Deut. 7:12-11:25
Is. 49:14-51:3

Long ago, the Jewish sages created the parsha, a reading calendar to be read annually throughout all the synagogues every Sabbath. They are from the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), and the haftarah (selected readings from the Old Testament prophetic and historical books or Nevi’im and Ketuvim). This reading schedule might even go back to the time of Ezra. It definitely existed during the ministry of Jesus. Today, I continue my series exploring the Messiah in each of these portioned readings that was planned and scheduled in ancient days and appointed for our present days.

This post will cover the portion ‘Ekev (Because), which was scheduled for August 1. In an earlier post, I said that God willing, I would be caught up with the parsha by the time I finished my 40-day series on my book. I was caught up by the end of July, but then, as I also mentioned in another post, my dad had a heart attack. Praise God, my dad is home recovering now, but now I am about a month behind again, and school season for my four children has fully kicked in too. It just is what it is, and like I said, it would happen if God willed it. God must not have willed it. I will finish through the whole parsha. I do believe it is God’s will for me to go through this. I just appreciate your patience as a reader. God has a reason behind the timing of all things. And thank you so much for your prayers for my father. They were heard and answered. So now let’s dive into the Messiah in the parsha.

My Power and My Might

¹¹ “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, ¹² lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, ¹⁵ who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, ¹⁶ who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. ¹⁷ Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth’ (Deut. 8:11-17).

Self-righteousness is no righteousness at all. Once we think we earned the blessing of the Lord, we aren’t keeping His commandments anymore. Look, it says, “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes…lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’” In this passage, keeping God’s commandments is correlated with our self-opinion. If we have an inflated opinion of ourselves, it is antithetical to obedience. If we are humble, knowing we did not earn our blessings, this attitude correlates with obedience to God.

God blessed Israel not because they deserved it, but because He loved them and kept His promise to Abraham. But when God cursed them, they did deserve it:

“And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.”

They definitely went after other gods, and they faced the consequences for that over and over and over again. Just read judges, 1 and 2 Kings, and finally up to the Babylonian exile. But God always extended mercy and grace to them if they repented, mercy and grace they never deserved at any point.

For believers in the Messiah, none of us deserve God’s grace and mercy either.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Eph. 2:8-9).

Just like Israel had no bragging rights concerning the blessings of the land God promised and gave to them, believers in Messiah cannot at any point brag about earning God’s love either. But also, just like Israel was expected to keep the Lord’s commandments when they entered the land, believers are expected to do good works:

 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:10).

God created Israel from one man, Abraham, to be His special people and keep His commandments, and God created the Church to also be special by performing good works. But neither one ever earned their blessings by their own righteousness. Moses warned Israel against that notion, and Paul affirmed it to the new Church.

God has disciplined Israel strongly throughout history, but not as an act of abandonment. It has been to discipline them to restore them unto Himself. It ultimately is for their good. This also reminds me of a New Testament passage for the Church:

²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28).

If Israel did not listen to the Lord’s discipline, they would perish, just like Moses said. But for those who loved God, he preserved them and brought them through. The righteous suffered along with them, but God delivered them, and even if they lost their lives, He will raise them up on the last day unto eternal life. Just like God offered Israel the alternative to perishing, God offers all people the way so that they may not perish either:

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16).

Notice how those who disobey God’s commandments are guaranteed by Moses to perish, but those who have disobeyed God’s commandments are also guaranteed eternal life if they believe in the Son of God. The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. Both Israel and the Church are chosen and blessed not because of their righteousness, but God’s love, and both are offered blessing and life if they choose that way over the way of self-righteousness and lack of faith. If Israel joined itself to idolatry then they would be destroyed with their sin:

²⁶ And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction (Deut. 7:26).

Similarly, if we choose our sin over God, we will perish too. If we choose our sin over God, we join ourselves to our sin, which is passing away, but if we choose God, we join ourselves to God, Who is eternal.

Historically, Israel definitely did not keep the commandments. Even at Sinai, though they heard the commandments, they had already broken them within a forty-day period. Before Moses could bring down the tablets of the Ten Commandments, they had already broken them, so Moses shattered the tablets. Moses recounts this story in this parsha.

This week’s haftarah portion tells us about how God is able to bless people who have already broken the commandments. In contrast to the first part of the haftarah, where Isaiah describes the sinfulness of Israel, the second half of the haftarah shows us God’s Servant Who obeyed the Lord perfectly.

The Lord God has given me
    the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with a word
    him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens;
    he awakens my ear
    to hear as those who are taught.
⁵ The Lord God has opened my ear,
    and I was not rebellious;
    I turned not backward.
⁶ I gave my back to those who strike,
    and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face
    from disgrace and spitting.

