What the Greek Mindset Stole from Our Bible Reading and How We Get It Back

by | Aug 20, 2026 | Blog, Podcasts

What the Greek Mindset Stole from Our Bible Reading and How We Get It Back

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

Beloved, this teaching is about recovering the lens we were never supposed to lose. Most of us were discipled, trained, and conditioned to read a Hebrew Bible through a Greek and Hellenistic framework, and many of us never realized that this inherited lens was shaping what we saw, what we missed, and what we assumed Yehovah’s Word was saying to us.

In this installment of TMTO, we examine what the Greek mindset has quietly stolen from our Bible reading and what we begin to recover when we return to the Hebraic mindset of Scripture: Torah as covenant instruction, Yeshua as the Torah-observant Jewish Messiah, the Bible as one continuous covenant story, and faith as embodied covenant loyalty rather than mere mental agreement.

Episode Focus

I challenge the reader and listener to ask a foundational question: Have we been reading Scripture through the covenantal worldview of the Hebrew writers, or through the abstract, systematic, and philosophical categories of the Greek world?

The point is not to demonize Greek philosophy, nor to suggest that every contribution from the Greek world is evil. Rather, the point is this: when Greek abstraction becomes the controlling interpretive lens for a Hebrew covenant text, the reader often walks away with a document the biblical writers themselves would not recognize.

Key Themes Discussed

  1. The Greek mindset obscured the concreteness of Torah. Torah was never given as an abstract religious ideal. It was given as covenant instruction to be remembered, guarded, walked out, and embodied by Yehovah’s chosen and elect people.
  2. The Greek mindset obscured the Hebraic reality of Yeshua. Yeshua was not a detached philosophical principle. He was and remains the Jewish Messiah, a first-century Torah-observant rabbi, the Son sent in the fullness of time, and the embodiment of everything Yisra’el was called to be.
  3. The Greek mindset fractured the narrative unity of Scripture. The Tanakh and the Brit HaDashah are not two competing religious testaments. They are one covenantal story, one progressive revelation, one crimson thread running from creation, through Avraham, Sinai, the prophets, Messiah, and the restoration of all things.
  4. The Greek mindset muted the voice of the Hebrew text. Words such as emunah, moedim, shamar, and zakor are not merely religious vocabulary terms. They are covenant-action words that call Yehovah’s people into embodied faithfulness.

Why This Matters

If we continue reading the Bible through a Greco-Roman framework, then we will continue asking the wrong questions of the text. We will ask whether Torah still applies to us instead of asking how Yehovah desires His covenant people to walk in His ways. We will ask whether the Feasts have been replaced instead of asking how the appointed times continue to rehearse Yehovah’s redemptive calendar. We will ask whether faith means simply believing the right doctrines instead of asking whether our lives reflect covenant faithfulness before the Great I AM.

And beloved, this is where the rubber meets the road. A Hebraic reading of Scripture does not leave us with information only. It confronts us with covenant responsibility. It calls us to remember, guard, observe, walk, repent, return, obey, and bear fruit worthy of the Kingdom.

Scripture References Cited

  • Leviticus 23:2 — Yehovah identifies the Feasts as His appointed times, His moedim, holy convocations His people are to proclaim.
  • Deuteronomy 6:4–9 — The Shema calls covenant Yisra’el to love Yehovah with the whole being and to diligently teach His words in lived, daily faithfulness.
  • Numbers 11:12 — The imagery of a nursing guardian helps illuminate the embodied reliability and steadiness tied to the Hebrew concept of emunah.
  • Habakkuk 2:4 — The righteous one lives by emunah, covenant faithfulness before Yehovah.
  • Matthew 5:17–19 — Yeshua declares He did not come to abolish Torah or the Prophets, but to fulfill them.
  • Luke 4:16 — Yeshua’s custom was to enter the synagogue on Shabbat, demonstrating His Torah-shaped life and practice.
  • Luke 22:15 — Yeshua eagerly desired to eat the Passover with His disciples, showing His participation in the appointed times of Yehovah.
  • John 10:22–23 — Yeshua is present in the Temple courts during the Feast of Dedication.
  • Romans 1:17 — Paul cites the righteous living by faith, drawing from Habakkuk’s covenantal framework.
  • Romans 11:17–21 — Paul describes Gentile believers as wild olive branches grafted into the cultivated olive tree and warns against arrogance toward the natural branches.
  • Galatians 3:11 — Paul again cites the righteous living by faith, reinforcing the continuity of the apostolic witness with the Tanakh.
  • Galatians 4:4–5 — Yeshua is sent in the fullness of time, born under Torah, to redeem those under Torah.
  • Ephesians 1:9–10 — Yehovah’s revealed purpose is to bring all things together in Messiah.
  • Hebrews 10:38 — The writer of Hebrews also draws from Habakkuk, presenting enduring faithful living as central to covenant perseverance.

Referenced Resource

I cite Two Minds at the Same Text by Daniel Schwartz in this teaching as a helpful scholarly reference for considering the contrast between Greek and Hebraic ways of engaging the biblical text.

Listener Takeaways

  • Do not treat Torah as an obsolete religious artifact. Receive it as covenant instruction from Yehovah.
  • Do not detach Yeshua from His Jewish, Torah-observant, covenantal context.
  • Do not read the Brit HaDashah as though it replaces the Tanakh. Read it as the continuation and fulfillment of Yehovah’s covenant story.
  • Do not reduce faith to mental agreement. Recover emunah as faithful embodied loyalty.
  • Do not treat the Feasts of Yehovah as irrelevant shadows. Study them as His appointed times, rehearsals, and holy convocations.

Reflection Questions

  1. What inherited assumptions have shaped the way I read Torah, Yeshua, Paul, and the apostolic writings?
  2. Where have I been tempted to spiritualize commandments that Yehovah gave as concrete covenant instructions?
  3. How might my understanding of faith change if I recover emunah as faithfulness rather than mere belief?
  4. What would it look like for me and my household to become serious students of the moedim of Yehovah?
  5. Am I reading the Bible as one continuous covenant story, or as two disconnected religious systems?

Closing Exhortation

Beloved, the goal is not to sound more Hebrew. The goal is not to win theological arguments. The goal is to recover the biblical worldview of the covenant people who received, guarded, proclaimed, and lived the Word of Yehovah. When we recover that lens, Scripture begins to come alive in ways many of us have been missing for years.

