IT'S  SAbbath
 The Laws Concerning

15 "Then you shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright. 16 "Ten cubits shall be the length of each board and one and a half cubits the width of each board. 17 "There shall be two tenons for each board, fitted to one another; thus you shall do for all the boards of the tabernacle. 18 "You shall make the boards for the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side. 19 "You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards, two sockets under one board for its two tenons and two sockets under another board for its two tenons; 20and for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, twenty boards, 21 and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board. 22 "For the rear of the tabernacle, to the west, you shall make six boards. 23 "You shall make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the rear. 24 "They shall be double beneath, and together they shall be complete to its top to the first ring; thus it shall be with both of them: they shall form the two corners. 25 "There shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board. 26 "Then you shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle, 27 and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle for the rear side to the west. 28 "The middle bar in the center of the boards shall pass through from end to end. 29 "You shall overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold as holders for the bars; and you shall overlay the bars with gold. 30 "Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to its plan which you have been shown in the mountain.

It has been said in Hebrew sources that the most defining feature of the tabernacle was its portability. It was built sturdy and strong to withstand the weight of the various coverings and also the extremes of the weather from super hot during the daylight hours to near freezing at night. It was solid and compact and offered good protection from any elements to the precious furniture that it contained. The elements that went together ranged from the very base and practical to the most beautiful. Shittim wood, or acacia wood is amongst the most beautiful and yet one of the strongest and most impervious to insect invasion that there is. I recently saw a blurb of one of those “bring your old stuff in and we’ll tell you if it is antique” shows. In the time that I viewed that little blurb I was able to see what acacia looked like. It was built into a desk of sorts and was highly polished. What they did with the rough product was magnificent!

“And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.” Ephesians 2:20, 21(KJV)

So might there be a difference between “works” and “good works”? It seems that in my own experience outside the Messianic trend of worship, I was saved and then put to “work”. The more positions one could take on in the work of the church, the better the pastor liked it. In order to show that we were pulling our weight, we were not obligated to sit under teaching and put down roots, but entirely the opposite! We said we are saved by grace, but we focused on works! Could the major difference between “works” and “good works” be simply the will of God that is present in one of these phrases?

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncirmcision by that which called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: What were we before we accepted the truth of Messiah? We were those from the nations who were separated from the “commonwealth of Israel”? We were strangers to the “covenant of promise”? We had no hope because we were without God in the world. Well, if we were these things before we accepted Messiah as Savior and Lord, then it must mean that once we did belong to Messiah, then that meant that we became united with the commonwealth of Israel. We were no longer strangers to the “covenant of promise” and we had hope because we were no longer without God in this world!