Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have selected us from among all the peoples, and have given us your Torah.
ויפן
– '’va yi pen’’ to turn or
to face…
After 40 days
on Mount Sinai in the Presence of YHVH, it was time for Moshe to ‘’turn around’’
and ‘’face’’ the nation of Yisrael, to face the tragedy of the ‘’golden calf’’.
In our day the same is true, as believers we need to ‘’face’’ the deep- seated
idolatry that has gripped our lives for centuries.
Exo 32:15 And Mosheh turned and went down from the
mountain, and in his hand were the two tablets of the Witness,( העדת) tablets written on both their sides, written on the one and on
the other.
Exo 32:16 And the tablets were the work of Elohim, and the writing was the writing of Elohim engraved on the tablets.
The two tablets with
the 10 sayings can be compared to YHVH issuing His ‘’Ketubah’’ His ‘’marriage
contract’’ with Yisrael. Yisrael had already accepted the terms of this
‘’marriage contract’’(Ex 19:8) Before this ‘’marriage agreement’’ reached the
people of Yisrael, they have already broken their promise and have proved
unfaithful to the intended ‘’marriage covenant’’ with YHVH.
The Apostle Paul
stated his concern towards the first Messianic assembly who were becoming
guilty of the same offence - 2Co 11:2 For I am jealous for you with a jealousy according to
Elohim. For I gave you in marriage to one husband, to present you as an
innocent maiden to Messiah. 2Co 11:3 But I am afraid, lest, as the
serpent deceived Ḥawwah by his trickery, so your minds should be corrupted from
the simplicity that is in Messiah. 2Co 11:4 For, indeed, if he who
is coming proclaims another יהושע,[a] whom we have not proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit
which you have not received, or a different Good News which you have not accepted,
you put up with it well enough! Footnote: a Mat_24:5 and Mat_24:23-24,
Joh_5:43. -?
מה לגבי היום
Exo 32:17 And Yehoshua heard the noise of the people as
they shouted and he said to Mosheh, “A noise of battle in the camp!”
Exo 32:18 But he said, “It is not the sound of those
who shout of might, nor is it the sound of those who cry out in weakness, but
the sound of singing that I hear.”
Exo 32:19 And it came to be, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. And Mosheh’s displeasure burned, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke (‘’Shavar’’ - piel verb – shattered) them at the foot of the mountain.
Why a calf? This was possibly the pagan influence of Egypt’s ‘’calf god – Apis’’. Apis served as an intermediary between humans and other powerful deities.
The definition of idolatry is the ‘’worship of someone or
something other than YHVH as though it were YHVH or directly comes from YHVH’’.
Man is ‘’incurably’’ idolatrous.
We read also a further
tragedy in 1Ki
12:28 So the sovereign (Yaroḇ‛am/Jerobiam) took counsel and made two calves of gold, and
said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Yerushalayim. See, your
mighty ones, O Yisra’ěl, which brought you up from the land of
Mitsrayim!” 1Ki 12:29 And he set up one in Běyth Ěl, and the other
he put in Dan.
‘’ The story of Yaroḇ‛am also reveals that the golden calf was meant to
represent YHVH. Yaroḇ‛am was not trying to
make the Yisraelites worship another god; he wanted them to worship YHVH, just
in a different place, and in their own different way. So too the Yisraelites in
Exodus 32 were not introducing a new god. They say explicitly that the calf
represented the god who took them out of Egypt— YHVH. The festival that they held
the following day was not a festival to Baal, or any other foreign god—it is
explicitly a “festival to YHVH.” The story of the golden calf is commonly
misconstrued to be about worshipping another YHVH, but it is not. It is,
rather, about the incorrect worship of YHVH, the kind of worship that requires
a physical image or idea that represents YHVH but in reality is not YHVH’’.
This is an abomination to YHVH.
