What are you willing to give for the Kingdom of God?
Terumah
Torah Portion Exodus 25:1-27:19
Halph Torah Portion I Kings 6:1-13
New Testament Revelation 21:9-27
What are you willing to give to Kingdom for the building of the body of Yeshua? More importantly, what are you willing to leave behind to gain access to the King of Kings? If there is anything that we should have learned along the way is that it is not important what you are holding on to that will prevent you from entering the Kingdom. Yeshua said that he who places his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit to enter the Kingdom of Yah.
(Luk 9:57-62 EHV)
(57) As they went on the way, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
(58) Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
(59) He said to another man, “Follow me!” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
(60) Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
(61) Another man also said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say good-bye to those at my home.”
(62) Jesus told him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luk 17:26-33 EHV
(26) Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man.
(27) They were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
(28) Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: They were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,
(29) but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
(30) It will be the same on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
(31) On that day, the person who is on the roof and has belongings in the house should not go down to get them. Likewise, the person in the field should not turn back for anything.
(32) Remember Lot’s wife!
(33) Whoever tries to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
In this Torah Portion, we see YHVH calling for a collection of the willing. They were not forced to contribute rather it is whatever was on their heart to give in fact when the offering was received they had to restrain the people from giving for they had too much. Can you imagine that they were forced to stop giving? When we give all into whatever has for us to do, He will make the provision. Time and time again YHVH takes from the things we have and multiplies them for His glory.
He asked Moses what did he have in his hand. He replied a staff. YHVH said for him to cast it to the ground and it became a serpent. He had to tell him to pick it up again and it was returned to a staff. YHVH is only limited to our obedience.
Consider the widow, 1Ki 17:9-16 EHV
(9) “Get up! Go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there. I have commanded a woman there, a widow, to provide for you.”
(10) So he got up and went to Zarephath. He came to the city gate, and there he saw a widow gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “Please give me a little water in a jar, so that I can have something to drink.”
(11) When she went to get it, he called to her, “Please bring me a piece of bread.”
(12) She said, “As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no food except a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a pitcher. See, I am gathering a couple of sticks so that I can go and prepare it for myself and my son, so that we can eat it and then die.”
(13) Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do just as you said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from the flour and bring it out to me. Then go and make another for you and your son.
(14) For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says. The jar of flour will not run out and the pitcher of oil will not become empty until the day the LORD sends rain to water the surface of the ground.”
(15) So she went and did exactly as Elijah said. He and she, as well as her household, were able to eat for many days.
(16) The jar of flour did not run out, and the pitcher of oil did not become empty, just as the LORD had said through Elijah.
What seemed to be a desperate time for the widow and her son. YHVH took from what she had and made provision for them as long they did what He said for her to do. You never know what will happen and you won’t see what YHVH will do until you let go and give it to YHVH. We must have faith in Him and do what He said for us to do.
This reminds me of a time when I did not what was going to happen. I had to believe that He would see me through even though I did not have money to make provisions for myself. Where I was renting the owner was a Christian and he tithed out of his garden and left it at the doorstep of the apartment house. Anyone who needed could take from it what they needed. I lived off through the summer by His gracious hand. YHVH made a provision for me. Six months before this YHVH told me a simple word that was to prepare. At that time, I did not know what was going to happen. I prayed about that word and He opened my eyes to pay my rent ahead and pay my utilities and my phone 3 months ahead. All the while I kept everything current. The place where I worked told me I was being terminated and at the end of my probation, I was given my last check. It was three months to the day when I received my first check from the VA for school.
YHVH takes care of those who follow Him. I am saying this to say that if He does not seem to answer you in that manner every time,
2Ki 4:1-7 EHV
(1) The wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead. You know that your servant feared the LORD. But now the moneylender is coming to take my two sons as slaves.”
(2) Then Elisha said to her, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” She said, “Your servant has nothing at all in the house except a jar of olive oil.”
(3) He told her, “Go and ask all your neighbors for jars—empty jars. Don’t ask for only a few.
(4) Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Then pour oil into all the jars. When each one is full, set it aside.”
(5) So she went and shut the door to her house behind her and her sons. They brought the jars, and she poured.
(6) When a jar was filled, she said to her son, “Bring me another jar.” Finally he said, “There aren’t any more.” Then the oil stopped.
(7) So she went and told the man of God. He said, “Go and sell the oil and pay your debt. Then you and your sons can live off what’s left.”
Mar 6:37-44 EHV
(37) But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” They asked him, “Should we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?”
(38) He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go see.” When they found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”
(39) He directed everyone to sit down in groups on the green grass.
(40) They sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.
(41) Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, and blessed the loaves and broke them. Then he kept giving pieces to his disciples to set in front of them. He also divided the two fish among them all.
(42) They all ate and were satisfied.
(43) Then they picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.
(44) There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.
Do not doubt that YHVH can supply your needs. Again, I say sure we must do all we can to make provision for our families and ourselves. Yet in our desperation, our King hears our cries and He takes care of us. All we need to do is ask. He says,
Mat 7:7-8 EHV
(7) “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened for you.
(8) For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.
Mat 21:21-22 EHV
(21) Jesus answered them, “Amen I tell you: If you have faith, and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it would be done.
(22) Whatever you ask for in prayer, as you believe, you will receive.”
Even in this, we must act in faith if we expect anything from YHVH. If we ask and doubt in our heart do not think that we will receive anything. I know that this all seems basic and a lot have come to an in-depth study of the things of YHVH. Yet, if we miss these basic understanding and the love of God then we miss the point. They asked Yeshua what is the greatest commandment of YHVH. His reply;
Mat 22:36-40 EHV
(36) “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?”
(37) Jesus said to him, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
(38) This is the first and greatest commandment.
(39) The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
(40) All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Love is more than an emotional response to something or someone, rather it is our actions that show that we love Him and others. We are to be a living breathing Torah, a beacon on a hill for all to see the way to Messiah. We must give with an open hand for it is only in our hands, He has only loaned to us. Our job is to give it to whomever He wishes. His desire must be our desire. His heart must be our heart. What our husband loves is what we must our love, and what He hates we must hate. We should know Him so well as the back of our hand and His thoughts should be first and foremost on our foreheads.
In all of this, He wanted to live among us and He wanted to live within us. He still wants to do this today. What are you willing to give up to get closer to the King? This reminds me again of Esther who had to prepare to see the King. She fasted and prayed to our King before she met with the king. We as the bride must prepare ourselves to meet to be our Husband the great I am.
Esther only brought in what the King liked. No fan fair, no her desire as our should be is please the King. Are we ready to meet the King? Are we trying to prepare in the flesh, so that we appear to be ready only to find out that we came up short?
In the beginning, YHVH prepared Adam to be with Him and gave everything to manage and rule over. He was perfect in every sense of the word. Yet, YHVH said it is not good that the man was alone. So, He prepared from Adam’s side a companion, one that would be his equal and helper. This was a picture of the Spirit who is alongside of us to help us and remind us of things of YHVH. We are to participate in our relationship willing to leave it all behind to get as close as we can to our Husband. We are not to be like the five foolish virgins.
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