Pork Eating

Questions from the congregation

Someone answer these two questions. I am curious and a little bit confused and just need some clarification. Maybe I’m over thinking I don’t know but maybe someone a little more educated than we can explain. Please don’t criticize just asking so I know it says in the Bible that you should honor your mother and your father and that your days upon the earth will be longer so let’s just say if your mom or dad offer you pork and you know in the Bible, you’re not supposed to eat pork in this instance what do you do? 

April Tucker

This is not what honoring your parent means. It is one of those “build the community/society” verses. One can only truly honor parents who honor God. If the whole community is honoring God, then there will never be a problem.

There are as many answers to this as there are Messianics. Some will say that “pork is an abomination and therefore never touch it.” Others will say that “the relationship is more important, eat the pork, it only makes one unclean.” There is no easy answer. Other than that, always bring your own food.

There is no way out of the hypocrisy. This is what Paul meant by working out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; Phil. 2:12 

Unclean

If we carefully look through the Torah we soon realize that we are perpetually unclean. But there is a remedy. We have to wait till the sun goes down and take a bath before going to the temple.

24   “And by these you shall become unclean; whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 25 and whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. 26 Every animal which parts the hoof but is not cloven-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you; every one who touches them shall be unclean. 27 And all that go on their paws, among the animals that go on all fours, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 28 and he who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you. Lev. 11:24-28

But there is a slight problem here, there is no temple. We are now the temple and are perpetually clean in Messiah.

Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for any one to make others fall by what he eats; Rom. 14:20

Who is my Father and my Mother?

48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Matt. 12:48-50

Tradition

1   Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If any one tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is given to God, he need not honor his father.’ 6 So, for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word of God. 7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’”Matt. 15:1-8

Ephesian 2:15

Question from the congregation..

What does Paul mean in Ephesians 2:15 when he says…

15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; Ephesians 2:15

Answer

This is addressed to the Church that was in Ephesus. Which was mostly made up of Gentiles. We must remember that we are reading someone else’s mail, and we may never completely understand the rationale for what is written.

Verse 11 starts with a “therefore” so we must consider what came before, which goes through the idea that we are one, both Jews and Gentiles, “by grace through faith.”

Although Paul is speaking of the Law, he only mentions one (in particular) circumcision. Circumcision is the one law given to be a sign of the covenant, and forever separated Jews and Gentiles. [Gen. 17]

Human hands make circumcision, and the dividing wall or the partition was also made by man’s hands. Only one who was physically circumcised could move beyond the Court of the Gentiles and into the temple precincts and participate in the ceremonies. The uncircumcised were not allowed. 

FYI: This partition was a creation of the rabbis and was not original to the Torah.

Messiah’s sacrifice took away the need for the ceremonial law: that is the laws pertaining to the priestly and sacrificial rites. Which Paul calls “the law and the commandments and the ordinances.” Peter states this quite clearly in that, “Christ died once for all.” [1Pet. 3:18 ]

Paul, in making this statement, stresses that God made one congregation. That it is only through the work of Messiah that the one congregation can meet the commission to leave “the passions of our flesh.”[v3] Just as the Father and Son are one we should be one.

. . . that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. John 17:21 

The rest of Ephesians is on how this will Work

Throughout the Old Testament, the terms stranger and sojourners are put for those who are not part of the Commonwealth of Israel. But now that is no longer valid. All are built on the Foundation.

So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, Eph. 2:19-20

Meditate on the Law

Many people in the inherited churches will quote this verse without any regard for its context.

9 “Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”Josh 1:9b

They do this mostly from ignorance, because they don’t actually read the Bible for themselves. So they are easy prey for the worldly teachers that are so pervasive in this post-modern age, we live in.

Joshua’s Great Commission.

