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Tishrei 1, 5764 / September 27, 2003
Tishrei 1, 5767 / September 23, 2006
Tishrei 1, 5770 / September 19, 2009
Tishrei 6, 5773 / September 22, 2012
Elul 28, 5776 / September 12, 2012
Yisrael, Sh'ma
/ Israel, Listen
SCRIPTURES should be read first
It may be noted that today's readings are instructions concerning
entering the Promised Land - fitting for the time in which we rehearse the return
of Messiah Yeshua.
To repeat an explanation here:
The basic commandments of God, from Adam until now, are
to love Yahweh our God, and to love our neighbor who is created in God’s image.
The first five of the Ten Commandments detail how we are to love Yahweh our God
(they all contain God’s sacred Name), and the next five detail how we are to
love our neighbor (none of them contain God’s Name). There are 613 commandments
in the Torah that further detail these ten.
The 613 commandments are Biblically divided into three
categories. They are (mishpatim) judgments, (edot) ordinances, and
(huqqim) statutes.
The judgments are what we usually call the moral and
ethical laws. They are the most obvious to our consciences, like forbidding
murder and stealing.
The ordinances – and these are the “ordinances of the
church” (1 corinthians 11:2) since the “church in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38),
are those traditions from God that we observe in order to keep His spiritual
understandings before us. They include Yahweh’s Feasts (commonly translated “the
Lord’s Supper”, and usually misunderstood), and (miqvah) baptism, among
many others.
The statutes are those commandments for which God has not
given us obvious reason, but their observance brings us closer to Him. An
example is (kashrut) the commandments concerning what is kosher for
eating – those things God has given us for food.
(V.1) Moses here exhorts God’s people to obey all of the Torah. He
instructs them to obey (sh’ma) the statutes (hukim) – the least
obvious, and the judgments (mishpatim) – the most obvious moral laws;
this implies the ordinances (edot) also, making all of the Torah.
He says, “that you may live and go in and take possession of the land”.
Only those who are purified will live, and go in and take possession of the
Renewed Earth. There will be no sin there: “nothing
unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into
it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life” – Revelation 21:27.
When we are purified, God’s Torah will be written on our hearts, and we
will keep it wholeheartedly (Jeremiah 31:31).
(V.2) We are forbidden to add to or take away from the words of the Torah.
They are not situational ethics, and they do not change. We should understand,
however, that there are commandments that take precedence over others: an
obvious example would be that the preservation of life and health takes
precedence over forbidden work on the Sabbath or fasting on the Day of the
Atonements. There are also, ordained by God, halachic rulings concerning
how we should walk (act) in various situations in order to fulfill Torah.
(V.6) These things were written for our wisdom and understanding, to make
us a great nation, above all others.
(V.25) God, who knows the end from the beginning, clearly said: “When”
(not if) “you have remained long in the land, and act corruptly . . .
Yahweh will scatter you
among the peoples, and you shall be left few in number among the nations
. . . But from there you will seek Yahweh your God, and you will find Him if
you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.” But when we are
perfected, and enter the Promised Land, we will not again forsake God, and will
never be cast out.
(V.10 & 35) We should be in awe of our Holy God. He sent His Torah with
great wondrous signs: “To
you it was shown that you might know that Yahweh, He is God; there is no other
besides Him . . . Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that Yahweh,
He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.”
Isaiah prophesies of the still future coming of Messiah and the
restoration. “1
‘Comfort, O comfort My people,’ says your God. 2 ‘Speak kindly to
Jerusalem; and call out to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity
has been removed, that she has received of Yahweh's hand double for all her
sins.’ 3 A voice is calling, ‘Clear the way for Yahweh in the
wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Let
every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the
rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; 5
then the glory of Yahweh will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together;
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.’
”
Moses says, “39
Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that Yahweh, He is God in
heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.” And Isaiah says, “25
‘To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?’ says the Holy
One.”
John the
baptizer came preaching repentance. His baptism was “the baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins” (Luke 3:3) – the baptism that had long
been performed during this forty days of repentance leading up to the Day of the
Atonements (today being the thirtieth day). To those who were proudly religious,
John said, (v.7) “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” He was
pointedly contrasting the repentant with those who were facing wrath to come.
