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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 before — and at greater cost.
The Torah section (parashah) כי תשא Ki Tisa (“when you take”; Exodus 30:11–34:35) seems like a grab bag of instructions, with no overarching theme. Rather, we find that the elements in this reading are carefully arrange to lead us to the pinnacle of Exodus — the dwelling place of God with people and how we are transformed in the process.
Here are Ki Tisa teasers: The census teaches us that we aren’t just a number, but we do need to be cleaned up to be made holy to approach God. The washbasin, anointing oil and incense teach us that our deeds and the groaning of our soul must be cleansed, set apart from normal direction of the world. From the Shabbat (Sabbath) we remember where we come from, where we are going and Who’s taking us there. The first 40-day trip to get the tablets of the (10 Commandments) testimony, rebellion with the golden calf, intercession for the rebellious and second 40-day trip to get the replacement tablets helps us learn that we will to face a test as to whether we trust the testimony of the LORD or the testimony of people.
Ki Tisa begins with more description of how to make Tabernacle furniture and elements: A recap of the teachings of the Tabernacle are in order, because they point us to Whom it’s patterned after — Yeshua the Mashiakh (the Christ) — and how He takes us into God’s Presence. There was one entrance into the Tabernacle courtyard, into the Tabernacle Holy Place and into its Most Holy Place, where the Ark of the Testimony and its mercy seat are to be. You don’t just hop over the courtyard boundary or crawl under it. Permission is also more restricted as one gets closer to the Most Holy Place.
The recipe for the anointing oil and the incense were to be an olfactory calling card for the Tabernacle itself. The recipes were not to be used in the home. They were only associated with the Tabernacle.
What is the Shabbat (Sabbath)? What sign does the Shabbat pass on to us? The Shabbat was a sign of God’s creation (Gen. 2:2–3; Ex. 20:8–11), sanctification (Ex. 31:12–17), and sustenance (Ex. 16).
When did the change from Sabbath to Sunday begin? It began very early, as early as the end of the first century A.D. (see this excerpt from Samuele Bacchiocchi’s seminal doctoral dissertation, From Sabbath to Sunday). For example, Ignatius of Antioch wrote in a Epistle to Magnesians circa A.D. 110 that believers abandoned Shabbat for “the Lord’s day” and Epistle of Barnabas in the early second century reworks the Torah instruction for the Eighth Day (Shemeni Atzeret; Lev. 23:33–44) and the symbol of eight teaching a new beginning into a new perpetual Shabbat centered on Yeshua’s resurrection on the eighth day of the week, i.e. Sunday (see William Shea, “The Sabbath in the Epistle of Barnabas”). The idea of Sunday as the new Eighth Day and the Messianic Age spread, and by the fourth century, most Yeshua followers were celebrating Sunday as a primary day of worship.
Matthew 5:1–20: Show me the Father so I can reflect the Father
One of the lessons of the tabernacle and the covenant of salt is that salt is an agent of cleansing and purification. It seems odd at first that one would put salt in the incense that was to be burned in the tabernacle but salt is an agent of cleansing and purification, just as God Himself is.
Some of the rabbinic writings from the 1st century CE tell us that Jerusalem is the light of the word, the city on the hill that could not be hidden. It was to show God’s testimony to the entire world. The Temple was where God lived and should have reflected God most and proclaim Him most accurately to the nations.
We aren’t just to know God’s words but the One who said them.
“The LORD was pleased for His righteousness’ sake To make the law great and glorious.” (Isaiah 42:21 NASB)
The exiles were like giant vacuum cleaners taking almost everyone away. In both the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles of the people of Israel, everyone got sucked in, the wicked and the righteous alike. The Prophet Daniel, for example, was just a teenager when the Babylonians took him away. He did not escape just because he was innocent of the crimes that caused God to inflict the exiles on the children of Israel. We do know that after the exiles, Israel didn’t have a big problem with idolatry after their return. They did have an idolatry of a different sort, a more subtle form.
