(V.1) They
brought the Tabernacle to Moses. All of the pieces were brought to Moses.
(V.42-43)
So the sons of Israel did all the service (avodah) according to all that Yahweh
had commanded Moses. And Moses examined all the service and behold, they had
done it; just as Yahweh had commanded, this they had done. So Moses blessed
them:
“And let the favor of Yahweh our God be upon us; and do confirm for us the work
of our hands; yes, confirm the work of our hands” – Psalm 90:17.
Within ten
months of receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai, the Tabernacle was completed. The
work of building the Tabernacle was called service (avodah), the same
word as for offering a sacrifice. (Hebrews 12:25-29) We are to “offer
acceptable service, with reverence and awe,” by not refusing Him who is
speaking. For He whose voice then shook the earth at Mt. Sinai, will in the
future shake also the heavens, such that only those with an acceptable offering
will remain.
(V.40:17)
Now it came about on the first day of the first month of the second year, that
the Tabernacle was erected. Moses set up the Tabernacle. He anointed the
Tabernacle and all of its furnishings. Then Aaron and Aaron’s sons went through
a mikvah (baptistery), and Moses anointed them. Thereby, all of this was
dedicated to the service of Yahweh.
Next, Moses
lit the lamps of the menorah, and burned incense on the golden altar. Then he
offered the first of the continual elevation offering: in the morning, (the
tamid) a year-old lamb, and a large loaf of unleavened bread made from fine
wheat flour and olive oil, were burned so that the aroma would ascend to the
heavens. So, Moses initiated all that the priests were to perform. Henceforth,
this would be done daily for most of fourteen centuries – until the destruction
of the Temple about forty years after Yeshua’s crucifixion – to be resumed when
the Temple is rebuilt according to Ezekiel 45.
Then Moses set
up the courtyard around the Tabernacle, and the laver for Aaron and his sons to
wash before entering the Holy Place.
When all was
completed, God confirmed their service according to Moses’ blessing: (v.34-35)
“Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Yahweh filled
the Tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the
cloud had settled on it, and the glory of Yahweh filled the Tabernacle.”
(V.38)
Throughout all their journeys, the cloud of Yahweh was on the Tabernacle by day,
and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.
“In the sight
of all the house of Israel”: (Isaiah 33:20-21)
“Look upon Zion . . .; your eyes shall see Jerusalem
an undisturbed habitation, a tent which shall not be folded, its stakes shall
never be pulled up nor any of its cords be torn apart. But there the Majestic
One, Yahweh, shall be for us . . .”.
This was
prophesied at the middle of the first Temple period, 700 years after the
Tabernacle was established. In another 700 years, John would amplify this
prophecy.
Apparently,
about 2000 years after John, the prophecies will be fulfilled. (Revelation 15):
Some real latter-day saints are going to be singing the Song of Moses (Micha-mocha),
and the real Tabernacle / Temple (that the earthly ones picture) is going to be
opened in heaven. And, as Moses could not enter the Tabernacle because of the
glory of God, then no one is going to be able to enter the heavenly because of
the smoke from the glory of God and from His power – in the latter case, until
the seven angels pour out their seven last plagues.
Then this
latter-day Tabernacle will come down to the earth. (Isaiah 33:20) It is called
the City of our appointed Feasts – the eternal Feasts of Unleavened Breads,
Firstfruits (Pentecost), and Tabernacles. It is called a tent that shall not be
folded. Therein will reside the Majestic One. (V.36) “And those who love His
Name will dwell in it.” (Revelation 21:3-4) This Tabernacle of God is where
God will dwell among us, and we shall be His people, and He will be our God.
Former things will have passed away, and all things will be new.
But this is
for those who have been given to love His promised coming, not those who live
for the love of pleasure.
(2 Timothy
4:8) “In the future there is laid up for me (Paul) the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that
day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
(Titus
2:11-15) For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly,
righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the
appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Messiah Yeshua; who gave
Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for
Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. These things
speak and exhort and reprove with all authority.
