Parashat 'Eqev

These promises are conditional, but that YHWH's blessing will follow closely upon obedience. It seems to be saying it will chase you down! Guard... lovingkindness: Aramaic, "follow through for you on a generous covenant". If we do, He will "safeguard" the covenant, "give it prominence", and "hedge it about" (alternate translations). If we hear, guard, and do what He says, we will arrive Home in His Land. Lovingkindness: or mercy. The idea in cutting the animals in two (Gen. 15) was to say, "If I or my descendants do not keep our part of the agreement, may the same thing be done to us." So He had to divide the Kingdom. But when they become obedient again, He will do the opposite--restore His mercy to us and make us one people again. (Hos. 1)

Befriend: or love. Bless: literally "bend the knee"; when speaking of YHWH, it would mean He would stoop down to our level and pay attention to us as a father does to a small child. Note the priority He gives to our offspring as compared to our produce and possessions. It is shameful to avoid having children so that one's grain, wine, and oil can increase. The first blessing is that we will have children to pass the covenant on to so that it can endure when we are gone. It is only perpetuated through what we establish in our progeny. Once we are dead, we cannot invest more into the Kingdom; when we are resurrected, it will be too late to add to that aspect of the Kingdom. A wise sage has said that the real test of our commitment to the Kingdom is not how our children turn out, but how their children do--i.e., that we instill in our children a desire not just to obey but to pass it on as well. Grain, new wine, and oil are even often metaphors also for people (those who can be components in "one bread" that is satisfying to Him), fresh joy, and spiritual anointing, which, even if already present, can always stand to be increased. With these promises He precludes any perceived need to worship the fertility goddesses or Baals of rain. YHWH has already overridden any market for them!

If we do what He says, we will be fruitful--in keeping with the first command He ever gave Adam. It may have been this verse that gave Hannah, ELisheva, and the wife of Manoakh confidence to keep praying for offspring though they had waited long without sons.

Sickness: illness, weakness, or grieving, which Yahshua's cross made unnecessary. (Yeshayahu/Isa. 53:4). Dreadful diseases: literally, "evil". Some sickness is for YHWH's glory (Yochanan 9:3; 11:4), but others have no business remaining among us. Many Egyptian diseases resulted from the unsanitary "cures" that show up in their records. But many of the diseases of Egypt can be directly prevented by obeying the Torah's regulations in regard to bathing, diet, circumcision, not eating blood, and refraining from sexual relations at certain times. Diseases on record in Egyptian records include malaria, trachoma, bilharziasis (schistosomiasis, a disease difficult not to contract in a country flooded for months every year, probably much like cholera), a number of "yadet renpet" epidemics reported in Egyptian documents that are thought to have been outbreaks of bubonic plague, occurrences of sixth digits due to inbreeding, lockjaw, and arthritis. We could add whatever communicable diseases were contracted and spread by those who mummified dead bodies, and lice (which is why they shaved their heads).

In case we were beginning to be lulled to sleep by His promises, YHWH put the most difficult command right up front, rather than in the "fine print", so we would count the cost of what it will mean to be Israelites. Most of the time this command will need to be carried out more figuratively, but especially when we go back into the Land, there may be a need to take it very literally once again, judging by the number of enemies in the Land once again. Your eye: We must not walk by sight. These people have children that look loveable, and it will be difficult to resist their cries, yet He tells us to keep our natural tendency to compassion at bay, because mercy here would leave intact a problem that would have disastrous results for the whole world. Of course this does not mean He wants us to be pitiless all the time, but it is a tool in our box that He wants us to know how to use as well. We do not need to be mean, but firm, overcoming the witchcraft that their undeserved pleas for mercy might effect. A trap for you: He knows us well enough to point out what will be especially tempting to us. King Sha'ul disobeyed just here (1 Shmuel 15), resulting in the existence of Haman. (Esther 3:1) We have to prefer making war, hard as it may be, to becoming slaves again. (11:16.) We cannot respect any who stand in the way of YHWH's Torah being the rule in His Land.

18. "Don't be afraid of them, but always keep in mind what YHWH your Elohim did to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt!

Being afraid, as regards a commandment, is not so much an emotion as a failure to act which results from assuming that any threat is greater than YHWH. Always keep in mind: literally, "remember remembering". We, too, need to remember what once held us captive and how far He has brought us.

He recognizes that they are still afraid, and reminds us that the key to overcoming fear is by remembering well what YHWH has done before. This is a big part of what the Passover celebration is about. Defeat the enemies in your own life and in our corporate history by remembering that YHWH knows how to take care of what is His, no matter how it feels at the time.

Hornet: related closely to the word for "leprosy", possibly because its sting leaves a similar mark on one's flesh. This can refer to anything that brings to the surface whatever evil is left in us that is hiding away to try to maintain its presence in us, but this only makes it more obvious what we still have to deal with.

Them: Not the people who hid, but the hornets. They will reveal who the liars and pretenders--the wolves in sheep's clothing--are, and if you are walking in Torah, you need not fear, though many around you are being exposed. If you are a true sheep, they will not affect you. Of course, when the hornets come, this will be a reminder to examine yourself to see if there is anything in you that would attract it. Yahshua reiterated the principle of fearing only YHWH, who alone can do more than destroy the body, but can also snuff out one's soul-existence. (Mat. 10:28) Among you: when at least two members of the House of Israel are together. (Mat. 18:20) Until there is another to love, we cannot really know He is present with us. (Yochanan/John 13:35)

He thought of everything! They needed to stay until one city was well-fortified before moving on to the next, or there would be no way to safeguard the gains. This has a figurative application as well to the conquest of our own souls. YHWH leaves some of our less desirable traits intact long enough to make use of them and prevent us from having to fight too many battles at the same time. If we try to rid ourselves of our old ways too quickly, without thoroughly replacing them with the proper patterns, seven demons will come back to replace the one swept out. (Mat. 12:43-45) We need to reclaim and establish ourselves in one area where we had allowed foreign ideas to take root, then move on to the next, not remaining in one place and becoming comfortable until it is all taken, or we will lose what we have gained. Wild animals: literally, living things of the field (which Yahshua says represents the world). The LXX adds, "lest the Land become desert". The wild beasts will devour what should be for our consumption. We must displace the terror of anything else with the fear of YHWH, replacing the unknown by demystifying religion, showing that it is simply about loving YHWH and our neighbors as ourselves, replacing men's oratory with the true answers from Word of YHWH, replacing false humility with true groundedness about who we are and what belongs to us, not others, replacing the first with the last, raising up leaders from within as Paul did rather than calling in the best-credentialed who do not know the sheep, replacing the proclamation of a "come one, come all" Gospel with the real Gospel to be taken only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel (Mat. 10:6), and replacing the old threshers with those who know based on the Torah what is really useless so it can be blown away and what is really nutritious can feed His people.

24. "He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name disappear from under the heavens; not a man shall [be able to] stand before you until you have exterminated them.

Only until the generation that had known Y'hoshua had died off did Israel continue the conquest he began. To this day the whole Land has never been taken, even under David, because while he conquered, he did not drive out the inhabitants in the outlying areas. It is a frightening thought that we could return to the Land and yet not see the Kingdom, but if we do not finish this job, these people will remain a snare to us once again.

This is part of what Yaaqov (James) meant when he spoke of keeping oneself unstained by the world. (1:27) Even the things in other religions that seem harmless or salvageable still remind Him of their old associations, and in His mind this outweighs and value they might have. We have to reject any benefits of walking in the things we are here to destroy. Archaeology has proven that Y'hoshua obeyed this command, for certain strata that fit properly into the order in which they were laid down in the tels (buried ancient cities) in Israel show clear evidence of burning, and the gold still remained there. But many people today workship gold, even when it is not shaped into the form of a recognizeable idol.

Utterly detestable: or "filthy"; this is more than just not wanting to have anything to do with pagan practices. The moment we begin to let ourselves "understand how they feel", we begin to become like them, making the same excuses for wrongdoing. He tells us how to feel. We have to actually hate them. He is offering us a special place in His presence, and that is far weightier than anything they offer, but we have to prepare ourselves to receive it in the way He wants to give it, and that leaves room for nothing else in our hearts. Talmudic scholars wrote that if a pagan himself has thrown the idol away, it has lost its relevance as an idol, so it is now an antique! A litmus test of how saturated you are in Torah would be to ask yourself, "If I found a big golden Buddha filled with diamonds, what would I do with it?" This tells us that we must loathe it, spit on it, burn it, and bury it again. Do not try to appreciate it as art; hate it. Do not make a profit from it. The more we walk in Torah, the greater our distaste for the things of the world will become.

