Ki Tetze “When you go”
Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19
Isaiah 54:1–10
2 Kings 10–12

A Single Focus of Life

The book of Deuteronomy is Moses' summary to the people before his death. Each thought, instruction and even word can be traced back to previous books of Torah. This week is no exception.
In Deuteronomy Moses tells the people to make four twisted cords which are to be placed on the corners of their garments. This of course is a reference to Numbers 15:38-41. The four blue cords or fringes are to remind them of the Torah, its instructions and Who gave them these instructions. The blue cords are very similar to a modern wedding ring. The ring does not make you married; it makes a statement that you ARE married!

Notice that this instruction regarding four cords is preceded by instructions on not mixing seeds, working livestock and types of thread in the same garment. Does He simply do this because He does not like the looks of oxen with donkeys or a wool-blended suit? Of course not. His desire is to teach us about life using our natural surroundings as object lessons.

The simple lesson to be learned from these instructions is that HaShem hates mixtures. This principle is brought forth by Yaakov (James) in the Renewed Covenant (New Testament) when he speaks against being double minded. It is the same principle Yeshua gives to the Laodicean community when He tells them He wished they were either hot or cold. Do you remember the last time you took a drink of lukewarm water? Hot or cold would have been preferable. All you want to do with lukewarm water is spit it out. Yeshua is telling the Laodiceans as well as us today to make a choice! Don't keep being a mixture. It makes Him sick.

Back to the Torah.

The Hebrews were to learn through daily life what HaShem expected of them. He had redeemed them and His desire was to see them walk in blessing. This is why He gave them the Torah. He knew that the closer they lived to Torah the closer their hearts would be to Him. The closer they were to Him, the greater blessings they would walk in. His desire was for His children to be blessed, but the first choice had to be theirs. They had to choose to live the life that produced blessings. We do this with our children on a daily basis. Where do we think the pattern came from?

Back to the Torah.

As the Hebrews went about their day they would literally have the Torah in front of their eyes throughout the day. When a man set up a team for plowing, he might be tempted to substitute a donkey for an ox that looked like it could use a break today. He might be tempted to put that extra handful of seeds between rows of other crops. His decision to not do either of his own desires was all the while teaching him about his relationship with His creator.

So how do we do this today? I am almost certain none of our readers is tempted to plow with a team of donkey and oxen today. Most of us are not making our own cloth for sewing garments. We can however bring these instructions to 21st century life. Next time you buy a garment, look to see if it is a blend of natural fibers. If you guys change the spark plugs in your car, make sure you exert the extra effort to get to the hard one in the back so you are not running a mixture of old and new. Look for things in life that are mixtures, which should not be.

You may be asking yourself why we should go to these bothers in our all too convenient world? The reason is that little things become big things. When we pay attention to the small details of life it helps us train for the larger issues that come along.

What if Laodicea had paid more attention to details? Maybe they would have been a sweet savor instead of, well, you know!