Ki Tisa כִּי תִשָּׂא - When You Elevate
Torah Portion: Exodus 30:11-34:35
Exodus 31:18–33:11
31:18 When he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave Moses the two tablets of the covenant, stone tablets, written with Elohim’s finger.
32 When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.”
2 Aaron said to them, “Take off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me.”
3 All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 He received what they handed him, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molded calf. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to Hashem.”
6 They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
7 Hashem spoke to Moses, “Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves! 8 They have turned away quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”
9 Hashem said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation.”
11 Moses begged Hashem his Elohim, and said, “Hashem, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians talk, saying, ‘He brought them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth?’ Turn from your fierce wrath, and turn away from this evil against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’”
14 So Hashem turned away from the evil which He said He would do to His people.
15 Moses turned and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand; tablets that were written on both their sides. They were written on one side and on the other. 16 The tablets were the work of Elohim, and the writing was the writing of Elohim, engraved on the tablets.
17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is the noise of war in the camp.”
18 He said, “It isn’t the voice of those who shout for victory. It is not the voice of those who cry for being overcome, but the noise of those who sing that I hear.” 19 As soon as he came near to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Then Moses’ anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them beneath the mountain. 20 He took the calf which they had made, and burned it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it.
21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?”
22 Aaron said, “Don’t let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. 23 For they said to me, ‘Make us gods, which shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’ 24 I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”
25 When Moses saw that the people were out of control (for Aaron had let them lose control, causing derision among their enemies), 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on Hashem's side, come to me!”
All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. 27 He said to them, “Hashem, the Elohim of Israel, says, ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’” 28 The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. About three thousand men fell of the people that day. 29 Moses said, “Consecrate yourselves today to Hashem, for every man was against his son and against his brother, that He may give you a blessing today.”
30 On the next day, Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to Hashem. Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin.”
31 Moses returned to Hashem, and said, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold. 32 Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.”
33 Hashem said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” 35 Hashem struck the people because of what they did with the calf, which Aaron made.
33 Hashem spoke to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people that you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ 2 I will send an angel before you; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 3 Go to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you on the way.”
4 When the people heard this evil news, they mourned; and no one put on his jewelry.
5 Hashem had said to Moses, “Tell the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go up among you for one moment, I would consume you. Therefore, now take off your jewelry from you, that I may know what to do to you.’”
6 The children of Israel stripped themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.
7 Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp, and he called it “The Tent of Meeting.” Everyone who sought Hashem went out to the Tent of Meeting, which was outside the camp. 8 When Moses went out to the Tent, all the people rose up, and stood, everyone at their tent door, and watched Moses, until he had gone into the Tent. 9 When Moses entered into the Tent, the pillar of cloud descended, stood at the door of the Tent, and Hashem spoke with Moses. 10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the door of the Tent, and all the people rose up and worshiped, everyone at their tent door. 11 Hashem spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. He turned again into the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, didn’t depart from the Tent.
Today’s Meditation:
We read about the “Tent of Meeting” today in Exodus 33. What an incredible place that would have been. The people would watch as Moses went into the Tent, and then the Pillar of Cloud descended. This is where Moses would actually meet with Hashem. We don’t exactly know the details of this, but we do know He received instructions from Hashem here. And that Joshua, the faithful servant, did not want to leave the door.
I can only imagine the dedication and love that Joshua had for Hashem. He could not leave the door. When you meet with Hashem in prayer, are you anxious to finish, or do you love being with Him and don’t want to leave?
Today’s Challenge:
In Chapter 32, we read about the famous golden calf story. The Israelites grew impatient. They couldn’t wait for Moses to come down from the hill. Even after all the miracles they had just witnessed, their faith was wavering. But today I see how wrong I am. The Israelites were not only on a journey to the Promised Land but also on a huge spiritual journey. They had just come out of paganism and slavery. They were beginning to know Hashem. They got scared and got confused. There is no excuse for building a golden calf and partying around it like it was a “god”, but it does help to understand why it may have happened.
After all, don’t we build golden calves in our lives? Don’t we get impatient for Hashem to answer a prayer and instead figure out our own way to make it happen? Don’t we substitute something else for Hashem’s power and presence? I do it a lot, and I am humbly sorry. I want to serve the one and only true God, Hashem. I don’t want to substitute anything else for Him. And I pray He helps me not to do so. I pray the same for those of you who are impatient about waiting on Elohim. I pray you have the courage and strength to wait on Him and not make any human decisions. Wait for the best. I am trying to do the same.
