The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

Sacrifices and offerings

David and Solomon

The period from Moses to David and Solomon provides little in the way of new light in respect of sacrifices and offerings, although the ark itself had several adventures. It is when Israel became a true monarchy under David that there was further impetus given to the concept of a ‘kingdom of priests’. This is the particular focus of the first book of Chronicles. While the books of first and second Kings also deal with the monarchy, the promise of the Davidic Covenant and the establishment of the Jerusalem Temple, they are written from the point of view of the prophet, whereas Chronicles is written from the point of view of the priest. The Chronicler is concerned to get to Solomon and the building of the Temple. But we need to consider David’s contribution first. Not only did he desire to construct a permanent building to house the ark but many of his meditations were, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, prophetic of the time when the ultimate blood sacrifice would be offered.

Samuel and Saul

It is the ministry of Samuel that laid the foundation for the period of the Kings. It is his call, training and rule that was used to move the nation of Israel from a loose confederation of tribes ruled by Judges to a united kingdom under one king. He was faithful to YHWH and received those messages from the  throne of God that enabled him to know the mind of God in respect of the divine plan for Israel. He was aware that, on the horizon were those changes in the government of Israel that would better illustrate the declared purpose of God that they should be a ‘kingdom of priests’. Under David first, and then more so with the building of the Temple by Solomon, they progressed to be the model for a Messianic kingdom under the Son of David.

When Samuel succeeded to the priestly office he became a pillar in the defense of Israel. A Nazarite from birth, at his peak he was the prophet, judge and priest of Israel. He it was, that informed Saul that he had forfeited the kingdom by disobedience. The circumstance of the rejection is illuminating. Saul demonstrated his lack of faith in the Lord by being agitated by the late arrival of Samuel to offer sacrifice prior to a military campaign. He usurped the priest’s office by making the sacrifice himself, thus incurring the displeasure of Samuel and the judgment of the Lord. This signaled the removal of Saul’s authority as king of Israel, losing him the protection of the Lord. It also signaled the beginning of David’s authority, which increased under the guidance and protection of YHWH. The importance of the incident for our purpose is that it again identifies that the priest’s office should be occupied by those properly called and trained, and that the safety and blessing of God’s ancient people depended on the activity of the priesthood. Moreover, the sacrifices could not be used as an end in themselves, that is, like a talisman to ensure the support of the Lord. Samuel summed it up: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22).

More Next Time

The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

Table set on Shabbat eve

There is yet one more feast that should be considered since it features in those that were designated feasts of YHWH in Leviticus 23. It is the Sabbath.

The Sabbath (Shabbat)

In the feasts listed in Leviticus chapter 23, the Sabbath stands at the head. “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.” (Lev. 23:2,3) This feast is separated from the other festivals in several aspects:

 1.            It is identified as different, by being separated from the other feasts by another phrasing of: “These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.” (Lev. 23:4)

2.            Its character also separates it - it is a weekly feast celebrated in the home, as compared to the annual feasts that follow.

3.            It is the only ritual that is included in the Decalogue. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exod. 20:8)

4.            It pre-dated the giving of the Law, indeed the basis of the festival lies in the creative acts of the Lord. “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” (Gen. 2:1-3).

5.            It is identified as important to a nation that was in slavery and therefore had no rest. “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.” (Deut. 5:15)

 The special character of the day was reinforced every week while they journeyed from Egypt to Canaan. The Israelite nation was fed miraculously by manna. It arrived fresh each morning, and they were commanded to collect only sufficient for the day’s need. They were being tutored to trust YHWH for their daily bread. Those that collected extra to lay aside for the following day found that it rotted and bred worms. For the first five days of the week, this was the pattern, but on the sixth day, they were commanded to collect enough manna for two days, for the seventh day was the Sabbath and they were forbidden to collect on that day. For the Sabbath YHWH added two more miracles. The first, that on that day alone, no manna was provided (even though some did go out to gather); and the second, the manna collected on the sixth day lasted for two days. Manna collected on the first, second, third, fourth and fifth days was only good for the one day, but manna collected on the sixth day lasted for two days, for on that day alone, it did not rot and remained edible.

 It is from this section of the Torah, the passages that give instructions for the gathering of the manna, that the Jewish people source the prohibition against baking and cooking on a Sabbath. Moses said to wilderness generation, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’” (Exod. 16:23)

 Similarly, the prohibition against lighting a fire, “Then Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said to them, “These are the words which the Lord has commanded you to do: Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day.” (Exod. 35:1-3)

         The Rabbis identified the Sabbath-breaking episode in respect of the manna, as one of the 10 tests that finally exhausted the patience of God. Ezekiel identified Sabbath-breaking as a particular element in the rebellion of Israel and a partial cause of the decease of those that were redeemed from Egypt but died before reaching Canaan. “Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them.” (Ezek. 20:10-13, see also vv. 17-22)

 The importance of the Sabbath is such that the Lord used offers of blessing for those that observed the feast, as well as the prospect of punishment for those that disregarded it.  Indeed, the existence of the nation’s capital, Jerusalem, depended on Sabbath-keeping. Faithful Jeremiah declared the warning of judgment as well as the promise of blessing. “And it shall be, if you heed Me carefully,” says the Lord, “to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work in it, then shall enter the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, accompanied by the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever… But if you will not heed Me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.” (Jer. 17:24,25,27)

