Exodus 30’s half-shekel offering shows that supporting God’s work was about trust and shared responsibility, not wealth. In 2Kings 12, honest leadership restores giving so the Temple can be repaired. Apostle Paul echoes this in 2Corinthians 9, explaining that generosity flows from grace and leads to joy, not pressure. From the Tabernacle to the early believers, giving is pictured like planting seeds. What’s shared in faith grows into blessing for many.
Starting after Sukkot 2024, Hallel Fellowship switched to a three-year cycle of Torah and parallel Bible readings (2024–2027), outlined by TorahResource. While there’s ancient evidence for a triennial cycle, a major benefit is to provide more time to mine more of Scripture for lessons.
Across Exodus 30:11–38, 2 Kings 12:1–16, and 2 Corinthians 9:6–11, the unifying thread is giving as a covenantal act that sustains God’s dwelling and reveals the heart. In Exodus, the half-shekel ransom supports the Mishkan; in Kings, restored offerings repair the Temple; in Corinthians, generous giving advances God’s work among the saints. The focus is not payment for salvation, but participation in God’s redemptive purposes.
Taken together, the passages show a movement from ransom money sustaining God’s dwelling, to restored stewardship repairing it, to Spirit-empowered generosity expanding God’s work among the nations. The half-shekel foreshadows Messiah’s ransom; the Temple repairs anticipate a purified dwelling; and Paul’s teaching reveals that in Messiah, giving becomes a joyful, grace-filled participation in God’s kingdom.
Bottom line: Giving isn’t about buying God’s favor. It’s about joining Him in what He’s doing and trusting Him to provide.
What began in the Tabernacle finds its fullest meaning in Messiah—our giving becomes a joyful response to God’s grace, not a burden.
כֹּפֶר kōfer; λύτρον lytron / ἐξιλασμός exilasmos
Exodus 30:12 uses כֹּפֶר kōfer (“ransom, covering”), translated in the Septuagint (LXX) with λύτρον lytron (“ransom”). This term appears messianically in Mark 10:45, where Yeshua gives His life as a λύτρον for many. Related LXX vocabulary such as ἐξιλασμός exilasmos (“atonement”) translates Hebrew כִּפֻּרִים kippurim (“coverings”) and appears in 1John 2:2. The census ransom anticipates Messiah’s ultimate redemptive covering.
Bottom line: The small ransom Israel gave pointed forward to the much greater “covering” Messiah would bring for everyone.
מַחֲצִית הַשֶּׁקֶל machatzit ha-shekel, the equal half-shekel offering (Ex 30:13–15), is rendered in the LXX as ἥμισυς σίκλος hēmisys siklos. Rich and poor give the same amount, stressing equality before God. This principle reappears conceptually in 2Corinthians 8:13–15, where Paul cites Exodus 16 (manna equality) using LXX language to teach fairness (ἰσότης isotēs).
Bottom line: God values equal hearts, not unequal wallets—everyone stands on the same ground before Him.
תְּרוּמָה terumah; προσφορά prosphora
Offerings for the sanctuary are called תְּרוּמָה terumah in Exodus, translated προσφορά prosphora in the LXX. This same Greek term appears in Ephesians 5:2 for Messiah’s self-offering and Hebrews 10:10. Paul echoes this sacrificial language in 2 Corinthians 9:12, where generosity is a λειτουργία leitourgia (“priestly service,” where liturgy comes from).
Bottom line: Giving to God’s work is treated like a holy offering, similar to worship.
אֱמוּנָה emunah; πιστότης pistotēs
2Kings 12 emphasizes trustworthy handling of funds. While אֱמוּנָה emunah (“faithfulness”) is not explicit in the Hebrew text, the concept is clear and often rendered πιστότης in the LXX (e.g., 2Chronicles 31:12). Paul applies this principle spiritually in 1Corinthians 4:2 and practically in 2Corinthians 9:6–11, where faithful sowing leads to God’s provision.
Bottom line: God cares not just that we give, but that we handle His resources honestly and responsibly.
Paul’s imagery in 2Corinthians 9:6 — σπείρων speirōn (“one who sows”) and εὐλογία eulogia (“blessing,” where eulogy comes from)—draws on LXX agricultural metaphors translating Hebrew זֶרַע zeraʿ (“seed”) and בְּרָכָה berakhah (“blessing”), as in Proverbs 11:24–25 LXX. Giving releases blessing that overflows in thanksgiving to God (2Cor 9:11).
Bottom line: Like planting seeds, generous giving leads to growth and blessing that benefits many people.
This study explores spiritual maturity through ancient Israel’s journey from Egyptian slavery to freedom. Examining Exodus 13-15 and 33-34, alongside 1Corinthians 5, 6 and 10 reveals how God’s grace requires active participation, not passive acceptance. The Red Sea crossing symbolizes spiritual baptism, while the journey demonstrates the ongoing process of purging spiritual leaven and maintaining God’s presence through obedience, ultimately pointing to Messiah’s redemptive work and the believer’s transformative path.
