Today is the 5th day of Sukkot, known as “Chol Ha Moed” – the intermediate days of Sukkot. As you will recall, last Shabbat we celebrated Sukkot few days early at Mekudeshet and we all had a great time! And today we celebrate with added fervour in the knowledge that within the next 48 hours all the remaining hostages taken captive by Hamas will be released!
This 7-day feast is so full of types and shadows for us as believers, it would be impossible to squeeze them all into one service and one thing we didn’t cover last Shabbat was the significance of the waving of the lulav, a Sukkot tradition taken from Lev.23:40 where it states that: “On the first day you are to take choice fruit, palm fronds, thick branches and river-willows, and celebrate in the presence of Adonai your God for seven days.”
We wave the lulav in all directions, to symbolise the unity of these four types. And that consequently “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Gen.12:3)
The Four Species symbolise four types of people: the Ps.1 thinker (lulav), the caring and compassionate person (citron), the person whose passion is to learn and apply the Word of God in their lives (mirtle), and the anointed communicator who connects people to one another (willow).
In Matt.12, in the Parable of the Sower, Yeshua also mentions 4 types of people:
– The first type is pictured by the seed that falls closely to the way that has become hardened over time. This hardness makes it challenging for the seed of life to penetrate it, much like the person’s heart which became hardened by worldly things that makes it hard for the seed of life to take root. This type of person is in need of more of the citron (= heart).
– The second type is pictured by stony ground. The soil seems soft, but underneath are some hidden rocks. Even though we’re seeking Him, there may be something impure or unresolved hidden within us, such as an impure motive or intention. This person is in need of more of the mirtle, to explore beneath the surface their lives and to allow God to “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Ps. 51:10)
– The third type is pictured by thorny ground, where thorns choke ones spiritual growth. Such a person is never satisfied with what they have, but always seeks for that one elusive thing to compensate for the God-shaped vacuum buried deep in their hearts. As Yeshua shared in the parable, “the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” This person is in need of the palm branch, in order to become ‘steadfast immoveable’ through “seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness,…” (Matt.6:33) and to “Delight thimself in the Lord and He will give them the desires other heart.” (Ps37:4)
– The fourth type is pictured by the good soil someone who puts God first in their life and seeks Him as the greatest treasure in life.
During Sukkot, in this temporary and flimsy structure we call a “tabernacle” we’re reminded that all of us are incomplete in isolation, but together we all become complete. We hold the Four Species tightly to remember that our unity in Yeshua is something deeply precious that we will not easily let go even as Yeshua earnestly prayed in Jn.17, True unity is not a commodity that we dare to treat lightly but is a precious gift that contains the scent of Heaven!
HA’AZINU (Listen!) Deut. 32:1–52; 2 Sam.22: 1-51
“Give ear [Ha’azinu], Oh heavens, and I will speak …” (Deut. 32:1)
This is the parsha read on the Shabbat prior to the feast of Sukkot because as we shall see it is rooted in Jewish tradition that highlights the significance of Ha’Azinu (listening to the voice of God) in the immediate context of Sukkot and within broader themes that are embedded within the cycle of the Hebrew calendar.
Ha’Azinu contains themes of gratitude and reflection that align with the spirit of Sukkot, which celebrates the harvest and God’s protection as a transition from Yom Kippur to the joyous celebration of Sukkot.
Although the first word of the parsha is ‘listen’, (give ear) this Shabbat is also known as Shabbat Shuva (Sabbath of Turning). The parasha open with the words
- Give ear O Heavens, and I will speak! Listen, earth, to the words of my mouth! May my teaching fall like rain. May my speech condense as dew; like light rain on blades of grass, or showers on growing plants.”
