Heaven won’t let go as you are delivered from bondage to freedom (Deuteronomy 4)

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In this study

What's the point of the Law?
God will not fail you
You don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone
Don’t let go!
Don’t drop your guard

“You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.”
Deuteronomy 13:4 NASB

The first part of Torah reading וָאֶתְחַנַּן Va’etchanan (“and I pleaded,” Deut. 3:23–7:11) continues the travelogue from Torah reading דְּבָרִים Devarim (“words,” Deut. 1:1–3:22) of the stops Israel made after God freed her from slavery in Egypt. Moshe’s three addresses in the book of Deuteronomy are made to the second generation post-Egypt. Moses is calling them to remember several things:

Remember where we came from (“house of bondage”) to where we are going (Promised Land, God’s “rest”).
Remember why we left our previous way of life outside the Kingdom.
Remember Who carried us out of the house of bondage and Who carries us into the Kingdom of God.

Here’s a handy outline of the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy) you can print out:

Outline of the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy)Download

Previously in the book of Devarim, Israel is told to cling to the Creator of Heaven and earth with our hearts, lives and resources. This is the point of the Shema (Deut. 6:4ff), and why believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob recite it as a prayer daily. We also also told not to add to God’s words or take away from them (Deut. 4:2; 12:32).

What’s the point of the Law?

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Romans 10:4 NASB

Apostle Paul’s comment here is often interpreted to say belief in Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) ended the law as a source of righteousness before God. The New American Standard Bible notes in the margin that “end” in Rom. 10:4 could be translated as “goal.”

The Greek word translated as “end” in that verse is τέλος telos (G5056). The 1841 Thayer lexicon has this main definition:

end, i.e. a. termination, the limit at which a thing ceases to be, (in the Greek writings always of the end of some act or state, but not of the end of a period of time, which they call teleutē; in the Scriptures also of a temporal end; an end in space is everywhere called peras)
“τέλος,” Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, paragraph 9201.

The 2000 update to the BDAG lexicon suggests telos in Rom. 10:4 could fit with the definition “a point of time marking the end of a duration, end, termination, cessation.”¹

But the lexicon allows that there are notable examples from the use of the world elsewhere in the Apostolic Writings and ancient Greek literature for why the use of telos in that verse fits with the third definition, “the goal toward which a movement is being directed, end, goal, outcome”²:

Perhaps this is the place for Rom. 10:4, in the sense that Christ is the goal and the termination of the law at the same time, somewhat in the sense of Gal. 3:24f (schol. on Plato, Leg. 625d τέλος τῶν νόμων=goal of the laws; Plutarch, Mor. 780e δίκη . . . νόμου τέλος ἐστί; FFlückiger, TZ 11, ’55, 153–57; difft. RJewett, Int 39, ’85, 341–56, Christ as goal but without repudiation of the law; cp. SBechtler, CBQ 56, ’94, 288–308); s. 1.—Especially also of the final goal toward which persons and things are striving, of the outcome or destiny which awaits them in accordance w. their nature (TestAsh 6:4; Philo, Exs. 162, Virt. 182; Just., A II, 3, 7; Ath., R. 24 p. 77, 19; Aelian, VH 3, 43; Alciphron 4, 7, 8; Procop. Soph., Ep. 154; τὸ τ. ὁρόμου Orig., C. Cels. 7, 52, 6) τὸ τέλος ἐκείνων θάνατος . . . τὸ τέλος ζωὴν αἰώνιον Ro 6:21f. Cp. 2Cor 11:15; Phil 3:19 (HKoester, NTS 8, ’61/62, 325f): perhaps a play on a mystery term; 1Pet. 4:17 (cp. 2 Macc 7:30–38 RSV); Heb. 6:8. κομιζόμενοι τὸ τέλος τῆς πίστεως 1Pet. 1:9. τέλος τὰ πράγματα ἔχει all things have a goal or final destiny (i.e. death or life) IMg 5:1 (τέλος ἔχειν as Plutarch, Mor. 382e; Polyaenus 4, 2, 11 τέλος οὐκ ἔσχεν ἡ πρᾶξις=did not reach its goal; Josephus, C. Ap. 2, 181, Ant. 17, 185.—Ael. Aristid. 52 p. 597 D.: τὸ τέλος πάντων πραγμάτων). εἰς τέλος εἶναι be at = reach the goal IRo 1:1 (εἰς for ἐν; s. εἰς 1aδ).
Fredrick William Danker, ed., “τέλος,” A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd edition, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000) page 998, paragraph 21,146. Some abbreviations in the original have been expanded here for clarity and to auto-generate Scripture links.

