TempleGlory

     "...on this rock I will build My church (ekklesia/kaleo + ek - an assembly of Israelites, an assembly of Christians gathered for worship, the whole body of Christians/to call aloud, to call by name, to call forth + out of, away from, separation from a point of origin of place or time), and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Jesus speaking in Mt. 16:18-19).

and

     "...you are God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire...Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (Paul writing in 1 Cor. 3:9-16, excerpt).

     The title of this week's assigned Sabbath reading portion is a double title: Va-yakheil and P'kudei. Va-yakheil means "And he assembled", and P'kudei means "Amounts of/Accounting of".  The first title is from Exodus 35:1, which says: "Then Moses gathered (qahal - gather together, assemble, to summon an assembly, to call, to call together) (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-congregation of the children of Israel together...". Both titles have to do with the building of the tabernacle in the wilderness and the building of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem. Both the tabernacle and the temple began as a vision of a pattern given from heaven and commanded by God to Moses (see Ex. 25:8-9, Heb. 8:5) and then in a later generation the plan given to King David by the Spirit of God (see 1 Chron. 28:11-13) whose son, Solomon, built the temple according to the vision of his father, David. We also see in the verse at the top of the page that the "church" (see ekklesia meaning above) is also built upon a revelation from heaven as Jesus declared, the revelation being Jesus as the Messiah/Christ. (see Mt. 16:15-17).

     The pattern of both the tabernacle and the temple and all of their furnishings were not random, but very specific in detail and the materials to be used. Pages and pages of scripture describe all of the exact details of the items that needed to be constructed to be placed in the tabernacle or temple. Each piece contained individual parts, and each piece was to be set in specific places in the structure. All parts, pieces, components of pieces, priestly garments, materials to be used and their placement were described in intimate detail down to the rings that held the curtains. All pieces and materials used to create the pieces were accounted for and assembled. Nothing was created by the ideas or choices of men. The tabernacle and later the temple were constructed to the exactitude of God.

     As the tabernacle was completed, Moses anointed the tabernacle with oil as the LORD commanded him to do: "And you shall take the anointing (masha/masah - anointing, anointed, consecrate by anointing/smear, anoint, spread a liquid, consecrate, to stroke or spread over, to measure: to spread out and to expand) (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-oil, and anoint (see masah above) (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-tabernacle-and-all-that-is-in-it; and you shall hallow it and all its (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-utensils/vessels (keli/kala - vessel, weapon, jewel, furniture, object/finish, end, accomplish, done, fulfil, determined, complete, bring to pass), and it shall be holy." (Ex. 40:9).

     As we can see, everything connected to the tabernacle was identified with the Messiah/Christ Jesus by the use of the written *aleph-tav (see *note below). Everything connected to the tabernacle was anointed with *aleph-tav-oil. The Hebrew words used for anointing/anoint (see above) are the root words for "Messiah" in Hebrew ("Christ" in Greek), which means "the anointed One".

     The Hebrew meanings shown above in the verse from Ex. 40:9 parallel the language used in Eph. 4:12-13 and 16 as being the spiritual identity of the ekklesia church determined by the will of God, as He appointed offices of spiritual leadership in the ekklesia church, which is the Body of Christ in heaven and on the earth, to include apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers: "...for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying/perfecting (katartismos/katartizo - complete furnishing/put in order, arrange, perfectly join together, complete thoroughly, fit, frame, make - see meaning of "utensils/vessels" above)) of the body of Christ, until we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect (telios/telos - brought to an end, finished, complete/end, that by which a thing is finished, definite point or goal - see meaning of "utensils/vessels" above) man, to the measure (metron - a vessel used to determine a quantity of dry or liquid, a determined extent - see meaning of "anointing" above) of the stature of the fullness (pleroo - to fulfill, to bring to pass, accomplish promises and prophecies, bring to realization, made complete in every particular, to carry through to the end, to fulfill or to cause God's will and promises, to receive fulfilment - see meaning of "utensils/vessels" above) of Christ....from whom the whole body, joined and knit together (see the meaning of katartizo above) by what every joint supplies...by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love"

     Moses, personally arranged or set in order (see katartizo above) the tabernacle and its furnishings according to the pattern that he was shown on the mountain. (Ex. 40:17-33). "So Moses finished the work."

     Moses had also assigned earlier, by specific command of the LORD, two master craftsmen, full of the Spirit of God, to supervise the construction of all of the items of the tabernacle. (Ex. 35:30-35). When Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, he also appointed a master craftsman, Huram, who was filled with wisdom, understanding and skill, sent to him by King Hiram of Tyre to supervise the making of all of the extensive bronze work items that would be used in the temple. (see 1 Kings 7:13-14). In the verses at the top of the page from 1 Cor. 3:9-16, Paul also called himself "a wise master builder" for the purpose of building the spiritual house of God and laying the foundation of Jesus Christ. Although the church leadership at the time did not recognize Paul's apostleship, God did, and Paul was miraculously called (see ekklesia above) in an encounter with Jesus Christ while he was on the road to Damascus. Paul proved his appointment to apostleship every day of his life and still does to this day. His words are still fruitful in the manifestation of the true ekklesia church. Apostles are still appointed to the ekklesia church for the same purpose since God has not changed His Word.

     When both the tabernacle and later the temple were completed, "Then the cloud covered (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of God filled (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-tabernacle." (Ex. 40:34-35).  After Solomon's temple was completed there was a similar occurrence: "And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-house of the LORD, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-house of the LORD." (1 Kings 8:10-11). The glory covered and filled the tabernacle and temple identified with the Messiah/Christ as the *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega (see *note below). Jesus prayed to the Father that He had given His believers His own glory so that they/we would be made perfect (teleioo/teleios - see meaning above and also the meaning of "utensils/vessels" above). (see Jn. 17:22-23). Doesn't this follow the pattern established from heaven for the tabernacle/temple?

     At the top of the page, the words written by Paul in 1 Cor. 3:16 state that, as a believer, each of us individually is the temple of God with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Cor. 6:19, Paul again wrote: "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" This spiritual temple created within each believer is based upon the foundation of Jesus Christ (see 1 Cor. 3 above). The apostle Peter wrote that each believer is also a part of a larger spiritual temple: "...you also as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." (1 Pet. 2:5). Jesus said that it is HE who builds His church in Matthew 16 (see the top of the page). Again the apostles wrote that this spiritual tabernacle/temple is directly related to the Messiah/Christ Jesus in agreement with the pattern given many generations earlier by God: the true ekklesia (see meaning above) church of both Jew and Gentile is built of the same heavenly pattern as the tabernacle, the pattern of which was given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai, and the temple of Solomon, built upon the plans given to his father, King David, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Both "houses" were directly identified with Messiah/Christ based upon the presence of the written Hebrew *aleph-tav throughout the detailed descriptions given regarding both of the Houses of God.

     The true ekklesia church that is being built into a spiritual House of God was established by God with a foundation identity based only on His Son, the Messiah/Christ Jesus, and led by His Holy Spirit. It is a heavenly pattern that, when completed, becomes a tabernacle/temple filled with the glory of God. The ekklesia church has no other foundation than Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our living faith (see Heb. 12:2). The ekklesia church is not randomness, confusion and division but the completion, perfection and fulfilment of Jesus Christ. (see Eph. 4:13). This is the divine building plan or the blueprint of the ekklesia church.

