Tag: curses

Parashah Ki Tavo 2018 (When you come) Deuteronomy 26 – 29

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As Moses finishes his Second Discourse (review of the laws) he starts the Third (and final) Discourse in Chapter 27, which is the enforcement of the laws.  This culminates in Chapter 28, the Blessings and the Curses chapter in which we are told what blessings we will receive for obedience, and the horrible litany of curses that will befall us for disobedience.

All of which happened: we were mightily blessed when we obeyed, and when we disobeyed we were even more mightily cursed. 

One interesting point of detail before we start: in 26:1 we are told to bring the first fruits of the land to the Cohen as a sacrifice to God, and in 26:12 it is referenced that this is the third year tithe. So if we are in the land for three years, why are the first fruits in the third year? In Leviticus 19:23-25 it says:

When you come to the Land and you plant any food tree, you shall surely block its fruit [from use]; it shall be blocked from you for three years, not to be eaten. And in the fourth year, all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. And in the fifth year, you may eat its fruit.

So the first fruits given unto the Lord after possessing the land could be only done in the third year. 

I have often written how Chapter 28 in this book is one of my favorites because it shows that God’s blessings are what he actively does for us, and his curses are really not active, but passive. In other words, God gives us blessings but when he curses, it is really just the absence of his blessings.  We live in a cursed and fallen world so when God isn’t blessing us (i.e., protecting us from the real world) we are subjected to the world as it is. 

But today I want to talk about something different. I want to talk about how much obedience does God really expect from us? I mean, really- no one has ever lived the Torah perfectly, except (of course) Yeshua, and he is the son of God and was filled with the Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit) from birth. I know it says that the Spirit fell upon him like a dove in the Gospels, but it is clear from what we read in the Gospels that there was something unique and special about Yeshua from his birth and throughout his youth.

So, if no one can live up to the standards of the Torah, and God knows this, why require us to do everything that is in the Torah?  On the surface it seems really unfair, doesn’t it? 

But then again, we know God is fair. He wants us to live the Torah as he gave it, which he reminds us at the end of this book (“Do not add to or take away…”), but he knows we can’t. That is why he also gave us the sacrificial system outlined way back in Leviticus 1-7 (and repeated throughout the other books.) It is through the sacrifice of innocent blood that we can be forgiven of our sin.

That is really a wild concept- sin can only be forgiven through the shedding of innocent blood (Hebrews 9:22, based on Leviticus 17:11), which means the one who is guilty cannot shed his or her own blood to atone for their own sin. It must be the blood of another, an innocent. Perhaps that is why God created the animals that are acceptable for sacrifice- just so that we have something clean and innocent to atone for our sins? Hmm…maybe? Maybe the other things we get from them– food, milk, cheese, yogurt, clothing, etc.- is all just a perk?

Why would God give us commandments we can’t follow completely and create animals that are destined to be killed so that our sins can be forgiven? My answer is… I don’t know why. Really- I have no idea why we are given commandments we can never live up to and why the guilty are not allowed to atone for their sins with their own blood.

Perhaps, just maybe, it’s because God thinks and sees things from an eternal viewpoint and these things I am asking about are finite? Perhaps it is because the real horror of sin is that the sinner must live with the memory of a poor, innocent having to suffer because of what that person did?

Again, I don’t know. This is a sort of conundrum, an unanswerable question which will forever haunt us. I don’t even think there is an answer, but there may be a solution to the problem of trying to know why and never being able to: trust that God knows what he is doing, even when you don’t.

We have been reviewing everything that happened in the prior four books of the Torah in this last book, and we have been told that pork is bad and deer is OK; fruit trees must not be used for 3 years for first fruits but we still have to wait a full five years before we can eat the fruit- it is holy after three years but not allowed to be eaten for 5. The Red Heifer ashes are used to cleanse us but everything involved in creating the ashes makes us unclean. A woman is unclean for 7 days after giving birth to a boy but for two weeks if it is a girl.

In Judaism, we have different types of “laws”-  Mishpatim and Chukkim.  The Mishpatim are laws easily understood, such as do not kill and do not lie. The Chukkim are laws for which we do not understand the reason, such as why can’t we wear clothes of different types of material and why pork is unclean. The Torah tells us that Mishpatim are to be guarded but Chukkim are to be done.  This could mean that because we can understand the reason Mishpatim have been given, we must make sure that we do not change or rationalize why we should ignore them. With regards to Chukkim, because we cannot understand why they have been decreed, we really can’t justify or rationalize changing them so they should just simply be obeyed.

As an example, a “mercy killing” violates the Mishpatim not to kill, but we can rationalize by saying we aren’t really committing murder, we are doing a form of humane Tzadakah (charity.) However, since there is no reasonable or easily understood justification for not mixing wool and linen in a shirt, how can we rationalize disobedience? We just have to accept that’s how it is and this is what we must do, period; end of story; don’t slam the door on your way out.

That, of course, is very hard to do for us prideful, curious humans who need to know “Why” for everything. We question, we analyze, we change, we reject and we adjust things to fit our own desires. But God doesn’t allow us to do that, which may be one of the reasons we can never be completely obedient.

I think this is why Yeshua told us we need to pick up our execution stake in order to follow him. We must be ready to die to self, to kill our own curiosity and desire to know “why” in order to be able to accept the Ruach HaKodesh and be led by it. Yeshua also said we need to be like little children in order to enter the Kingdom of God; in other words, accepting, trusting, and unquestioning (although I think he meant kids older than 2 or 3 who can’t say anything without asking, “Why?”)

What we should carry away with us from this parashah is that we will not ever understand why God wants us to do all the things he requires of us.  Furthermore, even when we understand the “why” of certain Mishpatim we are not to rationalize disobedience. Overall, whether we understand the reasoning for a commandment or not, we should obey all of God’s commands without question.

It’s this simple- he’s God, we’re not, so we do what he says.

