Deuteronomy 1-25

Portion VA-ETHKHANAN (3:23-7:11)
3:23 "And I begged [ethkhanan] YHWH to show you pity at that time, saying,

24. "‘Master, YHWH, You have [only just] begun to show your servant Your
greatness, Your strong hand--who [else] is an El like [You] in the heavens or
on earth, who can do the likes of Your works or Your power?

Begun: literally, "opened up". He had seen miracle after miracle, and
spoken face to face with YHWH on numerous occasions. He had seen YHWH's
afterglow--the most a human being could see and still survive. Yet it was
only beginning. Thus far he had done most of these things alone; if the
people had also been intent on knowing YHWH instaed of doing their own thing,
perhaps it would have been different. Now Israel was finally proving to be a
people compliant with YHWH's wishes, and he wanted to see the fruition of
this. "Begun" could also mean "wounded", "pierced", or "penetrated", thus
meaning He had etched or drilled His greatness into him, or impressed it upon
him at last.

25. "‘Please let me cross over and see the good Land that is beyond the
Yarden--this good mountain and Levanon!'

Cross over: The same word for being a Hebrew. He had passed through the
Reed Sea, but not crossed over into the Land. He had known his affiliation
with the Hebrews for eighty years, but he wanted to really BE one. There is
a parallel in those who have been born again. It is like leaving Egypt, yet
the church is still the wilderness; it may have carried us through the
centuries of exile, but until we return to Torah and begin to live as Israel,
we are not truly Hebrews. "Crossing over" is becoming not just a group of
"saved" individuals, but becoming a people--a nation. And this requires
leaving behind what we were before. The Temple had high walls, and once one
went through the gates he could no longer see what was outside. It also
requires dying to self. That is our responsibility, though we cannot do it
alone (see v. 28). Moshe walked by sight instead of by faith, and this
disqualified him from entering the Land. The bar continues to be raised; it
is not enough to be merely Israelites; we must be Hebrews as well. Good
mountain: or perhaps "goodly hill-country", but more likely a reference to
Mt. Moryah, where he knew Avraham had sacrificed Yitzhaq, and Yaaqov had seen
the gateway to heaven. (Actually this mountain was not taken until seven
years after King David had been crowned--an excellent picture of why the
Temple Mount still is not fully in Israel's hands; it must await the next
"David"--the king chosen by the two houses of Israel together.) So he may in
essence be saying, "What good is all that you have brought me through, if I
do not get to the Good Land? My life is not complete." Levanon: in the
general sense, the snow-capped mountains north of the city of Dan. But the
word means "very white", and he may have also been referring to the purityand
true righteousness of Mt. Moryah and its connection to the heavenlies.

26. "But YHWH passed by me for your sake and would not listen to me, but
YHWH told me, ‘[This is too] much [for] you; don't ever say another word to
Me about this!'

Passed by me for your sake: or "was angry at me because of you"; he had
lived out a pictrue of crucifying Messiah a second time. If the people gave
Moshe instead of YHWH the credit for all he had done so far, what would
happen if he had brought them across the Yarden too? Even Moshe, YHWH's
instrument, was not to be worshiped (echoed in Rev. 19:10; 22:8,9). It was
for their benefit that he could not enter the Land, so they would remember
who their real leader was. (YHWH did not even let them find the place of his
tomb, 34:6.) Too much for you: Mount Moryah was more than he could deal
with. This was the right picture (see v. 28), so Moshe was told to be
satisfied and not try to persuade YHWH to change it, for it would be wrong to
be merciful in this case. But literally it only says, "Much to you", so it
is a blessing as well. Much had indeed been given to him, and he was asked to
simply accept YHWH's judgment.

27. "‘Go up to the head of the summit and lift up your eyes westward and
northward and southward and eastward, and see [it] with your eyes, because
you will not cross over this Yarden.'

Summit: or gap--the way by which they would pass from the plateau to the
Yarden plain. Lift up your eyes: includes a sense of seeing in the spirit,
for while he could probably see further than we can today with Israel's haze,
it is unlikely he could physically see it all--though it is only about 50 to
60 miles from Mt. Nevo to the Mediterranean Sea. But the names of the
different directions also have spiritual meaning in Hebrew. Westward: toward
the sea--perhaps a reminder of where they had come from; north: toward the
hidden treasure--the mystery of the remnant who would remain faithful; south:
toward the "right hand"--a title for Y'shua, the fulness of the Torah; and
eastward: toward the place of "breaking forth" (i.e., sunrise)--the complete
birth of the restored Adam, which is still to come. So he could still keep
"going up" (ascend) though he was not able to enter the Land. This vision
showed h im that all he had worked for was not in vain after all. He could
not cross "THIS Yarden", but he would cross another threshold and be able to
see YHWH after all--in a body that would not be destroyed by His intensity.

28. "‘But appoint Y'hoshua and encourage him and make him strong [enough],
because he shall cross over before this people and cause them to take
possession of the land which you will see.'

Here is another reason Moshe could not cross over: he represents the
Torah, which is meant to bring us to the border of the Promised Land, but it
will have done its job if it does. (See Galatians 3:24) Y'hoshua (the longer
version of Y'shua's name) is the only one who can bring us all the way. He
has been in the Land before, and knows its dangers, but still wants to go.
This is a "son in whom YHWH is well-pleased". He has searched it out and
knows his way around, which is more than could be said for Moshe. "What the
Torah [alone] could not do, weakened as it was due to our flesh, YHWH has
done" in sending Y'shua the Messiah (Romans 8:3). He taught us to die to
self and become one united people. And he indeed went on "before us", as the
firstfruits of the resurrection. (1 Cor. 15:20) Yet notice that Y'shua has
to be strengthened by Moshe (the Torah) as well. Moshe was to tell Y'hoshua
all that he had just seen in the vision (v. 27) and give him the strength it
had given him. When Y'shua was tempted, everything he said was from Moshe.
Faith without works is inadequate; without the Torah, Y'shua had no foot to
stand on. We need to both keep the commandments and have the Testimony of
Y'shua to ultimately conquer. (Rev. 12:17)

29. "But we remained in the valley in front of Beth-Pe'or.

On the spiritual level, Moshe's melancholy Still remains. They were still
in a false elohim's territory.

CHAPTER 4

1. "So now, Israel, listen to the prescribed tasks and the fitting customs
which I am teaching you to carry out, so that you may survive and enter to
take possession of the Land which YHWH, the Elohim of your ancestors, is
giving to you.

Listen: perhaps better, "consent" or "confirm". Survive: If Moshe was
being kept out of the Land for one infraction, how much more strict would be
the expectations once they got into the Land? But for our situation, the
word can also be translated "revive"; this is necessary before we too can
inhabit the Land.

2. "Do not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor diminish it in any
way, so that you can carefully guard the commandments of YHWH your Elohim
that I am laying upon you.

It seems that the commandments that YHWH most ardently warns us to be
especially careful about are those that fall by the wayside most frequently!
Y'shua echoes this warning, reminding us that one who diminishes the Torah
will receive a commensurately low position in His Kingdom. (Mat. 5:18-19;
see also Rev. 22:18 and Prov. 30:5-6) Add: anything more that is said about
them should only be to make the meaning clear, not to mandate new
requirements Minor rulings are to only be applications of the root principle
to a particular case, but not held to be authoritative for every situation;
the "way of walking it out" is meant to remain fluid, though all too often it
has not. But "the word which I am commanding you" may apply more
specifically to the last thing he said: Listen and obey, and you will be
revived; add no conditional clauses to this. Yet if it is so plain and
simple, why have we taken so long to get the point? Because the time of
Israel's punishment is over, and He is allowing the understanding to get
through to us. May we do it rightly this time!

3. "Your [own] eyes see what YHWH has done to Ba-al-Pe'or, because YHWH your
Elohim has exterminated from your midst any man who walked after Ba'al-Pe'or.

4. "But you who stayed close to YHWH are alive today--all of you.

