Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: Many great parts of my job that make it fun and interesting. But one of the best and most fun things is that there is an endless supply of things to talk about in the universe. Did you know that?
An endless supply.
[00:00:22] Speaker B: Crazy things, exciting things, troubling things, sad things, happy things, Bible things, end times things.
[00:00:31] Speaker A: So many things.
[00:00:32] Speaker B: Especially now and on the heels of Purim and a war in Iran and all of this talk of Persia and Iran, what's it all mean?
Should we talk about this
[00:00:49] Speaker A: or.
I hate to even say his name, but it's okay.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: Tucker Carlson.
This is a fun one because he represents something really, really big and important that's going on our country right now as he descends further and further down the slope of insanity. I hope you saw his newest rant. That somehow or another Chabad Lubavitch, the Jewish teaching organization, somehow influenced Donald Trump and the entire United States military to attack Iran on behalf of Israel so that Israel could have the Temple Mount back. That's what happened. You didn't know, but Tucker's so in tune with God that he. Should we talk about that?
Nah.
[00:01:45] Speaker A: We could talk about.
[00:01:48] Speaker B: I had the madness, the absolute madness of anti Semitism and the influencers changing the complexion every day of the church, the church toward Jews in Israel.
I had an extended family member, a very extended family member, defect this week
[00:02:10] Speaker A: to the Candace Owens camp and publish
[00:02:14] Speaker B: that publicly on Facebook.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: Dirty, dirty Jews.
[00:02:19] Speaker B: And, yeah, she knows we're Jewish.
[00:02:24] Speaker A: There's so much.
[00:02:26] Speaker B: So much.
But the ultimate excitement. The ultimate excitement. You ask, with all that's happening in the world, what could be at the top of the list? What could supersede all of that? I'm surprised you even have to ask,
[00:02:43] Speaker A: because just around the corner is the book of Leviticus.
I see it, I feel it. I sense the energy.
[00:02:55] Speaker B: I saw your faces light up. The explosion of spiritual energy come out. I know, I know. Listen, it's not just you. You and every church in America, every Christian, every Bible reader cannot wait for the first portion of Leviticus to come along.
We're only weeks away.
[00:03:19] Speaker A: Actually, that's my.
[00:03:20] Speaker B: I use that sarcastic intro every single year, same joke.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: The truth, I've come to realize, as
[00:03:26] Speaker B: in a messianic sin synagogue, we actually are weird enough to be excited about Leviticus, but for the rest of the
[00:03:33] Speaker A: world, not so much the whole. You know, it's just. It's just that theology is settled for the majority of the world.
But here's the thing. We did Romans a couple of years ago. We did a series called Repaving the Romans road deep dive people learned a
[00:03:54] Speaker B: lot, I learned a lot.
[00:03:55] Speaker A: We cleared up a lot of confusion
[00:03:57] Speaker B: in the book of Romans because Romans as a book, as a read is an absolute mess.
[00:04:03] Speaker A: If you're reading it through a western
[00:04:06] Speaker B: theology, Western Christian theology, replacement theology mindset,
[00:04:11] Speaker A: instead of reading it through the eyes
[00:04:13] Speaker B: of a first century Jew speaking to
[00:04:15] Speaker A: a first century audience. It's a mess, but we figured it out.
[00:04:19] Speaker B: But here's the problem this, the same thing has happened with Leviticus and honestly, above all books, the book of Hebrews,
[00:04:29] Speaker A: which is closely connected to Leviticus, the
[00:04:32] Speaker B: whole sacrificial system, all the way down to how the world understands Yeshua himself confused, misled, misinformed, and it actually leads in many, many ways to the corrupted thinking that so many people have about
[00:04:48] Speaker A: the religion and practice of Judaism.
So it's time to fix that. Leviticus and really more than that, Hebrews and Jesus.
You didn't know Jesus was broken, did you?
Can you say that publicly from here?
[00:05:07] Speaker B: You can.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: When the whole world misinterprets so much of what and who he is, he is not and never will be broken. But the interpretation and the teachings are wrong.
Now I did about, I did a series a long time ago, almost 10 years ago about Hebrews. I have learned a lot since then.
