V’zot Haberachah – “And This Is The Blessing”

Our Torah reading today is entitled V’zot Haberachah, which means “and this is the blessing.”  This parasha covers Deuteronomy 33-34 and is the last reading of the yearly Torah reading cycle.

Moses has successfully led the Jewish people, a stubborn and indignant people, for roughly 40 years from Egypt across the wilderness to the border of the Promised Land. They wandered for those 40 years to allow the generation who did not have faith that God would deliver the land to them to die in the wilderness and to allow their children to inherit the promise land. I will be discussing the potential consequences for following God on our terms through the example of Moses and our people.

In Deuteronomy 33 we read the blessings to the tribes of Israel. If you read these blessings, you will see they are different from the blessings that Jacob had pronounced over his children roughly 400 years earlier. One difference in particular is that they include no curses.  This morning we will not be examining these blessings in detail but focusing on Deuteronomy 34.

Deuteronomy 34 begins with Moses climbing to the top of Mount Nebo, just east of the northern-most point of the Dead Sea, roughly 6 miles. From this vantage Moses could see as far as part of now southern Lebanon (north of the Sea of Galilee), Zoar, and the Negev (south of the Dead Sea) and all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. God showed Moses what our people had inherited and what he had forfeited when he struck the rock in the wilderness of Zin instead of speaking to it as God had commanded.

After Moses had seen all this, he died; and God Himself buried Moses in the valley opposite Beth Peor in the land of Moab. The Torah records that Moses was a man who was still in his prime: yes, he was 120 years old; but, to God, age is merely a number. Moses could have led the people all the way into the land to receive their inheritance, but God took Moses due to his sin.  The Lord Himself buried Moses, which speaks to the closeness of their relationship. In Scripture there are only a few people whom God was directly involved in the last moments of their lives.  But among them only Moses is recorded as having been buried by God.

The entire nation grieved for 30 days until the time of weeping and mourning was over.  No one knows exactly where Moses was buried.  I believe God did this to ensure we were never tempted to memorialize or worship Moses’s burial site.  Human beings are quick to create idols, just as our people used the bronze serpent that the Lord commanded to be made. We then took that reminder of a time we went astray from God’s commands and used it in an idolatrous way; 2 Kings 18 records that good King Hezekiah was required to break the bronze serpent into pieces.

After the death of Moses, Joshua assumes the role of leadership to guide the Jewish people into the land to possess it. Joshua has been filled with the Spirit after Moses laid his hands on him. Verse 9 records that the people followed Joshua as Moses had commanded them. I find this interesting as they had a lot of trouble following Moses’s guidance.  The people accepted the transition of leadership from Moses to Joshua, which could have ended in rebellion.

The last three verses tell us no person has since risen in Israel like Moses, a Prophet, Priest, and Ruler, whom the Lord knew face to face. Moses was a physical leader as well as a prophet; he was responsible for the needs of the entire nation – in a sense, a king.  Today we know one who is like Moses, a Prophet, Priest, and Ruler, Messiah Yeshua. However, there are notable differences. Messiah Yeshua did not rise up to be a prophet but instead lowered Himself, setting aside much of His glory and power. Moses was not just a simple leader; he held together all the tribes of Israel in their disobedience and even knew God face to face. Scripture tells us, though, that we cannot see the face of God and live. This is then meant not literally face to face but that God and Moses had a deep, intimate relationship.

In Exodus 33:11-14, Moses expresses a deep desire to know God as deeply as God knows him. The Bible has many examples of people having deep relationships with God, but this relationship is unique in that Moses was a friend of God whom He knew face to face. The verses go on to tell us Moses performed many signs and wonders God had sent him to perform and that no one has since shown the mighty power or performed the mighty deeds that Moses had performed. But when Messiah Yeshua had His ministry on Earth, He performed signs greater than Moses as an even greater Prophet of God.  He also is a superior Priest, able to perfectly atone for our sins, and is a better mediator between God and man. Messiah Yeshua is the one and only King of Israel, the physical manifestation of God who performed signs and wonders, who even conquered death.

Other examples of deep relationships with God include Abraham and David. God calls Abraham his friend in Isaiah 41:8, and we can see a glimpse of their friendship in Genesis 18:1-15. God visited Abraham near the great trees of Mamre. God tells Abraham and Sarah that He will visit them about this same time a year from now and that Sarah will conceive. In 1 Samuel 13:22, King David is said to have a heart after God’s own; and we can see an example of why in 1 Samuel 17:45-47. David, a teenager, expresses that God will hand Goliath into his hands and that the world will know that there is a God in Israel and that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves.

As we come to the end of the Torah, these final verses are a triumphant ending to the life of Moses.  This ending shouldn’t be understood as sad but as a statement about the mightiness of God by referencing the life of Moses. When you read a book about a mighty hero and his death, the story typically ends with a statement about how great he was.  The Torah praises the hero Moses, but the Torah lifts up the Lord who sent Moses. The Lord was the source of Moses’s mighty deeds, and the Torah records this without glorifying his faults or omitting them.  The Torah allows us to see the flaws of men and the love of God. God is credited with the greatness that is due Him that Moses performed in the sight of Egypt and Israel.

As I give this last reading and we bring the Torah Cycle to a close and go back to Genesis, I see that I am human just like my fellow Jewish people. I, too, fail the Lord; yet, He is continually keeping his promises and forgiving everyone who seeks forgiveness. I am happy that I have an intercessor who is even greater than Moses, Yeshua Hamashiach, who shed His blood for all mankind’s sins, interceding for our very souls. Moses stood before God and was able to intercede for us physically and at a specific moment in time, but Yeshua’s intercession covers all people for all time who accept His sacrifice.

This brings me to my final points. Are you living your life your way, or God’s way?  Have you opted to do your will even though you’ve heard Gods call?  Has God given you a direction, but you said “I’ll do it my way”! Are you willing to live a life called of God like Moses? Yes it may not be easy; confronting people in authority and being Gods instrument to show His glory, but God said if we do His will and follow His call, He would go before us and even give us the words to say. God has called each of us to some purpose and it is easy to be afraid. Moses too was afraid, and even made excuses, so you’re in good company. I would encourage you to live your life fully trusting in God’s guidance and direction. If you don’t allow God to fully have control over your life, you too like Moses could lose out on potential blessings in your life.  In Deuteronomy 33:8-11, Moses blesses the Levites stating that they have put aside their family for God, and asks God to be pleased with their work and destroy their foes. Yeshua also tells us that if anyone wishes to follow Him they must put all other second, including family and friends to follow Him.  May we put God first in our lives always.