Category: Holidays

Chanukah and Vigilance…

John J Parsons

The message of Chanukah is to resist being “assimilated” into this dark world and its benighted culture. As it says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed (i.e., transfigured by the light) through the renewal (ἀνακαίνωσις) of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God” (Rom. 12:2). Notice that the Greek word translated “conformed” is a passive verb (συσχηματίζω, derived from σύν, “with,” + σχῆμα, “matrix”) which means that we must consciously resist being lulled into accepting this world’s various ideologies (matrix) that are crafted to ignore Divine the Presence and Truth. In the realm of the spiritual, there is simply no place of neutrality, and if we are not going forward, then it’s likely we are going backward… Therefore we are repeatedly commanded to test the spirits and to examine truth claims. We ask God for wisdom and use the discernment that comes from the Holy Spirit.

 

Hebrew Lesson:
Psalm 143:10a Reading:

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We must exercise diligence to ensure we are not taken captive by the world and its seductive deceptions. Both Passover and Chanukah celebrate spiritual freedom, and indeed the very first word given at Sinai was “I AM the LORD thy God who brought you out (הוֹצֵאתִיךָ)… of the house of slavery” (Exod. 20:2). God’s first concern is to be known as your Deliverer, the God of your freedom. Therefore the Spirit of God says, “Thou shalt be free” (2 Cor. 3:17; Gal. 5:1). Set your focus, then, on the Divine Presence and refuse to live in fear of mere men and their political schemes. God has an appointment scheduled with the princes of this world, though we trust he is our Good Shepherd who will keep us from the wrath to come…

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Essence of Yom Kippur…

John J Parsons

The earthy Tabernacle (i.e., Mishkan) and its furnishings were “copies” of the heavenly Temple and the Throne of God Himself. Moses was commanded to make the Sanctuary according to the “pattern” revealed at Sinai (Exod. 25:9). As it is written in our Scriptures, “For Messiah has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are representations (ἀντίτυπος) of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (Heb. 9:24). The centermost point of the earthly Tabernacle was the Ark of the Covenant (אֲרוֹן־הַקּדֶשׁ), a “three-in-one” box that contained God’s Holy Word (i.e., the tablets of the Torah). As such, the Ark served as a symbol of kisei ha-kavod (כִּסֵּא הַכָּבוֹד), the Throne of Glory. The Ark stood entirely apart as the only furnishing placed in the “three-in-one” space called the Holy of Holies (קדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים). Upon the cover of the Ark (i.e., the kapporet) were fashioned two cherubim (i.e., angel-like figures) that faced one another (Exod. 25:17-18). According to the Talmud (Succah 5b), each cherub had the face of a child – one boy and one girl – and their wings spread heavenward as their eyes gazed upon the cover (Exod. 25:20). This was the sacred place where the blood of purification was sprinkled during Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and this is the Place (הַמָּקוֹם) that prefigured the offering of the blood of the Messiah, our eternal Mediator of the New Covenant. “For I will appear in the cloud over the kapporet” (Lev. 16:2; Exod. 25:22). As it is written, “I have blotted out as a dark cloud your transgressions, and as a cloud your sins; return to me (שׁוּבָה אֵלַי), for I have redeemed you (Isa. 44:22).

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The central ritual of atonement given in the Torah is that of the anointed High Priest sprinkling sacrificial blood over the tablets of the law upon the kapporet (the “mercy seat”) of the Ark of the Covenant – the Place where “Love and truth meet, where righteousness and peace kiss” (Psalm 85:10). It was from the midst of the surrounding cloud in the Holy of Holies that the Voice of the LORD was heard, just as it was in the midst of the surrounding cloud of darkness upon the cross that Yeshua cried out in intercession for our sins…

Note further that the High Priest was required to perform the Yom Kippur avodah (service) alone, while wearing humble attire, divested of his glory, and in complete solitude: “No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out” (Lev. 16:17). The Hebrew text literally says, “no adam (אָדָם) shall be in the tent,” which suggests that something more than the natural man is needed for divine intercession. And just as Moses alone approached God in the thick clouds at Sinai to receive the revelation of the Altar as mediator of the older covenant (Exod. 24:15), so Yeshua, the Mediator of the New Covenant, went through his severest agony on the cross as the darkness covered the earth (Luke 23:44; Matt. 27:45).