⁷ But the Lord God helps me;
    therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like a flint,
    and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
⁸     He who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
    Let us stand up together.
Who is my adversary?
    Let him come near to me.
⁹ Behold, the Lord God helps me;
    who will declare me guilty?
Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;
    the moth will eat them up.

¹⁰ Who among you fears the Lord
    and obeys the voice of his servant?
Let him who walks in darkness
    and has no light
trust in the name of the Lord
    and rely on his God (Is. 50:4-10).

The Complete Jewish Study Bible‘s commentary says this:

“Chapter 50 contrasts Isra’el’s disobedience to God with the servant’s complete obedience. He will not be disobedient as Isra’el was (vv.4-5). The servant would face suffering greater than Isra’el and yet remain obedient. He would be beaten and spat upon (vv.5-6)” (574).

Remember the type of suffering the commentary says the servant would experience. We’ll come back to that below in this post. Let’s go from the top of this oracle to the bottom. Isaiah said he would sustain the weary with a word. Jesus said,

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28).

With this type of word and many others, such as the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus sustained the weary with His teaching.

Next, Isaiah said the servant would wake up in the morning to hear God’s word. Mark’s gospel says,

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed (Mk. 1:35).

Again, Jesus behaved just like the servant of Isaiah chapter 50.

Next, Isaiah said the servant would both speak and listen like the educated and learned, implying that the servant was not formally educated. As a poor carpenter’s son, Jesus was not formally educated. He did not sit under another rabbi. Like Isaiah says, He received His instruction straight from Father God. Concerning His learning without formal education, the gospel of Luke says of Jesus when He was twelve years old in Jerusalem for Passover,

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers (Lk. 2:46-47).

Even as a young boy, his ability to both speak and listen as a learned person was amazing. This also matches the personality description of the servant of Isaiah 50.

Next, Isaiah said the servant would be submissive. Luke also says,

 And he went down with them [His parents] and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart (Lk. 2:51).

Concerning His submission to Father God, Paul writes,

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil. 2:8).

Jesus was submissive to both human authority and authority to Father God. And this leads us to the next characteristic of God’s servant of Isaiah 50.

Isaiah says the servant would willingly suffer unjustly:

I gave my back to those who strike,
    and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face
    from disgrace and spitting.

The servant “gave” his back and cheeks to being struck, and did not hide from being spat upon. Matthew says,

 ⁶⁷ Then they [the scribes and the elders] spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, ⁶⁸ saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?” (Mt. 26:67-68).

Luke says,

⁶³ Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. ⁶⁴ They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” (Lk. 22:63-64).

Then when he was delivered to the Romans, Matthew says,

³⁰ And they [the soldiers of the governor] spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. ³¹ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him (Mt. 27:30-31).

Just like God’s servant in Isaiah 50 is beaten and spat upon, so too was Jesus.

Next, the servant in Isaiah 50 was falsely charged with wrongdoing by his accusers, but the servant has no fear of them because God is his vindication. Now read John’s account:

¹⁹ The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. ²⁰ Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. ²¹ Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” ²² When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” ²³ Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” ²⁴ Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest (Jn. 18:19-24).

Jesus was treated as a wrongdoer though He said nothing wrong. Just as a side note, Annas was high priest from 6-15 A.D., and Caiaphas was the acting high priest at the time, but Annas still retained the title of high priest and obviously held a respected position of authority (Complete Jewish Study Bible, 1550).

Matthew also says accusers came up to accuse Jesus but could not agree with any fault in Him, just like Isaiah prophesied:

⁵⁹ Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, ⁶⁰ but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward (Mt. 26:59-60).

They finally charged him with blasphemy, claiming to be God, but since He is God, there was absolutely no fault in Him and He was falsely accused even of blasphemy.

Lastly, the Lord God helps the servant of Isaiah 50. We see that in the New Testament God the Father helps Jesus, vindicating His innocence by raising Him from the dead:

¹¹ In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead (Col. 2:11-12).

As I have listed out, Jesus’ life perfectly describes the obedient servant of Isaiah 50: His sustaining the weary with His word, His intelligence though He was uneducated, His submission to God and earthly authorities, His being struck and spat upon unjustly, His being accused of wrongdoing unjustly, and His vindication by God Himself. Again, I am blown away at finding the Messiah so obviously in another parsha reading. I have full confidence that in the next several parsha readings, He’s there too, and then I will be able to say He is in every reading for every week of the year. Wow.

As the unrighteousness and disobedience of Israel is contrasted to that of the obedient servant, the readers and hearers of the parsha are led to the rhetorical question and response,

Who among you fears the Lord
    and obeys the voice of his servant?
Let him who walks in darkness
    and has no light
trust in the name of the Lord
    and rely on his God.
¹¹ Behold, all you who kindle a fire,
    who equip yourselves with burning torches!
Walk by the light of your fire,
    and by the torches that you have kindled!
This you have from my hand:
    you shall lie down in torment (Is. 50:10-11).

