Love Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom and welcome to Veahavta Yisrael, a Hebrew phrase which means you shall love Israel. We hope you'll stay with us for the next 30 minutes as our teacher, Dr. Baruch, shares his expository teaching from the Bible.

Dr. Baruch is the senior lecturer at the Zera Avraham Institute based in Israel. Although all courses are taught in Hebrew at the institute, Dr. Baruch is pleased to share this weekly address in English. To find out more about our work in Israel, please visit us on the web at loveisrael.org. That's one word, loveisrael.org. Now, here's Baruch with today's lesson.

Dr. Baruch Korman: Well, we are coming to two chapters that are most similar. We're going to see that according to the Law of Moses, that there were sacrifices and offerings which were required for every day. And we see that on special days like the new moon, which represents a new month, and also for the biblical festivals—I'm talking about the Lord's appointed days—each of these had sacrifices that had to be offered.

So, what we're going to do is begin Chapter 28 of the book of Numbers. We're going to focus in on those sacrifices on a typical day, those sacrifices on Shabbat, and those sacrifices for the new moon that begins a new calendar month. What we're going to see is that God is most specific. What we're learning in a general sense is that we are supposed to offer up sacrifices—offerings, in other words—give to God every day because He is worthy and we want to acknowledge His work in our life. What He's doing and what He has done.

These appointed days of the Lord not only speak to what He has done but most of them have a future relationship of what God is going to do in the future. So, let's begin. Take out your Bible and look with me to the book of Numbers, Chapter 28, and we're going to begin in verse 1. We see that it begins with that familiar sentence that has to do with revelation—God giving revelation from Himself to His servant, and I'm speaking about Moses.

Verse 1: And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying... Verse 2: Command the children of Israel and you shall say unto them: My offerings... Now, this word for an offering is the Hebrew word Korban. A Korban comes from a Hebrew word which means to draw near or to approach. We see that worship, first and foremost, is just that. We draw near to God for what reason? In order that we might experience God.

So, we draw near before Him, and being in His presence brings about change in our life. That's the message of worship. It is only when we are worshipping God, and we do so not empty-handedly, but we approach Him with an offering, with a sacrifice—then God is going to move in our life, move in our circumstances, to bring us into His will. This is the truth of this passage.

Look again at verse 2: Command the children of Israel and you shall say unto them: My sacrifices... and then we have a word Lachmi. Lachmi comes from the Hebrew word Lechem, which means bread, or some Bibles will translate it as a statement of simply food in a general sense. Then we have the next word for a fire offering; it's in the plural. So, the bread or the food that is used for a fire offering—and again, the fire offering is in the plural.

When we do that, notice what it becomes: we have a term, a pleasing fragrance that you shall keep, meaning that you shall guard this, that this is something that you are to observe, to offer to Me when? Notice this: in His appointed time. Now, I realize that many Bibles will translate it in the plural, "in their appointed times," but in this case, we see something different.

When it says "in His appointed time," it means according to the Lord's schedule. So, again, we're talking about worship, and we need to remember that worship is always done on God's timetable, not on ours. We saw, for example, in the book of Numbers, how the children would travel. The children of Israel would travel not based upon their thoughts—what made sense to them—but they would follow the presence of God.

When that cloud went up, they would follow. So, God was in control. They moved according to the movement of God. We should be the same way in our life. As God moves, as God does something, we should want to join with Him and participate in this activity of God. So, it is a sweet aroma that you shall observe to offer to Me in His season, in the season that God has set forth.

Verse 3: And you shall say to them, this is—now it's singular—the fire offering which you shall bring forth unto the Lord. And now we're going to learn what that fire offering is. We have the term Kevesim. Kevesim is the Hebrew word for sheep. Now, I realize that many Bibles will translate it as a lamb, but this is not what the Word of God says. It's sheep.

We find that each sheep is a year old, and notice that it's supposed to be Temimim, which means blameless, without any type of spot or fault. Then it says "two." So, not just one sheep, but two sheep for the daily burnt offering—and then we have the phrase "always," which means the daily burnt offering. So, this was done every day, no exceptions. We'll find out more about this as we press on.

Look if you would to verse 4. It says: One sheep that you shall do in the morning, and the second sheep—meaning the other one—you shall do Ben Ha-Arbayim. Now, what does that mean? Normally, it has to do with twilight, meaning in the late afternoon. So, we see a truth, and that is these daily sacrifices that we're talking about that must be offered every day. The keyword is the word Tamid, which means always.

What does the Scripture say? Well, one is offered up in the morning, the other one is offered up in the late afternoon, many times this expression is called twilight. So, normally after 3:00, or minimally after 1:00. And it says concerning this offering—look now to verse 5—that it is a tenth of an ephah of Solet. Solet is fine grain flour.

