Words&Vision

With this week's Sabbath reading portion, we are beginning the fifth Book of the Torah, which we call Deuteronomy. From the Greek, the word "Deuteronomy" would be translated as "A copy or repetition (of the law)". In Hebrew this fifth Book is called D'varim, or "Words (of Moses)". To review the Books that we have studied in the Torah: B'reshiet ("Beginning") is Genesis, Sh'mot ("Names") is Exodus, Va-yikra ("Called") is Leviticus, B'Midbar ("In the wilderness") is Numbers, and now, D'varim ("Words") is Deuteronomy. D'varim, referring to Moses' words to the Israelites, is also the title of this Sabbath reading portion. However, this week's reading portion is also connected to a special Sabbath. It is the Sabbath before Tisha B'Av, also called the Ninth of Av. The Ninth of Av is a date with important meaning to the Jewish people, because on this date throughout history they suffered many disasters, and the ninth of Av is considered by many to be "the saddest day on the Jewish calendar". Among the events associated with this date, both the Temple of Solomon and the Second Temple in Jerusalem were destroyed by enemy nations on this date. Jewish tradition holds that the ten spies who brought back the frightening report of giants in the Promised Land to the Israelites, and caused them to refuse the enter the land as God had commanded them to do, happened on the ninth of Av. A Jewish revolt against the Romans around the ninth of Av in 135 AD was crushed, and hundreds of thousands of Israelites were killed. Jews were expelled from England on the ninth of Av in 1290, and from France on the ninth of Av in 1306, and from Spain on the same date in 1492. On the ninth of Av, SS Commander Heinrich Himmler received formal approval from the Nazi Party for "the final solution", which resulted in the Holocaust. Jews were deported from the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland by the Nazis, and transported to Treblinka death camp on the nnth of Av, 1942. These are just some of the disasters that are related to Tisha B'Av, the ninth of Av. Many Jewish people fast on this day in prayer and repentance. However, it is a deep thing to consider that this special memorial Sabbath is also called Chazon, or "Vision". What sort of "Vision" is the Lord telling His people to have? Many Jewish people meditate during this time upon the prophesied Third Temple, yet to be built, from a "vision" given to the prophet Ezekiel. Will this week's D'Varim words of Moses give us any insight into God's call for "Vision"? Yes- the direction for the "Vision" is revealed immediately in the first chapter of Deuteronomy. The D'Varim of Moses were spoken before the Israelites entered the Promised Land, on the eastern side of the Jordan River, in the plain (araba - desert wilderness, sterile region, darkened, to wander/heaven, pledge, give as security for a debt, be liable for another) opposite Suph (referring to the Red Sea). The place from which the D'Varim, or words of Moses, began was, to the natural eye, a darkened wilderness, a sterile environment, but, according to the Hebrew meaning of the word used, it can also mean "heaven" and the concept of a substitute given for a debt as assurance of payment, which is what Jesus did for us as He made atonement for us, and redeemed us. So which "Vision" should we have in this place of the D'Varim? We can choose the natural Vision of darkness and lifelessness, or we can choose the spiritual Vision of heaven and redemption, which is God's Vision. The specific places within this area mentioned in this first chapter, from Paran Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, to Dizahab, also direct us to the chazon Vision. Their meanings are, on one hand, "caverns, white as diseased skin, whitewash, foolish, insipid, false, false prophet or false prophecies", or, on the other hand, they can mean "beautify, glorify, gleam, adorn, bestow aid, make white, purify, cleanse, purge, the sounding of the trumpets, protected enclosure, abounding with gold, brilliance, splendor, fair weather". Which chazon Vision shall we see, believe and exalt into manifestation? Here is a timely reminder of scripture's definition of "faith": "Now faith (pistis/peitho - strong conviction of the truth of something/induce by words to believe, obey, trust) is the substance (hypostasis - the cause, the underlying foundation, the substantial quality of, the essence, the assurance) of things hoped for, the evidence (elegchos/elegcho - proof, evidence, proved or tested/ to bring to light) of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible." (Heb. 11:1-3). Look at the power of a chazon Vision of faith! All things are established by it. According to the verse above, God even used it to create the worlds. Upon the foundation of faith, all things are built. It is so necessary and required of the people of God that without it, it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). We can find more information from the D'Varim words regarding the chazon Vision in this portion from Deuteronomy: "Now it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him..." (Deut. 1:3). Now, besides the meanings found in the places of their current location, time is used to expand on the chazon Vision. The meanings of "eleven" and "forty" in Hebrew are