“But when the Messiah appeared as Kohen Gadol (High Priest) of the good things that were to come, then, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle which is not man-made (that is, it is not of this created world), he entered the Most Holy Place (קדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים) once and for all. And he entered not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing eternal redemption (גְּאוּלַּת עוֹלָם) for us…. Therefore he is the Mediator of a new covenant (המתווך של הברית החדשה), so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance (נַחֲלַת עוֹלָם), since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant” (Hebrews 9:11-12,15).

The Significance of Rosh Hashanah…

John J Parsons

Let me begin this entry by quoting a passage of Scripture from the New Testament that admonishes us to remember our shared heritage with the Jewish people:

“Brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Messiah. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the desert. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Messiah, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:1-12).

Amen.  “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29).

The very first word of the Bible — the very first utterance of revelation — is the Hebrew word “beresheet” (בְּרֵאשִׁית), which is commonly translated as “in the beginning” (Gen. 1:1). Note then that the Bible begins the account of creation using a word about time… That might seem a bit unsurprising or even trite, a little bit like saying “Once upon a time…” but it clearly indicates the significance of time in relation to the divine revelation given to us…

As we learn Torah, which is the foundation of the other Scriptures of the Bible (including the New Testament), we repeatedly are instructed to sanctify (i.e., honor) certain occasions throughout the year. These are called “appointed times,” or mo’edim in Hebrew, from a root word (יָעַד) that means to assemble together, to meet, and even to betroth… The first occurrence of the root occurs in the account of the creation when God said: “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons (i.e., mo’edim), and for days and years” (Gen. 1:14).

These appointed times were designed by God to be special occasions for human beings to have fellowship with him. Indeed, after God created Adam and Eve in the orchard of Eden, he explained that the Sabbath day was to be set apart in honor of the creation. God also regularly met with Adam and Eve in the “wind of the day” (i.e., לרוּחַ הַיּוֹם, Gen. 3:8) to instruct them about their responsibilities as his stewards of creation. God’s teachings to our primordial ancestors were later preserved as traditions within the godly line of Seth who had observed the “new moon” of the months and commemorated seasonal transitions. Similarly, the earliest forms of Passover celebrated the beginning of spring, Pentecost celebrated the first spring harvest, Sukkot (i.e., Tabernacles) celebrated the fall harvest, and so on. During these special times sacrifices to God were offered and feasts celebrated.

Moses did not write in a vacuum, of course, and he was quite familiar with the heritage of the godly line of Seth handed down through Noah’s son Shem and his descendants. The ancient appointed times were later codified and sanctioned by God when Moses wrote the Torah during the years of the Sinai revelation. Therefore we note the Torah’s calendar is divided into 360 days, 54 weeks, 12 months, 4 seasons, and 2 half-years.

There are two distinct “new years” on the Torah’s calendar: one in the spring, on the first day of the month of Nisan, called “Rosh Chodashim” (Exod. 12:2; Deut. 16:1), which marks the season of the redemption from Egypt, and the other in the fall, precisely six full months later, on the first day of the month of Tishri, called “Yom Teruah” (Num. 29:1), a day to be celebrated by shouting (teruah) and the sounding of shofars and trumpets (Lev. 23:24).

Now the new year in the spring remembers the Exodus from Egypt (Passover) and the crossing of the sea, culminating in the 49 day (seven week) countdown to the giving of the law at Sinai (Shavuot / Pentecost), whereas the new year in the fall remembers God as our Creator, our Judge, the one who purifies us from sin (Yom Kippur), as well as the one who restores us to fellowship and surrounds us with his love (Sukkot / Tabernacles). (Note that the eight days of Passover in the spring correspond with the eight days of Sukkot in the fall.)

