V’et’chanan
I pleaded
“Promises Reiterated to a Chosen Nation”
Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11
Isaiah 40:1-26
excerpted from TorahScope, Volume III
This week’s parashah is so filled with incredible descriptions of the Lord’s love, promises, and anticipated plans for His chosen people—that direct quotations from this reading will be extensively repeated, because I feel that not much can be really added to the compelling words of Moses. For clearly, after the opening paragraph where Moses made his final appeal to the Almighty, to gain entrance into the Promised Land—the realization that he was going to die prior to Israel’s entry, undoubtedly inspired him to simply restate, in a very precise and succinct manner, many of the promises and admonitions communicated to Israel over the previous forty-year sojourn. In precise language, the Ancient Israelites received a summary account of what was promised, and most importantly, what was required of them in final preparation to invade Canaan, with Joshua as their new leader, following the death of Moses:
“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. But commission Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you shall see.’ So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor” (Deuteronomy 3:23-29, WMB).
Now that Moses’ fate was understood, he turned to reminding Israel of the critical need to take his words of discourse seriously, not adding to them or taking away from them. Not only was Israel to cling to the Lord, with the understanding that they were a uniquely chosen nation, with a mission from Him to not only take their inheritance—but that they were to retain their new territorial possession, by faithfully remembering what had been communicated to them, and inculcating it to future generations:
“Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances which I teach you, to do them, that you may live and go in and possess the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, gives you. You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baal Peor; for the LORD your God has destroyed all the men who followed Baal Peor from among you. But you who were faithful to the LORD your God are all alive today. Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do so in the middle of the land where you go in to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who shall hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to them as the LORD our God is whenever we call on him? What great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you today? Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children” (Deuteronomy 4:1-9, WMB).
Of course, understanding that Israel was indeed to be a great nation, with a unique relationship with the Creator who had providentially chosen to impart His wisdom to them—made it imperative that the current and future generations were to instruct their progeny with these blessed truths. Hence, we find in history how the Jewish Sages developed various systematic studies of the Torah, which certainly allow students and followers of the Almighty to consistently review, and hopefully, actively rehearse these truths.
Maintaining absolute trust in the Holy One was going to be crucial, for enduring success in the Promised Land. Moses turned to recollecting the words spoken by the Lord and heard by the Ancient Israelites, with the specific reminder that the Decalogue (the Ten Words or Ten Commandments) included the foundational instructions for learning to worship Him, and ultimately for demonstrating love for neighbors. Avoiding the temptations of falling into the traps of the pagan nations the Israelites were to supplant was essential, so Moses pointed out the errors of acting corruptly toward graven images, or even the awesome lure of a wide host of celestial bodies:
“the day that you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD said to me, ‘Assemble the people to me, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’ You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. The LORD spoke to you out of the middle of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice. He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments. He wrote them on two stone tablets. The LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it. Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that the LORD spoke to you in Horeb out of the middle of the fire, lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself a carved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth; and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky. But the LORD has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as it is today” (Deuteronomy 4:10-20, WMB).
The Lord God demanded absolute allegiance to Him and His ways, and by reading these words, each of us should be constantly reminded of even the subtlest forms of idolatry which can seep into the heart. As is admonished, each of us must watch ourselves carefully, because ultimately the Holy One is looking at the hearts of His people. Any deviation from worshipping Him exclusively, will have major negative consequences. Even something as inane as reading a daily horoscope, can turn His face away from His people—so be forewarned that He is a jealous God!
Moses’ admonition to Israel is that the jealous God they were to worship and serve, would absolutely execute judgments, if the Israelites deviated from His instructions. Moses knew the result of his transgression at Meribah, and forecasted that when the people of Israel would fall into corrupting temptations, that God would execute righteous judgment. This would require Him to scatter and exile His people into other nations, where they would naturally be influenced to worship other gods. But as a loving Heavenly Father, He would also provide a solution to disobedience, as His people could repent and turn back to Him. They would be surely able to seek Him with all of their hearts and souls, because the Lord is the One who made irrevocable promises to the Patriarchs, regardless of the lack of faith at times, which would be exhibited by their descendants:
“Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance; but I must die in this land. I must not go over the Jordan, but you shall go over and possess that good land. Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the LORD your God has forbidden you. For the LORD your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. When you father children and children’s children, and you have been long in the land, and then corrupt yourselves, and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the LORD your God’s sight to provoke him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be destroyed. The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will lead you away. There you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But from there you shall seek the LORD your God, and you will find him when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall return to the LORD your God and listen to his voice. For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them. For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been anything as great as this thing is, or has been heard like it? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as you have heard, and live? Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself from among another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? It was shown to you so that you might know that the LORD is God. There is no one else besides him. Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you. On earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the middle of the fire. Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their offspring after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt; to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today. Know therefore today, and take it to heart, that the LORD himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no one else. You shall keep his statutes and his commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD your God gives you for all time” (Deuteronomy 4:21-40, WMB).
How wonderful it is to realize, that despite the human propensity to wander away from the Lord God—He always provides a means to return to Him and reestablish relationship! However as stated, a major key is to not disobey His commandments.
