Some have disregarded Israel at the time of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ) ministry and in modern times as having anything to do with Bible prophecy, because of perceived failings of the people in trusting God.
But as we see in the Torah reading עקב Ekev/Eikev (“consequence,” Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25), God is faithful to His promises. We should be grateful for God’s mercy and bigger plans for our lives.
Moses specially addressed the adults of the community who are preparing to enter the Promised Land to teach their children God’s charge, commandments, judgements and statutes. There are two parts to sanctification: mind and heart. Once the mind is sanctified, the heart will follow. Once the mind and heart are sanctified, the person will not depart from God.
God required Israel to fear Him, walk with Him, love Him and serve Him with all their hearts and souls. Notice we have to fear Him first, then walk in His ways, then we love Him and serve Him and others. Many Christians teach that the first thing we need to do to respond to God is to love Him, but that is not what God tells us. Our first response to Him should be fear. Loving God comes later, after we have cultivated an appropriate fear of God and have learned to walk in the ways He calls us to walk.
The Torah has a reputation of being offensive, but it is always truthful. The words in Deuteronomy center on God’s statutes, judgments and commandments. When we come to understand and hear God, we start to ask God why? He says, “because I love you.” Why does He punish us? Because He loves us.
The number 40 plays heavily in this chapter. Both Moses and Yeshua had to spend 40 days and 40 nights alone in prayer with God to prepare themselves to teach and lead His people through difficult times ahead. It’s no coincidence that a woman carries a child in her womb for 40 weeks either and the correlation is purposeful as Moses’ 40 days and nights with God brought forth the 10 commandments into the world. Yeshua’s 40 days and 40 nights gave Him the strength to resist temptation and defeat Satan.
Deut. 9 starts with the refrain “Hear O Israel.” This time God is not declaring His own unity, or telling the children of Israel what they need to do. This time, God is telling the children of Israel what He will do for them: “Know therefore today that it is the LORD your God who is crossing over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you, so that you may drive them out and destroy them quickly, just as the LORD has spoken to you.” (Deuteronomy 9:3 NASB)
God chose the people of Israel as His primary representatives and He wanted them to remain pure and distinct from the Gentiles but He did not call the children of Israel to isolate themselves from the Gentiles.
The Gentile nations, for the most part, are have always been obsessed with anger, depression and death. God reveals His will even to the Gentiles where there’s rampant rebellion against it.