Sometimes I think it would be easier to write about pop culture than the Torah … and some of my other blogs will attest that I make the attempt now and again. However, while it might be easier to write about cyber shopping phenomenons like Cyber Monday, it’s not as fulfilling as digging into the Bible and really trying to figure out how it was understood from a first-century perspective. Here’s my commentary on V’et’chanan. Or listen to it!
Shabbat Shalom.
Our parashah for today is V’et’chanan or “and I pleaded” and covers Deuteronomy chapter 3, verse 23 through chapter 7, verse 11. The most obvious passage in this week’s reading that jumped right out at me comes early in the parashah. Now, at this point, Moses is living out what the L-RD has told him will be his final days, and has broken the news to him that Moses himself will not be allowed to enter the promised land. This came about as a result of Moses’ own battle with his temper, which has been a lifelong struggle for him.
Because of his quick temper, Moses murdered and Egyptian guard and had to spend forty years in the desert, in Midian, allowing the L-RD to deal with him and heal him. Because of his quick temper, Moses destroyed the tablets of the Ten Commands the L-RD had written and the L-RD made Moses write them himself the second time. And because of his quick temper, Moses struck a rock twice to cause water to come forth, against the command of the L-RD, rather than speaking to it as the L-RD commanded.
So it’s clear that Moses’s anger is at the core of why the L-RD has decided not to permit Moses to enter the land. But has Moses accepted this? Is he at peace with it? In the way he addresses the Israelites regarding the L-RD’s decision, it seems he may not be. We read this in:
Deuteronomy 3:23-26a
At that time I pleaded with the L-RD: “O Sovereign L-RD, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do? Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan–that fine hill country and Lebanon.” But because of you the L-RD was angry with me and would not listen to me.
Did you catch that? Because of you the L-RD was angry with me. Because of you the L-RD would not listen to me.
Now, the people of Israel were a handful. They were often rebellious and Moses complained about them to the L-RD. Despite being the chosen people, these descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were, as we all are, difficult. Ask any parent in an honest moment and they will admit that as much as they love their kids … they’re a handful. They’re frustrating, exasperating and even, at times, disappointing. That doesn’t change the love one holds – be it for one’s own literal children, or for the children of Israel as a people – but it does mean that it’s not always easy to show that love.
And here, in this passage, we witness some of the frustration in Moses that any parent will immediately recognize as something that pops up in themselves from time to time. In moments of frustration, we may share the truth in a less than loving way, and we may even slip into pointing fingers at others, rather than acknowledging our own shortcomings.
So, it’s not, “But because of my own temper the L-RD was angry with me,” and it’s not, “but because I struck the rock to bring forth water rather than speak to it, the L-RD was angry with me.” Is it? No, Moses says, “But because of you the L-RD was angry with me.”
Finger-pointing, rather than taking responsibility for one’s own actions, is a human gut-level reaction so essential to the sinful nature, it extends all the way back to the Garden. After all, when the L-RD asked for an accounting from Adam and Havah about what had happened while he was away from their presence in the Garden, what was their reply? Adam blamed Havah, Havah blamed the serpent, and the serpent, with no one left to blame, stayed silent and probably blamed God. None of them took responsibility for their actions. And why? Fear. Fear, rather than trust.
So how does this relate to Moses? Why would Moses blame the people of Israel for his own faults and shortcomings? Was it out of frustration only? Or could fear have played a role? Well, what did Moses have to be afraid of? After all, Moses has known God better than anyone else in history, apart from the Messiah Yeshua; he has known God face-to-face. God has shown Moses His glory and declared His very nature in front of Moses.
Well, Moses is not that different in that respect from Adam, and he fails in the same way as Adam, blaming others for his own actions rather than taking responsibility. Could it be that what Moses feared was that this error, this sin, might cost him more than a chance to set foot in the promised land? Or perhaps pure frustration over his punishment was the root cause for Moses blaming the children of Israel here.
Whatever the cause, however, the L-RD gives Moses an interesting response. We read this in:
Deuteronomy 3:26b
“That is enough,” the L-RD said. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter.
Can you imagine hearing that from the L-RD? To have Him be that direct and blunt? It would be shocking. It would be intimidating. And it would definitely guarantee that discussion on the matter was over.
You know, it’s an interesting word, enough. The Hebrew word used here, according to:
Strong’s H7227 rab
• AV – many 190, great 118, much 36, captain 24, more 12, long 10, enough 9, multitude 7, mighty 5, greater 4, greatly 3, misc 40; 458
As you can see, rab most often is translated as “great” or “many.” It is rarely used in this sense of the word. The NIV translates rab as enough, while the King James uses “Let it suffice.” Either way, it is a word that God rarely uses in this negative or corrective sense, as it is used here.