Right after giving us a detailed description of the suffering servant, Isaiah requires us to examine ourselves. Will we fear and obey God? Will we obey the voice of his servant? I have argued that Jesus is that Servant. Isaiah admonishes us who walk in darkness to trust in the name of the Lord and rely on God. Elsewhere, Isaiah wrote,

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone (Is. 9:2),

which is what Matthew cited as being Jesus (Mt. 4:16). This light is God’s light, which Isaiah contrasts to our own light. The one who has no light can trust in God. The one who has his own light will end in torment. In verse 11, those who do not walk by God’s light make their own light using torches. Guess what, those who rejected Jesus as God’s light came to arrest Him with their own torches!

So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons (Jn. 18:3).

Isaiah tells us the fate of people who choose their own light, their own righteousness (as Moses would say in this week’s parsha):

Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;
    the moth will eat them up…
 you shall lie down in torment.

That’s hell, guys. The gospel is in parsha ‘Ekev. It’s in Moses’ words and it’s in Isaiah’s prophecy, from the unrighteousness of men to the righteousness of Messiah, from the fate of those who reject the Lord and His commandments and Servant to those who fear the Lord, obey His commandments, and walk in the Light of His Servant, obeying His words.

You know, week by week, I iterate the Messiah and the gospel through the Scripture, and it kind of feels like it gets segmented and parceled out. But it’s really simple. It’s all pointing to one unified simple concept: Believe in Jesus as Savior and you will be saved. And you know what else, in this portion we read about the tefillin. The tefillin is two boxes containing selected Scriptures that are bound to the forehead and the arm. Jews wrap this on themselves twice a day and pray the Shema. But did you also know that the tefillin has several compartments in the box worn on the head? Each compartment hold a little scroll with different sections of Scripture on it. That’s kind of like how I feel thinking about this stuff week by week finding Messiah in this way, then in that way. The tefillin also has just one compartment in the part that binds to the arm and hand, holding one scroll with all selected Scriptures on one scroll. This is just like how there is one simple thing we must do with the knowledge we have from God. The thinking and ideas are complicated, but the implementation is simple. You see?

²⁸ Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (Jn. 6:28-29).

And might I also say that if we believe in the one God sent, we are not relying on our own power and might, just like what Moses said to be like. When we keep the commandments, we believe in the one God sent. Do you walk in the light of God or have you lit your own light? Do you believe the words of God’s Servant or do you betray Him with your own torch? Do you trust in the goodness of God or your own righteousness? We deserved the punishment, but He took it. He deserved the blessing, but we receive it, if we believe.

The Israel Factor Today

As I’ve already said, God never abandoned Israel, through the Jews have largely rejected Messiah. But what about this passage?

¹⁶ Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; ¹⁷ then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you (Deut. 11:16-17).

It sounds like they got what they deserved, right? They did turn to other gods, God was angry with them, and they perished off the land. That is the end of that. Those Jews had their chance. They lost their favor and their land. If you take this passage this way, that interpretation takes it completely out of context. Just a few verses later, Moses says,

You shall write them [the words of Moses] on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, ²¹ that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth (Deut. 11:20-21).

Well that creates a bit of a snag in that interpretation, doesn’t it? It doesn’t say as long as Israel obeys and believes. It says as long as the heavens are above the earth. All I have to do is go out and look up at the sky, and I am looking at the sign of God’s promise between Himself and Israel and their land. No matter where I go in thew world, no matter what time of day, the sign of the promise is there over everyone. The sky is still above the earth, so God’s promise of the land is still there. This flies in the face of public opinion today, even many prominent Christians. John Piper’s website DesiringGod.org, says, “Although God is not finished with Israel, the nation as she presently exists cannot claim a divine right to the land. Therefore, ‘the rights of nations should be decided by principles of compassionate public justice, not claims to divine right or divine status.’” Really? So during the days of Elijah, because Israel was disobedient, they lost the promise of the land? When did they get it back? When did they lose it again? I guess they lost it and got it back so many times that Piper maybe thinks that by the time of Jesus, they lost it for good. In a seven-point summary of another of his sermons, points 3-5 are:

1. The promises made to Abraham will be inherited as an everlasting gift only by true, spiritual Israel, not disobedient, unbelieving Israel.
2. Jesus Christ came into the world as the Jewish Messiah, and his own people largely rejected him.
3. Therefore, the secular state of Israel today may not claim a present divine right to the land, and they should seek peaceful settlements based not on present divine rights but on international principles of justice, mercy, and practical feasibility.

Okay, for one, he conflated the temporal promises with eternal ones, but whatever. Yes, the everlasting gifts will be true only for believers, but we aren’t there yet, man. Piper says that rejecting the Messiah was the final straw. Where does the Bible say that? Moses clearly says that God gave the land to Israel as long as this present heavens and earth are standing. I’m sorry, Piper, but when it comes to your word against God’s word, I’m siding with God’s word. Moreover, Moses says,

²⁴ Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be from the wilderness to the Lebanon, and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea (Deut. 11:24).

