deuteronomy 10:12-20, the father's love

Read Deu 10:12-20 at the Bible Gateway.

“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good? Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it. The LORD delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. 18 He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name.” Deu 10:12-20

I saw a chiastic structure in this section:

1A) Deu 10:12-13 what the Lord requires;
  1B) Deu 10:14 the greatness of God;
    --> X Deu 10:15-16 We love Him (circumcise your heart) because He first loved us;
  2B) Deu 10:17-18 the greatness of God;
2A) Deu 10:19-20 what the Lord requires.

The Father's love, delight in, and acceptance of us is the center from which all things flow. Our own circumcised heart of love toward the Lord, the fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom, and true obedience to the Lord's will, all flow from the heart that knows his Father's love.

The three actions the Father took on our behalf revealed in the central axis are:

delight: Strong's H2836, in Hebrew chashaq, q?j, chet - shin - quph. We have seen this before! The pictographs paint the picture of being bound together with a concentrated emotion, or maybe even being bound together for eternity.

love: Strong's H157, in Hebrew ahab, bha, aleph - hey - bet. We have seen this before! The pictographs paint the picture of love which reveals the heart of the father, or the strong emotion and actions inspired by the revelation that one's family is a gift from YHVH.

choose: Strong's H977, bachar, rjb, bet - chet - resh. We have seen this before! The pictographs paint the picture of the choicest animal for sacrifice which was slaughtered outside the fence; thus also the examination, the process of choosing, to determine which animal was the choicest.

So what is the Lord saying, when He says, He delighted in (chashaq) our fathers to love (ahab) them, and chose (bachar) us, their descendants, above all peoples? He bound Himself together with us, so that the connections and the entanglements formed could not be undone; and when He bound Himself together with us, He did this for all time. He bound Himself together with us because He loved us, His heart quickens with strong emotion and longing at the thought of us, and the actions He takes on our behalf are born of that strong emotion and longing. The actions He takes on our behalf reveal His Father's heart of strong love for us. Because we are the seed of those He bound Himself to out of a heart of strong love, He has examined us and chosen us as the choicest above all peoples.

What if someone is not a physical descendant of Abraham? Jesus and Paul taught us that Abraham's seed, whom God set His love upon and chose as well pleasing to Him, are those in whom the Word of God (the seed, who is Jesus Christ, Mar 4:14, Joh 1:1, 14) finds a home (Joh 8:37-47, Rom 9:6-8).

deuteronomy 7:7, set His love upon

“The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;” Deu 7:7

When I first began looking into the Hebrew of this verse, I assumed that “to set His love upon” would include ahab, Strong's H157, the strong love which reveals the heart of the father, of which agape is the Greek equivalent. Ahab is used in the next verse, vs. 8, when Moses says, “but because YHVH loves you;” but to my surprise, the word “love,” ahab, is not in the phrase, “set His love upon.”

In Hebrew, this is a single word, chashaq, q?j, Strong's H2836, chet shin quph. In the ancient Hebrew pictographs, the chet is the fence, thus outside, also divide or half. The shin is the two front teeth, so sharp, eat, or press; also two, again, second, both. The quph is the sun on the horizon, so circle, cycle, revolution, time, even condense, as light is condensed in the sun when it is at the horizon.

The primitive root chashaq is itself from the two letter root, chash, ?j, chet shin, which means to bind. As I was thinking about how chash could mean to bind from the pictographs, I wondered if originally it had been a chet sin or samech, the fence of thorns, as fences in those days were made of bundles of thorns joined together. It would not be the first time the sin had transposed to a shin because of their similar sounds, and vice versa.

So taking the root, chash, being bound together or joined together, and adding the quph and its meaning of condensed light, leads us to being bound together by a concentrated emotion. The meaning of the verb form is to attach or adhere; the meaning of the concrete form is unknown; and the meaning of the abstract form is desire.

Gesenius' Lexicon says of chashaq: “to adhere, to join together, to cleave; to be attached with a very great love, to burn with desire.”

YHVH cleaved to us (chashaq) and chose us (bachar), not because we were great, for we were least of all; but because He strongly loves us (ahab), and because He is faithful to His word that He promised to our fathers, He delivered us mightily, and redeemed us from the house of bondage!

deuteronomy 7:1-11, a chosen people

Read Deuteronomy 7:1-11 at Bible Gateway.

In the parshas before this one, we saw that YHVH, in order to help us to love Him with all that we are, and worship and serve Him only (the commandment), has instructed us to hear His Word, to take heed to His Word, to do and observe His Word, and to teach His Word to the next generation.

This parsha forms a chaistic structure:

1A Deu 7:1a - YHVH brings Israel into the Land;
  :1B Deu 7:1b-2 - YHVH delivers the seven nations to be utterly destroyed;
  :  :1C Deu 7:3-5 - preserving the worship of YHVH by abhorring the idols of the Canaanites;
  :  :  :1D Deu 7:6 - Israel is YHVH's holy people and special treasured possession;
  :  :  :  :--> X Deu 7:7-8a - YHVH set His love on Israel;
  :  :  :2D Deu 7:8b - Israel is His therefore He redeemed them from Egypt;
  :  :2C Deu 7:9 - YHVH is God;
  :2B Deu 7:10 - YHVH repays those who hate Him to their face to destroy them;
2A Deu 7:11 - Israel shall keep the commandment, statutes and judgments of YHVH.

The A pairs show that just as YHVH is keeping something, Israel is to keep something. YHVH is keeping His promise to bring Israel into the Land. Now Israel is to keep their covenant with YHVH, which is expressed by obedience to the commandment, and to the statutes and judgments.

The B pairs show that because it is the seven nations of the Canaanites who are to be utterly destroyed, and YHVH destroys those utterly who hate Him, then it is revealed that the seven nations of the Canaanites hated YHVH. Their wickedness in their idolatry was greater than the idolatry of the other nations, who were idol worshippers out of ignorance. But the Canaanites were idol worshippers out of active hatred for YHVH.

The C pairs show first of all, how Israel is to abhor the idolatry of the Canaanites and to preserve the pure worship of YHVH (for YHVH is our Elohiym, and He alone is God, vs. 9): remove every trace of their idolatry from the Land, and moreover do not mix with them! YHVH's emphasis in the C pairs is on the future generations of Israelites - that they come from marriages and thus households where YHVH alone is God. He is not looking for a racially pure people, but a spiritually pure people of single heartedness!

