Light In Torah

Before we begin our study for this morning, I want to encourage you to re-read the past two days of studies to gain a fuller perspective on the inauguration of the priesthood and the reintroduction of the   metzora   (leper) back into the camp. We left off with the blood applied to the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toe. The Torah teaches that the blood represents the soul—the  neshamah —the life force (Lev. 17:11): "For the soul of the flesh is in the blood." (Lev. 17:11) Applying the blood of that which has been sanctified as an offering to the Lord to the three points of the body, as we have learned, symbolically realigns the individual's connection to God from the fall in the Garden. A spiritual reconfiguration is affected. The  Kohen  is now wired to be a vessel for holiness; the  metzora , on the other hand, is being rewired to return to purity and fellowship within the camp (Lev. 14). The blood placed on the  Kohen's  ear, ha...

This week's Torah portion is   Tetzaveh   ("you shall command"), beginning in chapter 27:20 of the book of Exodus. Our portion continues with these commandments concerning the   Mishkan   (the Tabernacle), with a special focus on the   Kohanim   (the priestly families) that God has chosen to serve. But what does it really mean to be a   Kohen   (priest) serving in the Tabernacle, and later the Holy Temple, forever (Ex. 40:15)? In Exodus 29, we see a seven-day divinely mandated process of inaugurating Aaron and his sons into the priesthood. Various types of  korbanot  (offerings to allow us to draw near) are brought. The purpose of this procedure was to set apart the  Kohen  so that they could serve the Lord, to elevate them spiritually to a level where they could channel divine blessing into the world and transform their identity from ordinary people into vessels of holiness. So it was not a simple formal ceremony. It was an in...

Each day of this week, we have focused on a different aspect of the priesthood (Ex. 27:20–30:10). One major responsibility was to keep the fire burning 24/7 on the altar (Ex. 29:38–42; Lev. 6:9, 12, 13). More to be said in this morning's Zoom call at 9:00 a.m. EST, 699 858 9149. As a priesthood (Ex. 19:5–6; 1 Pet. 2:5–9), we are given instruction to continuously maintain a flame on the altar which stood in the Tabernacle, and later in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. For this purpose, the priest was required to place new firewood on the altar each morning in order to feed the fire ( ish ) for the  tamid  offerings. In addition to its concrete and simple meaning of the continual fire on the altar for the 24/7  tamid  offerings (Ex. 28:3; Rom. 8:36; Ps. 44:22): "And thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire which ye shall offer unto the LORD; two lambs of the first year without spot day by day, for a continual  (tamid)  burnt offering." (Ex. 28...

Last night on the call, I had the opportunity to ask a fundamental and completely honest question: If we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a chosen generation, a peculiar treasure (1 Pet. 2:5–9), should our daily activities look anything like the priesthood in the heavenly sanctuary that acted as the template for all the earthly Tabernacle activities (Heb. 8:5; Ex. 25:8–9; 28:1–6)? Without a doubt, the evening was enlightening, encouraging, challenging, and for some, more inspiration to press on with a more focused and intentional life. There are so many questions and enough theological mumbo jumbo to get horn-snaggled in the minutiae of spiritual rhetoric and terminology. All theological perspectives aside, one idea we can all agree on is to be imitators of our Lord and those who are imitating Him (1 Cor. 11:1; Eph. 5:1–2). One of life's greatest axioms is: just imitate who you want to be like! And since we are His Tabernacle (2 Cor. 5:1–4)—His dwelling place on earth—we need...

One topic that is overlooked by most—in fact, I have never heard one sermon on it outside of the topic of modesty—is the garments ( beged ) we wear. From our inception, God has woven ( sakak ) us after the pattern of the Tabernacle's fine twined linen (Ex. 25:4), as well as the covering of the cherubim over the Ark and the Ark itself (Ex. 37:9; 40:3, 21). Ironically, but not surprisingly, this attention to detail within the dwelling place of God is also the garment that must be worn to enter into the marriage supper of the Lamb (Matt. 22:12; Rev. 19:7–8): "For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered  (sawak)  me in my mother's womb." (Ps. 139:13) In this week's Torah portion,  Tetzaveh  ("you shall command") (Ex. 27:20–30:10), the major focus is on the priestly garments and the incredible details given to each part of their garments—eight for the High Priest and four for the family of priests. The purpose for the garments is found in two words: g...

The list of materials for the Tabernacle includes three metals: gold, silver, and bronze. All of the furniture and fixtures in the Tabernacle were covered in either gold or bronze, and the structural boards were held up by silver sockets. Ironically, gold is connected to the Garden of Eden, the Pishon River, and Passover—which is coming soon (Gen. 2:11). Silver is directly linked to the redemptive wealth of Abraham (Gen. 13:2). Bronze, last but not least, is linked to judgment, war, and a hissing sound like a serpent (Gen. 4:22). Hence, it is used on the bronze altar and the bronze laver—places of judgment. Regardless of what metal was used in the Tabernacle, it had to be mined at one point from the earth ( adamah ), smelted, with dross removed and purity obtained (Mal. 3:3). Currently, in today's world, these three metals are very valuable—two of them are stabilizing factors to the USD holding its value, and the other has value in functional uses. Solomon knew the value of gold an...

