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.

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by | Jul 2, 2026

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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.

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...

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Hebrew Roots Versus Messianic Judaism: A Debate Every Torah-Keeper Needs to Understand

by | Aug 4, 2026 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

In this installment of The Messianic Torah Observer, we take up a timely, necessary, and in some respects uncomfortable discussion surrounding the distinction between the Hebrew Roots Movement and Messianic Judaism. And beloved, this is not merely an academic exercise. This is not about defending religious labels, choosing sides, or proving that one movement is superior to the other. Rather, this discussion gets to the heart of how Torah-honoring disciples of Yeshua HaMashiyach understand identity, covenant membership, Torah obligation, Jewish distinction, Gentile discipleship, and our shared calling to walk uprightly before Yehovah in Spirit and in Truth.

 

Episode Background

 

The discussion begins with Rod’s interaction with the First Fruits of Zion article entitled “Hebrew Roots Is Not Messianic Judaism: How are they different, and why does it matter?” The article argues that Messianic Judaism and the Hebrew Roots Movement may appear similar on the surface, but are fundamentally different in origin, theology, practice, communal structure, and relationship to Judaism. Rod acknowledges that there is truth in this assessment, while also taking issue with certain broad generalizations and theological conclusions the article presents regarding Hebrew Roots believers.

 

Rod notes that Messianic Judaism is described by FFOZ as a Jewish movement rooted in Judaism, Jewish identity, Jewish tradition, and the continuity of Torah practice as understood through Jewish communal life. At the same time, he identifies points of departure, particularly around the idea of permanently distinct roles for Jews and Gentiles in the body of Messiah, the question of Rabbinic calendar authority, and the traditional reluctance to pronounce or use the Divine Name.

 

The article’s description of Hebrew Roots as decentralized, individualistic, anti-Judaism, anti-Christianity, prone to sacred-name disputes, DIY calendars, “paganoia,” supersessionism, and One-Law theology is addressed directly. Rod agrees that some of these traits may be found in certain corners of the broader Hebrew Roots landscape, but he rejects the implication that these descriptions fairly represent the entire movement or the vast majority of sincere Torah-honoring believers in Yeshua.

 

What Are We Actually Talking About?

 

Rod defines the Hebrew Roots Movement as a broad, mostly non-Jewish renewal movement that emerged out of denominational, evangelical, non-denominational, and interdenominational Christianity. It is not a denomination. It has no central governing body, no single creed, and no institutional hierarchy. Rather, it consists of believers who have been awakened to the Hebrew foundations of the Faith and who believe that the Torah given by Yah through Moshe was never abolished for disciples of Master Yeshua.

At the heart of Hebrew Roots is the conviction that Yah’s commandments — including Sabbath, the biblical feasts, the dietary laws, and other Torah statutes — remain relevant and applicable to all believers in Yeshua, Jew and Gentile alike. These practices are not viewed as legalism or an attempt to earn salvation, but as expressions of covenant faithfulness, sanctification, obedience, and love for our Heavenly Father.

Messianic Judaism, by contrast, is presented as a movement of Jewish believers in Yeshua HaMashiyach who continue to live as Jews, maintain Jewish identity, observe Torah within Jewish communal frameworks, and often gather in congregational settings marked by Jewish liturgy, tradition, and institutional structure. Rod identifies organizations such as the MJAA, UMJC, and IAMCS as representative institutional expressions of modern Messianic Judaism.

 

And here, beloved, is where the tension lives. Messianic Judaism generally maintains that Jewish believers in Yeshua are still Jews and should live as Jews, while Gentile believers are welcomed with certain boundaries and distinctions. Hebrew Roots, on the other hand, tends to emphasize the unity of all covenant members in Messiah and the continuing relevance of Torah for the entire household of faith.

 

Areas of Agreement

·        Both Hebrew Roots and Messianic Judaism affirm Yeshua of Nazareth as Israel’s Messiah.

·        Both affirm the authority and foundational importance of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Tanach.

·        Both recognize that the Church, to one degree or another, departed from its Hebrew foundations.

·        Both affirm that Torah is holy, righteous, good, and was not simply abolished or made irrelevant.

·        Both commonly honor the weekly Sabbath and the biblical feasts of Yehovah recorded in Leviticus 23.

·        Both reject replacement theology and the claim that the Church has replaced Israel as Yah’s covenant people.

