HEBREW WORD STUDY- SACRIFICE OF PRAISE Hebrews 13:15: By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of [our] lips giving thanks to his name. The driving force for us to bring a sacrifice or offering to God is to bring us closer to God. Rabbi Solomon Hirsch We all know what a sacrifice or offering is. It is something of value that you give up for the sake of someone or something else. Thus, we hear the term sacrifice of praise and what we think. If we think in good Western twentieth century English thought we assume it means we praise God even though we do not feel like it. We make a sacrifice to praise God and our praise becomes an offering to Him.
We think along the same lines for an offering. An offering is something of value that we give up as an obligation or a sacrifice. The words offering and sacrifice in English are so closely related that we use it interchangeably for the Hebrew word qaravan. The Greek word used by Paul in Hebrews 13:15 for sacrifice is thysian which means a sacrifice or offering. Don t you just love it when a lexicon tells you the obvious. However, the Apostle Paul was Jewish and to a Jew sacrifice and offering had a much different meaning that it does for us. By not looking at the Semitic thought behind a word we run of the risk of apply a 21 st Century English word which may not correctly reflect the Semitic idea behind the word. Rabbi Solomon Hirsch a 19 th Century Jewish scholar, linguist and expert in Semitic languages for whom Hirsch College in New York is named after expressed in his writings that the Hebrew word for sacrifice and offering is qaravan and the Aramaic word is dabacha which both have identical understandings or meanings. The Hebrew word qaravan and the Aramaic word dabacha are rooted in the Hebrew word qarav which means to approach. This word does not have the idea of giving up something of value to oneself and bringing it to others as a way of response to one s desires or as a requirement. It is a giving up of something out of a desire to draw closer to someone. When a husband gives his wife flowers he is doing it because he desires to draw closer to her, not to weasel something out of her that he wants. If he does she will know it and his head will become the flower pot.
If you stop and think about it, the difference between the Jewish interpretation of a sacrifice and offering and that of the Christian is huge. I mean ask any Christian who pays a tithe why he is doing it. Odds are 9 out of 10 will say because it is Biblical and we are commanded to do it. Some may even give a mercenary answer like, The Lord will not bless me if I don t pay my tithe. We even call it paying a tithe like payment for services rendered or service that will be rendered. According to Jewish scholars that is not an offering or a sacrifice, it is a bribe. Well, isn t a husband giving his wife flowers as a bribe to draw closer to her and to be intimate with her? That is not the true sense of a bribe. A bribe is used to force someone to do something they do not want to do. The little wife longs to draw close to her husband, the flowers are a way of showing that her husband shares the same desire. If that wife does not want to draw close to her husband no amount of flowers will do it. We don t need to bribe God to bless us, He will do that regardless of our offerings or not. God cannot be bought and you don t pull deals with God: Ok, God I will give you 5% and raise it to 7% if you bless me only 50 fold. God is a loving mate who wants to draw close to us. By bringing our offerings and sacrifices to Him it is declaring that we too want to draw close to Him. God is not going to say: Angel, count it out, make sure it is 10% and that is before taxes. Just hang on guy, as soon as my angel finishes his calculations, I will let you know if you get a hug or not.
So then, what is this Sacrifice of Praise that Paul is talking about? It is quite the opposite of what we think. We think it is praising Him when we do not feel like it. Not that I am against that. I believe it is a good practice to praise God in every situation, in that we are declaring our faith that He has everything under control. But a sacrifice of Praise is when we approach God, with a longing and hunger to be near to God and praise is our vehicle to let Him know we are ready for that hug. Paul was locked up in a prison, did not have a shekel to his name, he could not give a 10% tithe if he wanted to, all he had were the ragged clothes on his back, all he had to offer God was his praise and that was enough. With that praise he devacha or qavan approached God with the desire to just be close to Him. For many Christians in this world, come the end of the month and they have nothing, all they have left to draw close to God is their praise and that is enough for Him. There is a story in Jewish literature about a rich princess who had many suitors. They came bearing expensive gifts to win her heart. Then one poor young man came with nothing and said: I have nothing to give to you except my love and praise for you. Ok, you know how that story ended. Sometimes the greatest sacrifice or offering (qavan) we can give to God is just our love and praise that is enough for Him. WORD STUDY MINCHAH, KORBAN
מנחה קרבנ רומ- AND RUM Exodus 35:21: And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, [and] they brought the LORD S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. As I am not a theologian I have no obligation to explain the finer points which express the differences between rauch spirit and a lev heart, except that I know there is a difference between these two as this verse indicates that there is a difference. In Exodus 35:21 we find that the heart lev is stirred up and the spirit rauch is willing. This distinction is important as it is talking about the motivation for bringing an offering to God. There are many motivations for giving an offering. The word used here in the Hebrew for offering is curious as it is a word rarely used for an offering. It is the word teruvmah