5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and of good courage; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Josh 1:5-9

Notice that Joshua is the one that will cause the people to inherit.

vs. 6 “for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers”

The only way to get all this accomplished is to meditate on the Law. His success at this will depend on his meditating day and night on the first five books of the Bible. Courage comes from knowing what the right thing to do is. And knowing right and wrong comes from the Law of God.

For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. Rom. 2:13

1   Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! 2 Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, 3 who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! Psa. 119:1-3

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. Psa. 1:1-2

The inherited churches will tell us that the law has passed away. But that verse is also in complete.

31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. Rom. 3:31

17 “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. 18 For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.Matt. 5:17 -18

So many times people have lost their way, simply because they did not look at the Law of God. Our economies fall apart because we do not practice sabbath and jubilee, our armies fail because we do not fight for truth or justice, we simply do not consider what is best for our fellow man, over what is profitable for us.

None of us are Joshua, but all of us can follow his lead. We were not told to take land, we were told to take souls. We were told to preach the Gospel, and that Gospel started in the Law. For it is in the Law that we find the promise of a redeemer. We were told to wait for our Redeemer for he would surely come.

• Gen 3:15 Enmity between the woman’s Seed and the Serpent
• Gen 9:25-27 Blessed be Shem
• Gen 12:3 By you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves
• Gen 49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, till Shiloh comes
• Duet 32:18 The Rock that begot You

Kosher/Trefah

Food always comes up as an issue in Messianic congregations.

When the congregation was small and we all lived near each other we had potlucks every Shabbot. We all came from different backgrounds and were all at different points in our spiritual growth and so it was decided that we were not going to fight over food. So we posted, “some in our Congregation keep kosher, so if you bring something to share that contains pork or shellfish please tell us.” Some of us will eat such food and some of us won’t.

Now that we are larger and all over the world, we still feel the same way. There is so much wrong with what is being taught in the post-modern churches, that what we eat is the least of our problems.

But the question still comes up, what is clean and unclean? And does it matter anymore? 

If you are interested in a kosher lifestyle watch this:  Tour of my Orthodox Sephardic Kosher Kitchen)

The Text

Many Messianics use the word Kosher improperly or it can be argued that the Jew use it improperly, (like we did up there in our keep kosher comment). To a Jew the noun Kosher is about the separation of meat and dairy. Where Messianics tend to use Kosher to mean meats that are forbidden which are actually called Trefah.

Forbidden or Trefah Foods

A full list of what is clean and unclean is in the whole chapter of Leviticus 11. Here are the ones that come up most often.

 7 And the swine, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. 8 Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean to you.

9   “These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat. 10 But anything in the seas or the rivers that has not fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is an abomination to you.Lev. 11:7-9

But anything in the seas or the rivers that has not fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is an abomination to you. Lev. 11:10

And Deuteronomy

And the swine, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. Deut. 14:8

“You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the alien who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. 

 “You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk. Deut. 14:21  

Gentiles

The entire Leviticus 11 chapter is addressed to the children of Israel.

1   And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, These are the living things which you may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. Lev. 11:1-2

This an other laws became a problem in the first century. How many of these laws were to be applied to the non Jew who had come to faith. This is one of the questions that were addressed by the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15.

Clean

Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. Lev. 11:3

“These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat. Lev. 11:9 

When the temple stood the altar was that which consecrated all things.

Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar, and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy; whatever touches the altar shall become holy. Ex. 29:37

But now we are the holy sacrifice.

I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Rom. 12:1 

What ever Messiah touched became clean. Just as anything making contact with the altar in the temple had become clean.

You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. John 15:3

If we are all clean in Messiah? Then there is no reason to fight over food.

Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for any one to make others fall by what he eats; Rom. 14:20

Penalty

But there was a way to become clean after eating these Trefah foods.

24   “And by these you shall become unclean; whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 25 and whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. 26 Every animal which parts the hoof but is not cloven-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you; every one who touches them shall be unclean. 27 And all that go on their paws, among the animals that go on all fours, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 28 and he who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.Lev. 11:24-28

So the penalty is that one is unclean till evening and one will have to go through the ritual bathing before one can go into the temple. Oh wait, there is no temple. We are the temple, and we are clean. 

