Ki Tissa (When you take)
The Father’s lesson for us in Chapter 33 (Exodus 33)
Chapters 33
When the Israelites awoke the day after the massacre of chapter 32, they realised that their honeymoon was over!
They must have been having thoughts such as:
We now do not know where we stand with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Have we forfeited the grace that the Creator of Heaven and Earth had promised forever to Abraham!
Have we sinned too grievously to be forgiven?
Have we strayed too far to be retrieved?
Are we now a marred vessel, unfit for the Divine Mission to which we were called?
Have we done too much to ever again know the wondrous Voice – much less the tender embrace – of the One to Whom we pledged our troth?
Are we now to be ‘put away privately’ by our Divine Bridegroom, forever to wear the scarlet letter of a harlot?
Are we now Lo-Ammi [i.e not my people] in the eyes of the Bridegroom-King? Can you relate to these feelings?
When reading chapter 33,
I kept thinking - the Father made a covenant and will never break it.
Then I start to think, ‘hang-on” the Father made the whole plan before time began.’
What about what we learnt in the Torah portion Yitro? Yes, I started thinking about the Covenants
Exodus 19: 3 – 6 The Mosaic Covenant
3 Moshe went up to God, and the Father called to him from the mountain; “Here is what you are to say to the household of Ya’akov, to tell the people of Isra’el:
4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.
5 Now if you will pay careful attention to what I say and keep My covenant, then you will be My own treasure from among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine:
6 and you will be a kingdom of cohanim for me, a nation set apart.’ These are the words you are speak to the children of Isra’el.”
YHVH promised that they would be His special treasure which suggests He would be with them.
Also, the Father promised Abraham in
Genesis 17:1 – 21 The Abrahamic Covenant
7 God said to Avraham, “I am establishing my covenant between me and you, along with your descendants after you, generation after generation, as an everlasting covenant, to be God for you and for your descendants after you.
8 I will give you and your descendants after you the land in which you are now foreigners, all the land of Kena’an, as a permanent possession and I will be their God.”
YHVH made an eternal covenant with Abraham that He will be their Elohim! That is until the “heaven and earth pass away”. The Noachide Covenant is found in Genesis 8:20 – 9:17), According to 2 Peter 3:3 – 7 there is a distinction between the former heavens and earth and the present heavens and earth. The former were created in the beginning and destroyed in a universal flood. The “present heaven and earth” are reserved for fire and are kept for judgement and the destruction of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3: 13 affirms that believers “wait for the new heavens and the new earth: to come. This understanding is foundational to YHVH’s covenant with Noach.
2 Peter 3: 3 – 7, 13:
3 First understand this: during the Last Days, scoffers will come. Following their own desires
4 and asking, “Where is the promised ‘coming of His?’ For our fathers have died, and everything goes on just as it has since the beginning of creation.”
5 But, wanting so much to be right about this, they overlook the fact that it was God’s Word that long ago there were heavens, and there was land that rose out of the water and existed between the waters,
6 and that by the means of these things the world of that time was flooded with water and destroyed,
7 It is by the same Word that the present heavens and earth, having been preserved are being kept for the fire until the Day of Judgement, when ungodly people will be destroyed.
13 but we, following along with His promise, wait for the new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness will be at home.
As long as the ‘present heaven and earth remain’ so do the Noachide and Mosaic Covenants!
This led me to an exciting revelation (for me at least!) in Matthew 5: 17 – 19
17 Don’t think I have come to abolish the Torah or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete!
18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away [Noachide Covenant], not so much as a yud or a stroke (tittle) will pass from the Torah – not until everything that must happen has happened.
19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvots and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
If you relate verse 18a to the Noachide Covenant it will (I think) give complete clarity to what Yeshua was emphasising. All of the Torah is for us today!
What is the Father really doing here? He is getting them to follow the pattern established by Ya’akov in Genesis 35:1 – 5. They stopped right there at Beit-El and they made t’shuvah. T’shuvah is an essential part of every covenant. It is often falsely translated into English as ‘repentance’. It means so much more.
T’shuvah is a noun derived from the Hebrew verb shuv meaning ‘to turn’. To convert the verb shuv to the noun t’shuvah, one adds the Hebrew prefix tav [‘t’ sound] and the Hebrew suffix hey [‘h’ sound].
The first letter, tav, is a Hebrew pictograph of a covenant seal – signifying that the t’shuvah is a covenant seal – a way of turning back to the covenant. The second letter, hey, is a Hebrew pictograph of a window, or an open flap, of a tent, through which one sees outside the tent, receives the light in one’s tent, and receives fresh air. Hey is a sign of the feminine gender.
T’shuvah is the expected covenantal action of the weaker partner in the covenant relationship, returning to the revelation, illumination and inspiration offered to her by the stronger covenant partner [ the Father].
T’shuvah thus involves a total turning of ther heart, mind, soul, spirit and body back to the Father in accordance with the words of Torah.
From a Hebraic standpoint there can be no t’shuvah without a return to a commitment to sh’ma, sh’mar and asah Torah.
i.e. to make Torah and all that it entails the centre of gravity of one’s life once again.
