EIKEV – BECAUSE (Deut.7:12-11:25; Isai.49:14-51:3; Rom. 8:31-39)
By Raphael ben Levi
One of my favourite psalms is Ps.91, which promises God’s covering over us when we place our trust in Him. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High (Elyon) will abide in the shadow of the Almighty (Shaddai). 2 I will say of Adonai, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
In these two verses are 3 different words which express the nature of God:
Most High (El Elyon) – [provides us with shelter from the storm}. “For you, LORD (YHWH), are the Most High (El Elyon) over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.” (Ps.91:9) Everything within Creation must bow the knee to Him.
El Elyon, is used 28 times in Scripture with first mention in Gen.14 He is the One true, omnipotent God altogether worthy of our worship.
El Elyon, has dwelt in the midst of humanity from the very beginning and in the fullness of time revealed Himself through Yeshua who is fully God and fully man. He is the King of Glory, the Aleph and the Taph, but He is also our God who is not distant and aloof but rather has demonstrated His infinite love for us that whilst we were yet sinners sent His only begotten Son, Yeshua to die for us. (Rom.5:8)
El Shaddai – Means the God of ‘more than enough’. He is our all sufficiency and provides us with strength be over-comers in every circumstance and our comforter who fills us with His shalom through the Ruach. He is the creator of the universe and “…All things were made by Him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (Jn.1:3). He has unlimited power! The name, El Shaddai is used repeatedly in the Book of Job. Job was a righteous man who pleaded his cause before the Almighty until God’s sovereign authority and wisdom silenced and humbled him because our righteousness is like filthy rags compared to the living God.
We are transformed through the power of El ShaddaI who is our Abba Father embodied in Yeshua – God made flesh who fed thousands with only a few fish and loaves of bread: who healed those who were sick and crippled. He made the deaf to hear and the blind to see – cast out demons, working mighty miracles, even raising people from the dead because He is the resurrection and the life!
My Lord (Adonai) – Adonai originates from the Hebrew root word “adon,” meaning “lord” or “master.” God’s special covenant name, (YHVH) is so holy that during the Babylonian exile many Jews feared even to pronounce it and instead substituted it with Adonai that has continued to this day.
No other nation worshipped a God by this name except the Israelites. Adonai (YHVH) was the name God gave Moses when he asked who was commissioning him to free his people from slavery. YHVH is the great “I AM.”
Returning to Ps.91 we see how all the promises contained in the psalm are conditional. V.14 declares, “Because he loves me, I will rescue him; because he knows my name, I will protect him.” Yeshua said in Jn.14:15, “He who loves Me will keep My commandments.” So in the opening section of our parasha the Israelites were told: 12.“Because [eikev] you listen to these rules and keep them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and steadfast love that He swore to your fathers. He will love you, bless you, and multiply you.” (Deut.7:12–13). God’s word never changes. The more we love Him the more we will desire to keep His Word not the other way around – the more we keep His word, the more we will love Him. That is the performance oriented and ‘religious’ approach. The difference may appear only subtle yet its implications are monumental.
Scripture teaches us the importance for every believer to abide under the Lord’s covering at all times. Satan well understands this and knowing that his time is short attempts to undermine God’s plan for our lives. We should never underestimate Satan’s cunning lest he catch us unawares. We are kept from falling by abiding under the shadow of the Almighty at all times rather than through any merit of our own.
This is what Moses urged the Israelites to do in his final speech to them that was accompanied with a warning: “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by failing to keep His commandments and His judgments (precepts) and His statutes which I am commanding you today.”
Commandments (mitzvoth) refer to the 613 laws given by God to the Israelites in the 5 Books of Moses that are categorical.
Precepts are guidelines or principles that provide us with direction for conduct that help us better understand God’s will for our lives. Precepts are entwined with concepts of wisdom, righteousness, and justice that we choose to embrace.
Statutes refer to a particular law related to festivals or rituals.
So, alongside the various instructions which Moses gave the Israelites, came a warning for failure to observe them:
“12 otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have increases, 14 then your heart will become lifted up [by self-conceit and arrogance] and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Deut.8:11-14 And this is exactly what happened with the Israelites as too with all humanity.
It’s an easy thing to slip into apathy or to take our faith for granted – to cling onto our comfort zones as did the Laodicean congregation, the 7th church in Rev.2-3. and end up “forgetting the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt.” But even then, although there are always consequences for the choices we make in life God has provided us w
ith a way of reconciliation through the precious blood of Yeshua. Let’s just consider the enormity of this for a moment.
Blood Is fundamental to the function of every cell of every component in our bodies. Cells need food to survive, grow, repair themselves and to fulfil their specific functions, giving life to the whole body. So too, this is exactly the same for us spiritually whereby only through the blood of Yeshua we receive eternal life.
The blood of Yeshua embraces us body, soul and spirit – our thinking, our consciences, our actions and our physical well-being. Yeshua considered it well worth it to pay the price for our salvation.
God’s covering is not only for our protection but also for our equipping. Eph. 6 urges us to stand in the TRUTH of the Gospel through every expression of our lives and by doing so we reclaim spiritual territory and re-establish God’s Kingdom. In 1Tim.6:12-14 Paul asks Timothy to shepherd a divided congregation through one problem after another and tells him to, “…Fight the good fight of faith! Take hold of the eternal life—you were called to it, and you made the good confession for it in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you before God who gives life to all things and Messiah Yeshua who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.” Here we see how Paul referenced Pontius Pilate when facing the One who is the way, the truth, and the life. The words, “What is truth?” exposed Pilate’s utter despair and spiritual bankruptcy that nothing of the world’s attractions can fill – the void that reflects every unredeemed person who chooses to remain in the shadows.