·         

Rod stresses that these are not minor points of agreement. They are foundational. And because they are foundational, the conversation between Hebrew Roots and Messianic Judaism should not be framed as warfare between enemies, but as a needed family discussion among those who claim allegiance to the same Messiah and the same covenantal revelation of Yah.

 

Major Areas of Disagreement

 

The central disagreement comes down to identity and obligation. Messianic Judaism contends that Jewish identity is distinct and non-transferable. A Gentile who comes to Faith in the Jewish Messiah does not become Jewish. Rod agrees that non-Jews are not required to convert to Judaism, noting that Shaul spent much of his ministry resisting the efforts of believing Pharisaical influencers who sought to Judaize Gentile converts.

 

However, Rod also emphasizes that Gentile believers are not outsiders in Messiah. Through Yeshua, they are grafted into the commonwealth of Israel, made partakers of the promises, and brought into covenant relationship with the Elohim of Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’achov. Therefore, if Gentile believers are genuine covenant members of the household of Israel, then the Torah that governs that household cannot be treated as irrelevant to them.

 

Rod warns that both movements have sometimes failed in tone and framing. Messianic Jewish voices have sometimes dismissed Hebrew Roots believers as misguided Gentiles who need to go back to church. Hebrew Roots voices have sometimes unfairly characterized Messianic Judaism as an exclusive ethnic club that keeps the rest of the body at arm’s length. Rod rejects both caricatures as inaccurate, unprofitable, and harmful to the body of Messiah.

 

The Non-Jewish or Gentile Torah Question

 

A major flashpoint in this discussion is the question of whether non-Jewish believers in Yeshua are obligated to keep Torah. First Fruits of Zion and likeminded Messianic Jewish teachers often articulate what is known as bilateral ecclesiology — the view that the body of Messiah is one body made up of Jewish and Gentile disciples who have different covenantal expressions and obligations. Jewish disciples live as Jews under Jewish Torah obligation, while Gentile disciples relate to Torah as Gentiles and are encouraged toward its wisdom without being bound by the same halachic requirements.

The Hebrew Roots perspective, as Rod explains it, generally holds that Torah is for everyone in covenant with Yehovah through Yeshua. Acts 15 is understood not as the abolition of Torah for Gentiles, but as the Jerusalem Council establishing minimum standards for newly converted non-Jews, with the expectation that they would continue learning Moshe in the synagogues every Sabbath. From this perspective, Galatians does not teach freedom from Torah, but freedom from the false requirement that Gentiles must be circumcised and convert to Judaism in order to be saved.

Rod frames the matter carefully: salvation and sanctification must not be confused. We are not saved by Torah-keeping. We are saved by grace through faith in Yeshua Messiah. But once we are brought into covenant relationship, the question then becomes: How does Yah expect His redeemed people to live? And for Rod, the answer is clear — redeemed people are called to walk in covenant faithfulness, obedience, humility, and love.

 

Rod’s Personal Position

 

Rod identifies himself as a Torah-observant, covenant-keeping believer in Yeshua HaMashiyach. He keeps the weekly Sabbath, observes Yah’s feasts, adheres to the dietary laws, uses the biblically recorded Name of Yehovah, and anchors his faith in both the Tanach and the Brit HaDashah. Yet he is clear that these practices do not make him Jewish. They make him, in his words and understanding, a covenant-faithful disciple of the Messiah.

Rod describes himself as a Messianic, Netzer, or Nazarene Israelite — one who takes Torah seriously as the instruction of Yehovah, follows Yeshua as the Messiah of Israel, and recognizes that the body of Messiah is bigger than any single movement, title, organization, or institution. He acknowledges that he is not fully at home in institutional Messianic Judaism, nor is he fully at home in the wilder edges of Hebrew Roots. Instead, he seeks to stand where Spirit, Truth, Torah, Messiah, covenant, humility, and love meet.

 

Key Takeaways for Listeners

·        The distinction between Hebrew Roots and Messianic Judaism matters because it shapes how believers understand identity, Torah, covenant, and community.

·        Both movements share substantial common ground, especially regarding Yeshua, Torah, Sabbath, the feasts, and the rejection of replacement theology.

·        The major disagreement centers on whether Torah obligation is distinct for Jews and Gentiles or shared by all covenant members in Messiah.

·        Acts 15, Romans 11, Galatians 3, and Ephesians 2 remain central texts in this ongoing discussion.

·        Gentile Torah observance should never be framed as an attempt to become Jewish or earn salvation, but as covenant faithfulness and sanctification.

