Marring the Image of the Creator Yehovah Through Rebelliousness-Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Reading 4

by | Nov 16, 2024 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer-Torah Reading Thoughts and Reflections

Greeting and Introduction

 

Greetings saints of the Most High and welcome back to another installment of the Messianic Torah Observer. I’m Rod Thomas coming to you on a beautiful fall Shabbat in the DFW. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to fellowship with me on this blessed day of rest in Messiah Yeshua. And as always beloved, it is my hope, trust, and prayer that this installment of the Messianic Torah Observer finds you, your families, and your fellowships well and blessed.

 

As I am posting these thoughts and reflections, it is the 13th Day of the 8th month of Yah’s biblical calendar year, which translates into the Sabbath Day, November 16, 2024.

 

This week’s Torah Reading — Parashah 4 — is contained in Genesis/Beresheit 5.1-6.8, with the Haftarah contained in Isaiah/YeshiYahu 30.8-15, and the Apostolic in Matthew/Mattiyahu 23.1-39. I’ve chosen to entitle this discussion: Marring the Image of the Creator (Yehovah) Through Rebelliousness.

 

Reading 4 Synopsis

 

Since our reading this week is rather long, I will first give a quick synopsis of the content of the Torah Portion, that I will then follow with my thoughts and reflections. As always, beloved, I would encourage you to read and reflect on the weekly parashot, not out of some rote/mechanical act of righteousness that these Torah Reading regiments so often engender in people. But immerse yourself in these weekly readings for yourself because they reveal to us the Person, Character, and Will of Yehovah. And since we call ourselves Yah’s people, we certainly want to be acutely aware of what Yehovah expects from us. Right?

 

Let’s get started with the synopsis.

 

(5.1) Yehovah made humankind in His likeness. What does being made in the likeness of Yehovah mean? It simply means that when Yah created Adam and Eve, He endowed them with several aspects of His Person and Character. And within the realm of endowing His human creation with His Person and Character, of all that Yah Created, humanity was tasked with carrying out His will and purpose on the earth. In fact, humanity is uniquely tasked with imaging Him upon the earth. What does that mean? Simply this: Humans are the pinnacle of Yehovah’s earthly creation. In being the pinnacle of Yehovah’s earthly creation, they are supposed to serve an elevated purpose of mirroring their Creator’s Person and character throughout this earthly plain.

 

In Torah Reading 3, the lineage of Cain was discussed: Cain-> Enoch (not the Enoch of Seth’s line) -> Irad -> Mehujael -> Methushael -> Lamech (the first polygamist) -> Jabal (tents), Jubal (musician), Tubal-Cain (metallurgy), Naamah (daughter).

 

(5.2) Yehovah made humankind into two genders: male and female. Both the man and woman were called Adam (Septuagint).

 

(5.3) Adam’s offspring were of his own likeness, according to his image. Yah chose to begin with Seth as Adam’s first child as opposed to Cain and or Abel. So, does this mean that every man and woman is not made in Yah’s image?

 

(5.4-5) Adam lived 930 years and fathered sons and daughters.

 

(5.6-32) Seth (912 years) -> Enosh/Enos (905 years) -> Kenan/Cainan (910 years) -> Mahalalel/Maleleel (895 years) -> Jared (962 years) -> Enoch (365 years). Enoch walked with God and then disappear because God took him away. What does this mean? Was Enoch translated and relocated to heaven? The Septuagint notes that Enoch was not found because God translated him. Or did he die? -> Methuselah (969 years) -> Lamech (777 years) -> Noah/Noe fathered Shem/Sem, Ham/Cham, and Japheth. Did a Lamech believe that his son Noah was the prophesied Messiah of Genesis 3.15?

 

(6.1-2) The sons of Elohim took unto themselves human wives.

 

(6.3) Yehovah declares that His breath of life would not remain within humankind indefinitely. But rather, humankind would remain for 120 years.

 

(6.4) The progeny of the sons of God and human women were the Nephilim. The Septuagint simply refers to the progeny of these as giants. Thus, this presented a major corruption in Yehovah’s creative order.

 

(6.5-8) Yehovah observed that humankind had become so corrupted that He regretted having made them. Thus, Yehovah decided to wipe humankind and every creature He had made from the face of the earth. But Noah found favor in the sight of God. What does it mean to find favor in the sight of Yehovah?

 

The Human Creation Corrupted Through Rebelliousness

 

Much of our reading this week has to do with the lineage of Seth. Reading 3 discusses Cain’s lineage. And so this week, what we, the Torah Observant disciple of Yeshua, are being exposed to is the preliminary genealogical pathway that Yah would have the serpent/nachash crusher take to intervene in the affairs of humanity. There’s the righteous Seth-lineage, of course, from which the Messiah would emerge. Then there’s the corrupt-evil Cain-lineage that would stand in opposition to the righteous Seth-line.

 

Now, this is not to say that the Seth-line did not ultimately fall into corruption. Indeed, according to Moses’ record, “Yehovah saw the dysfunctions of the human in the land was abundant, and all the thoughts of inventions of his heart was only dysfunctional everyday” … such that “Yehovah regretted that He made the human in the land, and He was distressed in His heart” (6.5-6; RMT).

 

Walking With Yehovah in an Exceptional Covenant Relationship

 

None of this is to say that Yehovah did not have a relationship with certain individuals along Seth’s lineage. The fact of the matter is that He most certainly had an exceptional relationship/fellowship with Enoch and Noah, both of who possessed righteous characters that especially resonated with Yah’s holy and righteous character. And these exceptional souls, in engaging Yehovah in a covenant relationship, served as an abrupt counter to the pervasive corruption of humankind. Not unlike the many incidents throughout human history, where certain individuals, as well as Yisra’el, distinguished themselves from the rest of the world because they elected to walk with Yehovah (5.23).

 

According to the biblical record, Adam, Eve, and Yeshua were the only humans to have been made in Yehovah’s image. The rest of humanity is made in the likeness of their human parents (5.3). Now, does this mean that Yah’s likeness or His image is completely absent in all of humanity? Absolutely not. There has and always will be an inherent physical and spiritual connection to the Creator of the Universe in every rational human being. Despite the scourge of sin that more times than not mars the physical and spiritual connection or image we possess with the Creator, Yehovah’s ultimate image remains intact in every soul. Therefore, every human life is precious in Yehovah’s eyes. Every human possesses a part of Yehovah that is indelibly embedded in their being.

 

Unfortunately, just as aspects and elements of Yehovah’s image are passed down to every individual through their parents, so is sin.

 

Humanity Possesses a Rebellious Heart

 

Torah teacher and president of Torah Resources specifies it is “the heart of rebellion” that is likewise transmitted (Studies in the Torah-Genesis; p. 38). Along with that rebellious heart, we have its penalty that is also “passed on to all humankind”, which is death (ibid., p. 38; reference Romans 5.12).

 

And so what Adam’s failure did to his posterity was to inject into every succeeding newborn child and succeeding generation, not an eternal, holy, and righteous human existence as was the original Garden of Eden plan, but a temporal existence that is weighed down by sin and sin’s effects — such as death, illness, violence, poverty, wickedness, evil, etc. — was injected into every succeeding human generation. Again, this was not the Creator’s original desire and plan and purpose for His human creation.

 

Indeed, the inherent tragedy we see here is the eternal image of Yehovah that man was supposed to bear throughout the earth had become horribly marred because of humanity’s unrestrained rebelliousness. And this tragedy persists even today beloved.

 

The electorate of this nation spoke over a week ago to support a return to some modicum of conservative values. And the once ruling liberal left have completely lost their minds at the thought of returning to such values. They vociferously rail against such thinking and vow to fight against and to hold tight to their rebellious ways in their wholesale rejection of the God of Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’achov and His ways. And this wholesale rejection — this rebelliousness, if you will — against Yehovah is pejorative throughout the entire world. The world at large much prefers living in darkness than in the light of Yehovah and His ways. And that’s why my spirit has been uplifted in the last few days that so many people in such overwhelming numbers stood up with their votes in support, at least in part, for a return to conservative values. And I believe that before the End Times officially hits this world, this nation, because of the stand she just took, may experience one of the greatest revivals in its history. Or at least, this is my hope.

 

The Hope of Yah’s Plan B

 

Returning: Despite this seemingly hopeless reality that humanity found themselves in, Yehovah had a Plan B. The very conduit by which sin and death has reigned supreme on this planet — that being through the seed of the woman — would also bring an ultimate and permanent correction to this dire human situation. Through the seed of the woman would come the Mashiyach/Messiah — the serpent crusher — who would right all wrongs, rebuild the broken relationship that humanity once enjoyed with their Creator, and extinguish the scourge of death forever.

 

One of the brightest lights to emerge from Seth’s line was Enoch. So unique was Enoch in character and being, that Moses laid aside the lineal routine he employed to document the lives of Seth’s progeny. Moses employed the literary method of citing that so-and-so lived for so many years, then so-and-so fathered so-and-so, then so-and-so died at the ripe old age of hundreds of years old. But of Enoch, Moses simply wrote that Enoch walked with Yehovah 300-years (5.25). What an extraordinary testimony to record about someone’s life! Oh, if such an epithet be written about anyone of us with such simple sincerity and truth!.

 

 

What did Moses mean by the statement that Enoch walked with Elohim 300-years? What did or what would that have looked like?

 

Previously, Moses recorded that Yehovah Elohim walked in Gan/Garden Eden “in the cool of the day,” presumably to commune or engage Adam who, along with Eve, hid themselves from Yah’s presence (Gen 3.8).

 

Now, some scholars have postulated that Yehovah’s evening fellowship sessions with Adam were what is commonly referred to by scholars as a “theophany.” A theophany is defined as “a visible appearance of God to humans, in a manner that a human could more easily relate to” (Barry, John; Faith Life Study Bible).

 

If this is an accurate depiction of what took place in Genesis 3.8, then we have before us a rough understanding of what the personal relationship/fellowship Adam once enjoyed with the Creator looked like. Yehovah’s very presence in the Garden in close physical contact with His human creation: teaching; modeling; querying; and loving on Adam.

