1. The first sacrifice pictures sins committed in ignorance.
2. The second sacrifice pictures sins committed intentionally.
3. The third sacrifice pictures total dedication.
4. The fourth sacrifice pictures union or communion, fellowship or peace with God.
5. And the fifth sacrifice pictures transformation.

The Sacrificial System offers us a Pattern of Relationship that Yahveh had with ancient Israel, and also allows us to view the Work of the Holy Spirit in our lives today through the Blood Sacrifice of Jesus. Even though there is no Temple sacrifice today, the principle of sacrifice remains a spiritual reality for us.

All Mosaic Sacrifices are caught up in Yeshua (the Hebrew Name for Jesus). The one time Sacrifice of Yeshua embodies all the Mosaic sacrifices. This helps us to understand both the fullness of Yeshua's Sacrifice and what the Holy Spirit desires to do with us today.

Sacrifice was not unique to ancient Israel. All peoples approached and worshiped their gods by sacrifice. No religious act was complete without a sacrifice. (The early believers always took 'the Body and the Blood' when they met, for this speaks of the Sacrifice of Yeshua.) It was only through sacrifice that one could approach God. Sacrifice was synonymous with worship and service. And sacrifice literally cost something. What we would call money.

The person bringing the animal shows us the reality that the animal was a substitute for the person. It also pictured the seriousness, of entering into, and maintaining, a relationship with Yahveh. The Mosaic Sacrifices were given by Yahveh. They are only for Israel, the People of God already in covenant with Him. If the Israelite sinned, he didn't have to make another covenant with Yahveh. Provision was built into the Mosaic Covenant to take care of sin. We only come into covenant once. If Israel sinned, they didn't make another covenant with God. The One Time Sacrifice of Yeshua applies in the same way.

In Leviticus 4:27-31 we read this:

Lev. 4:27 And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he does something against any of the Commandments of Yahveh concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty;

Lev. 4:28 Or if his sin, which he hath sinned, comes to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned.

Lev. 4:29 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay the Sin Offering in the place of the Burnt Offering.

Lev. 4:30 And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the Altar of Burnt Offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the Altar.

Lev. 4:31 And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of Peace Offerings. And the priest shall burn it upon the Altar for a sweet savor unto Yahveh. And the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.

In verse 27, the concept of hah-tah (sin), is unintentional. Literally, it means 'to miss the mark' (and is the usual misunderstanding of most people for all sin). Hahtah pictures the archer aiming at the bull's eye with the intent of hitting it, but missing it.

In verse 28 the animal given is a female goat. All the sacrifices that Yahveh calls for never involve a wild animal. Could you imagine what it would be like to try and sacrifice a lion? All the animals picture the willingness of Yeshua to lay His Life down, as the Lamb of God.

In verse 29 the offerer slays the animal. Most have assumed that the priest would slay it but Yahveh requires the one who brings it, the one who has sinned, to slay it. The person bringing the sacrifice had to have a pure heart, a desire to turn from his sin. It was not just a mechanical procedure. Of course, only God would know that. But just because the procedure was followed, it didn't mean that God had truly forgiven them. Any more than a thief asking for forgiveness from a priest would be forgiven if he didn't intend to stop. The heart must be in it. That's part of the procedure too.

The innocence of the animals (they were not guilty of sin), reflects the innocence of Yeshua, the Sinless Lamb of Yahveh. The concept is that an innocent one has died for a guilty one. This sacrifice and the next one, not only speak of the sin of Israel equal to death, the animal dying, but also the need of a Substitute for Israel.

In verse 30 the blood of the sacrifice is placed upon the Horns of the Bronze Altar which pictures the life of the flesh being in the blood, crying out for forgiveness; beseeching Yahveh to save them. The Horns of the Altar symbolized Yahveh's ability to save anyone who sought Him. The blood represented the person totally desiring forgiveness, having given up his life to obtain it. Or rather, saying that his entire being was in the petition. And hence, those whose heart was not in it, but who followed the 'procedure' were not really following the procedure, for it entails a heart that desires to get right with Yahveh. Yahveh will have much to say about following the mechanical procedure to the exclusion of the moral, through the Prophets (Isaiah 1:11-17 and Amos 5:21-24, etc.)

