Parsha T'rumah Shemot (Contribution) Ex. 25:1-27:19
B’rit Hadashah: Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 8:1-6; 9:23-24; 10:1
Shalom! The portion this week is filled with multiple depths of teaching. As I always do I encourage you all to read all the portions each week and in a year’s time we will have read through the bible. Good reading!
In Parsha Terumah, we read about the plans for the construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). The curtains, the Ark of the Covenant, the mercy seat, the various tables, lamps and utensils. All the things were to be made exactly as HaShem showed Moshe. Why? Because the book of Hebrews tells us that the Mishkan is a copy of that which is in the heavenlies (8:5). The purpose of the Mishkan is described in Shemot 25:8. "Then have them make a sanctuary for me and I will dwell among them." This tells us something very fundamental about our relationship with YHVH Elohim
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Why did and does YHVH want to dwell among us? It is because He wants us to know Him in a personal and intimate way. He doesn’t have to come down to know us for He is YHVH, all knowing and He already knows the innermost thoughts of each man, woman and child. So what is the purpose of the Mishkan” It is to help us know HIM. It is a specific and local revelation of Himself. This reveals one of the great differences between the religion described in the Scriptures and other religious systems. In other religious systems the quest is always about the adherent trying to find their god, however defined. In the Bible, the constant theme is of YHVH Elohim seeking man. The Bible is replete with G-d revealing himself to man desiring that mankind know Him. The greatest expression of this is the revelation of Messiah, the Cohen Gadol (High Priest) Who sympathizes with our sufferings, who tabernacles among us giving us a complete revelation of YHVH. He walked and talked with men the way it was in the beginning and the way it will some day be again.
With that idea in mind, the Mishkan also tells us how we get to know Him. The central feature of the Mishkan was the Holy of Hollies in which was the Ark of the Covenant. And what was in the Ark of the Covenant? It is the Torah. The primary revelation of G-d is the Torah. The Written Torah and the Manifested Word (Torah) Yahshua haMashiach. In contrast with a book like the Koran and others, Torah is not just rules for life, but it is the way to know YHVH, and if you really want to know what Yahshua is like He can be found in Torah for He is the Living Torah. I'm always amused when I see the bumper sticker, WWJD? (What would Jesus Do?). My comment is that if you really want to do what "Jesus" would do, look in the Torah.
Commentary from Jewish sources, in contrast to most Christian sources, which only explain what a verse means in historical context (past, present or future); Jewish sources explain what a verse or word means in relationship to YHVH and what it says about Him. This primary use of Torah was not limited to Moshe’s time but it is true for the followers of Messiah. If we really want to know Messiah and the revelation of Elohim through Him we must understand Torah; we must study Torah because it speaks of Him (Lk. 24).
What does this mean for us in our daily lives? It means that the study of Torah should be our top priority. Nothing should come before Torah studies. Even prayer. Even service. Why? Because prayer and service, while vitally important derive from our study of Torah. They are in a way circular, they originate with HaShem in His Torah and they flow through us and back to Him. Study is the key for in it we are discovering Him, getting to know Him more intimately; it is a conversation in which we do the listening and G-d does the talking. And as we listen to Him we learn about Him, we get to know Him and the more we know Him the better and deeper our relationship. That kind of relationship is what we were created for and it is G-d’s deepest desire.
Baruch HaShem,
Rab Davis