 Isaiah, the prophet, emphasized the blessing for the Sabbath-keeper. “If you turn away your foot … From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the Lord honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words, Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 58:14)

More Next Time

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The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

The Temple illuminated at the 'Kindling of the Lamps'

The Feast of Tabernacles (Continued)

The Messiah and the Kindling of the Lamps

 The following day, the day of Shemini Atzeret, Jesus again came to the Temple. Entering the Court of Prayer and standing in the shadow of the giant Menorahs He proclaimed, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12) Like the Shekinah glory, which was revealed to Israel in the cloudy/fiery pillar, to guide them to Canaan, Jesus declared He was Israel’s Messiah and promised to lead any who would accept His Messianic claim. Those that followed Him, would be as if they were following the glory pillar that gave light to Israel. As Simeon remarked when the baby Jesus was first brought to the Temple, “a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel”. (Luke 2:32)  John intimated as much at the beginning of his gospel where he transliterated the Hebrew word ‘Shekinah’ to σκηνοìω [skenoo) in the first chapter of his gospel where it is normally translated ‘dwelt’. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth”. (John 1:14) Here he said that the Shekinah that departed at the time of Ezekiel had returned in the person of the Messiah. God became flesh and ‘Shekinah’d’ among us, and we beheld His glory. John had witnessed the Shekinah glory, radiating from Jesus, on the Mount of Transfiguration. This is not an overstatement of the claims of Jesus, because in the following confrontation with the Sanhedrists the Messiah declared, ‘Before Abraham was I am’. When He took the sacred Name of YHWH to Himself His opponents were enraged and “took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” (John 8:59)

 Leaving the Temple, the Messiah and His disciples observed a man that had been blind from birth.  Probably located near the double Gate at the entry to the Temple Mount, the blind beggar announced his condition while pleading for alms. This encounter promoted a query from the disciples. They asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2) They were merely phrasing their question in the context of the Rabbinical teaching of the day. Since this man has been disadvantaged from birth, it must be the result of a judgment of God, a judgment on sin. Therefore, there were only two alternatives available. God’s displeasure must have been provoked by the sin of the individual or the sin of the parents.  The Rabbis taught that everyone is born with an evil inclination and a good inclination, and these are present in the fetus in the womb.  If the evil inclination has dominance in the unborn child, then he or she could be born with a physical defect as a result. The second alternative regarding the sins of the parents was also common teaching.  Based on such verses as Exodus 34.7, they taught that the Lord by no means cleared the guilty, “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” Jesus answered, using the context of the feast and the ceremony of the Kindling of the Lamps. He said, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”(John 9:3-5) The blind man had been selected to be a symbolic expression of the work of God. In healing this poor wretch, the Messiah did something unusual – he made clay of spittle and dust and then anointed his blind eyes, telling him to go to the pool of Siloam to wash! Bearing in mind the context of the festival where the water of Siloam was emblematic of the Holy Spirit, Jesus used this symbolism in one more telling sign. The earth that the Messiah used represents sinful man (Adam), who is of the earth, earthy. The use of spittle was significant. When an individual was spat upon, it was because he was considered contemptible, beneath the normal courtesies of life. No doubt, those who despised such beggars had often spat upon this poor man. That which represented this despised son of Adam was washed away by that which represented the Spirit of God. The man born blind was given sight! This miracle was a Messianic sign because the Rabbis taught that since this particular affliction involved the judgment of God on sin only Messiah would be able to cure it. This is clear from the subsequent criticisms of the Pharisees. Since this miracle took place on the Sabbath, the legalistic Jews took the newly sighted man to the Pharisees to explain. Some persevered in their opposition - “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” Others were ambivalent. They said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” (John 9:16) There was a division among them. The man who was the recipient of the miracle had the clearest understanding. All his life they had taught him that only the Messiah could alleviate his condition. Now cured he concluded, it must have been the Messiah who did it, for “since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.” (John 9:32) Hearing such a clear statement from someone they had always despised, the Pharisees returned to their standard teaching, “You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?” (John 9:34) This man was excommunicated from the synagogue.

 At this point, the previously sightless man had not seen the Messiah.  He was still blind when he was sent to the pool to wash. So when Jesus found Him later and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” (John 9:35) and he responded, “Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?” Jesus said to him something that could not have been uttered before the miracle. “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.” (John 9:37) His response was heart-warming. “He said, ‘Lord, I believe!’ And he worshiped Him”. (John 9:38) What a day for this poor man.  It started like any other, with his begging by the Temple steps. But a meeting with Israel’s Messiah, “the light of the world”, brought him physical sight, and then later spiritual sight. The new start his physical healing provided was complemented by a new spiritual start. He had been truly ‘born again’.

 So the actions of the Messiah at the Feast of Tabernacles were in complete harmony with the context of the festival with its two central ceremonies. He offered ‘living water’ and ‘light’ and to illustrate this to the glory of God, He healed a blind man, by the use of living water from the pool of Siloam, and brought light to his darkness. Moreover, He did this on ‘Shemini Atzeret’, the day when God sought extra fellowship with His people.

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The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

The Feast of Tabernacles

The Pouring of the Waters

The ordinances in respect of the water libation and the use of palm branches and the fruit of the trees applied for each day of the feast, but it was at the end of the festival that they were both incorporated into a much larger ceremony.

