Tsav – Command
Leviticus 6:8 – 8:36
Jeremiah 7:21 – 8:3; 9:22 – 23; Malachi 3:4 – 4:6
Hebrews 9:11 – 10:18; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:14-23
What does it mean to live free? Some say the Law is bondage. If you want to be free, I’m told not to live under the ‘Old Testament,’ live by the New! My mother told me that, attempting to get me to eat pork just to prove it. Why is there so much confusion about what it means to be free from the Law, free to do what ‘New Testament’ believers do?
Many Americans think freedom means exercising our Constitutional rights, freedom of speech, freedom to bear arms, freedom to eat and do whatever we want, etc. The American Dream is to own a house and a piece of land, free from landlords, free to do what they want with their property. Some pursue freedom from tyranny by moving to rural areas and conservative states or counties. Believers in Yeshua enjoy the freedom to worship as they believe, not subject to the Government’s control. These freedoms are blessings Americans thank God for, appreciating the sacrifice of those who gave their lives fighting for it, and rightfully so.
But do the freedoms America has fought for bring about true freedom the soul deeply longs for? What do the Scriptures teach us about true freedom for the soul of man?
Sacrifice Pictures True Liberation
What’s fascinating to me is how the Spirit of Truth reveals how the Torah is often just the opposite of what it’s accused of being. The commandments for sacrifices in ‘The Law’ in the Book of Leviticus are not outdated, archaic commandments that have no relevance to today. Tsav, what Yah commands in Leviticus, was never intended to be a book of bondage for those who are ‘under the Law,’ but to be a book that foreshadows how the Messiah would set us free from bondage to the flesh to live holy. The book teaches us how to live by the Spirit. It gives us instructions on holiness unto YHWH our Elohim. It’s a book where YHWH shows us the fire of His passion for His people through the fires on the altar and the fire of His holy presence on the inside of His Dwelling Place.
The Hebrew word for ‘sacrifice’ itself illustrates the liberation from bondage to the flesh, the old man’s sinful nature. How do the ancient Hebrew pictographs show us true freedom?
The Hebrew word for ‘sacrifice’ is ‘zebach’ spelled – ‘zayin, bet, chet.’ The ancient pictures are a cutting instrument or a plow that tears open and divides (zayin),
the floor plan of a house that leads one into an inner chamber (bet), and a solid wall or curtain that separates one from the inside, keeping him outside (chet).
Within the context of the known meaning of the word, ‘zebach’ is a sacrifice that cuts through the inside wall of the flesh, freeing up the spirit to go to work.
Look to the Messiah and Him crucified and you will see ‘zebach’ perfectly fulfilled:
And Yeshua cried out again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit.
And behold, the curtain of the Temple was split in two, from top to bottom.
And the earth quaked and rocks were split apart.
And the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who were sleeping were raised to life. Matthew 27:50-52
The Invisible Ark
The Ark of the Covenant is believed to have not been present in the second Temple in Yeshua’s day. No evidence exists that the Ark was ever inside the second temple after Solomon’s temple was destroyed.
The prophet Jeremiah eludes to its disappearance for he declared:
“men shall no longer speak of the Ark of the Covenant, nor shall it come to mind. They shall not mention it, or miss it, or make another.” Jeremiah 3:16.
The prophet’s declaration that no Ark would be made in the future suggests that he knew of the secret that the Ark was hidden away. There is evidence by an amateur archaeologist Ron Wyatt and Jewish writings in the Mishnah that indicate Jeremiah had whisked the Ark away through a tunnel into a top secret location in a cave. That cave could very well have been directly under the cross where Yeshua was crucified. I believe the testimony of Mr. Wyatt that the blood of the Messiah ran through an earthquake crack in the rocks below Him and spilled down on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. I believe that the physical Ark had fulfilled the purpose that YHWH Elohim had destined for it.
But He no longer needs a physical ark in His Dwelling Place to carry out His plan.
Why would YHWH orchestrate the events of the second temple period that no Ark would be inside the Holy of Holies when Yeshua was crucified? Why would He supernaturally tear the thick veil of the Holy Place ‘into two from top to bottom’ (Mark 15:38)? It was impossible for the hand of man to tear it down from ‘top to bottom’. Why would the splitting of the veil reveal that nothing was inside?
Commentators interpret this to mean that God was exposing the fraudulent religious system for being void of His presence. Many like to point to the Jewish authorities as illegitimate and phony, that Yeshua was tearing their system apart and out of their hands. That certainly may be a consequence, but is that the primary reason for the veil being torn – so that nothing was to be seen inside? I believe if we stop pointing the finger at the Jews, we miss the point of what the purpose was that YHWH had accomplished.
When Yeshua was teaching what it looks like to be born again, He had something very interesting to say about the Spirit:
“The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8
The Master said that the Spirit of Yah can be heard when He breathes new life into a born-again soul by the Gospel, but He cannot be seen. The Spirit is invisible.
