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(CHAPTER 29)
10. [9 in Heb.] "You are standing firm [nitzavim] today—all of you—before YHWH your Elohim: your tribal heads, your elders, your officers, all the men of Israel,
Officers: or record-keepers, who would make an accounting of who agreed to the covenant. Your: the term is plural throughout this verse. This is a communal path. Everyone is gathered for this purpose.
11. "your toddlers, your wives, your sojourner who is in your camp, from your wood-cutter to the one who draws your water,
It is not just the men. No one, from the youngest to the oldest, is left out of the prosperity He offers. Everyone is to take responsibility for maintaing the covenant. Women often had the job of drawing water, and a son or a slave would cut wood, which was always needed for cooking. Many of these “butlers and maids” are not even Israelites. There are already sojourners—people who want to know more about this covenant and become part of it—while still in the wilderness, before the nation enters the Land! What matters is not DNA, but a love for YHWH. Anyone can become an Israelite. Even Kalev, one of the greatest heroes of this era, was not born an Israelite. Y’hoshua gave the Giv'onites (Netinim) these tasks when it became known that they had deceived Israel, and Y'hoshua had already promised to spare their lives. (Y'hoshua 9:21-23) They had to keep the Torah if they wanted to continue living in the Land, and they had to agree to make Israel’s life easier, not harder. Not that these would be the only tasks they would do; these two jobs were idiomatic for anything that needs to be done that will support the life of the nation.
12. "so that you may cross over into covenant with YHWH your Elohim and into His oath, which YHWH is cutting with you today
Oath: or curse, which those entering the covenant agree to accept if they do not fulfill the covenant. Cutting: the ritual involved in sealing the covenant, in which animals were divided to show what would occur to those who did not fulfill their side of it.
13. "in order to establish you today as a people for Himself; that is, He Himself will be an Elohim to you, as He has told you and as He promised to your ancestors Avraham, Yitzhaq, and Yaaqov.
Establish: This is covenant-ratifying language. It means to set up or bring into a standing position—different from the term for standing in v. 10 in that the emphasis there is on holding steady, sticking with a commitment. YHWH can stand us up, but we must choose to remain where we are stationed. The term here is also used of rising higher, as when we stand up from a seated position. They were already standing, but still they had to stand up! Avraham was told to get up and walk around the Land which his descendants would inherit. This is how we can embrace the heritage he gave us. A hero is often just someone who makes a decision and stays with it no matter what. You: masculine singular in this verse, as YHWH is speaking to an Israel united "as one man". But hadn’t they already made this commitment at Sinai? Yes, but that was 40 years before. That generation had all but died off, and most of this generation had not been the ones to confirm the commitment. It was not enough that our fathers had done it. Each generation must renew the commitment. We cannot possess the Land individually. Even one whole tribe is having a hard time hanging onto it. Remove the covenant from Israel, and we are no longer a nation, as Hoshea chapter 1 shows. Our ancestors did choose the curse instead of the covenant, when they stopped keeping Torah or teaching us to keep it.
14. "And not with you alone am I cutting this covenant and this oath;
15. "but with [both] the one who is here with us, standing today in the presence of YHWH our Elohim, as well as the one we do not have standing here with us today--
Not standing here today: Here He closes the loophole by which we could claim we were not present when our ancestors agreed to the covenant. YHWH is the Elohim of the living, not the dead. (Mat. 12:27) This is why He went so far as to say the covenant is not with our ancestors, but with all who are alive. (5:3) Those not standing there today include anyone who lives because of them—their descendants to come and all who become attached to them. It thus includes us, who would hear these words much later in time and indirectly. The fathers have already done their part, and that is why we are here today. But though they made our shoes, if we do not wear them, how will they benefit us? Each generation has the choice: “Will we enter into this covenant or not?” Moshe knew YHWH would kick His people out, but he also knew there would again be a time when we would need to gather to come back in when YHWH determines we are ready. Yirmiyahu/Jer. 50:4ff speaks of both houses of Israel coming back to join themselves to YHWH in a perpetual covenant which "will not be forgotten", as it was the first time. But we still have to stand up and take our place, not just sit and wait for it all to be given to us magically. The house we build is what our children will live in. Don’t leave them homeless! Y’hoshua gives us a battle plan. We cannot take care of one another if we are scattered here and there. Gathering will mean the losses of some perceived personal freedoms, but we will gain so much more. How often are we give such a momentous choice? We were unable to stand with Moshe back then, but we can stand with him now.
16. "because you know how we lived in the Land of Egypt and how we passed through the nations through which you passed,
17. "and you have seen their filthy abominations--their idols of wood and stone, silver and gold, which were with them,
18. "lest there be among you a man or woman, clan or tribe, whose heart turns away from YHWH our Elohim to go and serve the gods of these nations, lest there be among you a root that bears poisonous fruit and wormwood,
A whole tribe may indeed be the party that turns away. Indeed, the tribe of Ephraim led the way into the idolatry that culminated in this scattering to other lands. The root may be hidden (v. 29), but the fruit is evidence that it is there. If we do not eradicate our bitter attitudes, we will end up with bitter children as well. This chapter is read during the time of year when we especially seek to root out any such things in our lives, as the Day of Atonement approaches. So what is the root? In this context, it is specifically connected to looking at the idols of the nations around us. (v. 17) It is asking why those who worship Fortune, Security, or the Future (all names of pagan deities) are prospering, and wanting what they have. It is wanting what YHWH has chosen not to give us, whether it is a position or wealth. Do not play with such temptations. If we try to get it on our own it will inevitably come back to enslave us and become a curse. We could even envy Yehudah, who can live in the Land already. It may be that we have not made the right choices, or it may be because we are not yet ready or equipped to receive His blessing—or simply that this is not the path for you in particular which will best benefit all of Israel. He gathered us to make us all responsible for one another, so that no one will look outside and want to do things the way the pagans do. We need to pay attention to who we are rather than who we are not. Focus on what we are meant to have—this nation and this covenant, with all its benefits--and what the nations have will no longer matter.
19. "and it turns out that when he hears the words of this curse, he blesses himself in his appetites, saying, ‘It will be all right for me, even though I am walking in the stubbornness of my heart for the sake of saturating my thirst.'
