by Rod Thomas | Jun 29, 2015 | Blog
What do you think YHWH (Yahweh) meant by: “Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads”?
Deuteronomy 6: 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Do you think the above in any way meant we are to tie physical objects (Tefillin and Tekhelet) to our heads and hands? The truth is: We just don’t know for sure.
While there are no scriptures to verify that Yeshua wore tefillin (there is some argument that the PRECISE final form of rabbinic traditional tekhlet and tefillin developed over time and finalized in the Middle Ages), it would not be correct to say that no form of these items were worn in Yeshua’s time, either by Him or his followers….
Tefillin are traditional prayer objects that were an invention of the Pharisees, which was later picked up by the Rabbis. The Gospels reveal they were worn all day long by the Pharisees to give the impression that they were pious men, constantly praying.
Matthew 23: 5. And they do all their deeds that they might be seen by the sons of men. For they widen their Tefillin [1] and lengthen the Tekhelet [2] of their robes. (Aramaic English New Testament)
[1] Leather box/straps containing Bible verses that traditional observant Jews bind on their arms and foreheads during daily prayer, except on Shabbat (Deut. 6:8 (Paul Younan translation)).
[2] The “ribbon of blue” of the “tzitzit” (fringes), as commanded in Num. 15:38. “Tekhelet” can also refer to tzitzit, or even the whole prayer shawl/talit. (Paul Younan translation)
So, let’s think about this, logically:
Why would YHWH tell us to “tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads”? When these words were given, man certainly did not understand the reason. The Orthodox Jews – hundreds, if not thousands of years ago – took this verse literally and came up with actual, physical ways to comply with this command. They wrote down the words of YHWH on pieces of parchment, inserted them in little boxes (called Tefillin) attached to bands, and literally tied them to their hands and foreheads.
But, is this really what YHWH meant for us to do? Let’s examine it from both, a Biblical and a scientific perspective.
Today, science has a pretty good working knowledge of all things physical. This includes an excellent working knowledge of the human brain. Unfortunately, scientists tend to get wrapped up in their particular mindsets and often think they have “the answer” to nearly every question – but that’s fodder for another article….
The human brain is described today by scientists as consisting of several parts that control different functions. You are probably familiar with the terms “cerebrum” or “cerebral cortex”, “cerebellum”, and “brain stem”.
The cerebral cortex is the largest part consisting of those two roughly symmetrical, “corrugated-looking” or “folded” hemispheres. Though far more complicated than can be covered here, the cerebral cortex, having much to do with the physical and mental functions of our bodies, is further divided into areas called the “frontal lobe”, “parietal lobe”, “occipital lobe”, and the “temporal lobe”. Scientists have determined that these cerebral cortex lobes correspond to the following functions:
Lobe Function
Frontal Motor control and cognitive activities, such as planning, making decisions, setting goals, speech, and purposeful behavior
Parietal Sensory processes, spatial interpretation, attention, and language comprehension
Occipital Processes visual information and communicates with the parietal and temporal lobes
Temporal Auditory perception, language comprehension, and visual recognition
The area at the very front of the frontal lobe is called the “Prefrontal Cortex”. Let’s look at a study on the prefrontal cortex in a February 2003 article in Nature Reviews on the human brain by Jacqueline Wood and Jordan Grafman: “Human Prefrontal Cortex: Processing and Representational Perspectives”.
Grafman and Wood start out by saying “Although it is clear that the PFC [Prefrontal Cortex] is important for higher cognitive skills, particularly in humans, how it achieves these functions is unknown.” Interestingly, throughout the remainder of the article, Grafman and Wood speak casually about how the human brain “evolved” into its capability of higher cognitive skills. You see, for many – if not most – scientists, “evolution” explains without them having to actually come up with an explanation….
Grafman and Wood go on to say the PFC has two main areas that deal not only with each other, but with other parts of the brain. One part of the PFC, (the “ventromedial” region), is associated with other parts of the brain that deal with emotional processing, memory, and visual information; and the other part of the PFC, (the “dorsolateral” region), is associated with areas of the brain dealing with motor control, mood and emotions (cingulate cortex), and the sensory processing done in the parietal cortex.
Specifically: “The ventromedial PFC is well suited to support functions involving the integration of information about emotion, memory, and environmental stimuli, and the dorsolateral PFC to support the regulation of behavior and control of responses to environmental stimuli.” After describing the types of cells in the PFC and how the neurons in the PFC can act differently than in other parts of the brain, they say: “This is one structural explanation for the PFC’s ability to integrate inputs from many sources and to implement more abstract behaviors.”
In other words, the prefrontal cortex is where you make decisions to take action on a thought. The prefrontal cortex handles your behavior!
Now consider this: Thousands of years before man developed the modern sciences and determined what parts of the brain are responsible for the various human behaviors and activities, YHWH told man to keep His words “on your forehead”.
