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.)
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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