Monday, February 15, 2016

Torah Portion Terumah - Contributions - A Deeper Look at the Mishkan

13 February 2016  ~  4 Adar I  5776
Torah Parashah -  T ‘rumah ~ “Contributions”
Sh’mot (Exodus) 25:1- 27:19  RSTNE p 67

"YHWH speaks from the Covenant" - Harbour Light Ministries


Torah:

The last  two weeks were the ratification of the Book of the Covenant.

Moshe went up and down Mt Sinai meeting with YHWH and then the people Yisra’el.

The 10 Living Words were given to Moshe

Many mishpatim were given

Sh’mot 24 - is the covenant ceremony with the people (ami) Yisra’el saying in
Sh’mot 24:7  “All that YHWH has said we will do, and be obedient.”

Sh’mot 24:12  p 66
          Tablets of stone were given- and a “Torah” and “mitzvoth”....

Last week’s parashah ends with
Sh’mot 24:18 - “Moshe was in the mount 40 days and 40 nights”

We all know what happens after the 40 days and 40 nights....

-   the Golden Calf....
-   and Moshe smashes the tablets...

But today’s Parashah - T’rumah - “Contributions”
we are going to look at some of what YHWH gave Moshe while he was still up on the mountain....

We start the 7 chapters of instructions for building the Mishkan (Tabernacle)

Sh’mot 25:1 with and offering - given “willingly with his lev (heart)”

This offering was to go to making the Mishkan and the instruments of it ...

Great detailed instructions given for:

          the ark
          the shulchan (table) where the Lechem ha Panayim (bread of the                    face - presence)
          the menorah

          curtains and hooks and walls
          altar of acacia wood
          outer courtyard


What’s the big deal about this parashah - besides it is simply how to build the Mishkan....?

Let’s back up a bit...

remember these people - ami Yisra’el - are  - or were slaves... 

Slaves might have food and water... but they don’t have wealth...

But remember, before they left - the Egyptians were giving them wealth!! 

What would be the reason?? - as they weren’t going to go buy anything... 

Water came from the rock, their clothes and shoes didn’t wear out...  manna was their food....

Now here in this parashah we see - why the wealth....

To build a place for YHWH to live among them.... !!

Sh’mot 25: 8
YHWH said...
          “And let them make Me a Kadosh Place: that I may dwell among them.”

And look at the requirement for giving ...

Sh’mot 25:2
          “”gives willingly with his heart”

So this is about giving.... from our hearts... of “stuff”... and of TIME!!...  (because it was going to take a lot of time to build all this!!)

It is a choice...  volunteering....

Today He makes His home in our bodies....  because we CHOOSE....  we have to give willingly of our hearts, and our time, and our stuff is also given willingly.

**

Let’s look at this parashah in a different way...
We know that in Sh’mot 24:12 - YHWH tells Moshe what is going to happen on the mountain...
          “And YHWH said to Moshe, Come up to Me into the mount, and be there: and I will give you tablets of stone, and a Torah and mitzvoth that I have written;  that you may teach them.”

And then there is the big time out... for all these 7 chapters of instructions....  and then is the Golden Calf story...

Why wouldn’t the instructions be put in the Torah - right before the Mishkan is built....  why here??

What if the instructions are what is really happening during the time Moshe is on the mountain??

What if he is actually getting a tour of the Mishkan in the heavenlies... actually seeing it??  !!

Think about this... Moshe doesn’t have to be on Mt Sinai - for YHWH to speak to him... Moshe has been getting instructions from YHWH right along....

So what if Mt Senai is about something else??
                   
                    (some notes from Aleph Beta)

-   a POINT OF CONTACT -

**
Let’s look at this...instruction giving....

In parashah Vayak’hel - coming up
the instructions are written  - in order of the way things were built....

the outside first....

but here in T’rumah - the first instructions are about the furniture....

and later when YHWH explains where to put the altar

He says........in front of the curtain which is before the ark’s cover which is on top of the tablets of stone....

He doesn’t just say  - “put it in front of the curtain”

The text makes it clear that the altar does not have its own position - it’s just in relation to the tablets in the ark!!

Another thing....

the name of the Mishkan...
It is often referred to as “Tent of Meeting”

Sh’mot 25:22

Tells us where YHWH will speak from....
not just any place... but on top of the Ark’s cover between the two Cherubs....

and this is repeated later in Sh’mot 30:6
          “Where I will meet with you”

Then by calling it the “Tent of Meeting” - the Torah actually defines the Mishkan by the function of one thing -- the Tablets inside the Ark...!!

and throughout the Torah - the tablets are called - “The Tablets of Testimony”  = The tablets are testimony of the revelation at Sinai.

Later, in Parashah Pekudei the Mishkan is called the “Mishkan of Testimony”

again - it is about the function of the tablets.

WHY??

Everything about the Mishkan  is focused around the tablets!!

The tablets aren’t just a bunch of laws....

they are a constitution....  “The symbolic representation of the most fundamental values upon which a nation is founded.”

It is a constant reminder of who they are and what they believe.

The Mishkan is how we guard and protect the tablets...

The Mishkan was the center of the camp - and everyone camped around it.

YHWH meets with us and speaks with us from atop the tablets - the values...

So why did he get these instructions on Sinai...

BECAUSE YHWH is saying.... these are the basis for your nation.... and this is how to protect it....