This meaning of telos as reaching the destination is reflected in the definition for compound word telescope (“at a distance” + “look at”).³

So going back to Paul’s comment in Rom. 10:4, the proper use of the Law is like our telescope showing us where the Law is taking us, to the Messiah. But Yeshua said in His preface to the Sermon on the Mount that He didn’t come to bring the Law to an end (Matt. 5:17–19). So just as the Law shows us our path to the Messiah, Who has shown us our path to the Creator, we are called to pass these life-saving directions to others.

Heaven reveals to us what it means to be a set-apart — holy — people, how that happens and why. The 10 Commandments, which God gave us as a guide to be set-apart, applies to may aspects of daily life. We do not become relevant to the world by acting like the people in the world act. We are relevant as we conduct ourselves in the world in a way that is different from the world, leading people to the Savior of the world.

So we can get four lessons from this:

Be a witness in the world, because the world is watching.
Explain the 10 Commandments in a practical way that every generation understands. The first generation related to God as the creator of heaven and earth, while the second generation understood God as the liberator from slavery.
Follow the laws of God and love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. This is not about emotion but about actions.
Those who hear God’s call and answers it are special to Him, with Abraham and Sarah as the example.

God will not fail you

“But from there [where Israel will scattered after exile long in the future] you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. For the LORD your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.”
Deuteronomy 4:29–31 NASB

Israel is Heaven’s lifeline for the world. We need to guard ourselves and not allow ourselves to be ensnared by the practices of the nations which are not of HaShem. Just because their practices are interesting, or even enjoyable, doesn’t mean they are good. When syncretism becomes a habit, it’s God’s ways that usually fall away in the compromise. We are warned not to be unequally yoked with those who don’t believe in the same God we worship.

Ethnicity is not as important as sharing the same ideals. Moses was married to a woman from Midian, Tzipporah. The Messiah Himself is descended⁴ from non-Israelites such as Caleb,⁵ Rahab, and Ruth (Num. 13:6; Matt. 1:1–17). These ancestors of Messiah Yeshua were foreigners, yet because they loved the God of Israel more than anything. They saw their future in the Kingdom of God, not in the kingdom of this work.

If Israel allows herself to be ensnared, she will be removed from the Land and scattered abroad, but not like the inhabitants before to be almost entirely forgotten to history. God didn’t choose Israel because they were already so powerful and mighty, but because they were small yet willing to obey God.

You don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone

A parallel passage to Va’etchanan is Isaiah 40:1–26, which is a message for the exiles of the Kingdom of Judah after the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in 587–586 B.C.

The northern tribes of Israel (Kingdom of Israel) went into exile when Assyria capture the capital Samaria in 722 B.C. Samaria decided they preferred to be like those around them, God scattered them like He had scattered the people who they had dispossessed before. But God promises that even though He had to scatter Israel into the nations, that He would not forget them, even as they forgot Him.

Samaria could have been a profound influence for good in its interactions with the nation of Phoenicia to the north, but because they gave up their knowledge of HaShem, Phoenicia influenced Israel and subsumed them. Israel became a mere merchant client state of Phoenicia instead.

The northern tribes were tossed out into the world, losing their identity, forgetting their history because they did not preserve the word of God. They did not plant it deep inside and teach it from generation to generation. That’s why they are the “lost tribes” but even though they don’t know themselves, God knows them and the Spirit of God is going to call them to come back. So what is it that is going to take root within you to restore this relationship that you have with the one who delivered you out?

What does it mean that God will not fail you? The Hebrew word that is translated as fail in Deut. 4:31 is רָפָה rafah (H7503), “sink down, let drop, be disheartened,” (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament) or “abandon, desert, forsake” (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia). In other words, God won’t drop or abandon Israel.

