Ha’azinu
Hear
“Mixed Emotions Poeticized”
Deuteronomy 32:1–52
2 Samuel 22:1–22:51
excerpted from TorahScope, Volume III
Providentially, the Ha’azinu Torah portion is often read, studied, and contemplated, during the season of the Fall high holidays of Yom Teruah/Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. Any serious meditation upon the closing chapters of Deuteronomy, and in particular the song which Moses composed, will undoubtedly see passion arise from multiple sides of the emotional spectrum. In waxing poetically, for the primary purpose of assisting memorization by Israel, this esteemed chosen leader and deliverer—who at his advanced age was preparing to die—summarized not just what he had experienced in the travails of the forty year sojourn, but he also looked forward to much of the judgment which was to come to Israel. Gratefully, his song does include the promise that God will render appropriate judgment on the enemies of His own, and will provide restitution and restoration for Israel. But as is apparent from Moses’ prophetic song, the journey to vindication would be strewn with the bones of a disobedient nation, which would chronically disappoint its God with idol worship, and independent reliance upon mortal strength and abilities. Everyone who is considering Ha’azinu this week, should humbly admit that these patterns of behavior are not just reserved for the Ancient Israelites—but are things which every generation of people seeking the will of the Holy One in times since, has had to struggle with.
However, without belaboring the obvious heart challenges discussed centuries later by the Apostle Paul (Romans 7), the ultimate solution to the sin problem rests in belief and trust in Yeshua the Messiah. We can detect Messianic references through the Tanakh, and even in Moses’ song in Ha’azinu, as we can read about the Rock and/or the Rock of salvation (cf. Deuteronomy 32:25; Psalm 18:2, 46; 62:2, 6, 7; 89:26; 95:1; Isaiah 17:10). Nevertheless, as Moses readily pointed out, despite direct knowledgeable access to God as the Rock—every crooked and perverse generation has been plagued with faithlessness, and the blatant obstreperous tendency to foolishly follow the inclinations of fallen, human flesh:
“Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth. My doctrine will drop as the rain. My speech will condense as the dew, as the misty rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb. For I will proclaim the LORD’s name. Ascribe greatness to our God! The Rock: his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness who does no wrong, just and right is he. They have dealt corruptly with him. They are not his children, because of their defect. They are a perverse and crooked generation. Is this the way you repay the LORD, foolish and unwise people? Isn’t he your father who has bought you? He has made you and established you” (Deuteronomy 32:1-6, WMB).
In order to remind the Ancient Israelites of their inheritance, Moses recanted an historical perspective, recalling the details of many of the blessings which had been bestowed upon them. God chose Israel to be the unique nation, which can essentially be viewed as a barometric measuring rod on world history, with His eye constantly trained on them, despite any protestations from within or without:
“Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the children of men, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. For the LORD’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his feathers. The LORD alone led him. There was no foreign god with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock; butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the finest of the wheat. From the blood of the grape, you drank wine” (Deuteronomy 32:7-14, WMB).
While the blessings are too many to count, the responsibility to represent the Almighty to the nations of the world comes with a high price—especially when material abundance has a tendency to lead to self-reliance. Moses foresaw that even as He referred to Israel with the loving, poetic, and almost romantic expression of Yeshurun, the people of Israel took their blessings for granted and scorned the Rock of salvation. Like a loving husband which recognizes that his wife is no longer totally faithful, but considering other lovers—God’s jealousy would result in an age-long attempt to woo back His chosen people, using whatever means necessary, so that His plans for humanity will ultimately be fulfilled:
“But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation. They moved him to jealousy with strange gods. They provoked him to anger with abominations. They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they didn’t know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers didn’t dread. Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth. The LORD saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. He said, ‘I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire. I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them. They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, with the venom of vipers that glide in the dust. Outside the sword will bereave, and in the rooms, terror on both young man and virgin, the nursing infant with the gray-haired man. I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men; were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, ‘Our hand is exalted; the LORD has not done all this’” (Deuteronomy 32:15-27, WMB).
Jealousy is an incredibly strong emotion, and one of the many characteristics of the Holy One of Israel (Exodus 20:5). In fact, His jealous attribute is also one name which the Almighty referred to Himself years earlier, during the desert sojourn:
“He said, ‘Behold, I make a covenant: before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been worked in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD; for it is an awesome thing that I do with you. Observe that which I command you today. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Be careful, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be for a snare among you; but you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherah poles; for you shall worship no other god; for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Don’t make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice; and you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters play the prostitute after their gods, and make your sons play the prostitute after their gods” (Exodus 34:10-16, WMB).
Being consistent with His revealed Word, the Lord is dutifully bound to punish the people of Israel, when they foolishly wander away from under His wings and worship false idols. When one considers the extreme measures the Lord employed to get the attention of His people—which would include other nations, misfortune, famine, plagues, teeth of beasts, venom of serpents, and swords—one can readily understand that self-oriented people naturally migrate toward faithlessness in the Holy One, until they realize the severity of their unbelief.
At this point, Moses reminded Israel how they had been given a gift of revelation from Him, with many promises which should warrant understanding and the ability to discern their future—especially since they had witnessed the many miracles and deliverances, already performed during their deliverance from Egypt. With the comparative analysis of the inadequacies of false gods versus what the Holy One had accomplished, one might think it would incite Israel to lean even more upon Him. But as the poem forcefully continues, Moses assured the Israelites that despite their reluctance to seek Him, the Almighty One would ultimately take vengeance upon even those He would use to chastise His people:
“‘For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them. Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had delivered them up? For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves concede. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poison grapes. Their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps. Isn’t this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures? Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides, for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.’ For the LORD will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large. He will say, ‘Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, which ate the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you! Let them be your protection’” (Deuteronomy 32:28-38, WMB).
