Ha Azinu (Listen) Devarim 32:1-52

The name of our portion is, as usual, derived from the first word of the portion, "ha azinu ha shamayim v’d’berah," listen heavens and I will speak. This portion is so rich and calorie laden, I hope you are hungry for Torah this week.

The Song of Moshe, the Song of the Lamb

“And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and who gained victory over the beast, over his image, over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of Elohim. And they sing the Song of Moshe the servant of Elohim, and the Song of the Lamb, saying, great and marvelous are your works, Adonai Yehovah Almighty; righteous and true are your ways, King of saints.” (Revelation 15:2-3)

Those who sing in the book of Revelation sing two songs, the Song of Moshe, and the Song of the Lamb. Since John (Yochanan) is a Jewish writer, who traveled with Yeshua during his ministry, it is most likely that John was referring to this Song of Moshe in verses 1-43 of our portion.

The chapters and verses we use today were not included in the Scriptures during Yochanan’s time. They were added much later. According to Bible.org, “Stephen Langton, in the 12th century, added what we use today as the chapter divisions.” As an Israelite Yochanan would have referred to a portion of Scripture by a name.

Since in our last portion we are told, “Moshe therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel,” (Devarim 31:22) it would be natural for Torah readers to refer to this as the Song of Moses, we still do.

But where is the second song, the Song of the Lamb? Some say it is in our text in Revelation; “Great and marvelous are your works, Adonai Yehovah Almighty; righteous and true are your ways, King of saints.”

Connecting the Songs

The two songs are connected with the phrase, “Righteous and true are your ways” in Revelation, and “Righteous and straight is He,” in Devarim.

Why the difference between “true” in Revelation and “Straight” in Devarim?

Perhaps because in Devarim the events Moshe sings about have not yet happened. The emphasis is on the straightness and honesty of Yehovah. He is just, fair, and impartial in judgment. We have faith that what He says, He will do. And when He does it, it will be because those who received either blessing or discipline will deserve what they receive.

By the time we get to the event prophesied in Revelation, we will all look back and see that just as Elohim said He would do, He did, and we can with authority say that all that He said is true.

The song of the Lamb is very short, if this is it, and perhaps that is because after all that has happened we will be amazed, shocked, and emotionally drained. All that is left to be said is the short, “Great and marvelous are your works, Adonai Yehovah Almighty; righteous and true are your ways, King of saints.”

Tidbits in the Text

If you don’t have a Hebrew copy of the text of our portion there are a few things you will not be able to see, but that are important to our understanding. The first is apparent, even if you can’t read a letter of Hebrew.

The song is divided into columns in the text. The first verse in the right column (remember Hebrew in the Scriptures in read right to left) reads, “Listen heavens and I will speak” Then there is a break of several spaces        and the left column reads, “And may hear the earth the speech of my mouth.”

This columnar break in the text continues throughout the song.

Two more interesting tidbits are immediately available to the hungry in the Hebrew Torah. At the beginning of verse 6 the first letter is a hey, and it is enlarged. The English translation is “To.” “To Yehovah do you repay this?”

The second anomaly is that in verse 18 there is a small yod in the word translated as ignored or unmindful. “The Rock that birthed you, you ignored, and have forgotten El that formed you.” (Devarim 32:18)

Every Word that Proceeds from Elohim’s Mouth

We have learned that each word in the Torah is significant, and there are no unnecessary words. So what does it mean that these letters are of different size from the rest of the text?

The numerical value of the letter hey is five, and as such is a picture of the Torah. The letter hey is also a breath of air as it is spoken, it has no sound as such except what its attached vowel provides, hey is the sound of a sigh.

The written Torah is the word of Elohim. As the written word is breathed into us by the Ruach ha Kodesh, the Holy Spirit, and we put the Torah into action through our life, the written word becomes a living word. If we live life in obedience to the Torah, we become living words of Torah.

The large hey is part of the phrase, “Is it to Yehovah.” Two meanings come from this. The Ruach leads us to Yehovah and the breath of the hey represents the breathing of the Ruach into us and drawing us to Elohim.

A second meaning comes from Psalm 33:6, “By the word of Yehovah The heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host.” The hey represents the breath by which Elohim made all things, He spoke, and they were created. It is an affront that the creation should act against its creator the way Israel would act against Elohim. Yet He does not respond in kind against them. He remains fair and just.

Paul says, “For we know that all the creation groans (sighs) together and travails together until now.” (Romans 8:22) Moshe is in the middle of expressing the corruption and evil of the people. What an appropriate moment for Elohim to sigh as a show of His patient longsuffering through their transgressions.

Their Rock is not Like Our Rock

The small yod tells us another side to the issue of Elohim’s longsuffering. It shows up in the phrase “The rock who gave you birth you ignored.”

Back in verse four Moshe reminded Israel, “He is the Rock; His work is perfect. For all His ways are just, a God of faithfulness, and without evil; just and upright is He.” Now Moshe contrasts the attributes of Elohim with the attributes that Israel is going to display. While Elohim is faithful, without evil, just and upright, Israel will prove to be rebellious, wicked, unjust and crooked.

The diminutive yod perhaps signifies that although Elohim is aware of Israel’s rebellions, as a righteous parent He understands that a child must be disciplined, yet He is embarrassed because of what the child does. In verse 20 it says, “I shall hide my face from them.”

The yod represents the hand. Here it is small, perhaps to show that even though Elohim could be heavy handed because of Israel’s sin, He chooses to show mercy and use a light hand in punishment. He could have decreed the destruction of Israel, but chose not to do so.

The overall message of the song is that because of Israel’s unfaithfulness they would be subjected to discipline. When the victors in the time prophesied in Revelation sing, they will acknowledge that Yehovah was just in all that He did because Israel rebelled just as He said they would.

Live Torah

A message for us is that we should be careful to heed Elohim’s instructions and live them. The message of the song concludes with the vindication of Israel as Yehovah takes vengeance against those who did evil against His People Israel and “Atones (kepher) for His ground and His people.”

We look forward to the day when Elohim will again show Himself mighty for His people. Until then, we live Torah.

Shalom, and blessings in this appointed time of Yom Kippur. May the righteous Judge of all find you clean of all sin through your repentance, turn from sin and turn to righteousness and may your name be written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Please join me next week hungry for Torah when we will study portion ha berachah, the blessing, Devarim 33:1-11, and as is customary to link the end with the beginning, Beresheit (Genesis) 1:1. Until then, Shalom, and Pray for the peace of Yerushalayim.