Those who
built the Tabernacle were performing the service (avodah) of God. They
loved the promise of God’s presence.
_____________________
To go back to
Psalm 69:
This is a
Messianic Psalm. It relates not only to David, but to the then-future
crucifixion of Yeshua. It is about Yeshua performing the priestly service of
God. It is as though Yeshua were saying this from the cross – and part of it He
did.
(V.3-4 – see
John 15:25) “I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; my eyes fail
while I wait for my God. Those who hate me without a cause are more than the
hairs of my head; those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my
enemies.”
(V.6-8)
“May those who wait for Thee not be ashamed through me, O Yahweh God of hosts;
may those who seek Thee not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel, because
for Thy sake I have borne reproach; dishonor has covered my face. I have become
estranged from my brothers, and an alien to my mother's sons.”
(V.9 – quoted
in John 2:17) “For zeal for Thy house has consumed me.”
(V.15 – see
Matthew 12:11) “May the pit not shut its mouth on me.”
(V.21 – see
Matthew 27:34, 48) “They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst
they gave me vinegar to drink.”
(V.31) And this service will please Yahweh better than animal offerings.
A related prophecy:
Obadiah
1 Corinthians 1:
4 I thank my God always concerning you, for the
grace of God which was given you in Messiah Yeshua,
5 that in everything you were enriched in
Him, in all speech and all knowledge,
6 even as the testimony concerning
Messiah was confirmed in you,
7 so that you are not lacking in any
gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Yeshua Messiah,
8 who shall also confirm you to the end,
blameless in the day of our Lord Yeshua Messiah.
1 Thessalonians 5:
2 For you yourselves know full well
that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.
3 While they are saying, "Peace and
safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a
woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness,
that the day should overtake you like a thief;
2 Thessalonians 2:
1 Now we request you, brethren, with
regard to the coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, and our gathering together
to Him,
2 that you may not be quickly shaken from your
composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from
us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
2 Peter 3:
10 But the day of the Lord will come
like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements
will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned
up.
2950 A.M.~ First Temple (Solomon)
100 years~
3050 A.M.~ / 848-841 B.C. Invasion of Judah by Arabs and Philistines (Gaza)
300 years~
3338 A.M. / 586 B.C. Destruction by Babylonians
70 years
3408 A.M.
Second
Temple (Herod)
540 years~
3945 A.M.~ / 70 A.D. Roman army led by Emperor Titus
1 The vision of Obadiah.
Thus says Lord Yahweh concerning Edom – We have heard a report from Yahweh, and
an envoy has been sent among the nations saying,
We
might think here that the name “Elohim” would be used because judgment is being
ordered. But rather “Yahweh” is used because this is His grace towards His
people. Yahweh of Hosts (armies) has sent a heavenly messenger to gather the
nations against His peoples enemies.
“Arise and let us go against her for battle. 2
Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you are greatly despised.
3 The arrogance of your heart has
deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in the loftiness of your
dwelling place, who say in your heart, ‘who will bring me down to earth?’
4 Though you build high like the eagle,
though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,”
declares Yahweh.
5 “If thieves came to you, if robbers by
night – O how you will be ruined! – would they not steal only until they had
enough? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings?
6 O how Esau will be ransacked, and his
hidden treasures searched out!
7 All the men allied with you will send
you forth to the border, and the men at peace with you will deceive you and
overpower you. They who eat your bread will set an ambush for you. (There is no
understanding in him.)”
Esau’s descendents (Edom, Rome, Arabs) have since Esau sought the destruction of
God’s people. To this day we see the “Arab-Israeli conflict,” and it is a
fulfillment of prophecy concerning Esau and his descendents. Today we also see
the Roman-christian conflict against God’s Holy Word: their idolatry is filling
the world, causing gross confusion about what God really says.
8 “Will I not
on that day,” declares Yahweh, “destroy wise men from Edom
and understanding from the mountain of Esau?