Blesses himself: LXX, "flatters himself". Saturating my thirst: Hirsch translates, "so that the watering provides also for what should remain thirsty". I.e., going beyond mere quenching of thirst. This man who has gone after some form of paganism is presuming upon YHWH "making His rain to fall on the just and the unjust" merely due to his proximity to true believers within Israel. A modern parallel would be, “My great-grandfather was in a concentration camp, so I am a Jew; I am all right, though I ignore the Torah.” But will one receive the benefits of the covenant if he does not walk the path? We must not fool ourselves into thinking we are all right just because YHWH appears to be blessing us. Be suspicious when things are comfortable; YHWH’s ways are higher than ours. Who are we to disagree with His commands? The thought that we can be complete if we go our own way is just an illusion. Avraham’s merit may go far, but ultimately, “YHWH has no grandchildren.” Those who remain faithful to YHWH instead of setting a table to the gods celebrated Dec. 24 and 25 will have something to drink even when there is a drought. (Yeshayahu 65:11ff) The wicked will instead drink the dregs of YHWH's wrath. (Psalm 75:8) Mammon is like a soft drink that does not really quench thirst, but the water of life may be received freely. (Yeshayahu/Isa. 55)
20. "YHWH will not forgive him, but the flaring nostrils of YHWH and His jealousy will fume against that man, and all the curses that are written in this document will settle on him, and YHWH will wipe out the memory of his name from under heaven.
This shatters modern stereotypes about His blanket forgiveness, and focuses us on the season of repentance that precedes Yom Kippur, when the gates and the books are closed for another year. This is a season to identify and pursue the right kind of thirst (in contrast with v. 19), for Yeshua says if we do we will be filled. But those are not diligent to "bless ourselves" in YHWH's name instead of our own will be blotted out of the Book of Life. (Yesh. 65:16)
21. "Moreover, from all the tribes of Israel, YHWH will single him out for trouble, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in the document of this instruction.
Single him out: so as to not trouble the rest of the congregation. One cannot hide and say, “I am a part of the tribes of Israel!” It is not enough to have righteous parents, or that you went to Hebrew school as a child. Not just every generation, but every individual must open his eyes. It is unusual for YHWH to speak of individual rather than corporate salvation, but it is clear here that one cannot scrape by merely by being lumped in with a generally-righteous generation. YHWH will separate him out somehow. Trouble: adversity or misery. This, not the whole Torah, is what Paul said Yeshua removed from hanging over us. Instruction: Heb., torah. It is our instruction manual.
22. "And the later generation, your descendants who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, will say when they see the plagues of that land and the grievousness with which YHWH will have diseased it
23. "(the whole land will be burnt with sulfur and salt, nor will it be sown with seed or sprouting up on its own, nor will any herbage come up on it, like the transformation of S'dom and ‘Amorah, Admah and Tzevoyim, which YHWH overthrew in his anger and his rage)--
This is a warning to every generation to be an example of Torah-keeping to those who come after us. If you have seen the truth and yet do not establish your family in doing it, the next generation will see death and destruction in a place meant for life and prosperity. Dani’el saw his generation fail to see the big picture. Another salient example is Mark Twain's comment that "not even a chicken could scratch out a living" in the Land as it was in his day. Yirmiyahu 33 specifies that this is the Land's condition when Israel returns just before Messiah takes his throne. But though it may no longer sprout on its own, it can be restored by men, and has been, to a great extent, though there is still plenty of room for improvement.
24. "indeed, all nations will say, ‘Why has YHWH treated this land this way? Why this burning of intense anger?'
If we do not give them an example of Torah to look at, they will never see. This is not speaking of just one man’s property, but the whole Land (v. 23), because it spreads like a cancer or a domino effect: if one does not stand and do his part, he will knock the rest down, and the next generation will not even be in the Land. Idolaters are killed so the disease will not spread in Israel, because of how much difference one person’s disobedience can make.
25. "Then they will say, ‘What it's about is that they forsook the covenant of YHWH, Elohim of their ancestors, which He cut with them when He brought them out from the land of Egypt,
26. "‘and they went and served other elohim and bowed down to them--elohim with which they were not acquainted, and which He had not assigned to them.
Had not assigned them: This suggests that YHWH does assign various elohim (spirits--or even mighty men) to rule over certain parts of the earth, keeping men's wickedness in check, but sometimes opposing YHWH Himself, possibly exemplified by the Princes of Persia and Greece, about which the messenger told Daniel. But in any case, He assigned no such intermediary to Israel. But serving self, our bank account, or our security is also bowing to other elohim. Though He often treats the nation as a whole, to a limited extent there can be a singling out of those (lie Yirmeyahu or Dani’el) who make an effort to please Him in the midst of a wicked generation (the opposite of verse 21), so that they at least do not receive the full weight of the judgment. Despite the destruction of the Land, a remnant of Yehudah always remained, because they had forsaken (overt) idolatry after the Babylonian captivity.
27. "‘Then YHWH's anger was kindled against this land, to bring on it every curse that is written in this document.
28. "‘So YHWH uprooted them from their land in anger, in heat, and in great splintering indignation, and hurled them into another land, as [it is] today.'
Even the Gentiles recognize the curse when Israel does not uphold the Torah.
29. "The concealed things belong to YHWH our Elohim, but those which are open are for us and our sons forever, so that we may carry out all the words of this instruction.
Those which are open: the things which belong to the light--the "revealed things"--the straightforward instructions He gave us. Concentrate on these, not the great mysteries of the world. Daniel was told to leave them alone; though they were even revealed to him to a large extent, they still only confused him. They will be revealed at a certain time, and we may or may not have to deal with them then. But what YHWH said that was very clear is a big enough task. This is what does belong to us, so look at it. The secretive realm belongs with the curses. (28:57) It is His business if He wants to keep some things secret. But this is no secret; Moshe has just revealed it to us! There are deeper things for which you will need a teacher, but if you do the things He has made obvious, you will probably end up being the teacher. Kingdom things exist in the heavenlies, but are reflected here on earth as we follow His simple instructions. We thus participate in the mysteries, but indirectly: Pay attention to the sound of the shofar, and it will benefit the next generation. Repent in season, and it will be easier for our children to do the same. This is not some mystery religion which only some initiates can experience while others are excluded; we choose how close we want to get to YHWH's presence, for the “secret place of the Most High” (Psalm 91) is His presence (His sanctuary). We seek His presence not through rituals that no one can understand, but by doing what He gives us to do. To see beyond the literal to the deeper meaning is only for the purpose of carrying out His intent. By the doing, we are enabled to see into the secret things. E.g., ritual uncleanness represents selfishness, and the applications multiply into every part of life. With this information, we can be certain that we are carrying out what He wants rather than being left to wonder.
