9.10.25 ~ Leading the Blind
Good morning!
This week's Torah portion Ki Tavo/when you come in there is a theme before the complete section of blessings and cursing. At the end of chapter 27 there is a list of 12 curses, which are all connected to leadership and influence (Deut. 27:14-26).
The opening verse of this Torah portion says,
When you come into the land that the Lord, your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it… (Deut. 26:1)
As you can see in the opening verse, the major focal point of this Parsha is on the responsibility of the children of Israel when they arrive in the land, promised to them by the Lord. The first few paragraphs address bringing the bikkurim/the first fruits of the land to the Lord and the God-honoring ceremony that surrounds this procedure. After this the Lord gives Israel a reminder of the responsibility as a people who are consecrated to the Lordz;
This day, the Lord, your God commands you to do the statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart with all your soul. You have declared today that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in his ways and keep his statutes and his commandments and his Rules and Will obey his voice (Deut. 26:16–17)
Immediately following this instruction inorder to renew the covenant, the 12 tribes will be divided into two groups, setting them on two mountains: the mountain of blessing, Mount Gerizim, and the mountain of curses Mount Ebal. The Levi are to command them from the valley between the two; the ones on Mount Gerizim are to bless the nation and the ones on Mount Ebal are a set of curses to which all of the people affirm amen.
The specific curses recited are listed in verses 15–26 two of these are connected in a way that may not be obvious at first, but inquiring minds want to know their relationship :-)
Cursed is anyone who miss leads a blind man on the road and all the people shall say amen (Deut. 27:18)
Cursed would be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them and all the people shall say amen (Deut. 27:26)
In our first verse we can deduce in a much broader sense by extending this prohibition to include misleading, the spiritually blind; we should ever be on our guard against misleading someone who does not have the spiritual capacity to discern our actions. It's about leading someone astray, we should not lead a spiritually blind person down the wrong path. BTW, I'm not talking about an "unsaved, unredeemed, unregenerate individual (2 Pet. 1:9).
But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. (2 Pet. 1:9)
The second verse, however, seems only to be a rebuke against anyone failing to uphold the commandments of the Torah. The question for this morning is, "how are these two related?" And what does it mean for a person not to confirm all the words of this law? It goes much deeper than just a rebuke. It applies to anyone who has the ability to influence others to follow the path of Torah, but chooses to tell them that it doesn't apply and leads them down a different path.
This is to be a rebuke against passiveness in our responsibility to influence others for the good. As John Maxwell has said on hundreds of occasions, reiterating the words of James 3:1, leaders are held to a higher responsibility. Because of this, the behavior of a leader influences the behavior of their followers either positively or negatively. If a person is truly a leader, it doesn't take much effort for them to influence people to take action; they can lead people either to Torah/God's instruction manual that contains His Commandments towards a blessed life or to a path of destruction.
However, this is not limited to those who are in the limelight. If truth be told, we are all leading people in one direction or another because we all have some sort of influence. Some have a larger influence over a greater group of people and others have smaller influence over a smaller number of people. And this is where we get 'two left feet' in our walk...it’s not about the magnitude, nor the volume of people that we are influencing; that mindset negates the principle. As leaders who see/re'eh (2 Pet. 1:5-8), we have a responsibility to lead the blind on the proper path and uphold the words of the Torah in the eyes of all who see (Matt. 5:13-16).
We must take this responsibility seriously. If we are cognizant of the fact that others are under our influence, either for the good or for the bad, then we should be using that influence to lead people on a path that will bring them closer to the Creator rather than pushing them away from Him.
For most of my life, I’ve been an influencer in some capacity, but the majority of the time I spent not knowing how to actually lead. Like many, I’ve just loved people and lived a life of faith and devotion; hoping somehow it's inspired others. But what if I'd Known how to lead others in the paths of righteousness for His sake?
As you head into the middle of your week, consider your responsibility to live and lead towards blessing, not curses.
The fall feasts are less than a month away....lead by example :-)
Shalom!
The opening verse of this Torah portion says,
When you come into the land that the Lord, your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it… (Deut. 26:1)
As you can see in the opening verse, the major focal point of this Parsha is on the responsibility of the children of Israel when they arrive in the land, promised to them by the Lord. The first few paragraphs address bringing the bikkurim/the first fruits of the land to the Lord and the God-honoring ceremony that surrounds this procedure. After this the Lord gives Israel a reminder of the responsibility as a people who are consecrated to the Lordz;
This day, the Lord, your God commands you to do the statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart with all your soul. You have declared today that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in his ways and keep his statutes and his commandments and his Rules and Will obey his voice (Deut. 26:16–17)
Immediately following this instruction inorder to renew the covenant, the 12 tribes will be divided into two groups, setting them on two mountains: the mountain of blessing, Mount Gerizim, and the mountain of curses Mount Ebal. The Levi are to command them from the valley between the two; the ones on Mount Gerizim are to bless the nation and the ones on Mount Ebal are a set of curses to which all of the people affirm amen.
The specific curses recited are listed in verses 15–26 two of these are connected in a way that may not be obvious at first, but inquiring minds want to know their relationship :-)
Cursed is anyone who miss leads a blind man on the road and all the people shall say amen (Deut. 27:18)
Cursed would be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them and all the people shall say amen (Deut. 27:26)
In our first verse we can deduce in a much broader sense by extending this prohibition to include misleading, the spiritually blind; we should ever be on our guard against misleading someone who does not have the spiritual capacity to discern our actions. It's about leading someone astray, we should not lead a spiritually blind person down the wrong path. BTW, I'm not talking about an "unsaved, unredeemed, unregenerate individual (2 Pet. 1:9).
But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. (2 Pet. 1:9)
The second verse, however, seems only to be a rebuke against anyone failing to uphold the commandments of the Torah. The question for this morning is, "how are these two related?" And what does it mean for a person not to confirm all the words of this law? It goes much deeper than just a rebuke. It applies to anyone who has the ability to influence others to follow the path of Torah, but chooses to tell them that it doesn't apply and leads them down a different path.
This is to be a rebuke against passiveness in our responsibility to influence others for the good. As John Maxwell has said on hundreds of occasions, reiterating the words of James 3:1, leaders are held to a higher responsibility. Because of this, the behavior of a leader influences the behavior of their followers either positively or negatively. If a person is truly a leader, it doesn't take much effort for them to influence people to take action; they can lead people either to Torah/God's instruction manual that contains His Commandments towards a blessed life or to a path of destruction.
However, this is not limited to those who are in the limelight. If truth be told, we are all leading people in one direction or another because we all have some sort of influence. Some have a larger influence over a greater group of people and others have smaller influence over a smaller number of people. And this is where we get 'two left feet' in our walk...it’s not about the magnitude, nor the volume of people that we are influencing; that mindset negates the principle. As leaders who see/re'eh (2 Pet. 1:5-8), we have a responsibility to lead the blind on the proper path and uphold the words of the Torah in the eyes of all who see (Matt. 5:13-16).
We must take this responsibility seriously. If we are cognizant of the fact that others are under our influence, either for the good or for the bad, then we should be using that influence to lead people on a path that will bring them closer to the Creator rather than pushing them away from Him.
For most of my life, I’ve been an influencer in some capacity, but the majority of the time I spent not knowing how to actually lead. Like many, I’ve just loved people and lived a life of faith and devotion; hoping somehow it's inspired others. But what if I'd Known how to lead others in the paths of righteousness for His sake?
As you head into the middle of your week, consider your responsibility to live and lead towards blessing, not curses.
The fall feasts are less than a month away....lead by example :-)
Shalom!
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