One of life's greatest questions for believers is: "Is the Torah—the first five books in our Bible—a bridge or a barrier?" In this week's Torah portion,   Terumah   (an elevated, voluntary contribution), God, in blueprint form, speaks to Moses and asks the people to bring an offering ( terumah ) so that He can dwell in their midst (Ex. 25:8)—a place surrounded by a barrier wall of fine twined linen and only one access point. This structure will provide limited access, layers of separation, and restricted space. Huh? If God wants to dwell in their midst, what is this all about? Is this about intimacy or exclusion? Will this holy structure, built with holiness and separation, draw us near or keep us out? Inquiring minds want to know! Up to this point in the Torah, we hear nothing mentioned about a plan to build a  Mishkan  (a tabernacle). God had delivered the children of Israel from Egypt, taken them to be His treasured possession, and given them His covenantal terms—...

Have you ever looked at a picture of an object at an extremely high level of magnification? At first, it is completely unrecognizable, but the more you zoom out, the more the picture begins to take on the shape and dimension of your object. If we zoom out even further, it becomes even more familiar until you eventually recognize the object. At that point, it seemed so obvious what it was—why did you not recognize it at first? Maybe it is because you were so caught up in the details that you could not see the bigger picture. So to speak, how does the same problem affect how we study the Bible? Parsha  Terumah  ("contribution") opens with God giving Moses instructions for building the  Mishkan , the holy Tabernacle. When reading through this section of the Torah, and the portion that follows, it is easy to get overwhelmed with all of the details given that describe how the Tabernacle structure was to be constructed (Ex. 25–28). We read about the acacia wood, gold, silver, b...

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been studying the journey of the children of Israel from Egypt to Mount Sinai. This is a fundamental truth that is reestablished in the Apostle Paul's writings—specifically to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 9:24–10:11) and to Timothy (1 Tim. 6; 2 Tim. 4)—when he describes our spiritual journey as a race. After applying the blood of the lamb, a fifty-day journey, and agreeing to a marital covenant with the Lord (Ex. 19–24), our God, the God of Abraham and Isaac, for the first time, they are going to find themselves in completely new territory, waiting for forty days for Moses to reappear. At the end of Exodus chapter 24, Moses ascends the mountain, and he will be gone for forty days and forty nights, where he will receive the blueprint for the Tabernacle ( Mishkan ). What we do not have is any commentary on what the children of Israel did during these forty days and forty nights, and my inquiring mind speculates all day long. One thing I do know is th...

This week, in the Torah portion   Terumah , we will experience a massive shift in the book of Exodus ( Shemot ). We leave behind the signs, wonders, and epic events that formed the nation of Israel and led them to their destination wedding at Mount Sinai (Ex. 1–24). The focus turns from the miraculous to the construction of a home for God to dwell in the midst of His bride. Strangely enough, the blueprint and construction of this temporary "apartment for God" is going to take up sixteen chapters of exact details copying the Tabernacle in heaven (Ex. 25–40), whereas the creation of the world only received thirty-four verses (Gen. 1:2–2:3). Does that seem a little odd to you—that a temporary dwelling would receive more "press time" than the creation of the world? If you think that is a little bizarre, I agree with you! But why? It was designed to be a temporary dwelling, but the profound life lessons are meant to endure forever. Genesis revealed the history of our fou...

  There is a lot of hype these days about the condition of our natural world. Do we have enough resources? Are we killing the environment? Do we have a population control issue? Are we going to be destroyed by a giant meteorite? Are we imploding from a racist mindset if we do not teach the leftist amoral woke ideologies? The list goes on and on, and the media is never short on its fear-mongering techniques. The world that we live in is a place over which we have been given 100% stewardship from the Creator Himself. When we read through the Scriptures, we find that God is less concerned with the creation of our home—planet Earth—than He is about making a dwelling place for Him to dwell with us (Ex. 25:8–9): "And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell within  (tavek)  them. According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it." (Ex. 25:8–9) In this week's Torah portion, ...

On this beautiful day of the week, as we approach the twelfth month of God's prophetic calendar, we shift our focus, as God's wife, to the blueprint for making a home for Him. The house that He wants us to build defies space. It is above space. Everything is changing drastically. The shift is from God's desire for justice and proper society in creation, and now we are shifting to His request to be let into this world, to come into this world. A different dynamic. The Torah shifts. Everything has been leading up to this point. The foundations of creation, humanity, and the people of Israel had to be worked out. Then we come into the Egyptian servitude, the miracles, the exodus from Egypt, the splitting of the sea, and Mount Sinai—all for one purpose: to build the place for God to dwell; to bring heaven to earth (Ex. 25:8). This was fulfilled in the Tabernacle and ultimately the Temple. We—speaking of me, myself, and I—too often have taken for granted that God wants to come i...

We have just finished our study of "The Big Ten" and   Mishpatim   (right rulings), where the children of Israel—God's firstborn sons—made a commitment to practice all that God gave to Moses (Ex. 24:3). I want to step back for a moment and reflect upon one of the Ten  Devarim  (the Ten Commandments) that is easily overlooked, and connect it with Yeshua's prayer when He said, "Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed (sanctified, set apart) be Your name..." (Matt. 6:9). What many do not realize is that this statement takes us right back to the third  Devarim  of the Big Ten (Ex. 20:7): "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." (Ex. 20:7) In Hebrew,  v'yitkadash sh'mecha  ("that Your name be sanctified") is a petition that the universe's imperfection would be rectified. Huh? The sanctification of God's name is a promise of the end of days d...