Parashat Nitzavim

Are established: "stationed", "planted", or "stand as monuments". This is covenant-ratifying language. Officers: or scribes. All the men: i.e., even those who are not tribal heads, elders, or officers.

It is not just the men. No one, from the youngest to the oldest, is left out of the prosperity He offers. Wood-cutters and those who draw water: the most basic jobs in society, for these would be everyday necessities. Women usually had the job of drawing water, as we first meet Rivqah, Rakhel, and Tzipporah at wells. A son or a slave would cut wood, which was always needed for cooking. The Giv'onites (Netanim) were given this task when it became known that they had deceived Israel, and Y'hoshua had already promised to spare their lives. (Y'hoshua 9:21-23) Not that this would be the only tasks they would do, but these two jobs were idiomatic for "anything that needs to done that will support the life of the nation". Y'hoshua looked to this precedent to determine what to do when he found that his oath went against a command YHWH had g iven him. They had to keep the Torah if they wanted to continue living in the Land, and they had to agree to make Israel's life easier, not harder. But wood (the same as tree in Hebrew) often represents men, so "cutters of wood" would represent evangelists, who sever them from their connection to the earth so they can be useful to the Kingdom. "Gatherers of water" would represent prophets who bring YHWH's word (often likened in Scripture to water) to us.

Cross over: Hirsch, "unitedly pass over". Oath: or curse, which those entering the covenant agree to accept if they do not fulfill their part of the covenant. Cutting: the ritual involved in sealing the covenant.

A nation: or people, from a root word meaning "to grow dim, darker, or be eclipsed" like the moon, which wanes in order to wax. Individuals within Israel must decrease so that the whole nation may be "born again". You: masculine singular in this verse, as YHWH is speaking to an Israel united "as one man". Today: Hundreds of years after Avraham ,they still were not counted a people until they entered into this stage of the covenant. Remove the covenant from Israel, and we are no longer a nation, as Hoshea chapter 1 shows. Our ancestors did just that, choosing the oath (curse) instead of the covenant (v. 12), when they stopped keeping Torah or teaching us to keep it.

15. "but with [both] the one who is here with us, standing today in the presence of YHWH our Elohim, as well as the one we do not have standing here with us today--

Not standing here today: Here He closes the loophole by which we could claim we were not present when our ancestors agreed to the covenant. It thus includes us, who would hear these words much later in time and indirectly. This is why He went so far as to say the covenant is not with our ancestors, but with all who are alive. (5:3) As Yahshua said, YHWH is the Elohim of the living, not the dead. (Mat. 12:27) The fathers have already done their part, and it is probably why we are here today. But though they made our shoes, if we do not wear them, how will they benefit us? Those not standing there today include anyone who lives because of you--your descendants to come and all who become attached to them. Each generation has the choice: "Will we enter into this covenant or not?" Yirmiyahu/Jer. 50:4ff speaks of both houses of Israel coming back to join themselves to YHWH in a perpetual covenant which "will not be forgotten", as it was the first time. Acts 2:38ff calls "those who are afar off" to repent and return. This sets the stage for chapter 30. But we still have to stand and take our place, not just sit and wait for it all to be given to us magically.

17. "and you have seen their filthy abominations--their idols of wood and stone, silver and gold, which were with them,

Idols: or "balls of excrement". The scarab beetle was worshipped in Egypt because to those who could not see its tiny eggs laid therein, it appeared to spontaneously generate from balls of dung which the parent beetles have a habit of rolling in front of them. It was related to sun-worship.

A whole tribe may indeed be the party that turns away because of a "bitter root". Indeed, the tribe of Ephraim led the way into the idolatry that culminated in this scattering to other lands. Poisonous fruit: "head" in Hebrew. This chapter is read during the time of year when we especially seek to root out any such things in our lives, as the Day of Atonement approaches. A Renewed Covenant writer warns us to "look diligently lest anyone fail to participate in the favor of Elohim, lest any root of bitterness spring up to trouble you, and by it many be defiled [stained, contaminated, sullied]." (Hebrews 12:15) If we have a bitter attitude, we will end up with bitter children as well. So what is that root? The Torah tells us specifically that it is connected to looking at the idols of the nations around us. (v. 17) It is asking why those who worship Fortune, Security, or the Future (all names of pagan deities) are prospering, and wanting what they have. It is choosing what YHWH has not given us. All too often we then get upset or blame it on YHWH when it turns around and bites us (as it inevitably will), when it was our own fault all along. If we worship the wrong things, so will those who come after us.

