2/28/2014

Parashat 21- Portion 69 Shemot/Exodus 31:1-32:14; Ezekiel 20:1-17 ; Col 3:1-5


Blessing for the Torah Reading:
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-O’lam, asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim,
v’natan lanu eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”

(Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim , King of the Universe, you have selected us from among all the peoples, and have given us your Torah. Blessed are you, YHVH, giver of the Torah. Ameyn.)

This Torah portion instructs us that YHVH creates the time (sabbath) and the space or circumstances (mishkan or tabernacle) for our worship -  When we are not guided by these instructions of how to worship YHVH we will inevitably land up in some form of idolatry or mixed worship.

Joh 4:23  “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father also does seek such to worship Him.
Joh 4:24  “Elohim is Spirit, and those who worship Him need to worship in spirit and truth.”

We see that Betsalel and Oholiab were filled with the Ruach of YHVH and with wisdom to build a place of worship.  Today we have a greater revelation of the gifts and enablings of the Ruach to be able to worship in Spirit and in truth.

Our Torah portion begins:
Exo 31:1  And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Exo 31:2  “See, I have called by name Betsal’ĕl son of Uri, son of Ḥur, of the tribe of Yehuḏah,
Exo 31:3  and I have filled him with the Spirit of Elohim in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all work,
Exo 31:4  to make designs for work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze,
Exo 31:5  and in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, and to work in all work.
Exo 31:6  “And I, look I have appointed with him Oholiaḇ son of Aḥisamaḵ, of the tribe of Dan. And I have put wisdom in the hearts of everyone who is wise-hearted, and they shall make all that I have commanded you:

Betsalel ("In the shadow of Elohim"), a Yudahite; was evidently Miriam's grandson.
Oholiab ("The Father is my tent"), a Danite, was his assistant. YHVH endowed both men with natural ability as well as with the Set Apart Spirit to do the work He had appointed for them - a space where YHVH Himself would come to visit.

When YHVH calls someone by name He is usually about to reveal and impart great wisdom and ability.

Isa 45:3  ‘And I shall give you the treasures of darkness and hoarded wealth of secret places, so that you know that I, יהוה, who are calling you by your name, am the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl.
Isa 45:4  ‘For the sake of Yaʽaqoḇ My servant, and of Yisra’ĕl My chosen, I also call you by your name, I give you a title, though you have not known Me.

Whatever YHVH creates He breaths His Life over the work of His Hands.

Gen 2:7  And יהוה Elohim formed the man out of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils breath of life. And the man became a living being.

Yahshua also breathed over his talmadim – disciples.

Joh 20:21  Then יהושע said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
Joh 20:22  And having said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Set-apart Spirit.

At the end of this age YHVH will once again “breath” (pour out His Ruach) on an end time Messianic people. Shavuot cannot be separated from the giving of the Torah (mattan ha torah). ( Shavuot was translated in English as Pentecost. The word Pentecost is the transliteration from the Greek word ‘Pentecoste’ that in the greek means “Fiftieth”. Shavuot in Hebrew means “weeks” speaking of the Feast of weeks – the time of the counting of the Omer until the Fiftieth day.)

Joe 2:28  “And after this it shall be that I pour out My Spirit on all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men dream dreams, your young men see visions.
Joe 2:29  “And also on the male servants and on the female servants I shall pour out My Spirit in those days.
Joe 2:30  “And I shall give signs in the heavens and upon the earth: blood and fire and columns of smoke,
Joe 2:31  the sun is turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of יהוה.

Yahshua commanded his Talmadim after his death to wait until Shavuot (Feast of weeks translated to Pentecoste in Greek) when they too would be empowered by the Spirit of YHVH to proclaim the Kingdom of YHVH to all nations.
The world has never seen a messianic community as vibrant and zealous for the Torah as this first community in Yerushalayim after receiving the fullness of the Ruach Ha Kodesh (the Set apart Spirit).

 Act 21:20  And when they heard it, they praised the Master. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Yehuḏim there are who have believed, (in Yahshua Messiah) and all are ardent for the Torah.

The Second Writings (New Testament) have much “halachah”/ guidance on how the Ruach of YHVH equips His people to bring about a people who worship YHVH in Spirit and truth.