The Pool of Siloam

On that day, the pilgrims left their booths with a Lulabh  in their right hand (to fulfill Leviticus 23.40) and an Ethrog, a citrus fruit, in their left hand. Dressed appropriately for the festival they divided into three separate groups. One group attended the morning sacrifice in the Temple. Another group traveled in procession to a place ‘below Jerusalem’ called Moza, where they cut down willow branches that they used later in the Temple to adorn the altar.  The third group formed a separate procession. They followed a priest carrying a golden pitcher. He led them down to the pool of Siloam where he filled the pitcher with water. This part of the ceremony was based on Isaiah 12.3. “Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” They sang the Psalms of Ascent (Psalms120-134) as they returned to arrive at the close of the morning service, where they were joined by the two other groups. A threefold blast on the trumpets welcomed the priest as he entered through the water gate, a gate so called because of this ceremony. Here, he was met by another priest bearing a pitcher of wine for the drink offering. The two priests ascended the rise of the altar, one going left and one right, to pour out the libations through funnels to the foot of the altar. Immediately after, the Levites led in the singing of the great ‘Hallel’ with responses from the people.

The Water Gate is the right hand gate

This ceremony had a certain symbolism. Originally commemorating the smitten rock when God, through Moses, provided water in the wilderness, the water came to represent the Holy Spirit, and the pouring out of the water was looking forward to the time, and perhaps a prayer for it to come quickly, when God would pour out His Spirit upon the nation.

The ceremony continued with blasts on the trumpets, during which those from the company that had processed up from Moza decorated the altar making a leafy canopy about it and hanging fruits on the branches.

Shemini Atzeret

“On the eighth day you shall have a sacred assembly. You shall do no customary work.” (Numb. 29:35) The Rabbis interpreted this to mean that those who attended the feast were asked to stay a day longer, as if the Lord was reluctant to see them return home.

The Messiah and the Drawing of the Water

There is a record in John, of Jesus attending the feast of Tabernacles. Traveling separately from His disciples, He attended the festival without advertising Himself.  However, towards the middle of festival, He entered the Court of Women, otherwise called the Court of Prayer or the Treasury, to teach, and there he met further opposition from the Jews of Jerusalem. On the last day of the feast, He attended the Temple once again, and witnessed the ceremony of the Drawing of the Water. During the singing of the designated Psalms, the people had joined in with responses, offering their Hallelujahs, their Hosannas, and the Messianic greeting, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Ps.118:26) At a pause in the ceremony, Jesus cried out in a clear voice, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37,38) The ceremonial water had been drawn from the pool of Siloam, a pool of living (or running) water, and the pouring out of the water in the ceremony was looking forward to the time when God would pour out the Holy Spirit upon the nation.  Jesus drawing on this very pertinent imagery, and responding to the Messianic greeting, promised that those who received Him as Messiah would receive the Spirit of God. John explained it so.  ‘This He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified’. (John 7:39) Jesus fulfilled this promise from His place of ascension, on the day of Pentecost.

 At this festival, Jesus claimed to be the promised prophet, the ‘weller-forth’, the expected One, and any who exercise faith in Him will be like the pool of Siloam –a reservoir of living water – out of which are drawn waters to be poured out as water libations before Jehovah. Not only will they bring joy to the heart of the Lord, and not only will their own thirst be quenched, but because of the living water within, they will be a blessing to others also, just as the pool of Siloam will be used by the Messiah to bring sight to a blind man.

Next Time: The Messiah and the Kindling of the Lamps

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The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

The Feasts if Israel (Continued)

The Feast of Tabernacles at the time of the Messiah

The Temple during the ceremony of
the kindling of the lamps

 The nature of the festival had been preserved both as a festival of joy, and as a continued remembrance of the forty-year journey from Egypt to Canaan. The festival included two ceremonies that especially characterized these aspects of the celebrations. One was the ceremony of the kindling of the lamps, and the other was the ceremony of the pouring out of the waters. In addition to these two ceremonies, the final day of Sukkoth was earmarked for additional sacrifices and special prayers and was called ‘Shemini Atseret’. The Festival evolved so that in later times, the seventh day echoed some of the aspects of the Day of Atonement and was know as Hoshanah Rabbah. The eighth day developed into a separate Festival under the name Simhath Torah, ‘Rejoicing of the Law’, and was the day on which the annual reading of the Torah was completed and restarted.

The Kindling of the Lamps

 At each of the four corners of the court of prayer, there was a huge Menorah, standing 86 feet high. Each of these was serviced by young men of priestly descent, who climbed ladders to fill the bowls of each branch with oil. The wicks were made out of the worn out underwear of the priests. They lit the giant Menorahs each night of the festival, and the light illuminated the courtyards of Jerusalem, as well as providing light for the celebrations that took place in the court of prayer.  At the heart of the festivities was music and dancing. A great Levitical orchestra and choir occupied the fifteen steps on the western side of the court of Prayer. Prior to the ceremony, galleries for spectators had been erected. Elders and men of prominence in Israel led the rejoicing in a dance. These ceremonies were supplemented by blasts on the trumpets and shofars at the times of cock-crowing. Those responsible for calling for the attention of the people by use of the trumpet and shofar, sounded them as they moved from the Nicanor doors to the Gate of the Pure and the Just which was the eastern gate of the Court of Prayer.  At this Eastern Gate they turned to face the Sanctuary and declared, “Our fathers who were in this place turned with their backs toward the Temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they worshipped the sun toward the east. But as to us, our eyes are to the Lord.” 