Touch your forehead. Go ahead. No one is watching. Just a fraction of an inch beyond your fingertips is the PREFRONTAL CORTEX. God told us to keep His word there. Keeping His word there keeps us from processing worldly desires and events (i.e., evil) and acting on it. If we keep God’s word in our prefrontal cortex, we are less likely to commit sin.
And there you have the reason for Deuteronomy 6:6-8! Talking about God’s word keeps His commandments on our foreheads, on our prefrontal cortex, and thus, keeps us from sin.
Exodus 13 below shows proof positive that it’s not a literal binding on our hands and forehead, as we see YHWH reiterating the importance of His Passover and what His people are to DO and REMEMBER on/about that particular Holy Convocation:
Exodus 13: 1 ADONAI said to Moshe, 2 “Set aside for me all the firstborn. Whatever is first from the womb among the people of Isra’el, both of humans and of animals, belongs to me.” 3 Moshe said to the people, “Remember this day, on which you left Egypt, the abode of slavery; because ADONAI, by the strength of his hand, has brought you out of this place. Do not eat hametz. 4 You are leaving today, in the month of Aviv. 5 When ADONAI brings you into the land of the Kena’ani, Hitti, Emori, Hivi and Y’vusi, which he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you are to observe this ceremony in this month. 6 For seven days you are to eat matzah, and the seventh day is to be a festival for ADONAI. 7 Matzah is to be eaten throughout the seven days; neither hametz nor leavening agents are to be seen with you throughout your territory. 8 On that day you are to tell your son, ‘It is because of what ADONAI did for me when I left Egypt.’ 9 Moreover, it will serve you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder between your eyes, so that ADONAI’s Torah may be on your lips; because with a strong hand ADONAI brought you out of Egypt…”
As you can deduce from the above, it’s all about DOING so that we can better REMEMBER! “Tie them as symbols on your hands,” does not mean we are literally attach anything to, or write down YHWH’s word on our hands!
Consider this: We decide what to do with our brains. God asked us to keep his word in our prefrontal cortex so we would not sin. When we sin, how do we typically commit those sins? With our hands! A thief does not steal with his ear. An angry man does not strike another with his hair. A man does not kill another with his nose. A forger does not fake a signature (typically) with his foot.
In the majority of cases, we commit our sins with our hands. Keeping God’s word “on our hands” would mean that we proceed through life not allowing our hands to commit a sin.
What marvelous words in Deuteronomy 6:6-8! It is truly a wonder why so many people think the Torah, God’s original teaching and instruction, has been “done away with”. His words are so true and so powerful!
Carmen Welker–Author, Torah Teacher, Content Creator for The Refiner’s Fire
by Rod Thomas | Jun 26, 2015 | Blog
The Supernatural and Evil
This month of June in the year 2015 may mark on of the worst months on record for the proliferation of evil throughout the world. Word on the street is that the Supreme Court of these United States will rule on same sex marriages sometime between the posting of this writing and Monday the 29th. The ramifications of this crucial ruling may affect every believer in Y’shua Messiah in the United States. The Bilderberg Group (an international conglomerate of Elitists) met and discussed globally significant issues at a posh resort in the mountains of Austria last week. The primary topic of discussion at this globalists’ celebration is believed to have been “the use and employment of artificial intelligence” in the world. Russia is being antagonized and challenged by the West regarding her ongoing involvement in the affairs of the Ukraine. How far will this agitation and challenging go between the West and Russia before Russia tires and does something regrettable is a frightening prospect. Last Wednesday evening a radical racist entered one of the oldest black churches in the United States and murdered nine of that church’s members in cold blood. The nation mourned this heinous hate crime. All the while, more and more of every citizen of the United States and even the world is having their civil and human rights eroded away as governments are grappling with ways to combat a worldwide economic meltdown and terrorism. Speaking of terrorism, the Islamic State continues its blood bath in Iraq and Syria, almost unabated and unchallenged.
Many conservative pundits believe our nation and possibly the world is heading towards a period of terrible crisis and abject evil. It’s not a question of if all these terrible things will manifest on the world stage, but more a question of when and how bad will it get. As believers in Y’shua Messiah, we as a community tend to be quite knowledgeable of such current events and international trends. However, we tend to remain ignorant as to the degree in which we are prepared to face the certain fall-out associated with these crises. Take for instance the potential supreme court ruling in favor of same sex marriage. A potential ruling in favor of same sex marriage by the highest court of this nation would have attached to it mandates that would prohibit any semblance of bigotry associated with gay and lesbian rights. Notice I said any semblance of bigotry; semblance of bigotry because the potential that we our adherence to Torah and thus our stand on the issue of gays and lesbians will certainly be viewed as bigotry. Thus, any existing tax exempt status or religious practice freedoms may be removed by the government. Beyond that, we can only surmise how bad it may become if we as the redeemed of Yahovah were to take a stand against gay and lesbian rights. Could our religious freedoms for instance be at risk? The potential for our treasured freedom to worship Yahovah in accordance with Torah being stripped away from us is certainly not beyond the realm of impossibility.
