Dr Clifford Denton.
Shoftim: Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9.
7th September 2024/4 Elul.
The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear. (Deuteronomy 18:15)
Picture by Helen McNeill.
By dividing the Books of Torah into portions (parashot) the 5 Books of Moses can be read systematically through each year. There are 54 parashot. Sometimes two are taken in a particular week and each year the list of readings is published so that all the Jewish congregations, joined by a growing number of Messianic groups and individual Christians, can read the foundational books together in harmony.
As it says in Acts 15:21: Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath. Each Sabbath, the Torah scrolls are brought out for the public reading. In addition, many Bible teachers write a Torah commentary to circulate among their contacts and congregations. This practice has gradually also been growing among some Christian groups who join the Jewish rabbis in realising that the foundation of all Bible teaching is established in Torah.
There are 54 Torah portions but there are infinitely more Bible themes than this. If we look at this week’s portion we will find a number of major themes, including the establishment of justice, the warning concerning false gods, sacrifices acceptable to the God of Israel, punishment and right judgement, appointment of Kings, conduct of Kings, provision for Levites, judgement on the practices of other nations, a Prophet to follow Moses, cities of refuge, boundaries of justice, principles of warfare and of establishing guilt. Any one of these themes can be the subject of a Torah study. Each year a different theme can be taken from a given portion.
This is just the beginning of what we discover in our methodical Torah studies. Indeed, it is instructive to discover how easy it is to miss some principle or emphasis. One may have read the entire Bible hundreds of times and still find oneself surprised that a new insight springs to life. There is no end to what the Lord will teach us if we are open to hear His voice as we read prayerfully what is before us.
It is important to know the entire Bible well, so that links can be formed as threads of truth develop through the entire Scriptures, founded on Torah. This is especially so in finding in the New Covenant and through the revelation of Messiah, fulfilment of this foundational teaching.
Even one verse can be the basis of an entire Bible study. Take, for example, Deuteronomy 19:14: You shall not remove your neighbour’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess. The immediate context is the boundary markers for territory for the families and tribes when they settled in the Land of Canaan. Yet, all of God’s teaching reaches down to form heart principles for more general application. The simple picture of a neighbour subtly moving a boundary stone to increase his territory at the expense of the true owner, illustrates both the tendency that some people have to take from others (especially if they seem to have more than we do) and the need to check and discipline our hearts and minds. Indeed, this is easily seen as an example of “love your neighbour as yourself”. The application is wide, from simple respect for another’s property to care in focussing on one’s own ministry in the Lord and not encroaching on the ministry given to others, whilst also remaining, as it were, neighbours and joint heirs of the Kingdom. A multitude of such Bible themes spring to life in this way.
This year we have taken a single theme – the family – and searched out application throughout Torah. It is a major theme for us to consider in these days when God’s creation of family so much needs to be strengthened. Even following this one theme through, there are still endless matters to continue to study and apply to our own family studies and life. We have opened the door and scratched the surface of one important and relevant Bible theme. But what next for your family when this series concludes in a few weeks’ time?
Wonderfully, Bible themes, as they weave their way through the Scriptures from Torah to Revelation, overlap and interact, so picking up one new theme will often extend into a different theme already studied. Of course, it is not necessary to take up just one theme for a year or part of a year. We can simply read each Torah portion prayerfully and see what the Holy Spirit emphasises in particular each week. Indeed, Torah study without listening prayer may be very theoretical and dry.
There is one topic that we should all study in our Bibles, and it is a wonderful topic for families to do together – how Yeshua is to be discovered in some way in every part of Scripture. This week’s portion has at least two clear contributions to the study, which of course would begin in Genesis if we were to follow this theme next year. By the time we have come to the middle of Deuteronomy it would not be difficult to find reference to the coming Messiah. Yeshua in all the Scriptures is the topic we have in mind. See what the Lord says, whether this could be your study for your family next year.
Beginning with the first Torah portion there is an immediate link between Genesis 1 and John 1. Then, through the Fall and the Flood the need for Messiah can be explored. Abraham’s meeting with Melchizedek links to what is taught about Yeshua in Hebrews, and so on. Just as the Bible is full of the teaching about family, so it will focus on Messiah. By the time this week’s portion is read again in a year’s time we will be ready to consider the teaching of Moses about kings, following through the history of Israel’s kings and their many failures, deliverances, and successes, all pointing to the one King of Israel, Yeshua HaMashiach. He is the only one to fulfil all that Moses highlighted as fulfilling in totality the expected character of kings. In this same portion is Moses’ statement that a prophet like Him would arise who must be followed. A study of the Gospels reminds us that Yeshua is this Prophet. The origins of the teaching that Yeshua as Prophet, Priest and King begins in Torah. Moses led the Children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. Yeshua leads His people from a world of sin to eternal life in the kingdom of God.
With many other studies on this theme in successive Torah Portions to follow, highlighting the fact that the teaching about Yeshua is embedded in all Scripture, you may find this as a satisfying and edifying study to make for next year, which will start after Simchat Torah, at the end of October this year. This is a good time to begin praying about your family studies next year.