Deuteronomy chapter 26 discusses the joy of giving financially by people who are called and ordained of YHVH to do his spiritual work on earth. This also includes giving to the poor among us. Heaven blesses those who give (vv. 1–15, 19). Giving is a holy activity (v. 13), and when YHVH’s people obey him in this manner and observe his other commandments as well, he proclaims them to be his special people and promises to promote them high above the nations of the world as his own holy people (vv. 17–20). This YHVH did for ancient Israel when they obeyed him, and he promises to do the same for those who obey him now (2 Cor 1:20). These eternal and immutable principles of the Torah are for all people and for all time; these divine principles have not changed over time regardless of men’s traditions and religious doctrines that say otherwise.
You may not feel like YHVH has presently exalted you above all those around you, but consider this: What is your salvation worth and what will your status be after you have received your glorified body and are ruling and reigning with King Yeshua over this earth after his return and during his millennial kingdom on this earth?
Deuteronomy 26:4–11, You shall answer.This was the prayer that one was to make when one brought their tithe to YHVH. Bringing one’s tithe to YHVH was an act of gratefulness and worship and was brought with a joyful heart for the blessings that the Almighty had bestowed upon the tithe-giver. You may not always feel overly blessed, but at the very least, the Creator has given us life. Beyond that, most of us are not starving, nor are we homeless or naked. Most importantly, YHVH Elohim gave us his only begotten Son through whom we have eternal salvation. This is greatest blessing of all! If we pause for a brief moment and reflect on our lives, we will find many things for which to be thankful to the Almighty.
Deuteronomy 26:5,My father was a Syrian. Syrian is the Hebrew word ‘ărammıy for Aramaen and is derived from Aram, the father of Aramaen people and who was the son of Shem, the son of Noah (Gen 10:21–22). Thus both the Israelites and the Syrians or Aramaens were Semites (i.e., descendents of Shem) due to their common ancestry. Moreover, Rachel, Leah and Rebecca were also from the region of the peoples Aram, so technically the descendents of Jacob were part Aramaen.
Deuteronomy 26:11, You shall rejoice. Bringing one’s tithes and offerings to YHVH is to be a joyful event since it is a reflection of our gratitude to him for abundantly blessing us. (Compare this verse with 2 Corinthians 9:6–11.) Giving to YHVH is a form of worship since it allows us to put our treasure where our heart is (Luke 12:34). Please join me in praying this prayer:
Father, help us to give to you out of the abundance of our hearts joyfully and with gratitude for your blessings and bounty in our lives. Help me not to be a fair-weather giver only, but to give out of obedience, even sacrificially, that we may learn to have faith in your promises of provision and to obey you no matter the circumstances. Amein.
(For a brief study on tithing and giving, please see my teaching entitled, “Is Tithing for Us Today?” which is available on our ministry website at http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/tithing.pdf.)
Deuteronomy 26:12,You shall give to the Levite, to the proselyte, to the orphan, and to the widow. Throughout the Tanakh, YHVH has a special place in his heart for the “underdogs” of society, as did Yeshua during his earthly ministry. There are people, who through no fault of their own, and due to their own faults, need help and extra grace and mercy. What is your attitude toward those who fall into this camp? What are you doing to help them if you have the means to do so as YHVH has blessed you?
Deuteronomy26:13, Have given to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Israel’s social welfare system. This reveals Israel’s social welfare system as instituted and commanded by YHVH, who promised to bless the Israelites so abundantly when they obeyed his Torah-instructions that they would not only have plenty for themselves, but their proverbial cup would overflow onto those around them, so that they would be able to give materially to those in the Levitical ministry as well as to the poor. This welfare system was not instituted by the government through legalized extortion enforced at the point of a gun of the state’s legal punitive system. No! Rather, this system of benevolence was powered by the good will of the people from hearts of love and care for one’s neighbor as well as gratitude to YHVH for his blessings. This was the golden rule of loving one’s neighbor as oneself in action on a societal level. In modern socialistic nations, social welfare systems require major governmental expenditure and bureaucratic management including enforcement actions often being taken against “the wealthy” who refuse to pay “their fair share.” Man’s system may benefit the genuinely poor and needy but also rewards those who are lazy plus grifters who refuse to work but choose to take advantage of the largess of others. In YHVH’s system, there was neither a governmental bureaucracy nor a legal structure of forced confiscation of taxes to fund the welfare system, nor punitive enforcement if people fail to pay the mandated tax. Rather, this system was based on love for one’s neighbor, gratitude to YHVH for the blessings received from him, and was community based and reciprocal; that is, if your neighbor needed help and you were able, you helped him, and when you were in need he reciprocated. YHVH’s system is based on people who are motivated by love and godly values as taught in the Torah. On the other hand, man’s system thrives where the spiritual values of people have declined and where government is forced to step in to take up the slack. Moveover, man’s social welfare system is often driven by political operatives who are motivated by their lust for control, power and money. This system not only benefits politician but tends to engender generational poverty among those who are lazy and indolent. This all proves the point that YHVH’s Torah-ways are much higher than those of men when they reject his laws.
Deuteronomy26:13–15, Prayer offered when giving. This is the prayer that the tithe-payer is to pray upon bringing his tithe to YHVH. Tithing leads to prosperity, but for whom? Just the individual? Notice in verse 15 the wording: “bless your people Israel….” The tithe-payer is praying for blessings not just upon himself, but upon the entire nation. What can we draw from this? Is there room for selfish and self-centered prayers here? What happens when the whole community is tithing and everyone is praying for everyone else’s well-being and blessing?
Deuteronomy 26:17–19, You have distinguished YHVH…YHVH has distinguished you. What does this mean? What is YHVH’s attitude toward Israel? What does the word avouched or distinguished (some translations read: proclaimed or agreeing) mean here? What is transpiring here with the people distinguishing YHVH and YHVH returning the action in verse 18? The resulting action is in verse 19.
Deuteronomy 27
Deuteronomy 27:2–10,Set up for yourselves. Immediately upon crossing the Jordan and entering the Promised Land, YHVH instructed the Israelites to set up a stone monument containing the Torah and to construct an altar for burnt sacrifices. What is the significance of these symbols, and why was it so important that this be Israel’s first order of business upon entering the Land of Promise? Matthew Henry states in his commentary that the Word of YHVH (the Torah) and prayer (the altar) must always accompany each other. How does this relate to Psalms 51:16–19 and Hosea 6:6 and the believer’s spiritual walk? Also, why did YHVH command the Israelites to construct the altar of uncut and whole stones? To whom does this prophetically point? (Read Dan 2:35, 45; Ps 118:22; Matt 21:42; Luke 20:17.) The stones of the altar were rough and uncut. To whom does this point who became our Living (spiritual) Altar and Sacrifice? (See Isa 53:2.)
Deuteronomy 27:2, 4, 8, Set up great stones. On Mount Ebal and on whole, uncut stones, the Israelites were to write YHVH’s Torah-law and then coat these stones with lime plaster. Elohim also told them to build an altar there where they were to make burnt and peace offerings. Why was the Torah written on stones on Mount Ebal—the mountain of the curses? Why not on Mount Gerizim, the mountain of blessing? Certainly this cannot mean that the Torah is a curse, for Paul calls it kadosh (holy), just and good in Romans 7:12. What could these stones represent symbolically?
First, this symbology tells us that those who do not follow the Torah will come under a curse, for to violate YHVH’s laws is sin (1 John 3:4), and the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23), and every person has sinned (Rom 3:23).
Second, Who is the Chief Cornerstone, the Stone that the builders rejected (Ps 118:22; Matt 21:42; Acts 4:11; Eph 2:20), and the stone cut without hands (Dan 2:34)? What was the purpose of these offerings and to whom do the burnt and peace offerings point? The white lime plaster symbolically obviously represent the saints, the bride of Messiah, being clothed in robes of righteousness (see Rev 19:7–8). Who is the King of Righteousness through whom redeemed sinners become righteous? Who is clothed in robes of righteousness once their sins have been atoned for? (Read Heb 7:2, 20–28 cp. Rev 19:7–8 cp. 3:5, 18; Isa 61:10.) Who was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, had laid on him the iniquities of us all, and was made an offering for sin (Isa 53:5, 6, 10)? Who was the Living Torah, the Word of Elohim made flesh (John 1:1, 14)? Who redeemed us from the curses of the law (Gal 3:13), which came upon us as a result of our sinning (sin is the violation of YHVH’s law, 1 John 3:4), and thus bringing a death penalty upon us (the wages of sin is death, Rom 6:23)? Obviously, the answer to all these questions is Yeshua the Messiah, the Savior or Redeemer of all those who place their trusting faith in him and volitionally choose to become his disciple and to love him and allow him to become the Master of their lives.
Is it now making sense why the Torah and the altar were placed on Mount Ebal? This is another one of the many prophetic shadow pictures in the Torah pointing to the redemptive work of Yeshua at the cross. Let us give glory to Elohim who knows the beginning from the end and to Yeshua the Messiah, the Lamb of Elohim, who was slain from the foundation of the world for our salvation!
Does seeing all of these prophetic pictures in the Bible prophesied more than one thousand years before Yeshua’s birth not strengthen your faith that Yeshua is indeed the Messiah, the Lamb of Elohim slain from the foundation of the earth? Who else could have fulfilled these prophecies?
Deuteronomy 27:5–5, An altar of stones…not use an iron tool on them.On the significance and spiritual symbolism of an altar of whole, unmarked or uncarved stones, see notes at Exodus 20:25–26.
Deuteronomy 27:11–28:68, Moses commanded the people.YHVH required the Israelites to recite a “pledge of allegiance” affirming their commitment to him before entering the Promised Land. What can we learn from this? Is this something we should do from time to time in our own spiritual walk: recite pledges of commitment to YHVH and set up spiritual markers or reference points in our lives as tokens of our allegiance to him to which we can harken back from time to time? These are acts of the will that when done can engage the heart and stir up feelings of love, devotion, commitment and remembrance.
Deuteronomy 27:11–16, Freedom versus bondage. Christian author Matthew Henry in his commentary on this verse points out something very interesting that none of the Jewish Torah commentaries I have read mention. The six tribes appointed to read the blessings from Mount Gerizim were all children of free women (Leah and Rachel). What are the spiritual implications of this? (Compare this with Paul’s discussion of the free and bondwoman pertaining to Isaac and Ishmael in Galatians 4:21–31.) To which children do the promises of YHVH’s material and spiritual blessing (namely, eternal life through Yeshua the Messiah) belong? Is it to those who are in bondage to or under the curses of the Torah-law because they walk in sin (which is the transgression of the law, see 1 John 3:4), or to those who walk in obedience to the Torah (i.e., in sinlessness or those who walk in YHVH’s instructions and teachings in righteousness)? This brings up yet another issue. As is taught in the most Christian churches, is the purpose of the Torah simply to condemn people, to bring people into spiritual bondage, and beyond that, the Torah’s main purpose is to point people to the cross after which it is to be discarded like a dirty old rag? While this may be what men’s traditions and doctrines teach, this is not what the Word of Elohim declares. Selah.
Deuteronomy 27:11–26, Cursed. What are the broader principles or remez understanding behind each of these curses? Imagine how much better the world be if people obeyed YHVH’s commandments and what they imply. The Creator gave man his laws to keep the civil peace and order in society. When violated, they result in social upheaval, wars, strife, conflicts, destruction and all sorts of evil consequences between individuals, people-groups and nations.
Verse 16—Do not treat your father or mother with contempt. That is, respect your elders and older people in general.
Verse 17—Do not move your neighbor’s property line. That is, respect the property rights of others, and do not steal anything from your neighbor.
Verse 18—Do not make the blind to wander off the road. That is, take care of the handicapped, disabled and sick among you. Do not take advantage of them.
Verse 19—Do not take legal advantage of the stranger, fatherless or widow. That is, do not take advantage of the underprivileged, poor or the helpless people in society.
Verse 20—Do not have sexual relations with your step-mother. That is, do not have sexual involvements with any blood related family members.
Verse 21—Do not have sexual relations with animals. What more can be added to this command?
Verse 22—Do not have sexual relations with your sister. All incest is forbidden.
Verse 23—Do not have sexual relations with your mother-in-law. Do not have sexual involvements with any family member.
Verse 24—Do not attack your neighbor secretly. That is, have open and honest dealings with everyone around you including your enemies.
Verse 25—Do not take a bribe to slay an innocent person. That is, do not pervert justice, lie or twist the truth to your advantage.
Verse 26—Do not violate YHVH’s Torah-law. All of YHVH’s commandments are to be followed.
Deuteronomy 27:11–28, Blessing and curses for obedience. In these verses we find listed some of the blessings and cures for Torah obedience. Do you believe the Torah principles (YHVH’s eternal spiritual truths) of blessing for obedience and curses for disobedience to YHVH’s Word are for us today? If not why not? Is it because you are listening to Bible preachers and teachers who claim to know and teach the Word of Elohim, but who are instead teaching the doctrines and traditions of men by which the Word of Elohim has been made of none effect (see Mark 7:13)?
The following are some questions to ask yourself when considering Elohim’s Torah and the blessings and curses that come upon us as a result of our response to these instructions in righteousness, which are a reflection of the character and nature of the Creator. Does YHVH’s character, his Truth or Word change? If the blessings listed in these verses are not being manifested in your life why might that be? Could it possibly correspond to your level of Torah obedience and faith or trust level vis-à-vis YHVH and his Word? What changes could you make in your life that might place you in a more favorable position to receive his blessings for obedience rather than the curses for disobedience?
Deuteronomy 27:15–18, The commandments are all inter-connected. To the casual reader, the admonitions contained in these verses may seem to be arranged in a random order, but this is not the case. Let’s discuss the purposeful design of the order in which Elohim gives these commandments.
Consider the following. The prohibition against idolatry (verse 15) is juxtaposed with that of degrading one’s parents (i.e., not honoring one’s parents, or as S. R. Hirsch states in his commentary, “who outwardly is respectful to his parents but inwardly considers himself vastly superior to them”) along with trespassing against one’s neighbor’s property by removing his neighbor’s boundary markers or landmarks.
Now consider this. One who does not honor and fear YHVH but turns to idolatry (the second commandments) will not honor one’s parents (the fifth commandment) and vice versa. Such a person will likewise not honor the property of one’s neighbor including his neighbor’s wife.
Juxtaposed next to these commands is the prohibition against misleading a blind person (verse 18). This means that we should not take advantage of one’s blindness by advising a blind person in a way that is beneficial to us and detrimental to the blind person.
Following this commandment is the principle about one who steals justice from another by perverting judgment against one who is weaker socially or financially or who is less informed at law than another thereby giving the advantage to the stronger (The ArtScroll Davis Edition Baal HaTurim Chumash/Devarim, pp. 2126–2127).
Can you see how each command is interrelated with all the others? Does this not give one insight into the curious statement found in James 2:10, which declares that if you have broken one commandment you have broken them all? This should help us to see that in one way or the other, all of YHVH’s commandments are inter-related, all depend on each other, and they all stand or fall together.
Now relate James 2:10 back to verse eight of the same chapter where James notes that the entire Torah-law can be summarized as the “royal law of love” (Jas 2:8).
As you review YHVH’s list of prohibitions in Deuteronomy 27, can you see any other relationships between these juxtaposed concepts? Learning to exegete (draw truth out of) Scripture in this manner will yield a whole new level of spiritual revelation to the reader.
On the biblical, visible or sighted new moon, abib barley calendar, listed below are the dates for the fall 2025 biblical festivals.
For those of you who are new to celebrating YHVH’s feasts or who are confused by biblical calendar issues, we invite you to study this subject out. There are many pretender calendars out there claiming to be the true biblical calendar, but upon closer examination, none are not based solely on Scripture if at all, but are based on non-biblical sources and humanistic reasoning to justify their claims. For those of you who are diligent studiers of the Bible and only want Scripture to be the source and foundations for all of your beliefs and actions, we invite you to explore the following study materials on this subject:
Yom Teruah (the Day of Trumpets/Shouting/Shofar Blasts aka erroneously or colloquially known as “the Feast of Trumpets” and “Rosh Hashanah”): Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025.
Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement: Friday, October 3, 2025.
Chag Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles (aka the Feast of Booths: Wednesday, October 8 to Tuesday, October 14, 2025.
Shemini Atzeret or the Eighth Day: Wednesday, October 15, 2025.
During the week of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret, the following days are Sabbaths: the first day of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret.
And YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. (Lev 23:1–2)
Now let’s go and celebrate as we love Yeshua the Messiah by keeping his commandments (John 14:15, 21)!
