Torah Portion Shoftim

Torah Portion Shoftim

Devarim – Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9

Deu 16:18  Shofetim and officers shall you make you in all your gates, which YHWH your Elohim gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.

Deu 16:19  You shall not wrest justice: you shall not respect persons; neither shall you take a bribe; for a bribe does blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.

Deu 16:20  That which is altogether just shall you follow, that you may live, and inherit the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you.

A fair court system is the most important feature of a just society.  Everyone needs to feel confident that cases are decided on the merits of the facts and evidence presented and not decided on factors of race, wealth, social position, or popularity.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 16:21  You shall not plant you an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of YHWH your Elohim, which you shall make you.

Deu 16:22  Neither shall you set yourself up a pillar; which YHWH your Elohim hates.

Mixing elements of pagan worship, such as christmas trees and easter eggs, in with worship of Adonia Elohim is not permitted, period.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 17:1 You shall not sacrifice to YHWH your Elohim an ox, or a sheep, in which is a blemish, [or] anything evil; for that is an abomination to YHWH your Elohim.

Our gifts and offerings to Elohim are supposed to be our best things, not our leftover dregs.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 17:2  If there be found in the midst of you, within any of your gates which YHWH your Elohim gives you, man or woman, who does that which is evil in the sight of YHWH your Elohim, in transgressing his covenant,

Deu 17:3  and has gone and served other gods, and worshiped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the army of the sky, which I have not commanded;

Deu 17:4  and it be told you, and you have heard of it, then shall you inquire diligently; and behold, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is done in Yisra’el,

Deu 17:5  then shall you bring forth that man or that woman, who has done this evil thing, to your gates, even the man or the woman; and you shall stone them to death with stones.

Of course, “the law of the land is the law,” and we cannot carry out this edict today because we do not have religious authority for capital punishment.  We must respect the civil and secular laws of the country where we live – “submit” to all appointed authority, which is set in place because Elohim allows it to be.

However, that doesn’t mean we ignore this commandment altogether.  Such persons must be expelled from our homes and congregations if they refuse to repent.  We must not allow pagan practices to be brought in to contaminate our children and the sanctity of our homes and shuls.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 17:6  At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he who is to die be put to death; at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.

Deu 17:7  The hand of the witnesses shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from the midst of you.

For us today, that means a single person may not accuse or make public such a claim of paganism or idolatry.  Instead, the proper proceure was outlined by Yeshua:

Mat 18:15 “If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother.   Mat 18:16  But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.   Mat 18:17  If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.

First, the single person confronts the suspected sinner alone.  If they repent, the matter must remain private between them.  If, however, the person involved in pagan or idolatrous practices or whatever sin does not repent, then two more trusted witnesses are brought to again confront the wayward person.  Only if they still refuse to repent is the matter made public.  And if at that point the person still refuses to repent, then they are expelled and shunned.  This is what we are to do in this day and age, as we live under the civil laws of secular governments.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 17:8  If there arise a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within your gates; then shall you arise, and go up to the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose;

Deu 17:9  and you shall come to the Kohanim the Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days: and you shall inquire; and they shall show you the sentence of judgment.

To “inquire” these days means to submit the matter to a bet din, since the Temple is not standing.  If a decision could not be reached by the Levites, then they would have used the Urim and Thummin, to receive a “yes/innocent” or “no/guilty” answer from the Cohen HaGadol.    We do not have these available to us today, so there is in essence no court of appeals from the decision of a bet din.  A person who refuses to abide by the ruling of the bet din must be expelled and shunned until they repent.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 17:10  You shall do according to the tenor of the sentence which they shall show you from that place which YHWH shall choose; and you shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach you:

Deu 17:11  according to the tenor of the Torah which they shall teach you, and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the sentence which they shall show you, to the right hand, nor to the left.

Deu 17:12  The man who does presumptuously, in not listening to the Kohen who stands to minister there before YHWH your Elohim, or to the judge, even that man shall die: and you shall put away the evil from Yisra’el.

Deu 17:13  All the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.

Again, all we can do today is shun such a person until they repent.  However, we must not be lax in doing so, or else sinners will be convinced that they do not need to repent and that their sins will be tolerated by the community.  If the community does intend to tolerate some sins, for whatever reason, a meeting must be held and this judgment must be publicly declared – to indicate that the elders have considered some “extenuating circumstances” and made a decision of some sort.  Sin should never be just ignored, even if the community intends to tolerate it.  It sets a bad precedent to turn a blind eye – ignoring sins a community intends to tolerate leads to ignoring sins the community should not and cannot tolerate.   Therefore the elders should make clear that they are not ignoring any sin in the community, no matter how small it appears to be.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 17:14  When you are come to the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you, and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein, and shall say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me;

Deu 17:15  you shall surely set him king over you, whom YHWH your Elohim shall choose: one from among your brothers shall you set king over you; you may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.

Deu 17:16  Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; because YHWH has said to you, You shall henceforth return no more that way.

Deu 17:17  Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

The point of having a King is not to let some person indulge in wealth and privilege.  The point is to have a unifying force, a leader, someone who can speak for the nation to other nations.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 17:18  It shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of [that which is] before the Kohanim the Levites:

Deu 17:19  and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear YHWH his Elohim, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them;

Deu 17:20  that his heart not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he not turn aside from the mitzvah, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Yisra’el.

A King is not above the Torah, he is below it.  He sits on his throne at Elohin’s sufferance, and Elohim can and will remove a King who exploits the people and acts brazenly against Torah.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 18:1 The Kohanim the Levites, [even] all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Yisra’el: they shall eat the offerings of YHWH made by fire, and his inheritance.

Deu 18:2  They shall have no inheritance among their brothers: YHWH is their inheritance, as he has spoken to them.

They have no territorial land.  However, they do have cities that are their own, where they have shops and businesses and small farms for livlihood.  They serve two weeks of regular duty at the Temple and, of course, duty during the festivals.  At other times, they lived and worked in their towns.  Their portion of the offerings at the Temple were never enough to sustain them all year round – and were never meant to be.  Levites had “day jobs” for those times when they were not on their rotation for Temple duty.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 18:3  This shall be the Kohanim’ due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep, that they shall give to the Kohen the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw.

Deu 18:4  The first fruits of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, shall you give him.

Deu 18:5  For YHWH your Elohim has chosen him out of all your tribes, to stand to minister in the name of YHWH, him and his sons for ever.

Deu 18:6  If a Levite comes from any of your gates out of all Yisra’el, where he lives as a foreigner, and comes with all the desire of his soul to the place which YHWH shall choose;

Deu 18:7  then he shall minister in the name of YHWH his Elohim, as all his brothers the Levites do, who stand there before YHWH.

Deu 18:8  They shall have like portions to eat, besides that which comes of the sale of his patrimony.

A Levite that has not been raised in a Levite town or village has the same rights to enter service as other Levites.  There are limits, however.  Elsewhere we are informed that a Levite must be at least 25 years of age to begin an apprenticeship in Temple Duties, and must be at least 30 years of age to enter the Temple Service proper, and must retire from service at age 50.   A Levite of the Cohen HaGadol’s line may not marry a non-Levite woman, a divorcee or widow, even if he was not raised in a Levite town or village.  If he does, he is disqualified from the lineage of the Cohen HaGadol.  (He can, however, still serve as a regular priest.)

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 18:9  When you are come into the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you, you shall not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.

Deu 18:10  There shall not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices sorcery, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer,

Deu 18:11  or a charmer, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

Deu 18:12  For whoever does these things is an abomination to YHWH: and because of these abominations YHWH your Elohim does drive them out from before you.

Deu 18:13  You shall be perfect with YHWH your Elohim.

Deu 18:14  For these nations, that you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice sorcery, and to diviners; but as for you, YHWH your Elohim has not allowed you so to do.

When someone seeks out the occult arts, it is because they do not trust Elohim to guide them, or they want to change what Elohim has set forth in their lives.   Both are a de facto rebellion against the leadership and sovereignty of Elohim.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 18:15  YHWH your Elohim will raise up to you a prophet from the midst of you, of your brothers, like me; to him you shall listen;

Deu 18:16  according to all that you desired of YHWH your Elohim in Chorev in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of YHWH my Elohim, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die.

Deu 18:17  YHWH said to me, They have well said that which they have spoken.

Deu 18:18  I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.

Deu 18:19  It shall happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

While this is true of the prophets in general, this passage was understood by the sages to refer to one particular prophet, who would become the Messiah of Israel.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 18:20  But the prophet, who shall speak a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.

Deu 18:21  If you say in your heart, How shall we know the word which YHWH has not spoken?

Deu 18:22  when a prophet speaks in the name of YHWH, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which YHWH has not spoken: the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you shall not be afraid of him.

The Sages realized that in the case of punishments or negative events, Elohim can and does relent if a person repents of their sins (as we see on a large scale in the book of Jonah, for example).  Therefore it was understood that this passage referred to promises of blessings or predictions of positive events.  If a supposed prophets makes such a statement and it does not come to pass, then that person is a false prophet.  Elsewhere we learn that a supposed prophet or dreamer who claims any part of the Torah is “done away with” is also a false prophet (Deuteronomy chapter 13).

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 19:1 When YHWH your Elohim shall cut off the nations, whose land YHWH your Elohim gives you, and you succeed them, and dwell in their cities, and in their houses;

Deu 19:2  you shall set apart three cities for you in the midst of your land, which YHWH your Elohim gives you to possess it.

Deu 19:3  You shall prepare you the way, and divide the borders of your land, which YHWH your Elohim causes you to inherit, into three parts, that every manslayer may flee there.

Prison is not a Biblical concept.  The person who commits manslaughter could flee to a City of Refuge, and live and work there until the death of the Cohen HaGadol who was presiding at the time of his mishap.  The person’s family could follow him there, and they set up their shop or business or trade the same as if they always had done.  This type of “little exile” did not separate families, did not impoverish the wife and children or elderly parents who depended on his support, and kept society stable.  Modern prisons do the exact opposite.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 19:4  This is the case of the manslayer, that shall flee there and live: whoever kills his neighbor unawares, and didn’t hate him in time past;

Deu 19:5  as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetches a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle, and lights on his neighbor, so that he dies; he shall flee to one of these cities and live:

Deu 19:6  lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him mortally; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he didn’t hate him in time past.

Deu 19:7  Therefore I command you, saying, You shall set apart three cities for you.

Killing someone for an unintentional accident is not justice – neither is destroying his family with poverty and confining him in unnatural conditions.  None of these is Elohim’s will.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 19:8  If YHWH your Elohim enlarge your border, as he has sworn to your fathers, and give you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers;

Deu 19:9  if you shall keep all this mitzvah to do it, which I command you this day, to love YHWH your Elohim, and to walk ever in his ways; then shall you add three cities more for you, besides these three:

Deu 19:10  that innocent blood not be shed in the midst of your land, which YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance, and so blood be on you.

The Cities of Refuge should be numerous enough and close enough together to not make it impossible for a man to reach them before being killed by the Kinsman Redeemer of the deceased fellow.  Again, shedding blood is always wrong, but it should not be an automatic death sentence for someone who had no intention of killing someone.  Only true cold-blooded murder deserves an automatic sentence of death.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 19:11  But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and strike him mortally so that he dies, and he flee into one of these cities;

Deu 19:12  then the elders of his city shall send and bring him there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.

Deu 19:13  Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the innocent blood from Yisra’el, that it may go well with you.

Our current system of capital punishment does not work because there are decades of appeals and the procedure is not effective as a deterrent.  In anciet Israel, a death sentence was carried out immediately after the bet din proceedings (and there had to be at least two witnesses to the crime for a capital punishment).

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 19:14  You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which they of old time have set, in your inheritance which you shall inherit, in the land that YHWH your Elohim gives you to possess it.

Moving a landmark or boundary marker is the same as stealing land.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 19:15  One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.

Again, a single person may not make a public accusation against someone suspected of sinning.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 19:16  If an unrighteous witness rise up against any man to testify against him of wrong-doing,

Deu 19:17  then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before YHWH, before the Kohanim and the judges who shall be in those days;

Deu 19:18  and the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother;

Deu 19:19  then shall you do to him, as he had thought to do to his brother: so shall you put away the evil from the midst of you.

Deu 19:20  Those who remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in the midst of you.

Deu 19:21  Your eyes shall not pity; life [shall go] for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

A person who testifies against someone simply because they hate them, or for financial gain, or for political or social reasons having nothing to do with being an actual witness of the supposed sin the defendant is accused of, that person is a false witness.  Whatever punishment would have befalled the defendant should be implemented against the false witness.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 20:1 When you go forth to battle against your enemies, and see horses, and chariots, [and] a people more than you, you shall not be afraid of them; for YHWH your Elohim is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

Deu 20:2  It shall be, when you draw near to the battle, that the Kohen shall approach and speak to the people,

Deu 20:3  and shall tell them, Hear, Yisra’el, you draw near this day to battle against your enemies: don’t let your heart faint; don’t be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them;

Deu 20:4  for YHWH your Elohim is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

It is not superior weaponry or superior numbers that win a battle.  A force that is outmanned and outgunned can still win if Elohim is on their side.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 20:5  The officers shall speak to the people, saying, What man is there who has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.

Deu 20:6  What man is there who has planted a vineyard, and has not used the fruit of it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man use the fruit of it.

Deu 20:7  What man is there who has pledged to be married a wife, and has not taken her? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.

Deu 20:8  The officers shall speak further to the people, and they shall say, What man is there who is fearful and faint-hearted? let him go and return to his house, lest his brother’s heart melt as his heart.

Deu 20:9  It shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking to the people, that they shall appoint captains of armies at the head of the people.

Military service is largely optional, not mandatory – there was no “draft” as we know it in ancient Israel, as we see here.  There were numerous exceptions to military service, including unwillingness to fight.  We also learn from the various military census accounts in the Tanakh that the minimum age for military service is 20 years old.  A person younger than 20 is not, in Elohim’s law, elegible for combat duty.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 20:10  When you draw near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim shalom to it.

Deu 20:11  It shall be, if it make you answer of shalom, and open to you, then it shall be, that all the people who are found therein shall become tributary to you, and shall serve you.

A just army always makes an offer of peace to a city or village prior to attacking.  If the city or town surrenders, no one is to be killed.  Therefore their blood is on their own hands if they choose not to surrender.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 20:12  If it will make no shalom with you, but will make war against you, then you shall besiege it:

Deu 20:13  and when YHWH your Elohim delivers it into your hand, you shall strike every male of it with the edge of the sword:

Deu 20:14  but the women, and the little ones, and the livestock, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil of it, shall you take for a prey to yourself; and you shall eat the spoil of your enemies, which YHWH your Elohim has given you.

Deu 20:15  Thus shall you do to all the cities which are very far off from you, which are not of the cities of these nations.

Cities outside of Eretz Israel that became a military threat were to be subjugated, not exterminated.  Only the men were to be killed – war against women and children was absolutely not permitted.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 20:16  But of the cities of these peoples, that YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes;

Deu 20:17  but you shall utterly destroy them: the Chittite, and the Amori, the Kena`ani, and the Perizzi, the Chivvi, and the Yevusi; as YHWH your Elohim has commanded you;

Deu 20:18  that they not teach you to do after all their abominations, which they have done to their gods; so would you sin against YHWH your Elohim.

Contrary to the assertions of modern historians with an anti-Biblical agenda, this is not a commandment to engage in genocide.  As the story of Rahav at Jerico shows, the Cana’anites knew Israel was coming and knew Elohim had given them the land – all they had to do was pack up and leave ahead of Joshua’s army, and not a single person would have died.  There were no passports or visas in those days – they could go anywhere they wanted outside of Eretz Israel to live, and nothing was stopping them from doing so.  Most likely, many thousands of people did just that – and lived happily ever after.  The ones who stayed did so knowing full well what the consequences would be.  They chose to defy YHWH Elohim anyway.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 20:19  When you shall besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you shall not destroy the trees of it by wielding an axe against them; for you may eat of them, and you shall not cut them down; for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged of you?

Deu 20:20  Only the trees of which you know that they are not trees for food, you shall destroy and cut them down; and you shall build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until it fall.

Just like the army was commanded not to make war against women and children, the army was also commanded not to make war against the environment.  A “scorched earth” policy was therefore against Elohim’s commandment.  Trees and vineyards and fields with food were not to be destroyed.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 21:1 If one be found slain in the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you to possess it, lying in the field, and it isn’t known who has struck him;

Deu 21:2  then your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which are round about him who is slain:

Deu 21:3  and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hasn’t been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke;

Deu 21:4  and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley.

Deu 21:5  The Kohanim the sons of Levi shall come near; for them YHWH your Elohim has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of YHWH; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be.

Deu 21:6  All the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

Deu 21:7  and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.

Deu 21:8  Forgive, YHWH, your people Yisra’el, whom you have redeemed, and don’t allow innocent blood [to remain] in the midst of your people Yisra’el. The blood shall be forgiven them.

Deu 21:9  So shall you put away the innocent blood from the midst of you, when you shall do that which is right in the eyes of YHWH.

Shedding blood always requires blood to be shed in return – the sentence is death.  A manslayer may flee to a City of Refuge to have his sentence suspended (but not eliminated, since if he leaves the City of Refuge the deceased person’s kinsman redeemer may still kill him).  But a murder is always a capital offence to be carried out immediately.  In this case, since the murderer is unknown, a sacrifice if offered in his place.  That will balance the “blood for blood” equation required to have peace and fertility in the land.  However, it will not do away with the “Law of Sin and Death” which will still apply to the killer.  “The soul that sins, it shall die.”

Next:  Haftarah Shoftim

Kollel Reh

Kollel Reh

Hebrews chapters 3 and 4

If you have not already read the introduction to Hebrews from last week’s Parashat, please do so.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and Kohen Gadol of our confession, Yeshua;

Heb 3:2  who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also was Moshe in all his house.

Heb 3:3  For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moshe, inasmuch as he who built the house has more honor than the house.

Heb 3:4  For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is God.

Heb 3:5  Moshe indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken,

Heb 3:6  but Messiah is faithful as a Son over his house; whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end.

“Our Hope” is resurrection and inclusion in the Messianic Kingdom.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 3:7  Therefore, even as the Ruach HaKodesh says,  “Today if you will hear his voice,

Heb 3:8  don’t harden your hearts, as in the provocation, like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,

Heb 3:9  where your fathers tested me by proving me, and saw my works for forty years.

Heb 3:10  Therefore I was displeased with that generation, and said, ‘They always err in their heart, but they didn’t know my ways;’

Heb 3:11  as I swore in my wrath, ‘They will not enter into my rest.’”

This passage comes from the Psalms and is based on several passages, including:

Exo 17:7  He called the name of the place Massah, and Merivah, because the children of Yisra’el quarreled, and because they tested YHWH, saying, “Is YHWH among us, or not?”

And…

Deu 8:1  All the mitzvah which I command you this day shall you observe to do, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which YHWH swore to your fathers.   Deu 8:2 You shall remember all the way which YHWH your Elohim has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his mitzvot, or not.

And finally:

Psa 95:6  Oh come, let’s worship and bow down. Let’s kneel before YHWH, our Maker,   Psa 95:7  for he is our Elohim. We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep in his care. Today, oh that you would hear his voice!   Psa 95:8  Don’t harden your heart, as at Merivah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness,   Psa 95:9  when your fathers tempted me, tested me, and saw my work.   Psa 95:10 Forty long years I was grieved with that generation, and said, “It is a people that errs in their heart. They have not known my ways.”   Psa 95:11  Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They won’t enter into my rest.”

“My rest” is synonymous with “my sabbath,” referring prophetically to the 7th day (that is, the 7th millennium) which is the Messianic Kingdom.  Those who will not keep his mitzvot, his commandments, will not enter it.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 3:12  Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living Elohim;

Heb 3:13  but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called “today;” lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

“Falling away from Elohim” has no other definition than throwing off His Torah and living in sin.  Sin is the transgression of the Torah (I John 3).  “Today” is the present apostolic age, the “church” age, since Yeshua’s ascent to Heaven.  This age will end when He descends again to call his Obedient Believers to their marriage feast with him, resulting in immortality and service as kings and priests in the Messianic Age.  Sin, that is, violating Torah, will absolutely prevent you from being included in the Parousia.  As in the parable of the 10 virgins, who went out to buy oil on the Sabbath/Festival (representing Yom Teruah), those who refuse to conform their life to Elohim’s commandments will have the door slammed in their face, with Yeshua inside saying “I never knew you” (Matthew 7 and Matthew 25).

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 3:14  For we have become partakers of Messiah, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm to the end:

Heb 3:15  while it is said, “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.”

Heb 3:16  For who, when they heard, rebelled? No, didn’t all those who came out of Egypt by Moshe?

Heb 3:17  With whom was he displeased forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?

Heb 3:18  To whom did he swear that they wouldn’t enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient?

Heb 3:19  We see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief.

Sin and unbelief are deeply linked and intertwined.  Obviously, a person who doesn’t believe isn’t going to obey, but more subtly a person who won’t obey doesn’t really believe, either.    If they say they “don’t have” to obey Torah, aren’t they basically saying that yes, they know the way that Elohim prefers people to live, since He gave those commandments, but they aren’t willing to live the way they know Elohim prefers?  They are saying other considerations in their life, such as fitting in with the world, are more important to them than pleasing Elohim!  A person can’t build a life of faith on such an attitude of disobedience and rebellion.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 4:1 Let us fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest.

Heb 4:2  For indeed we have had good news preached to us, even as they also did, but the word they heard didn’t profit them, because it wasn’t mixed with faith by those who heard.

Heb 4:3  For we who have believed do enter into that rest, even as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter into my rest;” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Heb 4:4  For he has said this somewhere about the seventh day, “Elohim rested on the seventh day from all his works;”

Heb 4:5  and in this place again, “They will not enter into my rest.”

Here the link with the prophecy of the 7th prophetic day and a necessity for obedience to qualify are indeed linked.  Someone who doesn’t observe the weekly 7th day Sabbath isn’t going to be included in the 7th millennium sabbath.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 4:6  Seeing therefore it remains that some should enter therein, and they to whom the good news was before preached failed to enter in because of disobedience,

Heb 4:7  he again defines a certain day, “today,” saying through David so long a time afterward (just as has been said), “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.”

Heb 4:8  For if Yehoshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterward of another day.

Joshua led them to a temporary kingdom.  Yeshua HaMasiach will lead us to a permanent one.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 4:9  There remains therefore a Shabbat rest for the people of Elohim.

Heb 4:10  For he who has entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works, as Elohim did from his.

Heb 4:11  Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience.

The audience here are believers – therefore we can presume some were in danger of not obeying Elohim’s Written Torah commandments, which would disqualify them for the kingdom.  Just “believing” in Yeshua as a fact in your head is not Hebraic “belief.”  In Hebraic thought, “belief” is the basis for a course of action in the physical world, not a virtual reality only in your thoughts.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 4:12  For the Word of Elohim is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

The Torah and the teachings of the rest of the Tanakh are the plumb line, the measuring stick by which we are measured.  If we are failing to obey any part, we are shown to be crooked and not in alignment with Elohim.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 4:13  There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Heb 4:14  Having then a great Kohen Gadol, who has passed through the heavens, Yeshua, the Son of Elohim, let us hold tightly to our confession.

Heb 4:15  For we don’t have a Kohen Gadol who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need.

Amen, let us all do just that – confess our transgressions of Torah, our sins, and repent.  Only then will we gain admittance to the Kingdom.

Next week:  Parashat Shoftim.

Epistle Reh

Epistle Reh

John chapter 16

Joh 16:1 “These things have I spoken to you, so that you wouldn’t be caused to stumble.

Joh 16:2  They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to Elohim.

While this was certainly true in the early days prior to the assemblies becoming syncretized with pagan Roman practices, it will have its main fulfillment in the Laodicean age and on into the Tribulation.  The Laodiceans “Chrisitans”  will expel Torah Observant Believers with even more glee than Jewish congregations.

John, continued:

Joh 16:3  They will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.

Joh 16:4  But I have told you these things, so that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you about them. I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.

We are not supposed to be in darkness, not knowing what’s going to come next.  Elohim’s calendar shows us the way.

John, continued:

Joh 16:5  But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’

Joh 16:6  But because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart.