The light from the Menorahs was considered to have several levels of symbolism. The light represented:

 1.            The Shekinah that once filled the Temple, for the descent of the Shekinah at the dedication of the Temple of Solomon took place at this feast.

2.            The Pillar of Fire that guided them on their wilderness journey, which journey was the main motif of the Festival (According to Jewish tradition, the pillar first appeared on the 15^th Tishri, the first day of the feast)

3.            Messiah’s Name, for Isaiah had prophesied of the Coming One, “The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.” (Isaiah 9:2)

 This theme of light at Tabernacles was only a continuation of a theme that was always present. In one Midrash we are told that windows commonly were narrow without but wide within to let light in, but in Solomon’s temple they were narrow within and wide without, because light from the Sanctuary was to lighten that which was without. The principle being that spiritual light emanates from the Temple. The light from the Menorahs, which illuminated the courtyards of Jerusalem, fulfilled this imagery. Also the law required the oil fired light of the Sanctuary to be always lit, not that God required light but that it was prophetic of the time when God would kindle for them ‘the Great Light’. The Rabbis spoke of the Light with which God wrapped Himself as with a garment, which was now reserved under the throne of God for the Messiah, in whose days it would shine out once more. In another Midrash, on Lamentations 1.16, the Messiah is designated as the ‘Enlightener’, because of the words of Daniel 2.22 “light dwells with Him” (Dan. 2:22).

Next Time - The Pouring of the Waters

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The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

Sukkot in Jerusalem

The Feasts of Israel

The Feast of Tabernacles (Hag HaSukkoth)

The Scriptural warrant for this Feast is contained in Leviticus 23.33-44. See also Exodus 23:16; 34:22; Numbers 29:12; and Deuteronomy 16:13-15. It was an eight-day feast that began on the 15^th Tishri, which is five days after the Day of Atonement. It was the third of the pilgrim feasts (shalosh regalim) when the strength of Israel, “all thy males”, (Exod.23.17; Deut.16.17; see also Exod.34.23) had to appear before the Lord. Yet another harvest festival, it celebrated the end of the fruit harvest. At this season, the grapes and olives and other fruits were gathered and either stored or processed. The wine was made and the oil was pressed. The first and last days of the festival were designated days for gathering together for a national assembly, for worship and teaching, and no servile work was permitted. The eighth day was the closing of the annual cycle of the YHWH’s feasts.

As was the custom, offerings were made each day, burnt offerings, meat offerings, various sacrifices, drink offerings as well as freewill offerings. The freewill offerings were to reflect the blessing of God, “every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.” (Deut. 16:17) If the 10^th of the month was a day of solemnity, the period of this festival from the 15^th of the month was a time of rejoicing. The nation was to delight in the Lord and His goodness. “Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice”. (Deut. 16:15)  At the heart of the festival was the dance that included waving aloft “the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook”. (Lev. 23:40) 

 Just like the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, this Feast also was a remembrance of the deliverance of the nation out of Egyptian slavery. For seven days, the nation was required to dwell in shelters made from the branches of trees, as a memorial that they were tent dwellers for forty years while journeying from Egypt to Canaan. They lived in tents from the time of Passover, when they were delivered from Egypt, through the time at Sinai when Moses received the Law, through the additional years in the wilderness that was the punishment for the sins of Israel, especially that of the golden calf, until they reached Canaan. In token of this, they called the festival the Feast of Booths.

 Every seven years there was an additional ceremony when the Torah was read to the nation that had gathered for the festival. The importance of these celebrations were further re-enforced when King Solomon chose the season of Sukkoth to dedicate the first Temple, and it was at this time that the Shekinah glory honored the Temple and the feast, by filling the building.

 The prophet Zechariah, looking to the future, saw a time when rejoicing over YHWH’s goodness would be international not just national. He foresaw a day when the nations would be brought to acknowledge the God of Israel and come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast and thank God for providing their corn, wine and oil. “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.” (Zech. 14:16)

More Next Time

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[1] 1 Kings 8.2 ff

The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

The Feast of Israel

The Day of Atonement (Continued)

The High Priest's first duty done, the sin offering for himself, his family and the priestly caste, he then needed to make a sin offering for the nation. They brought the goat ‘For the Lord’, that is, the one designated as a sin offering. The High Priest cut its throat and collected its blood in a basin. Returning to the Ark in the Inner Sanctum he sprinkled the mercy seat once more.

On His return to the Holy Place where he had left the vessel containing the blood of the bullock, he completed a ceremony in which he used the blood of both animals, first separately, and then mixed, to purify the veil and the holy furniture. Finally, he emptied out any excess blood at the Great Altar where finally it ran down into the brook Kidron.

The ritual continued with the dispatch of the scapegoat. He took the goat, laid his two hands upon it, and made a third confession. “O Lord, your people, the house of Israel, has committed iniquity, transgressed, and sinned before you. Forgive, O Lord, I pray, the iniquities, transgressions, and sins, which your people, the house of Israel, have committed, transgressed, and sinned before you, as it is written in the Torah of Moses, your servant, For on this day shall atonement be made for you to clean you. From all your sins shall you be clean before the Lord (Lev. 16:30).” For a third time, the priests and people prostrated themselves on hearing the Name of God pronounced, and yet again say, “Blessed be the name of the glory of his kingdom forever and ever.”

