Parashat Vayakhel 2025: Attending to the Presence

Torah: Ex 35:1-38:20

Haftarah: 2 Kings 12:1-17

Brit Chadashah: 2 Cor 9:6-11, 1 Cor 3:11-18

Main Points:

Celebrating the Sabbath

Offerings for the Tabernacle

Bezalel and Oholiab called to direct the construction of the Tabernacle.

Construction begins on the Tabernacle and the Aron Habrit (Ark of the Covenant).

Construction on the Shulchan (Table for the Lechem Hapanim or Bread of the Presence), Menorah (Lampstand), and Mizbeach Haketoret (Altar of Incense).

Construction on the Mizbeach Ha’ola (Altar of Burnt Offering), Kiyor Nechoshet (Brazan Laver), and Inner Court.

Cherubim adorned the interior of the Tabernacle. One of the places they were depicted was on the Mercy Seat (Kapporet), teaching us that they continually attend to the presence of God. There is no secret to abiding in his presence. Like the angels, it is just a matter of continually abiding and seeking to love God with the whole person.

There has been a lot of information posted and written on prayer. Looking at the books and the depth of what is available, I am convinced that there is a degree worth of information written on prayer. Many have written about what prayer is and isn’t. We can get caught up in the terms and lingo of prayer and the systematic approaches, but what is really needed is not more approaches, it is more prayer.

Revival does not come because people are smart, talented, or have money and resources. Revival comes because people pray and abide before God. Intercessors intercede, repent, and allow their hearts to be broken over the godlessness of society. When intercessors come in contact with the heart of God, we will love as God loves. We will reach where God is reaching. We will be the hands and feet of God's compassion. When people are lost, sick, shipwrecked by life, bound, and in need of deliverance, the intercessor is moved because these things move God’s heart. Programs are good for organization. Marketing in our day is also a good practice, but nothing replaces the prayers of God’s people.

God does call intercessors to the ministry of prayer. He calls people specifically to pray just like he calls people to other parts of the ministry. The foundation of this calling is seen mostly in the offices of the High Priest and the prophetic roles of the watchmen. If God has been dealing with you about prayer, please understand that everyone is called to pray, but some are called to prayer as a life focus and have been ordained by God to this sacred work.

Prayer requires the involvement of the whole person. God called us to worship him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The reason he calls us to do that is because he does the same with us. He invests his whole person in us and calls us to do the same.

The power of the intercessor is not only about the words spoken in prayer but also the force behind it, which is the intimate lifestyle that is shared with God. When we think about intimacy with God we should look at things like:

How do we spend our mornings?

What do we do when we get up in the morning?

What are we doing with our time, effort, and attention throughout the day?

How do we end our day?

To what extent is God included?

God has called the intercessors to attend to his spirit and abide before him. God also partners with us to accomplish his will. He has ordained that we pray nation-shaking, planet-transforming prayers.

For those who are not accustomed to Messianic culture or the history of prayer, it may seem that many Messianic Jewish prayers, like those taken out of the Siddur (Prayer Book), are simply prayers done by rote and ritual. This is not true. This type of Messianic praying is similar to a prayer journey. The sacrificial offering of our lips and heart are given to God whether we are praying written prayers or individual, personal ones. It was prayer that brought God’s deliverance in the story of Esther. Prayer saved Jacob and preserved his way. Prayer was the heartbeat of King David as he led the nation of Israel to victory and independence. Whether our prayers are written or individual, personal ones they can be dynamic and full of faith.

Prayer requires the whole person to enter into fellowship with God. It is a crossing over in our time and attention from the carnal world to the divine presence. In Hebrew, that word is “kavanah”. It is where our mind, heart, emotions, and will are focused and given to God for holy service. It is this focus and intimacy for the heart of God that drives the intercessor. Our lifestyle supports our divine service. Scripture states that without holiness, no man can see God. Holiness is our expression of love and faith. It plays a role in how we reverence and respect the things of God and is necessary if we want unbroken fellowship with our Creator. Just as the angels attend to God, the intercessor's heart is focused on continually abiding in God's presence. We practice kavanah and stay spiritually minded as much as possible.

As we watch the chaos of the world unfold, please keep our brothers and sisters in prayer continually. As a friend stated this week, we are focused on the coming of Messiah, not the coming of the antichrist. We are concerned about the mark of the Lamb, not the mark of the beast. Look up in prayer and watch. The coming of Yeshua is very close.

Rav Calev

Apostolic Messianic International- Gulf Coast

Next Feasts:

Passover begins April 12th at sunset and ends April 20th, 2025 at sunset.

Hebrew words to know:

Paroket- The curtain (veil) dividing the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. This is also the name of the veil that covers the Torah scroll in the synagogue.

Shekhinah- Visible presence of God, often appearing as a cloud or smoke.

Kodesh HaKodashim- Holy of Holies

Kodesh- The Holy Place outside of the Holy of Holies.

Mishkan- Tabernacle

Beis Hamikdash- The Holy House, a reference to the Temple.