Joh 16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I don’t go away, the Counselor won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

The counselor, or helper as it is sometimes called, was referred to as the Spirit of Truth in chapter 15.   What is truth?

Psa 119:30 I have chosen the way of truth. I have set my heart on your Torah…Psa 119:142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness. Your Torah is truth…

John, continued:

Joh 16:8  When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment;

Joh 16:9  about sin, because they don’t believe in me;

Joh 16:10  about righteousness, because I am going to my Father, and you won’t see me any more;

Joh 16:11  about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged.

Everything we need to know about Messiah, about sin, about righteousness, and about judgement is in the Torah – and the rest of the Tanakh.  Here Yeshua, as the prophets often did before him, speaks in the past tense to indicate a future prophetic event.  Elohim lives in a nexus of “now” – past, present and our future are all arrayed before him from his ultimate vantage point in the farthest future.  To Him everything has already happened.  As it says:

Isa 46:8  Remember this, and show yourselves men; bring it again to mind, you transgressors.   Isa 46:9  Remember the former things of old: for I am Elohim, and there is none else; [I am] Elohim, and there is none like me;   Isa 46:10 declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not [yet] done; saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.

John, continued:

Joh 16:12  “I have yet many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now.

Joh 16:13  However when he, the Spirit of Truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming.

Joh 16:14  He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you.

Specifically, it is the intent of the Ruach HaKodesh to write the Torah in our hearts and in our mind, so that we can understand and obey.  That is, after all, the definition of the “new covenant” per Jeremiah (Jer 31).

John, continued:

Joh 16:15  All things whatever the Father has are mine; therefore I said that he takes of mine, and will declare it to you.

Joh 16:16  A little while, and you will not see me. Again a little while, and you will see me.”

The next time his talmidim, his obedient believers, will see him is at the Parousia.

John, continued:

Joh 16:17  Some of his talmidim therefore said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you won’t see me, and again a little while, and you will see me;’ and, ‘Because I go to the Father?’”

Joh 16:18  They said therefore, “What is this that he says, ‘A little while?’ We don’t know what he is saying.”

And “a little while” is still ridiculed and used by non-believers to denigrate any Biblical faith.  A “little while” in Elohim’s terms is too much for them to handle, as Peter wrote:

Second Pe 3:1  This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you;   2Pe 3:2  that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the mitzvot of us, the emissaries of the Adon and Savior:   2Pe 3:3  knowing this first, that in the last days mockers will come, walking after their own lusts,   2Pe 3:4 and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”

Second Pe 3:5  For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water, by the word of Elohim;   2Pe 3:6  by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.   2Pe 3:7  But the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.   2Pe 3:8  But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with Adonai as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.   2Pe 3:9  Adonai is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but is patient with us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

They “willfully forget” because they disdain the Bible and have embraced Evolution and Darwinism as an impersonal and accidental force to which they owe no alleigence – and that’s just the way they want it.  Admitting creation would mean admitting sin exists.

John, continued:

Joh 16:19  Therefore Yeshua perceived that they wanted to ask him, and he said to them, “Do you inquire among yourselves concerning this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you won’t see me, and again a little while, and you will see me?’

Joh 16:20  Most certainly I tell you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

The world is under the sway of hasatan, and hates light because it reveals their darkness.

John, continued:

Joh 16:21  A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow, because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she doesn’t remember the anguish any more, for the joy that a human being is born into the world.

Joh 16:22  Therefore you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

An oblique reference to the “birth pangs” which will end the apostolic age and the Parousia which will  usher in the Day of YHWH on the 7th prophetic day, the 7th millennium of the plan of redemption.

John, creation

Joh 16:23  “In that day you will ask me no questions. Most certainly I tell you, whatever you may ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.

Joh 16:24  Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.

This is not carte blanche or a name-it-and-claim-it theology.  Our prayers must be within Elohim’s will, not interfere with His prophetic plan in any way, and not be a snare to ourselves that we cannot foresee.  Also, our prayer requests must be made from a position of cleanliness and good works, as well as true righteousness (Torah observance) for them to be 100% effective.

James 5:13  Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises.   Jam 5:14  Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of Adonai,   Jam 5:15  and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and Adonai will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.   Jam 5:16 Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.   Jam 5:17  Eliyahu was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it didn’t rain on the earth for three years and six months.   Jam 5:18  He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit.

And while Elohim does speak English perfectly well, his name is not “jeezus,” it is Yeshua, YHWH Tzeva’ot, El Shaddai, even just “Elohim” is better than using pagan words to address Him.

John, continued:

Joh 16:25  I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father.

Joh 16:26  In that day you will ask in my name; and I don’t say to you, that I will pray to the Father for you,

Joh 16:27  for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from Elohim.

In that day, in the Messianic Kingdom, sincere prayer of an obedient believer will be amazingly effective (even from the mortal survivors, the sheep who are the subjects of hte kingdom):

Isaiah 65:19  I will rejoice in Yerushalayim, and joy in my people; and there shall be heard in her no more the voice of weeping and the voice of crying.   Isa 65:20  There shall be no more there an infant of days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.   Isa 65:21  They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.   Isa 65:22  They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.   Isa 65:23  They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of YHWH, and their offspring with them.   Isa 65:24 It shall happen that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear…

John, continued:

Joh 16:28  I came out from the Father, and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”

Joh 16:29  His talmidim said to him, “Behold, now you speak plainly, and speak no figures of speech.

Joh 16:30  Now we know that you know all things, and don’t need for anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came forth from Elohim.”

Joh 16:31  Yeshua answered them, “Do you now believe?

Joh 16:32  Behold, the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be scattered, everyone to his own place, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

Joh 16:33  I have told you these things, that in me you may have shalom. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”

While this has been true to some extent in every “church” age, primarily He is referring to this prophecy of the Ingathering:

Eze 34:6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill: yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth; and there was none who searched or sought.   Eze 34:7  Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of YHWH:   Eze 34:8  As I live, says Adonai YHWH, surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn’t feed my sheep;   Eze 34:9  therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of YHWH:   Eze 34:10  Thus says Adonai YHWH: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.   Eze 34:11  For thus says Adonai YHWH: Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.

This part of the prophecy was first enacted at the fulfillment of the “Spring Festivals,” especially Passover, a future fulfillment yet remains after the Tribulation:

Eze 34:12  As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.   Eze 34:13  I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Yisra’el, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.   Eze 34:14  I will feed them with good pasture; and on the mountains of the height of Yisra’el shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed on the mountains of Yisra’el.   Eze 34:15  I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, says Adonai YHWH.   Eze 34:16  I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice.

During the Tribulation, Obedient Believers will be hunted like prey, and will find little solace.

Dan 7:19  Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth animal, which was diverse from all of them, exceedingly terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet;   Dan 7:20  and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other [horn] which came up, and before which three fell, even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke great things, whose look was more stout than its fellows.   Dan 7:21 I saw, and the same horn made war with the holy ones, and prevailed against them;   Dan 7:22  until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the holy ones of the Elyon, and the time came that the holy ones possessed the kingdom.

Rev 13:5  A mouth speaking great things and blasphemy was given to him. Authority to make war for forty-two months was given to him.   Rev 13:6  He opened his mouth for blasphemy against Elohim, to blaspheme his name, and his dwelling, those who dwell in heaven.   Rev 13:7 It was given to him to make war with the holy ones, and to overcome them. Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation was given to him.   Rev 13:8  All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been killed.

But they will receive their reward, either in the Resurrection of the Tribulation Martyrs (after which they will serve permanently in the Heavenly Temple and Elohim’s Heavenly Court) or in the Judgement of the Sheep and the Goats, where they will enter the kingdom to build a new life as mortal subjects under the leadership of the kings and priests of the Parousia who return to earth with Yeshua to set up the Kingdom.

Next:  Kollel Reh.

Talmidim Reh

Talmidim Reh

Revelation chapters 6 and 7

Recall, chapters 2 and 3 were a review of the apostolic era, the age of “making disciples of all peoples, nations, and tongues.”  It went in fits and starts, and Torah Observance was finally all but vanquished by the syncretization of pagan Greek and Roman practices.  Finally we arrived at the last days when two main forces are at work in the religious world – the “Philadelphians” and the “Laodiceans.”  The Philadephians are those who, according to Yesha, YHWH Incarnate, “keep my word” and oppose the Rabbinate (and their Oral Law) which claims to represent all Israel but does not.    The real “god” of the Laodiceans is money.  Those who try and teach them Torah observance will be (or already are, in some cases) cast out of their assemblies with Yeshua, who is left standing outside knocking, hoping someone will accept His Truth (as opposed to their replacement theology).  Alas, few come out.

Chapers 4 and 5 brings John (representing Torah Observant Believers at the time of the Parousia) to Elohim’s throne room and declares that he will learn what will happen “after these things.”  “These things” he was just shown represent the age from Yeshua’s impalement until the present era, which will end shortly.  The sages have long known that the “plan” for humanity is 6000 years long – six days of labor followed by the Messianic Sabbath, 1000 years long.  We are at or near the end of the 6th day.  The next day, the prophetic sabbath kingdom, is often referred to in prophecy as the “Day of YHWH” which “dawns in darkness.”  That “darkness” is the 7 year Tribulation, which is the “nighttime” of the 7th prophetic day.  And what a night terror it will be.

Joe 2:1  Blow the shofar in Tziyon, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the Day of YHWH comes, for it is close at hand:   Joe 2:2 A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn spreading on the mountains, a great and strong people; there has never been the like, neither will there be any more after them, even to the years of many generations…

Amo 5:18 “Woe to you who desire the Day of YHWH! Why do you long for the Day of YHWH? It is darkness, and not light.  Amo 5:19  As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; Or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him….

John grieves in chapter 5 because at first, no one was capable of bringing judgement on the earth and ushering in the daylight hours of the Messianic Sabbath Era – but Yeshua was found worthy to open the scroll and begin the assaying of the earth, and so in chapter 6 the trouble begins for those dwelling on the earth.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 6:1 I saw that the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a voice of thunder, “Come and see!”

Rev 6:2  And behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow. A crown was given to him, and he came forth conquering, and to conquer.

This is the Beast, the False Messiah.  He has a bow, but now arrows – so he rules by threat of force and not necessarily actual force at first.  He rules by diplomacy and economic control.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 6:3  When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come!”

Rev 6:4  Another came forth, a red horse. To him who sat on it was given power to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. There was given to him a great sword.

This is an outbreak of conventional warfare.  The “him” here is some leader who opposes the False Messiah and breaks whatever peace treaties or diplomacy has been put in place.  This way, the Beast can piously say, “I didn’t start this war, but I’m going to finish it for you so you will have peace.”  It will sound very nice, but be full of manipulative deception.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 6:5  When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come and see!” And behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a balance in his hand.

Rev 6:6  I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenix of barley for a denarius! Don’t damage the oil and the wine!”

This is a severe monetary collapse – a hyperinflation spiral.  The average person will be destitute very quickly, but we see there the luxury itels like oil (petroleum) and wine are not affected.  The elite class is insulated by the False Messiah so he does not lose their support.  He doesn’t care one whit about the average family.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 6:7  When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see!”

Rev 6:8  And behold, a pale horse, and he who sat on it, his name was Death. She’ol followed with him. Authority over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth was given to him.

Economic collapse is generally followed by a breakdown of social services such as sewage treatment, clean drinking water, electricity and such.  These will in turn bring disease, as well as banditry – few people are willing to starve.  If they find out you have food, you will most certainly be killed for it.  The Greek here rendered “wild animals” is usually translated as “beasts,” from the root for “dangerous animals.”

G2342 θηρίον thērion thay-ree’-on

Diminutive from the same as G2339; a dangerous animal: – (venomous, wild) beast.

G2339 θήρα  thēra  thay’-rah

From θήρ thēr (a wild animal, as game); hunting, that is, (figuratively) destruction: – trap.

We can derive two possible interpretations for this term – one is that feral animals, former pets or escaped exotic animals, will run loose and breed in the wild to the point where they become a threat to mankind.  Another is that the “venomous” or “poisonous” animals are in fact tiny lethal bacteria or viruses, which are living beings in and of themselves.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 6:9  When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of Elohim, and for the testimony of the Lamb which they had.

Rev 6:10  They cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

Rev 6:11  A long white robe was given to each of them. They were told that they should rest yet for a while, until their fellow servants and their brothers, who would also be killed even as they were, should complete their course.

At this point in the Tribulation, the persecutions and executions begin in earnest.  It will, by the end of the Trib, be another Holocaust, a slaughter of many millions of people.

It has often been asked exactly why since the vast majority of people in the Laodicean age were apathetic and lukewarm they would suddenly be willing to die bravely for a faith they hardly knew in the days of their prosperity.  After all, they were left behind.  Doesn’t that mean they are all irredeemably evil?  Not at all.   The answer to that can be found here:

1Th 4:16  For Adonai himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the chief angel, and with Elohim’s shofar. The dead in Messiah will rise first,   1Th 4:17  then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet Adonai in the air. So we will be with Adonai forever.

This is what will happen when the promise given to the “Philadelphians,” the Torah Observant Believers prior to the Trib, actually comes to pass -  that they would get to be removed from time and from the earth while Elohim’s wrath is being poured out (Rev 3).  As has been discussed previously, there are very few Believers who observe the Written Torah as best they can, somewhere between 250,000 and 500,000 worldwide – hardly the millions imagined in the “Left Behind” series.  But if we look carefully at the first part of this passage we see that there is a loud voice and a shofar blast involved – it is my considered opinion that these will be heard by everyone on earth, not just those who qualify for the Parousia.  Everyone will hear it, and those whose consciousnesses are not completely seared with evil and rebellion will KNOW in their hearts that they are being left behind.  They’ll just KNOW.  And this will give them the strength they need to hold out to the end or become martyrs, whichever happens to them, because in knowing they were left behind they will also KNOW that the Kingdom is not yet out of their reach.  They can still repent and be saved.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 6:12  I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became as blood.

Rev 6:13  The stars of the sky fell to the earth, like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when it is shaken by a great wind.

Rev 6:14  The sky was removed like a scroll when it is rolled up. Every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

This is generally considered to be a limited nuclear exchange between the False Messiah and his main enemy among the earthly rulers.  It will affect 1/3 of the earth’s surface, which we will read about in an upcoming chapter.  For now, John’s vision turns to the reaction of the leaders of the earth when the Beast nukes their colleague and a special response by Yeshua to ensure that His Word continues to be taught on earth, in spite of the False Messiah’s persecutions.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 6:15  The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains.

Rev 6:16  They told the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,

Rev 6:17  for the great Day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”

At this point there is no question in their minds what is happening – they KNOW.  They might have ignored the Parousia as some sort of mass insanity, but it put doubt in their minds – which is now erased.  Their part in the prophetic plan is now revealed to them, and they are not on the winning team.  Will some repent?  Most certainly.

Rev 7:1 After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.

This could be a meteorological effect of the limited nuclear exchange, of course.

Rev 7:2  I saw another angel ascend from the sunrise, having the seal of the living Elohim. He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea,

Rev 7:3  saying, “Don’t harm the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, until we have sealed the bondservants of our Elohim on their foreheads!”

These are those who will be appointed to preach repentance and faith in Yeshua HaMashiach in the Tribulation and to teach Torah observance.  This “seal” makes them recognizeable, and is a counter-sign to the “seal” the Beast will later require everyone else to receive on their hands or foreheads, his microchip which prevents those who will not swear allegiance to him from getting jobs, buying or selling.  Even as this is being written, high security clearance positions in the US government require chipping.  It’s not farfetched nor far away that the same will be required of everyone else to participate in the new “cashless” economy after the economic collapse.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 7:4  I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Yisra’el:

Rev 7:5  of the tribe of Yehudah were sealed twelve thousand, of the tribe of Re’uven twelve thousand, of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,

Rev 7:6  of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, of the tribe of Naftali twelve thousand, of the tribe of Menasheh twelve thousand,

Rev 7:7  of the tribe of Shim`on twelve thousand, of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, of the tribe of Yissakhar twelve thousand,

Rev 7:8  of the tribe of Zevulun twelve thousand, of the tribe of Yosef twelve thousand, of the tribe of Binyamin were sealed twelve thousand.

Right now, most of 10-Israel has no idea who they are or what tribe they belong to, but Elohim knows.

Amo 9:8  Behold, the eyes of Adonai YHWH are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Ya`akov,” says YHWH.   Amo 9:9 “For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Yisra’el among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth.

These 144,000 will travel all over the earth, teaching and preaching.  How a household or a community treats them will be a huge issue, though those who encounter them will not realize it.  It is this time and these servants which is the primary prophetic application of which Yeshua said:

Matthew 25:31  “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.   Mat 25:32 Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.   Mat 25:33  He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

This will happen after the Tribulation, during the time between Yom Kippur (Tishri 10th, Judgement Day) and Sukkot (Tishri 15th), the Inaguration of the Messianic Kingdom.

Matthew 25:34  Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;   Mat 25:35  for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in;   Mat 25:36  naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.’   Mat 25:37  “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink?   Mat 25:38  When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you?   Mat 25:39  When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’   Mat 25:40  “The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Just like during WWII, the “Righteous Gentiles” will treat the 144,000 kindly and shelter them from the authorities.  For this, they gain entry into the Messianic Kingdom as mortal subjects.

Mat 25:41  Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;   Mat 25:42  for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink;   Mat 25:43  I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’   Mat 25:44  “Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’   Mat 25:45  “Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, inasmuch as you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’   Mat 25:46  These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

As we see here, the goats of the Gentiles are destroyed in the lake of fire, and do not enter the Messianic Kingdom at all.  The same process will be repeated with the Remnant of Jews who flee to the “place of safety” in Southern Jordan, probably Petra, at the Abomination of Desolation and the rest of Israel who survive the Tribulation:

Eze 20:33  As I live, says Adonai YHWH, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you:   Eze 20:34  and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out;   Eze 20:35 and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.   Eze 20:36  Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, says Adonai YHWH.   Eze 20:37  I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;   Eze 20:38  and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who disobey against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter into Eretz-Yisra’el: and you shall know that I am YHWH.

These are the fates of the mortal survivors of the Tribulation.  But what happens to the Tribulation Martyrs?

Revelation, continued:

Rev 7:9  After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.

The “these things” are now the Tribulation, which he is in the process of describing to his readers.  The “great multitude” are the Tribulation Martyrs who will be taught by the 144,000 and die for their faith and obedience.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 7:10  They cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation be to our Elohim, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Rev 7:11  All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before his throne, and worshiped Elohim,

Rev 7:12  saying, “Amein! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, be to our Elohim forever and ever! Amein.”

Rev 7:13  One of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are arrayed in white robes, who are they, and from where did they come?”

Rev 7:14  I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood.

Rev 7:15  Therefore they are before the throne of Elohim, they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.

Rev 7:16  They will never be hungry, neither thirsty any more; neither will the sun beat on them, nor any heat;

Rev 7:17  for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of waters of life. And Elohim will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

The Tribulation Martyrs do not return to earth with Yeshua to be kings and priests in the Messianic Kingdom – that assignment belongs to those who were included in the Parousia.  The Tribulation martyrs earn the highest priesthood of all – serving in the Heavenly Temple instead of the earthly one.  They have been assayed in the hottest fires, and come out pure and clean.  Unlike the relative ease of the Torah Obedient Believers of the most recent “church” ages, these had to prove their faith with tears and pain. (Of course, martyrdom has been a fact of all the past 2000 years, but never has it been combined with such hopeless economic control, inability to travel away to find a peaceful haven, and faithlessness of their own friends and family as there will be during the Tribulation.  Everything else before this was just a “warm-up” exercise.)   Therefore those who were “left behind” at the Parousia but repent and believe and die for their faith gain an even loftier position than kings and priest of the Messianic Kingdom – they receive the right to serve at Elohim’s own court, forever and ever.

Those who survive as mortals enter the kingdom as Sheep (along with the Righteous Gentiles), where they will finally have the peace, the secure home, the loving friends and family, the children who can live and play in safety, and the medicine of the trees on the banks of the river of life, the clear water and good food, extra-long lifespan and the just government they so desperately wanted and suffered without during the Tribulation.

Next:  Epistle Reh. 

Haftarah Reh

Haftarah Reh

Yeshayahu – Isaiah 54:11-55:5

Isa 54:11  You afflicted, tossed with storms, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires.

The context of the first part of chapter 54 seems to indicate that Elohim is referring to Ephraim, 10-Israel, from whom He “turned away” for a little while (divorced, actually), or possibly to Jerusalem the city herself.  Immediately preceding this is of course chapter 53, the famous “suffering servant” passage.   Yeshua came to gather the lost sheep of the House of Israel, who have been languishing in exile and disfavor, and will retore Jerusalem as the gem of the nations.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 54:12  I will make your pinnacles of rubies, and your gates of emeralds, and all your border of precious stones.

Isa 54:13  All your children shall be taught of YHWH; and great shall be the shalom of your children.

Isa 54:14  In righteousness shall you be established: you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not be afraid; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

“Taught of YHWH” and “righteousness” refer to Torah observance, as we see from Deuteronomy:

Deu 6:24  YHWH commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear YHWH our Elohim, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as at this day.   Deu 6:25 It shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all this mitzvah before YHWH our Elohim, as he has commanded us.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 54:15  Behold, they may gather together, but not by me: whoever shall gather together against you shall fall because of you.

Isa 54:16  Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals, and brings forth a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

Isa 54:17  No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of YHWH, and their righteousness which is of me, says YHWH.

After the first thousand years of the Kingdom, hasatan will be released and will begin diligently working to subvert those mortal descendants of the original settlers (the sheep) who entered the Messianic Kingdom as subjects (the rulers are the immortal kings and priest of the Parousia and the immortal Tribulation Martyrs serve in the Heavenly Temple).  Hasatan  will eventually gather those who reject the rules of the Torah and civil government of  the Messianic Kingdom together in one last attempt to overthrow Elohim’s Kingdom.

Rev 20:7  And after the thousand years, Hasatan will be released from his prison,   Rev 20:8  and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.   Rev 20:9  They went up over the breadth of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the holy ones, and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from Elohim, and devoured them.   Rev 20:10  The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

In the past, whenever armies have come against Israel it has been because they deserved it, but this time they do not deserve it, and the rebels will be extinguished.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 55:1 Ho, everyone who thirsts, come you to the waters, and he who has no money; come you, buy, and eat; yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

These are similar to the words that Yeshua also called to the crown on Hoshana Rabba in Jerusalem:

John 7:37 Now on the last day of the feast, Hoshana Rabbah, Yeshua stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!

And previously:

John 6:35 Yeshua said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 55:2  Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Joh 6:50  This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die.   Joh 6:51  I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”   Joh 6:58 This is the bread which came down out of heaven–not as our fathers ate the manna, and died. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 55:3  Turn your ear, and come to me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

Isa 55:4  Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.

Isa 55:5  Behold, you shall call a nation that you don’t know; and a nation that didn’t know you shall run to you, because of YHWH your Elohim, and for the Holy One of Yisra’el; for he has glorified you.

The “new covenant” is described by Jeremiah:

Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, says YHWH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Yisra’el, and with the house of Yehudah:   Jer 31:32  not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them, says YHWH.   Jer 31:33  But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Yisra’el after those days, says YHWH: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people:

It’s not the content of the covenant that is new, it’s the location.  Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and learned the Torah.  He passed it down to his descendants, but it became distorted over time with each new retelling, like a game of post office.  Then, when the Hebrews were assimilated into pagan Egyptian culture, He wrote it down for them on paper and stone – but stones can be broken, and paper can be added to, as the Rabbis did with their Oral Law, and interpreted in false ways, as the church does to teach their Torahless theology.  So the new covenant is written on our hearts and in our minds, where it cannot be tampered with by anyone.  And the author of the Torah is Yeshua Himself.

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim.

Heb 4:12 For the Word of Elohim is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

As for those who refuse to believe and obey Torah:

Joh 5:38 You don’t have his word living (abiding) in you; because you don’t believe him whom he sent.