Then, if Israel will keep covenant with YHVH, by purifying the Land, and keeping themselves from idolatry and not mixing through intermarriage, YHVH will also keep covenant with Israel, by showing His mercy and faithfulness to a thousand generations of Israelites!

The D pairs reveal that because we are the special treasured possession of YHVH, He has redeemed us from the hand of Pharaoh and delivered us from Egypt. We are His because of our fathers, and YHVH is faithful to the Word He promised to our fathers.

YHVH chose us to be His. Chosen is in Hebrew bachar, rjb, bet, chet, resh, Strong's H977. There is a two letter root that this primitive root comes from, and that is bach, jb, bet chet, meaning to slaughter as a verb, or knife, as a concrete object. The bet is the house, the chet is the fence, outside, to divide or half. Slaughtering an animal was a task performed outside the house. The resh, the head of a man, adds the meaning of slaughtering that which is chiefest or choicest, and so bachar is the sacrifice, the firstfruits in its concrete meaning; but an examination to determine the choicest, thus to choose, in its verbal meaning.

A special treasure is segullah in Hebrew, hlgs, Strong's H5459, from the primitive root segul, lgs, samech, gimel, lamed. In the ancient Hebrew pictographs, the samech is the thorn, so also, pierce, grab hold, and even shield, as thorn bushes were used to fence in the flock in at night to keep them from predators. The gimel is the foot, so also to walk, carry, and even gather, as men walked to an appointed place from all around in order to gather together. The lamed is the shepherd's staff, his tool of authority by which he both guided and protected the sheep, so often to or toward, as the direction of guidance. The lamed can also mean teach, as the father or the patriarch (the one with authority) was the teacher; and yoke, as a staff that is placed across the shoulders; and even bind, as the yoke or staff is bound to the animal.

The mountain top meaning of segul, then, is that which has been gathered is bound up, then placed behind a protective shield. In its verb form, this word means to shut up; in its concrete form, this word means a jewel or precious stone. To YHVH, we are a special treasure (segullah) above all the peoples on the face of the earth.

The central axis of the parsha reveals that YHVH loves us. He set His love upon us, or in Hebrew, He desired us greatly, chashaq, q?j, because He loves us. In fact. He loves us with 1 Cor 13:4-7 love, for the Septuagint translators translated this passage with agape, the same word Paul uses in 1 Cor 13. The Hebrew word is ahab, bha. Ahab is strong love which reveals the heart of the father for his children.

This parsha reveals YHVH's love for us; He first loved us, and delivered us and redeemed us and made us His own special treasure. Now because we are thus set apart, in His heart and on this earth, we respond in love for YHVH, expressed by pure and unadulterated worship, and obedience to His commandments. We love Him because He first loved us (1 Joh 4:19), and we express that love through obedience (Joh 14:15). The theme of this parsha is the love- covenant keeping (or obedience) dynamic.

parashah ki tiqrav (when you approach), deuteronomy 20:10 - 21:9

We study the Torah according to the triennial cycle every Sabbath. (Why?)

We must understand the paragraph divisions in Torah, which are inspired by the Spirit and preserved by Moses and the Jewish scribes (but discarded by the English translators), are key to help us understand what God is trying to tell us. He wants to be understood, and has provided these helps to aid us! We must also understand how the Spirit teaches through Torah by common theme.

Today is the 146th Sabbath of the triennial cycle: parashah (Torah portion) Ki Tiqrav /When you approach, Deu 20:10 - 21:9. Read Deu 20:10 - 21:9 at Bible Gateway, or Deu 20 and 21 from the Hebrew Bible in English.

Deu 20:10-18 ends with a parsha stumah, a weak paragraph division. The theme of this parsha is do not commit murder against enemies.
Deu 20:19-20 ends with a parsha p'tuchah, a strong paragraph division. The theme of this parsha is do not commit murder against enemies.
Deu 21:1-9 ends with a stumah. The theme of this parsha is atonement for unsolved bloodguiltiness.

This parashah continues the explanation of the 6th commandment, Do not commit murder, which was begun in last week's parashah Karath /Cut off, Deu 19:1 - 20:9.

Deu 20:10-18 continues the explanation begun last time on what does and does not constitute murder during warfare.

1. For the enemy city which accepts peace, the lives of every citizen are to be spared. If anyone is slain with the sword, then the Israelite has committed murder.


2. For the enemy city which does not accept peace, the lives of the women and children are to be spared, and the men are to be slain. It is not murder in this case to slay the men, but if a woman or child is slain, then the Israelite has committed murder.


3. The enemy cities of the seven nations of the Canaanites are not to be spared under any circumstance, man, woman, or child. It is not murder to destroy them, because the wickedness of their idolatry has called down judgment upon them.

The theme of this parsha is do not commit murder against enemies.

Deu 20:10-20 continues the explanation of what does and does not constitute murder during warfare. Trees which are used for food, if they are cut down, induces famine, which would bring death upon a district; thus, cutting down food trees during warfare constitutes murder. The theme of this parsha is do not commit murder against enemies.

This parsha ends with a p'tuchah and thus the strong paragraph begun in Deu 19:11. Every parsha in this section explains what constitutes murder in specific cases.

Deu 21:1-9 leaves the topic of warfare, but explains blood guilt in the case of an unsolved murder. This parsha forms a chiastic structure:

1A Deu 21:1 bloodguiltiness discovered;
  1B Deu 21:2 the responsibility of the elders and judges;
    1C Deu 21:3-4 the heifer and the valley that has not been worked;
      CENTRAL AXIS Deu 21:5 YHVH has chosen the sons of Levi to settle the innocence and guiltiness of every controversy and assault;
    2C Deu 21:6 the heifer and the valley that has not been worked;
  2B Deu 21:7-8a the responsibility of the elders and judges;
2A Deu 21:8b-9 bloodguiltiness put away.

The theme of this parsha is atonement for unsolved bloodguiltiness.

The theme of parashah Ki Tiqrav is avoiding bloodguiltiness (do not murder).

brought out to be brought in

“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in
Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and the LORD showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.’” Deu 6:20-25

The father's answer to his son's question, which is, essentially, Why do we do these commandments of the Lord's? is in three parts.

First: Israel was delivered from slavery in the kingdom of Egypt. Deliverance from Egypt is history- prophecy of deliverance from the kingdom of darkness, which is salvation. What commandments did Israel obey in order to be delivered from Egypt? Just one: apply the blood of the Passover Lamb to your doorposts. Thus we see that salvation in the Old Testament is exactly the same as salvation in the New Testament: it is achieved by grace through faith in the shed blood of the Lamb.

