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
Our weekly Torah portion:
Deu 9:1 “Hear, O Yisra’ĕl: You are passing over the
Yardĕn today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and stronger than
yourself, cities great and walled (Heb – “”batsar- mysteriously inaccessible)
up to the heavens, -
“Shemah Yisrael…” –
whenever these two words are used they are immediately intended to call us to
listen carefully and pay careful attention as to what is about to be said.
Moshe then goes on to say that Yisrael is
crossing the Yarden River on that day. Why is this important?
Firstly Moshe was not crossing over the
Yarden. Secondly those crossing the Yarden must not assume that their crossing
has something to do with their own obedience and righteousness. This is a
lesson to us who call ourselves believers and believe we are entitled to all
the blessings and promises of YHVH.
For many Yisraelites this must have been a
wonderful day, yet it must also have been a sad day because there were many
others that could have crossed over but never did.
This Torah portion seems to draw our
attention to the fact that not everyone who calls themselves believers in YHVH
and His Messiah automatically qualify to cross over into Yisrael. And not
everyone who crosses over the Yarden to Yisrael will automatically stay in
Yisrael
“Walled up to the heavens” could imply that
these cities were protected by ocultic demonic forces.
We should
consider the implications of this matter in a very sober manner. False
doctrines have “walled up the truth to the heavens” for many dear precious
“called out ones.” Only the mighty power of YHVH working in us will save us
from such deception and defeat in the last days.
Deu 9:2
a people great and tall, the descendants of the Anaqim, whom you know,
and of whom you heard it said, ‘Who does stand before the descendants of Anaq?’
Deu 9:3
“And you shall know today that יהוה your Elohim is He who is passing over
before you as a consuming fire – He does destroy them and subdue them before
you. So you shall dispossess(evict) them
and destroy them quickly, as יהוה has said to you.
It
is difficult for modern day believers to even entertain the idea that they have
been called to destroy those who occupy their inheritance and have become
possessed by their religion and intend to do all they can to destroy YHVH’s
people and His Torah.
Deu 9:4 “Do not think in your heart, after יהוה your Elohim
has driven them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness יהוה has brought me
in to possess this land.’ But it is because of the wrong of these nations that יהוה is driving
them out from before you.
Deu 9:5 “It is not because of your righteousness or
the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because
of the wrong of these nations that יהוה your Elohim
drives them out from before you, in order to establish the word which יהוה swore to your
fathers, to Aḇraham, to Yitsḥaq, and to Yaʽaqoḇ. (see comment in Stones
Chumash p 985 vs 4-6)
Deu 9:6 “And you shall know that יהוה your Elohim is
not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you
are a stiff-necked people.
Deu 9:7 “Remember, do not forget how you provoked to
wrath יהוה your Elohim in the wilderness. From the day that you came out
of the land of Mitsrayim until you came to this place, you have been rebellious
against יהוה.
Deu 9:8 “Even in Ḥorĕḇ you made יהוה wroth, so that
יהוה was enraged with you, to destroy you.
Note
the accusations YHVH makes against His people in vs 6-9.
Does
YHVH not remain enraged with those who continually break His covenant and
violate His Torah?
Deu 9:9 “When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which יהוה made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I did not eat bread nor did I drink water.
Deu 9:10 “Then יהוה gave me the two
tablets of stone written with the finger of Elohim, and on them were all the
Words which יהוה had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire in
the day of the assembly.
Deu 9:11 “And it came to be, at the end of forty days
and forty nights, that יהוה gave me the two tablets of stone, the
tablets of the covenant.
Deu 9:12 “Then יהוה said to me,
‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of
Mitsrayim have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned aside from the way
which I commanded them, they have made themselves a moulded image.’
Deu 9:13 “And יהוה spoke to me,
saying, ‘I have seen this people, and look, they are a stiff-necked people.
Deu 9:14 ‘Leave Me alone, so that I destroy them and
blot out their name from under the heavens, and make of you a nation stronger
and greater than they.’
Deu 9:15 “So I turned and came down from the mountain,
and the mountain burned with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in
my two hands.
Deu 9:16 “And I looked and saw that you had sinned
against יהוה your Elohim, and had made for yourselves a moulded calf! You
had quickly turned aside from the way which יהוה had commanded
you.
Deu 9:17 “And I took the two tablets and threw them
out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes,
Deu 9:18 “and I fell down before יהוה, as at the
first, forty days and forty nights. I did not eat bread and I did not drink
water, because of all your sins which you committed in doing evil in the eyes
of יהוה, to provoke Him.
Deu 9:19 “For I was afraid of the displeasure and rage
with which יהוה was wroth with you, to destroy you. But יהוה listened to me
that time once more.
Deu 9:20 “And יהוה was very enraged
with Aharon, to destroy him, so I prayed for Aharon at that time also.
Deu 9:21 “And I took your sin, the calf which you had
made, and burned it with fire and crushed it and ground it very small, until it
was as fine as dust. And I threw its dust into the stream that came down from
the mountain.
Deu 9:22 “And at Taḇʽĕrah and at Massah and at
Qiḇroth Hatta’awah you made יהוה wroth.
Deu 9:23 “And when יהוה sent you from
Qaḏĕsh Barnĕa, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you,’ then
you rebelled against the mouth of יהוה your Elohim,
and you neither trusted Him nor listened to His voice.
Deu 9:24 “You have
been rebellious against יהוה from the day that I knew you.
Deu 9:25 “So I fell down before יהוה the forty days
and forty nights, for I fell down because יהוה had said He
would destroy you.
Deu 9:26 “And I prayed to יהוה, and said, ‘O
Master יהוה, do not destroy Your people and Your inheritance whom You have
redeemed in Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Mitsrayim with a
strong hand.