CHAPTER 30
1. "But what will take place when all these things (the blessing as well as the curse which I have laid before you) have befallen you is that you will bring them back to your mind among all the nations into which YHWH your Elohim has caused you to be banished,
When we are blessed, we tend to think we can do things our own way. Moshe would not need to be a prophet to recognize, simply based on what he had seen, that Israel is a people that goes back and forth between prioritizing His covenant and ignoring it—sometimes from one day to the next. But when we end up in captivity, he says we must remember both the blessings and the curses that we have been through, though we would rather not think of the latter. They are scary; we will hear a blowing leaf and think someone or something is chasing us! And one armed soldier would send 10,000 of us running for cover! We asked for it and we got it. We wanted Him to find our rebellion acceptable, and yet still have access to His promises. But it cannot work that way. So He took our heritage away so we would recognize our need for Him and learn to trust that everything He wants to give us will benefit us. He allowed us to be under corrupt shepherds who led us astray (Yirmeyahu 50:6; Y’hezq’el 34:2-10). We must remember the curses so we will fear going our own way again and the trouble it brings. The curses are not an evidence of YHWH just waiting to catch us in an error and burn us, but are another evidence of His love. If we do not appreciate Him for His blessings, He will try to get a response from the opposite tactic. If we do not respond properly, it is not a prophecy, but only a missed offer. If He ever says, “Okay, go ahead and run free”, that is when we should be afraid, because He has given up on us. Banished: or misled—not because YHWH did His job imperfectly, but because we considered His yoke a burden, He gave us what we wanted—blind shepherds. Until we admit that we deserved it because we were selfish, we cannot move on from it. When: literally, because. The intent is that they all lead us to turn back to YHWH. He knows that if we do not have the bad side, we will just continue to ignore Him. We still suffer the effects of ancient compromises. When we prosper, it is hard to see how enslaved we still are. Not that we should be ungrateful, but if we are in a place where everyone is still selfish, we are not Home. To ignore this truth will keep us living on borrowed land and never allow us to do what it takes to overcome this condition. Search the covenants so we can line ourselves up with them. But here we are in the Book! This day is upon us, and we are remembering His Torah while still out among the nations. We have an open window. If we do not embrace the covenants now, the sentence could be extended by seven times again, and then we would never see the Kingdom for many generations.
2. "and you will return to YHWH your Elohim and obey His voice—according to all that I am commanding you today—you and your children, with all your heart and all your soul.
Return: the same term used for repentance: i.e., admit that we deserved every curse that has befallen us. As long as we are still outside our Land, we are still under the effects of the curses, and as long as we follow our own selfish hearts, we will remain there. Obey: or "hear intelligibly". Note the order: after we repent, we will hear His voice. Heart: or mind, understanding--i.e., your whole "inner man". Notice that His voice is equated with all of Moshe’s words. The Torah is the “how to” of loving YHWH and loving the fellow members of our flocks as ourselves. We do not get to decide how to repent; He has already told us. We will know we have succeeded when the next generation embraces the fact that they are Israel. They learn to the extent that we embrace our heritage. A tree is known by its fruit. But we already have one new generation since the return of the Northern Kingdom began, so “that time” can begin any time:
3. "At that time YHWH will recover those of yours who were taken captive, and will have compassion on you, and withdraw and assemble you from all the nations into which YHWH your Elohim has dispersed you.
We remain beaten as long as we do not realize we are captives. But the next step must be to remove our exile mentality—that we cannot keep all of the Torah, or do not have to, because we are still in exile. We are not to dwell on mourning what we lost, but rejoice in what we are about to gain, because we are on our way back! If we take full advantage of what we can already do, He will let us have more. Compassion: a direct reversal of the curse of “no mercy” in Hos. 1:6; 2:21-23. His compassion even includes allowing us the freedom to make choices that lead to repentance. When we start to live as His people, showing by our fruit that we are what we say we are, He too will claim us as His own. As we take a step back toward the father, He runs toward His prodigal people, for He still wants us back. We can “come as we are”, but must not expect to stay that way. Assemble: the word is the same root from which we get the modern word "kibbutz" (collective farm), so it implies that, although He may gather us one by one--“one from a city, two from a family” (Yirmeyahu 3:14), we must again be brought together as one community. Although each of us may realize he is a piece of a once-holy vessel, after we are cleaned up as an archaeologist does, we are still not useful for His purposes until we are reassembled in the right context. Disengaging us from the nations, though unpleasant at first, is thus also part of His compassion. We no longer have to wait for the sentence to run out; the time is already up. It is our move now; He is waiting for us to do what is right.
4. "If any of your own is banished to the farthest reaches of the sky, [even] from there will YHWH gather you out, and from there He will fetch you away.
Banished: or "thrust outward". Farthest reaches of the sky: i.e., the most distant horizon. But it literally says, “The edges of the heavens”; who knows but that there may be an Israelite who is living in the space station at the time YHWH calls all Israel back to the Land? But we were also “lost in the heavens” when we made “Heaven”, rather than the Promised Land, our goal. Fetch you away: The term is also used of taking a bride, and once we are gathered, that is what we can be for Him. Yeshayahu 49:22 and 60:4 speak of nations bringing our sons and daughters who are still left outside the Land back home on their shoulders or supported on their sides. They are His agents.
5. "Then YHWH your Elohim will bring you into the Land which your ancestors possessed, and you will take possession of it, and He will make you right and enlarge you beyond what your ancestors [had].
Then: After we have assembled. We cannot go back alone, or we will merely be cannon fodder for the enemies that still inhabit the Land. The “you” here is not his immediate audience, because their ancestors had not possessed the Land, but only sojourned there. It is to those who returned from Babylon, and to us, whose ancestors did possess the Land once (and in some cases twice). He does not say He will bring us to Heaven; the Promised Land is still actually a land! The Kingdom is still hidden away in another realm until the time is right for it to be manifested, but it is not somewhere in the clouds. Make you right: or deal well with you, make you glad, do right to you. Enlarge you: There will not be enough room in the Land to hold us all. (Zkh. 10:10) This passage and Ovadyah 19 tell what some of these new borders will include, and they may go even further, because YHWH promised Avraham all the way to the Ferath (Euphrates) River! But “enlarge” can also mean "grow you up". Compare 1 Chron. 4:9-10.
6. "And YHWH your Elohim will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, so that you will love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may thrive.
When we repent, we are offering to let YHWH remove the flesh that has grown over our hearts (understanding, inclination, appetites), but this will not be done by magic. It is the experiences we have been through that change us. He will provide us with the knife, but we must cut away the selfish desires through deciding to love our fellow flock-members as ourselves instead. What we have done in order to come home—walking in Torah and dealing with our own hearts—is what allows them to be made even more sensitive to His words. It is painful, but it allows us to become complete. As we look back at what we were only a few years ago--thinking we were faithful to Him, yet adamantly insisting that we did not need His Torah--we can rejoice that He has taken away this obstacle and our every excuse has vanished. As when He said He would write His Torah upon our hearts (Yirm. 31), He meant He will make the whole Torah a joy to us--often by contrast in retrospect with all the futile things we have practiced and believed in the meantime. Thrive: not just breathing, but being alive and knowing how to live—being fruitful even in a drought, since we trust in YHWH, not wealth or anything else. (Yirm. 17:7ff) The Sabbath and festivals revitalize us with calls to awaken, repent, and be full of joy.