It has been said that the liturgy of the Jew is the calendar, and the two new years, then, serve as two “axes” upon which turn the theme and tone of the calendar year. For instance, we begin getting ready for the Passover every year just after the holiday of Purim. We then plan our house cleaning, the removal of chametz, and we review the story of the exodus from Egypt to ready ourselves for the Passover. During Passover we abstain from leaven and begin the countdown for seven weeks until we reach the jubilee of Shavuot, or “Pentecost” – recalling how God gave us the law at Sinai and made covenant with us to be his holy people.

The intervening summer months offer time for reflection, recalling the various tragedies that befell the Jewish people, such as the incident of the Golden Calf (Exod. 32:4) the tragic “Sin of the Spies” (Num. 14:22-34), and (later) the destruction of the Holy Temple (2 Kings 25; Jer. 52:12-16). The summer culminates in the sixth month of the calendar, called the month of “Elul.” During this month we focus on “teshuvah” or turning back to God in repentance… Sermons are given admonishing us to repent; our Torah portions warn of the “great rebuke” (i.e., tochachah) that Moses warned would come if we turned away from God, and so on.

Because of this, Rosh Hashanah (another name for Yom Teruah) became associated with the time of divine judgment – the advent of Yom Adonai (יוֹם יְהוָה), or the “Day of the LORD” – wherein each soul would be examined by God in relation to his or her teshuvah and the decree established whether their soul would live or die in the forthcoming year…. Customs arose about making amends with others and joining in corporate confession of sin at this time.

According to Jewish tradition, on Rosh Hashanah the destiny of the righteous, the tzaddikim, are written in sefer ha’chayim, the Book of Life, and the destiny of the wicked, the resha’im, are written in sefer ha’mavet, the Book of Death. However, most people will not be inscribed in either book, but have ten days — until Yom Kippur — to repent before sealing their fate. Hence the term “Aseret Yemei Teshuvah” (עֲשֶׂרֶת יְמֵי תְּשׁוּבָה) – the Ten Days of Repentance arose in the tradition. On Yom Kippur, then, everyone’s name will be sealed in one of the books.

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­ Read more “The Significance of Rosh Hashanah…”

Written in the Book of Life…

John J Parsons

The Scriptures teach that every word we speak and every choice we make are infallibly recorded in “heavenly scrolls,” and one day these scrolls will be opened as a testimony about what we did with our lives (Dan. 7:10; Matt. 12:36-37; 1 Cor. 3:13, 4:5). “And I saw the dead, both the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book (סֵפֶר אַחֵר) was opened, which is called the Book of Life (סֵפֶר הַחַיִּים). And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done” (Rev. 20:12).

Read more “Written in the Book of Life…”

Anticipating Yom Teruah…

John J Parsons

The “Feast of Trumpets” (i.e., yom teruah: יוֹם תְּרוּעָה), otherwise known as Rosh Hashanah (ראש השנה) in Jewish tradition, begins Sunday, Sept. 25th at sundown in Israel this year (Num. 29:1). There are worldwide tremors, engineered plagues, nation rising up against nation, men’s hearts failing them for fear, worldwide apostasy and godlessness, and the love of many now runs cold… A time of testing is approaching. Look up, for the day of redemption draws near, chaverim.

 

 

Yom Teruah Meditation:

Luke 13:1-9 is a timely section of Scripture to meditate upon during the last two weeks of month of Elul…

“There were some present at that time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

 

Why Shavuot Matters…

John J Parsons

The holiday of Shavuot (חג השבועות) is called “Pentecost” in Christian tradition. The Greek word Pentecost (πεντηκοστή) means “the holiday of fifty days” that refers to the 50th day after the crucifixion of Yeshua when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples and when Peter first proclaimed the truth of salvation in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1-43). The Torah teaches that Shavuot is a major biblical holiday (it is one of the three “required festivals” of the LORD, see Exod. 23:14-17; Deut. 16:16) and therefore it behooves us to understand its significance as the climax of Passover itself — ‘the endpoint’ of the redemptive experience. Indeed, just as the blood of the lambs smeared on the door posts led directly to Sinai 50 days later, so the crucifixion of Yeshua led directly to the descent of the Holy Spirit to empower His followers to serve God under the new covenant of Zion.

