Tetzaveh, You Shall Command
Shemot (Exodus) 27:20 – 30:10
Yechezkel (Ezekiel) 43:10–27
Philippians 4:10-20
Have you wondered why people still wear face masks in public? A recent survey found that a large number of mask wearers think that they’re ugly and just want to hide their faces. Yeah, they don’t think they’re worth looking at and don’t want to talk much.
But did YHWH make any human being ugly? Or, is how people view themselves as looking good, or not, really more about what they believe about themselves? One thing I know about myself is – sin makes me look ugly. True good looks are what emanate from the inside out, from the heart of a born-again, regenerated believer full of the fruit of the Spirit. What good are surface deep looks anyway? True beauty begins with the heart.
Decked out!
Read the description of the garments of the high priest to see how decked out he was! They were made to be colorful, majestic, and dazzling. What does that teach us about what should emanate from the heart of a high priest? What can we learn about the heart of the Great High Priest, Yeshua, and the body of Messiah? Let’s focus on just one part of what the high priest wore for beauty and holiness – what covered his heart.
The Precious Stones on the Breastplate
Magnificent and spectacular, the beautiful ephod garment glistened with a breastplate upon the heart of the high priest. What rests upon the heart of the Great High Priest of Heaven? Who is upon His royal priesthood’s hearts and how do they look in His eyes?
The square breastplate carried twelve precious gemstones. Each stone was set in a plated work of gold. Each stone was characterized by a durable substance shining as a beautiful ornament. What was so special about the gemstones on the breastplate?
Not once, not twice, but five times the Torah tells us that names, Shemot, were engraved upon those precious gemstones set in gold plating (Shemot, Exodus: 28:9-11).
Therefore, the names, Shemot, of all twelve tribes are upon the heart of our High Priest Yeshua the Messiah, Who sympathizes with us (Hebrews 4:14-16).
Do you believe that He has your name forever on His heart? How about the names of your loved ones?
If we are so uniquely precious in His sight, shouldn’t we treat each other heartfelt like precious gemstones in our sight?
Becoming Precious Stones
Being reconciled to God makes us new creatures in Messiah, who are of great, substantive value in His Kingdom. The breastplate pictures something about whom we are made to be in the Messiah and how close and endearing to His heart we are.
But the Scriptures are clear that no man of his own doing is truly righteous before our God (Psalm 14:1-3, Romans 3:10) We were all born in trespass and sin and all were children of wrath (Psa 51:5; Eph 2:3). Then how could the names of mere mortal human beings be found seated in pure gold upon the breastplate of judgment?
But we preach the Messiah crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Messiah the power of God and the wisdom of God…
No man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Messiah Yeshua, Who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and holiness and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:23-24, 29-30
Through the work of the cross, the Messiah makes the believer righteous by His blood cleansing us of all unrighteousness. Being born of an incorruptible seed (1 Peter 1:23), the born-again believer becomes a new creature in Messiah Yeshua (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Only by the Messiah appeasing the wrath and judgment of a Holy God can we be found justified by His grace through faith. It’s not at all by our works that we are justified and found righteous before Him. But it is truly a gift of God lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:4-10) May the Gospel of Yeshua shine from our hearts and lives!
By His indwelling Spirit, the believer is empowered to do righteous works. It is up to each believer to choose to put on that precious new self, to be close to the heart of the Messiah, and to choose to be led and to live by the Spirit of Messiah from the inside out:
That, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Ephesians 4:22-24
As part of the armor of light, Paul encouraged believers to ‘put on the breastplate of righteousness.’ Ephesians 6:14
The breastplate we put in is to be patterned not after the breastplate of a Roman soldier, but after that of the high priest. When Yah’s warrior engages in the war for souls, he should have all of Israel in his heart. The warrior in Messiah knows his role in the army that God’s Word calls ‘the twelve tribes of Israel.’
Knowing each other after the spirit is to know the righteousness, what’s right, in the hearts of our brethren (2 Cor 5:16) that Yah has made. Many times we focus on what’s wrong with people as we see them from the outside, and not what’s right about them. Maybe our ministries of reconciliation would improve if we would appeal more to the righteous spirit that is within the born-again believer, the new creature in Christ. In other words, let’s practice lining up our hearts with the Intercessor, instead of lining up our tongues with the accuser of the brethren pointing out eye specks and what’s wrong.