So, what do you say we lay down the foreign lens, pick up the Hebraic one, and return to reading the Bible the way the covenant people of Scripture understood it?

Parashat Ki Teitzei: Cursed on a Tree and the Covenant of Peace: Called to War, Comforted by God, and Drawn Near Through Messiah

by | Aug 19, 2026 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

Episode Overview

Beloved, in this installment of The Messianic Torah Observer, we take up Parashat Ki Teitzei, one of the most commandment-rich portions in the entire annual Torah reading cycle. At first glance, Ki Teitzei may appear to be little more than a long collection of ancient civil, criminal, family, and warfare statutes. But for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, this parsha contains Gospel-rich treasures embedded right in the body of Yah’s loving instructions in righteousness.

This teaching focuses on three powerful threads: the Torah of the timely disposition of criminal remains in Deuteronomy 21:22–23 and how it points directly to Golgotha; the Torah of the captive woman in Deuteronomy 21:10–14 and how it foreshadows the nations being drawn near through Messiah; and Isaiah 54, the Haftarah of consolation that proclaims Yah’s unshakable covenant of peace.

What This Teaching Is About

In this episode, I push back against the notion that Deuteronomy is dry, archaic, or irrelevant to us in the 21st-century West. Ki Teitzei contains 74 of the commandments traditionally counted among the 613 mitzvot, and yet within all of that legal instruction, Yah has embedded realities that speak directly to redemption, covenant identity, Messiah’s work, and the hope of restoration.

The focus is not simply on learning Torah facts. The focus is on recognizing how Torah, when read through the witness of the Spirit and the apostolic writings, points us to the redemptive ministry of Yehoshua HaMashiyach and calls us into greater covenant faithfulness.

Main Teaching Threads

Thread 1: The Torah of Timely Disposition of Criminal Remains

We begin with Deuteronomy 21:22–23, where Torah instructs that the body of one executed and hung on a tree must not remain there overnight, because the one hanged is accursed of Elohim. This was not Torah prescribing hanging as the method of execution. Rather, the hanging of the executed body functioned as a public display that the sentence had been carried out and that sin had brought forth death and shame.

Beloved, this matters because the Apostle Paul reaches back to this very mitzvah in Galatians 3:13 to explain what happened to our Master on the execution stake. Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Torah by becoming a curse for us. He was not cursed because of His own rebellion. He was cursed because of ours. He took upon Himself the curse that our disobedience deserved so that we might become the righteousness of Elohim in Him.

The cross, beloved, was not a divine afterthought. It was not some tragedy that the Father retrofitted into His redemptive plan after the fact. Torah had already embedded the legal framework of Messiah’s atoning work some 1,500 years before Golgotha. This is not replacement theology. This is fulfillment theology at its greatest potential.

Thread 2: The Torah of the Captive Woman

We then return to the opening verses of the parsha, Deuteronomy 21:10–14, the Torah of the beautiful captive, or yefat toar. Israel is at war, and an Israelite soldier sees a woman among the captives whom he desires to take as his wife. Torah does not permit him to simply seize her and treat her as a possession. She must be brought into his house, her old identity markers are removed, and she is given a full month to mourn the loss of her father, mother, former life, and former identity.

From a deeper, midrashic reading perspective, this captive woman foreshadows the nations being brought near unto Yah through Messiah. Those of us who were once outside the covenant, strangers to the promises, and alienated from the citizenship of Israel have now been drawn near by the blood of Messiah. But that drawing near requires the stripping away of the old identity, the old garments, the old means of survival, and the old manner of life.

This is not a surface-level adoption of religious culture. This is covenant transformation. It is a genuine surrender of the former life and a genuine coming into the household of Elohim through Yehoshua Messiah.

Thread 3: The God Who Sings Over His Scattered Ones

The third thread brings us to Isaiah 54, the Haftarah reading for Ki Teitzei and the fifth reading in the traditional Jewish season known as the Seven Weeks of Consolation, or Shiva D’Nechemta. After the grief of Tisha B’Av, Jewish tradition walks through seven weeks of prophetic comfort leading toward Yom Teruah and the Fall Feasts.

Isaiah 54 opens with Yah commanding the barren one to sing. Not because her loss was imaginary. Not because her suffering was insignificant. But because what Yah is about to do in restoration is larger than what was lost in judgment. The deserted one is told to enlarge her tent, lengthen her cords, and strengthen her stakes because Yah is preparing to multiply her children and restore her cities.

And then comes the anchor of this Haftarah: “For though the mountains be removed and the hills be shaken, My loving-commitment is not removed from you, nor is My covenant of peace shaken.” This is Brit Shalom, the covenant of peace. The same covenant language seen with Phinehas in Numbers 25 and echoed in Ezekiel’s restoration promises stands as Yah’s declaration that His covenant love does not depart from His people.

Key Takeaways

  • Ki Teitzei is not dry legal material. It contains Gospel-rich spiritual treasures for those willing to slow down and receive what Yah has embedded in His Torah.
  • Deuteronomy 21:22–23 provides the Torah framework Paul uses in Galatians 3:13 to explain Messiah’s redemptive work on the execution stake.
  • Yeshua became a curse for us, not because of His own sin, but because He willingly took upon Himself the curse our rebellion deserved.
  • The Torah of the captive woman reveals Yah’s mercy toward the vulnerable and prophetically foreshadows the nations being brought near through Messiah.
  • Those who come into covenant must surrender the old identity, old garments, old way of fighting, and old manner of life.
  • Isaiah 54 speaks comfort to the barren, scattered, and forsaken one, calling her to sing and enlarge her tent in anticipation of Yah’s restoration.
  • Yah’s Brit Shalom, His covenant of peace, is not shaken even when the mountains and hills of our lives appear to move.
  • Elul may be Jewish tradition, not Torah, but it can still offer meaningful spiritual reflection as we approach Yom Teruah and the Fall Feasts with discernment.