Next:  Talmidim Reh

Torah Portion Reh

Torah Portion Reh

Devarim – Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17

Recall, Moshe is giving a final speech to the Israelites before he dies and they cross the Jordan River.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 11:26  Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:

Deu 11:27  the blessing, if you shall listen to the mitzvot of YHWH your Elohim, which I command you this day;

Deu 11:28  and the curse, if you shall not listen to the mitzvot of YHWH your Elohim, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known.

We all have this same choice today.  But most people fear the world’s disdain far more than they fear Elohim.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 11:29  It shall happen, when YHWH your Elohim shall bring you into the land where you go to possess it, that you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount `Eval.

Deu 11:30  Aren’t they beyond the Yarden, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Kena`anim who dwell in the `Aravah, over against Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh?

Deu 11:31  For you are to pass over the Yarden to go in to possess the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you, and you shall possess it, and dwell therein.

Deu 11:32  You shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you this day.

The two mountains, with Shechem in between them, symbolize the two paths one can choose to take – the path of obedience and the path of disobedience.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 12:1 These are the statutes and the ordinances which you shall observe to do in the land which YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, has given you to possess it, all the days that you live on the earth.

Deu 12:2  You shall surely destroy all the places in which the nations that you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the hills, and under every green tree:

Deu 12:3  and you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods; and you shall destroy their name out of that place.

They are free to pack up and leave of their own free will, of course, but the pagan idolatry of their culture was not to be tolerated in Eretz Israel – nor should it be today.  Regardless of how “politically incorrect” it may be, we are obligated to remove from our homes and property any vestiges of pagan influence – especially pagan holidays such as the feast of mithras (“christmas”) and the feast of ishtar (“easter”) and the eve of samhain (“halloween”).

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 12:4  You shall not do so to YHWH your Elohim.

Deu 12:5  But to the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even to his habitation shall you seek, and there you shall come;

Deu 12:6  and there you shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the wave offering of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock:

Deu 12:7  and there you shall eat before YHWH your Elohim, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which YHWH your Elohim has blessed you.

The first place that Elohim chose was, of course, the Tabernacle which eventually settled at Shiloh.  After that, the Temple Mount became the only place sacrifices are permitted to take place.  This does somewhat beg the question of what we are to do if the Temple Mount is not accessible.  Some have taken it upon themselves to build altars of uncut stones on their property and performed sacrifices, but only true native-born Levites are permitted to do this, if such a thing is in fact permissible, which has not really been determined.  Certainly it is a fact of this era that the Priesthood of the Firstborns has been superceded by the Levites, and no man lacking the “cohen gene,” even if he is a Firstborn, should even consider doing such a thing.  Zeal is good, but disobedience is bad even from those who are intending to do good.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 12:8  You shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatever is right in his own eyes;

Deu 12:9  for you haven’t yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which YHWH your Elohim gives you.

This can be thought of as speaking directly to us – we are in EXILE and have NOT received our inheritance.  We cannot just go around doing whatever “is right in our own eyes” and make altars for ourselves, or pass rulings for our communities which transgress the Written Torah.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 12:10  But when you go over the Yarden, and dwell in the land which YHWH your Elohim causes you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety;

Deu 12:11  then it shall happen that to the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there shall you bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the wave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to YHWH.

Those who are impatient to make offerings should read this twice.  Only THEN, when the exile has been rescinded, will these conditions apply to the vast majority of us.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 12:12  You shall rejoice before YHWH your Elohim, you, and your sons, and your daughters, and your male servants, and your female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you.

Our festival celebrations must always be open to the public (except Passover, which ironically is the only one that people have gone out of their way to make open to the public) and should include the poor.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 12:13  Take heed to yourself that you don’t offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see;

Deu 12:14  but in the place which YHWH shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

Again, this applies to us today just as much as it did to the ancient Hebrews.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 12:15  Notwithstanding, you may kill and eat flesh within all your gates, after all the desire of your soul, according to the blessing of YHWH your Elohim which he has given you: the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle, and as of the hart.

Deu 12:16  Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it out on the earth as water.

The fact that we cannot offer sacrifices does not mean we must be vegetarians.  As long as the fat and the blood is removed properly, we may eat of all clean meats.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 12:17  You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, nor any of your vows which you vow, nor your freewill offerings, nor the wave offering of your hand;

Deu 12:18  but you shall eat them before YHWH your Elohim in the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates: and you shall rejoice before YHWH your Elohim in all that you put your hand to.

Most teachers and preachers claim that they are to now receive your tithes, because they represent Elohim.  However, this passage says just the opposite – as long as there is no Temple there is no obligation to give tithes.  It was for the Temple Service and the pilgrimage festivals to the Temple and has no other purpose.

Levites had cities and towns and farmlands for their support – they NEVER relied on the tithes and offerings at the Temple except during the two weeks of their duty rotation and during the pilgrimage festivals.  At all other times of year each Levite had a business, trade, craft or farm that they were employed in to earn their regular living.

And as Shaul tells us repeatedly, a man who mooches off the congregation is NOT acting in accord with the apostolic example.  Shaul’s example, which he relates to us over and over again, was to have a “day job” at his tent (or tzitzit) making business in every town where he preached and taught.   Those who claim that “paul” taught the congregation must be the sole means of support for preachers and teachers are teaching falsehood and  exploiting their flock.  Shaul made it clear that teachers and preachers were NOT to be a burden on the people.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 12:19  Take heed to yourself that you don’t forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

That doesn’t mean support him in a life of idleness.  Like his forebears, a Levite is required to have a “day job” the rest of the week.  He can, of course, receive a stipend for his preaching and teaching, and he and his family should be invited to eat at congregant’s homes on Shabbat so that they do not need to worry about preparing both for teaching and for sustenance.   These are small things, however, for Shabbat and do NOT represent his not having to engage in honest labour and earn his living the rest of the week.

First and foremost this commandments means not to follow other teachers instead of the Levites.  Both the Rabbinate and the Priests/Ministers of the “church” have elevated themselves above the Levites, and this is clearly wrong.  They are still Elohim’s chosen servants and they will be restored to the Temple Service in the Messianic Era.

Jeremiah 33:15  In those days, and at that time, will I cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.   Jer 33:16  In those days shall Yehudah be saved, and Yerushalayim shall dwell safely; and this is [the name] by which she shall be called: YHWH our righteousness.   Jer 33:17 For thus says YHWH: David shall never want a man to sit on the throne of the house of Yisra’el;   Jer 33:18  neither shall the Kohanim the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to burn meal offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 12:20  When YHWH your Elohim shall enlarge your border, as he has promised you, and you shall say, I will eat flesh, because your soul desires to eat flesh; you may eat flesh, after all the desire of your soul.

Deu 12:21  If the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose, to put his name there, be too far from you, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock, which YHWH has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates, after all the desire of your soul.

Deu 12:22  Even as the gazelle and as the hart is eaten, so you shall eat of it: the unclean and the clean may eat of it alike.

Deu 12:23  Only be sure that you don’t eat the blood: for the blood is the life; and you shall not eat the life with the flesh.

Deu 12:24  You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the earth as water.

Deu 12:25  You shall not eat it; that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, when you shall do that which is right in the eyes of YHWH.

Again, this refers to clean meats only, not treif carcasses.  Eating pork and shellfish, amphibians and reptiles, bugs and animals of prey is a transgression of Torah – a sin, as we have read over and over in I John 3.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 12:26  Only your holy things which you have, and your vows, you shall take, and go to the place which YHWH shall choose:

Deu 12:27  and you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of YHWH your Elohim; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of YHWH your Elohim; and you shall eat the flesh.

So at this time we cannot make such sacrifices except as monetary substitutes and prayers, which we should give in support of our own communities where we are, or in support of Jerusalem and the State of Israel and in support of Messianics (and Torah True Jews) wherever they may be.  We should not consider political causes, animal rights, environmental groups, or consumerist issues to be proper recipients of our tithes, sin and guilt offerings, and vows.  Those organizations can be supported, of course – but not with tithes and required offerings.  Those are things you do above and beyond your tithes and offerings as you are able.  Your first priority must be to Believers and to furthering Elohim’s kingdom.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 12:28  Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you forever, when you do that which is good and right in the eyes of YHWH your Elohim.

Deu 12:29  When YHWH your Elohim shall cut off the nations from before you, where you go in to dispossess them, and you dispossess them, and dwell in their land;

Deu 12:30  take heed to yourself that you not be ensnared to follow them, after that they are destroyed from before you; and that you not inquire after their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.

Deu 12:31  You shall not do so to YHWH your Elohim: for every abomination to YHWH, which he hates, have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods.

Deu 12:32  Whatever thing I command you, that shall you observe to do: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

From this we learn that “christmas” and “easter” and such celebrations of pagan gods that we pretend we are doing in honor of Elohim are in fact abhorrent to Him.  We are to celebrate His commanded appointed times, and of course we can celebrate days commemorating national events in the country where we live (independence day, holocaust day, thanksgiving, the fasts of mourning for events in Israel’s past, etc.).  In spite of some groups teaching to the contrary, we can celebrate birthdays and wedding anniversaries as well as the yahrzeits of our loved ones – these are not “pagan.”  Israelites had to keep track of birthdays to determine accountability (age 12/13), military service (age 20), entry to the Levite apprenticeship (age 25), entry into full service in the priesthood (age 30), mandatory retirement for priests (age 50), and the age a king ascended the throne and his age at his death.   Men’s ages at the births of their sons was obviously recorded, too.   Israelites most certainly kept track of birthdays, so there’s no reason we cannot celebrate birthdays today.  They could not have carried out the above commandments concerning military service and the priesthood if they had not.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 13:1 If there arise in the midst of you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give you a sign or a wonder,

Deu 13:2  and the sign or the wonder come to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them;

Deu 13:3  you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams: for YHWH your Elohim proves you, to know whether you love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deu 13:4  You shall walk after YHWH your Elohim, and fear him, and keep his mitzvot, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cleave to him.

Deu 13:5  That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which YHWH your Elohim commanded you to walk in. So shall you put away the evil from the midst of you.

This is why Shaul was stoned by various town and villages on several occasions – they misunderstood his teaching against the Oral Law and thought he was teaching against the Written Torah, since the Pharisees had made it seem to the am ha’aretz that the two were one and the same.  This passage also makes it clear that any teacher, priest, minister or pastor who teaches Torahless, however “good” and “nice” and well-intentioned they may be, are FALSE PROPHETS.  They are OUTSIDE of Elohim’s will.  This is the most important lesson the “church” today needs to learn.  Believing in Yeshua isn’t a “get out of sin free” card.  His commandment is to “REPENT and be saved,” not believe Yeshua is the Messiah and repent only if you feel like it and it’s not too embarassing for you.  Continuing to violate Torah is living in sin, and those who live in sin will not see the Messianic Kingdom.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 13:6  If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend, who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known, you, nor your fathers;

Deu 13:7  of the gods of the peoples who are round about you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth;

Deu 13:8  you shall not consent to him, nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him:

Deu 13:9  but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

Deu 13:10  You shall stone him to death with stones, because he has sought to draw you away from YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Deu 13:11  All Yisra’el shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more such wickedness as this is in the midst of you.

Obviously, since we are subject to the civil laws and secular governments in our exile, we cannot carry out this passage, either, just as we can no longer offer sacrifices.  However, just as we can give to charity, pray, and volunteer our time to serve our community in place of vows and offerings, we can embrace the spirit of this passage by casting such persons out of our homes and congregations, however painful it may be.  Someone who flat out refuses to be obedient will spread rebellion and false teachings to your children (or other children, in the case of siblings), to your spouse, and wear you down as well.  The best solution is to expell such a person from your home or community until they come to their senses – the same way Judah and Ephraim (10-Israel) are expelled until we come to our senses and return fully to Elohim.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 13:12  If you shall hear tell concerning one of your cities, which YHWH your Elohim gives you to dwell there, saying,

Deu 13:13  Certain base fellows are gone out from the midst of you, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known;

Deu 13:14  then shall you inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is done in the midst of you,

Deu 13:15  you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein and the livestock of it, with the edge of the sword.

Deu 13:16  You shall gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street of it, and shall burn with fire the city, and all the spoil of it every whit, to YHWH your Elohim: and it shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again.

Deu 13:17  There shall cleave nothing of the devoted thing to your hand; that YHWH may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show you mercy, and have compassion on you, and multiply you, as he has sworn to your fathers;

Deu 13:18  when you shall listen to the voice of YHWH your Elohim, to keep all his mitzvot which I command you this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of YHWH your Elohim.

Again, we cannot carry out this commandment literally while we are in exile, but we can honor the spirit of it by being careful about which charities we give to, which associations our congregations joins, and so forth.  We must not join ourselves to those who engage in false teachings or paganism in any form.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 14:1 You are the children of YHWH your Elohim: you shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.

This is a difficult verse to interpret.  The main meaning of the word here translated as “cut” is not to cut but to “gather,” and the word here rendered “between” means to make a distinction.

H1413 גּדד  gâdad  gaw-dad’

A primitive root (compare H1461); to crowd; also to gash (as if by pressing into): – assemble (selves by troops), gather (selves together, self in troops), cut selves.

H995 בּין  bîyn  bene

A primitive root; to separate mentally (or distinguish), that is, (generally) understand: – attend, consider, be cunning, diligently, direct, discern, eloquent, feel, inform, instruct, have intelligence, know, look well to, mark, perceive, be prudent, regard, (can) skill (-ful), teach, think, (cause, make to, get, give, have) understand (-ing), view, (deal) wise (-ly, man).

The gist of it seems to almost sound like a warning against what we would call gangs:  to not gather together and disfigure ourselves in a distinguishing manner to commemorate the death of a fellow group member or perhaps a tribe/ family member.  Such a thing reeks of idolatry, dedicating yourself to the memory of someone else instead of dedicating yourself to Elohim and His kingdom.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 14:2  For you are a holy people to YHWH your Elohim, and YHWH has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.

We already have “distinguishing marks” which Elohim has appointed us:  tzitzits, sabbath observance, modest clothing, etc.  And the one thing that separates us most from the rest of the world is our dietary restrictions, as we see next.  They distinguish us from all other peoples.  Other peoples have sabbaths of their own (or at least they used to, before the “blue laws” were repealed), but only those who are Torah Obedient have kashrut.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 14:3  You shall not eat any abominable thing.

Deu 14:4  These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,

Deu 14:5  the hart, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and the wild goat, and the ibex, and the antelope, and the chamois.

Deu 14:6  Every animal that parts the hoof, and has the hoof cloven in two, [and] chews the cud, among the animals, that may you eat.

So following these general guidelines, bison are also clean.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 14:7  Nevertheless these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of those who have the hoof cloven: the camel, and the hare, and the rabbit; because they chew the cud but don’t part the hoof, they are unclean to you.

This would include camel’s milk – milk or eggs from any unclean species are also considered unclean.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 14:8  The pig, because it has a split hoof but doesn’t chew the cud, is unclean to you: of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch.

No amount of blessing pork is going to make it acceptable to Elohim.  It is a sin to eat it, and unclean carcass, and there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 14:9  These you may eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales may you eat;

Deu 14:10  and whatever doesn’t have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean to you.

There is a bit of room for confusion here, because some types of fish have scales when they are young, but become smoothe skinned as they age.  Catfish and swordfish would fall into this category.  Some authorities rules they are always forbidden, some authorities rule they are always acceptable, and some rule they are only acceptable during the stage when they actually have scales.   What we know about catfish is that they are like shrimp and lobster, they are “bottom feeders” who ingest the carcasses of dead creatures, pollutants and toxins from the floor of the water and are scavengers.  Birds who engage in this type of behavior are forbidden, as we will see below.  Swordfish are rather like sharks in their behaviors, which would seem to make them animals of prey – again, outside the water a quality that disqualifies an animal from being eaten.  So to be safe, it is best to avoid swordfish and catfish until Messiah comes to clarify this for us.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 14:11  Of all clean birds you may eat.

Deu 14:12  But these are they of which you shall not eat: the eagle, and the rakham, and the ozniah,

Deu 14:13  and the red kite, and the ayah, and the daah after its kind,

Deu 14:14  and every orev after its kind,

Deu 14:15  and the bas haya`anah, and the owl, and the seagull, and the netz after its kind,

Deu 14:16  the kos, and the yanshuf, and the tanshemet,

Deu 14:17  and the ka`at, and the rakham, and the shalakh,

Deu 14:18  and the khasidah, and the anafah after its kind, and the dukifat, and the atalef.

Deu 14:19  All winged creeping things are unclean to you: they shall not be eaten.

Deu 14:20  Of all clean birds you may eat.

What these birds seem to have in common is that they are either birds of prey or birds who scavenge and eat dead carcasses of other animals.  They don’t generally eat seeds, bugs and berries like clean birds do.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 14:21  You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself: you may give it to the foreigner living among you who is within your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to a foreigner: for you are a holy people to YHWH your Elohim. You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.

An animal that dies of itself is either diseased or exceedingly old and lacking in energy – neither of which is fit food for a holy community.

As anyone in the animal husbandry business knows, it is very unusual for animals to die of old age – meat animals are usually sold at only a few years of age, and even dairy cows are relatively young when their milk production begins to decrease (though on a small family farm where they are cared for properly they can live and give milk for many years).   An animal that does of old age would not necessarily be unsafe to eat, but it would be lacking in the “vital essence” of youth which, for example, the year-old kids and lambs required for sacrifice would have.

The issue of disease is a harder one to analyze.  Obviously, ancient people’s didn’t know much about disease and germs, but Elohim did.  Why did he allow them to sell the meat to foreigners?  A benevolent Deity would not do so capriciously, so we can presume that most of the time, cow diseases would not affect human beings.

The phrase “you shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk” is clearly here used in the context of food and not in the context of any ritual or pagan observance.  In any town or village, the dairy farmer who  sells the mild that makes all the processed milk, cheese, yoghurt, kafir, ice cream, etc, also sells the boy-calves off every summer to the local meat producers.  In a small town environment, it is impossible, therefore, to be sure you aren’t using diary products from the mother of the red meat you are eating – the milk from the cows, sheep and goats are all (respectively) combined together in large vats to make the day’s various dairy products.  So in a practical sense, for most of human history you could not eat red meat and dairy products without being in very real danger of violating this commandments.  Therefore they did not eat red meat and dairy.

Later, when the catholic church in Europe during the middle ages classified poultry as “meat,” the Rabbis followed suit – but there is no Biblical commandment to separate poultry from milk.  Indeed, it would be a pretty neat trick to serve poultry with its mother’s milk, since poultry are not mammals and don’t lactate.

The question is, does this rules apply now that we have giant mega-farms and products shipped in from all over the world?  In Biblical terms, the poultry and dairy rule never applied – it was made up by the Rabbis and is not one of Elohim’s commandments, so feel free to eat all the poultry and dairy you want.

The red meat and dairy issue is a bit more complicated.  However unlikely it may be, there’s always the slim chance that you could be violating this prohibition, since giant agribusiness firms buy both milk and cows from all over and mix them together in giant batches to make their products.  Also, we now know that not eating red meat and dairy products together was a commandment with a practical modern application – ancient people didn’t know about excessive cholesterol, but we do now.  Red meat and dairy at one sitting is way too much.  So if you’re not convinced that the very real danger of accidentally buying a dairy product made with milk from your steak or hamburger’s mother should concern you, at least consider that Elohim, as the supreme physician, might just have been giving this commandment for your own good.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 14:22  You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes forth from the field year by year.

This is the general basis for tithing of one’s net income.  The term “increase” means the amount above and beyond seed sown, so it is one’s net income that is tithed, not the gross income.  What the government takes away from you before you ever see your paycheck is not yours to spend.  The proper procedure for tithing is to tithe your take-home pay, not the fictional amount of money you never see and have no control over.  That’s your “seed,” your fixed cost you have to “invest” in order to work at all.  The “increase” is what you actually have the ability to spend or save and is completely under your control.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 14:23  You shall eat before YHWH your Elohim, in the place which he shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear YHWH your Elohim always.

Deu 14:24  If the way be too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it, because the place is too far from you, which YHWH your Elohim shall choose, to set his name there, when YHWH your Elohim shall bless you;

Deu 14:25  then shall you turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose:

Deu 14:26  and you shall bestow the money for whatever your soul desires, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul asks of you; and you shall eat there before YHWH your Elohim, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

Here we derive the basic principle that an equivalent monetary contribution is acceptable in place of tithes of goods.

It should also be glaringly obvious from this passage that Elohim does not insist on complete abstinence from alcohol.  In fact, a person is here encouraged to drink wine and spirits on festival occasions, and that would include Shabbat.  Of course, that does not mean drunkenness is acceptable, but all clean things in moderation and at appropriate times are gifts from Elohim.

Ecc 2:24 There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of Elohim…

Ecc 12:13  This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear Elohim, and keep his mitzvot; for this is the whole duty of man.   Ecc 12:14  For Elohim will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 14:27  The Levite who is within your gates, you shall not forsake him; for he has no portion nor inheritance with you.

Deu 14:28  At the end of every three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase in the same year, and shall lay it up within your gates:

Deu 14:29  and the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the foreigner living among you, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that YHWH your Elohim may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

This would seem to indicate that the teacher who is “within your gates,” that is, your congregation, is only entitled to 1/3 of your tithe – and again, that is not necessarily all cash, but can be rendered as a  place for his family at your table so that they can “eat and drink wine” and “be satisfied” on Shabbat and festivals.  The stipend he receives for his teaching is not meant to be the sole and only monetary support of him and his family.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 15:1 At the end of every seven years you shall make a release.

Deu 15:2  This is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release that which he has lent to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother; because YHWH’s release has been proclaimed.

Deu 15:3  Of a foreigner you may exact it: but whatever of your is with your brother your hand shall release.

The Western debt and interest economy is in gross violation of this commandment.  Every 7th year every member of the House of Israel, whether native born or grafted-in, is to forgive all debt – the debt is to be fully released, no strings attached.  This includes all business and person debts, all credit cards, all mortgages, and all consumer loans.  There are no excpetions.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 15:4  However there shall be no poor with you; (for YHWH will surely bless you in the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance to possess it;)

Deu 15:5  if only you diligently listen to the voice of YHWH your Elohim, to observe to do all this mitzvah which I command you this day.

Deu 15:6  For YHWH your Elohim will bless you, as he promised you: and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.

This is why America has turned into a debtor nations – and owes trillions of dollars of debt that in reality cannot even be repaid if we worked on it for 100 years.  Even mortgages used to be only issues for 7 years, in keeping with this passage – but those days are gone.  Now the usurers exploit with impugnity and have no intention whatsoever of releasing anyone’s debt.  Boards that are comprised almost entirely of people who profess Christianity or Judaism don’t blink an eye on the Schmitta year – they will never obey it until Elohim knocks their financial empire out from under them, something that will be happening regardless of all their machinations to stop it.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 15:7  If there be with you a poor man, one of your brothers, within any of your gates in your land which YHWH your Elohim gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother;

Deu 15:8  but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need [in that] which he wants.

Deu 15:9  Beware that there not be a base thought in your heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing; and he cry to YHWH against you, and it be sin to you.

Deu 15:10  You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him; because that for this thing YHWH your Elohim will bless you in all your work, and in all that you put your hand to.

Deu 15:11  For the poor will never cease out of the land: therefore I command you, saying, You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land.

Elohim knows that these commandments will not be obeyed until the Messianic Age, therefore people will have (are having, we should say) their money, homes and lands stolen from them by usurers.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 15:12  If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold to you, and serve you six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.

Deu 15:13  When you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty:

Deu 15:14  you shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, and out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress; as YHWH your Elohim has blessed you, you shall give to him.

Deu 15:15  You shall remember that you were a bondservant in the land of Egypt, and YHWH your Elohim redeemed you: therefore I command you this thing today.

When a person’s time of service is over, whether he be an indentured servant due to debt or a crime, or whether they be an employee, you cannot just fire them without a reasonable severance package.  This is another commandment American businesses are very guilty of refusing to obey, another reason Elohim is going to crash the economy of America until they get a clue.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 15:16  It shall be, if he tell you, I will not go out from you; because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you;

Deu 15:17  then you shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise.

This is interesting considering that above, a person is forbidden from disfiguring themselves in the memory of a dead person, but here they may do so to proclaim allegiance to a living master.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 15:18  It shall not seem hard to you, when you let him go free from you; for to the double of the hire of a hireling has he served you six years: and YHWH your Elohim will bless you in all that you do.

