RSEA.D. Week 137

Torah Study Notes for Week 137 of the Torah Reading Cycle

thecord.life/notes/week137

• Torah (T): Devarim (Deuteronomy) 15:7 – 16:12
• Prophets (P): Isaiah 61:1-3
• Apostolic (A): Colossians 3:1-25
• Additional (ADD): Sirach 29:1-28

Summary
Context and coherence (Nehemiah 8:8)

• Chapter 15 – Cancellation of debt and release
  • 15:6-11 Credit system – lending and borrowing
    • Matthew 20:25-28; But Yeshua summoned them, and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. 27 Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
  • 15:12-18 Servitude
• Chapter 16
  • Pesach
  • Shavuot

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

Elohim’s Kingdom Economy of Debt, Finance, and Servitude

According to a study by the Mental Health Foundation, about half of all adults with a debt problem live with mental-illness (Ref.). Debt is defined as “anything owed or due from one person to another, a liability or obligation to pay or render something to another” (etyonline.com). Premodern credit systems may have looked very different from current institutional economics, yet the impacts on social relationships have not changed. “The rich rule over the poor. The borrower is servant to the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7). Morality and money tend to be fused together in all governed societies producing class stratification. The pursuit of wealth becomes the driving force to gain a comfortable place in life. If you fail at that pursuit the hardships of life are amplified and inescapable. YHWH’s kingdom functions unlike any nation, society or kingdom that has every existed. His is one where the focus is always on redemption, restoration, and love. Let’s take a deeper dive into scripture to find some of those differences.

• Cancellation of debt and release
  1. Deuteronomy 15:1-2; At the end of every seven years, you will cancel debts. 2 This is the way it will be done: every creditor will release that which he has lent to his neighbor. [He will not require payment],^(DSS) because YHWH’s release has been proclaimed.
     1. Deuteronomy 31:10-11; Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, in the appointed time of the year of release, in the feast of booths, 11 when all Israel has come to appear before YHWH your Elohim in the place which he will choose, [you]^(DSS) will read this Torah before all Israel in their hearing.
     2. Luke 4:18-21; “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed, 19 and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (cf. Isaiah 61:1-2) 20 He closed the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began to tell them, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Take Away – The year of YHWHs release was a sabbath-yearly reminder of the future salvation of the Messiah as spoken of in Isaiah 61 and quoted by Yeshua in Luke 4. According to the Coming of Melchizedek, column 2 in this week’s Related Additional Readings, Yeshua will release the sons of righteousness, who are those that uphold the covenant; from the debt of all their sins, breaking the power and dominion of the adversary. This practice was to condition the heart toward compassion and forgiveness with an ultimate goal to restore a brother to wholeness. All of the Torah seeks this end.

2 Esdras 9:7-8; Everyone who will be saved, and will be able to escape by his works, or by faith by which they have believed, 8 will be preserved from the said perils, and will see my salvation in my land and within my borders, which I have sanctified for myself from the beginning.

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” – Matthew 6:12

• Suring up your debts. 
  1. Matthew 18:15; If your brother sins against you,^(mss) go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
  2. Leviticus 19:17-18; Do not hate your brother in your heart. You will surely rebuke your fellow and not lift up sin upon him. 18 [Your hand]^(LXX) will not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people; but you will love your neighbor as yourself. I am YHWH.

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. 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?”