Drawing Lots
16: 7-10

Drawing lots DIG: In what way was the goat for Azazel different than the second bird in the leper’s purification ceremony? As important as this Day was to Isra’el for restoring a correct relationship with God, how much more important and lasting in Yeshua Messiah’s “once-for-all” sacrifice (see Hebrews, to see link click Cd – Messiah’s Sacrifice Was Once for All Time)?

REFLECT: The role of the two goats shows us that no single offering could fully typify the sacrifice of Yeshua Messiah, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). What aspect of His atonement is typified by the goat that was sacrificed as a purification offering? What distinct aspect of Messiah is typified by the scapegoat?

For forty years before the destruction of the Temple,
the scarlet thread never turned white but it remained red.

After confessing his sins and the sins of the priesthood over the bull (to see link click Cr – Confessions Over the Bull), the high priest then had the two goats brought before him. One of the goats was to be a purification offering (see Al – The Purification Offering: Purified by Blood) to ADONAI. The other was to be released into the wilderness for Azazel, or as it is usually translated . . . scapegoat. Unfortunately, we are uncertain what Azazel means. It seems to me that the best interpretation is that Azazel is a compound term, consisting of the noun ‘ez (goat) and the verb ‘azal (to go away or disappear), that is, “a goat that goes away or disappears.” This leads to the traditional rendering of scapegoat, since the goat departs bearing all the sins of the Israelites.

In Jewish legend, Azazel is the proper name of a fallen angel. Most of the later commentators have steered away from this “supernatural” explanation of Azazel because it seems to imply that the Torah was sanctioning a sacrifice of a demon. This is certainly not the case, even if Azazel should be understood as the name of an evil spirit or Satan himself. The second goat, the one for Azazel, was not an offering. It was meant to carry away the sin and impurity of Isra’el. The scapegoat was never sacrificed. It was simply released into the wilderness. In later Jewish tradition, it was pushed over a cliff to dispose of it (Yoma 6.6), but it was never regarded as a sacrifice.

The high priest was to take the two goats and place them before ADONAI at the entrance to the Tabernacle, where the book began (1:1), and where ceremonial events took place throughout Leviticus. Then Aaron is to cast lots for the two goats, one lot for ADONAI and the other for Azazel (16:7-8). The term lot (Hebrew: goral) occurs here for the first time in the Bible and only in this chapter in Leviticus. The practice may refer to the mysterious Urim and Thummim (see the commentary on Exodus Gb – The Urim and Thummim: The Means of Making Decisions) but we don’t know. Instead of concern about how the lots are cast, the focus is on the fact that either goat might be chosen. The decision remained with God.²⁷⁷

The Mishnah describes how the goats were designated for their respective roles by drawing two lots (Yoma 4.1). Standing before the two goats, the priest drew lots to determine which goat would be the goat for Azazel. Two lots were shaken, one entitled “for ADONAI,” and one entitled “for Azazel.” The high priest would draw one lot with his right hand and place it on the head of the goat on his right. The other lot he drew with his left hand and placed it on the head of the goat on his left. The high priest would then declare the goat chosen to be the purification offering by raising the hand of the lot that had come up in and saying, “For YHVH.” When the worshipers heard the name of the LORD pronounced, they would all respond, “Blessed is the name of the glory of His Kingdom forever and ever.”

Interestingly, the Mishnah also records that the two goats were differentiated by the means of a scarlet thread. The high priest tied a scarlet thread on the head of the goat which was to be sent out into the wilderness, and turned it around (with its back to the Sanctuary) to face the way it would be sent out (Yoma 4.2). Another scarlet thread was tied to the gate of the Tabernacle or the door of the Temple. Jewish tradition records that when the goat died in the wilderness, the red thread that was tied to the Temple gate turned white. When Isra’el saw this, they knew that YHVH had accepted their sacrifices and all their sins had been forgiven. This may be why the prophet Isaiah said, “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like scarlet, I will make them as white as wool (Isaiah 1:18). But around the time of Messiah’s death, it was reported that the scarlet thread on the door of the Temple stopped turning white. “For forty years before the destruction of the Temple the scarlet thread never turned white but it remained red” (Rosh Ha’Shanah 31b, Babylonian Talmud, Soncino Press Edition).

The incorporation of the scarlet thread is not mandated in the Torah. It is based only on tradition. However, the use of the scarlet thread is yet another common element between this purification ritual and the ceremonies of the leper (see Ch – The Initial Procedures for Cleansing Leprosy: The leper needed to bring six items) and the red heifer (see Df – The Red Heifer).²⁷⁸

This choice anticipated the use made of the two goats. The goat selected to be the purification offering would be sacrificed so that its blood would purify the Most Holy Place. Aaron presented the goat whose lot fell to ADONAI and offer it as a purification offering. The remaining goat survived and the sin of the people was transferred to it; therefore, it atoned for their sins. But the goat whose lot fell to Azazel is to be presented alive to ADONAI to be used for making atonement (Hebrew: kophar) over it by sending it away into the desert for Azazel (16:9-10).²⁷⁹

Dear Heavenly Father, I praise You for how great, kind, wise and merciful You are! You paid the very painful and costly price of death for my sins (First John 2:1c-2). You also give another great gift of removing my sins far from me (Psalms 103:11-12). On top of those precious gifts: You also bless me with the magnificent gift of Yeshua’s righteousness (Second Corinthians 5:21). Thus, the requirement for me to enter heaven has been met. May I live my life in thankful appreciation for how great a cost You paid for my ransom. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Kophar is a verb from noun kopher, meaning to cover over, pacify, or to make propitiation for. Propitiation is the averting God’s wrath by means of a vicarious (substitutionary) and efficacious (producing the desired effect) sacrifice (death), foreshadowing the Messiah (the atonement). It is the work of Messiah which satisfies every claim of God’s holiness and justice so that YHVH is free to act on behalf of sinners.