An indentured servant works without pay to provide restitution for a debt or crime (most thefts required returning the item or its value plus an additional 20% as a penalty).  This is not the same as slavery as it was experienced in the American South or as it is experienced by the domestic workers of many wealthy Muslim homes today – they worked for their master for certain hours, their family was with them and provided food and shelter by the master, and the indentured servant could work on his own time to make money either for his family as additional income or to pay back his debt/crime faster.  Modern prisons absolutely do NOT meet the conditions set forth by Elohim for restitution for crime – they impoverish families, separate men from their children, and destroy the next generation’s chances of successfully moving up the social ladder.  They are evil and should be abolished.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 15:19  All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock you shall sanctify to YHWH your Elohim: you shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock.

Deu 15:20  You shall eat it before YHWH your Elohim year by year in the place which YHWH shall choose, you and your household.

Deu 15:21  If it have any blemish, [as if it be] lame or blind, any ill blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to YHWH your Elohim.

Deu 15:22  You shall eat it within your gates: the unclean and the clean [shall eat it] alike, as the gazelle, and as the hart.

Deu 15:23  Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground as water.

Those who go to the Tabernalce and the Temple for appointed times or ritual observances must be ritually clean – that is, they must have gone through the 7 day purification procedure if they had certain conditions or illnesses or came in contact with dead bodies, and they must undergo a miqvah immersion to enter the Temple.  However, if the occasion is observed in the person’s own home, such as is permitted here for celebrating a firstborn, then a person does not have to be ritually clean to participate.  As usual, Passover is the exception – a person must be ritually clean and a man must already be circumcised in order to participate in Passover.   A person who is not ritually clean must wait unti Iyar 14 to observe Passover (Num 9) and a man who is not circumcised cannot participate in Passover at all (Ex 12).  But both the ritually unclean and the uncircumcised must observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 16:1 Observe the month of Aviv, and keep the Pesach to YHWH your Elohim; for in the month of Aviv YHWH your Elohim brought you forth out of Egypt by night.

Deu 16:2  You shall sacrifice the Pesach to YHWH your Elohim, of the flock and the herd, in the place which YHWH shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.

We cannot properly offer the Passover sacrifice today, but that does not mean, as some teach, that we cannot eat lamb for passover.  We simply acknowledge that we are eating lamb in accordance with the commandment to eat lamb and bitter herbs, but we have not done a proper sacrifice, nor can we.  Instead we celebrate the ultimate sacrifice on Pesach, Yeshua HaMashiach, who died for our sins in our place.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 16:3  You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shall you eat matzah therewith, even the bread of affliction; for you came forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.

Deu 16:4  There shall be no yeast seen with you in all your borders seven days; neither shall any of the flesh, which you sacrifice the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is an entirely separate observance from Passover.  Unleavened Bread is to be observed regardless of your state of ritual purity, regardless of whether you can make it to Jerusalem or not, it must be observed anywhere and everywhere you may be.  Your home, even if it is not in Eretz Israel, must be purged of leaven for 7 days, from the 15-21st of Nisan.  This represents the purging of sin from our lives after we are “saved” by believing in Yeshua HaMashiach.  It represents  our start on the Torah Cycle, the cycle of readings, wherein we begin to learn Elohim’s commandments and apply them to our lives.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 16:5  You may not sacrifice the Pesach within any of your gates, which YHWH your Elohim gives you;

Deu 16:6  but at the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose, to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Pesach at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came forth out of Egypt.

Deu 16:7  You shall roast and eat it in the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose: and you shall turn in the morning, and go to your tents.

So we can eat lamb, but it is not a proper Passover Sacrifice until the Temple Altar is restored in Jerusalem.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 16:8  Six days you shall eat matzah; and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to YHWH your Elohim; you shall do no work [therein].

Both the First (Nisan 15th) and Last (Nisan 21st) days of Unleavened Bread are sabbaths.  Passover itself (Nisan 14th) is not a Sabbath.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 16:9  Seven weeks shall you number to you: from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain shall you begin to number seven weeks.

The Feast of Firstfruits is the first day of the week which follows Passover (Lev 23).  It always occurs on a Sunday and is not itself a Sabbath, just as Passover is not.  From the Sunday following Passover, you count 50 days until the Sunday of Shavu’ot, the Feast of Weeks.  It does NOT always fall on Sivan 6th, as the Rabbis falsely teach.  Nor do you count from the first full moon after the spring solstice, as the Romans teach.  You go strictly by the date of Passover, which is determined by the Aviv search in Adar.  The “standing grain” here is Barley, and the Feast of Firstfruits celebrates the Barley harvest.

Shavu’ot celebrates the Wheat harvest and the giving of the Torah on Mt. Chorev, which also happened on that day, and the giving of the Ruach HaKodesh as part of the “new covenant” described by Jeremiah, when the Torah would be written on the hearts and minds of Obedient Believers.  Shavu’ot symbolically represents the time in a believer’s life when they have completed a Torah Cycle of readings, understand and have implemented all Elohim’s commandments into their lives.  At this point, they either choose to be part of the covenant (we will hear and we will do) or they choose to rebel and walk away .

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 16:10  You shall keep the feast of weeks to YHWH your Elohim with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give, according as YHWH your Elohim blesses you:

Deu 16:11  and you shall rejoice before YHWH your Elohim, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates, and the foreigner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are in the midst of you, in the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.

Deu 16:12  You shall remember that you were a bondservant in Egypt: and you shall observe and do these statutes.

Since Shavu’ot is always on the first day of the week, Sunday, it is always back-to-back with the regular weekly Sabbath on Saturday.  Therefore preparations for both days must be made on the previous Thursday and Friday – and we are to observe Shavu’ot as a feast with guests and a festival meal, just as at the other appointed times.  Together the two days make a holiday weekend, yet in churches “pentecost” has virtually disappeared.  That’s not surprising considering it represents the fact that we have been given Elohim’s Torah and have chosen to accept it – something they obviously aren’t interested in doing.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 16:13  You shall keep the feast of booths seven days, after that you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your winepress:

Deu 16:14  and you shall rejoice in your feast, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite, and the foreigner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates.

Deu 16:15  Seven days shall you keep a feast to YHWH your Elohim in the place which YHWH shall choose; because YHWH your Elohim will bless you in all your increase, and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful.

What is here translated as “booths” is often rendered “tabernacles,” hence the more widely known title for this holiday is the “Feast of Tabernacles,” known as Sukkot, or the Ingathering.  This celebrates the fall harvest and the inaguration of the Messianic Kingdom which is yet to come.

Deu 16:16  Three times in a year shall all your males appear before YHWH your Elohim in the place which he shall choose: in the feast of matzah, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of booths; and they shall not appear before YHWH empty:

Deu 16:17  every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of YHWH your Elohim which he has given you.

Our gathering for these appointed times has layers and layers of meaning for us – practical earthly levels of harvesting and agricultural gifts from Elohim, historical layers of commemorating past events in Israel’s history, and prophetic layers.  Elohim’s calendar is a blueprint of future history for us, and we need to learn the liturgy and teachings associated with each one to help us understand Elohim’s prophetic plan.

It’s also an opportunity to celebrate life itself, and to share our proceeds with those less fortunate, those who have mentored and helped us throughout the year, and to teach those who are still in the learning process.

And, more to the point, Elohim has commanded us to observe them as best we’re able.  That, if nothing else, should motivate us “to hear and to do.”

Next:  Haftarah Reh.

Kollel Ekev

Kollel Ekev

Hebrews chapters 1 & 2

We must always remember the warning of Peter when we start a new Pauline epistle – that false teachers distort Shaul’s words to make it appear he was teaching Torahlessness.

2Pe 3:15  Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; even as our beloved brother Sha’ul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you;   2Pe 3:16  as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.   2Pe 3:17  You therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware, lest being carried away with the error of the Torahless , you fall from your own steadfastness.   2Pe 3:18  But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Adonai and Savior Yeshua the Messiah. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amein.

“Athesmos,” of course, is a greek word that means “lawless,” – to us, “Torahlessness.”

If Shaul had been teaching Torahlessness, that would make him a false prophet, according to Yeshua, as YHWH Incarnate, made quite clear – so we can be sure he did not.

Deu 13:1 If there arise in the midst of you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give you a sign or a wonder,   Deu 13:2  and the sign or the wonder come to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them;   Deu 13:3  you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams: for YHWH your Elohim proves you, to know whether you love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul.   Deu 13:4  You shall walk after YHWH your Elohim, and fear him, and keep his mitzvot, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cleave to him.   Deu 13:5  That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which YHWH your Elohim commanded you to walk in. So shall you put away the evil from the midst of you.

That means there is an  interpretation of every one of Shaul’s teachings that is consistent with Torah, if we look at the texts from a Hebraic point of view and using clues from Hebrew language.  The early church father Jerome stated that all of Shaul’s authentic epistles had originally been written in Hebrew, and that must be our guide for proper understanding of Shaul’s teachings.  He was not a false prophet, he taught the Written Torah – much to the chagrin of the Pharisees and their Oral Law, and much to the chagrin of modern pastors and preachers who teach Torahlessness.

Introduction to Hebrews

It is unlikely that Hebrews was actually written by Shaul.  Most commentators consider Apollos or Barnabas to be the likely author.  But whomever wrote it, Elohim arranged for it to be included in the canon, so it has an authentic message to us.

The first noticeable thing about Hebrews is that it seems to be missing its first page – there is no typical greeting or introductory salutations.  So we do not know what might have been in the opening statements of the original letter – presumably any such comments will be restored to us in the Messianic Kingdom.  In the meantime, the text opens with a passage concerning prophecy, which is very relevant to Parashat Ekev.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 1:1 Elohim, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,

Heb 1:2  has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.

It is possible that the author was familiar with the text of Revelation as well as with the gospels, as both Apollos and Barnabus could have been young men in Acts when they first became believers, some decades after Yeshua’s death and resurrection.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 1:3  His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself made purification for our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Heb 1:4  having become so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they have.

This could very well refer to passages of Revelation in which Yeshua is shown in the throne room, having qualified to open the scroll of judgment which predicts the punishments that will come upon the people left on earth during the Tribulation.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 1:5  For to which of the angels did he say at any time,  “You are my Son. Today have I become your father?” and again,  “I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a Son?”

Psa 2:7 I will tell of the decree. YHWH said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father.   Psa 2:8  Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.   Psa 2:9  You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

The second quote is from Samuel, using Solomon as a typeology of Messiah:

2Sa 7:13  He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.   2Sa 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son: if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men…

It is from passages like this one that the Orthodox tradition claims that Messiah will build the Temple – and this tradition is the means that the False Messiah will use to gain the support (at first ) of the Jewish authorities.  However, the “rebuilding” of the Temple referred to here will be the rebuilding and restoration of the 3^rd Temple after it is defiled during the Tribulation.  It will be cleansed and repaired during the time between the inaguration of the Kingdom at Sukkot and the First Day of Chanukkah, when the Temple will be rededicated and the Shekinah will return.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 1:6  Again, when he brings in the firstborn into the world he says, “Let all the angels of Elohim worship him.”

This quote as it is here exactly written does not appear in the Tanakh.  It could be from a lost prophetic or poetic book.    Another possibility is that the author is referring indirectly to a known passage of scripture.

Psa 97:7 Let all them be shamed who serve engraved images, who boast in their idols. Worship him, all you mighty ones!   Psa 97:8  Tziyon heard and was glad. The daughters of Yehudah rejoiced, because of your judgments, YHWH.   Psa 97:9  For you, YHWH, are most high above all the earth. You are exalted far above all mighty ones.

Luk 2:13  Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising Elohim, and saying,   Luk 2:14  “Glory to Elohim in the highest, On earth peace, good will toward men.”

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 1:7  Of the angels he says, “Who makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire.”

This passage may refer to the apocryphal additions to the Book of Daniel.

Daniel (3:49) But the angel of Adonai came down into the oven together with Azarias and his fellows, and smote the flame of the fire out of the oven;  (3:50) And made the midst of the furnace as it had been a moist whistling wind, so that the fire touched them not at all, neither hurt nor troubled them.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 1:8  But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O Elohim, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom.

Heb 1:9  You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore Elohim, your Elohim, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.”

This passage comes from this messianic psalm:

Psa 45:1  <<For the Chief Musician. Set to “The Lilies.” A maskil by the sons of Korach. A wedding song.>> My heart overflows with a noble theme. I recite my verses for the king. My tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer.   Psa 45:2  You are the most excellent of the sons of men. Grace has anointed your lips, therefore Elohim has blessed you forever.   Psa 45:3  Gird your sword on your thigh, mighty one: your splendor and your majesty.   Psa 45:4  In your majesty ride on victoriously on behalf of truth, humility, and righteousness. Let your right hand display awesome deeds.   Psa 45:5  Your arrows are sharp. The nations fall under you, with arrows in the heart of the king’s enemies.   Psa 45:6 Your throne, Elohim, is forever and ever. A scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom.   Psa 45:7  You have loved righteousness, and hated wickedness. Therefore Elohim, your Elohim, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.   Psa 45:8  All your garments smell like myrrh, aloes, and cassia. Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made you glad.   Psa 45:9  Kings’ daughters are among your honorable women. At your right hand the queen stands in gold of Ofir.   Psa 45:10  Listen, daughter, consider, and turn your ear. Forget your own people, and also your father’s house.   Psa 45:11  So the king will desire your beauty, honor him, for he is your lord.

The “daughter” here is clearly the Bride of Messiah.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 1:10  And, “You, Adonai, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the works of your hands.

Heb 1:11  They will perish, but you continue. They all will grow old like a garment does.

Heb 1:12  As a mantle, you will roll them up, and they will be changed; but you are the same. Your years will not fail.”

This passage comes from psalms, also.

Psa 102:24  (102:25) I say: ‘O my Elohim… Psa 102:25 (102:26) Of old You did  lay the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of Your hands.   Psa 102:26  (102:27) They shall perish, but You shall endure; yes, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as [old]  clothing shall You change them [for others], and they shall pass away;   Psa 102:27  (102:28) But You art the selfsame, and Your years shall have no end.   Psa 102:28  (102:29) The children of Your servants shall dwell securely, and their seed shall be established before You.’

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 1:13  But which of the angels has he told at any time, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet?”

Another psalm:

Psa 110:1 <<A Psalm by David.>> YHWH says to Adonai, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.”   Psa 110:2  YHWH will send forth the rod of your strength out of Tziyon. Rule in the midst of your enemies.   Psa 110:3  Your people offer themselves willingly in the day of your power, in holy array. Out of the womb of the morning, you have the dew of your youth.   Psa 110:4  YHWH has sworn, and will not change his mind: “You are a Kohen forever in the order of Malki-Tzedek.”   Psa 110:5  Adonai is at your right hand. He will crush kings in the day of his wrath.   Psa 110:6  He will judge among the nations. He will heap up dead bodies. He will crush the ruler of the whole earth.   Psa 110:7  He will drink of the brook in the way; therefore he will lift up his head.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 1:14  Aren’t they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

The angels serve Obedient Believers in many ways, not just delivering messages from Adonai.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 2:1 Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard [from the prophets and/or from Yeshua], lest perhaps we drift away.

Heb 2:2  For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense;

Heb 2:3  how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation–which at the first having been spoken through Adonai, was confirmed to us by those who heard;

Heb 2:4  Elohim also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, by various works of power, and by gifts of the Ruach HaKodesh, according to his own will?

We can point to past prophetic fulfillment as the “proof” that future prophecies given by Elohim will also come to pass.  Also, the Ruach HaKodesh prompts us.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 2:5  For he didn’t subject the world to come, of which we speak, to angels.

Heb 2:6  But one has somewhere testified, saying, “What is man, that you think of him? Or the son of man, that you care for him?

Heb 2:7  You made him a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor.

Heb 2:8  You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that he subjected all things to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we don’t see all things subjected to him, yet.

That someone was probably David.

Psa 8:1  (8:1) For the Leader; upon the Gittith. A Psalm of David. (8:2) YHWH, Adonai, how glorious is your name in all the earth! whose majesty is rehearsed above the heavens.   Psa 8:2  (8:3) Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings have you founded strength, because of your adversaries; that you might  still the enemy and the avenger.   Psa 8:3  (8:4) When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have  established;   Psa 8:4  (8:5) What is man, that you art mindful of him? and the son of man, that you think of him?   Psa 8:5  (8:6) Yet you hast made him but little lower than the angels, and have crowned him with glory and honour.   Psa 8:6 (8:7) You have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands; You have put all things under His feet…

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 2:9  But we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, Yeshua, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of Elohim he should taste of death for everyone.

Heb 2:10  For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many children to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

Heb 2:11  For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

Heb 2:12  saying, “I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

From psalms:

Psa 22:22 (22:23)  I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the assembly, I will praise you.   Psa 22:23 (22:24)  You who fear YHWH, praise him! All you descendants of Ya`akov, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Yisra’el!   Psa 22:24 (22:25) For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.   Psa 22:25 (22:26)  Of you comes my praise in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him.   Psa 22:26 (22:27)  The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise YHWH who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.   Psa 22:27( 22:28)   All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to YHWH. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.   Psa 22:28 (22:29)  For the kingdom is YHWH’s. He is the ruler over the nations..

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 2:13a  Again, “I will put my trust in him.”

Often in the Greek “put trust” is used in place of the Hebrew “take refuge.”   Most commentators consider this quote to be from psalm 18:2, or similar passages.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 2:13b  Again, “Behold, here I am with the children whom God has given me.”

This is from Isaiah:

Isa 8:13  YHWH Tzeva’ot is who you must regard as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread.   Isa 8:14  He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Yisra’el, he will be a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.   Isa 8:15  Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured.”   Isa 8:16  Wrap up the testimony. Seal the Torah among my talmidim.   Isa 8:17  I will wait for YHWH, who hides his face from the house of Ya`akov, and I will look for him.   Isa 8:18 Behold, I and the children whom YHWH has given me are for signs and for wonders in Yisra’el from YHWH Tzeva’ot, who dwells in Mount Tziyon.

“Seal the Torah amoung my talmidim” refers to sealing them with the Ruach HaKodesh in the New Covenant, writing the Torah on their hearts and minds to obey it, per Jeremiah.

Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, says YHWH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Yisra’el, and with the house of Yehudah:   Jer 31:32  not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them, says YHWH.   Jer 31:33  But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Yisra’el after those days, says YHWH: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people…

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 2:14  Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,

Heb 2:15  and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

The Law of Sin and Death says that “the soul that sins, it must die.”  The “wages of sin is death,” as we all know.  Those who live in sin are in bondage to hasatan.  They are his servants, not Elohim’s, and they are destined for destruction.

Hebrews, continued:

Heb 2:16  For most certainly, he doesn’t give help to angels, but he gives help to the seed of Avraham.

Heb 2:17  Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful Kohen Gadol in things pertaining to Elohim, to make atonement for the sins of the people.

Heb 2:18  For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

Those who continue to live in sin will not be able to claim, at their trial, that Elohim, being a divine being, has no idea what it’s like to be a mortal human being – because he does.  Their excuse is taken away, and he can say to us with full confidence that our tests and temptations are not more than we can bear.  If we fail, it is because we chose to fail, not because we could not succeed.  Those in the Tribulation will capitulate to the False Messiah, saying, “Who is able to make war with him?”  They are, that’s who.  They might end up dying a martyr’s death, but that is no reason not to fight – why should it be, when they will have earned eternal life with their faith and obedience?

Next week:  Parashat Reh.

Epistle Ekev

Epistle Ekev

Yochanan – John chapter 15

Joh 15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer.

Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Joh 15:3  You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

As Yeshua’s earthly disciples who learned directly from him, they are elevated to the highest levels of the new government, sitting on 12 of the Jerusalem thrones during the Messianic Kingdom.  Yet even they will be refined and assayed by several more years of earthly experience.

John, continued:

Joh 15:4  Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.

Joh 15:5  I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Joh 15:6  If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

Those who do not “remain” in him are those who continue living in sin instead of transforming their lives.  And sin, of course, by definition, is transgression of the Torah.  (I John 3)

John, continued:

Joh 15:7  If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.

This isn’t carte blanche, an unlimited credit card.  What we pray for must be in Elohim’s will, must further his kingdom on earth, and must not interfere with some other part of his plan which we may not know.   Even if all these conditions are met, if we still have sin in our lives we are not likely to receive our requests.

John, continued:

Joh 15:8  “In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my talmidim.

Joh 15:9  Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love.

Joh 15:10  If you keep my mitzvot, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s mitzvot, and remain in his love.

As Yeshua is YHWH Incarnate, remaining in “his love” clearly requires both observance of the Written Torah and accepting the interpretations of the Torah given by Yeshua to his disciples,  and living an ethical life as described by Yeshua in the gospels.

John, continued:

Joh 15:11  I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.

Joh 15:12  “This is my mitzvah, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.

Joh 15:13  Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Joh 15:14  You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.

Joh 15:15  No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.

Joh 15:16  You didn’t choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

Again, in his will and with benefit to his kingdom – which is the definition of bearing fruit!.

John, continued:

Joh 15:17  “I command these things to you, that you may love one another.

Joh 15:18  If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.

Joh 15:19  If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Joh 15:20  Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also.

We will most certainly experience rejection by the materialistic, capitalistic, “survival of the fittest” society of selfishness, conforming to the world, greed and rebellion against Elohim.

John, continued:

Joh 15:21  But all these things will they do to you for my name’s sake, because they don’t know him who sent me.

Joh 15:22  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

Those who have heard the truth and ignore it are not innocent, they are willfully disobedient.

John, continued:

Joh 15:23  He who hates me, hates my Father also.

Joh 15:24  If I hadn’t done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn’t have had sin. But now have they seen and also hated both me and my Father.

Joh 15:25  But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their Torah, ‘They hated me without a cause.’

The theme of being hated without cause occurs several times in the psalms, so it is difficult to know exactly which passage Yeshua was referring to.  Another possibility Lamentations 3:52.

John, continued:

Joh 15:26  “When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me.

Joh 15:27  You will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

As it says in the Tanakh:

Isa 9:6 For to us a child is born. To us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Shalom.

The Counselor, of course, is generally acknowledged to be the Ruach HaKodesh, which was promised to be with Obedient Believers the same as it was with prophets and other beloved persons in the Tanakh, especially David.  The Ruach HaKodesh is our seal of the New Covenant, which writes the Torah on our hearts and minds so that we can obey it.

Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, says YHWH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Yisra’el, and with the house of Yehudah:   Jer 31:32  not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them, says YHWH.   Jer 31:33  But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Yisra’el after those days, says YHWH: I will put my Torah in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people:   Jer 31:34  and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know YHWH; for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says YHWH: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.

Those who are included in the Parousia as immortal kings and priests that rule on earth will have no need to  learn Torah, because it will be emblazoned in their hearts and minds.

It is not the content of the “new covenant” that is different, it is the location of it.    Adam learned the Torah when he ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  But his descendents distorted it as it was passed down from parents to children.  This is why many ancient cultures have laws and stories that are similar to the Written Torah.  Later, as the House of Israel languished in Egypt, they became assimilated (hence the idolatry of the golden calf, etc.) and Elohim wrote it down for them.  But the Rabbis added their “oral law” to it, and again it was distorted.  So finally, the Torah is written in our hearts and minds, where we don’t need anyone to teach it to us and it can’t be distorted or altered.  This is the “new covenant” and there is no other “new covenant.”  If you refuse to obey the Written Torah, you are outside of the covenant.

And you will not be included in the Parousia.

Next:  Kollel Ekev.

Talmidim Ekev

Talmidim Ekev

Revelation chapters 4 & 5

Rev 4:1 After these things I looked and saw a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, like a shofar speaking with me, was one saying, “Come up here, and I will show you the things which must happen after this.”

“These things” are the things he saw in chapters 1-3 regarding the praises and chastizements of the 7 assemblies in Asia.   If you recall, these assemblies were chosen both for their individual characteristics that any person may be experiencing in their spiritual life, and for their overall chronological representation of the direction of mainstream religion during the two days left on Elohim’s prophetic calendar.  The last assembly, that of Laodicea which denies creation, appears last and receives no praise whatsoever.  In fact, Yeshua is left outside the assembly, knocking at the door to try and get them to open to him – but as a whole, they don’t!

