Hear, Listen to, and Respond!

My Parshah Journal

Paul Ikonen
22 July 2010

Portion: Va-‘Ethannan
Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11

If the last Parshah focused on the state of the condition of Israel’s heart toward God, this

week’s focuses on God’s heart for Israel. Where the Israelite was weary, hesitant and

lacking in their love for HaShem, HaShem was bound, determined and relentless. We

start off at the end of chapter three and listen to the pleading (Va-‘Ethannen) of Moses to

be allowed to go with Israel into the Promised Land. We receive passionate description

of how Moses views God: Great! Mighty! Powerful! Unmatched! But God declines his

offer, a view of God’s persistent integrity in His judgments.

Chapter four begins with Moses reminding the people of the sacredness of God’s

Torah, how it is never to be added to or taken away from. The Torah will lead you to and

protect the possession of their inheritance, in fact because of the Torah, the mission of

God’s people will be a success, we read-

“(the nations) upon hearing of all these laws will say, ‘Surely, that great nation is

a wise and discerning people.’ For what great nation has a god so close at hand as

is the LORD our God whenever we call upon Him? Or what great nation has

laws and rules as perfect as all this Teaching that I set before you this day?
The people will be observed as having not only a set of rules that properly govern and

protect their people but also access to their God whenever they call on Him. This is a

God that takes great delight in His children!

God also wants to be known and loved by the succeeding generation, the people

are admonished to hand down the tradition to their children and their children’s children.

God praises the people for their wisdom when they received the Words from the LORD

the first time, when they realized that if they heard from God directly they would be

consumed and so sent Moses to receive from God on their behalf.

A warning is given to the people, probably because of the memory of the

receiving of the Ten Words, to remember not to make graven images of God, for it was

out of a burning bush that the voice of God spoke and not from a form in which His

image could be perceived. The warning involved a curse, that if the image was made

than the people would perish from the land and they will be scattered among the nations.

But, because of God’s undying love, if anyone searches for the LORD while scattered,

and if you return and obey, God will not fail you or let you perish, He will not forget His

covenant but will restore you. Continuing in chapter four we read of the amazing story

that is God’s redemption of Israel from Egypt, how the story goes beyond any other in

relation to a God and His people; it is a love story that will forever exist because God

promised it. God requires of His people that they observe His commands not because He

is cruel, it is because He know that the path of His Torah leads to a good place and He

wants only the best for His children.

Chapter five is a retelling of the Ten Words, the Second Word, which we often

remember simply as “You shall not make any graven image”, is expounded on in that
God describes Himself as an “impassioned” God, we usually say jealous. He says that if

we disregard God’s wish in this that the guilt of the perpetrator will be on their children

up until the fourth generation of those who reject Him. Immediately though, God inserts

that where guilt is upon three or four generations, He shows kindness to the thousandth

generation of those who love Him.

And than we come to Chapter Six, how beautiful a chapter! It is hear that we hear

straight from the heart of God, a plea for Israel to keep to the Words that God has given

for their health and prosperity. We hear the Shema, the call for Israel’s identity, for their

commitment to God, to their commitment to extend this love to every aspect of their

lives! They are called to put their identity into action by impressing them on their

children, reciting them throughout the day, binding them as a sign on their bodies,

inscribing them on their doorposts. It is to this devotion that God provides them with the

Land He promised their forefathers.

The portion ends with the first half of chapter seven, in it Moses instructs the

people on how to interact with the peoples they are dispossessing in order to obtain their

land. How they are to destroy the sacred objects of the false gods, how they are not to

intermarry lest the practices of the false religions creep into the nation. All this to

preserve the people as a nation separated unto God, a consecrated people.