Parsha Vaetchanan – Apostolic Readings, Commentary, and Videos

Readings

• Deuteronomy 3:23-4:49
  • Luke 7:18-35
  • John 20:26-29
  • Acts 9:1-6
  • 1 Timothy 1
  • Hebrews 3:7-19
• Deuteronomy 5:1-6:3
  • Matthew 19:16-30
  • John 10:7-15
  • John 17:1-10
  • 2 Corinthians 3:1-15
• Deuteronomy 6:4-7:26
  • Matthew 7:7-12
  • Mark 12:28-34
  • Luke 4:9-12
  • John 15:18-27
  • Romans 8:31-39

Additional Reading

• Soil from Stone
• American Torah

Videos Related to Parsha V’etchanan

• Plow today. Harvest…next year? – Proverbs 20:4. YHVH is a God of order, patterns, and covenants. We work hard today with no expectation of immediate rewards–or even rewards in this lifetime–because God has created a world in which even an atheist can have faith that one thing inevitably follows another.
• Romans 8:18-23 and the Resurrection of Creation – Several places in Scripture talk about how Creation longs for the day when God judges the world and everything is restored. Paul and John tell us that Creation won’t just be restored, but will be resurrected and glorified just like us. The end is a mirror image of the beginning, but bigger and better!
• Fathers above and below in Proverbs 3:1-12 – A set of three parallelisms in this passage are arranged in a chiasm that compares the relationship of sons to their earthly fathers to our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
• What are the Keys to the Kingdom in Matthew 16? – Matthew 16:13-20 is chock full of controversial bits. Son of Man, Peter the Rock, Gates of Hell, keys to the kingdom, binding and loosing, etc. There is so much here to misunderstand if you don’t approach the passage thoughtfully.
• The Escalating Quest for Wisdom in Proverbs 2:1-8 – This passage describes a progression from being willing to hear wisdom to actively hunting it down. God rewards that zealotry with knowledge of his character and ultimately to wisdom itself.
• Leveling Up in Wisdom – Proverbs 8:1-4 mentions four places where Wisdom cries out to those who are willing to hear, but they are arranged in a specific order, from beginner level to expert.
• Proverbs 22:15 and the Disciplining of a Child – People say that children are born pure and innocent, that prejudice and violence must be taught. We know from experience and Scripture that this is utopian nonsense. We are all born at war with our own evil inclinations and righteous behavior must be taught through wise discipline and repetition.
• A Heritage of Wisdom – The first half of Proverbs 4 reveals a key ingredient to a long-lasting, peaceful nation…and some interesting hints at Solomon’s early home life and ascension to the throne.
• The Wealth and Poverty of Self-Sufficiency in Matthew 19:16-26 – When Yeshua told the rich young man that he needed to sell all his possessions and give them to the poor, he was actually telling him that he needed to stop relying on himself for his own salvation. If this had been a desert-dwelling ascetic, Yeshua might have told him to start a business and earn a lot of money in order to be saved. Wealth, poverty, obedience, traditions, and even self-reliance can be good things in the proper context, but if you are relying on any of them to earn you a place in the Kingdom of Heaven, you will be terribly disappointed when the gates are locked to you. Whatever it is that you feel makes you “good enough” is the one thing that you need to give up.