The blood poured at the base of the Altar pictures the People of Yahveh who have literally given up their lives through the sin of Man. In Revelation 6:9 we read this:

'When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the Altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the Word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;'

In Leviticus 4:31 the priest forgives the person for the sin. The person is truly forgiven. Many Christians don't understand that forgiveness didn't start with Jesus, but was something that Yahveh gave to Israel, through sacrifice and His servants, the priests. The animals pointed to Yeshua being the Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8).

The fat, placed upon the Altar, would melt and symbolize the Spirit (Oil) of the Holy One. To obtain forgiveness of sin, one must die to self, pictured in the animal dying, and accept God's Provision for Sin, Jesus.

The same general pattern, of the offerer bringing, and slaying the offering, will continue for the next three sacrifices. The last sacrifice, or the fifth one, will disengage from an animal being sacrificed, and offer up both grain and wine instead.

In Leviticus 6:1-7 we read that God instituted a sacrifice for intentional sins also:

Lev. 6:1 And Yahveh spake to Moses, saying,

Lev. 6:2 If a soul sins, and commits a trespass against Yahveh, and lies to his neighbor in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or has deceived his neighbor;

Lev. 6:3 Or found that which was lost, and lies concerning it, and swears falsely; in any of all these that a man does, sinning therein:

Lev. 6:4 Then it shall be, because he has sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he has deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found,

Lev. 6:5 Or all that about which he has sworn falsely. He shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it pertains, in the day of his trespass offering.

Lev. 6:6 And he shall bring his Trespass Offering unto Yahveh, a ram without blemish out of the flock, with your estimation, for a Trespass Offering, unto the priest:

Lev. 6:7 And the priest shall make an atonement for him before Yahveh: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he has done in trespassing therein.

In verse 2 the concept of mah-ahl (trespass), is one of intentional fraud. It literally means, 'to defraud, to deceive, to lie, to rob.' All this is premeditated, the person knowing that if he does that, he will be sinning, and speaks of the unfaithfulness of the person to Yahveh first, and then the one defrauded.

In verse 5 the deceiver is told to restore what he took, plus 20% and then proceed to get right with Yahveh through confession of his sin, and sacrifice. Yeshua says that if you bring your gift to the Altar and have ought with your brother, leave your gift and be reconciled with your brother. Then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:23-24). (The gift here, as well as every place where 'offering' is used, speak of a sacrifice. The one bringing it, brings it to the Altar.) But more to the point, this tells us that today, one should restore what one has taken, and then ask God for forgiveness in Jesus' Name.

Verses 6 and 7 tell us that the ram slain by the offerer has two distinct functions. The first deals with the actual act of the offense itself. It is covered by the sinner restoring what was taken and the blood of the sacrifice.

The second pertains to the guilt of the sinner (ah-sham), in verses 4-6, incurred by committing the deception. Poison or guilt is released into the being of the offender when the offense occurred, and remains and grows with time. Only forgiveness from Yahveh can neutralize it. The person is cleansed by the blood. The priest forgives the act, the three parties are reconciled (Yahveh, the sinner and the one who was sinned against), and the guilt is removed.

The principle of coming to God, with the Blood of Yeshua, and confessing our sin to Him, remains with us today. Again, this only applies for the People of Yahveh, those in covenant with Him through the Blood of Yeshua. By faith, we appear before the Heavenly Altar with the Blood of Yeshua. In 1st John 1:5-2:2, we understand that 'in Yeshua' both the unintentional and intentional sins are dealt with:

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the Truth;

1 John 1:7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the Truth is not in us.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One;

1 John 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

Can you imagine how much our sin would impact us, if every time we wanted to ask for forgiveness, we had to sacrifice an animal? But now, as painful as sacrificing an animal might be, we see that every time we ask for forgiveness, we need to realize that we were there at the Crucifixion, piercing Jesus to the tree. That's how serious our sin is, and how serious God is in extending forgiveness to us.

The Third, Fourth and Fifth Sacrifices of the Mosaic Sacrificial System have nothing to do with sin. The person must already be clean in order to bring these sacrifices. We read of the Third Sacrifice in Leviticus 1:1-9:

Lev. 1:1 Then Yahveh called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying,

Lev. 1:2 Speak to the Sons of Israel and say to them, When any man of you brings an offering to Yahveh, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock.

Lev. 1:3 If his offering is a Burnt Offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect. He shall offer it at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, that he may be accepted before Yahveh.

Lev. 1:4 He shall lay his hand on the head of the Burnt Offering, that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf.