The scapegoat was given over to the one who was to lead it out. It was taken out through the exit gate on the eastern wall. From there  it was led to a place some distance from Jerusalem, where it was thrown down a ravine. Preparations had been made prior to the Day of Expiation. Tents had been set up a mile distant from each other, where some waited to accompany the man that had charge of the scapegoat. Some senior men conducted him to the first tent, where others took that responsibility and traveled with him to the second. This was repeated until they reached the tenth. From the tenth tent the goat was taken a further two miles to the rock Tsok from which it would be thrown down to its death.

After the scapegoat had left the Temple mount, the High Priest began the procedure to dispose of the carcasses of the animals that had been used as sin offerings and killed in the court of priests. They were burned ‘outside the camp’. The High Priest and the people also waited for news that the scapegoat had reached ‘the wilderness’. The message was relayed back to the Temple by the use of flags through a chain of sentinel posts, although the Mishnah also says they had another sign. R. Ishmael says, “There was a crimson thread tied to the door of the sanctuary. When the goat had reached the wilderness, the thread would turn white, as it says, Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah. 1:18).

From the elaborate ritual and the threefold confession, it is clear that the Day of Atonement was a day of solemnity when the people had to mean business with God.

The High Priest’s duties were not yet over. Having bathed again, and now clothed in fresh white apparel he went out through the great Nicanor door, and faced the people in the court of prayer (the court of women). There he was given sections of the Torah to read. The first was Leviticus 16, which describes the Day of Atonement ritual, then Leviticus 23.26-32 which again describes the activities of the Day of Atonement. The third portion (Numbers 29.7-11) which deals with the ceremonies of the Day, he repeated by heart, while holding the Torah scroll to his bosom. Then he said eight blessings over it, “… for the Torah, … for the Temple service, … for the confession, … for the forgiveness of sin, … for the sanctuary (by itself), for Israel (by themselves), … and for the priests (by themselves), and for the rest of) the Prayer”, the prayer here meaning the Shemoneh ’Esreh, the eighteen benedictions.

The High Priest now turned to the next section of the duties of the Day. He bathed again and dressed in his robes of beauty and glory, to offer burnt offerings – first for himself and his brother priests, and then for the people. With constant washing of hands and feet, and a further change of clothes into white linen garments, the High Priest recovered the instruments used for the burning of incense from the Sanctuary. Finally, dressed in his own clothes and accompanied by many friends he returned home for an evening of celebration.

At the heart of the requirements of the Day is the phrase, “you shall afflict your souls”. Mostly it is interpreted as a day of fasting. The Mishnah lists the prohibitions: “On the Day of Atonement it is forbidden to (1) eat, (2) drink, (3) bathe, (4) put on any sort of oil, (5) put on a sandal, (6) or engage in sexual relations.” To this day Rosh HaShanah is celebrated with joy while Yom Kippur is celebrated with solemnity.

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The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

The Feasts of Israel

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) was, and still is, the most important day in the religious calendar of Israel. It falls on the 10th Tishri, and brings to a conclusion the Days of Awe. The Levitical instructions for the Day are in Leviticus 23.26-32. “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the LORD. And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.” The essence of these instructions is repeated in Numbers 29.7-11 where the ritual offerings are listed. Leviticus 16.29-34 also refers to this Day where the emphasis there is on the priest who performs the ceremony in the Tabernacle.

It had long been considered that the first Yom Kippur took place after Moses had received the second set of stone tablets on which were the Ten Commandments. After the sin of the golden calf, the nation fasted and waited in repentance while Moses ascended the mountain to intercede for them. He returned on the 10th Tishri to announce that God had forgiven the nation, in honor of which the 10th Tishri would remain a day of atonement for all generations.

The Day of Atonement was always significant in the national calendar, but after the Babylonian exile, it took on much greater importance in the culture of Israel. Since the exile was considered a judgment of God because the nation had failed to keep the Mosaic Law, then fulfilling the Law, especially as it applied to this key Temple service in which atonement was made for the sins of the people, became vital. Because the daily sacrifices were unable to cleanse all sins, particularly secret sins, the sacrifice of atonement on the Day of Atonement became the major offering of the religious year. Therefore, it was necessary for the priesthood, not only to perform the duties of the Day, but also to perform them in the right order.

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT AT THE TIME OF THE MESSIAH

The High Priest was cosseted for the week before the day of his duties, and every precaution was taken to ensure he would not be defiled. He prepared himself thoroughly for the elaborate Temple ceremony, memorizing those parts of the T’nach that he had to recite by heart. On the 10th Tishri, the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to atone for the sins of the people. The basic idea was a ‘covering’ for sin, the purpose of which was to accomplish reconciliation between God and man. To prosecute the duties of the day, the High Priest removed his official garments, made for beauty and glory, bathed himself and then dressed in white linen as a symbol of repentance. First, he needed to offer a bull calf as a sin offering for himself, his family and the family of priests. Approaching the bullock that was placed between the altar and the entrance into the Sanctuary, the High Priest laid hands on the animal and made confession for himself and his household. “O Lord, I have committed iniquity, transgressed, and sinned before you, I and my house. O Lord, forgive the iniquities, transgressions, and sins, which I have done by committing iniquity, transgression, and sin before you, I and my house.” As it is written in the Torah of Moses, your servant, For on this day shall atonement be made for you to clean you. From all your sins shall you be clean before the Lord (Lev. 16:30)”. When the priests and the people heard the Name of God, the tetragrammaton YHWH uttered, they prostrated themselves and cried, “Blessed is the name of the glory of his kingdom forever and ever.”