CHAPTER 8

"The" commandment, again, was identified in 6:1-9--to worship YHWH alone and love Him with all our resolve, passion, and resources. Not just with one of them, but with our hearts, our minds, and the works of our hands. We need to feel this, think this, and do this, approaching it from every angle that we can. All the details of the Torah are aspects of this command, for they all teach us how to love YHWH. Neglecting any part of it could kill you. If we are not carrying it all out, we are not carrying it out. Could someone join a basketball team if all he was willing to do was shoot baskets, and not play any of the other roles that it takes to get to the point of readiness for that part? Parts of it may be more pleasant than the rest, but they only come in combination with the aspects less pleasing to us. And they cannot be approached haphazardly. The term for "be careful" means to be on guard, build a hedge around, or keep watch, but it could be just as well translated "take inventory". We could not claim to be guarding a gate if we watched only a two-foot section of it, or if we fell asleep while on duty. We must stay alert and constantly examine ourselves: Are we loving YHWH with all of our heart? Our motivation? Our resources? Weigh them all out, many times daily if necessary. A great rabbi said that if we can remember how to eat, we can remember what we study, for we remember what we perceive to be important. We cannot live without learning, either. The prescribed customs and legal rulings are all part of this one commandment of putting YHWH first. If we are not trained by all of them, we will not last long in His Land. Again he announced the responsibility before the potential benefits, because that is the order in which we must prioritize them if we are to be mature and properly motivated. As we grow in experience, we take on more responsibility for seemingly less benefit, but the individual must often diminish for the whole community to increase. The gratification might not be immediate; it may cost us everything, and we may have to wait 400 years for our descendants to reap the benefits of our obedience, as Avrahm did. Moshe knew he would not personally benefit from Israel's obedience to this command, and we do not know if his sons were in this multitude or not. He could not go into the Land, but he ended up being the "father" of millions who would. The merit is all his, for he fulfilled his responsibility to give Israel what it needed. The responsibility itself makes us a new person, because we must reshape ourselves when we take it on. The first benefit is "that you may live." But were they not already alive? It can mean to survive or remain alive as well, but it begs the question, "What is living?" As Abraham Lincoln said, the numbers of years in our life do not matter as much as the life that is in our years. The word for "live" also means to revive or come back to life--not just at the resurrection, but in a more immediate way. We are part of the reviving of the people of Israel that has been scattered and unaware that it is meant to be one unit. When we obey the command to put YHWH first, we become part of this resurrection as well. The second benefit listed here is that we will become great. Though He doesn't want us to trust our numbers or our size to win the battles for us, He still wants us to become great. This can have many meanings. First and foremost it means to become great in righteousness. It can also mean to increase or multiply, and no limts are set on it. It is more than becoming full, for that is quantifiable. If we make sure we are keeping the entire commandment, we can continue to expand in love for one another, in reputation, in abilities, never needing to stop. Take inventory of where we are strong and where we are weak, and shore up whatever in us is weak. The third benefit given here is that we can go in and possess the Land. As proven by the modern nation of Israel (actually Yehudah), these are two steps, for we can go in without taking possession. We should not do the first until we are ready to do the second. Giving the Land to our enemies is the exact opposite of what the Torah says to do. When we are truly keeping the command in its entirety, they will be unable to dispossess the righteous; the righteous will dispossess them. And there is another level on which this is applicable: We can even now enter the "land" of the Torah in many ways--commitment, community, worship, etc. Are we truly occupying them? Is this where we live, or does it remain a foreign land even as we visit it? Do we only respect and love Israel--or are we living as Israel? Do we truly possess the Sabbath, or is our mind on other days even then? Whenever YHWH allows you to experience something of the Kingdom--or anything else, for that matter--ask yourself: Am I a resident here, or just a visitor? Sometimes you will even realize you should only be a visitor in a place where you feel at home. Does it possess you, or are you just passing through?

Remember: literally, mark this. Recall and recount the changes He sought to effect in us while on the path Home. We have to do better than our fathers did, and if we do not remember all that YHWH has done, we will not be able to. In our day, since we were not there physically, we must recount what YHWH did, and this is what Passover is about. Especially as we return to things Hebraic, we must not forget that it was Yahshua who brought us back to covenant with YHWH. The wilderness means "place of the Word", and that is where He tests us. He knows what is in our heart by what we do with His Words, not by what we say. The "you" in v. 1 is plural; in v. 2 it is singular. This can both means that YHWH expects every member of Israel to remember what He did, and that we can only properly recall (via His feasts, etc.) when we are together corporately as "one man". Bring you to a place of neediness: like Avraham, not knowing where he was going, He "humbles" us, so we have no way out except to trust YHWH. Don't forget how you got to where you are and why you had to be delayed, so that you will not repeat the errors of our ancestors. Take inventory here, too. Don't just put it out of mind because remembering it is unpleasant. He wants us in a place where we feel our neediness so that we will not relax and assume the supply will be available, but will keep our attention on Him, because our tendency, as seen in v. 10, is to forget when times of plenty come. Of course, it would be better if we did not need such reminders, but He knows our nature. Gershon Ferency haCohen said the weather in Israel still follows this pattern. Unlike Egypt, which has a flood season every year which keeps things somewhat predictable, Israel's crops depend on a finely-tuned balance between north and south wind patterns to keep the rain coming. We strengthen it through our obedience or upset it by our lack thereof. Even the positions of the menorah and table of the bread of the presence in relation to the altar of incense relate to this need, for it is our prayers that have the critical effect on whether and how the rain comes. We have an integral part in the outcome. As Yaaqov says, "You have not because you ask not." Honi the Circle Maker refused to leave the circle he drew on the ground until YHWH provided rain, and then again refused to leave until YHWH modified the torrential downpour to a slow, steady rain that was more beneficial and not destructive. The floods in Egypt also caused some diseases, so there was a price to pay for that predictability. To know what was in your heart: not that He did not know, but so we might realize what kind of people we really were. Even His provision is a test: what will we do with it? Like the manna, He gave it to us so we could give it away, distributing it to all who need it. If we hoard, it will "breed worms and stink". Everything in the Torah has to do with caring for our brothers. "Neediness" can also simply mean being close to the ground--that is, grounded: having a realistic view of ourselves, neither too high nor too low. We cannot know if we or others can be truly counted on until we are put to the test. Will I turn back to self when I am needed most? We do not always know what it in our own hearts; they are deceitful. (Yirm. 17:9) When there is no food or water, what will we do? We may find courage there that we did not know about--or we may find cowardice. We may find wisdom we did not realize we had, or we may find a shameful lack of knowledge. If so, we must not quit or wallow in self-pity, but simply try harder. Examine more deeply why we are failing. Somewhere we are not putting Him first, aftere all. The tests make us aware of who we are--where we fit in Israel, what our position truly is in our families, and Israel's place in the world at large. (Compare 2 Cor. 2:9; 7:8-12) What do I have the authority to do, and where do I not have authority? We cannot fully realize this until all of Israel is together. Where you are strong, teach; where you are weak, find a teacher. Or not: No other choices are given; no middle ground for lukewarmness. If we are not wholehearted, we are not truly guarding His commandments. He gave them before we came into the Land and was already testing us on our performance. There are only a few commands that we cannot carry out unless we are in the Land, and even for those we need to build a foundation before we go in, rather than using the excuse that we will wait until conditions are right before we are whole-hearted. This was a very long test--forty years--but those who are now hearing about it have proven to have passed the test.

We would not have paid attention if we were not starving, yet still we so often looked to empty calories to fill our hunger rather than accepting the true nourishment He provided. What we walked in before was made by men for our comfort, but YHWH gives us what we truly need. We must not get tired of it and, like our ancestors, want what we had when we were slaves. YHWH likes to keep the medium from being the focus. He provides through a variety of sources and makes some of the wells dry up so that we will recognize that He is behind them all, and not start trusting the means rather than the provider. We don't know where it is coming from, but what we need is always there. He then moves directly from speaking about manna to speaking about what comes from YHWH's mouth. When He told Israel how to gather the manna, He said to do it, literally, "a word a day". (Ex. 16:4) This is the deeper meaning the manna represents. This, too, comes from His mouth and as the manna fills your mouth, YHWH's words are what is to fill our mouths, not just community for its own sake. (He speaks in particular of "the" bread--a specific bread. "One bread" represents community per 1 Cor. 10:17, but as the economy dries up, more and more people may see the value of community for other reasons, but for us it must be for the sake of the Kingdom and the Torah.) Yahshua is called the bread that comes from Heaven (Yochanan 6:32) as the "manna" did. But the Torah is also likened to bread in Scripture (Amos 8:11), and this, too, comes out of the mouth of YHWH. If we do not know His words, we are not armed for the tests. But it is not just words, but His "breath" (same as "spirit" in Hebrew) as well. (Gen. 2:7) "Humanity" here is the word Adam, so it is meant to point us back to this. It should be as if we were breathing the same air that YHWH "breathes". Like baby birds who do not know what their parents are bringing, we have to trust Him to feed us what will nourish us because it is coming from the right source. In the wilderness, Moshe was also the "mouth" of YHWH, and the Torah is still the test for all else that seems to be from His mouth. Again He has been feeding us with things we did not know before--like the Sabbath, His appointed times, the kosher laws, etc. Much knowledge that we have not seen for thousands of years is now flowing from this book. This is what we are to live for, not just to gain a livelihood and fill our bellies.

Did your foot become blistered: Aramaic, "did your sandals tear"; LXX, "become painfully hardened". It only says one foot; this may mean that while we will have some problems, there will always be at least one foot that is not hampered. A midrash says, "Their children, as they grew, their clothes grew along with them, like a snail's shell, which grows along with it. [Pesikta d'Rav Kahana p. 92a]"When we sought His presence, He always took care of us. But if He could do this, could He not have gotten us through without eating as well? But then we would not have keenly felt our direct dependence on Him for each new day. If we are focused on staying in His presence, He will take care of us. We still have to prepare the food He provides, but it is there for us, though if we sleep too long, the sun will rise high and it will melt away, so we must gather it according to His timetable. If we do, it will not disappear. Are we about His business the first thing in the morning? Yahshua spoke of "seeking first the Kingdom" (Mat. 6) in the context of worrying about food and clothing. That passage is really a paraphrase of this one. Our garments are also a picture of our works, and our feet also represent our walk--the way we flesh out the commandments in each situation. These are also examples to our children.

Corrects: a strong term for disciplining with blows, chastening, chastising, but all for the purpose of instructing--i.e., turning him in the right direction. We need to expect to pay this price if we step out of line, because otherwise we will miss the treasure that YHWH has for us at the end of the right road. If He is not correcting us, we should be afraid because it means He does not find us worthy of His time. If we are not disciplined, we are not loved. (Heb. 12:5-11) The 40 years were to train this generation as well as to let the other die off. The fact that they were needy yet provided for (v. 3, 4) is directly tied here to YHWH's correction. They had to pay in one sense for their parents' shrinking back, but He did not make things as bad for them as they could have been, but compensated them for the grief they had to endure through no fault of their own. (v. 4) But He was showing them that they could avoid having the same problems recur if they stopped resisting the tests (by complaining, rebelling, or falling short in faith as their parents often did) and started rejoicing in this pattern, seeing the constant dependence on Him as the norm. (v. 6)

It all leads up to fearing Him and nothing else. Today the world is nervous on many levels: financial, military, etc. But if we are with YHWH, we can be stable no matter what is going on out there. As clothing guards our bodies, wisdom, knowledge, and the fear of YHWH are the stability of our times (Yeshayau/Isa. 33:6)--the calm amids the hurricane. (Psalm 91) Take inventory of what we fear; be in awe of YHWH when things are going well or "going wrong".