9 Then your mighty men will be dismayed,
O Teman, in order that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by
slaughter.
10 Because of violence to your brother Jacob,
you will be covered with shame, and you will be cut off forever.
11 On the day that you stood aloof, on
the day that strangers carried off his wealth, and foreigners entered his gate
and cast lots for Jerusalem – you too were as one of them.
12 Do not gloat over your brother's day,
the day of his misfortune. And do not rejoice over the sons of Judah in the day
of their destruction; yes, do not boast in the day of their distress.
13 Do not enter the gate of My people in
the day of their disaster. Yes, you, do not gloat over their calamity in the day
of their disaster. And do not loot their wealth in the day of their disaster.
14 "And do not stand at the fork of the
road to cut down their fugitives; and do not imprison their survivors in the day
of their distress.
15 For the day of Yahweh draws near on
all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will
return on your own head.
16 Because just as you drank on My holy
mountain, all the nations will drink continually. They will drink and swallow,
and become as if they had never existed.
Here is God’s judgment in kind: the Edomites’ drunken revelry on the Temple
mount will be answered when they are forced to drink God’s cup of wrath. The
doom for their idolatry will be final.
17 “But on Mount Zion there will be
those who escape, and it will be holy. And the house of Jacob (Israel) will
possess their possessions.
18 Then the house of Jacob (Israel) will
be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame; but the house of Esau will be as
stubble. And they will set them on fire and consume them, so that there will be
no survivor of the house of Esau, for Yahweh has spoken.
19 Then those of the Negev (southern
desert) will possess the mountain of Esau (south), and those of the Shephelah
(Judea) the Philistine plain (west); also, they will possess the territory of
Ephraim (north) and the territory of Samaria (north), and Benjamin (withih
Judea) will possess Gilead (east).
20 And the exiles of this host of the
sons of Israel, who are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath (north between
Tyre and Sidon), and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad (uncertain)
will possess the cities of the Negev.
21 The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion
to judge the mountain of Esau, and the kingdom will be Yahweh’s.”
While we may see “fulfillments” of this prophecy in times past, and that with
increasing literalness, the ultimate fulfillment is yet to come: the totality of
this prophecy has never been fulfilled.
Readings:
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who chose us from among all peoples by
giving us Your Torah.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the
Torah."
Reader 1*
Amen. 33 They brought
the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its furnishings: its clasps, its
boards, its bars, and its pillars and its sockets; 34 and the
covering of rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of porpoise skins, and the
screening veil; 35 the ark of the testimony and its poles and the
mercy seat; 36 the table, all its utensils, and the bread of the
Presence; 37 the pure gold lampstand, with its arrangement of lamps
and all its utensils, and the oil for the light; 38 and the gold
altar, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the veil for the
doorway of the tent; 39 the bronze altar and its bronze grating, its
poles and all its utensils, the laver and its stand; 40 the hangings
for the court, its pillars and its sockets, and the screen for the gate of the
court, its cords and its pegs and all the equipment for the service of the
tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; 41 the woven garments for
ministering in the holy place and the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the
garments of his sons, to minister as priests.
Reader 2*
Amen. 42 So the sons of
Israel did all the work according to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses.
43 And Moses examined all the work and behold, they had done it; just as
Yahweh had commanded, this they had done. So Moses blessed them. 40:1
Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "On the first day of the first
month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. 3 You
shall place the ark of the testimony there, and you shall screen the ark with
the veil. 4 You shall bring in the table and arrange what belongs on
it; and you shall bring in the lampstand and mount its lamps. 5
Moreover, you shall set the gold altar of incense before the ark of the
testimony, and set up the veil for the doorway to the tabernacle. 6
You shall set the altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway of the
tabernacle of the tent of meeting. 7 You shall set the laver between
the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it. 8 You shall
set up the court all around and hang up the veil for the gateway of the court.
