Tetzaveh | תצוה | " - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Tetzaveh | תצוה | "You shall command "

Torah: Exodus

27:20-30:10

Prophets: Ezekiel 43:10-27 

Gospel: Mark 4:35-5:43 Slide2

The PriesthoodIn today’s Torah Portion we will cover the Priesthood garments, and how they reflect the honor bestowed on the sons of Aaron.

We will look at their consecration as foundation for the concept of Kedushah or Holiness.

Lastly, we will cover the Altar of Incense and see how important this is, in our lives today. Slide3

Tavnit or Patterns/Blueprints

Did you ever wonder why there is so much detail concerning the Tabernacle or Temple?

The

amount of

chapters dedicated to the building of

the

Tabernacle, the First Temple, and later the Ezekiel Temple are in such great detail, our King is telling us how

absolutely important

it is

to Him. Because of this we have a responsibility to understand His intentions behind such details.

Before we move forward, I want to read a warning from the Book of Haggai. Slide4

Tavnit or Patterns/BlueprintsHaggai 1:

2

“Thus says the

Lord

of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the

Lord

.”

3 

Then the word of the

Lord

came by the hand of Haggai the prophet,

4 

“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

5

Now, therefore, thus says the

Lord

of hosts:

Consider your ways

.

6 

You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.Slide5

Tavnit or Patterns/Blueprints7 

“Thus says the

Lord

of hosts: Consider your ways.

8 

Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that

I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified

, says the

Lord

.

9 

You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the

Lord

of hosts.

Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house

.

10 

Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.

11 

And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors

.”

For this reason, unlike prior generations, we have a responsibility to assist in any way the Father has spoken to us, in the

rebuilding of His House

.Slide6

The Garments of the Priesthood

Exodus 28:1

 “Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron's sons,

Nadab

and

Abihu

, Eleazar and

Ithamar

. 2 And you shall

make holy garments

for Aaron your brother, for

glory and for beauty

.

One of the themes we have been learning over the last year is the concept of Honor and Shame. Why

Aaron and his sons were chosen over Moses

and his sons, or any other clan and tribe won’t completely be answered until we get into the sin of the golden calf.

However, our King’s decision to bestow honor on them goes back to the plagues of Egypt, where

Aaron became the mouthpiece for bringing judgment on Egypt. Slide7

The Garments of the PriesthoodPart of bestowing that Honor comes from the very

garment that would be there uniform

in the Tabernacle service.

We see the

garment described as Beauty and Glory

. Both these

words

Kavod

, and

Tiphereth

mean honor and/or majestic.

By the sons of Aaron wearing these garments, this

raised their honor

in the eyes of all Israelites.

We find an interesting story in the Talmud concerning the Priestly Garments: Slide8

The Garments of the Priesthood

Moses was instructed by

YHVH,

that the garments of the priests were to be both dignified and beautiful;

as precious as the garments of royalty

.

Indeed

, the Talmud informs us that when the wicked Persian king Ahasuerus made a feast for his advisors and officers and sought to impress them with his greatness (as recorded in the scroll of Esther, which tells the story of Purim)

he put off his own royal vestments and donned the uniform of the High Priest

...

which

was more precious than his own

.

These

priestly garments were in his possession since the First Temple had been destroyed by the

Babylonians, and they had carried them off from Jerusalem. Slide9

The Garments of the Priesthood

Why does the Bible attach so much significance to the garments?

Because

their quality is such that

they elevate the wearers

- Aaron and all his descendants - to the

high levels of

sanctity (Kedushah)

required from those who come to serve before G-d in the holy place. These garments themselves possess a certain holiness; powerful enough to sanctify all those who merely come in contact with them, as we read in the prophets

:

Ezekiel

44:

19 

And when they go out

i

nto the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments

in

which they have been ministering and lay them in

the

holy chambers. And

they shall put on other garments

, lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments

.

