Parashah 21 Ki Tissa * Census to Build Tabernacle

How to Avoid A Plague

written by bml February 20, 2022

Exodus 30:11-34:35, I Kings 18:1-39; Luke 11:14-20; Acts 7:35-8:1; 1Corinthains 10:1-13; 2 Cor 3:1-8

America ordered a census in 2020. ‘The Dragon’s Plague’ begins during 2020 Census. The plague continues as ‘The Ransom’ still is not secured by 2022.

The Plague of 2020, 2021, 2022 is worldwide. Millions are still assisted in dying.

On February 19, 2022 The Scriptures being read all over the world begin with telling us how to AVOID a plague. Verses Exodus 30:11-12

Exo 30:11  Adonai said to Moshe, 

Exo 30:12  “When you take a census of the people of Isra’el and register them, each, upon registration, is to pay a ransom for his life to Adonai, to avoid any breakout of plague among them during the time of the census. 

The Wedding Tax Protects Us!

This is an interesting concept that I don’t think anyone thinks about. Why are we not focusing on The C Plague according to scripture?

Is it because we are unfamiliar with The Tabernacle Wedding? We have been led by New Testament only thinking which has shown us the wrong wedding garment. We have not been trained in ‘personal plague’ warfare.

If we don’t want to be counted at The Wedding, we might not even send back the r.s.v.p. that was requested. Or we may show up at the wedding, but without a gift of congratulations (the ½ shekel). Or you go to the wedding redesigning it in your mind according to how you think it should have played out.

Or you don’t really know the Bride or the Groom, but you were invited by a friend in hopes you might find a mate.

And another question needs to be asked. “Why did ADONAI have everyone equally pay the same ransom?” Answer: Salvation is for everyone who accepts this style of wedding. The Hell Plague is also for ‘whomever’ as well.

Hmm. So why is this Wilderness Tabernacle so important to build? It would house the ‘presence’ of God that would hover of it. This ½ shekel offering showed you had a heart to do things God’s way…which certainly didn’t fit the normal gods they were used to. This God was active bringing them to The Place to be wed. Now this same Spirit wants to hover with them for 144,000 days until the next Wedding Location was available at Jerusalem.

Twelve Tribes would multiply themselves by twelve for sure. That tells us that there will be many individuals on our earth that will have pure hearts wanting to do things ADONAI’s way. They want to wear clean wedding garments.

(12 x 12,000 = 144,000) Yes, perhaps the number 144,000 simply refers to the large number of pure individuals who keep inviting outside people to The Grand Wedding Ball soon to come. When the guests are invited, they are told about the Bride observing The Written Torah and The Groom is The Living Torah Yeshua.

If the guests don’t want to agree with the Bride and Groom of how they choose to live on the earth, the guests are asked to leave. These guests do not leave their ½ shekel to help build this Kingdom on Earth which based on the Bride and Groom desires. People who reject The Bride (The Written Torah) will also reject The Groom (The Living Torah) because they are one. No man is to separate what God has put together.

Yes, there is a Wedding Tabernacle yet to be built on this earth. How many people are focused on getting it built at Jerusalem, Israel? Without this Wedding Temple the copy will not arrive from the Heavens. The Abrahamic Accords with President Trump made progress for this Temple to arrive. But the guests invited as not sure if they want to come, and most certainly they don’t want to donate one copper penny to its presence.

The Creator’s Wedding Banquet have always been in the ‘foundation plans’ of our earth.

On March 5, 2022 our third grandchild will marry. Our firstborn son has seen three of his children marry in the last two years. Their weddings have been very honorable to say the least. And yet, none of them used a ‘sukkah’.

These instructions in Exodus 30 were meant for that space in time of our earth’s history. The price to build their ‘wilderness tabernacle was paid just once. This pattern set in place Yeshua Jesus of whom would pay the bride price only ONCE in history. He was sacrificed even being sold for a price. Yeshua Jesus is now The Prepared Groom. He has been building a Kingdom in The Heavens.

In the 14,400 days in The Wilderness a People Made Ready built a Tabernacle. At the location ADONAI would choose, the people were to come and witness the presence of God. The Spirit of God took the form of a ‘Pillar of cloud’ by day and Pillar of Fire’ by night.

This Tabernacle was to be built according to specific directions that could not be altered. It would be erected by the Korach Clan at 42 different locations.

Elohim has One Bride called Israel. Isra’el means, ‘Struggles with Elohim.’

