“My life is always at risk, but I did not forget Your Torah. The wicked laid a snare for me, but I did not stray from Your precepts. Your testimonies are my eternal heritage, for they are the joy of my heart.” Psalms 119:109-111
This world we currently live in falls deeper and deeper into darkness, corruption and chaos each and every day! The debauchery and perversions seem to grow stronger by the day while the righteousness of HaShem is shunned, rejected and spit on. Because of this, it is an absolute fact, walking with HaShem and striving to live according to His Ways i.e. His Torah, takes enormous courage to do so! It is akin to walking upstream, walking up a down escalator, walking into hurricane force winds! Baruch HaShem He already knew it would be like this and has made many promises and provisions for our success. We will discuss this further in this Op, but before we do, always remember the following for it is vital we do so because it will reinforce our understanding of our Great King, HaShem, Master of Legions, the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Elohim of Israel:
– HaShem never changes per Num 23:19/Mal 3:6/Hebrews 13:8/James 1:17
– His Word is firmly established per Psalm 119:89
– He reveals the end out of the beginning per Is 46:10
– He does nothing without first revealing it to His prophets per Amos 3:7
– He says there is nothing new under the sun per Ecclesiastes 1:9
– He says His Torah is eternal per Proverbs 3:19 and Psalm 119:160
– He says His Torah is perfect and restores the soul per Psalm 19:7
– He says His Torah makes the simple one wise per Psalm 19:7
– He says His Torah Is freedom and liberty per Psalm Ps 119:45 and James 1:25
– He says His Torah is the only good doctrine there is Proverbs 4:2
– He says His Torah will add length of days and years of life and peace per Proverbs 3:2
– He says all of the ways of His Torah are ways of pleasantness and peace per Proverbs 3:17
– He says His Torah is for our good and well-being per Deuteronomy 6:24
– He says His Torah is health for our lives per Proverbs 3:8
– He says His Torah is life to our soul and a graceful ornament for our neck per Prov 3:22
– He says His Torah is better than pearls and all desires cannot compare to it per Prov 8:11
– He says those who walk with His Torah are praiseworthy per Psalms 119:1
– He says observing His Torah is how we purify our path per Psalms 119:9
– He says His Torah is better than thousands in gold and silver per Psalms 119:72
– He says His Torah brings abundant peace to those who love Him and His Torah per Psalms 119:165
– He says there is one Torah for all per Exodus 12:49/Leviticus 24:22
– He says those who hate His Torah love death per Proverbs 8:36
This weeks Torah portion i.e. Shoftim (Judges) which is found in Devarim (Deut)16:18-21:9 discusses HaShem command to establish a court system in which these judges will be anointed by HaShem Himself and they will teach Israel how to walk in the Torah i.e. the Oral Torah (Mishnah, both versions of the Talmud, Tosefta, Mishnah Torah, etc). Connected to this Torah portion is the Haftarah which is found in Isaiah 51:12-52:12. Here in Isaiah HaShem is speaking to Israel and promising what He will do in the very end and His promised redemption and deliverance from our enemies and oppressors!
Isaiah 51:12-16 says “I, only I, am He Who comforts you; who are you that you should be afraid of mortal men and of men who will be made as grass? You have forgotten HaShem, your Maker, Who spread out the heavens and set the foundations of the earth, and you are terrified continually, all day long, because of the oppressor’s fury when he prepares to destroy, but where is the oppressor’s fury? The wanderer will soon be released,and will not die in the pit, nor will his bread be lacking. I am HaShem, your Elohim, Who roars at the sea and its waves rage, Whose Name is HaShem, Master of Legions. And I have placed My words in your mouth, and with the shade of My hand have I covered you, to implant the heavens and to set a foundation for the earth and to say unto Zion, ‘You are My people!'”
Despite our rebellion and sin against HaShem, He promises to restore, redeem, renew and deliver us from our foes and our oppressors fury! He will use His creation to do so such as storms, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, floods, waves of the sea, etc, as it will show the world HaShem DOES indeed exist and He alone is in absolute control! It also shows His people He is in fact keeping His Word and doing what He promised He would do!
Isaiah 51:17-20 says “Awaken yourself! Awaken yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of HaShem the cup of His fury. You have drunk from and drained the sediments of the cup of bewilderment. Among all the children she has borne there is no one to guide her; among all the children she has reared there is no one to hold her hand. There are two calamities, the hunger and the sword. With whom can I comfort you? Your children have fainted, they lie at the head of all streets like a wild bull trapped in a net; they are full of HaShem’s fury, with your Elohim’s rebuke.” The punishment and judgment decreed upon Israel for our collective rebellion has been fully meted out and now at the end of days the established decree of His judgment is completed.
Isaiah 51:21-23 says “Therefore, here this now, O afflicted one, drunk, but not from wine. Thus said your Master, HaShem and your Elohim, Who will fight for His people: Behold, I have removed the cup of bewilderment from your hand; and the sediments of the cup of My fury you shall no longer drink any more. But I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to your soul, ‘Prostrate yourself so that we may pass over you,’ for whom you have made your body like the ground and like a street for passerby.” Baruch HaShem! He WILL fight for His people and He will put that cup of judgment and of His fury into the hands of His enemies!! May it be VERY soon!
