Brukhim Habayim to each one of you in the name of Yeshua, we are so pleased to be interacting with each talmidim and am sure the spiritual growth in each one of you has been to the praise and glory of God, our learning, growing and internalizing the Torah should stand as a testimony and full of light to the world around us. Now reflecting over the last many parashas that we have gone through, in comparison it is worthy to note how this portion comes annually during the time of Tisha B’Av (9th of Av) every year. Visibly in perusing the chapters one will not be able to surmise the underline story, all we read is HaShem consistently over and over again emphasizing to them about keeping the commandments the failure of which would lead them into exile. Let’s look further and dig deeper and like our Last Torah Portion where we saw the pre foundation of the Gospel being setup by Moses here we will peek into the mystical and Sod level of the scripture.
In Chapter 4:28 Moses says the following as a warning to the children of Israel
וְהֵפִ֧יץ יְהוָ֛ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם בָּעַמִּ֑ים וְנִשְׁאַרְתֶּם֙ מְתֵ֣י מִסְפָּ֔ר בַּגּוֹיִ֕ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר יְנַהֵ֧ג יְהוָ֛ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם שָֽׁמָּה׃
The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a scant few of you shall be left among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. Hashem warns them about forgetting Him as their only god and refusing to follow His commandments. Historically we see what happened to the children of Israel not Once but 4 times Babylonian (423 BCE - 372 BCE) Persia/Media (372 BCE – 348 BCE) Greece 371 BCE - 140 BCE Rome (69 CE - Present). The current exile is the longest and toughest and is also called the Exile of Esav which will culminate with the coming of YESHUA. Now Egypt was a birthing of a people and God was producing a Jewish people from the nations of the earth; so technically it was not an Exile, the dispersion that followed was because of their rebellion to follow his commandments and each of these events was followed by the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. Co-incidentally both temples were destroyed and desecrated on the same day in History the 9th Of Av and in modern times there are other things that have transpired on this very dayץ
אֵיכָה say the Prophet Yirmiyahu – How!! solitary sits the city once of many people! She has become a widow who was great among the nations; the chief princes among the provinces, she has become a prayer of Tribute. Jeremiah cried in the book of Lamentations as he prophesied for the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem – King and Priest both along with the royal ones all taken captive to Babylon. The great destruction of the state of Israel and Judah finally taken captive and into exile away from the Land. Traditionally and on a serious note the Jewish people consider this day as the most disastrous day of the year for them, and rightly so because of the death and destruction that followed, along with their suffering and exile God even allowed their Temple to be desecrated and broken down. Now we are not really going to go through history to educate ourselves, but rather our purpose is of course about spiritual matters and learn from what happened then and understand God’s ways with Man.
So what are we exactly going to talk about and bring into perspective about this Disastrous day which falls this year on 30th July 2020. How does it apply to us in these modern eras, and moreover what can we learn form it, are we internalizing and applying to our lives? The foundation of this must be refreshed right from the beginning of giving of the Torah. The relation between Man and temple must be explored to uncover the mystical and the elevated level of spirituality. Going back to Exodus 25:8 Hashem says this to Moses while giving the instructions for making the Mishkan; HaShem says:
וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם
Let me translate the following Verse “And PRODUCE to me Holiness and I will dwell inside of it” now the word Mikdash in the Literal means from Holiness and it is also used for the TEMPLE so the root of the word could mean any place that is sanctified and made Holy so that the presence of God can dwell inside of it. Just Like the Temple in Jerusalem was sanctified by HaShem when Solomon dedicated it to Him, therefore it was called Mikdash – which means of / from Holiness. So we are not looking actually at anything physically built or architecturally built as what God intended, but rather a PLACE where HE dwell inside. Now move further to Verse 9 and see what it says:
כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי מַרְאֶה אוֹתְךָ֔ אֵ֚ת תַּבְנִית הַמִּשְׁכָּ֔ן וְאֵ֖ת תַּבְנִית כָּל־כֵּלָיו וְכֵ֖ן תַּעֲשֽׂוּ׃ (ס)
Look at the word “Otheka” literally means you as in “of You” those who would be able to understand the Hebrew and have been studiously studying with us will get an immediate note on the importance of the word, so lets translate into more lucid language “
In all there is from seeing of YOURSELF and the FORM / BUILD (TAVNIT) with all its furnishings you will produce it. In Hebrew the word Ve-Asu means to take something and produce or make something out of it. In other words God is Telling Moses – Look at YOURSELF see the build and the form you are created in and from it produce a place of holiness of it so I can dwell inside. GOD wants to dwell INSIDE of US not outside in anything made from human hands. So, then the question is WHY the temple and all its Splendour and Golden furnishings etc…… This is because the Mishkan in desert was meant as a place for the Approach present for the children of Israel until they learnt that the actual approach present was not a physical journey but a Spiritual journey inside each one of them. It served much as an Expression of their inward feelings of sin and guilt and was used as a training ground for the inward journey.
