Fm – Renewal of the Covenant 29: 1-9

Renewal of the Covenant
29: 1-9

Renewal of the covenant DIG: What do the words, “In addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb” mean? What did Moshe remind the people of? What does each story demonstrate? Was Isra’el able to do what YHVH required of them? Why? Why not? What is the gift of God? When was it given? When will it ultimately be fulfilled for the nation?

REFLECT: What memories help keep you faithful to God? Today, when a crisis of transition comes upon us, we also need to be reminded of God’s faithfulness and of our responsibility to obey Him. Do you have a short memory of the blessings that God has given to you?

The covenant in Deuteronomy wasn’t different from the covenant given in Exodus; rather, it was an explanation and application of that covenant to a new generation ready to enter the Land.

The day before Moses died.

The renewal of the covenant between ADONAI and His people is an integral part of Deuteronomy, for it sets out the terms of the relationship between YHVH and Isra’el. This covenant was the constitution of the theocracy. God was King and had claimed His people for Himself out of Egypt; the people, who owed everything to God, were required to submit to Him in a covenant that was based on love. The approaching death of Moses provided the initial basis for this renewal.

The opening is very similar to 1:1, “These are the words . . . of the covenant the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Mo’ab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb” (which is the name used for Mount Sinai in Deuteronomy) (29:1). Like bookends, this shows us that we are entering the conclusion of the book. Both Chapter 1 and Chapter 29 remind the Israelites of their victory over two kings. When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them. We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh (29:7-8). Why these two kings and why this reminder? As we saw in Chapter 1 both of those kings were Amorites (31:4). This brings us back to God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:16, where God gave Abraham the dimensions of the Promised Land. At that time, the sin of the Amorites had not reached its fullness. However, ADONAI had promised that in the fourth generation the Israelites would return to the Promised Land. Therefore, from the time of Abraham to the time of Moses in Deuteronomy 29, the sin of the Amorites had reached its fullness, and the children of Abraham were about to enter the Promised Land.

He is at work for our benefit at all times. Had they forgotten all that He had done for them? ADONAI would remind them of two miracles. First, during the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. Secondly, you ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God (29:5-6). It is interesting that Yeshua brought out the same two points in His sermon on the mount (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Da – The Sermon on the Mount). First: Therefore, do not worry, saying, “What will we eat? Or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear” (Matthew 6:31)? Secondly: It is written, “Man shall not eat by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).⁶²⁶

What does Moshe mean when he writes that his speeches to Isra’el on the plains of Mo’ab are in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb, or Mount Sinai (29:1)? The covenant declared in Deuteronomy wasn’t different from the covenant given at Mount Sinai (see the commentary on Exodus Ek – The Ratification of the Sinai Covenant). Rather, it was an explanation and application of that covenant to the new generation and their new situation in the Land of Promise. If what Moses taught in Deuteronomy had been a separate covenant, he would have offered blood sacrifices to seal the covenant as he did at Sinai (Exodus 24:3-8; Hebrews 9:18-22). Many of the people who accepted the covenant at Sinai had perished in the wilderness, but the ratification of that covenant was made with the entire nation (see the commentary on Exodus De – You Will be For Me a Kingdom of Priests). Therefore, this current generation of Israelites was still held accountable to the LORD to obey that covenant (see Bi – The Stipulations of the Covenant).⁶²⁷

The Hebrew for make a covenant is literally cut a covenant, in which the treaty or covenant was ratified in a ceremony where animals were slain (see the commentary on Genesis Eg – I am the LORD, Who Brought You Out of Ur of the Chaldeans to Give You This Land). It seems very likely that some kind of covenant ceremony is implied in the events recorded here by Moses (see Fn – All of You Are Standing). As the Israelites were about to start a new chapter in the life of the nation, they were about to face many enemies, fight many wars, and undergo many trials. Here, Moshe gives them some sound advice. And he speaks to all of us as well when we face difficult situations. We need to remember what God has done for us.⁶²⁸

Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them:

Moshe never seemed to tire of reminding the people of the grace and mercy of God given to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Your eyes have seen all that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land. With your own eyes you saw those great trials, so remember all those signs and great wonders (29:2-3). This historical summary served as a motivation for action. Those signs and great wonders refer to Isra’el’s pilgrimage from the time of their departure from Egypt to their present encampment at Mo’ab. The repetition of the Hebrew verb raah, meaning to see, and the reference to the eyes emphasized that God’s people had personally witnessed what YHVH had done on their behalf. Those to whom ADONAI calls into covenant relationship, those from whom the LORD demands covenant obedience, are those whom He has already acted to save. God’s love has previously been demonstrated . . . ours is anticipated.

If God’s historically proven grace can, in a sense be taken for granted, the human response certainly cannot. Verse 4 injects a surprisingly paradoxical note, yet one that is consistent with Moshe’s stark realism elsewhere. He knows that the eyes that had witnessed the Exodus had not become eyes of faith (1:30-32). The ears that heard the thunder of Mount Sinai did not become ears of obedience, in spite of good intentions (5:26ff). The hearts that learned the message from these events, namely, that YHVH alone was God, were still capable of turning away and worshipping other gods.

