By Joseph Shulam.
The readings from the Torah and the Prophets for this next Shabbat are called: Vayelech – the translation of the name of this reading, Vayelech, to English is “to go” or “walk.”
From the Torah, Deuteronomy 31:1-30.
The associated Haftarah readings are Hosea 14:2-10 and Micah 7:18-20
—the reading from the New Testament, Romans 10:14-18.
This Torah portion from the end of the book of Deuteronomy is a preparation and introduction to the next Torah portion that deals with the court case that God is taking against Israel.
The interesting thing in this Shabbat’s reading is the common theme that connects all three readings. The common thread is the human weakness, meeting divine mercy, and the necessity of hearing and responding to God’s Word.
The big event that this portion of the Torah is setting before us is the transition of leadership. Moses is about to go up to Mount Pisgah and never come down from that mountain. Moses begs God to allow him to cross the Jordan River into the promised land. God gives Moses a negative answer. Moses can’t enter the promised land of Canaan as an inheritance.
A transition in leadership is always challenging, even under the best circumstances. But a leader chosen to follow someone like Moses is doubly difficult because of Moses’s special and unique leadership of Israel in the wilderness. Moses is 120 years old and all he wishes from God is just the right to cross the river Jordan into the promised land, the land of Canaan, promised to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob and their seed, the people of Israel.
Moses had chosen Joshua ben Nun. Joshua was one of the Israelite leaders sent out to spy out the land of Canaan and bring back an intelligence report with a description of the fortifications of the Canaanite cities and towns, and the agricultural layout of the land of Canaan. Ten of the spies came back with a very realistic report that looked at the rag-tag Israelites between the ages of 20 and 50, and lost their perspective and security. The 10 spies gave a negative report and said that the Israelites couldn’t take the land because of the strength and fortification of the Canaanite towns and fortifications. Joshua and Caleb reported the same detailed report as the other 10 spies, but added the secure hope and promise that, yes, we can take those Canaanite cities and possess the land.
Leadership is handed over to Joshua, and God promises Moses and the leadership of Israel that His presence will stay in the camp of Israel to guarantee success. God’s work continues beyond any one leader.
Moses tells Israel:
“The LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you” (verses 6 – 8).
Courage flows from God’s promise, not only human strength.
Moses writes the Torah and gives it to the priests and elders (verses 9, 24–26). It is to be read publicly every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles (verses 10–13)
There is a prophetic aspect in our Torah reading. God knows that Israel is not going to stay faithful even after they cross the Jordan River and settle in the land. God tells Moses: after his death, Israel will go astray, serve other gods, and break the covenant (vv. 16–18). God will hide His face because of their sins.
The Torah and the “Song of Moses” (ch. 32) will stand as a witness up to the last days of this earth that God was faithful to keep his promises and give Israel the land that was promised to Abraham. This is why in the book of Revelation, when the saints are gathered before the throne of the Messiah, the songs that the saints will sing are the Song of the Lamb and the Song of Moses, describing the victory of God and his people forever.
Chapter 32:1 starts one of the most important chapters for understanding the Apostle Paul and all of his theology. As you can see from the first verses of chapter 32 of Deuteronomy, it is also called “The Song of Moses.”
“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)
Deuteronomy 32 is a court case. God is taking Israel to court to judge them for their unfaithfulness. Here are the words of Moses from Deuteronomy chapter 32:1:
“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak: And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. 2 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.
Moses is opening a court case against Israel. He invites the heavens and the Earth to be the judges. We must remember that these are the last words of Moses to the children of Israel before he goes up the mountain and dies there. These are potent words of accusation against the children of Israel. I would have thought that for his last words, Moses should have spoken in the defence of the children of Israel. But no, Moses brings powerful accusations against the children of Israel, accusations that those who today are guilty of antisemitism could use against Israel. In fact, this morning I heard a young preacher speak very harshly against today’s Israel. Fortunately, there was a young man in the crowd who brought this young pastor to order and forced this young buck to confess that he was wrong.
Like a good lawyer, Moses speaks compliments and praises the Lord (The judge). He butters up God with these words: 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.
Here is the accusation that Moses brings against Israel:
“They have corrupted themselves; They are not His children, because of their blemish: A perverse and crooked generation.” (Deuteronomy 32:4-5 NKJV).
Of course, Moses is speaking the truth, but I would think that since he was the leader and the head authority over Israel during those 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, he should have taken some of the guilt and confessed that he didn’t do the best job leading them on the right path. But he is Moses, and who am I to have criticism of Moses?
The accusations that Moses brings before the judges, the Heavens, and the Earth are very harsh and no doubt true. Then, in verse 6, Moses, with some self-righteousness, turns to the people of Israel with these words:
Do you thus deal with the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father, who bought you? Has He not made you and established you? “Remember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; Your elders, and they will tell you: When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, When He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel. For the LORD’S portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. “He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. 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.” (Deuteronomy 32:6-12 NKJV).
Moses justifies God’s actions with Israel. He reminds Israel that God has taken care of them and has not introduced them to foreign gods. He reminds the children of Israel that God kept them and took care of them as the apple of His own eye. He uses another metaphor to describe the relationship between God and Israel.
From 32:12 and down is the section that is most important to understand the Apostle Paul’s theology of Israel and the church.
“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; And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the choicest wheat; And you drank wine, the blood of the grapes. “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, to gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear. 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 there 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.”. (Deuteronomy 32:13-23 NKJV)
To understand this text, first read Romans 11 from the beginning to the end, and if you are not clear about what you read, please reread it and then read Deuteronomy 32 6 – 22. You will see the connection and the motives that Paul uses are connected and taken from our chapter 32 of Deuteronomy. Also, the verse that promises that “ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED.”
Please note that the salvation of Israel is dependent on the fullness of the Gentiles. It means that the work that we are doing in Netivyah and Netivyah International is connected and dependent on the fullness of the Gentiles. Whatever that fullness of the Gentiles means, it means that the Gentiles must have a part in the salvation of the Jewish nation.
I hope you, dear brothers and sisters, take a part in the salvation of Israel and see the fulfillment of Paul’s promises of the salvation of all of Israel and rejoice for every soul that is saved, but especially the Jewish people. Since this is Paul’s prophetic promise, it is not finished being fulfilled. We are working on this every day.