This is precisely how
YHVH describes their actions: Exo
32:8 “They have turned aside quickly out
of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a moulded calf,
and have bowed themselves to it and slaughtered to it, and said, ‘This is your
mighty one, O Yisra’ĕl, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim” There
could have been no doubt in the minds of the Israelites that it was the mighty Hand
of YHVH that brought them out of the land of Egypt. They saw the mighty acts of
His deliverance yet could not wait for Moshe to return from mount Sinai with
YHVH’s instructions on how to get into the promised land. So, the Israelites
‘’figured’’ out a way to get into the promised land without Moshe. The same is
true today for most believers – we think we have ‘’figured’’ out a way of
getting into the Messianic kingdom without Moshe – BUT, listened to what
Yahshua said: Yoch/Joh
5:46 “For if you believed Mosheh, you would have believed Me, since he
wrote about Me. Joh 5:47 “But if you do not believe his writings,[c] how shall you believe My words?”
Footnote: c Luk_16:31.
This is precisely what
most Christians have done. They have been taught that ‘’Jesus’’ came to do away
with Moshe’s words and that ‘’God’’ alone was not able to lead us into the
Messianic kingdom and He had to rely on ‘’Jesus’’ to get the job done. Christians
are then taught to ‘’worship and bow down to Jesus’’. Many of these Christians
(including many Messianics) even proclaim that Yahshua is YHVH – Exo 20:2 “I am יהוה
your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, out of the house of
slavery.
Joh
4:23 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall
worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father also does seek such to
worship Him.
This spirit of
‘’idolatry’’ is so deeply ingrained in all believers and very few ever seem to
notice it, let alone escape its power, making it almost impossible to come free
of its grip. For the most part we have all created a
multitude of ‘’golden calves’’ according to our own imagination and have
dutifully bowed down and served them- כמה עגלי זהב יש לנו היום
This is true
of the ‘’anti-christ’’ who is not only the one who opposes the Messiah but will
attempt to replace the Messiah. Strongs 473 - ἀντί or ‘’anti’’ A primary
particle; opposite, that is, instead or because of- Often used in
composition to denote contrast or substitution.
Idolatry is well described by the prophets as an incurable disease.
Jer
30:12 “For thus said יהוה, ‘Your breach is incurable, your wound is grievous.
Jer 30:13 No one pleads your cause, to bind up. There are no healing medicines for you.
Nah_3:19 Your injury has no healing, your wound is grievous.
Jer_10:19 Woe to me for my breaking! My wound is grievous, but I say, “This is my sickness, and I bear it.
There is only one cure for our incurable condition – death and chastising –
Pro_20:30 The blows that wound cleanse away evil, And
strokes the inner parts of the heart.
Literal translation – ‘’Welts and injury are the scouring agents against evil, and blows purge the chambers of the inner being’’
Gal 2:20 “I have been impaled with Messiah, and I no longer live, but Messiah lives in me.[b] And that which I now live in the flesh I live by belief in the Son of Elohim, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Footnote: b Rom_8:10, 2Co_6:16, 2Co_13:5, Eph_3:17, Col_1:27, 1Jn_4:4.
We see the evidence of this in Moshe’s response to Yisrael’s idolatry:
Exo 32:20 And he took the calf which they had made, and
burned it in the fire, and ground it into powder, and scattered it on the face
of the water and made the children of Yisra’ĕl drink it.
Grinding gold into dust
and mixing it with water reminds us of a Torah law that would be introduced in Yisrael
– the law of a jealous husband who suspects his wife of infidelity.
‘’Law of Sotah or “jealousy” A Sotah (Hebrew סָטָה - to digress, to change direction, to deviate; to stray; (biblical) to commit adultery (a woman)/ סוטה) is a woman suspected of adultery who undergoes the ordeal of bitter water or ordeal of jealousy as described and prescribed in the Priestly Code, in the Book of Numbers. The term "Sotah" itself is not found in the Hebrew Bible but in Numbers 5:12. The process was a trial by ordeal administered to the wife whose husband suspected her of adultery but who had no witnesses to make a formal case (Numbers 5:11-31) – Wikipedia’’
In modern Hebrew a ‘’sotah’’
is a perverted deviant. All manmade religion falls into this category.
