LISTEN YISHARAL (DEUT 6)
So Yisharal, you must carefully obey Yahuah’s Instructions, guard and follow them, because they’re a path leads to a long successful life in the land that Yahuah your Alahim is giving you. So don’t turn off this path to the right or to the left but walk in this special way that’s been given to you by your Creator. Because soon you’ll cross the Jordan River and take that land, and if you and your descendants want to live a long prosperous life, you must always fear Yahuah and obey His instructions. Have you got it? Do you understand? Pay close attention, Yisharal! Our ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob trusted Yahuah, and He promised to give their descendants this land that is rich with milk and honey. So make sure you obey Him, and you will become a great, successful and powerful nation.
Listen, Yisharal! Hear me now and get this into your skulls. YAHUAH IS THE ONLY LIVING ALAHIM AND HE IS ONE! Got it? Not 2, 3, 4 or 5 . . . One! None of the others are real, they’re all fake, a rip off, smoke and mirrors, a great lie to deceive you. SO LOVE YAHUAH YOUR ALAHIM WITH ALL OF YOUR HEART, WITH ALL OF YOUR BEING AND WITH ALL OF YOUR STRENGTH.
THIS PORTION OF SCRIPTURE HAS BEEN TRADITIONISED & LITURGISED BY THE RELIGIOUS RABBIS, INTO A DAILY PRAYER (OFTEN RECITED X3) AND IT’S BEEN GIVEN A SEPARATE TITLE: 'THE SHEMA' (SEE PIC ABOVE FOR TRUE HEBREW MEANING). THE STATEMENT THAT BEGINS THIS SECTION (‘LISTEN YISHARAL’) WAS EVEN IMPORTANT ENOUGH FOR YAHUSHA HIMSELF TO DIRECTLY QUOTE, WHEN THE RELIGIOUS FOLKS TRIED TO TRIP HIM UP :
"ONE OF THE SCRIBES CAME AND HEARD THEIR DISCUSSION, AND (RECOGNISING THAT YAHUSHA KNEW WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT) ASKED, “RABBI, WHADDA YA THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT INSTRUCTION OF MOSES IS?” AND YAHUSHA ANSWERED, “EASY! IT’S OBVIOUSLY: ‘LISTEN YISHARAL! YAHUAH IS THE ONLY LIVING ALAHIM AND HE IS ONE, SO LOVE HIM WITH ALL OF YOUR HEART, BEING, MIND AND STRENGTH’. AND THAT GOES HAND-IN-HAND WITH `LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF!’. THEY’RE THE MOST IMPORTANT BEHAVIOURS BECAUSE ALL OTHER INSTRUCTIONS ARE SUMMED UP IN THEM!” MARK 12 BRS
MOSES GOES ON TO EXPLAIN THAT LOVING YAHUSHA IS VITAL FOR BEHAVING HIS INSTRUCTIONS, BECAUSE IT'S HIS INSTRUCTIONS THAT ESTABLISH THE TERMS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HIM AND YISHARAL. HOWEVER THE SOURCE OF YISHARAL’S OBEDIENCE TO YAHUSHA WAS NOT TO BE FORCED FROM SOME DEAD, BARREN AND ROBOTIC LEGALISM; RATHER IT WAS TO SPRING FORTH FROM A RESPONSE OF LOVE. YES!! YAHUSHA SAYS THAT OBEDIENCE TO HIM IS THE CORRECT RESPONSE OF LOVE (AS HE DEFINES IT). TO LOVE HIM IS TO BE OBEDIENT TO HIM!! MAKE SENSE??
SO WHAT IS LOVE?
IT'S ONLY SINCE GRECO-ROMAN TIMES THAT THE CONCEPT OF LOVE MOVED AWAY FROM BEING AN ACTION AND INSTEAD BECAME AN EMOTION (A SENSATION OF INNER WARMTH). THE SCRIPTURAL HEBREWS WOULD NEVER HAVE RECOGNISED THE MODERN SECULAR AND RELIGIOUS VIEW OF LOVE WE HAVE TODAY IN THE 21st CENTURY AS BEING A WARM, FUZZY FEELING OF COMPASSION OR AFFECTION TOWARDS ANOTHER.