Early in the ceremony, the selection of the goat for ‘azazel’ was performed. Two goats, previously selected, were brought before the High Priest, as well as a golden box with two lots in it. On one lot was marked, “For the Lord”, and on the other, “For azazel”. If the right hand took the lot, “For the Lord”, then the High Priest was instructed to raise his right hand. If the left hand took the lot, “For the Lord”, then the High Priest was instructed to raise that hand. In this way, they identified each goat for its purpose. Again the people responded with, “Blessed is the name of the glory of his kingdom forever and ever.” The High Priest tied a crimson thread to the scapegoat and pointed the goat in the direction it was to be taken. He then tied a crimson thread around the throat of the goat that was to be sacrificed.

The High Priest then proceeded to the bullock to pronounce the second confession. Laying two hands upon the animal he said, “O Lord, I have committed iniquity, transgressed, and sinned before you, I and my house and the children of Aaron, your holy people. O Lord, forgive, I pray, the iniquities, transgressions, and sins which I have committed, transgressed, and sinned before you, I, my house, and the children of Aaron, your holy people, as it is written in the Torah of Moses, your servant, For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. From all your sins shall you be clean before the Lord (Lev. 16:30).”

This second confession had the same wording as the first except it was for, “I, my house and the children of Aaron”. Yet again, on hearing the ineffable Name of YHWH, the people prostrated themselves and cried, “Blessed is the name of the glory of his kingdom forever and ever.” The bullock was slaughtered and its blood caught in a basin. This blood was to be taken into the Holy of Holies, but not before the High Priest had armed himself with incense. Another priest held the basin with the blood of the sin offering, constantly stirring it so that it would not congeal, while the High Priest collected live coals from the Great Altar. He used these to burn incense in the Holy of Holies. When the room was filled with the smoke of the incense, he returned to collect the vessel with the blood of the sin offering. Retracing his steps to the Ark of the Covenant, he sprinkled the blood of the bullock on the mercy seat and on the floor before the Ark. In those days when the Ark was no longer there, the blood was sprinkled on the stone on which the Ark had rested.

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The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

The Feasts of Israel

THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS (HAG HATRUAH)


The autumn cycle of feasts began on the first day of the seventh month, the first day of the civil year, a new year’s day. “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.” (Lev. 23:23-25) Regulations were prescribed for a burnt offering, meat offering, drink offering and a sin offering on that day.

In the Pentateuch, the trumpet was used for calling the people together, “Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps.” (Numb. 10:2) Then again at Mount Sinai. “When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain.” (Exod. 19:13) Furthermore, the voice of God was heard in connection with the sound of a trumpet. “And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice”. (Exod. 19:19) The sound of the trumpet was used also in battle, “Then Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from each tribe; he sent them to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the holy articles and the signal trumpets in his hand.” (Numb. 31:6)

Here then are the main associations of the trumpet in the Pentateuch.

(1) They were used to express joy and gladness.

(2) They were used to call God’s people together.

(3) They were used to help to direct the movement of the nation as they traveled.

(4) They were an accompaniment to the voice of God.

(5) They were used to prepare people for battle.

THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS AT THE TIME OF THE MESSIAH

At the Feast, the trumpets were sounded as a celebration, in memorial of the creation of the world, “When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:7) Rosh HaShanah (1st Tishri) was considered the first Sabbath day of Creation, although the Minhogimbukh ties it to the creation of Adam and Eve. “The Creator, blessed be He, created the first man on Rosh HaShanah. Therefore we start counting the year from that day”. This connection with the birthday of man appears in the work of the Talmudists who also connected it with the birthdays of Abraham and Jacob, and Sarah and Rachel, and Hannah. On Rosh HaShanah, not only did they sound trumpets but also the shofar. The shofar for the new year was made of antelope horn, with its mouth overlaid with gold, and the one who blew it would be flanked by two who blew trumpets. The shofar would sound a long note, while the trumpets would sound short notes. So the shofar’s sound would dominate, and the religious duty of the day would be fulfilled. At the end of the Feast of Trumpets, following a series of short blasts, a long trumpet blast called the Tekiah Gedolah, the great trumpet blast, would sound. Paul called it “the last trumpet” (1 Cor.15.52).

They sounded the trumpet and the shofar whenever there were feasts of gladness, or feasts of solemnity, as well as at the beginning of each new month, that is, at the time of the new moon.

Since the Feast of Trumpets was the first feast of the new year (on New Year’s Day), and the Jewish calendar was a lunar one, it was quite important to get the date right. “The first day of Tishre is the new year for the reckoning of years, for Sabbatical years, and for Jubilees”. The Mishnah contains the rules that governed the identifying of the new moon. They needed witnesses of caliber, and they required them to come in pairs. The council in Jerusalem would cross-examine them, and when they were satisfied with the testimony of the witnesses, the head of the court would declare, ‘It is sanctified’. They would then dispatch news of this date to Jewish congregations everywhere.

