Shabbat Shalom – Poetry, Short Prose and Walking

Shabbat Shalom – Vayikra

No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the Lord, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the Lord made by fire.
Leviticus 2:11 King James Version

Yehoshua Gordon explains why leaven and honey were not acceptable as offerings in his third lecture this week (about 8:00). The leaven represents human arrogance. Unleavened bread represents humility. Honey, or any sort of sweetness to us, represents our desires. We are to give Yehovah what He wants, not what we want.

That might explain why Cain’s offering in Genesis 4 was not as acceptable as Abel’s. Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground while Abel brought the firstborn of his flock. Was Cain’s offering perceived as arrogance? Did it contain leaven or honey or anything sweet?

Shabbat Shalom – Pekudei

The Spirit dwells among us
and leads us night and day.
If His is our will, too,
we’ll rightly walk the way.

Those who believe in Yeshua (Jesus) are living temples of the Spirit of God who dwells among us (1 Corinthians 3:16). I learned from Yehoshua B. Gordon’s fifth portion of Pekudei that our being the tabernacle (tent, residence, dwelling place, mishkan) of the Spirit of God is also mentioned by Hebraic Sages.

The Pekudei readings cover the last portion of Exodus ending with Moses setting up the tabernacle on the first day of the first month (Nisan 1, the Biblical New Year) of the second year after leaving Egypt. Then the glory of the Lord dwelt in it.