As the Chosen of the Most High, we are not guaranteed protections against persecution, trials and tribulations. Somehow, we believers of modern times have deluded ourselves to think that we are not to suffer persecution and tribulation. That’s an absurd and most dangerous mindset to possess. We must be reminded of the first and second century believers who endured unimaginable tragedies and death as a result of their faith in Y’shua Messiah. I’m not necessarily linking the tragedy that occurred in South Carolina last week with anything that we as a community of believers in Messiah may experience. I’m more concerned with the likelihood that we may loose our right to practice our Faith because of the stand that we are compelled to take against gay and lesbian so-called rights. For me, it comes down to this internet-based ministry. If I am led to speak or write out against gay and lesbian so-called rights by the Ruach, I could stand to lose this ministry’s websites and my place on the worldwide web. It’s a daunting prospect to say the least. But I–we must not fear such things. The loss of our freedom to live, worship and teach Torah is going to happen–it’s not a matter of if but when. And when all our rights get taken away and we are hunted down and persecuted, we must be in the best spiritual strength that we can be in. Now is the time to get in spiritual shape friends. We must pay attention to the signs and listen to the various news outlets to stay informed. We must make preparations for the inevitable–both physical and spiritual preparations. Let us pray and fast and keep our heads in our Bibles in anticipation for the times ahead.
Stay blessed Saints. Shalom
by Rod Thomas | Jun 25, 2015 | Blog
Who Do You Think You Are?
Deuteronomy 9:4-29
Verses 4-6 of part 3 of parashah 46 sort of puts us in our respective places, so to speak. Moshe reminds us thusly:
“Don’t think to yourself, after your God has pushed them out ahead of you (speaking of the nations occupying the land of promise), it is to reward my righteousness that Yahovah has brought me in to take possession of this land. No, it is because these nations have been so wicked that Yahovah is driving them out ahead of you. It is not because of your righteousness or because your heart is so upright that you go in to take possession of their land; but to punish the wickedness of these nations that Yahovah your Elohim is driving them out ahead of you and also to confirm the word which Yahovah swore to your ancestors, Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya’akov. Therefore, understand that it is not for your righteousness that Yahovah your Elohim is giving you this good land to possess…”
Bottom line friends: it’s never been about us–it’s always been about Him. We benefit from the purpose and will of Yahovah in the earth. Our obedience affords us the opportunity to serve and live fruitful, productive and blessed lives. Those nations that Yahovah moved out of our way as we took possession of the land were moved because of their wickedness and because it served the perfect will of Father. We need to get over ourselves and stop thinking that we are so deserving and that we’ve arrived. Verse 6 slams reality in our faces as Yahovah reminds us that we are a “stiffnecked people” who gave Yahovah through Moshe no end to frustration and misery all these 40-years.
The ensuing verses rehearse our history in the desert and how we transgressed Yahovah’s commands and the covenant that He made with us. Oh how quickly we “forgot” Abba and His commands. So disappointing were we to Abba that He threatened to destroy us and start all over with Moshe as recorded in Exodus 32:9, 10. It was Moshe’s intercession on our behalf (a precursor to Y’shua Messiah who intercedes on our behalf before the throne of Yahovah) that saved us from certain doom. And this rebellion and disobedience repeated itself over again and again. Each transgression Moshe interceded on our behalf and Father’s wrath was abated.
Who are we to think that we’ve arrived. Who are we to entertain that we are beyond reproach. I know for myself, that this scenario has played out in my life countless times. I can only fall down on my face and ask Yahovah for forgiveness and not repeat the mistakes again. Yet it was only by the grace and patience and mercy of the Father that I am still here today. It is only through the intercessions on my behalf by Y’shua HaMashiyach that I can call upon the name of Yahovah today and that I seek to do His will and obey and keep His Torah. Otherwise, I could have very easily been left off to the side to fend for myself and reap that which I’ve sown. We must constantly be cognizant of our position in this spiritual equation. It is only when we understand who we are and understand our position in this spiritual equation, then we are truly blessed. Y’shua, in the well-known Beatitudes, so poignantly laid it out to us:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat. 5:3)
Many believe this to be referring to individuals who are the rejected and poor in our society; the homeless; the dejected; the simple minded of us who seem to never have been afforded a chance in this life. Indeed, this could be the case to some degree. But I submit to you that Y’shua Messiah was primarily speaking to a state of being or even a state of mind and understanding. He was speaking to us having that mindset of knowing from whence we’ve come and of that which we are capable of doing–that is, prone to evil and sin and it is only by the mercies of Father that we still exist in His presence. When we grasp this reality and understand what and who we are, and that we in no way deserving of Yahovah’s good graces, then we are truly happy (i.e., blessed). Oh, it’s not about being in a perpetual state of depression and “woe is me” in response to our sinful nature. Not at all. It’s about being of a mindset that is always seeking and longing for His (i.e., Yahovah’s) gentle touch and mercy; always being on guard of our propensity to transgress Torah and offend Yahovah; always aware that–as the Brother of our Lord and Savior so aptly wrote: “Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow” (James 1:17). Thank you Father for your grace and gentle mercies this day for you are our God and our Father–beautiful in every divine perfection. Loving us in spite of ourselves, yet your justice prevails through the dispensation of your Torah and through the work of your Son and our older brother Y’shua HaMashiyach.
