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.)
“Tetzaveh” the name of
this new Torah portion means “you shall command.” It takes the “piel” verb form
which is a more intense expression of the verb. 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 restored
Yisrael and her 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.
Maybe Moshe’s name is
left out of this Torah portion because the focus of this portion is Yisrael as
a light and witness to all nations.
Speaking of the
Messianic Torah observant community Yahshua says:
Mat 5:14 “You (plural) are the light of the world. It
is impossible for a city to be hidden on a mountain.
Mat 5:15 “Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a
basket, but on a lampstand, and it shines to all those in the house.
Mat 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, so that
they see your good works and praise your Father who is in the heavens.
It is rather
interesting that in the context of being the light of the world the very next
verse says:
Mat 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the
Torah or the Prophets.1 I did not come to destroy but to complete.
Footnote: 1The Law and the Prophets is a term used for the
pre-Messianic Scriptures.
Mat 5:18 “For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and
the earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the
Torah till all be done.1 Footnote: 1Lk. 16:17.
Mat 5:19 “Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of
these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the
heavens; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the
reign of the heavens.
Our Torah portion
begins by giving a commandment throughout all our generations to provide oil
for the light of the Menorah.
Let us consider for a
moment the blessing that genuine unity based on the truth and fulfilment of
Torah would bring into the Messianic restoration and into the world.
Psa 133:1 See how good and how pleasant it is for
brothers to dwell together in unity –
Psa 133:2 Like the precious oil on the head, Running
down on the beard, The beard of Aharon, Running down on the collar of his robes
–
Psa 133:3 Like the dew of Ḥermon, That comes down
on the mountains of Tsiyon. For there יהוה commanded the
blessing, Life forever!
The anointing oil was also the oil that produced light
for the lamps.
Exo 27:20 “And you, you are to command the children of
Yisra’ĕl to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light, to cause the
lamp to burn continually.
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.
כ וְאַתָּה תְּצַוֶּה
אֶת-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְיִקְחוּ אֵלֶיךָ שֶׁמֶן זַיִת זָךְ
כָּתִית--לַמָּאוֹר: לְהַעֲלֹת נֵר, תָּמִיד
“Catit” means to bruise to violently strike; to crush.
This is a “tzel” (tzadic,lamed) shadow of the
“tzalav”(tzadic,lamed,veit) the execution of Messiah. It is the execution of
Messiah that brings the shadow of the Torah into the full light of our
redemption.
“shemen zait zach” means pure olive oil.
An olive tree never dies. (Photo of ancient olive trees in the Garden of Getsemane). 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 was 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 - 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 “Shavuot” ( called “Pentecoste” in Greek from where the transliteration
“Pentecost”) where the Ruach 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 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.
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
Ruach 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.
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 Yahveh through the intercessory ministry of a chosen
priesthood.
Let us
midrash around this issue of representation for a moment. We somehow
confidently assume that when Yahshua returns we are going to have automatic
access into his presence. Yahshua’s priesthood and intercession would be sought
above that of the established restored Aaronic priesthood.
Even this
consideration reveals a condition of our hearts that will be remedied in the
coming age by a submission to an earthly intercessory priesthood for 1000
years.
Today a
lack of submission and unwillingness to provide “light” for His work reflect
the sad condition of just about everyone who calls on His Name.
Priestly and High Priestly garments
High Priestly garment
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 (Epod) of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material,
and fine woven linen, the work of a skilled workman.
The Hebrew word “Ephod” means that which fits
closely or tightly.
The “Ephod” marks the
High Priest as the one who carried the people of Yisrael before YHVH. To the
Ephod was attached the 12 precious stones each representing a tribe of
Yisrael. This was an extremely important
intercessory function the High priest carried on behalf of the people.
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.
Exo 28:13 “And you
shall make settings of gold,
Exo 28:14 and two
chains of clean gold like braided cords, and fasten the braided chains to the
settings.
Exo 28:15 “And you
shall make a breastplate of right-ruling, a work of a skilled workman, like the
work of the shoulder garment. Make it of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material,
and fine woven linen.
Exo 28:16 “It is
square, doubled, a span its length, and a span its width.
Exo 28:17 “And you
shall put settings of stones in it, four rows of stones: The first row is a
ruby, a topaz, and an emerald;
Exo 28:18 and the
second row is a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond;
Exo 28:19 and the
third row is a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;
Exo 28:20 and the
fourth row is a beryl, and a shoham, and a jasper. They are set in gold
settings.
Exo 28:21 “And the
stones are according to the names of the sons of Yisra’ĕl, twelve according to
their names, like the engravings of a signet, each one with its own name, for
the twelve tribes.
Exo 28:22 “And you
shall make braided chains of corded work for the breastplate at the end, of
clean gold.
Exo 28:23 “And you
shall make two rings of gold for the breastplate, and shall put the two rings
on the two ends of the breastplate.
