Parashat Va-Yelech

(Deuteronomy 31:1-30)

Went: more literally, walked. He may have been walking throughout the camp, "reviewing his troops" before he "retired". These words: His final “pep talk” to remind them to get serious about all he has told them, since few of them are totally ready to enter the Promised Land. It is “crunch time” for us again today, so these words are very relevant to us

120 years old: literally, a son of 120 years. This suggests that he had allowed each year to teach him and each experience to build him into what he was now. Is our fruit better this yeat than it was last, or have we stayed at the same level? Have you been a “son” of this year? No longer able: we are told in 34:7 that his natural strength had not abated. But “go out or come in” is a Hebrew idiom for battle (Y’hoshua 14:11; 1 Shmu’el 29:6) or leading the people in general (2 Chron. 1:10). YHWH had also set 120 years as the limit of human life (Gen. 6:3) unless there was a special exception. So when Moshe reached his 120th birthday, he knew his time had come to die. He lived three neat periods of 40 years, which symbolizes a time of transition. At age 40, he recognized that he was a Hebrew, but just because he was a prince in the Egyptian court or had killed an Egyptian to defend his own people did not give him a right to become a leader right away. He had to tend someone else’s sheep—a job many would see as worthless—before he would be qualified in YHWH’s eyes to lead His “flock”. By 80, he ha d”paid his dues” and been trained so it would be no novice that led the Hebrews across the sea, but he still had more to learn. Now at 120, he turned over the leadership to Y'shoshua. We must cross over when Israel crosses over, because that is when YHWH and Y'hoshua (v. 3) both crossed over. Go out and come in: mystically, to enter YHWH's presence and return to the people with a message for them. He recalls what YHWH told him in Num. 27:12-14. But despite his shortcomings, his heart had been for YHWH, so He gave him the full allotment of days on earth. By tradition, he died on the exact anniversary of his birth, on the 7th day of Adar. "This Yarden" he could not cross, but the truer Yarden of which the physical one is a shadow, he would cross, for he will be one of the greatest in the Kingdom, since he taught men to obey the Torah. (Mat. 5:19).

"Hebrew" means "crosser-over", so YHWH is the first “Hebrew”. He goes on ahead, yet still crosses over in our midst. YHWH is the one... Y'hoshua is the one: The same claim is made for Y'hoshua that is made for YHWH. Whatever he does, YHWH is doing. This is a picture of the later Y'hoshua (of which Y'shua, the Messiah's name is a shortened version), who would so fully express what YHWH, whom no one can ever see (Yochanan/John 1:18; 6:46; 1 Yoch. 4:12), was like, that he could say, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." (Yoch. 14:9) This sounds very much like it is saying “Y’hoshua is YHWH” by Greek logic, but clearly Y’hoshua was a man with a job given by YHWH’s will. He represents YHWH, and YHWH fully supports him, but no one would say YHWH became Y’hoshua as they say He turned into Y’shua. Y’hoshua is the precedent for Y’shua in many ways. Their names mean “YHWH’s deliverance.” It is YHWH, not men, that we trust (Psalm 118:8), yet He is for us “among our helpers”. (118:7) When we gather to ask for His help, He is there in our midst. Before you: Y'shua indeed defeated our enemies and preceded us into the Kingdom as the firstfruits of the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20-23), the Head of a Body that he is still assembling. Moshe [who symbolizes the Torah] could not lead the people into the Promised Land, because that task was reserved for the one with the same name as the Messiah. (Compare Romans 8:23) Those who are returning to Torah from paganism must also remember that the Torah alone cannot take us back to where we need to be; we cannot outgrow our need for Y’shua. But on the other hand, Y’hoshua would have gotten nowhere if not trained by Moshe, and likewise, Y’shua receives His authority and mandate from YHWH through the Torah. Both are necessary. We are not even considered the seed of Israel unless we both have the testimony of Y’shua and keep the commandments. (Rev. 12:17) The people had to trust Moshe’s word that Y’hoshua could lead them, because they knew little about them. We, too, do not really know Y’shua properly until we see Him as a Hebrew, but Moshe tells us to do all He says. (18:15) Promised: or "spoken". Y'shua only spoke what he heard from the Father. (Yochanan 5:19, 30) Y’hoshua failed to do this on one occasion. (Y’hoshua 9:14)

Which He destroyed: yet chapter 3 described how the Israelites defeated them in battle, and no distinction is made between what He accomplished and what they carried out. It is teamwork; we act as His hand.

