Haftarah: Yeshayáhu / Isaiah 61:10 – 63:9
Brit Hadashah: Yohanan / Jn. 12:41-60
Nitzavim signifies “(you are) standing, firm”.
Summary of the Parsha
The Netzavim / Firm section contains some of the most fundamental principles of the Jewish faith:
The union of the Jewish people: “All of you stand firm today before Adonai, your Elohim, the chiefs of your tribes, the elders, the officers, all the men of Israel; the children, the women, the stranger who lives with you; from the woodcutter to the waterman.”
Moses speaks of the future redemption and warns of the exile and desolation of the earth that will occur if the people abandon the Divine laws.
However, he then prophesies that, in the end, “You will return to Adonai… Although your exiles are at the end of heaven, Adonai will also meet you from there… and it will bring you to the land that your fathers possessed.”
Moses also tells us of the closeness of the Torah: “For this command that I prescribe to you today is not beyond you, nor is it far away. It’s not in heaven… It’s not on the other side of the sea… On the contrary, it is very close to you, in your mouth, in your heart, for you to put into practice.”
At the end of parashat Moshe speaks to us about free will: “Look, I place before you today life and good, death and evil… And you will choose life.”
1 Comment: Devarim / Deut. 29:14-15
14 “Adonai our Elohim affirms that He not only makes His covenant and His oath with those who are now in His presence, 15 but also with those who are not yet among us. “
This teaches us that this covenant includes those who were not yet born, which can be compared to Yeshua’s prayer in Yohanan / John 17:20-23 where it is written:
20 “I do not pray only for these. I pray also for those who will believe in me for their message, 21 that all may be one. Aba/Father, just as you are in me and I in you, allow them to be in us too, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory you gave me, that they may be one, just as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. Allow them to attain perfection in unity, and thus the world recognizes that you sent me and that you have loved them just as you have loved me.
2 Comment: Devarim / Deut. 29:29
29 “The secret belongs to Adonai our Elohim, but what is revealed belongs to us and to our children forever, that we may obey all the words of this law.”
This teaches us that we have a responsibility to pass on to our children all the things that HaShem has revealed to us.
If HaShem has revealed to you who the Messiah is, pass that revelation on to your children!
3 Comment: Devarim / Deut. 30:11-14
11 “This commandment that I command you to obey today is not superior to your strength nor is it beyond your reach. 12 He is not up in heaven, that you may ask, “Who shall go up to heaven for us, that he may bring it to us, so that we may hear and obey him?” 13 Nor is it beyond the ocean, that you may ask, “Who shall cross for us to the other side of the ocean, that he may bring it to us, so that we may hear and obey him?” 14 Nope! The word is very close to you; you have it in your mouth and in your heart, that you may obey it. “
According to Maimonides this text speaks of the commandment of teshuvah/ return, repentance, mentioned earlier in this scripture.
However, most rabbis, including Rashi, say that it is about the Torah in general.
Rabbi Saul is giving a messianic application to this text, from the drash level showing that the commandment he is referring to is the Messiah, the living Torah, as written in Romans 10:6-10:
“But the righteousness that is of faith goes like this: DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL GO UP TO HEAVEN?’ (That is, to bring down the Messiah), or “WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?” (That is, to ascend to the Messiah from the dead). But what does it say? NEAR YOU IS THE WORD, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART, that is, the word of faith that we preach: that, if you confess with your mouth Yeshua by Adon/ Lord and believe in your heart that Adonai raised him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart one believes for righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses for salvation.”
Notice the connection between repentance and keeping the commandments and being saved by recognizing Yeshua as the risen Adon.
There is one commandment that brings salvation more than any other, the one that speaks of listening to and obeying the Prophet like Moses, cf. Deuteronomy 18:15.
15 “Adonai your Elohim will raise up a prophet like me from among your brothers. You will listen to him.”
He who fulfills this commandment will be saved eternally, as written in Acts 16:31:
“They answered, believe in the Lord Yeshua, and you and your whole house will be saved.”
In addition, we can understand these texts so that the salvation given through Yeshua is the door to a life in obedience to the other commandments.
4 Comment: Devarim / Deut. 30:15 AM
“Look, I have put before you today life and good, death and evil… “
HaShem does not force anyone to walk on the right path.
He informs us about the two paths, that of life and that of death, and we have the freedom to choose.
We cannot force anyone to love HaShem and believe in Yeshua.
Everyone must choose.
However, we must inform everyone that everyone’s choice brings eternal consequences.
There are grave consequences in not obeying HaShem who commands us to choose the way of life and when he commands all men to repent of their evil ways and abandon idols, as written in Acts 17:30.
“Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, Adonai now declares to all men, everywhere, to repent.”
In Acts 13:38-41 it is written:
“Therefore, brethren, know that through him (Yeshua), the forgiveness of sins is announced to you; and that of all the things that you could not be justified by Moses’ Torah, through him (Yeshua), everyone who believes is justified. Be careful, then, that what is spoken of in the prophets does not come upon you: BEHOLD, MOCKERS, MARVEL AND PERISH; FOR I DO A WORK IN YOUR DAY, A WORK THAT YOU WOULD NEVER BELIEVE, EVEN IF SOMEONE DESCRIBED IT TO YOU.”
Freedom implies responsibility.
There is no freedom without responsibility.
5 Comment: Devarim / Deut. 30:19 AM
“To HEAVEN and EARTH, I place today as witnesses against you that I have placed before your life and death, blessing and curse. Choose, then, life so that you and your offspring may live.”
Man has the power to choose the path of life or that of death.
But HaShem commands him to choose the path of life.
The one who does not rebel against HaShem and will suffer death for his rebellion.
HEAVEN and EARTH are witnesses against all our sins.
Therefore, both heaven and earth will have to be destroyed after the millennium so that there are no witnesses left who remember the sins of Israel as Revelation/Apo says. 21:1:
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and the first earth had ceased to exist, as had the sea.”
6 Comment: Devarim / Deut. 30:20 AM
“Loving Adonai your Elohim, listening to his voice and drawing near to him; for He is your life and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land that Adonai swore to give to your fathers Avraham, Yitzhak, and Ya’akov.”
The way of life is the way of love for HaShem.
Love for HaShem is manifested in obedience to His voice and in a very intimate relationship with Him.
“He is your life”
He Himself is eternal life, as written in 1 John 5:20:
“And we know that the Son of Adonai has come and given us understanding that we may know the one who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Yeshua Ha’Mashiach. This is the true Elohim and eternal life.”
The word ” This is” refers to the Father, not Yeshua.
The Father is the true Elohim and Eternal life, and that eternal life has been deposited in His Son Yeshua, as written in 1 John 5:12:
“He who has the Son has life, and he who does not have the Son of Adonai does not have life.”
Dear brethren, have you chosen the way of life?
HaShem commands you to repent of the wrong path and choose the good path that leads to life.
If you choose the path of life now and trust in the redemption in Yeshua, you will be saved.
Conclusion
Yohanán / Jn. 12:44-50
44 “He who believes in me,” Yeshua cried out in a loud voice, “believes not only in me, but in him who sent me. 45 And he who sees me sees the one who sent me. 46 I am the light that has come into the world, that whoever believes in me may not live in darkness. 47 “If anyone hears my words, but does not obey them, I will not be the one to judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.
48 He who rejects me and does not accept my words has one who judges him. The Priest that I have proclaimed will condemn him on the final day. 49 I have not spoken on my own; the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 And I know very well that his command is eternal life. So all I say is what the Father has commanded me to say.”
Yeshua is Salvation!