Exo 28:24 “And you
shall put the two cords of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the
breastplate,
Exo 28:25 and the
other two ends of the two cords you fasten to the two settings, and put them on
the shoulder pieces of the shoulder garment in the front.
Exo 28:26 “And you
shall make two rings of gold, and shall put them on the two ends of the
breastplate, on the edge of it, which is on the inner side of the shoulder
garment.
Exo 28:27 “And you
shall make two rings of gold, and put them on the two shoulder pieces,
underneath the shoulder garment, on the front of it, close to the seam above
the embroidered band of the shoulder garment,
Exo 28:28 and they
bind the breastplate by means of its rings to the rings of the shoulder
garment, using a blue cord, so that it is above the embroidered band of the
shoulder garment, so that the breastplate does not come loose from the shoulder
garment.
Exo 28:29 “And
Aharon shall bear the names of the sons of Yisra’ĕl on the breastplate of
right-ruling over his heart, when he goes into the set-apart place, for a
remembrance before יהוה, continually.
Exo 28:30 “And
into the breastplate of right-ruling you shall put the Urim and the Tummim, and
they shall be on the heart of Aharon when he goes in before יהוה. And Aharon shall bear the right-ruling of
the children of Yisra’ĕl on his heart before יהוה, continually.
Likewise the Urim and
Thummim ("illuminator and verifier") (light and perfections or the light that
brings perfect perfection) No one
seems exactly sure what the urim and tummim were. There are a few
possibilities. It would better serve our purposes if we consider the immense
value that they have as the point us to the Messiah who was the perfect light
that brought perfection into the world.
It is no co incidence that the gematria of breastplate –
“ch o shen”is 358 the same as Moshiach.
Exo 28:31 “And you
shall make the robe of the shoulder garment all of blue.
This blue (techelet) tunic served to remind us that the
High priest was connected to heaven for our sakes.
Exo 28:32 “And the
opening for his head shall be in the middle of it, a woven binding all around
its opening, like the opening in a scaled armour, so that it does not tear.
Exo 28:33 “And on
its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet material,
all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around:
Exo 28:34 a golden
bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, on the hem of the robe
all around.
Exo 28:35 “And it
shall be upon Aharon to attend in, and its sound shall be heard when he goes
into the set-apart place before יהוה and when he
comes out, so that he does not die.
Exo 28:36 “And you
shall make a plate of clean gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a
signet: SET-APARTNESS TO יהוה.
Exo 28:37 “And you
shall put it on a blue cord, and it shall be on the turban – it is to be on the
front of the turban.
Exo 28:38 “And it
shall be on the forehead of Aharon, and Aharon shall bear the guilt of the
set-apart gifts which the children of Yisra’ĕl set apart in all their set-apart
gifts. And it shall always be on his forehead, for acceptance for them before יהוה.
Exo 28:39 “And you
shall weave the long shirt of fine linen, and shall make the turban of fine
linen, and you shall make the girdle of woven work.
Priestly garment
Exo 28:40 “And
make long shirts for Aharon’s sons. And you shall make girdles for them, and
you shall make turbans for them, for esteem and comeliness.
Exo 28:41 “And you
shall put them on Aharon your brother and on his sons with him, and shall
anoint them, and shall ordain them, and shall set them apart, and they shall
serve as priests to Me.
Exo 28:42 “And make
linen trousers for them, to cover their nakedness, reaching from the waist to
the thighs.
Exo 28:43 “And
they shall be on Aharon and on his sons when they come into the Tent of
Meeting, or when they come near the altar to attend in the Set-apart Place, so
that they do not bear crookedness and die – a law forever to him, and to his
seed after him.
Exo 30:1 “And you shall make an altar to burn incense
on, make it of acacia wood,
Exo 30:2 a cubit long and a cubit wide – it is a
square – and two cubits high, its horns of the same.
Exo 30:3 “And you shall overlay its top, and its sides
all around, and its horns with clean gold. And you shall make for it a moulding
of gold all around.
Exo 30:4 “And make two gold rings for it, under the
moulding on both its sides. Make them on its two sides, and they shall be
holders for the poles to lift it with.
Exo 30:5 “And you shall make the poles of acacia wood,
and overlay them with gold.
Exo 30:6 “And you shall put it before the veil that is
before the ark of the Witness, before the lid of atonement that is over the
Witness, where I am to meet with you.
Exo 30:7 “And Aharon shall burn on it sweet incense,
morning by morning. As he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it.
Exo 30:8 “And when Aharon lights the lamps between the
evenings, he shall burn incense on it – a continual incense before יהוה throughout
your generations.
Exo 30:9 “Do not
offer strange incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering, and do
not pour a drink offering on it.
Exo 30:10 “And
Aharon shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the
sin offering of atonement – once a year he makes atonement upon it throughout
your generations. It is most set-apart to יהוה.”
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 Yahweh, 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.
