Commentary - Year 3 Sabbath 44

Deuteronomy 26:1 - 27:26   -   Isaiah 60:1-22   -   Psalm 141   -   Revelation 21:9 - 22:7

Shevat 8, 5764 / January 31, 2004

Shevat 8, 5767 / January 27, 2007

Shevat 8, 5770 / January 23, 2010

Shevat 8, 5773 / January 19, 2013

Shevat 6, 5776 / January 16, 2016

Shevat 6, 5779 / January 12, 2019

Shevat 6, 5782 / January   8 , 2022

Ki-tavo / When You Enter   SCRIPTURES should be read first

We have many old hymns that show an understanding that crossing the Jordan (River) represents passing into the next life. Yeshua was baptized in the Jordan, and baptism pictures death to this life, and rising in newness of life.

“Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” – Romans 6:4.

The name Jordan (Hebrew – Yar-eden) means Descender from Eden. A river that descended from Eden watered the Earth, and the Jordan River symbolizes the door back to Eden / Paradise.

“Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers” – Genesis 2:10.

Revelation

When Yeshua returns, there will be a thousand-year Sabbath on this Earth. Believers will be raised to enter this millennial Sabbath, to reign with Yeshua.

After that Sabbath ends, the New Jerusalem will descent to an Earth renewed by fire. On that renewed Earth we will see all of the things that were described in Genesis in Eden:

The River: Gen 2:10 & Rev 22:1;

The Tree of Life: Gen 2:8-9 & Rev 2:7;

God present: Gen 3:8 & Rev 22:3

No curse: Gen 3:17, 23 & Rev 21:3.

As we need preparation to be ready for the weekly Sabbath, so also we need preparation for the coming Great Sabbath. This life is our preparation time. We can save up lasting treasures, or have our works destroyed.

“No man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire”

– 1 Corinthians 3:11-15.

This life is a test! We need to learn to overcome!

“To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God” – Revelation 2:7.

Psalm 141

Let us seek God’s correction, and learn to accept it.

David prayed, “Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me; it is oil upon the head” – Psalm 141:5.

Isaiah

God says to His people, apparently of this time:

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of Yahweh has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the Earth, and deep darkness the peoples; But Yahweh will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you. And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes round about, and see; they all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried in the arms. Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you” (Isaiah 60:1-5).

Last week we saw that we are responsible for how we use what God has given to our control, and that he who is entrusted with more has greater responsibility. Here we, in the future, see how the poor will come to the rich – in spiritual matters (“The nations will come to your light”).

Deuteronomy

V.3-5 “And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, 'I declare this day to Yahweh my God that I have entered the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us' (an expression of gratitude). Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of Yahweh your God. And you shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, 'An Aramean (Laban – Gen 10:22, 24:29) tried to destroy my father (Jacob), and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; but there he became a great, mighty and populous nation.” The people were to commit themselves to God by: (1) inscribing the Torah on twelve stones, (2) bringing offerings, and (3) gathering at two mountains to affirm their allegiance.

Now, let us consider a prophetic application of the Torah portion.

We believers are partakers of the Abrahamic Covenant.

“Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the covenant in Messiah Yeshua through the gospel” – Ephesians 3:3.

“ ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,’ says Yahweh: ‘I will put My laws upon their heart, and upon their mind I will write them,’ He then says, ‘And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more’ ” – Hebrews 10:16-17.

(V.1-2) When we “cross the Jordan”, when we enter the Promised Land, that Land called Eden and Paradise, then it shall be . . . that you shall take some of the beginnings of all the produce of the ground which you shall bring in from your land that Yahweh your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where Yahweh your God chooses to establish His name. These reshit (beginnings – there is no relationship here to a “feast of firstfruits”) will be to show our recognition that everything is from God, and to attest that it is dedicated to the service of God.

We really need to get away from the idea of just sitting on clouds with harps! God established the Earth for man forever.

“Like the Earth which He has founded forever” – Psalm 78:69.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” – Matthew 5:5.

“The righteous will inherit the land, and dwell in it forever” – Psalm 37:29.

(V.6-9) As we celebrate the eternal Passover seder, we will relate the story (haggadah) of our deliverance from sin: “And the worldlings treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. Then we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers, and Yahweh heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression; and Yahweh brought us out of the sin world with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders; and He has brought us to this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

(V.10) This will be followed by the omer offerings of the beginnings of our harvest: “'And now behold, I have brought the beginnings of the produce of the ground which You, O Yahweh have given me.” The ancient omer offerings were unleavened barley loaves (on the second day of Unleavened Bread) to leavened wheat loaves (fifty days later, at Pentecost) – covering the five bread-grain crops (barley, oats, rye, spelt, and wheat – considered the best).

(V.14) In that day, we will be able to say before Yahweh our God, “I have listened to the voice of Yahweh my God; I have done according to all that You have commanded me.” Because, His way will be fully in our hearts, and we will have no desire otherwise.

“And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book” – Revelation 22:7.

[We will leave the cursings of Deut 27 to next week to be studied in conjunction with the blessings of chapter 28.]

Readings:

Reader 1* Amen ^26:1 "Then it shall be, when you enter the land which Yahweh your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it, ² that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that Yahweh your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place where Yahweh your God chooses to establish His name. ³ "You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, 'I declare this day to Yahweh my God that I have entered the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us.' ⁴ "Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of Yahweh your God. ⁵ "You shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, 'My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; but there he became a great, mighty and populous nation. ⁶ 'And the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. ⁷ 'Then we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers, and Yahweh heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression; ⁸ and Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders; ⁹ and He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Reader 2* Amen ¹⁰ 'Now behold, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which You, O Yahweh have given me.' And you shall set it down before Yahweh your God, and worship before Yahweh your God; ¹¹ and you and the Levite and the alien who is among you shall rejoice in all the good which Yahweh your God has given you and your household. ¹² "When you have finished paying all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. ¹³ "You shall say before Yahweh your God, 'I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the alien, the orphan and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments.

Reader 3* Amen ¹⁴ 'I have not eaten of it while mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor offered any of it to the dead. I have listened to the voice of Yahweh my God; I have done according to all that You have commanded me. ¹⁵ 'Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel, and the ground which You have given us, a land flowing with milk and honey, as You swore to our fathers.' ¹⁶ "This day Yahweh your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹⁷ "You have today declared Yahweh to be your God, and that you would walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments and His ordinances, and listen to His voice. ¹⁸ "Yahweh has today declared you to be His people, a treasured possession, as He promised you, and that you should keep all His commandments; ¹⁹ and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a consecrated people to Yahweh your God, as He has spoken."

Reader 4* Amen ^27:1 Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, saying, "Keep all the commandments which I command you today. ² "So it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with lime ³ and write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over, so that you may enter the land which Yahweh your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, promised you. ⁴ "So it shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up on Mount Ebal, these stones, as I am commanding you today, and you shall coat them with lime. ⁵ "Moreover, you shall build there an altar to Yahweh your God, an altar of stones; you shall not wield an iron tool on them. ⁶ "You shall build the altar of Yahweh your God of uncut stones, and you shall offer on it burnt offerings to Yahweh your God; ⁷ and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there, and rejoice before Yahweh your God. ⁸ "You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very distinctly."

Reader 5* Amen ⁹ Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, "Be silent and listen, O Israel! This day you have become a people for Yahweh your God. ¹⁰ "You shall therefore obey Yahweh your God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I command you today." ¹¹ Moses also charged the people on that day, saying, ¹² "When you cross the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. ¹³ "For the curse, these shall stand on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

Reader 6* Amen ¹⁴ "The Levites shall then answer and say to all the men of Israel with a loud voice, ¹⁵ 'Cursed is the man who makes an idol or a molten image, an abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen.' ¹⁶ 'Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ¹⁷ 'Cursed is he who moves his neighbor's boundary mark.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ¹⁸ 'Cursed is he who misleads a blind person on the road.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ¹⁹ 'Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien, orphan, and widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Reader 7* Amen ²⁰ 'Cursed is he who lies with his father's wife, because he has uncovered his father's skirt.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ²¹ 'Cursed is he who lies with any animal.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ²² 'Cursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ²³ 'Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ²⁴ 'Cursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ²⁵ 'Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to strike down an innocent person.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' ²⁶ 'Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'

Isaiah 60:1-22

Reader 8* Amen ¹ "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of Yahweh has risen upon you. ² "For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you. ³ "Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. ⁴ "Lift up your eyes round about and see; they all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried in the arms. ⁵ "Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you. ⁶ "A multitude of camels will cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba will come; they will bring gold and frankincense, and will bear good news of the praises of Yahweh. ⁷ "All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you, the rams of Nebaioth will minister to you; they will go up with acceptance on My altar, and I shall glorify My glorious house.

