{"id":22717,"date":"2025-09-09T08:30:52","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T15:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/?p=22717"},"modified":"2025-09-12T09:58:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T16:58:29","slug":"nathans-commentary-on-parashat-ki-tavo-deuteronomy-2261-298","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2025\/09\/09\/nathans-commentary-on-parashat-ki-tavo-deuteronomy-2261-298\/","title":{"rendered":"Nathan’s Commentary on Parashat Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy 22:6:1\u201329:8)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Deuteronomy 26<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deuteronomy chapter 26 discusses the joy of giving financially<\/strong> by people who are called and ordained of YHVH to do his spiritual work on earth. This also includes giving to the poor among us. Heaven blesses those who give (vv. 1\u201315, 19). Giving is a holy activity (v. 13), and when YHVH\u2019s people obey him in this manner and observe his other commandments as well, he proclaims them to be his special people and promises to promote them high above the nations of the world as his own holy people (vv. 17\u201320). This YHVH did for ancient Israel when they obeyed him, and he promises to do the same for those who obey him now (2 Cor 1:20). These eternal and immutable principles of the Torah are for all people and for all time; these divine principles have not changed over time regardless of men\u2019s traditions and religious doctrines that say otherwise.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may not feel like YHVH has presently exalted you above all those around you, but consider this: What is your salvation worth and what will your status be after you have received your glorified body and are ruling and reigning with King Yeshua over this earth after his return and during his millennial kingdom on  this earth?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deuteronomy 26:4\u201311, You shall answer.<\/em><\/strong> This was the prayer that one was to make when one brought their tithe to YHVH. Bringing one\u2019s tithe to YHVH was an act of gratefulness and worship and was brought with a joyful heart for the blessings that the Almighty had bestowed upon the tithe-giver. You may not always feel overly blessed, but at the very least, the Creator has given us life. Beyond that, most of us are not starving, nor are we homeless or naked. Most importantly, YHVH Elohim gave us his only begotten Son through whom we have eternal salvation. This is greatest blessing of all! If we pause for a brief moment and reflect on our lives, we will find many things for which to be thankful to the Almighty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deuteronomy 26:5,<\/strong> My father was a Syrian.<\/em><\/strong> Syrian<\/em> is the Hebrew word \u2018\u0103ramm\u0131y<\/em> for Aramaen and is derived from Aram, the father of Aramaen people and who was the son of Shem, the son of Noah (Gen 10:21\u201322). Thus both the Israelites and the Syrians or Aramaens were Semites (i.e., descendents of Shem) due to their common ancestry. Moreover, Rachel, Leah and Rebecca were also from the region of the peoples Aram, so technically the descendents of Jacob were part Aramaen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deuteronomy 26:11, You shall rejoice.<\/em><\/strong> Bringing one\u2019s tithes and offerings to YHVH is to be a joyful event since it is a reflection of our gratitude to him for abundantly blessing us. (Compare this verse with 2\u2009Corinthians\u202f9:6\u201311.) Giving to YHVH is a form of worship since it allows us to put our treasure where our heart is (Luke\u202f12:34). Please join me in praying this prayer: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father, help us to give to you out of the abundance of our hearts joyfully and with gratitude for your blessings and bounty in our lives. Help me not to be a fair-weather giver only, but to give out of obedience, even sacrificially, that we may learn to have faith in your promises of provision and to obey you no matter the circumstances. Amein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(For a brief study on tithing and giving, please see my teaching entitled, \u201cIs Tithing for Us Today?\u201d which is available on our ministry website at http:\/\/www.hoshanarabbah.org\/pdfs\/tithing.pdf<\/a>.<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Deuteronomy 26:12,<\/em><\/strong> You shall give to the Levite, to the proselyte, to the orphan, and to the widow.<\/em><\/strong> Throughout the Tanakh, YHVH has a special place in his heart for the \u201cunderdogs\u201d of society, as did Yeshua during his earthly ministry. There are people, who through no fault of their own, and due to their own faults, need help and extra grace and mercy. What is your attitude toward those who fall into this camp? What are you doing to help them if you have the means to do so as YHVH has blessed you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deuteronomy<\/strong> 26:13, Have given to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow<\/em>. Israel\u2019s social welfare system.