Shalom Fellow Israelite,
In this week’s Torah reading of
NITZAVIM (Deut. 29:10 – 30:20) we find the chosen people “standing” before
YHVH. They have just received a reminder
of the covenant and the awesome commands which
enumerated the consequences of obedience and disobedience (the blessings and
the curses). But were they ready for the
final commitment, which would catapult them into something so fearful, yet so
promising as this covenant with the Elohim of their fathers? The conditions were clear, and so was their
inherent weakness (which would actually make meeting the requirements almost
impossible).
How could YHVH subject these second
generation wilderness men, women and children to such laws, when He already
knew that they were born of the “sin nature”, and would obviously miss the mark
of Torah and suffer the consequences, just like their parents? Moses said to them: “Yet to this day YHVH has not given you a
heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear” (Deut. 29:4). How unfair
it all seemed, or was YHVH concealing His plan in the darkness of the “mystery
of iniquity” (2nd Thes.2:7, also Eph.2:1-2)?
“YHVH has not yet given you...” In this short phrase we see
that YHVH holds Himself responsible for the future success, or failure, of His
plan. Even after the flood YHVH declared
that, “man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21). Because of this inherent condition, Moses,
under the anointing of the Holy One, begins to prophesy the destiny of the
Hebrew people: “And it shall come to
pass, when all these things are come upon you, the blessing and the curse,
which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations,
where YHVH your Elohim has driven you…” (Deut. 30:1). Before the Children
of Israel had a chance to prove themselves or even make any kind of free will
choice, YHVH already knew what would happen to them, because of the
condition of their heart.
The covenant He made with the
Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, obligated YHVH to be accountable to His
promises of blessings of land, and the fruitfulness that would multiply and
spread to all nations through their seed. This “seed”, the people of Israel,
were now in a position to be the recipients of the promises to their
forefathers. But before entering the land YHVH is stating the conditions for the
promises’ fulfillment. Standing before
YHVH, the Israelites were looking toward the land that they were about to
enter, the land of milk and honey that was promised to their forefathers. The said conditions for remaining in the land
were now going to hang over their heads like a seething prophetic refining pot.
"But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn
away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you
shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which
you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess” (Deut.
30:17-18). YHVH was using these conditions
as a tool to fulfill the original promises to the Patriarchs, and preparing the
way for an even greater promise.
History
reveals that YHVH was true to His word, even though the potential consequences
of the covenant may be interpreted as negative and even disastrous (abounding
in curses and not blessings). Some may
even venture to condemn the generations of our forefathers for failing to live
up to the righteousness of the Torah.
YHVH, aware of these weaknesses, built into His covenant the sacrificial
system for atonement and forgiveness of sin to be in effect year after year
throughout the cycles of the feasts, in order to enable Him to fulfill the
original covenant with the Patriarchs.
But did this present form of the (expanded) covenant take care of the
condition of the heart? Obviously we
would have to answer: “no, it did not”. In fact, it did the very opposite,
revealing the corruptness of the heart.
Yeshua pointed out this condition, as recorded in the Gospel of Mark: “For
from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit,
lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evil
things come from within, and defile the man” (7:21-23). This is why Yeshua describes the religious man
as a white washed tomb: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are
like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are
full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear
righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Mat.
23:27-28).
How then was YHVH going to have
a people that would become a holy nation (Ex.
19:6), and be His witness (Isa. 43:10,12),
and for that matter, how were the promises to the fathers going to be fulfilled?
As Moses continues to prophesy we are given one of the first glimpses into the
mystery of the will of YHVH (ref. Eph. 1:9-10), and into a covenant that would
once and for all deal with the condition of the heart: “YHVH your Elohim will circumcise your
hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love Him with
all your heart and with all your soul, and live” (Deut. 30:6). A door of hope was left open; the destiny of
the people was sealed by the prophetic word. The irrevocable calling upon them
as YHVH’s people could not fail. YHVH
said: “I WILL”, thus leaving no doubt that it was not going to be
by the will of man, nor by might, nor by power but by the Spirit of the
infallible Word/Torah of YHVH.
YHVH’s feast of Yom Teruah is ‘standing’
before us, ‘trumpeting’ the coming days of repentance. However, without the laws given at Sinai we
would not know what we are to be repenting of.
Paul writes in Romans: “Do we then make void the Law through faith?
Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the Law” (Romans 3:31). How does a New Covenant believer establish (validate) the Law given at Sinai? The Greek
word for establish (histemi) means: to
make to stand, to stand. Thus not
only were the people “standing”, “nitzavim”, but the Torah also was ‘standing’,
right alongside them. They could not
enter the land promised without the Torah of Moses. So too, a New Covenant
believer cannot fully enter into its promises without the Torah written on
their hearts.
Without understanding the reason
for YHVH giving us laws we will not know how we are to establish them. Paul continues in Romans 3, explaining: “…for
by the Law is the knowledge of sin” (v. 3b). This sets the stage for true repentance. Here is the example the apostle uses: “What shall we say then? Is the law sin?
Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the
law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall
not covet’" (Romans 7:7). This absolute
and invariable reality (as we noted above) makes us desperate for YHVH’s goodness
that leads to repentance (see Romans
2:4) and the need for the ultimate atonement which was wrought through
Messiah Yeshua, Who made it possible for the Torah to be etched into hearts of
flesh.
Hag Same’ach and Shabbat Shalom,
Ephraim
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