7. "Moreover, YHWH your Elohim will lay all these curses on your enemies, and on those who hate you--[those] who persecuted you.
He turns it back on them, like those who first put Daniel in the lions’ den. “His mischief will come back on his own head.” (Psalm 7:16 et al) “What you sow, you will also reap.” (Gal. 6:7) Compare 19:16-19 above. YHWH punished Assyria for taking Israel captive once their job was done, even though they were YHWH's own agent of discipline for Israel, since they did it out of selfish motives. (Yeshayahu/Isaiah 10:12) Like Pharaoh, they were just "extras" needed to play out a drama so there could be an antagonist, but they thought it was for their own sakes, and because of their own greatness. Yeshayahu 62:8 says that from this time onward, He will never again give what is ours to others as He did when we rebelled (ch. 28).
8. "When you turn back and listen to the voice of YHWH—that is, carry out all His commandments which I am laying upon you today,
9. "then YHWH your Elohim will give you more than enough in every undertaking of your hand, in the fruit of your womb, in the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your tilled ground, resulting in prosperity, because YHWH will return afresh to being glad to do good in regard to you, just as He rejoiced over your ancestors,
He will turn back to us, and return to us what He took away when disciplining us. When we are back in context, He can bless us and it will be justice. This time we must not squander it by hoarding it, but use it to benefit one another. Children, livestock, a land, and food are the true, solid wealth, unlike the money which always changes in value and today is often just a figment of a computer's imagination. But the biggest blessing is being back in YHWH’s favor.
10. "if you listen to YHWH your Elohim in order to keep His commandments and His prescribed customs which are written in this document of instruction, and if you return to YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and all your soul,
If: All of these promises for the latter day still contain a conditional clause.
11. "because this commandment which I am laying upon you today is not beyond your power to do, nor is it far away.
Contrary to what the corrupt shepherds taught us in order to keep us from the treasure YHWH had for us, the Torah is not impossible to keep, and it is not deadly. Christianity, which says no one can keep it, is partially right; no individual can, but a whole people together can! Moshe has been saying in many ways, “You can do this! It isn’t too hard!” 1 Yochanan 5:3—in the Renewed Covenant--agrees that "His commandments are not burdensome." Y’shua compared the "easy yoke" that he "lays upon us" with the heavy burdens the P'rushim (Pharisees) were laying on people and not lifting a finger to help them with. (Matt. 11:29-30; 23:4ff) The commandments of men we cannot always keep up with. Their overextension of the Torah is where the problem lies, not in the Torah itself. What is written in it (v. 10) is all we are responsible to obey. A yoke gives us control over a burden and distributes the weight both over the whole body so it will not be so difficult, and allows more than one beast to share the same burden, making it much lighter on both. His yoke is meant to be shared by all Israel. A community can keep His commandments where individuals cannot. The more we practice it, the more it becomes what we want to do, not what we “have to do”. We should not say we do not need to keep it since Y’shua already did; He made it even more possible for us to carry out. How did we get from a command about how soon to offer a firstborn animal to “You may not eat cheeseburgers”? Religion complicates things, making us stray further from the intent of the Torah, which is meant to be understandable to everyone. Yes, there are deeper aspects to it, but the deeper we dig, the more it demands simplicity to be applicable everywhere. If it is practicable only by an erudite few, we are missing the point. It gives enough examples of the principle so that we can carry it into whatever situation we find ourselves in. Not far away: It is even possible to keep our eyes on Yerushalayim from anywhere in the world with the web camera! Knowledge is much easier to acquire for ordinary people than in ancient times.
12. "It's not in the sky, so that you should say, 'Who can go up into the sky for us and get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we can carry it out?'
Sky: or, in Heaven; it is not a mystery religion. The Kingdom is here on this earth, and the commands have to do with that.
13. "Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you should say, 'Who can cross the sea and fetch it for us, and proclaim it to us, so that we can carry it out?'
Even before we get into the Land, we can practice it, if we know how to listen:
14. "Rather, the Word is very near to you--[right] in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can carry it out.
Was this not written specifically for us, who are returning from exile after having been told that we would never be able to do this? Torah is not complicated, impractical, or unknowable. It is about the things that are right in front of you, the things you talk about, the things that are most important to you, not things foreign to us, except that we have estranged ourselves from it, so sometimes it must be reintroduced in “baby steps”. While it works better to be able to reciprocally follow the Torah’s commands with others who look to it as the standard, still the principles can (and, insofar as possible, should) be carried over to our dealings with others as well. Right in your mouth: When you learn to speak Hebrew, the Torah becomes much less complicated. It is a straightforward language that speaks in concrete, not abstract, terms. Righteousness is not meant to be relegated to the spiritual realm; that is what gave the church its inordinate power to keep knowledge from the rest of the people. It portrayed itself as the only institution that could go across the sea or into the heavens and retrieve doctrine and interpretation. In Hebrew, “spirit” (ruaH) simply means “wind” or “breath”—i.e., something that is very real, proven by its effect on other things, though it is invisible—but so are love, hate, or commitment. Spirit is not something imaginary—but many doctrines are, if they must be taught as propaganda since they cannot be proven. We have an insatiable drive to see the spiritual. But to see something invisible, we have to paint it, and by doing so we color it, and thus redefine it, and thus what are studying is no longer what it originally was, just as we have to kill an animal to dissect it, and at that point it is no longer animated. What is in our hearts is seen clearly enough by the decisions we make, evidenced in what we do, because that is the basis for judgment in the Torah; anything else is too nebulous and could tie up a case in court for much too long.
15. "Look! Today I have set in front of you [the choice of] life and benefits or death and harm,
It is not so hard to understand; it is all written down, and it boils down to loving one another. We already have it in us, and now that it is brought back to our attention, it resonates with our deepest core, because all the way back at that time, Moshe said it was for us too.
16. "even as I order you today to love YHWH your Elohim and guard His orders, His prescribed customs, and His legal procedures, so that you may thrive and increase greatly. Then YHWH your Elohim will cause you to be blessed in the Land to which you are going, in order to inherit it.
He tells us to guard every aspect of the Torah, so there is no room to wiggle out of any of them. It is the choosing (see v. 19) that allows us to have it written on our hearts. It is not our own personal lives we must choose (since doing that is what got us into trouble), but the life of Israel, which will then be a light to all others.
