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 Israel. May we and our offspring, and the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, 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 Israel. 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.
We conclude this week with the final portion
of parashat ‘’ve etchanan’’.
Moshe is urging us to do all we can to secure
our calling and election into the Promised Land.
Peter encourages us to do the same:
Confirm Your Calling and Election
2Pe
1:3 as His Mighty-like (supreme) power has given to us all we need for
life and reverence, through the knowledge of Him who called us to esteem and
uprightness.
2Pe
1:4 Through these there have been given to us exceedingly great and
precious promises, so that through these you might be partakers of the
Mighty-like nature, having escaped from the corruption in the world, caused by
lust.
2Pe
1:5 And for this reason do your utmost to add to your belief uprightness,(courage)
to uprightness knowledge,
2Pe
1:6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control endurance, to endurance
reverence,
2Pe 1:7 to reverence brotherly affection, and to brotherly affection love.
2Pe
1:8 For if these are in you and increase, they cause you to be neither
inactive nor without fruit in the knowledge of our Master יהושע Messiah.
2Pe
1:9 For he in whom these are not present is blind, being shortsighted,
and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his old sins.
2Pe
1:10 For this reason, brothers, all the more do your utmost to make firm
your calling and choosinga, for if you are doing these matters you shall
never stumble at all, Footnote: a Mat_20:16, Mat_22:14, Rev_17:14.
2Pe
1:11 for in this way an entrance into the everlasting reign of our Master
and Saviour יהושע Messiah shall be richly supplied to you.
2Pe
1:12 And so I intend to remind you of these matters again and
again, though you know them and have been established in the present
truth.
2Pe
1:13 But I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up
by a reminder,
2Pe
1:14 knowing that the putting off of my tent is soon, even as our Master יהושע Messiah made clear to me.
2Pe 1:15 And I shall do my utmost also, to see to it that you always have a reminder of these matters after my departure.
The prophetic word for this portion reminds us of its critically important end time application and the consequences should we neglect to carefully follow His instruction.
Zec
14:1 See, a day shall come for יהוה, and your spoil shall be divided in your midst.
Zec 14:2 And I shall gather all the nations to
battle against Yerushalayim.a And the city shall be taken, the houses
plundered, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into exile, but
the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Footnote: a Joe_3:2,
Zep_3:8, Rev_16:14.
Zec
13:8 And it shall be throughout all the soil,” declares יהוה, “that two
thirds therein are cut off and die, and one third is left therein.
Zec
13:9 “And I shall bring the third into fire, and refine them as silver is
refined, and try them as gold is tried. They shall call on My Name,b and I
shall answer them. I shall say, ‘This is My people,’ while they say, ‘יהוה is my
Elohim.’ ” Footnote: b Zep_3:9.
Many do
not like to even entertain the idea that a future great destruction will come
upon Yisrael before the Messiah returns.
In our apostolic writing for this portion we see Yahshua encouraging Torah observance:
Mar
12:28 And one of the scribes coming near, hearing them reasoning
together, knowing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the
first command of all?”
Mar
12:29 And יהושע answered him, “The
first of all the commands is, ‘Hear, O
Yisra’ěl, יהוה
our Elohim, יהוה
is one. Deu_6:4
Mar 12:30 ‘And you shall love יהוה your Elohim
with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your mind, and with
all your strength.’ This is the first command.
Mar 12:31 “And the second, like it, is this, ‘You shall
love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other command greater than
these.”
Mar 12:32 And the scribe said to Him, “Well said,
Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one Elohim, and there is no
other besides Him.
Mar 12:33 “And to love Him with all the heart, and with
all the understanding, and with all the being, and with all the strength, and
to love one’s neighbour as oneself, is more than all the burnt offerings and
offerings.”
Mar
12:34 And when יהושע saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far
from the reign of Elohim.” And after that no one was bold enough to
question Him.
Mat 19:16 And see, one
came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good shall I do to have everlasting
life?”
Mat 19:17 And He said to
him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except One – Elohim. But if you
wish to enter into life, guard the commands.”b Footnote: bSee also Luk_10:28,
Joh_12:50, Rev_22:14.
Mat 19:18 He said to
Him, “Which?” And יהושע said, “
‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’
‘You shall not bear false witness,’ Exo_20:13-16, Deu_5:17-20.
Mat 19:19 ‘Respect
your father and your mother,’ Exo_20:12, Deu_5:16 and ‘You
shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ ” Lev_19:18.
Mat 19:20 The young man
said to Him, “All these I have watched over from my youth, what do I still
lack?”
