FEBRUARY 26, 2023 Deuteronomy 10:8-9 At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day. Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, just as the Lord your God promised him. As discussed in the […]
The LORD commanded the children of Israel to make special garments for the priests to wear while they officiated in the Tabernacle: “You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty”(Exodus 28:2). The garments of the priesthood were set apart for the purpose of serving God in the Tabernacle. They were not to be used for any other purpose.
Holiness does not mean that there is some kind of a mystical goodness attached to the object, person or place described as holy. It simply means that God does not want it used for anything other purposes than His own. The opposite of something holy is something normal.
Not only were the priest's clothes holy garments, they were vestments for glory. The Hebrew word translated “glory” is kavod, (כבוד). It also means “honor.” Its root meaning is closely connected with the Hebrew word for “heavy.” To treat something lightly would be the opposite of glorifying it. Maimonides points out that the priest's garments were not meant to glorify the priests who wore them. Instead, the priests' garments reminded the people of God's greatness.
The laws of the priestly garments teach some important lessons about clothing. For example, they teach that the way we dress matters to God. Clothing can bring honor or dishonor to God.
In many churches, and even in some synagogues, it has become popular to dress casually. Typically people dress better when they are going out to an expensive restaurant than they do when they attend worship services of the Most High. Even in Messianic assemblies people rarely dress their best for keeping the Sabbath. Jeans and T-shirts on Sabbath mornings? Shorts on Yom Kippur? Immodest, body-revealing clothing is flaunted even in the presence of the holy Torah scroll.
In modern Western culture, it has become common to regard dress and apparel as inalienable rights that are essential expressions of the individual. What is more, we have adopted some sort of assumed piety in dressing down. The reasoning proceeds along these lines: God does not look at the outside. God looks at the heart. Therefore, the outside should not matter.
Ironically, those who wear blue jeans and T-shirts to worship services seem to regard themselves more intrinsically spiritual than the “stiffs” who still dress formally, because they assume that their casual dress reflects a more genuine heart.
The laws of the priestly vestments prove that God looks at the outside as well as the inside, and He is concerned for how His people present themselves in the eyes of the world. The way we dress often reveals what's going on inside us. It also reflects on God. To dress disrespectfully on His holy days in His holy houses of worship is to disrespect Him.
Tetzaveh – תצוה : “You shall command” Torah : Exodus 27:20-30:10 Haftarah : Ezekiel 43:10-27 Gospel : Mark 12
FEBRUARY 25, 2023 Deuteronomy 10:8-9 At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day. Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, just as the Lord your God promised him. When Moses descended Sinai […]
FEBRUARY 24, 2023 Deuteronomy 10:1-1-2 At that time the Lord said to me, “Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain and make yourself an ark of wood. And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you shall put them […]
FEBRUARY 23, 2023 Deuteronomy 9:16 And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God—had made for yourselves a molded calf! You had turned aside quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you. Even as Moses was receiving the tablets of the covenant, the people were turning away from the promise they had just made. […]
FEBRUARY 22, 2023 Deuteronomy 9:6 Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. Once again we have a verse to remind us that, in spite of our continued stubbornness and resistance to the will of God, He is gracious and good. Where these […]
FEBRUARY 21, 2023 Deuteronomy 9:1, 3 Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven…. Therefore, understand today that the Lord your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive […]
FEBRUARY 20, 2023 Deuteronomy 8:18 And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. I believe it is safe to say that all the difficulties Israel was subjected to — and then expected to overcome — was […]
FEBRUARY 19, 2023 Deuteronomy 8:11-14 Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them … and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your […]
The Temple was not simply a big church or synagogue. It was the dwelling place of God on earth. It housed His dwelling presence. He was present in the Tabernacle in a way in which He is not present on earth today.
In today's world, a person might attend church or synagogue. Churches and synagogues are descendants of the Tabernacle. The synagogue is modeled after the Tabernacle in that the prayer services remember the daily sacrifices that took place in the Tabernacle. A synagogue has an ark that symbolically corresponds to the Holy of Holies. The community of worshippers assemble in the synagogue at the appointed times just as Israel assembled at the Tabernacle/Temple at those times. Similarly, churches are descendents of synagogues, and they retain many elements of synagogue services.
According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it. (Exodus 25:9)
Today, a person going to church finds himself at a powerfully moving worship service. He might feel spiritually elevated, feel goose bumps on his flesh, experience strong emotions or even see signs and miracles as evidence of the presence of God's Spirit. During such an experience, a person would say, “The presence of the LORD is here.” Similarly, a person might go to a solemn Day of Atonement service at the synagogue and hear heart-rending prayers of such spiritual intensity that he feels swept into the very presence of God. But neither of these experiences can be compared with the Tabernacle.
Though the presence of God's Spirit can be felt today (and His Spirit is always with us), the Tabernacle/Temple was different. God was present in a far more concrete and absolute way. It was not a matter of feelings of spiritual intensity; it was a matter of fact. God lived in that place. It was like having God as a next-door neighbor.
The prophet Ezekiel lived in the days of the Babylonian destruction of the Temple. He saw God's people scattered among the nations. He also saw a future time when the Temple in Jerusalem would be rebuilt and God's dwelling presence would return to it. Until then, He prophesied that God would dwell among his people as a “little sanctuary” in their midst:
Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. (Ezekiel 11:16 KJV)
In Judaism, the phrase “little sanctuary” is understood to refer to synagogues and Jewish homes. The rituals and prayer services of the synagogue are closely related to the Tabernacle services. The imagery of the home and the Sabbath table is drawn from the Tabernacle rituals.
Every place where God's people gather to worship him, whether at home around the table, at the synagogue or at the church, God is present as a “little sanctuary.” We are able to have a small taste of His presence.
Terumah : תרומה : – “Heave offering” Torah : Exodus 25:1-27:19 Haftarah : 1 Kings 5:26-6:13 Gospel : Mark 10-11