When asked who
he was, John spoke of Messiah who would follow him (v.16-17), who would “baptize
with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” He would “gather
the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Baptism with fire relates to the wicked! The Holy Spirit itself is not
Biblically symbolized by fire. [In Acts 2:3, “tongues as of fire” were
words that burned! See v.19, 23, & 36-37.]
The wicked are
warned to flee the fire to come. We are instructed on how to love our savior and
our neighbor.
Readings:
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who chose us from among all peoples by
giving us Your Torah.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the
Torah."
Reader 1*
Amen.
1
"Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments
which I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live and
go in and take possession of the land which Yahweh, the God
of your fathers, is giving you. 2 "You shall not
add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away
from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your
God which I command you. 3 "Your eyes have seen
what Yahweh has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the
men who followed Baal-peor, Yahweh your God has destroyed
them from among you. 4 "But you who held fast to
Yahweh your God are alive today, every one of you. 5
"See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as
Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the
land where you are entering to possess it. 6 "So
keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your
understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all
these statutes and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise
and understanding people.'
Reader 2*
Amen.
7
"For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is Yahweh our
God whenever we call on Him? 8 "Or what great nation is there that
has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting
before you today? 9 "Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul
diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and
they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them
known to your sons and your grandsons. 10 "Remember the day you stood
before Yahweh your God at Horeb, when Yahweh said to me, 'Assemble the people to
Me, that I may let them hear My words so they may learn to fear Me all the days
they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.' 11
"You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned
with fire to the very heart of the heavens: darkness, cloud and thick gloom.
12 "Then Yahweh spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard
the sound of words, but you saw no form-- only a voice. 13 "So He
declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten
Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 "Yahweh
commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might
perform them in the land where you are going over to possess it.
Reader 3*
Amen.
15
"So watch yourselves carefully, since you did not see any form on the day Yahweh
spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, 16 so that you do
not act corruptly and make a graven image for yourselves in the form of any
figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal
that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky,
18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness
of any fish that is in the water below the earth. 19 "And beware not
to lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all
the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those
which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
20 "But Yahweh has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace,
from Egypt, to be a people for His own possession, as today.
Reader 4*
Amen.
21
"Now Yahweh was angry with me on your account, and swore that I would not cross
the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which Yahweh your God is
giving you as an inheritance. 22 "For I will die in this land, I
shall not cross the Jordan, but you shall cross and take possession of this good
land. 23 "So watch yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of
Yahweh your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image
in the form of anything against which Yahweh your God has commanded you. 24
"For Yahweh your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. 25 "When you
become the father of children and children's children and have remained long in
the land, and act corruptly, and make an idol in the form of anything, and do
that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God so as to provoke Him to
anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that
you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan
to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.
27 "Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left
few in number among the nations where Yahweh drives you. 28 "There
you will serve gods, the work of man's hands, wood and stone, which neither see
nor hear nor eat nor smell.
Reader 5*
Amen.
29
"But from there you will seek Yahweh your God, and you will find Him if you
search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. 30 "When you
are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you
will return to Yahweh your God and listen to His voice. 31 "For
Yahweh your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor
forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them. 32
"Indeed, ask now concerning the former days which were before you, since the day
that God created man on the earth, and inquire from one end of the heavens to
the other. Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been
heard like it? 33 "Has any people heard the voice of God speaking
from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived? 34
"Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another
nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an
outstretched arm and by great terrors, as Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt
before your eyes?
Reader 6*
Amen.
35 "To you it was shown that
you might know that Yahweh, He is God; there is no other besides Him. 36
"Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He
let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire.
37 "Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their
descendants after them. And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great
power, 38 driving out from before you nations greater and mightier
than you, to bring you in and to give you their land for an inheritance, as it
is today. 39 "Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that
Yahweh, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.
40 "So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am
giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you,
and that you may live long on the land which Yahweh your God is giving you for
all time."
Reader 7*
Amen.
41
Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east, 42
that a manslayer might flee there, who unintentionally slew his neighbor without
having enmity toward him in time past; and by fleeing to one of these cities he
might live: 43 Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the
Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the
Manassites. 44 Now this is the law which Moses set before the sons of
Israel; 45 these are the testimonies and the statutes and the
ordinances which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, when they came out from
Egypt, 46 across the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the
land of Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons
of Israel defeated when they came out from Egypt. 47 They took
possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the
Amorites, who were across the Jordan to the east, 48 from Aroer,
which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon, even as far as Mount Sion (that is,
Hermon), 49 with all the Arabah across the Jordan to the east, even
as far as the sea of the Arabah, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.