which comes from the root word rum which means to be high or exalted. It is a lifting up. What is also curious is that this word is preceded by an eth in the Hebrew text indicating that it is a direct object to the word YHWH. This is literally saying that the people bringing the offering to the Lord where exalting or lifting up the Lord. It is more precisely rendered as the Lord s lifting up. We find in John 3:14 the words: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That word lifted up in the Aramaic is the word raum which is the Aramaic equivalent to the Hebrew word rum which is the word used here in Exodus for an offering. Every Sunday I hear our worship leader say something like, Let us lift up or offer up our praises to God. Here where the people were bringing gifts of gold and silver for the tabernacle out of a heart that was stirred and a spirit that was willing, the word offering has the idea of lifting something up. In ancient times when a sacrifice was offered up it was literally picked up by the priest and raised over his head. It is interesting that Jesus was raised up on the cross. He was not executed on the ground by a sword or spear, he was raised up to die. His death on the cross was a picture of an offering a sacrifice. We have a number of words in Hebrew that are rendered as offering. Aside from rum, there is a minchah which is a gift and is often used to express an offering such as a meal offering which is not necessarily a sacrificial type of gift. There is the ishsheh which is an offering made with fire, a zevach which is an animal sacrifice, an olah which is a burnt offering and there is a general all purpose word korban which is used for a variety of offerings but offerings of a sacrificial nature, an offering where you part with something
of importance to you. Of course you have also have the word masser which is the tithe which was offered once a year to support the priest and maintain the tabernacle. Rarely is rum used for an offering. Yet in Exodus 35:21 people gave a free will offering and it was called a rum, more precisely it was called the Lord s offering or the lifting up of the Lord. Some offerings were given to support the priest, some were given to decorate the tabernacle, as it was in this case, and some were given to pay the light bill so to speak. We had a guest speaker at church last Sunday who worked with children in South America rescuing them from sexual slavery or slavery working in mines and people gave an offering to help support him in his work. For many it was just a minchah a gift to help the work. My study partner emptied her wallet, that was both a minchah and a korban as this was not only a gift but a sacrificial gift on her part. Later as I kidded her about be moved by an emotional appeal and we both concluded her minchah gift was not only a korban a sacrificial gift, but a rum as well. It was not given to just help this missionary pay for his plane ticket, or to fund soccer scholarships for these children, it was ultimately given to exalt or raise up the name of Jesus. It is interesting that in Exodus 35:21 the word rum is used rather than korban. Even though this was a sacrificial gift on the part of the people, their motivation was to exalt the name of Jehovah. Note it says that those whose hearts were stirred. The word stirred is nasa which is another word for lifting up, but a lifting up to carry or take away. Their hearts were lifted up or carried away. Just as my study partner s heart was carried way or nasa when hearing the story of these children in South American who were being sold into slavery and rescued by this missionary. You heart is
carried away by an emotional appeal such that you will empty your wallet, but that is not bad when it is for a cause such as rescuing children from the sexual slavery. I mean the very nature of the cause is the emotional appeal. The heart is the very seat of you emotions and passions. These people gave their valuables to the tabernacle because their hearts were carried way with some emotion, in this case it was just an emotion of love for God and thus it was a rum. Ultimately, my study partner was motivated to give purely out of a love for God. It was this type of offering that was used for the tabernacle, the house of God. No other offering, or giving for any other motivation was acceptable. No offering that came with a request that a seat have inscribed on it Through the generous donation of Reuben was acceptable for the tabernacle. The house of God had to be built to exalt the Lord and not man. Then we learn it was a giving that the spirit made willing. I am no theologian but I do understand that the spirit or ruch is that part of us that is connected to God. The word for made willing is nadab in Hebrew. We have a free will. Our spirit connected to the Spirit of God is nadab. That is it is impelled or incited. The word nadab comes from a Canaanite root for a soldier that volunteers to a mission that could cost him his life. When our hearts are joined with the heart of God he is rum, He rises above all our personal agendas, desires and plans and we can t help but nadab have a willing spirit or spirit is impelled to give. Just as my study partner s spirit was joined with Spirit of God when she heard the appeal for these young people who were being sold into slavery her spirit was nadab compelled such that God became more important than what she originally intended to use that money in her wallet for.
