I enjoy reading about vacation spots and RV parks as much as the next guy with cabin fever, but that’s not our bag here at MessianicMusings.com. It’s a place for Torah and Torah-centric topics. Like so: here’s my commentary for VaYakhel and P’kudei. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashahs for today are VaYakhel, or “And he assembled,” and P’kudei, or “Accountings of,” and they cover Exodus chapters 35 through 40. This week, we get a double portion of the Torah; this happens a few times throughout the Torah year, and this one comes at a time when we are closing out the book of Exodus.

In these final chapters, we review many of the commands given in earlier chapters, especially the commands concerning the Tent of Meeting and all of the commands surrounding the worship of the L-RD in His tabernacle – His dwelling among men.

But our very first verses review a subject we touched upon last week, and that is the command to observe one of the L-RD’s first, and most important, appointed times: the Sabbath. We read this in:

NIV Exodus 35:1-3
Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them, “These are the things the L-RD has commanded you to do: For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the L-RD. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death. Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

By now, some of you may be wondering why The L-RD repeats this command so often throughout the Torah. What I would suggest to you is that The L-RD repeats most often those things which are most important.

Considering the number of times the observance of the Sabbath is called for in the Torah, that would have to make it one of the most important commands of God.

Yet recently, I had someone ask me a very good and very important question that I think will shed some light on this topic for many of you, so I’d like to share it with you. My friend asked me, “How are we supposed to know that the seventh day is actually sundown Friday to sundown Saturday? I understand the importance of keeping the Sabbath. It makes sense to me, and I’m not arguing in favor of Sunday as the Sabbath, but where is the evidence I can show someone else, if they ask me?”

To respond to this question, let’s first establish how The L-RD measures time for us. We find this in:

Genesis 1:3-5
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day.

Notice the order of things here. “And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day.” Evening comes first here and marks the start of the first day. That day continues on through morning and the second day doesn’t begin until the second evening.

This is how the measuring of a day from sundown to sundown was first established; it came directly from Torah. Now, this contradicts the way the world thinks. Many people regard the time they rise in the morning as the “start of a new day.” Others have declared midnight to be the beginning of each new day. However, none of these human traditions help us to understand the original mindset of the Torah, which is what we are studying. That mindset is a Hebrew mindset, a Torah-based mindset, and from that perspective, a day begins and ends with the setting of the sun.

Now to the more difficult part. We have established that a day is from sundown until sundown, but what about the seventh day falling on sundown Friday until sundown Saturday? Where in the Bible does it say that?

We run into a problem there; you see, the days of the week as we know them – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and so on – are younger words than the words of the Bible. In the time of Moses, there was no specific word, “Friday,” or “Saturday,” in use in the Hebrew or any of the Middle Eastern, Semitic cultures. So nowhere in any Bible is there – or perhaps I should say, SHOULD there – be a verse that says, “And the L-RD called the Sabbath Friday,” or anything like that. While some rare translations will attempt this, it is a translator’s imposition on the text and is not present in the text itself. The names for the days of the week as we now know them actually are based off Roman culture and Roman gods – the god Saturn being who the day Saturday is named after, for example.

So, without a handy verse that says, explicitly, “The L-RD called the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday,” how can we know that we are observing the proper times, the proper twenty-four hour period of time that The L-RD commands us to observe?

The answer comes in the practice of the Hebrew people. From the time the command was first given at Sinai, the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath has been continuously observed by the Jewish people. Even in the darkest times in their history, there has always been a faithful remnant keeping the observance of the Sabbath alive, from the time of Moses until today. While Christianity, under Constantine and the Council of Nicea, attempted to change the Sabbath day, the practice of the Jewish people never waivered. They never changed it. And in their practice, it has always been from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday. That is the Sabbath of the L-RD and that is trustworthy.

Now, I’d like to shift our focus to another part of our double portion this week. It concerns the commands surrounding the Tent of Meeting and the garments to be worn by the priests. While some readers consider this home stretch of Exodus a laborious review, it is important because earlier when these commands were laid out, it was because they were being given to the people. Now, they are gone over again because they are being carried out by the people; so they are recorded here to show that the people did obey everything the L-RD had commanded them, just as He had commanded them.