Episode Flow

  1. Opening reflection on how the Gospel of the Kingdom is often hidden within Torah passages.
  2. Introduction to Parashat Ki Teitzei and its place in the annual Torah reading cycle.
  3. Context for the sixth biblical month, Elul, and the approach of Yom Teruah.
  4. Overview of Ki Teitzei as the Torah portion containing 74 traditionally counted commandments.
  5. Thread 1: Deuteronomy 21:22–23 and the curse of the one hanged on a tree.
  6. Paul’s use of Deuteronomy 21:23 in Galatians 3:13 to explain Messiah’s redemptive work.
  7. Thread 2: Deuteronomy 21:10–14 and the Torah of the captive woman.
  8. Messianic reflection on the nations being drawn near into the commonwealth of Israel.
  9. Thread 3: Isaiah 54 and the prophetic comfort of Yah’s covenant of peace.
  10. Closing exhortation to receive the season with discernment, humility, and covenant faithfulness.

Memorable Lines and Themes

  • Torah did not hide the work of Messiah from us; Torah pointed to it all along.
  • The cross was not a divine afterthought; it was embedded in the legal framework of Torah.
  • This is not replacement theology. This is fulfillment theology at its greatest potential.
  • The captive woman reveals that Yah’s mercy reaches even to the vulnerable outsider.
  • The nations are brought near, but the old identity must be stripped away.
  • Yah commands the barren one to sing, not because the loss was not real, but because the restoration will be greater.
  • Even if the mountains move, Yah’s covenant of peace does not move.

Primary Scriptures Cited

  • Deuteronomy/Devarim 21:10–14 — The Torah of the captive woman.
  • Deuteronomy/Devarim 21:22–23 — The one hanged on a tree is accursed of Elohim and must be buried the same day.
  • Deuteronomy/Devarim 23:14 — Yehovah walks in the midst of the camp.
  • Deuteronomy/Devarim 25:17–19 — The command to remember what Amalek did.
  • Numbers/Bemidbar 25:10–15 — Yah’s covenant of peace with Phinehas.
  • Isaiah/Yeshayahu 54:1–10 — The barren one is commanded to sing; Yah’s covenant of peace will not be shaken.
  • Isaiah/Yeshayahu 54:10 — Yah’s loving-commitment and covenant of peace will not depart.
  • Isaiah/Yeshayahu 63:7 — Yah’s steadfast covenant love and compassion.
  • Ezekiel/Yechezqel 34 — Restoration language connected to Yah’s covenant care for His people.
  • Ezekiel/Yechezqel 37 — Restoration and covenant of peace language.
  • Romans 3:2 — Israel entrusted with the oracles of Yah.
  • Galatians 3:13 — Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Torah by becoming a curse for us.
  • Ephesians 2:11–19 — Gentiles once far off are brought near by the blood of Messiah.
  • 2 Corinthians 5:21 — Messiah made sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
  • Hebrews 4:16 — Boldly approaching the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find help.
  • Philippians 2:12 — Working out our salvation with fear and trembling.

Additional Sources Cited

  • The Scriptures, 3rd edition. Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009. Cited for Deuteronomy 21:22–23, Galatians 3:13, and Isaiah 54:1–10.
  • Hall Harris III et al., eds. The Lexham English Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012. Cited for Ephesians 2:11–19.
  • Tim Hegg, Studies in the Torah: Deuteronomy. TorahResource. Referenced regarding the ancient understanding of suspended remains, the curse of the one hanged on a tree, and Messiah becoming a curse for us.

Terms and Concepts Mentioned

  • Ki Teitzei — “When you go out,” the Torah portion covering Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19.
  • Haftarah — The prophetic reading paired with the Torah portion.
  • Shiva D’Nechemta — The Seven Weeks of Consolation between Tisha B’Av and Yom Teruah.
  • Elul — The sixth biblical month, traditionally associated in Judaism with repentance, return, and preparation for the Fall Feasts.
  • Yom Teruah — The Feast of Trumpets.
  • Yom HaKippurim — The Day of Atonement.
  • Qillat Elohim — One who is cursed of Elohim.
  • Yefat Toar — The beautiful captive woman of Deuteronomy 21:10–14.
  • Brit Shalom — Covenant of peace.
  • Chesed — Yah’s steadfast covenant love and loving-commitment.
  • Commonwealth of Israel — The covenant citizenship language Paul uses in Ephesians 2.
  • Stavros — Execution stake or staff.
  • Golgotha — The place of Messiah’s crucifixion.

Reflection Questions

  1. Have I been reading Torah merely as ancient law, or have I been asking Yah to show me Messiah and Kingdom truth within it?
  2. What does it mean for me personally that Messiah became a curse for me?
  3. What parts of my old identity, old garments, and old ways of surviving still need to be surrendered to Yah?
  4. Where is Abba calling me to enlarge my tent in faith before the visible fulfillment arrives?
  5. Am I approaching this traditional season before the Fall Feasts with discernment, humility, and covenant faithfulness?

Closing Encouragement

Beloved, may this teaching help you see that Ki Teitzei is not simply a lengthy list of statutes, but a Spirit-filled witness to Messiah, covenant transformation, and Yah’s abiding compassion. May the truth of Messiah becoming a curse for us deepen your gratitude. May the Torah of the captive woman remind you of what it means to be drawn near and transformed. And may Isaiah’s promise of Abba’s covenant of peace be your solid foundation as we move toward Yom Teruah and the Fall Feasts of Yehovah.

AI, Spiritual Authority, and the Image of Elohim

by | Jul 2, 2026

Episode Title AI, Spiritual Authority, and the Image of Elohim: A Messianic Torah Perspective on Artificial Intelligence Opening Thoughts Shalom and greetings, beloved of the Most High. In this installment of The Messianic Torah Observer, we step slightly outside our...

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Righteous Judges and True Prophets: Shoftim’s Call to a Spirit-Led Elul Generation

by | Aug 14, 2026 | Blog

Righteous Judges and True Prophets: Shoftim’s Call to a Spirit-Led Elul Generation

August 14, 2026 |  30th Day of the 5th Biblical Month 6026 |  Parashat Shoftim

“Righteous Judges and True Prophets: Shoftim’s Call to a 6th Biblical Month Generation”

 

Parashat Shoftim  |  Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9  |  Haftarah: Isaiah 51:12–52:12  |  Shabbat August 15, 2026 

 

Opening Monologue

 

“Appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your gates.” (Deuteronomy 16.18)

That is how this Sabbath’s Torah Reading Shoftim (aka Judges) begins.

Here we have Moshe/Moses speaking to the second-generation Exodus Israelis who were gathered on the edge of the Promised Land. These were about to enter a Land already occupied by some of the most pagan-ridden souls of that day.