The Song of Moses

And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb,  . . . Rev. 15:3a

The inherited churches in the last two centuries have made Moses and Jesus,  into Moses verses Jesus. But Jesus did not come to put away the Law of Moses. 

Until the Dispensationalists made their appearance in the early 1800’s, standard church teachings included the observation of the fourth commandment, to keep the Sabbath. They did believe or teach that the day had changed to Sunday. Because the Romans had changed the day from the Sabbath to Sunday, but they still taught that it must be kept. Until recently, most states in the US and provinces in Canada had blue laws that closed businesses on Sundays. But the Dispensationalists have taken over the postmodern church and now teach that, “the Law has passed away.” The Commandments and The Song of Moses has been neglected. They keep quoting this verse as if that was all the verse states.

Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. Rom. 3:31

“Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them”. Matt. 5:17 

It has not been the historical teachings of the inherited churches that the law was done away with. Over the centuries they posted the Ten Commandments on their walls, and frequently taught the children to recite them.

As for Passing Away

For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Matt. 5:18

But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one dot of the law to become void. Luke 16:17

Whether looking forward or backward to the Blood of the Lamb, all people are saved at the cross.

Sing the Song of Moses

But if we are children of God, then we are to hold onto the Commandments and bear proof of Jesus.

Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea. Rev. 12:17

It seems poignant here, that the congregation of Rev. 12 understands that to fully worship, they must both understand God’s commandments and accept His Messiah as their redeemer. Those who over come the false teachings, sing both the song of Moses and the Lamb. 

And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, 

 “Great and wonderful are thy deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are thy ways, O King of the ages! Rev. 15:3

The Israelites sang praises to God on the banks of the Red Sea after being saved from their enemies. So too, the Bride now sings, for all her enemies have been destroyed. She praises God through the Song of the Lamb for His great deeds, for being Just and True. She calls Him Holy and declares that all the nations shall worship Him.

It does not seem too mean that one is to actually singing these particular songs that are said to be songs of Moses or the Lamb. It is more about what these songs say. All these Songs of Moses and the Songs of the Lamb are songs of triumph; ascribing power, glory, and salvation to God. They point to the One whose right hand had delivered mightily. [Ex. 15:1-18; Deut. 32:1-43; Ps. 90] [Rev. 5:9-10; 15:3-4]

The books of Moses; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy provide the foundational understanding of sin, redemption, and prophecy. If one is not taught these foundational books, then a great deal of what Messiah said makes no sense. The context of His teachings are to a people that are living the Law of Moses.

This is the reason that Moses came first. The rules of salvation had to be explained. One simply must have the Law so that the Messiah can fulfill the Law.

One must sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. We cannot sing just one. Truth faith keeps the Commandments and The witness that Jesus is the only way of Salvation by fulfilling the Law.

First Century Calendar found in Dead Sea Scrolls

A wonderful article that explains the mixed up world of calendar difficulties in the New Testament period.

Archaeologists Decode One of Last Two Undeciphered Dead Sea Scrolls

Sin is missing the Mark

Archery target with arrow

The Law or Sin

I’m sure if you spent anytime in church you have been told that sin is missing the mark, and so it is.

The Hebrew word chata’ means to sin, and roots from the word to miss the mark, go wrong. No training or knowledge is needed to miss the mark. We are all perfectly capable of messing up our aim.

However what you most likely weren’t told was that the Law or rather the Hebrew word Torah means instruction, and roots from the word to throw or shoot. It is hitting the mark. No one ever picks up a weapon and hits the mark on the very first try. All need to be trained in the proper handling and firing of any armament.

So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. Gal. 3:24

The church calls for repentance but never really explains what that means. “Keep the faith” they say. Well, how do I do that? “Just believe in Jesus.” What exactly does that mean? In fact the only concrete rule they ever come up with is tithing.

