This week’s Torah Portion (i.e., Reading/Parashat) was entitled, ‘Ekev–On the Heel Of–Because. It is found in Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25. [If you follow the Torah Portions or Readings, I invite you to check out my post entitled, “Hebrew Roots and Torah Portions–Are They Still Valid for Today’s Believer?“]

Outline of Today’s Post

 

In this week’s Torah Portion / Reading), we:

• We receive a rehashing of the Hebrews’ 40-year sojourn in the wilderness, leading up to their conquest of the Land of Promise.
• We receive shadow pictures of the Renewed Covenant and the Kingdom of Yehovah that Yahoshua Messiah brought us.
• We learn the benefits of keeping Torah as well as the penalties associated with not keeping Torah.
• We learn exactly what Father expected of the Hebrews and we consider what our Master Yahoshua expects of us as His disciples.
• We discuss where all this will end.

So What About Father’s Law or Torah?

 

Moshe (i.e., Moses) instructed that if the Hebrews would willingly and purposely listen (Hb. shama), keep (shamar) and do (asah) Father’s Torah (Hb. in this case it is: mishpat): then He would honor the eternal covenant He swore to their forefathers. (7:12) 

Mishpat are decisions and instructions that Father rendered to the Hebrews in His Torah, which the Christian world refers to as the Law.

 

What I am seeing here is a somewhat blurry yet clear understanding of what our responsibilities as Torah Observant Believers in Yahoshua Messiah must be as it relates to keeping Father’s instructions.

Here, in this Torah Portion passage, Father is reiterating to the Hebrews prior to entering the Land of Promise, that if they but keep His Mishpat (essentially, hear, guard and do His Torah), He would in return keep His covenant and extend His lovingkindness toward them which He swore to their forefathers: 

Now, if you will pay careful attention to what I say and keep my covenant, then you will be my own treasure from among all the peoles, for all the earth is mine; and you will be a kingdom of cohanim for me, a nation set apart…(Exo. 19:5,6; CJB).

 

So, if this particular passage is applied to the Hebrews going into and living in the Land of Promise, how should we as Torah Observant Believers in Yeshua Messiah view and apply it in our daily walk with Messiah?

Don’t Forget to Focus

First and foremost, let us not forget that our focus must always be on the RENEWED covenant whereby Father’s ordinance/judgments/Mishpat, or simply His Torah, is to be written on the fleshly tablets of our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-33). 

A common trap of the Hebrew Roots/Messianic Faith movement is being overly consumed with the rote keeping and obedience of Torah and having a worldview that does not have our Master Yahoshua Messiah as the focus of our Torah observance. It’s so easy to be focused on the tenets of the original covenant (i.e., the Old Covenant) through rote-keeping of Torah, and fail to realize the bigger picture associated with living under the renewed covenant. 

How many of us in Hebrew Roots have heard teachings given by prominent and respected Messianic teachers who fail to acknowledge the instructions of our Master Yahoshua? Indeed, without a proper Messiah-centric worldview, it can be quite easy to lose sight that: 

…The goal at which Torah aims is the Messiah, who offers righteousness to everyone who trusts (Rom. 10:4; CJB). 

The renewed covenant, which we are currently under, is the basis upon which the Gospel of the Kingdom is built. 

Look, the days are coming, Yehovah declares, when I shall make a new covenant with the House of Israel and the house of Judah, but not like the covenant I made with their ancestors the day I took them by the hand to to bring them out of Egypt (cf. Exo. 19:5), a covenant which they broke, even though I was their Master, Yehovah declares. No, this is the covenant I shall make with the House of Israel when those days are come, Yehovah declares. Within them I shall plant my Law, writing it on their hearts. Then I shall be their God and they will be my people (Jer. 31:31-33; cf. 2 Cor. 3:3; Heb. 8:8-10; NJB).

