Scriptures

Exodus 30:11 to 34:35
1Kings 18:20-39
2 Corinthians 3:1-18

Continued from the last two studies: Terumah and Tetzaveh (see reference section).

Review: The Israelites betrothed themselves to YHVH at Mount Sinai, and Moses set himself apart for a time (forty days and forty nights) to receive the plans for the bridal chamber called the Mishkan or Tabernacle of YHVH (Exodus 24:1-11). These plans are taught in three parshiyot (Torah portions). Two weeks ago we studied the plans for the Mishkan and the furnishings; last week we studied the plans for the priestly garments; and this week we complete the bridal chamber and see Moses return to camp to share all the words YHVH had for the people. The Israelites who betrothed themselves to YHVH mirror our betrothal to Yeshua, the Bridegroom of Israel. It is as if we were with them at Mount Sinai as the covenant was made not only with those who were standing there in the presence of YHVH that day but also with their future generations who were not there (Deuteronomy 29:14-15). This teaching from Exodus is a prophetic parable for us today.

Exodus 30:11-16 Atonement Money

YHVH shared with Moses that He required each male Israelite from twenty years old and up, who had crossed over, to give a half shekel for their atonement when the census was taken so that a plague would not fall on them. The atonement shekel was to be used for the service of the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the sons of Israel before YHVH, to make atonement for them. This was not a volunteer offering but a commandment from YHVH.

In 2 Samuel 24:15, David counted his fighting men without the payment of the half shekel. This tragic mistake led to the plague that followed and the death of seventy thousand men throughout the land.

The silver of the half shekel is a symbol of YHVH’s redemption. YHVH’s Tabernacle was to be built on His redemption, and as such, how it was built reflected that truth. The bases of the framework for the support of the mishkan/Tabernacle were made of silver. The white linen curtains defining the outer court surrounding the mishkan were held in place by silver hooks. Silver for redemption is a symbol of Yeshua the Messiah who fulfilled our redemption price so that no plague would come upon us.

The definition of silver is: a soft, white, precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal.

Exodus 30:18-21 The Basin for Washing ~ The Laver

You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base also of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. And you shall put water in it, for Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in water from it. When they go into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to YHVH, they shall wash with water, lest they die. So they shall wash their hands and their feet, lest they die. And it shall be a statute forever to them – to him and his descendants throughout their generations.

The definition of brass is: an alloy of copper and tin and sometimes other elements; also any copper-base alloy containing other elements in place of tin.

Copper is a metal used for prevention of disease. Bacteria will not grow on a copper surface because it is biostatic. Copper doorknobs are used by hospitals to reduce the transfer of disease, and copper tubing in air-conditioning systems suppresses the spread of Legionnaire’s Disease. One of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls found in Israel was made of copper instead of the more fragile animal skins. Today, technologically advanced surgeons save lives and precious blood by using copper-clad scalpels. The copper conducts an electric current that heats the scalpel to make it self-cauterizing. Copper is also the standard benchmark for electrical conductivity. It conducts electrical current better than any other metal except silver.

The priests could not come before YHVH in the Holy Place unless they had washed their hands and feet with water from the laver. The hands and feet are the extremities of our physical bodies, and consecrating them implies consecrating the whole body. We are raising our bodies from earthly, common work to holy work. We see from the information above that there was a status change evidenced by even a chemical change that happened when they washed their hands and feet in the laver. Not only were they physically clean, but spiritually cleansed also. Now their bodies were prepared to go into the Holy Place and not die.

Washing at the laver served to cleanse the priests of anything that might have contaminated them and kept them from serving YHVH in a holy state as they went in to perform their duties. Consistently in Scripture we see the correlation between the physical and the spiritual, how one inherently affects the other, i.e. a famine of food implies a spiritual famine, such as a famine for the Word of God. When the priests cleansed themselves at the laver, it was not necessarily a physical purity they were seeking, but a spiritual. Though the details of such cannot be perfectly proven out scientifically or intelligently, this is not what YHVH was after – He was after the heart. We can identify with the physical act of obedience – that of washing, coming in contact with the water – as signifying the priests wholly coming in line with YHVH’s holiness, thus changing their status. To start His earthly ministry as a priest, Yeshua had a mikvah when John the Baptist immersed him in the Jordan River. Because we believe that Yeshua was perfect according to Torah, we know this mikvah was not for sin but for a status change.

