Parashat Ki Tavo(D’varim/Deuteronomy 26-29:8) 5782 B”H

Discussing Torah can be divisive (though it shouldn’t be!)

Discussing the Torah among those who believe in Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) can be divisive.

But it really ought not be so.

After all, the King of all kings said this:

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets! I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.” Matthew 5:17

He did not come to abolish the Torah or any of the other Scripture writings of the prophets. He came to fulfill them . . . so Torah remains important and relevant!

Instructions for Life

I know I have mentioned this before, but for those who may be new to the blog, Torah refers to the first five books found in the Bible, sometimes called the Pentateuch.

In most Christian circles, these books are referred to as the Law.

But the Hebrew word, “Torah” means more than “Law.” In fact, we could say it is softened a bit. Torah is the word for “instruction.” God gave us His instructions to follow.

Ah, but I suppose you are thinking “this is impossible! There is no way we could possibly follow everything written in Torah!”

Right you are, my sister or my brother.

It would be completely impossible for any of us to perfectly keep the commandments in Torah.

But, Messiah told us in the same chapter of Matthew to “be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48

If we love Him, we are to keep His commandments. (John 14:15). He has done away with the curse related to not keeping the entire law, but living in holiness and following His commandments/instructions for life still matters.

We are to strive for perfection, knowing we will fall short – but His grace and mercy are there to wash over us and make us holy. Our works will NOT save us. We are saved by His grace:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves—it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8

Disregarding Torah often leads to Replacement Theology

Replacement theology is an erroneous doctrine.

This doctrine has taught that the church has superseded Israel and that the Law has been abolished.

The danger with replacement theology is that the Hebrew Scriptures (including Torah) ultimately get neglected and the continuum through time of the history of salvation and grace becomes broken and misunderstood. Disregarding Torah can be devastating – antiSemitism has flourished in places where Torah is criticized. We need only remember the Holocaust – how many Bible-believing Christians in Europe actually contributed to (whether directly or through apathy) the extermination of their Jewish neighbors? If you’re interested in reading more on this topic, check out my article on “Replacing Replacement Theology” here:

Replacing replacement theology: is the church the “New” Israel?

Preaching today must move beyond motivational speaking

I read an article just last week from Answers in Genesis that caught my attention because in it, the author suggests that the number one reason millennials are leaving the church is due to their lack of understanding of the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures).

Have you noticed that so much preaching today has become reduced to spiritual motivational speaking?

When Scripture is sparingly used, young people hearing the Good News do not get the full picture.

They do not understand the powerful continuity between the prophetic nature of the Hebrew Scriptures and the glorious fulfillment shared with us in the New Testament (Brit Chadashah).

If we ignore Torah, we will lose generations to confusion and disinterest.

Torah gives us a solid and balanced foundation for teaching and preaching from the New Testament!

Blessings for Obeying Torah (and the entire Word of God)

D’varim/Deuteronomy 28 assures us that if we “listen obediently to the voice of ADONAI your God, taking care to do all His mitzvot . . .”

He will

1. Set you high above all the nations of the earth
2. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you (Deuteronomy 28:1-2)

I hear so many believers quote several of the blessings found in Deuteronomy 28:

Deuteronomy 28:3 “Blessed will you be in the city, and blessed will you be in the field.”

“Blessed will be the fruit of your womb, the produce of your soil, and the offspring of your livestock – the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.” Deuteronomy 28:4

“Blessed will be your basket and your kneading bowl.” Deuteronomy 28:5

“Blessed will you be when you come in, and blessed will you be when you go out.” Deuteronomy 28:6

The chapter goes on to say “every undertaking of your hand will be blessed” (Deuteronomy 28:8).

You will “overflow in prosperity . . . ” Deuteronomy 28:11

There is a reason this chapter is so popular!

But as I wrote in a previous article, don’t stop reading D’varim/Deuteronomy 28 at verse 14! The blessings are listed, but we mustn’t stop there!

If we quote these verses, but take them out of the context where they are found (in Torah!), we are misunderstanding these blessings.

Don’t stop reading Deuteronomy 28 at verse 14

What happens if we disregard God’s Word?

“But if you will not listen to the voice of ADONAI your God, to take care to do all His mitzvot and statutes that I am commanding you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you . . .” Deuteronomy 28:15

This verse is followed by a lengthly list of some very terrifying curses.

