Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Parsha Diary--Tetzaveh, You shall command

The pointer and decorative "breastplate" that adorns the Torah scroll

Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let Your godly ones sing for joy. 
Psalm 132:9
Dear Parsha Diary,

This week I just loved reading Parsha Tetzaveh!  I learned so much from the Holy Spirit guiding as I enjoyed delving into the parsha.  I am continually in awe not only the beautiful details of the parsha in themselves, and especially, oh the priestly garments and the loving instructions from God to Moses on how they are to be made!! But also how everything points to our lives in Messiah Yeshua, and how alive His word is.  I know some people call this the "Old" Testament, but Lord this is all so new and alive and relevant to who we are in Messiah Yeshua!!! 

Make them holy in the truth.  Your word is truth.  John 17:17
Tetzaveh   You shall command

There is a commandment in the first line of the parsha for the olive oil to be brought to keep the light of the menorah burning forever before the LORD (Exodus 27:20~21).  After that, a good part of this parsha details the intricate and beautiful descriptions of the priestly garments God instructs Moses—though note that in this parsha Moses is not named—-to have made for Aaron and his sons.  Over and over in the tabernacle descriptions, God instructs that all be made by spirit-filled craftsmen  who are wise-hearted.  Each element of both the Tabernacle and the garments has special significance that speaks volumes about God’s heart and the love and meaning that is put into every detail of His word and instructions for our lives in service to Him, all for His Glory and to reveal His beauty!!

Our High Priest Yeshua is revealed in each item of garments, and the ministry of intercession that is our Messiah’s ministry is also passed down to us.   As a people, nation of high priests we are commanded to put on the Armor of God(Ephesians 6:10~23).   It is striking to read the passages in this parsha (for example the breastplate of judgement, Ex. 28:15) and to see how Paul's description of the armor in Ephesians is so deeply rooted in these instructions and all of the Torah.

True priests in service of Messiah always are to keep the light of God shining and lit, and to put on the priestly garments of justice, righteousness, truth and Salvation, always ready and with the Good News of Shalom to intercede and pray in the Ruach on every occasion (Ephesians 6:18)!  May we be clothed in Messiah Yeshua, shining our light and armed for intercession as we set out in our prayer time today!
  
Here is a prayer to pray for your child or loved one to be clothed in the armor of God! Put that person's name in the dotted lines in the prayer below.
May................................be strong in the LORD and in His mighty power.
May .......................put on the full armor of God so that ............................can stand against the schemes of the devil.  May.....................always buckle the belt of truth around his/her waist, and put on the breast plate of righteousness.  May .........................strap up his/her feet in readiness with the Good News of Shalom.  Above all, may...............take up the shield of faith with which he/she will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  And may...................take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.   from Ephesians 6:10~17

Readings from Parsha Tetzaveh:
Exodus 27:20 ~ 30:10
Ezeikel 43:10 ~27
Hebrews 9:6~14

Notes:  Ruach is the Hebrew word for Spirit, or Wind, here referring to the Holy Spirit.

Take ...unleavened cakes with oil mixed in....    from Exodus 29:2, note to myself, the word for cakes in Hebrew in this verse is "Challah"

Notice the "Challah" this week, it has an unleavened look to it, actually I tried making challah using rice flour that I got from a local rice grower, and was surprised at the result how it didn't rise.

I have a "souvenir" Torah Scroll from Jerusalem. I confess I can't really read it but I can follow along enough to see where we are and listen along to the Hebrew as I "read" it for each potion, and some words do "pop out" and it is good Hebrew study as well for listening and following along and seeing!!!
Parsha Tetzaveh

Meditating on God's splendor and majesty and His clothes of righteousness; and on being clothed in the Armor of God.



You shall make a breastpiece of decision, worked into a design; make it in the style of the ephod:  make it of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and of fine twisted linen.  It shall be square and doubled, a span in length and a span in width.  Set in it mounted stones, in four rows of stones.  
Exodus 28:15~17 




 

15 comments:

  1. The detailed instructions about the priests' garments are indeed quite relevant in many ways to Life.
    You seem to be very impressed by the parsha Tezaveh.

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  2. Thank you Duta. Yes, I really love this parsha---all of them of course!! but, yes this one particularly excites me everytime we come to it!! And just realizing , these details will be repeated again in a few parsha from now when the instructions are carried out!! Stay tuned, and please read it with me and share any of your insights!! God Bless you!! ♡

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  3. Your unrisen Challah still looks delicious!

    Thank you for that beautiful prayer to pray over our children. I just did a study on that part of Ephesians with the Armor of God.

    Blessings

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  4. I may have ended that with a ? instead of a !

    I tried to catch it, but the comment seems to have gone through.

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  5. Thank you Sandi! Looks like the ! came through! And you're welcome. The challah did come out good tasting. Someone said it went nicely with the grape juice. Glad that you received the prayer, and that the post went well with the study you are doing in Ephesians in the part on the Armor!! God Bless you! Shabbat Shalom!♡

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  6. I remember whenever I read these scriptures I was always fascinated by the fine details of the craftsmanship and clothing. In reading many OT scriptures it is always amazing to see the details God includes for us to read and study. I see your experiment with rice flour. I've seen bread made with rice flour and bought some once. It looked almost like a regular loaf in that it rose well enough but I didn't really enjoy the taste. I know new things can take longer to enjoy. God bless you and thank you for dropping by my latest post. Looking forward to reading more from you.

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    1. Thank you Joyful! So good to see you. Thank you for kind words and sharing about your reading the scriptures, and your experience tasting the rice flour bread!! I agree, it probably takes a little getting used to the taste of the rice flour bread, and the consistency is a little different. There is a good word in Japanese, mochi-mochi, it means chewy and its how the challah consistency came out!! Anyway its fun to experiment with different kinds of flours! Blessings and Shalom!♡

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  7. I once imagined how the high priest would have looked like. Beautiful and full of symbolism! Beautiful text of Ephesians, to put on the whole armor in the battle to enter through the narrow gate.
    How wonderful of you to once again bake such a good challh of rice flour seems difficult to me.

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    1. Thank you Hobbyloes! To God be the Glory!!

      I appreciate your encouraging words about baking! To me yours look so difficult to make!! So from such a baker I am humbled to hear that!! Blessings ! Love!

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  8. I feel more educated in Hebrew tradition! I love the Ephesians prayer, too. You teach us well and may the good Lord bless you and keep you today and may His face shine upon you. With love and hugs from Arizona!

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  9. Thank you Mary. Love and hugs from Japan!
    May the Lord Bless you and Keep you and shine His face upon you and give you Peace!! ♡

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  10. Hi, Shayndel! Hope you are well. You haven't posted in a while. :) Shalom

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    1. Hi Sandi! So sweet of you to think of me. I will make a post soon then! Shalom!! ♡

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  11. Thank you for your kind comment. Shayndel you were right, the cake was meant for the opening of a small church and the lion on the cake was referring to the lion of Judah.

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  12. Praise God!! That's awesome!! What a wonderful celebration. Thank you!! ♡

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