Ki Tisa “when you take”
It is customary for religiously practicing Jews to read from an annual cycle of weekly Old Testament readings called Torah Portions. This is said to be the same reading schedule that was taught every Sabbath in the Synagogues during the times of Jesus in the first century.
As Christians exploring the Torah portion cycle we must maintain a balance of including the Old Testament, the prophets, and the gospels in our weekly bible study.
Torah Portion Name and Readings-
Ki Tisa is the Hebrew word for “when you take”, this is the name for the weekly Torah Portion reading for the Exodus starting in chapter 30 verse 11 and going through chapter 34 and verse 35.
Prophets and New Testament-
It is also important to point out that along with the Torah portion readings and teachings, there are what are called Haftarah portions which are readings from the Bible in the books of the prophets. This week’s haftarah readings come from the book of 1 Kings in chapter 18 verse 1 through verse 39.
The gospel readings incorporated with the weekly Torah portion readings come from the book of Mark in chapter 9 with verses 1 through verse 10.
Torah Portion Overview-
In this torah portion, we receive the final instructions for the Tabernacle. Moses is instructed to take a census by receiving a half shekel of silver from each male Israelite that is twenty years or older. Then we get the instructions for the bronze basin for washing and the formula for making holy anointing oil and holy incense. They are to be unique and not reproduced by any other Israelite for any other use, they are sacred. Yahweh then anoints certain craftsman to do the labor of making the Tabernacle furnishings, instruments, and articles. After this Israel is given the Sabbath commandments again. Then Yahweh writes on two tablets, one for Himself and one for Israel, as a reminder of the covenant. He writes the “ten words” or 10 commandments on the stones. After this it is revealed that the people are in fact committing idolatry! Aaron has taken their earrings and fashioned a golden calf idol of Yahweh for them to worship. He then declares a feast day to this idol of Yahweh. God is angry and wants to destroy the people but Moses interceded for the people. Then Moses comes down the mountain right when the people are acting in great sin. He becomes very angry and breaks the two tablets of stone. Moses called out that whoever is on the side of Yahweh should come to him. The whole tribe of Levi came over and He instructed them to enact judgement on the people for their great sin; put to death everyone who has done this great crime. After the guilty were punished Moses went back up the mountain to plead for mercy again. But even with this God still sent a plague on the people. Then God commanded that the people go without Him, with an angel instead, because if He went, He would destroy the people. Moses continued to meet with God at the tent of meeting far outside the camp, away from the people. Moses would go in and out of the tent but Joshua stayed inside. Then Moses again asks for mercy. He asks that the Lord would go with Israel and the Lord again listens to the voice of Moses and agrees to go with Israel. Then Moses asks for something no man has received since, he asks to see God. Yahweh shows Moses his back but would not show His face, because no man can see His face and live. Then God instructs Moses to make two tablets of stone again and He will write on them. Moses goes back up the mountain and God once again writes the “ten words” on tablets of stone. And Yahweh proclaimed Himself, showing who He is. God then made a covenant with Israel that He would perform great wonders. Remembering the great sin of the people, Yahweh warned against idolatry. He then reiterates the covenant by reminding the people of the instructions of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the firstborn belonged to the Lord, The Sabbath, the Feast of Weeks, Firstfruits, and Ingathering. Three times the males shall appear before Yahweh. The people are reminded not to offer a sacrifice with leaven, The Passover sacrifice is not to be left until morning, the best of the first fruits shall be given to Yahweh, and you shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk. Then Moses came down the mountain a second time, after being up there 40 more days. He gave the people the commandments. Yet the people, and even Aaron, were afraid because Moses face shown! So Moses put a veil over his face but when He went in and spoke with the Lord at the tent of meeting he would take the veil off.
“Discover the profound connection between God and a human in this Torah portion, showcasing one of the most intimate moments in the Old Testament.”*
This moment, above all else shows the relationship Moses had with Yahweh. Yahweh, the God of gods and the creator of the entire universe was willing to show Himself to Moses, as much as Moses was able to bear. This moment is one of my favorites in the entire Torah, because here we see the heart of God, that He wants to be known, and the desire of a man to truly know who He is.
“Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The LORD,’ and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one shall see me and live.” And the LORD continued, “See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”
Exodus 33:18-23 (NRSVue)
Moses wanted to know who God is so badly. It was forbidden to make an idol or image of Yahweh and so Moses wanted to see Him. However, Yahweh explained, that no man can see His face and live. Was this because it was not allowed, because of His glory and majesty, or because, as I believe, a human being could not bear the sight of Him displayed in all His true glory? I would suggest that it was that Moses would die if he saw Yahweh in all that He is. Consider this, Yahweh created the entire universe, all the stars, all the galaxies, all the planets. What kind of power would this take?! This level of power is so far beyond our comprehension! We truly cannot even understand what it would take for a being to be this powerful! Thus it makes sense to me that Yahweh would be so full of power and glory that even a brief glimpse of Him would strike Moses down. And so Yahweh declines Moses request to see His face. Yet clearly Yahweh was touched by the desire of a man to see Him, because He still allowed Moses to see His back. And so Moses got to see what no other man has seen, a part of the Father.
But what does it mean to see His glory? Nahum M. Sarna provides some insight into this in The JPS Torah Commentary on Exodus.
“In favor of this understanding is the fact that the kavod is generally something visible and usually refers to the supernatural effulgence that registers the intensity of God’s immanence. It may be pointed out that every other instance of a visible kavod in the Torah is characterized by three features: (1) It is a mass experience; (2) the kavod is distant from the observers; and (3) God initiates the manifestation and freely chooses the time and place. Here Moses pleads for an exclusively individual experience, one that is close at hand and that occurs in response to his personal request there and then.”