Deuteronomy 21:18–21,Stubborn and rebellious son. Many of the laws of YHVH’s penal code are preventative in nature. Such is the case with the wayward and rebellious son. In ancient Israel, there were no prisons, since it was the goal of YHVH’s Torah-laws to root out evil before it spread like a cancerous tumor endangering society. In the case of the law of the rebellious son, parents’ love for YHVH must supersede even that of their children. This helps to ensure that children will remain on the straight and narrow path when they become adults. What steps are you taking to prevent your children or grandchildren from going down the path of faithlessness and rebellion?
Deuteronomy 21:22, Put to death…hang him on a tree. A man condemned of a crime worthy of capital punishment is to be put to death, and then hung on a tree. He is not killed by hanging. According to S. A. Hirsch, for two crimes only (blasphemy and idol worship) was the command given to hang the bodies. Even though these crimes brought on such an ignominious and shameful end as being hanged, Elohim still requires that the corpse—even of a criminal—to be honored by burial because it was still the life a human, who was created in Elohim’s image. As Hirsch notes, an unburied corpse is to be considered a disgrace and a degradation to all living humans. It also defiles the land, as this verse says. This commandment gives us some insight into how YHVH views the sanctity of life. The abhorrent practice of abortion, for example, degrades life in many ways. This not only includes how the baby is murdered in the mother’s womb, but how it is disposed of afterwards.
But why not just kill the criminal and then bury him? Why hang him on a tree? Much of Torah’s criminal justice system is based on preventive action. By hanging the criminal’s corpse on a tree, this signaled to all would-be criminals that this would be their fate too should they violate any of YHVH’s Torah commands that required capital punishment. To our modern sensitivities, this seems cruel, gruesome and morbid. But YHVH’s ways are not men’s ways. This preventative measure likely prevented many crimes from occurring in the first place thus alleviating much criminality as well as the necessity for capital punishment. As the old adage goes, “Prevention is the best medicine.”
Deuteronomy 21:23, For a hanging person is a curse of Elohim. Let’s compare this passage with Paul’s statements in Galatians 3:13 and then consider both of these passages in light of Isaiah 53:4–10.
Messiah hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. (Gal 3:13)
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of Elohim, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and YHVH hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased YHVH to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of YHVH shall prosper in his hand. (Isa 53:4–10)
Rashi, a medieval Jewish Bible commentator, has an interesting comment on Deuteronomy 21:23. “For a hanging person is an insult of God. It is a degradation of the King, for man is made in the likeness of His image, and Israel are His sons. This can be compared to two twin brothers who resembled each other. One became a king, while one became ensnared in banditry, and was hung. Whoever would see him hanging would say, ‘The king is hanging!’” The rabbinical commentary on Rashi’s commentary ponders the meaning of Rashi’s statement as follows: “[Rashi’s] parable seems difficult. Could people really look at a hanging corpse and think that the King of kings [sic] is hanging? Also, what does Rashi add by noting that ‘Israel are his sons’? And finally, why does Rashi say that ‘one became a king,’ rather than ‘one was a king’ After all, God cannot be said to ‘have become’ a king” (The ArtScroll Sapirstein Edition Rashi/Deuteronomy, p. 227). These comments are curious in light of the fact that these Jewish sages were not believers in Yeshua the Messiah. How would you answer the commentator’s question from a Messianic perspective as pertaining to Yeshua?
Deuteronomy 22
Deuteronomy 22:1–4,Caring for a brother’s property. Concern for the property of others is the subject of these verses. In this respect, let us not forget the second half of the shema: You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Lev 19:18). What is often the response of a wicked with respect to concern for their neighbor’s well being? Genesis 4:9 gives us the answer.
And YHVH said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?
A lack of love for one’s neighbor has ancient roots in the human history!
On this passage of Scripture, one rabbinical commentator states: “[T]he commandment to return lost property is ‘fundamental’ and that ‘all society depends upon it.’ It is not just a matter of one person taking care of another’s possessions or of ‘loving’ another. What is important here is the critical matter of ‘trust’ among human beings. A society depends upon the faith people place in one another. Without people feeling that they can rely upon one another—that others are looking out for what belongs to me and I must look out for what belongs to them—society collapses in suspicion, selfishness, and bitter contention” (A Torah Commentary For Our Time, vol. 3, p. 149).
Deuteronomy 22:10,You shall not plow with an ox and with a donkey (that is, a kosher animal with a non-kosher animal). With regard to human relationships, Baal Ha Turim, the ancient Jewish Torah scholar, interprets this verse to mean that a righteous person should not enter into a business partnership with a wicked person. The Mishnah states: “Distance yourself from a bad neighbor; and do not bind yourself to a wicked person. (Avos 1:7, The ArtScroll Baal HaTurim Chumash, p. 2065). Elsewhere and similarly, the Torah and the rest of the Tanakh forbid YHVH’s people from intermarrying with heathens or forming alliances with them. Scripture also records the devastating consequences upon YHVH’s people when the committed this gross error. What does the Testimony of Yeshua say about being unequally yoked with unbelievers?
Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. (1 Cor 15:33)
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Messiah with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of Elohim with idols? for ye are the temple of the living Elohim; as Elohim hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the YHVH, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the YHVH Almighty. (2 Cor 6:14–18
Deuteronomy 22:5–12, Various laws. Matthew Henry in his commentary says of these various laws: “God’s providence extends itself to the smallest affairs, and his precepts do so, that even in them we may be in the fear of the Lord, as we are under his eye and care…. If we would prove ourselves to be God’s people, we must have respect to his will and to his glory, and not to the vain fashions of the world. Even in putting on our garments, as in eating or in drinking, all must be done with serious regard to preserve our own and other’s purity in heart and actions.” Let’s think and meditate on this.
Deuteronomy 22:6–7,If a bird’s nest. What does this passage teach us about caring for the environment and being good stewards of YHVH’s creation? How about showing mercy to animals and man’s role in preserving the species? What are the broader implications here? What are you doing to protect the environment, and to be good stewards of this earth? This starts with each of us in our own home and garden—the tiny spot on earth that YHVH has given us to tend and keep.
Deuteronomy 23
Deuteronomy 23:2, A child of incest [Heb. mamzêr] shall not. The Hebrew word mamzer (translated in the KJV as bastard; NKJV one ofillegitimate birth) means “a child of a prohibited marriage.”Contrary to uninformed opinion, this is not referring to one born out of wedlock (the result of fornication or premarital relations), but rather the fruit of an incestuous or adulterous relationship (The ArtScroll Stone Edition Chumash, p. 1054). According to S. R. Hirsch, a Jewish Torah scholar, a mamzer was disadvantaged legally in no other way except that he was excluded from the assembly or congregation (qahal) of YHVH’s people. According to The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, the Hebrew word qahal is equivalent to the Greek word ecclesia,which is commonly translated as church in the NT (ibid., vol. 2, p. 790). What does Torah’s treatment of a mamzer say about YHVH’s view of the sanctity of marriage and the family and the upholding of such as a cornerstone institution within the assembly of the saints? Hirsch comments on this verse, “[A] mamzer accordingly represents, by his existence, a sin against those laws by which God wishes marriage in His qahal to be elevated out of the sphere of simply physical association by that which [the Talmud in] Kiddushin [73a] expresses” (Judaica Press The Pentateuch/Deuteronomy, p. 456).
In the Torah, premarital sex is not a capital offense. When it happened, the man was either to marry the young lady, or he had to pay a fine to her father. Incest, however, like homosexuality, was an abomination in YHVH’s eyes (Lev 18:6–18, 26–29), thus it would stand to reason that YHVH would take a harder stand on the product of such a sexual union. The point is to teach his people not to get involved in such sinful sexual practices in the first place.
Deuteronomy 23:9–14,When the army goes out. With regard to the sanctity of the Israelite’s army camp, the Jewish sages teach that whereas other armies triumph by force of numbers and arms, Israel’s success is in the hands of Elohim, and, therefore, its army’s most potent weapon is its righteous behavior (The ArtScroll Stone Edition Chumash, p. 1055). Holiness and righteousness (i.e., obedience to YHVH’s commands coupled with trusting faith in Yeshua and in his blood atonement) can help us to defeat our enemies (see Rev 1:5; 12:11, 17; 14:12). When a saint views himself or herself as the temple of the Holy Spirit, as a holy priesthood, as a witness for Yeshua and his kingdom in this world, and that holiness and righteousness in all that one does, says and thinks, then they will view physical cleanliness as a key component in their daily lifestyle. Although the phrase, “Cleanliness is next to godliness” is not found in the Scriptures, it is nevertheless a true statement in light of this Torah passage.
Deuteronomy 23:9,Keep yourself from every wicked thing. This principle not only applies to physical warfare but also to spiritual warfare. Keeping oneself from wicked things when engaging in spiritual warfare is a subject that many Bible teachers overlook. The focus is usually on the enemy or the battle tactics employed, but, not on the condition of soldier who is going up against the enemy of the people of Elohim. This section of the Torah covers this oft-overlooked subject (vv. 9–14).
The word wicked verse nine is the generic Hebrew word ra or ra’ah meaning in its most basic sense “evil, bad or distress.” So what does the Torah state in this passage that makes a person evil or bad and unclean and is thus offensive to Elohim? Simply this: bodily emissions that happen to naturally emanate from the human body whether it be human waste or seminal emissions. Such occurrences take a man from a state of ritually purity or being clean (Heb. tahor) to being unclean (Heb. tamay). The solution to the problem, as in the case of nocturnal emissions, is cleansing by water, and in the case of the eliminations of bodily waste, burying the waste. This includes washing one’s hands after using the toilet as well as bathing and washing one’s clothing and bedding regularly. What this teaches us is that if one goes into battle in an unclean state, this is offensive to Elohim, and the soldier may not have the favor of Elohim, while he is engaging the enemy in battle. This is not a good thing for the warrior!
When it comes specifically to spiritual warfare (as outlined in 1 Cor 10:4–6 and Eph 6:10–18), the drash or homiletical level understanding of this passage teaches us that when engaging the enemy in spiritual battle, the saint must be as clean as possible both physically and, more importantly, spiritually. On the spiritual side, this means that all unconfessed sins need to be repented of and that all illicit behavior must be eliminated from one’s life if one expects the benefits of YHVH’s miraculous aid. One must be continually washed clean of sin by the blood of Yeshua the Messiah and by the water of the Word and the Spirit of Elohim (1 John 1:5–10, esp. v. 9).
Because these principles of ritual and spiritual purity are usually not taught to the saints, it is no wonder that many times our prayers are not answered and that the enemy trounces Christians on the streets, in the courts, in the political arena and many other spiritual battlefields in various venues in our society.
All this is to say that the saint must clean up his own act and house first before confronting the enemies of Elohim. Both Yeshua and Paul address the hypocrisy of those who point their finger at others while guilty of the same or similar sins.
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matt 7:1–5)
Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of Elohim is according to truth against those who practice such things. (Rom 2:1–2)
Deuteronomy 23:18,Price of a dog. The price of a dog, according to Keil and Delitzsch, is not the price paid for the sale of a dog, but is a figurative expression used to denote the gains of a male prostitute, who was called thus by the Greeks because of the dog-like manner in which homosexuals debase themselves sexually. YHVH considers homosexuality so abominable that he specifically lists dogs (along with sorcerers, murders, idolators and liars) as being excluded from the New Jerusalem (Rev 22:15).
Deuteronomy 24
Deuteronomy 24:1–4, When a man takes a wife. For an explanation of this passage in light of YHVH-Yeshua’s remarriage to adulterous Israel as sit relates to the gospel message, see notes at Romans 7:1–6.
Deuteronomy 24:1, Write her a bill of divorcement. Divorce laws and a bill of divorcement (Heb. get)is the subject of this passage. This verse forms the basis of the divorce laws of the Torah and the actual get or bill of divorce, which was a written document that a husband gave to his wife because of some immoral activity on her part (The ArtScrollStone Edition Chumash, p. 1058). The subject of divorce and remarriage is a large subject and is beyond the scope of this present work, yet it is interesting to note that Moses himself, the one who YHVH used to pen the Torah, was very likely divorced and remarried. (We have discussed this subject in Parashat Yitro.) YHVH himself divorced Israel and gave her a get because of her unfaithfulness to him, though he never remarried. (See the teaching below.)
The Real Purpose for Divorce Under Torah
Deuteronomy 24:1–4, Natan’s Notes on the Biblical Reasons for Divorce
Divorce and remarriage is a highly controversial topic due to the emotional nature and its prevalence in society. Thus arriving at a balanced biblical perspective is not always easy. Those who advocate divorce and as well as those who are against it have their favorite scriptures that justify their position, while each side tends to overlooks the Scriptures that disagree with them. In this study, we will look at one aspect of divorce and the reasons that Scripture permitted it under certain circumstances. To be sure, this is a delicate subject that affects the lives of countless people.
Jeremiah 3:14, After YHVH divorced Israel (v. 8), he was still married to her. What’s going on here? Even though YHVH divorced Israel, he still considers himself married to her because he had made a covenantal vow with Israel, and vows can’t be broken (except by death or under very stringent requirements). Period.
Look at Hosea 1:2 cp. 3:1–3. Hosea’s actions toward Gomer, his adulterous wife, is an example of YHVH’s unfailing love for is Israel, who was his spiritual adulterous wife. Marriage is a covenant vow that when broken by adultery requires the death penalty for the offending party. Gomer committed adultery. Yet Hosea brought her back and redeemed her from adultery. He loved her unconditionally and laid his life down for her (as YHVH does for us, see Eph 5:28).
Deuteronomy 24:1 cannot be used as a justification for divorcing under just any circumstances. Only if the wife has committed or is committing sexual immorality (in Hebrew ervah) can her husband put her away. A bill of divorcement, in Hebrew called a get, must first be issued for the purposes of restoring the immoral woman. One cannot put their wife away for any reason. Even Yeshua confirmed this in Matthew 5:32. Ideally, according to the Torah and to Yeshua, some sexual immorality (in Hebrew ervah)has to have been committed for a man legally to divorce his wife according to the Torah-law. I inserted the word ideally because there are seldom ideal situations in life, and humans rarely live up to YHVH’s ideal moral and spiritual standards. As such, Yeshua admits that the Torah as administered by Moses allowed for divorce to occur, sadly, because of the hardness of human hearts (Matt 19:8). What does “hardness of heart” mean? Scripture doesn’t say. The following is simply my speculation on what this means. For example, I would not expect one to be required to stay married if several severe conditions existed such as physical abuse, criminality, drug addictions, abandonment, total dereliction of responsibilities or extreme heathenism. Such sins make it all but impossible for a righteous person to remain in such a spousal relationship. A spouse who is practicing such has violated their contractual marriage vows and thus there legally and technically is no marriage. A believer shouldn’t be forced to remain in such a relationship. Having said this, it is the saint’s duty, as much as possible, to vet out a prospective mate before marrying them to ensure that they have never been involved nor are currently involved in such activities. One should only marry an Elohim-fearing, commandment-keeping, born again faithful believer in Yeshua the Messiah, who has a long fruit-bearing track record of such a lifestyle. Again, this is Natan Lawrence speaking, not Scripture, but it is my best understanding of scriptural principles as they relate to marriage and divorce.
Marriage between two believers is a vow with YHVH. Marriage between two unbelievers is something else. It is simply an agreement or contract between two people. Maybe YHVH is part of it, maybe he is not. It all depends on the vows and the situation.
Deuteronomy 24 is not a permission to divorce and to remarry. Rather it is a judgment because of sin. It must be viewed in this manner. YHVH’s Torah-laws, statutes and ordinances are for when things go well. The judgments of Torah, on the other hand, were for when things went wrong. A judgment was meted out because some Torah-law had been broken and now a solution to the problem had to be found or worked out within the framework of Torah. This is the situation Deuteronomy 24 is dealing with respect to the marriage covenant that has been violated. A get was a temporary legal measure to protect the adulterous woman from stoning, so that the marriage could be restored.
In the Torah, divorce was to be a temporary situation to bring the sinning wife to repentance and to restore YHVH’s perfect ideal of marriage—to restore order back into the home, to heal the family structure. If the sinning wife refuses to repent and remarries (Deut 24:2–3), and continues in her sin and she becomes divorced again or if her second husband dies, then this severs the marriage covenant permanently. This act on her part renders the marriage covenant null and void forever.
Again, a bill of divorcement or a get under the Torah was a temporary legal measure to protect the adulterous woman from stoning, so that the marriage could be restored. Matthew 1:19 demonstrates this. Joseph acted righteously in not putting Miriam (Mary), his pregnant betrothed wife, away, which could have resulted with her being stoned to death. By all outward appearances, she was guilty of adultery, but Joseph’s act of mercy was an example of his exercising mercy over judgment. It ended up that she was pregnant not by a man, but by the Spirit of Elohim resulting in the birth of Yeshua the Messiah. Thus Joseph’s act of mercy spared the Messiah from potential death.
