Transcript Slide 1

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THE MESSIANIC PROPHECY BIBLE PROJECT
http://www.messianicbible.com
HEAR O ISRAEL
www.hearoisrael.org
SHEEPFOLD GLEANINGS WRITTEN BY JULIE PARKER
www.sheepfoldgleanings.com
MESSIANIC ISRAEL ALLIANCE
http://www.messianicisrael.com
AZAMRA TORAH FOR OUR TIME – RABBI AVRAHAM
GREENBAUM
http://www.azamra.org
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TORAH: Deuteronomy 26:1-29:9
HAFTORAH: Isaiah 60:1-22
B’RIT CHADASHAH: Acts 7:30-36, Romans 1:18;2:6-11, 2 Corinthians
5:10; Revelation 20:11-15; 22:11-15
All references: The Scripture 1998+ unless otherwise noted
“And it shall be, when you come into the land which ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim is
giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, that
you shall take some of the first of all the fruits of the soil which you
bring from your land that ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim is giving you, and shall put
it in a basket and go to the place where ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim chooses to
make His Name dwell there. (Deuteronomy 26:1-2)
The Israelite gift of first fruits, called Bikkurim, showed that he had
dedicated everything he owned to the glory and service of ‫יהוה‬. It is a
statement of homage that said every blessing, success, and
accomplishment of the giver, no matter how much effort and expense
has been invested by the person, was actually a gift from the Most
High. “Bring the first of the first-fruits of your land into the House of
‫ יהוה‬your Elohim... (Exodus 23:19). ..Then the person went forth to
celebrate all the goodness that ‫ יהוה‬had given to him and his
household.
“And you shall come to the one who is priest in those days, and say to
him, ‘I shall declare today to ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim that I have come to the
land which ‫ יהוה‬swore to our fathers to give us.’ (Deuteronomy 26:3)
The declaration: (The “back-bone” of the Passover Haggadah)
“And the priest shall take the basket from your hand and place it before
the altar of ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim. “And you shall answer and say before
‫ יהוה‬your Elohim, ‘My father was a perishing Aramean, and he went
down to Mitsrayim and sojourned there with few men. And there he
became a nation, great, mighty, and numerous. ‘But the Mitsrites did
evil to us, and afflicted us, and imposed hard labour on us. ‘Then we
cried out to ‫ יהוה‬Elohim of our fathers, and ‫ יהוה‬heard our voice and
saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression. ‘And ‫ יהוה‬brought us
out of Mitsrayim with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm,
with great fear and with signs and wonders. ‘And He brought us to this
place and has given us this land, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”
‘And now, see, I have brought the first-fruits of the land which You, O
‫יהוה‬, have given me.’ .., (Deuteronomy 26:4-10)
When we come before ‫ יהוה‬with the first fruit offering portion of our
increase, it is:
• an act of recognizing Him as our Source,
• a sincere method of giving thanks,
• a way of dedicating and sanctifying what we possess to His glory,
• an action that opens wider the gate to His provision and blessing, and
• a move toward sensitizing the heart to receive greater spiritual
revelation.
And I do this because of the Good News, so as to become a fellowpartaker with it. Do you not know that those who run in a race indeed
all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to obtain it.
And everyone who competes controls himself in every way. Now they
do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we for an incorruptible crown.
(1 Corinthians 9:23-25)
IF ‫ יהוה‬HAS SET US FREE, WHY ARE WE NOT ABLE TO TAKE POSSESSION
OF OUR LAND?
It starts in our hearts first, beginning with the choice to wholly forgive
ourselves, our family and others. Then, having love for one another,
and offering up sacrifices of praise and worship in thankfulness to ‫יהוה‬
will be a natural response to the work He has done in our lives. We will
have entered into ‫’יהושע‬s death that leads to His resurrection life and
thus be able to offer this life to others. This is taking possession of the
land. We are made of three parts: body, soul and spirit. We are to
conquer all that hinders our walk and bring it into obedience to ‫יהוה‬.
To enter ‫’יהושע‬s life is to conquer the land within us. If we are not in
Him, how can we see the growth, fruit, and signs and wonders of the
blessings promised? We may need to reevaluate our walk and
apprehend the priesthood He has offered us. (Exodus 19:5-6; 1 Peter
2:9; Hebrews 12:14).
