Thoughts on the Torah Portion (Tzav)...By Tommy

Shabbat Shalom!

It is I, the T. Man that brings this week's post to you! And it is with a glad heart that I do it.

The name of this weeks portion is: Tzav, which means: Command. And can be found in Leviticus 6:1 - 8:36, Malachi 3:4-18, Mark 7:31 - 8:38.

First of all I need to admit that I have had very little time to even look over this Torah portion and to come up with something to write and for that I apologize. Yet on the other hand it might help you to go and read it for your self if you haven't already!

Normally when I do a post, I concentrate on just the actual Torah portion itself and don't really get into the Haftarah/Prophets or the Brit Chadasha (New Testament). However after reading through the Leviticus portion, nothing really caught my attention that I thought was a big enough thing to write about. I'm not saying that it's not worth reading, I'm just saying that that portion did not do a whole lot for me, although I hope that you will get something out of it and if you do, I'd love for you to share it with me! So I moved on into Malachi and as I'm reading, a thought struck me and I realized that this passage is a past, present and future passage!

From verse 6 to verse 15, it talks about about people that disobey YHVH, whether that be in actions or words ... and then justify it as if it was not an issue. In this passage however it deals specifically on tithe, and robbing YHVH of it and this is where the thought came in: "Why is there such an emphasis on tithe and giving to YHVH"? I mean its not like He needs our money! So why the emphasis?

I personally think that it is a way for YHVH to mold and shape us into His image and to break our pride. And to help us learn to trust Him to supply our needs. I know that it is sometimes very tempting when funds are tight, to think "hmmm, I tithed last week and I really need the money this week so I'm sure it will be fine for me to keep it".

NO it's NOT, you are then stealing from YHVH and according to this passage, things are not going to go well for you. I hope and pray that this is making sense. I had no idea that this is what I'd be sharing with you and I feel as though I might not be making a whole lot of sense, so if I'm not, forget what I've said and just read the portion for yourself.

I hope that each and every one of you are not the ones described in verses 6 through 15, however I pray that we are like those in verses 16 through 18, "Then those who feared YHVH spoke with one another. YHVH paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared YHVH and esteemed his name. “They shall be mine, says YHVH of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves Elohim and one who does not serve him."

Once again I encourage you to go and read it for yourself, since I feel that I have not been able to bring it to you like I should. I will try and do better next time. Until then though, have a wonderful Shabbat and a blessed week.

Shabbat Shalom. T. Man

Thoughts On The Torah Portion (Vayikra) ... by Hannah

(Disclaimer: I had great intentions of getting this posted earlier today but we've been preparing for the United In Worship conference that is being held at our fellowship this weekend. It's after 11pm and we just got home from a wonderful time of worship and teaching. By the way, if you've never danced to Ani Ma'anim live with Jonathan Settel ... you're really missing out!)

Torah: Leviticus 1:1 - 6:7
Haftarah: 45:16 - 46:18
Brit Chadasha: Mark 7:1-30

My time to write is limited and frankly, what I learned from this Torah portion is not extremely complicated! I just want to touch on that, as I don't really have time to get into the Haftarah and Brit Chadasha.

In these first chapters of Leviticus, we read about the variety of different sacrifices that were required. So the question arises ... why the sacrifices? Why did YHWH give such detailed instructions and set up such an intricate sacrificial system?

I believe that it all comes down to His desire to be with His people. In order for that to happen, His people had to be cleansed and sanctified. He is a jealous God and does not share His glory with any other. When we read throughout the Torah (and also in the dedication of Solomon's Temple), it is after everything is perfected according to the order that He has given, that His shekinah glory descends.

So of course, I'm trying to be practical here and figure how this applies to our lives today. We have Yeshua the Messiah who was the ultimate sacrifice and through His blood, we are cleansed and reunited with the Almighty. We do not offer animal sacrifices for forgiveness of sins any longer. But ... what do we need to do in our lives for His glory to fill us and His presence to be a part of us? It is obvious through reading the Torah, YHWH is very particular in the way that we are to love and serve and worship Him ... essentially, He is particular about the way that we live our lives. When we do it His way, we bear His fruit.

Yeshua's words in John 15 comes to mind. Verses 2 and 4 read, "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit ... Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me."

I think we need to seriously examine the fruit in our lives and if we're not bearing fruit, we need to see what changes need to be made and what areas of our life we need to line up with His word, so that His Spirit can fill us and His glory shines through us. Amen!

