The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

Sacrifices and Offerings (Continued)

The Psalms of David (Continued)

We continue our consideration of Psalm 22 for it is its first line which hits us like a hammer blow between the eyes.  “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” The pre-incarnate Christ says it through David; David says it; and Christ says it on the cross. The expression is not one of impatience and despair, but of alienation and yearning. The sufferer feels himself rejected of God; the feeling of divine wrath has completely enshrouded him. This is the cry of the      Suffering Servant of Jehovah. In His life the Messiah had delivered those who were oppressed of Satan.  “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him” (Acts 10.38).  But on Calvary He was on the receiving end.  He felt Himself deserted by God, and easy prey for the oppression of the Devil.  The Psalmist knew something of the attacks of Satan.  He suffered from depression caused by the enemy of souls.  “I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning?” He answered his own question – “because of the oppression of the enemy?” (Ps.42.9) The instrument that Satan used in his oppression of the Psalmist was persecution. As with the Psalmist, so with Jesus - but in the person of the Messiah it is not simply the horrendous distress caused by unrestrained persecution but rather because He realized that it was the climax of a war of hatred that was as old as mankind; the unceasing conflict that dated from the Garden of Eden. It was the pivotal battle that the pre-incarnate Christ had prophesied; and the incarnate Christ undertook to win.  “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15).

The Bible speaks of Satan as a murderer from the beginning – a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.  Psalm 22 describes the distilled essence of that insatiable evil. The appearances of Christ in the T’nach as the Angel of the Lord had precluded any successful attack by His ancient enemy. But the Philippian stoop, that is, ‘He emptied   Himself’, apparently gave Satan His opportunity.  Jesus described it so, “this is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Luke 22.53). Satan had been waiting centuries for this opportunity. 

Then there was the wrath of God.  It was experienced at the time when Christ was made an offering for sin.  Peter put it succinctly, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Pet.2.24). Sin separates from God. Sin will make you hide from the Lord, but it will end with the Lord hiding from you. It did in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve hid themselves from the presence of the Lord but then He drove them out!       Similarly, with Cain, God said, “... now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand …”, and Cain responded, “Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid ….” And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD. And so it was with the Messiah; “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Jesus, suffering the attack of the most powerful created being, without recourse to His own qualities of deity, and without divine help, cried, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani” “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt.27.46)

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The Messiah and the Ritual of Israel (Continued)

Sacrifices and Offerings (Continued)

David

David, who succeeded Saul as King, has become known as the sweet Psalmist of Israel. He was committed to protecting and promoting the activities of the priests of YHWH. He re-organized the priesthood from twelve to twenty four courses, each with a chief priest. Also the Zadokian dynasty of chief priests was established during his reign. This is the order, committed to righteousness, which will function in the Messianic Kingdom under King Jesus.

David’s Psalms, in particular, are a fruitful source of illumination when tracing the image of the cross prior to the incarnation. He was the anointed of the Lord as recorded by Samuel, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that time forward” (1 Sam.16.13) and therefore a Messiah himself. Under the tutelage of Samuel he honed his gift of music and prophecy at the Naioth School of Prophets, and accordingly became a perfect channel to write as the Spirit of God moved him. Peter speaks of him as a prophet.

Psalm 22, the most famous of all psalms in this connection, reads as if it were composed at the foot of the cross. It describes in detail so much of what a Roman crucifixion entailed, before even such a capital punishment was in existence. Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, and the Savior of the world, was nailed to a Roman execution stake at 9 a.m. on the 14^th Nissan, in the very year that was predicted in Daniel’s prophecy. The suffering and abuse which Jesus suffered through the night of the 14th Nissan is illuminated in Psalm 22 by several images. “Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round” (v.12).  The bulls alluded to here are from trans-Jordan and are remarkable for size, strength and fierceness.  A suitable image when we consider the Messiah was arrested by a combination of Temple guards, Roman soldiers and supporters of the unmerciful Jewish leaders (over 600 men altogether), to be abused through the night with both beatings and humiliations. The verbal abuse of the crowd as they bayed for His blood like a pack of dogs shouting, ‘crucify … crucify’ is captured by the verse, “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me” (v.16). The unmerciful treatment of Jesus by Jews and Romans; including a scourging which would have killed a weaker man; left Jesus totally exhausted, unable even to carry the crossbeam of the execution gibbet; “I am poured out like water … my strength is dried up like a potsherd” (vv.14,15). Add to that, the excruciating pain of the crucifixion itself, “they pierced my hands and my feet” (v.16); and “all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels … and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death” (vv.14,15).  This inhuman treatment demonstrated the sinfulness of the human heart and the insatiable evil appetite of the Devil. Jesus suffered the distilled essence of the wrath of man and the wrath of Satan.

The added humiliation of Golgotha is captured by the words, “I am a worm and no man” (v.6). The word translated ‘worm’ refers to the worm ‘coccus ilicis’. When the female of this species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again.  The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until they were ready to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood.  From the dead bodies of such worms were the scarlet dyes of antiquity extracted. For example, these were the dyes that were used to color the scarlet curtains and cloths in the Tabernacle. When David said, ‘I am a worm’ he pre-figured the death of Jesus when the Messiah, like the coccus ilicis worm, shed His life blood to bring many sons to glory.

The prophet continued, I am “a reproach of men, and despised of the people.  All they that see me laugh me to scorn they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him” (vv.6-8). The fulfillment of this is referenced by Matthew, and Mark, “…they that passed by railed on him wagging their heads” (Matt.27.39; Mark 15.29). Then again, “They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots” (v.18), was fulfilled to the letter. “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,’ that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: ‘They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots’” (John 19.23,24). Other Psalms add more detail, such as, “They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink”  (Ps.69.21).

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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).

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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)

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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).

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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)

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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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