4/07/2025

Parashat 48 Portion 160 ‘’Shoftim’’Deut 17:14-18:19 Is 33:22-34:8

Baruch atah, YHVH Eloheinu, Melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu laasok b’divrei Torah.

Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, who has made us set apart through His commandments and commanded us to engross ourselves in the words of the Torah. Blessed are You, YHVH, Giver of the Torah – Amein

אשׂימה עלי מלך – I will recruit over me a king

Deu 17:14  “When you come to the land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you, and shall possess (יָרֵשׁ) it and shall dwell in it, and you shall say, ‘Let me set a sovereign over me like all the nations that are around me,’ יָרֵשׁ A primitive root; to occupy (by driving out previous tenants, and possessing in their place); by implication to seize, to rob, to inherit; also to expel, to impoverish, to ruin: - cast out, consume, destroy, disinherit, dispossess.

 

Note the irony and tragedy of this opening verse – YHVH blesses His people with an inheritance by driving out a people that don’t belong there. Then YHVH’s people have the cheek to thank Him by telling Him ‘’we prefer to be ruled by a king of our own choosing’’.

 

1Sa 8:5  and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a sovereign to rule us like all the nations.” 

1Sa 8:6  But the word was evil in the eyes of Shemu’ěl when they said, “Give us a sovereign to rule us.” So Shemu’ěl prayed to יהוה

1Sa 8:7  And יהוה said to Shemu’ěl, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from reigning over them. 

1Sa 8:8  “According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Mitsrayim, even to this day – forsaking Me and serving other mighty ones – so they are doing to you too. 

1Sa 8:9  “And now, listen to their voice, but you shall certainly warn them, and shall make known to them the ruling of the sovereign who does reign over them.” (he will tax you and send your sons to war. Force you to work on his farms and manufacture weapons - 1 Sam 8:10-13)

 

Deu 17:15  you shall certainly set a sovereign over you whom יהוה your Elohim shall choose. Set a sovereign over you from among your brothers, you are not allowed to set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 

 

Jer 33:20  “Thus said יהוה, ‘If you could break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there be not day and night in their season, 

Jer 33:21  then My covenant could also be broken with Dawi My servant – so that he shall not have a son (singular) to reign upon his throne – and with the Lěwites, the priests, My attendants. 

Jer 33:22  As the host of the heavens is not counted, nor the sand of the sea measured, so I increase the descendants of Dawi My servant and the Lěwites who attend upon Me.’ ” 

 

Yahshua was the son of David – the King Messiah who lives forever and ever –

Rev 17:14  “They shall fight with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Master of masters  and Sovereign of sovereigns. And those with Him are called, and chosen, and trustworthy.” 

 

Php 2:5  For, let this mind be in you which was also in Messiah יהושע

Php 2:6  who, being in the form of Elohim, did not regard equality with Elohim a matter to be grasped, 

Php 2:7  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and came to be in the likeness of men. 

Php 2:8  And having been found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, death even of a stake. 

Php 2:9  Elohim, therefore, has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name which is above every name, 

Php 2:10  that at the Name of יהושע every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 

Php 2:11  and every tongue should confess Isa_45:23 that יהושע Messiah is Master, to the esteem of Elohim the Father. 

 

Isa 33:22  for יהוה is our Judge, יהוה is our Inscriber,  מחקקנו יהוה is our Sovereign, He saves us – 

 

Isa 49:16  “See, I have inscribed  מרחוק  you on the palms of My hands; your walls are always before Me. 

 

The haftarah portion is added to clearly state that no other mighty one has the right to ‘’inscribe’’ you in the palm of their hands – we only have ONE legal owner.

 

‘’The idea of the Messiah's name being inscribed in the palm of God's hand is represented by the phrase "Behold, I have engraved you (singular) on the palms of my hands,"

 

Judgment on the Nations

Isa 34:1  Come near, you nations, to hear. And listen, you people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world and all its offspring. 

Isa 34:2  For the displeasure of יהוה is against all the nations,a and His wrath against all their divisions. He shall put them under the ban, He shall give them over to the slaughter, Footnote: aSee footnote Jer_30:11

Isa 34:3  and their slain be thrown out, and their stench rise from their corpses. And mountains shall be melted with their blood. 

Isa 34:4  And all the host of the heavens shall rot away. And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll, and all their host fade like a leaf fading on the vine, and like the fading one of a fig tree. 

Isa 34:5  “For My sword shall be drenched in the heavens. Look, it comes down on Eom, and on the people of My curse, for judgment. 

Isa 34:6  “The sword of יהוה shall be filled with blood, it shall be made overflowing with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For יהוה has a slaughtering in Botsrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Eom. 

Isa 34:7  “And wild oxen shall come down with them, and young bulls with bulls. And their land shall be drenched with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.” 

Isa 34:8  For it is the day of the vengeance of יהוה, the year of recompense for the cause of Tsiyon. 

 

Therefore no king or ruler must get ‘’too big for his boots’’ look at the tragic commentary of all the kings and Judges of Israel.

 

Deu 17:16  “Only, he is not to increase horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Mitsrayim to increase horses, for יהוה has said to you, ‘Do not return that way again.’ 

