HeartTablets

                                                      Tablets placed inside of the Ark of the Covenant/Testimony

       The title of this week's Sabbath reading portion is Eikev, which means, "Because/As a consequence of/following after." The title comes from Deuteronomy 7:12-13, as Moses spoke to the Israelites: "Then it shall come to pass because ('eqeb/eikeb  - because, end, consequence, gain, reward, result, the latter part, wages) you listen to (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-these-judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-covenant and (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-mercy which He swore to your fathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you..." 

     For this study, we should pay special attention to the use of the words "the judgments", "the covenant", and "the mercy", and that all three are preceded by the *aleph-tav in the written Hebrew, which Jesus identified as being Himself (see *note below).

     In the readings for this Sabbath from Deuteronomy chapters 8, 9, and 11, Moses continually stresses, not just the law, but the kind of personal and intimate relationship that Israel should keep with the LORD and with His Word. Let us look at some of these instructions of Moses.

     Moses said: "Therefore you shall love (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always." (Deut. 11:1).

     "And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul (see also Deut. 6:4-5), then I will give you the rain for your land in its season...". (Deut. 11:13-14).

     "For if you carefully keep (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-all-these-commandments which I command you to do - to love (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him - then the LORD will drive out (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-all-these-nations from before you..." (Deut. 11:22-23).

     We can see that the keeping of the commandments is "the consequence of" or "follows after" (see 'eqeb/eikeb above) the love for the LORD. There are blessings that will also be "the consequence of" or "follow after" the keeping of God's Word in our love of Him as mentioned in the above verses. The LORD through Moses emphasizes the necessity of loving Him with all of our hearts.

     Moses gives even deeper instructions to the Israelites: "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart." (Deut. 6:6). Also, "Therefore you shall lay up (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-these-words-of-mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes." (Deut. 11:18).

     The Words of the LORD are not only to be obeyed, but they are to be internally placed upon/within our hearts.

      These things brought to my mind a visualization that I had not considered before. Let us go to the next step in the vision that the LORD will present to us through His pattern established with Moses.

     Moses received the first set of stone tablets which contained the Ten Commandments which the LORD Himself wrote on the mountain. The LORD then told Moses to hurry down from the mountain because the people below were committing a great sin. Moses hurried down from the mountain with those tablets to find that a golden calf idol had been molded and the people were raucously worshipping it. He threw down the stone tablets and broke them before the eyes of the people. He took their (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-sin, the golden (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-calf, and burnt it with fire, and then crushed and ground what was left of it into fine dust. He then threw (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-dust into the brook (nahal root- inherit, inheritance, heritage, give as a possession, receive anything as a possession) that descended from the mountain. (see Deut. 9:12-21).

     We have heard of this above account in scripture, but seeing the written *aleph-tav's connected to this event is very thought provoking.

     However, the LORD was not done. He would write again upon a new or second set of tablets, telling Moses: "...Hew (pasal - cut out of a quarry, to carve, building stones, hew off boughs to create a shape) for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain and make yourself an ark ('aron/'ara - ark, chest, coffin/to gather, to reap, to collect together) of wood ('es/'asa - tree, wood, gallows, carpenter/ to shut, fasten, shut a door). And I will write on the tablets (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you shall put them in the ark...And He wrote on the tablets according to the first writing, the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-Ten Commandments...Then I turned and came down from the mountain, and put (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are, just as the LORD commanded me." (Deut. 10:1-5, excerpt).

     As Moses described above, he was instructed to create an ark for the second set of commandments. We know that this ark containing the tablets of the Ten Commandments would later be placed in the innermost chamber of the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies. An additional item would be added to the construction of the ark: a gold covering around the wooden chest of the ark, and a special solid piece of gold for the top of the chest, called the Mercy Seat (kapporeth - to cover, atonement covering), that would also include as one piece two covering angels with wings. Jewish teaching also refers to the space above the ark of the covenant/testimony as the Throne of God. 

     Therefore, the Words are carved on the tablets of stone, which tablets are kept or concealed within the wooden ark, which is directly under the Mercy Seat covering and, at the same time, under the covering wings of the two angels. For me, this is a visualization of our relationship with Jesus Messiah/Christ.

     There are many scriptures that instruct us to write the Word of God on/in our hearts, some even say specifically "the tablets of our hearts": "Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet (luah - of stone or wood on which anything is carved) of your heart." (Prov. 3:3). Also: "My son, keep my (the father's) words, and treasure my commands within you. Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart." (Prov. 7:1-3). Other references to the Words of God being in our hearts can be found in Prov. 6:21, Prov. 4:20-21, Ps. 119:11.

