By the way, in case anyone noticed that my usual Thursday message wasn’t posted yesterday, it’s because when you are retired, every day is a weekend. If it wasn’t for the letter on the top of my pill holder that I see when having my coffee, I wouldn’t know what day of the week it is. So, yesterday, somehow I thought it was Friday when I started to do my message and by the time I finished the message and realized it was Thursday, well, I figured I had done enough for one day.

This parashah brings us to the final part of the Book of Exodus, which is a detailed description (and I mean, DETAILED!) of the work done building the Tabernacle, also called the Tent of Meeting.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

We are told that Bezalel and Oholiab have been divinely gifted with all the knowledge necessary for the manufacturing of the articles needed, as well as the tent coverings, embroidery work, bronze work, engraving, and they can make the incense, as well.

The first thing we are told, before the details about the construction work, is that when Moses asked the people to give the materials needed for the building of the Tabernacle, they gave so much that the workers had to tell Moses to have them stop, because not only was there enough to do the work, there was way too much!

The next chapters describe the actual work being done, including the number of loops on each curtain, what the curtains are made of, the length and breadth of the supporting timbers, and just about any detail of the Tabernacle construction you can imagine.

This parashah is one of the more boring things to go through when reading the Bible.

Yes, I said boring, and I mean it!

This isn’t the only boring part: in Ezekiel 41-43:17, we are told about every square inch of the Temple being measured by the angel. I also find going through the diatribe in much of Job to be somewhat of a drag to read.

There is also the repetition of the gifts brought to the Tabernacle by the tribes, each tribe giving the exact same thing, but still, we have to read about every item, from each tribe (Numbers 7).

Oh, let’s not forget the first 7 chapters of 1 Chronicle, which tells the lineage of each and every tribe of Israel, starting with the sons of Jacob.

Yet, as boring and difficult as these (and other passages) are to go through, I still read every word. Why? Because I never know what God will reveal to me through his word.

How many times have you read something, over and over and over- then one day you read it and BAM!!! – something wonderful is revealed to you? You suddenly see a relationship to another part of the Bible you never noticed, or maybe you recognize a message that is appropriate to your life right now that never really was so appropriate before, but now makes a significant difference in how you see things.

One of the most wonderful things about reading the Bible, and I mean the entire Bible (Genesis through Revelation), is that one day, out of the blue, you read something that makes perfect sense to you and you think to yourself, “Why didn’t I ever see this before?”

So today’s message is simple: don’t shortcut the Bible.

Don’t get one of those “Passage-a-Day” calendars because all you ever get, really, when taking a sentence or passage out of context (which is what those daily devotional things do) is most likely going to be a misunderstanding of what God meant. But, if you really, really have to have one of those daily devotional ditties, PLEASE! -open your Bible and read the entire paragraph to make sure that you understand what that passage really means.

Read the Bible every day, and if you find it difficult to find the time, do what I do- leave it in the bathroom. That is the one place I know that every day I will be spending a few minutes all alone, and no one will even want to be there with me, so I can read a chapter or two in complete silence and privacy.

I think of it this way: God is always on his throne, and by reading my Bible in the bathroom, I read about God on his throne while I am on mine.

Thank you for being here and please share these messages with everyone you know. Subscribe to my website (messianicmoment.com) and to my YouTube channel, as well. And, while you are on my website, please consider buying my books.

That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Shabbat Shalom!