Now, last week, Phil shared some thoughts about the priestly garments, which is reiterated again in this week’s portion, and I thought we might benefit from looking at those commands again. We read in:

NIV Exodus 39:1-3
From the blue, purple and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for ministering in the sanctuary. They also made sacred garments for Aaron, as the L-RD commanded Moses. They made the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. They hammered out thin sheets of gold and cut strands to be worked into the blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen–the work of a skilled craftsman.

Much of Exodus 39 continues the detailed descriptions of these priestly garments, but unless you have been on a trip to Israel, it’s unlikely many of you have seen what these garments might have looked like.

Fortunately, I was talking with Teresa last week and found out she had some pictures from her last trip to Israel that you might find interesting in light of this week’s portion.

Now, the blue mentioned here is actually t’chellet, derived from a snail, and used in the fringes on the corners of the prayer shawls as commanded elsewhere. It symbolizes the heavens and is also a reminder of the commands of the L-RD because if its association with the prayer shawl fringes. Other colors used include argemon, which is a shade of royal purple. It is there to remind us of the royal position of the L-RD. The palette also include chaynei, which is the color of blood. This represents the blood of the sacrifices and – for us as Messianics – the blood of Yeshua Himself, the ultimate sacrifice. Finely twisted linen, the color of sheis – or white, which symbolizes purity – is also mixed and woven in, along with gold beaten to a thread-like consistency – and gold symbolized the eternal nature and incorruptibility of the L-RD.

It sounds fascinating, doesn’t it? But what could it have looked like? Well, here is a reproduction taken from the Temple Institute in Israel. While we cannot be certain it looked exactly like this, it is a close approximation – as close as we can get today.

Here’s a close-up of the breastpiece with the jewels that adorned it, which we read about in:

Exodus 39:6-14
They mounted the onyx stones in gold filigree settings and engraved them like a seal with the names of the sons of Israel. Then they fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, as the L-RD commanded Moses. They fashioned the breastpiece– the work of a skilled craftsman. They made it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. It was square– a span long and a span wide– and folded double. Then they mounted four rows of precious stones on it. In the first row there was a ruby, a topaz and a beryl; in the second row a turquoise, a sapphire and an emerald; in the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst; in the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper. They were mounted in gold filigree settings. There were twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

The passage later describes a series of bells and pomegranates on the fringe of the garment, which you can see in this close-up. This museum also had some examples of Hebrew crowns that are based on descriptions in the Torah, which you can see here. Now, the high priest did wear a crown that may have been like these, but it was covered by a turban, as you can see in this closer shot of the overall outfit.

While these garments are reproductions, we now know what they represent. Heaven and the commands of God, royalty, sacrificial blood, purity and incorruptibility – all of these are qualities of our Messiah Yeshua – our eternal high priest.

Just as these commands were given as a promise and a prophecy of who the Messiah would be, so are they reminders to us today of who He was. Yeshua is found throughout the Torah – as long as you are open to learning how to recognize Him.

Shabbat Shalom.

A fairly technical-minded blog might focus on a subject like POS systems. We, however, are spiritually-minded at MessianicMusings.com, so we focus on Torah. Here’s my Ki Tisa commentary. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashah for today is Ki Tisa, or “When you elevate,” and covers Exodus 30:11 through 34:35. This week’s reading is an emotional roller coaster, carrying us from the lowest of low points during the Israelites’ period in the desert – the episode of the Golden Calf – to the highest of highs as Moses is granted a type of intimacy with the L-RD that no one had known since the fall from the Garden; he is granted a chance to speak with the L-RD face-to-face, and even to gaze upon His Presence.

Before we get there, however, the L-RD is not done giving Moses instructions for the Ark of the Testimony and the Tent of Meeting. Our reading begins with instructions for how to take a census among the people without violating the Torah; each person, rich or poor, is to offer a half-shekel as a ransom for his or her life. In this way, the people themselves are not counted, and the money collected is to be used for purposes of the upkeep of the Tent of Meeting.