By the time of the Messiah, the day had taken on a greater sense of gravity. As the seventh day of the week was a holy day, so the seventh month was the holy month in the year. It was a festival of special solemnity. The Rabbis taught that God judged the world at the New Year: “… at the New Year … all who enter the world pass before Him like troops, since it is said, He who fashions the hearts of them all, who considers all their works (Ps. 33:15)”. So the first of Tishri began the Days of Awe which led up to the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). The Day of Atonement was the next feast day in the Levitical calendar, ten days later. All were judged at Rosh HaShanah, that is New Year’s Day, and the verdict was sealed on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The worthy were written into the book of life. The unworthy were blotted out. This reflected some of the truth of the prayer of Moses when he interceded for Israel, after the sin of the golden calf. “Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.” And the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.” (Exod. 32:32,33) However, severe decrees could be averted through repentance, prayer and deeds of charitable kindness. The liturgy of the Days of Awe carried these implications.

The blowing of the trumpets and the shofar, which recalled the horn-blasts at Sinai when the Torah was revealed, increased this feeling of solemnity. As a day of judgment (Yom Hadin) and a day of blowing the shofar (Yom Hateruyah) Rosh HaShanah also prefigured the end of days and the Last Judgment, when all shall appear before God.

For a people under the Law, the implications of such a day were substantial. Individuals were required to consider how they had acted over the previous year. Had they obeyed, not only the 613 commands of the Torah, but also the countless refinements of those commands contained in the Oral Law? They were to consider themselves brought before the bar of God. Satan himself would be the prosecutor, accusing and denouncing. Since full obedience was impossible to those born in sin and shaped in iniquity, only the mercy of God would allow an individual to be inscribed in the Book of Life, and only the repentant could hope to receive the mercy of God. It was considered that God used a complicated system of weighing good deeds against bad deeds. According to the Talmud God has three books. Besides the Book of Life and the Book of Death there is another that is opened on Rosh HaShanah – a book for borderline cases. The righteous are immediately written in the Book of Life and the wicked are immediately written in the Book of Death. The destiny of those on the borderline hangs in the balance until Yom Kippur. Thus, Rosh HaShanah was a day of penitence, and a day of uncertainty. Those that received mercy and written in the Book of Life would enjoy a year of blessing; those who were not truly repentant and subsequently written in the Book of Death would be marked for a year of misfortune. Between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur an acceptable greeting is, “Leshanah tovah tikatevu vetehatemu”, “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year”.

There are lofty prayers, given over to the praise of God, added to the Shemoneh ’Esreh (Amidah) litergies on Rosh HaShanah. They celebrate God as creator and king of the universe, and recall God’s mighty judgments in history. Also a prayer for the coming of the kingdom of heaven is included. They declare that God, the sovereign King has made His purposes known to all humankind, and since they have been told what God requires of them, they can be assessed as to how they have complied. New Year’s Day, the day of the Feast of Trumpets, is a day of judgment.

Nowadays, in the afternoon of Rosh HaShanah, (or on the second day if it falls on a Sabbath) there is the custom called ‘Tashlich’, ‘casting’. Jewish people go to the bank of a river or lake or ocean and recite appropriate verses while emptying their pockets and symbolically ‘casting all their sins into the depths of the sea’. It is based on a verse from Micah, “You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19)

The Sabbath that falls between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur is called ‘Shabbat Shuvah’, the Sabbath of Repentance. On this day the reading includes Hosea 14.1-9 which begins with Shuvah Yisrael, ‘Return, O Israel’. “O Israel, return to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity; Take words with you, And return to the LORD. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips. Assyria shall not save us, We will not ride on horses, Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’ For in You the fatherless finds mercy.” “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him. I will be like the dew to Israel; He shall grow like the lily, And lengthen his roots like Lebanon. His branches shall spread; His beauty shall be like an olive tree, And his fragrance like Lebanon. Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; They shall be revived like grain, And grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon. “Ephraim shall say, ‘What have I to do anymore with idols?’ I have heard and observed him. I am like a green cypress tree; Your fruit is found in Me.” Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right; The righteous walk in them, But transgressors stumble in them”. (Hos. 14:1-9)

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The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

The Feasts of the Lord

THE FEAST OF FIRSTFRUITS AT THE TIME OF THE MESSIAH

The practice at the time of the Messiah called for a special delegation from the Sanhedrin to visit the barley fields the afternoon before the Passover and identify the location where the first sheaf was to be harvested. It would be bound in sheaves while it was still standing. The place and time of the ritual (the evening before the Feast of Firstfruits) would be publicized so that a crowd would gather and the sheaf could be harvested with great ceremony. Either one man with one sickle and one basket, or three men with three sickles and three baskets, would be allocated to perform the task. The ceremony included the involvement of the spectators. The agent of the Temple would ask the onlookers, “Has the sun set yet?” They were required to answer, “Yes”. This was repeated twice more. Then he would ask, “With this sickle”, and again they would answer “Yes”. This would also be repeated twice more. The ceremony would continue with the question, “With this basket”, with its answer “Yes”, and lastly “Shall I reap” with its response, “Reap”. Everything was repeated three times. In the Temple the ears were threshed and parched, winnowed and ground and sieved through thirteen sieves before oil and frankincense were added. Then one omer (5.1 pints) was offered to the Lord. The rest of the harvest could not be brought in until after the offering of the omer. Once the ceremony had been completed, the count of the fifty days to the Feast of Weeks could begin. This period is known as ‘the counting of the Omer’.