In Malachi 2:10–17, YHVH addresses the issue of divorce. Here the prophet speaking for YHVH is discussing the treacherous nature and misuse of divorce, which is one of the reasons YHVH says he hates divorce (v. 16). This is because divorce often results in treacherous dealings between people (vv. 10–11, 14), it violates and profanes a sacred covenant (vv. 10), and it profanes the holy institution of marriage, which YHVH loves (v. 11), because it is often the result of adultery (vv. 11–12), and adultery leading to divorce often causes a man to leave the wife of his youth (v. 14) thus breaking the oneness of marriage (v. 15), and divorce covers one’s garments with violence (v. 16). Again, for these reasons, YHVH hates divorce, which is why he refers to it as “evil” and unjust (v. 17).
According to YHVH’s Torah standard, the righteous are to care for widows and orphans, not to create them as a result of the misuse of Torah’s laws regarding divorce.
In Matthew 5:32, Yeshua’s words fit into the above context. Only, ideally under the strictest standards of the Torah, for sexual immorality is divorce permissible. Otherwise divorce is unlawful, since the couple is legally still married and a bill of divorce (in Hebrew, called a get) is simply a temporary measure for the purpose of reconciling the couple and bringing the marriage back together.
In Matthew 19:3, when Yeshua mentions divorce “for just any reason,” he is referring to the Pharisaical schools of Beit Shamai and Beit Hillel of the time. The Pharisees that came to him asking the question were from School of Hillel. Yeshua is taking the Beit Shamai conservative position as was the case when John the Baptist took Herod to task for his adultery. Verse 8 shows that there is a provision for divorce but it is not YHVH’s perfect will. Rather it is a judgement and an indictment against carnal men.
Again, in 1 Corinthians 7:10–11, we see that the primary purpose of divorce is for reconciliation of the marriage, not so that one can justify themselves in getting out of a less than ideal marriage in order to fetch themselves another spouse. Divorce and remarriage, as millions of people will attest to, causes a shipload of unintended negative consequences on the lives of many people and often for generations to come. It is something to be avoided if at all possible.
Yeshua Teaches About Divorce
While on this earth, Yeshua taught on many subjects pertaining to all areas of human existence—136 in all. He taught on everything from angels to worship, from money to taxes, sexuality to celibacy, fasting to food, joy to sorrow and yes, on the subject of divorce as well (see Matt 19:1–12). Malachi says that YHVH hates putting away, a Hebraism for divorce (Mal 2:16). Yet Yeshua says in Matthew 19 that in the Torah divorce was permitted if one of the parties had a hardened heart resulting in irreconcilable differences. Adultery was cause for divorce if the offending party refused to repent.
Marital divorce was far from a popular subject in ancient times even as it is today. Sadly it results in division and strife and usually leads to sorrow and pain that can last a lifetime and beyond involving many people. But how many Christians know that YHVH was married to Israel, and because of her unfaithfulness, he had to divorce her. One biblical prophet after the other lamented this sad affair. Yet, at the same time, YHVH revealed to them a message of hope leading to restoration through—wait or it!—Yeshua the Messiah’s death on the cross! This is a news flash to most Bible believers—a message they have never heard preach from the pulpit on Sunday or any other time, but that has been hidden in plain sight in the pages of our Bibles all along.
What follows is the revelation of the marriage, divorce YHVH-Yeshua to his ancient Israelite bride, and then the remarriage to his New Covenant Israelite bride at his second coming. This then is the rest of the story of the gospel message—the back story that you probably have never heard before and never knew was even in the Holy Scriptures, yet involves each Christian believer in a beautiful way, for it reveals the sacrificial love YHVH Elohim and Yeshua the Messiah in a deeper and more expansive way than one ever imagined. This understanding should help to stoke the fires of each Christian of their first love for Yeshua the Messiah, their soon coming Heavenly Bridegroom.
The Scriptures are clear, YHVH-Yeshua (while in his pre-incarnate state) married the whole house of Israel (i.e., all twelve tribes) at Mount Sinai and the Torah was the marriage agreement (See The Bible: The Good News – The Story of Two Lovers & YHVH’s Set-Apart Feast Days Are the Outline of that Love Story: A Plan of Redemption where the Jewish wedding is outlined historically and prophetically in a biblical context, available at http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/love_story.pdf). Ezekiel describes the marriage between YHVH and Israel succinctly and allegorically in Ezekiel 16:6–8.
Yet because both the houses of Judah and Israel committed spiritual adultery by whoring after foreign gods and lovers and failed to live up to their marital agreements they had made with YHVH at Mount Sinai when they said “I do” three times (Exod 19:8; 25:3, 7). YHVH sent prophet after prophet as recorded in the pages of the Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures) in attempts to turn the heart of Israel back to him, yet her heart was hardened toward him and she refused to repent of her adulteries; therefore, YHVH was forced to do that which he hates and dissolve the marriage and divorce Israel.
In light of these issues, what are the prophetic implications of the divorce of YHVH from the nation of Israel and his future remarriage to the same nation? To understand this issue and to gain a deeper understanding of YHVH’s wonderful plan of salvation for his people, read “The Prophetic Implications of Divorce in Light of the Two Houses of Israel,” which is available at http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/divorce.pdf. In these teaching articles, Nathan reveals the full story of the marriage, divorce and remarriage of YHVH-Yeshua to his people and how this involves each of us. As with everything else in the Bible, Yeshua the Messiah and the message of the cross is central to this story. It is the gospel message expanded in a way that you never imagined, and which ties the whole Bible in a new way from Genesis to Revelation. The Bible is a literal love story!
Deuteronomy 24:4,Her first husband who divorced her shall not take her again to become his wife.The prophetic implications of this are astounding in light of YHVH’s divorce of unfaithful Israel and his eventual remarriage to her. The whole message of the gospel and Yeshua’s death on the cross relate to this verse. (See the teaching below.)
Deuteronomy 24:8–9,Remember what YHVH…did unto Miriam. Moses’ sister Miriam was struck with a skin disease because she spoke evil against her brother. Slander is defined as making false or damaging statements about someone. The Torah keeps returning to the subject of “gossip, slander and other forms of selfish and antisocial behavior” (The ArtScrollStone Edition Chumash, p. 1060). Obviously such activity was a problem then as it continues to be now. It can literally destroy human relationships, families, marriages, ministries and congregations. The interesting things is that those who commit such sins usually fail to admit their error, yet such is all too clear to those who are their victims. (Read Prov 6:16, 19 and Jas 3:1–12.)
Deuteronomy 24:19–22,When you reap. In many places, the Scriptures command that the righteous give to the poor (the stranger, the fatherless and the widow). Yeshua said that the poor would always be present (Matt 26:11). Let’s never forget that many of us may have once been poor, or could become poor were it not for YHVH’s grace. Therefore let’s be generous and give as we are able to support first the poor of our immediate family, then our larger family, then our spiritual family and then those in the community around us. How charitable are you in your giving? Is your heart open to YHVH to obey him when he directs you to give to someone in need?
Deuteronomy 25
Deuteronomy 25:4,You shall not muzzle. According to S. R. Hirsch, this law applies not only to animals, but to workmen as well. It stands to reason logically, for if YHVH cares about feeding animals while they are working, how much more should employers be concerned for their workmen? Rashi, the Medieval Jewish Torah scholar, disagrees and says it refers only to animals (and not to workmen) and specifically to those animals that are involved in the production of food as would be the case with an ox that was used in treading out grain (to separate the kernel from the chaff). Paul, on the other hand, like Hirsch disagrees with Rashi and views this Torah command as having a broader applicable proverb implying that an employer should not deprive his employees of their wages. He specifically applies this principle to individuals who minster the gospel (1 Cor 9:9; 1 Tim 5:19). Those who work in YHVH spiritual field (i.e., the church), Paul reasons, should be supported by those they serve.
A half shekel
Deuteronomy 25:13–16,Different weights. When the Torah was written there was no money as we know it today. Coinage originated around 600 B.C., about 1000 years after the Torah was written. Prior to coinage, people carried around nuggets of gold and silver and a certain amount would be weighed out using stone weights as a counter balance. Dishonest merchants would carry two sets of stones: a heavy and a light stone. If a stone was represented as weighing one shekel the dishonest merchant would have a stone weighing more than a shekel for cheating a seller when buying goods, and one weighing less than a shekel for cheating a buyer when selling a good. What are some modern parallels of dishonest weights and measures? For example, at your job, do you charge your employer for eight hours when you only worked seven and three quarters hours? Do you give an honest day’s work to your employer or clients (if self-employed)? How many times have you gone to the store to buy some ice cream or a can of juice and you get home and you read the label and it’s a now a smaller volume or weight than in time’s past, but for the same price? How about a box of cereal or chips? The box is large, but in reality it is only half full. The rest is air. This is a form of false advertising. You pay more and get less. The deception of false weights and measures comes in many forms. Inflation is another example. Your money is worth less and less as time goes on. This is due to the fraudulent practices of the greedy mega-bankers and the deceptive fiscal policies of greedy government officials who control the world’s economies. The list goes on and on of examples of diverse weights and measures. This is how most of the mega-rich become wealthy—by cheating others. But the rich are not the only ones guilty of this sin. Various forms of dishonesty, greed, covetousness and deceitfulness occurs at all levels of society and among all people.
Deuteronomy 25:19,Blot out Amalek. The Hebrew name Amalek literally means “I am king.” Remember how the people of Amalek attacked the children of Israel as they were coming out of Egypt (Exod 17:8)? These heathens attacked the weary, stragglers and weak Israelites who were falling behind in the rear ranks (Deut 25:18). For this evil deed, Elohim put a curse on them. What can we learn about Israel’s ancient enemies and how it relates to us today? Who are the modern “Amalekites” and how can the saints defeat them? Both human and demonic entities exist that are continually endeavoring to kill, steal and destroy at the expense of others.
The Israelites ended up defeating Amalek militarily under the leadership of Moses and Joshua, when Moses stood on a hill with his arms outstretched in the form of a cross (Exod 17:10–13). It was at this spot that Israel learned that YHVH Elohim was their spiritual banner (Heb. Yehovah Nissi; Exod 17:15).
There is a spiritual lesson in this story for us today. Amalek may be viewed symbolically as representing the perennial enemy of YHVH’s people. That enemy includes this world, the flesh and devil which are intent on destroying the saints as they are exiting spiritual Egypt and beginning their long trek through the wilderness of life en route to Promised Land of our spiritual inheritance, which is the kingdom of Elohim from heaven.
This reminds us of Yeshua’s Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:3–9) where the good seed of the Word of Elohim was sown on four types of soil. The seed failed to grow in the three types of soil representing the world, the flesh and the devil (Matt 13:18–23). This is another picture of Amalek. What defeated Amalek? Joshua the valiant warrior defeated the Amalekites militarily, while at the same time Moses was perched on a hill overlooking the battlefield with his arms raised to heaven. Both Joshua and Moses are a prophetic picture of Yeshua the Messiah. Joshua’s Hebrew name is Yehoshua, which is the long version of the name Yeshua or Joshua in English. Both names contain the Hebrew word for salvation.
At the same time on the mountain, Moses’ arms grew tired and had to be supported by Aaron and Hur, and in so doing his arms took the form, more or less, of a cross or the even universal sign of surrender. What are these things a spiritual picture of? Moses and Joshua combined form a prophetic picture of Yeshua defeating the world, the flesh and the devil at the cross on Golgatha’s hill. Coincidentally, as Yeshua had two other men crucified with him—one on each side, Moses had a man on each side of him. This is another prophetic picture pointing forward to the Messiah and his death on the cross.
Another way to look at the picture of Moses with his arms upraised is this: When Moses surrendered to the will of YHVH and completely trusted in him, the Israelites experienced victory over their enemies. From this we learn that when we are facing enemies who are intent on destroying us, we too need to surrender to the will of YHVH and trust in Yeshua, who is our salvation. The Bible declares that we are more than conquerors through Messiah and that nothing can defeat us if we are in the will of our Father in heaven (Rom 8:37 cp. vv. 28–29), and greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). And finally, if Elohim is for us, who can be against us (Rom 8:31)?
Only when Moses’ arms were outstretched and raised up to heaven in openness, surrender and supplication to the Almighty did Joshua experience victory over the Amalekites. Similarly, only through prayer and the intercession with arms open and upraised to heaven as we beseech our Heavenly Father, and as we come before his throne through the blood of the resurrected Yeshua the Messiah in heaven, who is acting as our Great High Priest before Elohim’s throne, will we be able to defeat the spiritual enemies that are attempting to prevent us from entering our own eternal Promised Land.
The enemies of our salvation will attempt to destroy us when we are weak, tired and falling behind in our spiritual walk, even as Amalek attacked the weak and straggling Israelites who had fallen behind the camp. However, when we recognize our plight and weakness and then determine to fight, we have Yeshua’s victorious death on the cross as well as his help in heaven to overcome our enemies.
One of YHVH’s covenant names is Yehovah Nissi or YHVH Is My Banner. A military banner is something used to help build the morale of troops during the battle. YHVH is our strength and morale booster in the time of battle, and through or faith in YHVH-Yeshua, we already have the victory over the world, the flesh and the devil!
This lesson illustrates the fact that the Scriptures contain many rich and deep spiritual mysteries and truths that if it weren’t for the physical examples or prophetic shadow-types contained therein we might be bereft of the revelatory and powerful lessons contained therein.
The biblical month of Elul prophetically is a time of spiritual preparation leading up to the fall biblical feasts, which prophetically picture the return of Yeshua the Messiah and the establishment of his millennial kingdom on earth. YHVH is currently raising up true, Torah-based, gospel preaching and Yeshua-centered and Yeshua-loving prophets who are learning to hear from heaven more clearly. This is the raising up of the Elijah and John the Baptist generation as prophesied by Malachi the prophet that is helping to prepare the way for Messiah and the bride (the saints) for the Bridegroom. This video, along with several previous ones, is teaching people how to be in tune with the heart, mind, will and Spirit of YHVH Elohim, and then to speak them out prophetically what they hear as the Spirit leads.
This and other videos by Nathan are available as podcasts on Spotify and Apple podcast under “Hoshana Rabbah.”
If this message has been a blessing to you, please consider showing your appreciation by making a donation to Hoshana Rabbah at http://hoshanarabbah.org/blog/. Thank you!
Deuteronomy 16:22,You shall not erect for yourselves a pillar [Heb. matstsebah], which YHVH your Elohim hates.
The Anti-Biblical, Demonic Origins of Obelisks, Steeples and the Christmas Tree
The tentacles of paganism are long and deep. They reach back to the earliest times of recorded history, and forward to modern times. One has to look no further than to church steeples and Christmas trees in the, supposedly, biblically-based Christian church. If the Bible not only forbade the Israelites from copying these pagan customs, but commanded them to destroy them, are past biblical prohibitions no null and void these relics of paganism are suddenly now kosher and acceptable thousands of years later in the Christian church? This is an issue that honest truth-seekers need to explore if they are earnest about aligning their lives with the Word of Elohim.
The word pillar/VCMMN) in Deuteronomy 16:22 is the Hebrew word matstsêbâh and literally means “stand (upright), be set (over), establish.”One of the derivatives of this word is pillar orstanding image. Such pillars were erected for pagan religious purposes (see TheTWOT). C.J. Koster in his book The Final Restoration (reprinted as Come Out of Her My People) cites historical evidence that connects these pillars histroically to the Egyptian and Babylonian obelisk, which was connected to sun worship (see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obelisk) and the phallic symbol (also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phallic_architecture). He states that these pillars were commonly erected at the entrances to pagan temples (also see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obelisk) as fertility symbols in honor of the sun deity (Koster, p. 79).
Even an Egyptian obelisk of this sort sits in the very center of the Catholic Church’s St. Peter’s Square in Rome, and it is traditional for obelisk-shaped steeples to be found on most Christian churches to this day in the form of a steeple (ibid., p. 81). Richard Rives in his book, Too Long In the Sun,makes the same connection between the Egyptian obelisk, Canaanite standing pillars and the Christian church steeple (p. 136). This then begs the question: why then do we find these pagan symbols associated with Christianity?
What is the point here? YHVH commanded Israel to destroy these pagan symbols and to have nothing to do with them. They were abominations that would defile YHVH’s set-apart people. Have his people heeded his command? Many of these remnants of ancient pagan cultic practices remain in both the Protestant and Catholic churches to this day (e.g., Easter/Ishtar, Christmas/Saturnalia, the Christmas tree/Tammuz tree, the Christmas wreath/a pagan fertility symbol, Lent, Easter eggs and rabbits, and the list goes on and on). Does YHVH’s command in the Book of Revelation to his people of the end times to come out of spiritual Babylon now take on a new relevance to you?
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her [i.e., Babylonian pagan practices and antichrist religious involvements], my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Rev 18:4)
Pillar. The pillars that the Canaanites erected to worship their gods were actually phallic symbols commemorating when the demon gods (or sons of Elohim) left their “first estate” (Jude 1:6) and had sex with the daughters of men to create their nephilim or demigod children in the pre and post flood world (see Gen 6:2–6).