Moses gathered the people together to listen to his parting message to them that was presented in a poetic song called Ha’Azinu (Listen). At the very end of his life God commanded him to ascend Mount Nebo to catch a glimpse of the Promised Land. God told him, “…you shall see the land before you, though you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving to the children of Israel.” (Deut. 32:52)
For Moses it was a devastating disappointment and, yet, he ends his public life with a song that describes God’s lovingkindness and faithfulness toward Israel, and ends with a promise of vengeance, redemption and atonement for God’s land and people: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for His land and His people.” (Deut.32:43)
Not all of Moses’ song was filled with positives but also contained some severe words of rebuke against Israel for their infidelity and unfaithfulness to God who warned them that He would “hide His face” from His people and render judgment to them. “I will heap disasters on them; I will spend My arrows on them. They shall be wasted with hunger, devoured by pestilence and bitter destruction; I will also send against them the teeth of beasts, with the poison of serpents of the dust.” (Deut. 32:23–24)
Although these rebukes were harsh, they reveal the holy character of God not as a tyrant but rather as a loving father whose highest desire will ultimately end in our final redemption – “They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; they have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation; I will move them to anger by a foolish nation.” (Deut.32:21; Rom. 11:13–15)
Moses’ song was prophetic of a time when Israel would make God jealous with their worship of other false gods and idols. So God in turn would turn things around and provoke His people to jealousy with those who are called “not a nation” (i.e. Gentile believers in Yeshua): “Once you were not a nation, but now you are the nation of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1Pet.2:10) In the Book of Hosea, He prophesied, (as also quoted by the apostle Paul) that, “…I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my nation,’ (lo ami) ‘You are my nation’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.'” (Hos.2:23; Rom. 9:25)
These are the very people who God has called to salvation in order to provoke Israel to jealousy. This is the debt that Paul refers to in Rom.11:
“So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.” (v.11)
What shape and form will it take for the Jews to become provoked to jealousy as stated by Paul? No doubt we have a unique window of opportunity in these current times when the Jewish people finally are beginning to see more clearly the true support, love, joy, unity and peace that we have in Yeshua, not something borne out of political interest, but rather genuine love motivated by the Ruach ha Kodesh.
Moses was able to sing in the face of a future tragedy he saw unwinding throughout Jewish history because he knew what the end of the story would be (“that all Israel will be saved!” – Rom.11)
God is faithful, steadfast and strong, immovable and unchanging. And so Moses could say, “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.” Deut.32:4:
God alone delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt using the metaphor of the outstretched wings of an eagle: “As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, so the LORD alone led him, and there was no foreign god with him.” (Deut.32:11–12)
Music is the universal language of the heart and Moses uses the song Ha’Azinu with a stirring challenge to the people of Israel that our actions have consequences and blessings are conditional upon walking in His ways.
The late chief rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, wrote, “Jewish life is a symphony whose score is the Torah, whose composer is God, whose orchestra is the Jewish people, and whose most moving performance is on Simchat Torah.”
The famous 19th century sage, Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav wrote, “If two people talk at the same time, neither hears or understands the other; whereas if two people sing at the same time, they give each other harmony.”
God designed us to offer praise and worship to Him with singing. It is a privilege and joy to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth but it also provides us with a powerful weapon against the enemy. The levitical singers and musicians were sent out in times of war in front of the armies of Israel singing praise unto God and that alone was enough to bring them victory.
Moses’ song has been passed down from ‘dor l’dor (generation to generation) sung each week throughout the First and Second Temples by the levitical priesthood even unto this day where Jewish children are taught in Jewish schools to memorise the entire song.
Moses, was called a “friend of God,” who died alone and yet he was never alone, for his best Friend never left his side nor forsook him even to the end. In fact, no-one knows who buried Moses; In Jewish tradition it was God Himself and to this day He alone knows the burial place.
With all the beautiful elements contained in Ha’Azinu, we must understand that it was only a prelude to the core message that Moses wanted to convey to the Israelites, known within Judaism as ‘tzidduk ha-din,’ ‘vindicating God’s justice’.
It was here that he revealed the character of God in Deut.32;4 who is a Rock, whose works are perfect, and all his ways from the highest heights to the smallest details are just. He remains ever faithful and is upright and just in all His ways!
This is a fundamental tenet of Judaism that brings clarity to the understanding of evil and the dilemma of suffering in the world. God is entirely righteous so why then do bad things happen to good people, a common question asked by many used as an escape clause to avoid facing the root problem – the sin that lies within us. It is something contemplated in Scripture and throughout rabbinic literature that has been repeated with frightening regularity throughout history to modern times no better illustrated than with the event of October 7th 2023.