 The Focus of the Renewed Covenant as Opposed to the Original or Old Covenant

For all intents and purposes, this renewed covenant is no longer just about being a special possession and most favored nation in the eyes and heart of Yehovah.

The renewed covenant is about establishing a one-on-one, intimate and personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe–something that only a few people in all of history have ever truly experienced and enjoyed. It is about a profound change of heart and mind, whereby the desperately wicked, sinful heart of a manor woman is changed to one of purity, permitting the establishment of a true, substantive and above all, personal relationship with the Creator.

Under the original covenant, we would enjoy peace and prosperity and favor with the God of our forefather. However, our relationship with Father would be limited to one of rote obedience of His Mishpat (ref. Deut. 7:12). 

Thus, by us being under the grace-based renewed covenant, we keep Abba’s Mishpat (i.e., His Torah) because we love Him and desire to please Him and because we have been instructed to do so by our Master Yahoshua. We clearly recognize our place and identity in the Kingdom of Yehovah and as proper, loyal and dedicated servants and children of the Most High.

As citizens of the Kingdom and children of Yehovah, we act the part with joy and thanksgiving and obedience to Father’s eternal instructions. No longer is our obedience enacted out of fear of incurring pestilence, sickness, poverty and death. Instead, our obedience is enacted from the depths of a pure and loving heart towards Father.

We realize that our destiny as citizens of the eternal Kingdom and as children of Yehovah rests in the hands of our Master. We are no longer our own. We belong to Master Yahoshua, who is our High Priest, intercessor and example. This is the basis upon which the Gospel of the Kingdom is built.

Shaul (i.e., the Apostle Paul) wrote to the Corinthian Assembly of Messianic Believers:

19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1Co 6:19-20 KJV) 

Has Torah Been Done Away With?

Am I saying that Torah is done away with or that a Hebrew Rooter or Messianic should dismiss Torah altogether? Absolutely not! To the contrary indeed! 

Torah will always be our constitution. It serves to keep us in check and remind us what sin truly is. Torah-honoring and observance also results in our living abundant and blessed lives on this earth as outlined in the succeeding verses of this week’s Torah Portion. 

Torah, along with the work of the Holy Spirit, serves to humble and fashion us into a people of Yehovah our Elohim (Deut. 8:3). Our obedience of Torah pleases the Father and He extends His mercies and grace upon us as we walk out our Faith daily.

 The Old is the New on Steroids

Just because we are under the auspices of the renewed covenant doesn’t mean that the overriding principles and promises embedded in Torah and the old covenant don’t apply to the Torah Observant Believer in Yeshua Messiah today. Simply put: I see the renewed covenant as the old covenant on steroids. The renewed covenant has benefits added to it that the original covenant could only point to: 

For the Torah has in it a shadow of the good things to come, but not the actual manifestation of the originals. Therefore, it can never, by means of the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, bring to the goal those who approach the Holy Place to offer them (Heb. 10:1; CJB).

The Benefits of Keeping Torah

Although the promises outlined in this week’s Torah Portion (i.e., Torah Reading) were given to the Hebrews on the cusp of their entering the Land of Promise, Torah observance and honoring for Torah Observant Believers in Messiah must still be followed. As en-grafted citizens into the commonwealth of Israel, we are required to keep Torah. In so doing–that is, ‘Ekev–we naturally realize the promises associated with keeping Torah:

 

• Father will abundantly bless us as individuals as well as our families (Deut. 7:13, 14).
• Father will remove all illnesses from us (7:15).
• Father will fight our battles for us and deliver unto us that which He has promised us (7:16-24).
• Abba will use us to destroy the works of the enemy (7:25-26).
• That which we own will last beyond its expected useful life (8:4).