 

But was the caliber of relationship and fellowship that Enoch enjoyed with Yehovah similar to that of experienced by Adam? It’s impossible to tell from the scriptural text, but there would no doubt have been some similarities. For our reading does not say whether the Creator took on human form to commune and fellowship with Enoch. With Yehovah, anything is, of course, possible. Yehovah chose not to reveal what His fellowship with Enoch looked like. But what we can safely deduce from 5.24 is that of all the extant human souls of that day, Enoch stood out from them because Enoch had an elevated/exceptional fellowship and intercourse with Yehovah. Enoch’s fellowship with Yehovah was precious and intimate, unlike any such relationship between Yah and humankind since Adam in the Garden. And since Enoch enjoyed such an exceptional covenant relationship with Yehovah Elohim, it stands to reason that during those 300-years he took on Yah’s righteous character. Enoch would have been in-tune with the Creator, unlike any other human being of this day. Clearly, Enoch’s Godly character singled him out from all of his human peers who all endeavored to reflect the image of the enemy on the earth. Whether society of that day shunned Enoch because he imaged Yehovah on the earth is not made clear in the text. However, the extra-biblical apocryphal texts paint a portrait of Enoch as sort of a shadow-picture of Yeshua, who called unto Himself several followers, all of whom He lovingly disciples in the Ways of Yehovah.

 

The other aspect of the Enoch story that is not covered in the biblical text is the man’s role in sorting out the whole Watchers’ mess, as recorded in 6.1-4. It is, instead, the extra-biblical writing of I Enoch that goes into stark detail as it relates to the man’s role in being an intermediary between Yehovah and the fallen watchers. Again, we will bypass the story of the Watchers and Enoch’s role in that story until another time.

 

Enoch’s Reward for Walking With Yehovah

 

 

Regardless of how Enoch walked out his faith before and with Elohim, our text makes it clear that his transition from this earthly plane was unlike any of his human counterparts up to that point in all of human history. And I would argue that it was the extraordinary nature of Enoch’s walk with Yah that made Enoch’s transition from this earthly plane so unique. Of this transition, our text simply states that Enoch walked with God and he was no more, for God took him (5.24).

 

Of all the controversial texts of scripture, this one seems to split faith communities right down the middle: (1) That Enoch suddenly died a natural death with no record of what happened to his body. And (2) that Enoch was spontaneously translated into the spirit realm and whisked off into heaven or to paradise somewhere. This scriptural uncertainty causes somewhat of a chaotic situation for believers to be caught up in. In fact, just this past Sukkot in Kenya, whether Enoch and Elijah were translated to heaven or they simply died natural deaths, was posed by of one speaker who brazenly asserted that both men had simply died natural deaths. And this speaker’s proof-reference was John 3.13 which reads:

 

“And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven” (KJV).

 

Interestingly, the speaker failed to acknowledge Hebrew 11.5, which reads:

 

“By faith Enoch was translated that he should NOT see death; and was not found because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (KJV).

 

From these verses, two phrases stand out:

 

(A) “…no man hath ascended up to heaven” (Joh 3.13). When interpreting, Yeshua’s words must be carefully taken into proper context. For the Master was talking to Nicodemus about the necessity for any who would enter eternal life to be “born again.” This issue about being born again became fused into a larger discussion about God’s people being able to discern spiritual, heavenly matters from carnal, earthly matters. Unfortunately, because Nicodemus could not understand such spiritual or heavenly matters, the central truth regarding the necessity of an individual to be born again was not penetrating the pharisee’s understanding. And so Yeshua, in trying to get Nicodemus to understand the concept of being born again through spiritual eyes, alerted the Pharisee to the fact that the concept of being born again was not a concept, like certain Greek philosophies and stories, that men say came from intrepid souls that journeyed up to heaven and brought back such lofty understanding. Regarding the truths that Yeshua was teaching Nicodemus, no human being — no one individual (“oudeis”) — has ever ascended up to heaven to receive and bring down to earth the things He — Yeshua — was revealing to the Pharisee that night. Only He, Yeshua, had been given such truths, and it was His to reveal to whomever He chose to reveal it. All of which is to say that the Master may have very well been making a passing reference to ancient Greek mythology (e.g., Homer or Virgil) that spun tales of humans embarking on fantastical journeys to unimaginable places to receive knowledge and experiences that would profoundly affect all of humanity. The Gnostics later told tales of humans receiving hidden or forbidden knowledge from heavenly beings (reference Borchert, Gerald; John 1-11-NAC Jn 1=11). In his statement that no man has ascended up to heaven but He that came down from heaven, He was NOT referencing either Enoch or Elijah whatsoever. And this is why when we seek to interpret passages in the Holy Writ that we make sure we factor in that passage’s surrounding contextual information.

 

(B) “…Enoch was taken up so that he did not experience death … he was not found because God took him up” (Heb 11.5).

 

Of every human soul listed in Genesis 5, Enoch was the only one not given a death pronouncement, and the writer of Hebrews verifies that Enoch, because of his exceeding covenant relationship with His Creator, was spared death (reference Sirach 44.16; 49.14; Wisdom 4.10). This passage simply states that Yehovah TOOK Enoch! And all the apocryphal texts support this statement.

 

Now, the mechanics of Enoch’s taking or translation is a whole other discussion that I’m not looking to go into at this juncture. But suffice to say, when Yeshua returns for His bride, those that belong to Him just might experience a little of what Enoch and Elijah experienced.

 

Bottom line: Enoch, like Elijah, never experienced death. Both because of their exceptional relationship with Yehovah were spared the experience of death that every other human being throughout history has had to experience.

 

To twist scripture to support and promote some erroneous ideology that we’ve somehow developed in our pea brains over the course of our lives invites unforgivable opportunities that steer humanity away from the true Gospel message. Enoch’s unique story teaches us a lesson about the necessity for each of us to possess that unshakable hope.” That hope is to someday receive eternal life. And eternal life — overcoming death — maybe had by each of us who’ve determined to “walk exclusively with Elohim” in this life.

 

We today have a slight advantage over the likes of Enoch in our efforts to walk with Elohim. We, the elect of Yehovah, have Yah’s Word, Yahoshua’s sacrifice, and Yah’s Set-Apart Spirit to facilitate our walk.

 

Then we have at the very end of our reading the one who caught Yah’s eye because of his exceptional, righteous character. Unlike his great grandfather before him, this one was not only selected to enjoy a covenant relationship with Yehovah, he would be the means by which humanity would realize the hope of his predecessor, Enoch, before him. The passage simply states: And Noah found favor in the sight of Yehovah. And it is here where Yah’s Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of the Kingdom begin in earnest.

 

Haftarah Reading

 

Our haftarah reading is found in Isaiah 30.8-15. And at first blush, our haftarah reading seemed to me to have no attachment whatsoever to this week’s Torah Reading. But a secondary reading, along with some reflection on what the prophet was writing to his people, provided the following crossover themes:

 

  1. Rebelliousness: Yehovah, through the prophet, classified Judah as a rebellious people (30.9).

 

Rebellion in the Hebrew is “mer-riy’. It is an intentional defiance against Yehovah and His ways.

 

Rebelliousness can be described as contentiousness, even a bitterness against Yehovah. All of these descriptors describe the spiritual and physical state of Cain’s and much of Seth’s progeny. It’s a provocation of Yehovah by His human creation. How so?

 

Rational humans, as we’ve previously discussed, possess at least a modicum of Yehovah’s image and or character within their being. The Apostle Shaul confirms this truth in his letter to the Roman Messianic Assembly when he wrote:

 

(18) For the wrath of Elohim is revealed from heaven against all wickedness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, (19) because that which is known of Elohim is manifest among them, for Elohim has manifested it to them. (20) For since the creation of the world His invisible qualities have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, both His everlasting power and mightiness, for them to be without excuse, (21) because, although they knew Elohim, they did not esteem Him as Elohim, nor gave thanks, but became vain in their reasonings, and their undiscerning heart was darkened (Rom 1; The Scriptures).

 

Yehovah equates the sin of rebelliousness with divination in 1 Samuel 15.24. And throughout most of the Tanakh writings, rebelliousness/mara/meriy, with just a small handful of exceptions, is specific to Yisra’el/Judah in some way or another, defying Yehovah and His ways.

 

The Theological Workbook of the Old Testament or TWOT beautifully delineates/breaks down specific actions that Yehovah sees as rebelliousness:

 

  1. Complaining (Num 17.10; 27.14).

 

  1. Challenging or defying Yehovah’s instructions (Psa 78.17; I Sam 12.15; I Kin 13.21, 26).

 

  1. One’s own propensity to transgress Yah’s instructions (Isa 3.8). In other words, most individuals simply do not have the heart or will to obey Yehovah despite that individual very well knowing what Yehovah expects of them. They simply choose not to obey.

 

 

  1. The prophet describes Judah as being children that refused to “shema” (i.e., to hear, listen, and obey) Yehovah’s instructions (Isa 30.9).

 

  1. Isaiah describes Judah as children who encouraged one another to transgress Yah’s Torah. Furthermore, these same individuals strongly urged their teachers and leaders to not properly divide Yah’s Words of Truth; to water-down Yah’s instructions in order to appease the peoples’ carnal sensibilities (30.10-11).

 

 

Yehovah, in identifying Judah’s corruptness — her rebelliousness — warns her through the prophet of His impending wrathful judgment. Yehovah promised to break the nation like a potter breaks one of his flawed vessels (30.14). But in His warning to Judah, Yehovah offered the rebellious ones a way out of His impending wrathful judgment: Teshuvah. In their teshuvah, they would be saved (30.15). In so doing, their virtue would be founded in their prevailing peaceful existence and in their trusting faith.

 

Tim Hegg exposits a brilliant nuance to Yah’s extended arm of grace to Judah, of which He always extends to His wayward children:

 

“In repentance and rest — the Hebrew term for rest is found in the same root as the name ‘Noah/Noach’ which is ‘nachat’ — in repentance (i.e., teshuvah) and nachat you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength. But you were not willing…” (ibid., p. 43). And as it is always the case when it comes to Yehovah’s wayward children, the only way to avoid the impending utter devastation of Elohim’s wrath is to teshuvah. This would come about as a genuine response to Yah’s extended grace. That teshuvah must include a shedding of all vestiges of rebelliousness from among the people, of which was always a show-stopper as it relates to maintaining a true covenant relationship with Yehovah.

 

The elimination of all vestiges of rebelliousness in our lives involves us having a complete trusting faith in the Persons of Yehovah and His Messiah. For when we successfully turn our lives entirely over to Yah through a complete and genuine act of trusting-faith through Yeshua, we for the first-time get to experience true peace — shalom — rest — quietness — an outflow of the complete or whole salvation or Yeshua of the Elohim of Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’achov (ibid., p. 43).

 

This call for His creation to return to Him and His ways has persisted throughout the ages. However, the state of the human heart, which Yah described as “only evil continually” (Gen 16.5).

 

 

Sadly, as the end of Isaiah 30.15 declares, most are not willing to accept that grace, peace/shalom, and rest that Yehovah has always freely offered to humanity. The failure point seems to always be the depraved nature of the human heart. This being the case, the only hope for humanity is to undergo spiritual heart surgery: whereby that stony-rebellious heart is replaced with a Godly heart of flesh. That heart of flesh abhors and resists rebelliousness, and it seeks to please Elohim at all costs.