So the first part of the answer to Why do we do the Lord's commandments, is that He delivered us from the kingdom of darkness (where we were slaves to sin) by grace through faith in the shed blood of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.

Second: God brought Israel out from Egypt, that He might bring them in to the Promised Land. In fact, He brought them out of one kingdom, out of Pharaoh's kingdom, that He might bring them into another kingdom, into His kingdom, where He would be king over them (1 Sam 8:7-8). Israel was not delivered from one kingdom in order to live in anarchy; they were brought out in order to be brought in. This is why, when Jesus preached the gospel, He preached that the kingdom of God was at hand (Mar 1:14-15). He was saying, that with His coming, we were being brought out of the kingdom of darkness in order to be brought in to the kingdom of God. Thus we do not become free from submission to a king upon salvation, but the kingdom in which we dwell changes.

So the second part of the answer to Why do we do the Lord's commandments, is that we were delivered from the kingdom of darkness, in order to be brought into the kingdom of God.

Third: In our new kingdom there are commandments to obey. That is the way it is in any kingdom. If there is a kingdom, there is a king, and if there is a king, there are citizens of that kingdom who reveal their citizenship by obeying the commands of their king. Those who are outlaws have renounced their citizenship and have revealed themselves to be outsiders by living outside the Law (outside the Torah). That is why we do not want to be found to be outlaws (Law-less or Torah- less) when Messiah returns (Mat 7:21-23)!

So if we are not of the kingdom of God, then we are of the kingdom of darkness - because there are only two kingdoms, and no one is an anarchist. But belonging to the kingdom of God is like being born into a big family where your Papa is the King, and moreover, the commandments He has given us are not to benefit Him or anyone else, but obeying them is for our good always.

So the third part of the answer to Why do we do the Lord's commandments, is that we obey the commands of the King in whose Kingdom we dwell as citizens, for our good.

Now it is clearly taught in both Old and New Testaments, that deliverance and redemption (from Egypt in the Old, and darkness in the New) is by grace through faith. We do not obey commands in order to get into the kingdom. But once we become citizens of the kingdom of God, there is a certain way to walk which is worthy of the Name by which we have been called (1 The 2:10-12). And that way to walk, is in accord with the will of Him who is our King. This is why, when we pray for the Lord's kingdom to come, we pray that His will be done (Mat 6:10). His will is expressed in His commands.

The bias many of us have against obeying commandments is a learned bias and not a doctrine of Scripture.

deuteronomy 6:20-25; teach

Read Deuteronomy 6:20-25 at Bible Gateway.

“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and the LORD showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.’” Deu 6:20-25

In parsha bazneikhem, the parsha before this one, we saw the introduction of four verbs that YHVH reminds us of over and over and over again. They are, hear, pay heed, teach, and do. We saw that the first paragraph stumah in this parsha emphasized the hearing. The second paragraph in this parsha emphasized the paying careful heed. The third paragraph in this parsha emphasized the doing. This paragraph emphasizes the teaching.

We learn several things about God's way of teaching children through this parsha. First of all, if the parents are careful to do the commandments of the Lord, that doing will create a question within our children. The best teaching first creates questions, because when the children have the question, their heart is ready to receive the answer. There is a right time to teach - and that time is when the question about that thing has been created within the heart and mind.

Second, parents are responsible before God to create and maintain a relationship with their children, in which their children will be encouraged to come to their parents with their questions. Fathers cannot provoke their children to wrath (Eph 6:4), by ignoring them, being too busy with work or golf, being critical, impatient, or impossible to please, breaking promises, and things of that nature, that destroys the heart bond that God built in between parents and their children. If the heart bond is destroyed, the sons will not come to their fathers to ask them their questions, no matter how knowledgable their fathers are.

Third, there is a right answer for every question. The question, What does it mean that we keep these commandments, also has its right answer. Notice that the right answer is:

1) We were first delivered from slavery in the kingdom of Egypt;
2) We were delivered out of one kingdom in order to be delivered in to another kingdom;
3) In our new kingdom there are commandments to obey.

Deliverance from Egypt corresponds to deliverance from the kingdom of darkness, which is salvation. What commandments did Israel obey in order to be delivered from Egypt? Just one: apply the blood of the Passover Lamb to your doorposts. Thus we see that salvation in the Old Testament is exactly the same as salvation in the New Testament: it is achieved by grace through faith in the shed blood of the Lamb.

Slavery in Egypt corresponds to slavery in the kingdom of darkness, which is slavery to sin. But we were not delivered from one kingdom in order to live in anarchy; we were brought out in order to be brought in (vs. 23, Col 1:13). When Jesus preached the gospel, He preached that the kingdom of God was at hand (Mar 1:14-15). Thus we do not become free from submission to a king upon salvation, but the kingdom in which we dwell changes: we are no longer living in the kingdom of darkness, but in the kingdom of God.

Dwelling in the land of Israel meant obeying the King whose land it was - who was YHVH, Creator of heaven and earth. Likewise dwelling in the kingdom of God means obeying the King whose Kingdom it is - YHVH, Creator of heaven and earth. We do not obey in order to be saved. But once we are saved, we do obey because all citizens of the kingdom of God obey the King of that Kingdom. Those who are outlaws (outside the Law) are outsiders and not citizens. They do not live as a citizen of that Kingdom, therefore the benefits of that Kingdom are not applied to them, and when they are discovered, they are shown the door (Mat 7:21-23).

This is what we are commanded in Torah to teach our children - that salvation by grace through faith with its new heart comes first (Eze 36:25-27), which means we are transferred out of Satan's kingdom and into God's kingdom, and in His kingdom he has given us commands to obey as King, for our good. We train them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord - in His love, and in His discipline in walking in His ways, so that when they are old they will not depart from His ways (Pro 22:6), which is for their good always.

The theme of the parsha stumah from Deu 6:20-25 is to Teach to the next generation YHVH's commandments that we have now heard, paid heed to, and are doing.

parashah qets sheba shanah (after seven years), deuteronomy 15:1 - 16:17

We study the Torah according to the triennial cycle every Sabbath. (Why?)

We must understand the paragraph divisions in Torah, which are inspired by the Spirit and preserved by Moses and the Jewish scribes (but discarded by the English translators), are key to help us understand what God is trying to tell us. He wants to be understood, and has provided these helps to aid us! We must also understand how the Spirit teaches through Torah by common theme.