     The prophet Jeremiah connects the writing of God's Word in our hearts to a new covenant: "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-house of Israel and with (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-house of Judah - not according to the covenant that I made with (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-their-fathers...(*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-My-covenant which they broke (parar - to break to bits, shatter, split, crack through, break apart, crumble, destroy)...But this is the covenant that I will make...I will put (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-My-law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people...For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jer. 31:31-34, also Heb. 8:8-12).

     For me, according to this spiritual pattern and vision, the tablets of stone upon which the LORD wrote His commandments represents the hearts of His covenant people, particularly His new covenant people represented by the second set of tablets. Why would our hearts be shown in this vision pattern to be of stone? The prophet Ezekiel wrote the Word of the LORD regarding stony hearts that are transformed: "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-My-Spirit within you and cause you to walk (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-in -My-statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them." (Ezek. 36:25-27, see also Ezek. 11:19-20). Paul followed this same vision pattern, writing: "...clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart." (2 Cor. 3:3).

     Why two tablets according to scripture? Perhaps because the Body of Messiah/Christ and the inclusion of the nations as spoken by God prophetically, is of two peoples: Jewish and Greek/Gentile who become as one man through faith in Messiah/Christ. (see Rom. 1:16-17 and 1 Cor. 12:12-14).

     The ark of wood (see meaning above) in this vision pattern that I am seeing, into which the tablets are placed, hidden, or gathered, is Messiah/Christ. The Hebrew letters that make up 'aron, or ark in English, are aleph, reysh, vaw and nun. The individual meanings of each letter, when joined together can mean: "The Lord Adonai who is the highest, the head, the first and the beginning, is joined to or nailed to, the son, faithful and continual, who is heir to the throne." Paul also wrote of this vision pattern: "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above....Set your minds on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." (Col. 3:1-4). Jesus told us to abide in Him, rather than just "with" Him. (see Jn. 15:4-5).

     I am saying that the vision pattern has us, as living tablets, permanently inside the Ark of the Covenant/Testimony, which is Messiah/Christ, and inside the Holy of Holies, where no flesh was allowed to go, except once a year by the high priest on the Day of Atonement. The Book of Hebrews says that we now have full, bold, and unlimited access to the Holy of Holies, because of the work of Christ on the cross and His atoning blood that was shed. (Heb. 10:19-23).

     The vision pattern does not end there, but continues.

     So far, the Word of God is written on/in the tablets of our hearts. The tablets, our hearts, are gathered and hidden within the ark, Jesus. The ark is positioned under the solid gold Mercy Seat, which receives the atoning blood of the sacrifice (Messiah/Christ: see Heb. 10:19-23 above). Above the Mercy Seat, and hammered from the same piece of solid gold, are the overspreading wings of the covering angels. Let us look at some scriptures pertaining to this place of the mercy and wings of Elohim (the name of God meaning the exceedingly great God and His angels):

     The Book of Hebrews again teaches: "Let us therefore (through our sympathetic High Priest, Jesus) come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb. 4:15-16).

     "For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide (gur - dwell, abide, gathered, gather together [see 'aron/ark above], stand in awe) in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter (seter - secret place, hiding place, covering, carefully hidden) of Your wings." (Ps. 61:3-4). David wrote this Psalm referring to the tabernacle of God as his dwelling place forever, specifically in the hiding place of God's wings.

     "He (the Most High) shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler." (Ps. 91:4).

     "Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul (nehfesh - soul, life, breath, mind, heart, tablet) trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by." (Ps. 57:1 by David).

     "How precious is Your lovingkindness (hesed - mercy, goodness, merciful, kindness, love, favor), O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings." (Ps. 36:7 by David).

     David wrote of this same vision of the spiritual pattern that Moses presented to Israel, and which was later fulfilled in Messiah/Christ, Jesus. David also referred to this place under the mercy and wings as a refuge, as a place of our trust and hope. It is also written in the Book of Hebrews: "...it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil (referring to the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle), where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (meaning "King of Righteousness")." (Heb. 6:18-20).

