Parshat Va’etchanen – And I pleaded.
Deut 3:23–7:11; Isa 40:1–26;
By Raphael ben Levi
This Shabbat is called by the special name of Shabbat Nachamu (Sabbath of Comfort) from our Haftarah “Nachamu, nachamu ami, amar Elo-hey-chem …“Comfort, comfort, my people, says your God.” Isa.40:1: These words introduce a theme through to ch.66 of a future restoration, redemption, comfort, and hope for the Jewish people because He remains faithful to His covenant promises. This is staggering: “He remains faithful even when we are unfaithful because He cannot deny Himself, (I.e., He cannot go back on His word). (2Tim 2:13)
Who is the Comforter other than God Himself; it is rhetorical in form. And Yeshua defines the manifestation of His comfort through the One who is our comforter – the Holy Spirit: “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, who shall testify of me.” Jn.14:6
And God calls us as believers to do likewise through the Comforter who dwells within us – that we might comfort Israel and the Jewish people in their hour of need and indeed all those in need of salvation: this is His heartbeat.
The Haftarah from Isa.40 is the first of 7 weekly portions of consolation leading to Yom Teruah. God’s words of comfort to those in exile strikes a chord in our hearts because it exposes a love that remains constant even when we stray from the path:
“Comfort, comfort My people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”
Shabbat Nachamu is a counterbalance to the Book of Lamentations where it states “…there is no one to comfort her [referring to the consequence of Israel’s rebellion]” (Lam.1:2, 9), yet Isaiah reveals that there is a hope even in the midst of rebellion: “Comfort, comfort my people.” And a short while later, He adds, “The Lord gives strength to the weary,” and further on “…they who wait for Adonai will renew their strength. They will soar up with wings as eagles. They will run, and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” (Isa 40:29)
Isaiah prophecies a future time when Israel’s punishment will be complete, their exile will be no more and their iniquity will be removed. (Isa.40:2; Zech. 12:10) These words which address the Jewish people also has an application for every believer in the here-and-now. Whatever our background or situation, however much we may have sinned, however downcast we may be, or however far away from God — He is able to heal and restore those who are broken in spirit. No situation is unredeemable for the Almighty, Omnipotent God!
God’s redemption precedes our repentance – before there is even a need to repent, He has provided the means by which we can receive His forgiveness – “the cure before the disease” – all through Yeshua: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1Jn. 4:10)
At Shabbat Nachamu, we lift our heads, embracing His mercy which reaches out towards all those whose hearts earnestly seek Him. Thereby, we, “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees” (Isa.35:3)
Several of the best known passages of Scripture in the Tanakh are included in this week’s Torah Portion, including the Ten Commandments/Statements and the Shema. These Scriptures are specifically written on parchment and religious Jews place it in a small box worn on the forehead called tefillin (phylacteries), and also in small containers (mezuzot) that are positioned on the doorposts of homes. This custom is to fulfil the command to, “Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.” Deut 6:8–9
Also in this week’s parasha we read about the extraordinary event concerning Moses:
“Then I (Moses) pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying: ‘O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand, for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do anything like Your works and Your mighty deeds? I pray, let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, those pleasant mountains, and Lebanon.’” (Deut 3:23–24)
According to Jewish tradition Moses begged God 515 times, (the gematria for the word “va’etchanan”). Until that moment, God had always granted his requests except on this occasion. At first glance, His response may appear to us as very harsh: “Enough! Never speak to Me again of this matter!” All the more so because Moses’ life was one whose relationship was so close to God that Scripture describes him as being one who spoke to him as a person would speaks to a friend (Ex.33:11). Throughout Scripture there was no one who had the same level of intimacy with God, so close that He spoke to him as one who speaks ‘face to face,’ meaning that they walked in harmony with each other, just as close friends do.
More so, Scripture refers to Moses as “…very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.” (Num.12:3) Here, at the end of his life all Moses wanted to do was to cross over the river Jordan to briefly enjoy the fruit of his labour before he died. Yet God refused. Many scholars seek to explain this from an earlier incident from Num.20. The Israelites were dying of thirst in the desert where there they could find no water. They were led by the Shekinah glory and relied on Him to supply their needs, but now it appeared He had abandoned them. So often, rebellion comes as a panic reaction when all our resources have evaporated and one’s survival seems at stake. At this point the Israelites complained, “We are surely all going to perish, there is no hope. God who is in control has failed us and so have all His promises.”
