Parashah Tzav
10 Nisan 5780 / April
4, 2020
By Rabbi Kirk Gliebe
This Weeks
Readings:
Torah: Leviticus 6:1-8:36
Haftarah: Malachi 3:4-24
Brit Chadashah: Hebrews 9:11-28
Parashah Tzav is read often on "Shabbat HaGadol – the
Great Shabbat", the Saturday before the holiday of Passover. Why
specifically was this day chosen? We do not uniquely celebrate the Shabbat
before the holidays of Sukkot or Shavuot! According to tradition, more than 3,300
years ago, the Jewish people on the 10th of Nisan, on the last
Shabbat of their Egyptian captivity, followed the mandate of Moshe to bring
into their homes lambs, who four days later would become their Passover
sacrifice, the blood of those lambs marking the doorsteps of their homes. Thus,
before the commandment of the mezuzah, this sign showed a Jewish house for all
to see. This Parashah reminds us of the Passover Lamb, the importance of the
shedding of blood to mark the redeemed, and the requirement of sacrifice for
our redemption.
In the Torah portion, we continue
to read about the different sacrifices that were offered. There were many types
of sacrificial offerings, such as the burnt offering, the grain offering, the
sin offering, the guilt offering, and the fellowship offering. The Torah
portion also speaks about Aharon and his sons. G-d told Moshe to take Aharon
and his two sons, along with garments, the anointing oil, and the bull for the
sin offering, two rams and the basket of matzah to the Tent of Meeting. Moshe
did what G-d told him to do, going through the process of making Aharon a Cohen
or Priest. The Cohen was the one to make the sacrifices G-d commanded, to take
care of the Tent of Meeting and teach the Israelites G-d’s rules for holy
living.
The Haftarah portion speaks
about a coming Day of Judgment in the future, but also about how the people
were robbing G-d. G-d tells the people that they have been sinning because of
their lack of generosity toward support for G-d’s religious institution for
worship, the Temple. The Prophet challenges them to be honest before G-d, to
demonstrate their commitment to Him by generously supporting the Temple and its
service: the worship and sacrifice. G-d promises that if the people will wholly
turn to Him, He will absolutely turn to them as well and bless them.
In the Brit Chadashah portion,
the unknown author is speaking about the supremacy of Messiah Yeshua’s
sacrifice. According to the Torah, without the shedding of blood there is no
forgiveness of sins. But this system of sacrifice, though ordained by G-d, is
inadequate in itself to provide full and compete atonement. G-d provided this
instead outside of the sacrifices provided in the Torah through the unique sacrifice
of Messiah Yeshua. His is the ultimate sacrifice to provide atonement for all
sin once and for all, and is totally unrelated to the sacrifices laid out in
the Torah. Everyone can experience G-d’s forgiveness, but only by personally
believing in and accepting Yeshua’s unique sacrifice for themselves.
Parashah Tzav is almost entirely about the sacrifices, which were first made
in the Tabernacle, then the Temples, the first built by King Solomon and then later
rebuilt after the return of the Jewish community from the Babylonian exile.
Today, we have no Temple, and we can’t practice all of the instructions of the
Torah, concerning these sacrifices. Nevertheless, the instructions that are
associated with the sacrifices should not be forgotten. They should instead
lead us to a heart of gratitude and generosity toward G-d for the redemption we
have received for all of our sin through the sacrifice of our Messiah Yeshua,
our ultimate Passover Lamb.