Shemot/ Exodus 27:20 – 30:10.
The use of the imperfect tense implies that this command has a future application as well. These commands must be carefully observed as they were given to all the generations of Yisrael – a law forever to their generations (vs 21). Obviously we wait for the rebuilding of the Temple in Yerushalayim for these commandments to once again be strictly guarded and obeyed by a willing and waiting priesthood.The Name of Moshe.
Tetzaveh is the only Torah portion in the book of Shemot where the name of Moshe is conspicuously left out. Why? The sages believe one of the reasons is that this Torah portion normally falls on the week of the 7 th of Adar. This was the date believed to be the death and the birth of Moshe rabbeinu (Moses our rabbi)
It is also believed that Moshe’s name is left out because Moshe asked YHVH in the next Torah portion to blot out his name from the book of life (Shemot 32:32). The request came about because YHVH wanted to bring a complete destruction upon Yisrael after the incident of the golden calf.
So great was our rabbi Moshe that he was willing to be cursed for the sake of his brethren. We see there was another great sage called Shaul who had the same heart as Moshe rabbeinu.
Rom 9:3 For I myself could have wished to be banished from Messiah for the sake of my brothers, my relatives according to the flesh,
Rom 9:4 who are Yisra’ĕlites, whose is the adoption, and the esteem, and the covenants, and the giving of the Torah, and the worship, and the promises, Rom 9:5 whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Messiah according to the flesh, who is over all, Elohim-blessed forever. Amĕn.
These men had the mind of our Messiah who took upon himself our curse caused by our disobedience to YHVH’s eternal Torah.
Gal 3:13 Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Torah, having become a curse for us – for it has been written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree.”1 – Footnote: 1Dt. 21:23.
Gal 3:14 in order that the blessing of Aḇraham might come upon the nations in Messiah יהושע, to receive the promise of the Spirit through belief.
Essence and definition of the good news.
Gal 3:8 And the Scripture, having foreseen that Elohim would declare right the nations by belief, announced the Good News to Aḇraham beforehand, saying, “All the nations shall be blessed in you,”
Note some believe that the word ”gospel” comes from an ancient Celtic word to be under the spell of a god.
We would do well to reconsider carefully what the church has called the ”gospel.”
We cannot divorce the good news from the Torah, for the good news originates in the Torah. Our disobedience and rebellion towards the Torah will bring about our destruction.
Just as tragic has been the evil reports ”la shon ha ra” committed by some Jews when the name of Yahshua is mentioned and the role he played in securing our redemption.
Some Jewish scholars refer to Yahshua as ”Yeshu” and use it as a mischievous acronym. "Yeshu" has been used as an acronym from the Hebrew words “ימח שמו וזכרו(נו (Y'mach Sh'mo V'Zichro(no)” meaning "may his name and memory be obliterated"
Baruch ha Shem like Moshe, the name of Yahshua will never be blotted out, in fact the second writings clearly proclaim:
Php 2:9 Elohim, therefore, has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name which is above every name,
Php 2:10 that at the Name of יהושע every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
Php 2:11 and every tongue should confess that יהושע Messiah is Master, to the esteem of Elohim the Father.
Perhaps we should also consider the possibility that the name of Moshe is omitted in this Torah portion to remind us that without an intercessor and a dedicated priesthood that will stand in the gap for us, at any price, we will never be able to come and dwell in the presence of the Almighty.
Heb 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save completely those who draw near to Elohim through Him, ever living to make intercession for them.
Many have been called to this priesthood but few will choose to truly walk in the footsteps of our fathers and of our Messiah BECAUSE THIS KIND OF LIFE REQUIRES GREAT DEDICATION AND COMES WITH A PRICE VERY FEW ARE WILLING TO PAY.
What makes this priestly ministry so important is that some of these priests have been in the very presence of YHVH and they and they alone can and will show us the way to come into and stay in the presence of YHVH. Many may claim to have been in the very presence of YHVH. If this were true there would be far more genuine repentance taking place in our and previous generations (we only need to consider the effect the day of Yom Kippur had on the nation of Yisrael).
Mat 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen."
We see a hidden reference to this cost in the opening instruction of this Torah portion where the command is given (tetzaveh) to bring oil to the place (mishkan) where the priests come before Yahveh to intercede for His people and the nations.
Blessing of Torah.
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.)
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.)
Torah Readings:
- 27:20 – 28:12
- 28:13-30
- 28:31-43
- 29:1-18
- 29:19-37
- 29:38-46
- 30:1-7
- Maftir: 30:8-10
Haftarah: Ezekiel 43:10-27 - Eze 43:12 “This is the Torah of the House:…..
Aliyah Rishon 27:20-28:12
Exo 27:21 “In the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil which is before the Witness, Aharon and his sons are to tend it from evening until morning before יהוה – a law forever to their generations, from the children of Yisra’ĕl.
“shemen zait zach” means pure olive oil.
An olive tree never dies. Neither does it ever cease giving fruit. When some branches become old and stop giving fruit, they are cut off so that new shoots can come up that will give fruit. The olive tree needs approximately 10 years in order to begin giving fruit, but the most fruitful time does not begin until 40 years have passed. The leaves are always green. It does not need a lot of water and can manage well in a warm and dry climate. The olives have three important ingredients, oil, water, and alpechin. Olive oil is very healthy for the body. It is used for cooking, among other things. It can be mixed with flour to bake cakes. It can be used on salads or directly on bread and can also be used as fuel for oil lamps, as in this case in the tabernacle.