Today is the 142nd Sabbath of the triennial cycle: parashah (Torah portion) Evyon /Poor Man, Deu 15:1 - 16:17. Read Deu 15:1 - 16:17 at Bible Gateway, or Deu 15 and 16 from the Hebrew Bible in English.

Deu 15:1-6 ends with a parsha stumah, a weak paragraph division.
Deu 15:7-11 ends with a stumah.
Deu 15:12-18 ends with a parsha p'tuchah, a strong paragraph division.
Deu 15:19-23 ends with a p'tuchah.
Deu 16:1-8 ends with a stumah.
Deu 16:9-12 ends with a p'tuchah.
Deu 16:13-17 ends with a stumah.

parashah ben attah (you are the sons), deuteronomy 14:1-29

We study the Torah according to the triennial cycle every Sabbath. (Why?)

We must understand the paragraph divisions in Torah, which are inspired by the Spirit and preserved by Moses and the Jewish scribes (but discarded by the English translators), are key to help us understand what God is trying to tell us. He wants to be understood, and has provided these helps to aid us! We must also understand how the Spirit teaches through Torah by common theme.

Today is the 141st Sabbath of the triennial cycle: parashah (Torah portion) Ben Attah /You are the sons, Deu 14:1-29. Read Deu 14:1-29 at Bible Gateway, or Deu 14 from the Hebrew Bible in English.

Deu 7:12-16 ends with a parsha stumah, a weak paragraph division.

parashah kiyarchiv (he widens), deuteronomy 12:20 - 13:18

We study the Torah according to the triennial cycle every Sabbath. (Why?)

We must understand the paragraph divisions in Torah, which are inspired by the Spirit and preserved by Moses and the Jewish scribes (but discarded by the English translators), are key to help us understand what God is trying to tell us. He wants to be understood, and has provided these helps to aid us! We must also understand how the Spirit teaches through Torah by common theme.

Today is the 140th Sabbath of the triennial cycle: parashah (Torah portion) Kiyarchiv /He Widens, Deu 12:20 - 13:18. Read Deu 12:20 - 13:18 at Bible Gateway, or Deu 12 and 13 from the Hebrew Bible in English.

Deu 7:12-16 ends with a parsha stumah, a weak paragraph division.

deuteronomy 6:16-19; do

Read Deuteronomy 6:16-19 at the Bible Gateway.

“You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him in Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the LORD swore to your fathers, to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has spoken.” Deu 6:16-19

In parsha bazneikhem, the parsha before this one, we saw the introduction of four verbs that YHVH reminds us of over and over and over again. They are, hear, pay heed, teach, and do. We saw that the first paragraph stumah in this parsha emphasized the hearing. The second paragraph in this parsha emphasized the paying careful heed. This parsha emphasizes the doing.

The first verb in this parsha is do not tempt. The incident at Massah is recorded in Exo 17:1-7:

“Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.” So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?” And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!” And the LORD said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

The Hebrew word translated “tempt” is Strong's H5254, hsn, nasah. It is from the root, sn, nun samech. The ancient pictographs are of the seed and the thorn. The seed is the continuation of life; the thorn grabs hold of clothing or fur. The meaning, then, is continuing to grab hold, or to lift up as a standard. The hey adds the man with his arms upraised as in wonder or worship; commonly a revelation. The lexicons say nasah means a test or a trial. A test reveals (hey) whether one ought to continue (nun) to be grabbed hold of (samech) to be lifted up.

I did not understand before why crying out for water was such a bad thing among the children of Israel. But looking at the Hebrew, I can see that what was going on was more than just asking for water. The children were saying, in essence, that because they were thirsty and there was no water, then YHVH has revealed (hey) or proved that He ought not to continue to be lifted up (nun samech) as God among them.

Therefore, do not tempt YHVH your God as you tempted Him at Massah. Do not have the attitude that He needs to continually prove to you whether He is worthy to be worshipped as God or not. That is part and parcel with receiving YHVH as the one God, the only God, who alone is God who no other is beside.

The next verb in this parsha is diligently keep His commandments, testimonies, and statutes. The Hebrew for diligently keep is Strong's H8104, shamar. We have seen this word before, in the parsha before this one!

“... then beware (shamar), lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.” Deu 6:12

We saw that shamar had the mountain top meaning of closely guarding for the next generation that which was of first importance. The words “beware” and “diligently keep”, as well as “closely guard”, give us the sense that the way we preserve the worship of YHVH for the next generation, is to do the things He has commanded us to do. To observe His commandments, judgments, testimonies, and statutes.

The final verb in the parsha is do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord - which is revealed by His commandments, statutes, and testimonies. “Do” in Hebrew is Strong's H6213, h?u, asah, ayin shin hey. The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon shows that this word is from the root, su, ayin sin (or samech; the sin was transposed to shin over time because of their similar sounds). In the ancient pictographs, the ayin is the eye, so to look, watch, or know. The sin or samech is the thorn, so to grab hold, guard, or even hate. The verb form of this root is to do, the concrete form (noun) is work. The ancient pictographs came to mean “do, work” since man's first work was to watch (ayin) for the thorns and thistles (samech) which would take over his crops:

“Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground ...” Gen 3:17-19

The addition of the hey, the man with his arms upraised as if in wonder, revelation, or worship, adds the element that a man is to do with all his might, whatever his hand finds (hey) to do (Ecc 9:10).

The theme of the parsha stumah from Deu 6:16-19 is to Do and Observe YHVH's commandments that we have now heard and paid heed to.

parashah rieh (look), deuteronomy 11:26 - 12:19

We study the Torah according to the triennial cycle every Sabbath. (Why?)

We must understand the paragraph divisions in Torah, which are inspired by the Spirit and preserved by Moses and the Jewish scribes (but discarded by the English translators), are key to help us understand what God is trying to tell us. He wants to be understood, and has provided these helps to aid us! We must also understand how the Spirit teaches through Torah by common theme.

Today is the 139th Sabbath of the triennial cycle: parashah (Torah portion) Rieh /Look, Deu 11:26 - 12:19. Read Deu 11:26 - 12:19 at Bible Gateway, or Deu 11 and 12 from the Hebrew Bible in English.

Deu 7:12-16 ends with a parsha stumah, a weak paragraph division.

parashah pesal lecha (carve for yourself), deuteronomy 10:1-11:25

We study the Torah according to the triennial cycle every Sabbath. (Why?)

