Ki Tisa “When you
take”
Only If You Go Too!
Any parent should be able to understand this Torah portion well. We
have all experienced those times that our children disobey, but once
in a while they do something that makes us look at them and say, “Just
get out of my sight for a while!”
It is one thing when our children do this to us, but this week we read
how the Hebrews crossed the line to the point that Abba told Moses he
was to take the people from there, but He really did not want them in
His presence anymore.
When we think back to what they had done, one can hardly blame Yah for
not wanting to be with these folks anymore. Just think for a moment
about this golden calf episode and you will have to admit this one is
really over the top bad. To give the jewelry Yah has given you to make
a tent for Him and use it to make a golden calf to worship is pretty
bad. Place on top of this that as they were worshipping the calf the
people were saying that it was the calf that brought them out of Egypt.
Adding the lies of how the calf was formed just adds insult to injury.
And by the way, did Aaron really think his brother was going to buy
that one of throwing the gold in the fire and a calf popping out the
other side? Now really, Aaron? It is no wonder HaShem said he did not
want to go any further with these folks.
Moses finds himself in a real dilemma here though. Yah tells Moses to
take the people from there, but He is not going with them. Now think
about it, if Yah does not go with them then the cloud does not go with
them. If the cloud does not go with them, how do they know which way
to go? And what about if the cloud leaves, will the manna leave with
it? And if the manna stops, what will happen to the rock that is giving
them water? This calf thing is really starting to cost them, and Moses
knows full well that if His presence does not go with these people they
will soon be bones scattered through the desert. It is coming down to
this Presence thing being a life and death situation. In the midst of
it all Moses makes maybe the best decision of his lifetime when he looks
to the heavens and says point blank, “If your presence does not
go with us, don’t make us go from here.” Moses understands
very well that the first step he takes without the presence of Yah will
be the step that marks the end to him and to the people he is leading.
How much can we learn from Moses this week? Even asking that question
seems a bit silly to me, but it is one we all should consider. Well
maybe we should ask ourselves another question first, something like,
“Just how much of life are we living without His presence already?”
Stop and think about that for a moment. How many decisions do we make
on a daily basis that do not involve Him? How many days do we begin
without any time in His Word or without even a thought of what His plans
may be for us that day?
Maybe we should not be making the same statement that Moses made, that
he was not going on if Abba withdrew His presence. Maybe what we should
be asking is for us to not be allowed to go one more step without His
presence being restored unto us. Maybe the best thing we could do is
repent for going as far as we have without His presence, doing things
based not on His direction, but rather based on our own golden calf
of self-reliance.
At this point in our Torah journey maybe we should not look down our
noses at the Hebrews and how bad they behaved toward Abba. A more effective
approach is to begin grinding up our own golden calves, and ask that
not one more day be lived without His presence being restored unto us.
Either way though, may we come into full agreement with Moses that if
His presence does not go with us from this day forward, we should not
be thinking about going anywhere! Greater exodus? Not without Him we
don’t!
