Sermon Tone Analysis

Me

Parasha Vayeilech (particularly on Shabbat Shuvah) is also my personal Bar Mitzvah parasha.

I have grown up in the Messianic Jewish movement the majority of my life and I am a second generation Messianic Jewish rabbi.

I have had a lot of ups and downs over the years in ministry and following the Lord’s calling on my life.

There have been many rabbis who have gone before me who have paved the way as pioneers in restoring the Jewishness of the Good News, in defending the reality that one can be Jewish and believe in Yeshua as Messiah, in establishing Messianic Jewish synagogues as an authentic Jewish environment for Jews and non-Jews to gather as One in Messiah.

My life and ministry is built upon the roads that they suffered and sacrificed to pave.

I recognize that I couldn’t be who I am or doing what I am today if it weren’t for these early pioneers who gave their all in order to see what we now know as the Modern Messianic Jewish movement to exist.

I recognize I am a new generation who has stepped up to carry the torch and further the work of those pioneers who have come before me to share the truth of the Promised Jewish Messiah with the Jewish community and to share the Jewish roots of our faith with those who are hungry to go deeper in their walk with the Lord and emulation of Messiah.

I have dedicated my entire life toward this goal, I have gone through years of education, years of serving and learning under other rabbis, years of patiently (and impatiently) watching and waiting for HaShem’s promises to become reality in my own life and ministry.

We

Many of you know what this feels like in your own lives… Maybe in ministry, maybe not… Maybe you’re literally second generation, maybe it’s a figurative scenario through a mentor/mentee relationship.

Maybe you’ve been groomed for a new important role at work and are waiting patiently for the pieces to all fall into place.

Maybe you run a family owned business and are grooming your children to take over one day...

Maybe you’re part of the ministry here at CMC and are gleaning anything and everything from those mentoring you in the direction God is calling you here.

Or maybe it’s something completely different…

God

This week we read Parasha Vayeilech, Deuteronomy 31:1-30.

As a synopsis the JPS Commentary on Deuteronomy notes that Parasha Vayeilech is the beginning of the epilogue of Deuteronomy and consists of eight sections.

The first three are (1) Moses’ announcement of his departure and identification of Joshua as his successor (v 1-6), (2) his appointment of Joshua as the new leader of Israel (v 7-8), and (3) his writing down the Teachings of Torah and giving it to the priests and elders with instructions for its public reading (v 9-13).

Before Moses continues with instructions about storing the text, the narrative unexpectedly digresses: (4) God summons Moses and Joshua so that He Himself may appoint Joshua (v 14-15); after Moses and Joshua appear before Him, (5) God tells Moses that the Israelites are sure to betray Him in the future and be punished severely and He commands Moses to teach the people a poem that will serve as a witness, putting them on notice about their punishment and what will cause it (v 16-22); and then (6) God appoints Joshua (v 23).

After these digressions, (7) Moses tells the Levites where to store the Teaching, which he also characterizes as a witness in the event of Israel’s future rebellion (v 24-26); and (8) he summons his audience to hear the poem (v 28-30).

This Shabbat is what we call Shabbat Shuvah, the Shabbat of Return.

Shabbat Shuvah always falls on the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and Hosea 14:2-10 is always read.

During the Yamim Noraim we are focused on T’shuvah, so the powerful call to T’shuvah of Hosea 14 is a timely passage of Scripture to be read.

But, also, I think Shabbat Shuvah may get its name somewhat from the fact that everyone shows up for Synagogue on Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur, but no one wants to hear the rabbi ask why you weren’t seen on the Shabbat between too.

Parasha Vayeilech means so much to me personally because it is my Bar Mitzvah Parasha, but I believe it is vitally important to us as a congregation and to the future of the Messianic Jewish movement as a whole.

I believe that the Lord is revealing something very powerful in this week’s Parasha that we need to take to heart and we need to get on fire to be a part of.