Lev. 1:5 He shall slay the young bull before Yahveh and Aaron's sons. The priests shall offer up the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the Altar that is at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting.

Lev. 1:6 He shall then skin the Burnt Offering and cut it into its pieces.

Lev. 1:7 The sons of Aaron the Priest shall put fire on the Altar and arrange wood on the fire.

Lev. 1:8 Then Aaron's sons, the priests, shall arrange the pieces, the head and the suet over the wood which is on the fire that is on the Altar.

Lev. 1:9 Its entrails, however, and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer up in smoke all of it on the Altar for a Burnt Offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to Yahveh.

In verse 3, the concept of oh-lah is, 'total dedication, full surrender, service to Yahveh.' It's seen in the giving up of the whole animal to Yahveh. Literally, it means 'to ascend up' which is a reference to the smoke arising from the Altar sacrifice. (The word 'Holocaust' or whole burnt offering, is used for the near total destruction of the European Jewish Community by the Nazis.)

In Exodus 29:38-43: Israel was commanded to sacrifice the olah twice a day:

Ex. 29:38 Now this is what you shall offer on the Altar: two one year old lambs each day, continuously.

Ex. 29:39 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight;

Ex. 29:40 and there shall be one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a Wine Offering with one lamb.

Ex. 29:41 The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it the same Grain Offering and the same Wine Offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to Yahveh.

Ex. 29:42 It shall be a continual Burnt Offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting before Yahveh where I will meet with you, to speak to you there.

Ex. 29:43 I will meet there with the Sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My Glory.

The Daily Sacrifice speaks of Israel being totally consecrated or fully surrendered to Yahveh. The sacrifice pictures the lamb of the Passover that set them free (Exodus 12:1-14), free to be a slave to Yahveh. He was their life. We see that in the Commandments to love Him with all their heart, and He would fight against their enemies, and bless them abundantly.

The priest, represents God, to the people. He also represents all the people, to God. He, the High Priest, pictures all Israel. And so, when he sacrifices the Holocaust, all Israel is being dedicated and fully surrendered to Yahveh. The Apostle Paul specifically has this sacrifice in mind, and not any other, when he states in Romans 12:1-2:

Rom. 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Rom. 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

This is a call 'to death to self' in a general sense and a call to bring the Light of Salvation to the Jewish People specifically, as it falls at the end of Romans 11. Of course, when the Apostle wrote his letter, he didn't include chapter and verse markings. This is what precedes Romans 12:1-2:

Rom. 11:23 And they also, if they (the Jews), do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

Rom. 11:24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?

Rom. 11:25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this Mystery so that you will not be wise in your own estimation that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;

Rom. 11:26 and so all Israel will be saved, just as it is written, 'The Deliverer will come from Zion. He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.'

Rom. 11:27 'This is My Covenant with them when I take away their sins.'

Rom. 11:28 From the standpoint of the Gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice, they are beloved for the sake of the Fathers;

Rom. 11:29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Rom. 11:30 For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience,

Rom. 11:31 so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy.

God, in His Infinite Wisdom, has wanted the Gentile believer in the Jewish Messiah, to declare the Glory of God to the Jewish People for 1900 years. Instead, what the Church has done is just the opposite. In the Name of Jesus, more Jewish People have been murdered and persecuted, than all other names combined. Many have persecuted the Jewish People for being 'Christ killers' and so the Work of God among the Gentile peoples has not been what God had desired over the centuries. But this is slowly changing as more and more Gentile believers are being filled with God's love for His Jewish People.

This is exactly what the Apostle Paul was speaking of 1940 years ago: death to self, the meaning of the whole Burnt Offering, that the Jewish People could see their Messiah in the Gentiles. That's why Yahveh called it a sweet savor or 'soothing aroma.' Whenever anyone surrenders to His Will, that is very pleasing to Him.

The concept of Shilamim is one of union, communion, fellowship, friendship, peace, security, wholeness, health and safety. It is fullness of life, with God Himself guaranteeing one's security, health, abundance, etc. Literally it means, 'to cause to bring near' and in this case, to Yahveh, into His Presence. In Leviticus 3:1-5 we read this:

Lev. 3:1 Now if his offering is a sacrifice of Peace Offerings, if he is going to offer out of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without defect before Yahveh.

Lev. 3:2 He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and slay it at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood around on the Altar.

