RSEA.D. Week 135

Torah Study Notes for Week 135 of the Torah Reading Cycle

thecord.life/notes/week135

Read
Aloud together to hear the Word (Leviticus 23:1-3; Nehemiah 8:1-4; Luke 4:16-17)

  • Torah (T): Devarim (Deuteronomy) 11:26 – 12:19
  • Prophets (P): Isaiah 54:11 – 55:6
  • Apostolic (A): Acts 13:1-52
  • Additional (ADD): Tobit 13:1-18

Summary
Context and coherence (Nehemiah 8:8)

  1. Deuteronomy 11:26-28; Behold, I am giving before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you hear the commandments of YHWH your Elohim, which I command you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not hear the commandments of YHWH your Elohim, but turn away out of the way which I command you today, to go after other elohim which you have not known.
    1. שָׁמַע shama’ (H8085) basically means “to hear and obey” in the sense of carefully hearing someone or something and responding with the appropriate obedient action. שָׁמַע shama’ is equivalent to the Greek word ἀκούω akouō (G191) which means to attend to, to consider what is or has been said, to understand, or to perceive the sense of what is said.
  2. Deuteronomy 11:29-31; It will happen, when YHWH your Elohim brings you into the land that you go to possess, that you will give the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30 Aren’t they beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah near Gilgal, beside the [oak](DSS)(cf. Genesis 12:6) of Moreh? 31 For you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you, and you will possess it and dwell in it.
    1. Mount Gerizim is one of two mountains in the immediate vicinity of the Palestinian city of Nablus and the biblical city of Shechem. It forms the southern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the northern side being formed by Mount Ebal.
    2. Mount Ebal is one of the two mountains in the immediate vicinity of the city of Nablus in the West Bank, and forms the northern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the southern side being formed by Mount Gerizim.
    3. Deuteronomy 27:11-26; Moses commanded the people the same day, saying, 12 “These will stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed over the Jordan: Shimon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 These will stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14 With a loud voice, the Levites will say to all the men of Israel, 15 ‘Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to YHWH, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people will answer and say, ‘Amen.’ 16 ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or his mother.’ All the people will say, ‘Amen.’ 17 ‘Cursed is he who removes his neighbor’s landmark.’ All the people will say, ‘Amen.’ 18 ‘Cursed is he who leads the blind astray on the road.’ All the people will say, ‘Amen.’ 19 ‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, fatherless, and widow.’ All the people will say, ‘Amen.’ 20 ‘Cursed is he who lies with his father’s wife, because he dishonors his father’s bed.’ All the people will say, ‘Amen.’ 21 ‘Cursed is he who lies with any kind of animal.’ All the people will say, ‘Amen.’ 22 ‘Cursed is he who lies with his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter.’ All the people will say, ‘Amen.’ 23 ‘Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.’ All the people will say, ‘Amen.’ 24 ‘Cursed is he who secretly kills his neighbor.’ All the people will say, ‘Amen.’ 25 ‘Cursed is he who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ All the people will say, ‘Amen.’ 26 ‘Cursed is he who doesn’t uphold the words of this Torah by doing them.’ All the people will say, ‘Amen.’ ”
    4. Joshua 8:30-35; Then Joshua built an altar to YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, on Mount Ebal, 31 as Moses the servant of YHWH commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of uncut stones, on which no one had lifted up any iron. They offered burnt offerings on it to YHWH and sacrificed peace offerings. 32 He wrote there on the stones a copy of Moses’ law, which he wrote in the presence of the sons of Israel. 33 All Israel, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests, who carried the ark of YHWH’s covenant, the foreigner as well as the native; half of them in front of Mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of YHWH had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel. 34 Afterward he read all the words of the Torah, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua didn’t read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who were among them.
      1. Here, we see Joshua reading the Torah, the blessing, and the curse. But where do we see the actual words of the blessing to be given from Mt. Gerizim as we saw the actual words of the curse in Deuteronomy 27:14-25?
      2. Could the words of the blessing be the ones given by Yeshua in the sermon on the mount?
        1. Matthew 5:1-32; Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 He opened his mouth and taught them, saying, 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the reign of the heavens. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the land. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see Elohim. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of Elohim. 10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the reign of the heavens. 11 “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in the heavens. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 13 “You are the salt of the land, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men. 14 You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. 15 Neither do you light a lamp and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. 16 Even so, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in the heavens. 17 “Don’t think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18 For most certainly, I tell you, until the heavens and the land pass away, not one yod or one horn will in any way pass away from the Torah, until all things are accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever will break one of these least commandments and teach others to do so, will be called least in the reign of the heavens; but whoever will do and teach them will be called great in the reign of the heavens. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the reign of the heavens. 21 “You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘Do not murder’ (cf. Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17) and ‘whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment. Whoever says to his brother, ‘Reka!’ will be in danger of the council. Whoever says, ‘Naval!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehinnom. 23 “If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery;’ 28 but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to covet after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish than for your whole body to be cast into Gehinnom. 30 If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body go into Gehinnom. 31 It was also said, ‘Whoever will put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’ 32 but I tell you that everyone who puts away his wife, except for the word of fornication (cf. Deuteronomy 22:20), makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.
