Disciples of Jesus Christs Memorial Parsha VA'et'chanan
Saturday, July 24, 2010, Deuteronomy 3:23 through Deuteronomy 7:11 and Haftorah Isaiah 40:1-26.
Welcome to the Memorial Parsha of Jesus Christ. The Disciples Memorial Parsha of Jesus Christ can be found in the Haphtarah of Isaiah 40:1-26, that starts off the Shabbat Nahamu (Nachumu). The opening words of the Prophet Isaiah are console, console, console; which is the beginning of a seven week cycle of Haftorah’s in the book of Isaiah, the last twenty-six chapters. The Haftorah’s that we will be reading will focus on the theme of consoling the exiles in Babylonia; remaining in hope of returning to Jerusalem to rebuild the second temple (destroyed again in 70 AD); and prophetic testimony of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that the Gentiles will put their trust; and prophetic testimony of Jesus the Messiah that will gather the seed of Abraham, and the fulfillment of Moses law to seek and save the lost of the house of Israel.
The Seed of Israel: divisions of Israel (Numbers 1:1-54), carry the portable sanctuary, which is called a Tabernacle (Mishkans), in the Tent of Meeting (Ohel Mo-ed). Moses preached to the ancient church saying, Deuteronomy 4.
Ephraim – West (Gershonites Levites)
- Manasseh
- Ephraim
- Benjamin
Dan – North (Merarites Levites)
- Asher
- Dan
- Naphtali
Reuben – South (Kohathites Levites)
- Gad
- Reuben
- Simeon
Judah – East
- Issachar (Moses, Aaron, and Aaron and Sons)
- Judah
- Zebulun
Video, "God of Wonders"
God of Wonders, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZL0cjcLBYY Lord of all creation Of water, earth, and sky The heavens are Your tabernacle Glory to the Lord on high God of wonders beyond our galaxy You are holy, holy! The universe declares Your majesty You are holy, holy! Lord of heaven and earth Lord of heaven and earth Early in the morning I will celebrate the light And when I stumble in the darkness I will call Your name by night Hallelujah, to the Lord of heaven and earth Hallelujah, to the Lord of heaven and earth Hallelujah, to the Lord of heaven and earth God of wonders beyond our galaxy You are holy, holy! Precious Lord, reveal Your heart to me Father, hold me, hold me The universe declares Your majesty You are holy, holy! Holy, holy!They That Wait, Isaiah 40:1-26
ISAIAH 40:1-26
1Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
2Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins.
3The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
5And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
6The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
7The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
9O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
10Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
11He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
12Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
13Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
14With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?
15Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
16And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
17All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
18To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
19The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
20He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.
21Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
23That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.
24Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
26Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
27Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
28Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: (Isaiah 40, King James Version)
Blow the Trumpet in Zion
COMMENTARY:Deuteronomy 4:1-49
Deuteronomy 4:1-14: Moses Commands Obedience
Moses speaks to the children of Israel to listen to the statutes and the judgments’ that he has taught and to do the statutes that you may live and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you: Moses Law.
Moses commands that a word shall not be added to the commandments of God. A word shall not be taken away from the commandments of God. (2). Moses goes onto say that all of the generation before you are not here today, but you are here today because you held fast to the LORD your God. Moses teaches about the destruction at Baal Peor, in the Memorial Parsha of Pinchas (Numbers 25-30); and the anger of the LORD God, unleashed against his people. Balaam the son of Beor picked up his reward and was struck down when the Army of the Lord entered into land of the Midianites and destroyed the land and the people. (Numbers 31:6-13). This is an excellent chapter to discuss the communicative diseases that spread and plague a community. As a matter of fact all vows are accepted by God from all mankind, but the church will not be offering animal sacrifices. Nevertheless, the early church (gentiles/saints) was required to observe the sacrifices at the three festivals per year. On the contrast, God’s word is the ark of the testimony. God commanded you to perform the covenant that he wrote on two tablets of stone – the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20:1-17).
Deuteronomy 4:15-40: Beware of Idolatry.
God reminds the people that you know that God is a formless feature (4:35-36, 39). You shall not worship any form of likeness of God, because no man has ever seen God. (Deuteronomy 4:15-19). Today you have been delivered out of the house of bondage, the iron furnace, out of Egypt to be his people so that you would not have to worship their gods. (Jeremiah 46:1).
Next Moses reiterates that the LORD was angry with him for your sakes and swore that he shall not cross over the Jordan, and that he would not enter the good land which the LORD your God is giving the children of Israel as an inheritance. (Deuteronomy 1:37; 3:25-27). Moses shall die in this land, but you shall cross over and possess the promise land, in the land of the Canaan.
Moses preaches that you shall teach the children the commandments of the LORD God, and you shall not forget that it shall be forbidden that your descendants act corruptly with carved images of god and do evil in the sight of the LORD God to provoke the anger of the LORD God. The heavens and the earth, two elements Moses calls to witness that you shall perish from the land over across the Jordan that you shall possess: your days shall not be prolonged and you shall perish. Moses has explained the manner in which the enemy will exile the children of Israel from the land.
Moses preaches that when you are in exile you will serve the gods made by the hands of men, that are wood and stone that cannot hear or see. Then you will seek the LORD God and you will find Him because God is a merciful God. God will not forsake you, destroy you or forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; through miracles since the beginning of the earth (4:29-34, 37, and 38).
Deuteronomy 4:41-43: Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan
Moses preaches the about the cities of Refuge that have been assigned when crossing over into the Jordan as the Lord God commanded in the Memorial Parsha Mattos-Massei, in Numbers 35:7-30. The Cities of Refuge are used for unintentional crimes that result in death. A person could stay there until judgment, thus being innocent until proven guilty. (Numbers 35:25-30; and Deuteronomy 4:42). The cities will be Bezer (Reuben; 1st Chronicles 5:1-6; 10); Gilead (Gad; 1st Chronicles 5:18-22); and Golan in Bashan (the land of the giants (Manasseh; 1st Chronicles 5:25-26).
Deuteronomy 4:44-49: Introduction to God’s Law
Moses preaches the introduction to Moses law, just as he did in the Memorial Parsha of Mattos-Massei (Deuteronomy 1:5). This is Moses law that you shall enter promise land and do the statutes and judgments of the LORD God, which are the testimony of the children of Israel when they came out of the land of bondage, out of Egypt with a high hand. (Exodus 15). Moses Law was preached on this side of the Jordan in the land of Sihon the king of Amorites’ and the children of Israel, the second generation defeated (Deuteronomy 2:26-37). Then the children of Israel took possession of the land of Og the king of Bashan (Deuteronomy 4:44-49; 3:1-11).