In this and the next two issues of Israel & Christians Today I will be sharing some thoughts from the Torah portion, or parsha, named Ekev—Deuteronomy 7:12 – 11:25. The Israelites who survived the forty years of wilderness wandering are preparing to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land, and to conquer and settle the land in keeping with God’s instruction to their forefathers.
Moses, now 120 years of age, continues in this passage from the Torah his series of farewell messages to the children of Israel as the Promised Land awaits them. He encourages them to trust in God, and to discover the wonderful ways in which He will abundantly bless them if they faithfully listen to and obey Him.
By the way, has it ever occurred to you how seldom we hear that term “Promised Land” used these days in relation specifically to Israel? It is a politically incorrect term that is biblically very correct.
Our God is a promise-making and a promise-keeping God who will never forsake His people – that applies to Christian believers and it applies to the people of Israel and the land that He has promised them. He is always watching over His people, even as you read these words.
Rabbi Avi Geller, who gives a popular weekly parsha class in Jerusalem’s Old City, writes: “I once saw a postcard with the picture of an Israeli soldier holding a machine gun, under which was the verse, ‘Behold, He does not sleep or slumber, the Guardian of Israel!’ The ‘Guardian of Israel’ is not the soldier or the machine gun (although they are a necessary effort for security), but rather God Himself. This is the proper Jewish perspective of life.”
These chapters remind us that God is a good God who desires to lead His people into His best for them. As we read through this Torah portion, it is almost overwhelming to reflect on the immense blessing that the Lord desires to pour out upon His people. Listen to what Moses declares in verses 13-16 of chapter 7:
“He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you.
“You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your livestock. And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them on all those who hate you. Also you shall destroy all the peoples whom the LORD your God delivers over to you…”
What amazing promises!
Again and again throughout this parsha we read how God desires to bless His people as they anticipate entering into their inheritance in the land promised to them.
Deuteronomy 8:7-10: “For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.”
Deuteronomy 11:14-15: “I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.”
That is just a selection of verses! The point however that we need to focus on is that Israel’s experience of these many promised blessings is dependent upon a number of important conditions that are highlighted in various ways in our text.
Psalm 24:3-5 is for me a favourite Scripture passage, and I found myself turning towards it as I was thinking about the conditions given by God to Israel if they were to experience His blessings:
Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
mankind needs more than physical food alone to live. We need to know and obey the instructions for living that [God] has lovingly given to us.
“Clean hands” speak to me of those who faithfully live out their lives according to the Word of God. I am reminded of the words of Jesus in John 15:3: “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”
Those with a “pure heart” possess true humility—they recognise that all that they have comes from God, and in all that they do they seek to give Him all the glory. They have no hypocrisy or guile, no hidden motives. Said Jesus in Matthew 5:8: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
He “who has not lifted up his soul to an idol” desires only the things of God, and to listen to and obey Him alone. They have an uncompromising desire to please God in all things. Said Jesus in Luke 6:46: “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”
Word of God – Humility – Obedience: W-H-O – Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? The question implies entering into an ever deeper knowledge and experience of the Lord and His best for us, which is the greatest blessing of all.
The biblical teaching on God’s blessing shows us that true blessings are not gauged ultimately, or even necessarily, by outward conditions and circumstances. To be blessed by God includes—perhaps more than anything else—experiencing His favour, guidance, wisdom, strength, protection, presence and peace.
As a Christian, I am most blessed when I enter into all that God has purposed for me, even in the midst of the hardships of life, because I am indwelt by the Spirit of God and an entirely new life of love, relationship, and service to the Lord opens up for me. That is another message in itself!
The promised blessings of provision, health and security awaiting the children of Israel as Moses spoke to them on the other side of the Jordan were, as we have seen, amazing! Let us now look more closely at the conditions in our Torah passage for the children of Israel to experience these blessings in their lives.
We recall that it was true for the children of Israel—and true for every believer—that He shall receive blessing from the LORD who (1) holds fast to the Word of God, (2) displays true humility, and (3) demonstrates obedience to our Lord.
Our Torah passage develops these three important conditions for experiencing the amazing blessing of our God—first of all, holding fast to the Word of God. We read here how Moses takes time to give to the people various reminders of the importance of obeying God’s Word and His ways. Then there will be blessing!
There is here a simple principle which in the busyness and the complexity of our own modern life we can so easily forget, or just ignore. That principle is this: if we listen to and give priority to God and His Word, He will care and provide for us, He will protect us, and He will even lovingly restore us when we go off track.
In Deuteronomy 8:3 we read: ‘He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.’
Dr Raymond Scheindlin, Professor of Medieval Hebrew Literature at the New York Jewish Theological Seminary, said of these words: “Not what we put into our mouths sustains us but what comes out of God’s mouth: His words, His teaching, His decree of death and life, of famine and plenty.”
Jesus quoted this Scripture in Matthew 4:4 – “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Bread is important. We talk of providing food as “keeping bread on the table.” When there is no more bread in the house we naturally feel the urgency of going to the local store to buy groceries.
What Jesus is saying, however—and what God was saying to the Israelites—is that mankind needs more than physical food alone to live. We need to know and obey the instructions for living that He has lovingly given to us.
Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16: ‘All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.’
The Hebrew word “Torah” is usually translated “law”, often for many with a negative connotation, feeling that it refers to oppressive and arbitrary regulations. In the Hebrew it more accurately conveys the meaning “to point out, teach, instruct, or give direction.” That is highly positive! And so we are blessed to have teaching and loving guidance given to us by a loving God, so that we may really know how to live.
We read in Psalm 1:2: ‘But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.’ The Jewish Tanakh (or Scriptures) renders this verse more helpfully this way: Rather, the teaching of the LORD is his delight, and he studies that teaching day and night.
What influences you when you make decisions in life? How easy it is to be influenced by the social media, by “inspiring” motivational speakers, by people who pressure you, especially perhaps, as a pastor friend of mine suggested recently, by what others you know well are quick to suggest. He went on to quote the comment that “you are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with.”
How much time do we spend in the Word of God? It is so easy these days to not engage with God in and through His Word. We are surrounded today by so many “weapons of mass distraction.”
When we succumb to the temptation to listen to others before we listen to the Lord and before we discover what He wants to say to us in His Word, we are then prone to “fake it”—giving the impression in countless ways that our relationship with the Lord is deeper than it really is.
And you know something? We are the losers, missing out on the blessings that flow from intimacy with the Lord through His Word. Listen to the delights that flow from giving priority to God’s Word in your life (Psalm 119:9-16):
‘How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O LORD! Teach me Your statutes. With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.’
Wise Biblical advice for every one of us!
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