Thus our Torah Living Daily Challenge today is to always keep in the back of our mind from whence we’ve come. We’ve not arrived. Yes, we have the awesome potential to become Yah’s Kings/Queens and Priests in the earth as we have been redeemed by the blood of Mishiyach; as we conform to the image and example of Mishiyach in the midst of a perverted world; and as we accomplish Yahovah’s perfect will for our lives through the agency of Ruach HaKodesh. So when we come upon that all too familiar feeling that swells up within us of pride and self-aggrandizement because Yah has used us in some way or another, that we step back and examine the bigger picture; ask ourselves, why has Yahovah used me and how may I be of greater assistance to Him and the Kingdom. That we remember from whence we’ve come and how far we must go. How thus by the grace of Yahovah that we could be destitute and without hope like so many millions of people in the earth. That simple reality should prompt us to do whatever we can–using whatever available time we have in the day–to make ourselves available to Yahovah to do the work of the Kingdom. Shalom.
by Rod Thomas | Jun 24, 2015 | Blog
Remembering God
Deuteronomy 8:11-9:3
Part 2 of Parashah 46 (Because) reminds us to “Be careful not to forget Adonai (i.e., Yahovah) your God.” (verse 11). How is it even possible to forget the Creator one could ask, at least that was the question in my mind initially. But when we think about it, how often have we gone through our day and have not spent the quality time we should with the Father? I know that I have had days when my connection with the Father has been lacking. More so, I’m sure that there have been days when the cares of this life has drowned out the Father’s voice in your life, as it has often done in mine. Oh, forgetting the Father is certainly possible. Take for instance Hilary, my wife: I’ve gone to work for the day and for whatever reason, the dynamics of my day prevented me from calling or even texting her. When I arrive home from work on such days, it’s not uncommon for her to ask me: “did you think about me today? I didn’t hear from you.” Hey, talk about a way to jolt me back over to the things in life that are most important. Indeed, nothing is more important in this life than the relationships that the Father has given us. Of course, the top two relationships are our relationship with the Almighty, number one. Number two, the relationship we have with our spouses or if not married, whoever is our direct-next-of kin. Caring for those relationships are the most important thing in our lives. Everything else pales in comparison.
I’m reminded here of the lawyer, likely a Scribe, who asked the Master what he likely assumed to be a challenging question; that being, “Rabbi, which of the mitzvot in the Torah is the most important?” (Mat 22:36 CJB). Bear in mind that this particular challenge came on the heels of a likely “set-up” on the part of the religious establishment to entangle the Master on trumped-up charges of heresy and or violation of Torah (more so Judaism than Torah). (reference Matthew 22:15) The lawyer’s or Scribe’s question was probably one of the most profound questions any man could ask of the Master (despite the intent behind the question). Yahovah requires order and obedience to His commands and understanding just what our responsibilities are is pivotal to the well-being of our relationship with the Father. We all know the Master’s response, that being–Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Mat 22:37-40 KJV)
The question that must be answered and the foundation of today’s Torah Challenge is, how do we remember–or better–how does one love God?
Moshe provides the answer to the challenge–we remember Yahovah (that is we love Yahovah) by keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes. (reference Deu. 8: 11) According to the TWOT Lexicon, to forget Yehovah is to ignore His commandments; it’s to follow other gods as noted in Deu 8:19; to stand in fear of harm and danger as well as to live fretfully and timidly as noted in Isa 51:13;. it is to challenge Him as noted in Psa 106:13.
