Commentary - Year 3 Sabbath 27

Deuteronomy 5:1-33  -   (no prophet)   -   Psalm 124   -   Romans 10:1-17, 13:8-14

Tishrei  8, 5764 / October 4, 2003 

Tishrei  8, 5767 / October 1, 2006

Tishrei  8, 5770 /  Sept. 26, 2009

Tishrei 13, 5773 / Sept. 29, 2012

Tishrei  6, 5776 /  Sept. 19, 2015

Vayiqra Moshe / Moses Summoned  SCRIPTURES should be read first

Torah and Sin:

The Torah teaches us to love God and hate sin. In it we are given mitzvot (commandments), first to love God, and second to love our neighbor as ourselves. These are further expanded to ten commandments - five showing how to love God and five showing how to love our neighbor, who is created in the image of God. These ten are further expanded to 613 commandments.

All are under sin (Galatians 3:22), and sin desires to rule over man, but man is commanded to rule over sin (Genesis 4:7). Since sin is the transgression of the Torah (I John 3:4), and whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23), it may be concluded that transgressing the Torah is contrary to acting in faith.

By one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and death by sin (Romans 5:12). We inherited a sinful nature. There is no "Adamic sin", that is sin imputed to us from Adam; it is common but unbiblical teaching that (1) Christ died for Adamic sin of all, (2) baptism covers Adamic sin, and (3) that Christ died for all sins of everyone except the sin of unbelief. In our final redemption, when we receive our resurrection bodies, we will leave behind our inherited nature.

For the present, we are to hide the Torah in our hearts, so that we do not sin against God (Psalm 119:11). In the fulfillment of the Renewed Covenant, God will write the Torah on our hearts, and we will sin no more.

Yeshua was so named because He came to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).Yeshua came to take away the sin of the world - not only Jews (John 1:29).

Sin has no dominion (rule) over the righteous, because they are under grace, not law. That means they cannot be condemned to death by the law because their penalty has been paid. It does not give license to freely transgress the law – sin.

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 to you, Till heaven and earth shall pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (Matthew 5:17-18)

Whoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19)

The New Covenant

Behold, the days come, saith Yahweh, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith Yahweh: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith Yahweh,

·         I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts;

·         and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

·         And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.  (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Yahweh; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:.  (Hebrews 8:10-11)

·         And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:3)

·         In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Yahweh of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the (false) prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.  (Zechariah 13:1-2)

The word new in New Covenant literally means renewed.

The First Covenant was Torah written on stone, and it was broken by man. We are commanded to write it on our hearts, but we still continually break it.

The New Covenant is Torah written on the heart by God, and it will never be broken, but obeyed whole-heartedly.

When the New Covenant is fulfilled, we will be dwelling with God on a renewed earth (cleansed by fire), where He will be our God and we will be His people. This is according to the terms (above) of this Covenant found in Jeremiah and Hebrews and its fulfillment as seen in Revelation. Also, every man will know God, there will be no false prophets, and there will be no more evangelism.

Matt 23:16 – Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? 18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. 23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Revelation 21:7 "He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.

Though the two atonements have been accomplished for us – that is, Yeshua has taken the punishment for our sins, and His righteousness has been accounted to us – but we still must “grow in grace”, we must “overcome” sin. The imminent Yom haKippurim (Day of the Atonements) is about repentance – acknowledging our sins and turning to God; it is about overcoming, and it applies to each one of us.

Deuteronomy 5

Here are our last instructions prior to entering the Promised Land. Yahweh has brought us out of the Land of Sin (Egypt) with a great display of His power. When we enter the Land, we will have only One God – Yahweh (v.6). We will not have any other gods before Yahweh. We will revere Yahweh’s Name. We will observe the Sabbath in the manner Yahweh commanded. We will respect the authorities that Yahweh places over us. (Note that each of the first five commandments contains the name Yahweh.)

These Ten Commandments are enumerated according to ancient Hebrew practice. Today’s “Christian” documents usually have the same commandments, but the numbers are placed differently – the First Commandment starting further into the text. An exception is the (Catholic) Douay Version, which omits the prohibition against making idols.

Here we will look at the Ten Commandments that hang on the greatest two, and some of the 613 that hang on the ten. P & N represent positive (248) and negative (365) commandments.

First Commandment: “I am Yahweh your God.”

P1   (Judgment)    Exo 20:22 – Believe in Yahweh.

P3            “            Deut 6:5   – Love Yahweh with heart, soul, strength.

P10          “            Deut 6:7   – Read Sh’ma twice daily.

P170 (Ordinance) Num 29:1 – Hear shofar on Yom Teruah.

N172 (Statute)      Deut 14:7 – Do not eat any unclean animal.

Have you considered that God commanded us to “speak” the Sh’ma every evening and every morning?

Second Commandment: “Do not turn to idols.”

“The prohibition against actual idol worship appears [in Exodus 20:5]; this verse prohibits even the very thought of such worship. . . . This verse forbids the study or discussion of the rites and philosophy of idolatry. . . . This prohibition extends even to someone who seeks to learn about idols only to disparage them” – The Chumash, The Stone Edition.

This appears to be observed throughout Scripture: only the outward obvious aspects of idolatry are mentioned; there is never detail of the rites or philosophy.

P185 Deut 12:2 – Destroy all idol worship in Israel.

N4    Exo 20:20 – Do not make figures of human beings.

