The BibleTruth.cc Torah Study Series

Parashat Ki Tisa

"When You Elevate"

Shemot [Exodus] 30:11-34:35

Instructions for the Bronze Basin

¹⁷ Then Yahuwah said to Mosheh,

¹⁸ "Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the Tent of Appointment and the altar, and put water in it.

¹⁹ Aharon and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it.

²⁰ Whenever they enter the Tent of Appointment, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made to Yahuwah by fire,

²¹ they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aharon and his descendants for the generations to come."

The Anointing Oil and Incense

22 Then Yahuwah said to Mosheh,

²³ "Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane,

²⁴ 500 shekels of cassia-- all according to the sanctuary shekel-- and a hin of olive oil.

²⁵ Make these into a set apart anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the set apart anointing oil.

²⁶ Then use it to anoint the Tent of Appointment, the ark of the Testimony,

²⁷ the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense,

²⁸ the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand.

²⁹ You shall consecrate them so they will be most holy, and whatever touches them will be holy.

³⁰ "Anoint Aharon and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests.

³¹ Say to the sons of Yisrael, 'This is to be my set apart anointing oil for the generations to come.

³² Do not pour it on men's bodies and do not make any oil with the same formula. It is set apart, and you are to consider it set apart.

³³ Whoever makes perfume like it and whoever puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut off from his people.'"

³⁴ Then Yahuwah said to Mosheh, "Take fragrant spices-- gum resin, onycha and galbanum-- and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts,

³⁵ and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and set apart.

³⁶ Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Appointment, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.

³⁷ Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to Yahuwah.

³⁸ Whoever makes any like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off from his people."

Bezalel and Oholiab

31:1 Then Yahuwah said to Mosheh,

² "See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Yehudah,

³ and I have filled him with the Spirit of Elohim, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts--

⁴ to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze,

⁵ to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.

⁶ Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given skill to all the craftsmen to make everything I have commanded you:

⁷ the Tent of Appointment, the ark of the Testimony with the atonement cover on it, and all the other furnishings of the tent--

⁸ the table and its articles, the pure gold lampstand and all its accessories, the altar of incense,

⁹ the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, the basin with its stand--

¹⁰ and also the woven garments, both the set apart garments for Aharon the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests,

¹¹ and the anointing oil and fragrant incense for the Holy Place. They are to make them just as I commanded you."

The Sabbath as a Sign

¹² Then Yahuwah said to Mosheh,

¹³ "Say to the sons of Yisrael, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am Yahuwah, who makes you holy.

¹⁴ "'Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people.

¹⁵ For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to Yahuwah. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.

¹⁶ The sons of Yisrael are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant.

¹⁷ It will be a sign between me and the sons of Yisrael forever, for in six days Yahuwah made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.'"

First, the weight of importance of the Sabbath is introduced.  "Surely" or "certainly" or "no doubt" the Sabbaths shall be guarded.  This point is not to be debated.  It is an accepted truth of great importance.  And the reason why it must be guarded is that the Sabbath is a sign between Yahuwah and his people that Yahuwah as Elohim to his people separates them unto himself.  Indeed, the Sabbath is the method by which Yahuwah separates people.  Those who guard the Sabbath by setting it apart are regarded as belonging to Elohim, while those who do not guard the seventh day by ceasing from their labor are considered as not belonging to him.

He goes on to explain that for those who regard and observe (guard) the Sabbath, that day is set-apart for them.  The seventh day has been set-apart by Elohim for those who would be in covenant relationship with Elohim.  His followers are to regard the seventh day as being set-apart from the other six days.  Furthermore, anyone who disregards the commandment to cease from labor on the seventh day is to be cut off from the assembly of Israel.  He is to be not only disconnected from the family of Israel, but he is to be put to death as having committed a capital offense.  Guarding of the Sabbath is so central to the core of familial relationship with the Creator Elohim that to neglect it or to disregard it is to end one's relationship with Elohim and with his community.

