Half and Calf
We will now look at parasha Ki Tissa. It begins with Exodus 30:11-34:35. We begin this parasha with a census being taken. They were never to count the actual people, but the people always brought something to represent themselves and that was what was to be counted. The thought was, you cannot count something you don't own and YHVH owned the people, so therefore, no one could literally count the people. Here, everyone twenty years old and upward in age, was to bring a half shekel offering. This was for the service of the Tabernacle. It was a memorial and atonement for the people. Next you will see the brass basin being set up. As we've often said, brass stands for judgment. But inside this basin was water, which stands for the Spirit. Aharon and his sons were to wash their hands and feet there before conducting any of their duties. Once again, this was not done because their physical feet were dirty, but it was a spiritual cleansing. If you read the passage, (Exodus 30:21) here is another safeguard that God inserted to protect them from dying. Now Moses is to make the special anointing oil. This oil was to be used to anoint the Tabernacle and all of its vessels. Also, it was used to anoint Aaron and his sons. This oil was special, it was not used to anoint anyone who came along. It was strictly made to anoint items and people who were to be set apart by God. If anyone else tried to replicate it besides Moses, they would be cut off from their people.
Let's take a look now at the ones who God called out to supervise the work of constructing the Tabernacle. Their names were Betzale-El, son of Uri from the tribe of Judah and Aholiav, son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan. It is said that Betzale-El was only thirteen years old. But it also says that God gave him the spirit of wisdom, understanding and knowledge. How would you like to have those two guys design and build you a new home? One on a nice little wooded lot with a bubbling brook running across your property:? Next we see a very important commandment mentioned to the Children of Israel. It is the commandment of keeping the Sabbath. God said it was a SIGN between Him and His people that they were set apart unto Him. What do we use in the physical world to show that we are set apart (married) to just one person for life, a wedding ring. The "Sabbath" is "our wedding ring" to show we belong to God. Now Moses is up on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments from YHVH. He doesn't return when the people think he should have. They begin to get that "mob mentality" and demand Aharon make them an idol to lead them. You don't read anywhere where Aharon tried even once to reason against what they were asking him to do. No objections came from him! He tells the people to bring him all the gold earrings from their wives, daughters and their SONS. Yes, it appears like men wearing earrings is not something this is new in today's time:. I can't get over that stumbling block of men with earrings, especially when they have on one prettier than mine:. Then Aharon fashioned it with an engraving tool. Next, Aharon builds an altar in front of it. The people never asked Aharon to build the altar, that was his idea. It was also Aharon who reminded the people the next day was a moed (feast day) and they all rose up early and brought offerings for sacrifices. Then the people began to eat, drink and be merry. But trouble was brewing on top of Mount Sinai as God tells Moses how the people have corrupted themselves. You will notice here that God refers to them at this point as "Moses's people, not His people.
God was angry to say the least. As a matter of fact, He was ready to kill them all! But Moses interceded for them. Moses told God, you can't kill them now and have people say you only delivered them out of Egypt just to kill them in the Wilderness can you? So Moses proceeds down the mountain with the two tablets. At this point, he probably wished one of the tablets were an Excedrin:. The tablets were written on both sides, which was a miracle. If you looked at one side, it would say the exact reading on the backside. The commandments could have been all written on one tablet, so why two? Those two tablets were a testimony that God rested His presence on Israel and a testimony must have two witnesses. They also allude to their dual nature. The stone was from the earth and the writing was from heaven. Another miracle connected with them was the fact that any Hebrew letter that was cut out in the middle stayed suspended in the air. For instance, our letter O would have had the inside of the letter suspended in air. I'm using an English letter for illustration purposes, we know it was written in Hebrew. Now Joshua hears all the noise of the people as he comes back with Moses. Joshua was on the mountain with Moses, but not up where Moses was allowed to come. But he did stay with him those forty days below and waited for his return. Joshua thinks the noise comes from war going on in the camp. Moses said, oh not so Joshua, it's the noise of singing and merriment. When Moses reached the camp, was he ever mad! He took the golden calf and ground it up into dust and scattered it on the water and then made the people drink it. This should put you in remembrance of the ritual done in the Tabernacle to tell if a woman had been unfaithful to her husband or not. It was called the ritual of Sotah. Remember, the Priest would have the woman drink the dust and the water and if she was guilty, her belly would swell and her thigh would rot. If she was innocent, nothing bad happened to her.
