Blessing for the Torah:
Bar’chu et YHVH
ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed! Baruch ata YHVH Eloheinu
melech ha-olam. Asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim, v’na-tan lanu
eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Bless YHVH the blessed
One; Blessed is YHVH, the blessed One for all eternity. 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.)
Pirkei Avot – The Ethics of the Fathers chapter 5 says ''with 10 utterances the
world was created''.
This week we once again
consider the 10 sayings Moshe received from YHVH on Mount Sinai. The first time these 10 sayings appear,
they are found in parashat Yitro – Shemot 20.
These 10 sayings are repeated by Moshe in this parasha – “Ve et chanan.”
Almost 40 years separated
the first and second record of these 10 sayings. The second time, the 10
sayings were given just before Yisrael entered into the Promised Land.
The 10 sayings are and
always will be Yisrael’s “Freedom Charter.”
A “charter” is defined as
a “written grant by the
sovereign or legislative power of a country, in order to establish a people or
an organization. This written document contains the principles on which such a
people or organization will be established and maintain their freedom and
existence.”
Man has never been able
to produce a “Freedom Charter” that has provided peace and prosperity for all its
people.
YHVH has given us a
“Freedom Charter” that will bring those whom He has chosen into freedom. The
very first and foundational principle of YHVH’s “Freedom Charter” is found in Dev/Deut
5:6 ‘I am יהוה your Elohim who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, out
of the house of bondage.”
Deu 5:1 And Mosheh called all Yisra’ĕl,
and said to them, “Hear, O Yisra’ĕl, the laws and right-rulings which I speak
in your hearing today. And you shall learn them, and guard to do them. (Here is
an enlarged ayin and daleth)
Deu
5:2 “יהוה our Elohim made a covenant with us in Ḥorĕḇ.
Deu 5:3 “יהוה did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those
who are here today, all of us who are alive. (In the last days this covenant
will be renewed – Jer 31:31)
Deu 5:4 “יהוה spoke with you face to face on the
mountain from the midst of the fire.
Deu 5:5 “I stood
between יהוה and you at that time, to declare to you
the Word of יהוה – for you were
afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain – saying:
Deu 5:6 ‘I am יהוה your Elohim who brought you out of the
land of Mitsrayim, out of the house of bondage.
“Anochi” “I and only I alone” –
Isa 43:10
…..Before Me there was no Ěl formed, nor after Me there is none.
Isa 43:11 “I, I am יהוה, and besides
Me there is no saviour. (Heb moshiah)
Isa 45:5 ‘I am יהוה, and there is
none else – there is no Elohim besides Me.
Act 4:12 “And there is no deliverance in anyone else,
for there is no other Name under the heaven given among men by which we need to
be saved.”
This is one of the most
critical concepts in understanding our emancipation from sin and rebellion –
YHVH doesn’t, didn’t or ever will need anyone’s help to bring us salvation.
YHVH requires agreement not assistance. YHVH only requires our obedience to
bring about His Redemption. The most obedient person who ever lived was Yahshua
who did all of YHVH’s perfect will to secure redemption for himself and all of
mankind. The first Adam failed the second Adam succeeded.
In this comes the
revelation of the secret of YHVH’s desire – Eph 1:9… all created things are
brought together in Messiah and at the end of the redemptive age, Messiah hands
over all of the Kingdom to YHVH alone the Creator of All in heaven and on earth
– 1 Cor 15:24. Yahshua came to establish the
rightful ownership of all things.
Psa 24:1 The earth belongs to יהוה, And all that
fills it – The world and those who dwell in it. (including Yahshua)
Deu 5:7 ‘You have
no other mighty ones against My face.
Deu 5:8 ‘You do
not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of which is in the heavens
above, or which is in the earth beneath, or which is in the waters under the
earth,
Deu 5:9 you do not
bow down to them nor serve them. For I, יהוה your Elohim,
am a jealous Ěl, visiting the crookedness of the fathers upon the children to
the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Deu 5:10 but
showing kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and guard My commands.
Deu 5:11 ‘You do
not bring1 the Name of יהוה your Elohim to
naught, for יהוה does not leave
him unpunished who brings His Name to naught. Footnote: 1Or lift up,
or take. or “Do not make the name of YHVH worthless”
Eze 39:7 “And I shall make My set-apart Name known in
the midst of My people Yisra’ĕl, and not let My set-apart Name be profaned any
more. And the gentiles shall know that I am יהוה, the Set-apart
One in Yisra’ĕl.
Deu 5:12 ‘Guard
the Sabbath day, to set it apart, as יהוה your Elohim
commanded you.
