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Revelation 3:12
The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. While the children of Judah were exiled in Babylon, they witnessed the capture of their king, the devastation of their beloved Jerusalem, and the destruction of God’s Temple. Ezekiel the prophet was among the captives who, after all hopes were gone for the deported nation, was given the ministry of encouragement. Hashem used Ezekiel to encourage exiled in the Babylonian dispersion by telling them of the wonderful future of a rebuilt Jerusalem hosting a magnificent glorious temple where the Messiah Himself will serve (Ezekiel 40: and forward). Oddly enough, as particular as Hashem can be on these things, the architectural plans and service details of the Messianic era Temple are different than those of the first Temple. When the captives returned and started rebuilding, it would have seemed natural that they would follow the blue print of Ezekiel’s prophetic temple but they did not. The prophets of the day believed that the temple they were to build right after their return from Babylon would not last forever. So whereas they decided to incorporate some of Ezekiel’s plan, they stuck close to the layout of the first temple. They understood that the Temple of Ezekiel’s vision belonged to another time, to the time pertaining Messiah’s actual reign on earth. Since Ezekiel’s Temple prophecies have therefore not been fulfilled, they now serve as an encouragement for us who are still in dispersion, for all believers are strangers and exiles on this earth (Hebrews 11:13) waiting to return to where we belong in the Kingdom of God. So whatever upheaval we see in the Middle-East, we must fix our eyes on these prophecies which tell us of the glorious future of the Messianic age when Messiah Himself who has the true roadmap for peace in the area will reign from His Temple in Jerusalem. The Torah will be the Law of the Land flowing out of Zion to fill the nations of the world who will bring their glory to Jerusalem. It will be a time of great restoration when Messiah Himself will wipe our tears away while bringing true justice to the world. May it come soon Abba, even in our days!
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Luke 2:49
I must be about my Father's business? The U.S. has become the icon of Western civilization, and as a teacher in the U.S., I notice that its people have become very casual. I was raised in France, and in my school days, I would have never dreamed of calling my teachers or any other adult around me in any other way than by their title such as Mr. or Mrs. I would have certainly gotten slapped if I'd call my parents or any relative in any other way than ‘Papa’, ‘Maman’, or 'Tonton', 'Tata' (Uncle or auntie). I am of the belief that our style of rapport in human relationship reveals the way we are with God. We serve God the way we serve humankind made in the image of God. You cannot say that you have a good relationship with God while you have trouble living and working with others, or that your behavior is so obnoxious that others have a hard time getting along with you. You cannot tell me that you hear the Voice of God when you have difficulty hearing those around you whom God has placed to advise you. You cannot tell me that you have respect for God and His will when you are not reverent of His Word and of the people around you whom He has called ‘kedoshim’, or ‘saints’. Because of a society that has rejected the ideas of protocol and respect of individuals placed in position of authority, it seems we also want to have a very casual and familiar relationship with Hashem, and even with the Master but is that right? During the time of His manifestation on earth (2 Timothy 1:9-10), the Master compared Himself to the Temple. An understanding therefore of Temple and Tabernacle protocol as described in the Book of Exodus helps us understand what kind of relationship we are to have with Him. God is not content to merely peer down at us from above. He desires to engage in a relationship with us, but because of His status of holiness and ours of non-holiness, there are protocols to be respected and accommodations to be organized for the relationship to work, The Tabernacle/Temple system became this protocol and accommodation, and the Master compared Himself to it (John 2:21). That should tell us that our relationship with the Master is anything but casual. Look at what happened when people of a much greater spiritual caliber than you and I like the prophet Daniel, and John, the disciple, encountered the Master (Daniel 7:13-28; Revelations 1:10-17). After Yeshua’s death and resurrection, the disciples basically became a Temple sect, hanging out there all the time (Acts 2:46; 3:1-3; 5:42). They were in what the Master coined as the ‘House of Prayer’ (Matthew 21:13), doing His ‘Father’s business’ (Luke 2:49). Their base of operation was Solomon’s porch (Acts 3:11; 5:12). While creation is described in one chapter in the Book of Genesis, the description of and measurement of the Tabernacle takes a large chunk of the book of Exodus. May we learn from the study of the Temple; there is a blessing in it (Ezekiel 43:10). Hebrews 7:17