But before these would enter and take possession of the Land, Father recognized the nation would need to create courts to enforce Torah and appoint men authorized to rightly govern the nation. This was an essential move by Yah to install one of the key pillars of the government of Yehovah upon the earth. Torah governance.

Beloved, there are essentially three pillars to Yah’s Torah government: The King who leads the nation; the priesthood that intercedes on behalf the people; and the prophet who hears from Yah and informs the nation as to “thus saith the LORD.”

The judges the nation appoints would fall within the leadership pillar of this Torah Government.

Now, within our same Shoftim Reading, Moshe addresses something equally important to the development and implementation of His Torah Government over Israel:

15 The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; 16 According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire anymore, that I die not. 17 And the Lord said unto me, they have well-spoken that which they have spoken. 18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. 19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. 20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. 21 And if thou say in thine heart, how shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? 22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.[1]

So, Torah government stands upon the offices of Judges and prophets; which are the Courts and voices. Both make up the authority that governs what we do and authority that shapes our belief.

This Shabbat of 8/15/2026 we are reading Shoftim, which falls on the first (conceivably second) day of the 6th month that the Rabbis named Elul (of Babylonian origin). But it is the very first Sabbath of the forty-day season of teshuvah that runs from the Rosh Chodesh of the 6th Month all the way to Yom HaKippurim or the Day of Atonements.

So, permit me to ask: “Who is governing our inner world?”

 

Why These Two Angles Belong Together

Before we open the text, I want to tell you where we are going in our studies today, as I am going to weave two threads together throughout this teaching episode, and I want you to be able to follow what I’m saying to you.

Thread One is from Deuteronomy 16.18 and it instructs us to appoint judges and officers in all our gates. And it is with this instruction that Shoftim opens. I am going to put forth the position that this command, despite it being literally about civil courts and the legal system throughout the cities of Israel, also contains a powerful personal and spiritual dimension that is linked to this traditional season of Teshuvah that our Jewish cousin have now entered.

Thread Two is from Deuteronomy 18.15-22, which instructs us about the office of the prophet and how we are to tell a true prophet from a false one, and what to do when voices within our living sphere are claiming to speak for God.

Now, these two threads belong together, and here’s why.

In the Hebraic-world, judges and prophets serve a complementary function. The judge tells us what Torah requires of us. The prophet tells us what Yah is saying to us and speaking into our lives at that moment in time. Thus, this Torah-government governed our legal system as well as it governed our behavior and worldview.

And in this Jewish month of Elul, when the tradition tells our cousins that the King is in the field, that He has come down from His palace and is now walking among them, what they need more than anything right now is internal righteous governance. They need judges at their inner gates and true prophetic discernment in their hearts. And though this is all Jewish tradition, the principle of this tradition certainly apply to us who are the elect and chosen of Yah in these perilous times.

And so, that is what we are going to discuss today.

 

Thread One — Judges in Your Gates

 

Let us begin in Deuteronomy 16:18.

“Judges and officers you shall appoint for yourself in all your gates.”

In its Peshat, or rote reading and understanding, this instruction is civic. We were in the final preparations for taking possession of the Land of Promise. Yah recognized that once we took possession of the Land, we would need a justice system, or courts in every city, with officials to enforce the rulings of the justices, and a judicial system of accountability.

But I want to draw your attention to something in the wording of this verse that is spiritually relevant to us as Messianics/Netsarim/Hebrew Israelites.

The word for “gates” or “towns” in the Hebrew is sh’are means gate, gatehouse, location, place, or places. The same word is used in the Shema: “And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates“ (Deuteronomy 6:9). In the Shema, the gates are the entry points to your home or your property. It is the point or place where the outside world comes onto or into our “inner world,” so to speak, as well as the point where we go out.

In this instruction, Yah tells Moshe to instruct us to appoint judges in all your gates.

Despite the negative press they’ve received over the centuries, the rabbis have not missed this connection, and neither should we.

At the risk of building too much of an allegory about this verse, I think it is important that we glean from this instruction any available spiritual application we can. I am going to stay close to the text, however.

If the gates of Deuteronomy 6 are the thresholds of our home and our lives, then Yah’s instruction to appoint judges in all our gates carries a personal dimension that is impossible to miss in this Jewish season of teshuvah.

What is governing the gates of our lives right now?

 

What or Who is the judge at the gate of our mouths? Consider the words we speak, the things we say about others, the way we speak about our Israeli/Jewish cousins, about the brethren in our fellowships and congregations, or about people who hold different theological positions than we do?

What or Who is the judge at the gate of our eyes? Consider what we allow in through the various screens in our homes, the media, the visual and emotional world that technology pumps into our homes 24/7?

For that matter, what or Who is the judge at the gate of minds and hearts? Let us ask ourselves what voices we are letting form and influence our opinions; our prophetic worldview; or our spiritual understanding and practices?

These are the gates that this Jewish traditional season is calling us to examine. And Shoftim is the reading that informs this counsel.

 

The Famous Double: Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof

 

Now we come to the most-quoted line in all of Parashat Shoftim: “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof.” (Deuteronomy 16:20) “Justice, justice you shall pursue.”

Why does Moshe say “justice” twice?

The simple reading (i.e. the Peshat reading) is to emphasize the critical concept of righteous justice. As a Hebrew literary device, Yah repeats the concept He is communicating to us to stress that concept’s importance. And this is certainly true.

But the Rabbinic tradition goes much deeper. Consider the following:

R’ Simchah Bunim of Pshischa (Hasidic sage of the late 18th and early 19th century) wrote this on Deuteronomy 16:20:

 

“With justice, you shall pursue justice. Even the pursuit of justice must employ only just means — and not falsehood.”

 

Even the pursuit of justice must be just in its employment, or when it is carried out. In other words, we cannot use unjust means to reach a supposed just outcome. You see, the process is just as important as the verdict.

And the Derashot El Ami (a late 19th-century Torah commentary) takes this one step further:

 

“Justice alone is not enough, because there are many types of justice, just as there are many kinds of truth. Every regime has its own justice. The Torah, therefore, stresses ‘Justice, justice you shall pursue’ — namely the ethic of justice, where both the means AND the end are just.”