Stayed with: closely adhered to, even "pursued". They did not have the
attitude of "I've got to obey", but of "I get to obey!" Compare Tzefanyah
(Zeph.) 3:18, in which those who grieve for the Temple are the ones who will
be regathered to the Land. He will not take every member of every family.
(Yirm./Jer. 3:14)

5. "Observe closely! I have taught you prescribed limits and principles of
proper judgment, just as YHWH my Elohim has ordered me [to do], so you may
carry them out inside the Land to which you are going in order to inherit it.

Prescribed limits and principles of proper judgment: i.e., the mindset of
a Hebrew--parameters, delineations, and frames of reference around which to
figure out how the rest applies. Inside the Land: literally, within the
inner [nearest] part; i.e., so may get as close to His heart as possible.
Inherit: or "take possession". He is giving us access to the Land (which can
also be a metaphor for all of the rich blessings that He gives us through the
Messiah), but only by following His principles carefully will we be able to
harness all of its potential.

6. "So you shall observe them and carry them out, because this [will be]
your wisdom and your perceptiveness as the [other] peoples who hear of all
these customs will see it, and say, ‘This nation is just [one] learned and
intelligent people!'

Observe and carry out: or, study them carefully (keeping careful guard
over them), then do them. They are not intended to simply be done without
learning their deeper message; in that case, "the letter kills". But the
spirit--the heart of what they are meant to teach us--brings life! Wisdom:
witty skill. In Messiah are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
(Colossians 2)

7. "--because which [other] nation is [so] great that their mighty one comes
close to them as YHWH our Elohim does when we invite Him to?

8. "And who is a great nation whose customs and rulings are as just as this
instruction that I am setting before you today?

9. "Only, be on guard for yourself, and keep strict watch over your soul,
so that you will not forget the things your eyes have seen, nor will they be
taken away from your heart all the days of your life, but instill them in
your children and grandchildren!

Soul: mind, will, emotions, appetites, that which motivates you most
deeply. Forget: or "wither away from". Heart: inclination or resolve.

10. "The day on which you stood before YHWH your Elohim in Horev--when YHWH
told me, ‘Assemble the people for Me, and I will let them hear My words, so
they might learn to stand in [reverent] awe of Me all the days that they live
on the earth, and so they might teach their children.

Teach: train and instruct the unaccustomed; reshape; literally, prod.
His intimacy with them would be greatly diminished, as they would be
spreading across a whole land and not gathered in one place as one body as
they had been. The memory must be preserved even in those who have not seen
it as vividly as the generation to whom he speaks.

11. "So you approached and stood beneath the mountain, with the mountain on
fire, burning to the heart of heaven--thick darkness, a cloud mass, and
obscuring dimness.

Beneath (or under): based on the word for "compressed", because like the
crossing of the sea, they had to put themselves in a position where they
could be crushed by its weight. This is probably the context for Y'shua's
comment that if one has faith he can tell "this mountain" to be removed. Was
he just speaking in generalities? Or was he referring to the potential curse
in the Torah which they were accepting upon themselves here? By trust in
him, it becomes not a threat hanging over their heads, but a wedding canopy
for the betrothal ceremony between YHWH and Israel, in which the two tablets
formed the ketubah (the written contract for the marriage). Yochanan the
Immerser, who Y'shua said stood in Eliyahu's office, was called the "Friend
of the Bridegroom" (one of the two witnesses). Moshe, here, is the friend of
the Bride, who leads her to her Husband. Moshe and Eliyahu were the two who
spoke to Y'shua on another mountain, and appear to be the two witnesses of
Revelation 11. Velikovsky's theory that the earth was passing through the
tail of a comet during the exodus could explain the massive force that it
would take to lift the mountain off the ground. The head of the comet would
have an extremely strong gravitational pull. (Perhaps it also had something
to do with lifting the walls of water up when they passed through the Reed
Sea.) The "flashes" (v. 16) may have been the exchange of electrical
discharges between the comet and the earth, in a much more violent phenomenon
than we usually imagine, to the point that Psalms 18, 29, and 46 could be
taken literally. Psalm 77 actually says "the universe [itself] shook". Psalm
68 says "Sinai itself was moved". Psalm 97 says the "mountains melted like
wax." Obviously there is something cataclysmic going on, not just an
isolated east wind; that only accomplished the rapid drying of the land
between the waters for them to cross the sea.

12. "Then YHWH spoke to you from among the flames; you were hearing the
sound of words, but there was no form for you to be seeing, except for a
[light] voice.

Seeing...a voice: By tradition this took place on Shavuoth, the feast of
Weeks, and the voice went out in 70 languages, to correspond with the 70
nations in Genesis 10. The upshot was that 3,000 disobedient to the commands
fell in one day. (Ex. 32:28) In Greek the day is called Pentecost (50th).
This immediately gives us a basis for the imagery of the "tongues of fire"
which were visible above the heads of the "sent ones" as the mighty sound of
wind [which is the same word for spirit] again some 1,500 years later, and
good news went out in many languages, and 3,000 obeyed it--a reparation of
what happened the previous time.

13. "And He informed you about His covenant, which He commanded you to carry
out--[that is], the Ten Declarations, and He engraved them in two slabs of
stone.

Stone: by tradition, it was sapphire, corresponding with the "plane" on
which YHWH's feet stood (Ex. 24:10) and like which His throne appeared (Ezkl.
1:26; 10:1), and the inscription went all the way through the stones so that
when held backwards the gaps between the letters spelled something different.
This reminds us of the contrast between "the spirit of the Torah" and the
letter, the curse and the promises, the choice between life and death that it
offers, and the fact that long after sinful world is done away with and
recreated and the sin against which it spoke is long forgotten, the Word of
YHWH will still endure forever. There is even a tradition that in the
Messianic kingdom, the letters of the Torah will rearrange themselves and,
though all the letters are still present, it will present a different message
for the altered environment to which it will still go one speaking.

14. "At that time YHWH also ordered me to teach you prescribed tasks and
customs in order that you may put them into effect in the Land which you
shall cross over to take possession of.

15. "So keep careful guard over your souls, because you did not see any
form on the day YHWH spoke to you at Chorev from the midst of the flames,

Form: likeness, representation of any particular shape. The following
verses specify that no animal or planet, man or star, could adequately depict
Him. He is not to be defined by any of the things He has made. Like His
commandments, they are all here to serve us, not enslave us. ("The Sabbath
is made for man, not man for the Sabbath.") We are not to understand Him
according to the limitations of any particular creation of His. When they
made the golden calf, they called it YHWH. They were not consciously going
after other gods, but were putting His name on pagan things. An inscription
was later found on an item devoted "to YHWH and His asherah"; it was simply
trying to give Him honor in the way the other nations honored their deities.
But He does not wish to be worshiped or understood in such a way, but in
"spirit and in truth".

16. "so that you will not act corruptly by making for yourselves a
particular carved image, resembling anything--the shape of a male or female,

17. "the shape of any beast that is on the earth, the shape of any winged
creature that flies through the sky,

18. "the shape of anything that creeps on the ground, or the shape of any
fish that is in the waters below the land;

19. "or lest you lift up your eyes to the heavens and see the sun, the moon,
the stars, and all the armies of heaven, you should be impelled to bow down
to them or enslave yourselves to these [things] that YHWH has apportioned to
all the nations under the whole heaven;

Apportioned: divided, assigned, distributed; Aramaic, "designated to
serve". I.e., He gave them to all the nations and they are common (contrast
v. 20). In the context of "armies of heaven", this probably also refers to
spiritual beings who, though they have a place and they indeed have authority
over particular nations and are limited to such (e.g., Daniel 10:13ff), are
not themselves meant to be worshiped.

20. "But YHWH has selected you, and brought you out from the crucible of
iron--from Egypt--to become His own-for the purpose of being a people [that
are His own] prized possession, just as [is the case] today."

Why throw away such a rare privilege and not rise to the awesomeness of
it all, settling instead for something that the nations all stoop to--nations
that He considered a mere drop in the bucket in comparison (Yeshayahu/Isaiah
40:15)?

21. "Yet YHWH was angry with me because of your words, and swore that there
would be no crossing over the Yarden for me, or entering into the good Land
that YHWH is giving you as an inheritance,

YHWH was angry: Aram., "anger emanated from YHWH".

22. "because I will die in this land; there will be no crossing over the
Yarden for me, but you are crossing over, and have inherited that good Land.

23. "Be on your guard lest you forget the covenant of YHWH your Elohim,
which He has cut with you, and fashion for yourselves a carved image
resembling anything about which YHWH your Elohim has given you orders,

24. "because YHWH your Elohim is a consuming fire; He is a jealous El.

25. "When you have begotten children and grandchildren and have remained so
long in the Land as to be spoiled, and you make a carved image resembling
anything, and do what is evil in the sight of YHWH your Elohim, to provoke
Him to anger,

Be spoiled: literally, "spoiled rotten" or "corrupted". Humanly
speaking, this is why our ancestors had to leave the Land. Those who did not
experience these miracles firsthand got used to the Land, and it became
commonplace for them; they wanted more excitement. Even at the end of the
Kingdom, we still see people who have lived under Messiah's perfect rule
rebelling. There has been "too much peace", as in King Shlomo's day. This
teaches us to appreciate our trials, so we will not become so slack.

26. "I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that you will
completely vanish from the Land into which you are crossing to dispossess it.
You will not cause your days to be lengthened on it; rather, you will be
utterly exterminated,

I invoke...as witnesses: the traditional covenant style. Note that there
are two witnesses, which is by law what it takes to establish a matter in
Israel. (17:6) Yet compare Matt. 5:33. If we swear this way, we will be
held to it. After making a promise like this, even YHWH could not show pity
at first.

27. "and YHWH will cause you to be fragmented among the peoples, and you
will be left few in number among the nations into which YHWH will cause you
to be driven.

28. "What's more, you will serve elohim made by human hands there--wood and
stone, which can neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell!

Serve elohim: Aramaic, "serve the nations who worship elohim..."

29. "Yet if from there you will diligently seek YHWH your Elohim, you will
find [Him], whenever you inquire after Him with all your determination and
all your passion.

Seek: includes the idea of searching with strong desire; inquire: even
"demand. Determination: "heart", including the understanding, memory,
knowledge, and conscience--the innermost being. Passion: emotion, self-life,
appetites, and active will--almost an addiction.

30. "In your distress and when you have met with all of these things, then
in the last days, you will return to YHWH your Elohim, and obey His voice,

In your distress: or "when you have tribulation", a possible allusion to
the "Great Tribulation" of which Y'shua spoke. Voice: Aramaic, "Memra"
(living Word). You will return...and obey: this is a prophecy and a promise.
It is a lifeline we must cling to so that we can "walk by faith and not by
sight." This is how the Renewed Covenant will differ from the former: this
one will not be broken. (Yirmiyahu/Jer. 31:32; Heb. 8:9)

31. "because YHWH your Elohim is a compassionate El; He will not abandon you
or bring about your ruin, nor will He forget the covenant which He swore with
your ancestors.

Abandon: literally, "let you drop".

32. "Because--ask, now, the earliest days, which took place before [you
existed], from all the way back when Elohim created humanity upon the earth,
or from [one] end of the sky to [the other] end of the sky, ‘Has there ever
been [any] thing as great as this? Or has [anything] like it [ever] been
heard?'

Has there ever been? We are commanded to ask, so that we will be sure to
hear the negative answer. The "earliest days" are invoked as an additional
witness. Yet something more is needed (Heb. 8:7), and indeed there is a
promise that one day there will be something that so far supercedes this
(Yirm. 23:5ff), that the former exodus will no longer even be mentioned!

33. "Has a nation ever heard the voice of an Elohim speaking out of the
midst of the fire as you have heard--and survived?

34. "Or has an Elohim [ever] tried to take for himself a nation out of the
midst of [another] nation, by proof-tests, by distinguishing signs, by
miracles, by war, by a firm hand and an outstretched arm, and by
awe-inspiring spectacles such as YHWH your Elohim performed for you in
Egypt--before your [very] eyes?

35. "You were shown, so you might know that YHWH is Elohim; apart from Him
there is no other.

36. "From out of the heavens He made His voice audible to you, so He might
instruct you, and on the earth He made His great fire visible, and you heard
His words from the within the fire.

Voice: or "thunderous sound". Instruct: Aramaic, "train".

37. "Then in transferring the love He had for your ancestors, He chose their
descendants after them, and led you out from Egypt with His presence--[Such]
great power He had!--

38. "to dispossess nations greater and more numerous than you from before
your face, and to give you their Land as inherited property, as [it is] this
day.

39. "So be aware today, and bring it back to mind, that it is YHWH who is
Elohim in the heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.

40. "So hear [and obey] His prescribed customs and His orders that I am
laying on you today, so that it may go well for you and for your descendants
after you, and so that you may extend [your] days on the ground that YHWH
your Elohim is giving to you [for] all time."

Extend your days...for all time: literally, "make long days...all the
days".

41. Then Moshe set aside three cities on the sunrise side of the Yarden

42. to which a manslayer who had unwittingly killed his fellow could escape
(when he had not already hated him beforehand, and, having fled to one of
these cities, might survive):

Already beforehand: literally, "three days ago"--a common Hebrew idiom.
These cities: or perhaps, "cities of El". And, having fled: Aram., "now he
could flee".

43. Betzer in the wilderness of the plateau for the Reuvenites, Ramoth in
Gil'ad for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Menashites.

Plateau: literally, "level land". Golan: This is where the name for
today's Golan Heights originated.

44. And this is the instruction that Moshe set before the descendants of
Israel;

45. these are the evidences, the prescribed customs, and the legal
procedures that Moshe talked [intensely] to the descendants of Israel about
after they left Egypt

46. across the Yarden in the valley in front of Beyth-Pe'or in the territory
of Sichon king of the Emorites, who had been living in Heshbon when Moshe and
the descendants of Israel attacked while they were leaving Egypt.

47. So they took possession of his territory and the territory of Og the
king of Bashan, both kings of the Emorites, which are on the side of the
Yarden toward the rising of the sun,

48. from Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon and all the way to
Mount Sion (which is Chermon),

49. as well as all the Aravah on the sunrise side of the Yarden all the way
to the sea of the Aravah below the waterfalls of the cliffs.

Aravah: i.e., the Rift Valley. Sea of the Aravah: the Dead Sea or Salt
Sea.

CHAPTER 5

1. Then Moshe summoned all of Israel, and told them, "Consent, O Israel, to
the prescribed customs and legal procedures that I will discuss in your
hearing this day so you may be prodded by them and attentive to carry them
out.

Attentive: on your guard. Take measures to keep yourself away from sin.

2. "YHWH our Elohim has cut a covenant with us at Chorev.

3. "Not with our fathers did YHWH cut this covenant, because it is with
us--ourselves--these who are here today, all of us who are alive!

This verse shows us clearly that the Hebrew idiom pattern of "not this,
but that" does not mean that the first was not true at all (because YHWH did
indeed cut a covenant with these people's parents), but rather that the
emphasis is to be placed on the content of the "but" clause. We do much the
same when we say, "I'm not talking about that [usage of the word]; what I
really mean is..." Knowing this could have spared the church from such
errors as saying, "Keeping the letter of the Torah doesn't matter, only
following its spirit", or "We do not have to obey the Torah because Paul says
we are not under the Law but under grace!" The emphasis is on those who are
alive: Psalm 115 emphasizes that it is only those who have breath who can
praise YHWH. Y'shua said YHWH is not the Elohim of the dead, but of the
living. Whatever our forebears may have done in obedience to the Torah, it is
up to us today to carry it on. And those who had no faith were never really
alive; the parents of the generation to whom he is speaking might never
partake of the resurrection. It is for the faithful and obedient, for that
is what makes us truly alive.

4. "Face to face YHWH spoke with you at the mountain, from the midst of the
fire,

5. ("I myself stood between YHWH and yourselves at that time, to announce
the word of YHWH to you, because you were afraid due to the presence of the
fire, and did not go up onto the mountain.), saying,

I myself: a more intimate form of the normal term for "I", much like our
English idiom "yours truly". Due to the presence: literally, "from the face".

6. "‘I am YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out from the land of Egypt--from
a place of slavery.

I am: recognize nothing else as Me. What follows is a paraphrase of
Exodus chapter 20.

7. "‘For you there will be no other elohim above Me."

