Ki Tavo – When You Enter In
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 26:1 – 29:9
YeshaYahu (Isaiah) 60:1-22
Luke 21:1-4; Rom 11:1-15; Eph 1:3-6
What do you call two paralyzed doctors with good standing in the community?
A paradox, lol!
What is a paradox? How do we understand one found in the Scriptures?
The dictionary definition of ‘paradox’:
‘a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense, and yet is perhaps true.’ ‘A self-contradictory statement, yet perhaps true.’
When it comes to paradoxes found in the Scriptures, there is no ‘perhaps true’ about it. If the Scriptures state that two contradictory ideas are true, they are, regardless of it defying logic and the reasoning power of the mind. The ways of YHWH do not always make sense to mortal human minds. Let no intellectual, religious authority try to explain away why one side of a Scriptural paradox is true, but the other is not.
One of the most important paradoxes to see as true on both sides is with the three-in-one Godhead. Another critical one is on living the crucified life. There are many more.
But let’s start with the principle and the purpose of the paradoxical nature of YHWH.
The Principle of the Paradox
As it is written, “A father of many nations I have made you”) in the sight of Him Whom he believed, even God, Who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. Romans 4:17
Here YHWH defines for us the principle behind His paradoxical nature. Though one side of the paradox may not exist and is not conceivable by the human mind, YHWH can call into being that which is not. Man is not capable of doing this, apart from the Spirit of Elohim speaking through Him. He can speak paradoxically and yet always be true.
This article covers many examples of how YHWH calls into being that which is not -paradoxes with seeming contradictions that cannot be explained merely by human logic.
The principle of the paradox is at the core of our beliefs, for our faith in Him is itself paradoxical. Look at the Scriptural definition of faith:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
For evidence to be not seen is a seemingly self-contradictory statement – a paradox.
The Purpose for the Paradox
Why does YHWH call things into being that are not – in paradoxical terms? One reason why Paul’s writings are so hard to understand and are wrestled with (2 Peter 3:15-16) is because he often wrote paradoxically. Allow the Spirit of Truth to explain the two poles:
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God. 1 Corinthians 1:25-29
On one side of the paradox is man’s foolish understanding; on the other side is the infinite, unfathomable wisdom of our God, Whose thoughts and ways are above man’s. One thing I love about YHWH is that He does not need the wise men of the world to show how wise He is. He uses the foolish things of the world and the foolishness of the Gospel to confound and even shame the wise of the world and to put to naught their boasting. He will not share His glory with any man. To YHWH Elohim be all the glory!
Understanding a Scriptural Paradox
Trust in YHWH with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes: fear YHWH, and depart from evil. Proverbs 3:5
Lean not on our common sense understanding of the ways of YHWH understood by the power of reasoning. Fearing Him is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10, 15:33) We must simply believe Him as a child trusts his Father’s words. After all, He meant what He said and said what He meant. We must revere Him and simply take Him at His Word.
We shouldn’t use our powers of reasoning to make out what He said to mean something different, even if we cannot make sense of a seeming contradiction. That’s not humility with a fear for YHWH Elohim. He is smarter than us. We must rely on the Spirit of Truth to teach us all things and to appraise His ways, even if they seem self-contradictory.
The Two Mites-The Most Paradox
The Brit Chadashah reading for our Torah portion has an interesting and seemingly contradictory connection to the Torah.
When you have finished paying all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan, and the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.
You shall say before YHWH your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the alien, the orphan, and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments.’ Deuteronomy 26:12-13
One practice in Christianity I’ve had trouble with for about 40 years of my faith walk is tithing to pastors, teachers, programs, the church building, and their property, but rarely if ever, give money to the stranger, the orphan, and the widow. When Leslie and I became the lead elders at Benai Yeshurun, Abba led us to make up for that huge shortfall in our small way by giving most of the tithes and offerings to the widows and their fatherless children. We firmly believe that many single mothers are effectively widows when their ex-husband refuses to support them in any way. Ex-husbands we’ve known would oppress and come against single mothers in ways deceased husbands would not do.
I fear Elohim and will not make excuses why we would not help the widows, orphans, or the poor. My standard is not the common practices of the church, nor that of Hebrew Roots congregations, but what the Word of YHWH states, founded by the Torah.
Yeshua clearly said that it will be by His Words by which we will be judged (John 12:48), not by what man says or does. With that in mind, let’s read the New Testament account:
He looked up and saw the rich people who were putting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw a certain poor widow casting in two small brass coins. And He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them…” Luke 21:1-3
I love how Yeshua commended the widow paradoxically, putting the religious rich men in their place and lifting up the poor widow. The money bags went ca-chunk! The mites tinkled. But the two mites were the most, more than all the money the rich men gave.
