Vezot ha’Bracha “and this is the blesing”
It is customary for religiously practicing Jews to read from an annual cycle of weekly Old Testament readings called Torah Portions. This is said to be the same reading schedule that was taught every Sabbath in the Synagogues during the times of Jesus in the first century.
As Christians exploring the Torah portion cycle we must maintain a balance of including the Old Testament, the prophets, and the gospels in our weekly bible study.
Torah Portion Name and Readings-
The Vezot ha’Bracha Torah Portion is named after the Hebrew word for “and this is the blessing”, the weekly reading is found in Deuteronomy starting in chapter 33 verse 1 and going through chapter 34 verse 12.
Prophets and New Testament-
It is also important to point out that along with the Torah portion readings and teachings, there are what are called Haftarah portions which are readings from the Bible in the books of the prophets. This week’s haftarah readings come from the book of Joshua in chapter 1 verse 1 through verse 18.
The gospel readings incorporated with the weekly Torah portion readings come from the book of Acts in chapter 1 with verses 1 through verse 14.
Torah Portion Overview-
In this Parashat we see the last blessing of Moses. Moses then climbs up the mountain and gets to see the Promised Land. How devastating it must have been to see the land that he longed for but not to enter in. After seeing the land Moses died and was buried by God.
Today I want to point out a fact that I have never noticed before, that is, the one who was to teach the law was the Levitical Priests!
“And of Levi he said, “Give to Levi your Thummim, and your Urim to your godly one, whom you tested at Massah, with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah; who said of his father and mother, ‘I regard them not’; he disowned his brothers and ignored his children. For they observed your word and kept your covenant. They shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law; they shall put incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar. Bless, O LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands; crush the loins of his adversaries, of those who hate him, that they rise not again.”
Deuteronomy 33:8-11 (ESV)
Anyone who knows Judaism will immediately realize why this is a big deal. The authority of teaching the law did not stay with the priests. During Jesus time, the authority had shifted to include the Pharisees and the Scribes.
“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’s seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it, but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others, but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others, for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father, the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in you stop them.”
Matthew 23:2-13 (NRSVue)
The priesthood was no longer the authority figure, at least not when it came to teaching the law. Yet this was their divine task, they were appointed to it by God! However, they had been replaced, at least in part, by the Pharisees. This is not to be harsh on the Pharisees, for they were some of the most learned men in their nation! They represented the intellectual elite. Yet the authority was not theirs to take, God did not give it to them. Knowing this, they took that authority and sat in the seat of Moses. However, the authority of the Kingdom was taken away from the Chief Priests and Pharisees.
“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them.”
Matthew 21:43-45 (NRSVue)
Although some believe that this verse is speaking of the kingdom being taken away from the Jewish people and given to the church (Jew and Gentile), or the leaders and the Jews both, I do not see this here. This is because He is speaking about the Pharisees and Priests (the Jerusalem leadership), not the Jews in general.
It is interesting though that it says that it will be given to a nation, and not to any specific leaders (like Peter, for instance). Many scholars take this to be a reference to the church. However, as David L. Turner explains in Matthew, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (page 517-518), this is a bad exegesis, because the entire narrative is referring to the Jewish leadership, not the Jewish people as a whole.
“But if 21:43 speaks of kingdom authority being taken away from the religious leaders, to whom does the text say kingdom authority will be given? Many scholars take 21:43 as teaching that a new “nation,” the church, has replaced the nation of Israel in God’s plan.13 But this view is dubious if the kingdom is taken from the leaders, not from Israel. The parabolic antecedent of the pronoun “you” in 21:43 is the recalcitrant tenants, not the fruitful vineyard. According to 21:45, the Jewish leaders realize that Jesus is talking about them, not Israel as a whole. It is thus a mistake to view 21:43 as indicating the replacement of Israel by the gentile church (Hauerwas 2006: 187).