The verb kapher can be seen in Genesis 6:14 where Ha’Shem told Noah to make an ark and cover it with pitch (kaphar) both outside and inside. In addition, when Moshe’s mother Jochebed could not hide him any longer, she and her husband defied Pharaoh’s decree and hid the baby (Acts 7:17-20). She got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch (2:3a). The Hebrew word for basket used here is the same word translated ark in Genesis 6:14. It was coated with tar and pitch just like Noah’s ark was and it was built for floating, just like Noah’s ark. The Hebrew word for pitch is kaphar, and translated atonement elsewhere in the Bible.

Confessions Over the Bull
16: 6

Confessions over the bull DIG: Why do you think ADONAI chose animal sacrifices to reconcile the differences between unholy people and a holy God? Why wasn’t it enough? Why is that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness for sin” (Hebrews 9:22)?

REFLECT: Is there anything that has become a “holy cow” in your life? How can you get back to worshiping the “holy Messiah?” What is the difference between external and internal cleansing in your life? Do you know someone who needs to hear this? Who can you help?

Aaron is to present the bull for the purification offering which is for himself
and make atonement for himself and his household.

In the morning of the Day of Atonements (to see link click Cq – The Day of Atonements), the high priest immersed himself in the mikveh for the first time. He put on the regular clothing of the high priest (Exodus 28:6-38), and carried out the morning continual ‘olah offering (see Ao – ‘Olah Offering). He then immersed again and put on simple, white linen garments. After dressing, he laid his hands on the bull for his purification offering (see Al – The Purification Offering). Aaron is to present the bull for the purification offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and his household (16:6). The sacrifice of the bull removed all hindrances between the high priest and YHVH so that he could perform the offerings on behalf of the people.

This is the first occurrence of the Hebrew verb kaphar in Leviticus 16. It is a verb from noun kopher, meaning to cover over, pacify, or to make propitiation for. Propitiation is the averting God’s wrath by means of a vicarious (substitutionary) and efficacious (producing the desired effect) sacrifice (death), foreshadowing the Messiah (the atonement). It is the work of Messiah which satisfies every claim of God’s holiness and justice so that YHVH is free to act on behalf of sinners.

The verb kapher can be seen in Genesis 6:14 where Ha’Shem told Noah to make an ark and cover it with pitch (kaphar) both outside and inside. In addition, when Moshe’s mother Jochebed could not hide him any longer, she and her husband defied Pharaoh’s decree and hid the baby (Acts 7:17-20). She got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch (2:3a). The Hebrew word for basket used here is the same word translated ark in Genesis 6:14. It was coated with tar and pitch just like Noah’s ark was and it was built for floating, just like Noah’s ark. The Hebrew word for pitch is kaphar, and translated atonement elsewhere in the Bible.

According the Mishnah, while laying his hands on the head of the bull, he made the following prescribed confession, “I beg You, YHVH, forgive me now the wicked acts, rebellions and sins, for I have acted wickedly, rebelled and sinned before You, I and my household, as it is written in the Torah of Your servant Moses, ‘For it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before YHVH (Yoma 3.8, quoting Leviticus 16:30). Other confessions of sin in the TaNaKh may be found in Ezra 9; Nehemiah 1:5-11; Dani’el 9, and Psalm 106.

In the Second Temple Jewish custom, the high priest’s Yom Kippur confessions were the only time of the year that the Divine Name was pronounced audibly and clearly. The assembled worshippers in the Temple courts could prostrate themselves as they heard the Divine Name audibly uttered and they would exclaim together, “Blessed be the Name of the Glory of His Kingdom forever and ever” (Yoma 3.8).²⁷⁶

Dear Heavenly Father, May your name be forever blessed! The gift You offered, redemption thru the blood of Your Son, was such a costly gift! For if by the one man’s transgression, death reigned through the one, how much more shall those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Messiah Yeshua (Romans 5:17). May the great pain and shame that You suffered for us be branded on our minds that we do not take lightly your precious gift, but that we long with every thought to please You in all we think, say and do.

It is such a wonderful privilege to have You as our Heavenly Father, who is always by our side to help, protect and to guide us. For God Himself has said: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5c). It is a joy to know that our eternal happiness in heaven cannot be compared with our temporary trials on this earth. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). Also, what comfort to know that as we surrender every detail of our lives to you, our wise and wonderful Heavenly Father, You work out all things in our lives out to bless us and to glorify Your great name. Now we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28). We delight in blessing Your great name by our worship and obedience! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Day of Atonements
Leviticus 16:3-5 and Numbers 29:7-11

The Day of Atonements DIG: What does Yom Ha’Kippurim literally mean? What are the five atonements that are accomplished on that day? What was the tamid offering and what did it mean? What kind of a day was the Day of Atonements meant to be for the ancient Jews?

REFLECT: What kind of day is Yom Kippur meant to be for believers today? What kind of prayers are offered today on this most holy day of the Jewish calendar? How does the Day of Atonements remind us of our forgiveness, pardon and right standing before ADONAI.

