Parasha Teruma 5782
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Me
Me
Nothing drives me nuts more than idiots in traffic or in a parking lot… I love to drive, but I get really easily annoyed by other drivers, Danielle will vouch for the accuracy of that statement too… And if I’m not careful it would be really, really easy for me to give into road rage…
A prime example of this is people camping out in the passing lane on the interstate doing five miles below the speed limit… Very little in life will aggravate me as much as a slow driver in the passing lane. And no offense to anyone from Texas, but it is uncanny how an overwhelming number of these folks I see doing this around here have Texas plates on their vehicles.
But, when I am driving down the interstate and I am trying to get around a slower going vehicle in the right lane and the person now in front of me in the passing lane is not even remotely concerned with passing, it will quickly flip a road rage switch in my brain. And, I don’t know if you’ve ever had this thought before, but I get this sudden urge to put my faith in my back pocket for a moment and go full ‘roid rage in traffic…
Thankfully, I generally also have a really useful system to check that aggression from boiling over and actually acting upon my desire to ever so “politely encourage” the driver to get out my way… I simply remind myself that the last publicity we need for CMC is a headline that reads “Local Messianic Rabbi Causes Massive Pileup on WB I-10 in Terrifying Road Rage Incident”.
See, as easy as it is to pretend I could put my faith in my back pocket and no one would know, I know good and well that God knows… I know God is with me and I don’t ever want His Presence to leave me. And for the record, I regularly run similar headlines through my mind in various circumstances in life… Someone cuts me off for a parking spot, someone annoys me in the grocery store, someone yells an antisemitic rant at me, and the list goes on...
We
We
And the reality is that at times we all have the thought that we could get away with something like this… Maybe road rage isn’t a vice for all of us… But there is likely always a scenario the enemy throws in our way to try and derail our discipleship that we are thinking,
“Who would really know if we did this?”
“Who would really be hurt by this?”
“But everyone else does it...”
“No one knows who we are here, we can totally get away with it…”
“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas…”
But the reality is as followers of Yeshua we represent something far greater than just ourselves. We represent the Kingdom of God, we carry the Presence of Adonai within us everywhere we go. And in every situation we find ourselves we have the unique opportunity to share the Presence of God with those around us. But, we have to keep our hearts and lives in check because even though His Presence is within us our actions can definitely dictate what others actually see in us.
God
God
This week we read Parasha Terumah, Exodus 25:1-27:19, which opens up with the unique call of God to take up an offering only from those with a willing heart to give. Adonai then describes to Moses exactly what is needed in this offering and what the purpose of these materials is for—the building of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle.
Chapter 25 specifically describes in detail the Aron HaEidut (the Ark of the Testimony) or what is often called the Aron HaBrit (Ark of the Covenant), the Table of Show Bread, and the Menorah which would be housed in the Tabernacle.
Chapter 26 describes the curtains and framing for the Tabernacle structure and enclosure. And our Parasha closes with the majority of chapter 27 describing the Altar and the size and design of the courtyard of the Tabernacle.
As we dig into Parasha Terumah today I want to hone in on a very important reality about the purpose of the Tabernacle itself in comparison to what I believe to be one of the greatest mistakes Israel ever made. As we do, I want to ask you to keep this indispensable principle in heart…
The most important reality we should have in our lives is the Presence of God in our midst at all times and in all places.
(Repeat)
So let’s dig into the Parasha together…
As I mentioned a moment ago, all of Parasha Terumah is focused on one thing, the description of the Mishkan or the Tabernacle which would be a Mikdash, a Sanctuary, for the Presence of HaShem in the midst of Israel. And the Parasha opens with this command from the Lord…
Adonai spoke to Moses saying,
“Tell Bnei-Yisrael to take up an offering for Me. From anyone whose heart compels him you are to take My offering.
It’s important to understand that these gifts coming from those with a willing heart is extremely important. God is wanting to reside in the midst of Israel and He is wanting a place for His Glory to rest, but this isn’t something He is wanting to force Israel to participate in. He wants Israel to want to be active participants in the building of the Mishkan, as such this offering should only come from those who actual desire to give, it isn’t to be forcefully collected.