In the New International Version, the word “enough” appears only 98 times in all 66 books. In only four instances is “enough” used by the L-RD in a directed, corrective sense. In II Samuel 24:16 and I Chronicles 21:15, the L-RD uses “enough” in the same corrective sense as He does here, but His statement is directed at an angel, not a person. The corrective use of “enough” also appears in Ezekiel 44:6 and 45:9, but in those instances, the L-RD is addressing Israel as a nation, rather than addressing an individual.
Therefore, I can say with relative confidence that the L-RD here is addressing Moses in a rather unique and rare way. He is correcting Moses from a path of grumbling, complaining and desiring to enter the land even after the L-RD has told him, “No.” Is this sounding familiar yet?
You see, a few weeks ago, in the parashah called Balak, the non-Israelite prophet Balaam found himself in a similar situation, continuing to ask the L-RD for permission to do something long after the L-RD told him, “No.” In the case of Balaam, of course, the L-RD ultimately allowed Balaam to harden his heart and go his own way, but foiled Balaam’s efforts to damage Israel in the process.
Here, we can tell Moses is frustrated at the L-RD’s decision to not allow him to enter the promised land, because he continues asking. Yet, unlike the way in which the L-RD dealt with Balaam, with Moses the L-RD draws a line. “That is enough,” said the L-RD. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter.”
If only the L-RD had been so firm with Balaam, perhaps instead of begrudgingly blessing the people of Israel, those words would have flowed freely from his mouth. Instead of joining King Balak, Balaam would have joined himself to the people of Israel! Yet with Balaam, the L-RD stayed silent and allowed Balaam – within limits – to pursue his own stubborn path, which led to his destruction.
Imagine if the L-RD had not spoken up like this with Moses! Imagine if Moses was allowed to go his own stubborn way, attempting to enter the land against the command of the L-RD! Would the L-RD have sent a sword-wielding angel after Moses to oppose him and strike him down, as with Balaam? If that had happened, what would it have done to all the rest of the work the L-RD had accomplished through Moses? Would the name of Moses be considered as blessed today as it is?
Yet praise God, we don’t have to wonder about such possibilities. Praise God, the L-RD did speak up. Praise God, when Moses became stubborn, rather than keep silent and allow Moses’ heart to grow hard, the L-RD spoke to him and said, “That is enough. Do not speak to me anymore on this matter,” words that the L-RD never spoke before, nor spoke again in all of the Torah, all of the Tenakh, all of the Brit HaDasha – the entire Word of God, the complete Jewish Bible. He spoke those words to angels, to nations, but nowhere in the Bible does the L-RD speak like that to any other individual.
It is because of that unique friendship, that unique intimacy, which was shared by the L-RD and Moses, that God decides to intervene. To no one else since the Garden, and until Yeshua, did the L-RD show His glory, communicate with face-to-face and speak without mysteries. And now He also gives Moses another rare gift; the gift of correction. We read this in:
Job 5:17
“Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
This verse gives us insight into the heartbeat of the L-RD’s relationship with Moses. He is treating Moses as a father would treat a son, as a mother would treat a daughter, as any parent would treat any child!
It is easy to wonder why the L-RD treated Moses differently than Balaam, until you think of it in these terms. You see, generally we are to care for everyone. But in practice, in daily life, we do tend to go more out of our way for family than we do for strangers.
If we see a stranger smoking, for example, we might complain or make a comment about cigarettes causing cancer, but if that person isn’t receptive, often we let it go. If we see a son or daughter or niece or nephew smoking, however, we don’t let it go. Certianly, we have more authority in a child’s life than a stranger’s … but we tend to also have a greater interest in seeing the self-destructive behavior stop.
It is not that different here with Balaam and the L-RD, versus Moses and the L-RD. Balaam may have been able to talk to the L-RD, but he did not seek unity with the people of the L-RD or to live in complete obedience to Him, even when the opportunity to join them was there. So, in what Balaam may have mistakenly assumed was grace, the L-RD allowed him to do as he wished, up to a point, and pursue his own desires to his own destruction. If Balaam had allowed the L-RD to control his life, to truly be his Lord, he would never have pressed God to the point of the L-RD allowing him to harden his heart and go his own way. He could have achieved intimacy with God that would have allowed the L-RD to say, “That is enough. Do not speak with me anymore on this matter.”
But that was not what Balaam chose.
What made the difference with Moses, caught in a moment of desire to enter the land overwhelming his judgment to accept God’s decision, is that Moses spent a lifetime – despite all his faults and his anger – seeking intimacy with the L-RD rather than His own way, obeying all the L-RD commanded him. He had made the L-RD truly Lord of his life, and in His kindness, God doesn’t allow Moses’ moment of weakness to destroy a lifetime of obedience. Like a loving, protective parent, He tells Moses, “That is enough.” Harsh words, proving His love.
