Parashah 24: Vayikra (He called) Leviticus 1:1 through 5:26

Halleluyah - another Shabbat is on the horizon!  As always, you can find a synopsis of this week’s Torah portion (Parashah 24: Vayikra (He called) Leviticus 1:1 through 5:26) on our website.

This week's parashah is another hard to grasp study as it's all about the offerings of various kinds, to include sin, guilt, peace and burnt offerings. While it can be boring, confusing and downright hard to read about these offerings with our modern mindsets, we must always remember that the idea was for people to learn to obey and please YHWH with their whole being … to recognize the horrible consequences of sin … to appreciate that His desire for people was to be HOLY in every aspect of their lives.

Holiness begets holiness; while sin begets more sin and leads to death (eternity away from YHWH). YHWH simply wanted (and still wants) His people to be CLEAN from the inside-out and to keep Him constantly in mind in all things.

The message that comes across loud and clear in this parashah, however, is that YHWH's intentions were to draw and keep us close at all times. What we have witnessed over and over again in the last several parashahs is the fact that He cares enough to admonish us into doing things HIS way so that we can truly know Him and have a real relationship with Him - even though it often meant that He would employ some very harsh measures to force His people to GET what He was saying. (He wants us to "be holy" - look ahead to Leviticus 11:44).

Note that, whenever YHWH's people sinned, He didn't say, "If you love Me, go to the field and pick me a flower."  No! He demanded something much harsher: Blood from an innocent animal that had to die to atone for the sins of man. He expected His people to KILL something to atone for their guilt and sin, thus driving home the point that He is very adamant about mankind's refraining from sin, as much as possible. Drawing blood sticks in our minds a lot longer than picking a flower or something equally as simple....

For more on this week’s Torah portion, please click on the link above.