The Tongues of Angels
and Two Crowns
Vayikra "and called"
Leviticus 1:1-6:7
*1 Ki 17:7-24
Corinthians  13


The starting point of Vayikra should be contemplated as a continuation of its preceding  parasha Pekudei .  There has been a severe failing in the sin of the Golden Calf.   The Glory cloud of the Divine Presence filled the  Mishkan .  At first, Moses could not enter, but then he could. (Ex 40:34-38)   Just like at Sinai, he was called, and he went so far, but could go no farther until he was called again.  At Sinai, he penetrated the cloud on the 7 th  Day, a sign of Shabbat gathering into the Divine Presence.

Going into the glory of the cloud is a two-step process:

1.  Calling (vayikra) to the message
2.  Actual address following invitation, or entering into saturation of the word

And He  called  to Moshe, and God  spoke  to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying... (Vayikra/Le 1:1)

The call is the invitation to listen to what will follow, a saturation in the Word so heavy that even with a call, a mortal human being cannot stand in it.  Only at the resurrection will that mortal take on immortality and the ability to step into the "upper room."   One is first called, he contemplates his preparation, and then at last he is gathered in the cloud at the resurrection to receive the instructions directly.  The glory is  kved , or heavy, and it is called  kvod , synonymous with honor.

This pattern helps us to understand Paul's reference to "the tongues of men and angels" and John's description of the crowns of the righteous in Revelation.  The tradition  goes back to  Shemot , at Sinai, to the whole nation of Israel standing to receive the message from the One who had saved them from Egypt. 

In the rabbinic tradition, the speech of angels is heard at Sinai.  R' Elazar said, 

When the Israelites gave precedence to 'we will do' over 'we will listen,' [Ex 24:7] a heavenly voice went forth and exclaimed to them, 'who revealed to My children this secret, which is employed by the ministering angels?'  As it is written, 'Bless the Eternal God, ye angels of His, ye mighty in strength, that [1] fulfill His Word, that [2] listen to the voice of His Word' (Ps 103:20) -  first they  fulfill and  then they listen . ( Shabbat 88a)

Doing a commandment before completely understanding it is the "tongues of angels," for the tradition is based on the pattern of the Seraphim around the Holy Throne:

I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.  Seraphim  stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.    And  one called  out  [ veh-kara ]   to another  and  said 
[ veh-amar ], " Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of  hosts, the whole  earth is full of  His glory ." (Is 6:1-3)

The pattern of the seraphim is first "called" and then "said," which is followed by an acknowledgment of His glory.  Isaiah's glimpse at the Holy Throne was in the same pattern as the Exodus and Vayikra: 
  • calling
  • message
  • revelation of glory
The word vayikra is not the simple "call" as English-speakers understand it.  It is a term of endearment, an affectionate invitation in that construct.  A different construct of the verb is va-yikar, a confrontational call to destruction, such as when the angel "happened upon" Balaam.  That call is followed by a revelation of one's own destruction, not spiritual elevation into the Divine Presence of the Cloud.

All Israel said at Sinai, " Na'aseh  [we will do]  v'nishma  [and we will listen]," employing the angelic pattern of obeying before listening (understanding).
R.  Simlai  continues explaining in Shabbat 88a:

"When the Israelites gave precedence to 'we will do' over 'we will listen,' six hundred thousand ministering angels came and set two crowns upon each Israelite, one as a reward for 'we will do,' and the other as a reward for 'we will listen.'

When the Israelites sinned, "The Children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from  Horev ," at Moses' command.  The commentary says that it was the angels who removed two crowns from each Israelite, a crown of  na'aseh , for doing, and a crown of  nishma , for hearing.   They would be unable to penetrate the veiled  glory  of the cloud , only Moses, and only for measured amounts of time.  In fact, they speculate that Moses' face was intensely illuminated by the collective crowns of Israel.  The angels didn't waste the crowns, but placed them upon Moses, the one who could at times penetrate into the Divine Presence in the cloud.

Many rabbinic commentaries say this was Israel's chance to regain  immortality , or the Tree of Life, but they lost those two necessary crowns when they worshiped the Golden Calf.   In the tradition, the crown is symbolic of having spoken with the tongues of angels, "We will do and we will hear."  The commandments of the tefillin are attached to the two places that the men of Israel had to repent: the hand (doing) and the head (hearing/listening/understanding).