     The LORD's intricate and exacting heavenly pattern for His tabernacle/temple produces a spiritual, living, resurrection temple made up of Sovereignly purposed and called believers in Jesus Messiah/Christ, both Jew and Gentile. It is a living temple filled with the Holy Spirit and the glory of Jesus Christ and the Father, which glory has been given to us by Christ. It is the same glory that came with the presence of the LORD and filled the tabernacle and later the temple and before which no flesh could stand - not the priests and not even Moses, yet we stand in it and of it. It is the same glory that shone upon the shepherds of the field at Bethlehem when the Messiah/Christ Jesus arrived into the world as a baby. (see Lk. 2:8-14). It is the same glory brightness that destroys the Lord's enemies at His coming/appearing, even the lawless one who is called antichrist. (see 2 Thess. 2:8). This same glory has a voice that is continually declaring the message of Messiah/Christ's return to the world through our testimony: "Surely I am coming quickly (tachy - speedily, without delay, soon, suddenly)," as we respond saying, "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" (Rev. 22:20). There is a beautiful and powerful song that begins with the declaration: Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!”.  The pattern of the House of the LORD's glory and habitation is not and cannot be built by human hands or ideas. (Acts 17:24, 2 Cor. 5:1-2, Heb. 9:11).

     If you would like to learn more about being the building of the living temple of God, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father, You have given Your Son Jesus, and called me in Him, to be built into Your living temple, the place of Your holy and glorious habitation. Lord, let me abide in the true and only foundation of Jesus Christ. This living temple is a house of prayer for all nations, with every kindred, tribe, race, and tongue offering spiritual sacrifices to You, always offering prayers of intercession according to Your will accomplished on earth as it is in heaven. Help me, Lord, to be led by Your Holy Spirit, and not my own will, plans or ideas because I am not my own, but I have been bought with the price of the blood of Jesus Messiah/Christ, the Anointed One. Let that same anointing oil cover my life and purpose in Your holy living temple, the anointing oil of the Messiah/Christ that causes me to shine with Your glory and holiness. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! I ask these things in Jesus' name. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13. 

Rest

      From the beginning of the creation, the LORD has incorporated the idea of the Sabbath, a holy day of rest, a day dedicated to rest in and with the LORD our God: "Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished (kala - end, finish, accomplish, done, determined, be completed, bring to an end, fulfill, bring to pass, wholly reap; destroy, exterminate, cause to cease, put to an end, utterly destroy, expire, quite take away, perish, make clean riddance). And on the seventh (Hebrew root words seba/saba - seven as the sacred full one/to swear, charge, bind by an oath, to charge solemnly, seven sacrifices, seven witnesses, seven pledges) day God ended His work (meleka/malak - service, work prescribed to any one, workmanship/angel, messenger of God, ambassadors, representative, a prophet-priest-teacher, king) which He had done, and He rested (shabat - cease, rest, celebrate, put an end to, to cause to desist from exertion, be completed, sit down) on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed (barak - bless as an act of adoration, praised, kneel down, congratulate, make to kneel) the seventh (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) day and sanctified (qadas - sanctify, hallow, dedicated, holy, consecrate, purified, appointed, to be separate, to show oneself sacred-majestic-honored-holy) it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Gen. 2:1-3).

     God celebrated not only what He created, finished, accomplished, completed, fulfilled, wholly reaped and determined, as well as the appointed message contained within it, but He also destroyed the previous condition of the earth: deep, thick darkness, ruin and emptiness. I can imagine the LORD giving a shout of "Hallelujah!" over the completion of all things. The seventh day represented the greatness of rejoicing as if our New Year, Christmas and Thanksgiving were combined together! It is no wonder that the LORD told mankind to remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy. It must create sadness in the heart of God to see that mankind has lost the true and glorious meaning of the Sabbath.

     Those who are believers in Jesus, will recognize the Sabbath in the words of Jesus and in His accomplishment on our behalf. Jesus said that the Son of Man, referring to Himself, is Lord of the Sabbath (Mt. 12:1-2, 7-8). Jesus removed religious oppression from the Sabbath by proclaiming that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (Mk. 2:27-28). Jesus was also an ambassador carrying the message (see meleka/malak, above) of the Sabbath when He declared: "Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest...and you will find rest for your souls...for My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Mt. 11:28-30). Jesus walked in the message of the Sabbath when He miraculously healed many on the Sabbath to the condemnation of the religious rulers. He challenged them and asked them: "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" (Lk. 14:1-6). It is obvious from that conversation that the Jesus had the perfect understanding of the Sabbath. When Jesus gave up His spirit on the cross, He said in what we find in the meaning of the Sabbath: "It is finished." (Jn. 19:30). Jesus had completed His work to provide salvation and atonement for sin, and at the same time, He had, with His resurrection, destroyed the power of the deep darkness and ruin of death for those who would believe in Him. The Name given to Jesus by His heavenly Father incorporates the blessing of the Sabbath, as it causes all creation to kneel before that Name and take an oath (Isa. 45:22-25, Phil. 2:5-11).

     Our understanding of the Sabbath will help us with this week's Sabbath reading portion titled CHOL HA-MO'ED SUKKOT, meaning "The interim days of the Feast of Sukkot, or Tabernacles." This feast lasts seven days with the first and eighth day, called Simchat Torah, or "Rejoice in the Torah," being observed as a special Sabbath: "It is a holy convocation/sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it." (Lev. 23:33-36). So the Feast of Tabernacles is book-ended by days that are treated as Sabbaths, with no work. Within the days of the Feast occurs a regular Sabbath as well, so three Sabbaths are involved with this Feast.

     This Feast is also known as Sukkot, meaning "booth," because temporary shelters are constructed in which the people are to dwell or commune together for the seven days of the Feast. This Feast is also called the Feast of Ingathering in scripture, referring to the joyful harvest of the fruits of the trees and the vines. (Ex. 23:14-16). 

     We see the scripture reference from Exodus 23 noted above. This chapter from Exodus is also part of this Sabbath's reading portion. It shouldn't surprise us to find that the LORD also has a command regarding the Sabbath: "Six years you shall sow (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) your land and gather in its (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) produce/fruits, but the seventh year you shall let it lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove. Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest (shabat - see above), and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed (napas - refreshed, take a breath, to breathe, to breathe upon, refreshed as if by a current of air, cease from working, take a breath when wearied)." (Ex. 23:10-12). 

     We see the LORD making provision not only for a Sabbath Day, but a Sabbath Year, and both are meant to be a blessed benefit for man. As Jesus's Words are still teaching us: "Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man." It is a day or year for celebrating, and for giving profound thanks and love to our God who provides everything to us, even our rest and refreshing, our breath. Please let us give the LORD the highest glory, honor and praise that He deserves for providing His beloved creation with a Sabbath day or year, as we come to understand what He meant the Sabbath to be to us. It is not about observing a day on a calendar from which we have removed all divine love and provision, but about freedom from need. The LORD also said in Exodus 23: "So you shall serve (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the LORD your God, and He will bless (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) your bread and (vaw-aleph-tav: "the Lord, the First, Adonai nailed to the cross") your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land. I will fulfill (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the number of your days..." (v. 25-26).

     We do not worship the Sabbath, but we worship the LORD who provided the Sabbath for us out of joy, love and care.

