Parsha: Deuteronomy 29:10(9)-30:20

Haftarah: Isaiah 61:10-63:9

Long ago, the Jewish sages created reading calendars to be read annually throughout all the synagogues every sabbath. They are the Parsha (from the Torah, the first five books of the Bible), and the Haftrah (selected reading from the prophetic books of the Old Testament). Today, I begin posting writings from a new series that will explore the Messiah in each of these portioned readings that was planned and scheduled in ancient days and appointed for our present days. For September 20, the readings are cited above. The number in parentheses tells the verse number according to the Jewish Bible. I would encourage you to read those passages first before you read my post, or at least read them in tandem. I hope one day I will have these put into poems, but until I feel satisfied enough with one to share publicly, you will just have to settle for my exegetical explications.

“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14).

According to the Talmud, the interpretation of the Torah is no longer in God’s hands. Rather, its interpretation has been handed over entirely to legal scholars. This is one point where I have to disagree with the Talmud. Enlightenment and understanding have to come from God, not from our own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

In Romans chapter 10, Paul uses Deuteronomy 30:11-14 to explain that obedience to the Torah requires faith, and faith in Jesus requires the same faith:

^“For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down)“or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”’ (Rom. 10:5-13).

God gave us His word through Moses, and then God gave us the Word in Jesus. He came down. He was raised. He crossed over and back again. We don’t have to because He is near us now (Mt. 28:20), just like the Torah was near to Israel. Obedience to the Torah was not merely works but required faith.

Paul says earlier in his letter to the Romans,

“Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law” (3:29-31).

Jesus told the Pharisees, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39). In other words, if the Pharisees truly believed the Torah through faith, then they would believe Jesus. In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man did not observe the Torah because he neglected Lazarus at his gate while he himself had abundance. As he is in hell, he pleads with Abraham, whom he can see in heaven, to send someone from the dead to warn his family. “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” This teaching is proven true, because Jesus did rise from the dead, and they still did not believe. Jesus said His resurrection would be their one sign of his authority:

^“So the Jews said to him, ‘What sign do you show us for doing these things?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken” (Jn 2:18-22).

The disciples believed the Scripture and His word. The faith in both goes together. And another time,

^“…some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Mt. 12:38-40).

In contrast to the disciples, we can conclude the Pharisees or “Jews” did not believe the Scriptures because they did not believe Jesus’ word and denied his resurrection.

When Jesus asked His disciples who they say He is, Peter responded, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16:16), to which Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (vs. 17). For Peter to recognize Jesus, God revealed it to him. In other words, he would not have recognized Jesus if he were left to his own understanding. Just like we read in the previous section of this parashah, Moses would not have seen the tree to throw into the water unless he cried out to God, and God showed it to him. Abraham would not have sacrificed the ram in his son’s place unless God stopped him and showed it to him. We have to stop and be shown. We cannot see on our own. This entire collection of mine is such a journey. God is my primary teacher, and then my research corroborates it.

The faith of the fathers of old is the same saving faith we today hold. God foreshadowed His Son in the Torah, His Word, and now we have the Word who became flesh. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” If you are thirsty, if you are desperate, if you don’t understand, cry out to God, and He will show you. Jesus promised, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Mt. 7:7-8).