As the modern Messianic Jewish movement, we have a tremendous responsibility and a tremendous calling and there’s a key principle from this week’s Parasha that we need to take to heart in order to be successful.

The Lord has anointed us with the charge to lead His people into His promises through T’shuvah in Messiah Yeshua.

(Repeat)

As we’ve mentioned over and over again through the Book of Deuteronomy, we are following the final days of Israel’s journey in the Wilderness before they cross over the Jordan to take possession of the Promised Land.

However, the Lord has already informed Moses he will not be going with them.

So, who will be leading Israel into the next phase of their walk with the Lord?

Yehoshua ben Nun—Joshua.

The same Joshua who served as the right hand man for Moses for most of the past forty years.

The same Joshua who was a direct mentee of Moses.

The same Joshua who, with Caleb, was one of the only two spies Moses sent in to check out the Promised Land and came back with a good report of the Land.

The same Joshua who, whether he knew it or not, was being groomed for years for a greater call, the call to take over where Moses left off, to lead and teach Israel, and to usher them into the Promised Land.

Let’s dive into the text a bit together…

Skipping to verse 7…

Skipping to verse 14

Skipping to verse 23

Moses’ time is up, the Lord has commanded him to climb a mountain to overlook all of the Promised Land before his life comes to a close, but he is not able to enter the Land himself.

But the second generation of Israel must go on and they need a leader to keep them on track, to teach them Torah, and to keep them from going astray.

So the Lord commands Moses to bring Joshua before the nation of Israel to the Tent of Meetings so He can commission him officially as the next generation of Israel’s leadership.

Let’s go back a bit though, to better understand exactly what is happening here...

At this point in time Moses was already aware he wouldn’t be able to take Israel all the way across the Jordan and but he knew Israel must continue on in order to experience the Promises of God awaiting them.

So Moses cried out to God and asked Him to establish a leader over Israel to take his place and to carry on the work.

First and foremost, we notice that HaShem specifies that Moses appoint Joshua, a man in whom is the Ruach, the Spirit of God.

Joshua wasn’t some Joe Shmoe… He was already a leader of Israel, he was already the mentee and right hand man of Moses… The Ruach HaKodesh was already upon him and the Lord had already been preparing Him for this role long before Joshua ever knew what would happen.

As the old adage goes, God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

In Parasha Vayeilech Israel and Joshua are encouraged to go forth in strength and power, to trust that God is going before them and preparing the way.

Chazak!

Be strong and courageous.

Adonai will go before you, He will be with you, He will not fail you nor abandon you!

Keep in mind, again, who Sefer Devarim (the Book of Deuteronomy) is written to… Context is everything in hermeneutics.

The first generation of Israel rejected the Promised Land, rejected the Baht Kol (the Voice of God) at Sinai, rejected the Mitzvot, rejected the sovereignty of HaShem and built the golden calf, fell pray to the idolatry of the Moabites, and so much more… Sefer Devarim, however, is written specifically to the second generation of Israel out of Egypt.

It is a book all about T’shuvah… T’shuvah of Israel back to the Lord, back to faithfulness, back to trusting in His Word and entering not only His covenant but into the Promised Land attached to that covenant.

The whole idea of Deuteronomy is to remind the second generation of Israel of their father’s mistakes so that they learn from them and to encourage them to walk in a continual state of T’shuvah as they enter in and take possession of the Promised Land.

And HaShem places Joshua, a man filled with the Ruach and carrying the mantle of leadership of Moses in charge of the Nation of Israel as they enter into the Promised Land and walk with the Lord.

And the call of the Lord is still the same today for you and I… In fact, as I said earlier, the principle we should take away from Parasha Vayeilech is:

The Lord has anointed us with the charge to lead His people into His promises through T’shuvah in Messiah Yeshua.

Then we look at the Haftarah for Parasha Vayeilech, and tied specifically to Shabbat Shuvah.

Hosea 14 beginning with verse 2 is our Haftarah.

Hosea was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom, the Kingdom of Israel.