Parashot Thazria/Metzora 2018 Leviticus 12 – 15

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These chapters deal with the purification procedures for a person after childbirth, when Tzara’at (leprosy, or some infectious skin disease) breaks out and if one suffers any type of bodily secretion.

It should be noted that they refer mainly to uncleanliness (either physical or spiritual) with regard to the Sanctuary and the holy things associated with the Sanctuary. The restrictions regarding the Sanctuary do not apply for all cases in everyday life. The observance of these regulations have been somewhat lost over the centuries, starting with the destruction of the Second Temple, and now are rarely observed except by the Orthodox. For example, Orthodox  Jewish men will not shake hands with a strange woman or even give her change of a dollar. It is not because they are misogynistic or disrespectful but simply because they are obeying the laws in this parashah. A woman in her time of Nidah (menstrual cycle) is unclean, and if a man touches her or anything she has touched he also becomes unclean which would prevent him from being able to enter his synagogue that day.

As with all of God’s commandments that are not simple to understand (i.e., do not kill or do not lie) people try to make up the reasons for God giving us these mitzvot (laws.) The reasons generally fall into one of two categories: hygienic or levitical (religious.) They may also be referred to as either moral or ceremonial laws, and for many Christians the ceremonial laws are the ones that they are taught are only for Jews because Christ did away with when he died on the cross. Those who know better understand that “anti-Torah” teaching is wrong because Yeshua never taught against the Torah; in fact, he taught only from the Torah and never even implied that we should do anything other than what the Torah says. But…that topic is for another time.

I am going to be somewhat repetitive today because the important message I believe we get from these two parashot is one I have recently talked about. In fact, I talk about it often, and what it is is this: it doesn’t matter why God tells us to do something! What does matter is that he told us what we should do.

If there are good reasons we can understand for the regulations, such as separating someone with an infectious disease from the community, all the better. But it doesn’t matter why God tells us something- he is God, we are not. He is the Father, we are the children. He is in charge, and we must obey if we are to receive blessings.

That’s all there is to it. Now, if someone feels that they have a right to understand, go ahead and ask God to explain his reasons to you. He is “big” enough to be questioned, but realize something first: you had better ask politely, act respectfully, and not expect an answer. God doesn’t have to justify himself to anyone. God is merciful and compassionate and you might get an answer, but whether or not you receive and answer you are still expected to act as commanded.

Yeshua tells us we are either a slave to God or a slave to the world (Matthew 6:24) and, as such, we must choose whom we will serve. God tells us throughout the Torah that when we obey him we will be blessed. One of my favorite biblical chapters is Deuteronomy 28, which is the Blessings and Curses chapter. I have often written and talked about how God never does anything cruel to us; the world is already a cursed and fallen place, and because we live in it we are constantly barraged by cruelty and hatefulness. God’s blessings are protection from the world. When we act in obedience to the Torah we are protected. It is when we reject Torah that we find ourselves exposed to the world and cursed. God actively loves and protects his children who obey him, and passively allows us to go our own way when we reject him. That’s when we find ourselves in trouble.

So, nu?  What is the word for today? It’s this:

  • obey God because he is God;
  • obey God because we trust God tells us to do only what is in our best interest to do; and
  • obey God because he is telling us how to live forever with him in peace and joy. 

To paraphrase a line from a famous poem: “Ours not to reason why, ours but to do OR die.”

If these reasons aren’t enough for you, then you will have a hard life and may sacrifice your very salvation. We are not saved by obedience, we are saved by faith; and that faith is demonstrated not by what we say but by what we do.

Parashah Thazria / Metzora Leviticus 12 – 15

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Because leap year affects the weekly cycle of reading, some parashot are doubled, as with this weekly reading, when it is necessary to bring the Gregorian and Hebrew calendars into sync. 

These chapters deal, in quite extensive detail, with cleanliness. We are given the instructions regarding what a woman, who becomes unclean from the actions of giving birth and also from her time of Nidah (menstruation), must do (and when) in order to be considered clean again. This is more than just a physical cleansing- it is to become ceremonially clean, which would allow her to re-enter the camp and worship at the Sanctuary. We are also given the regulations regarding leprosy, in the Hebrew called  T’zaraat, whether on a person or in clothing or even in the plaster of the house. The rules we are given tell us how to identify what is  T’zaraat and what is not, what to do if decreed to be T’zaraat, and how to determine when it is cured. 

People always have to know why something is what it is. Maybe that is just part of the intelligence God gave us when He separated us from the animals. Sometimes I wonder if that was such a good idea. Why do I say that? Because we use, or maybe misuse, our intelligence to try to understand God, and in doing so we are trying to raise ourselves to His level. Remember Babel? 

There are many good, hygienic reasons for these cleanliness laws. It is credited to John Wesley to have first said, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”, which indicates that to be holy is more than how we act, it is also what we are, physically. There are also many good reasons to avoid unclean people, mainly (the obvious one) so that you don’t catch what they have. No one can argue that is a good thing. My personal pet-peeve about questioning the reason for these laws, in fact, any of God’s laws, is that we should simply acknowledge and faithfully accept that God is God, and He wouldn’t do or command anything that is anything but good for us. We should all, like a trusting child, accept what God says as what we must do. Period. No “why”, no “It must be for this reason..”, no nuttin! You want a good reason to do what God says? Here it is: because He’s God, and you aren’t! And if that isn’t good enough for you, then you need to work on your faith. 

My concern is that I have noted (maybe you have, too) that when people understand something, they tend to reduce it’s importance, and don’t consider it as miraculous anymore. We can read the human genome, so we now think only what we can do with it, and ignore the fact that learning how to read it and understanding how it works, is a far, far way from having created it from nothing. DNA is a unbelievable miracle, yet it is just a series of small blocks on a gel-backed film to most scientists and people, today. 