Deu 5:13 ‘Six days
you labour, and shall do all your work,
Deu 5:14 but the
seventh day is a Sabbath1 of יהוה your Elohim.
You do 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
cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, so that your male servant
and your female servant rest as you do. Footnote: 1See footnote at
Ex. 20:10.
Deu 5:15 ‘And you
shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Mitsrayim, and that יהוה your Elohim brought you out from there by
a strong hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore יהוה your Elohim commanded you to observe the
Sabbath day.
Heb 4:2 For
indeed the Good News was brought to us as well as to them, but the word which
they heard did not profit them, not having been mixed with belief(“the faith” –
Gk dative noun – see Eph 4:4-6) in those who heard it.
Heb 4:3 For we who have believed(believing – aorist
verb) do enter into that rest, as He has said, “As I swore in My wrath, if they
shall enter into My rest...” And yet His works have come into being from the
foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4 For somewhere He has said thus about the
seventh day, “And Elohim rested on the seventh day from all His works,”
Heb 4:5 and in this again, “If they shall enter into
My rest...” (Ps 95:11)
Heb 4:6 Since then it remains for some to enter into
it, and those who formerly received the Good News did not enter in because of
disobedience,1 Footnote: 1See 3:18.
Heb 4:7 He again defines a certain day, “Today,”
saying through Dawiḏ so much later, as it
has been said, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”
Heb 4:8 For
if Yehoshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after
that.
Heb 4:9 So
there remains a Sabbath-keeping for the people of Elohim.
Heb 4:10 For
the one, having entered into His rest, has himself also rested from his works,
as Elohim rested from His own.
Heb 4:11 Let
us therefore do our utmost to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the
same example of disobedience.1 Footnote: 1See 3:18.
Heb 4:12 For
the Word of Elohim is living, and working, and sharper than any two-edged
sword, cutting through even to the dividing of being and spirit, and of joints
and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Heb 4:13 And
there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all are naked and laid bare
before the eyes of Him with whom is our account.
Deu 5:16 ‘Respect
your father and your mother, as יהוה your Elohim
has commanded you, so that your days are prolonged, and so that it is well with
you on the soil which יהוה your Elohim is
giving you.
Note, “respect” your parents as YHVH has commanded. People often promote an honour for parents
that brings dishonor to YHVH. We cannot obey and honour parents more than we
obey and honour YHVH. This was perhaps the context in which Yahshua stated in Luk
14:26 “If anyone comes to Me and does
not hate his father and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and
sisters, and his own life too, he is unable to be My taught one.
Jer 16:19 O יהוה, my strength
and my stronghold and my refuge, in the day of distress the gentiles shall come
to You from the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have inherited only
falsehood, futility, and there is no value in them.”1 Footnote: 1See
Ps. 147:19, Isa. 2:3, Isa. 60:2-3, John 4:22, Rom. 2:20, Rom. 3:2, Rom. 9:4.
If we respect and honour the traditions of our fathers
more than the Torah of YHVH – we are heading for disaster.
Now follows some of the
practical issues of the first five sayings. It is helpful if we imagine two
tablets of stone with five sayings on one and five sayings on the other. The
foundational ''spiritual sayings'' which relate directly to our love and
obedience to the Father are found on the right
hand five sayings and our loving our neighbor as ourselves is
found on the left hand side of the five
sayings. In Hebrew thinking the right hand represents that which is
spiritual and the left that which is the physical manifestation on earth of the
spiritual.
Hebrew is read from right to left.
These five will be on the right hand side
Deu 5:6 ‘I am יהוה
your Elohim who brought you .1
out of the land of Mitsrayim, out of the house of
bondage.
Deu 5:7-10 ‘You
have no other mighty ones against My face. .2
‘You do not make for yourself a carved image, any
likeness of which is in the heavens above, or which is in the earth beneath, or
which is in the waters under the earth, you do not bow down to them nor serve
them. For I, יהוה your Elohim, am a jealous Ěl, visiting the crookedness of the
fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate
Me, but showing kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and guard My
commands.
Deu 5:11 ‘You do
not bring1 the Name of יהוה your Elohim to
naught, for יהוה does not leave
him unpunished who brings His Name to naught. Footnote: 1Or lift up, or take. .3
Deu 5:12 - 15
‘Guard the Sabbath day, to set it apart, . 4
as יהוה your Elohim commanded you. ‘Six days you labour,
and shall do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath1 of יהוה your
Elohim. You do 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 cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, so that your male
servant and your female servant rest as you do. Footnote: 1See footnote at Ex.
