Tetzaveh Slides (pdf)
Tetzaveh Notes (pdf)
Overview of Tetzaveh (“You Shall Command”) (Exodus 27:20 – 30:10)
In last week’s Portion we saw Yehovah’s instructions to Moses concerning the construction of the Tabernacle and all of its furnishings…well, most of the furnishings. You may have noticed that two items were omitted from last week’s study: the Altar of Incense (in the Holy Place) and the Brazen Laver (in the Outer Court). Why did Yehovah omit these items? Did He just forget them…or is there a reason they were left out? We should know by now that Yehovah makes no mistakes! The reason that Yehovah postponed the instructions for these items will be seen in chapter 29 of this week’s Portion.
Chapter 27 The Oil for the Menorah
The Portion begins with the last two verses of chapter 27 concerning the oil used in the Menorah, the Golden Lampstand. “You shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light…” Although it is not described here, this purification process took eight days for the oil to be ready to be burned in the Menorah. This is what the story of Chanukah is based upon; it is called the Feast of Dedication, and it is recorded in the Book of Maccabees (this is the most popular of the “Feasts of the Jews” – those “feasts” that have been elevated by the Rabbis to rival the true Feasts of the LORD commanded by Yehovah in Scripture). The Greeks, in an attempt to Hellenize the Jews, desecrated the Temple; a band of Rabbis rose up and defeated the Greek army; in the process of restoring the Temple, they found only enough purified Menorah oil to last for one day. When they lit the Menorah, they expected it to last for just one day… but it burned for the full eight days until a new batch of oil would be ready to use. It is this eight–day miracle that is celebrated in December every year – particularly in America as an apparent Jewish counterpart to Christmas. But the real miracle of Chanukah is not that the oil lasted for eight days…it is Yehovah’s conquest over the greatest army in the world (at that time) by using a rag-tag band of Rabbis to defeat them.
We also see here that the purpose of the Tabernacle was to house the Ark of the Covenant. Yehovah gives the location of the Menorah as being “in the tabernacle of meeting, outside the veil which is before the (Ark of the) Testimony.” The Menorah was much closer to the Table of Shewbread and also closer to the veil at the entrance to the structure than it was to the Ark of the Covenant, but Yehovah chose to use the Ark as the reference point. In His eyes, it was the most important item in the entire Tabernacle; it was the reason that He commanded the Tabernacle to be built (that He would also use the Tabernacle as His dwelling place is the secondary reason).
Chapter 28 The High Priest’s Garments
Remember…the Aaronic Priesthood had not yet come into existence (not until the Golden Calf), so all of these instructions pertain to just Aaron and his four sons. The entire Tribe of Levi will not be put into service until after the Sin of the Golden Calf (in Exodus 32).
In the Tabernacle and its furnishings last week we saw that every material, every color and even the quantities all pointed to the character of Yeshua. We see the same pattern this week as the garments of the High Priest are described. The materials and colors again all point to the character of Yeshua: white=righteousness; gold=deity; blue=heavenly; purple=royalty; and crimson=blood.
The Ephod This is the outer “coat” consisting of white linen with threads of gold, blue, purple and scarlet. The images show this to be more like a short apron, however we are not told the length of the ephod; it could reached all the way to the ground. The belt around his waist was also this same woven fabric.
There were two onyx stones, one on each shoulder, with the names of the 12 Tribes (6 on each); the High Priest symbolically “carried” Israel upon his shoulders. They were held in place by gold chains (Yeshua’s deity).
The Breastplate This also was the same woven fabric; it was rectangular, twice as long as wide, and was folded into a square to form a pouch upon his chest. There were 12 precious stones in gold settings attached to the outside, each with the name of one of the Tribes engraved upon it. Just as the High Priest was to bear Israel upon his shoulders, he was also to keep each one of the Tribes very close to his heart.
