Re’eh “behold”
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-
Re’eh is the Hebrew word for “behold” and is the name for the weekly Torah Portion reading for the Deuteronomy starting in chapter 11 verse 26 and going through chapter 16 and verse 17.
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 54 verse 11 through chapter 55 verse 5.
The gospel readings incorporated with the weekly Torah portion readings come from the book of John in chapter 6 with verses 35 through verse 51.
Torah Portion Overview-
In this torah portion Yahweh set before Israel a blessing if they obeyed and a curse if they disobeyed and worshipped other gods. They were to set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. Israel must keep the Torah in the land where God is sending them. Next the focus turned to idolatry. Israel must destroy objects and places of idolatry. Opposite of idolatry is the worship of the true God! Israel must bring their offerings to the place where He puts His name. They were not to offer the offerings at just any place. When they do eat meat they may eat of the meats they slaughter but must pour out the blood to the ground. Tithes and offerings must be eaten at the place where He puts His name and Israel was not to neglect the Levite. However, provision was made if an Israelite was in a far away city (from the Tabernacle/Temple). If an Israelite was too far away to bring their animals when they slaughter then they may slaughter in their own town but they must pour out the blood to the ground. However, they must not neglect the offerings, the offerings are still to be brought to the place. Israel was instructed not to inquire after how the nations worshipped their gods. They were also not to follow false prophets after other gods but follow the Lord and obey His commandments. They were commanded to put the false prophet to death. Not only false prophets, but the same commands applied to friends and family. Even if an entire town followed after other gods Israel was to put the town to death. Burn all of its spoils, and never rebuild the town. In other words, the town was to be devoted to destruction. Not worshipping other gods was to also apply to the mourning practices. They were not to cut themselves or shave their head for the dead. Israel was to remain clean, they could eat clean and could not eat unclean animals, fish, and birds. An Israelite could not eat something that died naturally but a foreigner could. They were also not to boil a kid in it’s mother’s milk (probably a pagan sacrifice practice or divination practice). Israelites were to pay their tithes but if the place where He put His name was too far they could exchange it for money and buy whatever they wished; food or strong drink, and rejoice before the Lord at the place. They were to tithe every third year and store it up for the Levite, resident alien, orphan, and widows may eat of it. Next we get laws of true generosity and justice, the laws of the Sabbath year. Among those laws were commands that Hebrew slaves are to only work for 6 years and go free on the 7th year. Remembering the Exodus and the saving of the firstborn God commanded that the firstborn animals belonged to the Lord as a sacrifice. Lastly we get some of the feast commandments. The Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread commandments, the Feast of Weeks commandments and the Feast of Booths commandments. Finally Israel was commanded to appear before the Lord 3 times a year for these feasts and give as they were able.
Today I want to focus on the place where He puts His name.
“But you shall seek the place that the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes as his habitation to put his name there. You shall go there, bringing there your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and your donations, your votive gifts, your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks. And you shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your households together, rejoicing in all the undertakings in which the LORD your God has blessed you.”
Deuteronomy 12:5-7 (NRSVue)
Before we dig into this idea, of a place where He puts His name, we must first state that at different times there were different places where He put His name. As Jack R. Lundbom points out in his commentary on Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2013) on page 426, some scholars argue that the place was at one time Shechem (Josh 24:1; Deut 27:1–14), others point out that it was at Shiloh,
“Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.”
Jeremiah 7:12 (NRSVue)
or Bethel (Amos 7:13). And lastly, we know it was either Jerusalem or the Temple in Jerusalem (or both).
“The LORD said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea that you made before me; I have consecrated this house that you have built and put my name there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time.”
1 Kings 9:3 (NRSVue)
“The carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the LORD said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever;”
2 Kings 21:7 (NRSVue)
We can see that at one point it was at Shiloh for sure, and then it was at Jerusalem. What does this mean? Firstly I believe that the idea of the place where He puts His name is that Israel was not to worship just anywhere they wanted. They were to gather together, not “under every green tree”, that is, not at any place they wanted, but at the place of worship appointed by God.
On this note I would like to say that there are those who do this, they gather wherever they want, forsaking the gathering together of the body (the church). In this way they act as God has not intended, for we are not to gather under “every green tree” but we are to gather at the place where He puts His name. That does not mean that any certain church is that place, and that is not my point. The church itself is the place where He puts His name, and therefore we are to gather with the church.
Secondly we must notice that if the place where He puts His name was at Shiloh, and perhaps other places, then was moved to Jerusalem, this means that the location of the place can change. This matters because it was not a priest or prophet that appointed Jerusalem as the place where He puts His name. Indeed, it was the will of David, and the actions of his son Solomon, building the Temple there, that made it the place. To say it another way, it is the Son of David that was able to decide where to build the temple (under the inspiration and direction of God, I believe) that God would place His name.
I think you can see where I’m going with this. For, the Temple was destroyed, and there is no longer a place where we, the church, can gather to worship as one. There is no singular place of worship for Israel either. But there is a singular temple! Where is that temple?! It is in us! We are the place where He will put His name! We are the place of worship. Wherever the church is there true worship of God can be carried out! The focus is not on a physical place, but on a spiritual people.
“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (NRSVue)
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?”
1 Corinthians 6:19 (NRSVue)
“What agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said, “I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
2 Corinthians 6:15–16 (NRSVue)
“So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone; in him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.”
Ephesians 2:19-22 (NRSVue)
This was hinted at by Moses, for He said that God would put His name on the Israelites.
“So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Numbers 6:27 (NRSVue)
This change was decided by the Son of David, the Messiah, Jesus the Christ!
“Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
John 4:21-24 (NRSVue)
We are to live our lives as kings and priests, holy to God! We are to serve Him and obey Him, following after Him with a whole heart.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
1 Peter 2:9 (NRSVue)
“and made us a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
Revelation 1:6 (NRSVue)
And if we endure to the end, He will write His name on us and we will truly be the place where He puts His name!
“If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”
Revelation 3:12 (NRSVue)
Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-
Deuteronomy 7:12 If Israel obeys the Lord they will be blessed and protected.
Deuteronomy 7:17 Israel should not fear the nations because the Lord is with them, they must not worship other gods.
Deuteronomy 8:1 The Lord tested Israel to know what was in their heart but now the Lord will bless Israel.
Deuteronomy 8:11 Israel should not forget the Lord when they are blessed.
Deuteronomy 9:1 The Lord is going to be with Israel when they fight against the nations they are dispossessing, they are being destroyed because of how evil they are, not how righteous Israel is.
Deuteronomy 9:8 Moses reminds Israel of the sin of the golden calf and other rebellions.
Deuteronomy 10:1 Moses made a second pair of tablets and the Lord wrote on them and Levi was chosen to serve.
Deuteronomy 10:12 Israel should fear the Lord, love Him, and keep His commandments and circumcise their hearts and show kindness to orphans, widows, and strangers.
Deuteronomy 11:1 Israel should remember the disciplines (judgements) of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 11:8 Israel must obey the Lord’s commandments so that they will live long in the land, teach them to their children, and not worship other gods.
Deuteronomy 11:22 If Israel obeys then the Lord will be with them and they will posses the land.
Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-
Isaiah 49:14 The Lord will remember Israel and bring her back.
Isaiah 50:1 Israel was divorced because of her sins and God is the Almighty Judge.
Isaiah 50:4 The spirit of the prophet is comforted by the Lord.
Isaiah 51:1 Israel should remember their heritage.
Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-
Matthew 16:13 Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.
References-
Peter C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1976), 205.
Joseph A. Fitzmyer S.J., Romans: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 33 of Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 309.
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