Subsequently the animals used represented their substituted souls that were offered up. Until the children of Israel never internalized the instructions and the Torah of approach present to God the MIKDASH served as a place of training for them to elevate themselves. Most of them never learnt and fell to the trap of the Physicality of it and remained doing with hands and praising with their mouth but they heart was far from God – Yeshua says the same thing bringing out the essence of the “AVODAH” Service of the heart, when he quotes in Matthew 15:8 “ These people DRAW NEAR to Me with their mouth and honor me with their Lips, but their HEART is far from me (Isaiah 29:3)
Now since we have put together the essence of the Mishkan and the Mikdash and what really HaShem wanted them to accomplish we can now move further on build our understanding. We can now perceive the need and the importance of setting up a Mishkan in the Wilderness for Moses – but what about David HaMelekh – what was his need to build a temple? In 1 Kings 6:11-13 God tells King Solomon “Only if you walk in my statutes and Judgments and commandments then I will confirm through you My word that I Spoke to your father David. That I will tabernacle in the midst of the sons of Israel and I shall not forsake my People Israel” Friends this is a serious question and deserves a resolute answer because we know for sure King David in all his psalms God calls him a Man after my own heart – of His generation he was probably one of the few who would have internalized the Torah of HaShem and understood the Approach present and Korban Chai of the Torah. Why did he want to build the TEMPLE then?? Its is really puzzling to even understand his motives. You know it was King David who finalized everything to its minute detail of the plan and design and the furnishings etcc…. But it was his son Shlomo who got the chance to build it. Because David had shed too much blood and God did not want him to carry it the construction. Shlomo at the temple consecration says himself and acknowledges by the words 1 Kings 8:27
כִּי הַֽאֻמְנָ֔ם יֵשֵׁב אֱלֹהִים עַל־הָאָרֶץ הִנֵּה הַשָּׁמַיִם וּשְׁמֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם לֹא יְכַלְכְּלוּךָ אַף כִּי־הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר בָּנִיתִי׃
“But will God really dwell on earth? Even the heavens to their uttermost reaches cannot contain You, how much less this House that I have built!
Excellent words spoken by Shlomo Melekh – Because even he understands that consistent intention of God is to dwell within us not in a TEMPLE built by hands as such because God understands Human weakness. Nevertheless God does not refuse King David in his quest for building the temple – provided that the temple itself is a outcome and a result of keeping the commandments of God to a perfection – or in other words the physical temple will be a result of the collective merits of all Jewish people who are able to keep the Torah in perfection. Like wise the 3rd temple that is to be built is really an attempt of an imperfectly impure generation to build a perfectly Pure structure with which they will ultimately sin and desecrate- it is just not going to work. Well this is what exactly happened in the 1st Temple – King David’s Intentions were honorable and Solomon completed it – but the Jewish nation were not able to perfect themselves therefore they were not worthy to have the temple in their midst. Thinking of it – Having a temple is not a priority for God – but somehow it seems to be for Man!!! I passionately believe if at all there is going to be a 3rd temple – the desires of humanity play a big part in it – God will not say no to us. However for the TRUE temple to be ready it would take the nations to come to the perfection of the TORAH – THE merit of which would enable the Pure Holy and Perfect Temple to be built for all Humanity. Till then every effort by current generation will only be a SIN.
Well since we are so caught up in the destruction of both temples and the Huge hue and cry from the Jewish quarter about its destruction – and rightly so from the Human perspective, the desires of King David are ground to ashes because the people do not merit it. So God destroyed both temples because He realized that it was made for the People, by the people, and of the People - but they themselves have desecrated it so God had to destroy it FOR THEY OWN GOOD and not for His good. Keep this is mind as I am repeating this again – the Temple is an Honorable and pure Intention that is the effect and result of all Israel perfecting themselves in the Torah, anything less would be disastrous for themselves only.
Okie so why was the 1st temple destroyed; because of a) centrality of Jerusalem that facilitated idolatry b) breaking of the Sabbath rules of the Land – this landed them into exile. Why was the 2nd Temple Destroyed because of a) Sinat Chinam Mindless baseless hatred this is breaking the golden commandments of Loving your neighbor as yourself, Feel it, catch the drift – this is exactly what Yeshua was saying all throughout the Gospels, this is also what we learnt in the at Torah portion about the pre foundation of the Gospel – and now it brings more into light the Need for Yeshua to come and sort out the issue between one Jew to Another. Malachi says in chapter 4 – that Hashem will send the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord, and he will turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and the fathers to the children – for indeed he would have come first to rectify the misdeeds of the Torah before Yeshua came. Sadly but Yeshua wept because he saw that the people are not going to change and towards the ends of His ministry he became aggressive in condemning the leaders and the priestly order because the rot they were not able to remove, in fact they were the cause of it.
We need to get back to the Torah Portion and pick up the thread form there again; Moses says in Deuteronomy 6:15 “For the Lord your God in your innards will have a face of resentfulness and in his anger will blaze forth against you and wipe you off form the face of the earth” and so Moses starts the Portion with the Words Va-etchanan – which means He pleaded with HaShem so that he could enter into the land and see it. Moses Pleads !!!! why because he does not realize that he would be instrumental in building the 1st TEMPLE which would be desecrated in any case and GOD does not want him to do it rightfully so. In Chapter 4:5-6 Moses warns the people again to abide by the rules and regulations that was imparted to them and to make them known to their children and their children’s children, Then GOD predicts the EXILE
וְהֵפִ֧יץ יְהוָ֛ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם בָּעַמִּים וְנִשְׁאַרְתֶּם מְתֵ֣י מִסְפָּר בַּגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר יְנַהֵג יְהוָ֛ה אֶתְכֶם שָֽׁמָּה׃
The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a scant few of you shall be left among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
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