Instructions are then given for how to formulate unique perfumes to be used as anointing oil for the priests – the sons of Aaron. Although the formula is given in the Torah, it is shared with a stern warning from The L-RD that this perfume is to be set apart as holy and that no one should try to emulate it for personal, mundane use.
Chapter 31 closes out with a reaffirmation of the command to observe the Sabbath day.

Exodus 31:13-17
“Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the L-RD, who makes you holy. Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the L-RD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the L-RD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.’”

It is the trend in many churches to meet and celebrate the L-RD not on the seventh day, but on Sunday, because, they argue, that is when Messiah Yeshua rose from the dead. The trouble with that argument is that there is no Scriptural mandate to set aside the Sabbath day that the L-RD established. Nowhere in the Brit haDasha – the New Covenant writings – does Yeshua mandate a first-day Sabbath, nor do any of the apostles. It is, simply, a human tradition dating back to Constantine and the Council of Nicea.

By contrast, there are numerous passages like this, throughout the Torah, the Tenakh and the New Covenant writings, which urge one to observe the seventh-day Sabbath established by the L-RD, which demonstrate that Yeshua Himself celebrated the seventh-day Sabbath, and which make it clear that the failure to do so is not OK.

As Rabbi Stan taught a couple weeks ago, the L-RD Himself establishes in the Torah His appointed times, as well as the way He wants to be worshipped, and if we stray from that, either to the left or to the right, it’s not OK. We are not to worship the L-RD as other people worship their gods; we are to listen to the words of the L-RD and follow “everything the L-RD commanded.”

This lesson is painfully played out and demonstrated in what follows. It is one of the most disappointing episodes in the history of the Jewish people; the worship of the Golden Calf. Now, Rabbi Stan taught extensively on this episode only a couple weeks ago, so I won’t go into as much detail here, but I would like to call your attention to some key passages.

I’d like to focus for a bit on the actions of Aaron, because there is much that could be misunderstood about his role.

Aaron is the brother of Moses and has been at his side since Moses returned from Midian to Egypt to begin the Exodus. Yet when Moses is taking a while returning from the mountain, and the people get restless, we read this in:

Exodus 32:1-4
When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

So, what we see here is that Aaron does bend to the pressure of the people. He takes their gold and uses a tool to fashion it into a golden calf. However, a few verses later when Moses comes down the mountain and sees the frenzy the people are in, and he questions his brother Aaron about how things got so out of control, we read this in:

Exodus 32:21-25
He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?” “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies.

Did you notice the difference in Aaron’s story? We are told in the previous passage that Aaron fashioned the Golden Calf with a tool, but when confronted by Moses, he claims a calf just magically appeared out of the fire. Yet we see that Moses isn’t fooled by the wording of the final verse, “Aaron had LET them get out of control.”

Now some might argue that Aaron gets off lightly here; he is, after all, the person who made the Golden Calf for the people, yet he is not among those slaughtered. However, it’s important to take into context the whole passage. Shortly after this, Moses draws a line in the sand and says that everyone who is for the L-RD should stand with him. Obviously, Aaron stepped over the line and stood with Moses, repenting of his sin. Those who were killed by the Levites were all from among those who did not step over the line to stand with the L-RD – those who had not repented. So even though he offered a flimsy excuse – a golden calf just magically appeared – Aaron did repent of his sin by standing with Moses on the side of the L-RD. Had he not done so, he would have died with the others.

How like Aaron, though, are we, when confronted with our own sin? How flimsy are our own self-justifying excuses? The hope offered here is that even after making poor excuses for our own sins, we, like Aaron, can still repent of our wrongdoing.

The element that most impressed me from this parashah, however, comes after all this; it is the closeness and intimacy with God that Moses enjoys following all this. The basis for it begins in chapter 32, when Moses contends with God to be merciful to the people, and to protect His own reputation from falling into disrepute among Israel’s enemies. We read this in:

Exodus 32:12
Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.