17. "However, if your heart turns away so that you will not listen, but are drawn away to worship other elohim and serve them,
Note the progression in how our various members respond: If our heart turns off our hearing, our feet will be pulled away by an outside source, and we will bow to the wrong things and serve them with our hands. Idolatry is the main issue, because YHWH wants relationship with us more than compliance with the details, though they all add to it and there is no contradiction. But the big issue is that we are with Him wholeheartedly. He desires obedience more than offerings. (1 Shmu’el 15:22) If we "guard" His ways, we preserve our ability to hear and live as our true selves, fulfilling the calling for which we were carefully and specifically designed. But trying to keep the Torah for its own sake, rather than for YHWH’s and Israel’s (not one or the other), can make it our elohim. We do not serve the words or the doing, but the purpose. Even if we kept every detail to the letter, if it is for selfish reasons—even personal salvation—our righteousness will not surpass that of the P’rushim whom Y’shua criticized. The Torah is the key to our return. But it is a tool, a means to the end, not the end in itself.
18. "then I am making it clear to you today that you will certainly be destroyed, and will not prolong your days on the Land to which you are crossing the Yarden to inherit.
Does it mean that this time, if we turn away from habitual obedience, we will perish altogether, and that there will not be another “doubling of the sentence” (Yirmeyahu 16:18) or “seven times” (Lev. 26:18)? This should deter us indeed, but still, the Northern Kingdom did completely perish at one time, and yet YHWH has restored it. True repentance can cancel the worst prophecies, as Yonah was shown.
19. "I summon heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set in front of you [the choice of] life or death, blessing or cursing. So decide in favor of life, so that both you and your descendants may survive
This calling of the most potent witnesses available is a common aspect of a covenant-cutting ceremony. The After all those curses listed above, it should be a “no-brainer” which one to choose, yet still we so often choose death! Truth is stranger than fiction! Survive: not just for its own sake, but for a purpose:
20. "in order to love YHWH your Elohim, obey His voice, and hold tightly to Him, because He is your life and the length of your days, so that you may remain settled in the Land that YHWH swore to your ancestors Avraham, Yitzhaq, and Yaaqov that He would give to them."
Torah defines what life is and what love is and is not, and how to demonstrate it. Hold tightly: the term used of a man "clinging" to his wife (Gen. 2:24), for Israel is YHWH’s bride. Those who do return and have all the curses that were on our ancestors removed will rebuild the ancient places that were ruined! (Yeshayahu 61:1-10) He is your life: It is not His provisions per se, but YHWH Himself that sustains us (8:3), and we live only because He chooses to remember us. How can those to whom He says, "I never knew you", continue to exist? If YHWH expels someone from His memory, it would be as if he had never existed. Life is not a qualitative thing that one can measure; we can only see evidence that it is present or departed. It can also mean being revived, for we have another occasion to rejoin the commonwealth of Israel from which we cut ourselves off. Length of your days: Many of Torah’s commands simply help us to avoid an early death through wisely staying out of the way of trouble.
TORAH PORTION
Nitzavim
(Deuteronomy 29:10 - 30:20)
INTRODUCTION: All parts of society, even the lowest in the "pecking order" had to be present for the covenant to truly be with the whole nation, though it then extended to later generations, which obligates us as their descendants but the same people nonetheless to its stipulations as well. (29:10-15) If one "weed" starts growing in this garden, it will eventually choke out the crop that was intended to grow there to the point that it is unrecognizable and even repulsive and has to be burned away in order to stop spreading to the detriment of the whole world so that someone can still be left who recognizes that it was meant to be different, for otherwise the weeds would be considered the norm. (29:16-28) While this ends up being a prophecy of sorts, our focus is not meant to be on the anatomy of a society-gone-wrong, fascinating though that might be, but on keeping all the safeguards in place to ensure that we do not get to that point. (29:29) Still, the prophecy becomes very personal for us who are on the other end of this progression, looking back, because both the blessings and curses of the foregoing chapters have indeed come to grisly fulfillment, even within the lifetimes of some still alive today, but now the restoration spoken of in 30:1-2 has vividly begun to take shape, setting the stage for the next phase detailed in 30:3-5 and not just the physical things that are obvious beneficial (30:7-9), but the ultimate blessing of verse 6 that holds out the hope that one day we will indeed be pleasing to YHWH as a people--the very goal of Moshe's impassioned pleas (30:15-20) We who, on the other side of the revolutionary accomplishments of Yeshua, have begun to partake of that "circumcised heart", are finding indeed that these commandments which had been vilified by well-meaning but no less toxic ideas than those in 29:18, are not beyond our ability to walk out--at least, not if the whole community (29:10-11) is there to support each of us who is willing to trust YHWH's assessment that it is really the most natural path to anyone whose heart has thus been set free. (30:11-14)
What Recovery Requires
The whole nation had to be present to ratify the covenant—even the toddlers and the foreign menial laborers (29:9-12)—because everyone has to be on the same page for this to work. All of Israel has to work together, reminding one another of our responsibilities to YHWH and one another, and helping each other remember the details of the laws and courtroom practices. And Moshe even included us—people he had never met, but who are equally meant to be part of the covenant that is to be passed down forever. (29:15)
This covenant is the key to the restoration of the world. It should have been relatively easy to keep the covenant (30:11) when we all worked together, but like the perfect balance that existed in the Garden, it is all too easily upset once achieved. All it takes is one bitter, poisonous fruit (29:18) to spread its influence and make everything unravel far beyond what we ever thought possible.
The “forbidden fruit” this time is idolatry in particular, but that takes many forms: anything that becomes more important to us than He—or even more important to us than our neighbor’s welfare. In a parallel usage of terms, the writer to the Hebrews (12:15) applies it to in any way falling short of YHWH’s favor, and thereby causing many others to be defiled. Such a perpetrator thinks he has done nothing wrong—or at least will get away with it. (29:19-21) But it ends up affecting the whole Land, not just the people.
Recovery is possible, to the point that YHWH Himself will get excited about the kind of people we are (30:9) and bring us back, apparently even from a manned mission to Mars (30:4)! But the tremendous cost it took is one of those things YHWH kept hidden until it could be achieved (29:29), so no one would find out and ruin it, but maybe also so He could surprise us with just how much He loved us and wanted us back.
His input was the only way out of our quagmire, for we messed things up in a much deeper way than even the nation as a whole could get us out of. But the part that is up to us (29:29) is to look into the literal commands so deeply that we see the heart of each matter (30:6) and operate at that level in all our dealings with one another. Then He will provide what we need to make up the gap, but we first have to choose the path of life instead of death. (30:15-19)
But if we do, we will find that the life we seek—like the Garden that we seek—is none other than YHWH Himself (30:20), so we can taste of that eternal life at any point in our journey, not just when we finally reach our goal—and each little sample that we allow to be seen by our actions, even when it seems hard to do, will give those around us just enough hope to get over the hump and make the right choices too.
