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
It is helpful to understand this parasha in the light of a greatly
expanded Kingdom of believers.
Gen 26:4 “And I shall increase
your seed like the stars of the heavens, and I shall give all these lands to
your seed. And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be
blessed,
Gen 26:5 because Aḇraham obeyed My
voice and guarded My Charge: My commands, My laws, and My Torot.”[a] Footnote:
aTorot - plural of Torah, teaching.
Hos 1:10 “Yet the number of the children of Yisra’ěl shall be as the sand of the sea, which is not measured nor counted.
The
Mustard Seed and the Leaven
Mat 13:31 Another parable He put
before them, saying, “The reign of the heavens is like a mustard seed, which a
man took and sowed in his field,
Mat 13:32 which indeed is less
than all the seeds, but when it is grown it is greater than the plants and
becomes a tree, so that the birds of the
heaven come and dwell in its branches.”
Mat 13:33 Another parable He spoke to them, “The reign of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until all was leavened.”
Righteous government and order will be required In the light of extremely large numbers of people in the coming age.
Laws
Concerning Cities of Refuge
Deu
19:1 “When יהוה your Elohim cuts off the
nations whose land יהוה
your Elohim is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities
and in their houses,
Deu
19:2 separate three cities for yourself in the midst of your land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you to
possess.
Deu
19:3 “Prepare a way for yourself, and divide into three parts the border
of your land which יהוה
your Elohim is giving you to inherit, that any man-slayer shall flee
there.
Deu
19:4 “And this matter of the man-slayer who flees there and lives: he who
strikes his neighbour unknowingly, not having hated him in time past,
Deu
19:5 even he who goes to the forest with his neighbour to cut timber, and
his hand swings a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slips
from the handle and strikes his neighbour so that he dies – let him flee to one
of these cities and live,
Deu
19:6 lest the revenger of blood, while his displeasure is hot, pursue the
man-slayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and shall strike his
being, though he was not worthy of death, since he had not hated him
before.
Deu
19:7 “Therefore I am commanding you, saying, ‘Separate three cities for
yourself.’
Deu
19:8 “And if יהוה
your Elohim enlarges your border, as He swore to your fathers, and has given
you the land which He promised to give to your fathers –
Deu
19:9 when you guard all this command to do it, which I am commanding you
today, to love יהוה
your Elohim and to walk in His ways all the days – then you shall add three
more cities for yourself besides these three,
Deu
19:10 so that innocent blood is not shed in the midst of your land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you as
an inheritance, or blood-guilt shall be upon you.
Deu
19:11 “But when anyone hates his neighbour, and shall lie in wait for him
and rise against him and strike his being so that he dies, then he shall flee
to one of these cities,
Deu
19:12 and the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and
give him into the hand of the revenger of blood, and he shall die.
Deu
19:13 “Your eye shall not pardon him, but you shall purge the blood of
innocent blood from Yisra’ěl, so that it might be well with you.
Property
Boundaries
Deu
19:14 “Do not remove your neighbour’s boundary, which those in the past
have set, in your inheritance which you inherit in the land that יהוה your Elohim is giving you to
possess.
Laws
Concerning Witnesses
Deu
19:15 “One witness does not rise up against a man concerning any
crookedness or any sin that he commits. At the mouth of two witnesses or at the
mouth of three witnesses a matter is established.
Deu
19:16 “When a malicious witness rises up against any man to accuse him of
turning aside,
Deu
19:17 then both men who have the dispute shall stand before יהוה, before the priests and the
judges who serve in those days.
Deu
19:18 “And the judges shall diligently search and see if the witness is a
false witness, who has falsely accused his brother,
Deu
19:19 then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother.
Thus you shall purge the evil from your midst.
Deu
19:20 “And let the rest hear and fear, and never again do this evil matter
in your midst.
Deu
19:21 “And let your eye not pardon, life for life, eye for eye, tooth for
tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Deu 20:1
“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and shall see horses and
chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them, for יהוה your Elohim, who brought you up from the land of Mitsrayim, is
with you.
Deu 20:2 “And it shall be, when
you draw near to the battle, that the priest shall come and speak to the
people,
Deu 20:3 and shall say to them,
‘Hear, O Yisra’ěl: You are drawing near today to battle with your enemies. Do
not let your heart faint, do not fear, or tremble, or be afraid before
them,
Deu 20:4 for יהוה your
Elohim is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save
you.’
Deu 20:5 “And the officers shall
speak to the people, saying, ‘Who is the man who has built a new house and has
not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle
and another man dedicate it.
Deu 20:6 And who is the man who
has planted a vineyard and has not begun to use it? Let him also go and return
to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man should begin to use
it.
Deu 20:7 And who is the man who is
engaged to a woman and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house,
lest he die in the battle and another man take her.’
Deu 20:8 “And the officers shall
speak further to the people, and say, ‘Who is the man who is afraid and tender
of heart? Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of his brothers
faint like his heart.’
Deu 20:9 “And it shall be, when
the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they shall appoint
commanders of the divisions to lead the people.
One of the greatest victories in Yisrael’s
wars against her enemies is recorded in parashat 42 – Matot – Num 31.
Num
31:3 And Mosheh spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of yourselves for
the campaign, and let them go against the Miḏyanites to take vengeance for יהוה on Miḏyan.
Num
31:4 “Send a thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Yisra’ěl for
the campaign.”
Num 31:5 So there were supplied from the tribes of Yisra’ěl one thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed ones for the campaign.
Num
31:32 And the booty remaining from the plunder, which the people of the
campaign had taken, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep,
Num
31:33 and seventy-two thousand cattle,
Num
31:34 and sixty-one thousand donkeys,
Num 31:35 and thirty-two thousand human beings in all, of women who had not known a man by lying with a man.
Num 31:49 and they said to Mosheh, “Your servants have taken a count of the fighting men under our command, and not a man of us is missing.
Rev
7:2 And I saw another messenger coming up from the rising of the sun,
holding the seal of the living Elohim. And he cried with a loud voice to the
four messengers to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea,
Rev
7:3 saying, “Do not harm the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees until we
have sealed the servants of our Elohim upon their foreheads.”a Footnote: aSee Rev_9:4,
Rev_14:1, Rev_22:4.
Rev 7:4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of all the tribes of the children of Yisra’ěl:
Eze 9:4 and יהוה said to him, “Pass on into the midst of the city, into the midst of Yerushalayim, and you shall put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” Eze 9:6 “Kill to destruction old, young men, maidens and children and women, but do not come near anyone upon whom is the mark, and begin at My set-apart place.” So they began with the elders who were in front of the House.
Rev
14:1 And I
looked and saw a Lamb standing on Mount Tsiyon, and with Him one hundred and
forty-four thousand, having His Father’s Namea written upon their foreheads.
Footnote: aSome texts read: having His Name and His Father’s Name.
Rev
14:4 They are those who were not defiled with women, for they are
maidens. They are those following the Lamb wherever He leads them on.
They were redeemed from among men, being first-fruits to Elohim and to the
Lamb.
Rev 14:5 And in their mouth was found no falsehood, for they are blameless before the throne of Elohim.
Who are
the 144 000?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TByIL2M4v8o
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