"You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek." In the Book of Hebrews Yeshua is spoken of as ushering a new priesthood; it even seems speaks of a change of Torah. It says, For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the Torah as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe … altar (Hebrews 7:12-13). This poses a problem because the Aaronic priesthood stems from an eternal covenant (Exodus 29:9), the Torah is established through an eternal covenant (Exodus 24:8), and God Himself doesn’t change (Malachi 3:6); how then could the levitical priesthood and the Torah be terminated?. Here is more: For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (Hebrews 7:18). What?! The Torah?! Weak and useless?! Context, context, context. The writer of Hebrews uttered these words, the Messianic Jews of Israel had just witnessed the assassination of James, Yeshua’s brother who was also their leader, by a wicked Rome-appointed High-Priest. As Yeshua had forewarned them (John 16:2), the disciples were now being evicted from the synagogues where they had continued worshiping. The congregations were at a loss so the author of Hebrews tries to comfort the Israeli believers telling them to now look up to the Temple and priesthood which are upward. He tells them: ‘Don’t worry; for the Torah appoints men in their weakness (weak because they had to make yearly offerings for their own atonement) as high priests, but the word of the oath (Psalms 110:4) … appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever (Hebrews 7:28). Yeshua is not an Aaronic priest (not a Levite; He was from the tribe of Judah), and as such not fit to serve in the Temple which is below (Hebrews 8:4) but He is a priest according to the order of Melchizedec who serves in the Temple which is above. The text then explains to us that the Aaronic priesthood being efficacious solely for the ritual purifying of the flesh, the priesthood of Yeshua serves to clean the conscience (Hebrews 9:8-14). The Levitical service is not therefore to be replaced by another; it is simply completed. The Aaronic priesthood was weak in that it could not save (Salvation was never the goal of the Torah), Yeshua, the priest according to the order of Melchizedec, holds his priesthood permanently (He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices for Himself every year as levitical priests do), because he continues forever consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:24-25). Now the equation is solved. The problem is that whereas people do read the Word, they read it with the glasses of a theology already established for them, so they read into the Text instead of letting the Text instruct them. Jeremiah the prophet tells us of the Messianic age when a third Temple with the two priesthoods serving together (Jeremiah 33:22). May that time come Adonai, even in our days! In the mean time, may we like our brethren from the Book of Hebrews find comfort in lifting our eyes upwards, towards He who is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25). John 9:5
“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Adonai said to Moses, "You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn. …. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel (Exodus 27:20-21). This lamp was a seven branch candelabrum called: the Menorah. This Menorah was to be perpetually lit in the first chamber of the Tabernacle usually called the holy place. In the letter to the Hebrews, this chamber was also called the ‘first’ (In Hebrews 8:13, the word ‘covenant’ was added in the text by KJV editors thus changing the context of Hebrews 9; that is why it is italicized in KJV Bibles) in front of the ‘second’, the Ark’s chamber (Hebrews 9:7) which represented the very presence of God. When the Temple was built, this lamp was again placed in the ‘first’, right in front of the ‘second’. The Aaronic priesthood alone had the charge to care for it, to make sure it was perpetually lit, but all of the people had the charge to provide the oil; in this way, all of Israel was represented before God and had a part in being the 'light of the world' in Jerusalem. Now, without a temple the command cannot be performed, but in the days of the Third Temple the practice will again resume