Like Obedient Believers, John is called up to heaven to view the events of the Tribulation which will be taking place “on earth,” when Elohim “pours out his wrath,” as it is described to the assembly at Philadelphia.  It is interesting that “Philadelphia” is the only assembly with a recognizably American name, possibly referring to the fact that the United States, as a nation, only came into being in the 1700s (relatively recently) with Philadelphia as its early capital, and was the founded as a “city on a hill” dedicated to Elohim’s service.  Now, however, since the 1950s, we have clearly passed from the Philadelphia age to the Laodicean age, where Darwinism (evolutionary, economic, and social) rules the day under the “survival of the fittest” paradigm and “brotherly love” (the translation of “philadelphia”) has been almost completely cast aside.

It is during this age, the one we are entering now, that the Parousia will take place.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 4:2  Immediately I was in the Spirit. Behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting on the throne

Rev 4:3  that looked like a jasper stone and a sardius. There was a rainbow around the throne, like an yahalom to look at.

Rev 4:4  Around the throne were twenty-four thrones. On the thrones were twenty-four elders sitting, dressed in white garments, with crowns of gold on their heads.

David refers to the thrones, which will have physical counterparts in Jerusalem during the Messianic Age:

Psa 122:1  <<A Ma`alot SongSong of Ascents. By David.>> I was glad when they said to me, “Let’s go to YHWH’s house!”   Psa 122:2  Our feet are standing within your gates, Yerushalayim;   Psa 122:3  Yerushalayim, that is built as a city that is compact together;   Psa 122:4  where the tribes go up, even YHWH’s tribes, according to an ordinance for Yisra’el, to give thanks to the name of YHWH.   Psa 122:5 For there are set thrones for judgment, the thrones of David’s house.   Psa 122:6  Pray for the shalom of Yerushalayim. Those who love you will prosper.   Psa 122:7  Shalom be within your walls, and prosperity within your palaces.   Psa 122:8  For my brothers’ and companions’ sakes, I will now say, “Shalom be within you.”   Psa 122:9  For the sake of the house of YHWH our Elohim, I will seek your good.

The 24 thrones are generally considered to be the sum of the 12 tribes of Israel plus the 12 primary disciples of Yeshua while he taught on earth.  They will be the highest of the immortal rulers in the Messianic Age, with rulers of various regions and districts below them acting as kings and priests to the ordinary mortal subjects of the kingdom – those Torah True Jews, obedient believers, and righteous gentiles who survive the Tribulation.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 4:5  Out of the throne proceed lightnings, sounds, and thunders. There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven Spirits of Elohim.

Rev 4:6  Before the throne was something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal. In the midst of the throne, and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind.

This description of Elohim’s throne is found in the visions of other prophets as well, as well as a description of the “living beings” given by Ezekiel.

Eze 10:14  And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle…

Revelation, continued:

Rev 4:7  The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle.

Rev 4:8  The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around about and within. They have no rest day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is Adonai Elohim, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!”

Rev 4:9  When the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever,

Rev 4:10  the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever, and throw their crowns before the throne, saying,

Rev 4:11  “Worthy are you, Adonai and Elohim, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!”

Rev 5:1 I saw, in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a book written inside and outside, sealed shut with seven seals.

Rev 5:2  I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book, and to break its seals?”

Rev 5:3  No one in heaven above, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look in it.

Rev 5:4  And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look in it.

There is much speculation regarding the contents of the book.  There are several books mentioned in the Tanakh.  First, of course, is the Book of the Covenant, generally considered to be the Written Torah, also called the “Book of Moses.”  Joshua and Samuel mentions the “Book of Yashar.”  Samuel wrote a book describing the ideal kingship and kingdom (I Sam 10:25).  Kings and Chronicles are both mentioned by name.  Ezra mentions a “book of the records of your fathers,” which may have contained geneological data, and the “book of records” which may have been the same thing.  There is also the “Book of the Wars of YHWH” and the “Book of Jubilees,” which both exist in apocryphal form (that may or may not be the original texts).

Psalms gives us some clues about books that Elohim keep in Heaven.  Psalm 40:7, 56:8, 139:16, etc. mentions a “book” that appears to be a record of every thing a person does in their life.  Psalm 69:28 mentions a “book of life,” which could either be the record of every person born, or a record of every person who has a covenant relationship with Elohim.  Isaiah 34:16 mentions a “book of YHWH” which seems to record prophecies.  Jeremiah mentions his own book several times, as it was burned and then re-written.  Ezekiel 2:9 mentions a book in which are written “lamentations, and mourning, and woe,” possibly a book of judgments on the rebellious.  Daniel 12:1 mentions “the book,” possibly referring to the Book of Life, wherein all Elohim’s Obedient Believers are written.  He later mentions his own book as being “sealed” until the end times.  Malachai 3:16 tells of a “book of memory” before YHWH in which is written “for those who feared YHWH, and who honored his name,” possibly referring to a book of righteous gentiles and those who do teshuvah during the Tribulation.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 5:5  One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Yehudah, the Root of David, has overcome; he who opens the book and its seven seals.”

Rev 5:6  I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of Elohim, sent out into all the earth.

Rev 5:7  Then he came, and he took it out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne.

Rev 5:8  Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.

Rev 5:9  They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for Elohim with your blood, out of every tribe, language, people, and nation,

Rev 5:10  and made them kings and Kohanim to our Elohim, and they reign on earth.”

Obviously Yeshua HaMashiach is in view here, the ultimate sacrifice for sins.  Obedient Believers become kings and priests under his administration in the Messianic Age.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 5:11  I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands;

Rev 5:12  saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who has been killed to receive the power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing!”

Rev 5:13  I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amein! “

Rev 5:14  The four living creatures said, “Amein!” The elders fell down and worshiped.

The next part of Revelation involves the opening of the seals on this book, and opening each seal releases a judgement upon the earth.  It may be the same book mentioned by Ezekiel, in which various “woes” are proclaimed.  These would be judgments upon those who dwell on the earth for their refusal to repent and believe, as was described to the assembly at Philadelphia.   Those who are at the “philadelphia” stage of their spiritual journey are Torah Obedient Believers who put Elohim first in their lives and do not hesitate to perform good deeds to help others whenever called upon, which is the definition of “brotherly love” – to love your neighbor as yourself.  The “philadelphia” people didn’t receive a single word of criticism – they obey the Written Torah and have perfect faith in Yeshua HaMashiach.

They are promised to be kept from the hour of trial of those who dwell upon the earth – which is why in this vision John travels from earth to heaven to witness the opening of the book of Judgments and their effects on the globe below him.

Rev 3:10  Because you kept my command to endure, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, which is to come on the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

Obedient believers, a small remnant, will be kept from time itself and will not be dwelling on the earth, as this verse promises.  Of the millions of people who claim to believe in and follow the “new testament” on this planet, only about 500,000 or so claim to be Torah Observant, and of those perhaps half actually are.  Contrary to what you may have read in fictional accounts, there will not be millions of people disappearing.  In fact, if it weren’t for the shofar blast and the voice of the archangel (I Thes 4), most people will not even realize something has happened, so few will be included.

John, one of the first obedient believers, has a “bird’s eye” view of the entire Tribulation in this account and we are going to follow him through his visions that he saw concerning it, and explain his visions to the best of our ability.  That is the purpose of the book of Revelation, to show us these things that “will come hereafter.”  The time “hereafter” the end of the present age is the Day that Dawns in Darkness – the Time of Jacob’s Trouble – and it will be a terrible time.

Millions of “carnal christians” think they will not experience it.  Millions of amillennialists think they will be protected through it, despite the fact that both Daniel and Revelation say the False Messiah will “prevail” against them and millions will be martyred.  They grossly underestimate the outpouring of Elohim’s wrath.  As Amos says:

Amo 5:18 “Woe to you who desire the day of YHWH! Why do you long for the day of YHWH? It is darkness, and not light.   Amo 5:19  As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; Or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him.   Amo 5:20  Won’t the day of YHWH be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?

These who refuse to obey the eternal commandments of Yeshua, as YHWH Incarnate, will be unpleasantly surprised to find themselves left behind and with no protection or help when the forces of the Beast martyr millions and millions of them.

But there is something you can do.  If you would like to be viewing the events of the Tribulation from heaven instead of experiencing them down here on earth, you must profess faith in Yeshua as Messiah and do teshuvah – that is, repent from living in sin.  Sin is, of course, transgression of the Torah, as it says clearly in I John 3 and we have read many times throughout this Torah cycle of commentaries.

It is a hard choice, one that will not gain you any congratulations from your friends and family, until they, too, decide to repent for real (and not many of them will).  The false repentence of “professing jeeeeezus” and then continuing to live in sin is worthless.  Repent and be saved!  These are the words of Yeshua HaMashiach, as YHWH Incarnate:

Isa 56:1 Thus says YHWH, Keep you justice, and do righteousness; for my Yeshuah is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.   Isa 56:2  Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast; who keeps the Shabbat from profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.   Isa 56:3  Neither let the foreigner, who has joined himself to YHWH, speak, saying, YHWH will surely separate me from his people…  Isa 56:6  Also the foreigners who join themselves to YHWH, to minister to him, and to love the name of YHWH, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Shabbat from profaning it, and holds fast my covenant;   Isa 56:7  even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.   Isa 56:8  Adonai YHWH, who gathers the outcasts of Yisra’el, says, Yet will I gather [others] to him, besides his own who are gathered.

Next:  Epistle Ekev.

Haftarah Ekev

Haftarah Ekev

Yeshayahu – Isaiah 49:14-51:3

Isa 49:14  But Tziyon said, YHWH has forsaken me, and Adonai has forgotten me.

Isa 49:15  Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you.

Isa 49:16  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

Isa 49:17  Your children make haste; your destroyers and those who made you waste shall go forth from you.

Isa 49:18  Lift up your eyes round about, and see: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live, says YHWH, you shall surely clothe you with them all as with an ornament, and gird yourself with them, like a bride.

There is a double reference here – the Parousia and the Ingathering.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 49:19  For, as for your waste and your desolate places, and your land that has been destroyed, surely now shall you be too small for the inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up shall be far away.

Isa 49:20  The children of your bereavement shall yet say in your ears, The place is too small for me; give place to me that I may dwell.

The day is coming when so many Israelites will return and want to reside in Eretz Israel that the boundaries will not be sufficient to hold them all.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 49:21  Then shall you say in your heart, Who has conceived these for me, seeing I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile, and wandering back and forth? and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?

Isa 49:22  Thus says Adonai YHWH, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and set up my banner to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

Children of the Exile, not considered “Jewish” by the Rabbinate – and the Rabbinate claims that Jews have absorbed all “Israel” into themselves.  But 10-Israel is in view here.  They are not counted as “Israel” by the Jewish Rabbinate at this time but obviously will be in the future at the Ingathering.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 49:23  Kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am YHWH; and those who wait for me shall not be disappointed.

Those nations that opposed the State of Israel, who refused to allow Jews to return to their homeland and pressured the State of Israel to give land to the Arab Muslims will be made to bow before the Kings and Priests of the Messianic Kingdom.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 49:24  Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives be delivered?

Isa 49:25  But thus says YHWH, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children.

“Him” may be the False Messiah, as the Beast is called “terrible” in Daniel and Revelation.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 49:26  I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I, YHWH, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Ya`akov.

Isa 50:1 Thus says YHWH, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorce, with which I have put her away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were you sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away.

Again, 10-Israel is in view here.

Jer 3:8 I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Yisra’el had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce, yet treacherous Yehudah, her sister, didn’t fear; but she also went and played the prostitute.   Jer 3:9  It happened through the lightness of her prostitution, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks.   Jer 3:10  Yet for all this her treacherous sister Yehudah has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense, says YHWH.

Judah was never “legally” divorced from YHWH Elohim and Yeshua Himself says plainly that his goal is to bring the Lost Sheep (10-Israel) back into the fold from their idolatry and exile.  .

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 50:2  Why, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it can’t redeem? or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst.

Isa 50:3  I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

Drought is the most obvious interpretation here, perhaps referring to the drying up of the Euphrates (which has actually been in the news lately).  Alternately, it could refer to the judgment of 3rds where a third of the fresh water and sea are poisoned (probably by a limited nuclear exchange) or to the final set of judgments where all the seas and fresh water are ruined, apparently by an all-out nuclear exchange.   The stench from the rotting fish in the dead waters will span the globe.

The blackness could refer to an eclipse, to the thick corrosive “darkness” that covers the capital city of the False Messiah, or to the debris from fires and nuclear blasts in the last weeks of the Tribulation.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 50:4  Adonai YHWH has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary: he wakens morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.

Isa 50:5  Adonai YHWH has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward.

Even in the last days, Elohim gives knowledge and opportunity to those who can teach Torah and faith in Yeshua HaMashiach.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 50:6  I gave my back to the strikers, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair; I didn’t hide my face from shame and spitting.

Similarly, Yeshua tells his disciples:

Mat 5:39 But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.   Mat 5:40  If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also.   Mat 5:41  Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.   Mat 5:42  Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 50:7  For Adonai YHWH will help me; therefore I have not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be disappointed.

Isa 50:8  He is near who justifies me; who will bring charges against me? Let us stand up together: who is my adversary? Let him come near to me.

Isa 50:9  Behold, Adonai YHWH will help me; who is he who shall condemn me? Behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them up.

This isn’t a guarantee of no misfortunes, no persecutions, and being saved from martyrdom.  It does mean that even in the face of these things, Elohim is with us and will vindicate us – indeed, we will certainly have the last laugh as they are forced to bow to us in the Kingdom, as it says above.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 50:10  Who is among you who fears YHWH, who obeys the voice of his servant? He who walks in darkness, and has no light, let him trust in the name of YHWH, and rely on his Elohim.

Isa 50:11  Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who gird yourselves about with firebrands; walk you in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that you have kindled. This shall you have of my hand; you shall lie down in sorrow.

Isa 51:1 Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek YHWH: look to the rock whence you were hewn, and to the hold of the pit whence you were dug.

Isa 51:2  Look to Avraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many.

Isa 51:3  For YHWH has comforted Tziyon; he has comforted all her waste places, and has made her wilderness like `Eden, and her desert like the garden of YHWH; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

The ruins of the Tribulation will be transformed into paradise – but only those who are obedient believers or righteous gentiles will have an opportunity to enjoy it.  All those who opposed Elohim and his people will go down to the grave in sorrow and not rise again until the Great White Throne Judgment.

Next:  Talmidim Ekev.

Torah Portion Ekev

Torah Portion Ekev

Devarim – Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25

Recall, Moses is recounting for them their journey thus far to reach the border of Eretz Israel.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 7:12  It shall happen, because you listen to these ordinances, and keep and do them, that YHWH your Elohim will keep with you the covenant and the loving kindness which he swore to your fathers:

Deu 7:13  and he will love you, and bless you, and multiply you; he will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your livestock and the young of your flock, in the land which he swore to your fathers to give you.

Deu 7:14  You shall be blessed above all peoples: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your livestock.

Our covenant with Elohim has promises both for this world and the world to come.  Here Yeshua, as YHWH Incarnate, lays out the conditions for receiving blessings in this world.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 7:15  YHWH will take away from you all sickness; and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, he will put on you, but will lay them on all those who hate you.

Archaeology has discovered that the diseases of the ancient Egyptians are remarkably similar to the diseases of our modern times, such as heart disease and obesity.  They drew everyone thin in their artwork but their remains reveal folds of skin indicating they were overweight and out of shape, for the most part.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 7:16  You shall consume all the peoples who YHWH your Elohim shall deliver to you; your eye shall not pity them: neither shall you serve their gods; for that will be a snare to you.

Instead both Judaism and Christianity have adopted numerous beliefs and practice from Babylonian and Greek Pagan sources.  And they have become a snare for us.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 7:17  If you shall say in your heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?

Deu 7:18  you shall not be afraid of them: you shall well remember what YHWH your Elohim did to Par`oh, and to all Egypt;

Deu 7:19  the great trials which your eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which YHWH your Elohim brought you out: so shall YHWH your Elohim do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

This message is just as relevant to the State of Israel today as it was for the ancient Israelites.  Continually compromising with Arab Muslims is against Elohim’s will.  Anyone who will not sign an oath of loyalty and acknowledge that Israel is constituted as a Jewish state should all be expelled from the land.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 7:20  Moreover YHWH your Elohim will send the hornet among them, until those who are left, and hide themselves, perish from before you.

Deu 7:21  You shall not be scared of them; for YHWH your Elohim is in the midst of you, a great and awesome Elohim.

Deu 7:22  YHWH your Elohim will cast out those nations before you by little and little: you may not consume them at once, lest the animals of the field increase on you.

Deu 7:23  But YHWH your Elohim will deliver them up before you, and will confuse them with a great confusion, until they be destroyed.

Deu 7:24  He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name to perish from under the sky: there shall no man be able to stand before you, until you have destroyed them.

This mandate should have been followed in 1948 and again in 1967 when more territory was obtained.  And the Temple mount should NEVER have been given back to the Muslims.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 7:25  The engraved images of their gods shall you burn with fire: you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it to you, lest you be snared therein; for it is an abomination to YHWH your Elohim.

Deu 7:26  You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and become a devoted thing like it: you shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing.

That goes double for the Temple Mount.  Their pagan structures should have been razed to the ground.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 8:1 All the mitzvah which I command you this day shall you observe to do, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which YHWH swore to your fathers.

Deu 8:2  You shall remember all the way which YHWH your Elohim has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his mitzvot, or not.

Deu 8:3  He humbled you, and allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of YHWH does man live.

Whether or not we have material blessings, even if we’re not rich, depends upon our relationship with Elohim and not on our employers, our government benefits, or our stock portfolio.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 8:4  Your clothing didn’t grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years.

Deu 8:5  You shall consider in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so YHWH your Elohim chastens you.

The opposite of receiving Elohim’s blessing is receiving Elohim’s chastizement.  Elohim will make your situation uncomfortable until you do teshuvah and stop living in sin – by his definition of sin, which is violation of his written Torah (I John 3).

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 8:6  You shall keep the mitzvot of YHWH your Elohim, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.

Deu 8:7  For YHWH your Elohim brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills;

Deu 8:8  a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey;

Deu 8:9  a land in which you shall eat bread without scarceness, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper.

Many of 10-Israel received this blessing when they moved to America.  But now America has cast off her relationship with Elohim.  Therefore, Elohim’s previous economic blessings will be withdrawn (already are, actually) from America.  And since America is just as obstinate as the ancient Hebrews were, look for America’s situation to become worse and worse.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 8:10  You shall eat and be full, and you shall bless YHWH your Elohim for the good land which he has given you.

This is the origin of the tradition of Birkat HaMazon, the Grace after Meals.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 8:11  Beware lest you forget YHWH your Elohim, in not keeping his mitzvot, and his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command you this day:

Deu 8:12  lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built goodly houses, and lived therein;

Deu 8:13  and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied;

Deu 8:14  then your heart be lifted up, and you forget YHWH your Elohim, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;

Deu 8:15  who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, [in which were] fiery serpents and scorpions, and thirsty ground where was no water; who brought you forth water out of the rock of flint;

Deu 8:16  who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn’t know; that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end:

Deu 8:17  and [lest] you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.

This is exactly what both America and the State of Israel are saying to themselves now.  Gone is their respect for their Judeo-Christian heritage.  Now the government and the schools and everyone in between has embraced Darwinism and “survival of the fittest” instead of respecting everyone as made in Elohim’s image and being worthy of social support.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 8:18  But you shall remember YHWH your Elohim, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth; that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as at this day.

Deu 8:19  It shall be, if you shall forget YHWH your Elohim, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.

Deu 8:20  As the nations that YHWH makes to perish before you, so shall you perish; because you wouldn’t listen to the voice of YHWH your Elohim.

It is no coincidence that there is no “nation” in prophecy that can be positively identified as the United States of America.  The probability is high that America will be wiped off the map before the Tribulation even starts.  The “city on a hill” has become the center of exploitatation and greed in the red light district.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 9:1 Hear, Yisra’el: you are to pass over the Yarden this day, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the sky,

Deu 9:2  a people great and tall, the sons of the `Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard say, Who can stand before the sons of `Anak?

Deu 9:3  Know therefore this day, that YHWH your Elohim is he who goes over before you as a devouring fire; he will destroy them, and he will bring them down before you: so shall you drive them out, and make them to perish quickly, as YHWH has spoken to you.

The “Anakim” were  a tribe of those descended from the Nephilim – that is, they might not have been fully human if the Nephilim are indeed offspring of fallen angels and mortal women.  They were “larger than life,” so to speak. They have no humanity, considering hospitals, little children, schools and religious sites to be perfectly fine targets and shields for their hateful and murderous activity.  So tToday, we treat the Arab Muslims the same way – consider them too numerous to offend, afraid of their terroristic and dishonorable tactics of war.  But this is the wrong attitude.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 9:4  Don’t speak in your heart, after that YHWH your Elohim has thrust them out from before you, saying, For my righteousness YHWH has brought me in to possess this land; whereas for the wickedness of these nations YHWH does drive them out from before you.

Deu 9:5  Not for your righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations YHWH your Elohim does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which YHWH swore to your fathers, to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Ya`akov.

Deu 9:6  Know therefore, that YHWH your Elohim doesn’t give you this good land to possess it for your righteousness; for you are a stiff-necked people.

Something we ought to remember today – we don’t deserve Elohim’s favor, and if we misuse it, he will certainly withdraw it.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 9:7  Remember, don’t forget, how you provoked YHWH your Elohim to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that you went forth out of the land of Egypt, until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against YHWH.

Deu 9:8  Also in Chorev you provoked YHWH to wrath, and YHWH was angry with you to destroy you.

Deu 9:9  When I was gone up onto the mountain to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which YHWH made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water.

Deu 9:10  YHWH delivered to me the two tables of stone written with the finger of Elohim; and on them [was written] according to all the words, which YHWH spoke with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.

Deu 9:11  It came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that YHWH gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.

Deu 9:12  YHWH said to me, Arise, get you down quickly from hence; for your people whom you have brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they have quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.

Deu 9:13  Furthermore YHWH spoke to me, saying, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people:

Deu 9:14  let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the sky; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.

Deu 9:15  So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.

Deu 9:16  I looked, and behold, you had sinned against YHWH your Elohim; you had made you a molten calf: you had turned aside quickly out of the way which YHWH had commanded you.

Deu 9:17  I took hold of the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes.

Deu 9:18  I fell down before YHWH, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water; because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in the sight of YHWH, to provoke him to anger.

Deu 9:19  For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, with which YHWH was angry against you to destroy you. But YHWH listened to me that time also.

Deu 9:20  YHWH was very angry with Aharon to destroy him: and I prayed for Aharon also at the same time.

Deu 9:21  I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust: and I cast the dust of it into the brook that descended out of the mountain.

And made them drink it, if you recall from Exodus 32:20, in a grand enactment of the Sotah ritual of the Jealous Husband (Numbers chapter 5).

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 9:22  At Tav`erah, and at Massah, and at Kivrot-Hatta’avah, you provoked YHWH to wrath.

Deu 9:23  When YHWH sent you from Kadesh-Barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you; then you rebelled against the mitzvah of YHWH your Elohim, and you didn’t believe him, nor listen to his voice.

Deu 9:24  You have been rebellious against YHWH from the day that I knew you.

Deu 9:25  So I fell down before YHWH the forty days and forty nights that I fell down, because YHWH had said he would destroy you.

Deu 9:26  I prayed to YHWH, and said, Adonai YHWH, don’t destroy your people and your inheritance, that you have redeemed through your greatness, that you have brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

Deu 9:27  Remember your servants, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya`akov; don’t look to the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin,

Deu 9:28  lest the land whence you brought us out say, Because YHWH was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.

Deu 9:29  Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.

Deu 10:1 At that time YHWH said to me, Hew you two tables of stone like the first, and come up to me onto the mountain, and make a teivah of wood.

Deu 10:2  I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which you broke, and you shall put them in the teivah.

Deu 10:3  So I made a teivah of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like the first, and went up onto the mountain, having the two tables in my hand.