Here, we see that Moses is interested in protecting God’s reputation among people who don’t even acknowledge Him. That kind of protectiveness builds a trust between the L-RD and Moses that has seldom been matched. It is an act of true friendship.

In His holiness, the L-RD would be justified in wiping out the people, just as He threatens to do; but Moses slowly talks him down. At first, the L-RD says He will keep his promise to deliver the Israelites into the land, but that He will only send an angel before them, and He Himself will not accompany them.

This is not enough for Moses, and he continues to build his relationship with the L-RD. By this time, the Tent of Meeting is constructed and the L-RD meets there with Moses. The Torah describes their meetings this way in:

Exodus 33:11
The L-RD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

Can you imagine having that kind of relationship with The L-RD? One in which he would meet with you face-to-face?

This intimacy gave Moses boldness to make requests of the L-RD that many others might shy away from. He insists, for example, that The L-RD go with them into the land, even after God has said He intends not to. And when God changes his mind and agrees, he lets Moses know it is an act springing from their friendship and intimacy. As we read in:

Exodus 33:17
And the L-RD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

Feeling bold, Moses then asks God to show him His glory. The L-RD grants Moses a portion of his request, allowing Moses to see Him from behind, after He passes, but not to see His face for no one can look on The L-RD’s face and yet live.

Exodus 34:5-8
Then the L-RD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the L-RD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The L-RD, the L-RD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped.

After this, Moses once again prevails upon The L-RD to not only accompany the Israelites into the land, but to become their inheritance. For the sake of Moses, the L-RD agrees, making His covenant this time with Moses, rather than the nation of Israel.

At a time when God’s anger burned at the great betrayal His people had shown Him in the wake of the Golden Calf incident, is it Moses who interceded with God, secured Israel’s relationship to Him and turned the L-RD’s heart from holy and righteous anger to forgiveness.

While all of these are qualities of the L-RD, and are part of His very nature, this week’s parashah should prove beyond all doubt that God’s forgiveness and grace does not come cheaply, easily or automatically; not to anyone. While we now enjoy the Intercessor of intercessors, the Messiah Yeshua, speaking to the L-RD on our behalf, we should never forget His intercession and forgiveness came at a price steep enough that we should never treat His grace casually, but as a treasured possession.

Shabbat Shalom.

I think I’m finally grasping the difference between sermons and commentaries. It’s been a fine line for me and one I haven’t always seen clearly as I continue my Messianic training. It’s a quandary even the best diet pills can’t help me with.

So, here’s my understanding as of now: in a Torah commentary, the purpose is to teach, not to exhort. In a sermon, exhortation is just fine. Check.

Now here’s my newest insight: in a Torah commentary, you are to stick closely to the content of the parashah, not use it as a launching point for tangentially-related topics. Check.

OK, so, a good commentary on Tetsaveh, for example, would talk about the priestly garments described in the instructions of the L-RD to Moses. A less-focused commentary that strays into sermonizing would be one that picks up on the presence of a hint of Messiah in the instructions for the Tent of Meeting, and then launching into the theme of obedience to God.

Guess which way my upcoming Tetsaveh commentary went? Not the better of the two ways, I’m afraid, but in the process I did learn a lot more about how to distinguish a commentary from a sermon; so it was a great growing experience! Mazel tov!

Only being four months into our stay at our current facility, Beth Yeshua is already bursting at the seams. The building we’re renting space from holds perhaps 80 people comfortably and would max out at about 100, which would require opening up the balcony.

It’s a small facility that fortunately is new enough not to need dehumidifiers, but ideal for a church just getting off the ground. But in the last few weeks, we’ve been hitting attendance in the 70s and we’re still growing steadily. We’re ready for a new facility.

This is a great blessing from the L-RD, but one that ought not be taken for granted as an automatic sign of the L-RD’s approval. After all, there are mega-churches that serve congregations that can fill 20,000-seat basketball stadiums, but mere popular attendance is no sure sign of teaching the L-RD’s truth and having those efforts blessed.