You would think that we wanted to transmit

Kedushah or holiness

to the people, but clearly our King wants to draw some distinctions between what is

“holy and what is common

”Slide10

Making of the GarmentsSlide11

Making of the Garments

3 You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they

make Aaron's garments to consecrate him for my priesthood.

4 These are the garments that they shall make: a

breastpiece

, an

ephod

, a

robe

, a

coat of checker work

, a

turban

, and a

sash

.

(6 items)

They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests. 5 They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen

.

The priestly garments are not sewn, like other clothes. Each item

is woven, seamless, of one piece

. The only exception to this is the sleeves of the robe, which are woven separately and sewn onto the robe afterwards

.

I personally look at the entire Word of our Elohim, as one piece, seamless woven together – not 66 books, but one book woven together for us to don:Slide12

Wearing the Entire Garment

Ephesians 6:

13

Therefore take up the

whole armor of God, t

hat you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

14 

Stand therefore, having fastened on the

belt of truth

, and having put on

the breastplate

of righteousness,

15 

and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

16 

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

17 

and take the

helmet of salvation

, and the

sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

,

18 

praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance,

making supplication for all the saints

,

We will see later how the Priest brings the Prayers of Israel right before the veil of Holy of Holies – at the Altar of Incense. Slide13
Slide14

Making of the Garments

The

High Priest's uniform

, which he wears all year round. These consist of eight garments, called the

"golden garments."

The clothing worn by the

High Priest

on the Day of Atonement. These are four garments called the

"

white garments."

The uniform of the

ordinary priests

, consisting of four garments….. The ordinary priests wear four garments all year round-these are the same as the "

white garments

" worn by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement: tunic, pants, hat, and belt.Slide15

The Materials

Five Components in the Garments

Five different materials were used to create the priestly garments:

gold

techelet

, sky-blue wool

dark-red wool

crimson wool

twisted linen

The

gold was beaten into thin sheets, and then cut into fine threads

.

The

techelet

sky-blue color

(said by the Talmud to resemble indigo - BT

Menachot

42:B) was a dye obtained from an aquatic

invertebrate known as

chilazon

. The exact identification of this animal, and the method used to produce the dye, is the subject of extensive research. While various attempts have been made to conclusively identify the

chilazon

, most recently it has been classified to the Mediterranean snail known as murex

trunculus

.Slide16

The Materials

The

dark-red color

(said by some to more closely resemble purple),

argaman

in Hebrew, is also

derived from a snail

; possibly the murex

trunculus

as well. According to this theory, the difference in color is a product of the amount of time the substance is initially exposed to sunlight.

The crimson color

is produced from

a worm

called by the Bible the "crimson worm,"

tola'at

shani

in Hebrew, a mountain worm which has been identified as kermes

biblicus

, the cochineal insect

.

The Hebrew word which appears here

for "linen"

is

shesh

, which literally means "six." This indicates that each thread used in these garments is required to be a

six-ply linen thread

.Slide17
Slide18

Honor of the Levitical PriesthoodBefore we look at the Consecration of the Priest, you can see that every article of the garment was done with incredible detail.

The

son’s of Aaron “acquired honor

” from our King – to be servants of the Most High. To teach and minister to the people of Israel.

Most importantly to operate in a higher Kedushah than anyone else in Israel. From the Tabernacle to the destruction of the Second Temple in the First Century, every generation of Levites served

in the ascribed honor

that was given to them by their forefathers. Slide19

Honor of the Levitical Priesthood

There are some in the Hebrew roots community that says that the Levitical Priesthood has been done away with. I will ask, what does our King say about this?

Jeremiah 33

: 11

…For

I will restore the fortunes

of the land as at first, says the

Lord

.

12

“Thus says the

Lord

of hosts: In

this place that is waste, without man or beast

, and in all of its cities, there shall again be habitations of shepherds resting their flocks.

……..

17 

“For thus says the

Lord

: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,

18 

and the

Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings,

to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.”Slide20

Honor of the Levitical Priesthood

19 

The word of the

Lord

came to Jeremiah:

20 

“Thus says the

Lord

:

If you can break my covenant

with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time,

21 

then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and

my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers

.