Rivers of water: as opposed to dried-up arroyos (wadis), because that is what the term would mean if "water" was not attached to it. There are precious few flowing rivers there now. The water table has changed dramatically since then due to climatic shift, but YHWH had a purpose in this too, and it will be restored around the time the Kingdom begins. Two of those rivers will originate right beneath the Prince's throne in the Temple, according to Y'hezq'El. But notice that the very plenty there is cause for concern to Moshe, for he knows it tends to make us forget where it all comes from. (v. 10-14) How opposite the world's viewpoint, which always rejoices in apparent security.

These are the "seven species" identified with the Land, since most "honey" in the Land came from the date-palm.

Bread: or food in general. The Land will have plenty of raw materials, so that you will not even need to acquire them from foreigners. Iron and copper were eventually mined in the Land (1 Chron. 22:3) Hirsch summarizes, "It is land that, by the nature of its soil, offers the most suitable [conditions] for agriculture and industry." He provided for the unusual need of the Temple service with unusual abundance.

Satisfied: enriched, filled to excess. Even now, when we eat our fill, we should consider it a down payment on the Land He has promised us, and thank Him for it just the same. Note that the tradition of saying "grace" before meals has the commandment backwards. It is traditional to bless YHWH (not "bless the food"!) before we eat to remind us of where it the food came from, but He says the thanks come afterwards. And we should also express our gratitude to the people He uses as intermediaries in bringing His blessings to us. Otherwise we are really stealing it, even if it ias freely given. We must do this while still in exile as well to be trained well for when it is absolutely mandatory. Men have tried hard to ruin this "pleasant land", but it has come back to life since Yehudah returned.

Don't forget Him; that is the worst insult you could give someone. It is saying that He does not exist in your mind. This we are to do to Amaleq and false deities: blot out their names--though we still need to "remember to forget". Everything else is just a gift given so we can know Him better. Sticking close to Him will prevent us from being ensnared by the lures along the way. But we cannot say we are remembering Him, no matter how often we think of Him, if we are not doing what He told us to. Failing to safeguard His commands IS forgetting Him, regardless of how much we "love" Him.

13. "and your flocks and herds multiply and your gold and silver become abundant, and all that you have becomes great,

14. "and then your thinking becomes puffed up and you let YHWH your Elohim fade from your memory--[He] Who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the slave quarters--

Our enemy is only too glad to give us prosperity, knowing our propensity to do just this. So we should be a little bit nervous at such times, knowing we are in danger of falling into this tendency if we are not watchful.

They probably had to shake out their shoes and blankets every day to ensure that there were no scorpions in them, while they were in the desert part of the wilderness. There were always threats and dangers, but He provided where no one else would have found provision. And now they were looking back and able to say that though these things had been near their path, they had made it through and were still alive. When we trust in YHWH, He will direct our paths. (Prov. 3:5-6) Flinty: from a word meaning "hard" (and translated as such into Aramaic), but alternately, it is related to the word for dreams, which immediately calls to mind Yoseyf, the man of dreams, who is a prototype of the Messiah, who brought us "living water".

Yahshua said he was the real "bread" from heaven (Yochanan 6:22ff), since to partake of him is to have eternal life. Part of what comes from the mouth of YHWH is His Word (Yoch. 1:1) and "in him was life". Their "fathers did not recognize" that this bread was actually what preserved them. Benefit you (make you glad) at last: literally, at your lattermost end, so it must refer chiefly to the end times. Despite the path our stubbornness led us to take, He still left us hope that we would finally learn from our mistakes. He has to be harsh with our flesh (selfishness) in order to put us in a position to be as kind to us as He wants to be.

This was exactly Nevukhadnetzar's and Belsha'atzar's problem. We are not self-made. But from YHWH's perspective, we must also be suspicious of those who teach that we can assume that His "right hand" (Yahshua) and "power" (His spirit) have given us our material prosperity; haSatan can make us rich too in that sense. The word here for "wealth" is literally "strength" or "capability". Even if we did work hard to get what we have, YHWH still made even that possible:

19. "Now what will happen is, if you in any way forget YHWH your Elohim and go after other elohim, serve them, or prostrate yourselves to them--then I go on record [as a witness] against you today, that you will by all means be lost.

Forget: literally, "wither away from". Other elohim: not just carved statues, but bank accounts, other "securities", possessions, traditions, prevailing attitudes, or other authorities that we allow to set our priorities for us. Be lost: wander away, stray, perish, or be destroyed. He has warned us!

If we do not carry out the Word when we hear it, we will forget who we are, like one who forgets the "natural face" he saw in the mirror--the one that tells him about his ancestry and lineage. (Yqv. 1:23) 2,700 years ago this did take place for the Northern Kingdom. But when we did look back into "the perfect law of liberty" and return to the covenant, the converse came true--He let us know His true identity and got us back on the right path. He is calling us back, but the conditions are still the same. If we do not keep the entire commandment, the same thing could very easily transpire again. We must fight to regain our heritage, or you could end up no different from those nations. He chose you this time, but you could be cut off too. (Romans 11:18-21) This is the "medicine" He gives after the "spoonful of sugar", because He knows we are stiff-necked. If we live like Gentiles, we will die like them as well. We are not yet to judge what is on the outside (1 Cor. 5:12), but if we act like those who are outside, He will treat us as if we are.

CHAPTER 9

Pay attention: This pep-talk has gone on for several chapters, and it seems Moshe notices some people beginning to nod off or get into other conversations, so he calls their attention back to what he is saying, for it is crucial to their survival. Today: not literally, for there still other things to discuss, not to mention the thirty days of mourning for Moshe, before they would cross. But listening and making sure they heard would "take them to te other side" even before they physically crossed. The term for "cross over" is where we get the word "Hebrew", and even in our day, well over 3,000 years later, we need to see every day as a day to live as Hebrews. Crossing over must be our priority not just every day, but "every today", because we must think in terms of this day. If we think we have "every day", we will put things off that cannot wait until tomorrow. Yesterday's crossing over is gone, and we are never guaranteed tomorrow; all we have is today. If we do not make our commitment new even in the small decisions of today, we are less likely to be in the right position when the "big" occasions we have been holding out for finally come. As Hillel said, "Do not say, ‘I will study when I have leisure', for you may never have leisure." And there will never be a time when it is not "today". Crossing the Yarden also takes us out of the wilderness, so we need to already stop acting like a people without a home, and think and act responsibly according to what Moshe has told us. We need to cross over in our minds from the place where self is a priority to where YHWH and Israel are our priorities. How do we cross the Yarden every day? Yarden means "descender". Though every river runs downhill, a fact on which people have relied for centuries for transportation, this river ends up at the lowest place on the earth's surface. Every day we encounter many things that try to drag us down and separate us from all things Kingdom and from accomplishing YHWH's will. It may be fatigue, illness, being broke financially, or simply laziness or misplaced priorities. We will not get closer to the Most High while we are descending. But we cannot stay on this side and simply maintain the status quo either. If we do not decide to cross over whatever causes us to descend, we will take no new ground. We cannot afford to descend even one more day. After 2,700 years of descending, with only a short comeback when Yahshua came, we are too close to the pit to fail to ascend. We must not go where the descent is. If you know that doing something will bring you lower spiritually, do not go there. Every day we have occasions to make a conscious decision to cross over and gain victory over our emotions and whatever else would drag us down. To cross over, we need to learn how to walk on the rocks, find the shallows, and make sure that our footing is sure. So Moshe tells us "Listen up! Learn where you stand and how you must walk if you are not to be washed downstream." To pass over what descends is to begin to ascend. Coming either from the east or west, as soon as one gets into the Land of Israel, one must begin to ascend. This is built right into the terrain. So we must do all we can to be in a constant state of ascension. Sometimes the only thing that makes the difference between ascending and descending is to ask the question of which our current activity is leading us toward. If we never even consider the question, we are just "going with the flow", and the Yarden ends in the Dead Sea where nothing can live. ("There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end are the ways of death." Prov. 16:25) Remaining in our own ways of thinking is guaranteed to make us descend. It takes us farther from unity, because Israel all crosses over at one spot. Get into His flow instead. Walk in His way, do not stand in His way. Is what you are doing helping you to ascend? How? Learn from whatever you are doing and apply it to the Kingdom. Even if you are just digging a hole, you can remember that Yitzhaq did this and bring back to mind what "well" means in Hebrew. If you have to carry a ladder, you can remember Yaaqov's dream and all it points to. This will let us find eternal connections even in the most mundane tasks, and keep us from being swept away. Or we may realize that what we are doing has no Kingdom profit in it at all. If so, disconnect from it go find a river to cross. Seize the day! Before we can overcome the things that intimidate us, we have to put ourselves in an ascension mode so we are in the right context. It is the experiences after we cross over that will establish us in the Land. Often the biggest thing that stands in our way is self, so we must put it aside.