Shabbat Shalom.
Tags: Cyber Monday, Torah commentary, V'et'chanan
This entry was posted
on Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 11:11 pm and is filed under Torah.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
My V’et’chanan Commentary
August 6th, 2009 by Craig Hansen
Sometimes I think it would be easier to write about pop culture than the Torah … and some of my other blogs will attest that I make the attempt now and again. However, while it might be easier to write about cyber shopping phenomenons like Cyber Monday, it’s not as fulfilling as digging into the Bible and really trying to figure out how it was understood from a first-century perspective. Here’s my commentary on V’et’chanan. Or listen to it!
Shabbat Shalom.
Our parashah for today is V’et’chanan or “and I pleaded” and covers Deuteronomy chapter 3, verse 23 through chapter 7, verse 11. The most obvious passage in this week’s reading that jumped right out at me comes early in the parashah. Now, at this point, Moses is living out what the L-RD has told him will be his final days, and has broken the news to him that Moses himself will not be allowed to enter the promised land. This came about as a result of Moses’ own battle with his temper, which has been a lifelong struggle for him.
Because of his quick temper, Moses murdered and Egyptian guard and had to spend forty years in the desert, in Midian, allowing the L-RD to deal with him and heal him. Because of his quick temper, Moses destroyed the tablets of the Ten Commands the L-RD had written and the L-RD made Moses write them himself the second time. And because of his quick temper, Moses struck a rock twice to cause water to come forth, against the command of the L-RD, rather than speaking to it as the L-RD commanded.
So it’s clear that Moses’s anger is at the core of why the L-RD has decided not to permit Moses to enter the land. But has Moses accepted this? Is he at peace with it? In the way he addresses the Israelites regarding the L-RD’s decision, it seems he may not be. We read this in:
Did you catch that? Because of you the L-RD was angry with me. Because of you the L-RD would not listen to me.
Now, the people of Israel were a handful. They were often rebellious and Moses complained about them to the L-RD. Despite being the chosen people, these descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were, as we all are, difficult. Ask any parent in an honest moment and they will admit that as much as they love their kids … they’re a handful. They’re frustrating, exasperating and even, at times, disappointing. That doesn’t change the love one holds – be it for one’s own literal children, or for the children of Israel as a people – but it does mean that it’s not always easy to show that love.
And here, in this passage, we witness some of the frustration in Moses that any parent will immediately recognize as something that pops up in themselves from time to time. In moments of frustration, we may share the truth in a less than loving way, and we may even slip into pointing fingers at others, rather than acknowledging our own shortcomings.
So, it’s not, “But because of my own temper the L-RD was angry with me,” and it’s not, “but because I struck the rock to bring forth water rather than speak to it, the L-RD was angry with me.” Is it? No, Moses says, “But because of you the L-RD was angry with me.”
Finger-pointing, rather than taking responsibility for one’s own actions, is a human gut-level reaction so essential to the sinful nature, it extends all the way back to the Garden. After all, when the L-RD asked for an accounting from Adam and Havah about what had happened while he was away from their presence in the Garden, what was their reply? Adam blamed Havah, Havah blamed the serpent, and the serpent, with no one left to blame, stayed silent and probably blamed God. None of them took responsibility for their actions. And why? Fear. Fear, rather than trust.
So how does this relate to Moses? Why would Moses blame the people of Israel for his own faults and shortcomings? Was it out of frustration only? Or could fear have played a role? Well, what did Moses have to be afraid of? After all, Moses has known God better than anyone else in history, apart from the Messiah Yeshua; he has known God face-to-face. God has shown Moses His glory and declared His very nature in front of Moses.
Well, Moses is not that different in that respect from Adam, and he fails in the same way as Adam, blaming others for his own actions rather than taking responsibility. Could it be that what Moses feared was that this error, this sin, might cost him more than a chance to set foot in the promised land? Or perhaps pure frustration over his punishment was the root cause for Moses blaming the children of Israel here.
Whatever the cause, however, the L-RD gives Moses an interesting response. We read this in:
Can you imagine hearing that from the L-RD? To have Him be that direct and blunt? It would be shocking. It would be intimidating. And it would definitely guarantee that discussion on the matter was over.
You know, it’s an interesting word, enough. The Hebrew word used here, according to:
As you can see, rab most often is translated as “great” or “many.” It is rarely used in this sense of the word. The NIV translates rab as enough, while the King James uses “Let it suffice.” Either way, it is a word that God rarely uses in this negative or corrective sense, as it is used here.