This fine grain flour that is offered up at this time is a grain offering. Then it says "mixed with Shemen," which is oil. Notice that it is a beaten oil. We have the word Katit. Katit is an oil that has been pressed and beaten into a very fine oil. Then it says that this oil is one-fourth of a hin. A hin is a measurement.

Look now to verse 6. It says that this burnt offering, which is a daily one, always done, it shall be made—notice that it was revealed at Mount Sinai. And what is it? Well, this burnt offering is again, we have that same expression, a pleasing aroma, a fire offering unto the Lord. Now, this is what's done every day on a daily basis. When we say daily basis, we mean a normal day, a typical day, without any exception.

Again, the keyword here for that daily sacrifice is the Hebrew word Tamid, which means always. So, there are no exceptions. But now, when we get into the next verse, we're going to be talking about not the daily sacrifice, but ones that are required to be offered up on Shabbat. In this section, we've talked about the daily sacrifice on a typical day.

Now, we're going to deal with the sacrifices that must be offered as part of the worship experience that the priests and the Levites are assisting in. What must be done on Shabbat and also during the new moon, which is the first day of the month? Let's press on. Look at verse 9: And on the Sabbath day, two sheep, just like every other day, which are one year old, and they must be Temimim, which means blameless, without any fault or without any blemish.

And it says, two-tenths of Solet. Solet again, that is that fine flour. It is a grain offering which is mixed with oil. And don't forget the water libation, its libation. We'll talk more about the libation in a moment. Look now to verse 10. It says a burnt offering, Shabbat Shabbato, which means every Shabbat, concerning the burnt offering—and then we have that word Ha-Tamid, which means this daily offering also on Shabbat—and its libation.

The libation is a drink offering. It is liquid that is poured out in this time of the daily sacrifice. Look now to verse 11. Now, we change. We're no longer talking about Shabbat, but there's a different day. Notice what it says: Uve-Rashei Chodsheichem. So, at the chief or the beginning of your months, you shall offer up a burnt offering unto the Lord.

Notice there's going to be a difference on this new moon, this first day of the month. It says that there's going to be here bulls which are the son of cattle. Notice there's two of them. Not only that, but also on the new moon, we offer up one ram, also seven sheep, one year old, and these seven sheep—each of them must be Temimim, which means blameless, without any spot, without any fault upon them.

Nothing that would contaminate them, no spot that renders them unacceptable to be offered unto the Lord. What else? Look now to verse 12: And three-tenths of Solet. Solet is that fine grounded flour. It is a grain offering mixed with oil. Then we have one bull and two-tenths of Solet—that is two-tenths of finely ground flour.

It is a grain offering mixed with oil for one ram. So, what we see here is that there are instructions given to us in order to honor this new month. Why? Because it's teaching us about the calendar. The biblical calendar is important. Let me just simply say, as believers, we are not called to reflect the time of this world—how the world orders itself—but we're different.

One of the things that the Word of God does when we look at creation, we see that God does something—Le-Havdil. He makes a distinction. This is a huge biblical truth. Those who are of faith, they need to live in a distinct way. They do not reflect the standards and the ways of the world, but rather, they bring themselves under the truth of God.

We can say that differently: they bring themselves under the authority of God and they begin to live differently. They make a distinction between themselves and the rest of the world. That's what God does in order to begin to start changing this world. Now, remember when God created the world, nothing was by chance. It was all God's providence. What did He do?

Well, when He created the heavens and the earth, it says that He did so in a way where they were Tohu Vavohu. What is that? It's a word in one sense that means chaos. In another sense, it means something somewhat different. It simply means that which is without order. So, God created things initially without order. Why? There was a reason.

He wanted to make a repair. That word repair is Tikkun. Tikkun has to do with taking something that's out of order and bringing a proper order to it. Now, that's what God did with creation. By the way, you and I were part of God's creation. Therefore, He made us as well in need of repair. What is this repair? It is redemption.

We see that redemption involves restoration. So, God created us in need of a repair, in need of redemption, so we could be restored to the order of God. It's worship—all these things that we're talking about, these offerings—they come to us within a specific context of worship. Worship is when we acknowledge God's authority and when we submit to God's order.

We want Him to change us so that we reflect that which is good. What is that word good? The will of God. That we recognize His authority so that we can do what is good, meaning that we participate in the purposes of God, the plans of God, the priorities of God, that we are faithful to God's order. Look again, look with me to verse 13.

