Parasha Vayeilech
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Me
Me
Shabbat Shalom!
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 (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
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
God
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 and appointed us with the charge to lead His people in T’shuvah through 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…
Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.
He said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. Adonai has said to me, ‘You are not to cross over this Jordan.’
Adonai your God—He will cross over before you. He will destroy these nations from before you, and you will dispossess them. Joshua will cross over before you, just as Adonai has promised.
Skipping to verse 7…
Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong! Be courageous! For you are to go with this people into the land Adonai has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you are to enable them to inherit it.
Adonai—He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you. Do not fear or be discouraged.”
Skipping to verse 14
Then Adonai said to Moses, “Behold, your time to die is near. Call Joshua, and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, and I will commission him.” Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.
Adonai appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the opening of the Tent.
Skipping to verse 23
Then he commissioned Joshua son of Nun and said, “Chazak! Be courageous! For you will bring Bnei-Yisrael into the land I swore to them—and I will be with you.”
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 the ways of the Lord, 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...
Then Adonai said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range and look at the land that I have given to Bnei-Yisrael.
When you have seen it, you will be gathered to your people, just as Aaron your brother was gathered.
For in the wilderness of Zin during the strife of the community, you both rebelled against My Word instead of honoring Me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” (These were the waters of Meribah at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)
Moses spoke to Adonai saying,
“May Adonai, God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the community
to go out and come in before them, who will lead them out and bring them out so that the people of Adonai will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
Adonai said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the Ruach, and lay your hand on him.
You will have him stand before Eleazar the kohen and the entire assembly and commission him before their eyes.
Give to him some of your authority so that the whole community of Bnei-Yisrael will obey him.
He will stand before Eleazar the kohen, who will pray and obtain judgments for him by Urim and before Adonai. At his mouth, they will go out and at his mouth they will come in, he and all the community of Bnei-Yisrael with him.”
Moses did as Adonai commanded him. He took Joshua, stood him before Eleazar the kohen and all the entire assembly.
Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him just as Adonai had spoken, by Moses’ hand.
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 cries out to God and asks 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.
“Adonai will do to them just as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them.
Adonai will give them over to you, and you are to do to them according to all the mitzvot that I commanded you.
Chazak! Be courageous! Do not be afraid or tremble before them. For Adonai your God—He is the One who goes with you. He will not fail you or abandon you.”
Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong! Be courageous! For you are to go with this people into the land Adonai has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you are to enable them to inherit it.
Adonai—He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you. Do not fear or be discouraged.”
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 the 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 more… Deuteronomy, 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 keep remind the second generation of Israel of their father’s mistakes 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 and appointed us with the charge to lead His people in T’shuvah through Messiah Yeshua.
Then we look at the Haftarah parasha connected to 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 how 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...
Return O Israel, to Adonai your God, for you have stumbled in your iniquity.
Take words with you and return to Adonai. Say to Him: “Take away all iniquity, and accept what is good, so we may repay with offerings of our lips:
‘Assyria will not save us. We will not ride on horses, and we will never again say, “Our god,” to the work of our hands, for with You, orphans find mercy.’ ”
“I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for My anger will turn away from him.
I will be like dew for Israel. He will blossom like a lily, and thrust out his roots like Lebanon.
His tender shoots will spread out. His beauty will be like an olive tree and his fragrance will be like Lebanon.
Those dwelling in his shadow will return. They will grow grain and bud like a vine. His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
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! Retorn 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 on us.
See, here’s the power of Parasha Vayeilech and Shabbat Shuvah, it is a call for our hearts and lives today.
The Lord has anointed and appointed us with the charge to lead His people in T’shuvah through Messiah Yeshua.
In Romans 11 Paul says:
I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
God has not rejected His people whom He knew beforehand. Or do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?
“Adonai, they have killed your prophets, they have destroyed your altars; I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.”
But what is the divine response to him? “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
So in the same way also at this present time there has come to be a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.
But if it is by grace, it is no longer by works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
And skipping to verse 11
I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their false step salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke Israel to jealousy.
Now if their transgression leads to riches for the world, and their loss riches for the Gentiles, then how much more their fullness!
But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Insofar as I am an emissary to the Gentiles, I spotlight my ministry
if somehow I might provoke to jealousy my own flesh and blood and save some of them.
For if their rejection leads to the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
And skipping again to verse 15
For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be ignorant of this mystery—lest you be wise in your own eyes—that a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;
and in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer shall come out of Zion. He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”
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 in to the commonwealth of Israel through the same means of Salvation as is available to the Jewish people to drive the Jew to jealousy for His God.
Modern Messianic Jewish movement has a unique and very important calling.
The Lord has anointed and appointed us with the charge to lead His people in T’shuvah through 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.
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 and appointed us with the charge to lead His people in T’shuvah through Messiah Yeshua.
You
You
You may have been a part of the Messianic Jewish movement for a long time now… Perhaps you are brand spanking new in all of this… Maybe this is the very first time you’ve ever experienced a Messianic Jewish service… Maybe you’ve just become a believer in Messiah recently… Maybe you’ve spent your whole life in the Church...
Wherever you find yourself, the reality is that you have been hand selected by Adonai for a end-time prophetic calling and reality.
The Lord has anointed and appointed us with the charge to lead His people in T’shuvah through Messiah Yeshua.
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We
If our worship team will make their way back up to the stage.
Yeshua says in Matthew 23 that He will not be seen again until all Israel proclaims, Baruach Ha-ba b’shem Adonai! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord! Welcoming in the Bridegroom of Israel.
You and I as followers of Messiah have been bought by the Blood of the Lamb and we’ve been empowered with the Ruach HaKodesh. We have been given an anointing to lead both Jew and Gentile to T’shuvah (repentance) in Messiah Yeshua. We have been appointed to be disciples who make disciples.
Shabbat Shuvah is all about T’shuvah, about returning to Adonai Eloheinu. Shabbat Shuvah is about repenting and making right our relationship with HaShem. Shabbat Shuvah is about calling God’s creation back through the Good News of Messiah Yeshua!
You and I as part of the Modern Messianic movement carry the call and anointing of Joshua to lead a new generation in to the promises of God through the Blood of Messiah.
The Lord has anointed and appointed us with the charge to lead His people in T’shuvah through Messiah Yeshua.
It is time for the Body of Messiah to awaken to the reality and weight of the call upon us! It is time the Body of Messiah awakens from our lazy slumber and begin to truly walk in the anointing of the Ruach HaKodesh to lead the People of God in T’shuvah. May we take to heart the promise of Deuteronomy 31:6...
Chazak! Be courageous! Do not be afraid or tremble before them. For Adonai your God—He is the One who goes with you. He will not fail you or abandon you.”