"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who in giving us Yeshua, the Living
Torah, has planted everlasting life in our midst.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, giver of the
Torah."
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"Blessed are You, Yahweh our God, King
of the Universe,
Who selected good prophets, delighting
in their words which were spoken truthfully.
Blessed are You, Yahweh, Who chose the
Torah, Your servant Moses, Your people Israel,
and the prophets of truth and
righteousness."
Isaiah 40:1-25
Reader 8* Amen.
1
"Comfort, O comfort My people," says your God. 2 "Speak kindly to
Jerusalem; and call out to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity
has been removed, that she has received of Yahweh's hand double for all her
sins." 3 A voice is calling, "Clear the way for Yahweh in the
wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. 4 "Let
every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the
rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; 5
then the glory of Yahweh will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together;
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken."
Reader 9* Amen.
6 A voice says, "Call out."
Then he answered, "What shall I call out?" All flesh is grass, and all its
loveliness is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the
flower fades, when the breath of Yahweh blows upon it; surely the people are
grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God
stands forever. 9 Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer
of good news, lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;
lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, "Here is your God!" 10
Behold, Lord Yahweh will come with might, with His arm ruling for Him. Behold,
His reward is with Him and His recompense before Him. 11 Like a
shepherd He will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs and carry
them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
Reader 10* Amen.
12
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the
heavens by the span, and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, and
weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales? 13
Who has directed the Spirit of Yahweh, or as His counselor has informed Him?
14 With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who
taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge and informed Him of
the way of understanding? 15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from
a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; behold, He lifts up
the islands like fine dust. 16 even Lebanon is not enough to burn,
nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering. 17 All the nations are as
nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and
meaningless. 18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness
will you compare with Him?
Reader 11* Amen.
19 As
for the idol, a craftsman casts it, a goldsmith plates it with gold, and a
silversmith fashions chains of silver. 20 He who is too impoverished
for such an offering selects a tree that does not rot; He seeks out for himself
a skillful craftsman to prepare an idol that will not totter. 21 Do
you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the
beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like
grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out
like a tent to dwell in. 23 He it is who reduces rulers to nothing,
Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. 24 Scarcely have they
been planted, scarcely have they been sown, scarcely has their stock taken root
in the earth, but He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the storm
carries them away like stubble. 25 "To whom then will you liken Me
That I would be his equal?" says the Holy One.
Psalm 123
(To be sung.) A
Song of Ascents
1
To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are enthroned in the heavens! 2
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of
a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to Yahweh our God, until He
is gracious to us. 3 Be gracious to us, O Yahweh, be gracious to us,
for we are greatly filled with contempt. 4 Our soul is greatly filled
with the scoffing of those who are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.
Luke
3:1-20
Reader 12* Amen.
1
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate
was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip
was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch
of Abilene, 2 in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word
of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. 3 And
he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins; 4 as it is written in the
book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, 'Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. 5
'Every ravine will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low;
the crooked will become straight, and the rough roads smooth; 6 and
all flesh will see the salvation of God.'"
Reader 13* Amen.
7 So
he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, "You
brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8
"Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to
yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father,' for I say to you that from these
stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 9 "Indeed the axe
is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good
fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." 10 And the crowds were
questioning him, saying, "Then what shall we do?" 11 And he would
answer and say to them, "The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has
none; and he who has food is to do likewise." 12 And some tax
collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what shall
we do?" 13 And he said to them, "Collect no more than what you have
been ordered to." 14 Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, "And
what about us, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from
anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages."
Reader 14* Amen.
15
Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in
their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Messiah, 16 John
answered and said to them all, "As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is
coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His
sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 "His
winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to
gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable
fire." 18 So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to
the people. 19 But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him
because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the wicked things
which Herod had done, 20 Herod also added this to them all: he locked
John up in prison.
"Blessed are You, Yahweh
our God, King of the Universe,
Rock of Ages, righteous
throughout all generations.
You are the faithful God,
promising and then performing, speaking and then fulfilling,
for all Your words are true
and righteous.
Faithful are You, Yahweh
our God, and faithful are Your words,
for no word of Yours shall
remain unfulfilled;
You are a faithful and
merciful God and King.
Blessed are You, Yahweh our
God, Who are faithful in fulfilling all Your words."
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