And so we find in this week’s parasha how God reiterates a conditional promise to the Israelites: “Because [eikev] you listen to these rules and keep them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and steadfast love that He swore to your fathers. He will love you, bless you, and multiply you.” Deut. 7:12-13:25 And this promise directed to the Israelites is no different for us as believers because God desires to fill us with His goodness but the choice is ours…
The Hebrew conjunction “eikev” (the name of this parasha) takes its root from the verb “akav”, which means, “to take or grasp by the heel” [as in the name Ya’akov] and is first used in Gen.3:15 which is the first prophecy about the Messiah (Yeshua), who through His death on the cross and resurrection would ultimately defeat Satan, the power behind the serpent, with a death blow. God tells Satan, “…“And I will put enmity (open hostility) between you and the woman, and between your seed (offspring) and her Seed; He shall [fatally] bruise your head, And you shall [only] bruise His heel.” Despite Satan’s attempt to destroy God’s eternal plan of salvation by “striking the heel” of the Messiah, Yeshua crushed Satan’s head and broke the curse of sin and death.
In Jewish tradition, the last generation which I believe we are now in is described as ‘the heels of Mashiach, with feet of bronze” (representing judgement) – since that generation will hear His footsteps, and all those who fail to hear will be judged. In the world today our ears are subjected to so many ‘voices’ that seek to crowd out our ability to ‘hear’ as we await Yeshua’s imminent return. But God continues to bless and fill us with His joy amid the chaos and turmoil we are surrounded by in this world when we stay close with our eyes fixed on Him the “Author and Finisher of our faith”. God has given us the capacity to triumph in all things through His death and resurrection. Paul provides us with some practical advice here when he was incarcerated in prison towards the end of his life:
“ 4 Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, take pleasure in Him]; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. 7 And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].
8 Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things.” (Phil.4)
These things were not a strong point of the Israelites during their 40 years sojourn in the desert but maybe this is one of the reasons why God sometimes places obstacles along our pathway so that we can learn to live as overcomers?
Moses itemised the blessings for those who would trust God and remain steadfast in their faith irrespective of what life throws at them. We discover that nothing is impossible and no wall is unscalable, for God promises go before us. Moses told the Israelites: “17 You might say to yourselves, “Those nations are so much more powerful than we are! How can we ever displace them in the land?” 18 But don’t be afraid of them! Remember what the Eternal, your God did to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt…He is your God and will do the same thing to all the nations you’re so afraid of right now.”
God is bigger than all our problems, bigger than all our anxieties, bigger than any obstacle, bigger than all our questions, dilemmas, crises, – whatever we may be facing, God is bigger…
God’s armoury listed in Eph 6 is saturated not only in the dirt and grit of daily living but also in holy worship that keeps us strong. This is made crystal clear through Paul’s analogy of the High Priest’s garments (not a Roman soldier). The primary duty of the High Priest was to offer sacrifices of worship unto God expressed in a life fully consecrated unto Him. So too we offer God our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is our rational (logical) act of worship. (Rom.12:1) This is a lifestyle directly corresponding to pure worship, when every part of our being is fully submitted to God. “6 He gives us more and more grace [through the power of the Holy Spirit to defy sin and live an obedient life that reflects both our faith and our gratitude for our salvation]. James 4
Sometimes, God chooses not to intervene directly in our affairs whilst evil appears to prosper and the righteous suffer. But as was in the story of Purim, He is always working behind the scenes.
There are some things in life we may never understand but we it is in the knowledge that, “…that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.” (Rom.8:38-39)
He trains us to be surefooted like a mountain deer to scale the heights, (Hab.3:19) far beyond and exceedingly abundantly above all we can hope or imagine because God always exceeds our limitations! “The Lord God is my strength [my source of courage, my invincible army]; He has made my feet [steady and sure] like hinds’ feet And makes me walk [forward with spiritual confidence] on my high places [of challenge and responsibility].”
For nearly two millennia, believers have patiently awaited Messiah’s return with great yearning and anticipation. When that moment finally arrives, will He find us ‘occupying our time’ with burning love in the spirit of holiness?
Scripture informs us that every true believer will stand before the ‘Bema Seat’ of judgment (1Cor.3:12-15) to receive our reward according to our faithfulness with the things He entrusted us with in our lives. The concept of the ‘Bema Seat’ originated from the ancient Olympics. A judge would sit on a chair at the finish line known as the ‘Bema Seat.’ It was his responsibility to determine what position the runners came in and then distribute the appropriate rewards.
One may argue that anything that exceeds the eternal life that God offers every believer through Yeshua is simply the cream topping. However, it neglects to fully acknowledge our longing to love God beyond human boundaries – beyond wholehearted – through intent. To bless Him (offering a gift to Him on bended knee) through understanding that the most one can ever give to Him is the least He deserves – the beginning of an adventure that reaches out beyond the shadows into the full light of eternity.
May God give us the grace to run our race well to reach the finishing line at full speed rather than stumbling across the finishing line backwards. My prayer is that each one of us will receive the same words of applause from Yeshua on that day: “‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord!’ Matt.25:23
