Taking Inventory

 

Exodus 38:21-40:38, Pekudei, “Inventory of”

There are a few things that stood out to me in this week’s parsha.  One was that we have been on the subject of the priestly garments and the explicit directions for the building of the tabernacle for several weeks now.  The other is just how many times in this week’s parsha the term “just as the Lord had commanded” is used.  Believe it or not, this term (or a derivative thereof) is used 19 times.  The next thing that hit me is how the dyes for the various fabrics and even the skins from some of the coverings for the tabernacle come from unclean animals.  Finally, Aaron putting on the priestly garments just kind of hit me.  Here is how it reads:

Exo 40:12-16 (NASB) “Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.  You shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and consecrate him, that he may minister as a priest to Me.  You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them; and you shall anoint them even as you have anointed their father, that they may minister as priests to Me; and their anointing will qualify them for a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.”  Thus Moses did; according to all that the LORD had commanded him, so he did.

The reason that this hit me like it did, is that in Aaron’s life, it had only been one year since the following events had taken place:

Exodus 32:2-24 (NASB) Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt." Now when Aaron saw [this,] he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow [shall be] a feast to the LORD." ……….. Then Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you, that you have brought [such] great sin upon them?" Aaron said, "Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil.  "For they said to me, 'Make a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'  "I said to them, 'Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.' So they gave [it] to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf."

Even before coming to what I was drawn toward in the above, I was using the other images to lead me into a place of personal introspection.  What I was beginning to see is that “we are the temple” on earth, and that just as the tabernacle coverings were made of a multitude of materials, fabrics, colors, textures, and elements of a varying degree of properties, so to are we.  Again, I can look at this on the micro scale of us as individuals and on the macro scale of the body of Yeshua in general.

With this concept in mind, I started looking at those aspects of myself that I have been less than accepting of, less than loving toward, and even downright judgmental of.  I don’t know about you, but sometimes, I can be my own worst critic.  At the same time, I think it is very easy to treat others in the same way we treat ourselves.  So, if we are the kinds of people who are always “taking an inventory” of ourselves, are we also the kinds of people who are always “taking an inventory” of others?

I think this is why this verse hit me so hard.  What do you think it was like for Moses to “do just as the Lord commanded” concerning Aaron and his sons just one year after such a gross sin against God?  Not only did Aaron sin against God in the making of the golden calf, he was about as far removed from the image of a priest any man could possibly be.  First, when the people came to him with their fears, he became a people pleaser and gave them what they wanted.  Then he added to what they requested and multiplied the sin by holding a feast day that led them into even greater sin and debauchery.  Ultimately, when challenged by Moses, he deflected the responsibility, blamed the people, and lied about how the golden calf had come into existence.  One year later, God is asking Moses to wash him with water, anoint him with oil, and robe him in the priestly garments.  How much humility do you think it took for Moses to step into “doing just as the Lord commanded”?  Do you think you would have been able to do the same?  How about if you were Aaron?  Knowing what you did just a year ago, do you think you would have been able to let Moses wash you with water, anoint you with oil, and put the priestly garments on you?  Could have you worn the turban with the gold head band that read “Holy to the Lord” across your forehead?  Then what about the people?  If you were one of the people, what do you think you would have thought watching all this take place?  I mean, it was just a year ago that this guy, for all intensive purposes, didn’t appear any less prone to sin than the rest of them?

Well, the truth is, every single day we are asked to do these very things.  We are asked to do it with fellow believers, with our loved ones, and yes, even with ourselves.  Ultimately, the question comes down to our ability to stop “taking inventories” and simply do as the Lord has commanded us.

When I think about some of the key concepts of the New Covenant, one of the biggest that jumps out at me is one where the scriptures are somewhat ambiguous unless we truly understand how the scribes understood the base scriptures concerning what we are given in the New Testament writings.

In Galatians 3:16 (NASB) we read “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”—

In the context of dispensation theology that believes that the Jewish people were under a judgement of condemnation and that we are now in a time of grace, we can be led into believing that the “curse” referenced here is something imposed by God like the curses referenced in Deuteronomy 27-30.  However, when we understand that God does not change, and that He is parenting us today in the very same ways as He parented the people of Israel prior to Yeshua’s coming, we are forced to look at this scripture in a new way.

