Torah Portion Shoftim – When You Say I Will Set a King Over Me

The video version is available at: https://youtu.be/GeVfLzXDSec

Reading – Deuteronomy 17:14-18:7

 

By Dan and Brenda Cathcart

The name of this Torah portion is Shoftim which means judges. In this section of the Torah, Moses is relating God’s instructions about the appointment of leadership once they take possession of the Promised Land. This portion contains the specific instruction on establishing judges in every town to handle questions about keeping the commandments and handling disputes between fellow Israelites. It also contains instruction about the selection and affirmation of the king, the priest, and the prophet. The offices of king, priest, and prophet are established so that the children of Israel will not follow after the ways of the Canaanites who were already in the Promised Land.

Deuteronomy 18:9 NKJV 9 "When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations.

What can we learn about how to live our lives today through these instructions? Yeshua, as the divine Son of God, fulfills all three roles of king, priest, and prophet. What do these instructions reveal about Yeshua’s mission?

The first line of defense against falling into the ways of the abominations of the Canaanites is to choose a strong leader. God preferred that the children of Israel accept Him as the king, but He also knew that they would want a person in the role of Moses, someone between them and God. So, before it even happened, God set up the criteria for a king.

Deuteronomy 17:14-15 NKJV 14 "When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,' 15 "you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.

There are two important criteria here in these verses. The first is that God is the one to choose the king, and the second is that the king is chosen from among the tribes of Israel. This process would later be carried out by Samuel when he selected Saul as the first king, and then later, when he chose David to replace Saul. In the first choice of Saul, God gave the children of Israel what they wanted in a king. They should have been more careful and thoughtful of their choice, but to them, Saul looked like the perfect king.

1 Samuel 9:1-2 NKJV 1 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. 2 And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

Saul was a charismatic character. He had a powerful and influential father from the tribe of Benjamin. Saul was good looking, and he was taller than average, so he stood out among the people. But Saul suffered from vanity; for him everything was about the outward appearance. I’m sure that you have encountered people very much like that in your lifetime. Saul worried about what the people would think of him, so he did things in a way that made him look good before the people instead of doing what was right. He didn’t do things according to God’s ways.

God rejected Saul and sent Samuel out to select a new king. God sent Samuel to the sons of Jesse from the tribe of Judah. At first Samuel looked to Eliab, the oldest son of Jesse. But God instructed Samuel to look deeper than just the outward appearance. God was looking for a king with integrity. Someone who would acknowledge and keep God as the head and ultimate leader.

1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

When God chooses a leader, God looks at the heart of that leader. This is especially true of a king. God is looking for an individual who has a deep desire and commitment to His commandments, statutes, and judgments. When Yeshua chose the twelve disciples for His inner circle, He did so after spending time in prayer.

Luke 6:12-13 KJV 12 And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. 13 And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;,

We need to take these instructions to heart ourselves. When we choose leaders over us, we must choose from among our fellow believers and let God lead us to His choice! Once the king is chosen, Moses lists three specific things that a king should not do.

Deuteronomy 17:16-17 NKJV 16 "But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, 'You shall not return that way again.' 17 "Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.

The first thing that Moses listed was that a king was not to multiply horses. But what does that really mean? In ancient times, horses were the engine that drove the war machinery. To multiply horses, was to build up military strength and to rely on that strength to defeat any enemies. We do know that God is not against armies; He ordered the counting of the twelve tribes of Israel according to their armies, twice! Both censuses of the children of Israel in the wilderness were of the men who were able to go to war. God, however, is always the one who actually brings the victory. At the crossing of the Red Sea, God swallowed up the army of Pharaoh, specifically his chariots, his horses and war machinery. It was God, not the armies of Israel that brought the victory at the Red Sea. Moses instructed them to always look to God for their victory over their enemies, and not the power of their own armies or even the armies of their allies.

Deuteronomy 20:1 NKJV 1 "When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.

The battles that we face are not won by the strength of our arms, but by the power of God. The apostle Paul tells us that once we have prepared for battle, we are to stand firm in God’s power.