Isaiah 52:1-3 says “Awaken, awaken! Don your strength, O Zion; don your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for uncircumcised and defiled people will no longer enter you. Shake the dust from yourself; arise and sit, O Jerusalem; undo the straps of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus said HaShem: For naught were you sold, and not for money will you be redeemed.” Is this happening today in our time? Is Jerusalem waking up and the archaeologists shaking the dust off of the city revealing Jerusalem and its history? Is Jerusalem remembering who she is and to Whom she truly belongs too?
Isaiah 52:4-6 says “For thus said my Master, HaShem/Elohim: As for Egypt, My people went down originally to sojourn there. But Assyria oppressed them without justification; so now, why should I remain here? The word of HaShem, where My people was taken for naught? Their rulers glorify themselves, the word of HaShem, and constantly, all day long, My Name is blasphemed. Therefore, My people shall know My Name, therefore, on that day (The Day of HaShem in the very end), they will know that it is I Who speaks. Here I am!” The oppressors of Israel and enemies of HaShem are full of pride, arrogance, self righteousness and they mock, scoff and blaspheme the Name of HaShem! This is not limited to mis pronouncing His Name, but more importantly blaspheming His Great Name would include spitting on His Torah, His Shabbat, His Feasts, His Temple, etc. It is a direct challenge to His authority and in the end of days He WILL answer the challenge! Yikes, I would not want to be on the receiving end of His answer! I digress!
Isaiah 52:7-10 says “How pleasant are the footsteps of the herald upon the mountains announcing shalom, heralding good tidings, announcing salvation, saying to Zion, ‘Your Elohim has reigned!’ The voice of your lookouts, they raise their voice, they sing glad song in unison; with their own eyes they will see that HaShem returns to Zion. Burst out, sing glad song in unison, O ruins of Jerusalem, for HaShem will have comforted His people; He will have redeemed Jerusalem. HaShem has bared His holy arm (Messiah) before the eyes of all the nations; all ends of the earth will see the salvation of our Elohim!” What a great promise from our Merciful King!! He WILL comfort and redeem His people and Jerusalem will once more be what He has always declared it to be…the place of His Throne on the whole earth!
Isaiah 52:11-12 says “Turn away! Turn away! Depart from there! (Leave the lands of the dispersion/exile) It is defiled; do not touch it! Depart from inside it! Cleanse yourselves, O bearers of HaShem’s armor. You will not leave in haste, nor will you go in flight; for HaShem will go before you, and the Elohim of Israel will be your rear guard.” What a magnificent King we truly serve! He WILL come to rescue us at the appointed time and He will not only lead, but will fight on the battlefield as well as be our rear guard as He brings us all home into the Land at the appointed time! May it be so VERY, VERY soon in our days!
With these promises in Isaiah, it is a great motivator to strive to stay close to HaShem and not give into the discouragement and oppression of the filthy, vile world we live in in which the severe storms of life blow away at each of us!
HaShem’s command in Joshua comes into clearer view now when He says in 1:7-9 says “O that you will strengthen yourself and persevere very much in order to observe, to do, according to all of the Torah of Moshe My servant has commanded you. Do not deviate from him to the right or to the left, that you may succeed wherever you go. This Book of the Torah is NOT to leave your mouth. You should contemplate it day and night in order to observe, to do, all that is written in it. For then you will make your ways successful, and then you will become understanding. In truth I commanded you, ‘Strengthen yourself and persevere.’ Do not fear and do not lose resolve because HaShem, your Elohim, is with you wherever you may go.” Once more we see HaShem’s Torah is to be at the center of our lives! To contemplate it day and night and not to deviate from it to the right or to the left and it is not to leave our mouth, meaning we are to discuss it constantly with our families and neighbors, those who will listen. THEN we will succeed in life…BUT it will NOT be easy because the world hates HaShem and certainly hates His Torah, thus we MUST be strong and courageous, but always remember HaShem is with us…He hasn’t abandoned us to the wishes of our tormentors (Psalms 27).
The time we are currently, as I post this Op i.e. 7 September 2019, we are in the Days of Teshuvah (Repentance) as we approach Rosh HaShanah….the day of the Awakening Blast (Of the shofar)…the day when the righteous dead are resurrected and HaShem gathers His people off the earth to attend the Coronation of the King in the Heavenly Temple. May it be this Rosh HaShanah the Awakening Blast is blown!
I hope and pray this Op was somewhat encouraging!! I know I need the encouragement as well as life is getting to be VERY tough with all the various issues that seemingly never end and only increase by the day! Baruch HaShem He hasn’t forgotten us and He WILL rescue and redeem us at the appointed time! May it be VERY soon in our days!
Shabbat Shalom!
SOURCE MATERIALS:
- Tehillim (Psalms)
- Yeshayah (Isaiah)
- Yehoshua (Joshua)