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Hopeless Prayer
Vaetchanan
"and pleaded"
DEUTERONOMY
3:23-7:11
ISAIAH
40:1-26
PSALM 90
1 JOHN 2:12-14
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Parashat
Va'etchanan
always
follows
Tisha
B' Av
. There are strong connections in
Va'etchanan
to the calamities, and encouragingly, there is a prescription for remedying the behaviors and attitudes that preceded such calamities: The foundational prayer and commandment of faith, The Shma:
HEAR, O Israel, the LORD your God is one.
Other than basic tenets of faith, especially the caution against idolatry, there is little else in Va'etchanan other than the establishment of refuge cities for manslayers. There were to be three on the other side of the Jordan, toward the east, where exiles customarily went. The passage of Vaetchanan that is gut-wrenching is the one for which the parasha is named:
I also pleaded
(
vaetchanan
)
with
the LORD at that time, saying,
'O
Lord
GOD
, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours?
Let me, I pray, cross over and see
the fair land that is beyond the Jordan,
that
good hill country and Lebanon.'
But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me
; and the LORD said to me,
'Enough
! Speak to Me no more of this matter.
Go
up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west and north and south and east, and see it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan.
But
charge Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him, for he shall go across
at
the head of this people, and he will give them as an inheritance the land which you will see.'
(Dt 3:23-29)
Why does Moses bring up his continued prayers when the Israelites already know he's been denied entry into the fullness of the Land, decreed only to see the portion east of the Jordan? Let's work back around to this and ask a different question. Is it always true that "The road to hell is paved with good intentions?" Maybe there is another side to failure in the pursuit of God.
And maybe there is another side to "hopeless" prayers and remembering Land or Temple commandments without being permitted to live in the Land of Israel or Israel being permitted to build a Temple. Yet.
Some things we do today will only be honored or revealed in the days of Mashiach:
When Messiah, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. (Col 3:4)
In
Vaetchanan
, Moses strangely prescribes three refuge cities east of Jordan, cities which could not be activated until
Yehoshua
conquered and set up their sister cities west of the Jordan. He determined and envisioned something that had not yet been achieved by the present generation. The honor of city-planning the first refuge city for inadvertent killers is awarded to the tribe of Reuven, in his territory. Reuven rescued Yosef generations ago, preserving Yosef's life as well as his brothers' relationship with their father, for the brothers intended to murder Yosef as a usurper of Reuven's birthright.
Although Reuven's salvation is not usually heralded as a great mitzvah, it is not forgotten by the One who sees and hears. It was Reuven's position that Yosef threatened! Reuven's descendants are honored with primacy in preserving life in Israel's family disputes that could lead to clan wars
. And although Reuven's intent of full rescue from the pit was intended only to be fully realized by Adonai Himself, Reuven's first step of intention was enough to keep Yosef alive.
Likewise, Moses "sees" the cities of refuge, even though it is
Yehoshua
who will see to them. There are certain failures that are due to our limited role in a vast, Divine plan.
Not only is Reuven's heart for the lives of his brothers and the well-being of his father honored, even Moses will benefit from his early designation of the eastern refuge cities as well, just as he is honored for teaching Israel commandments that they could not keep until after his death, sometimes hundreds of years after his death.
Deuteronomy 4:41
reads:
Then Moses will [yavdil] set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east...
Although the literal fulfillment of refuge cities will come in the generation of Joshua, Moses is credited for having had the
vision, determination, and heart
of refuge to preserve life. He'd had experience with the terror of having no place to find refuge from Pharaoh's wrath after he slew the Egyptian.
In another example, David
was told that he would not be permitted to build the First Temple. Instead of shrugging his shoulders in resignation, David began acquiring all the necessary building materials, he purchased the site, he re-organized the priests and Levites to a system more efficient for a permanent structure. Although it was his son
Shlomo
who built the House, nevertheless, it is called "David's House."
In addition to the Psalms that would be sung on the pilgrimages to the Temple and its services, David
even composed psalms for the Temple's dedication services! (Ps 30:1)
Can you imagine writing a song that would be sung at a dedication you knew you wouldn't see? But David did "see" it. Because he "heard" it.
The grammatical structure of "Then
Moses set apart three
cities..." in Hebrew reminds us of Ex 15:1, "Then Moses sang and the sons of Israel this song..."
Az yavdil Moshe...
Az yashir Moshe...
When we sing the prayers of Israel, it is speaking prophecy, the vision of the Kingdom, its
Mashiach
, its Temple. When Moses sang the Song of the Sea with the children of Israel, it was for a miraculous destruction of Pharaoh and his chariots. Now we can connect Moses'
"pleading" for grace to enter the Land of Israel over the Jordan at this point in
Devarim.
Think back on the contextual clue: Reuven's honor of a refuge city. An honor bestowed in spite of Reuven's failures, in spite of his descendants' rebellion against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. Moses prepares Reuven's refuge city in faith and uses like phrasing as "Then Moses sang...[at the sea]" when the Torah states, "Then Moses separated three refuge cities..."
The children of Israel sang a song of prophecy and thanksgiving for an extraordinary act of grace on their behalf.
Perhaps now Moses hopes that they will once again join him in his "song," his plea to cross Jordan. Maybe they will "hear" and "see" his plea and pray WITH him
. FOR him to receive extraordinary grace.
By mentioning in
Vaetchanan
how many scrapes the Israelites were rescued from by his own pleas on their behalf, maybe they, too, will fall on their faces and plead for him
. He points out that Adonai will no longer listen to Moses' prayers to enter the Land, but he conspicuously leaves the door open for the children of Israel to pray FOR him.