He is simply repeating the words the ten spies brought back, which he himself had labeled an "evil report". So he was probably speaking with mocking tones here. The report was not evil because it was untrue; there really were big people and high walls there. Ruins of several cities from that period have been found with walls still reaching to 12 or 13 feet, indicating that at one time they were much higher. Hatzor's wall, at points, began on a hill 40 feet above the surrounding ground, adding all the more to the height. Yes, there was some exaggeration, but if the spies, who were fresh out of Egypt with its great monuments, considered them high, they must not have been unimpressive, though only a few were much more than 10 acres in size. What was evil about the report was that it discouraged the people from doing YHWH's will. These very words had kept Isreal from taking the Land 38 years earlier. It was not the size and numbers of the enemy that kept Israel from conquering them; it was these words that took away their courage! So Moshe puts the facts right on the table, but immediately gives them the antidote to fear:

Our goal is that one Man will rule not just Israel, but the entire world. How foolish that seems when others have all the treasures, have the land itself, and control visas and passports! But the hallmark of Israel is that we do what we cannot do because YHWH is with us. What is not beyond our capacity is natural and will not take us home. Operating at normal capacity will not lead to progress. We must do more than live up to our potential; we must be more than "all we can be". Find your limits, then go beyond them. Such strength is found only in unity; it allows us to be more than we can be on our own. The Jews have a very noble concept of "beautifying the commandment"--doing more than is required, obeying because His commands deserve to be carried out, not because we "have to". Yes, count the cost, but remember that YHWH is in this equation. Compare these walls to Him and they appear smaller by the minute. These people had grown up eating the miraculous manna, wearing clothes that did not wear out, and seeing the pillar of fire lead them. But we have seen YHWH work too, so when we see the big walls and big people, we should not consider them such a big deal. Why are we more afraid of the seen than the unseen? It is the unseen that gives us our breath. If we become Hebrews and take the first step, He will pass us before we get there and provide the part we cannot provide. Do not wait for Him to start first, for there is no growth in faith that way. He will prepare the way and set the stage, underwrite us and be sure we succeed, but we must walk it out. He will not do it all for us. When He delivers our enemy into our hands, it is up to us to slay it. When He lays bare the inconsistencies in someone's belief system, cut it to pieces with the sword of His Word. There will be carnage. It will not be easy. We will get bloodstained. But if we cross over and continue to obey, He will make sure our battles are successful. Though we must do the work, He writes the guarantee and stands behind it. Anything we miss, He will take care of. We have it in writing. He may even want us to be like Moshe and show it back to Him, reminding Him that we are depending on it. He delights to hear us speak His words back to Him.

Again he exercises his right to tell us how to think. To what extent can we look at other conquests in history as more examples of YHWH's punishment for their paganism? We must remember that He deals with the whole world in light of His covenant with His people. He did not grant repentance to Kanaan, but hardened their hearts like Pharaoh's, so He could keep His promises to the patriarchs. We must not think even being righteous is always to our credit; YHWH opens the door to make it possible to those whom He chooses. (Romans 9) He works all things together to benefit those He loves, and He is in control, but does He micromanage history? To a great extent--but if an event is not related to His covenant people, He may not be involved at all. Yet is anything not related? He had said all nations would be blessed through Avraham, so He almost head to get His permission to destroy a people so wicked that they could not even benefit from his blessing. The need for this destruction was the underlying reason YHWH brought Avraham to this land in particular, so both threads seen here could one day again converge in this conquest. What He has said will be, but while the blueprint says one thing, others may place obstacles in its way--evils that never should have been there. So while there are precedents, He leaves many of the details up to me's whims, unless we invite Him into them. The math in the prophecies worked out perfectly when Yahshua was born, but his generation did not fully repent and those who came after him corrupted the work of his disciples. There will be a Kingdom, but it is what we do that helps determine when.

Moshe is taking them for an emotional roller-coaster ride, pulling balance on the right hand and the left: "You are facing a frightful enemy, but it will be okay--but don't let it goto your head! While YHWH will underwrite your victory, do not think you deserved such a great blessing!" They might have been doing what they were told, but could have only been because they saw their parents die for their sins or because they wanted to enter the Land badly enough, not because they truly loved YHWH. But He made a promise, and they were merely the tools He was using. (cf. Rom. 9:20-29) It was only that the other nations were worse than they. The trouble with the people on the other side was that they had no guarantee. Make no mistake; YHWH had put them there and kept them there for this very time. The advantages we have are the promises to our ancestors and that YHWH continues to offer us repentance. He keeps trying until the right generation comes along that will finally uphold what Avraham, Yitzhaq, and Yaaqov did. He delights in a repentant heart. But we should remind ourselves that it is not because we are any better than foregoing generations that YHWH is revealing to us that we are Israel, but because the timing is right and we live in the right day. We, too, have also failed at every point, and our ancestors who did deserve it more than we do did not receive it. Don't be haugty; be thankful.

Stiff-necked: This may be an indirect allusion to the Anaqim (v. 2), the "long-necked" people. In other words, "They may have long necks, but you have stiff necks!" The Israelites are not quite as repulsive as the Kanaanites, whom the land can no longer tolerate, but all things considered, they are not far behind. This does not mean He does not love us. He does. But to enter His Land and remain on it, we must recognize this tendency that still resides in the children of Israel. This gives us a head start on how to prepare for battle. When we have a stiff neck, it is very difficult to look at our brothers on the left and sisters on the right. All we can see is what is straight ahead of us, and cannot tell how our own actions will affect anyone else. We cannot see the big picture, so we need leaders like Moshe who do. A stiff neck will not bend or bow. It only thinks of self. If we act this way when we enter the Land, guess who will be the next to be expelled? So we need to conquer this tendency now. We should not walk to the left or right, but we need to look at those who are around us and consider how what we are doing will affect them. Our stiff neck need not be foremost to Him this time. Righteousness is not something we naturally possess, but once we get in His Land we must walk in righteousness nonetheless. YHWH grants us the righteousness, not by magic while we sleep, but through the Torah. Doing things His way, not because we like it or feel like it, but because it pleases Him, is the greatest way to receive the transfusion of righteousness. He lets us walk in it, but we always must remember that it is His righteousness, not our own.

Aramaic, "Remember never to forget". How: recall the particulars of what went wrong so we will not repeat the same mistakes. This is not the world's psychology, but it is the wise approach. We would rather let bygones be bygones and forget that YHWH ever had anything but pleasant feelings toward us. Or blame it on somebody else. But then we will not be motivated to do better next time. We cannot forget the sin that lies latent in us. The remembering is not meant to make us feel sorry for ourselves or think we have no hope of ever escaping our tendency to fail. Rather, it is meant to keep us in touch with reality so we can cross over and ascend rather than continuing to descend. What we should forget are our excuses. They could have argued that they had even been the ones to bring all the gold and silver for the Tabernacle, and deserved to enter the Land. But if they did not learn the lessons the Tabernacle teaches, and live accordingly, our past sacrifices count for nothing. In Israel we have no right to change the rules that have been established by YHWH, Moshe, or even the head of our tribe or clan, for YHWH has set up this order for the overall best of us all. While we remember our failures, we do not let them define us. They are to be our teachers, so that we will remember what occurred last time we touched the flame and avoid repeating the error. The fire that kindled His wrath was rebellion--which includes twisting His words to make them seem to say what we want them to. They wanted the Promised Land, all right, but did not want to obtain it in His way. We must recognize that our natural bent is to rebel. We even had to rebel to escape the bondage in which the Church held us, but when we cross the river, we must set our rebellion aside. The term here for rebellious stems from a root meaning "bitter". Even if our motives were not particularly blameworthy and our intentions may have been to meet someone's felt need, if the end result causes bitterness in the fellow Israelites we affect, and especially our leaders, it is rebellion. And even the smallest rebellion will burn us. George Santayana said, "Those who do not remember their past are condemned to repeat their mistakes." Learn from them, and from the mistakes of those who came before us, for we are still these people. Though it was mainly their parents who made YHWH angry, in His eyes they are still the same people. By remembering that the same perils remain, we can avoid repeating their errors.

Chorev: another name for Mount Sinai. Even at the place where they saw and were terrified by the flames and thunder and promised to obey whatever He said, they ended up making Him furious.

Stone: the word comes from a root meaning "to build", so this was not just "rock", but something meant for "a nation and a congregation of nations" to be built upon. Forty days and forty nights: the parallel with the deluge of Noakh's day is obvious. Forty in Scripture refers to either a time of testing or of transition, and in this case it was both. Note the parallel with Yahshua's fasting. Neither eating nor drinking: He intends to put them on a "guilt trip" by "rubbing in" the faithlessness of their having complained when they had no water for a day or two, when he had to go so long without it twice (v. 18)--and that because of their sin --and he survived. After all he had done for them, this is how they responded. While he was starving, look what YOU were doing! You were having a party! Is there no sense of solidarity here?

Likeness of all the words: Aramaic, "the exact words". Finger of Elohim: an allusion to what Pharaoh's magicians said when they realized the plagues were His judgment. Both names, YHWH (the One who will be all that we need Him to be) and Elohim (His judging side), are used here, reminding us that while He made us the offer of seeing His commands as an invaluable gift, we could still choose to approach them wrongly, in which case they will bring judgment upon us.

12. "Then YHWH told me, ‘Get up! Quickly, go down from this [place], because your people, whom you brought out from Egypt, have brought about a perversion! They have turned away so soon from the way [in] which I directed them! They have made themselves a cast-metal image!'

Your people: Like two parents who each say, "Look what YOUR children did this time", Moshe and YHWH keep pinning the responsibility for them back on each other. (Compare vv. 26, 29.) Only after this long did YHWH provide the written version, nor did He warn Moshe of the problem until now. But it may be that they did not even start their carousing until they had waited this long for him to return. (Ex. 32; compare Mat. 24:48-50.) They gave him 40 days--fair enough--but no longer. It is almost as if they were eager to go back to being unholy, and found it stifling to be a set-apart people.

He does not say, "You used to be a stiff-necked people"; they still are, and we still are. Because we keep turning back to our own ways rather than listening and doing it the way YHWH says, we are still in xile. He runs this into the ground to the point of being embarrassing so they will get the point and do better.

15. "So I turned [my] face and came down from the mountain, the mountain being ablaze with fire, with the two slabs of the covenant in both of my hands.

16. "And I looked, and sure enough, you had sinned against YHWH your Elohim, and made a cast-metal bull-calf for yourselves; so soon you had turned off the path [in] which YHWH had directed you.