We joyfully await Messiah’s reappearance from the true Tabernacle in heaven.

In one sense the word, atonement (Hebrew: kaphar) means covering. The purification rituals of the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, have a close affinity with the rituals for the cleansing from leprosy (to see link click Cg – The Test of M’tsora), and the rituals for the cleansing of death (Leviticus 20). Both of those ritual purifications are applicable to people and structures. The Day of Atonement purification was also applicable to people and structures. In Hebrew, the Day of Atonement is actually the plural form as Yom Ha’Kippurim, literally meaning, “The Day of Atonements.” The plural refers to the five atonements that are accomplished. They are numbered as follows, beginning with the Most Holy Place and moving out in ever widening spheres of holiness: He will make atonement for the Most Holy Place; he will make atonement for the Tabernacle and the bronze altar; and he will make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the community (Leviticus 16:33). From this verse we see the following atonements accomplished:

1. Atonement for the Most Holy Place

2. Atonement for the Sanctuary

3. Atonement for the bronze altar

4. Atonement for the priesthood

5. Atonement for the people of the assembly

On the Day of Atonement, the high priest (also known as the anointed priest) was required to bring several sacrifices. In addition to the sacrifices prescribed in Leviticus 16, there are additional Yom Kippur sacrifices prescribed in Numbers 29. According to the Mishnah (Yoma 7.3) the ram of Leviticus 16:5 and Numbers 29:8 is the same sacrifice.

The Day of Atonements is an appointed time. It is a Sabbath and a holy assembly. On the tenth day of this seventh month you are to have a holy assembly. You are to deny yourselves, and are not to do any kind of work. Since Yom Kippur is marked by a fast, almost the entire day is spent in prayer. The additional offerings of this most holy day were identical to those of Rosh ha’Shanah, except that there were no new moon sacrifices. But you are to present a burnt offering to ADONAI to make a fragrant aroma: one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs in their first year (they are to be without defect for you), with their grain offering, fine flour mixed with olive oil, six quarts for the bull, four quarts for the one ram, and two quarts for each of the seven lambs; also one male goat as a sin offering; in addition to the sin offering for atonement and the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings (Numbers 29:7-11).

To begin, Aaron needed to have the necessary animal sacrifices and clothing. Rather than his ornate high-priestly clothing, he was to wear a common set of white linen clothes. Here was how Aaron is to enter the Holy Place: with a ram as a Burnt offering (see Ai – The Burnt Offering: Accepted by God) and a young bull as a Purification Offering (see Al – The Purification Offering: Purified by Blood). The meaning is not that he was to bring the young bull into the Most Holy Place, but that he must first offer it up as an offering for himself and the other priests on the bronze altar. He was to put on the holy linen tunic, have the linen shorts next to his bare flesh, have the linen sash wrapped around him, and be wearing the linen turban – they are the holy garments. Naturally, before putting on these clothes, Aaron was to cleanse himself ritually. In this instance, however, he was to bathe not just his hands and feet (Exodus 30:19-21), but his entire body, an act that underscored the complete purity required when coming before the heavenly King.²⁷² He was to bathe his body in water and put them on. Each time his clothing was changed on that Day he was to bathe. In all, he required immersion ten times. He was to take from the community of the people of Isra’el two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering (Leviticus 16:3-5).

And that’s not all. There was also the requirement of the daily tamid offering of two lambs for the continual burnt offering, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The following chart lists the biblically prescribed sacrifices (including the Azazel goat) for the Day of Atonements, according to the order in which they were prescribed. The entire worship service of the Day of Atonement was to be executed by the anointed priest. The accompanying grain offerings and libations are not calculated listed in the chart. The following chart lists the combined sacrifices mandated in Leviticus 16 and Numbers 29.

Burnt Offering (Tamid)                  Lamb On behalf of Isra’el

Purification Offering                       Bull On behalf of the Priests

Purification Offering                      Goat On behalf of Isra’el

Azazel Offering                                  Goat On behalf of Isra’el

Burnt Offering                                     Ram On behalf of the high priest

Burnt Offering                                     Lamb On behalf of Isra’el

Burnt Offering                                     Bull On behalf of Isra’el

Burnt Offering                                     Seven Lambs On behalf of Isra’el

Purification Offering                       Goat On behalf of Isra’el

Purification Offering (Tamid)      Lamb On behalf of Isra’el.²⁷³

The Tamid offerings were rendered redundant by the offering of Yeshua Messiah. In Him we have a close relationship with ADONAI. In Him we smell the sweet aroma of atonement and praise. The word tamid means always. We are told in the B’rit Chadashah that Yeshua’s sacrifice was a once-for-all- time-sacrifice (see the commentary on Hebrews Cd – Messiah’s Sacrifice Was Once for All Time), or a tamid offering before YHVH. The difference is that instead of being offered all the time, it is effective all the time (see my video presentation of Yom Kippur by clicking here)!²⁷⁴

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that You do not overlook sin, rather you atone for our sin by the costly sacrifice of Your only Son as the payment for our sins. We have an Intercessor with the Father – the righteous Messiah Yeshua.  He is the atonement for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world (1 John 2:1b-2). What a great and costly price Yeshua chose to pay that those who love and follow Him might be redeemed from sin’s punishment and given His righteousness. He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21).