·        Jewish identity should not be erased, mocked, or dismissed by Gentile believers who have been graciously grafted into Israel’s commonwealth.

·        Both Hebrew Roots and Messianic Judaism have areas of strength, error, and needed correction.

·        The body of Messiah must reject pride, caricature, condescension, and divisive labeling.

·        The ultimate goal is not movement loyalty, but obedience to Master Yeshua and preparedness for His coming Kingdom.

 

Primary Scripture References

·        Acts 15:19–21 — The Jerusalem Council and the expectations placed upon newly converted Gentiles.

·        Romans 11:17–24 — The wild olive branches grafted into the cultivated olive tree of Israel.

·        Galatians 3:28–29 — Neither Jew nor Greek in Messiah, and all who belong to Messiah being Avraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.

·        Ephesians 2:11–14 — Gentiles brought near, the dividing wall broken down, and one new humanity formed in Messiah.

·        Leviticus 23 — Yehovah’s appointed times, the weekly Sabbath, and the biblical feasts.

·        Jeremiah 31:31–34 — The New Covenant made with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

·        Hebrews 8:6–13 — The better covenant and the writing of Yah’s Torah upon the hearts of His people.

 

Questions for Personal Reflection and Fellowship Discussion

·        Have I allowed labels such as Hebrew Roots, Messianic, Netzer, Nazarene, Jewish, Gentile, or Torah-observant to become more important than my obedience to Yeshua?

·        Do I understand Torah observance as covenant faithfulness, or have I allowed it to become a source of pride, superiority, or contention?

·        Have I unfairly caricatured Messianic Judaism or Hebrew Roots without listening carefully to what sincere believers in each community are actually saying?

·        How do I honor Jewish identity and the Jewish people while also recognizing my covenant inclusion through Messiah?

·        How should Acts 15, Romans 11, Galatians 3, and Ephesians 2 shape my understanding of Gentile discipleship and Torah?

·        Am I walking in Spirit and Truth, or am I merely defending a movement, a title, or a camp?

·         

Closing Exhortation

Rod closes by calling the saints away from title-worship, factional pride, and the habit of constantly pointing out the splinters in the eyes of brethren. The charge is simple, but weighty: seek first the Kingdom and the righteousness of our Heavenly Father, imitate Master Yeshua at every conceivable level, love one another, pray without ceasing, walk uprightly before Yehovah, and do that which is right in His sight without veering to the right or to the left.

 

If Hebrew Roots and Messianic Judaism can humble themselves, repent where repentance is needed, and come together in obedience, covenant faithfulness, and love, then maybe — just maybe — the people of Yah will begin to function more fully as one stick and one Body in Mashiyach. 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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The Commandments We Trample Underfoot: Eikev, Yeshua, and the Torah-Grace Question

by | Jul 30, 2026 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

The Commandments We Trample Underfoot: Eikev, the Wilderness Test, and the Torah-Grace Question

Beloved, in this installment of The Messianic Torah Observer, we take up Parashat Eikev, our reading for this coming Shabbat, August 1, 2026, contained in Deuteronomy/Devarim 7:12–11:25.

And this is one of those Torah readings that, on the surface, may appear rather straightforward. But if we are willing to slow down, to dig a little deeper, and to let the text interrogate us instead of us always interrogating the text, we find that Eikev is a most convicting parashah.

The word Eikev carries the idea of “because” at the plain, contextual level of the text. But it also shares a root connection with the Hebrew word for heel. And through that shared root, we are forced to consider a sobering spiritual reality:

What are we doing with the commandments of Yehovah that we have deemed too small, too inconvenient, too cultural, too bothersome, or too beneath our notice to obey?

In other words, beloved:

What are the commandments we are trampling underfoot?

This discussion is not about legalism.
Nor is it about Torahlessness.
It is about Yeshua-focused Torah Living — covenant faithfulness flowing from a transformed heart, empowered by the Ruach haKodesh, and centered in our Master, Yehoshua Messiah.

What This Teaching Is About

In this teaching, we examine three essential threads in Parashat Eikev:

  1. The Heel Commandments — Those Instructions We Would Rather Ignore
  2. Israel Failed the Wilderness Test, But Yeshua Passed It
  3. What Does Yehovah Actually Require of Us? — Eikev’s Answer to the Torah-Grace Debate

These three threads together bring us to one piercing question:

Are we hearing, listening, and obeying the whole counsel of Yehovah, or are we selectively obeying only those instructions that fit comfortably into our existing religious frameworks?

