August 2016
Ekev
Torah Reflections 45
Torah Portion Deuteronomy 7 : 12 to 11 : 25
Haftarah Portion Isaiah 49 : 14 – 51 : 3
The Torah of YHWH given to Moses
A most remarkable beginning to our parashah this week. A promise of blessing that is truly astounding.
At the end of last week’s reading we saw God describe these Israelites as “His special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth”. We might describe them as God’s ‘favourites’, because that is exactly what it means.
But as we might expect, there was a condition attached. It is found in the very first verse of our reading and repeated in Chapter 8 verse 1. “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to obey”. Many times in this reading God repeats the caution that they must be careful to be observant and obedient to His commands. But then we look at God’s promises to them, and see that the promised rewards are truly absolutely priceless. (If such a promise were made to a people group or nation today it would be headline news in every media outlet.) This is what it includes:-
* No barrenness in the people or the livestock. Abundant prosperity.
* All sickness removed from the people. No diseases in their ranks. Perfect health.
* No obstacle to their possession of the Land. An almost ‘walk in walk out’ situation of the Land. No struggle for a home to dwell in. The Lord Himself will deliver the Land to them.
* Nothing will be able to stand in your way.
But there is some work to be done. Amongst the conditions there are these requirements. Do not take anything of their silver and gold. Burn all their idols and images of worship. Do not allow yourselves to become contaminated with any of their possessions or practices.
The apostle John would later write:-
“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome”. 1 John 5:3
But God knows the human heart. And so did the prophet Jeremiah, when he wrote “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” Jeremiah 17:9 So we find that God, in addition to pronouncing promises of great blessing, also repeatedly warns against disobedience. He also cautions against boastful pride. That they be careful to acknowledge that it is God who has wrought the miracle of their Land possession. It is not on account of any righteousness or uprightness of their own. On the contrary, the present occupants are being dispossessed of the land because of their wickedness and unrighteousness. Practising abominable acts and worshipping false gods.
Just one more observation about the Land. God told Moses that “the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year”. (Deuteronomy 11:12) How good is that?
Can we draw a lesson for today from this parashah?
Time and again we read about God’s insistence on obedience and commitment to His commandments. But I want to go a bit further. There came a time, about 1,500 years later when God sent His only Son into this world. The purpose, we read in Matthew 12 and Matthew 15, was to restore the “lost sheep of the House of Israel”. It was as though God had given up on His expectation that, as a nation, they would be obedient to His commandments as given to Moses. So He sent another, His Son Yeshua, who, I believe, was the promised “prophet like Moses”. (Deut 18) On this occasion, it was not the written Torah, but the living Torah that God displayed before the people. The perfect “Lamb of God”.
Through a miracle of grace, that perfect Lamb of God offered Himself so that all mankind, who accept and believe, might draw close to the Father, through Him who died. In sheer gratitude, not out of compulsion, we have the opportunity to show our love of Him. Because He said “If you love Me, you WILL keep My commandments” John 14: 15
The question is “Do I love Him?”. As I read my Bible I can only identify ONE set of commandments, and they were given by a God who does not change. I am left with another question. What promises of God am I missing out on because of my misunderstanding or wilful neglect of His commands?
Shabbat Shalom
RS
Va’etchanan
Torah Reflections 44
Torah portion Deuteronomy 3:23 to 7:11
Haftarah portion Isaiah 40:1-26
The Torah of YHWH given to Moses
The Torah portion this week begins with Moses re-telling one of the most heartrending plea’s any one could make. Moses had been witness to the mighty hand of God in His dealings with this fledgling nation of Israel. He had the privilege of leading these folk through an amazing journey, out of Egypt to the very ‘gate’ of the Promised Land. He can ‘feel’ the presence of God about to display His might and power again in the conquest of the Land, and he wanted to be part of it.
Moses had come to terms with the decision God had made. He knew that the mantle was to pass to Joshua. But he was concerned that these Israelites, people he knew very well, had the capacity to be stubborn, or stiff-necked, or rebellious, or disobedient, or indifferent, or all of the above.
Deuteronomy 4:2 has a warning for this people, which could well apply to every one of us. How did Moses know what we would be like today? Read it for yourself please. Then move to verse 6. A plain message. If you wish to be seen as wise in the eyes of those around you, be careful to observe, diligently, all that the Lord has taught you.