Ephesians 6:10-11 NKJV 10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

The second instruction that Moses gave the children of Israel regarding their chosen king was that the king was not to multiply wives. This was for a very good reason; multiple wives could turn his heart away from God! Both David and Solomon had multiple wives, and in each case, it led to disfunction and strife within the family. In David’s case, it led to rape, murder, and treachery. In Solomon’s case, his wives directly led to Solomon’s heart being turned away from God, just as God had warned them.

1 Kings 11:4 NKJV 4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David.

We can look at Moses’ warning about many wives as being similar to having many loves in our lives. These loves can be a distraction for us and serve to turn our hearts away from God.

Lastly, Moses cautioned the king against multiplying riches. Multiplying riches can cause the same problems as multiplying horses and wives. When one lays up riches, it leads us to rely on our own wealth and influence instead of God’s provision. Great wealth can cause our hearts to turn away from God. The wealth of this world is fleeting and temporal, but the wealth of God is eternal. Yeshua tells us to multiply our treasures in heaven instead of the treasures on Earth.

Matthew 6:20 NKJV 20 "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

The last thing that Moses instructs the children of Israel about their king is that he is to write his own copy of the Torah and read it every day.

Deuteronomy 17:18-20 NKJV 18 "Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. 19 "And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 "that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his  days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.

David tells us that he meditated on God’s word day and night!

Psalms 119:147-148 NKJV 147 I rise before the dawning of the morning, And cry for help; I hope in Your word. 148 My eyes are awake through the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word.

Keeping God’s words in this way keeps us humble and reminds us that all that we have comes from God. This is especially critical for a king to remember. When we follow God’s word, we know that we live in His kingdom!

Moses now turns his attention to instructions about the priesthood. He tells the children of Israel that the LORD is the inheritance of both the priests and the entire tribe of Levi.

Deuteronomy 18:1-2 NKJV 1 "The priests, the Levites-all the tribe of Levi-shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and His portion. 2 "Therefore they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the LORD is their inheritance, as He said to them.

The entire purpose and focus of the priesthood and the Levites are their service to God. Nothing is to distract them from this service. They do not receive a division within the Promised Land and are not farmers working every day to tend the land. They are not artisans, shopkeepers, or merchants either. The Levites received the LORD’s portion because of their service to the LORD.

Deuteronomy 18:5 NKJV 5 "For the LORD your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons forever.

God set apart the Levites to minister in the name of the LORD. We have looked at their duties in previous Torah studies in the books of Leviticus and Numbers. Moses again reminds the people of their responsibility to provide for the Levites. However, this responsibility goes both ways; the Levite is responsible for being faithful in carrying out his duties. And it must be done from the heart.

Deuteronomy 18:6-7 NKJV 6 "So if a Levite comes from any of your gates, from where he dwells among all Israel, and comes with all the desire of his mind to the place which the LORD chooses, 7 "then he may serve in the name of the LORD his God as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before the LORD. 

Those who stand to minister before the LORD must do so out of a sincere desire. The word “desire” is #185, av-vaw', meaning longing, desire, lust after, or pleasure. Those who serve the LORD, must have a longing to do so!

Finally, Moses tells the children of Israel that God will answer their desire and send them a prophet like him who will mediate between them and God.

Deuteronomy 18:15-16 NKJV 15 "The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, 16 "according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.'

Moses spoke to God face to face. He went directly into God’s presence and heard the words. He didn’t need to rely on dreams or visions as the other prophets do. We saw in the book of numbers that God reaffirms His special relationship with Moses when He chastises Aaron and Miriam for speaking against Moses.

Numbers 12:6-8 NKJV 6 Then He said, "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. 7 Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. 8 I speak with him face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant Moses?"

Moses was always faithful to speak only God’s words to the children of Israel instructing them repeatedly to follow God’s commandments, statutes, and judgments. The entire book of Deuteronomy can be looked at as an admonishment to follow the Torah that God gave to them.  Moses had already described how to tell whether a prophet was a true prophet of God or a false prophet. He said that the false prophet will try to teach a different Torah.

Deuteronomy 13:1-3 NKJV 1 "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 "and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods' -which you have not known-'and let us serve them,' 3 "you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

A false prophet may be able to perform signs and wonders just like a true prophet. But a false prophet will introduce and teach them to follow other gods and abandon their love for the LORD. Yeshua’s own words are that His followers are to love the LORD their God with all their heart, soul, and mind.