The glory, for Israel was seen, but far away, never close up. Here Moses is asking to see the glory of Yahweh, His face, close up. Other commentators point out that it is interesting that Moses spoke to God “face to face” yet He never saw His face.
And so this epic moment in time progresses, as Yahweh comes down to proclaim His name and reveal to Moses who He really is.
“The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name, “The LORD.” The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshiped.”
Exodus 34:5-8 (NRSVue)
Remember that Moses has asked to see the face of God. The Lord responds by saying that He would speak His name before His face! In other words, you cannot see my face, but you may hear my name Yahweh, which is my character, who I am. In this way you may not be able to see my face, but you can know my face. This is further explained by Thomas B. Dozeman in his Commentary on Exodus, The Eerdmans Critical Commentary:
“The focus on the revelation of the divine name Yahweh is made explicit in v. 19, when God states to Moses: “I will call before your face the name Yahweh.” The proclamation is followed by the announcement that God will bestow grace on whomever he sees fit. The syntax of this statement indicates the close relationship between Moses’ request to see the divine glory and the initial revelation of the divine name Yahweh during his commission (3:13–15). In the commission of Moses, Yahweh reveals the divine name by employing the idem per idem formula, in which the same verb repeats in the first person, connected by the relative pronoun, “I am who I am” (’ehyeh ’ăšer ’ehyeh). The same syntax repeats in the revelation of the divine name in v. 19, “I will have grace on whom I will have grace, and I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy” (wĕḥannōtî ’et-’ăšer ’āḥōn wĕriḥamtî ’et-’ăšer ’ăraḥēm).”
What is the character that defines who He is? It is His mercy! The mercy of God is so strong that it is directly connected to His name and reveals who He is! The mercy of God is great!!
This mercy carries into the New Testament where we see the miracles and works of Jesus. Just like Moses could not see the Father, so too they could not.
“You have not heard his voice at any time, and you haven’t seen his form.”
John 5:37b (CSB)
Yet they could see Jesus! They saw Him and He declared Himself to them, showing who He is. His desire is for mercy, even more than sacrifices or worship!
“Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Matthew 9:13 (CSB)
Remember that when we see Jesus, we see the Father.
“Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
John 14:8-9 (ESV)
Jesus is the glory of the Father! He is whom Moses could not see! He is the name!
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:14 (NKJV)
Over and over we see the blind (Matthew 9:27, 20:30), those on behalf of the oppressed (Matthew 15:22), those on behalf of the handicap (Matthew 17:15), and we see that He views mercy as a more important aspect of the law (Matthew 23:23)! Jesus is the expression of Yahweh on Earth, because He is Yahweh in the flesh! Thus, once again, we see that mercy is His character, who He is, mercy is in His name!
Do you want to know who God really is? Do you want to see His face? Then look to Christ, and see the mercy of God. Let His light shine in you and form you into His likeness. Let His expression of mercy live in you. Know mercy, show mercy, and reveal who He is. Show mercy to the world so that they can see Him through you.
Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-
Exodus 30:11 The instruction for a census to be conducted by taking a half shekel of silver from each man twenty years and older.
Exodus 30:17 The instruction for the bronze basin to wash in.
Exodus 30:22 The instruction for making holy anointing oil.
Exodus 30:34 The instruction for making holy incense.
Exodus 31:1 The workman were anointed by Yahweh for their tasks.
Exodus 31:12 The Sabbath commandments.
Exodus 31:18 The two stone tablets were written by God and given to Moses.
Exodus 32:1 The people committed idolatry with a golden calf that Aaron made and God wanted to destroy them.
Exodus 32:11 Moses interceded for the people asking Yahweh to show mercy.
Exodus 32:15 Moses came down the mountain as the people reveled in their idolatry.
Exodus 32:26 Moses called for anyone who is on the side of Yahweh. The Levites came to him and destroyed anyone who had committed idolatry.
Exodus 32:30 Moses went back up the mountain to intercede for the people but God sent a plague.
Exodus 33:1 God commanded the people to go to Canaan but sent an angel instead of Himself lest He destroy them.
Exodus 33:7 Moses met with God at the tent of meeting and Joshua stayed at the tent of meeting.
Exodus 33:12 Moses asked Yahweh to go with Israel and the Lord agreed. Moses also asked to see Him and He showed his back to Moses.
Exodus 34:1 Moses cut two tablets and Yahweh wrote on them the 10 words and proclaimed Himself.
Exodus 34:10 Yahweh made a covenant that He will perform great wonders but warns against idolatry.
Exodus 34:18 The people are reminded about the instructions of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the firstborn belonged to the Lord, The Sabbath, the Feast of Weeks, Firstfruits, and Ingathering. Three times the males shall appear before Yahweh.
Exodus 34:25 The people are reminded not to offer a sacrifice with leaven, The Passover sacrifice is not to be left until morning, the best of the first fruits shall be given to Yahweh, and you shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.
Exodus 34:29 Moses came down from the mountain and gave the commandments, and his face shown.
Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-
1 Kings 18:1 Elijah reveals himself to Ahab and issues a challenge to the prophets of Baal and Asherah.
1 Kings 18:20 Elijah calls down fire on the altar of Yahweh and slays the prophets of Baal.
Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-
Mark 9:1 Some will not die until they see the Kingdom of God come with power.
Mark 9:2 The transfiguration of Jesus.
Bibliography
* "CoPilot, Microsoft, 7 March. 2025, https://copilot.microsoft.com/".
Nahum M. Sarna, Exodus, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1991), 213–215.
William H. C. Propp, Exodus 19–40: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 2A of Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 619–620.
Eugene Carpenter, Exodus, vol. 2 of Evangelical Exegetical Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016), 344–347.
Thomas B. Dozeman, Commentary on Exodus, The Eerdmans Critical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), 729–730.
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