Torah is the mark. It was designed by God to point to the true way to walk, with God and man. How can one repent, which means to turn and go the other way, unless one knows where the other way is or where the new mark is? How do we love God? There is a whole bunch of rules in Torah on what He expects from His children. How do we love our neighbors? There is also a whole bunch or rules on what that is like in Torah as well.

Faith is taught by example. The stories of Noah, Abraham, Joseph etc. are all in the Torah. One cannot begin to understand being “justified by faith” without a working knowledge of the Torah. It is a mark we simple cannot begin to see let alone hit without instruction.

Then he said to them, “These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Luke 24:44 

We must study the Old Testament to find Messiah. There is just no other way. Messiah’s teachings were all based on what had been written about Him. He explained what the Torah truly required to follow God, and He called the teachers of his day “Torah-breakers” a condition that the Church has fully embraced to their own detriment. While they preach of a coming lawless one, they do not see their own lawlessness.

The Law goes forth from Jerusalem

. . . and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. Is. 2:3 

In dispensational teaching the Law will not go forth until a future Jewish Dispensation. That way they don’t have to deal with the Law, and can continue to teach the fiction that, “The Law has passed away” for the Church Dispensation. There is no Church Dispensation in the Bible. There is only the Kingdom Age in which we live.

During the Kingdom Age the Law was supposed to go forth. As near as we can tell this was true for the first hundred years or so of the Kingdom Age, as the Congregation of the Lord recited the Ten Commandments in those early liturgies. We see that ancient Greece went from being heavy consumers of pork, to a diet much higher in lamb and goat. As the Congregation grew we see the  frivolity, heathenism and debauchery of the Roman Empire decline to be replace by Christian piety.

According to Eusebius, there was no communion as we know it, as Passover was when the Lord’s supper was held, and First Fruits when the Resurrection was celebrated. We also know from his writings that not everybody thought that Emperor Constantine was right in changing the Sabbath to Sunday as Eusebius writes quite disparaging of those still practicing Sabbath. At first the Law did go forth from Jerusalem, but over the centuries the Church prostituted itself in all manners of the superstitions of the Mystery Religions. One by one false teaching were allowed then embraced by the congregation. Some pure light was brought back by the Reformers, but the dispensationalist worked diligently to undue the Reformation and bring back the darkness. (See Also: The Corruption of the Church for a list of the most blasphemous crimes.)

The last of the Law they managed to get rid of was Sabbath-keeping. I remember as a child that nothing was opened on Sundays. They were called “blue laws” and only a few gas stations for emergencies and Jewish owned businesses were allowed to be open. Then came the Dispensationalists who began to teach that no only had the Sabbath moved to Sunday but we no longer had to rest as “the Law had passed away.” So greed became the call of all business men as they open their store fronts every day of the week. Unfortunately they are not quoting the verse in question accurately or completely. The Law has not passed away, it was not to be “overthrown.”

Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. Rom. 3:31

Slowly the Law of God was strangled as the church wrote new laws and rules of their own liking. The Immutable God was lost, as men in leadership imposed and mixed the old mystery religions with Christianity. Much of what is called Christianity bears no resemblance to the teaching of the Itinerate Jewish Rabbi from the first century.

Many dispensationalists are now calling for repentance. But they don’t give any direction as to how that can be accomplished, for they themselves are Lawless.

Repentance is simple there are Ten Commandments they are not The Ten Suggestions.

Bastards In The Assembly

The first time I heard this distasteful word was when I was five years old and about to go to kindergarten. My mother sat me down and made me promise not to tell anyone that I was adopted. I was very confused by this request. But she went on to explain that there were people in the world who might be mean to me because my parents were not married when I was born and call me a bastard. I was still more confused because my dad and mom were married. She smiled and explained that yes they were married and that I was their daughter and no one else’s, and therefore not a real bastard.

Then as an adult I saw this verse.