So the time is now. As we head into Leviticus, Passover, the lamb who was slain, sacrifice, atonement, we're
[00:05:39] Speaker B: going to get busy again with one of these deep intellectual, academic, hopefully spirit filled, deep dive, Bible study, challenge inducing, controversial series,
[00:05:53] Speaker A: reorienting series about all that really important stuff. There is something amazing that happens in
[00:05:59] Speaker B: Leviticus, but not yet
[00:06:03] Speaker A: because today I want to show you where it all starts.
The tabernacle, the priesthood, the sacrificial system,
[00:06:11] Speaker B: where they get their energy, why?
[00:06:14] Speaker A: What's their existential purpose? And it starts right here in Exodus, in Parshaki Tisa today, the Torah portion, the lowest moment in Israel's history. This is where it starts, has a lot to do with Moses, with intercession. But ultimately, as we'll see today, well we won't see it today and we won't see it for a long time. All of it points to Yeshua.
But we start today with a golden calf.
Not the way we usually tell it.
[00:06:47] Speaker B: Moses goes up the mountain, he's gone 40 days.
[00:06:49] Speaker A: The people panic.
Aaron, they go to Aaron.
[00:06:54] Speaker B: Poor Aaron.
[00:06:54] Speaker A: Right, poor Aaron.
[00:06:57] Speaker B: I just threw this in and out jumped this cow. They go to Aaron and they listen to this. They say this Moses, the man who brought us up out of Egypt. We don't know what happened to him.
Now, we read this golden calf as a story about idolatry.
[00:07:15] Speaker A: Israel got impatient, got scared. They sinned. True, there is an idolatrous component, but that's not what they said right there.
They didn't say, we want a new God.
[00:07:29] Speaker B: They said, we don't know what happened to our guy.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: There is a different crisis occurring here.
[00:07:36] Speaker B: There is a crisis of mediation
[00:07:41] Speaker A: because
[00:07:41] Speaker B: Moses is the one who stands, has stood between them and God.
He's gone for 40 days.
[00:07:48] Speaker A: They don't know if he's coming back.
[00:07:50] Speaker B: And in that panic, the desperate need for staying connected and protected, There's a motivation to build this calf. Not because they want a different God, but because they lost or were fearful of losing the connection they had to the God they had.
Now Moses comes down, he sees it.
[00:08:15] Speaker A: He breaks the tablet tablets, and he does what Moses does repeatedly.
[00:08:24] Speaker B: He stands for the people.
[00:08:25] Speaker A: He intercedes. He argues for their lives. You can read all of this yourself in Parasha ki tisa and listen.
[00:08:32] Speaker B: God relents.
God relents from utterly destroying the people and choosing only Moses. Because that was the offer.
[00:08:44] Speaker A: That was God's offer to Moses.
[00:08:47] Speaker B: I'll kill everybody except you, brother, and
[00:08:50] Speaker A: we can start over.
That's a big problem. It got resolved. Thankfully, most of the people will survive this incident.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: But there is a very, very, very
[00:09:05] Speaker A: troubling part that remains.
[00:09:07] Speaker B: This is that Mo, Moses is gonna
[00:09:09] Speaker A: go up and speak to God on behalf of the people. But while he's there, God says this very troubling thing. Do you know what God says?
I'm not going with you.
[00:09:20] Speaker B: I won't kill you all, but I'm
[00:09:22] Speaker A: not going up in your midst.
That's God. I'm not gonna think about what that means, though. Exodus 33. 3. I will not go up in your midst. That means for Israel that their entire identity, everything that set from Exodus 6 where God delivers them everything that they've
[00:09:46] Speaker B: staked their future on, is that God
[00:09:48] Speaker A: will go with them. He will lead by the pillars. We have fire, we have clouds, we have presence.
[00:09:55] Speaker B: And that's the whole thing. And what are they without God? They're supposed to be going somewhere with God, and now they're not.
[00:10:05] Speaker A: At least that's what God says.
Rabbi Sacks points something out that's out of the box to out of the box, thinking it's a little bold to say. I like it. God has just shown here to Israel, to Moses, in pretty rapid succession that
[00:10:22] Speaker B: he is capable of wanting to Destroy Israel in one moment, and then immediately to forgive them. And he can do that.
