Tag: Parashat Ki Tavo

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Discussions Torah

Deeper meaning of First Fruits: Give God your first & best (Deuteronomy 26–27)

"Deeper meaning of First Fruits: Give God your first and best (Deuteronomy 26-27)." Adobe Firefly AI image of a woman standing in a vineyard holding a basket full of grain, grapes and other fruit.

The first fruits offering explored in this study of the Torah reading כִּי־תָבוֹא Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy 26:1–29:9) reveals God’s desire for our hearts — not just our outward obedience. The narrative reminds us that despite our struggles and feelings of worthlessness, God values us deeply. Tithing further demonstrates how we are to share our blessings with others.

Yet the sobering curses warn that internal rebellion has severe consequences, even to the point of unthinkable acts.

These passages call us to examine our motives and align our hearts with God’s. For when we do, the prophecies of restoration reveal the bountiful blessings that await those who wholeheartedly return to the LORD.

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Torah readings

Torah reading Ki Tavo (כי תבוא): Deuteronomy 26:1–29:8

Studies in Torah

“Correcting” an aggressive driver on the road. “Losing it” with a screaming child in the store. We may think we’re far removed from the horror show described in this week’s Torah reading, כִּי־תָבוֹא Ki Tavo (“when you come in,” Deut. 26:1–29:8), but each of us encounters stress that pushes off any mask over our true characters.

A key point in this passage is entering and living in the “rest” God gives us, fully realized through the Messiah and the Spirit. Like Israel’s move from Mitsraim (Egypt) to the Land, our entering God’s “rest” (Hebrews 3–4) is all about a change of identity, purpose and character.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Torah

How Heaven’s gardening lessons help us avoid cursed results (Deuteronomy 27–28; Matthew 13)

How Heaven's gardening lessons help us avoid cursed results (Deuteronomy 27-28; Matthew 13)

The Parable of the Sower is one of the most memorable of the Gospel teachings of Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus). The personal lessons of the four types of soil seem far removed from the sobering blessings and warnings for ancient Israel in Torah reading כִּי־תָבוֹא Ki Tavo (“when you come in,” Deut. 26:1–29:8). This study unearths the powerful insights just below the surface in both passages.

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Torah

No community without boundaries: Another lesson from the Prodigal Son parable (Deuteronomy 26–28; Luke 15)

No community without boundaries: Another lesson from the Prodigal Son parable (Deuteronomy 26–28; Luke 15)

There’s an old saying, “Good fences make good neighbors.” And the Torah reading תבוא Ki Tavo (“when you come in,” Deut. 26:1–29:8) emphasizes that blessings flow from God to people who establish and enforce proper boundaries.

Those include not only fences around property but also fences that clearly establish economic, spiritual and moral boundaries. But there can be no “wealth of nations” without “moral sentiments.”

This is an often overlooked lesson from Messiah Yeshua’s parable of the prodigal son.

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Discussions Torah

Turnaround plan: Why a blessed land gets cursed (Deuteronomy 26:1–29:8)

Turnaround plan: Why a blessed land gets cursed (Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8)

If the United States of America are in decline as a superpower, it is not the fault of the Communist Chinese, the Russians or the European Union. It is our own fault. The diagnosis and the remedy of this decline are the Torah portion כי תבוא Ki Tavo (“when you come in [to the Land],” Deut. 26:1–29:8). 

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Discussions Torah

Heaven’s curses become blessings for the teachable heart (Deuteronomy 27–28)

Heaven's curses become blessings for the teachable heart (Deuteronomy 27-28)

In the West, we live in an era when many so-called Christian preachers teach their congregants that an overflowing bank account, a fancy house and an expensive car are evidence of God’s blessing. But that’s a heresy that many Pharisees at the time of Yeshua (Jesus) also believed.

A key lesson of Torah reading כִּי־תָבוֹא Ki Tavo (“when you come in,” Deut. 26:1–29:8) is that it’s in the periods of sorrow and desolation when God does His best work with us and in us. Check out this study.

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Discussions Prophets and Writings

Isaiah 60: Feeling lost, alone, forgotten? Grab Heaven’s Lifeline — the Messiah

As Rosh Hashanah (aka Yom Teruah and Day of Blowing Trumpets) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonment) approach, it’s a good reminder to be more forgiving of the small things that others do to annoy us. And what we do to annoy them.

We need to forgive those as we want to be forgiving. The Messiah forgives a massive amount of trespasses. The LORD covers over those egregious sins, so we can at least let go of the much smaller trespasses others do to us. 

We may think we’re far removed from the horror show described in the Torah reading כי תבוא Ki Tavo (“when you come in,” Deut. 26:1-29:8), but each of us encounters stress that pushes off any mask from our true characters.

A key point in this passage is entering and living in the “rest” God gives us, fully realized through the Messiah and the Spirit. Like Israel’s move from Mitsraim (Egypt) to the Land, our entering God’s “rest” (Hebrews 3–4) is all about a change of identity, purpose and character.

This Bible study looks at the parallel reading for Ki Tavo: Isaiah 60, which Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) quoted. The Exile, both literal and spiritual, is a time of darkness and desolation. When the darkness is great, the light is even easier to spot. Unfortunately, we tend to focus on the darkness. Most of our entertainment focuses on the darkness. God has shown us the Light of the world.