 

Our Apostolic Reading

 

It is here where our apostolic reading picks up. Yeshua, amid His Sermon on the Temple Mount, just a couple or so days before His Passion, lays before His disciples and the throng of souls who’d assembled on the Temple Mount ahead of Passover that year, the line of separation between Yah’s Ways and the depraved ways of man and his religions. The Master picked apart with surgical precision the many failure points of Judah’s religious leaders and the burden that the religious leaders’ systems placed upon the people. The religious leaders’ supposed fence around Torah was nothing more than an impenetrable gate that prevented the people, as well as their religious leaders, from making it into the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat 23.13). The rule of Torah, which is Yehovah’s loving instructions in righteous living, were replaced with vain worship of Yehovah that consisted of rabbinic/manmade doctrines, precepts, and teachings. And this subordination of Yah’s supreme Words of life and truth to the contrived traditions of man is a clever act of rebellion. And Yehovah, as we’ve been discussing here, hates rebelliousness. That flawed, rebellious heart (i.e., a “yetzer ra”) must be replaced with a pliable, obedient, loving heart (i.e., a “yetzer tov”) that completely and wholly trusts in the Creator of the Universe. And it is upon the “yetzer tov” that Yehovah’s Set Apart Spirit inscribes His eternal and holy Words of Life and Truth: Yah’s Torah. Such is Yah’s amazing grace at work.

 

Conclusion and Call to Action

 

 

So, beloved, let us take/strip off all vestiges of rebelliousness from our lives today by finally turning our whole being over to Yehovah through the Person and Ministries of Yeshua Messiah. In so doing, we will open our hearts to a miraculous spiritual transformation that ultimately will result in Yah inscribing His Torah onto our hearts and minds, His Spirit residing within our being, and He becoming our all-in-all.

My Thoughts and Reflections on Whether Messianics/Netsarim Should Take Part in the Upcoming Electoral Process

by | Nov 3, 2024 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

Greetings

Greetings saints of the Most High. I’m Rod Thomas coming to you from the DFW on a rather stormy first day of the week. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to fellowship with me and as always beloved, it is my hope, trust, and prayer that this installment of the Messianic Torah Observer finds you, your families, and your fellowships well and blessed.

 

Upcoming Election

As I am posting these thoughts and reflections, it is Sunday, November 3, 2024. This being the case, we are just two days away from the 2024 Presidential Elections.

What I believe to be at stake in this election is the very soul of these United States of America. What do I mean by the very soul of these United States is at stake in this election? Simply this: The American people laid out before them a choice between entering a season of complete and utter darkness and the potential for entering a season of truth and light. And what do I mean by complete and utter darkness and the potential for truth and light? One political party has made it clear that it is not interested in upholding and promoting any biblically moral standards in their quest for supreme power over the citizens of this nation. While the other political party, although not perfect in its moral standing, seeks to at least make some provision in upholding and promoting biblically moral standards in this nation.

 

No, Not One…

It would be naïve, if not entirely foolish, for me, or any other Messianic/Netsari, to say that one political party is the paragon of biblical morality in this nation. The fact of the matter is that scripture clearly notes that all of humanity is fatally flawed.

2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Psa 14:2-3; cf. 53.2; KJV)

9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;  10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Rom 3:9-12 KJV)

Despite the reality of these critical, sobering verses of Holy Writ, we must still face an even greater reality that we who claim to be citizens of the Kingdom — Netsarim — Nazarene Yisra’elites — Messianics — must live in this world while at the same time not be of this world (Joh 17.14-16; Rom 12.2). And it is this greater spiritual reality that presents the tumultuous challenge within every true disciple of Yeshua Messiah; knowing that politicians are prone to lie and put their own self-interests ahead of their constituents and at the end of the day, many, if not most, of them do not have a true relationship with the Creator of the Universe. So, how does a dyed in the wool disciple of Yeshua rationalize these troublesome realities in terms of whether he or she should take part in the upcoming electoral process?

 

Past Convictions

Several election-cycles ago, I had firmly concluded that no true Messianic/Netsari/Nazarene Yisra’elite, knowing the inherent moral problems associated with all politicians, could with any level of righteous conscience take part in an electoral process. To do so would defy Yehovah and His purpose, plans, will. At the heart of my hard and fast conviction on this issue were the words of the Apostle Paul, who wrote to the Roman Assembly of Messianic Believers:

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. (Rom 13:1-4 KJV)

21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. (Dan 2:21-22 KJV)

For me the irresistible question was, if I were to vote for a particular candidate that Yehovah was NOT intending to put into power, would I be kicking against the pricks (Act 9.5; 26.14)? Would I be taking a stand, ignorantly, against the Almighty on this matter?

Did not the Apostle to the Gentiles, write to his young protege at the time that: 4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier (2Ti 2:4 KJV)?

 

A Misapplication of Scripture

Indeed, all of these, what I once believed to be support passages for my position against voting for political candidates, provide us a glimpse into the sovereignty of our Creator over the affairs of man, as well as that Timothy passage encourages the child of the Most High to limit his/her involvement in the affairs of this life for the benefit and promotion of the coming Kingdom of Yah. But do these passages reveal the whole and end of the story? Do these passages truly cast a dim view of Netsarim/Messianics taking part in this nation’s electoral processes?

 

One Scripture

We who have been in this Faith for any length of time and who possess at least of basic knowledge of the bible know that scripture must agree with scripture. In other worlds, scripture must not only interpret itself, it must also be in complete harmony with itself. One passage of scripture cannot disagree with another passage of scripture. Right? If such a situation were to exist, then the whole viability of scripture would be in question and our Faith would be in peril. Praise Yah that this situation does not, nor could it, exist.

That being said, if scripture truly leans towards believers not taking part in the electoral processes of this nation, how do we rationalize God’s people throughout scripture, holding positions of power within and over pagan nations throughout history? Consider these examples:

  1. Joseph ruling as a Wazir over Egypt (Gen 41).
  2. Moses, before he was exiled from Egypt (Exo 2).
  3. King David ruled over Israel and the pagan nations of the region in peace (1 Chr 23).
  4. King Solomon rules over Yisra’el and the pagan nations in peace (1 Kin 4).
  5. Yehovah referred to Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II as His servant (Jer 25.9; 27.6).
  6. Daniel served as an administrator of the Babylonian Court (Dan 6).
  7. Mordecai served as second-in-command to King Ahasuerus (Est 10.3).
  8. Esther served as queen over the Babylonian Empire (Esther).

 

Yah has shown in His Word that He is not above placing His people in positions of power, even placing His people in positions of power over pagan nations such as Egypt and Babylon. And if Yah has shown that He will place His people in positions of power over pagan nations, who are we to operate in isolation against the elected officials of this nation?

The Duty of Yeshua’s Disciples

The other issue that is related to the question of believers taking part in this nation’s electoral process has to do with turning a blind eye, heart, and mind to sin. As the righteous disciples of Yeshua HaMashiyach, we are called to be sin aware (Mat 5.3). If we as righteous disciples of Yeshua are sin aware — we are spiritually and physically aware of the devastating power of sin to humanity and we have it within our power — to some degree — seek to mitigate the profligation or prevalence of sin in our midst — does it not stand to reason that we would do so?

There is no secret in this nation that one of the political parties seeking to install their presidential candidate into office, openly and firmly promotes a sin-ladened agenda for the American people. That liberal party supports and promotes:

  • Antisemitism
  • Anti-Faith
  • The LGBTQ Agenda
  • Unrestrained murder of the unborn. This is nothing less than the national worship of Moloch.
  • Anti-Second Amendment
  • Pro-Islamic Agenda.
  • Anti-First Amendment (silence one’s opposition at all costs).
  • Pro-Illegal Immigration and the Culling of the American Population.
  • Promotion of racism.
  • Promotion of the Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Agenda which is right out of the Marxists’ playbook.
  • Etc.

Now, this doesn’t mean that the conservative political party seeking to install their candidate into the Office of the President of the United States is holy and righteous. As we mentioned previously, all are filthy, and no one doeth good. But we who are disciples of Yeshua are supposed to be filled with Yah’s precious indwelling Spirit, which leads us to be sin aware. That being the case, the sin aware disciple of Yeshua Messiah must be led by Yah’s indwelling Spirit and conduct themselves in an exceeding righteousness that promotes the Kingdom of Elohim. These individuals must seek to promote goodness, peace, justice, mercy, grace, truth, and love for their Elohim and their fellow man/woman. Thus, it stands to reason that taking part in the electoral processes of this nation for promoting and installing into power the political party that best embodies these Godly principles becomes the de facto, moral responsibility of the Netsarim/Nazarene Yisra’elite. The one who calls themselves a Child of the Most High who knowingly stands on the side of and promotes the Kingdom of Darkness agenda, for whatever reason, cannot be a true Netsari/Messianic/Nazarene Yisra’elite. It’s that simple. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing and are not true members of the Body of Messiah. In fact, it is absolutely doubtful that these deluded individuals even possess Yah’s Set-Apart Spirit.

Yeshua taught:

17“So every good tree yields good fruit, but a rotten tree yields wicked fruit. 18“A good tree is unable to yield wicked fruit, and a rotten tree to yield good fruit. 19“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20“So then, by their fruits you shall know them— The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Mt 7:17–20.

The Apostle Shaul counseled:

11But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone called ‘a brother,’ if he is one who whores, or greedy of gain, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), 1 Co 5:11.

Time is Short

The other thing that we must be cognizant of as it relates Netsarim/Nazarene Yisra’elites/Messianics taking part in the electoral processes of this nation is that we, as Yeshua’s emissaries/ambassadors/disciples, are to be about the business of the Kingdom. There is no secret that time is short, and it becomes more and more evident each day that we are likely living in the Last Days. If we are indeed coming upon the Last Days, our work of promoting the coming Malchut Elohim — the Kingdom of Elohim — is even more critical. We must have every reasonable opportunity to work while it is still day, knowing the night cometh when no man/woman can work (Joh 9.4). If we as God’s elect decide to support, promote, and through our votes, install the presidential candidate that stands on the side of the Kingdom of Darkness, we may be cutting off our noses to spite our faces. It behooves us to act in accordance with the leading of Yah’s Ruach HaKodesh and vote for the candidate that will best foster an environment that is conducive to our doing the essential work of the Gospel.

 

Let us Do the Right Thing

And so, I simply encourage each of us to seek Yah’s will for our lives as it relates to the matter of His people taking part in the electoral process of this nation. Indeed, some of us may be led not vote for either candidate. And of course, many of us will be led to vote for the presidential, senatorial, and congressional candidates that best align with the principles of the Malchut Elohim and the work of the Gospel.