Ya’cov increased as his struggles increased. Both Y’acov and Yeshua Jesus are called, Isra’el.

Those invited to This Wedding Banquet will definitely have struggled for God. They will have struggled with the keeping of The Torah as all men fall short.

The Wedding Banquet will NOT struggle with mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters of whom are also walking down the wedding aisle to The Living Torah.

In the last two weeks I’ve spoken with two individuals of whom one ended in divorce and the other struggling not to sign those same D papers. Both of them seem to feel that the underlying problem was and is, The Torah. Both of these people found ‘love for The Torah’ and both of their spouses detest them for it.

Who will pay the half shekel? Those that love God’s Torah. Those loving The Living Torah Yeshua love The Written Torah sacrificing all not to violate it. They see the correct Wedding Banquet and no longer want the ‘smoke and mirrors.’

We should never want earthly divorce but if it takes your mental soul then separation is correct. We are married to The Living Word first and then our earthly spouse. We have to learn how to avoid The Plague…and it is by being yoked to our Groom Yeshua.

It is a one time ransom. A Bekka (½ shekel) We are married once and forever.

The Census Tax

Exo 30:11  Adonai said to Moshe, 

Exo 30:12  “When you take a census of the people of Isra’el and register them, each, upon registration, is to pay a ransom for his life to Adonai, to avoid any breakout of plague among them during the time of the census. 

Exo 30:13  Everyone subject to the census is to pay as an offering to Adonai half a shekel [one-fifth of an ounce of silver]—by the standard of the sanctuary shekel (a shekel equals twenty gerahs). 

Exo 30:14  Everyone over twenty years of age who is subject to the census is to give this offering to Adonai— 

Exo 30:15  the rich is not to give more or the poor less than the half-shekel when giving Adonai’s offering to atone for your lives. 

Exo 30:16  You are to take the atonement money from the people of Isra’el and use it for the service in the tent of meeting, so that it will be a reminder of the people of Isra’el before Adonai to atone for your lives.” 

I have now copied and pasted the Torah Portion into this blog. I do not have any other comments on this portion until probably later this week. Have a good week and consider stopping our world-wide plague by supporting to build The Temple in Israel. Please support Israel. Support The Arab Emirates who joined the Abrahamic Accord desiring peace through peace and not war. Now, their brothers are attacking them for supporting Israel. It is Biblical prophecy unfolding, but we need to let Elohim do it in his timing and not push this envelope. Missiles coming from Iraq, Iran and such is NOT acceptable to any nation. And the U.S. with Europe pushing Russia to arms is not acceptable. Let us have peace and go after the real enemies of those who crush us with chemical warfare…China and such. Be in faith to return Torah to the earth. The Bride price is Yeshua’s blood. Tell everyone you know He is also The Living Torah.

The Bronze Basin

Exo 30:17  Adonai said to Moshe, 

Exo 30:18  “You are to make a basin of bronze, with a base of bronze, for washing. Place it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. 

Exo 30:19  Aharon and his sons will wash their hands and feet there 

Exo 30:20  when they enter the tent of meeting—they are to wash with water, so that they won’t die. Also when they approach the altar to minister by burning an offering for Adonai, 

Exo 30:21  they are to wash their hands and feet, so that they won’t die. This is to be a perpetual law for them through all their generations.” 

The Anointing Oil and Incense

Exo 30:22  Adonai said to Moshe, 

Exo 30:23  “Take the best spices—500 shekels of myrrh [12 1/2 pounds], half this amount (250 shekels) of aromatic cinnamon [6 1/4 pounds], 250 shekels of aromatic cane, 

Exo 30:24  500 shekels of cassia (use the sanctuary standard), and one gallon of olive oil— 

Exo 30:25  and make them into a holy anointing oil; blend it and perfume it as would an expert perfume-maker; it will be a holy anointing oil. 

Exo 30:26  Use it to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark for the testimony, 

Exo 30:27  the table and all its utensils, the menorah and all its utensils, the incense altar, 

Exo 30:28  the altar for burnt offerings and all its utensils, and the basin with its base. 

Exo 30:29  You are to consecrate them—they will be especially holy, and whatever touches them will be holy. 

Exo 30:30  Then you are to anoint Aharon and his sons—you are to consecrate them to serve me in the office of cohen. 

Exo 30:31  “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘This is to be a holy anointing oil for me through all your generations. 

