Post by R' Y'hoshua Moshe on Mar 6, 2008 21:57:18 GMT -8
Well Done, Good And Faithful Servant
A d’rash on parashah Pekudei (Shemot/Exo. 38:21-40:38)
By Re’uel
A d’rash on parashah Pekudei (Shemot/Exo. 38:21-40:38)
By Re’uel
In Mattityahu (Matt.) 25:14-30 our Rabbi Yeshua taught the following parable about Malchut Hashamayim (The Kingdom of Heaven), “For it is like a man, going into another country, who called his own servants, and entrusted his goods to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey. Immediately he who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. In the same way, he also who got the two gained another two. But he who received the one went away and dug in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. “Now after a long time the lord of those servants came, and reconciled accounts with them. He who received the five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Behold, I have gained another five talents besides them.’ “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
“He also who got the two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Behold, I have gained another two talents besides them.’ “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ “He also who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter. I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.’ “But his lord answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter. You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest. Take away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away. Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
Adonai expects a return on His investment. He gives us talents and expects us to use them wisely and to produce the fruit of righteousness with them. He expects us to step out in faith in the attempt to multiply His investment in us. Adonai wants us to be set-apart, to be Holy to him, but we don’t accomplish this just by being different from everyone else and by constantly devising new ways to be unique and on the fringe. God wants to see spiritual fruits, not religious nuts. He wants to see the peaceful fruit of righteousness that comes from His Spirit working through us.
When He plants His Spirit in us we see the fruit of His Spirit being described in Yechezk’el (Ezek.) 36:27 where it says, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.”. But, even as we keep this passage in mind we have to be sure that what we are doing is actually the keeping of His statutes and ordinances. We have to be careful that we are not creating our own religion, the fruit of someone leaning on their own understanding. And, we have to be careful that we are not just doing something to be more different than the next guy or in an attempt to be “holier than thou”. If we truly are walking in God’s commandments, according to His statues and ordinances, and being led by His spirit, the fruit will not only be characterized by keeping His commandments, but it will be characterized by what we read Rav Sha’ul describing in the letter to the Galations (5:22-26). It states, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, self control. Nothing in the stands against such things. Moreover, those who belong to the Messiah Yeshua have put their old nature to death on the stake, along with its passions and desires. Since it is through the Spirit that we have Life, let it also be through the Spirit that we order our lives day by day. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”.
So, what ever we do in obedience to God…it should be characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. Nothing in is contrary to these things. But, if we are doing things contrary to love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control, we can safely assume we are not keeping the . This could be described as a foundational guideline in Messianic halachah, a description of how one is to walk out in their life. Romans 12:2-2-3 states, “And be not conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is the good and pleasing and perfect will of God. For through the grace which is given to me, I say to everyone being among you, not to have high thoughts beyond what is right to think. But set your mind to be right-minded, even as God divided a measure of faith to each.”. And, in this week’s parashah we are reminded that we are to have a right estimation of ourselves when using our talents. In Shemot (Exo.) 38:25-28 we read, “The silver given by the community weighed 100 talents 1,775 shekels, using the sanctuary shekel. This was a beka per person, that is, half a shekel, using the sanctuary shekel, for everyone twenty years old or older counted in the census, 603,550 men. The hundred talents of silver were used to cast the sockets for the sanctuary and the sockets for the curtain -one hundred sockets made from the hundred talents, one talent per socket. The 1,775 shekels he used to make hooks for the posts, to overlay their capitals and to make fasteners for them.”.
The purpose of the half-shekel that was used in the building of the Mishkan (The Tabernacle) is described by the following Shemot (Exo.) 30:11-13, HaShem said to Moshe, "When you take a census of the people of Yisra'el and register them, each, upon registration, is to pay a ransom for his life to HaShem, to avoid any breakout of plague among them during the time of the census. Everyone subject to the census is to pay as an offering to HaShem half a shekel - by the standard of the sanctuary shekel (a shekel equals twenty gerahs).”. So, the silver was levied and every man was assessed half a shekel, which amounted in the whole to 100 talents, and 1775 shekels. From this they made the sockets into which the boards of the tabernacle went, and on which they rested; so that they were as the foundation of the tabernacle. Adonai redeemed us with an outstretched arm, and invested much in us…indeed, He allowed His one only precious Son to suffer and die the death of a human so that we may be healed and empowered. And as we see in the building of the Mishkan and the use of the half-shekel we are expected to use these talents to build His Kingdom, His Tabernacle, and Kingdom. It is one of the expectations Adonai has and it should be our response to the atonement and salvation He has afforded us. He even uses these talents to lay the foundation of His Tabernacle and ministry. The remaining 1775 shekels were used for the hooks of the pillars that sustained the curtains, for silvering their capitals, and “for binding the pillars,” i.e., for making the silver connecting rods for the pillars of the court.