We see a listing of gem stones two other places in the Bible: in Revelation 21 describing the foundation of the New Jerusalem; and in Ezekiel 28 describing Lucifer’s covering. The Revelation list contains some, but not all, of the stones on the High Priest’s breastplate – even though there is the language difference of Hebrew to Greek; using the Greek Septuagint of the OT there are only eight stones translated as the same word. But…Lucifer’s covering (in Ezekiel 28) is, word for word, the same exact stones; only nine are used to describe Lucifer but each of those nine is also present in the High Priest’s Breastplate. This is amazing! I see here a very strong connection between the soon-to-be Aaronic High Priest and the position that Lucifer held before The Fall. Was he perhaps the “High Priest” of the Heavenly creatures??? If so, then how far was his fall! This may be just a wild coincidence…but the Rabbis say there are no coincidences in the Bible. After all…Moses was shown the Tabernacle in Heaven to pattern the Tabernacle on Earth after; perhaps he was also shown the “High Priest of Heaven” to pattern his garments after. Interesting speculation…but back to Exodus 28.
The Urim & Thummim These are two stones that were kept inside the pouch behind the Breastplate, and they were used by the High Priest to seek answers from Yehovah. It is still a mystery how they worked. Some speculation: they reflected the light from the Menorah to light up the Breastplate stones to spell out Yehovah’s answer; or Yehovah would communicate (somehow) directly through the stones….but all speculation.
The Robe This was a one-piece garment made entirely of blue fabric; the neck was reinforced so it couldn’t be torn; but this was exactly what Caiaphas did when Yeshua proclaimed that He was the Messiah (Matt 26:64-65); and in doing so, he disqualified himself from the Priesthood (Lev 21:10). This left Yeshua as the only true High Priest – not of the Aaronic Priesthood, but of the Order of Melchizidek. But that is a much longer teaching that we’ll save for another time!
Along the bottom hem of this robe were sewn embroidered pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet; and golden “bells” – we’ll come back to these bells in a few minutes. But, before we move on, I want to address a “tradition” concerning these bells. Many (including myself) have taught that on Yom Kippur, before the High Priest would enter the Most Holy Place, that he would tie a rope around his leg. If he did not perform the Yom Kippur rituals perfectly then Yehovah would not accept the offering for Israel’s sins and the High Priest would be struck dead in the Most Holy Place. The only way to know that he was dead was that the bells would stop ringing and his body could then be retrieved by pulling him out by the rope tied to his leg. The problem with this teaching is this: Leviticus 16 gives very detailed instructions concerning the Yom Kippur service. And in those details we see that, before entering the Most Holy Place with the blood of the sacrifice, the High Priest would change our of his “dress uniform” (with the bells on the hem) and would put on a “standard” priests’ garment of white linen. So the “pull him out when the bells stop ringing” story is just that…a story, and it’s not true!
The Miter & Head Plate The miter, or turban, was white linen and worn upon the High Priest’s head. There was a pure gold head piece that was mounted upon the turban with the inscription: “Holy to the LORD”
The Tunic This is an undergarment of white linen (righteousness).
The garments for Aaron’s four sons are also described here. The sons’ garments were not nearly as “flashy” as Father Aaron’s. They consisted of the undergarments, the white tunic, the embroidered belt and the turban on his head.
Before we leave this subject, I want to take you on a huge “rabbi trail” that takes us back into last week’s Portion.
We saw the construction of the Ark of the Covenant was a wooden box covered with gold on the inside and on the outside. Putting it another way: it was two golden boxes separated by a layer of wood. Those of you who have a basic understanding of electronic circuitry would recognize this as a capacitor – an electronic device in a DC circuit that was designed to hold an electrical charge. We are not given the details of how the Mercy Seat sat upon the Ark; but, if it rested only upon the inner golden box, then this would form the perfect capacitor. When the Glory of Yehovah came down and “dwelled between the cherubim” of the Mercy Seat, that energy could charge the Ark capacitor to a tremendous voltage. This would explain what happened to Uzzah when he touched the Ark and was immediately struck dead (II Sam 6:6-8). This would also describe the deaths of Nadav & Avihu, Aaron’s two eldest sons in Leviticus 10. They also were struck dead after entering the Most Holy Place; their bodies were removed by carrying them by their still-intact smoldering clothing … proof that they were not incinerated by fire from Heaven. Both of these incidents could fit with this theory of electrocution.
