Parashat Ha'Azinu

(Deuteronomy 32:1-52)

This song (introduced as such in 31:16) follows a classic pattern of Hebrew poetry, which employs nearly synonymous phrases in parallel form, with just a slight difference in order to draw a contrast or make the range of meaning clearer by tightening the precision where there could be ambiguity. Moshe is calling heaven and earth (all of creation, as described in Gen. 1:1) as witnesses to what he is about to say—a common practice when forging covenants. (4:26; 30:19; Yeshayahu 1;2; Yirmeyahu 2:12 and 6:19 together; Yirm. 22:29) It is usually done in negative circumstances—when YHWH wants it clearly documented that His children are doing what He warned them not to do. Creation is horrified at how Israel responds in rebellion to the One who nourished them, for we were created for relationship to Him. The “natural order”, as described in New Moon liturgy, “rejoices to do the will of its Creator”. Seasons do not fail to change. He gave us the Torah to set us in the same kind of order. He appeals to both realms—the earthly and the heavenly, the seen and unseen, the “natural” and “spiritual”, for there is more to everything than what we can see, though the two cannot be totally separated. Whatever is from YHWH is spiritual, but whatever He does, He manifests in the physical realm. YHWH is spirit, but we worship YHWH in spirit and in truth (Yoch. 4:24), not just one or the other. Paul says our ancestors ate spiritual food and drank from a spiritual rock. (1 Cor. 10:4) But the manna was truly digested by their stomachs and the rock gave water that quenched physical thirst. We cannot benefit from or take part in spiritual things until they take on a physical manifestation. The eternal King is invisible (1:17); we can see Y’shua in the physical realm as the pattern of what exists in the realm beyond what we can see, for He is the earthly side of YHWH’s salvation, as His name tells us. If He were not a physical man, we could never have partaken of YHWH’s salvation. There is no spiritual salvation without the element of physical deliverance to the Promised Land. There is no “spiritual Israel”, though those not descended from Yaaqov can still join in and become part of the Israel that lives out the Torah literally. Whatever the leaders appointed by YHWH bind legally on earth, we will be held accountable for by “heaven”. A king cannot expect his subjects to obey laws they do not know about, but once the messengers have proclaimed them, the local deputies will enforce them. Y’shua was YHWH’s messenger, who taught us and showed us how to lay down our lives; we must no longer expect Him to bring redemption. We continue redeeming more as we were redeemed. He has done His part, and sent us more empowerment (Acts 1:7-8; 1 Tim. 1:15ff) since we had shown that the threats of prophets were not enough to motivate us. It is our responsibility, as “next of kin”, to continue accomplishing His spiritual task in the physical realm. We cannot love YHWH without loving our physical neighbors. There is no spiritual salvation until we take up our own execution stakes so we can continue the redemption that He began.

Drop: LXX, "be looked for". Like the rain, He can be gentle to those just beginning to grow, lavish toward those firmly planted, who have the capacity for much more. He never stops teaching; we just have to have ears to hear. It is customary not to pray for the early rains until the end of the festival of Sukkoth, so that it does not come during the harvest or the festivals that follow, one of which requires the walk to Yerushalayim. Like dew and rain, these words are to have a continuing effect as weteach them to our children.

This passage is read on the week of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). Even during the periods in history when YHWH's name was not mentioned out of either reverence or superstition, on Yom Kippur it was uttered several times publicly by the High Priest. His true name will be made known; interestingly, however, when Yonah was preaching at Nin'veh (with the deadline for repentance being Yom Kippur), he used only the more generic name "Elohim", perhaps because he wanted to see how they responded before revealing His true Name to them. The word for "proclaim" has the connotation of suddenly encountering the person called, and seizing him, as YHWH's name did for Moshe at the burning bush. His Name was the proof to the Israelites that Moshe was the deliverer they were awaiting.

Perfect: complete, blameless. Faithfulness: or steadfastness. Crookedness: Hirsch, "misuse of power".

The fact that Y’shua alluded to this verse in Mat. 16:4 suggests that the song was remembered by Yehudah for a very long time—at least 1,300 years. Psalm 78 also contains many references to this song. Generation: Heb., dor, from a word meaning to go around in a complete cycle. (We start a new one with each generation.) But the idea of a cycle links us with the festivals (chag, which means to dance in a circle, for they fall on a yearly cycle as well). His calendar has been corrupted by both the addition of paganism and the setting up of human predictions of when the festivals will fall, when in actuality they are to be based on the sighting of the new moon, which no one can predict with absolute certainty. This year the fall festivals as scheduled were off by one day. Like a knotted, crooked extension cord, we sometimes have to go have to go nearly back to the other end before we can find the source of the tangle. The schedule was set up some 1,000 years ago, and Constantine"changed the times and seasons" for the Christian calendar nearly 1,700 years ago. (See note on v. 7.)