More blockages that may prevent blessings could be ignorance in
regards to ‫’יהוה‬s Word or lack of knowledge of ‫’יהוה‬s ways. For
example: Tolerating personal or generational sin issues, not have faith
in ‫ יהוה‬but trust in man or when looking for signs, wonders and
miracles, and have expectations of ‫ יהוה‬on our own terms. When we
choose to be dishonest and participate in obvious or habitual sins, then
these become blockages. Many of us have come to knowledge of our
salvation but do not walk in redemption through a sanctified holy
lifestyle. We may still be partaking in sins that could lead to diseases
and potentially death – sins such as bitterness, unforgiveness, and fear.
Other causes of separation from ‫ יהוה‬include: failure to pray, not caring
for our bodies, not eating biblically acceptable foods, not resting on the
Sabbath, murmuring or listening to gossip or idle talk, not blessing our
wives or failing to take proper care of the widows, orphans and poor
among us, to name a few.
There is a move by the Ruach Ha Kodesh and a call on people's hearts
to enter, possess and inhabit the land. This is done in an attitude
of righteousness which leads to holiness, for without holiness no one
will see ‫( יהוה‬Hebrews 12:14). Some have given their lives to ‫ יהוה‬but
never really given their hearts to Him. When we truly give our hearts
to Him we see what is written on our hearts (Torah), and the Ruach Ha
Kodesh begins to instruct us in that walk of holiness called redemption.
As we continue to pursue holiness we begin to possess the land, and
finally we settle and have peace because we have become accustomed
to walking in His ways.
Many of us who have not entered into this walk of redemption may
not have experienced His Fruit yet. The fruit is called signs and
wonders and is what raises the dead, heals the sick and cleanses the
lepers. These are called the elementary things that follow those who
have a purified and holy walk in ‫ יהוה‬through ‫( יהושע‬Hebrews 6:1-2).
We then become His first fruits as we labor together in His field, white
for the harvest (John 4:35; Ezekiel 37:1-14).
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from
the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor shadow of
turning. Having purposed it, He brought us forth by the Word of truth,
for us to be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures. So then, my beloved
brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath,
for the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of Elohim.
Therefore put away all filthiness and overflow of evil, and receive with
meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your lives. And
become doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Because if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a
man who looks at his natural face in a mirror, for he looks at himself,
and goes away, and immediately forgets what he was like. But he that
looked into the perfect Torah, that of freedom, and continues in it, not
becoming a hearer that forgets, but a doer of work, this one shall be
blessed in his doing of the Torah. If anyone among you thinks he is
religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart,
this one’s religion is worthless. (James 1:17-26)
‘... Then you shall place it before ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim, and bow down
before ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim, and shall rejoice in all the good which ‫יהוה‬
your Elohim has given to you and your house, you and the Lĕwite and
the stranger who is among you. (Deuteronomy 26:10-11)
This is known as the order of Melchizedek (king and priest). When the
House of Israel begins to walk in the ways of ‫ יהוה‬they bring the
priestly order and receive their inheritance of “a land, a people and a
blessing”. When the House of Judah begins to walk in ‫’יהוה‬s ways they
bring the kingly side and receive the same inheritance of “a land, a
people and a blessing”. When both Houses begin to walk in ‫’יהוה‬s ways
in unity, as of one heart (2 Chronicles 30:10-12; Romans 15:5;
Ephesians 4:3), David’s fallen tent (covenant) is restored. This
restoration ushers in the order of Melchizedek…last fulfilled by ‫יהושע‬.
Thus, we are ‫’יהושע‬s first fruits (Ezekiel 37:15-28; Amos 9:11; Acts
15:16-21).
“When you have completed tithing all the tithe of your increase in the
third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it to the Lĕwite,
to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, and they have
eaten within your gates and have been satisfied, then you shall say
before ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim, ‘I have put away the set-apart portion from
my house, and also have given it to the Lĕwite, and to the stranger, and
to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all Your command
which You have commanded me. I have not transgressed Your
commands, nor have I forgotten. ‘I have not eaten any of it when in
mourning, nor have I removed any of it for any unclean use, nor given
any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of ‫ יהוה‬my Elohim, I have
done according to all that You have commanded me. ‘Look from Your
set-apart dwelling place, from the heavens, and bless Your people
Yisra’ĕl and the land which You have given us, as You swore to our
fathers, “a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ (Deuteronomy 26:1215)
The third tithe was particularly important because it represented
Israel's concern and generosity for the poor of the land.
