Devarim/Deut 16:18 -21:9
Yirmeyahu/Jer 1:12 And יהוה said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over My word
to do it.”
Perhaps
a fitting word after last week’s Parasha – Re eh – See!
This
Torah portion points us clearly to a time when YHVH will once again appoint
“shoftim and shotrim” – “Appoint judges and officers within all your
gates” to guide the lives of His Covenant people. In the “olam ha ba” – the age
to come - no one will be permitted to do what is ‘right in their own eyes’.
Even in this age – “olam ha ze” there is a growing remnant – His Bride
- that have a passion to walk as our Messiah walked and do what is right in the
Eyes of YHVH by observing and walking according to His Covenant – The Torah.
Many believers today are preparing for “heaven” – the Torah teaches us
to prepare for the coming Messianic kingdom on earth, where the citizens of the
Kingdom will be living and following the practical instruction of the Torah day
by day for 1000 years. (Is 2:2-4)
So it is during this time of our Hebrew year that the “Bride to be”
once again prepares herself for the second coming of her Messiah.
This past week the “Bride to be” once again observed the appointment
of “Rosh Chodesh Elul” -The first day of the sixth Hebrew month also called
“Elul” (aleph,lamed,vav,lamed) since Babylonian exile, forms the well -known
acronym “ani ledodi ve dodi li” ” I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine.
(Song of Songs 6:3)
Blessing for the Torah:
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-O’lam, asher
bachar banu m’kol ha-amim,
v’natan lanu eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn
ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim , King of the Universe,
(Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim , King of the Universe,
you have selected us from among all the peoples, and
have given us your Torah.
Blessed are you, YHVH, giver of the Torah. Ameyn.)
Torah Readings:
- 16:18 – 17:13
- 17:14-20
- 18:1-5
- 18:6-13
- 18:14 – 19:13
- 19:14 – 20:9
- 20:10 – 21:9
- Maftir: 21:7-9
Haftarah: Yeshayahu/Isaiah 51:12 – 53:12
Aliyah
Rishon 16:18-17:13
Devarim/Deu 16:18
“Appoint judges and officers within all your gates, which יהוה your Elohim is giving you, according to your tribes. And they
shall judge the people with righteous right-ruling”.
There is an interesting connection between the
openings of last week and this week’s parasha.
Last week began –Deu 11:26 ‘See, I am setting before
you today a blessing and a curse:
The Hebrew word for “setting” is “notein” or giving.
This week begins with - Deu 16:18 “Appoint judges
(shoftim) and officers (policeman) within all your gates… these “shotriem”
carried out the decisions of the court. They circulated around the market
places and the city to make sure there were no violations of the instructions
of Torah.
The Hebrew word once again in the opening words of our
parasha comes from the root word “natan” which means “to give” in other words we could say YHVH “GIVES” blessings and curses therefore GIVE yourselves judges
and officers.
In
Modern Hebrew a magistrate is called a “shofet shalom” and a policeman is
called a “shoter.” We can therefore translate the first phrase of this Torah
portion as “appoint magistrates and policemen”
Even
in the kingdom of YHVH people will not always do what you expect but what you
inspect.
This also points us clearly as to how YHVH intends His
Kingdom to function - “The
Rabbis speak of Israel as crowned with three crowns—the crown of kingship, the
crown of Torah and the crown of priesthood. In early Jewish history these three
crowns were, for the most part, kept distinct as rival centres of power in
Hebrew society. Most democracies today have echoed this model. Religious,
judicial and governing bodies are kept separate from each other and each
saddled with limits so that their exploitative and oppressive potentials are
restricted, while their productive and progressive possibilities are
cultivated. For the Jews, to not limit these institutions would have been to
exchange the foreign slavery of Egypt for the internal slavery of fellow
Israelite domination. This week's parshah outlines the original
separation of powers.
The Torah explicitly
limits exploitative possibilities by separating the centers of power and
placing constraints that keep these institutions functioning appropriately.” Rabbi James
Jacobson-Maisels
Deu
16:19 “Do not distort right-ruling. Do
not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise
and twists the words of the righteous.
Deu
16:20 “Follow (pursue aggressively) righteousness, righteousness alone,
so that you live and inherit the land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you.
