For the week of October 4, 2025 / 12 Tishri 5786

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Ha’azinu
Torah: D’varim/Deuteronomy 32:1-52
Haftarah: 2 Samuel 22:1-51
Originally posted the week of September 18, 2021 / 12 Tishri 5782 (updated)

Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you? (D’varim/Deuteronomy 32:6)

It is fairly common among scholars to downplay the presence of key New Testament concepts found in the Hebrew Scriptures. These include, for example, forgiveness, life after death, and the complex unity of God. While it is correct to note that there is a difference regarding the prevalence of such concepts within these two sections of the Bible, it is incorrect that a relatively low amount of occurrences necessarily implies a lack of importance.

One such concept is the idea of “God as father.” In the New Covenant Writings (the New Testament) it is the chief identifier of God. Yeshua almost exclusively spoke of God in this way. He also instructed his followers to address God as “Our Father.” One might regard this shift in emphasis as an intentional contrast to earlier scripture in the sense that under the Old Covenant, God was seen as distant and detached, while Yeshua introduced a more intimate and familiar version of God. Both Christian and Jewish thought often want to find contrasts like this in order to disassociate Christianity from Judaism. But to do so, one needs to ignore what is really going on in the Bible.

It is true that God as father is a rarity in the Hebrew Scriptures, but it is there a few times, including its first occurrence found in this week’s parsha (weekly Torah reading). And that’s in addition to other references to God having father-like characteristics.

Moses’ use of “father” for God as part of his final words to Israel is most instructive. After all that he and the people had been through the past forty years, and as he confronts the people regarding their inevitable unfaithfulness, he urges them to respond appropriately to God based on his being their father. Directly calling God “father” sheds light on what God said to Moses forty years earlier regarding his confrontation of Pharaoh: “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son’” (Shemot/Exodus 4:22-23). To mess with God’s people was to mess with his family. In the days and years ahead for Israel, does it matter how often the term “father” is used in Hebrew scripture? Isn’t one reference enough to be struck by the overwhelming nature of such a relationship?

The people of Israel were delivered from tyranny to serve a new master and Lord. Yet, this master was no tyrant. Instead, God, as father, was dedicated to care, provide, and guide his children. Tragically, it would remain difficult for Israel to accept God’s fatherly heart towards them. Due to the broken nature of humanity, the hearts of the people were constantly pulled away from God and his ways. Yet, our Heavenly Father would not give up. Instead, he determined to transform our nature into one in keeping with his own (see Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36).

God’s role as father of Israel reveals to us God’s heart for all people. As our Creator, whose familial relationship with humanity was broken due to our first parents’ misguided and selfish actions, he longs for restoration. His heart is to regain a relational intimacy between a loving father and his wayward children. Made in his image, we all bear his resemblance, while our actions reflect the nature of rebels. God’s broken fatherly heart, however, could not accept our alienation from his love. And so, in the name of family, his Son, Yeshua the Messiah, completely gave himself up to restore God’s children to him. God’s determination as Israel’s father is that which cleared the way for people of all nations to have the opportunity to be equally part of his family.

We need to come to grips with the implications of God’s identity as our father. Sadly, this is obscured by the confusion over the general fatherly role in our society today. Too many people have suffered from absent or abusive fathers. It is said that we often envision God as a reflection of our earthly dads. But it doesn’t have to work that way. Whatever our experience has been with our natural fathers, we can look to the loving, powerful, close, communicative care of our Heavenly Father as revealed in Scripture. For he is our true father.

Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version

For the week of September 27, 2025 / 5 Tishri 5786

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Vayeilech (Shabbat Shuva)
Torah: D’varim/Deuteronomy 31:1-30
Haftarah: Hosea 14:2-10 (English: 14:1-9); Micah 7:18-20; Joel 2:15-17
Originally posted the week of September 22, 2012 / 6 Tishri 5773 (updated)

And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods. (D’varim / Deuteronomy 31:18)

I was once sharing the story of how I came to believe in Yeshua with a relative. At one point, he mentioned a common criticism of the New Covenant Writings—that it was antisemitic. I then explained how the critical statements of the Jewish people found in the New Covenant Writings are similar to those contained in the Hebrew Bible. And just like the Hebrew Bible, much of the conflict found therein should be regarded as a family dispute—Jewish people confronting other Jewish people over what’s right and what’s wrong. It’s tragic how Jewish people have been embittered towards Christianity due to the way non-Jews have often used our own self-criticism against us. There is a big difference between my criticizing my own family and when an outsider does it (especially when they use my words!).

I mentioned to my relative that some of the harsh words against our own people in the Hebrew Bible are actually stronger than those contained in the New Covenant Writings. Moses himself, before he died, was directed by God to ensure the people understood that in the future they would suffer bitterly for turning away from God. This week’s Torah portion uses very strong language to describe this. Throughout the Hebrew Bible are similar criticisms, dire warnings, and harsh judgments against Israel.

That non-Jews, especially Christians, would use such negative words from the Bible against us is one of the greatest hypocrisies of all time. Doing this exposes a profound lack of self-awareness and Bible knowledge. One of the purposes of God’s choosing Israel was to demonstrate to all nations the whole world’s failure before God. As Paul writes in his letter to the Romans:

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. (Romans 3:19)

God used Israel’s failure to keep the Torah to reveal to the whole world the sin problem which oppresses us all, Jew and non-Jew alike.

God chose the people of Israel to be an object lesson to the world. Israel’s failure to live up to God’s standards is an example of what any nation would do in that same situation. Whoever we are, if we don’t see ourselves in the life of ancient Israel as reported in the pages of Scripture, we don’t realize that we have been looking in a mirror. For anyone to claim that they are any better is to be languishing in the worst kind of denial.

Thankfully, Israel’s tragic role as being the nation picked by God to demonstrate common human sinfulness is not what being the Chosen People is all about. God’s directing Moses to ensure the people knew about their destined failure was not to discourage them, but to help them recognize their need.

The coming of the Messiah marks the culmination of Israel’s long prophetic history, which began with the words of Moses. Israel, like all people, required a clear confrontation of its sin. The high holidays, which are currently upon us again, are designed for the kind of self-reflection necessary to come to grips with our need for God. Once we honestly acknowledge the depths of our sinfulness, we will be in a place where we can receive God’s provision of forgiveness and restoration in the Messiah.

Scriptures taken from English Standard Version

For the week of September 20, 2025 / 27 Elul 5785

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Nitzavim
Torah: D’varim/Deuteronomy 29:9 – 30:20 (English: 29:10 – 30:20)
Haftarah: Isaiah 61:10 – 63:9
Originally posted the week of September 8, 2018 / 28 Elul 5778 (updated)

Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, “I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.” (D’varim/Deuteronomy 29:17-18; English: 29:18-19)

In this week’s parsha (weekly Torah reading portion), Moses reminds the people not to take their relationship with God for granted. Instead, they were to be conscious of the danger of turning away to other gods. Moses explains that this danger can be subtle, since the pull towards falsehood didn’t solely exist in the external world around them, but also within their own hearts. Unless they were actively aware of this, they could easily deceive themselves. The subtlety, however, was not due to the possibility of temptation toward ungodly behavior, but how individuals might respond to that temptation.

It’s one thing to feel drawn toward illicit behavior. Fighting temptation can be overwhelming. In those times, we can tend to overly identify with the temptation, thinking we have no choice but to fulfill desires we may normally loathe. But that’s not Moses’ concern here. It’s not the false gods themselves that are the problem. It’s that there is something worse at play here—an attitude—an attitude that almost certainly guarantees succumbing to the lure of ungodliness in its countless forms.