"Wait ... let's pray!" ... by Hannah

(Pictures are courtesy of my younger siblings who had fun ice-sculpting - or rather, frost-sculpting!)

It was several weeks ago. My mother and I had to run errands and as we were heading home from our last stop, my car stopped working. This wasn't the first time we had mechanical difficulties with my little five-speed Ford Escort, but it was the first time that I backed out of a parking spot and simply could not get the car to go into first gear. After wrestling with the stick shift for a few minutes, I managed to back into another parking spot (thankfully, I still had reverse!).

A lady in the parking lot saw what was happening and came over to offer us a ride home. I tried to get the car to work a couple more times and called Tommy (who is the family mechanic). We finally decided to leave the car in the parking lot and gratefully accepted the ride home. The lady had lived in this area all her life and it was a pleasure to make her acquaintenance. When Abba and Tommy got home from work and went to check out the car, it was working perfectly. Tommy drove it home without a problem and I think that he and Abba had serious doubts about my being unable to get it into first gear. Tommy informed me, "You just have to pop it into gear, fast!" I explained that I had been trying to pop it for all I was worth it and it wouldn't budge!!

So with the family mechanic having pronounced the car in working condition, we accepted his decision. After all, it's hard to fix a problem when you can't diagnose it! Two days later, Ruthie and I had to run errands in a different town, further away. We weren't completely convinced about the car working properly, so Ima (mother) and us children stopped to pray whether we should take it or our 12mpg van. Everyone felt a peace that the car was fine, so we started off. By the time we reached "town", a heavy thunderstorm was brewing. As I made the first stop to pick up goat feed, I noticed that the gears were sticking. By the time I had left the first stop and proceeded to the second stop (Kroger), I had to literally coast into the parking lot, because I could not get the car into first gear. It was in neutral and the only thing I could do was get into reverse. I parked it and we went inside to do our grocery shopping. (If I recall correctly, I also made a phone call to Tommy to inform him that "this car is not working!"

All this time, I am just picturing us getting stuck in an intersection, unable to get the car into gear, in the midst of almost-rush-hour traffic and thunderstorm! On the other hand, Ruthie is so relaxed and saying, "What's the big deal! If we get stuck, we get stuck. It's an adventure! Why are you worrying and so uptight?!"

After about 45 minutes in the store, we came out with all our groceries and waded through the river that was running across the parking lot :)  I started the car and tried to put it in first gear. Nothing. It wouldn't budge. I turned off the engine and reached for my phone to call home and figure out what to do ... and Ruthie says, "Wait! Don't call anyone yet. Let's pray about it!"

And my response, edged with a little frustration, was, "Ruthie, I've been praying the whole time that it would work and it's not. What else do you want to do?"

"Well, let's just pray about it again!"

"Ruthie, I've already prayed ... oh whatever! If you want to pray, go right ahead!"

So she prayed that the car would start working and then I prayed, albeit a little disgruntled and not exactly in faith or expectation that the prayer would be answered. When we finished, I turned on the car and moved the stick shift to first gear as smooth as butter. I couldn't believe it. I went through all the gears and they all worked perfectly! Still hardly believing it, I called Ima and said, "Ummm ... we came out of the store and the car was not working. Then we prayed and the car started working. Do you think it's safe to drive home?!"

The car worked perfectly on the drive home and has been running well ever since. We're still not sure what the problem was, although Tommy did discover that it needed some transmission fluid. In thinking back over the whole situation, I had to wonder why my prayers that would work weren't answered in the timing that I wanted, but when Ruthie and I prayed together - there was immediate change. Maybe it was just a lesson to me to not lose heart and to be willing to keep asking. The parable in Luke 18 comes to mind ... the first verse says, "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;"

So there is my testimony! Prayer does work and even when it doesn't happen in the timing or the way that you want it to, I encourage all of you to "pray again" and if possible, get someone to join you in it. Our Father in heaven is waiting for us to call on Him and when we do that, believing that He hears us and will answer, amazing things happen. In fact, I can assure that amazing things happen even if we aren't fully believing. It happened for me.

Let me leave you with this ... "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" Matthew 7:7-11

Thoughts On The Torah Portion (Vayakhel) ... by Sarah

Shabbat Shalom!  This is Sarah.  I am sorry that no one posted about the Torah portion last week.  It was my turn and so it was my fault :)  Thankfully H and T forgave me and gave me another chance ... I'm just joking.  Truthfully, we had a very busy preparation-day last week and we had guests over and by 11pm or so ... I was not really wanting to write anything.

