See with God’s Eyes

Deut. 11:26-16:17
Is. 54:11-55:5

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 prophetic books or Nevi’im of the Old Testament or Ketuvim). 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 portion called Re’eh (See), was read in synagogues on August 8, 2026. Using this portioned Scripture, I will discuss doing what is right in our own eyes, what to do with false prophets, idolaters, and idolatrous cities of Israel, giving to the Lord and giving to the poor, the pilgrimage feasts and how they correlate to the pattern of the life of the believer, the precious stones of Isaiah 54, the free drink of Isaiah 55, and the nations that Israel did not know. As always, I will tie all these things to Messiah. There is more in this parsha, but since several things are a reiteration of what was covered in earlier portions, I will skip by them at this time since I already covered them in earlier posts.

What is Right in Your Own Eyes

You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes (Deut. 12:8).

Last post, I talked about the contrast Isaiah made between people who light their own torches and those who follow God’s light. This is the same concept. We can do what is right in God’s eyes, or we can do what is right in our own eyes. When I was going through college, they called this relativism. You do you. Or today, folks are saying, “That’s my truth.” What? You know, sometimes two plus two just equals four, okay? Just like Israel was rebellious and idolatrous from the very beginning, breaking the commandments at Sinai where they were just given, Israel has been doing what was right in its own eyes since then too. Their rebellion and idolatry was the expression of what was right in their own eyes. And Israel was like this through the time of the judges too.

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6, see also 21:25).

And even during the time of the kings, Solmon wrote,

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice (Prov. 12:15).

and

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart (Prov. 21:2).

Israel was dealing with this problem from the very beginning and throughout its whole history. We have relativism today. They had relativism then. Solmon also said,

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun (Ecc. 1:9).

Even Job, hallmarked as one of the most righteous men of all time, saw himself right in his own eyes (Job 32:1), but when he saw God with his eyes, he said,

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes (Job. 42:5-6).

But the Messiah will be different. He will not do what is right in his own eyes.

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
²And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
³And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
⁴but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth (Is. 11:1-4, bolding mine).

Jesus did not judge by what His eyes saw.

And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” ⁴But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? (Mt. 9:3-4).

Jesus, instead of judging according to human eyes and senses, perceived the spirit of people with the Spirit like described in Isaiah 11.

But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people ²⁵and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man (Jn. 2:24-25).

Jesus didn’t need evidence according to what eyes could see or ears could hear. Again, He perceived according to the Spirit. When He comes again to reign on the earth, He will perceive and judge the nations with this godly perspective, not a human one, not a relative one, as Isaiah 11 continues to describe.

What to Do with False Prophets and Idolaters

Some people claim that the divinity of Jesus was a later development of the Christian faith, but I don’t find that plausible. If someone messed with the gospel accounts and epistles, it would have been obvious, since the proliferation of New Testament manuscripts are so early and they agree with one another. If someone started messing with the text and inserting things, then that would show up when we compare different New Testament documents. The Bible has the greatest sampling of extant ancient copies out of any book in history.

Jesus claimed to be God according to the New Testament. He allowed His disciples to worship Him and He did not correct them. If He was not God, this would clearly be a prime example of idolatry, which Deuteronomy says deserves death, particularly death by stoning. The Jews who did not recognize Him for Who He said He was fully intended on acting on Moses’ instructions.

Jesus said,

“I and the Father are one.” The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. ³²Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” ³³The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God” (Jn. 10:30-33).

So no matter who you consider Jesus to have been (just an ordinary man, a rabbi, a prophet perhaps), if He wasn’t God like He said He was, then He was encouraging idolatry, and He deserved to die. If Jesus really wasn’t God, then He was encouraging the most condemnable sin and primary tenant of Judaism.

You shall have no other gods before me. (Ex. 20:1).

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might (Deut. 6:4-5).

Yet Jesus Himself quoted these passages and affirmed them (Mt. 4:10, 22:36-38).

So for those who have favorable thoughts about Jesus but don’t regard Him as the Son of God, there are some things that need to be thought through. This is one of those forks in the road where you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

The New Testament has one of the most reliable records of ancient written documents due to its early composition and its plethora of copies. We understand the life of Cleopatra from a document written much later from the historical events of her life with only a few extant copies. If the New Testament is reliable, and you read it for yourself, Jesus has to be the most heinous blasphemer in Jewish history, deserving death (not to mention all His followers), or He is Who He said He is, the Son of God.