Deliver them over: or "give them up". If He had done the whole job Himself, the surrounding nations and even some Israelites might say it was just a natural occurrence. If He used Israel, they knew it had to be YHWH, because this people was not capable of such an accomplishment. But He makes us capable; He does not do this by magic. He goes on ahead and arranges for everything to be in place for our enemies’ overthrow, so we can consider them destroyed. But if we do not draw the sword, He will not conquer our enemies. In the book of Esther and even in events like the Holocaust we see the results of King Sha'ul's failure to carry out the same type of complete destruction of the Amaleqites, against whom YHWH had sworn eternal enmity. They always remained a thorn in Israel's flesh. The slaughter is completely just, and YHWH takes responsibility for it.

Resolute: or strong, bold, holding on tightly. Courageoues: alert, on the watch,aware of our surroundings, of who YHWH is and what He has done, of who we are and what He has promised to make us, and therefore prepared and confident. Do not be terrified: Hirsch, "Do not panic"; also can mean, “do not be in awe or show respect", because to fear anything but YHWH is to give it more recognition than it deserves, when He has already promised to do what it appears they will interfere with. Will He fight our enemies for us if we are really worshipping them? King Sha'ul did show respect for the king of the Amaleqites, perhaps since he came from a long dynasty and Sha'ul was just getting a kingdom started. But it only spelled trouble for Israel for generations to come. Courageous: or fully alert; if we are lulled to sleep, we will be taken captive even if we are strong, like Shimshon (Samson). Tremble: let yourself be oppressed or harassed. Worry and dread are the first step toward fear. He also implies that we must not fear the guilt that comes with having to destroy YHWH's enemies; He will not let go of us. We are in His hand, which is a fist against them, and He will not open it and give them access to us.He will not slacken or loosen; these are both legal terms that we see in Mat. 5:17. YHWH will not change the terms of His covenant. He will provide manna or a pillar of cloud to shade us, if that is what is necessary to fulfill His promises if we keep our part of the contract. Y’shua did not change its terms either, though He put them on a better foundation. If we loosen His terms, as Christianity has done on so many occasions, He will indeed let everything loose against use. (Chapter 30)

Cause them to inherit...: or, "you will accomplish their inheriting it as a possession". YHWH saved Israel through Y’hoshua’s leadership. Yet they had to participate! He did not do it alone and then call Israel in to come and enjoy the benefits, and neither did Y’shua; He does not act instead of us, but through us. The second Y'hoshua will also enter the Land again with His subjects. This is what consititutes salvation—going into the Land, overcoming its usurpers, and living in shalom with Y’shua in charge. Until that is accomplished, none of us is saved, though we may be redeemed.

Confounded: could be translated "be frightened" or "go to pieces", because the word means to shatter or break up, because this is what becomes of our minds when we are dismayed and panic. But it comes from a root word meaning to prostrate ourselves or lie down. We are not to lie down when our enemies—or loved ones—come against us, when we can see no way out, or when everyone around us is prostrating themselves to the ways of the world, to their own hearts, to what they need, or to what makes sense. When YHWH has made a promise, no other appearance of reality is meant to influence us. Y’shua did not let the natural fear of execution stop Him from trusting YHWH. He did not drop out of the fight, though His own body even tried to betray Him.

He had written some of it down earlier. (Ex. 24:7; 34:27) But this is where he stops writing; thus Moshe’s last written words were, “Do not be afraid.” If we walk in fear, we will not be able to take the Land. Y’shoshua finished writing this scroll, symbolizing the fact that the Torah is not complete without Y’shua’s part. He brought it to its fullness. (Mat. 5:17)

Sukkoth: booths or temporary dwellings.

Within their hearing: literally, "into their ears". Read: or recite, proclaim. This instruction: at least the entire book of D'varim, if not the whole Torah.

Learn: based on a word meaning "be goaded" or "prodded"--an unpopular concept today, but one which has worked for countless generations before us. Take pains: or "build a hedge". Fences around the commandments (which keep us one step further from violating them) are valid as long as they do not keep us so far away as to obscure the commands they are meant to protect.

If those who only heard this read every seven years were expected to learn it and understand it, it must be meant to be understood in the most straightforward, simple manner. There are deeper meanings, but “don’t eat pigs” means “don’t eat pigs”! So why did our ancestors fail so miserably? (vv. 16ff) Partly because this was to be done in a year in which the Land was allowed to rest and they would have more leisure to meditate on it. Since for 490 years, Israel did not practice this custom, they could not experience this in its fullness. How much more ought we, who have access to these words whenever we choose to read them, be able to learn and obey? Part of returning to it is beginning to practice this festival and the others He commanded.

Above the door: or "by the door", of which the two pillars in front of Shlomo's temple may have been reminiscent, as it appears that they held up nothing in particular.