It is significant that when these instructions of the gifts and enabling’s of the Ruach were given before the destruction of the Temple.
We believe that when Messiah returns the temple will be rebuilt in Yerushalayim and all the gifts and ministry of the Ruach will be in operation alongside the teaching of Torah and the true worship of YHVH during the millennium.

We see the gifts of the Ruach:

1Co 12:7  And to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for profiting,
1Co 12:8  for to one is given a word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another a word of knowledge according to the same Spirit,
1Co 12:9  and to another belief by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the same Spirit,
1Co 12:10  and to another operations of powers, and to another prophecy, and to another discerning of spirits, and to another kinds of tongues, and to another interpretation of tongues.
1Co 12:11  But one and the same Spirit works all these, distributing to each one individually as He intends.
1Co 12:12  For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is the Messiah.
1Co 12:13  For indeed by one Spirit we were all immersed into one body, whether Yehuḏim or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink into one Spirit.

The motivational gifts of the Ruach:

Look at the following list of questions to obtain a better idea of your spiritual gifting.

Rom 12:6  Now having different gifts, according to the favour which was given to us, let us use them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of belief;
Rom 12:7  if serving, in the serving; or he who is teaching, in the teaching;
Rom 12:8  or he who encourages, in the encouragement; or he who is sharing, in sincerity; he who is leading, in diligence; he who shows compassion, joyously.

The seven motivational or character gifts are: prophetic, serving, teaching, encouraging, sharer or giver, leading and showing compassion.

These giftings often appear in clusters in our lives and usually one of them tends to dominate and determines what kind of a person we are.

Then the third group of giftings are known as the body gifts - for the up building of the body of Messiah:

Eph 4:11  And He Himself gave some as emissaries, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as shepherds and teachers
Eph 4:12  for the perfecting of the set-apart ones, to the work of service to a building up of the body of the Messiah,
Eph 4:13  until we all come to the unity of the belief and of the knowledge of the Son of Elohim, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the completeness of Messiah,
Eph 4:14  so that we should no longer be children, tossed and borne about by every wind of teaching, by the trickery of men, in cleverness, unto the craftiness of leading astray,1 Footnote: 15:6, also 2 Cor. 10:5, 2 Cor. 11:3-14, Gal. 1:6-9, 2 Tim. 3:1-8, 2 Tim. 4:2-4, 2 Peter 2:2-22, Jud. vv. 10-19.
Eph 4:15  but, maintaining the truth in love, we grow up in all respects into Him who is the head, Messiah,

Then we have the fruit of Ruach Ha Kodesh:

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustworthiness,
Gal 5:23  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no Torah. (Means no limit or regulation, as the Torah has its way in us this fruit will begin to show more and more in our lives)

Sadly we have not witnessed a credible operation and manifestation of these gifts and callings in the body of Messiah since the days of the first writings.

The credibility and power of these gifts will once again operate only when the Torah of YHVH is once again embraced and restored as it was by the first Messianic community as the primary instructional manual of how all things work together for the good in YHVH’s kingdom.

The evidence of walking in the Spirit is walking in the righteousness of the Torah.

Rom 8:3  For the Torah being powerless, in that it was weak through the flesh, Elohim, having His own Son in the likeness of flesh of sin, and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh,
Rom 8:4  so that the righteousness of the Torah should be completed in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Exo 31:7  the Tent of Meeting, and the ark of the Witness and the lid of atonement that is on it, and all the utensils of the Tent,
Exo 31:8  and the table and its utensils, and the clean gold lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense,
Exo 31:9  and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand,
Exo 31:10  and the woven garments, and the set-apart garments for Aharon the priest and the garments of his sons, for serving as priests,
Exo 31:11  and the anointing oil and sweet incense for the Set-apart Place. According to all that I have commanded you, they are to do.”

All of the furniture and functioning of the Tabernacle had deep spiritual applications which are becoming more and more clearer in these last days.

Exo 31:12  And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Exo 31:13  “And you, speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘My Sabbaths you are to guard, by all means, for it is a sign1 between Me and you throughout your generations, to know that I, יהוה, am setting you apart. Footnote: 1The only sign of יהוה setting us apart, the only sign of the everlasting covenant, is His Sabbaths, one of them being the seventh day Sabbath. This is repeated in Ezek. 20:12 & 20.
Exo 31:14  ‘And you shall guard the Sabbath, for it is set-apart to you. Everyone who profanes (violates covenant) it shall certainly be put to death, for anyone who does work on it, that being shall be cut off from among his people.

