10# Vayakhel (Ex 35:1-38:20) (AND HE ASSEMBLED) (4-17-21)

(BEING SPIRIT FILLED:‘IT HAPPENED A LONG TIME BEFORE ACTS CHAPTER 2…. I’M SORRY, BUT SCRIPTUALLY ITDID!)

(Midrash, ShemotRabbah 58.4)

"With these three things (WISDOM, UNDERSTANDING and KNOWLEDGE) the world was created...and with these three things also the TABERNACLE was made...with these three things the TEMPLE also was built...Also when God will rebuild it in the time to come, it will be these three things (WISDOM, UNDERSTANDING and KNOWLEDGE) that it will be built".

(BUILDING THE ASSEMBLY OF GOD):

Building With WISDOM

Building With UNDERSTANDING

Building With KNOWLEDGE

We often see pictures of Jesus in church, but in reality, Jesus himself never set foot in a church. He attended synagogue services, and He assembled along with all Israel at the Temple.

Moses returned from atop Mount Sinai, glowing with THE GLORY OF GOD. As soon as he arrived in the camp, he “ASSEMBLED ALL THE CONGREGATION OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL.” This Torah Portion gets its name from the first Hebrew word of Exodus 35:1, “VAYAKHEL.”The verb KAHAL (קהל) means “TO ASSEMBLE,” so VAYAKHEL (ויקהל) means “AND HEASSEMBLED.”

As a noun, the Hebrew word KAHAL means “ASSEMBLY, CONGREGATION or COMMUNITY.” The Torah refers to THE COMMUNITY OF THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL as THE KAHAL, i.e., “THE ASSEMBLY,” a common Bible term denoting ALL ISRAEL. The word ‘KAHAL’ passes into the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible as ‘EKKLESIA’ (ἐκκλησία). The Greek word EKKLESIA appears throughout the Greek version of The Hebrew Scriptures to speak of THE ASSEMBLY OF ISRAEL or an ASSEMBLY OF WORSHIPPERS IN THE TEMPLE. However, when it occurs in the New Testament, English translators rarely render it properly as “ASSEMBLY.” Almost always, English translators chose to substitute the Constantinian Theologically Charged term “church.”

The “church” translation of Ekklesia has been over the centuries very misleading. Because ofthe double standard in translation, it appears to most readers that “the church” first appeared in the New Testament, completely disconnected with THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES and totally separated from THE NATION OF ISRAEL. After all,the word “church” never appears before the book of Matthew. In reality, the word “church” does NOT appear in the Bible at all. By translating Ekklesia as“church,” our English Bibles have led us to believe that “the church” is a new institution outside of the faith of The Jewish people. Biblically, in the broad sense, the Word Church was first used to describe THE NATION OF ISRAEL AT MOUNT SINAI LONG BEFORE THE BOOK OF MATTHEW! But contrary to the standard understanding, this Weeks Torah Portion ‘Vayakhel’ (And He Assembled), could have very easily been named: (AND HE CALLED OUT THE CHURCH FROM MOUNT SINAI)!