Reader 3*
Amen. 9 "Then you shall
take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and
shall consecrate it and all its furnishings; and it shall be holy. 10
You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and
consecrate the altar, and the altar shall be most holy. 11 You shall
anoint the laver and its stand, and consecrate it. 12 Then you shall
bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them
with water. 13 You shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint
him and consecrate him, that he may minister as a priest to Me. 14
You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them; 15 and you shall
anoint them even as you have anointed their father, that they may minister as
priests to Me; and their anointing will qualify them for a perpetual priesthood
throughout their generations."
Reader 4*
Amen. 16 Thus Moses
did; according to all that Yahweh had commanded him, so he did. 17
Now in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the
tabernacle was erected. 18 Moses erected the tabernacle and laid its
sockets, and set up its boards, and inserted its bars and erected its pillars.
19 He spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the
tent on top of it, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 20 Then he
took the testimony and put it into the ark, and attached the poles to the ark,
and put the mercy seat on top of the ark. 21 He brought the ark into
the tabernacle, and set up a veil for the screen, and screened off the ark of
the testimony, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
Reader 5*
Amen. 22 Then he put
the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle, outside
the veil. 23 He set the arrangement of bread in order on it before
Yahweh, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 24 Then he placed the
lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table, on the south side of the
tabernacle. 25 He lighted the lamps before Yahweh, just as Yahweh had
commanded Moses. 26 Then he placed the gold altar in the tent of
meeting in front of the veil; 27 and he burned fragrant incense on
it, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
Reader 6*
Amen. 28 Then he set up
the veil for the doorway of the tabernacle. 29 He set the altar of
burnt offering before the doorway of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and
offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, just as Yahweh had
commanded Moses. 30 He placed the laver between the tent of meeting
and the altar and put water in it for washing. 31 From it Moses and
Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet. 32 When they
entered the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed,
just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 33 He erected the court all
around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the veil for the gateway of the
court.
Reader 7*
Amen. Thus Moses finished the
work. 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of
Yahweh filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses was not able to enter the tent
of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of Yahweh filled
the tabernacle. 36 Throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud
was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; 37
but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when
it was taken up. 38 For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of
Yahweh was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the
sight of all the house of Israel.
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who in giving us Yeshua, the Living
Torah, has planted everlasting life in our midst.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the
Torah."
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who selected good prophets, delighting
in their words which were spoken truthfully.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, Who chose the
Torah, Your servant Moses, Your people Israel,
and the prophets of truth and
righteousness."
Isaiah 33:20 – 34:8
Reader 8*
Amen. 20 Look upon Zion,
the city of our appointed feasts; your eyes will see Jerusalem, an undisturbed
habitation, a tent which will not be folded; its stakes will never be pulled up,
nor any of its cords be torn apart. 21 But there the majestic One,
Yahweh, will be for us a place of rivers and wide canals on which no boat with
oars will go, and on which no mighty ship will pass-- 22 for Yahweh
is our judge, Yahweh is our lawgiver, Yahweh is our king; He will save us--
23 your tackle hangs slack; it cannot hold the base of its mast firmly,
nor spread out the sail. Then the prey of an abundant spoil will be divided; the
lame will take the plunder. 24 And no resident will say, "I am sick";
The people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.
Reader 9*
Amen. 34:1 Draw near, O
nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples! Let the earth and all it contains hear,
and the world and all that springs from it. 2 For Yahweh's
indignation is against all the nations, and His wrath against all their armies;
He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to slaughter. 3
So their slain will be thrown out, and their corpses will give off their stench,
and the mountains will be drenched with their blood. 4 And all the
host of heaven will wear away, and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; all
their hosts will also wither away as a leaf withers from the vine, or as one
withers from the fig tree. 5 For My sword is satiated in heaven,
behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom and upon the people whom I have
devoted to destruction. 6 The sword of Yahweh is filled with blood,
it is sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the
kidneys of rams. For Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in
the land of Edom. 7 Wild oxen will also fall with them and young
bulls with strong ones; thus their land will be soaked with blood, and their
dust become greasy with fat. 8 For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a
year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
Psalm 69
(To be sung.) For the choir director;
according to Shoshannim. A Psalm for David.
