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. Blessed are you, YHVH, giver of the Torah. Ameyn.)
This week’s parashah “Ekev”
– begins in last week’s reading – Dev
7:12. We add this reading to our current reading for this week’s parashah.
Aliyah Rishon 7:12-8:11
Deu 7:12 “And it shall be, because(ekev)
you hear these right-rulings, and shall guard and do them, that יהוה
your Elohim shall guard with you the covenant and the kindness which He swore
to your fathers,”
יב וְהָיָה עֵקֶב תִּשְׁמְעוּן, אֵת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים הָאֵלֶּה, וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם, אֹתָם--וְשָׁמַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְךָ, אֶת-הַבְּרִית וְאֶת-הַחֶסֶד, אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע, לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ.
Note the future tense of the words “it
shall be,” “you will hear,” ”you will guard,” “you will do,” then YHVH “will
guard” His covenant with you.
‘’Formally it's not quite certain where the
noun עקב ('aqeb)
comes from but some scholars suggest from an unused verb that means to be
protuberant. But the meaning of the noun becomes clear from its applications in
the Bible. It seems that the basic idea of this word is anything last of
lowest. It may denote the hoofs of horses (Genesis 49:17) but also a man's
buttocks (Jeremiah 13:22). It means the rear of a troop (Genesis 49:19) or the
print of one's foot (Psalm 89:51).’’ Abiram publications.
The word “eikev” used here in the text as
“because” is unusual (used about seven times in the Torah). The sages say much
about this unusual use of the conjunction “because” (a conjunction is a word
that joins together words, phrases or sentences)
In the context of this Torah portion
“eikev” which means “heel” is used as the conjunction between our keeping YHVH
Torah and YHVH’s blessing us. “Ekev” or “heel” may be a hint as to our
“Halacha” or our walking in the Torah or not walking in the Torah. In other
word what kind of “footprint” are our lives leaving behind us?
The
first time the word “ekev” is used is in Ber/ Gen 3:15 “And I put enmity
between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed. He shall crush
your head, and you shall crush His heel” (ekev). This is clearly one of the
first prophetic references we have of the coming Messiah in the Torah. It
appears that the kind of “walk” the Messiah would have would crush the head of
the enemy and the enemy would do everything in his power to hinder that walk.
This is true of the followers of Messiah to this day. If we (jointly) walk as
Messiah walked, we will experience the blessing but also the opposition from
the enemy.
The
gematria of “ekev” (ayin, kuph, beit) is 172. The same number of words found in
the 10 sayings. If we reverse the letters of the word “eikev” we have the word
“beka” the weight of the nose ring for a bride as well as the sum required for
redemption of the ancient Israelites, the half shekel.
The Hebrew word used here for “hear” is
“tishme- oon” this is a Hebrew word used with an emphatic emphasis. We see this
same verb ending used with other verbs in this portion.
This is not just a casual hearing, it
implies a hearing that causes one to obey and do what you have heard with a
very serious intensity, in other words you really want to hear and respond in
obedience to what you have heard.
What must they hear (tishmar oon)? The
Mishpatim or right rulings. Emphasis on really, really hearing.
Deu 8:1 “Guard to do every command which I command
you today, that you might live, and shall increase, and go in, and shall
possess the land of which יהוה swore to your
fathers.
“Command” or “mitzvah” is singular in the above verse.
This implies that the commandments are to be obeyed one by one and we cannot
pick and choose what needs to be obeyed and what needs not be obeyed.
The Nazarene Talmud (New Testament) agrees with the use
of the singular when referring to the commandments.
Mat 15:3 But He answering, said to them, “Why do you
also transgress the command of Elohim1 because of your tradition?
Footnote: 1See Mat. 5:20.
Rom 7:12 So that the Torah truly is set-apart, and the
command set-apart, and righteous, and good.
The Torah was always
meant to be one whole body of instruction to be wholly obeyed. Christianity
introduced distinctions such as ceremonial, civil and moral laws of the so
called Old Testament. In doing so they have conveniently chosen what it is
relevant and what is not relevant – see Matt 5:17-19.
Deu 8:2 “And you
shall remember that יהוה your Elohim
led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you,(to
subject you to uncertainty) prove you, to know what is in your heart, whether
you guard His commands or not.
Midrash on the ''Ketiv” – ‘’ha – tishmor” ‘’the one who
guards’’ and the “Quere” – ‘’mitzvotaiv’’ ‘’instructions of Him.’’
Offenses – skandelon - Luk 7:23 “And blessed is he who shall not stumble(ensnared
or trapped – Gk – skandaldzo) in
Me.”
- Ps 119: 165
Deu 8:3 “And He
humbled you, and let you suffer hunger, and fed you with manna which you did
not know nor did your fathers know, to make you know that man does not live by
bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of יהוה1. Footnote: 1Messiah quotes this in Mt. 4:4
and in Lk. 4:4.
That’s why Shaul says in Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worth comparing with the esteem that is to be revealed in
us.
Rom 8:19 For the intense longing1 of the
creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of Elohim. Footnote: 1Lit.
anxiously looking with outstretched head.
Rom 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility,
not from choice, but because of Him who subjected it, in anticipation,
Rom 8:21 that the creation itself also shall be
delivered from the bondage to corruption into the esteemed freedom of the
children of Elohim.
Rom 8:22 For we know that all the creation groans
together, and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only so, but even we ourselves who
have the first-fruits of the Spirit, we ourselves also groan within ourselves,
eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all matters work
together for good to those who love Elohim, to those who are called according
to His purpose.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of the
Messiah? Shall pressure, or distress, or persecution, or scarcity of food, or
nakedness, or danger, or sword?
