Ki Tavo Slides (pdf)
Ki Tavo Notes (pdf)
Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:9
Overview of Ki Tavo (“When You Come”) Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:9
Last week’s Portion was Ki Tisa (“When You Go”), and this week’s Portion is Ki Tavo (“When You Come”); and it concludes the second of Moses’ messages to the Second Generation of Israel (the conditions of the treaty that Yehovah made with Israel), and it moves into the third and final message (the blessings of Yehovah if Israel was obedient…and the curses if she was not). This second message is, by far, the longest…spanning over 24 chapters! Much of it was, indeed, a re-telling of “the Law”…but we also saw quite a few “new laws” here as well.
Chapter 26 – The Final Conditions of the Treaty
The chapter starts with: “And it shall be, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the country which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’”
This is more than a repetition of the commandment in Exodus 23 & Leviticus 23 to bring the first of the Firstfruits to Yehovah at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at Shavuot, and at Tabernacles. It is the declaration that Yehovah has kept His promise – the fact that the farmer is there presenting his Firstfruits offering in the Land is a testimony that Yehovah has kept His promise to Abraham (Genesis 12) to make him a great nation and to give him The Land. And part of the farmer’s declaration is a recitation of Israel’s history: they went into Egypt where Egypt put them into bondage; Yehovah redeemed them and brought them to the place where they are now…ready to enter The Land.
The chapter continues with instructions concerning tithing: the First Tithe was to go to the Levites in Jerusalem; but in the third and sixth years the Tithe was to stay at home to benefit the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.
The chapter ends with the language of a new covenant:
“Today you have proclaimed the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice. Also today the Lord has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to the Lord your God, just as He has spoken.”
If Israel obeys His Commandments, then He will make them a special people, setting them above the other Nations, and they will be a holy (set apart) people. This is most of the blessing for Israel’s obedience originally given at Mt Sinai back in Exodus 19; what is missing here is Yehovah’s promise to make them a “kingdom of priests.” This would have been their “graduation” into the Melchizidek Priesthood – one far superior to the Levitical/Aaronic Priesthood (according to the entire Book of Hebrews). Because of their Golden Calf adultery, they forfeited this blessing and were (and still are now) subjected to the Levitical/Aaronic Priesthood. But Peter tells us in I Peter 2:9 that we who have entered into a New Covenant relationship with Yehovah, are a “royal priesthood (Melich – Tzadik”); we are no longer under that inferior Levitical/Aaronic Priesthood (we are no longer “under the law”). We are the Children of God who now operate in the Melchizidek Priesthood in His Kingdom here on Earth.
This ends the listing of the Treaty Conditions that started back in chapter 5.
Chapter 27 – Blessings from Mt Ebal & Curses from Mt Gerizim
When Israel would cross the Jordan River to enter The Land, they were to write all the words of the Book of the Law (Deuteronomy 29:21; 30:10; 31:9 & 26) on tablets of stone and set them upon Mt Ebal. The twelve Tribes would then assemble on the two mountains – six on Mt Gerizim to recite the blessings that come from obedience of Yehovah’s commandments; and six on Mt Ebal to recite the curses that come from disobedience. We see that Reuben (the firstborn, of Leah) heads the “curses group” on Mt Ebal; and Simeon (the second born, also of Leah) heads the “blessings group” on Mt Gerizim. Interestingly, the name Simeon means “to Hear”, and the name Reuben means “to See”…so, if we want to receive Yehovah’s blessings we must hear from Yehovah (“Hear, O Israel….”); but if we operate by sight (“We walk by faith, not by sight…”) we can expect curses. So…instead of singing “Open the eyes of my heart, LORD…” we should instead sing “Open the ears of my heart, LORD…!”
Locating these two mountains on a map reveals a very interesting detail that is not specifically stated in the text. Positioned in the valley between these two mountains is the ancient city of Shechem. When the blessings and curses were shouted from these two mountains, they were actually spoken over this city. I think this is a profound event. There are three specific land purchases that are documented in the Tanach: Abraham’s purchase of Sarah’s burial site at Hebron (Genesis 23); David’s purchase of the threshing floor on Mt Moriah (the Temple mount today – II Samuel 24:24-25); and Jacob’s purchase of the parcel at Shechem which was ultimately used for Joseph’s burial site. (Genesis 33:18-19). All three of these locations are today under Islamic control. Around the world today, all eyes are upon Jerusalem (and the Temple Mount), but nobody is looking at these other two locations. I believe (my opinion!) before Yeshua returns to establish His Kingdom on the Earth, all three of these locations must be back in the hands of those whom the Tanach documents their purchase from the original Canaanite owners.