Who may ascend the hill of YHVH? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false (Psalm 24:3-5 ref. James 4:8).

Regarding the laver: "This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come” (Exodus 30:17).

Now we have Yeshua’s sanctifying work operating in our lives, but the sanctifying cleansing of the soul is our work. Today we have the rachatz, which is the water libation for the hands marking a distinction between common and holy, literally taking us from an unclean realm to a clean realm. Not only are we washing our hands, but our minds (the seat of the soul) as well. In our walk of redemption, many are bringing the rachatz back into their fellowships and homes as a continual work of sanctification. It literally purifies our thoughts and cleanses our minds. If we are in need of mind/soul renewal, this is invaluable for us today, as YHVH sanctifies and purifies us through our obedience to His commands. It is not a work of or for salvation but a work of obedience leading to holiness.

Yeshua poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel... He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to was my feet?" Yeshua replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." "No," said Peter, "you shall never was my feet." Yeshua said "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me" (John 13: 5-8).

Yeshua was preparing Peter for his role as priest in a royal priesthood and holy nation, and unless he washed his feet for change of status he would not be allowed to serve. Obedience brings the blessing.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded (James 4:7-8).

Exodus 30:22-33 Anointing Oil

Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests (Exodus 30:30).

Anointing is required before service to YHVH. This oil was sacred and not for any other use. The definition of “consecrate” in the Hebrew, qadash (Strong’s #6942 and TWOT #1990), is: to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate; be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate; to be set apart, to be consecrated. It denotes two concepts: separation from the world and thoughts thereof, as well as the implication of total devotion to YHVH, leaving the worldly things behind and completely dedicating oneself to Him.

Exodus 31:1-11 Bezalel and Oholiah

The appointment of the men who would be in charge of the great undertaking of putting the design of the Tabernacle together was given to Bezalel from the tribe of Judah and his assistant Oholiah from the tribe of Dan. Effectively these two men represented the two Houses of Israel: House of Judah and House of Israel. YHVH had gifted these two to oversee and work the intricate designs of the Tabernacle, from the fabric design to the design of the furniture. There will always be two witnesses of the Messiah.

Bezalel (Strong’s #01212) means: in the shadow (protection) of El (God).
Oholiah (Strong’s #0171) means: father's tent.
Together their names mean “In the shadow of El [in] the Father’s tent.”

Exodus 31:12-17 The Sabbath

YHVH said to Moses:

You must observe My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you for your generations, to know that I am YHVH, Who makes you holy. You shall observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you; its desecrators shall be put to death, for whoever does work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among its people. For six days work may be done and the seventh day is a day of complete rest, it is sacred to YHVH; whoever does work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. The Children of Israel shall observe the Sabbath, to make the Sabbath an eternal covenant for their generations. Between Me and the Children of Israel it is a sign forever that in a six-day period YHVH made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.

What is the Sabbath?     

Creation: There are seven days of Creation called Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6 and The Seventh Day, a day of rest. Rest in Hebrew is shabbat from where we get the Sabbath day. We are told in Psalms 90:4 and in 2 Peter 3:8 that a day is as a thousand years. So the days of Creation are also seen as years 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 and 7000 years.

Millennial means seven thousand from where we get the millennial kingdom, the Messianic Era, and the Day of the Lord. On the 7th day YHVH rested, or, on the 7000th year period of time, the era of YHVH’s Sabbath. In Hebrews 4:1-10 we are told we are heading to a Sabbath-rest…in our day. When we walk in Spirit (Yeshua) and Truth (Torah) we are going back to the Garden.