When Yeshua cried with a loud voice and His breath (Spirit) left His body, the veil of the Holy Place was rent into two to reveal what was thought to be there was not there after all. Immediately the mind who knew about the Ark of the Covenant would wonder where it went. What happened to it? Where did the Ark go?
Yeshua's Accomplishment as High Priest
The Messiah did not complete His service as High Priest by going into the Holy Place of the second temple. By the Spirit, He went to the throne of Heaven to sprinkle His precious blood upon the mercy seat to atone for the sins of the souls He died for. He redeemed souls who would believe in Him as the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world. There is where He went by the Spirit to atone for our sins.
This account of the completion of the sacrifice of Yeshua all connect to the work of the Spirit, when a soul comes to the foot of the cross to repent, giving his heart to Yeshua. The spirit of the soul is born again and set free from the veil of the flesh. The tearing in two of the veil is a picture of the heart circumcised by the Spirit, separated from bondage to the tyranny of sin and the devil’s work. The soul is liberated to be free in the Spirit.
Yeshua completing His work of sacrifice for the sins of man is one of the greatest paradoxes of the Scriptures. Although His flesh was bound to the cruel tree of the cross, His Spirit was liberated to set captives free from bondage to the corrupt old Adam nature. His life being taken from Him at the prime of His life unexpectedly became the gift of Life to all who would hear the Gospel and put their faith in Him. What amazing grace!
There is one body and one Spirit…
But each one of us was given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Messiah. Because of this, He says, “Having gone up on high, He led captivity captive,” and gave “gifts to men.” Psalm 68:18
Ephesians 4:4a,7,8
The Purpose for True Freedom
Yes, till today, whenever Moshe is read, a veil lies over their heart. “But, whenever someone turns to YHWH, the veil is taken away. Exodus 34:32-34
And YHWH is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of YHWH is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:15-17
What is the new freedom freely given to us to be used for? What’s the purpose of freedom from the flesh and for walking in the Spirit? Now what are we to do?
But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom, and continues, not being a hearer who forgets, but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does. James 1:25
James said if we’re going to live by the ‘perfect law of freedom,’ we must be ‘doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude’ ourselves.
(James 1:22-23) When I do what the Torah says to do by the Spirit of the Messiah, I walk in freedom! I am no longer bound to ‘the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life’ (1 John 2:16), but free from carnal addictions to do what is right, doing good according to the Word and the Spirit! What is right and good according to YHWH? Hebrew Roots observers believe that the whole Torah is the set of instructions for righteous living by the standards of the Father in heaven. But what if I stumble? What if I fall short?
For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak, and so do, as men who are to be judged by a law of freedom. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
James 2:12-13
The context of these verses is on how we are to treat the poor, the less fortunate among us. We often look down on the poor for having stumbled, breaking the Torah, and suffering the consequences of the curse. But the law of freedom says that in Messiah, we are no longer slaves to sin, we have freedom from guilt and shame, when we repent and turn to the merciful Savior. As He is merciful and liberates those who repent and believe in Him, so we should be merciful towards the poor who have stumbled as well. We should not heap guilt and shame on them for sinning against YHWH, but be merciful towards them even as He is merciful. How we treat the poor is a test of whether we walk in true liberty, or not. The Good News is that we need not be slaves to sin any longer, but we can walk in His liberty to walk in the righteousness of Messiah in us, the hope of glory (Col 1:27). We can experience the riches of His glory by Messiah Yeshua.
To Live Free is to Put Love to Work
Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which the Messiah has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, the Messiah will profit you nothing. Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
You are alienated from the Messiah, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace. For we, through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Messiah Yeshua neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love. Galatians 5:1-6
To try to keep the Torah by the flesh and by our mere intellect is not walking in liberty, but walking under the bondage of men’s doctrines and traditions. We must guard against that. We will always fall short of the holy requirements of a Holy God trying to do it on our own. So does that mean that we shouldn’t even try to keep ‘the Law’ as some say? Of course not! Keep the Torah by the Spirit out of love for one another, against which there is no law, bear one other’s burdens and so fulfill the Law of the Messiah (Galatians 6:2).
Do not continue to owe no one, nothing, except to love one another. For the one loving the other has fulfilled the Torah.
For, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” Do not bear false witness, “Do not lust,” (Exodus 20:13-15,17) and if there is any other commandment, in this word it is summed up, in the words, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Leviticus 19:18
Love does not work evil to the neighbor. Then love is the fulfillment of Law. Romans 13:8-10
To walk in love is to walk in true liberty. True liberty is to believe in Yeshua, the Messiah, Who liberates the soul through His perfect sacrifice, and to work out our salvation by the Spirit, doing what He tells us to do – love Him and to love one another.
To not do what He wrote in His Word is to be in bondage to the selfish, lazy, stubborn flesh. To walk in the Spirit according to the Law of liberty is motivating, energizing, and doing what is right according to the Torah, leaning not on our own understanding. Doing the commandments of YHWH is not bondage, but living in true freedom.
BaShem Yeshua, the Liberator,
David Klug