     The Tabernacle or Booth which is associated with this Feast, reminds us of the shelters that the LORD provided for His people in the open wilderness when He brought them out of Egypt. It is today constructed with an open roof covered only with leafy tree branches (see Isa. 11:1-10, Jer. 23:4-6, Zech. 6:11-13), and as a three-sided shelter with the fourth side left open as a welcoming and easy door (Jn. 10:7-10) of entry. When I consider the structure of the "booth" or tabernacle used to observe this feast, the open ceiling, covered only by living greens, allows for the connection between heaven and earth. The open fourth side of the booth, not only welcomes people into the booth, but to me it represents the door to enter into the presence of and communion with God, as the LORD says, "Enter into My rest." (see Heb. 4:9-10, Mt. 25:21). To me, the booth built to observe the Feast of Tabernacles is made of living matter because the true Tabernacle is the Prince/Originator of life. (see Acts 3:14-16, Jn. 15:4-8).

     From another reading portion of this CHOL HA-MO'ED SUKKOT Sabbath, we read that the temple of God became the place where forgiveness dwelt for God's people, just as the Tabernacle in the wilderness was the place for the atonement for sins. As Solomon prayed to the LORD in order to dedicate the newly-built temple in Jerusalem, he specifically prayed that the temple would serve as a place for the forgiveness of God for those who came to Him with a repentant heart: "And may You hear the supplication of Your servant (King Solomon) and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive....When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is; whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people, Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart, and spreads out his hands toward this temple: then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act...that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers." (1 Kings 8:30-40, excerpt).

     King Solomon concluded, saying: "Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest (menuha - comfortable, ease, quiet, resting place, marital abode) to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses." (1 Kings 8:56).

     The temple or tabernacle represents more than just a physical building, however. Warfare would see the destruction of the temple that Solomon built and dedicated, because Israel sinned against the LORD by worshipping other gods, terrible gods. The temple that was later built and then enlarged and beautified by Herod would also fall to the destruction of the Roman army, as Jesus warned. It would be part of the destruction that would come because Jerusalem had rejected the (Atonement) covering in the Person of the Messiah/Christ. (see Mt. 23:37-39, Mt. 24:1-2). The physical building is a pattern or shadow of the reality of the glorious tabernacle that God will bring down from heaven to the earth: "And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away (exaleipho - anoint or wash, besmear or cover to whitewash, blot out, pardon sin) every tear from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.' Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' And He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.' And He said to me, 'It is done! (ginomai - made, finished, come into existence, be fulfilled, be ended, performed. see also kala and shabat, above). I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be His God and he shall be My son." (Rev. 21:3-7).

     The fulfilment of the meaning of mo'ed "tabernacle" is shown to us above. Our tabernacle is not limited in meaning to a physical building, but it is the presence of God with mankind and the total Sabbath resting place that exists for us with Him.

     If you would like to learn more about the resting place in God, you can join me in my prayer: "LORD of the Sabbath and my Tabernacle, You have created a resting place for me where all of Your work regarding me has been completed. At this time of year, especially, when the Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated, teach me about the fulfilment of this feast in the earth. I do not need to wait for a physical building to be built in order to dwell in the house of the LORD forever. You are my Tabernacle. Your Son returned to You, Father, to prepare this living place for me in His Father's house, so that I may be with Jesus where He, Lord of the Sabbath, is. You have filled Your Feast with three Sabbaths for a reason. Fill me with Your Spirit so that I may also enter into this special rest. I ask this in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

Clouds&Glory

      This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled P'kudei, meaning "Amounts of or Accounting of". The reading portion begins in Ex. 39, where we read: "Thus all the work (aboda/abad - work, service, serve, bondservant/serve, servant, work, worshippers, serve as a subject, work for another, make oneself a servant) of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished. And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD had commanded (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Moses; so they did." (Ex. 39:32).

     All of the items that had been crafted with which to assemble and furnish the tabernacle were brought to Moses: "Then Moses looked over (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) all the work, and indeed they had done it; as the LORD had commanded, just so they had done it. And Moses blessed them." (Ex. 39:43).

     When considering the title of this Sabbath portion, what does the LORD want us to take an accounting of? As we see in the first verse above, the aboda/abad work of the tabernacle was accomplished by servants, even bondservants to God, according to the Hebrew meaning of the word. The offerings of required materials for the building of the tabernacle, as we read two weeks ago, were free will offerings from the heart of all of those who felt the desire to give. The fashioning of the materials into the actual furnishings and walls and coverings of the tabernacle was done as a bond service before the LORD which is a form of worship according to the Hebrew meaning of the word. Moses is described in several verses as being a servant ('ebed - servant, bondman, bondage, slave, worshipper) of God (Deut. 34:5, Num. 12:7-8, Josh. 1:1-2). 

     Moses' service, or making himself a bond servant of God, had farther reaching impact as well: "And Moses was faithful in all His (God's) house as a servant (therapon - a menial attendant, servant), for a testimony of these things which would be spoken afterward..." (Heb. 3:5). The purpose of Moses' bond service or worship to God was not just in accomplishing the vision of God for His tabernacle in the wilderness. Moses' bond service also had a prophetic importance pointing to things that would be revealed in the future, according to Heb. 3:5, above. 

     The apostle Paul also referred to his position as a bondservant or slave in service to God and Christ. However, not only did he commit himself as a bond servant, but Paul's calling and purpose were connected to his bond service (see Rom. 1:1-4, Titus 1:1-3). Paul begged all of us as believers in Christ to offer ourselves in the same manner as living sacrifices to God "which is your reasonable service/spiritual worship." (Rom. 12:1). Paul then warns us not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think (v. 3). Our elevation doesn't come from how high our own thoughts are about ourselves, but rather it comes from how low we can bow as bond servants before the LORD. To truly walk in the purpose, gifting and calling of God, it requires us to make ourselves bond servants to Him (1 Cor. 7:22, 1 Pet. 2:15-16). Slavery in bitter service to another person has an ugly meaning to us and we resist it and reject it, but slavery to God elevates us, completes us, sets us free and prophetically impacts future events, as Moses' bond service to God did. We become a living prophecy.

     Keeping the above information in mind, in Ex. 40, also part of this week's Sabbath reading, the LORD gives Moses this command: "On the first day of the first month you shall set up the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) tabernacle of the tent of meeting....And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up. So Moses raised up (qum - rise up, arise, raise, establish, to stand, to be fulfilled, cause to arise) the tabernacle..."" (v. 1-2, 17-18). The first month of the year is also the month of Passover.

     The surprising fact in this 40th chapter of Exodus is that Moses assembled and activated the tabernacle himself. All of the verses use "he" as indicating Moses as the one who set up the tabernacle. For example: "He put the lampstand in the tabernacle of meeting, across from the table,...and he lit the lamps before the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses. He put the gold altar in the tabernacle of meeting in front of the veil; and he burned incense on it, as the LORD had commanded Moses." (Ex. 40:24-27). As far as we can tell from the language used here, Moses did all that was required to place and activate the elements that had been fashioned for the tabernacle. Moses was even to bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tabernacle, and wash and dress them in their priestly garments himself. (v. 12-15). Generations later, during the same first month, at the time of Passover, Jesus would wash the feet of His disciples and dry them with the towel that He had wrapped around His waist. (Jn. 13:1-9).

      Why was it necessary for Moses to assemble the tabernacle himself, rather than the priests or the children of Israel? The verse from Hebrews above tells us that Moses, as the bond servant of the LORD, did what he did in service as a prophetic action of what was to come later. Moses was a prophet, and his obedient actions were prophetic. In the same manner as the tabernacle was raised up (qum - see above), Jesus would say many generations later around the time of the Passover, that the temple (meaning His body) if destroyed would be raised up in three days. In this case referring to His future death and resurrection (Jn. 2:18-22).