Blesses himself: LXX, "flatters himself"; literally, bends the knee to himself. Saturating my thirst: or "overindulging my sexual desire" (a common feature of most pagan religions) or "drunkenness". Psalm 75:8 tells us the wicked will instead drink the dregs of YHWH's wrath. The events of our day harbinger the fact that the kingdom of Mammon will soon come to an end, but Yeshayahu/Isa. 55 and Rev. 22:17 remind us that the water of life may be received freely. Hirsch translates, "so that the watering provides also for what should remain thirsty". I.e., one is presuming upon YHWH "making His rain to fall on the just and the unjust" merely due to his proximity to true believers within Israel. A modern parallel would be, "My great-grandfather was in a concentration camp, so I am a Jew; I am all right, though I ignore the Torah." But will one receive the benefits of the covenant if he does not walk the path? We must not fool ourselves as the Laodikeans did (Rev. 3:15ff), thinking they were all right just because YHWH appeared to be blessing them. He said their true condition was quite the opposite. Yochanan said YHWH was able to make descendants of Avraham out of a pile of stones. If we live like Avraham, we will be treated as he was. There are some great houses and ofte their merit goes far, but ultimately, "YHWH has no grandchildren." Yeshayahu 65:11ff specify that those who remain faithful to YHWH instead of setting a table to Gad and Meni (fortune and destiny, celebrated Dec. 24 and 25), will have something to drink even when there is a drought. Stubbornness of heart: or "certainty of a made-up mind", being convinced that one knows he is right, although the Torah says something altogether different. Those who teach that the Torah is not binding on us feel like they have peace, but the heart is deceitful (Yirm. 17:9). "Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." (1 Cor. 10:12)

Not forgive: this shatters modern stereotypes about His blanket forgiveness, and focuses us on the season of repentance that precedes Yom Kippur, when the gates and the books are closed for another year. This is a season to identify and pursue the right kind of thirst (in contrast with v. 19), for Yahshua says if we do we will be filled. But others will indeed be blotted out of the Book of Life if they are not diligent to "bless ourselves" in YHWH's name instead. (Yesh. 65:16) Settle: or crouch, reminding us immediately of YHWH's warning to Qayin (Cain) about the sin which finally led him to kill his brother; LXX, "attach themselves to him". It is not enough to have righteous parents, or that you went to Hebrew school as a child Not just every generation, but every individual must open his eyes. It is unusual for YHWH to speak of individual rather than corporate salvation, but it is clear here that one cannot scrape by merely by being lumped in with a generally-righteous generation.

Single him out: so as to not trouble the rest of the congregation, though there would be repercussions. One cannot hide and say, "I am a part of the tribes of Israel!" YHWH will separate him out somehow. Trouble: adversity or misery. Curses: a part of any covenant. This, not the whole Torah, is what Sha'ul (Paul) said Yahshua removed from hanging over us. Instruction: Heb., Torah. It is our instruction manual.

23. "(the whole land will be burnt with sulfur and salt, nor will it be sown with seed or sprouting up on its own, nor will any herbage come up on it, like the transformation of S'dom and 'Amorah, Admah and Tzevoyim, which YHWH overthrew in his anger and his rage),

This is a warning to every generation to be an example of Torah-keeping to those who come after us. If you have seen the truth and yet do not establish your family in doing it, the next generation will see death and destruction in a place meant for life and prosperity. Dani'el saw his generation fail to see the big picture. Another salient example is Mark Twain's comment that "not even a chicken could scratch out a living" in the Land as it was in his day. Yirmiyahu 33 specifies that this is the Land's condition when Israel returns just before Messiah takes his throne. But though it may no longer sprout on its own, it can be restored by men, and has been, to a great extent, though there is still plenty of room for improvement.

