Vayaq’hel – Pequdei, And assembled – Accounts, Oversight, to visit those assembled with a friendly intent.
Shemot (Exodus) 35:1 – 40:38
Melekim Alef (I Kings) 7:13-26,40-50
2 Corinthians 9:1-15; Hebrews 9:1-14;
11:1-13; 15:5-8
What more could He give? Our Messiah gave His all, His very life; given to save the sinner, given to find the lost. Yeshua is my great inspiration – to give as He gave the best that I can give as acts of worship to my Lord and King. For He gave nothing but the best to me!
Hey, I’m not perfect. I need the Word again to renew my mind and inspire me again to give and give with the right attitude from a willing heart, to become more like Yeshua.
For you know the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah – that even though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that through His poverty you might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9
The Command To Give From a Willing Heart
Our Torah portion opens up with Moses assembling Israel together, commanding them first to keep Shabbat. Assembled together, YHWH then commands Moses to take up an elevated, free-will offering from everyone whose heart was willing, compelling them to give from their hearts. Let’s see how this common thread runs throughout the Scriptures.
Take from among you a terumah (heave offering) to YHWH. Everyone willing of heart shall bring it, the offering of YHWH. Exodus 35:5
In Hebrew ‘willing of heart’ is ‘nediv lev’ – meaning ‘urged, compelled by his heart.’
On the other side of the coin, we can deduce that YHWH does not want offerings from His people that are not in their hearts to give of their own free will.
Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7
This principle of giving only from a willing heart, not begrudgingly, also has to do with people who come to us as a gift to help us.
Paul had a guy like that, Onesimus, who was a real help to him in his old age. But he had to send the brother back because his master Philemon had felt under compulsion to release him to Paul. So Paul wrote him a letter, sending his servant back to him.
But without your consent, I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion, but of your own free will. Philemon 1:14
If Paul didn’t want the help of a brother because it was not granted to him by free will, but under compulsion, should I accept anyone’s help who offers it begrudgingly, under compulsion by my persuasion, or by any other outside influence?
As a festivals coordinator, I don’t delegate tasks to anyone who indicates to me that they wouldn’t offer to help willingly, of their own free will, and not under obligation.
The same goes for anything else I need help with in life. I’d rather send ‘help’ away and do the job myself than ask someone who has a begrudging heart to help me.
However, it is a real joy to me when people do help and do give cheerfully to a good cause, such as preparing for a festival of YHWH. A cheerful, willing heart inspires others, whereas begrudging hearts are like a wet blanket on the whole endeavor.
King David and Israel Gave Willingly and Gladly
Like Moses, David had assembled the congregation to address the children of Israel. David declared that his son Solomon would build the temple after his parting, but that it would be too great of a work for him.
“the work is great; for the temple is not for man, but for YHWH Elohim.1 Chronicles 29:1
Solomon would need a lot of help.
David had willingly given his best to the cause:
“Now with all my ability I have provided for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze…”
among other precious materials, he had staged the treasures for the building of the Dwelling Place of his God.
Gladness and delight go with the common thread of giving freely and willingly from the heart. David said:
“Moreover, in my delight in the house of my God, the treasure I have of gold and silver, I give to the house of my God, over and above all that I have already provided for the holy temple,”
He then gives an accounting of all the best that he could possibly give towards glorifying the Dwelling Place of the Most High.
We see this same theme of joy with the giving people of Israel:
“Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to YHWH with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly.” 1 Chronicles 29:9
David then exalts and blesses YHWH and gives Him all the credit for the freewill gifts:
“Now, our God, we give you thanks and praise Your glorious Name. But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your hand we have given to You.’ 1 Chronicles 29:14
He then declared that none of it belonged to him, but everything to his God:
“YHWH our God, all this abundance that we have laid aside to build You a House for Your holy Name is from Your hand; it all belongs to You.”
1 Chronicles 29:16
David then declares the uprightness of their gifts to their God by restating how it all came from cheerful, willing hearts:
“I know, my God, that You search the heart and take pleasure in uprightness. With integrity of heart I have willingly offered all these things. And now I have seen with joy Your people, who are present here willingly contribute to You.” 1 Chronicles 29:17
Giving was a great delight and joy in their hearts!
The Source of Inspiration to Give
Where does the inspiration come from to give from the heart, willingly and not under compulsion? Why would a heart yield willingly to the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit?
The answers may come when considering how the generosity of Yeshua fulfills the commands of Moses to the people. Think about the first seven materials willingly given towards the Dwelling Place of YHWH in the wilderness:
Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as the contribution of YHWH: gold, silver, and bronze, and blue, purple, and scarlet material, fine linen... Exodus 35:5-6a
It is interesting that the officials who award medals of achievement for competitive sports value the first three materials in the same order as the first three offered for the Tabernacle (Moses) and for the Temple (David) – Gold, silver, and bronze.
- Gold:
In the Scriptures, we find that this incorruptible, most valuable, and conductive material of the Tabernacle represents the Divine. What more valuable and precious gift could Yeshua give to His people, the temple of lively stones? (1 Peter 2:5) It is nothing less than the gift of the Spirit of Divinity, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit!
When a soul repents, believes the Gospel, and receives Yeshua in his heart, the Messiah offers the ‘gift of the holy Spirit’ (Acts 2:38). This gift is from a Divine part of YHWH that He makes inside a new creation, like the Ark of the Covenant on the inside of the heart.
When He gives gifts of the Spirit to His people, He gives gold for the building up of the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the Body of Messiah.
- Silver:
In the last Torah portion, we discovered the giving of the silver half-shekel to be an action that atoned for the soul of the giver. The half-shekel begs the question – what about the other half-shekel? Why silver? Silver is the metal of redemption – to buy back what we were indebted to and could not fully pay for – our souls to be made right with YHWH. We have to humbly reach up to Him with our half a shekel of the gift of our lives back to the One Who gives us redemption for our souls. He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay. Without Him buying us back, we lose out on His Kingdom.