    The idea of our eternal home in the Holy of Holies, within Messiah/Christ, is not far-fetched, but is confirmed in scripture, both by pattern, as Moses gave, and by written Word, as we see above. We are in the world, but not part of the world, as Jesus said, although it seems that we often leave the privilege of our awesome and glorious dwelling in the holy Presence in order to become entangled in the cares of the world which are passing away. However, our position in the Holy of Holies, hidden in Messiah/Christ, is a powerful position - remember the Word of God that is written in our hearts? That Word contains all of God's promises to mankind. That Word contains the plan and provision of God's Kingdom of salvation through His Son. By our position in the Holy of Holies, we bring this Word before God's throne of mercy every moment, every day, and from every corner of the globe.

     I want to always dwell in Messiah/Christ Jesus under the mercy and wings of God.

     If you would like to know more about dwelling in the Holy of Holies in Messiah/Christ, you can join my prayer: "Dearest Father, let Your Word always be written on the tablets of my heart. Let me desire to dwell in the tabernacle of the LORD all the days of my life. Help me by Your Holy Spirit to understand more about ministering Your Word from this exalted and holy place within Christ Jesus, and under Your blood atonement mercy and the refuge of Your wings. I didn't understand the holy place that Jesus went to before us in order to prepare for us, so that where He is, we may be also. Through our Savior, Jesus, we have received this glorious honor, and I thank You, Father, for this awesome purpose in You. I bless and exalt My Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13. 

 

Speak

      This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled D'varim, meaning "Words", from Deut. 1:1, referring to the words which Moses spoke to the children of Israel. D'varim (dabar - word, thing, matter, acts, chronicles, saying, commandments, speech, utterance, speaking, counsel, decree, judgment, language, promise, purpose, spoken, sing, declare, warn, threaten, to arrange in order) is also the name of the fifth book of the Torah, or Deuteronomy in Greek. In many ways this fifth book of the Torah moves us forward chronologically and physically in the journey to the promised land, but also takes us back to the beginning, spiritually. This book opens with telling us that the Israelites were very near the end of their forty-year wandering through the wilderness: "...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 as commandments to them..." (v. 3).

     Moses began to recount the Israelites' history with the LORD, including their failure to heed His word to them. However, Moses also reveals the LORD's caring heart towards His people: "The LORD your God who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place. Yet for all that, you did not believe the LORD your God, who went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day." (Deut. 1:30-33). Again, Moses said, "For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) wilderness (midbar/dabar - wilderness, uninhabited land, a desert or sterile sandy country, a pasture fit for feeding flocks, speech, the mouth as an organ of speech/speak, declare etc.- see above). These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing." (Deut. 2:7).

     As we look at the word "wilderness" used in the above verse, it is the Hebrew word midbar with the root word of dabar. The meaning of the word "wilderness" here means both a sterile desert or a pasture fit to feed the flock. How can it mean both, as they seem to be opposites? Perhaps because "wilderness" is attached to its root word dabar, which means to speak and more. "Wilderness" even means the mouth as used to speak. We know that while traveling through the wilderness, the Israelites used many occasions to speak the curse of the sterile desert rather than the blessing and the glory of the green pasture that fed them, and where they lacked nothing. How are we speaking of "the wilderness" in which we sometimes find ourselves, as it awaits the spoken words of our mouths to determine its characteristics toward us? These are the words that Isaiah spoke from the LORD over the wilderness: "The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the excellency of our God." (Isa. 35:1-2). This beautiful and powerful prophetic testimony was not what was spoken by the Israelites in the wilderness, but rather bitterness and rebellion. Self-pity and unbelief spoken in the wilderness did not serve the Israelites well, and in fact, caused many deaths. For us, the prophetic promise has already been established, as we read in Isaiah. We can leave the world as a spiritual desert wasteland by the words we speak, or we can speak the promise of God leading to the transformation of the spiritual wilderness into an abundant garden of joy, singing and glory. Paul wrote that all of creation is groaning, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. (Rom. 8:18-22). What and how are we speaking in the wilderness?

     How we speak when we are in the spiritual wilderness is especially important at this time. This Sabbath is also designated as Chazon, meaning that it is the Sabbath before Tishah B'Av. Tishah B'Av, or the ninth of Av refers to a date that throughout history has seen disaster befall Israel and/or the Jewish people wherever they might be in the world.

     Some of the events from history that have occurred around or on the ninth of Av include the destruction of the two temples by the enemies of Israel. Solomon's Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC which was followed by the Babylonian captivity, and the Romans destroyed the second temple in 70 AD that had been built under Zerubbabel. Also on or around the ninth of Av in different years, three nations expelled their Jewish populations: England in 1290, France in 1306 and Spain in 1492. In 1942, Jews were deported from the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland and taken to Treblinka concentration camp on the ninth of Av. The ninth of Av this year will follow this Sabbath and will be observed with fasting as the saddest day on the Jewish calendar.