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel [Mosaic covenant] was preached to us as well as to them [all twelve tribes of Israel at Mt. Sinai]; but the word, which they heard, did not profit them, not being mixed with faith [in Yeshua’s faithfulness to up hold His Covenant] in those who heard it.  For we [remember - our generations were represented with them at Mt. Sinai] who have believed do enter that rest [Sabbath rest], as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,'" although the works [of salvation] were finished from the foundation of the world [the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world – Revelation 13:8]. For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works;" and again in this place: "They shall not enter My rest."

Since therefore it [the Sabbath rest] remains that some mustenter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience [not obeying Yeshua’s commandments], again He designates a certain day, saying in David [covenant], Today, after such a long time, as it has been said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day [Messiah’s return]. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God didfrom His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience (Hebrews 4:1-11).

The Sabbath is in Creation and in the Garden, and remains the same even to this day. Sabbath is in a time and space of its own. Those who enter into the Sabbath transcend time. The Sabbath is an appointment with YHVH and will be a delight to those who keep it.

The Sabbath is the sign of the Mosaic Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant is the teaching and instruction booklet to the Abrahamic Covenant that tells the bride about her Bridegroom Yeshua and how to receive His wedding gifts for her of a land, a people and a blessing. The Covenant is the bride’s identity and inheritance. When the bride is obedient to the Groom’s Covenant, she receives the blessings of YHVH, the land of Israel, as well as identification as His people and part of Israel.  It is Moses who leads the bride to her betrothal and prepares her for the wedding. The Spirit of Elijah will take the bride to her wedding. The Sabbath is a test (once a week) given to see if the bride will be a faithful bride, faithful to YHVH’s Covenant (Exodus 16:4; Hebrews 8:8-10). Those who keep the Sabbath receive a double portion. The Sabbath is the wedding ring of the Messiah. It is the mark, a sign on believers that identifies the bride of Yeshua.

If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me (John 5:46).

"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and YHVH's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in YHVH, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of YHVH has spoken (Isaiah 58:13-14).

The Sabbath is there for us to choose to conform to, for our sanctification that leads to holiness. Breaking the Sabbath profanes YHVH’s Holy Name and breaks the covenant set between the Bridegroom and the bride. The commandment of the Sabbath is eternal and remains constant, unchangeable today. Sabbath leads to the goal of the Living Torah, Yeshua, and back to the Garden. If we walk with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and call ourselves Israel, then the Sabbath is for us to keep. The Sabbath is timeless and out of this world. It is in eternity and it is in the Garden. We are going back to the Garden–and are there already, for those who choose to grab hold of the life found within! The Sabbath is a lifestyle (Hebrews 4, Luke 17:20-21). Selah.

Exodus 31:18 Moses Returns to Camp

With these final instructions–regarding the Sabbath–Moses’ forty days and nights on the mountain with YHVH came to an end. He returned to camp holding the two tablets of the covenant inscribed by the finger of YHVH in his hands. He was eager to share all these blessings of YHVH with the people. Meanwhile YHVH let us see what had been going on in camp while Moses was up the mountain.

Exodus 32 The Golden Calf and The Adulterous Bride

As Moses tarried up the mountain, the people lapsed into pursuing their own interests. They soon forgot their betrothal to YHVH and pursued the idols in their hearts. Not waiting for YHVH or “this man Moses,” they were led astray and enslaved by their double-mindedness, influenced by the desires of their hearts. They wanted to worship what they thought was a better god than the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at Mount Sinai. In spite of the cloud covering by day and the fire by night plus all the signs and wonders they had witnessed, they ignored all these signs of YHVH’s presence and devised plans to make their own god. Aaron yielded to their rebellion and called for their gold earrings. It was Aaron who formed an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. When he gave it to the Israelites he said, “O Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

This golden calf the people made was a counterfeit of the Red Heifer, the shadow of the Messiah (Numbers 19:1-22). Only the ashes from this Red Heifer (Yeshua) could cleanse the heart and soul of Israel from all their sins, not this manmade calf.

