"By His Stripes we are Healed"; Congregation Melech Yisrael, Toronto, Canada

[Mevaser]

"By His Stripes we are Healed"; Congregation Melech Yisrael, Toronto, Canada
http://www.cmy.on.ca/toraportions2000/devarim/ekev.htm (Online version)
Congregation Melech Yisrael, Toronto, Canada
Shabbat 18 Av 5763, August 16, 2003
http://www.cmy.on.ca / cmy@ca.inter.net

This week's Reading list:
* Devarim / Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25
* Yeshayahu / Isaiah 49:14-51:3
* Romim / Romans 8:31-39


Devarim {7:12} It shall happen, because you listen to these huchim (statutes), and keep and do them, that HaSHEM your G-D will keep with you the brit (covenant) and the lovingkindness which he swore to your avot (fathers): {7:13} and He will love you, and bless you, and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your avot to give you. {7:14} You shall be blessed above all peoples: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. {7:15} HaSHEM will take away from you all sickness; and none of the evil diseases of Mizrayim (Egypt), which you know, will He put on you, but will lay them on all those who hate you.

These are quite the promises! There is one promise from this list however which I would like to focus in on:

Devarim {7:15} HaSHEM will take away from you all sickness; and none of the evil diseases of Mizrayim, which you know, will he put on you, but will lay them on all those who hate you.

In this passage HaShem did not only say that He would take way some sickness from us but that He would take all sickness from us. You might say seeing that there is sickness among believers today this promise does not apply to us, that it applied only to the generation that was delivered from Mitzrayim. Well that is not the case! The generation that was delivered from Mitzrayin was dead; this is a totally new generation. Most of the people Moshe was speaking to here were born just prior to or after the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. Anyway as discussed last week, the Torah is timeless.

In addition, do not think that this promise was being spoken only to bnei Yisrael (the children of Yisrael). Do think because you are a non-Jew that this promise does not apply to you? I have also sufficiently proven in past shiurim (commentaries) that as a born again believer in Mashiach (Messiah) Yeshua you have been adopted as G-d's children and are therefore part of the household of Yisrael. How? It is by the shed blood of the Mashiach of Yisrael and accepting Him as your saviour, redeemer.

Efesos / Ephesians {1.4-5} In the Messiah He has chosen us before the creation of the universe to be holy and without defect in His presence, He determined in advance that through Yeshua the Messiah e would be His sons -- in Keeping with His pleasure and purpose.

You are therefore no longer aliens but fellow heirs of the promises of Torah.

Efesos / Ephesians {2.12} At that time had no Messiah. You were estranged from the national life of Israel. You were foreigners to the covenants embodying G-d's promise. You were in this world without hope and without G-d.

So then why are you sick? Why are you still suffering from this disease and that disease? Why are there believing families that have a continual cycle of sickness in their lives? Why are believers dying from cancer and other diseases? Well when was the last time you thoroughly read the Torah? I am speaking about the first five book of the Bible. When was the last time you studied all the mitzvot (commandments), huchim (statutes), mishpatim (judgements) G-d has given to His people, those who love Him? If you have read and studied them, have you been diligent in trying to apply them all to your life?

Now I am not speaking here as if I am mister perfect who never gets sick or who never is going to get sick. I have had my bouts with illness. However I also know my shortcomings and I usually can relate my illnesses to my disobedience. Will I ever attain a state of perfection? No I may never get there in this world, but that does not mean I am going to stop trying.

In Torah, HaShem has given us direct mitzvot and He has also given us biblical illustrations of other people's lives. These illustrations and mitzvot teach us principles for godly living. They are designed to keep us on the right path, always moving us forward "towards the mark," as Rav Shaul (Paul) put it in Philippians 3.14.

You are probably bringing up the "grace" word right about now and asking yourself what does Rabbi Jack think Yeshua is all about? Let me make it perfectly clear, grace existed before Yeshua was incarnated. What do you think the entire sacrificial system was all about in the Hebrew Scriptures? Animals were killed in the place of people because of people's sin. Animals were man's substitutional korbanot (draw near). Well the system of korbanot has not been done away with, it has only been transfered into the once and for all korban, Mashiach Yeshua. Instead of an animal, Yeshua is our sin offering, He is our guilt offering, He is our trespass offering, and He is our thanksgiving offering. But does that mean because of Yeshua and what He has done for us that we can sin with impunity? No, we can not, there are consequences to sin!

Have you conquered, stubbornness; unforgiveness, haughtiness, pride, anger, revenge, hatred and rebellion in your life? Do you tithe? Do you respect and speak kindly about other people and about those in authority? Do you worry, fret, fear, lack motivation, lack self-confidence, covet or lust? Do you honour the Shabbat, (Sabbath)? Do you honour your parents? Are you greedy? If you have said no to any one of these or the dozens more which I did not list and are written in Torah, then like me you still need some work.

Romim / Romans {6.1-2} So then, are we to say," Let's keep on sinning, so that there can be more grace"? Heaven forbid! How can we, who have died to sin, still live in it?

If you are sick or were sick, I am not writing this to condemn you or to judge you. For G-d knows that if I were condemning you I would be condemning and judging myself as well. I am writing this to you that you might know what the root cause of your illness is, according to Torah. With this knowledge in hand, like me you will then determine to strive for perfection, strive to fulfil all of G-d's Torah to the best of your ability. Yeshua came to help you to accomplish the commandments that are seemingly impossible:

Phlifim / Philippians {4.13} I can do all things through Him who gives me power.

I would like to finish up this d'var by clarifying a verse in the Tanach (Hebrew Scriptures) that is often misquoted by believers:

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 53:5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.

This of course is a Messianic passage referring to Yeshua. Why did Yeshua receive stripes in the first place? It was because He was defending G-d's Torah over man's law. So He ended up being whipped at the hands of the Romans. In the above passage Yeshayahu is telling us that Yeshua took these stripes for us. His defence of Torah, unto death, thus shows us how much He honoured the Torah. He did it for us, because it is life and He wants us to choose life, to choose Torah. That is why He told us, "If you love Me follow My Torah (commandments)". In following the Torah, which Yeshua defended by the stripes He received, we will be healed. This interpretation lines up perfectly with our subject Scripture:

Devarim {7:12} It shall happen, because you listen to these huchim, and keep and do them, that HaSHEM your G-D will keep with you the brit and the lovingkindness which he swore to your avot: {7:15} HaSHEM will take away from you all sickness; and none of the evil diseases of Mizrayim, which you know, will he put on you, but will lay them on all those who hate you.

*****************************
Baruch HaShem
Rabbi Jack (Yaacov) Farber


Hallelujah to our L-rd, our Teacher, our Rabbi, "YESHUA" King Messiah for ever and ever!!!
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till King Mashiach Yeshua comes back!!!
Shalom Shalom....

[Scottie_Brooke]

Uum....why is God and Lord with no "o"? Why are they all "L-rd" and "G-d"?

[Scottie_Brooke]

Wait a minute. What does all of this mean?!?! Are you saying you have a...a.. god?

[Fear_nam_Beanntan]

Jews and Jewish Christians such as Mevaser take the commandment to not take the Lord's name in vain very seriously. So, they write Lord as L-rd, and almost never pronounce God's covenant name, YHWH. They also reserve the name Adonai only for special occasions, if I'm not mistaken.

[Mevaser]

Mr.Fear_nam_Beanntan

You are correct.

[Scottie_Brooke]

oh...well...sorry...i was just a tad bit confused there