Mat 19:21 יהושע said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go,c sell what you
have and give to the poor, and you shall haved treasure in heaven. And come,
follow Me.” Footnotes: c Luk_12:33, Luk_16:9, Act_2:45, Act_4:34.
d Mat_6:20.
Mat 19:22 And when the
young man heard the word, he went away sad, because he had many
possessions.
Mat 19:23 And יהושע said to His taught ones, “Truly, I say to you that it is hard
for a rich man to enter into the reign of the heavens.
Mat 19:24 “And again I
say to you, it is easier for a camele to go through the eye of a needle than
for a rich man to enter into the reign of Elohim.” Footnote: eAramaic “gamla”,
which is camel or rope.
Mat 19:25 And when His
taught ones heard it, they were very astonished, saying, “Who then is able to
be saved?”
Mat 19:26 And looking intently יהושע said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with Elohim all is possible.”
Deu 6:4
“Hear, O Yisra’ĕl: יהוה our Elohim, יהוה is one!
ד שְׁמַע, יִשְׂרָאֵל: יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ, יְהוָה אֶחָד.
In the Torah “sefer”- scroll, the ‘’ayin” of the ‘’shemah’’ and the ‘’daleth’’ of the ‘’echad” are enlarged. The Hebrew word “Ayin Daleth” pronounced “Ed” means a “witness.” When Ayin Daleth is pronounced “Ad” it means eternal. Together we conclude that those who declare the “Shema” in “Spirit and in Truth” are the eternal witnesses of YHVH’s redemptive plan and purpose through Messiah.
Paradoxically “Ed” spelled the same as “witness” in Hebrew can also refer to a woman’s menstrual cloth – see Yesh/Is 64:6 -It serves as a witness that the woman has not conceived.
What kind of witnesses are we? For life or for death?
Deu 6:6 “And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart,
Deu 6:7 and you shall impress(shinantam) them upon
your children, and shall speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you
walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up,
“Shinantam”
translated as “impress or teach” implies an impartation (sharpening S8150) of
the knowledge of Torah in such a way that the children will commit to memory
and are empowered to relate these words back to others and are able to walk in
the revelation of Torah.
Deu 6:8 and shall bind them as a sign on your hand,
and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
Deu 6:9 “And you shall write them on the doorposts of
your house and on your gates.
Deu 6:10 “And it shall be, when יהוה your Elohim
brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Aḇraham, to
Yitsḥaq, and to Yaʽaqoḇ, to give you great and good cities which you did not
build,
Deu 6:11 and houses filled with all kinds of goods,
which you did not fill, and wells dug which you did not dig, vineyards and
olive trees which you did not plant, and you shall eat and be satisfied –
Deu 6:12 be on guard, lest you forget יהוה who brought
you out of the land of Mitsrayim, from the house of bondage.
Deu
6:13 “Fear יהוה your Elohim and serve Him, and swear (Heb
‘’shavuah’’) by(in) His Name – (Heb – ‘’bishmo’)
The
only way we can enter a covenant with YHVH is through the Name of His Son.
BDB Theological Dictionary
explains the act of swearing (Heb ‘’shavuah’’) with seven oneself,
or binding oneself by seven things. Of course, the most predominant
usage of the number seven is in the creation week. It's always been a mystery
where the Hebrew week came from — the day, the month and the year are
all references to cosmological phenomena, but the week appears to be a strictly
theological expression. By creating everything in seven days, YHVH takes an
oath…. See Abiram publications.
We believe that after ‘’7
days’’ or seven thousand years Yahshuah will present us perfect to His Father.
Jud
1:24 And to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present
you blameless before the presence of His esteem with exceeding joy,
Jud
1:25 to the only wise Elohim, our Saviour, be esteem and greatness and
might and authority, both now and forever. Aměn.
Deu 6:14 “Do not go after other mighty ones, the
mighty ones of the peoples who are all around you,
“Mighty ones”- those leaders and their teaching that cause
you not to hear, obey and do all YHVH’s Torah.
Deu 6:15 for יהוה your Elohim is
a jealous Ěl in your midst, lest the displeasure of יהוה your Elohim
burn against you, then He shall destroy you from the face of the earth.
Deu 6:16 “Do not try יהוה your Elohim as
you tried Him in Massah.
Massah or Merribah in Hebrew
“temptation” – where the Yisraelites grumbled against YHVH because they had no
water. (Prayer of the talmadim …’’ ve
al tishieinu li dei massah ki im hatzileinu min ha ra…” Do not bring us into
temptation (if you do) rescue us from evil or when you bring me into hard
testing, please don’t let evil have dominion over me.
