Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, You have set us apart by Your
commandments and have commanded us to actively study Your Torah. Please YHVH,
our Elohim, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of
all Your people Israel. May You open our eyes to see marvellous truths from
Your Torah. Thank You for calling us who were once gentiles excluded from the
citizenship of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no
expectation and without Elohim- but now through the blood of Messiah we have
gained access into the covenant and have obtained citizenship into the
commonwealth of Israel. Blessed are You,
YHVH, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel.
Amein
We conclude this week with the final portion of parashat ‘’ve etchanan’’.
Our previous portion (149) about covenantal relationship lays the
foundation for set apartness and the most meaningful existence in this life and
in the life to come. This Torah portion reveals the highest and most noble
calling available to mankind - loving YHVH with all your heart, being and
strength.
Is this possibly what Paul meant when he said in Rom
8:19 For the intense longing of the creation eagerly waits for the
revealing of the sons of Elohim. (who are these witnesses?)
שׁמע ישׂראל Israel listen carefully
and intelligently and obey.
ד שְׁמַע, יִשְׂרָאֵל: יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ, יְהוָה אֶחָד
In the Torah scroll, the ‘’ayin” of the ‘’shemah’’ and the ‘’daleth’’ of
the ‘’echad” are enlarged.
H5707 עד ‛êd witness to His Set apartness.
H5708 עד ‛êd menstruation – all of mankind is in a state of
uncleaness – this is not permanent.
Joh
15:3 “You are already clean (מטהרים)(
ἐστέ) because of the
Word which I have spoken to you. (both Hebrew and Greek are present tense
verbs – ie the action is not yet complete)
1Co
4:4 For I am not conscious of any matter against myself, yet I
am not declared right by this, but He who judges me is יהוה.
H5703 עד ‛ad perpetuity, for ever, continuing future – His
Set apartness will be witnessed now and forever.
Heb
12:26 ….He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the
earth, but also the heaven.” Hag_2:6. Heb 12:27 And this,
“Yet once more,” makes clear the removal of what is shaken – as having been
made – so that the unshaken matters might remain.
Why is the ‘’shema’’ the most important commandment(not prayer) in the
Torah? Matt 6:9-13
Because the Messiah said so!
The Great Commandment
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.’ Deu_6:5. This is the
first command.
Mar 12:31 “And the second, like
it, is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ Lev_19:18.
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. Deu_4:35.
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, Deu_6:5 and to love one’s neighbour as oneself, is
more than all the ascending offerings and offerings.” )’’more than’’ not ‘’instead
of’’’)
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.
Deu 6:4 “Hear, O Yisra’ěl: יהוה our Elohim, יהוה is one!
Deu
6:5 “And you shall love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and
with all your might.
Deu
6:6 “And these Wordsa which I am commanding you today shall be in your
heart, Footnote: aSee footnote at Deu_5:22.
Deu 6:7 and you shall impress 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 is such a way that the children will commit to memory and are empowered to relate these words back to others and are thus enabled 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 Ya‛aqoḇ,
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’)
BDB Theological Dictionary explains the act of swearing (Heb ‘’shavuah’’) with seven oneself. 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 to restore His people to Himself – we in turn agree by solemnly declaring that His oath will be carried out.
Deu
6:14 “Do not go after other mighty ones, the mighty ones of the peoples
who are all around you,
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.
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 (not legalism) for us when we guard to do all this command[b] before יהוה our Elohim, as He has commanded us.’ Footnote: b"Command,” singular, very often has the meaning of “commands,” plural. See also Psa_119:172 and in Isa_51:7.
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. (the evidence that you have received the righteousness of the true Messiah)
A Chosen People
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 Kena‛anites 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 strike 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 slaughter-places, and smash their pillars, and cut down their
Ashěrim, and burn their carved images with fire.
Deu 7:6 “For you are a set-apart people to יהוה your
Elohim. יהוה your Elohim has chosen you to be a people
for Himself, a treasured possession 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.
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 ransomed 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
loving-commitment 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.
Moshe is urging us to do all we can to secure our calling and election sure.
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, (lit Gk ‘’add to the faith of yours – manliness to
manliness add knowledge’’)
2Pe 1:6 to
knowledge self-control, ( ‘’seclusion’’) to self-control endurance,(patience)
to endurance reverence, (set apartness)
2Pe 1:7 to reverence brotherly affection, and to brotherly affection love. (Gk ‘’agape)
Seven qualities of spiritual discipline that need to be added to ‘’The Faith’’ Manliness, Knowledge, Seclusion/Self control, (know how to be silent) Patient endurance (vasbyt) Set apartness, Brotherly love (Gk philadelphos) and Elohim love (Gk agape)
1Co
16:13 Watch, stand fast in the belief, be men, be strong.
1Co
16:14 Let all that you do be done in love.
1Co 13:11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned as a child. But when I became a man, I did away with childish matters.
In the past men were taught to be men by their fathers and grandfathers. However, you and I have primarily been raised by the internet and social media. Where is the mentoring today?
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. (‘’proceeding
word’’ ‘’present application of 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.
Celebration of Discipline - Richard Foster -
“My problem was that what I did say had no power to help people. I had no substance, no depth. The people were starving for a word from God, and I had nothing to give them. Nothing.” (xiii). He goes on to say, “Superficiality is the curse of our age. . . The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people” (1). Foster warns that “to know the mechanics does not mean that we are practicing the Disciplines” (3). He continues, “The disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that he can transform us” (7). He argues that the disciplines themselves are not life-changing, but the God of the disciplines is - end quote.
2Th 3:6 But we command you, brothers, in the Name of our Master יהושע Messiah, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which you received from us.
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 – Amein
It is time for heavenly
men to fulfil their earthly callings – we are the priests in our homes.