I am often asked why I keep Kosher (I don’t keep Kosher according to the Rabbinical laws in Talmud, only according to Leviticus 11) and I say, simply, because that is what God told me to do. I am not some wonderfully faithful holy man, I am far from that, but I do appreciate God’s love and I respect His authority. I also trust God to know what is best for me, much better than I would ever know for myself, and as such I obey as much of the Torah as I can.  This is all the reason I need to want to obey- God says to do it, so I do it; it comes from respect for who and what He is, trust in His desire to do good for me, and as a love-response for all He has already done for me. 

If you need more than that, I respectfully suggest you work more on your faithful trusting in, and respect for, God. And, while you’re at it, turn down the volume on your Ego.

We don’t need to understand to be obedient. 

In Deuteronomy 28 God tells us when we obey His Torah we receive blessings, and when we disobey, we receive curses. I believe that because we live in a cursed world, the curses are already here, so God is not actively cursing us; His blessings are what protects us from the cursed world; therefore, when we don’t receive blessings, we are exposed to the curses. God’s blessings protect us from the world we are in, and when we obey God we receive those blessings.

So, if you absolutely, positively need to have some reason for obeying Torah, this is it:  obey God’s commands so that you can constantly receive blessings.

 

 

Parashot Vayak’hel/Pekudei (He gathered/Countings) Exodus 35:1 – 40:35

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In order to be in alignment with the Gregorian calendar, some Torah readings are doubled, as in the case of these last 6 chapters of Exodus. This dual parashah (hence, Parashot in the title) minutely details the finalization of the building of the Sanctuary. We are told that the people, who just committed the terrible sin of the Golden Calf, have now turned their hearts back to God. They give the necessary materials for building the Sanctuary (cloth, skins, precious gems and metals, etc.) with so much generosity and zeal that the workers have to ask Moses to command that the people stop bringing these items, as there is far too much material for the workers to use.

The manufacture of the separate parts of the Sanctuary is completed, and God decrees that it be assembled on the first day of the first month, which is the first of Aviv (now called Nissan), the spiritual New Year. After erecting the Sanctuary, Moses anoints the building, the items in it and the Priests. After doing so, God’s Shekinah glory so fills the tent that even Moses is not able to go inside. From that moment on, the cloud stays over the tent to show that God is ever-present (during the day it was cloud, and at night the cloud was filled with fire. Imagine how awesome that must have looked!), and when the cloud was withdrawn, it went ahead of the Israelites to lead them to their next destination.

In Chapter 39, verse 42 we are told that when Moses inspected all the work the people had done, he saw that they had done everything God commanded, exactly as God had commanded them to do. Then Moses blessed them.

To me this is a very important statement, that not only had the people done all that God said should be done, but they did it as God had told them to do it– not how they thought it should look, not with whatever materials they wanted to use, or with colors they preferred, but they did it all, just as they were commanded.

Are we like that today? In my opinion, we are far from that. Look at all the different ways we have created to worship God: all the different religions, rites and regulations not found anywhere in the Scriptures. Even within Judaism, we have Chasidic, Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and Messianic sects. Yes, all read the Torah but all do not follow the commandments the same way. Yes, all are “Jews” but the Messianic Jews are not considered Jews by the other “mainstream” sects, and from some Chasidic viewpoints, they don’t even consider the Orthodox as real Jews because they are more relaxed in their observances.

As anyone who reads this blog knows, my message to the world is this: God has no religion! People have created religions, and each one worships differently than the other, so by definition we can’t be at the same place the Children of Israel were when the Sanctuary was built- we are not all doing what God said we should, exactly the way He said it should be done. Not one of us.

Some are closer than others, and (I am not being prejudicial here) the Jews are the closest of all, mainly because their foundation for worship is based solely on the Torah. Most Christian religions have their foundation built upon the writings of the New Covenant, and they (again, not meaning to be unfair or judgmental) for the most part ignore the Torah. Funny thing, though, is that they don’t realize there is nothing in the New Covenant that is different from the Old Covenant; in truth, everything Yeshua (Jesus) taught is solely from the Tanakh (entire Old Covenant) because that was the only Word of God that existed.

God gave the Torah, through Moses, to the Jewish people in order for them to do as God wants us all to do- they were supposed to show the world how we all are to behave. God called the nation of Israel to be a nation of Priests and, as such, examples to the rest of the world regarding how to worship Him and how to treat each other. Torah was given to the Jews, but it is for the whole world.

The Tanakh (the Old Covenant) is sort of a “Torah 101” class for the world.

A few millennia later, along comes Yeshua, the Son of God and Messiah to the world. He is sent to the Jewish people because they are God’s Chosen nation, and have already had the prerequisite class, Torah 101. Now, it is time for Yeshua to teach the advanced class, Torah 202. Since this was an advanced class, everything He taught was based on the previous teachings. He goes beyond just teaching Torah by using the entire Tanakh to demonstrate who He is and to instruct the Jewish people so they can have a more advanced understanding of Torah. The Jewish people knew the P’Shat, the written words, of the Torah but did not understand the deeper meanings; Yeshua taught the Remez and Drash of the Torah (for a detailed description of Torah exegesis, click here: Pardes), which is why He used parables and riddles.

You see, Yeshua wanted to give the people a deeper understanding of what God was saying to them, and these lessons were very advanced. By using parables and riddles, which require deep thought to find and understand the answer, He was teaching them the tools they needed to be able to more completely understand the Bible. I think that is why Yeshua was surprised that after three years with Him, His own Disciples did not understand the meaning of many of His parables. Ultimately, as with His Disciples at that first Shavuot after His resurrection (Pentecost), it is after we have the Ruach Ha Kodesh, the Holy Spirit, within us that through that Spirit we can see the deepest meanings of God’s word.

Moses blessed the people for doing what God said to do, the way God said to do it. If Moses is willing to bless for doing as God said, think how much more willing God will be to bless for doing as He says! In fact, if you read Deuteronomy 28, you will get a detailed listing of all the blessings God will shower on you for acting in accordance with the Torah. But don’t stop there- read on to learn of all the T’souris (curses) you will suffer if you refuse to obey. God won’t really do all those bad things to you because that you get just for living in the cursed world we live in. God’s blessings are protection from the world, and we have that protection when we walk under His wings, i.e. obey His word in the way He said we should.