     So the prophetic bond servant of God, Moses (see Deut. 34:10-12, Acts 3:22-23), with every action that he personally took concerning the establishment of the tabernacle, was also prophesying future events. This was his office or calling as a prophet.

     The tabernacle was then completed: "And he (Moses) raised up (qum - see above) the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) court (haser/hasar - enclosure, court/to sound or blow a trumpet, to sound with clarions) all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) screen of the court gate. So Moses finished (&aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the work." (Ex. 40:33).

     When the bond servant, Moses, finished the work of assembling the tabernacle: "Then the cloud (anan - cloud-mass of theophanic cloud, a cloud as covering or veiling over the heaven, to veil over, a large army, a barrier, a cloud of incense, to make appear, to observe times) covered the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) tent (ohel/ahal - tabernacle, dwelling/to be clear, shine, bright) of meeting, and the glory (kabod/kabad - glory, honor, abundance, riches, splendor, reverence/heaviness, grievous, glorious) of the LORD filled the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) tabernacle...For the cloud of the LORD was above the tabernacle by day, and the fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all of their journeys (massa/nasa - pulling up stakes, setting out, point of departure, a station on a journey/set forward, depart, remove a camp, to take away, cause to go, to cut out stones from a quarry)." (ex. 40:34-35, 38).

     In another reading portion from this Sabbath, we read again of how the temple of the LORD was filled with His cloud and His glory upon its completion: "And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the house (bayit/bana - house, home, temple, habitation, family, families, a house as containing a family of descendants, descendants as an organized body/build, builder, establish, repair, built up of children even of the barren wife, obtain children) of the LORD, so that the priests could not continue ministering (sarat - serve, servant, minister to, attend as a menial or worshipper, wait on) because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the house of the LORD. Then Solomon spoke: 'The LORD said He would dwell in the dark cloud. I have surely built You an exalted house, and a place for You to dwell in forever." (1 Kings 8:10-13).

     As the dwelling place of God went from being a tabernacle to a temple, we can see above from the word bayit/bana meaning temple, the house of the LORD now includes the dwelling place of His family, His children, His descendants. Now, the understanding goes from "the children of Israel" to "the sons (and daughters)" of God through the Messiah/Christ: "But as many as received Him (Jesus), to them He gave the right/power/authority to become sons (children) of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (Jn. 1:12-13, see also Rom. 8:14-17, Gal. 4:4-7).

     However, both the tabernacle completed by Moses and the temple completed under King Solomon's (selomo/salom/salam - David's son [the King of] Peace/peace, completeness, safety, prosperity, health/recompense, reward, good, restitution, finished) reign, became filled with the cloud and the glory of God, as we see above.

     The manifestation of the cloud and the glory connected to the completion of both of these dwellings of the LORD also has prophetic significance as we also discovered concerning Moses' completion of the work on the tabernacle. We have these scriptures to consider. Jesus said speaking of His return: "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn (see Zech. 12:10-11), and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet (see the meaning of "court"/haser/hasar, above), and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Mt. 24:30-31, see also Mk. 13:24-27, Rev. 1:5-7, 1 Thess. 4:16-17). The prophet Daniel also prophesied: "I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancients of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed." (Dan. 7:13-14).

     As we also saw above from Ex. 40, the cloud and the glory of the tabernacle were connected to the "journeys" (see massa/nasa above) or departures of the Israelites. The cloud and glory that Jesus spoke about above, and as Paul wrote of in the New Testament, are also connected to a departure point or removal within our spiritual journey. This removal or pulling up tent stakes in our journey is referred to as "the Rapture", which comes from a Latin word meaning "a carrying off, a snatching away". In the Greek of the New Testament the word used is harpazo which means "caught up, caught away, snatch out or away". This is when the dead in Christ and those still living who believe in Him are changed in substance and caught up to Christ in the clouds. We depart to be with Him forever. It is a defining moment in our journey in Christ.

     The work of Moses in Ex. 40 as the bond servant and prophet of God was not confined to the completion of a physical tabernacle but was also a prophecy of the living tabernacle associated with the Messiah/Christ and the point of departure in the spiritual journey of God's people to come.

     If you would like to know more about the meaning of this prophetic work of God's bond servant Moses, you can pray with me: "Father in heaven, You appointed a great work for Moses to accomplish, not only on behalf of the children of Israel, but on behalf of all of Your future sons and daughters through Jesus Christ. I can see Jesus in the cloud and glory that covered and entered Your tabernacle and, later, Your temple. Who could have imagined all of the things that You have planned for us on our spiritual journey with You?! You have hidden those plans in Your Word for us to search out and be enriched by. Lord, lead me in the way of being Your bond servant so that I may accomplish through my life all of the things that You have given me to do and become. Teach me Your Word and fill me with Your Spirit to change me and prepare me for the wonders ahead. I ask these things in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.

TabernaclePilgrimage

      This Sabbath's reading portion is titled CHOL HA-MO'ED SUKKOT, which means "the interim days of the Feast of Tabernacles". This Sabbath falls in the middle of that seven-day feast. The Feast of Tabernacles is a seven-day fall feast commanded by the LORD to His people. It is one of three feasts out of the seven in which the LORD requires that His people physically gather in Jerusalem to come before Him: "Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year: You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread...and the Feast of Harvest (also known as the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost), the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering (also known as Tabernacles) at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field. Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord (adon - Lord, master, owner, king, ruler, husband) God." (Ex. 23:14-17). The other feasts may be observed locally, but these three feasts, including Tabernacles, must be observed before the Lord God, which would be at His tabernacle/temple, and later in history that place would be in Jerusalem (1 Kings 8:1-6).

     In one of this Sabbath's reading portions, the LORD is withdrawing from the Israelites because of their continuing sinful and rebellious attitude towards Him: "And I will send My Angel before you...for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people." (Ex. 33:2-3). However, Moses could not journey on until he received the promise from God that He would indeed continue to be with them in their midst. The presence and identity of the LORD Himself among His people is what separates His people from the other peoples. Moses said: "Now therefore I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) way (derek/darak - way towards, journey, manner, road trodden, direction, a going hence, the way which leads to that place, mode, course/tread, walk, lead forth, guide, bend a bow, archer), that I may know You and that I may find grace (hen/hanan/hana - grace, favor, acceptance, elegance, kindness/mercy, show favor, pity, to bend or stoop in kindness/dwell, encamp, rested, bow down, incline) in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people. And He (the LORD) said, My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. Then he (Moses) said to Him, 'If Your Presence (panim/pana - face, presence, before and behind, countenance, person/turn, look, prepare, regard, to face, appear) does not go with us, do not bring us up (ala - raised, arose, exalted, ascend, go up, be brought up, be carried away, led up, be offered) from here. For how will it be known that Your people have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth. So the LORD said to Moses, I will also do this (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) thing (dabar - word, thing, matter, speak, utter) that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name." (Ex. 33:13-17).

     It was considered absolutely essential to Moses that God dwell, be present among, and travel with His people. This is "Tabernacle". The Hebrew word and roots for tabernacle is miskan/sakan/sakab, meaning "dwelling, place, tabernacle, residence, temple, habitation, tent/dwell abide, inhabit, remain, continue, dwellers, cause to remain, rest/lie down, sleep, rest, lodge, take rest."

     The prophet, Ezekiel, also wrote how the presence of the LORD, which is the meaning of tabernacle, among His people marks them as different from all other people: "My servant David (referring to the immortal Messiah/Christ, the descendant of David) shall be their prince forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. The nations also will know the I, the LORD, sanctify (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore." (Ezek. 37:26-28).