Olives are harvested during the winter. During the second temple period, there were three harvests per year. First the olives that were furthest out on the branches and were ripe first because of the sunshine were harvested. After that, the olives, which were further in on the branches were harvested. The third harvest close to the trunk were the olives that had ripened slowly.
There is a midrash that compares these three pressing to the outpouring of the Ruach Ha Kodesh (Set Apart Spirit) on the earth. (the word Messiah means one who is anointed – olive oil was used to anoint) The first pressing came at Sinai – Shavuot – where the Torah was given to Moshe - Tehillim/Psa 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. The Torah was given to a people that had come out of the bondage and suffering of Mitsrayim/Egypt for centuries.
The second pressing came after the suffering and death of Messiah on another “Feast of Shavuot” ("Feast of weeks in English". In Greek it was translated with Pentecoste which means "fifty" due to the 50 days counted between Pesach and Shavuot. The Greek word Pentecoste was transliterated to the word “Pentecost”). It was at this Shavuot after Yahshua's death, ressurrection and ascension where the Ruach (Spirit) was poured out in Yerushalyim on the Temple Mount – Yahshua the light of the world.
The third pressing of olives was made with great crushing stones that grinded over each other. This could be a picture of the outpouring of the Ruach during the time of the great tribulation, the coming together of Yisrael who will be a light to all the nations of the world. The olive tree was often beaten with rods to shake loose remaining olives that were situated close to the trunk of the tree.YoEl/Joe 2:1 Blow a ram’s horn in Tsiyon, and sound an alarm in My set-apart mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the earth tremble, for the day of יהוה is coming, for it is near:
Joe 2:2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the morning clouds spread over the mountains – a people many and strong, the like of whom has never been, nor shall there ever be again after them, to the years of many generations.
Joe 2:27 “And you shall know that I am in the midst of Yisra’ĕl1, and that I am יהוה your Elohim and there is no one else. And My people shall never be put to shame. Footnote: 1See Isa. 24:23.
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.
The first pressing was done by hand, the second by pressing weights and the third by was by a stone press.
“The word "Gethsemane" is derived from the Hebrew "gat shemanim" which means "oil press" - the implication being that the garden was in fact an olive grove...”
This stirs up within our hearts the image that the Father goes to a great deal of effort to bring the necessary forces to bear on the lives of those He has chosen to become like this precious olive oil used to bring life and light to His creation. When we submit to His processes and instruction we open our lives to receive the fullness of His Ruach. The same Rauch which was evident in and on the life of Messiah.
The true ministry of the Ruach can only take place as a result of crushing. We see this revealed in all the inner workings and material of the set apart place, the bread, wine, oil and spices for incense, each of these was subject to a process of crushing and burning before they were used to testify of and help usher in YHVH’s presence.
Shemot/Exo 28:1 “And you, bring near Aharon your brother and his sons with him, from among the children of Yisra’ĕl, for serving as priest to Me: Aharon, Naḏaḇ and Aḇihu, Elʽazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aharon.
Exo 28:2 “And you shall make set-apart garments for Aharon your brother, for esteem and for comeliness.
Exo 28:3 “And you, speak to all the wise of heart, whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, and they shall make the garments of Aharon, to set him apart, for him to serve as priest to Me.
The priestly garments remind us of the covering we lost in the garden and the restored covering that YHVH is in the process of restoring to us again.
Again we need to look into the deeper levels of Torah. When man was in the garden before he sinned, he was clothed with the esteem or the “shechinah” of YHVH, however when he sinned, he lost this covering of LIGHT and was aware of his nakedness. We see an interesting reference to this in the Hebrew words used for “light and skin”
The Hebrew word for "Light" is "OR" spelled "aleph vav resh" - The Hebrew word for "Skin" is also "OR" but is spelled "ayin vav resh" –
We know that man lost something very special when he sinned and became aware of his nakedness. He became aware of his own naked skin because he had lost the esteemed covering that came from YHVH.
The priestly garments represent the prophetic restoration of man’s original condition before YHVH.
Exo 28:4 “And these are the garments which they make: a breastplate, a shoulder garment, a robe, an embroidered long shirt, a turban, and a girdle. And they shall make set-apart garments for Aharon your brother and his sons, for him to serve as priest to Me.
Exo 28:5 “And they shall take the gold, and the blue and the purple and the scarlet material, and the fine linen,
Exo 28:6 and shall make the shoulder garment of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material, and fine woven linen, the work of a skilled workman.
Exo 28:7 “It is to have two shoulder pieces joined at its two edges, and so it is joined together.
Exo 28:8 “And the embroidered band of the shoulder garment, which is on it, is of the same workmanship, made of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material, and fine woven linen.
Exo 28:9 “And you shall take two shoham stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Yisra’ĕl,
Exo 28:10 six of their names on one stone, and the remaining six names on the other stone, according to their birth.
Exo 28:11 “With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Yisra’ĕl. Set them in settings of gold.
Exo 28:12 “And you shall put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the shoulder garment as stones of remembrance for the sons of Yisra’ĕl. And Aharon shall bear their names before יהוה on his two shoulders, for a remembrance.
Olive oil and the priestly garments have a connection - The Hebrew word for "oil" is shemen, which is the root of the Hebrew for "eight," shmoneh.