Post by Mark on Apr 19, 2008 4:54:35 GMT -8
Passover and the Day of Atonement
It is important to see that the ways that
speaks specifically and descriptively of who is our Messiah, who is our God and the relationship that He desires to share with us. Yet, it is also important to take some introspective considerations and see how these things are also about us.
It’s no accident that our Parashah reading is on the Day of Atonement, here on the eve of Passover. Both Holy Festivals are celebrations of our deliverance. It is important to understand that there is a necessity of both deliverances. One without the other is incomplete. One of the sayings that I grew up with as a boy, having moved from a small Arkansas town of about three hundred, to a small Oregon city of about 45,000, is that you can take the boy out of the country; but it’s much harder to take the country out of the boy. This was emphasized by a toe-headed little boy with a long southern drawl and colloquial euphemisms (two words you’ll likely never hear anywhere in Northern Arkansas). I remember leaving a classroom in near hysterics as it was storming outside and I commented that "the devil was whoopin’ his wife."
The Passover celebration is about our deliverance from mitzrahim: literally, the land of many evils, a.k.a. Egypt. It is about deliverance from the bondage of slavery, oppression and spiritual starvation. The Christian theology, that most often ends the relationship with Messiah as He ascends into heaven, love the Passover story. It is about freedom and access to the heavenly Father through the miraculous sacrifice and authority of our Messiah, the Lamb of God, Yeshua haMashiach.
When we read the Parashah Akheri Mot (which means, After the Death) we find that the deliverance doesn’t end there. It is an incomplete deliverance to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Israel, and our God who loves us so dearly doesn’t end there. He also delivers mitzrahim out of us in the day of Atonement.
The scapegoats are chosen, two male goats that are identical. In pagan idolatry the goat represents the god of unfettered pleasure. We recognize the Greek god, Pan: half-man, half goat who thrives on the sensual pleasures of life, same fella. In fact, the Hebrew word sah-teer, which means "he-goat" is the origin of the mythological satyr. So, these two goats which represent the basest level of "if it feels good, do it" are brought before the Tabernacle of Meeting. Lots are cast over them. The casting of lots is such a strange method of determining a choice in such an important ritual; particularly after the precision of the preceding commandments. Casting lots suggest that it doesn’t matter which one; but the rabbi’s have suggested that there is another lesson to be learned. One goat is sacrificed to Adonai and the other cast out of the assembly. So it is with us, that our fickle nature is as the casting of the lots whether we will follow after Adonai or practice the worship of Pan. We are as likely, by our nature to choose evil as we are to choose good: it is as reliable as the casting of lots which way we turn at any given moment. Our God recognizes this about us. He understands our nature and has therefore provided for our atonement.
In Leviticus 16:30, the phrasing is somewhat cumbersome in the Hebrew. In the King James Bible, it reads, "the Priest will make atonement for you." In some of the better versions you will see that "the priest" is italicized which shows that those actual words are not in the text but are added for clarity. Other translations avoid the phrasing by saying "atonement shall be made for you." In the Hebrew is an impersonal pronoun, "it". "On that day, it shall make atonement for you." The rabbis tell us that this is very definitive that it is not the priest who atones for you, nor is it by human efforts that atonement is made. The day itself provides our atonement independent of our efforts.
Paul carries this idea to his New Testament believers:
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
(Philippians 2:13)
We are not making ourselves righteous in our daily mitzvot, worship of belief system. We are exposing ourselves to His righteousness by coming into His presence and being changed by Him.
When we come out of mitzrahim and enter into the kingdom of faith, we are made a new creation in Him. Yet, we look back and remember the leeks and onions of our previous existence and easy re-filled with those passions of what we once held close. The Parashah today is about getting mtzrahim out of us, and that yearly re-assessment of how far we’ve come or how much we’ve retained of our selfish passions.
When we celebrate the Passover this week, after having cleansed the leaven of our hearts, and feast on the simple purity of His fellowship, okay, with a little peanut butter sometimes. Let’s remember that our relationship with Messiah didn’t end there and it is not now all up to us. He is continually pouring out of our lives the mitrahim. He is continually bringing the scapegoat before His altar and offering us the choice to obey.
