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The BibleTruth.cc Torah Study Series Parashat Va'etchanan "And I Besought" Devarim [Deuteronomy] 3:23-7:11 !N:ßx;t.a,w" "And I pleaded" from !n:x' vb. shew favour, be gracious Theme In Parashat Va'etchanan, Mosheh continues to recount the events that transpired in the past which resulted in the next generation preparing to enter into the Promised Land. First, Mosheh remembers how he pleaded with Yahuwah to allow him to enter into the Land. Next, Mosheh pleads with all Yisrael that they might obey all the commandments "from now on" since the previous generation had rebelled and forfeited entry into the Land. Mosheh also recalls the giving of the Ten Matters at Sinai and Israel's verbal response of acceptance of the Covenant. This is followed by the "Shema" in which the whole matter of Covenant with Yahuwah is summarized by the Love commandment. And this is followed by warnings of the consequences of disobedience and a summary of the actions of a set apart people to eliminate all vestiges of pagan idolatry from the land. Sedarim Mosheh Calls for Israel's Obedience The Ten Matters (10 Commandments) Yisrael Accepts the Offer of Covenant Instructions for a Set-Apart People Prophetic Pictures in this Week's Torah Portion Prophetic End Time Shadows in the Torah Parashah
23 At that time I pleaded with Yahuwah: 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Yarden. There are several views on what Mosheh's sin was that resulted in Yahuwah forbidding him to enter the Land. The incident is recorded in Bamidbar 20: 7 Yahuwah said to Mosheh, Some would say that its because Mosheh struck the rock rather than speaking to it. Others say that its because he struck it twice. But the real reason is that which verse 12 plainly says: they did not honor Yahuwah as holy. Mosheh and Aharon, in their angry temper tantrum, did not represent the character of Yahuwah correctly. It was a combination of their attitude (as though they actually could bring water out of a rock - it was Yahuwah who was doing it), and their unrighteous anger toward the people and the temper tantrum of striking the rock, not once, but twice, that was a misrepresentation of Yahuwah. Up until this incident, Mosheh had been very humble and meek, but he lost control here, and forfeited the opportunity to enter into the Promised Land. "At that time" is the time indicator and follows a series of events which happened in the fortieth year. This event occurred after the defeat of Sihon and Og. So, in the fortieth year, Mosheh again pleads with Yahuwah to allow him to enter the Land, and Yahuwah says "No" and not to ask again, because he will not change his mind on this matter. 28 But commission Yahusha, and encourage and strengthen him, for he
will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land
that you will see." It
is a significant prophetic revelation that Yahusha (a.k.a. Joshua) son
of Nun is the one appointed to bring Yahuwah's people into the promised
Land. Here, he foreshadows another Yahusha (of Nazareth) who was
to be appointed to bring all of the regathered house of Israel into the
Promised Land. Mosheh Calls for Israel's Obedience 4:1 Hear now, O Yisrael, the decrees and
laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may
go in and take possession of the land that Yahuwah, the Elohim of your
fathers, is giving you. Here, Mosheh is getting set to teach this generation about the laws taught to him 39 years prior when he met Elohim on Mt. Sinai. Mosheh does not at this time receive another revelation of the Torah. He is reiterating was was taught to him earlier. Contrary to what is popularly taught in Christian and Messianic congregations, the Torah is, in some sense, life giving. Mosheh says that following them will result in life and inheritance. This is taught in many places in the Torah, especially throughout Devarim. Two examples of this are in Devarim 6:10, "And if we are careful to obey all this law before Yahuwah our Elohim, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness." The keeping of the commandments is seen as righteousness in Yahuwah's eyes. And second, Devarim 30:15-20, where loving Yahuwah and walking in his commandments is equated with life, and disobedience is equated with curse. Thus, life and righteousness are obtained by one's loyalty to Elohim as expressed by the keeping of the commandments. This is why verse 2 emphatically instructs us not to add to or subtract from the commandments he gives us. Any additional commandments are man-made and have no value in imputing righteousness. Loyalty to Elohim is expressed by following his, and only his, commandments. The commandments of the Rabbis are not to be placed on the same level as the commandment of Scriptures. The commandments of the Christian pastors and teachers are not to be placed as equal to the commandments of Elohim. 3 You saw with your own eyes what Yahuwah did at Baal Peor. Yahuwah your
Elohim destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, This is a reference to the incident as recorded in Bamidbar 25 when many Israeli men were indulging in sexual immorality with Moabite women and were eating and worshipping before their gods. Yahuwah was angry and brought a plague on Israel which struck down 24,000 people. It was through Aharon's zeal in running through an adulterous couple with a spear that stopped the plague. Those who remained loyal to Yahuwah "are still alive today." 5 See, I have taught you decrees and laws as Yahuwah my Elohim commanded
me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take
possession of it. The Torah of Elohim is a unique document and set of laws. There is none like it among men. No other law code can compare to it in its wise discharge of righteous rulings. It does not discriminate in any way based on color, race or social status. It speaks directly and candidly to what is fair and equitable in settling disputes between parties. Israel is surely blessed as a nation to have been given the precise instructions on how people may live together in harmony and peace. And yet, it is a two edged sword! Rejection of the Torah and of Elohim would result in untold curses, plagues and hardships. Thus, the one possessing the Torah of Elohim must be careful to guard themselves and not to forget to do all of the Torah, lest the curses be brought upon them for misrepresenting the righteous character of Elohim (as Mosheh did only once, and lost his right to enter the Land). 10 Remember the day you stood before Yahuwah your Elohim at Horeb, when
he said to me, "Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that
they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may
teach them to their children."
14 And Yahuwah directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and
laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Yarden to
possess.
