mordekhi v yisraela

Torah: Tetzaveh (You shall command), Sh’mot (Exodus) 27.20-30.10
Haftorah: Yekhezk’el (Ezekiel) 43.10-27
Suggested Messianic Writings: Heb 13.10-16

Shalom,

Sh’mot 27.20: “You are to order the people of Isra’el to bring you pure oil of pounded olives for the light, and to keep a lamp burning continually.” Pure oil – oil prepared from olives that had been cleaned of leaves and dust, and then beaten in a mortar. This oil, which flows out by itself from the beaten olive, is of the finest quality and a white color, according to Keil & Delitzsch. The pure oil was to be put into the menorah in the Tabernacle, which was to be lit and kept burning from evening to morning, every day.

As a young child in Sunday School, we sang the little song, “Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burnin’ for the Lord….” The Jesus movement (affectionately known by Messianics as “the Yeshua movement” – after all, the Messianic Jewish revival began at that time) came up with more illuminating verses as, “Give me oil in my Ford, keep me chuggin’ for the Lord…” and so on. Some of you may remember other such enlightening lines.

Oil. The substance that has come to represent the Ruakh HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit). The substance that Yeshua warns us in parable form in Mattityahu (Matthew) 25 to be wise and have our lamps full of. Without the oil in the menorah in the Tabernacle, it would have been dark and the priests would not have been able to fulfill their duties. Having the menorah, the lamp, by itself was not enough. It needed oil to be able to provide light. The five foolish virgins of Mattityahu 25 had their lamps, but no oil. The lamps represent the work without the power.

The Ruakh HaKodesh is no doubt the most misunderstood member of the triune G-dhead. The Hebraic terminology concerning the Ruakh is in the feminine form, although the “Ekhad G-d” is not expressly either male or female. Yeshua became a man and is thus a male, but the spirit forms of Elohim are neither man nor woman. The Ruakh is the power available to believers today to aid us in our walk, but the Ruakh is also a personality. We should to never refer to the Ruakh as “it”. The Ruakh is not a mysterious floating mist, “the force,” or any other such nomenclature. The Ruakh is G-d, just as much as the Father and the Son are G-d. None of us can ever expect to fully understand or explain the tri-unity of the one G-d.

As believers today, globally, we understand so little of what the Ruakh is trying to tell us. We are more in tune to what our own wills want. Yeshua said that the Ruakh “will guide you into all the truth” (Yokhanan/John 16.13). With around some 38,000 different church denominations in the world, that makes for a lot of differences in hearing the “truth”. Possibly the missing key overall may be found in Yokhanan 16.14: “He will glorify Me”. All too often our programs, our ways, our prejudices overrule glorifying Yeshua. And yet, on the other hand, we are the bride that is being prepared; perhaps we are all pieces of the puzzle. But only the pieces that fit properly are used to form the puzzle. “Lord, Lord! Didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we expel demons in your name? Didn’t we perform many miracles in your name?” Our only goal should be to glorify Yeshua and let the Ruakh show us what else to do. That is holiness.

Oswald Chambers noted that, “The New Testament example of the believer’s experience is that of a personal, passionate devotion to the person of [Yeshua the Messiah]. Every other kind of so-called Christian experience is detached from the person of [Yeshua].” We should note that in this parashah, the oil is called for first, before the Priests were set apart. 1 Kefa (Peter) 2.9 tells us that we as believers are a royal priesthood (or as Stern reads, “the King’s cohanim”). The Priests of the Tabernacle and Temple were to be set apart as ministers unto G-d. Set apart – that is holiness. As priests of Yeshua today, our lives are to be set apart. Why? Continuing with 1 Kefa 2.9, so that “you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”. How do we do that? The first step (after that of accepting Yeshua as Messiah, Savior, and Lord) is to be filled with oil, or the Ruakh HaKodesh. Then we can be placed into His service as a Priest. Dare not go forward in His service without oil, or you will be as one of the foolish virgins.

Holiness. Glorifying Yeshua, that is obedience, and that is holiness. First published in 1853, Stephen Charnock wrote this regarding holiness, in his magnificent book The Existence and Attributes of God: “The holiness of His Spirit doth sparkle in His ordinances; the holiness of our spirits ought also to sparkle in our observance of them… All worship is an acknowledgment of the excellency of God as He is holy… How can any person sanctify G0d’s name that hath not a holy resemblance to His nature? If he be not holy as He is holy, he cannot worship Him according to His excellency in spirit and in truth; no worship is spiritual wherein we have not a communion with God.”