Khag Shameakh
(Happy Festival)
Mark
It is important to see that the ways that
speaks specifically and descriptively of who is our Messiah, who is our God and the relationship that He desires to share with us. Yet, it is also important to take some introspective considerations and see how these things are also about us.It’s no accident that our Parashah reading is on the Day of Atonement, here on the eve of Passover. Both Holy Festivals are celebrations of our deliverance. It is important to understand that there is a necessity of both deliverances. One without the other is incomplete. One of the sayings that I grew up with as a boy, having moved from a small Arkansas town of about three hundred, to a small Oregon city of about 45,000, is that you can take the boy out of the country; but it’s much harder to take the country out of the boy. This was emphasized by a toe-headed little boy with a long southern drawl and colloquial euphemisms (two words you’ll likely never hear anywhere in Northern Arkansas). I remember leaving a classroom in near hysterics as it was storming outside and I commented that "the devil was whoopin’ his wife."
The Passover celebration is about our deliverance from mitzrahim: literally, the land of many evils, a.k.a. Egypt. It is about deliverance from the bondage of slavery, oppression and spiritual starvation. The Christian theology, that most often ends the relationship with Messiah as He ascends into heaven, love the Passover story. It is about freedom and access to the heavenly Father through the miraculous sacrifice and authority of our Messiah, the Lamb of God, Yeshua haMashiach.
When we read the Parashah Akheri Mot (which means, After the Death) we find that the deliverance doesn’t end there. It is an incomplete deliverance to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Israel, and our God who loves us so dearly doesn’t end there. He also delivers mitzrahim out of us in the day of Atonement.
The scapegoats are chosen, two male goats that are identical. In pagan idolatry the goat represents the god of unfettered pleasure. We recognize the Greek god, Pan: half-man, half goat who thrives on the sensual pleasures of life, same fella. In fact, the Hebrew word sah-teer, which means "he-goat" is the origin of the mythological satyr. So, these two goats which represent the basest level of "if it feels good, do it" are brought before the Tabernacle of Meeting. Lots are cast over them. The casting of lots is such a strange method of determining a choice in such an important ritual; particularly after the precision of the preceding commandments. Casting lots suggest that it doesn’t matter which one; but the rabbi’s have suggested that there is another lesson to be learned. One goat is sacrificed to Adonai and the other cast out of the assembly. So it is with us, that our fickle nature is as the casting of the lots whether we will follow after Adonai or practice the worship of Pan. We are as likely, by our nature to choose evil as we are to choose good: it is as reliable as the casting of lots which way we turn at any given moment. Our God recognizes this about us. He understands our nature and has therefore provided for our atonement.
In Leviticus 16:30, the phrasing is somewhat cumbersome in the Hebrew. In the King James Bible, it reads, "the Priest will make atonement for you." In some of the better versions you will see that "the priest" is italicized which shows that those actual words are not in the text but are added for clarity. Other translations avoid the phrasing by saying "atonement shall be made for you." In the Hebrew is an impersonal pronoun, "it". "On that day, it shall make atonement for you." The rabbis tell us that this is very definitive that it is not the priest who atones for you, nor is it by human efforts that atonement is made. The day itself provides our atonement independent of our efforts.
Paul carries this idea to his New Testament believers:
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
(Philippians 2:13)
We are not making ourselves righteous in our daily mitzvot, worship of belief system. We are exposing ourselves to His righteousness by coming into His presence and being changed by Him.
When we come out of mitzrahim and enter into the kingdom of faith, we are made a new creation in Him. Yet, we look back and remember the leeks and onions of our previous existence and easy re-filled with those passions of what we once held close. The Parashah today is about getting mtzrahim out of us, and that yearly re-assessment of how far we’ve come or how much we’ve retained of our selfish passions.
When we celebrate the Passover this week, after having cleansed the leaven of our hearts, and feast on the simple purity of His fellowship, okay, with a little peanut butter sometimes. Let’s remember that our relationship with Messiah didn’t end there and it is not now all up to us. He is continually pouring out of our lives the mitrahim. He is continually bringing the scapegoat before His altar and offering us the choice to obey.
Khag Shameakh
(Happy Festival)
Mark