(Read Numbers chapter five on that) Now Moses goes to ask Aharon what he has done. He was in charge, how could he let such a thing happen??? But Aharon was a man just like we are, he became scared of the mob. Didn't Peter have the same problem of fear in the Renewed Testament? The Old Testament people were not super natural, they suffered from the same shortcomings we all suffer from. Moses committed murder and so did David. How many churches would those two be welcomed in today? But Aharon proceeds to tell Moses he's innocent, he just threw in that gold and out popped a golden calf. I suppose out popped that engraving tool he used on it too:. No, Aharon was scared of Moses and he lied. I know, you would have told Moses the whole truth, right:? Now Moses steps up to the gate of the camp and asks, so who is on YHVH'S side, step forth. The tribe of Levi all came out and stood with Moses. They were told that YHVH had instructed to kill everyone by sword who had participated in the golden calf incident. This included their mothers, brothers, or any family members. What a horrific job that must have been to carry out. Could you do that? But how did they know who was guilty of participating and who was not? Good question. Remember the water Moses had them drink and the ritual of the unfaithful wife. All they had to do was to look at them to see whose belly was swollen and thigh rotting. It says about three thousand men died that day. That's not including women and children. But because these men of Levi did what they were told, no matter how hard it was for them, YHVH gave them a tremendous blessing. They replaced the firstborn with all their rights and privileges. Now Moses intercedes for the people again. This time he is told to cut two tablets out and bring them up to the top of the mountain again. Notice as we've mentioned before, these tablets were carried in his hands, not in his arms like it was portrayed in the movie of the Ten Commandments. How could you climb up and down a mountain with two big huge stone tablets in your arms? YHVH descended there on the mountain once again in a cloud. If you want to see what people call the sinners prayer in the original version, read Exodus 34: 8-9. YHVH accepts his prayers. Now God begins to give Moses instructions on how the people are to act and what they are to do and not do in the land where they are going. They were to tear down their altars and cut down their groves. The groves were where they always built their pagan idols at. Notice they are instructed to observe Hag Matzoth (Unleavened bread), along with Sabbath, Pentecost (Hag Shavuot) and Passover (Hag Pesach). He even told Moses they were not to cook a goat in its mother's milk. This had NOTHING to do with separating meat and dairy! The pagans in the land would do this and YHVH wanted His people not to take up the practices of the pagans. It was all part of getting rid of the pagan's idols, altars, groves and practices, such as cooking the goat in the mother's milk. So Moses was up on the mountain another forty days. During this time, it says he never ate bread nor drank water. YHVH himself sustained him! When he came down from the mountain his face shined so bright, it scared Aharon and the people so bad, they wouldn't come near him. So he had to put a veil over his face. Then Moses called to them and they returned to him. He had to keep the veil on his face when he spoke to them, but he took it off when he went in the Tabernacle to speak with YHVH. We see the people in this parasha wanted to obey YHVH, but they failed big time in making the golden calf. Like some today, they weren't one hundred percent sold out. You might say they were half and calf:. Sorry, I just couldn't help that one:. See you next time. Shalom
Let's take a look now at the ones who God called out to supervise the work of constructing the Tabernacle. Their names were Betzale-El, son of Uri from the tribe of Judah and Aholiav, son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan. It is said that Betzale-El was only thirteen years old. But it also says that God gave him the spirit of wisdom, understanding and knowledge. How would you like to have those two guys design and build you a new home? One on a nice little wooded lot with a bubbling brook running across your property:? Next we see a very important commandment mentioned to the Children of Israel. It is the commandment of keeping the Sabbath. God said it was a SIGN between Him and His people that they were set apart unto Him. What do we use in the physical world to show that we are set apart (married) to just one person for life, a wedding ring. The "Sabbath" is "our wedding ring" to show we belong to God. Now Moses is up on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments from YHVH. He doesn't return when the people think he should have. They begin to get that "mob mentality" and demand Aharon make them an idol to lead them. You don't read anywhere where Aharon tried even once to reason against what they were asking him to do. No objections came from him! He tells the people to bring him all the gold earrings from their wives, daughters and their SONS. Yes, it appears like men wearing earrings is not something this is new in today's time:. I can't get over that stumbling block of men with earrings, especially when they have on one prettier than mine:. Then Aharon fashioned it with an engraving tool. Next, Aharon builds an altar in front of it. The people never asked Aharon to build the altar, that was his idea. It was also Aharon who reminded the people the next day was a moed (feast day) and they all rose up early and brought offerings for sacrifices. Then the people began to eat, drink and be merry. But trouble was brewing on top of Mount Sinai as God tells Moses how the people have corrupted themselves. You will notice here that God refers to them at this point as "Moses's people, not His people.