In the New International Version, the word “enough” appears only 98 times in all 66 books. In only four instances is “enough” used by the L-RD in a directed, corrective sense. In II Samuel 24:16 and I Chronicles 21:15, the L-RD uses “enough” in the same corrective sense as He does here, but His statement is directed at an angel, not a person. The corrective use of “enough” also appears in Ezekiel 44:6 and 45:9, but in those instances, the L-RD is addressing Israel as a nation, rather than addressing an individual.
Therefore, I can say with relative confidence that the L-RD here is addressing Moses in a rather unique and rare way. He is correcting Moses from a path of grumbling, complaining and desiring to enter the land even after the L-RD has told him, “No.” Is this sounding familiar yet?
You see, a few weeks ago, in the parashah called Balak, the non-Israelite prophet Balaam found himself in a similar situation, continuing to ask the L-RD for permission to do something long after the L-RD told him, “No.” In the case of Balaam, of course, the L-RD ultimately allowed Balaam to harden his heart and go his own way, but foiled Balaam’s efforts to damage Israel in the process.
Here, we can tell Moses is frustrated at the L-RD’s decision to not allow him to enter the promised land, because he continues asking. Yet, unlike the way in which the L-RD dealt with Balaam, with Moses the L-RD draws a line. “That is enough,” said the L-RD. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter.”
If only the L-RD had been so firm with Balaam, perhaps instead of begrudgingly blessing the people of Israel, those words would have flowed freely from his mouth. Instead of joining King Balak, Balaam would have joined himself to the people of Israel! Yet with Balaam, the L-RD stayed silent and allowed Balaam – within limits – to pursue his own stubborn path, which led to his destruction.
Imagine if the L-RD had not spoken up like this with Moses! Imagine if Moses was allowed to go his own stubborn way, attempting to enter the land against the command of the L-RD! Would the L-RD have sent a sword-wielding angel after Moses to oppose him and strike him down, as with Balaam? If that had happened, what would it have done to all the rest of the work the L-RD had accomplished through Moses? Would the name of Moses be considered as blessed today as it is?
Yet praise God, we don’t have to wonder about such possibilities. Praise God, the L-RD did speak up. Praise God, when Moses became stubborn, rather than keep silent and allow Moses’ heart to grow hard, the L-RD spoke to him and said, “That is enough. Do not speak to me anymore on this matter,” words that the L-RD never spoke before, nor spoke again in all of the Torah, all of the Tenakh, all of the Brit HaDasha – the entire Word of God, the complete Jewish Bible. He spoke those words to angels, to nations, but nowhere in the Bible does the L-RD speak like that to any other individual.
It is because of that unique friendship, that unique intimacy, which was shared by the L-RD and Moses, that God decides to intervene. To no one else since the Garden, and until Yeshua, did the L-RD show His glory, communicate with face-to-face and speak without mysteries. And now He also gives Moses another rare gift; the gift of correction. We read this in:
This verse gives us insight into the heartbeat of the L-RD’s relationship with Moses. He is treating Moses as a father would treat a son, as a mother would treat a daughter, as any parent would treat any child!
It is easy to wonder why the L-RD treated Moses differently than Balaam, until you think of it in these terms. You see, generally we are to care for everyone. But in practice, in daily life, we do tend to go more out of our way for family than we do for strangers.
If we see a stranger smoking, for example, we might complain or make a comment about cigarettes causing cancer, but if that person isn’t receptive, often we let it go. If we see a son or daughter or niece or nephew smoking, however, we don’t let it go. Certianly, we have more authority in a child’s life than a stranger’s … but we tend to also have a greater interest in seeing the self-destructive behavior stop.
It is not that different here with Balaam and the L-RD, versus Moses and the L-RD. Balaam may have been able to talk to the L-RD, but he did not seek unity with the people of the L-RD or to live in complete obedience to Him, even when the opportunity to join them was there. So, in what Balaam may have mistakenly assumed was grace, the L-RD allowed him to do as he wished, up to a point, and pursue his own desires to his own destruction. If Balaam had allowed the L-RD to control his life, to truly be his Lord, he would never have pressed God to the point of the L-RD allowing him to harden his heart and go his own way. He could have achieved intimacy with God that would have allowed the L-RD to say, “That is enough. Do not speak with me anymore on this matter.”
But that was not what Balaam chose.
What made the difference with Moses, caught in a moment of desire to enter the land overwhelming his judgment to accept God’s decision, is that Moses spent a lifetime – despite all his faults and his anger – seeking intimacy with the L-RD rather than His own way, obeying all the L-RD commanded him. He had made the L-RD truly Lord of his life, and in His kindness, God doesn’t allow Moses’ moment of weakness to destroy a lifetime of obedience. Like a loving, protective parent, He tells Moses, “That is enough.” Harsh words, proving His love.
Shabbat Shalom.
Tags: Cyber Monday, Torah commentary, V'et'chanan
This entry was posted on Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 11:11 pm and is filed under Torah. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.