Lev. 3:3 From the sacrifice of the Peace Offerings he shall present an offering by fire to Yahveh, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails,

Lev. 3:4 and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys.

Lev. 3:5 Then Aaron's sons shall offer it up in smoke on the Altar on the Burnt Offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire. It is an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to Yahveh.

Fellowship, communion, friendship, etc. were pictured in this sacrifice as it was the only one where the offerer and the priest sat down and ate together. The priest represents Yahveh and so what we have here is the concept of God and Israel sitting down at table and eating and fellowshipping together. This will play itself out at the Passover Table where Jesus and Israel are eating together, with all its implications, and at the Final Passover in Heaven, where Messiah and Israel are married.

The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, by Harris, Archer and Waltke, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), page 932, states, 'the victim was shared by the priest and the worshiper who offered the sacrifice. The priests received as their part the breast and the right leg...' (Lev. 7:28-34), 'The remainder was to be shared by the worshiper, his family, and his guests.' The picture we see here is the Sacred Banquet in Revelation 19:7 and 9 where Messiah and Israel are eating and fellowshipping together:

'Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His Bride has made Herself ready. Then he said to me, 'Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.'

Yeshua also speaks of this in Luke 13:28-29:

In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the Table in the Kingdom of God.

The Table is the Passover Table because it is here that Jesus offers Himself as the Meat and the Bread (Unleavened: 1st Cor. 5:6-8), and the Wine for His People Israel, to eat and drink of. This is what communion is all about. Oneness with God our Father, through the Sacrifice of His Son. In the Middle East, if two enemies could be induced to break bread together, they would have to become covenant brothers. This is how powerful table fellowship is. And this is exactly what happens when we eat of Messiah. God and Israel (us), who were enemies (Romans 5:10), become friends in the greatest and deepest sense of the word:

1 Sam. 18:1 Now it came about when he had finished speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself.

1 Sam. 18:3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.

This speaks of God's Love for us in that He is the one initiating the Covenant with us, and how we should love our neighbor as our self (Leviticus 19:18).

The Apostle John (16:33) speaks of the Shalom or Peace we have with Papa God because of the Sacrifice of Yeshua when he quotes Jesus as saying:

'These things I have spoken to you that in Me, you may have Peace.'

The Hebrew word for the sacrifice, shilamim, and peace, shalom, come from the same root word which gives us the concept of union or communion with God, etc. Only the Presence and Favor of Papa God make this Peace possible, by the Blood of Yeshua, specifically relating His Sacrifice to the Peace Offering now. John 17:21 declares that the union we have with Papa God because of the Sacrifice of Yeshua is for oneness and witness:

'that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.'

The internal purpose of the Sacrifice is for Union or Oneness with Papa God. The external purpose is so that the 'world may believe.' Now we begin to see the Beauty of the Peace Sacrifice in terms of it's meaning through the Sacrifice of Yeshua. It is Oneness or Union with God and this is equal to the New Creation. In 2nd Corinthians 5:17, the Apostle Paul writes this:

And for anyone who is in the Messiah, there is a New Creation.

This is nothing less than a creative act of God. We see this after the resurrection in John 20:21-23:

'So Yeshua said to them again, 'Peace be upon you. As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.' And when He had said this He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'

'Peace' is what we have with Papa God through the Sacrifice of Yeshua, specifically pictured in the Fourth Sacrifice called Shilamim.

'As the Father sent Me, I also send you.' How did the Father send the Son? We're going to track a theme of Creation out of darkness, to understand where God has brought us from. Mary, the mother of Yeshua, is told in Luke 1:35:

'And the angel answered her and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the Power of the Most High God will overshadow you. Therefore, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.'

Yeshua is the God-Man. Or more accurately, the God-Israel. Why Israel? Because in the End, there will only be Israel in the New Jerusalem. Salvation is for all mankind. But those who respond, of the Jew and the Gentile, are called Israel. Only Israel is saved. The Gentile who walks with the Jewish Messiah, has become part of Israel as Paul writes in Romans 9-11. Yeshua, in being conceived in the womb of Miryam (Mary), is the First of the New Creation.

This conception of Yeshua took place in the darkness of Miryam's womb. In Genesis 1:2: we read that:

'The Earth was without form and void and darkness was on the face of the Deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the Face of the Waters.'

Here we see darkness and God's Spirit moving to create the Universe, the First Creation. In Exodus 12:12 we read of the Creation of Israel, the People of Yahveh:

'For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am Yahveh!'