He's God.
But from where Israel is standing.
[00:10:35] Speaker A: And this you have to remember as
[00:10:37] Speaker B: a people who were really only recently reintroduced to God.
They've seen the plagues, they've heard the thunder. They've watched God, you know, swing from I'm going to kill everybody to okay, I forgive you.
He's unpredictable.
Honestly, that's unpredictable.
[00:11:02] Speaker A: They know his power. They've felt. They've seen it, but they don't really.
[00:11:06] Speaker B: They don't really understand or know his character.
[00:11:09] Speaker A: And now he's going to say, guess what? Too bad, you're out. I'm not going with you. That's very unsettling. But that perception of unpredictability is going to frame what happens next with Moses, because Moses is now going to get into Moses the esquire mode.
You know what an esquire is, right? I think it's a fancy term for an attorney.
[00:11:34] Speaker B: He is
[00:11:38] Speaker A: about to argue, sort of. He's at least about to present a case. And he says to God, you know, listen, he doesn't say it, but this is what I imagine. And you know, sometimes you're angry. You're really angry.
Sometimes you're compassionate.
[00:11:58] Speaker B: And we. And even I can't predict which is going to win out.
We've put everything on you. How are we supposed to live? How do we survive if the future sins are just a coin toss between destruction and mercy? Now, that's not what God is. But if you look at the externals here, how are we supposed to.
How are we supposed to know if you can just say, I'm not going with you. And Moses is saying, we gotta have more than a pardon here. We've gotta have more than an angel. And so his three requests come.
[00:12:33] Speaker A: And Moses says to God, see, you
[00:12:35] Speaker B: say to me, lead this people forward. But you've not made known to me who you'll sin with me further, you said, I've singled you out by name and you have indeed gained my favor. Now, if I have truly gained your favor, pray, please let me know your
[00:12:52] Speaker A: ways
[00:12:56] Speaker B: that I may know you and continue in your favor. Consider too this nation, your people. So the first request that Moses makes is personal.
He says, first of all, show me that I might know you.
How do you operate? What can we count on? I mean, we're relatively early here in the journey.
Second, now he says to the need for God's presence. If your presence does not go with
[00:13:23] Speaker A: us, don't bring us up here. Don't bring us up from here.
[00:13:26] Speaker B: If you're not going, forget it.
I can't move this people an inch unless you come. Not an angel, you.
[00:13:38] Speaker A: And God answers that one. Moses is very convincing.
[00:13:43] Speaker B: My presence will go with you. And I will give you rest. I will also do this thing that you've asked for. You have found favor in my sight. And I know you by name.
Awesome, right?
Moses has secured it. God is coming with.
[00:14:03] Speaker A: But this is a really important question.
[00:14:05] Speaker B: On the basis of what is God going with them?
[00:14:13] Speaker A: On what merit is God going?
[00:14:19] Speaker B: Moses.
He's going because of Moses.
His standing, his favor. One man's relationship with God purchases the
[00:14:32] Speaker A: presence of God for an entire nation.
[00:14:35] Speaker B: And it works. Beautiful, right?
Beautiful. Moses did it. Because Moses is special. And God loves Moses. Excellent. We're going forward. That's a problem.
[00:14:48] Speaker A: The presence is secured, but it's by Moses.
[00:14:51] Speaker B: Which means that the moment Moses is
[00:14:55] Speaker A: gone, the guarantee could go with him.
[00:15:03] Speaker B: If Moses hadn't interceded, everyone would already be dead. And Moses knows this.
He has just watched what happened when the people thought he was gone for 40 days. What happens when he's gone? Gone permanently.
[00:15:17] Speaker A: So Moses makes one more request.
And this is the big bold one. And we sing songs about it. And everyone loves it, right? It's actually a confusing request.
[00:15:29] Speaker B: After this, Moses says.
[00:15:31] Speaker A: What does Moses say?
[00:15:34] Speaker B: Show me your glory.
What does that mean?
Why?
To do what with?
Why now?
[00:15:49] Speaker A: You know? But think about the danger that's going on right now.