We see here: And one-tenth of Solet—that's that fine ground grain—a grain offering mixed with oil for one sheep. It is a burnt offering. Again, this word that dominates is a phrase, Reiach Nichoach, which means a pleasing fragrance. It's a fire offering unto the Lord. Now, notice something: fire is mentioned several times in this passage with the term Isheh, which is a fire offering. Why?

Well, fire from a prophetic standpoint relates to judgment. The principle that's being taught is this: when, whereby we offer up a fire offering to the Lord, it is going to position us so that we do not receive God's judgment. Fire relates to judgment. When we take His words, we apply them to our life, we worship God as He has commanded His people to worship Him.

So, we recognize His authority. When we do so, we are not going to experience God's judgment. We're not going to taste His wrath. That's the promise of the Scripture. Look on, look if you would to verse 14: And their libation—that is that drink offering—is one-half of a hin. Notice this will be for one bull. Then we have three-tenths of a hin for a ram, and we have one-fourth of a hin for a sheep.

Then we have the word Yayin. What is that? Wine. So, these measurements of what's being poured out—and remember what the Scripture said when we go back to verse 14, at the beginning it says, "And their libations"—meaning every one of these offerings that are being given to God based upon His instructions, they all are participating in a drink offering. They have to be offered up simultaneously, this burnt offering and grain offering with a libation.

In this case, when we come to verse 14, we find the libation consists of wine. And it says: This is the burnt offering for each month and the months of the year. So, we see that there is a consistency each month, all the months of the year. We behave in this way where we submit to God's instructions. We worship Him on these special days, whether it's Shabbat, whether it is the new moon.

We always take seriously what God commands so that we are demonstrating His authority over our life. It's only when we are demonstrating that God is over us, that we must submit to His authority, then and only then are we worshipping God. When we—and many people are doing this—and that is when we try to get God to serve us, it moves away from a biblical-based worship and it becomes idolatry.

We do not control our lives. We are called to recognize God's word over us. His word and what He commands is inherently tied to the authority of God. So, if you want God to be active in your life, what are we called to do? We're called to recognize His authority. It's only when we do so, then and only then are we going to be brought into the will of God whereby we are going to experience God's provision so that we are able to do what God has commanded us to do.

So, it is a big deal to recognize God's authority. Well, let's do one more verse where it says here, verse 15: And one kid goat—now we see here a phrase that refers to a goat, and it's interesting because this same phrase is used to speak of the Antichrist empire. Remember, we find that in the book of Daniel, Chapter 8, there is an Ayil, which is the ram; it's mentioned here as well. Also, there is that goat.

We see that the Antichrist is synonymous with that goat. Now, here it's the same word, but we find that it's not tied to the Antichrist or anything connected to him. It says here that there is a kid goat, one, and it's for a sin offering unto the Lord. So, we see something important: that a goat can also be used for a sin offering. We learn that, for example, at Yom Kippur, where there's that emphasis on the two goats—one goat is unto the Lord and the second goat is for the people.

So, we see that there is a transformation, or we could say transfer, whereby the sins of the children of Israel are—the hands of that high priest are laid upon the goat and the sins of the people go through the high priest unto the goat that is going to be offered up unto the Lord. Then the second goat is going to go to Azazel, which is a Hebrew term that also relates to damnation, to punishment, to suffering.

This is what we'll see later on when we get into the offerings next week. But let's conclude. Look at verse 15: There is one kid goat for a sin offering unto the Lord, and then we have a phrase Al Olat Ha-Tamid, concerning the burnt offering—and again, we have that word Ha-Tamid, always. This is a daily one. So, we do it on every day of the calendar, whether it's Shabbat or whether it is a new moon or whether it's a typical day.

So, concerning the burnt offering that is always, meaning every day of the year, it's offered up. And it says here, "He shall do," and not only he shall do that, that burnt offering, but also it says at the end of verse 15, "and its libation," that drink offering that is poured out upon the altar. So, all of this is done for a very important reason: worship.

What we're going to find as we press on next week, we're going to see that on each appointed day of the Lord, there are some unique things that are done in order to teach us about the truth of the holiday. So, every holiday—and that word holiday can be thought of as a festival, a biblical festival—it contains truth. We see that in a unique way, Messiah when He came the first time, He acted in a unique way in order to fulfill some of these festivals, certainly the spring festivals.

We're going to find out when He comes the second time, these fall festivals are going to provide for us an understanding. Now, there's going to be a difference. Never should we think that these fall festivals are going to be tied to His work when He comes again at the end of these seven years, or within those seven years. It's not saying that. What it's saying is that these festivals shed light, they provide information that helps us to understand what Messiah will do when He comes again.