The Setting of Parashat Eikev

As this episode is being recorded, we are in the midst of a remarkable season known in Jewish tradition as the Shiva d’Nechemta, the Seven Weeks of Consolation.

These seven Shabbatot follow Tisha B’Av, the Ninth of Av, a season of mourning in Jewish tradition. But after that season of mourning comes a series of seven Haftarah readings from Isaiah, each one filled with comfort, restoration, hope, and renewed covenant assurance.

And that becomes the backdrop for our Torah reading.

Yehovah is saying to His covenant people:

I have not forgotten you.
I have not abandoned you.
I am still your God.

And yet, in the midst of that consolation, Eikev presses us to examine whether we have remained faithful to the covenant expectations of the One who redeemed us.

Point One: The Heel Commandments — Those Commandments We’d Rather Ignore

The title Eikev comes from Deuteronomy 7:12, where Moshe says, in essence:

“And it shall come to pass, because you listen to these ordinances, and keep and do them, that Yehovah your God shall keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore unto your fathers.”

At the plain level, eikev means because or as a result of.

But the word shares the same Hebrew root as akev, meaning heel. This is the same root at work in Genesis 25:26, where Ya’akov grabs Esau’s heel at birth. It is also the root behind the reference to the heel in Genesis 3:15.

And so, at the drash or homiletical level, Jewish teachers have long connected Eikev with the commandments people are tempted to treat as lowly, minor, trivial, or heel-worthy.

These are the commandments people quietly trample underfoot.

Beloved, this is where the reading begins to press upon us.

Because covenant fidelity is not selective.

We do not get to love Yehovah on our own terms.
We do not get to pick and choose which of His loving instructions in righteousness we will honor and which we will ignore.

And this is exactly where our Master Yehoshua meets us in Matthew 5:17–19. He makes it abundantly clear that He did not come to weaken or destroy Torah, but to reveal it in its intended fullness and confirm it.

He then says that whoever breaks or weakens even one of the least commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven.

That phrase — least commandments — lands squarely in the world of Eikev.

Yeshua knew very well that there would be commandments people would treat as small, burdensome, cultural, optional, or inconvenient.

And He says:

Do not be that person.
And do not teach others to be that person.

Examples of Heel Commandments We Commonly Trample

In this teaching, we consider three examples of commandments or Torah principles that are often treated as heel-worthy.

  1. Biblical Calendar Observance

The appointed times — the Moedim of Yehovah — are not religious suggestions. They are covenant appointments. In Leviticus/Vayikra 23, Yah repeatedly identifies them as His appointed times.

Not man’s appointed times.
Not rabbinic convenience days.
Not church replacement observances.
But Yehovah’s appointed times.

And yet many within both the denominational Christian world and even the Messianic/Hebraic Roots community treat the calendar and the appointed times as optional, symbolic, inconvenient, or merely educational.

Beloved, when we do that, we are treating Yah’s moedim as heel-worthy.

  1. Tzedakah, Justice, and Structured Giving

Torah generosity was never intended to be reduced to spontaneous charity when we feel emotionally moved.

It was built into the covenant life of Israel.

The corners of the field.
The forgotten sheaf.
The tithe for the Levite, stranger, fatherless, and widow.
The care of the vulnerable.

These are not suggestions. They are part and parcel of Torah life.

And yet many of us have become quite skilled at debating calendars, dietary laws, pronunciations, and eschatology while neglecting the justice and mercy dimensions of Torah.

That too is a heel commandment trampled underfoot.

  1. Lashon Hara — Guarding the Tongue

Proverbs 18:21 tells us that death and life are in the power of the tongue.

Leviticus 19:16 commands us not to go about as a slanderer among our people.

And yet, beloved, gossip, slander, evil speech, suspicion, accusation, and reckless speech remain rampant in far too many assemblies and fellowships.

We can argue fine points of Torah.
We can parse Hebrew roots.
We can explain calendars and clean eating.

But can we control what we say about our brothers and sisters?

If not, then we have trampled a key Torah instruction underfoot.

Point Two: Israel Failed the Test, But Yeshua Passed It

The second major thread of this teaching is the connection between Deuteronomy 8 and Matthew 4.

In Deuteronomy 8, Moshe reminds the second-generation wilderness community that Yehovah led them through the wilderness for forty years in order to humble them, test them, and reveal what was in their hearts.