IN THE WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY THERE ARE 9 DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS FOR THE WORD LOVE AND EVERY ONE OF THEM SPEAK ONLY OF EMOTION: I.E. TENDER FEELINGS, AFFECTION, SEXUAL PASSION, A FEELING OF BROTHERHOOD, AND A STRONG LIKING. BUT TO THE HEBREW (AND TO YAHUSHA) LOVE (WHILE INVOLVING EMOTION) DEMANDS AN OUTWARD RESPONSE, AN ACTION, A BEHAVIOUR, OR IT WASN’T LOVE. YAHUSHA SAYS, ‘DON’T SAY YOU LOVE ME AND THEN TURN AROUND AND DENY MY INSTRUCTIONS; BECAUSE IF YOU DENY MY INSTRUCTIONS, THEN YOU DON'T LOVE ME’.
YAHUAH ALAHEINU YAHUAH ECHAD
(YAHUAH IS OUR ALAHIM AND HE IS ONE!)
THE ESSENCE OF THIS STATEMENT TRANSCENDS OUR VERY LIMITED PHYSICAL 4-DIMENSIONAL WORLD AND FINITE HUMAN MIND, BUT AT THE VERY LEAST WE CAN SAY IT MEANS THAT YAHUSHA IS THE ONLY ALAHIM THAT EXISTS, HE IS THE ONLY OBJECT OF WORSHIP THAT IS PERMITTED FOR HIS FOLLOWERS, HE IS COMPLETELY UNIFIED AS THERE ARE NOT VARIOUS “PIECES” OF HIM THAT CAN BE SEPARATED INTO “PERSONS”, AND HE IS OUR ALAHIM IN THE SENSE THAT HE HAS ESTABLISHED A MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HIMSELF AND ALL WHO SUBMIT TO HIM IN LOVE. FURTHERMORE WE KNOW HIS PERSONAL NAME (YAHUAH/YAHUSHA) AND WE KNOW FROM THE FIRST 2 WORDS OF `SHEMA YISHARAL' (LISTEN YISHARAL) THAT THIS STATEMENT OF HIS BEING AND NATURE WAS DIRECTED TO YISHARAL ONLY AND BY DEFINITION ALL THAT WOULD ENGRAFT AND JOIN THEMSELVES TO YISHARAL.
LOVE IS OBVIOUSLY NOT MERELY AN EMOTION BECAUSE YOU CAN’T ORDER SOMEONE TO FEEL A CERTAIN EMOTION, BUT A BEHAVIOUR IS A VERY DIFFERENT ISSUE. YAHUSHA’S LOVE CANNOT BE MIMICKED OR FAKED, IT MUST BE GENUINE AND REAL. IT INVOLVES MORE THAN JUST PHYSICAL ACTION. LOVE IS A STATE OF MIND AS WELL AS A PHYSICAL RESPONSE. INFACT THE TYPE OF LOVE THAT YAHUSHA DESIRES IS ALSO A STATE OF OUR SPIRIT TOO. IS THERE AN EMOTIONAL COMPONENT TO LOVE? OF COURSE, HOWEVER THAT WOULD BE THE FINAL RESULT OF ALL THE OTHER FACTORS PUT TOGETHER FIRST.
ANOTHER WAY TO LOOK AT THIS INSTRUCTION TO LOVE YAHUSHA IS TO UNDERSTAND THAT LOVE IS THE OPPOSITE OF HATE. OFTEN IN THE SCRIPTURES WE ARE TOLD TO HATE THINGS THAT YAHUSHA HATES. BUT DUE TO OUR WESTERN MINDSETS, WE SEE HATRED IN THE SAME WAY AS WE SEE LOVE…..SOMETHING THAT INVOLVES OUR EMOTIONS. HOWEVER THE TRUE SCRIPTURAL MEANING OF HATE IS CLOSER TO OUR ENGLISH WORD “REJECT” OR (AS FAR AS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YAHUSHA IS CONCERNED) UNTRUSTWORTHY/ ADULTEROUS. TO HATE YAHUSHA IS TO REJECT HIM, TO BE UNTRUSTWORTHY OR ADULTEROUS, AND SINCE YAHUSHA AND HIS INSTRUCTIONS ARE ONE (HE IS THE LIVING WORDS MADE FLESH), THEN TO HATE HIS INSTRUCTIONS IS TO REJECT HIM, CAST HIM ASIDE, DISOBEY HIM - TO BE UNTRUSTWORTHY AND ADULTEROUS . . . AND THIS IS NOT LOVE !!
WITH ALL OF OUR HEART?