How awesome it is that Yeshua knew the great pain and suffering that He would have to experience as the Lamb of God (John 1:29) who was to be slain, he did not back out but chose instead to follow the Father’s will. Again for a second time He went away and prayed, saying: My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, let Your will be done (Matthew 26:42). Our suffering, no matter how harsh, cannot equal what it must have felt like for the Creator of the world to be laughed at and beaten by those He came to save. His resurrection was fantastic and heaven will be wonderful because our penalty for sin was paid.

Let me keep in mind when I undergo sufferings that they are temporary and heaven’s glory is eternal! For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). I am comforted and strengthened when I keep my eyes on the eternal.  For our trouble, light and momentary, is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, as we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. (Second Corinthians 4:17-18). Praise and thank You for being my atonement. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Since the Day of Atonements is marked by a fast, almost the entire day is spent in prayer and petition. They are prayers of amazing depth and beauty, accompanied by heart-rendering melodies. Part of the Jewish liturgy that involves a recitation of the entire order of the service the high priest conducted as he carried out the litany of sacrifices and rituals for that Day. The following is an example of one of these Yom Kippur prayers that describes the joy of the worshiping community at seeing the high priest as he emerged from the Sanctuary after completing all the rituals therein.

Like the heavenly canopy stretched over those who dwell above
. . . was the appearance of the high priest.

Like the lightning bolts emanating out from the radiance of the Living Creatures
. . . was the appearance of the high priest.

Like the fringes on the four corners of the garment
. . . was the appearance of the high priest.

Like the image of the rainbow amid the clouds
. . . was the appearance of the high priest.

Like the garments of light which the Creator clothed His creatures
. . . was the appearance of the high priest.

Like a rose that is placed amid a precious garden
. . . was the appearance of the high priest.

Like a crown that is placed on a king’s forehead
. . . was the appearance of the high priest.

Like the graciousness granted to a bridegroom’s face
. . . was the appearance of the high priest.

Like the purity place upon the turban pure
. . . was the appearance of the high priest.

Like the one who sat in concealment to plead before the King
. . . was the appearance of the high priest.

Like the morning star on the eastern border
. . . was the appearance of the high priest.

For believers, Yom Kippur carries special significance in that it is the day when we contemplate the Master’s work on our behalf. He is our great High Priest, the Bridegroom, the One who sits who concealment. On this, traditionally the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, we concern ourselves with cleansing, atoning work of Yeshua Messiah, which has resulted in our forgiveness, pardon and right standing (justified) before YHVH. We joyfully await His reappearance from the Most Holy Place, that is, in the true Tabernacle (Revelation 15:5), the one erected not by human beings, but by ADONAI (Hebrews 8:2).²⁷⁵

The Purity Issue
16: 1-2

The purity issue DIG: Based on this chapter, how would you describe the human condition? How do Aaron and his two sons (Nadab and Abihu) typify this basic character flaw? What is ADONAI’s typical response to that? How does this affect one’s fellowship with God?

REFLECT: What is your favorite “scapegoat” to blame when things go wrong? Do you think the basic character of human beings is much different today than in the days of Moshe? How do you handle problems? Do you blame God? Yourself? Or just merely part of life?

Parashah 29: Acharei Mot (After the death) 16:1 to 18:30
(See my commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Af – Parashah)
[In regular years read with Parashah 30, in leap years read separately]

The Key People are Moshe and Aaron, and the people.

The Scene is the Tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai.

The Main Events include advice to approach God carefully after the death of Aaron’s sons; to follow the order of ritual specified in detail; to atone for the Sanctuary and for the people and the priests; information about Yom Kippur offerings; a reminder that the life is in the blood and there is only one place, the bronze altar, for making sacrifices; the spiritual connection between the bronze altar, the priest, and the people; advice to keep holy after all is cleansed and to avoid immoral behavior; warning that the Land vomited out its unclean inhabitants; and the necessity of holiness so that God will continue to dwell in His nation.

This parashah begins by reminding us of the narrative content. It was after the death of Nadab and Abihu (to see link click Bh – The Death of Nadab and Abihu) that ADONAI issued the instructions for the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) service. This would seem to imply a connection between the death of the two priests and the mitzvot of the Yom Kippur rituals.

Some commentators infer that their death is again mentioned here in Leviticus 16 to imply that Nadab and Abihu’s untimely demise was the result of their entering into the Most Holy Place (see the commentary on Exodus Fs – The Mercy Seat in the Most Holy Place: Christ at the Throne of Grace). It may well have been a factor. They may have offered their strange fire before the ark and the mercy seat. It was, after this, that YHVH gave Aaron specific instructions how and when to enter the Most Holy Place. If Aaron was to avoid the same fate, he needed to follow carefully the instructions that followed. The Sh’khinah glory (see the commentary on Isaiah Ju – The Glory of the LORD Rises Upon You) dwelt within the Most Holy Place, and if Aaron was to enter, he would have died like his sons. He was to enter behind the inner veil (see the commentary on Exodus Fq – The Inner Veil of the Sanctuary: That is Christ, His Body) only once a year on Yom Kippur.

The danger involved with entering the Most Holy Place reminds us of the original question Leviticus set out to answer: How can mere humans come near to God? The restriction of the Most Holy Place created something of a balance between mankind’s access to God (immanence) and God’s holiness (transcendence). That is to say, because Isra’el had found the means to come near to God through the sacrifices, and because the priesthood had found their way into the Tabernacle, there was a danger of too much access. Given the privilege of coming near to God at will, there was also the possibility of making light of that relationship. The separateness of God could be quickly forgotten and holy fear and trembling could be replaced with familiarity. The Most Holy Place served as a counter balance to the easy access the priests enjoyed. It remained a level of distinction and separateness that could not be breached. It was the very throne room of YHVH where the LORD appeared between the wings of the cherubim on the ark. The place behind the inner veil inspired fear and awe.