The wilderness was not merely punishment.

It was a test.

Yehovah fed them with manna so that they would learn that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of Yehovah.

And sadly, our ancient cousins often failed that test.

They murmured.
They doubted.
They craved Egypt.
They resisted Yah’s provision.
They pushed back against His leading.

Then we turn to Matthew 4, where our Master Yeshua is led by the Ruach haKodesh into the wilderness.

There He fasts forty days and forty nights.

And when the Adversary comes to tempt Him to turn stones into bread, Yeshua answers by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3:

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Beloved, this is no coincidence.

Forty years.
Forty days.
Wilderness.
Hunger.
Testing.
Bread.
The Word of Yah.

Where Israel failed, Yeshua succeeded.

Where we murmured, He quoted Torah.
Where we doubted, He trusted.
Where we craved bread we could see, He declared that the Word of Yehovah is the true bread humanity desperately needs.

Yeshua is the faithful Israelite.
Yeshua is the true Hebrew.
Yeshua is the walking, talking Torah of Yehovah.
Yeshua is the Bread of Life.

And that means our wilderness seasons are not evidence that Yah has abandoned us. They are often the classrooms in which He reveals what is truly in our hearts.

Point Three: What Does Yehovah Actually Require of Us?

The third thread brings us to Deuteronomy 10:12–13, where Moshe asks and answers one of the most important questions in all of Scripture:

What does Yehovah require of His covenant people?

And the answer is beautifully straightforward:

To fear Him.
To walk in all His ways.
To love Him.
To serve Him with all our heart and being.
To keep His commandments and statutes for our good.

Beloved, that is covenant life.

And that answer also cuts right through the Torah versus grace debate.

On one side, we have those who treat Torah as bondage and insist that Yeshua freed us from obedience to Yah’s instructions.

On the other side, we have those who become so Torah-obsessed that Yeshua becomes little more than a doctrinal footnote — a necessary ticket into the covenant, but not the living center of their faith and walk.

Eikev refutes both errors.

Fear without love becomes religious terror.
Love without obedience becomes sentimentality.
Commandment-keeping without love becomes legalism.
Walking in His ways without serving Him becomes self-focused religious pietism.

Eikev holds it all together:

Fear.
Walk.
Love.
Serve.
Keep.

That is Yeshua-focused Torah Living.

Not bondage.
Not lawlessness.
But covenant faithfulness from a transformed heart.

The Torah and Grace Question

This teaching also addresses the ongoing debate in Messianic and Hebrew Roots circles regarding whether Torah applies to non-Jewish believers grafted into the commonwealth of Israel.

Some point to 1 Corinthians 7:17–24 or Galatians 5:2–3 and claim that non-Jewish believers should not pursue Torah observance.

But these readings are taken out of context.

In 1 Corinthians 7, Shaul is dealing with marriage, calling, and social status in light of the present distress and the end-times urgency facing the Corinthian assembly.

In Galatians 5, Shaul is confronting Judaizing influencers who were attempting to require ritual conversion and circumcision as a basis for covenant inclusion and justification.

He is not forbidding Spirit-led obedience to Yehovah’s Torah.

The real question is not whether Torah applies to grafted-in believers.

The real question is:

How does Torah apply, and in what spirit is it being lived out?

Torah was never meant to be imposed by a religious system as a means of earning salvation.

Torah was meant to be written on our hearts.

It was always meant to become part of who we are as the redeemed, chosen, and elect people of Yehovah.

Key Takeaways

  • Eikev challenges us to examine the commandments we may be treating as beneath our notice.
  • Yeshua’s reference to the least commandments in Matthew 5:17–19 directly confronts selective obedience.
  • The wilderness test of Deuteronomy 8 reveals what is in the heart of Yah’s people.
  • Yeshua passed the wilderness test that ancient Israel failed by trusting Yehovah and quoting Torah.
  • Deuteronomy 10:12–13 provides the covenant framework for what Yah requires of us.
  • The Torah versus grace debate is answered not by lawlessness or legalism, but by Yeshua-focused Torah Living.
  • Torah observance without love is empty.
  • Grace preaching that tramples Yah’s instructions underfoot is incomplete.
  • The renewed covenant call is to fear, love, walk, serve, and obey from a transformed heart.

