Commentary - Year 3 Sabbath 39

Deuteronomy 21:10 - 22:5   -   Isaiah 54:1-10   -   Psalm 136   -   Galatians 3:1 - 5:26

Tevet   2, 5764 / December 27, 2003

Tevet   2, 5767 / December 23, 2006

Tevet   2, 5770 / December 19, 2009

                           / December 22, 2012

Kislev 30, 5776 / December 12, 2015   Hanukkah! Day 6

Ki-teitzei / When You Go Forth   SCRIPTURES should be read first

Ki-Teitzei is the heading for all that follows: (V.10) “When you go forth to battle against your enemies” (outside the land). While the setting is wartime, the applications are more general.

Last week, our portion required, upon defeating a distant enemy, that all of the men be killed, but allowed the taking of women and children.

Firstly, we see rules designed to alleviate results of lust: “If, among the captives, there is a beautiful woman. . .”

Men tend to be drawn to outward appearances of women. Therefore, godly women are instructed to dress modestly, not having extreme hairdos and jewelry, or seductive makeup and clothing.

 “⁹ Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments; ¹⁰ but rather by means of good works, as befits women making a claim to godliness” (1 Timothy 2:9-10). 

 “³ And let not your adornment be external-- braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; ⁴ but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. ⁵ For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands. ⁶ Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear” (1 Peter 3:3-6).

Therefore, upon desiring a captive-foreign beautiful woman, the man must (v.12) shave her head (remove her glory), trim her long nails, (v.13) and replace her fancy clothing. Then, in this unadorned state, he must give her a month do mourn her slain father. After this, he may take her as a wife; but if he no longer desires to marry her, he may not mistreat her, and must let her go free as she wishes.

Secondly, we see some results of lust fulfilled: “If a man has two wives. . .”

Such would be the case of a man taking a foreign-captive as a wife, when he was already married. If he loves one and not the other, but both bear him sons – first the unloved wife, then the loved wife – he is not allowed to prefer the firstborn son of the loved wife over the firstborn son of the unloved wife (v.16-17), but must grant the inheritance rights of the firstborn to the first son.

Abraham had two wives (though not as a result of war). One was named Princess – Sarah – by God, the other was an Egyptian princess – Hagar, a daughter of a pharaoh. These princesses displayed great jealousy when both had sons. The first son (Ishmael) was by Hagar, and the next son (Isaac) by Sarah. However, God overruled the order and proclaimed Isaac to be the recipient of the inheritance (Genesis 17:21), to fulfill His covenant with Abraham.

Today’s text shows that Isaac’s case was an exception, not the rule – not to be used as a basis for favoring another son over the one born first.

Thirdly, we see a natural result of the above situation: “If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son. . .” The subject here is a son of responsible age – (v.18) one who will not obey, and is overtaken by sensual pleasure (gluttony and drunkenness). He is to be taken to the judges, and upon conviction, is to be stoned by the men of the city: (v.21) “so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear of it and fear”.

Then we are given some general rules about capital punishment. The corpse of one stoned is hung for all to see. However, (v.23) he must be buried within the same day, because he is “the image of God” being cursed, and thus “is an abomination to God”. We will see more on this in Galatians.

(Deuteronomy 22) Fourthly, we are given rules about found livestock. While the setting is during military service, when animals are likely to go astray, the application is general. Ignoring another’s lost property is forbidden: an honest attempt must be made to find the owner. A found animal that is worked has paid its hire, and is to be returned free. An animal that is not useful for work should be sold, and the price – less its feed – paid to the owner.

Galatians 3:

“¹³Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-- for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’ – ¹⁴ in order that in Messiah Yeshua the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

The Fifth Commandment, to honor father and mother, is under the category of Loving God, because it represents honoring God’s authority. To disobey mother or father, or to disobey directly by putting another god before Yahweh, is a capital offense – requiring death as penalty. One who is convicted and put to death, to “remove the evil from your midst”, is then hung for the rest of the day – this one made in the image of God is “cursed” so that “all Israel shall hear of it and fear” (v.21).