We must understand the paragraph divisions in Torah, which are inspired by the Spirit and preserved by Moses and the Jewish scribes (but discarded by the English translators), are key to help us understand what God is trying to tell us. He wants to be understood, and has provided these helps to aid us! We must also understand how the Spirit teaches through Torah by common theme.

Today is the 138th Sabbath of the triennial cycle: parashah (Torah portion) Pesal Lecha /Carve for Yourself, Deu 10:1 - 11:25. Read Deu 10:1 - 11:25 at Bible Gateway, or Deu 10 and 11 from the Hebrew Bible in English.

Deu 7:12-16 ends with a parsha stumah, a weak paragraph division.

deuteronomy 6:10-15; beware

Read Deuteronomy 6:10-15 at the Bible Gateway.

In parsha bazneikhem, the parsha before this one, we saw the introduction of four verbs that YHVH reminds us of over and over and over again. They are, hear, pay heed, teach, and do. We saw that the first paragraph stumah in this parsha emphasized the hearing. This parsha emphasizes the paying careful heed.

The key verb of instruction in this paragraph is this:

“So it shall be, when ... [blessing comes upon you] ... then beware, lest you forget YHVH ...”

The Hebrew for “beware” is the primitive root, Strong's H8104, rm?, shamar, shin mem resh. According to the lexicons, it means, to keep, to watch, to guard. In the ancient pictographs, the shin is the two front teeth, and means two, sharpen, or press. The mem is the water, and thus can mean sea, blood, chaos, or even mighty. The resh is the head of a man, and can mean anything that is head, top, first, or beginning. The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon tells us that the shin mem in this root, were originally a sin nun, the similar sounds becoming transposed over time.

So the true ancient Hebrew root is rns, sin nun resh. The sin is the thorn; the nun is the seed. The sin nun meant to guard or protect, from the thorn bushes the shepherds used to surround their flocks at night to guard them from predators. The sin nun literally meant to guard for the next generation. So the idea of shamar, is to closely guard (sin --> shin) that which is of first importance (resh) for the next generation (nun --> mem).

This passage teaches us that it is easier to closely guard for the next generation those things which are of first importance, when things are a bit of a struggle. When things get easy and we are full to overflowing, it is human nature to get lazy. So that is when we especially need to beware. Many of the commands of Torah are designed to internalize the remembering and the not forgetting, for example celebrating the feast days. Each feast day commemorates something in history concerning YHVH and His people, and also looks forward to the Messiah and something that is yet to be accomplished concerning YHVH and His people. So by observing the feasts, and remembering on them what we are commanded to remember, we help ourselves to closely guard for the next generation those things which are of first importance.

The theme of the parsha stumah from Deu 6:10-15 is to Take Heed to that which we have now heard, YHVH's Word.

deuteronomy 6:4-9; the commandment

Read Deu 6:4-9 at the Bible Gateway.

In the parashah before this one, Moses repeated the Ten Commandments. Remember, the purpose of the book of Deuteronomy is to “explain this Torah” (Deu 1:5); i.e. the entire body of God's laws, His definition of right and wrong, His instruction of walking in His ways. Then Moses said that God's covenant (His Torah) was the Ten Commandments (Deu 4:13). In other words, the Ten Commandments summarize the entire Torah. And the two commandments, Love God, and Love your neighbor, summarize the Ten. This is why Jesus said that upon those two commandments hang all the Torah and the Prophets (Mat 22:40).

So in order to explain this Torah, Moses began by stating the Ten Commandments. We saw in the last parashah that the Ten Commandments were the central axis around which everything else revolved. When he finished the Ten, then Moses said, “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which YHVH your God has commanded to teach you ...” (Deu 6:1).

Well, we just got done seeing that in order to explain this Torah, Moses has to explain the Ten Commandments. Is the commandment, and the statutes and judgments, that he is going to explain in Deu 6, now something other than the Ten? No, the commandment, statutes and judgments will explain what the Ten Commandments mean, by God's definition.

Notice that there is one commandment - singular - but several statutes and judgments. What is THE commandment?

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deu 6:4-5

The Hebrew of verse 4 can read, “The Lord our God is one,” or it can read, “The Lord our God alone is God,” or it can read, “The Lord our God is the only God.” The word for “one,” echad in Hebrew, can mean one, alone, or only.

THE Commandment is none other than the 1st Commandment! It is the first commandment in the order of the Ten Commandments, but it is also the First Commandment, meaning the greatest commandment; the commandment upon which all other commandments depend. In this parashah and for the next several parashiyot, Moses is going to explain what obeying the First Commandment, You shall worship YHVH only, and have no other gods before Him, looks like.

Now how do we keep the First Commandment? Moses has already given us our first clue: we have to have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the ekklesia, the assembly of believers. We cannot keep any commandment unless we first hear what the Spirit is saying! Rom 10:17 teaches us, then, that if we hear what the Word is saying, what the Spirit is saying by the Word, then the fruit of that hearing will be faith. We have to believe in the trueness of the statement, YHVH alone is God and beside Him there is no other.

By this the Spirit is teaching us that there can be no obedience unless there is first faith in the heart! James puts it this way: Faith is the engine that drives the train of good works (Jam 2:14-26)! Of course this must be true, because faith is from the Word; the Word is the Seed (Messiah, the Living Torah, or the Word clothed with flesh, Joh 1:14), and the Seed of Messiah produces the fruit of Messiah after its kind - obedience, or the fruit of the Spirit (of Messiah), which is not against Torah, but fulfills Torah (Gal 5:22-23)!

The next thing the Spirit teaches us, is that in order to obey the First Commandment, we need to love the Lord our God with all that we are! Jesus also said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments;” (Joh 14:15). Because one proceeds from the other! True obedience comes from a circumcised heart that loves God - obedience is the fruit of love! Are Yeshua's commandments different from His Father's commandments? No! The Son and the Father are One (Joh 10:30)! When YHVH voiced these Commandments out of the midst of the fire, on Sinai, Israel heard the Word of YHVH, who is Messiah!

The love we have for YHVH is in Hebrew bha, ahab, Strong's H157, aleph hey bet. It means, to desire, to sigh after with longing, to love, to delight in. It is not a lukewarm emotion, and the fruit of it is not lukewarm devotion. We love YHVH with all our being - spirit (heart, or center of our being), soul (mind, will, thoughts, emotions), and body (strength). This command, in Deu 6:5, is the commandment spoken of in Deu 6:1 - the greatest commandment of all Torah, as Jesus taught us (Mat 22:36-40).