If we do not give them an example of Torah to look at, they will never see. This is not speaking of just one man's property, but the whole Land (v. 23), because it spreads like a cancer or a domino effect: if one does not stand and do his part, he will knock the rest down, and the next generation will not even be in the Land. Idolaters are killed so the disease will not spread in Israel, because of how much difference one person's disobedience can make.

26. "'and they went and served other elohim and bowed down to them-- elohim which they were not acquainted with, and which He had not assigned to them.

Not acquainted with: Hirsch, "of whom they had experienced nothing". Had not assigned them: Or, which had not given them any plunder (as He had). This suggests that YHWH does assign various elohim (mighty spiritual beings--or even mighty men) to rule over certain parts of the earth, keeping men's wickedness in check, but sometimes opposing YHWH Himself, possibly exemplified by the Princes of Persia and Greece, about which the messenger told Daniel. But in any case, He assigned no such intermediary to Israel. But serving self, our bank account, or our security is also bowing to other elohim. Though He often treats the nation as a whole, to a limited extent there can be a singling out of those who make an effort to please Him in the midst of a wicked generation (the opposite of verse 21), so that they at least do not receive the full weight of the judgment. Despite the destruction of the Land, a remnant of Yehudah always remained, because they had forsaken (overt, literal) idolatry after the Babylonian captivity.

28. "'So YHWH uprooted them from their land in anger, in heat, and in great splintering indignation, and hurled them into another land, as [it is] today.'

Even the Gentiles recognize the curse when Israel does not uphold the Torah.

Those which are open: Hirsch translates, "but what is revealed to us...is: to fulfill all the words of this Torah."--the things which belong to the light, the straightforward instructions He gave us. Concentrate on these, not the great mysteries of the world. Daniel was told to leave them alone; though they were even revealed to him to a large extent, they still only confused him. They will be revealed at a certain time, and we may or may not have to deal with them then. But what YHWH said that was very clear is a big enough task. This is what does belong to us, so look at it. The secretive realm belongs with the curses. (28:57) It is His business if He wants to keep some things secret. When He has not, it is your responsibility. We do not need kabbalah or even a priest to understand the Scriptures; there are deeper things for which you will need a teacher, but if you do the things He has made obvious, you will probably end up being the teacher. Kingdom things exist in the heavenlies, but are reflected here on earth as we follow His simple instructions. We thus participate in the mysteries somehow, but indirectly: Pay attention to the sound of the shofar, and it will benefit the next generation. Repent in season, and it will be easier for our children to do the same. This is not some mystery religion which only some initiates can experience while others are excluded; we choose how close we want to get to YHWH's presence, for the "secret place of the Most High" (Psalm 91) is His presence (His sanctuary). This is tied to Sukkoth in Psalm 18:11. We seek His presence not through rituals that no one can understand, but by doing what He gives us to do. Sit in a sukkah together, and you will pave the way for the Kingdom. How can we say we love YHWH without loving His people who we can see? (1 Yochanan 4) We are all fascinated by the mysteries of prophecy, but the way to be better prepared when Yahshua returns is to keep the plain commandments. He does say in Proverbs 25:2 that He may reveal things to kings who search them out. We are called "kings and priests", so our job is to seek out the deeper meaning--to see beyond the literal SO THAT we can carry out His intent. The writer of the Zohar said, "Woe to the man who sees the Torah as more than an outer garment." Even if we keep every word of it, we have not necessarily carried out His instructions. We have to listen to what they teach us when we obey. By the doing, we are enabled to see into the secret things. E.g., ritual uncleanness represents selfishness, and the applications multiply exponentially into every aspect of life. The Torah is the clothing shaped like the Man inside--the Man we are to become (Eph. 3:3-12) and of whom Yahshua is the Head. Having covenant with YHWH means doing things His way, and this is no secret. With this information, we are able to be certain that we are carrying out what He wants rather than being left to wonder.

