Nitzavim
Standing
“Choose Life”
Deuteronomy 29:9[10]-30:20
Isaiah 61:10-63:9
V’yeilekh
And he went
Deuteronomy 31:1-30
Hosea 14:2-10; Micah 7:18-20;
Joel 2:15-27
excerpted from TorahScope, Volume II
The annual Torah cycle has begun to wind down. On typical years, this Shabbat is known as Shabbat Shuvah or the Sabbath of Repentance (or Return), and it usually falls between Yom Teruah/Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. During what is intended to be a season of repentance, the Ten Days of Awe from 01-10 Tishri, provide followers of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob an annual opportunity to reflect upon their relationship with Him, and their required return to Him and to His ways.
The Holy One of Israel desires to have a meaningful relationship with His people. As followers of the Lord, we have each been called out of the world to be a treasured possession unto Him. This is what Moses declared in Deuteronomy 26:18-19:
“The LORD has declared today that you are a people for his own possession [l’am segullah], as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments. He will make you high above all nations that he has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people [am-qadosh] to the LORD your God, as he has spoken” (Deuteronomy 26:18-19, WMB).
Please note that being a people for the possession of the Almighty has some incumbent responsibilities—notably that His people obey Him. The results of obedience to God are praise, fame, honor, and ultimately composing those who can be used to proclaim His goodness to a sinful world:
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel” (Exodus 19:5-6, WMB).
If you consider yourself to be a follower of the Most High, and recognize that you are His treasured possession, then I would urge you to consider the great responsibility He has truly given to you. As we all compose a kingdom of priests (cf. 1 Peter 2:5, 9), we have the job of interceding for the lost of Planet Earth. I believe that this season is an excellent time to review your relationship with the Almighty. As you turn to Him in confession and prayer, recognize that He willingly accepts a broken spirit and contrite heart. Turn to Him for forgiveness of sin and iniquity, so that you can be fully restored to Him and be able to serve Him more effectively:
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. O God, you will not despise a broken and contrite heart” (Psalm 51:17, WMB).
The Apostle John instructed Believers in Yeshua that they have the additional assurance that through heartfelt confession, their transgressions are forgiven:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, WMB).
For Shabbat Shuvah, I pray that all who read this commentary will take some time to go before our Heavenly Father and confess sins of commission or omission. I also pray that we will all be reconciled one to another, as we allow the Holy Spirit to enact a special work on our hearts and minds.
As we turn to this week’s Torah reading, we find that Moses reached 120 years old, and was ready to pass on the mantle of leadership to Joshua, before his death:
“He said to them, ‘I am one hundred twenty years old today. I can no more go out and come in. The LORD has said to me, “You shall not go over this Jordan.” The LORD your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua will go over before you, as the LORD has spoken” (Deuteronomy 31:2-3, WMB).
Joshua had been the faithful servant of Moses for nearly forty years. His service went back to his youth:
“Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered, ‘My lord Moses, forbid them!’” (Numbers 11:28, WMB).
He led the Israelites in the battle against Amalek after departing Egypt:
“When the children of Israel had grown strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and didn’t utterly drive them out” (Exodus 17:13, WMB).
Joshua accompanied Moses to the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments from God:
“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain, and stay here, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commands that I have written, that you may teach them.’ Moses rose up with Joshua, his servant, and Moses went up onto God’s Mountain” (Exodus 24:12-13, WMB).
Joshua, along with Caleb, came back from Canaan with a good report:
“But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive of those men who went to spy out the land” (Numbers 14:38, WMB).
God instructed Moses to lay his hands on Joshua in front of the Israelites, to indicate that he would follow in Moses’ position and lead the people into the Promised Land:
“Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. He laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD spoke by Moses…Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it” (Numbers 27:22-23; Deuteronomy 1:38, WMB).
Now as our Torah reading begins, Moses realized that Joshua was ready to inherit the leadership responsibilities for Israel. It is at this point where Moses exhorted the people to “be strong and courageous,” prior to entering the Promised Land:
“‘Be strong and courageous [chizqu v’imtzu]. Don’t be afraid or scared of them, for the LORD your God himself is who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you.’ Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ‘Be strong and courageous [chazaq v’ematz], for you shall go with this people into the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it. The LORD himself is who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged’” (Deuteronomy 31:6-8, WMB).
In a comforting word, Moses said that God would not fail Israel or forsake Israel. In order to reaffirm Joshua’s position, Moses turned to Joshua and repeated the words of encouragement, to be strong and courageous. Joshua had been a firsthand witness of God’s guidance and deliverance of Israel for nearly forty years. Observing and serving Moses had prepared him for leadership for some time. But still, Moses was led to encourage him directly. In fact, at the end of this statement Moses added the words, “Do not fear or be dismayed” (NASU). Moses had told the same thing to the Israelites earlier, when recounting the mission of the twelve spies to venture into Canaan:
“Behold, the LORD your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the LORD the God of your fathers has spoken to you. Don’t be afraid, neither be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 1:21, WMB).
