Parasha V'et'chanan (and I pleaded) DEUT 3:23-7:11

PARASHA: V'ET'CHANAN (and I pleaded)

DEUT: 3:23-7:11...............ISA 40:1-26.....................MARK 12:28-34

Well, I am REALLY back this time. Rainy Houston, OK...so what else is new? We jump into this Parasha listening to Moshe telling his people; "I messed up, so now I have to die here on this mountain" (well, not his exact words). He pleaded to YHVH to allow him to go into the promised land, yet God said; "Enough, don't mention it any more, what I say goes" YET Adonai allowed him to see into the Promised land, and even more, he brought him INTO the land 1500 years later. Lifted him out of Paradise and brought him face to face with YESHUA and ELIYAHU. that must have been one great experience.

Moshe tells his people and pleads with them, "don't forsake the LORD, nor his mitzvoth" (commandments) don't turn to the right nor the left, straight ahead, he goes over the 10 Commandments. He acts like a father before his children, the father before dying counsels his children on life. LIFE! the word "IF" is in the middle, so life is all about "if"

"if" is conditional. IF you obey the commandments of HaShem THEN you will be blessed, IF you choose NOT to, THEN, curses await you. And when you think about it, it has never changed.

We come to the most popular prayer in Judaism, "the Shema" Devarim 6:4, "Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad" LISTEN ISRAEL meaning more than just "to hear" but "to hear, listen, and obey" Adonai is OUR God, we can say that because we are part of HIS people, and He is our Heavenly Father, but only if YESHUA is our MESSIAH and LORD. Adonai ECHAD, He is ONE in UNITY, The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit, all took part in the creation of the world, all united in ONE TRI-UNITY.

Then we have the "V'ahavtah" (You shall love the LORD thy God....) To love YHVH in this way is supernatural, and can only be accomplished through the Holy Spirit. IF we are led by the SPIRIT, THEN, we will have the full capacity to love our Creator God......and you will have these words on your heart, and will teach them.........We should take serious this commitment, to love our God, and to teach his words to others, when? all the time, to who ever that is willing to listen...where? any place that we might find ourselves with a willing "listener" first to our family, then friends, then our church/synagogue members. How do we love God? through obedience to HIS WORD. Yeshua said "If ye love me, obey my commandments, Yes, he taught the commandments of the Torah, and explained them even more fully, He is the author of ALL that is written in the Torah, through his chosen writers.

"You shall bind them on your hands, they will be between your eyes, and upon your door posts and gates" We see these words represented by what we use every day, the Tefillim and the mezuzah. These are not "magic amulets" but "symbols" which are for us, to be used in our worship. To remind us to keep his commandments, his WORD on our minds,

commandments put into action, through our good works. If the orthodox use them, why shouldn't we, as messianic believers do the same? The mezuzah reminds us that when we enter our homes, "The Presence of God is here inside"

In essence, Moshe is pleading with his children to "love and obey the LORD" (or else)
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

ISAIAH 40:1-26

Yeshayahu is echoing the words of "Yochanan the Baptizer" "The voice of him the crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God ELOHEINU, YESHUATEINU. The WAY is Yeshua, and his WAY should be our WAY as well, when our lives are without Messiah, our lives reflect a desert, dry, without much life. But when we surrender our lives to Mashiach, then the desert is transformed and life springs forth, we no longer walk crooked paths, but straight paths, why? because we KNOW where we are walking, If HE walks a straight line, so will we (at least we should)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

MARK 12:28-34

These are the famous words of YESHUA spoken to a scribe, When we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, which represent every portion of the human being, THEN we will love our neighbor, as we love ourselves. And when we look at the 613 commandments of the Torah, they all teach us how to relate to our creator God, and how to relate to our neighbor, as well as ourselves, The 613 commandments cover ALL ASPECTS of AHAVAH (love) toward YHVH and toward our fellow man, So YES, the Torah IS FOR TODAY, all of it! practically and/or symbolically.

Shabbat Shalom...............Rabbi Ben Avraham  (back in Houston now)