The sad reality is
that historically the nation of Yisrael has suffered greatly under many
“ordeals” – (sotah’s or sotot) – Most believers have failed to produce righteous
offspring who love YHVH and His Torah and His Messiah… however, in these days
there is a remnant returning to the ancient paths of YHVH and reject all forms
of false worship of YHVH.
Sadly, we are all
about to enter our ‘’trail by ordeal’’ it is called the ‘’tribulation’’.
Jer 30:7 ‘Oh! For great is that day, there is none
like it. And it is the time of Yaʽaqoḇ’s distress, but he shall be saved out
of it.
Jer
30:11 ‘For I am with you,’ declares יהוה, ‘to save you. Though I make
a complete end of all gentiles1 where I have scattered you, yet I do
not make a complete end of you. But I shall reprove you in judgment, and by no
means leave you unpunished.’ Footnote: 1See 46:28, Isa. 34:2, Isa.
45:17, Dan. 2:44, Amos 9:8, Hag. 2:22.
Jer
30:12 “For thus said יהוה, ‘Your breach is incurable,
your wound is grievous.
Jer
30:13 ‘No one pleads your cause, to bind
up. There are no healing medicines for you.
Jer 30:24 The burning displeasure of יהוה shall not turn back until He
has done and established the purposes of His heart. In the latter days you
shall understand it1. Footnote: 1See 23:20.
Exo 32:21 And Mosheh said to Aharon, “What did this
people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?” (In other
words – ‘’if you really loved My people, you would not have brought this great
evil upon them’’)
Exo 32:22 And Aharon said, “Do not let the displeasure
of my master burn. You know the people, that it is in evil. (In the evil grip
of idolatry until this day)
Exo 32:23 “And they said to me, ‘Make us mighty ones (elohim) who go before us. For this Mosheh, the man who brought us out of the land of Mitsrayim, we do not know what has become of him.’
Exo 32:24 “And I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, let
them take it off.’ And they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and
this calf came out.” (Idolatry makes you stupid and robs you of righteous
reasoning)
Exo 32:25 And Mosheh saw that the people were let loose, for Aharon had let them loose,(Heb – ‘’paruah’’ S6544- to be made naked - A primitive root; to loosen; by implication to expose) to their shame among their enemies.
It is amazing how false worshippers love gold and desire to be
‘’uncovered’’ regarding YHVH’s instructions - His Torah. They say we ‘’are free
to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, and are under grace, not under the law’’.
They are ‘’naked’’ because they have exposed themselves to the lawless spirit
of idolatry – Any form of disobedience to any part of YHVH’s Torah is an act of
defiance against YHVH and His Messiah – Mat 5:17-19 – and will not go
unpunished – unless of course we repent.
Rom 10:3 For not knowing the righteousness of
Elohim, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not subject
themselves to[a] the
righteousness of Elohim. Footnote: aOr did not obey. Rom 10:4
For Messiah is the goal[b] of the
‘Torah unto righteousness’ to everyone who believes. Footnote: bOr end purpose;
not termination. (The Torah is the only road map back into YHVH’s
Presence and Yahshua never came to do away with any part of the Torah – Mat
5:17-19)
Exo 32:26 And Mosheh stood in the entrance of the camp,
and said, “Who is for יהוה? Come
to me.” And all the sons of Lĕwi gathered themselves to him.
Exo
32:27 And he said to them, “Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl: ‘Each one
put his sword on his side, pass over to and fro from gate to gate in the camp,
and each one slay his brother, and each one his friend, and each one his
relative.’ ”
Exo
32:28 And the sons of Lĕwi did according
to the word of Mosheh. And about three thousand men of the people fell that
day.
