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		D'varim   (Deut 1:1 - 3:22)

D'varim/Deuteronomy 3:21   Your eyes are seeing all that the L-rd your G-d has done to those two kings. In like manner the L-rd will do to all the kingdoms where you are crossing over to there.

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These, reports Who Is ...

Chizkuni: Rabbi Hezekiah ben Manoah (13^th century), French rabbi and exegete; his commentary on the Torah was written about 1240 in memory of his father, based principally on Rashi, but using about 20 other sources
Chizkuni, are the words Moshe spoke to Joshua when he commissioned him in front of Eleazar the High Priest and the whole of the congregation, "He laid his hands upon him and commissioned him -- as the L-RD had spoken through Moshe" (B'Midbar 27:23, NJPS). Moshe changes the normal word order - verb, subject, object - by starting the first sentence with the subject to emphasise that it is Joshua's very own eyes that have seen everything that HaShem has done. Joshua knows this from personal experience and witness; he doe not have to work second-hand, from the reports of others. Moshe will use the same technique for emphasis - עֵינֵיכֶם הָרֹאֹת, your (pl.) eyes have seen - again when speaking to the people: "You saw with your own eyes what the L-RD did in the matter of Baal-peor ..." (D'varim 4:3, NJPS); and "it was you who saw with your own eyes all the marvellous deeds that the L-RD performed" (11:7, NJPS). Moshe knows that personal experience is the most powerful human witness of all.

At the same time, the second word in our text - הָרֹאֹת, the Qal participle, fp, from the root רָאָה, to see - is exactly that: a participle. This denotes on-going action: here, perhaps, "your eyes are [still in the process of] seeing". The Israelites have only just begun to see all that The Name ...

HaShem: literally, Hebrew for 'The Name' - an allusion used to avoid pronouncing the Tetragrammaton, the so-called 'ineffable' name of G–d
HaShem can and will do to kings, peoples and and kingdoms that oppose Him. So far, they have seen the defeat of the Canaanite king of Arad, followed by Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings on the east bank of the Jordan. "You," HaShem tells them, "have no grounds for doubt, since you saw it personally" (Jeffrey Tigay). What you have seen HaShem do once, He can and will do again. Stephen Sherwood explains that Moshe "puts much emphasis on what the people have seen with their own eyes (the expression occurs some sixteen times). This is part of the narrative strategy of making the reader of any age a witness of these events."¹ The point being made is that what HaShem has done east of the Jordan, He can and will do west of the Jordan.

When Joshua finds himself leading the people after Moshe's death, HaShem reminds him of the magnitude of the task ahead of him: "Your territory shall extend from the wilderness and the Lebanon to the Great River, the River Euphrates on the east -- the whole Hittite country -- and up to the Mediterranean Sea on the west" (Joshua 1:4, NJPS). He assures that him while he will have to be "strong and resolute" (v, 6, NJPS), in fact, "very strong and resolute" (v, 7, NJPS), He will give him every spot on which his foot steps, "No one shall be able to resist you as long as you live. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you" (v, 5, NJPS). Everything that Moshe did, Joshua will do. As HaShem parted the Reed Sea for Moshe so that the Israelites could pass through, so He will stop the Jordan for Joshua so that the Israelites can cross over. As HaShem defeated the gods of Egypt under Moshe's leadership, so He will cause the walls of Jericho to come tumbling down. As Moshe was told to call for three days of darkness, so Joshua will call for the sun and moon to stand still.

Moshe draws Joshua's attention to the most recent defeat of Sihon and Og, the Amorite kings on the east of the Jordan, to give him critical "... attestations that YHVH can indeed defeat any enemy of Israel. As G-d has been victorious in the east, so Joshua may be certain of YHVH's victory in the west in time to come."² This is a quite deliberate strategy move to make sure that Joshua is encouraged and empowered for his time as leader. Christopher Wright points out that "the lessons of the past were especially for [Joshua], and the most important lesson of all was that G-d's victories were infinitely repeatable. Yahweh was a G-d who was not coincidentally lucky, but consistently victorious."³ Joshua has already seen what HaShem has done; he will see more in the months to come as the Israelites defeat and destroy all the kings and kingdoms of the peoples of the Land, whether singly, in pairs or even groups of five! "All those kings and their lands were conquered by Joshua at a single stroke, for the L-RD, the G-d of Israel, fought for Israel." (Joshua 10:42, NJPS).