revealed in rabbinical teaching. This is a quote: "Eleven refers to the conveyance of the Divine Light which transcends the limits of the world within the limits of the world. The world was created with ten utternances. Eleven, thus refers to a level above the limits of that set. Nevertheless, since it is also a number which follows in sequence to ten, we can understand that it refers to the fusion between the transcendant Divine Light and the framework of limited worldy existence." So even though in the world, this number creates the Vision for us of the power that transcends the limits of the world. While this teaching is not found as such in scripture, the idea of it is definitely found in the D'Varim Words of Christ: "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life'...'These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (Jn. 8:12, Jn. 16:33). From the same rabbinical sources, we also have commentary on the significance of the number forty/fortieth: "The number forty in Torah is the ascent from one level to the next higher one. We get a new mission at forty. But the attainment of the higher level can come only after first fulfilling all aspects of the previous level...and allowing for the emergence of something entirely new." It is mentioned that the basis for these thoughts was the nature of the many events in scripture that revolved around the number forty. So the number forty used here is bringing God's people to a higher level, a new level in God's chazon Vision for His people. In this case, the Israelites were coming to the end of the forty year period when God commanded them to wander in the wilderness because of their disobedience. He kept His Word to them that within this forty year period, the disobedient generation would pass away (see Num. 32:13, Josh. 5:4-7), leaving the new generation to take up the chazon Vision of God, and enter into the Promised Land. A trip that should have taken eleven days took forty years because the people of God, including Moses at one point, failed to see and follow the "Vision" of God. Here is another indication of the chazon Vision that can be seen again in the D'Varim words from Deuteronomy Ch. 1: "On this side of the Jordan...Moses began to explain this law, saying, 'The LORD our God spoke (d'var/dabar) to us in Horeb (horeb/harab - desert, dry/waste, desolate, decay, destroyer, dry up [parch], slay, smite down, kill), saying: 'You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. Turn (pana - turn oneself, look, regard, prepare, appear, behold, turn towards the face, direct one's course), and take your journey (nasa - journey, go forth, forward, depart, break up camp, cut out quarry stones, bend a bow), and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land (eres - earth, nations, land of the living, Sheol: the land without return) of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. See (ra'a - see, look, consider, respect, regard, enjoy, foresee, have vision, discern, gaze at, look intently at,to be caused to see, experience, meet, visions), I have set the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega:see Rev. 1:8, 21:6, 22:13) land before you; go in and possess the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) land which the LORD swore to your fathers - to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - to give to them and their descendants after them." (Deut. 1:5-8). These words relate that while in one of the (spiritually) worst places, Horeb, God spoke His D'Varim Words on the Mount to Moses, giving him the Law. Then they were to take the Words of the Vision of God, and go forward. Jesus gave the same D'Varim Words to His disciples, which we call the Great Commission: "Go, therefore, into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature ...make disciples of all the nations teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you..." (Mk. 16:15, Mt. 28:19-20). While the Israelites were still on this side of the Jordan River, waiting to cross into the Promised Land, Moses was repeating the chazon Vision to this new generation so that they might be established in it. An elderly Joshua would do the same at a later time, reinforcing the Vision of God before the Israelites, after they had settled in the Promised Land, and the Vision was renewed among the people again at that time. (see Josh. 24). When the LORD commanded the Israelites to SEE the (aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) land, it was in the sense of seeing with the same Vision as the LORD sees, according to the meaning of the word. This foundational idea, or "beginning" principle, was established in Gen. 16:13: "Then she (Hagar) called the name of the LORD who spoke (D'var/dabar) to her, You-Are-The-God-Who-Sees; for she said, 'Have I also here seen (ra'a - see above) Him who sees (ra'a - see above) me?' Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi ("Well of the Living One seeing me" or "Well of the Life of Vision"); observe (hinne/hen - see, behold!