Chaverim; Brukhim Habayim and welcome to this week’s Parashat in the name of Yeshua
You must be wondering why the portion is called Ekev עֶקֶב (Result of or Consequence of) a word which is closely related to the word Akev עָקֵב (Heel) and in fact it is the same word with different nikkud points. Moses could have used any other word like אִם which would mean if, however it is quite interesting to note why the choice of word is singularly different. If it does sound baffling to you in the course of learning; it may be because you have been trying to grasp the Hebrew language so far, you will find here is one pasukh that throw the spanner into the works and could make a hash out of your studying of scripture. Believe me it took some time, in fact a little more than usual to get a grasp on what Moses is trying to convey here.
Let us get around to the Context of the portion, because that is the crux of everything. What does the word Heel signify in the Hebrew language? It speaks of standing and stability, something like a grouting to the human body without which makes it impossible to stand. The Round of the Heel and the Nerve muscle of the heel is so small a part yet essential; for standing, stance and stability of the Human body. Which means Moses is here using an analogy for what he wants to convey to his audience. Now we even see other personalities in scripture also use this analogy but let stick to the context of this portion today. Moses is trying to say to them that the Stability and the Stance and the standing of each one of you is by way of the Heel – and what is that HEEL that Moses is pointing to? Let us read further in the verses till it gets clearer.
וְהָיָ֣ה ׀ עֵ֣קֶב תִּשְׁמְע֗וּן אֵ֤ת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים֙ הָאֵ֔לֶּה
וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥ם וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑ם וְשָׁמַר֩ יְהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ לְךָ֗
אֶֽת־הַבְּרִית֙ וְאֶת־הַחֶ֔סֶד אֲשֶׁ֥ר נִשְׁבַּ֖ע לַאֲבֹתֶֽיךָ׃
We have already earlier looked intently at the formation of the word Ve-Hayah; To Become or to Happen. Which translates as “ and it shall Happen” related to the time in space continuum, in other words by our actions and deeds we are constantly filling Time every second of existence – because Time is happening and coming from nowhere every second. So in other words Moses was telling the Children of Israel to Fill up their time by keeping the Commandments and the Statutes and the Judgments; the result of which, the consequence of are the blessings and the tenanting in the Land of Milk and Honey. Hope you understand that Filling time means producing actions and deeds that result in blessing and goodness being poured out to us through the channel of time every second of existence. Now when he uses the word Ekev he is asking them to be grouted and fixed onto the commandments and the instructions of Hashem which should be their HEEL. Anything besides that or anything that substitutes that will be a direct violation and rebellion in the sight of Hashem. The Jewish people were supposed to be masters of Time which they could perfect. It was given to them to be able to bring down all heavenly goodness and perfection from the Highest of the Heavens by filling time here on earth as per the Mitzvoth given by Hashem. Let us read the succeeding verses; see what Becomes and Happens if they are obedient:
וַאֲהֵ֣בְךָ֔ וּבֵרַכְךָ֖ וְהִרְבֶּ֑ךָ וּבֵרַ֣ךְ
פְּרִֽי־בִטְנְךָ֣ וּפְרִֽי־אַ֠דְמָתֶךָ דְּגָ֨נְךָ֜ וְתִֽירֹשְׁךָ֣ וְיִצְהָרֶ֗ךָ
שְׁגַר־אֲלָפֶ֙יךָ֙ וְעַשְׁתְּרֹ֣ת צֹאנֶ֔ךָ עַ֚ל הָֽאֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־נִשְׁבַּ֥ע
לַאֲבֹתֶ֖יךָ לָ֥תֶת לָֽךְ׃
“He will favour you and bless you and multiply you; He will bless the issue of your womb and the produce of your soil, your new grain and wine and oil, the calving of your herd and the lambing of your flock, in the land that He swore to your fathers to assign to you.”
בָּר֥וּךְ תִּֽהְיֶ֖ה מִכָּל־הָעַמִּ֑ים לֹא־יִהְיֶ֥ה בְךָ֛
עָקָ֥ר וַֽעֲקָרָ֖ה וּבִבְהֶמְתֶּֽךָ׃
You shall be blessed above all other peoples: there shall be no sterile male or female among you or among your livestock.
לֹ֥א תַעֲרֹ֖ץ מִפְּנֵיהֶ֑ם כִּֽי־יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙
בְּקִרְבֶּ֔ךָ אֵ֥ל גָּד֖וֹל וְנוֹרָֽא׃
Do not stand in dread of them, for the LORD your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.
