"When you go out"
Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9; Isaiah 51:12-52:12; Acts 3:19-23
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This week's Parsha begins with the words,
"When you go out to war against your
enemies"
Without going into any of
the actual commandments concerning going to
war. This verse lets the Children of Israel
know that they must prepare themselves
because they will at some point go to war
with people
that are their enemies. As believers in G-D
and followers of Messiah Yeshua we must also
understand that we will be going to have
to fight battles against our enemies. We are
taught in Ephesians Chapter 6 begining with
verse 10 through verse 18
"Finally, grow
powerful in union with the Lord, in union
with his mighty strength! Use all the armor
and weaponry that God provides, so that you
will be able to stand against the deceptive
tactics of the Adversary. For we are not
struggling against human beings, but against
the rulers, authorities and cosmic powers
governing this darkness, against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realm. So take up every piece of war
equipment God provides; so that when the evil
day comes, you will be able to resist; and
when the battle is won, you will still be
standing. Therefore, stand! Have the belt of
truth buckled around your waist, put on
righteousness for a breastplate, and wear on
your feet the readiness that comes from the
Good News of shalom. Always carry the shield
of trust, with which you will be able to
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the Evil
One. And take the helmet of deliverance;
along with the sword given by the Spirit,
that is, the Word of God; as you pray at all
times, with all kinds of prayers and
requests, in the Spirit, vigilantly and
persistently, for all God's people."
We were not provided with the tools of
warfare so that we would have something to
brag about, we were provided these weapons so
that we would be able to use them effectively
to battle the enemy of our souls. We must
exercise spiritually so that we will have the
spiritual strength to not only battle against
the enemy, but also to win these battles. We
can live victoriously through and in the midst
of our battles. Knowing that 1 John 4 tells
us
"....because he who is in you is
greater than he who is in the world. "
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Deu 21:22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to
death, and thou hang him on a tree; Deu 21:23 his body shall not remain all night
upon the tree, but thou shalt surely bury him the same day; for he that is hanged
is a reproach unto God; that thou defile not thy land which the LORD thy God giveth
thee for an inheritance.
This Mitzvot (commandment) given by G-D to Israel is very significant to followers
of Yeshua when we read the account of Yeshua�s execution found in Matthew begining
with verse 57:
"Towards evening, there came a wealthy man from Ramatayim named Yosef, who was
himself a talmid of Yeshua. He approached Pilate and asked for Yeshua's body, and
Pilate ordered it to be given to him. Yosef took the body, wrapped it in a clean
linen sheet, and laid it in his own tomb, which he had recently had cut out of
the rock. After rolling a large stone in front of the entrance to the tomb, he
went away.
Yosef�s desire to remove Yeshua from the execution stake was not only out of
pity or remorse because of the atrocity it was also Yosef�s desire to honor G-D
by following the mitzvot. Here we have G-D robed in flesh hanging on a tree for
you and I. His death was the kipporah or covering of our sins, the perfect once
and for all sacrifice for all sins. At this time many of the people who should
have been seeing Yeshua as the Messiah of Israel were instead about to violate
another commandment given by G-D by allowing the body of Yeshua to remain on the
execution stake all night. It was a follower of Yeshua who walked as an example
to all of Israel when he asked for permission to remove Yeshua�s body, in keeping
with Torah. We as Messianic believers believe that our lives should also be examples
to the Jewish people. We believe that people who look at how we live should be
able to see consistency between our lifestyles and the Torah. We should be what
the Scriptures call us, �lights�, showing the way to redemption through Yeshua
who fulfilled Torah and lived and as example for all men to follow.
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Deu 21:22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree; Deu 21:23 his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt surely bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is a reproach unto God; that thou defile not thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
This Mitzvot (commandment) given by G-D to Israel is very significant to followers of Yeshua when we read the account of Yeshua’s execution found in Matthew begining with verse 57: "Towards evening, there came a wealthy man from Ramatayim named Yosef, who was himself a talmid of Yeshua. He approached Pilate and asked for Yeshua's body, and Pilate ordered it to be given to him. Yosef took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen sheet, and laid it in his own tomb, which he had recently had cut out of the rock. After rolling a large stone in front of the entrance to the tomb, he went away. Yosef’s desire to remove Yeshua from the execution stake was not only out of pity or remorse because of the atrocity it was also Yosef’s desire to honor G-D by following the mitzvot. Here we have G-D robed in flesh hanging on a tree for you and I. His death was the kipporah or covering of our sins, the perfect once and for all sacrifice for all sins. At this time many of the people who should have been seeing Yeshua as the Messiah of Israel were instead about to violate another commandment given by G-D by allowing the body of Yeshua to remain on the execution stake all night. It was a follower of Yeshua who walked as an example to all of Israel when he asked for permission to remove Yeshua’s body, in keeping with Torah. We as Messianic believers believe that our lives should also be examples to the Jewish people. We believe that people who look at how we live should be able to see consistency between our lifestyles and the Torah. We should be what the Scriptures call us, “lights”, showing the way to redemption through Yeshua who fulfilled Torah and lived and as example for all men to follow.
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This week's parsha begins with a mitzvah instructing the Children of Israel how to handle prisoners of war. But right after these mitzvot a long list of mitzvot are given dealing with interpersonal relationships of a community. As I read these verses it amazed me how relevant these verses are to us even today. How much of the Torah really speaks to our lives, especially in a world that has mastered the art of "me first". As believers we need to prioritize our lives in the following fashion: G-D first, then our family (including the extended family of our congregation). Every decision in our life can really be dealt with under the heading of "am I serving G-D or am I serving my family?" No matter what we do, whether it relates to our job, our home or any other thing we might do. it can be traced back to these commandments. For instance, we work a job to provide for our family, we clean our home to provide for our family, we attend synagogue to worship G-D and provide for our family. If there is anything we are doing which does not follow a path back to these two links we need to look closely and decide it there is a reason to continue doing it.