Man's basic sin, was bound up with the eating of fruit: the forbidden
fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. After being told not to
eat of that fruit, he stole it and all mankind has suffered the
consequences. According to Hebrew thought, Ya’aqob (Yah’s
supplanter) used trickery against Esaw and Laban to retrieve the
blessings back from the serpent. And, Ya’aqob's children had to go
down into Mitzrayim in order to rectify all that fell, through the eating
of the forbidden fruit. They had to endure slavery in order to learn the
meaning of freedom and its obligations. Only after much work and
tribulation did they come to the Land, take it from, and cleanse it of
the accursed Canaanites, seed of the serpent, till it, plant and tend it
until they saw their first-fruits.
The first fruits, or “Bikkurim” relate to the “Bechorah”, the “birthright”, which alludes, in Hebrew thought, to “Chokmah”, or "wisdom".
You see, it was “wisdom” (knowledge of good and evil) that Adam and
Chawah defiled in taking the forbidden fruit. Esaw, the embodiment of
the serpent, rejected the “birth-right of wisdom”, but Ya’aqob took it
back and vowed at Beit El (House of El) to dedicate the tithe to ‫יהוה‬.
“The rectification of the trickery of the serpent, which tempts man to
make self-gratification his only altar, is through the steady application
of the Torah command-ments that regulate how and what we take
from the world around us, including the very food we put into our
mouths. Before we enjoy the fruits of our labors, we must think of the
priest, the Levite and the poor, and separate all the obligatory gifts and
tithes. The fulfillment of all the relevant commandments elevates and
puts blessing into the fruits that remain for our own enjoyment.”
“Presentation of the first fruits in the Temple is the very first of the
agricultural commandments fulfilled by the farmer: he thinks about it
while the fruit is still ripening on the tree, before he even begins
harvesting. The declaration about tithes comes after an entire cycle of
three years of harvests and steady fulfillment of all the intricate details
of the commandments applying to the fruits in different years. First
comes the Terumah, the gift to the priest, and then the First Tithe
(Ma’aser) for the Levite. In the first and second years, the Second Tithe
(Ma’aser Sheni) is to be eaten in purity in Jerusalem by its owner, but in
the third year, the owner cannot eat the Second Tithe himself. He must
give it to the poor (Ma’aser Oni). If a person has fulfilled all these
command-ments in all their details, he is entitled to stand up after all
this work and list what he has accomplished”.
“Today ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim is commanding you to do these laws and
right-rulings. And you shall guard and do them with all your heart and
with all your being. “You have today caused ‫ יהוה‬to proclaim to be your
Elohim, and to walk in His ways and guard His laws, and His
commands, and His right-rulings, and to obey His voice. “And ‫ יהוה‬has
caused you to proclaim today to be His people, a treasured possession,
as He has spoken to you, and to guard all His commands, so as to set
you high above all nations which He has made, for a praise, and for a
name, and for esteem, and for you to be a set-apart people to ‫יהוה‬
your Elohim, as He has spoken.” (Deuteronomy 26:16-19)
This is the last commandment given in our parsha this week. We are to
walk in His ways. This is more than just obeying His Words. This is
about modelling ourselves and behaviours after His attributes. So, just
as He is merciful and gracious, so we should be merciful and gracious.
The refinement of these and other righteous attributes in us is the
work in the heart that ‫ יהוה‬asks of all His children.
“And it shall be, on the day when you pass over the Yardĕn to the land
which ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim is giving you, that you shall set up for
yourselves large stones, and plaster them with plaster, and write on
them all the Words of this Torah, when you have passed over, so that
you go into the land which ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim is giving you, ‘a land
flowing with milk and honey,’ as ‫ יהוה‬Elohim of your fathers has spoken
to you. “And it shall be, when you have passed over the Yardĕn, that on
Mount Ěyḇal you set up these stones, which I command you today, and
you shall plaster them with plaster, and build an altar to ‫ יהוה‬your
Elohim there, an altar of stones – do not use an iron tool on them.
“Build the altar of ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim with complete stones, and you shall
offer burnt offerings on it to ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim, and shall offer peace
offerings, and eat there, and rejoice before ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim. “And you
shall write all the Words of this Torah on the stones – plainly and well.”
