Our journey of learning and understanding the 613-ish commands found in the Torah continues!
194. Rambam has, “Do not eat the sinew of the thigh.”
“That is why the children of Yisra’ĕl(Israel) to this day do not eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the socket of the thigh, because He touched the socket of the thigh of Ya‛aqoḇ(Jacob), in the sinew of the hip.” (Genesis 32:32)
Some have suggested that this is not a command, but rather something Israelites do in recognition of Jacob’s struggle with the mysterious Man (could have been a Messenger, could have been Yeshua). I can see both sides of the argument, on one hand we don’t see Yah saying “Do not eat the sinew of the hip.” Yet, it does seem implied. I will let you decide for yourself. If you count this as a commandment, this falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put “Do not eat the sinew of the hip.”
195. Rambam has, “Do not eat meat and milk cooked together.”
“Bring the first of the first-fruits of your land into the House of יהוה your Elohim. Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.” (Exodus 23:19)
The literal command here, is to not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk. It is completely fine to each meat and cheese together. What Rambam has listed came about due to tradition not Torah. This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
196. Rambam has, “Do not cook meat and milk together.”
“Bring the first of the first-fruits of your land into the House of יהוה your Elohim. Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.” (Exodus 23:19)
Same command as the one before. What Rambam listed, has nothing to do with the what the verse is stating. In my notes I put, “Same as 195.”
197. Rambam has, “Do not eat bread from new grain before the Omer.”
“And you do not eat bread or roasted grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your Elohim – a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” (Leviticus 23:14)
The command is that we are not to eat bread from the new grain until the offering has occurred. The offering being discussed here is first-fruits. As it is, we are not able to fulfill this today as there is no temple or Levitical priesthood, for the Omar offering to be brought. This falls under love Elohim, cannot be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put “Do not eat bread until the offering of first-fruits has been offered.”
198. Rambam has, “Do not eat parched grains from new grain before the Omer.”
“And you do not eat bread or roasted grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your Elohim – a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” (Leviticus 23:14)
A continuation from the previous command. This falls under love Elohim, cannot be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put “Do not eat roasted grain until the offering of first- fruits has been offered.”
199. Rambam has, “Do not eat ripened grains from new grain before the Omer.”
“And you do not eat bread or roasted grain or fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your Elohim – a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” (Leviticus 23:14)
You could lump 197, 198, and 199 all together as a single commandment. This falls under love Elohim, cannot be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put “Do not eat fresh grain until the offering of first-fruits has been offered.”
200. Rambam has, “Do not eat fruit of a tree during its first three years.”
“And when you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall reckon their fruit as uncircumcised. For three years it is as uncircumcised to you, it is not eaten.” (Leviticus 19:23)
For three years the fruit of a newly planted tree is protected, this allows for the tree to mature unhindered. The tree can focus, so to speak, on growing and developing into a strong fruit producing organism. Something that has been lost on us as a whole, is caring for the land. This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put “Do not eat fruit of a tree during its first three years.”
201. Rambam has, “Do not eat diverse seeds planted in a vineyard.”
“Do not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed, lest the yield of the seed which you have sown and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled.” (Deuteronomy 22:9)
The literal commandment is that we should not sow a vineyard with different seeds. By implication, we also wouldn’t eat products from a diversified vineyard. The surface level of this command is easy to comprehend, there is, however, a deeper meaning to this commandment. Would take an entire article to fully flush out its meaning, but for those eager to do their own research, it will be worth the effort. This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put “Do not sow your vineyard with different kinds of seed.”
202. Rambam has, “Do not eat untithed fruits.”
“And when a man eats the set-apart offering by mistake, then he shall give a set-apart offering to the priest, and add one-fifth to it.” (Leviticus 22:14)
The literal commandment is that if someone unintentionally eats the set-apart offering, then they shall give another set-apart offering to the priest with an additional 20%. The offerings were a time of feasting, especially for the Levitical priest as they had no land inheritance. Thus, they were sustained on the continual offerings from the other tribes. This falls under love Elohim but I can see how it would also fall under love others, cannot be fulfilled today as there is not functioning Levitical priest, and in my notes, I put “If someone unintentionally eats the set-apart offering, then they shall give another set-apart offering to the priest with an additional 20%.
203. Rambam has, “Do not drink wine poured in service to idols.”
“For יהוה rightly rules His people And has compassion on His servants, When He sees that their power is gone, And there is no one remaining, Shut up or at large. And He shall say, ‘Where are their mighty ones, The rock in whom they sought refuge?” Who ate the fat of their slaughterings, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them arise and help you, Let it be a hiding-place for you!” (Deuteronomy 32:36-38)
In these set of verses, Yah is describing how his people turn away from him and follow after other mighty ones(gods/idols). He then goes on to mention two acts that he finds detestable. While it does not state “do not” or “you shall not”, provided the context and in other commandments where He states do not worship other gods nor idols in Exodus 20:3-6. With that being said, I can see how this could be rolled into the command not to worship other gods or worship idols, which is number 2 and number 28 in this series. This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today and in my notes I put the same thing as Rambam.
204. Rambam has, “Ritually slaughter an animal before eating it.”
“When the place where יהוה your Elohim chooses to put His Name is too far from you, then you shall slaughter from your herd and from your flock which יהוה has given you, as I have commanded you, and you shall eat within your gates as much as your being desires.”(Deuteronomy 12:21)
The context of this verse has to do with offerings, and this is seen when we look at the verses preceding this one.