Reader 9* Amen ⁸ "Who are these who fly like a cloud and like the doves to their lattices? ⁹ "Surely the coastlands will wait for Me; and the ships of Tarshish will come first, to bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you. ¹⁰ "Foreigners will build up your walls, and their kings will minister to you; for in My wrath I struck you, and in My favor I have had compassion on you. ¹¹ "Your gates will be open continually; they will not be closed day or night, so that men may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession. ¹² "For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish, and the nations will be utterly ruined. ¹³ "The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the juniper, the box tree and the cypress together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I shall make the place of My feet glorious. ¹⁴ "The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you, and all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet; and they will call you the city of Yahweh, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Reader 10* Amen ¹⁵ "Whereas you have been forsaken and hated with no one passing through, I will make you an everlasting pride, a joy from generation to generation. ¹⁶ "You will also suck the milk of nations and suck the breast of kings; then you will know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. ¹⁷ "Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver, and instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. and I will make peace your administrators and righteousness your overseers. ¹⁸ "Violence will not be heard again in your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders; but you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise. ¹⁹ "No longer will you have the sun for light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give you light; but you will have Yahweh for an everlasting light, and your God for your glory. ²⁰ "Your sun will no longer set, nor will your moon wane; for you will have Yahweh for an everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be over. ²¹ "Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified. ²² "The smallest one will become a clan, and the least one a mighty nation. I, Yahweh, will hasten it in its time."

Psalm 141    (To be sung.)   A Psalm of David.

1.  On You, O Yahweh, do I call;

Make haste to come to me;

Be Thou attentive to my voice

When e’er I cry to Thee.

2. O let my prayer before You come;

Let it as incense rise;

Regard the lifting of my hands

As th’ evening sacrifice.

3. Set watch, O Yahweh, over my mouth,

As doors my lips attend;

And never let my heart incline

To any evil end,

4. To practice deeds of wickedness

With men who work deceit;

And of the dainties they secure

O let me never eat.

5. Let me be smitten by the just;

It shall a kindness be;

It shall be oil upon my head

When he reproves me.

6. Such oil let not my head refuse;

For there shall come the day

When I in their calamity

For them to You will pray.

7. And when their judges by the rocks

Are thrown down from their seat,

Then shall they hearken to my voice

Because my words are sweet.

8. As when the plowman cleaves the sod

And turns over the ground,

So at the graves devouring mouth

Our bones are scattered round.

9. For unto You, Yahweh, the Lord,

I look with longing eyes;

My soul do not leave destitute;

My hope on You relies.

10. O keep me from the traps and snares

Which wicked men have set.

While I pass safely by, let them

Be caught in their own net.

¹ O Yahweh, I call upon You; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to You! ² May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering. ³ Set a guard, O Yahweh, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips. ⁴ Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, To practice deeds of wickedness With men who do iniquity; And do not let me eat of their delicacies. ⁵ Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me; It is oil upon the head; Do not let my head refuse it, For still my prayer is against their wicked deeds. ⁶ Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock, And they hear my words, for they are pleasant. ⁷ As when one plows and breaks open the earth, Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol. ⁸ For my eyes are toward You, O Yahweh, the Lord; In You I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless. ⁹ Keep me from the jaws of the trap which they have set for me, And from the snares of those who do iniquity. ¹⁰ Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by safely.

Revelation 21:9 – 22:7

Reader 11* Amen ⁹ Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." ¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, ¹¹ having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. ¹² It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. ¹³ There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. ¹⁴ And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Reader 12* Amen ¹⁵ The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. ¹⁶ The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. ¹⁷ And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. ¹⁸ The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. ¹⁹ The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; ²⁰ the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. ²¹ And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

Reader 13* Amen ²² I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. ²⁵ In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; ²⁶ and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; ²⁷ and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Reader 14* Amen ^22:1 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, ² in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ³ There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; ⁴ they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. ⁶ And he said to me, "These words are faithful and true"; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place. ⁷ "And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book."

© 2004  Beikvot HaMashiach
(Followers of the Messiah)