 

(Both citations may be found on Sefaria.org. Search: “Shoftim and Tzedek Mussar Torah Commentary.)

So, these two thinkers assert that when pursuing righteous justice, both the means and the end must be just. Both the process and the outcome must be righteous and just.

And here is where this becomes convicting during this Jewish season of Elul.

Because Elul is the season when YHVH examines not just what we have done, but how we have done that which we’ve done. Not just whether we reached the right conclusion on a matter, but whether we got to the finish-line with integrity. Not just whether we spoke truth in the process of pursuing the matter, but whether we spoke that truth with love, humility, and with the same grace we would want extended to ourselves.

Tzedek, tzedek. Justice in the outcome and justice in the process.

That is a personal and communal mandate, beloved. And if we are honest with ourselves, we will find places in and throughout our lives where we pursued the right outcome to a matter through questionable means. Where we defended truth with a tone that dishonored the truth we were seeking to defend. Where we were right in what we said, yet wrong in how we said it.

This season is the time to bring those gates—those “sh’are” — before our King Yeshua our Mashiyach.

Yes, bring our mouths, eyes, tone, and the wrongful processes we engaged in.

Tzedek, tzedek in the outcome and in the path we walked to get there.

 

The King in the Field: This Month’s Traditional Governing Invitation

 

Now let me bring the Elul tradition’s central image into our discussion today because it makes everything we have just said more urgent and loving at the same time.

The Baal Shem Tov (founder of Hasidism ~1600-1760) penned one of the most beautiful images of this season in all of Judaica. He said:

 

“A king normally dwells in his capital city. He holds court in his palace. To approach him requires protocol, permission, appointment, ceremony. Ordinary people do not simply walk up to the king.

But when the king travels through the countryside — when he leaves the palace and walks among the fields and the villages — he becomes accessible. He greets the farmers. He listens to the petitions of the common people. He smiles at the children. He is the same king — but he is near.”

 

(This quote may be found at chabad.org/holidays/elul/article_cdo/aid/4747003/jewish/The-King-in-the-Field.htm; and Chabad.org with search of “Ani LeDodi 5726)

The Jewish month of “Elul” is the season that the Baal Shem Tov says, “is when the King is in the field.”

For forty days, from Rosh Chodesh of the 6th month through Yom HaKippurim, the Holy One comes near. The gates of heaven are open in a way they are not at any other season of the year. The formality is reduced, and the access is wonderful. Anyone, any person, believer, any struggling and stumbling soul, can approach the King in this season, lay their cares at His feet, and find rest for their weary souls.

When the King comes into the field, He comes as both Judge and Comforter. He comes to examine the gates of our lives. And He also comes to say what the Haftarah says this week in Isaiah 51:12:

“Anochi, anochi Hu m’nachamchem.” “I, I — it is I who comforts you.”

The repetition of “I” in this passage is Yah’s emphatic personal identification with the one He is comforting. He is saying: “I, with My hand and heart, am the one who comforts you.”

This is the balance of Shoftim in this Jewish traditional month of Elul.

The One who requires us to appoint judges in our gates is also the One who comforts us. He does not appoint judges in our gates to condemn us, but to righteously govern us so that we may be whole or shalom. Halleluyah!

 

The Test of the True Prophet

 

Now we move to the second thread of our reading for today, which is in Deuteronomy 18:15–22. And it is here that we are going to ask a question that is needed in the Messianic/Netsari/Nazarene Israel community now.

How do we know if a prophet is speaking for Yehovah?

Moshe gives Israel a framework.

He begins in verse 15 with a promise: “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken.” (KJV)

This is one of the most spiritually significant verses in all of Torah. It promises a future prophet, not unlike Moshe. This One will emerge from within Yisra’el/Yasharal and to whom the people are commanded to listen. We understand Yeshua to be the fulfillment of this promise. Acts 3.22 records Peter quoting Deuteronomy/Devarim 18.15 directly, while Acts 7.37 records Stephen also quoting this Torah prophecy directly. Indeed, beloved, Yeshua is that Prophet that Torah announces is like unto Moshe.

This, beloved, is the foundation of our Faith.

Now, we come to “the test” in verses 20 through 22 of Deuteronomy/Devarim 18:

20 However, the prophet that behaves presumptuously by speaking a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, and who speaks in the name of other gods, then that prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say to yourself, ‘How can we know the word that Yahweh has not spoken it?’ 22 Whenever what the prophet spoke in the name of Yahweh, the thing does not take place and does not come about, that is the thing that Yahweh has not spoken it. Presumptuously the prophet spoke it; you shall not fear him.”

In verse 21, we ask the obvious question: “How may we know the word that YHVH has not spoken?” Verse 22: “When a prophet speaks in the name of YHVH, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that YHVH has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.”

And so, the fundamental test of a prophet when He declares that something will come to pass: Did it actually come to pass? Simple, right?

 

The Part Everyone Misses

 

Most people teach that the Deuteronomy/Devarim 18 prophet test stands alone. But it does not.

Read Deuteronomy 13:1–3 with Deuteronomy 18.20-22 as a backdrop in our minds. And when we do, we quickly see that Godly discernment forms the basis of the Torah of Prophets instruction.

Deuteronomy 13:1–3 reads: 1 “If a prophet stands up in your midst or a dreamer of dreams and he gives to you a sign or wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes about that he spoke to you, ⌊saying⌋, ‘Let us go after other gods (those whom you have not known), and let us serve them,’ 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer, for Yahweh your God is testing you to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all of your heart and with all of your inner self.[2]

Moshe here is not describing a false prophet whose predictions fail. He is describing a false prophet whose predictions come to fruition.

And yet this prophet is deemed to be false. He is deemed to be false because he is using the accurate prediction to pull us away from covenant faithfulness to YHVH.

You see, beloved, the test of a true prophet is not in the accuracy of his prophecy, but in the direction He points towards.

So, we are always obligated to ask ourselves, where is this voice leading us? Is it leading us toward YHVH or away from YHVH? Is it leading us toward Covenant faithfulness or away from a right relationship with the Almighty?

So, these passages reveal to us that a voice can be accurate, and yet false at the same time. A teacher can alert us to impending danger but still pull us off the covenant path. A prophecy can come to fruition, but at the same time, be a deliberate test from YHVH to see whether we love Him with all our hearts, minds, and souls.

