0Ezek 45:18 Thus said the Master Yahweh, “In the first month, on the first of the new moon, you are to take a young bull, a perfect one, and shall cleanse the set-apart place. ”
A perfect offer is to be brought before Yahweh in this time before Pesach (and during). While we don’t have the capacity to be perfect before Yahweh, due to our sinful nature, we have Y’shua standing in for us as the perfect intercessor – and through Y’shua we are made perfect in the eyes of Yahweh.
Throughout Leviticus a “perfect offer” was needed for a sin offering – and in certain cases, when a priest had to make atonement for his own sins. We read in Lev 5:18 that when the priest brings the perfect offer to Yahweh, he will be forgiven his sins.
We are also further instructed to cleanse the set-apart place. The time of Pesach and unleavened bread is all about cleansing our lives before Yahweh – to remove the leaven from our hearts and cleanse ourselves from the things we have brought into our lives over the last year. It’s a time of reflection. Reflecting – can have a double meaning of the light of Yahweh shining through us, and how we reflect the light back to him and the world – like a light shining on a mirror, or seeing a reflection in water – the image you see is how the light reflects from the surface. In this time, we need to think how we reflect the light of Yahweh to this world, what do we put out to other people. Do we just follow the herd, or do we set ourselves apart and reflect the image of Yahweh through our lives? Do we reflect negativity, selfishness or irritation, or do we reflect love, humbleness and humiliation.
Ezek 45:19 “And the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the House, on the four corners of the ledge of the slaughter-place, and on the posts of the gate of the inner courtyard.”
The blood is the symbol used as our covering from judgement of Yahweh. Y’shua is our perfect lamb, who’s blood was given to cover our sins, so death won’t find us. Similar to the house, the slaughter-place and the inner courtyard that had to be covered with blood, we have to cover our hearts, our minds and our souls with the blood of Y’shua. It isn’t good enough to just have a “clean” heart, if our minds aren’t “clean” – it is like looking for the leaven in all the cupboards and drawers, making sure every grain is thrown out… sometimes even in the dark corners where we don’t expect to find it. Similarly, we must let Yahweh’s light shine in the dark corners of our heart, soul and mind, so we can rid ourselves from the sin in our lives. Y’shua is the perfect sin offering, the perfect lamb, that came to be the offering, so that we could have live after death.
Ezek 45:20 “And do the same on the seventh of the new moon for anyone who makes a mistake or is foolish. And you shall make atonement for the House. ”
We are called to look out for our fellow brothers and sisters, and make sure that they are aware of the cleansing process and the set apart times. We need to make atonement for their “foolishness” (or ignorance) and guide them to understand the importance of these times. Sin committed through ignorance, mistake or inadvertence are shown to be different from those that are pre-meditated and thought through. We as “priests” and “intercessor’s” need to, as we mentioned at the new moon festival, make atonement for our House – our family, friends and colleagues. There are many times that we see a fellow believer err in their believe, but we need to help them up and guide them on the right path, that is what fellowship is all about. Praying for each other, talking to each other, worshiping with each other, and interceding for each other.
Ezek 45:21 “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the new moon, you have the Pesach, a festival of seven days, unleavened bread is eaten. ”
Ezek 45:22 “And on that day the prince shall prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering.“
We are all called to partake in the festival of Pesach and Unleavened bread, to rid ourselves of sin and lay our sin offerings at Yahweh’s feet. If it wasn’t for his Son dying for our sins, we would surely have died, but we have the promise of live after death, and that in itself is the greatest gift of all. So while this is a time of repentance and cleansing, it is also a time of healing and forgiveness – therefore it is called a FESTIVAL – a time of joy, celebration and praise. And because of the perfect work that Yahweh did through Y’shua, we are told to have a festival for not just one but seven days! While some people might not like the thought of unleavened bread, and connect that to a feast, you can think of the unleavened bread as a symbol of “lightness, purity, simplicity and perfection.”
Ezek 45:23 “And during the seven days of the festival he prepares an ascending offering to Yahweh, seven bulls and seven rams, perfect ones, daily for seven days, and a male goat daily for a sin offering. ”
Ezek 45:24 “And he prepares a grain offering of one ephah for each bull and one ephah for each ram, together with a hin of oil for each ephah. ”
An ascending offering (or a burnt offering – meaning going up in smoke: – ascent, go up – shows that we need to let our prayers and words go up like incense before Yahweh -as per – Rev 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the set-apart ones, went up before Elohim from the hand of the messenger.
We are called to spend every day in prayer, every day in intersession, every day in finding healing and restoring our hearts and minds to focus on the word of Yahweh and start a new cycle of feasts and celebration.
Coming back to the passage we read on the new moon:
2 Cron 29:3 In the first year of his reign, in the first new moon, he opened the doors of the House of Yahweh and repaired them, 4 and brought in the priests and the Lewites, and gathered them in the open place to the east. 5 And he said to them, “Listen to me, O Lewites! Now set yourselves apart, set apart the House of Yahweh Elohim of your fathers, and remove the uncleanness from the set-apart place.
In Closing:
Hebrew 10:14: For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being set apart.
May we be made perfect by the offering Y’shua made for us and set ourselves apart in this time. Because of the one offering made – we can be made perfect for all time for us that set ourselves apart.
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