Finalizing the Covenant…now the full weight of Israel’s responsibilities to Father Yah–the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience–is laid out in graphic detail. Promises are made and oaths are given in the name of the Torah, and these are literally a matter of life and death.
This week we show more than three dozen amazing parallels between Moshe and Y’shua! No doubt you know some of them, but I think quite a few may prove very surprising! We also have a special update on a book that I have been writing that I am eager to share with you all. And the parsha? It’s all about war, pretty girls and dealing with all manner of how not treat the opposite sex and what to do to stay right in the eyes of your spouse and Father Yah. Some people talk about “the war of sexes”. Moshe literally deals with both subjects at the same time. Not to be missed.
It’s “Judgment Day” Torah style, where Moshe guides Israel in setting up the last of the infrastructure of elder judges. Although first outlined by Jethro 40 years earlier in Exodus 18, it is in this part of Deuteronomy where the actual courts are finally planned for the way they will function in Canaan.
It’s time for Moshe to lay it on the line with this new generation. Passionately and methodically, the man of Elohim lays out the “nitty gritty” of the contract between Israel and Father Yah, with amazing blessings for obedience and horrific curses for disobedience. The lives of 2 million people now hang in the balance. What will Israel do?
It’s Moshe’s Greatest Hits (On the Ground that is)! This week Moshe really bares his soul and in an unprecedented display of candor (or a lack of patience, you be the judge), Moshe reveals how he really felt as a disaster was unfolding all around him. Perhaps at the time he did not have a moment to care about how hurt he was, but now he reveals all to the new generation of Israelites and some of those revelations are truly shocking!
Moshe makes his case! In this parsha we see Moshe deliver the most critical aspects of his message–the foundational Ten Commandments are given once more and one of the oldest prayers in the world, the Shema, is said for the first time. And yet, as great as these events are, Moshe must also deal with crushing disappointment as Abba YHWH confirms–in no uncertain terms–that Moshe will in fact die today and never enter the Promised Land! With impending doom on the one hand and the seeds for final rebellion and disaster on the other, Moshe’s hopes turn to the one man who might secure Israel’s future: Joshua. And so a nation of 2 million stand on the brink…waiting.
Ever wanted to know what Moshe did on the last day of his life? The answer is he gave three farewell speeches before climbing up to Mount Nebo to die, and except for a 3 chapter “recap” at the start and Joshua writing about his funeral at the end, everything in between is all Moshe on the last day of his life! This is the most urgent plea the man ever gave because if Israel literally does not get the message here, they will never get another chance to hear it from the man himself. Deuteronomy is permeating with the sense of high intensity urgency, and it all starts here, in the Devarim Torah parsha, where he pours out his soul to a new generation on the fateful last day, 1 Shevat/January 6, 1406 BCE. Don’t miss a moment!
The final two portions of Numbers–the Matot and Masei Double Portion–finally brings an end to a generation of wandering and an age of darkness and doubt. Now at long last a new generation of Israel has arise who, along with Joshua and Caleb, will enter the Land even as Moshe prepares to die. After the recap of all of their 42 stops is given, the remaining attention in the book of Numbers is on the final disposition of the case of the daughter of Zelophehad and the elevation of Joshua.
There is one man who saves more Israelites in a day than almost all other heroes combined, and no, it isn’t Moshe, but his grand-nephew Phinehas. With one bold act, Phinehas stops a deadly plague that surely would have devastated the rest of Israel. We also look at why the priesthood initially passed this young man by, only to have it established on him and his offspring. And Phinehas also appears to make a show of things at the end of the book of Judges about 300 years later…or does he? This is an action packed parsha not to be missed with bonus features! Enjoy!
In a tale that is equal parts comic and tragic, a gifted prophet of YHWH learns a very hard lesson about how righteousness is a critical component of properly using the prophetic gift! It turns out his own donkey has more spiritual understanding than he does!