The Canaanites were not the only indigenous ancient people to have such a tradition of the gods mating with humans to create supernatural offspring. So did the Yoruba tribes of West Africa as well as the native peoples of Madagascar, Polynesia, New Zealand, along with the Hopi, Acoma, Arihara and Apache of North America, Celts, Japanese, East Indians, Australians and Scandinavians. “Trees were employed…as facilitators, or places of meeting/joining of the gods of heaven with Mother Earth, while their branches reach out to Father Sky, of the gods of heaven…[T]rees form a bridge between heaven and earth and are a symbol of regrowth (reincarnation)…Because trees can live for hundreds and hundreds of years, their extraordinary life span represents the immortality of the gods and the immortal spirit given to the original Nephilim. The World Tree is also the Tree of the Knowledge of both good and evil, for knowledge in pantheistic culture holds the key to immortality and reincarnation” (The Genesis 6 Conspiracy, p. 122, by Gary Wayne). “A Judeo-Christian, then, should be wary of the Christmas tree, for the immortal evergreen represents the meeting place of the gods and Mother Earth and the creation of Nephilim” (ibid., p. 123).
The act of the fallen angelic sons of Elohim mating with the daughters of men (Gen 6:2–4) and the results thereof literally turned the pre-flood world upside down resulting in YHVH’s most severe judgments against these evil-doers and those who followed them. The phallus to this day is the object that represents this act of rebellion and represents the unlawful sexual union between heaven and earth that created demons. Peter and Jude refer to this in their epistles (2 Pet 2:4; Jude 6).
Deuteronomy 16:20,Appoint judges…twist the words of the righteous. Although this verse specifically relates to judges in civil legal matters, the remez or hint of this passage extends into anyone in a position of leadership were decisions and judgments are being made. This would also include pastors or other church leaders and is thus a word of warning to anyone in a position not only of civil but also spiritual authority or leadership where money could be involved. As regards pastors of churches, it is imperative that the tithes and offerings of the so-called “giving units” or donors (especially the wealthier ones) of a congregation in no way influence the preaching and teaching of the word of Elohim one way or the other. This can easily and inadvertently occur if a large donor is guilty of a particular sin and the preacher, so as not to offend that donor, tempers down his preaching against that sin so as not to offend that donor resulting in a loss of revenue to the church or to the pastor if his wages are paid out of church revenues. The twisting of the words of righteousness can easily and almost unwittingly occur in the psyche of a judge or pastor-teacher due to the fallen nature of man which is naturally greedy, materialistic, self-serving and desirous of social acceptance. A true judge and preacher of righteousness must disavow himself of any desire for personal gain from his ministry involvements and acceptance from his peers and be willing to execute the Word of Elohim regardless of who it may offend sinners. He must teach and preach the Word of Elohim and chop away at the trees of sin, unrighteousness and pride regardless of where the proverbial wood chips may fall.
Deuteronomy 17
Deuteronomy 17:1–3,Sacrifice. Yeshua our Messiah and Redeemer offered himself on the cross for us as a spotless sacrificial Lamb without blemish. In a similar sense, YHVH instructs his saints to be “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable” in service to him (Rom12:1). Do you give YHVH your best, or do you give him the crumbs and leftovers of your time, talent and treasure? For example, do you give YHVH the best part of the day (the morning) for prayer, Bible reading and devotion, or the end of the day when you are tired and ready for bed? Do you give YHVH the first fruits (tithe) of your income or the leftovers (or none at all)? Moreover, how are you helping to advance his kingdom on earth by using the talents, time and abilities he has given you, or are you using your energies and abilities to satiate the cares of this world and the lusts of your flesh?
Deuteronomy 17:5,Stone to death. The Torah’s commandment to stone individuals reveals the gravity that YHVH places on certain sins. Sadly, our personal view of crime and punishment is largely informed and influenced by the mores of our modern culture. What we consider to be humane or inhumane punishment is dictated by what a fallen, secular humanistic society has deemed to be just or unjust. The idea of a public stoning is anathema to almost everyone, yet this is what the Torah prescribes for certain sins. In reality and based on Jewish tradition, it is likely that this punishment was seldom carried out in ancient Israel; however; to the degree that it was, this would have been a strong deterrence for anyone thinking of committing such a sin in the future. Moreover, the death penalty obviated the necessity of burdening society with a penal system including prisons and the maintaining thereof. But most importantly, death by stoning reveals how serious the Creator was about not allowing certain sins to continue much less become prevalent in Israelite society. Evil was to be rooted out immediately in the most decisive manner and stoning punctuated the gravity of the situation in the collective societal consciousness of Israelite society. Under Torah’s code of law, there was neither the coddling of criminals nor the administering of mere wrist-slapping punitive actions upon those committing crimes. Sin was sin, and it had to be dealt with to protect the greater good and society’s general well-being.
Deuteronomy 17:6 (and 19:15), By the testimony of two or three witnesses. In the Bible, one could not be accused of a crime (i.e., a sin) without the testimony of two or three eyewitnesses. This admonition is repeated in the Testimony of Yeshua:
But if he will not hear you, then take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. (Matt 18:16)
This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. (2 Cor 13:1)
Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. (1 Tim 5:19)
He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. (Heb 10:28)
Were this principle practiced today, most gossip and slander would stop if this commandment were followed, and thus much division and strife within the congregation of believers. Many media outlets would have little or nothing to report if they followed this principle since so much of the news that is reported, although it falls under the rubric of “free speech” and “freedom of the press” is, in reality, gossip, hear-say and slander and thus is evil.
How many times have you repeated hearsay and gossip without checking the source? Even if you know it to be true, is it really beneficial and righteous to repeat it to others? How many times have you been hurt personally by lies, gossip and slander by others about you? It is hurtful and destructive, isn’t it? One Jewish sage goes so far as to say that Messiah has not come back because of all the gossip and slander of the people of Israel. Perhaps. At the very least, the Spirit of Elohim is greatly grieved, our intimacy with Elohim is hindered and diminished, and our marriages, families, friendships and congregations are fractured, hurt or destroyed all because we speak things that should not be uttered about others.
How often do we accuse, slander and gossip about other people through use of the “evil tongue” (in Hebrew called lashon hara) without going through proper channels and following proper biblical protocols to resolve interpersonal conflicts as Yeshua instructed in Matthew 18? How often do we attack others and spread evil reports and accusations about others when we were not even eyewitnesses to what occurred or were not involved in the matter? How often do we attack YHVH’s leaders and accuse them of evil when there are no other eyewitnesses, which is against Scripture (1 Tim 5:19)? YHVH hates those who sow discord among brethren and lying false witnesses, and calls this practice an abomination (Prov 6:16–17, 19). So let’s all be more careful with our mouths!
Deuteronomy 17:2–5, Dealing with wickedness. Probably no one reading this is involved in any of the gross, idolatrous practices listed here, but there are those little foxes (or little sins) that spoil the grapes (Song 2:15) and the little bits of leaven (or tiny sins) that sneak into our lives and inflates or sours our lives like leaven that infects a whole loaf of bread. What idols or heathen practices, unrighteous world views, worldly attitudes, secular tendencies, profane habits and thought patterns or verbal expressions have you assimilated into your life that are keeping you from walking a higher and, hence, a more intimate and anointed walk with YHVH? Ask the Ruach haKodesh (the Set-Apart Spirit) to reveal these spiritual idols and strongholds to you so that you can rid your life of them.
Deuteronomy 17:8–13, Matters of controversy. How respectful and obedient are you to the spiritual leaders YHVH has placed over you? Or do you follow their wise counsel only if and when it suits you? Nowadays if one does not like congregational leadership for any reason, they simply leave that congregation and find a new one. In ancient Israel, this was not an option, nor was it an option in the first century. There was only one congregation in each town, and if there was a disagreement, people had to learn to work out their differences. What if we were in that situation today? How would that change your method of operation if you couldn’t just “cut and run” whenever things didn’t go your way or you got offended?
Rabbinic Justification of the Jewish Oral Torah Known as The Talmud. This Scripture passage has been used by rabbinic Jews as a justification for their so-called “Oral Torah,” or as Yeshua referred to it as “the tradition of the elders.” This oral tradition was eventually put into written form in the second century A.D. and was known as The Mishnah, which eventually evolved into The Talmud, which came hundreds of years later. Other Scriptures the rabbinic Jews use to substantiate their claims regarding the legitimacy of their Oral Torah include Deuteronomy 1:16, Exodus 24:12 and 34:27 (See Everyman’s Talmud, p. 146). Yeshua and the apostolic writers make references to the Oral Torah as well (see Matt 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38, 43; 12:5; 23:2–3; 1 Cor 14:34; 1 Tim 1:14).
So what is the bottom line here? Are the saints supposed to follow the Oral Torah or not? Here are some guidelines on how to view any non-Scriptural rabbinic Jewish writings: First, does it contradict or line up with the Written Torah-Word of Elohim? If not, then reject it. Second, does it ultimately, even obliquely, point us to Yeshua the Messiah or away from him? If not, reject it. Third, is it historically accurate or is it fable and legend? If the latter, then it should probably be rejected. Finally, was it written during the Second Temple era or afterwards, when many rabbinic Jewish took a decidedly anti-Christian and anti-Yeshua bent in their writings? If the latter, then take it with a grain of salt and with a high degree of scepticism.
Frankly, studying the Bible itself with the guiding help of the Spirit of Elohim and Spirit-led, Yeshua-believing and Torah-obedient teachers should be sufficient to give the saints the information they need to have a right relationship with YHVH Elohim through Yeshua the Messiah (see John 14:26; Eph 4:11–16; 1 John 2:27). Extra-biblical sources like the Talmud, many of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Apocrypha or the pseudepigraphal writings can be helpful for historical background information on a few subjects, but are of little value beyond that. They should never be believed if they contradict the Scriptures, nor should they be used to determine theology and or doctrine.
Finally, the purpose of the judges in Israel, as per Deuteronomy 17:8–13, was to apply and interpret the Torah to everyday life situations, and not to change the Torah or add to and subtract from it, which the Jewish Oral Torah often does. This is elevating the mind and traditions of man above the Word of Elohim, which both the Torah (Deut 4:2; 12:32 cp. Rev 22:18) and Yeshua forbid (Mark 7:8–13), and which, quite frankly, is idolatrous, humanistic and feeding from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil instead of feeding from the tree of life and, therefore, is an evil practice. It is acknowledging and acquiescing to the serpent’s lies at the tree of knowledge to question and then to ultimately twist or reject the divinely revealed Truth of YHVH Elohim!
Deuteronomy 17:14–20,King over you. It is YHVH’s will for Israel to be ruled by a king. In the Messianic Era (or Millennium), King Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of David, will rule not only over Israel but over the entire world from Jerusalem. Moreover, King David will rule over Israel (Ezek 37:24), and the twelve apostles will rule over the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt 19:28). Likewise, the saints are currently preparing to rule and reign with King Yeshua as kings and priests during the Millennium (Rev 1:6; 5:10; 20:6). YHVH ordained righteous leadership to help guide his people in the ways of truth and righteousness.
When there is no leadership, everyone does what is right in his own eyes as occurred during the time of the judges. The Bible gives numerous examples of the chaos that results in a society or a group of people where there is no leadership. For example, TheArtScroll Stone Edition Chumash points out, “Two of the saddest episodes after Israel arrived in its Land—the graven image of Micah (Judg 17–18) and the atrocity involving the concubine at Gibeah (Judg 19–21)—are described by Scripture as having been possible only because there was no king in Israel (Judg 18:1; 19:1); had there been the leadership and discipline of a righteous king, he would never have permitted such outrages to take place” (pp. 1028–1029).
Elohim is not the author of confusion (1 Cor 14:33). Nowhere in the Bible does Elohim permit his people to be leaderless whether it was patriarchal leadership, Levitical leadership, the leadership of judges and prophets, kingly leadership, the leadership of apostles and elders culminating in the leadership of King Yeshua and the glorified saints that will be ruling with him as kings and priests in his millennial kingdom.
Numerous times in Scripture, YHVH not only expects his people to obey the righteous leaders that he has put in place, but even unrighteous civil leaders (at least until those leaders demand that the saints to disobey the higher laws of Elohim).
Many times in the Hebraic Roots Movement, one encounters folks who have been emotionally traumatized and hurt in the past by ungodly church leadership. As a result, many of these people now refuse to come under any leadership at all godly or otherwise. They pride themselves in establishing congregations and fellowships “where no one is the leader.” This is a recipe for disaster. For those of you who adhere to this unbiblical concept of leaderless congregations, I invite you to get back to me in one, two or five years and let me know who your experiment in this ungodly venture worked out. Eventually division and strife will tear such groups apart! After all, if everyone has an equal say and anything can go on, who is going to stand up and say “this is wrong” or “that is unbiblical”? When grievous wolves in sheep’s clothing come in to tear the flock apart, who is going to put these agents of Satan out of the fellowship?
No, leaderless groups are not a good thing. Those who want this are either naive when it comes to the machinations of human nature, or are they are rebels themselves and really do not Elohim to rule over them, since he is the author of godly, righteous leadership
Do you resist YHVH-ordained leadership? If you have been hurt or “burned” by unscrupulous and self-serving leaders in the past, do you now refuse to recognize YHVH-ordained leadership thus losing the blessings that such leadership could bestow on your life? Let’s not throw the proverbial baby of righteous leadership out with the bath water because of our past hurtful experience.
Deuteronomy 17:18,He shall write. The king was intimately to know the Torah, so that he could rule righteously based on the Word of YHVH. The Book of Revelation says that the saints will be kings and priest ruling with Yeshua in the Millennium. Do you want to rule with him? If so, what are you doing now to prepare yourself for that position of responsibility? Is the study of YHVH’s Word a priority in your life or does it get bumped to last place after you have completed all the physical things you feel you need to do? How we prepare now for the future will determine our level of reward in YHVH’s kingdom. Will you be the least or the greatest? This will be determined by your study and practice of Torah (see Matt 5:19).
Deuteronomy 18
Deuteronomy 13:1–18 and 18:9–22—Moses Prepares the Israelites for Future Prophets
Before his death, Moses, the great prophet who spoke face to face with Elohim, prepared the children of Israel and their succeeding generations for the ministry of The Prophet to come, and warns the Israelites against false prophets. These instructions are as relevant today as they were in Moses’ day.
The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (pp. 544–545) lays out Moses’ instructions to YHVH’s people in five steps. In Deuteronomy 18:9–22, YHVH formally proscribes any involvement with the bogus mantic (i.e., relating to divination or prophecy) practices of the surrounding nations (vv. 9–14). Then having stated that a line of prophets would speak or write with the same authority as Moses, he commanded the Israelites to render the prophet the same obedience he had commanded them to give Moses (vv. 9–14). Five certifying signs of a true prophet (Ps 74:9; Matt 12:38; Acts 2:22) were then given:
The prophet must be an Israelite or “of the brethren” (vv. 15, 18).
He must speak in the name or voice of YHVH (vv. 16, 19, 20), with the death penalty prescribed for those who falsely claimed to do so (v. 20; 18:1ff; 1 Kgs 18:20–40).
Supernatural knowledge of the near future was to be a sign of the authenticity of the prophet’s divine appointment (vv. 21–22; 1 Kgs 22; Jer 28, esp. v. 17).
The prophet might perform some other miraculous signs (Deut 13:1ff; 1 Kgs 18:24, esp. v. 36).
The final test of a true prophet of Elohim was that his prophecies had to be in strict conformity to or in agreement with the previously certified revelations by Moses at first and by the prophets to follow (Deut 13:1–18). The fifth requirement is emphatic, since the entire thirteenth chapter is devoted to it.
Deuteronomy 18:10,One who causes his son or daughter to pass through the fire.
The Abominable and Idolatrous Practice of Abortion Is Modern Baal Worship!
The ancient Canaanite practice of child sacrifice was done in honor of the Canaanite deity Moloch (see Lev 18:21 and 20:1–6). The name moloch in Hebrew means “king”with the root of the word meaning “to rule or reign.” Child sacrifice (the ancient form of modern abortion or infanticide) though a pagan practice that YHVH abhorred, was practiced by both houses or kingdoms of Israel after they had drifted into apostasy resulting in spiritual syncretism with the heathen cultures around them (see 1 Kgs 11:7; 2 Kgs 16:3; 21:6; 23:10,13; Jer 7:31; 19:5; Ezek 16:20; 23:37).
