3.22.25
Good morning!
Shabbat shalom!
Although the portion of Vayakhel/and he assembled is almost entirely focused on the construction of the tabernacle, it begins by reminding the children of Israel that no work may be done on the Sabbath (Ex. 35:2,3). Why does it begin here rather than jumping right into how to construct the Tabernacle? Enquiring minds want to know :-)
By placing the topic of the Sabbath against the construction of the Tabernacle it's God's way of defining the boundaries of the Sabbath...that even the most intimate work for the Lord needs to be put aside for His 'Date Day'. However, upon further investigation, there’s another layer to understand that connects us back to the golden calf (Ex. 32).
As we know, while Moses was up on the mount getting the instructions from God the children of Israel decided to make an object that would replace Moses, their deliverer; The object, later known as the golden calf, originally intended as a 'necessary' means to have God in their presence, became an idol of worship. Why did they do this? Did they simply give up on the God who had delivered them from the hand of pharaoh and decide to return to the pagan deities of Egypt? No, not at all. In their zeal to worship their deliverer they did so in a way they were most familiar with.; they instinctively used their most precious resources to create something they believed would connect them to the Lord. After creating their protective shield/masekah egel, they said,
“Tomorrow willl be a feast to the Lord“ Exodus 32:5.
But what they created was not what God wanted. He wanted them to create the tabernacle to serve as a connection between heaven and earth, not a golden calf/masekah egel. After this incident of the golden calf, the Lord had to constantly remind them these are the things that the Lord has commanded them to do (Ex. 35:1).
Even though they had a spiritual zeal that desired to serve God wholeheartedly, it was misguided and needed proper direction. Another example of misguided zeal happened with King Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26. King Josiah was so thankful to the Lord for all he had done for him that he wanted to personally offer incense inside the sanctuary. But, because of this, the scripture describes his desire by saying,
“...he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord, his God..." 2 Chronicles, 26:16,
Even though he was zealous, he was considered unfaithful because his zeal was misguided. And, although the priest warned him about this, he persisted and offered the incense anyway. As a result, he was stricken with zarat/leprosy, and he never recovered (2 Chron. 26:19-21). Our Torah portion begins with the boundaries of Sabbath to remind us that the things we do for the Lord need to be done within the proper boundaries (Rom. 10:1-3).
Even though God instructed his people to build something for him For an incredibly important purpose, they could not do so on the Sabbath. Many times in our zeal to serve the Lord, we, speaking of me, myself and I, overstep the boundaries that he established simply because of our lack of knowledge or misunderstanding. Although we don’t need to wait to perform a mitzvah, a commandment, or a good deed until we have complete knowledge of its details, we need to at least preface it with some knowledge of its boundaries.
It would’ve been easy for the Israelites to think that building the tabernacle, in other words, doing the work of God would take precedence over guarding the Sabbath. Therefore God included his warning to guard the Sabbath as his final word of instruction concerning the tabernacle, before the golden calf incident (Ex. 31:13-18), and the first instruction before building the Tabernacle, after the golden calf incident was forgiven (Ex. 35:2,3).
I think we can all agree that the Lord desires His people to serve Him with zeal, but zeal without knowledge can sometimes be more destructive than beneficial in order for our spiritual laborers to be accepted by the One Who delivered us.
Fast forward 1,500 years and we notice that Yeshua saw that some of the Pharisees of his day had misguided zeal. He called them blind guides (Matt. 15:14; 23:16,24)...ouch! That comment to them makes me step back and ask about my zeal. Have I ever been a blind guide and led someone into a pit without even knowing it? Unfortunately, the answer has been 'yes', too many times.
I thank the Lord God He's still growing me and encouraging me to temper my zeal to fit within His desires :-)
Check out last night's zoom call, where we get His instructions on how to follow His pattern of an intimate sabbath celebration...He loves His non-negotiable date day with His honey bunny!
Shabbat shalom!