The rest of the parashah teaches us how we keep the level of emotion and devotion high, and what the fruit of that kind of love looks like: it is by the Word of YHVH, and not just any word, but a very specific word: “the words which I [Moses] command you today;” i.e. Torah. YHVH reveals five verbs that we are to do with His Torah: be (in the heart); teach diligently (to our children); talk of (in all places and at all times); bind (on the hand - i.e., do them - and on the forehead - i.e., think about them); and write (on doorposts of houses and gates of cities).

Be in the heart: the heart is from the Hebrew primary root bbl, labab, Strong's H3823, lamed bet bet. It means, to be hollow. The Hebrew letters that make up the primary root themselves mean to yoke or bind in. In other words, the (spiritual) heart is hollow, and is meant to hold something within it. It will hold something within it, for that is its nature. YHVH is telling us, to make sure that what fills our hearts, are His words. Then the fruit that will be produced, from His words being in our hearts, will be ahab - love for, devotion to, and longing after Him.

Teach diligently to our children: teach diligently is from the Hebrew primary root /n?, shanan, Strong's H8150, shin nun nun. It means, to sharpen as a sword. In fact, this word occurs nine times in the Old Testament, and eight of the times it is translated with words having to do with sharpening, whetting, or pricking. In this passage only, it is translated teach diligently. The Hebrew could read, You shall sharpen your sons by them. It means more than just teaching them to your children so that they know what the Torah says with their minds. It means, sharpen your children with them, so that they not only learn the Lord's words, but they learn to walk according to the Lord's words. So that their habits of thinking and doing are in accord with Torah.

Talk of in all places and at all times: talk is from the Hebrew primary root rbd, dabar, Strong's H1696, dalet bet resh. It means, to put words in order, i.e. to speak. The command is to verbalize, to vocalize the words of YHVH. Perhaps this is because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom 10:17). When our own ears (and the ears of others) hear the Word, the hearing plants the seed of the Word within our hearts, which then produces the fruit of faith, or belief in the trueness of that Word. The belief is key, because many in Israel did not enter in to the Promise(d Land) because of their unbelief (Heb 3:19).

Bind on the hand and forehead: bind is from the Hebrew primary root r?q, qashar, Strong's H7194, quph shin resh. It means just that, to bind or to tie together. Webster's adds that it means to make secure by tying. How do I know that this verse, vs. 8, when it says to bind the Lord's words as a sign on the hand, means to do them? Or to have the Word as frontlets between the eyes, means to think about them or to think in accordance with them? This came from looking up every word in the verse, and seeing how else they were used in Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. I saw that the thematic connection between all these instances was that what we did and what we thought marked us (like a signpost) as belonging to God or to God's enemy. You can read about it here: Marked on the hand and forehead, part one, part two, part three, and part four.

Write on doorposts and gates: write is from the Hebrew primary root btk, kathab, Strong's H3789, kaph taw bet. It means just that, to write or to record by inscribing or engraving. Now why have the Torah of YHVH, contained in the Ten Commandments, inscribed on the doorposts of the houses or the gates of a city? I believe it is to remind all who dwell in that house or who dwell in that city, that these are the standards of behavior to which those who dwell in that house or city will be held to. It reminds the children every time they enter or exit the door; it reminds the citizens every time they come in or go out of the gate. No one can break the Law and say that they were ignorant of it. Having the Torah posted, not only reminds the residents, but it informs visitors, what behavior is acceptable and not acceptable in that house or that city. YHVH also commanded Israel to inscribe His Torah at the entrance to the Promised Land (Deu 27:1-3), so that all Israel would be reminded that the nation was governed by this Torah, and all visitors would be informed that the Torah is to be obeyed within the boundaries of the country.

The theme of the parsha stumah from Deu 6:4-9 is to Hear the Word of YHVH so that we may do it.

deuteronomy

deuteronomy 1:1 - 2:1, parashah devarim (words)
deuteronomy 2:2-30, parashah vanephen (turned)
deuteronomy 2:31 - 3:22, parashah sichon (sihon)
deuteronomy 3:23 - 4:24, parashah vaetchanon (pleaded)
deuteronomy 4:25-49, parashah tholid (beget)
deuteronomy 5:1 - 6:3, parashah bazneikhem (listen)
deuteronomy 6:4 - 7:11, parashah shema (hear)
deuteronomy 6:4-9, the commandment (hear)
deuteronomy 6:10-15, beware
deuteronomy 6:16-19, do
deuteronomy 6:20-25, teach
deuteronomy 6:23, brought out to be brought in
deuteronomy 7:1-11, a chosen people
deuteronomy 7:7, set His love upon

deuteronomy 10:12-20, the father's love
deuteronomy 20:10 - 21:9, parashah ki tiqrav (when you approach)


Restoration of Torah: parsha devarim (words), deu 1:1 - 3:22 (pdf file)
Restoration of Torah: parsha vaetchanon (pleaded), deu 3:23 - 7:11 (pdf file)
Restoration of Torah: parsha ekev (because), deu 7:12 - 11:25 (pdf file)


expert studies on the book of deuteronomy at bible.org*

*There is a lot of valuable material at bible.org, so enjoy digging around! However, I do not agree with every premise made or conclusion drawn in every study. Many have a traditional, learned bias against the Torah which God is stripping away in His Church in these last days.

parashah attah o'ver (crossing over), deuteronomy 9:1-29

We study the Torah according to the triennial cycle every Sabbath. (Why?)

We must understand the paragraph divisions in Torah, which are inspired by the Spirit and preserved by Moses and the Jewish scribes (but discarded by the English translators), are key to help us understand what God is trying to tell us. He wants to be understood, and has provided these helps to aid us! We must also understand how the Spirit teaches through Torah by common theme.

Today is the 137th Sabbath of the triennial cycle: parashah (Torah portion) Attah O'ver /Crossing Over, Deu 9:1-29. Read Deu 9:1-29 at Bible Gateway, or Deu 9 from the Hebrew Bible in English.

Deu 9:1-29 ends with a parsha p'tuchah, a strong paragraph division.

parashah ekev (adhere), deuteronomy 7:12 - 8:20

We study the Torah according to the triennial cycle every Sabbath. (Why?)

We must understand the paragraph divisions in Torah, which are inspired by the Spirit and preserved by Moses and the Jewish scribes (but discarded by the English translators), are key to help us understand what God is trying to tell us. He wants to be understood, and has provided these helps to aid us! We must also understand how the Spirit teaches through Torah by common theme.