We see time and time again the
Yisraelites were tested and were overcome by their testings so that most of
them did not enter into the Promised Land.
Deu 6:17 “Diligently guard the commands of יהוה your Elohim,
and His witnesses, and His laws which He has commanded you.
Deu 6:18 “And
you shall do what is right and good in the eyes of יהוה, that it might be well with you, and you shall go in and
possess the good land of which יהוה swore to your
fathers,
Deu 6:19 to drive out all your enemies from before
you, as יהוה has spoken.
Deu 6:20 “When your son asks you in time to come,
saying, ‘What is the meaning of the witnesses, and the laws, and the
right-rulings which יהוה our Elohim has commanded you?’
Deu 6:21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were
slaves of Pharaoh in Mitsrayim, and יהוה brought us out
of Mitsrayim with a strong hand,
Deu 6:22 and יהוה sent signs and
wonders, great and grievous, upon Mitsrayim, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his
household, before our eyes.
Deu 6:23 ‘And He brought us out from there, to bring
us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers.
Deu 6:24 ‘And יהוה commanded us
to do all these laws, to fear יהוה our Elohim,
for our good always, to keep us alive, as it is today.
Deu 6:25 ‘And it
is righteousness for us when we guard(shamar) to do all this command before יהוה our Elohim, as
He has commanded us.’
Rom
8:4 so that the righteousness of the
Torah should be completed in us who do not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit. (If you are truly filled with the Ruach – you will
walk in all of Torah.)
Deu 7:1 “When יהוה your Elohim brings you into the land which
you go to possess, He shall also clear away many nations before you: the
Ḥittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Kenaʽanites and the
Perizzites and the Ḥiwwites and the Yeḇusites, seven nations greater and
mightier than you.
Deu 7:2 “And when יהוה your Elohim
gives them over to you, you shall smite them and put them under the ban,
completely. Make no covenant with them, and show them no favour.
Deu 7:3 “And do not intermarry with them – you do not
give your daughter to his son, and you do not take his daughter for your son,
Deu 7:4 for he turns your sons away from following
Me, to serve other mighty ones. Then the displeasure of יהוה shall burn
against you and promptly destroy you.
Deu 7:5 “But this is what you do to them: Break down
their altars, and smash their pillars, and cut down their Ashĕrim, and burn
their carved images with fire.
Deu 7:6 “For you are a set-apart people (am kodesh)to
יהוה your Elohim. יהוה your Elohim
has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a treasured possession(am segulah)
above all the peoples on the face of the earth.
1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen
race,b Deu_10:15 a royal priesthood,c Isa_61:6 a set-apart
nation,d Exo_19:6 a people for a possession,e Isa_43:2
that you should proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into
His marvellous light, Footnotes: bAlso see Isa_43:20. cAlso see Isa_66:21.
dAlso see Deu_7:6. eAlso see Exo_19:5, Tit_2:14.
1Pe 2:10 who once were not
a people,f but now the people of Elohim;f who had not obtained
compassion,f but now obtained compassion.f Hos_1:9-10, Hos_2:23.
Footnote: fAlso see Isa_65:1, Hos_1:9, Isa_63:16, Isa_64:8,
Rom_9:25-26.
Note – this text applies only
to a grafted-in Hebraic people, who ‘’Shemah, shemar and assah” (who hear,
guard and do) the Torah of YHVH as Yahshua came to teach those whom YHVH called
to be followers of His son – Yoh 6:44
Deu 7:7 “יהוה did not set
His love on you nor choose you because you were more numerous than any other
people, for you were the least of all peoples,
Deu 7:8 but because of יהוה loving you,
and because of Him guarding the oath which He swore to your fathers, יהוה has brought
you out with a strong hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from
the hand of Pharaoh sovereign of Mitsrayim.
Deu 7:9 “And you shall know that יהוה your Elohim,
He is Elohim, the trustworthy Ěl guarding covenant and kindness for a thousand
generations with those who love Him, and those who guard His commands,
Deu 7:10 but repaying those who hate Him to their
face, to destroy them. He does not delay to do so with him who hates
Him, He repays him to his face.
Deu 7:11 “And you shall guard the command, and the
laws, and the right-rulings which I command you today, to do them.
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,
Deu 7:13 and shall love you and bless you and increase
you, and shall bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your
grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the
offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give
you.
Deu 7:14 “Blessed are you above all peoples – there is
not going to be a barren man or a barren woman among you or among your
livestock.
Midrash
John 3.
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