 

Bringing This into 2026

 

Within and without our Faith Community today we come across many voices, teachers, podcasts, Telegram channels, and YouTube channels claiming to explain what issues such as the Iranian nuclear standoff is supposed to mean prophetically; what the Temple Mount tensions are supposed to mean from an eschatological perspective; what the Houthi strikes in the Bab el-Mandeb region are supposed to mean considering Revelation 18. And some of those voices are providing genuinely good ministry to the Body of Mashiyach. I have benefitted from such ministries. Praise Yah.

However, some of these voices are building audiences through accuracy — through being right about certain headlines — while leading their listeners away from the critical things that our Reading is attempting to convey to us such as Covenant faithfulness, accountability to Yah and to one another, and our humble pursuit of Tzedek—righteous justice — in how we walk out this Faith that Yah has gifted us with.

So, as we navigate through each week’s news cycles and consume the content of countless talking heads and self-proclaimed teachers, preachers, and ministers of the Gospel, let us ask ourselves these simple questions:

Question 1: Does this voice encourage me to a stronger, more loving, and effective Covenant relationship with Yehovah; to His Torah, His Faith community, and His ways? Or does it give me information while leaving my actual relationship with Yah unchanged or even weakened?

Question 2: Does this voice hold itself accountable to Yah’s Torah and Covenant community for any needed correction? Or does it operate entirely on its own authority, immune from ecclesiastical accountability?

Question 3: Is this voice building me up to know my God and obey Him? Or is it building an audience that depends on that platform’s specific voice?

Question 4: Does this voice make me more fearful, anxious, obsessed with the news cycles or does it send me back to Yah’s Word of Truth; back to prayer and intercession; back to our beloved Faith community; back to Yah’s shalom?

Moshe tells us that “You need not be afraid of” the false prophet (Deuteronomy 18:22). This is because the true prophet does not invoke fear among His listeners and readers and followers. He instead calls us to Covenant faithfulness, and he anchors us in the Word of Yah Most High. He returns us, again and again, to our refuge, that is Yehovah.

And Deuteronomy 13 tells us that even if these voices are accurate in their prophetic utterances, if their voices lead us away from Covenant faithfulness, we must not listen to them.

This is the standard of our Faith’s halachah, and this traditional Elul season is the time to apply it.

 

The Fully Governed Soul

Now let’s bring these two threads together, beloved.

Shoftim or Judges — tzedek, tzedek tirdof — govern what we DO. The courts of the inner life ensure that our conduct, words, righteous endeavors, and our treatment of others, meet the standard of righteous justice.

Prophets — talking about the true prophetic voices versus the false lying voices — govern what we BELIEVE and what voices Yah has given us to follow. The discernment Torah requires of us ensures that the spiritual intelligence shaping our worldview comes from Yah and leads us toward Him and Him alone.

Together, these are two-pillars of Hebrew and Godly governance, and they describe what we can call the fully governed soul. This describes, in part, the person who has submitted both their lives AND their Faith commitment to righteous, accountable, Torah-Covenant anchored governance.

And that is exactly what this traditional Jewish season of Elul represents.

In forty days or so, on Yom HaKippurim (aka the Day of the Atonements), we stand before the Judge of all the earth in our tattered state. And as we stand before the Holy and Righteous Judge of all, we are compelled to answer the questions: What have we done and how did we go about doing what we’ve done. We must tell Him what we truly believe and how we have arrived at those beliefs. What voice or voices led us to the beliefs we hold? What voices influenced and altered our halachah and our Covenant relationship with Yehovah and His Mashiyach? Did we put in place at the gates of our lives, righteous shoftim? Or did we simply go with the dark flow of this world?

This is why Shoftim comes at the opening of this traditional month of Elul.

The portion that appoints judges in the gates and tests the prophets by their fruit is the portion that opens the traditional forty-day season of self-examination, teshuvah, and accountability before the King of kings.

Shabbat Shalom, Shavu’atov, and until next time, beloved, may you be most blessed, fellow saints in training.

A word of transparency is appropriate here: The Jewish traditions, such as the season of Elul, are just that: Jewish traditions. These traditions often invite us to consider aspects of Yah’s Word that may have eluded us or that we’ve never considered for various and sundry reasons.

This and other posts that spotlight Jewish traditional seasons and holidays are not meant in any way, shape, form, or fashion, to be a replacement or to equalize them to Yah’s moedim—His set apart, appointed times—His Feasts. I only present them here on this platform to enhance your walk in Mashiyach and expand your mind and encourage you to take your relationship with Yah to higher heights and deeper depths in Yeshua HaMashiyach. So, do not feel that you are obligated to keep or celebrate, or honor these traditions. But glean from them spiritual nuggets that will enhance your walk with Mashiyach. Amein.

 

[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Dt 18:15–22.

[2] W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Dt 13.

UFOs, UAPs, and the Unseen Realm: A Messianic Response to a World Looking Up

by | Aug 12, 2026 | Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

Shalom and greetings, beloved Saints of the Most High. In this installment of the Messianic Torah Observer, we stepped into a subject that many in our Faith community either avoid altogether, casually dismiss, or hand over to the secular world to define for us: UFOs, UAPs, and what Scripture reveals concerning the unseen realm.

This discussion was not entered into for sensational purposes, nor was it offered as entertainment. Rather, it was approached as a necessary biblical and Messianic response to a confused world that is increasingly looking up and asking questions that governments, secular scientists, journalists, and religious institutions are struggling to answer. And beloved, if Yah’s covenant people remain silent when the world is asking spiritual questions, then the Kingdom of Darkness will gladly fill that vacuum with deception, confusion, and counterfeit narratives.

The central burden of this teaching is simple: the modern UFO/UAP phenomenon must not be interpreted through a secular, science-fiction, or alien-visitation worldview. It must be interpreted through the grid of Scripture, Torah, the prophets, the writings, the apostolic record, and our Master Yeshua’s warnings concerning deception, signs, wonders, and the spiritual conflict that marks this present age.

Episode Theme

The heavens are not empty space. The heavens are Yah’s created realm, ordered under His authority, populated with spiritual beings, and presently involved in a conflict that spills over into the affairs of humanity. Therefore, when the world speaks of “non-human intelligence,” the people of Yah must bring to the table the biblical categories of malakim, watchers, sons of God, principalities, powers, cherubim, seraphim, and the adversary and his hosts.