“All these curses will come upon you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed—because you did not listen to the voice of ADONAI your God, to keep His mitzvot and statutes that He commanded you.” Deuteronomy 28:45

The point is reiterated several times in the passage:

“If you do not take care to do all the words of this Torah, the things written in this scroll, to fear this glorious and awesome Name, ADONAI your God, then ADONAI will make your plagues and the plagues of your descendants extraordinary – terrible and prolonged plagues, severe and prolonged illnesses. He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt that you were afraid of, and they will cling to you. Also every illness and plague that is not written in the scroll of this Torah, ADONAI will bring on you, until you are destroyed.” Deuteronomy 28:58-61

We are setting ourselves up for devastation if we refuse to familiarize ourselves with the basic principles found in Torah. The blessings listed above were assured to those who would obey and follow the LORD and His instructions. In like manner, the curses were assured to those who refused to do so. We must acknowledge the seriousness of the issues at stake!

If we determine that Torah is no longer relevant in any way, we are ultimately denying Yeshua (Jesus) as King of Israel! He is One with the LORD, He is God, the God of Israel and we must never deny His divinity and Lordship.

“For ADONAI is our Judge,
ADONAI is our Lawgiver,
ADONAI is our King—
He will save us!” Isaiah 33:22

Yeshua, God’s Son, (Jesus) fulfilled Torah because we fall short. But He did not abolish it. There is so much to learn from Torah . . . from the ways of the LORD. His instructions are given so we will know how to live a righteous lifestyle and live in a manner that pleases Him.

Are we free from the curses as followers of Messiah?

Absolutely.

If we are true followers of Messiah.

Today, there are many who may say, “Lord, Lord . . .” but do they really know Him?

If we have genuinely repented, and if we embrace the entirety of His Word, those curses will not fall upon us. We are free from the curse of the law because our Messiah became a curse for us when He died on the cross for our sins:

“Messiah liberated us from Torah’s curse, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”).” Galatians 3:13

Biblical Lifestyle

We are beyond blessed to live in a time when we can connect with other believers so easily and evaluate our posture on positions that the church has taken over the years. More and more followers of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) are learning about the Biblical lifestyle found in the wholeness of God’s Word and it is an exciting time to be a part of as more and more people take Scripture more seriously!

We are nearing the New Year (Yom Teruah/Rosh Hashanah) and I pray that you will dedicate time, effort, and most importantly prayer, as you more closely walk with the Messiah of Israel!

The Church and Israel

Believers have commonly been taught that there is a stark contrast between “the Church” and “Israel.” Unfortunately, centuries of bad theology have led to unnecessary division in the body of Messiah.

“Israel” was seen as the “rebellious,” “law-bound,” “old,” “outdated,” “Jewish-other” while

the “Church” was seen as the “sanctified,” “free,” “mostly-Gentile,” “new,” “grace-based” non-religion (though “religion” it was and has been).

This dichotomy has created a needless split between most of Judaism and modern Christianity.

Leadership and Influence

When the Roman Empire became Catholicized, the Catholic religion became the institutional norm. For a time, religious persecution was paused. Catholicism grew in power due to its unity with the empire’s leadership. It was then not in the Catholic Church’s best interest to identify their religion with Israel because they would be forced to acquiesce, at least in part, to Jewish leadership. Working with the Sanhedrin would have presented challenges of its own, as obviously Israel’s leadership did not want to recognize Yeshua of Nazareth as the Messiah of Israel, but perhaps such a sharp breech from a Hebraic understanding of the Scriptures to a very Constantinian one wouldn’t have occurred so dramatically without the overarching influence of Catholicism.

Protestant congregations have likewise largely continued the distancing from the writings of the Hebrew Scriptures by claiming that there is a “new” group or, “elect,” who many erroneously preach have replaced Israel. This is known as “replacement theology.”

Defining “ekklesia”

It boils down to a lack of understanding of this Greek word: ekklesia.

This word is usually translated as “church.”

In fact, in many modern languages we can see a close relationship to the Greek term. Ekklesia becomes “iglesia” in Spanish, “igreja” in Portuguese, église in French, all contributing to the now-global confusion amongst “church” goers and followers of Jesus (Yeshua). Deficient, though well-intentioned, translations have left out the nuance offered by a broader term: “assembly.”

Should “ekklesia” be translated as “church” or “assembly?”