When Moses returned, the shock of seeing the newly betrothed bride of the Messiah so quickly abandoning her vows to dance and adulterate herself before this pagan idol was devastating. After witnessing the Glory of YHVH on the mountain those forty days and nights and returning with His wonderful plans for their lives together, this blatant act of violation caused Moses to drop and shatter the two stone tablets. They broke at the foot of the mountain, the same place their vows were made. "We will do and we will obey" shattered in one incident of pagan pleasure (Exodus 24:1-11).

How many of our lives have been shattered because of an idol in our heart? Marriages broken, families divided, careers ruined - all for the sake of being double minded in our hearts toward YHVH. The tablets Moses shattered contained the solution. We need to pick up those shattered pieces of our lives and read what is written on those tablets. The Words of YHVH are for the healing of the Nations (Revelation 22:2).

Moses took the golden calf, burned it and ground it to powder, then scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it. “He stood at the entrance to the camp and said, ‘Whoever is for YHVH, come to me.’ And all the Levites rallied to him” (Exodus 32:26). He commanded those who were with him to go among the people and kill those who had been unfaithful. Three thousand lost their lives that day.

How did the Levites know which people were unfaithful to YHVH? Numbers 5 describes the test of the unfaithful wife called the Law of Jealousy. The drink caused the unfaithful wife’s abdomen to swell and her thigh to waste away. If they were faithful, no harm would come to them by the drink. In Exodus 32, those who served Moses had no trouble seeing who was faithful and who was not faithful to YHVH. The people killed that day had the extended abdomen and the rotting thigh.

After this, Moses went before YHVH and asked for forgiveness for those who were left. They are forgiven but the consequences for disobedience followed and a plague fell on the people. There was great tragedy in the camp that day as the Israelites were taught to be responsible for their choices and behavior, and to remember their vow before YHVH.

Many of us do not realize that when we disobey and then repent, there is forgiveness but a consequence still follows, like in case of David and Bathsheba. Even though David repented, they lost their firstborn son (2 Samuel 12:1-19).

As believers we need to take responsibility for the vows we make before YHVH; breaking them brings curses upon us. We need to understand the terms of the covenant we have made with Him to stop the plagues, or curses, in our livesas described in Deuteronomy 28. That is why we are studying the terms of the covenant today. These terms are written in the first five books of the Bible and are upheld and fulfilled by Yeshua to this very day, as written about in the Brit Chadasha/New Testament.

Exodus 33:7-11 The Tent of Meeting

After the incident of the golden calf, Moses spent time with YHVH continuing to learn and write down all he was taught about the bride’s Ketubah (covenant). Moses met outside the camp in a tent pitched for this purpose called the “Tent of Meeting.” The mishkan/Tabernacle was not built yet. In his testimony with YHVH, Moses represented the shadow of Yeshua who met outside the camp to commune with YHVH under His tallit, or, covering (the Tent of Meeting).

When Moses approached the tent, the people would rise and stand at the entrance to their tents. The cloud of YHVH’s Presence came down as Moses entered the tent. When the people saw this, they worshipped. Because of the many trials and testing, the people were, consequently, developing a reverence for the holiness of YHVH. During these times, “YHVH would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.”

Exodus 33:12-23 Moses and the Glory of YHVH

Here we are shown the conversation Moses had with YHVH. The intimacies we witness in these scriptures are for us today and have the potential of being just as real. May we enter in just as Moses did and just as often.

We were told earlier about the angel who would go with them (Exodus 23:20; 33:2). Moses said to YHVH, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people.’ But you have not let me know whom you will send with me” (Exodus 33:12). YHVH declared in response, “My Presence will go with them, and give them rest” (Exodus 33:14). Even though YHVH said He would not go with them (Exodus 33:3), He then told Moses His Presence would go with them.

What or who is His Presence? It is a theophany, or pre-appearance, of Messiah Yeshua before His incarnation as the promised and expected Messiah of Israel.

With this, Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” YHVH then disclosed to Moses he would be taken to a place near Him where Moses would stand on a rock. When God’s glory passed by, Moses would be put in a cleft in the rock and be covered by YHVH’s hand. Once YHVH passed by, His hand would be removed and Moses would be able to see His back. We are told YHVH is Spirit. If this is true, how could Moses see His back, unless he saw Yeshua? (Exodus 33:20).

