BenAvraham
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PARASHAH: “KI TAVO” (When you enter in) DEUT 26:1-29:9
We are coming to the end of Moses' earthly ministry, and he reiterates again the importance of following and obeying the Torah of Elohim(The Words and Commandments of God). “
Moshe starts off with, “when you enter the land that YHVH gives you as an inheritance…” they will be planting and harvesting crops like wheat, barley, corn, etc. In the third year of harvest, the people must give tithes and offerings of whatever they harvest. Tithes to the priests, where? “to the place where YHVH your God chooses to have his name dwell! They must also care for the widows, orphans, foreigners, etc., giving them also from the tithe and offerings of the crops. This is so that everyone is taken care of.
Back then, there was no such thing as food banks and food stamps. God’s people were responsible for caring for each other. The same thing should exist today; if there are brothers and sisters in the faith who are suffering, God’s people should take care of them until they can get back on their feet. Today, we must not only give monetary tithes and offerings to our congregations, since this is where YHVH has chosen to place his name, but we can also give of our time and talent. Whatever spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit has given us, we can give back and minister to others.
Also, when the people offered up their tithes and offerings of their crops, they would recite to the priest, “a wandering Aramean was my father…” and the people would affirm that he was oppressed by the Egyptians, and were in slavery, yet taken out of Egypt by a mighty hand…” This reminds us of the story of Passover. If we were to recite the same thing, or almost the same thing, what would we say? We could probably say: “We were a wandering lost people, on our way to hell, and Messiah Yeshua took us out of the bondage of sin, away from Satan's rule.
Moshe continues to say to his people, “Today you have affirmed that YHVH is your God and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments, and ordinances, and obey him. And today, YHVH has affirmed that you are His special people as He promised you……You will be a "Holy People" to YHVH your God as He promised.
Something is interesting in Chapter 27, it says: “Keep all the Commandment which I command you this day.” Why is it written in the singular “HaMitzvah?” and not in the plural “commandments?” Could it be that all the commandments are boiled down to one singular commandment, to “Love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, soul, and strength? And if thus be the case, then, when we love the LORD our Elohim, we will obey His WORD?
There is another interesting detail in this chapter: the Israelites had to take stones (Avanim) and cover them with plaster and write upon the stones the words of the blessings and the curses. Probably took more many stones to do that. Once across the River Jordan, they would set those stones up as witnesses. Those stones would be set up on Har Ebal (Mt. Ebal), the word “Avanim” (stones) comes from the singular “Aven,” which is the combination of “Av” and “Ben” (Father and Son)
The Israelites would also make a stone altar made of “unhewn stones” (uncut stones). The Hebrew word for “unhewn” is “Sh’leimot” which has a root word “Shalom” (Peace) the word “Sh’leimot” spelled in Hebrew would be “Sheen, lamed, mem, vav, tav” (sh + l + m + v + t) if we put the “vav” before the “mem” we get “Shalom” (peace) and the “Tav” symbolizes “Covenant” so we see in the altar “Covenant of Peace.”
The other question is: “Why unhewn” or “uncut?” Why is it that the stones of the altar and the stones where the Mitzvoth were to be written on had to be uncut? We might answer this question in this way: “Unhewn stones are stones of 'Shalom' (peace) because no iron implement would be used on them. Swords, spear-heads, knives, and all cutting tools are made of iron. These are implements of “War”, these implements “divide asunder” chop, cut, divide, destroy! Whereas the unhewn altar stones speak of “peace, and unity” where fallen man comes to make peace with G-d. Through Yeshua, who is the “Peace-offering,” makes us all “Kadoshim” (Holy)
Every born-again believer today is part of His “AM KADOSH” (Holy People) through being "grafted in" even though we were not born and raised in Israel, and perhaps our parents weren’t either. The Commonwealth of Israel has extended from that specific group of Israelites that were ready to cross the Jordan River, to ALL people who embrace the God of All creation and accept the blood atonement of Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Christ), and so become part of HIS family, we have been all called out and separated from the rest of the world, a world that rejects God and all that is holy. We are the “odd-balls” of the world. But it is good to be that kind of an oddball.