Exo 30:32  It is not to be used for anointing a person’s body; and you are not to make any like it, with the same composition of ingredients—it is holy, and you are to treat it as holy. 

Exo 30:33  Whoever makes any like it or uses it on any unauthorized person is to be cut off from his people.’ ” 

Exo 30:34  Adonai said to Moshe, “Take aromatic plant substances—balsam resin, sweet onycha root and bitter galbanum gum—these spices along with frankincense, all in equal quantities; 

Exo 30:35  and make incense, blended and perfumed as would an expert perfume-maker, salted, pure and holy. 

Exo 30:36  You are to grind up some of it very finely and put it in front of the testimony in the tent of meeting where I will meet with you; you are to regard it as especially holy. 

Exo 30:37  You are not to make for your own use any incense like it, with the same composition of ingredients—you are to treat it as holy, for Adonai. 

Exo 30:38  Whoever makes up any like it to use as perfume is to be cut off from his people.” 

Oholiab and Bezalel

Exo 31:1  Adonai said to Moshe, 

Exo 31:2  “I have singled out B’tzal’el the son of Uri the son of Hur, of the tribe of Y’hudah. 

Exo 31:3  I have filled him with the Spirit of God—with wisdom, understanding and knowledge concerning every kind of artisanry. 

Exo 31:4  He is a master of design in gold, silver, bronze, 

Exo 31:5  cutting precious stones to be set, woodcarving and every other craft. 

Exo 31:6  “I have also appointed as his assistant Oholi’av the son of Achisamakh, of the tribe of Dan. Moreover, I have endowed all the craftsmen with the wisdom to make everything I have ordered you— 

Exo 31:7  the tent of meeting, the ark for the testimony, the ark-cover above it, all the furnishings of the tent, 

Exo 31:8  the table and its utensils, the pure menorah and all its utensils, the incense altar, 

Exo 31:9  the altar for burnt offerings and all its utensils, the basin and its base, 

Exo 31:10  the garments for officiating, the holy garments for Aharon the cohen and the garments for his sons, so that they can serve in the office of cohen, 

Exo 31:11  the anointing oil and the incense of aromatic spices for the Holy Place: they are to make everything just as I have ordered you.” 

The Sabbath

Exo 31:12  Adonai said to Moshe, 

Exo 31:13  “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘You are to observe my Shabbats; for this is a sign between me and you through all your generations; so that you will know that I am Adonai, who sets you apart for me. 

Exo 31:14  Therefore you are to keep my Shabbat, because it is set apart for you. Everyone who treats it as ordinary must be put to death; for whoever does any work on it is to be cut off from his people. 

Exo 31:15  On six days work will get done; but the seventh day is Shabbat, for complete rest, set apart for Adonai. Whoever does any work on the day of Shabbat must be put to death. 

Exo 31:16  The people of Isra’el are to keep the Shabbat, to observe Shabbat through all their generations as a perpetual covenant. 

Exo 31:17  It is a sign between me and the people of Isra’el forever; for in six days Adonai made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and rested.’ ” 

Exo 31:18  When he had finished speaking with Moshe on Mount Sinai, Adonai gave him the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. 

The Golden Calf

Exo 32:1  When the people saw that Moshe was taking a long time to come down from the mountain, they gathered around Aharon and said to him, “Get busy; and make us gods to go ahead of us; because this Moshe, the man that brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has become of him.” 

Exo 32:2  Aharon said to them, “Have your wives, sons and daughters strip off their gold earrings; and bring them to me.” 

Exo 32:3  The people stripped off their gold earrings and brought them to Aharon. 

Exo 32:4  He received what they gave him, melted it down, and made it into the shape of a calf. They said, “Isra’el! Here is your god, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 

Exo 32:5  On seeing this, Aharon built an altar in front of it and proclaimed, “Tomorrow is to be a feast for Adonai.” 

Exo 32:6  Early the next morning they got up and offered burnt offerings and presented peace offerings. Afterwards, the people sat down to eat and drink; then they got up to indulge in revelry. 

Exo 32:7  Adonai said to Moshe, “Go down! Hurry! Your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have become corrupt! 

Exo 32:8  So quickly they have turned aside from the way I ordered them to follow! They have cast a metal statue of a calf, worshiped it, sacrificed to it and said, ‘Isra’el! Here is your god, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’ ” 

Exo 32:9  Adonai continued speaking to Moshe: “I have been watching these people; and you can see how stiff-necked they are. 