since it is a ‘forever’ commandment given to Israel (Exodus 27:21). In the mean time, the Menorah is charged with messianic symbolism. Several prophets and servants of God were privy to enter the Father’s throne room. The first one we know of is Moses who was asked to reproduce what he saw and therefore to put this seven-branch candelabrum in the room in front of the Ark (Exodus 25:40). The last one we know of is John who wrote what he saw in the following words, And between the throne and the four living creatures … I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God … (Revelations 5:6). Yeshua well proclaimed ‘As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." (John 9:5) Yeshua is now with the Father, and He also told to His disciples, "You are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). We are on a mission. We who proclaim the Name of the Messiah, the Almighty’s Agent of redemption, have a role to perform, a duty to be the Menorah or the ‘Light of the world’. When He was on earth, the Light of Messiah shone for all to see. He did not hold back no matter how dangerous it was. Now the staff (the baton) is passed on to us and we must also perpetually let our light (the Light of Messiah in us) shine before others, so that they may see our 'mitzvot' (good works of obedience to Torah) and give glory to our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). As the light of Messiah, we stand as His representative to the world. When the day of reckoning comes, may we not be found to have hid our light under a bushel (to have been a believer in secret for fear of man), but through obedience, to have set it on a candlestick for all to see (Matthew 5:15). Matthew 6:12
Forgive us our debts For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life (Leviticus 17:11). What a mystical verse! Much is spoken about blood atonement in Scriptures. We are even told of the voice of the blood of Mashiach speaking a better word than that of the blood of martyred Abel’s crying to God from the ground (Genesis 4:10; Hebrews 12:24). Much has been lost in our understanding of Scriptures, some due to translations (which can never be perfect), but mostly due to our failure to acknowledge the Semitic culture of their linguistic dynamics. The issue we have here is with the word ‘atonement’. The word ‘atonement’ is very important in the Sacred Texts. It’s what they are all about, so we surely must make an effort to understand this word properly according to its own cultural context, values, and merits. The origins of the word ‘atonement’ is the Hebrew root word ‘kaphar’ from which we derive the words ‘lid’, ‘cover’, and ‘covering’. The word ‘kapporeth’ for the golden lid of the Ark covered by the wings of the cherubs and called in English ‘mercy seat’ has the same etymological root (Exodus 25:17). ‘Kippur; for 'Yom Kippur' or the 'Day of Atonement' (Leviticus 23:27) is also a derivatives of ‘kaphar’. What does 'kaphar' mean then? A way to explain the use of this word is by of analogy with a credit card . Let’s say that like many of us, you have contracted a very large balance on your credit card and you are unable to pay it. You risk losing your credit, even losing your car, or your house, until a generous soul comes around and say, don’t worry; I’ll ‘cover’ your credit card balance; (wouldn't that be nice!). It is not that the balance never existed or that it has been deleted from the records, it is only that it has been covered. The credit card company then doesn’t look anymore at your failure to pay your debts (which is a biblical command), but at the covering that expunged it. Even Matthew quotes the Master on the forgiveness of sin using financial terminology, he says, forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors (Matthew 6:12). Indeed, because of sin, we have a bad credit rating; we have even lost all credit in the sight of the Father. He is ready the yank the rug from under us but Someone comes to the rescue and covers the balance of our sins. It is not like we never sinned, but all the Father sees now is the covered balance by Yeshua. King David related to this principle as a shield. Here are a few of his statements, But you, O Adonai, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. For you bless the righteous, O Adonai; you cover him with favor as with a shield. My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart (Psalms 3:3; 5:12; 7:10). As Ruth by kinsman redeemer Boaz, may you be ‘covered’ (atoned) under the ‘wings’ of Yeshua the Messiah (Ruth 3:9). Matthew 6:10