Deu
16:21 “Do not plant for yourself any
tree as an Ashĕrah near the altar of יהוה your Elohim that you make for yourself.
Deu
16:22 “And do not set up a pillar, which יהוה your Elohim hates.
These
“pillars” are phallic symbols which are associated with the worship of the
“queen of heaven” – modern day examples include church towers, obelisks set up
over graves and monuments. This is also often the evidence of the presence of
Free Masonry.
Deu 17:1 “Do not slaughter to יהוה your Elohim a
bull or sheep which has any blemish, any evil matter, for that is an
abomination to יהוה your Elohim.
We
should always bring the first and the best to YHVH.
Death
penalty for idolatry:
Deu
17:2 “When there is found in your midst,
in any of your cities which יהוה your Elohim is
giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the eyes of יהוה your Elohim, in transgressing His
covenant,
Deu
17:3 and has gone and served other
mighty ones and bowed down to them, or to the sun or to the moon or to any of
the host of the heavens, which I have not commanded, (Sunday worship????)
Deu
17:4 and it has been made known to you
and you have heard, and has searched diligently. Then see, if true: the matter
is confirmed that such an abomination has been done in Yisra’ĕl,
Deu
17:5 then you shall bring out to your
gates that man or woman who has done this evil matter, and you shall stone to
death that man or woman with stones.
Deu
17:6 “At the mouth of two or three
witnesses shall he that is to die be put to death. He is not put to death by
the mouth of one witness.
Deu
17:7 “The hand of the witnesses shall be
first against him to put him to death, and the hand of all the people last. So
you shall purge the evil from your midst.
Deu
17:8 “When any matter arises which is
too hard for you to judge, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, or
between stroke and stroke – matters of strife within your gates – then you
shall rise and go up to the place which יהוה your Elohim chooses,
Deu
17:9 and shall come to the priests, the
Lĕwites, and to the judge who is in those days, and shall inquire. And they
shall declare to you the word of right-ruling,
Deu
17:10 and you shall do according to the
word which they declare to you from that place which יהוה chooses. And you shall guard to do according to all that they
instruct you.
Deu
17:11 “Do according to the Torah in
which they teach you, according to the right-ruling which they say to you. You
do not turn to the right or to the left from the word which they declare to
you.
Deu
17:12 “And the man who acts arrogantly,
so as not to listen to the priest who stands to serve there before יהוה your Elohim, or to the judge, that man
shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Yisra’ĕl.
Deu
17:13 “And let all the people hear and
fear, and no longer do arrogantly.
Refusal
to accept the Sanhedrin's authority is a capital offense.
Idolatry is any kind
of thought or activity that diminishes the esteem of YHVH. Idolatry comes from
a Greek word which implies worship or payment to an image or form. The most
famous practice of idolatry in Christianity is the teaching and concept of the
so called Trinity. This doctrine deifies Yahshua, who himself is a created
being. We do well to remember that is us who need a mediator not YHVH and we
are to worship the Giver of the mediator and not the mediator himself.
In true Hebraic
restoration it is intolerable to imagine any interference that obscures the
absolute supremacy and worship of Yahveh.
Aliyah
Sheni 17:14-20 - Kings
Deu 17:14
“When you come to the land which יהוה your Elohim is
giving you, and shall possess it and shall dwell in it, and you shall say, ‘Let
me set a sovereign over me like all the gentiles that are around me,’
Deu
17:15 you shall certainly set a sovereign over you whom יהוה your Elohim shall choose.
Set a sovereign over you from among your brothers, you are not allowed to set a
foreigner over you, who is not your brother.
Deu
17:16 “Only, he is not to increase
horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Mitsrayim to increase
horses, for יהוה has said to you, ‘Do not return that way
again.’
Deu
17:17 “And he is not to increase wives
for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor is he to greatly increase silver and
gold for himself. (The sages say not more than 18)
Deu
17:18 “And it shall be, when he sits on
the throne of his reign, that he shall write for himself a copy of this Torah
in a book, from the one before the priests, the Lĕwites.