Nor does Matthew’s use of the word “nation” (ἔθνος, ethnos, 21:43) clearly support this view (A.-J. Levine 1988: 187–89, 207–11; Saldarini 1994: 58–63, 243–47). If the Gentiles were in view here, one would expect the plural, “nations” (4:15; 6:32; 10:5, 18; 12:18, 21; 20:19, 25; 24:9, 14; 25:32; 28:19). The singular ἔθνος would remind Christian Jews of their nation’s lofty role in redemptive history. Although generally the Hebrew Bible uses גּוֹי (gôy, nation) or גּוֹים (gôyim, nations) for Gentiles and עַם (ʿam) for the Jews, many texts use גּוֹי for the nation of Israel, and the LXX usually translates גּוֹי in these texts by the word ἔθνος.14 In Gen. 12:2 God promises to make Abraham into a great nation;15 in Exod. 19:6 Israel’s vocation as a holy nation is stressed at the giving of the Torah (cf. 1 Pet. 2:9). In 2 Sam. 7:23 (cf. 1 Chron. 17:21) David thanks God for the promise of his dynasty by reflecting on Israel as a unique nation. In Ps. 33:12 the psalmist extols the blessedness of the nation whose God is the Lord. Isaiah 1:4 laments the sinful nation. Isaiah 26:2 envisions a day in which the gates of Jerusalem will be thrown open for a righteous nation. Jeremiah 31:36 affirms that Israel will cease to be a nation only if God’s decrees for the sun, moon, and stars cease. Ezekiel 37:22 envisions Israel as one nation.16 The cumulative weight of some fifty such texts indicates that one should not assume the word ἔθνος refers to Gentiles as opposed to Jews. Matthew’s Christian Jewish community would more likely understand ἔθνος as an echo of many biblical texts that call on Israel to fulfill its unique covenantal role (Keener 1999: 515–16). Those who keep covenant (produce fruit) will replace the tenants who refused to do so. Matthew’s community, with Jesus as its ultimate Torah teacher (Matt. 5:17–48), will bear such fruit and will replace the current Jerusalem religious establishment as the leaders of Israel. In this view, “the parable offers a sharp prophetic criticism of the temple establishment and a warning that its days of administration were nearing an end” (C. A. Evans 1995: 406).”
I view this taking away of the kingdom and the giving of it to a nation as a reference, as implied by the above quote, to Israel being a promised to be a “priestly kingdom and a holy nation.”
“but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.”
Exodus 19:6, NRSVue
In other words, the authority will no longer be limited to a small group of people but will be vested in the entire church or body of Christ. It is important to note that this is not to replace Israel or the Jews. Indeed, God never says that He will replace the Jews. Instead, the Jews and Gentiles are united as one people in the hand of God. This is the mistake that replacement theology makes, for it believes that the church replaced Israel. However, the Bible teaches not that a people are to be replaced, but to be redeemed. It is true that the Chief Priests and Pharisees did have the kingdom stripped from them. However, this was not about replacing them, but about judging them. They had failed to tend to Yahweh’s flock, and so Yahweh came to them in judgement. This judgement was not on the Jewish people as a whole, but on the leaders who had sinned so greatly. Thus, as we said earlier, the Jews are not replaced. However, the kingdom of God is not limited to just the Jews, for we know that it has been opened p to all. For the wall of division was broken down, and now there is neither Jew nor Greek. Instead we are united as one people in the Kingdom of God.
So we see that the teaching of the law was at first given to the Priests. Later it was taken over by the Scribes and Pharisees. This authority was stripped from the Priests and Pharisees and the leaders were replaced with a nation. We see that the church in general, was to lead the kingdom. This would include both Jews and Gentiles.
Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-
Deuteronomy 33:1 Moses blessed the Israelites.
Deuteronomy 34:1 Moses sees the land, dies, and is buried by God.
Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-
Joshua 1:1 The Lord commands Joshua to go and encourages him to be strong and courageous.
Joshua 1:10 Joshua instructs the people to prepare to cross over and enter the land to begin the conquest.
Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-
Acts 1:1 Jesus commands the Apostles to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit who will baptize them in fire.
Acts 1:6 Jesus refuses to tell the Apostles when the end will occur and ascends into heaven.
Acts 1:12 The Apostles return to the upper room with the women and Jesus’ brothers and devote themselves to prayer.
References-
David L. Turner, Matthew, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 517–518.
To Watch an overview of this week’s Torah Portion CLICK HERE