To borrow from William Shakespeare, “To be (established) or not to be (established), THAT is the question.”
Torah Portion Deut 26:1 – 29:8, to “be made wise for final redemption” (Rom 8:4,14,23; 2 Tim 3:14-17)
To borrow from William Shakespeare, “To be (established) or not to be (established), THAT is the question.”
Defining “establish” in Deut 28:10 & 29:13 in relation to Heb 8:10, is unquestionably one of the most important tasks for anyone wanting to understand how to count the cost of finishing the course by knowing and keeping THE FAITH by being won over to covenant-keeping by the Spirit (Rom 8:4,6-14), to fight a good fight to overcome Torahlessness to “win Christ” as covenant-Keeper, in the end (Lk 13:23-30; 14:25-35; Phil 3:10-17; 2 Tim 4:7; 1 Jn 3:3-7).
“Establish” is grammatically and thematically inseparable from “CONTINUANCE in well-doing (mastering of precept, rejoicing in working righteousness, remembering YHVH in all His ways – Heb 5:11-14; 6:1-12) to SEEK FOR glory, honour, immortality and eternal life” by upholding the laws of YHVH “sealed among My disciples” as in Is 8:13,14,16,20; 64:5; Matt 28:30 and Rom 2:6-13.
“Establish” according to Strong’s: H6965, means to RISE (in various applications, literal, figurative, intensive and causative), to ABIDE (remain as in “remain forever” “in the Messiah,” in 1 Jn 2:3-6,17, for abiding in the COMMANDMENTS to remain in the Vine – Jn 14:15; 15:3-15); accomplish, be CONFIRMED (1 Cor 1:8), CONTINUE (in covenant- keeping – Rom 11:22; Heb 8:9), be strengthened, succeed.
Zion will rise (Deut 26:16-19; 28:9-14; Jer 31:7) only if the wisdom of the Father’s commandments, ordinances, statutes and judgments and sanctifying traditions is CHAMPIONED by the whole House of Jacob (Deut 4:5-8; 26:17; 27:10; 28:10; 29:9; Is 2:2-4; Micah 4:1-8; 7:8-20; Lk 1:33).
Therefore Heb 8:10 leaves no excuse for misjudging the importance of co-operating with the Spirit of Holiness to put YHVH’s laws in our minds and write them on our hearts (Prov 7:1-3), because it is “to THEM (to those who DELIGHT in His laws as He did on Earth – Ps 40:7,8; Heb 10:5-7) that “I shall be a God and THEY shall be to Me a people.”
The pronouns are specific.
The promise is not random.
Only if grace is a license for Torahlessness (Rom 6:1; 1 Jn 3:4) and love, freedom from obedience, is life and immortality unconditional (1 Jn 5:3).
Love DIVORCED from a faith which is obedient (“emunah” – Hab 2:4; Rom 16:26; Heb 10:36,38) is NOT the Love of God that ransomed us by saying a categorical ‘no’ to self-will, in Gethsemane (Lk 22:42-44).
A Salvation offer that ignores the profound “if” in Ex 19:5,6 and the three decisive “if’s” in Deut 28:1,2,9,10 (the condition implied in Deut 26:17-19 & 27:9 and expressly stated in Deut 29:13), to excuse itself for ignoring Is 56:6-8 and which therefore does not require that we “return” to YHVH by “following-on to KNOW the LORD” (Hosea 6:1-3) to be CONFIRMED and “ESTABLISHED” as the kingdom of priests and holy nation of the people of His inheritance, is absolutely not the “Glad Tidings” of “everlasting salvation,” of Is 45:17-25.
The inheritance is conditional.
Being saved into the Kingdom is free entrance into the race to attain the highest degree of holiness which alone reflects the purity of “chaste virgins” (1 Cor 9:24-27; 2 Cor 11:2; Phil 3:10-17).
Anything less is unacceptable.
Failure to run the race LAWFULLY according to “the Way” (Lk 20:21; Acts 24:14; 2 Tim 2:5), to obtain the crown of righteousness (2 Tim 4:3-8), means probable disqualification from the crown of life (Matt 7:13,14; 19:16,17; Lk 10:25-28).
The purpose of life is to FIND and to KNOW the Father and the Son, by revelation by THEIR Spirit (Ex 33:13; Acts 17:26,27; 1 Jn 2:3-6).
