Va’et’chanan
Deuteronomy 3:23 - 7:11

Sometimes God says “no”.  This week, our Torah portion begins at the end of the introduction to Deuteronomy.  Moses is pleading with God to enter the land. Then beginning in chapter four Moses gives instructions to the people on how to live successfully in the land.  This includes the recitation of the Ten Commandments and the Shema. However, given the events of this week in Israel , it is appropriate to focus our attention on Moses narrative of pleading with God to enter the land.  Moses goal from the very beginning was to enter the land. Back in Numbers we read the narrative of the “sin of Moses” and the judgment of God upon Moses.  Here in Deuteronomy, Moses again describes his desire to enter Israel . God’s response was final:   Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter. (Deut. 3:26).  Moses was experiencing a truth about God that we do not discuss much: sometimes God says “no”.  This week, I noticed on he internet that many Rabbis were calling for special prayers to be said in order that the Gaza pullout might not come to pass. But God said “no”.  When Moses was denied the delight of his heart, he did not necessarily understand the whole plan of God for this denial. His disappointment comes through loud and clear in the text. He says,  But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me; (Deut 3:26).  He blames the people and seems angry and conflicted. However, he does not become bitter.  He accepts the will of God and continues to serve Him until the day of his death. 

There are many in Israel and around the world who may have a difficult time understanding how this disengagement could happen. After all, this is the “promised land”.  Don’t you think that if we were there with Moses we would be saying “how could this happen?”  Are there not times in our lives when we do not have the answer to prayer that we really desire?  Certainly there are times of disappointment when our deep desires are not met. The great lesson to learn from Moses is that we go on serving. We do not have a “deal” with God that as long as we get the answers to our prayers that we want, we will serve joyfully.  Recently, I read a book with the title Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper.  The idea of the book is that many believers waste their lives in the sense of missing the main calling of God. According to Piper, the main calling is joyfully glorifying God in all aspects of life.  Part of that is recognizing that God is the creator and we are the created - God is the potter and we are the clay. 

This week’s Haftorah portion from Isaiah 40 speaks of great comfort that God will bring for Israel .  The majority of the passage describes the uniqueness of God - how He is the one who brings events to pass. It is when we can trust that God is always at work - even in the difficulties of life that allows us to joyfully glorify Him; it is when we realize this that we can indeed experience His comfort.  Isaiah 40 begins: “comfort ye comfort ye my people”.   It is in working through the difficulties that hope springs forth.   We see all of this in the death and resurrection of Yeshua. His death was horrible and looked as if he had been defeated. However, it was in that “defeat” at the hands of men that victory was won!  The “judgment” on Moses came, in a sense, at the hands of sinful people. However, we see in Moses the life of a great servant.  While he did not enter the land with the people,  the Torah which he mediated did go into the land. The influence and the teaching of Moses went into the land. 

If you have experienced the “no” answer to prayers, rest assured that God is still at work. In our lifetime we may never know the answer as to why we got the “no” answer. However, just like with Moses, the day came when the “prophet like Moses” came and brought redemption - that is Yeshua. So in the same way, the day will come - perhaps not in our lifetime, when God will finally bring the big “YES” - the return of the Messiah accompanied by all healing and fullness and joy and a complete return to the land. May we be able to serve the Lord all of the days of our lives looking forward to that day.

Shabbat Shalom!