean people. These cleansing offerings are broken up into different categories, ones for Priests, the entire assembly, a ruler, and the commoner. Further instructions are given for other types of purging offerings, however they are listed not based on status but on financial means. The sacrifices were not intended to cause hardship or financial distress. Lastly we get the instructions for how the priests are to handle the guilt offerings.
Today we will focus on these sacrifices and how they relate to Christ and the church. Why is this important to us today? The temple, having been destroyed almost 2000 years ago does not often come to mind. Often when we read of the temple or tabernacle in the Bible it is a foreign thing to us, something that is Jewish but not something that we can relate to. We read of the different elements and furnishings and do not understand how they interact together or how a priest was to handle them. Our worship is disconnected from any worship that would have been done at the temple. Thus, to a western Christian, the temple is at most a topic of interest, and at worst a topic of confusion and disinterest. However, if we study the Tabernacle and Temple, and their systems we will soon come to see an order to them. At the heart of them is to be found Yahweh’s desire dwell with humanity, and man’s quest to make that desire a reality. In our study of the Tabernacle and Temple we can find a way to relate to our own worship and grow in our understanding of Christ.
This torah portion covers five primary sacrifice categories; burnt offerings, sometimes called “whole (burnt) offerings”, although they were not wholly burnt up. Then is the grain offering, the well-being or peace offering, the purging or cleansing offering (often called a sin sacrifice), and lastly a guilt offering. We will start by discussing the burnt offering.
The burnt offering (literally translated ascending offering) or whole (burnt) offering is an offering given for a number of reasons which all involving entreating the Lord, as Jacob Milgrom explains in his commentary Leviticus 1–16: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 3 of Anchor Yale Bible:
“The narrative texts prove more enlightening. In one instance, the purpose of the burnt offering is plainly specified. Saul explains to Samuel why he officiated at the sacrifice: ûpĕnê YHWH lōʾ ḥillîtî wāʾetʾappaq wāʾaʿăleh hāʿōlâ ‘I had not entreated the Lord, so I force myself to sacrifice the burnt offering’ (1 Sam 13:12). Entreaty, then, is the manifest purpose of the burnt offering. But entreaty covers a wide range of motives: homage, thanksgiving, appeasement, expiation (Thompson 1963)”… “The burnt offering then is a gift, with any number of goals in mind, one of which—the one singled out in this chapter—is expiation.”
It was this burnt offering that Manoah, the father of Samson offered at the instruction of the Angel of the Lord.
“And the angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the LORD.) And Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground. The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the LORD. And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.”
Judges 13:16-22 (ESV)
Notice that this Angel of the Lord went up in the flame to heaven?! This is of extreme importance. But who is this angel, Gabriel, Michael? Or perhaps someone else? Notice that when asked for His name, He responds “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” Barry G. Webb in the The Book of Judges, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament explains:
“The issue is what the name (real identity) of the messenger is, and the use of the term wonderful (p̱eliʾy) implies that there is a very close connection between the messenger and God—closer than Manoah has so far realized. The cognate noun, p̱eleʾ (wonder), is used thirteen times in the Old Testament as a whole (in the singular or plural), always in connection with God, especially his acts of salvation and judgment in history, his laws, his final acts of apocalyptic judgment, and (in one case) his Messiah. By locating his name in this class of divine wonders, the messenger definitely claims to be more than a prophet. He does not directly claim to be God, but comes very close to doing so.”
Remember that “angel” means messenger, thus, anyone who is a messenger can be said to be an “angel”. Webb continues, finally showing just who this Angel is, He is Yahweh!
“The expression Yahweh who works wonders (yhwh ûmap̱liʾ laʿaśôt) echoes the “wonderful” (p̱eliʾy) of verse 18, and the double occurrence of the circumstantial clause, while Manoah and his wife were “watching” (literally, “seeing,” vv. 19 and 20), highlights the fact that at last Manoah and his wife “see” the same thing. Manoah understands, at long last, who the messenger is (v. 21b). What he and his wife have seen is nothing less than a wonder (p̱eleʾ), a powerful sign of the presence of God. Realizing this, they do the only thing that mere mortals can do in response to such a revelation: they fall face down on the ground (v. 20).
The ascension of the messenger brings the epiphany to an end. And there will be no recurrence: The messenger of Yahweh did not appear again to Manoah and his wife (v. 21). From now on Manoah and his wife will recede into the background. The Spirit will replace the messenger, and Samson will replace his parents as the locus of divine revelation.”
Isaiah prophesied that this messenger who’s name is “wonderful” would come and receive the kingdom, as the Son of David.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”
Isaiah 9:6–7 (ESV)
We can immediately see who this is, it is Yahweh in the flesh, it is Jesus Christ! Thus we can see in Judges that the Messiah would ascend as a burnt offering, and after that, the Spirit would come! It is a living prophecy of the Messiah and His work. Yet Paul references this and explains that Christ was a burnt offering (also called a fragrant offering).