I am not saying that anyone who is not strictly in accordance with the Torah will go to Hell- no one can live strictly in accordance with the Torah, which is why we needed the Messiah! Duh! What I am saying is that God will send more blessings to you, the more you are in obedience to His instructions. Yeshua’s sacrifice covers our sin, but only when we are truly repentant of that sin; if you think that Yeshua died for your sins so you can live your life any-old-way you want to, you are in for a very unpleasant surprise!

It’s really simple: God gave the Torah to the Jews to show the world how to be. The closer we are to observing the Torah, the more blessed we will be; it should be no surprise that the converse is true, meaning that the further away we are from Torah observance, the less blessed we will be. Ignoring the Torah entirely will result in eternal damnation.

As with everything else, you need to make up your own mind: do you want to be more blessed, or less blessed?

Parashah Nitzavim (standing) Deuteronomy 29:9 – 30

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Moses foretells the future, and warns the people about turning from God to idols. He tells them that they are making a covenant with God not just for themselves, but for their descendants, as well. The world will offer them opportunity to turn from God, and if they do then all the curses of the book shall come down on them. Yet, after God has justifiably thrown them out of the land and ravaged the land, if they turn back to God with all their heart and soul, God will regather them from the farthest parts of the world and resettle them in the Land. The curses that fell on them will fall on their enemies and the people shall again find favor in God’s sight.

Finally, Moses tells them that these laws and commandments, which provide life, abundance and blessing, are not far away or hard to do; they are right there, in reach, and the offer God is making is life or death: life through obedience and death through rejection.

Moses suggests they choose life.

So, Nu? How much more can I say than what Moses has said? Here we are, again, a people blessed by God that are about to receive the greatest blessing that God has for us-life in a land of prosperity. And life forever after that. So what do we do?

We screw it all up. This generation that has seen so much makes the covenant and under Joshua, for the most part, this covenant is kept. But after Joshua dies, very quickly they devolve into a rabble of sinfulness- that is in the Book of Judges. Up and down, love the Lord then love the idols, in and out of sin and rebellion for generations. God raises a Judge to save, they do well under that Judge, the Judge dies and the people fall back into sin.

Today we see the prophetic promise of returning to the land that Moses told of coming to fruition. We see Israel being regathered, and the curses coming down on the nations. America isn’t being left out of those curses, either, because we have stopped being a godly country.

Moses said the people there were making a covenant, but also the people not there- in other words, the children and their children’s children were also to be under this covenant. I think that is where things went wrong.

When I read the bible it seems that for every generation that did well, the next one did poorly. One king does what is evil, the son does what is right, then his son does what is evil. And it seems that there is always some chametz (leaven, representing sin) left over from the evil generation that survives. Either the queen mother, or the wife of the past king, or a relationship with another evil king. The Northern tribes (Israel, later called Shomron, now referred to as the West Bank) never had a righteous king, but the Southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin had a number of “good” kings, whose children weren’t always the same.

My point is that we can’t really make a covenant for someone else. The baptism rights for babies today are, to me, a waste. First of all, I cannot see God sending an infant to hell because his or her parents failed to have a clergyman pour water on their head. Baptism is an outward expression of an inner desire, a desire to be cleansed of sin and turn to God. An infant can’t make that decision, and I think the history of the Jewish people proves that a child’s parents can’t make that decision, either. Godparents standing in for the child and making oaths of servitude to God are never going to be binding on the child because God gave us all Free Will. It is up to the child to make that decision, and only after the age of decision has been reached. Until the child is old enough to make up his (or her) own mind, that child is a child of God and will not be sent to eternal damnation in the event it dies.

That is my opinion- I have nothing in the bible to quote to you to prove it true, but everything I have read and feel and know about God tells me it must be so.

The best way for us to ensure the life (eternal) of our children is to be an example to them of God’s goodness and love, as well as demonstrating the truth regarding His promise of justice. God is all about love, and all about truth, and all about trust and all about faith. That means that as faithful as God is to forgive when someone truly does T’Shuvah (turn from sin), He is just as faithful to punish those who reject Him.

The world wants what it considers to be fair: “If I choose to love and obey You, then bless me. However, if I choose to ignore and reject You, then just leave me alone.” That’s what the world wants, but that isn’t how the game is played. God is supreme, whether or not someone wants to accept that is irrelevant. God reigns supreme: you obey and live or you reject and die: that’s how it is; that’s how He is; that’s why His name is “I am.”

We can’t choose for others, but we can be an example and a light to others. That’s how the covenant we make with God can be applied to others- through our example. It is up to them to choose for themselves.

That’s a hard word to hear, but the history of mankind and the stories in the bible, I believe, prove it to be true. We all are responsible to make up our own minds, and we all will be held accountable for our decisions. If someone else tells you what to do, and you do it, it is your decision to do it. It is your responsibility. Likewise, if you are told not to do something and you don’t, it is, again, ultimately your choice.

I often say that when you go before God, and we all will, and tell Him, “But that’s what the (fill in religious leader title) said I should do”, God will look gently and lovingly upon you and say, “I understand that, My child, but it is what I say that counts. Here’s some SPF 10,000 and a bottle of cold water; take the elevator to your left going down. Next?”

Every single day, from this moment forward, we each have before us the blessings and the curses, life and death- I have chosen life.

What is your choice?

 

 

Parashah Ki Thavo (when you come in) Deuteronomy 26 – 29:8

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We start with the end of the Second Discourse of Moses when we finish Chapter 26. The First Discourse was a review of the journey, the Second Discourse a review of the laws and codes given by God, and the Third Discourse (beginning with Chapter 27) is the enforcement of those laws.

Chapter 28, one of my most favorite of all the chapters in the Torah (in the entire bible, in fact) is known as the “Blessings and Curses” chapter.