That is done by being willing to be shown “the Way (of the LORD)” to live righteously, and then by doing so zealously as the earliest believers were commended, by the Apostles (Acts 21:20), to love God with ALL our heart, and ALL our soul and with ALL our strength and others, as sacrificially as Y’shua loved us (Lk 20:21; Jn 13:34; Acts 21:20; 24:14b; 1 Jn 3:16).
There’s no way you can SUBTRACT YHVH’s laws to make salvation EQUAL eternal life by defining “grace for grace” (Jn 1:16) differently, to wish-away the grace given AFTER reconciliation by grace, to accomplish the high call to Heb 12:14,28.
Working out our own salvation THROUGH the righteousness of the law (Rom 8:4; Phil 2:12-15; 2 Tim 2:5) is what SECURES the promise of eternal life, which is attainable only by the holiness which is the fruit of righteousness in word and deed that makes us offerings acceptable to God (Rom 6:22; 15:16-18; Heb 12:14,28).
The great contribution of the Hebrew Scriptures towards rectifying the MADNESS of the anti-nomian (anti-Torah) Gospel of salvation, is its continual reminders that becoming “the people of the LORD Thy God” is IN ORDER TO BE MADE HOLY through the commandments (Jn 17:17,19; 1 Cor 7:19; 1 Thess 4:1-3a), or find oneself defiled and unacceptable (Deut 27:9,10; 1 Cor 3:17).
The enormity of the decision to choose Life and blessing by choosing to accept the right rulings/paths (ma’agelei tzedek) by which to regulate our thought and behaviour (to which Paul draws our attention in so many passages, such as Rom 2:13; 3:31; 7:22,25; 8:4; 1 Cor 7:19; 11:1,2; 2 Thess 2:15), will be re-emphasized in Deut 30 (in next week’s readings) which is directly applicable to the church in every generation (Acts 7:38; Deut 30:10,11/2 Jn vs 5&6).
Torah Portions were never intended to be understood without reference to, and deepest respect for, the CONTEXT in which they’re placed, consideration of CONTEXT being one of the universal EIGHT laws of interpretation.
The abrupt cut-off in the narrative this week at Deut 29:8 should therefore not mislead us.
Having just emerged from weighty consideration of the enumeration, in Deut 28:1-14, of many conditional blessings; and in verses 15-68, their inevitable antithesis – curses of many descriptions for breach of covenant, it’s evident that CONTINUITY of our attention is required from Deut 29:8 onwards for the sake of soundly interpreting the foregoing, as this is strongly implied by the “KEEP THEREFORE…” which begins verse 9, and which logically takes us to the end of verse 15, verses 12 – 15 containing one of the most important revelations in the entire Bible, which satan has had a field-day SUPPRESSING: the concept of “entering into the covenant” in order to fulfil the requirements to participate in the promise sworn on oath.
This phrase has been seditiously excised from Christian vocabulary and replaced with cant (sham holiness; humbug), and we wonder why the church barely resembles its Messianic 1st century Apostolic model.
Examining the CONTEXT of this Portion with a clinical eye, reveals the importance of understanding Deut 11:22-32 / 27:1-13 (the two accounts of the vale of decision between Mnt Ebal and Mnt Gerizim) through the prism of the TWIN-emphasis on ‘coming in’ or ‘entering in’ in a) PHYSICAL exit from Exodus (i.e. “…when you ENTER/come into the Land…”); and b) “ENTERING INTO into the COVENANT,” for which our wilderness experiences are allowed to take place, to prepare us BY GRACE (Heb 12:14,28), FOR “grace to reign THROUGH righteousness unto Eternal Life” through our BEING CONSISTENTLY OBEDIENT TO BE RIGHTEOUS to “bear fruit unto Holiness” (Rom 5:21; 6:12-22; 15:16-18; 1 Jn.3:3,4,7), not just confessing virtual righteousness (2 Cor 5:21).
Israel fording the river Jordan and being met on the west bank with a DIVINE ULTIMATUM between Ebal and Gerizim, to REPENT by choosing the precepts of the Way of life, or face extinction, is an object lesson to all of us to believe that our perfection in the Messiah using the benchmarks for purity in the Torah and the Prophets, is indeed a necessity (Deut 18:18,19; Acts 3:22,23; Col 1:22,23,28; 4:12; 2 Tim 3:14-17).
The drama of that searching of hearts and fateful decision as Israel entered Canaan BETWEEN the mounts, began in Ex 19:5-8 when constituted as a nation under YHVH’s absolute Sovereignty and laws to which they unanimously subscribed.