Rafah to be distinguished from the Hebrew homonym רָפָא rafa’ (H7495), which means “to heal.” Linguists aren’t sure whether רָפָא rafa’ or רָפָה rafah is the source of the name of the רְפָאִים Rephaim, who are mentioned in passing in the last Torah portion. They were one of the ethnic groups or nations that occupied the east bank of the Jordan River. Their name could mean “healers” or “fallen ones,” depending on which Hebrew root is the root.

Regardless, God’s promise to Jacob was a promise of loyalty. Jacob’s vision of the ladder between Heaven and earth (Gen. 28:10–14) communicated loyalty through whoever he would face until he returned to the Land and received the promise.

Don’t let go!

“Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Genesis 28:15 NASB

The promise is that the Land will belong to Jacob’s descendants, fulfilled in Israel’s return to the Land multiple ties to bless the nations.

In Moses’ last discourse to the second generation of Israel post-Exodus, he reminded them that the Lord wouldn’t let go of them.

Don’t drop your guard

“Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 NASB

Moses warns the second generation not to be like the first generation who lacked faith in God’s power to protect them and give them the Land He promised them. Not only would the Lord not left go of Israel, the Lord would go with them.

God said after the Golden Calf, that He would no longer go with the people, but Moses interceded in a profound way, asking God to blot him out of the book of life, even though Moses did not do anything wrong and God honored Moses by relenting and continuing to be loyal to the people of Israel.

“No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.”
Joshua 1:5 NASB

Heaven’s promise continued with Joshua, Moses’ successor who brought Israel into the Land and lead Heaven’s removal of the inhabitants.

Here’s a great song based on Exodus 17, where Yehoshua succeeded in battle against Amalek because Moshe’s arms (appeal to power from Heaven) were held up through the whole battle:

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” [Deut. 4:31], so that we confidently say, “The LORD is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?” [Psa. 118:6]
Hebrews 13:5–6 NASB

Hebrews 13 focuses on the “love of the brethren” which in Greek is φιλαδελφία philadelphia (G5360), which also is the name of one of America’s founding cities, the Pennsylvanian capital where the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. The author of Hebrews encourages us to:

Remember to extend hospitality to strangers.
Remember those in prison and those who are ill-treated.
Guard the covenant of marriage as a witness to covenant between God and ourselves.
Remember to be content with what God has given us.

We are reaching out to the Lord as He has been reaching out to us all throughout history.

In John 17, Yeshua prays for His disciples and for those who would follow in their teachings.

““I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.”
John 17:11–12 NASB

When heaven grabs hold of us, He does not let go. We may be fickle, we may get bored and let go, but He is not fickle, He does not get bored, and He perseveres. Shepherd of Israel, both good and bad, are a common theme in the Prophets. Yeshua emphasized that in His Chanukah address in John 10. This is the legacy of Chanukah, which had occurred about 150 years before. At that time, the people had a stark choice. Do they choose to follow the one who sacrificed pigs on the holy altar and told them to eat pork and to stop circumcising their sons and to assimilate and allow themselves to be absorbed into the Greek world, or do they follow God, who made them into a unique nation? Will they bow to the false deities or will they bow to God alone?

Many generations have faced similar choices, do we follow the ways of the world or the ways of God?

Sadly we live in a generation that is willing to surrender their rights simply to have access to toilet paper and Netflix. Most people, even many who call themselves Christians, do not “consider it joy to face trials.”

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. “I and the Father are one.”
John 10:27–30 NASB

The Good Shepherd will never neglect, or forget those in His care. Humans neglect and forget others, but God never lets go, never neglects His covenants or forget those He loves.

The destruction of the Temple was an unmitigated disaster for those who witnessed it. God had placed His home, His reputation at that place, but enemies flattened it, torched it and turned into a wasteland, crushing the hearts of those who looked towards it. However, we know that God will restore it one day but in the mean time, we look to the Heavenly Jerusalem, which can not be destroyed, we look to the Messiah, who died and was resurrected three days later and ascended into Heaven as our High Priest.

Summary: Tammy