Let’s skip down a few verses now to the specification of the “why” for this particular offering—
“Have them make a Sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them.
You are to make it all precisely according to everything that I show you—the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all the furnishings within—just so you must make it.
In Hebrew verse 8 says: V’asu li mik’dash v’shachan’ti b’tucham
V’shachan’ti is from the root word Shachan which means “to settle down or dwell” and B’tucham is from the root word tanech meaning “midst”. Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz (who lives in the 16th and 17th Centuries) noted that the verse does not say “and I will dwell within it” (as in in the Tabernacle specifically) but rather “and I will dwell within them”—within each and every one of them.
In fact, we call the Tabernacle the Mishkan in the Hebrew because the Mishkan is where the Shechinah would rest in the midst of Israel. Just like with V’shachan’ti in verse 8, Mishkan is from the same root word—Shachan meaning to dwell. So the Shechinah of Adonai, which we recognize as His Divine Glory or Presence is really the Glory of God resting among us. And the temporal Tabernacle is extremely important in this reality because it was in this temporal dwelling made of wood framing and skin that Israel was to experience the Presence of God dwelling in their midst in a very literal sense. But, it holds to a much greater prophetic reality too…
To that end, it is vital to grasp the fact that Moses is, at this point, up on Mount Sinai in the literal Shechinah of HaShem receiving the rest of Torah for Israel directly from God. And verse 9 again says—
You are to make it all precisely according to everything that I show you—the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all the furnishings within—just so you must make it.
In the Hebrew the word translated as “pattern” here in the TLV is the word Tav’nit which means “construction, pattern, figure, or model”. The Lord tells Moses he is to build the Mishkan according to the pattern that was shown to him when he was upon the mountain. He states that the Mishkan is to be build according to what was shown to Moses upon the Mountain no less than four times in this Parasha alone…
“You are to raise up the Tabernacle according to the plan which you were shown on the mountain.
The Hebrew translated here as “plan” is k’mish’pato from the root word mish’pat which you may recognize from Parasha Mishpatim last week. Mish’pat means very literally “judgement” but can be used in connotation as anything from “charge, custom, decision, manner, ordinance, plan, procedure, way prescribed, etc”.
So, from Exodus 25:9 and 26:30 we realize that God has very literally revealed the plans and description to Moses of how the Tabernacle is to be built and what it should look like. But how was this revelation? Did God give Moses blue prints to follow? Did He hack up some more stone tablets and do a rough sketch by the finger of God for Moses? Did He show Moses some virtual PDF document of the plans and Moses took a mental screen shot?
Hebrews 8:5 gives us a bit of a better clarity on this…
They offer service in a replica and foreshadower of the heavenlies—one that is just as Moses was instructed by God when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For He says, “See that you make everything according to the design that was shown to you on the mountain.”
Moses was shown the Mikdash (Sanctuary) in Heaven in which the Holy of Holies is the literal throne room of the Presence of God and the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant is the literal throne of God. See, what Moses was to build here on Earth in the midst of Israel was a replica and a foreshadowing of the heavenly reality of the eternal dwelling place of the Shechinah.
We see this reality expounded upon a little further here in Exodus 25 with the description of the building of the Aron HaEidut, the Ark of the Testimony, which would contain the Tablets upon which the Ten Words would be written, the Tablets that would serve as a testimony of God’s covenant with Israel.
You are to put the Testimony, which I will give you, into the Ark.
Then we read...
You are to put the atonement cover on top of the Ark, and inside the Ark you will put the Testimony that I will give you.
“I will meet with you there. I will speak with you from above the atonement cover—from between the two cheruvim that are on the Ark of the Testimony—about all that I will command you, for Bnei-Yisrael.
Why is all of this so important? Well, simply put, it is because the Tabernacle was a temporal dwelling place for the Shechinah of HaShem. It was a temporal place for the Presence of God to rest within His people, Israel. When Israel would setup camp the Tabernacle, and thus the Shechinah, would rest directly in the center of the Nation of Israel. When they would travel, the Tabernacle would be broken down and carried with them, and the Aron HaEidut with the Shechinah would lead them on their way. No matter what, no matter where, Israel always knew exactly where to find the Presence of God—in their midst. They didn’t go anywhere without Him.