 

 

There are two basic priestly rituals commanded for Shavuot: 1) the waving (i.e., tenufah: תנופה) of the two loaves of (new) wheat bread (called shtei ha’lechem: שתי הלחם), and 2) the offering of peace sacrifices (i.e., korban shelamim: קורבן שלמים). Both of these aspects of the priestly service were fulfilled in the greater sacrifice of Yeshua made on our behalf. Moreover, just as worshipers at the Temple would present bikkurim (בכורים) – their choicest first fruits – and attest to God’s faithfulness before the altar (Deut. 26:3), so we are called to walk in the fruit of the Spirit (פרי רוח הקודש) and to proclaim the message of God’s faithful love for us.

Read more “Why Shavuot Matters…”

Evil and Stupidity…

John J Parsons

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), a German pastor who was surrounded by the atrocious evil of Nazi Germany and who was murdered at their hands, regarded stupidity as more dangerous than outright evil, since stupidity is a type of irrationality, a chosen ignorance of what is real and true. Against such willed ignorance we are often defenseless, since any reasoning that appeals to transcendental moral truth finds no traction, carries no weight, and has no effect. The devil, then, seeks first of all to stupefy people, that is, to drug them or flatter and persuade them to think that there is no need to engage in serious thinking or to humbly question their assumptions… As William James observed: “A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” The antidote to unthinkingly accepting the biases and inculcated prejudices of the world is to humble ourselves by learning to sincerely respect the Reality of God: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and correction.”

Soren Kierkegaard had earlier defined stupidity to be a category of the “group-think” of the crowd. He wrote: “Wherever the crowd is, there is untruth, so that, for a moment to carry the matter out to its farthest conclusion, even if every individual possessed the truth in private, yet if they came together into a crowd (so that “the crowd” received any decisive, voting, noisy, audible importance), untruth would at once be let in… Indeed, the crowd is untruth. There is therefore no one who has more contempt for what it is to be a human being than those who make it their profession to lead the crowd. … For to win a crowd is not so great a trick; one only needs some talent, a certain dose of untruth and a little acquaintance with the human passions” (Upbuilding Discourses).

Those who deny that moral truth exists are themselves making a truth claim, namely the claim that there is no such thing as objective truth (or that knowledge of the world is not possible). This self-inflicted incoherence is a sign of irrationalism, of course, the abandonment of reason, which perhaps is the ulterior motive for such manner of thinking, after all. The person who denies moral truth does so to escape the demands of truth – to flee from personal responsibility before moral and spiritual Reality. It is a form of “wish-fulfillment” to deny that people are not responsible for what they believe and how they live their lives. The ancient pagan world at least esteemed honor and believed in the pursuit of virtue and truth, but today’s post-Christian world is nihilistic, anarchist, and therefore marks a return to barbarism.

The ground of all right thinking about reality is “wonder,” or the sense that life itself is something mysteriously beautiful, amazing, and therefore inherently sacred. This is sometimes called yirat Adonai (יראת יהוה), “the fear of the LORD” that leads to wisdom. Right thinking therefore begins with consciousness of the good (i.e., hakarat ha’tov: הכרת הטוב), that is, with the awareness that life itself a gift, a mystery, and a hallowed question… We seek our origin, our essence, and our purpose — and in our seeking we seek the LORD. We long for deliverance from what keeps us from healing, from love, from real hope. And as we seek, the wonder of the LORD God never ends. As Yeshua said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7).

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Appointed Times of the LORD…

John J Parsons

Our Torah portion this week (i.e., parashat Kedoshim) reveals that the “appointed times” (i.e., mo’edim: מוֹעֲדִים) were given by God to help us turn away from the omnipresent urge within the human heart to embrace vanity: “Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father and guard (שָׁמַר) my Sabbaths (שַׁבְּתתַי)… Do not turn to worthlessness (i.e., אֱלִיל) or make for yourselves any molten gods” (Lev. 19:3-4). In other words, the Biblical holidays – including the weekly Shabbat, the monthly Rosh Chodesh, and so on – were intended to help us to sanctify (“set apart,” “make holy”) the times and seasons in order to remind us of God’s Presence (Psalm 104:19). Therefore they are called mikra’ei kodesh (מִקְרָאֵי קדֶשׁ), “times in which holiness is proclaimed” (Lev. 23:2).