In a Biblical paradox, we can only receive the oil through the shed blood of the Messiah. The Messianic Writings portion this week deals with that thought, stating that “Yeshua suffered death… in order to make the people holy through his own blood. Therefore, let us go out to Him… and share His disgrace… Through him, therefore, let us offer God a sacrifice of praise continually. For this is the natural product of lips that acknowledge his name. But don’t forget doing good and sharing with others, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Hebrews 13.12-16).

Purim is upon us, and the words of Mordekhi to Queen Ester (Ester 4.14) are applicable in our day to all who serve the Master Yeshua, who are covered by His blood, filled with the Holy Oil of the Ruakh HaKodesh, and are operating as a Royal Priest: “For if you fail to speak up now, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from a different direction; but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows whether you didn’t come into your royal position precisely for such a time as this.”

שַׁאֲלוּ שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם – Sha’alu shalom Yerushalayim – Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

Torah: Shof’tim (Judges), D’varim (Deuteronomy) 16.18-21.9

Haftorah: Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 51.12-52.12

Suggested Messianic Writings: Mattityahu (Mathew) 3.1-17

Shalom,

Moshe continues in this parashah with more instructions for Israel to carry out after they enter the land that HaShem is giving to them. Back in Sh’mot (Exodus) 18, Moshe’s father-in-law Yitro (Jethro) encouraged Moshe to discontinue being the only judge for Israel, as he would wear himself out, but rather to appoint various leaders to help with all the judgments for the people. Moshe heeded this advice, and Israel’s first judicial system was set up. Now Moshe is giving the commandment that there shall be judges established in every city in Israel after he is gone and Israel has crossed over into the land.

HaShem set a high standard for the judges of the land – they shall judge the people with righteous judgment, מִשְׁפַּט צֶדֶק, mish’paht tseh-dehk. The definition of צֶדֶק tseh-dehk, righteous, is “accurate, fair, just”. The protocol was that the communities were to be responsible for appointing their judges; the sages understood this to mean that if the community had a hand in appointing unrighteous judges, then the community was to be held responsible if justice was perverted.

“You are not to distort justice….” The KJV says, “Thou shalt not wrest judgment….” Wrest is an older English word; the Hebrew is תַטֶּה nah-tey, which means “to stretch or spread out; by implication to bend away (including moral deflection)”. The Message Bible translates the line as, “Don’t twist the law.” Following that instruction, leaders are told “do not show partiality or favoritism, and do not accept a bribe”. Bribe in Hebrew is שֹׁחַד, sho-khad, meaning simply, “a gift presented to one in return for a favor”. Whatever the purpose of the “gift,” a leader is not to take such when dispensing justice, “for a gift blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of even the upright,” or put another way, “a bribe… undermines the intentions of the best of people.”

“תִּרְדֹּף צֶדֶק צֶדֶק, tseh-dehk tseh-dehk teer-doph, Justice, only justice, you must pursue;” or as another translation states, “Righteousness, righteousness shall you pursue”. One reason that the word is repeated in the Hebrew is to emphasize two different aspects of the word. Some of the ancient commentators said that in the current context, it means that to pursue righteousness in general, one must pursue a righteous court. Another opinion given, one a little more personal, is that we are to: 1) pursue righteousness through our own deeds, and 2) pursue righteousness as a gift from HaShem. For example, in D’varim (Deuteronomy) 10.16, HaShem commands Israel to “circumcise the foreskin of your heart,” in other words, they were told to cultivate a right attitude which would then produce righteous behavior. Later, in D’varim 30.6, HaShem promises that He Himself will “circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your children, so that you will love Adonai your God with all your heart and all your being”. HaShem will provide the gift of righteousness.

Righteousness is spoken of often in the Tanakh. Yesha’yahu (Isaiah), writing of the suffering of the coming Messiah, says in 53.11, “After this ordeal, he will see satisfaction. By his knowing [pain and sacrifice], my righteous servant makes many righteous; it is for their sins that he suffers.” Much of what Yesha’yahu wrote can apply to both Israel and Yeshua, but not this verse. Only the Messiah makes many righteous after suffering for their sins. If we acknowledge that Mashiakh (Messiah) Yeshua makes righteous those who accept Him as Lord and Master, we have received the gift of righteousness; on the other hand, we cannot accept such a gift and do nothing with it, for this is a gift that we must pursue constantly by what we do, by how we live. In other words, we receive the gift of righteousness through faith, by trusting our Creator God, while at the same time we pursue righteousness in all that we do. We dare not abuse either way of obtaining righteousness.