The most important reality we should have in our lives is the Presence of God in our midst at all times and in all places.
But then later on in the development of Israel’s history we read about Melech David’s desire to build a Temple for the God of Israel. In essence to move the resting place of the Presence of God from a temporal tent to a permanent structure made of stone.
Now it came about when the king lived in his palace and Adonai had granted him rest from all his enemies around him,
that the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, yet the ark of God remains within curtains.”
Melech David builds a secure palace for himself in Jerusalem and he has this sudden urge, this sudden desire to build a Temple, a permanent structure to house the Presence of God in Israel. Now, one of the most important commands Adonai gave Israel is to be set apart, righteous and holy, to not desire to be like the nations around us.
In fact, in Deuteronomy 17 Adonai tells Israel that a time will come when they will demand a king over them so they could be like all the nations around them. In 1 Samuel this is exactly what happens, verbatim. But, the desire to be like the nations around us didn’t stop with a king, and it didn’t stop with the People of Israel. I think, at least to some degree, this is a part of the reason why David is asking to build a Temple. All the gods of all the other nations have temples made from stone for them, why is the Mighty God of Israel dwelling in a Tent?
But what is God’s response through the prophet Nathan to David?
But it came to pass the same night that the word of Adonai came to Nathan saying:
“Go, tell My servant David: Thus says Adonai: Are you to build Me a house for Me to dwell in?
Since the day that I brought up the children of Israel from Egypt to this day I have not dwelt in a house, but have been moving about in a tent, even in a tabernacle.
In all My journeying among all the children of Israel, did I ever speak a word to any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’
See, the Mishkan being modeled after what Moses saw upon the mountain was such an important piece to the puzzle. God never revealed a permanent structure for Israel, He revealed to Moses a temporal dwelling place. A dwelling place that was mobile, that could be packed up and moved with us when we journeyed. But what David was desiring to build was something permanent, once it was built it wouldn’t be so easily moved and it certainly wasn’t going on any journeys with Israel or her armies.
In fact, with the Tabernacle when Israel journeyed we took God with us… His Presence literally led us everywhere we went. His Presence would go into war with us. He went everywhere we went, we relied on Him to determine our every step, we looked to Him for every need. But once we built a Temple and placed the Aron HaEidut in this stone structure when we would travel or go to war, rather than taking God’s Presence with us we would tell Him we’d come back to Him later. Whenever we’d travel we’d tell God we’d come back to Him later, rather than taking Him with us…
I believe the request to build a permanent dwelling place for the Presence of HaShem is one of the greatest mistakes Israel ever made. Now, don’t get me wrong, God does ultimately allow it even though He doesn’t allow David to build it, but rather Solomon. But, the key is that Adonai allows it, He never commanded it or asked for it. This is not to negate the prophetic role of the Beit HaMikdash at all… But the Beit HaMikdash was never God’s desire… His desire was to live within us in a temporal residence in which He would go everywhere we would go...
A physical, permanent Temple was never the desire of God for His Presence in the midst of His people. No, His desire was to be within us, more so within each and everyone of us, at all times. Why was the temporal dwelling place so important? Not just because it was a replica and prophetic foreshadowing of the heavenlies—as Hebrews 8 mentions. But because the temporal Tabernacle was also a prophetic foreshadowing of His Ruach HaKodesh (His Shechinah) literally resting within each and everyone of us because of the Blood Atonement of Messiah.
The author of Hebrews continues on in Hebrews 8 to quote from Jeremiah 31…
But now Yeshua has obtained a more excellent ministry, insofar as He is the mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted on better promises.
For if that first one had been faultless, there would not have been discourse seeking a second.
For finding fault with them, He says, “Behold, days are coming, says Adonai, when I will inaugurate a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not remain in My covenant, and I did not care for them, says Adonai.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Adonai. I will put My Torah into their mind, and upon their hearts I will write it. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
And no more will they teach, each one his fellow citizen and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know Adonai,’ because all will know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and their sins I will remember no more.”