Deu
17:19 “And it shall be with him, and he
shall read it all the days of his life, so that he learns to fear יהוה his Elohim and guard all the Words of this
Torah and these laws, to do them,
Deu
17:20 so that his heart is not lifted up
above his brothers, and so as not to turn aside from the command, right or
left, so that he prolongs his days in his reign, he and his children, in the
midst of Yisra’ĕl.
Aliyah
Shlishi 18:1-5 - Levites
Deu 18:1 “The priests, the Lĕwites, all the tribe of
Lĕwi, have no part nor inheritance with Yisra’ĕl. They are to eat the offerings
of יהוה made by fire, and His inheritance.
Deu
18:2 “But among his brothers Lĕwi
has no inheritance. יהוה is his inheritance,
as He has spoken to him.
Deu
18:3 “And this is the priest’s right
from the people, from those who bring an offering, whether it is bull or sheep:
they shall give to the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the
stomach;
Deu
18:4 the first-fruits of your grain and
your new wine and your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you give
to him.
Deu
18:5 “For יהוה your Elohim has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to
serve in the Name of יהוה, him and his
sons forever.
The
livelihood of the priesthood will depend on our obedience to give to them.
Aliyah
Reviee 18:6-13
Deu 18:6
“And when the Lĕwite comes from one of your gates, from where he has
sojourned among all Yisra’ĕl, and shall come with all the desire of his being
to the place which יהוה chooses,
The
Levites could move freely around the cities of Yisrael, this was also the
custom of some rabbis. There were itinerant Levites who would gather disciples
who would volunteer their time to be taught the Torah and minister with the
Levite or a rabbi. These disciples were taught by example.
Yahshua
commanded us to make “disciples” not converts. – Mat
28:19 “Therefore, go and make taught
ones of all the nations, immersing them in the Name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Set-apart Spirit,
(“set apart Spirit” is added and not found in the orginal Hebrew Shem -Tov
text)
Deu
18:7 then he shall serve in the Name of יהוה his Elohim, like all his brothers the
Lĕwites, who are standing there before יהוה.
Deu
18:8 “They are to have portion for
portion to eat, besides what comes from the sale of his inheritance.
Deu
18:9 “When you come into the land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you, do not learn to
do according to the abominations of those gentiles.
Deu
18:10 “Let no one be found among you who
makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, (aborted babies are
incinerated in our day) or one who practises divination, or a user of magic, or
one who interprets omens or a sorcerer,
Deu
18:11 or one who conjures spells, or a
medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
Deu
18:12 “For whoever does these are an
abomination to יהוה, and because of these abominations יהוה your Elohim drives them out from before
you.
Deu
18:13 “Be perfect before יהוה your Elohim,
Be
perfect or “tamim tehiye” means “without
spot or blemish YOU SHALL BECOME” - imperfect verb that describes a “work” in
progress.
So
we see in these above aliyiot a clear directive given to leaders – kings
priests and a judiciary – we see that their role was to make sure that an
atmosphere was to be created and
maintained in society that would protect the covenant life of a covenant
people.
Aliyah
Chamishi 18:14-19:13
Cities of refuge are
mentioned again in this portion – always read in the month of Elul and so the
Sages tell us that this is a month of sanctuary and repentance, a protected
time in which a man can turn from the shortcomings of his past and dedicate
himself to a new and set apart way unto YHVH. This protection is extended into
the Messianic era with the addition of three extra cities of refuge. This gives
us some valuable insight into the coming millennial reign of Messiah. There
will be a real world with real people who still need to be guided because of
the danger of falling into error.
The bride of Messiah will experience a unique
relationship with Messiah that no other group of people on earth will experience.
They will enjoy a special guidance by the Ruach of YHVH to walk in an ever
increasing perfection during the Messianic Kingdom.
Isa 30:20 Though יהוה gave you bread of adversity and water of
affliction, your Teacher1 shall no longer be hidden. But your eyes
shall see your Teacher1, Footnote: 1Or teachers.
See also Joel 2:23.
Isa 30:21 and your
ears hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the Way, walk in it,” whenever
you turn to the right, or whenever you turn to the left.
Deu 18:14
for these nations whom you are possessing do listen to those using magic
and to diviners. But as for you, יהוה your Elohim has not appointed such for
you.