Exo 32:10  Now leave me alone, so that my anger can blaze against them, and I can put an end to them! I will make a great nation out of you instead.” 

Exo 32:11  Moshe pleaded with Adonai his God. He said, “Adonai, why must your anger blaze against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a strong hand? 

Exo 32:12  Why let the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intentions that he led them out, to slaughter them in the hills and wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger! Relent! Don’t bring such disaster on your people! 

Exo 32:13  Remember Avraham, Yitz’chak and Isra’el, your servants, to whom you swore by your very self. You promised them, ‘I will make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky; and I will give all this land I have spoken about to your descendants; and they will possess it forever.’ ” 

Exo 32:14  Adonai then changed his mind about the disaster he had planned for his people. 

Exo 32:15  Moshe turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets inscribed on both sides, on the front and on the back. 

Exo 32:16  The tablets were the work of God; and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. 

Exo 32:17  When Y’hoshua heard the noise of the people shouting he said to Moshe, “It sounds like war in the camp!” 

Exo 32:18  He answered, “That is neither the clamor of victory nor the wailings of defeat; what I hear is the sound of people singing.” 

Exo 32:19  But the moment Moshe got near the camp, when he saw the calf and the dancing, his own anger blazed up. He threw down the tablets he had been holding and shattered them at the base of the mountain. 

Exo 32:20  Seizing the calf they had made, he melted it in the fire and ground it to powder, which he scattered on the water. Then he made the people of Isra’el drink it. 

Exo 32:21  Moshe said to Aharon, “What did these people do to you to make you lead them into such a terrible sin?” 

Exo 32:22  Aharon replied, “My lord shouldn’t be so angry. You know what these people are like, that they are determined to do evil. 

Exo 32:23  So they said to me, ‘Make us gods to go ahead of us; because this Moshe, the man that brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has become of him.’ 

Exo 32:24  I answered them, ‘Anyone with gold, strip it off!’ So they gave it to me. I threw it in the fire, and out came this calf!” 

Exo 32:25  When Moshe saw that the people had gotten out of control—because Aharon had allowed them to get out of control, to the derision of their enemies— 

Exo 32:26  Moshe stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “Whoever is for Adonai, come to me!” All the descendants of Levi rallied around him. 

Exo 32:27  He told them, “Here is what Adonai, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘Each of you, put his sword on his side; and go up and down the camp, from gate to gate; and every man is to kill his own kinsman, his own friend and his own neighbor!” 

Exo 32:28  The sons of Levi did what Moshe said, and that day three thousand of the people died. 

Exo 32:29  Moshe said, “You have consecrated yourselves today to Adonai, because every one of you has been against his own son and against his own kinsman, in order to bring a blessing on yourselves today.” 

Exo 32:30  The next day Moshe said to the people, “You have committed a terrible sin. Now I will go up to Adonai ; maybe I will be able to atone for your sin.” 

Exo 32:31  Moshe went back to Adonai and said, “Please! These people have committed a terrible sin: they have made themselves a god out of gold. 

Exo 32:32  Now, if you will just forgive their sin! But if you won’t, then, I beg you, blot me out of your book which you have written!” 

Exo 32:33  Adonai answered Moshe, “Those who have sinned against me are the ones I will blot out of my book. 

Exo 32:34  Now go and lead the people to the place I told you about; my angel will go ahead of you. Nevertheless, the time for punishment will come; and then I will punish them for their sin.” 

Exo 32:35  Adonai struck the people with a plague because they had made the calf, the one Aharon made. 

The Command to Leave Sinai

Exo 33:1  Adonai said to Moshe, “Leave, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt; and move on from here toward the land of which I swore to Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya`akov, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ 

Exo 33:2  I will send an angel ahead of you; and I will drive out the Kena`ani, Emori, Hitti, P’rizi, Hivi and Y’vusi. 

Exo 33:3  You will go to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I myself will not go with you, because you are such a stiffnecked people that I might destroy you on the way.” 

Exo 33:4  When the people heard this bad news, they went into mourning; and no one wore his ornaments. 

Exo 33:5  Adonai said to Moshe, “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘You are a stiffnecked people! If I were to go up with you for even one moment, I would exterminate you! Now, keep your ornaments off; then I will decide what to do to you.’ ” 

Exo 33:6  So from Mount Horev onward, the people of Isra’el stripped themselves of their ornaments. 