An insistence upon understanding every detail of a commandment will not result in doing it.  That's not the pattern of angels, nor is it the pattern of human beings.  There is no faith in understanding something before doing it. Make no mistake, Adonai had already established His credentials as the One to be obeyed and heard.  He'd rescued them from Egypt with great miracles, led them across the sea, healed them, fed them, gave them water.  The Israelites' agreement was not blind faith, but faith based on an established history. 

Obeying a commandment even before you understand why is the tongues of angels and a crown of life.  Repentance requires the individual to return to the original innocence of Eden and Sinai, a heart that says "We will do," and later we'll understand.

He said, "Go, and tell this people : ' Keep on listening, but do not perceive keep  on looking, but do not understand .' Render  the hearts of this people  insensitive,  their  ears  dull, and  their eyes  dim, otherwise  they might see with their  eyes, hear  with their  ears, understand  with their  hearts, and  return and be healed . Then I said, "Lord, how long ?" (Is 6:9-11)

As long as Israel insists upon hearing before doing, their healing and return is delayed.  They need to use the tongues of angels.  There is an anomaly in the first word of Vayikra, a tiny letter alef.  Look at the graphic above, and you'll see it.  Because of its small size, it would be easy to read the word as va-yikar instead of vayikra, a term of love, endearment, and unity in holiness.  Although the Israelites fell from their potential at Sinai, nevertheless, they are called in Vayikra (Leviticus) to learn the sacrifices and holy, holy, holy services that will draw the near to His Presence.  

Each of the portions of Vayikra have prophecies and patterns of resurrection and immortality embedded within them, but the Israelites will have to do them before they understand them.  And as Paul warns the Corinthians, even today, after Yeshua's resurrection, we still understand, or "see" through a glass dimly. Some things must be done now, and they will only be understood later.  The important thing now is to serve Adonai in holy unity, without jealousy.  Arguing over the exact meaning of a commandment takes the back seat to doing it in faith with one's best understanding at the time.  For example, don't try to convince your friends that a kosher diet is healthier. Convince them that it is faith, not a logical choice.

The widow of Sidon had only a handful of flour and a little oil, the poor soul's mincha sacrifice in Vayikra (three fingersful of raw flour in the priest's palm/cahf). That's exactly what it says in Leviticus 2:1, "any nefesh [soul]." She wasn't an Israelite.  Nevertheless, the widow made Elijah a little cake from the flour after she picked up "two sticks" because she DID before she HEARD, or understood the miracle, which she'd understand when the flour and oil never failed her until the drought broke.

Later, her son dies, but Elijah stretches upon him three times in the upper chamber, and he calls out,  vayikra,  to Adonai, and the boy's "soul" returns to his body. (1 Ki 17):

And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again

   וַיִּתְמֹדֵד  עַל־הַיֶּלֶד  שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים  וַיִּקְרָא  אֶל־יְהוָה 
וַיֹּאמַר יְהוָה 
אֱלֹהָי תָּשָׁב נָא  נֶֽפֶש ׁ־הַיֶּלֶד  הַזֶּה  עַל־ קִרְבֹּֽו ׃

The soul that returns to the inward parts (kirbo), or resurrection, is pictured in the korbanot (sacrifices) of Vayikra, which call Israel nearer...in love.  The Hebrew root of korban is to draw near.  Elijah placed the boy upon his own bed in the upper room, and a bed symbolizes the sleep of death in Scripture.  

Elijah never died.

The boy resurrected to the upper room of Elijah.  
 
Because his mother did before she understood, because she brought the poor soul's offering to draw near the Presence of the Divine, the boy symbolized the offspring of such faith.  With the spirit of Elijah, the soul will be able to live both this life in faith, and he will be able to live in the upper realm, the Garden, in the World to Come.  Yeshua has called us to do and to understand, to speak with the tongues of angels, and one day he will gather the poor souls into the Divine Presence in the cloud of glory, in love, in unity, and holiness.  The second death will have no power over us.  We will completely understand why we needed to do before we entered the cloud to understand.  