God was angry to say the least. As a matter of fact, He was ready to kill them all! But Moses interceded for them. Moses told God, you can't kill them now and have people say you only delivered them out of Egypt just to kill them in the Wilderness can you? So Moses proceeds down the mountain with the two tablets. At this point, he probably wished one of the tablets were an Excedrin:. The tablets were written on both sides, which was a miracle. If you looked at one side, it would say the exact reading on the backside. The commandments could have been all written on one tablet, so why two? Those two tablets were a testimony that God rested His presence on Israel and a testimony must have two witnesses. They also allude to their dual nature. The stone was from the earth and the writing was from heaven. Another miracle connected with them was the fact that any Hebrew letter that was cut out in the middle stayed suspended in the air. For instance, our letter O would have had the inside of the letter suspended in air. I'm using an English letter for illustration purposes, we know it was written in Hebrew. Now Joshua hears all the noise of the people as he comes back with Moses. Joshua was on the mountain with Moses, but not up where Moses was allowed to come. But he did stay with him those forty days below and waited for his return. Joshua thinks the noise comes from war going on in the camp. Moses said, oh not so Joshua, it's the noise of singing and merriment. When Moses reached the camp, was he ever mad! He took the golden calf and ground it up into dust and scattered it on the water and then made the people drink it. This should put you in remembrance of the ritual done in the Tabernacle to tell if a woman had been unfaithful to her husband or not. It was called the ritual of Sotah. Remember, the Priest would have the woman drink the dust and the water and if she was guilty, her belly would swell and her thigh would rot. If she was innocent, nothing bad happened to her.
(Read Numbers chapter five on that) Now Moses goes to ask Aharon what he has done. He was in charge, how could he let such a thing happen??? But Aharon was a man just like we are, he became scared of the mob. Didn't Peter have the same problem of fear in the Renewed Testament? The Old Testament people were not super natural, they suffered from the same shortcomings we all suffer from. Moses committed murder and so did David. How many churches would those two be welcomed in today? But Aharon proceeds to tell Moses he's innocent, he just threw in that gold and out popped a golden calf. I suppose out popped that engraving tool he used on it too:. No, Aharon was scared of Moses and he lied. I know, you would have told Moses the whole truth, right:? Now Moses steps up to the gate of the camp and asks, so who is on YHVH'S side, step forth. The tribe of Levi all came out and stood with Moses. They were told that YHVH had instructed to kill everyone by sword who had participated in the golden calf incident. This included their mothers, brothers, or any family members. What a horrific job that must have been to carry out. Could you do that? But how did they know who was guilty of participating and who was not? Good question. Remember the water Moses had them drink and the ritual of the unfaithful wife. All they had to do was to look at them to see whose belly was swollen and thigh rotting. It says about three thousand men died that day. That's not including women and children. But because these men of Levi did what they were told, no matter how hard it was for them, YHVH gave them a tremendous blessing. They replaced the firstborn with all their rights and privileges. Now Moses intercedes for the people again. This time he is told to cut two tablets out and bring them up to the top of the mountain again. Notice as we've mentioned before, these tablets were carried in his hands, not in his arms like it was portrayed in the movie of the Ten Commandments. How could you climb up and down a mountain with two big huge stone tablets in your arms? YHVH descended there on the mountain once again in a cloud. If you want to see what people call the sinners prayer in the original version, read Exodus 34: 8-9. YHVH accepts his prayers. Now God begins to give Moses instructions on how the people are to act and what they are to do and not do in the land where they are going. They were to tear down their altars and cut down their groves. The groves were where they always built their pagan idols at. Notice they are instructed to observe Hag Matzoth (Unleavened bread), along with Sabbath, Pentecost (Hag Shavuot) and Passover (Hag Pesach). He even told Moses they were not to cook a goat in its mother's milk. This had NOTHING to do with separating meat and dairy! The pagans in the land would do this and YHVH wanted His people not to take up the practices of the pagans. It was all part of getting rid of the pagan's idols, altars, groves and practices, such as cooking the goat in the mother's milk. So Moses was up on the mountain another forty days. During this time, it says he never ate bread nor drank water. YHVH himself sustained him! When he came down from the mountain his face shined so bright, it scared Aharon and the people so bad, they wouldn't come near him. So he had to put a veil over his face. Then Moses called to them and they returned to him. He had to keep the veil on his face when he spoke to them, but he took it off when he went in the Tabernacle to speak with YHVH. We see the people in this parasha wanted to obey YHVH, but they failed big time in making the golden calf. Like some today, they weren't one hundred percent sold out. You might say they were half and calf:. Sorry, I just couldn't help that one:. See you next time. Shalom