And realize this is not some mystical request for Moses to have some super spiritual, mystical encounter with God. That's the way it's presented.
[00:16:08] Speaker B: But he doesn't need that.
This is for the people.
[00:16:16] Speaker A: How, in this moment, in this context, Moses is saying to God, show me what makes you glorious.
[00:16:27] Speaker B: Show me why you are a God these people can trust.
Show me. And not just trust you today, but forever. Show me something that I can give to them that doesn't depend on me
[00:16:45] Speaker A: being there to ask.
In this context.
Show me, God, what makes you trustworthy.
[00:16:54] Speaker B: Show me something that I can take back down to these people that doesn't collapse the next time they fall. Show me something that doesn't depend on
[00:17:03] Speaker A: me being alive to ask.
[00:17:05] Speaker B: Now listen. There's a little shadow of the burning
[00:17:08] Speaker A: bush in this moment.
[00:17:09] Speaker B: Remember what happened at the burning bush.
[00:17:13] Speaker A: Moses did not have a lot of confidence.
[00:17:16] Speaker B: But when he was first called, he asked a question. God, who am I supposed to say? Sent me.
Who shall I say?
[00:17:24] Speaker A: Sent me?
[00:17:25] Speaker B: He needed a name to carry to the People now, after Egypt, after Sinai, after the calf, he's asking again, not this time for a name, but for character.
Not who shall I say sent me, but God, who are you really?
[00:17:46] Speaker A: When everything depends on it?
And God answers.
You know how he answers.
First of all, he puts Moses in the cleft of the rock. He passes before him. He speaks.
[00:17:58] Speaker B: And what does he speak?
[00:18:00] Speaker A: The answer to Moses question, his character. He speaks his character into existence in a declaration that he says, adonai, Adonai el rahum bechanum.
[00:18:15] Speaker B: The Lord.
[00:18:16] Speaker A: The Lord, compassionate and gracious, slow to
[00:18:19] Speaker B: anger, abounding in loving kindness and truth,
[00:18:21] Speaker A: keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin.
[00:18:28] Speaker B: That's your glory.
[00:18:34] Speaker A: This is the answer to Moses question.
It's the 13 attributes. This is God giving Israel something solid enough to outlast Moses, something they can pray, something they remember, something they can return to.
[00:18:52] Speaker B: And Moses questioned God, who are you if I'm not here? Who are you when I'm God? And who are you when I'm gone? And God answers, I am this.
I am not arbitrary. I am not a cosmic mood swing. I am not a spiritual coin toss.
I am not between just all wrath and sometimes kindness. I have character. And that character that I'm saying to you is glorious.
[00:19:23] Speaker A: And it will sustain this relationship.
[00:19:25] Speaker B: And that statement, the 13 attributes, becomes the foundation for forgiveness in Israel. The Slichot prayers, Yom Kippur, forgiveness across millennia comes back to the this moment, to these words. And any generation in any exile with no Moses, no temple, no priest, invokes these attributes and knows them because they
[00:19:51] Speaker A: are God's own definition of himself. He is glorious in these ways.
[00:19:57] Speaker B: Who are you? Moses says, I am this always.
[00:20:04] Speaker A: So Moses will now come down with more than some good news that God decided he wouldn't destroy them. It's the best news.
[00:20:15] Speaker B: Who is this God?
[00:20:18] Speaker A: Well, God will go with us. Who is he?
God gave Moses the answer in the cleft of the rock for the people.
How God forgives, how he can remain among them, how a sinful people stays in relationship.
[00:20:34] Speaker B: And that is
[00:20:39] Speaker A: where all of this tabernacle, priestly material, Leviticus stuff, all of it is really about to come into clear focus.
[00:20:48] Speaker B: Because the answer to the calf is not just, okay, I forgive. The answer is, we're going to build
[00:20:55] Speaker A: something into this relationship that can survive your failures. That's the answer.
That's what the tabernacle is.
[00:21:03] Speaker B: Priesthood, sacrifice, purity.
[00:21:06] Speaker A: It's a system, yes, but much more than that.
[00:21:09] Speaker B: It is a structure of grace. And connection.