Most of us have formed a view of the God we serve. There are MANY adjectives used to describe the nature and attributes of our God. It is extremely comforting to remember the attributes of love, mercy and grace (which I often do). He extends His love to us when we least deserve it. He even sent His Only Son to bear the punishment of our sin. But now look at Deuteronomy 4:24. Moses does not ‘gild the lily’ with his stern warning, an attribute of God which we rarely consider. “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God”. Wow!! If you are like me that is not one of God’s attributes which brings much comfort, does it?
In chapter 5 of our portion, we find a repeat of the “Ten Words” which God gave to Moses on the mountain. Then in chapter 6 of our text we find the most oft repeated passage of Scripture. The SHEMA. Spoken twice each day by every Orthodox Jew. It is the constant reminder of the central role of God in their everyday living. It is the commandment of God to teach their children, to wear the Scriptures (as in Tefilin), to decorate their homes (or at least the doorposts of their houses). It is the Scripture passage which distinguishes the Jewish people from all other nations on the Earth.
Some time ago I became aware of the writings of Lord Sacks. He is a former Chief Rabbi of England, now a peer in the House of Lords in London. A scholarly thought provoking writer and one for whom I have gained great respect. I commend to you his exposition of “The Shema” which you can access by following this link:-
http://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation-5770-vaetchanan-the-mean...
I conclude this week’s ‘reflection’ by quoting from Rabbi Sacks’ insights (which you can read in full by following the link).
“The ancient Greeks were “the people of sight, of the spatial and plastic sense . . . as if they thought to transpose the flowing, fleeting, ever related elements of life into rest, space, limitation . . . The Jew did not see so much as he heard . . . His organ was the ear . . . When Elijah perceived G-d, he heard only a still, small voice. For that reason the Jew never made an image of his G-d.”
That is why the keyword of Judaism is Shema. G-d is not something we see, but a voice we hear. This is how Moses put it elsewhere in this week’s sedra, describing the supreme revelation at Mount Sinai:
Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. (Deut. 4: 12)”
“Shema Yisrael does not mean “Hear, O Israel”. It means something like:
Listen. Concentrate. Give the word of G-d your most focused attention. Strive to understand. Engage all your faculties, intellectual and emotional. Make His will your own. For what He commands you to do is not irrational or arbitrary but for your welfare, the welfare of your people, and ultimately for the benefit of all humanity.”
Please read again, (and again!), the words we know as “The Shema” in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. This time with the benefit of the insight provided by Rabbi Lord Sacks echoing in your consciousness as you read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest … and you will be blessed.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
Devarim
Torah Reflections 43
Torah portion Deuteronomy 1:1 to 3:22
Haftarah portion Isaiah 1: 1-27
The Torah of YHWH given to Moses
“Devarim”, Deuteronomy in English, consists of a number of discourses by Moses, preparing the Israelites for life, as a nation, in their new land after his days. They are, in effect, farewell messages, reminding the people of the instructions God had provided them for living righteously with each other and with Himself. Just as Leviticus contains a lot of legal detail concerning the Levites, (the Priesthood) so Deuteronomy contains much legal detail for the laity.
Neither Leviticus nor Deuteronomy involve journeying’s. They are purely instructive, and in many cases repetitious of instructions given to Moses ‘on the mountain’.
In this first portion from Deuteronomy, Moses recites the progress which has been made over the past 40 years, from the captivity in Egypt to the banks of the River Jordan on the plains of Moab. They are reminded of God’s faithfulness in all their travels, as a prelude to His promised care for them as they enter the Promised Land.
Moses must have been sad when he confessed before the congregation of Israel in Chapter 1: 37,38 that he would not be with them as they went into the Land, but he graciously instructed them to encourage Joshua in the task that lay before him. He also reminded them, that because of lack of trust in the promises of God, all those who had wavered at Kadesh Barnea were now dead.
So this is a sort of series of ‘sermons’ before they ENTER the land.
Now let us move forward approximately 900 years. The HAFTARAH portion, from Isaiah 1, contains the first ‘sermon’ to them as Isaiah prophesies that unless they change their ways, it will not be long before they are EXPELLED from the land. (which they were a few short years later in 586 b.c.e.)
The Land gift to Abraham’s descendants is certainly unconditional, it is theirs by God given right, but the occupation of the land given in the Mosaic covenant has always been conditional. Moses carefully reminds the people of that condition. It is all about OBEDIENCE to the instructions for righteous living (Torah) which God prepared for those He calls “His special treasure”. People who live differently to those around them.