Exo
32:29 And Mosheh said, “You are ordained
for יהוה
today – since each one has been against his son and his brother – so as to
bring upon you a blessing today.”
Exo
32:30 And it came to be on the next day
that Mosheh said to the people, “You, you have sinned a great sin. And now I am
going up to יהוה – if
I might atone for your sin.”
Exo
32:31 And Mosheh returned to יהוה and said, “Oh, these people
have sinned a great sin, and have made for themselves a mighty one of gold!
Exo
32:32 “And now, if You would forgive
their sin, but if not, please blot me out of Your book which You have written.”
Rom 9:3 For I myself could have wished
to be banished from Messiah for the sake of my brothers, my relatives according
to the flesh…
Exo
32:33 And יהוה
said to Mosheh, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I blot him out of My book.
Exo
32:34 “And now, go, lead the people to
the place of which I have spoken to you. See, My Messenger goes before you. And
in the day of My visitation I shall visit their sin upon them.”
Exo 32:35 And יהוה plagued(Heb – ‘’struck’’) the people because they made the calf, which Aharon made.
Exo 33:1 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Come, go up
from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of
Mitsrayim, to the land of which I swore to Aḇraham, to Yitsḥaq, and to
Yaʽaqoḇ, saying, ‘To your seed I give it.’
Exo
33:2 “And I shall send My Messenger
before you, and I shall drive out the Kenaʽanite and the Amorite and the
Ḥittite and the Perizzite and the Ḥiwwite and the Yeḇusite,
Exo
33:3 to a land flowing with milk and
honey. For I do not go up in your midst because you are a stiff-necked people,
lest I consume you on the way.”
Exo
33:4 And when the people heard this evil
word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments.
Exo
33:5 And יהוה
said to Mosheh, “Say to the children of Yisra’ĕl, ‘You are a stiff-necked
people. Should I go up in your midst for one moment I shall consume you. And
now, take off your ornaments, and I shall know what to do to you.’ ”
Exo
33:6 So the children of Yisra’ĕl took
off their ornaments at Mount Ḥorĕḇ.
Exo 33:7 And Mosheh took his tent (‘’the tent’’ not his tent) and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the Tent of Meeting. And it came to be that everyone who sought יהוה went out to the Tent of Meeting which was outside the camp.
‘’Moses called it the tent of meeting. This was not the same tent of meeting described in chapters 25 – 31. That tent (the Tabernacle) will not be constructed until chapters 35 – 40. Also, there is no mention of the tabernacle furniture (such as the ark), and it was placed a good distance outside the camp, whereas the tabernacle was erected in the midst of the camp (Numbers 3;23;29;35;38). This tent of meeting apparently was a temporary structure where Moses would meet with YHVH, and YHVH would speak with Moses.’’
Exo
33:8 And it came to be, whenever Mosheh
went out to the Tent, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent
door and watched Mosheh until he entered the Tent.
Exo
33:9 And it came to be, when Mosheh
entered the Tent, that the column of cloud descended and stood at the door of
the Tent, and He spoke with Mosheh.
Exo
33:10 And all the people saw the column
of cloud standing at the Tent door, and all the people rose and bowed
themselves, each one at the door of his tent.
Exo
33:11 Thus יהוה
spoke to Mosheh face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would
return to the camp, but his servant Yehoshua son of Nun, a young man, did not
leave the Tent.
Exo
33:12 And Mosheh said to יהוה, “See, You are saying to me,
‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not made known to me whom You would send
with me, though You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found
favour in My eyes.’
Exo
33:13 “And now, please, if I have found
favour in Your eyes, please show me Your way, and let me know You, so that I
find favour in Your eyes. And consider that this nation is Your people.”
Exo
33:14 And He said, “My Presence does go,
and I shall give you rest.”
Exo
33:15 And he said to Him, “If Your
Presence is not going, do not lead us up from here.
