Your Daily Pesuk July 30, 2018

Parashat Eikev / פרשת עקב

• Mon, 30 July 2018 = 18th of Av, 5778
• י״ח בְּאָב תשע״ח

Deuteronomy 8:11-9:3 (13 p'sukim)

Deuteronomy 8:11-9:3 Tree of Life Version (TLV)

11 “Take care that you do not forget Adonai your God by not keeping His mitzvot, ordinances and statutes that I am commanding you today. 12 Otherwise, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and lived in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply, and silver and gold multiplies for you and all that is yours multiplies, 14 then your heart will be haughty and you will forget Adonai your God. He brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15 He led you through the great and terrible wilderness—fiery serpents and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water. He brought forth water for you from the flinty rock. 16 He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, in order to afflict you and test you, to do you good in the end. 17 You may say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand has made me this wealth.’ 18 Rather you are to remember Adonai your God, for it is He who gives you power to make wealth, in order to establish His covenant that He swore to your fathers—as it is this day.

19 “Now if you do forget Adonai your God, and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you will certainly perish. 20 Like the nations Adonai makes perish before you, so you will perish, since you would not listen to the voice of Adonai your God.

Who Brings Down Giants?

9 “Hear, O Israel! You are about to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself—cities great and fortified up to the heavens. 2 The people are great and tall, sons of the Anakim. You know them, and you yourselves have heard, “Who can stand before the sons of Anak?” 3 But you will know today that Adonai your God is the One who is crossing over before you as a devouring fire. He will destroy them, and He will bring them down before you, so that you may drive them out and make them perish quickly, as Adonai has promised you.

11 הִשָּׁ֣מֶר לְךָ֔ פֶּן־תִּשְׁכַּ֖ח אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ לְבִלְתִּ֨י שְׁמֹ֤ר מִצְוֺתָיו֙ וּמִשְׁפָּטָ֣יו וְחֻקֹּתָ֔יו אֲשֶׁ֛ר אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּֽוֹם׃

12 פֶּן־תֹּאכַ֖ל וְשָׂבָ֑עְתָּ וּבָתִּ֥ים טוֹבִ֛ים תִּבְנֶ֖ה וְיָשָֽׁבְתָּ׃

13 וּבְקָֽרְךָ֤ וְצֹֽאנְךָ֙ יִרְבְּיֻ֔ן וְכֶ֥סֶף וְזָהָ֖ב יִרְבֶּה־לָּ֑ךְ וְכֹ֥ל אֲשֶׁר־לְךָ֖ יִרְבֶּֽה׃

14 וְרָ֖ם לְבָבֶ֑ךָ וְשָֽׁכַחְתָּ֙ אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ הַמּוֹצִיאֲךָ֛ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם מִבֵּ֥ית עֲבָדִֽים׃

15 הַמּוֹלִ֨יכֲךָ֜ בַּמִּדְבָּ֣ר׀ הַגָּדֹ֣ל וְהַנּוֹרָ֗א נָחָ֤שׁ׀ שָׂרָף֙ וְעַקְרָ֔ב וְצִמָּא֖וֹן אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֵֽין־מָ֑יִם הַמּוֹצִ֤יא לְךָ֙ מַ֔יִם מִצּ֖וּר הַֽחַלָּמִֽישׁ׃

16 הַמַּֽאֲכִ֨לְךָ֥ מָן֙ בַּמִּדְבָּ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹא־יָדְע֖וּן אֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ לְמַ֣עַן עַנֹּֽתְךָ֗ וּלְמַ֙עַן֙ נַסֹּתֶ֔ךָ לְהֵיטִֽבְךָ֖ בְּאַחֲרִיתֶֽךָ׃

17 וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ בִּלְבָבֶ֑ךָ כֹּחִי֙ וְעֹ֣צֶם יָדִ֔י עָ֥שָׂה לִ֖י אֶת־הַחַ֥יִל הַזֶּֽה׃

18 וְזָֽכַרְתָּ֙ אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ כִּ֣י ה֗וּא הַנֹּתֵ֥ן לְךָ֛ כֹּ֖חַ לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת חָ֑יִל לְמַ֨עַן הָקִ֧ים אֶת־בְּרִית֛וֹ אֲשֶׁר־נִשְׁבַּ֥ע לַאֲבֹתֶ֖יךָ כַּיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃ פ

19 וְהָיָ֗ה אִם־שָׁכֹ֤חַ תִּשְׁכַּח֙ אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ וְהָֽלַכְתָּ֗ אַחֲרֵי֙ אֱלֹהִ֣ים אֲחֵרִ֔ים וַעֲבַדְתָּ֖ם וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִ֣יתָ לָהֶ֑ם הַעִדֹ֤תִי בָכֶם֙ הַיּ֔וֹם כִּ֥י אָבֹ֖ד תֹּאבֵדֽוּן׃

20 כַּגּוֹיִ֗ם אֲשֶׁ֤ר יְהוָה֙ מַאֲבִ֣יד מִפְּנֵיכֶ֔ם כֵּ֖ן תֹאבֵד֑וּן עֵ֚קֶב לֹ֣א תִשְׁמְע֔וּן בְּק֖וֹל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ פ

9 שְׁמַ֣ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אַתָּ֨ה עֹבֵ֤ר הַיּוֹם֙ אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן לָבֹא֙ לָרֶ֣שֶׁת גּוֹיִ֔ם גְּדֹלִ֥ים וַעֲצֻמִ֖ים מִמֶּ֑ךָּ עָרִ֛ים גְּדֹלֹ֥ת וּבְצֻרֹ֖ת בַּשָּׁמָֽיִם׃