22 

As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so

I will multiply the

offspring of David my servant,

and the Levitical priests who minister to me

.”

Any teacher, preacher or rabbi want to argue with our Elohim and Creator…YHVH did not raise or consecrate the sons of Aaron, only to change his mind.

Our Elohim would never break His oath, Never!Slide21

Consecration of the Priesthood

Exodus 29:1

 “Now this is what you shall do to them to

consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests

. Take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish, 2 and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. 3 You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams

.

4 

You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting a

nd wash them with water. 5 Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 6 And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban.

Slide22

Consecration of the PriesthoodOur King established a

Threshold Covenant at the Tabernacle

door

. Why this is key, for as long as their was a tabernacle or Temple – then their elevated status would be recognized. First by the fact that their was a temple, and second by recognizing their garments.

Now with the destruction of the Temple their honor was diminished, but the Oath that YHVH made before His Kingdom, was never broken:

Exodus 29: 7

 You shall take the

anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.

8 Then you shall bring his sons and put coats on them, 9 and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them.

And the

priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever

. Thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.Slide23

Consecration of the Priesthood

19 “You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, 20 and you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and

put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron

and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and

on the thumbs of their right hands

and on the

great toes of their right feet

, and throw the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar. 21 Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and

sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments

, and on his sons and his sons' garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons' garments with him

.

By sprinkling the oil and blood over both Aaron and his sons, and the garments – this raised them to a

higher status of Kedushah

. This is important – in them being able to approach the very presence of the Most High.

The

Blood is indexing them to the concept of Holiness or Kedushah

. Slide24

Azarah or Inner CourtyardSlide25

Purpose of Kedushah29 “The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him; they shall be anointed in them and ordained in them. 30 

The son who succeeds him as priest, who comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place,

shall wear them seven days…. 35 “Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Through seven days shall you ordain them, 36 and every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it to consecrate it. 37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy.

Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.Slide26

Purpose of Kedushah

The purpose of Kedushah:

Exodus 29: 42

 It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. 43 There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. 45

 I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God

. 46 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that

I might dwell among them

. I am the Lord their God.Slide27

Purpose of Kedushah

Now a pattern or Tavnit that we can build on this idea of holiness of Kedushah is established here in Exodus. For our Heavenly Father to dwell in our midst he established three camps:

Mechana (Camp) Shekinah – this is primarily the area of the

Azarah

– Inner courtyard with the Altar, and bronze laver, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies or (Kodesh HaKodesh) – Here is where the sons of Aaron had responsibility.

Mechana Leveim – this was the outer court, and all the functions out to the gates, and the Levitical cities

Mechana Israel – This is where the Congregation interacted, out in the camp. Slide28

Altar of IncenseSlide29

Altar of IncenseExodus 30:1 “You shall make an altar on which to burn incense;

you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 A cubit 

[8]

shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth. It shall be square, and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And you shall make a molding of gold around it. 4 And you shall make two golden rings for it. Under its molding on two opposite sides of it you shall make them, and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it.Slide30

Altar of Incense

5 You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 And you shall

put it in front of the veil that is above the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat

that is above the testimony, where I will meet with you. 7 And

Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it. Every morning

when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it,

8

 and

when Aaron sets up the lamps at

twilight, he shall burn it,

a regular incense offering before

the Lord throughout your generations. 9

You shall not offer unauthorized incense on it

,

or a burnt offering, or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it. 10 Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year. With the blood of the sin offering of atonement he shall make atonement for it once in the year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.” Slide31

Altar of IncenseThe Bible states "God said to Moses: Take fragrances such as balsam,

onycha

, galbanum, and pure frankincense, all of the same weight, as well as other specified fragrances“

(Exodus 30:34).

The

incense which was offered in the Holy Temple was

made from eleven different ingredients

, only

four of which are mentioned by name in the verse above

.

The identity of the other seven spices has been passed down in the Oral Tradition.

