"Contribution, gift, free-will offering"
Exodus 25:1 - 27:19; I Kings 5:26 - 6:13; Hebrews 8:1-6; 9:23-24; 10:1
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This week's Parsha begins with the following, "ADONAI said to Moshe, 'Tell the people of Isra'el to take up a collection for me -accept a contribution from anyone who wholeheartedly wants to give.'" These words have been used for years to encourage the people of G-D to give offerings of money or goods to help the work of G-D go forward. This teaching is true and sometimes needs to be repeated. This week I would prefer to look at these verses in the light of giving ourselves as an offering. Each of us, according to Romans 12:1, are to make an offering of ourselves to G-D: "I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God's mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please him; it is the logical 'Temple worship' for you." One of the first things we can understand about offerings is that the offering does not get to choose its use or how or when it will be offered. Likewise, we do not get to choose how or when G-D will use the offering of ourselves. It is not within our power to make the decision of how we will be used. Our only choice is if we will give ourselves to Him. Once we give ourselves to Him we no longer belong to ourselves. We have placed ourselves into His hands for His purposes. So this week I would ask first, have you offered yourself to G-D as an offering and second, are you willing to be used as He chooses?
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As I sat down to write this Parsha study, I had just arrived home from the meeting with our real estate agent. We met so that I could hand him the contract for the building on Olive Road. Sitting down at my desk, I opened my Tanakh to read the Parsha for this week and noticed how timely this Parsha is. As we read this week, Adonai asks Moshe to speak to the Children of Israel and ask them to donate gifts to provide for a Mishkan or Tabernacle. I thought as I began to write this how easy it would be to share a message comparing our purchase of this building with the giving of gifts for the making of the Tabernacle. There are after all some similarities. It is a place of worship, a place where offerings and praise are given to Adonai, but I am not going to do that. A building would be a blessing to us and add many opportunities to minister to our congregation. As we would have a place to have more studies, a place for dance and worship practice, a place for our mishpochah to stop and pray during the day and many other uses that we have not even thought about yet. However, I would like to use this space this week to speak about the need for us to be a Tabernacle for the Ruach. Everything described in this weeks Parsha follows a pattern given by G-D to Moshe. Our becoming a tabernacle for the Ruach also follows a pattern given by G-D through the Torah of Moshe. It is a plan of redemption through the Messiah. This redemption must follow the pattern of it will now work. We can water down the word of G-D we can compromise with those who say we are stubborn or small minded because we insist that there is no way to redemption other than through holiness brought about by the Kipporah (covering) of the blood of Yeshua. But the truth is we must become a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable. To be found acceptable is another way of saying you followed the pattern provided by G-D. Once we become a living sacrifice we then can become a tabernacle of the Ruach, a place where the Spirit of the Most High can dwell. If we as a congregation buy this building and transform it into a beautiful showplace but in the process we loose our focus on the eternal, we would have failed our job as Talmidim (disciples) of Yeshua. I am excited about this building and the prospects of having a meeting place of our own. I also believe that as the people of G-D gave for the tabernacle, our community will also give for this synagogue building. But I never want our focus to stop from sharing the Love of Yeshua with both Jew and non-Jew. We must not be distracted by the things that are temporary. I ask this week and in the coming weeks that you will pray for our leadership that our vision and focus will never be distracted from the commission that we have received from our Mashiach.