Passover's coming.
Although the portion of Vayakhel/and he assembled is almost entirely focused on the construction of the tabernacle, it begins by reminding the children of Israel that no work may be done on the Sabbath (Ex. 35:2,3). Why does it begin here rather than jumping right into how to construct the Tabernacle? Enquiring minds want to know :-)
By placing the topic of the Sabbath against the construction of the Tabernacle it's God's way of defining the boundaries of the Sabbath...that even the most intimate work for the Lord needs to be put aside for His 'Date Day'. However, upon further investigation, there’s another layer to understand that connects us back to the golden calf (Ex. 32).
As we know, while Moses was up on the mount getting the instructions from God the children of Israel decided to make an object that would replace Moses, their deliverer; The object, later known as the golden calf, originally intended as a 'necessary' means to have God in their presence, became an idol of worship. Why did they do this? Did they simply give up on the God who had delivered them from the hand of pharaoh and decide to return to the pagan deities of Egypt? No, not at all. In their zeal to worship their deliverer they did so in a way they were most familiar with.; they instinctively used their most precious resources to create something they believed would connect them to the Lord. After creating their protective shield/masekah egel, they said,
“Tomorrow willl be a feast to the Lord“ Exodus 32:5.
But what they created was not what God wanted. He wanted them to create the tabernacle to serve as a connection between heaven and earth, not a golden calf/masekah egel. After this incident of the golden calf, the Lord had to constantly remind them these are the things that the Lord has commanded them to do (Ex. 35:1).
Even though they had a spiritual zeal that desired to serve God wholeheartedly, it was misguided and needed proper direction. Another example of misguided zeal happened with King Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26. King Josiah was so thankful to the Lord for all he had done for him that he wanted to personally offer incense inside the sanctuary. But, because of this, the scripture describes his desire by saying,
“...he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord, his God..." 2 Chronicles, 26:16,
Even though he was zealous, he was considered unfaithful because his zeal was misguided. And, although the priest warned him about this, he persisted and offered the incense anyway. As a result, he was stricken with zarat/leprosy, and he never recovered (2 Chron. 26:19-21). Our Torah portion begins with the boundaries of Sabbath to remind us that the things we do for the Lord need to be done within the proper boundaries (Rom. 10:1-3).
Even though God instructed his people to build something for him For an incredibly important purpose, they could not do so on the Sabbath. Many times in our zeal to serve the Lord, we, speaking of me, myself and I, overstep the boundaries that he established simply because of our lack of knowledge or misunderstanding. Although we don’t need to wait to perform a mitzvah, a commandment, or a good deed until we have complete knowledge of its details, we need to at least preface it with some knowledge of its boundaries.
It would’ve been easy for the Israelites to think that building the tabernacle, in other words, doing the work of God would take precedence over guarding the Sabbath. Therefore God included his warning to guard the Sabbath as his final word of instruction concerning the tabernacle, before the golden calf incident (Ex. 31:13-18), and the first instruction before building the Tabernacle, after the golden calf incident was forgiven (Ex. 35:2,3).
I think we can all agree that the Lord desires His people to serve Him with zeal, but zeal without knowledge can sometimes be more destructive than beneficial in order for our spiritual laborers to be accepted by the One Who delivered us.
Fast forward 1,500 years and we notice that Yeshua saw that some of the Pharisees of his day had misguided zeal. He called them blind guides (Matt. 15:14; 23:16,24)...ouch! That comment to them makes me step back and ask about my zeal. Have I ever been a blind guide and led someone into a pit without even knowing it? Unfortunately, the answer has been 'yes', too many times.
I thank the Lord God He's still growing me and encouraging me to temper my zeal to fit within His desires :-)
Check out last night's zoom call, where we get His instructions on how to follow His pattern of an intimate sabbath celebration...He loves His non-negotiable date day with His honey bunny!
Shabbat shalom!
Passover's coming.
Comments
Post a Comment