The First to God and then to the Poor

“But there will be no poor among you; for the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess— if only you will strictly obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today” (Deut. 15:4-5).

“For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land’” (Deut. 15:11).

¹⁹“All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and flock you shall dedicate to the Lord your God. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock” (Deut. 15:19).

In the gospels, Jesus is recorded as saying something very similar if not actually quoting the Torah in what He said:

⁶Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,^[a] ⁷a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. ⁸And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? ⁹For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” ¹⁰But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. ¹²In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. ¹³Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her” (Matt. 26:6-13, bolding mine).

The Pilgrimage Feasts

Three of the appointed times, or mo’ed, were pilgrimage feasts, that is, times during which Israel was supposed to go up to “the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation” (Deut. 12:5), and these three appointed times can be correlated to the experience of every born again believer in Messiah: Passover, Shavuot, and Tabernacles. The place God said He will choose is so important that it is mentioned 16 times in this parsha alone! This place came to be identified as Jerusalem during the reign of King David.

The place God would choose to put His Name was identified in the middle of a plague. David had sinned in counting a census without ransoming them and making atonement for their souls, something the Toah forbade him to do (Ex. 30:11-16). As a result, the people of Israel suffered a plague. But then David looked up upon a threshing floor and saw the Angel of the Lord who was smiting the people stop (2 Sam. 24:16). It was here that God’s wrath on the people for sin stopped. This is where David went and sacrificed to God with a sacrifice that cost him (2 Sam. 24:24). This site became identified as the place his son, Solomon, would build the first temple, and subsequently the second temple, and the place still identified as the spot God chose to put His Name. No one in Israel knew the place God would choose until the angel revealed it to David in the middle of a plague. Similarly, I would like to posit that the Messiah was not called by name until His arrival too. When He arrived, He was identified as Jesus, Yeshua, by an angel. Just as Jerusalem’s Temple Mount was the spot where the plague was stopped upon Israel, Messiah is where our plague of sin is stopped upon the world. Just as the angel stopped the plague at Jerusalem, the plague for our sins stops at Jesus. Jesus stopped the plague by taking the plague. Jesus, the Son of David, made a sacrifice that cost him something too. It cost Him His life. Just because Jesus’ Name wasn’t in the Old Testament, it doesn’t mean He isn’t the Messiah. Just because Jerusalem isn’t specified by name in the Torah, it doesn’t mean it isn’t the place God chose to put His Name. Yeshua is short for YHWH saves. The magnificent covenantal Name of God is in Yeshua. God put His Name in Jerusalem, but His Name is in Yeshua. I thought that was a neat comparison. I hope you appreciate that too. The three pilgrimage mo’edim to the place the Lord would choose are Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost), and Sukkot (Booths). That these are the three pilgrimage feasts tells us a deeper spiritual reality in the Messiah.

Pesach

Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed (1 Cor. 5:7).

Jesus died on Passover during the time the Passover lambs were sacrificed. He fulfilled Passover. Because He died in the place of the firstborn (as we are all responsible for our own “house,” that is, our body), God’s wrath can pass over us. Another way to look at it is Adam, as the firstborn of all humanity, sinned, incurred the penalty of sin, and passed it along to all he was responsible for, which was the whole earth, actually:

And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen. 1:28).

Adam, as the firstborn of humanity, made us under subjection to his decision to rebel too. But Jesus, the firstborn of the dead (Col. 1:18, Rev. 1:5), paid the penalty as the Passover Lamb.

Since Passover was a pilgrimage feast, it’s important to look at the deeper spiritual meaning of that in light of Jesus’ fulfillment of Passover. Since everyone was expected to show up in Jerusalem at Passover, every believer is expected to trust in Jesus as their Passover Lamb. This is the first step every believer, no matter what time or place they live in, must go through. The patriarchs who came before looked forward to His day, and the believers who have followed in time since look back at His finished work. All who are saved must trust in Jesus as the Passover Lamb. No exceptions.

Shavuot

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies (Rom. 8:23).

