Post by Yedidyah on Feb 23, 2014 9:17:43 GMT -8
“Ketoret” a Nugget on Prayer from Parashah Tetzaveh
In our parashah we see so much attention to detail, the creative side of Hashem always being manifested in such detail. So many would skip over the temple service thinking since it is not standing today there is not much we can enact within our own lives but the truth is there is so much detail here for us to learn. In this portion we see how Hashem wants to be worshiped. Let’s go into our portion and meditate on the Ketoret (incense).
“Place it in front of the curtain by the ark for the testimony, in front of the ark-cover that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you. Aharon will burn fragrant incense on it as a pleasing aroma every morning; he is to burn it when he prepares the lamps. Aharon is also to burn it when he lights the lamps at dusk; this is the regular burning of incense before Adonai through all your generations.” Shemot (Exodus) 30:6-8
In these verses we see some amazing connections here with Israel’s time of prayers:
Hashem setting a place in time where He is going to meet with us.
We see in Isaiah 2:3 that the
is to go forth from Zion.
So we can be looked at like the lamps that are meant to bring light to Hashem and the.
We don’t have this light on our own rather it only can come from the main source of light , Hashem.
The Talmud talks about it like this, “The Jewish people are compared to the moon, and therefore we count according to her cycle.” The sages have taught that like the moon we do not have our own light but rather a light that is a reflection of something much greater!
So how do we get the flame that ignites the internal lamp that lives within our neshama (soul) By offering our prayers like incense on the altar of praise to Hashem.
“Take words with you, and return to ADONAI; say to him, "Forgive all guilt, and accept what is good; we will pay instead of bulls [the offerings of] our lips”
Hoshea (Hosea) 14:3
How are we using this light that has been given to us from Shamayim? (Heaven)
In order to use the light that comes from one must spend time in prayer with Hashem to better understand the great treasures He has gifted us.
Look at it like this if you told a child they had inherited ten million dollars would they really grasp what you are saying? Would they know the depth in what that would mean?
Of course not but with maturity and time they would slowly come to the understanding.
Now if that same child knew that they had to earn the wealth by simply spending time in prayer with Hashem how much more of a reward would it be in the end? We can see that the promises from Hashem are much more rewarding than any earthly reward.
We are the children with the inheritance; all we need to do is invest our time in prayer and worship with our King!
King Solomon wrote, "Oil and Ketoret [incense] make the heart rejoice" (Proverbs 27:9).
Let’s look at some more verses about prayer being like incense before our King
“Let my prayer be like incense set before you,
my uplifted hands like an evening sacrifice.
Set a guard, Adonai, over my mouth;
keep watch at the door of my lips.
Don’t let my heart turn to anything evil
or allow me to act wickedly
with men who are evildoers;
keep me from eating their delicacies.”
Psalm 141:2-4
Prayer can be compared to a ladder that goes straight to Shamayim. The aroma of the incense rose from the heat like the other sacrifices placed at the altar, they were all to be a sweet aroma to Hashem.
As we pray we must be careful to be sincere so that our prayers are a “Sweet Aroma”
Know who you stand before and treat it as nothing common.
Go before the King in humility and truth.
In prayer we can move from our earthly state to where Hashem wants us to be.
It is the beginning of a true relationship with the Hashem.
We see in Revelations 5:8 “gold bowls filled with pieces of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people”
We also see in chapter eight.
“on the gold altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense went up with the prayers of God's people from the hand of the angel before God.”
Revelations 8:1
In closing I would like to share with you a final verse,
“For to God we are the aroma of the Messiah, both among those being saved and among those being lost; to the latter, we are the smell of death leading only to more death; but to the former, we are the sweet smell of life leading to more life. Who is equal to such a task?”
2 Corinthians 2:15-16
Never underestimate the power of prayer for it was by prayer and repentance and by the grace of Hashem that saved the wicked city of Ninveh in the story of Yonah.
Prayer is one of the most powerful tools Hashem has entrusted with us.
Let us be the sweet aroma that can only come from the Kodesh (Set apart) alter.