Today is the 136th Sabbath of the triennial cycle: parashah (Torah portion) Ekev /Adhere, Deu 7:12 - 8:20. Read Deu 7:12 - 8:20 at Bible Gateway, or Deu 7 and 8 from the Hebrew Bible in English.

Deu 7:12-16 ends with a parsha stumah, a weak paragraph division.
Deu 7:17-26 ends with a parsha p'tuchah, a strong paragraph division.
This means that Deu 7:12-26 is teaching a single overarching theme.
Deu 8:1-18 end with a p'tuchah (and is teaching a single overarching theme).
Deu 8:19-20 ends with a p'tuchah (and is teaching a single overarching theme).

parashah shema (hear), deuteronomy 6:4 - 7:11

We study the Torah according to the triennial cycle every Sabbath. (Why?)

We must understand the paragraph divisions in Torah, which are inspired by the Spirit and preserved by Moses and the Jewish scribes (but discarded by the English translators), are key to help us understand what God is trying to tell us. He wants to be understood, and has provided these helps to aid us! We must also understand how the Spirit teaches through Torah by common theme.

Today is the 135th Sabbath of the triennial cycle: parashah (Torah portion) Shema /Hear, Deu 6:4 - 7:11. Read Deu 6:4 - 7:11 at Bible Gateway, or Deu 6 and 7 from the Hebrew Bible in English.

Deu 6:4-9 ends with a parsha stumah, a weak paragraph division.
Deu 6:10-15 ends with a stumah.
Deu 6:16-19 ends with a stumah.
Deu 6:20-25 ends with a stumah.
Deu 7:1-11 ends with a parsha p'tuchah, a strong paragraph division. This means that Deu 6:4 - 7:11 is teaching a single overarching theme.

The theme of the parsha stumah from Deu 6:4-9 is to Hear the word of YHVH.
The theme of the parsha stumah from Deu 6:10-15 is to Pay Heed to the word of YHVH that we have heard.
The theme of the parsha stumah from Deu 6:16-19 is to Do and Observe the word of YHVH that we have heard and taken heed of.
The theme of the parsha stumah from Deu 6:20-25 is to Teach to the next generation the word of YHVH that we have heard, taken heed of, and observed.
The theme of the parsha p'tuchah from Deu 7:1-11 is the relationship between Love and Covenant Keeping.

This parashah forms a chiastic structure:

1A Deu 6:1-9 - do the commandment, statutes, and judgments;
  1B Deu 6:10-19 - YHVH repays love and hatred shown to Him;
    1C Deu 6:20-22 - Israel redeemed from Egypt;
      1D Deu 6:23 - YHVH brought Israel in to keep His promise;
        1E Deu 6:24-25 - Israel's righteousness expressed by keeping His commandments;
          --> X Deu 7:1-5 - complete destruction of the Canaanites and their idolatry;
        2E Deu 7:6 - Israel a holy people and a special treasure above all other nations;
      2D Deu 7:7-8a - YHVH brought Israel in to keep His promise;
    2C Deu 7:8b - Israel redeemed from Egypt;
  2B Deu 7:9-10 - YHVH repays love and hatred shown to Him;
2A Deu 7:11 - keep the commandment, statutes, and judgments.

The individual parshas show us several truths to help us keep the commandment, to worship YHVH only. First it we see that the covenant keeping on both sides is from a heart of consuming love for the other party. Then we see that while God needs no help keeping His love for us alive, we can help ourselves keep our love for Him alive by keeping His Word central in our lives.

But since the central axis of the entire parashah is the complete destruction of the Canaanites and their idolatry, we see that guarding ourselves from mixing with idolatry or unbelief in any way, shape, or form, is central to keeping the commandment. Rather, eradicating completely idolatry, unbelief, and worldliness where it is found is central to keeping the commandment.

parashah bazneikhem (listen), deuteronomy 5:1 - 6:3

We study the Torah according to the triennial cycle every Sabbath. (Why?)

We must understand the paragraph divisions in Torah, which are inspired by the Spirit and preserved by Moses and the Jewish scribes (but discarded by the English translators), are key to help us understand what God is trying to tell us. He wants to be understood, and has provided these helps to aid us! We must also understand how the Spirit teaches through Torah by common theme.

Today is the 134th Sabbath of the triennial cycle: parashah (Torah portion) Bazneikhem /Listen, Deu 5:1 - 6:3. Read Deu 5:1 - 6:3 at Bible Gateway, or Deu 5 and 6 from the Hebrew Bible in English.

Deu 5:1-5 ends with a parsha stumah, a weak paragraph division;
Deu 5:6-10 the 1st commandment ends with a stumah;
Deu 5:11 the 2nd commandment ends with a stumah;
Deu 5:12-15 the 3rd commandment ends with a stumah;
Deu 5:16 the 4th commandment ends with a stumah;
Deu 5:17 the 5th commandment ends with a stumah;
Deu 5:18 the 6th commandment ends with a stumah;
Deu 5:19 the 7th commandment ends with a stumah;
Deu 5:20 the 8th commandment ends with a stumah;
Deu 5:21a the 9th commandment, “You shall not covet your neighbor's wife;” ends with a stumah;
Deu 5:21b the 10th commandment, “... or anything that is your neighbor's;” ends with a stumah;
Deu 5:22 - 6:3 ends with a parsha p'tuchah, a strong paragraph division. This means that Deu 5:1-6:3 is teaching a single overarching theme.

The words that keep coming up in these chapters to describe the instruction YHVH is giving His people in how to live, is law, commandment, statute, and judgment. There is no idle word in God's Word! These different words mean something. The Hebrew of these words is insightful and surprising!

There is a chiastic structure in this parsha:

1A Deu 5:1 - hear, pay careful heed, learn, and observe statutes and judgments;
  1B Deu 5:2-3 - YHVH's covenant with Israel;
    1C Deu 5:4-5 - YHVH's voice from the midst of the fire; Moses between YHVH and Israel (stumah);
      --> X Deu 5:6-21 - the Ten Comandments (stumah);
    2C Deu 5:22-27 - YHVH's voice from the midst of the fire; Moses between YHVH and Israel;
  2B Deu 5:28-29 - Israel's heart toward YHVH, to fear Him and keep His commandments;
2A Deu 5:30-6:3 - hear, pay careful heed, learn, and observe the commandment, statutes, and judgments (p'tuchah).