2 עַֽם־גָּד֥וֹל וָרָ֖ם בְּנֵ֣י עֲנָקִ֑ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר אַתָּ֤ה יָדַ֙עְתָּ֙ וְאַתָּ֣ה שָׁמַ֔עְתָּ מִ֣י יִתְיַצֵּ֔ב לִפְנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֥י עֲנָֽק׃

3 וְיָדַעְתָּ֣ הַיּ֗וֹם כִּי֩ יְהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ הֽוּא־הָעֹבֵ֤ר לְפָנֶ֙יךָ֙ אֵ֣שׁ אֹֽכְלָ֔ה ה֧וּא יַשְׁמִידֵ֛ם וְה֥וּא יַכְנִיעֵ֖ם לְפָנֶ֑יךָ וְהֽוֹרַשְׁתָּ֤ם וְהַֽאַבַדְתָּם֙ מַהֵ֔ר כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה לָֽךְ׃

What does it really mean to be satisfied?  Our pesukim today warns us against having a "Haughty Heart".  וְרָ֖ם לְבָבֶ֑ךָ V'ram L'vavcha

We find the answer in the instruction and warning of our Master, Yeshua:

 וַיֹּאמֶר יֵשׁוּעַ אֲלֵיהֶם רְאוּ וְהִשָׁמְרוּ לָכֶם מִשְּׂאֹר הַפְּרוּשִׁים וְהַצַּדּוּקִים׃

Matthew 16:6 Tree of Life Version (TLV)

6 “Watch out,” Yeshua said to them, “and beware of the hametz of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Hametz is "Yeast" an agent that causes fermentation which allows bread to rise.  An arrogant person is likened unto bread made with yeast in that it "puffs up"; (i.e. becoming proud and haughty in one's own estimation).  Yeshua, as in today's Pesukim, warns against this, we are to guard our hearts against it lest we forget our God...

Delitzsch says, "But if the Israelites were to eat there and be satisfied, i.e., to live in the midst of plenty, they were to beware of forgetting their God; that when their prosperity - their possessions, in the form of lofty houses, cattle, gold and silver, and other good things - increased, their heart might not be lifted up, i.e., they might not become proud, and, forgetting their deliverance from Egypt and their miraculous preservation and guidance in the desert, ascribe the property they had acquired to their own strength and the work of their own hands. To keep the people from this danger of forgetting God, which follows so easily from the pride of wealth, Moses once more enumerates in Deuteronomy 8:14-16 the manifestations of divine grace, their deliverance from Egypt the slave-house, their being led through the great and terrible desert, whose terrors he depicts by mentioning a series of noxious and even fatal things, such as snakes, burning snakes ( saraph , see at Num 21; 6), scorpions, and the thirsty land where there was no water. The words from נחשׁ , onwards, are attached rhetorically to what precedes by simple apposition, without any logically connecting particle; though it will not do to overlook entirely the rhetorical form of the enumeration, and supply the preposition בּ before נחשׁ and the words which follow, to say nothing of the fact that it would be quite out of character before these nouns in the singular, as a whole people could not go through one serpent, etc. In this parched land the Lord brought he people water out of the flinty rock, the hardest stone, and fed them with manna, to humble them and tempt them (cf. Deuteronomy 8:2), in order (this was the ultimate intention of all the humiliation and trial) “ to do thee good at thy latter end .”

Here Franz Delitzsch mentions the "pride of wealth", and also in our Pesukim, we have this mentioned as  well in pesukim 17 & 18 of chapter 8.

Pride is one of the most serious threats to our standing with God.  The moment we start believing the lie that it is our own power and strength that we have gained any success that appears to have been acquired - we are taking one step closer towards developing a "haughty heart".

The Shaliach Yochanan, who next to Shaul composed much of the Brit Chadasha by the inspiration of the Ruach Hakodesh said:

1 John 2:16 For everything in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the boasting of life—is not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world is passing away along with its desire, but the one who does the will of God abides forever.

Especially, when it comes to amassing wealth, fortune, money etc... we mortals can easily fall prey to the temptations and lures of worldly passions which leads to the Haughty Heart.  Whatever we have, is from God and when we tithe and are generous we not only demonstrate to God that He is only our God, not our money...but we remind ourselves the same as well.  Remember, it was over money that Y'hudah (Judas), betrayed Yeshua!

Hebrews 13:5 Tree of Life Version (TLV)
5 Keep your lifestyle free from the love of money, and be content with what you have.

1 Timothy 6:10 Tree of Life Version (TLV)
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil—some, longing for it, have gone astray from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
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Oh, how these words must be feared.  May we never "pierce ourselves with many sorrows"!  Oy!  The Shaliach Shaul also taught us the Secret of Contentment:

Philippians 4:11b ... I have learned to be content. 12 I know what it is to live with humble means, and I know what it is to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of contentment—both to be filled and to go hungry, to have abundance and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Messiah who strengthens me.

Far too many in our society chase after those things that are perishing.  They love money more than they love and worship God Himself.  Then they forget that it is Him who gives us the ability to create wealth and when that happens...we fall completely headlong into the HAUGHTY HEART...

Isaiah 2:17 Tree of Life Version (TLV)
17 The pride of man will be humbled,
    the arrogance of men abased,
for Adonai alone will be exalted in that day.

Amen.