The Torah’s declaration that these days are holy implies that they are set apart for special activities, such as celebrating God as our Creator (Shabbat), our Redeemer (Passover), our Resurrection (Bikkurim/Firstfruits), our Lawgiver (Shavuot/Pentecost), our King (Teruah/Rosh Hashanah), our High Priest (Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement), our Shelter (Sukkot/Tabernacles), and so on. In this connection it should be noted that it is a mistake to assume that the divine calendar was somehow abrogated after the cross of Yeshua, since all of the Jewish holidays center on Him, and indeed the advent of the Ruach Ha-Kodesh (Holy Spirit) occurred after his resurrection following the 49-day countdown to the jubilee of Shavuot (see Acts 1:8; 2:1-4).

 

Hebrew Lesson:

 

Read more “Appointed Times of the LORD…”

Omer Blessing – Countdown to Shavuot…

John J Parsons

In the Torah we are told to count forty nine days – seven weeks of days – from the day following Passover until Shavuot (i.e., Weeks or “Pentecost”). This period of time is called Sefirat HaOmer (ספירות העומר), or the “counting the [barley] sheaves” (see Lev. 23:15-16; Deut. 16:9). In somewhat abstract terms, it’s as if there is a dotted line pointing directly from Passover to Shavuot – a “Jubilee” of days – representing the climax of Passover itself.  The early sages identified this climax as the revelation of the Torah at Sinai — which indeed did happen exactly 49 days after the Passover in Egypt — but the New Testament identifies it as the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (רוח הקודש) that ratified the reality of the New Covenant of God at Zion. In other words, the redemption process that began at Passover was therefore completed at Shavuot, and that “completion” was the revelation of God’s love and deliverance for the entire world. And though the Jewish sages did not fathom the use of the otherwise forbidden leaven in the offering (see Lev. 2:11), prophetically the waving of two loaves during Shavuot pictured the “one new man” (composed of both Jew and Gentile) standing before the altar of the LORD (Eph. 2:14).

The countdown to Shavuot therefore goes beyond the giving of Torah at Sinai and points to the greater revelation of Zion. Shavuot is the fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit’s advent to those who are trusting in Messiah (Acts 2:1-4). “Counting the Omer,” then, is about receiving the Holy Spirit to experience and know the resurrected LORD of Glory. You can “count” on that, chaverim!

 

In this connection note again that the climax of the 49 days was not the giving of the law at Sinai (i.e., matan Torah), but rather the revelation of the altar (i.e., the“Tabernacle”) and its subsequent fulfillment in the sacrificial death of Yeshua as our Lamb of God. Moreover, it was during this time that Yeshua made His post-resurrection appearances to His disciples and indeed ascended to heaven during this period… Of particular importance is 1) the beginning of the count of the omer since it signified the waving of the firstfruits and therefore the resurrection of Yeshua (1 Cor. 15:20); 2) the 40th day of the Omer (Mem B’Omer), when Yeshua ascended back to heaven, and 3) the climactic 49th day of the Omer (Shavuot) when the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples in fulfillment of the promise of Yeshua that we would not be left comfortless (Acts 2:1-4). Shavuot, then, marks the time of “Jubilee” of the Spirit, when are clothed with power to serve the LORD without fear…

 

 

Note:  Some people get a bit “OCD” about the 49 day countdown, making it into a religious ritual with “kabbalistic” overtones, but the Torah simply says to count down the days until Shavuot, or Pentecost, since this has major implications regarding the advent of Messiah and the promise of the New Covenant…. For more on this subject, see: “Sefirat HaOmer: Counting the Sheaves to Shavuot.“

The Life is in His Blood…

John J Parsons

In the Torah we read about the institution of Passover and the final plague that was to befall the Egyptians on the Passover night. When we think of this time, we may imagine God “passing over” those houses that had the blood of the lamb smeared on their doorposts, though it might better be said that God passed into the homes of those who trusted him, while he withdrew His Presence from those that did not…