This ominous beginning is followed by a strong warning. ADONAI spoke with Moshe after the death of Aaron’s two sons, when they tried to sacrifice before ADONAI and died; ADONAI said to Moshe, “Tell your brother Aaron not to come at just any time into the Most Holy Place beyond the curtain, in front of the mercy seat which is on the ark, so that he will not die; because I appear in the cloud over the mercy seat” (16:1-2). Yet, if the Most Holy Place was so dangerous to mankind, and so vital to understanding the holiness of God, why would the high priest ever have been allowed to go into it? Why risk the consequences? Why breach the absolute holiness of God’s Throne?

The answer was a purity issue.

Dear Heavenly Father, How Awesome You are perfect in holiness, wisdom and love! It is such a joy to know that You love me so dearly! It is also so very special and comforting to know that You are completely wise, even knowing the future to the end. All Your love and wisdom is wrapped up in your purity. Holy, holy, holy is the only time in the scriptures are you are described in the Hebrew superlative of the same word three times: Holy, holy, holy, is ADONAI-Tzva’ot! The whole earth is full of His glory (Isaiah 6:3). Your holiness qualifies Your love, making it totally pure and wise. When You give directions to guide me, I need to carefully follow what you say. “For I know the plans that I have in mind for you,” declares ADONAI, “plans for shalom and not calamity – to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Trusting Your love and wisdom means that even when the path seems unclear to me, it is the best path to take. I can read Your Word for direction, pray to You for guidance to clearly know Your will and then with confidence I can follow your every step; knowing that even if the path is hard and rough, You will always guide me wisely and with a tender heart of love down the right path. Not only will You guide me, but You promise to come alongside of me, never leaving me and always being there to bless me with Your guidance and love. For God Himself has said: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5c). I bow in humble worship before the Awesome God of the universe who so wisely and tenderly guides me. Thank You for being so wise, loving and holy! In Yeshua’s name and power of resurrection. Amen

Remember that when YHVH issued His directive to build the Tabernacle, He said: Let them construct a Sanctuary (Hebrew: miqdash) for Me, that I may dwell among them (Exodus 25:8). The Tabernacle needed to be a holy and separate place so that the holy and separate God could dwell among unholy and common mankind. The Israelites built the Tabernacle, and the Sh’khinah glory, God’s Dwelling Presence, came to fill it. Through the sacrifices and the priesthood, the Israelites were able to come near to the Presence of God. This access, however, created a problem. Because the Tabernacle was in the midst of unholy, unclean, and sinful people, it was in danger of being spiritually polluted by their presence.

In the previous two parashah of the Torah, we learned the concepts of Levitical purity and impurity. We learned the strict mitzvot that forbid Isra’el to approach the Tabernacle or enter the Temple compound while in a state of ritual impurity. To do so was to risk one’s own life. We learned that purification rituals for cleansing after childbirth, leprosy and emissions, and we compared those rituals to the purification ceremony of the red heifer as described in Numbers 19 (see the commentary on Numbers Df – The Red Heifer). It is in the context of Levitical purity mitzvot and purification ceremonies that we encounter the complex and sweeping details of the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur.

Even though the priesthood was ritually purified before they could serve, and even though each individual Israelite was immersed and purified before bringing his or her sacrifice, the mortal state of man is such that there was still an inevitable accumulation of ritual contamination in the Tabernacle and Temple. What is more, the iniquity, rebellion and sin of the Israelites also left a stain of ritual defilement on the Sanctuary itself. As we will see later in Leviticus (see Cy – The Holiness Code), sin begets a type of ritual impurity that can defile both mankind and place.

Left uncleansed, the level of contamination could have reached a critical point at which the Dwelling Presence of God would have been withdrawn, or, perhaps, the Tabernacle (and the priesthood along with it) would have shared a fate similar to Nadab and Abihu. The Most Holy Place, the priesthood and the congregation were all in need of purification and covering (Hebrew: kaphar, meaning atonement) if they were to have continued interaction with the Sh’khinah glory of YHVH. The necessary purification rituals were to be carried out by the high priest annually on the Day of Atonement. Those rituals required an entrance into the Most Holy Place where the Dwelling Presence resided.

That it was a necessary ritual of purification is stated explicitly. He will make atonement for the Holy Place because of the impurities of the people of Isra’el and because of their transgressions – all their sins; and he is to do the same for the Tabernacle which is there with them right in the middle of their impurity (Leviticus 16:16). The reason the high priest had to enter the Most Holy Place was to purify it. It was a matter of annual maintenance.²⁷¹

Yom Kippur: The Removal of All Sin
16: 1-34

Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, coming as it does at the end of the section on purification, is the climax and crown of Isra’el’s theology of sanctification. It was the holiest day of the year and remains so in Judaism to this day. The essence of Yom Kippur was that the blood of a sacrificial animal was sprinkled on the mercy seat (see the commentary on Exodus, to see link click Fs – The Mercy Seat in the Most Holy Place: Christ at the Throne of Grace) in the Most Holy Place by the high priest to make atonement for himself and for the people, and the sins of the people were placed on a scapegoat that was taken into the wilderness to die, signifying the complete removal of sin and defilement from the people (see the video about Yom Kippur by clicking here).²⁶⁹

The reading of Leviticus Chapter 16 relates the mitzvot for the celebration of the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. This day had the most unusual ceremony in the Torah. It has the story of the scapegoat. The scapegoat is the only sacrifice that is not offered on the bronze altar in the Tabernacle/Temple of ADONAI. It was released into the wilderness. The Day of Atonement is a day in which Jews are commanded to afflict their souls, and it is interpreted as fasting from food, drink, and any other pleasure of the flesh.

