Post by R' Y'hoshua Moshe on Mar 16, 2007 10:00:42 GMT -8
Purpose Of The Children
[/u]For Parashah Vayak’hel
By Reuel D.[/center]
Children are so important in our lives. For many of us, our lives revolve around them. As husbands and wives we spend nine months accommodating our children in more ways than one. We structure our days around them, we invest our time into them, we pay for their food, their clothing, their care, their schooling, and much more. But why? Is it because they are so cute and we love them so much? Of course this is an obvious factor for the dedication that we invest into our children. But, besides this there are other divine purposes and functions for these children. And, not only for them, but for us as Children of the Most High.
Think of it, our Heavenly Father labored over us in our creation, He has invested His time in us through all the years of our life. He has fed us, He has clothed us, cared for us, protected us, and has educated us in the knowledge of His Word, His Son, and Himself. Does He do this because we are so cute and He loves us so much? Of course this a part of the cosmic puzzle. But, there is more. He has redeemed us from sin and our own destructive ways. Indeed, He has bought us with the price of His Son’s suffering. 1Corinthians 6:19-20 says,
“Or don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.”
From our passage in 1Corinthians we can see that God expects to see a return on His investment. This is not the area in our life where we have received a “free-gift” in Messiah. We are obligated to glorify Adonai with all that we have been given, indeed our very body and spirit. But, He wishes it to be something that is from a heart willing to see God’s family nurtured. In parashah Vayak’hel we find Moshe carrying out the following mitzvah given by Adonai. Shemot (Exo.) 35:4-5 states,
“Moshe spoke to all the congregation of the children of Yisra'el, saying, "This is the thing which YHVH commanded, saying, 'Take from among you an offering to YHVH. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, YHVH’s offering”
This passage does not touch on the subject of the concept of a Biblical tithe, which greatly helps to glorify the Malchut Shamayim (The Kingdom of Heaven) for the ministers whom are actively pushing it further. Our passage in Shemot (Exo.) 35 deals with a offering from a willing heart from the children of Yisrael, and ideally the children of The Kingdom. But, these concepts can also be applied to the Biblical tithe in regards to the ministry of The Kingdom. In either case a willing heart is required. In our previous passage we find the words, “Children Of Yisrael” in Hebrew to be “Bnai Yisrael”. What does this have to do with the purpose of God’s children?
The root for the Hebrew word that most often is translated here as “children” is the word, “ben”. What does it primarily mean? The Hebrew word “ben” generally means “son”. This word is used in the name of a Hebrew son. For example, a very famous Rabbi was known by the name, “Yeshua ben Yosef”. Of course we know Him also as Mashiach (Messiah). But, this would be the name that many would have known our Messiah by as He grew up in His Jewish community. It literally meant “Yeshua (Jesus) Son of Josef”. A daughter would have the title of “bat”, meaning “daughter”. The actual Hebrew word for “child” is “yelad”. In the passage in question Moshe is speaking to the whole assembly of Yisrael, so why not use the Hebrew phrase “Yeladim Yisrael” which would truly mean in a more general sense, “children of Yisrael” instead of “Bnai Yisrael” when speaking about the “Children Of Yisrael”?
I believe we find the answer to this question in the Hebrew word that is actually used. Besides “ben” meaning “son” in Hebrew, it also means “one whom builds” in the sense of the family. In fact, it is connected to the Hebrew word “banah” which literally means “to build”. Again, what does this have to do with the purpose of God’s children? We are to be builders. But, the question is, whose children are we? Are we “Bnai Elohim” (the children of God)? Are we the ones whom are building the Kingdom of God? Or, are we other children? In Mattityahu (Matthew) 7:20 Yeshua our Master says that we will know “Bnai Elohim”, the children of God, by their fruits. Are they builders of the Kingdom? Everyone has gifts to give and as the body of Messiah we truly must all be “Bnai Elohim” for the Kingdom to be built in our community. Shemot (Exo.) 35:21 states,
“They came, everyone whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing, and brought YHVH's offering, for the work”
Are there any hearts out there that are stirred up? Do we all have willing hearts to see the work of the Kingdom accomplished in our area? One may ask, what are the needs? First, as we see in this parashah each has a special gift that they were given. Each of us needs to make sure that we are making it a priority in life to be using that gift to become a working part of “Bnai Shamayim”, the Children of Heaven, whom are actively building for Adonai using the gift He invested into us. We all need to find ourselves going out of our way throughout the week to be doing this and not just once a week on Shabbat. 1Corinthians 12:27-28 states,
“You are the body of Messiah and each of you is an individual part of it. In the assembly God has appointed first emissaries, next prophets, third teachers, then those who perform miracles, then those who have the gift of healing, then those who help others, those who are managers, and those who can speak in a number of languages.”
Some of you may not boast of having the gift of being a prophet, or performing miracles, or being able to heal disease, although some of you may. Some of you may have been given the gift of being an emissary, being a teacher, being shamashim (deacons), managers, ect. We need for people in our communities and congregations to start using their gifts every week throughout each week to build the Kingdom of our God in our communities. We need for all the men in our communities to take the time each week to study together! And, that is where it starts. It starts by the leaders and the heads of the households getting together through out the week and encouraging each other to build our observant communities. We cannot be satisfied with sitting back and watching a few people attempt to build by themselves. The ministry of Adonai will fail in our communities if this is the case. Do we care? Shemot (Exo) 35:29 in this parashah says the following,
“The children of Yisra'el brought a freewill offering to YHVH; every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all the work, which YHVH had commanded to be made by Moshe.”
Adonai is looking for a few willing hearts to roll up their sleeves for all the work that must be done. Will you fulfill the calling of “Bnai Yisrael”? Will each of you fulfill your roles as Children and builders of The Kingdom? Or, will we be too busy building our own? For if we all stand up and say “yes” to building Adonai’s Kingdom, if we make it a priority instead of one of the last things on our list…and if we follow through with our commitment working together as children of the Most High,…we will truly fulfill our purpose. I have much hope for the future and I look forward to seeing how our communities will come together to glorify the name of the God of Yisrael, and His Son, Yeshua The Messiah.
Shabbat shalom!