     For this Sabbath reading portion before Tishah B'Av, the chazon vision of Isaiah is read. The meaning of the Hebrew word chazon/haza is "a vision as the vision seen by a prophet, a divine vision, divine revelation/to see, perceive, prophesy, provide, to see God, to behold the face of God." The vision of Isaiah reported what the LORD saw concerning His people. The LORD saw a desolate wilderness: "Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; strangers devour your land in your presence; and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers." (Isa. 1:7). As desolate as the vision was for the land, it was even more so for the people: "Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment...Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah: To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?' says the LORD..." (v. 5-6, 10-11). In this vision, the rulers and people of Israel are compared to Sodom and Gomorrah. This vision is not just about the land and people of Israel. We have previously seen that the land to which the LORD was bringing the Israelites after their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt was the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) 'eres land. In Hebrew, 'eres is also used to refer to the whole earth (see also Gen. 1:1-2). When the LORD first revealed this vision to Isaiah, He said, "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth ('eres)! For the LORD has spoken (dabar, see above)..." (Isa. 1:2). This vision is for all who have been grafted into the Name of the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) LORD and the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Holy One of Israel as written in Hebrew in Isa. 1:4. To use an expression, we are mistaken if we believe that what happens in Israel stays in Israel. Do we think that what the LORD spoke in this vision about Jerusalem only applies to Jerusalem? - "How the faithful city has become a harlot! It was full of justice; Righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers." (v. 21). We are mistaken if we believe that Tishah B'Av, the ninth of Av, has nothing to do with the rest of the earth. History tells us that empires were judged and eventually pulled down, and world wars were forged around the events above that were associated with the ninth of Av.

     What does Isaiah's chazon vision tell us about God's plans for this desolate spiritual wilderness described here? The LORD drops a seed of life into the middle of the desolation: "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together,' says the LORD, 'though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow...If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword;' for the mouth of the LORD has spoken (dabar, see above)." (v. 16-20). Then the LORD says: "I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors (ya'as - to advise, consult, give counsel, purpose, plan, guide, exhort, admonish, counselor or minister to a king, to provide for, to declare future things) 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." (v. 26-27).

     Following the report of this chazon vision of Isaiah's in Chapter 1, there is a powerful prophetic promise in Chapter 2 regarding the house of the LORD in the latter days, that all nations and many people shall flow to the mountain of the LORD where: "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 of the LORD from Jerusalem...Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the LORD." (Isa. 2:1-5). How awesome was this chazon vision for the latter days that flowed out of the desolate spiritual wilderness that the LORD had seen! It is a vision that impacts the whole 'eres earth.

     As the ninth of Av approaches this year, the heartbroken nation of Israel is in mourning even while it finds itself facing the attacks of enemies from all directions as was prophesied in scripture. These enemies are supported and directed by nations, and include nations, that have acquired nuclear weapons. Let us all who call upon the Name of the LORD cleanse our hearts, turn from evil, and pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps. 122:6) and pray that all of Israel shall return to and call upon the Lord our Savior, and be saved (Rom. 11:26-27/Isa. 59:20). Let us speak that seed of life that the LORD has dropped into the wilderness.

     If you would like to learn more about speaking in the wilderness, you can pray with me: "Father, You have shown us how to speak in the wilderness to bring life and glory in a place of desolation and waste. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that the words that I speak revive and renew those who are desolate. I pray that You would teach me Your ways so that I will walk in your paths. I pray for Israel and all of the seed of Abraham, both by the flesh and by faith, that they would live in the peace and safety of the Lord and in Your salvation, the Messiah/Christ Jesus, Immanuel, according to the words of Your prophets. I pray that we would all hear Your voice, turn away from sin and evil, and turn back to You. Especially as the ninth of Av approaches this year, we stand in the gap in the wall of fire and the hedge of protection that You have set around Jerusalem and Israel, and all those whom You have called by Your name. I ask these things, Father, in the name of Your Son, Jesus. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as Α Ω , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.