May Yah’s Spirit lead us to do the right thing in this matter and lead us unto all good works, and may Yah have mercy upon this nation.

 

TMTO Update and Thoughts and Reflections on Kenya Missionary-Sukkot Trip

by | Nov 2, 2024 | Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

As I am posting these thoughts and reflections, it is the very last Sabbath of the 7th Biblical Month, November 2, 2024. And assuming our contacts in Israel are successful in sighting the renewed moon the evening of this post, we will enter the 8th Month of Yah’s biblical calendar. Of which I should mention that if you are new to Yah’s reckoning of time — Yah’s reckoning of time through the observational calendar — you should know there are no mandated Feasts/set apart days/moedim for this coming 8th month. In fact, we will enter a dormant period of 6 months on Yah’s sacred calendar. The next feasts/moedim won’t be until next spring when we will look to Yah’s creation to alert us when Yah’s next biblical calendar year will begin and when the Spring Feasts of Yah will take place.

And so, we take this dormant phase of Yah’s calendar year to reflect upon that which Yehovah has done for us; the blessings and the shortcomings; the good fruit that we bore for the Kingdom, as well as the lack of good fruit that we bore. We also begin planting spiritual seeds in our lives — seeds related to our purpose in Yeshua Messiah — preparing for next year’s spiritual harvest in walk in Messiah. And that, beloved, is our aim here on TMTO: to equip us to walk in Kingdom — that is walking in that exceeding righteousness that our Master instructed us to walk in — to prepare for the coming Kingdom of our Master Yeshua here on earth. Abba willing, we have several teaching and ministry activities we plan to post/publish and hopefully bless you with. As well as TMTO are looking to enter areas of ministry that we never thought we would and I’ll be sharing what those areas of ministry look like in just a few moments.

Update on TMTO

  • Why two month absence?
    • September experienced technology problems.
    • Preparation for our missionary trip to Kenya. I will share my thoughts and reflections on that trip with you in just a moment.
  • What’s ahead for TMTO for the next year?
    • Update TMTO Website to Provide Powerful, Essential Kingdom Preparation Content and to Improve User Friendliness.
    • Continue the focus Kingdom Readiness
    • Torah Reading Discussions
    • Continue Paul and Hebrew Roots series.
    • Promote and support Kenyan and Tanzanian believers through online teachings and QFF.
      • Possible secondary missionary trip to Kenya and Tanzania…
    • Add video to our postings.
    • Publish 2-3 books 2025.

Thoughts and Reflections on the Issues and Points of Discussion From the Kenya Trip:

  • Kenya is situated on the east coast of the African continent; south of Ethiopia and Somalia; east of Uganda; and north of Tanzania.
  • Although the capital Nairobi is somewhat modern in terms of western standards, there still remains widespread poverty throughout much of Kenya. This makes ministry in Kenya and Tanzania challenging.
  • The Pervasive SDA Influence (sprinkled with some Catholicism).
  • The Calendar.
    • Determining when during the calendar year the feasts occur.
  • The Rapture vs. the Kingdom.
  • The wearing of Tzitziyot.
  • Women teaching and preaching in church.
  • The trinity and Matthew 28 (baptism).
    • The accuracy of our bibles.
    • Baptism
  • The Name of Yeshua and Titles.
  • The 10 Commandments vs. Keeping the Whole of Torah.
  • The Church or the Ekklesia.
  • Request for teachings and assistance through commercial endeavors.
  • Pastors seeking to be supported by their congregations.
  • The plight of widows and orphans in Kenya.

If you having a willing heart and are led to support this ministry in Kenya, please visit qumranfamilyfoundation.org. 

 

When Torah Becomes a Witness Against Us — My Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Reading 148

by | Sep 6, 2024 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

These are my thoughts and reflections on Torah Reading 148. I’ve been led to entitle this discussion: When Torah Becomes a Witness Against Us.” Our reading this week is found in Deuteronomy/Devarim 31.14-30.

 

Key Themes and Concepts Found in our Parashah this Week

Yehovah Formally Commissions Yehoshua. Yah directs an official change in our human leadership (i.e. from Moshe to Yehoshua). Yah addresses Moshe and Yahoshua in the form of column of cloud at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting (aka “o’hel moedim“) (31.14-15). Why at the sanctuary’s entrance as opposed to any other place in the camp? Yah is consistent in all of His holy and righteous ways. Everything He does, He does in a purposeful and orderly fashion. Furthermore, by calling the two leaders out before the “o’hel moedim“, Yah was effecting this historic transfer of human leadership and power in view of the entire nation. I point you to this Torah passage for clarification: 9 ⌊And⌋ at the entering of Moses into the tent the column of cloud would descend and stand at the opening of the tent, and he would speak with Moses. 10 And all the people would see the column of cloud standing at the opening of the tent, and all the people would rise and bow in worship, each at the opening of his tent. 11 And Yahweh would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his neighbor. And he would return to the camp, and his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the middle of the tent. W. Hall Harris III, Elliot Ritzema, et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Ex 33:9–11.Transparency is the name of the game when it comes to our God. He leaves no doubt where He stands in the minds of His people. Thus, there would be no backdoor deals conducted in the dark — shifts in leadership and power that could easily lead to non-stop conspiracy theories such as that which we recently witnessed here in our nation’s government.

 

The Future Apostacy of Yisra’el. Yah informs Moshe that after his impending death (i.e., “sokeb“– death in this case conceived as him lying down to sleep with his ancestors), we would “arise” (i.e., “qam'” — that is, we would rebel) against Yehovah. And our rebellion against Yehovah would take the form of our taking up the worship of the Canaanite gods. Yah described our impending apostacy as “playing the prostitute” (i.e., “‘am zanah“) after foreign gods (i.e., “‘elohim“) (31.16). Yah’s description of our impending apostacy being likened unto prostituting ourselves plays heavily upon the realities associated with our marital relationship with Him. And in every metaphorical sense, when we take up foreign god worship, we are committing [spiritual] adultery. No marriage can truly remain intact when one or both parties engage in infidelity. Yah views our engagement in idolatry as forsaking Him. And despite the fact that the vast majority of people of faith do not engage in idol worship today per se, we must ask ourselves what things have we given ourselves to that equates to our forsaking our Heavenly Father and the covenant relationship we are supposed to share with Him? Pornography; fornication and adultery; drugs and alcohol; entertainment; personal possessions and the pursuit of wealth; the pursuit of fame.

 

Yah described Himself to us as being a jealous God who will not tolerate our engaging in foreign god worship of any form or fashion (Exo 34.13-14). In fact, so high was the risk that we would fall prey to the lure of adopting the Canaanites’ gods that Yah commanded us to not cut covenants with the inhabitants of the Land so as a preventative move (Exo 34.15-17). Clearly, associating with pagans and inquiring about their worship practices comes with tremendous spiritual risks. The penalty for any who would engage in false god worship is to cause Yah’s face to be hidden from us (31.18) and to incur Yah’s wrath against them and to be cut off from among the congregation of Yisra’el (31.17; Lev 20.5). And certainly, we did not listen, and we played the prostitute as Yah warned and prophesied (Jug 21.17; 8.33; Hos 1.2). But despite our stiffnecked and adulterous ways, Yah promised to remain true to the covenant He cut with us in order to honor the promises He made with our patriarchs and to bring glory to His holy and righteous Name (Hos 3.1).

 

Yah’s Reactions to our Spiritual Prostitution. There are natural consequences that come with abandoning Yah’s instructions in righteousness. Yah declares curses will overtake us when we elect to go our own way and reject His commandments (Deu 28.15-68). But that’s not where our problems end, because at the end of the day, beloved, we who are in a covenant relationship with Yah must contend with Him as a consequence of transgressing His Torah.

 

Bit by bit throughout His Torah (that must include the Prophets and the Writings), our Heavenly Father graciously reveals to us His steadfast and awesome nature and holy character. Here in our reading, Yah reveals to us what His reaction will be to our future idolatrous behavior:

  1. Yah Has a Righteous Temper. If we rebel against Him and “play the prostitute after foreign gods” of the land which we dwell, Yah declares that His anger will flare up against us. We then effectively become the object of Yah’s wrath. His wrath would bring “great harm and distress” upon us (Merrill, Eugene H.; Deuteronomy-NACDt). And we most certainly saw this come to fruition throughout our history in response to our stiffnecked persona and our failure to properly keep covenant with our Elohim. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown describes such an eruption of Yah’s anger toward us when we forsake Him for foreign gods as a “withdrawal of the divine favor and protection” (Brown, David et al; Commentary; 1997). And it will be through such harsh divine intervention that the realities of our evil ways will sink into our thick skulls.

 

  1. Yah Does Not Stay Where He’s Not Wanted. Part and parcel of Yah’s wrath against us will be that He forsakes us and Hides His face from us (31.17). As just mentioned, the natura; consequence of being on the receiving end of Yah’s holy and righteous wrath or anger is that His divine mercies are lifted or removed from us. In my commentary on the horrific October 7th invasion of Hamas terrorists against our Jewish cousins in the state of Israel, I mentioned I believed Yah had lifted His divine protection of her on that terrible day. Unfortunately, this concept seems to match up with what Yah has promised will happen when His people forsake the covenant He shares with them and they rebel and whore themselves after the ways of this world. And let us not be ignorant of the realities that the flaring of our Creator’s wrath and Him turning His face from us is not limited to the nation state of Yisra’el. Such calamity is certain to happen to each of us who abandons the covenant relationship He cut with us through Yahoshua and then pursue the ways of this world. We cannot afford to stand against the wiles of our archenemy without His presence. And to lose His presence because of our foolishness and our stubbornness is a total tragedy. So many in our faith community even today are currently enduring tremendous sufferings and trials and such and one who is on the outside looking in would have to wonder, why aren’t these individuals living the abundant life that Yahoshua Messiah promised them? But the answer to that question is quite simple to understand: Many of us who enter a true and substantive covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe through the Person and ministries of our glorious Master Yahoshua Messiah eventually play the prostitute against the Great I Am by abandoning or violating the terms of our covenant agreement with Him. And when we abandon or violate the terms of that covenant agreement we have with Yehovah, we stand to incur His wrath and His distancing from us. Of this the Jewish scribe Ibn Ezra notes that we become ready prey for the enemy” (Carasik, M.; Deuteronomy: Introduction and Commentary-TCB JPS Dt). Cassik notes what I find to be a fascinating perspective on this key issue and concept of Yah turning His face from us when we turn away from Him for foreign gods: “Out of love, like a man whose son has sinned. He tells the son’s master to whip him but cannot bear to watch” (Bekhor Shor). “My Providence will abandon them, leaving them ready for disaster.” This threat is worse than any of the previous ones (e.g., curses and wrathful anger), since all the previously threatened evils would come to them by way of reproach; this is simply abandonment (Gersonides)” (ibid.).