A holiness that is not our own but a gift from Hashem, an inheritance that is not from this world.
In our parashah we see so much attention to detail, the creative side of Hashem always being manifested in such detail. So many would skip over the temple service thinking since it is not standing today there is not much we can enact within our own lives but the truth is there is so much detail here for us to learn. In this portion we see how Hashem wants to be worshiped. Let’s go into our portion and meditate on the Ketoret (incense).
“Place it in front of the curtain by the ark for the testimony, in front of the ark-cover that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you. Aharon will burn fragrant incense on it as a pleasing aroma every morning; he is to burn it when he prepares the lamps. Aharon is also to burn it when he lights the lamps at dusk; this is the regular burning of incense before Adonai through all your generations.” Shemot (Exodus) 30:6-8
In these verses we see some amazing connections here with Israel’s time of prayers:
Hashem setting a place in time where He is going to meet with us.
We see in Isaiah 2:3 that the
is to go forth from Zion.So we can be looked at like the lamps that are meant to bring light to Hashem and the
.We don’t have this light on our own rather it only can come from the main source of light , Hashem.
The Talmud talks about it like this, “The Jewish people are compared to the moon, and therefore we count according to her cycle.” The sages have taught that like the moon we do not have our own light but rather a light that is a reflection of something much greater!
So how do we get the flame that ignites the internal lamp that lives within our neshama (soul) By offering our prayers like incense on the altar of praise to Hashem.
“Take words with you, and return to ADONAI; say to him, "Forgive all guilt, and accept what is good; we will pay instead of bulls [the offerings of] our lips”
Hoshea (Hosea) 14:3
How are we using this light that has been given to us from Shamayim? (Heaven)
In order to use the light that comes from
one must spend time in prayer with Hashem to better understand the great treasures He has gifted us. Look at it like this if you told a child they had inherited ten million dollars would they really grasp what you are saying? Would they know the depth in what that would mean?
Of course not but with maturity and time they would slowly come to the understanding.
Now if that same child knew that they had to earn the wealth by simply spending time in prayer with Hashem how much more of a reward would it be in the end? We can see that the promises from Hashem are much more rewarding than any earthly reward.
We are the children with the inheritance; all we need to do is invest our time in prayer and worship with our King!
King Solomon wrote, "Oil and Ketoret [incense] make the heart rejoice" (Proverbs 27:9).
Let’s look at some more verses about prayer being like incense before our King
“Let my prayer be like incense set before you,
my uplifted hands like an evening sacrifice.
Set a guard, Adonai, over my mouth;
keep watch at the door of my lips.
Don’t let my heart turn to anything evil
or allow me to act wickedly
with men who are evildoers;
keep me from eating their delicacies.”
Psalm 141:2-4
Prayer can be compared to a ladder that goes straight to Shamayim. The aroma of the incense rose from the heat like the other sacrifices placed at the altar, they were all to be a sweet aroma to Hashem.
As we pray we must be careful to be sincere so that our prayers are a “Sweet Aroma”
Know who you stand before and treat it as nothing common.
Go before the King in humility and truth.
In prayer we can move from our earthly state to where Hashem wants us to be.
It is the beginning of a true relationship with the Hashem.
We see in Revelations 5:8 “gold bowls filled with pieces of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people”
We also see in chapter eight.
“on the gold altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense went up with the prayers of God's people from the hand of the angel before God.”
Revelations 8:1
In closing I would like to share with you a final verse,
“For to God we are the aroma of the Messiah, both among those being saved and among those being lost; to the latter, we are the smell of death leading only to more death; but to the former, we are the sweet smell of life leading to more life. Who is equal to such a task?”
2 Corinthians 2:15-16
Never underestimate the power of prayer for it was by prayer and repentance and by the grace of Hashem that saved the wicked city of Ninveh in the story of Yonah.
Prayer is one of the most powerful tools Hashem has entrusted with us.
Let us be the sweet aroma that can only come from the Kodesh (Set apart) alter.
A holiness that is not our own but a gift from Hashem, an inheritance that is not from this world.
