53 HA'AZINU (Hear); Deut. 32:1-52, Acts 24-26

[Bruce Bertram]

Deuteronomy 32 is a song given to Moses by God to teach to Israel.

19“Now therefore, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it on their lips, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel. 20“For when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and are satisfied and become prosperous, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and spurn Me and break My covenant. 21“Then it shall come about, when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify before them as a witness (for it shall not be forgotten from the lips of their descendants); for I know their intent which they are developing today, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.” (Deuteronomy 31:19-21 NASB95)

This song is to be a “song of witness” for God against the sons of Israel, because God knew what would happen later. The lyrics are like an outline of Israel’s history to that point, yet also a prophecy of what was to come (the same pattern repeated time and again). It sort of follows the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ in Matthew 6:9-13, in that it starts off glorifying God (verses 1-4) and ends up with a ‘Thy kingdom come’ series of thoughts (verse 43). In between, it recounts the blessings and mercy of God in taking care of them (7-14) in spite of their perverse nature (5-6 and 28-33); describes their many idolatrous behaviors both before going into the land but also continuing (16-18) after they become fat (v. 15); and outlines the sufferings and persecution they will experience (19-27) because of their transgressions. It is God who will do these things (26, 27 and 34-42) because He is the one to whom worship and glory and honor should be given.

Later in the chapter Moses gives some final instructions to the people, including more admonishing about continuing with God, then God gives Moses some final instructions about where he is going to die.

In Acts 24 Paul is on trial before the governor Felix. Some Jewish leaders come up from Jerusalem with what seems to be a Roman lawyer (because of his name?) and bring many false charges against him. Paul makes an excellent response to them, but Felix wants to wait for the Roman commander Lysias to make a final decision. In the meantime he and his wife Drusilla take time to talk with Paul on a regular basis, partly hoping that Paul with offer a bribe. After two years though, Festus succeeds Felix and because Felix wanted to get some favor from the Jews left Paul in prison. Acts 25 continues the story of Paul’s imprisonment and series of trials, starting with Jewish leaders intercepting Festus in Jerusalem and trying to get him to bring Paul down to Jerusalem for trial so they could follow through on a plot to kill him. Festus, however, tells them to bring their case down to Caesarea instead. Again, there is a sham of a trial with false charges from Jewish leaders, and again Paul defends himself ably. Festus starts to move the trial to Jerusalem because he wants to do the Jews a favor, but Paul short-circuits this by appealing to Caesar. King Agrippa and wife Bernice visit, and Festus tells them about the goings-on and that he couldn’t find anything wrong with Paul worthy of punishment. In Acts chapter 26 Agrippa also listens to Paul’s witness and defense, and can find nothing wrong to nail Paul with either, so he tells Festus that Paul could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.

Shalom

[Bruce Bertram]

I did a word search in my NASB for the word 'Bashan.' Besides meaning 'fruitful,' I remembered I had seen it in several prophetic passages, specifically talking about the 'oaks of Bashan.' Here's what I found.

The first places it is mentioned is in Numbers 21 and 32, when Israel fights the people of Og, King of Bashan. Manasseh, Gad and Reuben end up inheriting that particular slice of country, and apparently it was very nice. It had at least 60 cities (Deut. 3:4) and had been inhabited by giants (Deut. 3:11), probably the same giants which the spies had feared (Numbers 13:32). It was at least part of the land which the spies found to be flowing with milk and honey. So Bashan can be analogous to overwhelming abundance perhaps hearkening back to the time before the flood.

After a series of mainly geographical or land division references through Joshua and Kings, we see this word again in this verse.

12Many bulls have surrounded me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. (Psalm 22:12 NASB95)

Perhaps you might recognize this from the larger context, starting with the first few verses.

1For the choir director; upon Aijeleth Hashshahar. A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. 2O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; And by night, but I have no rest. 3Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. 4In You our fathers trusted; They trusted and You delivered them. 5To You they cried out and were delivered; In You they trusted and were not disappointed. 6But I am a worm and not a man, A reproach of men and despised by the people. (Psalm 22:1-6 NASB95)

That's right, the first verse was the cry of Jesus as He suffered in agony on the cross. The 'bulls of Bashan' seem to indicate the Jewish religious leaders, bringing to mind the rejection of God in the murdering of His Son and Messenger and Prophet, and related to the idolatry inherent in such a rejection. Read the entire Psalm to get the full effect.