So Yeshua, Who is the very Image of God (), was cursed – slain and hung on a tree for all to see. But He was righteous, and it was for our disobedience, and He willingly gave His life for us and took it back again!

“Messiah, Who is the Image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

“And He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15).

(V.18) God promised the inheritance to Abraham, through Isaac. The promised seed of the Covenant was Yeshua. We obtain the promised inheritance through faith in Yeshua, not by being born of certain parentage or birth order.

In other words: in this world, inheritance is according to parentage and birth order; but in spiritual matters – in God’s kingdom – our inheritance is by God’s Covenant. It is by Yeshua’s redemptive death for our disobedience; it is through faith in Him.

So, God says of us (Isaiah 54): “ ⁵ ‘Your husband is your Maker, Whose name is Yahweh of hosts; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth. ⁶ For Yahweh has called you, like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even like a wife of one's youth when she is rejected,’ says your God. ⁷ ‘For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. ⁸ In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,’ says Yahweh your Redeemer. ⁹ ‘For this is like the days of Noah to Me; when I swore that the waters of Noah should not flood the earth again, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor will I rebuke you. ¹⁰ For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken,’ says Yahweh who has compassion on you. ”

And the Psalmist says (Psalm 136, all 26 verses): “His lovingkindness is everlasting”.

Galatians 5 concludes, “¹⁹ Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, ²¹ envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Now those who belong to Messiah Yeshua have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another” – as the sons of two wives might do.

Readings:

Reader 1* Amen ¹⁰ "When you go out to battle against your enemies, and Yahweh your God delivers them into your hands, and you take them away captive, ¹¹ and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and have a desire for her and would take her as a wife for yourself, ¹² then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails. ¹³ "She shall also remove the clothes of her captivity and shall remain in your house, and mourn her father and mother a full month; and after that you may go in to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. ¹⁴ "And it shall be, if you are not pleased with her, then you shall let her go wherever she wishes; but you shall certainly not sell her for money, you shall not mistreat her, because you have humbled her. ¹⁵ "If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him sons, if the first-born son belongs to the unloved, ¹⁶ then it shall be in the day he wills what he has to his sons, he cannot make the son of the loved the first-born before the son of the unloved, who is the first-born. ¹⁷ "But he shall acknowledge the first-born, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; to him belongs the right of the first-born.

Reader 2* Amen ¹⁸ "If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them, ¹⁹ then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his home town. ²⁰ "And they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.' ²¹ "Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear of it and fear. ²² "And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, ²³ his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which Yahweh your God gives you as an inheritance.

Reader 3* Amen ^22:1 "You shall not see your countryman's ox or his sheep straying away, and pay no attention to them; you shall certainly bring them back to your countryman. ² "And if your countryman is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall remain with you until your countryman looks for it; then you shall restore it to him. ³ "And thus you shall do with his donkey, and you shall do the same with his garment, and you shall do likewise with anything lost by your countryman, which he has lost and you have found. You are not allowed to neglect them. ⁴ "You shall not see your countryman's donkey or his ox fallen down on the way, and pay no attention to them; you shall certainly help him to raise them up. ⁵ "A woman shall not wear man's clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman's clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh your God.

Isaiah 54:1-10

 ¹ "Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child; break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed; for the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous than the sons of the married woman," says Yahweh. ² "Enlarge the place of your tent; stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your pegs. ³ "For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations, and they will resettle the desolate cities. ⁴ "Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; neither feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; but you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. ⁵ "For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is Yahweh of hosts; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth. ⁶ "For Yahweh has called you, like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even like a wife of one's youth when she is rejected," says your God. ⁷ "For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. ⁸ "In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you," says Yahweh your Redeemer. ⁹ "For this is like the days of Noah to Me; when I swore that the waters of Noah should not flood the earth again, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor will I rebuke you. ¹⁰ "For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken," says Yahweh who has compassion on you.