“No bastard shall enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the LORD. Deut. 23:2 

This brings to mind two questions. What is a bastard? What does it mean to enter the assembly?

Bastard

The English translation seems pretty straightforward. However mamzer is one of the rarest words in the Hebrew. The standard way of ascertaining what a word means is to look at all its uses. That’s hard to do when it is used only one other time in the whole of the Old Testament were it is translated mongrel not bastard.

. . . . a mongrel people shall dwell in Ashdod; and I will make an end of the pride of Philistia. Zech. 9:6

So what is a mamzer? That’s a little hard to tell. It should be noted that none of the children born in the Bible to unmarried or incestuous relationships are called mamzer. [Gen. 38:26-29; Judg. 11:1-2; 2Sam. 12; Hos. 1:2]

The mongrel people dwelling in Ashdod were most likely a group of people who moved into the empty cities of the Gaza. These new people are not the Philistines, the warrior giants of the famed Goliath and his brothers. These are people that have moved into the area after the Philistines had long disappeared from the historic record. The last mention of Philistines in the Bible was king Ussiah breaking down their walls. After this, the Egyptians and the Assyrians stop recording dealings with them.

And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines. 2Chr. 26:6

All this leaves us with only one conclusion. They are children of a mixed religion marriage, e.g. a Israelite married to a pagan worshiper.

Enter the Assembly

If you look back at Deut. 23 passage you will see that there are others that are restricted from entering into the congregation for ten generations, the eunuch, the Ammonites,  and the Moabites. Edomites are only restricted for three generations.

“He whose testicles are crushed or whose male member is cut off shall not enter the assembly of the LORD. Deut. 23:1 

“No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation none belonging to them shall enter the assembly of the LORD for ever; Deut. 23:3 

The children of the third generation that are born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD. Deut. 23:8

Some think that these people were excluded from communication with the   people of God in their religious services. This is because the eunuch, the Ammonites, and the Moabites were servants or slaves and would have been present during services.

However eunuchs and foreigners are encouraged to stay in the congregation.

Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely separate me from his people”; and let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” Is. 56:3

Then there is a theory that it only means that they are excluded from having an office in the congregation, meaning they could not be judges or elders. The reasoning behind this is because those of the priestly class were not allowed to served as priests if they had a blemish, such as crushed testicles than these excluded people were to be treated the same. [Lev. 21:16-24]

The only other place were there is an explanation of this is the putting away of the foreign wives and children in Nehemiah.

On that day they read from the book of Moses in the hearing of the people; and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God; Neh. 13:1 

It was permitted to marry people from these nations as long as they proselytized. Ruth is the prime example of this. She merely states “Your God is my God.” [Ruth 1:16] However after their time in Babylon they had acquired wives and therefore children that were unconverted.

So based on the Nehemiah passage those that were excluded from entering the assembly were those that were attached to the Israelite in some manner but never changed their religion. These are the mamzers.

The enemy has stretched out his hands over all her precious things; yea, she has seen the nations invade her sanctuary, those whom thou didst forbid to enter thy congregation. Lam. 1:10

This is why Paul must clarify the position of individual faith, over corporate faith.

For the unbelieving husband is consecrated through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is consecrated through her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is they are holy. 1Cor. 7:14 

Messiah gave us the Kingdom Age. We are no longer instructed to maintain a physical nation, but rather a worldwide spiritual kingdom.

The Korban ?

Lamb of God c. 1635-1640 by Francisco de Zurbarán

This is another one of those times when things get lost in translation. English has no equivalent word for korban, so the English reader never makes the connections that are present in the Hebrew. There is never a deeper understanding of the intimacy of the korban sacrifices.

Korban, depending on whether it is a noun or verb, can mean: offerings, sacrifices, oblations, or intimate, innermost parts of the body, or near kinsman or neighbor, or hand to hand combat. It is hard to translate all those meanings and still hold the cohesion of the word. To get a feel for the word here are some examples of how it is translated.