     In another reading portion for this Sabbath, King Solomon wrote of the importance of the intimate relationship of grace present when dwelling with God in His tabernacle, especially as the calamity and terror of the last days approach: "Remember now your (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult (ra - evil, wickedness, hurt, trouble, affliction, adversity, grievous, calamity, harm, distress, misery) days come...Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well...Let us hear the conclusion of the matter: Fear (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil." (Eccl. 12:1, 6, 13-14).

     We see an example of the calamity that comes upon God's people when they forsake the blessing of being in an intimate tabernacle presence with their God: "For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the LORD our God; they have forsaken Him, have turned their faces away from the dwelling place (miskan - see above: tabernacle) of the LORD, and turned their backs on Him....Therefore the wrath of the LORD fell upon Jerusalem, and He has given them up to trouble (za'ava - a horror, trembling, object of terror or trembling), to desolation, and to jeering, as you see with your eyes. (2 Chron. 29:6, 8).

     One of the Psalms expresses a deep longing for the tabernacle presence of the LORD. The Psalmist wrote: "(David said) I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place (miskan - see above: tabernacle) for the Mighty One of Jacob....Let us go into His tabernacle (miskan - see above: tabernacle); let us worship at His footstool. Arise O LORD, to Your resting place. You and the ark of Your strength. Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let Your saints shout for joy." (Ps. 132:4-5, 7-9).

     In this place of tabernacle, there is a change in circumstance, a transformation as the LORD answered the desire expressed by the above psalmist: "This (Zion) is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will clothe her priests with salvation. and her saints shall shout for joy." (Ps. 132:13-16). The place of the LORD's tabernacle dwelling with men has become Zion, and the great blessings of the LORD are found there.

     Psalm 84 cries out to be in the LORD's tabernacle, where God dwells with man: "How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God...Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they will still be praising You. Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage (mesilla/salal - ways, path, raised way, staircase, ladder, course of life/lift up, cast up, exalt, raise up, make a level way). As they pass through the Valley (emeq/amaq - valley, lowland, open land suited for growing corn or for a battlefield/deep, depth, deep as being unsearchable) of Baca (weeping, lamentation, bewail, mourn, shed tears, weep bitterly), they make it a spring (mayan/ayin - fountain, spring, well, a place irrigated with fountains/eye, sight, fountain, well, presence, face, pleased); The rain (more - early rain, teacher, archer) also covers (ata - cover, enwrap, envelop oneself, clad, array, clothe) it with pools (beraka - blessing, prosperity, praise of God, a gift, benediction, treaty of peace, invocation of good). They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion. O LORD of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear O God of Jacob!...For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of My God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!"

     Not only does the tabernacle of God cause a transformation, but the pilgrimage in the Spirit that a person makes to the tabernacle dwelling place of God creates a transformation along the way as we saw in the verses above from Ps. 84. We create spiritual highways that change low places of mourning and bitter weeping into pools of praises, blessing, peace and benedictions, or good words. Sometimes we are so overset by the troubling events of the depths that we see now, that we neglect our upward spiritual pilgrimage that transforms the "now" into the dwelling place or tabernacle of God with man, the place of glory and grace.

     There used to be, and still are, pilgrimages from all over Israel and even from the nations of the world to Jerusalem, to the mountain where the temple of the LORD stood. The people would walk up many inclines and steps as they ascended to the House of God. Many believe that the prophets of God have written about another physical temple/tabernacle that will be built in these end times before the return of Jesus Messiah/Christ. These pilgrimages in the natural were shadows of the spiritual pilgrimages we are called to in order to come to that place where God dwells with and in man.

     Moses sought this place of oneness with God (Ex. 33:18-23). Abraham sought a city whose Maker and Builder was God and not man (Heb. 11:8-10). Both Paul and Peter wrote of the House or dwelling place of God, being built not with natural bricks or stone, but of living stones, which are the believers in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith (Eph. 2:19-22, 1 Pet. 2:4-5). Peter also wrote that by believing in the promises of God, we make a pilgrimage in faith looking forward, as Abraham did, to those new things to come, even a new creation (2 Pet. 3:12-13, see also Isa. 66:22-23). This tabernacle pilgrimage brings forth the transformation from the realm of the prophetic into manifestation (Heb. 10:35-39, and Heb. 11:1-3).

     This is the marvel that awaits us at the end of our spiritual pilgrimage to the tabernacle of God: "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.' Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new..." (Rev. 21:1-5).

     This is a similar transformation as the one we read in Ps. 84, above. regarding the Valley of Baca. If we want to see the tears and mourning of these times transformed into righteousness and salvation, let us begin our prophetic pilgrimage to the LORD's tabernacle.

     Jesus left us the most powerful promise concerning His Father's tabernacle and its feast: "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house (oikia/oikos - house, dwelling, abode/house of God, tabernacle) are many mansions (mone/meno - abode, dwelling, indwelling of the Holy Spirit in believers/kept continually, not to perish, endure, remain, lasting); if it were not so, I would have told you. And if I go and prepare (hetoimazo - make ready, prepare, provide, prepare a feast, a supper, a lodging; to receive on coming, things made ready in advance) a place for you, I will come again and receive (paralambano/lambano - to take with one's self, to join with one's self, receive near/take with the hand, take up a thing to be carried, to take in order to carry away, to collect, to gather) you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way (hodos - a travelled way, road, a traveler's way or journey [see "pilgrimage" above], progress, a manner of thinking, feeling or deciding) you know." (Jn. 14:1-4).  

     As Jesus described His Father's tabernacle and the place already prepared within it for us, He also connected this to His return. Our spiritual pilgrimage or "way" to God's tabernacle also anticipates not only Christ's return but our being received or carried away to Him - known as the Rapture (see 1 Thess. 4:16-18). Jesus expected His disciples to make the spiritual pilgrimage to the tabernacle of God, where Christ has prepared to be joined to us, and to return. The promises connected to the Feast of Tabernacles/Ingathering are very deep, eternal, and creation changing.

     If you would like to know more about our tabernacle pilgrimage, you can pray with me: "Father, You have called me to Your tabernacle, made me a living stone in Your tabernacle, and Your Son, Jesus, has also promised me a place in Your tabernacle forever. As I make my spiritual pilgrimage to this destination, I am praying and believing that transformation will follow my steps, that deep places of suffering and tears will be transformed into elevated places of Your abounding blessings. As my spiritual pilgrimage to Your tabernacle progresses, let old things pass away, and let Your new things be manifested. Father, let the gathering in, called the Feast of Tabernacles, of Your salvation harvest be filled and completed with both Jew and Gentile from out of all nations, and let Christ's return be hastened. These promises associated with this feast are almost too awesome to comprehend but help me to learn and walk in them by Your Holy Spirit and Your living Word. I ask for and believe these things by faith in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

      *NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as Α Ω , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.

     

Neglected

      This is Part 2 of a double Sabbath reading, Va-yakheil and P'kudei, meaning "and he assembled" and "accounting of" that began last week. The Part 1 blog entry is titled "Precious" (click here) and dealt with how Moses' assembly of the items of the tabernacle from the innermost chamber (God's beginning work in our hearts) to the outermost curtains reflected how God's work of salvation through Jesus manifests in us. The LORD also had Moses account for every free will offering that contributed to the construction of the tabernacle, the process of the creation of every piece of the tabernacle, and at the end of the process, Moses also had to examine and account for the finished items before they were installed in the tabernacle according to the pattern that God had given him.