Key Takeaways

  1. Silence is not always spiritual maturity. There are times when silence is wisdom, especially when folks only want to argue, speculate, or engage in idle talk. But when genuine questions arise and we have a biblical answer, we are called to be ready to give that answer with meekness and reverence.
  2. The world is asking spiritual questions with secular vocabulary. Governments and pilots may use the term “non-human intelligence,” but Scripture has already given us categories for non-human beings that are neither extraterrestrial nor imaginary. They are spiritual, interdimensional, and subject to Yehovah’s sovereign authority.
  3. The alien narrative replaces biblical cosmology. The modern world has largely rejected the unseen realm, and because it has no spiritual language for what it is encountering, it defaults to theories of extraterrestrial civilizations, ancient aliens, and interplanetary visitors. But the Holy Writ does not present such a worldview.
  4. Scripture reveals a populated and contested heavenly realm. From Job, Daniel, the Psalms, the prophets, the apostolic writings, and Revelation, we see that the heavens are ordered, inhabited, and involved in spiritual conflict. The unseen realm is not myth. It is part of Yah’s created order.
  5. Deception is a major end-time strategy. Yeshua warned that false messiahs and false prophets would produce great signs and wonders if possible to deceive even the elect. Paul likewise wrote of powerful signs and lying wonders, while John described global deception connected to supernatural manifestations.
  6. Torah, Messiah, and the Ruach anchor us. We are not left to chase disclosure narratives, government admissions, or secular speculation. Torah grounds us in Yah’s order. Messiah centers us in the Kingdom. And the Ruach HaKodesh equips us with discernment.

Scriptural and Cited References

Matthew 5:13–14 — Yah’s people are called by Master Yeshua to be salt and light in the world, which frames why believers cannot abandon difficult cultural and spiritual questions to secular interpreters.

Got Questions Ministries, Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered — Cited in connection with the call for believers to be peacemakers, offer compassionate ministry, manifest Yehovah’s love, and point the nations to Yehovah through Yeshua HaMashiyach.

1 Peter/Kefa 3:15 — The apostolic charge to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts and always be ready to give an answer for the hope within us, with meekness and fear.

Genesis 1 — Establishes the heavens as part of Yah’s created order, providing the foundational structure for biblical cosmology.

Dr. Michael Heiser, The Unseen Realm — Referenced for the biblical category of the “unseen realm” and the scriptural reality of non-human intelligences operating within Yah’s created order.

Job 38 — Yah’s questioning of Job reveals that the morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy at the laying of earth’s foundation.

Daniel 10:13–20 — Provides a glimpse into conflict in the unseen realm, where spiritual princes resist Yah’s messengers.

Revelation 12:7–9 — Describes war in heaven, the dragon and his angels, and their being cast down to the earth.

Ephesians 6:11–12 — Identifies the believer’s struggle as being against rulers, authorities, world rulers of darkness, and spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Psalm 82 — Presents Yehovah standing in the divine assembly and judging among the elohim, showing order and accountability in the unseen realm.

Job 1:6–12; 2:1–7 — Shows heavenly court proceedings and the adversary appearing among the sons of God.

1 Kings 22:19 — Micaiah’s vision of Yahweh seated on His throne with the host of heaven standing beside Him.

Books of Jubilees and 1 Enoch — Referenced regarding traditions about malakim/watchers who abandoned their appointed station and were associated with the Nephilim narrative.

Daniel 4:13–23 — Mentions watchers and holy ones involved in observing and acting within Yah’s creation.

Genesis 6:2–4 — References the sons of God, the daughters of men, and the Nephilim, a key passage for discussing boundary-crossing spiritual rebellion.

Genesis 18–19 — Shows malakim appearing in physical form, eating, speaking, and interacting with Avraham and Lot.

Luke 1 — Records Gabriel’s physical appearance to Miriam concerning the birth of Yeshua.

Acts 12 — Records an angel physically freeing Peter from prison.

2 Thessalonians 2:9 — Warns of powerful signs and lying wonders associated with end-time deception.

Revelation 13:13 — Describes the false prophet performing signs, including calling fire down from heaven.

Matthew 24:24 — Master Yeshua warns of false messiahs and false prophets who will produce great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Final Exhortation

Beloved, the heavens declare the glory of Yah. They do not declare the coming of alien saviors, interplanetary benefactors, or enlightened cosmic guides. The only Savior, Redeemer, King, and coming Judge is Yeshua HaMashiyach. So let us not be moved by fear, curiosity, speculation, or the world’s latest narrative. Let us be anchored in Torah, centered in Messiah, filled with the Ruach, and prepared to give an answer to every man that asks us for the reason of the hope that is in us. Amein and amein.

AI, Spiritual Authority, and the Image of Elohim

by | Jul 2, 2026

Episode Title AI, Spiritual Authority, and the Image of Elohim: A Messianic Torah Perspective on Artificial Intelligence Opening Thoughts Shalom and greetings, beloved of the Most High. In this installment of The Messianic Torah Observer, we step slightly outside our...

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Re’eh: What Does It Mean To Truly See?

by | Aug 6, 2026 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

Episode Title

Re’eh: What Does It Mean to Truly See?

Episode Overview

Beloved, this week’s Torah Reading is Parashat Re’eh, found in Deuteronomy 11:26–16:17. And the parshah opens with one simple, yet spiritually loaded admonishment from Moshe to the people of Yah: Re’eh. See.

But this seeing that Moshe calls us to is not a casual glance. It is not scrolling. It is not consuming information. It is not reacting to the latest headline, prophetic claim, social media post, or end-times rumor. No. Re’eh is a covenant command to perceive what Yah has placed before us with spiritual clarity, trained discernment, and a heart that is willing to obey.

In this teaching, we examine the blessing and the curse that Moshe sets before Yasharal/Yisra’el, the personal and communal responsibility embedded in the Hebrew grammar of Re’eh, and the sobering warning of Deuteronomy 13 concerning false prophets and dreamers of dreams. The great question before us is not merely whether something looks impressive, prophetic, or accurate. The greater question is this: where is it leading us? Toward YHVH and His covenant path? Or away from Him into fear, speculation, compromise, and destruction?