The Tent of Meeting

Exo 33:7  Moshe would take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp. He called it the tent of meeting. Everyone who wanted to consult Adonai would go out to the tent of meeting, outside the camp. 

Exo 33:8  Whenever Moshe went out to the tent, all the people would get up and stand, each man at his tent door, and look at Moshe until he had gone into the tent. 

Exo 33:9  Whenever Moshe entered the tent, the column of cloud would descend and station itself at the entrance to the tent; and Adonai would speak with Moshe. 

Exo 33:10  When all the people saw the column of cloud stationed at the entrance to the tent, they would get up and prostrate themselves, each man at his tent door. 

Exo 33:11  Adonai would speak to Moshe face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then he would return to the camp; but the young man who was his assistant, Y’hoshua the son of Nun, never left the inside of the tent. 

Moses’ Intercession

Exo 33:12  Moshe said to Adonai , “Look, you say to me, ‘Make these people move on!’ But you haven’t let me know whom you will be sending with me. Nevertheless you have said, ‘I know you by name,’ and also, ‘You have found favor in my sight.’ 

Exo 33:13  Now, please, if it is really the case that I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways; so that I will understand you and continue finding favor in your sight. Moreover, keep on seeing this nation as your people.” 

Exo 33:14  He answered, “Set your mind at rest—my presence will go with you, after all.” 

Exo 33:15  Moshe replied, “If your presence doesn’t go with us, don’t make us go on from here. 

Exo 33:16  For how else is it to be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, other than by your going with us? That is what distinguishes us, me and your people, from all the other peoples on earth.” 

Exo 33:17  Adonai said to Moshe, “I will also do what you have asked me to do, because you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” 

Exo 33:18  But Moshe said, “I beg you to show me your glory!” 

Exo 33:19  He replied, “I will cause all my goodness to pass before you, and in your presence I will pronounce the name of Adonai. Moreover, I show favor to whomever I will, and I display mercy to whomever I will. 

Exo 33:20  But my face,” he continued, “you cannot see, because a human being cannot look at me and remain alive. 

Exo 33:21  Here,” he said, “is a place near me; stand on the rock. 

Exo 33:22  When my glory passes by, I will put you inside a crevice in the rock and cover you with my hand, until I have passed by. 

Exo 33:23  Then I will remove my hand, and you will see my back, but my face is not to be seen.” 

Moses Makes New Tablets

Exo 34:1  Adonai said to Moshe, “Cut yourself two tablets of stone like the first ones; and I will inscribe on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 

Exo 34:2  Be ready by morning; in the morning you are to ascend Mount Sinai and present yourself to me on the top of the mountain. 

Exo 34:3  No one is to come up with you, and no one is to be seen anywhere on the mountain; don’t even let the flocks or herds feed in front of this mountain.” 

Exo 34:4  Moshe cut two stone tablets like the first. Then he got up early in the morning and, with the two stone tablets in his hands, ascended Mount Sinai, as Adonai had ordered him to do. 

Exo 34:5  Adonai descended in the cloud, stood with him there and pronounced the name of Adonai. 

Exo 34:6  Adonai passed before him and proclaimed: “YUD-HEH-VAV-HEH!!! Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh ( י ה ו ה ) [Adonai] is God, merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in grace and truth; 

Exo 34:7  showing grace to the thousandth generation, forgiving offenses, crimes and sins; yet not exonerating the guilty, but causing the negative effects of the parents’ offenses to be experienced by their children and grandchildren, and even by the third and fourth generations.” 

Exo 34:8  At once Moshe bowed his head to the ground, prostrated himself 

Exo 34:9  and said, “If I have now found favor in your view, Adonai, then please let Adonai go with us, even though they are a stiffnecked people; and pardon our offenses and our sin; and take us as your possession.” 

The Covenant Renewed

Exo 34:10  He said, “Here, I am making a covenant; in front of all your people I will do wonders such as have not been created anywhere on earth or in any nation. All the people around you will see the work of Adonai. What I am going to do through you will be awesome! 

Exo 34:11  Observe what I am ordering you to do today. Here! I am driving out ahead of you the Emori, Kena`ani, Hitti, P’rizi, Hivi and Y’vusi. 

Exo 34:12  Be careful not to make a covenant with the people living in the land where you are going, so that they won’t become a snare within your own borders. 

Exo 34:13  Rather, you are to demolish their altars, smash their standing-stones and cut down their sacred poles; 

Exo 34:14  because you are not to bow down to any other god; since Adonai—whose very name is Jealous—is a jealous God. 

Exo 34:15  Do not make a covenant with the people living in the land. It will cause you to go astray after their gods and sacrifice to their gods. Then they will invite you to join them in eating their sacrifices, 

Exo 34:16  and you will take their daughters as wives for your sons. Their daughters will prostitute themselves to their own gods and make your sons do the same! 

Exo 34:17  “Do not cast metal gods for yourselves. 

Exo 34:18  “Keep the festival of matzah by eating matzah, as I ordered you, for seven days during the month of Aviv; for it was in the month of Aviv that you came out from Egypt. 

Exo 34:19  “Everything that is first from the womb is mine. Of all your livestock, you are to set aside for me the males, the firstborn of cattle and flock. 

Exo 34:20  The firstborn of a donkey you must redeem with a lamb; if you won’t redeem it, break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you are to redeem, and no one is to appear before me empty-handed. 

Exo 34:21  “Six days you will work, but on the seventh day you are to rest—even in plowing time and harvest season you are to rest. 

Exo 34:22  “Observe the festival of Shavu`ot with the first-gathered produce of the wheat harvest, and the festival of ingathering at the turn of the year. 

Exo 34:23  Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Lord, Adonai, the God of Isra’el. 

Exo 34:24  For I am going to expel nations ahead of you and expand your territory, and no one will even covet your land when you go up to appear before Adonai your God three times a year. 

Exo 34:25  You are not to offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread, and the sacrifice of the feast of Pesach is not to be left until morning. 

Exo 34:26  You are to bring the best firstfruits of your land into the house of Adonai your God. “You are not to boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” 

Exo 34:27  Adonai said to Moshe, “Write these words down, because they are the terms of the covenant I have made with you and with Isra’el.” 

Exo 34:28  Moshe was there with Adonai forty days and forty nights, during which time he neither ate food nor drank water. [Adonai] wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Words. 

The Shining Face of Moses

Exo 34:29  When Moshe came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, he didn’t realize that the skin of his face was sending out rays of light as a result of his talking with [Adonai]. 

Exo 34:30  When Aharon and the people of Isra’el saw Moshe, the skin of his face was shining; and they were afraid to approach him. 

Exo 34:31  But Moshe called to them; then Aharon and all the community leaders came back to him, and Moshe spoke to them. 

Exo 34:32  Afterwards, all the people of Isra’el came near; and he passed on to them all the orders that Adonai had told him on Mount Sinai. 

Exo 34:33  Once Moshe had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. 

Exo 34:34  But when he went in before Adonai for him to speak, he would take the veil off until he came out; then, when he came out, he would tell the people of Isra’el what he had been ordered. 

Exo 34:35  But when the people of Isra’el saw Moshe’s face, that the skin of Moshe’s face shone, he would put the veil back over his face until he went in again to speak with [Adonai]. 

Elijah Confronts Ahab

1Ki 18:1  A long time passed. Then, in the third year, the word of Adonai came to Eliyahu: “Go, present yourself to Ach’av, and I will send rain down on the land.” 

1Ki 18:2  When Eliyahu went to present himself to Ach’av, the famine in Shomron had become severe. 

1Ki 18:3  Ach’av called `Ovadyah, who was in charge of the palace. Now `Ovadyah greatly revered Adonai; 

1Ki 18:4  for example, when Izevel was murdering Adonai’s prophets, `Ovadyah took a hundred prophets, hid them in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. 

1Ki 18:5  Ach’av said to `Ovadyah, “Go throughout the land, and check all the springs and vadis; maybe we can find grass somewhere, so that we can keep the horses and mules alive and not lose all the animals.” 

1Ki 18:6  So they divided between them the territory to be visited; Ach’av went one way by himself, and `Ovadyah went another way by himself. 

1Ki 18:7  `Ovadyah was on the road when suddenly Eliyahu encountered him. `Ovadyah recognized him, fell on his face and said, “Is it really you, my lord Eliyahu?” 

1Ki 18:8  He answered, “Yes, it is I; go, tell your master, `Eliyahu is here.’ ” 

1Ki 18:9  `Ovadyah replied, “How have I sinned, that you would hand your servant over to Ach’av to kill me? 

1Ki 18:10  As Adonai your God lives, there can’t be a single nation or kingdom where my master hasn’t sent to search you out; and in each kingdom or nation where they said, ‘He isn’t here,’ he made them take an oath that they hadn’t found you. 

