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The parsha
for this Shabbat, entitled Vayyelech (translated,
and he went), is characterized both by encouragement
and tremendous disappointment. Encouragement,
because God assured us He would go before us as
we entered Eretz (the Land of) Canaan, and give
us victory over the peoples there; discouragement,
because God also assured us that soon after we
settled in the land, we would play the harlot
(act like an unfaithful wife and become like a
prostitute), involve ourselves in the forbidden
religious rites of the pagan peoples around us
and turn our backs on the God who had delivered
us!
Moses
tells the people two very important facts:
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He’s not exactly a spring
chicken anymore
I am a hundred and twenty years old today;
I am no longer able to come and go …
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They’re going to have to
go on without him
… and the Lord has said to me, ‘You shall
not cross this Jordan’.
Consider
for a moment the sum of Moses’ life. Here is a
man whose life has been defined by dichotomy:
three forty-year periods of living situations
about as opposite as one could imagine. His first
forty years were in the palace of Pharaoh in Egypt,
living as royalty, educated as royalty, pampered
as royalty. But upon coming to grips with his
identity as a Hebrew, and then killing a cruel
Egyptian task master, Moses was forced to flee
Egypt.
He spent
the next forty years tending sheep in Midian –
a humble profession, to be sure, but all the more
so when your father-in-law is your employer. Talk
about opposites – in a day he went from a palatial
life of luxury to a life of subservience in an
arid wilderness! Forty years he would spend in
Midian. But then came the call of God on his life,
and Moses found himself returning to Egypt – to
confront Pharaoh.
God wanted
His people set free, and Pharaoh had no intention
of complying. So now another crisis punctuates
the life of the man of God, thrusting him into
his third role: that of shepherd to the flock
of God. But just as the birth of a child is preceded
by trauma and great pain, so Israel’s birth out
of Egypt would only come after great trials and
distress. The pride and wealth of Egypt was broken
by the signs and wonders of God, and it culminated
in the death of all of Egypt’s firstborn. Israel
emerged from Egypt a new and free nation, with
Moses as shepherd. His last forty years would
be spent leading the people through the wilderness,
and putting up with no small amount of complaining
and even outright rebellion from those he served.
But now
Moses’ time was coming to a close. In the next
chapter we will read of the Lord God summoning
Moses up to Mt. Nebo in the region of Moab, there
to die. Here, in chapter 31, God first summons
Moses and Joshua to the Tent of Meeting, where
Joshua will be commissioned as Israel’s next leader.
Just as Israel is assured that God would be with
them, Joshua is assured that God will be with
him.
Woven
through the fabric of this section of D’varim
is a repeated warning that Israel would prove
unfaithful to God. Whereas Moses said, He will
be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you
(vs. 8), God later says, this people will arise
and play the harlot with the strange gods of the
land, into the midst of which they are going,
and will forsake Me and break My covenant (vs.
16). He, in turn, would withdraw His protection
and provision and Israel would suffer terribly
on account of it. This proved to be the case,
both in the Assyrian and later Babylonian invasions
and exiles.
The Haftarah
readings (Hosea 14:2-10, Joel 2:11-27, Micah 7:18-20)
all have the theme of restoration. When Israel
breaks covenant with God and is defeated by enemies,
those nations credited themselves and their gods
for the victory. They also presumed that God was
finished with the Jewish people. But God says
that it is He Himself who delivered Israel up,
and He Himself would restore her. In fact, God
turned around and punished those nations that
treated Israel harshly. There is a lesson here:
you do not want to gloat over Israel’s failure,
for God intends to restore her, and then where
will that leave you?
Rabbi
Paul had this in mind when he cautioned the Gentile
believers in Rome not to gloat over the fact that
Israel, for the most part, failed to acknowledge
Messiah Yeshua. Some might be tempted to say,
Branches were broken off, so that I might be grafted
in. Paul warns them, saying, If some of the branches
were broken off, and you, being a wild olive,
were grafted in among them… do not be arrogant
toward the branches… and he culminates his remarks
this way: For I do not want you, brethren, to
be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise
in your own estimation, that a partial hardening
has happened to Israel until the fullness of the
Gentiles has come in; and thus all Israel will
be saved (excerpted from Romans 11:19-26).
Three
final thoughts:
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Israel indeed failed by
refusing Messiah Yeshua, but that failure
is not permanent. Just as God punished and
later restored His people in ancient times,
so He has allowed our people to suffer presently,
but will soon restore us. Those who are gloating
over Israel’s failure (or believe they have
replaced Israel) are positioning themselves
for a Divine rebuke in that day!
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Israel’s conduct is in
most respects a mirror-image of our own. Israel
was redeemed but grew comfortable, conceited
and corrupt. You and I have received an even
greater salvation, yet are just as prone to
take God’s goodness for granted and grow complacent
and corrupt. We are even more culpable, since
we have this record of Israel’s history. Let’s
make sure we keep God’s Word foremost in our
thinking, so that we’ll reverence Him.
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Israel's failure and restoration
should give us hope. Even when we fail the
Lord, He is merciful, and willing to restore
us when we return to Him.
Shalom,
Rabbi Glenn
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