Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, who has made us set apart through His commandments and commanded us to actively study Torah. Please YHVH, our Elohim, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Yisrael. May we and our offspring, and the offspring of Your people, the House of Yisrael, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, YHVH, Who teaches Torah to His people Yisrael. Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, YHVH, Giver of the Torah.
Deu 4:1 “And now, O Yisra’ĕl, listen(shema) to the
laws and the right-rulings which I am teaching you to do, so that you live, and
shall go in and possess the land which יהוה Elohim of your
fathers is giving you.
“and now” – “ve ata” - Moshe
wants Yisrael to carefully consider why he was not allowed to enter the Promised
Land. Moshe is seriously pleading with
them to follow and obey YHVH’’s Torah – (Heb ‘’chukim and mishpatim’’). The
desert wonderings are over and “now” the time has come for Yisrael to possess
the land. The whole purpose of the desert wonderings was to prepare Yisrael to
“shema” and embrace all instruction of the Torah that they had received in the
wilderness. The pattern for the last days remains the same.
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.
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, prove you, to know what is in
your heart, whether you guard His commands or not.
Deu 4:2 “Do not add to the Word which I command you,
and do not take away from it1, so as to guard the commands of יהוה your Elohim which I am commanding you.
Footnote: 1See also 12:32, Prov. 30:6, Rev. 22:18-19. Rom 7:12
Many will say - Rom 6:14 For sin shall not rule over you, for you are
not under the law but under favour.
To be under the law implies
been under the curse of the law.
What is the curse of the law?
Heb 10:28 Anyone who has
disregarded(Gk word implies
‘’repudiating’’ and is written in the aorist tense – ie present tense that
applies to the future as well) the Torah of Mosheh dies without compassion on
the witness of two or three witnesses.
Gal 3:13 Messiah
redeemed us from the curse of the Torah, having become a curse for us – for it
has been written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree.” – Deu_21:23.
The goal or the purpose of the
Torah was to reveal the real Messiah to us – Rom 10:4.
Mat 24:3 And as He sat
on the Mount of Olives, the taught ones came to Him separately, saying, “Say to
us, when shall this be, and what is the sign of Your coming, and of the end of
the age?”
Mat 24:4 And יהושע
answering, said to them, “Take heed that no one leads you astray.
Mat 24:5 “For many shall
come in My Name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they shall lead many
astray.
Only the real Messiah has
lived a perfect Torah life and only the real Messiah can take upon Himself the
curse and punishment for our disobedience to the Torah.
When this real Messiah returns
he will lead his Bride into perfection and present this Bride faultless to His
and our Heavenly Father.
That’s why Paul says in
Galations chapter one that any who preaches a different good news are cursed.
Tit 2:14 who gave
Himself for us, to redeem us from all lawlessness (Torahlessness) and to cleanse for Himself a people, His
own possession, ardent for good works.
1Jn 3:4 Everyone doing sin
also does lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
Rom 6:15 What then?
Shall we sin because we are not under Torah but under favour? Let it not
be!
Rom 6:16 Do you not know
that to whom you present yourselves servants for obedience, you are servants of
the one whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to
righteousness?
The truth is we all struggle
with our sin nature.
Rom 7:18 For I know that
in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good. For to wish is present with me, but
to work the good I do not find.
Rom 7:19 For the good
that I wish to do, I do not do; but the evil I do not wish to do, this I
practise.
Rom 7:20 And if I do
that which I do not wish, it is no longer I who work it, but the sin dwelling
in me.
Rom 7:21 I find therefore
this law, that when I wish to do the good, that the evil is present with
me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight
in the Torah of Elohim[a[ according to the inward man, Footnote: aSee Psa_119:16.
Rom 7:23 but I see
another torah in my members, battling against the torah of my mind, and
bringing me into captivity to the torah of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24 Wretched man
that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?
Rom 7:25 Thanks to
Elohim, through יהושע Messiah our Master! So then, with the mind
I myself truly serve the Torah of Elohim, but with the flesh the torah of
sin.
Rom 7:12 So that the
Torah truly is set-apart, and the command set-apart, and righteous, and
good.
Deu 4:3 “Your eyes have seen what יהוה did at Baʽal Peʽor,
for יהוה your Elohim has destroyed
(annihilated/exterminated ) from your midst all the men who followed Baʽal Peʽor.
Why
mention Baal Peor? – It was here that Yisrael brought the profane into the most
set apart place. It was here as it was with the golden calf that Yisrael
entered mixed worship.