     This week's continuing study will begin in 1 Kings Chapters 7 through 9 with the assembling of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem generations later: "And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth (represented in the Hebrew letter daleth meaning the earth, material creation, a door, a path, way of life, movement into or out of) year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv (month of April-May, month of flowers,  "brightness", splendor, prominent), which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD." (1 Kings 6:1). It took Solomon seven (represented in the Hebrew letter zayin meaning completion, spiritual perfection, to cut, to pierce) years to complete the building of the temple "in all its details and according to all its plans" in the eleventh (represented by the Hebrew letters yod + aleph meaning imperfection, disorder, incompleteness, man's works as opposed to God's works) year of his reign as king (v. 37-38). 

     If we consider the number meanings above, we might be able to see a second or hidden message: The beginning of the building of the temple represented a work that would affect all of creation. the time period of completion of this work represented spiritual perfection and completion accomplished through Christ's finished work of salvation (the use of the word "pierced"). However, we see a problem in the meaning of the eleventh year, and I think that problem lies with Solomon at this point of his life, because it marks a moment in his reign. The LORD doesn't say this directly, but He does have a Word of warning for Solomon: "I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the (Hebrew written letters aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega in Greek, representing Jesus Christ : see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13) throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father...But if you or your sons at all turn away from following Me...but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight..." (1 Kings 9:4-7). To me, these words of solemn warning are directed to Solomon because the LORD knew that there was a problem in Solomon's heart, even if it was not yet apparent to others. The LORD knows the heart (Jer. 17:9-10, Ps. 139:23-24, Prov. 15:11,1 Sam. 16:7). Jesus knew what was in the hearts of those with whom He dealt as well (Jn. 2:23-25).

      King David, Solomon's father also said to Solomon before he died: "As for you, my son Solomon, know the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever. Consider now (ra'a - see, perceive, have vision, discern, look intently at, look at the face, visions), for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary (miqdas/qadas - sacred place, holy place, holy thing/consecrate, sanctify, be separate, separate oneself, set apart as sacred, clean); be strong and do it." (1 Chron. 28:9-10). David was telling Solomon that he must know aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega God not from a distance but by the experience of spiritual vision and perception, by "seeing" Him face to face, in order to build His house of salvation. 

     We know that Solomon's heart did become divided as he worshipped the foreign gods of his wives (1 Kings 11:1-8). Solomon's son, Rehoboam, did indeed lose the throne over Israel and Israel became a divided nation under two separate kings (1 Kings 11:11-13,1 Kings 12:1-19), only to be restored in the future as the prophet Ezekiel described the kingdom of the Messiah, the descendant of David (Jesus Christ the aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega), who would come, and His tabernacle established in the midst of them (Ezek. 37:24-28). We also know that the temple that Solomon built would later be ransacked and ruined by a foreign invader, and the people taken into captivity. The LORD indeed knows the heart.

     When Solomon completed the temple after seven years, he made an accounting of all of the materials that had been used to build and furnish the temple, and he assembled the furnishings after the same pattern as Moses did with the tabernacle - from the innermost chamber (1 Kings 8:6), outwards (see previous post "Precious" for details). Then the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD so that the priests could not continue ministering (1 Kings 8:10-11). This also occurred when Moses finished the tabernacle in the wilderness (Ex. 40:34-35).

     The innermost chamber of the tabernacle/temple, which was established first in the pattern of assembly, contains both the Ark containing the written Word of God, and the Mercy Seat of the Atoning Blood, reflects the salvation that begins in our hearts and continues outwardly to transform and manifest in our lives. We are the temple of the Spirit of God, and of His glory (1 Cor. 3:16-17).

     From another of this week's Sabbath reading portions, we will see that another King, Joash or Jehoash, restored the worship of God to the southern Kingdom of Judah: "...Jehoash (meaning "given by the LORD"; fire, flames, altar fire, supernatural fire, internal ardor of the mind, splendor, brightness) became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah (sebi/saba - glory, glorious, beauty, honor, pleasant/go forth to battle) of Beersheba (meaning "well of the 7-fold oath"). Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the LORD all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him." (2 Kings 12:1-2). The glorious temple of God that Solomon had built generations earlier had fallen into neglect and disrepair. It was in Jehoash's heart to repair the temple. He told the priests: "All the money of the dedicated gifts that are brought into the house of the LORD - each man's census money (the half shekel of redemption from each person for the upkeep of the tabernacle under Moses' law), each man's assessment money - and all the money that a man purposes in his heart to bring into the house of the LORD, let the priests take it themselves, each from his constituency; and let them repair  (hazaq - strengthen, prevail, become strong, be resolute, be secure, repair, keep hold of, sustain, fortify, mend, behave valiantly, to bind strongly, gird loins) the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) damages/breaches (bedeq/badaq - fissure, rent, breach, leak, gap/mend, repair) of the temple, wherever any dilapidation/breaches (see bedeq/badak above) is found." (v. 4-5). The prophet Isaiah later wrote a similar Word of the LORD, incorporating the Hebrew meanings that we see used here: "Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.'...Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday...You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In." (Isa. 58:8-12, excerpt). This promise of the LORD was given to those who "build" into others' lives, to those who "repair" the broken hearts, because of their delight and pleasure in the LORD, in His ways and Word, thereby sharing in His salvation character as well.

     So what happened to the repairs to the temple that King Jehoash commanded be made by the priests? Absolutely nothing! The aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega breaches of the temple did not touch the hearts of the priests. The neglected temple continued to lay in disrepair for another twenty-three years after the King's command until the King dealt with it again: "Why have you not repaired the damages on the temple?..." (2 Kings 12:6-7). The King forbad them from receiving any more money from their constituency, but to use the money they had been receiving all of those twenty-plus years for the purpose of upkeeping and repairing the temple. The priests refused to make repairs without being able to continue receiving the money from the people (v. 8). Money seems to be a very good test to determine where our hearts are, or are not, in the LORD! The High Priest, Jehoiada, who had been the one to instruct the King in the LORD, came up with another idea of how to receive the funds from the people, and the repairs were made (v. 9-12).

     From these Sabbath readings, I think that the care and attention to the house of the LORD, or its shameful neglect, is not about a physical building, but it is about what the building represents: the dwelling place of God among His people. Again, God's dwelling place, His throne, is not in the inner chamber of a physical building, but in what the inner chamber, the Holy of Holies or the Most Holy Place, represents - a person's heart. This physical tabernacle or temple represents God's promise to man of His salvation through His Son, Jesus, so that we may dwell with the LORD, and He with us, forever: "And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God." (Rev. 21:3, see also Ezek. 37:27, Jn. 14:1-4, 6).

     In this double Sabbath reading for these last two weeks, we have seen the important roles of kings and priests in the establishing and upkeeping of the tabernacle or temple of the LORD according to the pattern of His precise instructions. Moses, who was appointed to build the tabernacle, was also considered a prince, as well as a prophet (Heb. 11:24-28, Acts 7:35-36). We also, as believers in Christ, have been made to be kings and priests before God through His Son (Rev. 1:5-6, Rev. 5:9-10, 1 Pet. 2:5, 9, Ex. 19:6).  We may sometimes acknowledge this exalted position with a kind of spiritual pride, but, as we see in this Sabbath double reading portion, the position of king and priest also carries a responsibility to ra'a consider the LORD (see above) and obey His voice, as David told his son, Solomon, to do. Not only are we to be a living part of the assembly of (Va-yakheil) His House of Salvation, but the LORD makes an accounting of (P'kudei) every detail in His House. As the LORD said above in the Hebrew meaning of the words, the establishing of His House according to the pattern which He has ordained has an impact on all of the material creation. Paul also wrote: "For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God...the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." (Rom. 8:19, 21).