Now God is telling them to remove everything that will stand opposed to Him in their sight, destroy everything that will likely lead them astray from their Goal – Do not depend upon any Man, upon any living thing, upon any Person, title or rank, Gold or Silver or anything precious – the Only HEEL they were supposed to have in their Lives was the Instructions God Spoke to them. Now, when God spoke, He was writing the instructions on their Hearts, which they refused, and they asked Moses for written Tablets of Stone. But those were the instructions to be kept so that they can receive the blessings. So then in what manner were the blessings and the fulfillment of the Kindness that God promised to their fathers to come to them – by way of speaking the blessings in their lives that comes into existence through the channel of time and creates reality that they will be living in. Keeping the mitzvah enabled them to act with wisdom, understanding and Knowledge, walking rightly in the sight of God and bringing down the manifestations of blessings through the time-space continuum into reality. But there is also another level, a much higher level to what we are talking about. in Chapter 8:1 Moses tells them this:
כָּל־הַמִּצְוָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר אָנֹכִ֧י מְצַוְּךָ֛ הַיּ֖וֹם
תִּשְׁמְר֣וּן לַעֲשׂ֑וֹת לְמַ֨עַן תִּֽחְי֜וּן וּרְבִיתֶ֗ם וּבָאתֶם֙ וִֽירִשְׁתֶּ֣ם
אֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־נִשְׁבַּ֥ע יְהוָ֖ה לַאֲבֹתֵיכֶֽם׃
All the Instruction that I enjoin upon you today, that you may guard and produce out of it for the sake of being able to greatly inherit the land that the LORD promised an oath to your fathers. What does it mean to produce out of it (La-Asot) it means producing blessings out of keeping and guarding the commandments so that the Land will be able to sustain them as a Heritage and the ecological balance between the sons of Jacob and the Land of Israel remain in a state of perfection. The goal was to Live and elevate the land with themselves to a higher spiritual dimension; one that is not seen with the Human eyes but the blessings and manifestation of it visible through the Time-space continuum. Like we learnt last week the physicality of the Temple was supposed to be initiator and school master for them to learn to INTERNALIZE the Torah thus elevating the portion of land called Israel. This rectification was the pilot phase of God’s plan for this world, for through this and the model of the Jewish people he would rectify the World and its inhabitants. The Higher aspect of living in the land of Israel is the Inner Dimension, the reason it is called Eretz Israel (from the word RATZON meaning will) because the Land is completely faithful to Hashem and always WILLING to do His will; this Inner spiritual Dimension is something even the Jewish people have not been able to Materialize or Realize upon Eretz Israel, for they failed to bring down the blessings as instructed to them by not filling the Time-Space continuum to perfection. The Land will produce for them blessings directly according to their obedience and guarding the Instructions. Eretz Israel will respond accordingly. This is what Moses tells them in Chapter 11
כִּ֣י הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר אַתָּ֤ה בָא־שָׁ֙מָּה֙ לְרִשְׁתָּ֔הּ
לֹ֣א כְאֶ֤רֶץ מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ הִ֔וא אֲשֶׁ֥ר יְצָאתֶ֖ם מִשָּׁ֑ם אֲשֶׁ֤ר תִּזְרַע֙
אֶֽת־זַרְעֲךָ֔ וְהִשְׁקִ֥יתָ בְרַגְלְךָ֖ כְּגַ֥ן הַיָּרָֽק׃
For the land that you are
about to enter and possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have
come. There the grain you sowed had to be watered by your own labours, like a
vegetable garden;
וְהָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר אַתֶּ֜ם עֹבְרִ֥ים שָׁ֙מָּה֙ לְרִשְׁתָּ֔הּ אֶ֥רֶץ הָרִ֖ים וּבְקָעֹ֑ת לִמְטַ֥ר הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם תִּשְׁתֶּה־מָּֽיִם׃
but the land you are about
to cross into and possess, a land of hills and valleys, soaks up its water from
the rains of heaven.
אֶ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ דֹּרֵ֣שׁ אֹתָ֑הּ תָּמִ֗יד עֵינֵ֨י יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ בָּ֔הּ מֵֽרֵשִׁית֙ הַשָּׁנָ֔ה וְעַ֖ד אַחֲרִ֥ית שָׁנָֽה׃ (ס)
It is a land which the LORD your God looks after,
on which the LORD your God always keeps His eye, from year’s beginning to
year’s end. Hashem brought His children out of Egypt to a land
where he will pour out and manifest His goodness, when His children follow the
rules and instructions given to them. But More so they need to understand that
it is Hashem who is giving them everything not by their own merits or their
sense of Goodness or deeds they will be able to Live in the Land. The Lord’s
EYES are always upon it from the beginning of the Year to the End of the Year.
