הַאֲזִינוּ
Ha’azinu / Give Ear
Deuteronomy 32:1-52
2 Samuel 22:1-51
Romans 10:14-11:12

      Ha’azinu is a song and there is something profoundly spiritual about music. Jewish history is not so much read as sung; in fact, the Torah is sung.  It is taught that there was the song of the Israelites in Egypt, Isaiah 30:29, the song at the Red Sea, Exodus 15, the song at the well, Numbers 21, and this parshat, Ha’azinu, Moses’ song at the end of his life. Joshua sang a song, Joshua 10:12-13 and so did Deborah, Hannah, and David. And of course, the Song of Solomon, Shir ha-Shirim. 
      In Ha’azinu the two witnesses of God are called: “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.’ Deuteronomy 32:1. Ha’azinu Ha’shamaim Ya’ehdabera V’tishema Ha’aretz Imreh Phi ‘
      Heaven and earth, the two witnesses and the very beginning of Scripture Genesis 1:1 ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…’     
     Some interpret the call to Heaven and Earth ‘as a call to become tools of the Creator for the realization of His intentions’. Other commentators explain that ‘Heaven and Earth bear witness simply by virtue of their eternal existence. They need not make any active effort in order to listen, since their actual existence is in fact their means of hearing’.
     He calls upon heaven and earth as witnesses for Israel — witnesses that endure forever. These align with the choices we make: if the children of Israel remain in covenant, then the witnesses will come and reward them as stated in Zechariah 8:12 -"The vine will give its fruit, the earth will yield its produce, and the heavens will give their dew".  And if we live outside the covenants of God; then the hand of the witnesses will be for retribution as Deuteronomy 11:17 states; "And He will close off the heaven that there will be no rain, and the soil will not give its produce.” This verse continues with the result - "and you will perish quickly.”
     Yeshua speaks of the earth during His triumphal entry into Jerusalem in Luke 19:37-40 in His response to the Pharisees – “Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, 38 saying: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” 40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”  
     The earth cries out:
Habakuk 2:11 – ‘For the stone will cry out from the wall and the beam from the woodwork.’  
Joshua 24:27 – ‘And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us for it has heard all the words of the LORD that He spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.’
Genesis 4:10 ‘And the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.”
Job 31:38-40 ‘“If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together. 39 If I have eaten its fruit without money, or caused its owners to lose their lives; 40 then let thistles grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.”
James 5:3-4. ‘Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. 4 Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out…’
     God speaks through the heavens: 
Exodus 20:22 ‘Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.’ Deuteronomy 4:36 ‘Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire.’ 
Nehemiah 9:13 ‘Then You came down on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven; You gave them just ordinances and true laws…’ Psalm 76:8 ‘You caused judgment to be heard from heaven; The earth feared and was still.’ Daniel 4:31 ‘While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you…’ Mark 1:11 ‘…and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”
Luke 3:22 ‘…and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” 
Revelation 14:2 ‘And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps.
     The heavens declare His glory in Psalm 19:1 ‘To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.’ 
     Deuteronomy 32:1-2 references the Word as rain. In 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 Scriptures mentions rain and the heavens: ‘When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.’
Isaiah 45:8 ‘Rain down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it.’
Isaiah 55:10-11 ‘For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud,
that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, 11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.’
Deuteronomy 32:3-4 speaks of The Rock.
Psalm 18:1-2 ‘The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:31 –‘For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?’
2 Samuel 22:2 ‘He said, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer…’
Psalm 95:1 ‘Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!’
Psalm 61:2 ‘From the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I…’
Psalm 31:3 ‘For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me…’
1 Peter 2:4 ‘As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious…’
Psalm 62:7 ‘On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.’
     Deuteronomy 32:7-9 speaks of days of old, boundaries and exactly what is the Lord God’s portion. One explanation of the ‘days of old’ is that we did not pay attention to the rebellion of our fathers, so now pay attention to the future.

הַאֲזִינוּ
Ha’azinu / Give Ear
Deuteronomy 32:1-52
2 Samuel 22:1-51
Romans 10:14-11:12
    The Torah is a Song, Let us Listen…
          Genesis 1:1 ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…’ Heaven and earth - the two witnesses Deuteronomy 32:1 “Give ear, O Heavens, and I will speak, and may the Earth hear the words of my mouth” Ha’azinu Ha’shamaim Ya’ehdabera V’tishema Ha’aretz Imreh Phi.’
      It is taught listening is related to something that is near, and hearing relates to something that is distant.  Thus, we would assume that the term listen/give ear would be applied to the earth which is closer to man and the term hear would be applied to the distant heavens. The explanation continues that the order of the verse is correct for Moshe was closer to the heavens than to the earth. 
      Heaven and earth as the two witnesses began at the beginning.   Genesis 1:1 ‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.’    Deuteronomy 4:6 ‘I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed.’
     How do we understand Moses’ call in this Torah portion Ha’azinu to the heavens and the earth?  Some commentaries interpret the call to Heaven and Earth ‘as a call to become tools of the Creator for the realization of His intentions’ (Rashi). Other commentators explain that’ Heaven and Earth bear witness simply by virtue of their eternal existence. They need not make any active effort in order to listen, since their actual existence is in fact their means of hearing’ (Nahmanides).
     Therefore, he called upon heaven and earth as witnesses for Israel — witnesses that endure forever. These align with the choices we make: if the children of Israel remain in covenant then the witnesses will come and reward them as stated in Zechariah 8:12 -"The vine will give its fruit, the earth will yield its produce, and the heavens will give their dew".
    When we don’t listen, we don’t hear, transgressing the Word of God. We diminish His way, bringing His Word to a common status.  When we dismiss God's Torah and change His Words by adding to or taking away we become the master. We only listen to what we want and only hear what we want. 
     When we operate in a different system created by man, we bring His Name to nothing, inventing our doctrine.     Isaiah 28:23 ‘Give ear and hear my voice, listen and hear My words.’ 
     Isaiah 28:23 ‘Give ear and hear my voice, listen and hear My words.’
     Psalm 116:2 ‘Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.’
     Proverbs 8:33 ‘Heed instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.’
     John 8:47 ‘He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”
     Jeremiah 22:29 ‘O land, land, land, Hear the word of the Lord!’
     Luke 11:28 “But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”
     Jeremiah 7:27 “You shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to You; and you shall call to them, but they will not answer You.”
     1 John 4:5 ‘They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.’
     Proverbs 8:32 ‘Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, for blessed are they who keep My ways.’