     

Words&Vision

This Sabbath comes at a very special time of remembrance for God's people called Tisha B'av, or the 9th of the month of Av. The 9th of Av signifies the destruction of the two temples of God in the history of Israel. The first destruction came on that date in 586 BC at the hands of the Babyonians, and the second temple of God was destroyed in 70 AD on the 9th of Av also by the Romans. Other catastrophes for the Jewish people also happened on this date, so the time is marked by repentance, fasting, and another element, which we will discuss. The title of this Sabbath's reading is D'varim/Chazon: the Words and the Vision. D'varim, or the Words, comes from the singular dabar, which has a two-fold meaning. On the one hand, dabar means "to speak, declare, command, promise, warn, sing, appoint, bring into order, to lead or guide especially of flocks or herds to pasture, to speak to a woman in order to propose marriage, to speak kindly, to console". The other side of the meaning of dabar, or word, is to destroy, to threaten, to pronounce a sentence of penalty, put to flight, subdue, to lay snares, to plot against. God's people should seek never to find themselves on the wrong side of dabar, His Word. that side is meant for the enemies of God. We see how the dabar Word of God works in Heb. 4:12. It is described as sharper (tomos - to decisively cut) than a two-edged sword. It is piercing, and within its active power is the ability to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. How that sword of the dabar Word cuts depends upon what it discerns in the heart. Our Sabbath reading portion is from Deuteronomy Chapters 1 through 3. The reading begins: "These are the words (d'varim) which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side of the Jordan....in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month...according to all that the LORD had given him as commandments to them..." (Deut. 1:1-3). These words which Moses is about to speak to the Israelites come at a very important time. The words come nearly at the end of the forty years of wandering commanded by God because of Israel's rebellion. The journey to the Land should normally have taken eleven days (v. 2)! The number eleven, repeatedly used in these verses, can refer to, according to the Hebrew meaning, a choice or discernment between rebellion and submission. "Choice" will play a major role in this reading, as we will see. The Israelites had also just accomplished a military victory over two enemy kings: Sihon, king of the Amorites who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan who dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei (v. 4). Moses later told Joshua, who would become the next leader of the Israelites, to remember the victories over these kings: "Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings; so will the LORD do to all the kingdoms through which you pass. You must not fear them, for the LORD your God himself fights for you." (Deut. 3:21-22). Later, when Joshua became the leader, the LORD would repeatedly tell him not to be afraid. What did these enemy kings represent that Moses would command Israel to remember their defeat? These two kings represent the same rebellious kingdoms that we see in the world today. The meanings of the Hebrew words used to describe the kings and their territories of rulership in Deut. 1:4 describe Sihon as "a warrior, a "sayer", who sweeps away or wipes away by using words (amar- speak, utter, promise, command, to intend, to boast, to act proudly, challenge). Instead of the Word (dabar) of God, this king uses words (amar) from the Heshbon stronghold of reason, understanding, thinking, and calculation to make judgments and to "forecast". He uses the words of men from their own understanding, while rejecting the anointed and true Word of God. We see that today when people prefer to believe any amar words, knowledge and understanding of men over the dabar Word of God. It is a powerful stronghold, but the Word of God has already spoken and defeated it. The second king, Og, is a giant, and his dwelling was connected to a goddess of fertility (Ashtaroth). This king, Og, reached out his arm and grasped the richest pastures for himself, according to the Hebrew meanings, as well as all that yields seed, and breeds to bring increase. This king represents an economic giant with a monopoly grasp on the wealth, and the sources or producers of wealth. The fertility goddess, Ashtaroth, according to the fertility cults of Canaan, was considered both the mother and mistress of the god, Ba'al, who is usually represented by the image of a bull. It was believed by their worshippers that the sexual union of Ba'al and Ashtaroth produced fertility, including economic fertility, for the accumulation of wealth. Worshippers of these false gods or idols would engage in perverse sexual practices believing that this would cause these two gods to also join together sexually. This became a type of religious prostitution in various Canaanite tribes and in even more distant cultures. The worship of the accumulation of wealth and immoral sexual activity still go hand in hand today. The accumulation and concentration of wealth has grown to the extent that there are well over two thousand billionaires in the world today, according to Forbes. Just recently, at the end of July, the Commonwealth Games* were opened in Britain with a display of the worship of a huge mechanical bull with a woman sitting on top of it. This is like a modern representation of the Canaanite god, Ba'al. These Games represented