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“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution.” (Exodus 25:1–2 NASB)
Are we offering the Creator of Heaven and Earth — and by extension, those around us — the best of our time and resources? After Heaven gave the best to Earth to remove from memory sin, transgression and iniquity, in the birth, death and resurrection of the Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ).
The meaning behind the name for Torah reading תרומה Terumah is “a set aside” or “raised up” portion, aka a “heave offering.” It’s to set aside the best of best for God. Offerings and tithe are not the same thing. All of what was given for the Tabernacle were free-will offerings. The tithe was designated for the upkeep of the priestly families, not for the tabernacle itself.
In Hosea 14, God gives Hosea an example to the Northern Tribes of Israel of how to repent of their sins when they can no longer make offerings to Him.
“Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity And receive us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips.
“Assyria will not save us, We will not ride on horses; Nor will we say again, ‘Our god,’ To the work of our hands; For in You the orphan finds mercy.”
I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from them.
I will be like the dew to Israel; He will blossom like the lily, And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
His shoots will sprout, And his beauty will be like the olive tree And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.
Those who live in his shadow Will again raise grain, And they will blossom like the vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.” (Hosea 14:1–7 NASB)
One interpretation is that the prayers of the exiles are a substitute for the animal offerings they can no longer present to Him. We use our best words, our most eloquent words and offer them to God. Our sincere words that come from the heart become the offering.
What means something to God is not the object itself as God owns everything on the earth, whether it’s pretty or ugly, functional or nonfunctional. What God wants is the heart behind the gift. It’s the desire to give that God appreciates.
Does Heaven have the mercy seat covered?
The words used to described what the Tabernacle was to look like can’t show us perfectly what the Tabernacle looked like. That is why God repeatedly states, “as it was shown to you in the mountain, so they shall make it.”
Moses designed and built the Tabernacle based on what God showed him. The heavenly Tabernacle does not have physical items, such as wood, animal skins, etc., so the earthy tabernacle mimics what God showed Moses in heaven. The earthly Tabernacle was a replica of what Moses saw in heaven.
Even though God says He wants to dwell with His people, He can’t dwell in close proximity to mankind because His perfect purity would kill us if we came into direct contact with Him. Flesh and blood can’t inherit the Kingdom of God.
What’s inside the ark includes God’s testimony in the 10 Commandments. One’s testimony lasts as long as one is alive. Our testimony only lasts as long as we are alive, but since God is eternal, His testimony is also eternal.
The ark was made primarily to house God’s words. When God says He is dwelling among the people, what is actually dwelling with His people is His Word. God cannot be confined into a mere box, even a finely decorated one.
“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide.” (Exodus 25:17 NASB)
The word “mercy seat” is the second worst English translation of the Hebrew word כַּפֹּרֶת kapporet I have ever read. Kapporet comes from the word kippur, which means covering. What you should think when you read this word is the Day of Atonement. The Septuagint translates kapporet as “place of forgiveness.”
“And David arose and went with all the people who were with him to Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the Name, the very name of the LORD of hosts who is enthroned above the cherubim.” (2 Samuel 6:2 NASB)
Over time, the ark was no longer called the Ark of the Covenant but called Yehovah Tsab, which means “The Lord of Hosts.” When we see the phrase “The Lord of Hosts” what does it mean? We are told it means the Lord of the Armies. God is the one who defeats evil in the way the people can see and experience in history. The Jew experiences God, while the Greek thinks about God.
When God says the people of Israel not to make anything like what is on earth below or in heaven above to worship it, yet God told them to make these cherubim on top of the Ark, which eventually became an object to which the people of Israel worship. The Ark didn’t have any power in and of itself but the people gave it a name as though it was God.
“And the LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
“Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD; ‘I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious,’ declares the LORD; ‘I will not be angry forever.
‘Only acknowledge your iniquity, That you have transgressed against the LORD your God And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 3:11–13 NASB)
The vast majority of the Northern Tribes had already been exiled to the Caspian and Black Sea regions. Very few Israelites lived in Samaria at the time of Jeremiah’s prophesy. The Northern Tribes repented after they were exiled.
“‘Return, O faithless sons,’ declares the LORD; ‘For I am a master to you, And I will take you one from a city and two from a family, And I will bring you to Zion.’
“Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding. “It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land,” declares the LORD, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again. “At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the LORD,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the LORD; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart. “In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.” (Jeremiah 3:14–18 NASB)
This “box” that was so valuable will be ignored and forgotten. What will matter is the city of Jerusalem itself.
Supersize it!
When Solomon made the Temple, it was double the size of the Tabernacle. Herod later doubled the size of Solomon’s Temple. We expect that the Third Temple will be double the size of Herod’s Temple. It needs to grow because the number of people who will come there for worship will also grow.
We are shown in Revelation how much His footprint on the earth will grow.
“The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” (Revelation 21:15–22 NASB)
Summary: Tammy