Parashat Ki Tavo
Deuteronomy. 26: 1-29: 8, Isaiah 60:1-22
“Now today Adonai has affirmed you as His treasured people, as He promised you; that you are to keep all His mitzvot; that He will set you high above all the nations He has made, for praise, fame and honor; and that you are to be a holy people to Adonai your God, as He has promised.” Deut. 26. 18-19 TLV
One of my favorite musicals is “Fiddler on the Roof”. In it the character Tevia says to the Lord, “I know, I know. We are your chosen people. But, once in a while, can’t you choose someone else?” Israel is a chosen nation not reckoned among the other nations. Those who come out of the nations to follow Messiah also become part of the treasured possession of Adonai. So what does our Parashah, Torah Portion Ki Tavo, reveal about Israel as the “Am Segula)?
The title of our Torah Portion comes from the opening words, “When you are come”, (ki Tavo), into the land…” Deuteronomy 26.1 Israel was to enter the land bringing the firstfruits offering and presented it with an oath before the LORD.
“Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression….” Deut. 26. 5-7 NIV.
In response, the LORD has also made a declaration, reminiscent of the exchange of wedding vows.
“And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.” Deut. 26. 18-19 NIV
Who is Israel? Israel declared themselves the descendant of a wandering Aramean, God declared Israel an Am Segula (Chosen Nation) and an Am Kodesh (Holy Nation). As the people of God, we do not fit in with the world. Are you looking for identity? Perhaps we can all point to an ancestry of wandering, but our Parashah is telling us, the time has come to “enter” in to our promise. The Lord’s people are treasured, chosen, peculiar, and yes holy to the LORD. If you are looking for your place and identity, I invite you to keep reading.
I. Chosen People – Am Segula Deut. 26.18
The translators have struggled to capture the meaning of segula with just one word. Here are just a few of the attempts: peculiar, unique treasured, possession, precious, special. The term carries the idea of a rich inheritance or possession. Do those terms describe you? Israel went through a transformation in their journey to enter their possession, Adonai wanted Israel to know that they are His treasured possession.
Shimon Kaifa, the Apostle Peter, revealed the beauty of the calling to be an Am Segula.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were “not a people,” but now you are “God’s people.” You were shown “no mercy,” but now you have been shown “mercy.” I Peter 2. 9-11 TLV
Peter points out that at one time we were not a people. At one time we came from a, “wandering Aramean”, but now the “People of God”.
The Lord now calls us His prized possession. Once a boy found a precious gem in a stream bed near his home. At least he believed it to be precious. He treasured it in a box, and added other stones to his collection, but none as special to him as this stone. Over time boys traded treasures with him, but he refused to part with this peculiar rock. Was it a diamond or quartz? To the boy it did not matter, it was special. The boy became a man, and while most put away trinkets of childhood, he found a prominent place to display his rock. It moved with him from home to home, office to office, display case to display case. And over time the wealth of the man increased, until one day he was easily considered rich. Interestingly, the value of the rock also grew in proportion to the owner until even huge sums of money could not buy it. What gave the rock its value? Its great worth was measured by the one who treasured it.
Yes, the earth belongs to the Lord, and all of creation, but there is a treasured people in the earth, whose value is based on their Creator’s wealth. Our value is not measured in likes, opinion polls, or the parties we are invited to. You are of inestimable worth because of the One who owns you! And more so, we are not only an Am Segula, we are an Am Kodesh – A Holy People.
II. Holy People – Am Kodesh Deut. 26.19
What does Holy Mean? The word holy in Hebrew is kadosh. That same root is used to describe something consecrated, set apart, and belonging to. In Jewish weddings, the groom speaks a beautiful blessing of consecration over his bride.
הֲרֵי אַתְּ מְקֻדֶּשֶׁת לִי בְּטַבַּעַת זוֹ כְּדַת משֶׁה וְיִשְׂרָאֵל
Harei at mekudeshet li b’taba’at zo kedat moshe v’yisrael
“Behold, you are sanctified (made holy) to me with this ring according to the laws of Moses and Israel.”
In this, the kidushin, (sanctification), part of the ceremony, the bride is made holy or consecrated to the groom. In like manner, the bride speaks this blessing of consecration over the groom.
Israel would cross both the Red Sea and the Jordan River on their way to the Promised Land. Like a mikveh (ritual immersion pool) before a bride’s wedding, Israel was baptized. Both Israel and God made declarations upon entering the land, reaffirming the ketubah (marriage contract) agreed upon at Mt. Sinai.
God calls Israel and the chosen ones called out from the nations Holy, meaning a possession of God. You may not feel holy because you believe holiness is about action, when it is more connected to belonging. Paul describes where some of us came from, the sins some of us committed, and after listing them, says, “that is what some of your were”. In Messiah, you are now a new creation, the old is passed away. Who you were is not who you are. Now you are washed, holy, and set apart.
“That is what some of you were—but you were washed, you were made holy, you were set right in the name of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and by the Ruach of our God.” I Cor. 16. 11 TLV
Conclusion
We live in a generation that is struggling to find identity, wandering from place to place hoping to find value and calling. But, in the midst of our confusion God is declaring His people to be an Am Segula and an Am Kodesh. The lame man at the Gate to the Temple saw himself as handicapped, Peter cried out, you are healed (rise-up, walk in Yeshua’s name). Who you once were, and what you have done is not your identity. Test your legs, rise-up, leap, and run to the One who calls you healed.
Shavua Tov from Zion
