Pictured: The Mystic Lamb by Hubrecht and Jan van Eyck, 15th Century

A Response to: “Leviticus 17:11” written by the Director of Education and Counselling of Jews for Judaism (Canada), Rabbi Michael Skobac. His article linked: Click here

I.

Does Leviticus 17:11 Concern Atonement?

Rabbi Michael Skobac begins by quoting from Leviticus 17:10-12 and commenting, 

Altogether, this reasoning attempts to divert the reader away from the context of not only the whole chapter (that in fact does deal with principles of atonement – clearly), but also of the Day of Atonement itself that is described in this chapter and the chapter preceding it (Leviticus 16 and 17). For, further on, the article challenges as being insignificant not only these principles of atonement but also the whole revelation of substitutionary atonement that is necessitated throughout the whole Bible from the Fall of Adam and Eve.

A Simple Reading of the Text

Leviticus chapter 17, verses 1-5 discuss how to rightly offer sacrifices. Here, sacrifices are required to be offered through the Temple system and the principles mentioned here, and no other way (compare with 1 Kings 3:2 sacrifices before the Temple system). The chapter continues in verses 6-7 that “This” (meaning the Old Testament sacrifices) “shall be throughout their generations, and a statute forever.” This statute has not been changed in the Old Covenant. Furthermore, they are not to make offerings to devils, which must stress in this passage that there is a very particular way to worship the Lord God through his provided means rightly and Him alone in contrast to all the idolatry Israel had learned and would continue to learn. There is a right way and there is a wrong way and God reveals both. Clearly, or at any simple reading of the text, this chapter is dealing with principles of atonement.

Unique Authority

Significant to mention is that God has come up with this, and not man. Leviticus is the only book in the Bible that is uniquely written by God. God spoke it verbatim and Moses wrote it down (see verse 1, chapter 1).

After reading through chapter 16 and when we finally get to verses 10-13 in chapter 17, after reading about blood and atonement numerous times, it shows what happens to a person who eats blood. God directly, divinely, and uniquely deals with this infraction in judgment wherever it may happen.  No one can escape God’s wrath for this sin; even if he eats this blood in secret he will die. God sets his face against the person and cuts the person off Himself, as opposed to through Israel’s judicial system. This reveals the nature of this particular offense to the atonement. Also notable: if God is there, if there is true atonement going on, men die on the occasion when the rules of atonement (as spelled out clearly in 16 and 17) are not followed exactly. This also applies to Rabbi Skobac’s suggestions for alternate atonements. That is, since he has not died we can only assume that he and those who follow his means of atonement have never truly been offering any kind of atonement at all, all this time.

Eating the blood is not like eating pork or any other dietary law. It is significant to degrading the atonement, for God Himself gives the punishment. And central to understanding why this is – comes the verse in question: Leviticus 17:11, which shows that atonement is through the blood. This verse repeats and connects to the whole biblical revelation of atonement that over and over again show as being only through a substitute blood sacrifice. Whatever it is that Rabbi Skobac is telling about, it must therefore have nothing to do with atonement but some kind of reformed thinking that is extra-biblical Rabbinic tradition. No one would ever come to his conclusions without being indoctrinated into his reasoning, through extra-biblical means – and that, for other reasons than allowing the text to speak for itself. How is it that these views are so vastly and profoundly different from the plain reading of the Bible?

In all, although Rabbi Skobac has tried to minimize the fact that atonement is only in the blood by saying this verse is in regards to merely something along the lines of a dietary law or something else that is too vague to decipher – within context, this reasoning is absurd. God Himself is bringing Himself down into judgment with individuals on this matter because it has to do with atonement (verse 11) – and therefore, it is also how not to secure atonement.

Unique Importance

Certain events that happened throughout the biblical history, through Adam and Eve unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and then through Israel’s history, eventually were legislated into Israel’s law when and as God ordained. For example, Passover was a one time event in Exodus that was legislated into a required day of remembrance forever. But of the Day of Atonement the only event we can see it point back to is, in fact, the Passover, and before that, the Abrahamic Covenant sacrifice that God Himself offers (Genesis 15), and before that, the first sacrifice and the first death of a lamb on earth that God Himself offers (Genesis 3 – when God deemed Adam and Eve’s own way of covering their nakedness unworthy). Not to mention all the worthy sacrifices offered in between that God approved. Both of these days of remembrance (Passover and the Day of Atonement) also point forward to an ultimate passing over of death and sin and an ultimate eschatological Day of Atonement. There are many other events that were never legislated into a holiday and commandment of such importance! So, we must actually consider the grave importance of the Day of Atonement and the principles of atonement by blood sacrifices. Rabbi Skobac in his article has failed to make a compelling and thorough argument against the necessity of atonement by blood or really grapple with it in any way. It is a mere distracting and pointing away from obvious principles and patterns clearly laid out all throughout Scripture.