"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven". Many teach after the Catholic idea that the final goal of our natural state is to eventually leave this earth and go dwell in a place far away called ‘Heaven’. Part of this teaching concludes that ‘Heaven’ is where we all go after we die or shortly after, unless of course we go to the 'other place'. Many also report having had dreams about being in this ‘Heaven’ or even encountered loved ones living in it. Apostolic Scriptures though tell us that no-one goes to ‘Heaven’, but rather that ‘Heaven’ comes to us (Revelations 21-22). When Moses entered the cloud on the mountain, Hashem instructed him to tell the Children of Israe to build Him a sanctuary (Exodus 25:8-9). Jewish sages teach that at that moment Moses actually entered the heavenly realm; that there he saw the ‘pattern’ after which he was to build the Tabernacle and all its elements. God had brought His realm down on earth to show Moses. The idea of the Tabernacle was to establish the necessary protocol so that the Holy One may be able to dwell among us on the earth (Exodus 25:8). We often speak of the 'restoration' of all things. 'Restoration' implies the return of something that was, of the original model of God’s creation, of God’s ‘Heaven', when He fellowshipped with us on the earth (Genesis 3:8). The Garden of Eden is the ideal we all desire to return to: living in complete unobstructed fellowship with God within the realm of His marvelous unadulterated creation. That is ‘Heaven’. You may ask “But what about these people who claim to have had dreams of a wonderful place, or to even have sojourned there?” Well, maybe they are just reacting to their experience with the only information that they have (we often do). Maybe they have simply gone to the place where the soul sleeps or rests, awaiting the final resurrection (1 Samuel 28:15; Daniel 12:2; Revelations 6:9-11). Yeshua spoke of resurrection as a time following biological death, and as He did, He spoke of that place where people awaits the resurrection, a place corresponding to our works on the earth (Luke 16:19-24). Remember, He told the thief at His side that he would be in paradise with Him that very night but three days later Yeshua hadn’t yet gone to the Father (Luke 23:43; John 20:17). Paul also speaks of several levels of heavenly dimensions. From the beginning, Hashem’s work has been to restore the original conditions of the Garden of Eden. The way Josephus describes the first 1,000 years on earth under Seth sounds very heavenly (Ant. 2.3.68-69). Later, when the world is already gone astray, God chooses a people through whom He makes a covenant to be able to dwell among them. The Tabernacle and the Temple housed the Shekinah, the very Presence of God. Yeshua came to earth to show how godliness is experienced and lived. He prayed, Your kingdom come, … on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10), and the whole thing ends with Yeshua spending 1,000 years restoring all things on earth to prepare it for the arrival of New Jerusalem, again, on the earth (Revelation 20-22). May it be soon Abba, even in our days! John 2:21
But he was speaking about the temple of his body. As we study the different elements of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25) we learn so much about the role of Yeshua in our lives. The Tabernacle was nothing less than a portable Temple, a temporary dwelling place for the Shekinah until such a time when King David would plan the first Jerusalem temple to be built by his son, Solomon. Reminding us of the words inspired to Isaiah the prophet, Yeshua Himself called the Temple ‘a House of Prayer’ (Isaiah 56:7; Matthew 21:13). By definition God is thrice 'kadosh' (Holy: Isaiah 6:3), meaning He is set-apart and cannot be approached by a human which is by definition common. Hashem wants to live among us but as the Holy King that He is, there is a protocol to be respected. There is death penalty for breaking it (Leviticus 10:1-2). The Tabernacle and its protocol is the means by which God is to be approached. This is reflected even today in the way we have learned to approach the Almighty, solely through the Agency of Yeshua. The Tabernacle therefore was kept holy in order to house the Shekinah, just as Yeshua kept Himself holy and without sin so He could house the Spirit of God in Him (Hebrews 4:15). As Yeshua debated Temple use (or misuse) with Judean leaders, He compared it with His own body or His own self (John 2:13-21). Learning therefore about Tabernacle/Temple protocol is learning about our own relationship with God through Messiah and as we do, we should realize that though we may refer to Him as 'Father, which He is, though it may so, there is nothing casual about our relationship with Hashem. This term, ‘Father’ has nothing to do with the casual manner certain fathers play their role today. It is used with a sense of awe and respect. The relationship is