By Joseph Shulam‘
The Torah reading of this Shabbat is from Deuteronomy 32. This chapter is also called the Song of Moses. There are two songs of Moses in the Torah. The first is found in Exodus 15. Here is the last verse of Deuteronomy chapter 31:
“Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song until they were ended:” (Deuteronomy 31:30 NKJV)
Chapter 32 of Deuteronomy is a foundation of the Apostle Paul’s theology, especially in the letter to the Romans. It is a court case. God is taking Israel, His nation, and His Bride to court. Moses calls the Heavens and the Earth to judge the people of Israel.
“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distills as the dew, As raindrops on the tender herb, And as showers on the grass. For I proclaim the name of the LORD: Ascribe greatness to our God. 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.”
In verse 5, the plaintiff brings His accusations against His rebellious children, Israel:
“They have corrupted themselves; They are not His children
Because of their blemish. A perverse and crooked generation.”
A complex and challenging situation is created when one Appears in court and allows a judge to have authority over one’s life. Being willing to submit to the judgment of external people is very difficult. Here, Moses speaks in the name of God in poetic verses, which are some of the most painful texts in the Torah ( The Five Books of Moses). Here are a couple of verses from this Song of Moses explaining why God is taking His children, the people of Israel, to trial before the Heavens and the Earth.
The crimes of Israel are:
1) They are rebellious children.
2) They have corrupted themselves (with idols) and immorality.
3) They are a perverse and crooked generation.
If I, as a Jew, would accuse my children with such accusations, I would immediately be charged as an antisemite!
In Deuteronomy 32:15, God the plaintiff claims His word is perfect, and all His ways are justice. He is a God of truth and without injustice. God is Righteous and upright. God doesn’t want to take His children to court and judge them, but He doesn’t have a choice. On the one hand, God confesses that Israel is “the LORD’S portion.” Moses says, “Jacob is the place of His inheritance.” God saved Israel, protected them, and kept Israel like the apple of His eye. God stirs up his nest like an eagle and hovers over his young.
In verse 12, Moses confesses that Israel had no foreign god with them. Moses admits that God made Israel ride at the height of the Earth. So the LORD alone led him, And there was no foreign god with him.
Verse 13:
“He made him ride in the heights of the earth, That he might eat the produce of the fields; He made him draw honey from the rock, And oil from the flinty rock; Curds from the cattle, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs;. “But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, You are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation.”
In this epic song, Moses accuses Israel of being unfaithful and ungrateful toward God. In the following verses, Moses brings a heavy accusation against Israel. Moses states the major problem between God and Israel:
“But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, you are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; With abominations, they provoked Him to anger. They sacrificed to demons, not to god, gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear (worship). Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful and have forgotten the God who fathered you.” “And when the LORD saw it, He spurned them, Because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters.
And He said: “I will hide My face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, Children in whom is no faith. 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. For a fire is kindled in My anger and shall burn to the lowest hell; It shall consume the earth with her increase and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. “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.”
(Deuteronomy 32:15-24 NKJV)
Pay attention to these terms:
“I will hide My face!” – This term is used in several places in the Hebrew Bible, and it means that God will stop hearing, stop dealing, stop being involved in the affairs of Israel, and allow nature and consequences to play out with Israel as if they are no longer God’s nation.
“They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods!”
Deut. 4:24: “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” We need to examine the texts based on the position that Israel is considered God’s Wife in the Bible. We see this in Hosea 2 and Jeremiah chapter 2:2ff. The same idea is found in the New Testament. However, Christian sects and denominations jockey to claim that they are the Bride of the Messiah. Out of ignorance and sectarian thinking, they forget that the only relationship with God that uses the marriage model is between God and Israel.
This idea of provocation to jealousy is a fundamental theme in the Bible and also one of the worst things that people can do – that is to worship Idols and commit spiritual idolatry. We see this very clearly in Hosea 2. God, through the pen of the prophet, condemns Israel as an unfaithful wife.
Here in Deuteronomy 32:15-16, the Words of Moses are very clear:
“But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, you are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; With abominations, they provoked Him to anger.” (Deuteronomy 32:15-16 NKJV)
Understanding Deuteronomy 32 and these verses is the key to understanding the theology of the prophets of Israel and the Apostle Paul about Israel. This is especially true of the history of restoration theology, which is God’s attempt to restore Israel throughout our long history and relationship with God.
Right after these verses, Moses, through the Holy Spirit, provides the cure and the solution for these unfortunate chapters in Israel’s history. God’s response to this abominable behavior of Israel is given in the next verses:
“Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful and have forgotten the God who fathered you. “And when the LORD saw it, He spurned them, Because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters. And He said: “I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be, they are a perverse generation, Children in whom is no faith. 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. For a fire is kindled in My anger and shall burn to the lowest hell; It shall consume the earth with her increase and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.” (Deuteronomy 32:18-22 NKJV)
God’s solution to this problem is double.