41 Then Mosheh set aside three cities east of the Yarden,
44 This is the Torah Mosheh set before the sons of Yisrael.
The Ten Matters (10 Commandments) 6 "I am Yahuwah your
Elohim, who brought you out of Mitzrayim, out of the land of slavery. The Ten Matters are as follows:
This list may look different from that which the reader is accustomed to seeing. Allow me to give the reasons why this is the correct listing of the ten matters. First, the Hebrew devarim, sometimes translated here as commandments, actually means words, things, matters. Thus, these are not the "Ten Commandments," as we have for so long been led to believe, but the Ten Matters. In actuality, these verses contain 16 commandments in the Hebrew, but they comprise only ten subjects or matters. The first four commandments speak to the subject of having other elohim (gods). So, we're told, Do not have others elohim. Do not make for yourself an idol. Do not bow down to them. Do not serve them. These four commandments address the one matter of having other elohim besides Yahuwah. Likewise, the Third Matter, that of guarding the Sabbath day, actually consists of four distinct commands. First, Guard the Sabbath day to separate it. Second, six days you shall work and do all your labor. Third, you shall not do any work. Fourth, remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. Clearly, these four commandments are all related to separating the Sabbath day unto Yahuwah, just as the first four commandments above are all related to the matter of having no other elohim besides Yahuwah. Now, the ninth and tenth matters are usually thought to be the "tenth commandment" by most of Protestant Christianity. But, in the Hebrew, they are two distinct commands. The verb for "lusting" over your fellow's wife, and the verb for "desiring" your fellow's things are two different words in the Hebrew. They are two separate matters. This revised list of the Ten Matters may blow a hole in some people's theology or their concocted applications of these things, but it is important to be faithful to the Hebrew text and allow it to say what it says. There should be no reason why, armed with this technical information about the Hebrew text, there should be any resistance in accepting this translation and interpretation of the Ten Matters, and discarding the old way of thinking. However, this list of the Ten Matters reads slightly differently than the same list in Shemot 20. I will address the differences there. Here in Devarim we have recorded how Mosheh was retelling of the giving of the Torah at the end of the time of the wandering in the wilderness. The sons of Israel were near to the time of entering the land of promise, and Mosheh wanted to review with them the great acts of Yahuwah in the redemption from Egypt and retell them the laws and right-rulings which Yahuwah had instructed Mosheh to tell all of Israel. So Mosheh recounts the experience on Sinai when Yahuwah spoke to him and to all of Israel face to face out of the midst of the fire. And Yahuwah spoke the ten matters (or "ten commandments") to Israel. As Mosheh recounts this event to Israel at this time, he exhorts them to "guard the day of Sabbath to set it apart, just as Yahuwah your Elohim has commanded you." The difference between this retelling and the original event is a subtle one. In the original delivery of the ten matters, Yahuwah commands Israel to "remember" to separate the Sabbath day, while here Mosheh exhorts Israel to "guard" the Sabbath to separate it. The act of "guarding" the Sabbath encompasses the "remembering" of the Sabbath. To guard it implies a careful, focused exercise of observing the Sabbath in all its details and requirements. Next, he reviews what it means to set apart the Sabbath: you are to serve and do all your work on the six days, but on the seventh day you are to do no work at all. This day belongs to Yahuwah your Elohim. Furthermore, neither you shall work nor any of your family members who live in your home, nor your slaves or servants (hired, resident workers). Neither are any of your working animals to work on the Sabbath. And finally, even your resident visitor must rest on the Sabbath day. The reason for this is that everyone is to have rest and meeting time with Elohim. Now to this point, the account of this "fourth matter" is essentially the same as told in Exodus 20. But here, the reason for the Sabbath stoppage (i.e. rest) diverges from the original giving of the Torah. At Mt. Sinai, the reason for the command to cease your work on the seventh day is that Yahuwah ceased on the seventh day from his labor which he performed for the six days. Since Yahuwah rested on the seventh day, he has commanded all men to rest on the seventh day. Here, the reason Yahuwah commands you to guard the Sabbath day, is that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and by his mighty hand, Yahuwah rescued you from your bondage. The point being made is not that Yahuwah has changed his mind about why you should keep the Sabbath. It is clear that the reason he set apart the seventh day is that He himself rested on that day and declared that day to be blessed and to be separated from the other days. Now, he is giving an additional incentive (reason) why he has the authority to command you to guard the Sabbath day: He and he alone rescued your life from your oppressor and is bringing you into a land of blessing and freedom. He has the authority to require that you guard the Sabbath because he is your Master and your Savior and is your Elohim who watches over you and protects you. We are no longer our own person. We have been bought at a price and have been rescued from the enemy. Therefore we are obligated, certainly out of a grateful heart of love, to obey our Master and our Elohim in all matters. And this includes this matter of guarding the Sabbath day to set it apart! Yisrael Accepts the Offer of Covenant 23 When you heard the
voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was ablaze with fire, all
the leading men of your tribes and your elders came to me.
6:1 These are the commands, decrees and laws Yahuwah your Elohim
directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing
the Yarden to possess, “This is the
commandment…” vs 1
Statute
Judgment Shema' Devarim
6:4 Shema -
Listen, pay attention, heed, obey, “do it”
One
To Love Yahweh To Love Yahweh = Keep the Commandments 10 When
Yahuwah your Elohim brings you into the land he swore to your fathers,
to Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'acov, to give you-- a land with large,
flourishing cities you did not build,
Instructions for a Set-Apart People 7:1 When Yahuwah your
Elohim brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives
out before you many nations-- the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites,
Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and
stronger than you--
Prophetic End
Time Shadows in the Torah Parashah
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