RSEA.D. Notes Week 142

Torah Study Notes for Week 142 of the Torah Reading Cycle

thecord.life/notes/week142

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

  • Torah (T): Devarim (Deuteronomy) 21:10 – 22:7
  • Prophets (P): Isaiah 54:1-10
  • Apostolic (A): Galatians 3:1-29
  • Additional (ADD): Sirach 37:1-31

Summary
Context and coherence (Nehemiah 8:8)

  1. Week 142 – Various laws around a few common themes. How are these commandments related? Is there a common thread that brings harmony and unity?
    1. Legal protection to ensure justice is upheld.
      1. 21:1-14 — Legal protection for women captured in warfare.
      2. vs. 15-17 — Legal protection for the right of inheritance for the firstborn.
      3. vs. 18-21 – Legal protection for parents of a rebellious son.
      4. vs. 22-23 – Legal protection to prevent the land from being defiled by a hanging corpse
      5. 22:1-3 — Legal protection for private property.
      6. vs. 6-7 — Legal protection for the creatures in the land.
    2. Justice not only preserves righteousness (i.e. uprightness) in human behavior, but it also preserves the purpose and intention of Elohim for His Creation.
  2. One of the reasons that we struggle to understand and apply the commandments of God is because we forget that one of His inherent qualities is intentionality.
    1. Intentionality – (Def.): the fact of being deliberate or purposive.
      1. Describes how our thoughts and mental states are always directed towards something, whether it’s an object, event, or concept.
      2. KEY POINT:
        The Great I AM does not just exist, He acts with intention and purpose within His creation.
    2. “So will My word be which goes out of My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:11)
    3. “Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him, that it would be paid back to him?” (Rom. 11:33-35; ref. Isa. 40:13))
  3. Since the Enlightenment, humanity has become increasingly confused/blinded about intentionality – both of God and of mankind itself.
    1. Deism – “belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe. The term is used chiefly of an intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that accepted the existence of a creator on the basis of reason but rejected belief in a supernatural deity who interacts with humankind” (Dictionary.com).
    2. Evolution – the fundamental purpose of all life is adaptation to the environment towards fundamental biological and material goals.
    3. Artificial Intelligence – will it be a tool to help humans toward their purpose or a tool to provide humans with their purpose?

KEY POINT:
As YHWH’s covenant people, we must be the ones with the clearest understanding of His intentions and His purpose for humanity.
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2)