To fulfill this promised event, Moses was invited back up the mountain. To replace the broken tablets, he chiseled two stone tablets for YHVH to rewrite His covenant on. As Moses approached, YHVH came down in the cloud and stood there with him. He said to Moses, "YHVH, YHVH, El, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness and truth; who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations” (Exodus 34:5-7; Exodus 20:5).

Moses bowed and worshipped saying, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord (His Presence, Yeshua) go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance" (Exodus 34:9).  

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1-3,14).

For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea (1 Corinthians 10:1-13).

Exodus 34:10-28 The Terms of the Covenant Restated

It was during this intimate time together that YHVH restated and declared the terms of the Covenant for Israel again. These are the same ten utterances/statements in Exodus 20 that we are to responsibly obey, also known as the keys to the Kingdom of YHVH. Obedience brings life and not death and suffering. YHVH tells us to “obey what He commands,” then He will drive out the enemy from our midst and no one will covet the land.

Then YHVH said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." Moses was with YHVH forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant (Exodus 34:27-28).

Exodus 34:29-35 The Radiant Face of Moses

While Moses was in YHVH’s presence he radiated and, afterward, continued to exude the Light of the Presence he had been basking in. When he returned to camp holding the two stone tablets in his hands all the people were alarmed by the Presence on him. Because of this, Moses covered his face with a veil. When we spend time in His Presence we too will radiate His Light.

Now if that which worked death, by means of a written text engraved on stone tablets, came with glory – such glory that the people of Israel could not stand to look at Moses’ face because of its brightness, even though that brightness was already fading away – won’t the working of the Spirit be accompanied by even greater glory? For if there was glory in what worked to declare people guilty, how much more must the glory abound in what works to declare people innocent! In fact, by comparison with this greater glory, what was made glorious before has no glory now. For if there was glory in what faded away, how much more glory must there be in what lasts. Therefore, with a hope like this, we are very open – unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face, so that the people of Israel would not see the fading brightness come to an end.

What is more, their minds were made stone like; for to this day the same veil remains over them when they read the Old Covenant; it has not been unveiled, because only by the Messiah is the veil taken away. Yes, till today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart. But, says the Torah, “whenever someone turns to Adonai, the veil is taken away.” Now, “Adonai” in this text means the Spirit. And where the Spirit of Adonai is, there is freedom. So all of us, with faces unveiled, see as in a mirror the glory of YHVH; and we are being changed into his very image, from one degree of glory to the next, by Adonai the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:13-18 CJB).

I am the LIGHT of the world (John 8:12).

No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your wholebody also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness.  See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.  Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you (Luke 11:33-36 ).

His light will shine through us as we are obedient to His Word (Exodus 20), when we are careful not to make treaties with those in the land, when we break down our idols, and when we do not worship other gods or cast idols in their image. The light will shine in us when we appear before YHVH, not with empty hearts or hands, but with evidence of how we have kept His covenant, such as in our observance of the Sabbath and celebration of YHVH’s feasts at their appointed. This is what produces the Light in our lives.

For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.  I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.  You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.   I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices.  I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign YHVH. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, O house of Israel!

On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. Then the nations around you that remain will know that I YHVH have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I YHVH have spoken, and I will do it. Once again I will yield to the plea of the house of Israel and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep, as numerous as the flocks for offerings at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts. So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am YHVH (Ezekiel 36:24-38).

Shabbat Shalom,
Carl and Julie Parker

References:

Past Torah Commentaries (Terumah and Tetzaveh) can be found at: www.sheepfoldgleanings.com

CJB: Complete Jewish Bible by David H. Stern. Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. ISBN 965-359-015-4

Copper/brass: Hyperdictionary

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper

A More Excellent Way by Henry W. Wright

Various teachings from STBM by R. Messer

Past Parshot: www.messianicisrael.com/sheepfold-gleanings/
Sheepfold Gleanings written by Carl and Julie Parker: www.sheepfoldgleanings.com
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