Parasha "NITSAVIM" (you are standing) DEUT 29:10-30:20

[Ben Avraham]

PARASHA:  "NITSAVIM" (you are standing)

DEUT: 29:10-30:20...............ISAIAH 61:10-63:9...................JOHN 16:1-17:26

This Parasha always precedes Yom Teruah (Rosh HaShannah) which this year begins this Sunday evening.  We read that Moshe is announcing to the people that "Elohim is about to make a covenant relationship with them, and make them HIS PEOPLE, HIS NATION, HIS CHOSEN ONES.  yet he still warns them about the curses, and turning away from HIS Way, from the ways of His .

He addresses ALL who are there, all members of "Kehilah Yisrael" (The community of Israel) from the big shots, big boss guys, all the way to the simplest "blue collar workers" this is for ALL, no matter how important you are, ALL are included, even the Egyptians that followed the Israelites out of Egypt, they are now part of this great community that is about to bear the name of AM YISRAEL.  the name "Yisrael" comes from the word "Yetzer" which means "Straight to" in this case "straight to EL" (God).

(29:14) "I make this covenant  and this oath , not with you alone, but with him who stands here today and with him who is NOT here with us today".  These are very interesting words, we know who was there way back then, but who wasn't there way back then? who  is Moshe talking about?  Have any idea of the WHO?  Give up? well.... I T ' S  YOU!!!!, or rather it is US!  all of us who are alive and reading this Parasha on line today.  Where were we all back then?  We were bodiless souls, up there in heaven awaiting bodies.  Maybe packed away in a "soul box" awaiting HaShem's perfect timing for our coming to earth to dwell in human bodies.  My soul was sent into this body back in 1953, and my body continued to develop inside mom until I came out into this world in February, 1954.  So, Moshe was talking about me, as well as all of you. 

Chap 30 deals with "Returning to God".  Which is the topic and theme of Yom Teruah, the verb  "to return" in Hebrew is "Shuv" and from that word comes "Teshuvah" which in English is "repentance" so when we "repent of our sins" we are "returning" to God, while we are in the stage of innocence, which is when we are babies, we are considered blameless in the eyes of God, but as we get older, the sin nature becomes active and we rebel, and we need to come to a point when we realize that "we are lost" and we are "rebels" and that we need to "return" to YHVH, through accepting the one time sacrifice of Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus Christ) and be "born again" it is then that we enter into and become part of the great "commonwealth of Israel" But even still, the sin nature is still there, and it will rear up its ugly head, and we need to "Shuv" ourselves back to God,  Yom Teruah is a time of reflecting on our spiritual life and where we have gone astray in our relationship with God, in keeping or not keeping his Mitzvoth, (commandments)

We will receive blessing upon returning to God, yet if we keep away from "turning back" will reap destruction, and endure the curses (some people call it "bad luck") So let's "turn back" do "Teshuvah" and return to "Abba"
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ISAIAH 61:10-63:9

The Prophet Yeshayahu looks toward YESHUA! and says in vs 10;  "I will greatly rejoice in YHVH, My soul will be joyful in my God  (Eli) For he has clothed me with the garments of YESHUAH.  He has covered me with the robe of TZEDAKAH  (righteousness)"

In both cases,  "Yeshua our Messiah" is our spiritual garment, and we can rejoice that He terminated the curse of sin and death  .  And we are covered with HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS
so YHVH looks at us all as if we never sinned.   We have been made "Tzadikim" (righteous ones) through YESHUA HA MASHIACH (Jesus our Messiah) 
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JOHN 16:1-17:26

"The Ruach Ha Kodesh is coming" was the message of Yeshua before he left the earth.  NO, the disciples would not be alone, the "Comforter" would come.  The good thing about the Holy Spirit is that before the Spirit came on Shavuot (Pentecost) the Spirit of God only rested on a few chosen, like the Prophets, and Yeshua, could only be in one place at a time, yet with the Holy Spirit, HE is with ALL OF US, at the same time, and lives INSIDE OF EVERY BELIEVER,.  and so scripture admonishes us not to "grieve" the Holy Spirit, doing things in our bodies that are against .  We read and study the , and YHVH speaks to us through the RUACH! We can thank Adonai that He sent the Ruach HaKodesh to be with us, inside us forever. 

Shabbat Shalom v'hag Sameach Yom Teruah..............rabbi Ben Avraham

[alon]

Just a note: the idea that all souls were created either at creation or at the creation of Adam is not universally held in Judaism, according to Encyclopedia Judaica: "Body and soul." And according to the Jewish Encyclopedia this idea is, while first created in midrashic literature, mostly developed in Kaballah and particularly in the Zohar. So it is part of Jewish mysticism and not necessarily agreed upon by mainstream Judaism. Carried to its extremes in Zohar, we get the doctrine of "Transmigration" of the soul which ammounts to the Jewish version of reincarnation. So I find the doctrine of souls awaiting a body to be neither biblical nor even particularly Judaic.

Greek mythology says that souls preexisted creation. And if it was in Greek mythology you can bet it was in other pagan cultures; maybe Babylonian or Egyptian. The adversary doesn't vary his playbook much. He finds ideas that work and stays with them, which is why we see so many pagan gods being recycled in different cultures throughout history. While the Rabbis rejected this extreme, I can't say how much influence these myths might have had on their thinking. So I would take exception to this doctrine. It is in Judaism to some extent, however I would find it to be at odds with messianic doctrine.

Dan C