Matthew 22:37-38 NKJV 37 Jesus said to him," 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the first and great commandment.

This is a primary reason that believers in Yeshua as their Messiah need to know the whole word of God. The only way to test a prophet is to measure the would-be prophet against God’s full and complete word! The apostle John warns against false prophets in his letters to the churches.

1 John 4:1 NKJV 1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Now, what about our second question? What do these instructions given by Moses reveal about Yeshua’s threefold mission. When Yeshua was on the Earth, He fulfilled the role of the true prophet. He, like Moses, spoke with God face to face. The voice of God spoke from out of the cloud of God’s glory and testified that Yeshua is the beloved Son of God.

Luke 9:34-35 NKJV 34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!"

Just as with Moses, they were to hear and obey His words. Yeshua taught that Israel was to return to the LORD their God and to love Him with all their hearts as they carried out God’s commandments.

With Yeshua’s death and resurrection, He began His role as High Priest, not a high priest like Aaron, but a high priest of a higher order! An eternal priest before God in heaven.

Hebrews 5:9-10 NKJV 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, 10 called by God as High Priest "according to the order of Melchizedek,"

Yeshua’s role of High Priest is ongoing. Today He is continually making intercession for us in the heavenly Tabernacle.

Hebrews 7:24-25 NKJV 24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

The angels of God brought an important message to the disciples gathered at Yeshua’s ascension. They were told that Yeshua will return to this earth, arriving as our eternal king.

Acts 1:10-11 NKJV 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven."

Moses’ instructions to the children of Israel about the duties and responsibilities of their chosen earthly king, are a shadow of the ultimate king who will rule in perfect righteousness.

Yeshua has been chosen by God from among His brethren from the tribe of Judah. When He returns, He will not rely on force of arms or the wealth of this world. He will come seeking His one and only true bride who has made herself ready. As the Living Word of God, He knows the heart of God. As the ultimate king of Israel, He does not need to write His own copy of the Torah, because He is the living Torah and will follow it perfectly as He rules in truth and righteousness from Jerusalem.

Study Questions:

Teaching Questions

 

1. Paul gave some criteria for selecting a leader in 1 Timothy chapter 3. Other than these instructions, how else did Paul address this issue with the early believers, and practice this concept in his own life? What would and should this mean for us in today’s context? How do we apply this in choosing our leaders?

 

2. God chose a strong leader for the children of Israel in Gideon and used him to win a decisive battle over the Midianites. What qualities of faith did Gideon demonstrate when God first appeared to him in the wine press as related in Judges 6:11-20?

 

3. Why was it important that a king should write his own copy of the Torah rather than just have one on hand for him to refer to when needed?

 

General Portion Questions

 

4. Moses told the children of Israel that the Levites, and in particular, the sons of Aaron, did not receive an inheritance in the land. They were instead to minister in the name of the LORD. The word minister is #8334, Shaw-rath meaning to serve in a menial capacity. How did Yeshua minister in the name of the LORD?

 

5. Deuteronomy 19:14 deals with land boundaries established when they took possession of the land. What other boundaries did God establish with them? What boundaries does God establish for us?

 

6. What other insights did you gain from this teaching? What indicators are there in this Torah Portion that point to Messiah Yeshua?

 

© 2023 Moed Ministries International. All rights reserved.

Torah Portion Re’eh – I will establish My Name and Dwell among You.

The video version is available at: https://youtu.be/mH7oH6pyjWk

Reading – Deuteronomy 12

 

By Dan and Brenda Cathcart

Our Torah Portion this week is called Re’eh which means “behold.”  The Children of Israel are on the cusp of entering the Promised Land that the LORD had promised to give them through their father Abraham. But first, before they were to take possession of it, Moses was to reiterate the commandments, statutes, and judgments. These included instructions that were to be carried out once they finally entered the Promised Land. One of these instructions was to seek out the place where God would put His name and dwell among them.

Deuteronomy 12:5 NKJV 5 "But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.

After the children of Israel took the Land, they set up the Tabernacle of Meeting at Shiloh where it remained for about three hundred years. Was the place that God would place His name wherever the Tabernacle was set up or was there a permanent place that God had in mind all along? What were they to do at this place?