 

Complacency Breeds Disobedience and Indifference Towards Father

Unfortunately, we learned from the example of the Hebrews that complacency often breeds disobedience and indifference toward Yehovah and that may lead to our alienation from Him (8:12, 19,20). We are compelled to think about Yah’s Word each day, throughout the day. Furthermore, we are compelled to discuss Father’s Word with one another as often as the opportunity presents itself. Even more important, we are compelled to teach the Word to our children. All of this is repeated throughout Father’s Torah. 

If anything, Torah serves to remind us that everything we receive in this life that is good comes from Yehovah our Elohim: 

But you shall remember Yehovah your Elohim, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day (Deut. 8:18).

Shadow Picture Revealed

In chapter 10 of this week’s Torah Portion, we see beautifully portrayed a shadow picture of the renewed covenant. 

Moshe was instructed to cut out and bring to Father 2-tablets of stone. The first time that the covenant was etched in stone and given to Moshe, Yehovah provided the stone tablets (Exo. 31:18). This time, Father instructed Moshe to bring 2-stone tablets to Him where He re-wrote that which He originally wrote on the 2-tablets of stone that He provided Moshe and which Moshe destroyed in response to the Hebrews worship of the golden calf (10:1,2). 

This new set of tablets were then placed in the ark of the covenant (10:2-5). 

This foreshadowed a time in the future that Israel (which includes us today) will bring the tablets of their hearts to Yehovah and He will inscribe on them His Word and His Covenant (Jeremiah. 31:31). His Word would then dwell within us (symbolized by the tablets being placed into the ark). That Word is embodied in the Holy Spirit (i.e., the Ruach HaKodesh) that dwells within every true believer: 

I [Yahoshua Messiah] will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever that is the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you (John. 14:16,17; NASB). 

Another beautiful shadowing that we see brought out in this week’s amazing Torah Portion is the example of the Levites, who Father separated out from the rest of the nation to serve Him (10:9). Here, Moshe is reiterates and rehashes the 40-year wilderness sojourn of the nation and how the Levites were not given any physical inheritance. 

Why were the Levites not given any physical inheritance? They were not given any physical inheritance because Father established that He alone would be their inheritance. 

Indeed, under the renewed covenant, we as a kingdom of priests unto Yehovah, seek not after physical possessions. Our possession is Yehovah, our God (i.e., our Elohim): 

And hath made us kings and priests [speaking of Yahoshua] unto Yehovah and His Father…(Rev. 1:6; KJV, adjusted).

And hath made us unto our Yehovah kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth (Rev. 5:10; KJV, adjusted).

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of Yehovah and of Messiah, and shall reign with Him a thousand years (Rev. 20:6; KJV, adjusted). 

From the very beginning, one of the focal points of the original covenant, was that Father aimed to have selected unto Himself a special people (i.e., the Hebrews) and whom He would fashion into a royal priesthood that would serve Him before the nation peoples of the earth. This royal priesthood would serve help draw the pagan nations of the world into a saving knowledge of the True and Living Yehovah our Elohim. Unfortunately, the Hebrews failed to effectively carry out this plan and they of course defaulted on the original covenant. 

The good news is, however, that Father recognized from the very beginning that the hearts of His chosen people would prevent them from carrying out the full tenets of the original covenant. However, Father still had embedded from the beginning in His eternal plan, the advent of His Son–the Prophet–who would usher in the Renewed Covenant that would serve to bridge the gap that separated all humans from the Creator as a result of sin. Yeshua’s efficacious work established an opportunity for every man, woman and child to have a true and substantive relationship with the Creator, and become children of the Most High. Yahoshua is now and forever more our High Priest under the Melchezedekian-order (Heb. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 10).

 

Were the Hebrews Set Up For Failure?

Did Father set up His people for failure? No, not in the least. Although He knew beforehand that the Hebrews would fail to fulfill the tenets of the original covenant, He was compelled by His righteousness and holiness to extend to the Hebrews His grace and the opportunity to serve Him as a peculiar and treasured people. Even though the Hebrews faltered in their keeping of the orginal covenant, Father’s mercy has continued to be extended to them and to us. 