To see this note that two different words are used that can be translated as “pass over.” First, God said, “I will pass over (i.e., avar: עֲבַר) the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments; I am the LORD” (Exod. 12:12). But directly after saying this, God promised to “pass over” (i.e., pasach: פָּסַח) the homes of those who trusted in him to impart his protection from the plague of death: “The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over to you (lit. עֲלֵכֶם, ‘upon you’), and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exod. 12:13). In other words, when God would see the blood of the Passover lamb, he would pass over to enter the house and “cover” its occupants from the judgment of death.

The blood of the Passover lamb sheltered people from the plague of death by atoning for their sin by means of a substitutionary sacrifice. The Torah states that “the life (i.e., nefesh: נֶפֶשׁ, or ‘soul’) of the flesh is in the blood” (Lev. 17:11), and therefore death represents the separation of the soul from the body. The life blood of a sacrificial lamb was therefore offered in exchange for the death and destruction of others. Eating the lamb “roasted by fire” meant identifying with the death offered in exchange for your own; eating matzah, or unleavened bread, signified being delivered in haste, apart from the “rise of the flesh” or human design; and eating maror, or bitter herbs, recalled the bitterness of former bondage.

The very first time the word “blood” (דָּם) occurs in the Scriptures concerns the death of Abel, the son of Adam and Eve who was murdered by his brother Cain. After Abel’s blood was shed, the LORD confronted Cain and said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood (קוֹל דְּמֵי אָחִיךָ) is crying to me from the ground” (Gen. 4:10). Since blood is the carrier of life, it bears the energy and vitality of life: it has its own spiritual “voice.” Likewise, the blood of Yeshua (דְּמֵי יֵשׁוּעַ), the true Lamb of God who died upon the cross, speaks on our behalf, and reverses the power of death by creating a barrier that death can no longer cross, since the death of the sacrificial victim “exchanges” the merit and power of life. Unlike the blood of Abel that “cries out” for justice, the blood of Yeshua cries out for mercy (Heb. 12:24). Putting our trust in the provision of God’s sacrifice causes His wrath (or righteous judgment) to pass over while simultaneously extending love to the sinner…. This is the essential message of the gospel itself, that we have atonement through the sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of Yeshua our Savior, the great Lamb of God. As Yeshua said, “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the One who sent me has eternal life (חַיֵּי עוֹלָם) and will not be condemned, but has passed over (i.e., μετά + βαίνω, lit., “crossed over” [עָבַר]) from death to life” (John 5:24). Just as God’s judgment passes over from life to death on my behalf; so His love passes over from death to life on my behalf…

Notice that the Hebrew verb “pasach” can also mean “to limp,” suggesting the heel of Messiah that was “bruised” in the battle for our salvation (Gen. 3:15). It is the cross of Yeshua that enables the mercy of God to “overcome” his justice, or that allows “steadfast love and faithfulness to meet; righteousness and peace to kiss” (Psalm 85:10). His attribute of Justice passes over us as His attribute of Compassion passes into us… The sacrifice of Messiah allows God to be both just and the justifier of those who trust in God’s remedy and exchange for our sin (Rom. 3:26).

The idea of substitutionary atonement is surely mysterious and complicated, but ultimately the message is simple: God loves you and has made a way for you to be eternally accepted — despite your sin… That’s the “good news” of the cross. That’s what Yeshua meant when he said, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (חַיֵּי עוֹלָם). For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:14-17). Humanity as a whole has been “bitten by the snake” and needs to be delivered from its deadly venom. Just as the image made in the likeness of the destroying snake was lifted up for Israel’s healing, so the One made in the likeness of sinful flesh was to be lifted up as the Healer of the world (Rom. 8:3). All we need to do is look and believe. Yeshua died for you so you can live. He stands at the door and knocks, offering to cross over to give you his life (Rev. 3:20).

Hebrew Lesson
Leviticus 17:11 Hebrew reading (click):

 

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