After all that the Children of Promise went through and the things that indescribable exploits that they witnessed of the Creator, it seems counter-intuitive that one would ignore Yahovah’s commandments, or follow after other gods or live in fear and timidity. How could this be possible? Deu 8:12 and Hos 13:6 suggest “satiety” as one of the greatest precipitating factors leading to one forgetting Yahovah. Satiety is a state or feeling of being full, such as after eating a meal. When we are sated, we often feel confident and desire nothing more. We become lax and seek to delve within ourselves. As it would relate to this Torah portion, if we fall into the trap of being too comfortable, we will tend to tune Yehovah out. I find it interesting that we say “grace” over our meal before we consume it, but we don’t thank Him for it afterwards. I’m not saying it’s wrong to “grace” our meals before consuming it. I’m only saying that being thankful for the meal we’ve just eaten is typically the furthest thing from our minds. How about going on a trip? We typically ask Yehovah for traveling mercies, but when we arrive to our destination, we go about our business without so much as a thank you to Abba for His safe passage. Why, because we are sated as it relates to our safe and secure arrival. From verses 12 to 14 Yehovah tells us that there was a good chance of forgetting Him and His instruction once we were settled in the land and have received the tremendous blessings that had been promised to us. Verse 14 provides the likely outcome: “then your heart will become proud and you will forget Yehovah our Elohim who brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Unfortunately, Yehovah knew our hearts well in advance of our ever entering into the land of promise. We would forget His Torah once we were settled and took on a state of being sated and secure within the confines of our blessed lives. Oh how many of us have fallen into this trap. Yehovah has blessed us and in return we abandoned His ways. We’ve even compromised our standards which must always be Yahovah’s standards. Often we’ve completely placed Yehovah on a shelf to collect dust just as we’ve done with our bibles. Why? Because we’ve been so busy ensuring that our lives remain happy and content.
I’ve said all this that I may submit to you that we must always be on guard that our personal situations in this life do not cause us to forget Yahovah. We must always be cognizant that Yehovah is our primary focus in life and that we must always be in a position to obey Him, trust Him, to avoid at all costs those things in our lives that take our focus away from Him; or even to not challenge Him (such as not seeking His counsel on the weighty things in life). Thus verse 11 directs us to not forget Yehovah’s commandments and ordinances and statutes. In other words, we must not forget to keep His Torah. In order for us to not forget His Torah, we must constantly study His Torah with the mindset and heartset to readily obey. This is why we have the example of our forefathers to keep us in line. We are more fortunate than our forefathers. They had to live through the crucible of the wilderness and the abject testing and refinement of Yehovah. We have their example and thus in theory our feeble attempts to stay true to Torah should be easier by factors of 1000s. But then, when our forefathers were in the wilderness, their survival, their existence, their wellbeing was totally reliant upon Yehovah. There was no one else. They had nothing apart from that which they brought with them when they left Egypt. Thus they learned obedience as well as they learned the consequences of disobedience. There was little distraction to their intense situation, with the exception of the surrounding nations’ gods that they occasionally came into contact with whenever they sent the occupying nation packing. Today, our focus is distracted by the television, the media, work, bills, extra-curricular activities, relationships, keeping-up with the Jones’, careers, etc. We have limited room and time in our minds and lives. Thus, we have to push some things to the side. Unfortunately, more times than not, it is Yahovah that we push to the side. We must fight with our whole being to resist this tendency.
Many in the various denominations that claim to know and honor and worship our Father and our Lord and Savior Yahoshua HaMashiyach contend that it is impossible to keep Torah. We know that sin is transgression of Torah. So in other words, our cousins in denominational churchianity believe that it is impossible to live a sinless life. I would submit to you today that living the life that many of us in the Hebraic Roots and Messianic communities have chosen to live, is indeed not easy. However, keeping Torah in its entirety is certainly doable. I refer you to the writings of the physician Luke:
NAS Luke 1:5 ¶ aIn the days of Herod, king of Judea, there 1was a certain priest named 2Zacharias, of the bdivision of 3Abijah; and he had a wife 4 from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. (Luk 1:5 NAS) NAS Luke 1:6 And they were both arighteous in the sight of God, walking bblamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. (Luk 1:6 NAS)
I don’t know, sounds like these down to earth, beautiful people of Yahovah were able to keep Torah without a problem. Oh, some might contend that this is not what this passage really means. Well, I’m just going by what I’m reading and taking everything in context. There is a reason why Dr. Luke mentioned this fact in his introduction of this couple to us. I don’t know the entire reason why, but I can certainly guess a lot of it has to do with who these folks were and the role they would play in the redemption story to follow. But suffice to say, Dr. Luke was led by the Ruach Kodesh to certify this couple’s keeping of Torah.