As people within God’s congregation we play different roles and have been given different gifts to help build the Kingdom of Heaven, but in all reality, we all worth a half-shekel. It doesn’t matter if we are young or old, man or women, scholar or student, ruler or servant, we all have the same value in God’s economy. But, whatever position one holds within the congregation, Adonai expects for that initial value to increase and expects to reap a bigger harvest than what was initially planted. And, even though it was the case with the congregation of Yisra’el (as we read in our parashah), one doesn’t always have to give of their material wealth to help build up the Mishkan (The Tabernacle) of Adonai. Even though the commanded and voluntary offerings were essential to the building of the ministry and Kingdom of Adonai, and it’s operation continued based on willing hearts willing give up material wealth to make it happen, the people had much more that they could also give besides these things. They gave their time, their manual labor, their skills, and much more to accomplish everything that needed to be done. But, ideally they gave everything they could to help with the ministry that Adonai had laid before them. Moshe, Aharon, and the Levi’im didn’t provide all the material costs associated with what Adonai had commanded them to do. It was a community effort.
The people of Yisra’el didn’t spend alot of time worrying about if there shekels would go to good use, because they trusted God. They stepped out in faith to help build. They trusted God for the use of these resources. They trusted God to lead Moshe, Aharon, and the Levi’im to do what was needed. And, what was the result of these willing and faithful hearts? The necessary work to establish the Tabernacle and ministry that God commanded them to build was accomplished. In fact, there was no longer need because the people’s response was corporate and total. The teamwork was beautiful, and it must have been refreshing to Moshe. In Shemot (Exo.) 39:42-43 we read, “The people of Isra'el did all the work just as HaShem had ordered Moshe. Moshe saw all the work, and-there it was! - they had done it! Exactly as Hashem had ordered, they had done it. And Moshe blessed them.”.
Moshe was a type of Mashiach, a type of Messiah. In fact, Moshe Himself said as we read in Devarim (Deut.) 18:15 the following, "HaShem will raise up for you a prophet like me from among yourselves, from your own kinsmen. You are to pay attention to him”. Most people and scholars believe that this prophecy is about Messiah. Therefore, just as Moshe blesses all the people after they complete the work that they are called to and after they pour out their resources and skills to see it through…so too will Messiah Yeshua in the Acharit HaYomim (The End of Days) turn and bless all those whom poured out there resources to build His ministry and rebuild the fallen Tabernacle of David.
And, as we rebuild this spiritual fallen Tabernacle of David within our communities I am reminded of how this will inturn be a blessing to all the Nations of the Earth as we read about in Acts 15:14-18. It states, “Shim'on has told in detail what God did when he first began to show his concern for taking from among the Goyim (Nations) a people to bear his name. And the words of the Prophets are in complete harmony with this for it is written, '"After this, I will return; and I will rebuild the fallen tent of David. I will rebuild its ruins, I will restore it, so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, that is, all the Goyim (Gentiles) who have been called by my name," says HaShem, who is doing these things.' All this has been known for ages.”.
It is my prayer that none of us quench what the Ruach HaKodesh (The Spirit Of God) is doing in us and through us and that we complete the good work that Adonai has begun in us. It is my hope that one day The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Yeshua The Messiah, will one day turn to everyone listening to this message or reading this message and say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”. But, there is also a sobering reality, and another statement that someone will hear in the Acharit HaYomim (End of Days). And, that is, “You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter. You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest. Take away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away. Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”.
The name of our parashah is “Pekudei”, meaning “Accounts”. In the end Adonai will take everything we did and didn’t do into account. With that, I will conclude with a passage from the book of Hebrews, chapter 4:1-13, “Therefore, let us be terrified of the possibility that, even though the promise of entering his rest remains, any one of you might be judged to have fallen short of it; for Good News has also been proclaimed to us, just as it was to them. But the message they heard didn't do them any good, because those who heard it did not combine it with trust. For it is we who have trusted who enter the rest. It is just as he said, "And in my anger, I swore that they would not enter my rest." He swore this even though his works have been in existence since the founding of the universe. For there is a place where it is said, concerning the seventh day, "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works." And once more, our present text says, "They will not enter my rest." Therefore, since it still remains for some to enter it, and those who received the Good News earlier did not enter, he again fixes a certain day, "Today," saying through David, so long afterwards, in the text already given, "Today, if you hear God's voice, don't harden your hearts." For if Y'hoshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later of another "day." So there remains a Shabbat-keeping for God's people. For the one who has entered God's rest has also rested from his own works, as God did from his. Therefore, let us do our best to enter that rest; so that no one will fall short because of the same kind of disobedience. See, the Word of God is alive! It is at work and is sharper than any double-edged sword - it cuts right through to where soul meets spirit and joints meet marrow, and it is quick to judge the inner reflections and attitudes of the heart. Before God, nothing created is hidden, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.”.