(Deuteronomy 27:2-8)
When ‫ יהוה‬first gave this covenant to the Children of Israel, Moses
built an altar and set up twelve stones representing the Twelve
Tribes of Israel. He read the book of the Covenant to the people who
agreed with all ‫ יהוה‬said. Moses then sprinkled blood on the altar and
the people. This is called the “Blood of the Covenant”, which
consequently sealed (like plaster) all the words spoken by ‫ יהוה‬and the
people (Exodus 24; Hebrews 9:18; Hebrews 10:26-31).
Because their parents broke the covenant with ‫ יהוה‬by worshipping
the golden calf, forty years later Moses is told to renew this covenant
with their children before crossing over into the land. The same Words
that were spoken over their parents are now written very clearly on
large stones covered by plaster, representing the flesh of the stones.
Today, those who are in ‫ יהושע‬now have written on their HEARTS these
very words.
you also, as living stones, are being built up, a spiritual house, a setapart priesthood, to offer up spiritual slaughter offerings acceptable to
Elohim through ‫ יהושע‬Messiah. (1 Peter 2:5)
“These are to stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you
have passed over the Yardĕn: Shimʽon, and Lĕwi, and Yehuḏah, and
Yissasḵar, and Yosĕph, and Binyamin. “And these are to stand on Mount
Ěyḇal to curse: Re’uḇĕn, Gaḏ, and Ashĕr, and Zeḇulun, Dan, and
Naphtali. “And the Lĕwites shall speak with a loud voice and say to all
the men of Yisra’ĕl: (Deuteronomy 27:12-14)
In the book of Joshua we read that, after entering the land, all Twelve
Tribes presented themselves before this monumental place at the
entrance of the land. Six tribes stood on one mountain and six tribes
on the other with the Ark resting between them. In obedience to what
Moses taught, the Levites declared in a loud voice the twelve
fundamental curses from the Law of Moses over the Children of Israel.
The people agreed and said “Amen” (“So be it”). Today may we also be
a people, who know and understand the words of ‫ יהוה‬and say
“Amen”, “So be it.” (Deuteronomy 27:15-26, Joshua 8:30-35).
Amen: Strong’s #543 TWOT 113b to confirm, support, uphold; to be
established, be faithful; to be certain, i.e. to believe
At their bases, Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal are only five hundred
yards apart, with the town of Shechem lying between them. It is
reported that there are eighty springs in or around the town. Shechem
means shoulder, as well as to rise early in the morning. The town is a
city of refuge forty miles north of Jerusalem in the region of Ephraim.
When Abraham was called from Ur, he entered the land and stopped
here first to build an altar to ‫( יהוה‬Genesis 12:6). It was here that Jacob
buried his family idols and grazed his flocks at the well (Genesis 35:4;
37:12-14). Genesis 49:29-32 and Acts 7:16 records the patriarchs are
buried at Shechem in the plot both Abraham and Jacob repurchased
(Genesis 33). Jeroboam was crowned king of Israel here after
separating and taking ten tribes from Solomon's son Rehoboam King of
Judah. Shechem became the capital of Samaria for the Northern
Kingdom, the House of Israel.
1. .. makes a carved or moulded image, an abomination to ‫יהוה‬, the
work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’
2. .. makes light of his father or his mother.’
3. .. moves his neighbour’s boundary.’
4. .. misleads the blind in the way.’
5. .. twists the right-ruling of the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.’
6. .. lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s
bed.’
7. .. lies with any beast.’
8. .. lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of
his mother.’
9. .. lies with his mother-in-law.’
10. .. smites his neighbour secretly.’
11. .. takes a bribe to slay an innocent being.’
12. .. does not establish the Words of this Torah.’
And all the people shall say, ‘Amĕn!’ (Deuteronomy 27:15-26)
To the casual reader, the admonitions contained in these verses may
seem to be arranged in a random order, but this is not the case.
Consider the following: the prohibition against idolatry (verse 15) is
with that juxtaposed (Placed side by side often for comparison) of
degrading one’s parents “who outwardly is respectful to his parents but
inwardly considers himself vastly superior to them” along with
trespassing against one’s neighbor’s property by removing his
neighbor’s boundary markers or landmarks. Now consider this: one
who does not honor and fear ‫ יהוה‬but turns to idolatry (the first and
second commandments) will not honor one’s parents (the fifth
commandment and vice versa) will likewise not honor the property of
one’s neighbor (including his neighbor’s wife). Juxtaposed next to these
commands is the prohibition against misleading a blind person (verse
18). This means that we should not take advantage of his blindness by
advising him in a way beneficial to us and to his disadvantage.