Study questions:
1. How does the Torah include us today as part of the covenant (Deut. 29:13-14)? To what did our ancestors obligate us in this way?
2. Does YHWH allow any exceptions? (29:17-20) Will anyone “get away with” sins just because he thinks this does not apply to him?
3. How did 29:21-27 come to pass in not-too-distant history? How has this situation been reversed?
4. How does 29:28 set our priorities for life and study?
5. How have you seen the promises in 30:1-2 beginning to be fulfilled in our day? In your own life? In the progression listed here, what should be the next event we should expect and be preparing for? (30:3-5) What important element must be included beside merely ourselves? (v. 2)
6. Should we expect those thus called back to be fully “cleaned up” before returning Home? (30:6-8) What kind of attitude should we then have toward the rest of those we see likewise making a general turn back to the covenant?
7. Many of us grew up being taught that the “Law” was too hard for us to keep. What does YHWH say about this in 30:11-14? What, therefore, must have occurred to what is defined as “Law” (Torah) between that time and our own? What must therefore be done to bring it back to its purity?
8. Is the Torah meant to be kept in full by each individual? What difference would it make for you to keep your part if you were surrounded by a community of others with the same goals? How much easier would it be when the whole nation of Israel is once again gathered together as this chapter implies will occur?
9. The Torah has been described elsewhere as a “ministry of death”. What conditions would make it that way? (30:17-18) Conversely, what conditions would enable us to avoid even the threat of this? (30:15-16) What additional power has been provided those who join the restored human race made possible through Yeshua? (Rom 8:11; 2 Kefa/Peter 1:3; Colossians 1:11-13) Is this power meant to enable us to circumvent the Torah or to succeed in keeping it as it was meant to be kept?
10. What are some ways that keeping the Torah can give you life and length of days? (30:19-20) What are some ways that breaking it can bring about a shortening of your days?
Companion Passage:
The Sidewalk
for kids
Even toddlers were included as part of the community of Israel when YHWH made His agreement with us (Deuteronomy 29:11), and if that is not enough, Moshe made sure he said it was not just for the children who lived back then, but for those who weren’t there at that time, but would come later—the generations to come. (29:14-15, 29)
So you count too! YHWH is interested in each one of us specifically, even though He prefers when all His people act as one unit together. But we see Him single out individuals for special attention (29:18-21).
Here we see the down-side of this idea, directing trouble straight at that person who thinks YHWH won’t notice what he is thinking in his heart just because he is surrounded by lots of people who are doing the right thing.
But the opposite is also true; He honors individual people who please Him. In the next section we see Him honor Y’hoshua in particular (ch. 31), and He has done the same for Moshe. But those are the leaders; what about the “little” people? Even to them, Moshe says, “The Torah isn’t far away from you—it’s right in your mouth [what you say] and right in your heart” [because we obey because we love YHWH and we know that the best way to love each other too is to follow these guidelines]. (30:11-16)
He says it’s not too hard (30:11)—and He said this to kids, not people who were already grown up and knew a lot more or were stronger. It’s not too hard because we have each other to remind one another and help one another get the job done. We’re not competing with each other, but working together.
So if you see someone having a hard time of it, don’t scold him, but encourage him: “You can do this!” Or, better, “Together we can do this! Here, I’ll help.”
To show just how important each person is to YHWH, Yeshua told us YHWH is like a shepherd who left his whole flock behind to go looking for just one sheep that was lost, and he was more glad about finding that one than about the 99 others that were safe inside the wall of the sheepfold. (Luke 15:4-7) Each one of us matters!
The Renewal of
NITZAVIM
YHWH wanted to include all of Israel in His pact of protection, but there was a part of Israel that was missing the day it was ratified:
“Not with you alone am I cutting this covenant and this oath, but with [both] the one who is here with us, standing today in the presence of YHWH our Elohim, as well as the one we do not have standing here with us today.” (Deuteronomy 29:14-15)
Who was missing? The generations to come, as well as those who could later join and become part of the Holy People.
We are in the latter position now, and the Renewal of the covenant was also made while most of the tribes, having been exiled for violating the covenant, were still scattered among the nations and had not yet been informed of its availability, but the day that announcement commenced, Kefa told people who had come to Shavuoth from all around the known world that “the promise can be for you and your children and to any who are far off ‘whom Elohim may call’ (Acts 2:39, quoting Yo’el 2:32/3:5 in regard to “the remnant” and alluding to Dani’el 9:7, showing that these too were descendants of the former tribes of Israel).
But He warned us to beware “lest there be among you a man or woman, clan or tribe, whose heart turns from YHWH our Elohim to go and serve the gods of these nations, lest there be among you a root that bears bitter fruit and poisonous, [who] when he hears the words of this curse, blesses himself in his own appetites, saying, ‘It will be all right for me, even though I am walking in the stubbornness of my own heart, for the sake of saturating my thirst. YHWH will not be willing to pardon him.’” (Deut. 29:18-19)
And even in the Renewal, the danger was still present—and still is: “Look diligently…lest any root of bitterness spring up, and thereby many be defiled…” (Hebrews 12:15)
What was this writer’s context? The same as here: “Lest any man fall short of the favor of YHWH.” What does that mean? Well, again, in context, it refers to not accepting reproof from YHWH as evidence that He loves us and wants to repair what is broken in us. The stubborn man won’t accept correction, and his example will indeed affect others, which is why YHWH will not let him get away with it. The next verse also explains that strange phrase about thirst in the original Torah. It is about fornication (an overcompensation for a natural “thirst”) or profaning oneself like Esau, who gave up a spiritual calling for a momentary hunger (“his own appetites”).
Most people who give up a faith that they know is true probably do so for that kind of reason—so they can enjoy some physical pleasure or some heady sense of importance or advantage (i.e., power) NOW and rationalize away any obligation they may have later so they do not think they have to ever answer for it, whether to their fellow men or to YHWH. That has to be nipped in the bud so others do not “catch” it; hence YHWH’s special focus on making sure the outcome is bad for one who persists in that attitude, to the point that Yeshua can say, “It would be better for someone who causes one of these little ones to stumble if he had a millstone hung around his neck and was thrown into the sea!” (Mark 9:42) Better for him, it would seem, because YHWH will make life very difficult for him—and all who follow him, as Deuteronomy goes on to say. The millstone would end his misery quickly. But the way Luke phrases it (17:2), the millstone would prevent him from even getting to the point of making the young stumble—if nothing else was going to turn his mind from that course of action.