Deuteronomy 16:1 speaks again of the event centering in the night or darkness:

'Observe the month of Aviv and celebrate the Passover to Yahveh your God, for in the month of Aviv Yahveh your God brought you out of Egypt by night.

In the darkness of night, God created the Nation of Israel, by the blood of the Passover lamb, which pictured the Blood of the Passover Lamb, Yeshua. In Exodus 15:16 we read that:

'Terror and dread fall upon them. By the greatness of Your Arm they are motionless as stone. Until Your People pass over, Yahveh, until the People pass over whom You have purchased.'

The Hebrew word for 'purchased' comes from the verb kah-nah, whose primary meaning is, 'to form or to create.' (Other meanings are, 'to get, to acquire, to obtain, to buy, to purchase and hence to redeem.') And the Jewish People, to whom this happened to, understand this to mean 'to create.'

All those who believe in Yeshua the Messiah of Israel were created, or made part of the New Creation, when Yeshua dies. It is in His Sacrificial Blood that we are set free from slavery to sin and death and given a New Nature and hope for acquittal and glorification on the Day of Judgment. We were created in darkness. Luke 23:44-47 reads:

'It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole Land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured. And the veil of the Temple was torn in two. And Yeshua, crying out with a loud voice, said, 'Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.' Having said this, He breathed His last. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, 'Certainly this man was innocent.' (This is the Holy Spirit's reference to Yeshua being like the innocent lambs.)

First darkness, and then Creation. Only when Yeshua dies is the Body or Bride of Messiah created. When the first born of Pharaoh dies, Israel is set free. When the First Born of Yahveh dies, we are set free to be one with Yahveh. It seems like the Holy Spirit likes to create out of darkness; to bring Light out of the darkness. And this is exactly what the Apostle Peter says:

'But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous Light...' (1st Peter 2:9)

This is the Creative Act of God. When the Spirit breathes on us, we are able to be sent as the Lord Himself was sent (John 20:21: '...as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.'). When we are at Peace or One with Him, the meaning of the Fourth Sacrifice, the Shilamim, has come into effect in our lives, by the Blood and Spirit of Messiah.

Yeshua is the New Creature of Yahveh's New Creation. Yeshua is wedded to Israel by His conception in the womb of Miriam. He was never Man before. But He is the First of many to come as John writes of, when he states that Yeshua breathed on them. And when He did, they became new creatures in Him:

And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.' (John 20:22)

In Genesis 2:7 we read that this is the way that God gave Life to the First Man:

And the Lord God formed Man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of Life. And Man became a living being.'

The Apostles received this new Life from God when Yeshua breathed on them. How do we know that? They have an authority now, that they never had before. The Pharisees were right! No one had authority to forgive sin except Yahveh (and His priests: Leviticus 4:20, 26, 31, 35: 5:6, 13, 18; 6:7). The Apostles (and us), are given the same priestly authority that the Temple priests had. Only they walk in a different Kingdom. The Kingdom of God. This will be important in understanding the Book of Hebrews.

Yahveh dwells in Israel through the Conception (not creation), and Sacrifice of Yeshua. This truly allows us to come into Peace or Union with Papa God. And that the world may know that there is a God in Israel and that Yeshua is His Son. In Yeshua there is Peace or Union or Oneness with the God of Israel. All this is a picture of the Fourth Sacrifice of the Mosaic Sacrificial System, the Shilamim.

Now that we are a New Creation, we are led by the Spirit to the next sacrifice. As you can see, the Mosaic Sacrifices were given by the Lord to be both a pattern of relationship that He had with ancient Israel, and to reveal the Work of the Holy Spirit in us today.

1. Sacrifice number one, Hatah (sin), forgives unintentional sin.
2. Sacrifice number two, Mah-ahl (trespass), forgives fraud and neutralizes guilt (ah-sham).
3. Sacrifice number three, Olah, pictures total surrender to Yahveh (for service).
4. Sacrifice number four, Shilamim, pictures union or oneness with Yahveh. Friendship, Oneness and New Creation.
5. Sacrifice number five pictures transformation into the very Image of Yeshua, that God might use us to feed others the Life of Messiah. It pictures being broken and crushed that others may 'eat' of God.