Acceptable Versus Unacceptable

Chapter 17 rolls out of chapter 16, which begins about the day of atonement. It appears that the offence of eating blood is mentioned here as that which is similar to the offence in 16:1 perpetrated by Arron’s two sons who offered strange fire before the Lord. Although this terrible event takes place in Leviticus 10, it is summarized and repeated as the opening verse of Leviticus 16 as a remembrance and juxtaposition to true and right worship by means of atonement continued into chapter 17. That’s why the blood has to do with atonement and not just an isolated prohibition against consuming blood. These two chapters are a solution to chapter 10 when Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron offered strange fire before the Lord. Again, they were personally killed by God for their violation in relationship to God’s atonement, just as those who consumed blood would be.

Unique Context of Verse 11

Within these two chapters (16 and 17) “blood” is mentioned 22 times and “atonement” is mentioned 17 times. So, blood in verse 11 is in regards to the atonement, elsewhere just as it is here. It’s impossible to now separate verse 11 and say that it has independent significance to dietary laws – or something vague and other than atonement.

Conclusion

Instead of saying “this passage is not about how to secure atonement from sins,” reason would say, “this passage is about how to keep from failing in securing atonement from sins and how to offer right atonement.” Instead of extremely vaguely saying, “but [it is about] the prohibition against consuming blood,” reason would say, “and it is about the prohibition against consuming blood in it’s unique relationship to atonement.” And instead of saying “Leviticus 17 doesn’t come to teach us about the principles of atonement,” reason would say, “there is a plethora of principles of atonement to learn in this passage.”

II.

Countering the Belief in Blood Atonement Alternatives

Rabbi Skobac continues, 

All means of atonement Rabbi Skobac refers to only were pointing to the day of atonement that happened once a year that only the high priest could offer on behalf of the people. What was the day of atonement? It was given by blood only, not with cakes or turtle doves, and it had no cost.

26 “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:26-31)

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. (Hebrews 6)

Atonement for Intentional Sin is Also Provided

Rabbi Skobac’s argument seems to discard or ignore the meaning of atonement as seen in Leviticus 5, 6, 7, 16 and verse 5:6 and 6:1-7 that cover intentional sins (along with many, many more throughout the Bible: word search “sin offering”). Interesting to note of 5:6 is that the same word for “trespass offering” is used to describe the Messiah in Isaiah 53 (which subject shall be covered in some depth towards the end of this post). Through these passages there is offering for the atonement of intentional as well as unintentional sins. What we ought to take away from this is that atonement is not only for the gravest sins, but for the lightest of unknown offenses and furthermore, that there is no – that is, zero sins that are forgiven without the prescription of atonement. Rabbi Skobac’s conclusions prove to be taking verses out of context and, I guess, interpreting them through extra-biblical doctrines found elsewhere than in any plain reading of Scripture.

The Goat that Goes Into the Wilderness is in Context to the Entire Day of Atonement

Also to consider is Leviticus 16:20-22 which says:

And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. ²¹ Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. ²² The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.

And verse 27:

The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. And they shall burn in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal. 

The Day of Atonement begins with the cleansing of the tabernacle with blood and ends with the bodies of the animals being carried outside the camp. Note: blood and separation from the camp. Leviticus 16:27 shows that not only was the goat taken out of the camp alive, but also the bull and the goat offering. The common argument in Judaism that the scapegoat proves that repentance can be accomplished outside of a substitutionary atonement with blood is not something the text speaks of whatsoever but is rather something imagined through extra-biblical means. Again as in the discussion above there is an isolation of ideas from the context of God’s Word. But all such ceremonies were done on the same day and worked together like a system that cannot be broken apart. Surely, if none of God’s rules were followed and Aaron merely performed the one scapegoat ceremony he would have been struck dead on the spot. Regardless, the scapegoat was probably left to the wilderness to die. Is the wilderness a desert? Why is a suitable man needed – is it because the goat being stranded in the desert to die is necessary? To be discussed.

Conclusion

To conclude, Rabbi Skobac is trying to disconnect the various offerings from the main engine of this whole system. Although he may stress spiritual morality, repentance, offerings, and so on, which are good and must be done alongside the atonement, he has elevated them so above and separated them so far from what God has revealed and ordained that he fearlessly says atonement is “the least effective of all means,” completely discounting it altogether and placing the altar of God below even offerings of money!

Rightly Jesus has rebuked the Pharisees, saying,

16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’17 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ 19 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 20 Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. 21 He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. 22 And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it. 23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

III.

There is No Longer Atonement in the Old Covenant

So, sacrifices are proved necessary in the Old Covenant, but only the high priest can offer on the altar which is cleansed with the blood of atonement. So, there’s no way to have an atonement without a high priest, a sacrifice, and a temple or tent. 

Of this, it is necessary to carefully, slowly read and consider the following New Testament revelation on the cessation of the Levitical order, keeping carefully in mind that tithes were only paid to the priests:

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. 5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; 6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. 8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. 9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? 12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. 13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.

14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. 15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest 16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. 
17 For He testifies:

“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”

18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. 20 And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath 21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:

“The Lord has sworn
And will not relent,
‘You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek’ ” 

22 by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. 23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. 24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever. (Hebrews 7)

To be compared and pondered with the Genesis and Psalms accounts of Melchizedek. Furthermore, when Jeremiah spoke of a new covenant he made the old one obsolete.