/they which see), it is between Kadesh and Bered (two very dangerous places in meaning)." That verse from Genesis brings a powerful moment of revelation that made the difference between life and death for those involved. With the same Vision that God used to see her, Hagar saw the life-giving well that appeared before her to save her son, and herself in a sterile, desolate wilderness. Anyone and everyone can see with the natural eyes of men, but only the people of God are called to carry the chazon Vision of God, rather than the vision of the world. There is a beautiful prayer-song with this thought titled, "Be Thou My Vision". The vision of the world has always been, to me, a faith-killer, rather than a faith-builder. Before Tisha B'Av, the ninth of Av, and the remembrance of its tragedies, the LORD has ordained through His Sabbath reading portion for this week that His people renew their Vision to be the same as God's saving and providing chazon Vision. While we live in the world and its vision, we are not to be of the world and its vision. (Jn. 17:11; 14-16). From another portion of this Sabbath's D'Varim reading, Isaiah was called into His prophetic office by a Vision: "The vision (CHAZON/haza - vision, oracle, revelation/see, behold, look, prophecy, to have a vision of, to see God) of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah." (Isa. 1:1). Isaiah begins by exposing the rebellion and iniquity of God's people: "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints." (v. 5). The body of God's people is without soundness. The land and cities of His people are desolate and burned. Except for a small remnant left, they would be wiped out completely like Sodom and Gomorrah (v. 6-9). Their feasts, prayers, and sacrifices are without value before the LORD because they have fallen backwards into evil, and their hands are full of blood (v. 11-16). Their cities have become full of murder, injustice, corruption and thievery (v. 21-23). Isaiah saw the spiritual condition of God's people. They had turned aside from the Vision of the LORD. They were no longer seeing as God sees. Because of it, destruction was heading their way. However, the LORD begins to speak (D'Var/dabar), and the people will now be told the Vision of the LORD for His people: "Therefore the Lord says...I will turn My hand against you, and thoroughly purge away your dross, and take away all your alloy. I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her penitents with righteousness. The destruction of transgressors and sinners shall be together..." (v. 24-28). The LORD continues His remarkable chazon Vision in Isaiah Ch. 2. The LORD gives the word (D'Var/dabar) that will create His awesome Vision before the eyes of the people: "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word (D'Var/dabar) of the LORD from Jerusalem." (Isa. 2:1-3). As we read further into Chapter 2, we can see that all of the nations are changed, because of the Words of the Vision that the LORD has spoken to His prophet. The LORD does not leave His people without His chazon Vision. One of the LORD's prophets wrote: "I will stand my watch and set myself apart on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected. Then the LORD answered me and said: 'Write the vision (chazon - see above) and make it plain on tablets, that he may run (rus - run, guard, hurry, bring hastily, to cause to hasten) who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak (puah - breathe, blow in order to excite, or kindle [a fire]), and it will not lie. Though it tarries (mahah/ma - is reluctant/because it is questioned such as "to what purpose?", "how long?", "by what means?", "because of what?"), wait (haka/haqa - be adhered or tied to it [as piercing]/entrenched, carved into it); Because it will surely come, it will not tarry (ahar - delay, slack, defer, be hindered, be late, stay behind)." (Hab. 2:1-3). As Jesus brought the prophetic Word regarding the tribulation to come in all of its terrors and troubles, He concludes with a Vision for us. He told us to "watch", and He said: "Now when these things begin to happen, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." (Lk. 21:28). Peter tells us that when we see the destruction of the Day of the Lord, faith tells us: "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." ( 2 Peter 3:12-13). The chazon Vision of God is waiting there for us to discover. It is a Vision that will bring us to the next, new level, and will overcome the conditions of the world, rather than be overcome by them. I believe that if we will see as God sees, we will be part of the Vision that will change the world. If you would like to know more about the D'Varim Words, and the chazon Vision of God, you can pray with me: "Dear Father, I ask You to give me eyes to see as You see, and a heart to receive and understand the chazon Vision that You have given in Your D'Var Word, which is Jesus. Your Vision leads me to repentance, and causes me to seek Your face and Your path. Your Vision provides for me before I even have need. Your Vision keeps me from being overcome by the world. Your Vision, created in Your D'Varim Words, directs my faith, so that it is no longer my faith, but the faith of the Son of God. Let my eyes be full of Your Divine Light, Your Son, Who is the saving Light of the world. I also pray in agreement with the prayer of the Jewish people, who pray in part, '...let our eyes gaze upon Your compassionate return to Zion. Blessed are You, LORD, who restores Your presence to Zion.' I pray all of these things in the name of Your Son, my Savior, Jesus. AMEN."