This Sabbath reading portion is titled Va-yelek, meaning "Then he went out", which we see in Deuteronomy 31:1-2: "Then Moses went (yalak - go, walk, come, depart, lead, carry, proceed, cause, to walk) and spoke these (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) words to all Israel." The words that he would speak were spoken on the same day as his 120th birthday. Moses said, "I can no longer go out and come in. Also the LORD has said to me, 'You shall not cross over this (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Jordan (meaning "descending")."
The number of Moses' years, 120, in Hebrew Gematria has the meaning of a full and complete human lifespan. At the same time, it signifies a period of probation and preparation for all mankind for what is coming next. (see Gen. 6:3). Something is coming to an end while something else is coming to its beginning. Moses would not be going forward with Israel across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. That was an ending, and, I'm sure, a most sad event for Israel. However, who will lead the new beginning? Moses revealed it to Israel: "The LORD your God Himself crosses over (abar - pass over, pass through: especially between covenant parts, pass by, go in advance, cause to cross, impregnate, to cover in copulation) before you; He will destroy these (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua (Yehosua - Jehovah [the LORD] is Salvation) himself crosses over (see abar above) before you, just as the LORD has said...Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." (Deut. 31:3, 6).
Both the LORD and Joshua, whose name is associated with salvation and also Jesus' Hebrew name, would be crossing over before the Israelites. As we can see from the meaning of abar above, "crossing over" is also includes the idea of impregnating. This is the beginning of a new period for Israel that will require the presence of God and His Salvation to go before them. The people of God get into trouble when, instead of allowing God to go before them, they go before God and become separated from Him. Sometimes the LORD has led the way, but His people have refused to follow in His steps. Please, LORD, always go before us and lead us.
It is also interesting that Joshua was from the half-tribe of Ephraim. Ephraim was a son of Joseph by his Egyptian or Gentile wife. This half-Hebrew, half-Gentile son of Joseph was adopted as a son by his grandfather Jacob/Israel (see Gen. 48:5-6) and became one of the tribes of Israel along with his brother Manasseh.
At this point, we can see the meaning of our Sabbath title "Then he went out." Moses went out, but something greater came in, God Himself and His Salvation. The LORD never ends something without starting something greater. Isaiah wrote: "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things (hadas - fresh [gain] of this year, new thing, unheard of, make anew, be new, renew, repair, restore) I declare; Before they spring forth (samah - sprout, bud, bring forth, bear, shine forth, spring forth) I tell you of them...Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing (see hadas above), now it shall spring forth (see samah above); Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." (Isa. 42:9, Isa. 43:18-19). This is the language of birthing something new. However, we often find ourselves firmly entrenched instead in the old things. The wisdom of this Sabbath's Va-yelek reading portion, especially as it comes within the Feast days, urges us to look towards the new thing that the LORD is saying or doing.
Paul wrote in the same Spirit as Isaiah above: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ..." (2 Cor. 5:17-18). Paul wrote that we are to carry forth in that same ministry of reconciliation. However, in this reconciliation, "all things have become (and are becoming) new."
In John's vision of heaven, he saw this: "Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make (poieo - make, bring forth, bear, produce, shoot forth, fulfill, perform, do) all things new.' And He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.' And He said to me, 'It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega (*aleph-tav in Hebrew), the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts." (Rev. 21:5-6).
There is new and fresh manna (a mysterious flake from heaven that came each morning with the dew, from which the Israelites were able to make bread) available to us every day in the LORD. Even this same miraculously delivered heavenly manna became wormy and stunk when held over beyond the daily arrival of the new manna. (see Ex. 16:4-5, 15-21). Jesus taught us to pray to our Father in heaven for His daily provision of revelation bread. Do we think that Jesus was speaking of natural bread? It is not disrespectful to the written Scriptures to seek the daily bread of the Lord. The new revelation from God that Isaiah spoke of above never contradicts His written Word but reveals the living depths of it and quickens it in us. Every time we open the written scriptures, it comes with the expectation of receiving new wisdom, knowledge and understanding. The LORD created His scriptures to be “living”, eternally speaking and revealing Him in a new way. Paul called those who searched the scriptures in this manner, “noble”. (Acts 17:10-11). Ask the LORD for fresh manna and He will give it to you. Jesus said it this way: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Mt. 7:7-11).
This Va-yelek Sabbath is teaching us to seek out the precious new thing, the new birthing, that the LORD is doing, especially at this season of feasts. It's about being pregnant and bringing it to the birth as we "cross over" after Him and Joshua/Jesus, His Salvation.