Baal, another prominent Canaanite deity,appears to be a synonym of Molach or Moloch (see Jer 19:5 and the Ency. Britan. eleventh edit., vol. 18, p. 676). After the children were sacrificed to this demon entity, the dead bodies were thrown into the garbage dump of the Valley of Hinnom or Tophet just below the Temple Mount in Jerusalem (Jer 7:31; 19:5–6). Apparently, the children were not burned alive, but were slain (by knife) like any other sacrifice before being thrown into the fire and then into the garbage dump (ibid.). The ancients sacrificed their children to appease their bloodthirsty gods of prosperity, sensuality and fertility (The Story of Civilization, vol. 1, by Will Durant, pp. 66–67, 297).
What can we learn from these random pieces of historical information concerning the ancient practice of child sacrifice? It was done in honor of the pagans’ deities; in other words, their idol was the king that ruled their lives. In our day, what is the chief deity in modern America and most other societies around the world? Is it not the love of money, materialistic wealth along with lustful desire for sex and pleasure combined with a preoccupaton with fun and entertainment? In ancient times, children were killed by a knife, thrown into the fire and then into the garbage dump. Today, what happens in America and many other countries with unwanted children? Parents abort their babies or have them murdered while being born (partial birth abortion) by using burning solutions to kill the baby in the womb. Then, with the aid of scalpels and scissors, the baby is hacked to pieces and then yanked piece by piece from the womb. Afterwards the corpse is tossed into a dumpster or the body parts are sold for “medical” purposes.
What reasons do parents give for murdering their children? “It will cost too much to raise them and it’s too much trouble” (greed, hedonism and selfishness). “It will interfere with my career” (selfishness and greed). “I want to have pleasure without responsibility” (selfishness, hedonism and greed). Regardless of the excuses, the reasons today are the same as those of the ancients. The motives are the desire for financial prosperity, plus greed, hedonism, selfishness and so on. Are we any different or any more “civilized” than the ancients? YHVH called abortion an abomination (which means he viewed the practice as “disgusting, abominable,abhorrent, detestable or loathsome,” see Deut 18:12).
Make no mistake about it, the modern practice of abortion is still the worship of the ancient murderous demon-god Moloch or Baal whether those practicing abortion know it or not. The reasons for engaging in this egregious and abominable practice are still the same, and the evil, murderous and demonic spirit motivating people to do it is still the same. Humans are no different today than they were thousands of years ago. Only the actors, costumes and venues have changed. Without the transforming power of Word and Spirit of Elohim at work to convert sinful humans from the kingdom of darkness and the worship of and obedience to Baal (Satan) to the kingdom of light and the worship of and obedience to YHVH Elohim, the actions and evil heart of man are the same today as there were yesterday.
Do you abhor that which YHVH calls an abomination? In Scripture, YHVH calls children and the fertile womb a blessing and not a curse (see Deut 28:11 and Ps 127:3–5). Carnal, sinful humans under demonic influences sadly are highly prone to turn that which YHVH good evil and that which is evil good.
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isa 5:0)
Deuteronomy 18:10–22, One who practices witchcraft…a prophet from your midst…who speaks in the name of other gods. There is a major implicit truth to be learned from juxta positioning these verses that otherwise may seem unrelated. It is this. The rejection of divine authority and the turning to the worship of other gods is witchcraft. This explains Samuel’s statement to Saul regarding the latter’s disobedience to the word of YHVH.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of YHVH, he hath also rejected thee from being king. (1 Sam 15:23)
Deuteronomy 18:15, A prophet from your midst, like me, shall YHVH your Elohim raise up for you.
Jewish and Christian Opposition to Moses’ Messianic Prophecy Moses—A Prophetic Type of the Messiah
To all but the spiritually blind and hard of heart, it is clear that Moses’ Deuteronomy 18 prophecy concerning the coming Messiah was fulfilled in the person of Yeshua. Who else in the history of the world could have fulfilled this prophecy? Despite this, the non-believing religious Jews, to their discredit, run around in philosophical circles attempting to prove that this verse does not apply to Yeshua. Similarly, the Christian church, in its own way, also disbelieves this prophecy in their denouncement of much of “the Mosaic law.” Let us examine some of the arguments attempting to circumvent the simple truth of this messianic prophecy.
On the Jewish side, TheArtScrollStone Edition Chumash in its commentary states, “Moses told the nation that just as he was one of them, so God would designate future prophets [plural, emphasis added] from among the people to bring them his word” (p. 1033, emphasis added). What is wrong with this statement? Is the verse quoted accurately? Moses said “prophet” singular, not “prophets” plural, as this Orthodox Jewish commentary incorrectly states. So in this manner, the Jewish commentators switch the focus off of a single prophet who would arise, and instead these dishonest and disingenuous rabbinics make it appear as if all the prophets recorded in the Scriptures helped to fulfill this prophecy. This is dishonest biblical interpretation and blatantly deceitful.
On the Christian side, does the “Jesus” of the mainstream church who, it is taught by many church leaders, broke the Sabbath and came to do away with the Torah-law of Moses, fulfill this prophecy? Didn’t Moses say that the prophet would speak only the words that Elohim would give him (and the implication is that those words would not contradict what was given at Mount Sinai)? So did Yeshua come to do away with the Torah-law or not? The answer is an emphatic NO!
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 5:19–20)
Moreover, in commissioning his disciples in Matthew 28:20, didn’t Yeshua tell them to do and to pass on to others all that he had commanded them?
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matt 28:20)
Furthermore, didn’t Paul instruct the saints to, “Follow me as I follow the Messiah” (1 Cor 11:1)? So how is it that so many people in the mainstream church believe otherwise about Messiah Yeshua and Paul relative to their teachings on the Torah-law? The point we are trying to make here is that the “Jesus” of the Sunday church who, it is taught, came, to one degree or another, to annul the Torah, does not fit the exact criteria of this prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:15–19. Either the Torah is correct and the mainstream church is wrong or it is the other way around. We choose the former to be the truth, not the latter!
A prophet…like unto me. Let’s now study the parallels between Moses (Heb. Moshe) and Yeshua the Messiah (Heb. Machiach)to see how the latter perfectly fulfilled this prophecy.
Moses’ early life seems to foreshadow many details of Yeshua’s life and ministry. This really should not surprise us when we consider the following words from the Epistle to the Hebrews,
Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O Elohim. (Heb 10:7 from Ps 40:7).
The author attributes informs us that this verse was fulfilled by YHVH-Yeshua. Yeshua himself, when confronting the Pharisees in John 5:46, said “For had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me.” Here we see both the New Testament drawing parallels between Moses and the Messiah.
This of course begs the question, what did Moses write about Yeshua? Of course there are many places in the Torah that speak of the Messiah in types and shadows. This is a section of scripture that definitely verifies the words of Yeshua. Let’s now explore this passage to see how it pointed to the Master.
There are similarities between the names Moshe (meaning “drawn from/to draw”) and Messiah (meaning “to smear” [i.e., with oil]). Etymologically there is no connection between the two, and the former terminates in the Hebrew letter hey v and the latter in a chet j, but the similarities in the two names are striking nevertheless.
Moses was the only man in the Scriptures beside Yeshua who was a prophet (Deut 34:10), a priest and a king (Deut 33:5). While there may not be any place that specifically refers to Moses as a priest, he nevertheless was a Levite and held a priestly role as being in a higher office than even Aaron the high priest, for he communicated directly with YHVH and acted as an intermediary between YHVH and man, even as Yeshua acts as a high priest between YHVH and man (Heb 4:14). By contrast, David was a king and a prophet, but not a priest. Samuel acted as a priest and was a prophet, but not a king. Only Yeshua and Moses were as all three: prophet, priest and king.
Both Moses and Yeshua were born under the tragic circumstance of the murder of innocent boys. Pharaoh tried to kill all the baby boys including Moses, and Herod tried to do the same when Yeshua was a child.
Moses grew up to become the “savior” of Israel in that he led the people out of Egypt. Yeshua, of course, is the greater and spiritual Savior of Israel in that he has delivered his people from sin and the spiritual Egypt of the world, the flesh and devil.
Both Moses and Yeshua spent all or part of their childhood in Egypt (Matt 2:13–19), and both left Egypt for the Promised Land.
Moses, after growing up into manhood, was rejected by his brethren. Yeshua, of course, was also rejected by his brethren, though more due to the fear of the religious leaders of the day.
Moses began his ministry after 40 years in the wilderness; the Messiah spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness.
Then Moses has the burning bush experience. There is much prophetic symbolism in this story. The word “bush” is the Hebrew word ceneh, which is from an unused root meaning “to prick.” This indicates that the bush was most likely a thorn bush. Since the earth was cursed at the fall of man and now brings forth thorns, and since fire is a biblical metaphor for judgment, a burning thorn bush that is not burnt speaks of YHVH’s mercy. It also speaks of our Messiah, who became sin, and was judged, yet by his resurrection was not consumed! That Yeshua wore a crown of thorns points us to the burning bush. Of course, the voice that spoke out of the burning bush was YHVH, or Yeshua in his preincarnate state.
At the burning bush, Moses learns the name of YHVH. He will later use this name and make it known among the people. Yeshua did this also in his prayer to the Father in John 17:6 when he declared, “I have manifested your name to the men whom you have given me.”
Moses, being a man, felt insecure about his charge to lead the Hebrew people out of bondage. He tried to avoid this divine calling by saying that he was not an eloquent speaker. YHVH answered saying, “Who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind?” Isn’t it interesting, and a testimony to the deity of Yeshua, that Yeshua was able to make a man who was born blind able to see? (John 9:1, see also Luke 7:22) Similarly, Yeshua at Gethsemane asked the Father, like Moses, to release him from his divine mission to suffer and die (Matt 26:39)?
Notice that before Moses goes back to his brethren, they must experience the “great tribulation” of the bondage of severe slavery. In the same way, we can infer that the end-time great tribulation period will precede the return of the Messiah (Matt 24:21 and 29–30).
In our comparison between Moses and Yeshua, let us consider the story of the circumcision of Moses’ sons. Surprisingly, the sons of Moses, the “stranger in a foreign land,” had been living all these years and NOT keeping the Torah–instruction of Elohim. Then, just as Moses was preparing to “return,” there is recognition that they had been out of covenant with YHVH and had been disobedient to his Torah, including the command to circumcise all male children. Zipporah, possibly depicting the “church,” was offended by this fact. Yet, in this story, Moses is the one who was threatened with death because Gershom, his first born son, was not circumcised. Similarly, Yeshua had to die because for our the sins (or the violation of the Torah), which had separated us from Elohim as we were living in a strange land spiritually (the world) and out of covenantal relationship with Elohim.
Twice, Zipporah calls Moses a “bloody husband” (Exod 4:25–26). Is YHVH being redundant here, or is he drawing our attention to this event? Then blood is literally cast upon Moses’ feet (the Hebrew implies this). Surely our Savior when dying on the cross had his own blood upon his feet, which he shed for our transgressions. Gershom (literally meaning “foreigner” or “sojourner”), one of Moses’ two sons, could be viewed allegorically as being representative of a redeemed believer in his pre-converted, unsaved and uncircumcised (of heart) state. It was the blood of Yeshua shed on the cross, in our place, that saved us from the wrath of Elohim and paid the death penalty price for our sins. Likewise, Moses’ sons were “guilty” before YHVH until blood was shed. In an abstract and allegorical way, Moses’ action toward his sons may point to Yeshua redemptive work on the cross.
Moses may have had some kind of physical inability to speak well (Exod 4:10). In our comparison between Moses and Yeshua, what are the deeper implications of this? In their Torah commentaries, the Jewish sages hold that Moses was tongue-tied. For the reason of being better able to communicate with Israel, after YHVH had become angry with Moses, Aaron was given to Moses to be his spokesman. In the same way, until he returns to reign in the age to come, Yeshua is physically unable to explain his Word to us in person. In the flesh, he is not present with us. For that reason, he has sent us a Helper or a Comforter or the Spirit of Elohim, who shines spiritual light upon the Word of Elohim through Yeshua the Messiah (John 15 and 16), who is the Word of Elohim in flesh form (John 1:1–14).
More Parallels Between Moses and Yeshua
As we have just learned, Scripture infers that Moses prophetically foreshadowed Yeshua the Messiah. Perhaps the most notable scripture in this regard is the Deuteronomy 18 passage where Moses, speaking to the Israelites, prophesies that, “YHVH your Elohim will raise up unto you a prophet from the midst of you, of your brethren, like unto me, unto him you shall listen” (verse 15). Below we have compiled a list of similarities between Moses and Yeshua, which are too numerous to be merely coincidental (the majority of these insights are from the book Gleanings In Exodus by A. W. Pink).
Both were Israelites.
Both were born while their nations were under the dominion of a hostile power.
As infants the lives of both were imperiled by the reigning king.
Both were adopted (Joseph was the non-biological, adoptive father of Yeshua, whose “biological” Father was YHVH Elohim).
Both spent their childhood in Egypt.
Both were filled with deep compassion and sympathy for the plight of Israel.
Both renounced their kingly glory and took on the form of a servant.
Both were rejected by their brethren.
Both were shepherds (Exod 3:1 and John 10:11, 16).
Before entering into their ministry calling both spent time in seclusion in the wilderness: Moses for 40 years and Yeshua for 40 days.
Both were commissioned by YHVH to set the captives free.
The commission of both was confirmed by signs and miracles.
Moses’ first two miracles involved his demonstrating his power over the serpent and leprosy (Exod 4:6–8. After commencing his public ministry Yeshua’s first miracles were power over the serpent (Matt 4:10–11) and over leprosy (Matt 8:3).
Both delivered Israel from captivity. Moses delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh and Egypt (biblical symbols for Satan and the world, the flesh and the devil) and Yeshua delivers his people from the real things.
The children of Israel were baptized into Moses (1 Cor 10:1–2) and redeemed believers into Yeshua (Rom 6:3).
Both had their authority challenged.
The lives of both were threatened.
Both experienced deep sorrow over the ingratitude of their people.
The love of both for their people was unquenchable.
Both were prayerful.
Both were faithful (Heb 3:5; Rev 3:14).
Both provided Israel with water (Num 20:11; John 4:14).
Both were kings (Deut 33:4–5; Luke 1:32–33).
Both were prophets (Deut 18:18; John 7:16; 8:28).
Both were priests (Ps 99:6; Lev 8:15–16; Heb 9:14).
Both were mediators between man and the Creator (Deut 5:5; 1 Tim 2:5).
Both were mediators of a covenant (Exod 34:27; Heb 8:6).
Both sent out 12 men.
Both had seventy elders or witnesses (Exod 24:9, Luke 10:1)
Both had intimate communion with their Elohim.
Both fasted for 40 days.
Both were glorified on a mountain.
Both washed their brethren with water (Lev 8:6; John 13:5).
Both walked in obedience to Elohim and his laws (Exod 40:16; John 9:4; 14:10).
Both erected a tabernacle or temple: Moses a physical one, and Yeshua a spiritual one.
Both gave their people an inheritance (Josh 1:10–11; Eph 1:11).
Both had to die prior to entering the Promised Land.
Moses had a second appearance (Matt 17:3) and Yeshua is coming again.
Can there be any doubt that Yeshua was the Prophet to whom Moses makes reference in Deuteronomy 18:15 that YHVH Elohim would raise up who would be like Moses himself? Those who would deny the Person and work of Yeshua the Messiah have to explain away the many prophetic types and shadows that exist in the Tanakh that were only fulfilled by Yeshua the Messiah. May these truths strengthen your faith in and love for Yeshua, the Sent One from Elohim!
Deuteronomy 18:20,To speak or/and who speaks. The KJV (as does J. P. Green, YLT and LXX in their Bible translations) translates the Hebrew conjunction vav as and, while the NKJV (and NIV, NAS, ASET, JPS, RSV, NEB) translates it as or. The difference between and and or may seem subtle, but it changes the meaning of the sentence. If it is and, then the death penalty falls only on one who speaks presumptuously and in the name of another god. If it is or, then only the prophet who prophesies in the name of another god shall die. The presumptuous prophet who prophesies out of his own will is only to be ignored.
If the meaning of vav is “or,” then both the presumptuous prophet (one who speaks a false word in his own name), and the prophet who speaks in the name of a false god are both to be ignored and given the death penalty. If this is the case then there appears to be an inconsistency in the Scriptures regarding Nathan the prophet, who was not killed for speaking a false prophetic word. Evidently gives grace to a true prophet (e.g., Nathan) who, on occasion, misunderstands the prophetic words they heard from YHVH and thus relayed an incorrect message to the people. As soon as that prophet realizes his mistake, we is duty bound before YHVH to make the correction and transmit the correct word and interpretation to the people. This is what happened with Nathan when he told David to build a house or temple for Elohim, but had to quickly correct his prophetic word once YHVH revealed to him that he had misinterpreted the prophecy and thus had relayed an incorrect word to David. If vav means “and,” then the death penalty would not have fallen on Nathan, and the apparent inconsistency in the Scriptures is resolved. For this reason, we choose the word and and not or as the correct translation of the Hebrew conjunction vav.