In fact, the most popular of pastors and rabbis often have to abandon the core principals of faith simply to gain such wide acclaim. Some folks dream of the day when the Messianic movement will be widespread enough to play host to the first Messianic mega-churches.

Not me. The burden of leadership over a congregation should never grow beyond the ability of a head rabbi to oversee it all. Of the best Messianic churches in the US, few are more than perhaps 250 people in size. And that’s plenty, because beyond that a congregation grows a bit larger than one head rabbi can handle alone. The best results for keeping theology and instruction consistent come when one rabbi and one board of elders pursue one consistent vision.

Megachurches with staff rosters bigger than most Messianic congregations simply can’t do that. They grow beyond themselves. So while it’s exciting to see Beth Yeshua growing to the point where it can seek a facility that might seat up to 250, I’m not sure I’d want to see it grow beyond that.

Even Messianic churches and synagogues need business insurance, but there are better places to find out about that than here. Instead, I offer up my T’ruma Commentary. Or listen to it!

Shabbat Shalom.

Our parashah for today is T’ruma, or “Offering,” and covers Exodus 25:1 through 27:19. This parashah concerns itself almost exclusively with instructions for the building of the ark of the covenant and the structure surrounding it, as well as many of the accessories involved.

Just prior to the beginning of this parashah, we read how Moses ascends the mountain to meet the L-RD. These are his second and third trips up the mountain to dwell in the presence of the L-RD, and on the final trip, for six days prior to ascending the mountain, it was covered by a cloud; then, on the seventh day, God opens a path through the cloud and Moses follows it up the mountain to dwell with God. These trips up the mountain to dwell in the presence of God have a lasting effect on Moses. According to the:

Weekly Midrash, vol. 1 (410)
Moshe went up and learned the entire Torah, all 613 commandments … When Moshe went up the mountain a cloud covered it, remaining until the sixth day of Sivan, when God gave the Torah. Immediately after the Giving of the Torah he went up the mountain again, remaining there for forty days and forty nights. We are told this is to show Moses’ greatness.

So our reading this week is part of what Moses began to receive from The L-RD during this time. And it begins with a request from The L-RD for Moses to take an offering. What is the purpose of this offering? Well, the requests for what the offering should consist of give us a hint:

Exodus 25:2-7
“Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give. These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ram skins dyed red and hides of sea cows; acacia wood; olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.

These are ingredients for what? For a sanctuary in which the presence of The L-RD can dwell among the people. Until this point, Moses has had to ascend the mountain to meet with the L-RD; now, the L-RD wants to draw near to His people.

While these are not quite the instructions for the building of The Temple, the ark, the curtains for the Holy of Holies and many other aspects of the instructions given here do reflect and parallel the instructions that will be given later on, in the building of the Temple.

It is instructive to note, however, that The L-RD does not ask Moses and the children of Israel to build Him a permanent structure. The sanctuary is a movable unit that the Israelites can take with them into the Promised Land. And there is significance to this, because it reflects The L-RD’s desire to be with His people wherever they go.

It is not until the time of David that the idea of building the L-RD a permanent structure in which to dwell is first proposed. In fact, it is something first suggested by King David, who feels guilty about dwelling in a castle that is better than the dwelling place built for The L-RD. This next passage in longer than I normally use, but I do think it’s essential to what we’re learning here today. We are offered this eye-opening insight into the L-RD’s mindset on a tent-like dwelling, as it is written in:

II Samuel 7:1-14
After the king was settled in his palace and the L-RD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the L-RD is with you.” That night the word of the L-RD came to Nathan, saying: “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the L-RD says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the L-RD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men of the earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. ‘The L-RD declares to you that the L-RD himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son.

There is much to ponder and appreciate from this passage in II Samuel. For one thing, notice that at first, the prophet Nathan tells King David exactly what he wants to hear: the L-RD is with you… go ahead and build this temple to the L-RD! But then what happens? The L-RD speaks to Nathan that night and says, “Not so fast there. I never asked for this.” In fact, the L-RD seems almost offended at the idea. From the time of our parashah to the time of David, the L-RD will dwell in a tent, a movable structure, and always be with His chosen people, accompanying them wherever they go.

