Ekev (עקב) - Because - (The New because The Old) Podcast Agu 27, 2022

“Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers.

BECAUSE and IF = עקב (Ayin, Koph, Beit) (Ekev)

עֵקֶב:—1. last, end: ʿēqeb to the end Ps 119:33;—2. > result, reward Is 5:23;—3. > conj. ʿal-ʿēqeb because of Ps 40:16; ʿēqeb because Nu 14:24, = ʿēqeb ʾašer Gn 22:18; 26:5; 2 S 12:6 = ʿēqeb kî 2 S 12:10; Am 4:12.

William Lee Holladay and Ludwig Köhler, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden: Brill, 2000), 281.

ST HB6118. עֵקֶב ekev (784c); from an unused word; consequence, as a consequence of, because:—because(3), because*(7), end(2), reward(2).

Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).

Because - speaks of a consequence

Psalm 40:16 NKJV

Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The Lord be magnified!”

Numbers 14:24 (NKJV)

But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.

2 Samuel 12:10 (NKJV)

Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’

Deuteronomy 7:12 (NKJV)

“Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers.

The Lord will keep His covenant and mercy, which He swore to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob because:

You listen to these judgements (mishpatim/ ordinances)

You keep them

You do them

Keep vs do = Keep is to honour (cannot keep all the commandments - eg. Levites, High Priest, Farmer) but I must honour them

Do all the commandments requires action (Jam 1:22)

James 1:21–22 NKJV

Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Mercy given to the one who repents BECAUSE he listens to the law (judgements)

God will keep the covenant: The Old Covenant and the New Covenant

TORAH PORTION

Continues

Deuteronomy 7:12–16 NKJV

“Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock. And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you. Also you shall destroy all the peoples whom the Lord your God delivers over to you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

But there are consequences for not keeping and doing the commandments

Deuteronomy 8:1 NKJV

“Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers.

Deuteronomy 8:20 NKJV

As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.

Consider:

Genesis 3:15 (NKJV)

And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

Because there was enmity between two

The Lord will bruise the serpents head

The serpent will bruise the Lord’s heel.

Not only does EKEV mean

BECAUSE and IF = עקב (Ayin, Koph, Beit) (Ekev)

But by changing the pronunciation -

6119. עָקֵב akev (784a); from an unused word; heel, footprint, hind part:—footprints(1), footsteps(1), heel(4), heels(3), hoofs(1), rear guard(1), steps(1), trail(1).

Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).

Genesis 25:20–26 (NKJV)

Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian.

Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.”

So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb.

And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau.

Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

HEEL = עקב (Akev)

Heel

(Ayin, Koph, Beit ) (EKEV), but also (Ayin, Koph, Beit ) (Akev)

By adding the YOD

JACOB = יעקב (Yud, Ayin, Koph, Beit) (Yaakov)

Genesis 25:26 (NKJV)

Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

Took his heel

Yod (also means Hand) - Is Jacob a heel grabber?

Snakes and scorpions attack your heel

The name Jacob or YAAKOV means according to the dictionary:

Jaakobah (ja-ak’-o-bah) = A helper; supplanter; supplanting; to Jacob. He will seek to over reach.

Stelman Smith and Judson Cornwall, The Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible Names (North Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos, 1998), 116.

There are names that change in form when you translate them, and sometimes change in meaning. Eg. Omar (Eloquent Speaker) But in Hebrew (amar- means “He will declare”

A Jewish person would interpret YAAKOV as TO FOLLOW AFTER GOD

SUPPLANTER (Merriam Webster)

verb supplant

sup·plant | \ sə-ˈplant \

supplanted; supplanting; supplants

Definition of supplant transitive verb 1: to supersede (another) especially by force or treachery 2a(1)obsolete : UPROOT (2): to eradicate and supply a substitute for efforts to supplant the vernacular b: to take the place of and serve as a substitute for especially by reason of superior excellence or power

Synonyms:

cut out, displace, displant, relieve, replace, substitute, supersede

Choose the Right Synonym for supplant

REPLACE, DISPLACE, SUPPLANT, SUPERSEDE mean to put out of a usual or proper place or into the place of another. REPLACE implies a filling of a place once occupied by something lost, destroyed, or no longer usable or adequate. replaced the broken window DISPLACE implies an ousting or dislodging. war had displaced thousands SUPPLANT implies either a dispossessing or usurping of another's place, possessions, or privileges or an uprooting of something and its replacement with something else. was abruptly supplanted in her affections by another SUPERSEDE implies replacing a person or thing that has become superannuated (incapacitated or disqualified), obsolete, or otherwise inferior. the new edition supersedes all previous ones

Could it be that the issue between Esau and Jacob is a shadow of the covenant with Israel?