“You are not allowed to eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or of the firstlings of your herd or your flock, or of any of your offerings which you vow, or of your voluntary offerings, or of the contribution of your hand. “But eat them before יהוה your Elohim, in the place which יהוה your Elohim chooses, you and your son and your daughter, and your male servant and your female servant, and the Lĕwite(Levite) who is within your gates. And you shall rejoice before יהוה your Elohim in all that you put your hands to. “Guard yourself that you do not forsake the Lĕwite(Levite) as long as you live in your land. “When יהוה your Elohim enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘Let me eat meat,’ because you long to eat meat, you eat as much meat as your being desires.” (Deuteronomy 12:17-20)
Many confuse the temple as being the place where Yah choose, and their sort of right, only because the temple used to house the Ark of the Covenant. This is where the presence of Yah choose to be.
“And when Mosheh(Moses) went into the Tent of Appointment to speak with Him, he heard the voice of One speaking to him from above the lid of atonement that was on the ark of the Witness, from between the two keruḇim(cherubim). Thus He spoke to him.” (Numbers 7:89)
“And the people sent to Shiloh, and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of יהוה of hosts, dwelling between the keruḇim(cherubim). And the two sons of Ěli, Ḥophni and Pineḥas, were there with the ark of the covenant of Elohim. (1 Samuel 4:4)
“And Dawiḏ(David) rose up and went with all the people who were with him from Ba‛alĕ(Baalah) Yehuḏah(Judah), to bring up from there the ark of Elohim, that is called by the Name, the Name יהוה of Hosts, who dwells between the keruḇim(cherubim).” (2 Samuel 6:2)
Back to number 204. Deuteronomy 12:21 is about how Yah allows his people to offer up an offering, even if they are unable to make it to the Ark of the Covenant. Does that mean we are to offer up slaughter offerings now? No. If we look back on the verses that take place before 12:21, we see that this revolves around the Levitical priesthood. That’s why we read “Guard yourself that you do not forsake the Lĕwite(Levite) as long as you live in your land.” Because the Levites were not given an inheritance of land, they were sustained by the offerings from the other 11 tribes. Since the Ark of the Covenant is lost, and the temple is destroyed, and the Melchizedek priesthood is in order, we cannot perform the offerings mentioned in the Levitical system. Thus, the command mentioned in Deuteronomy 12:21, which seems more of an allowance than a command, cannot be fulfilled today.
Another way to look at Deuteronomy 12:21 is where it reads “as I have commanded you”, in relation to slaughtering an animal. This could be an indicator that no matter where we are, we are to kill and eat the offering as Yah has commanded. Such as draining the animal of blood, and not eating the fat of the animal. In that sense, the command here would be, to slaughter the animal as if it were being slaughtered where Elohim has placed his name. With this interpretation, we could fulfill this commandment today, by only eating kosher (as far as the Torah goes, not the Talmud).
Depending on how you view Deuteronomy 12:22, will determine how you write it down. Either way, this commandment falls under love Elohim, and in my notes, I put “If too far for to offer up a slaughter offering, you may do so within your gates.” And “Slaughter the animal as if it were being slaughtered where Elohim has placed his name.”
205. Rambam has, “Do not slaughter an animal and its offspring on the same day.”
“But do not slay a cow or a sheep and its young on the same day.” (Leviticus 22:28)
Very straight forward and its practicality easy to understand. If you go around killing the parents and the offspring at the same time, eventually you will run out of livestock. You have to leave some behind to carry on. This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put “Do not slay a cow or a sheep and its young on the same day.”
206. Rambam has, “Cover the blood (of a slaughtered beast or fowl) with earth.”
“And any man from the children of Yisra’ĕl(Israel), or from the strangers who sojourn among you, who hunts and catches any beast or bird, which is eaten, shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust.” (Leviticus 17:13)
While its sensible to cover the blood, to perhaps mask the scent and therefor deter predators from coming along. It also speaks on the sacredness of blood, something that is spoken off all through out the Bible. But its not just human blood, but all blood should be regarded with respect.
“For it is the life of all flesh. Its blood is for its life. And I said to the children of Yisra’ĕl(Israel), ‘Do not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Anyone eating it is cut off.”(Leviticus 17:14)
This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put “Cover the blood of the beast or bird in which you hunt with earth.”
207. Rambam has, “Send away the mother bird before taking its children.”
“When you come upon a bird’s nest along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young.” (Deuteronomy 22:6)
This is in the same vein as number 205. If we overly reap from the wildlife, eventually there will be nothing. We must be good stewards for nature, only taking what we need. This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put the same as Rambam.
208. Rambam has, “Release a mother bird if she was taken from the nest.”
“Let the mother go without fail, and take the young for yourself, so that it might be well with you, and that you shall prolong your days.” (Deuteronomy 22:7)
There are numerous passages about how if we respect the land (according to Torah), then it will go well with us. This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put the same as Rambam.
209. Rambam has, “Do not swear falsely in G-d's Name.”
“And do not swear falsely by My Name and so profane the Name of your Elohim. I am יהוה.” (Leviticus 19:12)
If you swear to do something and use Elohim’s name as a basis for it, it’s in your best interest to make sure you keep your word. Yah is the creator of all and everything about Him, should be esteemed, honored, and revered. His name is not something to be thrown around casually, or used to make it seem you are serious. Sometimes it is necessary to make a promise or a vow by using His name, and those times are not to be taken lightly. This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put “Do not swear falsely by Elohim’s name.”
That’s it for part 11, thank you for taking this journey with me, and may the Ruach Hakodesh lead you into all truth.
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