Parsha: Deuteronomy 31:1-30

Haftara: Hosea 14:1(2)-9(10); Micah 7:18-20; Joel 2:15-27

^“The Lord your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the Lord has spoken” (Deut. 31:3).

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 continue posting in 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 28, the readings are cited above. I would encourage you to read those passages first before you read my post, or at least read them in tandem.

Moses gave Israel the Torah, but Joshua led them into the promised land. They miraculously crossed the river that dried up at their crossing point and piled up upstream. The walls of their enemies in Jericho fell down for them. And again and again, God helped them conquer their enemies who attached them. Every king who sought to attack them was destroyed. Finally, Joshua 11:23 says, “So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.”

As a child, I remember singing,

On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan’s fair and happy land
Where my possessions lie

When shall I see that happy place
And be forever blessed?
When shall I see my Father’s face
And in His bosom rest?

I am bound
I am bound
I am bound
For the Promised Land

I am bound
I am bound
I am bound
For the Promised Land

My church didn’t literally believe our possessions belong in the ancient land of Canaan. It is a metaphor for spiritual things. Crossing the Jordan River is like crossing through death, and the promised land is like heaven.

The author of Hebrews puts it this way:

“Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said,

“They shall not enter my rest.”

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:1-12).

That other rest the author of Hebrews speaks of is eternal life. This is the rest on the spiritual level.

From sundown on Friday evening until sundown on Saturday evening, Jews greet one another with “Shabbat shalom,” which translated literally means “peaceful rest.” What do we stereotypically put on little cartoon tombstones? RIP—rest in peace. The Bible also uses sleep as a euphemism for death. I find profound meaning in the timing of the beginning of Jewish days, in this case the sabbath. See, in modern western thought, I can stay up as late as I want to get something done on that day, but when you go by the sun, when the sun goes down, that’s it. You don’t decide when your day is over. The sun does. And whether your work got done that day or not, that’s it. Now it’s time to rest. Death is like this. You and I don’t get to pick how long our lives are (at least we shouldn’t through suicidal or murderous deeds). But we should be mindful that our time is limited. We make the most of it, and then when the sun sets, that’s it. It’s time to rest. See, Jesus’s body rested in death the full sabbath day.

Now this is where I want to take this reading to the fullest spiritual application. The name for this reading, Vayelekh, means “he went.” And He did. Just like Joshua went ahead of the Israelites to the land of promise, Jesus went ahead of us to bring us to the spiritual land of promise—heaven. Jesus was persecuted ahead of believers. He suffered ahead of believers. He died ahead of believers. He rose. He ascended. He was glorified. Believers too will follow Him as He was raised, as He ascended (1 Thessalonians says we will meet Him in the air), and as He was glorified. 1 Corinthains 15:20 says, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” The firstfruits is the representation of the promise of the rest to come. It says that the rest will be like the first. The rest of the crop will follow the pattern of the quality of the first harvest. Jesus went ahead of us into heaven, our rest, and we follow Him.

Now is this too much of a stretch to apply this spiritual meaning to Deuteronomy 31? I don’t think it is. For one, the author of Hebrews does it, and if it’s good enough for Scripture, it’s good enough for me. I also think it fits on a fundamental metaphorical level, but it also works on a etymological level. See, the name Joshua in Hebrew is Y’hoshua, and the name Jesus in Hebrew is Yeshua. You may not have known this, but Yeshua is the same name as Y’hoshua. As time went on, it got shortened, but it’s the same name. What does that name mean? God saves. So the One who goes ahead of us and leads us into the spiritual land of promise bears the same name as the one who led the Israelites into their land of promise. The One who fights our battles and gives us rest carries the same name as the one who led Israel in battle and gave them rest in the land of Israel. God saves.

But there is even more meaning here. Deuteronomy 31:3 says the Lord Himself will go over ahead of Israel, and Joshua will go over as their head. Well the Lord Himself did go over ahead of us in the Son, Jesus, who is the head of the Church (Eph. 4:15). Choose to enter that rest. Follow Jesus, Who went before you, Who will lead you. Let the sun set on your last day of work on earth when it may. Let your sabbath begin when it may, not because you try to hurry or delay it. Do not take your life or the life of others. Only God decides that. Just follow Jesus, because He promised, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mat. 11:28).