WE ARE TOLD TO "LOVE YAHUSHA WITH ALL OF OUR HEART, OUR BEING, OUR MIND AND OUR STRENGTH”. `HEART' INDEED REFERS TO THE ORGAN INSIDE OUR CHESTS THAT PUMPS BLOOD, HOWEVER THE HEBREW CONCEPT IS WHAT FUNCTION THE HEART PERFORMS BEYOND ONLY PUMPING BLOOD, LIKE WHEN WE’RE INSTRUCTED TO STORE AWAY SOMETHING IN OUR HEARTS, OR TO NOT HAVE HATE FOR OUR BROTHER IN OUR HEARTS. IN OUR WESTERN MINDSET, THE HEART IS THE SEAT OF OUR EMOTIONS AND OUR MORALITY, EVEN OUR CHARACTER. HOWEVER THE HEBREWS KNEW OF THE HEART AS THE SEAT OF INTELLECT AND CONSCIOUS THOUGHT; THE PLACE OF OUR MEMORY AND WHERE ACTIONS AND BEHAVIOURS ARE CONTEMPLATED AND DECISIONS ARE MADE. THIS IS WELL DOCUMENTED HISTORIC FACT. IT WAS AT A MUCH LATER DATE (THE LATE HELLENISTIC PERIOD TO THE MEDIEVAL TIME) THAT THE FUNCTION OF THE BRAIN WAS FINALLY UNDERSTOOD TO BE WHERE THE INTELLECT AND ALL THOUGHT PROCESSES RESIDE. SO TO THE HEART WAS TRANSFERRED THE FUNCTION OF EMOTION, DESIRE, AND PASSION TO BE IN LINE WITH GREEK THOUGHT ON THE MATTER.
SO IF WE TRULY WANT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YAHUSHA MEANS WHEN HE SAYS `HEART’ WE SHOULD SIMPLY SCRATCH THAT WORD OUT AND INSERT “BRAIN” OR “MIND”, AND SINCE WE THINK FROM OUR HEART ANYWAY, THE POINT IS SIMPLY TO STATE THAT OUR OBEDIENCE OR HEART CONDITION IS NOT ABOUT OUR EMOTIONS BUT OUR OUTWARD BEHAVIOUR!!
WITH ALL OF OUR BEING?
THE HEBREW WORD `NEFESH' ENTAILS LIFE, OUR LIFE ESSENCE, BREATH, THE MYSTERIOUS BREATH OF LIFE THAT YAHUSHA BREATHED INTO HIS CREATED CREATURES TO MAKE THEM ALIVE, THE SELF, THAT UNIQUE QUALITY THAT MAKES US AT ONCE HUMAN AND YET ALSO IN YAHUSHA’S IMAGE, AND AT TIMES CAN EVEN REFER TO OUR DEEPEST INNERMOST THOUGHTS (NEFESH IS MOST OFTEN TRANSLATED AS `SOUL’ BUT THAT’S A PAGAN, DECEPTIVE TERM).
“Don't be afraid of those who can kill your body (FLESH) but can't kill your being (NEPHESH), but instead be afraid of the One Who can destroy both your body and being" MATT 28 BRS
“BOTH” INDICATES 2 PARTS, AND ONE OF THE PARTS IS UNABLE TO BE DESTROYED, EXCEPT BY THE ONE WHO CREATED IT. THIS “BEING” (NEPHESH) IS WHAT GIVES LIFE TO OUR FLESH. JAMES ALSO SPEAKS OF 2 PARTS, AND ONE IS ESSENTIAL TO THE OTHER.
“Just like your body without the spirit is dead, so your belief without works (OBEDIENT BEHAVIOUR) is dead.”JAMES 2 BRS
AGAIN, WE SEE ONLY 2 PARTS, AND THE SPIRIT OF A PERSON IS THE UNSEEN, INDESTRUCTIBLE, AND VITAL PART OF THEIR MAKEUP. THE FLESH IS A TENT, VEIL, CONTAINER, OR EARTHEN VESSEL IN WHICH A SPECIAL TREASURE RESIDES. YAHUSHA BRINGS US HIS SPIRIT TO JOIN WITH OUR SPIRIT, HOWEVER AFTER THE VULNERABLE PART (FLESH) DIES, OUR SECOND PART (SPIRIT) IS SUBJECT TO DEATH ALSO, BUT FOR YAHUSHA'S BRIDE (WHO OVERCOME) THERE WILL BE NO “SECOND DEATH”.
THE FIRST MAN (ADAM) WAS IMMORTAL (DEATHLESS), UNTIL HE WAS DISOBEDIENT (FELL) AND DEATH ENTERED THE UNIVERSE. SCIENTISTS HAVE DISCOVERED THAT THE SLOWING OF THE SPEED OF LIGHT MAKES DISTANT OBJECTS SEEM TO BE VERY ANCIENT, WHILE BEFORE THE FALL, LIGHT WAS PROBABLY INSTANTANEOUS. A DIMENSIONAL SHIFT OR RIFT OCCURRED BETWEEN OUR CURRENT LOWER SPACE REALM (DIMENSION) WITH YAHUSHA'S HIGHER ONE, RESULTING IN RADICAL CHANGES IN THE PHYSICAL UNIVERSE.