We need to remember that God’s people, in spite of the written record of Scripture and testimony of Biblical witnesses, do have the tendency to become fearful and dismayed. Moses, more than anyone else, knew this from his personal observations over the previous forty years. Moses was very concerned about the destiny of Israel. At the end of this parashah, Moses reiterated these same words to Joshua. This time, Moses also added the request to put the scroll of the Torah next to the Ark of the Covenant, so that it would remain a witness against Israel:
“He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, ‘Be strong and courageous; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them. I will be with you.’ When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the LORD’s covenant, saying, ‘Take this scroll of the Torah, and put it by the side of the ark of the LORD your God’s covenant, that it may be there for a witness against you. For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the LORD. How much more after my death? Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn away from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will happen to you in the latter days, because you will do that which is evil in the LORD’s sight, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands’” (Deuteronomy 31:23-29, WMB).
Remember that Moses had already prophesied what would happen to Israel if and when they acted corruptly. Here, he once again called upon Heaven and Earth to be witnesses against the people. If you will recall, these were the same two witnesses Moses called upon when he gave Israel the choice of life and death:
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants” (Deuteronomy 30:19, WMB).
Heaven and Earth still testify against God’s people, and the choices of life or death—blessing or curse, favor or penalty—still remain to those of us who live in this generation. God’s Word can stand against us as a third witness of what will happen when we choose to obey, or disobey, Him. Much like Ancient Israel would face neighbors who tried to lead them astray from God, so do we face obstacles and temptations which can likewise take us away from Him.
Before Deuteronomy 31 concludes, Moses added a prophetic statement based on his observations of Ancient Israel for the previous forty years:
“For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn away from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will happen to you in the latter days, because you will do that which is evil in the LORD’s sight, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands” (Deuteronomy 31:29, WMB).
As the shepherd of Israel since the Exodus from Egypt, Moses knew how the people would react after his death, even with the anointed leadership of Joshua. Moses was able to look to the future and make a reference to the evil which will come upon them in the Last Days. Certainly today, we are seeing much of what Moses foresaw coming to pass, when many are doing evil in the sight of the Lord. But let us not forget that God’s people have always been given a choice.
Today, we can choose to follow and obey the Lord, or choose disobedience and suffer the consequences. This is one of the huge reasons why a season of returning to the Lord is so vitally important to us. This is a time for individual and corporate confession and repentance. We can be spiritually strengthened, and resolve ourselves to another year of service and devotion unto Him.
In spite of the propensity to wander, the promises of God to restore His people are replete throughout the Bible. Interestingly enough, when you consider the Haftarah selection for this week, you find that the Hebrew term shuvah, used for the designation Shabbat Shuvah, comes from the first word in Hosea 14:
“Israel, return [shuvah Yisrael] to the LORD your God; for you have fallen because of your sin. Take words with you, and return to the LORD. Tell him, ‘Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good; so we offer bulls as we vowed of our lips. Assyria can’t save us. We won’t ride on horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, “Our gods!” for in you the fatherless finds mercy.’ I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, and send down his roots like Lebanon. His branches will spread, and his beauty will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon. Men will dwell in his shade. They will revive like the grain, and blossom like the vine. Their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? I answer, and will take care of him. I am like a green cypress tree; from me your fruit is found.’ Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Who is prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them” (Hosea 14:1-9, WMB).
In this oracle concerning the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the prophecy of Moses about evil is echoed. The Northern Kingdom departed from the Torah, pursued evil, and suffered the consequences of disobedience toward God. This included the punishment brought upon them by the Assyrians, as they were largely exiled, scattered, and assimilated. Hosea pleaded with these people to return to the Lord! Hosea exhorted them to ask God for forgiveness while confessing their sins. Hosea reminded them not to rely on the work of their hands or their own strength. Hosea invoked the reality that as orphans, they would find their pity only in the Holy One.
God will respond to these pleas by declaring that He will heal the affliction of the people and take them back in love. As His anger will turn away from their disobedience, He will cover them like dew and the boughs of a cypress tree. Returning to God will result in blessings of new grain, new wine, and abundant fruit. Hosea confirms that confession and repentance have great rewards to all who return to Him. Hosea’s final admonition was that the wise consider his words, and the discerning and righteous walk in His ways, while sinners stumble.
These are encouraging admonitions to consider in association with Shabbat Shuvah. However, just reading or hearing these words will not benefit anyone unless he or she acts upon them. But in order to act, one must have faith in the testimony of Moses. And, one must be strong and courageous to overcome any of the thoughts or doubts which prevent a person from exercising his or her will to confess, repent, and return to God.
It is my prayer that God would give each of us the strength and courage to be honest with Him in this season of repentance. I pray that the confession of our lips will touch His heart, and that He will restore us into His loving arms. The author of Hebrews specifically declared how Yeshua is the same yesterday, today, and forever—not only speaking of His timelessness—but also in His ever-present compassion and mercy:
“for he has said, ‘I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you [Deuteronomy 31:6].’ So that with good courage we say, ‘The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me? [Psalm 118:6]’ Remember your leaders, men who spoke to you the word of God, and considering the results of their conduct, imitate their faith. Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:5b-8, WMB).
May we entreat and receive the Lord’s mercy always!
