Jimmie
Active
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2005
- Messages
- 882
ARE LIFE AND DEATH CHOICES WE MAKE TODAY? (A look at Deuteronomy 30:19-20)
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
This is a very interesting verse from the weekly Torah/Bible study in Messianic circles: "Nitzavim/VaYelech" (you are all standing here today), which covers Deuteronomy 29:1-31: 30. I would like to look at this specific verse and look at the implications for today, Do we have a choice in "life and death?" in choosing the "blessing over the curse?" To understand more, we need to look at where the People of Israel were at this time, about 3500 years ago (more or less)
The end of Moses' life was near. He lived 120 years; the last 40 years leading God's people through the wilderness/desert, and now they are about to cross the Jordan River to enter and occupy the land of Canaan. During his three discourses, he emphasizes "blessings and curses," "obedience" over "disobedience" to God's commandments. He even goes so far as to mention you and me (in a manner of speaking).
“I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God but also with those who are not here today.” (Deut 29:14-15)
We were certainly NOT there back then, yet God was thinking ahead to those of us who are here today. The future generations that would follow include all those who accept Jesus/Yeshua as LORD and Savior. Those of the 12 Tribes of Israel and those of the nations who have been grafted into the Olive Tree. We who are living today are under the "Covenant Renewed" because the old covenant was based on the blood of animals, yet pointed towards Messiah's Blood, which was shed once and for all time, for sins past, present, and future. Are you not glad that we were born in this day and age? The promise of this "covenant renewed is mentioned in Jeremiah 31:31-33 and in Ezekiel 36:26-27. It was directed to Israel and Judah, but it also includes ALL believers. Many believers today are descendants of the tribes of Israel who were scattered among the nations
There is "Life," or there is "Death." We know that "life" is, as some might say, "breathing in and out in the land of the living," and "Death" is "to stop breathing and becoming cold and stiff, and to be buried 6 feet under. True, True! that is all correct but there is also another way to look at "life and death" Yeshua said in John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through me.
So, to live for the LORD and serve the LORD is to have "LIFE." To accept Jesus/Yeshua as Savior and LORD is to have eternal life with God.
And the opposite is true with DEATH. To reject the free gift of salvation is to be eternally separated from God. There is the physical death, which all have passed through (except for Enoch and Elijah), and there is "eternal death," which is separation from God forever: no pardon, no reprieve, no second chances.
The blessings and the curses are choices we make when we follow God's WORD and live our lives in accordance with God's WORD. We see this in our daily life. Break the law and go to jail! (curse) Obey the law and stay out of jail (blessing) (just a simple example).
But let me state it again. Salvation is FREE through Jesus our LORD, Yeshua our Messiah. Salvation is NOT through works, nor through obedience to the commandments, yet obedience to God's Holy WORD comes as a RESULT OF... our "born again" relationship with Jesus Christ. Yeshua, our Messiah. We have been righteously saved to walk in righteous works. For "Faith without works is dead"
Moses is saying goodbye to his beloved people, and as a father, he is giving wise counsel before his death. His message is a message to all of us today as well. Trust in the LORD, and have LIFE; there are witnesses in Heaven (the angelic host) and all living beings on earth. Reject the ways of the lost world, cling to God's WORD, and we will see each other on the "Other Side"
This is the last article/Torah study I'll be writing until returning from Miami, FL, on October 27. There must be someone reading this who lives in Miami. Let me hear from you, and we can meet and have some Cuban Coffee. I will be ministering with Beth Chesed Messianic Congregation there and having a good time with the kids and grandkids.
Shalom
Ben Avraham
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
This is a very interesting verse from the weekly Torah/Bible study in Messianic circles: "Nitzavim/VaYelech" (you are all standing here today), which covers Deuteronomy 29:1-31: 30. I would like to look at this specific verse and look at the implications for today, Do we have a choice in "life and death?" in choosing the "blessing over the curse?" To understand more, we need to look at where the People of Israel were at this time, about 3500 years ago (more or less)
The end of Moses' life was near. He lived 120 years; the last 40 years leading God's people through the wilderness/desert, and now they are about to cross the Jordan River to enter and occupy the land of Canaan. During his three discourses, he emphasizes "blessings and curses," "obedience" over "disobedience" to God's commandments. He even goes so far as to mention you and me (in a manner of speaking).
“I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God but also with those who are not here today.” (Deut 29:14-15)
We were certainly NOT there back then, yet God was thinking ahead to those of us who are here today. The future generations that would follow include all those who accept Jesus/Yeshua as LORD and Savior. Those of the 12 Tribes of Israel and those of the nations who have been grafted into the Olive Tree. We who are living today are under the "Covenant Renewed" because the old covenant was based on the blood of animals, yet pointed towards Messiah's Blood, which was shed once and for all time, for sins past, present, and future. Are you not glad that we were born in this day and age? The promise of this "covenant renewed is mentioned in Jeremiah 31:31-33 and in Ezekiel 36:26-27. It was directed to Israel and Judah, but it also includes ALL believers. Many believers today are descendants of the tribes of Israel who were scattered among the nations
There is "Life," or there is "Death." We know that "life" is, as some might say, "breathing in and out in the land of the living," and "Death" is "to stop breathing and becoming cold and stiff, and to be buried 6 feet under. True, True! that is all correct but there is also another way to look at "life and death" Yeshua said in John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through me.
So, to live for the LORD and serve the LORD is to have "LIFE." To accept Jesus/Yeshua as Savior and LORD is to have eternal life with God.
And the opposite is true with DEATH. To reject the free gift of salvation is to be eternally separated from God. There is the physical death, which all have passed through (except for Enoch and Elijah), and there is "eternal death," which is separation from God forever: no pardon, no reprieve, no second chances.
The blessings and the curses are choices we make when we follow God's WORD and live our lives in accordance with God's WORD. We see this in our daily life. Break the law and go to jail! (curse) Obey the law and stay out of jail (blessing) (just a simple example).
But let me state it again. Salvation is FREE through Jesus our LORD, Yeshua our Messiah. Salvation is NOT through works, nor through obedience to the commandments, yet obedience to God's Holy WORD comes as a RESULT OF... our "born again" relationship with Jesus Christ. Yeshua, our Messiah. We have been righteously saved to walk in righteous works. For "Faith without works is dead"
Moses is saying goodbye to his beloved people, and as a father, he is giving wise counsel before his death. His message is a message to all of us today as well. Trust in the LORD, and have LIFE; there are witnesses in Heaven (the angelic host) and all living beings on earth. Reject the ways of the lost world, cling to God's WORD, and we will see each other on the "Other Side"
This is the last article/Torah study I'll be writing until returning from Miami, FL, on October 27. There must be someone reading this who lives in Miami. Let me hear from you, and we can meet and have some Cuban Coffee. I will be ministering with Beth Chesed Messianic Congregation there and having a good time with the kids and grandkids.
Shalom
Ben Avraham
