Can we do תפילות prayers for:
Mike Clayton and his ministry?
That also through them The האור Light, רפואה The Healing and The ואהבה Love of ישועת יהוה Yeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?
 | | March 3, 2011 |
| Joined To Hashem Newsletter |
Quick Links...
Links
|
TEACHING THE HEBRAIC PERSPECTIVE OF FAITH IN AND OBEDIENCE TO THE ONE TRUE GOD
|
| Streaming Video |
Due to the Hebrew leap year the Torah video and commentary is being repeated from last week.
Vayak'hel "And assembled"
Exodus 35:1-38:20 / 38:21-40:38
1 Kings 7:51-8:21
*Archived teaching from 2010*
|
| Itinerary |
Over the next three weeks I will be speaking in MO, FL and SC. How is that for a "Shabbatical"?
|
| Torah Commentary |
Vayak'hel "And assembled"
Exodus 35:1-38:20 / 38:21-40:38
1 Kings 7:51-8:21
His Glory
We come to the end of Exodus this week. It has been quite a journey for the Hebrews as well as for us as we have relived their lives from bondage to freedom. It may be one of the greatest stories ever told of bringing a people out of slavery and placing His presence among His people. The prophetic meanings have been so rich for each of our lives as we have looked to the shadow of history to teach us the substance of today.
But let's not be too quick to turn the last page and move on before we see the greatest lesson.
Chapter 39 of Exodus records the completion of the Tabernacle. Imagine the sight as the people stand there gazing upon it! The slaves who had once built the cities of the Pharaoh had now come together, worked as one and built a dwelling place, not for some earthly leader, but for the Almighty Himself. No doubt Moses has a moment he has not often been able to experience with this people as he stands as proud as he can be of this people and the task they have performed. As they gaze upon the Tabernacle with its gold, silver, bronze and finely woven cloth the thought comes to their minds that something is missing, but what is it? There are six articles in the Tabernacle enclosure from the altar to the ark. Six however is the number of man. It is an incomplete number. Seven, the number of completion is what they should have. What is it that is missing?
As the Hebrews stand and ponder this mystery the cloud of His glory suddenly began to move. They felt in their spirits that it was not telling them to pack up and get ready to move on. This was a different kind of move. The cloud moved around the people and may have stopped just for a moment above the Tabernacle. Moses and the people stood motionless as His Glory paused over the tent. "Had everything been built to His specifications?" they asked themselves. The answer would come as the Glory filled the Tabernacle to the magnitude that not even Moses was able to enter into this level of Glory.
It must have been a sight on that day (and one that I sure hope someone had the presence of mind to get on video!) but what does it all have to do with us today? Do we even have to ask the question?
Please allow me to answer the above question with a question, which, by the way, is a very Hebraic way to communicate in the first place. Allow me to pose this question, "If His glory filled a Tabernacle made with the hands of man, how much more should His glory be filling our Tabernacles, which are not made with man's hands but rather are formed in His image?" Now there is a question to ponder for a bit! Of course, one good question normally will lead us to other questions, so here goes. "Just how much of His glory are we seeing in our Tabernacles today?" "Is it anywhere near the level of the Tabernacle built by man?" "If the substance is not greater than the shadow, why?"
Maybe the answer to these questions lies in the very reason you and I are studying Torah in the first place. It is all about getting things built according to His blueprints and not those of men. Our study of Torah is so that we may pattern our lives the way He intended so that when His Glory fills our Tabernacles, it brings grace, mercy and anointing instead of judgment and death. Consider that if He had answered our prayers to fill our Tabernacle with the level of Glory we are speaking of here, but instead of an altar, He had found easter eggs? Not a pretty picture! What if instead of a Mercy Seat, He found a Christmas tree? Makes the hair on the back of the neck stand up a bit, does it not?
So we read this week about one of the goals of the Hebrew exodus being reached. HaShem has a tent built especially for Him and from the sounds of the way He came into the tent, He is quite pleased with the way things are going. What about us though? Maybe we are not as far on the journey as we thought we were. Maybe we have some calves that still need to be ground up and consumed. Maybe we need to pay a bit more attention to how we are living in our tabernacles today. Maybe, just maybe, there is a bit more room for His ways instead of our ways.
One final thought. He desires to live in our tabernacles more than we desire Him to be there. It is not that we are waiting for Him, it is that He in His mercy is waiting for us. When the pattern is right in our lives, His Presence will come. When it does, to quote a song, "I can only imagine!"
Shabbat Shalom,
Mike
|
|
|
| |
No comments:
Post a Comment