Eikev (consequences)
Deut. 7:12 - 11:25

Today's Torah portion is called Eikev meaning consequences. It includes Deut. 7:12 to 11:25 . Contained in this portion is a verse that helps us to understand the continuity between the Old and New covenants. In Deut. 10:19 we read "So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt ." This verse is important to us on several levels. First, the traditional Jewish interpretation translates the first usage of  aliens as the word proselyte - a Gentile convert. The traditional meaning of this verse is that a Gentile who embraces the faith of Israel is to be loved as one would love a fellow Israelite. As believers in Yeshua we know that while there remains a distinctive calling upon Israel , there is no distinction before God between Jewish and Gentile believers. The New Covenant says that we are to love one another. In Ephesians 2:14-15 we read "For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;" it is wrong to think that the "enmity" is the Torah. The Torah does not teach that that there is enmity between Jews and Gentiles who embrace the faith of Israel . Our Torah portion for today proves that point. The enmity spoken about in Ephesians are man-made edicts that separated Jews and Gentiles. The Greek word for ordinance is dogmata which is used exclusively in the New Covenant of man-made edicts. So we see that both the Torah and the New Covenant speaks of the unity of Jews and Gentiles in the faith.

On another level, we learn that we need to treat others the way God has treated us. Back in Deut. 10:19 the verse says to love the alien because Israel had been in that same position in Egypt .  Ephesians 4:32 says   And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Messiah's sake hath forgiven you.

This verse teaches the very same principle as Deut. 10:19. Israel was a stranger and God redeemed them. Therefore, God commands Israel to love those who are foreigners who come to reside with Israel . As believers we know that "while we were yet sinner Messiah died for us". As one author has put it, we should live out our lives as a big "thank you note" to God. In the Torah God wanted Israel to always remember what God had done for them in Egypt by loving the stranger. In the New Covenant, we are reminded of the grace that God has shown us when we show grace to others.
 
Whether it be Yeshua, Paul, John, Peter or any of the writers of the New Covenant, we learn that although the context may have changed with the coming of Messiah, the principles of Torah remain the same.

Shabbat Shalom!