THE FEAST OF WEEKS (HAG HASHAVU’OT)

The main passage dealing with this feast is Leviticus 23.15-21. Called the Feast of Weeks (Shavu’ot) it took place the day after the seventh Sabbath after the Feast of Firstfruits. Seven weeks plus one day equals 50 days, which gave rise to the name Pentecost, which name is used for this feast in the book of Acts. This festival, like the Feast of Firstfruits, was an agricultural festival. It was the celebration of the beginning of a harvest, but this time, it is the start of the wheat harvest not the barley harvest, and its place in the timetable of the feasts of YHWH make it the concluding festival of the spring cycle. Thus, its name in Talmudic literature is often ‘Azereth’, the concluding festival to Passover.

At this festival, several offerings were to be brought to the Lord. Burnt offerings, drink offerings and meat offerings. Seven lambs, one bullock and two rams together with their meat and drink offerings. “Among the offerings were two yearling lambs offered as a well-being offering (‘shelamim’). This is the only such offering made on behalf of the public. It functioned as a communal offering of thanksgiving.” There were also sin offerings and peace offerings, but unique to this festival is the offering of two loaves of bread for a wave offering. These loaves were baked from the grain of the first sheaves of the wheat harvest. Unlike the bread at Passover, they were to be baked with leaven. Leaven was not normally permitted in the offerings to YHWH. This prohibition was repeated several times in the Pentateuch, especially “No grain offering which you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the LORD made by fire.” (Lev.2.11) So when the Lord’s instruction to Moses required it, “You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD,” (Lev. 23:17), there must have been a strong reason.

Moses identified this feast as an opportunity to bring a freewill offering to the Lord, which should reflect the blessing received from God. “Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you.” (Deut. 16:10) The character of the feast was to be one of rejoicing.

THE FEAST OF WEEKS AT THE TIME OF THE MESSIAH

At the time of the Messiah, this festival was one of the most popular, with large groups of pilgrims traveling from all over the Roman Empire. For the Jewish people, Jerusalem was the centre of the world, and the Temple their holy shrine. They converged on the city from every direction. Coming from many countries and traveling together, for them, all roads led to Jerusalem.

The Feast of Weeks is a one-day festival. The Mishnah describes the order of the events. On the morning of the feast an official from the town where the priests of the main priestly course were staying would say, “Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to (the house of) the Lord our God”. (Jer. 31:6) Carrying the fruit of the land, they followed an ox whose horns had been overlaid with gold. Accompanied by the music of the flute and decorating their baskets of fruit as they walked, they traveled towards Jerusalem. When they came near the city, the high officials and tradesmen of Jerusalem met them. Continuing their journey, still accompanied by music from the flautist, they proceeded to the Temple. On reaching the Court of Prayer and then the Court of the Priests, the Levites sang, “I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my foes rejoice over me”. (Psalm 30:1) With the basket of fruits still on his shoulder the leading Israelite read a Torah portion – Deuteronomy 26.3-11, beginning with, "I declare today to the LORD your God that I have come to the country which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.” On reaching verse 5, “A wandering Aramean was my father”, he took the basket of fruit from his shoulder, which was then waved before the Lord. The rest of the Torah portion was read, the basket placed next to the altar, and with a bow the offerer left. Then the ceremony of the ‘wave offering’ took place, when the two loaves of leavened bread were waved before the Lord.

As the day continued, the rich brought their fruit in baskets made of silver and gold, while the poor brought their fruit in baskets of peeled willow. Both baskets and fruit were given to the priests.

Over time, this festival attracted many traditions. These added to its character on several levels.

It was celebrated as the anniversary of the giving of the Law. From the information provided in Exodus chapter nineteen, the Rabbis calculated that the Mosaic code had been delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai on the date that coincided with the Feast of Weeks. The earliest references that make that connection are in the Talmud (Shabbat 86b; Pesahim 68b) but David Stern quotes from the Encyclopedia Judaica where Louis Jacobs suggests that “the transformation into an historical feast took place before the present era”. Maimonides makes the connection of the counting of the Omer with the giving of the Torah. He wrote, “We count the days that pass since the preceding Festival, just as one, who expects his most intimate friend on a certain day, counts the days and even the hours. This is the reason why we count the days that pass since the departure from Egypt and the anniversary of Lawgiving. The latter was the aim and object of the exodus from Egypt.”

The Pharisees associated the date of this festival with a number of other events that were involved in the history of the relationship between YHWH and humankind, events that include covenant agreements. The book of Jubilees places the covenant with Noah at this time, and the renewal of the covenant with Abraham, the birth of Isaac and the renewal of the covenant with Jacob, so the association of this date with the giving of the Law is easily understood. On the feast day they would reference that event by reading pertinent extracts from the T’nach. Readings included Exodus chapters 19 and 20. Since the appearance of God on Mount Sinai was a theophany, further readings from Ezekiel chapters 1 and 2 and Habakkuk 3 were added. Present Jewish practice encourages the study of key passages of the Torah the night before the celebration of the festival.

The date of this festival also coincided with the anniversary of the death of Israel’s greatest king, David. Because of this, a number of Psalms were read, as well as readings from the book of Ruth, David’s ancestor. The readings from Ruth were especially appropriate because the events of the book of Ruth took place during the period from the Feast of Firstfruits to the Feast of Weeks and beyond. Furthermore, the history of Ruth tells of a Gentile fully embracing Jewish culture including the Law.

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