N17  Deut 13:9 – Do not love someone who seeks to lead others to idolatry.

N25  Deut 7:26 – Do not increase wealth by connection to idolatry.

N31  Lev 19:26 – Do not practice divination.

N41  Lev 19:28 – Do not imprint any marks on your bodies.

How about not “earning money” by having any part with idolatry?

Third Commandment: “Do not take the name Yahweh your God in vain.”

P9    Lev 22:32 – Keep the Name Yahweh holy (to distinguish the Name of our God).

P19   Deut 8:10 – Bless Yahweh after eating.

N62  Exod 20:2 – Do not make a vain oath.

N89  Deut 12:31 (Ordinance) – Do not offer sacrifices outside Temple Court.

Fourth Commandment: “Remember Sabbath Day, to keep it holy.”

In Exodus, we were told to “remember” the Sabbath Day, which was made holy at creation; here (in Deuteronomy) we are told to “safeguard” the Holy Sabbath. In Exodus, the Sabbath was tied to creation; here it is connected to our deliverance from slavery to sin (Egyptian bondage).

P154   Lev 23:3 – Assemble to worship.

N320  Exod 20:10 – Do no servile work.

N322  Exod 35:3  – Kindle no flame.

Fifth Commandment: “Honor father and mother.”

“There are three partners in [creating] a human being: God, father, and mother. If someone honors his parents, God considers it as if they honor Him” – The Chumash, The Stone Edition.

This last of the five commandments on how to love God is seen as representing all authority under God: parents, priests, judges, and governmental authorities.

“Obey the government, for God is the one who put it there. All governments have been placed in power by God. So those who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow” – Romans 13:1-2.

The next five commandments show us how God would have us love our neighbor. It may be noted that the first four relate to destroying the life of one’s neighbor, and the final one relates to the heart.

Sixth Commandment: “You shall not murder.”

Seventh Commandment: “You shall not commit adultery.”

Eighth Commandment: “You shall not kidnap.”

Ninth Commandment: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

Tenth Commandment: “You shall not covet . . .”

Readings:

Reader 1*  Amen.  ¹ Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the judgments which I am speaking today in your hearing, that you may learn them and observe them carefully. ² "Yahweh our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. ³ "Yahweh did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of us alive here today. ⁴ "Yahweh spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire, ⁵ while I was standing between Yahweh and you at that time, to declare to you the word of Yahweh; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. He said,

Reader 2*  Amen.  

[1] ⁶ 'I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

[2] ⁷ 'You shall have no other gods before Me. ⁸ 'You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. ⁹ 'You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, ¹⁰ but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Reader 3*  Amen.  

[3] ¹¹ 'You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

[4] ¹² 'Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you. ¹³ 'Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁴ but the seventh day is a Sabbath of Yahweh your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. ¹⁵ 'You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

Reader 4*  Amen.  

[5] ¹⁶ 'Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which Yahweh your God gives you.

[6] ¹⁷ 'You shall not murder.

[7] ¹⁸ 'You shall not commit adultery.

[8] ¹⁹ 'You shall not steal.

[9] ²⁰ 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

[10] ²¹ 'You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.'

Reader 5*  Amen.  ²² "These words Yahweh spoke to all your assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud and of the thick gloom, with a great voice, and He added no more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. ²³ "And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. ²⁴ "You said, 'Behold, Yahweh our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives.

Reader 6*  Amen.  ²⁵ 'Now then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of Yahweh our God any longer, then we will die. ²⁶ 'For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? ²⁷ 'Go near and hear all that Yahweh our God says; then speak to us all that Yahweh our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.' ²⁸ "Yahweh heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and Yahweh said to me, 'I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. ²⁹ 'Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!

Reader 7*  Amen.  ³⁰ 'Go, say to them, "Return to your tents." ³¹ 'But as for you, stand here by Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I give them to possess.' ³² "So you shall observe to do just as Yahweh your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. ³³ "You shall walk in all the way which Yahweh your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.

[No prophet]

Psalm 124    (To be sung.)    A Song of Ascents, of David

¹ "Had it not been Yahweh who was on our side," let Israel now say, ² "Had it not been Yahweh who was on our side when men rose up against us, ³ then they would have swallowed us alive, when their anger was kindled against us; ⁴ then the waters would have engulfed us, the stream would have swept over our soul; ⁵ then the raging waters would have swept over our soul." ⁶ Blessed be Yahweh, Who has not given us to be torn by their teeth. ⁷ Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper; the snare is broken and we have escaped. ⁸ Our help is in the name of Yahweh, Who made heaven and earth.

Romans 10:1-17

Reader 8*  Amen.  ¹ Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. ² For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. ³ For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. ⁴ For Messiah is the goal of the law, for righteousness to everyone who believes. ⁵ For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. ⁶ But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' (that is, to bring Messiah down), ⁷ or 'Who will descend into the abyss?' (that is, to bring Messiah up from the dead)." ⁸ But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart " – that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, ⁹ that if you confess with your mouth Yeshua as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; ¹⁰ for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Reader 9*  Amen.  ¹¹ For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed" ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; ¹³ for "Whoever will call on the Name of the Lord will be saved." ¹⁴ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!" ¹⁶ However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?" ¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Messiah.

Romans 13:8-14

Reader 10*  Amen.  ⁸ Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For this, "You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." ¹⁰ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. ¹¹ Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. ¹² The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. ¹⁴ But put on the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

© 2006  Beikvot HaMashiach
(Followers of the Messiah)