יד  וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם, אֶת-הַשַּׁבָּת, כִּי קֹדֶשׁ הִוא, לָכֶם; מְחַלְלֶיהָ, מוֹת יוּמָת--כִּי כָּל-הָעֹשֶׂה בָהּ מְלָאכָה, וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא מִקֶּרֶב עַמֶּיהָ.

The Hebrew word “yumat” is a hophal verb- Strongs 4191 and means to die prematurely – before your time. It can carry a meaning of a delayed execution and therefore gives an idea that time will be given for repentance before the sentence is carried out.

The Hebrew word for “profane” “machal leya” – Strongs 2490 is also a hophal verb and carries the meaning of an action that is beginning to happen  - literary means “to be begun” in other words if you continue to profane the Sabbath you will surely die and be cut off from YHVHs people.

Is it possible that the spiritual coldness and apathy amongst believers is the result of sustained disobedience to the proper keeping of the Sabbath?

Act 17:30  “Truly, then, having overlooked these times of ignorance, Elohim now commands all men everywhere to repent,
Act 17:31  because He has set a day on which He is going to judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed,1 having given proof of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” Footnote: 1See 10:42.

Yahshua teaches: Mar 2:27  And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Mar 2:28  “So the Son of Aḏam is also Master of the Sabbath.”1 Footnote: 1Mt. 12:8.

The Sabbath was made to bring about man’s perfection.

The bottom line is the Sabbath is the covenant sign between YHVH and Yisrael. YHVH has chosen this covenant sign and Yisrael to be His people.
Many believers in Yahshua believe that Sunday is the covenant sign between YHVH and His people and that the Yisrael has been replaced by the church.
The day is soon coming when this tragic deception will be exposed and many dear believers will find themselves outside of YHVH’s covenant.

Exo 31:15  ‘Six days work is done, and on the seventh is a Sabbath of rest, set-apart to יהוה. Everyone doing work on the Sabbath day shall certainly be put to death.

Exo 31:16  ‘And the children of Yisra’ĕl shall guard the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant.
Exo 31:17  ‘Between Me and the children of Yisra’ĕl it is a sign forever. For in six days יהוה made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ ”

Finally we see that when people are not reborn and refashioned by the Ruach of YHVH to serve and worship Him according to the Truth – idolatry will inevitably follow.

Exo 31:18  And when He had ended speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Mosheh two tablets of the Witness, tablets of stone, written with the finger of Elohim.
Exo 32:1  And when the people saw that Mosheh was so long in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aharon, and said to him, “Arise, make us mighty ones who go before us. For this Mosheh, the man who brought us up out of the land of Mitsrayim, we do not know what has become of him.”
Exo 32:2  And Aharon said to them, “Take off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”

      Exo 32:3  “And all the people took off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aharon.
      Exo 32:4  And he took this from their hand, and he formed it with an engraving tool, and made a moulded calf. And they said, “This is your mighty one, O Yisra’ĕl, that brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim!”
      Exo 32:5  And Aharon saw and built an altar before it. And Aharon called out and said, “Tomorrow is a festival to יהוה.”
      Exo 32:6  And they rose early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
      Exo 32:7  And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Mitsrayim have corrupted themselves.
Exo 32:8  “They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a moulded calf, and have bowed themselves to it and slaughtered to it, and said, ‘This is your mighty one, O Yisra’ĕl, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim!’ ”
Exo 32:9  And יהוה said to Mosheh, “I have seen this people, and see, it is a stiff-necked people!
Exo 32:10  “And now, let Me alone, that My wrath might burn against them and I consume them and I make of you a great nation.”
Exo 32:11  But Mosheh pleaded with יהוה his Elohim, and said, “יהוה, why does Your wrath burn against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Mitsrayim with great power and with a strong hand?
Exo 32:12  “Why should the Mitsrites speak, and say, ‘For evil He brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from the heat of Your wrath, and relent from this evil to Your people.
Exo 32:13  “Remember Aḇraham, Yitsḥaq, and Yisra’ĕl, Your servants, to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I increase your seed like the stars of the heavens. And all this land that I have spoken of I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”
Exo 32:14  And יהוה relented from the evil which He said He would do to His people.

Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”

(Blessed are you YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, Yahweh giver of the Torah – Ameyn


Please note these notes are under construction and are subject to correction and are in no way a final authority on any subject