Reflection Questions

  1. What commandments or instructions of Yehovah have I treated as optional, cultural, inconvenient, or beneath my notice?
  2. Am I more committed to defending Torah intellectually than living Torah relationally?
  3. Do I guard my tongue as seriously as I guard my calendar, diet, and feast observance?
  4. When I am in a wilderness season, do I murmur like ancient Israel, or do I follow Yeshua’s example and cling to the Word of Yah?
  5. Is my Torah walk centered in Yeshua, empowered by the Ruach, and expressed in love, justice, mercy, humility, and obedience?

Closing Exhortation

Beloved, the message of Eikev is simple but piercing.

We do not get to trample underfoot the things Yehovah has called holy.

We do not get to pick and choose which of His instructions we will keep while ignoring the rest.

And we do not get to hide lawlessness behind grace, nor loveless commandment-keeping behind Torah zeal.

The call of Eikev is the call of covenant faithfulness:

Fear Yehovah.
Walk in His ways.
Love Him.
Serve Him.
Keep His commandments.

And do so with all your heart and with all your being.

This is not bondage.

This is not legalism.

This is Yeshua-focused Torah Living.

And this, beloved, is for our good.

Cited References

Torah and Tanakh References

  • Genesis/Beresheit 3:15 — The promise of enmity between the serpent and the woman’s seed, including the striking of the heel.
  • Genesis/Beresheit 25:26 — Ya’akov grasping Esau’s heel at birth.
  • Deuteronomy/Devarim 7:12–11:25 — Parashat Eikev.
  • Deuteronomy/Devarim 7:12 — The opening verse of Eikev and the use of the term “eikev.”
  • Deuteronomy/Devarim 8:1–6 — The wilderness test, manna, humility, and dependence upon every word from Yehovah.
  • Deuteronomy/Devarim 8:3 — “Man shall not live by bread alone…”
  • Deuteronomy/Devarim 10:12–13 — What Yehovah requires of His covenant people.
  • Leviticus/Vayikra 19:16 — Prohibition against slander among Yah’s people.
  • Leviticus/Vayikra 23 — The appointed times, the moedim of Yehovah.
  • Proverbs/Mishlei 18:21 — Death and life are in the power of the tongue.
  • Isaiah/Yeshayahu Haftarah readings associated with the Seven Weeks of Consolation — The prophetic backdrop of comfort following Tisha B’Av.
  • Jeremiah/Yirmeyahu 31:33 — Torah written on the heart in the renewed covenant.

Apostolic Writings References

  • Matthew/Mattityahu 4:1–4 — Yeshua’s wilderness temptation and quotation of Deuteronomy 8:3.
  • Matthew/Mattityahu 5:17–19 — Yeshua’s teaching that He did not come to destroy Torah or the Prophets and His warning concerning the least commandments.
  • John/Yochanan 6:35 — Yeshua as the Bread of Life.
  • John/Yochanan 16:13 — The Ruach haKodesh guiding Yah’s people into all truth.
  • Romans 11:17–18 — Grafted-in believers and the olive tree of Israel.
  • 1 Corinthians 7:17–24 — Shaul’s discussion of calling, circumcision, and social status.
  • 1 Corinthians 13:1 — Loveless expression as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
  • Galatians 3 — Commonly cited in Torah-versus-grace discussions.
  • Galatians 5:2–3 — Shaul’s warning concerning circumcision as a covenant-entry requirement under Judaizing influence.

Extra-Biblical and Study References Mentioned

  • Jeff A. Benner, Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible: Hebrew Letters, Words, and Roots Defined Within Their Ancient Cultural Context, VBW Publishing, College Station, Texas, p. 408.
  • Rashi / Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki — Commentary tradition connecting Eikev with commandments treated as “heel-worthy.”
  • Leonard Sweet, Giving Blood: A Fresh Paradigm for Preaching, Zondervan, 2014.
  • The JPS Guide: The Jewish Bible, Jewish Publication Society, 2008, p. 107.
  • The Lexham English Bible, edited by W. Hall Harris III et al., Lexham Press, 2012.
  • RSTNE — Restoration Scriptures True Name Edition, cited in the transcript for several rendered passages.

Suggested Episode Call-to-Action

If this teaching blessed, edified, or informed you, I invite you to share it with someone who is wrestling through the Torah versus grace question or seeking to better understand what Yeshua-focused Torah Living looks like in real life.

You can find more teachings and resources at themessianictorahobserver.org, and you may reach out to me directly at notasyouperceive@gmail.com.

Until next time, beloved:

Shabbat Shalom.
Shavu’tov.
Take care.

 

 

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