What is your purpose in life?
What are you designed to do?
How has God created you to live?
This week’s Torah Portion begins in Leviticus 1:1. The book of Leviticus is known for its various laws and commandments regarding sacrifices and offerings with the pinnacle of the book being found in chapter sixteen, which describes in detail how the Day of Atonement is to be observed.
It is here, in the book of Leviticus, that we see the Hebrew word קורבן – Kurban used for the first time in the Bible. In the following verses, the English word “offering” is highlighted in blue to show where the Hebrew word Kurban is being used:
Then the LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When any man of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock. – Lev. 1:1-2
The uniqueness of this word Kurban as an “offering” which is sacrificed to the LORD is that the verb bring, highlighted twice in orange in the verses above, is actually from the same Hebrew root word as Kurban: the root word being קרב – Karav.
Drawing Close to God via Sacrifice
In its noun form, as noted above, קורבן – Kurban means an offering and in its verb form להקריב – Lehakriv means “to draw near,” “to bring close,” or “to approach”. Used together they form a very powerful illustration, especially expressed through the original language: it is only possible to draw near to God by means of an offering, an animal sacrifice.
The foundation of blood sacrifices as the only means through which sin is atoned for is carefully detailed and documented in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) and especially in the book of Leviticus:
For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement. – Lev. 17:11
As a result of the Tabernacle service and the continual burnt offerings together with various other sacrifices detailed in the Torah, it may appear to some that God created Israel for the sole purpose of continually offering sacrifices to Him.
There is no doubt that sacrifice and offerings are a foundational aspect to meeting with and having communion with God. This being true, was it really the heart of God to keep His people busy by continually offering blood sacrifices to Him?
God’s View of Sacrifices
There is a fine line between obedience to the Law of God taken together with knowing and understanding the heart of God. As important as it was for the Israelites to fulfill the Law of God regarding sacrifice and offerings, it was even more important for them to listen carefully to the voice of God and to walk in fellowship with Him, as confirmed in the book of Jeremiah:
For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’ – Jer. 7:22-23
Above all else, God’s desire for His people has been to listen to His voice together with keeping His commands. Sacrifices and offerings made to the LORD without fellowship with God are completely meaningless.
The True Source of Forgiveness
Although animal sacrifices are mandated in the Law, It is was never the animal sacrifice itself which took away the sin of the people, but rather, it has always been the power of God which pardons and forgives. We read a beautiful reminder of this truth in this week’s reading from the prophets in the book of Isaiah as the LORD declared this truth to His people:
I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins. – Isaiah 43:25
Ultimately, it is God Himself through the Messiah who gives His own life so that we can be forgiven and live in community with Him. It is only God who can forgive and wipeout sin.
God did not chose the people of Israel to be a nation who simply made sacrifices to Him, but rather, He chose Israel to be a holy nation as His own possession in all of the earth:
Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. – Ex. 19:5-6a
Through keeping the covenant of God and obeying His voice, the Israelites had the unique privilege of being a kingdom of priests and a holy nation which uniquely belongs to the LORD.
What was the world supposed to see through the nation of Israel?
What was God’s purpose in forming the nation of Israel?
Obviously, God desired a people who listened to His voice and who walked in fellowship with Him but ultimately God wanted a people who revealed to the world exactly who He is: a loving God who offers forgiveness and generously redeems. God has stated in the book of Isaiah exactly why He formed the nation of Israel:
Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant, O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me. I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud and your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you. Shout for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done it! Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth; break forth into a shout of joy, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it; for the LORD has redeemed Jacob and in Israel He shows forth His glory. – Is. 44:21-23
Ultimately, God desires all of creation to see who He is, to know Him, to worship Him, and to understand that He alone redeems His people. God formed Israel in order to display His glory in all of the world.
God’s Purpose for His People
God did not form the nation of Israel to be a religious organization which would simply keep all of the rules and fulfill all of the sacrifices, but rather, God formed Israel to be a people to bring glory to His Name and to testify to who He is. God’s purpose for Israel is again summarized in this week’s reading from the book of Isaiah in this one verse:
The people whom I formed for Myself will declare My praise. – Isaiah 43:21
The offerings and sacrifices were never an end in themselves, however, they served as a reminder of sin and the need for a Savior. God formed His people to declare His praise!
Living According to His Design
It is important to understand God’s original purpose for the nation of Israel because it is the same purpose for which He has created us today: to praise Him and display His glory. It is far too easy to get caught up in religion and to miss God’s original design for our lives. We need to be intentional in our daily lives to listen to His voice, walk in His ways, and declare His praises!
The conversation between Yeshua and the Samaritan woman reveal the human struggle to understand God’s design for humanity as one woman sought to find purpose in her own life. In the midst of this conversation, the Samaritan woman asked Yeshua a question regarding the right location in which to worship God:
The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Yeshua said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” – John 4:19-24
The purpose of life is not about location and it is not about belonging to a certain group of religious people but it is about knowing the true God, listening to His voice, and worshiping Him. After understanding who Yeshua truly was as the Messiah, she ran to her city and told everyone about Him.
Declaring His Praise
The Samaritan woman illustrates this truth well of living according to God’s design for one’s life. She met Yeshua, believed in Him as the Messiah, and declared to everyone in her city what God had done in her life. The Samaritan woman lived according to God’s purpose for her life. Let us go and do likewise!
Shabbat Shalom!
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*All Scripture take from NASB Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
**The Hebrew name “Yeshua” is used in the biblical quotations in place of the English name “Jesus” to give emphasis to the meaning of this name, salvation. The word “Messiah” is also used in place of the word “Christ” to bring clarity to the office of Yeshua.