VaEtchanan Slides (pdf)
The Shema (pdf)
VaEtchanan Notes (pdf)
Overview of V’Et-Chanan (“And I Pleaded”) Deuteronomy 3:23 – 7:11
In last week’s Portion, Moses gave the first of three messages to the Second Generation. HHis history lesson included some of the least spectacular of all the events that occurred during their wilderness wanderings:
The Selection of Judges – to remind Israel of her tremendous growth…”as numerous as the stars of heaven” and “as numerous as the sands of the seashore.”
The Report of the Spies – to remind them that Yehovah is with them now as He was then.
By-Passing Edom & Moab – Yehovah protected the lands He promised to Edom & Moab; the evidence that He will also protect Israel’s Promised Land.
Destruction of Og & Sihon – this began His promise to defeat Israel’s enemies that were outside the Land as well as those who were within the Land.
This week finishes the history lesson by teaching this Second Generation about:
Obedience – “For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him?” (Deuteronomy 4:7)
Idolatry is Forbidden – Yehovah delivered them from the idolatry of Egypt; He forbids them to fall back into the idolatry of Canaan.
Cities of Refuge – Yehovah extends His Mercy to the manslayer; He will extend it to them as well.
In this week’s Portion Moses transitions from the history lesson into the second (and longest) message: the conditions of “The Law” that will allow Israel to continue to occupy The Land.
Chapter 3 – Moses Forbidden to Enter
Earlier, Yehovah had said, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them” (Numbers 20:12). The key word here is “bring”; Moses was not allowed to lead Israel into The Promised Land. So, here in Deuteronomy, he asks again…only this time, he asks to just enter The Land. “If You won’t let me lead Israel in, then just let me walk in with them at the back of the crowd.” (my paraphrase). Yehovah denies even that request also; but He does allow Moses to see all of The Land from atop Mt Pisgah. This is Yehovah’s confirmation that Joshua would continue leading Israel with Moses’ authority as they enter The Land. And we know that eventually Moses did enter The Land…at the Transfiguration of Yeshua (Matt 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36).
Chapter 4 – “Hear, O Israel…Yehovah’s Commands.”
Here Yehovah is differentiating between the Sinai Covenant (Exodus 20-23) and the covenant He is making with them at Moab -where they are right now. “These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He made with them in Horeb.” (Deut 29:1) The (conditional) Horeb (Sinai) Covenant had been broken with the Sin of the Golden Calf and was no longer in effect (Galatians 3:15). That’s why Joshua had to circumcise all the men before entering The Land – none of them had been circumcised during the 40 years in The Wilderness – they had no need to circumcise themselves into a covenant that had already been broken with the Sin of the Golden Calf.
So here Moses is giving them a new covenant (but not The New Covenant in Jeremiah 31) that will allow them to enter and occupy The Land. (The Sinai Covenant would have made them a kingdom of priests – the Moab Covenant would allow them to occupy the Land that Yehovah gave to them) He had to make this distinction because the “new” covenant starts out with the same requirements as the “old” (Sinai) covenant; and remember…a conditional covenant cannot be “renewed” – once it is broken it is null and void (Gal 3:15). Yehovah’s “new” covenant contains all of the elements of the Sinai Covenant …PLUS a bunch of “new laws” added to them. Paul tells us: “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.” READ THIS VERSE VERY CAREFULLY…MANY TIMES IF YOU MUST! It says: The Law was added to the Sinai Covenant because of Israel’s transgression with the Golden Calf; this combination of covenant & law would be in effect until Messiah Yeshua’s shed blood would pay the death penalty for breaking the conditional Blood Covenant made at Sinai. Once you understand this concept, then Paul’s statement: “You are not under the law…” makes complete sense. When we enter into the New Covenant (through the shed blood of Yeshua) we are no longer “under” the laws that were added to the Sinai Covenant…we are “under” the laws that Yehovah has written upon our hearts and minds (Jeremiah 31:33). And these “laws” in our hearts and minds have their foundation in the original Sinai Covenant conditions given in Exodus 20-23; read these four chapters and see if your heart and mind agrees with what you are reading. Mine do!
I know I haven’t done this covenant/law teaching justice here, but this concept is essential in order to place in the proper context all of the “laws” that Yehovah presents in the rest of Deuteronomy. These Deuteronomy “laws” are essential to keep for those who have not accepted Yeshua’s blood sacrifice and who have not entered into The New Covenant with Him. For those of us who have accepted His sacrifice….we are not under the law! If you want to dig deeper into this subject, I have some additional information on the web site here: https://torahnotes.org/book-of-the-covenant/ If you want to dig even deeper into this subject, email me and I will give you additional resources.