Deu 9:27 ‘Remember Your servants, Aḇraham, Yitsḥaq,
and Yaʽaqoḇ. Do not look on the stubbornness of this people, or on their wrong
or on their sin,
Deu 9:28 lest the land from which You brought us
should say, “Because יהוה was not able to bring them to the land
which He promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to
kill them in the wilderness.”
Deu 9:29 ‘And they are Your people and Your inheritance,
whom You brought out by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm.’
“Here we come face to face
with one of the most important lessons in scripture, namely, that YHVH acts
according to His sovereign will to accomplish His eternal plan so that the
esteem of all matters will be His. He is the all esteemed One, and acts in
faithful loyalty to all that He is and all that He has decreed. YHVH does not
work in reaction to mankind’s successes or failures. YHVH is not shut up to
accomplish His will through the “maybe’s” of human fickleness. Even more YHVH
is not left with His Hands tied up behind the backs of His people. He
accomplished His will among the host of heaven and the inhabitants of the
earth, and no one stays His Hand or requires of Him “what are You doing?”- Dan
4:35. YHVH, the Almighty, the Commander of the Hosts, will accomplish His plan,
and how blessed are the people through whom He sovereignly wills to accomplish
it.” – Tim Hegg.
Dan 4:35 And all
the inhabitants of the earth are of no account, and He does as He wishes with
the host of the heavens and among the inhabitants of the earth. And there is
none to strike against His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?”
Rom 9:14 What, then, shall
we say? Is there unrighteousness with Elohim? Let it not be!
Rom 9:15 For He says to
Mosheh, “I shall favour whomever I favour, and I shall have compassion on
whomever I have compassion.” Exo_33:19.
Rom 9:16 So, then, it is
not of him who is wishing, nor of him who is running, but of Elohim who shows
favour.
Rom 9:17 For the
Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this same purpose I have raised you up, to
show My power in you, and that My Name be declared in all the earth.” Exo_9:16.
Rom 9:18 So, then, He
favours whom He wishes, and He hardens whom He wishes.
Rom 9:19 Then you shall
say to me, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His
counsel?”
Rom 9:20 But who are
you, O man, to talk back to Elohim? Shall that which is formed say to him
who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Isa_29:16, Isa_45:9.
Rom 9:21 Does not the potter have authority over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for value and another not for value?
This Torah portion points to the long history of
disobedience of those who were called to love and serve YHVH. This disobedience
continued despite the first coming of Yahshua and the outpouring of the Ruach
Ha Kodesh. Will this disobedience
continue even after the Messiah comes again?
Jer 2:1 And the word of יהוה came to me,
saying,
Jer 2:2 “Go, and you shall cry in the hearing of
Yerushalayim, saying, ‘Thus said יהוה, “I remember
you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your bridehood, when you went
after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
Jer 2:3 “Yisra’ĕl was set-apart to יהוה, the
first-fruits of His increase. All who ate of it became guilty – evil came upon
them,” declares יהוה.’ ” (will evil come upon the church
because of replacement theology?)
Jer 2:4 Hear the word of יהוה, O house of
Yaʽaqoḇ and all the clans of the house of Yisra’ĕl.
Jer 2:5 Thus said יהוה, “What
unrighteousness have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me,
and went after worthlessness, and became worthless? (Koh/Ecc 1:2)
Jer 2:6 “And did not they say, ‘Where is יהוה, who brought
us up out of the land of Mitsrayim, who led us through the wilderness, through
a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and the shadow of death,
a land that no one passed through and where no one dwelt?’
Jer 2:7 “Then I brought you into a garden land, to
eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered, you defiled My land and
made My inheritance an abomination.
Jer 2:8 “The priests did not say, ‘Where is יהוה?’ And those
who handle the Torah did not know Me, and the shepherds1
transgressed against Me, and the prophets prophesied by Baʽal, and walked after
matters that did not profit. Footnote: 1See 10:21, 12:10-11,
50:6-7.
Jer 2:11 “Has a
nation changed its mighty ones, which are not mighty ones? But My people have
changed My esteem1 for that which does not profit. Footnote: 1Symbolic
name for His Ark. (2 Macc 2:4-7)
Jer 2:12 “Be
amazed, O heavens, at this, and be frightened, be utterly dried up,” declares יהוה.
Jer 2:13 “For My people have done two evils: they have
forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters1, to hew out for
themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns, which do not hold water. Footnote: 1See
5:30-31; 2Tim 4:3
In verse 13 we see YHVH sum up Yisreal’s failure – Firstly their failure to be utterly motivated, nourished and satisfied with YHVH as the source of all life; and secondly to try and fill this satisfaction with manmade religion and self -significance.
Listen to the following songs and pray that YHVH will open your hearts to embrace His Torah.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN3kWAcWfVs
Michael
Card – Song Of Gomer
Don't know what he sees in me
He is spirit, he is free
And I, the wife of adultery
Gomer is my name
Simply more than I can see
How he keeps on forgiving me
How he keeps his sanity
Hosea, you're a fool
Chorus:
A fool to love someone like me,
A fool to suffer silently;
Though sometimes through your eyes I see
I'd rather be a fool.
The fondness of a father
The passion of a child
The tenderness of a loving friend
An understanding smile
All of this and so much more
You've lavished on a faithless whore
I've never known love like this before
Hosea, you're a fool
Chorus
This God of yours would not have told
To lift a love that you couldn't hold
And though time and time again I flee
I'm always glad to see you coming after me
Simply more than I can see
How he keeps on forgiving me
The wife of adultery
Gomer is my name
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