This was even more disappointing than Yahshua's finding His disciples asleep while He prayed in His most lonely and difficult hour. Sure enough: Moshe probably thought he was just imagining things when YHWH told him what they were doing, possibly chalking it up to the fact that he had not eaten for 40 days. This confirmed that he had actually been hearing from YHWH. We, too, should not simply trust the voices in our head that purport to be from Him, but should check out whether they agree with what YHWH has said in His Torah. Sinned: literally, "missed the mark", the least offensive wrongdoing, because it usually implies no malicious intent and even an attempt to hit a target, which failed. These people were intending to create a focal point for their worship of YHWH, and had not yet received the instruction through Moshe. They did not get the point, but could still be corrected, although at a price:

They were permitted a replacement set (10:1), but Moshe had to write them himself. They forfeited ever having those written by YHWH's own hand. (5:22) And who is an artican like YHWH? It must have been like Ezra's temple compared to Shlomoh's. (Haggai 2:3) This is the first of two times Moshe was penalized for an act spurred on by his anger; the second consequence was much more severe.

As before: Since Moshe again went up the mountain for 40 days after this, it appears that there were three periods of 40 days without food or water, corresponding with the three 40-year periods in his life. This suggests that if he had interceded for the people for one more day, he might have lived another year--and entered the Land after all. We do not know whether he had any food between these forty-day stints, but there are no other examples of anyone else in Scripture going longer than 40 days without food, even Yahshua, for the body then naturally begins to devour itself. But we are told of Eliyahu going for 40 days on the strength of the food brought to him by YHWH's messengers. Moshe's is definitely a case of living not by bread but by what came from YHWH's mouth! (8:3)

Listened to me: They were doing nothing right because no one was watching out for them. If it weren't for his prayers, they would have been destroyed. Though YHWH does the miracles for us, we must not discount all that His servants do for us. Because of them, he could not enter the Land, though he deserved it more than they. He did not need any of them; they were slaves and he never was. They needed him, and he only came back from his idyllic life to help them because YHWH told him to. He persuaded YHWH to spare them, though he could not persuade YHWH to do the same for him as an individual, though he was YHWH's favorite (for a prayer for the sake of all Israel is more likely to receive a positive answer than one merely for oneself). Yet this was the kind of thanks he received. He is reminding them that if they do not treat Y'hoshua differently, they are doomed.

Breathed so hard: or "was angry enough". That He was angry at Aharon was not mentioned in Exodus. Did he ever tell Aharon this? Would he have had confidence to take up his role as highest in Israel if he knew YHWH was this angry with him? Or did Moshe think his own anger at Aharon was harsh enough to not need to mention YHWH's wrath on top of it? "No man" was to come up the mountain with Moshe the second time, though Y'hoshua had gone with him the first time. (Ex. 34:3) But "no man" was said to be in the sanctuary on Yom Kippur when Aharon would go in . (Lev. 16:17) Putting these together, can we surmise that Aharon went with Moshe the second time, and he left Y'hoshua in charge because Aharon had failed as a leader here (though he never argued with YHWH as Moshe had, but always did as he was told)? In any case, he never told the people about it until now, chiefly because tough others are to be publicly rebuked as a deterrent to others (1 Tim. 5:20), the rebuke of a leader is to be done in private (5:1) so the people will not lose respect for his position as they might if they saw YHWH discipline him. But he did tell the people about this after Aharon had died, chiefly because Aharon's son El'azar, who was now in his position, was in this audience. He had never seen the people rise up against him in such a way as even his father could not handle. People in unity can have great influence even when wrong, as seen in YHWH's reaction to the Tower of Bavel. He was indirectly warned that he was susceptible to the same influence.

Exodus 32:20 says they had to drink this water. They had "made their bed", and now had to "lie in it". Our ancestors allowed bits of pagan idolatry to creep into the church, and we have had to drink from a mixed cup for many centuries. But the more living water (YHWH's word) that is put in to displace the mixed water, the purer it can become again. The streams flowing from the Temple Mount will correspond with this stream (and the flaming stream in Daniel 7 at the "real" throne).

There is no guarantee that just because we know we are Israel and have been freed from bondage to pagan ways, we will make it to the Land. At each of these places of complaining and rebellion, many Israelites died. How it behooves us to watch our step all the more carefully as the narrow way grows still narrower and the bar is raised higher and higher the closer we get to our goal. Though we have not only Moshe but Yahshua standing up on our behalf, we will fall if we do not learn both the words of Torah and the patterns behind them, and obey not only in intent but in actions as well.

One of our biggest problems is that we continue to trust ourselves despite our record, which has not even been decent, much less stellar. "Every man's way is right in his own eyes" (Prov. 21:2), but Prov. 12:15 clarifies that this is the way of the fool, for we have "screwed things up" every time we have gone our own way. The closer He brings us to great blessing, the more we seem to rebel. We should have been able to go Home after only 2 years in the wilderness, but when He told us to go, it appeared to us that He was trying to harm us. But even if He was setting us up for disaster, we should have gone because if it was from Him, it would have still been beneficial. Nowhere does He say that it pleases Him to send His people out top be slaughtered. He is about life, not death, so why do we not trust Him?

With YHWH: LXX, "in the things relating with YHWH".

26. "So I intervened toward YHWH, and said, ‘O Adonai YHWH! Do not destroy Your people and Your acquired possession, which You have brought out from Egypt with a firm hand!

Comparing this with verse 12, we see that, like the parents of a disobedient child, neither YHWH nor Moshe wants to claim Israel as his. He has required Moshe to lead them; will He now destroy them?

28. "‘or else the land from which you brought us out might say, ‘[It was] due to YHWH's lack of ability to bring them into the Land that He promised them, and because He hated them, that He brought them to their death in the uncivilized territory.

29. "‘Moreover, they are Your people, and Your acquired possession, whom You have brought out by Your intense force and Your outstretched arm.'

Israel never seems to really learn; we just adjust for awhile, but then we go back to our old habits, though the Torah is much more valuable than diamonds. We need to learn not just its words, but its patterns, the new way it sets things in order, for it will cost us too much if we do not.

CHAPTER 10

That time: When he begged for mercy for all of Israel. (ch. 9) Since Moshe interceded for Israel, playing every card and daring to tell YHWH to His face that He needed to spare them, and risking his own life and more, YHWH will bring the remedy and give them another try, but this is how. They had bantered back and forth about which of them would take responsibility for this wayward people, and in the end, both do, for both of them were responsible for delivering Israel from Egypt. There is no contradiction in this; YHWH moves through His people. He chose Moshe as His vessel for deliverance, yet still Moshe must take responsibility. They are still his people, and here YHWH says so in a different way.

I will write: Yet there was something Moshe had to write on them too. (Ex. 34:27-28) It was probably instructions about how to build the Tabernacle. In this way, he proved to be a true king of Israel (though he is never called that directly), as Y'hoshua also did (Y'hoshua 8:30ff), for a king is required to write his own physical copy of the Torah. (Deut. 17:15ff) If we read them every day, and thus carve them into our hearts, we can be like kings of Israel. Then all YHWH has to do to "write His covenant on our hearts" (Yirm. 31:33) is to add the vowel points so it can be pronounced! There is really no difference between Moshe and YHWH writing the words, since they are clearly operating in unison. But the responsibility for the preparation of the tablets is clearly distinct. There was no direct punishment for this incident as there would be for his later angry outburst, because there was no specific disobedience this time (though he did "break" all the commandments!) But this time he had to provide and prepare the materials himself. The first time YHWH had cut been the one to provide the slabs. (5:22) Moshe could have them back again, but it required much more work. This time, he had to be the one to hew out the stone tablets. A Midrash says he carved them out of sapphire quarried from right beneath his own tent. In any case, this was not an easy task with the tools at his disposal then. But this way he was less likely to break them again, after putting all that "blood, sweat, and tears" into making them. The chest might also have been prescribed so that Moshe would not drop this set of tablets as he did the first. Likewise, when we first begin to follow YHWH, there is a honeymoon stage in which He does all the work, for we are like babies. But as we grow some teeth, we move from milk to meat. He starts to put more responsibility on us, and we should not expect Him to do all the work, though it is not meant to be a worrisome burden to us. Israel committed to this maturing when we said, "We will do and we will listen." But when we break the commands after already having embraced them, we must prepare a place for them to be re-engraved into us, on both an individual and national level. We do this by taking responsibility for His people. Like Moshe, though YHWH may utterly reject them, He still expects us to embrace them, for when we take responsibility for the commands of YHWH, we are taking responsibility for all of Israel, not just our own walk with Him. He is your Elohim only as you are a part of Israel. A piston from a car that won a national race is still only a piston if it is removed fro that car, and while one might be able to use it to crack a nut, one could never win a race with just a piston. If we are doing our own thing, we lose our value to YHWH. It is often a "pain" to put up with one another, let alone take responsibility for others, but it is worth every bit of it, because this is the heart of YHWH's will, which cannot be accomplished by individuals operating separately. The other side of this coin is that Israel is not just a people; it is people! An engine is made up of may parts, and with a cracked piston, a car will never make it to the finish line. If we want the Torah written on our hearts, we must also take responsibility for the individuals who make up Israel. It is not about you; it is about us--but each of us--one at a time as well as corporately. Otherwise this is just more religion--an abstract spiritual "glob". As Yaaqov said, paying lip service to one another ("Go in peace, may you be warmed and be filled") without trying to be part of the answer to the prayer is insufficient. (James 2:15) We cannot truly know the Torah without putting our hands to it along with the rest of the people of Israel. The Renewed Covenant is not with individuals, but with the House of Yehudah and the House of Israel. (Yirmeyahu 31:31) If you are not part of one of these houses, do not imagine you have covenant with YHWH. This renewed covenant is not just handed to us as the first one was, for we approached it like a rich child who does not appreciate what he has, taking it for granted. It means much more to us if we have to work for it. We will be less likely to be careless about it and break it. He will not let us again get away with simply accepting what He did for us. The place must be prepared on which to write them as well. We do not actually have the covenant yet; if we did, we would be in our Land. It is ours in a prophetic sort of way, but it is in a vault--in "hibernation"--until we bring it back out and sign onto it again. YHWH will actually renew it when we come up with the "stones" to write it on, and they consist of a heart big enough to carve it on (and the heart of an individual never will be; it must be the heart of a unified people). When we have become as committed to each and every member of YHWH's flock as we are to ourselves, YHWH finally has something to work with. When we have put our own effort, time, and money into bringing one another into order, we will see the covenant as a treasure, and we will be much more eager to guard it, for we will not want to let something we have put so much work into just slip away so easily. And we will "own" it; it will not be something foreign to us. So what are we carving? The only other ways this term "carve" (v. 1) is used in Scripture is of quarrying the foundation stones for the Temple (1 Kings 5:17), and (only once) of carving out the mold to make an idolatrous image. (Havaqquq 2:18) So we are to be preparing ourselves to be "living stones", joined to other stones in the House of YHWH (1 Kefa/Peter 2:5). Even the amazing stones that we can still touch, which were set in place by King King Shlomoh himself, are still nothing but pieces of rock if not joined to other stones; they are not a foundation. If we choose self over one another (especially after we have committed to keeping the Torah), we will actually be carving out an idol, for we will be worshipping self. And the only reason to make a mold for an idol would be so that one could make additional copies of it to sell, so that others can have "personal" copies to take home so that they feel that they have some measure of control over their gods. If we worship YHWH, we must come to where He is, and everything in His Temple is one of a kind, so He does not need carved molds. Building a mold instead of carving out a dwelling place for YHWH (which teaches us with every stone) is the same as teaching others to be selfish as well. Selfishness is extremely contagious, which is why YHWH uses ritual impurity to represent it, for when we are out to protect self rather than the entire community, it only breeds selfishness in others as well.

