March 13, 2021
29 Adar 5781 today is last day of month
Torah 2 portions this week:
Vayakhel “he gathered/ assembled”
 Ex 35:1 to 38:20
Pekudel “accounting” Ex 38:21 to 40:38
Ex 35:1 to 40:38 ( end of book of Exodus)
Ez 45:16 to 46:18
I Kings  7:40-50
John 13:1-19
Luke 16:1-13

Vayakhel means “and he assembled/ gathered.”  And Moses assembled all the congregation of the sons of Israel …” (Exodus 35:1).
 Pekudei means “Accounts/ auditing.” These are the accounts of the Tabernacle. ( Exodus 38:21).

Today Sat March 13 new moon on 29 Adar.  Blow the shofar tonight
Sun March 14, 1 Nissan – New month, begin to clean house of leaven. Spring feasts ahead!
Sat March 27 14 Nissan,  Eve of Passover. Celebrate Seder.
Sun March 28 PESACH, PASSOVER.
March 28 to Sun April 4

Day 1-8 Unleavened bread, also known as 8 day Passover Festival. Eat no leaven, & have none in house, only unleavened bread.
Nissan 15, 16 ,or 17 Feast of First Fruits – corresponds with Resurrection
Sun 3-28, 49 days to Shavuot. Omer count starts in evening.
Shavuot (Pentecost/ Feast of Weeks) May 17, Tuesday. ( I think it should be Sunday May 16 – but I’m using a Jewish calendar for teaching).

Please read the Torah portions, but I want to look ahead to the feasts coming up.
Brief overview of Torah portions. The tabernacle is completed!

Ex 35 Moses commands people to bring all the supplies needed to build the tabernacle.  Exo 35:21  And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. 

Ex 36 Moses appointed 2 craftsmen, Bezaleel and Aholiab to oversee & build the Tabernacle.They came to Moses and said we have more than enough supplies to build the tabernacle, please tell the children of Israel not to bring anymore.  h Exo 36:5  And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make. 
Ex 37 Construction of the ark of the covenant, the table of showbread, the menorah, the incense altar, and preparation of the Holy anointing oil, & the fragrant incense.

Ex 38  For the courtyard they constructed the huge altar used for sacrifice made of bronze. They made the basin for water out of the bronze mirrors of the women.  In all they used 1930 pounds of gold, 6650 pounds of silver, the silver was partly the half shekel used to redeem the men that  were counted in the census.
Ex 39 The special holy garments for the priests were made, and then the work was FINISHED!
Ex 40 Moses commanded the workers to set up the tabernacle, it was the first day of the first month of the second year. (Tomorrow will be the anniversary day, Nissan one.) Remember they started building the tabernacle in the third month after they left Egypt, when they got to Mount Sinai the Lord gave them the instructions, so it took perhaps 9 months.

NOW ABOUT THE SPRING FEASTS:
Passover/ PESACH will be here in two weeks. Now is the time to clean your house of leaven and prepare for eight days of unleavened bread. You probably need to do some research on how to do this. Are Christians exempt? I don’t think so. These feasts foretell the death and resurrection of Yeshua.  Scientifically speaking, eight days of no leaven will help rid your body of toxins, yeast, fungus buildup. It certainly doesn’t hurt to follow this practice. Maybe the creator knew what we need to do. Just like he gave us the Sabbath and said “keep holy the Sabbath day.“  A day of rest for Man and beast and servants. We in America think we should work seven days a week but God put up a STOP sign. Exo 31:13  Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
Passover / Pesach represents our salvation and deliverance by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Yeshua the Mashiach. We are justified by trusting in the sacrificial blood of the Lamb of God (Rev. 7:14; 2 Cor. 5:21). In the old testament, Passover occurred when they put the blood of the lamb on the door post, ate lamb, (all symbolic)  and prepared to leave Egypt under Moses, called the Exodus. Yeshua is the Lamb of God.

Feast of Unleavened bread- Chag HaMatzot – Unleavened Bread represents our sanctification as we rid ourselves of the old leaven of “Egypt” and die to the carnal nature. Leaven can represent sin. Exo 12:15  Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.

First fruits – YomHaBikkurim  And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf (omer) of the first of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf (barley) before the LORD, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD.’ (Lev. 23:9-12) But now Messiah has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have died (1 Cor. 15:20). Reminder, when Messiah was raised in the resurrection three days after the crucifixion, the graves of the righteous  dead were also opened and those people appeared in the town. (Yikes!)   So they were required to offer/ sanctify/ set apart the first crop of the harvest and a spotless male lamb, along with wine & unleavened Bread. Does that remind you of the elements of the last supper?  The Lord said the first of man & beast that opens the womb is mine, and must be redeemed, referring back as he saved the Israelites first born, by the blood of the lamb in the 10th plague of Egypt.

Shavuot/ Pentecost/ Feast of weeks.  Counting seven Sabbaths or 49 days from first fruits to feast of Shavuot.  Lev 23:15  And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete. This is the feast of Shavuot that recounts God’s giving the 10 Commandments at Mount Sinai. In the New Testament same day, the Holy Spirit came on the apostles in the book of Acts  after they waited in Jerusalem after the ascension of Yeshua back to heaven.

Deu 16:16  Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty…

If you want to watch some movies that pertain to the season, or teach your children about these Bible stories, I would recommend:
10 Commandments released in 1956 three hours and 40 minutes starring Charlton Heston. Director: Cecil B. DeMille. It has been re-done recently.
Prince of Egypt 1998 a Disney animation one hour and 40 minutes

Some websites to study more on the feasts would be:
Hebrew4christians.com
ffoz.com – stands for first fruits of Zion.