Why Study Both Testaments?
Many followers of Christ eschew the Hebrew scriptures -discarding them as "The Old Testament " or "The Old Covenant".How sad! If we do not read both the First Testament and the Second Testament, we are missing out on so much!
The importance of reading the whole Bible is really evident when we combine the prescribed Torah readings for this Shabbat of Leviticus 12-15 and the Second Testament readings of Luke 2:22- and Mark 1:35-45 By reading the Levitical laws in Leviticus 12-15 we can much better understand the Second Testament readings.
Leviticus 12-15 contains the cleanliness rules that were set out by G-d to keep the Israelites alive when G-d would be in the tabernacle at the beginning of their relationship with Him.
Why Two Turtle Doves?
In Luke 2:22 we find Mary and Joseph bringing baby Yeshua along with a sacrifice of two turtledoves to the temple. If you did not read Leviticus 12 - you would be completely in the dark about the significance of this fact. Why the sacrifice and why sacrifice two turtledoves?
The answer is laid out in Leviticus12.
The first male child to open the matrix was to be dedicated to G-d, but he could be redeemed with a sacrifice. Usually, a family was expected to provide a lamb without spot or blemish and a dove. However, if a family did not have enough money to bring a lamb and a dove- then two turtledoves would do. This is proof that Yeshua's earthly family was poor.
One thought occurred to me is that despite their poverty- they DID bring a lamb - Yeshua !
As John the Baptist was later to remark -"Behold- the lamb that was born to take away the sin of the world!"
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| Stained Glass Sacrificial Lamb Image by Andrew Martin from Pixabay |
Yeshua Reinforces Levitical Sacrifice Laws
In Mark 1:35-45, after Yeshua heals the leper, He says to the man-
"Go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."
What was this sacrifice the leper needed to offer? We find the answer in Leviticus 14.. It is interesting to note here that Yeshua is reinforcing the Levitical laws.
What are your thoughts on these readings? I would love to know. Please post a note in the comments below before you go.
-Su
About This Author
Sister Su is grateful to God for keeping her alive. She is a Trent/Queen's Concurrent Education graduate with over 20 years of teaching experience. She writes on several blogs, has a YouTube channel and is most easily reached through Twitter @Sister_Su See her link tree for more details:@Sister_Su | Li nktree
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