Pekudei (Accounts, Accountability) Ex. 38:21–40:38; 1 Kings 7:51–8:21; Heb. 8:1–12
In last week’s parasha, we read about the construction of the Tabernacle, designed to be the dwelling place of God where His Shekinah Glory would dwell in the Holy of Holies. Even as God used the most skilled artisans for it, God deserves the very best we can give Him which is the least He deserves. Where did these skilled artisans emerge from? Unlike with the Temple where Solomon employed the skills of artisans from Hiram, King of Tyre, (2Chron. 3-4), here with the construction of the tabernacle people were utilised from within the community. Where would they have gained the skills for this since they had been slaves in Egypt for over 200 years? It is my guess that they utilised people from among the foreigners and strangers dwelling in their midst who had joined them in the Exodus. With both the construction of the tabernacle (mishkan) and the temple, God used the Gentiles. The Jewish priests were employed for the service of the building not its construction. Contained here is a portrayal for us a prophetic picture of the Body of Messiah consisting of both Jew and Gentile. We both need each other – we are not mutually exclusive and whenever we try to separate the two we reveal a dysfunctional Body of Messiah rather than one God created to represent Him as the Light of the World.
To do this is an unprecedented honour and privilege. Our God who is the Creator of the universe considered it worthwhile to demonstrate the fullness of His love by sending Messiah Jesus to suffer and die for our sins – the One who tabernacled amongst us and presented Himself as the unblemished sacrifice for our sins. This is an easy thing to underestimate since many believers live as though they are doing Him a favour by surrendering their lives to Him rather than the reverse!
Pekudei, our parasha for this week, illustrates the mystery of how God took up residence in the ‘mishkan,’ the tabernacle, a temporary dwelling, the Tent of Meeting. It is a type or shadow of the Ruach ha Kodesh who resides within those whose bodies represent a temple meet for His dwelling – a temporary dwelling for God has prepared for us a glorified and eternal body in Heaven that neither moth nor rust can destroy.
But God provided for the Israelites a clear protocol and it is the same for us as we present our bodies as a Temple of the Holy Spirit. If we fail to meet these requirements, He cannot dwell within us in any measure of power and we will not experience victory over all the things that Satan throws in our pathway. The protocol is very clear and simple. Bottom line is that God requires that we consecrate our lives fully to Him and allow Him to work in us that which is pleasing in His sight.
None of us are perfect; we are all flawed, but God desires to transform our lives ‘from glory to glory’ through His Spirit. It is not a comfortable thing to experience as the Divine surgeon purges everything in our lives which requires His healing or cleansing but it is necessary for all those who truly desire to be set free from all hindrances and to walk in the fullness of abundance which God desires for us.
Lev. 1:2 states,
“Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: when one of you offers a sacrifice to the Lord, the sacrifice must be taken from the cattle, sheep or goats.” The first Rebbe of Lubavitch.(R. Schneur Zalman of Liadi) noticed something grammatical odd about a verse in Leviticus 1:2 with regard to these things. However, in the Hebrew it actually says “when one offers a sacrifice of you”. (adam ki yakriv mikem) In other words, the essence of sacrifice is bound up with surrendering our lives fully unto Him. God invites us to bring all things at the feet of the cross: our faculties, our energies, our thoughts and emotions – everything.
The physical form of sacrifice, an animal offered on the altar, is only an external manifestation of something inward. The real sacrifice is mikem: “of you”. (Ps 51 – “For you don’t want sacrifices or I would give them; you don’t take pleasure in burnt offerings – my sacrifice to you is a broken spirit..” )
ISam. 15:22. “Does God take as much pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as obeying what God says? Surely obeying is better than sacrifice and heeding orders than the fat of lambs.”)
God does not delight in the sacrifice itself but in the right heart of the person who offers it. The Hebrew prophets warned the people that offering sacrifices without a pure heart would be all in vain.
What things are we doing to please God? Are they brought forth from a true desire to live in close relationship with Him or as a form of manipulation? There is a sense in which al of us desire quite legitimately desire to be blessed but it is our primary motive that God desires to see in the hearts of His beloved and of utmost importance rather than the subsidiaries.
Once Moses and the people finished the work of constructing the Mishkan, the Glory of God filled it: “So Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the meeting and the glory [kavod] of God filled the tabernacle.” (Ex 40:33–34)
The greater measure we offer our lives unconditionally and unreservedly to God, the greater will be the level of intimacy and blessing s we will experience in our lives. Nothing can compare with experiencing the glory of God and walking in close fellowship with Him. Paul boasted that, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Phil. 3:8-9)
How much do we desire to give our all to God this day and go deeper with Him?
Imagine that my wife Anette asks me for something. If I only love her a bit I will just give her what she asks for. But because I love her with all my heart, I delight to give it to her even more than she does and her desire becomes mine! (“Delight yourself in the Lord…”)
Here is an example of someone who loved the Lord with all his heart, soul and strength.
