4/07/2025

Parashat 48 Portion 161 ‘’Shoftim’’ Deut 18:14-20:9 Mic 5:11-6:8

 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

כי הגוים האלה – ‘’because of these nations’’ -  Deu 18:13  “Be perfect – (Heb – ‘’tamim’’ complete and whole) before יהוה your Elohim, vs 14

Deu 18:14  for these nations whom you are possessing (you are evicting) do listen to those using magic (cloud consulters – obscure the truth through lies and deception) or and to diviners.(Heb ‘’kasam’’ to capture through deception) But as for you, יהוה your Elohim has not appointed such for you. 

 

YHVH has not appointed His people to be ‘captured’’ or ‘’deceived’’ in this manner – rather we are called to expose deception in a gentle and kind way amongst ourselves – wherever possible.

 

Ti 2:23  But refuse foolish and stupid questions, knowing that they breed quarrels. 

2Ti 2:24  And a servant of the Master should not quarrel but be gentle towards all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 

2Ti 2:25  in meekness instructing those who are in opposition, lest somehow Elohim gives them repentance unto a thorough knowledge of the truth, 

2Ti 2:26  and they come to their senses, out of the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his desire. 

 

One of the most powerful signs of the end times is going to be the ‘’opening of the eyes’’ of many believers and the exposure of false spirituality and a return to the ancient paths of the Torah.

 

Luk 12:1 … “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,(false teachers – pride and arrogance) which is hypocrisy. 

Luk 12:2  “And whatever is concealed shall be revealed, and whatever is hidden shall be known. 

Luk 12:3  “So, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms shall be proclaimed on the house-tops. 

 

This is very much one of the main connecting themes of this Torah portion – ‘’exposing hidden corruption so we can walk in the light of truth’’ This will be extremely relevant in the last days.

 

As believers we are called to live as our Messiah lived - 1Jn 2:6  The one who says that he abides in him must live the same way he himself lived. In fact Paul felt so strongly about this that he stated twice in Galatians 1 – that if we misrepresented the Messiah and the Good News – we would bring a curse upon ourselves – see Gal 1:8,9.

Act 24:14  “And this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the Elohim of my fathers, Exo_3:15 believing all that has been written in the Torah and in the Prophets, 

 

 A New Prophet like Moshe

Deu 18:15  “יהוה your Elohim shall raise up for you a Prophet[b] 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.’ 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

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

 

Why would the Israelites say such a thing? Because a day of judgment and total devastation would come upon the earth because of mankind’s rejection of His Torah – Is 24 - Moshe and Yahshua and Paul were amongst the greatest Torah teachers that ever lived – there presentation of the Torah was never to condemn people but show and lead them to the way of repentance – Rom 8:1 – to expose the hidden secrets and motives of our hearts – Heb 4:12  For the Word of Elohim is living, and working, and sharper than any two-edged sword, cutting through even to the dividing of being and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 

Heb 4:13  And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all are naked and laid bare before the eyes of Him with whom is our account.

 

Deu 18:18  I shall raise up for them a Prophet[c] 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. 

Deu 18:20  But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My Name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other mighty ones, even that prophet shall die.’ 

Deu 18:21  “And when you say in your heart, ‘How do we know the word which יהוה has not spoken?’ – 

Deu 18:22  when the prophet speaks in the Name of יהוה and the word is not, or comes not, that is the word which יהוה has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him. 1 Cor 14:26-30

 

Laws Concerning Cities of Refuge – a reminder that we are guilty for the death of Messiah-

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. Num 35

 

Midrash – Will YHVH once again provide safe places of refuge for His people in the last days?

Property Boundaries – the aim of all deception is to rob you of your inheritance.

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 – false teachers collude with other false teachers and have ‘’ganged up together to fight against the truth – the story of religion.

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. 

Laws Concerning Warfare – Yahshua’s special recruitment policy for warfare -  Only a remnant will be called to engage YHVH’s enemies in the last days – 144 000 -

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.

 

A Remnant Shall Be Delivered – ministry of end time 144 000 witnesses -

Mic 5:7  And the remnant of Ya‛aqo shall be in the midst of many peoples, as dew from יהוה, as showers on the grass, which do not wait for man nor delay for the sons of men. 

Mic 5:8  And the remnant of Ya‛aqo shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of a forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, who, if he passes through, shall both tread down and shall tear, and there is no one to deliver. 

 

Mic 5:11  “And I shall cut off the cities of your land, and I shall pull down all your strongholds. 

Mic 5:12  “And I shall cut off witchcrafts out of your hand, and let you have no magicians. 

Mic 5:13  “And I shall cut off your carved images, and your pillars from your midst, so that you no longer bow down to the work of your hands. 

Mic 5:14  “And I shall pluck your Ashěrim out of your midst, and I shall destroy your cities. 

Mic 5:15  “And I shall take vengeance in wrath and rage on the nations who did not obey.” 

The Indictment of the Lord

Mic 6:1  Hear now what יהוה is saying, “Arise, strive with the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. 

Mic 6:2  “Hear, O you mountains, the controversy of יהוה, and you everlasting foundations of the earth! For יהוה has a controversy with His people and He shall reprove Yisra’ěl. 

Mic 6:3  “My people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you? Answer Me, 

Mic 6:4  for I brought you up from the land of Mitsrayim, and I ransomed you from the house of bondage. And I sent Mosheh, Aharon, and Miryam before you. 

Mic 6:5  “My people, remember, please, what Balaq sovereign of Mo’a counselled, and what Bil‛am son of Be‛or answered him, from Shittim to Gilgal, in order to know the righteousness of יהוה.” 

Mic 6:8  He has declared to you, O man, what is good. And what does יהוה require of you but to do right, and to love loving-commitment, and to walk humbly with your Elohim? 

 

1Co 3:1  Brothers, I couldn't talk to you as spiritual people but as worldly people, as mere infants in the Messiah. 1Co 3:2  I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, because you weren't ready for it. And you're still not ready! 1Co 3:3  That's because you are still worldly. As long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, you are worldly and living by human standards, aren't you? 1Co 3:4  For when one says, “I am of Sha’ul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not fleshly? 1Co 3:11  For no one is able to lay any other foundation except that which is laid, which is יהושע Messiah. 1Co 3:12  And if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 

1Co 3:13  each one’s work shall be revealed, for the day shall show it up, because it is revealed by fire. And the fire shall prove the work of each one, what sort it is. 

1Co 3:14  If anyone’s work remains, which he has built on, he shall receive a reward. 

1Co 3:15  If anyone’s work is burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, but so as through fire. (flesh and blood cannot reveal these things to you – Mat 16:17)

 

 

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.