Juxtaposed to that is one who steals justice from another by perverting
judgment against one who is weaker socially or financially or who is
less informed at law than another thereby giving the advantage to the
stronger (ArtScroll Davis Edition Baal HaTurim Chumash/Devarim, pp.
“And it shall be, if you diligently obey the voice of ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim, to
guard to do all His commands which I command you today, that ‫יהוה‬
your Elohim shall set you high above all nations of the earth. “And all
these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the
voice of ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim: (Deuteronomy 28:1-2)
Jeffrey Tigay in the JPS Torah Commentary shared a chiastic structure
on the blessing as they are outlined in the Torah.
A. Economic success (v. 3a)
B. Fertility of soil (v. 3b)
C. Fertility of humans and animals (v. 4)
D. Abundant food (v. 5)
E. Military success (v. 6)
E’. Military success (v. 7)
D’. Abundant food (v. 8)
C’. Fertility of humans and animals (v.11)
B’. Fertility of soil (v. 12a)
A’. Economic success (v. 12b-13)
“Blessed are you in the city, and blessed are you in the field. “Blessed is
the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your
livestock ... “Blessed is your basket and your kneading bowl. “Blessed
are you when you come in, and blessed are you when you go out. “‫יהוה‬
causes your enemies who rise against you to be smitten before your
face – they come out against you one way and flee before you seven
ways. “‫ יהוה‬commands the blessing on you in your storehouses and in
all to which you set your hand, and shall bless you in the land which
‫ יהוה‬your Elohim is giving you. “‫ יהוה‬does establish you as a set-apart
people to Himself, as He has sworn to you, if you guard the commands
of ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim and walk in His ways. “And all peoples of the earth
shall see that the Name of ‫ יהוה‬is called upon you, and they shall be
afraid of you. “And ‫ יהוה‬shall make you to have plenty of what is good,
in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of
your ground, in the land of which ‫ יהוה‬swore to your fathers to give
you. “‫ יהוה‬opens to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain
to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. And
you shall lend to many nations, but you do not borrow. “And ‫ יהוה‬shall
make you the head and not the tail. And you shall be only on top, and
not be beneath, if you obey the commands of ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim, which I
command you today, to guard and do... (Deuteronomy 28:1-14)
“And it shall be, if you do not obey the voice of ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim, to
guard to do all His commands and His laws which I command you
today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you:
(Deuteronomy 28:15)
‫ יהוה‬allows curses to come upon His people due to our transgressions
(sins), many of which go back to our forefathers. “Transgression"
literally means to cross or to go against ‫’יהוה‬s will. This is our active
refusal to acknowledge and observe the Torah (‫’יהוה‬s teaching and
instruction) in our daily lives.
The Torah describes in detail blessings and curses as consequences of
our life choices. As a consequence of our actions, we either choose His
way (blessings), or suffer from the consequences of disobedience
(curses) in our own lives. Both of which may be passed down to the
third and fourth generations. Curses that are passed down from
generation to generation are known as iniquities. Transgression is the
disobedience we willfully do on our own. Our transgressions can
become iniquities. The decisions we make today not only determine
our destiny but could determine the destiny of our children and their
future generations.
Madness, driven mad (Deuteronomy 28:28,34); confusion of heart or
confusion of mind, depression (Deuteronomy 28:20,28); a trembling
heart or an anxious mind (Deuteronomy 28:65); anguish of soul or a
despairing heart (Deuteronomy 28:65). The areas affected are
described as the heart, the soul and/or the mind.
POSSIBLE ROOT CAUSES: Occult involvement whether white or black
magic, paganism, earth worship (wicca, new age), involvement in
secret societies i.e., Freemasonry, Lodges (Elks, Moose, etc,)
fraternities, sororities, etc., involvement in horoscopes, astrology,
Ouija boards, tarot cards, etc.
POSSIBLE SYMPTOMS/CONSEQUENCES: confusion and depression
and emotional roller coasters, rebellion.
