The Torah reading called “Pekudei” (for the “accounts” that summarized the making of the ‘mishkan,’ or Tabernacle in the Wilderness, from Exodus 38:10 through the end of the Book) is the final parsha the the opening saga of the Exodus.

And while the story has only really begun at that point, it’s an inspired summary of what mattered then, and still does:  the phrase “as YHVH commanded Moshe [Moses]” is repeated eighteen times in this parsha alone, and the level of repeated detail on the work the ‘mixed multitude’ did together is, in large measure, also repeated, but with a change of tense:  that which they were TOLD to do, they, and Moses, DID — and, again, “as YHVH commanded Moshe.”

There is clearly a message there.

While most of us who have attended the vast majority of ‘denominational churches’ have probably heard the term “Old” Testament, and even that “the Law” was somehow away with later, as if it no longer applies, and what matters instead is the ‘spirit’ that is in our hearts, Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa suggests we had better understand the MANY other admonitions in Scripture, including warnings from Shaul, or Paul, that have been twisted.  He starts with a look at the First Letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians, and chapter 3.  But it is undeniable, to those with “eyes to see,” that the ReNewed Covenant, in places like Jeremiah 31:31 is not quite what most of us have been taught, either.

As we see the battle lines being drawn in a world which has largely rejected the True Messiah in favor of “another jesus whom we have NOT preached,” Mark suggests it has never been more important not only that we know WHICH Spirit is “holy” and how to know, but that we understand why what “Yahuah commanded Moshe” is still the Foundation — just as Yahushua HaMashiach, the Messiah, said, and taught.  He never changed so much as a “yod or tiddle.”

And He summarized it all simply, too:   “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

Which?  All of ’em.  The ones He Wrote, and Taught, and has never changed.

If we are now to be His “temple,” and His Holy Spirit is to dwell within our hearts, we need to understand what that really means.

The Erev Shabbat Reading of the entire portion:

Pekudei: As YHVH Commanded Moshe – so we still had better DO

The combined two-part reading and Sabbath midrash: