mordekhi v yisraela

Suggested Messianic Writings reading: Luke 24.44-53

Shalom,

Our parashah this week deals with the ultimate in choice – the choice of obedience to the Covenant of ADONAI and being blessed, or disobedience and being cursed. This is where the rubber hits the road, so to speak. Israel has now chosen to enter into covenant with their Creator, and herein the consequences – pro or con, good or bad – of being in covenant are explained by Moshe.

In D’varim 27.9, Moshe said to Israel, “שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה נִהְיֵיתָ לְעָם לַיְיָ אֱלֹהֶיךָ Sh’ma Yisrael, ha-yom ha-zey nee-yey-tah l’ahm l’Adonai Elo-hey-kha, Be quiet; and listen, Israel! Today you have become the people of ADONAI your God” [CJB English translation]. As we mentioned in a past drash, the blessings and the curses only applied to Israel once they entered into the covenant. A simple way to compare is entering into a contract to buy a house; if you don’t agree to the contract (covenant), you don’t sign, you walk away with nothing lost, nothing gained. Once you agree to buy the home, you sign on the line, and then you are committed to abide by the rules of the contract or face stiff penalties.

The blessings of ADONAI’s covenant are wonderful. Everyone likes blessings, but there are requirements involved in receiving the blessings of a covenant with the Creator. In a nutshell, love ADONAI your God with all you’ve got, obey Him, and love your neighbor as yourself. Yeshua is God (Yochanan 1.18), part of the mysterious Godhead (Yesha’yahu 48.16; 61.1); He is the same always (Hebrews 13.8; Revelation 1.4); if He is our Lord, then we are grafted into the covenant of Israel, whether we are a Jewish or Gentile believer. The blessings from obedience of D’varim 28 can be ours, but so can the curses of disobedience. Some of Yeshua’s final words when He physically left this planet were that we are to obey “all that I have commanded you” (emphasis added, for He is God). Blessings are not to be our goal and purpose, but as our desire for our Messiah and Creator increases, the blessings that come can be enjoyed, and if/when there are hardships, trials and testings, through His grace they are easier to “digest”.

Once entered into a covenant like this, the consequences of disobedience are very strong. In last week’s drash for Ki Tetze, we noted how one who was hung on a stake was cursed, or despised, by G-d; the Hebrew for “cursed” being the weaker of the two instances of curse as found in B’resheet (Genesis 12.3). Now, as we get into the real depth of the covenant, the English word curse as found in D’varim 27 & 28 is ארר ah-rar, a stronger curse, meaning, “to bitterly curse, to hem in with obstacles, to render powerless, to resist”. This subject is dealt with in Hebrews 10:28-31, “Someone who disregards the Torah of Moshe is put to death without mercy on the word of two or three witnesses. Think how much worse will be the punishment deserved by someone who has trampled underfoot the Son of God; who has treated as something common the blood of the covenant which made him holy; and who has insulted the Spirit, giver of God’s grace! For the One we know is the One who said, ‘Vengeance is my responsibility; I will repay,’ and then said, ‘ADONAI will judge his people.’ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!” (emphasis added).
FFOZ  makes an interesting observation regarding Israel in their e-drash this week. “All through the book of Deuteronomy, Moses drives home the message: ‘Keep God’s Torah.’ When Israel failed to keep the Torah, God sent prophets warning them to repent and turn back to Torah. When they repented, they were rewarded and blessed. When they did not, they suffered the maledictions threatened in the Torah. God continuously told His people for 1,400 years to walk in His commandments, keep His Torah and His covenant. Does it make sense to imagine that after 1,400 years, God suddenly changed His mind? Yet today many theologians claim that this is what God has done to Israel. For 1,400 years He punished them when they did not keep the Torah. Then when Yeshua came, He cancelled the Torah and henceforth punished them for keeping it.”
They point out that the teaching of these theologians is far from the truth. FFOZ continues, “Rather He is the Unchanging One, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He has not cancelled the words of His Torah. Even today, He longs for His people—all of His people—to repent, turn away from sin and come back to the good and beautiful commandments of His Torah, just as His holy Son, Yeshua, has shown us. In Yeshua His people will find forgiveness for sins, and through His Spirit we find the strength and joy to serve God with gladness.”
The days we are living in are growing darker. The only real safety is abiding in Covenant with the G-d of Israel, and walking in the Light of the Son. The gist of this covenant: once again, love ADONAI your God with all you’ve got, obey Him, and love your neighbor as yourself. May the blessings of D’varim 28 be yours.

שַׁאֲלוּ שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם – Sha’alu shalom Yerushalayim – Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May Israel turn to recognize their Messiah, so that they may reap the blessings in full again.