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

  1. Understanding the purpose and intention of Elohim for His Creation.
    1. “Elohim created man in his own image. In Elohim’s image He created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen. 1:27-28)
  2. Mankind was given dominion over creation.
    1. רָדָה Radah: to have dominion, rule, dominate
    2. Creation was their kingdom – i.e. sphere of rule and authority.
    3. This dominion is given to male and female together.
      1. “Let Us make man in our image…male and female.. and let them have dominion” (Ge. 1:26).
      2. The Divine Mandate requires the co-operation of men and women!
  3. YHWH prescribed with intention how their dominion would advance.
    1. “Be fruitful.”
      1. פְּר֥וּ parah — to bear fruit, be fruitful
        1. Not speaking of children specifically.
        2. Refers to production — to bring into existence — take something with potential (seed) and foster its growth and development to the max.
    2. “Multiply.”
      1. וּרְב֛וּ rabah — to be or become much, many or great
    3. “Fill.”
      1. וּמִלְא֥וּ mala – fill or make full
    4. “Subdue.”
      1. כָּבַשׁ kabash — to subdue, bring into bondage (i.e. make into a servant).
      2. Not a commandment for slavery – subdue creation, not human beings.
      3. Connected to rule and authority.
        1. Invent the sail to harness the wind.
        2. Design the forge to use fire.
        3. Tame the horse so it will serve you.
        4. Split the atom to create an unlimited source of energy.
        5. Design a rocket to discover the moon…and Mars.
        6. KEY POINT:
          Adam and Eve were given a Divine Mandate — to bring YHWH’s work of creation to fullness (e.g. its goal or purpose) through His authority as sub- or co-creators.
  4. Strongs Greek #5056 télos (a neuter noun) – properly, consummation (the end-goal, purpose), such as closure with all its results.
    1. BibleHub WORDHelps: “This root (tel-) means ‘reaching the end (aim).’ It is well-illustrated with the old pirate’s telescope, unfolding (extending out) one stage at a time to function at full-strength (capacity effectiveness)”.
  5. The Divine Mandate centers on two things:
    1. “Procreation” — the bringing forth of seed
    2. “Co-creation” — releasing and harnessing the potential within creation to produce fruit and bring it to the fullest purpose for which it was designed.
    3. The ultimate effect of the curse of sin on humanity – and, the express goal of Satan — is barrenness.
  6. Connecting the Prophets and the Apostolic portion:
    1. The story of redemption throughout scripture is restoration of the Divine Mandate through deliverance from the curse of sin and the barrenness it causes.
      Prophets portion:
      1. “Sing, barren, you who didn’t give birth! Break out into singing, and cry aloud, you who didn’t travail with child! For more are the sons of the desolate than the sons of the married woman,” says YHWH. Enlarge the place of your tent and let them stretch out the curtains of your habitations; don’t spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out on the right hand and on the left; and your seed will possess the nations and settle in desolate cities (Isa. 54:1-3).
    2. Apostolic portion:
      1. What was the message of the Good News?
        1. “The Scripture, foreseeing that Elohim would justify the Nations by faith, preached the Good News beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you all the nations will be blessed.” (Gal. 3:8)
          1. TOOL TIP Genesis 12:3 In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
            “For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. (Rom. 4:13)
      2. KEY POINTS on the Galatian controversy:
        Salvation in the mind of Paul meant obtaining legal or covenantal status as an heir of the promise made to Abraham.
        Covenant status meant that the blessings of the divine mandate could be obtained in and through the Creator, free from the curse of sin brought about by Adam and Eve.
        The error in the church of Galatia was how one obtained this legal or covenantal status.
        (For more study on this topic, see Cord FAQs – Episode 1: “Not Under the Law”)
  7. Torah provides the Creator’s wisdom and justice on how to accomplish the Divine Mandate in every sphere of life.
    1. Teachings and instructions for fruitfulness and blessing (e.g. abundant life) in every sphere.
      1. Individual
      2. Family/Household
      3. Community (collection of households).
      4. Society
  8. Example of the Family
    1. Men and women need one another to fulfill their mandate
      1. “Mankind’s duties to God therefore require the cooperation of the sexes. This, too, is part of God’s design, and nowhere is this more obvious than in man’s libido. Just as his aggressive desire to rule and subdue is God-given, so is his powerful desire for sex. Remember, the dominion God made us for is fruitful. Sex is the engine that drives this fruitfulness” (Foster, M. It’s Good to be a Man, p.29)
      2. Fruitfulness requires more than procreation.
        1. It requires the structure and order that will cause those seed to reach their full potential.
      3. KEY POINT:
        Marriage is the covenant that joins male and female in a committed union so the creation mandate can be fulfilled.
  9. Society is built upon the family.
    1. “A household is a miniature world. It is a microcosmos. Every household is one atom in the substance of God’s kingdom. And it is through man’s powerful sex drive that these households are built. Then, through households, societies are established. Culture begins and emanates from the household. It is where the next generation of men is shaped and trained, until they leave their father and mother, join themselves to a wife, and start the process anew” (Foster, M. It’s Good to be a Man, p.35).
  10. Sex outside of marriage destroys the God-ordained order for humanity
    1. It subverts effective cooperation between the sexes for the purpose of building families.
    2. It prevents households from forming in a way that brings wealth to the goal (i.e. telos).
      1. Generational, debt-free, relational, talent not just treasure.
    3. KEY POINT:
      YHWH gave the Ten Words (e.g. the Covenant) is to establish His order and structure in individuals, marriages, households, communities and society so that the generational wealth and blessing created by humans will be sustained and preserved and the Divine Mandate for humanity will achieve its intended goal and purpose.
  11. Exodus 20:12 – Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives
    1. Children must respect the authority of parents. They are the ones who created them and are laboring to build the household that will make them fruitful and provide them with wealth and inheritance.
  12. Exodus 20:14 – You shall not commit adultery.
    1. The marriage covenant must be preserved in order for the household be fruitful and have longevity.
  13. Exodus 20:15 – You shall not steal.
    1. The wealth of a household must be legally protected from theft.
  14. Exodus 20:17 – You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.
    1. Creators of a household have exclusive rights to everything which belongs to it.
  15. Modernist humanist structure for society is collectivism.
    1. Weaken the covenant of marriage in order to break apart the structure of the family so that the wealth of the household is dissipated, and humanity becomes weaker from generation to generation.
    2. As mankind is atomized, he forfeits his God-given authority, independence and wealth over to the State and becomes subjugated to it.
  16. So, what do we do?
    1. Individually:
      1. Redefine fruitfulness biblically.
        1. Not about material possessions that will not endure.
        2. “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, and the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.” – (Pro. 13:22)
    2. Young people:
      1. Clarify your life purpose in view of the Divine Mandate
      2. Prepare yourself to join in marriage with someone who also desires to build a household.
    3. Couples:
      1. Strengthen your covenant and get aligned on what God is calling you to create through your household.
    4. Grandparents:
      1. Invest your time, treasure and talents in your children and your children’s children.

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?”