My portion this week is called Vayakhel/Pekudei | ויקהל/פקודי | "He gathered/Countings " and it is taken from: Exodus 35:1 - 40:38.  The Haftarah and Brit Chadasha are Ezekiel 36:16-38 and Mark 6:14-29/John 6:1-71.

I am going to focus on basically two, well, actually three things from the Torah portion.

First, from Exodus 35:10 to about the end of chapter 38, it is talking about the articles being made for the Tabernacle and the different things that had to be made and how to make them.  Anyway, I got to thinking, if we are believers then we are Temples/Tabernacles for YHWH to dwell in.  People think that you except Yeshua and then go on with life, which is true ... but there are also other things that have to be done. We have to fill our Temples/Tabernacles with something ... with articles, that is the Fruits of the Spirit, which are:

• Love
• Joy 
• Peace
• Longsuffering
• Gentleness
• Goodness
• Faith
• Meekness
• Temperance

We have to fill our Temples/Tabernacles with these articles.  Accepting Yeshua into your heart is wonderful, amazing and exciting, but we do not want to have a empty house for Him to live in ... that would be like having guests over and not having any furniture or food to share with them.

Second, Exodus 39:1-31 is talking about the priestly garments.  YHWH gave instructions on how the garments were to be made for the priest.  He has also given us garments/armor that we are to wear. Ephesians 6:13-18 says:


Therefore take up the whole armor of YHWH, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

Third, Exodus 40:34-38 is talking about the cloud of YHWH settling over the tabernacle. As I think about the Bride of Messiah, I KNOW that we need to work on our garments/armor and the "articles" in our midst.  We have a lot to do to become the Bride of Messiah, let's not waste our time of betrothal in foolishness, but let us prepare to be the best bride. After that ... we will see Yeshua coming in the clouds (Mark 13:26) to gather us up.

May we all work on fulfilling our part of the Body of Messiah.  Love and Shabbat Shalom, ~Sarah

Thoughts on the Torah Portion (Tetzave) ... by ...

... the one and only T man. It is I, Thomas W, who has the pleasure of bringing this week's Torah portion: Tetzeva which means You Shall Command. This is found in Exodus 27:20 - 30:10, 1 Samuel 15:1-34 and the Brit Chadasha; Mark 4:35 - 5:43. There are the references ... I hope that you will go read it for yourself if you haven't already.

Once again I find myself here on the computer wondering what to write about :) And in all honesty I had completely forgotten that I had the Torah Portion this week until a sweet older sis said "Hey don't forget, you have the Torah this week!" So then the scramble began and here I am! To tell the truth, I have not even gone over the Haftarah or the Brit Chadasha for this week, but I have done the Torah so that's what I'm gonna focus on.

As I started to read the portion, I wondered what I could get out a portion that just talked about how the priests were supposed to have their garments and how some of the sacrifices were suppose to be done. Now please don't get me wrong, I believe that all of that is very important but I was thinking that it did not really apply to us at this point in time. On one hand it does not, yet on the other hand it does. If that makes any sense?

As I read through it, the thing that I kept noticing was how meticulous YHVH is in the way He wants His Priest to be before they can serve Him. Everything had to be a certain way or else the presence of YHVH would not descend upon the Tabernacle. And that's what got me thinking, if YHVH is so meticulous about how things/people need to be before they can serve Him, should not we ourselves be meticulous about what He wants? In other words, if we say that we serve YHVH, should we not make sure that we are serving Him the way He wants us to, instead of the way we want to?

For instance, what if Moses had said "You know what? I thing Aaron's garments would look and sound better if we made it with two bells and the two pomegranates and so on instead of doing one and then another and then another"? Not only would the presence of YHVH not descended, Moses would most likely have gotten himself killed because he had changed the word of YHVH.

So in closing, I put a challenge out to myself and you. (Yes I know that's backwards, I'm suppose to put you first, but I know that I need this challenge just as much as anyone if not more so). So here it is, I challenge us to examine our lives each day and ask the Father "Am I living my life according to the plan that YOU have laid out in your word for me? Am I serving YOU the way I should be?" He will show you/me if we are truly willing to hear His voice. I pray that we are.

Once again I hope that you will read this portion for yourself, even the Haftarah and the Brit Chadasha which unfortunately I was not able to cover, although I plan to go and read them soon :)

I would love to hear from y'all, if I've said something that you do not think is correct, please don't hesitate to let me know. And if you agree with me that's even better! Either way if you feel led, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Keep pressing forward and serving Him that is more then worthy of our service.

Shabbat Shalom.

The T. man over and out 3...2...1...