The story of Israel’s partying around the golden calf at Mount Sinai may seem ancient and completely out of touch with modern sensibilities. But the golden calf incident didn’t happen in a vacuum, and Israel’s repeated dalliances with golden calf deities throughout its history before the Babylonian exile weren’t coincidental either.
In this study on the Torah reading כי תשא Ki Tisa (“when you take”; Exodus 30:11–34:35), we delve into the construction of the Tabernacle and golden calf calamity, Moses’ plea for forgiveness, and the theme of repentance.
Moses asked to see God’s glory on Mount Sinai, and God…
This week’s Torah reading is called כי תשא Ki Tisa (“when you take”), covering Ex. 30:11–34:35. The Torah reading shows us how Messiah Yeshua represents His people before His Father as Aharon walks through the sacrifices and prayers on the Day of Atonement.
We also see Messiah Yeshua in Moshe’s response to the sinful spectacle with the Golden Calf. Moshe’s simple confession of Israel’s sin to the Lord and his willingness to pay the price himself are all echoes of our Messiah Yeshua’s heart. God rejected Moshe’s profound offer of atonement because He has already prepared for Messiah Yeshua to…
There’s ample reasons to stand in awe of Heaven’s love and mercy as we recall what when Heaven showed the Jail-keeper of humanity Who is boss that “Good Friday” and resurrection day two millennia ago. But we shouldn’t forget the enduring lessons about our salvation from the seven days of Unleavened Bread that surrounded ancient Israel’s deliverance in the Exodus and ours today.
Christians speak often of the “New Covenant,” but many view it through the lens of replacement theology and supercessionism. Doing so completely disconnects the New Covenant inaugurated in Yeshua HaMaschiach (Jesus the Christ), Who is both priest and king of His people, from the covenants (sealed contracts) God made with His people through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and even Moses.
Without an understanding of those covenants, the New Covenant has no real meaning. The why behind these contracts is at the heart of the Torah reading כי תשא Ki Tisa (“when you take”; Exodus 30:11–34:35).
The slide of ancient Israel from redemption by God from slavery in Mitzraim (Egypt) down to apostasy from God at the golden calf is an important and enduring lesson from the Torah reading כי תשא Ki Tisa (“when you take,” Ex. 30:11–34:35).
And the intercessory prayers of Moshe (Moses) and Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) to redeem after great treachery are examples for how we should view those around us.
“Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.” (James 5:13–15 NASB)
Sickness is nothing new in Earth’s history. How were these instructions from Messiah Yeshua’s apostle Ya’akov (James) for…
There has always been only one way to God. Israel’s Heaven-patterned Tabernacle teaches that: It had one doorway into each of its three compartments of increasing exclusivity. Only one intercessor could enter its Most Holy Place, where the Ark of the Covenant and God’s presence were, and that was allowed only once a year.
This study of the Torah section כי תשא Ki Tisa (“when you take”; Exodus 30:11–34:35) will focus on the similarities in the missions of three different intercessors at critical moments of corruption: Noakh (Noah), Moshe (Moses) and Yeshua (Jesus). Each righteous intercessor went further than the one…
Have you ever felt like you were lost in the sea of faces? Or that if you disappeared from the Earth no one would notice? It’s not phenomenon of modern life. The Torah reading כי תשא Ki Tisa (“when you take [a census],” Exodus 30:11–34:35) kicks off with a numbering of the redeemed people of Israel and includes the infamous golden calf incident. Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ) touched on the reasons for such numbering of the people of the Kingdom of Heaven when he said the Heavenly Father knows the number of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:28–33).
How are we made holy or “set apart”? Our good deeds or the good deeds of an illustrious ancestor? It isn’t by genealogy — Yokhanan (John the Baptist) made that clear. He counts us among His people when we answer God’s call upon our heart and actions through Mashiakh Yeshua (Christ Jesus). The foundation for that holiness through the Messiah is put down in Torah reading כי תשא Ki Tisa (“when you take,” Exodus 30:11–34:35).
Many ask how we can know God. A great picture of the heart of Heaven and the work of Messiah Yeshua is the centerpiece of the Torah reading Ki Tisa (“when you take,” Exodus 30:11-34:35). The reason men count a population is for their own reasons: taxation, war, social engineering, redistribution of wealth, etc. The reason God calls for a count of the people is to build up His tabernacle. Man’s census and man’s laws created bondage and slavery while God’s census and God’s laws give us an outlet for holy service and freedom. This is also why Messiah Yeshua…
Some commentators believe God was angry at Moses for breaking those tablets with the 10 Commandments, but I don’t believe so. When Moses broke the tablets, Moses was simply acknowledging the fact that the people had already broken the covenant that just 40 days earlier they had promised to uphold when they said, “What you say, we will do.” So it was appropriate for Moses to break those tablets. But it was also appropriate that the tablets had to be remade.
Moses had a friendship with God that His contemporaries did not have. Paul says that thanks to Yeshua, we can…
This is a very heavy section of scripture, which is why we are spending two weeks reviewing it. When Moses comes down from the Moses, he takes very drastic measures to clean up a massive rebellion against God in the camp of Israel involving the golden calf idol.
