Leviticus 1-4

The Burnt Offering

Leviticus 1:1     The Lord summoned Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying: 2 Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When any of you bring an offering of livestock to the Lord, you shall bring your offering from the herd or from the flock.

     3 If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you shall offer a male without blemish; you shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, for acceptance in your behalf before the Lord. 4 You shall lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be acceptable in your behalf as atonement for you. 5 The bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall offer the blood, dashing the blood against all sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 6 The burnt offering shall be flayed and cut up into its parts. 7 The sons of the priest Aaron shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8 Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the parts, with the head and the suet, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar; 9 but its entrails and its legs shall be washed with water. Then the priest shall turn the whole into smoke on the altar as a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord.

     10 If your gift for a burnt offering is from the flock, from the sheep or goats, your offering shall be a male without blemish. 11 It shall be slaughtered on the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall dash its blood against all sides of the altar. 12 It shall be cut up into its parts, with its head and its suet, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood that is on the fire on the altar; 13 but the entrails and the legs shall be washed with water. Then the priest shall offer the whole and turn it into smoke on the altar; it is a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord.

14 If your offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, you shall choose your offering from turtledoves or pigeons. 15 The priest shall bring it to the altar and wring off its head, and turn it into smoke on the altar; and its blood shall be drained out against the side of the altar. 16 He shall remove its crop with its contents and throw it at the east side of the altar, in the place for ashes. 17 He shall tear it open by its wings without severing it. Then the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire; it is a burnt offering, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord.

Grain Offerings

Leviticus 2:1 When anyone presents a grain offering to the Lord, the offering shall be of choice flour; the worshiper shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it, 2 and bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. After taking from it a handful of the choice flour and oil, with all its frankincense, the priest shall turn this token portion into smoke on the altar, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord. 3 And what is left of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons, a most holy part of the offerings by fire to the Lord.

     4 When you present a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be of choice flour: unleavened cakes mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers spread with oil. 5 If your offering is grain prepared on a griddle, it shall be of choice flour mixed with oil, unleavened; 6 break it in pieces, and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. 7 If your offering is grain prepared in a pan, it shall be made of choice flour in oil. 8 You shall bring to the Lord the grain offering that is prepared in any of these ways; and when it is presented to the priest, he shall take it to the altar. 9 The priest shall remove from the grain offering its token portion and turn this into smoke on the altar, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord. 10 And what is left of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings by fire to the Lord.

     11 No grain offering that you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you must not turn any leaven or honey into smoke as an offering by fire to the Lord. 12 You may bring them to the Lord as an offering of choice products, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing odor. 13 You shall not omit from your grain offerings the salt of the covenant with your God; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.

     14 If you bring a grain offering of first fruits to the Lord, you shall bring as the grain offering of your first fruits coarse new grain from fresh ears, parched with fire. 15 You shall add oil to it and lay frankincense on it; it is a grain offering. 16 And the priest shall turn a token portion of it into smoke—some of the coarse grain and oil with all its frankincense; it is an offering by fire to the Lord.

Offerings of Well-Being

Leviticus 3:1     If the offering is a sacrifice of well-being, if you offer an animal of the herd, whether male or female, you shall offer one without blemish before the Lord. 2 You shall lay your hand on the head of the offering and slaughter it at the entrance of the tent of meeting; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall dash the blood against all sides of the altar. 3 You shall offer from the sacrifice of well-being, as an offering by fire to the Lord, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is around the entrails; 4 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the appendage of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys. 5 Then Aaron’s sons shall turn these into smoke on the altar, with the burnt offering that is on the wood on the fire, as an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the Lord.

     6 If your offering for a sacrifice of well-being to the Lord is from the flock, male or female, you shall offer one without blemish. 7 If you present a sheep as your offering, you shall bring it before the Lord 8 and lay your hand on the head of the offering. It shall be slaughtered before the tent of meeting, and Aaron’s sons shall dash its blood against all sides of the altar. 9 You shall present its fat from the sacrifice of well-being, as an offering by fire to the Lord: the whole broad tail, which shall be removed close to the backbone, the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is around the entrails; 10 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the appendage of the liver, which you shall remove with the kidneys. 11 Then the priest shall turn these into smoke on the altar as a food offering by fire to the Lord.

     12 If your offering is a goat, you shall bring it before the Lord 13 and lay your hand on its head; it shall be slaughtered before the tent of meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall dash its blood against all sides of the altar. 14 You shall present as your offering from it, as an offering by fire to the Lord, the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is around the entrails; 15 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the appendage of the liver, which you shall remove with the kidneys. 16 Then the priest shall turn these into smoke on the altar as a food offering by fire for a pleasing odor.

     All fat is the Lord’s. 17 It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, in all your settlements: you must not eat any fat or any blood.