Strong’s Exhaustive concordance, a source relied upon by laity and scholars alike, describes the Greek noun “ἐκκλησία” (“ekklesia”) as meaning “an assembly” or a “congregation.” Strong’s is based on the King James Version of the Bible (KJV), so the English Christian culture influenced the usage of the term, despite Strong’s clear acknowledgement that the word can rightly be translated as “assembly” (notably inclusive of a Jewish assembly). According to Blue Letter Bible, the KJV translates “ekklesia” as “church” 115 times, and translates this same word “ekklesia” as “assembly” only 3 times!

Biblehub provides Strong’s succinct definition that ekklesia = assembly or church, with this more specific addendum:

From a compound of ek and a derivative of kaleo; a calling out, i.e. (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of members on earth or saints in heaven or both) — assembly, church.

Biblehub.com

It must be acknowledged then, that the inherent biases in Westernized Christian translation, while perhaps well-meaning, have robbed the very “church” being defined of its truly Judaic heritage. Today, a vast number of Christian believers hold onto “replacement theology” (supersessionism) which actually deprives them of their own beautiful heritage as grafted-in members of the spiritual household of Israel.

Disjointedness in the presentation of Gospel Truth

A well-known verse is usually translated this way:

“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

Matthew 16:18, NKJV

The Catholic Church grasps onto this verse as a prooftext for their claims that Peter was to be pope and provides a basis for the manmade doctrine of papal succession. Peter was instrumental as a pioneer of the faith and preacher of the message of salvation, but no where in Scripture does the Messiah institute the papacy.

A shift in understanding

Renderings of “ekklesia” as “church” like this familiar one in Matthew have produced generations of disjointedness in the presentation of the Gospel truth. It might not seem like a drastic change, but if the word “assembly” were inserted for “church” a shift in understanding begins to take place.

“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My [assembly], and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

Matthew 16:18, emphasis mine

Assembly = Congregation

The continuity becomes more apparent if it is acknowledged that “assembly” is also translated as “congregation” throughout the “Old Testament” (Hebrew Scriptures). The assembly of the righteous would be preserved upon the firm foundation provided by the Chief Cornerstone, the Messiah and that same assembly would continue into the New Covenant. The Hebrew word “qahal” (קָהֵל) which means “congregation” or “assembly” becomes “ekklesia” in the Septuagint (the LXX or Greek translation of the Scriptures). That being the case, all instances and uses of “ekklesia” in Scripture should unite, rather than divide, the modern “church” with the Hebrew community we know today as Israel.

Furthermore, the Greek term, “oikodoméō,” translated as “built” can also be accurately translated as “rebuilt” or “strengthened,” suggesting the “congregation” of Israel could be renewed, revived, and strengthened through the ongoing revelation of the salvific truth found in Messiah.

Congregation > Community

As much as I generally like the Tree of Life Version’s Bible translation because of its aim to restore the Jewishness back to the Scriptures, I find the TLV’s translation a bit weak on this particular verse:

And I also tell you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My community; and the gates of Sheol will not overpower it.

Matthew 16:18, TLV

While a congregation certainly is a “community,” the divine connotation that is associated with a “congregation” disappears with such a neutral term like “community.” However, the term “community” may still be preferential in that it does not carry with it the baggage associated with most of today’s churches.

Messiah Yeshua or Westernized Jesus

It isn’t wrong to call Jesus, Jesus.

That is our given language.

But if we want to really understand this Jesus, we might want to start by thinking about His characteristics when He walked on this earth. He was a Middle Eastern Jew, not the blonde hair, blue-eyed image that still hangs on many European American church walls. His parents would have called Him by His Hebrew name, “Yeshua.” As the Messiah of Israel, Yeshua didn’t come to Israel to start a completely new “religion.” The point of waiting for a Messiah was that Israel was to be restored, right?

Believers are now part of Israel

Yeshua the King of Israel went above and beyond, of course, because not only did He restore Israel, He welcomed those outside of Israel to join, if they would only repent and come in.

Israel was not replaced, Israel was fortified!

If you are a believer, you are part of Israel!

At that time you were separate from Messiah, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Messiah Yeshua, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For He is our shalom, the One who made the two into one and broke down the middle wall of separation. 

Ephesians 2:12-14a, TLV

Replacing “replacement” theology

What then, shall we do? Can replacement theology be “replaced?” Yes, but it will take a lot of effort, and probably on a grassroots-like level. As individuals, and then slowly, entire assemblies begin to re-awaken to the Hebrew roots of their faith, there will be healing between Jews and Gentiles, a prayer of so many including Messiah Yeshua – that we may all be One.

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Am Yisrael Chai!