At this point in our Torah reading, having just seen Moses’ emphasis on Israel’s need to adhere to God’s statutes and commandments, Moses repeated the Ten Commandments (cf. Exodus 20). The fact that these are reiterated in this Torah portion, should remind anyone who is seeking the Lord, that He takes these commands very seriously. He expects all of His people, ancient or modern, to adhere to them:
“Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, ‘Hear, Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears today, that you may learn them, and observe to do them.’ The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD didn’t make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive today. The LORD spoke with you face to face on the mountain out of the middle of the fire, (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to show you the LORD’s word; for you were afraid because of the fire, and didn’t go up onto the mountain) saying, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make a carved image for yourself—any likeness of what is in heaven above, or what is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name. Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. You shall labor six days, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, in which you shall not do any work—neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land which the LORD your God gives you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’ The LORD spoke these words to all your assembly on the mountain out of the middle of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice. He added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them to me” (Deuteronomy 5:1-22, WMB).
Of course, the reception of the Decalogue was such a profound experience for Moses and the Israelites, that Moses would follow this, by recalling many of the details of that historic event. He reminded the people how they audibly heard the voice of the Lord, and they responded by promising to follow Him and His word, without ever questioning it. But as experienced during the desert sojourn, Israel’s ability to live up to its word was compromised by years of disobedience, and the subsequent deaths of the generation which fell short of the goal to enter into the Promised Land. Hence, another reminder of the need to keep God’s commandments and receive the blessing rather than the curse, was issued:
“When you heard the voice out of the middle of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; and you said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the middle of the fire. We have seen today that God does speak with man, and he lives. Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the LORD our God’s voice any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as we have, and lived? Go near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say, and tell us all that the LORD our God tells you; and we will hear it, and do it.’ The LORD heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me; and the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have well said all that they have spoken. Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children forever! Go tell them, “Return to your tents.” But as for you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandments, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess.’ You shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn away to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess” (Deuteronomy 5:23-33, WMB).
To ensure their success in the mission to conquer, secure, and occupy Canaan, Moses admonished Israel to diligently teach and keep all of the Lord’s statutes and commandments. What is often known as the Shema is recited, as Israel must bear true allegiance and fidelity to the One God of Creation—and not to any other gods or objects of worship. The blessings of following His ways were noted, with the requirement that God’s people are to fear Him and only Him, as the jealous God does not want to kindle His anger against disobedient children:
“Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land that you go over to possess; that you might fear the LORD your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you—you, your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. Hear, Israel: The LORD is our God. The LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates. It shall be, when the LORD your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities which you didn’t build, and houses full of all good things which you didn’t fill, and cisterns dug out which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees which you didn’t plant, and you shall eat and be full; then beware lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall fear the LORD your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name. You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, for the LORD your God among you is a jealous God, lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 6:1-15, WMB).
Since the Lord is absolutely aware of the proclivity of the human heart to wander away from Him, and was concerned that the people of Israel would continue to “test Him”—as done by the previous generation—Moses reminded His ancient audience about the testimony of what had transpired. The Lord delivered Israel from bondage to the Egyptians:
“You shall not tempt the LORD your God, as you tempted him in Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you. You shall do that which is right and good in the LORD’s sight, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has spoken. When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances, which the LORD our God has commanded you mean?’ then you shall tell your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and the LORD showed great and awesome signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes; and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers. The LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are today. It shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us’” (Deuteronomy 6:16-25, WMB).
Remembering Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, is absolutely critical to understanding the love of our gracious God. This is why the annual remembrance of the Exodus, commemorated at the Passover seder, is so important for His people to come together, and remember His salvation activity!
Our Torah portion closes, as Moses issued this most key instruction, by citing the seven nations which were occupying the Promised Land. He reassured the Israelites that with God going before them, they would utterly destroy them, despite overwhelming odds in military strength. But after the Conquest would be completed, Moses warned Israel about not only the temptation of making covenants with their defeated foes, but also the lure of intermarriage with the pagan women, who might turn Israel toward worshipping other gods (similar to what had already been done on the plains of Moab with the sin of Baal-peor). The absolute reminder that Israel was to be a holy people before the Lord, and a uniquely chosen people exclusively for the possession of the Holy One, should be a great incentive to obey His ways and trust in Him:
“When the LORD your God brings you into the land where you go to possess it, and casts out many nations before you—the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—seven nations greater and mightier than you; and when the LORD your God delivers them up before you, and you strike them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them. You shall not make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son. For that would turn away your sons from following me, that they may serve other gods. So the LORD’s anger would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. But you shall deal with them like this: you shall break down their altars, dash their pillars in pieces, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their engraved images with fire. 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 7:1-11, WMB).
As is noted down through history, as recorded in the balance of the Torah and the Tanakh, Israel has had a tendency to fall into all sorts of idolatry, and general disobedience of God’s ways. Despite the assurance that God is faithful, who keeps His covenantal promises with the Patriarchs, and whose lovingkindness extends to a thousand generations—He is also the God of Creation who will judge those who hate Him and deny His Word, and as is true in far too many cases, His very existence.
With all of these awesome promises and instructions given this week, I hope that everyone, who reads and studies these words, will revel in His sufficiency to not only provide protection and deliverance from the obstacles of life—but that His promises will be fulfilled to those who sincerely search for Him. Finding faith in God must be coupled by trust in His beloved Son, our Messiah Yeshua, who came to Earth to shed His precious blood for the transgressions of all people. For, when disobedience occurs, there is a Divine solution to the problem. Only in Yeshua can ultimate salvation and redemption be found!