Primary Torah Reading

Parashat Re’eh: Deuteronomy 11:26–16:17. The portion begins with Moshe setting before the people a blessing and a curse, and it proceeds to address covenant obedience, centralized worship, idolatry, false prophets, dietary instructions, tithes, generosity toward the poor, release from debt, and the pilgrimage festivals.

Main Teaching Theme

Re’eh is Yah’s call for His covenant people to see rightly. To perceive Torah not as mankind has framed it, but as Yehovah Himself has revealed it: loving instructions in righteousness that lead to blessing, life, shalom, and covenant wholeness. And beloved, if we cannot see clearly what Yah has set before us, then we cannot rightly choose the halachah path that leads to life.

Key Teaching Points

  • Re’eh is personal. Moshe’s opening imperative, “See,” is addressed in the singular. Yah is not calling someone else to perceive His Torah for us. He is calling each son and daughter of Yasharal/Yisra’el to see for himself or herself.
  • Re’eh is communal. Immediately after the singular command, Moshe shifts into the plural. The individual must see, but what is seen must be walked out among the covenant people as a community.
  • Torah is set before us as blessing and curse. The issue is not whether Torah is relevant. Yah has already declared what it is. The issue is whether we will perceive it rightly and walk in it faithfully.
  • Biblical seeing requires stillness and discernment. We live in an overstimulated world of headlines, alerts, feeds, podcasts, opinions, and prophetic speculation. But Re’eh demands that we stop long enough to ask: what is Yah saying in this?
  • Deuteronomy 13 trains our eyes. A sign or wonder may come to pass, yet the messenger may still be false if that message leads Yah’s people away from Him, away from Torah, and away from covenant faithfulness.
  • The test is direction, not spectacle. The question is not simply, “Was the prediction accurate?” The question is, “Where is this voice taking me?”
  • Yeshua’s ministry echoes Re’eh. When our Master said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” He was calling His taught ones into the same covenant posture: open eyes, open ears, and a heart ready to respond.
  • Jerusalem’s failure was a failure to see. Yeshua wept over Yerushalayim because she did not recognize the time of her visitation. That failure to perceive carried devastating consequences.
  • Today is the day to respond. Re’eh presses upon us the urgency of “today.” Today is the day to see, choose, hear, obey, and walk the covenant path that leads to blessing and life.

Teaching Flow

  1. Opening Admonishment: Moshe begins with “Re’eh,” calling every covenant son and daughter to perceive what Yah has placed before them.
  2. The Question Before Us: How do we perceive Torah in a world that dismisses Yah’s instructions as irrelevant, archaic, or oppressive?
  3. The Grammar is the Teaching: The singular “see” speaks to the individual, while the plural “I set before you” speaks to the whole covenant community.
  4. The Discipline of Biblical Seeing: Re’eh is not passive observation. It is stillness, attentiveness, inner perception, and obedience.
  5. Yeshua and Spiritual Perception: The Master blesses eyes that see and ears that hear, connecting Kingdom understanding with covenant discernment.
  6. Jerusalem and Missed Visitation: Yerushalayim failed to perceive the time of her visitation, and that blindness led to devastation.
  7. The False Prophet Test: Deuteronomy 13 teaches that even fulfilled signs must be judged by whether they lead us toward YHVH or away from Him.
  8. Seeing in a Season of Fire: In a world filled with prophetic claims, wars, rumors, political disruptions, and cultural upheaval, Yah’s instruction remains: Re’eh. See.
  9. Closing Exhortation: Today is the day to see clearly, choose rightly, and walk in covenant faithfulness through Yeshua Messiah.

Listener Takeaways

  • You cannot choose rightly what you do not see clearly.
  • Torah must be perceived personally before it can be walked out communally.
  • Accuracy, signs, wonders, and prophetic fulfillment are not the final measures of truth.
  • The Word of Yah remains the plumb line for testing every voice, teaching, headline, and claim.
  • Yah’s people must resist fear, sensationalism, and speculation that pull them away from covenant faithfulness.
  • Re’eh is not simply the name of a Torah portion. It is a divine summons to open the inner eyes and walk in obedience.

Questions for Reflection

  • How do I currently perceive Torah: as Yah’s loving instructions in righteousness, or through the distorted lens of religious tradition, culture, or churchianity?
  • What voices have I allowed to shape my perception of current events, prophecy, and end-times expectations?
  • Do the teachers, ministries, and prophetic voices I listen to lead me closer to YHVH, Torah, and Yeshua Messiah, or away from covenant faithfulness?
  • Am I practicing the stillness necessary to truly see what Yah is placing before me?
  • Where is Yah calling me to choose blessing today?

Scripture and Reference Citations

  • Deuteronomy 11:26–16:17: The Torah portion Re’eh opens with the blessing and curse and includes instructions concerning worship, idolatry, false prophets, clean and unclean foods, tithes, charity, debt release, servants, and the pilgrimage festivals.
  • Deuteronomy 11:26–28: “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse”—the foundational covenant choice that frames the entire teaching.
  • Deuteronomy 13:1–5: Moshe’s warning that even if a sign or wonder comes to pass, Yah’s people must not listen to a prophet or dreamer who leads them after other gods.
  • Matthew 13:16: Yeshua blesses the eyes that see and the ears that hear, showing that spiritual perception is central to Kingdom understanding.
  • Luke 19:41–44: Yeshua weeps over Yerushalayim because she did not recognize the time of her visitation.
  • 2 Corinthians 6:2: “Now is the day of salvation,” reinforcing the urgency of responding to Yah’s call today.
  • Rashi on Re’eh: The singular imperative “see” emphasizes that the covenant demand is personally binding upon each Israelite.
  • Or HaChaim on Re’eh: Seeing is treated as spiritual perception through the inner eye, not merely natural sight.

Beloved, may this teaching encourage you to slow down, quiet the noise, and truly see what Yehovah has placed before you. May your eyes be trained by Torah, your ears tuned to the voice of the Master, and your steps ordered in the covenant path that leads to blessing, shalom, and life. Halleluyah. And Amein.

AI, Spiritual Authority, and the Image of Elohim

by | Jul 2, 2026

Episode Title AI, Spiritual Authority, and the Image of Elohim: A Messianic Torah Perspective on Artificial Intelligence Opening Thoughts Shalom and greetings, beloved of the Most High. In this installment of The Messianic Torah Observer, we step slightly outside our...

read more