Ki Teitzei is a reminder of a pattern of DYNAMIC MOVEMENT that will always be part and parcel of the believer’s walk with Yahweh. The root of the word Teitzei is “YATSA”, which conveys the meaning of: “to come out, to go out or to bring out”. The basic idea is movement – the opposite of being passive or static. It is a word that appears more than 1000 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. We find it on the very first page of the “Old Testament”, and also on the very last. On the first page, in Genesis 1, we read that the earth brought forth (“yatsa”) grass and plants and trees (vers 12), and also that it brought forth (“yatsa”) living creatures, after its kind (vers 24). And on the last page, in Malachi 4:2, we find this most delightful verse: “To you who fear my Name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings. And you shall go out (“yatsa”) and leap for joy like calves from the stall.” Yahweh, Himself, came out (“yatsa” – out of his set-apart and exalted place) to become involved in our lives. And time and again He promises that He will bring us out (“yatsa”) of our situation of difficulty. When He spoke to Mosheh during the episode of the burning bush, He said to him in Exodus 3:10 “I am sending you to Pharaoh, to bring out (“yatsa”) my people from Mitsrayim (Exodus 3:10). After this introduction of the exodus, the word “yatsa” is used more than 200 times, throughout the Pre-Messianic Scriptures, to refer to the coming out, or the bringing out of the people of Israel from the land of Mitsrayim or Egypt. But this was only the beginning. This was only the setting up of a pattern that repeats itself hundreds of times, from the first pages of Scriptures, right up to the book of Revelation.
Yahweh keeps on BRINGING HIS PEOPLE OUT. He brings them out into plenty (Psalm 66:12). He brings them out into a large place (Psalm 18:19). He brings them out of the nets and the tricks of the enemy (Psalm 31:4). He listens to their plea and brings them out of their troubles (Psalm 107:28). He brings forth (“yatsa”) his righteousness to them as a light (Psalm 37:6). And He did not only bring them out of Mitsrayim, he went out (“yatsa”) BEFORE them (Psalm 68:7). He brought forth (“yatsa”) streams from the rock (Psalm 78:16). He brought out his people with joy, and He brought out his chosen ones with singing (Psalm 105:43). He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death (Psalm 107:14). He brings forth (“yatsa”) right-ruling and truth to the crushed reeds and smoking flaxes (Isaiah 42:3). And the CHERRY ON THE CAKE: He caused his prophets to prophesy that a Rod would come forth (“yatsa”) from the stump of Yishai, and a Sprout from his roots … and that the Spirit of Yahweh would rest upon this One (Isaiah 11:1-2). Another one prophesied over the small town of Bethlehem: Bethlehem Ephrathah, you who are little among the clans of Yehudah, out of you shall come forth (“yatsa”) the One who will be a Ruler in Yisrael – His comings forth are of old, from everlasting (Micah 5:2). From Yehudah comes forth (“yatsa”) the corner-stone and the tent peg, says Zechariah 10:4. The pattern is very obvious. Yahweh comes forth. In fact, He GOES FORTH like a mighty man (Isaiah 42:13). And He brings forth. He brings forth blessings for his people. And in the perfect time, He BRINGS FORTH the One who would be a Saviour and a Mashiach and a Leader like none other – not only to the Jews, but to all the nations of the earth.
What about the MESSIANIC BELIEVERS? The ones who have put their trust in Yahweh and acknowledged Y’shua as the promised Messiah? They have also been brought forth! They have been taken out of their comfort zones and put into motion! This becomes more than clear in these verses: For out of Yerushalayim comes forth a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Tsiyon – the zeal (and the passion) of Yahweh does this (Isaiah 37:32). He shall BRING OUT a blind people who have eyes, and deaf ones who have ears (Isaiah 43:8). COME OUT (“yatsa”) of Babylon and shout these words to the ends of the earth: Yahweh has redeemed His servant Yaakov! (Isaiah 48:20). I shall BRING FORTH (“yatsa”) a seed (or an inheritance) from Yaakov and my chosen ones shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there (Isaiah 65:9). In the Messianic Scriptures, the Greek word for “the chosen ones” is “eklektoi” which literally means “the ones who have been called out”. Being called OUT implies movement away from something. Who called them? Yahweh did. Why did He call them? Because there was no way for them to become part of his people, if they kept on doing what they were doing before – not willing to come out or to move forward. This principle is set forth very distinctly in Jeremiah 2:37: “From these ones (from Egypt and Assyria) you should go forth (“yatsa”), with your hands on your head. For Yahweh has rejected those you trust, and you shall not prosper by them.”