7. "Remember the days of a time long past, gain an understanding of the years of generation upon generation. Inquire of your father, and He will make it evident to you; [of] your elders, and they will tell you.

Both houses of Israel are at fault for twisting His ways, and, in the context of being the generation that remembers His Torah after going astray (ch. 31), we have to look back to the ancient paths and discern where the twists and turns are, in order to right the wrongs. "Time long past" here can also mean "eternity", and indeed we, who are at the end of the six "working days" of human history have the unique vantage point of looking back on them all, as archaeology is uncovering facts hidden for so many generations. We can piece things back together, but we must do it this way--by seeking the eternal way (Yirmeyahu 6:16), not the modern one, because it alone holds the key to returning to where we are meant to be. Ancient writings are available today as never before, and they tell us how YHWH did things in the past. This is the only way to know Him. How He has acted before is how He will act again. Turn back to the Torah, because this is how He does things. The ancient way is not about one person or another, but about a people. All of us—at least a critical mass-- must walk in Torah before any of us can receive the inheritance.

Compare Num. 26:53. In Genesis 10:32, seventy nations are listed as stemming from Noach's three sons, and at the time Yaaqov's clan entered Egypt (Gen. 46:27; Ex. 1:5), there were 70 members thereof. YHWH therefore created 70 nations to be places of exile, punishment, and learning for His people until they would get the point of what it means to be Israel. Y'shua sent out 70 disciples to symbolize the fact that the nations who have Israelites in their midst are offered mercy when they stand with Israel. Sha'ul gives us more insight into this enigmatic verse in Romans 11, where he explains that through Israel's stumbling, the nations would have an opening for redemption, symbolized by the 70 bulls offered at Sukkoth. Since Israel was doing a very poor job at being a light to the nations, YHWH used a roundabout means to get this done: While preserving one segment of the nation faithful to His covenant, He chose to work differently through another segment: He let the natural bent toward being like the other nations get the better of them, then sent them out into all the nations, and when the one of the two concurrent times of punishment for their spiritual adultery (outlined in Hoshea) had run its course, He sent a kinsman Redeemer from Yehudah to proclaim that though it was not yet time for the national salvation of the northern Kingdom (cf. Acts 1:6-8), individuals could be restored to the status of being "in covenant" and "His people". But to inform them, emissaries had to go out among all nations and locate those from Efrayim who had been "mixed with the nations", and since it was uncertain which of the "Gentiles" they were, in the process the word got out to those who were truly Gentiles as well, and whoever wished to join His covenant from among the nations was privileged to do so as well. Descendants of Israel: LXX and some variant Hebrew readings have "angels (messengers) of Elohim". (See note on v. 12.)

I.e., wherever Yaaqov's descendants went, YHWH had a right to bring redemption, though there was a "god of this world" who had legitimate right to any who remained in rebellion against YHWH. Since they were scattered among all nations, Y'shua had "all authority in heaven and earth" (Matt. 28:18) to reclaim anyone within any of the nations, because Israel was present in every one in order to stake His claim, and thus they did not need to remain in ignorance, unable to respond to an Elohim they had never heard of.

Found: or acquired. He did not select one of the existing nations, but found someone "neutral". He birthed a nation out of another nation, and did so again when they were not a nation, but an enslaved people. (Imagine a woman wanting to keep inside her a baby that is ready to be born because it is somehow to her advantage!) He brought them to a neutral place that belonged to none of the nations, and gave him instruction (Torah), so that this amazing salvage of the human race gone bad could be carried out in seemingly impossible circumstances. Pupil of his eye: literally the deepest, darkest part. A carrion-eating bird will pick at the eye of an animal first, assuming that if it does not defend even its eye, it is dead. So YHWH guarded this choice weapon that He kept hidden in His quiver and used it in a surprise attack on the adversary. Howling: may also refer to the strong winds present during the Exodus. (Ex. 14:21; Num. 11:31)

A bird of prey fluttering over her young has a purpose in doing so: she creates a vacuum that sucks them up out of the nest when it is time for them to learn to fly on their own; the air forces them to them flapping their wings as well. The refuge under YHWH’s wings is not so we can lazily sit around depending on Y’shua to do everything for us, but to teach us to be like Him.

