Joy in the Messiah

  תִשָּׂא 
Ki Tisa / When You Take
Exodus 30:11-34:35
1 Kings 18:1-39 
1 Corinthians 8:4-13  

        Exodus 31:12-17 - And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.'
     This verse shows the importance of the Sabbath to God. Not only is it paramount to be a people of God, but it is a sign. It is a sign to God that we are His people.  In this Torah portion, the people try to make another sign. 
     Moshe ascends the mountain, only to return to the people to see that they had made the golden calf. They had defaulted back to the Egyptian manners and bondage that God had once released them from. How quickly they fell.
     In Exodus 32 God tells Moshe to hasten down from the mountain for: 'And the Lord said to Moses: "Go, descend, for your people that you have brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned away from the path that I have commanded them; they have made themselves a molten calf! And they have prostrated themselves before it, slaughtered sacrifices to it, and said: 'These are your gods, O Israel, who have brought you up from the land of Egypt.'  Exodus 30:7-8. The verses continue to describe Moshe's emotions and his pleading to save the people.  God forewarns His servant that the people have returned to a negative state, and He refers to them as stiff-necked in verse 9.  However, was Moses truly prepared to see the people of God so seeped again in idol worship?  In Exodus 32:16, as he descends from the mountain, carrying the tablets inscribed by the very hand of God, he explodes. He can not control his anger, frustration, or exasperation. Scriptures state that his anger was kindled and he flung the tablets to the ground, Exodus 32:19.
     Here are two polar opposites. The Sabbath and the golden calf. Both are signs, both are choices.  We can choose the sign of God, the Sabbath. Or, we can choose whatever is the idol of our heart - in their case it was a golden calf, a symbol that they were familiar with from Egypt, a symbol of a false god and worship system.
     Ezekiel 20:12 states that the Sabbath is a sign: 'Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.' 
     Ezekiel 20:20 states- '...hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.' 
    What are the golden calves in our lives? Pride, bitterness, anger, jealousy, politics, money, fame, authority, hurt? Anything that takes the place of God's lovingkindness and ways will rule our thoughts, love, and lives.  We might observe the Shabbat but it will be void of joy.  We will carry the idols of our hearts into our worship. 
     The Thirteen Attributes:  Exodus 34:5-7 ‘Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.’

תִשָּׂא 
Ki Tisa / When You Take
Exodus 30:11-34:35
1 Kings 18:1-39 
1 Corinthians 8:4-13

     Ki Tisa begins with the instructions on the census and the half-shekel ransom money for every man. This chapter continues with the bronze laver, the holy anointing oil, and the incense. Both the oil and the and incense were to be kept set apart and uncommon. Adonai states: “And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. ³² It shall not be poured on man’s flesh; nor shall you make any other like it, according to its composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. ³³ Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on an outsider, shall be cut off from his people.’ Exodus 30:31-33. 
     ‘But as for the incense which you shall make, you shall not make any for yourselves, according to its composition. It shall be to you holy for the Lord. ³⁸ Whoever makes any like it, to smell it, he shall be cut off from his people.” Exodus 30:37-38.
     Chapter 31 continues with the calling of the artisans, ‘Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. ³ And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship...  And I, indeed I, have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the gifted artisans…’ Exodus 31:1-6.
   In Exodus 31:16-17 God reiterates the holiness and set-apartness of the Sabbath. He calls it a sign between Him and His people. It is part of the covenant for the children of Israel. ‘Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. ¹⁷ It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ 
    We understand that the Sabbath is for those in covenant. In Exodus 20:8-11, when the command to keep the Sabbath was first put in stone and the foundational concept of Shabbat was introduced, it was also for the strangers (foreigners) in the gates.  The sages ask, “But who were these strangers (gerim)? Biblical scholars identify them as outsiders who were living apart from their tribes, or as resident aliens, people who have left their own countries and are now residing among the Israelites either for a short or extended period of time. Being strangers, they would be natural targets for discrimination and abuse because they lacked the protection of their own clans or communities. The Bible, by its repeated admonitions on the strangers’ behalf, appeals to the Israelites’ better nature and the historical memory of their experiences in Egypt. Some rabbinic commentators specify that the prohibitions against wronging the strangers refer to abuse in commercial activities. Because the stranger has left his homeland and has come to a new place, he is at an economic disadvantage and easy to exploit. The stranger must not be exploited economically, neither by overcharging nor by high taxes.”  (JTS)
    Today, those of us in the Diaspora are the ‘strangers in a foreign land’ because we are not living in the land of Israel.  We are in covenant with the God of Israel which includes the signs of His covenant, but we live among those, and in a nation that is far from covenant with God. We do not rule over these people, nor do we force God’s covenant upon them. 
     Chapter 31 ends with the Tables of The Testimony written by the finger of God on tablets stone.  
     However, in Chapter 32, Israel once again falls apart.  Less than six weeks after their encounter with God at Mount Sinai, the children of Israel make a Golden Calf. Either this was idolatry or backsliding back to their ways of Egypt. It caused God to say to Moses in Exodus 32:10 who was with Him on the mountain, “Now do not try to stop Me when I unleash My wrath against them to destroy them”.
     In Exodus 32:25 it states that Moshe blames Aaron. ‘Now when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained (for Aaron had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies)…’
    Why did Aaron cave to the cries of the people? What happened to Hur since he was also left in charge along with Aaron as we read in Exodus 24:14? Some sages speculate that Hur had opposed the people, telling them that what they were about to do was wrong, and then they killed him. However, Hur was not forgotten, for Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur was one of the main artisans. 
     After Aaron witnessing this decided that proceeding on and making of the Calf was the lesser of two evils. This can be eluded from the verse Lamentations 2:20 ‘See, O Lord, and consider! To whom have You done this? Should the women eat their offspring, the children they have cuddled? Should the priest and prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?’ 
    The midrash teaches: ‘At that moment, Hur arose against them and said, “You stiffed (severed) necks! Do you not remember the miracle that our God did for you?” Immediately, they arose against him and killed him.’ Could Exodus 33:3 be alluding to this? ‘Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” Could Exodus 34:8-9 allude to this, ‘Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. ⁹ “Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.’ Could even Acts 7:51-52 be alluding to this? ‘You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become…’
    Chapter 33 continues with a very interesting dialogue between Moshe and God. Moshe asks God who will be with him, and God responds: ‘The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ Exodus 33:14. Still, unsatisfied, Moshe asks to see the glory of God.  
     Here in the ending chapter of Ki Tisa we are made aware of the thirteen attributes of God.  Even after the rebellion, the golden calf, the murmuring, and the complaining, God responds with: 
       ‘Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. ⁶ And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, ⁷ maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’ Exodus 34:8.

Ki Tisa / When You Take
Exodus 30:11-34:35
1 Kings 18:1-39
1 Corinthians 8:4-13

The Two Signs and the Thirteen Attributes

     In Ki Tisa there are two obvious signs that mark us. The sign of the Shabbat; Exodus 31:12-17 – ‘And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you.’ 
      Or the sign of a golden calf; 'And the Lord said to Moses: "Go, descend, for your people that you have brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned away from the path that I have commanded them; they have made themselves a molten calf! And they have prostrated themselves before it, slaughtered sacrifices to it, and said: 'These are your gods, O Israel, who have brought you up from the land of Egypt.'  Exodus 30:7-8.
    One is engraved upon us by God, the other is engraved upon us by the idol of our heart, whatever that might be. 
     Ki Tisa also expounds on the perfect grace of God.  This chesed is not a free for all type of grace, but a sovereign grace, an uncommon grace, a Divine grace and often referred to as the Thirteen Attributes of God. ‘Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. ⁶ And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, ⁷ keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.’ Exodus 34:5-7. 
      God alludes to Himself twice, ‘Lord, Lord God/ YHVH YHVH EL  יְהוָ֣ה׀ יְהוָ֔ה אֵ֥ל   It is taught this is God's Attribute of Compassion - repeated once for before the person sins, and once for after he sins and repents. Another interesting part of the equation is that the Scriptures state in Exodus 34:7 that God preserves lovingkindness. The Hebrew states: נֹצֵ֥ר חֶ֙סֶד֙ לָאֲלָפִ֔ים which can be translated as keeping loyal love to the thousands or keeping mercy for thousands.  
     Psalm 145:8 ‘The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.’
     Psalm 100:5 ‘For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.’
     Lamentations 3:22 ‘The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.’