Speaking of JEREMIAH. This book uses the word “yatsa” exactly 70 times – more than most other books of the Pre-messianic Scriptures. And this book brings the perspective that Yahweh knew us and had a plan for us, before we were BROUGHT FORTH (“yatsa”) into this world (Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the belly I knew you, and before you came out (“yatsa”) of the womb I did set you apart – I appointed you a prophet to nations.” The fact that Jeremia was known and set apart before he was “brought forth”, does not mean that he was breathing or conscious or alive before he was born. No, he was not yet “formed in the belly” or “brought forth into this world”. But in Yahweh’s mind and in his planning and with his superior knowledge, Jeremiah was “known” and “seen” and “set-apart” already. Just like Avraham, Yitschak and Yaakov were “known” and “seen” and “set-apart”, even before they were actually “brought forth” into this world. This is why Yahweh can say that He “saw” these fathers as the first-fruits on the fig tree in its beginning, even before Israel became a people (Hosea 9:10). And Scriptures clearly say that this is also true about Y’SHUA and those who believe in his Name. Y’shua was known and called and set-apart, by Yahweh the one and only Elohim, before the foundation of the world. He was not yet formed in the belly or brought forth into this world. And, just like Y’shua, WE who believe that He is the true Messiah, were called and chosen before the foundation of the world – this is the clear teaching of Scriptures, including the teaching of the “New Testament”, in verses like Ephesians 1:4; Matthew 25:34; John 17:24; 1 Peter 1:20; Revelation 13:8 and 17:8.
The book of Jeremiah (like other books of Scriptures) brings the perspective that “being brought forth” (“yatsa”) is sometimes used as a synonym for “BEING BORN”. We have already seen in 1:5 that the day of the prophet’s birth is described as the day he “came forth” from the womb. Also, when he asks the question in Jeremiah 20:18, Why did I come forth (“yatsa”) from the womb to see toil and sorrow, the question clearly means: Why was I born to see toil and sorrow. This makes perfect sense, because we have seen that the creation (or the “birth”) of plants and living creatures in Genesis 1 was described as the process of being “brought forth”. Scriptures are well aware of the fact that someone who has been brought forth (into life) when he or she was born, may subsequently lose the capability of living life to its fullest and thereby falling in desperate need to be brought forth or “born” AGAIN. In this regard, it is written Jeremiah 31:4 “I am going to build you again. And you shall be rebuilt, o maiden of Yisrael! Again you shall take up your tambourines, and go forth (“yatsa”) in the dances of those who rejoice. We see this principle even more clearly in Jeremiah 51:45 “Come out (“yatsa”) of her midst, My people! And let everyone deliver his being from the burning displeasure of Yahweh.” Together with this, we may also read a verse like Psalm 142:7 “Bring my being out of prison, to give thanks to your Name. Let the righteous gather around me, because You deal kindly with me.”
No verse combines “yatsa” more perfectly with HEALING and REBIRTH than the one we have mentioned briefly before. “To you who fear my Name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings. And you shall go out (“yatsa”) and leap for joy like calves from the stall” (Malachi 4:2). Yahweh will bring his righteousness and his perfect healing to those who fear his Name. The fact that they are in need of healing suggests that something went wrong along the way. Maybe the joy was gone. For some reason or other, the chosen path was paved with sadness, frustration, disappointment, hurt, fear or anger. But through Yahweh’s favour, the truth of Malachi 4 is revealed to this struggling believer. That for righteousness and healing to return, I need to fear the NAME OF YAHWEH. It is the fear of the Name of Yahweh that will allow me to hear Him calling out my Name. He has been calling all along. But sadly, I have been too absorbed in my own struggles to focus on the Name of Yahweh. The moment I regain my focus on the Name of Yahweh, and the cause of Yahweh, and the voice of Yahweh, I shall start hearing Him again, calling my name, urging me to come out and to come forth, back to Him and back to the healing of my entire being. In the 5th last verse of the Old Testament, Yahweh urges me to come out of my man-made zone of self-centeredness and to walk into Yahweh’ zone of righteousness and healing. There I will leap for joy like a cow that can only see abundance and does not have a single thought of lack. And in the 5th last verse of the New Testament (Rev 22:17), Yahweh urges me once again, this time in the words of his Son, Y’shua: The Spirit and the bride (that is: the Spirit of Yahweh, together with those who have made the move to “yatsa”), say, Come! And he who thirsts, come! And he who desires it, take the water of life without paying! All I have to do, is to come …
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