Deu 10:4  He wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten mitzvot, which YHWH spoke to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and YHWH gave them to me.

Deu 10:5  I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they are as YHWH commanded me.

Generally referred to as the “Ark of the Covenant.”

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 10:6  (The children of Yisra’el traveled from Be’erot Bene-Ya`akan to Moserah. There Aharon died, and there he was buried; and El`azar his son ministered in the Kohen’s office in his place.

Deu 10:7  From there they traveled to Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Yotvatah, a land of brooks of water.

Deu 10:8  At that time YHWH set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of YHWH, to stand before YHWH to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day.

Deu 10:9  Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brothers; YHWH is his inheritance, according as YHWH your Elohim spoke to him.)

This is a scribal interlude, probably by Ezra.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 10:10  I stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights: and YHWH listened to me that time also; YHWH would not destroy you.

Deu 10:11  YHWH said to me, Arise, take your journey before the people; and they shall go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give to them.

Deu 10:12  Now, Yisra’el, what does YHWH your Elohim require of you, but to fear YHWH your Elohim, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul,

Deu 10:13  to keep the mitzvot of YHWH, and his statutes, which I command you this day for your good?

It is Yeshua, as YHWH Incarnate, who said these words.  They are his instructions to us and they are eternally applicable.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 10:14  Behold, to YHWH your Elohim belongs heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that is therein.

Deu 10:15  Only YHWH had a delight in your fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all peoples, as at this day.

Deu 10:16  Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked.

Circumcizing your heart is something you do in addition to, not instead of, becoming physically circumcized if you are male.  The physical commandments of the covenant represent our spiritual nature – if you’re not willing to follow the physical commandments, then you aren’t willing to follow the “spiritual” commandments, either.  There is no such thing as being a “little bit” rebellious.  One who is not a good steward in a small thing is not a good steward of larger things, either.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 10:17  For YHWH your Elohim, he is Elohim of gods, and Adonai of lords, the great Elohim, the mighty, and the awesome, who doesn’t regard persons, nor takes reward.

Deu 10:18  He does execute justice for the fatherless and widow, and loves the foreigner, in giving him food and clothing.

Deu 10:19  Therefore love the foreigner; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Deu 10:20  You shall fear YHWH your Elohim; him shall you serve; and to him shall you cleave, and by his name shall you swear.

Deu 10:21  He is your praise, and he is your Elohim, who has done for you these great and awesome things, which your eyes have seen.

Deu 10:22  Your fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons; and now YHWH your Elohim has made you as the stars of the sky for multitude.

Deu 11:1  Therefore you shall love YHWH your Elohim, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his mitzvot, always.

Again, this is Yeshua, as YHWH Incarnate, speaking.  Elohim does not change, and neither does the Torah.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 11:2  Know you this day: for I don’t speak with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of YHWH your Elohim, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm,

Deu 11:3  and his signs, and his works, which he did in the midst of Egypt to Par`oh the king of Egypt, and to all his land;

Deu 11:4  and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Sea of Suf to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how YHWH has destroyed them to this day;

Deu 11:5  and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place;

Deu 11:6  and what he did to Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli’av, the son of Re’uven; how the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Yisra’el:

Deu 11:7  but your eyes have seen all the great work of YHWH which he did.

There were numerous people there who did in fact live in Egypt and survive to that day.  The only ones who were cursed to die in the wilderness were those who were counted in the military census, as it says in Numbers 14:29.  That left a great many women, persons over 50, children, and members of the mixed multitude who were not cursed to die and many of whom no doubt stood there before Moses hearing his farewell speech.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 11:8  Therefore shall you keep all the mitzvah which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land, where you go over to possess it;

Deu 11:9  and that you may prolong your days in the land, which YHWH swore to your fathers to give to them and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Deu 11:10  For the land, where you go in to possess it, isn’t as the land of Egypt, from whence you came out, where you sowed your seed, and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs;

Deu 11:11  but the land, where you go over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, [and] drinks water of the rain of the sky,

Deu 11:12  a land which YHWH your Elohim cares for: the eyes of YHWH your Elohim are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.

Deu 11:13  It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my mitzvot which I command you this day, to love YHWH your Elohim, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

Deu 11:14  that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, and your new wine, and your oil.

Deu 11:15  I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.

Material blessings for obedience in this lifetime, once again, hinge upon obedience to the Written Torah.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 11:16  Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

Deu 11:17  and the anger of YHWH be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which YHWH gives you.

Elohim’s blessing is withdrawn from any disobedient nation where Israelites live.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 11:18  Therefore shall you lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul; and you shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for symbols between your eyes.

Deu 11:19  You shall teach them your children, talking of them, when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.

Deu 11:20  You shall write them on the door posts of your house, and on your gates;

Deu 11:21  that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which YHWH swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.

A second source for the traditions of the t’fillin and the mezuzzah.  Yeshua, of course, did not ridicule or abrogate these interpretations.  He only criticized those who made their t’fillin excessively large and ostentatious (Matthew 23:5, et al.) – obviously, using them to show off and using them as status symbols is unacceptable.  It is incorrect, however, to claim that this is not a valid interpretation of the commandment, or else Yeshua would have said so plainly.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 11:22  For if you shall diligently keep all this mitzvah which I command you, to do it, to love YHWH your Elohim, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave to him;

Deu 11:23  then will YHWH drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.

Deu 11:24  Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Levanon, from the river, the river Perat, even to the hinder sea shall be your border.

Deu 11:25  There shall no man be able to stand before you: YHWH your Elohim shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread on, as he has spoken to you.

Next:  Haftarah Ekev.

Kollel Vetchanan

Kollel Vetchanan

Philemon, all

Phm 1:1 Sha’ul, a prisoner of Messiah Yeshua, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our beloved fellow worker,

Phm 1:2  to the beloved Apphia, to Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the assembly in your house:

Phm 1:3  Grace to you and shalom from Elohim our Father and Adonai Yeshua the Messiah.

Phm 1:4  I thank my Elohim always, making mention of you in my prayers,

Phm 1:5  hearing of your love, and of the faith which you have toward Adonai Yeshua, and toward all the holy ones;

Phm 1:6  that the fellowship of your faith may become effective, in the knowledge of every good thing which is in us in Messiah Yeshua.

Paul is praying that the fellowship of his faith “may become effective,” meaning that right now it is not effective.  He has, as it says in Revelation, the form of godliness but no power therein.  He is representative of those professing faith in the last days – he means well, perhaps, but the light doesn’t shine through him in either obedience or in good works, because he is lukewarm toward his fellow Believers.

Philemon, continued:

Phm 1:7  For we have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the holy ones have been refreshed through you, brother.

Love is a great thing, but by itself it is not enough.  We NEED obedience and faith to make Love truly a force for good.  With love, we can do small things, but with true faith that includes obedience, we are a light to the world.

Philemon, continued:

Phm 1:8  Therefore, though I have all boldness in Messiah to command you that which is appropriate,

Phm 1:9  yet for love’s sake I rather beg, being such a one as Sha’ul, the aged, but also a prisoner of Yeshua the Messiah.

Paul here appeals to his “love,” because commanding him to obey would apparently not worked, since his faith is “not effective.”  Most likely that means he still has rebellion in his heart and obedience (that is, submission) is not something to which Paul could appeal.

Philemon, continued:

Phm 1:10  I beg you for my child, whom I have become the father of in my chains, Onesimus,

Phm 1:11  who once was useless to you, but now is useful to you and to me.

Phm 1:12  I am sending him back. Therefore receive him, that is, my own heart,

Phm 1:13  whom I desired to keep with me, that on your behalf he might serve me in my chains for the Good News.

Phm 1:14  But I was willing to do nothing without your consent, that your goodness would not be as of necessity, but of free will.

Clearly Philemon’s “consent” is important – to Philemon!  Paul appeals to his sense of self-aggrandizement.  Like the Laodiceans, he thinks he is rich, yet truly he is quite poor in Spirit.

Philemon, continued:

Phm 1:15  For perhaps he was therefore separated from you for a while, that you would have him forever,

Phm 1:16  no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much rather to you, both in the flesh and in Adonai.

Phm 1:17  If then you count me a partner, receive him as you would receive me.

“If.”

Philemon, continued:

Phm 1:18  But if he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, put that to my account.

Phm 1:19  I, Sha’ul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self besides).

Also like the Laodiceans, this man’s money is more important to him than what is best for his fellow believer.  Paul here makes a sideways jab at the man’s greed, even.

Philemon, continued:

Phm 1:20  Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in Adonai. Refresh my heart in Adonai.

Phm 1:21  Having confidence in your attentive listening, I write to you, knowing that you will do even beyond what I say.

Only after laying on a thick guilt trip does Paul carefully and indirectly  suggest some “obedience” is due (as this word is often translated, though that is NOT the primary meaning).  We might consider this a play on words, or at least on meanings of words – Paul’s skill in linguistics is evident, apparently with the hope of shaming the man into compliance.

G5218 ὑπακοή hupakoē hoop-ak-o-ay’

From G5219; attentive hearkening, that is, (by implication) compliance or submission: – obedience, (make) obedient, obey (-ing).

Philemon, continued:

Phm 1:22  Also, prepare a guest room for me, for I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you.

Phm 1:23  Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Messiah Yeshua, greets you,

Phm 1:24  as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.

Phm 1:25  The grace of Adonai Yeshua the Messiah be with your spirit. Amein.

Next week:  Parashat Ekev.

Epistle Vetchanan

Epistle Vetchanan

John chapter 14

Joh 14:1 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in Elohim. Believe also in me.

Joh 14:2  In my Father’s house are many homes. If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.

Joh 14:3  If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.

Joh 14:4  Where I go, you know, and you know the way.”

This has nothing to do with dying.  The dead are dead, they “know nothing,” their “thoughts perish,” they “do not praise Elohim” as the Psalmist tells us.  Yeshua is talking about the Parousia, in which Obedient Believers will be transformed into immortality without ever having dying (along with dead Obedient Believers).  This event is represented by Yom Teruah on Elohim’s prophetic calendar, the Day of the Awakening Blast – the Feast of Trumpets.

The 7 years of the Tribulation is the only opportunity that Believers will ever have to live in any “mansions in heaven” because after that everyone including Yeshua returns to Earth on Yom Kippur for the Battle of Armageddon and Judgment Day (including the Resurrection of the Just – the Tribulation Saints) and then to inagurate the Messianic Kingdom at Sukkot and rededicate the 3^rd Temple and welcome back the Shekinah at Chanukkah.

In Hebrew “you know the way” is becomes “you know the derech,” or “you know the halacha.”  This is a play on words, of course.  Without Torah obedience, they get nowhere.

John, continued:

Joh 14:5  T’oma said to him, “Adonai, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

Joh 14:6  Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

Joh 14:7  If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him, and have seen him.”

In the Kingdom, Yeshua will not be called “Yeshua” anymore.  He will be fully manifested as YHWH Tzeva’ot, and will be called “YHWH our Righteousness” and other titles.

Zec 14:8  It will happen in that day, that living waters will go out from Yerushalayim; half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea; in summer and in winter will it be.   Zec 14:9 YHWH will be King over all the earth. In that day YHWH will be one, and his name one.

No more “trinity” nonsense.  There is only one Deity, one Being that is Elohim.

John, continued:

Joh 14:8  Philip said to him, “Adonai, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”

Joh 14:9  Yeshua said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’

Joh 14:10  Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works.

Joh 14:11  Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

Joh 14:12  Most certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to my Father.

Yeshua has ascended to heaven and in that form acts as our High Priest in the Heavenly Temple and as our Defense Attorney before the Throne, where hasatan accuses the saints night and day.

Rev 12:10 I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now is come the salvation, the power, and the Kingdom of our Elohim, and the authority of his Messiah; for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them before our Elohim day and night.

John, continued:

Joh 14:13  Whatever you will ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Joh 14:14  If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it.

Joh 14:15  If you love me, keep my mitzvot.

Yeshua, as YHWH Incarnate, gave us every commandment in the Tanakh.  They are all HIS mitzvot.  He is the same Being that came down on Mt. Sinai and gave the Torah.  He is the same being that planted the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (including knowledge of the Torah) in Gan Eden.  And he is the same Being that writes the Torah on our hearts and minds when we receive the Ruach HaKodesh – that IS the “new covenant,” the same old Torah in a new location, within us, where it cannot be distorted or tampered with in any way by anyone.

Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, says YHWH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Yisra’el, and with the house of Yehudah:   Jer 31:32  not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them, says YHWH.   Jer 31:33  But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Yisra’el after those days, says YHWH: I will put my Torah in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people:   Jer 31:34  and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know YHWH; for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says YHWH: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.

John, continued:

Joh 14:16  I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever,–

Joh 14:17  the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him, neither knows him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you.

Joh 14:18  I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.

This is the “new covenant,” the Spirit of Truth, and the Torah is truth.

Psa 119:142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness. Your Torah is truth.

John, continued:

Joh 14:19  Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.

Joh 14:20  In That Day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

Joh 14:21  One who has my mitzvot, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.”

First John 5:3  For this is the love of Elohim, that we keep his mitzvot. His mitzvot are not grievous.  First John 5:4  For whatever is born of Elohim overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith.

Faith and obedience are one and the same.  There is no faith without obedience, and one who refuses to obey loves the world more than they love Elohim.

John, continued:

Joh 14:22  Yehudah (not Iskriot) said to him, “Adonai, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”

Joh 14:23  Yeshua answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.

Joh 14:24  He who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the Father’s who sent me.

Joh 14:25  I have said these things to you, while still living with you.

He’s trying to make it excruciatingly plain to us that Yeshua’s word is the SAME word that YHWH gave us.  They are One and the Same Being.  If you love Yeshua, you must obey His words – all of them, everything in the Tanakh.  He reveals himself only to those who are Obedient Believers.

John, continued:

Joh 14:26  But the Counselor, the Ruach HaKodesh, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.

And of what was learned during the Torah cycle we read every year.

John, continued:

Joh 14:27  Shalom I leave with you. My shalom I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.

Joh 14:28  You heard how I told you, ‘I go away, and I come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’ for the Father is greater than I.

Joh 14:29  Now I have told you before it happens so that, when it happens, you may believe.

Joh 14:30  I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me.

Joh 14:31  But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

Even as should we – obey every one of the Father’s commandments, which are Yeshua’s commandments, as YHWH Incarnate.  The disobedient do not receive the promise of being kept from the hour when those who dwell on the earth will be tried by fire.  Only those who understand the true meanings of faith and righteousness receive that promise.

Next:  Kollel Vetchanan. 

Talmidim Vetchanan

Talmidim Vetchanan

Revelation chapters 1-3

Rev 1:1 This is the Revelation of Yeshua the Messiah, which Elohim gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, Yochanan,

Rev 1:2  who testified to Elohim’s word, and of the testimony of Yeshua the Messiah, about everything that he saw.

John had visions of future events.  However, his 1^st century CE perspective meant he didn’t understand a lot of the 21^st century technology and events that he witnessed.  He simply wrote things down as best he could.  We need to keep this in mind while reading Revelation.  This book was written around 90 CE, about 20 years after the destruction of the Temple.  We can speculate that it was written primarily in reponse to those who were claiming that prophecy was now “over” since the Temple was destroyed and Belief in Yeshua was spreading.  They had no idea how much history still lay ahead of them.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it, for the time is at hand.

We usually consider commandments as things we need to “keep,” but in this case we need to keep the events described in Revelation in our minds, so that we can connect the 1^st century descriptions with 21^st century events.  It might not be as easy as it sounds.  We must constantly be viligant.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 1:4  Yochanan, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and shalom, from Elohim, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne;

Rev 1:5  and from Yeshua the Messiah, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood;

Rev 1:6  and he made us to be a Kingdom, Kohanim to his Elohim and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amein.

These seven congregations are generally considered to represent the various stages of history though which Believers will pass.  They also, of course, represent a point in each individual’s journey with Elohim in their daily life.

Yeshua here reminds people that he is the firstborn of the dead – the firstfruits offering that precedes the main harvest and the final gleanings.  It is a reference to the spring festivals of Elohim’s calendar, which precede the fall festivals after an interval of events which cause mourning and repentance also known as the birth pangs (represented by the summer fasts and the “season of repentance” of Elul).

Revelation, continued:

Rev 1:7  Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amein.

This is from Zechariah:

Zec 12:8  In that day YHWH will defend the inhabitants of Yerushalayim. He who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like a mighty one, like the angel of YHWH before them.   Zec 12:9  It will happen in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Yerushalayim.   Zec 12:10 I will pour on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.

The context is clearly the Day of YHWH, the advent of the King of Kings – the grand finale of the High Holy days and prerequisite for the inaguration of the Kingdom at Sukkot.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 1:8  “I am the Alef and the Tav, ” says Adonai Elohim, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Isa 41:4 Who has worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, YHWH, the first, and with the last, I am he.”

Isa 44:6 This is what YHWH, the King of Yisra’el, and his Redeemer, YHWH Tzeva’ot, says: “I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no [other] god.

Isa 48:12 Listen to me, O Ya`akov, and Yisra’el my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

There is only one Deity, one Being, and this One is the only one, alone, who is Elohim.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 1:9  I Yochanan, your brother and partner with you in oppression, Kingdom, and perseverance in Messiah Yeshua, was on the isle that is called Patmos because of Elohim’s Word and the testimony of Yeshua the Messiah.

Rev 1:10  I was in the Spirit on the Day of YHWH, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a shofar

Rev 1:11  saying, “What you see, write in a book and send to the seven assemblies: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

Like the other prophets of old, John was shown the future and told to write it down.  He was shown a specific time period that is the focus of countless other prophetic passages:  The Day of YHWH.  That day marks the end of the present age(represented by the letters to the assemblies)  and the beginning of the Messianic Kingdom.  The first seven years of “That Day” are the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, aka the Tribulation, which is the main event of the Book of Revelation.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 1:12  I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Having turned, I saw seven golden menorot.

Rev 1:13  And among the menorot was one like a son of man, clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest.

Rev 1:14  His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire.

Rev 1:15  His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters.

Rev 1:16  He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.

This description is similar to those of Daniel and the other prophets who had visions of Elohim’s throne room.

Dan 7:9 I saw until thrones were placed, and one who was ancient of days sat: his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, [and] the wheels of it burning fire.   Dan 7:10  A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 1:17  When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last,

Rev 1:18  and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amein. I have the keys of Death and of She’ol.

Elohim died.  He de-manifested himself from creation, leaving us alone for three days.  His death was a real death, a true payment for mankind’s past sins.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 1:19  Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will happen hereafter;

The “things which you have seen” is the vision of the Throne room.  The “things which are” is the present age, and the things which will happen “hereafter” is the Day of YHWH, which follows the present age.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 1:20  [Write about] the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden menorot. The seven stars are the angels of the seven assemblies. The seven menorot are seven assemblies.

The Bible is its own dictionary.  Every image is explained somewhere in the Tanakh.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 2:1 “To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus write: “He who holds the seven stars in his right hand, he who walks among the seven golden menorot says these things:

Rev 2:2  “I know your works, and your toil and perseverance, and that you can’t tolerate evil men, and have tested those who call themselves emissaries, and they are not, and found them false.

Rev 2:3  You have perseverance and have endured for my name’s sake, and have not grown weary.

Rev 2:4  But I have this against you, that you left your first love.

Rev 2:5  Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I am coming to you swiftly, and will move your menorah out of its place, unless you repent.

Rev 2:6  But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Rev 2:7  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my Elohim.

The assembly at Ephesus is consider to represent the first decades of Believers (from about 33 CE to around 100 CE), those who were persecuted for refusing to embrace the Pharisee’s Oral Law (“those who call themselves emissaries”) and for rejecting the Paganism of Greko-Roman culture.  Their zeal for the end of days, the second coming, was great – but as time wore on, as more and more of them died, they lost their sense of urgency that the end of days was coming and that they needed to teach the world to live in righteousness instead of sin due to the fast approaching day of judgment.  Especially after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, when the world didn’t end immediately, many were confused and lost interest in prophecy.

Concerning the Nicolaitans, we know very little.  According to the Wikipedia article:

Several of the early church fathers, including Irenaeus, Epiphanius, and Theodoret mentioned this group. Irenaeus^[1] discusses them but adds nothing to the Apocalypse except that “they lead lives of unrestrained indulgence.” Tertullian refers to them, but apparently knows only what is found in St. John^[2]. Hippolytus of Rome based his narrative on Irenaeus, though he states that the deacon Nicolas was the author of the heresy and the sect (Philosph., VII, xxvi). Clement of Alexandria^[3] exonerates Nicolas, and attributes the doctrine of promiscuity, which the sect claimed to have derived from him, to a malicious distortion of words harmless in themselves. Eusebius (H. E., III, xxix) said that the sect was short-lived.  …The common statement, that the Nicolaitanes held the antinomian heresy of Corinth, seems not to have been proved…

It may not have been “proved” from other secular historic  sources, but since we already know the “Jezebel” followers were into sexual sins, it seems likely that the earliest Believers main danger was antinomialism (teaching against the Torah, for which Shaul was accused from the earliest days) and not sexual promiscuity.  The promiscuity came later, being a result of previous antinomialism.  After all, once you start tossing some Torah commandments out the window, the rest inevitably follow.

It is also significant that Yeshua promises them they will eat of the Tree of Life.  Notice they key words there are “WILL eat,” they have NOT eaten of it already.  They do not have immortality at this time, as Babylonian and Greek paganism incorporated into Rabbinic Judaism claims.  They will receive it at the Parousia when they spend 7 years with Yeshua during the marriage ceremony in Heaven while Elohim’s wrath is poured out on those living on the earth, as we will see below.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 2:8  “To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: “The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things:

Rev 2:9  “I know your works, oppression, and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Hasatan.

Rev 2:10  Don’t be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Rev 2:11  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. He who overcomes won’t be harmed by the second death.

Here we see the beginnings of Replacement Theology – those who say they are now Israel, but are not Torah observant. The Roman authorities persecute Believers as a sect of Judaism and the Pharisees and other non-believing sects are happy to throw the Believers to the wolves in order to divert attention from themselves.  The separation of Rabbinic Judaism from Believers is in view here.  The ascendency of the Roman Church is also in view here, albeit in embryonic form.   This is what followed the earliest days of the apostles.

Historically, this period spans from about 100 CE to about 312 CE.  The “ten days” are considered to be the ten caesars who ordered persecutions against believers:  Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Aurelius, Severus, Maximus, Decius, Valerian, Aurelian, and Diocletian.  The days of each caesar gradually increased in the hatred and visciousness against Believers until the general public couldn’t stomach it anymore.  The martyrs braveness grew on people and more and more came to admire the Believers.  Unfortunately, however, as they turned to Belief they brought their pagan baggage with them and did not let go of it.

Here Yeshua also reminds them (and us) that we should not be afraid to die rather than live in sin or renounce true faith.  This is a message that those who must endure the Tribulation will need to take to heart.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 2:12  “To the angel of the assembly in Pergamum write: “He who has the sharp two-edged sword says these things:

Rev 2:13  “I know your works and where you dwell, where Hasatan’s throne is. You hold firmly to my name, and didn’t deny my faith in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Hasatan dwells.

Rev 2:14  But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Bil`am, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Yisra’el, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.

Rev 2:15  So you also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans likewise.

Rev 2:16  Repent therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.

Rev 2:17  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.

Bilam, of course, was instrumental in the Ba’al Peor incident, where pagan women lured men of Israel into sex outside of marriage and/or temple prostitution as a means of worship.   By this time in history, the doctrine of the Nicolaitans (Torahlessness) had become such a huge problem that even those groups that did not follow mainstreat catholicism were still infected to some degree.   Historically, this represents the time period from about 312 CE to about 590 CE.   The Torahless masses went one way, while tiny groups of Torah True Believers tried to stay under the radar.

And we can speculate that it was during this time that the Pauline epistle (I Cor 8) was being interpreted as supposedly teaching that it is ok to eat clean meat that had been sacrificed to idols, or else was edited to reflect this view.  Here Yeshua clearly states that it is NOT HIS view at all – we may NOT eat clean meat sacrificed to pagan idols or participate in banquets with pagans where such clean meat is served.  (And of course we may not eat the meat of unclean carcasses at all – that is a direct violation of Torah.)   His statement that he will “give of the hidden manna” is meant to assure Believers that they will not starve if they do not eat such meat.  The Israelites often had nothing but manna (bread) in the wilderness and survived in good health.  The lesson here is clear – if there is nothing available but clean meat offered to pagan idols, then do not eat any of it.  Those who travel in the far east need to heed this teaching even today.

