Joy in the Messiah

כִּי־תֵצֵא 
Ki Teitzei / When You Go Out
Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19
HafTorah portion Isaiah 54:1-10
Brit Chadasha 1 Corinthians 5:1-5

         This Torah portion holds 72 mitzvot or commandments. This is taught as a connection to God’s holiness, for when we abide in His commandments we grow closer to Him. A mitzvah is literally a commandment from God, but it can also be understood as an opportunity for connection, an opening to His faithfulness and holiness. 
    Ki Tetze is a portion of social, ethical, legal, and ritual laws, to give His people clarity, kindness, compassion, generosity, honesty and again, as in Shoftim; righteous justice. By honoring His commands and understanding the deeper meanings into our everyday lives, we receive blessings as we Aliyah towards His Holiness.
     Ki Tetze begins with acknowledging the battle: “When you go out to battle against your enemies…”   We have to acknowledge the battles in our lives, for battles will not only test our strength but our kindness as well.
     The first test of Ki Tetze is in the title, and it is not from the battle itself, but from winning it. God tells His people to strip the captive woman from all the adornment, so that she becomes something real, not merely a prize to be owned. She transitions from a possession won by battle to a human, mourning her loss. Only ‘after’ then may she become the bride: Deuteronomy 21:13-14 ‘After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. ¹⁴ If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.’ 
    We remember battles are won through God.
    2 Chronicles 20:15 ‘And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's.
     2 Chronicles 32:7 ‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him.
     Proverbs 21:31 ‘The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.’
    2 Corinthians 10:4 ‘For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.’     
     Chapter 22 continues with commands of kindness towards another’s animal, towards our neighbors by erecting a parapet wall for safety, kindness towards animals regarding plowing, our clothes and tzit tzits on our garments. This chapter includes what is said to be the smallest of commands and obedience results in a long life, that of the mother bird.  Deuteronomy 22:6-7.
     In Deuteronomy 24:16-17 God separates the sins from parents and children, as each will die in their own sin. This does not negate the generational curses, it simply holds each adult responsible for their choices. Deuteronomy 24:17-18 commands us to ‘remember’ that we too were once slaves in a foreign place, thus showing kindness to the foreigner.  
     Ki Tetze concludes with a sobering command: ‘Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, ¹⁸ how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. ¹⁹ Therefore it shall be, when the Lord your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.’ Deuteronomy 25:17-19.  This is repeated from Exodus 17:14 when God tells Moshe this same command.
     This statement in Deuteronomy might appear to be an oxymoron: we should erase the memory of the terrible aggression against the Israelites from under heaven, and at the same time we are also commanded to remember and to take action to ensure future community remembrance. The desire to try to forget our worst experiences is understandable, as we want to forget the trauma in our lives, but that same trauma shapes us, it does not have to defins us but targets us to either shrink or win the battles with God. 
     Remember the evil of Amelak, do not let it repeat, but do not loft them higher than what they are: evil, sneaking up on those that were tired from travel, the old, weary, the stragglers. Their name is to be blotted from heaven, but do not forget their strategies they used to conquer, divide and destroy. 
    1 Peter 5:8 ‘Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.’
   Rabbi Shau’l / Paul in Ephesians 6:12 reminds us: ‘For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.’
     There are other powerful verses to tell us remember lest we forget. 
     Deuteronomy 8:11-12 ‘Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, ¹² lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them…’
     Deuteronomy 4:9-10 ‘Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren…’
     Deuteronomy 5:15 ‘You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.’
     Exodus 31:16-17 ‘Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’
     Remember the Sabbath, do not forget. Remember what Amalek did, do not forget, but blot their name out. 
     We remember Shabbat because it is a testimony to God, creation and His people. Mark 2:27 ‘And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.’
    We don’t remember Amalek in grandeur but we remember the message of Amalek, and what brought Amalek upon God’s people. 
 

     כִּי־תֵצֵא 
Ki Teitzei / When You Go Out
Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19
HafTorah portion Isaiah 54:1-10
Brit Chadasha 1 Corinthians 5:1-5

     It is taught that one mitzvah leads to another mitzvah; a single sin to yet another sin" and explains why one should "run" to a light mitzvah and "flee" from even a light transgression. The reason is that one mitzvah will lead to another etc.  There is also a second clause in the Mishna " the reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah and the recompense of a sin is sin.” Doesn’t God reward our mitzvahs with an opportunity to do another?  Our action causes a reaction.  
     For every action there is a reaction. Even the smallest of actions creates a reaction.  Ki Teitzei seems to jump from one topic to the next. It deals with both the usual and the unusual, from war to marriage from housing to clothing, from weights and measures to Amalek. There is the story of the rebellious son, who is sentenced to death - and then the daily law of tzitzit.  There are the laws of rape alongside the instruction to assist on a roadside breakdown.  How do we link everything together? What is the master plan?
     Within this parsha there are several laws pertaining to the sanctity of life. 