not as one between peers, but rather reflects the idea of someone we can strongly lean and count on, someone we should pattern ourselves by in order to learn integrity and righteousness. The role of Messiah is to clean (sanctify) us with His Words so that through His agency we can approach the Holy Father (John 15:3). We are cleaned not only by listening and reading His Words but also as we set ourselves apart to obey Hashem in the manner which Messiah shows and teaches us. May we therefore learn to serve an obey; to let our lives be transformed by Yeshua that He may testify of us to the Father as those who have cleaned themselves, washed their robes and set themselves apart from the impurities of the world to be presented unto Him (Revelations 7:14). Colossians 2:9
For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. After successfully receiving the stone tables where Hashem engraved His first Ten Instructions to Israel, Moses was asked to levy from them a free-will contribution (Exodus 25:1). This voluntary contribution will serve to build what will eventually become the Tabernacle, the very place the Almighty El-Shaddai will use as a sort of communication center with Moses. Remember, the Children of Israel confessed that they could not hear the Voice of God; they ask Moses to act as an intercessor for them (Exodus 20:18-19). I think it strange that today many people seem to casually say that they hear ‘God’ speak to them when in fact, the Children of Israel couldn’t and even asked for an intercessor, move which Hashem approved (Deuteronomy 18:16-17). Sages from ancient Israel saw the future and imagined Moses asking God, “Will not the time come when Israel will be deprived of a Tabernacle or of a Temple? What will happen then?” According to the sages the Divine reply was, “I will then take one of their righteous men and retain him as a pledge on their behalf, in order that I may pardon all their sins.” (Midrash Rabbah Shemot 35:4). The agricultural ancient Israelites were familiar with the custom of dedicating a whole harvest to God by presenting one sheave, the first and purest drop of oil from their olives, or even the first-born of animal and man-kind. They understood the principles of the first and best given to Hashem for the sanctification of the whole. The Tabernacle and Temple housed the Ark which represented God’s covenant Presence among man. At the time when Hashem knew the Temple would disappear for a long time and the Children of Israel would go for a long exile, the Almighty took one righteous man to hold as a pledge for the sanctification of the people; His name was Yeshua from Nazareth. By the end of the first century, there were over 1,000.000.000 believers in Israel. Chassidic Jews seemed to understand the mechanism by which God operates They believed that their righteous men, their ‘tsaddik’, their ‘rebbes’ (rabbis) housed the Shekinah of God; that they acted as the Temple or the Tabernacle. They were not so far off. Yeshua Ben Yoseph Hanotsree (Jesus Son of Joseph from Nazareth) is that righteous Jewish man, that Rebbe whom God held as a pledge for the sanctification of the Jewish people and through whom the whole worlds is redeemed as, in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority (Colossians 2:9-10). He is the first sheave of the harvest (Numbers 28:26), the pure first drop of olive oil from the press (Gethesemane, the place where the Master was pressed measure means: the olive press). He is also the perfect lamb offered as voluntary contribution from the heart. Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven”. The rulings contained in Exodus 21-24 provide us with a big window into the heart of the Father. How more sensible our world would be if it acknowledged Hashem’s wisdom in His approach to government. This is the problem today with the Bible: so few ever tried it! Maybe they will one day, probably out of desperation when the best of man’s efforts will have only led to catastrophe, as they seem to presently do. For millennia the world has not been able to care for its poor. Even today, with all our sophistication, at its best, all the world has to offer is a ‘slave-master’ economy based on cruel usury (Proverbs 22:7) which is forbidden in God’s eyes (Exodus 22:25-27). In the Torah, lending to the poor in need is not an option, it is a commandment witch Yeshua reiterated in, Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you (Matthew 5:42). An idea for the Messianic communities would be to emulate Jewish communities and create interest-free lending funds. As times worsen, we certainly need to pool our resources. Hashem is the Generous One; He cares for the downtrodden; He has compassion on the poor and gives freely. As disciples, we