MAINLY HEREDITARY: plague or plagued with diseases (Deuteronomy
28:21); consumption or wasting diseases (Deuteronomy 28:22); severe
burning fever (Deuteronomy 28:22); inflammation (Deuteronomy
28:22); incurable boils (Deuteronomy 28:27,35); tumors/cancer
(Deuteronomy 28:27); scabs or festering sores (Deuteronomy 28:27);
incurable itch (Deuteronomy 28:27); blindness (Deuteronomy 28:28);
extraordinary, fearful, prolonged plagues like diabetes (Deuteronomy
28:59); serious and prolonged sicknesses or severe and lingering
diseases like cancer or heart disease (Deuteronomy 28:59); every
other kind of sickness and plagues (Deuteronomy 28:61). Either these
are inherited through generations or brought on by self-inflicted.
POSSIBLE ROOT CAUSES: Bitterroot judgments or unforgiveness
(especially towards parents, spouse, ex-spouse, and employers) or
against anyone who abused or molested you; late onset of diabetes
and asthma often result from bitter root judgments against your
parents, and /or against present or past spouses, fear, stress and
anxiety.
The key phrase from Deuteronomy 28:18 is "Cursed shall be the fruit of
your body" or your womb. This curse may affect any of the various
organs or functions involved in procreation. These include: inability to
conceive; a tendency to miscarry; fetal death during or before
childbirth; endometriosis; failure to menstruate; irregular
menstruation; debilitating menstrual cramps; frigidity; cysts, tumors or
other growths or structural defects affecting any of the various organs
connected with the reproductive process; any condition leading to
hysterectomy; prostate cancer in men; low sperm count in men;
sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
POSSIBLE ROOT CAUSES: Many causes relate to violations of the laws
of Niddah. (Not having sexual intimacy during a woman's monthly flow
for seven days (Leviticus 15:19-33). Cervical cancer or other female
related problems can be linked to violation of this law. Other possible
root causes are: Bitterness or unforgiveness. Fornication outside Torah
principles (marriage), pornography, abortion, affairs, soul ties
(flashbacks of past relationships), comparing your spouse with your
own or their parents, oral sex and masturbation (which is a
homosexual act - witchcraft).
(Deuteronomy 28:41) “You bring forth sons and daughters, but they
are not with you, for they go into captivity.
POSSIBLE SYMPTOMS/CONSEQUENCES: Divorce; poor relationship
with parent/grandparents/in-laws; rebellious children; abuse to spouse
and /or children' neglect or abandonment of children, causing them to
be orphaned; critical or judgmental spirit, accusations, envy/jealousy.
POSSIBLE ROOT CAUSES: religious pride, anger, not honoring your
parents. Note: divorce will cause us to live in poverty for a season,
whether spiritually, mentally or financially.
Deuteronomy 28:17 “Cursed is your basket and your kneading bowl.
You shall not prosper in your ways or you will be unsuccessful in
everything you do. The full outworking of this curse, however, is most
graphically presented in verses 47-48;
“Because you did not serve ‫ יהוה‬your Elohim with joy and gladness of
heart for all the plenty, you shall serve your enemies whom ‫ יהוה‬sends
against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in need of
all. (Deuteronomy 28:47-48)
Biblically speaking, God's abundance is having all you need to do God's
will and something left over to give to others. We must recognize that
there is a higher level of wealth than just the material (Proverbs 13:7).
POSSIBLE ROOT CURSES: Adulterous affairs, pornography, and greed.
One of the biggest areas of continuing financial insufficiency is related
to sexual immorality. The spirit of lust is a root of both financial
insufficiency and sexual immorality. Typically, when one is involved in
sexual immorality, their spirit cries out in the form of anger and rage.
They cannot save money because of the lust for more things or
uncontrollable spending.
“And you shall be groping at noon, as a blind man gropes in darkness,
(Deuteronomy 28:29)
INCLUDING: freak accidents, carelessness, impulsiveness, and
unnatural impulse to do harm to another or to animals, an unusually
high number of vehicle accidents.
POSSIBLE ROOT CAUSES: molestation, abuse.
A History of Suicides and Unnatural or Untimely Early Deaths,
including: thoughts of suicide or trying to commit suicide; lack of joy in
your life; critical or judgmental spirit; self-hatred; untimely death of
family members due to murder, suicides, or diseases that took
someone's life at an early age.
POSSIBLE ROOT CAUSES: Abuse, molestation, occult activity.