It is special to God and now we know that the Entire plan of the Eternal was to
Restore back the Gan Eden and bring back the Human to keep it and take care of
it as it was in Bereshit. Moreover, if we look also in chapter 9:3 God says
something completely out of the reckoning, He Says:
לֹ֣א בְצִדְקָתְךָ֗ וּבְיֹ֙שֶׁר֙ לְבָ֣בְךָ֔ אַתָּ֥ה בָ֖א לָרֶ֣שֶׁת
אֶת־אַרְצָ֑ם כִּ֞י בְּרִשְׁעַ֣ת ׀ הַגּוֹיִ֣ם הָאֵ֗לֶּה יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙
מוֹרִישָׁ֣ם מִפָּנֶ֔יךָ וּלְמַ֜עַן הָקִ֣ים אֶת־הַדָּבָ֗ר אֲשֶׁ֨ר נִשְׁבַּ֤ע
יְהוָה֙ לַאֲבֹתֶ֔יךָ לְאַבְרָהָ֥ם לְיִצְחָ֖ק וּֽלְיַעֲקֹֽב׃
It is not because of your virtues and your
rectitude that you will be able to possess their country; but it is because of
their wickedness that the LORD your God is dispossessing those nations before
you, and in order to fulfil the oath that the LORD made to your fathers,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is where the essence of the Heel
comes in, if the Jewish people are following the nations and depending upon the
other people and be like them and follow them and their gods and stop following
their God – then they will loose their Heel (God Himself) and all the wealth and
Lifestyles they pursue in the land will be worthless because the Land will only
respond to the commandments given by only by God. The prosperity of the Jewish
People comes from God, their Life comes from Him, their wealth, health, joy,
happiness, fertility, produce is all dependent upon them receiving the
blessings by fulfilling the Time-space continuum. If the they rebel and throw
away what God has instructed them then they are replacing their Heel (God) with
the world and its vanities. In Chapter 8:2-3 Moses says the following bringing
everything into perspective we might need to know about the Heel.
וְזָכַרְתָּ֣ אֶת־כָּל־הַדֶּ֗רֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֨ר הֹלִֽיכֲךָ֜ יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ
זֶ֛ה אַרְבָּעִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר לְמַ֨עַן עַנֹּֽתְךָ֜ לְנַסֹּֽתְךָ֗ לָדַ֜עַת אֶת־אֲשֶׁ֧ר בִּֽלְבָבְךָ֛ הֲתִשְׁמֹ֥ר מצותו [מִצְוֺתָ֖יו]
אִם־לֹֽא׃
Remember the long way that the LORD your God has made you travel in the
wilderness these past forty years, that He might test you by hardships to learn
what was in your hearts: whether you would keep His commandments or not.
וַֽיְעַנְּךָ֮ וַיַּרְעִבֶךָ֒ וַיַּֽאֲכִֽלְךָ֤ אֶת הַמָּן֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר
לֹא־יָדַ֔עְתָּ וְלֹ֥א יָדְע֖וּן אֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ לְמַ֣עַן הוֹדִֽעֲךָ֗ כִּ֠י לֹ֣א עַל־הַלֶּ֤חֶם לְבַדּוֹ֙
יִחְיֶ֣ה הָֽאָדָ֔ם כִּ֛י עַל־כָּל־מוֹצָ֥א פִֽי־יְהוָ֖ה יִחְיֶ֥ה הָאָדָֽם׃
He subjected you to the hardship of hunger and then gave you manna to
eat, which neither you nor your fathers had ever known, in order to teach you
that man does not live
on bread alone, but that man may live on all that comes out of the mouth of
the Lord. The Heel is the Grouting and the standard of DEPENDENCE which the
Jewish people were supposed to live by, they were to receive their instructions
directly from HaShem on a regular basis bringing about the blessings. Nothing
that they would have done by their own effort would have any consequence or
merit in the sight of God. God took them in the wilderness to break them into
dependence upon Him, look to Him for their every need and sustenance so that
they learn the hard way to always look upon Him for everything. So that when
they enter Eretz Israel they will depend on nobody and nothing except HaShem
Himself. It all falls into place now; since they failed in the desert for 40
years (each day for a year) Yeshua accomplished it for them in 40 days – This
is ARVUT (Responsibility for each other) The merit of what he done will be
passed on to his Jewish Brothers because he accomplished and perfected Mitzvah
on their behalf. Matthew
4:1-4 YESHUA is faced and overcame with the same trouble that his
brothers faced in the wilderness – that is why He quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 to
Satan during his time of temptation in the wilderness of Judea. We see thus
Moses uses the word EKEV to remind them that the HEEL they need to have is none
other than pure and unfiltered dependence on God Himself speaking to them and
hearing His Voice on a regular basis bringing a rectification to the Jewish
People and then all of Humanity later.