Now, at Ebal and Gerizim, our God held the generation that survived the Exodus, to account, even as He required their circumcision to fulfil His covenant with Abraham (Gen 17).
As a special dispensation, we from the nations are deemed physically circumcised (if of course we weren’t circumcised at 8 days – Jn 7:23) if likewise, we let His precepts align our allegiance to Him (Deut 29:12-15; Rom 2:13,25,26).
Of course, in that connection there’s a deep lesson in the closing verses of this Portion, for us all (Deut 29:5&6), in that anyone who RESISTS the Holy Spirit leading them into the wilderness seasons of life (Matt 4:1) deemed NECESSARY to develop strong faith and the knowledge of YHVH by “keeping the Word of His patience” through longsuffering experience (while supernaturally preserved and provided for, for the furtherance of sanctification of our character for transfigurement of our HUMAN nature into the DIVINE Nature by partaking of YHVH’s Holiness – Heb 12; 1 Peter 1:1-9; 2 Peter 1:1-11), is guaranteed to NOT “KNOW that He is the LORD our God,” by NOT knowing from personal experience of grace, under trial, “that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of the LORD…” (Deut 8:1-6; 29:6).
Allowing Him “to know what is in our heart, whether we will keep His commandments, or not,” by “proving us, to do us good AT OUR LATTER END” (Deut 8:16) by inculcating the Fear of God through chastening (for the Fear of God to be our TREASURE – Is 33:6), is critically important in our long term relationship with Deity.
It shouldn’t surprise us, therefore, that becoming part of the Hebrew household of “the people of the LORD our God” comes with a holy burden of proof that our justification by faith has not been taken for granted, because IMPLICIT in the free gift of IMPUTED righteousness, is the holy obligation to live up to it, or our justification is in vain (Deut 27:9,10; Lk 1:33; James 2:14-26; 1 Jn 3:7).
James is therefore not arguing against Paul.
We are not “established” (Deut 28:10; 29:13) as bona fide ‘chaverim B’rit’ (members of the covenant) (“confirmed to the end” – 1 Cor 1:8), as ACKNOWLEDGED sons of God, except by being DOERS of the Word, to establish the PERPETUAL validity of Torah as an objective test of righteousness (Rom 2:6-13; 3:20,31; 2 Tim 3:14-17; James 1:22-25).
Hypocrisy finds no refuge in the Kingdom of Heaven, either there, or on Earth (Matt 6:9,10).
Actions speak louder than words.
Faith, “if it hath no works (Acts 10:35; Eph 2:10b), is dead, being ALONE” (Deut 26:18; 27:9,10; 28:1,2,9,10; 29:9-15; Rom 3:31; James 1:22-25; 2:12,17-26).
This is about the purging of all trace of contamination of spirit, soul and body that hinders personal purification (2 Cor 7:1; 1 Peter 1:13-18; 2 Tim 2:20,21), to match the primordial purity (natural innocence) of the LAND in which we’re domiciled (including our homes – Hab 2:9-11, so that they or other circumstances don’t ‘vomit us out’); AND that of the spotless Messiah for which Israel and we are waiting (Lk 6:40; Col 1:28; 1 Jn 3:3,4).
The lesson can hardly be lost on us today, if we love the detail in the covenant.
It’s not learnt, however, unless we are diligent enough to SEARCH & RECOVER language/phraseology in Scripture (like “enter into the covenant and into the oath”) that has been buried in the dust of centuries with malevolent motive, but which powerfully describes and confirms our righteous obligations as well instructed “children of light,” properly equipped to “approve the things that are more excellent,” learned “out of the (wealth of) Torah (Instruction)”
This Portion both explains and is explained by 1 Jn 2:3-6,17,28,29.
That’s the long and short of it.
Torah is indispensable, to understand the importance of proving WORTHY, to “remain forever” inscribed for Life by maintaining the purity we obtained when we first responded to the Word of faith and were freely justified (Lk 20:35; Jn 15:3-15; Eph 4:1; 1 Jn 2:17).