I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Let it not be! But
by their fall deliverance has come to the gentiles, to provoke them to
jealousy. And if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches
for the gentiles, how much more their completeness! (Romans 11:1112)
The Torah portion for this week closes with Paul sharing about ‫’יהוה‬s
plan for the remnant coming from the Nations and for the Jewish
people. For those choosing repentance, cleansing and a walk of
redemption through holiness, Paul uses the picture of an olive tree.
Olive trees need to be engrafted with a wild olive branch in order to
survive. The root and the tree is ‫יהושע‬, the Vinedresser. The tree also
represents the Torah. The natural branches represent the House of
Judah, the Jewish people, and the wild olive branch represents the
remnant of the House of Israel coming from the Nations.
In the grafting process of an olive tree, the vinedresser first cuts off a
natural branch, causing it to fall to the ground. This causes the bark on
that cast-off branch to harden for a time. The vinedresser then goes
out to find a wild olive tree and cuts off a strong branch, bringing it
back and grafting the wild olive branch into the natural olive tree. The
cut/grafting is called a “scion” (Strong’s G1461) pronounced “zion.” He
uses worn High Priest garments, called “swaddling clothes”, to wrap
the grafted wild olive branch to the natural olive tree. For three and a
half years – the length of a Torah cycle – the vinedresser checks daily
to see if the grafting will take. After that time, if the wild branch has
adapted, the cut or “circumcision” is no longer visible. The wild olive
branch has become like the natural branch of the olive tree. Then the
vinedresser gathers the natural branch that fell and hardened for a
time and grafts it into the same place that the wild olive branch had
been grafted into. This process takes another three and a half years for
a total of seven years. Each year represents a thousand years,
corresponding to the seven thousand-year plan of ‫יהוה‬. (Olive Tree:
7000 Year Redemptive Plan of God Rabbi Ralph Messer)
The Mikvah is a Biblical practice of water immersion through which
people around the world have reached out to ‫ יהוה‬for spiritual renewal
and repentance from disobedience especially for believers for
thousands of years. First forgive ourselves, and then forgive everyone
who has hurt us physically, spiritually and emotionally. (Colossians
3:12-13)
PRAYER OF CONFESSION BEFORE MIKVAH:
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, I ask You to forgive me of my
disobedience, iniquities and transgressions. I forgive my forefathers for
turning their backs on Your Torah. I forgive all those who hurt me
physically, spiritually and emotionally. I ask that all demonic influences
be bound and not permitted to operate in my life according to Torah,
and that your Spirit be loosed to operate in my life according to Torah,
to rule and reign in my life, and to help me walk out Your Will. I ask this
in the name of my Lord and Savior, Yeshua Ha Mashiach. Amen.
Hebrew tradition identifies three stages in the process of forgiveness,
whether you are being forgiven or you are forgiving other. The steps
are identifies by the words s'lechah (forgiveness), 'm'chilah (letting go),
nad kapparah (atonement). Forgiveness begins with the conscious
intention to forgive. But if the process ends there, the feelings of guilt
or resentment reappear when you least expect them. Letting go
means, ' you no longer need the past to have been any different than it
was.' At this stage, you may remember the pain, but you are no longer
consumed either with guilt or resentment. With atonement, you can
accomplish something positive that otherwise wouldn't have been
possible. You still remember, and you still may feel the pain, but the
act of atonement transforms the pain into a blessing (Rabbi Ted Falcon,
PhD).
These are the words of the covenant which ‫ יהוה‬commanded Mosheh
to make with the children of Yisra’ĕl in the land of Mo’aḇ, besides the
covenant which He made with them in Ḥorĕḇ. (Deuteronomy 29:1)
Moses came to deliver his last instructions and exhortations to the
sons of Israel. He summed up their four-decade history in the
wilderness and put the experience in perspective one last time for
their complete understanding. It has been said that it takes forty years
for a Torah student to completely understand and become like his
teacher. That may or may not be true. What we know is true, is that it
took forty years in the furnace of the Wilderness for Israel to
understand ‫יהוה‬. “But ‫ יהוה‬has not given you a heart to know and eyes
to see and ears to hear, till this day. (V 4) [Note: This happened after
Moses had given a newly written Torah Scroll to the Levites (Deut.
31:19) and the common people protested vigorously, insisting that
they did not want to be excluded from having a share in it. Moses
marveled at the demonstration of affection and reverence for the
Torah, and realized that Israel had matured into a people of
Elohim. "people of the Word."]