Note that the commandment says to “pursue” righteousness – in fact, “you must pursue righteousness”. The Hebrew word for pursue is רדף, rah-dahf, which means “to run after”. Rabbi Hertz’ commentary (Rabbi Hertz was Chief Rabbi of the British Empire pre-WWII), regarding the entire phrase, states, “These passionate words may be taken as the keynote of the humane legislation of the Torah, and of the demand for social righteousness by Israel’s Prophets, Psalmists and Sages.” Shoes that perfectly fit both feet – if the justice system pursues justice/righteousness, then justice will be applied to the land. If the community that appoints the judges pursues righteousness, then the judge will be just, and the land will live in righteousness. A nation goes the way of its leaders. This is from Torah, if anyone thinks this is being bound up under Law, what are the options? Unrighteousness, injustice, oppression, unfairness, dictatorship! Choose this day whom you will serve. The G-d that Avraham, Yitz’khak v’Ya’akov (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) served is the same G-d that Kefa, Yochanan v’Sha’ul (Peter, John & Paul) served.

The prophet Mikhah, (Mee-kha, Micah) wrote of justice (6.8): “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does ADONAI require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” The apostle Sha’ul (Saul/Paul) put it another way, in the letter to the Philippians (4.8), “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Think about (or on) in Greek is logizomai, (log-id’-zom-ahee), which means, “to take an inventory, to consider”. If one “thinks” long enough about something, one “acts” on those thoughts.

What is the purpose of this pursuit of righteousness, righteousness/justice, justice? The answer is given in the rest of verse 20: “So that you may חיה, kha-yah, live (def: come to life, give life, be healed, keep alive, stay alive) and ירשׁ yah-resh, possess (def: to take possession of, inherit, dispossess; to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place)) the land ADONAI your God is giving you.” The pursuit of righteousness/justice will bring a righteous/just reward.

Hertz’ commentary notes that, “Justice is not the only ethical quality in God or man, nor is it the highest quality; but it is the basis for all the others. ‘Righteousness and justice are the foundations of Thy throne,’ says the Psalmist [89.14]. The whole idea of the Divine rests on them.”

Only when we – from the individual to the community to the government – follow the advice, nay, the commandment of our Creator, will all go well. Where does the pursuit of righteousness, righteousness/justice, justice rank in your life? Sha’ul wrote similarly of this dual pursuit, that of chasing after what we have received (a Biblical paradox), in 1 Timothy 6.12, “Fight the good fight of the faith, take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you testified so well to your faith before many witnesses”. Take hold literally means, “to seize”. You see the double paradoxical pursuit? We have been called, we have received a high calling, but to retain it, we must pursue it, we must seize it! How do we seize eternal life? Sha’ul actually gave the answer in the preceding verse (6.11): “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, steadfastness, and gentleness.”

Someone once said that life can be so “daily”. I believe that a great way to take the daily-ness out of daily life is to be in hot pursuit of the righteousness offered by the Creator, which is the gift of eternal life that is given freely, yet with such a high price, by the Messiah Yeshua. He is coming to separate the wheat from the chaff (Matt 3.12). He is coming to set up an eternal kingdom that will continually pursue “righteousness, righteousness/justice, justice”. Author Jerry Bridges wrote a book on the subject, entitled, The Pursuit of Holiness, wherein he states, “Scripture speaks of both a holiness we have in [Messiah] before God, and a holiness we are to strive after. We can ignore neither [Messiah’s] role nor our own if we are to successfully pursue holiness. It is as simple as refusing to smudge the truth on a tax return or as complicated as forgiving the person who has most viciously hurt us. [We need to] take holiness out of the realm of the impossible and bring it into the real world of our daily lives and decisions.”

Israel (I speak of Jewish people globally in this thought) desperately needs to pick up that pursuit that their forefathers began in the days of Moshe. A true pursuit of righteousness (far beyond any good that humanity can do on its own) can only do one thing – reveal the King of Righteousness for who He is, Yeshua HaMashiakh, Yeshua the Messiah, the true Judge who will judge justly. “Awake! Awake, Tziyon [Zion]! Shake off the dust! Arise! Break out into joy! Sing together, you ruins of Yerushalayim [Jerusalem]! For Adonai has comforted his people, he has redeemed Yerushalayim! Adonai has bared his holy arm in the sight of every nation, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation (yeshua) of our God, Yeshuat Eloheynu, אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְשׁוּעַת” (from this week’s Haftorah). The pursuit is on; got your running shoes ready?

שַׁאֲלוּ שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם – Sha’alu shalom Yerushalayim – Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!