Vayikra-And He Called
"Maintaining a Life of Honor"Leviticus 1:1 - 5:26, Isaiah 43:21 – 44:23, 1 Corinthians 11-16
There are two means by which you prosper: honor and wisdom. Honor is a decision…a seed…a law. And it can be taught. Wisdom is the ability to recognize who should and should not be honored. The ability to discern honor and dishonor enables you to end wrong relationships. Wrong people never leave voluntarily. Like Jonah, they must be thrown overboard.
Dishonor
is not a character glitch that you are born with – it is a decision to
defy and disrespect God in people. Dishonor is a choice; it disconnects,
disqualifies and reveals the deceiver in your midst. What you refuse to
learn through people, you will learn through pain. Once dishonor has
occurred, restoration rarely occurs. Dishonor oftentimes leads to
disease. In Hebraic understanding, deception is the birthplace of all
pain.
This sets the context for the Torah portion, Vayikra.
Leviticus Chapters 5 and 6 deal with the guilt offering, or the guilt
that occurs when you begin to understand the error of your way. In other
words, “How do I make restoration when I have done someone wrong?” “How
do I get back to a place of favor with someone I have dishonored?”
These questions reveal the fact that guilt has now cut you off; you are
disconnected from the one you have dishonored.
When
you have sought forgiveness from someone you dishonored, and
forgiveness is not granted, then that’s between them and God. According
to Biblical law, they were to forgive and release the offense. Some
people are not able to forgive because they have not forgiven
themselves. Restoration is not simply saying, “I’m sorry, please forgive
me.” It includes finances and a meal – a tribute offering. Repentance
without a tribute offering does not fully remove one’s guilt.
The
purpose of offerings has always been to maintain the covenant
relationship with God. Abuses of covenant relationship lead to
defilement and the departure of the presence of God. Restoration is
required to re-enact the power of covenant relationship.
All
Biblical offerings fall into two categories – the in-communion
offerings (in common union) and the out-communion offerings (out of
common union). The in-communion offerings restore the relationship
between the worshipper and man.
In-Communion Offerings- Olah Offering or Ascent Offering – an offering given entirely to the Lord.
- Minchah Offering or Tribute Offering – a tribute paid to God and is food for the priest. This offering is given with money and a meal.
- Sh’lamim Offering or Fellowship Offering – a covenant seed eaten by all, the worshipper, the priest and God altogether.
- Chatta’t Offering or Purification Offering – purifies or de-sins the individual.
- Asham Offering or Reparation Offering – requires a wholehearted repentance and restitution.
The
simple truth behind these offerings is that they do not pertain to your
past, but to your future. These offerings have the potential within
them to keep you from diseases of the spirit which not only affects your
present life, but your future. All disease is a result of separation on
three levels:
- Separation from God, His Word, His person and His love.
- Separation from yourself – not accepting yourself, not loving yourself, guilt and condemnation.
- Separation from others – breach in relationship, hatred, bitterness, envy, jealousy, competition, performance, being too overdriven, lack of nurturing, lack of love, etc.
God,
in His infinite wisdom, has given principles in the Torah that are the
antidotes to diseases of the spirit. Yet we say that God’s Torah does
not apply to us today…that we are not “under the law”… that our
redemption is in Yeshua/Jesus alone. No, your salvation is in
Yeshua/Jesus Christ. Redemption is found in the principles of the Torah,
God’s teaching and instruction.
“My
people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected
knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you
have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”
Hosea 4:6 NKJV
The
Torah principles allow you to gain self-confidence and self-esteem from
God, rather than man. Healing of spiritually rooted diseases begins
with the following:- Coming back into alignment with God, His Word, His person, His nature, His precepts and what He planned for you from the beginning of time. The solution is restoration.
- Accepting yourself in your relationship with God. Getting rid of self-hatred, self-bitterness, and guilt. Coming back in alignment with who you are in God through Yeshua’s redemption.
- Making peace with your brother, your sister, and all others, if at all possible.
How
you live your life is critical. God gives you faith, which is
steadiness and steadfastness in His commands. When God gives you an
instruction He has, in essence, taken something from the unseen realm
and brought it into the seen realm – faith. Once you see it, you apply
the principle (instruction) of God. Once you walk in the principle of
God, you find your purpose. From purpose He gives you vision. You see
clearly and have hope for yourself. You can see long term. From vision,
comes increase.
Faith = Principles = Purpose = Vision = Increase
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5 NKJV
In Vayikra, God has given the principles that will help you maintain a life of honor. The wisdom hidden in Vayikra
is found through the offerings. As you look to Yeshua and obey his
instruction, dishonor and its associated diseases of the spirit have no
stronghold and no other choice than to be far from you!
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