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 who profess our faith in Jesus, we study the Old Testament to understand the historical, cultural, and contextual background of the history of our heritage in Jesus. This is commonly known as the Messianic teachings of Christianity and is a part of our Saturday Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Dallas, TX.

While customs are not commandments, there is beauty for believers in Jesus (Yeshua) to understand their identity as grafted into the covenants with Israel. As descendants of Abraham, all Christians are heirs according to the promise given to Abraham even before Sinai. Christians should study and learn the Torah and show respect for their Jewish brothers and sisters. It is through the study of the law that we see another level of greatness in Jesus who is the lawgiver and the greatest Torah teacher of all time.

Ki Tisa is the Hebrew title for “When You Take” and is the name for the weekly Torah portion reading for the Book of Exodus starting in chapter 30 verse 11 and going through chapter 34 verse 35.

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 10.

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 Overview-

The twenty-first Torah Portion reading is called Ki Tisa. Ki Tisa is comes from Exodus 30:12 in which it says “When you lift up the head of the sons of Israel to reckon them.” Ki Tisa means “when you lift up.” This derives from the Hebrew idiom “lift up the head” which means to take a head count. The Torah Portion title fits due to the beginning instructions to take a census, the finishing instructions for the Tabernacle, and the reiterating of the commandment of a Shabbat “Sabbath.” Yet the majority of this Torah Portion is laying out the sin of the golden calf, how through this sin there is a violation of the covenant with God, and how Moses must restore the covenant.

Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-

• Exodus 30:11 The sanctuary and half shekel

• Exodus 30:22 The anointing oil and incense

• Exodus 32:1 The Golden Calf

• Exodus 33:12 Moses’ intercession

• Exodus 34:1 Moses and the new tablets

• Exodus 34:10 The renewed Mosiac covenant

• Exodus 34:29 Moses shining face

Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-

• 1 Kings 18:1 Elijah and Ahab

• 1 Kings 18:20 Elijah triumph’s over the priests of Baal

Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-

• Mark 9:2 Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up the mountain

• Mark 9:4 Jesus talks with Elijah and Moses.

The Book of Exodus “Misrayim” which means “Departure from Egypt”

The Old Testament is commonly referred to as the Torah. It is the most sacred of all of Israel’s Scriptures. Most of our modern Bibles include the Old Testament “Torah” as the first five books in the Bible. The name in Hebrew of the first book of the Bible (Genesis) is B’reisheet. The name “B’reisheet” comes from one of the opening phrases in the book of Genesis which means “In the Beginning.”

The Greek Septuagint is where we find the English name for “Departure from Egypt” called “Exodus.”

The English name for Exodus comes from the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. Exodus means "Departure from Egypt." The term Exodus is abbreviated from Exodus Aigyptou. The book of Exodus gives us the story of the children of Israel. It outlines their enslavement, their deliverance, through the idolatry of the golden calf, the giving of the Torah, and the Tabernacle. As we study the book of Exodus, we will learn a great deal about God but even more about ourselves. After all, this is the story of our ancestors. When properly understood, the story of our ancestors journey with God we see glimpses into how God works with us today.

As Messianic Christians, we find the book of Genesis and the stories therein, as a historical account of how we as believers are grafted into the covenants and promises of God with our forefathers and how we can learn to walk and learn from their actions.

To Watch an overview of this week’s Torah Portion CLICK HERE