Indeed, some challenges that members of our Faith community go through are tests — trials — designed to mold, strengthen, correct us throughout the time of our sanctification. However, there are those hardships and challenges that many of us face because we’ve elected to take on the yoke of this world and abandon Yah and the covenant we share with Him. That’s why it is so important that we stay close to Yah and operate in His Set-Apart Spirit. When we do so, we mitigate any chance of our straying from the terms of the covenant we share with Yah and we are not so easily drawn to the ways of this world that if we grab hold them will lead to a loss of Yah’s presence in our lives and the tragic effects of His anger that is revealed against us.

References to all that we’ve just discussed may be found in Deuteronomy/Devarim 6.15; Judges 2.14; 6.13; Isaiah 8.17; 59.2; 64.7; Eze 39.23; etc.

Consider this defining passage:

Now Azariah the son of Oded—the Spirit of God came upon him. 2 And he went out before Asa and said to him, “Hear me, O Asa and all of Judah and Benjamin! Yahweh is with you while you are with him. And if you will seek him he will be found by you. But if you forsake him he will forsake you. 3 Now Israel has been without the true God many days, and without a teaching priest, and without law, 4 but at its trouble he returned to Yahweh, the God of Israel. They sought him, and he was found by them. 5 And in those times there was no peace for the one going out and the one coming in, for great tumults were upon all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 Nation was crushed by nation, and city was against city, for God threw them into confusion by all sorts of trouble. 7 But as for you, be strong and let not your hands be weak, for there is reward for your labor.” W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), 2 Ch 15:1–7.

 

Our God Always Sees the End From the Beginning But He Still Cares. Knowing that after we take possession of the Land of Promise, we will quickly turn our backs to Yehovah in our pursuit of the gods of Canaan, He reaches out to us and gives us a tool that is intended to help mitigate our transgression of His Torah and the covenant we share with Him. He dictates to Moshe a song (a “si-rah”), and depending on which English translation you’re using, a hymn or poem, that He intended to be sung or recited by us “as a witness against us” when we would eventually stray from Him and His ways (31.19). This song or poem that Moshe and Yehoshua were to teach us (i.e., to put it this song in their mouths means to have us memorize it) (Tigay, Jeffrey; The JPS Torah Commentary on Deuteronomy) and it would become for us “an explanation of our betrayal of Yehovah our Elohim” (Faithlife Study Bible; John Barry et. al.). Now, we won’t get into this song or poem in this Torah Reading because it is reserved for Torah Reading 149.

 

This Torah concept of something being used as a “witness against us” forces us to appreciate the heaviness of the Prophetic Words of Yehovah. Because we did not always have at our ready disposal Yah’s Torah, such inventions as poems or songs served as perpetual memorials to us. According to Jeffrey Tigay in his JPS Torah Commentary on Deuteronomy, this song or poem would serve as proof “that events were foretold prevents their misinterpretation. The poem will testify that God had treated Israel with justice and kindness, but that Israel betrayed Him (see 32:1–18, esp. vv. 4–5). If the people’s words in verse 17 represent a complaint that God had violated His promise to remain with them, the poem will rebut their charge, showing that God abandoned them for just cause.” According to the Jewish sage Obadiah ben Ya’achov Sforno: “When the disaster comes, the poem will prevent them from thinking that it was an accident; when they realize that it was caused by their behavior, they will repent.”

 

When national songs are taken to heart by the people of a nation, they “stir up deep feelings” within the nation’s people (JFB et al.). And this is indeed what Yah desperately wanted from us in the inevitable event that we rebelled against Him and went prostituting ourselves after the Canaanite gods. When such times came, He wanted us to stop, take assessment of our transgressions against Him and His Torah, and return to Him.

 

Today, we don’t necessarily have to learn this and other poems and songs verbatim as a tool to help wake us up when we forsake Yah and His ways and the dire necessity for us to turn back to Him before tragedy strikes (31.21). We are blessed to have in our possession the whole of Yah’s Words of Life and Yah’s precious Ruach HaKodesh (aka His Set-Apart Spirit) to bring such things to our memory and to lead us back into Yah’s good graces when we stray.

 

Indeed, Yah knows the end from the beginning. He told us: “For I know their inclination that they are having ⌊today⌋ before I have brought them into the land that I swore.”W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Dt 31:21. It is only human nature to erroneously think that we are immune to erring in our walk (aka our halachah). But Yah knows how we are and He knows what we are capable of doing. And so, in giving us a reason for the song or poem He was about to give Moshe and Yehoshua, He prophesied: “For when I bring them into the land that I swore to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, ⌊they will eat their fill⌋, and they will become fat, and then they will turn to other gods, and they will serve them, and they will spurn me, and they will break my covenant” W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Dt 31:20.

 

Why is it that when we are find ourselves abundantly blessed of Yah that we are the most prone to sinning? I guess it comes down to an erroneous belief that we’ve somehow arrived and that we have nothing to worry about. Then there’s the relative boredom that comes with affluence and contentment. Many of us, when we are doing well in life, develop what I like to refer to as an “itchy ear syndrome” whereby we become prone to search out the latest and greatest teachings and practices that catch our attention and appeals to our flesh. And I say that it is during these well-to-do times in our lives and in our halachah (aka walk) that we stay ever so buried in the Word and ensure that our ears, minds, and hearts are in tune to the still-small-voice of our glorious Elohim.

 

Be Strong and Courageous. Yah turns His attention to Moshe’s protégé and speaks to him the admonishment that we read in last week’s Torah Portion: “Be strong and be courageous, for you shall bring the ⌊Israelites⌋ into the land that I swore to them, and I will be with you” W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Dt 31:23.

 

I AM With You — Yah’s Abiding Presence. Here Yah doesn’t just admonish Yehoshua/Joshua to be strong and courageous as he takes on the leadership over the nation, He pledges to Joshua that He will be with him (31.23). Let us not forget the consistency of Yah here. We find back in Exodus/Shemote 3.12 where Abba Yah promised this same supportive relationship as He promised Moshe: 10“And now, come, I am sending you to Pharaoh, to bring My people, the children of Yisra’ěl, out of Mitsrayim.” 11And Mosheh said to Elohim, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Yisra’ěl out of Mitsrayim?” 12And He said, “Because I am with you. And this is to you the sign that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Mitsrayim, you are to serve Elohim on this mountain.” The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Ex 3:10–12.

 

The same One True God/Elohim giving His two leaders the same assurance of His abiding presence throughout the course of their leadership journeys. Yah’s abiding presence with Yehoshua was an obvious guarantee of success in His mission to lead us as a nation to the Land of Promise. And for any leader who has been tapped to do Yah’s work and to lead Yah’s people, there is no better situation to be in. So, when we extend this scenario of Yah’s abiding presence over to those of us who are in the service of Yah and of His Kingdom, especially when we factor in the coming persecutions that many of us will endure as we await our Master’s appearing, we have Yehoshua’s promise of “lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Mat 28.20; KJV).

 

Preserving Yah’s Torah. Finally, Moshe gets to the place in his leadership role where he finishes writing or recording Yah’s Word in a book or on a scroll (31.24). The reference to Moshe completing his writing assignment seems to refer specifically to the content that is contained in the Book of Deuteronomy or Devarim. Eugene H. Merrill, in his commentary on Deuteronomy, writes that the phrase or “expression the words of this law…is technical language referring specifically to” chapters 5 to 28 (Deuteronomy — NAC Dt). He further states that chapters 1-4 of Deuteronomy make up the book’s prologue while chapters 29-34 constitute the book’s epilogue.

 

Such speculation is okay in my opinion, but I do not believe we should be too dogmatic about such things. And the reason I say this is that I recall just a few years ago, there was a segment of our Faith Community who were promoting dogma as it related to what made up Torah and what did not make up Torah; specifically what laws we kept and what laws we weren’t responsible for keeping, and so forth. So the term Torah became somewhat of a divisive term within a faith community that was supposed to promote Torah-living. I do not care to split hairs on such things or, as Merrill suggests, get technical. For the bottom line is that Moshe finished recording that which Abba Yah directed him to record. And when he finished his writing assignment, he commended those documents to the Levites for safekeeping and posterity, to be kept in the Ark of the Covenant (31.24-25).

 

Why did Moshe command the Levites to store his record of Yah’s Word in the Ark of the Covenant? Why did Moshe command the Levites to store his record of Yah’s Word, along with the 10-Commandments and Aharon’s Rod, in the Ark of the Covenant? Thus, besides being the central implement of the Tent of Meeting where the presence of Yah would take place, the Ark of the Covenant served as a lockbox for the Torah — for Yah’s instructions in Righteousness (31.26). And Yah went further to explain that the storing of His Word in the Ark would serve as a witness against us. Apart from those things we discussed earlier in verse 19, where Yah instructed Moshe to jot down the song/poem that He gives him to serve as a witness against us when we enter the Land of Promise and take up pursuing Canaanite gods. The preservation of the Torah in the Ark of the Covenant by Moshe and the Levites was more of a lesson-reminder to future generations to not repeat the errors of our fathers and forefathers than simply an indictment against us, more than a “see I told you that you would mess us.” What many modern denominationalists cannot recognize in this and countless other such passages that address the witness that the Torah served against us is that the provision of preserving the Torah the way Yah commanded Moshe and the Levites to do was a manifestation of Yah’s grace and provision. Of this provision of grace, Shaul wrote: 4For whatever was written before was written for our instruction, that through endurance and encouragement of the Scriptures we might have the expectation. The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Ro 15:4.

11And all these came upon them as examples, and they were written as a warning to us, on whom the ends of the ages have come, 12so that he who thinks he stands, let him take heed lest he fall. The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), 1 Co 10:11–12.

 

And yet our denominationalist cousins are steadfast in their rejection of living a Torah-honoring/obedient life. Therefore, in great part, that the Church Triumphant is enduring such chaos and hardships and apostacy. They have been indoctrinated to adhere to a replacement doctrine and the modern day grace perversion that throws the very Words of our Father into the trash bin of religious history. It’s a horrific tragedy that has and continues to lead generations down a road to destruction. This very Torah that Moshe was instructed of Yah to have safely stored in the Ark of the Covenant, along with the example and teachings of our Master Yehoshua haMashiyach, as the keys to the Malchut Elohim — that is, the Kingdom of God. We, who have entered a covenant relationship with the Great I Am through His Messiah Yeshua, are exceptionally blessed to recognize the very things about Yah’s Torah that Shaul wrote about to his Roman and Corinthian readers. For the rest of the world, however, spiritual scales continue to obscure the eyes of the denominationalists and even some of our Jewish brethren of this crucial reality. For Torah teaches us how to walk in righteousness and how to love our God and love one another as Yah has instructed.

