Parashat Vaetchanan
("and I pleaded"). Deuteronomy
3:23-7:11 by Jon Eaton
The Sabbath immediately
following Tisha B'Av is called Shabbat Nachamu (שבת נחמו), "the Sabbath of
Comfort," because we take time to remember Israel's prophetic future to
lessen the pain and burden of the past.
The prophecy that Israel would be saved! “When you are in distress and all these
things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord
your G-d and obey him.” Deuteronomy 4:30.
That being said, this week’s parashah is found
in Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11 and begins with Moses saying to the Israelites, "And
I pleaded with the LORD at that time, saying, 'O Lord G-D, you have only begun
to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what G-d is there
in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours?'” (Deut
3:23-24)
Interestingly the
gematria of vaetchanan (pleaded) is 515 -- the same as the word for prayer (tefillah,
תְּפִלָּה).
You can imagine just
how disappointed Moses would have been having learned that he would not be
entering the Promised Land; He had seen the highs and the desperate lows of the
journey to the Promised Land only to be refused entry. His
prayer really was a sincere pleading for mercy.
Moses continues his
speech to the Israelites and ads his own personal testimony pertaining to his
inability to enter the Promised Land at that time. He made it clear that he believed it to be
the Israelites fault that he had been refused entry by the Lord, “But because
of you the Lord was angry with me” (Deuteronomy 3:26).
And again in
Deuteronomy 4:21 “The Lord was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly
swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your G-d
is giving you as your inheritance.”
- I think Moses was mad.
The Lord was angry with
Moses about his disobedience in regard to striking the rock. Earlier in Numbers chapter 20, Moses had
been commanded by the Lord to “speak to the rock” for water to pour out; Moses
struck the rock twice instead.
I understand Moses’s confusion
because earlier in Exodus 17:6, the Lord told Moses to strike the rock for the
water to be poured out but the second time Moses was commanded to only speak to
it for water to pour out.
There are many
commentators who regard this act of disobedience a direct correlation to
Yeshua.
In 1 Corinthians 10:4,
Rav Shaul states that Yeshua WAS that rock, “for they drank from the spiritual
rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Messiah.”
Yeshua was struck once
so that living water could be poured out, and now it is the word of our
confession (speaking) that stirs up this well of life – no need to strike Yeshua
again.
Moses then pleads with
the Israelites to “hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow
them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the
Lord, the G-d of your ancestors, is giving you. Do not add to what I command
you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your G-d
that I give you.” Deuteronomy 4:1-2.
Moses gave a
direct order not to add to the
commandments or subtract from them. This
was exactly what Yeshua complained about concerning the Pharisees. He accused them of adding to the commandments
by their traditions and thus breaking the commandments, “Why do you also
transgress the commandment of G-d because of your tradition?” Matthew 15:3
Despite this, Moses
gives us the Jewish mantra that has lasted many lifetimes, been a source of indisputable strength to a whole nation and has been heard on the lips of
children playing and the elderly dying – the Shema.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our G-d, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your G-d with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:4
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our G-d, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your G-d with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:4
Of course I can’t go
past the Shema without highlighting that the Hebrew word for “one” here is “echad”
(אֶחָד - multiple one), not “yachid” (יָחִיד
singular one). Even the Rambam
attempted to change the words of the Torah to say ‘yachid’ instead of ‘echad’
to suit his own theology.
Nevertheless, the Lord
is never called yachid anywhere in scripture and holds his own as Elohim
(plural)…. But enough of that.
One of the most
important points in the Shema is the command to love the Lord. Even Yeshua, when asked what was the most
important command, referred to the Shema.
Interestingly, Yeshua
continued to state that loving your neighbour is “the same”.
Matthew 22:36-40 “Teacher,
which is the great commandment in the law?” – (notice that he was simply asking for one commandment.)
“Yeshua said to him,
“‘You shall love the Lord your G-d with all your heart, with all your soul, and
with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is
like it (the same): ‘You shall love your
neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the
Prophets.”
Rav Shaul later wrote, "Love
is the fulfilling of the law." Romans 13:10
But why is it, that
when Yeshua was asked for a single commandment, that he replied with two? Simply, they are the same commandment. Loving your neighbour is an act of loving the
Lord.
And the evidence for
this is found in Deuteronomy chapter 5 – The Ten Commandments.
The very first two
words and last two words of the Ten Commandments sum it all up…
“I AM…..Your Neighbour”.
Blessings on all who
read this.
Jon Eaton
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