Joy in the Messiah

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

      ‘Give ear O Heavens to what I speak, and hear O earth to the words of my mouth.’  Deuteronomy 32:1-2. The instructions to the two witnesses, heaven and earth seem similar yet they are different. 
     The two witnesses- heaven and earth, are not partial to the flesh. They are the two entities that obey The Creator without thought or delay.  Two verbs to the two witnesses: listen and hear.
     Proverbs 1:20-23 speaks of listening to wisdom (Torah) ‘Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. ²¹ She cries out in the chief concourses, at the openings of the gates in the city
She speaks her words: ²² “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. ²³ Turn at my rebuke; surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you. ²⁴ Because I have called and you refused…’
      When we don’t listen then we don’t hear, causing us to become rogue, and then transgressing the Word of God. We diminish His way, bringing His Word to a common status, thus attempting to rise above Him.  We only listen to what we want to and we only hear those things that our ego desires. 
     The definition of rogue is: scoundrel, retro bate, adhering to nothing, and making their own rules.  When we dismiss God’s Torah and change His Words by adding to or taking away then we become rogue. We hide behind words like grace and humility, when in actuality we operate in a system created by arrogance lofted by our own authority.  We haven’t listened and we refuse to hear.  When we don’t heed, listen or hear God’s ways, we invent our own. 
     Isaiah 28:23 ‘Give ear and hear my voice, listen and hear My words.’
     The sages teach that 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 heavens which are distant. They go on to explain, however, that the order of the verse is correct for Moshe was closer to the heavens than to the earth.
     The two witnesses, Heaven and earth began in the beginning. Genesis 1:1 ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…’ Heaven and earth are the two witnesses now in 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 ‘
     How are we to 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".  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.”
     It’s all about listening to hear. 
     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.’     

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

     Ha’azinu begins with a powerful declaration: ‘Give ear (listen), O heavens, and I will speak;
And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.’ Deuteronomy 32:1.
     Deuteronomy 32:2-4 continues:
‘Let my teaching drop as the rain,
My speech distills as the dew,
As raindrops on the tender herb,
And as showers on the grass.
³ For I proclaim the name of the Lord:
Ascribe greatness to our God.
⁴ He is the Rock, His work is perfect;
For all His ways are justice,
A God of truth and without injustice;
Righteous and upright is He.’

     The sages teach that 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 heavens which are distant. They go on to explain, however, 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.’
     In 2 Peter 3:1-7 Kefa/Peter reminds us of the power of Adonai: ‘Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), ² that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, ³ knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, ⁶ by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. ⁷ But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.’
     Aren’t we as mortal beings more like earth than the heavens? We are flesh, dust to dust, made from the earth, Genesis 2:7 ‘And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.’   Genesis 3:19  ‘Then the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.’
     Yet we are to live in the heavens, living in the  spirit, worshipping God in spirit and truth.
         Romans 8:6 ‘For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.’
     Galatians 5:17 ‘For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.’
     John 4:24 ‘God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.’
     Galatians 5:16 ‘But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
     When we position ourselves with the true teachings of Adonai it enables us to align ourselves with the dew and the rain, as Scripture says.
Psalm 72:6 says, ‘He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, like showers that water the earth.’
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.’
Hebrews 6:7 ‘For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God.’
     The metaphor is so clear.  We are of earth, needing and longing for rain, for living water to grow and to give fruit. God promises His rain, His teachings; Yeshua who calls Himself the Living Water.  How else can we be in the heavens, live in the spirit yet be of the earth - unless we are watered by the Divine Living Water of Adonai; His Torah and His Son.
    This is a cycle that God has for us. We have rain cycles as does the earth.  The drying of the earth is symbolic of us as we go through our trials which tend to make us feel that we are far from God.  The rain sustains us once again, replenishing us with His mercy and Word, restoring us.
     
 

Ha’azinu / Listen
Deuteronomy 32:1-52
HafTorah Portion 2 Samuel 22 :1-51
Brit Chadasha

    Ha’azinu begins with the last part of the prior Torah portion, Vayelech.  ‘And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel…’ Deuteronomy 31:30.  The song of Moshe continues in Deuteronomy 32:1 through verse 43. Ha’azinu ends with Moshe encouraging Joshua, and the last sentence is a very profound declaration from God to Moshe, regarding “Yet you shall see the land before you, though you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving to the children of Israel.”
     What was the reason for so strict an outcome? As God tells Moshe in Deuteronomy 32:51 - ^“…because you trespassed against Me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin, because you did not hallow Me in the midst of the children of Israel.”
     Was it the fact that Moshe trespassed against God and did not hallow Him? Or was it because Moshe did those things in front and in the midst of the children of Israel? Would it have had such a severe of outcome if Moshe’s actions would have been in private?
     Yet, due to his actions in front of and in the midst of the children of Israel, he brought God down to his level. His anger at the children of Israel, was a direct conflict at the many miracles and guidance and grace that God had shown the Israelites through the years. It took one outcry, one piece of self-pity to demean the Divinity of God in front of the people.
     Of course, we know that truly God can never become common. But, the actions of people in front of other people can demonstrate and show a lack of reverence for The Creator. The outcome can be as if, ‘well you’re not serious about God, why should I revere Him?’
      This is the point of the beginning of Ha’azinu:
“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
² Let my teaching drop as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
As raindrops on the tender herb,
And as showers on the grass.
³ For I proclaim the name of the Lord:
Ascribe greatness to our God.
⁴ He is the Rock, His work is perfect;
For all His ways are justice,
A God of truth and without injustice;
Righteous and upright is He.” Deuteronomy 32:1-4.
     Give ear O Heavens (listen) to what I speak, and hear O earth to the words.  The same thing is said yet they are different.
     Two witnesses, heaven and earth. Two witnesses that are not partial to the flesh; two entities that obey The Creator without thought, without slack, without delay.  Two witnesses in two verbs; to listen and to hear.
     Proverbs 1:20-23 speaks of listening to wisdom (Torah) ‘Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. ²¹ She cries out in the chief concourses, at the openings of the gates in the city
She speaks her words: ²² “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. ²³ Turn at my rebuke; surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you. ²⁴ Because I have called and you refused…’
      When we don’t listen, when we don’t hear, we become rogue and transgress the Word of God in front of those around us. We diminish His way in our life, we attempt to rise above Him and His Words.  We only listen to what we want to and we only hear those things that our ego desires.
     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.’
     Romans 11:8 quotes Isaiah 29:10 ‘’just as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day.”
     Rogue: scoundrel, retro bate, adhering to nothing, makes their own rules.  This is a strong word, but when we dismiss God’s Torah, when we change His Words by adding to or taking away, we become rogue. We hide behind words like grace and humility, when in actuality we operate in a system created by arrogance. Think about it.
     When we don’t heed/listen/hear God’s ways; we will invent our own.  Isn’t that what Vashti did in the book of Esther?  She made her own feast, and even in the King’s palace. How arrogant. ‘On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, ¹¹ to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown, in order to show her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful to behold. ¹² But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs; therefore the king was furious, and his anger burned within him.’ Esther 1:10-12.
      May we belong to the House of Adonai!