The chest: apparently not the Ark of the Covenant, for that was to be built when the Tabernacle was built, after he had brought the instructions back (Ex. 24:16-25:16), but it may have been placed inside the Ark of the Covenant. Or this may have had components added to turn it into that ark. If he could carry them both in one hand and they were made of stone, they must not have been very large. These must not have been as grand as those YHWH had made, which took two hands to carry. (Ex. 32:19) What matters to us is that Moshe was preparing a place for the tablets. What this translates to for us is a context for the heart on which YHWH's covenant is written, and that context must be a unified people. YHWH did not specify which kind of wood to make the chest from, so Moshe probably thought acacia was safest to choose the same type from which other holy things were made (the ark, the table of the bread of the faces, ). He knew this would be worthy to hold something holy. Acacia trees are mostly twigs and thorns, and large planks from them are very rare. So this box is built of many small pieces of wood cut carefully to fit together, probably tongue-in-groove, into something large enough to hold the covenant writings. So acacia sticks (plural) are an appropriate building material because they are the best picture of this unified people made up of many individuals that only when put together can accomplish the purpose. Moshe built the ark first because if a heart is readied but there is no people within which one can take his place, he will not be able to keep the Torah properly, and his righteousness is in a sense wasted. We cannot just trust in Moshe--or Yahshua; we must prepare this box: a people joined with one purpose, not to build a tower, but the Kingdom. If there is no box, the new heart cannot thrive or fulfill its purpose.

Declarations: from the word for arrangements. They set things in order, and remind us that YHWH comes first. Spoken: before He wrote them (5:22; Ex. 24). Moshe wrote them, and Moshe is also symbolic of the Torah as a whole, so we see a picture of the Word engraving the Word on our hearts. Within these ten commands are contained all the others, which only present them in greater detail. Why are there two slabs? There are two categories of commandments--the first three about loving YHWH with all our heart, soul, and strength, and the latter six about loving our neighbor as ourselves. The fourth applies to both, and acts as the hinge between the two tablets. There are also two chambers of our heart, and these two categories of commands are what Israel's heart beats for. Yet if only half of the heart is functioning properly, we cannot survive. Even if one half is soft and flexible, but the other is not (if we are loving YHWH but not our neighbors--or vice versa) we will die. (1 Yochanan 4:20) Z'kharyah 7:9-12 tells what should be written on our hearts (justice, mercy, and compassion), but that YHWH considers those who shrug off His messages to have made their hearts like flint--a stone that shatters into very sharp shards when struck, making it impossible to engrave anything on. YHWH wants to arrange our hearts in order, and He even says He will place a new heart within us that is not of stone (Y'hezq'el 36:26). But this does not take place magically, as some seem to interpret it. It is a gift, but we have to prepare ourselves to receive it. There has to be a context conducive to its preservation, or it will not endure within us. He had already qualified this statement by saying that He would put one heart in His entire people, and attaches more requirements for this to take place. I.e., we do not each get a new heart; we get one new heart as a corporate people. If we are not part of the people of Israel, we do not get a new heart. YHWH offers this to all Israel, but in a parallel context He says He will punish those who follow after what they themselves have carved. (Y'hezq'el 11:19-21) Those who follow their own hearts instead of His one new heart get to keep their old hearts. So not everyone who is offered a new heart will receive one, just as a physical heart transplant has a screening of recipients according to whether by their lifestyle they have cared for the heart they have, even if it is defective. Only those who have put for the some effort to incline themselves to it through "carving out the stones" and "hiding His Word in our hearts" will find themselves with a renewed heart one day. If we have the motivation, He will enable us to follow through. The more we walk in His Torah, the more able He will make us to carry it out. More is given to those who use what they have. (Mat. 5:24-28; 13:12) He also says He will give us one heart--inclined toward unity with one another as well. Then together we can be placed into the Ark that is gold both inside and out--a picture of what we think being the same as what we do, and vice versa. If we put it off to wait for the "big open door", if that ever comes, we will fail then, because we have not gotten in practice through the little things. The chest is small because YHWH likes small things. He placed His presence in the smallest room in the Temple, so nothing is so small as to be inconsequential. Take care of the Israel that YHWH has given you on a small scale now. Do not try to have so many sheep that you cannot keep your eye on all of them. Focus on taking care of those whom He has set closest to you, and He will make sure the larger things get done. This microcosm will set a prototype that can be used for all of Israel later, but it must be established on a firm foundation before any of the grand prophecies can be fulfilled.

Compare 31:26.

Yaaqan: means "Let him oppress them" or "sharp-sighted"; Moserah: "place of bonds or fetters", from a root word meaning to chasten or discipline, instruct, or admonish. (See note on v. 7.) Moserah is thus very near Mt. Hor, or possibly a region that encompasses it. Rabbinic writers say that this is juxtaposed with the breaking of the tablets because to YHWH the death of the righteous is just as bad.

Gudgodah: "place of slashing or cutting, penetration, attack, or invasion"; Yotvathah: "a pleasing place". There is a strong parallel here and in 8:3-5 with 1 Kefa [Peter] 5:6-11: "Be humbled...under the mighty hand of YHWH, so He may exalt you at the right time, throwing all your anxiety on Him, because you matter to Him. Be sensible, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, like a roaring lion, prowls around, seeking someone to devour. Resist him firmly in your faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being completed by your brothers in the world. Then the Elohim of all grace--the One [who is] calling you to His eternal glory in Messiah Yahshua--after you have suffered a little will Himself repair [complete] you, fix firmly, strengthen, and stabilize." In Numbers 33:31-32, these places (there called Moseroth and Hor haGidgad) are listed in the opposite order. The rabbinic explanation is that when they chose to appoint men to lead them back to Egypt (Num. 14:4), the congregation actually had to backtrack eight statins. This may correlate to the circling of Mt. Hor in 2:1-2.

Were verses 6-7 a parenthesis? It might seem to be more in the time frame of v. 10, because otherwise Aharon would have died before the Levites were given their responsibilities. Or were they just told to do it while he was still alive, but actually carried it out now? At this time they had to actually take responsibility for themselves, because El'azar, son of Aharon, had been appointed to ovesee them, but now he had become the high priest, and no one is said to have been appointed to succeed him in his earlier role. Now that he was not there to hold them accountable, would they still do things the way he had taught them to?

What an inheritance! What could compare with this, even the best and richest land?

He went back up the mountain to finish being trained. But in context, this time he may not have been on Mt. Sinai, but Mt. Hor, where Aharon died, possibly mourning longer for Aharon after they had stopped doing so. This is his third period of fasting for 40 days, but it seems that there has been a gap of some length between these periods. Tradition says that the ten commandments were first given on Shavuoth, and that this time he ascended on the first of the month of Elul, which is 40 days before Yom Kippur, the culmination of the time of intense repentance when YHWH brings a covering for His people if they have repented. So even if this does resume the context of verse 5, there would be several months between these events--enough time for him to carve out these stones, which would be a time-consuming task.

This time when he came down, they were not involved in idolatry, so it was time to kep moving toward Home.

13. "to guard YHWH's commandments and prescribed limits which I am laying on you this day for your [own] benefit?

This is all He wants--but make no mistake; it will require our all. He does not leave us in the dark about what He wants from us as the pagan gods did. Yahshua and Hillel also simplified the commandments down to two (compare Mikha 6:8), and in another sense Yahshua summarized them by saying that the works of YHWH were to place confidence in the one YHWH had sent--the living Torah. (Yochanan 6:29) For your own benefit: These commands and limits are the shortcuts to wisdom and success that the world must find by trial and error.

15. "[but] only to your ancestors did He become attached [and long] to befriend them, and He selected their descendants to follow them--you of all peoples--just as [is the case] today.

Only to your ancestors: While He may work through other peoples as He chooses, Israel is the only nation He promised to make His perpetual earthly thoroughfare.

With every word we cut into it, the stone that encompasses our hearts is weakened and eventually this second set of "slabs" will be broken as well as our hearts are "circumcised", so that the raw sensitivity of our hearts is exposed and He can carve His commandments into it, ands it will scar so that we never forget them, for they will call to us constantly. We need to experience the pain together so we can see the truth together. A stiff neck (caused by stubbornness or anxiety) does not allow us to look upward for direction or to the left or right at how our actions affect those around us. This was the real point that His custom of circumcision was to teach them. Circumcision, removing the fat from around our hearts, and bowing our necks are all pictures of the same concept. There is actually a bone in the neck which is called the "lux" which, if fused or missing, prevents one from bowing his head or turning his face around (repenting). This bone is usually found in ancient tombs even if the rest of the body has decomposed, so it is considered a symbol of resurrection. Stiff-necked people cannot look with certainty to the hope of being resurrected. As we circumcise our hearts, the stiff neck will loosen up as well. We then need to exercise it to keep it loose!