CHAPTER 30

Moshe said all of these things would occur, and not just to Yehudah or to Efrayim, but to both, some to a greater extent or a longer time than others, but there would be times of obedience and times we wouldrebel without repenting. There is a prophecy in the midst of the pep talk, and yet if we do not respond properly, it is not a prophecy, but only a missed offer. Again, it is an "if" (v. 10). He does not need to be a prophet to recognize, simply based on what he had seen, that Israel is a people that goes back and forth between prioritizing His covenant and ignoring it--sometimes from one day to the next. The curses are not an evidence of YHWH just waiting to catch us in an error and burn us, but are another evidence of His love. If we do not appreciate Him for His blessings, He will try to get a response from the opposite tactic. Too often we are "like the horse or mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you." (Psalm 32:9) Thankfully, He does use th bit and bridle. If He ever says, "Okay, go ahead and run free", it means He has given up on us. Things: literally, words, i.e., the blessings and the curses. When: literally, because. The intent is that they all lead us to turn back to YHWH. He knows that if we do not have the bad side, we will just continue to ignore Him. He is saying a time would come when we had been through both and could in retrospect see the results of each. YHWH had the foresight to know that allowing us to continue picking and choosing which of His words to obey would only lead us into more and more decay and eventually death. We still suffer the effects of ancient compromises: calling Him by the names of pagan deities, calling the wrong day the Sabbath, substituting other holy days for His. But idolatry also has a modern face: exalting our own independence over what He wants. Even innocent pursuits, if at the expense of what He has commanded, are idolatry. We have wanted Him to find our rebellion acceptable, and yet still have access to His promises. But it does not work that way. So He took our heritage away so we would recognize our need for Him and learn to trust that everything He wants to give us will benefit us. He allowed us to be under corrupt shepherds who led us astray (Yirmeyahu 50:6), though He will one day call them to account. (Y'hezq'el 34:2-10) The first step in our return is to bring these things back to mind--literally "heart", or the innermost part of ourselves--deep within, where no one else can decide for you. Notice that YHWH is not responsible for what is in our hearts; we are. Christianity told us to "ask Jesus into our hearts", but Moshe says to take knowledge and understanding of the blessings and curses to heart. If we are talking about the true Torah-observant Yahshua, the living Torah, then there is no difference between these two emphases. But not to accept the idea that a man can be YHWH! Turning back begins with restoring His instruction to its proper place within us. We cannot return if we do not know where we came from. This is what makes people victims to false teachings. If we continue to think we are Gentiles, all we will return to is idolatry. Through one thing or another, a light comes on, and we say, "Wait a minute! That is not who I am!" and recognize that we are really Israel, which was established by covenant with YHWH at Mount Sinai, not in our lifetime, but while we were still within our ancestors who accepted it for themselves and for us (v. 2). Torah is the mirror that reminds us of who we are. (Yaaqov/James 1:22--from a letter addressed to the twelve scattered tribes!) We cannot fool ourselves in front of a mirror, but then we must not go away and forget again. We must dust off the mirror so we are not seeing through a glass darkly. (This is Yaaqov's answer to Paul's statement in 1 Cor. 13.) Remember the blessings and curses, because this shows that we have a covenant with YHWH, and that is what defines who we are. Search the covenants so we can line ourselves up with them. Take them deep within ourselves so we can know what we need to get back to and how we need to change to get there. And He says we will do this while still in exile. Here we are in the Book! This day is upon us, and we are remembering His Torah while still out among the nations. We cannot wait until the Kingdom to have His Torah written on our hearts; it will be too late to begin then, for responsibilities will already be upon us. If we do not embrace the covenants now, we will never see the Kingdom.

Return: or repent. Admit that we deserved every curse that has befallen us. As long as we are still outside our Land, and not hearing Yahshua teach us in person, we are still under the effects of the curses, and as long as we follow our own selfish hearts, we will remain there. Obey: or "hear intelligibly". Note the order: after we repent, we will hear His voice. Heart: or mind, understanding--i.e., your whole "inner man". Notice that His voice is equated with all of Moshe's words. The Torah is the "how to" of loving YHWH and loving the fellow members of our flocks as ourselves. This is what YHWH commanded. We do not get to decide how to repent; He has already told us. When we dig it out and start walking in it, YHWH will keep His side of the bargain. And we cannot then sit and relax; our repentance is also dependent on our children. We know we have succeeded when the next generation embraces the fact that they are Israel. They learn to the extent that we embrace our heritage. A tree is known by its fruit.

