V’Zot HaBrachah
Torah: V’Zot HaBrachah (This is the blessing), D’varim (Deuteronomy) 33.1-34.12
Haftorah: Y’hoshua (Joshua) 1.1-18
Suggested Messianic Writings reading: Rev 21.9-22.5
Shalom,
This is the final reading in the cycle of Torah, and it ends as somewhat of a cliff-hanger. The great leader of Israel, Moshe, passes away in the final chapter and is buried outside of the Promised Land, but Israel remains encamped on the far side of the Yarden (Jordan) River. Their final destination is yet to be reached.
ADONAI Himself buried Moshe, and D’varim 34.6 says that no one knows where his grave is. But Torah does not end in a mourning note, but in a note of anticipation – there is more to come. Y’hoshua (Joshua) was filled with the Spirit from a personal anointing from Moshe, and the people of Israel were ready to follow him. Thus the sages of old chose the first chapter of the book of Y’hoshua as the Haftorah reading to follow this final Torah section. And a new chapter in the saga of Israel is about to be written.
Torah closes with the fact that as the written Torah was put together, there had not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moshe, whom ADONAI knew face to face. Thus we know that Y’hoshua, as great a leader as he was, was not the prophet like Moshe that ADONAI would raise up from within Israel (D’varim 18.15). Maimonides and other sages closed the book of Torah at this point, with the mistaken assumption that one would never arise like Moshe, in essence skimming over the promise of D’varim 18.15.
Various sects within Judaism have raised up men whom they believe to be the Mashiakh (Messiah) of Israel. From a Messianic organization in Israel comes this information: “In the 21st century, there are three rabbis with tens of thousands of followers who believe that they are the Messiah. 1) Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe who died 15 years ago at the age of 92, in New York, has tens of thousands of followers around the world who believe that he is the Jewish Messiah. 2) Rabbi Nachman, the Bratslav Rebbe (Rebbe means head rabbi) who died in 1810 is also a false Messiah. Even though he lived 200 years ago, more than 20,000 Jews from Israel and around the world visit his gravesite in Uman Ukraine every Rosh HaShannah to have their sins forgiven. 3) Yisrael Dov Odesser known as “Saba” (Saba is Hebrew for “grandfather”) also died 15 years ago, at the old age of 106. He had asked his followers not to call him Rabbi, but to call him Grandfather. He is buried in a Jerusalem cemetery, and Jews regularly visit his gravesite to have their sins forgiven as well. Saba was part of the Bratslav Chassidic sect and a disciple of the Rabbi Nachman.
“At busy intersections throughout Israel you will see Nachman Bratslavs handing out literature to people in their cars, as they are waiting for the light to turn green. The followers of Rabbi Nachman also stop their vans in the middle of the highway and start dancing and singing. They are usually singing a song about the Rabbi Nachman which they believe brings redemption to the world. I saw one of them dancing in between the cars yelling, ‘We are now in the end of days. The end of the world is coming soon!’”
In Luke 21:8 Yeshua said, “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them.” In Matthew 24:24 Yeshua said, “At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah! or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible.”
The One not only like (compared to), but greater than Moshe (Hebrew 3.3: “Yeshua deserves more honor than Moshe”), did indeed arise in Israel – the One, the only One, who fulfilled all of the prophecies concerning His coming and the nature of His being. This One came in human flesh, lived as a man, was brutally put to death by his detractors, but resurrected into eternal life, returned to His Father in Heaven, is now awaiting the day when once again He returns to this planet to rule and reign, His followers serving under Him. This we know to be Yeshua of Natzeret (Nazareth). While we await His return, the Ruakh HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) is our daily helper, teacher, strength and guide.
And this is why we pray for the shalom of Yerushalayim. The Nachman Bratslavs and the other groups of Hassidic Jews, as well as all of the Orthodox rabbis and also the rabbis who are not as “religious” – they all need an encounter with Yeshua just as Rabbi Sha’ul (Saul, also known as Paul) of old had. It has been and is just as Sha’ul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1.22, the Jews need a sign. But it goes deeper than that. From 2 Corinthians 3.14-17, “What is more, their [Israel’s] minds were made stonelike; for to this day the same veil remains over them when they read the Old Covenant; it has not been unveiled, because only by the Messiah is the veil taken away. Yes, till today, whenever Moshe is read, a veil lies over their heart. ‘But,’ says the Torah, ‘whenever someone turns to ADONAI, the veil is taken away.’ Now, ‘ADONAI’ in this text means the Spirit. And where the Spirit of ADONAI is, there is freedom.”
Further, “The god of the olam hazeh [this world] has blinded their minds, in order to prevent them from seeing the light shining from the Good News about the glory of the Messiah, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4.4). Let’s emphasize this: Sha’ul is NOT saying that the reading of the “Old Testament” only is the cause of the veil over the heart of the Jewish person. No, but rather, as we see from this writing of Sha’ul’s, the veil is removed when someone turns to the Spirit, the Ruakh, of God. And the Ruakh comes to one who has accepted the salvation gift of Yeshua. The veil remains when the Spirit is not allowed access to the heart. We should also clarify here that someone may have a gift and a calling from ADONAI that is a gift of the Spirit at large, so to speak, a creative gift, but that does not mean they have the salvation gift of the Spirit.
Sha’ul gives direction in 2 Corinthians 10.3-5 on how to pray for those who are strongly opposed to the idea of Yeshua as Messiah; in other words, here is how to pray for the Jewish people (as well as any of your resistant unsaved loved ones): “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful [spiritual warfare] for the destruction of fortresses (strongholds). We are [spiritually] destroying speculations [destroying arrogant reasonings, destroying human logic] and every lofty thing [destroying pride, destroying lofty opinions, destroying barriers] raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought [every deduction, every perception] captive to the obedience of Messiah.” So you see, we are to pray for stubborn mindsets and spiritual blockages to be knocked down, so that the “eyes of the heart” will be open to receive spiritual truth.
Torah has never ended. Torah is renewed with each year’s reading cycle. The written word also continued on with the Prophets and the Writings. Followers of Yeshua also have the Messianic Writings (New Testament). Yeshua Himself is the embodiment of Torah – He is the living Torah, the entire truth of the Creator in One special man. Yeshua, fully God, fully man. From the creation of Adam to the death of Moshe, from Y’hoshua to the prophet Mal’akhi (Malachi), on to Yochanan the Immerser (John the Baptist), the Greater One was still coming. He came, and for us serving him these days, we await His return. “Amen! Yes, be coming, Lord Yeshua!”
שַׁאֲלוּ שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם – Sha’alu shalom Yerushalayim – Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May Israel turn to seek the face of the true “greater Moshe”.