Vayakhel-Pekudei and Shabbat HaChodesh
On March 13, 2021 0 Comments
- First Fruits of Zion
TORAH PORTION for Shabbat: March 13, 2021
- Vayakhel-Pekudei (ויקהל/פקודי | He gathered/Countings)
- Torah: Exodus 35:1-40:38
- Haftarah: 1 Kings 7:40-50 *
- Gospel: John 13:1-19; Luke 16:1-13
* Special readings for Shabbat HaChodesh are applicable this Shabbat.
- Shabbat HaChodesh (החדש | The Month)
- * Maftir: Exodus 12:1-20
- * Haftarah: Ezekiel 45:16-46:18
- Gospel: Luke 22:1-13
Rebuilding of the Temple according to Ezra (Illustration by Gustave Doré from the 1866 La Sainte Bible, Wikimedia Commons)
Building the Temple
When Moses came down from the mountain, he commanded the assembly of Israel to start building the Tabernacle. Moses did not build the Tabernacle. He brought down the instructions, but the people did the building. When the Messiah comes, He will oversee the construction of the Temple. He has experience as a carpenter.
Moses spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded.” (Exodus 35:4)
Moses, the first redeemer, came down the mountain in the glory of the Father. Then he assembled the people of Israel. He reiterated the commandment of the Sabbath, and he delivered the commandments pertaining to the building of the Tabernacle.
When Messiah, the ultimate Redeemer comes, He will follow in the pattern of the first redeemer. He will gather His assembly, reinstitute the Sabbath, and rebuild the Temple, as the prophets have promised.
The destruction of the Temple corresponds to the death of the Messiah, and its rebuilding corresponds to His resurrection on the third day. He said, “In three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). Nearly two thousand years have already elapsed from the time of the Temple’s destruction. “With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day” (2 Peter 3:8). This indicates that the Messiah will raise the Temple in the third millennium after its destruction.
The prophets predict that, in the Messianic Era, the Temple will be restored as the house of God in Jerusalem, and it will be the center of the nations. Jewish eschatology firmly links the coming of the Messiah with the rebuilding of the Temple. Maimonides makes the rebuilding of the Temple one of the prerequisites that the Messiah must accomplish to validate His identity: “If He succeeds in all of this, builds the Temple, and gathers in the dispersed remnant of Israel, He is definitely the Messiah.” (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim 11:4.)
Does this mean that the Messiah will build the Temple with His own hands?
You find that when Moses ascended on high, the Holy One, blessed be He, showed him all the furnishings of the Tabernacle and said, “This is what you will make. This is how you will make the menorah, the table, the altar …” and so forth with all the work of the Tabernacle. As Moses prepared to descend, he assumed he was to personally make the Tabernacle, but the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Moses, I have made you a king. Is it appropriate for a king to do anything for himself? He gives orders and others do the thing for him. Likewise, you must not build it yourself. You must command others and let them do the work.” (Exodus Rabbah 40:2)
Moses commissioned two craftsmen: Bezalel of the tribe of Judah and Oholiab of the tribe of Dan. Moses charged them to carry out the building of the Tabernacle. Likewise, King Solomon hired Hiram of the tribe of Dan to perform the craftsmanship of the Temple. Just as Solomon, the son of David, oversaw the building of the Temple and initiated a golden age of peace and prosperity, Yeshua, the Son of David, will oversee the rebuilding of the Temple and initiate the Messianic Era.
Then “the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established … and all the nations will stream to it … to the house of the God of Jacob” (Isaiah 2:2-3).
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Moses spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded.” (Exodus 35:4)
Moses, the first redeemer, came down the mountain in the glory of the Father. Then he assembled the people of Israel. He reiterated the commandment of the Sabbath, and he delivered the commandments pertaining to the building of the Tabernacle.
When Messiah, the ultimate Redeemer comes, He will follow in the pattern of the first redeemer. He will gather His assembly, reinstitute the Sabbath, and rebuild the Temple, as the prophets have promised.
The destruction of the Temple corresponds to the death of the Messiah, and its rebuilding corresponds to His resurrection on the third day. He said, “In three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). Nearly two thousand years have already elapsed from the time of the Temple’s destruction. “With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day” (2 Peter 3:8). This indicates that the Messiah will raise the Temple in the third millennium after its destruction.
The prophets predict that, in the Messianic Era, the Temple will be restored as the house of God in Jerusalem, and it will be the center of the nations. Jewish eschatology firmly links the coming of the Messiah with the rebuilding of the Temple. Maimonides makes the rebuilding of the Temple one of the prerequisites that the Messiah must accomplish to validate His identity: “If He succeeds in all of this, builds the Temple, and gathers in the dispersed remnant of Israel, He is definitely the Messiah.” (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim 11:4.)
Does this mean that the Messiah will build the Temple with His own hands?
You find that when Moses ascended on high, the Holy One, blessed be He, showed him all the furnishings of the Tabernacle and said, “This is what you will make. This is how you will make the menorah, the table, the altar …” and so forth with all the work of the Tabernacle. As Moses prepared to descend, he assumed he was to personally make the Tabernacle, but the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Moses, I have made you a king. Is it appropriate for a king to do anything for himself? He gives orders and others do the thing for him. Likewise, you must not build it yourself. You must command others and let them do the work.” (Exodus Rabbah 40:2)
Moses commissioned two craftsmen: Bezalel of the tribe of Judah and Oholiab of the tribe of Dan. Moses charged them to carry out the building of the Tabernacle. Likewise, King Solomon hired Hiram of the tribe of Dan to perform the craftsmanship of the Temple. Just as Solomon, the son of David, oversaw the building of the Temple and initiated a golden age of peace and prosperity, Yeshua, the Son of David, will oversee the rebuilding of the Temple and initiate the Messianic Era.
Then “the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established … and all the nations will stream to it … to the house of the God of Jacob” (Isaiah 2:2-3).
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