Devarim (Deuteronomy)
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Meaning
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Day Three
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Haftarah
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B'rit Hadashah
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Blessed art Thou, L-rd our G-d
King of the Universe, who has sanctified
Us with Thy commandments, and
Commanded us to study the Torah.
King of the Universe, who has sanctified
Us with Thy commandments, and
Commanded us to study the Torah.
Deuteronomy 14:1-21NASB (1)
1 "You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead.
2 "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 3 "You shall not eat any detestable thing. 4 "These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. 6 "Any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split in two and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. 7 "Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel and the rabbit and the shaphan, for though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you. 8 "The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses. 9 "These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, 10 but anything that does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
11 "You may eat any clean bird. 12 "But these are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, 13 and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, 14 and every raven in its kind, 15 and the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, and the hawk in their kinds, 16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17 the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18 the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. 19 "And all the teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. 20 "You may eat any clean bird. 21 "You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the alien who is in your town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
2 "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 3 "You shall not eat any detestable thing. 4 "These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. 6 "Any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split in two and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. 7 "Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel and the rabbit and the shaphan, for though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you. 8 "The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses. 9 "These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, 10 but anything that does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
11 "You may eat any clean bird. 12 "But these are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, 13 and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, 14 and every raven in its kind, 15 and the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, and the hawk in their kinds, 16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17 the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18 the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. 19 "And all the teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. 20 "You may eat any clean bird. 21 "You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the alien who is in your town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
Mishpochah: Greetings on this third day of the week! The desert rat in me is basking because the days are somewhat dry until about 7 P.M. The chickens hide out in the coop in the heat of the afternoons and we’re sliding through those “dog days of summer” which aren’t as intense as they’ve been other years. I looked up the origin of that pithy little expression—“dog days of summer”. Turns out it has Greco-Roman origins based on a constellation—of all things! The Merriam-Webster dictionary states: “The brightest star in the sky is Sirius, also known as the Dog Star. Sirius was given this name by the ancients because it was considered the hound of the hunter Orion, whose constellation was nearby. The Dog Star was regarded by the ancient Greeks as the bringer of scorching heat, because its early-morning rising coincided with the hottest summer days of July and August. The Greek writer Plutarch called this time hēmerai kynades, literally, “dog days”—the days of the Dog Star—and by way of Latin this phrase was translated into English as dog days.” By far these days remain my favorite when I can turn over another furrow of Torah long before it really gets ‘sticky’.
Moses reiterates that Israel is to be a ‘holy’ people. And one of the ways that brings them into this condition is their manner of grieving for the dead and their dietary menu. These are two things mentioned today that would set Israel apart from all the other nations of the world. When I was deeply mired in the churchy set, there were many teachings about the way of holiness or ‘sanctification’. In fact there was such a mystique about it that it became downright confusing. Some proponents said it was a progressive day by day, ‘learn some here, learn some there’ path and yet others took the total opposite view and argued that it was a one time shock-like blast of the Holy Spirit of God that would come against our bad habits and like an EMP wave to electronics, it would burn out every desire in us to cuss, have temper tantrums or to imbibe any addictive substances (or behaviors) that were our downfall in the past. This sort of radical, one-time ‘hit’ usually required a powerful, Holy Ghost preacher and a Holy Ghost inspired message. I’m sure that it could happen either way but I have to confess that the way in which it was all framed made it seem to be so distant! And yet, it is not a mystery that is unattainable and we can have a grasp of understanding about holiness. He said, “Be ye holy for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16, Leviticus 19:2). Holiness is an issue that can be painfully simple. If we’re separated from what everybody else does and thinks, and if we believe and are devoted to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (note I said “the God of”) who sent Messiah to the earth to die in our place and erase the penalty of death for sin, we are holy. If we take the moral high ground and adhere to Biblical guidelines and instruction then we are a separated and ‘holy’ people. The holiness of Israel, who was ‘set apart’ for Yahweh, was to be a sort of template for the rest of the nations. The ways and practices of their separation to The Creator were meant to point all the other nations to THE true Divinity. And because they were blinded when they rejected Messiah, the rest of the nations are now able to be grafted into that ‘good olive tree’ (Romans chapter 11). When believers take on a more Biblical lifestyle, to the rest of the world, it looks like a ‘Jewish’ lifestyle and the world, (especially other believers) aren’t impressed. Other believers accuse these of taking up ‘legalism’ in order to ‘earn’ their salvation. The notion that it is done out of devotion and a love of Yah doesn’t occur to these nay-sayers. Some adopt a more Biblical lifestyle because they’re already saved! The remnant of Israel that the world knows as ‘Jews’ judge it to be foolishness and ‘playing at’ being Jewish. Many years ago, a Jewish man who lives in the neighborhood of the Knesset in Jerusalem told me that he felt this way! The remainder of the world of unbelievers simply classifies us as another in the bunch of ‘religious fanatics’. Those of us who espouse Biblical Israel as part of the very root of our faith are pretty ‘separate’ –we don’t fit anywhere—and that’s a good thing!