     We saw how the House of Salvation was neglected and fell into disrepair, and how the priests were slow and uncooperative to obey the king's command to repair it. The author of the Book of Hebrews wrote: "Therefore we must give heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through the angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience  received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect (ameleo - neglect, make light of, have no regard for, don't care about) so great a salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?" (Heb. 2:1-4). If we have grown neglectful towards our salvation, and the transformation it creates in us from our innermost being, outward, then we need to make a return visit to the Most Holy Place of our spiritual tabernacle, which is our hearts, to reconnect with the life-giving wells of salvation (Isa. 12:2-3, Jn. 4:10-15). Revival starts within our innermost being, and then flows outward: from out of our bellies "shall flow rivers of living water." (Jn. 7:38).

     If you would like to know more about building and repairing the spiritual House of the LORD, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father, through the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus, You have made a way for me to enter into the Most Holy Place of Your tabernacle, where first I received my salvation, and where You established Your tabernacle in my heart. Help me, Lord, by Your Holy Spirit and Your Word in me to be conformed to Your image and character. Help me to be A Repairer of the Breach, and A Restorer of Streets to Dwell In. As Your spiritual tabernacle in and with me is established and also repaired from my neglect, let the material creation also walk in the glorious liberty of the children of God. I ask this in the name of Jesus. AMEN!"

     

     