should emulate Him and be the same. Another ruling that we should be careful to observe is "You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people (Exodus 22:28). Miriam was afflicted with Biblical leprosy as a result of disobeying this commandment (Numbers 12). If the English wording in this verse seems strange, it is because the original Hebrew in the text of this whole chapter merges the identities of God and of ‘Judges of the people’ into one. In essence, in cursing or blessing the spiritual authority Hashem sets upon us, we curse or bless Him. This commandment is still relevant and here is an important precedent for it. After Paul publicly reviled a corrupt Sadducee High-Priest who was trying to unjustly condemn him and had even smitten his face, the apostle apologized saying, "I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest”. Paul then justified his apology quoting from Exodus, “for it is written, 'You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people (Acts 23:5).'" This is a condition-less commandment. Even if the ruler seems to you curse-worthy, you are not to curse him with gossip, criticism, or open challenge. Let’s say you don’t like the way things are in your congregation, after humbly presenting your point to the persons involved, if things don’t change, just leave and go where you can feel happy. It is certainly a sin to openly challenge leaders and create a mutiny. If you do it, it will surely happen to you in return, either in your congregation or in your family. Hashem will see to it. May we learn to live by His rulings; Yeshua did! 2 Peter 1:4 He has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature …. In ancient times in Israel when a young man wanted to marry, he first consulted with the local matchmaker. He then went to the prospective girl’s father or guardian and agreed to a price. The agreement was then sealed with a glass of wine, which allowed the young man to go and ‘prepare a place’, or build a house for them to live in. This period of betrothal was as binding as marriage itself. A ketubah was also written. A ketubah is a legal document written in beautiful calligraphy. This document outlines the bride-price paid for the girl and incorporates all the conditions of the marriage, especially the responsibilities of the groom towards his bride-to-be. It serves as a prenuptial agreement and deterrent in case the husband would leave her as it also makes mention of the money owed to the wife in case of divorce, unless of course the divorce was due to the wife’s marital unfaithfulness. During the ceremony held under a ‘chupah’ which is a cloth held by four poles above the couple, the terms of the ketubah/contract are sealed again through the sharing of a glass of wine. The glass is then placed on the floor for the groom to smash with his foot saying, ‘thus be done to me if I do not honor the words of this contract’. The ceremony is usually followed by a celebration with music, dancing, entertainment, and a copious banquet. When the Almighty wanted to marry Israel He was His own matchmaker. He also had already prepared a place for them: The Promised Land of Israel. He brought His prospective wife to a solitary place under the 'chupah' of Mt. Horeb's shade so He could have her full attention and bare His heart to her. After the Heavenly Bridegroom made His proposal, Israel agreed and said, ‘all that God said we will do’. The engagement was then rendered valid. Moses along with seventy-three other people (witnesses) climbed Mt. Horeb to get the ketubah/contract written in stone by the finger of Hashem Himself. The whole thing was sealed in blood and followed by a meal with the Almighty Himself (Exodus 19-24). When God took Israel.as a bride, He entered a covenant with everlasting legal promises. Whereas it can be agreed that the marriage has been ‘rocky’, Hashem is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind (Numbers 23:19), and unlike many men, He is compassion and forgiveness itself; He repents from the evil He wants to do to His people. We Israel need to cling tightly to that ketubah, to the term of the marriage found in the Torah. We need to study it so we can hold our Bridegroom to His terms and to His promises. We need to be a faithful wife and hold to our terms of faithfulness and obedience. A very wise mother one day instructed her kingly son in the choosing of a wife and said, An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels (Proverbs 31:10). In his search, her son ended up with almost a thousand women. As Israel, let us put on the regeneration offered by the Righteous One, Yeshua the Messiah and become the excellent wife so sought after by the Almighty God. |
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