The “inheritance is (conditionally) RESERVED in Heaven” for those who “don’t grieve the Spirit,” but who in “righteousness and true holiness,” “keep themselves in YHVH’s love” (always by obedience, to honour the sprinkled Blood) by “entering into (i.e. unconditionally submitting to) the covenant,” to “enter into” the fulfilment of the “OATH” (Ex 19:5,6; Deut 26:18; 29:13) THAT ONLY THOSE WHO DO (Deut 7:9-12; 2 Chr 15:12,15), will be RECOGNIZED AS LEGITIMATE SONS (Matt 7:21-27; Heb 12) and “established” amongst the bona fide remnant, YHVH’s ‘Am S’goelah’ (faithful ‘circle’ of “jewels” – Ex 19:5-8; Deut 28:9,10; 29:13; Jer 31:22,31-34; Mal 3:16-18; Jn 14:16; 15:10-14; Heb 8:10b; 1 Peter 1:2b,4,13-18,22; 2:9,10,21,22; 2 Peter 1:1-15; 3:11-18), the SANCTIFIED “people of (His) inheritance” (Deut 4:10,20; 28:9,10; Eph 4:24,24,30; 1 Thess 5:23; 2 Thess 2:13-15; Jude vs 21).
Only THEY shall be the “NEW THING on Earth,” namely, the remnant “one new man” or bride (“a woman shall compass a man”) ‘compassing’ the Son of Man, due to His ratification of the Hebrew New Covenant of Judah and Israel to ensure that by the ministry of the Spirit, He obtains a spotless bride in the House of Jacob the firstborn, His Abrahamic household, to fulfil the marriage covenant unanimously entered into by faith at Sinai (Ex 19:8; 24:7,8), a commitment to faithfulness which is binding on all future generations, with its origin in YHVH’s instruction to Abraham to teach “the Way of the LORD” (Gen 18:18,19; 26:5; Ex 19:4-8; Deut 29:14,15; Lk 1:33; Eph 2:11,12,19; 5:26,27).
As the people called to “hallow (sanctify, exalt) the Name” and Proclaim the ‘Shema’ (Deut 6:4-9; Matt 6:9,10; Mk 12:29-31), only by being model firstborn nation (Ex 4:22,23) by magnifying Torah (Deut 4:5-8) will YHVH be sanctified satisfactorily by Israel so that He will take Israel from whom He has been separated, as His bride, along with their loyal co-heirs who endorse the Ex 19:5-8; Deut 29:9,12-15 marriage covenant IN FULL.
We’re being joined to the remnant Jewish/Hebrew bride.
YHVH does not cast Himself in the rôle of any other nation’s Husband.
We have to be “in Jacob,” “in the Messiah,” to be in the bride (Gen 12:3; 28:14; Gal 3:29).
He is our Prince and Saviour, Shepherd, Stone, Star, Great Light, Sceptre and Husband only through our affinity to Israel His chosen nation. We cleave to Him by cleaving to them in the Messiah in Whom we are in the Father (Is 14:1; 49:5-8; 54:3; 55:5; Rom 11; 1 Cor 8:6).
Read Jer 31:22,31-34 and Eph 2:11-19 in that light, for yourself.
Salvation is not “full assurance of hope until the end,” WITHOUT PROOF of commitment to honour the terms of separation from worldliness (the “paths of righteousness”;
laws of life) which define “the (strait/narrow) Way of Holiness” (Is 35:8; Matt 7:13-27; 1 Tim 6:11-14; 2 Tim 2:5; Heb 5:11-14; 6:1-12).
To drive the point, this Portion supplies a range of precepts for our consideration, from remembering to dedicate our FIRSTFRUITS (unlike the clearly denominated TITHE, firstfruits are an unprescribed quantity or value as a sacred offering), an apt starting point for the nation about to cross Jordan to enter their land, in which the first crops sanctified as food would see the end of their miraculous provision of manna; to the dire warning against bounty-hunting (mercenary ‘hits’), thereby given us a wide sampling of “the doctrine according to Godliness” (1 Tim 6:3; 2 Tim 3:10), from nourishment from new life, to death by murder (Deut 26:2/Prov 3:9,10 to Deut 27:25).
We’re warned not to discriminate against any part of the covenants made at Sinai (Horev; Myrrh Mnt) and in Moab (Deut 29:1).
Every facet of Divine Jurisprudence has value to offer to Jew and co-heir, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Nu 15:15,16; Matt 5:19; Rom 3:31; 8:4-14).
The principle that acceptance of Deity as Sovereign, binds us to His beneficial laws, is A CONSTANT.
Vesting our faith in YHVH through Y’shua entails unconditional surrender to the Father by acceptance of the yoke of Heaven’s legislation for mankind (Matt 5:19; 6:9,10; 11:29,30).
This act of renunciation of self-will is continually referred to through the Word.