IV.

Separated from the Temple

Rabbi Skobac continues, 

Heart Posture in Israel’s Biblical Exiles

The Jews during this time were to pray toward where the demolished temple was and pray God would have mercy and restore them and not wipe them off the face of the earth, but bring them back to the land so they could rebuild the temple.

Heart Posture in Judaism

Rabbi Skobac is trying to cast this state of being out as normal. It is not normal, and those who are not under the blood are under a curse just as those who could not post blood over the lintel in Egypt. Instead of mourning the loss of the temple and seeking God in repentance this argument is making merry with what amounts to be a golden calf crafted with pure imagination. Those who follow such ways are offering strange fire (actually no fire at all, for if God were regarding these false forms of atonement Israel would be judged by them) before the Lord that nullifies Levitical atonement. At its very best, it is unbelief. Those who follow such ways as described in Rabbi Skobac’s article need to realize that they are in a place where they have no atonement. This should be clear as daylight because God is not involved in the process of accepting it nor acting as judge in it’s right or wrong execution as in Old Covenant times. Rabbi Skobac’s arguments amount to that which is to say that God has taken nothing away and all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation or before the temple was ever set ablaze. Point being, if your temple has been gone for 2000 years, set ablaze by fire, this means that God has left Judaism behind in it’s unrepentance as it ignores His prophets and it is on it’s own in the creation of new ideas not in keeping with the purposes and plans of God’s covenants (See Jeremiah 31:31).

Speculations on Atonement During Biblical Exiles

Israel in exile is a sign that God has a controversy with Israel and is near to wiping them out. However, it is clear that God will never wipe Israel out, and in times of exile He preserves a remnant. So, how were the exiles atoned for? First of all, during those times God clearly provided prophets to Israel that always promised a plan of redemption and those prophecies of their return were quickly fulfilled and documented in the Bible. There was a promise from the mouth of God to have faith in. Perhaps these exiles were significant times of reflection of Israel’s faith in God’s atonement to be provided through Messiah – which was the only reason the animal sacrifices had any validity anyway (as we see in Daniel and Isaiah as I will discuss below). It is only through faith in God’s provided atonement that one is saved. Abraham believed God and this accounted unto his righteousness; nonetheless, atonement reveals what Abraham was putting his faith in. In exile, Israel must have had to depart from mere ritual (which leads to hypocrisy and spiritual regression) to understand the why behind the what. This is why I pointed out earlier that the day of atonement should have showed the people of God that there was someone that had to stand in their place and offer the sacrifice – that it linked back to previous sacrifices that God himself or an appointed mediator offered and that it linked forward to ultimate fulfillment. Nonetheless, these past exiles were smaller periods of exile and restoration than what Jews are dealing with today – and those generations had active prophets. They also had false prophets affirming God’s blessing and by the time they realized they were false prophets it was already too late.

Israel’s Current Exile is Unique

Judaism as we know it now has different plans having to do with settling down into exile – not getting to the bottom of the reason for which they have been exiled and offering right repentance – or worse, re-entering the land through their own strength and the strength of other nations and thinking their exile is over (I actually do think it is God bringing Israel to be a nation and bringing the exiles back; however Israel shouldn’t be deceived into thinking her relationship with the Lord is restored. God still has a controversy with Israel and the return to the land is part of his salvation plan, I’m fully convinced). And what is that reason Israel is in exile? Probably having something to do with what happened just before the exile of 70 AD when the Second Temple was destroyed. Perhaps it may have something to do with those Messianic Jews that tried to convert Israel . . .whom the Romans and Jews martyred – whom Jesus predicted would be separated from the Temple in the same generation that it happened? Or perhaps it is some other reason? This is something that Rabbi Michael Skobac and those he follows and those that follow him will have to decide, but we of the cross can think of no other reason. The Jews of Jerusalem were killed because they would not hear Daniel or John the Baptist; because they trusted in the temple – was not that the case according to Josephus’ account? They trusted in the temple whose veil was torn on the day of Calvary.

Israel Has a Living Hope

The New Testament gives a thorough theology of Israel in which we are assured that a remnant is preserved as the nations become the people of God, grafted into Israel through Messiah. That is another discussion.

V.

Cessation of Sacrifices Intended?

Rabbi Skobac writes, 

Standing on a Billion Sacrifices

Solomon offers a prayer of dedication in 2 Chronicles 6, and then he dedicates the temple in chapter 7. Chapter 7 opens up with the line, “When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.” Along with the fact that while he is praying and dedicating the temple – to continue daily sacrifices – there are thousands  upon ten thousands of sacrifices supporting his prayers as he stood before the altar. Verse 4 continues, “Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. 5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.” Furthermore in verse 12 God himself tells Solomon, “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.” Is the prayer of Solomon now more weighty than the words of God?

I Kings 8 also shows what was happening before Solomon began his prayer of dedication. In verse 5 it details, “Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude.” How has something so blatant been missed? So what if Solomon never said the word sacrifice? He’s standing on top of countless sacrifices and offers no indication of the intended cessation of sacrifices. This is simply an idea read onto the text, with no – that is, zero- support.