If the Ark was charged to a tremendously high voltage, it would have been extremely dangerous to work around it. But Yehovah built in some protection for those working close to the Ark. The entire Tabernacle structure had walls covered with gold which were set on sockets of silver. Likewise, the outer court was surrounded with a fabric fence supported by posts covered with bronze set upon bronze sockets. These would act like “lighting rods” to shield the Tabernacle from excess voltages by diverting them harmlessly to ground. I find this fascinating (or maybe you see it as bizarre!), but it gets even more interesting when we look more closely at the High Priest’s garments! Back to the “bells” on the hem of his robe.
The Hebrew word translated as “bell” is pa’am. This word is used only in this verse to describe these things on the hem of the High Priest’s robe. The root of the word means “to strike”, like the clapper of a bell. But perhaps their purpose was not to make sound but rather to strike the ground….connecting the golden threads in the High Priest’s ephod with the ground. This would place the High Priest in a “Faraday suit” (see the slides), which would protect him from the high voltages he was surrounded by. Those of you who are “preppers” know that a Faraday cage is the only way to protect your electronic equipment from the devastating effects of a high-voltage EMP attack; perhaps Yehovah was using this principle to protect the High Priest also. This is wild stuff, isn’t it!! And it highlights the danger that the High Priest put himself into on Yom Kippur when he took off his Faraday suit and entered the Most Holy Place (with bare feet, no less) to offer the blood to Yehovah. One false move (literally) and he was dead!!!
One more thing before we leave this subject: the Urim & Thummim. We said that no one knows how they worked, but perhaps they were made from silicon, the foundation of today’s integrated circuits. Perhaps Yehovah used the voltages in the Tabernacle to activate these “stones” to communicate with the High Priest….sort of an early version of microchip technology used in a “transistor radio!” And where would Yehovah find silicon to use in these early “electronic” devices?? They were surrounded by hundreds of miles of desert in all directions; and the primary component of the desert sand is….silicon!!!
OK…now, back to reality.
Chapter 29 The Consecration of the Priests
This chapter describes the setting apart of Aaron and his four sons. We see, for the first time, details of the offerings that we started to see back in Genesis 4 with Cain and Abel and continued through Noach, Abraham and rest of the Patriarchs and on to Moses. And just as we saw Yehovah separating the seventh day as holy in Genesis 2, and we saw Him separate National Israel from the Nations of the World in Exodus 19, we see here Yehovah separating Aaron and his four sons from the rest of Israel as holy.
The Sacrifices These offering details take us right into the opening chapters of Leviticus where the sacrifices are explained. To consecrate the Priests (to make them holy) required a sin offering, a burnt offering, a meal offering and a consecration offering (a Peace Offering); we’ll study these in detail in Leviticus). And we will see that these offerings line up very closely with the Yom Kippur offerings in Leviticus 16.
Anointing with Oil Another component of this sanctification process was the anointing of the Priest: “Take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head.” We see a similar anointing of Yeshua – not into the Aaronic Priesthood; but into the Melchizidek Priesthood – immediately after His baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove (Luke 3:22).
“Anointing” with Blood One detail that is only seen in the High Priest’s consecration:
“Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar.”
The anointing of the Priests’ ear, his thumb and his toe represent Yehovah guarding what the High Priest hears (if this were done today, it should probably also include the eyes because Satan also uses that portal to deceive us); He guards the work of his hands; and He guards his walk through life – how he conducts himself.
