Universities promote hostile campaign against Israel

Scriptural truth is being sacrificed in the cause of unity

"I will pour out my Spirit"

Torah Portion: Exodus 25:1-27:19

Terumah ('Offering')

The Lord asked Moses to ask the Children of Israel to make an offering, contributing towards the building of the Tabernacle in the wilderness where He would meet with His people. The word used for this offering was terumah, which derives from two separate roots that mean 'separate' and 'elevate'. The people were required to separate their most precious treasures and lift them up to the Lord as an offering, something that required great sacrifice on their part, particularly when they had so recently fled from Egypt.

Once given to God, these gifts belonged to the Lord and became holy for His use. Such sacrifices, given with a whole heart as prompted by Him, would certainly bring those who gave into closer relationship with the Lord.

Skills and Talents

The Children of Israel had been slaves in Egypt for many generations, working under the ruthless authority of Pharaoh, building store cities and being forced into all kinds of work in the fields.

Somehow, skilled craftsmen such as Bezalel and Oholiab had grown up in the midst of such constraint and oppression. They now had the opportunity to employ their talents in the construction of the Tabernacle. They could work together with precision: measuring, calculating, hammering, sewing, treating animal hides and many other tasks. They were able to offer their labours, as well as their treasures, to the Lord for His house.

Purposeful Design

Three times in the passage, Moses is urged to make everything exactly according to the pattern the Lord would give him. God's holy house was to be of simple design but exact content and construction.

He did not require lavish external generosity or exaggerated pomp and show. This was to be a small structure - small enough to be packed up and carried in the scorching sun and wild winds of the desert days and nights, as far as the pillar of cloud and fire would lead them. It would be covered up to protect it from the eyes of men and the extremes of the weather and carried in the midst of the people as they travelled.

The work of the Lord was set apart and hidden from the rest of the world. He required His beloved people to come to Him in the secret place, in the place of the dry and barren wilderness, to find His strange work - His peculiar path, leading them to Himself alone. With Him as their sovereign Lord and King, they would go into the land of promise and find the fullness of life and joy He had planned for them.

And so, shall not we who have taken Him to be our Saviour and Lord through His suffering on the Cross on our behalf, and who walk with Him through the days and nights as He leads, shall not we be a part of His preparations for His coming Kingdom, of which the Tabernacle in the wilderness was a shadow of the wonderful reality yet to come?

Will we, like Bezalel and Oholiab and all who gave their terumah to the Lord, not give Him our very best as we also receive the very best that He has for us?

Author: Sally Denton

Torah Portion: Exodus 21:1-24:18

Mishpatim (‘judgments’, ‘sentences’)

In preparing ancient Israel to be His witness among the nations around them, God gave them His Torah. Not so much a ‘law’ in the legal sense, the word ‘Torah’ is derived from the word yarah meaning to shoot at a target. So, God’s Torah was His direction, guidance, instruction, teaching and pattern for living – a target to aim at in all of life’s activities.

For Holy Living

Our Torah portion this week covers specific aspects of this, concerning house servants, personal injuries, care of livestock and property and social responsibilities. The Children of Israel were to ensure that their actions in every area were appropriate for the holy people and witness that God called them to be (Ex 19:6).

This guidance encompassed areas like justice, honesty and love for enemies (appropriate judgments were made if the teaching was ignored). Special emphasis was given to obeying the Sabbath (Shabbat) and Sh’mitta laws – the seventh day and the seventh year were to be times of rest (for the people and for the land), times to focus on the Lord. Also included were instructions for three major festivals: Chag Motzi (unleavened bread), Shavu’ot (harvest) and Sukkot (ingathering).

These judgments reflected and expanded the ‘Ten Words’ (the Ten Commandments) - covenant requirements given earlier (Ex 20) - to be obeyed as part of Israel’s exclusive worship of God.

Covenant Response

A covenant is a mutual pact that requires willing and whole-hearted agreement.¹ It is at the heart of Torah. As part of the Mosaic covenant, the Children of Israel responded: “We will do everything the Lord has said – we will obey” (Ex 24:3, 7). This covenant was sealed with blood (signifying life), which reminds us of the superior covenant Jesus makes with believers in Him, sealed with His blood, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (Matt 26:28).

Jesus’ covenant also requires whole-hearted obedience from us (bringing blessing), as part of our exclusive worship of Him, as the living Torah. Do we seek willingly and whole-heartedly to obey all He has said to us in His Word, through the power of His Holy Spirit? Many in the Church today do not.

Walking by Faith

The first Chief Rabbi of the nascent State of Israel described² two forms of reliance on God:

1. Trust that God will assist us in our efforts to help ourselves
2. Childlike faith that God will perform a miracle when appropriate

We need to do our part, but with the assurance that our strength and help come from Him, so we can in faith depend on Him to work His purposes out.

Derek Prince testified to the latter form of faith when praying for a lady who had been paralysed in her face, arm and leg for ten years. He simply prayed and then watched God’s miracle, as in ten minutes He restored her arm and leg and then gave her a radiant smile, restoring the years that the locust had eaten (Joel 2:25).³

Let us be careful to obey willingly all of God’s direction for us, so clearly laid out in Scripture for our blessing and benefit, to live in His way as a holy people (1 Pet 2:9), as part of our exclusive worship of our faithful, covenant-keeping Lord.

References

1 Hirsch, S. The Pentateuch, p423. Commentary on Exodus 24:8.

2 Rabbi Chanan Morrison. Gold from the Land of Israel. ‘Mishpatim’.

3 Prince, D. Prophetic Guide to the End Times: Facing the Future without Fear. Chosen Books, pp164-165.

Author: Greg Stevenson