1) I will hide my face from them.
2) I will provoke jealousy by those who are not my nation. I will provoke them to anger by a foolish nation.
These two solutions for educating and healing the relationship between Israel and God have been major prophetic themes throughout history. This is especially poignant in the situation that Israel has found herself in these very days with another war with the ancient enemies of Israel. God has not given up on Israel. He wants to educate us a little more and restore us more fully before He sends His Son Yeshua back to Jerusalem to bring humanity to their knees, begging for mercy and confessing their sins before the great white throne as described in Revelation.
Let me expand upon these measures that God continues to take in dealing with Israel. The role that non-Jews, our Gentile Brothers around the world, have in this scheme of redemption is highly important.
“I will hide my face from them.” This idea is one of God’s most drastic and extreme punishments for the Children of Israel.
I can witness that in my personal life. My mother only physically disciplined me one time. This one time was because I got into a fight with my older sister, who was pregnant at that time, and in the fight, I lost my temper. When she screamed at me, I grabbed a heavy soup spoon and threw it at my sister. Her mouth was open, and that soup spoon broke three teeth. This was the only occasion that I received strong physical discipline.
She used the absolute worst discipline for me the rest of the time. My mother would ignore me. She didn’t look at me, talk to me, or ask me to come to eat. I was like air for my mother until I would beg and cry and confess and apologize and ask my grandmother to intercede for me. This kind of ostracism was hard to live with. After a few hours, I would be happier to get a belt on my behind than have a few hours of being ignored and ostracized by my mother.
God says through Moses that HE WILL HIDE HIS FACE FROM HIS CHILDREN ISRAEL. It should be known that when God sent Israel to Exile in Babylon for 70 years – this was the purpose of that exile: separation, not only from the land that God gave Israel as an inheritance, but from communication with them as a nation. Prophets prophesied about the future of Israel as not only a reminder that God is not finished with them but as a source of hope for the future and the need to repent.
Ezekiel, in chapter 39, speaks to this:
“I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day forward. The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.” ‘. “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name— after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their land and no one made them afraid. When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 39:21-29 NKJV)
Deuteronomy 32 and Ezekiel 39 are the sources of the Apostle Paul’s theology in Romans 9-11. The apostle uses more than one concept and quotation from Deuteronomy 32.
Paul references or alludes to Deuteronomy 32 in several of his writings, drawing on its themes of God’s justice, judgment, and mercy. Here are a few notable examples:
Romans 10:19 – Paul cites Deuteronomy 32:21:
• Deuteronomy 32:21: “They have made Me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.”
• Romans 10:19: “But I say, did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, ‘I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation, by a nation without understanding will I anger you.’”
Paul uses this verse to explain how God would extend His grace to the Gentiles, provoking Israel to jealousy. This is part of his discourse on including Gentiles in God’s promises.
Romans 12:19 – Paul echoes the teaching in Deuteronomy 32:35:
• Deuteronomy 32:35: “Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; their foot shall slip in due time.”
• Romans 12:19: “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’”
Paul emphasizes that believers should not take revenge but leave judgment to God, reflecting Deuteronomy’s theme of divine justice.
Hebrews 10:30 – Paul (or the author of Hebrews) cites Deuteronomy 32:35-36:
• Deuteronomy 32:35-36: “Vengeance is Mine, and recompense… For the LORD will judge His people.”
The Lord uses the principle of an eye for an eye in Paul’s theology. He combines these two themes of punishing Israel for their unfaithfulness with sending them to exile among the nations so that the nations should provoke Israel to return to God and repent and change their ways. The problem with this method is that it has not worked yet! The Babylonian exile of 70 years helped for a season, and there was repentance and restoration back to the land after 70 years of difficult exile, as we witness in the books of Daniel. Israel paid for their transgression, and God’s grace brought them back with Ezra and Nehemiah to Jerusalem, where He helped them restore their faith in God. But not for long!
According to Paul, the calling and repentance of the nations is to provoke Israel to jealousy. The primary question is, “HOW should the nations, the Gentiles, provoke Israel to jealousy?”
A short look at Israel’s history in exile, scattered among 103 different nations on all seven continents of this blue ball called Earth, has yet to work!
Which Gentile group can perform this divinely appointed job for God’s program and desire to see Israel restored to God’s faithful and righteous people? The only ones who can fulfill this divinely appointed role are those from the nations with the King of the Jews as their LORD and SAVIOUR!! Yeshua of Nazareth, the Son of God and the savior of the world, was the original Adam who pre-existed the world’s creation and participated in creating the world.
