Deep Roots
Drash on Parashah 50; Ki Tavo (well sort of)
MMin Kevin “Oriyan” Phipps

He told them many things in parables: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell alongside the path; and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky patches where there was not much soil. It sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow; but when the sun had risen, the young plants were scorched; and since their roots were not deep, they dried up. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. But others fell into rich soil and produced grain, a hundred or sixty or thirty times as much as had been sown. Those who have ears, let them hear!"

The seed sown on rocky ground is like a person who hears the message and accepts it with joy at once, but has no root in himself. So he stays on for a while; but as soon as some trouble or persecution arises on account of the message, he immediately falls away. Now the seed sown among thorns stands for someone who hears the message, but it is choked by the worries of the world and the deceitful glamor of wealth, so that it produces nothing. However, what was sown on rich soil is the one who hears the message and understands it; such a person will surely bear fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirty times what was sown." [Mattityahu/Matthew 13:3-9,20-23]

 This is a parable we have heard a million times. Before this week, I thought I understood this parable, but in studying it further, I found I was wrong. I found that a lot of people are wrong, not only about this, but a few other important teachings as well. What I want to focus on is the roots. The rest of the vine is important as well and I will touch on it, but of particular importance to this teaching is the root.
  

So let there not be among you a man, woman, family or tribe whose heart turns away today from Adonai our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Let there not be among you a root bearing such bitter poison and wormwood. [D’varim/Deuteronomy 29:18(17)]

 This verse is just after this week’s parashah. What we see here is root used negatively as the source for evil amongst God’s people. Throughout Scripture, root is understood as the source of something when used in a figurative sense. Isra’el is an agriculturally based society and thus plants and their life cycle are used throughout the Word of God to describe various aspects of God, His Word, and ourselves.

Don't you know? Don't you hear? Haven't you been told from the start? Don't you understand how the earth is set up? He who sits above the circle of the earth — for whom its inhabitants appear like grasshoppers — stretches out the heavens like a curtain, spreads them out like a tent to live in. He reduces princes to nothing, the rulers of the earth to emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely their stem taken root in the ground, when he blows on them, they dry up, and the whirlwind carries them off like straw. "With whom, then, will you compare me? With whom am I equal?" asks the Holy One. [Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 40:21-25]

 Notice that the roots of the wicked are shallow, which make them easy to blow away. Now compare this to the roots of Isra’el.

" 'Meanwhile, the remnant of the house of Y'hudah that has escaped will again take root downward and bear fruit upward; for a remnant will go out from Yerushalayim, those escaping will go out from Mount Tziyon. The zeal of Adonai-Tzva'ot will accomplish this.' [M’lakhim Bet/2 Kings 19:30-31]

 In a world of difficulty and hardship, it is important for God’s people to have roots that are deep. Faith in God allows for deep roots that make the rest of the tree immovable. Even if the tree is damaged, it can survive and even revive if the roots are healthy and deep. In difficulty, the wicked fall, because they have no root or the root they have is shallow and weak.
What is important is what the nature of this root is. As Messianics, we hear all the time about studying and returning to the “Hebrew roots of the faith”. These roots imply Torah. The idea that comes from this is that our faith starts with Torah, which then leads to Yeshua as the Messiah and faith in Him. From there, we have the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Biblically, this is where we have a problem.

On that day the root of Yishai, which stands as a banner for the peoples — the Goyim will seek him out, and the place wherehe rests will be glorious. [Yesha’yahu/Isaiah 11:10]

For before him he grew up like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He was not well-formed or especially handsome; we saw him, but his appearance did not attract us. [Yesha’yahu 53:2]

One of the elders said to me, "Don't cry. Look, the Lion of the tribe of Y'hudah, the Root of David, has won the right to open the scroll and its seven seals." [Revelation 5:5]

"I, Yeshua, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the Messianic communities. I am the Root and Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star. [Revelation 22:16]

 The Hebrew root of our faith is not Torah, but Yeshua. So Believers in Yeshua don’t need to return to the roots of the faith, they are already there. Torah is not the beginning of our faith, Yeshua is. So where does Torah fit in?

Therefore, as fire licks up the stubble, and the chaff is consumed in the flame; so their root will rot, and their flowers scatter like dust; because they have rejected the Torah of Adonai-Tzva'ot, they have despised the word of the Holy One of Isra'el. [Yesha’yahu 5:24]

Here is what Adonai says: "For Isra'el's three crimes, no, four — I will not reverse it — because they sell the upright for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes, grinding the heads of the poor in the dust and pushing the lowly out of the way; father and son sleep with the same girl, profaning my holy name; lying down beside any altar on clothes taken in pledge; drinking wine in the house of their God bought with fines they imposed. "I destroyed the Emori before them; though tall as cedars and strong as oaks, I destroyed their fruit above and their root below. [Amos 2:6-9]

Already the axe is at the root of the trees, ready to strike; every tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown in the fire! [Mattityahu/Matthew 3:10]

Torah is about what we do. What do trees do? They produce fruit. If they fail to produce fruit, they are worthless and likely will be cut down by a farmer to grow trees that will produce fruit.

"I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch which is part of me but fails to bear fruit, he cuts off; and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, so that it may bear more fruit. Right now, because of the word which I have spoken to you, you are pruned. Stay united with me, as I will with you — for just as the branch can't put forth fruit by itself apart from the vine, so you can't bear fruit apart from me. "I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who stay united with me, and I with them, are the ones who bear much fruit; because apart from me you can't do a thing. Unless a person remains united with me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up. Such branches are gathered and thrown into the fire, where they are burned up. [Yochanan/John 15:1-6]

Yeshua is both the root and the vine. Really the only difference is the root is below ground and the vine is above. We are the branches which are attached to the vine of Yeshua. If we are properly connected, we are expected to bear fruit. Bearing fruit is a natural result of being connected with the vine. Observing Torah ought to be a natural result of being attached to our vine and our root. Torah is our fruit, which grows through the work of the Holy Spirit. It does not come of our own accord. A tree needs the sun to grow fruit, likewise we need God to produce fruit. The branches have to be working to grow fruit, however. The sun is not going to grow fruit on its own. It needs branches properly connected to the tree or the vine, with good roots which are growing in healthy soil.

Here is where the analogy makes a complete cycle. Fruit produces seeds, which then get planted into soil, which will in turn produce more trees or vines. In the New Covenant in Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 31:30+, God says that He will put His Torah in the inner most part of our being. The analogy there is that of a husband putting His seed into the innermost part of His wife. The seed is Torah. Seed in Hebrew is zera which means both seed and fruit, as well as human seed and child. It is the beginning and the end because the end produces that which is needed for a new beginning. Torah is the fruit, but also the seed that comes from the fruit and planted to produce a new tree. One of the main words in the Hebrew Scripture for soil is Adamah, the root of which is Adam, which is translated as both soil and man. We are the soil that God plants the seeds of Torah into. These seeds become the root within us, which is the Messiah. Outwardly, Yeshua is our vine, and we are His branches. If we remain faithful and obedient to Him, we will, through the Holy Spirit bear fruit which is Torah, producing seeds that can be planted in the life of someone else, and the cycle continues.

Notice that those who fail to produce fruit are cut down and thrown into the fire. If we do not produce fruit, we are cut off from our root, which is Messiah and our fruit will die. According to Romans 11, those who fail to believe in Messiah are also cut off from the vine, and cast away. Both faith in Yeshua and bearing fruit are necessary to have a healthy tree with deep, strong roots and fruit that all see and enjoy and testify to the greatness of our God.