The “white stone” may have something to do with the mystery cults that were being absorbed into the Roman Church, or it may refer to the Umin and Thumin, one of which was white (the other black).  The Cohen HaGadol drew these like lots from a pouch he wore – white meant “yes” or “innocent,” whereas black meant “no” or “guilty.”  Receiving a white stone would be a proof of innocence and acceptance by Elohim.

A “new name” is most likely a tribal name – finally uncovering their hereditary identity in the House of Israel.  While as Jews and many Levites know their tribe, the descendants of the other 10 tribes who have been absorbed into the syncretized Mystery Babylon religion (aka modern Christianity) do not know their identity.  Elohim, however, has not lost a single one of them and will restore their family name to them in the Messianic Kingdom iIf they repent of their Torahlessness now, before its too late.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 2:18  “To the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write: “The Son of Elohim, who has his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like burnished brass, says these things:

Rev 2:19  “I know your works, your love, faith, service, patient endurance, and that your last works are more than the first.

Rev 2:20  But I have this against you, that you tolerate your woman, Izevel, who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and seduces my servants to commit sexual immorality, and to eat things sacrificed to idols.

Rev 2:21  I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.

Rev 2:22  Behold, I will throw her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great oppression, unless they repent of her works.

Rev 2:23  I will kill her children with Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

Rev 2:24  But to you I say, to the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as don’t have this teaching, who don’t know what some call ‘the deep things of Hasatan,’ to you I say, I am not putting any other burden on you.

Rev 2:25  Nevertheless, hold firmly that which you have, until I come.

Rev 2:26  He who overcomes, and he who keeps my works to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.

Rev 2:27  He will rule them with a rod of iron, shattering them like clay pots; as I also have received of my Father:

Rev 2:28  and I will give him the morning star.

Rev 2:29  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.

Once the teaching of Torahless took hold, sexual promiscuity soon followed.  Jezebel was historically the pagan queen of King Ahav, and it was her prophets of Asherah and Ba’al that Elijah challenged to a duel (I Kings 18) and proved to be false.

Historically, this represents the period from about 590 CE to about 1517, when the Roman Church had thoroughly absorbed all the mystery cults and stamped out all rivals for supremacy, even the secular Roman government itself, to become the “Holy Roman Empire.”

In more general terms, religious harlotry usually involves mixing worship of Elohim with pagan worship, such as observing “Christmas” and “Easter” and trying to pass them off as worship of Elohim.  He detests this practice and will “kill her children” – the children of the Great Mystery Babylon, those who mix paganism with Torah.  “Great Oppression” refers to the Great Tribulation, the last half of the Time of Jacob’s Trouble.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 3:1 “And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: “He who has the seven Spirits of Elohim, and the seven stars says these things: “I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Rev 3:2  Wake up, and keep the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my Elohim.

Rev 3:3  Remember therefore how you have received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If therefore you won’t watch, I will come as a thief, and you won’t know what hour I will come upon you.

Rev 3:4  Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

Rev 3:5  He who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Rev 3:6  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.

Here we have complacency.  By this time, the “church” has overcome all political and social opposition and taken complete control,  and has completely syncretized all pagan worship into itself.  People coast along, not taking it seriously and not putting any effort into their spiritual life.  This describes the vast majority of mainline churchgoers and synagogue attendees today.

Historically, this represents the time periof of about 1517 CE to about 1750 CE, the “Reformation” era.   However, the Reformation didn’t really represent a return to Elohim  but simply a political rebellion against a corrupt government.  They thought that throwing off the political structure that made them “alive,” but in fact they were still mired in the same dead Replacement Theology and pagan syncretism.

Their garments are defiled because they don’t even consider what they are doing to be partly pagan and in violation of Elohim’s written Torah.  Recall that we are told that true obedient believers are NOT to be taken by surprise and walking in darkness, not knowing that the Day of YHWH is approaching.  (I Thess 5:4, et al.) Yet they are told they “won’t know.”   They don’t know because they have lost Elohim’s prophetic calendar and replaced it with pagan observances.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 3:7  “To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: “He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says these things:

Rev 3:8  “I know your works (behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut), that you have a little power, and kept my word, and didn’t deny my name.

Rev 3:9  Behold, I give of the synagogue of Hasatan, of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.

Rev 3:10  Because you kept my command to endure, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, which is to come on the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

Rev 3:11  I am coming quickly! Hold firmly that which you have, so that no one takes your crown.

Rev 3:12  He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my Elohim, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my Elohim, and the name of the city of my Elohim, the new Yerushalayim, which comes down out of heaven from my Elohim, and my own new name.

Rev 3:13  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.

Historically, this represents the great “missionary era” of the church, from about 1750 CE to the mid-1900s.  Though a large contingent of Sardis-era congregants remain, a few felt a zeal to spread Elohim’s word.  However, the “faith” they were spreading was still Replacement Theology.

However, during this time the True House of Israel began to reassert itself into history.  The Zionist dream was born and nurtured.  The State of Israel was re-established, and the “lost sheep” began to hear the call of Elohim’s Ruach HaKodesh, urging Teshuvah.  The Obedient Believers of the earliest days began to reappear, and to teach the lost sheep the true definitions of faith and righteousness.  This is the true missionary spirit, and it has risen up to challenge the Sardis-era holdovers and the wealthy hubris of the Laodiceans.

While in the last gasps of the era of complacency nobody really got excited about any church teachings or doctrines, simply “going with the flow,” or just picking up and moving to a new church if something bothered them, as the end of days approaches we will see a resurgance in sectarianism – specifically, Torah Obedient Belivers versus Replacement Theology.  The “church” will rally to fight off this “threat” to their paganism and disobedience, which they complacently accept without question.

The “hour of testing” is the Tribulation, and “the whole world” and “those who dwell on the earth” are those being tested.  It should be pretty obvious that the obedient believers are not in time and not on earth, according to this promise to “keep them from” that time and place.  These are those who will be included in the Parousia and be safe in the wedding chambers of Heaven while Elohim’s wrath is poured out on the earth.

Isaiah, who clearly expects to be included in the Parousia himself,  gives us a rough outline of the era of the birth pangs followed by the Parousia and finally the Tribulation:

Isa 26:17  Like as a woman with child, that draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and cries out in her pangs; so have we been in your sight, YHWH.   Isa 26:18  We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.   Isa 26:19  Your  dead people shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, you that dwell in dust: for your dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.   Isa 26:20  Come, my people, enter thou into your chambers, and shut your doors about you: hide yourself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.   Isa 26:21  For, behold, YHWH comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

Those left behind at the Parousia who become obedient believers during the Tribulation face the refining fire of Elohim will be included in the Resurrection of the Just at Yom Kippur when the King of Kings returns – but they do not return to Earth to become the rulers of the Messianic Kingdom as other Obedient Believers are promised.  They get to remain in Heaven and serve in the Heavenly Temple instead of the one on Earth (as we will see again later in Revelation).   And when the new heavens and the new earth are created and the new Jerusalem descends to the new earth, they will be the highest authorities in Elohim’s government, because they have been assayed like no one else, in the Tribulation fires.

Revelation, continued:

Rev 3:14  “To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: “The Amein, the Faithful and True Witness, the Head of Elohim’s creation, says these things:

Rev 3:15  “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot.

Rev 3:16  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth.

Rev 3:17  Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing;’ and don’t know that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked;

Rev 3:18  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich; and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.

Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent.

Rev 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me.

Rev 3:21  He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Rev 3:22  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.”

It is significant that here Yeshua refers to creation, because even churchgoers and synagogue attendees no longer believe in creation by Elohim in these last days.

We see here that in the court of public opinion, Replacement Theology is going to “win” and complacency will continue to grow in the ranks of supposedly “saved” people.   What is emerging is a sort of “unitarian universalism” in all but name being the teaching of every supposedly different sect.  As more and more small churches are forced out of business, these lifeless megachurches and Reform synagogues leech both the money and the spiritual life out of those tho attend there.

This leads to the astonishing fact that Yeshua (and by extension, the Ruach HaKodesh)  is excluded from the congregation, and is outside knocking trying to get people to come out to him.   In the more mundane sense, we can predict that Obedient Believers will be expelled from these congregations, both churches and synagogues.   Convicting people of their sin makes them uncomfortable, and lukewarm people can’t stand to be uncomfortably hot or cold.

And this war against Obedient Believers  also leads to the ultimate triumph of Replacement Theology here on Earth, the replacement of Yeshua HaMashiach as the acknowledged savior of the world with the Beast, the False Messiah, who will take his place.   He seats himself on the Throne and “prevails” against the saints,  but Yeshua here promises that those who stand by their faith and obedience and overcome ( till death or till the end of the Trib, whichever comes first) will be the real rulers of the Kingdom.

Prophetically, this Laodicean age is the last days, the time from about 1950 or so CE to until the beginning of the Tribulation.  There is not a single word of praise for this era and these believers – not one redeeming quality.  Yeshua has been expelled from his own churches, in the same way the Rabbis expelled Him (as YHWH) from Rabbinic Judaism so long ago.  The time is ripe for what is anything but a hostile takeover – the False Messiah has a field ripe for the taking in front of him, and he will take full advantage of the sheep grazing therein.  They have ignored the voice of their shephard and have been left behind from going to the place of safety.  Now they will face the wolf, who will devour them by the millions.

Next:  Epistle Vetchanan.

Haftarah Vetchanan

Haftarah Vetchanan

Yeshayahu – Isaiah 40:1-26

Isa 40:1 “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your Elohim.

Isa 40:2  “Speak comfortably to Yerushalayim; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of YHWH’s hand double for all her sins.”

This will be accomplished with the judgement at Yom Kippur, at the second advent of Yeshua HaMasiach..

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 40:3  The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of YHWH in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our Elohim.

Isa 40:4  Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain.

This is the voice of one of the two witnesses.  During the lifetime of Yeshua, his cousin Yochanan fulfilled the role of Elijah and performed this prophecy, but that was just a foreshadowing of the mission of the two witnesses during the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation.  Enoch and Elijah will perform this ministry at that time.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 40:5  The glory of YHWH shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of YHWH has spoken it.”

“All flesh” means this refers to the second advent, not the foreshadowing which occurred in 1^st century Judea.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 40:6  The voice of one saying, “Cry!” One said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.

Isa 40:7  The grass withers, the flower fades, because YHWH’s breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass.

Isa 40:8  The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our Elohim stands forever.”

This is a message our generation needs to hear.  They imagine that they have inherent immortality, but they do not.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 40:9  You who tell good news to Tziyon, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Yerushalayim, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up. Don’t be afraid. Say to the cities of Yehudah, “Behold, your Elohim!”

Isa 40:10  Behold, Adonai YHWH will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.

Isa 40:11  He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.

The “good shepherd” theme.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 40:12  Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the sky with his span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

Isa 40:13  Who has directed the Spirit of YHWH, or has taught him as his counselor?

Isa 40:14  Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?

Isa 40:15  Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance. Behold, he lifts up the islands like a very little thing.

Isa 40:16  Levanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.

Isa 40:17  All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.

Isa 40:18  To whom then will you liken Elohim? Or what likeness will you compare to him?

Isa 40:19  A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.

Isa 40:20  He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up an engraved image for him that will not be moved.

Not just physical idols, but anything we consider to be more important than faith and obedience to Elohim is an idol.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 40:21  Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard, yet? Haven’t you been told from the beginning? Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth?

Isa 40:22  It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in;

Isa 40:23  who brings princes to nothing; who makes the judges of the earth like meaningless.

Isa 40:24  They are planted scarcely. They are sown scarcely. Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground. He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.

Modern man suffers from the delusion that he is master of his own future and destiny.  He will be very much disabused of this false notion.

Isaiah, continued:

Isa 40:25  “To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

Isa 40:26  Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, who brings out their army by number. He calls them all by name. by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, Not one is lacking.

Modern man no longer believes in creation, claiming to have in essence created himself, to be the pinnacle of “evolution” and the highest existing know intelligence.  But the ones who knows our names will call us to account, and we will have no excuse and no ability to overrule the King of Kings.

Next:  Talmidim Vetchanan.

Torah Portion Vetchanan

Torah Portion Vetchanan

Devarim – Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11

Recall, Moses is giving his grand finale speech to the people as they prepare to cross the Jordan river.

Deu 3:23  I begged YHWH at that time, saying,

Deu 3:24  Adonai YHWH, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your strong hand: for what “god” is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to your works, and according to your mighty acts?

Deu 3:25  Please let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Yarden, that goodly mountain, and Levanon.

Deu 3:26  But YHWH was angry with me for your sakes, and didn’t listen to me; and YHWH said to me, Let it suffice you; speak no more to me of this matter.

Deu 3:27  Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and see with your eyes: for you shall not go over this Yarden.

Deu 3:28  But charge Yehoshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you shall see.

Deu 3:29  So we abode in the valley over against Beit-Pe`or.

Deu 4:1 Now, Yisra’el, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land which YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, gives you.

Deu 4:2  You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish from it, that you may keep the mitzvot of YHWH your Elohim which I command you.

The Oral Law violates this commandment in every possible way.  They negate the plain intention of many of Elohim’s laws (for example, negating the schmitta year release of debt by a fake “Sale” of that debt to a foreigner so it can continue to be collected) and make burdensome additions to Elohim’s law (such as which shoe you should put on first in the morning) and stretch the intent of some of Elohim’s law beyond all reasonability (such as requiring 12-14 days of abstinence for a woman’s niddah instead of 7).  The “fences” around the written Torah are the opinions of one sect – the Pharisees, who were heavily influenced by pagan Babylon during the first deportation and by pagan Hellenism before and after the second deportation, and later by Catholic Europe to become what we know as the Orthodox Rabbinate.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 4:3  Your eyes have seen what YHWH did because of Ba`al-Pe`or; for all the men who followed Ba`al-Pe`or, YHWH your Elohim has destroyed them from the midst of you.

Deu 4:4  But you who did cleave to YHWH your Elohim are alive everyone of you this day.

Deu 4:5  Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as YHWH my Elohim commanded me, that you should do so in the midst of the land where you go in to possess it.

Deu 4:6  Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

Deu 4:7  For what [other] great nation is there, that has a “god” so near to them, as YHWH our Elohim is whenever we call on him?

Deu 4:8  What great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

The Rabbinate considers Elohim’s written Torah to be inadequate.  They claim it fails to explain or make clear Elohim’s laws to us, but that is just not true.  They claim that because the written Torah does not describe one particular way to do many things, that they received a “secret” revelation on Mt. Sinai explaining the “one” particular way to do those things.  But in reality, there is no single way to obey a Torah commandment – any method that does not disobey it obviously obeys it, not just “their” way.  They intend to put Elohim and all Israel into their straight-jacket of power and control, by saying there is only a single way to follow Elohim’s instructions.  Elohim, however, created 12 tribes that had 12 different sets of interpretations and traditions and even spoke different dialects of Hebrew.  None were better or worse than any other.  They were all valid and all accepted.  It was only after the Pharisees were able to cut a deal with the Romans (to collaborate with their takeover of Judea and save their own skins) that they seized control of all tradition and precedent in 70 CE.  From that time forward, they defined “Judaism” in their own image and no other – Elohim was excluded from the process entirely by way of their false “it is not in heaven” docrtine.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 4:9  Only take heed to yourself, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children;

Deu 4:10  the day that you stood before YHWH your Elohim in Chorev, when YHWH said to me, Assemble me the people, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.

Deu 4:11  You came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.

Deu 4:12  YHWH spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; only [you heard] a voice.

Deu 4:13  He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten mitzvot; and he wrote them on two tables of stone.

Deu 4:14  YHWH commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it.

This is when the Rabbinate says Moses secretly received the Oral Law.  But the Torah itself says that Moses taught the people everything he was told, and wrote it down in the written texts.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 4:15  Take therefore good heed to yourselves; for you saw no manner of form on the day that YHWH spoke to you in Chorev out of the midst of the fire.

Deu 4:16  Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself an engraved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

Deu 4:17  the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,

Deu 4:18  the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth;

Deu 4:19  and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which YHWH your Elohim has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.

Paganism is still alive and well, too, in America and around the world.  There are plenty of peole who consider animal “rights” to be superior to human beings, and who follow astrologers, and who worship the moon, sun and stars and even trees and rocks in new age occult practices.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 4:20  But YHWH has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as at this day.

Deu 4:21  Furthermore YHWH was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Yarden, and that I should not go in to that good land, which YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance:

Deu 4:22  but I must die in this land, I must not go over the Yarden; but you shall go over, and possess that good land.

Deu 4:23  Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of YHWH your Elohim, which he made with you, and make you an engraved image in the form of anything which YHWH your Elohim has forbidden you.

Deu 4:24  For YHWH your Elohim is a devouring fire, a jealous Elohim.

Deu 4:25  When you shall father children, and children’s children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make an engraved image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of YHWH your Elohim, to provoke him to anger;

Deu 4:26  I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you go over the Yarden to possess it; you shall not prolong your days on it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

Deu 4:27  YHWH will scatter you among the peoples, and you shall be left few in number among the nations, where YHWH shall lead you away.

Deu 4:28  There you shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

This has happened to most of 10-Israel and a great percentage of Jews/Levites, too.  They have become assimilated into pagan nations.  What we call “Jews” today are only two tribes of Judaism, with a set of traditions and precedents that they insist show they are ALL of Israel and that they claim are binding on all Israel, but that is not the case.  Israel’s covenant with Elohim is His Written Torah, which is written on our hearts and minds when we are infused with the Ruach HaKodesh upon our immersion and profession of faith in Yeshua HaMashiach.  There is no other covenant and no other law.  Teshuvah (repentance) is, by definition, returning to Elohim’s Written Torah – it is NOT adopting the Rabbinate’s Oral Law, which VIOLATES Elohim’s real Torah.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 4:29  But from there you shall seek YHWH your Elohim, and you shall find him, when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deu 4:30  When you are in oppression, and all these things are come on you, in the latter days you shall return to YHWH your Elohim, and listen to his voice:

His voice, not the Rabbis.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 4:31  for YHWH your Elohim is a merciful Elohim; he will not fail you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.

Deu 4:32  For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that Elohim created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been [any such thing] as this great thing is, or has been heard like it?

Deu 4:33  Did ever a people hear the voice of Elohim speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?

Deu 4:34  Or has Elohim tried to go and take him a nation from the midst of [another] nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that YHWH your Elohim did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

Deu 4:35  To you it was shown, that you might know that YHWH he is Elohim; there is none else besides him.

Deu 4:36  Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you: and on earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.

Deu 4:37  Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt;

Deu 4:38  to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as at this day.

Deu 4:39  Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that YHWH he is Elohim in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is none else.

Deu 4:40  You shall keep his statutes, and his mitzvot, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which YHWH your Elohim gives you, forever.

“That I command you this day” also is evidence that there was no “secret” Oral Law handed down to anyone.  Elohim gave His Written Torah to the entire nation and that was all they needed.  No instructions were kept back from them – indeed, it is ridiculous to claim that Elohim becomes angry and punishes people for not following instructions they never received.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 4:41  Then Moshe set apart three cities beyond the Yarden toward the sunrise;

Deu 4:42  that the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unawares, and didn’t hate him in time past; and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:

Deu 4:43  [namely], Betzer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Re’uveni; and Ramot in Gil`ad, for the Gadi; and Galon in Bashan, for the Manashi.

Deu 4:44  This is the law which Moshe set before the children of Yisra’el:

Deu 4:45  these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moshe spoke to the children of Yisra’el, when they came forth out of Egypt,

Deu 4:46  beyond the Yarden, in the valley over against Beit-Pe`or, in the land of Sichon king of the Amori, who lived at Cheshbon, whom Moshe and the children of Yisra’el struck, when they came forth out of Egypt.

Deu 4:47  They took his land in possession, and the land of `Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amori, who were beyond the Yarden toward the sunrise;

Deu 4:48  from `Aro`er, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even to Mount Tzion (the same is Chermon),

Deu 4:49  and all the `Aravah beyond the Yarden eastward, even to the sea of the `Aravah, under the slopes of Pisgah.

Deu 5:1 Moshe called to all Yisra’el, and said to them, Hear, Yisra’el, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears this day, that you may learn them, and observe to do them.

Again, no secret law here, only Elohim’s explicit and public instructions to all Israel.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 5:2  YHWH our Elohim made a covenant with us in Chorev.

Deu 5:3  YHWH didn’t make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.

“All of us” includes not just the 12 Tribes of Israel but also the entire mixed multitude that stayed with them since they came out of Egypt.  This covenant is binding upon the descendents of every one of these people, whether they were native born or not.   The fact is that taking what we know of genetic transmission and the migrations of 10-Israel and the Jews/Levites, no one of European and Near Eastern or Native American descent can claim with a straight face that they don’t have any Israelite ancestors.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 5:4  YHWH spoke with you face to face on the mountain out of the midst of the fire,

Deu 5:5  (I stood between YHWH and you at that time, to show you the word of YHWH: for you were afraid because of the fire, and didn’t go up onto the mountain;) saying,

Deu 5:6  “I am YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Deu 5:7  You shall have no other “gods” before me.

Literally, you shall have no other “mighty ones” before me.  No kings, no priests, no Rabbis, no ministers, no prophets, no angels or demon are to come between you and YHWH.  They are created beings, and while they may claim to speak for Him, if you want to know His word you should read it and let the Ruach HaKodesh clarify it, not rely on earthly teachers.  The days are long gone when texts of the Tanakh were too expensive or too hard to come by.  Everyone today is responsible for reading the Bible and learning it themselves, not put themselves under the power of some other authority.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 5:8  “You shall not make an engraved image for yourself, [nor] any likeness [of anything] that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

Deu 5:9  you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them; for I, YHWH, your Elohim, am a jealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me;

Deu 5:10  and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my mitzvot.

This does not prohibit artwork – indeed, the “sea” itself has cast bulls as its base, for example.  The prohibition is strictly against idol worship.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 5:11  “You shall not take the name of YHWH your Elohim in vain: for YHWH will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

This primarily regards taking oaths, but can also apply to “curse” words.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 5:12  “Observe the day of Shabbat, to keep it holy, as YHWH your Elohim commanded you.

Deu 5:13  Six days shall you labor, and do all your work;

Deu 5:14  but the seventh day is a Shabbat to YHWH your Elohim: [in it] you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

Deu 5:15  You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and YHWH your Elohim brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm: therefore YHWH your Elohim commanded you to keep the day of Shabbat.

There was no such thing as a “two day” weekend until very recently in modern times.  The first day of the week  was a workday like any other, and there is nothing sacred about it. Constantine declared that Sunday, the day of the sun god mithras, would replace Elohim’s real weekly Sabbath in the 4^th century CE.  Until that time, all apostles and believers observed Elohim’s real 7^th day Sabbath.   The fact that Yeshua rose from the grave on the first day of the week was in fulfillment of the Feast of Firstfruits, which always falls on the first day of the week following Pesach.  It has nothing whatsoever to do with the regular weekly Sabbath.  In fact, the Feast of Firstfruits is not even a sabbath itself.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 5:16  “Honor your father and your mother, as YHWH your Elohim commanded you; that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you, in the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you.

Deu 5:17  “You shall not murder.

Often mistranslated as “kill,” this is not a prohibition against a just war or self-defense.

Deuteronony, continued:

Deu 5:18  “Neither shall you commit adultery.

Adultery is seeking sexual gratification from any source other than your legal spouse.  It includes pornography of all kinds, as well as flirtations and such with someone who is not your spouse.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 5:19  “Neither shall you steal.

To steal is to take something from someone to whom it legally belongs.  Therefore cheating on your taxes, defrauding a government program or your insurance company, etc., is also stealing.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 5:20  “Neither shall you give false testimony against your neighbor.

