Post by alon on Apr 28, 2023 20:05:41 GMT -8
This Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Exodus 38:21-31
Haftara- Jeremiah 30:1-22
D’rash: In Exodus 35:1a we saw וַיַּקְהֵ֣ל מֹשֶׁ֗ה Va’ikahel Moshe, Moses assembled אֶֽת־כָּל־עֲדַ֛ת בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל et chol’adat bane Yisrael אֶֽת־כָּל־עֲדַ֛ת בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל, the entire community of the Children of Israel
The incident of the Golden Calf had just taken place, and Moshe is using the same root word, qahel קְהֵ֣ל, to assemble, gather. It implies being a community that is witnessing a fact. Moses is doing tikun; he is fixing what was broken when the qehilah had gathered to do evil. Now he is gathering them to work together for something good.
Exodus 35:4-5 Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. Take from among you a contribution to the Lord. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord's contribution: gold, silver, and bronze;
We saw earlier these metals were from contributions. It was important now the Mishkan be built from the heart, starting with the materials given. This was part of what they were to witness- the coming together of God’s community. Throughout Moshe has primarily used two words to describe the gathering of the Children of Yisroel: edah and Kehilah.
There are actually four Hebrew words usually translated community:
1. עֵדָה edah- a group of people with a sense of collective identity; becomes edat when used like bene Yisroel- the children of Israel;
2. ציבור tzibur- public; the public; an ad hoc community of people together because of some circumstance, but who don’t necessarily know each other or belong to each other
3. קְהִלָּה kehillah- a gathering; a group of very different people orchestrated together for the collective undertaking- one involved with making a distinctive contribution
4. עַם am- people without future, without destiny; they just happen to be there.; [the Hebrews quit being am and started to be edah when they went in and took ha’aretz]
Moshe gathered the people as a kehillah, a group of very different people becoming edah, as one in a collective undertaking which involved a distinct contribution and effort. This is how he made tikkun. The true community of God is a combination of kehillah and edah.
Exodus 38:21 These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were recorded at the commandment of Moses, the responsibility of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
Note the priests were in charge of the records, which would have been exhaustive. “These are the records” might better be translated “This was the tally.”
Exodus 38:22-23 Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses; and with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.
Bezalel and Oholiab were still in charge of the work, and this would have required a lot of cooperation on their part in parsing out how the metals were used. In God’s community there are those in charge of the congregation- Moshe. But there are also those in charge of different tasks- Bezalel and Oholiab. And there are those with certain responsibilities- the priests. Together they and the people accomplish God’s work.
One of the biggest reasons for burnout among pastors is not (as you might expect) dealing with the people. In my experience it is the idea the people should do everything like they would. Realizing this to be not the case, they try to control everything themselves. This smothers initiative and places far too much on the shoulders of one man. Moshe learned to delegate back when his father-inlaw Yitro counseled him:
Exodus 18:13-24The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” Moses' father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.” So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.
The Mishkan was the forerunner to the Temple in Yerushalayim. This too will be built block by block, stone by stone. The writer of Ephesians compares we as believers to those stones:
Ephesians 2:19-22 (CJB) So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers. On the contrary, you are fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s family. You have been built on the foundation of the emissaries and the prophets, with the cornerstone being Yeshua the Messiah himself. In union with him the whole building is held together, and it is growing into a holy temple in union with the Lord. Yes, in union with him, you yourselves are being built together into a spiritual dwelling-place for God!
It takes all of us working together to build a Mishakn or a Temple. As we are His living statues, representatives of the God we serve, so are we the building blocks of His qahal, His edah. His called out assembly. The Mishkan was made with incorruptible gold to represent divinity, silver as the base (sockets) of our redemption, and bronze for the altars and other accoutrements constitutes judgement. And eventually, stones- the people of the Most High God.
