James 1 (Pt.4) – 2 (Pt.1)
Join Beth Tikkun as we continue our study in the book of James. In this study we compare James’ man in the mirror with Yeshua’s parable of the wise vs. the foolish builder. We also analyze James’ use of the expression ‘liberating Torah’ and how the Torah, which brings restrictions, can bring liberty by doing so.
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2 Comments
by Dane
On July 11, 2013
Another insight on the “man who observes his natural face in the mirror”:
When making a chatat (sin or cleansing) sactrifice, it was required to lay the person’s weight on the head of the animal (Lev 4:4, 15, 14). The purpose of this action was to place your identity on the sacrifice. The animal was then slain and brought up to the altar to be burned. The altar was made of shined bronze, initially from the mirrors of the women of Israel, so it reflected the face of the one who submitted the offering. At that point, the man saw his own face, as the flames leaped up off of the surface of the altar and the smoke ascended. That man should see that it was to be HIM on that altar, and that the death was supposed to be his own.
We also are to look at the law and see that the penalty for our sins is designed to be our own. Instead, when we look upon Yeshua as a sacrifice, we should see ourselves as in a mirror. If we can then walk away and be the same sort of man we were, our condemnation would be just. If we walk away in the law of liberty, we shall be blessed.
by L. Grant Luton
On July 11, 2013
Dane,
Thank you for your comment. However, a correction needs to be made. It was the laver that was made from the mirrors of the Israelite women, not the altar (Exodus 38:8). Though this does effect some of the insights you share, it does not change what you state so well, that that offerer should see “his own face, as the flames leaped up” from the altar. He was definitely to see his sacrifice as a representation of himself. Also, most of your insights can easily be transferred from the altar to the laver as its surface could (and probably did) serve to reflect back his own face.
Shalom,
Grant