Deu 17:17  “And he is not to increase wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor is he to greatly increase silver and gold for himself. 

Deu 17:18  “And it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his reign, that he shall write for himself a copy of this Torah in a book, from the one before the priests, the Lěwites. 

Deu 17:19  “And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he learns to fear יהוה his Elohim and guard all the Words of this Torah and these laws, to do them, 

Deu 17:20  so that his heart is not lifted up above his brothers, and so as not to turn aside from the command, right or left, so that he prolongs his days in his reign, he and his children, in the midst of Yisra’ěl. 

 

Provision for Priests and Levites

 

When the only true and legitimate king of kings – Yahshua – son of David returns – He shall put in order His Master’s Kingdom – YHVH’s Kingdom to whom alone all things belong.

 

Deu 10:14  “See, the heavens and the heaven of heavens belong to יהוה your Elohim, also the earth with all that is in it. 

Deu 10:15  “יהוה delighted only in your fathers, to love them. And He chose their seed after them, you above all peoples,[a] as it is today. Footnote: aSee also Deu_7:6, Deu_14:2, Deu_26:18, Psa_135:4 and Amo 1:1-9:15. 

Deu 10:16  “And you shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart,[b] and harden your neck no more. Footnote: bSee also Deu_30:6-8, Rom_2:26-29 and 1Co_7:19

Deu 10:17  “For יהוה your Elohim is Elohim of mighty ones and Master of masters, the great Ěl, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. 

Deu 10:18  “He executes right-ruling for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and a garment. 

 

According to the Torah YHVH has chosen the Levites (‘’Levi “joined to”) to join His people to Himself and bring restoration to mankind. When Yahshua returns He will make sure that every word and command in the Torah regarding YHVH’s chosen Levitical priesthood are carried out with no exception and no opposition. (Is 66:21; 1 Pet 2:9) ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש ועם סגלה

 

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.

 

Deu 18:1  “The priests, the Lěwites, all the tribe of Lěwi, have no part nor inheritance with Yisra’ěl. They are to eat the offerings of יהוה made by fire, and His inheritance. 

Deu 18:2  “But among his brothers Lěwi has no inheritance. יהוה is his inheritance, as He has spoken to him. Lev 25:32

Deu 18:3  “And this is the priest’s (Kohen) right from the people, from those who slaughter a slaughtering, whether it is bull or sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the stomach; 

Deu 18:4  the first-fruits of your grain and your new wine and your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you give to him. 

Deu 18:5  “For יהוה your Elohim has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to serve in the Name of יהוה, him and his sons forever. 

 

Jer 33:20  “Thus said יהוה, ‘If you could break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there be not day and night in their season, 

Jer 33:21  then My covenant could also be broken with Dawi My servant – so that he shall not have a son to reign upon his throne – and with the Lěwites, the priests, My attendants. 

Jer 33:22  As the host of the heavens is not counted, nor the sand of the sea measured, so I increase the descendants of Dawi My servant and the Lěwites who attend upon Me.’ ” 

 

Deu 18:6  “And when the Lěwite comes from one of your gates, from where he has sojourned among all Yisra’ěl, and shall come with all the desire of his being to the place which יהוה chooses, 

Deu 18:7  then he shall serve in the Name of יהוה his Elohim, like all his brothers the Lěwites, who are standing there before יהוה

Deu 18:8  “They are to have portion for portion to eat, besides what comes from the sale of his inheritance. (Levites were not like monks who had taken a vow of poverty)

Abominable Practices

Deu 18:9  “When you come into the land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you, do not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations.a Footnote: aSee footnote at Deu_12:30

Deu 18:10  “Let no one be found among you who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practises divination, or a user of magic, or one who interprets omens or a sorcerer, 

Deu 18:11  or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 

Deu 18:12  “For whoever does these is an abomination to יהוה, and because of these abominations יהוה your Elohim drives them out from before you. 

Deu 18:13  “Be perfect before יהוה your Elohim, 

Deu 18:14  for these nations whom you are possessing do listen to those using magic and to diviners. But as for you, יהוה your Elohim has not appointed such for you. 

A New Prophet like Mosheh

Deu 18:15  “יהוה your Elohim shall raise up for you a Prophetb like me from your midst, from your brothers. Listen to Him, Footnote: bSee footnote at Deu_18:18

Deu 18:16  according to all you asked of יהוה your Elohim in orě in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of יהוה my Elohim, nor let me see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 

Deu 18:17  “And יהוה said to me, ‘What they have spoken is good. 

Deu 18:18  I shall raise up for them a Prophetc like you out of the midst of their brothers. And I shall put My Words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. Footnote: cSee also Act_3:22-26, and Act_7:37

Deu 18:19  And it shall be, the man who does not listen to My Words which He speaks in My Name, I require it of him. 

 

Act 3:23  ‘And it shall be that every being who does not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ Deu_18:15-19

Act 3:24  “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Shemu’ěl and those following, have also announced these days. 

Act 3:25  “You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which Elohim made with our fathers, saying to Araham, ‘And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.’ Gen_12:3, Gen_22:18, Gen_26:4.

 

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 – Amein.