  3. 11:32 – 12:1; You will guard to do all the statutes and the judgments which I am giving to your faces today. 12:1 [And](DSS) These are the statutes and the judgments which you will guard to do in the land which YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, has given you to possess all the days that you live on the land.
  4. 12:2-12; Instructs on how to deal with the houses and places of worship of other elohim compared the the place which YHWH will choose to put his name.
    1. 12:2-3; You will surely destroy all the places in which the nations that you will dispossess served their elohim: on the high mountains, and on the hills, and under every green tree. 3 You will break down their altars, dash their pillars in pieces, and burn their Asherah poles with fire. You will cut down the engraved images of their elohim. You will destroy their name out of that place.
    2. 12:4-7; You will not do so to YHWH your Elohim. 5 But to the place which YHWH your Elohim will choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you will seek his habitation, and you will come there. 6 You will bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, your vows, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock there. 7 There you will eat before YHWH your Elohim, and you will rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your houses, in which YHWH your Elohim has blessed you. 8 You will not do all the things that we do here today, every man whatever is right in his own eyes; 9 for you haven’t yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which YHWH your Elohim gives you. 10 But when you go over the Jordan and dwell in the land which YHWH your Elohim causes you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all your enemies around you, so that you dwell in safety, 11 then it will happen that to the place which YHWH your Elohim will choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you will bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to [your Elohim].(LXX) 12 You will rejoice before YHWH your Elohim—you, and your sons, your daughters, your male servants, your maids, and the Levite who is within your gates, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you.
      1. Will it be Shiloh? Jerusalem? A physical place? Or, among his people as the Torah says?
        1. Shiloh? Shiloh was situated on a hill in the tribe of Ephraim, though near the borders of Benjamin, about fifteen miles north of Jerusalem, and, according to Eusebius, twelve, or according to Jerome, ten miles (south) from Shechem or Nablus. It was but a little north from Bethel or Ai, and near the road from Shechem to Jerusalem. (cf. Judges 21:19.) In Jerome’s time, Shiloh was ruined; and nothing remarkable was extant, but the foundations of the altar of burnt offerings which had been erected when the tabernacle stood there.
          1. Joshua 18:1; The whole congregation of the sons of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the Appointed Tent there. The land was subdued before them.
          2. Judges 18:31; So they set up for themselves Micah’s engraved image which he made, and it remained all the time that the house of Elohim was in Shiloh.
          3. 1 Samuel 1:3; This man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice to YHWH of Armies in Shiloh…
          4. Psalms 78:58-61; For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their engraved images. 59 When Elohim heard this, he was angry, and greatly abhorred Israel, 60 so that he abandoned the tent of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men, 61 and delivered his strength into captivity, his glory into the adversary’s hand.
        2. Jerusalem? David moved the house of YHWH to the City of David (i.e. Jerusalem). “The City of David was the ancient epicenter of Jerusalem and whose boundaries stretched from the Temple Mount in the north, thence southward to the Pool of Siloam, including the area marking the Kidron brook in the east and the adjacent dale in the west.”
          1. 2 Samuel 6:1-19; And David again gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2 And David arose, and went with all the people who were with him to Baalah, that is, Kiriath Jearim of Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called there by the name of YHWH of hosts who sits above the keruvim. 3 And they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was on the hill. And Uzza and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart 4 with the ark; and Ahio was walking in front of the ark. 5 And David and all the sons of Israel played before YHWH with all their strength and with songs, and with harps, and with stringed instruments, and with tambourines, and with castanets, and with cymbals. 6 And when they came to the threshing floor of Nodan, Uzza reached out his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the cattle stumbled. 7 And the anger of YHWH was kindled against Uzza; and God struck him there for his error; and there he died before God. 8 And David was displeased, because YHWH had broken forth on Uzza; and he called that place Perez Uzza, to this day. 9 And David was afraid of YHWH that day; and he said, “How can the ark of God come to me?” Now the ark of YHWH arrived, 10 but David was not willing to move the ark of YHWH with him to the City of David; so David diverted it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 11 And the ark of YHWH remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months, and YHWH blessed Obed-Edom and all his house. 12 And it was told king David, saying, “YHWH has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him because of the ark of God.” And David said, “I will bring back the blessing to my house.” And David went and brought up the ark of YHWH from the house of Obed-Edom into the City of David with joy. 13 And it was so, that, when those who bore the ark of YHWH had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf. 14 And David danced before YHWH with all his might; and David was clothed in a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of YHWH with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. 16 Now, as the ark of YHWH was entering into the City of David, Mikal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before YHWH; and she despised him in her heart. 17 And they brought in the ark of YHWH, and set it in its place, in the midst of the tent that David had set up for it; and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before YHWH. 18 And when David had made an end of offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of YHWH of hosts. 19 And he gave to all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, both to men and women, to everyone a portion of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. So all the people departed everyone to his house.