He was called by God to not only be a prophet calling Israel to T’shuvah, but much like many other prophets Hosea’s life was called to be an example, a visual aid to Israel.

He was told to marry a prostitute, they have a couple of kids together, then his wife leaves home and returns back to prostitution.

Imagine how much this hurt… How brokenhearted Hosea would have been… How angry and confused he would have been… But then God tells Hosea to go and buy his wife’s freedom back and to take her back as his wife and to love her and restore her in his home.

Then HaShem communicates that the way Hosea feels about his wife stepping out on him and prostituting herself is exactly how He feels every time Israel rejects covenant relationship with the Lord and prostitutes themselves with idolatry and sin.

Yet, just as He commanded Hosea to take his wife back and to restore her, HaShem wants to bring His bride Israel back to Himself and restore her as His own.

Shuvah Yisrael ad Adonai Elohecha ki kashal’ta ba’avonecha...

Listen to the cry of HaShem’s heart!!! Despite Israel’s many sins, despite Israel continually rejecting the Lord’s covenant, His yearning is always the same.

Shuvah Yisrael ad Adonai Elohecha!

Return O Israel, to Adonai your God, for you have stumbled in your iniquity.

I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for my anger will turn away from him.

The Lord desires restoration of His people unto Himself.

He appointed Joshua to lead the generation of T’shuvah in faithfulness to His covenant.

And He calls Israel, after failure following failure, to return to Him, to repent and cry out to the Lord.

He promises when we make T’shuvah He will forgive our sins, He will restore us, and He will pour out His love upon us.

See, here’s the power of Parasha Vayeilech and Shabbat Shuvah, it is the call for our hearts and lives today.

The Lord has anointed us with the charge to lead His people into His promises through T’shuvah in Messiah Yeshua.

In Romans 11 Paul says:

And skipping to verse 11

And skipping again to verse 15

Paul makes it very clear that God is not done with His Chosen People, Israel.

Both Jew and Gentile have full hope and faith in Salvation through Yeshua because His covenant faithfulness to Israel is eternal.

Think about it, if He could reject His eternal covenant with Israel then how could we truly have faith that our Salvation is eternal?

Isaiah says Israel is called to be a light to the Nations and in Romans 11 Paul states that the Nations have been brought into the commonwealth of Israel through the same means of Salvation as is available to the Jewish people in order to drive the Jew to jealousy for His God.

The modern Messianic Jewish movement has a unique and very important calling.

The Lord has anointed us with the charge to lead His people into His promises through T’shuvah in Messiah Yeshua.

In the same sense that the first generation out of Egypt ultimately rejected HaShem, my Jewish people have rejected Messiah Yeshua.

And in the same sense that HaShem maintained a remnant of Israel for Himself in the second generation of Israel, much like He told Elijah He had maintained a remnant of Israel who had not bowed their knee to the ba’alim, the Book of Acts and the life and ministry of Paul reveals to us that He has in fact maintained a remnant of Israel for Himself in Messiah Yeshua.

But, not only a remnant of Israel, He has also brought in a remnant of the Nations through Messiah Yeshua as well.

And in the same sense that Adonai gave the second generation inheriting the Promised Land the Ruach-filled Joshua to lead them in faithfulness and into HIs Promises, He has called the modern Messianic Jewish movement to be a remnant of His people, both Jew and non-Jew alike bought by the Blood of the Lamb, Yeshua HaMashiach, to call His people—as Hosea did—to Shuvah Yisrael ad Adonai Elohecha, Return o Israel to the Lord your God through the Blood Atonement of Yeshua and to a covenant faithfulness with His Word through His Renewed Covenant.

We are a part of something greater!!!

We have been called to Chazak!

Be strong and courageous and know that God is going before us.

In the same way that Joshua was filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and anointed to lead Israel to God’s promises, you and I are called to be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh to restore Israel back to the promises of God.

The Lord has anointed us with the charge to lead His people into His promises through T’shuvah in Messiah Yeshua.

You