The Eternal Reward
- Posted on AugpmSat, 27 Aug 2016 20:57:37 -05002016-08-27T20:57:37-05:0008 17, 2016
- in Bible, Ekev, God, Hebrew, Messiah, Study, Torah, Uncategorized, Yeshua
- by Hallelujah Girl
R. Shimon once bought a donkey from an Arab, and his students found a valuable jewel in the animal’s neckband.
“Rebbe,” they exclaimed, “G~d has granted you riches!”
“It is not as you say,” their teacher objected. “I paid for a donkey, not for a jewel.”
R. Shimon sought out the Arab and returned the jewel to him. Overjoyed at recovering the object he had deemed lost for ever, the Arab exclaimed, “Blessed be the G~d of R. Shimon in Whose ways the righteous go”
In the Torah portion Akev (translated “because”, “when”, “hearken”, or “consequence”) are Moses’s promises for fulfilling the commandments. The Holy One’s people will prosper in the Present world, but the “reward” is deferred to the World to Come. Our portion promises the following worldly benefits (from Deuteronomy 12:12-16):
- The Holy One will safeguard for you the Covenant and the kindness ~ The Sages compare this a bride who brought two precious stones with her, the two virtues of righteousness and justice, as was written regarding Abraham, “to do righteousness and justice” ~Genesis 18:19. Accordingly, the Bridegroom did likewise and brought as a sign as a sign of their covenant gifts-kindness and compassion. When we keep the covenant, the Holy One makes a crown of Glory of it.
“You will be my bride in righteousness and in justice, and in kindness and in compassion” Hosea 2:21
- The Holy One will love you— This is the supreme blessing. If a person is loved by the Holy One, he receives the greatest benefits.
“The one who does not love does not know G~d, for G~d is love. The love of G~d was revealed among us by this—that G~d sent His one and only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. This is love—not that we have loved G~d, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atonement for our sins, ~1 John 4:8-10
- The Holy One will bless you–with material wealth.
Wealth and riches are in His house, and His Righteousness endures forever. ~Psalms 112:3
- The Holy One will multiply you~ in extraordinary manner. In Egypt, the Holy One multiplied a nation of seventy souls into a nation of 600,000 men.
“Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you. For when I called him, he was but one, then I blessed him and multiplied him.” ~Isaiah 51:2
- The Holy One will bless the fruit of your womb~ You will not miscarry, nor will your children pass away during your lifetime. Your offspring will be blessed with wisdom and purity.
“Then their offspring will be known among the nations, their descendants among the peoples. All who see them will recognize them, for they are the seed that the Holy One has blessed.” ~Isaiah 61:9
- The Holy One will bless the products of your ground: your grain, wine, and oil~ He will bless all your products. Specifically grain, wine and olives for oil were a farmers main sources of income. Grain for the show-bread, wine for the merit of poured offerings, and oil for the lamps to light the menorah in the Sanctuary.
“The kingdom of G~d is like when a man spreads seed on the soil…and the seed sprouts and grows. He himself doesn’t know how. Automatically, the earth brings forth a crop~the first blade, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ready, at once he sends the sickle, for the harvest has come.” ~ Mark 4:26-29
- The Holy One will bless the offspring of your cattle~ guarding your cattle from miscarrying
- You will be blessed by all the nations~the nations will acknowledge you as blessed! This verse can also be interpreted: “You will have more material blessings than all the other nations.”
“In your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed~because you obeyed My voice.” ~Genesis 22:18
“Just as Abraham “believed G~d, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” Know then that those who have faith are children of Abraham. The scriptures, foreseeing that G~d would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the Good News to Abraham in advance, saying, “All the nations shall be blessed through you.” So then, the faithful are blessed along with Abraham, the faithful one.””~ Galations 3:6-9
- There shall not be barren male or female among you~ Your prayers will not be barren, or fruitless, He will accept and fulfill them. Your people shall not be barren~of Torah or of Torah students.
“For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents of bribery.”~Job 15:34
“Sheol, a barren womb, land that is not satisfied with water, and fire that never says, “Enough!” ~Proverbs 30:16
- The Holy One will remove all common illnesses from you and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt upon you. Instead he will put them upon your enemies.
“And when Yeshua came into Peter’s house, He saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying down, sick with fever. Yeshua touched her hadn, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began to take care of Him. When evening came, the people brought Him many who were afflicted by demons. He forced out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. So was fulfilled what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, ‘He Himself took our sicknesses and carried away our diseases.'” ~ Matthew 8:15-18
- You will consume all the nations which the Holy One gives into your hand.
Though I walk amid trouble, You revive me. You stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand delivers me. ~Psalm 138:7
Again, the actual “reward” is deferred to the World to Come! Know that G~d is a faithful trustee, Who can be relied upon to preserve the reward for the long term. If the righteous are fully trustworthy, how much more so is the Holy One? When His People keep His commandments, the Holy One sows the “seeds” in Heaven. In the World to Come, He will show us the abundant fruit of those seeds.
Shalom, Happy Day,
Hallelujah Girl
Tags: #ReadYourBible #ItsAllAboutYeshua #TorahIsTruth, Ekev, Reward