Psalm 136

 ¹ Give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

 ² Give thanks to the God of gods, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

 ³ Give thanks to Yahweh of lords, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

 ⁴ To Him who alone does great wonders, for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

 ⁵ To Him who made the heavens with skill, for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

 ⁶ To Him who spread out the earth above the waters, for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

 ⁷ To Him who made the great lights, for His lovingkindness is everlasting:

 ⁸ The sun to rule by day, for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

 ⁹ The moon and stars to rule by night, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

 ¹⁰ To Him who smote the Egyptians in their first-born, for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

 ¹¹ And brought Israel out from their midst, for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

 ¹² With a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

 ¹³ To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder, for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

 ¹⁴ And made Israel pass through the midst of it, for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

 ¹⁵ But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

 ¹⁶ To Him who led His people through the wilderness, for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

 ¹⁷ To Him who smote great kings, for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

 ¹⁸ And slew mighty kings, for His lovingkindness is everlasting:

 ¹⁹ Sihon, king of the Amorites, for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

 ²⁰ And Og, king of Bashan, for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

 ²¹ And gave their land as a heritage, for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

 ²² Even a heritage to Israel His servant, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

 ²³ Who remembered us in our low estate, for His lovingkindness is everlasting,

 ²⁴ And has rescued us from our adversaries, for His lovingkindness is everlasting;

 ²⁵ Who gives food to all flesh, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

 ²⁶ Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Galatians 3:1 – 5:26

¹ You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Yeshua Messiah was publicly portrayed as crucified? ² This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? ⁴ Did you suffer so many things in vain-- if indeed it was in vain? ⁵ Does He then, who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? ⁶ Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. ⁷ Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "All the nations shall be blessed in you." ⁹ So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. ¹⁰ For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them." ¹¹ Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "The righteous man shall live by faith." ¹² However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, "He who practices them shall live by them." ¹³ Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us-- for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree "-- ¹⁴ in order that in Messiah Yeshua the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. ¹⁵ Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man's covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. ¹⁶ Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Messiah. ¹⁷ What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. ¹⁹ Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed should come to whom the promise had been made. ²⁰ Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. ²¹ Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given whichwas able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. ²² But the Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Yeshua Messiah might be given to those who believe. ²³ But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. ²⁴ Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Messiah, that we may be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. ²⁶ For you are all sons of God through faith in Messiah Yeshua. ²⁷ For all of you who were baptized into Messiah have clothed yourselves with Messiah. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. ²⁹ And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

^4:1 Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, ² but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. ³ So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. ⁴ But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, ⁵ in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. ⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" ⁷ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. ⁸ However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. ⁹ But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? ¹⁰ You observe days and months and seasons and years. ¹¹ I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain. ¹² I beg of you, brethren, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong; ¹³ but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time; ¹⁴ and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as Messiah Yeshua Himself. ¹⁵ Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness, that if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶ Have I therefore become your enemy by telling you the truth? ¹⁷ They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out, in order that you may seek them. ¹⁸ But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable manner, and not only when I am present with you. ¹⁹ My children, with whom I am again in labor until Messiah is formed in you-- ²⁰ but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. ²¹ Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law? ²² For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. ²³ But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. ²⁴ This is allegorically speaking: for these women are two covenants, one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. ²⁵ Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶ But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. ²⁷ For it is written, "Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear; Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor; For more are the children of the desolate Than of the one who has a husband." ²⁸ And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. ²⁹ But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. ³⁰ But what does the Scripture say? "Cast out the bondwoman and her son, For the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman." ³¹ So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman.

^5:1 It was for freedom that Messiah set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. ² Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Messiah will be of no benefit to you. ³ And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. ⁴ You have been severed from Messiah, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. ⁵ For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. ⁶ For in Messiah Yeshua neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. ⁷ You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? ⁸ This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. ⁹ A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. ¹⁰ I have confidence in you in the Lord, that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. ¹¹ But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished. ¹² Would that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves. ¹³ For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ¹⁴ For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." ¹⁵ But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another. ¹⁶ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. ¹⁹ Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, ²¹ envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Now those who belong to Messiah Yeshua have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

© 2003  Beikvot HaMashiach
(Followers of the Messiah)