Since the children of Israel were to permanently occupy the Promised Land and move no more, God’s dwelling place would also be established in a permanent place. But before this could happen, the kingdom of Israel had to be firmly established.

Many years later, God spoke to King David through the prophet Nathan confirming that, until the proper time came, God’s dwelling place would remain in the Tabernacle first constructed in the wilderness.

2 Samuel 7:5-7 NKJV 5 "Go and tell My servant David, 'Thus says the LORD: "Would you build a house for Me to dwell in? 6 "For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle. 7 "Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, 'Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?'"'

In all the years that Israel had been in the land, from Joshua through the judges, God had not commanded any of them to build Him a house. Now, the LORD told David that He would select a place where they would build a permanent house for him and that he would not move again.

2 Samuel 7:10-11 NKJV 10 "Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, 11 "since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the LORD tells you that He will make you a house.

This permanent dwelling place was not only associated with Jerusalem, but it was also associated with David. God said He would plant the children of Israel and make a house, a permanent dwelling place, for David, God’s chosen king. God would establish His covenant with David forever.

Psalms 89:3-4 NKJV 3 "I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David: 4 'Your seed I will establish forever, And build up your throne to all generations.'" Selah

After David’s son Solomon completed the temple, he spoke about this in his prayer of dedication, first reminding the people that God had chosen David to be king.

1 Kings 8:15-16 NKJV 15 And he said: "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and with His hand has fulfilled it, saying, 16 'Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there; but I chose David to be over My people Israel.'

Solomon goes on to say that God honored David’s desire to build a house for God.

1 Kings 8:17-18 MKJV 17 And it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. 18 And the LORD said to my father David, Because it was in your heart to build a house to My name, you did well that it was in your heart.

Solomon carried out what was in David’s heart, fulfilling God’s instruction through Moses that they were to seek the place where God would place His name. When God appeared to Solomon after this prayer, God confirmed that this temple in Jerusalem was the place that He would place His name forever.

1 Kings 9:3 NKJV 3 And the LORD said to him: "I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.

The Temple that Solomon built, and the throne of the kingdom go hand in hand! It is a reciprocal arrangement. God built a house for David and the ensuing future kings that would rule over the children of Israel; and David, in turn, through his son Solomon, built a house for God. The temple in Jerusalem is the place in all their tribes that God told the children of Israel they were to seek out for His dwelling place.

What were they to do at this place? And how or why is the house of David connected to the place where God makes His name dwell?

Starting with what they were to do there, we need to back up a couple of verses in Deuteronomy chapter 12 and look at the preparations for the place, and the land of Israel in general.

Deuteronomy 12:2-4 MKJV 2 You shall completely destroy all the places in which the nations which you shall possess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 And you shall overthrow their altars and break their pillars, and burn their pillars with fire. And you shall cut down the carved images of their gods, and destroy their names out of that place. 4 You shall not do so to the LORD your God.

Moses’ instructions to the children of Israel were that they were to cleanse the land by removing all the pagan altars and idols of the current inhabitants. Everything used in the worship of other gods was to be destroyed. Nothing was to be salvaged or used in any way for any purpose. Even the names of their gods were to be destroyed, never to be remembered or spoken. Moses finishes by stating that they were not to do the same thing to the LORD; they were not to destroy God’s name or His altar. Instead, they were to seek the place where God would permanently place His name and dwell with them forever! Before they could build God’s house, the land had to be pure and holy.

Then, once they found and established this place, they were to worship at that place and only that place. They were to bring all their offerings, sacrifices, tithes, vowed offerings, firstfruits offerings, and freewill offerings. Everything and everyone were to go to the place where God caused His name to dwell. They were to go there and partake of a shared meal before the LORD.

Deuteronomy 12:7 MKJV 7 And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households in which the LORD your God has blessed you.

This was to be a place of fellowship with God, rejoicing in all that God had blessed them with. Even though they may have been tempted to conduct their offerings in a place more convenient to where they were living, they were not to do so.

Deuteronomy 12:13-14 MKJV 13 Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see. 14 But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

They were not to build altars and make sacrifices in any other place but the place God chose. They were allowed to slaughter animals for food, but not for sacrifice in other places. When slaughtering an animal for food, they were to pour out the blood from any animal slaughtered on the ground.