Whether it is to pay a light bill, a soccer scholarship to keep a young person out of sexual slavery, or to just pay someone s salary or plane ticket or even if you are the victim of some religious con job, ultimately the greatest offering is the rum given through a nadab, an offering to exalt the name of the Lord given when your spirit is joined with the Spirit God and He rises above all your personal goals and agendas. WORD STUDY DOES JESUS TITHE? John 21:11: Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to the land full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and three; and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. One can only wonder why the writer gave an exact count of the number of fish that were caught. As a rule the average person living in that day could only count to one hundred and I mean who is going to sit down and count every slimy little fish when they were ready to each breakfast? Having walked with Jesus, their rabbi, for three years they automatically knew Jesus did not tell them to cast their nets into the sea after having fished all night and then coming up with a load of fish just to help their business along. When they discovered the man on the shore was Jesus they immediately went into their discipleship mode and they began wondering what spiritual lesson their master was trying to teach and probably saw some
message hidden in this idea of 153 and their net not breaking. There is something really curious as you read this passage. It seems Jesus had already gone fishing and had fish cooking on the seashore when the disciples made their haul of 153 fish. It has been suggested that as a rabbi Jesus would have been creating a picture of the first fruits. Having already established that our bodies are the temple of God and having commissioned His disciples to carrying out His message as the temple carried out the message of God s coming redemption, the disciples were now going to take on the role of the priest. Indeed Jesus has made us priest and kings unto God (Revelation 1:6). Jesus, of course, is the high priest. Now remember it was Jesus who caught the first fish, the first fruits. He prepared the first fruits for his disciples as the disciples were now priest and were ready to receive the offering of the first fruit. In other words Jesus was tithing to His disciples. The disciples would have discerned that now that the act of redemption portrayed by the priest in the temple over the previous hundreds of years was fulfilled in Jesus and that the temple was not built of stone but of the human body, the disciples could easily picture themselves as the priest of that temple called to carry this message of salvation to the world. Tithing to his disciples, giving them the first fruits was Jesus rabbinical way of telling them they were now the temple and priest of God. So too, if Jesus is sending us out as a temple of the Holy Spirit serving in the role of a priest, he will regularly give His tithe to us. Do you ever consider the fact that Jesus is tithing to us? This tithe of the first fruits is directed to maintain the temple, support the priest and assist the poor. When we go out to serve Jesus as priest and a temple, he will give us His tithe to maintain that temple, (food, clothing, health needs) and support us as priest and provide for us to assist the poor in spirit (the message of salvation to the lost of this world). In other
words, just as He said in Philippians 4:19: God will supply all your needs according to his richness. Ten percent of His richness should pretty well cover our expenses as a temple, priest, and messenger to the poor. Now back to the 153 fish. Many scholars feel that the symbol of the fish, which became the symbol to indicated that the Gentles was grafted into the Jewish blessing (Romans 11:17-18, has its origins in this story in John 21. As we all know the word fish in Greek is ichthys and became an acronym for Jesus Christ (Messiah), Son of God, Savior. Using the Greek word rather than Hebrew word for fish which is dayag was a way to show that the Gentiles were also a part of the redemption of Jesus Christ. In the Gematria 153 is the numerical value for the Hebrew word; yinchilena which literally means He will cause to inherit or in plainer English: All that the Lord has given to me. The Hebrew word for fish is dayag which has value of 17, it is the same numerical value of glory. Just so you know I am not the only one who does this crazy stuff, Shyam Suder Gupta, a Christian who is also a scientist/mathematician in India, took the numerical value of the Greek word for net (diktuon) which is something that I never do, but it is interesting, and found it had a value of 1224. 1224 begins in the prime number of 17 (the old boy is after all a mathematician). Mathematically, so I am told, the number 17 is perfected in the triangle and 17 x 3 = 153, the number for the amount fish the disciples caught. Checking the Gematria for 153, I find it is the same numerical value for Passover and 17 is the numerical value for sacrifice. Somehow, Professor Gupta also came up with Blood/ Death and covenant being related to these numbers, but I am no mathematician, so don t ask me to explain it.