Another connection to the Messiah is with the Hebrew word for breastplate – choshen. The numerical value of the three letters – chet (8), sheen (300), and a nun (50) totals 358. The numerical value for the Mashiyach is Mem (40), sheen (300), yod (10), and chet (8) totaling the same = 358! This equivalence shows the breastplate of righteousness to be the Messiah Himself, Who is made unto us righteousness:
In Him we are made righteous; He is our righteousness.
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:30
To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians1:27
Personal Names Upon Precious Stones
What made those gemstones on the breastplate not just beautiful with great substantive value, but also set them apart as uniquely special, were the names of each of the sons of Israel. They were engraved in ancient Hebrew letters on each stone. How I wish I had time to go over every precious paleo-Hebrew letter that was engraved on each stone in the context of the character of each son of Israel upon the heart of the Kohen Gadol, Yeshua HaMashiyach, the Anointed One. Who we are in Him is then better understood.
Since we are grafted into the olive tree of Israel (Romans 11:11-36, Ephesians 2:12-16), each one of us holds identity somewhere in those engraved names. In Messiah, we are citizens of the Commonwealth of Israel. Our High Priest Yeshua has every Israelite engraved on His heart before the Throne of Grace. How precious, diverse, and uniquely beautiful we are to Him! What glorious substance and eternal value He makes us in Him!
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts… Ecclesiastes 3:11
Twelve Tribe Colors
Fascinated with mineralogy since taking it in college, the Spirit of Truth directed me to overlay the gemstones of the ephod on the seven colors of the rainbow. In my teaching on the portion ‘Noah,’ I explained the beautiful common thread of the seven colors of the rainbow with the seven covenants that YHWH has made with man. By the design of the Creator, all twelve stones on the ephod shine together with the seven colors of the rainbow. (See the graphic below) By our High Priest, the Messiah, the twelve tribes display the splendors of the seven covenants of YHWH Elohim with His people Israel.
Gemstones on the Breastplate of the High Priest
As the people of Elohim, we are forever near and dear to His heart, no matter what we go through. When we put on Messiah (Galatians 3:27), we radiate all the colors of the covenant, having put on the glory and beauty of Israel, whom YHWH calls “My glory.”
The Purpose of the Urim and Thummin
Let’s consider three schools of thought on what the Urim and the Thummim actually were. These Hebrew words mean – ‘lights’ and ‘perfections (or completions).’ The popular idea today is that the Urim and the Thummim were two stones that would light up and flash ‘Yes’ or ‘No,’ ‘True’ or ‘False,’ when the high priest would come before YHWH to ask a question of great consequence in behalf of the people of Israel. Another speculation is that the high priest used two stones like rolling dice for answers. Yet another traditional school of thought was that the Urim and the Thummim were not stones themselves, but a performance of the twelve stones shining from the breastplate.
Of all the instructions on what to make for the tabernacle, YHWH gave no instruction on crafting or making Urim and Thummim stones. Let’s study the actual instruction:
You shall put upon the breastplate of judgment Alef Tav-the Urim and Alef Tav-the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before YHWH; and Aaron shall carry Alef Tav-the judgment of the sons of Israel over his heart before the face of YHWH continually. Shemot /Exodus 28:30
How then were lights and perfections to be put upon the breastplate of judgment? Twice this instruction says that they would be over Aaron’s heart. What was there? The breastplate with the twelve stones was where the Urim and the Thummim were put.
After the days of King David, no illusion is made to using the Urim and the Thummim, although we know the high priest continued to wear priestly garments. Josephus recorded that the Urim and Thummim went out of style since the return of the exiles from Persia. Whatever they were, there is no evidence that the Urim and the Thummim worked after the twelve tribes had been scattered from the land. Bill Cloud surmises that all twelve tribes need to be united in the land for them to operate again.
Another view of Bill Cloud’s I agree with is that the Urim and the Thummim described the performance of the twelve stones reflecting the lights from the menorah. The Hebrew language is verbal, or action-oriented, not noun or object-based. One ancient tradition has it that when the high priest came into the Holy Place to inquire of YHWH for Israel, the twelve gemstones would reflect light to the menorah. Then, the twenty-two knops on the branches of the golden menorah would light up individually to spell out a message from YHWH by corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the aleph-bet.