Covenants have three components: first, you tell what the conditions of the covenant are, second the rewards of complying, and third the punishment for not complying. Following this format, the Second Discourse of Moses told of the conditions of the covenant, and Chapter 28 tells us the rewards for obedience and the consequences of disobedience.

The rewards, the blessings, are wonderful, and impact every part of our lives. Going in and coming out, in the fields (our work), the fruit of our body (happy, healthy family), the fruit of our herds and flocks (financial stability) and ultimately we will be known as a people blessed and protected by God (that would make a wonderful epitaph, wouldn’t it?)

But that’s not why this is my favorite.

After we are told all the wonderful things God will do for us when we obey, we are then told what will happen to us if we disobey. And these curses are the exact opposite of the blessings, except they go way beyond one-for-one, curse for blessing. Initially, we will be cursed going in and out, barren wives, failed crops, herds dying, enemies attacking and winning, we will be the tail not the head, but then it gets worse. We will suffer all the plagues of Egypt and, well…let’s just leave it at it gets worse. Ultimately, we will be known as a people cursed and abandoned by God.

Obviously, the curses aren’t why this is my favorite chapter, either.

What makes this my favorite chapter is because it demonstrates the true nature of our God- a loving, compassionate and fair Father who wants only to do good for us.

Let’s start with the first curse- Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve screwed up royally and God cursed the Earth (not them- the earth). Down the road a-ways, in the B’rit Chadasha (New Covenant), we get told who has rule over the earth- it isn’t God. Oh, yes- God is in control of everything, all the time, but we often read how He cedes rule to others. God has ceded rule (not control) over the earth to the Enemy, the Evil One, Satan.

You don’t believe me? Read Revelations 12: 7-12; read Ephesians 2:1-2; read John 12:31; read 1 John 5:19: the New Covenant tells us that the Enemy has dominion over the Earth.

So, what it comes down to is this: the curses that we read about in Chapter 28 aren’t things that God does to us, they are things that happen because we live in a cursed world with a really nasty guy running the show. Just being alive is a curse.

God does not curse us, He protects us from the curses!

The blessings of God are a kippur, a covering, which protects us from the world we live in. It’s like a golf umbrella that covers us and even the wind won’t make it turn inside-out. It’s stronger than the weather, which is the rain (or reign, if you will) of the Evil One falling down on us.

In other words, we receive curses when we show that we are so stubbornly rebellious we don’t have enough sense to come in out of the reign (of the Evil One.)

God’s blessings are what He does for us; the curses are what happens to us (when we walk away from God’s Kippur.)

That’s why I love this chapter so much: it tells me how wonderfully compassionate God is, how much He wants to do good for us, how He doesn’t do anything bad to us and when bad things happen it’s because we have left God’s protection by disobeying Him.

The blessings are what we receive for doing what is best for us and when we don’t, God will leave us on our own because He gave us Free Will. And He gave us Free Will because He loves us so much that He wants us to love Him back by our choice to do so.

What’s really unbelievable to us humans, self-centered and hedonistic as we are, is that even when someone hates God, rejects Him, and curses Him to His face, even that person will receive a blessing now and then. Just because God still loves him (or her) and even when being hated, God will love you enough to give you an occasional blessing.

It is said He rains on both the righteous and unrighteous, which I believe demonstrates His love for all.

So, that is why I love this chapter- it shows us how much God really loves us, and His wonderfully compassionate, forgiving and accepting nature. It also shows that He honors His word and does what He says He will do, which gives me confidence in His promise of salvation.

We can’t earn salvation but we can earn blessings. That is comforting, challenging and hopeful all at the same time.

Go earn some blessings today- all you need to do is read the Word, honor the Torah (as Yeshua/Jesus did) and get blessed.

For me, I try to do one less sin every day. That doesn’t mean not do a sin today, then never do that sin again- that can’t be done, at least, I can’t do that. But what I can do is one less sin every day.

We can never be sinless, but we can always sin less.  So, do one less sin today.

I can trade a sin for a blessing? Oy! Vot a deal! 

Parashah Bechukotai (If you walk) Leviticus 26:3 – 27

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Throughout the Torah, the methodology for God commanding us is that He tells us what we are to do, then He tells us what will happen if we don’t, and finally He confirms that after we have disobeyed, when we do T’shuvah (turn from sin) and return to Him with all our heart, He will remember us and His covenant with the Patriarchs, redeem us from wherever we are and bless us, again.

Leviticus is a book that is the penal code for the nation, as well as the ceremonial rites and actions we are to perform, from the High Priest (Cohen HaGadol) down to the common person. And, as outlined above, after we are told of the rites, laws, commandments, regulations and all that we are do to in order to properly worship God, and all that we are to do to properly treat each other, now comes the final warning: if you don’t do as I say, then I will do this to you.

And it ain’t pretty! What’s interesting is that it is not just a warning, it is a prophecy. The language of the warning, as it seems to me, is that God is not just saying “if you don’t”, but more like “when you don’t.”  God tells us what we should do, then tells us He knows we won’t. Next, He tells us what He will do to bring us back into obedience because He will not coddle us or enable our disobedience. No- what God will do when we try to act bigger than Him is to bring us down to our knees, and if that doesn’t get us back in line, He will bring us down to our hands and knees, and if that doesn’t bring us around, He will flatten us until our faces are in the dirt, and if we are still unwilling to atone, He will shove our head into the ground and step on our necks until we finally realize how stupid we have been and cry, “UNCLE!!!” Then, finally, after we do T’shuvah and return to Him, God will return to us the blessings promised for obedience.

Obedience is the fulcrum for worship: when we sin, we tilt to the side of disobedience, which results with the weight of God’s punishment falling on us like a ton of bricks; but, when we tilt to the side of obedience, God’s blessings come down from heaven like a gentle rain. The best place of all is in total obedience, at which point we are in perfect balance with God, and that will result in living in harmony with the world and at peace with each other. I like this simile because ever since God created us, we have see-sawed from one side to the other, blessed and cursed, obedient and disobedient, almost never balanced.

