Tetzaveh/You Shall Command
Exodus 27:20-30:10
Ezekiel 43:10-27
In today’s torah/haftorah I felt the message may be a bit abstract, but I hope in some small measure, I can help it be more understandable or practical. Documents that are written (by God or man) that are meant to be foundational for a people, cause, or whatever…can have a ‘ditch on both sides of their road’; legalism on one side and personal or shall we say, situational interpretation on the other. It’s so prevalent with the way we many times handle the word of God. Whole movements or denominations have the potential of grinding our hearts to dust with their positions of being the ‘sole arbiter of truth and understanding’ or maybe the only ‘true’ way of baptism (with the right words) or the only way to know you are genuinely ‘saved’. Then to the ‘rescue’ come the well-meaning ‘dowsing’ water on truth to protect us from those ‘meanies’ that aim harm to our gentle and fragile little spirits; “everything you do is okay; God understands, His words have been altered by men over the years; so don’t take them too seriously…”
In the reading this week, we are presented with many details and requirements for the priest and the people, which could be used to run into one of the ‘ditches’ up ahead. What must we do, to be able to be in the word and have hearts that continue to love God in truth and stay out of the ditch? One of the principles that ‘guides’ me when I read the word is to consider what I see happening to Moses when he comes down from the experience he had on the Sea of Glass with the Lord God Almighty. After having seen the tabernacle ‘made without hands’, he is told to build “according to the pattern” that he saw in the heavenly realm. I can almost hear Moses saying to the Lord, “But wait, that’s impossible, everything here is fallen and not holy; it can’t be done; everything on the mountain was holy!” God’s word seems to indicate that if Moses builds according to the plan, He is about to show him, that it will be ‘counted as holy as if it was in that ‘heavenly realm’. Think of the implications of that promise! The presence of God and authority that would be contained in that ‘obedience’, would be beyond what the normal person could even fathom…but isn’t that in reality what we have been called to as believers in Jesus Christ our Lord? Have we spent so much time in the ‘ditch’ (religion and fleshly living) that we have forgotten about the ‘wonder’ of who we really have become through Jesus?
There is a short note that I wrote to myself years ago, in Jeremiah 43: “the design is holy, because it reflects the One Who made it ‘without hands’”. Maybe if we could put a thought before us like that, to keep our hearts on the road, instead of in the ‘ditches’. Don’t just become an ‘expert’ on the details without becoming a lover and in relationship with the One who created all the details. He has called us to be a part of something that is not of this world, while all along we are still a part of this world…The Jews have a term for this tension or conundrum: Tikun Olam; redeeming the world, being co-redeemers with the Lord. Making the world a better place; not out of duty or pride, but a reflection of the heart of the Creator of all things, who most of time is invisible in His attributes; but can be seen through His people (“a light to the nations”). Some of this is addressed in the Beatitudes; “don’t put a lamp under a basket” etc. May your hearts flourish in this week’s ‘details’. by john eisner
Bonus thought: One example of this ‘tension’ between the heavenly and the earthly can be seen in how different believers approach communion: one ‘extreme’ may be that it’s literally the Body and the Blood of Jesus, and even one crumb falling to the ground is unthinkable…as opposed to the other ‘extreme’ of “it’s just juice and crackers, who cares!”. Instead of taking sides or getting into lengthy religious debates, can we choose to live in the “mystery” of the One True and Living God, interacting with mere flesh and blood? “Build according to the pattern I showed you on the mountain”…next time you take communion, go ahead and ‘build’ a place for Him to be with you. je
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