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.)
This Torah portion addresses and contextualizes one of
the greatest challenges of our times – deception –
Someone once defined deception as the most violent form
of brutality because someone who is deceived is like someone who destroys
themselves on an installment plan and resents anyone who tries to interfere or
help them.
We only have to look over our own lives and see that
there were long periods of time that we were deceived in certain areas of our
lives even as believers. We must also consider that there still may be areas of
our lives where the enemy is deceiving us.
Deception entered into the human race from the very
beginning, when Adam and Eve allowed deception into their lives it was passed
on to all future generations and the world came under the power of the evil one
including believers.
1Jn 5:19 We know that we are of Elohim, and all the world lies in the wicked one.
The problem is everyone thinks they are “of Elohim”
Yahshua came to
destroy the works of the devil, however it is evident that this work has not
yet been finally accomplished.
1Jn 3:8 The one doing sin is of the devil, because
the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of Elohim was
manifested: to destroy the works of the devil.1 Footnote: 1See
Titus 2:14.
The Greek word for “destroy” is an on- going verb, that is to say that
the action is present and still on-going and waiting for a future final
fulfilment.
We are very much the
same as our father Yakov – we often seek to take the initiative in seeking the
blessing and destiny the Father has planned for each one of us, this often
leads to some form of deceitfulness we may not even be aware of.
Yahshua wept over the
city of Yerushalyim –
Luk 19:41 And as He came near, He saw the city and wept
over it,
Luk 19:42 saying, “If you only knew even today, the matters
for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
What is there in your life and my life that
would cause him to weep again? Ask him and he may answer you!
If you believe
that there is nothing in your life that would cause the Master to weep maybe
it’s a sign of your deceitfulness.
There are some who
believe that mankind has entered into a new spiritual era, where deception is
going to increase and many will fall away from the faith – 2 Thess 2:3.