Apparently, because of God’s jealous love for Israel, He would despise the worshippers of false gods even more—because they failed, for whatever reasons, to be called into an understanding that there is only One True God over Creation. Why only some from the nations eventually come to Him for salvation, has been perplexing humanity for eons—but without debating the merits of the arguments which lead many to believe that God does not even exist, the fact remains that according to these recorded words, the Holy One of Israel will mete out justice, render vengeance on His adversaries, and repay those who hate Him:
“‘See now that I myself am he. There is no god with me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven and declare, as I live forever, if I sharpen my glittering sword, my hand grasps it in judgment; I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy.’ Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries, and will make atonement for his land and for his people. Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun” (Deuteronomy 32:39-44, WMB).
Eventually, as history has proven, there will be nations on the Earth which literally rejoice over the workings of the Lord, recognizing that there is a sovereign plan for His Creation. Regardless of humanity’s meager attempts to thwart or subvert His will, all activities on Earth, whether for good or evil, are ultimately allowed by Him for His purposes. This is why some verses related by the Apostle Paul, become such a comfort to many Messiah followers, when unfathomable things which occur individually, or to others, or to nations, do not seem to make logical human sense:
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us. For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees? But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with patience. In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered. He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit’s mind, because he makes intercession for the holy ones according to God. We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:18-28, WMB).
With the Spirit-led understanding that God is in control of the affairs of people—despite lives and events which seem out of control—ultimately the Almighty is going to sort things out. Because He is absolutely just, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, He will never disappoint those who are His. The age old challenge for all, is to make sure that adoption as a child of the Most High is secured, so that reliance upon the innermost groans of the Holy Spirit will be met with dependence upon Him in all things.
Finally, before the details of Moses’ death are inserted, recollecting his personal lack of faith—Moses reminded the people of Israel then, and hence all reading this poem today, that all words of the instruction are to be carefully observed, because they were not idle sayings but literally words of life. If obedience to the words is accomplished, then the promises and blessings of God will be demonstrated:
“Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries, and will make atonement for his land and for his people. Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel. He said to them, ‘Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you today, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. For it is no vain thing for you, because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land, where you go over the Jordan to possess it.’ The LORD spoke to Moses that same day, saying, ‘Go up into this mountain of Abarim, to Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is across from Jericho; and see the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel for a possession. Die on the mountain where you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor, and was gathered to his people; because you trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you didn’t uphold my holiness among the children of Israel. For you shall see the land from a distance; but you shall not go there into the land which I give the children of Israel’” (Deuteronomy 32:43-52, WMB).
However, as noted by the final few verses of Ha’azinu, even someone as uniquely chosen as Moses, to lead Israel out of Egypt, did not get to enter into the Land of Promise because of the overwhelming weight of his good works. Due to his lack of faith at the waters of Meribah, Moses had to suffer the disappointment of not entering into Canaan with the people of Israel, despite his pleadings:
“I begged GOD at that time, saying, ‘Lord GOD, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or in earth that can do works like yours, and mighty acts like yours? Please let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that fine mountain, and Lebanon.’ But the LORD was angry with me because of you, and didn’t listen to me. The LORD said to me, ‘That is enough! Speak no more to me of this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and see with your eyes; for you shall not go over this Jordan’” (Deuteronomy 3:23-27, WMB).
Moses was able to gaze upon the Promised Land, and definitely knew it existed and that the Israelites were going to eventually take up occupancy, albeit with many challenges. But he was not permitted to enter, because he was simply reaping what he had sown, in a fit of anger back at Meribah. This sad, final destiny for Moses, should be a sobering wake up call for all who call upon the Holy One of Israel, even with trust in the accomplished work of Messiah Yeshua. After all, one might have the assurance that he or she has been born from above by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, but this does not make one exempt from reaping what is sown during the course of life. Because the Almighty is absolutely just in all of His deliberations and judgments, everyone will be held accountable for not only what they do and say, but even the thoughts of every individual are recorded in the books written about in Revelation:
“I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Sheol gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works. Death and Sheol were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:12-15, WMB).
If one considers that human civilization is approaching the point where so much can be stored digitally, imagine that the Creator has capably recorded everything which has ever been done down through the time, space, and matter compendium He created—and that He has infinitesimal knowledge about every molecule which He personally formed. It is not a stretch to comprehend that everything a person has done, is in their individual “file,” so to speak. Think about this for a moment. Are you ready to have your file opened and reviewed before the throne if your name is not written in the Book of Life? Now do you understand why Paul stated how Believers in Messiah Yeshua need to all work out their salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12)?
“So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and arguing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world, holding up the word of life, that I may have something to boast in the day of Messiah that I didn’t run in vain nor labor in vain” (Philippians 2:12-16, WMB).
Did you notice in the context of what the Apostle was declaring to God’s people in the First Century—which was widely a crooked and perverse generation, very much like Moses’ cohort—that those who profess belief in God are to not grumble or dispute in order to properly represent Him? After all, it is the Holy One of Israel who is at work to accomplish His will for His good pleasure, despite any protestations which might be aroused from the circumstances of individual and corporate life.
While you contemplate Moses’ instructional poetic discourse this week in Ha’azinu, there might be many personal issues to reflect upon, and confess and repent of, during the soon approaching season of our joy for Sukkot. This is a time when our focus, as always, needs to remain fixed on Yeshua the Messiah, and how Believers can proclaim Him more accurately through good deeds and actions—rather than just hollow words—while advancing His Kingdom, until the restoration of all things…