Can you hear another echo from our text? Rav Sha'ul writes to the congregations in Corinth about the importance of maintaining discipline so that they will be able to run the race and win the prize. Although all the Israelites shared the experiences of the Exodus from Egypt, HaShem's provision of manna and water, the crossing the Reed Sea and the pillar of cloud and fire, the whole of the exit generation died in the wilderness and did not reach the Promised Land - because of their disobedience and lack of faith in HaShem and His promises. Sha'ul adopts the same tone as Moshe as he warns that "these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did" (1 Corinthians 10:6, ESV). Just to be sure, a few verses later, he repeats his point: "these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come" (v. 11, ESV). The events of the past - now written, rather than relying on personal memory - are, just as they were to be for Joshua, a constant reminder of what HaShem does and can do for His people, and how the people are to respond.

Bolstered by what he has seen HaShem do, Joshua rises to the challenge of leadership and takes the people into the Land, so that his biographer can write: "Just as the L-RD had commanded His servant Moshe, so Moshe had charged Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the L-RD had commanded Moshe" (Joshua 11:15, NJPS). In the same way, the heroes of our faith in Messiah Yeshua have unflinchingly taken up the challenge of spreading the good news of Yeshua and the kingdom of G-d around the world, quite often at the cost of their lives or at least significant inconvenience. The writer to the Hebrews waxes lyrical about the biblical figures who "through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight" (Hebrews 11:33-34, ESV). In more modern times, our people refused forced conversion rather than deny the faithfulness of our G-d, were persecuted, expelled and burned at the stake. Jonathan Edwards and Charles Haddon Spurgeon put their ministries and reputations on the line for the sake of proclaiming the word of G-d faithfully and clearly.

Do you know what? Just as Joshua's most critical lesson was to remember what HaShem had done and not only could but would do again, today we face exactly the same challenge. We may not be fighting physically against the Hittites, the Perizzites and the rest of the nations who were dwelling in the Land in Joshua's day, but we are most certainly having to deal on a daily basis with the giants in the land of our society. That is why Sha'ul warns us, "Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12, ESV). Winning the battles against the Amorites didn't guarantee that Joshua and the Children of Israel could take and occupy the land without exerting themselves, being obedient to all that HaShem had told them and fighting every battle to the end, including emergency all-night marches before a full day's fighting. Joshua didn't just stroll over the Jordan and announce, "Right, that's it chaps, game over. Pack up your kit and close the door behind you as you go."

Peter Craigie wrote that Moshe employed "the now familiar technique of eliciting courage for the future on the basis of the experience of the past. Joshua had a formidable task before him, but he was called upon to undertake it in the sure knowledge of a G-d who had already shown Himself faithful."⁴ We remember Yeshua who, "though He was in the form of G-d, did not count equality with G-d a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:6-8, ESV). We remember His words, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it" (Luke 9:23-24, ESV). We know that Yeshua Himself rose from the dead after three days, in accordance with the Scriptures, that He is the firstfruits of the resurrection, and that He promised, "this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:40, ESV). What G-d has done before, He can and will do again. We will live with that promise and, like Rav Sha'ul, "count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Messiah Yeshua" (Philippians 3:8, ESV).

We do, undeniably face a significant - if not formidable - task in these days, proclaiming Yeshua in the face of all the distractions and pressures of the twenty-first century world. The enemy has lost none of his skill in tempting, lying and deceiving; the days of the "strong delusion" (2 Thessalonians 2:11) are upon us and many are being led astray by silken words. But, as Sha'ul reminds us, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. G-d is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13, ESV). G-d has given and will give us everything that we need to overcome the world, to endure in our witness of the One True G-d and of Yeshua, His Son. Fortified that what the Spirit within us confirms that G-d has done before is infinitely repeatable, we press on each day to proclaim Yeshua and encourage all those who stand with us.

1. - Stephen Sherwood, Berit Olam: Studies in Hebrew Narrative and Poetry - Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002), page 248.

2. - Walter Brueggemann, Deuteronomy Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2001), page 44.

3. - Christopher J. H. Wright, Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2012), page 40.

4. - P. C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, NICOT, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1976), page 125.

Further Study: Judges 2:6-10; Romans 11:13-14; 2 Peter 3:17-18

Application: Endurance in the face of strident and persistent opposition is an uphill struggle that seldom shows any signs of breakthrough or remission. Nevertheless, it is to that that we are called; it is for that that we are empowered and equipped; and it is in that that we shall triumph if we do not lose heart, for "the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18, ESV).

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© Jonathan Allen, 2024

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