“The Lesson of His Treasure”
Parashah VA’ETCHANAN (Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11) Week 45
“For you are a people set apart as holy for ADONAI your God. ADONAI your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his own unique treasure. ADONAI didn’t set his heart on you or choose you because you numbered more than any other people – on the contrary, you were the fewest of all peoples. Rather, it was because ADONAI loved you, and because he wanted to keep the oath which he had sworn to your ancestors, that ADONAI brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from a life of slavery under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. From this you can know that ADONAI your God is indeed God, the faithful God, who keeps his covenant and extends grace to those who love him and observe his mitzvot to a thousand generations.” (Deuteronomy 7:6-9 CJB)
In Parashah Va’etchanan (I pleaded) Moses recounts his personal praise of Adonai and pleads to be allowed to cross the Jordan in order to see the good land on the other side; that wonderful hill-country; the long-awaited Covenant Land of Israel. Adonai commands Moses to climb up atop Mount Pisgah to look in all four directions to view the land with his eyes, but not to enter into it. The command to commission Joshua as Moses’ successor to lead the people onward into their inherited territory was given by Adonai, with the orders to encourage and strengthen Joshua at the commissioning, as the new leader of the Nation.
It is apparent in the Parashah how Moses continues to be obedient above all else, and proceeds in his teaching of the new generation, now under Joshua. The people hear again, the details of their history and the command to obey the Mitzvot of Adonai, so all will go well with them. Moses teaches and reviews the historical account of the Nation of Israel from their expulsion out of Egypt and through the forty years of wilderness wanderings. He pleads with the people to observe the laws of Adonai as they enter into the Promised Land to establish their tribal territories in righteousness, staying set apart as holy, from the cultures of their day.
The historical retelling of the Nation proceeds out of the lips of Moses. This is not only the generational history of the people as they became a Nation, but it is also an autobiography of Moses and his own intimate journey with them, as the anointed deliverer of Israel, and intermediary between Adonai and the people.
The prophetic warnings to the Nation are serious and dire.
“There you will serve other gods which are the product of human hands, made of wood and stone, which can’t see, hear, eat or smell. However, from there you will seek ADONAI your God; and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and being. In your distress, when all these things have come upon you in the acharit-hayamim, you will return to ADONAI your God and listen to what he says; for ADONAI your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your ancestors which he swore to them.” (Deuteronomy 4:28-31 CJB)
Moses uses prophetic warnings to embed the importance of remaining loyal to the covenant alignment with Adonai, lest the people fall away into sin and idol worship; as foretold. Throughout this discourse of the hills and valleys of the forty year journey up to this scene, just east of the Jordan River; the overriding theme is the magnanimous mercy of Adonai!
As we relive through the recounting of Moses, all the Lord has done to prove His powerful guiding hand to the Nation in their wilderness journey, if we place our attention too much on the Nation and their failings, we will fail to see the deepest part of the story. May our eyes stay on the unapproachable holiness of Adonai. May our eyes be stayed on His faithfulness as our heavenly Father teaches, leads, guides, disciplines, and ultimately ushers His children into their inheritance, which awaits their delight and His.
When we focus our minds and hearts on the God of the Bible more than the Patriarchs of the Bible, we will be blessed to see the bigger picture; the heavenly side of the tapestry of Torah. When we focus too much on the failings of our spiritual ancestry, we view the underside of the tapestry of Torah. The underside of the design has the loose strings, the skipped blueprint in need of reweaving, or the stitches which appear uneven, lacking artistry in the woven design. Yes, this is what life can look like in the here and now, if we narrow our focus on the performance of one another.
This is the Lesson of His Treasure. “Indeed, inquire about the past, before you were born; since the day God created human beings on the earth, from one end of heaven to the other, has there ever been anything as wonderful as this? Has anyone heard anything like it? Did any other people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and stay alive? Or has God ever tried to go and take for himself a nation from the very bowels of another nation, by means of ordeals, signs, wonders, war, a mighty hand, an outstretched arm and great terrors –like all that ADONAI your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?” (Deuteronomy 4:32:33 CJB)
Remember to remember, dear seeker, the deepest part of the story is the undeniable, jealous love of God for His treasured people; the Nation of Israel. We too are His treasure; His Wild Olive Branch; grafted in by way of Messiah Yeshua.
This is the Lesson of His Treasure. Indeed, inquire about your past before you were born. Since the day God created human beings on the earth, from one end of heaven to the other, has there ever been anything as wonderful as this? His story is recorded for all time and eternity to teach and to train; to help us remember His passionate love and loyalty to His chosen ones. May we rejoice in the sincerity of His truth. His faithful love (Chesed) is lifted above each story in Torah as an eternal, prevailing trust! Sincerity is described in the Hebrew as a Tapestry, revealing identical artistry when unfolded, perfectly formed inside, and outside. Rejoice! There is nothing hidden, with our God.
This is the Lesson of His Treasure. The fruitfulness of the love of God is so sweet, so fulfilling, so desirable as we inquire about our past. We may look back into the Old Testament stories in Torah, to see the results of the Nation who rejected Adonai throughout the hills and valleys of their journey. It was by their rejection that a compassionate way was made for all who would come to the table of Adonai, to feast on the fruitful bounty of His love and promise!
We see through our own lessons and training, how Adonai invited the sojourner to participate with the chosen Nation of Israel, as they experienced the holy, designated times of the Lord. (Moedim)
This is a door Adonai has flung wide open from heaven, inviting us in, as His adopted treasure of a people. We are His Wild Olive Branch. (Romans 11:17-18)
Therefore rejoice!
Therefore, pray lovingly for Israel as she journeys toward her Covenant alignment with Adonai.
She will surely take her treasured place at His bountiful table, as His Treasured People. (Am Segulah)
Rejoice, all you treasured people, rejoice!
Shabbat Shalom!
Sydney