T’shuvah v Repentance
t’shuvah is something far beyond and much deeper than repentance. t’shuvah is submitting every aspect of one’s life – even one’s very breath – to the Father and reaffirming a commitment to walk out His Torah as a Bride-to-be.
Repentance is more shown as feeling sorry for one’s deeds. Confessing them and asking forgiveness for them! It DOES NOT REALLY CHANGE ANYTHING!
T’shuvah is when the very temptation which led to the sin is faced once again, head-on, and OVERCOME (not in one’s own power), but by walking in unity with the Father, and leaning on Him as the stronger partner in the relationship.
Stripping of ‘Ornaments'
The Hebrew word translated as ornaments actually means to “pass over” or “pass by”. What does this bring to mind? - Pesach. The Father caused the Angel of Death to “pass by” their dwellings. The blood of the Pesach lamb became their ‘ornament’ on the doorposts and lentils of the building.
By stripping themselves of golden rings and jewellery:
they returned to the place they were when they made a “god” (golden calf).
That returned them to the night they received the gold.
That returned them to the place where they had no ornament but the blood of the Pesach lamb.
That returned them to the point where they had to rely on His word!
That returned them to the point where they would asah and sh’ma His instructions.
This is a critical first step in reconciliation and restoration. 't’shuvah.'
READ Exodus 33:7 – 11
Can you see what was happening and the relevance in it for us today!
We know the Father will never abandon any aspect of His covenant with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – no matter how adulterous their descendants act.
We know that after He disciplines us, if we will make t’shuvah and seek Him with all our heart, we will remain His Bride!
The people were dismayed that the Father would not go in the midst of them. They realised that they needed an increasingly intimate, ever-growing personal and communal relationship with the Father that He had offered them and prophetically declared over them.
Every time the column of cloud descended each man, with his family gathered around him – worshipped the Father right there in his tent. T’shuvah was happening.
CONCLUSION FROM THIS
We know that the Father will never, never, never, abandon any aspect of His covenant with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – no matter how adulterous their descendants act!
We know:
He loves us enough to discipline us as harshly as necessary to get our attention.
That after He disciplines us, if we make t’shuvah and seek Him with all Him with all our heart He will always restore us and will always lovingly wash the stains of our adultery from our souls as well as our minds and bodies and will always bind up our wounds and heal us.
MOSES’ PRAYER FOR US
Exodus 33:13 “If you still see any beauty in me, teach me your ways so that I may have intimacy with you and learn how to bring you pleasure.”
Exodus 33:15, 16
15 “If Your Face [or the light of Your Countenance] does NOT go with us, do not send us up from here.
16 How will anyone know that You take pleasure in me and with Your people – unless you go with us?
Exodus 33:18 Now [in my life, or before we go any further] show me Your glory [meaning that which You adorn Yourself, or which expresses Your Essence].
THE FATHER’S RESPONSE
Remember we need to see this Torah portion as a learning tool for us. We have gone through a t’shuvah and asked the Father to reveal to us His very essence.
His reply was immediate – Exodus 33:19 – 20
19 He replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and reveal the Divine Name in your presence and I will have mercy and show kindness to those I love.’ He then explained, ‘You cannot have a vision of My Presence, for no Man can look upon me and live.”
Hang-on! Abraham experienced a vision of the Father in Genesis 17:2, 2 and 18:1. Isaac experienced a vision in Genesis 26:2. Jacob saw the Lord and experienced no ill effects in Genesis 28:12, 13 and 35:9- 13.
Didn’t Moses, Aaron, Nadav, Abihu and 70 elders of Israel see the Father in Exodus 24:9 – 11.
Was it the sin on them?
The Father had to make the way. where there was no way. – Exodus 33:21 – 23
21 And the Father said: “Behold a place where you will stand on the ROCK.
22 And my glory will pass by and I will place you in a broken place in the ROCK and I will protect you with My power as I pass by.
23 I will then move My protective covering, and you will gaze upon THAT WHICH COMES AFTER My face itself, however, will not be seen.
THE HALLELUYAH MOMENT
What did the Father say to Moshe – behold … a place where you stand upon THE ROCK. The place you are hidden by the Father is in a broken place in THE ROCK.
What is the ROCK? Turn to 1 Corinthians 10:4 ---- and that ROCK was the Messiah.
How can we ‘stand’ upon the ROCK?
READ Matthew 7:24 – 29 by sh’ma-ing and asah-ing the Torah!
But how can the ROCK we know as the Messiah have a broken place?
There are a number of ‘broken places’ in the ROCK in which the Messiah can hide us.
His stripes from the flesh ripped off in the scourging
The piercings in His head from the ‘crown of thorns’.
Where the nails pierced His hands
Where the spikes pierced His feet
In His side pierced by the spear.
Now perhaps we know why He had to be so cruelly wounded – Behold --- it was so all of us would have a broken place in Him to hide.
Perhaps it is best summed up in Isaiah 53:1 – 5. (Read)