Rom 8:37 But in all this we are more than overcomers
through Him who loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor
life, nor messengers nor principalities nor powers, neither the present nor the
future,
Rom 8:39 nor height nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of Elohim which is in Messiah יהושע our Master.
This entire Torah portion emphasizes once again the
absolute authority of the Torah in our lives. Sadly, the church has emphasized the absolute centrality
of Yahshua in our lives WITHOUT THE TORAH. This is not possible – YOU CANNOT
SEPARATE YASHUA FROM THE TORAH. In fact, Yahshua came to the world as the Torah
in the flesh.
Joh 1:14 And the Word(Torah) became flesh and pitched
His tent among us, and we saw His esteem, esteem as of an only brought-forth of
a father, complete in favour and truth.
Every other truth and doctrine of any religion that opposes this fact
will come to a complete end in these last days.
Jer 9:25 “See, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “when I shall
punish all circumcised with the uncircumcised
Jer 30:11 ‘For I am with you,’ declares יהוה, ‘to save you.
Though I make a complete end of all gentiles1 where I have scattered
you, yet I do not make a complete end of you. But I shall reprove you in
judgment, and by no means leave you unpunished.’ Footnote: 1See
46:28, Isa. 34:2, Isa. 45:17, Dan. 2:44, Amos 9:8, Hag. 2:22.
Jer 30:24 The burning displeasure of יהוה shall not turn
back until He has done and established the purposes of His heart. In the latter
days you shall understand it1. Footnote: 1See 23:20. –
translation adds “understand it perfectly” – in Hebrew – “titbonew’ is a
hitpael verb of the root “bin” implies that you yourself will understand for
yourself – used in both verses – 30:24 & 23:20. In fact this verb form is
only found in these two verses in the entire Tenach.
Dan 10:14 “And I have come to make you understand what
is to befall your people in the latter days. For the vision is yet for days to
come.”
Dan 12:1 …..And there shall be a
time of distress, such as never was since there was a nation, until that time.
And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written
in the book…(The Torah)
Dan 12:7 ….And when they have ended scattering the
power of the set-apart people, then all these shall be completed.
End time prophecy can only be understood in the light of
a covenant people in complete obedience to all of the Torah.
Deu 8:4 “Your
garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.
Deu 8:5 “Thus you
shall know in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so יהוה your Elohim disciplines you,
Deu 8:6 therefore
you shall guard the commands of יהוה your Elohim,
to walk in His ways and to fear Him.
Deu 8:7 “For יהוה your Elohim is bringing you into a good
land, a land of streams of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of
valleys and hills,
Deu 8:8 a land of
wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil
and honey,
Deu 8:9 a land in
which you eat bread without scarcity, in which you do not lack at all, a land
whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you dig copper.
Deu 8:10 “And you
shall eat and be satisfied, and shall bless יהוה your Elohim
for the good land which He has given you.
Deu 8:11 “Be on
guard, lest you forget יהוה your Elohim by
not guarding His commands, and His right-rulings, and His laws which I command
you today,
Deu 8:12 lest you
eat and shall be satisfied, and build lovely houses and shall dwell in them,
Deu 8:13 and your
herds and your flocks increase, and your silver and your gold are increased,
and all that you have is increased,
Deu 8:14 that your
heart then becomes lifted up, and you forget יהוה your Elohim
who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, from the house of bondage,
Deu 8:15 who led
you through that great and awesome wilderness – fiery serpents and scorpions
and thirst – where there was no water, who brought water for you out of the
flinty rock,
Deu 8:16 who fed
you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, in order to
humble you and to try you, to do you good in the end,
Deu 8:17 you then
shall say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand have made for me
this wealth!’
Deu 8:18 “But you
shall remember יהוה your Elohim,
for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, in order to establish His
covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is today.
Deu 8:19 “And it
shall be, if you by any means forget יהוה your Elohim,
and follow other mighty ones, and serve them and bow yourself to them, I have
warned you this day that you shall certainly perish.
Deu 8:20 “Like the
nations which יהוה is destroying
before you, so you are to perish, because you did not obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim.
Conclusion:
Eze 6:8 “But I shall leave a remnant, in that some of
you shall escape the sword among the gentiles, when you are scattered
throughout the lands.
Eze 6:9 “And those of you who escape shall remember
Me among the gentiles where they have been taken captive, because I have been
broken by their adulterous heart which has turned away from Me, and by their
eyes which whored after their idols. And they shall loathe themselves for the
evils which they have done in all their abominations.
Isa 10:22 For though your people, O Yisra’ĕl, be as the
sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return – a decisive end,
overflowing with righteousness.
Isa 10:23 For the Master יהוה of hosts is
making a complete end, as decided, in the midst of all the earth.
YHVH has a word for this remnant.
Isa 45:3 ‘And I shall give you the treasures of
darkness and hoarded wealth of secret places, so that you know that I, יהוה, who are
calling you by your name, am the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl.
Isa 45:4 ‘For the sake of Yaʽaqoḇ My servant, and of
Yisra’ĕl My chosen, I also call you by your name, I give you a title, though
you have not known Me.
Isa 45:5 ‘I am יהוה, and there is
none else – there is no Elohim besides Me. I gird you, though you have not
known Me,
Isa 45:6 so that
they know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none but Me.
I am יהוה, and there is none else,
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.”
(Blessed are you Yahweh, our Elohim, King of the Universe,
you have given us your Torah of truth, and have planted everlasting life within
our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of the Torah – Ameyn