To someone who is unfamiliar with the Sabbath, this instruction sounds most unfair and unreasonable.  But from the perspective of the Almighty, the guarding of the Sabbath is at the very heart and core of relationship with him.  The first revelation of himself as recorded by Scripture is that he ordered heaven and earth in six days, and he ceased from his labor on the seventh.  In the mind of Elohim, this is the first and truest test and indicator of who belongs to him and of who doesn't.  Elohim blessed and separated the seventh day as a sign to indicate who are the people who truly belong to him.  To transgress the Sabbath is to announce one's severance of his connection with the Creator.  By rejecting his very first blessing and commandment for mankind, the one rejecting the Sabbath is rejecting Elohim and his authority and right to rule in one's life. Transgression of the Sabbath is tantamount to turning away from Elohim.

Again, in verse 15, we are reminded of what it means to keep the Sabbath:  "Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, set-apart to Yahuwah."  The Sabbath is not merely a day of vacation from our labor and occupation.  It is a day specially given by and belonging to Yahuwah - a day whose purpose is to acknowledge that Yahuwah is Elohim and Lord over all heaven and earth, and especially Master of all who call upon him.  And the Sabbath is to be a day of "complete rest."  This means that even cooking and preparing of food is forbidden on the Sabbath day.  (More about this in the article entitled, Keeping Sabbath.)

The sons of Israel (all the sons of the covenant Elohim has made with man) must keep the Sabbath throughout their generations, which means, "as long as there are sons of Israel", and as an everlasting covenant, which means "forever."  There was never to be an end to Sabbath observance.  Neither any prophet, preacher nor Messiah Yahusha himself ever nullified the Sabbath commandment or overturned it.  Even going forward into the Messianic Age, when Messiah rules and reigns on earth from Yerushalayim, the Sabbath will be observed as a day set-apart to Yahuwah.  The prophet Ezekiel describes the activity on the Sabbath day during the Messianic Age:

The people of the land will bow down at the entrance of that gate before Yahuwah on the Sabbaths and on the new moons (46:3).

And Yeshayahu (Isaiah) speaking of the time of Messiah's glorious kingdom, says,

From one month to the next and from one Sabbath to the next, all people will come to worship me," says Yahuwah (66:23).

Finally, the reason that the Sabbath is a sign forever of the covenantal relationship between Yahuwah and his people is given.  It's because "in six days Yahuwah made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed."  The pattern which Yahuwah established at creation is to be the permanent way for mankind as long as he lives - even throughout the glorious age of the renewal of heaven and earth.

The Two Tablets of the Testimony

18 When Yahuwah finished speaking to Mosheh on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of Elohim.

The Sin of the Golden Calf

32:1 When the people saw that Mosheh was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aharon and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Mosheh who brought us up out of Mitzrayim, we don't know what has happened to him."

² Aharon answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me."

³ So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aharon.

⁴ He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Yisrael, who brought you up out of Mitzrayim."

⁵ When Aharon saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to Yahuwah."

⁶ So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

⁷ Then Yahuwah said to Mosheh, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Mitzrayim, have become corrupt.

⁸ They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Yisrael, who brought you up out of Mitzrayim.'

⁹ "I have seen these people," Yahuwah said to Mosheh, "and they are a stiff-necked people.

¹⁰ Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation."

¹¹ But Mosheh sought the favor of Yahuwah his Elohim. "Yahuwah," he said, "why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Mitzrayim with great power and a mighty hand?

¹² Why should the Mitzrites say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people.

¹³ Remember your servants Avraham, Yitzchak and Yisrael, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.'"

¹⁴ Then Yahuwah relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

¹⁵ Mosheh turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.

¹⁶ The tablets were the work of Elohim; the writing was the writing of Elohim, engraved on the tablets.

¹⁷ When YHUSHA heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Mosheh, "There is the sound of war in the camp."

¹⁸ Mosheh replied: "It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear."

¹⁹ When Mosheh approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.

²⁰ And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the sons of Yisrael drink it.

²¹ He said to Aharon, "What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?"

²² "Do not be angry, my master," Aharon answered. "You know how prone these people are to evil.

²³ They said to me, 'Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Mosheh who brought us up out of Mitzrayim, we don't know what has happened to him.'

²⁴ So I told them, 'Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.' Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!"

²⁵ Mosheh saw that the people were running wild and that Aharon had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies.

²⁶ So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, "Whoever is for Yahuwah, come to me." And all the Levites rallied to him.