The Ten Commandments came into being, not by the agency of man, as other law codes from the ancient world. But they were voiced in an audible voice which thundered by YHVH, out of the midst of the fire. I couldn't help but notice how many times the phrase “the midst of fire” appeared in this parashah. Over and over and over again. Repetition is a literary device the Spirit employs in Torah to make a point. The picture of fire immediately puts me in mind of the all- consuming baptizing of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus is to baptize the ekklesia (assembly of believers) with (Mat 3:11). So the truth this graphic picture of YHVH's voice speaking His Word, which His commandments are, out of the midst of all- consuming fire leaves me with, is that His Commandments come forth out of the midst of His Spirit.

Keeping the Commandments is central to YHVH's covenant with Israel. Moses out and out says this: “So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone;” (Deu 4:13). In the chaistic structure above, though, the Lord brings out something interesting about what it means to keep the covenant. YHVH's covenant (1B) is paired with Israel's heart toward YHVH (2B). The kind of covenant God made with Israel can only be kept when Israel has the right HEART toward YHVH, a heart of fear, reverence, and devotion toward Him.

In other words, the relationship YHVH has with Israel and Israel with YHVH, is not like the other nations with their gods! They perform a religious duty, but Israel's relationship with YHVH must proceed out of the heart! The sign of the covenant, the circumcision of the flesh, is merely a picture of the circumcision (cutting away of the flesh) of the heart that is the true characteristic of the relationship between Israel and YHVH.

Torah never teaches rote outward obedience to rules, but a heart which is circumcised toward YHVH as the only possible way His covenant could be kept.

In the final layer that surrounds the central axis of this parashah, there are four verbs concerning the Commandments that keep coming up again and again, and we will continue to see them in next few sections of Deuteronomy also. They are:

1) Hear or listen;
2) Pay careful heed;
3) Learn or teach;
4) Observe or keep or do.

Keep your eyes open for these verbs coming up. The Spirit in Torah uses repetition and pattern to teach something important!

parashah tholid (beget), deuteronomy 4:25-49

We study the Torah according to the triennial cycle every Sabbath. (Why?)

We must understand the paragraph divisions in Torah, which are inspired by the Spirit and preserved by Moses and the Jewish scribes (but discarded by the English translators). They are key to help us understand what God is trying to tell us. He wants to be understood, and has provided these helps to aid us! We must also understand how the Spirit teaches through Torah by common theme.

Today is the 133rd Sabbath of the triennial cycle: parashah (Torah portion) Tholid /Beget, Deu 4:25-49. Read Deu 4:25-49 at Bible Gateway, or Deu 4 from the Hebrew Bible in English.

Deu 4:25-40 ends with a parsha p'tuchah, a strong paragraph division. This means that Deu 4:25-40 is teaching a single overarching theme.
Deu 4:41-49 ends with a p'tuchah. This means that Deu 4:41-49 is teaching a single overarching theme.

The first parsha p'tuchah, Deu 4:25-40, forms a chiastic structure:

1A 4:25-26 - forsake YHVH and do not prolong your days in the land;
  1B 4:27-28 - YHVH will drive you out;
    1C 4:29-31 - YHVH is merciful and will not forget the covenant;
      1D 4:32-34 - has any nation heard the voice of YHVH out of the fire?
        --> X 4:35 - To you it was shown, that you might know that YHVH is God and there is no other;
      2D 4:36 - We heard YHVH's voice out of the fire;
    2C 4:37 - He loved our fathers and chose their descendants;
  2B 4:38 - YHVH will drive out the nations;
2A 4:39-40 - keep to YHVH and prolong your days in the land.

The end of verse 40 is the end of Moses' introductory speech. Next he will begin to explain the Torah of God.

The second parsha p'tuchah seems to be on a completely unrelated topic. Cities of refuge? What is going on?

There is another teaching tool the Torah employs that we must understand. Jesus said that Moses taught about Him, and that if someone believed Moses, they would believe Him, but if someone did not believe Moses, how could they believe His words (Joh 5:46-47)? In other words, the words of Moses (which are really the words of God, Moses was just writing down what he heard) reveals the Messiah. Of course, because the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth (Joh 1:14)! Beloved, it is a lie that the Word of God is bondage, evil, or our enemy! In Him was life! The Word of God is full of grace and truth! Torah too? Yes, Torah too! Torah is full of grace and truth, because Torah too is the Word of God!

Okay, back to cities of refuge. This means, that if Torah teaches about Messiah, we should be looking for Messiah, we should be looking for grace and truth in Torah. So what characterizes Messiah? Self- sacrifice! Substitution! Forgiveness of sins! Mercy! Deliverance from death! Resurrection life! Freedom from bondage! All these things characterize Messiah, and all these things are embedded within Torah - even the commands of God in Torah.

Take, for example, the cities of refuge. The scenario is that a man has killed someone - he has broken Torah (one of the Ten Commandments is Do not murder). He is a manslayer! The penalty for shedding blood, is shedding blood - death for the one who killed. But Torah commands that cities of refuge be set aside (Num 35:9-15), so that if a man kills someone (when he has not plotted for his death beforehand) he can flee there and escape the death penalty. That reveals Messiah - we deserve the penalty of death, but we can flee to Messiah and live!

Now, the section about the cities of refuge is included in a single paragraph with the section that begins, “This is the law, and these are the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments ... (Deu 4:41-45).” In our English Bibles, the translators made the paragraph stop after the cities of refuge and started a new paragraph with “This is the law ...” That is how it makes sense to man - they seem to be saying two different things. But God, in His wisdom, has all of vs. 41-49 as a single paragraph. There is not even a stumah, a weak paragraph division, following the cities of refuge!

Can you see what the Lord is saying by having the picture of the Messiah precede “This is the law” and include them both in a single paragraph? Messiah is full of grace and truth, and Torah is full of grace and truth. The Messiah is Torah in other words. And the Messiah is the Prophets and the Writings - all the Word of God, Torah included, is Messiah, who is the Word of God made flesh! God is not schizophrenic, as some accuse Him of being.

God gave us His instructions, and His teaching, in order to grace us with grace, in other words. He wants blessings to come upon us and overtake us, and His way of living is the way of blessing (Deu 28:1-2)! Do not listen to the lie that says obedience is an enemy of the Gospel of grace; that is a lie whose purpose, if you believe it, is to steal from you, kill you, and destroy you if it can (Joh 10:10).