And if you have ever been on a see-saw and had the other person, when you were way up high, get off the see-saw you know what it feels like to be at the wrong end of God’s wrath.

Have you ever heard that it takes more muscles to smile than it does to frown? I don’t know if that is true or not, but I think, from a spiritual viewpoint, it is true because sinning is so much easier than obeying. But that doesn’t mean obedience is impossible, it is just harder to get started doing.

It is also said that if you do something 21 times in a row it becomes a habit. So if I can chose just one commandment, just one, and do it 21 days in a row, then it shouldn’t be hard anymore because it has become a habit. Are you willing to try this? Now, now- don’t pick Do Not Kill or Do Not Steal– those are too easy. Try something harder, something worth working to do, like Do Not Covet, or Keep the Sabbath. Pick any commandment that has been difficult for you to obey, and try to obey it for 21 days in a row. Mark it on your calendar, tie a string around your finger, whatever will work to keep this one commandment in front of you (let it be a frontlet between thine eyes) and see if you can do this one thing for 21 days.

If the saying is correct, then it will no longer be hard to do because it will be a habit. Imagine- what was once hard to do will now become hard not to do!

We can never be sinless, but we can always sin less. That is a reasonable goal, and one we can reach- to sin less. Less than I used to sin as a child, less than I used to sin as an adult, less than I used to sin last year, less than I sinned yesterday. One day at a time, one step at a time, one sin at a time.

You can perform one less sin today, can’t you?

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away- BIG time!

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The parashot we are in at this time of the year is the story of the plagues against Egypt in Exodus.

For those who don’t know, the Torah is sectioned off, so to speak, into portions to be read at each Shabbat service. These portions are called Parashot (parsha, or parashah for each one) and when following this annual cycle every Jew across the world is reading the same exact part of the Word of God, every week.

Currently we are in the midst of the plagues that God sent against Egypt, designed to weaken the Pharaoh, call down judgement on the Egyptians and free the Israelites from bondage. These plagues first destroyed the land, then the cattle, the crops, the people and even the very heritage of Pharaoh, when his first born son is killed. Finally, the power and might of Egypt, it’s army, is drowned in the Red Sea.

When I read this I think of Genesis 12:3, where God promises Abraham that He will bless those who bless him, and curse those that curse him.

Come, Sherman, to the Way-Back machine, and let’s go back some 400 years, to Genesis 41. Here we read how Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, and Pharaoh immediately blessed Joseph. He raised him to a level of nearly autonomous power, and when Joseph brought his family into Egypt for protection from the famine, Pharaoh gave them the best of the land. This Pharaoh blessed the seed of Abraham, and through Joseph he became the richest man in the world. When we read this story we see that Pharaoh, who at that time was already the political and religious leader of the country, also came to own the country, the people and their goods. As they ran out of money to buy grain, Joseph had them exchange their cattle, the land and even their homes. The Pharaoh that blessed Joseph was totally blessed by God.

Back now to Moses and the current Pharaoh, the one who has cursed the seed of Abraham with bondage and cruelty. Let’s see what happens to him:

  • the Nile to blood kills his fish and the fishing economy
  • the cattle disease kills his cattle
  • the hail destroys his trees
  • the locusts destroy his crops
  • his political and religious authority is eroded (we read how the people take protection as Moses tells them, ignoring the Pharaoh’s example. His authority and position as a god is eroded as the God of the Hebrews shows His true sovereignty)
  • the death of the firstborn throughout the land destroys the people’s morale, and robs the Pharaoh of his legacy
  • the destruction of the army in the Red Sea not only robs Pharaoh of his military strength but leaves his entire country defenceless. I guess it was a good thing for them they had nothing left to take!

Everything God had given to the Pharaoh who blessed His people was taken away from the Pharaoh that cursed them; in fact, not only did God take away that which had been given, but what he had already (his political and religious authority) was taken away, too.  It’s just as Yeshua said in Matthew 25:29:

For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.

In our everyday life it seems sometimes that we are being cursed, that what we have is being taken from us, and many times I have heard people say that this is punishment from God. It may be, but I don’t think so; at least, not in most cases. People always want to blame God for everything, when we should remember that as we come closer to God, the enemy is more threatened and he will move more against us. The trials and tribulations we go through aren’t always because God is “after us.” The enemy likes to screw around with God’s people in order to fool them into thinking God has abandoned them.

Don’t fall for it and don’t worry about stupid things like clothes, jobs, money, etc. Yeah, yeah- in a modern world we need it, but recall how Job lost everything but it was returned to him, doubled! If it was God who sent tribulation upon you, if you repent and return to Him, He will return to you what was taken. He tells us that in Joel 2:25:

And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

Also, we read in Matthew 6:25-34:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ? 28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

The Prophets talked continuously about the regathering of the people, and we are a blessed generation because we are seeing this prophecy fulfilled, today. The world is coming down around us, and in the midst of the dust and debris we see people making Aliya (literally, “going up”, returning to Israel) and many of the groups helping these people to make Aliya are Christian based! The “one man in God” that Shaul (Paul) talks about in Galatians 3:28 is actually happening! Right now! Today!

Look at the history of God’s people, with respect to those that have cursed them: the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Philistines, the Ninevites, the Assyrians, the Romans, the Spanish (yes, they were the world power from the 14th through 18th Centuries, but after the Inquisition they were destroyed as a world power, forever), and, of course, the Nazi’s. Even though we still have the Arab countries constantly try to destroy Israel, they have failed. Today as technology increases and our dependance on the oil fields lessens, the arab nations whose power and wealth is tied up solely in oil will fall. And each time they try to destroy Israel it goes this way:  they attack and we kick their butts!

As the Jewish people have said for millennia: “They tried to kill us; we killed them; let’s eat.” And we can say that because God is on our side, just as we are told in Psalm 118:6.