Solomon Reveals How to Repent through Staying Connected to the Sacrificial Atonement

On the other hand, he does show what Jews are to do when in exile, and I will repeat as already said above: The Jews during this time were to pray toward where the demolished temple was and pray God would have mercy and restore them and not wipe them off the face of the earth, but bring them back to the land so they could rebuild the temple. Their faith should have been trusting that God would hear based on His provided atonement and altar. During those times God provided prophets to Israel. Judaism as we know it now has different plans having to do with settling down into exile – not getting to the bottom of the reason for which they have been exiled. This is un-repentance.

VI.

Countering the Belief that Messiah Would Not be a Sacrifice

Rabbi Skobac continues,

A Blemished Sacrifice?

He writes,

 Jesus died under another priesthood and under another covenant, under the order of the Priest-King Melchizedek as described in the passage from Hebrews above. No altar necessary. All this was part of the atonement; this can be seen in Isaiah 53 which I quote below (I include a discussion on Rabbinic thought on that passage).

A Blemished Circumcision?

Rabbi Skobac continues, 

Trust in circumcision as making one included in the people of God is now mutilation after Christ came, because we are all under His circumcision and not our own. Today circumcision under the Abrahamic covenant means nothing unless it is under and only under the circumcision of Christ. Where circumcision once meant one was the child of Abraham, trust in circumcision outside of Christ means you don’t even have the faith of Abraham who rejoiced to see Christ’s day (Genesis 22 with John 8:56).

Shadow and Substance

The thinking within Skobac’s article reverses the order of importance of what should be shadow and what should be substance.

Of the crucifixion of Christ, all other sacrifices and means of atonement pointed to Christ. Christ does not point to the Old Covenant atonements. Christ is not a type of the Old Covenant atonements, but the other way around. Rabbi Skobac’s article does not understand the purpose of atonement. The thinking in his article would be happy if Christ was killed just as was the Old Testament lamb where literal priests disemboweled him, drained his blood, and so on; But, indeed Christ did perform this as the Great High Priest by offering Himself on the cross And rather, Christ was foremost a type of Isaac, and not foremost a type of lamb or turtle dove, etc. What Rabbi Skobac and those he follows and those he leads needs to understand is how they along with mankind have offended God and how much so that God needed to send His own Son. The thinking of this article is blind both to one’s personal sin and need as well as blind to the holiness of God.

VII.

Passover and the Day of Atonement

Can Passover and the Day of Atonement shadow what was done by Melchizedec?

Rabbi Skobac continues, 

At least Rabbi Skobac can see that Jesus fits into the Day of Atonement. In the Passover the blood of the lamb was shed for the people of God who all ate of the sacrifice in their families. Similarly receiving Christ comes down to a very personal level of one joining themselves to the people of God. There is not yet a national day of salvation for Israel along with judgment day until the eschatological Day of Atonement which much more accurately describes the Second Coming of Christ when Israel is saved (Romans 9-11). Both days only point to another day and not the other way around – this is the main problem with the thinking of this article which will not relent until it achieves a physical lamb and the same Old Covenant sacrifices . . . but even then, as it is now, such authors think they can evade both. The Old Covenant system was a type and shadow of what has been, is, and will be fulfilled in Christ. The Passover and the Atonement are both fulfilled and both best represent what Christ has done, continues to do, and will ultimately fulfill by the hand of God, and not the hand of man.

The Passover and Atonement and Sabbath
Point to the Lord’s Provided Rest

Deuteronomy 16:8 concerning the Passover states, 

“Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly to the Lord your God. You shall do no work on it.”  

The Passover points to the New Covenant: an entering into the Sabbath, the perpetual rest of the Lord. Hebrews 4 comments on this rest saying:

“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:
“So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ”
although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.”6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said:“Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.”8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

VIII.

There is no Body?

Rabbi Skobac writes, 

He refers to the following passages:

⁵ Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
⁶ In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
⁷ Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
To do Your will, O God.’ ” (Hebrews 10:5-7)

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;
My ears You have opened.
Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.
⁷ Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God,
And Your law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:6-8)

Textual Criticism Gone Awry

There is a big difference between a typo or a misquote and a re-interpretation or re-working of the text. If we were to use this same thinking in criticizing any prophet that furthers revelation, say David who radically re-interprets the figure of Melchizedek, we would have to toss out a whole lot of the Bible (Gen. 14:18; Psalm 110) or say that God cannot produce prophets or communicate. For this reason, we are even “lucky” Ezekiel made it into the cannon (will discuss more below).

Body Located

The difference between the two texts here is the preparing of a body versus the opening of ears. What Rabbi is calling an incorrect quotation is really the Holy Spirit interpreting the Old Testament. Showing: What was God thinking in this Psalm? This is what he meant. A body is mentioned in both texts and both carry the same meaning that the Lord is giving allowance to learn and do His will in context to the fact that the Lord is not merely pleased with just sacrifices and offerings, but the doing of God’s will from the heart in sincerity and truth. The Holy Spirit doesn’t have to quote verbatim. He is His own interpreter. Which translation Paul used and why is another argument, but needless to say.