This atonement is not for the private sins as individuals. The atonement on the Day of Atonement is for the national, collective sins of Isra’el. There were two goats. One goat was sacrificed for the sins of the high priest and the scapegoat was sacrificed for the sins of the nation. The sins of Isra’el were transferred to the scapegoat by the high priest by the laying on of hands on the head of the goat, and confessing the sins of the nation. Then the scapegoat is released in the wilderness and there the scapegoat dies, and the sins of Israel were taken with this goat into the wilderness.

A part of this ceremony in the time of the Temple in Jerusalem was to cut a crimson ribbon into two parts. Half of the ribbon was tied on the gate of the Temple in Jerusalem. The second half of the crimson ribbon was tied on the horns of the goat.

When the goat died in the wilderness, the crimson ribbon that was tied to the gate of the Temple would turn white. As the text in Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

In the year 30 AD, there was a change in the proceedings of the Temple in Jerusalem. This is what the Talmud said concerning these events in Jerusalem. (The Talmud is a rabbinical collection of discussions concerning the Torah. These discussions are records of what was happening from the 3rd century BC until the 4th century AD). In two Talmudic tractates we have the discussion of what happened in the Temple in the year 30 AD – 40 years before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Here is a quotation from Babylonian Talmud Tractate Rosh Hashana 31b: After the destruction of the Temple, Rabban Yohanan b. Zakkai made the rule ‘…during the forty-year period in which he “taught,” by that time, the crimson ribbon had already had ceased changing color. The second reference is from Babylonian Talmud Tractate Yoma 39a.

In other words, we have a witness in the rabbinical literature – a witness that is contemporary with the Apostolic era, that says that in the year 30, or 40 years before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, some of the main functions that have to do with the Day of Atonement have ceased to function, and the crimson ribbon stopped turning white as it was doing years before the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.

Something happened in the year 30 AD that changed the fundamental way that the Temple functioned before 30 AD. The signal that noted when the atonement had actually happened by turning from crimson to white – stopped functioning.

This is significant, dear brothers and sisters. It is a witness that major changes have taken place in the relationship of Isra’el to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, one generation – 40 years – before the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. The people of Isra’el are still alive and they are still the chosen people of God, but the issue of atonement by animal sacrifices is mute!²⁷⁰

Yom Kippur is recorded in a chiastic fashion. There is a parallelism, where the first letter is corresponds to the second letter in some way, with the letter E being the turning point.

A. The Purity Issue – 16:1-2 (Cp)

B. The Day of Atonements – 16:3-5 (Cq)

C. The Confessions Over the Bull – 16:6 (Cr)

D. Drawing Lots – 16:7-10 (Cs)

E. Incense in the Most Holy Place – 16:11-13 (Ct)

D. The Blood of the Bull and Goat – 16:14-19 (Cu)

C. The Goat for Azazel – 16:20-22 (Cv)

B. The Cleanser Must be Made Clean – 16:23-28 (Cw)

A. Did Yom Kippur Really Work? – 16:29-34 (Cx)

Female Menstrual Uncleanness
15: 19-33

Female menstrual uncleanness DIG: Why is niddah not misogynistic? What does niddah have to do with the lunar cycle? How do modern day Jews practice niddah? What does Paul have to say about seasons of abstinence? What is the difference between niddah and zavah? 

REFLECT: In what ways might these mitzvot concerning cleanliness relate to hygiene today? In what ways might they relate to worship attendance (compare Hebrews 9:10)? What do they teach about YHVH, His relationship to us, and the things that separate us from Him?

In this section, the Torah begins with the subject of a woman’s normal menstruation and then, in reverse order of the men, proceeds to deal with abnormal discharges of blood. In 15:33, the menstruating woman is called davah, meaning “infirm.” Beginning with the previous Torah portion and continuing with this one, we have been examining the concepts of being ritually clean and ritually unclean in terms of what they can teach us about two kingdoms: the kingdom of sin and death (to see link click Bv – The Test of Tsara’at), and the Kingdom of Life and Righteousness (see Cg – The Test of M’tsora).

A. Normal female discharges (15:19-24): The concluding verse of the previous file (see Cm – Male Chronic Uncleanness) introduced the woman whose discharges now become the subject of the remainder of the chapter. The Niddah: If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she will be in her state of niddah for seven days. The Torah refers to her period of menstruation and its resulting uncleanness as niddah. A menstruating woman is designated both unclean and contaminating for a minimum of seven days after the onset of her period. Even if her menstrual flow lasts for a few days, she is still regarded as niddah for the full seven days. The bed she lies on, the chair she sits on, the saddle she rides on and the clothes she wears all become contaminated as well. Those who touch those items she has contaminated are rendered unclean until immersing in the mikvah and washing their garments. At sunset on the day of their immersion they were deemed clean. After the seven days are complete, she would no longer be contaminating, but a requisite immersion to remove her own uncleanness was assumed.