 

Let us not be naïve to the reality that most of the civilized world today does not directly engage in idol worship. Notice that I said, “does not directly engage in idol worship.” Indeed, times have changed and we who are of the modern world have come to recognize carved/graven/molten images for what Yah described them to be over and over in His Word. They are nothing more than crafted expressions of either imagined gods of the elements or representations of the fallen ones who were demigods to the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia. Idols have no wherewithal to do anything for those that foolishly and blindly worshiped them through millennia. However, we today still engage in a form of idolatry which, when we engage in such worship, still incites His wrath against us and causes Him to turn His face from us. And what is this form of idolatry that I’m referring to? Most of which makes up life for us today.

 

Modern life offers us countless things and activities that have the potential of turning our hearts away from Yah and on to those things and activities. And as an article written by the United Church of God puts it, anything that we value more than we value god is idolatry (beta.ucg.org/learn/bible-study-tools/bible-questions-and-answers/what-idolatry.) For some, it’s food and for others it’s sex and entertainment. Material possessions, wealth, fame and fortune capture the hearts, minds, and souls of many others. Then there are inappropriate relationships that cause an unequal-yoke situation for Yah’s people. And let’s not forget the worship of people and nation and culture that causes so many of us to turn our eyes, hearts, and minds away from Yehovah our Elohim. All these and more make up the gods of this modern world. Sadly, most of us don’t even realize just how close we get to prostituting ourselves to the gods of this modern world.

 

But praise Yah from Whom all blessings flow. He has made for us a witness to such dangerous shenanigans. We have access to Yah’s instructions in righteousness, the example and teachings of Yehoshua Messiah, and the indwelling gift of His Set-Apart Spirit to aid us in not falling prey to the lure of modern-day idolatry. Thus, it behooves us to keep our noses buried in scripture, our ears keenly turned to “the still small voice” of Yehovah, and the leading of Yah’s Holy Spirit to keep us on the straight and narrow, neither erring to the right or left; neither taking away nor adding to His eternal Words of Truth. But rather, that we may walk upright and perfectly before Him so that we may glorify Him on the earth and advance His glorious Kingdom to come. Oh Father in Heaven, hallowed be your holy Name. Thy Kingdom come and Your glorious and perfect will be done, over and in our lives, as well as on this earth, as it is in heaven.

 

There is no better time than now, beloved, for us to straighten up and fly right in anticipation of our Creator’s glorious Kingdom being firmly and eternally established here on earth. As we progress through this 6th Month of Yah’s biblical calendar year, let us reflect on His goodness; His mercies; His grace; and His righteousness. Our Master testified and informed that His Father is looking for true worshipers who endeavor to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (Joh 4.23). In said worship, there is no room for idolatry of any form or fashion. The true worshiper that Yah seeks is one who has stripped off the veneer of paganism and worldliness from his/her soul and put on our Master’s righteous garments. This is about a profound inward change of heart, mind, and soul that obediently seeks the Creator’s kingdom and His righteousness. Our worship is guided by the Holy Spirit and our obedient faith, rather than being governed by sight — that is the things that we see, feel, and hear — that tickle our fancy — that give us warm and fuzzies. And we are guided by His eternal Words of Truth and Life.

 

Our religious Jewish cousins view and treat the 6th month of Yah’s calendar year as a time of “introspection and personal stock-taking in preparation of the High Holy Days starting with Yom Teruah and ending with Yom Kippur” (Tim Hegg of Torah Resource). That being said, let us not squander this new month despite it not containing any mandated feasts or moedim of Yah. Let us dedicate ourselves to engaging in an inventory of our day-to-day walk with and in Messiah. Are we doing everything we should and can to ensure the integrity of our covenant relationship with the Almighty? Do we possess righteous intentions towards one another and do we possess the mind of Messiah? If we discover we are not worshiping Yah in Spirit and in Truth, are we willing to make some really hard decisions on how we conduct our lives? Are we willing to turn our back on the idols that we have given license to govern our lives? We know what needs to be done. All that’s left is for us to give our all to He who loved us before we were ever born.

 

Shabbat Shalom — Shavu’tov — May you be most blessed fellow saints in Training. Take care.

 

Operating in Set-Apart Community Relationships — Torah Reading 142 Thoughts and Reflections

by | Jul 27, 2024 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

Shalom and Greetings

Greetings saints of the Most High. Rod Thomas coming to you on a warm by beautiful Sabbath in the DFW. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to fellowship with me here on this blessed day of rest in Yeshua Messiah. And as always beloved, it is my hope, trust, and prayer that this installment of the Messianic Torah Observer finds you, your families, and your fellowships well and blessed.

As I am recording and posting this installment of TMTO, it is July 26, 2024. It is the 20th Day of the 4th Month of Yah’s Calendar Year. And this is the 142nd parashah of our 3-year Torah Reading Cycle, which is contained in Deuteronomy/Devarim 21.10-22.7; with the Haftorah in Isaiah/Yeshiyahu 54.1-10 and the Apostolic in Galatians 3. 11-14. I’ve been led to title this teaching: “Operating in Set-Apart Community Relationships.”

 

Justification for Weekly Torah Studies (Even When the Individual Mitzvot Don’t Seem to Apply to us Today)

Now, I want to mention before we dive into today’s teaching that these mitzvot (i.e. these laws or instructions) are overwhelmingly dismissed and viewed as archaic, even “harmful and dangerous” by denominationalists and not too few members of our Messianic Faith Community. I’ve previously mentioned on this platform that a good many people who claim to be people of faith or people of the Book (in some way or another) reject Yehovah and His Torah because neither the Father or His Torah fit their personal righteous sensibilities. Some of these erroneously refer to Yehovah as the “God of the Old Testament” Whom they unapologetically reject because His ways seem archaic, harmful, and dangerous to them. These go a little further to say that they prefer and love the “God of the New Testament,” Whom they specifically identify as Jesus Christ. They love this God of the New Testament because His ways and teachings resonate with them. But little do these misguided — judgment-bound — disparagers of Yehovah and His Ways realize that their God of the New Testament (i.e. Yeshua HaMashiyach), Whom they revere or love so much, was and is in lockstep with His Heavenly Father (aka the God of the Old Testament Whom they despise and reject – personal experience). For Yeshua our Master was clear when He stated that He and His Father were and are One — that is, He and His Father are united in all things and in all Ways (Joh 10.30; 17.21). Furthermore, the Master taught His inner core of disciples to not misunderstand His position on His Father’s Torah, and that He had in no way come to destroy or annul the Torah and the Prophets, but He came to clarify them and take them to their fullest meaning and potential (Mat 5.17). Certainly, if Master had a problem with Torah, He had every opportunity during His earthly ministry to speak out against it. But He instead not only endorsed Torah, but He also walked and talked it.

Those who hold such a contrary worldview of Torah are too blind of eyes, deaf of hearing, and confused of mind and heart to realize that Yeshua possesses the fullness of His Father’s character (Col 2.9). Yes, we saw the compassionate side of our Creator through His Son when He came the first time as the Suffering Messiah. But wait until Messiah returns as the conquering King who will establish and reign over His Daddy’s Kingdom here on earth (Dan 2.44; 7.14, 27; Rev 11.15). Halleluyah indeed! It will be during the time leading up to the Kingdom Age (so to speak) that the world and all Creation will see the full character of Yehovah on display in the Person and King, Yahoshua HaMashiyach. He will destroy all vestiges of the Kingdom of Darkness and forcibly restore Paradise Lost! Amein and Amein. And He will dismiss from His presence any who have and would reject Him and His Father’s righteousness; their Torah-based government, citing that they’ve never known them (Mat 7.23). From that day forward, everything will be done in accordance with His Way or they will be done His Way. Period. Case closed!

 

As much as Torah may seem an affront/insult/conflict to our modern-day, western sensibilities, it, Torah, educates us about Yehovah’s exceeding standards and the expectations He has for any who would desire to “enter into an intimate covenant relationship with Him” (Hegg, T.; Commentary on Deuteronomy; p. 141). And as tough as some of these mitzvot (aka laws or instructions) may be for us to swallow today, they, collectively, serve as our lifeline. For the world around us is generally ignorant of the Person Yehovah — Who He truly is; what He likes and dislikes; what He expects from His chosen ones; His plans to restore His human creation back to how He originally intended it to function and exist. The world’s deadly ignorance as it relates to Yah and His holy and righteous ways, unfortunately, is going to lead to its catastrophic end, unless it does a true course correction and turns to Him and His Ways. For Yah cared enough for us—that of our wellbeing and eternal security — that He provided us these safeguards or protections — His Torah — so that we may walk “the path of life to enjoy the blessings Yah intends for His children” (ibid., p. 141). All other paths lead to certain destruction; all other ground is “sinking sand.” Thus, Yehovah has gifted us His Torah. And it is Father Yah’s gifting of Torah that is evidence of just how loving a Father He truly is to us. Our sense of personal, flawed righteousness and justice when compared to Yah’s righteousness and justice are as soiled, disgusting rages (Isa 64.6). In fact, it is our personal, flawed sense of righteousness that will usher us down a path towards destruction. Yah does not want that for us. So, He gave us His loving instructions in righteous living to guard or safeguard against our self-destruction. If we are blessed with the proper, spiritual eyes, ears, heart, and mindset to understand Yah’s Torah from this “loving instructions” perspective, we will have indeed crossed over from death into life. And Yah requires more than us coming into and remaining in this positive, proper mindset towards Torah. Yah requires that we diligently seek His righteousness on His terms and His terms only. That means learning of Him and His Ways in Spirit and in Truth (Joh 4.23-24; 14.17; 16.13) and then walk in those learned ways, neither erring to the right or left — but walk steadfastly and uprightly before Him, as Yeshua our Master taught and modeled for us.

Due to the length of our reading today and our limited time together, we will not read through the parashah. Please read through the parashah as you are so led. We will confine ourselves to commenting and drawing out the salient physical and  spiritual points of each.

The Torah of Hebrew Combatants Taking unto Themselves Foreign Wives (aka War Brides) (21.10-14)

Abba Yah permitted us to take unto ourselves as wives of those distant nations whom we conquered. Father Yah required that the taking of foreign war brides by Hebrew combatants be done in such a way as to reduce the influences of combatants’ base, carnal passions (aka lust), and to employ morality towards our conquered enemies.

