Drawing Near

Act 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

Act 2:11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

Act 6:1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples were multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

Act 6:2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

Act 6:3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

These men in Acts chapter 7 are simply showing their fidelity to the Torah, the Law, not having a deacon’s election!!!

Act 15:20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.

Act 15:21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

Once saved the following is a minimal to begin the journey of drawing near

Abstain from sexual impurity…

Act 16:4 And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.

Abstain from sexual impurity…

Act 18:18 And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.

Act 21:23 Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;

Act 21:24 Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.

Num 6:9 And if any man die very suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his consecration; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.

Num 6:10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation:

Num 6:11 And the priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make an atonement for him, for that he sinned by the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.

Num 6:12 And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled.

An Asham

Obviously what has happened to these men that they needed to be purified, since they were already under a vow???

Act 21:26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.

Act 21:27 And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him,

Shaving of their heads on the seventh day, offering an Olah, a Chatat, and an Asham on the Eighth day at the altar!!!

Were the men who directed Paul and these four men to do these things not saved men?

Since at this point it is obvious that Paul nor the Elders, the other Apostle/Eyewitnesses, are not unsaved men, and Paul has already written the book of Galatians, which our New Covenant brethren use emphatically to declare that the law is done away with, we must ask ourselves what are these men doing about to make sacrifice??

Surely, its not as some new covenant orators have emphatically declared, “Paul had to do this to keep a bunch of irate Jews off his back.”

Maybe our understanding is so flawed to the very core on this matter of sacrifices that we need to start with the word sacrifice itself.

It is evident that the concept of sacrifice as it existed in the Tanak is widely misunderstood.

Although the idea of sacrifices may seem difficult for contemporary man to accept, it is the commandment of the Almighty.

Looking at the word "sacrifice" in Webster's Dictionary, we begin to see a difference in thinking which may help us start to see the cause behind much of the misunderstanding.

The English the verb "sacrifice" means something entirely different than the Hebrew concept laid down in scripture.

L sacrificium, 1: an act of offering something precious to deity; specif : the offering of a immolated victim 2: something offered in sacrifice 3a: destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else 3b: something given up or lost {the ~s made by parents} 4: LOSS, DEPRIVATION

The Hebrew concept of bringing a sacrifice to the altar is the word korban which is from the root which means "to come near, to approach, to become closely involved in a relationship with someone."

This is the essence of the experience that the bearer of the korban was to understand!!

No word in the English language can adequately convey the idea behind the Hebrew word korban.

“We allow ourselves to use the word sacrifice" for lack of a better word, but it is a highly unsuccessful attempt at conveying the correct thought, concept, word picture; it could even be called unfortunate.”

With these earth shattering events from the book of Acts before us and the plain contention that few of our contemporaries understand sacrifices let us as humble servants of YHWH, God go to the source and leave no stone unturned in our search.

As we do we will plainly see that the Apostle’s intent was the same as King David’s who prayed in the book of Psalms (73:28), As for me, it is good for me to draw near to God (LITV)

Could it be that the aim of the Olah, the Mincah, the Chatat, the Zevac Shelamim, and the Asham is dedicating human life to a higher sphere of awareness... closer to the Creator and the source of all life

Leviticus chapter 1

Lev 1:1 And the LORD called unto Moses, and spoke unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,

Who’s calling?

(strongs) A primitive root (rather identical with H7122 through the idea of accosting a person met

arq

Who are the ones in need of strength??

NTC (new testament commentary)

Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Further NTC on those who need strength

Mat 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

Jam 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. (KJV)

Jam 5:16 Therefore, openly acknowledge your sins to one another, and pray for each other, so that you may be healed.(CJB)

Yes as we study and ponder the hl[ (olah)

!brq (korban),the olah procedure for drawing near, we will begin to see the precepts laid down for us to use as tools to deal with the inward corruption within all of us. (the seeds of rebellion)

Maybe you don’t think you have any seeds of rebellion in yourself????

Num 20:24 Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled (hrm maw-raw') against my word at the water of Meribah.

H4784 hrm maw-raw'

A primitive root; to be (causatively make) bitter (or unpleasant); (figuratively) to rebel (or resist; causatively to provoke): - bitter, change, be disobedient, disobey, grievously, provocation, provoke (-ing), (be) rebel (against, -lious).

Num 27:13 And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered.

Num 27:14 For ye rebelled (hrm maw-raw') against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.

Num 14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

Num 16:22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?

Num 16:45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.

Num 20:6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them.

Num 12:6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

Num 12:8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

Deu 9:23 Likewise when the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then ye rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice.

Deu 9:24 Ye have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.

Deu 9:25 Thus I fell down before the LORD forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first; because the LORD had said he would destroy you.

Or maybe it wasn’t too mysterious and unknown, maybe it was such a common and simple thing that most of us stumble over it……

Dan.9:5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled,(drm maw-rad') even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:

H4775 drm maw-rad'

A primitive root; to rebel:

Dan 9:9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled (drm maw-rad') against him;

After a careful look at the testimony of these three men, can we begin to see and admit that we too have rebellion lurking in us and need to be watchful……

Now we can clearly see that His calling out to us is indeed to those who are desperately in need!!!!

Lev 1:1 And the LORD called unto Moses, and spoke unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,

How is HE calling (with His own voice) through Moses

Num 12:3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)

Heb 3:5 Also, Moshe was faithful in all God's house, as a servant giving witness to things God would divulge later. (CJB)

God needed a faithful witness, not one who would opinionize, to record both the instructions as well as the prophecies given in Torah as a witness through the centuries as to what HIS intent was and still is!!!!

Luk 24:44 Now He said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."

Luk 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures,

Luk 16:29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

Luk 16:30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

Luk 16:31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Joh 5:44 How can ye believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only?

Joh 5:45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.

Joh 5:46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.

Joh 5:47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

Why all this weightiness, all the gravity, all the immensity on what Moshe has to say???

Only Moshe tells us clearly, distinctly, and plainly how to treat HIM, YHWH, if we truly believe He is God.

Moshe tells us clearly, distinctly, and plainly how to draw near to this God YHWH.

If we seek to draw near some other way than what Moshe taught us, we might find ourselves drawing near to another god and wind up being Idolaters!!!

In the following verses who or what is the idol that these religious leaders are seeking to draw near to???

Joh 5:44 How can ye believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only?

Num 16:10 And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?

The weight, the gravity, the immensity of what Moshe teaches us lies in the fact that he teaches us how to draw near to the true God, YHWH, and not to an idol.

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry (KJV)

Col 3:5 Therefore, put to death whatever in you is worldly: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. (HCSB)

Lets go on a simple Idol hunt and see what caused the sons of Jacob to do the rebellious things they did!!!!