Curses and Blessings are listed starting in chapter 27:13 - 28:69. Can we say that "blessings and curses" are part of everyday life? They depend on our obedience or disobedience in all aspects of law in our societies. Here are some examples;
“Cursed is the person who: makes carved idol images, who dishonors parents, who moves boundary markers, who leads a blind person astray, who denies justice to foreigners, who does illicit sexual practices, who commits murder, who accepts bribes to kill an innocent person, and all those who does not put the Torah into practice.
"Not to make graven images." We see this commandment as one of the 10 Commandments. Our LORD and God is to be worshiped in "Spirit and in Truth", not to be represented by an image. Israel was surrounded for 400 years by Egyptian deities. This "idol" mentality had to be broken.
“Removing boundary markers!” The Word of God makes boundaries for us NOT to cross over. God’s Word is like a fence; it keeps us in and keeps evil out. Cross the boundary marker, or “take away” boundary markers, then we are “taking away” from God’s WORD; we are headed for trouble.
“Leading a blind person astray,” who would intentionally do that, one may ask? But when one brings erroneous or bad teaching of God’s Word to people, it is “leading astray, those who do not know God’s Word, many being “blind” to the truth, and leading others away from the truth.
Yeshua took the curse of sin from us, and nailed all of our disobedience to the cross of Calvary, so even when we do sin, and fail to put the “words of the Torah” into practice, there is forgiveness when there is sincere repentance, As Yeshua told the woman who was caught in the act of adultery, “I condemn thee not, go and sin no more” If the one who could have condemned her, did not, but forgave her, we also can receive forgiveness. Remember, first comes a personal salvation experience with Yeshua, which leads us to follow the Word of God, in that order, never the other way around. (we are saved unto good works, not to do good works to be saved)
But on a better note, there are blessings for obedience! IF we obey. Blessings and curses are always and have always been conditional. It is up to us to follow in the Master’s footsteps, following the Master’s words. There are earthly blessings and eternal blessings, the best of both worlds.
Bringing offerings of fruit and harvest produce
We are coming to the end of Moses' earthly ministry, and he reiterates again the importance of following and obeying the Torah of Elohim(The Words and Commandments of God). “
Moshe starts off with, “when you enter the land that YHVH gives you as an inheritance…” they will be planting and harvesting crops like wheat, barley, corn, etc. In the third year of harvest, the people must give tithes and offerings of whatever they harvest. Tithes to the priests, where? “to the place where YHVH your God chooses to have his name dwell! They must also care for the widows, orphans, foreigners, etc., giving them also from the tithe and offerings of the crops. This is so that everyone is taken care of.
Back then, there was no such thing as food banks and food stamps. God’s people were responsible for caring for each other. The same thing should exist today; if there are brothers and sisters in the faith who are suffering, God’s people should take care of them until they can get back on their feet. Today, we must not only give monetary tithes and offerings to our congregations, since this is where YHVH has chosen to place his name, but we can also give of our time and talent. Whatever spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit has given us, we can give back and minister to others.
Also, when the people offered up their tithes and offerings of their crops, they would recite to the priest, “a wandering Aramean was my father…” and the people would affirm that he was oppressed by the Egyptians, and were in slavery, yet taken out of Egypt by a mighty hand…” This reminds us of the story of Passover. If we were to recite the same thing, or almost the same thing, what would we say? We could probably say: “We were a wandering lost people, on our way to hell, and Messiah Yeshua took us out of the bondage of sin, away from Satan's rule.
Moshe continues to say to his people, “Today you have affirmed that YHVH is your God and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments, and ordinances, and obey him. And today, YHVH has affirmed that you are His special people as He promised you……You will be a "Holy People" to YHVH your God as He promised.
Something is interesting in Chapter 27, it says: “Keep all the Commandment which I command you this day.” Why is it written in the singular “HaMitzvah?” and not in the plural “commandments?” Could it be that all the commandments are boiled down to one singular commandment, to “Love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, soul, and strength? And if thus be the case, then, when we love the LORD our Elohim, we will obey His WORD?