Plays favorites: literally, regards faces--as other elohim do; just ask the Greeks! A bribe: we cannot buy our way out of actually doing things His way. We cannot store up much wealth for ourselves and use the excuse that we will have more to contribute to the poor and the community that this would benefit our neighbors more than obeying the Torah would. We cannot offer anything other than all our heart, all our motivation, and all our resources. A bribe: If you cast off His yoke, you will not be able to appease Him with money.

Carries out justice for: Aram., "takes up the case of". Again, what other elohim does this? If we read the mythologies, they are all capricious. Outsider: our ancestor Avraham did well at this type of hospitality. He does not consider His grandeur to be a contradiction with being with the lowly; neither should we. Compare His claim that He is high and lofty and inhabits eternity, yet dwells with the contrite of heart. (Yeshayahu/Isa. 57:15). Food and clothing: Exactly what Yaaqov asked YHWH to provide for him in Gen. 28:20. It is the Gentiles who worry about what they will eat or wear (Mat. 6), but YHWH loves the outsiders enough that while they are in His Land, He provides even these things for them!

Be like Him. This is the logical conclusion of learning of His uniquenesses. And if that is not enough, just be different from the Egyptians, who weren't hospitable to you. He Himself gives two witnesses to why we should act this way. Elsewhere this command is given as regarding the "guest within your gates": not just any stranger, but one who has come under your protection and thus authority. After he had stayed for three days, he was considered as responsible to the Torah and the upkeep of the household as one's child was.

Doesn't this conflict with Yahshua's warning that it is better to take no oaths at all? Not in the actual wording. "Oath" is derived from a word meaning "completeness" (it is identical to the number seven), so this could just as well read, "by whose Name you shall be made complete." The Hebrew version of Matithyahu 5:33-34 reads, "You shall not swear falsely (or in vain) at all." This reconciles the seeming discrepancy.

If we have trouble trusting Him, we need to simply open our eyes and look around at His record of never failing to keep His promises.

Number: or greatness. Like the stars of the sky: to the naked eye, which is the frame of reference for allusions to the natural world, for telescopes were probably not available then. This first promise to Avraham was already fulfilled in a sense, but they were not yet as numerous as the sand of the seashore. If we can get our act together and finish the preparation, He can finish what is to be built on the foundation. YHWH cannot rebuild the Temple if we do not provide the raw material of stone chipped off our hardened hearts. The pain involved in this is has such a worthwhile purpose that we will not say, "It hurts so badly", but "it hurts so well!"

CHAPTER 11

So: This refers back to the end of the last chapter, in which YHWH proves to be keeping His promises. He has done His part up to this point. Now he emphasizes that we must keep our side of the covenant, or His part can never come to fruition. Look at these great evidences, but focus on the fact that you are responsible as well. We cannot just wait long enough and the Kingdom will be here. We must seek it first, not just seek His blessing as men usually see it in terms of power, prestige, or security. Be committed to: befriend or love. The term "religion" means being reattached, just as he says here. That is where the emphasis must be, both personally as well as nationally. This is an exclusive covenant like a marriage contract. A bride cannot have two husbands, so be faithful. Stick with Him for the long haul. Be true to Him, and many lesser offenses may be forgiven, because "love covers all [kinds of] transgressions." (Prov. 10:12) Emotional love has its place in season, but romance is a modern (Roman) concept. When a people needs to survive, mushiness does not matter, but commitment is absolutely essential. The rest of the verse tells us how. When reading His "love letter" to us, we need to look for the things He tells us to look for, not what is in it for us, then carry them out in the way He asked us to, not the way we think would be more convenient, affordable, or sensible. We bring Him praise when we do it the way He says to. We need to build a hedge around the things He has established to guard us, so that we do not lose them. The phrase actually uses the same word twice: something like "guard His guarding" or what is His that is "to be guarded". Our guarding must be compatible with His. I.e., guard it the way He says to. We cannot replace Torah with emotion, more modern morality, logic, or anything else if we expect to be part of the next exodus. Not that one must operate like a robot, but we must keep His word as it is, not the way that is most convenient, least expensive, or that seems more loving by today's definitions. We might think there would be more "humane" ways of carrying out our occupation of the Land, but that is what is being tried now, and look how poorly it is working. And it must be with the whole heart, not like a spectator (though even today's sports spectators often put YHWH's worshippers to shame with their enthusiasm over something that is ultimately worthless). Everything belongs to Him--all our heart, soul, and strength--and He tests this by giving us excess. Will we keep it or will we pass it on to the rest of the community? We cannot truly keep what we do not submit to the Kingdom. Budget 100% to share every day. But the paradox of the Kingdom is that when we give everything, we receive, for we also participate in what both we and others give, as the manna was collected and pooled, some having more and some having less, but no one came up short when it was distributed. Being "selfless" does not mean forcing one's own children to starve so that you can give to another family in need, but sharing yours with them--keeping "less for self" so there is more to share. If I starve so that you can eat, you will have no one to help you next time. The Kingdom way is to bring our resources together into the storehouse, then receive from what that storehouse has to offer. Our Father knows what we need, and He provides it, but He also defines what we need: an omer per person. (Ex. 16:16-18) We have to gather that much, or we are stealing from the rest of the community, for we are all expected to contribute. Prescribed customs: or limits; these refer to repetitive actions or rituals, often associated with particular times or events, that are always described as pertaining to Israel "forever". (Ex. 12:17, 43; 27:20-21; Lev. 3:17; 16:29; 23:14) "Legal procedures" do not follow a set schedule like the prescribed customs, and do not pertain to everyday occurrences, but are used when problems or special situations arise within society that will affect the functioning of the community, and therefore require a ruling. (Ex. 21:1ff) Commandments: the term denotes "marching orders" from the "General" who has set us in order. At all times: not just on the Sabbath or festival or when someone else is watching. Even if Yahshua had not said so, this tells us from the start that any doctrine that says the Torah is to be nullified or replaced is in error. More often than anything else, He tells us to stay on our guard ("watch").

The Torah is not for the dead, but for the living. (5:3) It is for today, not tomorrow. We cannot leave it for when our children already live in the Land, thinking it will be easier for them to be righteous then, nor can we make the excuse that we still have too much of an Egyptian outlook and that YHWH therefore cannot expect much of us.

4. "And what He did to the army of Egypt and their horses and chariots--how He made the waters of the Reed Sea overwhelm their faces as they chased after you, and YHWH caused them intense loss [which still lasts] to this day--

Overwhelm them: "flow over them", or even "cause them to float" to the surface afterward. Their faces: Aram., "against them". To this day: forty years later, they had still not recovered.

6. "or what He did to Dathan and Aviram, the sons of Eliav, the son of Reuven--how the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up along with their households, their tents, and all the paraphernalia that was standing at their feet [right] in the midst of all of Israel.

The incident with Dathan and Aviram is singled out because it was the most spectacular and therefore the most memorable of all the events since the Reed Sea crossing. Paraphernalia…at their feet: some take this as "living creatures that were in their possession".

Your eyes: He is not speaking to those who are not yet accountable or who did not see these events, but to those who should know. Most of the hearers had not seen all of these things, being too young, but if they had seen any, they knew what YHWH could do, and were now mature enough to be responsible to be witnesses to it. What are these eyes of Israel? The experiences of YHWH's people as a community. He is speaking to the people as a whole, not as individuals. If one has experienced it, we all have. And if the Torah bears witness to it, we have seen it too. Much of it cannot be experienced in a personal context, but must be approached from a communal one. There were still some alive who had seen all of these things, even if the individuals born 20 years after the Exodus have just now reached the age of accountability and have only seen a few of them. So they are all held responsible, for the witness of two or three in Israel is enough. There has always been some connection to someone who saw or knew someone who did. We, too, were not literally there, but we have the whole history of Israel to witness to the fact that YHWH is trustworthy. In Israel, we do not need to have seen everything for ourselves. Each of us adds a piece to the corporate witness. Even though you live thousands of years later, if you are part of Israel, He delivered you from Egypt, as we affirm at Passover. We are meant to see the deliverance as very directly our own, and the emphasis is on passing it on to our children--the true evangelism. If YHWH says we saw it, we must not deny this, but surrender to His word and go find out how we saw it--or see it for the first time if we have not before. If you have not, pay attention during Pesakh or any time the Torah is taught. He is not the One who needs to prove Himself; we are the ones being tested. Yahshua says that those who seek new signs are rebellious. (Mat. 12:39) YHWH has provided enough witness in the past. (Yahshua says that if we do not accept that witness, even if someone is raised from the dead, it will not convince us; Luke 16:31.) It still holds valid today. Get in touch with it. He can bring it to your memory, for it is in our collective soul. At the very least, we were in our ancestors when they participated, and YHWH counts that as our having been there. (Compare Hebrews 7:9-10.) If any among us have ever seen it, again it is in our storehouse and available for each to share in. You do not have to have experienced all of these things yourself; if you have witnessed one act of YHWH, you are responsible for all of them. The more you participate in the Torah's commands, they become our experience. Give witness of what you have seen, and all of Israel will be encouraged. Make sure it is established in Torah, and not just the product of your imagination. (Yeshayahu 8:20) If a glowing white angel appears to you and you are overwhelmed with a sense of well-being, your missing teeth all grow back, your old Chevrolet turns into a Rolls Royce, but the angel says, "Now go eat a pork chop to seal all that the L-rd has done for you", then stop! It is lawlessness, for the Torah does witness against this and YHWH does test His people. The Torah is unknowable if we have our eyes closed, so we need to ask YHWH to open them (Psalm 119:18) so we can look beyond ourselves to the people as a whole, and act as part of it. It may be difficult for individuals to walk out, but not if we approach it corporately. (30:11-14)

These laws are not only for ancient times, but are always incumbent on all of Israel. Strong: firm and secure; with a tight grip so that no one can tear these things away from you; able to prevail. The reason those in the Land find their grip on it slipping is because there is not a critical mass of persons there who are keeping the Torah.

