I pray that you will all have a blessed Shabbat and that YHVH
will continue to fill you with His Wisdom and Truth.
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Now, on to the portion!
Parasha Ekev is the 3rd portion in Deuteronomy and goes
from Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25. This portion goes through Moshe's
instruction to Yisra'el concerning the blessings from YHVH if they
guard and do(Shema)the covenant, Moshe's warning concerning if they
forget and do not follow YHVH's commands, Moshe's call to Yisra'el not to
call on their self-righteousness, reminding them of the sin of the
golden calf and how Moshe pleaded for their lives so they weren't destroyed,
and Moshe again instructing Yisra'el concerning
guarding YHVH's commands and the blessings if they do.
Before we start, I want you to realize how many times Moshe tells
Yisra'el to guard, keep, and hear, or more simply "Shema" YHVH's commands.
He loved YHVH and Yisra'el SO much, all he wanted to do was
instruct Yisra'el to keep YHVH's commands. Moshe was an amazing
man of YHVH and one that we can all relate to.
Praise Yah!
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This Torah portion begins and ends with Moshe telling Yisra'el to
Shema(hear and do) YHVH's commands. The name of this portion,
Ekev, is the word, "because" in verse 12:
Deuteronomy 7:12
“And it shall be, because(Ekev) you hear these right-rulings, and shall guard
and do them, that YHVH your Elohim shall guard with you the covenant
and the kindness which He swore to your fathers,"
Because we hear, guard, and do the right-rulings of YHVH,
YHVH promises to bless us and increase everything we have. EVERYTHING!! From food to land to offspring, He promises to bless us.
He vows that no sickness or disease will fall on us and that He
will destroy all the nations around us. Who doesn't want that?
He tells us not to be afraid of the other nations even though they
are bigger and stronger than we are. He promises to bring them
into our hands and that they will be destroyed...
Now you tell me something. How is it that even though He promised all this;
that if we only obeyed Him He would give everything to us,
why is it that most people today don't want that? How is it that we could
be so blind that we cannot see this? Why? Because most people are
still asking themselves the same question that Satan asked Eve:
“Is it true that Elohim has said?"
We have been deceived long enough by Satan and have been
blinded long enough. The days are coming closer and closer where
YHVH will allow ALL people to see His glory, power, and strength.
People will have to make that decision before it's too late. We MUST tell the world who YHVH is and what He wants from us.
Enough with these lies that Yahshua, "Did away with the law."
Even He himself said:
Matthew 5:17-19
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
18 “For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done.
19 “Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the heavens; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens.
I pray that more people will come to understand this passage.
Until then we need to tell the world the truth of YHVH's word and
the testimony of Yahshua. May YHVH show us the words to say
to the people we meet and may we able to show them the truth.
Amen!
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Now to chapter 8. As we see(again), the 1st word is "Guard."
Let's look at verse 1:
Deuteronomy 8:1
“Guard to do every command which I command you today, that you might live,
and shall increase, and go in, and shall possess the land of
which YHVH swore to your fathers.
Moshe was serious about guarding YHVH's commands, and we should be too.
I pray that we too are ready to guard YHVH instructions
so that we can defend the Truth.
Now, in verse 3 we see something that is very surprising that until
I came to the Truth I did not know about:
Deuteronomy 8:2-3
“And you shall remember that YHVH your Elohim led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, prove you, to know what is in your heart, whether you guard His commands or not,
3 “And He humbled you, and let you suffer hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, to make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of YHVH.
Now, where else do we see that in Scripture?
Oh yeah, Messiah said the same thing!
Matthew 4:4
But He answering, said, “It has been written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of YHVH.' "
Luke 4:4
But Yahshua answered him, saying, “It has been written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of Elohim.’ "
Well, well, well, what do we see here? Yahshua quotes this
same passage here in Matthew and Luke and if you look at any
study Bible you will find hundreds of other times that Yahshua and
the disciples quoted from the "Old Testament", or known by Paul, Timothy,
and for that matter all of the 1st Century believers, the Scriptures:
2nd Timothy 3:16-17
"All Scripture is breathed by Elohim and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17 That the man of Elohim might be fitted, equipped for every good work."
It doesn't say just the Prophets. It doesn't just say Psalms and Proverbs.
It says ALL Scripture! All of it, from the beginning to end,
is breathed by YHVH HIMSELF! It saddens me to see all of the "Christians"
believe that they are doing what "the Bible says", when in reality they
are doing just the opposite. I pray that we can have an opportunity
to share with our friends, family, and neighbors just how good
Yahshua's Love really is when we add His Truth to our lives.
The end of this chapter goes through a strict warning by Moshe
that if they do forget YHVH's instructions and that if their hearts
are lifted up(become prideful), that YHVH will destroy them just like He
would have destroyed the rest of the nations. We must be careful not
to take anything for granted and thank YHVH for it all. Trust me, it is
very hard sometimes, especially when we have a lot of it, but we need
to always be grateful and humble for what YHVH wants for our lives.
HalleluYAH!
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Now on to chapter 9. As we see in this chapter, Moshe points out the
sin of the golden calf and how Yisra'el were not to get puffed up
and think that it is because of their righteousness that
YHVH brought them into the land, for we read:
Deuteronomy 9:4-6
“Do not think in your heart, after YHVH your Elohim has driven them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness YHVH has brought me in to possess this land.’ But it is because of the wrong of these nations that YHVH is driving them out from before you.
5 “It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wrong of these nations that YHVH your Elohim drives them out from before you, in order to establish the word which YHVH swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Yitshaq, and to Yaʽaqob.
6 “And you shall know that YHVH your Elohim is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.
As the children of Yisra'el did so do many people today.
They get prideful and think that they themselves are the reason
why they are blessed and they forget YHVH. Again, and I say AGAIN,
we must always remember that YHVH gave it all to us, not because He had to,
but because He loved us so much and promised He would take care
of us if we Hear His voice and Do His will, or more simply, Shema.
Let us all be watchful and be grateful for what YHVH gives us daily.
In this chapter Moshe reminds the children of Yisra'el that He not once
but twice had to pray that YHVH would not destroy them because of their sins. YHVH was merciful enough not to destroy Yisra'el. We are in that
same situation today. YHVH could destroy us in an instant, but He loves
the world so much that He will wait till the final opportunity for as
many people to be redeemed as possible. That is why we must be
able to share the good news of Messiah to the people around us
before it's too late. I pray that we can stop dividing ourselves into all these
groups and instead use our time and effort sharing the Truth of His Kingdom.
Praise Yah!
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Now on to chapter 10. This chapter begins with Moshe retelling Yisra'el
how that after he had broken the 1st tablets of stone that YHVH told him
to build a second tablets of stone and that He was going to write them again. YHVH showed kindness, compassion, and mercy by writing the
covenant and making it anew again. And just as He did then He
does with us today, but this time:
Jeremiah 31:31-33
“See, the days are coming,” declares YHVH, “when I shall make
a new covenant with the house of Yisra’el and with the house of Yehudah,
32 Not like the covenant I made with their fathers in the day when I
took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Mitsrayim,
My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares YHVH.
33 “For this is the covenant I shall make with the house of Yisra’el
after those days, declares YHVH: I shall put My Torah in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts. And I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.
Now where else do we see this verse? Oh yeah, in the "New Testament."
Hebrews 8:8-10
For finding fault with them, He says, “See, the days are coming,” says YHVH, “when I shall conclude with the house of Yisra’el and with
the house of Yehudah a renewed(new) covenant,
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day
when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Mitsrayim, because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them,” says YHVH.
10 “Because this is the covenant that I shall make with the house of Yisra’el after those days, says YHVH, giving My laws in their mind, and I shall write them on their hearts, and I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.
Nothing has ever changed! And all people have to do to realize that
is simply by reading their Bible! It sure doesn't take a degree in
Bible Seminary School to figure this out. And I am so thankful that
more and more people are coming to the truth and I pray that it
will continue to come forth and that more and more people will see the light.
I love what Moshe says at the end of this chapter. It is the big point in everything He has said and will say about guarding and keeping YHVH's commands:
Deuteronomy 10:20-22
“Fear YHVH your Elohim. Serve Him, and cling to Him, and swear by His Name.
21 “He is your praise, and He is your Elohim, who has done for you these great and awesome deeds which your eyes have seen.
22 “Your fathers went down to Mitsrayim with seventy beings, and now YHVH your Elohim has made you as numerous as the stars of the heavens.
YHVH is our praise forever! Through all the troubles and tribulations that
we as a people of Yisra'el have had, our belief is still as strong today
as it was 4,000 years ago, and maybe even stronger since we have Messiah now. Let us always cling to YHVH, because without Him nothing is possible!
Praise Yah!!
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Now on to chapter 11. We see here a pattern. How many times do we
see Moshe instructing Yisra’el to guard(or a synonym of guard)
YHVH's commands in just the 1st 25 verses? The answer would be 5!
He says to guard twice, obey, lay up, and guard again. Moshe used every possible way to tell us to keep YHVH’s instructions and guidelines for our lives and to love YHVH with all our heart. In fact we have another cross-reference here:
Deuteronomy 11:13
‘And it shall be that if you diligently obey My commands which I command you today, to love YHVH your Elohim and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your being,
Matthew 22:37
And Yahshua said to him, “ ‘You shall love YHVH your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your mind.’
And what does Yahshua say to do if we love Him?
John 14:15
“If you love Me, you shall guard My commands.
It all goes together! And guess what? It was always meant to be that way,
and it will always be that way for eternity! There is nothing new, just RENEWED. Yahshua still wants us to love Him by guarding His commands, just as Moshe told us time and Time and TIME again. YHVH truly never changes!
AMEN!
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And now, I'll end with the last verses of the portion:
Deuteronomy 11:22-25
‘For if you diligently guard all these commands which I command you, to do it, to love YHVH your Elohim, to walk in all His ways, and to cling to Him,
23 Then YHVH shall drive out all these nations before you, and you shall dispossess greater and stronger nations than you.
24 ‘Every place on which the sole of your foot treads is yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea is your border.
25 ‘No man shall stand against you. YHVH your Elohim shall put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, as He has spoken to you.
May we always love and serve YHVH, clinging to Him by the renewed
covenant of Messiah and guarding His instructions and guidelines
for our lives FOREVER, so that the whole world may see His power and glory!
Until next time...
Shalom!
Christian Montanez Dodd
Servant and Emissary of Yahshua, Child of YHVH
HalleluYAH!