That is way more territory than the little strip of land in dispute today. This has never been fulfilled yet. So what do you say about that? Is God’s word not true? If the state of Israel cannot claim any right to land anymore, then who is this promise for? O right, spiritual Israel. Since all believers count as spiritual Israel, is Piper saying that all resurrected believers during the reign of Christ are going to be sequestered to this strip of land? I don’t think so. That does not make sense.

In the Old Testament, there was not this distinction between spiritual Israel and biological Israel. There’s just Israel. God promises blessings to them for obedience and curses for disobedience, but the curse never includes permanent revocation of the land given to Abraham. For one, God’s promise to Abraham was not conditional. So why would God later put conditions on an originally unconditional promise? If that were the case, they lost the land in the Sinai desert. If not there, they lost it during the time of the judges. If not then, they lost it during the time of the kings. If not then, they lost it during the exile. And at what point did they earn it back? But no, you see that God still gave them the land all throughout. Sure, they had enemies who took land from them and captured them, but God didn’t revoke the promise of their land to them.

The Apostle Paul says,

²⁸ As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Rom. 11:18-29).

For one, Paul says the promises are irrevocable. He is not talking about spiritual Israel. He is talking about literal biological Israel: Israel Israel. This is after they crucified Messiah, and they are clearly unbelievers because they are “enemies for your sake” “[a]s regards the gospel.” Yet the promise to them is “irrevocable”. That promise includes the land!

I have had a lot of respect for Piper for many many years, and I even regarded his books as next to gospel even. But this is why it’s important not to follow a person, because people don’t always get it right. In this case, Piper is wrong. Israel still has a right to the land because God said so and never changed His mind. The promise was never dependent on Israel’s obedience, as this post already explained. Israel never became un-chosen. This is not a political thing, as Piper frames it. This is a Biblical thing! If one side of politics happens to side with the Bible, so be it, but politics are not the definer. Piper says Israel should recognize “international principles,” but not God’s principles? And they are not violating “justice, mercy, and practical feasibility.” They are dealing justice to murderers who constantly breathe death threats to them night and day at their back door with missiles pointed at them. They are dealing justly with murderers who raped women until their bones broke, cut off their heads, and burned their babies in ovens. Doesn’t that require justice? They are dealing mercy to the people by letting in and giving at their own expense tons and tons of water and food and humanitarian supplies, even during war time, most of which was confiscated by the terrorists themselves. They are being very practical about keeping their homes safe. If my neighbor decides to start shooting at my house and aims at my kids through their bedroom windows, it’s not practical to let that situation go unchecked. This is just common sense, people. This is not political! It is Biblical and it is common sense. Don’t ever follow a person. Only follow God. Only follow His word. If leaders and preachers align with that, good, but it not, well, they will pass away just like Isaiah says:

For thus says the Lord:
“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,
    and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
    and I will save your children.
²⁶ I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
    and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
    that I am the Lord your Savior,
    and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob” (Is. 49:25-26).

This was not a promise made to spiritual Israel. This was a promise made to literal backslidden idolatrous Israel. If that’s the case, this warning is for the opponents of a backslidden, wayward Israel. That doesn’t mean you have to agree with every decision the Israeli government makes any more than I have to agree with everything my family does for them to be my family. Let’s not conflate these distinctions, guys. I know I’m not alone on this, but even if I was, I hope I would be strong enough to stand up for the Word of God and its truth, its whole truth, not a cut up diluted decontextualized Jeffersonian version of it. Yes, I’ve lost a lot of friends. Yes, I’ve even lost my church fellowship more than once, but you know what, God has really blessed me otherwise (Mk. 10:29-31). He has given me a spiritual family and friends in their place, and I look at my life and I’m amazed how He has blessed me otherwise. He doesn’t have to, but He does. But it’s not about me. It’s about Him.

Conclusion

I do intend to come back and add a poem to this post as well as other posts without poems, but I just want to get the content out right now. This will go into a book where I compile every portion with a poem. This specific writing session has been really hard to stay focused during as my kids, whom I love dearly, are driving me crazy with constant interruptions. I don’t get paid to do this, and I don’t get to break away from my familial duties to write. So if this comes out coherent, it’s all to His glory. If God’s Servant can be poor and uneducated but learned as the wise, then I suppose a distracted half-crazed stay-at-home mom can proclaim His excellencies. Until next time, God bless.

Sources

The Bible. English Standard Version. Biblegateway.com. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.

The Complete Jewish Study Bible. Peabody, Hendrickson Publishers, 2016.

Should Christians Always Stand with Israel? | Desiring God