By Julia Blum

There is a startling story in this week's Torah portion that has been speaking to my heart for years.  Definitely, there are many other stories here  -  Ki Tissa is  one of the richest and most complex portions in the entire Torah. However, for years I've been puzzled by this particular story; for years I've been sensing that God is revealing here a great mystery, not only about Israel, but about each one of us as well.

The 33^rd chapter of Exodus describes events happening right after the terrible sin of Israel, right after the golden calf and the tablets broken by Moshe. At the end of the last chapter, we saw Moshe interceding for the people and being able to convince God to forgive Israel. Already, in the beginning of this chapter, Moshe receives God's confirmation: yes, He allows Moshe to continue his mission of leading the people of Israel into the Promised Land, the Land flowing with milk and honey. However, in His words we can still hear the echo of His recent wrath. While commanding Moshe and Israel to depart for the Land, He says, "Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people" (Exo 33:3).

Well, this seems to be an absolute and definitive statement, completely clear and expected, completely fair after the terrible sin the people of Israel had committed just before.  This Torah portion, actually, is all about this, about God's holiness and about how He and His presence cannot, by any means, dwell with a sinful man. I will not go up in your midst ... How great must be the readers' surprise, however, when literally several verses later we read, And He said, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest" (Exo. 33:14).

How could it possibly be? We know that with Him, there is no variation or shadow of turning (James 1:17), that He is not a man that He should change his mind (1 Sam. 15:29), so what can the explanation be for this seemingly contradictory and sudden change of His decision?

We can find the key for understanding these verses in the original Hebrew text. In Hebrew, God says: "My face will go with you." God's Face? Does it remind us of something? Where else in Torah do we hear of God's Face? And Ya'akov called the name of the place Peniel: "for I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved" (Gen.32:30).

Surely you remember this meeting - the most important meeting of Ya'akov's life. One night Ya'akov met this very special Angel - whom he recognized as God: "for I have seen God face to face" - and yet, he was not consumed! And Ya'akov was not the only one in Tanach; again and again we meet this Angel, who appears before people in the form of a man, but speaks in the name of God in the first person. Angel of His Face - Malach Panav!

Who is  Malach Panav? This name is encountered fully only in one place, in Isaiah 63:9: In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His presence (Malach Panav) saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old. We see this special Angel in many places in the Tanach; he appears before Avraham in Genesis 18, wrestles with Ya'akov in Peniel, meets with Gideon, and meets with Shimshon's father Manoach. Do you know the most special and common feature of all these meetings? As in the story of Ya'akov, all these people are utterly surprised by the fact that they have seen God, and yet their lives have been spared. In all these cases, there is an amazing discrepancy between a deep and common belief that a sinful man cannot see the holy God, that if a man enters God's holy presence he will certainly die, and the fact that though these people indeed saw God, yet their lives were preserved. "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved."

As Messianic believers, we know perfectly well who is the One Who allows us to enter God's Holy presence and not die. The testimony of Yeshua is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10). It takes indeed the testimony of Yeshua, the spirit of prophecy, and the whole Messianic revelation to realize that Yeshua is the One Whom we see in the Tanach under this wonderful name - Malach Panav!

Our puzzling story from Ki Tissa is just more proof of this statement. At the beginning of chapter 33, the Lord promised to Moshe to send an angel with Israel: and I will send an angel before you (vs. 2). If we compare this with His promise from verse 14: My Face shall go with you, and I will give you rest, we inevitably come up with this special Angel going before Israel: the Angel of His Face,  Malach Panav! Yeshua is the One whom God is sending with Israel - He, the Face or presence of God, is leading Israel to the Promised Land. The same Angel Who allowed people to experience the presence of the holy God and yet stay alive, this very same Angel represents here the mercy of God extended to sinful man. Yes, His holiness is such that He cannot dwell and cannot go with sinful and sinning people, and yet He chooses to dwell and walk with His people, for such is His mercy. Just consider this: each one knows millions of reasons why the Lord would tell him: for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are ... stiff-necked. Each of us fully deserves these words - and each one of us is fully aware of that. Yet, more than anything in the world, each of us is longing to hear something completely different: My Face shall go with you, and I will give you rest - and the amazing thing is that this is, indeed, His promise to each one of us! This is an astounding interrelationship between God's holiness and His mercy. We are stiff-necked, we don't deserve His love and His mercy, yet He goes with us and gives us rest. And, as I am reading this portion, my thoughts and prayers are about my people: we pray today that our people can also experience this love and mercy - that they can recognize the same Malach Panav Who, centuries ago, was sent to Israel to give us rest.

© 2010 Julia Blum This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Julia and her husband, Victor, led Even Israel congregation in Jerusalem for many years and now attend UMJC member Congregation Shuva Yisrael, in Westbury, NY. Victor is working and studying with Chosen People Ministries in New York City. Julia is the author of If You Be the Son of God Come Down from the Cross, available at www.jerusalemblums.com.

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