We as a people always have issues with obedience to the Creator, whether we openly admit it or not. There is a nature of rebellion in us that fights against the ways of our Father. Yet there are those of us in society who accomplish great and amazing things that I believe makes keeping of Torah pale in comparison. I watched a documentary one Sunday afternoon that chronicled the climbing of “K2” by a group of mountain climbers. For those of you who may not know, K2 is one of the tallest mountains in the world. It is one of a range of mountains located in the Himalayas. It’s treacherous terrain and adverse weather conditions have claimed the lives of more people than that of Mount Everest, known as the tallest mountain in the world. The documentary gave me insight into the types of people who would take on such a “monumental” challenge; who would endure such adverse conditions; who were able to push through the most alien conditions that are inhospitable to human existence. These people fashioned their lives around the climbing of this and other similar mountains. They embarked on a strict regimen of exercise, diet and conditioning that pushed their bodies to a level that permitted them to not only survive the elements and conditions of the climb, but also to remain calm and maintain a positive mindset even when the bravest of us in the world would curl up in a ball in a corner somewhere and cry for our mommies like a little child. These people were relentless in their pursuit of excellence and accomplishments and a few of them were successful in accomplishing the mission of making it to the top of K2 (although no one accomplished this in the episode I saw, but the credits afterwards spoke to one or more making a successful ascent to the summit). Others, despite their superhuman conditioning, died in the attempt to scale the mountain. This is just one example of lifestyles that groups of people adopt and are successful in establishing and maintaining–not only successful but they thrive in the lifestyle. So why do we fall for the bull that we are incapable of keeping Torah. Certainly we will make mistakes along the way and we’ll falter. Every disciplined athelete and professional comes upon days when they fail to make the mark. We’re human. But these unique individuals get back up on their horses and continue the ride. These individuals not only make a supreme effort to not repeat the failure again, these also take note and learn from their mistakes. We can learn from these unique people as we take on the regimen of living a holy life through Torah. We, however, have an aid. We have the Ruach Kodesh to lead us; to energize us; to bring scripture to our remembrance when needed; to rebuke us; to unify us; to lift us above the filth and evil of this world; to magnify the voice of Yahovah so that we may know His voice and obey His commands. We can do this.
Verses 15 through 18, in a quick overview, goes over the many exploits and dangers and experiences we had as we sojourned in the desert. Everything from being fed matzah from heaven and given water out of rock to drink; to enduring the many dangers of the desert to include scorpions and snakes. Then in verse 18 Yehovah reminds us that we must never delude ourselves into thinking that we completed our journey on our own power. Everything came from Him and through His providence. Again, the fear that the Father had was that we would enter the land of promise, become sated, and then gradually forget about Him. And we went over once again how we so easily forget Abba by failing to keep and obey His Torah and then go a-whoring after other gods. The kicker in forgetting Abba is that it ultimately leads to our destruction–in one way or another.
Our Torah Challenge today is: Remembering Yahovah. We do that by keeping (studying, learning, knowing and obeying) His Torah.
Personal side note: one way to help us remember Yahovah and His Torah is by wearing tzitzits wherever we go. I began wearing tzitzits going on 2-years now, whenever I leave the house–be it to run an errand, to fellowship, a conference and even to work. Tzitzits are personal reminders to remember Yahovah and His Torah. (Reference Num. 15:38, 39)
by Rod Thomas | Jun 23, 2015 | Blog
Deu. 7:12-8:10–Read Torah Daily and Obey
Commentary
Continuing my foray into Torah, I’ve come to this Torah portion, #46, day 1, entitled “Because.” For the newbies among us, every Torah portion takes from the first verses of that portion a descriptive word that summarizes the gist of the entire portion. Although the concept of Torah portions is not Biblically based (so to speak)–believed to have come on-line after the Babylonian captivity sometime around the 6th or 5th-century BCE and around the time of Ezra and Nehemiah–it is a concept that can be useful in keeping our heads, eyes and minds in Torah on a daily and weekly basis. I’ve not gone to the point of adhering to Torah portions in accordance with the Jewish-calendar; in fact I go out of my way to circumvent the association altogether choosing to read in accordance with the leading of the Rauch Kodesh and the amount of time it takes me to consume that which the Ruach wants me to learn and pass on; all before I move on to the next portion. Sometimes the amount of content that I’m led to consume from study of a single portion may take me a few days to complete. I’m not inclined to blow off the a leading of the Ruach just to stay in sync with a prescribed schedule of Torah reading. And that my friends is the gist of the challenge for us today–ensuring that we carve out of our busy schedules time to commune with Father and learn of Him and His ways and then apply those principles learned to our daily walk with Messiah.
This portion starts with what I prefer to describe as a “cause and effect” situation and that is why this portion is entitled “Because”: because you keep and obey Torah, Yahovah will keep the covenant and mercy that He swore to our forefathers (7:12). Yehovah will (1) love us; (2) bless us; (3) increase our numbers; (4) bless the fruit of our bodies and the fruit of our ground in the land that He promised to our ancestors; (5) He will remove all illnesses from us; (6) all the diseases inflicted upon Egypt will be instead placed upon those who hate us. Yehovah’s only requirement is for us to listen to and keep His “judgments” (also rendered as ordinances, rulings, regulations or laws). In doing so, He would remain with us as a nation, as a people, the covenant and love that He swore to Avraham, Yaachov and Yishak. For them, the agreement that Yehovah had was a two-way agreement like most contracts–they simply needed to keep the Father’s laws and in doing so, He (Yahovah) would maintain the promises given to them and extended back to our forefathers.
