Come out of her, My people…

The Torah reading called “Pekudei” (for the “accounts” that summarized the making of the ‘mishkan,’ or Tabernacle in the Wilderness, from Exodus 38:10 through the end of the Book) is the final parsha the the opening saga of the Exodus.

And while the story has only really begun at that point, it’s an inspired summary of what mattered then, and still does:  the phrase “as YHVH commanded Moshe [Moses]” is repeated eighteen times in this parsha alone, and the level of repeated detail on the work the ‘mixed multitude’ did together is, in large measure, also repeated, but with a change of tense:  that which they were TOLD to do, they, and Moses, DID — and, again, “as YHVH commanded Moshe.”

There is clearly a message there.

While most of us who have attended the vast majority of ‘denominational churches’ have probably heard the term “Old” Testament, and even that “the Law” was somehow away with later, as if it no longer applies, and what matters instead is the ‘spirit’ that is in our hearts, Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa suggests we had better understand the MANY other admonitions in Scripture, including warnings from Shaul, or Paul, that have been twisted.  He starts with a look at the First Letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians, and chapter 3.  But it is undeniable, to those with “eyes to see,” that the ReNewed Covenant, in places like Jeremiah 31:31 is not quite what most of us have been taught, either.

As we see the battle lines being drawn in a world which has largely rejected the True Messiah in favor of “another jesus whom we have NOT preached,” Mark suggests it has never been more important not only that we know WHICH Spirit is “holy” and how to know, but that we understand why what “Yahuah commanded Moshe” is still the Foundation — just as Yahushua HaMashiach, the Messiah, said, and taught.  He never changed so much as a “yod or tiddle.”

And He summarized it all simply, too:   “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

Which?  All of ’em.  The ones He Wrote, and Taught, and has never changed.

If we are now to be His “temple,” and His Holy Spirit is to dwell within our hearts, we need to understand what that really means.

Pekudei: As YHVH Commanded Moshe – so we still had better DO

https://markcallshow.transistor.fm/episodes/mark-call-torah-teaching-for-portion-pekudei#

Parsha “Tetzaveh” (Exodus 27:10 – 30:10) continues the description of elements associated with the still-to-be-built ‘tabernacle in the wilderness,’ this time beginning with the priestly garments for Aaron and his sons.

The Erev Shabbat Reading begins with “command” them to make oil for the menorah, and then continues through the sanctification of the ‘cohenim’:

The Sabbath Day midrash concerns a conjunction of events, both historic and current, and associated readings. And as seems to so often be the case, there’s more than just coincidence evidently at work now.

One of the obvious, and stated, purposes of the garments created “for splendor and for beauty,” to be worn by the cohenim (priests) was that they be “set apart” to serve YHVH. And the golden inscription on Aaron’s forehead said, “Holy to YHVH.” The fact that such a priesthood no longer exists only makes the contrast more clear.

But several events this week really brought that home.

By almost any Scriptural measure, what we now have instead looks like an “anti-priesthood,” set apart not to YHVH, but His “Adversary.”

And an honest reading of Scripture is “uncomfortably clear” on those implications.

Note: The midrash mentions a related look at the story of Esther, and the ‘Purim’ holiday, which was an element of Mark’s observations in the “Come out of her, My people” Show this week:

Tetzaveh: What is Amalek?