<\/strong> This reveals Israel\u2019s social welfare system as instituted and commanded by YHVH, who promised to bless the Israelites so abundantly when they obeyed his Torah-instructions that they would not only have plenty for themselves, but their proverbial cup would overflow onto those around them, so that they would be able to give materially to those in the Levitical ministry as well as to the poor. This welfare system was not instituted by the government through legalized extortion enforced at the point of a gun of the state\u2019s legal punitive system. No! Rather, this system of benevolence was powered by the good will of the people from hearts of love and care for one\u2019s neighbor as well as gratitude to YHVH for his blessings. This was the golden rule of loving one\u2019s neighbor as oneself in action on a societal level. In modern socialistic nations, social welfare systems require major governmental expenditure and bureaucratic management including enforcement actions often being taken against \u201cthe wealthy\u201d who refuse to pay \u201ctheir fair share.\u201d Man\u2019s system may benefit the genuinely poor and needy but also rewards those who are lazy plus grifters who refuse to work but choose to take advantage of the largess of others. In YHVH\u2019s system, there was neither a governmental bureaucracy nor a legal structure of forced confiscation of taxes to fund the welfare system, nor punitive enforcement if people fail to pay the mandated tax. Rather, this system was based on love for one\u2019s neighbor, gratitude to YHVH for the blessings received from him, and was community based and reciprocal; that is, if your neighbor needed help and you were able, you helped him, and when you were in need he reciprocated. YHVH\u2019s system is based on people who are motivated by love and godly values as taught in the Torah. On the other hand, man\u2019s system thrives where the spiritual values of people have declined and where government is forced to step in to take up the slack. Moveover, man\u2019s social welfare system is often driven by political operatives who are motivated by their lust for control, power and money. This system not only benefits politician but tends to engender generational poverty among those who are lazy and indolent. This all proves the point that YHVH\u2019s Torah-ways are much higher than those of men when they reject his laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deuteronomy<\/strong> 26:13\u201315, Prayer offered when giving.<\/strong> This is the prayer that the tithe-payer is to pray upon bringing his tithe to YHVH. Tithing leads to prosperity, but for whom? Just the individual? Notice in verse 15 the wording: \u201cbless your people Israel\u2026.\u201d The tithe-payer is praying for blessings not just upon himself, but upon the entire nation. What can we draw from this? Is there room for selfish and self-centered prayers here? What happens when the whole community is tithing and everyone is praying for everyone else\u2019s well-being and blessing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deuteronomy 26:17\u201319, You have distinguished YHVH\u2026YHVH has distinguished you.<\/em><\/strong> What does this mean? What is YHVH\u2019s attitude toward Israel? What does the word avouched <\/em>or distinguished <\/em>(some translations read: proclaimed <\/em>or agreeing<\/em>) mean here? What is transpiring here with the people distinguishing <\/em>YHVH and YHVH returning the action in verse 18? The resulting action is in verse 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deuteronomy 27<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deuteronomy 27:2\u201310,<\/strong> Set up for yourselves.<\/em><\/strong> Immediately upon crossing the Jordan and entering the Promised Land, YHVH instructed the Israelites to set up a stone monument containing the Torah and to construct an altar for burnt sacrifices. What is the significance of these symbols, and why was it so important that this be Israel\u2019s first order of business upon entering the Land of Promise? Matthew Henry states in his commentary that the Word of YHVH (the Torah) and prayer (the altar) must always accompany each other. How does this relate to Psalms 51:16\u201319 and Hosea 6:6 and the believer\u2019s spiritual walk? Also, why did YHVH command the Israelites to construct the altar of uncut and whole stones? To whom does this prophetically point? (Read Dan 2:35, 45; Ps 118:22; Matt 21:42; Luke 20:17.) The stones of the altar were rough and uncut. To whom does this point who became our Living (spiritual) Altar and Sacrifice? (See Isa 53:2.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deuteronomy 27:2, 4, 8, Set up great stones.<\/em><\/strong> On Mount Ebal and on whole, uncut stones, the Israelites were to write YHVH\u2019s Torah-law and then coat these stones with lime plaster. Elohim also told them to build an altar there where they were to make burnt and peace offerings. Why was the Torah written on stones on Mount Ebal\u2014the mountain of the curses? Why not on Mount Gerizim, the mountain of blessing? Certainly this cannot mean that the Torah is a curse, for Paul calls it kadosh <\/em>(holy), just and good in Romans 7:12. What could these stones represent symbolically? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, this symbology tells us that those who do not follow the Torah will come under a curse, for to violate YHVH\u2019s laws is sin (1 John 3:4), and the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23), and every person has sinned (Rom 3:23). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, Who<\/em> is the Chief Cornerstone, the Stone that the builders rejected (Ps 118:22; Matt 21:42; Acts 4:11; Eph 2:20), and the stone cut without hands (Dan 2:34)? What was the purpose of these offerings and to whom do the burnt and peace offerings point? The white lime plaster symbolically obviously represent the saints, the bride of Messiah, being clothed in robes of righteousness (see Rev 19:7\u20138). Who is the King of Righteousness through whom redeemed sinners become righteous? Who is clothed in robes of righteousness once their sins have been atoned for? (Read Heb 7:2, 20\u201328 cp. Rev 19:7\u20138 cp. 3:5, 18; Isa 61:10.) Who was wounded for our \u00adtransgressions and bruised for our iniquities, had laid on him the iniquities of us all, and was made an offering for sin (Isa 53:5, 6, 10)? Who was the Living Torah, the Word of Elohim made flesh (John 1:1, 14)? Who redeemed us from the curses of the law (Gal 3:13), which came upon us as a result of our sinning (sin is the violation of YHVH\u2019s law, 1\u2009John 3:4), and thus bringing a death penalty upon us (the wages of sin is death, Rom 6:23)? Obviously, the answer to all these questions is Yeshua the Messiah, the Savior or Redeemer of all those who place their trusting faith in him and volitionally choose to become his disciple and to love him and allow him to become the Master of their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it now making sense why the Torah and the altar were placed on Mount Ebal? This is another one of the many prophetic shadow pictures in the Torah pointing to the redemptive work of Yeshua at the cross. Let us give glory to Elohim who knows the beginning from the end and to Yeshua the Messiah, the Lamb of Elohim, who was slain from the foundation of the world for our salvation! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does seeing all of these prophetic pictures in the Bible prophesied more than one thousand years before Yeshua\u2019s birth not strengthen your faith that Yeshua is indeed the Messiah, the Lamb of Elohim slain from the foundation of the earth? Who else could have fulfilled these prophecies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deuteronomy 27:5\u20135, <\/strong>An altar of stones\u2026not use an iron tool on them.<\/em><\/strong>On the significance and spiritual symbolism of an altar of whole, unmarked or uncarved stones, see notes at Exodus 20:25\u201326.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deuteronomy 27:11\u201328:68, Moses commanded the people.<\/em><\/strong> YHVH required the Israelites to recite a \u201cpledge of allegiance\u201d affirming their commitment to him before entering the Promised Land. What can we learn from this? Is this something we should do from time to time in our own spiritual walk: recite pledges of commitment to YHVH and set up spiritual markers or reference points in our lives as tokens of our allegiance to him to which we can harken back from time to time? These are acts of the will that when done can engage the heart and stir up feelings of love, devotion, commitment and remembrance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deuteronomy 27:11\u201316, Freedom versus bondage.<\/strong> Christian author Matthew Henry in his commentary on this verse points out something very interesting that none of the Jewish Torah commentaries I have read mention. The six tribes appointed to read the blessings from Mount Gerizim were all children of free women (Leah and Rachel). What are the spiritual implications of this? (Compare this with Paul\u2019s discussion of the free and bondwoman pertaining to Isaac and Ishmael in Galatians 4:21\u201331.) To which children do the promises of YHVH\u2019s material and spiritual blessing (namely, eternal life through Yeshua the Messiah) belong? Is it to those who are in bondage to or under the curses of the Torah-law because they walk in sin (which is the transgression of the law, see 1\u2009John 3:4), or to those who walk in obedience to the Torah (i.e., in sinlessness or those who walk in YHVH\u2019s instructions and teachings in righteousness)? This brings up yet another issue. As is taught in the most Christian churches, is the purpose of the Torah simply to condemn people, to bring people into spiritual bondage, and beyond that, the Torah\u2019s main purpose is to point people to the cross after which it is to be discarded like a dirty old rag? While this may be what men\u2019s traditions and doctrines teach, this is not<\/em> what the Word of Elohim declares. Selah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deuteronomy 27:11\u201326, Cursed.<\/em><\/strong> What are the broader principles or remez <\/em>understanding behind each of these curses? Imagine how much better the world be if people obeyed YHVH\u2019s commandments and what they imply. The Creator gave man his laws to keep the civil peace and order in society. When violated, they result in social upheaval, wars, strife, conflicts, destruction and all sorts of evil consequences between individuals, people-groups and nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n