This scripture specifically references us back to Deuteronomy 21:22-23 (NASB) where we read ““If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.”

Doing a bit of research led me to an understanding of this scripture that I believe to be the real heart and soul of what God is getting at in this commandment.  The thing we must understand is that in the context of the commandment, the person is not being hung as a mode of their being put to death.  Instead, the commandment centers on the intentionally of hanging a person who has already been put to death upon a tree as a display.  There are many reasons that an entity would hang the one they executed up on display.  The reasons could include instilling a sense of fear or shame.  Neither of these two are the heart of Torah or what it is to be the people of God.  Ultimately, yes, we are to have a healthy fear of God, but this does not include a fear of death or a fear of shame.

In Romans 8:12-15 (NASB) we read: So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"

In Hebrews 2:14-15 (NASB) we read: Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

In Galatians 5:1 (NASB): It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Finally, in Romans 8:1 (NASB): Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

So, here is what I am getting at.  The curse that comes upon the land, that God is referencing in Deuteronomy 21 starts with shame and extends into fear.  These are the “curses” of the law when we approach the law from works instead of faith.  I would argue that these two mentalities, rooted in pride, are the two most challenging thought process that must be overcome in our desire to walk with Him in the true relationship He desires us to live.  The first way this “shame/fear” based mentality manifests is in a form where we attempt to earn God’s favor by being “good enough”.  The struggle is that the letter of the law along with the spiritual reality of it is far to great to ever fully walk in.  In the end, we always come up short, and the impact of the shame and fear drive us away from the law and from God.  On the other hand, when looked at the law through the lens of a works-based mentality, there is the chance we may recognize we will never meet its righteous standards, give up on it before we ever even start, and again push away from the law and God leading us into the same demise.

As an analogy, I like to look at a typical husband/wife relationship as an example.  All of us know that we will never meet the full righteousness of being a “perfect” spouse.  If we approach our marital relationship based on the faith that our spouse will appreciate us for who we are in our effort to be the best spouse we are capable, we are forever motivated to grow in our likeness of that unreachable perfectly righteous standard.  At the same time, all of us know it would be catastrophic to the relationship to not even try to be a good spouse simply because we know we will never meet the standards of the perfectly righteous model.  If we could simply apply this understanding to our relationship with God, we could easily move out from under a slave relationship to the law, and live with it as a foundation to a greater relationship with Him as sons and daughters.

In the end, the point is, Yeshua came to take the curse of the shame, condemnation, and fear of death that these emotions lead us to.  He nailed those responses to His perfect law to the cross and provided for us a way to enter into a relationship with Him where we no longer feel like slaves, but are set free to be His friends.  In and through this we are free to see ourselves how He sees us, see others as He sees them, and support and encourage each other in spite of the apparent flaws that we each still walk in.

The truth is, the body of Yeshua is made up of a lot of people who started out a whole lot less holy than they are today.  Just like the coverings of the tabernacle are made up of, to a certain extent, the skins of unclean animals and/or clean materials dyed from inks taken from unclean animals, we are His temple also made up of some stuff that was transformed from some less than clean events.  We could even say that those things are what we “died” to, and in and through that “dying” process, we gained a testimony that will bring Him glory and reveal His beauty. 

The truth is, this is the journey of Israel, the church, and each of us individually.  So, as we stop and look at each other and the state of the church at large, let’s slow down for a minute and remember that it is the very testimony of those death experience that make us approachable, that give credit to who He is, and that prove He is trust worthy.  Let us always remember where the color comes from in our testimony, and that without the “dye” of our “death” experiences, what we have to show the world just wouldn’t be that attractive.  Let’s slow down and remind ourselves to see ourselves and each other as whole beings, to stop taking inventory, and stop being so critical.  In and through this we can break the curse of fear and death, step into a new relationship with Him, and embrace our successes and learn from our failures.  In the end, this will help us to love ourselves and in so doing, love each other.

I pray that his has been a blessing to you.  I pray that these words have revealed something deep within your walk with Him, and in and through what I have shared, an opportunity has been created to step into a new form of freedom in your relationship with Him.  Amen Amen