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This week our parasha is Eikev, which means “consequence”, and covers Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25. In this parasha we will see the importance of our choices and that personal transformation is possible and required by the Lord.
Our parasha begins in chapter 7 with Moses continuing his instruction to our people on the border of the Promised Land. We are promised great blessings if we keep the Lord’s commandments. We are also promised that the Lord will be with us when we confront the powerful Canaanites and we will destroy them. However, we are told to not take any of their silver or gold, because it was used for disgusting pagan practices. Their riches are to be destroyed and if we decide to keep their treasures, we will be destroyed along with them.
The rest of the parasha has Moses recounting the history of our people in the wilderness. He reminds this new generation of what happened to their fathers and mothers. The incident of the golden calf is remembered in detail along with Moses smashing the first set of tablets containing the Ten Commandments. Other incidents where we provoked the Lord’s wrath are mentioned such as at Massah. We are told repeatedly to not make the same sinful choices as in the past. We should instead recall how the Lord saved us from Egypt and has continued to preserve us through the wilderness.
Towards the end of chapter 10, we have one of the most beautiful passages in the entire Torah. We read in verses 12-13, “And 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, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?” The passage continues declaring the kingship and glory of Adonai, along with His special love for our people. Consequently, verse 16 contains this command, “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.” This is a call to make ourselves more tender and receptive to the love and commands of the Lord. Instead of stubbornly rebelling in our sinfulness we are encouraged to set aside the desires of our hearts and seek after what Adonai wants for us instead.
Our parasha ends with the second part of the Shema commanding us to diligently teach all the Lord’s commandments to our children. We are to bind them on our hands, foreheads, doorposts, and gates. They are to be on our lips all the time and we should immerse ourselves constantly in the teaching of our God. These commandments have been interpreted in various ways with mezuzah and tefillin but go beyond physical objects. This passage commands us to diligently teach the next generation our history and how they too need a relationship with Adonai.
Parasha Eikev teaches us that we can change our hearts. With the help of Adonai, we can be different than our ancestors and parents. Our wilderness journey is presented in Eikev as a lesson to persuade the new generation to make different choices than the previous. Our past, both personally and generationally, is something to learn from but not an endless repeating cycle. The generation that Moses gave this message to was promised blessing and change if they were willing to embrace Adonai. We also are not helpless to repeat our sinful mistakes or the mistakes of our ancestors. Through the power of Adonai, we all can make positive changes and live out the commandment of serving the Lord with all our hearts.
Another connected lesson of parasha Eikev is found in Deuteronomy 10. There we are commanded to circumcise our hearts, to remove that which mentally and emotionally causes us to be stubborn. This requires us to rightly examine our hearts, and our emotions, and accept the help of Messiah Yeshua and our community. We must choose whether we will serve the Lord or serve our desires. It is a choice that shows what priority the Lord will have in our lives and whether things like money, power and the love of others will be our focus or not. We must reject the world and the heart it has hardened inside of us and embrace a tender heart through a right relationship with Adonai. Circumcision of all kinds is painful, there is a reason why we have it done as babies! Having our hearts circumcised, and made tender, can also be very emotionally painful. But the pain is worth the results!
Today we experience the circumcision of the heart in the New Covenant made by Messiah Yeshua. In the sinless Son of God, there is real freedom to make the choices the Lord wants and not our own. Who we are today is not who we have to be tomorrow. Through walking with God and having new hearts we can experience true freedom. In Messiah we find freedom for our pasts, from our family’s history, and experience an ending in the eternal promised land, the New Jerusalem filled with blessings beyond our comprehension. All these things are possible if we are willing to be in the right relationship with Adonai.
May the Lord enable each of us to make the right choices each day, to serve Him above our jobs, our sinful desires, and the pressures of our culture. May each of us experience the circumcision of the heart found in this parasha. Finding freedom from our pasts, as we eventually enter the eternal promised land of the New Jerusalem and see our wonderful Messiah.