The disciples were no mathematicians either but it would seem they understood enough of the Gematria to understand the message being sent by their rabbi and the message that is very clear to us today. That are bodies are now the temple of God and we are His priest to carry the message of salvation to the poor in spirit (the lost of this world) and that He will provide all we need by giving us a regular tithe to carry this out. What this has to do with the dialogue between Jesus and Peter that follows is quite interesting and I will share that at some later date. Devotional Haggai 1:6 Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim: Haggai 1:6: You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but you have not enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourself but there is none warm; and he that earns wages earns wages to put it into a bag with holes. Throughout my life I have heard the book of Haggai quoted during church building programs where the building of a church is likened to the rebuilding of the temple and if one does not tithe the result is seen in verse 1:6. However, let us just take a look at Haggai from an historical context and see if an application can be made today. Haggai and Zechariah were among the first to return to the land of Israel after the captivity. The Jews usually date the
captivity from the destruction of the temple in 586 BC to the rebuilding of the temple in 515 BC. Actually, the first deportation of the Jews started in 605 almost 19 years before the temple was destroyed and the first returned of the Jews under the Persian King Cyrus led by Shesbazzar and later Zerubbabel was in 538. Here is a very interesting footnote, Christian scholars date the captivity from the first captive to the return but Jewish scholars date the captivity from the date of the destruction of the temple to the rebuilding of the temple. You see, to the Jews, captivity meant being separated from the presence of God which dwelled in the temple. The temple was the central place of worship. Without the temple and the altar true Levitical worship could not take place. The real captivity was when the Jews could not properly worship God or stand in His presence. In captivity the Jews established synagogues to discuss the law and would pray every day toward Jerusalem, as a substitute for worship, but not true worship. The presence of God in the temple was far away. To compare our local church building to the temple would not be accurate because the Apostle Paul made a statement in I Corinthians 3:16 that shows the distinction between the temple in Jerusalem and our local church buildings. Know ye not that you are the temple of God and the Spirit dwells in you. Hence if there is any building program to compare to the temple it is in us. We no longer build a building for God to dwell in as that building exist in us. As long as you are alive, the temple is there, but that does not mean it is well maintained. So since this verse speaks of the Jewish people neglecting to rebuild the temple, can this verse apply to us today since the temple of God dwells within us and we can not be separated from our temple like the Jews taken into captivity. I was visiting my ailing 87 year old mother and I could not help but wonder what kind of temple this is for a woman who spent her life loving Jesus. Then I thought of her favorite
story and the numerous times I heard her tell this story in church and Sunday School. It is called My Heart Christ s Home by Robert Munger. In this story Mr. Munger likens his heart to a home that he has invited Jesus to live. He walks through each room and finds things that would not be pleasing to Jesus. He sees magazines books and pictures from his imagination that are embarrassing to him in front of his new Guest. He serves Jesus his best meal in the dinning room. A meal of money, stocks, academic degrees, and service to mankind, but Jesus does not seem hungry, He only says that He has food to eat that people have never heard of. It is food that is not filled with desires, pleasures or satisfactions. Mr.Munger walks through each room of his house finding things that he knows are not pleasing to his Guest and invites his Guest Jesus to do some house cleaning. Perhaps that is our present day application to Haggai 1:6. We do not need to build a temple as that exist in our bodies, but that doesn t mean that this temple does not require a lot of maintenance work and house cleaning. Perhaps our modern day application is to invite Jesus to do some house cleaning in His temple. I decided to take Jesus around my/his temple or house. I found it pretty filthy and in need of a lot of cleaning and maintenance. When we came to the living room the stench was so powerful it is a wonder Jesus walked in. The room was a clutter of objects of pride, desire, selfishness, self pity. Off in one corner was Ralphie, my ventriloquist dummy. Many years ago we spent a lot of time together doing programs for children and adults. I played to some pretty big audiences, but as time went on Ralphie saw little action. I used to try to arrange for a program at least once a year at Christmas time when Ralphie and I would tell the Christmas story. However, as I was not taking very good care of this temple physically, I eventually lost his voice. Now I looked at Ralphie and knew it was the Christmas season. I boldly asked Jesus for a Christmas present. Once he cleaned up of the
living room I asked if He could give me back Ralphie s voice for just one more opportunity to tell the Christmas story. He didn t say anything but I could see He was smiling. The next morning I came into the living room and it was beautiful. Jesus did a great job of house cleaning and He even put up a Christmas tree with lights. I saw Ralphie sitting on the sofa and Jesus said to pick him up. I did and for the first time in years I heard Ralphie s voice just as it sounded 25 years ago. Now don t get me started on a discussion of the theology of healing, miracles and all that. I am sure many will say it was just psychological, or something like that. I know many will argue that getting Ralphie s voice back had nothing to do with Haggai 1:6. But you know what, after many years of silence, next Saturday I am going to open my Christmas present from Jesus and Ralphie and I are going to tell the Christmas story to small group of Children. I for one plan to show Jesus a few more rooms in His temple that He can start cleaning up.