Exo
33:16 “For how then shall it be known
that I have found favour in Your eyes, I and Your people, except You go with
us? Then we shall be distinguished, I and Your people, from all the people who
are upon the face of the earth.”
Exo
33:17 And יהוה
said to Mosheh, “Even this word you have spoken I shall do, for you have found
favour in My eyes, and I know you by name.”
Exo
33:18 Then he said, “Please, show me
Your esteem.”
Exo
33:19 And He said, “I shall cause all My
goodness to pass before you, and I shall proclaim the Name of יהוה before you. And I shall
favour him whom I favour, and shall have compassion on him whom I have compassion.”
Rom 9:15,16.
Exo
33:20 But He said, “You are unable to
see My face, for no man does see Me and live.”
Exo
33:21 And יהוה
said, “See, there is a place with Me! And you shall stand on the rock.
Exo
33:22 “And it shall be, while My esteem
passes by, that I shall put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My
hand while I pass by.
Exo 33:23 “Then I shall take away My hand and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”
Midrash:
Why is
YHVH so opposed to any form of idolatry?
Of all the things that YHVH created, man was created to bear His Image – Gen 1:26 - Any attempt to reproduce His Image in any other form, doctrine or idea is a violation of who YHVH is. This will always be unacceptable to Him. Act 17:30 “Truly, then, having overlooked these times of ignorance, Elohim now commands all men everywhere to repent….
When
YHVH looks at us He wants to see His Image in us. Eventually His Image will be
restored in us.
1Jn
3:2 Beloved ones, now we are children of Elohim. And it has not yet been
revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be
like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
1Jn 3:3 And everyone having this expectation in Him cleanses himself, as He is clean.
2Co
3:12 Having then such expectation, we use much boldness of speech,
2Co
3:13 and not like Mosheh, who put a veil over his face[a] so that the children of Yisra’ěl
should not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. Footnote: aSee Exo_34:33-35.
2Co
3:14 But their minds were hardened, for to this day, when the old
covenant is being read, that same veil remains, not lifted, because in Messiah
it is taken away.
2Co
3:15 But to this day, when Mosheh is being read, a veil lies on their
heart.
2Co
3:16 And when one turns to the Master, the veil is taken away. Exo_34:34.
2Co
3:17 Now יהוה is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of יהוה is, there is freedom.
2Co 3:18 And we all, as with unveiled face we see as in a mirror the esteem of יהוה, are being transformed into the same likeness from esteem to esteem, as from יהוה, the Spirit.[b] Footnote: bSee also 2Co_3:17-18.
The tragic reality of our times is that most believers still have a veil over their eyes when reading the Torah. Why”? Because most of us have the wrong Jesus, have taught the wrong gospel, and have received another spirit.
2Co
11:3 But I am afraid, lest, as the serpent deceived Ḥawwah by his
trickery, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Messiah.
2Co 11:4 For, indeed, if he who is coming proclaims another יהושע,a whom we have not proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different Good News which you have not accepted, you put up with it well enough! Footnote: a Mat_24:5 and Mat_24:23-24, Joh_5:43.
Finally, once again, the only cure for our incurable condition is ‘’death’’-
2Ti
2:11 Trustworthy is the word: For if we died with Him, we shall also live
with Him.
2Ti
2:12 If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him,
He also shall deny us.
2Ti 2:13 If we are not trustworthy, He remains trustworthy, it is impossible for Him to deny Himself.
Joh 6:60 Therefore many of His taught ones having heard, said, “This word is hard, who is able to hear it?”
Heb 10:39 But we are not of those who draw back to destruction, but of belief to the preservation of life.
May we find favour with YHVH who draws us by His Great Love to Covenantal Faithfulness.
Blessed are you YHVH,
our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and
have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of
the Torah – Amein.
Additional insights
into this Torah portion - Monte Judah – Episode 5 Insights into Isaiah -