There may indeed be other elohim given jurisdiction over areas of the
world to prevent total anarchy (1 Cor. 8:5; Dan. 10:13, etc.), but as far as
we are concerned, there are no intercessors except Y'shua. If we are given
access to the highest court, why should we go through middlemen?

8. "‘Do not make for yourselves a carved image resembling anything that is
in the heavens above or that is on the earth below, or that are in the waters
below the land.

9. "‘You must not bow down to them or serve them, because I--YHWH your
Elohim--am a jealous El, bringing the punishment for fathers upon their
children to the third and fourth [generation] of those who hate Me,

10. "‘but acting with kindness upon thousands of those who love Me and guard
My commandments.

Love and guard...: Fondness for Him alone does not earn us His mercy.

11. "‘Do not take up the name of YHWH your Elohim wastefully, because YHWH
will not acquit such [a one] who takes up His name wastefully.

Wastefully: emptily, worthlessly, for nothing; i.e., making it void. Are
we who claim to be His turning out to be of any benefit to Him? Acquit:
leave unpunished or exempt from punishment.

12. "‘Treasure up the Sabbath day in order to observe it as set apart, as
YHWH your Elohim has commanded.

Treasure up: or safeguard. It is our responsibility to build a hedge
around the treasure He has given us. Be stricter than you have to, to be
sure it is not lost! There is more written about this command than any of
the others, yet it receives the least emphasis today, and what publicity it
receives is usually inaccurate.

13. "‘Six days you may [both] serve [others] and carry out your [own]
business,

14. "‘but the seventh day is a Sabbath for YHWH your Elohim; you may do no
work--[neither] you nor your son nor daughter nor your male or female
servant, nor your bull, nor your donkey, nor any of your animals, nor the
visitor who is within your gates, so that your male or female servant may
rest just as you do.

Sabbath: Heb., shabbath, an intense time of desisting from something.
Work: business, craftsmanship, occupation, public or political activity, or
anything in regard to your own property (other than what is necessary to keep
them alive). We may not allow others to work for us, which rules out
purchasing anything from shops which we are encouraging to remain open if we
do so, thus forcing others to work. Anyone who is within Israelite precincts
(or under our authority) must also abide by the same regulations, whether or
not they recognize any need to do so when they are at home. The word for
"visitor" also often means a convert to Israelite religion, or one who is in
the process of learning about it; thus it appears that Gentiles who recognize
YHWH to any extent are also held accountable for observing His day. What may
be done is service to the holy community, especially assembling together to
build up the spiritual house.

15. "‘Also, remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and YHWH
your Elohim brought you out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched
arm. For this reason YHWH your Elohim has commanded you to put the Sabbath
day into effect.

For this reason: It is linked directly to having been slaves, because
when we keep the Sabbath, we are truly freed from Egypt, which had enslaved
us to the day of the Sun. Put into effect: or attend to, prepare, carry out,
do, perform, institute, accomplish, even "make" or "produce"--i.e., do not do
other forms of work, and by not doing so, carve out a space in time that is
an entity in itself and a picture of the Messianic Kingdom when everything on
earth will serve Y'shua's purposes. It already exists, but make it effective.

16. "‘Honor your father and your mother, as YHWH your Elohim has commanded
you, so that your days may be extended, and so that it may go well for you on
the ground that YHWH your Elohim is giving to you.

Honor: give weight to, treat as important, enrich.

17. "‘You will not commit murder, nor will you commit adultery, nor will you
steal, nor will you hear [or respond to] false testimony against your fellow,

Adultery always involves being unfaithful to one to whom you have vowed
loyalty, and thus includes idolatry against YHWH. Your fellow: literally,
"one from your same flock". In English this constitutes four verses, thus
giving the chapter 33 verses instead of 30 as the Hebrew version has.

18. "‘nor will you lust for your fellow's wife, nor will you envy your
fellow's house, his field, or his male or female servant, his bull or his
donkey, or anything that belongs to your fellow.'

19. "YHWH spoke these words to your whole assembly at the mountain from
within the fire, the thundercloud, and the heavy darkness with a loud voice,
and he added no more, but wrote them on two slabs of stone and delivered them
to me.

Delivered: or "gave", but Hebrews 2:2 says it was by the mediation of
messengers or angels. Heavy darkness: Aram., "very dense clouds"; LXX:
"storm".

20. "But what happened was that, when you heard the voice from the midst of
the darkness, with the mountain burning in fire, you (all the heads of your
tribes and your elders) approached me

21. "and said, ‘Behold, YHWH has shown us how weighty and magnificent He
[is], and we have heard His voice from within the fire, and we have seen that
an Elohim can speak with a man, and he can survive.

His voice (the combination of His word and His spirit, or breath) in
itself contains His authority and greatness.

22. "‘But now, why should we die? Because this great fire might consume us!
If we hear any more of YHWH's voice, then we will die!

23. "‘For who of all flesh has heard the voice of a living Elohim speaking
from within a fire as we have, and survived?

They assumed that they had simply been spared by some fluke of His mercy
the first time, but did not wish to "press their luck".

24. "‘You [go] approach and hear all that YHWH our Elohim may say, then you
can tell us all that YHWH our Elohim tells you, and we will follow through.'

25. "So YHWH listened to the tone of your words when you spoke to me, and
YHWH told me, ‘I have heard the tone of the words this people have spoken.
All that they have said was appropriate.

He saw that they did indeed fear them, and wished this could continue:

26. "‘Who will grant that this attitude of theirs were always to respect Me
and to observe all My commands, so that it might go well for them and for
their descendants forever?

Could you imagine anyone starting a rebellion against Moshe or
fornicating in the Tabernacle precinct while this was going on? They were
trembling at Him, and this is the "beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 111:10; Prov.
9:10) Nothing else seemed important just then.

27. "‘Go and tell them, "You [may] return to your tents."

28. "But you, stand here by Me, and I will declare to each command, and the
prescribed customs and the legal procedures which you shall teach them, so
they may carry them out in the Land that I myself am giving to them to take
possession of.'

29. "So you must be careful to act according to what YHWH your Elohim has
commanded you; you must not turn aside to the right or to the left.

30. "You must walk in every way that YHWH your Elohim has commanded you, so
that you may live and it may go well for you, and you may lengthen your days
in the Land of which you will take possession.

CHAPTER 6

1. "Now this is the commandment, the prescribed customs, and the legal
procedures which YHWH has ordered that [I] teach you, to carry out in the
Land into which you are crossing to take possession of,

2. "so that you might reverence YHWH your Elohim and observe all His
prescribed customs and His commands [about] which I am giving you
orders--you, your son, and your grandson all the days of your life, and so
that your days may be lengthened.

3. "So listen, Israel! And be careful to do what will be good for you, and
what will [make] you increase greatly, just as YHWH the Elohim of your
ancestors has promised you--a Land gushing with milk and honey.

Listen: Aramaic, "accept".

4. "Listen, Israel! YHWH is our Elohim! Only YHWH!

Listen: Heb., Sh'ma. This along with the next several verses is the
heart of the Torah. Only YHWH: or, "YHWH is one (or unified, or
everything)."

5. "And you shall long for YHWH your Elohim with all of your resolve, with
all of your passion, and with all of your resources.

6. "And these words that I am commanding you today shall be on your mind,

On your mind: Aramaic, "taken to heart".

7. "and you shall bring them to a point for your children, and speak of them
when you sit in your house, while you walk on the road, when you lie down,
and when you get up.

Bring them to a point for: literally, "sharpen them for" or "point them
out to". I.e., make sure they understand the "main point", or "teach
incisively". Mystically, we see here the four stages of life: sitting in
your house is being in the womb; walking on the road is living out our lives;
we lie down in death, and arise at the resurrection.

8. "And you shall tie them on your hand as a visible reminder, and they
shall serve as what is bound on between your eyes.

What is bound on: or "head-ornaments".

9. "You shall even write them on the doorposts of your house, and upon your
gates.