After the sin of the Golden Calf, Moses made the Israelites take off their adi, or ornaments.  Ornaments are for a bride, and its root, ad, is the same as eternity ( ad) and testimony ( edut).  Since the Israelites had already given over their jewelry for the Golden Calf, the sages say that this adi was their two crowns that was their reward for speaking with the tongues of angels: "We will do and we will hear."  They lost their testimony and sign of eternity, resurrection.  In Revelation, however, the children have regained their testimony:

Here  is the  perseverance  of  the  saints  who keep the  commandments*  of God and  their  faith in  Jesus And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, ' Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on !'" 
" Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for  their deeds follow with them ."   Then  I looked, and behold,  a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like  a son of man, having a golden crown  on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand ." (Re 14:12-14)

Above all, Yeshua is the commandment and the testimony, the one who faithfully obeyed, doing deeds of obedience in faith that the Holy, Holy, Holy would be revealed fully in its time.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever...any poor soul...anywhere on earth...who would believe on Him would have eternal life.  The call has gone forth.  It went forth in love, and out of love, the Holy One prevents us from completely understanding everything.  It's still a little cloudy.  

Love the Father, and in due time Yeshua will reap the earth of the faithful ones from the four winds.  The Body of Messiah and the Presence in the cloud will be clear to you, yet concealed from those who refused to do first and to understand later.  

In 1  Corinthians  13, Paul says,

If  I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal

The tongues of angels were tongues of love, unity, and holiness.  They called out to one another.  We must call to one another without jealousy, but only to reveal His glory.  It makes no sense to say, "We will do and we will hear" if it is not an act of love not just toward the Holy One, but all Israel.  If it helps, contemplate the small alef, the fact that we were all deserving of va-yikar destruction, yet the Holy One is calling us vayikra, with endearments, instructing us how to draw close again to Him in love, purities, and the beauty of holiness.

Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy  crown . (Re 3:11)
You  will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the  LORD, and  a royal  diadem  in the  hand ( cahf /palm)  of your God . (Is 62:3)


*Not the traditional reading
**In Re 12:17, equated with commandments AND testimony






Register Now for the Creation Experience with Brad Scott and Hollisa Alewine
Register Now for the Creation Experience with Brad Scott and Hollisa Alewine

You can now register for the Creation Experience with Brad Scott and Hollisa Alewine.  Click on the video for more information.  This is a chance to hear teaching of Genesis One and Two in the context of prophecy, especially of the Lower Garden and its Rivers, and what happens when we die.  


MORE NEWS from
LaMalah Children's Centre

The LaMalah Children's Centre has now been registered with and certified by the Kenyan Department of Social Development. Thank you to all who have donated toward this good work. We received this latest email from Brother Peter concerning the successful registration and its new responsibilities:

Shalom Sis. Hollisa:

  We are all delighted to hear from you. It's good news about additional funding as the registration process ate a chunk of our operating costs.
   We are now working closely with the goverment as they are very concerned with all children below the age of 18. I was in a meeting today in the office of the children in Limuru and another will be on 5th out of town.
   Among issues addressed today is
1) To assess the development of each child as compared to when he/she came to the CCI (The goverment calls Orphanages "Charitable Children's Institutions")
  2) Assessment of the CCI in relation to Goverment of Kenya set standards, with focus on staff/child ration,access to services, safety and child safe guarding, case management processes and exit strategies.
  3) To document day by day information on the type of services that the CCI provides.
  4) Each CCI to document regularly the number and profile (age, sex,ethnicity,disability,orphan status, reason for placement,age at placement,length of time in care etc.
  5) To document knowledge, attitude and practices related to managers and staff of the CCI as well as community members.
  6) To document the challenges experienced by CCI, managers and staff and the opportunities that exist in providing care for the children.
 
The Children's officers will educate including desk review, guidance on engaging with children and other local actors, checklists, questioners, case file reviews, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions.

  After attending a series of such meetings a few things crop up.
  1) We need employ a person with basic computer skills to do all the documentation in a daily basis. This calls for an additional minimum of $150 salary per month.
  2) We too need employ a qualified Social Worker trained in the field..
I need to work closely too with others who can attend to some of these meetings and issues in case am not in a position to do so.

   Our next CCI's meeting is on 5th and hopefully we will have got funding for the next quater, father willing!
   At one time we mentioned buying a separate portion of land for the orphanage. We have been praying a lot for this. It is our desire to operate the Assembly and the CCI as two different entities;-the assembly run by ordained elders and the CCI by a board of management who qualify and have passion for children.
   Blessings.
    Peter

If you would like to donate to the Children's Centre or other Torah-based orphanages through The Creation Gospel, click on the link below.  The story of LaMalah may be found at www.thecreationgospel.com.