Commentary - Year 3 Sabbath 24

Deuteronomy 2:1 - 3:22  -   Isaiah 1:1-27   -   Psalm 121   -   Romans 9:1-33

Elul 16, 5763 / September 13, 2003 

Elul 16, 5766 / September   9, 2006

Elul 16, 5769 / September   5, 2009

Elul 14, 5772 / September   1, 2012

Elul 14, 5775 / August      29, 2015

Vanephen / We Turned   SCRIPTURES should be read first

As we approach the Promised Land, we are reviewing some things that we should have learned on our journey through this life.

(V.1) Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as Yahweh spoke to me, and circled Mount Seir (Hairy or Shaggy – Horites, Edom: descendents of Esau) for many days.

(V.8) So we passed beyond our brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road, away from Elath (Grove of lofty trees, where Jonah’s ship was made) and from Ezion-geber.

Esau was the firstborn, and thus he had the right to the priesthood. But he despised it, while his brother Jacob treasured it. God gave the inheritance to Jacob, whom He called Israel. But God, who sends rain on the just and the unjust, still gave Esau a place in this world, which Israel was not allowed to diminish. Israel was only allowed to buy necessary food and drink on their journey through Esau’s land.

God has promised us the eternal spiritual inheritance. While we journey through Esau’s land – Edom/Rome, we are to pay for our necessities of this life, and we are not to damage Esau’s property. In other words, we are to work for our food and shelter, and we are not to destroy this world, certainly not “kill the faithless” as some religions teach.

However, we see in Isaiah, that God will destroy the faithless, and will also discipline Israel (His ancient church that was in the wilderness). God says, “Come out of her (Rome), My people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4).

 (V.23) And the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Azzah. This is Gaza, of current news.

Isaiah 1:1-27

(V.2) Listen (Sh’ma), O heavens, and hear, O earth; for Yahweh speaks: "Sons I have reared and brought up, but they have revolted against Me. (V.5) Where (is there anyplace left that) will you be stricken again, as you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint.

(V.13-15) Bring your worthless offerings no longer, incense is an abomination to Me. New Moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies – I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. I hate your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts, they have become a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them. So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you, yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Many people misuse this Scripture to teach that animal offerings and holy days are no longer pleasing to God: that is very different from what is being said here. God says that He will not accept “your” worthless offerings, “your” festivals, and “your” hands spread in prayer: these are neither “His” offerings, nor “His” festivals, nor “His” desires in prayer!

(V.16-17) The requirement, in order for these things to be acceptable, is: “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, learn to do good.” These things must be done by those who are following God’s Word in their lives, and doing these things in God’s prescribed manner.

(V.24-27) The end is, as Yahweh God of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel declares, “Ah, I will be relieved of My adversaries, and avenge Myself on My foes. I will also turn My hand against you, and will smelt away your dross as with lye, and will remove all your alloy. Then I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning; after that you will be called the city of righteousness, a faithful city.” Zion will be redeemed with justice, and her repentant ones with righteousness. Then the eternal Holy Days will be observed by the righteous in God’s way.

This is a fitting message to precede the imminent month of Holy Days.

Psalm 121

(V.1-2) I will lift up my eyes to the mountains – Sinai & Zion. From whence shall my help come? When I lift up my eyes to the mountains, shall my help come from thence? My help comes from Yahweh, Who made heaven and earth. And it normally comes through (Sinai) Torah and (Zion) Jerusalem’s prophets.

(V.3-6) He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Yahweh is your keeper; Yahweh is your shade on your right hand: the sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. In the day, when the sun rules, the morning spirits shall not smite you; in the night, when the moon rules, the nocturnal spirits shall not smite you (Targum).

Also, concerning the sun smiting, Revelation 16:8-9 says, “And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues; and they did not repent, so as to give Him glory.” And Matthew 13, Yeshua’s parable of the sower, speaks of the sun scorching seed that falls in stony places – a reference to God’s Word falling upon hard hearts and being taken away by the light that is life-giving to others.

(V.7) Yahweh will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. Not from the evil of affliction, it being made to work for good; but from the evil of sin; not from the being or the commission of it, but from its dominion and damning power, or from a total falling away by it.

(V.8) Yahweh will guard your going out and your coming in: your ‘good foot’ – going out to do business, and coming in to study Torah, from this time forth and forever.

Romans 9

Yeshua gave His life for His people. We are to be like Him. Moses (Exodus 32:10, Numbers 14:12) gave up his own glory for God’s people, and Paul (v.1-5) said that he could wish himself accursed – separated from Messiah – instead of God’s people. This is the greatest love (John 15:13).