Deuteronomy 19
Deuteronomy 19:21,Eye for eye.This is to be interpreted allegorically to mean that the punishment must fit the crime, and that the scales of justice must be balanced. There are no examples in Scripture where eyes were plucked out or teeth knocked out as punishment for a crime that was committed.
Deuteronomy 20
Deuteronomy 20:1,Battle against your enemies.Scripture tells us to oppose the enemies of YHVH, that YHVH’s enemies should also be the enemies his people. Today, our enemies are spiritual (2 Cor 10:3–5; Eph 6:12). This is because behind every physical enemy is an evil spiritual entity. Let’s face it, we are living in a time when the forces of evil are attacking and attempting to eradicate any vestiges of righteousness everywhere. Do you have the will to fight for what is right—to fight YHVH’s enemies and to stand for truth and righteousness?
The Bible calls YHVH’s people to be warriors—spiritual warriors. Paul talks about the spiritual battle in which the saints are to be engaged (ibid.). One aspect of this battle is to cry aloud for the sake of truth, using biblical metaphors, to be like a light on a hill, and to be a watchman on the wall warning those around you about what is coming. Each of us must ask ourselves what we are doing in this regard. One way to accomplish divinely mandated mission is to support those who are trying to get the truth out, who are on the front lines fighting evil while, at the same time, promoting truth and righteousness. One way to do this is by helping to support those who are on the front lines of this battle financially and through one’s prayers.
Deuteronomy 20:19,Do not destroy its trees. In its commentary on this passage, A Torah Commentary For Our Times states, “While the commandment deals specifically with cutting down trees during a siege, Jewish interpreters extend it to cover all forms of wasteful destruction under the principle of bal tashchit, or ‘do not destroy’…[all w]asteful destruction is condemned. ‘Anyone who deliberately breaks dishes, tears clothing, wrecks a building, clogs up a fountain, or wastes food violates the law of bal tashchit’” (various rabbinical sources are cite vol. 3, p. 143).
In Genesis 2:15, Elohim commissioned Adam and Eve to “tend [or dress] and keep the garden.” The word tend literally means “to serve, work, dress, labor”in the sense of a servant or steward. The word keep means “to observe, guard, watch over, or preserve.” This was one of Elohim’s first Torah-commands to humans—to take care of or nurture the planet. Gardening is the second oldest profession (after animal husbandry) that was assigned to man by Elohim. Caring for trees and plants is a major aspect of caring for the garden.
Do you view yourself as a steward with a divine mandate to help preserve, watch over, and guard all that YHVH has given you responsibility over including your body, your marriage, your children, your gifts and talents, your car, your job, your home and garden and everything else in your life? Do you view doing this as a good witness to those around you, as leaving a legacy for future generations, and as glorifying your Father in heaven?
Deuteronomy 21–25 Gives 72 Torah Commandments
This section of the Torah (Deut 21:10–25:19) contains 72 commandments, which is more than in any other Torah portion. In this passage there are rules pertaining to all aspects of human relations showing that the “Torah deals with the real world. It does not present a world where all people get along with one another or rush to take care of one another’s property. Instead, it ‘takes into account the grim reality that people do not achieve the desired observance of “you shall not hate others in your heart”’” (A Torah Commentary For Our Time vol. 3, p. 150).
In studying this portion, one can easily miss the point of a particular command if one views it strictly in its pashat (most literal) meaning. For these commands to have relevance in our day, one must view them as principles that have a broad range of applications. The specific examples Torah gives are merely representative of one of but many life situations to which the principle behind the example could apply. Keeping this in mind, this Torah portion will give you much to ponder pertaining to your day-to-day walk (or halakhah).
In these chapters we see a plethora of laws concerning many seemingly small details regarding human life. Many people in the church have the tendency to broadly sweep away these commandments with such dismissive cliches as, “We’re now under grace…,” or “We’re not under the law anymore…..” But please observe how many of the civil laws of our nation regulating actions between various members of society are based upon YHVH’s laws found in the Torah.
As many of us make our way back to a more biblical, truth-based lifestyle and orientation, we begin to see that (a) YHVH cares about the details of our lives, and (b) these laws, while sometimes hard to understand, are for our own well-being and blessing. Do you still nurse a “pick and choose” or “have it your own way” mentality with regard to YHVH’s biblical commandments choosing to follow the ones you want and making excuses why you can’t (or don’t want to) follow the rest? By doing so, what blessings are you depriving yourself of, and how are you hindering your love relationship with YHVH?
Some of the laws in these chapters may be hard to observe nowadays. With others, due to our church background, we may have the tendency to spiritualize them away, thus, in essence, rendering them of none effect in our lives and thereby placing ourselves above YHVH’s Torah-law thus becoming a law unto ourselves. This is not a good thing! This is what Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden at the tree of knowledge. Is this not at the root of secular humanism, where every man is doing what is right in his own eyes instead of obeying YHVH whatever the cost? Who is the Master of your life? You or YHVH? Let us not forget the words of Yeshua, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matt 7:21), and “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).
How do you view laws about women wearing men-type clothing, wearing fringes on the corners of your garments, mixing certain types of fibers in your clothing, lending money without interest, caring for the widows and orphans, personal hygiene, the family purity laws (e.g., men not having sexual relations with their wives during their monthly cycles), removing blood from all meat before eating it, men wearing beards, faithfully tithing, following the biblical dietary laws, and observing YHVH’s Sabbaths (weekly and annual), etc.? These are lifestyle-changing laws, many of which go contrary to the current mores of our society.
Are YHVH’s saints not called to be a kadosh, set-apart, special and peculiar (i.e., treasured) people before YHVH? Following these laws to the best of our ability will help us to be the people that YHVH has called us to be. What progress are you making to bring your life into conformity to his standards of righteousness?
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. (Heb 12:14)
[B]ut as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.” (1 Pet 1:15–16)
The better we know the heart of YHVH Elohim as revealed in his word, the Bible, the better we we will hear his voice. There are no shortcuts. That is the bottom line and it works in areas of life whether on the spiritual or physical levels. You get out of something what you put into it. There is no return on an investment unless you put your money into something that promises a return. A farmer cannot expect to reap a harvest unless he first sows the seed.
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Deuteronomy 11:26–28, A blessing and a curse. Based on the choices we make in life, we either choose blessings or curses. This is a divine and immutable law of cause and effect. This passage begins with the words, “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; a blessing, if you will obey the commandments of YHVH your Elohim, which I command you this day; and a curse, if you will not obey the commandments of YHVH your Elohim, to go after other gods, which you have not known” (Deut 11:26–28). YHVH sets before each person two paths: the path of blessing and the path of curses. Regardless of whether a person even believes in YHVH, the Bible or in the laws of cause and effect, based on the choices they make, they either choose a path that leads to blessing, curses or a mixture thereof.
Mount Ebal
After this, in verse 29, YHVH instructs the Israelites that upon entering the Promised Land, they are to camp between the mountains of Gerizim and Ebal, both of which are located at the entry point of that land. The former mountain symbolically represents a blessing, while the later represents a curse. The town of Shechem is strategically located between these two mountains. The Hebrew word shechem means “shoulder” or “back.” Interestingly and not coincidently, one’s shoulder supports the head, which through the disposition of the mind and the direction in which the head is pointed, determines the path a person will walk whether good or evil.
It was at Shechem, between the two mountains representing good and evil, that Israel renewed its covenant with YHVH before entering the Promised Land (Josh 8:30–35). The power of the covenant that the people made with YHVH on that day thousands of years ago is still visible in the modern land of Israel: Mount Ebal is largely bare and devoid of vegetation, while Mount Gerizim is lush and green with foliage. This fact stands as a loud testimony and reminder to this day of the power of the divine blessing and the divine curse, and to the reality and validity of the cause-and-effect mechanics of YHVH’s Torah, and the ability of its laws and covenants to bless or curse us depending on whether we obey it or not.
Mount Gerezim
Israel renewed its covenant with YHVH at Shechem at the plains (or oak trees) of Moreh (Deut 11:30). What was significant about this place? This was the exact spot, at the entry point to the Promised Land, that YHVH had established his covenant with Abraham some 500 years earlier. We read about this in Genesis 12:6, “And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem unto the plain [or oak] of Moreh [a Heb. word meaning “teacher”].” And it was to this same spot that YHVH brought Israel to renew the promises that he had made to Abraham. It was there YHVH would begin to teach them to walk victoriously and righteously before him in their promised inheritance IF only they would choose to obey his Torah (a Heb. word meaning “teachings, precepts or instructions” and a cognate to the word moreh), and turn their backs on the pagan gods and practices of the nations around them. It was also at the same spot that Jacob, upon entering the Promised Land, buried all his family’s false gods and other pagan accoutrements (Gen 35:4).
YHVH is calling his people today to make the same choice as the end time saints prepare to enter into their promised inheritance as YHVH’s kings and priests ruling with Yeshua in his millennial kingdom on this earth (Rev 1:6; 5:10; 20:6). Presently, YHVH is urging his people to come out of spiritual Babylon (Rev 18:4), that is, to come out from the world and to be separate and to touch no unclean thing (2 Cor 6:17).
As noted earlier, this passage of Scripture starts with Israel having to choose between the blessing and the curse, and whether obey YHVH’s commands, which leads to life, or disobey them, which ultimately leads to death (Deut 11:26; see also 30:15–20). Making the right choices as we go through life is what determines our outcome both here on earth and eternally in our next life, whether good or bad, life or death.
Earlier YHVH declared that it was Israel’s spiritual destiny to become a nation of priests (Exod 19:6), and as such Israel would become an example to the nations of the world of YHVH’s righteousness and the wisdom of Torah if they chose to obey him (Deut 4:6–8).
Today YHVH is calling his people, who have put their faith in Yeshua the Messiah of Israel, to be a royal priesthood (1 Pet 2:9), and to prepare to reign with Yeshua as kings and priests in his millennial kingdom (Rev 1:6; 5:10; 20:6). But first they must learn to reign over the kingdom of their own lives by overcoming the world, the flesh and the devil. To be a priest of YHVH Elohim requires that each person choose righteousness over wickedness, the holy (set-apart) over the profane (that which is defiled, polluted or worldly, see Ezek 44:23; 22:26).
One cannot represent a holy, set-apart, sinless and righteous Elohim before the nations of the world unless one is set-apart (from the world) oneself. Yeshua told his disciples that though they were in the world, they were not to be of the world (John 17:11, 14). YHVH admonished his people to be holy or set-apart as he is holy or set-apart (Lev 11:44 and 45), and the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews declares, “Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see YHVH” (Heb 12:14). The Bible clearly lays before man the path of holiness, righteous and blessing as opposed that of wickedness and curses. The delineations between the two paths could not be clearer. It is now up to each of us to choose which path we will follow for the rest of our lives. We will have no one to blame but ourselves if we take the wrong path!
Everything in life is about making choices. The choices we make determine whether the results thereof are good or bad, whether we are blessed or cursed, and ultimately life of death.
One cannot choose that which is holy (kodosh or set-apart) from that which is unholy (defiled or polluted) unless one knows what is holy and what is not. YHVH, not man, determines what is holy. To guide man in the walk of holiness, in the rest of this Torah portion, YHVH outlines various times, places, things, actions and foods that are holy to him by which his people can enter into holiness and have holy communion with him. For example, there are holy times (the weekly Sabbath, YHVH’s annual festivals and the sabbatical year), holy places (where YHVH places his name for his people to gather to worship him), holy food (clean verses unclean meats), holy income (our material income is sanctified or made holy through our tithing a portion of it to YHVH), holy lips (YHVH’s people are forbidden to allow the names of pagan deities to come on their lips, and to take YHVH’s name in vain), and YHVH’s people are to destroy any pagan, corrupting, defiling influences (the false gods of the heathens) by putting these things out of their lives.
Being holy or set-apart is the saint’s mission and destiny as YHVH’s set-apart people, and whether we attain to the high level of holiness to which he calls us all depends on the choices we make, for good or for evil. This is all based on whether we obey or to disobey YHVH’s Torah instructions in righteousness.
Hearing is one thing. Hearing and doing is a whole other thing!
Deuteronomy 11:27–28,That you hearken…If you do not hearken. The Jewish sages point out that the phrase “that to hear [Heb. shema]” is a metaphor for blessing, while “to not hear[lo-shema]” is a metaphor for cursing (The ArtScroll Stone Edition Chumash, p. 999). Hearing and doing, in Hebraic thought and according to the meaning of the Hebrew word shema, are synonymous. If one hears, but does not do what he has heard, then in reality he has not really heard. Hearing, Hebraically, is more than a superficial auditory function. Rather, it involves the activation of the heart resulting in corresponding actions resulting in either blessing (if one hears and obeys YHVH’s Word) or curses (if one does not hear and obey YHVH’s Word). Scripture prophesies that in the future a problem would arise among the people of YHVH. The problem would not be a famine of food or water, but of the ability to hear (shema) and to do the Word of Elohim (Amos 8:11). Likewise, Isaiah prophesied that there would be those who would say (or “draw near with their mouths”), but who would not do (“but their hearts are far from me,” Isa 29:13). Yeshua accused the religious hypocrites of his day of doing the same thing (Matt 15:8–9). Let’s examine our words and corresponding actions. Do they perfectly align, or does the disparity between the two convict us before YHVH of disobedience and hypocrisy? These are serious question that each of us needs stop for a moment for the busyness of life and to seriously consider, for the choices we make will have serious consequences pertaining to our future, eternal destiny.
Deuteronomy 12
Deuteronomy 12:2ff, You shall utterly destroy. When you think of an idol, what comes to mind? Probably images of primitive people thousands of years ago prostrating themselves before carved humanesque or animal-like images of wood, stone or metal. But idols and idolatry vanish millennia ago with the people who worshipped them? No! Behind every physical idol there is an idea, concept and a spiritual belief or even a demonic stronghold that has in some manner supplanted the worship of YHVH Elohim, the one true God. What are the present-day idols and high placeswhere the world has placed its altars to its gods that as a called-out people and a set-apart nation YHVH is calling us to cast down and to destroy? Idols be they physical or material, emotional, and psychological in nature that form strongholds in our hearts and minds are things that hinder or prevent us from serving and obeying YHVH fully. What prevents you from keeping YHVH’s Sabbath and appointed times annual festivals (moedim)? What keeps you from prayer and intimate and set-apart times with him? What keeps you from hearing the voice of Yeshua and from loving him fully by keeping all of his commands? How about the love of money, television, sports, social media, your job and work schedule, family and peer pressure, fear, sinful habits and addictions, lust, greed, materialism and so on? What are you going to do about the idols in your life that are getting in the way of your relationship with your Father in heaven and Yeshua his Son and our Lord and Savior? Lord, give us eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart and mind to perceive those things in our life that keep us from you, that prevent you from having your way in our lives, from you fulfilling the glorious and auspicious plans and purposes that you have for us that are for our good. Yehovah, pour your Spirit out on us and cleanse our hearts and minds from desiring earthly things more than you! Help us to love you more with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. Amein.
Deuteronomy 12:3, You shall obliterate [destroy, put to death] their names [i.e., the names of pagan gods]. As TheArtScroll Stone Edition Chumash points out, not only was Israel to remove the idols themselves, but they were not even to refer to them by their proper names (p. 1000). Rashi, the ancient Jewish sage, says that names of ridicule were to be coined for the pagan gods and used instead. He points out in his commentary on this verse that Jews would actually formulate derisive wordplay names based on the original names of the gods. For example, the pagan temple called, “the house of the crest” became “the house of the ditch” in that the words crest and ditch were similar in Hebrew. Or the idol “everyone’s eye” became “thorn in the eye.” A similar example of this occurred during the Second Jewish Revolt of A.D. 135. The leader of that revolt, Simon bar Kosiba, was given the name Simon bar Kochba (meaning “star”), but when his revolt failed at the hands of the Romans his detractors nicknamed him Simon barKoziba meaning “Son of a Lie” (Rabbi Akiba’s Messiah, by Daniel Gruber, p. 165). Coming up with names of ridicule for pagan deities and concepts may seem like a silly child’s game to some, but could it not serve to indelibly imprint on the minds of YHVH’s people the seriousness of idolatry and idolatrous practices? Could this not be a means of guiding the younger generation away from the ways of evil and into the paths of righteousness? In following the Jewish interpretation on this Torah command, what are some present day “gods,” “goddesses” or modern-day idols that could use renaming? This could be a fun and creative way! What are some things that we do that fill our time and take us away from Elohim? For example, television could become hellevision. The love of sports could become “dorks” because this is what it turns people into; social media could become “social outcasts” because it is virtual and not real and ultimately leads to loneliness and emptiness; the love of money becomes “the love of funny money” because money is illusive, is only a concept—it’s not real; entertainment becomes “God-containment.” What ideas can you come up with?