The would-be foreign war bride (21.14) must go through a regimen of purification that involves shaving her head, trimming her nails, discarding her native clothes, and then be allowed to mourn her loses (21.12-13) in the Hebrew captor’s home for a month (reference Lev 14.8-9; Num 6.9). Then she may become the Hebrew captor’s wife. Interestingly, Rabbinic commentators such as Rashi, Abravanel, and R. Akiba challenged the motivation behind this precept. They contend that Yah intended for the would-be war bride who entered this purification and mourning period to be made to look unappealing to her would be captor husband (reference Rashi ad loc.; Abravanel, 202; R. Akiba’s Sifrei 212). However, from a contextual standpoint, Yah’s desire is to always mitigate the possibilities that His set-apart people who bare His Name would not be led astray or influenced by the religious and cultural practices of these foreign women. Thus, the purpose behind this mitzvah was to physically and spiritually distance the would-be foreign captive wife from her former religion and culture and in the process not influence her would be husband to adopt her former religious practices and culture. It was also designed to give Yah glory and honor as these foreign captive women would see for themselves the love and compassion and justice of the God of Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’achov.

The so-called Jewish sages reckoned that the instruction that the would-be war bride discard her native clothes and don Hebrew attire; shave her hair, and cut her nails with Jewish conversion in mind. Now, I don’t buy into such Rabbinic twisting of Yah’s Torah. But suffice to say, the month of purification and mourning provided the would-be war bride an adjustment period whereby she would learn and adapt to her future husband’s Hebrew culture. This period also served as a time of testing our motivations towards our would-be war bride. Were our motivations pure and just? Are our motivations controlled by our love for Yah and respect for human life and the understanding that every man, woman, and child, regardless of whether they were kinsmen of ours, or our enemies in war, were created in the image of our Creator? “Respect for the personhood of captive ones” must be shown.

It is understood that the would-be captor husband would not engage in a sexual relationship with the would-be war bride during this month-long purification, mourning, and adjustment period. To engage in a sexual relationship with the captive woman during her month of mourning before taking her to be his wife would violate Yah’s Torah prohibiting fornication and would also commit him to marry this woman, even if he had a change of heart towards her during that adjustment period.

It must be understood, however, that this mitzvah relating to Hebrew combatants engaging in marriage with foreign captive women did not pertain to those women of the Canaanite nations that were marked or devoted to destruction (see our Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Reading 141). Because those nations’ sins had become so abominable in the sight of Yah, they had become irredeemable. The abominable religious and cultural practices of these Canaanite nations posed an existential spiritual threat to us, and Yah was not willing to chance us turning away from Him over our failure to expunge the Land of its evil. The non-Canaanite nations, however, did not pose such a spiritual threat to us, and thus Yah permitted our intermarrying with those nations if we did so within the confines of His laws. Indeed, there was always the chance that those men who intermarried would be swayed to pursue the ways of their foreign wives, but as long as Torah was the definitive rule of our nation, the influence of paganism would be mitigated. Recall that just a couple or three readings ago, our Torah reading required our community leaders to be intolerable to any paganism within our communities, even to the point of capital punishment being employed to stem the proliferation of such evil within our communities.

If, after the captive woman’s purification, mourning, and observation period, the Hebrew captor decides not to take her as his wife, he must release her with no conditions. He cannot sell her into slavery nor mistreat her because she had already gone through terrible turmoil; she has been humbled and shamed already. Thus, the compassion of Yehovah for woman is shown and manifested through His Torah. It then falls to man to carry out Yah’s instructions in righteousness so that His righteous compassion may be manifested on the earth.

Not to be deprived of the opportunity to add to and subtract from Yah’s perfect Torah, the Rabbis enacted their own laws as related to Jews entering into such foreign marriages. Under the auspices of their so-called “oral-torah,” would be war brides were required to convert, not to the Hebrew Faith of our patriarchs mind you, but to Judaism (i.e. sectarian halachah). Furthermore, the Rabbis strongly discouraged combatants taking unto themselves captive foreign wives. The Rabbis believed that the combatants’ motivations to marry their captive women would be carnal (aka lust-based) (see above regarding the purification and mourning requirements for the captive women; cf. Sifrei 213; Rashi’s comments on verses 12-13 of our Reading; and Maimonides’ Hilkhot Melakhim 8.5). This idea of the combatant taking such a captive foreign woman to be his wife solely because of a physical attraction he held towards her seems to have been a preoccupation of the rabbis. And much of the Rabbinic thinking as it relates to this mitzvah holds that any marriage that a male Jew enters into solely because he is physically attracted to his would-be wife will ultimately fail for obvious reasons. So, the lesson is for Jewish men not to marry solely because of physical attraction.

Probably the biggest Spirit and Truth take-away for me as it relates to this mitzvah would be the importance of choosing a helpmeet wisely; of being equally yoked with either a would-be wife or husband who will walk with us on our Faith journey. Choosing a life-partner who will forsake their former life of sin or religiosity and walk in covenant relationship with Yehovah by our side. It behooves us to question our motivations towards the woman or man that we are contemplating entering into a marriage covenant with: Are our motivations based on our fleshly desires, or are they based on a true love for that person, and is that person willing to enter into a covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe through the Person and Ministries of Yeshua Messiah? Or maybe the one who Yah has chosen for us is already in a covenant relationship with Him, making such a union blessed and a holy one. Yah’s will must take precedence above and ahead of our personal preference. To mitigate the chance for marital strife, Yah recommends that we be equally-yoke with a would-be spouse (2 Cor 6.14).

 

The Torah of the Firstborn in Polygamous Relationships

In the event of a polygamous marriage where the Hebrew husband prefers one of his wives over the other, both wives having borne their husband sons and that man’s firstborn is of the least preferred wife, that firstborn must receive the benefit of being the firstborn (i.e. the birthright). He is to still receive a double-portion inheritance over his siblings because “he is the first of his [the Hebrew head of household’s] vigor.” Thus, the established rights of the firstborn (i.e. birthright or “bekhorah” or primogeniture) cannot be superseded by such extraneous factors as, for example, his father preferring the younger mother over his older or least preferred mother. However, there are biblical exceptions to this rule as evidenced in the stories of the patriarchs Avraham and Yitschaq/Isaac. In Avraham’s case, his firstborn was Ishmael and his second-born was Yitschaq/Isaac. Yah’s covenant would be with Yitschaq/Isaac, not Ishmael, and thus, Ishmael did not receive the double-portion inheritance of Avraham. And in the case of Yitschaq/Isaac, through Ya’achov/Jacob’s fool-doggery, he received the firstborn benefits over his brother Esau; not to mention that Yehovah chose Ya’achov/Jacob to perpetuate His covenant as opposed to Esau. So, there are exceptions to the firstborn rules. But in the case of a husband conferring the firstborn rights to the son who is not his firstborn, solely because he prefers the mother of the son who is not his firstborn over the mother of his firstborn, did not fly with Yah.

The firstborn son was viewed by some as “proof of his father’s potency and a token of future fertility” (Tigay, Jeffrey H.; JPS Torah Commentary-Deuteronomy; cf. Gen 38.27-28; 49. 3; Psa 78.51; 105.36; Job 18.12).

This is just one of the many downsides to polygamy. A husband will invariably prefer one wife over the other, and that naturally breeds contempt among the women in that man’s household. Yah did not prohibit polygamy, but He certainly did not encourage it for these and other reasons.

Clearly, the mitzvah of granting the husband’s firstborn son the birthright without bias was, in a sense, a safeguard against the serious deficiencies and challenges that are common to polygamous family structures. However, I strongly disagree with commentators like Torah teacher and author Tim Hegg’s position that polygamy in and of itself is a sin. For if it was a sin, it seems pretty logical, at least it does to me, that Yah would have outright condemned polygamy if it offended His holy and righteous character, as He prohibited the acts of adultery, fornication, idolatry, and rebelliousness. Again, this doesn’t mean that Yah condones polygamy as a family life choice for Hebrews. The practice is certainly fraught with a great deal of challenges to the integrity of the God-ordained institution of marriage. (If you’ve not already read or listened to my post on polygamy entitled “Polygamy and the Bible” and you are so led to do so, here is the link to that post for your convenience.)

Polygamy here in the U.S. is illegal. So, some may question this mitzvah’s relevance to us today. The relevance to us today is clear: we must always do the right thing in relationships, even when doing the right thing may not be convenient or comfortable to us at the time. For indeed we all make a great many choices throughout our lives, some of which are wise ones, while others are not so wise. In living through the fallouts that are associated with those unwise choices we’ve made, the Netzer/Yisra’elite must always do the right thing. Righteousnesss must always be our NorthStar, regardless or despite the consequences of the mistakes we’ve made in life.

 

The Torah Regarding the Handling of Evil, Rebellious, Disobedient Children (The Most Controversial Mitzvah of our Reading Today)

If a couple has an uncontrollable, evil, rebellious, disobedient son, both father and mother are to bring him before the city’s elders and state their case against their son. (This Torah applied to a child’s disrespect or injury to either or both mother or father.) Torah required that both parents agree to take their unruly, disrespectful, and evil child before the elders. And presuming the elders ruled in favor of the mother and father, the men of that city are to purge evil from their midst/their community by stoning that child.

Certainly, a hard mitzvah for many of us to contemplate. But this mitzvah served the purpose of upholding order and peace in the Hebrew household and deter children from disrespecting and harming their parents. Thus, it is imperative that every Hebrew child, from their earliest ability to understand, be taught and filled with Torah so as to reduce, if not eliminate, the chance of him or her devolving into an unredeemable rebellious son or daughter. The writer of Proverbs counseled: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (22.6).

Torah made allowance for parents to discipline their children (Pro 29.15; 23.13-14; 13.24 speaks to flogging or spanking one’s misbehaving child with a rod to deter them from evil and self-destructive behavior) but prohibited parents from executing them. Yah gave the authority of executing a couple’s rebellious child to the community/city elders, and the actual carrying out of the execution order to the community citizens.

Now, the text implies that the elders who hear the parents’ case against their insubordinate/rebellious child conduct an inquiry into the validity of their complaint. This mitzvah does not demand that all parental claims against their children result in the death of the offending child. It falls to the elders to lean to exercise wisdom and determine whether the home situation is salvageable enough to reconcile the child back to their parents without having to resort to summary execution of the child. In most cases, mediation would be the order of the day with summary execution when all else fails. And if execution is warranted, the parents are absolved of any responsibility in their child’s execution.

Torah demands that children respect and obey their parents at every conceivable level (Exo 20.12; Lev 19.3). Furthermore, Torah requires that a couple’s children care for their parents in the wanning years of their lives (Deu 5.16).