The next mandated pilgrimage feast was Shavuot, which came fifty days after Firstfruits (remembered on the first day after the Passover Sabbath. When Jesus died, that landed on the third day.) This is the day that the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the believers. The Church calls this event Pentecost (“pente” referring to the fifty days from Firstfruits).

Again, all who believe in Jesus as the Passover Lamb receive the Holy Spirit, which is the seal of salvation (Eph. 1:13). Just as this was a required pilgrimage feast, so is its fulfillment an experience that all believers share. I’m not talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit in the Pentecostal sense. The Holy Spirit is in all believers, though manifested in different ways (1 Cor. 12:4-11).

Sukkot

Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths (Zech. 14:16).

Sukkot is a mo’ed not just for Israel, but for the world. Just as Israel was expected to travel to Jerusalem for Sukkot, in the millennial reign, all the earth will be expected to do the same. This is something that all believers will also experience because we were either resurrected into glorified bodies that will rule and reign with Jesus for a thousand years, or we were alive at His return and transformed with glorified bodies in a moment (Rev. 20:4-6, 1 Cor. 15:51-52). Paul makes it clear that “we shall all be changed.” Whether by resurrection or transformation, all believers will physically be in their bodies (“tents”) before the Lord in Jerusalem annually during Sukkot.

Thus, just as these three mo’edim were required pilgrimages for Israel, so they are fulfilled in Messiah and reflect the already existing or coming reality of the Messiah in the life of every believer through atonement, giving of the Holy Spirit, and resurrection/transformation.

The Precious Stones

“O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted,
    behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
    and lay your foundations with sapphires.
¹²I will make your pinnacles of agate,
    your gates of carbuncles,
    and all your wall of precious stones (Is. 54:11-12).

Isaiah 54:11-12 describes Israel as precious stones. On the breastpeice of the high priest were twelve precious stones representing the twelve tribes of Israel as a remembrance in the tabernacle before the Lord (Ex. 28:12, 39:7).

In the New Testament, we see the lasting work of the church described as precious stones:

¹⁰According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. ¹¹For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹²Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— ¹³each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. ¹⁴If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire

¹⁶Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? ¹⁷If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple (1 Cor. 3:10-17).

As Israel was storm-tossed and not comforted, so the church is tested by fire, even to the point of being destroyed by others. Once the refining process of persecution and testing is over, the value of who we are in Christ will shine forth. Christ is the foundation, and we can build upon that with precious stones, indeed, as the precious stones. The Apostle Peter wrote,

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, ⁵you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:4-5).

Similarly, the stones Peter describes go through hardship, being rejected by people, but it is through this refining process that their radiance shines forth. In Revelation, the Apostle John describes the New Jerusalem coming out of heaven,

having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. ¹²It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed

Just like the breastplate of the high priest was a square, the New Jerusalem is perfectly square, and

¹⁸The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. ¹⁹The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. ²¹And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass (Rev. 21:18-21).

Just like the breastplate that brought Israel to remembrance in the tabernacle was adorned with twelve stones and set in gold, so is the New Jerusalem adorned with stones and covered with gold.

Whereas the tabernacle/temple served as God’s dwelling place when it stood, and as the believer’s body is a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit, in the New Jerusalem, it changes again:

²²And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb (Rev. 21:22).

On that day, all believers will be living with the Living Temple, the Messiah Jesus Christ. Until that day comes, Israel and the Church are tried and tested and set on the golden foundation of Jesus Christ Himself who intercedes for us and brings us to the Lord’s remembrance. The promises to Israel in Isaiah 54 and to the Church through the apostles will be fulfilled in our Savior and Lord Jesus.

Free Drinks All Around!

“Come, everyone who thirsts,
    come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without price.
²Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
    and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
    and delight yourselves in rich food.
³Incline your ear, and come to me;
    hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
    my steadfast, sure love for David.
⁴Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
    a leader and commander for the peoples.
Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
    and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
    for he has glorified you (Is. 55:1-5).

Here is Isaiah, this fulfillment of drink and food without price comes through an everlasting covenant made with David. The Messiah would come as the Son of David, Jesus. And when He came, He connected Himself to the fulfillment of this prophecy. The Apostle John gives us a story about Jesus That I am reminded of when I read this passage in Isaiah:

³⁷On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (Jn. 7:37-39).

