Shabbat Shalom , Ki Tavo - is the Torah Portion this week Welcome to Ki Tavo - Entering the Promise, this week’s Parsha (Torah Portion). This Torah portion will be read in synagogues around the world during the Shabbat (Saturday) morning service. Please read along with us and discover how precious you are to YHWH Ki Tavo (When You Enter) Deuteronomy 26:1–29:9 (8); Isaiah 60:1–22; Luke 23:26–56 “When you have entered [ki tavo] the land that YHWH your ELOHIM is giving you as an inheritance ... take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land YHWH your ELOHIM is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place YHWH your ELOHIM will choose as a dwelling for His name.” (Deuteronomy 26:1–2) Last week, in Parsha Ki Tetze, YHWH your ELOHIM gave to the Israelites 74 of the 613 commandments found in the Torah—far more than any other Torah portion. These laws mostly seem to be concerned with protecting the weaker members of society and include the laws of the beautiful captive, paying workers in a timely fashion, and leaving a portion of the harvest in the field for the widow, the fatherless and the stranger. This week, in Parsha Ki Tavo (When You Enter), YHWH your ELOHIM instructs Israel to bring the first-ripened fruits (bikkurim) to the Temple in Jerusalem once the Israelites have finally entered the Land He promised to them. It must have been a relief for the children of Israel to hear that their prolonged, 40-year journey through the terrible wilderness would finally be coming to an end. They were about to cross over into the Promised Land. In fact, the word in Hebrew for a Hebrew, Ivri, comes from the root I-V-R, which means to cross over. In a spiritual sense, anyone who has crossed over into the Kingdom of YHWH your ELOHIM is an Ivri. For that reason, perhaps, Paul said that being a Jew is a matter of having a circumcised heart more than circumcised flesh. He wasn’t negating circumcision by any means; he was emphasizing that to cross over into the Kingdom of ,YHWH your ELOHIM there must be an inward change. Those who worship YHWH , worship Him in Spirit and in truth. “But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from YHWH your ELOHIM.” (Romans 2:29) The wilderness experience was so challenging and defining that future rabbinic texts consider any physical or spiritual desert as an enemy to be overcome. Our challenge is to walk through the times of wilderness in our lives and be transformed so that we can enter the Promised Land. Ki Tavo opens with the promise that obedience to YHWH your ELOHIM will be rewarded. These rewards include Divine protection, prosperity and blessings on families and future generations. Disobedience and rebellion against God, however, result in punishment, and the Word of YHWH lists 98 chilling admonitions that take up half of the Parsha. These include diseases and plagues, poverty and famine, slavery, and defeat by enemies. For this reason, Parsha Ki Tavo has been called “the warning chapter,” and the Torah reader, who traditionally chants the Torah portion according to a sing-song pattern, instead rushes through the recital of dreaded curses in a hushed, fearful tone. We don’t need to look far to see that the Jewish people have been blessed by the YHWH your ELOHIM as He promised; but they have also done more than their fair share of suffering over the centuries due to the curses of the law that come into play because of sin (Deuteronomy 28:15–68). Teviah, the father in the movie Fiddler on the Roof, expressed this sentiment so humorously when talking to YHWH after his horse became lame just before the Sabbath: “YHWH, I know that we are Your chosen people, but … couldn’t You choose someone else for a change?” There are some who follow Yeshua HaMashiach, but believe that it is our lot in life to suffer from these curses along with the rest of the world; however, the Word of YHWH tells us differently. As covenant children of YHWH, we are to enjoy His blessings on our lives if we are walking in obedience to His commandments. But Meshiach has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When He was hung on the cross, He took upon Himself the curse for our wrongdoing. (Galatians 3:13) Being a Blessing One of the first acts of obedience that the YHWH asks of His people is to remove the firstfruits of our increase, our tithe, the sacred portion—and to give it to those who serve the YHWH as well as to the poor. “Then say to YHWH our ELOHIM: ‘I have removed from My house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, according to all You commanded.’” (Deuteronomy 26:13) If we are not obeying this command, then we have little Biblical basis on which to expect YHWH’s blessings on our finances. YHWH promises that if we obey Him in giving our tithe, He will rebuke the devourer for our sakes and bless our finances. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes, says YHWH your ELOHIM.” (Malachi 3:10)
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 13:45:44 +0000
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