Your gates: would seem redundant with doorposts if it did not apply to
either the seat of a city's judicial rulings or our own bodily orifices,
through which sin often gains entrance. (Gen.4:7; Yaaqov/James 1:26) YHWH
gives us beards to guard the eye and nose gates, pe'ot of hair to guard the
ear gates, and tzitziyoth, on which are often "written" YHWH's name, near the
sexual organs to remind us who we belong to.

10. "Then when YHWH your Elohim brings you into the Land, as he promised
your ancestors Avraham, Yitzhaq, and Yaaqov that He would give you large and
prosperous cities which you did not build,

Prosperous: or "goodly". Aramaic, "flourishing"; LXX: "beautiful".

11. "houses full of every pleasantry, which you did not fill up, hewn
cisterns which you did not dig out, vineyards and olive orchards that you did
not plant--and you will eat and be satisfied.

12. "Be on guard for yourselves lest your forget YHWH your Elohim, who
brought you out of the land of Egypt--out of the slave-quarters.

13. "YHWH your Elohim [is the one] you shall stand in awe of. He [is the
one] you serve, and His is the Name by which you will swear.

By which you will swear: since this would seemto contradict Y'shua's
recommendation that we not swear at all, especially by heaven (often a
euphemism for YHWH Himself), we should look into the other meanings of the
word. Indeed, the phrase could just as well read, "His is the Name in which
you will be complete." His Name opens many doors, and there is no need to
enter any others.

14. "You must not go after other elohim, from the elohim of the peoples who
are around you,

15. "(since a jealous El is [what] YHWH your Elohim [is] in your innermost
part), lest the anger of YHWH your Elohim begin to burn against you, and He
annihilate you from off the face of the Land.

16. "Do not put YHWH your Elohim to the test, as you tested Him at Massah.

Massah also means "the place of testing".

17. "You must guard the commandments of YHWH your Elohim to observe
them,along with His evidences, and His prescribed customs about which He has
given you orders.

18. "And you must do what is proper and beneficial in the eyes of YHWH, so
that it may go well for you and you may go in and take over the good Land
which YHWH promised to your ancestors:

19. "that is, drive out all your enemies from before you, as YHWH haas said.

20. "In time to come, when your son asks you, ‘What are the evidences and
the customs and the legal procedures that YHWH our Elohim has commanded you?',

This is similar to the questions the children traditionally ask at
Passover.

21. "then say to your son, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, but YHWH
brought us out from Egypy with a firm hand,

22. "‘and YHWH provided distinguishing signs and tokens--intense and
severe--upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon his whole household, before our
[very] eyes!

23. "‘But he brought us out from there in order to bring us in--to give us
the Land that He had promised to our ancestors.

24. "‘Then YHWH ordered us to carry out all these customs to honor YHWH our
Elohim, for our benefit, to sustain our life as it is this day,

25. "‘and it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to carry out all
these orders in the presence of YHWH our Elohim, as He directed us.'

It will be righteousness for us: LXX, "there will be mercy for us";
Aramaic, "it will be to our merit".

CHAPTER 7

1. "When YHWH your Elohim brings you into the Land into which you are going
in order to take it over, and He has cleared away many nations from before
you: the Chittites, the Girgashites, the Emorites, the Kanaanites, the
Prizzites, the Hiwites, and the Y'vusites--seven nations greater and more
numerous than you--

Cleared away: LXX, "removed"; Hirsch, "rendered without hold".

2. "and YHWH your Elohim delivers them up before you, and you strike them
down, then you shall turn them over to destruction; you must not cut a
covenant with them, nor show them any pity,

They had four hundred years to repent, since the influence Avraham had on
them, yet they did not. But on the spiritual level, we should treat "self"
this way, giving it no leaveway, because selfishness--acting as if we were
only individuals--is an arch-enemy of Israel (becoming a people who truly
operate in unison), and there are many strongholds in "self" to tear down (v.
5).

3. "nor may you intermarry with them: you must not give your daughter to his
son, nor take his daughter for your son,

Intermarry with them: literally, "make each other in-laws".

4. "because he will cause your child to turn away from following Me, so they
can serve other elohim, and YHWH's anger will be ignited against you, and He
will let you be destroyed swiftly.

They: i.e., both of them; the evil one will have the worsening influence
on the innocent. This is the nature of those people: they are "missionaries"
for their religion, and you are not strong enough to resist their allures.
Your child will be considered "plunder" for their deity. He will
let...swiftly: Aramaic, "it will summarily destroy you."

5. "Rather, this is what you must do to them: tear down their altars, and
shatter their uprights! Chop down their groves, and burn their carved images
with fire,

Uprights: "standing stones" or makeshift pillars, used as phallic symbols
around fertility cult sites. Groves: not merely stands of trees, but those
specifically used in pagan fertility rites. For this reason, no grove of
trees of any kind is to be planted near an altar to YHWH (Deut. 16:21), just
so no association will even be imagined by those who are used to such things.
Yet the tradition of Christmas trees was rooted in this very practice.

6. "because you are a people set apart to your Elohim; you are the nation
YHWH your Elohim has chosen to be an especially-valued treasure out of all
the nations that are on the face of the earth.

The "you" here is singular; He sees them as one man. Especially-valued
treasure: Hirsch, "belonging exclusively to Himself".

7. "YHWH did not delight in you or choose you because of your being more
numerous than all [other] nations, because you were [actually] the smallest
of any nation.

Delight in you: "become attached to you"; LXX: "prefer you".

8. "Rather, because of YHWH's love for you, and because He kept the oath
that He swore to your ancestors, has YHWH brought you out with a firm hand
rescued your from the slave-quarters--from the hand of Pharaoh, the sovereign
of Egypt.

9. "So recognize that YHWH is your Elohim; He is the Elohim--the faithful
El--who keeps the pledge with goodwill toward those who love Him and keep His
commandments to the thousand[th] generation,

Recognize: know intimately because of the foregoing facts; rest assured
and do not doubt it. Faithful: Aramaic, "trustworthy". Pledge with
goodwill: Aramaic, "a generous covenant".

10. "but pays back in full the ones who hate Him to His face, to his
destruction. He will not defer to the one who hates him; He will repay him in
full to his face!

The ones...his: an apparent reference to how, just as Israel forms "one
man" (v. 6), all the haters of YHWH will also be united into "one man" just
before they are destroyed. Defer: or "delay", "be too slow", "leave
unfinished"; LXX, "be slack". To his face: Aram., "during his lifetime".

11. "So be careful to carry out the command, the prescribed customs, and the
legal procedures [about] which I myself am giving you orders today!"

Legal procedures: or rulings; Hirsch, "social regulations".

Portion EQEV (7:12-11:25)
7:12. "And this [is what] will follow on the heels ['eqev] of your paying
attention to these ordinances, giving them prominence, and carrying them out:
YHWH your Elohim shall guard the covenant and the lovingkindness that He
promised [with an oath] to your forefathers.

Note that these promises are conditional, but that YHWH's blessing will
follow closely upon obedience. Guard...lovingkindness: Aramaic, "follow
through for you on a generous covenant". He will "safeguard" the covenant,
"give it prominence", and "hedge it about" (alternate translations) if we do.
Lovingkindness: or mercy. The idea in cutting the animals in two (Gen. 15)
was to say, "If I or my descendants do not keep our part of the agreement,
may the same thing be done to us." So He had to divide the Kingdom. But
when they become obedient again, He will do the opposite--restore His mercy
to us and make us one people again. (Hos. 1)

13. "And He will befriend you, bless you, and make you great; He will also
bless the fruit of your womb as well as the fruit of Land: your grain, your
new wine, and your oil, and the offspring of your cattle and the sheep of
your flocks in the Land which He promised your forefathers [that He would]
give to you.

Befriend: or love. Bless: literally "bend the knee"; when speaking of
YHWH, it would mean He would stoop down to our level and pay attention to us
as a father does to a small child. Grain, new wine, and oil: often metaphors
also for people (those who can be components in "one bread" that is
satisfying to Him), fresh joy, and spiritual anointing, which, even if
already present, can always stand to be increased.

14. "From among all peoples, you shall be [the ones most] blessed; there
shall not be anyone sterile among you--male or female--nor among your animals.

15. "And YHWH will take all sickness away from you, and place upon you none
of the dreadful Egyptian diseases with which you are familiar, but will send
them upon all the ones who hate you.