At the foot of a hill, he looked and saw, on the hillside above them, a shepherd who was blowing his horn to call his flock. After the sheep gathered to him, he led them to a nearby trough to water them. While they were drinking, he looked up to heaven and began to call out loudly, “Master of the world, You are so great! You created heaven and earth, and everything else! I’m a simple man; I’m ignorant and unlearned, and I don’t know how to serve You or praise You. I was orphaned as a child and raised among gentiles, so I never learned any Torah. But I can blow on my shepherd’s horn like a shofar, with all my strength, and call out, ‘The L-rd is G‑d!’” After blowing with all his might on the horn, he collapsed to the ground, without an ounce of energy, and lay there motionless until his strength returned.
Then he got up and said, “Master of the world, I’m just a simple shepherd; I don’t know any Torah, and I don’t know how to pray. What can I do for You? The only thing I know is to sing shepherds’ songs!” He then began to sing loudly and fervently with all his strength until, again, he fell to the earth, exhausted, without an ounce of energy.
After recovering, he got up again and began to call out, “Master of the world! What is it worth that I blew on my horn and sang songs for You, when You’re so great? What more can I do to serve You?” He paused for a moment and said, “There’s something else I know how to do, and I’ll do it for Your honor and glory!” He then stood on his head and began to wave his feet wildly in the air. Then he did somersaults one after the other, until he collapsed on the ground, exhausted. The Baal Shem Tov and his disciples watched all this from a distance, in amazement.
The shepherd lay there silently until his strength returned. Again, he began to speak and said, “Master of the world, I’ve done what I can, but I know it’s not enough! What more can I do to serve You?” After pausing to reflect, he said, “Yesterday, the nobleman who owns the flock made a feast for his servants, and when it ended, he gave each of us a silver coin. I’m giving that coin to You as a gift, O G‑d, because You created everything and You feed all Your creatures, including me, Moshe the little shepherd!” Saying this, he symbolically threw the coin upward as a prophetic act showing his intention to bless someone else with it.
The word for glory in Ex 40:34 is ‘kavod,’ that are related to the Hebrew words for honour (kaved) and heavy (kaved). When we give someone kavod, it means to give them honour or respect – it is a heavy thing — to treat others as somebody who has substance, importance, of great value.
This same word used in the Ten Commandments, “Honor (kaved) your father and your mother.” (Ex 20:12) When we glorify God, we honour Him. We cannot truly love someone without honouring them. (“If you love Me…)
God provided the Israelites with a sign of His continual Presence and guidance throughout all their 40-year period in the wilderness. “For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and there was fire therein by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.” (Ex. 40:38)
Despite the Israelites’ constant murmurings, rebellious hearts and stubbornness, they never dishonoured the Cloud of Glory and throughout their 40 year stint in the wilderness. Let’s be encouraged by this for God will also have His way in our lives despite all the messiness within us which causes us to fall short of His glory.
In the Haftorah section of the parsha we read an amazing event how the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle and later the Temple: “When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.” (1 Kings 8:10–11)
God’s presence was so heavy (kaved) and tangible that no-one could abide alongside it. (Isaiah 6)
I do not tire reflecting upon the Shema and seeking to press in to love Him more completely with all my heart, soul and strength. But what does it mean to “… love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength (meodecha)?” The last Hebrew word “m’eod” is usually translated as “strength” or “might.” But one of our greatest sages, Rashi, translated it differently as “with all your wealth.” What did he mean by this?
The command to love God with all our heart (continuously and unconditionally) is very clear and it is one of the most simple statements in Scripture with the hardest application. To love God with all your soul was clearly understood by the sages to mean, “with your life” if need be. Both Yeshua and Paul actually state this as a requirement for a believer: “Yeshua said to him, “No one, … ‘If any man puts his hand to the plow and keeps looking back, this person is not fit for the kingdom.’ (Luke 9:62.)
“So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.” (Rom 6:11) i.e., prepared to lay down one’s life daily
But why would Rashi translate the Hebrew word for strength as ‘wealth?’
Rashi made this statement NOT JUST because it is easy for people to do irrational things when money is at stake and by the way it has nothing to do with how rich or poor one is, because but rather an attitude of heart. When he referred to loving God with all our wealth, he was referring to our whole being – BODY, SOUL and SPIRIT. Our material possessions are relatively unimportant in comparison.
When we choose to love God with our whole being we begin to understand that there can be no stronger deterrent against sin.
In John 14:15: Yeshua told His disciples: “ If you love Me, you will obey my instructions/teachings.” He repeats this statement 3 times in the following few verses, a hidden literary device that emphasises the absolute imperative of this statement.
How much do we desire to give our all to God this day and go deeper with Him?