It is this persistent fickleness of human nature, even among the people of God, that creates the apparent contradiction between 29:2, “Your eyes have seen . . . your own eyes you saw,” and 29:4, “ADONAI has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.” People can see the very works of God, hear the very voice of God, and yet still neither trust nor obey Him. This awful fact trailed the footsteps of Yeshua Himself, broke His heart, and caused Him to declare: You will keep on hearing but will never understand; you will keep looking, but will never see. For the heart of this people has become dull, their ears can barely hear, and they have shut their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts. Then they would turn back, and I would heal them (Matthew 13:14-15). Paul also reflected on this verse in his interpretation of the rejection of Messiah by some of his contemporary Jews, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes not to see and ears not to hear until this very day” (Romans 11:8), and in a broader context (Romans Chapters 9-11) heavily influenced by these verses in Deuteronomy.

Dear Heavenly Father, How wonderful that You call Your children those who chose to believe in you as Lord and Savior (John 1:12). You are not calling into a mere friendship; but into a covenant relationship that agrees to put you first as the one we love most and seek to please in all we do. You take us as Your child and put Your robe of righteousness on us so we can enter your holy heaven. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21). It cost You so much to come from heaven (John 6:41) and bear the shame, great pain and agony of Your death on the cross. The pains and trials that I go through here on earth will soon be forgotten when I spend eternity with You in Your holy heaven. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18). I love and worship You! In Yeshua’s holy name and His power of resurrection. Amen

Returning to our text, we must face the question of what is meant by the words: ADONAI has not given you (29:4) . . . On the surface, it may appear to suggest that Isra’el’s failure to understand, trust, and obey was somehow God’s fault! Such a suggestion, however, is at odds with the whole thrust of the book of Deuteronomy which rebukes the Israelites for their own personal failure, and challenges them instead to respond properly to YHVH. Nor can this verse mean that somehow Isra’el was incapable of faith and obedience. Such a thought is rejected in this very speech (30:11-14). The urgent appeal to choose life (see Fq – Choose Life) would be merely a sham if Ha’Shem had somehow determined in advance that Isra’el could not respond to His mitzvot. It seems, therefore, that this phrase reflects a feature of the Hebrew language and thought in which events and processes that today would be expressed as consequences of human choice are attributed to YHVH’s active will. The sovereignty of God includes even those who oppose Him.

But the words also express a deeper truth, namely, that hearts understand, eyes see, and ears hear only through the gift of ADONAI. Knowledge of God, faith in God (Ephesians 2:8), and obedience to God are themselves gifts of grace, at the same time they are matters of human choice and response. In some sense, however hard it is for us to understand in our finite minds, the persistence and wholly responsible failure of Isra’el to make the right response to YHVH and to live accordingly, was indeed because the gift had not yet been fully given to the nation of Isra’el as a whole.⁶²⁹

Thus, the words of Moshe at the edge of the Promised Land can also be seen as being fulfilled in the far eschatological future. Jeremiah would point to a day when ADONAI would indeed “give” the people hearts to know and obey, in the context of not merely a renewed covenant, but a B’rit Chadashah altogether (see the commentary on Jeremiah Eo – I Will Make a New Covenant with the People of Isra’el). Hosea 6:1-3 tells us that in the last three days of the Great Tribulation (see the commentary on Revelation Cg – The Great Tribulation) all Isra’el will be saved (Romans 11:26). At that time, God will declare: I will put My Torah within them. Yes, I will write it on their heart. I will be their God and they will be My people. No longer will each teach his neighbor or each his brother, saying: Know ADONAI, for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more (Jeremiah 31:32b-33).

Therefore, so keep the words of this Covenant and do them, so that you may prosper in everything you do (29:9). On the day before his death, Moses assembled all Isra’el to initiate them into the covenant with YHVH. The whole nation was standing before Moshe who had previously summoned them to assemble (29:1).

Haftarah Ki Tavo: Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 60:1-22
(to see link click Af – Parashah)

Isaiah’s vision of Isra’el’s far eschatological future springs from a hope to console anyone who loves God and desires His fame and glory to abound throughout the earth! Compare Isaiah 60:11 and 19-20 with Revelation 21:23-26 and find the similarities between what Isaiah saw and what John saw. ADONAI is doing an amazing thing through the righteous of the TaNaKh in preparation for all Isra’el being saved (Romans 11:26). YHVH is doing an amazing thing through His body, the Church, as more and more churches are supporting Messianic congregations. Prayerfully seek God about how He wants you to invest yourself in making disciples of Yeshua Messiah among Isra’el and the nations.

B’rit Chadashah suggested readings for Parashah Ki Tavo:
Mattityahu (Matthew) 13:1-23; Acts 28:17-31; Romans 11:1-15; Luke 21:1-4

In the Torah portion, Moshe is standing in Mo’ab and instructing the nation proclaiming, Ki Tavo (When you come into) the Land, you must give ADONAI your firstfruits and your tithes (26:1-2). In the B’rit Chadashah portion, Yeshua is standing in the Temple courts observing the giving of the tithes and instructing the apostles that giving when it hurts has more value than giving out of the overflow of abundance (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Je – The Widow’s Offering). How can this be true? To the world, value is determined materially, more money equals more value. But in God’s economy, however, value is determined spiritually, more faith equals more value. Where was the widow’s faith? In what, or whom was she trusting? Is money your idol? Are you trusting in your own ability to bring in material resources to provide for you and your family, or is the LORD receiving all the glory as the Great Provider? How can you step out in faith to obey YHVH and thus store up treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-20)?