Sickness: illness, weakness, or grieving, which Y'shua's cross made
unnecessary. (Yeshayahu/Isa. 53:4). Dreadful diseases: literally, "evil".
Some sickness is for YHWH's glory (Yochanan 9:3; 11:4), but others have no
purpose. Also, many of the diseases of Egypt can be directly prevented by
obeying the Torah's regulations in regard to cleanliness, diet, circumcision,
not eating blood, and refraining from sexual relations at certain times.

16. "And you will devour every nation that YHWH your Elohim shall deliver up
to you; your eye shall have no pity on them [so that you would spare them],
nor shall you worship [serve] their gods, because that [would only be] a trap
for you.

In case we were beginning to be lulled to sleep by His promises, YHWH put
the most difficult command right up front, rather than in the "fine print",
so we would count the cost of what it will mean to be Israelites. Most of
the time this command will need to be carried out more figuratively, but
especially when we go back into the Land, there may be a need to take it very
literally once again, judging by the demographics in the Land now and their
political repercussions. A trap for you: He knows us well enough to point
out what will be especially tempting to us. King Sha'ul disobeyed just here
(1 Shmuel 15), resulting in the existence of Haman. (Esther 3:1) We have to
prefer making war, hard as it may be, to becoming slaves again. (Compare
11:16.)

17. "Since you're going to say in your heart, ‘These nations are stronger
than I am; how could I dispossess them?'

18. "Don't be afraid of them, but always keep in mind what YHWH your Elohim
did to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt!

Being afraid, as regards a commandment, is not so much an emotion as a
failure to act which results from assuming that any threat is greater than
YHWH. Always keep in mind: literally, "remember remembering".

19. "The magnificent evidences that were presented to your eyes, along with
the distinguishing tokens and conspicuous signs, and the prevailing hand and
outstretched arm by which YHWH your Elohim brought you out; YHWH your Elohim
will do the same to all the people of whom you are afraid.

20. "In addition, YHWH will send the hornet among them until the ones
remaining who [manage to] hide from your presence are done away with.

Hornet: related closely to the word for "leprosy", perhaps because its
sting leaves a similar mark on one's flesh. Leprosy is also symbolic of
selfishness, which in itself will "divide and conquer" those who cling to it.

21. "Don't tremble at them, because YHWH your Elohim is among you--a great
and awe-inspiring elohim!

Y'shua reiterated the principle of fearing only YHWH, who alone can do
more than destroy the body, but can also snuff out one's soul-existence.
(Mat. 10:28) Among you: when at least two members of the House of Israel are
together. (Mat. 18:20) Until there is another to love, we cannot really know
He is present with us. (Yochanan/John 13:35)

22. "Also, YHWH will clear [pluck] those nations away before you little by
little; you won't be able to finish them off all at once, so the wild animals
will not become too numerous for you.

He thought of everything! This has a figurative application as well to
the conquest of our own souls. YHWH leaves some of our less desirable traits
intact long enough to make use of them and prevent us from having to fight
too many battles at the same time. LXX adds, "lest the Land become desert".

23. "But YHWH your Elohim shall set them in front of your face and disquiet
them with a great disturbance until they are annihilated.

24. "He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall make their
name disappear from under the heavens; not a man shall stand before you until
you have exterminated them.

25. "You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire, and you shall
not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor salvage it for yourself,
so you will not be ensnared by it, because it is repulsive to YHWH.

This is part of what Yaaqov (James) meant when he spoke of keeping
oneself unstained by the world. (1:27)

26. "Nor shall you bring [such] a disgusting thing into your house, so you
will not become a cursed thing like it [is], but shall [count it] utterly
detestable, because it is a thing dedicated [to destruction].

A cursed thing: Aram., "proscribed". Utterly detestable: or "filthy";
this is more than just not wanting to have anything to do with pagan
practices. We have to actually hate them.

CHAPTER 8

1. "All the commands that I give you today you must be careful to carry out,
so that you may survive and become great and go in and take possession of the
Land that YHWH has promised to your forefathers.

2. "But remember the whole journey by which YHWH your Elohim led you these
forty years in the wilderness, to bring you into [a place of] neediness and
put you to the test, to know what was in your heart--whether you would keep
His commandments or not.

Bring you to a place of neediness: like Avraham, not knowing where he was
going--"humbled you" so we have no way out except to trust YHWH. But the
word is based on "keeping one busy". Humility is not necessarily being
brought low per se, but learning who we really are and seeing clearly where
we are supposed to fit in, and then seeking neither a higher nor lower place,
but going about doing the job given specifically to us. To know what was in
your heart: not that He did not know, but so we might realize what kind of
people we really were. Tests reveal our true colors. (Compare 2 Cor. 2:9;
7:8-12) This was a very long test, but those who are now hearing about it
have proven to have passed the test.

3. "Indeed, He brought you into [a place of] neediness and allowed you to be
famished, then fed you with [you didn't know] what--something neither you nor
your forefathers were familiar with, to make known to you that [it is] not on
the bread alone [that] humanity will stay alive, but [it is] on everything
that comes forth from the mouth of YHWH [that] humanity will live.

Everything that comes out of the mouth of YHWH: not just words, but His
"breath" (same as "spirit" in Hebrew) as well.

4. "Your clothing did not wear out, nor did your foot become blistered
during these forty years!

Did your foot become blistered: Aramaic, "did your sandals tear"; LXX,
"become painfully hardened".

5. "Recognize in your heart that, just as a man corrects his son, YHWH
corrects you,

Corrects: a strong term for disciplining, chastening, chastising, but all
for the purpose of instructing--i.e., turning him in the right direction. We
need to expect to pay this price if we step out of line, because otherwise we
will miss the treasure that YHWH has for us at the end of the right road.
(Heb. 12:5-11)

6. "So safeguard the commands of YHWH your Elohim, so you will walk in His
ways and reverence Him,

7. "because YHWH your Elohim is bringing you into a good Land--a land of
rivers of water, of springs and subterranean waters that gush forth from
valleys and hills,

Rivers of water: as opposed to dried-up arroyos (wadis), because that is
what the term would mean if "water" was not attached to it.

8. "a land of wheat and barley, of [the] vine, fig tree, and pomegranate, a
land of [the] oil-bearing olive [tree] and honey,

9. "a land in which you shall eat bread without scarcity--you will not be in
need of anything in it! [It is] a land whose stones are iron, and out of
whose hills you can dig copper.

Bread: or food in general. I.e., it will have plenty of raw materials as
well, so that you will not even need to acquire them from foreigners. Iron
and copper: these were eventually mined in the Land (1 Chron. 22:3) Hirsch
summarizes, "It is land that, by the nature of its soil, offers the most
suitable opportunities for agriculture and industry." They would not need to
buy these basic commodities (of which so much was needed for Temple service,
etc.) from other nations.

10. "When you have eaten and are satisfied, then you shall bless YHWH your
Elohim for the good land He has given you.

Satisfied: enriched, filled to excess.

11. "Take [special] care not to forget YHWH your Elohim by failing to guard
His commandments His customs, and His prescribed limits which I am laying
upon you today,

Don't forget Him; everything else is just a gift given so we can know Him
better. Sticking close to Him will prevent us from being ensnared by the
lures along the way.

12. "lest you eat and become full, build pleasant houses and settle down,

13. "and your flocks and herds multiply and your gold and silver become
abundant, and all that you have becomes great,

14. "and then your thinking becomes lifted [puffed] up and you let YHWH your
Elohim fade from your memory--[He] Who brought you out from the land of
Egypt, from the slave quarters--

15. "[the One] Who led you through that huge, terrifying wilderness where
there were burning serpents, scorpions, and thirsty ground where [there was]
no water, and brought forth water for you out of the flinty rock,

Burning: or poisonous. Flinty: from a word meaning "hard" (and
translated as such into Aramaic), but alternately, it is related to the word
for dreams, which immediately calls to mind Yoseyf, the man of dreams, who is
a prototype of the Messiah, who brought us "living water".