Chapter 28 – Blessings & Curses
The Blessings for Obedience
“Blessed Shall Be” Blessings: “The LORD Will” Blessings:
Blessed in the City & in the Field Bless Your Storehouse & Land
Blessed is the Fruit of Your Body & Land Bless is Your Storehouse & Land
Blessed is Your Basket & Kneading Trough Establish You as a Holy People
Blessed are You Coming in & Going Out All People See You Called by His Name
Cause the Defeat of Your Enemies Bless You with Plenty
Bless You with Rain in its Season
Make You the Head & Not the Tail
The Curses for Disobedience
“Cursed Shall Be” Curses:
“Blessed Shall Be” Blessings Written in negative form
“The LORD Will” Curses:
“The LORD Will” Blessings Written in negative form
Curses of Helplessness:
Madness, Blindness, Confusion, Depression
Loss of Home, Family, Land & Possessions
More “The Lord Will” Curses:
Strike You with Boils
Exile You to a Nation You Have Not Known
More Curses of Helplessness:
Locusts will Consume Your Crops
Foreigner Among You Elevated & Become Your Lender
He Becomes the Head & Not the Tail
The LORD Retaliates:
You Shall Serve Your Enemies; they Shall Spoil Your Land
Desperate Straits:
Starvation & Desperate Acts During Sieges
Reversal of “Fortune”:
You Shall Have the Plagues of Egypt
You Shall be Few in Number
You Shall be Scattered from one end of the Earth to the Other
You Shall Have Fear Day & Night
You Shall Return to Egypt as Slaves
Chapter 29 A New Covenant
This is a new covenant (not the New Covenant from Jeremiah 31) that has replaced the Sinai Covenant (which Israel broke with the Sin of the Golden Calf). Obedience to this covenant will see Israel prosper in the Land….but there is no blessing into the Melchizidek Priesthood – they lost that opportunity with the Sin of the Golden Calf.
We saw back in Exodus that Israel ratified the Sinai Covenant by satisfying these four conditions:
They heard the proposed covenant conditions Exodus 24:7a
They accepted those covenant conditions Exodus 24:7b
There was the shedding of blood with animal sacrifices Exodus 24:5-6
And there was the covenant-confirming meal Exodus 24:11b
And we see here Moses proposing these same four covenant ratification steps when Israel enters The Land:
Proposal Deuteronomy 27 & 28
Acceptance Deuteronomy 27
Shedding of blood Deuteronomy 27:7
Covenant-confirming meal Deuteronomy 27:7
But in the Book of Joshua, we see only the proposal was completed (Joshua 8:32-35); the other three steps were never completed. Why???? I would suggest that, just like Israel’s actions with the Golden Calf broke the Sinai Covenant, the Sin of Achin (Joshua 7:19-26) broke this covenant before Israel ever arrived at Shechem to finalize the ratification process. And we know that Israel did not ultimately prosper in The Land…and in fact they were sent into 70 years of Babylonian captivity because of their disobedience to the Shmitah laws.
Next week’s Portion will finish Moses’ Third Message and lead us into the relationship between the Book of the Covenant and the Book of the Law.
Haftarah Reading (Isaiah 60:1-22)
This week’s Haftorah is the sixth in a series of “Haftarot of Consolation” – consolations offered during this period of repentance between the 9th of Av & Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets). The Prophet Isaiah describes the conditions that Israel will find herself in as God calls her back to Him…..a description that sounds very much like the times we live in today! We read the beginning of this Haftarah Portion from Isaiah 60:1-3:
“Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”
We see here darkness over all the earth – just as it seems to be today. But we take consolation in knowing that God delights in doing His greatest work when the world seems to be its darkest! And we read the concluding Haftarah verses which describe the conditions after God has done His work ….as He regathers Israel; we read from verses 19-22:
“The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you; but the LORD will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory. Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended. Also your people shall all be righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation. I, the LORD, will hasten it in its time.”
Brit Chadashah (II Thessalonians 2:1-12)
In the Torah Portion’s instructions for the First Fruits offering, Laban was described as the “Syrian who sought to destroy my Father” (Jacob). This reference to the one who destroys also has a future fulfillment in the person of the Anti-Messiah; we read of Paul’s description of Anti-Messiah from II Thessalonians 2:1-12:
“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Messiah had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
My prayer for all of us is that our focus will not be upon the Anti-Messiah…but rather upon Messiah Yeshua!