          2. Jeremiah 7:12-14; “But go now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 Now, because you have done all these works,” says YHWH, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you didn’t hear; and I called you, but you didn’t answer; 14 therefore I will do to the house which is called by my name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. 15 I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
          3. Jeremiah 26:1-6; In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from YHWH: 2 “YHWH says: ‘Stand in the court of the house of YHWH, and speak to all the cities of Judah which come to worship in the house of YHWH, all the words that I command you to speak to them. Don’t omit a word. 3 It may be they will listen, and every man turn from his evil way, that I may relent from the evil which I intend to do to them because of the evil of their doings.’ ” 4 You shall tell them, “YHWH says: ‘If you will not hear me, to walk in my law which I have set before you, 5 to hear the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you, even rising up early and sending them—but you have not listened— 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the land.’ ”
        3. Among His people? Exodus 29:45 says, “I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will be their Elohim”
          1. En route to Galilee, Yeshua stops at Sychar on the south east slope of Mount Ebal in Samaria to speak with the woman at the well.
            1. John 4:21-30; … 5 So he came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Yeshua therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour… 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. So where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his children and his livestock? … Yeshua said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship that which you don’t know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers. 24 Elohim is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
          2. The Body of Messiah is comprised of whoever does the will of Yeshua’s Father who is in heaven. They are his family (cf. Matthew 12:50). We are “many members in one body, and all the members don’t have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Messiah, and individually members of one another.” (Romans 12:4-5)
            1. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; Don’t you know that you are Elohim’s temple and that Elohim’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys Elohim’s temple, Elohim will destroy him; for Elohim’s temple is holy, which you are.
            2. Ephesians 2:18-22; For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and of the household of Elohim, 20 being built on the foundation of the emissaries and prophets, Messiah Yeshua himself being the chief cornerstone; 21 in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are built together for a habitation of Elohim in the Spirit.
            3. Hebrews 3:1-6; Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Emissary and High Priest of our confession: Yeshua, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also Moses was in all his house. 3 For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because he who built the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is Elohim. 5 Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a witness of those things which were afterward to be spoken, 6 but Messiah is faithful as a Son over his house. We are his house, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end.
            4. 1 Peter 2:1-10; Putting away therefore all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babies, long for the reasonable unadulterated milk, that with it you may grow, 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 4 Come to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by Elohim, precious. 5 You also as living stones are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to Elohim through Yeshua the Messiah. 6 Because it is contained in Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, chosen and precious. He who believes in him will not be put to shame.” (cf. Isaiah 28:16) 7 For you who believe therefore is the honor, but for those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” (cf. Psalm 118:22) 8 and, “a stumbling stone and a rock of offense.” (cf. Isaiah 8:14) For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed. 9 But you are a chosen seed, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for Elohim’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 In the past, you were not a people, but now are Elohim’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. (cf. Hosea 1:10; Hosea 2:23)
            5. Revelation 21:1-3; I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more. 2 I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of the heavens from Elohim, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, the dwelling of Elohim is with people; and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and Elohim himself will be with them as their Elohim.
      2. 12:13 Be careful that you don’t offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; 14 but in the place which YHWH chooses in one of your tribes, there you will offer your burnt offerings, and there you will do all that I command you. 15 Yet you may kill and eat meat within all your gates, after all the desire of your soul, according to YHWH your Elohim’s blessing which he has given you. The unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and the deer. 16 Only you will not eat the blood. You will pour it out on the land like water. 17 You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, nor any of your vows which you vow, nor your freewill offerings, nor the wave offering of your hand; 18 but you will eat them before YHWH your Elohim in the place which YHWH your Elohim will choose: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your maid, and the Levite who is within your gates. You will rejoice before YHWH your Elohim in all that you put your hand to. 19 Be careful that you don’t forsake the Levite as long as you live in [the](DSS) land.