The New Testament is the means for perfection of sanctification (1 Thess 5:23).
From Ex 19:5-8 where Israel accepted the unique yoke of chosen nation in perpetuity, its special bond with the King of the Universe is expressed in many and various reformulations such as Deut 4:5-8; 5:29; 26:16-19; to 28:1,2,9,10 and Deut 29:9-15 etc right through to the ultimate glorification of the House of Jacob in the New Jerusalem (Haggai 2:7,9; Heb 12:23; Rev 21:12)
That’s what makes the ‘Shema’ (Mk 12:28-34) (the covenant of allegiance to the One and Only God and to all His ways), the SUPREME CONFESSION in the faith (besides salvation confession from Rom 10:9-13), stolen from the original Messianic liturgy by satan whose campaign of defilement cannot succeed if it remains in place.
Just as not one of the Ten Words Spoken on Sinai (Deut 4:13) is irrelevant at any time in the past, present or future, so none of the sample size of 11 “statutes and judgments” (Deut 4:14) cited in Deut 27 could possibly find DISFAVOUR with anyone who has the LORD’s Spirit (Rom 8:4,6-14).
True Revival (its goal being the liberty of “rest and refreshing” found through freedom from defilement by not voiding Torah ) (Ps 119:1,45; Is 28:9-13; Hosea 6:1-3; Ezra 9:8-10; Acts 3:19; Rom 2:13,26; 3:31; 8:4) is ALWAYS the OVERTURE to REFORMATION of “ANYTHING contrary to sound doctrine…” (i.e. anything opposed to the letter and Spirit of the full counsel of the Word – Acts 20:25-32; 1 Tim 1:8-11), for correction and chastisement to produce full consecration, to “ENTER INTO (conscientious “masteries” of ) the covenant” so that satan has no grounds to prosecute us as lawbreakers any more than our blameless Master (Deut 29:12-15; Ps 50:5,23; Is 56:6-8; Lk 6:40; Jn 10:16; 14:30; Phil 2:12-15; Col 4:12; 2 Tim 2:5,11; Heb 13:20,21).
We need to be very clear about the purpose of ‘Revival’ so that we’re not entrapped into believing it is chiefly a platform for highly visible signs and wonders (see Y’shua’s judgment on bias against the precepts in Matt 7:21-23) instead of the greatest miracle, which is the transfiguring of our souls from glory to glory through obedience to the covenant by which purification of our souls is a necessity (2 Cor 3:18; 1 Jn 3:3-7), to be raised to the full stature of Messiah Y’shua as ambassadors of whom our Father can say to us what Paul commended in Timothy: “Thou hast FULLY KNOWN My doctrine” (Eph 4:12-15; 2 Tim 3:10), essential to proclaim the unadulterated Gospel which does not denounce the law we are called to serve from the heart by the Spirit (Prov 7:1-3; Heb 8:8-11; 10:16) with the renewed spirit of our minds (Rom 7:7,12-16,22,25; 8:4-14; 12:1,2).
To YHVH be the glory for drawing us into the DETAIL in the covenant necessary to discover the FREEDOM to be found in the OBEDIENCE which is necessary to “make FULL PROOF of our ministries” (2 Tim 4:3-8), to “finish our course with JOY” and be exalted to high estate in “Yeshurun” (ideal Israel – Deut 33:26-29; Is 44:1-8) as Y’shua’s “friends,” fully justified being called “gods,” in Him, by honouring the Way of YHVH, by “doing justice and judgment” (doing what is just and righteous in true holiness) in the Fear of God the Father (Gen 18:18,19; Ps 82:6; 106:3; 119:45; Jn 8:31-36,51-53; 10:35; 15:10-15; Acts 20:24).
[To YHVH be the glory in Y’shua’s Name for His scribal anointing to labour in the field of Torah to help stir up righteousness to harmonize “the ordinances of heaven and earth,” to manifest “the Way of the LORD” for the blessing of Abraham to be unhindered, for his Seed, the Messiah, to return for a consecrated, duty-devoted remnant (Ps 50:5,23) who both LOVE and KNOW Him by finding rest in the commandments, by having magnified and established Torah above even His Name – Gen 18:18,19; 26:5; Ps 138:2; Is 28:9-13; 42:21; Jer 33:25; Matt 6:9,10; 12:50; 13:44,52; 23:39; Lk 17:10; Rom 3:31; 1 Cor 11:1,2; Heb 5:9]