The next place we see Bashan is in Psalm 68 in two places.

15A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; A mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan. (Psalm 68:15 NASB95)

22The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan. I will bring them back from the depths of the sea; (Psalm 68:22 NASB95)

In between these two references (again, read the whole Psalm for the full effect) are these verses.

18You have ascended on high, You have led captive Your captives; You have received gifts among men, Even among the rebellious also, that the Lord God may dwell there. 19Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation.Selah. 20God is to us a God of deliverances; And to God the Lord belong escapes from death. (Psalm 68:18-20 NASB95)

This is partially quoted by Paul in Ephesians 4:8.

7But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8Therefore it says, "When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men."

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[Bruce Bertram]

Ha’azinu; Deuteronomy 32:1-52; 2 Samuel 22:1-51; Acts 24 through 26

45When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46he said to them, “Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law. 47“For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.” (Deuteronomy 32:45-47 NASB95)

In and around everything Moses says to Israel are repeated admonitions to actually do everything God has instructed. Here he adds that “it is not an idle word” but “it is your life.” This is not the first time Moses equates God’s law with life.

5‘So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD. (Leviticus 18:5 NASB95)

19“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, 20by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20 NASB95)

So many look at God’s words as “idle,” saying that He didn’t really mean them, or that they were only for Jews, or that some of them are old and outdated. Yet this is not what Moses says. God’s words give life just like oxygen gives life or food gives life. The implication seems to be that we should take all of God’s words as seriously as we would any other life-sustaining substance, without which we would immediately perish. This attitude towards everything God says is at the ‘heart’ of our relationship with Him and His Son.

4“Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith. (Habakkuk 2:4 NASB95)

So why does Paul say what at first appears to be something different?

10For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.” 11Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” 12However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM.” 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”— 14in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:10-14 NASB95)

A careful reading will reveal that Paul is not comparing God’s Word (including the Law) with a curse. No way José. What he is doing is contrasting faith with works of law. Faith is a combination of trust and obedience. It is from the heart, where everything that God says is being treated as if it was life. A heart of faith is sensitive towards whatever God commands, and loves to respond with whatever action God requires. It doesn’t matter if you want to call it ‘law’ or not, God’s Words, to a heart of faith, are life. ‘Works of law’ on the other hand, comes from treating God’s words as if they were idle words. It is a legal relationship, where God imposes an unwelcome rule and one reluctantly and/or partially obeys it, and then supposes that some sort of reward such as eternal life should be granted him or her for the nominal effort. This is at the heart of ‘legalism,’ and it afflicts nearly everyone at some point or another. A legal relationship is ‘lip service’ without heart involvement. We can think of this as a ‘surface treatment’ of God’s word, grudgingly doing the minimum action on a limited basis and only when one is forced to do it. It is the typical way of approaching God for most anyone, but it was also the way Israel frequently treated God’s Word.

6And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. 7‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’ 8“Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” 9He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. (Mark 7:6-9 NASB95)

Many Christians give a similar ‘lip service’ to God when they raise their hands in a Church and ‘go forward’ to ‘accept Him as their Savior,’ then continue to live as if nothing has changed. This has become a “precept of men” or a tradition used to set aside the living Word of God. They want excuses to keep living their own ways, so they look at God’s eternal words of life and call them old, outdated, only for other people, or terminated and reinvented as some supposed New Commands. Then the New Commands are limited to a feeling (as in ‘I have warm feelings toward you, therefore I love’) so vague that anyone can ‘feel’ righteous. This is why their worship of God consists of a service that stays on the lips rather than proceeding from whole-hearted devotion. They think that ‘I professed belief in Jesus; therefore God owes me eternal life.’ This is identical to works of law, because of the legal nature of the transaction (‘I did such and such, so you owe me such and such’).

Treating all of God’s words as life-giving is the acceptable response to God’s grace. A legal relationship is superficial and inadequate for taking full advantage of the life in His Words. Faith is a trusting obedience to every utterance from God, and moves us past mere lip service and into a changed life. God’s words strengthen us with His transforming energy when we take them in and faithfully obey them. Let us not be satisfied with a legal relationship that treats His Words as idle, but be filled with them as they were our very life.

12I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:12-13 NASB95)

11It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; 12If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; 13If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:11-13 NASB95)

Shalom