FEBRUARY 11, 2022 Leviticus 1:14-15 And if the burnt sacrifice of his offering to the Lord is of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or young pigeons. The priest shall bring it to the altar. As I have said before, it is easy for us to focus on the slaughter of the animals and be mystified as […]
FEBRUARY 10, 2022 Leviticus 1:11-12 He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar. And he shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat; and the priest shall lay them in order on the […]
FEBRUARY 9, 2022 Leviticus 1:11-12 He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the Lord; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar. And he shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat; and the priest shall lay them in order on the […]
FEBRUARY 8, 2022 Leviticus 1:9 And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord. If we consider that we are called upon to be a “living sacrifice” then it makes sense that we — that is, our flesh, our will and everything […]
FEBRUARY 7, 2022 Leviticus 1:9 And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord. I have often meditated upon the notion that a sacrifice burning upon the altar was considered, by God, to be a “sweet aroma.” I find it intriguing because […]
FEBRUARY 6, 2022 Leviticus 1:3 If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord. As I mentioned in the previous devotion, these sacrifices and offerings act as tutors to teach us […]
God ordained a daily worship service in the Tabernacle called the continual burnt (tamid, תָּמִיד) offering. Every day, the priesthood offered two male lambs as burnt offerings for the daily service.
The continual burnt offering began each morning with a male lamb offered as a burnt offering (olah, עוֹלָה). The priests slaughtered a lamb and placed it on the fire of the altar as the first sacrifice of the day. The lamb burned on the fire all day—a continual burnt offering. The priests placed each subsequent sacrifice they made on top of the pyre on which the lamb was burning.
When the day’s service concluded and the priests had completed all the sacrifices for that day, they brought a second lamb. They slaughtered it as an olah and placed it on top of the remains of that day’s offerings, sandwiching the whole day’s services between the two lambs of the continual burnt offering. They left the second lamb on the altar to burn through the night. The next morning, the priests removed the ashes and slaughtered a lamb, placed it on the altar, and started the process all over again. In this way, a lamb remained continually burning on the altar before the LORD.
The continual burnt offering set a baseline pattern as the most basic and regular function of the Tabernacle and the Temple. The prayer services, the singing of psalms, the lighting of the menorah, and the burning of incense all occurred in conjunction with the continual offering. The two lambs of the continual burnt offering, offered at the set times of sacrifice, created the structure upon which the rest of the Temple services hung. To this day, the Jewish times of prayer correspond to the hours at which the continual burnt offering used to be made.
The continual burnt offering commemorated the offering made during the Exodus 24 covenant ceremony at Mount Sinai. It remained continually upon the altar as a permanent token of the covenant. Its blood, splashed daily against the altar, provided a constant reminder of the “blood of the covenant” that Moses applied to the altar and to the people at Mount Sinai.
John the Immerser alluded to the continual burnt offering when he identified Yeshua as “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29).
Why are there two lambs for the daily offering? Perhaps the two lambs allude to Messiah son of Joseph and Messiah son of David. Perhaps the two lambs of the continual burnt offering allude to the first and second coming of our Master Yeshua:
So Messiah also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. (Hebrews 9:28)
Tetzaveh – תצוה : “You shall command” Torah : Exodus 27:20-30:10 Haftarah : Ezekiel 43:10-27 Gospel : Matthew 13:1-53
FEBRUARY 5, 2022 Exodus 40:36-37 Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. By virtue of the fact that the Presence resided with the […]
FEBRUARY 4, 2022 Leviticus 1:1-2 Now the Lord called to Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of the livestock—of the herd and of the flock.’” As we discuss the […]
February 3, 2022 Leviticus 1:1-2 Now the Lord called to Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of the livestock—of the herd and of the flock.’” For many Christians, the […]