Sin Offerings

Leviticus 4:1     The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: When anyone sins unintentionally in any of the Lord’s commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them:

     3 If it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull of the herd without blemish as a sin offering to the Lord. 4 He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord and lay his hand on the head of the bull; the bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord. 5 The anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting. 6 The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the curtain of the sanctuary. 7 The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is in the tent of meeting before the Lord; and the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 He shall remove all the fat from the bull of sin offering: the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is around the entrails; 9 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins; and the appendage of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys, 10 just as these are removed from the ox of the sacrifice of well-being. The priest shall turn them into smoke upon the altar of burnt offering. 11 But the skin of the bull and all its flesh, as well as its head, its legs, its entrails, and its dung— 12 all the rest of the bull—he shall carry out to a clean place outside the camp, to the ash heap, and shall burn it on a wood fire; at the ash heap it shall be burned.

     13 If the whole congregation of Israel errs unintentionally and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done and incur guilt; 14 when the sin that they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull of the herd for a sin offering and bring it before the tent of meeting. 15 The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and the bull shall be slaughtered before the Lord. 16 The anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull into the tent of meeting, 17 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the curtain. 18 He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the Lord in the tent of meeting; and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 19 He shall remove all its fat and turn it into smoke on the altar. 20 He shall do with the bull just as is done with the bull of sin offering; he shall do the same with this. The priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. 21 He shall carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the assembly.

     22 When a ruler sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by commandments of the Lord his God ought not to be done and incurs guilt, 23 once the sin that he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a male goat without blemish. 24 He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat; it shall be slaughtered at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the Lord; it is a sin offering. 25 The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 26 All its fat he shall turn into smoke on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of well-being. Thus the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin, and he shall be forgiven.

     27 If anyone of the ordinary people among you sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done and incurs guilt, 28 when the sin that you have committed is made known to you, you shall bring a female goat without blemish as your offering, for the sin that you have committed. 29 You shall lay your hand on the head of the sin offering; and the sin offering shall be slaughtered at the place of the burnt offering. 30 The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 31 He shall remove all its fat, as the fat is removed from the offering of well-being, and the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar for a pleasing odor to the Lord. Thus the priest shall make atonement on your behalf, and you shall be forgiven. 32 If the offering you bring as a sin offering is a sheep, you shall bring a female without blemish. 33 You shall lay your hand on the head of the sin offering; and it shall be slaughtered as a sin offering at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 34 The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 35 You shall remove all its fat, as the fat of the sheep is removed from the sacrifice of well-being, and the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar, with the offerings by fire to the Lord. Thus the priest shall make atonement on your behalf for the sin that you have committed, and you shall be forgiven.

Devotionals, Videos and more ...

American Minute
by Bill Federer

A member of the Continental Congress, Richard Stockton was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a justice on the New Jersey Supreme Court. Stockton, California, was named for his son who was the Naval officer who captured California in 1846. Richard Stockton, who died on this day, February 28, 1781, wrote in his Will: “As my children… may… be… impressed with the last words of their father, I think proper here, not only to subscribe to the… Christian religion… but also in the heart of a father’s affection, to charge… them to remember ‘that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.’ ”

Federer, B. (2003). American minute. St. Louis, MO.: Amerisearch, Inc.

Proverbs
by D.H. Stern

Proverbs 19:23-25

The fear of ADONAI leads to life;
one who has it is satisfied
and rests untouched by evil.

The lazy person buries his hand in the dish
but doesn’t even bother to bring it to his mouth.

If you strike a scorner,
the simple will learn to act wisely;
if you reprove the intelligent,
he will understand what you mean.

Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.

My Utmost For The Highest
by Oswald Chambers

Do ye now believe?

By this we believe … Jesus answered, Do ye now believe? --- John 16:30–31..

‘Now we believe.’ Jesus says—‘Do you? The time is coming when you will leave Me alone.’ Many a Christian worker has left Jesus Christ alone and gone into work from a sense of duty, or from a sense of need arising out of his own particular discernment. The reason for this is the absence of the resurrection life of Jesus. The soul has got out of intimate contact with God by leaning to its own religious understanding. There is no sin in it, and no punishment attached to it; but when the soul realizes how he has hindered his understanding of Jesus Christ, and produced for himself perplexities and sorrows and difficulties, it is with shame and contrition he has to come back.

We need to rely on the resurrection life of Jesus much deeper down, to get into the habit of steadily referring everything back to Him; instead of this we make our commonsense decisions and ask God to bless them. He cannot, it is not in His domain, it is severed from reality. If we do a thing from a sense of duty, we are putting up a standard in competition with Jesus Christ. We become a ‘superior person,’ and say—‘Now in this matter I must do this and that.’ We have put our sense of duty on the throne instead of the resurrection life of Jesus. We are not told to walk in the light of conscience or of a sense of duty, but to walk in the light as God is in the light. When we do anything from a sense of duty, we can back it up by argument; when we do anything in obedience to the Lord, there is no argument possible; that is why a saint can be easily ridiculed.

Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest

Ruins
the Poetry of R.S. Thomas

Ruins

And this was a civilization
That came to nothing--he spurned with his toe
The slave-coloured dust. We breathed it in
Thankfully, oxygen to our culture.

Somebody found a curved bone
In the ruins. A king's probably,
He said. Impertinent courtiers
We eyed it, the dropped kerchief of time.

Thomas, R. S. H'm

Swimming in the sea of the Talmud:
TEXT / Shabbat 31a

     In citing a text from the Babylonian Talmud, the masekhet, or tractate (defined above as one of the sixty-three topical subsections of the Talmud) is listed, followed by a page number. The two-sided leaf of a folio page (one of the 5,400+ oversized pages of the traditional Vilna printing of the Babylonian Talmud) is numbered only on the front, which is called side “a.” The second side of the page is referred to as side “b.” For example, Shabbat 31a refers to the tractate Shabbat, the first side of the oversized folio page numbered 31.

     Another story of a non-Jew who came before Shammai. He said to him: “Convert me on the condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot.” He [Shammai] pushed him away with the builder’s measuring rod that was in his hand. He [the non-Jew] came before Hillel who converted him. He [Hillel] said to him: “What you hate, do not do to your friend. That is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary. Go and learn!”

     We have chosen short, self-contained texts that the reader can, with some effort, comprehend and even master. It should be understood, however, that in the Talmud these units are found as part of longer sugyot, or sections. Many modern scholars believe that the editors of the Talmud often joined together several independent and separate units, creating the appearance of long, complex discussions and debates.

    The reader is cautioned that a first, casual reading of a talmudic text may leave you puzzled and confused. Talmudic style is extremely terse and elliptical. It is often difficult even to figure out who exactly is speaking. We have attempted to translate the text as genuinely as possible so as to capture the authentic words and thoughts of the Talmud, cryptic as they sometimes may be. Occasionally, for the sake of clarity, we have added a word or phrase in brackets.

     CONTEXT

     Earlier in the Gemara, we read: Our Rabbis taught: “A person should always be as humble as Hillel and not as strict as Shammai.” (Shabbat 30b) Later, the Gemara adds: Shammai’s strictness could drive us out of the world; Hillel’s humility brought us under the wings of the Divine Presence. (Shabbat 31a)

     Hillel and Shammai were the two great leaders of the Jewish people in Israel in the first century B.C.E. They were known for their very different personalities and philosophies. Our section is one of a series of stories that accentuate these differences.

     Shammai seems to have taken the non-Jew’s challenge as impertinence, having no patience for those who exhibited disrespect for him or for his tradition. Hillel, on the other hand, saw the challenge as an opportunity. He interpreted the non-Jew’s question as a sincere request to learn about the essence of Judaism in “twenty-five words or less,” as we might say today.

     Hillel’s answer is a variation of the “Golden Rule” found in the Christian Bible. We should remember that Hillel lived some fifty years before Jesus. Both men probably based their saying on a verse in the Bible: “Love your fellow as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18).

     In the Context section, we attempt to explain the Gemara, providing background information about the individuals and the issues that are mentioned. We show how the particular text we have chosen fits into the overall discussion of the tractate. We offer elucidation of the texts so that the reader can fill in the gaps and better understand not only what the Rabbis said, but also what it was that they meant.

     In the Marginal Notes, there is additional material that helps to explain and bring a focus to the Gemara. These notes are often quotations from the Bible or from sections of rabbinic literature other than the one being studied. This approach follows that of Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Itzḥaki, 1040–1105) whose brief explanations are printed in the margins of the traditional Talmud text and are indispensable to understanding the Gemara.

Katz, M., & Schwartz, G. (1998). Swimming in the Sea of Talmud: Lessons for Everyday LIving . Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society.

Take Heart
by Diana Wallis

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. --- Psalm 103:13

     In the former part of this psalm the psalmist sang of God’s deeds of love, his gifts, his benefits, and his acts of kindness, but here he goes deeper into the divine motive and finds sweeter incentives to devout gratitude.59 There is consolation in the fact that the heart of God is toward his people. He takes a warm interest in our welfare and has a feeling toward us of kindly, gentle affection—of such intensity that one of the highest forms of earthly love is here used to set forth the tender mercy of our God toward us.

