Ki Tavo “when you come”
It is customary for religiously practicing Jews to read from an annual cycle of weekly Old Testament readings called Torah Portions. This is said to be the same reading schedule that was taught every Sabbath in the Synagogues during the times of Jesus in the first century.
As Christians exploring the Torah portion cycle we must maintain a balance of including the Old Testament, the prophets, and the gospels in our weekly bible study.
Torah Portion Name and Readings-
The Ki Tavo Torah Portion is named after the Hebrew word for “when you come” or “when you enter”, the weekly reading is found in Deuteronomy starting in chapter 26 verse 1 and going through chapter 29 and verse 9.
Prophets and New Testament-
It is also important to point out that along with the Torah portion readings and teachings, there are what are called Haftarah portions which are readings from the Bible in the books of the prophets. This week’s haftarah readings come from the book of Isaiah in chapter 60 verse 1 through verse 22.
The gospel readings incorporated with the weekly Torah portion readings come from the book of Matthew in chapter 4 with verses 13 through verse 24.
Torah Portion Overview-
In this Parashat Ki Tetze the focus turns to blessings and curses in Deuteronomy, the First Fruits offering in the Bible, and the covenant in the Torah. Israel is about to enter into the land and so they are instructed on the first produce of the land, First Fruits. They are to offer the produce of the land and testify of His goodness. The offering is more than a sacrifice, it is a testimony that brought glory to God. They are then reminded of the tithe of the third year, when they bring in the tithe of their produce. Israel is promised that if they keep the Torah and His covenant that they shall be a special people. When they do enter the land, the first thing is to set up the testimony of the blessing and curses, the result of the law. In other words, the fruit of the Torah is either blessing or curses, if they obey or disobey. They were commanded to set up plaster covered stones on Mount Ebal and to write the law on them and build an altar and sacrifice to Yahweh. Half the tribes were to stand on Mount Gerizim and bless the people and half on Mount Ebal and pronounce twelve curses. The blessings were then listed and explained. They were great blessings and would encourage the Israelites to keep the law and be faithful to the covenant. Next the terrifying curses are expanded on. There are many curses and they are severe. This is the curse of the law that Paul speaks of. The curses are a reverse of the blessings. Moses then commanded Israel to remember their journey and keep the torah and covenant.
Reading this covenant that God made with Israel I’m reminded of the severity of breaking the covenant. The list of curses, and their expansion, are quite severe. The reason for these curses, as we discussed previously, was not to punish the people but to cause them to fear disobedience. Yes, the curses were a punishment and the people of Israel did suffer them when they broke the law and worshipped other gods. However, remember the heart of the Father. God does not desire to punish His children but instead wants to love them and know them. The point of these curses was not to curse, but that they would provide a reason for abstaining from disobedience. In other words, the curse of the law was to push the people into obedience so that they might find blessing.
However, this was not the result. The people didn’t head the warning and instead walked in great wickedness. They worshipped all the other gods and provoked God to jealousy. They broke His commandments and performed wickedly. Thus, they did find punishment. This is the weakness of the law, not the law itself, but man. Mankind, because of our flesh, are weak. We are not able to fully keep His covenant and so were bound to find punishment. This is why God promised a new covenant.
“The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.”
Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NRSVue)
When considering the first covenant and this promise of a new covenant the first thing that sicks out is that there is no mention of a curse. No curses are listed, no great punishment for breaking the covenant. Instead, it is explained that the law will be placed within the people, on their heart. The focus of the law then would not be on the external, but on the internal. This does not mean that the law would not have physical commandments, but that the writing of it would not be on stone, but on our hearts. Instead of the stones being the monument, the hearts would be where the law is remembered. Why is this important? Because it is easy for a person to ignore a stone, it is much more difficult to ignore ones conscience. But how would this law be placed on our heart? It would be placed through the power of the Holy Spirit by giving us a new heart.
“A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.”
Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NRSVue)
You see, there are still stones, they are the hearts of men. The disobedient hearts are hearts of stone. But these would be removed and replaced with hearts that are soft and fleshly and they would have a desire to obey. Not only would the heart have the law written on it, but we were promised to have the Holy Spirit in us which would encourage us to obey. It is through the power of the Holy Spirit, not our own will that we walk in obedience. Therefore, having this new heart, we are a new creation.
“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being!”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NRSVue)
We are this new creation, members of this new covenant, with a new heart! We are called to walk in holiness and obedience! We don’t do this because we fear a curse, we do this instead because of love and the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Thus, any obedience is not our own fruit, but the work of God in us. All glory to God! We are not good because of who we are, but because of who He is. His power in our lives causes us to follow and walk after Him.
Thus we hold to the covenant. We are faithful, because He is faithful, we are obedient because He is obedient, we are His. Because of this, to be a Christian is to reflect Him in all His glory. To be a Christian is to walk in obedience to Him, full of love and blessing. Let us walk in this obedience, not in fear, but in love.
Ki Tetze challenges us to meditate on covenant faithfulness. The blessings and curses (the curse of the law) found in this torah portion remind us of the severity of breaking the law, and the great grace we have received in the new covenant. This reminds us to be greatful for all that we have, and remember that we were once enemies of God worthy of death. But His great mercy, the work of the cross, brought us near to Him. It is a debt we can never repay, so we will owe Him the rest of our lives. Not a debt that brings bondage, but a debt that says I will forever remember what you have done! The Torah Portion in Deuteronomy 26-29 brings us to this, and encourages us to grow in holiness and love, obedience and faith.
Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-
Deuteronomy 26:1 Israelites shall offer the First Fruits offering of the Promised Land and testify of His goodness.
Deuteronomy 26:12 The Israelites shall tithe every three years of the produce of the land.
Deuteronomy 26:16 Israel must observe His commandments and keep His covenant and they shall be a special people.
Deuteronomy 27:1 Israel commanded to set up plaster covered stones on Mount Ebal and to write the law on them and build an altar and sacrifice to Yahweh.
Deuteronomy 27:11 Half the tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim and bless the people and half on Mount Ebal and pronounce twelve curses.
Deuteronomy 28:1 The blessings are listed and explained.
Deuteronomy 28:15 The reverse curses are listed and explained.
Deuteronomy 29:2 Moses commanded Israel to remember their journey and keep the torah and covenant.
Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-
Isaiah 60:1 The sons of Israel shall return and great wealth shall flow to her and the nations shall serve her.
Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-
Matthew 4:13 Jesus begins His ministry in Capernaum.
Matthew 4:18 Jesus calls Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow Him.
Matthew 4:23 Jesus preaches throughout Galilee and His fame grows.
To Watch an overview of this week’s Torah Portion CLICK HERE