Forgetting that the high point of God’s calendar — יום הכפרים Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement) — is all about the work of the High Priest and not of the congregant leaves one with the impossible, “terrifying” task of being his own sin sacrifice (Heb. 10:26–27). This study takes a whirlwind tour of the Letter to the Hebrews and what it tells us how Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ) is the embodiment of the lessons and message of the “Day of Coverings.”
When the LORD is moving you out of your old life, it’s a one-way trip, like the first exodus celebrated at Pesakh (Passover). There is no looking back or carrying a lot of baggage that would tie us to that old life. Part of Pesakh is the spiritual discipline of eating מצה matzah (unleavened bread), through it and with the counsel of the Lamb of God and apostle Paul, we find out the remaining parts of our old way of life — the “old leaven” — God wants to drain out of us.
Why should we study the offerings of Israel’s Tabernacle and Temple, particularly after the arrival of the ultimate offering, Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ)? Thankfully, the prophets the LORD sent ahead of the Mashiakh help explain why this study is critical to learning more about the heart of the Creator of the heavens and the Earth.
The parallel passage (haftarah in Hebrew) for the Torah passage צו Tzav (“command,” Lev. 6:8–8:36) provides a sobering reminder that the Tabernacle has always been about the heart connection to Heaven and not works-based forgiveness. We learn that we are to forgive the sins, transgressions and iniquities of others completely, as God has forgiven ours. And we are to forget them, as God has forgotten ours, freeing us from our “house of bondage” of guilt. That’s a great prelude to the memorial of Pesakh (Passover).
Why did the LORD call for the building of the Tabernacle? What are we supposed learn from it? How are we supposed to apply the lessons to everyday life today? These are questions answered in the double-header reading ויקהל Vayakhel (“and he assembled”) and פקודי Pekudei (“accounts”), covering the last six chapter of the book of Shemot (Exodus 35:1–40:38).
It’s a second telling about the construction of the Tabernacle, but it’s not just the world’s most lengthy non-IKEA instruction manual. When God repeats Himself, it’s for a good reason. When we look at these plans and compare them to the construction of Solomon’s temple, Solomon’s Temple certain had more and bigger items than what the Tabernacle had. One might ask if bigger always better? Herod’s Temple was even grander than that, but which one had more of God’s glory?
Does the Torah promote vigilantism? Are its instructions backward and obsolete? If not, what do these instructions mean to me today?
In the Torah reading מִּשְׁפָּטִים Mishpatim (“Judgments,” Exodus 21–24), we see an explanation of each of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5). By keeping the words of Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ) in our minds (Matthew 22:36–40) while reading the Torah, we can start to understand how the instructions teach us as much about the character of the Father as they do about Heaven’s goal for our treatment of other people.
Am I really free from my old way of life? Am I going somewhere in life that leads to eternal contentment, or am I wandering through this existence, at the mercy of happenstance? These are some of the big questions tackled in the Torah reading בְּשַׁלַּח Beshalach (“when he sent”), covering Ex. 13:17-17:16. We can’t imagine what our ancestors in faith experienced as they witnessed God’s work during the Exodus from Mitzraim (Egypt). As they were leaving the house of bondage, were they really free or did they leave their hearts in Mitzraim, despite the cruelties and indignities they experienced there?
Yosef (Joseph) a betrayed brother turned slave turned prime minister in Mitzraim (Egypt). Daniel a war captive turned wise man turned second to an emperor in Babylon. יהודה המכבי Yehudah ha-Makabi (Judas Maccabeus) a priest of Yisrael turned leader of a successful insurrection against the Seleucid empire’s campaign of forced conversion. Yeshua ha-Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ) in the Temple during the Festival of Dedication. These four accounts may seem to quite disjointed, but the conjunction of the Torah reading מקצ Miketz/Miqetz (Genesis 41:1-44:14, “from the end”) and the celebration of Chanukah/Hannukah helps underscore that ongoing lessons from both help us understand what Yeshua meant by “the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” (Matthew 24:13 NASB).