Then the passage moves on to go one step further as the L-RD replies to David is that He himself, not David, will establish His true temple, which will be an offspring of David, whose kingdom the L-RD will establish and whose rule will never end. This is a continuation of the Messianic promise that runs throughout the Torah, throughout the entire Tanakh, and is ultimately fulfilled in the Messiah Yeshua.

Now, some may argue that in this prophecy to Nathan, the L-RD was not speaking about Yeshua, but about David’s son, Solomon. But let’s examine that for a moment. Does that argument hold up?

Well, the person God is talking about here will appear when David’s days are over and he rests with his fathers; yet Solomon was born while David yet lived. Messiah Yeshua was born of the line of David, but hundreds of years after David rested with his fathers.

The person God is talking about here will have a kingdom that God Himself will establish; Solomon simply inherited his father David’s kingdom, while the Kingdom of Yeshua the Messiah was built and indeed is being built by God Himself.

We are told this person will be the one to build a house for the L-RD, and by building the first temple, Solomon is a partial fulfillment of that Messianic promise… but does Solomon live up to the rest, or is he only a shadow of the Messiah and not the Messiah himself?

Well, we are told that God would establish this person’s throne and kingdom forever; as we all know, the United Kingdom of Israel split into the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah shortly after Solomon passed from this life. Not only that, but the Temple he build for God lasted only until the time of the Babylonian Exile, after which the first Temple – Solomon’s Temple – was destroyed. That’s well short of forever.

Finally, to qualify as the subject of this prophecy, this person has to be called Son by The L-RD. While Solomon was considered one of the wisest kings of Israel ever to sit on its throne, the L-RD did not call him “my son.” That was fulfilled only in the Messiah Yeshua, as confirmed by the bat kol – the voice from heaven – at the baptism of Yeshua, when from heaven The L-RD spoke and said, “This is my Son, whom I love. In Him, I am well pleased.”

So you see, much of what we find in this week’s reading may seem dry on the surface, but everything about the sanctuary for the L-RD is connected to the Messiah and His kingdom. Even the sages acknowledge there is a hint of the Messiah in these instructions, specifically in verse six’s reference to olive oil for light. As we read in the:

Weekly Midrash, vol. 1 (414)
These words (olive oil for light) hint at Mashiach, who will illuminate the world as pure oil does, as it is written, I have prepared a candle for My Anointed. Why is Mashiach alluded to in the portion of T’ruma, which tells of the donations which are to be given in the Sanctuary? To teach that if Jews give charity while in their bitter exile, it will surely come to an end … The Midrash teaches us that while the Temple stood it saved us from exile. Now that it has been destroyed only charity can save us.

This fits with what Rabbi Stan has been teaching recently about the Life of Messiah. It is one thing to claim an intellectual agreement with the Torah and thereby call yourself a person of faith. It is another thing entirely to allow your life and habits and way of living to be transformed by the Torah, by the Messiah Yeshua, and have it make a real difference in how you life your life.

Those with an intellectual-agreement faith are far more likely to look at the issue of giving and fall into agreement with the teaching of a ten-percent tithe, or the rabbinic instruction of never giving more than twenty percent, lest you become destitute yourself.

Those who enter into a transformational faith – a faith demonstrated by the good deeds, the mitzvahs, the acts of charity that follow such faith – will see properly that all we have, all we are, belongs to God and therefore we must give of ourselves beyond all reason, beyond all human understanding, so that we can build up for ourselves treasures in the world to come, when we will be united with our Messiah Yeshua.

The vast riches of the sanctuary described in this week’s parashah are a reflection of the world to come. All the fine metals and rich colors described are merely symbols to express the untold riches that await us in the kingdom of God.

That makes God’s dwelling completely different from those of earthly kings; they built out of their wealth to boast of their greatness by putting their riches on display on the outside, for the word to see. God has Moses build a humble tent in which His presence shall dwell, with its riches hidden inside, for only a few to see, because His greatness is so vast that no earthly boasting is necessary.

Shabbat Shalom.