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Terumah

Contribution
“Willing Hearts”

Exodus 25:1-27:19
1 Kings 5:26-6:13

excerpted from TorahScope, Volume I

Our Torah portion for this week, Terumah, begins with the command for the Ancient Israelites to contribute to the Tabernacle construction project:

“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they take an offering for me. From everyone whose heart makes him willing you shall take my offering. This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, bronze…’” (Exodus 25:1-3, WMB).

In Terumah, the people of Israel were finally given an opportunity to give back to God for all which He had done for them—and the outpouring of material was great (cf. Exodus 36:5). With meticulous detail, Moses was given and then recorded the instructions for construction of a temporary Tabernacle and its components,[1] which would be used to worship the Lord during the sojourn through the desert:

“Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8, WMB).

Among the lengthy list of items to be contributed were not just the materials necessary for the different pieces of Tabernacle furniture, but also the materials necessary for the garments for the high priest:

“This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, bronze, blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense, onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate” (Exodus 25:3-7, WMB).

As you can deduce from this short summary list of materials, the Lord was particular about what He required to fellowship with His chosen people in the Tabernacle they would build for Him. He told Moses about what this all meant, stating, “See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown to you on the mountain” (Exodus 25:40, WMB). God gave Moses various Heavenly patterns, off of which the Israelites would be able to model the Tabernacle and its accoutrements.[2]

For the balance of the Book of Exodus, the specifics of the Tabernacle, its construction, and the implements to be used in it are described, and God’s instructions were followed (Exodus chs. 25-40). It all culminated with the glory of God filling the Tabernacle, as the Book of Exodus concludes:

“He raised up the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the LORD’s glory filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:33-34, WMB).

As one reads this particular Torah portion, and contemplates the volume of the Book of Exodus which is devoted to describing the Tabernacle essentials, you should be reminded how the Lord is definitely interested in dwelling with His people. In fact, as Paul would later indicate, the concept of God dwelling with His people gets elevated to living inside human vessels, who commit themselves to Yeshua the Messiah:

“Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16, WMB).

Reflection on Terumah can focus on a number of different aspects detailed in the quality of materials chosen for the Tabernacle construction. Each has considerable meaning and symbolism which have ministered to me. Just as gold or silver has beauty or value—even more so, our redeemed hearts must be of a higher value and beauty—as we commit ourselves to a life of service to our Heavenly Father.

Freewill Offering

Rather than dig into some minutiae from Terumah, when I read and meditated on our Torah portion this week, the Holy Spirit began to focus my attention on the importance of the freewill offering which the Israelites were commanded to give:

“Speak to the children of Israel, that they take an offering for me. From everyone whose heart makes him willing you shall take my offering” (Exodus 25:2, WMB).

As Terumah begins, the Hebrew verb used to describe the movement of the Israelites’ hearts is nadav. In the Qal stem (simple action, active voice), it means to “urge on, prompt” (CHALOT),[3] in reference to freewill offerings and acts of heartfelt volunteering. From some other places where nadav is used, you can get the impression that when someone is compelled to perform an action, the personal and physical costs are not humanly considered. There is also an apparent link to gathering materials for the Tabernacle, and later the Temple, which houses the glory of God.

Nadav is used later in the Tanakh, in describing the freewill offerings which were given to King David for the construction of the First Temple, built during King Solomon’s reign. In this passage, nadav appears in the Hitpael stem (intensive action, reflective voice) and means to “decide voluntarily, volunteer,” or “offer voluntarily, give a free will offering” (CHALOT)[4]:

“‘of gold for the things of gold, and of silver for the things of silver, and for all kinds of work to be made by the hands of artisans. Who then offers willingly to consecrate himself today to the LORD?’ Then the princes of the fathers’ households, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers over the king’s work, offered willingly [nadav]” (1 Chronicles 29:5-6, WMB).

Readers also see the verb nadav used when the materials for the Second Temple were being gathered by those of Ezra’s generation:

“Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and the Levites, all whose spirit God had stirred to go up, rose up to build the LORD’s house which is in Jerusalem. All those who were around them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with animals, and with precious things, in addition to all that was willingly offered [nadav, Hitpael]” (Ezra 1:5-6, WMB).

In each of these recorded offerings, people whose hearts were stirred—were those who freely offered up the valuable items for the construction projects.

Living Sacrifice

As I examined these passages and the actions of those who were moved by the Lord, I was reminded of some important things. First, I was reminded how our spiritual forbearers had an opportunity to offer gold, silver, and other precious and costly items for the construction of God’s Earthly dwelling places. Whether it was the Tabernacle in the desert or the First and Second Temples, these were each unique occasions when certain persons responded in an overwhelming fashion. I was impressed with the thought that these people had their heart stirred to such a point that they did not consider the cost and high value of the items they gave.

Secondly, I was reminded of the reality that Believers today, who compose a kind of Temple for the Holy One, have much more to offer of themselves to Him. Instead of just offering gold or silver, we have the privilege of presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice before the Lord. Such a living sacrifice does not just pertain to how we individually live, but also how we are to function in unity accomplishing the Lord’s tasks for the Earth. As the Apostle Paul put it,

“Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service” (Romans 12:1, WMB).

As children of the Most High, who should be confident that we are indwelt with the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), we can offer ourselves up as a living sacrifice, for use by God as He so pleases. This, in and of itself, is something which each Believer must willfully choose to do. We have to contribute something so that we all function as a corporate, living sacrifice.

In order for this to be achieved, our hearts must be truly moved—without counting the value or cost of what we must contribute to God’s service. If you do take the time to count the cost, and realize that your offering requires a total surrender to the will of God, then you just might not be willing to commit the time or energy which He requires.

A Better Sacrifice

What we all must be thankful for is that God Himself, in the Person of Yeshua, had a willing heart to offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of fallen humanity. As glorious as the wilderness Tabernacle, and First and Second Temples were—their service of sacrifices was not sufficient to provide permanent atonement, as detailed by the author of Hebrews:

“According to the Torah, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission. It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Messiah hasn’t entered into holy places made with hands, which are representations of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place year by year with blood not his own, or else he must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment, so Messiah also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:22-28, WMB).

Thankfully, Yeshua’s heart was stirred to the point where He was willing to be a sacrifice.

How about you? Is your heart being stirred to the point where you are willing to offer yourself up so that you can be useful in the Kingdom’s work? If you have offered yourself up, are you encouraging others to do the same? If you are not doing these things, pray that our Heavenly Father will stir your heart to the point that the cost does not matter. Take the opportunity to offer yourself before Him.

The chance to be a willing sacrifice comes only during your lifetime. Be like those who did not miss the chance to make the offering when their time came! Pray for the stirring of your heart!