Insubordination and or rebelliousness on the part of children towards their parents (our text cites examples of gluttony and drunkenness; cf. Pro 23.20-21; 28.7) disrupts and undermines the integrity of the God-ordained family unit and order. But it is disobedience that warrants the greatest attention. Disobedience or rebelliousness against one’s parents are, in the sight of the Almighty, a capital offense. Why? Because the family unit and order is one foundation upon which our Hebrew Faith rests. And the Hebrew family unit is the conduit by which we perpetuate the image of Yehovah in the world. Insubordination and rebelliousness by children in the home and in the community “threatens the community’s stability and the penalty of stoning” serves as a deterrent against that evil (Tigay, J.H.; The JPS Torah Commentary-Deuteronomy).

Our western sensibilities cannot fathom such a thing. Instead of seeing the child and their behavior as evil, western society sees Yah’s instructions here as evil. But Yah’s original intent behind this troublesome mitzvah is well stated in 20.21: “So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear of it and fear” (LSB). Clearly, if this mitzvah were to be followed in our western societies today, we would not see the extent of evil that we see taking place in our streets today. The children/young people of western society have become so evil that they have made many western communities unlivable for their parents and the rest of society. The young people of western society have no respect for the rule of law, nor do they respect human life or their elders. They are not held accountable for their actions. So, they feel free to perpetuate evil and live their lives outside the righteous ways of the Almighty.

And of course, the Rabbis got their grubby little fingers on this mitzvah as well, causing it to be “subjected … to an exceedingly narrow reading, according to which it could hardly ever be carried out. Several rabbis held that it was never actually applied, but was stated in the Torah only for educational purposes” (Tigay, Jeffrey H.; JPS Torah Commentary-Deuteronomy; Mish. Sanh. 8.1-4; Sanh 71a; Maimonides, Hilkhot Mamrim 7).

There is indeed a significant spiritual application to be had from this mitzvah that goes beyond the hard realities of rebellious children in Hebrew homes being punished for their evil. Scripture in multiple places records that Yehovah viewed and called Yisra’el His son (even His firstborn son — Exo 4.22). And scripture also documents in multiple places that Yisra’el was sitffnecked in his demeaner (i.e. Yisra’el would not trust and obey his Father, Yehovah) and rebellious (i.e. he repeatedly engaged in spiritual adultery against his Father by giving themselves over to idolatry — Psa 78.8; Isa 30.1; 65.2; Jer 5.23; Hos 4.16; Zec 7.11). And because His son Yisra’el persisted in his stubborn and rebellious ways, Yah punished and dispatched him from the Land.

Yehovah asserts that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft (1 Sam 15.23). And we know the penalty for witchcraft: Death (Exo 22.18).

Even Hebrew adults who rebelled against the authority of Yah’s sanctioned Hebrew courts were subject to execution (Deu 17.12).

The other thing we as Yah’s elect must do is to train our children in Torah and when necessary, not spare the rod of correction when they stray or transgress our righteous house rules. And in the rare cases where those children persist in their evil, rebellious ways and they threaten the integrity, peace, and safety of our homes and the communities we live in, we must make some very hard decisions regarding their future with us, within the confines of the laws of the communities we reside in. Again, for the sake of our homes and the communities we reside in, in those extreme unredeemable situations, they may have to be removed from our midst.

 

The Curse of the Criminal Hung on a Tree (21:22-23)

A community’s executed criminals may be hung from a tree or wooden stake so as to bring disgrace to their memory and to deter any future proliferation of their evil in the community (Gen 40.19; Jos 10.26; Est 9.6-14). Many English renderings of this text describe the act of hanging a criminal from a tree or wooden stake as “impaling” them. The heinous act of impaling the remains of a criminal seems to have originated or have been tied to the Assyrians and was not a practice that we engaged in. Criminal remains were simply suspended or hung on a wooden pole or tree. And let’s be clear: Not every criminal’s remains were hung from trees or poles. In fact, the practice is believed to have been an uncommon one. But some cultures did engage in this practice (e.g. Gen 40.19). These cultures, however, would not permit the criminal’s remains to be buried. In such cases, the bodies were left hanging to rot in the sun and were given over to flying predators to consume. This gruesome practice is an affront to our Elohim.

Yah instructed us to not allow the remains of one who has been executed to remain hung on a tree overnight. The soul who was executed and hung on a tree is deemed as cursed by the Almighty. To leave such a one hanging from a tree overnight is to defile the Land that Yah has given us. Thus, Yah instructed that the body be removed from the tree and buried before sundown on the same day it was hung on the tree. And thus, to a greater or lesser extent, this is where the Hebrew practice of burying their dead on the same day they died came from. The only exception to this practice is, of course, when more time is needed to provide the deceased special honor before their community and nation.

Interestingly, the ancients believed that leaving one’s remains unburied led to that soul not “finding rest in a future world” (Hegg, T.; Commentary on Deuteronomy; p. 147). Even the so-called Jewish sages recognized that the executed criminal was created in the image of Yehovah, and thus their remains must be treated with dignity.

We can clearly see the spiritual implications that were associated with hanging a criminal’s remains from a tree or stake. The executed criminal that was hung from a tree or pole was considered cursed. And it is this idea or understanding of an executed soul hanging from a tree or stake being cursed that Paul, in our Apostolic reading, teaches us the significance of our Master Yeshua’s death. The apostle wrote: 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”–14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (Gal 3:11-14 ESV)

Yeshua, our Redeemer, became cursed of Yah when He was crucified on the stake, not that He deserved to be cursed of His Father because He was sinless, but rather, to vicariously bare or take on our cursed state. In other words, Yeshua died in our stead and became cursed of Yah so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (Hegg, T., Commentary on Deuteronomy; p. 147; reference 2 Cor 5.21). And out of an obedience to this mitzvah, Nicodemus had our Master’s body removed from the cross and buried.

 

Various Mitzvot (22.1-7)

Return of Lost [Animal] Property

If we see that our neighbor’s livestock has strayed from our neighbor’s property, we must make every effort to return that animal to its owner if known (cf. Exo 23.4-5). If we don’t know who that animal’s owner is, we must take that animal in and care for it (as if it were our own) until the animal’s owner is made known to us, at which point we are to hand the displaced animal over to its original owner. It is understood, of course, that the finder in some way or another publicizes that he/she found the stray/lost animal and its owners, when claiming it, would give some proof that the stray creature belonged to them. And this principle applies to both animal and other material possessions. Found items must be returned to their original owner once we learn who that owner is. This is love for one’s neighbor as ourselves and respect for Yah’s animal creation in action (22.1-3). We must seek to minimize any suffering that the lost animal may incur, as well as spare the owner (i.e. the neighbor whom we are to love) of any potential “economic loss” (Tigay; JPS Torah Commentary-Deuteronomy). That the owner of the lost animal belongs to one of our kinfolks automatically displaces the excuse that we should ignore or take advantage of the situation, even if the owner-kinsman is a personal enemy of ours (cf. Exo 23.4-5; Lev 5.20-26).

Helping our Neighbor Restore Their Animal to Wholeness

If we see that our neighbor’s animal (specifically any beast of burden such as an ox or ass–Exo 23.5) has found itself in a difficult way (e.g. fallen into a ditch or hole or collapsed under a load or burden) we are required to help our neighbor restore his animal to wholeness. This is love for one’s neighbor as ourselves and respect for Yah’s animal creation demonstrated (22.4). We as Yah’s set apart ones are compelled to prevent or mitigate suffering of any kind, be it human or animal suffering (cf. Tractate Bava Metsia; BM 32a-b; Maimonides, Sefer Ha-Mitsvot, positive nos. 202-203; idem, Hilkhot Rotseah 13.1-2, 13).

These mitzvot transcend one’s personal view of their neighbor as they must be obeyed, even when the owner is our enemy. We must love our neighbors, regardless of the personal misgivings we have towards them. Thus, we must love them as much as we love ourselves.

Prohibition Against Transvestitism

Yah sees transvestite (cross-dressing) practices as abominable, and it is not to be tolerated in our midst (22.5). There are at least two very good reasons why Yah may have enacted this prohibition and why He despises transvestism: (1) Yah abhors homosexuality, which we can easily see how the practice of transvestism would be a conduit for homosexual activity; and (2) it was a common practice in various Babylonian pagan cultural and worship activities (reference Tigay; JPS Torah Commentary-Deuteronomy).

This mitzvah is timely as we see in the popularity of “drug shows” and so-called “drag queens” exploding in and around the communities we reside in. We even see occurrences of these in supposed places of worship.

Such activity is an abominable violation of Torah. It must not be tolerated in our fellowships, nor in our midst, despite how unpopular it may be to take such a stand against it in our “woke” culture and communities. Drag shows and the practice of transvestism is evil and it must not be given place in our midst, especially in our set-apart gatherings.

Separating a Mother Bird from Her Babies

If we come across a nest where the mother bird is tending to her babies, we are to release the mother. This mitzvah is intricately linked to Yah’s instructions of Leviticus 22:27-28: “When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall stay seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as an offering. No animal from the herd or from the flock shall be slaughtered on the same day with its yew.” The one who brazenly violates this mitzvah is cruel or unkind and does not reflect the compassionate and caring character of their Creator.

We must chase or shoo away the mother before we may take the babies into our possession (21.6-7). This, according to Jeffrey H. Tigay in his commentary on this parashah, “spares the mother the painful sight of seeing her offspring taken away” (cf. Maimonides, Guide 3.48). Tigay clarifies, however, that it is impossible to determine the extent that the mother experiences pain at the loss of her young. But the salient point to this mitzvah is the prohibition against the “callous acts themselves” (ibid.). We must not give ourselves over to callous behavior against one another and against Yah’s animal creation, but always give caring consideration to the ramifications of all that we may do.

This is natural justice. Yah requires that His chosen ones respect the natural order and care after the animal creation. When we do so, Yah prolongs our days on this earth.

 

Concluding Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Reading 142

The Spirit and Truth of our Torah Reading today can be summed up in our Master’s admonition that we love one another, especially within our set-apart communities. To love one another, as we discussed in last week’s reading, is to be loyal to the covenant relationship we have with the Almighty. For we truly love one another as we love ourselves, and we love Yehovah with our whole being, when we are obedient to Yah and His instructions in righteousness. And when we are individually and collectively loyal to the covenant relationship we share with the Almighty, Father Yah blesses us and our families. We then become a light to this corrupt and evil world because we bare and demonstrate Yah’s righteous character to the world. Let us then not grow weary of righteous living as we await the glorious return of our master and soon coming King.

Before I leave you today, beloved, I want you to be aware that we will be on a 3-week hiatus, as we must take care of some important business out on the West Coast. Abba willing, we’ll return sometime around 8/24/2024.

Until then, Shabbat Shalom, Shavu’atov, take care beloved of Messiah.