TheSublime

This Sabbath's reading portion is called CHOL HA MO'ED SUKKOT. In English this title would translate as "the interim days of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot)". The Sabbath reading portion comes during the middle of the feast, which lasts seven days, plus an eighth day called Simchat Torah, which is a celebration of the Torah, the Word of God. Briefly described, the Feast of Tabernacles is observed by the Jewish people by building a small shelter, called a sukkah, traditionally made from tree branches, in which they take their meals. It is a joyful feast celebrating the abundance provided by God, especially when His people dwelt in tents in the wilderness after their exit from Egypt. The word "tabernacles", refers to a dwelling, shelter or tent. This feast also celebrates the fall harvest of dates, pomegranates and grapes for wine. The Feast of Tabernacles, though, has great spiritual importance apart from this. Zechariah wrote: "And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left by the LORD (meaning the survivors of the LORD's plague brought against those who fought Jerusalem (see Zech 14:12-13) of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles." (Zech. 14:16). Another interesting thing happens in this prophecy of Zechariah's. A transformation has taken place in which even the most commonplace things will have become "HOLINESS TO THE LORD" (see v. 20-21). There is a change that takes place. In the Book of Revelation, as God's heavenly tabernacle, the New Jerusalem, descends from heaven to the earth, "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband", all things have been made new, including the heavens and earth, because the former things have passed away. (Rev. 21:1-5). As we saw in the prophet Zechariah, a complete transformation has been accomplished. Here the change is again connected to "the King": "...the Alpha and the Omega (the Aleph-Tav in Hebrew) the Beginning and the End". This King is the Son of David, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, as He identified Himself in Revelation (see Rev. 1:8, 21:6, 22:13). This kind of miraculous transformation mentioned in these verses from Revelation and Zechariah and connected to "Tabernacles" is what we will be looking at in this Sabbath reading. From the first portion of this Sabbath's reading, we discover that the Feast of Tabernacles is first called "the Feast of Ingathering (asip/asap - harvest [of fruit]/together, assemble, gather, collect, take [away, into, up], remove, fetch) at the end of the year (sana - year, change of season, whole age, second time, alter, to be changed, transmute, to be other, transfer to another place, return, repeat), when you have gathered in the fruit of your (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega in Greek: title of Jesus Christ in Rev. 1:8, 21:6, 22:13)) labors from the field (sage - country, soil, meadow, land, spread out, empire of a king)." (Ex. 23:16). This is one of the three feasts at which all of the men of Israel must gather together before the LORD every year (v. 14, 17). Looking at the Hebrew words used in the verse above regarding the Feast of Ingathering (Tabernacles), we can see a direct relationship with the end of the age harvest of souls, or fruit, from our aleph-tav labor for the kingdom of the King, the return or second time of Christ, and the "change", or transmutation, and "taking away" that will accompany it. The apostle Paul wrote about this change, in connection to what has been called the Rapture, from the Latin word rapturo/rapio, which means "snatch, seize, caught up, being carried away" to describe the removal of God's people in Christ from earth to heaven: "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." (1 Thess. 4:16-17). These verses mention a trumpet (of God). Trumpets, or shofars, were used during the Feast of Ingathering/Tabernacles and other feasts to call the people of Israel to assemble together. For the Feast of Ingathering/Tabernacles, the priest would blow the shofar with all his might from a mountain top for the seven-eight days of the feast. Paul was not finished writing about this "catching away" event, also called harpazo in Greek, that he spoke of in Thessalonians. He also wrote: "...flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God...Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality...then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Cor. 15:50-54). Not only are we "caught up" to the Lord, but we must be changed in order for this to happen. the commonplace must become "HOLINESS TO THE LORD", as Zechariah wrote in connection to the Feast of Ingathering/Tabernacles. I call this change as going from the commonplace to the sublime. This is one of the definitions of sublime: "to elevate to a high degree of spiritual purity or excellence; of such excellence, grandeur or beauty as to inspire awe". What institutes this miraculous change in our physical form and spiritual substance? We will see an answer as we contnue in our Sabbath portion for this week. In the next reading, as Moses and the people were told by the LORD to leave Mt. Sinai and continue onward through the wilderness, Moses requested a change to the sublime through grace from the LORD. Moses said to the LORD: "Now, therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I might find grace in your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.' And He (the LORD) said, 'My presence (panim - face, faces, presence, in the face of) will go with you, and I will give you rest." (Ex. 33:12-14, see also Ex. 34:8-9). Moses continued: "...So we shall be separate (pala - sever, separated, set apart, be distinguished, wonderfully, marvellously), Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.' So the LORD said to Moses, 'I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name." (v. 15-17). From his position of having found grace with the LORD, Moses had persuaded God to be present among His people, who had just sinned grievously by worshipping the golden calf idol, and to cause Moses and the people to be separated and distinguished from all of the other people on earth. They would become "different". However, Moses wasn't done seeking the sublime from God through His grace. Moses said to the LORD: "Please, show me Your glory." (v. 18). The LORD granted the request of Moses, but it would only be possible to accomplish as God pronounced His grace and mercy to and upon (aleph-tav) whom He chose (v. 19), and as Moses (aleph-tav) stood on a rock and sheltered in a cleft in a rock, with God's (aleph-tav) hand (v. 23) covering him. Then Moses would be able to see the glory of God's (aleph-tav) back (v. 20-23). This shelter in the rock's cleft became a kind of tabernacle or tent in a way. As we will see, the tabernacle becomes a touching place between heaven and earth, between God and man. It is a place where the commonplace becomes the sublime. In another reading selection for this week's Sabbath, King Solomon, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, used all of His wisdom and knowledge to contemplate what under heaven may exist that rose above the commonplace, or vanity, into the sublime. In Hebrew, this book is called Qoheleth from the root word qahal, which means "assembly, congregation, gathering". The Greek title of the book, Ecclesiastes, comes from the root word ekklesia, meaning "called out assembly, congregation, church". So Solomon's words are for a gathered people, which is appropriate for the Feast of Ingathering/Tabernacles. This is how Solomon described his search through his gift of wisdom: "I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I set (aleph-tav) my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised (ana - humble, afflict, troubled, become low, bow down, be humbled, chasten oneself). I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed all is vanity, and grasping for wind." (Eccl. 1:12-14). Solomon wrote that men knew that there was a difference between the commonplace and the seemingly unattainable sublime: "All things are full of labor; man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied, nor the ear filled with hearing." (Eccl. 1:8). Men knew that there was something more that was needed. Solomon acknowledged how he had been gifted in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, more than all others in Jerusalem. He acknowledged that he had accomplished great works, great riches and great pleasure - all that he had set his hands to do, yet, all of these things had not lifted him from the commonplace into the sublime. All of these things would disappear or just pass to someone else when he died. It was all therefore vanity (v. 16-17, 2:4-11). Solomon in his gift of wisdom considered the dark days that were to come, a description that matches the prophesied tribulation of the end times (Eccl. 12:1-8). All he could say was "Remember now (aleph-tav) your Creator...before the difficult days come" (v. 1). He said, "The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright - words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars (meaning masters of assemblies) are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd...Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: "Fear (aleph-tav) God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil." (v. 10-14). The wisest man on earth could not find a way in his own strength to change the commonplace into the sublime, except to "Fear (aleph-tav) God". There is no method, including philosophies, or various religious practices of the world, by which man can attain the sublime under heaven. However, it is possible and already accomplished though our (aleph-tav) Lord, who joined heaven and earth in Himself. (see Col. 1:19-20, 2 Cor. 5:16-19). In another Sabbath reading portion for this week, a younger King Solomon called a gathering or assembly of all of the (aleph-tav) elders and people of Israel for the Feast of Ingathering/Tabernacles (see 1 Kings 8:65-66), where the (aleph-tav) Ark (aron/ara - chest/pluck [grapes from the vine], to collect, gather, a manger, a lamb) of the LORD would be brought up (ala - ascend, to meet, to be made to go up, be brought up, be taken away, draw up, train, be carried away, be taken up into, to lift oneself, exalt, excel, go from a lower region to a higher, to be made to depart, go up to the sanctuary) from the city of David, Zion, and placed in the newly constructed temple in Jerusalem. (1 Kings 8:1-6). As the priests set the Ark, the glory cloud of God filled the Temple, so that the anointed, set-apart priests could not continue ministering (v. 10-13). According to the prayer of Solomon, the Temple became a house of prayer where all people could come, seek the LORD, and God would hear and answer. As a result of prayer in this Temple/Tabernacle, repentance would be received, sins could be forgiven, plagues and judgments could be stopped, and lands could be healed. The sublime became accessible, and change manifested in the earth and people. We are not talking about a religious building, however, when we speak of Tabernacles. We are talking about a spiritual place where the commonplace becomes the sublime, where heaven touches earth, and God shares His presence with men. Some examples of this kind of tabernacle: the sojourner in a strange land, Abraham, sat before his tent, where God visited him, and prophesied the miraculous birth of a son of promise to elderly Abraham and his wife, childless Sarah; the fugitive on the run for his life, Jacob, laid on the ground with his head on a rock, and saw a ladder that reached between heaven and earth. He saw angels ascending and descending the ladder. Jacob called the place, Bethel, the House of God, because the commonplace faded away into the sublime; the miracle son of promise, Isaac, brought his new bride, who was a sign and an answer to prayer, into his tent, and their descendants became the nation of Israel; in a common stable near Bethlehem, a Savior was born, and the heavens opened and the angels declared the glory and good will of God to all the people of the earth. The commonplace became the sublime. There is another tabernacle of God's dwelling where heaven and earth touch and the commonplace becomes the sublime. It is in the hearts and bodies of believers in Christ (1 Cor. 3:16-17, 1 Cor. 6:19-20). There is one more definition of sublime that would be interesting to look at, and that definition comes from science! True science, unlike false science, never contradicts the Word of God, but confirms and bears witness to it. What can science tell us about the sublime? Here is the scientific definition from chemistry and physics: "of a solid changing directly into a vapor, skipping the liquid state". The example of solid carbon dioxide, or dry ice, is given, as the solid that seems to "disappear" as it turns to carbon dioxide gas. However, sublimation is considered a rare phenomenon. It only takes place in solids that have a very different kind of molecular structure. The change from solid to vapor is not achieved by heat, but by the solid's vapor pressure being equal to applied atmospheric pressure. These sublime solids have a much higher vapor pressure than most other solids. Their internal molecular structure is different from other solids. We will see how the creation mirrors the truths of its Creator in this case. When Paul wrote about our change into the sublime, as it is with these rare solids, it involves a change in the atmosphere. In his verses regarding the raising of the dead in Christ, and the catching away of the living saints, this occurs when Jesus descends into the atmosphere, into the clouds. We are then instantly changed in form and nature. This is very similar to the atmospheric pressure's effect upon the internal vapor pressure of the sublime solids. Sublimation among solids is rare. Jesus told us that salvation is also rare: "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads to life, there are few who find it." (Mt. 7:13-14). Although God desires all to repent and be saved (2 Pet. 3:9), not all do. Sublime solids are also created differently from the start. Their rare and different molecular structure allows them to skip liquid form, and transition directly to gas. Scripture indicates that believers in Christ are also created differently: "But as many as received Him (Jesus as Savior), to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (Jn. 1:12-13). Jesus also said regarding a believer's different creative substance: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born (gennao/genos/ginome - begat, born, fathered, bring forth/kindred, offspring, individuals of the same nature/come into existence, arise, appear, of miracles, wrought, be fulfilled, be married to) again (anothen/ano - from above, from a higher place, of things which come from heaven or God,from the beginning, again/up, above, on high, of heaven), he cannot see (herao - see, perceive, know by experience) the kingdom of God...Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (Jn. 3:3, 5-8). Notice that the meaning of the phrase "born again" is very deep, and perhaps differs from our usual understanding. These verses of Christ speak to our very origin and structure. The scientific definition of sublime solids, which we saw earlier, creates an interesting picture for us as we consider these words of Jesus. Jesus also added that He knew these things because, as One who both ascended to heaven, and came down from heaven, He is a witness to this Himself (v. 11-13). The Feast of Ingathering/Tabernacles has a great deal of meaning to us, as do all the feasts of the LORD. It is the covering, the dwelling, and the Presence/Face of the LORD, and the transformation from old to new, and from the commonplace into the sublime. It is the joining of heaven and earth, and God and man. There is also more information on the Feast of Tabernacles, if you are interested, in the Featured Post column on the right side of this page, in a post titled "Culmination". If you would like to learn more about this very special time for God's people, you can join me in my prayer: "Heavenly Father, You sent Your own Son, Jesus, to earth so that I can become one of Your children, and through Him, to reconcile all things to Yourself. Through Your Son and Holy Spirit, You have made me Your tabernacle where heaven and earth touch, and all things, including myself, are transformed. Teach me more about what it means to be born from the Water of Your Word, Jesus, and Your Spirit, so that I may walk in that knowledge of You, especially as we grow nearer to the harvest of souls and that great ingathering into Your heavenly kingdom from the four corners of the earth. Write Your Words in my heart and upon my mind. I ask these things in the name of Jesus. AMEN."