At that time: an idiomatic flag that we are talking about the "latter days". Recover those who were taken away: or, turn back your captivity. We remain beaten as long as we do not realize we are captives. But the next step must be to remove our exile mentality--that we cannot keep all of the Tprah, or do not have to, because we are still in exile. We are not to dwell on mourning what we lost, but rejoice in what we are about to gain, because we are on our way back! If we take full advantage of what we already do have, He will let us have more. Take hold of what He does give, and keep pulling; He will usually let you have the rest of it. Compassion: a direct reversal of the curse of "no mercy" in Hos. 1:6; 2:21-23. His compassion even includes allowing us the freedom to make choices that lead to repentance. When we start to live as His people, showing by our fruit that we are what we say we are, He too will claim us as His own. As we take a step back toward the father, He runs toward His prodigal people, for He still wants us back. We can "come as we are", but must not expect to stay that way. We need to "take a shower" to remove the filth so it will not still surround us when He allows us a hot bath. Assemble: the word is the same root from which we get the modern word "kibbutz" (collective farm), so it implies that, although He may gathere us one by one--"one from a city, two from a family" (Yirmeyahu 3:14), before He returns us to the Land, we will first be formed into a tight-knit community much like the one the apostles had in Yerushalayim in the first years after Yahshua's first coming. But although each of us may realize he is a piece of a once-holy vessel, after we are cleaned up as an archaeologist does, we are still not useful for His purposes until we are all collected into one place and reassembled in the right context. Disengaging us from the nations, though unpleasant at first, is thus also part of His compassion. We no longer have to wait for the sentence to run out; the time is already up. It is our move now; He is waiting for us to do what is right. That is why the Son does not know the time the Father has set. Do not be the one that is holding up the fulfillment of the promise! Yahshua commands us to watch. It means to stay alert, but in Hebrew it also means to be on guard. How can we guard a city we are not even near? When there are enough of us to guard it (and only He knows how many that will take), He will send Yahshua to lead us Home. For now we need to guard one another by loving and serving one another.

Banished: or "thrust outward". Farthest reaches of the sky: i.e., the most distant horizon. But it literally says, "The edges of the heavens"; does this include a manned mission to Mars?or the borders of heaven. Who knows but that there may be an Israelite who is living in the space shuttle or space station at the YHWH calls all Israel back to the Land! But we were also "lost in the heavens" when we made "Heaven", rather than the Promised Land, our goal. Fetch you away: The term is also used of taking a bride, and once we are gathered that is what we can be for Him. As individuals, none of us can fulfill that role. YHWH says He will bring us, but Yeshayahu 49:22 speaks of nations bringing our sons and daughters who are still left outside the Land back home on their shoulders. So He will do it through them. They are His agents, just as when He said "I will seek My flock like a shepherd" then sent Yahshua to be the shepherd.

Then: After we have assembled. We cannot go back alone, or we will merely be targets for the enemies that still inhabit the Land. The "you" here is not his immediate audience, because their ancestors had not possessed the Land, but only sojourned there. It is to those who returned from Babylon, and to us, whose ancestors did possess the Land once (and in some cases twice). He does not say He will bring us to Heaven; the Promised Land is still actually a land! The Kingdom is still hidden away in the other realm until the time is right for it to be manifested, but it is not somewhere in the clouds. Possessed: literally, "took possession of" or "seized". Thus the frame of reference is the end times, not the time of the people to whom Moshe is speaking, because while their ancestors inhabited the Land, they had not yet taken it over, dispossessing others in the process. That was still to come. Make you right: or deal well with you, make you glad, do right to you. Enlarge you: There will not be enough room in the Land to hold us all. (Zkh. 10:10) This passage and Ovadyah 19 tell what some of these new borders will include, yet it may go even further, because YHWH promised Avraham all the way to the Ferath (Euphrates) River! But it can also mean "make you more numerous" and "grow you up". Compare 1 Chron. 4:9-10.

