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Writer's pictureM.W. Key

Testing the 613, Part 5

Updated: Feb 18


The series continues with part 5!


77. Rambam has, “Serve the Almighty with prayer daily.”

“Do not bow down to their mighty ones, nor serve them, nor do according to their works, but without fail overthrow them and without fail break down their pillars. “And you shall serve יהוה your Elohim, and He shall bless your bread and your water. And I shall remove sickness from your midst. “None shall miscarry or be barren in your land. I shall fill the number of your days.” (Exodus 23:24-26)

The literal commandment here is that we are to sever YHWH our Elohim, in this passage it does not specify how that is done, that’s what the Torah is for, but I will agree that daily prayer is important. This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and I titled it in my notes as, “Serve YHWH your Elohim”.


78. Rambam has, “The priests must bless the Israelite nation daily.”

“Speak to Aharon (Aaron) and his sons, saying, ‘This is how you bless the children of Yisra’ĕl (Israel). Say to them: יהוה bless you and guard you;” יהוה make His face shine upon you, and show favor to you; יהוה lift up His face upon you, and give you peace.” ‘Thus, they shall put My Name on the children of Yisra’ĕl (Israel), and I Myself shall bless them.” (Numbers 6: 23-27)

Aaron and his sons, which is the tribe of Levi the priest, they are to bless the children of Israel, however, the passage does not determine the frequency. Though it is highly likely this blessing was bestowed upon Israel daily. This commandment is specifically for Aaron and the Levites; therefore, it cannot be fulfilled by non-decedents of Aaron. That does not mean we shouldn’t bless people or even mirror this blessing, but that this command is strictly for Aaron and his decedents. This falls under love Elohim, cannot be fulfilled today unless you are a decedent of Aaron, and I titled in my notes as, “The Aaronic Blessing”.

79. Rambam has, “Wear tefillin (phylacteries) on the head.”

“And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart, and you shall impress them upon your children, and shall speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up, and shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-8)

There are two prevailing ways this is interpreted, one in the literal sense that we should have a physical representation on our hands and forehand, and the other is that this is actually a metaphor for what you do and think should be centered on Torah. I lean more to the latter explanation and believe that it flows with the imaginary used when YHWH says the commands shall be on our hearts. The concept of having the Torah on the mind throughout the day is not far fetched as David writes,

“Blessed is the man who shall not walk in the counsel of the wrong, and shall not stand in the path of sinners, and shall not sit in the seat of scoffers, But his delight is in the Torah of יהוה, And he meditates in His Torah day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2)

This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and in my notes I titled it, “The Torah shall be on my Mind.”


80. Rambam has, “Bind tefillin on the arm.”

“And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart, and you shall impress them upon your children, and shall speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up, and shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-8)

The same thoughts apply to this command, I personally believe this to mean our actions should be centered on Torah. This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and in my notes I titled it, “My actions shall be founded in Torah.”


81. Rambam has, “Write the commandments on each door post.”

“And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart, and you shall impress them upon your children, and shall speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up, and shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

Once again, this verse is usually interpreted as yes we are to write them on our doorpost, or that it should be evident that this house is a Torah observant household. I believe both are correct, we are instructed to write them and traditionally this is done with a mezuzah, which is a small box that attaches to the doorpost and has Deuteronomy 6:4-9 written on a tiny scroll inside. The other meaning is that when someone visits, they should be able to tell that we live a life according to scripture. This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and I titled it the same in my notes.

82. Rambam, “Each male must write a scroll of the Law.”

“And now write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Yisra’ĕl (Israel). Put it in their mouths, so that this song is to Me for a witness against the children of Yisra’ĕl (Israel).” (Deuteronomy 31:19)

The literal command is that everyone should write the song of Moses which is found in Deuteronomy 32:1-43. This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and I titled it in my notes, “Write down the song of Moses.”


83. Rambam has, “The king must have a separate book of the Law for himself.”

“And it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his reign, that he shall write for himself a copy of this Torah in a book, from the one before the priests, the Lĕwites (Levites).” (Deuteronomy 17:18)

The commandment here is that the king of Israel is to make a copy of the Torah for himself. We know that Yeshua is the one true king and when he sits on his throne, he will write out a copy of the Torah. This falls under love Elohim, cannot be fulfilled today, and I titled it in my notes as, “The king must write a copy of the Torah for himself.”


84. Rambam has, “Have tassels on four-cornered garments.”

“Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl (Israel), and you shall say to them to make tzitzit on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue cord in the tzitzit of the corners. And it shall be to you for a tzitzit, and you shall see it, and shall remember all the commands of יהוה and shall do them, and not search after your own heart and your own eyes after which you went whoring, so that you remember, and shall do all My commands, and be set-apart unto your Elohim. I am יהוה your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim (Egypt), to be your Elohim. I am יהוה your Elohim.” (Numbers 15:38-41)

This command instructs us to make for ourselves tzitzit, which are blue and white cords that hang from the fringes of our clothing, but I know many people who wear them on their belt loops. Not only do they serve to remind us to keep the commandments but it also shows other people that we are committed to living a Torah obedient life style juts as Yeshua did.