Exhortation
Counsel, comfort, and encouragement (Acts 13:14-15)

  1. Deuteronomy 11:26-28; Behold, I am giving before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you hear the commandments of YHWH your Elohim, which I command you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not hear the commandments of YHWH your Elohim, but turn away out of the way which I command you today, to go after other elohim which you have not known.
    1. שָׁמַע shama’ (H8085) basically means “to hear and obey” in the sense of carefully hearing someone or something and responding with the appropriate obedient action. שָׁמַע shama’ is equivalent to the Greek word ἀκούω akouō (G191) which means to attend to, to consider what is or has been said, to understand, or to perceive the sense of what is said.
    2. Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Hear, Israel, YHWH is our Elohim. YHWH is one. 5 You will love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
    3. Mark 12:28-30; One of the scribes came and heard them questioning together, and [seeing](mss) that he had answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the greatest of all?” 29 Yeshua answered, “The greatest is: ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our Elohim, the Lord is one. 30 You will love the Lord your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
    4. Hebrews 3:7; Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, “Today (G4594) if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of the trial in the wilderness…
      1. Hebrews 3:8 don’t harden your hearts
        1. The same today is applied to the hearing of YHWH’s voice to be received by an unhardened, circumcised heart of flesh (cf. Deuteronomy 10:16; Deuteronomy 30:6; Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26; Ezekiel 44:9).
        2. Deuteronomy 30:6; YHWH your Elohim will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live (Deuteronomy 8:2).
        3. Mark 8:17-18; Yeshua, perceiving it, said to them, “Why do you reason that it’s because you have no bread? Don’t you perceive yet or understand? Is your heart still hardened? 18 Having eyes, don’t you see? Having ears, don’t you hear? Don’t you remember?
        4. Physically, it is YHWH who causes a person to have the ability to see with their eyes or hear with their ears. This also applies spiritually. It is YHWH who allows a person to
          1. Exodus 4:11; YHWH said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn’t it I, [Elohim]?(LXX)
          2. John 12:40; Isaiah 6:10; “He has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and would turn, and I would heal them.”
          3. Luke 10:23; Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see, 24 for I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.”
    5. Can a person who believes in and follows Yeshua be spiritually blind or deaf? If so, how are we commanded to treat them?
      1. Leviticus 19:11, “You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind; but you shall fear your Elohim. I am YHWH.”
      2. Cursing the (spiritually) deaf:
        1. Matthew 5:21-24; “You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘Do not murder’ (cf. Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17) and ‘whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment. Whoever says to his brother, ‘Reka!’ will be in danger of the council. Whoever says, ‘Naval!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehinnom. 23 “If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
          1. Reka is an Aramaic insult, related to the Hebrew word רֵק rek (H7386) which means empty of contents. As an insult it means vain, worthless, or good-for-nothing.
          2. נָבָל naval (H5036) means foolish, senseless.
        2. James 3:5-10; So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest! 6 And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehinnom.‡ 7 For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and sea creature is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind; 8 but nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who are made in the image of God. 10 Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
      3. Stumbling blocks before the (spiritually) blind:
        1. 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 But if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he doesn’t yet know as he ought to know. 3 But anyone who loves God is known by him. 4 Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other God but one. 5 For though there are things that are called “gods”, whether in the heavens or on earth—as there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Yeshua the Messiah, through whom are all things, and we live through him. 7 However, that knowledge isn’t in all men. But some, with consciousness of an idol until now, eat as of a thing sacrificed to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 But food will not commend us to God. For neither, if we don’t eat are we the worse, nor if we eat are we the better. 9 But be careful that by no means does this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if a man sees you who have knowledge sitting in an idol’s temple, won’t his conscience, if he is weak, be emboldened to eat things sacrificed to idols? 11 And through your knowledge, he who is weak perishes, the brother for whose sake Messiah died. 12 Thus, sinning against the brothers, and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Messiah. 13 Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will eat no meat forever more, that I don’t cause my brother to stumble.
        2. Romans 14:1-21; Now accept one who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions. 2 One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 Don’t let him who eats despise him who doesn’t eat. Don’t let him who doesn’t eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you who judge another’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him stand. 5 One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. He who doesn’t eat, to the Lord he doesn’t eat, and gives God thanks. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Messiah died, rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Messiah. 11 For it is written, “ ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘to me every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess to God.’ ” (cf. Isaiah 45:23) 12 So then each one of us will give account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let’s not judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block in his brother’s way, or an occasion for falling (cf. Leviticus 19:11). 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Yeshua that nothing is unclean of itself; except that to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 Yet if because of food your brother is grieved, you walk no longer in love. Don’t destroy with your food him for whom Messiah died. 16 Then don’t let your good be slandered, 17 for God’s Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For he who serves Messiah in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then, let’s follow after things which make for peace, and things by which we may build one another up. 20 Don’t overthrow God’s work for food’s sake. All things indeed are clean, however it is evil for that man who creates a stumbling block by eating. 21 It is good to not eat meat, drink wine, nor do anything by which your brother stumbles, is offended, or is made weak.
    6. The blind hear better, the deaf see better
      1. “Research has shown that people who are born blind or become blind early in life often have a more nuanced sense of hearing” – According to a 2006 study published by Daphne Bavelier, Brain and Cognitive Science Department, Meliora Hall, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
      2. “People who are born deaf use areas of the brain typically devoted to processing sound to instead process touch and vision…making them susceptible to a perceptual illusion that hearing people do not experience.” – According to a study published in The Journal of Neuroscience in 2012

Does anyone have specific questions or need any clarification from what was said during the Summary or Exhortation?

Application & Discussion
Living the Word and following Yeshua (Acts 2:37; Romans 2:13)
Questions, input, and sharpening (Proverbs 27:17; Luke 2:46)

Romans 2:13 For it isn’t the hearers of the Torah who are righteous before Elohim, but the doers of the Torah will be justified.

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.

    1. What questions or comments came up during your family’s discussion of this week’s study?
    2. “What other related Scriptures did you find during your study of this week’s portion?”
    3. Have you ever experienced something from this study or something related to it?
    4. “What changes do you need to make in your life to align with what you learned during this week’s Torah Study?”