When we repent, we are offering to let Him remove the flesh that has grown over our hearts, and He acceptrs this if we are truly moving toward Him. Heart: understanding, inclination, appetites. After we are back in our Land, He will take away everything in us that keeps us from understanding and responding as we should. But even then this will not be done by magic. He will provide us with the knife, but we must cut away the selfish desires through deciding to love our fellow flock-members as ourselves instead. As we look back at what we were only a few years ago--thinking we were faithful to Him, yet adamantly insisting that we did not need His Torah--we can rejoice that He has taken away this obstacle and our every excuse has vanished into thin air! As when He said He would write His Torah upon our hearts (Yirm. 31), He is saying He will make the whole Torah a joy to us--if only by contrast in retrospect with all the futile things we have practiced and believed in the meantime. Thrive: not just breathing, but being alive and knowing how to live--fruitful even in a drought, since we trust in YHWH, not wealth or anything else. (Yirm. 17:7ff) The Sabbath and festivals revitalize us in this way. Those who are most dead are those who always focus on a "future" that does not include the Kingdom. When someone asked Yahshua how to have eternal life, he told him that he already knew the answer: keep the Torah. He loved the man enough to show him that he was not really keeping it if he was not sharing his wealth with his starving neighbors. He was telling him to shift his focus from whatever security he could build up, to the Kingdom.

He turns it back on them, like those who first put Daniel in the lions' den. This is stated in many ways: "His mischief will come back on his own head." (Psalm 7:16 et al) "What you sow, you will also reap." (Gal. 6:7) This recalls to mind how YHWH punished Assyria for taking Israel captive once their job was done, even though they were YHWH's own agent of discipline for Israel, since they did it out of selfish motives. (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 10:12) Like Pharaoh, they were just "extras" needed to play out a drama so there could be an antagonist, but they thought it was for their own sakes, and because of their own greatness. Yeshayahu 62:8 says that from this time onward, He will never again give what is ours to others as He did when we rebelled (ch. 28). How does this square with Yahshua's command to love our enemies? He was speaking to Israelites or other Israelites. We still injure and cause grief to one another, but we need to remember that we are brothers and treat one another that way. Those on the outside are YHWH's problem. (1 Cor. 5:12-13) Having an attitude like David's (e.g., Psalm 69) toward YHWH's enemies--those who persecute His people--is not wrong. His enemies will fall, and those from within Israel who abandon love for one another will be left behind when it comes time to go home, having written themselves out of Israel.

You will…carry out: This is how the Renewed Covenant differs from the first. (Yirm. 31)

He will turn back to us, and return to us what He took away when disciplining us. This time we must not squander it by hoarding it, but use it to benefit our fellow Israelites. Children, livestock, a land, and food are the true, solid wealth, unlike the "money" which always changes in value and today is often just a figment of a computer's imagination. But the truest fruitfulness is increasing in our knowledge of YHWH. (Colossians 1:10)

If: All of these promises for the latter day still contain a conditional clause, something our Christian shepherds told us was no longer part of the agreement.

Contrary to what the corrupt shepherds taught us in order to keep us from the treasure YHWH had for us, the Torah is not impossible to keep, and it is not deadly. Christianity, which says no one can keep it, is partially right; no individual can, but a whole people together can! Moshe has been saying in many ways, "You can do this! It isn't too hard!" 1 Yochanan 5:3--in the Renewed Covenant--agrees that "His commandments are not burdensome." Yahshua compared the "easy yoke" that he "lays upon us" with the heavy burdens the P'rushim (Pharisees) were laying on people (Matt. 11:29-30; 23:4ff). The commandments of men we cannot keep, for they do not line up with reality. Their overextension of the Torah is where the problem lies, not in the Torah itself. What is written in it (v. 10) is all we are responsible to obey. A yoke gives us control over a burden and distributes the weight both over the whole body so it will not be so difficult, and allows more than one beast to share the same burden, making it much lighter on both. His yoke is meant to be shared by all Israel. A community can keep His commandments where individuals cannot. The more we practice it, the more it becomes what we want to do, not what we "have to do". Paul calls this verse the "word of faith" (Rom. 10:5ff)--confidence that we can actually fulfill the Torah. We should not say we do not need to keep it since Yahshua already did; He made it even more possible for us to carry out. Even though His yoke led Him to an execution stake, and He calls us to ollow Him even there, when it is for the sake of all Israel and not just for self, it becomes much less threatening. Not far away: It is even possible to keep our eyes on Yerushalayim from anywhere in the world with the web camera! Knowledge is so easy to acquire compared to past days, but all of this, we must remember, is only compensation for not being able to actually be gathered yet. It may not be necessary then, just as the Ark of the Covenant is a prop that will have one day outlived its usefulness.