The story of the widow’s mites about the tithing command begs a few questions. Why was the widow so poor that all she had was two mites to give? Why did the religious authorities of the synagogue not give a portion of the tithes to this widow? If they gave her anything, wouldn’t she have more than two mites to give? Did they hide the fact that they did not give to the widows, but kept all the tithe money for themselves? Did the Master Yeshua’s kind words expose the religious authorities’ financial practices?
…for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on.” Luke 21:4
Some things never change, nothing new under the sun. Religious authorities still do not give to the stranger, the widow, and the orphan as the Torah commands. I would not want to be in their shoes come judgment day standing before King Yeshua.
The Dead but Alive Paradox
For through the Law, I died to the Law, that I might live to God.
I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me. Galatians 2:19-20
Religious intellectuals like to call the doctrine of the crucified life ‘gnosticism,’ because they do not understand the dead-but-alive paradox. It’s an argument I’ve heard more than once after I’ve taught this paradox. But what does the gnostic doctrine say?
‘Gnostics believed that the world was divided into the physical and spiritual realms. The created, material world (matter) is evil, and therefore in opposition to the world of the spirit, and only the spirit is good.’
That is not what Paul taught. Paul did not teach a separation of the physical body from the spirit of a man. He taught that the Spirit makes the believer’s body even more alive:
And if the Ruach of the One Who raised Yeshua from the dead dwells in you, the One Who raised Messiah Yeshua from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Ruach Who dwells in you. Romans 8:11
Paul taught in paradoxes often. Without understanding paradoxes, he can be confusing. Here’s a string of them on how Paul lived a paradoxical, crucified life in the Messiah:
As unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things. 2 Corinthians 6:9-10
The Poor but Rich Paradox
Paul lived as having nothing in worldly terms, but possessing all things that matter in the greater reality of life in Messiah:
My God will fulfill every need of yours according to the riches of His glory in Messiah Yeshua. Philippians 4:19
The world glamorizes the rich, but Jacob paradoxically called being rich – humiliation.
But let the brother of humble circumstances glory in his high position; and let the rich man glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. James 1:9-10
Who do you choose to be part of your Kingdom life? Who did YHWH choose?
Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom, which He promised to those who love Him? James 2:5
You can’t take worldly riches with you, but the poor who are rich in faith will see rewards in the Kingdom of Heaven as heirs of the Kingdom. Then who should we choose to mind?
Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Romans 12:16
The paradoxical first-and-last Messiah declared this to the assembly of Smyrna:
“These things say the First and the Last, Who became dead, and lived, I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich).”
Revelation 2:8-9a
If Adonai Yeshua calls the poor rich, both are true. The question is, what do you and I count as true riches? Do we use earthly ideas that contradict heavenly values?
To better understand Scriptural paradoxes, understanding the difference between the worldly and the spiritual is where the tension lies. Their antonyms are not disconnected as gnosticism teaches, but are connected truths appraised by the Spirit of Truth.
The Weak but Strong Paradox
Good news for the weak! If the weak truly believe their strength is not found in their physical prowess, and that physical ability is nothing to boast about, then humility beckons the Holy Spirit to lift up and strengthen the weak vessel full of the anointing.
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Do you feel weak in any way? Glory in your weakness and expect the power of the Spirit to rise up within you to quicken even your mortal body by the resurrection life of the Messiah within you. YHWH says He strengthens the humble by His enabling grace.
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says, ‘God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.’ James 4:6
The Servant-King Paradox
Because our Adonai Yeshua came to earth as a humble servant, the Father in Heaven exalted Him to be the Lamb on the throne. (Rev 5:6, 7:17) What is true for the paradoxical Son of David and the Lamb of God, is also true for His disciples.
And calling them over, Yeshua said to them, “You know those recognized as rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones play the tyrant over them. Yet it is not this way among you. But whoever wants to be great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
Mark 10:42-45
The Last but First Paradox
“But many who are first will be last; and the last, first. Matthew 19:30
“So the last shall be first, and the first last.” Matthew 20:16
“But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.” Mark 10:31
What is an example of who the many could be? Who is the first that Adonai calls last?
Yeshua’s lesson in the paradox of the two mites, the most, teaches us that the religious authorities who receive tithes first and foremost, leave nothing left for the least, the widows, maybe the many who are first today. With the restoration of the Kingdom, neglected widows who were last to be supported by tithing will be the first to be rewarded in the coming Kingdom. I believe a lot of praying and tithing widows will be some of the most rewarded and honored when Adonai Yeshua gives out rewards. Religious authorities may have already received rewards from tithing and may not fare so well on that day. Will the King overturn the tables on the money changers of today’s temples? The question now is, how are we doing honoring and supporting widows and orphans?
Another example may be with the Jews. In the Kingdom of God today, Jews are treated by the many as the last to be regarded. Isn’t that what Paul supposedly meant by ‘there is neither Jew nor Greek’ (Col 3:11)? But I believe he wrote about an identity paradox.
