Parsha Devarim – Apostolic Readings, Commentary, and Videos

Readings

• Deuteronomy 1
  • Mark 6:5-13
  • Ephesians 4
  • Ephesians 6:10-20
  • 1 Timothy 6:11-21
• Deuteronomy 2:1-3:22
  • Luke 12:4-34
  • Romans 11
  • 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:15
  • Colossians 2:6-15

Additional Reading

• Soil from Stone
• American Torah

Videos Related to Parsha Devarim

• Caleb and the Heart of Praise – Hebron is in the heart of Judah, which means praised. Caleb’s heart was pure and faithful, and so God made him the patriarch of Judah and gave him land in the heart of Judah’s territory. Joshua 14:14
• Bad Tenants and Bad Vines in Matthew 21:33-46 – In the parable of the vineyard, the tenants are the teachers and elders of Israel, the servants are the prophets and apostles, and the vineyard itself represents the people of Israel. When God’s vineyard isn’t bearing good fruit, he has two options: uproot the entire vineyard and replant at a later season (See Isaiah 5:1-7.) or evict the tenants and appoint someone else to tend the vineyard in their place.
• The Book of Proverbs Is about Principles, Not Laws – The Book of Proverbs isn’t a collection of commandments or absolute promises. It’s about principles. It’s about being better, not perfect.
• Has God Rejected the Jews? Romans 11 – The apostate Israelites of Elijah’s day didn’t stop being Israel because they were apostate. God always preserves a remnant of the natural descendants of Jacob and, through them, the whole nation. Nor can he reject his covenant with them. So long as God himself lives and a single descendant of Jacob lives, God cannot annul the covenant that made Israel his people.
• Paul, Jonah, and the Nations. Romans 11:11-12 – How did the failure of the Jews to accept their Messiah mean riches for the Gentiles? In the same way that the failure of Israel to repent in Jonah’s day meant riches for at least one generation of the people of Ninevah. The ministries of Paul and Jonah are parallel in many ways. Jonah can even be thought of as the first apostle to the nations, a foreshadowing of Paul’s ministry.
• The Firstfruits and the Root in Romans 11:16 – What does “firstfruits” and “root” refer to in Romans 11:16? The context makes it clear. This chapter is talking about how God will never forsake the natural branches of Israel because of the promises he made to Israel’s patriarchs. The firstfruit of the dough and the root of the tree are the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
• Native and Wild Branches in Romans 11:23-24 – Very few native branches of Israel were left on the tree after the first few centuries of Christianity, so that today both the native and the wild branches need to be grafted back into the olive tree of Israel. God has promised that he will restore the genetic descendants of Jacob, and he has the power to do it!