This coming Sabbath is also a Shuva Sabbath. That is the Sabbath that occurs between the Feast of Trumpets and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, two of the Feasts of the LORD, which He commanded to be kept forever. The Feasts are holy appointed times that the people are to keep with God. They mark important spiritual days and seasons that affect not only those who worship God but also serve as a prophetic revelation of Messiah/Christ. One moving example of this is the Feast of Passover, and its fulfilment by the death of the Lamb of God, Jesus, on that feast. Each week, we seek the glory and wisdom of God together on the Sabbath, the first named Feast of the LORD (Lev. 23:1-3), as we study the Sabbath portions together. Each Feast is not only an appointment with God, but it carries with it prophetic implications of events that will affect the whole world. Man makes his plans, but God's plan prevails.
The Hebrew word Shuva used to describe this Sabbath comes from another reading portion from the prophet Hosea: "O Israel, return (shub(v) -return again, turn back, come/go back, repent, turn back to God, turn away from evil, restore, refresh, repair, recover, deliver) to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity (aon/ava - punishment, guilt, fault, sin, perversity, crime/crooked, perverse, troubled, wickedly, twist, distort, do wrong); Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, 'Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifice of our lips." (Hosea 14:1-2). As we can see from the meaning of the word, shuva, above, it means not only to repent and return to God, but it also carries with it the promise of "restoring, refreshing, repairing, recovering, and deliverance." Sometimes we view repentance as an accusation and a punishment chore, but the LORD receives what we worshipfully bring to Him, including repentance of iniquity, and returns to us even greater things that will restore us and keep us spiritually and physically alive. We are increased and made more through a heart-felt and loving return to our wonderful Father in heaven.
The LORD describes what He returns to us in this way: "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away (see shub(v) above) from him. I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall grow like the lily, and lengthen his roots like Lebanon. His branches shall spread; his beauty shall be like an olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon. Those who dwell under his (Israel's) shadow (sel - shadow, defense, shade, protection) shall return; they shall be revived like grain, and grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon." (v. 4-7). The same revival and restoration that comes to Israel through their repentance will bring others also to the same repentance and resulting blessings. We pray for revival. The LORD's revival is found within the shub(v) return blessings. Even the LORD's feasts bear witness to this. Just five days after the somber Day of Atonement, the rejoicing, abundance and the dwelling of God with His people represented in the Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated for seven days. In Jewish numerology, it is said that the number "five" represents "divine grace and the perfection of the natural order connecting God to the earthly realm through the four directions of the world."
Sometimes it is the Jewish practice to look at words in Hebrew that are similar to a word to expand the understanding of that word. In the case of shuva (see above), we can also look at the word shava, which means "to cry out or shout out for help, to shout for freedom from some trouble, to implore help, to be freed, ample." We are shouting to the LORD for help and freedom and we are in turn freed by Him. The LORD heard the cries of His people while they suffered in harsh bondage in Egypt, and He answered those cries with deliverance. (see Ex. 3:7-10). There is the Hebrew word shavah, which means, "equal, to agree with, to become like, to resemble, to level or equalize, to set, to place, to bring forth." This adds to our understand of shuva or return as found David's Psalm 18. The LORD delivered David from the pangs of death when David cried out (shava, see above) to Him (v. 4-6), and David then declares: "It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect (tamim - without blemish, without spot, perfect, whole, complete, full, innocent, entirely in accord with truth). He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places." (v. 32-33). From the initial place of death, David was revived and his ways were made perfect and he was set upon the spiritual high places by God. The Hebrew word sheva, similar in form to shuva above, is a solemn oath repeated seven times, or to "seven oneself." It is used also in scripture as the oath that institutes a covenant. (see Gen. 21:27-34). The word sheva also means "completeness." How does this help us to understand shuva return? There are times when the LORD swears an oath upon Himself, making it an absolute guarantee because the LORD cannot lie: "For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, 'Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.' And so, after he (Abraham) had patiently endured, he obtained the promise." (Heb. 6:13-15, also Gen. 21:15-18). A similar kind of solemn covenant oath is also given to those who shuva return to the LORD: "He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham, which You have sworn to our fathers from days of old.". (see Micah 7:19-20).
In receiving our shuva repentance, as we turn back to the LORD, the LORD will forgive our sins, turn our mourning into dancing, our barrenness into fruitfulness, our sorrow into joy, because He has promised to do so and He is faithful. This is the shuva blessing.
To learn more about fresh manna revelation from God, and seeking the LORD in shuva return and renewal, you can join me in prayer: "Dearest Father, You are calling us to seek You in shuva return and renewal. Who is like our God who can renew, revive and elevate each individual life if we will return to Him? Who is like our God who can use our return to revive the whole world? As the song says, 'I Will Follow Him (wherever He may go).' LORD, let us seek the new revelation that You supply daily to Your people as the bread that feeds our souls. Your prophet said that You desire to tell Your people what You will do. Old things have passed away, and new things come to us daily from You. It is by this same principle that You have created us new through Your Son, our great Savior, Jesus. I give You the highest praise and thanks for continuing daily to reach out with love, grace and renewal to all mankind. These things I pray to You 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.