Who is the Man?

In any case, when reading Psalm 40, one truly must ask who is this man who delights in God’s will and has God’s law within his heart? Which is a New Covenant reality. Who is this man that the scroll of the book has written about?

Psalm 1 also speaks of Him: 

Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

Who is the man who’s delight and constant inward turning and automatic and sinless reaction to every situation is towards God’s Law? Who has no sin and is a man? Psalm 1 and 2 is an introduction to the whole book of Psalms. . . so who is the man?  

IX.

Rather, Showing Worthiness?

Rabbi writes, 

Turning from sin will never make one worthy, it just makes one an always repentant sinner. Saul repented for acting as a priest-king (unlike Melchizedek who did this with God’s approval) and it did not make him worthy. God did not honor his repentance, rather the kingdom would be rent from him. David himself was forgiven but was not worthy to build the Temple, let alone achieve the resurrection of the New Covenant which this thinking erroneously aims to do (1 Chronicles 28:2-3). Those who think thus make themselves clear that they do not understand neither sin nor the way atonement works as explained in the Old Testament. The purpose of the Son of Man who is also Messiah was to show the way of atonement, that is, the way of the cross, under the Melchizedekian type (Daniel 7:9-14, 9:24-28). Noah’s ark as a type of water baptism and the dove as Spirit demonstrates how we are to be cleansed from the old world of sin unto the heavenly land. The Jews of Jesus day supposed that one could be righteous; they, like Nicodemus, were not quick to understand that man (Jews and Gentiles) are born sinners, there is none righteous, no not one! Jesus told Nicodemus that he should have known these things from the Old Testament.

X.

Jesus is Silent on His Death Serving as a Sacrifice of Atonement?

Rabbi Skobac writes, 

Off the top of my head, how about Matthew 26:28 where Jesus says:

 “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” 

As well as John 6:53 and following where Jesus says:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever. After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.”

XI.

A Man Cannot Die for the Sins of Another in Any Way?

Rabbi Skobac writes, 

Sinful man cannot die for another sinful man to make atonement. The reasons may not be pure to begin with. Rather, only God in the flesh could die for what He had against us. Sin is more so a God problem that He needs to cleanse us from, than it is a man problem that man needs to work out. This is why God issued the curses, God issued the promises, and God issues the judgments and God issues the salvation. The wages of sin is death, and so someone has to pay for the wages of man’s sin and also be able to not be held by death. This is already covered in my discussion of Isaiah 53 below. Therefore we read in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20:

18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

The atonement and all blood sacrifices pointed to this sacrificial payment of sins, for the animal was innocent. This is seen in God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15 when he puts Abraham to sleep and makes a covenant to Abraham that he and his descendants would surely break – except for one of those descendants who was God made flesh! The one who breaks the blood covenant must die as the sacrifice. Therefore, God swore by Himself that He would die in Abraham’s place. Indeed, Jesus was the son of Abraham rightly fulfilling Abraham’s part of the covenant – and so God stood in the place of Abraham and had to become a descendent of Abraham to fulfill.

XII.

No Substitution?

Rabbi Skobac writes, 

What was God thinking when He inspired this verse? Probably something along the lines of justifying someone who is unrepentant and rebellious. Yet, Jesus did not come to justify sinners who believe on Him yet do not accept repentance. This has been covered above when I write on the relationship of atonement’s relationship to the laws of retaliation. Furthermore, sinners were considered righteous by means of faith in God’s atonement via the Old Covenant sacrifices, how much more are they now considered righteous by means of the New Covenant sacrifice? Was God unjust by justifying the ungodly through the Old Covenant sacrifices? No. Therefore, it must be understood that the wicked are those who are unrepentant and rebellious to his provided atonement.

XIII.

Mercy For Aarons Sons?

Rabbi Skobac writes, 

Why did God kill Aaron’s sons and why does the author say that He is and will be merciful to Aaron’s sons? With dealing with matters of atonement these things were to be done verbatim as spoken directly from God in the book of Leviticus. To veer off into strange fire and one’s own inventions is blasphemy of the highest order. None of these single ideas mentioned here by Rabbi Skobac can stand in light of God’s revealed atonement. Yes, God is merciful, but because of atonement and He is not merciful in regards to compromising His commandments and statutes which includes the sacrifice that is offered in atonement – that there is to be a temple and blood shed for the forgiveness of sins and a high priest. The ideas are to say that sin doesn’t cost anyone nor God anything, which is far from what the Bible portrays. If God simply forgets sin and does nothing to cleanse or pay for it’s wages, He would be an unjust judge. His mercy, therefore, is found in the atonement He has provided which pays for all our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. All verses Rabbi Skobac quoted to affirm his argument must be held within the whole of Scripture with the knowledge that there was a temple when they were written, with sacrifices being made and a high priest. 

XIV.

Blood Sacrifices Unheard of?