Meant primarily concerning court cases, the “court of public opinion” also applies.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 5:21  “Neither shall you covet your neighbor’s wife; neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Coveting is not the same as having a goal and saving up for it because you admire it, or working toward emulating someone who is spirit-filled and good at what they do.  We need goals and aspirations to motivate us to be good stewards and do well.  However, there are realistic limits to what we can achieve with our own resources, and we need to be satisfied with what Elohim provided – not lusting after things that are not useful for the kingdom and not beneficial for your family and yourself.  Social status is not the goal of a Believer.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 5:22  These words YHWH spoke to all your assembly on the mountain out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. He wrote them on two tables of stone, and gave them to me.

These are the basis of the entire corpus of the written Torah – our verticle duties to Elohim and our horizontal duties to our fellow men.  From these, all the details of the written Torah spring.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 5:23  It happened, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;

Deu 5:24  and you said, Behold, YHWH our Elohim has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that Elohim does speak with man, and he lives.

Deu 5:25  Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of YHWH our Elohim any more, then we shall die.

Deu 5:26  For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living Elohim speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?

Deu 5:27  Go you near, and hear all that YHWH our Elohim shall say: and speak you to us all that YHWH our Elohim shall speak to you; and we will hear it, and do it.

In other words, they commit to obeying all of Elohim’s commandments – for themselves and all their descendents for all time, including us in this day who may not even know about having an Israelite ancestor.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 5:28  YHWH heard the voice of your words, when you spoke to me; and YHWH said to me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken to you: they have well said all that they have spoken.

Deu 5:29  Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my mitzvot always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!

Deu 5:30  Go tell them, Return you to your tents.

Deu 5:31  But as for you, stand you here by me, and I will speak to you all the mitzvah, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.

Deu 5:32  You shall observe to do therefore as YHWH your Elohim has commanded you: you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

Deu 5:33  You shall walk in all the way which YHWH your Elohim has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.

Again, no “secret” instructions here.  The results of Moshe’s time on Mt. Chorev were written down and read to all Israel every 7^th year in a public assembly, as we will later see.  There aren’t thousands and thousands of pages of Elohim’s instructions – there is only the Written Torah.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 6:1 Now this is the mitzvah, the statutes, and the ordinances, which YHWH your Elohim commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it;

Deu 6:2  that you might fear YHWH your Elohim, to keep all his statutes and his mitzvot, which I command you, you, and your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged.

Deu 6:3  Hear therefore, Yisra’el, and observe to do it; that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

Deu 6:4  Hear, Yisra’el: YHWH is our Elohim; YHWH is one:

Deu 6:5  and you shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

Deu 6:6  These words, which I command you this day, shall be on your heart;

Deu 6:7  and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.

Deu 6:8  You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for symbols between your eyes.

Deu 6:9  You shall write them on the door posts of your house, and on your gates.

This passage is recited in the daily prayers at least twice each day.

“Your children” is generally considered to supplement the Genesis commandment to “go forth and multiply.”  That is, from these passages we derive a commandment to marry and have children if at all possible.

“Bind them for a sign upon your hand” is the source of the tradition of using t’fillin (also called “phylacteries”) during prayer.  Yeshua did not claim that this was an invalid interpretation of the Torah commandment (though there are obviously other interpretations) – but he did complain that the Pharisees had made their t’fillin obnoxiously large to show off.  (Matt 23:5)

“Write them on the doorposts of your house” is the source of the tradition of placing a mezuzah on the doors of the home and the gates of the property.  It contains verses from Torah, including this passage, to demonstrate to all who enter that the family is obedient to Elohim.  There are, of course, other ways of obeying this commandment, such as actually writing verses from Torah on the doorposts.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 6:10  It shall be, when YHWH your Elohim shall bring you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Ya`akov, to give you, great and goodly cities, which you didn’t build,

Deu 6:11  and houses full of all good things, which you didn’t fill, and cisterns dug out, which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees, which you didn’t plant, and you shall eat and be full;

Deu 6:12  then beware lest you forget YHWH, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Deu 6:13  You shall fear YHWH your Elohim; and him shall you serve, and shall swear by his name.

Deu 6:14  You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are round about you;

Deu 6:15  for YHWH your Elohim in the midst of you is a jealous Elohim; lest the anger of YHWH your Elohim be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

Deu 6:16  You shall not tempt YHWH your Elohim, as you tempted him in Massah.

Deu 6:17  You shall diligently keep the mitzvot of YHWH your Elohim, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you.

Deu 6:18  You shall do that which is right and good in the sight of YHWH; that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land which YHWH swore to your fathers,

Deu 6:19  to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as YHWH has spoken.

In addition to actually obeying Elohim’s commandments, we are here commanded to “do that which is good and right,” meaning all our actions, even things in everyday life which do not appear to have anything to do with Torah commandments, should be conducted in such a way as to be above reproach, be generous, and be kind.  A torah-observant skinflint is still a skinflint, and brings a bad name both to Elohim and to other Believers.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 6:20  When your son asks you in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which YHWH our Elohim has commanded you?

Deu 6:21  then you shall tell your son, We were Par`oh’s bondservants in Egypt: and YHWH brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand;

Deu 6:22  and YHWH showed great and awesome signs and wonders on Egypt, on Par`oh, and on all his house, before our eyes;

Deu 6:23  and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers.

Deu 6:24  YHWH commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear YHWH our Elohim, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as at this day.

Deu 6:25  It shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all this mitzvah before YHWH our Elohim, as he has commanded us.

This is the definition of righteousness which Yeshua, as YHWH Incarnate, gave us.  There is no other definition of righteousness.  If you are disobedient of Elohim’s commandments, you are living in sin and are not righteous, period.  It’s that simple.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 7:1 When YHWH your Elohim shall bring you into the land where you go to possess it, and shall cast out many nations before you, the Chittite, and the Girgashi, and the Amori, and the Kena`ani, and the Perizzi, and the Chivvi, and the Yevusi, seven nations greater and mightier than you;

Deu 7:2  and when YHWH your Elohim shall deliver them up before you, and you shall strike them; then you shall utterly destroy them: you shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them;

Deu 7:3  neither shall you make marriages with them; your daughter you shall not give to his son, nor his daughter shall you take to your son.

Unless a person has committed themselves to Torah Observance and faith in Yeshua HaMashiach, they are not a fit marriage partner.  You cannot “fix” a spouse who has a rebellious heart.  Until someone repents, they are not to be considered for marriage.  We are commanded to marry “in Adonai,” as Paul put it (I Cor 7:39).  Marrying a pagan or a disobedient person leads to sin in your home.

Deuteronomy, continued:

Deu 7:4  For he will turn away your son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of YHWH be kindled against you, and he will destroy you quickly.

Deu 7:5  But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their engraved images with fire.

Deu 7:6  For you are a holy people to YHWH your Elohim: YHWH your Elohim has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.

Deu 7:7  YHWH didn’t set his love on you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples:

Deu 7:8  but because YHWH loves you, and because he would keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, has YHWH brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Par`oh king of Egypt.

Deu 7:9  Know therefore that YHWH your Elohim, he is Elohim, the faithful Elohim, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with them who love him and keep his mitzvot to a thousand generations,

Deu 7:10  and repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him who hates him, he will repay him to his face.

Deu 7:11  You shall therefore keep the mitzvah, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which I command you this day, to do them.

These are the words of Yeshua, as YHWH Incarnate.  We must take them seriously.  Whether we are native born or grafted-in, they apply to us.

Next:  Haftarah Vetchanan.

Israel pressing ahead with biometric IDs.

The only real obstacle is apparently religious modesty requirements.

From:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3752641,00.html

“The biometric database bill, which passed its first Knesset reading in October, suggests the use of smart IDs and passports, based on fingerprints and visual scans in order to prevent forgery of state documents.”

and

“Knesset Member Zevulun Orlev (Habayit Hayehudi) asked the Knesset’s Science and Technology Committee to review the proposed requirements in order to prevent a situation in which observant women would be obligated to remove their headdress, which is forbidden according to the Halacha, in order to be scanned into the system.”

Rosh Chodesh Av

Rosh Chodesh Av, the eclipse of July 22nd, and the Fast of Tish B’Av

There was an eclipse of the sun yesterday evening (July 22nd) in the Eastern Hemisphere, not visible in Israel, but visible in Pakistan, parts of India, parts of China and other nearby areas.  Prophetically, these places are known to be enemies of Israel.  There may be more references to Pakistan in the prophets, but two are known from Jeremiah:

Jer 51:28 Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Madai, the governors of it, and all the deputies of it, and all the land of their dominion.

Madai is Media, the Medes. They are Indo-related peoples who conquered Persia. They lived in the Northwestern portion of what is now Iran, with their territory extending eastward toward India including what is now Pakistan.

Jer 25:15 For thus says YHWH, the Elohim of Yisra’el, to me: take this cup of the wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. Jer 25:16 They shall drink, and reel back and forth, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. Jer 25:17 Then took I the cup at YHWH’s hand, and made all the nations to drink, to whom YHWH had sent me…Jer 25:25 and all the kings of Zimri…

Zimri is a pashtun tribe in Pakistan. Here is the first Biblical evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in the events of the last days, some 2500 years before they actually started happening.

After this eclipse, of course, the horns of the new moon were sighted the next evening and Rosh Chodesh Av was declared.

Karaite Korner Newsletter #398

New Moon Report
July 2009
Fifth Biblical Month

On Thursday July 23, 2009 the new moon was sighted from Jerusalem by Devorah Gordon at 19:50 and shortly thereafter by Rick Busenbark. The new moon was also sighted from Maale Adumim by Roy Hoffman at 19:34 and from Ashdod by Magdi Shamuel at 19:38.

Rosh Chodesh Sameach!
Happy New Moon!

Nehemia Gordon
Reporting from Charlotte, North Carolina

This means that the Fast of Av 9th/10th would ordinary have begun at sundown on Friday, July 31st.  However, the tradition is that the Sabbath is not interrupted for a fast that is only historical in basis.  The only fast that may fall on Shabbat is Yom Kippur itself.  So this year, the Fast of Av will be observed beginning at Sundown right after Shabbat on Saturday evening, August the 1st and continue until Sundown Sunday evening, August 2nd.

This is a “rehearsal,” if you will, for Yom Kippur and a day of mourning for the destruction of both the First and Second Temples.  If you cannot fast the entire 24 hours, it is not a sin.  However, as practice for Yom Kippur – when it will be a sin to break the fast except for legitimate medical reasons – it is good to make every effort to successfully complete the fast.

May your fast be an easy one.  Shalom!

Kollel Devarim

Kollel Devarim

Titus chapter 3

Tit 3:1 Remind them [congregants in Crete and everywhere] to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,

Tit 3:2  to speak evil of no one, not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing all humility toward all men.

We must obey all civil laws in the municipalites in which we live as long as they are not direct violations of Torah commandments – which very, very few would qualify as being.  We must obey zoning ordinances and building codes, licensing requirements, speed limits and auto registrations, we must pay taxes and applicable fees and get permits the same as all other citizens.

Titus, continued:

Tit 3:3  For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

Tit 3:4  But when the kindness of Elohim our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared,

Tit 3:5  not by works of righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us, through the mikvah of rebirth and renewing by the Ruach HaKodesh,

Tit 3:6  whom he poured out on us richly, through Yeshua the Messiah our Savior;

Tit 3:7  that, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Those who wish to become part of the House of Israel must, according to Yeshua HaMashiach as YHWH Incarnate, not just “believe” but also be immersed in the miqvah and accept the rules of the House upon ourselves.

Isa 56:1 Thus says YHWH, Keep you justice, and do righteousness; for my Yeshuah is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.   Isa 56:2  Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast; who keeps the Shabbat from profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.   Isa 56:3  Neither let the foreigner, who has joined himself to YHWH, speak, saying, YHWH will surely separate me from his people…  Isa 56:6  Also the foreigners who join themselves to YHWH, to minister to him, and to love the name of YHWH, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Shabbat from profaning it, and holds fast my covenant;   Isa 56:7  even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.   Isa 56:8  Adonai YHWH, who gathers the outcasts of Yisra’el, says, Yet will I gather [others] to him, besides his own who are gathered.

A house divided against itself cannot stand – and Elohim’s house is not divided.  There is one Torah that applies to both the native born and to the grafted-in.  Those who are grafted in have been bought and paid-for by the blood of Yeshua Himself.

Gen 17:10  This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised.   Gen 17:11  You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you.   Gen 17:12  He who is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your seed.   Gen 17:13  He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.   Gen 17:14  The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.”

Those who are uncircumcised are excluded from Yeshua’s Covenant Kiddush at Passover – by his own commandment as YHWH Incarnate:

Exo 12:43  YHWH said to Moshe and Aharon, “This is the ordinance of the Pesach. There shall no foreigner eat of it,   Exo 12:44  but every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then shall he eat of it.   Exo 12:45  A foreigner and a hired servant shall not eat of it.   Exo 12:46  In one house shall it be eaten; you shall not carry forth anything of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall you break a bone of it.   Exo 12:47  All the congregation of Yisra’el shall keep it.   Exo 12:48  When a stranger shall live as a foreigner with you, and will keep the Pesach to YHWH, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one who is born in the land: but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.   Exo 12:49  One law shall be to him who is born at home, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you.”

Salvation has always been by Grace.  Elohim has no obligation to accept our repentance or provide a substitute for our own death penalty for sin – yet He does.  The wages of sin is death, period, and we have all sinned.   It is only by Elohim’s Grace that any reprieve from our sentence is provided.  We show our love and gratitude to Elohim for doing this for us with our faith and our obedience.  Faith and obedience are inseparable.

1Jo 5:1  Whoever believes that Yeshua is the Messiah is born of Elohim. Whoever loves the father also loves the child who is born of him.   1Jo 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of Elohim, when we love Elohim and keep his mitzvot.   1Jo 5:3 For this is the love of Elohim, that we keep his mitzvot. His mitzvot are not grievous.   1Jo 5:4  For whatever is born of Elohim overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith.

Faith without works is, of course, dead.

Titus, continued:

Tit 3:8  This saying is faithful, and concerning these things I desire that you affirm confidently, so that those who have believed Elohim may be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men;

Tit 3:9  but shun foolish questionings, genealogies, strife, and disputes about the [Oral] Torah; for they are unprofitable and vain.

It is pointless to argue about what is the “right” way to observe Torah  -  any way that doesn’t violate the Written Torah is a “right” way.  There is no “THE” right way.  Elohim brought 11 tribes plus the Levites into Eretz Israel. The Levites were commanded to teach people the Written Torah  – and the tribes each had their own traditions, precedents, even dialects of Hebrew, and none are more valid than any other.   Torah is not meant to leave one stuck in the middle ages or on “Little House on the Prarie.”   The written Torah is a document for all times and places – just the way it is, no embellishment necessary.

Titus, continued:

Tit 3:10  Avoid a heretical man after a first and second warning;

Tit 3:11  knowing that such a one is perverted, and sins, being self-condemned.

A heretic is one who insists that something not written in the Torah itself is a precept that must be obeyed by Believers.  Those who insist that all Believers must follow the Oral Law are heretics.  Those who claim the Written Torah is “done away with” are heretics.  Someone who has a different tradition or interpretation that is within the bounds of the Written Torah is NOT a heretic, unless they insist that you’re going to hell unless you follow it.  Then they are “schismatics” as some translations here say – they are heretics who bring false doctrines and split the congregation with them, claiming others are “unsaved” or “fallen.”  Beware of such power-mongers and control freaks.  They are outside of Elohim’s will.

Titus, continued:

Tit 3:12  When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me to Nicopolis, for I have determined to winter there.

Tit 3:13  Send Zenas, the Torah scholar, and Apollos on their journey speedily, that nothing may be lacking for them.

Tit 3:14  Let our people also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they may not be unfruitful.

Tit 3:15  All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in faith. Grace be with you all. Amein.

Next Week:  Parashat Ve’Etchanan.

Epistle Devarim

Epistle Devarim

John 13:1-38

Joh 13:1 Now before the feast of the Pesach, Yeshua, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

Joh 13:2  And the Seder having become [ready], the devil having already put into the heart of Yehudah Iskriot, Shim`on’s son, to betray him,

Joh 13:3  Yeshua, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came forth from Elohim, and was going to Elohim,

Joh 13:4  arose from [the opening liturgy of] the Seder, and laid aside his outer garments. He took a towel, and wrapped a towel around his waist.

Yeshua and his disciples are in the famous “Upper Room” and the Passover Seder has begun.  It is the sundown beginning Nisan 14^th (Wednesday evening at sundown, that year).  They have recited the opening blessings.  Each of the participants had no doubt immersed themselves in a miqvah to be ritually clean (unless they were unclean from a dead body, in which they had to wait until next month, Iyar 14^th, to observe Passover).  As part of the opening liturgy, the netilot yadayim is performed (the washing of the hands).

Then, Yeshua did something unexpected.

John, continued:

Joh 13:5  Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the talmidim’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

Joh 13:6  Then he came to Shim`on Kefa. He said to him, “Adonai, do you wash my feet?”

Joh 13:7  Yeshua answered him, “You don’t know what I am doing now, but you will understand later.”

Joh 13:8  Kefa said to him, “You will never wash my feet!” Yeshua answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”

What they are doing is preparing for the Covenat Kiddush which Yeshua, at the end of the Seder, will establish with them and command all his future followers to re-enact.  It is no coincidence that this Covenant Kiddush (bread and wine) of the “new covenant” is taking place on Passover, where no uncircumcised man may be present – it is part of the theology of the process.  They are being inagurated as the kings and priests of the Messianic Kingdom, and as such they must be both circumcised and completely ritually clean.  They had immersed at the miqvah and washed their hands (just then) but still had one thing left to do, since they had walked through the unclean streets to reach the Upper Room.

Exo 30:17  YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,   Exo 30:18  “You shall also make a basin of brass, and the base of it of brass, in which to wash. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it.   Exo 30:19 Aharon and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in it.   Exo 30:20  When they go into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, that they not die; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to YHWH.   Exo 30:21  So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they not die: and it shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his descendants throughout their generations.”

Since we are commanded to “do this in remembrance” of Yeshua at every Passover, we, too, must practice the foot-washing as part of our Seder.  It is very much out of style, to say the least, but it is both practiced and commanded by Yesha, as YHWH Incarnate, and we cannot omit it from our Passover observance.  It is a necessary prerequisite for the Covenant Kiddush.

John, continued:

Joh 13:9  Shim`on Kefa said to him, “Adonai, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”

Joh 13:10  Yeshua said to him, “Someone who has immersed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.”

Joh 13:11  For he knew him who would betray him, therefore he said, “You are not all clean.”

Ritual purity includes one’s heart and intentions as well as our physical obedience.  Judas did not intend to be obedient or to follow Yeshua any longer, and because this was so, going through the outward motions was not enough.

Conversely, we cannot say that just because we have “intent” in our heart that we do not have to observe the physical rituals.  They are each one side of the same coin – neither less important than the other.  In fact, refusal to observe the rituals commanded in the Written Torah shows that one’s heart is NOT intending to be obedient and follow Adonai.

John, continued:

Joh 13:12  So when he had washed their feet, put his outer garment back on, and sat down again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?

Joh 13:13  You call me, ‘Rabbi’ and ‘Adonai.’ You say so correctly, for so I am.

Joh 13:14  If I then, the Adonai and the Rabbi, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

Joh 13:15  For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

As we see here, we are commanded to add the foot-washing to our Passover Seder.  This is a direct commandment from YHWH Incarnate, and cannot be ignored.

John, continued:

Joh 13:16  Most certainly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither one who is sent greater than he who sent him.

Joh 13:17  If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Joh 13:18  I don’t speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen. But that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.’

This passage comes from Psalms:

Psa 41:9 (41:10) Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.   Psa 41:10  (41:11) But Thou, YHWH, be gracious unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.   Psa 41:11  (41:12) By this I know that Thou delightest in me, that mine enemy doth not triumph over me.   Psa 41:12  (41:13) And as for me, Thou upholdest me because of mine integrity, and settest me before Thy face for ever.   Psa 41:13  (41:14) Blessed be YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, from everlasting and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

John, continued:

Joh 13:19  From now on, I tell you before it happens, that when it happens, you may believe that I AM.

Joh 13:20  Most certainly I tell you, he who receives whomever I send, receives me; and he who receives me, receives him who sent me.”

Joh 13:21  When Yeshua had said this, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, “Most certainly I tell you that one of you will betray me.”

Joh 13:22  The talmidim looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke.

Joh 13:23  One of his talmidim, whom Yeshua loved, was at the table, leaning against Yeshua’s breast.

Joh 13:24  Shim`on Kefa therefore beckoned to him, and said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom he speaks.”

Joh 13:25  He, leaning back, as he was, on Yeshua’s breast, asked him, “Adonai, who is it?”

Joh 13:26  Yeshua therefore answered, “It is he to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Yehudah, the son of Shim`on Iskriot.

The bread would have been dipped into the salt water and bitter herbs, representing tears and affliction.

John, continued:

Joh 13:27  After the piece of bread, then Hasatan entered into him. Then Yeshua said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”

Joh 13:28  Now no man at the table knew why he said this to him.

Joh 13:29  For some thought, because Yehudah had the money box, that Yeshua said to him, “Buy what things we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.

This is an important verse that is often overlooked, but it proves that Yeshua’s Passover Seder with his disciples took place at the sundown beginning, NOT ending, Nisan 14^th.  That is because Nisan 15^th is a Sabbath, a day when financial transactions of any kind are not permitted.  There is no way they could have thought that Judas was going to buy things for the First Day of Unleavened Bread if it had been the sundown beginning Nisan 15^th, when the Rabbinate erroneously observes their Passover Seders.  No buying or selling can take place on Nisan 15^th, even for things necessary for the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread itself.  It is a sabbath – no shops should be open and no business can be transacted on the 15^th.  However, Passover itself, Nisan 14^th, is NOT a sabbath.

This becomes important later, because the next afternoon, still Nisan 14^th, when Yeshua was being bundled in his graveclothes, was the last opportunity the farmers of Eretz Israel had to bundle their sheaves for the firstfruits offering on Sunday morning.  Both Friday (Nisan 15^th) and Saturday (Nisan 16^th) were off limits  – no work could be done on either of those days, as they were both Sabbaths that year.  Yeshua is the Firstfruits offering, the Firstfruits of the Dead, and he would need to be bundled at the same time the barley sheaves were bundled in order to fulfill the Feast of Firstfruits properly (as well as being a proper Passover offering on the 14^th of the month and not the 15^th, when it is no longer Passover!).  There is more detailed information on these topics in the article on the right-hand side of the blog homepage entitled “Chronology of the Passion.”

John, continued:

Joh 13:30  Therefore, having received that morsel [of bread dipped in salt water and bitter herbs], he went out immediately. It was night.

Joh 13:31  When he had gone out, Yeshua said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and Elohim has been glorified in him.

Joh 13:32  If Elohim has been glorified in him, Elohim will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him immediately.

Joh 13:33  Little children, I will be with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the Judeans, ‘Where I am going, you can’t come,’ so now I tell you.

Joh 13:34  A new mitzvah I give to you, that you love one another, just like I have loved you; that you also love one another.

Joh 13:35  By this everyone will know that you are my talmidim, if you have love for one another.”

Joh 13:36  Shim`on Kefa said to him, “Adonai, where are you going?” Yeshua answered, “Where I am going, you can’t follow now, but you will follow afterwards.”

Joh 13:37  Kefa said to him, “Adonai, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

Joh 13:38  Yeshua answered him, “Will you lay down your life for me? Most certainly I tell you, the rooster won’t crow until you have denied me three times.

We see from this that it is not a sin to have denied Yeshua in our past, as long as we have repented from any such denial.  Contrary to what some teach, this is not the unpardonable sin – that is blasphemy, which is slandering Elohim’s work as hasatan’s (as the Pharisees frequently did)  or claiming to be Elohim (unless, of course, he actually is!  Obviously it’s not Blasphemy for him to claim to be himself, but it is blasphemy for anyone else to do so).

Nor is it a sin to remain a secret follower of Yeshua as long as you can do so with a clean conscience.  Obviously, a direct lie is not acceptable, but obfuscation is not necessarily a sin if remaining concealed benefits Elohim’s kingdom.  Esther did not reveal her identity until events forced her to do so – we may employ the same circumspection if necessary.

Next:  Kollel Devarim.