Salvation is a gift from God that we can never buy or earn, but blessings are things we can earn. And since they can be earned, they are not irrevocable. As Job said, God can give and take away. We can’t always (in fact, we probably never will) understand what God is doing or why, but we can trust that He always does what is best for us. So even when you find yourself in the midst of the fiery furnace, keep trusting, keep praying, keep growing in faith and continue to lovingly obey the Torah, and you will be saved.

God likes to bless His children, and we are all His children, so never, never, NEVER think that you are abandoned by God. You can abandon Him, and He may stay out of your way (which takes away all your protection from a fallen and cursed world) but God is always in the wings, rooting for you, and His hand is always held out waiting for you to reach for it.

If you think that God doesn’t care about you, you’re wrong.  You probably don’t care enough about Him, so do T’shuvah (turn from your sin) and reach out to Him. He’s waiting for you.

Parashah V’Yishlach (and he sent to him) Genesis 32:4 – 36

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Jacob comes back to the land he left, and hears that Esau is coming out to meet him with 400 men. Frightened for his family, he splits the camp, sends them ahead and stays behind the Jabbok River that night by himself. That night he wrestles with an angel, who (in order to be released by Jacob, who has prevailed against the angel even after the angel damages his hip) gives Jacob the name “Israel” and blesses him. Jacob limps across the river, then decides to send gifts to Esau to appease him before the camp even gets close. As he gets closer, he sends his favorite wife and her child  (Rachel and Joseph) to the very rear, then next closest is Leah and her children, and right behind Jacob are the handmaidens of his wives and their children. It is obvious that the least favored of his children’s mothers were to be closest so if Esau killed Jacob and the family, these would be next, and hopefully Esau’s anger would not reach all the way to the end to find Rebekah and Joseph. However, Jacob’s prayers are answered when Esau embraces and cries over reuniting with his brother, and that is about all the lovey-dovey they do. Esau goes back to his family and life in Seir, and Jacob ends up settling at that time in Shechem, in the land of Canaan.

In this land Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, is raped by the son of Hamor, the king of Shechem. After doing so, however, the prince falls for her and asks a bride price. The sons of Jacob (interesting that Jacob is not in this discussion) state that the men of the city, all the men, must be circumcised before Dinah can marry even one of them. Then when the men are recovering, Levi and Simeon attack the men, kill all the adult men and take the women, children and possessions as spoil. Jacob is enraged about this, and (reasonably) concerned for his welfare and that of all his family. God tells Jacob to get to Beth-el. Jacob sets up a standing stone there, an altar to God, and as they continue to travel towards Bethlehem, Rachel dies in childbirth as Benjamin in born. She is buried there, and they continue to Bethlehem. One other major event is that Reuben sleeps with his father’s concubine, and this is an affront for which he is not forgiven, even unto Israel’s dying blessing on him, and Reuben also loses the rights of the firstborn (which go to Joseph and his sons.)

The parashah ends with a brief review of the sons of Jacob, and then an entire chapter to cover the descendants of Esau. From this point forward we don’t really hear that much about Esau and his relationship to Jacob, and the storyline shifts starting with the next parashah further away from Jacob and into the life of Joseph.

I could write a book on this parashah: there is so much in the telling of the brotherly love-hate relationships we’ve seen so far in the bible. Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Jacob and Esau: each set of brothers had strife between them. Cain and Abel strove over the acceptance of God, Ishmael and Isaac strove over the acceptance of Abraham, and Esau and Isaac strove over the rights of the firstborn. From God’s acceptance, to their fathers acceptance, to receiving the blessings for themself.  We see the relationship deteriorate from between me and God (accepting my sacrifice), to me and Dad (Abraham sending Ishmael out on his own with no real inheritance), to pretty much me and me (Jacob and Esau struggling over the blessing and rights of the firstborn.) There’s plenty of juice in this orange we could squeeze out.

There’s also the changing of Jacob’s name, his wrestling not just with an angel, but with his (or mankind’s) desire to use deviousness over doing what is righteous. The name change is more than just that- The Chumash indicates that it represents a change in his entire viewpoint and actions from one of being the “supplanter” to one of being the “champion of God.” We see this change somewhat in how Jacob despises the deviousness of Levi and Simeon.

So, nu?  With all this good stuff to talk about, what do I talk about? Actually, as I am writing this I am not sure. But I think I know where to go, and it isn’t from the storyline. It’s from the comments I read in the Chumash.

The “Rabbis” who contributed to the Chumash, even though they were learned and godly men in many ways, just had to find something deep and studious in the word of God. For instance, at the very beginning of this portion we are told that Rashi takes the term, “I have sojourned” to mean that Jacob is telling Esau that although he has become as rich as a prince, he really was never more than a humble wanderer, a sojourner, and that the blessing he received from Isaac saying  Jacob would be greater than Esau has not been fulfilled, therefore Esau has no reason to be angry with Jacob. The Midrash states that the letters used in the word “גרתי” (sojourned) has the numerical value of 613, the exact number of commandments in the Torah, and it uses that to demonstrate that even though Jacob dwelt in a land that was not the one promised to him by God, he still remained subject to and obedient to the Torah- an exhortation to his descendants to do the same. Honestly, and with all due respect, to me that seems to be stretching it a bit; I mean, the Torah wasn’t even given to us yet.

Throughout the Chumash one can read many of these interpretations, and they do make sense in many ways, yet I was taught that you can’t make an argument from nothing. The fact that Hebrew letters have a numerical value and that it is part of interpreting the bible is valid- I have no problem with gimel (ג), or 8, representing a new beginning,  7 is completion,  3 is the godhead, and 4 for man and God. Yet, I can’t forget that old expression I learned when in banking: “Figures don’t lie, but liars figure.”  If we look deep enough, and manipulate things enough, eventually you can get blood from a stone.