[00:21:13] Speaker A: And it is a way that the
[00:21:15] Speaker B: Presence stays in the middle of an imperfect people.
[00:21:19] Speaker A: And they can trust that.
Exodus 25:40, you'll notice, is arranged like a sandwich.
There's a big hunk of beef in the middle of the sandwich.
You don't get it, but you will.
[00:21:39] Speaker B: Before the calf.
Exodus 25:31, you get the blueprint for
[00:21:45] Speaker A: the tabernacle, the ark, the menorah, the curtains, the priestly garments, the consecration, the whole plan.
[00:21:51] Speaker B: Then in the middle, Exodus 32:34, everything falls apart.
[00:21:58] Speaker A: Why?
The golden calf, broken tablets, divine anger, Moses interceding. And then at the very center of
[00:22:09] Speaker B: that crisis, the very center of the
[00:22:12] Speaker A: Crisis is the 13 attributes.
And then after that, Exodus 35:40, the Tabernacle comes to pass.
[00:22:22] Speaker B: It's built.
[00:22:23] Speaker A: The materials are gathered, the pieces are
[00:22:25] Speaker B: made, the garments, the priests, sanctuary assembled. And ultimately the glory, it will fill it. The glory comes in. Now listen, I want you to notice
[00:22:35] Speaker A: something about that glory, because you'll recall
[00:22:37] Speaker B: that when Moses came down, in what condition was he?
[00:22:43] Speaker A: Particularly his face?
It's a very famous part of the story. I'm sure you know, you can say it out loud. No one's going to yell at you.
[00:22:52] Speaker B: He was shining.
He was glorious, right?
And wouldn't you expect that he would be this way, having been in the very presence of God?
That's really incredible. But the people are afraid of this. They're afraid. They have to. He has to veil his face.
[00:23:15] Speaker A: But here's what I want you to know.
It's really cool and beautiful and everything,
[00:23:20] Speaker B: but that's still Moses.
Moses is still the special character here.
He's still got this unique thing with God, and he's carrying the glory, and the people know it. But then the tabernacle gets completed. This thing is. And the kavod, the glory of God comes and fills the Mishkan.
[00:23:47] Speaker A: So much so that Moses can't even go in anymore.
Well, yeah, he can't.
[00:23:56] Speaker B: So think about that Moses, the man whose face was shining, reflections of being face to face with God. He's not there because it's now moved visibly into this place in the center of all Israel, where everyone knows that it's there. And the connection that was running through Moses now runs through Aaron and the priests and through them to everyone. And Moses could die, and he would die, and the glory would remain. And the priesthood functions and the offerings are made, and the festivals continue to turn.
So the golden calf is such.
[00:24:34] Speaker A: This fulcrum moment, even with all of its negative.
[00:24:38] Speaker B: It's Such an important moment and everything that comes after. And the tabernacle it makes even when you pass through this crisis, because before the calf you have the theory of
[00:24:50] Speaker A: divine presence and these instructions.
[00:24:53] Speaker B: But amazingly, through this crisis and an incredible leader who was willing to stand and ask tough questions because of the calf, because of Moses intercession, we get these 13 attributes and we know God and we understand what kind of God
[00:25:11] Speaker A: is willing to dwell among people who
[00:25:13] Speaker B: want will fail like this.
[00:25:16] Speaker A: And the answer is Exodus 34. Compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in
[00:25:21] Speaker B: loving kindness and truth. And so the Mishkan is not just some skin tint.
[00:25:29] Speaker A: It's the physical expression of God's mercy, especially seen after failure.
And we move to Leviticus and people lose the plot in the Torah and they think the story is over. And Leviticus comes in and we got all this wrong.
[00:25:47] Speaker B: Leviticus is absolutely the continuation of the
[00:25:50] Speaker A: revelation that occurred at Mount Sinai.
[00:25:52] Speaker B: It is a very slow, careful explanation
[00:25:57] Speaker A: of how God, holy, nevertheless compassionate, is
[00:26:01] Speaker B: going to dwell among his people without
[00:26:05] Speaker A: having to potentially destroy them every other Tuesday.
[00:26:10] Speaker B: Leviticus is not a totally different idea.