There is another interesting detail in this chapter: the Israelites had to take stones (Avanim) and cover them with plaster and write upon the stones the words of the blessings and the curses. Probably took more many stones to do that. Once across the River Jordan, they would set those stones up as witnesses. Those stones would be set up on Har Ebal (Mt. Ebal), the word “Avanim” (stones) comes from the singular “Aven,” which is the combination of “Av” and “Ben” (Father and Son)
The Israelites would also make a stone altar made of “unhewn stones” (uncut stones). The Hebrew word for “unhewn” is “Sh’leimot” which has a root word “Shalom” (Peace) the word “Sh’leimot” spelled in Hebrew would be “Sheen, lamed, mem, vav, tav” (sh + l + m + v + t) if we put the “vav” before the “mem” we get “Shalom” (peace) and the “Tav” symbolizes “Covenant” so we see in the altar “Covenant of Peace.”
The other question is: “Why unhewn” or “uncut?” Why is it that the stones of the altar and the stones where the Mitzvoth were to be written on had to be uncut? We might answer this question in this way: “Unhewn stones are stones of 'Shalom' (peace) because no iron implement would be used on them. Swords, spear-heads, knives, and all cutting tools are made of iron. These are implements of “War”, these implements “divide asunder” chop, cut, divide, destroy! Whereas the unhewn altar stones speak of “peace, and unity” where fallen man comes to make peace with G-d. Through Yeshua, who is the “Peace-offering,” makes us all “Kadoshim” (Holy)
Every born-again believer today is part of His “AM KADOSH” (Holy People) through being "grafted in" even though we were not born and raised in Israel, and perhaps our parents weren’t either. The Commonwealth of Israel has extended from that specific group of Israelites that were ready to cross the Jordan River, to ALL people who embrace the God of All creation and accept the blood atonement of Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Christ), and so become part of HIS family, we have been all called out and separated from the rest of the world, a world that rejects God and all that is holy. We are the “odd-balls” of the world. But it is good to be that kind of an oddball.
Curses and Blessings are listed starting in chapter 27:13 - 28:69. Can we say that "blessings and curses" are part of everyday life? They depend on our obedience or disobedience in all aspects of law in our societies. Here are some examples;
“Cursed is the person who: makes carved idol images, who dishonors parents, who moves boundary markers, who leads a blind person astray, who denies justice to foreigners, who does illicit sexual practices, who commits murder, who accepts bribes to kill an innocent person, and all those who does not put the Torah into practice.
"Not to make graven images." We see this commandment as one of the 10 Commandments. Our LORD and God is to be worshiped in "Spirit and in Truth", not to be represented by an image. Israel was surrounded for 400 years by Egyptian deities. This "idol" mentality had to be broken.
“Removing boundary markers!” The Word of God makes boundaries for us NOT to cross over. God’s Word is like a fence; it keeps us in and keeps evil out. Cross the boundary marker, or “take away” boundary markers, then we are “taking away” from God’s WORD; we are headed for trouble.
“Leading a blind person astray,” who would intentionally do that, one may ask? But when one brings erroneous or bad teaching of God’s Word to people, it is “leading astray, those who do not know God’s Word, many being “blind” to the truth, and leading others away from the truth.
Yeshua took the curse of sin from us, and nailed all of our disobedience to the cross of Calvary, so even when we do sin, and fail to put the “words of the Torah” into practice, there is forgiveness when there is sincere repentance, As Yeshua told the woman who was caught in the act of adultery, “I condemn thee not, go and sin no more” If the one who could have condemned her, did not, but forgave her, we also can receive forgiveness. Remember, first comes a personal salvation experience with Yeshua, which leads us to follow the Word of God, in that order, never the other way around. (we are saved unto good works, not to do good works to be saved)
But on a better note, there are blessings for obedience! IF we obey. Blessings and curses are always and have always been conditional. It is up to us to follow in the Master’s footsteps, following the Master’s words. There are earthly blessings and eternal blessings, the best of both worlds.
Bringing offerings of fruit and harvest produce