Consider the view that the four knops of the center stem, called the shamash, the servant candle, represent Yeshua the Messiah. The Anointed One serves to fill our cups with the anointing and He lights up all other lamps upon the branches grafted into Him.
Interestingly enough, the center four letters on the shamash are yod, kaf, lamed, and mem. The center of two letters is a root word, kol, that means ‘whole or all.’ The four letters spelled backward, Malkhiy,’ means ‘my King.’ Together they mean my King is whole, with the idea of being branched out like a tree in unity with Him. We are all made whole in Him as a menorah made of one piece of gold when we identify with the King of Israel.
When He is not the King of ALL of Israel, then the Urim and the Thummim would not work, because missing stones would not reflect His light shining on the menorah, a symbol of being one in Him. In other words, as a people, we cannot get a clear message from the Father on how to proceed with any Kingdom enterprise until all twelve tribes are re-united as one, a people made whole by the Alef Tav, the power of the cross of the Messiah. That’s what we need to pray for and work on as the Holy Spirit leads us.
Knowing that Yeshua is the Light of the world and all perfections and completions are in Him alone, what would this say about His Spirit shining from the hearts of His royal priesthood today? Let’s intercede for all of Israel to be restored and re-united in Him as we pray for what’s on HIs heart – His Kingdom to come and for His will to be done on earth as it already is in Heaven, as pictured by the Breastplate upon our High Priest.
For Glory and Beauty
I bring My righteousness near. It is not far off and My Salvation will not wait. I will grant salvation to Tziyon (Zion), to Yisra’el (Israel), My glory (tiferet). Isaiah 46:13
Here the Hebrew word for glory – tiferet – is the same as the word that YHWH said the garments of the high priest were made for – glory (kavod) and beauty (tiferet). (Exo 28:2)
The root word for ‘tiferet’ is pey resh, and the root word for p’riy, is fruit, which is the beautiful ornament of a tree. The fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace – is the beautiful ornament of the grafted-in believer in Yeshua, our Kohen Gadol, Who causes us to grow and –
He has made everything beautiful in his time. Moreover, He has set Alef Tav-eternity in their hearts… Ecclesiastes 3:11a
Yisra’el, you are His glory, His beauty! Those washed by His precious blood, are born again by the power of the cross and bear the fruit of the Spirit. You are beautiful to Him! Take a look in the looking-glass laver of the water of the Word and see yourself as who you are in the Messiah. You are so precious, a real gem, a shining name in Israel!
The Precious Stones of the New Jerusalem
For us to enter the New Jerusalem in eternity, each one of us must one day go through a gate with one of twelve names assigned to it. At those gates, we will see another place where the names of the twelve tribes are inscribed on precious stones.
Then he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, having the glory of God —her radiance like a most precious stone, like a jasper, sparkling like crystal. She had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and above the gates twelve angels. On the gates were inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel … And the foundation of the wall of the City having been adorned with every precious stone. Revelation 21:10-12, 19
Did you see the common thread with the garment of the high priest to the New Jerusalem? The connections are glorious – those precious stones sparkling like crystals with the inscribed names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. His heavenly habitation is the glorious city where He has placed His Name. The Tabernacle in the Wilderness once represented this heavenly city that Abraham journeyed to, but never saw in his earthly life. Thank Yah, Messiah is at work on this habitation today! John 14:2
Because we don’t go along with whatever is popular in society – designer clothes, masks, celebrities, what the media portrays Americans to be – we often refer to ourselves as a peculiar people.’ But what is the context of what our real identity is in Messiah?
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9, NKJV
The word ‘peculiar’ in Greek corresponds with ‘segulah’ in Hebrew (Exodus 19:5), both translated as His ‘own possession,’ or ‘a special treasure.’ Both Peter and Moses connected the people of Yah as a treasure – with a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Let’s see each other as real gems, a special treasure belonging to YHWH, as we serve together in His Kingdom as a royal priesthood. Our identity isn’t so much about being weird and not cool in the eyes of the world. Let’s learn from the Torah about our ministry not just towards individuals in our hearts, but for all of Israel being precious gemstones!
Baruch HaShem Yeshua, Kohen Ha’Gadol, Bless the Name of Yeshua, the High Priest!
David Klug