Rabbi Skobac continues, 

Well, how about Isaiah 53 for starts. Here Isaiah shows that blood sacrifice is central to what makes for atonement.  And here depicted is all that has to do with blood and the life to cleanse from all sin:

Rabbi Skobac quotes:

These verses are speaking of those who would teach that it is acceptable to neglect repentance and rely on sacrifice alone. Both are necessary for a lack of repentance leads to mere ritual which becomes hypocrisy and before you know it, exile. However, sacrifice follows after repentance which is the point of these verses. They do not teach that sacrifice can be ignored! Sacrifices without true repentance mean nothing and invite the wrath of God. God is speaking through Hosea to a particular people and a particular time in a particular context. Sacrifice has a purpose to fulfill that by the death of an innocent, you might not sin again.  There is a price that must be paid. 

XVI.

Are the Exceptions of the Absence of Sacrifice the Rule?

Rabbi Skobac writes,

Rabbi Skobac references the following: 

“Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: Redeem your sins by doing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor.” (Daniel 4:27).

These are great examples of how Gentiles entered into the faith of Israel in which atonement was central. For, if these would continue in the ways of God they would have entered into the knowledge of the God of Israel and repented of their idol worship and sacrifices to idols, and allowed the Levites to offer sacrifices for them. Nebuchadnezzar did not repent of his sins or follow Daniel’s advice and instead continued to worship himself until he finally glorified the God of Israel. Why else would there be signs warning Gentiles of their death if they came further than the outer courts? Because there were Gentiles entering into the faith of Israel. In other words, the knowledge of the God of Israel and true repentance cannot be separated from the removal of idolatry and the turning to God’s provided atonement and redemptive acts.

XVII.

A Temple will Suffice?

Rabbi Skobac writes, 

First of all, history will show that Christians aren’t the only ones bewildered at the Third Temple. There are many conflicts between the Law of Moses and this Temple, and so troublesome were they, that Ezekiel nearly didn’t make it into the canon. A man named Hananiah Ben Hezekiah was appointed to consider these matters and the Babylonian Talmud says that he was brought 300 barrels of oil and he shut himself away to seek to bring reconciliation to all the “problems” posed between the Third Temple and the Law of Moses.

Here are just a few of these problems:

• There is no ark of the covenant
• There is no table of the law
• There are no cherubim
• There is no mercy seat
• There is no veil
• There is no golden candlestick
• There is no table of showbread
• There is no high priest but rather a Prince
• Levites have fewer temple privileges
• There is no feast of Passover
• There is no day of atonement
• There are no evening sacrifices
• The temple dimensions and courts are changed
• There are living waters
• There are trees of healing
• There is the Prince’s portion of the land
• There is a special designation of the city’s name

A New Covenant

If those first seven on that list are gone, the Mosaic Covenant is done with. When Jeremiah introduces the new covenant in Jeremiah 31, by virtue of there being a new covenant the old passes away and we must seek to enter into the new. We see in the New Testament revelations that this passing away is only through the law’s fulfillment in the work of Messiah. It is impossible to say that the Third Temple will be anything that it once was or involved in the Old Covenant.

The Prince is High Priest?

And remember the priest-king Melchizedek? He’s the only one we see in the Bible who is both priest and king – all other kings who operated as priest were condemned. This “prince” figure must be after the same order of Melchizedek and not Levi, which figure the crowning of Joshua in Zechariah 6 prophesied of, for kings could not be priests and vice versa (Numbers 3:10, 3:38 and 16:39-40 with Genesis 39:10).

So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death.” (Numbers 3:10)

Moreover those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tabernacle of meeting, were Moses, Aaron, and his sons, keeping charge of the sanctuary, to meet the needs of the children of Israel; but the outsider who came near was to be put to death. (Numbers 3:38)

So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned up had presented, and they were hammered out as a covering on the altar, 40 to be a memorial to the children of Israel that no outsider, who is not a descendant of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before the Lord, that he might not become like Korah and his companions, just as the Lord had said to him through Moses. (Numbers 16:39-40)

The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people. (Genesis 39:10)

Jesus however, was both from the tribe of Judah and in the line of Melchizedek, for Melchizedek must be the pre-incarnate Christ, Himself, if He is blessing Abraham and receiving tithes from the great patriarch and father of faith.

The Size

The size itself is so large it requires a change in geography that will probably be provided by the last bowl judgment we see in Revelation 16:

Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” ¹⁸ And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. ¹⁹ Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. ²⁰ Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. ²¹ And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.

Sacrifices Do Not Take Away from the Atonement of Messiah

Furthermore, there is no possible way for the sacrifices to defile the once and for all sacrifice of Messiah. Rather, just as they pointed towards the cross, they likewise will point backwards to the cross and will have significant purposes. If there is any “power” in those sacrifices, that power must need to come from God in any case.

If any Christian is intimidated by this fact, and is calling heresy, let them remember the following verse wherein Paul who wrote many letters against legalism – post cross and resurrection offered a sacrifice, even after his third missionary journey:

“Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them.” (Acts 21:26)

Although Paul’s actions were tied to his missionary work, it cannot be deemed that he was doing anything that would be considered sin for the text does not mention anything of the sort to refute his actions. The sacrifice was for purification, not justification or sanctification. So, a literal interpretation of Ezekiel should not lead one to believe that Hebrews is challenged by Ezekiel’s temple unless Christians are now going to call Paul a heretic which is really dangerous business.