The one thing Father has always insisted upon as it relates to humans being loyal to Him–obeying His Word–is that every individual must maintain his or her own free will. Each person must make up in their own minds and purpose in their own hearts to serve and obey the Almighty. Father would never force any individual to love Him. 

We see this exemplified in the Torah instruction related to Hebrews owning slaves, whereby in the time that a slave was to be released, that slave had the opportunity to stay with His master. And in making that major life decision, that slave would be subjected to pain and the shedding of blood to secure that loyalty and pledge to serve his master for the rest of his life (Exo. 21:5,6). 

So what then did Father expect from His sin-prone, stiff-necked people? It was simple: 

And now, Israel, what does Yehovah your God ask of you? Only this: to fear (Hb.=yare or to reverence) Yehovah your God with all your heart and all your soul, to keep the commandments and laws of Yehovah, which I {i.e., Moshe] am laying down for you today for your own good…Yehovah your Elohim is the one whom you must fear and serve; to Him you must hold firm; in His name take your oaths. Him you must praise, He is your Elohim…You must love Yehovah your Elohim and always keep His observances, His laws, His customs, His commandments…Let these words of Mine remain in your heart and in your soul; fasten them on your hand as a sign and on your forehead as a headband. Teach them to your children and keep on telling them, when you are sitting at home, when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are standing up. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (10:12, 13, 20, 21; 11:1; 18-20; NJB, adjusted). 

Essentially, Father was simply asking His people to be obedient to His Torah: nothing more, nothing less. In so doing: 

…you may live long in the land Yehovah swore to give to your ancestors and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey (11:9; CJB, adjusted). 

Back when this was written, the emphasis was on the Hebrews living lives according to the way Yehovah required in order for them to flourish in the Land of Promise (11:9, 14, 15; 11:21; 22-25).

Held to a Higher Standard of Torah Living

Let us, however, not think that that’s all that is required of us as disciples of Yahoshua. We are being held to a much higher standard. The standard that we are being held to was taught and modeled for us by our Master. That which Master taught and modeled for us, He expects us to go and do likewise (cf. Luk. 3:11). On top of that, Master expects us to go out and make for Him disciples: 

Go. Teach all nations to carry out all the things that I have commanded you–forever (Matt. 28:19; Rood). 

Sadly, too many of us in Hebrew Roots today are so focused on keeping Torah as written in the Pentateuch of our dusty Bibles–even down to those ceremonial aspects of Torah that we can no longer keep–that we ignore the life of Torah that Master Yeshua came to teach us. 

Even in Torah, Father instructed the Hebrews to not focus on blind and rote obedience of His Torah. Instead, Father instructed the Hebrews to: 

Circumcise your heart and stiffen your neck no longer (10:16). 

It become a heart thing. Without a change of heart, it is difficult, if not impossible, to truly keep Torah the way Father intended it be kept from the very beginning. [See my post entitled, “A Broken Heart and Contrite Spirit Gets God’s Attention“] This is THE TORAH (the Good News–the Gospel of the Kingdom) that Master Yahoshua came to deliver to us.  

We Have a Rich Heritage and Big Sandals to Fill

As 10:15 shows, let us rejoice and be glad in the fact that we have been selected to be a part of Father’s grand Kingdom. We are following in the footsteps of giants and we have been en-grafted into a rich and treasured heritage. 

Father intervened into the affairs of men and found a man, Abraham, upon whom He would ultimately reconcile unto Himself all mankind, reclaim and restore the earth to its former glory, and establish His eternal kingdom on earth. It was through Abraham’s lineage that Master Yeshua would come and fulfill all of these things and we are the beneficiaries of this work. 

We are picking up where the Hebrews of old left off. However, we are not just picking up and carrying on as they should have. We are taking this thing to its fullest potential in Yeshua Messiah.[See my post entitled, “When Tradition Eclipses Torah“}

 

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