Deuteronomy 12:5ff,Put his name. Where has YHVH chosen to place his name spiritually? Are you bringing your tithes and offerings to that place so that YHVH can bless you? In your life, who is YHVH using to teach and bless you spiritually? How are you helping the poor and needy? What are you doing or who are supporting to help spread the gospel to those around you? These are all biblical things that our giving helps to support.
Honour YHVH with your substance, and with the first fruits of all your increase so that your barns be filled with plenty…(Prov 3:9–10)
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use it shall be measured to you again. (Luke 6:38)
“‘Will a man rob Elohim? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, “How have we robbed you?” In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation [of you!] Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,’ says YHVH of Hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast [its grapes,],’ says YHVH of hosts.” (Mal 3:8–11)
Giving (through tithes and offerings) is a spiritual, kingdom principle and a key to obtaining honoring and worshiping YHVH resulting in blessings and success.
Deuteronomy 12:5,Only at the place that YHVH will choose…to place his name there…shall you seek out his Presence [habitation] and come there. The word presence (as translated in TheArtScrollStone Edition Chumash) is the Hebrew word sheken (IFA) and as a verb means “to dwell or tabernacle,” and as a noun it means “dwelling, or tabernacle.” According to TheTWOT, the verb is used 129 times in the Tanakh (OT) of which 43 times YHVH is the subject; that is, it describes where YHVH dwells (e.g., on Mount Zion [Ps 74:2], among his people [Exod 25:8], or in Jerusalem [Zech 8:3]). On several occasions, it refers to YHVH’s divine and glorious presence dwelling among his people (e.g., Exod 24:16; Ps 85:9). The word mishkan, which was the portable tabernacle, sanctuary or earthly dwelling place of the glorious presence of YHVH among his people, is derived from this word. What is YHVH telling us in this verse? Namely, that his people are NOT to go just anywhere to worship him, but to go only where he has placed his name. How do we know where that is? It will be where his manifest glory and presence is to be found! Now ask yourself this question: where you fellowship and worship him collectively with other believers, is the manifest glory and presence of YHVH there to confirm that YHVH has placed his name there? If not, why not? Now let’s read Psalm 63:1–4,
O Elohim, you re my El; early will I seek you: my soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see your power and thy glory, so as I have seen you in the sanctuary. Because your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you. Thus will I bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name. (emphasis added)
Let us briefly analyze the bolded portion of this psalm of David in light of the above discussion. To see is the generic Hebrew verb ra’ah meaning literally “to see.” The word power (Heb. oz) means “might, power and strength.” This too is a generic term.
The next word is glory, which is the Hebrew word kavod literally meaning “heavy or weighty.”In this instance, in reference to YHVH, it refers to “the visible manifestation of God” and his glory and is often associated with his visible manifest presence within the tabernacle (TWOT, vol. 2, p. 943).
The next word in verse two to analyze is have seen, which is an entirely different word in the Hebrew, even though it is the same English word (to see) as used earlier in the verse. Seen is the Hebrew word chazah meaning “to see as a seer/prophet in an ecstatic way with intelligence, to prophesy, to have a vision, to gain spiritual understanding.”
The last word is sanctuary, which is the Hebrew word kodesh and is the name of two rooms in the mishkan/tabernacle: the Kodesh (Set-apart/Holy Place) and the Kodesh haKodashim (Most Set-Apart Place/Holy of Holies).
What can we gather from the wealth of information found in this Psalm? When David hungered and thirsted for YHVH as if he were about to die of thirst, he talked about seeking the presence of YHVH in the Set-Apart Place where YHVH’s name and glorious and manifest presence were to be found. There he could literally experience the presence of YHVH and gain prophetic insight and understanding.
Again, are you experiencing this kind of breakthrough in your daily walk with YHVH, and in the congregation or fellowship where you attend each Sabbath and at YHVH’s appointed-time feasts? If not, why not? What can you do to experience the intimacy with the Father that David experienced and describes here? This needs to be an ongoing and lifelong pursuit for each of us. Like David, are we continually hungering and thirsting for the presence of our Father in heaven as if we were dying of thirst in a parched and desolate desert?
Deuteronomy 12:8,Right in his own eyes. Doing what is right in our own eyes while outside the land of Israel is the religion of the wilderness. That is to say, it is difficult if nearly impossible to keep Torah exactly as YHVH prescribed while living outside the land of Israel. Some believers interpret this to mean that since it is impossible to properly tithe or celebrate the biblical feasts, for example, outside the Promised Land as the Torah prescribes, then why do these things at all? Others take the attitude that we are to serve and obey YHVH and keep his commandments the best we can no matter where we are. The former is a minimalist approach when it comes to obeying YHVH, while the latter takes the maximalist approach. Personally, I choose the latter, for I do not want to be that wicked servant in Yeshua’s Parable of the Talents who buried his talent in the soil and did nothing. Moreover, there is always much to be learned and blessings to be had when our hearts are inclined toward obedience rather than disobedience. Either way, whether we choose to obey YHVH’s commands or not, when living outside the land of Israel, we are still, to one degree or another, doing what’s right in our own eyes. For those of us who are doing our best to follow YHVH’s Torah outside the Promised Land may Nehemiah’s prayer also be ours, “Remember me, my Elohim, for good, according to all that I have done…and do not wipe my good deeds that I have done…and spare me according to the greatness of your mercy…remember me for good” (Neh 5:19; 13:14, 22, 30).
Deuteronomy 12:9,Rest. Heb. menûchâh meaning “repose or (adverbially) peacefully; figuratively consolation (specifically matrimony); hence (concretely) an abode.”
Deuteronomy 12:30ff,Ensnared to follow them. Many well-meaning believers have been snared by heathen-based rituals that have been “Christianized” and called by names such as Christmas, Easter, Lent, Halloween and the like. Have these celebrations of pagan origin snared your heart and mind as well? Why not let go of them and turn your heart toward those things that YHVH as ordained as holy and sacred and are free of any taint of paganism such as his Sabbath and biblical feasts?
Deuteronomy 13
Deuteronomy 13:1,If there arise a prophet.
In the modern (especially Charismatic) church not only is the term “prophet” carelessly thrown about, but so is the term “false prophet,” which is often applied to any Christian who simply “misses” hearing the word of Elohim correctly or interprets incorrectly what he has heard, but is not guilty of leading Elohim’s people astray spiritually into heathenism. We need to fine tune our use of these words and learn how the Bible uses them and then make sure that we do the same.
Too many Christians use the term false prophet too broadly and generically as applying to everyone who either prophecy presumptuously out of the dictates of their own heart, who hears a word from Elohim but incorrectly interpret it or misapply it (as was the case with Nathan the prophet to King David), as well as to evil prophets who lead YHVH’s people away from the Truth of Elohim and into paganism. The difference between a prophet who prophesies out of the dictates of his own heart versus a false prophet who leads YHVH’s astray spiritually must be delineated and not conflated.
The term “false prophet” is not found in the Tanakh (or Old Testament) at all, and is only occurs several times in the Testimony of Yeshua (or New Testament). There it is applied to patently evil, satanic individuals. Therefore, based on the biblical evidence, it is incorrect to apply this term to a godly individual who, for example, makes an accurate prophecy, but gets the dates wrong, or somehow misinterprets a prophetic message from YHVH.
Although the term “false prophet” is not found in the Tanakh, there are many warnings given against individuals who, through their false prophecies, lead YHVH’s people astray into idolatry or who do not urge the people to repent and return to YHVH’s straight paths of Torah-obedience, or who are otherwise involved in ungodly activities (e.g., Deut 13:1–5; 18:20–22; Jer 23:9ff; 28:1ff; Ezek 13:2ff; Isa 28:7). The term “false prophet” does not strictly apply to a godly person who is not leading YHVH’s people into apostasy.
Therefore, based on the biblical evidence, the godly person who “misses it,” so to speak, should be more correctly called a presumptuous prophet (Deut 18:22), or foolish prophet (Ezek 13:2) or a carnal prophet (i.e. who speak out of the flesh; Ezek 13:1), not a false prophet. Based on scriptural evidence, there is no justification for applying the derogatory term “a false prophet” to a Christian who simply misinterprets a prophetic word from Elohim, or who erroneously adds their own ideas to the prophetic word while assuming the message is from heaven. To be sure, one should be wary of such a “prophet,” and, if possible, teach him or her how to hear and interpret a prophetic word correctly from Elohim, but Christians should not reject them as a false prophet. For this reason and for the purpose of accountability, Paul instructed the saints in Jerusalem (and us) to judge the prophets who prophesy in the local congregation (1 Cor 14:29) to ensure that what they are saying is indeed from Elohim and is congruent with his Written Word.
Concerning the qualification of a true prophet from Elohim, the biblical record is clear. Every prophet in the Bible was Torah-compliant. There are no examples of any prophet who was not! Never did a biblical prophet claim that “YHVH’s law was done away with” or that it was for the Jews only, and not for Christians. Beware of and avoid so called Christian “prophets” who either make such false claims or whose lifestyles demonstrate that this is their belief system.
Deuteronomy 13:1–6, A prophet or a dreamer…a sign or a wonder. A prophet may claim to receive his or her vision or “a word from YHVH”, while they are awake in a vision or in a dream while asleep (The ArtScrollStone Edition Chumash, p. 1007). According to Rashi (the Jewish Torah commentator), a sign is a supernatural event in heaven while a wonder is a miraculous event on earth. There are those among the people of YHVH who, as Adam Clarke states in his commentary on this verse, “pretend to have a divine influence, so as to be able perfectly to direct others in the way of salvation” or shows some “miraculous proof of his mission…or some type of representation of what he wishes to bring you over to” (vol. 1, p. 774). Yeshua warned about false prophets in the latter days who would deceive many (Matt 24:11), and false messiahs who might even deceive the “very elect” (verse 24). Paul talks about a “man of sin” that would arise showing signs and lying wonders such that some believers would fall from the truth of the salvation message of the gospel (2 Thess 2:1–12). Paul warns, “do not be soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word…let no man deceive you by any means (verses 2–3). He then (in verses 15–17) encourages the brethren to stand fast in the simple truths of the gospel of Yeshua:
Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. Now our Master Yeshua the Messiah himself, and Elohim, even our Father, which has loved us, and has given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work.
There is no place in the Scriptures that indicates that the ministry of the prophet is not still valid within the body of Yeshua today (see Eph 4:11; 1 Cor 14 entire chapter; also Joel 2)—and all the more so as the time of Yeshua’s return draws near (see Joel 2:28–30).
How then can we tell the true from the false prophets? One simple test is this: All the true prophets of the Bible were obedient to the Torah and often their message involved rebuking YHVH’s people for Torahlessness and urging them to repent and to return to Torah compliance. This is one of the major biblical proofs to determine the validity of a prophet: they are Torah-obedient. Beware of any modern so-called “prophet” who in any way denigrates, speaks derisively of or is ignorant of the Torah. Whether one calls oneself a prophet, or whether other people call someone a prophet is irrelevant. A true prophet of YHVH must be living in accordance with and pointing people to YHVH’s Torah-Word. This is a key factor in validating the legitimacy and accuracy of one’s prophetic ministry.
As you learn more about the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith and the Written Torah-Word of YHVH, are you being led astray from the simple Word of YHVH, whether as found in the Tanakh (OT) or in the Testimony of Yeshua (NT) by people claiming to speak as an oracle from heaven? Deuteronomy 13:3 says that YHVH proves his people “to know whether you love YHVH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul.” Jude, the half brother of Yeshua, speaking of the spiritual delusion to occur in the last days exhorts us to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once and for all delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3). Are you standing firm and earnestly contending for the gospel message, or are you being allured by the siren’s song of the false prophets and teachers who lead people away from the gospel truth into spiritual delusion and eternal oblivion?
Deuteronomy 13:4, You shall walk. Based on the Masoretic Text (or MT, the standard Hebrew text from which nearly all English Bibles are translated), this verse reads as follows:
You shall walk after YHVH your Elohim, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
TheDead Sea Scrolls Bible quoting the Dead Sea Scrolls renders this verse as follows:
You shall walk after YHVH your Elohim, and you shall serve him, and listen to his voice, and cling to him, and fear him, and keep his commandment.
The editors of The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible (DSSB) comment that the syntactical (word order) variation between the two versions is significant, since the latter reading offers a definition of what it means to follow Elohim and a sequence in which the specified actions should be undertaken (p. 166, translated by Abegg, Flint and Ulrich). It could be reasoned that the sequence of steps in the believer’s growth in their walk with YHVH is more accurately stated in the DSSB.
Deuteronomy 13:5, 9–10,Put to death. It is not possible to follow this command today and to put to death apostate false prophets Therefore, all that we can do is to first to warn the false prophet of their sin, and, if they fail to repent of their error, to put the false prophet out of our midsts or to walk away from, that is, to ignore them and to have nothing to do with such a person. It would also be wise to publicly identify them and then to warn others away from the false prophet. Following Yeshua’s instructions in Matthew 18:15–20 would be applicable here.
Deuteronomy 13:18,The voice of YHVH your Elohim. What is the voice of YHVH? Is it not the Torah commandments that he audibly thundered from Mount Sinai to the Israelites and dictated to Moses from the Most Set-Apart Place in the tabernacle? Do we have the right to be selective in our hearing and are you one who “does what is right in his own eyes” (Deut 12:8)? Do you make excuses why YHVH’s words do not apply to you, why you are an exception to the rule, and why your situation is unique and special? Perhaps your finances, your marriage, your health, your family relationships and other areas in your life are a mess because you are not obeying YHVH’s voice. Let’s stop and reflect for a moment on this. Let the Spirit of Elohim speak to or convict you on this matter. Then repent and resolve before YHVH to change your attitude and course of life today!
Deuteronomy 14
Deuteronomy 14:2, A peculiar people. YHVH’s views his saints as a kadosh (holy or set apart) and peculiar or treasured people. The food that we eat (verse 3ff) is a key factor in being set-apart unto YHVH. After all, if we are returning to the Torah or biblical roots of the apostolic Christian faith and learning to study, that is, “eat” and live by YHVH’s Torah, learning to live by the “whole counsel of the Word of Elohim” (Acts 20:27), and coming away from certain paganized practices of the mainstream Christian church, how then can we still eat unclean (both physical and spiritual) food? Eating clean or kosher (pure) spiritual food goes hand-in-hand with eating kosher physical food. Are you still eating “any abominable thing” (verse 3)? These are not my words, but YHVH’s words—or commands! What excuses and carnal rationalizations that many Christians contrive in their minds whereby they make of none effect the word Elohim by their unbiblical traditions (Mark 7:8, 13) such that their belly or taste buds, in effect, become god (Phil 3:19) or an idolatrous stronghold? This is a hard word for some people to receive, but the question must be asked: how much do you love the word of Elohim and how much do you want to imitate the life of Yeshua your Messiah who was a Torah-obedient and kosher food eating rabbi as were all of his Jewish apostles?
Deuteronomy 14:2,You are…a peculiar/treasured people unto himself. The term treasured people/am segulah is used several times in the Torah. For example, in Exodus 19:5–6 when YHVH betrothed himself to and married the people of Israel at Mount Sinai, they became his am segulah or “treasured possession among all the peoples of the nation, as well as a kingdom of priests and a kadosh or set-apart nation.” Here in Deuteronomy, Moses restates this same truth to the younger generation of Israelites about to enter the Promised Land in our present verse, and in Deuteronomy 26:17–19 where again he calls Israel YHVH’s “treasured people” and admonishes them to keep his Torah-commands that he might “make you high above all the nations, which he has made, in praise, and in name, and in honor, and that you may be a set-apart people unto YHVH your Elohim.” What passage in the Testimony of Yeshua does this remind you of? (Read 1 Peter 2:9.) Note that YHVH has chosen us from among all the peoples of the earth. As A Torah Commentary For Our Times points out, “This idea that God selects or designates the people of Israel as an am segulah remains a central belief in Jewish tradition. The prophet Malachi (3:17) uses the term. So does the Psalmist who, singing in the Jerusalem temple, praises God for having ‘chosen Jacob—Israel—as a treasured possession’” (Ps 135:3–4; p. 132). With humility, contrition and gratefulness, do you , as a grafted in Israelite, own this identity? This is who you are and your spiritual identity before Elohim (Eph 2:11–19). Peter repeats this same idea of the saints being a special people to YHVH.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar [or treasured or special] people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of Elohim: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. (1 Pet 2:9–10, emphasis added)
If you know that you are a special treasure and a called-out people destined for great things in the kingdom of Elohim will not the reality of who you are and whose you are and what you are to become affect your walk of righteousness here and now? Does this not inspire you to walk a little higher, a little more set-apart, a little closer to YHVH, and to be a better spiritual light through your words, thoughts and deeds to the heathens around you?
