Parashah HA’AZINU (Listen ~ Hear)
(Deuteronomy 32: 1-52) Week 53
The reading of HA’AZINU (Hear) truly does fall on our ears like a soft rain. As a friend of Torah , who now proclaims its bounty to others who have never tasted of this fruitfulness of ADONAI’s heart for His people, and ALL peoples; I find Moshe’s poetic license the true rival for King David’s Psalms!
I cannot encourage you enough, to read HA’AZINU more than a few times in these days before the final Parashah in Deuteronomy, which is the amazing, final blessing of Moshe’ over the people of Isra’el before his death.
He truly was a father ~ figure to the Hebrew people, as well as God’s appointed deliverer, prophet, and teacher for the fledgling Nation.
The song of Moshe is his personal melody of the literal, historical journey of the Nation of Isra’el, from their exodus out of slavery in Egypt, through the parting of the Red Sea, out into the Sinai Desert Wilderness, their encampment around Mount Sinai (The Mountain of the Sword) and all the subsequent journeys to their new encampments, as the cloud lifted and moved the Nation deeper into Dessert territory, and into dependence upon Him.
As we immerse into the song of Moshe, we cannot help but be impacted by his utter devotion to ADONAI, and to God’s young Nation. One of the beauties of Torah study is that year after year, in this cyclical style of study, we hear from one another, “How did I never SEE this lesson this way, before today?”
This is a delightful characteristic of God’s word because it is ALIVE, and it feeds our hunger in different stages of our lives, and through our sanctification journey. I have found for myself, in my ten years of Torah study and parsing the Hebrew words for the depth of the lessons, that the re-rolling of the scrolls every October is one of the most exciting times for this Bible student!
I look forward to Simchat Torah more, every year!
WHY?
Because I have experienced the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob viscerally, through this Old Covenant “RAIN“.
I have been around Mount Sinai so many times! I know there is heavenly treasure to be uncovered as I dig my well-worn path through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy!
The Song of Moshe begins by declaring the heaven and the earth to be the TWO WITNESSES of Isra’el’s ancestral patriarchy, the growth and movement of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and their exodus and subsequent formalization of the Nation of Isra’el, including their exiles. Because of their falling away from TORAH, and from their God (which is the natural progression of sin!) God’s Nation fell back into the perverse culture of the day, with its idol worship and apostacy, leading to judgement, punishment, and further exile.
Moses, Torah leader extraordinaire, knew exactly how to sing this song in a way that would pierce the heart of the Nation of Isra’el, and all future generations who still sing it today.
I pray I have whetted the appetites of my Subscribers with the first eleven verses of the song…
May these words fall on you like a soft rain! May these drops from heaven etch your heart, forever.
Hear oh heavens, as I speak!
Listen, earth, to the words from my mouth!
May my teaching fall like rain.
May my speech condense like dew,
like light rain on blades of grass,
or showers on growing plants.
For I will proclaim the name of ADONAI.
Come, declare the greatness of our God!
The Rock! His work is perfect,
for all his ways are just.
A trustworthy God who does no wrong,
he is righteous and straight.
He is not corrupt; the defect is in his children,
a crooked and perverted generation.
You foolish people, so lacking in wisdom,
is this how you repay ADONAI?
He is your father, who made you his!
It was he who formed and prepared you!
Remember how the old days were;
think of the years through all the ages.
Ask your father — he will tell you;
your leaders too — they will inform you.
When ‘Elyon gave each nation its heritage,
when he divided the human race,
he assigned the boundaries of peoples
according to Isra’el’s population;
but ADONAI’S share was his own people,
Ya’akov his allotted heritage.
He found his people in a desert country,
in a howling, wasted wilderness.
He protected him and cared for him,
guarded him like the pupil of his eye,
like an eagle that stirs up her nest,
hovers over her young,
spreads out her wings, takes them
and carries them as she flies. (Deut. 32:1-11)
When a mother eagle is preparing to lay her eggs, she builds a large nest high on the edge of a cliff, high above the earth, for protection, and for her vantage point as she uses the most accurate vision among all the creatures of God’s creation!
She weaves the nest out of giant branches, with sharp thorns. She finally fills it in, with layers of soft feathers. When the eaglets hatch and begin to nest deeply, the mother eagle begins to remove some feathers, so that over time, the nest loses its comfort, and the stiff branches and thorns are unbearable for her eaglets!
She does this instinctually, knowing that she must push her eaglets out of their comfort zone! They would never make it to the edge of the cliff on their own!
If not for the courage of the mother eagle, her eaglets would not know what it means to soar as the highest soaring bird in God’s Creation!
“Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions.”
(Deuteronomy 32:11)
As time and discomfort escalate, the eaglets climb to the edge of the nest, looking down into the abyss of blue sky below, and even with hearts gripped by fear, they mount their courage and take their leap of faith!
Their wings are completely untested!
The eaglets have no experience or skill for flying; but their instincts override their fledgling attempts to balance on the edge of the nest, until they finally fall!
The eaglet plummets toward earth in a fantastic free fall, and just when all hope might be lost, the mother eagle swoops underneath, maneuvering the eaglet to mount upon her wings!
For the first time in its life the baby eaglet knows what it was created for, by God …TO SOAR!
From this moment on there is no more fear…only the zeal to mount up on Eagles’ Wings and soar to heights that are recorded today by research! (From 10,000 to 20,000 feet above the surface of the earth), far above the clouds and weather patterns of earth which are lower in the atmosphere.
Amazingly, because of their innate love of reaching the highest realms of heaven that they are capable of, the eagle develops the ability to breathe in high altitude air for long periods of time, while still keeping their ability to live on the land at sea level altitudes. Only God! How glorious His Creation! Hallelujah!
I hope you see some beautiful parallels in this little lesson on Eagles, which I felt would enrich your reading of how ADONAI compares His nurturing care of Israel, to the mother eagle, which He created. And who knows, maybe the God of the Universe created the majestic Eagle just for the Song of Moshe and its message to a fallen world!
I am so grateful for Torah in my life; nothing else has ever brought me so close to Father God, and to His son, through the expression of the Holy Spirit, in His Old Covenant writings!
Baruch Hashem! (Praise His Name!)
So, open your Bibles dear seekers…and keep reading…so the lightness of His rain continues to fall on you, and all who are near you!
Grace be with you,
Sydney