1 Save me, O God, for the
waters have threatened my life. 2 I have sunk in deep mire, and there
is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me. 3
I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; my eyes fail while I wait for
my God. 4 Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs
of my head; those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my
enemies; what I did not steal, I then have to restore. 5 O God, it is
You who knows my folly, and my wrongs are not hidden from You. 6 May
those who wait for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord Yahweh of hosts; may
those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel, 7
because for Your sake I have borne reproach; dishonor has covered my face.
8 I have become estranged from my brothers and an alien to my mother's
sons. 9 For zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the reproaches
of those who reproach You have fallen on me. 10 When I wept in my
soul with fasting, it became my reproach. 11 When I made sackcloth my
clothing, I became a byword to them. 12 Those who sit in the gate
talk about me, and I am the song of the drunkards. 13 But as for me,
my prayer is to You, O Yahweh, at an acceptable time; O God, in the greatness of
Your lovingkindness, answer me with Your saving truth. 14 Deliver me
from the mire and do not let me sink; may I be delivered from my foes and from
the deep waters. 15 May the flood of water not overflow me nor the
deep swallow me up, nor the pit shut its mouth on me. 16 Answer me, O
Yahweh, for Your lovingkindness is good; according to the greatness of Your
compassion, turn to me, 17 and do not hide Your face from Your
servant, for I am in distress; answer me quickly. 18 Oh draw near to
my soul and redeem it; ransom me because of my enemies! 19 You know
my reproach and my shame and my dishonor; all my adversaries are before You.
20 Reproach has broken my heart and I am so sick. And I looked for
sympathy, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. 21
They also gave me gall for my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to
drink. 22 May their table before them become a snare; and when they
are in peace, may it become a trap. 23 May their eyes grow dim so
that they cannot see, and make their loins shake continually. 24 Pour
out Your indignation on them, and may Your burning anger overtake them. 25
May their camp be desolate; may none dwell in their tents. 26 For
they have persecuted him whom You Yourself have smitten, and they tell of the
pain of those whom You have wounded. 27 Add iniquity to their
iniquity, and may they not come into Your righteousness. 28 May they
be blotted out of the book of life and may they not be recorded with the
righteous. 29 But I am afflicted and in pain; may Your salvation, O
God, set me securely on high. 30 I will praise the name of God with
song and magnify Him with thanksgiving. 31 And it will please Yahweh
better than an ox Or a young bull with horns and hoofs. 32 The humble
have seen it and are glad; you who seek God, let your heart revive. 33
For Yahweh hears the needy and does not despise His who are prisoners. 34
Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, that they
may dwell there and possess it. 36 The descendants of His servants
will inherit it, and those who love His name will dwell in it.
Revelation
15
Reader 10*
Amen. 1 Then I saw
another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues,
which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished. 2
And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been
victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on
the sea of glass, holding harps of God. 3 And they sang the song of
Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and
marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your
ways, King of the nations! 4 "Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify
Your name? For You alone are holy; For all the nations will come and worship
before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed."
Reader 11*
Amen. 5 After these things I
looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened,
6 and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple,
clothed in linen, clean and bright, and girded around their chests with golden
sashes. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven
angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever.
8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from
His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of
the seven angels were finished.
"Blessed are You, Yahweh
our God, King of the Universe,
Rock of Ages, righteous
throughout all generations.
You are the faithful God,
promising and then performing, speaking and then fulfilling,
for all Your words are true
and righteous.
Faithful are You, Yahweh
our God, and faithful are Your words,
for no word of Yours shall
remain unfulfilled;
You are a faithful and
merciful God and King.
Blessed are You, Yahweh our
God, Who are faithful in fulfilling all Your words."