Joy in the Messiah

תְּצַוֶּה
Tetzaveh / You Shall Command  
Exodus 27:20-30:10 
Ezekiel 43:10-27
Hebrews 13:10-17

  Tetzaveh is about holiness.  It begins with the pressed oil for the lamps, continues with the garments for the priesthood, then goes into  the consecration of Aaron and his sons, which include the blessing of the priests in Exodus 29:19-22. Tetzaveh contains the daily offerings and closes with the altar of incense. In Exodus 30:7 God calls it ‘sweet incense’. 
    In Exodus 28:31-38 there is an in-depth description of the garments and the level of holiness that only comes from the Divine, ‘You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. ³² There shall be an opening for his head in the middle of it; it shall have a woven binding all around its opening, like the opening in a coat of mail, so that it does not tear. ³³ And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: ³⁴ a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around. ³⁵ And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and when he comes out, that he may not die. ³⁶ “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet:

                                                                HOLINESS TO THE LORD

³⁷ And you shall put it on a blue cord, that it may be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban. ³⁸ So it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.’
    Tetzaveh is about holiness and the priesthood. With this parsha, something new comes to the forefront. Torat Kohanim, the world and mindset of the Priest.  Quickly it becomes a central point of our walk and it dominates the next book of the Torah, Vayikra. This week’s parsha marks the first time we encounter the idea of an elite priesthood, the Kohanim, later called the Cohen within Aaron and his male descendants – and their role to minister in the Sanctuary.  Tetzaveh speaks about the garments for the priests and the High Priest worn while officiating in the sacred place. For the first time too we encounter the phrase in Exodus 28:2 used about the robes: lekavod ule-tiferet, “for glory and beauty”. Until this point, kavod in the sense of glory or honor has been attributed only to God. As for tiferet, this is the first time it appears in the Torah. It opens up a whole dimension of Torah and our understanding Judaism – namely  the outer look.  This is a continuation of things related to the Mishkan, the Sanctuary, the subject of the preceding chapters. They emerge from the project of making a “home” for the infinite God within finite space with the beauty of holiness.
   What is the art of holiness and can we be holy if we are not in the realm of the Divine?  Hebrews 12:14 states: ‘Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.’
     2 Timothy 1:9 ‘He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.’
     Our holiness is because of God’s holiness; it is a state of being because of our relationship with Yeshua and our obedience to Torah. The Torah has the instructions to keep us from the common of the world, to keep us set apart. Yeshua redefines this when He states that we are in the world but not of the world, John 15:19, John 17:14-16.
    To be a good person is different than being a holy person. True, everyone is a holy soul, but that is an uncommon entity within each human because the soul is created by the Divines such. As such we are each holy souls, made in the image and likeness of the Creator, however our actions whether we walk in His Will or not, even if we are a ‘good’ person will define the flesh into holiness. After the Revelation at Mount Sinai the Israelites became a covenanted people. They had a sovereign God. They had a written constitution, the Torah. They had agreed to become “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Yet the incident of the Golden Calf showed that they had not yet understood what it is to be a nation. They behaved like a mob as stated in Exodus 32:25: “Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughing-stock to their enemies.” That was the crisis to which the Sanctuary and the priesthood were the answer. Thus, turning God’s wandering people into a nation.
     It is stated: “This explains the presence of the aesthetic dimension of the service of the Sanctuary. It had beauty, gravitas, and majesty. In the time of the Temple it also had music. There were choirs of Levites singing psalms. Beauty speaks to emotion and emotion speaks to the soul, lifting us in ways reason cannot do to heights of love and awe, taking us above the narrow confines of the self into the circle at whose center is God. The Sanctuary and priesthood introduced into Jewish life the ethic of kedushah, holiness, which strengthened the values of loyalty, respect and the sacred by creating an environment of reverence, the humility felt by the people once they had these symbols of the Divine Presence in their midst.” (Rabbi Sacks).
     The engraved piece of gold in Exodus 28:36 reads ‘Holy to the Lord’. The verse states quite clearly ‘to the Lord’. What is holiness to The Lord?  Is it a place, or an attitude or a verse? Or is it non-tangible, a place of ‘being’.  Holiness is difficult to define or to describe; it is a mysterious quality. Of what does holiness consist? In the simplest terms, “holy” has to be different from the profane, the ordinary or the common.  It is only God’s holiness for He is uncommon. The Torah is the only place we find the instructions that are His will.  His will is set-apart and holy.
    Leviticus 20:26  ‘You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.’
     2 Corinthians 7:1 ‘Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
     1 Peter 1:15-16 ‘But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
     Deuteronomy 23:14 ‘Since the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to defeat your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy; and He must not see anything indecent among you or He will turn away from you.’
    Matthew 5:48 ‘Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.’
    Romans 8:29 ‘For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren…’
    Hebrews 12:10 ‘For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.’  
     1 Peter 1:15-16 ‘…but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”     

Tetzaveh / And You Shall Command
Exodus 27:20-30:10
Ezekiel 43:10-27
Hebrews 13:10-17

    The Mystery of the Urim and Thummim…

     The Urim and Thummim are the transliteration of the Hebrew words for the two stones that were contained in the breast piece.  האורים והתומים – HaUrim VeHaTumim.  The reason that translators did not or could not translate these words exactly is because it is impossible to accurately translate them into the English language.  A literal translation for the word האורים – HaUrim is simply “the lights.” A literal translation of the word התומים – HaTumim is a little bit harder but can be translated as “the perfections.” 
     The Urim and the Thummim can then be understood as “the Lights and the Perfections.” Even though we have the general translation of these two words, we really don’t know exactly what they were.  There are many theories and teachings from the sages regarding the Urim and Thummim and a lot of mystery surrounding them.  Some believe that they were two stones. Others believe that they were objects for casting lots. And still others believe it was parchment paper. The truth is, we don’t know exactly what they were or how they functioned. Despite the lack of information regarding the Urim and the Thummim, we do read in the Scriptures how they were used practically in the life of the Israelites. 
     We are first introduced to these in this parsha.
     Exodus 28:30 ‘And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord. So Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually.’
      We see in other verses that the Urim and Thummim were used.
     Leviticus 8:8 ‘Then he put the breastplate on him, and he put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastplate.’
     Numbers 27:21 ‘Moreover, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his command they shall go out and at his command they shall come in, both he and the sons of Israel with him, even all the congregation.”
     Deuteronomy 33:8 ‘And of Levi he said: “Let Your Thummim and Your Urim be with Your holy one,
Whom You tested at Massah, and with whom You contended at the waters of Meribah…’
    Did David seek the advice from the Urim and Thummim in 1 Samuel 23:9-11? ‘When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” ¹⁰ Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. ¹¹ Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.”

        Lights and perfections of the Urim and the Thummim, which the High Priest wore to give guidance from Elohim.
    The High Priest was and is the connection and mediator from the people to God.
    Hebrews 9:1-12 ‘Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. ² For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; ³ and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, ⁴ which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; ⁵ and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. ⁶ Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. ⁷ But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; ⁸ the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. ⁹ It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— ¹⁰ concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.  But Messiah came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ¹² Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.’ 

                                                           The Light and lights of the world and life belong to our Messiah.
     John 8:12 ‘Then Yeshua spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.”
     John 3:19 ‘This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
     John 1:9 ‘There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.’

                                                                           It is His perfection and Holiness we seek.
     2Corinthians 5:21 ‘For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.’
     Matthew 45:48 ‘You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.’

                                                                                We seek and desire His guidance.
     James 1:5 ‘But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.’
                                    Yeshua is the light, the perfections, the way, the truth and the guidance.  He is the Urim and Thummim.