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This week’s we have a double parasha passage. Nitzavim, meaning “standing,” covers Deuteronomy 29:9 – 30:20. Va Yelech, meaning, “And He Went,” covers Deuteronomy 31:1 – 31:30.
In Chapter 29, all the people have gathered before the Lord in order to enter into covenant with Him. In verse 15, we find that not only does this covenant involve those present at that time, but that this covenant extends beyond their generation, to the generations of descendants of the nation of Israel who are yet unborn. Each generation is responsible for renewing this covenant. Taking this to its natural conclusion, this covenant extends to our day and beyond. To summarize this covenant in its simplest terms, it is a covenant for the people to love and obey God.
However, what follows almost immediately is a very strict warning about those who turn away from following the Lord. The one who turns away will have his name blotted out from under heaven (v. 20), he will be singled out for adversity (v. 21). And, as we read on, we seem to be given a prophetic indication that, unfortunately, this falling away will happen to many of the Israelis, enough so that the land where they live will be unsown and unproductive, desolate, like Sodom and Gomorrah were after the Lord overthrew them. The people will be uprooted from their land and cast into another land (v. 28). This will be an example to other nations of what happens when people turn away from God.
This amazing prophecy continues in Chapter 30. Once all these events had come to pass, for example the falling away of the people, the land becoming desolate and people being cast into another land, there will be restoration and people will return to the Lord and obey Him. The people will be restored from captivity and God will again gather the people from the lands where He scattered them.
Some have taken this passage to refer to the re-gathering of the exiles after 70 years of captivity in Babylon, but not only was that a more clearly defined period of captivity (70 years), but it did not have the extensive scattering of the Jewish people around the world since the captives were taken to Babylon. In contrast, in 30:4, we read, “If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back.” Looking at the prophecy regarding what will happen to the land and the scattering of the people, at the end of Chapter 29, combined with the restorative return and the locations from which people will be gathered, this time period is more accurately fulfilled by the events of the Diaspora and the re-gathering of Israel, which started in the 1880s and was brought to fruition by the birth of the nation of Israel, in 1948 and the continuing return to Israel by Jewish people even today.
However, the prophecy has not been completed yet and it is important to understand that this restoration process takes place in two steps as we see in Chapter 30.
The people return to the land after being scattered and then the breath of life, the turning to God happens. In Deuteronomy 30:6, we read: “Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.” Other Bible translations use the word, THEN, instead of MOREOVER, indicating something that comes after something else. First “A,” then “B.” After the Jewish people have been scattered and the land has become uninhabitable and desolate, there will come a point in time when God will reestablish the people back in the land and both they and the land will become fruitful. After that time, their hearts will be circumcised and they will turn back to God as also referenced in Ezekiel, Chapter 36:26-27: “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” The first two major events, the scattered and then re-gathering of the people have taken place and now we are in the stage of waiting for the miracle for many Jewish people to come to belief in the Messiah. Although the number of Jewish believers in Yeshua is growing, we have yet to see the large, en masse coming to faith prophesied about here and in other areas of the Bible.
Moving on to Va Yelech, Chapter 31:1 – 31:30, we find out that this day is Moses’ 120 birthday, however, this day will be Moses’ last day on earth. When Moses twice struck the rock at Meribah, instead of just speaking to the rock, to bring forth water as the Lord had commanded, in Numbers Chapter 20:12, the Lord had told Moses that he would not be allowed to bring the assembly into the land which the Lord was giving them.
Perhaps it seems harsh that Moses was denied entry into the Promised Land because he struck the rock twice to bring forth water at Meribah. However, Moses was the leader of all Israel and at Meribah, he did not follow the Lord’s command. Those in positions of leadership need to be held accountable to stricter, higher standards.
Moses reminds the people to put their trust in God and that He will go ahead of the people. He reminds the Israeli’s that God will defeat their enemies in the Promised Land just as He won victories over the kings of Sihon and Og in Numbers, Chapter 21.
Then Moses calls Joshua and instructs him to lead the people into the Promised Land, as had been previously revealed. Notice the importance of the order: First God, then human leadership. If we first trust in God to lead us, we can then trust Him for good spiritual leaders. This also speaks to the fact that although Moses was one of the greatest men who ever lived, he was not irreplaceable. At this time, Israel would continue to have capable leadership, under Joshua. However, later in Israel’s history, we would not trust in God and we would end up, not with godly leaders, but with wicked men who did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
In this chapter, God also commands Moses that he should write down a song and teach it to the Israelis and this song will be a witness against them for turning away from God. This song will be covered in the next parasha.
Later, in verses 27 and 29, Moses passes what the Lord told him to the people of Israel in this way: “For I know your rebellion, and your stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you have been rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my death? For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.”
Sadly, the words of warning from this chapter have come to pass, not only in an historical aspect, but they continue to this day for a majority of not only Jews, but Gentiles as well. We should be examining our walk with the Lord all year around, however, as we head into Rosh Hashanah, for which Repentance is a major theme, we have a special opportunity to examine where we are and where we need to be. Are there certain issues that we need to bring before the Lord in prayer to ask that He help us, perhaps in our marriages, in relationships with other family members, friends or co-workers? Perhaps we are dealing with other types of issues like selfishness, pursuit of possessions or money. Is work consuming so much of our life that we have no time to help others around us? Are we looking around us to see what other needs we might be able to help with in a hurting world? Are we pressing into God’s work and seeking His direction? Throughout His Life, Messiah Yeshua spoke of Himself as the Bread of Life and as Living Water. I pray that we could allow ourselves to use the sustenance that He provides to help us with these and other issues in our own lives. May we continue to pray for repentance, guidance and a return to the Lord, not just for ourselves, but for the entire world.