Commonly called the oblation and libation, this sacrifice is broken down into two distinct parts, and is the only sacrifice where an animal does not die. But death is pictured in the crushing that must go on before the sacrifice is ready to be brought to the priest, for an offering to God. In Leviticus 2:1-3, 11 and 13, we read of the Grain Offering:

Lev. 2:1 Now when anyone presents a Grain Offering as an offering to Yahveh, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it.

Lev. 2:2 He shall then bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests, and shall take from it his handful of its fine flour and of its oil with all of its frankincense. And the priest shall offer it up in smoke as its memorial portion on the Altar, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to Yahveh.

Lev. 2:3 The remainder of the Grain Offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; a thing most holy, of the offerings to Yahveh by fire.

Lev. 2:11 No Grain Offering, which you bring to Yahveh shall be made with leaven, for you shall not offer up in smoke any leaven or any honey as an offering by fire to Yahveh.

Lev. 2:13 Every Grain Offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the salt of the Covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your Grain Offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.

In verses 1 and 2, the grain is crushed into very fine flour; about two and a half quarts. The oil come from the olive, very pure, about one and a half pints. And the frankincense would be placed upon it in a bowl, not mixed in with the whole amount, but only with the amount that the priest would take in his hand to wave before the Lord, and then throw upon the Altar. The rest of the fine grain mixed with olive oil and salt, the priest keeps as food, unleavened bread, for himself.

In verse 2, we see a picture to God's faithfulness in the word memorial. He promised our first parents, Adam and Eve, that One would come from them to crush the head of the Serpent. He also promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob many children and that they would inherit the Land of Canaan after a time in slavery (Genesis 15:1-21; 26:2-6; 28:10-22). And we now know that the Messiah would both crush the head of Satan and deliver Israel, the People of God, into God's Kingdom. Messiah is called the Bread of Life and it would have to mean 'unleavened bread' as leaven pictures sin (1st Cor. 5:6-8).

The priest takes a handful of very fine flour, places the incense upon it, blesses Yahveh for His Faithfulness to His Word as he waves it, and throws it upon the Altar Fire. The grain pictures what physically keeps them alive, their hopes and their prayers (frankincense). The rest reverts to him, for food (bread).

The wave offering pictures that all the grain that is harvested is Yahveh's and that the priest, who represents Israel, is receiving it from Yahveh. He offers it to God, and receives some back for his needs (Israel's needs).

In verse 11 God tells Israel not to burn leaven or honey with the flour. Leaven pictures sin in that when placed within the dough, it puffs it up. When a man is full of pride, we say that he is 'puffed up.' Honey would corrupt the flour also. It attracts the yeast in the air.

In verse 13 Yahveh tells Israel that salt must be offered with the flour offering. Salt, seen as a preservative, speaks of eternity and that's why Yahveh mentions it in relation to His Covenant, which is eternal. The Covenant of Salt is mentioned in Numbers 18:19 where priests were always to be given their portion from the sacrifices. And in King David's Covenant (2nd Chron. 13:5), he is said to have an everlasting or eternal kingship in Israel, pictured in the salt.

This Offering is a picture of transformation. The Hebrew word for the Grain Offering, Minha, means, 'to give' and conveys the sense of a gift 'to a superior person.' In the religious sense, it means, 'a gift of grain.'

God took the Hebrew slaves from Egypt, led them through the death in the wilderness experience, and gave them the Land of Canaan, that they might enter into the Promised Land. Yeshua came as the Promised Seed of Adam and Abraham. The crucifixion crushed Him so that we, His priests, could eat of His Body, and become like Him. For only the priests could eat of this daily offering. This is the Food or Bread from Heaven. John 12:23-26 speaks of Yeshua being that Seed from Heaven that dies, that we might be able to eat the Grain from Heaven:

John 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

John 12:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the Earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

John 12:25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to Life Eternal.

John 12:26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me, and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

The Prophet Isaiah spoke in 53:10 that Yahveh was pleased to crush Yeshua at the crucifixion. This was not an after thought or accident:

But Yahveh was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief. If He would render Himself as a Guilt Offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure (desire) of Yahveh will prosper in His Hand.

The Crushing of the grain was His Death.

The Oil that was placed upon the fine flour was the Holy Spirit within Yeshua.

The Frankincense was His Life of Oneness and Prayer with His Father.

The Memorial Waving was pictured in His being hung upon the tree, totally dedicated to His Father, being used now to create Israel and sustain Israel, with His Body, the Bread of Life.

