Parshah Devarim - Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22 Tisha B'Av
Torah Reading for Week of 19-25 July 2009 |
This week's portion needs to be read in context because it is the reading before Tisha B'Av, the 9th of Av, which this year falls on 30 July. This is a day of mourning and repentance for Jewish people around the world as it commemorates the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, which was destroyed not once, but twice - the First Temple by the Babylonians in 586BCE and the Second Temple by the Romans in 70AD (the picture by Francesco Hayez portrays this tragic event).
In the Jewish community our thoughts turn to the sad events that occurred on this date. In 135AD Betar, the last fortress, fell during the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Romans. It also marks the expulsion of the Jewish people from England in 1290 and from Spain in 1492. It may be interesting to note that in Jewish tradition it was on this day that the generation who had come out of Egypt were told by the Lord that they would not enter the Promised Land.
It is a time when the Jewish community considers their history and the struggle to survive as a people and, in our prayers, acknowledge that it was 'because of our sins, we were exiled from our land ... and we are no longer able to ascend and show ourselves and bow before you ... in your chosen home, in the great and holy house upon which your Name is called.' (Mussaf Prayer for the Festivals)
The loss of the Temple in Jerusalem was the driving force for the development of Judaism as a synagogue based system of worship as opposed to the Mosaic sacrificial Temple based system, into what we now call ‘Rabbinic Judaism’.
In the Talmud, tractate Ta'anit which is in the Mishna (written down circa 200AD), we are taught that 'when the month of Av enters we diminish our joy. This is because we are being challenged not only nationally, but individually: 'It is a time to reflect on how our behaviour has brought national calamity. It is a time when we acknowledge that individual indiscretions rarely remain individual; they always affect someone else.' (Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Centre for Jewish Learning)
A quick look at world history shows the rise and fall of many nations and empires and yet, despite our Diasporas, exiles and holocausts, we remain. How did we survive?
The Prophet Jeremiah (31:35) answers this question for us: 'Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar - the LORD of hosts is his name: "If this fixed order departs from before me," declares the LORD, "then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever." Thus says the LORD: "If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done," declares the LORD. "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.'
It is customary to read Eichah, the Book of Lamentations, also thought to be written by Jeremiah, and here we are reminded in 3:22 that '... the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.' Rashi, the great Jewish commentator, offers an alternative interpretation: 'It is by God's kindness that we have not come to an end. In the words of the Midrash, "He spent His wrath on the wood and stones" of the Temple structure-His house was destroyed, but His people survived.'
The survival of the Jewish people is found in the character and heart of God and his commitment to us as a people. It is because of God’s love and faithfulness towards us, a love that He has proved time and time again: a love that led to the sacrifice of His own Son Yeshua as the ultimate Yom Kippur offering. God’s wrath and judgment on sin was borne by Yeshua. This is the basis of our faith: we love him because he has first loved us.
As we look at the Torah portion we see this as a theme running through the passage. Deuteronomy often called Mishneh Torah - The Repetition of the Law - records Moses' final words to the children of Israel just a few short weeks before his death. And although he begins with a rebuke, listing all the places along their journey where they sinned, he also wants to encourage them to look to the Lord. Moses then reminds them of how God led them and cared for them on their journey.
'For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.' (2:7)
He recalls the major events on their journey through the wilderness: the appointment of the judges to help him administer justice, the sending out of the spies, God's anger at people's lack of trust in him, and his decree that their generation would not enter the Promised Land, the battles and victories along their route and, perhaps most importantly, he records how God continually led and spoke to them.
'From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. The LORD our God gave all into our hands.' (3:26)
Moses' words are a testimony to God's faithfulness to them and to his covenant with his people and he speaks words of great encouragement to them as he seeks to spur them on to love and obey the Lord.
'The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes.' (1:30) He is reminding them of their experience of the Lord. David, in the Psalms, does a similar thing when he often recalls what God has done to stir up in himself praise for what God has done and faith for what God will do.
So Moses alludes to how God led them with a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, but his message is more than this. He points to God as the one who gives the victory because God is not only on their side to defend them, but he fights for them. God has taken up their cause and is prepared to do battle for them. They saw and experienced God's power at work on their behalf.
In the Targum of Onkelos (an ancient Aramaic translation of the OT) it is changed to the Word of the Lord shall fight for you. John Barnes in his commentary notes that Targum used this expression, the Word of the Lord, in the same way that John uses the term Logos in the opening chapter of his Gospel (see John 1:1). There is fascinating twist in the text that perhaps points us to Yeshua who continues to work on our behalf. Maybe we too need to remind ourselves of all that the Lord has done for us; when we do, it stirs up praise within for we realise who he is, but it also gives us faith and hope for the future. We are confident in this that God is on our side. And when we fail, he is still there as our friend and advocate before the Father, speaking for us in our defence (1 John 2:1).
As I write, I am reminded that at Tisha B'Av the Jewish people deal with the loss of the Temple, the place where the Divine touched the earth, and they are challenged to pursue God in greater intimacy - this challenge remains for us who believe in the Messiah. God is challenging us to pursue him ... we may not have a pillar of cloud or fire but we have his Word, both written and Living, and we have his Ruach (the Holy Spirit).
Moses final words in the Torah Portion are: 'You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you' (3:22). Take them to heart, God is on your side, so draw near to him and he will draw near to you.
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