Stand Up Be Counted!
Shabbat Shalom Kol Yisrael. It is our pleasure to present this week's
Torah Parsha commentary by Nazarene Yisraelite Rabbi T. (Mordecai) Mitchell,
Rabbi and Rosh Zaken of B'nai Yeshurun Nazarene Yisraelite Synagogue,
Kittanning, Pa., and board member of the Union of Nazarene Yisraelite
Congregations. It is our sincere hope and prayer that these commentaries
encourage, inspire, and strengthen the body of Messiah in Kol Yisrael. Our
Parsha this week is Ki Tissa (when you elevate) Shemoth
(Exodus) 30:11 34:35. Our Haftarah is Melakim
Aleph (1 Kings) 18:1 39. Our suggested Brit Chadasha readings are: Luke 11:14
20 and Acts 7:35 8:1 Also please read Tehillim (Psalms) 28 and
146.
Shemoth 30:11 And YHWH spoke to Mosheh, saying,
12 When you take a census of the children of Yisrael, to register
them, then each one shall give an atonement for his life to YHWH, when you
register them, so that there is no plague among them when you register
them.
13 Everyone among those who are registered is to give this: half a
sheqel according to the sheqel of the set-apart place, twenty gerahs being a
sheqel. The half-sheqel is the contribution to YHWH.
14 Everyone passing over is to be registered, from twenty years old
and above, give a contribution to YHWH
15 The rich does not give more and the poor does not give less than
half a sheqel, when you give a contribution to YHWH, to make atonement for
yourselves.
We may
note that the translation of Parsha, Ki Tissa, is
When you elevate.
While Ki Tissa can mean to take a census, it may also mean to
raise up, elevate, or pardon.
According to the First Fruits of Zion book, Jot and
Tittle, there are several related Hebrew words (or phrases), such as:
n'sao libo, meaning not only ...to volunteer,
but also ...elevated his heart, and nasa neshek.
meaning to carry, bear, or use arms. these related words shed
additional light on the varied meanings and inferences of Ki
Tissa.
The method of counting the Israelites who are of the age of
accountability (those responsible for their own actions) was for them to give a
contribution. There were no exceptions, all had to give. However, the offering
was minimal at best and the same for everyone. What does this tell
us?
Although Yahweh demands our best, He doesn't ask for more than we can
afford. But the half sheqel also implied that we, as mere mortals, can never
hope to outgive Yahweh and no doubt means that we can never see the whole
picture. It also tell us that giving is not a matter of one-upsmanship. This
contribution put every one, rich and poor, on an equal footing. In the sense of
elevating, we should learn that as we are willing to give a portion of our
blessings as an offering, we grow spiritually. We elevate ourselves, not in
the sense of puffing up or inflating our ego, but we rise up spiritually,
showing Yahweh that we are willing to put everything into proper perspective. We
are willing to share and give back some of our material wealth and blessings,
knowing from whom it was given in the first place. Our willingness to give is a
bench mark of our spiritual maturity.
The next step was washing.
17 And YHWH Spoke to Mosheh saying,
18 And you shall make a basin of bronze, for washing. And you
shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and shall put water in
it.
19 And Aharon and his sons shall wash from it their hands and
feet.
Today, washings are of vital importance. Some, however, downplay or even
outright reject the hand washing ritual because of a misunderstanding of Matthew
15: 2 3 In verse 2 the Pharisees asked, Why do your taught ones
transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when
they eat bread.
Yahshua replied, verse 3, by saying: ...Why do you also transgress
the command of Elohim because of your tradition? From the verses that
follow (4 through 9) we may understand that Yahshua was not against hand washing
per se, but rather hypocrisy. When we do things merely for show, or without real
intent of heart, then our actions, be they washings or whatever, are worthless.
The same hold true for Mikveh (ritual immersion). We know that as believers we
are commanded to undergo Mikveh (Baptism). Immersion is an outward sign of an
inward cleansing. Without the inward cleansing it is meaningless. We may as
well stay home and take a bath or shower. Nevertheless, this outward sign is
required for believers and we cite Acts 2:38 and 10:48 as a few examples of that
requirement.
Scripture has much to say about washings. To cite only a few of hundreds
of examples, in Bereshith (Genesis) 18:4, Avraham saw to it that the feet of his
heavenly visitors were washed, both as a sign of hospitality and as a sign of
submission to their authority. In Bereshith 43:24 Joseph sees to it that the
feet of his brothers are washed as they enter his house. In 2 Melakim (2 Kings)
5:10, the prophet Elisha tells Naaman to ... Go, wash seven times in the
Yarden, that your flesh might be restored to you, and be
clean.
In the Brit Chadasha (New Testament) washing also plays an important
role. Yohanan (John) 9:7 Yahshua tells a blind man whom he had just healed of
his blindness to: ...Go wash in the pool of Shiloah (which means sent). So he went and
washed, and came seeing.