When we face extreme circumstances, such a response is an easy trap to fall into.
In the incident here in Num.20 Moses stood alone. His mistake was that he should have called upon God to bring water from the rock rather than striking it in a moment of total frustration, as if he himself were the source of power. But, why would God pronounce such a devastating judgement, denying him entry into Canaan? In Jewish literature numerous attempts are made to decipher meaning from this baffling incident. But maybe it simply reflects something hidden about the character of God that is beyond our understanding?
Or maybe it has nothing to do with Divine judgement but rather is an illustration confirming that our dreams in life sometimes remain unfulfilled? (eg. remaining single, broken marriages, being childless, a life threatening event, a sudden death or other tragedy etc).
But there is another side to the coin which may help paint a clearer picture. In Ps.106:15: “He gave them the desire of their hearts but sent leanness to their souls.” The word translated “leanness” is from a verb – רזה râzeh – to cause to waste away or to destroy. The point here is that over-indulgence can have a negative rather than a positive effect upon us and cause us to “waste away.” This is as true for an over-indulgent parent as it is with an over-indulgent God. And God knew it was better for Moses not to enter Canaan with the other Israelites because his life was now complete. He ended his life on a high note and I believe God’s desire is no different for us. The mystery why certain believers have their lives cut short when their ministry was at its peak can be puzzling especially when they seemed to have had so much more to give.
Even though Moses died with unfinished business on the table, his life in God’s Divine wisdom and providence was nonetheless complete. He could say as with Paul at the end of his life: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day —and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2Tim. 4:7-8)
When the destiny that God has placed over our lives is complete, He will hand the baton on to the next person as He did with Moses.
This parsha illustrates that all of us fall short of God’s glory, even among the greatest heroes of faith, but God nonetheless views us as overcomers (albeit sometimes struggling overcomers) instead of unredeemable failures, when our hearts seek Him above all things. Do we fail God occasionally? Yes, but it is not irrevocable because alongside this He has provided us with a means for restoration. And God needs to teach us how to ‘fail well’ as part of the process to ultimately succeed turning something that was negative into a positive. (Rom. 8:28).
Everything we do should be for the glory of the Lord. As the old-time chorus declares, “In the name of Yeshua we have the victory!” But we should understand this correctly. Doing things “in the name of Yeshua” was never intended to be some kind of mystic formula. In the Hebrew it was a rabbinic term meaning “in the authority or likeness of.” In many Jewish writings disciples of a rabbi would minister or teach in the authority or likeness of their rabbi and perform charitable works “in the name of” their rabbi. In the same way every true believer is called to function in the full authority that we have been given through Yeshua, but few do. Yet we have been mandated to walk in His likeness as lights in this world. By focusing upon first love, the disciples carried the heart of God to the world and allowed nothing to daunt them.
So too, may we take full possession of the “promised land” taking strength and confidence in His promise to equip, sustain and nourish us through every circumstance and challenge we face to transform us into something beautiful for His glory.
One great Hebrew writer, composed a prayer to accompany the Mourner’s Kaddish. He observed that the Jewish people have always been few in number in comparison to other nations. When a ruler governs over a large population, they do not notice when an individual dies, because there are many others to take their place. “But,” he wrote, “our King, the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He … chose us, and not because we are a large nation, for we are one of the smallest of nations. We are few, and owing to the love with which He loves us, each one of us is, for Him, an entire legion. He does not have many replacements for us. If one of us is missing, Heaven forbid, then the King’s forces are diminished, with the consequence that His kingdom is weakened, as it were. One of His legions is gone and His greatness is lessened. For this reason it is our custom to recite the Kaddish when a Jew dies.”
As believers, we may only be few in number, a remnant, yet we are those who choose to walk in obedience to God’s calling. We become “Tikun Olam” “repairers of the world” and suddenly everything He has called us to be becomes possible because we have been equipped to do all things through Yeshua who strengthens and empowers us. (Phil.4:13) The transformational nature of God knows no boundaries!
