Most men, and women, simply assume that they are the “YOU” when they read the word “YOU” in Torah; and fail to ask themselves, “How does Torah apply to me?” Are they really the YOU who Yehovah is talking to?
Torah is the 1st 5 books of the Bible (Genesis – Deuteronomy), the words of Yehovah codified (written) by Moses. They tell the story of Yehovah’s yasher or upright men who have lived on the earth and give His instructions to them concerning how they are to live and lead their families.
This confusion is further convoluted by our very poor English translations. My NKJV translates the 1st 4 Hebrew words in Deuteronomy 14 as,
“You are the children of the LORD your God …. (Deu 14:1)
But what it actually says is,
Sons [×‘× ×™×. benim] You [×ת×] are to Yehovah [ליהוה] YOUR Elohim [×להיכ×]. YOU shall not cut YOURSELVES nor shave the front of YOUR head for the dead. For YOU are a holy people to Yehovah YOUR Elohim [lawmaker and judge], and Yehovah has chosen YOU to be a people for Himself, a SPECIAL TREASURE above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. (Deu 14:1-2)
How Does Torah Apply To Me?
Again, we must ask ourselves, “How does Torah apply to me” as a man or as a woman?
And this is where our understandings are even further confused; we are ignorant concerning who the two kinds of men (who have women/wives, sons, daughters and male and female servants) in Yehovah’s kingdom actually are. There are no Gentiles in Yehovah’s kingdom, only Ger (the Gentile who left the kingdom of his birth) and the Ezrach (the native-born / spiritually born / 2nd born) man who was a Ger at one time.
One law shall be for the NATIVE-BORN [Ezrach] and for the stranger [Ger] who dwells among YOU.” (Exo 12:49)
YOU shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, for him who is NATIVE-BORN [Ezrach] among Israel’s seed and for the stranger [Ger] who dwells among THEM. ‘But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is NATIVE-BORN [Ezrach] or a stranger [Ger], that one brings reproach on Yehovah, and he shall be cut off from among his people. (Num 15:29-30)
The stranger [Ger] who dwells among YOU shall be to YOU as one born among YOU [Ezrach], and YOU shall love him as YOURSELF; for YOU were strangers [Gerim] in the land of Egypt: I am Yehovah YOUR Elohim. (Lev 19:34)
Clearly there are only two kind of men in Yehovah’s kingdom. The very next verse says,
YOU shall not eat any detestable thing. (Deu 14:3)
Yehovah always speaks to His Ezrach men, who then lead their families in the ways that they should go. If the head of the family is not allowed to eat detestable things, neither are they to allow their families and servants to eat them either.
BUT, not all Torah applies to both the Ezrach and the Ger who dwell with them in the same way. Check out this instruction from Yehovah.
“You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the Ger who is within your gates, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to Yehovah your Elohim. (Deu 14:21)
Both the native-born (Ezrach) and the stranger (Ger) who dwells with Him, keep the same Torah; but it applies to each of these two heads of their households differently. And, the goal of the Ger is always to become the Ezrach, or he (and his household) will be kicked out of Israel.
They both keep Torah; but, the duties and responsibilities for the Ezrach vs those which apply to the Ger are not always the same.
Only the Ezrach are commanded to be seated in temporary coverings at Sukkot, only the Ezrach can own the land (the Ger dwell with them), only the Ezrach wear tzitzit, only the Ezrach are Yehovah’s segulah (we saw that in today’s lesson), only the Ezrach received commandments from Yehovah (that is very clear in the 4th commandment).
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days THOU shall labor and do all THY work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Yehovah THY Elohim. In it THOU shall do no work: THOU, nor THY son, nor THY daughter, nor THY male servant, nor THY female servant, nor THY cattle, nor THY Ger who is within THY gates. (Exo 20:8-10)
Simply assuming that you are the THOU when reading the word of Yehovah is a fatal stumbling block that will get you thrown into the lake of fire at the end of the millennial kingdom, especially if you are a woman. We must learn to ask ourselves “how does Torah apply to me?” Yehovah did not command a single Gentile man to do anything; nor did He ever tell a woman to do anything except obey her man.
… thy desire shall be for thy man [×יש×ך, eesh], and he shall rule over thee [not Yehovah]” (Gen 3:16)
Oh – so much to learn, so little time. Study to show yourself approved, stay on the path that leads to life and Yehovah will see you through to the end; or perhaps even, the beginning of a whole new Kingdom. Like Yehovah’s seed, whom Moses is talking to just before they went into the promised land, so are the true “you” poised to enter in the Millennial kingdom.
Remember: Always ask,
How Does Torah Apply To Me?
2D07 Deuteronomy 14-15
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