Parashah 21: Ki Tissa (When You Take)

Learn more about what a parashah is here. The heart behind this Bible portion blog is to help you develop your own daily reading habit, a daily renewing of your mind. We do this to know and love Adonai further, and to know His love for us. We share what the portion is for the week, what we took note of, and what spoke to our heart. We hope that this will help you study the Word of God and hide it in your heart, and soon you can teach someone else to do the same.

Torah (first 5 books of the Old Testament): Exodus 30:11-34:35

Haftarah (section from the Prophets): 1 Kings 18:1-39

B'rit Hadashah (New Testament): Luke 11:14-20; Acts 7:35-8:1; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; 2 Corinthians 3:1-18

Our Notes

This portion starts with a census and offering. Counting everyone, not one left overlooked. The offering was just half a shekel, meaning that everyone could participate, the rich and the poor could both be atoned for. Both of these point to the heart of God, calling all who want to come to Him, no one overlooked, all welcome. 

Later on a Holy anointing oil is described. He describes the recipe, and then He makes it super clear that this was HIS oil and no one else is to make it or use it for any other purpose than the one He described. The recipe called for myrrh, cinnamon, cane, cassia, and olive oil. 

Our Heart

That oil blend recipe was incredible. It was God's very own chosen scent. I remember when I was preparing for my wedding, I was given the advice to choose a new perfume scent to wear on that day. It was a way of capturing the memory of that day in a new way, through the memory of scent. I took the advice and found a perfume I loved, and was sure not to use it prior to the wedding. Then I wore it on that day, on the honeymoon, and throughout our first year of marriage until it ran out. It surely worked! I still have the bottle, but there isn't enough to use anymore, just enough to smell and remember. 

Reading over Adonai's perfume blend, it shows me more how particular He is, how there are certain things He likes, and things He wants to keep special. People are like this too. For my husband, there are only certain gloves he wears when working on his prized trucks. For me, there are only certain fabrics I wear for clothing. Reading about Adonai in this way just reminds me that we are not only made in His image, He really share so many things in common with us. Or at least He has made Himself relatable to us. Though He may not be so approachable in the physical, like being able to be seen, heard, and felt like a physical dad who comes home after work, with faith and through reading about Him in His word, He can be seen much more in the physical than I ever realized.