Sadly many people blame God for all the woes of the world and the evil that clings to it. But the fact remains that the source of the problem lies within ourselves rather than outside of ourselves. The dilemma of sin is at the root of all evil whose consequences have a ripple effect impacting the whole of humanity including the starving millions and the casualties of war.
Moses could foresee what he predicted would be the fate of the Israelites even before they had crossed the Jordan River and entered the land of Canaan. Throughout the book of Deuteronomy he warned of the dangers that lay beneath the surface within the Promised Land. Once the hardships of the desert and the struggles of battle had been forgotten, the people would eventually become comfortable, complacent and Laodicean in their outlook. They would attribute their achievements to themselves and drift from their faith. Apathy would permeate their lifestyle and inevitably lead to apostasy with disaster and self-destruction following in its wake. As Moses stated in Deut. 32:15-18: “Jeshurun grew fat and kicked -you became fat, thick, gross -They abandoned the God who made them and scorned the Rock their Saviour … You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; forgot the God who gave you birth.”
BTW, this, is the first use of the word Yeshurun in the Torah – from the root Yashar, meaning upright or straight – which is deliberately ironic. Israel once knew what it was to be upright, but it would be led astray by a combination of affluence, security and assimilation to the pagan ways of its neighbours. It would betray the terms of it’s covenant, and consequently discover that God was no longer their Protector. Instead, history would paint a picture separating Israel from the source of its strength, isolated in exile and easily overpowered by its enemies – no longer would it be the ‘head’ but the ‘tail.’. The miracle of it all is although the judgment of God is stark and terrifying, His covenant love, grace and mercy is unshakeable as beautifully illustrated with their return from exile in 1948.
When Moses sought God in all of this for an explanation, God remained silent. Sometimes even the greatest among men need to allow God to be God as in Deut.29:29: “ The secret things belong to the LORD our God; but those things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may keep and do all the words of this law.” Note the end of the statement “…that we may keep and do all the words of this law.” Scripture makes it clear that we walk by faith not by sight and there may be things in life that baffle us, what in Judaism is called a “chok” – something that appears to have no explanation. But the psalmist puts things in context in Ps.92 that although “…“the wicked spring up like grass,” they will eventually be destroyed. The righteous, by contrast, “flourish like a palm tree and grow tall like a cedar in Lebanon”
Evil may win certain battles but it will never win the war. As the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said, “The wicked are like grass, the righteous like a tree. Grass grows overnight but it takes years for a tree to reach its full height. In the long run, tyrannies are defeated. Empires decline and fall. Goodness and rightness win the final battle.”
And in all of this we become acutely aware as believers that throughout our ups and downs in life, our victories and even in our defeats, God remains faithful! There were periods in Israel’s history where they are described as a nation without common sense, utterly lacking in discernment. He describes them in the Book of Hosea as being “silly doves.” The Lord laments (v.29) “If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be! For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede. If they were wise they could figure it out and understand their destiny. After all, how can one chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to rout, unless their Rock sells them to their enemies, unless Adonai hands them over? For our enemies have no rock like our Rock – even they can see that!”
Interesting words from the Lord, yet so true. But, let’s not forget that the nations were many times more guilty than Israel that is no more sadly illustrated than with the history of the Church!
The Ha’Azinu is a provocation to stir us up and spur us on to walk closely with the Lord even though we may not always understand the details, “…Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.!” (Phil.3:13-14) We must resist looking back at past broken relationships, memories, failures, temptations, or anything that distracts us from keeping a single-minded focus on our upward call of God in Yeshua. Don’t look back or allow anything from our past impede our present progress or future efforts. The Israelites unfortunately did and ended up being described as “stiff necked!” One person even became a pillar of salt!
The Lord gave me certain Scripture for my encouragement when I first became a believer in Yeshua over 55 years ago! Throughout that time, I can testify to His faithfulness despite my many failings. And in this I give all the glory to God. He has taken me through insurmountable obstacles! He has held me through the worst of circumstances! He has guarded me when I would otherwise have most certainly fallen! He has guided me to spacious places and made my feet like those of a deer to stand on the high mountain peaks! (v. 34) And in His perfect timing He will surely bring me safely to my eternal resting place, and so too every believer who places their lives under the sovereignty of the living God through Yeshua. There can be no better end than this because it will usher in a new beginning that will have no end!
