Parsha "V"et"Chanan (and I pleaded) DEUT 3:23-7:11

SHALOM TO ALL: Parasha: "V'et'chanan (and I pleaded)

DEUT 3:23 - 7:11        ISAIAH 49:1-26       MARK 12:28-34

When we look at this week's Torah portion, we hear Moshe speaking to the people, as these are his final days, he "pleaded" with YHVH to allow him to go over the Jordan, however, YHVH says "it is too much for you" How can we understand this? perhaps the LORD is saying that "Moshe has gone through a lot with this people, and the future holds even more problems, better that you , Moshe, stay here and be with me than suffer even more with this rebellious people. That can be one way we can look at this statement. On the other hand, had not Moshe struck the ROCK twice, would be have been able to go over the Jordan? and still contend with this people? interesting idea.

Moshe is also admonishing the people this one important concept, "Obey and follow YHVH's commandments, statutes, regulations , etc and THEN they would be blessed in the new land. This a conditional covenant, a condition which the people of Israel did not keep, and as years go by, they would go astray. We can see the same today in all of our lives, if we live in accordance with the Torah of YHVH, His teaching and instruction, which were amplified even more by Yeshua himself, then we will receive blessings, even on this side of eternity. Many of the commandments make sense, even common sense, and even still we realize that by breaking them, will land us in prison, make us enemies, or bring us to an early death, or get us sick and unhealthy , so, it makes good sense to follow YHVH's teaching through HIS WORD, and his LIVING WORD.

Moshe repeats the basic 10 commandments, reviewing them with the people, and also, we see the "Shema" which is the greatest verse and the backbone of all Judaism, In the Hebrew script, we see that the "Y' in the "Ayin" of the word "Shema" is enlarged
and also the "dalet" "d" in the last word "Echad" is also enlarged, but why? one explanation is that the to letters combined the "Ayin" and the "dalet" spell out the word "Witness" which alludes to calling all of heaven to "witness" our declaration of the same;

SHEMA ISRAEL; (hear Israel) to hear is to listen to and to obey, not just "hearing a noise" ADONAI ELOHEINU (Adonai is our God) this declaration is true only if we consider and taking the God of the universe as our God, because we put our trust in HIM through Yeshua HaMashiach, and consider and follow HIS commandments as our guide in our earthly life, then, and only then can we say truthfully that YHVH-YESHUA is OUR one God.

The Shema continues 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, SOUL, MIND, AND STRENGTH" this is the purest form of "agape" love, how many of us can really say that we love YHVH like that? especially in this world in which we live
YOU SHALL TEACH THESE TO YOUR CHILDREN..... which is our number one responsibility as parents, when a child is small, what he or she learns from the parents, is what guides the child, if the child latter on choses to follow another set of rules, contrary to God's Word, it will not be the parents fault, but the child who CHOSE to disobey, we should BIND THEM AS A SIGN UPON YOUR ARM AND LET THEM BE FRONLETS BETWEEN YOUR EYES, AND WRITE THEM UPONT THE DOORPOSTS OF YOUR HOUSE AND UPON YOUR GATES.   We see here this is the origin of the tefillin and mezuzah, to tie the tefllin onto your forehead symbolizes that we read and commit to our memory HIS WORD, and the tefillin tied on the arm symbolizes that we "put into action what we read from God's Word" as the "arm" symbolizes work and action, the "Mezuzah" on the right door post of our homes symbolizes that "This home serves the LORD" and "The Ruach HaKodesh lives here" Inside the tefillin are these exact words and also inside the mezuzah. We can be sure that Yeshua wore tefillin when he prayed and their house had a mezuzah, since these were/are both commandments.
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ISAIAH 40:

YHVH's people are being comforted, YHVH has not forgotten them, just like a father does not forget his children, he may punish them for disobedience, but will never disown them, we hear the echo of John the Baptist, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the LORD"    Behold the LORD will come with a strong hand and his Arm shall rule for him."
It is interesting that the ancient letter/symbol for "yod" is the arm and hand, and when we see the word "YAH" which is a short form of YHVH it symbolizes "Behold the Arm and the Hand"   The first time, YHVH came to earth in human form as Yeshua to pay our sin debt, the second time He comes, it will be to rule the whole earth, Baruch HaShem!!
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MARK 12:28-34

Yeshua repeats the "Shema" to one of the scribes, telling him it is the greatest commandment of all, and he adds to it; "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" who is our neighbor? just the family , guy, gal, who lives next door to us? no, it is everyone with whom we can establish a relationship with, as we love God and honor Him, we should do so with all people, even though at times, it is tough to do.

SHABBAT SHALOM ...........................rabbi Ben Avraham