As is the case with regard to many other areas of Temple study, the exact classification of these ingredients is the subject of serious research and scholarship. Many of these are rare, and some can be obtained only in exotic and distant lands.Slide32

Altar of IncenseThe method, or recipe, for preparing the special incense offering from these ingredients

was a closely-guarded secret

,

passed down from generation to generation within the ranks of one particular family known as

Avtinas

.

In

addition to the identity of the spices and the exact amounts and manner in which they are prepared,

the clan protected another important secret of their trade: The identity of an herb known in Hebrew as

ma'aleh

ashan

, literally "that which causes smoke to rise

." This herb has a quality which enabled the smoke from the incense to rise up to heaven in a straight column.

In our own time, some have speculated that this may be the plant

Leptadenia

pyrotechnica

, which contains nitric acid.Slide33

Altar of Incense

As mentioned before, the

incense service only came about once in each priest's life

- therefore, the priest who will now officiate has no prior experience. Before he entered, he was warned that

he must be very cautious when placing the incense upon the burning coals

.

If

he sprinkles it on the coals too close to the side where he is standing, he will be burned. He is instructed that he must sprinkle it with a motion moving away from himself. When he receives word from the overseer that he may now begin,

the priest begins to let the grains fall from his palms across the top of the altar, slowly, like “one who sifts flour”

(Maimonides). When the entire chamber fills with the cloud of smoke, he prostrates himself and exits the Sanctuary

.

I wanted to connect this very story to something we read in Luke. The fact that this would only be done one time in the Priest’s entire life makes this even more remarkable: Slide34

Altar of Incense

Luke 1:

5

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,

[

a

]

of

the division of Abijah.

And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

6 

And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.

7 

But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years

. ….

John was conceived shortly after Zacharias had finished serving at the Temple according to the

order of the division of Abijah

.

When

did Abijah serve? At the time of David a portion of the

priesthood was divided up into twenty-four divisions

to serve in the house of the Lord, and "the first lot came out for

Jehoiarib

, the second for

Jedaiah

. . .

the eighth for Abijah

. . . ." (1 Chron. 24:7,10)

Josephus

confirmed this division: "He divided them also into courses; and when he had separated the priests from them, he found of these priests twenty-four courses . . . and he ordained that one course should minister to God eight days, from Sabbath to Sabbath. . . . And this partition hath remained to this day." (

Ant.

VII 14:7

)

During the feast of Passover, the cohort that served at that time, would stay an extra week, as well as Shavuot. So In the case of Zechariah, he would have served in the Temple, in the 10

th

week from the First of Nissan. Placing him in the Temple at Shavuot…let’s read on: Slide35

Altar of Incense

8 

Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,

9 

according to the custom of the priesthood

,.

10 

And the whole multitude of the people

were

he

was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense

praying outside at the hour of incense.

Before the break of the day, the priests on duty were ready and they assembled to cast lots to decide the assignment of the various daily tasks. It started with filling the lavers and preparing the altar. At about 9:00 am, they opened the gates and blew the silver trumpets to announce the commencement of the morning service. The service included slaying the sacrificial lamb, salting the sacrifice, trimming the lampstand

, burning the incense

, presenting the burnt offering and drink offering, blessing the people and blasting the silver trumpets. This was followed by the Psalm of the day, presented by the singers, accompanied by instrumental music.

Immediately after the morning service, the Israelites might bring in their private sacrifices and offerings. It would occasionally continued till near the time for the evening sacrifice, which was about 2:30 pm. The evening service was similar to the morning service. It ended at about 4:00 pm.

At night, the priests kept watch about the innermost places of the Temple, including the inner court and the Temple itself. They also opened and closed all the inner gates.

11

And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

12 

And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.Slide36

Altar of Incense13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

14 

And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,

15 

for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

16 

And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God

,

17 

and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”Slide37

Altar of Incense18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”

19 

And the angel answered him, “

I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God,

and I was sent to speak to you and to bring

you this good news

.

20 

And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”

21

And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple.

22 

And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute.

23 

And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.