But citizens of what?

“Ecclesia” is meaningless outside the national context of Israel. Although God’s people exist in two houses presently, there is really only one citizenship, one baptism, one body, one king, and one kingdom. If you are truly a member of the Congregation of the Messiah, then you are a citizen of Israel. But do not make the mistake of thinking that the Christian “church” has become or replaced Israel. Believing gentiles were grafted into a pre-existing nation. They did not replace her or create something new.

There has never been a church outside of national Israel and there never will be.

HT: Mark McLellan. Again.

If you worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and if you recognize that your only hope for salvation from the eternal consequences of your sin lies in repenting from it and placing yourself at his mercy, trusting in him to forgive you and to make a way for you to be reunited with him, then I call you a brother in Messiah. I don’t care what label you claim. I don’t care what label anyone else puts on you. I don’t care what scriptures you read or what you call your place of worship or even if you have a place of worship.

God knows you. God claims you as his own. Who are we to disagree?

Shabbat: Doesn’t the Letter to the Hebrews say that the blood of bulls and goats never took away anyone’s sins and that Gideon and David and all the other ancient Israelites who lived before Jesus were saved only by faith in a future Messiah and not by animal sacrifices at all?

Sunday: What’s your point?

Shabbat: Exactly.

Ephesians 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers (xenos, meaning “alien” or “foreigner”) and foreigners (paroikos, meaning “resident alien” or “sojourner”), but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God…

Putting it another way, “Now therefore you are no longer gentiles or even sojourners, but fellow citizens with the holy people and members of the house of God.”

Put yet another way, “You have become Israel, united as one people with Judah.”

Christians replace the appointed times of God (Daniel 7:25) with the days and names of false gods. In what universe would the Creator of heaven and earth approve of using the names of one of his rivals with whom his people repeatedly committed adultery to celebrate the death and resurrection of his only Son? That is obscenely offensive! It is no accident that he commanded us to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread immediately after commanding us not to speak the names of false gods. These two commands are directed squarely at so-called Christians who celebrate Ashteroth and her abomination that brings desolation and the sacrifice of pigs instead of Passover, sanctification, and resurrection of Yeshua ha Maschiach.

In Vayikra the first three offerings (burnt, grain, and peace) are voluntary, while the last two (sin and guilt) are not. In Tzav, the first offering is completely burned up, the next three are partly burned and partly consumed by the priest, and the final offering is partly burned, partly eaten by the priest, and mostly eaten by the offerer and his community.

Although I don’t know exactly what to make of the following correlations, I think they are correct.

Five is the number of Torah, and there are five sacrifices. The purpose of both Torah and the sacrifices is to draw us closer to YHWH. (See Vayikra 5770 – Approaching under Cover.)

• The burnt offering is something wholly given to God, and there are commandments in the Torah which are designed to bring us closer to God the Father.
• The grain, sin, and guilt offerings are partly given to God and partly to the priest. There are many mitzvot throughout the Torah that draw us closer to God while foreshadowing the ministry of the Messiah as a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. (There is something else here about Moses and the order of Melchizedek, but I’ll save it for another time.)
• The peace offering, like many mitzvot concerning how to live at peace with one’s neighbors, is designed to draw us closer to God as a community, to make us a united people under the banner of the Messiah.

I believe the order in Vayikra says something about another layer of classification that can be overlaid on the Torah, but I will save that for another day too. Vayikra 5771 perhaps.

Twenty iterations of “They did all that Yahweh commanded Moses,” or some slight variation thereof.

They made the furniture of the Tabernacle. They wove and embroidered the curtains and the priestly garments. They erected the structure, anointed its contents and its priests, and put the various articles in their assigned places. Finally they lit the menorah, placed the bread, and burned the incense. All exactly as Yahweh had commanded.

God gives us an enormous amount of freedom in how we are to live our lives, but as anyone who has lived long enough to outgrow the fiery idealism of our youth realizes, true freedom is not possible without some rules. Neither is love. A husband cannot say to his wife, “I will show my love for you by pouring red wine on all of your white blouses.” Well, I suppose he could say it, but I don’t think she would quite get the message he intended. Or maybe he could say, “Honey, I’m thinking of a very nice anniversary card and a set of beautiful diamond earrings.” Unless he followed his imaginings with happenings, they won’t be very well received.

We frequently hear people say that it’s the thought that counts, but we all know that isn’t literally true. It’s the thought plus the deed that really counts. If the husband in the examples above had poured his wife a glass of water (not on her blouse) and bought her a card and a bouquet of roses, then his grand intentions, however humbly expressed, would have counted for much, much more.

Several things are conspicuously missing from Vayakhel and P’kudei: green, orange, and yellow threads; iron and lead ingots; cowhides; marble. I am certain that some people wanted to give these things along with their gold and silver, but God was very specific about what materials could be used in his Tabernacle. Just like the man’s wife who didn’t want wine on her clothes, God didn’t want lead in his Holy Place. I can speculate all day and night about the spiritual significance of this or that metal and color, but it really comes down to this: God knows what he wants, and he doesn’t want just anything.

You have the freedom to serve him, but you do not have the freedom to serve him in any way you choose. If you love God, you will obey his commandments. God doesn’t want us all to be missionaries to Borneo or to give him a million dollars. He wants us to give him our best, and to give him what he asks. He wants our love, and he wants it by his rules, not ours.

• The first time, the people did according to what Moses commanded.
• The next eleven times, the people did according to what Yahweh commanded Moses.
• The next seven times, Moses did what Yahweh commanded.
• The next time, all Moses plus the Cohanim did what Yahweh commanded Moses.
• Moses completed the work.

P’kudei says twelve times that the people did what they were commanded: once by the command of Moses and twelve by the command of God delivered through Moses. Twelve is the number of God’s people. There are twelve tribes, twelve gates, and twelve disciples. Except when one of those disciples followed the commands of men instead of God.

Seven represents perfection. Creation, including the establishment of the Sabbath, was completed in seven days. There are seven lamps on the menorah, seven spirits of God, and seven churches. David reminded us over and over that God’s Torah is perfect. Moses delivered God’s Law perfectly, just as God intended it to be, and he commanded us not to alter it. Yeshua reiterated that command when he said that anyone who relaxes even the tiniest part of it will be called the least in heaven.

Psalms 19:7  The law [Hebrew: torah] of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

The final repetition doesn’t stand on its own. It is the eighth statement of Moses’ obedience, eight being the number of new beginnings, but this time, he was joined by the priests. The aim of the Torah is the Messiah who has become our High Priest. It teaches us about him and points us to him. It tells us how to recognize him, why we need him, and what he does for us. He is our Cohen Ha Gadol, our High Priest, albeit of a different order than the sons of Aaron. He is our new beginning, our rebirth, but notice that it was not the priest alone included in the eighth repetition, but Moses with him. Just as Jeremiah prophesied, the New Covenant brought by Yeshua does not leave Moses behind. In the New Covenant, the Law of Moses (aka the Torah) is to be written on our hearts and no longer on stone. God still wants his people to keep his Torah, but we are not condemned by it because we are not under its authority. We are children of the King and obey his laws because we love him, not because we are afraid of the King’s sheriff.

After all twenty statements are complete, the Torah says, “And Moses finished the work.” As James taught to the first century church, no one needs to keep the Torah in order to gain their salvation, but once a person becomes a citizen of the kingdom he would do well to begin learning and practicing its laws. (Acts 15:21)

I think….or not….I’m conflicted.