How much simpler to surrender to the One we cannot outsmart!
But that “would be better” is still somewhat hypothetical. Why not stick with just doing what we know is the right thing, and not risk all these “what ifs”? Because the right course of action is clear:
“The concealed things belong to YHWH our Elohim, but those which are open are for us and our sons forever, so that we may carry out all the words of this instruction.” (Deut. 29:28)
Speculation may be more entertaining, and we will usually be treated to some of those concealed things along the way, but only as we stick to the solid, confirmed priorities. Yeshua, too, redirected his disciples away from questions that would have been too complex and discouraging, to a focus that was challenging, but manageable:
“It is not yours to have knowledge of the chronology or the critical epochs which the Father has established for Himself as His own prerogative, but you will receive [effective] power [as] the spirit of holiness becomes operative over you, and you will be witnesses for me, not only in Yerushalayim, [but] also in all of Yehudah, Shomron, and all the way to the farthest extremity of the earth.” (Acts 1:7-8)
A big job, but clear, practical, and hard to misinterpret. (By the way, the farthest land from Israel is New Zealand, one of whose biggest cities, prominent in the news last year, is named Christchurch —which shows that the witness did get that far, clearly with some distortions along the way, but they are now being corrected for.) And the heralds did see plenty of miracles along the way—a nice side benefit, but really just one more means of keeping the main thing the main thing.
This first step was what set the stage for a fuller, though much later, result of that initial proclamation:
“When all these things (the blessing as well as the curse which I have laid before you) have befallen you, you will bring them back to your mind among all the nations into which YHWH your Elohim has caused you to be banished, and you will return to YHWH your Elohim and obey His voice—according to all that I am commanding you today--you and your children, with all your heart and all your soul. At that time YHWH will recover those of yours who were taken captive, have compassion on you, and withdraw and assemble you from all the nations into which YHWH your Elohim has dispersed you.” (Deut. 30:1-3)
We are in at least the first stage of this right now. People who had been told—possibly because still scattered—that the Torah was too hard for anyone to keep, are now realizing it can be kept when we come back together in communities and join with more of Israel, as in that day:
“This commandment which I am laying upon you today is not beyond your power to do, nor is it far away …The Word is very near to you--[right] in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may carry it out.” (Deut. 30:11-14)
Paul brings out a sowd (later-to-be-revealed) meaning to this: “The righteousness that springs from faith speaks thus: ‘The Word is accessible to you, in your mouth and in your heart’—this ‘Word’ being the very word of faith that we are heralding—because, if you assent [openly] with “your mouth” that Yeshua is the Master and have confidence in your heart that Elohim raised Him from among the dead, you will be delivered, since with the heart one trusts, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he declares his assent, resulting in deliverance.” (Romans 10:6-10) Deliverance from sin, yes, but also from exile.
“I summon heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set in front of you [the choice of] life or death, blessing or cursing. So decide in favor of life, so you and your descendants may survive.” (Deut. 30:19)
The word that flagged those descendants down and turned them back was quite similar:
“We beg you not to receive Elohim’s empowering favor in vain. Indeed He says, “At a suitable time for acceptance I responded to you, and in the day of deliverance I came to your rescue.” [Isaiah 49:6] Look, now is the ‘acceptable time’! Now is the ‘day of deliverance’!”
So take Him up on it while you can!
The Curse
Can be Reversed
Do you think you’ll escape detection and get away with wrongdoing if you stay in a crowd of good people and just get swept along with them into the place of blessing? (That seems to be what that cryptic verse, 29:18, is saying.)
Maybe government surveillance can’t pick us out unless we “socially distance”, but YHWH is able to single out the idolater from among the crowd and treat him according to his own ways, not the ways of those around him who have no clue what he is doing in secret. (v. 20)
That individual’s land would end up looking “like S’dom” and its environs. (29:22) When Israel settled the Land, they still knew where S’dom and its sister cities were; they helped delineate the border of Canaan, whose land we were to inherit. (Gen. 10:19) Their locations were remembered when the Israelite kings began to reign. (1 Shmu’el 13:16-18) Even Josephus, after Yeshua’s day, said “traces (or shadows) of the five cities are still to be seen”. So they knew exactly what that land looked like, which once had been compared to the Garden of Eden. (Gen. 13:10) Josephus’ description was that they are “now all burnt up.”
Not until a few decades ago were they relocated by Ron Wyatt. It is exciting that they have been discovered, but what is visible there is innately sobering. Their desolation is stark. (See photo above.) You can see the squared-off shapes of city walls (patterns of angles not found in nature) now reduced by the extremely high temperatures into ash that has only remained intact because it almost never rains there. Not something you would want your own community turned into, for sure.
And what would precipitate such a disaster? Forsaking the covenant with YHWH and serving “gods that He has not allotted” to us. (Deut. 29:25) They were apparently allotted (apportioned out as their share) to other peoples so they would be kept at least somewhat in line. (32:8; Jeremiah 51:19; Daniel 10:13, 20) But when you have the King as your portion, why would you want a small-time mayor instead? And now the way has been made for whoever wants to bypass those intermediaries and know Him directly.
Some of the things those “lesser gods” can do when they show off may look alluring, but fulfilling the covenant does not depend on having a handle on esoteric metaphysics. Those realities exist, to be sure, but that is YHWH’s side of the deal; only He can keep them from getting out of control. Our part is simply to act on what He has made overt. (29:28)
The long list of curses need not be the end of the story. That same chapter (28) even told us how good it could have been if we’d made the right decisions instead of the ones we did. But He said He’d give us at least one occasion to reconsider from the heart (30:1-2) the proof that He kept His promises, negative as well as positive.
Today is that day; the door is open, but for how long? Come back while you can! He can reverse it all (30:3), regather us from no matter how far (even somewhere in space, it seems! 30:4), and bring us back as if we had never been gone—yet the wiser for having learned the hard way what we could have had freely all along. After experiencing those atrocious consequences, who would want to turn aside from the blessings again?
The pact YHWH renewed here with Israel (for the first time) was not “just for them back then”. (Deut. 29:13-14) Their descendants are included in the privileges and responsibilities of covenant with YHWH. He was thinking of us too when He made this agreement and when He renewed it again through Yeshua.
No matter what polemics you’ve heard against the Torah (“No one could ever keep it!”), YHWH’s own verdict is, “It’s not beyond your reach!” (30:11-14)
When the apostles said of Gentiles for whom YHWH had manifested His love and His welcome, “Why should we put on them a yoke which neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10), they weren’t talking about the actual Torah, only the extrapolations to which men carried it.