To live more Biblically isn’t imitating Judaism as it is a way of ‘holiness’. One isn’t attempting to ‘work’ their way into God’s good grace because by virtue of its very meaning, ‘grace’ is free gift! Making the choice to be Torah Observant is merely an extension of worship. If God has called one believer to do this and not another that is no matter to both individuals except to be respected. To be Torah observant or not to be Torah observant; that is the question. Whether it be nobler to assume the Biblical lifestyle or not utterly depends on God’s calling to the individual….to be in the very center of His will tis a consummation devoutly to be wished! My apologies to William Shakespeare for rewriting that part of his timeless prose found in Hamlet. (Tomorrow Mishpochah, we look into that other mystery of the goat and its mother’s milk.)
Moses reiterates that Israel is to be a ‘holy’ people. And one of the ways that brings them into this condition is their manner of grieving for the dead and their dietary menu. These are two things mentioned today that would set Israel apart from all the other nations of the world. When I was deeply mired in the churchy set, there were many teachings about the way of holiness or ‘sanctification’. In fact there was such a mystique about it that it became downright confusing. Some proponents said it was a progressive day by day, ‘learn some here, learn some there’ path and yet others took the total opposite view and argued that it was a one time shock-like blast of the Holy Spirit of God that would come against our bad habits and like an EMP wave to electronics, it would burn out every desire in us to cuss, have temper tantrums or to imbibe any addictive substances (or behaviors) that were our downfall in the past. This sort of radical, one-time ‘hit’ usually required a powerful, Holy Ghost preacher and a Holy Ghost inspired message. I’m sure that it could happen either way but I have to confess that the way in which it was all framed made it seem to be so distant! And yet, it is not a mystery that is unattainable and we can have a grasp of understanding about holiness. He said, “Be ye holy for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16, Leviticus 19:2). Holiness is an issue that can be painfully simple. If we’re separated from what everybody else does and thinks, and if we believe and are devoted to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (note I said “the God of”) who sent Messiah to the earth to die in our place and erase the penalty of death for sin, we are holy. If we take the moral high ground and adhere to Biblical guidelines and instruction then we are a separated and ‘holy’ people. The holiness of Israel, who was ‘set apart’ for Yahweh, was to be a sort of template for the rest of the nations. The ways and practices of their separation to The Creator were meant to point all the other nations to THE true Divinity. And because they were blinded when they rejected Messiah, the rest of the nations are now able to be grafted into that ‘good olive tree’ (Romans chapter 11). When believers take on a more Biblical lifestyle, to the rest of the world, it looks like a ‘Jewish’ lifestyle and the world, (especially other believers) aren’t impressed. Other believers accuse these of taking up ‘legalism’ in order to ‘earn’ their salvation. The notion that it is done out of devotion and a love of Yah doesn’t occur to these nay-sayers. Some adopt a more Biblical lifestyle because they’re already saved! The remnant of Israel that the world knows as ‘Jews’ judge it to be foolishness and ‘playing at’ being Jewish. Many years ago, a Jewish man who lives in the neighborhood of the Knesset in Jerusalem told me that he felt this way! The remainder of the world of unbelievers simply classifies us as another in the bunch of ‘religious fanatics’. Those of us who espouse Biblical Israel as part of the very root of our faith are pretty ‘separate’ –we don’t fit anywhere—and that’s a good thing!
To live more Biblically isn’t imitating Judaism as it is a way of ‘holiness’. One isn’t attempting to ‘work’ their way into God’s good grace because by virtue of its very meaning, ‘grace’ is free gift! Making the choice to be Torah Observant is merely an extension of worship. If God has called one believer to do this and not another that is no matter to both individuals except to be respected. To be Torah observant or not to be Torah observant; that is the question. Whether it be nobler to assume the Biblical lifestyle or not utterly depends on God’s calling to the individual….to be in the very center of His will tis a consummation devoutly to be wished! My apologies to William Shakespeare for rewriting that part of his timeless prose found in Hamlet. (Tomorrow Mishpochah, we look into that other mystery of the goat and its mother’s milk.)
Blessed art thou, L-rd our G-d,
King of the universe, who has chosen
us from all peoples and given us thy Torah.
Blessed art thou, O L-rd, Giver of the Torah.
King of the universe, who has chosen
us from all peoples and given us thy Torah.
Blessed art thou, O L-rd, Giver of the Torah.
(1) NASB www.lockman.org for daily reading (and KJV in commentary) unless otherwise specified