Paul uses the story of Abraham’s two sons – Isaac and Esau, to explain that the Children of God are not of the flesh, but of the Spirit.

He uses the story of Jacob and Esau to explain that God uses His own free choice to determine whom He will love, and whom He will hate: it is not dependent upon the will of the person, or how sincere he is, or how hard he tries.

Then Paul anticipates the natural reaction: So, how can God find fault with anyone, if no one can resist God’s will and purpose? And he answers the anticipated question: Whom do you think you are, O worm of a man, that you have any standing to question your creator? God hold all of the rights! What if the creator wants to make some to honor Him and some for destruction, to display His authority and power – and grace?

Furthermore, some of the “natural” children stumble at Yeshua and are excluded, while some gentiles – by grace through faith (which itself is a gift of God) – are included.

Today many spiritual problems prevail in our society: there are groups fighting for their “minority rights”, “religious rights”, so-called “gay rights” – rights for all kinds of freedoms to sin. We need to understand that God holds all of the rights!

If we have faith in Yeshua for our salvation, then we need to realize that it is all of God: there is nothing wherein we can boast, not even for believing. That is grace! And it should affect our attitudes toward others, understanding that we are not naturally better in any way.

As believers, it is God who keeps us from being dominated by sinful desires (Psalm 121:7), and protects us from evil spirits (Psalm 121:3-6) – and that through Torah study (Psalm 121:1-2). We must “learn to do good” (Isaiah 1:17).

Many in the Exodus from Egypt were aliens – from the seventy nations of the Babel dispersion. They were part of the group called “Israel”. Abraham’s promised posterity was to be spiritual: that is neither a denial of Israel, nor is it replacement theology. It means that to be truly Israelites, there is a requirement of faith that produces fruit – works. That faith is not granted to all natural born descendents of Abraham, and it is granted only to some Gentiles who are “graffed in”. God will ultimately redeem all whom He has chosen, through faith, by hearing the gospel, and there will be a pure nation. We are chosen to be partakers in the Covenant to Abraham, if we are of the faith.

Readings:

Reader 1*  Amen.  ¹ "Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as Yahweh spoke to me, and circled Mount Seir for many days. ² "And Yahweh spoke to me, saying, ³ 'You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north, ⁴ and command the people, saying, "You will pass through the territory of your brothers the sons of Esau who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful; ⁵ do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, even as little as a footstep because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. ⁶ "You shall buy food from them with money so that you may eat, and you shall also purchase water from them with money so that you may drink.

Reader 2*  Amen.  ⁷ "For Yahweh your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness. These forty years Yahweh your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing."' ⁸ "So we passed beyond our brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road, away from Elath and from Ezion-geber. And we turned and passed through by the way of the wilderness of Moab. ⁹ "Then Yahweh said to me, 'Do not harass Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot as a possession. ¹⁰ (The Emim lived there formerly, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim. ¹¹ Like the Anakim, they are also regarded as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. ¹² The Horites formerly lived in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which Yahweh gave to them.)

Reader 3*  Amen.  ¹³ 'Now arise and cross over the brook Zered yourselves.' So we crossed over the brook Zered. ¹⁴ "Now the time that it took for us to come from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war perished from within the camp, as Yahweh had sworn to them. ¹⁵ "Moreover the hand of Yahweh was against them, to destroy them from within the camp until they all perished. ¹⁶ "So it came about when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people, ¹⁷ that Yahweh spoke to me, saying, ¹⁸ 'Today you shall cross over Ar, the border of Moab.

Reader 4*  Amen.  ¹⁹ 'When you come opposite the sons of Ammon, do not harass them nor provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot as a possession.' ²⁰ (It is also regarded as the land of the Rephaim, for Rephaim formerly lived in it, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummin, ²¹ a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim, but Yahweh destroyed them before them. And they dispossessed them and settled in their place, ²² just as He did for the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them; they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. ²³ And the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and lived in their place.)

Reader 5*  Amen.  ²⁴ 'Arise, set out, and pass through the valley of Arnon. Look! I have given Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land into your hand; begin to take possession and contend with him in battle. ²⁵ 'This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples everywhere under the heavens, who, when they hear the report of you, will tremble and be in anguish because of you.' ²⁶ "So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, ²⁷ 'Let me pass through your land, I will travel only on the highway; I will not turn aside to the right or to the left. ²⁸ 'You will sell me food for money so that I may eat, and give me water for money so that I may drink, only let me pass through on foot, ²⁹ just as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross over the Jordan into the land which Yahweh our God is giving to us.'