Deuteronomy 12:15-16 NKJV 15 "However, you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, of the gazelle and the deer alike. 16 "Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water.

They were reminded that they were not to eat the blood of an animal. They had received previous instruction that the blood was set apart as an offering on the altar to make atonement for their souls.

Leviticus 17:10-12 MKJV 10 And any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that are staying among you, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood. And I have given it to you on the altar to make an atonement for your souls. For it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul. 12 Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that is staying among you eat blood.

life was in the blood, and it was set apart to God. So, the blood that was not from an offering or sacrifice, if an animal was simply slaughtered for food, the blood could not be poured out on the altar of God, or any other altar and, therefore, must be poured out on the ground.

But we still have an unanswered question. How or why is the house of David connected to the place where God makes His name to dwell?  We see that God’s selection of David is like His selection of Abraham. God told Abraham’s son Isaac that he would be the recipient of God’s promise to his father because God knew that Abraham would walk in His ways.

Genesis 26:4-5 MKJV 4 And I will make your seed to multiply as the stars of the heavens, and will give to your seed all these lands. And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.

The prophet Samuel testified that God had chosen David to be king in place of Saul, because David was a man after God’s own heart, a man who walked in the ways of God.

1 Samuel 13:14b MKJV 14b The LORD has sought Him a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him to be leader over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.

Just as God told Isaac, God also told Solomon that if he would walk in the integrity of David, He would establish his throne forever like He established David’s throne forever.

1 Kings 9:4-5 NKJV 4 "Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, 5 "then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, 'You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.'

Abraham obeyed God’s voice when God asked him to take his son Isaac and offer him as a burnt sacrifice at the place God would show him on Mt. Moriah. Abraham knew full well that God’s promises to him regarding possession of the land and a multitude of descendants would be through Isaac! Abraham trusted God fully and knew that God would provide a way. Now it just so happens that Mt. Moriah is the place where Solomon would build the temple!

2 Chronicles 3:1 NKJV 1 Now Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

When David expressed the desire to build a house for God, God remarked about choosing David from out of the sheepfold to be the king of His people.

2 Samuel 7:7-8 MKJV 7 In all places in which I have walked with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the tribes of Israel, those I commanded to feed My people Israel, saying, Why do you not build Me a house of cedars? 8 And now so shall you say to My servant David, So says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel.

Ezekiel writes that when God brings Israel and Judah back to the Promised Land following their exile in Babylon, He will restore both the throne of David and the temple. Regarding the throne, He says that the one who sits on the throne of David shall feed His sheep.

Ezekiel 34:23-24 MKJV 23 And I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, My servant David. He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd. 24 And I the LORD will be their God, and My servant David a ruler among them. I the LORD have spoken.

David, or a descendant of David, will be their shepherd and their ruler forever, and the LORD will be their God forever. The proper hierarchy is achieved with God as the head of all, and a descendant of David reigning subordinate to God. At the time of David, this was the accepted order of authority. When this perfect order was in place, God said He would plant the people and they would no longer move about in tents.

Jeremiah says that when God returns Israel to their land, He will plant them and not pluck them up again.

Jeremiah 24:6 MKJV 6 For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land. And I will build them and not pull them down; and I will plant them and not pluck them up.

Ezekiel continues to explain that when the children of Israel return to the Land they will walk in God’s statutes as Abraham did, and with integrity of heart as David did.

Ezekiel 37:24-25 MKJV 24 And David My servant shall be King over them. And there shall be one Shepherd to all of them. And they shall walk in My judgments, and obey My laws, and do them. 25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, the land in which your fathers have lived. And they shall dwell in it, even they and their sons, and the sons of their sons forever. And My servant David shall be their ruler forever.

Clearly David had died a long time before their Babylonian exile and return to the land. So, this ruler is obviously a descendant of David. Yeshua brings up this question when the scribes question Him as He taught in the temple.

Mark 12:35-36 MKJV 35 And answering, teaching in the temple, Jesus said, How do the scribes say that Christ is the Son of David? 36 For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: "The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand until I place Your enemies as Your footstool."

Messiah will come as the Son of David who will restore the kingdom making His enemies into His footstool. We can compare this to the children of Israel coming into the Promised Land and driving out all their enemies! After driving out their enemies, the children of Israel, under the kingship of David, sought and found the place where God would place His name! God said that He chose Jerusalem and will choose Jerusalem again.

