Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.7MB)

This week’s parasha is a double portion: Nitzavim (meaning “Those taking a stand”) and Vayelech (meaning “And he went”), and it covers Deuteronomy 29:9 through 31:30. In last week’s parasha Moses promised the Israelis that obedience to God’s commandments would bring blessings, and warned that disobedience would bring curses upon the nation.

Here in chapter 29, Moses brings all Israel together one final time before they enter the Promised Land, in order to remind them of the Covenant that God gave them.  He reminds them of the great trials that they had to endure in the wilderness for the past forty years due to their disobedience.  Moses tells the Israelis to keep the words of this Covenant and to do them that they may prosper.  The two important words in this statement are “keep” and “do”.  The Hebrew word shamar translated “keep” conveys the idea of “watching over or guarding and preserving”. The word asah “to do” usually means to perform some type of labor. The use of verbs like this in tandem is meant to show us just how important Moses’ message is!

And he doesn’t just remind the men, but also the women, children, and foreigners that are in the camp.  He even instructs them that those not yet born are under this Covenant as well. They are again reminded that failure to follow God’s decrees will bring a curse on them, and the whole world will know that it is because they disobeyed their God.

As we know, Israel did not keep the Covenant and the curses contained in the previous chapters were brought upon them; but that’s not the end of the story.  In chapter 30, Moses tells them that the Three-In-One God will forgive them when they repent.  The curse will be replaced with blessings. This is a prophetic portrait of our Messiah.  Some of those blessings are already in place today that we have received by Yeshua’s atoning sacrifice.  We will see the rest of those blessings when He returns and the Chosen Nation at last bends the knee to Messiah.

Moses reminds the people that they should choose life, as God has instructed, and obey the Lord’s commandments.  But they fail to obey all of the Lord’s commands, just as we do today, since our nature is has been corrupted by the Fall, and is now depraved, and not good. As Isaiah tells us we are a people of unclean lips; worthiness is simply beyond our ability. But in Messiah Yeshua, who IS worthy and with the help of the Holy Spirit we can obey. But it is all HIS merit, and not our own.

In chapter 30, verse 6, God promises to circumcise the hearts of our people. This signifies the need for much more than an outward sign, but truly a change in who we are, in order for us to desire to obey Adonai.  In Jeremiah 31:31, God promised that in the course of time, He would make a New Covenant with us; that He would put the Law in our hearts, and remember our sin no more. This is exactly what the Holy Spirit does for each human being when we transfer our loyalties to Yeshua the Messiah. We receive forgiveness of sin, and are reconciled to God. But this transformation is only possible through the New Covenant Jeremiah foretold and which Messiah Yeshua inaugurated. And it isn’t only for the Jewish nation, but for people from all nations!

El Elyon, (The Most High God) also tells us that he was a Husband to us, but we failed to keep our fidelity to Him.  The haftarah reading that accompanies this parasha is Hosea chapter 14, where Gomer was likewise unfaithful to her husband, the prophet.  Funny how we can see the problem with Gomer and think Hosea is a fool to take her back over and over again, but miss the point that we are the ones who are repeatedly unfaithful to God, yet He forgives us over and over again.  The Scriptures speak again and again of God’s great compassion towards us, and that His anger is not forever.  Brothers and sisters, praise God that He has more grace and mercy for us then we have for others.  With the High Holidays almost upon us, we need to make a renewed commitment to be obedient to His Word. Will you make that commitment?

In chapter 31 Moses, who is now 120 years old, informs the nation that he will not be going with them into the Promised Land.  He tells them that Joshua will lead them in. We remember that, aside from Moses and Aaron, only two people out of that entire generation, Joshua and Caleb, were willing to obey God and go into the land forty years earlier. Therefore these will be the only two from their generation to enter the land with the new generation of Israel. Moses reminds them that Adonai will go ahead of them and will destroy their enemies.  Then Moses writes down the Law and gives it to the priests and instructs them to read it to the people every seven years.  This formal public reading was to be done at the Feast of Booths, also known as Sukkot.

Again the Lord reminds Israel that they will forsake Him and break the Covenant, and that He will hide His face from them when they turn to other gods.

Now there are some in the church today who, when they read these verses about Israel’s failure to follow the Lord’s commandments and the curse He put on them, come to the conclusion that God is finished with the Jewish people.  This is an example of cherry-picking verses in the Word and changing their meaning by ignoring the context. Have we forgotten the warning in Deuteronomy 4:2 “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take anything from it”?

We see in Romans 9-11 that El Gibbor (the Mighty God), is most definitely not done with His chosen people and intends to keep His promises to restore and to prosper them. Some people have conveniently ignored the promises of Israel’s restoration, or have suggested that those promises have been reassigned to the Church. But as Rabbi Loren and Rabbi Glenn often tell us, “If the literal sense makes sense, seek no other sense”. The promises made to Israel are for Israel.

Let’s consider some applications from today’s Scripture.  The Lord told us to keep His words and to do them, so it stands to reason that we need to know His Word, remain in Him, and be close to Him.  The ways we do that are by the consistent studying of His Word and by prayer.

Brothers and sisters, are you close to the Lord? Sure, it’s easy to feel close to the Lord when you are here in the congregation, worshiping and listening to God’s Word. But are you still close to the Lord on your own?  What are you doing for HIS kingdom? Outside of these walls, are other people aware of what you believe?  Does your neighbor know that you believe in Yeshua? Do your co-workers know? Brothers and sisters, this is where the rubber meets the road.  Your work for the Lord doesn’t end at the door, itbegins at the door. And for those of you who have not yet committed to following Yeshua, you need to open the door of your heart. Open that door and do the work of the Lord every day, every week, all year, and see what a difference there is in your life and what a difference you’ll make in others’ lives.