the British Commonwealth, an economic and trade confederation of about 15 nations of former British colonies, encompassing 2.5 billion people. This confederation of nations generates great wealth. It is distressing but not surprising that the Games chose to act out the worship of a large bull in their opening ceremonies. The spiritual powers that were represented by these two kings in Deuteronomy Ch. 1-3, Sihon and Og, are still present today, but God has physically and prophetically defeated these strongholds through Moses and the Israelites, and God promises to bring them to final judgment, along with those who partake of them: "The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her (the Whore of Babylon, who sits upon the Beast) will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning...For in one hour your judgment has come. And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore." (Rev. 18:9-11). As Moses told Joshua, remember the defeat of these two kings when you enter the Land, and do not fear them. Joshua would much later still be challenging Israel in the Promised Land to choose that day whom they would serve: the gods from the other side of the River, the gods of Egypt, or the gods of the Amorites - "But for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Josh. 24:14-15). Again that choice is before all of us. God's d'varim Words have shown us Who is truly the LORD, and there are no other gods before Him (Ex. 20:2-5, Deut. 5:6-9). The other title of this week's Sabbath reading, because it comes at the heavy time of the 9th of Av, is Chazon, or "Vision". This additional reading is found in Isaiah Ch. 1. The vision, or chazon, of Isaiah concerning God's people extended throughout the years of rulership of four kings: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (Isa. 1:1). It is an interesting side note that Hezekiah tried to impress a Babylonian envoy by opening his treasuries and showing off all of his wealth. Although this took place many centuries after the words of Moses in Deuteronomy, the Babylonians worshipped the same gods of fertility and wealth that we read about above, Ba'al and Ashtaroth, and engaged in the same type of immoral acts in order to join those gods together. God prophesied to Hezekiah by Isaiah that because of his foolishness, the people of Judah would be carried away into captivity by Babylon (2 Kings 20:12-18). Concerning the enduring Chazon Vision that Isaiah received from the LORD concerning His people Judah and Jerusalem, it was a prophetic vision that was to be declared far more widely - to the heavens and the earth (v. 2). So it is a vision that will affect not just the people of Judah, but the heavens and earth as well. The meaning of chozan, or vision, is not only a revelation and divine communication, but at its root it means to see God and His divine presence, and to choose for one's self. As Joshua said to the people of Israel above, "Choose for yourself whom you shall serve." In Isaiah's vision, God calls His people "a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters (sahat - to destroy, corrupt, ruin, to pervert, decay, marred, rotted, injured)!" (v. 4). As God looked at His rebellious people spiritually, their corruption appeared to Him as wounds and bruises, and putrefying sores that had not been closed, bound up or treated with ointment (v. 5-6). The LORD caused Isaiah to see their land as desolate and burned, overthrown by strangers (v. 7). This is the spiritual condition for which the Jewish people repent and solemnly pray about on Tisha B'Av, the 9th of Av, which saw the destruction of the two temples of God. However, there is also a hope and prayer for redemption on Tisha B'Av, the 9th of Av. Isaiah wrote of this redemption that was available if God's people would turn, and worship Him truly, and serve each other, in Godly character and holiness (v. 16-17). If His people will come and speak with Him, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (v. 18). (See also a previous Blog entry titled "theWorm" found under the right hand Archive column under April 15, 2022.). If His people are willing and obedient, God showed Isaiah: "Zion shall be redeemed with justice; and her penitents with righteousness." (v. 27). Both of these verses give promises of our Redeemer, Jesus, and Isaiah was given several other powerful prophetic revelations of the Messiah, as well as His suffering and atonement made for our sins. The LORD uses the term "Zion" here, which has a powerful meaning in regard to His penitent people. It means "sunny mountain, to shine, to be bright, a waymark, sign, monument, signpost, guiding pillar". Those who become Zion are waymarkers and guiding pillars pointing to the way to the Redeemer for others to choose also. We can see that Isaiah's chazon vision did indeed affect the heavens and the whole earth. This Sabbath, we have been given the D'Varim, the Words, and the Chazon, the Vision, and the choice is laid out before us also. If you would like to learn more about the choice before us, you can pray with me: "Lord Jesus, You are my Redeemer, and I choose to serve You, and our heavenly Father. You died for me, and You rose from the dead, so that I can have eternal life with You. Fill me with the Holy Spirit, Who leads me to redemption, and teaches me Your Words and Vision. I desire to be Zion, a shining signpost, a guiding pillar, for those who are also looking for and choosing the way of the LORD. I ask this in Your holy name. AMEN." *Thanks to JP for contributing the information on the Commonwealth Games' opening ceremony.