This attitude is expressed in Hebrew as “hitbarech bilvavo lemor shalom yi-ye-li” (“he will bless his heart saying, I have peace in me”). In the translation I quoted at the beginning, the Hebrew “shalom,” the common word for “peace,” is translated as “safety.” It’s a way of saying that they are “at peace” within their current situation.

Despite their feelings, however, this is an absolute denial of reality. Turning from God’s word to pursue the lies and perverted behaviors of false gods creates havoc for those who do such things as well as for their relationships. It’s not as if these people are ignorant of what they are doing. They have heard God’s Word. They understand the warnings. They even know they are stubbornly refusing to do what God says. Yet their sense of peace creates a self-centered false security that prevents them from doing what is good and right, blinding them to the inevitable doom that awaits them.

You might be surprised if I told you that the basis of this deceptive peace is fear. Human beings can be so afraid of fear that we shut it out completely. In order to avoid terrible consequences, we convince ourselves that everything is okay, when it is anything but. We prevent ourselves from feeling fear by feeding ourselves falsehoods, such as what we are considering isn’t all that bad, our situation is an exception to the rule, or that God doesn’t really mean what he says. The positive feedback from these lies is so strong that it becomes reality to us. At that point, the deception is complete, and we’re living in a world of our own making. In that world, God’s truth appears as false.

Feelings of peace on their own indicate nothing. Both good and bad feelings may or may not reflect the reality of our hearts or the world around us. Confidence is a good thing, but not when it’s ill-informed. The only trustworthy indication of reality is God’s Word. To think that we can get away with misbehavior based on a personal sense of peace is nothing less than crazy.

Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version

For the week of September 13, 2025 / 20 Elul 5785

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Ki Tavo
Torah: D’varim/Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:8
Haftarah: Isaiah 60:1-22

Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion. (Isaiah 60:10)

Frankly, I don’t get it! I don’t understand how it could be that so many people who claim to love and respect the Bible are entirely clueless about God’s relationship to the Jewish people. It’s not that I don’t understand, since I have spent so much time—perhaps too much time—grappling with various expressions of Christian antisemitism. I am aware of a significant portion of the historical background and theological dynamics that influence this misguided thinking. But still, it’s not as if God hasn’t made himself clear on this issue.

I admit that some of the ways the people of Israel are characterized and criticized throughout both the Hebrew Scriptures and New Covenant Writings can lead people to draw some fairly negative conclusions. But that’s only if you ignore the rest. About a month ago, I commented on how these misreadings of such passages trouble me. Still, I know that some of these passages are seriously harsh.

This week’s parsha (weekly Torah portion) is one of the sections of Scripture that lists God’s blessings for obedience and his curses for disobedience. That the leaders and people of Israel were under a cloud of God’s disapproval for much of biblical history is clear. The threat of judgment increased over the years, culminating in exile. The return from Babylon provided little comfort as the prophetic warnings didn’t wane.

Israel’s precarious state under the Sinai Covenant, as given through Moses, continued into the New Covenant Writings. If anything, the coming of the Messiah shone an even more intense light upon Israel’s inability to live up to God’s standards. This doesn’t mean that there weren’t exceptions, of course. From Abraham and Joseph to Moses and Joshua, to Samuel and David, to Elijah and Elisha, to Isaiah and Jeremiah, to Peter and Paul, and all the other named and unnamed holy ones, Israel always had a remnant of faithful, godly men and women (see Romans 11:5). Tragically, however, these didn’t prevent God’s wrath from falling upon the nation more than once.

But is that the entire picture of God’s relationship to Israel? God didn’t seem to think so, as is evident in this week’s accompanying reading from the prophet Isaiah. Despite God’s judgment upon Israel, he will restore them. As we read, “Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion” (Isaiah 60:10).

I wonder if people simply have a hard time grasping the reality of the tension that exists between God and his ancient covenant people. It’s a lot easier for people to understand a much more straightforward narrative of disobedience and rejection. Moreover, it appears that some regard Israel’s disobedience as proof of their being impostors, as if God was biding his time until the “authentic” Israel would emerge in the Messiah. That might make an interesting story, but it’s not the biblical one.