[00:26:13] Speaker A: It's all integral.
[00:26:15] Speaker B: Rambam actually. And there's some interesting controversy between Rambam and Rashi. Rambam notices that way later in Leviticus 25, 40 chapters later, from all this
[00:26:32] Speaker A: stuff about the tabernacle and the calf and all these things,
[00:26:38] Speaker B: after everything apparently has been given, Leviticus 25 out of nowhere says, and God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai.
But that's strange. Most of Leviticus is being given from the tent of meeting, so why Sinai again? And his point is that all of this, that is just the bookend to all of that. It's all covenant, it's all tabernacle, priesthood, sacrifice, holiness, Sabbath, sabbatical rhythms, jubilee. Leviticus is not just a book of blood and guts. It's a book of extension, of covenant
[00:27:19] Speaker A: from Sinai all the way through.
[00:27:21] Speaker B: So when we get to Leviticus and
[00:27:23] Speaker A: we're getting there, and you're looking at chapters of sacrifices and blood rites and priestly garments and purity laws and wondering
[00:27:30] Speaker B: why all of it matters. This is why.
[00:27:35] Speaker A: It's all part of God's answer to
[00:27:38] Speaker B: the panic at the foot of the mountain.
[00:27:41] Speaker A: And it's all a part of Moses request to show me your ways, show me your glory, make yourself known to the people in a way that they can trust you.
It's beautiful.
Even down to the golden calf itself, it's beautiful.
What?
The idol is beautiful.
The beautiful thing about this is what
[00:28:09] Speaker B: animal did they make.
[00:28:10] Speaker A: They made a cow, right? They made a calf, a young bull, bovine creature, grazing animal. What are the primary animals of the sacrificial system?
Well, they're grazing animals, but you definitely have bulls.
[00:28:24] Speaker B: The very category of animal that they twisted.
[00:28:28] Speaker A: In this golden calf scenario, God redeems into instruments of approach and in a way, atonement, which we'll talk about. So the bull that was an idol becomes the bull on the altar. So God can even repurpose the sin of the golden calf.
And everyone sees in Ki Tisa just Israel's horrendous failure, right? That's what people talk about. But it's amazing to see how Moses, and most importantly God, uses failure to build something so beautiful that was needed. God's response to human fragility.
And people think it's all just brutality and animal cruelty and all these other things. There's so, so much more. The people feared that they had lost Moses. Then they feared that God had withdrawn entirely. God answers from Moses and Sinai and ultimately to Yeshua. As we'll see, you will never be left alone.
And I know that the traditional objection is already brewing in minds that says, but all that was a failure.
God didn't even like animal sacrifices. Just read the prophets, right?
[00:30:00] Speaker B: God didn't like any of that, and
[00:30:01] Speaker A: he destroyed the system. Not much. Jesus came and not even more so Jesus came and did away with all that.
[00:30:07] Speaker B: I mean, there's so much, so much
[00:30:11] Speaker A: to the picture that people do not understand.
And so we'll dig a re. Dig back into it because it's beautiful, it's enlightening, it's powerful, it's important.
And at the end of what I hope to be able to uncover, we're going to see more than just Leviticus and Hebrews. This is a messianic synagogue. You're going to see Yeshua.
So there are some powerful lessons for us all.
I know that our first stop along the way has to do with this scripture.
I will also do this thing that you have asked God said to Moses, for you have truly gained my favor, and I have singled you out by name. And that word favor, it keeps appearing in this story. Moses found chin in Hebrew favor in God's sight. It's going to matter a great deal as we move forward, because as we head toward Passover, we're going to dig into what chain really means, what grace really looks like, and how it reshapes everything that we think we know about atonement and sacrifice and what God was really doing through the system.
That he built at Sinai and the life, death, and resurrection of Yeshua. And so that's where we're going.
[00:31:36] Speaker B: I hope
[00:31:39] Speaker A: that that Leviticus energy that is pulsing through your veins right now will take us all the way to the end.
[00:31:46] Speaker C: Shabbat Shalom I'm Darren with Shalom Macon. If you enjoyed this teaching, I want to ask you to take the next step.
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