Thanks With Substance
Shabbat Shalom Kol
Yisrael. It is our pleasure to present this week's Torah Parsha commentary by
Nazarene Yisraelite Rabbi T. (Mordecai) Mitchell, Rabbi and Rosh Zaken of B'nai
Yeshurun Nazarene Yisraelite Synagogue, Kittanning, Pa., and board member of the
Union of Nazarene Yisraelite Congregations. It is our sincere hope and prayer
that these commentaries encourage, inspire, and strengthen the body of Messiah
in Kol Yisrael. This week our Parsha is Ki-Tavo (When you come in...)
Debarim (Deuteronomy) 26:1 29:8 (9). Our Haftarah portion is YeshaYahu
(Isaiah) 60:1 22. Our suggested Brit Chadasha readings are: MattithYahu 13:1
23; Acts 28:17 31; and Romans 11:1 15. Please add Tehillim (Psalms)
27.
Our Parsha begins in
26:1 --
1 And it shall
be, when you come into the land which YHWH your Elohim is giving you as an
inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it,
2 that you shall
take some of the first of all the fruits of the soil which you bring from your
land that YHWH your Elohim is giving you, and shall put it in a basket and go to
the place where YHWH your Elohim chooses to make His Name dwell there.
It may seem odd that
the first thing the Israelites were to do once they entered The Land, was to
perform a simple act, collect some first fruits in a basket and give it as an
offering to Yahweh.
Certainly a single
basket of fruit cannot come anywhere near the value of even a small amount of
gold or silver, or one of cattle, sheep or goats, yet, Yahweh made it a Mitzveh
to give Him this simple, humble offering. This shows us that Yahweh is not
necessarily interested in offerings that have great intrinsic value, but rather,
He is more interested in offerings that are given out of simple and sincere
obedience. This offering was made before any other.
The first fruits were
to be placed before Yahweh ,and the people were to (verse 10) ...bow down
before Yahweh... and then (verse 11) they were to ...rejoice in
all the good which YHWH your Elohim has given you and your house, you and the
Levite and the stranger who is among you.
So, this offering was
to be presented to Yahweh in an attitude of prayer and thanksgiving, and the
people, all the people, were to rejoice in all the blessings they were given.
Certainly the themes of fruit and rejoicing in Debarim 26 are a Remez (hint) of
Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles: Vayyiqra (Leviticus) 23:40 And you
shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of good trees, branches of
palm trees, twigs of leafy trees, and willows of the stream, and shall rejoice
before YHWH your Elohim for seven days.
We may notice a
transition is verses 1 and 2 of chapter 26. In verse 1 we have the phrase
...the land... but in verse 2 we read ...your
land...
It is by simple
obedience to Yahweh's Torah that the land becomes our
land. In essence, all we have to do is go in and take possession of it. One
of the related words to Ki Tavo is the word Bo
(Beit, Aleph) which means simply enter or
come!
In chapter 27, Mosheh
gave specific instruction that once Israel has passed over the Yarden (Jordan)
and entered their land they were to build an altar and offer on it burnt
offerings that were peace offerings.
We then read of the
blessing and curses that were proclaimed for specific actions, blessings
declared from Mount Gerizim and curses declared from Mount Eybal. The chapter ends
with verse 26, which reads in the ISR: Cursed is he who
does not establish the Words of this Torah, and all the people shall say,
'Amen.'
The KJV translates
establish as confirmeth. The Hebrew word
here is quwm spelled Quoph, Vuv, Mem (sofeet). One of the more interesting
meanings given by Strong (Number 6965) is: (help to)
Lift up.
Considering this definition we may conclude that we
do indeed establish, make real, or bring into actuality, Yahweh's Torah when we
help to lift up, or support a sincere ministry that is dedicated to leading
the people in the true worship of Almighty Yahweh.
Any time we fail to
Lift up Yahweh's Torah in any way, we end up cursing
ourselves.
Cause And Effect
This brings us to Chapter 28, known as The Blessing
and Cursing Chapter.
Why would curses be in the Bible? Why do curses
exist?
The answer to these questions is one.
If there were no curses, we would not understand,
appreciate or seek blessings. It's that simple. We must also understand
(something we have taught many times before) that Yahweh does not bless or curse
anyone. We bless or curse ourselves by our own actions.
Whenever we perform a certain action, be it physical
or spiritual, or speak certain words, (consider even the thoughts we think) we
set set in motion the law of cause and effect. Again, it's that simple.
In chapter 28 there are roughly seven times as many
curses as there are blessings. This is to remind us that it is easier to do as
we please rather then follow Yahweh's Torah. The desire to receive for self
alone in stronger and the desire to share.
Our Parsha ends
with Debarim 29:9 (ISR version): Therefore you shall guard
the words of this covenant, and do them, so that you prosper in all that you
do.
Yahweh wants the best for His faithful children. He
wants us to prosper. However, prosperity is often misinterpreted as financial
well being, or monetary riches. If we equate prosperity with being a millionaire
then we need to re-evaluate our thinking. Prosperity is both physical and
spiritual. It means having enough, being satisfied. The super-rich are rarely
satisfied by their riches. Therefore, we must conclude that Yahweh hasn't
promised anyone that they will end up with six or seven figure bank accounts,
but He did promise that we would be rich, in the blessings He allows to come
our way.
The full moon of Elul is now past, and we have less
than a month until we celebrate Sukkot. During the past months we have extended
an invitation for anyone to come and rejoice before Yahweh with us at His
ordained Feast. Sad to say the response was not what we had hoped or prayed
for.
Perhaps some have made plans to attend another Feast
site and that's fine. Perhaps others, because of having to travel a distance or
because of health problems cannot attend. And no doubt there are some who cannot
attend a feast anywhere because they failed to make adequate preparation.
Brothers and sisters, in this latter case no one is judging you, no one will
condemn you or point a finger at you. Your situation and decision is between you
and Almighty Yahweh. We want all to know that we love all and we pray for all
regularly.
May Almighty Yahweh bless us all as we seek to serve
Him according to His instruction.
Questions or
comments regarding this week's commentary may be addressed to Rabbi Mitchell by
e-mail at: yoel@windstream.net
Join us for our Pal
Talk Bible studies. We are on Pal Talk at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time Erev
Shabbat (Friday evening) and at 1 p.m. EDT Shabbat Day. Once in Pal Talk go to
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Spirituality, then click on Other. Our room is
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good will are welcome.
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in Crooked Creek State Park. E-mail us for details.
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