Commit adultery: Hirsch, "become addicted to". The word comes from a root meaning to be satiated, which is typically when people find time to commit adultery. Strangers: aliens, unrecognized people, those unknown to them. Leave Me behind: forsake, abandon, desert, let Me loose. As soon as the Torah is laid down to sleep, we sink back into our natural inclination to evil. Violate: break or annul. How depressing, that the people he wasted 40 years on would soon be ignoring everything he said. But the technicality that the Torah actually ends at verse 8 (see note on verse 9) leaves YHWH the loophole for the Renewal of the Covenant as described in Yirmeyahu 31:31. The only specified way in which it would “not [be] like the covenant I cut with their ancestors” is that the ancestors broke the first covenant. This appendix to Torah, although it offers us much in the way of warning, may be limited to the first time Israel entered the Land, and may not necessarily apply the second time if we indeed do not break the Covenant this time. Y’hoshua’s own namesake made it possible for us to repair what our ancestors broke.

It: i.e., this people. Leave them behind: a term also used for loosing a wife from her marriage so that she is no longer bound to one's house. We see this theme in the book of Hoshea. Destruction: literally, being consumed. Distresses: straits, tight spots, adversities, vexations. That Day: often an idiom for the day of YHWH when both the time of "Yaaqov's trouble" and the Messianic Kingdom will take place. Yet Isaiah 54:8 tells us that the hiding of His face is only for a brief moment in comparison with the kindness and mercy He will again have after that. The Hebrew numerical value of "haven't these miseries come upon us" is the same as that of "the four exiles".

19. "So write down this song for yourselves, then, and teach it to the descendants of Israel. Put it in their mouths so that this song will be a witness for Me within the descendants of Israel,

vTeach: or "make them accustomed" or "skillful". Within: or possibly "against". YHWH postpones Moshe’s death long enough for him to compose a song, which is quoted in chapter 32.

When they grow robust they will turn away--the very pattern seen in the Laodikean congregation (Rev. 3; compare Deut. 32:15).

Plan: inclination, framework, imagination, purpose they are forming. Not be forgotten: or fade; a catchy song is the most efficient way to memorize its content; it stays in one's mind much longer than mere spoken words.

23. Then he gave orders to Y'hoshua the son of Nun, and said, "Be resolute and courageous, because you will bring the descendants of Israel into the Land that I promised to them, and I myself will be with you."

Again Y'hoshua is told he will accomplish what YHWH said He Himself would do. This charge is repeated in Y'hoshua 1:6ff. I myself: that is, Moshe, on YHWH’s behalf. Y’hoshua is the only other man who got to ascend Mt. Sinai, though not as far as Moshe. He thus “ascended into the sky” as Y’shua did. (Eph. 4:10) He was by Moshe’s side all the time, representing Y’shua as one fully committed to the Torah; he, rather than Moshe’s own son, would take his place as leader.

Complete: This does not mention an oral Torah; rather, he wrote down all its words. Tradition is valuable in clarifying what some of the words meant, or how they were interpreted in ancient times, but as we can see in the Mishnah and Talmud in which it was finally written down, oral tradition often draws on many opinions about how it should be interpreted, and so is not as authoritative as Scripture is.

26. "Take this document [scroll] of the instruction, and place it at the side of the ark of the covenant of YHWH your Elohim, so that it may become a witness against you there,

The congregation itself was meant to be YHWH's witness, so in a way the scroll was a witness against the witness, if they should depart from this calling. Like the Sabbath, the Ark is a sign of the covenant. With the Torah beside it, the theme of the Two Witnesses that runs throughout Scripture shows up here again. At the side: literally, "from the side". Exodus 25:16 specifies that the testimony should be put inside the Ark of the Covenant when Moshe would receive it. He himself built another chest out of only wood, without the gold, possibly to hold only the stone slabs that he had shattered the first time the Ten Declarations were given.

Rebellion: or bitterness. Moshe tears them down so they will realize who they are without YHWH, and that He will not dwell in them unless they make themselves an acceptable dwelling place for Him. How much more will we go astray after we say that the Torah is dead?

Hearing: literally, their ears. Invoke: or "summon". Calling forward the strongest witness available was the common way to end a covenant-ratifying ceremony.

Evil in the sight of YHWH: Much of it will not seem evil to us, but very logical! Worshipping on Sunday under a phallic symbol and facing the insignia of Tammuz came to seem very righteous to us, but it turned YHWH’s stomach. How He sees it is the only opinion that counts. It is His world, He made us, redeemed us, so what He thinks goes.

What follows is the song being spoken of all through the above passage: