Ekev
Because
“Simply Because”
Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25
Isaiah 49:14-51:3
excerpted from TorahScope, Volume III
In last week’s parashah, Moses concluded the recitation of what the Lord expected of Israel, by reminding the people that He did not choose them for service to Him because they were a mighty nation, but rather because He was a covenant keeping God who had made some unbreakable promises to the Patriarchs. The responsibility was then placed upon the Israelites, to keep the commandments and statutes which had been communicated by their loving God, in order to reap the blessings of being a chosen nation for His possession:
“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth. The LORD didn’t set his love on you nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because he desires to keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God himself is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness to a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments, and repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack to him who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore keep the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances which I command you today, to do them” (Deuteronomy 7:6-11, WMB).
Now, in turning to this week’s Torah reading, we see how the Lord reaffirmed the requirement to listen, keep, and do what He had spoken, in order for His people to receive blessings from the promises given. Without hesitation, readers see a listing of all of the blessings which the Lord was bestowing upon Israel. The ultimate privilege was having the Almighty in their very midst, not only fighting their enemies—but providing abundantly from the Promised Land, and insuring a progeny which would proliferate and thrive:
“It shall happen, because you listen to these ordinances and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the loving kindness which he swore to your fathers. He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your livestock and the young of your flock, in the land which he swore to your fathers to give you. You will be blessed above all peoples. There won’t be male or female barren among you, or among your livestock. The LORD will take away from you all sickness; and he will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, on you, but will lay them on all those who hate you. You shall consume all the peoples whom the LORD your God shall deliver to you. Your eye shall not pity them. You shall not serve their gods; for that would be a snare to you. If you shall say in your heart, ‘These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?’ you shall not be afraid of them. You shall remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So shall the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. Moreover the LORD your God will send the hornet among them, until those who are left, and hide themselves, perish from before you. You shall not be scared of them; for the LORD your God is among you, a great and awesome God. The LORD your God will cast out those nations before you little by little. You may not consume them at once, lest the animals of the field increase on you. But the LORD your God will deliver them up before you, and will confuse them with a great confusion, until they are destroyed. He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under the sky. No one will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. You shall burn the engraved images of their gods with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourself, lest you be snared in it; for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. You shall not bring an abomination into your house and become a devoted thing like it. You shall utterly detest it. You shall utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing” (Deuteronomy 7:12-26, WMB).
However, Israel was never to receive a “free ride,” but was to be responsible to follow the ways of the Lord, by recognizing that the people would be accountable for their disobedient actions. The discipline, which the Lord would issue upon the disobedient, would be like the Lord disciplining a child. The love and concern of the Holy One was so intense for Israel, that He reminded the people of their duties in a relatable manner, like the innate desire parents have for the well being of their offspring:
“You shall observe to do all the commandments which I command you today, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers. You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. He humbled you, allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that he might teach you that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the LORD’s mouth. Your clothing didn’t grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years. You shall consider in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you. You shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him” (Deuteronomy 8:1-6, WMB).
The Creator God knows the nature of prideful, fallen humanity, and the freewill tendency of people to avoid dependency on His provision and protection—seeking independence from Him, in order to do what is preferable in their own limited eyes. A warning was issued to Israel, because the Omniscient One already knew what was going to eventually take place, as Israel moved through time:
“You shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which he has given you. Beware lest you forget the LORD your God, in not keeping his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command you today; lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built fine houses and lived in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; then your heart might be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Deuteronomy 8:10-14, WMB).
Lamentably, because God is absolutely just with His Creation, following embedded designs such as reaping what is sown and laws of unintended consequences for disobedient actions taken, we see that in a similar way to what was about to happen to the godless nations Israel was to displace—the same destiny awaited Israel, because the people would eventually not listen to the voice of the Lord and obey His commandments:
“who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with venomous snakes and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who poured water for you out of the rock of flint; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn’t know, that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end; and lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.’ But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is today. It shall be, if you shall forget the LORD your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you shall surely perish. As the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish, because you wouldn’t listen to the LORD your God’s voice” (Deuteronomy 8:15-20, WMB).
Human pride, leading to willful disobedience, is an awful stumbling block for people to overcome. So in categorical terms, the Lord repeated three times to Israel, that they were not being blessed because of their inherent righteousness—but rather simply because of His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:
“Don’t say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out from before you, ‘For my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land;’ because the LORD drives them out before you because of the wickedness of these nations. Not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Know therefore that the LORD your God doesn’t give you this good land to possess for your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people” (Deuteronomy 9:4-6, WMB).
Considering these words today is critical, for growth in one’s walk with the Holy One of Israel. The Scriptures are replete with warnings about the incipient rise of pride in the heart of human beings, and just how much the Lord despises its emergence:
“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil. I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth” (Proverbs 8:13, WMB).
“Pride goes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18, WMB).
Throughout the Bible, readers see how it is the humble of heart, who will obtain the favor of the Lord:
“A man’s pride brings him low, but one of lowly spirit gains honor” (Proverbs 29:23, WMB).
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11, WMB).
Of course, the ultimate example of humility was exhibited by Yeshua the Messiah, who was incarnated as a human being and humbled Himself, to be the sacrifice for all sinners. The vindication of His humiliation is seen in His exaltation, and how all Creation will recognize His Lordship:
“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend [Isaiah 45:23], in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:5-11, NRSV).
Are not the faithful to emulate His actions of service, while being conformed to His image (Romans 8:29)?
Returning to this week’s Torah portion, Moses now described his intermediary role as an intercessor for the rebellious Israelites. Recalling the golden calf incident, and the other times the people of Israel provoked the Lord’s wrath, one is reminded of the sad testimony that God’s chosen have widely been an insubordinate people, since the Father first chose them for their unique mission among the nations:
“Furthermore the LORD spoke to me, saying, ‘I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. Leave me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the sky; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’ So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire. The two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God. You had made yourselves a molded calf. You had quickly turned away from the way which the LORD had commanded you. I took hold of the two tablets, and threw them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, to provoke him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was angry against you to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me that time also. The LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire, and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. I threw its dust into the brook that descended out of the mountain. At Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked the LORD to wrath. When the LORD sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you,’ you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and you didn’t believe him or listen to his voice. You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you” (Deuteronomy 9:13-24, WMB).
Regretfully, the disobedient, prideful patterns established by Ancient Israel, still continue to plague God’s people today—even though since the arrival of Yeshua, redeemed people empowered with the decisive, indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, should be behaving differently. This sad reality makes one pause and even question whether some, who claim to be faithful followers of the Holy One, are truly everything they think they are. But since a final judgment of one’s salvation is due only to Him, it is better for us to just ascertain what the Lord has created each of us individually to do, and let Him accomplish whatever He wants, through willfully submitting our will to His.
Next, Moses shared his actions to prevent the Lord from obliterating the Ancient Israelites, which makes an excellent case for the necessity of intercessory prayer before Him:
“So I fell down before the LORD the forty days and forty nights that I fell down, because the LORD had said he would destroy you. I prayed to the LORD, and said, “Lord GOD, don’t destroy your people and your inheritance that you have redeemed through your greatness, that you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Don’t look at the stubbornness of this people, nor at their wickedness, nor at their sin, lest the land you brought us out from say, ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’ Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm” (Deuteronomy 9:25-29, WMB).
May each of us today look at this example, and consider how it is through the faithful prayers of the holy ones or saints, that the Lord hears and responds according to His will. God’s love and goodness extend not only to the rich and powerful, but also to helpless widows, orphans, sojourners, aliens, and those who are down and out. The admonition issued, for His people, was for their hearts to be circumcised, so that they could be sensitive to the Lord, His ways, and His dealings:
“I stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights; and the LORD listened to me that time also. The LORD would not destroy you. The LORD said to me, ‘Arise, take your journey before the people; and they shall go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give to them.’ Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep the LORD’s commandments and statutes, which I command you today for your good? Behold, to the LORD your God belongs heaven, the heaven of heavens, and the earth, with all that is therein. Only the LORD had a delight in your fathers to love them, and he chose their offspring after them, even you above all peoples, as it is today. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked. For the LORD your God, he is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the awesome, who doesn’t respect persons or take bribes. He executes justice for the fatherless and widow and loves the foreigner in giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve him. You shall cling to him, and you shall swear by his name. He is your praise, and he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons; and now the LORD your God has made you as the stars of the sky for multitude” (Deuteronomy 10:10-22, WMB).
The Holy One had chosen Israel to be a light unto the nations (Isaiah 42:6), and in order to fulfill their mission to the world, they were to follow His ways so that they could not only be blessed, but be a blessing to all they would encounter. Sometimes when one knows this is the plan, the question arises as to just how poorly the mission was being completed. But from limited human knowledge and understanding, one needs to humbly concede that the Almighty has, is, and will accomplish His will for the Creation. Our individual and corporate choice as a part of His people today—is to be part of the solution—rather than contributing to the multitude of problems.
Repetition is a wonderful methodology for teaching, so without hesitation, Moses continued to remind the Israelites not only of the charge to obey, but once again issued a reminder about what had transpired over the previous forty years of sojourning in the desert, on the way to the Promised Land. How do we take these words to heart, as we seek to embody their essential principles in our own hearts and minds, seeking to accomplish the Father’s will?
“Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep his instructions, his statutes, his ordinances, and his commandments, always. Know this day—for I don’t speak with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm, his signs, and his works, which he did in the middle of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to all his land; and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Sea of Suf to overflow them as they pursued you, and how the LORD has destroyed them to this day; and what he did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place; and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben—how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the middle of all Israel; but your eyes have seen all of the LORD’s great work which he did. Therefore you shall keep the entire commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land that you go over to possess; and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. For the land, where you go in to possess isn’t like the land of Egypt that you came out of, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs; but the land that you go over to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of the sky, a land which the LORD your God cares for. The LORD your God’s eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year. It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. Be careful, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn away to serve other gods and worship them; and the LORD’s anger be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky so that there is no rain, and the land doesn’t yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD gives you” (Deuteronomy 11:1-17, WMB).
The constant reminder that the heart can be deceived, helps to serve as a proper conclusion for this Torah portion. A propensity to lack discernment, perhaps exacerbated by the pride spoken of earlier, has done and will continue to do irreparable damage to the progress of God’s plan, unless people can truly have circumcised and transformed hearts. But regardless of the self-imposed impediments which foster discouragement among God’s people, there is the continual admonition to press forward and constantly reread, reevaluate, and rehearse the truths of the written, Biblical testimony—in order to continue the process through each successive generation. Our Torah portion ends with the Lord defining the Promised Land, with its borders extending from the Mediterranean Sea to the banks of the Euphrates River:
“Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates; that your days and your children’s days may be multiplied in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth. For if you shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you—to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him—then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the western sea shall be your border. No man will be able to stand before you. The LORD your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you tread on, as he has spoken to you” (Deuteronomy 11:18-25, WMB).
Because the Lord cannot lie and will absolutely fulfill His promises, each of us has much to look forward to in the years ahead, as we will all somehow participate in the final restoration of Israel. Of course, the intrinsic problems of human nature will always be a challenge, but with perseverance and the gentle leading of the Spirit of the Most High, God’s plans will be done. Simply because!
May He give each of us our assignments to advance His Kingdom on Earth, while we continue to have breath in our lungs, and the willing hearts to submit our will to His!