1Ki 18:11  Now you say, ‘Go tell your master, “Eliyahu is here.” ‘ 

1Ki 18:12  But as soon as I leave you, the Spirit of Adonai will carry you off to I don’t know where; so that when I come and tell Ach’av, and he can’t find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have revered Adonai from my youth— 

1Ki 18:13  wasn’t my lord told what I did when Izevel killed Adonai’s prophets, how I hid a hundred of Adonai’s prophets by fifties in caves and supplied their food and water? 

1Ki 18:14  Now you say, ‘Go tell your master, “Look, Eliyahu is here.” ‘ Why, he’ll kill me!” 

1Ki 18:15  Eliyahu said, “As Adonai-Tzva’ot lives, before whom I stand, I will present myself to him today.” 

1Ki 18:16  So `Ovadyah went, found Ach’av and told him; and Ach’av went to meet Eliyahu. 

1Ki 18:17  When Ach’av saw Eliyahu, Ach’av said to him, “Is it really you, you troubler of Isra’el?” 

1Ki 18:18  He answered, “I haven’t troubled Isra’el, you have, you and your father’s house, by abandoning Adonai’s mitzvot and following the ba`alim. 

1Ki 18:19  Now order all Isra’el to assemble before me on Mount Karmel, along with the 450 prophets of Ba`al and the 400 prophets of the asherah who eat at Izevel’s table.” 

The Prophets of Baal Defeated

1Ki 18:20  Ach’av sent word to all the people of Isra’el and assembled the prophets together on Mount Karmel. 

1Ki 18:21  Eliyahu stepped forward before all the people and said, “How long are you going to jump back and forth between two positions? If Adonai is God, follow him; but if it’s Ba`al, follow him!” The people answered him not a word. 

1Ki 18:22  Then Eliyahu said to the people, “I, I alone, am the only prophet of Adonai who is left, while Ba`al’s prophets number 450. 

1Ki 18:23  Let them give us two young bulls, and they can choose the bull they want for themselves. Then let them cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood but put no fire under it. I will prepare the other bull, lay it on the wood and put no fire under it. 

1Ki 18:24  Then, you, call on the name of your god; and I will call on the name of Adonai; and the God who answers with fire, let him be God!” All the people answered, “Good idea! Agreed!” 

1Ki 18:25  Then Eliyahu said to the prophets of Ba`al, “Choose one bull for yourselves, and prepare it first; because there are many of you. Then call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” 

1Ki 18:26  They took the bull that was given to them, prepared it and called on the name of Ba`al from morning till noon—”Ba`al! Answer us!” But no voice was heard; and no one answered, as they jumped around on the altar they had made. 

1Ki 18:27  Around noon Eliyahu began ridiculing them: “Shout louder! After all, he’s a god, isn’t he? Maybe he’s daydreaming, or he’s on the potty, or he’s away on a trip. Maybe he’s asleep, and you have to wake him up.” 

1Ki 18:28  So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and knives, as their custom was, until blood gushed out all over them. 

1Ki 18:29  By now it was afternoon, and they went on ranting and raving until it was time for the evening offering. But no voice came, no one answered, no one paid any attention. 

1Ki 18:30  Then Eliyahu said to all the people, “Come here to me.” All the people came up to him, as he set about repairing the altar of Adonai that had been broken down. 

1Ki 18:31  Eliyahu took twelve stones, in keeping with the number of tribes of the sons of Ya`akov, to whom the word of Adonai had come, saying, “Your name is to be Isra’el.” 

1Ki 18:32  With the stones he built an altar in the name of Adonai. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough for half a bushel of grain. 

1Ki 18:33  He arranged the wood, cut up the bull and laid it on the wood. 

1Ki 18:34  Then he said, “Fill four pots with water, and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” They did it. “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he said, and they did it a third time. 

1Ki 18:35  By now the water was flowing around the altar, and it had filled the trench. 

1Ki 18:36  Then, when it came time for offering the evening offering, Eliyahu the prophet approached and said, “Adonai, God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Isra’el, let it be known today that you are God in Isra’el, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. 

1Ki 18:37  Hear me, Adonai, hear me, so that this people may know that you, Adonai, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back to you.” 

1Ki 18:38  Then the fire of Adonai fell. It consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones and the dust; and it licked up the water in the trench. 

1Ki 18:39  When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “Adonai is God! Adonai is God!”