Tol’dot History – B’resheet/Genesis 25:19-28:9
: Tol’dot (Generations) B’resheet/Genesis 25:19-28:9
Haftorah Readings: Malachi 1:1-2:7
I would like to begin today with a verse that has no connection to my question of the week. However, I believe it has so much to tell us I couldn’t let it go. Look at Genesis 26:28. In this verse we read, “And they said, we have surely seen that the L-rd has been with you.” This verse recounts the words of Avimelech, king of the Philistines in Gerar. They came to Isaac where he was encamped at Beer Sheva.
Ekev (Following) D’Varim (Deut.) 7:12-11:25
Torah Portion Ekev (Following) D’Varim (Deut.) 7:12-11:25
Haftorah Reading: Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 49:14-51:3
Tonight I want us to look at a couple of places in this Torah portion to find what we can hear that will help us in our daily walk with the Father. First, I want to draw your attention to my second question of the week. What is the prominent verb we read over and over in the Book of Devarim/Deut.? In verse 9:1 we hear the Shema in Hebrew. I believe we have talked of this word before but I want us to go over it in some depth today. This word appears over 90 times in this book of the Bible. It can be seen as the key to understanding what Moshe is communicating to the people in his last speech before his death. First, I want us to have a clear understanding of the word Shema. In Hebrew it is used to mean “to hear, to listen, to pay attention, to understand to internalize or to respond.” It is the closest word in biblical Hebrew to express the term, “to obey.” Sometimes for us, as part of the western culture, hearing is not something that we do naturally on a deep level. The sense we us most often is seeing. This is a hold over from the Greek influence in our lives. We see this in our language, I see, foresight, hindsight, insight, vision and phrases such as “it appears.” These are only a few of the ways sight dominates our thoughts and language. By contrast Hebrew the world of Moshe and Yeshua was immersed in hearing, really hearing. It was a culture of the ear more than the eye. We read this word “Shema” or one of its derivatives used to express proof of a certain point like, come and hear, hear from this, he could not hear it.
Mattot (Tribes) Masa’ei (Stages) (B’Midbar) Numbers30:2-36:13
Torah Portion Mattot (Tribes) Masa’ei (Stages) (B’Midbar) Numbers30:2-36:13
Haftorah Reading: Jeremiah 1:1-2:28
This week we finish the book of B’Midbar or Numbers. In these two Torah portions we cover a number of topics. These are topics that speak to us in our life and world today. One of the dominant themes is the subject of words. When we began our journey through the Torah the words spoken by G-d brought the world into being. Through all the books so far we have seen the power of words both for good and for evil. We see this same theme in the Messianic Scriptures in Matthew 5:37 where it says, “But let your yes be yes and your no no. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”
Yitro (Jethro) Sh’mot (Exodus) 18-20
Torah Portion Yitro (Jethro) Sh’mot (Exodus) 18-20
Haftorah Reading Isaiah 6:1-13
Tonight we read one of the most moving sections in all of Torah. In this portion we read of the covenant between G-d and the people of Israel. This covenantal relationship set out here should also give each of us a good picture of who G-d is and what He requires of us in our lives as His people.
This covenant was entirely at His initiation. All He asked was that His people agree to its terms. I expect we all have had this experience with the Father. We come to understand how much He cares for us and how He has carried us up on eagles wing, called us to Himself and gave us a frame work to live by each day.