20:10. ‘And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Mitsrayim,
and that יהוה your Elohim brought you out from there by a strong hand and by an
outstretched arm. Therefore יהוה your Elohim commanded you to observe the
Sabbath day.
Deu 5:16 ‘Respect
your father and your mother, .5
as יהוה your Elohim has commanded you, so that your days
are prolonged, and so that it is well with you on the soil which יהוה your
Elohim is giving you.
These five will be on the left hand side
Deu 5:17 ‘You do
not murder. .6
Deu 5:18 ‘You do
not commit adultery. .7
Deu 5:19 ‘You do
not steal. .8
Deu 5:20 ‘You do
not bear false witness against .9
your neighbour.
Deu 5:21 ‘You do
not covet your neighbour’s .10
wife, nor do you desire your neighbour’s house, his
field, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, his
ox, nor his donkey, or whatever belongs to your
neighbour.’
As the first five
sayings are established in our lives they enable us to walk in victory and
freedom in the last five sayings of YHVH’s “Freedom Charter.”
For example if we
compare the first saying to the sixth saying –if we do not teach people
that YHVH and YHVH alone has delivered us from bondage; it’s just as good as
giving someone a spiritual death sentence.
If we take the second saying and compare it with the seventh saying – we see that attempting
to usurp the position of YHVH with another Elohim or mighty one, is like
committing spiritual adultery. These include charismatic leaders or any other
created person.
If we take the third saying and compare it with the eighth saying – we see that taking the
name of YHVH lightly is like stealing. This manifests when people try to
explain YHVH through their theologies and philosophies that render YHVH’s Name
and His Character as useless. Stealing His Esteem.
If we take the fourth
saying and compare it with the ninth
saying – we see that guarding the Sabbath with the right heart and mind
will cause us to become true witnesses.
Finally if we compare the fifth saying to the tenth
saying – we will find that honoring a life source (parents) in ways that please YHVH will bring increase in
our lives and we will not need to covet what belongs to someone else.
Deu 5:22 “These
Words יהוה spoke to all your assembly, in the
mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness,
with a loud voice, and He added no more. And
He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. Deu 5:23 “And it came to be, when you heard the voice
from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that
you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders, Deu
5:24 and said, ‘See, יהוה our Elohim has shown us His esteem and His
greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. Today we
have seen that Elohim speaks with man – and he lives!
Deu 5:25 ‘And now
why should we die? For this great fire is consuming us. If we hear the voice of
יהוה our Elohim any more, then we shall die. Deu
5:26 ‘For who is there of all flesh who
has heard the voice of the living Elohim speaking from the midst of the fire,
as we have, and does live? Deu 5:27 ‘You go near and hear all that יהוה our Elohim
says, and speak to us all that יהוה our Elohim
says to you, and we shall hear and do it.’
If we apply the “Remez” principle of Torah interpretation
we recognize that Yisrael is declaring their need for an intermediary – which
we know points or hints at the work of Messiah; then In reality it was only the
Messiah who will be able to lead us and establish us in this Freedom Charter,
YHVH’s Freedom Charter
Deu 5:28 “And יהוה heard the
voice of your words when you spoke to me, and יהוה said to me, ‘I
have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you.
They have done well in all that they have spoken.
Deu 5:29 ‘Oh, (“mi
yiten’ or who will give or allow them… to have a heart such as this heart?) that
they had such a heart in them, to fear Me and to guard all My commands always,
so that it might be well with them and with their children forever!
Deu 5:30 ‘Go, say to them, “Return to your tents.” Deu
5:31 ‘But you, stand here by Me, and let
Me speak to you all the commands, and the laws, and the right-rulings which you
are to teach them. And they shall do them in the land which I am giving them to
possess.’ Deu 5:32 “And you shall guard
to do as יהוה your Elohim has commanded you – do not
turn aside, to the right or to the left. Deu 5:33 “Walk in all the way which יהוה your Elohim has commanded you, so that you
live and it be well with you. And you shall prolong your days in the land which
you possess. Deu 6:1 “And this is the command, the laws and
right-rulings which יהוה your Elohim
has commanded, to teach you to do in the land which you are passing over to
possess, Deu 6:2 so that you fear יהוה your Elohim, to guard all His laws and His
commands which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days
of your life, and that your days be prolonged. Deu 6:3 “And you shall hear, O Yisra’ĕl, and shall
guard to do, that it might be well with you, and that you increase greatly as יהוה Elohim of your fathers has spoken to you, in
a land flowing with milk and honey.
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu
Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn
ha-Torah. Ameyn.”