Zechariah 1:16-17 NKJV 16 'Therefore thus says the LORD: "I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy; My house shall be built in it," says the LORD of hosts, "And a surveyor's line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem."' 17 "Again proclaim, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "My cities shall again spread out through prosperity; The LORD will again comfort Zion, And will again choose Jerusalem."'

Jerusalem was the place that God had in mind all along. It was the place that God chose to demonstrate to Abraham how God would sacrifice His only son to bring salvation to the world. It was the place where atonement was made for David’s sin of exalting himself and his force of arms over God. It was the place that Solomon built the temple for God and where the Shekinah glory entered and dwelt. When Yeshua returns, It is this place where He will reign forever as the King of Israel.

Study Questions:

Teaching Questions

 

1. Read Revelation 21:9-27. How are the temple of God and the city of Jerusalem forever linked together?

 

2. The temple is a bridge between heaven and earth. In what ways is that fulfilled through the temple in Jerusalem?

 

3. The children of Israel were to destroy the names of the gods that the Canaanites worshiped and not to destroy God’s name. In what ways did Israel destroy God’s name? Consider Jeremiah 23:26-27 and Psalm 44:20-26. How were they to establish God’s name?

 

General Portion Questions

 

4. One of the things that the children of Israel were to take to the place where God put His name were judgments that were to difficult for the judges to decide. See Deuteronomy 17:8-13. How is does this establish the LORD as the ultimate judge? How does this tie into the house of David and the coming reign of Yeshua?

 

5. Many scriptures link the house of David with the temple and worship of God including Psalm 122, Jeremiah 22:1-6, Jeremiah 33:14-18, and Zechariah 12:8-13:1. How do these reinforce that the place where God places His name is connected with the reign of David?

 

6. What other insights did you gain from this teaching? What indicators are there in this Torah Portion that point to Messiah Yeshua?

 

© 2023 Moed Ministries International. All rights reserved.

Torah Portion Ekev – A Promise of Blessing

The video version is available at: https://youtu.be/ay8HccbGods

Reading – Deuteronomy 7:12-8:20

 

Dan and Brenda Cathcart

We all desire God’s blessings. We seek out His grace and salvation. We pray for blessings for ourselves and for others around us. But somehow, we have gotten the idea in this “name-it-and-claim-it” era of church doctrine that God would do anything that we ask of Him. In our modern world we have everything we need readily available. In many ways God becomes a secondary thought. We don’t need Him for food, we have the grocery store less than a mile away. Clean potable water comes out of the kitchen faucet rather than a rock out in the backyard. We become quite complacent with what we have and the life we live, forgetting that God created it all for our benefit.

Moses did not want the children of Israel to have this attitude of entitlement. So, he gathered together this new generation of the children of Israel to give them final instructions. He recited their history to them from the time God took them out of Egypt until they stood poised to enter the Promised Land. He wanted them to remember that it was God who brought them out and led them through their forty years in the wilderness.

Our Torah portion this week is called “ekev,” a word that simply means “because.” It’s not a very interesting word until you look a little deeper. A word with the same Hebrew spelling but pronounced differently is “akev,” number 6117 which means heel, or to seize by the heel. And, of course, it shares the same three letter root with the name Jacob, or Ya’akov, which means heel grabber. The portion Ekev speaks about the rewards that will come to the children of Israel because of, or on the heels of, following God’s commandments.

Deuteronomy 7:12 NKJV 12 "Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers.

Moses told the children of Israel about a bright and promising future in the Promised Land. But their success and prosperity in the land would be contingent on following God’s commandments, statutes, and ordinances. Moses promised them that if they did this, they would be blessed with much prosperity, miraculous fertility, and health in the land.

Deuteronomy 7:13-15 NKJV 13 "And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you. 14 "You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock. 15 "And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you.

But, before all this could happen, they needed to take possession of the Promised Land. Moses’s words turned to the promise that they would conquer their enemies and drive out the inhabitants of the land. They were not to be fearful of the “giants” as their fathers were. Moses reminds them of how God had defeated the Egyptians, and this same God would now defeat the Canaanites as they enter the land.