Assuming we kept His Laws and honored the covenant He made with us and our forefathers, then Yehovah would bless us more than all other peoples (7:13-14)–Yahovah swore to Avraham that his seed would be numerous as the stars in heaven and the sand specks of the dessert. In these 2-verses, Yahovah didn’t just promise to multiply us, but to also multiply our livestock and produce that would naturally go to sustain us as a people. All this simply by obedience to Yehovah’s Torah (Deu. 28). This same principle applies to us today. Are we realizing blessings in that which we do–be it our families, our relationships, our work and careers? Are we seeing these things manifested as a result of our obedience to Yah’s laws and precepts. If Yahovah is indeed true to His word and we are grafted onto the olive tree that is Israel, should we not realize the same blessings? Indeed, we in the Hebraic Roots community have cast a dim eye towards the prosperity movement that seemed to dominate traditional Christianity in the 90s and 2000s. But what if those “jack-leg” preachers were really onto something? What if they weren’t that far away from the truth. What if, instead of realizing blessings because we send that preacher $100 of our hard-earned money, we realized these stated blessings of Deuteronomy because we were obedient to Torah? Could this be the very thing that the traditionalist has missed? Indeed, something to ponder.
We were commanded to “devour” all the peoples that He would hand over to us. These would be shown no pity (7:16). How does this apply to us today? When we do not slay and devour the enemies in our lives, we tend to set ourselves up for future problems and eventual failure–just like our ancestors preparing to enter Canaan. I’m not talking about slaying the individuals in our lives that we deem to be physical, flesh and blood enemies. I’m talking about slaying the movies, the entertainment, the habits, the social circles, the music, the careers, the material objects, certain relationships; all the things that we find surrounding us and demanding our attention. When we fail to view these things as enemies and we fail to take action to eliminate them from our lives, then we are setting ourselves up to fall prey to them. We find ourselves bowing down to them and serving them as gods in our lives. We become consumed by them. We are influenced by them. We seek benefits from them that we shouldn’t. How many of us are constantly seeking greater and greater fortunes from our chosen careers? I certainly have. Do we not ultimately become consumed with seeking after promotions and increased wealth from our careers? Do we then not find ourselves bowing down to them–granted not physically bowing down. But we find ourselves compromising ourselves in order to gain favor with the power brokers, the decision makers, the movers and shakers. Before you know it, we find ourselves committing to work on the Sabbath because we have to get some project or another done by Monday. Before you know it, we’re attending social gatherings associated with these ambitions and we find ourselves drinking a little too much; we are getting into conversations that we shouldn’t be in; we are eating things that we shouldn’t; we are compromising our virtues and our morals; we are making promises and lying; and so on and so on. We are commanded to devour these things however! I was there and I found myself doing things that I shouldn’t have, all because I wanted to be looked upon as a team player or a company man. And this principle can certainly play out in many areas of our lives. How often have we kept relationships that we shouldn’t and before you know it, you are compromising yourself for the sake of the relationship? Why? Because we want to be accepted, we want the perceived “benefits” that come from being one of the “gang.” Yahovah tells us not to serve their gods and not to be intimidated by the size of their population. Sometimes we feel that we have no choice but to give in to the bigger group: if you can’t beat them, join them; that sort of thing.
What about relationships in our families that cause us to compromise our convictions and Faith? Do we maintain them in order to make our lives better or to avoid problems? Parents, siblings, in-laws, cousins, etc. What about those relationships that are hazardous to our Faith? How do we deal with them? Well, if the Torah is being our school-master, it is a life-exemplar by which we should follow. We must, then, take action against such relationships, right? We may not have to completely sever these relationships, but we will have to probably drastically alter them to such a state that they will have no future influence over us as Yah’s elect. We then are not to be concerned about not having these things, these relationships, and feel that we are going to be left out in the cold without the things that we need for life. We are to remember that Yahovah has performed great exploits on behalf of the Children of Promise and He will do the same for us today if we stay true to His Torah.
Additional Highlights of the Portion
- We are not to serve their gods–be they established false gods or materialistic and relational gods
- The size of the nations we were to chase out of the land should not be of any concern to us as we were once again reminded of the many exploits done by Yehovah against the Egyptians. Indeed, sometimes the enemies in our lives–again, be they physical or spiritual, may at times seem daunting and overwhelming. But we must always remember that “nothing is impossible for Yahovah.” (reference Mat. 17:20 & Luk. 1:37)
- We’ve witnessed great ordeals, signs, wonders, and with a strong hand and outstretched arm Yahovah brought us out of Egypt. Have we witnessed such wonders in our lives? Most of have not. But if we are able to step back and really ponder this thing, we might find that indeed, we have witnessed great wonders that we can only attribute to the the strong and mighty hand of Yahovah our Elohim. I’ve not seen a whole-lot of miracles and wonders in my life per se, but looking back, I’ve certainly been the recipient of a great deal of favor and mercy that could only have come through the intervention of the Father into my life. I should have died many times over simply because of the foolishness of my youth. Yet time and time again, looking back, I can see the providence of the Almighty all over my young life and how He has brought me to where I am today. I’m certain you can equally attest to this.