Our belief in Yeshua is a direct result of the laying down of His Life, of Him being crushed. The Seed went into the Earth. The Land we have been given is Life in Him. That's what the Promised Land represented: the Promised One. For in Yeshua is everything we need for Life, just as it was in the Promised Land. And now, we shall be like Him, transformed to be like Him. When a person reaches this stage in their walk with Yeshua, when they have dealt with both unintentional and intentional sin in their life; and proceeded to walk in total surrender and dedication to Yeshua; and when they have come into the oneness that Yeshua offers them, then they are ready to be crushed, and used by God to feed others. They become like Messiah in a very real way to those in the Body that aren't as close to Messiah. They also can be used as a 'sacrifice' in laying their life down, just as Messiah did.

Yeshua calls Himself the True Bread from Heaven (John 6:48-51). The multiplication of the loaves declares that there is enough of Him to go around for all who desire to eat of Him. This is the meaning of the multiplication of the loaves (Matthew 14:17ff; 15:33ff; John 6:1-15, etc.). It didn't matter how many men, women and children were there, there was always enough for all to eat and be satisfied, AND for leftovers to be seen. There was abundance, despite the numbers.

Just as the grain must be crushed into fine flour in order for it to be acceptable as an offering to Yahveh, so we too must be crushed, but only after going through the first four sacrifices in the Spirit. Then we are led to offer ourselves up to Yahveh, that He might allow others to 'taste and see that the Lord is good' (Psalm 34:8), through us.

The Minha is only one half of the Fifth Sacrifice. The Libation, Drink or Wine Offering, is the other half. We read about that in Exodus 29:40:

and there shall be one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a Wine Offering with one lamb.

A hin is about one gallon. The Wine Offering would be about a quart. Like the grain, the grapes would have to be crushed in order for it to be of sacrificial use at the Altar of Burnt Offering, which pictured the Altar in Heaven (Rev. 6:9). The grapes would be red, picturing the blood or the life of the animal.

The Hebrew word for Wine Offering or Libation is nay-sech which literally means, that which is 'poured out.' This is what the Apostle Paul speaks of, relating to his impending death in 2nd Timothy 4:6:

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

In Moses' day, the wine would be poured out upon the ground next to the Altar. In King Solomon's Temple, the wine would be poured out into silver pipes that led down into the Kidron Valley to the east, the Temple being on a mountain.

The word 'libation' comes from the Latin word libare, 'to pour out.' In Psalm 104:15 we read that:

Yahveh has given us wine to make us joyful, oil for gladness and bread for strength.

Wine is seen as both a picture of death, and joy. Death in that the animal dies, and joy for what the sacrifice brings to Israel.

The wine in Psalm 104:15 is common wine, yai-in, as is the Wine Offering in Exodus 29:40. It also seems that this same Daily Sacrifice could have stronger wine, shay-har. This is mentioned in Numbers 28:1-7 where verse seven brings this out.

Num. 28:7 Then the Wine Offering with it shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb, in the Holy Place you shall pour out a Wine Offering of strong drink (shay-har), to Yahveh.

Both yai-in and shay-har would have alcohol. Never was new wine (grape juice), offered up to Yahveh as a libation. Shayhar is a fermented wine, an intoxicating drink, and is also found in Deuteronomy 14:26 where Yahveh says that when Israel comes to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, they can drink that also, if they desire:

You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep or wine (yai-in), or strong drink (shayhar), or whatever your heart desires. And there you shall eat in the Presence of Yahveh your God and rejoice, you and your household.

The verb for 'strong drink' means 'to drink to the full, to hilarity, to be drunk.' It occurs 60 times as a verb and five times is used affirmatively. As a noun, 21 of the 23 references always have it straddling alongside yai-in, as it is in Deuteronomy 14:26. ('Strong drink' was not whiskey, because distilled liquor was not known in ancient times.)

Yeshua crystallizes this Fifth Sacrifice of Moses, in the Passover, with His Pure Body, crushed for us, being pictured in the Unleavened Bread. His Blood, given for forgiveness of sin, the New Covenant, is pictured in the Wine. In Luke 22:19, Yeshua says of the Matza (Unleavened Bread of the Passover, made from flour, olive oil and salt), 'Do this as a memorial for Me.' The Apostle Paul uses this of the Passover and the Lord also in 1st Corinthians 11:23-26:

1 Cor. 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;

1 Cor. 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'This is My Body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.