Hebrews does away with animal sacrifices completely, especially in regards to atonement. Wherein, we understand that those animal sacrifices in fact never atoned for anything apart from their direct connection to representing and connecting the worshipper to the once hidden mystery that was the atonement of Christ to come. If sacrifices are in Ezekiel we cannot imagine that they have any power outside of the provided once and for all atonement of Christ. The mosaic system was never designed to remove sin and sacrifices never fully resolved man’s sin issue. Therefore, we can be certain that the Third Temple is not a return to the Old Covenant.

Why Sacrifices?

It would make sense that there would be sacrifices reminding of what Christ did on the cross, reminding of the reality of death, for this temple is at a time between the first and second resurrection in the midst of sinful men with fallible priests dominated by the fall, who would need cleansing and protection from the presence of God dwelling in their midst. Jerry M. Hullinger in “The Function of the Millennial Sacrifices in Ezekiel’s Temple” makes a compelling case that these sacrifices are for ceremonial cleansing. Also the lifespan of man is moved to 900 years and so this death of animals would have to be in place to remind people of the death that they will have to face if they don’t believe on God’s provided atonement.

This temple is absolutely necessary if God is not going to be a liar, for He promised the position to the Levites, especially the sons of Zadok (Ezekiel 44:13-16) and Israel’s vocation is without repentance (Romans 9, 10, and 11).

Should we be bewildered at the following verse, “But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” (Revelation 21:22) Well, either way you cut it there is a temple. What if it is to say that the temple is so consumed by God that John didn’t see the temple -. or that once the earth is totally cleansed and all are resurrected to either eternal life or eternal torment that the temple is in some way or another completely taken over by God? In the Old Covenant the glory of the Lord filled the temple so strongly that the priests were stopped from ministering; how much more in the New Covenant (2 Chronicles 5:14)?

Why A Literal Interpretation?

The amount of fine detail in Ezekiel 40-48 is so over-the-top it wouldn’t make any sense at all that it is an allegory. Furthermore, a third temple is necessary for the fulfillment of prophecies. . . and so there will either be a man ordained temple (a false third temple) before a God ordained temple (the true third temple) or there will be a God ordained temple (to be discussed) that is defiled before the Second Coming. In other words, Ezekiel is not the only one who speaks of a third temple and to allegorize him to make an easy solution to something mysterious means that you have to also force all the Bible into your new invention (Daniel 9; 2 Thessalonians 2; Matthew 24; Revelation 11). To be discussed.

XVIII.

Finding the Voice of God in Exile

Whenever Israel went into exile the reason was known and given to the prophets. Amos 3:7 states, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.”

So, when you’ve been in exile for 2k years, what do you do? 

1. Find out what God said last
2. Come up with a new offering

Prophetic Voice: Micah (720 BC) and Jeremiah who wrote:

2 Kings 17:19 Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.20 And the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them from His sight. 21 For He tore Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord, and made them commit a great sin. 22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them, 23 until the Lord removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away from their own land to Assyria, as it is to this day.24 Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities. 

Why?

Because Israel 1. Did not keep the commandments of the Lord and 2. They made up their own statutes (verse 19) 

Prophetic Voice: Ezra

2 Chronicles 36:20 And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

With:

Prophetic Voice: Jeremiah

Jeremiah 25:1-14, The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: 3 “From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, this is the twenty-third year in which the word of the Lord has come to me; and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not listened. 4 And the Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear. 5 They said, ‘Repent now everyone of his evil way and his evil doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers forever and ever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm you.’ 7 Yet you have not listened to Me,” says the Lord, “that you might provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. 8 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Because you have not heard My words, 9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. 10 Moreover I will [a]take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 ‘Then it will come to pass, when [b]seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,’ says the Lord; ‘and I will make it a perpetual desolation. 13 So I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations. 14 (For many nations and great kings shall be served by them also; and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands.)’ ”

Why?

Because Israel 1. They did not listen to the prophets, 2. They did not keep the commandments of the Lord, 3. They provoked God with “the works of their hands to their own hurt (While Jeremiah prophesied the Jewish leaders were affirming God’s blessing), and 4. They didn’t keep the Sabbaths which would include proper atonement which takes place on the Sabbath. 

Prophetic Voice: Daniel

And, as seen in Daniel’s Vision of the 70 weeks from chapter 9:

“Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.

25 “Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem
Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street shall be built again, and the wall,
Even in troublesome times.

26 “And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.

27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.”

Timeline Given

We see in Nehemiah 2:1, “And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes,” that this command to rebuild Jerusalem is stated. See also Ezra 7. This was the “going forth of the command” and the 20th year of King Artaxerxes in the month on Nisan lands our beginning date as March 14th 445 B.C. The prophecy goes on that 69 weeks of years after the command goes forth to restore and rebuild the city of Jerusalem the Messiah will come. If we count forward 173,880 days from March 14th 445 B.C. we arrive at April 6th 32 A.D, the date that Jesus’ entered Jerusalem (See Matthew 21). 