“and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Ephesians 5:2 (NRSVue)
We can see then that Christ fulfilled the burnt offering sacrifice through His resurrection. He further fulfilled the meaning by sending the Holy Spirit to us after He had ascended to heaven. What of the grain offering, is there some way that He has fulfilled that?
The grain offering, also called the cereal offering, was different from the other sacrifices. As Gordon J. Wenham explains in the The Book of Leviticus, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament,
“It is also one of three sacrifices (the burnt offering, Lev. 1, and the peace offering, Lev. 3, are the others) that produce a “soothing aroma to the Lord” (1:9, 17; 2:2, 9, 12; 3:5, 16).
It is unlike the burnt and peace offering, however, in that it is not an animal sacrifice, but a cereal offering. It is also unlike the burnt offering in that only a handful of the sacrifice was burned in the fire, the rest being given to the priests to eat, whereas in the burnt offering everything except the skin was burned.”
The grain offering was for food, it was to be eaten by the Priests. But how does this apply to Christ? Remember, the Bible says that we are priests.
“you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 2:5 (ESV) (see also 1 Peter 2:9)
Christ instructed us while He was on earth that we are to “eat” of Him, that He is our bread.
“This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”
John 6:50-55 (ESV)
Jesus, as the grain or cereal offering, is our heavenly bread, that we eat for eternal life. However, He is so much greater than the grain offering that fed the priests. For they ate of it and lived but yet died, however, we eat of Him and will live forever! What about the peace offering? Can we find Christ in the peace offering as well?
The Greek version of Leviticus 3:1 uses the word “σωτηρίου” (sōtēriou) which means to save or deliver.
“Ἐὰν δὲ θυσία σωτηρίου τὸ δῶρον αὐτοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ, ἐὰν μὲν ἐκ τῶν βοῶν αὐτοῦ προσαγάγῃ, ἐάν τε ἄρσεν ἐάν τε θῆλυ, ἄμωμον προσάξει αὐτὸ ἐναντίον κυρίου.”
This same Greek word is used in Luke 2:30, 3:6, Acts 28:28, Ephesians 6:17, Titus 2:11 to describe salvation. We know that salvation comes from Christ. But there is another connection. In Romans 5:1 Paul explains that it is Jesus that brings us peace with God.
“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”
Romans 5:1 (NRSVue)
We no longer need a peace offering (or well-being offering) to make peace with God, because Christ has already done this great work. We are at peace, we are not His enemies because He has reconciled us to God through His sacrifice.
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”
Romans 5:10 (ESV)
Not only has Christ brought us peace, but He has also cleansed us from sin, He has purged us from all uncleanness.
“Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
Hebrews 9:25-28 (ESV)
We no longer need sin sacrifices, because Christ has offered Himself and cleansed us for all time. Lastly, we’ll examine the guilt offering.
Christ Jesus bore the guilt of our sins. His sacrifice didn’t just cover the sins themselves, they also covered the guilt.
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
1 Peter 2:24 (ESV)
This is why our conscience is cleansed. We have been wiped clean, our hearts cleansed of past sins. We do not bear the guilt of those sins anymore, because His sacrifice was so great that it cleansed us forever.
“For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”
Hebrews 9:13-14 (ESV)
Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-
Leviticus 1:1 Priestly instructions for burnt offerings.
Leviticus 2:1 Priestly instructions for grain offerings.
Leviticus 3:1 Priestly instructions for well-being (peace) offerings.
Leviticus 3:17 Fat and blood belong to the Lord.
Leviticus 4:1 Priestly instructions for the purging or purification offering (sin offering) for a Priest.
Leviticus 4:13 Priestly instructions for the purging or purification offering (sin offering) for the entire assembly.
Leviticus 4:22 Priestly instructions for the purging or purification offering (sin offering) for a ruler.
Leviticus 4:27 Priestly instructions for the purging or purification offering (sin offering) for a non ruler/priest.
Leviticus 5:1 Instructions for the purging or purification offering of a guilty party (not accidental) based on financial means.
Leviticus 5:14 Priestly instructions for the guilt offerings.
Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-
Isaiah 43:21 Israel has not brought sacrifices but instead sinned against Yahweh. Even though Yahweh forgives, because of Israel’s sin He will turn them over to destruction.
Isaiah 44:1 Hope is coming for Israel, God will pour out the Holy Spirit on their children.
Isaiah 44:6 Yahweh is the King of Israel and redeemer, the first and last!
Isaiah 44:9 Idol making is pointless and shameful.
Isaiah 44:21 God has formed Israel and will not forget Israel.
Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-
Matthew 5:23 Make peace with your brother who has something against you.
Matthew 5:27 Do not lust and you should strongly reject sin.
Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-
Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1–16: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 3 of Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 172–176.
Barry G. Webb, The Book of Judges, ed. R. K. Harrison and Robert L. Hubbard Jr., The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), 356–357.
Septuaginta: With Morphology, electronic ed. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1979), Le 3:1.
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