Messiah Yeshua became our High Priest and offered His own blood to cleanse us of our sins so that we physically could become the new Mishkan here on earth. Not just a Tabernacle or Temple in which we would have to enter or look to to see Him. I believe the Mishkan wasn’t just a replica and foreshadowing of the heavenlies, but it was also a foreshadowing of the literal fulfillment of God’s desire in His command in Exodus 25:8.
“Have them make a Sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them.
He didn’t want to just dwell within His people in a Tent in the midst of the nation… But rather He wanted to dwell within us in a very literal sense through the indwelling of His Ruach HaKodesh and the writing of His Torah upon our hearts. Paul speaks directly to this in his calls in 1st and 2nd Corinthians for the disciple of Yeshua to strive to avoid sin and idolatry in our own lives because we are now the living Temple of the Presence of God. For instance:
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
What harmony does Messiah have with Belial? Or what part does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
What agreement does God’s Temple have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God—just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Therefore, come out from among them, and be separate, says Adonai. Touch no unclean thing. Then I will take you in.
I will be a father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says Adonai-Tzva’ot.”
Therefore, since we have these promises, loved ones, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Israel was commanded to build a temporal dwelling place for the Presence of God to dwell among His people. This dwelling place which Moses saw upon the mountain and would model the Tabernacle after would be a replica and foreshadowing of the heavenlies. Israel later on in Exodus does in fact build the Tabernacle and the Presence of God is revealed in the Holy of Holies. But this temporal dwelling for the Presence of God was mobile and was taken with us everywhere we went, even more so, because of this mobility the Presence of God very literally led us everywhere we went.
But then we desired to be like the nations around us and we ask for an earthly king, thus, in essence, rejecting Adonai as our King… That earthly king then desires to build a permanent Temple to house the Presence of God, and later this is exactly what we do. Thus rejecting the mobility of the dwelling of the Presence of God going with us and leading us…
But, the dwelling place of HaShem wasn’t just a foreshadowing of the heavenlies, it was also a foreshadowing of His Presence making our hearts and lives a literal temporal dwelling place for Him. Because of Messiah Yeshua no longer do we have to carry the physical Tabernacle for His Shechinah to be within us and lead us. No, now His Presence is very literally within us because of the indwelling of His Ruach HaKodesh. And just as Adonai was always with Israel and leading Israel from upon the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies, He is now within us and leading us from the Mercy Seat of our hearts, the new temporal Holy of Holies serving as a prophetic foreshadowing of the heavenlies.
The most important reality we should have in our lives is the Presence of God in our midst at all times and in all places.
You
You
So, where are you at in your walk with the Lord today? Are you curating your heart and life as a Tabernacle, a temporal dwelling place for the Shechinah of Adonai to dwell within you and to lead you in everything you do?
Or are you living a little in and a little out of faith with the Lord? Are you acting like the Presence of God is still residing in the walls of a permanent structure that you can participate in when you want and walk away from and leave behind when you want?
Are you giving Him your all, making your faith walk a priority every single day? Or are you finding yourself placing your faith in your back pocket from time to time?
When the world looks at your life are they seeing the Presence of God in you first and foremost?
We
We
If our worship team will make their way back up to the stage. (Unmute the worship team)
As followers of Yeshua we are redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb to be prepared as a dwelling place for the Presence of God. The enemy wants nothing more than to keep us from seeing the fullness of this reality. He wants nothing more than to derail our lives as a holy dwelling place just as he did with Israel and the Golden Calf. And the enemy will continue to throw temptation and scenarios in front of us to try and tear down the Dwelling Place HaShem has recreated us to be… But if we are faithful in our discipleship, if we humbly submit to the leading of the Ruach HaKodesh, if we recognize the covenant is now etched upon our hearts, if we are faithful to cleave to the Lord He will be faithful to protect us from the enemy’s efforts to lead us astray.
And here’s the key, we should strive to live faithfully in the Presence of Adonai whether we realize anyone is watching or not.