Mekorot: All scripture from the ESV unless otherwise specified; JPS Study TNK; Dr Eli of the IBC; my father and others
Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Ex 39:1-40:38
Haftara- Is 33:20-34:8
* Apostolic references will be given in the darashot
Parashah- Exodus 38:21-31
Haftara- Jeremiah 30:1-22
D’rash: In Exodus 35:1a we saw וַיַּקְהֵ֣ל מֹשֶׁ֗ה Va’ikahel Moshe, Moses assembled אֶֽת־כָּל־עֲדַ֛ת בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל et chol’adat bane Yisrael אֶֽת־כָּל־עֲדַ֛ת בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל, the entire community of the Children of Israel
The incident of the Golden Calf had just taken place, and Moshe is using the same root word, qahel קְהֵ֣ל, to assemble, gather. It implies being a community that is witnessing a fact. Moses is doing tikun; he is fixing what was broken when the qehilah had gathered to do evil. Now he is gathering them to work together for something good.
Exodus 35:4-5 Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. Take from among you a contribution to the Lord. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord's contribution: gold, silver, and bronze;
We saw earlier these metals were from contributions. It was important now the Mishkan be built from the heart, starting with the materials given. This was part of what they were to witness- the coming together of God’s community. Throughout Moshe has primarily used two words to describe the gathering of the Children of Yisroel: edah and Kehilah.
There are actually four Hebrew words usually translated community:
1. עֵדָה edah- a group of people with a sense of collective identity; becomes edat when used like bene Yisroel- the children of Israel;
2. ציבור tzibur- public; the public; an ad hoc community of people together because of some circumstance, but who don’t necessarily know each other or belong to each other
3. קְהִלָּה kehillah- a gathering; a group of very different people orchestrated together for the collective undertaking- one involved with making a distinctive contribution
4. עַם am- people without future, without destiny; they just happen to be there.; [the Hebrews quit being am and started to be edah when they went in and took ha’aretz]
Moshe gathered the people as a kehillah, a group of very different people becoming edah, as one in a collective undertaking which involved a distinct contribution and effort. This is how he made tikkun. The true community of God is a combination of kehillah and edah.
Exodus 38:21 These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were recorded at the commandment of Moses, the responsibility of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
Note the priests were in charge of the records, which would have been exhaustive. “These are the records” might better be translated “This was the tally.”
Exodus 38:22-23 Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses; and with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.
Bezalel and Oholiab were still in charge of the work, and this would have required a lot of cooperation on their part in parsing out how the metals were used. In God’s community there are those in charge of the congregation- Moshe. But there are also those in charge of different tasks- Bezalel and Oholiab. And there are those with certain responsibilities- the priests. Together they and the people accomplish God’s work.
One of the biggest reasons for burnout among pastors is not (as you might expect) dealing with the people. In my experience it is the idea the people should do everything like they would. Realizing this to be not the case, they try to control everything themselves. This smothers initiative and places far too much on the shoulders of one man. Moshe learned to delegate back when his father-inlaw Yitro counseled him:
Exodus 18:13-24The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” Moses' father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.” So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.
The Mishkan was the forerunner to the Temple in Yerushalayim. This too will be built block by block, stone by stone. The writer of Ephesians compares we as believers to those stones:
Ephesians 2:19-22 (CJB) So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers. On the contrary, you are fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s family. You have been built on the foundation of the emissaries and the prophets, with the cornerstone being Yeshua the Messiah himself. In union with him the whole building is held together, and it is growing into a holy temple in union with the Lord. Yes, in union with him, you yourselves are being built together into a spiritual dwelling-place for God!
It takes all of us working together to build a Mishakn or a Temple. As we are His living statues, representatives of the God we serve, so are we the building blocks of His qahal, His edah. His called out assembly. The Mishkan was made with incorruptible gold to represent divinity, silver as the base (sockets) of our redemption, and bronze for the altars and other accoutrements constitutes judgement. And eventually, stones- the people of the Most High God.
Mekorot: All scripture from the ESV unless otherwise specified; JPS Study TNK; Dr Eli of the IBC; my father and others
Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Ex 39:1-40:38
Haftara- Is 33:20-34:8
* Apostolic references will be given in the darashot