And remember, there are two specific comings. What are they? While I'll conclude with this. There is, for example, what's referred to biblically—and I'll give you the citation—Titus Chapter 2 and verse 13, where there's going to be that blessed hope, also known as the Rapture. We see something, there's a sign of that. What's that sign? Well, it says that the sun will become black and the moon will become red like blood.

Now, that is the sign for the Rapture. And by the way, we find that in Joel, and not just in Joel, but also in the book of Revelation, that sixth seal at the end of Chapter 6. We see that same thing being mentioned which announces the intimacy or the imminence of the wrath of God. We know something: if you have accepted the gospel, you will never, ever, ever experience God's wrath.

How do we know that? Well, I'll give you a verse that I turn to frequently, and that is 1 Thessalonians 5:9, which says: We have not—who's we? Believers, those who have received the gospel—we have not been appointed for wrath but for salvation. And that word salvation is a word of victory. We are going to know, those who are in the Messiah through that gospel message, we are going to know eternal victory. What great news!

But what we need to see is there's a sign for that blessed hope, for the Rapture. It will take place prior to the beginning of God's wrath. Now, one of the things that most people can agree with is this: because of the sufficiency of the cross, we will never experience God's judgment, God's wrath. Now, will He discipline us? Absolutely. The Bible says those whom He loves, He will discipline.

But He's not going to destroy us. That discipline is to grow us and it's to mature us in the faith, not to destroy us. What's the second sign? Well, it's similar, but it's somewhat different. We also see in the second sign—and what is it a second sign of?—the second coming. So, this second coming is going to be accompanied with a specific prophetic sign. What is that? The sun will become dark as sackcloth and the moon will not give its light.

Now, there's a difference. Prior to the Rapture, it says that the sun will become black and the moon will become red like blood. That's for the Rapture. That announces the imminence of God's wrath coming, but it does not come. How do we know that? Well, if you look at Revelation Chapter 7, you'll find that one angel tells these other angels that have the wrath of God: Wait, don't harm the earth nor the sea nor the trees until the children of Israel, that 144,000, are sealed.

That 144,000 represents a kingdom people who will be brought to faith. But they will go through some very difficult circumstances. They will see two-thirds of their fellow Jews be put to death by the Antichrist. But we know something: we will never experience God's wrath. Doesn't say that we won't be persecuted. We will be persecuted. You say, "Where's that taught in the Bible?" Very simply, Messiah said, "They hated Me and they'll hate you. They persecuted Me, they'll persecute you."

We should expect that. That's why also in that section where John speaks those seven messages to the seven congregations in Asia Minor, he tells us that we need to repent, he tells us that we need to persevere and endure, that we need to overcome and that we need to be watching. I think that's so significant. We lose sight of that.

When he speaks to the last-day congregation of the redeemed believers, he tells us to persevere, to endure, to overcome, to watch, and to repent. Why? He is going to allow us to go through a time of difficulty. It's not the wrath of God. When Messiah went to the cross, He took all of God's wrath for us. We will never experience God's wrath. We will never know God's punishment.

But we will know discipline. And that discipline is because He loves us and He wants to change us and transform us and make us into, as what the Scripture says later on, into that bride that has made herself ready to meet her groom. And that bride is indeed the body of believers. In another way, we could say it, the church.

And what else? We are going to be clothed in garments of righteousness. We are going to be that bride that has adorned herself for her groom, that she is going to be found pleasing unto the Lord. That's what we're called to do. So, when we look at biblical truth, we find that these appointed times of the Lord are important to teach us how we should live, what should be our perspective, how we should understand what's going on in the world.

Why? Because these festivals that we'll talk more about next week, they all point to God's faithfulness in the past, but also a future faithfulness that God will do first for His Old Testament people and then also for His New Testament people. The order is very important. First, we're going to see the persecution of believers. God will show Himself faithful. Then after that, we'll see that God will show Himself faithful to Israel to defend them from the Antichrist. Will many lose their life? Yes, indeed. But we can believe something, and that is this: that God is going to reveal Himself in a mighty way and that God is going to ultimately destroy the enemies of Israel.

He is going to bring retribution, vengeance upon those who push away from His word, that walk in rebelliousness, that will not believe the truth. God's punishment, His wrath, will be placed upon them. So, let us understand the future. Let us understand what God's going to do in the end times. I'll close with that. Until next time, Shalom from Israel.

Guest (Male): Well, we hope you will benefit from today's message and share it with others. Please plan to join us each week at this time and on this channel for our broadcast of loveisrael.org. Again, to find out more about us, please visit our website, loveisrael.org. There you will find articles and numerous other lectures by Baruch. These teachings are in video form. You may download them or watch them in streaming video. Until next time, may the Lord bless you in our Messiah Yeshuah—that is Jesus—as you walk with Him. Shalom from Israel.