So accept YHWH’s assessment, and "choose life"! (30:15-19)
THe ashen ruins of 'Amorah
It’s Not Just for Us
Our responsibility is more than just not forsaking YHWH’s Torah (29:24); it is also passing it on to those who come forth from us and others who come after us. The covenant is with all the generations to come (Deut. 29:13-14), and we must be a conduit to be sure it reaches them intact in its original form, for even the renewed version tells us that everything in the original document, even if applicable in slightly different ways at least in our exile, is still valid, profitable, and beneficial for our learning (Rom. 7:7-16; 1 Cor. 10:11; 1 Tim. 2:15) —maybe especially of what not to do, as highlighted in this very Torah portion.
He sometimes lets us in on His secrets, and they do give us more impetus and enthusiasm about walking with Him, but a lot of them did not come to light until late in time, as scientists (often without realizing it) dig up many proofs that what He said is true. So usually, like everyone before us, we must plod along with the basic principles that all generations have had—the solid non-negotiables, the things that are wide open to view and indisputible. (29:28) But again, they belong "to us and our children forever".
That’s why He told us to not just hold them in our hearts (6:6) but also impress them on our children (6:7) and have or leave reminders of them everywhere (6:8-9) so they can’t miss them even amid the jangling noise of modern society and its constant distractions.
For the day spoken of in chapter 30 is upon us. The homing device He implanted in us has been activated and one of the biggest curses—“You are not My people” (Hos. 1:9)—has run its course; our sentence is up. “No mercy” (Hos. 1:6) had been rescinded long before, and He has indeed been for us “a little sanctuary” in the countries of our exile. (Ezek. 11:16) But much more blessing is promised, and we are beginning to experience that as well.
But the renewal is proving to be a long process, and many of those who first recognized it was time to turn back to our roots have already passed on to their reward without seeing its fullness. That’s why not just we but our children as well (30:2, 6, 19) are mentioned as part of the return “with all your heart and all your soul”. It could be that the psalm Yeshua alluded to on the cross even speaks to this time:
“All the ends of the earth will remember and return to YHWH; all the families of the nations will prostrate themselves before Him, because the kingship belongs to YHWH; [He is] the one ruling among the nations. All the prosperous of the earth will eat and prostrate themselves [in homage]; all who go down [into the] dust will bow before Him, and [for the one who] cannot keep his own soul alive, a descendant will serve Him. This will count for my Master for the [coming] generation.” (Psalm 22:28-31)
This is a bit opaque; it might be saying that even if someone does not survive long enough to see the Kingdom, he can be represented there by his descendants. I’m not sure it has to be that way, as it would seem that anyone who has longed for the Kingdom throughout history can be resurrected and included in it. (Verse 27 tells the meek, “Your heart shall live forever.”) But that, too, is an educated guess. At the very least, the former interpretation allows the children to stand in for the fathers if necessary. If so, it is all the more crucial that they be taught the ways of YHWH and Israel as early as possible.
But children grow up and wander; some of my own have lost interest in this path because of someone who went to extremes and mistreated the flock. So I do not speak from a smug place of immunity. But as someone exhorted me this week, YHWH is the Elohim of the covenant, and He keeps His end of the bargain, so no matter how far they may stray, let’s remember what He brought us back from, and keep our hope alive. They are in His hands, and He can do a better job at drawing them back than we can.
Redefining Life
Though this reading was penned some 3,500 years ago, nothing could be more up to date, for Moshe again reminds us that this Torah was not “just for them back then”; YHWH made the covenant with us, their descendants, too. (29:13-14) We have many more examples of YHWH’s faithfulness available to us than his contemporaries did, so we should have all the more reason to trust Him and obey.
The self-blessing rogue we could call “Bitterroot” seems to be saying, “YHWH wouldn’t single me out for punishment if I’m hiding among His good people!” (29:18) Ah, but He would… even spotlighting this man with "unmitigated gall”--him alone--for curses that won’t affect the rest of the nation. (29:20)
But even if the whole nation goes rogue (as it did at times), the part of His “secret plan” that He’s made known to us (29:28) includes the fact that YHWH has not closed off the way back, as He initially did in Eden. Even if there are Israelites on the international space station or on a mission to Mars (or maybe just “at the most distant horizon”, which a globe says is somewhere in the Pacific near New Zealand), He will recall even them to His Land when they remember His covenant! (30:4) In the context of repairing the road back and setting up signposts to show us the way, the haftarah echoes this:
“YHWH has let it be heard to the extremity of the earth: tell the daughter of Tzion, ‘Look! Here comes your deliverance!’ His reward is with Him indeed, and His recompense is [coming] before His [face]!” (Isaiah 62:11)
The day of our redemption brings to His mind the need to avenge His people. (Isa. 63:4) Though He used them to chasten us, the ones who mistreated us during our exile will receive that payback. (Deut. 30:7) But to His own He’ll give more than enough if we will only listen to Him and obey Him again. (30:9)
Whatever other reasons people who say they love Him choose not to keep His Torah, Moshe won’t give them the option of saying it is because it is impossible to do. (30:11) YHWH’s word “is not in Heaven…” (30:12), by which he meant it is not inaccessible. Some twist that to mean instead that if He speaks from Heaven they do not need to listen, as in the rabbinic coup, when other words were put in YHWH’s mouth to the effect that His children had defeated Him and He found it amusing! (Talmud, Baba Metzia 59b) He will not be mocked. No, He calls Heaven as one of the two witnesses against us if we choose death over life (30:19), which includes saying we’ve “moved on” and no longer need His input into our rulings.
The life we must choose instead, He defines as loving Him and sticking with Him. (30:20) That sounds very much like “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true Elohim”. (John 17:3) We need to re-think our definition of life! It’s not just breathing or the ability to move around, but a relationship--for cutting ourselves loose from the Source of life is surely to put ourselves adrift with no oar or rudder.
What, then, could be a more valuable gift than His confirming that we are indeed His people (Isa. 63:8)? He even essentially calls us all “Israelites in whom there is no guile”. (See Jn./Yochanan 1:47) Though that has not always been true of us, He is willing to allow us back into the Land He considers Home.
This portion’s haftarah is very near what Yeshua read in the synagogue at Kfar Nahum (Luke 4:16-21), which you can still visit today (minus a few walls, pictured at right). But possibly in “honor” of him, there is no longer a haftarah that uses the first few verses of Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 61, only the later part of the chapter. I’ve found evidence that it used to be read as the haftarah for the latter part of Torah portion Re’eh (15:7-16:17), which deals with the release of slaves and debtors.
The part that did survive as a haftarah speaks of Tzion’s vindication, when the curses discussed in this portion will be reversed. (Isa.62:1-4) He even challenges us to remind Him to bring this day swiftly! (62:6-7) So we’d better not forget to do so!