““Pay attention to Me, O My people, And give ear to Me, O My nation; For a law will go forth from Me, And I will set My justice for a light of the peoples. “My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, And My arms will judge the peoples; The coastlands will wait for Me, And for My arm they will wait expectantly. “Lift up your eyes to the sky, Then look to the earth beneath; For the sky will vanish like smoke, And the earth will wear out like a garment And its inhabitants will die in like manner; But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not wane. “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, A people in whose heart is My law; Do not fear the reproach of man, Nor be dismayed at their revilings.” (Isaiah 51:4–7 NASB)
As the Apostle John said in John 1 that “the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us,” the Lord’s testimony and Yeshua’s testimony were one and the same. When Phillip asked “Show me the Father” we should God’s testimony in Yeshua and we should also reflect the attributes of Yeshua and the Father.
A tale of three intercessors
The Sages have noted parallels with language and themes between the rebellion of the golden calf (Exodus 31–33)
| Noakh | Moshe | Yeshua |
| Lives amid שָׁחַת shakhat (“corrupt”) people (Gen. 6:11–12) | “Your people have שָׁחַת shakhat (‘corrupted’) [themselves]” (Ex. 32:7) | Presents a second “sign of Yonah” (mercy amid sure judgment) to an “evil” and “wicked” generation (Matt. 12:45; Luke 11:29). On the Son of Man’s return, trust in God to appeal continually for justice will be sparse (Luke 18:6–8). |
The people of Nineveh, in the days of Yonah, were not given an “if…then” statement yet they repented anyway which was a powerful witness.
| Noakh | Moshe | Yeshua |
| God plans to destroy the corruption of His creation (Gen. 6:5–7). | God calls His creation (Israel) “your people who you brought up from the land of Egypt” and plans to reboot Israel with Moshe (Ex. 32:7–10). | Yeshua on the the Day of the LORD says He will “spit out” those of the Body of Mashiakh who don’t full give their hearts to the LORD (Rev. 3:14–22) |
| Noakh | Moshe | Yeshua |
| Noakh goes into the ark as judgment falls on the corrupt. | Freed from evil at birth in an ark, Moshe does not leave the LORD alone to pursue judgment on the corrupt (Ex. 32:10–14). | Yeshua, the ultimate High Priest (Hebrews 1–10), intercedes when people turn corruption toward God (1John 1:9–10; Romans 7–8) |
Similar to the exiles of Israel, which caught the righteous and rebellious, even the animals, which were not corrupt, also were swept up in the judgment of the Flood. A lesson here is that the corruption of a few, like the 3,000 executed after the golden calf, can imperil the many.
Yeshua understood His people and was a dedicated, faithful intercessor (Hebrews 4:14–16). And God’s ultimate Anointed learned obedience through what He endured (Hebrews 4:14–16; 5:7–10).
Moshe could have offered his life to avoid judgment on the corrupt among Israel — and had a heart to do so — but it would not cover anyone else’s iniquity. Unlike Moshe, Yeshua was able to offer His life as a covering of the sins, transgressions and iniquities of the people (Hebrews 7–10).
Don’t incorporate the religious practices of the pagans
Apostle Paul advised the Corinthian congregation to not eat food they knew had been offered to idols, not that the deities they represented were powerful but for the snare they would set for those detoxing from a pagan world (1Corinthians 8). This instruction draws from Ki Tisa’s commands to not follow the nations of the Land in offering food to idols. Like at the time of Noakh, at the golden calf and with Eliyahu at Mount Carmel, people in the Paul’s day had to decide daily if they wanted to walk toward Sinai or toward Olympus.
We face a similar struggle on a daily basis. When we love God, we don’t want to sin, but when we sin, we have an excellent Defense Attorney, an Intercessor Who speaks for us and no one can refute (1John 1:9, 10).
Summary: Tammy.