And to look at it further - The Tablets - the Written Word - are the Mashiach!! -

          Just as Yahusha is the Living Word....  These tablets are the written Word....  !!


Now let’s look at the Mishkan another way.... 

 = as the type and shadow of Mashiach ...   


The Mishkan (tabernacle) consisted of a tent-like structure (the tabernacle proper) covered by rug-like coverings for a roof, and an external courtyard (150 feet by 75 feet). The whole compound was surrounded by a high fence about 7 feet in height.

The fence was made of linen hangings held by pillars.
The tent (tabernacle proper) was divided into the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.

The tent was made of acacia wood boards overlaid with gold and fitted together to form the walls, measuring 45 by 15 feet. On top, four layers of curtains acted as a roof to shield the tabernacle from sun and rain: The innermost layer was woven with fine linen and embroidered with figures of cherubim (angels), the second layer was made of goat’s hair, the third layer was made of rams’ skins dyed red, and the outermost layer was made of porpoise skins.

The curtains were pinned to the ground with loops and clasps.

The Gate:

Yochanan (John) 14:6 p 770
          “Yahusha said to him, I am the Derech, the Emet, and the Chayim:  no man comes to My abba except through Me.”

Yochanan 10:9 p 765
          “I am the door: by Me if any m an enters in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”


The act of entering the gate to the tabernacle was significant to the Israelites. By entering, one could find forgiveness of sin and fellowship with God.


The Brazen altar and sacrifices:

Vayikra (Leviticus) 1:4 p 81
          And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering: and it shall be accepted for him to make keporah for him.”

Vayikra 17:11 p 94
          “For it is the chayim of all flesh;  the dahm of it is for Yisra’el, You shall eat the dahm of no manner of flesh for the chayim of all flesh is the dahm of it:  whoever eats it shall be cut off.”
Hebrews 9:22 p 819
          “And almost all things are by the Torah purged with dahm:  and without the shedding of dahm there is no forgiveness.”


The Laver

Ivrim (Hebrews) 10:22 p 820
          “Let us draw near with a true lev in full assurance of emunah, having our levavot sprinkled with an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure mayim.”

Washing = cleansing....


The Lamp stand - Menorah

Yochanan 8:12 p 763
          “Then spoke Yahusha again to them, saying, I am the light of the olam hazeh:  he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of chayim.”

Yochanan 12:46 p 769
          “I have come a Light into the olam hazeh that whoever believes on Me should not live in darkness.”


Table of Show Bread

Yochanan 6:36
          “And Yahusha went up into a mountain, and there He sat with His talmidim.”

Yochanan 6:50
          “This is the lechem that comes down from the shamayim that a man may eat of it, and not die.”

Mattityahu 26:26
          “And as they were eating, Yahusha took lechem, and made the bracha, and broke it, and gave it to the talmidim and said, Take, eat: this is My body.”

Gilyahna (Revelation) 3:20
          “See, I stand at the door, and knock:  if any man hears My voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”


Altar of Incense

incense = symbol of prayer

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 56:7 p 339
         
Gilyahna 8:3-4 p 915
         
Yochanan 17: 1-26 p 772
         
Romans 8:34 p 844
          “Who is the only One that could condemn His chosen people?  It is the Moshiach who died, yes.  But instead of condemning us, He has risen, to the right hand of YHWH, and He now makes intercession for us.”

Yochanan 14:13-14 p 770
         
Yakov (James 5:15-16 p 813
         

Ark of the Covenant

Containing the Mitzvoth - Torah... Living Torah = Mashiach

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 37:16 p 321
          “”O YHWH, tzevaoth, Elohim of Yisra’el, You who live between the chervuim, You are the Elohim, even You alone, of all the malchutim of the earth:  You alone have made the shamayim and the earth.”

Schmuel bet (2 Samuel) 6:2 p 231
          “And Dawid arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Ba-Ale of Yahudah, to bring up from there the Ark of Elohim, whose name is called by the Name of YHWH tzevaoth that dwells between the cheruvim.”



From Refiner’s Fire:

k'ruvim (cherubim) must have held some huge significance for YHWH that we can't begin to comprehend. They were clearly not something the people worshiped; YHWH had commanded that man not make images of Him, yet He clearly commanded images of the k'ruvim throughout the tabernacle. Not only did two of these beings grace the ark (Exodus 25:18-21), but YHWH ordered them "worked into" the woven linen walls and curtains of the Tabernacle (Exodus 26:1, 31). The people must have known what they were and what they looked like, because Moshe doesn't explain them anywhere.
According to the Glossary in Stern's Complete Jewish Bible, p. 1578, k'ruvim are: Heavenly creatures (angels) who guarded the way to the Tree of Life in Gan 'Eden (Genesis 3:24), were described by Ezekiel as having four faces and four wings (Ezekiel 10:20-21), and were ridden by God (Psalm 18:11(10); compare the "living beings" of Rev 4:6. The term also refers to the gold-overlaid wooden images of same, constructed in obedience to God's command, which overshadowed the ark of the covenant in the tabernacle and in the temple. (Please take a few moments to read the above-mentioned references!)

**
Rabbi David Forman....

**

I Kings 6:11-13 p 253

Ivrim (Hebrews) 8:1-13 p 818

Gilyahna  21:3-4 p 926

May we know Messiah ....

AMEIN.

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