Yeshua giving the silver of redemption pays for a slave to be bought back from the kingdom of darkness to become a citizen of the Kingdom of God, which He calls ‘Israel.’
- Brass/Bronze:
Brass, or bronze, is the metal of His second coming back to this world with ‘His feet like burnished bronze.’ (Rev 1:15) Yeshua is not coming the next time as a suffering servant, but as the conquering King and as the Judge of the quick and the dead.
His feet landing on the earth symbolizes Him coming to bring the fiery judgment of the wrath of the Almighty to the rebellious and wicked people of the earth.
But we His people are not appointed to His wrath. ‘For God did not destine us for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.’ (1 Thes 5:9) Hanging on the cross, taking the full force of the wrath of the Almighty, He appeased the wrath of Yah on us. When we were yet ungodly, dead in trespasses and sin, His mercy triumphed over judgment. Instead of us receiving wrath, He grants mercy.
So what does bronze mean to the redeemed believer? ‘His feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace (Rev 1:15) Yeshua brings us through fiery trials to prove our faith in Him (1 Pet 1:7) The gifts of fiery trials should be received like any other of His gifts – with rejoicing out of love for the One Who purifies and refines us (1 Pet 1:8).
- Blue
Yeshua offers us the peaceful blue of His shalom, the shalom of Heaven in our hearts. The color blue, the fifth in the seven colors of the rainbow, corresponds with the fifth covenant found given to His people – the covenant of shalom. (Numbers 25:12)
Yeshua, the Lord of the Sabbath, gives us the shalom of Shabbat, Our Good Shepherd grants peace and rest for our souls. (Matthew 11:29)
Yeshua came to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to the poor in spirit (Mat 5:3) When our Messiah comes to us, the dark clouds give way to the blue, peaceful sky of heaven!
- Purple
King Yeshua exchanged our filthy garments of self-righteousness for The royal garments of His righteousness. By His high priest ministry in the heavenlies, He now grants redeemed souls the ministry of a royal priesthood. He gives His priests access to the throne of grace to petition anything in His Name that is needed according to His will.
- Scarlet
The Suffering Servant, Messiah Ben Yoseph, the Son of Joseph, offered the best He could give – His very lifeblood to atone for us in exchange for our souls. What better gift in life than for Him to take our place, suffering the punishment and death we deserved, but that He never deserved?
This gift is not just for our lives here on earth, His gift of life is for all of eternity!
Lately, I’m hearing affiliated believers debating whether we can know for sure whether we are saved or not. Some believe we will never know for sure until after the resurrection. Is that true? Would Yeshua offer us the life that is in His blood that still bears witness in the earth (1 John 5:6-8) that’s only good, if at all, for a short, uncertain time here on this earth?
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” John 3:16-17
Having not just a new life, but eternal life is a matter of believing in Yeshua. He didn’t come to condemn us to hell, He came to save us from the judgment of the Almighty so that we may have eternal life and have it now! This is the day of salvation, passing us from never-ending death to eternal life. Abba gave His Son to the world so that we might have and possess eternal life as our own by faith in Him. It’s up to us to believe that or not.
He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. John 3:36
It’s up to us to believe in His promise of eternal life, clinging to the One Who is Life: Yeshua the Messiah.
The blood testifies of the mercy, not the wrath of God; for the blood speaks better things than Abel’s. His blood cries “Mercy!” (Hebrews 12:24)
Thank Yah for that! I need His mercy every day!
This Passover, as an assembled people, may we receive the scarlet from Yeshua’s hand. May every one of us remember these words in the assembly, in the holy convocation (Lev 23), and in the set-apart gatherings this coming Passover:
“This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in My blood.” Luke 22:20
- Fine Linen
What fine linen does Yeshua give His redeemed souls? What does fine linen mean to His people?
We know that His blood cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7) and though our sins were as scarlet they now are as white as wool (Isa 1:18) by the finished work of the cross.
What about the fine linen? What is that?
In the Revelation of Yeshua, the voice of a great multitude declares to us that,
“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” Revelation 19:7
Starting with the cleansing by His precious blood, the Bridegroom prepares for us and grants to His Bride the fine linen to dress her. Notice the voice said, “It was given to her.” She has no righteousness of her own, righteous acts are His gift to His Bride.
Yeshua is made to us righteousness: But because of Him, you are in Messiah Yeshua, Who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness…
1 Corinthianas 1:30
How does He do that? By living His righteous life in and through us by His Spirit. His living His righteous life in His set-apart, holy ones makes us shine out with righteous works that the world may see His awesome glory.
Doing what’s right covers our nakedness, so that the world cannot see the old adam underneath. With our works and our attitudes, may only the Messiah Whom we put on to be clothed by being seen by the world. It’s our choice what garment we wear every day.
You get the idea – each of these costly and colorful materials was fulfilled by Yeshua giving us His best, and nothing but the best! He gave up the glory of the throne of Heaven itogive us not just a better life in this world, but eternal life with Him!
May His free will gifts out of love for His precious Bride be an inspiration to give to others what He has given to us. We, too, can give materially to the needs of the Body of Messiah with joy and without compulsion. By His Spirit within us, we can delight in giving and can cheerfully give to meet the needs of the Body of Messiah.
But the best gift of all to gladly give to others is the gift of eternal life through believing in and sharing the Gospel of Yeshua our Messiah. When a lost soul is found and brought into the Kingdom, all heaven rejoices!
B’rakhot Ba’Shem Yeshua Malkheynu v’Kohen Ha’Gadol,
Blessings in the Name of Yeshua, our King, and High Priest,
David Klug