I was brought up as a young Christian to believe “once saved, always saved”. The land is ours, no-one can throw us out, live as we like, a loving God will forgive us!! It is a most comforting state of mind. But that is not what my Bible says. What? There are conditions? Yes there are conditions. Or at least a condition, and that condition is willing OBEDIENCE.
Read what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 11: 11-22. Then read what Samuel said in 1 Samuel 15:22.
To finish our ‘reflection’ today, we must look at the really good news. It is found in the HAFTARAH. Isaiah was tasked with giving the people a sharp reminder of their shortcomings. It is evident that they had become most neglectful in their obedience (or lack of it) to God’s instructions for righteous living. Then God in His amazing mercy, love and grace provides a way. To this saved, but neglectfully disobedient people, these words :-
"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; … Isaiah 1: 18,19
Those words are just as true for us today as they were for the Israelites of Isaiah’s day. Trust me, when you see the word IF in a sentence, as in the Scripture quotation above, it means that “there are conditions”.
Do you remember what Yeshua said in John 14:15 ? The more accurate Nestle-Aland Greek and United Bible Societies text (NU text) reads “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments”. So yes, there are conditions through which we show our love for Him.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
Mattot/Massei
Torah Reflections 42
Torah Portion Numbers 30 : 1 to 36 : 13
Haftarah Portion Jeremiah 2 : 4 – 28, and 3 : 4
The Torah of YHWH given to Moses
This week there are TWO Torah portions, which are combined and read as one in ‘ordinary’ years, and read separately in leap years. The Hebrew calendar has 7 leap years in every 19 years. The reason for this is that the Hebrew calendar has a LUNAR cycle, whereas the Gregorian calendar has a SOLAR cycle.
The Lord continued to give Moses instructions regarding the occupation and division of the Land of Promise amongst the TWELVE “ tribes” .. but they still do not “go in and possess the land”. (The actual borders of that Land of Promise is specified in Numbers chapter 34, it is far larger than the present day Land of Israel). The taking of the Land would eventually come under Joshua’s leadership, after the death of Moses, but first it was necessary to ‘prepare the way’.
Numbers Chapter 33 is the historical account of the “stages” of the journey the Israelites have already made since their departure from Egypt almost 40 years earlier.
That explains the names given to these particular Torah portions.
Now another obstacle arises, the Midianites. The Midianites were a nomadic people descended from the fourth son born to Abraham by Keturah. Before Abraham died, and his inheritance was bequeathed to Isaac, he called his other sons together, settled a portion (called ‘gifts’ in the text) of his estate on them and sent them away. (Genesis 25:6) Just like Ishmael before him, Midian and his descendants became a problem for the Israelites thereafter. (Remember, Joseph’s brothers sold him to Midianite traders, who had formed an association with the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar.) Genesis 37:28. After the incident when Balaam was unable to pronounce a curse on the Israelites, it was the Midianite women who enticed the Israelite men to worship idols and foreign gods. (Numbers 25)
The children of Israel, probably over 2 million of them, together with their substantial herds of livestock were camped on ‘the plains of Moab’, present day Jordan, looking across the Jordan River to the land of Canaan. The Moabites had been subdued by the Amorites, and they in turn had been conquered by the Israelites. TWO of the tribes, REUBEN and GAD liked the look of the place where they were camped and requested that they be allowed to make permanent settlement there. Moses agreed to this on condition that the Reubenites and the Gadites stood side by side with the other tribes in the conquest of the land occupied by the Canaanites. But first, they sent 12,000 men to remove the Midianites from the land, in fact to ‘prepare the way’.
They, the Midianites, were, “the little foxes that spoil the vine”. (Song of Solomon 2:15)
Here is the message for us in this part of the story. In typology, our journey to the Promised Land, follows our salvation. God has provided well defined instructions for righteous living (commandments and precepts) regarding our conduct if we are to remain in that “land”.
It is quite fashionable for those who totally misunderstand the teaching of the Apostle Paul to say, ‘you are not under law but under grace’. An eight word phrase at the end of a sentence, which very few people who quote it can tell you how that sentence begins.. or even the context of where appears in the scriptures. Furthermore, Yeshua taught very differently (Matthew 5 to 7) to the conventional church teaching on this phrase.
In our lives there are “midianites”, little foxes that spoil the vine, that need to chased out and put to death if we are to fully enjoy all that the Lord has prepared for us in His Land of Promise. In this context we could call it ‘preparing the way’. He seeks to bless us abundantly, but we have a part to play in making ourselves ready to receive that blessing.
Shabbat Shalom
RS