Deuteronomy 14:21, Anything that dies of itself…sell it to a foreigner. Why does YHVH forbid Israelites from eating a presumably kosher animal that dies of itself, but allows it to be sold to a Gentile? Because, as this verse states, Elohim calls his people holy or set apart. Why? Because they are in a covenantal relationship with YHVH; they have been called out of this world; thus, the world’s lower moral standards are not to be their standards. YHVH calls his people to a higher standard than that of the nations around them and this includes the food they eat. On a practical level, YHVH forbids his people from eating blood (Lev 7:26–27; 17:10–13; Deut 12:16; 15:23). When an animal is butchered, it is imperative that the blood be drained immediately (ibid.). However, when an animal dies of itself, the blood that remains in it will immediately begin to coagulate thus preventing the blood from being completely drained from the animal. Again, Torah forbids YHVH’s people from eating blood.
Deuteronomy 15
Deuteronomy 15:4,Except.The implication here seems to be that when lending to someone who is not poor, it is acceptable to expect them to pay you back after the seven year time limit. This is because the rich person doesn’t really need your money, but is likely using it like a business loan or venture capital to make more money.
Deuteronomy 15:7,Among you a poor man.
The Roots of Socialistic Government Welfare HandoutsVs. the Biblical Command to Work & Charitable Giving
Multiple times, the Scriptures enjoins those who have been blessed materially to help those who are poor. In fact, YHVH even has a special place in his heart for those individuals who have fallen into poverty, namely, the widows and the fatherless (Deut 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:19; 26:12–13; 1 Tim 5:3). Let’s now discover some biblical guidelines about charitable giving.
Yeshua declared that the poor would always be among us (Matt 26:11), so there will never be a lack of opportunity for the colloquial “haves” to help “the have-nots.” Furthermore, YHVH promises to bless us when we give to the poor (Ps 41:1–3) as well as to those who have dedicated their lives to serving YHVH’s people through the ministry (Deut 14:29; 16:14; 26:12–13).
In Deuteronomy 15:7, we discover that there are levels of priorities in our charitable giving. Our first responsibility is to help a poor person who is a brother, that is, who is a member of our immediate family, or someone who is like a brother to us. Second, we are to help those in need who reside in our gates, or are a member of our immediate community. Finally, and last, we are enjoined to extend our charitableness toward those who are in need in our own land or country. The idea here is that our charitable giving is to go first to those who live the closest to us, and then go out from there geographically as we are able to do so financially. Too many churches have it backwards. They support the poor in other countries through evangelistic outreach, while neglecting the mission field or charitable giving in their own backyard.
In the Torah, there is a social welfare system in place to help the needy, but it comes with strict guidelines. For example, YHVH instructed the Israelites to set aside a certain portion of their income to help the poor (Deut 14:28–29). For the ancient Israelites, this was a sort of social welfare system whereby those who had been blessed materially were commanded to help those who were in need.
Moreover, the Torah had other social mechanisms whereby those who had fallen into poverty had the means to work themselves out of that economic state. There was no such thing as sitting idly and expecting a handout from society! For example, a poor and indebted person could sell themselves into servitude for a period of time until they worked themselves out of debt (Exod 21:2; Lev 25:39–55). Every seven years, debts were forgiven (Deut 15:1–2). Those who had an abundance financially and were in position to loan money to a poor person were forbidden from charging the lender any interest (Lev 25:35–38). Moreover, a poor person who had land could also sell their land to raise money; however, at the end of the 50 year jubilee cycle, that land would be given back to them (Lev 25:8–17).
Laws were in place where the poor wouldn’t starve to death. Two Torah laws insured this. Those who had agricultural lands were neither to glean their fields after their initial harvest, nor were they to reap the corners of their fields. The poor were allowed to come back into the fields after the harvest and to reap anything that remained (Lev 19:10; 23:22; Deut 24:19–21). Moreover, they were allowed to eat freely of the agricultural produce every seventh year (Exod 33:11). In fact, the entire book of Ruth is the story of how this system worked such that the well-to-do helped the poor. There was no system in place where the government gave a person vouchers to receive free food; you still had to go out and work for it. Paul in the Testimony of Yeshua reiterates this truth.
But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. (1 Tim 5:8)
In our day, too many believers refuse to work and support their family. This includes so-called “dead beat dads” who fail to pay child support, men who rely on their wives to support them financially, and able bodied men who, somehow, have snagged a government disability check but who are fully capable of working. Grifting off of other people and laziness and irresponsibility is not value that the Bible extols, but quite the contrary.
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. (Prov 6:6–11)
There is one key fact that stands out in the Torah’s social welfare system however. The poor had to work for their food. In fact, most Bible students are aware of the fourth commandment, which tells instructs the righteous to rest on the seventh day of the week—the Sabbath. However, many people overlook the rest of this command; namely, everyone is to work for the six days prior to resting on the seventh-day Sabbath. In fact, working for six days is as much a biblical, ten-commandment command as is resting on the seventh day.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of YHVH thy Elohim: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. (Exod 20:9–10, emphasis added)
Moreover, in the Bible, there was no such thing as retirement, or sitting back idly and waiting for a government welfare check to show up in your mailbox, while a person sat around watching television, playing video games or doing social media!
The concept of idly sitting around and collecting public assistance for doing nothing was unheard of in the Bible and is contrary to the Torah. This is a socialistic and an evil Marxist concept and a form of wealth redistribution, which is a form legalized theft, and disincentivizes one from working. We do not live in a so called “workers paradise” despite the propaganda that tells us otherwise. There is no free lunch! This concept is anathema to the biblical concept of hard work, personal responsibility, and encourages laziness and thievery. In fact, socialism according to Karl Marx, who was the father of modern communism, taught that socialism is a step to a complete communist “utopia.” Such a system has proven to be a miserable failure everywhere it has been tried including the Soviet Union, Cuba, Communist China, North Korea Cambodia, Venezuela and many more countries. Who wants to live in such places? If such a system is so successful and acceptable, then why Marxist-socialistic governments have to construct walls to keep their people from escaping these countries, and why do people risk their lives trying to escape?
Moreover, so called “democratic socialism” has not proven to be a success story either, but has resulted in high taxes, loss of personal liberties, highly regulated societies, government over-reach, high costs of living and massive debts in the countries where it has been tried.
Socialism and communism are a failure in part because they disincentivize people from working hard and enjoying the fruits of their labors. Socialism also promotes laziness, stifles creativity, free enterprise and ingenuity. This is because the more one works, the more the government takes from a person and gives to those who do not work. Why work hard and be creative under such a system when the rewards for your work will just get taken from you anyway? That is why socialistic economies eventually go to ruination and result in the devolution of societies.
Socialism is a system that is based on theft, greed, covetousness and the love of money and power by the ruling elite as the expense of the working person. The devil who comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10) is the father of communism. Simple-minded people fall for the lies of socialism and communism in hopes of getting something for nothing. Thus socialism and communism prey on man’s innate penchant toward laziness and inertia.
Modern socialism and communism, the brainchild of Karl Marx, a God-hating Luciferian, promotes legalized theft, murder and destruction. Why wouldn’t it? It originates from the mind of Satan. Socialism operates an the basis of government mandated legalized theft and destroys free enterprise, one’s incentive to work hard and the desire for self-improvement. Such a system is ungodly and Satanic and brings about the destruction of society and personal well-being.
Above and beyond all of this, socialism does not encourage a man to work to provide for his own household as the Bible commands. If one does not work to support his family, according to Paul, he “has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever [or a heathen]” (1 Tim 5:8). This is a serious indictment against socialism and those who live on social welfare! In fact, with regard to the church helping those who were poor, Paul declared that those who refused to work should not eat (2 Thess 3:10). The idea here is that if one gets hungry enough, he will get of the couch and find a job, since hunger is a powerful motivator to finding employment!
At the same time, YHVH requires the righteous to help those who are legitimately in need, especially the widows. However, before a widow could become dependent upon the church, the widow’s family was to support her financially (1 Tim 5:4). For widows over the age of 60, there were stringent requirements before she could receive any financial help from the church; namely, she had to be performing acts of service to members of the church (1 Tim 5:9–10). A widow who was younger was required to work or to marry someone who could support her financially (1 Tim 5:11–14). At the same time, there is no mention here of the church or society having to care for a single man over the age of 60! Evidently, Paul expected man to work.
One thing is clear in the Bible with regard to the poor, there are no examples of lazy, pan-handlers or able bodied people receiving financial assistance from society, and there are no requirements for the saints to help such people.
Moreover, the global trend and march toward socialism and communism encourages the very things that the Bible denounces and will thus result in everyone being in poverty except for the super-rich who control the means of production and the distribution of goods. Such a system enveloping and strangling the earth was prophesied long ago to occur in the last days before the second coming (see Revelation chapters 13 and 18). Such an economic and political system if a form of neo-feudalsim where the ruling elites (the bankers, industrial oligarchs along with their political cronies control the working class for their personal benefit and “lived luxuriously” (Rev 18:9) even to the point of trafficking in “the bodies of souls and men” (Rev 18:13). One verse in Revelation sums up this neo-feudalistic, so called “workers’ paradises”:
…for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries [Gr. pharmakeia] were all nations deceived. (Rev 18:24lp)
Deuteronomy 15:9,Your eye be evil. This is a Hebraic idiom for one who is covetous. (This phrase is also found in Prov 23:6; 28:22; Matt 6:23; 20:15; Mark 7:22; Luke 11:34.)
Deuteronomy 15:10,Elohim will bless you. Here we see the law of reciprocity revealed, that is, what goes around comes around. When we give charity to those who are unable to repay us, YHVH insures that we will be blessed.
Deuteronomy 15:17,Take an awl…door. The permanent hole that is left in the door after this ritual is performed will be a visible proof and silent testimony to all who enter that house that the servant has chosen to remain and to serve that family forever.
Deuteronomy 16
Deuteronomy 16:1ff, Keeping the biblical feasts. How important are YHVH’s feast days (annual set-apart times or moedim) to you? The ancient Israelites and first-century Book of Acts saints planned their entire year’s schedule around them. That was how important YHVH’s annual festivals were to the biblical saints. Many saints will travel long distances to take a vacation or to go to a conference, and yet at the same time fail to set aside the time to obey YHVH’s voice by keeping his appointed times. How easy it is let our jobs, school or other secular activities dictate how or if we keep the feasts or not. When this occurs, what does this scream loudly about the status of our spiritual priorities? What does Elohim think about our excuses about why we cannot take the time and effort observe these holy times that he has commanded us to do, yet we are able to find the time to satiate our carnal desires and appetites?
Let us not forget that YHVH’s biblical feast days are the skeletal framework of his entire plan of redemption (or salvation) for mankind including those under the new covenant who keep his commandments and have the testimony of Yeshua the Messiah (see John 14:15, 21; Rev 12:17; 14:12; 22:14). One cannot, in good conscience, be true to biblical Truth and keep the weekly Sabbath without keeping YHVH’s annual sabbaths. The weekly Sabbath and YHVH’s annual sabbaths or feasts stand and fall together.
Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths [i.e., YHVH’s weekly and annual sabbaths or feasts] ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am YHVH that doth sanctify you. (Exod 31:13)
Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am YHVH your Elohim.…Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am YHVH. (Lev 19:3, 30)
Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am YHVH that sanctify them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.…Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.…And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am YHVH your Elohim. Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.…Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols. (Ezek 20:12–13, 16, 20–21, 24)
Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths. (Ezek 22:8)
In the final analysis, jobs, schooling, friends and the praises and acceptance of men will all pass away, but our relationship with Elohim will determine our eternal destiny including the rewards we receive in YHVH’s eternal kingdom (Rev 19:8; 20:12–13). Isn’t it time that we got serious about putting YHVH-Yeshua first in our lives by loving him and keeping his commandments including making time for him in our lives by observing his sabbaths (John 14:15, 21)?
Deuteronomy 16:9, Sickle to the grain.Can a barley farmer reap his field before the wavesheaf offering is made on Firstfruits Day? According to the first century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, the Jews did not cut their barley harvest prior to Firstfruits Day.
But on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth day of the month, they first partake of the fruits of the earth, for before that day, they do not touch them. And while they suppose it proper to honour God, from whom they obtain this plentiful provision, in the first place, they offer the first-fruits of their barley, and that in the manner following: They take a handful of ears the ears, and dry them, then beat them small, and purge the barely from the bran; they then bring deal to the altar, to God: and, casting one handful of it upon the fire, they leave the rest for the use of the priest; and after this it is that they may publicly or privately reap their harvest” (Antiquities of the Jews, book 3, 10:5, emphasis added).
Based on Josephus’ testimony and Deuteronomy 16:10), some people take the position that the Israelites could neither harvest their spring barely crop, nor eat it until the priests first offered the wavesheaf offering. But does this Jewish tradition actually line up with the Torah? Not all Jewish traditions do (Mark 7:9).
In the past, I taught that a farmer could neither reap nor eat of his barley before Firstfruits or Wavesheaf Day. Upon closer examination of the Torah scriptures relating to this subject, I have changed my position on this point. This is because the Torah does not actually prohibit a farmer from reaping his barley field should it come ripe prior to Wavesheaf Day, just as long as he does not eat of it.
The Torah mandates that one cannot eat any barley from their crop until the Firstfruits Day offering is made (Lev 23:14). But what if a farmer’s barley came ripe before Firstfruits Day? Could he harvest his crop as long as he did not eat of it until the omer offering was made? Actually, there is no prohibition in the Torah from doing this. Some may point to Deuteronomy 16:9 as proof that a farmer is prohibited from cutting his barley before Firstfruits Day.
You shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain.
Now let’s compare this passage to a more detailed instruction found earlier in the Torah and one which is more specific to Firstfruits Day.
Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. ‘He shall wave the sheaf before YHVH, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to YHVH.’ (Lev 23:10–12)
In this scripture, we find two action occurring. They are reapingthe barley harvest and subsequently bringing that harvest to the local priest who lived in the farmer’s village or region. Nowhere does this verse say that the reaping of the grain and the day the priest must make the wave offering (on Firstfruits Day) are on the same day. That is to say, if a farmer’s field of barley comes ripe earlier than Firstfruits Day, he is not prohibited from reaping it; rather, he simply is prohibited from eating the barley before Firstfruits Day (Lev 23:14). Therefore, the barley farmer has the Torah’s permission to reap his crop before Firstfruits Day (as long as he does not eat it). This insures that he will not lose his crop (i.e., the barley seed will not fall to the ground), while he is waiting for the omer offering to be made on First Fruits Day.
This is important because even though Israel is a small country, because of its extreme elevations and topographical variations as well as climate differentials, there is a wide time frame in which the barley in different regions comes ripe. For example, the barley in warmer regions at lower elevations tends to ripen before the barley in higher elevation. And because there are so many microclimates, grain may ripen in one valley, while in the next valley it may still be green. Therefore, the farmer needs to have the liberty to reap his grain, if necessary, before the wavesheaf offering is made, for fear the grain will come ripe and drop the ground, while the farmer is waiting for Wavesheaf Day to occur. Ancient farmers could not afford to lose their crops then any more than they can today.
Since the Leviticus 23:10–12 passage is the primary command pertaining to Firstfruits Day and gives us more specific information and occurs prior to the Deuteronomy 16:9 passage, the basic rules of biblical interpretation (or hermeneutics) require use to interpret the latter passage in light of the former passage and not vice versa. Moreover, Deuteronomy 16:9 is a general rule that informs us when the barley harvest generally was to commence, and not a specific command stating when or when not an individual farmer could begin harvesting his barley grain. This is why Deuteronomy 16:9 cannot be cherry-picked out as a stand-alone verse without the previous context of Leviticus 23:10–14 taken into consideration.
Deuteronomy 16:13, After that. How was it possible to keep the Feast of Tabernacles only after all the crops had been gathered in? Understanding the Hebrew resolves the question. The KJV reads:
Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine.
The word corn in Hebrew goren meaning “barn, barn floor, corn floor.” Hirsch in his commentary on this verse translates it as follows:
The Festival of Sukkoth shalt thou make unto thyself seven days, by gathering up from thy barn and they wine-press.
Other translations render it accordingly:
…when you gather in from your threshing flow and from your wine vat. (ASET)
…after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat (NAS95, NKJV)
On the meaning of this verse, Hirsch comments that you are to keep the Festival of Sukkot when you gather up from your barn and your wine press, and not from that which as still joined to the ground, and still belongs to nature.
Deuteronomy 16:16,Three times in a year…in the place which he shall choose. The imminent Jewish sage of the nineteenth century, Samson Raphael Hirsch, as to why we separate ourselves from the world during the three pilgrimage or aliyah festivals, said in his commentary on Deuteronomy 16:16: “[T]hree times in the year all the individual members of the nation [of Israel] are to appear out of all isolation personally before the Presence of the One God of the nation in the circle around the one common Sanctuary and thereby become conscious of each one being in connection with all the others, with God, and with His Torah.”