Foreign: the word can mean "recognized"--seemingly the opposite, but in this context it could fit, since He brought them into "no man's land" to make them a nation. In some ancient texts, verse 8 actually reads "according to the count of the sons of Elohim", a phrase usually meaning spirit-beings (cf. Gen. 6:2ff), a class of angels ("gods") who each had some authority over the earth and its particular communities of inhabitants (e.g., Iyov/Job 1:6; 2:1 and the princes of Persia and Greece in Daniel 10:20). Thus, here it could be restating the idea that YHWH fought against the "gods" of Egypt (Exodus 12:12) to redeem them, because they did not belong to any one of the nations, but only to Him as His direct heirs and emissaries, and brought them into a place that was under the jurisdiction of no constituted "deity"; He created a new nation to be a priest to the others and thus eventually redeem people from these spirits that were often no more benevolent to their worshipers than their human counterparts.

Suck honey: some see this as a reference to petroleum deposits that are deep beneath Israel, which have not yet been exploited. Oil: often a symbol for the illumination and anointing of the Spirit of Holiness, as well as soothing ointment. Flinty rock: or hard, healthy; from the word for "dream" in Hebrew, hence seemingly a roundabout allusion to Joseph.

Bashan: the finest pasture land in Israel.

Yeshurun: the upright, straight, pleasing one--YHWH's "pet name" for Israel. It is only used when the whole nation is in unity. He was healthy and well-provided for, but rebelled.

Hirsch: "They made Him feel His rights had been violated."

Devastators: demons. But nothing other than YHWH truly ends up being a benefactor when worshipped.

Avraham is also called the “rock from which we were hewn.” (Yeshayahu 51:1-2) The sense Hirsch brings out is that they had already forgotten YHWH while He was still giving birth to them. Many Christians are much more familiar with Y’shua than YHWH, but they brush this off by saying they are one and the same. But this is not something our ancestors were familiar with. (v. 18) They never knew a man as Elohim.

20. "He said, ‘I will hide My face from them; I will watch what they will [turn out to be] later, because they are a fickle generation--children in whom there is no trust[worthiness].

Fickle: easily reversed. Later: this is their salvation, because "later" He promised to restore them.

Provoked Me to anger: LXX, "exasperated Me". There could be a double reference here: the northern Kingdom is later called "not My people" but rather are identified as Gentiles for a time, yet later would be called His people again, in a way that provokes Judah to jealousy (Rom. 11:11) Senseless: calling Y’shua, who is a man—a “non-El”--an Elohim does make Him jealous unless we do homage to Him as the king YHWH has set in place. Another level of interpretation may be that He will use a non-nation that claims to be a nation, the Palestinians, to vex Israel (not just in the Land, but stir up the exiles to return as well), by their foolishness, exemplified by their paying grand sums of money to families who will set their women and children in the front lines of fire to become martyrs with false hopes of going to Paradise thereby, in a staged-for-TV ploy to make the world think the Israelis are the aggressors. What is nothing: or "their vanities"--one of YHWH's epithets for idols. They exist only in men's minds. Paul says that in other cases it is actually the demons behind the idols that are being worshipped. (1 Cor. 10:20)

Underworld: or simply "grave". Mountains: often specifically a reference to the holy sites of the Temple Mount, Mt. Sinai, and Mt. Tzion. The top of Mt. Sinai was scorched, but the people were standing under the mountain (Ex. 19:17). At the Temple Mount, the foundation could refer to the Western Wall and/or the area of "Solomon's stables" that was desecrated by the Muslims while building their new mosque in 1999.

24. "Exhaustion from being famished, consumed by burning inflammation, a bitter cutting-off and teeth of beasts will I send on them, along with the poison of things that crawl in the dust.

Consumed: embattled or depleted. Burning inflammation...beasts: translated by some as "flaming demons". This could stand up in the context of "beasts", which the book of Revelation seems to link with demonically-led men or organizations. LXX, "the devouring of birds". Bitter cutting-off: LXX, "irremediable falling away".

Innermost rooms: could this refer to wars on the borders and terrorists in Yerushalayim? Fear attacks us from within, and kills us in a different way.

Shatter: LXX, "scatter". Indeed, many of the scattered of Israel did forget who we were.

He would kill you all if it were not for the fact that the other nations would take all the credit for it. (Compare v. 30.)

Hirsch: "a nation going to ruin in their own plans".

Comprehend: includes the sense of acting circumspectly. Perceive: discern or consider; Hirsch, "draw conclusions about". Their end: where they are headed, or what YHWH intends their final state to be; which it is is up to them.

Only if YHWH surrenders Israel can it fall. Hemmed them in: or "given them over".

