Ekev עֵקֶב - As a Result
Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25
Reading #1 - Deuteronomy 7:12–8:10
My Thoughts:
Ever wonder why Hashem gave the Hebrew people manna all those years in the desert? Here is your answer in 8:3 “He humbled you, allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that He might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of Hashem’s mouth.” Wow. He taught them to not worry about the bread they were eating but to depend on His WORD instead. And as we know He actively spoke to them through Moses! Hashem spoke into existence many miracles and the people saw this. Even the manna was a huge miracle! We must learn that the Torah is Hashem’s spoken Word and His commandments are to be heeded. All glory and honor go to Him! Our one true Elohim!
Challenge:
Hashem is teaching the people that if they are obedient many good things will happen to them. Including in verse 14 that they will be “blessed above all peoples” and “there won’t be male or female barren among you”. A few years back a friend of mine had gotten married and they were having a difficult time conceiving a child. I began to pray this prayer over their lives and soon she got pregnant. It was a miracle! The doctors had told her she could not have children. And she did! Hashem’s promises are REAL. If you are trying to get pregnant or know someone who is, my challenge to you is to start praying this Scripture over their lives. But, first pray they will follow and obey Torah. Then pray that Hashem will bless the fruit of their womb. Praise Him!
Reading #1 - Deuteronomy 7:12–8:10
7:12 It shall happen, because you listen to these ordinances and keep and do them, that Hashem your Elohim will keep with you the covenant and the loving kindness which He swore to your fathers. 13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your body an the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your livestock and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You will be blessed above all peoples. There won’t be male or female barren among you, or among your livestock. 15 Hashem will take away from you all sickness; and He will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, on you, but will lay them on all those who hate you. 16 You shall consume all the peoples whom Hashem your Elohim shall deliver to you. Your eye shall not pity them. You shall not serve their gods; for that would be a snare to you. 17 If you shall say in your heart, “These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?” 18 you shall not be afraid of them. You shall remember well what Hashem your Elohim did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: 19 the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which Hashem your Elohim brought you out. So shall Hashem your Elohim do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover Hashem your Elohim will send the hornet among them, until those who are left, and hide themselves, perish from before you. 21 You shall not be scared of them; for Hashem your Elohim is among you, a great and awesome Elohim. 22 Hashem your Elohim will cast out those nations before you little by little. You may not consume them at once, lest the animals of the field increase on you. 23 But Hashem your Elohim will deliver them up before you, and will confuse them with a great confusion, until they are destroyed. 24 He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under the sky. No one will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. 25 You shall burn the engraved images of their gods with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourself, lest you be snared in it; for it is an abomination to Hashem your Elohim 26 You shall not bring an abomination into your house and become a devoted thing like it. You shall utterly detest it. You shall utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing.
8:1 You shall observe to do all the commandments which I command you today, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which Hashem swore to your fathers. 2 You shall remember all the way which Hashem your Elohim has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 He humbled you, allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that He might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of Hashem’s mouth. 4 Your clothing didn’t grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years. 5 You shall consider in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so Hashem your Elohim disciplines you. 6 You shall keep the commandments of Hashem your Elohim, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him. 7 For Hashem your Elohim brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey; 9 a land in which you shall eat bread without scarcity, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper. 10 You shall eat and be full, and you shall bless Hashem your Elohim for the good land which He has given you.
