Shavua tov! This week's Torah portion is Devarim, which means "words." (In Hebrew, the -im ending to a word tells us that it's plural.) This is the first portion of the book of Deuteronomy.

We love the book of Deuteronomy, as you've probably heard us say before. In this book, we see a shift in style from the previous books of the Torah. We know that "these are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel" before they entered the Promised Land, at the very end of their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. He was speaking to the children of those who came out of Egypt, and Moses' grandfatherly concern is constantly warning them to teach their children and grandchildren. In fact, in our opinion, the book of Deuteronomy has more to say about how to pass the truth on to our children than any other book in the Bible.

We also love that this book is written in topics, rather than chronologically. Maybe it's our personality, but our brains think like this. If you'd like to see a study Anne wrote several years ago on the topics of Deuteronomy, you can access that here:
http://anneelliott.com/downloa....ds/themes_of_deutero

In this week's portion, God rehearses what He has already done for Israel, so that they will trust Him and not rebel. The theme is "Fear equals rebellion."
- When we don't obey, it's because we don't trust God (1:32).
- Looking at everything but YHVH = rebellion (1:26).
- Being unwilling to go into the Land (1:26)
- Grumbling ("YHVH hates us") (1:27)
- Blaming brothers for sin (1:28)
- Comparing one's self to others (1:28)

Finally, we feel that the book of Deuteronomy is very appropriate for us in our time as well. As we look forward to the future, to "crossing over into the Promised Land" of Israel and to the return of Yeshua our Messiah, we should take careful heed to the warnings and instructions in this book, so that we will rid our lives and homes of any hint of idolatry and uncleanness.

May you be blessed as you study Devarim with your children this week!
~Kraig and Anne