Deuteronomy 7:16-19 NKJV 16 "And you shall destroy all the peoples whom the LORD your God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you. 17 "If you should say in your heart, 'These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?' - 18 "you shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: 19 "the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So shall the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

Moses reminds them that the forty years spent in the wilderness were to humble and test them; to prepare them to enter the land.

Deuteronomy 8:1-2 NKJV 1 "Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers. 2 "And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

What leading of God were they to remember? They were to remember that God fed them in the desert when they ran out of food, and that their clothing and shoes did not wear out.

Deuteronomy 8:3-4 NKJV 3 "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. 4 "Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.

Does this passage sound familiar?  When Satan tempted Yeshua in the wilderness, Yeshua quoted from this passage about the manna.

Luke 4:1-4 NKJV 1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. 3 And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." 4 But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"

Yeshua could have trusted in Himself and provided the bread himself. The temptation Yeshua faced was to rely on what His flesh said that He needed instead of relying on God to provide it.

God humbled the children of Israel while in the wilderness, seeking to teach them that their nourishment comes from the word of God. Moses said this was accomplished by giving them manna which their fathers did not know. When they hungered, they asked for the food that they were familiar with.

Exodus 16:3 NKJV 3 And the children of Israel said to them, "Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

They did not have the pots of meat and abundance of bread in the wilderness that they had in Egypt. God provided for their hunger, but He didn’t give them the foods they were used to. God gave them quail in the evening to satisfy their hunger for meat, but then He gave them something new and unfamiliar.

Exodus 16:13-15 NKJV 13 So it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp. 14 And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.

God gave them a food that they didn’t know, provided directly from God’s words that He spoke to Moses.

Exodus 16:4 NKJV 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.

Not only was this “bread from heaven” unfamiliar, but they would only receive it once every day.

Exodus 16:16 NKJV 16 "This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: 'Let every man gather it according to each one's need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.'"

Each day, for the entire forty years, they had to trust God that the manna would be there! Those who tried to store it up received a big surprise when it rotted overnight.

The children of Israel were allowed to become hungry so they would learn to go to God, not in anger or desperation, but in confidence and gratitude for God’s provision. Through this provision of the manna, God was instructing His people how to rely on and trust Him. When they depart from that trust, God corrects them.

Deuteronomy 8:5 NKJV 5 "You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.

Some translations use the word discipline or training instead of chastening. The Hebrew word for “chasten” is number 3256, “yasar,” meaning to chasten, instruct, or correct. Isaiah uses this same Hebrew word to compare God’s words and instructions with the knowledge of a farmer on how and when to plant.

Isaiah 28:23-26 NKJV 23 Give ear and hear my voice, Listen and hear my speech. 24 Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow? Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods? 25 When he has leveled its surface, Does he not sow the black cummin And scatter the cummin, Plant the wheat in rows, The barley in the appointed place, And the spelt in its place? 26 For He instructs him in right judgment, His God teaches him.

Just like a farmer knows from years of practice how, when, and where to plant, Isaiah says that they are to know how to live rightly from years of practice in following God’s instructions. God giving the children of Israel manna in the wilderness is God’s way of instructing them to rely on and trust Him daily; to believe that God would do what He said He would do.

As a warning so they would not make the same mistake that their fathers made, Moses related what God had promised to their fathers and how their father’s didn’t believe that God could and would take them into the Land.

Deuteronomy 1:30-32 NKJV 30 'The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 'and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.' 32 "Yet, for all that, you did not believe the LORD your God,

Even though God had taken them out of Egypt, caused them to cross the Red Sea on dry land, appeared to them in the fire on Mt. Sinai, and gave them manna to eat and water to drink; they did not believe God would do what He said He would do when it came to actually entering the Promised Land! Why was it they did not believe that God had the power to defeat the Canaanites? The children of Israel had totally failed to learn what God intended for them to learn through their trials!

God said that the reason He humbled and tested His people was to know what was in their hearts. They were supposed to have God’s Torah written on their hearts.

Deuteronomy 6:6 NKJV 6 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

God wanted to know if the children of Israel believed God enough to follow what He said to do; to live according to His ways.

Deuteronomy 5:29 NKJV 29 'Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!

David asked God to examine him to find out what was inside of him.