We see a direct reference to this anointing in the Upper Room Discourse (John 13:1-10) when Yeshua started washing the feet of the Disciples. When He came to Peter he said, “LORD, are You washing my feet?…You shall never wash my feet” Yeshua answered: “If I do not wash you, you have no part in Me.” And Peter answered Him, “LORD, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.” What Peter was asking Yeshua to do was to consecrate him the High Priest would be consecrated: with the blood applied to his ear lobe (head), his thumb (hand), and his toe (foot). Yeshua responded to this request by saying, “He who is bathed (baptized) needs only to wash his feet (to cleanse himself from the “dirt” of the world), but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you (referring to Judas).” What Peter didn’t realize was that Yeshua’s Kingdom would not be built upon the Aaronic Priesthood, but upon the order of Melchizidek. And, unfortunately, many today who are pursuing Yeshua don’t realize that either. As Believers, we are not part of any earthly Aaronic priesthood; we should not be fleeing to Israel to offer sacrifices in the soon-to-be-rebuilt Temple – the same Temple that Antichrist will reveal himself to deceive all who look upon him. We are a royal priesthood (I Peter 2:9) after the order of Melchizidek, and Yeshua is our High Priest in that Priesthood.
Chapter 30 The Altar of Incense
Here we finally see the instructions for constructing this item in the Holy Place. Why was this placed here after the consecration of the Priests? “Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it.” Before the priest can burn incense (and offer intercessory prayers) he must be consecrated. That’s why Yehovah saved these instructions until now. And next week we will see instructions for the last article, the Brazen Laver.
This duty of offering incense on this altar was considered to be the best assignment that a Priest could perform during his Temple service; it was the closest that any Priest (except the High Priest) could be to the Ark and Mercy Seat where Yehovah dwelt in the Tabernacle. We see that John (the Baptist’s) father Zacharias was performing this duty (Luke 1:8-9) when the Angel Gabriel appeared to him with news that his wife Elizabeth would bear a son, “and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the LORD their God.” Now, it is very possible that John was the legitimate High Priest, but he rejected the corruption that had taken over the Aaronic Priesthood and fled to the Essene community in Kumran to continue his ministry in the nearby Jordan River (also another lengthy teaching).
Next week: The Sin of the Golden Calf!
The Haftarah Ezekiel 43:10-27
Last week’s Haftarah reading was Yehovah’s instructions to Solomon concerning the building of the first Temple. It was an exact replica of the Wilderness Tabernacle, with all the same furnishings but housed in a permanent structure, as Yehovah’s dwelling place on earth among His People. This week’s Haftarah reading is Ezekiel 43:10-27; it is his vision of another temple: either one that will be used during Yeshua’s 1,000-year Millennial reign on Earth or it was a promised Temple that would have been built after Israel’s repentance in the Babylonian Captivity. Since they did not repent, then this temple vision never came to reality. In either case, this Temple is similar to Solomon’s Temple, but there are significant differences. For instance: the Holy Place in the Wilderness Tabernacle was full of furnishings – the Menorah, the Table of Shewbread and the Altar of Incense. In Ezekiel’s vision, that room is completely empty. Why?? We said last week that those items were pictures of the coming Messiah Yeshua. But we won’t need any pictures of Yeshua in the Millennium because He will be sitting on His throne in the very next room – in the Most Holy Place!! We read from Ezekiel 43:10-12 & 25-27
“Son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire design and all its ordinances, all its forms and all its laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances, and perform them. This is the law of the temple: The whole area surrounding the mountaintop is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.” …. Every day for seven days you shall prepare a goat for a sin offering; they shall also prepare a young bull and a ram from the flock, both without blemish. Seven days they shall make atonement for the altar and purify it, and so consecrate it. When these days are over it shall be, on the eighth day and thereafter, that the priests shall offer your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar; and I will accept you,’ says the Lord Yehovah.”
The Brit Chadashah
The Brit Chadashah reading is from the Book of Hebrews. Here Messiah Yeshua is described as our High Priest – not as the Torah Portion described the Levitical High Priest. And His Tabernacle is greater even than Ezekiel’s Temple described in the Haftarah reading. The sacrifices that the High Priest would offer over & over, year after year Yeshua did just once…His sacrifice was perfect and it was for all mankind. Yeshua is the “more perfect” High Priest of the Order of Melchizedek. We read from Hebrews 9:11-15:
“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. 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. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to Yehovah, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living Yehovah? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”