16. "Who fed you in the wilderness with you-knew-not-what, with which your
forefathers were not familiar, so He might put you in a place of need, and
test you, in order to do you good at last,

Y'shua said he was the real "bread" from heaven (Yochanan 6:22ff), since
to partake of him is to have eternal life. Part of what comes from the mouth
of YHWH is His Word (Yoch. 1:1) and "in him was life". Their "fathers did not
recognize" that this bread was actually what preserved them. Do you good
(make you glad) at last: literally, at your lattermost end, so it must refer
chiefly to the end times. Despite the path our stubbornness led us to take,
He still left us hope that we would finally learn from our mistakes.

17. "and you think in your heart, ‘My strength and the power of my hand have
produced this wealth for me!'

We are not self-made. But from YHWH's perspective, we must also be
suspicious of those who teach that we can assume that His "right hand"
(Y'shua) and "power" (His spirit) have given us our material prosperity;
haSatan can make us rich too in that sense. The word here for "wealth" is
literally "strength" or "capability".

18. "So bring YHWH your Elohim to remembrance, because He is the One who
gives you the strength to attain wealth, in order to establish His covenant
which He made with your forefathers, just as [is the case] today.

19. "Now what will happen is, if you in any way forget YHWH your Elohim and
go after other elohim, serve them, or prostrate yourselves to them--then I go
on record [as a witness] against you today, that you will by all means be
lost.

Forget: or "wither away from".

20. "Just like the nations that YHWH your Elohim is exterminating before
your face, you will indeed be lost, because you would not pay attention to
the voice of YHWH your Elohim.

Be lost: wander away, stray, perish, or be destroyed. But it can also
mean we would lose ourselves. As Yaaqov (James) 1:23 says, if we do not
carry out the Word when we hear it, we will forget who we are, like one who
forgets the "natural face" he saw in the mirror--the one that tells him about
his ancestry and lineage. But when we did look back into "the perfect law of
liberty" and return to the covenant, the converse came true--He let us know
His true identity and got us back on the right path.

CHAPTER 9

1. "Pay attention, Israel! Today you will cross over the Yarden to enter in
and dispossess nations larger and stronger than yourself, cities of great
size and [fortified] with walls [reaching] to the sky,

2. "a people high and lofty, the descendants of the Anaqim, with whom you
are familiar and [about whom] you have heard [it said], ‘Who is able to stand
before the face of the descendants of Anaq?'

Anaq: apparently a very tall (literally "long-necked") people, possibly
having more to do with a necklace, or choking--perhaps the way they killed
their enemies--or their food. (We may take a hint from the apostles'
instruction in Acts 15 to eat nothing "strangled", which word actually means
anything not killed in a kosher manner in which the blood is drained
immediately from the meat.)

3. "So understand today that YHWH your Elohim is the One Who crosses over in
front of you; a consuming fire, He shall annihilate them or bring them into
subjection before your face, so you shall dispossess them and destroy them
quickly, as YHWH has told you.

Understand: i.e., get it straight this time and don't let what happened
to your parents happen again. He shall annihilate...you will destroy them:
He will prepare the way and set the stage, but you must walk it out. He will
not do it all for us. When He delivers our enemy into our hands, it is up to
us to slay him. When He lays bare the inconsistencies in someone's belief
system, cut it to pieces with the sword of His Word. By "killing" this type
of enemies (by fighting the lies that hold them in bondage), we actually
create new allies for ourselves.

4. "After YHWH has expelled them before you, do not think in your heart,
‘[It is] because of my deserving [it that] YHWH has brought me in to take
possession of this land'; rather, [it is] because of the wickedness of these
nations [that] YHWH dispossess them before you.

5. "You are not going in to take possession of their land because of your
merit or the uprightness of your heart, but because of the wickedness of
these nations YHWH is dispossessing them from before you, so He can fulfill
the word which He promised [with an oath] to your forefathers, Avraham,
Yitzhaq, and Yaaqov.

They might have been doing what they were told, but perhaps it was
because they saw their parents die for their sins or because they wanted to
enter the Land badly enough, not because they truly loved YHWH. But He made
a promise, and they were merely the tools He was using. (cf. Rom. 9:20-29) It
was only that the other nations were worse than they. Today we should
remind ourselves that it is not because we are any better than foregoing
generations that YHWH is revealing to us that we are Israel, but because the
timing is right and we "happen" to live in the right day. The Jews have a
concept of "beautifying the commandment"--doing more than is required. This
is very noble. He wants us to obey because His commands deserve to be
carried out, not because we "have to".

6. "So [let's] be clear [about this], that YHWH is not giving you this good
Land to possess because of your righteousness, because you yourselves are a
stiff-necked people.

Probably an indirect allusion to the Anaqim, the "long-necked" people;
the Israelites are not quite as repulsive as the Kanaanites, whom the land
can no longer tolerate, but all things considered, they are not that far
behind. In other words, "They may have long necks, but you have stiff necks!
So don't get a big head about it!"

7. "Remember--Do not forget!--how you were making YHWH your Elohim furious
in the wilderness; from the day you left Egypt until you arrived at this
place, you have been rebellious [bitter] against YHWH!"

Aramaic, "Remember never to forget".

8. "Even in Chorev you provoked YHWH to anger, and YHWH became furious
enough to have annihilated you.

Chorev: Mount Sinai "in Arabia", as Sha'ul and recent archaeological
findings tell us.

9. "When I had gone up into the mountain to receive the slabs of stone--the
slabs of the covenant that YHWH was cutting with you--I stayed on the
mountain forty days and forty nights, neither eating bread nor drinking water.

Stone: the word comes from a root meaning "to build", so this was not
just "rock", but something meant for "a nation and a congregation of nations"
to be built upon. Forty days and forty nights: the parallel with the deluge
of Noach's day is obvious. Forty in Scripture refers to either a time of
testing or of transition, and in this case it was both. Note the parallel
with Y'shua's fasting.

10. "Then YHWH gave me two slabs of stone inscribed with the finger of
Elohim--upon them [was] the likeness of all the words that YHWH had spoken to
you from among the flames on the day of the convocation.

Likeness of all the words: Aramaic, "the exact words".

11. "It was at the cut-off of forty days and forty nights when YHWH gave me
the two stone slabs--the covenant slabs.

Cut-off: the body starts devouring its own cells for food after forty
days of fasting. "Days and ... nights" are actually singular in Hebrew here.

12. "Then YHWH told me, ‘Get up! Quickly, go down from this [place],
because your people, whom you brought out from Egypt, have caused a
perversion! They have turned away so soon from the way [in] which I directed
them! They have made themselves a cast-metal image!'

13. "YHWH even told me, ‘I have observed this nation, and indeed it is a
stiff-necked people!

14. "‘Leave me alone, so I may allow them to be annihilated, and obliterate
their name from under the heavens, and I will make you into a nation more
numerous and greater than they!'

15. "So I turned [my] face and came down from the mountain, the mountain
being ablaze with fire, with the two slabs of the covenant in both of my
hands.

16. "And I looked, and sure enough, you had sinned against YHWH your Elohim,
and made a cast-metal bull-calf for yourselves; so soon you had turned off
the path [in] which YHWH had directed you.

Sinned: literally, "missed the mark", the least offensive wrongdoing,
because it usually implies no malicious intent and even an attempt to hit a
target, which failed. These people were intending to create a focal point
for their worship of YHWH, and had not yet received the instruction through
Moshe. They did not get the point, but could still be corrected, although at
a price.

17. "So I seized the two slabs and hurled them from upon my two hands, and
shattered them before your eyes.

From upon: apparently they were resting on his arms, but then he shifted
to a position in which he could wield them.

18. "Then I threw myself down in YHWH's presence; as before, [for] forty
days and forty nights I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the
guilt you had [incurred by] going off track and doing evil in YHWH's sight to
make Him angry,

19. "because I was terrified in the face of the exasperation and fury by
which YHWH was upset with you [and ready] to annihilate you, but YHWH
listened to me this time also.

20. "YHWH even breathed so hard [as] to [almost] cause Aharon to be
destroyed, but I pleaded for Aharon at that time also.

Breathed so hard: or "was angry enough". That He was angry at Aharon was
not mentioned in Exodus.

