CONGREGATION
MELECH YISRAEL OF TORONTO
|
|
WEEKLY TORAH PORTION |
|
CONGREGATION
MELECH YISRAEL OF TORONTO |
||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Ezek {18:4} Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine: the soul that sins, it shall die. HaShem is not talking about spiritual death here; He is talking about actual physical death. Sin causes death, all-be-it premature death. However, because ultimately everyone dies we need also to remember that death entered the world through the sin of one man, Adam, so even natural death is a result of sin. Sin causes death! So, why the teaching on the atonement subject of Yom Kippur after the sin and death of Aharon’s two sons? The reason is because they died as a result of their sin and Yom Kippur is all about the atonement for sin. In fact, the English translation of Yom Kippur is Day of Atonement. In this Parasha for Yom Kippur HaShem is showing us how seriously He takes sin. We are not to take rebellion against HaShem’s Word lightly. Nadab and Abihu did not get the opportunity to repent for the particular sin that caused their deaths, they just died. There always remains the possibility that we too will not be given the opportunity to repent from the sin that may be the cause of our death; therefore, so Yom Kippur’s atonement, its understanding and observance becomes very significant. In our Parasha, HaShem continues to instruct Aharon on how to deal with the corporate sin of bnei Yisrael. How was Aharon to deal with it? He was first to deal with His own sin and the sin of his household. Why did HaShem tell Aharon that he had to first deal with his own sin and the sin of his household? Because I am confident that Aharon was aware of the rebellious nature of his two eldest sons in advance of their deaths! After all this is not the first time in Scripture that we encounter their rebellious natures. Therefore, I can also say with assurance that both Aharon and his sons were warned by HaShem prior to their demise. Yes, I am confident that they had the opportunity to correct their wicked ways prior to this final incident, even though we are not specifically told of this in Scripture. The point is Yom Kippur is all about being cleansed from sin that causes death and seeing as we all sin, understanding the Yom Kippur atonement, becomes most important. I will allow Rav Shaul (Rabbi Paul) to explain it to you from the Brit Chadasha (Renewed Covenant). Romim (Romans) {5:11} And not only will we be delivered in the future, but we are boasting about G-d right now, because He has acted through our L-rd Yeshua Ha Mashiach (the Messiah), through whom we have already received that reconciliation. {5:12} Here is how it works: it was through one individual that sin entered the world, and through sin, death; and in this way death passed through to the whole human race, inasmuch as everyone sinned. {5:13} Sin was indeed present in the world before Torah was given, but sin is not counted as such when there is no Torah. {5:14} Nevertheless death ruled from Adam until Moshe, even over those whose sinning was not exactly like Adam's violation of a direct command. In this, Adam prefigured the one who was to come. {5:15} But the free gift is not like the offence. For if, because of one man's offence, many died, then how much more has God's grace, that is, the gracious gift of one man, Yeshua HaMashiach, overflowed to many! {5:16} No, the free gift is not like what resulted from one man's sinning; for from one sinner came judgment that brought condemnation; but the free gift came after many offences and brought acquittal. {5:17} For if, because of the offence of one man, death ruled through that one man; how much more will those receiving the overflowing grace, that is, the gift of being considered righteous, rule in life through the one man Yeshua HaMashiach! {5:18} In other words, just as it was through one offence that all people came under condemnation, so also it is through one righteous act that all people come to be considered righteous. {5:19} For just as through the disobedience of the one man, many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the other man, many will be made righteous. {5:20} And the Torah came into the picture so that the offence would proliferate; but where sin proliferated, grace proliferated even more. {5:21} All this happened so that just as sin ruled by means of death, so also grace might rule through causing people to be considered righteous, so that they might have eternal life, through Yeshua HaMashiach, our L-rd. In addition: Ivrim (Hebrews) {9:7} but only the cohen hagadol enters the inner one; and he goes in only once a year, and he must always bring blood, which he offers both for himself and for the sins committed in ignorance by the people. {9:8} By this arrangement, the Ruach HaKodesh showed that so long as the first Tent had standing, the way into the Holiest Place was still closed. {9:9} This symbolizes the present age and indicates that the conscience of the person performing the service cannot be brought to the goal by the gifts and sacrifices he offers. {9:10} For they involve only food and drink and various ceremonial washings - regulations concerning the outward life, imposed until the time for God to reshape the whole structure. {9:11} But when the Messiah appeared as cohen gadol of the good things that are happening already, then, through the greater and more perfect Tent which is not man-made (that is, it is not of this created world), {9:12} he entered the Holiest Place once and for all. And he entered not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus setting people free forever. {9:13} For if sprinkling ceremonially unclean persons with the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer restores their outward purity; {9:14} then how much more the blood of the Messiah, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself to God as a sacrifice without blemish, will purify our conscience from works that lead to death, so that we can serve the living God! I trust that from reading these Scripture passages and the comments I made on Parasha Yom Kippur you now understood that Yom Kippur is all about the atoning death of Yeshua HaMashiach. Baruch HaShem Rabbi Ya'acov Farber |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Site
Design Copyright 1999- Congregation
Melech Yisrael All rights
Reserved |
Join our Torah e-mail list