Sky: or heaven. Or, in heaven; it is not a mystery religion. There goes more Christian theology out the window. The Kingdom is here on this earth, and the commands have to do with that.

Even before we get into the Land, we can practice it, if we know how to listen. Exile is no excuse. No one has to bring it from somewhere else.

It is not complicated, impractical, or unknowable. It is fairly simple, if you bother to read it. When our true neighbors--those of the same flock--are in close proximity, we can practice Torah; how can we obey the commands to restore a borrowed item we have broken or what has gone astray from its owner, if he is nowhere near us to lose it or lend it to us? Right in your mouth: When you learn to speak Hebrew, the Torah becomes much less complicated.

After all those curses, it should be a "no-brainer" which one to choose, yet still we chose death! Truth is stranger than fiction!

He tells us to guard every aspect of the Torah, so there is no room to wiggle out of any of them. It is the choosing (see v. 19) that allows us to have it written on our hearts. It is not our own personal lives we must choose (doing that is what got us into trouble), but the life of Israel.

Turns away: LXX, "changes". Note the progression in how our various members respond: If our heart turns off our hearing, our feet will be pulled away by an outside source. "Drawn away" could also read "compelled". Idolatry is the main issue, because YHWH wants relationship with us more than any of the details, though they all add to it and there is no contradiction between the two. But the big issue is that we are with Him wholeheartedly. He desires obedience more than sacrifices, etc. (1 Shmu'el 15:22) In contrast, if we "guard" His ways, we preserve our ability to hear and live as our true selves, fulfilling the calling for which we were carefully and specifically designed. But the guarding takes an interesting twist, because trying to keep the Torah for its own sake, rather than for YHWH's and Israel's (not one or the other), can make it our elohim. We do not serve the words or the doing, but the purpose. Even if we kept every detail to the letter, if it is for selfish reasons--like personal salvation--our righteousness will not surpass that of the P'rushim Yahshua criticized. It must be kept in the context Yahshua put it back into--the very context verse 20 below tells us it was meant to be a means to: love. Make no mistake; the Torah is the key to our return. But it is a tool, a means to the end, not the end in itself.

Does it mean that this time, if we turn away from habitual obedience, we will perish altogether, and that there will not be another "doubling of the sentence" (Yirmeyahu 16:18) or "seven times" (Lev. 26:18)? I.e., once we've tasted of the power of the age to come, which is the Torah, is there no hope of forgiveness (as in Hebrews 10:26)? This should deter us indeed, but we must also remember that the Northern Kingdom did completely perish at one time, and yet YHWH has restored it. True repentance is always a "game change".

This calling of the most potent witnesses available is a common aspect of a covenant-cutting ceremony. Survive: in order to love Him, not just for its own sake:

This defines what life is and what love is and is not. Hold tightly: the term used of a man "cleaving" to his wife (Gen. 2:24), for Israel is YHWH's bride. Paul prays that by Messiah dwelling in our hearts, we may grasp what is indeed incomprehensible, and be filled with all the fullness of YHWH. (Eph. 3:18) Those who do return and have all the curses that were on our ancestors removed will rebuild the ancient places that were ruined, and be dressed as a bride! (Yeshayahu 61:1-10) He is your life: It is not His provisions per se, but YHWH Himself that sustains us (8:3), and we live only because He chooses to remember us. How can those to whom Yahshua says, "I never knew you", continue to exist? If YHWH expels someone from His memory, where can he be? It would be as if he had never existed. Life is not a qualitative thing that one can measure; we can only see evidence that it is present or departed. The Messiah is also called our life (Col. 3:4), because his redemption of us as kinsmen means we have another occasion to not only rejoin the commonwealth of Israel from which we cut ourselves off. Length of your days: Jewish scholars say that this means that your life will continue in the age to come (the Messianic Kingdom). Look in the mirror and choose life.