Extend: If you want to remain there long, you must continue to obey. Promised to your forefathers: They will be there in the resurrection, thus extending their days as well. The prophets say the Land will at first become overcrowded, and will need to be expanded. But the true "seed" of Avraham are only those who have faith as Avraham did (Gal. 3:7-9, 29), so not all of his physical seed will share in this promise.

By foot: i.e., a garden on flat land (like Egypt) that you had to irrigate, like the seminars so common in the church about how to make yourself prosper. We can no longer just go down to the Nile and depend on what our own backs can do:

The rain goes to every part of the country, so you are not restricted to the river's edge as you would be in Egypt. If the rain does not come, you will not have any crops. YHWH waters this Land; you have to seek Him directly for our provision trust Him to do so. (Compare v. 17) Many ancient prayers and ceremonies, especially at Sukkoth, ask Him for rain. There is no river in the middle as in Egypt that is always there for us and we can decide to draw from when we choose. All of the rain comes within two short seasons. It is a Land of dependency on YHWH, not on the favor of the U.N. or the U.S., or peace treaties with its enemies. The world tells us it is bad to be dependent on others, but this chips away at what holds the Kingdom together. We are meant to be able to depend on one another; in fact, even YHWH's help comes to us through those who are around us (Psalm 118:7). This should preclude us from interpreting the following verse as saying that if we are relying on YHWH, we need not trust in one another. If we really have confindence in Him, we must be in community, because that is the context which He provided as the vehicle for His promises to reach us. To us, He is present through those whom He sends to our aid. This is why Yahshua judges between sheep and goats--both clean animals. Goats are loners, while sheep stay together . Only those who are part of the flock will get the Kingdom, no matter how observant they are in things more distant from the heart of the Torah, half of which is "love your neighbor as yourself." We receive the help of YHWH by being helped by Israel. Once you have chosen His path, you must receive from Him or you will not receive, and you will only receive it when obedient. (v. 17) The fact that there has been drought there for many years should tell us something. There is not a famine for the word of YHWH, but a famine of hearing it. (Amos 8:11) No one is listening. Now the Land is not as lush as it was when they entered (8:7), partly as a result of their disobedience in the past. But walk by faith: it will be even greater one day. This Land is NOT one that devours its inhabitants, as their parents feared. It blesses those who live in it.

Seeks out: resorts to, frequents, or walks through. YHWH looked the world over to find the best location, and He is giving you this tremendous gift! Don't squander it! He never takes His eye off of this place. Especially in the context of verse 12, this passage hints, as does Genesis 2:13 (among many others), that this Land is precisely where the Garden of Eden was. From the beginning ...until the end of the year: all through the festival cycle He set up. Even before the nation of Israel lived there, He had been looking after it and guarding it because He promised it to Avraham and Yaaqov. How we have ruined it, but it, too, is being restored.

Pay close attention: literally, listen to hear. We are meant not just to know the literal words, but hear the deeper meaning behind them and learn from them. Then we will be reliable, as YHWH expects of us. Psalm 118:8 tells us to trust YHWH instead of men, but the verse immediately prior says He is with us through those who help us. Our faithfulness is what He counts on to carry out His.

"Early rain": the word is related to "teaching" and "instruction" [torah], and "the latter rain" is related to "ingathering", "despoiling", and the "aftermath"--a perfect description of the two comings of the Messiah! In Yoel 2:23, the phrase translated "early rain" actually says "teacher of [for] righteousness"--an idiom for the Messiah very common in His day (e.g., in the Dead Sea Scrolls). The ingathering correlates with Yom T'ruah (the feast of trumpet-blasts), the despoiling with Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), and the aftermath with Sukkoth, the season of our joy after the birthpangs of the Kingdom are complete. All of these festivals bespeak events related to his second coming. At the proper time: So crucial to agriculture.

YHWH's main intent in feeding your cattle is that you might be fed. Humans are still more important to Him than beasts, no matter what the animal rights activists may say. We don't want to be cruel to animals just for sport, but they do not have the same standing we do. This (and some commands regarding the festivals) also means that no one who is fully Torah-observant cannot be a complete vegetarian, except under special circumstances as Daniel had, where kosher slaughter could not be guaranteed.

Hearts: includes minds. Gullible: open-minded--the catchword of our generation, but it really means being naive, simple-minded, easily persuaded, deceived, seduced, or allured. This is the inevitable result of "following your heart". This is not Disneyland. The solution is to set a watch over your heart: clear, definite boundaries (v. 18), so we will not be "swayed by every wind of doctrine". (Eph. 4:14) We are already inclined toward the wrong things, so we cannot trust our hearts. (Yirm. 17:9) If our motive is to avoid offending people when they are wrong, or fear of anything but YHWH, it is misplaced. We are weighted against what He says here, so we must remain all the more alert. In His mercy He forewarns us that what we are up against is our own selves. Leave unanswered anything within you that is not motivated by a longing to be in YHWH's presence with His people and pleasing Him, or it will destroy you:

This is what to fear! Look anywhere but to Him for your provision (v. 11), and it will cease altogether. If you let your heart lead you into the wrong priorities, you will be on His bad side. You are therefore responsible to guard your heart. Surrender it to the service of YHWH by serving those around you.

Warning: or standard. The hand is that with which we act; between our eyes are where the thoughts begin that move us to act. If we tie them onto our hands and heads literally, with t'fillin (and doing so is in no way adding to or taking away from His instruction), it is to be for the purpose of reminding ourselves to brig every thought into captivity (2 Cor. 10:5), putting the meaning of His words in their proper place in our motives, determination, and inclination. They are not magic amulets, but memory aids. Tying them on our hands reminds us that everything we set our hands to must be a Kingdom pursuit. This often adjusts our attitude and brings our hearts into submission. In order to apply His word to everything, we must learn it well. That is what it means to put it into our hearts. Otherwise we could feed the hungry and clothe the poor all day, but be doing it all wrongly; we perish for lack of knowledge. (Hos. 4:6)

Again he emphasizes giving witness primarily to our children. Teach: literally, prod, because you want them to move into serving YHWH. Sharpened children (6:7) on the move is what will bring Israel home! We are responsible to make our children teachable so that the entire community of Israel can teach them. How do we make them teachable? Through discipline.

Gates: literally, entrances: thus not only city gates, where legal procedures are carried out, but also the orifices of your body through which you are susceptible to be seduced as in v. 16: eyes, ears, mouth, nostrils, and reproductive organs. This is why the tribe of Yehudah has traditionally carried on the interpretation of literally letting the hair in front of their ears, nose, and mouth keep growing as a symbol of this "guarding", using literal phylacteries near their eyes with selections from YHWH's Torah written in them, and the fringes that were commanded to be placed on garments (Num. 15:38), which hang near the loins. Any time a door opens for us in whatever situation, we must ask if walking through it is still putting YHWH first.

Like the days: our days are to be filled with quality, whether long or short, but then prolonged through the Messianic Kingdom after the resurrection for those who obeyed. This parallels the promise in the fifth commandment (5:16), reminding us to walk worthy of being called children of Avraham and Sarah. But in the meantime, to extend our days on the Land, we must extend our children's days there. (See Psalm 22:29-30.) And how do we do that? They will carry on whatever we instill in them. This is how we are preserved as a people so we can endure until the end. This is how we live there forever, not just for our own lifetimes. It is said that the true test of one's walk is not whether one's children continue in Torah, but one's grandchildren as well. This is one form of eternal life for Israel, even before the resurrection. If we want to stay, our children must honor our teachings, and they will do so if what we tell them is what we practice, showing them that what we say is valid. Passover is all about relaying this message so they can relate to it. If our children intermarry or convert to other faiths, no seed remains for Israel. So don't consider your life over just because you have brought your children safely into the Land (though to your doubting parents even that in itself would be quite an accomplishment). Don't say, "Let your servant now depart in peace, because I have seen your salvation" when you are just entering the Land! Moshe had to be satisfied with having been to the mountaintop and seen the Promised Land, but don't you take the fatalistic approach that that is as far as you can go too. You can go in, so do it! Do not waste the experiences that you've had. Do everything you can to ensure that your children will find no attraction whatsoever in the pagan elohim that are there now. (v. 19) Your days, too, are meant to be extended, so you can teach them, in depth, the insights and wisdom you have gained.

23. "--then YHWH will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than yourselves.

24. "Every place where the soles of your foot tread shall be yours: your border shall extend from the desert to Levanon, from the River--the Euphrates River--to the Western [Mediterranean] Sea.

If we do our part, He will do His. Every place you claim will be yours. But it is only yours if you are walking in it. So walk through it all! Fight to get your lost heritage back. We cannot claim the position if we are not living according to what we say. If you are not praising YHWH, do not call yourself a Jew. Do not call yourself a follower of Messiah if you are not living in Torah as he did. Do not claim promises made to Israel if you are not living in the context of Israel. If you are lacking in any part of the Torah it is because you do not walk in it. Step into it, and though it seem foreign or foreboding, you will conquer it if you trust Him. And this is not just the physical Land; it refers to the "Land of Torah" as well, and the "Land" of anything that has to do with Israel--community, holiness, victory over sin, and most of all the intimate knowledge of YHWH. Don't overstep your borders; don't eat of the forbidden fruit. But DO eat of the Tree of Life once it becomes available again. And it already is: "Wisdom…is a tree of life to all who grasp and…keep hold of her." (Prov. 3:13, 18) That you have access to. Walk through all of that, and the way to the Land will become clear. But remember that the "if" of v. 22 has not changed; this time around we will not possess the Land if we neglect the conditions. But if we are walking in them, not just paying them lip service, no one will be able to stand against us:

And so it was: The whole city of Yericho was in dread of them, having lost all courage. (Y'hosh. 2:11)