Devarim 21:10-23                               Laws of family life/ Captive Woman,/Firstborn/Rebellious Son
Devarim 22:1-12                                   Laws of kindness between an individual and other 
Devarim 22:13-23:9                            Laws of the sanctity of marriage
Devarim 23:10-24:22                         Laws of holiness and correct conduct
Devarim 25:1-19                                 A general group of societal laws.

     Ki Teitzei contains seventy-four of the 613 Torah commands. These include in chapter 21 the mitzvah concerning the female captives, the firstborn inheritance rights, and the Torah command concerning a burial. Deuteronomy 21:22-23 ‘If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.’
     There is a central thought that a Messiah would not hang on a cross, accursed by God and men. In John 19:19-21 the soldiers mocked Yeshua and others sneered:  ‘And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Messiah, the chosen of God.” The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” And an inscription also was [written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:  THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” They thought: ‘The one who was crucified and cursed could not have been the Messiah.’  
     Kefa/Peter knew this paradox when he boldly told the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Council, that “the God of our fathers raised Yeshua from the dead - whom you had killed by hanging Him on the tree.” (Acts 5:30;  10:39-40; 1 Peter 2:24). So does Rabbi Shaul/Paul who “preaches a crucified Messiah, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles” in 1 Corinthians 1:23. And in Galatians 3:13 he declared:  “The Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Torah by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ´Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree´.”  Rabbi Shaul is quoting from this parsha.
     Both Peter and Paul use the phrase “hang on a tree” which we read in Ki Teitzei. Paul, raised as a Pharisee in Jerusalem, knew that Yeshua hung accursed on the cross, but gave the correct interpretation. God has raised Yeshua from the dead and thereby demonstrated that He is the Messiah, meaning that the curse Yeshua carried on the cross was not His own, it was ours, the sins of the world. And by willingly taking the curse of the Torah of the law of sin and death on our behalf, He redeems us all from the curse of sin and death. Hebrews 9:13-10:18.
     Joseph from Armithea also knew the Scripture of Deuteronomy 21:23 ‘…his body shall not remain overnight on the tree…’as we see in Matthew 27:57-60, Luke 23:50-54 and John 19:38 as he removes the body of Yeshua.
     In Deuteronomy 22:1-12 between the law of helping an ox or donkey, men and women not cross dressing, the parapet, mixing seeds, plowing with an ox and a donkey yoked, the wool and linen, and the law of tzitzits; is the smallest of mitzvah of the mother bird. There is a negative command and a positive command back to back with the promise of long life. ‘If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young. 7 You may take the young, but be sure to let the mother go, so that it may go well with you and you may have a long life.’ Deuteronomy 22:6-7.
    Deuteronomy 23:21-23 has the instructions regarding vows: ‘When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you. But if you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you. That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform, for you voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.’
      Daily, we make vows and often we aren’t aware of the words we speak.  When we offer a pledge, or a membership – we are making a vow. When we speak words of ‘I will’ or ‘I won’t’ we are making a vow. When we join a church and its bylaws, we are making a vow, as in clubs, groups, friendships, anything that takes our words as agreement or a promise, is a vow.
     Scripture has a lot to say regarding vows.
     Numbers 30:1-2 ‘Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, “This is what the Lord has commanded. If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.’
     James 5:12 ‘But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.’
    Ecclesiastes 5:5 ‘It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.’
     Matthew 5:33-37 ‘“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.’    But what about vows to God? 
    Psalm 65:1 ‘To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song. Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed.’ 
     Jonah 1:16 ‘Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.’
     Our vows to God should be songs of praise, words of love and adoration, of gratefulness and thankfulness.
     Psalm 56:10-13 ‘In God (I will praise His word), In the Lord (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?  Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God; I will render praises to You, For You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?’
    Yet when we make a vow to another human being, aren’t we in essence making a vow to God?  King David told the prophet Nathan that ‘he had sinned against the LORD’ in 2 Samuel 12:13. 
  Psalm 15  ‘Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? 
 He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart; He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;  In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;  He who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.’