²⁷ Then he said to them, "This is what Yahuwah, the Elohim of Yisrael, says: 'Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.'"

²⁸ The Levites did as Mosheh commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died.

²⁹ Then Mosheh said, "You have been set apart to Yahuwah today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day."

³⁰ The next day Mosheh said to the people, "You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to Yahuwah; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin."

³¹ So Mosheh went back to Yahuwah and said, "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold.

³² But now, please forgive their sin-- but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written."

³³ Yahuwah replied to Mosheh, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.

³⁴ Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin."

³⁵ And Yahuwah struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aharon had made.

The Command to Leave Sinai

33:1 Then Yahuwah said to Mosheh, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Mitzrayim, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'acov, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.'

² I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Yebusites.

³ Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way."

⁴ When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments.

⁵ For Yahuwah had said to Mosheh, "Tell the sons of Yisrael, 'You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.'"

⁶ So the sons of Yisrael stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.

The Tent Outside the Camp

⁷ Now Mosheh used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the "Tent of Appointment." Anyone inquiring of Yahuwah would go to the Tent of Appointment outside the camp.

⁸ And whenever Mosheh went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Mosheh until he entered the tent.

⁹ As Mosheh went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while Yahuwah spoke with Mosheh.

¹⁰ Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent.

¹¹ Yahuwah would speak to Mosheh face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Mosheh would return to the camp, but his young aide YHUSHA son of Nun did not leave the tent.

¹² Mosheh said to Yahuwah, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.'

¹³ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."

¹⁴ Yahuwah replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

¹⁵ Then Mosheh said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

¹⁶ How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"

¹⁷ And Yahuwah said to Mosheh, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."

¹⁸ Then Mosheh said, "Now show me your glory."

¹⁹ And Yahuwah said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, Yahuwah, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

²⁰ But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."

²¹ Then Yahuwah said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock.

²² When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.

²³ Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."

Mosheh Chisels New Tablets

34:1 Yahuwah said to Mosheh, "Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.

² Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain.

³ No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain."

⁴ So Mosheh chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as Yahuwah had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.

Yahuwah Appears to Mosheh

5 Then Yahuwah came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, Yahuwah.

⁶ And he passed in front of Mosheh, proclaiming, "Yahuwah, Yahuwah, the compassionate and gracious Elohim, 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 fathers to the third and fourth generation."

⁸ Mosheh bowed to the ground at once and worshiped.

⁹ "Yahuwah, if I have found favor in your eyes," he said, "then let Yahuwah go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance."

¹⁰ Then Yahuwah said: "I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, Yahuwah, will do for you.

¹¹ Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Yebusites.

¹² Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you.

¹³ Break down their altars, smash their set apart stones and cut down their Asherah poles.

¹⁴ Do not worship any other god, for Yahuwah, whose name is Yealous, is a jealous Elohim.

¹⁵ "Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.

¹⁶ And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.

¹⁷ "Do not make cast idols.

¹⁸ "Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of the Aviv, for in the month of the Aviv you came out of Mitzrayim.

¹⁹ "The first offspring of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock.

²⁰ Redeem the firstborn donkey with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem all your firstborn sons. "No one is to appear before me empty-handed.

²¹ "Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.

²² "Celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.

²³ Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Adonai Yahuwah, the Elohim of Yisrael.

²⁴ I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your territory, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before Yahuwah your Elohim.

²⁵ "Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Pesach Feast remain until morning.

²⁶ "Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of Yahuwah your Elohim. "Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk."

²⁷ Then Yahuwah said to Mosheh, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Yisrael."

²⁸ Mosheh was there with Yahuwah forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant-- the Ten Commandments.

Mosheh's Shining Face

²⁹ When Mosheh came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with Yahuwah.

³⁰ When Aharon and all the sons of Yisrael saw Mosheh, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.

³¹ But Mosheh called to them; so Aharon and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them.

³² Afterward all the sons of Yisrael came near him, and he gave them all the commands Yahuwah had given him on Mount Sinai.

³³ When Mosheh finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face.

³⁴ But whenever he entered Yahuwah's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the sons of Yisrael what he had been commanded,

³⁵ they saw that his face was radiant. Then Mosheh would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with Yahuwah.