Reader 6*  Amen.  ³⁰ "But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land; for Yahweh your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today. ³¹ "Yahweh said to me, 'See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to occupy, that you may possess his land.' ³² "Then Sihon with all his people came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz. ³³ "Yahweh our God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him with his sons and all his people.

Reader 7*  Amen.  ³⁴ "So we captured all his cities at that time and utterly destroyed the men, women and children of every city. We left no survivor. ³⁵ "We took only the animals as our booty and the spoil of the cities which we had captured. ³⁶ "From Aroer which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon and from the city which is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was no city that was too high for us; Yahweh our God delivered all over to us. ³⁷ "Only you did not go near to the land of the sons of Ammon, all along the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, and wherever Yahweh our God had commanded us.

Isaiah 1:1-27

Reader 8*  Amen.  ¹ The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. ² Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; for Yahweh speaks, "Sons I have reared and brought up, but they have revolted against Me. ³ "An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its master's manger, but Israel does not know, My people do not understand." ⁴ Alas, sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned Yahweh, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away from Him. ⁵ Where will you be stricken again, as you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint. ⁶ From the sole of the foot even to the head there is nothing sound in it, only bruises, welts and raw wounds, not pressed out or bandaged, nor softened with oil. ⁷ Your land is desolate, your cities are burned with fire, your fields – strangers are devouring them in your presence; it is desolation, as overthrown by strangers. ⁸ The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a watchman's hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

Reader 9*  Amen.  ⁹ Unless Yahweh of hosts Had left us a few survivors, we would be like Sodom, we would be like Gomorrah. ¹⁰ Hear the word of Yahweh, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah. ¹¹ "What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?" Says Yahweh. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle; and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. ¹² "When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you this trampling of My courts? ¹³ "Bring your worthless offerings no longer, incense is an abomination to Me. Heads-of the-months and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies – I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. ¹⁴ "I hate your head-of-the-month festivals and your appointed feasts, they have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. ¹⁵ "So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen.

Reader 10*  Amen.  Your hands are covered with blood. ¹⁶ "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, ¹⁷ learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. ¹⁸ "Come now, and let us reason together," Says Yahweh, "Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. ¹⁹ "If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land; ²⁰ but if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." Truly, the mouth of Yahweh has spoken. ²¹ How the faithful city has become a harlot, she who was full of justice! Righteousness once lodged in her, but now murderers. ²² Your silver has become dross, your drink diluted with water. ²³ Your rulers are rebels and companions of thieves; everyone loves a bribe and chases after rewards. They do not defend the orphan, nor does the widow's plea come before them. ²⁴ Therefore the Lord Yahweh of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, declares, "Ah, I will be relieved of My adversaries and avenge Myself on My foes. ²⁵ "I will also turn My hand against you, and will smelt away your dross as with lye and will remove all your alloy. ²⁶ "Then I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning; after that you will be called the city of righteousness, a faithful city." ²⁷ Zion will be redeemed with justice and her repentant ones with righteousness.

Psalm 121   (To be sung.)   A Song of Ascents.

¹ I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? ² My help comes from Yahweh, Who made heaven and earth. ³ He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. ⁴ Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. ⁵ Yahweh is your keeper; Yahweh is your shade on your right hand. ⁶ The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. ⁷ Yahweh will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. ⁸ Yahweh will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.

Romans 9

Reader 11*  Amen.  ¹ I am telling the truth in Messiah, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Messiah for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, ⁴ who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the Temple service and the promises, ⁵ whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Messiah according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. ⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; ⁷ nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "Through Isaac your descendants will be named." ⁸ That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. ⁹ For this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son." ¹⁰ And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; ¹¹ for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, ¹² it was said to her, "The older will serve the younger." ¹³ Just as it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

Reader 12*  Amen.  ¹⁴ What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! ¹⁵ For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." ¹⁶ So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My Name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth." ¹⁸ So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. ¹⁹ You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?" ²⁰ On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? ²¹ Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? ²² What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? ²³ And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, ²⁴ even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

Reader 13*  Amen.  ²⁵ As He says also in Hosea, "I will call those who were not My people, 'My people,' and her who was not beloved, 'Beloved.'" ²⁶ "and it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' there they shall be called Sons of the Living God." ²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, "Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved; ²⁸ for the Lord will execute His word on the earth, thoroughly and quickly." ²⁹ And just as Isaiah foretold, "Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left to us a posterity, we would have become like Sodom, and would have resembled  Gomorrah." ³⁰ What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; ³¹ but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, ³³ just as it is written, "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed."

© 2003  Beikvot HaMashiach
(Followers of the Messiah)