Moses mentions his failure at the rock. It was an opportunity to teach the Israelites how to "speak" to the rock, to pray for water instead of complain to Moses and Aaron. Moses was supposed to model this prayer for them, to instruct them in a better way that would save their lives. If they would turn to the Holy One in their needs and fears rather than complain, grumble, and rebel, then they would understand the higher level of intimacy with the Holy One that the Land-life would require.
Time after time,
Moses interceded with jaw-dropping prayers, such
as the one following the Golden Calf: "
But now, if You will, forgive their sin-and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written
!" (Ex 32:32) He interceded when the Israelites didn't deserve his prayers, just as Moses did not deserve to enter into the Land for his failing. Nevertheless, what if they prayed for him as he'd prayed for them?
Adonai
had offered
to produce a brand-new nation descended from Moses himself! Moses could have become the "Abraham" of a new nation.
As Moses repeats the
Shma
and Ten Commandments, does he hope that this generation will remember his intercession for their parents and plead also for him?
Can they see that Moses' prayer for the iniquity of their fathers until the "third and fourth generation" enabled them to enter? Moses' dark lecture may be his hope
for a nationwide knitting of the new generation's hearts to the last's by mentioning his
prayers
that spared their parents
... without
which
they
would not have been born to inherit the Land with
Joshua. If Moses can turn the
hearts the
children to
their
fathers in spite of their many mistakes, perhaps the children will also turn to him and pray audacious prayers for him. If Moses was forbidden to pray for himself to cross Jordan, maybe having others pray FOR him was the key, like teaching Israel to speak to the Rock.
Although one generation may receive the "credit" for a great act of faith in battle, building, or repentance, oddly, those shining moments are only possible because of the "failures" of a previous generation!
This is not encouragement or permission to sin or fail, but an inspiration to continue preparing for the Kingdom as if it WILL be inaugurated in your days. The faithfulness to a commandment seen in faith will be honored in the days of Messiah. It will be seen not in the context of all the failures that surrounded it, but as the shining diamond that it is, like
Bilaam's
vision of Israel's tents as lovely, perfect, without fault.
When Hashem cuts a diamond, the jagged edges just fall away.
You will keep commandments that many in your generation will not understand. They will not see the need for exerting yourself for a kingdom they cannot yet see, a Temple not yet built, a
Mashiach
not yet returned, an enemy not yet vanquished from the Land.
If you cannot hear, then you cannot see. This portion reminds us, "HEAR, O Israel..."
Hearing leads to doing. It is learning. And mistakes are part of it.
Understanding. Incorporating. Transforming. Seeing may come immediately, but more often it comes in tiny glimpses of the Kingdom, a life of patience in walking a path that often it will feel as though no one else can see but you. People point out your jagged edges, not your shining triumph of faith.
The good
news at the end of
Vaetchanan
?
Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps
His
covenant and
His
lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His
commandments... (Dt 7:9)
Even if the next generation doesn't see the beauty in their parents' failures, the One who is faithful will remember even small acts of faith hidden within their
jaggedy
failures. The hidden diamond will pass from generation to generation because of His lovingkindness.
Then
Moses and the sons of Israel sang
this song to the LORD,
and
said
, 'I
will sing to the LORD, for He
is
highly
exalted; the
horse and its rider He has hurled into the
sea. The
LORD is my strength and
song, and
He has become my
salvation; this
is my God, and I will praise
Him; my
father's God, and I will extol Him
.' (Ex 15:1-2)
Those who sang with Moses were the children of Israel, and even though their own fathers had sunk to the depths of sin in Egypt, they praised the Holy One as "my father's God."
This is the month of Av, the Fifth Month.
Vaetchanan
always follows the 9
th
of Av. The Father. In this month, we look to the fathers of our faith. Yes, at their jagged failure of an evil report. Their jagged failure
to listen to Moses
. Their jagged failure to remove their idols. Their jagged failure to remain knit together as brothers. Nevertheless, YHVH is the Elohim of our fathers who delivered them from Egypt. As Moses pleaded with the Father to cross Jordan, so the children should plead for their fathers' iniquities and extraordinary lovingkindness. So they should seek the diamond of their faith.
This week's Psalm is a Psalm of Moses. He prays:
Do return, O LORD; how long will it be
? And be
sorry for Your
servants.
O satisfy us in the morning with Your
lovingkindness, that
we may sing for joy and be glad all our
days.
Make
us glad
according to the days You have afflicted us
, and
the years we have seen
evil.
Let Your work appear to Your servants and Your majesty to their children
.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon
us;
and
confirm for us the work of our hands; yes,confirm the work of our hands
. (Ps 90:13-17)
Even the days of affliction have purpose. In our repentance, even evil had a purpose. The return of Messiah will reveal the diamonds in the jagged works of our hands and confirm the faithfulness that was obscured by failures. And our children will hear and see that work appear in the days of Messiah. May our children pray for us as fervently as we pray for them before we cross over.
There is a slight turn of phrase when the Holy One answers Moses. He says, "You will not cross over THIS Jordan." He never said Moses wouldn't cross over the Jordan that descends from the Garden hovering just above the Land of Israel. Moses wouldn't see the spiritual and natural realms merge as in the resurrection; nevertheless, he would cross over and await the resurrection while the rest of the children of Israel were born.
There is no such thing as a hopeless prayer. We pray because that's our only hope.
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