Niddah for observant Jews today: It was probably the moral prohibition on engaging in sexual relations with a woman while she is niddah that preserved the practice of the mitzvot of niddah in modern Judaism. Since the separation has been practiced continually since Temple times, it has retained the ancient observances. In Jewish observance, the mitzvot of niddah separation are taken very seriously, but only in regard to contact between husband and wife. Little concern is afforded to the niddah’s contact with others. There is no concern over questions of bus seats or park benches, and an unmarried woman practices neither separation nor immersion. Those are matters of ritually clean and ritually unclean which relate only to the Tabernacle. Yet the separation between husband and wife is still carefully observed. Husband and wife refrain from even casual contact like bumping into each other in the kitchen. The separation period is not completed until the wife undergoes immersion in the mikvah.

Seasons of Abstinence: The apostle Paul warns husbands and wives not to deprive one another except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control (First Corinthians 7:5). According to this rule, we learn that the level and duration of separation must be determined by mutual consent. We also learn that the time of separation is an opportune time to commit to heightened prayer. Finally, Paul seems to warn us against unnecessary abstinence. Sound advice I think.²⁶⁴

Niddah and the lunar cycle: By highlighting the human menstrual cycle, the Torah points us to our synchronicity with the biblical calendar. As we observe the cycle of our bodies, we note our relationship to the cycle of the moon. Elsewhere in Leviticus, the Torah teaches us to mark out the seasons and days according to the moon’s waxing and waning (see Dw – God’s Appointed Times). As we watch the moon grow to its fullness and recede until it vanishes from the sky, it teaches us important truths about God’s rhythms and cycles. When the moon appears again, it is said to be “born again.” It is a monthly reminder of our spiritual rebirth. Obviously, there are many important lessons to be learned and lived by following the Festivals of the biblical calendar, and it is the cycle of the moon which determines even the celebration of those Festivals. Just as the New Moon must be observed before the Festivals can be celebrated (Numbers 10:10 and 28:14), our spiritual rebirth must precede any of our ritual observances.

Dear Heavenly Father, praise You for your awesome gift of spiritual rebirth by uniting the one who loves You with Yourself. Abide in Me, and I will abide in you. The branch cannot itself produce fruit, unless it abides on the vine. Likewise, you cannot produce fruit unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for apart from Me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and is dried up. Such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned (John 15:4-6).

Your gift of rebirth involves a covenant promise from both parties. Your gift of righteousness is not something that someone can grab or take at their own convenience. It is a gift that is to be received by agreeing to the covenant promise to love you always. Everyone gets excited by God’s covenant promise to love and watch over His children; but people forget that a covenant must be followed by both parties or it becomes invalid. Your children are to love You back with all their heart, soul, and mind. Yeshua said: You shall love ADONAI your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. It is a joy to please and thank You for Your gift of spiritual rebirth, by lovingly giving back to You our gift of love as seen by following You in all we say and do and think. We look forward to praising You throughout eternity! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen.

The Torah points to an obvious connection between the monthly cycle of the moon and the monthly cycle of the human body. A woman’s body is synchronized to the lunar month. Human beings are the only mammals synchronized to the lunar cycle. Deep lessons regarding life, death, birth, and spiritual rebirth (not to mention the sanctity of marriage) are wrapped up in the Torah’s mitzvot of niddah. God has called women to live out the lunar month, in rhythm with the moon. A woman’s body is uniquely tuned to ADONAI’s calendar practicing a continual cycle of rebirth and recreation. Through the mitzvot of niddah, the Torah elevates the woman’s monthly cycle from the level of the mundane and profane to a level of spiritual truth and transformation. She becomes a reminder of our spiritual renewal.

Niddah before marriage: Remember, for those who choose to observe the mitzvot of niddah today, they are generally not observed except in regard to the relationship between husband and wife. Therefore, a woman does not immerse or concern herself with her ritual state until marriage. Typically, a woman’s first immersion in the mikvah is the night before her marriage. The Jewish tradition of immersion in the mikvah applied to both bride and groom. Notice how Paul assumes that we are familiar with the custom of immersing before marriage in the following passage where he compares the Messianic Community to a bride washed and cleansed in preparation for the marriage bed. As for husbands, love your wives, just as the Messiah loved the Messianic Community, indeed, gave himself up on its behalf, in order to set it apart for God, making it clean through immersion in the mikveh, so to speak, in order to present the Messianic Community to himself as a bride to be proud of, without a spot, wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without defect (Ephesians 5:25-27).²⁶⁵

Menstruation and misogyny: The Torah designates a menstruating woman both unclean and contaminating. It is not uncommon for the modern reader to regard such mitzvot as distasteful relics from a more primitive and misogynistic form of our faith. Such mitzvot seem shame-based and sexist. But they are surely not.

The Torah designates a menstruating woman both unclean and contaminating. Whoever touches her will be unclean until evening. Everything she lies on or sits on in her state of niddah will be unclean. Whoever touches her bed is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. Whoever touches anything she sits on is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening. Whether he is on the bed or on something she sits on, when he touches it, he will be unclean until evening. If a man goes to bed with her, and her menstrual flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven days; and every bed he lies on will be unclean (15:19-24).