When we read the bible the best way to interpret it is to let God, who wrote it, tell you what it means. The way that is done is through the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit. I do not, in any way, feel that what I am writing now is spirit-led. I think it is more my own feelings, and experiences, and not some divine revelation. Still, I think it is valid ( or I wouldn’t write it) and ask that you think it over for yourself. Whether I tell you something, or your Rabbi/Pastor/Priest/Minister/whatever tells you something, you need to verify it for yourself by asking God to tell you what it really means. Of course, the spirit will only indwell when you ask for it.

The bible is, even for someone who doesn’t believe in God, a wonderful book, a valuable lesson in human relations, and a history of more than just the Jewish people (and every day it is proven more and more to be an accurate historical document.)  It has wisdom, poetry, substance, and value to everyone and anyone who has to survive in this world. To those who do believe in God, and who have accepted the Ruach HaKodesh, they will read all that the non-believers will read but get so much more out of it.

I give to you today a blessing and a curse regarding the Word of God: the blessing is that if you allow the Ruach HaKodesh to be your ultimate interpreter when you read the bible you will receive wonderful, life-changing, and eternal understanding of God and His kingdom. The curse is this: if you only listen to others, you accept what you like and reject what you don’t like, and never ask God to lead your understanding, then the bible will become a trap and a snare for you and you will be led not to eternal joy but placed on a direct path to the Lake of Fire!

The bible is like fire: when handled with respect and awe it can warm you, save your life and provide protection; but, when not respected, understood or treated with concern it will turn on you, destroying you and everything you have.

God is just so much so! He is so far above us and so much holier than we can even imagine that He must be treated with the ultimate level of respect. He is the One, He is all there is, He is everything (and I mean, E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G) and the only thing that matters. As humans, we want to have the world revolve around us, but we need to revolve around God. He should be the center of our universe, and His word should be treated with total respect and awe. It is like dynamite- when you use it respecting it’s power, you get tremendous benefit from it. When you treat it casually and without respect, you get blown to bits!

Look for what God has in the bible for you, but make sure that no matter what you hear from humans, you always test it against what God tells you through the Ruach HaKodesh.

 

Parashah Ki Tavo (When You Come In) Deuteronomy 26 – 29

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This parashah is one of my favorites, mainly because of Chapter 28, which is the Blessings and the Curses.

Moses starts out by telling everyone that they must bring the first fruits of the land to the place where God will place His name, and the pronouncement they must make which is to re-affirm their history, what God has done for them and that they have not strayed from God’s commandments.

When the people are in the land they are to stand at Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim and pronounce the curses upon people who do sinful things, with all the people saying, “Amen!” to each pronounced curse. The blessings are also to be said, although they are not specified here- only the curses are specified.

The blessings are identified in Chapter 28, as well as the punishment (curses) that will fall upon the people for disobedience. When you read the curses, they are more numerous than the blessings and as wonderful as the blessings are, the curses are relatively just as devastating and horrible.

But does God really curse people? Isn’t He the Lord of lords and Kings of kings? Isn’t He compassionate, long-suffering, abounding in grace and love? Does the Lord, God Almighty really sock–it-to-us just because we screw up?

This is what I love about this chapter- the truth of God’s “curses” is that they aren’t curses from God, they are curses we impose on ourselves by walking away from God.

God’s blessings are active- He gives them to us. We can earn them through obedience, and even when we are disobedient God will still bless us (He rains on the righteous and unrighteous, alike) because He is a loving and compassionate God.  The blessings will come, without end while we obey and (as Micah advised) when we walk humbly with our God. In other words, God holds this giant umbrella, a hoopah, a kippur, a covering that protects us from the world and the horrible things in it. When we walk with God, meaning when we are obedient and staying in His will, we are protected. Oh, yeah, just like when we have an umbrella in the storm, our pants and feet get wet, and we may have to suffer some wind damage to our hair, but we are protected. The full force of the storm is kept away from us. That’s what it is like when we stay obedient.

God stays on His own path- ain’t nothing gonna change where God wants to go. So what happens when we disobey? He goes His way and we wander off in another direction. Ever try to walk with someone in the rain when they are holding the umbrella? If you don’t watch your step and make sure you are going where they are going, you get soaked. When we disobey God and wander off His path, we lose the kippur of protection that God provides us (i.e., His blessings) and therefor we suffer the curses of this cursed world.

It’s that easy. God actively blesses us, and His “curses” are not curses at all- it is Him passively allowing us to wander away from His protective kippur;  what it comes down to is when we disobey God’s commandments, we curse ourselves!

If you feel that you are being cursed, under attack, check yourself out in the mirror. Ask yourself, “Am I walking with God or am I wandering off on my own?” God doesn’t really punish us, but He will allow us to punish ourselves when we disobey and wander off on our own. Even with Job, the curses and horrors Job suffered, were allowed by God but not directly performed by God.

We could argue that passively allowing evil is not really different than performing the evil, itself. In fact, we are told in Deuteronomy that we should NOT stand by and allow evil, we should help even our enemy if his donkey is overladen. So why can God get away with allowing evil to happen to others?

I don’t know. Maybe because He is God? Maybe because His plans are way above us, and what we perceive as a plan for evil He knows is really a plan for good. How many times in your life have you felt that you were never going to come out of a situation smelling good, yet when you look back that terrible time is what led to to a real blessing in your life? My first date with Donna was the “Date from Hell” but we got past it and just last week we celebrated our 20th Anniversary of that first date. And even today, each kiss is better than the last one.

It’s alright to question God, He’s big enough He can handle a few questions, but don’t expect to understand the answer. Hello? He’s God, and we aren’t!

God will bless you when you obey, and when you disobey you choose to walk away from His protection from the world so you suffer curses.

Here’s one last interesting thought: if you look closely, you will see that curses are the opposite of the blessings. That proves (to me, at least) that the curses are what exist in this world and the blessings are the absence of the curses. Just like being under an umbrella in the rain- all around us it is raining (curses), but under the umbrella we are safe from it.

How many times throughout the Tanakh is God described as our shield and protector?

God is our umbrella: do you have enough sense to get out from under the rain?