Standing Strong |
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Va’etchanan—And I Pleaded
Deuteronomy 3:23– 7:11 Isaiah 40:1-26 Luke 10:25- 37 Romans 13:8– 14 |
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Isaiah 11:6 2 Thessalonians 2:15 |
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Many people see the book of Deuteronomy (Devarim) as a chastising of the people of Israel prior to Moses' death and their entry into the land of promise. Knowing Moses will be leaving them, the people should be more open to what he will have to say, and so he takes the whole of the Torah and tries to encapsulate it into one set of teachings of what they are to do and how they are to live when then enter the land. That he is chastising the people appears at various times as he tells the people that G-d is angry with him because of their behavior and it is because of this that he can not enter the promised land.
This week's reading starts with Moses trying to plead with G-d to let him enter the promised |
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land and take back His decree that Moses can not enter. G-d's reply to this pleading is to state, "Is it too much for you! Do not continue to speak to Me further about this matter." What are we to learn from this passage? We have seen numerous times that Moses has interceded for the people of Israel when G-d was going to kill them all and start over with a new people, and now when Moses pleads with G-d he is rebuked and told not to speak any further on this item.
I equate this to when I am praying for something I want even when G-d has clearly shown me what he has decreed. I am not to be seeking things for selfish interests. At the same time we are to ask G-d for what our hearts desire because He is loving and merciful and wants to give to us from His abundant mercies. I can only assume that this is not the first time Moses has come to G-d on this issue, and rather than move on with the things G-d was instructing, Moses was spending his time in supplication even after the L-rd called for action. There is a time for prayer and supplication but when G-d says to move He expects movement, not a continued imploring for our own interests while not moving forward on what He has instructed us to do.
One of my favorite verses follows this interaction between G-d and Moses. Moses is about to give the decrees to Israel as to what they are to do and how they are to act. Their longevity in the land of promise will be dependent upon obedience, and the warning is given here that has been forgotten by so many people. 4:2 "You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor shall you subtract from it, to observe the commandments of the L-rd your G-d that I command you." What is to be done is clearly spelled out. There is not a need for additional sacrifices or hedges of behavior, nor is there to be the slightest offence, regardless of how small, from what is being directed.
I have heard some say that these commandments are only for when Israel is dwelling in the land, and that because they broke the commandments of G-d and ended dispossessed of the land, the commandments outlined herein no longer apply. But if this were true, how could the prophecy of the scattering throughout the nations be followed by the hope that the covenant to their forefathers will not be forgotten when they return to following the ways of the L-rd?
The commandments are so important as to result in the great Shma of Chapter 6:4-9:
“Hear O Israel: the L-rd is our G-d. The L-rd is one and Only. You shall love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your resources. And these matters that I command you today shall be upon your heart. You shall teach them thoroughly to your children and you shall speak of them while you sit in your home, while you walk on the way, when you retire and when you arise. Bind them as a sign upon your arm and let them be ornaments between your eyes. And write them on the doorposts of your house and upon your gates.”
How was this to be done? What did it mean to bind them upon your arm and let them be ornaments between your eyes? How were we to write them “...on the doorposts of your house and upon your gates”? This has been passed down orally and is the reason for the wearing of teffillin while in prayer at the appointed times and for the mezuzah on the doorways of pious Jewish homes. There are those who scoff at the practice and say this was not what was meant, but if we look at scripture and the archeological evidences, we find that this was the practice for thousands of years and there is not found in either Jewish scriptures or Christian scriptures anything said about the practice not being proper except when it is done to draw attention to oneself rather than using the practice to draw closer to G-d.
One can only assume that this practice is a correct one as given by the commandments as explained by Moses. Yet the practice is neglected by so many today that you have to ask yourself what about the previous scripture that commands that you are not to add to nor subtract from the commandments of G-d.
It was while the people were acting in obedience to His commands that G-d took the people out of Egypt. It was while acting within His commands that the people were allowed victory in battle and to move into the land of promise. It was while living within the commands that the people were not banished from the land.
It is while you live within the commandments of G-d and do not pick and choose which ones you are to fulfill that G-d supplies his blessings. There are those that scoff at me regarding this and say, "Do you really think we should stone those caught in adultery; should be as harsh at scripture tells us to be?"
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