Ki Tisa and the letter Hey Part 2
HaShem reveals Himself in silence.
1 Kings 19:11 - 12 “And he said, Go out and stand on the mountain before YAHWEH. And, behold, YAHWEH passed by, and a great and strong wind tearing the mountains and breaking the rocks in bits before YAHWEH! YAHWEH was not in the wind. And after the wind was an earthquake, but YAHWEH was not in the earthquake.
And after the earthquake was a fire, but YAHWEH was not in the fire; and after the fire came a voice which was a small whisper.”
Haesh Kol dimama deka – when the hey is added it becomes feminine and the feminine makes it quiet Haesh kol dimama dekah = a thin still voice.
A soft voice forces us to listen carefully. This is sometimes what HaShem has to do, He has to speak very quietly so that we will be attentive to Him. When HaShem wanted the Israelites to walk in a certain direction He led them by cloud in day and fire at night.
It was then up to each individual to follow His lead, by His Spirit. To lift up their heads to the Heavens and walk according the leading of The Holy One – to be counted among His chosen people and to reflect His glory.
Exodus 30:11–34:35
Ki Tisa means when you lift up. It comes from the Hebrew root word tissa which is from the verb root nasa – which means lifted. There is always a danger in counting HaShem’s people as we should only count what belongs to us.
When David took a census that was not ordained by HaShem, a plague broke out and there were consequences to doing this as it was not commanded by HaShem. It would seem that counting HaShem’s people was a way of dehumanising them and could have been likened to them losing their identity as His chosen nation.
This portion doesn’t say that Moshe was to number the Israelites – it starts with lift up the head. In life we usually count the things that matter and to be reckoned by HaShem is to be lifted up. HaShem promised Avraham that his seed would be too numerous to count, so for us to count what Hashem deemed uncountable would be like us breaking His covenant and placing ourselves in the place of His authority.
So, in order not to bring any one into a challenging situation that would result in a plague, the instruction from HaShem was that each person over the age of 20 years of, should contribute half a silver shekel towards the Tabernacle and this was what was counted! This shekel was an atonement for each person’s soul.
Exodus 30:11 “Every man shall give atonement for his soul”
- This atonement or ransom is the word kopher [Strongs 3724] which means to the price of a life, ransom.
- The word kopher shares the root with the word kapher [Strongs 3722] which means to cover.
Noah’s ark was covered with a pitch, with kopher, an atonement beyond what any person on this earth could ever deserve – the same atonement we received through the sacrificial death of Yeshua, the same atonement being offered by HaShem on this day when each person in the wilderness gave their half shekel, a prophetic action for the atonement being offered by Yeshua, the cornerstone of the House of YHVH. 1 Peter 2: 4 – 8, Ephesians 2: 20 -22
Why was it a half shekel not a whole one?
None of us are in this alone, I believe it is Yeshua who prophetically held the other half of the shekel, the one who was betrayed for silver.
The other consideration is that one shekel covered the atonement for two people. We are all only fractions of a whole and we need to be in fellowship with other to keep the commandments. All of us are required to give to HaSehem and as we give so Messiah comes and gives the other half. Without him we are incomplete – but together, walking in His ways and as according to His steps we will walk in glory and righteousness.
This half shekel was to pay for the construction of the temple. Each person’s shekel would be building the earthly Tabernacle and each person was intrinsically a living stone of the Tabernacle! The Tabernacle itself would picture the journey of redemption and sanctification and it would lead each heart to the Holy of Holies – the place representing our covering (kopher) from this moment in the wilderness to this very day!
May you be blessed as you study,
Baruch HaShem, Michelle