The last thing most religious authorities will go by are Jewish sayings, Jewish customs, traditions, their calendar, or anything else ‘Jewish.’ However, on Mount Zion one day, the Lamb will turn that first and last around, when He writes His Father’s Name on the foreheads of the 144,000, the first tribe being Judah (Revelation 7:5; 14:1).
Why will the tribe of Judah be listed first? I believe Yeshua will restore ‘the great in every way advantage’ Paul wrote about concerning the Jews in Romans chapter 3.
In the end, those who are esteemed by many, even in God’s Kingdom, will be last. And the many who are now considered the least and the last – will be made first.
The question for us now is – how are we treating whom Adonai Yeshua refers to as ‘the least of these My brothers?’ (Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 9:46-48)
The Evil but Good Paradox
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” Genesis 50:20
Only YHWH can take what is evil and use it for the good in the believer’s lives. Sometimes we cannot figure out how He’s going to do it, but must simply trust that He will, even when the evil contradicts the good in life. Our God is so awesome!
The Three but One Paradox
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 1 John 5:7
How in the world can you wrap your head around the Oneness of God? How can the three – the Father, the Son, and the Spirit – all be One God?
YHWH Elohim is not like man. We can’t put the Almighty, Infinite, Invisible God in three boxes called persons; He doesn’t fit. We cannot expect the Father to be like an earthly father who is a different person than his biological son. We cannot make sense of Him in anthropomorphic terms. He will not stay in the little boxes we put Him in.
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
Yeshua said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. And how do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’” John 14:8-9
In other words, you need to look no further than the person of Yeshua to see the Father.
“I am the first and I am the last and besides Me, there is no other.”
Isaiah 44:6
There is no other person beside YHWH Elohim. There are no three persons of the Trinity, you cannot find that doctrine in the Scriptures. I’ve often wondered why religious authorities, outside of Judaism, are so dead set on indoctrinating their parishioners with the Trinity doctrine. Growing up in a Lutheran church, I heard it over and over again.
Could it be because, like the Roman Catholic Church, many Christian theologians are dead set against all things Jewish? I believe Paul knew that expunging all things Jewish from the Christian faith was coming when he wrote chapters 3, 9, 10 & 11 to the Romans.
What do Jews frequently quote more than any other Scripture from the Word of God?
Shema Yisra’el, Adonai Eloheynu, Adonai Echad.
Hear O Israel, YHWH our God, YHWH is One. Deuteronomy 6:4
Because the Jews declare the Oneness of God as an identifying characteristic of the Jewish faith, Christians come back against it with the Trinity doctrine over and over again. When do you ever hear Christians say the Shema? The Trinity is their identifying characteristic. Even the Nazis identified Jews by their reverence for saying the Shema.
The Son of God Himself confirmed this identifying statement of the Jews as a statement He upheld as the greatest. The Messiah ascribed to this saying, being a Jew Himself.
One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?”Yeshua answered, “The foremost is, ‘Shema Yisra’el, YHWH Eloheynu, YHWH Echad. (Hear, O Israel! The LORD our God, the LORD is One)…” Mark 12:28-29
I don’t believe that Yeshua, nor Paul, intended for His followers to go to the Jew first with the Gospel of the Kingdom being leavened with the three persons of the Godhead doctrine. The Jews rightfully reject that doctrine derived from Greco-Roman reasoning.
The three persons of the Trinity are like three measures of flour that the woman, the Christian Church, has hidden until the whole was leavened (Matthew 13:33; Luke 13:21). Yeshua warned us to beware of the leaven of the religious authorities! (Matthew 16:6-12)
Without trying to explain His Words away, without leavening them with the three persons of the Trinity doctrine, let us simply take Adonai Yeshua at His Word:
“My Father, Who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are One.” John 10:29
Yes, the Father is greater than the Son of Man because He dwells in dimensions above and beyond the human body. Yeshua gives us the Spirit without measure (John 3:34), meaning the Spirit of Yeshua fills all dimensions in Heaven and Earth and is not limited to an earthly body. The only way that the Messiah can live inside of us is if the Father in Heaven is in Him. My human spirit cannot live in your human body or anyone else, because I do not have the Spirit without measure, only the Messiah does. The only way He can live in millions of people around the world is if the Father and the Son are One.
Lessons Learned from the Pardoxes of the Scriptures
What can we learn about our faith walk from the paradoxes of the Scriptures?
For to us, God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But we have the mind of Christ.
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he is appraised by no one. For ‘who has known the mind of the LORD that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:10-16
Not even Paul said “I have the mind of Messiah;” he said, “we have the mind of Messiah.” Understanding the paradoxical ways of YHWH by the Spirit of Truth, not leaning on our own understanding but fearing YHWH, is one way we can be like-minded and not be divided over doctrines. Understanding paradoxes can resolve a lot of seeming contradictions that give rise to divisive doctrines among us. May we all be one in Spirit and Truth, even as the Father and the Son are paradoxically One God.
BaShem Yeshuat Adonai, the First and the Last,
David