IN OUR INNER BEING (NEPHESH), WE ARE ABLE TO STILL PERCEIVE “ETERNITY” BECAUSE YAHUSHA MADE US WITH THIS ABILITY, BUT OUR UNDERSTANDING IS STILL VERY LIMITED, AND OUR MINDS ARE DARKENED WITHOUT YAHUSHA.
ANOTHER EVIDENCE OF MANKIND HAVING 2 PARTS (NOT 3) IS SEEN IN THE WORDS OF YAHUSHA:
“Whoever has been reborn (BEGOTTEN) of the flesh is only flesh, but those who've been reborn (BEGOTTEN) of the spirit are spirit.” JOHN 3 BRS
IF OUR SPIRIT HAS BEEN REBORN BY THE SPIRIT OF YAHUSHA (FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF TRAINING IN OVERCOMING) WE POSSESS ETERNAL LIFE.
WITH ALL OF OUR STRENGTH?
THE FINAL PART OF THAT STATEMENT, USUALLY TRANSLATED AS “WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT”, IS A RARE PHRASE WHICH MEANS “VERY, VERY MUCH”. THE IDEA IS THAT WE ARE TO PUT FORTH EXCEEDINGLY GREAT EFFORT AND CONSCIOUS THOUGHT INTO LOVING YAHUSHA AS THIS IS WHAT HE EXPECTS FROM HIS BRIDE (AS WOULD ANY HUSBAND). INTERESTINGLY DEUTERONOMY IS THE FIRST BOOK OF MOSES’ WRITINGS TO ACTUALLY SPEAK OF LOVING YAHUSHA. PREVIOUS BOOKS SPOKE IN TERMS OF AWE AND REVERENCE AND FEAR. THIS IN NO WAY MEANS THAT MOSES IS NOW SAYING “FORGET AWE AND REVERENCE AND NO LONGER FEAR YAHUSHA, JUST REPLACE THAT WITH LOVE”. NO WAY!! RATHER THE IDEA IS THAT AWE AND REVERENCE IS TO BE IN THE CONTEXT OF LOVE, OR AS WITH THE CORRECT SCRIPTURAL DEFINITION OF WHAT LOVE IS, AWE AND REVERENCE IS TO BE IN THE CONTEXT OF ACCEPTANCE, LOYALTY, AND SUBMISSION TO HIM.
Put all of Yahuah's Instructions into your heart and tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you’re at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning. Keep them at the front of your mind at all times, guard your ear-gates and eye-gates with them and obediently behave them always.
PUTTING YAHUSHA’S INSTRUCTION INTO OUR HEARTS MEANS THEY ARE TO BE HELD IN THE BEHAVIOUR OF OUR THINKING (WHICH IS DONE IN OUR HEART ANYWAY). SO THEY CAN BE KNOWN, CONTEMPLATED, MULLED OVER, ACTED UPON AND BEHAVED, RATHER THAN JUST “FELT”. THE ESSENCE OF THE NOTION THAT YAHUSHA’S INSTRUCTIONS ARE TO BE WRITTEN ON OUR HEARTS (OUR MINDS) IS THAT HIS INSTRUCTIONS ARE TO BECOME PART OF OUR VERY BEING AND FIBER, NOT SOMETHING SEPARATE FROM US.
YISHARAL IS TO TEACH THESE INSTRUCTIONS TO THEIR CHILDREN ALSO; THIS IS NOT AN IDLE SUGGESTION! MOSES ISN’T SPENDING ALL THIS TIME AND ENERGY GIVING A THOROUGH RESTATEMENT OF THE INSTRUCTIONS AND EXPLAINING THEM ALL, JUST AS SOME KIND OF CEREMONY, CELEBRATING THE BEGINNING THE WAR TO CONQUER THE PROMISED LAND. RATHER IT WAS BECAUSE THIS NEW GENERATION DIDN’T KNOW MUCH OF THE INSTRUCTIONS (IN JUST ONE GENERATION MUCH OF THE INSTRUCTIONS HAD BEEN LOST!) THEIR PARENTS, WHO WERE THE ORIGINAL EXODUS GENERATION, NOW DEAD AND GONE, DID NOT DO THEIR DUTY AND TEACH THEIR CHILDREN HIS INSTRUCTIONS, NOR DID THEY FOLLOW THEM THEMSELVES. THIS IS THE FOUNDATION AND ORIGIN OF THOSE WHO CONSIDER THEMSELVES `THE JEWS’, `ISRAEL’ OR `THE OLDER BROTHER’. THIS IS THEIR CLAIM TO FAME, THEIR LINEAGE, THEIR LEGACY: WICKED DISOBEDIENCE AND HERESY! WOULD YOU COME UNDER THIS MINDSET OR RELIGIOUS BONDAGE NOW THAT YAHUSHA HAS LIBERATED YOU AND OPENED A PORTAL OF CONNECTION ON YOUR HEART?
