A common misconception about God’s Law is that it’s all about perfection, that it’s unrealistic in a fallen world. Rather, the capstone passage of the Torah — reading הַאֲזִינוּ Ha’azinu (“listen,” Deuteronomy 32) — recounts Israel’s screwups past, present and future as well as the LORD’s mercy and plan for redemption.
It should be no surprise, then, that the final acts of God’s redemption give the “song of Moses” (Deuteronomy 32) double-billing with the “song of the Lamb” (Revelation 15:3).
Whom do we trust when we’re backed into a situation where there’s no escape and no way to overcome our pursuer? That’s what happened when the God of Israel led the newly freed nation to the sea, only to be pursued by the army of a superpower that had enslaved them. After Heaven opened the sea and redeemed Israel, a song of gratefulness arose on the opposite shore (Exodus 15).
In the Torah reading הַאֲזִינוּ Ha’azinu (“listen,” Deuteronomy 32), Moshe (Moses) reminded Israel in verse of the folly in crying out to God for deliverance when times are bad then running away from God to every other way of life when things are good.
Later in the book of Revelation, those who are redeemed by Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) sing about the great works of redemption in the Song of the Lamb. In this study, we explore how our song of gratefulness and trust (faith) can rise to Heaven like those who have gone before us.
The Torah does not end on a high note, but on a solemn one. The final dual reading — הַאֲזִינוּ Ha’azinu (“listen,” Deuteronomy 32) and וְזֹאת הַבְּרָכָה Vezot Haberachah (“and this is the blessing,” Deuteronomy 33–34) — is written so that when the descendants of Israel eventually hit rock bottom, they would see the way back home.
This restoration only is possible by the perfect Atonement offering — the Mashiakh (Christ). This is why we read through the entire Torah over the course of the year and put into practice those things that apply to us.
At times we can feel so lost or out of control that there seems to be no way back to normal. The “lyrics” of the “Song of Moshe” (Moses), recorded in the Torah reading Ha’azinu (Deuteronomy 32), foretold of a time when Israel would wander so far from the One Who freed them from slavery in Mitzraim (Egypt) that the would appear to be lost forever.
While this is not an uplifting number, Israel is commanded to memorize it. That’s because the song shows the only way they would be able to return to the LORD.
Let’s find out more about why the redeemed from the world on the Day of the LORD will be singing the Song of Moshe and the Song of the Lamb (Rev. 15:3–4).
Being “Torah-observant” is not a “holier than thou” pursuit of perfection. Rather, it’s about listening to the Creator, observing where our lifestyles diverge from Heaven’s instructions and seeking return to the LORD’s ways. That restoration is possible by the perfect Atonement Offering, the Mashiakh (Christ). That’s the lesson of the Torah reading הַאֲזִינוּ Ha’azinu (“listen”) and a good preview of Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement).
We don’t have to go to Heaven ourselves to learn God’s Law; we don’t have to die to keep it. God’s Law is so close to us, we can taste it. That’s a key lesson in the dual Torah reading נִצָּבִים Nitzavim (“standing,” Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20) and וַיֵּלֶךְ Vayelech (“he went,” Deuteronomy 31:1–30).
The book of Deuteronomy applies to us, regardless of where we come from, whether we are born Israelites or grafted into Israel (Romans 11).
On the 15th day of the first month, the first day of what God established as Khag Matzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread), Israel left Mitzraim (Egypt). We’ll explore why the Bible talks more about the Matzot than Pesakh (Passover).
Pesakh commemorates God’s breaking the chains of Mitzraim that held Yisra’el there, and Matzot, God’s breaking the power of Mitzraim via the sea.