Parashat Eikev / פרשת עקב
- Thu, 2 August 2018 = 21st of Av, 5778
- כ״א בְּאָב תשע״ח
CLICK THE LINK ABOVE TO READ THE PESUKIM
We have magnificent and beautiful Pesukim to study today! First, we learn what exactly it is that Adonai our God requires of us:
Pesuk 12b says: "to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul..."
It is NOT about how "religious" we are, how many times we go to synagogue or church, or how we say certain prayers or even what foods we eat or how we eat them. Those are religious extremities that do not benefit the soul, rather make outward appearances. But we cannot fool God. He can tell the difference between one person who "looks" like a believer, but is only outwardly religious; and the other who walks with God in humility as His "friend" and obeys out of a heart of genuine love for his Creator.
Next, we learn "WHY" God has chosen Israel, His people, in pesuk 15: "Only on your fathers did Adonai set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them—you—from all the peoples, as is the case this day."
Shaliach Shaul reminds us of this same issue in his Igret Haromim:
Romans 11:25 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; 26 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.
27 And this is My covenant with them,
when I take away their sins.”
28 Concerning the Good News, they are hostile for your sake; but concerning chosenness, they are loved on account of the fathers
Next we learn what God requires in order to successfully live to PLEASE HIM. The ONLY way to do this is to have our hearts circumcised. Rabbi Rashi comments on Pesuk 16
ערלת לבבכם. אטם לבבכם וכסויו:
ערלת לבבכם [YE SHALL CIRCUMCISE] THE FORESKIN OF YOUR HEART — This means: ye shall remove the closure and cover that is on your hearts, [which prevent My words gaining entrance to them] (cf. Rashi on Exodus 6:12 and Leviticus 19:23).
Our pesukim are often misunderstood that somehow, Jews need to circumcise "THEIR OWN HEARTS". While our text does say: "circumcise your hearts", that refers more to a method or action that leads to the end result of a heart that has been softened by the removal of this "barrier" or "covering" that makes a heart hardened.
Orchot Tzadikim, originally named Sefer Ha-Middot by the anonymous author, is a book of Jewish ethical teachings; written in Germany in the middle ages (c.1400 - c.1500 CE) , says, "It was a great kindness that the Holy One, Blessed be He, did for mankind when he established a way for wrong-doers and sinners to flee from darkness to light, and did not close the doors of repentance to them, even if they had sinned greatly, as it is said, "Return, ye backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings" (Jer. 3:22). And repentance is accepted by God even if the sinner repents because of his great misfortunes; all the more so if he repents because of reverence and love of God. As it is said, "In thy distress, when all these things are come upon thee, in the end of days thou will return to the Lord thy God; and hearken unto His voice" (Deut. 4:30). And the Holy One, Blessed be He, helps penitents to repent even in matters which the strength of a man cannot attain, and he renews within them a pure spirit so that they may achieve the elements of repentance. As it is said, "And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and hearken to His voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul" (Deut. 30:2). And further, at the end of that passage, "And the Lord will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart" (Deut. 30:6). What this means is that in that thing which is not within your power to attain, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will circumcise your heart and give you the strength to do it."
This is profoundly true! Even the Brit Chadasha agrees that it is NOT within our own power to circumcise our own hearts, however it is the "Gates of Repentance" that leads to this circumcision:
Romans 10:9 Tree of Life Version (TLV)
9 For if you confess with your mouth
that Yeshua is Lord,
and believe in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved.
Erroneously, some say that the Torah of Moshe is impossible to observe, and the "Born Again" experience relieves us of the necessity to observe and keep the Law. Nothing more could be farther from the Truth! What is true is that without the Circumcision of the Heart - we cannot PLEASE GOD IN ANY WAY!
But when a believer has the heart circumcised - then we have the ability and POWER to observe and obey and be the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD! We become pleasing and acceptable to Him.
Philippians 4:13 Tree of Life Version (TLV)
13 I can do all things through Messiah who strengthens me.
So then, does our faith in the Messiah's circumcision of our hearts nullify the Torah? Shaul already answered this question:
Romans 3:30 Since God is One, He will set right the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then nullify the Torah through faithfulness? May it never be! On the contrary, we uphold the Torah.
NOW GO AND OBSERVE WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED TODAY!
Amen.
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