FYI: Red words indicate these that are korban in the Hebrew. It’s a little hard to go back and forth between the Hebrew and the English because some times the English leaves the word out completely.

In Leviticus 2, the unleavened bread or matzah bread is called the korban throughout the passage. In the Hebrew it is the korban minchah ma’afeh, or korban offering that is baked.

“When you bring a cereal offering baked in the oven as an offering, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers spread with oil. Lev. 2:4

It is not just the matzah that is korban so are the animals.

“If his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD, Lev. 3:12 

The insides of the animal sacrifice.

Do not eat any of it raw or boiled with water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. Ex. 12:9

Ehud presents a korban tribute to Eglon. The meaning was that this tributes was to enable some kind of relationship between the Moabite kingdom and the Children of Israel.

And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people that carried the tribute. Judg. 3:18

Later in Ezekiel the people are condemned for bringing a korban to the high places of the tree worship i.e. Christmas.

For when I had brought them into the land which I swore to give them, then wherever they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and presented the provocation of their offering; there they sent up their soothing odors, and there they poured out their drink offerings. Ezek. 20:28

Non-Sacrificial Uses

We get an even better feeling for the word looking at the passages where Korban occurs in a non-sacrificial sense all over the Old Testament.

Sarah laughed to her inner self, or korban.

So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” Gen. 18:12

Those who are inside Sodom and Gomorra.

Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Gen. 18:24

To have fellowship between God or men.

. . . he shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place which he shall choose within one of your towns, where it pleases him best; you shall not oppress him. Deut. 23:16

The sojourner who is among you shall mount above you higher and higher; and you shall come down lower and lower. Deut. 28:43

But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us; then how can we make a covenant with you?” Josh. 9:7

So the people of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; Judg. 3:5

The Children of Israel felt a need to have some kind of physical presents with them in battle.

And when the troops came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD put us to rout today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that he may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.” 1Sam. 4:3

Hand to hand combat, a very close up and personal way to kill.

But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, from Dan to Beer-sheba, as the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. 2Sam. 17:11

Intimacy with God

The korban sacrifices were meant to open an intimate conversation with the Lord God of Israel, a meeting between ones inner most self and the Creator. Translating it as simply a sacrifice puts the attention on the victim, and not on the relationship it was to open.

And they brought the ark of God, and set it inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 1Chr. 16:1 

And they set aside the burnt offerings that they might distribute them according to the groupings of the fathers’ houses of the lay people, to offer to the LORD, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so they did with the bulls. 2Chr. 35:12

Jeremiah speaks of a time when their ruler shall issue from amidst them, and I will cause him to draw near.

Their prince shall be one of themselves, their ruler shall come forth from their midst; I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me, for who would dare of himself to approach me? says the LORD. Jer. 30:21

This korban was a way to open your inner most self to a relationship with the Lord God of Israel.
The writer to the Hebrews uses this idea to explain that our intimate  relationship with God can now be more perfect. We now have a more perfect korban, through which we can if we choose draw closer to our God.

(for the law made nothing perfect); on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. Heb. 7:19

For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near. Heb. 10:1 

Corban in the New Testament

Korban Inscription

This is one of those passages in the New Testament that was “hard to understand” largely because an English reader has no concept of korban.

9   And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition!  10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die’;  11 but you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is Corban’ (that is, given to God) —  12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother,  13 thus making void the word of God through your tradition which you hand on. And many such things you do.” Mark 7:9-11

Messiah admonishes the people that giving to God without consideration of taking care of your responsibilities, is no way to get close to God.

Draw Near to God

The temple is now gone, there are no more korban sacrifices to be made. All that was literal must now in the Kingdom be spiritual.

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you men of double mind. James 4:8

I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Rom. 12:1  

. . . and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1Pet. 2:5

To live a sacrificial life, our morning prayer should be how may I serve the King?