21. "And I took your sin which you fashioned--the calf--and burned it with
fire, then beat it into pieces and ground it thoroughly until it was as
powdery as dust. Then I threw its dust into the stream that came down from
the mountain.

Was the rock that brought them water on the mountain at this time?
Exodus says they had to drink this water. They had "made their bed", and now
had to "lie in it". Our ancestors allowed bits of pagan idolatry to creep
into the church, and we have had to drink from a mixed cup for many
centuries. But the more living water (YHWH's word) that is put in to displace
the mixed water, the purer it can become again.

22. "Then at Tab'erah, Massah, and Qibroth-haTa'avah, you were beginning to
make YHWH angry.

23. "But when YHWH sent you from Qadesh-Barnea, saying, ‘Go up and take
possession of the Land which I have designated for you', then you balked at
the mouth of YHWH your Elohim, and did not trust Him or listen into [the tone
of] His voice.

24. "You have been rebellious with YHWH since the day I came to know you!

With YHWH: LXX, "in the things relating with YHWH".

25. "And I [remained] prostrate before YHWH for the forty days and forty
nights when I had thrown myself down, because YHWH had talked about
annihilating you.

26. "So I intervened toward YHWH, and said, ‘O Adonai YHWH! Do not destroy
Your people and Your acquired possession, which You have brought out from
Egypt with a firm hand!

27. "‘Remember Your servants Avraham, Yitzhaq, and Yaaqov! Do not [turn
and] look toward the stubbornness of this nation, nor toward its wickedness,
nor its sin,

28. "‘or else the land from which you brought us out might say, ‘[It was]
due to YHWH's lack of ability to bring them into the Land that He promised
them, and because He hated them, that He brought them to their death in the
uncivilized territory.

29. "‘Moreover, they are Your people, and Your acquired possession, whom You
have brought out by Your intense force and Your outstretched arm.'

CHAPTER 10

1. "At that time, YHWH told me, ‘Carve out for yourself two slabs of stone
like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain, and prepare for yourself a
wooden chest,

The first time YHWH had cut the slabs Himself. (5:22) Moshe could have
them back again, but it required much more work. Likewise, as the eastern
gate to the Temple was closed and pilgrims had to take a ritual bath, walk up
through long tunnels and across a wide courtyard just to get to where it
would have brought them, we can get back into the Garden of Eden, but only by
going the long way around. Because of our sin, we have to go through
Y'shua's blood, obey the commandments, and experience physical death first;
only then will we be merely back at the starting point of worshiping YHWH the
way He intended.

2. "‘and I will write on the slabs the words that were on the original slabs
which you shattered, and you shall place them inside the chest.'

The chest: probably not the Ark of the Covenant, for that was to have
been built when the Tabernacle was built. But it may have been placed inside
the Ark of the Covenant.

3. "So I prepared a chest from acacia wood, and carved out two slabs of
stone like the original [ones], and went up into the mountain with both slabs
in my hand.

Acacia wood: LXX, "incorruptible wood". Rabbinical teaching says the
shattered slabs were also placed within the chest.

4. "And He wrote on the slabs just what had been written before--the Ten
Declarations that YHWH had spoken to you on the mountain from within the fire
on the Day of the Assembly, and YHWH gave them to me.

Within these ten commands are contained all the others, which only give
them in more detail.

5. "Then I turned [My face] and came down from the mountain, and put both
slabs into the chest that I had made, and there they will remain, as YHWH
directed me.

6. "Then the descendants of Israel traveled from the Wells of the Son of
Yaaqan to Moserah, where Aharon died and was buried, and his son El'azar
became a priest in his place.

Yaaqan: means "Let him oppress them"; Moserah: "place of bonds or
fetters".

7. "From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, then from Gudgodah to Yotbathah,
a land of streams of water.

Gudgodah: "place of slashing or cutting"; Yotbathah: "a pleasing place".
There is a strong parallel here and in 8:3-5 with 1 Kefa [Peter] 5:6-11: "Be
humbled...under the mighty hand of YHWH, so He may exalt you at the right
time, throwing all your anxiety on Him, because it matters to Him concerning
you. Be sensible, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, like a
roaring lion, prowls around, seeking someone to devour. Resist him firmly in
your faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being completed by your
brothers in the world. Then the Elohim of all grace--the One [who is]
calling you to His eternal glory in Messiah Y'shua--after you have suffered a
little will Himself repair [complete] you, fix firmly, strengthen, and
stabilize."

8. "At that time, YHWH separated [out] the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark of
YHWH's Covenant, to stand before YHWH, to minister to Him and bless His
name--[as it is] until today.

9. "For this reason Levi has no inherited territory or property along with
his brothers, just as YHWH your Elohim told him.

10. "So I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, as I had the
first time, and this time YHWH listened [and yielded] to me and consented to
not destroy you.

11. "Then YHWH told me, ‘Get up and proceed to break camp in front of the
people so that they will go in and take possession of the Land that I
promised their forefathers [with an oath] to give them.

12. "So now, Israel, what does YHWH ask from you, except to reverence YHWH
your Elohim, and walk in all His ways, and serve YHWH your Elohim with all
your heart and all your soul--

13. "to guard YHWH's commandments and prescribed limits which I am laying on
you this day for your [own] good?

He does not leave us in the dark about what He wants from us as the pagan
gods did. Y'shua and Hillel also simplified the commandments down to two
(see also Micha 6:8), and in another sense He summarized them by saying that
the works of YHWH were to believe on the one YHWH had sent. (Yochanan 6:29)
After all, He is the living Torah.

14. "Look! The heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to YHWH your Elohim,
along with the earth and everything in it,

15. "[but] only to your ancestors did He become attached [and long] to
befriend them, and He selected their descendants to follow them, just as [is
the case] today.

16. "So circumcise [cut off] the excess fleshiness that hangs over your
heart, and don't be stiff-necked any longer!

This was the real point that His custom of circumcision was to teach
them. Circumcision, removing the fat from around our hearts, and bowing our
necks are all pictures of the same concept. There is actually a bone in the
neck which is called the "lux" which, if fused or missing, prevents one from
bowing his head or turning his face around (repenting). This bone is usually
found in ancient tombs even if the rest of the body has decomposed, so it is
considered a symbol of resurrection. But stiff-necked people cannot look
with certainty to the hope of being resurrected.

17. "Because YHWH your Elohim is an Elohim among elohim, a superior over
masters, the great El, the champion who inspires awe, and neither plays
favorites [regards faces] nor takes a bribe,

18. "[but] carries out justice for the fatherless and the widow, and
befriends the outsider, providing him with food and clothing.

Carries out justice for: Aram., "takes up the case of". Outsdier: often
means a newcomer to the faith.

19. "So befriend the outsider, because you yourselves were guests in the
land of Egypt.

Elsewhere this command is given as regarding the "guest within your
gates": not just any stranger, but one who has come under your protection and
thus authority. After he had stayed for three days, he was considered as
responsible to the Torah and the upkeep of the household as one's child was.

20. "Revere YHWH your Elohim. He is the one you shall serve; He is the one
you shall stick close to; He is the one in whose Name You shall make your
oaths.

Doesn't this conflict with Y'shua's warning that it is better to take no
oaths at all? Not in the actual wording. "Oath" is derived from a word
meaning "completeness" (it is identical to the number seven), so this could
just as well read, "by whose Name you shall be made complete."

21. "He is your renown; He is your Elohim! He has done for you these great
and awesome things which your eyes have seen!

Renown: or "song of praise"; LXX, "your boast".

22. "Your ancestors descended to Egypt with 70 souls, but now YHWH your
Elohim has made you like the stars of the sky in number [greatness].

Thius promise to Avraham was already fulfilled in a sense, but they were
not yet as numerous as the sand of the seashore.

CHAPTER 11

1. "So befriend YHWH your Elohim, and guard what He entrusts to your
watchcare--His prescribed limits, His customs, and His commandments--for all
time!

Even if Y'shua had not said so, this tells us from the start that any
doctrine that says the Torah is to be nullified or replaced is in error.

2. "Now recognize today that I am not speaking of your children, who have
neither experienced nor seen the discipline of YHWH your Elohim, His
greatness, His firm hand, His outs

	D'VARIM (Deuteronomy) 1-25
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