Yahuah promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would give you this land and now He’ll take you there and give you large towns, with good buildings that you didn’t build and houses full of good things that you didn’t put there. Yahuah will give you wells that you didn’t have to dig, and vineyards, orchards and olive trees that you didn’t have to plant. But when you have eaten so much that you can’t eat any more, be on guard and don’t forget that it was Yahuah who set you free from slavery and brought you out of Egypt. Serve and obey Him with fear and trembling, and promise that you’ll be loyal to only Him.
And don’t have anything to do with foreign deities and idols that are worshiped by the nations around you, because if you bow down and serve them, Yahuah will be furious and wipe you off the face of the earth. He’s with you, so don’t test Him and try to make Him prove that He can help you, as you did at Massah. Always obey the Instructions that Yahuah has given you and behave in a way that pleases Him. Then you’ll be able to go in and take this good land from your enemies, just as Yahuah promised your ancestors.
DON’T TEST YAHUSHA!
THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE MOSES IS TALKING TO DIDN’T HAVE THIS EXPERIENCE AT MASSAH BECAUSE THEY WERE EITHER NOT BORN OR THEY WERE BUT YOUNG CHILDREN. YET IT MUST BE THAT THIS INFAMOUS HAPPENING HAD BECOME PART OF THE STANDARD TALES THAT PARENTS TOLD THEIR CHILDREN BECAUSE MOSES MAKES NO ATTEMPT TO REITERATE THE CIRCUMSTANCES; THE MERE MENTION OF THE NAME MASSAH WAS ENOUGH FOR HIS AUDIENCE TO FULLY UNDERSTAND HIS POINT.
THE IDEA IS THAT YISHARAL SHOULD NOT DETERMINE FOR THEMSELVES WHAT RIGHT AND WRONG IS, OR WHETHER YAHUSHA’S INSTRUCTIONS ARE OPTIONAL OR EVEN FAIR AND JUST; RATHER THEIR JOB IS NOT TO QUESTION AND DECIDE BUT TO LEARN AND FOLLOW THOSE INSTRUCTIONS. WE GET THE DEFINITION OF WHAT IS RIGHT IN YAHUSHA’S SIGHT AND IT IS TO OBEY HIS INSTRUCTIONS. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BEING GOOD, NICE, TOLERANT, OR PIOUS LOOKING, OR HAPPY ACCORDING TO OUR OWN THOUGHTS AND PHILOSOPHIES. IT’S ONLY ABOUT OBEDIENT BEHAVIOUR!
And someday your children will ask, “Why did Yahuah give us these Instructions and directions to live by?”
And you will answer, “We were slaves to the Pharaoh of Egypt, but with a strong hand Yahuah set us free. We saw Him perform magnificent signs and wonders and make horrible things happen to the Pharaoh, his officials, and all the Egyptians. Yes Yahuah rescued us from Egypt, so He could bring us into this land, as He had promised our ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that’s why Yahuah our Alahim demands that we obey His Instructions and serve Him with fear and trembling. And if we do, He will protect us and make us successful, because obedient behaviour actually means to guard His instructions in our hearts and seek to passionately do them at all times.
OBEDIENCE BRINGS ABOUT GOODNESS AND OVERALL WELL-BEING TOWARDS US AS A GIFT FROM YAHUSHA. THE THINGS THAT HE WOULD LIKE TO GIVE US HE IS ABLE TO GIVE TO US BECAUSE OF OUR OBEDIENCE. IT IS THE OPPOSITE WHEN WE DISOBEY, TRESPASS AGAINST HIM AND THUS INCUR GUILT BEFORE HIM AND IN THAT CASE HIS JUSTICE DOES NOT ENABLE HIM TO GIVE TO US THE SHALOM (THE OVERALL WELL-BEING) THAT HE SO GREATLY DESIRES TO GIVE US.