Psalms 26:1-3 NKJV 1 <<A Psalm of David.>> Vindicate me, O LORD, For I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the LORD; I shall not slip. 2 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart. 3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth.

David’s proof of what was in his heart was that he had trusted in the LORD! He goes on to say that he hadn’t worshiped idols or walked in the ways of the wicked. Instead, he constantly spoke and sang about God and worshipped only God. In another words, he kept God’s commandments.

Through the trials that David faced, he learned to believe in and trust God with all his heart. This is the heart that God wants all of His people to have! This is the kind of belief that leads to salvation. This is the belief and faith in God demonstrated by the Ethiopian that Philip spoke to.

Acts 8:35-37 NKJV 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" 37 Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

Yeshua says that salvation comes when people accept that God has the power and commitment to do what He says He will do. While in the wilderness, time after time the children of Israel doubted God’s ability to provide and care for them, and, in their doubt, they proclaimed that God brought them out to kill them! But God didn’t bring them out of Egypt to kill them, He brought them out because He loved them.

Deuteronomy 10:15 NKJV 15 "The LORD delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day.

The gospel of John tells us God loves us so much, that He sent His Son to die for us.

John 3:16-18 NKJV 16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

God did not bring the children of Israel into the wilderness to kill them. Similarly, God did not send Yeshua into the world to bring death. Although, like death came to those who didn’t believe in the wilderness, death comes to those who don’t believe that God sent His Son. Those in the wilderness thought they believed in God; they did follow Him out of Egypt. However, when trials came, they fell away, and God became angry with their disobedience.

Hebrews 3:17-19 NKJV 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Belief is not a passive or weak thing. When it is in our hearts—when His commandments, statutes, and ordinances are written on our hearts, we can do anything that God wants us to do. This is why Paul tells us to glory in the trials we face.

Romans 5:3-5 NKJV 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Yeshua told His disciples a parable of four types of soil into which the farmer planted seed. The seed that fell on the stony ground immediately sprouted and grew, but when the sun shined on it, it quickly withered and died.

Matthew 13:20-21 NKJV 20 "But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 "yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

He has no root that reaches deep into the soil to reach the life-giving water. The person who hears and receives it with joy but doesn’t have the word deeply embedded in his heart is at risk of withering away.

Paul compares Moses instructing the children of Israel that the word is near to them and in their hearts with the type of belief that leads to righteousness and salvation.

Romans 10:8-10 NKJV 8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

God wants us to recognize that the good things that come into our lives are not because of our own efforts or righteousness, but that they come to us because of our faith. God allowed the adversity and challenges to come upon the children of Israel in the wilderness to test them and humble them. He allows trials to come into our lives to test us. He wants us to have such a strong belief in Him that nothing can shake our faith. No adversity, no lack of food, water, or any other need will shake us from our devotion to Him. He wants to know what is in our hearts. He will test us to see if we will walk in His ways or not. With His words written on our hearts, we can pass the test.

Study Questions:

Teaching Questions

 

1.         Yeshua quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 when He was tempted by Satan in Matthew 4:3-4. What was the danger in turning the stone to bread? How does this refute the “name it, claim it” doctrine? Reconcile it with Matthew 21:22, Mark 11:24 that says if we ask in prayer and believe, we will receive it. Consider John 14:13-14, Luke 11:9; John 15:7,16; 16:23-24; James 1:5; 1 John 3:22; 5:14 in your answer.

 

2.         Providing manna to eat instead of familiar foods took the children of Israel out of their comfort zone. How does taking us out of the familiar, out of our comfort zone, provide a test of our faith?

 

3.         Paul says in Romans 10:10 that with the heart, one believes unto righteousness. How is this related to writing the Torah on one’s heart?

 

General Portion Questions

 

4.         Yeshua says that God is the one who provided the manna in the wilderness and sent Yeshua the true manna, the bread from heaven in John 6:30-35. How does this fulfill Deuteronomy 8:3 that man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD?

 

5.         With all their complaining and disobedience during the 40 years in the wilderness, how did the children of Israel merit the gift of the Promised Land?

 

6.         What other insights did you gain from this teaching? What indicators are there in this Torah Portion that point to Messiah Yeshua?

 

© 2023 Moed Ministries International. All rights reserved.