     It is an axiom in theology that God has no griefs—that he is “without parts or passions.” But I inwardly demur to such statements. They seem inconsistent with the tone and tenor of Scripture, for he appears to take pleasure in his people and to be “angry” with their ill-manners. Surely, metaphors that are inspired must have a meaning that is instructive. If the Father’s “heart yearns,” if our Lord and Savior is “filled with compassion,” and if the Holy Spirit is grieved, there must be something analogous to emotion in the attributes of the Most High.

     At least he appears to sympathize with us, so that “in all their distress he too was distressed,” and he pities us as a father has compassion on his children. “That is speaking in a human way,” says somebody. True, and it is exactly the way I do speak. In no other way do I know how to speak, and until I learn to speak after the manner of angels you must pardon me and also the incapacity of my hearers to understand any other than human language.

     Pity sympathizes with its objects, makes itself one with them. I believe in a God who can feel. As to Baal and the gods of the heathen, they may be passionless and without emotion or without anything that is akin to feeling. Not so do I find Jehovah to be described.

     Believe it then, dear friends, with all your hearts, that God has kindly feelings toward those who fear him, such as a father has toward his children. This is a truth of which I feel jealous, and I do not wish to see it toned down. --- C.H. Spurgeon

Wallis, D. (2001). Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers (27). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.

Teacher's Commentary by L.O. Richards
Moses, the Man Part 2 of 2

     Don’t neglect prayer (Ex. 32). When Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving instruction from God, Israel was busy down in the valley. Under pressure from the people, Aaron had weakly given in, and actually made a golden calf for them to worship!

     God told Moses what had happened, and invited intercession with these words: “Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them.… Then I will make you into a great nation”. (Exodus 32:10) God expressed His commitment to judge sin, and offered Moses an even greater place in history than he now fills! What did Moses do?

     Moses prayed.

     The striking prayer is recorded in verses (Exodus 32:11–14). Moses called on God to glorify Himself by remembering His covenant promises to Abraham. Moses was looking to God and seeking His glory. He wanted to see God glorified in His people, and to this end he prayed for them.

     God did respond to Moses’ prayer. The guilty individuals would die, but the nation would live.

     Yet when Moses returned to camp, and saw for himself what the people were doing, his “anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces” (Exodus 32:19). When Moses saw what God had seen he reacted just as God did, with anger!

     An angry Moses could never have prayed with the same concern as had Moses on that Mount.

     This too teaches us. In our lives we will see much which might appropriately anger or disgust us. Yet on the mountain, when Moses’ eyes were fixed on God, he prayed. We too are to keep our eyes on God and to pray, and not to keep our eyes on the sins of others. The New Testament says it. “For man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires” (James 1:20). Keeping close to the Lord, we will be protected, as Moses was, from an anger which might keep us from helping others. By keeping close to the Lord, we will also rely on Him, and express our concern for others in intercessory prayer.

     A faithful life (Num.—Deut.). Moses led Israel for 40 years. And 38 of those years were spent leading a doomed generation through the wilderness—waiting. Two incidents selected from Exodus have helped us sense something of the lesson Moses learned of ministry’s burdens. The Book of Numbers helps us realize that leaders bear limited responsibility.

     In many ways, Moses seems to have been a failure. He failed to bring Israel into the land. He saw the generation that left Egypt wander aimlessly in the desert and, one by one, die. In all that time Moses saw little change in their responsiveness to God or to himself. Was Moses to blame?

     In Numbers 13 and 14 we read of Moses and the people hearing the report of spies about the strength of the Canaanites. In terror the people refused to obey God’s command to enter the land. The Bible tells us that “Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there.” In horror they, with Joshua and Caleb, begged the people to listen to God.

     But the people would not.

     In Deuteronomy we read of Moses leading a new generation to a similar point of decision. Moses did not choose for this new generation. He could not. The people had to choose for themselves. And this time they chose to trust and to obey.

     There are limits to the responsibility of leaders. These limits are imposed by the very freedom God Himself gives all men to turn to Him, or to turn away. Moses’ ministry could bring Israel to the point of decision. Moses performed this ministry well. But Moses could not decide for them. One generation turned from God. And one generation turned to God. It was their own choice.

     It was not through Moses’ failure that the first generation turned away. Nor was it by Moses’ skill and success that the second turned to the Lord.

     The point, of course, is simple. Moses was called to be faithful to God and to fulfill his commission. He was not called to “succeed” or to “fail.” And so the New Testament commendation of Moses focuses not on what Moses accomplished, but on his faithfulness. “Moses … faithfully discharged his duty in the household of God” (Heb. 3:2, PH). It was Moses’ faithfulness to his task which counted with God all along.

     It’s the same for us today. Where there is faithfulness, failure does not bring blame. And it should not bring a sense of guilt! Where faithfulness is, success does not bring glory. Our responsibility is limited. We are called merely to bring others to the place where they can freely choose.

Richards, L., & Richards, L. O. (1987). The Teacher's Commentary (323). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.

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