Now…back to Deuteronomy chapter 4. Moses reminded the people (even though the oldest of them would not remember) of the events at Mt Sinai when Yehovah appeared and gave them the Covenant conditions (Exodus 20-23). Moses then highlighted several events that he wanted them to remember:
- Do not worship any images of man or woman; of any animal on the earth or in the air; nor sun, moon, nor stars.
- Yehovah chose Israel…not because they were the greatest of nations. In fact, they were the least of nations…but He chose them so His Power would be evident to all the other nations around them when He would perform miracles to free them from their Egyptian slavery. That is why our testimony is our most powerful tool to show that Yehovah is alive and working in the world today.
- Yehovah established six Cities of Refuge. He extended His Mercy to the manslayer then…and still extends His Mercy (more important than grace!) to us today.
Chapter 5 – The 10 Commandments
Here Moses retells the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20. They are the foundation of “The Law” given here…and they are also the foundation of the New Covenant that is written in our hearts and minds (Deuteronomy 5:29)
Chapter 6 The Shema
The Shema is the foundation of Orthodox Judaism as well as Messianic Judaism … and it should be foundational for all Christians. The Shema is, in fact, written upon our hearts and placed into our minds when we enter into the New Covenant! It tells us to love Yehovah with all our heart (how we live our lives), with all of our soul (everything we are on the inside), and we are to do it with all of our “muchness”…a Hebrew word that cannot be accurately translated into English. The first two (all our heart and soul) are what we are to do; and the third is how intensely we are to do it. Even though the Shema is first given to us here in the Book of the Law (and not in the Book of the Covenant), it is still fundamental to us as Believers because Yeshua said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40). This is the foundation of the New Covenant that is now written upon our hearts and minds.
Continuing the Portion, we read: “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.” This is in the future tense, pointing to a future time when His words will be in our hearts … an obvious reference to Jeremiah’s prophecy of a New Covenant: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah …. I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (Jeremiah 31:31 & 33) At the time that Jeremiah wrote these words, Yehovah was obviously speaking to Israel through His prophets. But the end of the Tanach brought on a period of some 400 years when He was silent; but this silence was broken when Yeshua came on the scene. Not only did Yeshua speak Yehovah’s words to Israel, He demonstrated Yehovah’s actions in His own name (casting out demons, healing, etc.). And as Heaven’s ambassadors to Earth today, we should be saying and doing these same things; our earthly ministry should be a Book of Acts ministry with all the same miracles performed today!
The Portion continues with the instruction to teach these to our children all the time and everywhere. This is the greatest downfall of Western culture when we turn our children over to the State to teach them. It is every parent’s responsibility to teach his own children; and Yehovah fulfilled that responsibility when He wrote His instructions in our hearts and minds!
You can print the Shema here: https://torahnotes.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/The-Shema.pdf with the Hebrew, English and English transliteration so you can learn it in Hebrew. With more and more churches today joining with Islam in reading from the Koran, we should be joining with Yehovah in reciting the Shema in the language that He gave it to us – Hebrew!
Chapter 7 – Israel – The Chosen Nation
Yehovah chose Israel, not because they were mightier that the other nations, but because they were the least. When He defeated the Nephilim inhabitants of the Land and give it to Israel, they are not to act like those nations that Yehovah just defeated for them. Do not worship their idols; do not marry their sons and daughters. “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.”
The Portion ends with these words: “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.”
As we are faithful to keep His Commandments (that are written upon our hearts and minds), then He is faithful to us to equip us to accomplish the tasks He has placed before us…and as we are obedient to Him, He blesses us!
Haftarah Reading (Isaiah 40:1–26)
This Shabbat is also known as Shabbat Nachamu (Shabbat of Comfort); this week’s Haftorah, therefore, is the first in a series of seven “Haftarot of Consolation.” They start with the Shabbat following Tisha B’Av and continue through Yom Teruah. We are reading this week from Isaiah 40 which describes the miraculous events that will unfold with the coming Messianic Era, such as the return of all the exiles to Jerusalem, the revelation of God’s glory, and the rewards and punishments that God will hand out. Isaiah then goes on to comfort the people, describing God’s power and might, and reassuring them of His care. We read the beginning of this portion from Isaiah 40:1-5:
“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” says your God. “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.” The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Brit Chadashah
The Shema summarizes in a few words all of the concepts presented in Torah. When Yeshua was asked to summarize all of Torah, He said:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind….and your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12:30-31
In the same manner, the Apostle Paul expanded upon this concept of “loving our neighbor” and he showed the relationship between love and “the Law”. We read from Romans 13:8-10:
“Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For these commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery’, ‘You shall not murder’, ‘You shall not steal’, ‘You shall not bear false witness’, ‘You shall not covet’, and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’. Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”