Bar’chu et
YHVH ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed! Baruch ata YHVH Elohim
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 YHVH our Elohim – Giver of the Torah – Amein.’
The sages believe the words of this parashah were spoken on
the last day of Moshe’s life.
Deu 29:10 “All of you are standing today (ha yom) before
יהוה
your Elohim: your leaders, your tribes, your elders and your officers, all the
men of Yisra’ěl,
Deu 29:11 your little ones, your wives, and your
sojourner who is in the midst of your camp, from the one who cuts your wood to
the one who draws your water,
Deu 29:12 so that you should enter into covenant
with יהוה
your Elohim, and into His oath, which יהוה your Elohim makes with you today,
Deu 29:13 in order to establish you today as a
people for Himself, and He Himself be your Elohim, as He has spoken to you, and
as He has sworn to your fathers, to Aḇraham, to Yitsḥaq, and to Ya‛aqoḇ.
Deu 29:14 “And not with you alone I am making this
covenant and this oath,
Deu 29:15 but with him who stands here with us
today before יהוה our Elohim, as well as with him who is not here with us today. (there
will be others)
Deu 29:16 “For you know how we dwelt in the land of
Mitsrayim and how we passed through the nations which you passed through,
Deu 29:17 and you saw their abominations and their
idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were with them,
Deu 29:18 lest there should be among you a man or
woman or clan or tribe, whose heart turns away today from יהוה our Elohim, to go and
serve the mighty ones of these nations, lest there should be among you a root
bearing bitterness or wormwood.
What then is the root that brings forth the bitter fruit?
It is a person who has a wrong view of eternal security. He feels secure when
he is not secure. He says, “I shall be safe [=secure], though I walk in the
stubbornness of my heart.” He misunderstands the covenant YHVH makes. He thinks
that because he is part of the covenant people, he is secure from YHVH’s
judgment.
Heb
12:15 See to it that no one falls short of the favour of Elohim, that no
root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, by which many become
defiled,
Heb
12:16 lest there be anyone who whores, or profane one, like Ěsaw, who for
a single meal sold his birthright.b Footnote: b Gen_25:32-33.
Heb
12:17 For you know that afterward, when he wished to inherit the
blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he
sought it with tears. (REV 2:11 & 20:6 & 21:8)
What is
Wormwood?
“Heb. la'anah,(from
unused root meaning ‘’to curse’’ S3939) the Artemisia absinthium of botanists,
is known as Wilde-als by the Afrikaans community. Wilde-als brandy is a popular
folk medicine still made and sold today.
It is noted for its intense bitterness. In the symbolical language of
the Apocalypse (Rev_8:10,11) a star is represented as falling on the
waters of the earth, causing the third part of the water to turn wormwood. Wormwood is a psychic stimulant. The
effect of wormwood is narcotic, lightly anaesthetic, giving a peaceful and
relaxing feeling. In combination with alcohol or in larger dosages
hallucinations might occur. It also increases the appetite.
Ingestion of wormwood may result in
absinthism, a syndrome characterized by digestive disorders, thirst,
restlessness, vertigo, trembling of the limbs, numbness of the extremities,
loss of intellect, delirium, paralysis, and death. The effects of
addiction to wormwood describe the condition of many religious people in our
days. They have become addicted to lawlessness, the more they are lawless
(Torahless) the more lawless they become. Lawless people have continual ‘’hangovers’’
accompanied by a desire for more lawlessness.
Deu 29:19 “And it shall be, when he hears the words
of this curse, that he should bless himself in his heart, saying, ‘I have peace
though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart,’ in order to add drunkenness to
thirst.
Deu 29:20 “יהוה would not forgive him, but rather, the
displeasure of יהוה and His jealousy shall burn against that man, and every curse
that is written in this book shall settle on him, and יהוה shall blot out his name from under the
heavens.
Deu 29:21 “And יהוה shall separate him for evil, out of all
the tribes of Yisra’ěl, according to all the curses of the covenant that are
written in this Book of the Torah.
Deu 29:22 “And the generation to come of your
children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land,
shall say when they see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses which יהוה
has sent into it:
Deu 29:23 All its land is sulphur, salt, and
burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor does any grass grow there, like
the overthrow of Seḏom and Amorah, Aḏmah and Tseḇoyim, which יהוה overthrew in His
displeasure and His wrath.’
Deu 29:24 “And all nations shall say, ‘Why has יהוה
done so to this land? What does the heat of this great displeasure mean?’
Deu 29:25 “And it shall be said, ‘Because they have
forsaken the covenant of יהוה Elohim of their fathers, which He made with them when He
brought them out of the land of Mitsrayim.
Deu 29:26 And they went and served other mighty
ones and bowed themselves to them, mighty ones that they did not know and that
He had not given to them,
Deu 29:27 therefore the displeasure of יהוה
burned against this land, to bring on it every curse that is written in this
book.
Deu 29:28 And יהוה uprooted them from their land in
displeasure, and in wrath, and in great rage, and cast them into another land,
as it is today.’
Deu 29:29 “The secret matters belong to יהוה
our Elohim, but what is revealed belongs to us and to our children forever, to
do all the Words of this Torah. (1 Tim 3:16 & Eph 3:3-11)
Maybe the remnant and the Bride of Messiah are much
smaller than we could ever thought or imagined.
Deu 30:1 “And it shall be, when all these
words come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you,
and you shall bring them back to your heart among all the nations where יהוה
your Elohim drives you,
Deu 30:2 and shall turn back to יהוה your Elohim and obey
His voice, according to all that I command you today, with all your heart and
with all your being, you and your children,
Deu 30:3 then יהוה your Elohim shall turn back your captivity,
and shall have compassion on you, and He shall turn back and gather you from
all the peoples where יהוה your Elohim has scattered you.
Deu 30:4 “If any of you are driven out to the
farthest parts under the heavens, from there יהוה your Elohim does gather you, and from
there He does take you.
Deu 30:5 “And יהוה your Elohim shall bring you to the land
which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. And He shall do good to
you, and increase you more than your fathers.
Deu 30:6 “And יהוה your Elohim shall circumcise your heart
and the heart of your seed, to love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart and with
all your being, so that you might live,
Deu 30:7 and יהוה your Elohim shall put all these curses on
your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you.
Deu 30:8 “And you shall turn back and obey the
voice of יהוה and do all His commands which I command you today.
Deu 30:9 “And יהוה your Elohim shall make you have excess in
all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your
livestock, and in the fruit of your ground for good. For יהוה turns back to rejoice over you for good as
He rejoiced over your fathers,
Deu 30:10 if you obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim, to guard
His commands and His laws which are written in this Book of the Torah, if you
turn back to יהוה your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being. (Unworthy
servants – Luke 17:7-10)
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.)