1 Cor. 11:25 In the same way He took the cup also after Supper, saying, This Cup is the New Covenant in My Blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.

1 Cor. 11:26 For as often as you eat this Bread and drink the Cup, you proclaim the Lord's Death until He comes.

We proclaim His Death by dying to ourselves. That is the meaning of 'proclaim' and 'judging' ourselves. It is all the meanings of the five Mosaic Sacrifices. The sacrifice or offering of the flour and the wine, representative of the food that fed and sustained Israel, is now seen in Yeshua, the Bread and Wine that fills our soul with the Bread and Wine of Life Eternal (John 6:53-58). As priests of Yeshua, we have an Altar from which to eat and drink from. It is the Heavenly Altar, the one that the Earthly Altar pictured. For all who believe in Yeshua are priests unto Him, and this is what the writer of Hebrews is alluding to in 13:10 when he states that:

We have an Altar which those who serve the Temple have no right to eat from.

This Fifth Sacrifice of Moses is a Sacrifice of Transformation. After having become one with Yahveh through the Fourth Sacrifice of Union or Creation, we are now ready to give to the world the sacrificial, pure Love of Yahveh, found in His Son, by the Holy Spirit. The essence of the flour and wine sacrifice picture Yahveh being glorified in us. This is what Yeshua means in John 17:10:

and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine. And I have been glorified in them.

The Mosaic Sacrifices, seen in their meaning for ancient Israel, offer us who love the Messiah, a picture of the Work of the Holy Spirit in our lives today. To God be the Glory for the Great Things that He has done!

Many Christians don't understand how important sacrifice is to Yahveh. And many today think that sacrifice is done away with by the one time sacrifice of Jesus who did it 'once and for all.' But God in His Word, says that sacrifice will continue into Eternity.

Many people take statements in the Tenah (Hebrew Bible: Old Testament), by the Prophets, out of context, to mean that the sacrificial system would end. They misinterpret His Word. God is not against sacrifice, but evil people who bring them, thinking that they are now acceptable to God because they have followed a mechanical procedure. In the Prophets, there are times that God is angry that His People because their hearts are far from Him. They think they can appease Him with sacrifice, when their hearts love evil. The Prophets don't seek to do away with the external form of worship, sacrifice, for that would be breaking God's Commandments. They come against those who would sacrifice to Yahveh, and think that they could continue to live a life of immorality and defiance of Yahveh's Will. As such, Israel was abusing what Yahveh had set up for Him to be able to dwell among them. The Prophets call was not, 'give up your sacrifices,' but, 'give up your evil ways.'

Others who think that sacrifice has ended turn to the New Testament. One such example are statements from the Book of Hebrews like these:

Heb. 7:27: 'who does not need daily, like those High Priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the People, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.'

Heb. 9:12: 'and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own Blood, He entered the Holy Place once for all, having obtained Eternal Redemption.'

Heb. 9:26: 'Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the consummation of the Ages, He has been manifested to put away sin by the Sacrifice of Himself.'

Heb. 10:10: 'By this will we have been sanctified through the Offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.'

But the 'once and for all' mean that Yeshua does not need to come back for each generation and sacrifice Himself all over again ('once'). And that His one time Sacrifice is good for all who have ever lived ('for all'). It doesn't say that Temple sacrifice should cease or was wrong, or that even New Testament believers couldn't or shouldn't sacrifice, as we see the Apostle Paul willing to do in Acts 21:20ff. Yeshua's Sacrifice didn't do away with sacrifice in the New Testament, it enhanced it.

Two Rabbis who lived a thousand years ago, Ibn Ezra and Nachmanides, had this to say: 'As a sinner, the offender's life is forfeit to God. But by a gracious provision, he is permitted to substitute a faultless victim, to which his guilt is, as it were, transferred by the imposition of hands.' And even though Maimonides and Abarbanel, two other Rabbis held in high esteem among the Jewish People, didn't agree with that concept, they both looked forward to sacrifice in the Messianic Age (to come).

And of course, in Revelation, we see that there is the Altar in Heaven. Why would there be an Altar in Heaven?

And there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, 'Rise and measure the Temple of God, and the Altar, and those who worship in it.' (Rev. 11:1; also 6:9 and 14:8)

For a fuller understanding of sacrifice in the New Testament, please see the next article entitled: Sacrifice in the New Testament.