GOING BACK to the YOD = Hand

The Yod - the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet

Matthew 5:17–18 NKJV

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

The letter Yod is translated in the Greek as the IOTA - the Semetic name of the 10th letter of Hebrew alphabet YOD

STGK 2503

A tittle is simply a stroke; a little horn

STGK 2762

The significance of the letter is what is important:

Yod is a closed hand. Because TEN is also the number of the law, which brings divine order, it signifies the works of the LAW

So, If the Yod represents His hand, which brings divine order (there cannot be glory without order), then

The Heel is for walking in His law

The snakes and scorpions attach your heel

We have been called to walk in His way

According to HIS LAW

This is not an issue of salvation, but sanctification

The desire for obedience to the law which was put in us by Yeshua after the finished work of the cross that we may walk in His “good works”

Martin Luther quote: “Our good works do not generate righteousness, rather our righteousness in Christ generates good works”

Ephesians 2:8–10 (NKJV)

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

not of works, lest anyone should boast.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Consider:

Luke 10:19 (NKJV)

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Trample serpents and scorpions

Serpents and scorpions attach your heel. Satan attacks the walk of the believer

Serpents and scorpions mean what?

Let the Bible define the Bible

Ezekiel 2:3–6 (NKJV)

And He said to me: “Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.

For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’

As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.

“And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house.

Scorpions people who do not listen to God, who do not obey God, who rebel against God - rebellion is to openly disobey. Rebellion is as bad as witchcraft

Usually self-righteous, and judgemental - just like some of the Pharisees

Our picture: uncontrollable, apostate, renegade, unfaithful, stubborn, unruly, turbulent, insubordinate, rebel, seditious, resistant, unmanageable, out of control

Was Jacob a heel grabber?

Glorifying themselves rather than God

Stiff in their religious ways

The Lord speaking to religious people of the day

Matthew 23:33 NKJV

Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?

Serpents

Religious leaders: who do not keep the commandments or do the commandments

Malachi 4:1–4 (NKJV)

“For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the Lord of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch.

But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.

You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this,” Says the Lord of hosts.

“Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments.

Remember the Torah

Her seed will stamp on the serpent seed

The serpent would want to make war with His saints

Revelation 12:15–17 (NKJV)

So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.

But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.

And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The idea is to do both - to keep the commandments and to have a testimony

Some who only have the testimony

Some who only do the law

There is no fear if we are keeping the commandments

HEEL = עקב (Ayin, Koph, Beit ) (Akev)

עקב

Ayin = 70

Koph = 100

Beit = 2

Total 172

in Exodus 20:2-17 there are 172 Hebrew words - the Law

We will come back to the concept of walking a bit latter

Is it possible that the story of Jacob and Esau may not be the way we have been told and that may be a shadow of the covenants of God?

Jacob wanted to cling to God, if we consider his Hebrew name: “To follow after God.” Esau despised his birthright

For now let us examine other verses from our Torah Portion

Because we need to be tested

40 Years

Deuteronomy 8:1–3 (NKJV)

“Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers.

And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

Obedience

Remembering the Lord leads the way - especially in the wilderness

to humble you

to test you

to see whether you will keep the commandments or not

Let us consider the number I asked you to underline = 40

Forty ( mem)

מ = mem

There are two forms of the mem: the open mem and the closed mem. As the Talmud explains, (Shabbots 140a) “the open mem represents the revealed Torah and the closed mem represents the Torah’s secrets.”

The number 40 in Hebrew was written with the letter mem (water flowing or coming from).

40 is the number of trial or probation - a test

When looking at the time cycles: Israel spent 40 years being tested in the wilderness

Yeshua was tested 40 days

Can be view negatively because what we face in the wilderness

The end is the most positive of all - Israel crossing the Jordan - Enter the Promised Land

Events with 40 Days in the Bible:

Dr. Bullinger, Number in Scripture, p. 267

Moses is Sinai (Ex 24:18)

Moses in Sinai Golden Calf (Deut 9:18,25)

The Spies (Num 13:26;14:34)

Elijah in Horeb (1 Kings 19:8)

Nineveh’s Probation (Jonah 3:4)

Ezekile laying on his right for Judah (Eze 4:5)

Jesus tempted of the Devil (Matt 4:2)

Jesus from His resurrection to His Ascension (Acts 1:2)

Let us continue with the Torah portion:

Deuteronomy 8:3 NKJV

So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

Torah is the mana

Yeshua said, I am the bread

John 6:48–51 (NKJV)

I am the bread of life.

Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.

I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

Did they die because they ate the Manna?

Or did they die because they chose not to obey?

Did they die because they rebel?

Some had a different spirit: Joshua, Caleb who crossed the Jordan, but not every had that Spirit

Yeshua makes that possible now

Continue with the Torah portion

Deuteronomy 8:6–8 (NKJV)

“Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills;

a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;

Deuteronomy 8:10 NKJV

When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

Blessing the meal after (bread)

Deuteronomy 8:11–18 (NKJV)

“Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today,

lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them;

and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied;

when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock;

who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end—

then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’

“And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Deuteronomy 9:4–7 (NKJV)

“Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you.

It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.

“Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.

Prosperity is a temptation

When we are doing well, we forget the Lord

Sabbath

The Power and wealth is to establish His covenant

So far there has been a few pairs of TWOs

Pairs of Two

Two Characters of God: mercy and grace

Two Definitions of Ekev - because / heel

Two responses to the law: hear / do

Two types of ways to interpret names: literal translation / significance

Two ways to look at Jacob: the supplanter / Follower after God

Two brothers (twins) Esau and Jacob (two nations/ mentalities)

Two meanings of Yod: a hand / law and order

Two types of righteousness: self-righteousness / God’s righteousness

Two types of walks: like the scorpions of snakes/ obedience

Two types of mems: open or closed: Revealed Torah/ Torah’s secrets

Two types of bread: manna/ bread of life (Yeshua)

What about number 2?

Two is represented by the letter /BEIT/

ב = 2 = BEIT

Beit is a HOUSE/ Household in Hebrew - God established a household with Adam and Eve, two people in marriage. This provided direction, a double witness in the family to know the will of God. It takes two points to make a line and establish direction

Two signifies either DIVISION or DOUBLE WITNESS. God established two covenants in the Bible (two that He made the most relevant to us - there were many covenants) as a double witness of truth but also to establish direction: going from the Old Covenant to the New, showing a progression of REVELATION: Old testament Yeshua CONCEALED, New Testament Yeshua REVEALED

Same principle with:

Hagar and Sarah

Ishmael and Isaac

Jacob and Israel

David and Saul

Saul and Paul

Jewish and Gentiles

Establishing conflict between two characters and moving from point to the other.

Two Tables

Consider the last part of our Torah Portion:

Deuteronomy 9:9–12 (NKJV)

When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.

Then the Lord delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.

And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.

“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly; they have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.’

Deuteronomy 9:17–18 (NKJV)

Then I took the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes.

And I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you committed in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.

Deuteronomy 10:1–2 (NKJV)

“At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain and make yourself an ark of wood.

And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you shall put them in the ark.’

The first covenant was broken by Israel, but there is a second being restored

The principle of two: Division/ double witness/ Hidden Torah / Revealed Torah

Romans 9:4 (NKJV)

who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;

Ephesians 2:11–13 NKJV

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

The fear of the Lord is His treasure

Deuteronomy 10:12–13 (NKJV)

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?

Isaiah 33:5–6 (NKJV)

The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, And the strength of salvation; The fear of the Lord is His treasure.

Deuteronomy 28:12 (NKJV)

The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.

Deuteronomy 10:17 NKJV

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.

Rabbi commentaries

He is Lord over those who are lords, kings, governors, etc. - so that no lord is able to deliver you from His hand.

He will not regard any persons, if you cast off His joke

Nor will He take a bribe that one should appease Him by money

It is because of love that we keep His commandments

John 14:15 NKJV

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.

Deuteronomy 10:12–13 (NKJV)

and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?

Requirements:

Fear of the Lord

Love Him

Serve Him

Keep His commandments

Walk in His ways

Two covenants:

John 14:4–6 NKJV

And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

The WAY

In the Old

Psalm 119:1 (NKJV)

Blessed are the undefiled in the WAY, Who walk in the law of the Lord!

The Torah is the Way

The Truth

In the Old

Psalm 119:142 (NKJV)

Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your law (TORAH) is truth.

The Torah is Truth

The Life

In the Old

Proverbs 13:14 (NKJV)

The law (TORAH) of the wise is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death.

The Torah is the Life

The principle of 2:

The principle of two: Division/ double witness/ Hidden Torah / Revealed Torah

Yeshua concealed in Old Covenant and Revealed in the New Covenant

Shabbat Shalom

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