7 + 62 = 69 (weeks of years) = 173,880 days using the 360 day prophetic year. 

March 14th 445 BC to April 6th 32 AD is 173,880 days.

Covenant Curses Bearing Down Before Final Restoration

As stated, the last week of Daniel describes the curses of the covenant of God bearing down on Israel, whether that is through Israel making a covenant with the antichrist or something similar. The prince of vs. 26 is seen as Antiochus, but Antiochus was only a partial fulfillment, as seen in Daniel 11 which was never fully fulfilled and is self disclosed as pertaining to an appointed time at the end of the age. Therefore Antiochus is a type of Antichrist that would find final fulfillment in this prince mentioned in the 70 week vision. Daniel, after all, is a chasm whose main point is 7:9-14: The Ancient of Days, the little horn (speaking of the antichrist), and the Son of Man which all point to the end of days and final culmination of prophecy. All of Daniel has to do with beastly kingdoms that will one day come to an end and judgment as God sets up His own kingdom on the earth. 

Final Restoration Promised Centered on the Son of Man

In chapter 9, Daniel discovered the prophecy of Jeremiah concerning Israel’s 70 years of captivity. When he makes earnest prayer to God the angel Gabriel appears to him and shows that Israel is not soon to be restored as he may have though. Instead, Daniel is given the prophecy concerning 70 weeks. It becomes clear that the restoration of Israel, though the temple would be rebuilt, is centered on the figure of the Son of Man as seen in chapter 7 and the Messiah the Prince as seen here in Daniel 9. It is interesting to note that Daniel did not return to Israel when the command went forth to rebuild Jerusalem. It is likely that Daniel knew that true restoration was far in the future and centered on this God-man as seen in Daniel 7:9-14 which is the very crux and center of the whole chiasm which is the book of Daniel. It states that “One like the Son of Man” comes on the clouds (only YHWH rides on the clouds). This Son of Man is brought before the Ancient of Days and is given “dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.”  Who is God giving his kingdom to, who is as worthy as He? 

True Israel

The last week of Daniel describes the curses of the covenant of God bearing down on Israel, whether that is through Israel making a covenant with the antichrist or something similar. The nation that was formed in 1947 called “Israel” and truly within the boundaries of the Abrahamic Covenant, was formed through the help of the United Nations – something the Bible would describe as harlotry. Yes, I believe God is involved, but it is not to say that He has no controversy with His covenant people. It is a country with all sorts of walks and beliefs in life that are not according to the Torah. In a great sense, it is not Israel anymore than America is Israel until God fulfills his purposes and truly the verse is fulfilled “And the Lord will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem.” (Zech. 2:12) You can’t say you are Israel and are out of exile when God is stopping you from making sacrifices in the Temple Mount and the laws are not being enforced. This nation of “Israel” calls Israel something that it is in fact not. My point is, there is a much bigger storyline going on here and it is not entirely optimistic and free of judgment. Not all Israel is Israel. The children of Abraham are those who have the same faith as Abraham – both Jews and Gentiles. That is not to say Israel’s specific vocation is given to Gentiles, but it is to say in regards to salvation. Jerusalem is above and is free and is the mother of us all. Not the Jerusalem you walk through today. As Galatians 4 speaks on this:

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written: 

“Rejoice, O barren,
You who do not bear!
Break forth and shout,
You who are not in labor!
For the desolate has many more children
Than she who has a husband.”

28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. 29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.

Now, after the last prophet of the Old Testament, came 400 years of silence. . . which silence was broken by John the Baptist (who the Jews recognized as a prophet according to the New Testament) who said, 

“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (From Matthew 3)

And Jesus said,

“If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (from Luke 19)

Jesus also quotes Isaiah 6, in Matthew 13 saying of that generation,

Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴ And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
¹⁵ For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.’

The hardness of heart is revealed also when Jesus raised Lazarus and their response was to put Jesus to death as well as Lazarus (John 11:53; John 12:10, 11)

Why?

To conclude, Israel is currently in exile because she failed to recognize the time of her visitation and has rejected Daniel and John the Baptist. This is because their hearts were hardened. 

Israel’s downfall is not final, as Paul writes in Romans 11, 

“11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 12 Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! 13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. 15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

In other words, Israel (as a nation) will be saved at the Second Advent of Christ. Until then, a remnant is preserved and the blindness (that has come on Israel through their nation rejection of Messiah) is “in part” (See Romans 9, 10, and 11). 

IX.

Were Any of the Old Testament Messianic Prophecies Fulfilled in Jesus?

Review and Consider the following article for starts:

https://jewsforjesus.org/answers/top-40-most-helpful-messianic-prophecies/

XX.

The Rabbi is Right!?

Rabbi Skobac writes, 

There is no possibility of changing what God has already revealed regarding substitutionary atonement. You can’t just rip open the veil and walk behind it, go wherever you want, do whatever you want and wishfully believe God isn’t going to care. “You” includes Rabbinic traditions and whoever else whose words are being taken as contrary to and above the Torah. Let belief be based not on “you” but on the truth as revealed in the Torah! All else is mere entertainment for strangers to the holy things of God.