I am aware of how specific biblical passages are used to support such a notion, but that overlooks the Bible as a whole. Why can’t people see that God’s promises of restoration only make sense if they are spoken to the very people who are under the threat of judgment? God, through Isaiah, is clear: “Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion.” The ones guaranteed favor are the ones he is angry with. The threat of judgment due to disobedience under the Sinai Covenant was always in tension with the unconditional promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. No matter how bad things get for Israel and whatever the resulting consequences, God’s covenant loyalty to Israel as a nation continues. If you don’t get that, you don’t get the God of the Bible.

Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version

For more on this topic see the following “Thinking Biblically” podcast episode:

For the week of September 6, 2025 / 13 Elul 5785

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Ki Teitzei
Torah: D’varim/Deuteronomy 21:10 – 25:19
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1-10

When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge. You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. (D’varim/Deuteronomy 24:10–11)

We often hear of people making a big deal about the Bible—negatively, that is—over its apparent backwards way of thinking. We click and tap on our devices while looking down on these ancients as misogynistic, slave-owning brutes. A compelling case can be made against such a characterization, especially when examining Scripture within its historical context. And it’s not because biblical characters were morally superior to the average person today. Many were not, though I’d say a good number were. It’s far more due to the uniqueness of God’s directives. The morality and justice of God’s commands were more than just good and right; they were so completely unusual for that day anywhere in the world.

We take much of biblical morality and values for granted. Principles such as the rule of law, the right to a fair trial, just treatment for immigrants, and care for the poor, although not always adhered to, are so deeply ingrained in the contemporary Western world that we assume they’ve always existed, when in fact they haven’t. These ideas were radical in their day and, in many places, still are.

In this week’s parsha (weekly Torah portion), we have an extraordinary example. In biblical times, as is still common in our day, loans often required a guarantee in case the borrower couldn’t repay. This was usually in the form of collateral, something of value the person owned, that may or may not have been kept in the lender’s possession during the loan period. If the loan was not repaid within the allotted time, the item or items would become the lender’s property.

The Torah example before us envisions the lender at the door of the borrower to receive the collateral. The Hebrew word “avot” is most often translated as “pledge” in English, denoting security for a loan. What isn’t clear is whether this situation occurs at the beginning of the loan agreement, when the lender first receives the collateral, or if the collateral had remained with the borrower but, due to defaulting on the loan, the lender is now coming to claim it.

Either way, due to the loan agreement, the lender has a right to the collateral. However, his right of possession doesn’t give him the right to enter the borrower’s dwelling. The legal right of the one doesn’t automatically override the sanctity of the borrower’s personal living space. Even though the borrower is clearly in a weaker position due to the lender’s claim to their property, the lender is still obligated to respect the borrower’s dignity.

What makes this extraordinary for the modern (and ancient) reader is how God’s directions here reflect the value of human dignity without getting all philosophical about it. Throughout Torah—and the rest of Scripture—God instructs people in his ways. He doesn’t lecture on the whys and wherefores to justify his take on life. For the most part, he provides instructions based on how he designed the world to be. He made it; he knows how it works. This issue, as one example, demonstrates how human dignity reflects our commonality and basic equality, based on the fact that we are all made in God’s image (see Bereshit/Genesis 1:26-27). This connection is not explained. It just is. We learn to be godly through the godliness of God’s directives.

And yet, do we respect the dignity of all, regardless of their life situation? Throughout most of history and in most places, class divisions, ethnic superiority, and economic disparity have been used to devalue those we see as “less than.” Some argue that only by eliminating all types of real and perceived inequality from society can we fully realize our inherent worth as human beings. But that’s not God’s way, however. Each person will experience the dignity we naturally possess when we choose to honor it as the God-given gift it truly is.

Scriptures taken from the English Standard Version