This week we begin the third book of the Pentateuch, Leviticus. The main theme concerns the work that took place in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple. The primary aspect of this work is the offerings and sacrifices. The prophetic reading opens with the statement that Israel did not take seriously enough her need for the sacrificial system that HaShem had provided. G d even rebukes them because they grew weary of this service. What caused this attitude and behavior? Isaiah explains that the people forgot that only HaShem can remove the sins of humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI, I am He who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and your sins I will not remember.\u201d\nIsaiah 43:25
Jesaja 43:25<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At its core, this passage speaks about G d\u2019s displeasure with those who take lightly the grace He offers to His people. This tendency is still very present within the believing community. We hear so often about grace that brings forgiveness of sins that we easily begin to take it for granted. Chapter forty three of Isaiah concludes by warning that such behavior will result in HaShem\u2019s severe discipline. Yet even though HaShem judges His people, it is striking that immediately afterward He begins to comfort them in the opening verses of chapter 44.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, G d will judge His people and discipline them severely, Israel serves as the example, but one must not forget that HaShem\u2019s mercy and love will once again reach His people, offering forgiveness and redemption. It is significant that in the following section of the haftarah G d is described in these words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThus says the L rd, the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, the L rd of Hosts: I am the First and I am the Last, besides Me there is no god.\u201d\nIsaiah 44:6
Jesaja 44:6<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This verse raises an important question. If HaShem is the King of Israel, then who is His Redeemer? The answer is Messiah. It is noteworthy that this Redeemer is also called the L rd of Hosts. The rabbis are aware of this difficulty, which points to a unique unity between G d and the Messiah. This serves as a clear reference to the divinity of the Messiah and the reality that Messiah is included within the Godhead of G d the Father, G d the Son, and G d the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an attempt to resolve this difficulty, some translations produced by rabbis, such as the Stone Edition of the T\u2019nach, translate the phrase \u201cHis Redeemer\u201d as \u201cits Redeemer.\u201d This approach attempts to present the Redeemer as simply another reference to HaShem rather than to the Messiah. According to Hebrew grammar, however, this is incorrect, since the text speaks of another in addition to HaShem. This was also recognized by John, who in the book of Revelation referred to Yeshua three times as the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Deze week beginnen we aan het derde boek van de Pentateuch, Leviticus. Het hoofdthema is het werk dat plaatsvindt in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_surecart_dashboard_logo_width":"180px","_surecart_dashboard_show_logo":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_orders":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_invoices":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_subscriptions":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_downloads":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_billing":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_account":true,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,21,20,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alle-berichten","category-toralezingen","category-veranker-uw-geloof","category-wekelijkse-lezingen"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"trp-custom-language-flag":false,"woocommerce_thumbnail":false,"woocommerce_single":false,"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"webmaster","author_link":"https:\/\/loveisrael-kingdomcall.nl\/en\/author\/webmaster\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Deze week beginnen we aan het derde boek van de Pentateuch, Leviticus. Het hoofdthema is het werk dat plaatsvindt in […]","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveisrael-kingdomcall.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveisrael-kingdomcall.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveisrael-kingdomcall.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveisrael-kingdomcall.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveisrael-kingdomcall.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1215"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/loveisrael-kingdomcall.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1216,"href":"https:\/\/loveisrael-kingdomcall.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1215\/revisions\/1216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loveisrael-kingdomcall.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveisrael-kingdomcall.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loveisrael-kingdomcall.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}