It is not uncommon for the modern reader to regard such mitzvot as distasteful relics from a more primitive and misogynistic form of our faith. Such mitzvot seem shame-based and sexist. Surely, they are not. Normal male discharges (see Cm – Male Chronic Uncleanness) are just as contaminating as the niddah. If there is a sense of shame connected with these mitzvot, we must ask ourselves if this arises from the Torah, or does the Torah answer a natural sense of modesty and “shame” that is already present in human beings? Anthropologists find purity mitzvot like this to be cross-cultural. They are as universal as the impulse to sacrifice animals. Most ancient religions make distinctions of clean and unclean on grounds similar, though not identical, to the Torah’s. It would seem that we humans have an innate sense of pure and impure, shame and brazenness, modesty and immodesty. The Torah answers these very real human conditions with mitzvot that can elevate even the most base elements of our human experience to the level of godliness and mitzvot.

This is to suggest that some of these purity standards do not arise as a result of Torah, but they are universal truths about the human condition. Why should God be offended by menstruation? He is the One who made us. I am suggesting that some of these things, though foreign to Western culture, are universal human reflexes, such as the mitzvot of emissions, niddah, purity, virginity, childbirth, and so on. In our sanitized society of porcelain and disposable hygiene products, we are so far removed from our own humanness that we hardly know what the Torah is talking about. Through the commandments, the Torah elevates even the most base elements of the human condition to the level of godliness. It does so by taking a basic human state or function, wrapping it in a mitzvah and thereby raising it to the level of holiness. Thus, the Torah does not endorse misogyny, but it responds to the innate human reflexes (spiritual and physical) which feed misogynistic tendencies. By placing societal form around those reflexes, misogyny is in fact thwarted.²⁶⁶

B. Abnormal female discharges (15:25-30): If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days not during her period, or if her discharge lasts beyond the normal end of her period, then throughout the time she is having an unclean discharge she will be as when she is in niddah – she is unclean. She would be regarded as zavah. A woman with a zavah carries the same level of ritual uncleanness and contamination as a woman in her menstrual niddah. Every bed she lies on at any time while she is having her discharge will be for her like the bed she uses during her time of niddah; and everything she sits on will be unclean with uncleanness like that of her time of niddah. Whoever touches those things will be unclean; he is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening (15:25-27).

If she has become free of her discharge, she is to count seven days; after that, she will be clean. On the eighth day, she is to take for herself two doves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting. The priest is to offer the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering; thus the priest will make atonement for her before ADONAI on account of her unclean discharge (15:28-30).

Like the mitzvot of the niddah, the mitzvot of the zavah are partially practiced by observant Jews today. Because the Torah specifies that a woman with a zavah shall continue as though in her niddah impurity, she is designated with the status of niddah. She is therefore forbidden from sexual relations until she has become ritually clean again. She cannot be regarded as pure until seven days after her last day of bleeding have elapsed.²⁶⁷ Because of our freedom in Messiah (see the commentary on First Corinthians Bm – The Weaker Brother or Sister), today Messianic believers have the choice to observe these Torah mitzvot or not to observe them.

A. Conclusion (15:31-33): The purity codes conclude with a summary statement explaining their significance and importance. The Torah clearly relegates them to the realms of Tabernacle/Temple concern. An Israelite entering the Temple compound in a state of ritual impurity was trespassing on the sacred purity of ADONAI’s Temple. Those who violated these mitzvot did so at the risk of their own lives. In this way you will separate the people of Isra’el from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in a state of uncleanness for defiling my tabernacle which is there with them. Such is the mitzvah for the person who has a discharge; for the man who has a seminal emission that makes him unclean; for the woman in niddah during her menstrual period; for the person, man or woman, with a discharge; and for the man who has sexual relations with a woman who is unclean (15:31-33).

Haftarah Tazria: M’tzora (Second Kings 7:20):
(see the commentary on Deuteronomy Af – Parashah)

War between Aram (Syria) and Isra’el threatened to destroy God’s people. Four outcast lepers lead a life of quiet despair, and yet, they became survivors of their nation! Afflicted with leprosy, they suffered from a disease that eats away at the deeper layers of the skin. In Yeshua’s time, leprosy killed its victims. Josephus, the first-century Jewish/Roman historian, described m’tzoriam as basically dead people walking. Figuring they will die from the war-imposed famine, the four lepers went to the Aramean camp to beg for food. However, they discovered the place abandoned, with great supplies of food and wealth left behind. They began to loot, but then they repented of their actions and reported the good news to Isra’el. In the ensuing rush for food, the king’s cynical advisor gets trampled at the gateway – just as Elisha had foretold! This is exactly what happened to him, because the people trampled him down in the gateway, so that he died (Second Kings 7:20).

B’rit Hadashah reading (Matthew 24:31):

Yeshua asked which was more important, the sacrifice or the altar. He clarified that the altar made the sacrifice holy, and not the reverse (Matthew 23:19)! But Isra’el had slain the prophets sent to call her back to the covenant – including Zechariah, last mentioned in the TaNaKh (Second Chronicles 24:20). Worst of all, his blood splattered, defiling the ground between the bronze altar and the Sanctuary (Matthew 23:25; Chronicles 24:21-22; Genesis 4:10). Yeshua knew Zechariah’s dying words. He held the religious leaders of the Temple accountable for the redemption of all mankind – starting with Abel, the first martyr, and ending with Zechariah, the last martyr in the TaNaKh (Matthew 23:36). Jerusalem that stoned the prophets would be left desolate (Matthew 23:37-38)! Every last stone of the Temple must be thrown down! But ADONAI is still faithful. He will send out his angels with a great shofar; and they will gather together His chosen people from the four winds, from one end of the earth to the other (Matthew 24:31).²⁶⁸