Deuteronomy 13:4
Moses says this to the People:
אַחֲרֵ֨י
יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֛ם תֵּלֵ֖כוּ וְאֹת֣וֹ תִירָ֑אוּ וְאֶת־מִצְוֺתָ֤יו
תִּשְׁמֹ֙רוּ֙ וּבְקֹל֣וֹ תִשְׁמָ֔עוּ וְאֹת֥וֹ תַעֲבֹ֖דוּ וּב֥וֹ תִדְבָּקֽוּן׃
Follow none but the
LORD your God, and revere none but Him; observe His commandments alone, and
heed only His VOICE; worship none but Him and hold fast to Him. This clearly shows
it is imperative to Search and Hear God voice on a regular basis – because when
we do we will be the instrument of bringing down the manifestation of gods
blessing that he speaks to us in our spiritual being. I cannot stress how
important it is for each of us to keep in silence and prayer with meditation
and proper Kavannah for the voice of God in our lives. If we need the spiritual
blessing in our lives personally, in our families, in our communities and in
the corporate body of Christ we ned to keep hearing the VOICE of the Lord on a
regular basis. It reminds me when Yeshua says that He will not leave us alone but
will send us the comforter (Ruach HaKodesh) and he will guide you in things and
bring to remembrance all that He has taught us.
In John 13:18
Yeshua at the Last Supper with his disciples says the following: I speak
not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but
that the scripture might be fulfilled, He that eats bread with me has
lifted up his Heel against me. What is Yeshua saying out here; That the world
system, the corrupt and evil generation whose Heel is Money and wealth, lust
for Power and a false religious spirit was represented by Yehudah the one who
betrayed Yeshua. Whereas the Heel that Yeshua represented was from Heaven and
not the world system. Yeshua overcame the world on behalf of his Jewish People
(brothers) because he knew they were not able to perfect it themselves, he took
their demerits and their errors and sins upon himself, and in exchange they got
the blessings and eternal Life (ARVUT) on this last supper he says this because
he is telling us the epitome of his fight against the world system. Quoting Psalms
41:9 let us see what David HaMelech means when he writes: Even the
man who has My Peace and in whom is my Trust eating my bread has magnified his
heel on me. Why does Yeshua say “My Peace” because the peace he offers
this world is not the peace that the world offers, John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my
peace I give unto you not as the world giveth, give I unto you, let your heart
not be troubled neither let it be afraid. The Peace of Yeshua is the
rectification of the body that is what Yeshua is saying to them because it is
only the physical body that is always under spiritual attack and requires the
peace of Yeshua
I want to conclude here with what David Ha Melech says In Tehillim 49:5-6:
לָ֣מָּה אִ֭ירָא בִּ֣ימֵי רָ֑ע עֲוֺ֖ן עֲקֵבַ֣י יְסוּבֵּֽנִי׃ הַבֹּטְחִ֥ים עַל־חֵילָ֑ם וּבְרֹ֥ב עָ֝שְׁרָ֗ם
יִתְהַלָּֽלוּ׃
In time of trouble, why should I fear the
encompassing evil of those who would supplant me, men who trust in their
riches, who glory in their great wealth? Let us bring all
this together and connect the strings; in this
verse David understand where and with whom he is grounded and rooted in.
the Heel of David is the Lord Himself and he learnt to wait and hear the voice
of the Lord on a regular basis. King David being a person who internalized the
Torah and was able to bring the blessings into reality by obedience of the
Instructions of the Lord merited the building of the Beit Mikdash (Temple) that
is why God gave him the permission to design and build the 1st
temple – Hmmmmmm. Hope you are now able to understand how deep and precise the
Torah is in its essence. King David knows the world system and the evil people
around him because he says their Heel is the corrupt world system – but David
has the Lord to depend upon for his very existence. Chaverim; it is very
important to understand what Yeshua has accomplished first for his Jewish brethren
and also then for the those who are being grafted into the Kingdom. May each of
you shift your dependence upon the Lord and let it be your Heel, learn to
listen to his voice on a daily basis so that you will be able to bring down the
blessing and manifestation of God blessing to this earth thus building the
kingdom on earth – remember what YESHUA says Thy kingdom come, thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven” – Have a blessed day – Yom Tov
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