Sadly
YHVH’s servants have not been taught the difference between what is acceptable
to Him and what is not. (This was and always will be the duty of the priesthood
and the Levites – 1Pet 2:9-10)
Lev 10:10
so as to make a distinction between the set-apart and the profane, and
between the unclean and the clean,
Lev 10:11 and to teach the children of Yisra’ĕl all the laws which יהוה has spoken to them by the hand of Mosheh.”
Deu 4:4 “But you who are clinging(davek) to יהוה your Elohim
are alive today, every one of you.
Deu 4:5 “See, I have taught you laws and
right-rulings, as יהוה my Elohim commanded me, to do thus in the
land which you go to possess.
Deu 4:6 “And you
shall guard and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding before
the eyes of the peoples who hear all these laws, and they shall say, ‘Only a
wise and understanding people is this great nation!’
Can it honestly be said that Christians or Jews are a
wise and understanding people who capture the attention of the whole world, a
set apart people who praise and worship the One and Only Wise Creator – YHVH –
in Spirit and in Truth – Yoh 4:24?
Deu 4:7 “For what great nation is there which has
Elohim so near to it, as יהוה our Elohim is
to us, whenever we call on Him?
Can this be said of any people
today? Many attempt to claim this status but upon careful investigation in the
light of YHVH’s Word many prove to be liars and deceivers.
Deu 4:8 “And what great nation is there that has such
laws and righteous right-rulings like all
this Torah which I set before you this day?
Again what people can
truthfully proclaim that they fully represent all of the Torah to all of
world and not merely attempt to proclaim some of the Torah to some small
religious or ethnic group of people.
History tragically reveals
that even the chosen people of YHVH have a sad record of not continually and
faithfully obeying and teaching YHVH’s Torah.
Deu 4:9 “Only, guard yourself, and guard your life
diligently, lest you forget the Words your eyes have seen, and lest they turn
aside from your heart all the days of your life. And you shall make them known
to your children and your grandchildren.
Deu 4:10 “The day when you stood before יהוה your Elohim in Ḥorĕḇ,(Heb
– a parched place) יהוה said to me,
‘Assemble the people to Me and I make them hear My Words, so that they learn to
fear Me all the days they live on the earth and teach them to their
children.’
Deu 4:11 “And you came near and stood at the foot of
the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of the heavens –
darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
Deu 4:12 “And יהוה spoke to you
out of the midst of the fire. You heard a voice of words, but saw no form, you only heard a voice.
Deu 4:13 “And He made known to you His covenant which
He commanded you to do, the Ten Words, and He wrote them on two tablets of
stone.
Deu 4:14 “And יהוה commanded me
at that time to teach you laws and right-rulings, for you to do them in the
land which you pass over to possess.
Deu 4:15 “Therefore, diligently guard yourselves, for
you saw no form when יהוה spoke to you at Ḥorĕḇ out
of the midst of the fire,
Deu 4:16 lest you should do corruptly and shall make
for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure – the likeness of male
or female,
The evidence that you have not heard “shema” YHVH and His
Torah will be the manifestation of some form of idolatry. Any doctrine or
teaching that is contrary to YHVH’s Torah is a form and manifestation of
idolatry.
Deu 4:17 the likeness of any beast that is on the
earth or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the heavens,
Deu 4:18 the likeness of any creature that creeps on
the ground or the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth;
Deu 4:19 and lest you lift up your eyes to the
heavens, and shall see the sun, and the moon, and the stars – all the host of
the heavens – and you be drawn away into bowing down to them and serving them,
which יהוה your Elohim has allotted to all the
peoples under all the heavens.
Deu 4:20 “But יהוה has taken you
and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Mitsrayim, to be His people, an
inheritance, as it is today.
Deu 4:21 “And יהוה was enraged
with me because of your words, and swore that I would not pass over the Yardĕn,
and that I would not enter the good land which יהוה your Elohim is
giving you as an inheritance.
How can Moshe blame the Yisraelites for not being allowed
to enter the promised land? Unlike Yahshua Moshe took out his rage on the
people of Yisrael. Yahshua chose to take YHVH’s wrath against mankind upon
Himself.
Yahshua has taken upon himself our willful defiance of
Torah – Gal 3:13
Heb 3:14
For we have become partakers of
Messiah if we hold fast the beginning of our trust firm to the end,
Heb 3:15
while it is said, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your
hearts as in the rebellion.”
Heb 3:16
For who, having heard, rebelled? Was it not all who came out of
Mitsrayim, led by Mosheh?
Heb 3:17
And with whom was He grieved forty years? Was it not with those who
sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?
Heb 3:18
And to whom did He swear that they would not enter into His rest, but to
those who did not obey?
Heb 3:19
So we see that they were unable to enter in because of unbelief.
Deu 4:22 “For I am to die in this land, I am not
passing over the Yardĕn, but you are passing over, and shall possess that good
land.
Deu 4:23 “Guard yourselves, lest you forget the
covenant of יהוה your Elohim
which He made with you, and shall make for yourselves a carved image in the
form of whatever יהוה your Elohim
has forbidden you.
Deu 4:24 “For יהוה your Elohim is
a consuming fire, a jealous Ěl.
Deu 4:25 “When you bring forth children and
grandchildren, and shall grow old in the land, and shall do corruptly and make
a carved image in the form of whatever, and shall do what is evil in the eyes
of יהוה your Elohim to provoke Him,
Deu 4:26 “I shall call the heavens and earth to
witness against you on that day, that you soon completely perish from the land
which you pass over the Yardĕn to possess – you do not prolong your days in it
but are completely destroyed (utterly exterminated)
Deu 4:27 “And יהוה shall scatter
you among the peoples, and you shall be left few in number among the gentiles
where יהוה drives you.
Deu 4:28 “And there you shall serve mighty ones, the
work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor
smell.
Deu 4:29 “But from there you shall seek יהוה your Elohim, and shall find, when you
search for Him with all your heart1 and with all your being.
Footnote: 1Jer. 29:13.
Deu 4:30 “In your
distress, when all these words shall come upon you in the latter days, then you
shall return to יהוה your Elohim
and shall obey His voice.
Deu 4:31 “For יהוה your Elohim is
a compassionate Ěl, He does not forsake you, nor destroy you, nor forget the
covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
Deu 4:32 “For ask now of the days that are past, which
were before you, since the day that Elohim created man on the earth, and ask
from one end of the heavens to the other end of the heavens, whether there has been a Word as great as
this, or has been heard like it.
Deu 4:33 “Has a people heard the voice of Elohim
speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?
Deu 4:34 “Or has Elohim tried to go and take for
Himself a nation from the midst of a nation by trials, and by signs, and by
wonders, and by battle, and by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by
great fearsome deeds, according to all that יהוה your Elohim
did for you in Mitsrayim before your eyes?
Deu 4:35 “You have
been shown it, to know that יהוה Himself is
Elohim; there is no one beside Him.
Deu 4:36 “From the heavens He let you hear His voice,
to instruct you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His
words out of the midst of the fire.
Deu 4:37 “And because He loved your fathers, therefore
He chose their seed after them, and brought you out of Mitsrayim with His
Presence, with His great power,
Deu 4:38 to drive out from before you nations greater
and stronger than you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an
inheritance, as it is today.
Deu 4:39 “And you shall know today, and shall recall
to your heart that יהוה Himself is
Elohim in the heavens above and on the earth beneath; there is none else.
Deu 4:40 “And you shall guard His laws and His
commands which I command you today, so that it is well with you and with your
children after you, and so that you prolong your days on the soil which יהוה your Elohim is giving you for all time.”
Deu 4:41 Then Mosheh separated three cities beyond the
Yardĕn, toward the rising of the sun,
Deu 4:42 for him who killed someone to flee there, he
who kills his neighbour unintentionally, without having hated him in time past,
and might flee to one of these cities and live:
Deu 4:43 Betser in the wilderness in the level land
for the Re’uḇĕnites, and Ramoth in Gilʽaḏ for
the Gaḏites, and Golan in Bashan for the Menashshites.
Deu 4:44 And this is the Torah which Mosheh set before
the children of Yisra’ĕl.
Deu 4:45 These are the witnesses, and the laws, and
the right-rulings which Mosheh spoke to the children of Yisra’ĕl after they
came out of Mitsrayim,
Deu 4:46 beyond the Yardĕn, in the valley opposite
Bĕyth Peʽor, in the land of Siḥon
sovereign of the Amorites, who dwelt at Ḥeshbon,
whom Mosheh and the children of Yisra’ĕl had smitten after they came out of
Mitsrayim.
Deu 4:47 And they took possession of his land and the
land of Oḡ sovereign of Bashan, two sovereigns of the Amorites, who
were beyond the Yardĕn, toward the rising of the sun,
Deu 4:48 from Aroʽĕr,
which is on the bank of the wadi Arnon, even to Mount Siyon, which is Ḥermon,
Deu 4:49 and all the desert plain beyond the Yardĕn as
far as the Sea of the Araḇah, below the slopes of Pisgah.
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 YHVH, 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.