It’s also a noteworthy connection that this same portion of Isaiah is paired with the Torah portion that covers Sukkot. So in Jesus words on Sukkot, the Torah and Nevi’im portions for this week are actually joined! And finally, some of the very last words of the New Testament leave us with this invitation:

¹⁷The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price (Rev. 22:17).

It is in Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of David, that we may all partake in eternal food and living water as a free gift. It’s not earned. It’s not bought. It’s a gift. Maybe your soul is hungry and thirsty. Come to the Root and Descendant of David (Rev. 22:16). It is in this passage in Revelation that we see the connection of this promise with the covenant with David, just as it is shown in Isaiah 55. It’s amazing! About Isaiah 55,

According to Rashi, “all you who are thirsty” is an expression of calling, an invitation of gathering to Adonai and his holy Torah. The statement of buying water, wine, and milk, according to the sages, is a metaphorical statement concerning the teachings of God, wherein the words of the Torah are available to everyone without cost. In response to the question, “Why spend money for what isn’t food, your wages for what doesn’t satisfy?” (v. 2), Rabbi Israel Slotki states that “worldly pursuits involve the spending of money and labor without satisfying the soul.” It is only the word of Adonai that satisfies every human longing, and only God can meet every human need. With this hope in mind, God generously invites all people to experience his liberation free of cost (vv. 1-3, 7), including nations that Israel did not know existed (Complete Jewish Study Bible, 583).

As God’s Word, God’s Torah, gives us the only lasting satisfaction we can ever have. Then the Apostle John wrote,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:1-2, 14).

When the Word of God became flesh, all our satisfaction can be found in Him. He is the same God. His promises are unchanging, and their fulfillment is sure through the covenant with David. Jesus said,

Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life (Jn. 4:13-14).

In John chapter 6, Jesus tells the Jews that He is the Bread from Heaven. As they are offended by this, Jesus then tells them, “⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’” (Jn. 6:45). Jesus must have had Isaiah 54 in mind when He said this, because Jesus’ teaching topic in John 6 matches the topics of Isaiah 54, that is food and drink without price from God, and being taught by God. To join the gospel of John with the teaching of the sages, being taught by God in the Messiah is the food and drink God offers. Jesus teaches us, and He also gives the Spirit, Who “will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (Jn. 14:26). The connections are amazing!

As David himself said,

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! (Ps. 34:8).

He gives water, essential for life. He gives milk, necessary for infants. He gives wine, a drink for the mature. No matter what spiritual stage we are in, He provides us what we want and need through the Messiah, the Word made flesh.

God’s Plan for Israel

[N]o weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,
and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
and their vindication from me, declares the Lord (Is. 54:17).

God said these words about Israel, not “spiritual Israel,” not “true Israel,” not the “real Israel,” but Israel Israel, literal Israel. All believers, whether Jewish or not, can be grafted into the same promise, but the promise is to Israel. In verses 7-8, God says,

For a brief moment I deserted you,
    but with great compassion I will gather you.
⁸In overflowing anger for a moment
    I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”
    says the Lord, your Redeemer.

And in verse 10 He says,

“For the mountains may depart
    and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
    and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,”
    says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

In all this passage, He is talking to the literal Israel. There’s no bait and switch. There’s no “gotcha.” God didn’t say when Jesus came, “You know, I was just kidding about that. I really meant those words for the Church only.” If that were even entertained, then the chastisement belongs to the church too. Would one say God has deserted or will desert the Church? Has the Lord hid his face from the Church? You can’t interpret verses xyz to be about Israel and verses abc only about the Church. That is terrible hermeneutics. No, God has not cast off the Jews forever, and they are still and always will be His chosen people according to his word and His promises. That doesn’t mean all are saved unto eternal life. They have to put their faith in the Messiah for that. But as for God’s end, He is faithful to the promises to Abraham, which were unconditional.

Conclusion

I pray that you would do what is right in God’s eyes, trusting that Jesus is the Son of God, that you would give to Him your best and first, that you are a participant in the fulfillment of the pilgrimage mo’edim, that you are a precious stone in God’s sight, that you would come to him to eat and drink without price through God’s covenant with David, and that you would pray for the peace of Jerusalem and Israel. Until next time, God bless.

Sources

The Bible. English Standard Version. Biblegateway.com. Accessed 20 Sept. 2026.

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

Valley Princess