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During the holiday of Shavuot (i.e., "Weeks" or "Pentecost") it is customary to reaffirm God's covenant with us and to renew our identity as God's children. Toward that end, and in the light of the inner meaning of Torah revealed by Yeshua our Messiah (Jer. 31:31-34), we may summarize the Ten Commandments of Torah this way: 1) "I AM your only Deliverer, the One who loves and chooses you; 2) love me passionately and exclusively; 3) regard my love as sacred; 4) rest in me; 5) honor your life and its history; do no harm to others: 6) forsake anger, 7) abandon lust, 8) renounce greed, and 9) abhor lying, and 10) refuse envy. Know that you belong to me and that you are accepted. Love others as you are also loved..." (see Exod. 20:1-17; Deut. 6:4-5; Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:36-40; Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:14).
The sages have said that when the Holy One spoke to the people of Israel, each one felt personally spoken to by God, and thus it says in the singular, 'I am the Eternal One, your God.'" Indeed the very first commandment given at Sinai was to accept the reality of our personal deliverance by the LORD: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you (singular) out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Exod. 20:2). In fact, God used the second person singular (not plural) for all the verbs throughout the Ten Commandments: "you (singular) shall have no other gods beside me"; "you (singular) shall not take the Name of the LORD your God in vain," and so on. The very first commandment, however, is the starting point for all that follows. Until you accept the LORD as your God and to trust Him as your own Deliverer, the rest of the commandments are not likely to be heeded.
"Now the goal of the commandment is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith, though some people, having strayed away, have turned instead to vain talk, desiring to be teachers of the Torah but without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions" (1 Tim. 1:5-7). If your understanding of Torah and the meaning of the Ten Commandments does not lead you directly to God's great love, you have made a seriously wrong turn...
Shavuot is sometimes called the "culmination of Passover," since our redemption is intended to lead us to life! The very First Commandment therefore is to open your heart to receive the promise uttered by the Holy Spirit: "I am the LORD your God," and to know the LORD as your Healer, your Redeemer, and your Savior. Amen, may it be so for you, friend.
Hebrew Lesson
Isaiah 43:3a reading (click):
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