Here through v. 38 the nations come under His wrath. Rock: an idiom for strength as residing in one's national elohim.

33. "Their wine is the burning heat of dragons, and the cruel [fierce] venom of cobras.

This wine could also be a reference to hot blood, especially considering that most Palestinians do not drink wine! Cobras: or vipers.

35. "Vengeance is Mine, and complete repayment. In due time, their foot will slip, for the day of their calamity is near, and the impending things stored up for them are hurrying [toward them],

Paul quotes this in Romans 12:19. Slip: or be dislodged.

Vindicate: or "plead the cause of". Strength: literally, "hand". Is exhausted: or "has evaporated". Detainees and abandoned: Only when Israel has no strength left to resist YHWH or are not proud of ourselves will He rescue us. Yehudah was decimated during the Holocaust—and just after that, they were allowed to return. The Northern Kingdom had to completely disappear as a people before YHWH sent Y’shua to call us back to Himself. Those whom YHWH summons back to worship Him in Yerushalayim in the last days are described in Yeshayahu 27:13 as outcasts and those who are about to perish.

38. "‘who ate the fat of their offerings, and drank the wine of their libations? Let them rise up and support you, and be your shelter [now]!'

What one has sacrificed for is what he will trust to save him when times become difficult. If it is the Kingdom you invest everything in, storing up in the spirit by putting our resources into what it needs now (Mat. 6:24-34), it will come to your aid when you need it. If we do not, it will not. Anything that is not of YHWH will be able to carry anyone through the coming trials. YHWH challenges these false securities to a “duel”. Let’s see if your bank account can really help you when all the computers go down! It’s not even “only on paper” anymore; it’s only software! It never really belonged to you in any real sense. Let’s see if relationships that do not further the Kingdom will be able to sustain you when everyone is lacking resources; those people will be fending for themselves then and will not care about you!

There are no other options but Him if you want to receive the eternal promises He made to Avraham.

41. "‘If I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand takes hold of the procedures of justice, I will turn vengeance back on those who afflict Me, and I will make a complete compensation for those who hate Me.

He draws clear lines: one who does not love Him with all his heart is actually counted among those who hate Him. He does not want anyone lukewarm. (Rev. 3:16)

43. "Rejoice, O nations [who are] His people, for He will avenge the blood of His servants and turn punishment back on His adversaries, and will make atonement for His Land (His people)!"

Nations [Gentiles] who are His people: those both of the scattered House of Efrayim, who mixed themselves with and lost their identity among the nations, essentially becoming Gentiles for all intents and purposes, and those who actually have no Israelite blood in them, but have become Israelites in heart--for they are the ones in love with the Land and seeking atonement from Him. This is where Moshe’s song ends.

In their ears: He taught them the words and the catchy tune that would keep it ringing through their heads as a deterrent to sinning. Hoshea: i.e., Y'hoshua. He is now the one writing, for Moshe had already given his part of the book to the priest. He is humble, not daring to call himself YHWH’s salvation until his resolve is tested, and because there is a greater Y’hoshua coming, who will accomplish a greater exodus. (Yirm. 23:7)

46. he told them, "Direct your hearts toward all that I am causing to testify to you today--words which you shall order your children to guard and to carry out--all the words of this instruction,

47. "because it is not a meaningless matter to you, since it is your life, and by this word you shall prolong your days in the land to which you are crossing [the] Yarden to take possession of."

Meaningless: or empty. It is not something we can afford to ignore. It is a matter of life and death to us. Our final salvation depends on being able to “sing this song” again.

49. "Climb up onto this mountain of the regions across--Mount Nevo, which is in the land of Moav facing Yericho, and gaze into the land of Kanaan, which I am giving to the descendants of Israel as inherited property,

50. "then [you are to] die on the mountain that you climb, and be gathered away to your people, just as your brother Aharon died on Mount Hor and was gathered away to his people

51. "because you have acted unfaithfully toward me in the midst of the descendants of Israel at the Waters of Holy Strife in Wilderness of Tsin, in that you did not honor Me as holy in the midst of the descendants of Israel.

The story behind this is found in Numbers 20:17ff. He struck the rock a second time instead of in faith just speaking to it as YHWH had commanded. He made it look like it was his own anger and effort that brought the water again, not YHWH. Paul tells us that the rock was a picture of Messiah. (1 Cor. 10:4) We need merely ask in His Name (Yochanan 14:13-14), not crucify Him again. (Heb. 6:4) “Asking” might sometimes involve nothing more than obeying His commands. Waters of Holy Strife: or "waters of strife at Qadesh". Tsin means "flat".

View: includes the concepts of perceive, inspect, or consider.