“And יהושע (Yeshua) rose and followed him, His taught ones too. And see, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the tzitzit of His garment. For she said to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I shall be healed.” But יהושע (Yeshua) turned, and when He saw her, He said, “Take courage, daughter, your belief has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that hour.” (Matthew 9: 19-22)
“And having passed over, they came to the land of Gennĕsar. And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding country, and brought to Him all who were sick, and begged Him to let them only touch the tzitzit of His garment. And as many as touched it were completely healed.” (Matthew 14: 34-36)
“And a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who, having spent all her livelihood on physicians, was unable to be healed by any, came from behind and touched the tzitzit of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. And יהושע (Yeshua) said, “Who touched Me?” And when all denied it, Kĕpha (Peter) and those with him said, “Master, the crowd’s throng You and press upon You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” But יהושע (Yeshua) said, “Somebody did touch Me, for I knew power went out from Me.” And the woman, seeing that she was not hidden, came trembling, and falling down before Him she declared to Him in the presence of all the people why she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. And He said to her, “Take courage, daughter, your belief has healed you. Go in peace.” (Luke 8:43-48)
“And wherever He went, into villages, or cities, or the country, they were laying the sick in the market-places, and begged Him to let them touch if only the tzitzit of His garment. And as many as touched Him were healed.” (Mark 6:56)

This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and I tilted it in my notes as, “Wear your Tzitzit.”


85. Rambam has, “Bless the Almighty after eating.”

“And you shall eat and be satisfied, and shall bless יהוה your Elohim for the good land which He has given you.” (Deuteronomy 8:10)

Examining the verse, it seems a bit ambiguous as to when you should bless the Father for giving us food, whether before or after does not seem to matter, just so long as you do. For we know that Messiah Yeshua blessed the Father before he ate.

“And commanding the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to the heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the taught ones. And the taught ones gave to the crowds, and all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up the pieces left over – twelve baskets, filled.” (Matthew 14:19)
“And taking the five loaves and the two fishes, looking up to the heaven, He blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His taught ones to set before them. And the two fishes He divided among them all.” (Mark 6:41)

This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and I titled it in my notes as, “Bless YHWH for the food He has given you.”


86. Rambam has, “Circumcise all males on the eighth day after their birth.”

“And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin is circumcised.” (Leviticus 12:3)

Though it probably does not need to be said, this commandment is strictly for males only. All males are to have this done, even Yeshua was circumcised.

“And when eight days were completed for Him to be circumcised, His Name was called יהושע, the Name given by the messenger before He was conceived in the womb.” (Luke 2:21)

If you were not circumcised as a child, then you may get with your assembly leader(s) to see about getting circumcised. This is not uncommon, in fact Timothy was circumcised later in life.

“And he came to Derbe and Lustra. And see, a certain taught one was there, named Timotiyos (Timothy), the son of a certain Yehuḏi (Jewish) woman who believed – but his father was Greek who was well spoken of by the brothers who were at Lustra and Ikonion (Iconium). Sha’ul (Paul) wished to have this one go with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Yehuḏim (Jews) who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was Greek.” (Acts 16:1-3)

This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today by males, and I titled it the same in my notes.


87. Rambam has, “Rest on the seventh day Sabbath.”

“Six days you are to do your work, and on the seventh day you rest, in order that your ox and your donkey might rest, and the son of your female servant and the sojourner be refreshed.” (Exodus 23:12)

Not only is the person to rest but so are the animals, and the Sabbath is on the 7th day which is Saturday, not Sunday. If you wish to know more about the Sabbath you can check out my post on it. This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today and I titled it the same in my notes.


88. Rambam has, “Do not do prohibited labor on the seventh day Sabbath.”

“Six days you labour, and shall do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of יהוה your Elohim. You do not do any work – you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. “For in six days יהוה made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, יהוה blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart.” (Exodus 20:9-11)

The literal command is that we should not work, and my stance on this is that ‘work’ means working for income or substance. This is a day of worship and rest, by observing the Sabbath you are showing Elohim that you trust Him to provide for you. The nations preach hard work 24/7 to make it in life, that is not how Set-Apart children of the Most High live. This falls under love Elohim, can be fulfilled today, and I titled it, “Do not work on Sabbath.”


89. Rambam has, “The court must not inflict punishment on the Sabbath.”

“Work is done for six days, but on the seventh day it shall be set-apart to you, a Sabbath of rest to יהוה. Anyone doing work on it is put to death.” (Exodus 35:2)

The commandment here is that breaking the Sabbath is punishable by death. Now, we are in the dispersion and Yeshua has taken the death out of the Torah for those who believe. But for those who break this commandment and make a practice of it, I have a fearful expectation for you when judgment comes. That being said, this seems to me to be more of a judgment than a commandment that one would walk out, perhaps a commandment intended for judges, and Yeshua will be doing the judging on that day. This falls under love Elohim, cannot be fulfilled today, and in my notes I wrote, “working on Sabbath is punishable by death”.

I hope this series is a blessing to you all, continue to test all things, and may the Ruach Hakodesh lead you into all Truth. Shalom.


P.S.

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