How not to provoke someone to jealousy:
1. If you hate and persecute, you will never provoke jealousy. You will be provoked to anger. He (Jews) will develop ways to kick your rear end either physically, financially, or artistically. The Jew will end up provoking you Christians and your children to jealousy.
2. You must first get to know someone and establish a friendship and respect for them before you can provoke them to jealousy.
3. You, Mr. And Mrs. Christian, must seek relationship and friendship. Learn to understand and love your Jewish neighbors and co-workers. Bless them and protect them, especially in these days of war and existential threat to the very work of God in the process of restoration of the Jews back to their land and back to our Father of all and His Son Yeshua, the Messiah and King of the Jews.
4. Dear brothers and sisters, if you would understand these verses from the Apostle Paul in Romans, you would be ready to be used by God to introduce Yeshua, the Messiah, the King of the Jews, to Israel and prepare for the Lord’s return to Zion in Glory.
5. “I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, “LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Even so then, at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”
(Romans 11:1-5 NKJV)
6. “I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, “LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Even so then, at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”
(Romans 11:1-5 NKJV)
Show your support for the needs of the people you want to provoke into jealousy. Your social support, financial support for their needs, and integrity!
In conclusion, we will use the word of the Apostle Paul.
“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so, all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.” Concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience,”
(Romans 11:25-30 NKJV)
As you can see, dear brothers and sisters, Paul’s theology hinges on chapter 32 of the book of Deuteronomy, and so does Ezekiel’s theology and prophecy. It is time for our Christian brothers and sisters to mobilize, organize, stand up, and be counted among those who are aware and obedient to God’s promises and commission to be used to provoke Israel into jealousy.
In the last year, Christians from around the world have demonstrated their love by supporting our men on the battlefields of Gaza and now in Lebanon. The Israeli soldiers and the public have demonstrated their tenacity and faith in the fulfillment of God’s promises as they are written in the Torah and the Prophets. The movement of unity and solidarity in Israel and with Israel is so strong. God has used the Netivyah Bible Instruction Ministry in Israel and Netivyah International to provide so much support. Our Jewish, Arab, and Druze soldiers realize there is support, solidarity, and faith among Christians from Asia, Africa, Australia, South America, and North America.
I can honestly say that this horrible war is filled with examples of the ugliest and cruelest monsters of human behavior on the part of terrorist organizations and their proxies. On the other hand, Christians worldwide have collected funds to provide essential equipment and other basic needs that our men and women on the battlefield need.
These brothers and sisters’ actions have provoked jealousy in so many of our soldiers!! How do I know this to be true? I have seen it and heard it and experienced it from members of our congregation in Jerusalem who went out of their way to cook and feed and clothe and supply much-needed equipment and from others who are provoked to jealousy when they compare the attitudes of some of our own national social fabric who disdain and reject the service to their own nation and only think about themselves.
I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, to stand with Israel and to support Israel in every possible way and every possible institution, political, social, and economic. It is not only the money that will provoke the Jews to jealousy but your love as it is expressed by giving and praying and by feeding and by clothing, and above all, by caring for the KING of the JEWS who hung on that wooden Roman Cross. Even from up there, with His hands and feet nailed, He was thinking of you and me!
How do I know that Yeshua was thinking of you, me, and humanity when he was hanging on that cross? I know because of His last words: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me!” The Bible didn’t have verses and chapters with numbers. The first verse identified the book chapters and psalms. The last words of Yeshua on the cross are the opening of Psalm 22 – in the Hebrew Bible. Here, in conclusion, is Psalm 22.
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?
O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;
And in the night season, I am not silent.
But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them.
They cried to You, and were delivered;
They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.
But I am a worm, and no man;
A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
All those who see Me ridicule Me;
They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, “He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”
But You are He who took Me out of the womb;
You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.
I was cast upon You from birth.
From My mother’s womb, You have been My God.
Be not far from Me, for trouble is near;
For there is none to help.
Many bulls have surrounded Me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.
They gape at Me with their mouths, Like a raging and roaring lion.
I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws;
You have brought Me to the dust of death.
For dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me.
They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.
But You, O LORD, do not be far from Me;
O My Strength, hasten to help Me!
Deliver Me from the sword,
My precious life from the power of the dog.
Save Me from the lion’s mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen!
You have answered Me.
I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly, I will praise You.
You who fear the LORD, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, and fear Him, all your offspring of Israel!
For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
But when He cried to Him, He heard.
My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the LORD. Let your heart live forever!
All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations Shall worship before You.
For the kingdom is the LORD’S,
And He rules over the nations.
All the prosperous of the earth Shall eat and worship; All those who go down to the dust Shall bow before Him,
even he who cannot keep himself alive.
A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
That He has done this.
A Psalm of David.” (Psalms 22:1-23 NKJV)
Please continue to pray for Israel and our men on the battlefields of Gaza and Lebanon.