Proper washings, with the right intent and purpose, can serve to elevate
us spiritually, giving us eyes to see what others cannot. And in the case of
Naaman, in 2 Melakim 5:10, obedience to the command of washings can bring
healing. Washings also set us apart, Ephesians 5:26 In order to set it
apart, and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word. Please
also read Yohanan Chapter 1.
We believe that it is important to wash our hands before performing any
spiritual action simply because everything we do is done with the hands.
Therefore, we should cleanse the hands of negative energy. By the same token, we
will wash one another's feet during the Pesach Seder this April to symbolize the
love and humility that we must exhibit for our brethren and to symbolize that we
are to walk (halakah) in a clean manner. I would exhort every reader to please
do a study on your own regarding the words wash, washing and washed as
found in, for example, Strong's Concordance. I believe the findings we discover
will serve to further enlighten us.
No doubt one of the highlights of this Parsha is found in Shemoth 31:12
18. Please read all seven verses. However, twice, in verses 13 and 17 we are
told that the Sabbath Day is a sign between Yahweh and His people.
13 And you, speak to the children of Yisrael, saying, 'My Sabbaths
you are to guard, by all means, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout
your generations, to know that I, YHWH, am setting you apart.
And in verse 17: Between me and the children of Yisrael it is a
sign forever. For in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth, and on the
seventh day He rested and was refreshed.'
Sign may be properly understood as a mark. The Hebrew word is
oth Strong's Number 226, meaning a flag, beacon, monument
or evidence.
We know that in Revelation 13:16 the Beast Power will require all to take
its mark or sign. And he causes all, both small and great, and rich and
poor, and free and slave, to be given a mark upon their right hand or upon their
foreheads.
Without undo elaboration, suffice it to say that the Mark of the Beast is
anti-nomianism (lawlessness or rejection of the Torah). Those who take the mark
in their hand are those who will accept an anti-antinomian doctrine without
really understanding it or necessarily believing in it. Those who take it in
their foreheads, that is the seat of intellect, will believe the false doctrine
with all intent and purpose.
The Sabbath Day is Yahweh's mark that we must take voluntarily if we are
to be His people.
On a final note I would like for us to consider the incident of the
Golden Calf in Chapter 32. Lack of patience, wanting Yahweh to move when we want
Him to, rather than waiting on Him, has always lead to serious problems for
Israel. We may add that the same is true today. When it seemed that Moshe was on
the mountain for a very long time, the people lost patience and demanded:
Arise, make us mighty ones who go before us. For this Mosheh, the man who
brought us up out of the land of Mitsrayim, we do not know what has become of
him.
Capitulating to the demands of the people, Aharon takes matters into his
own hands by collecting gold earrings with which to make the golden calf.
On a side note, it occurred to me that since earrings can be a symbol of
servitude, and since the calf was made of earrings, I couldn't help but wonder
if perhaps there's a subtle hint here. Was the calf made from earrings because
the people wanted a g-d that they could control, one that was in servitude to
them rather than the other way around?
Let us now consider Aharon's words in the latter part of 32:5.
....Tomorrow is a festival to YHWH.
What was the festival that Aharon referred to? Considering a careful
study of the time frame involved, the festival declared was not one of Yahweh's
ordained festivals. It was something concocted by Aharon to dedicate the golden
calf. From the description of what followed, there was no worship of Yahweh
involved. We have a similar situation today. We have religious leaders out to
capitulate to the demands of their followers. These same leaders think nothing
of sanctioning festivals or holidays (so-called 'holy days') that are not
sanctioned by Scripture and certainly not designed to give glory to Almighty
Abba Yahweh. And yes, we have people who go after g-ds that are convenient to
worship.
We'll stop our commentary here by saying that Ki Tissa is
about a census. Let us take this as a challenge that Yahweh issued to Israel:
Stand up and be counted. Are we willing to be counted by Yahweh as
faithful Israelites, or are we among those who will run after a golden calf that
leaders were coerced to make? Are we willing to wait on Yahweh? Will we lose
patience with and confidence in our leaders who follow the way of His Torah as
some in ancient Israel lost patience with Mosheh?
May Almighty Yahweh bless us all and give us the courage to stand fast
and be counted with faithful Israel as we seek to serve and obey Him.
Please tune in to our Pal Talk Bible studies. This Erev Shabbat
(Friday evening) we will be on at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Also please tune
in again at 1 p.m. Shabbat afternoon. When tuning into Pal Talk, click on
Religion and Spirituality (that's Pal Talk's designation, not
ours) then click on Christianity (Pal Talk has no such designation as
'Messianic' or 'Nazarene'). Just prior to the designated start time, look for
our room, Bnai Yeshurun.
Again, we will commemorate Yahweh's Pesach and Chag HaMatzah (Passover
and Feast of Unleavened Bread) on March 29 (Passover Seder) and the first High
Day on the 30th. Please e-mail for details: yoel@windstream.net.
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