Yehovah will send hornets against our enemies so they perish ahead of our onslaught (7:20)–Holladay Lexicon describes the hornet as “depression, discouragement.” However, there are some who believe these “hornets” to be actual hornets or wasps that were sent ahead of the Israeli juggernaut. One commentary says: “Let them not be disheartened by the weakness and deficiency of their own forces; for God will send them in auxiliary troops of hornets, or wasps, as some read it in verse 20, probably larger than ordinary, which would so terrify and molest their enemies ( and perhaps be the death of many to them) that their most numerous armies would become an easy prey to Israel. God plagued the Egyptians with flies, but the Canaanites with hornets. Those who take not warning by less judgments on others may expect greator on themselves. But the great encouragement of Israel was that they had God among them…” (Matthew Henry Commentary) When we think about the future, one can only imagine what Yehovah will send in advance of those of us who are coming out of Babylon for the land of promise in the last days. Our Father loves to imitate or repeat exploits that He has performed in the past. Certainly, He seems also enjoy outdoing the exploits of the past. If we live to see the last days, the exploits that Yahovah will perform on behalf of His chosen will certainly exceed those of the past.
More Highlights
- Yehovah will be there with us when we invade and occupy the enemy’s territory. He is great and fearsome.
- Yehovah will expel the nations ahead of Israel little by little. Yehovah knew that destroying the enemies all at once would result in the land being overrun by wild animals. He always has a plan that leaves nothing to chance.
- Yehovah will send one disaster after another on the nations until they are destroyed. How many of us have been in a pickle and Father has taken care of it without so much as the slightest input from us? It can and it does happen, whereby Father takes care of our problems for us without so much as a thought from us.
- Each king was to be wiped out and their names forgotten
- The statues (specially all idols) are to be burned up. what does that say to us today? Anything of negative influence that Father has taken out of lives must be completely and utterly destroyed. How many of us have remnants of things that held us in bondage in the past; yet we still hold on to those things? Do we not realize that those hanging chads will serve to ensnare us and take us right back to where we were before? Many drug addicts who have been delivered from their drug addicted life will often maintain a stash of drugs just in case…in case of what? Or they will hold onto their suppliers’ contact information and connections. Why? Because??? What in our lives have we held on to from our past that can have no possible benefit or purpose apart from providing a portal back to the life we’ve been delivered from. We must eliminate these statues in our lives.
- We were not to be desirous of the gold and silver on these statues as they are traps.
- These idols are abhorrent to Adonai our Elohim. Thus we are to not bring anything abhorrent into our homes, otherwise we will share in the curse that is on it. We are to detest these things as Yehovah does. It’s not until we have the mind of Yahovah through the Spirit of Yahoshua, then we are able to reject the things around us that are anti-Torah. Once we see these things as Yahovah does, then we will act accordingly and live blessed lives.
Yehovah took us 40-years through the desert to humble and test us for purposes of knowing where our hearts are–observing to see if we’d obey His mitzvot or not (8:2) But why? Yehovah is all about what is in our hearts. He has never wanted simple robots to become His children. Thus, He gives us rules and precepts to live by and then He tries/tests (Heb. nasah) us. The traditionalist pompously contends that he/she need not follow the commandments or the Torah and by one following Torah, he or she has fallen from grace. But everything must always go back to its natural start. Yehovah never changes. Thus, if we are only concerned with grace and nothing else, how does Yehovah know what’s in our heart, our inner being, our constitution apart from it being evil and contrary to Him and His ways? If we are unwilling to follow His commands and trust in Him to provide for us and to do as He leads, are we worthy to be considered by Him as His child? 2 Chron 32:31 records: “Howebit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.” You see, I believe that most of us reject Torah because we feel incapable of keeping and obeying it. We want to do things our way and in the end, the Father is really not the central focus of our lives. Oh, we believe He exists, but He is not the most important thing in our lives. We place Him in the back of the buses in our lives. But as Yehovah did with Israel, He is looking for a people who will place Him first in their lives. And when we indicate to Him that indeed He is central in our lives, He then tries us and tests us to see where our hearts are.
Thus we have been challenged dear saint, to read and obey His Torah and so by doing, we will be most blessed among the nations of people who do not know Him. Shalom.
