Is God Faithful? – Va’yeilech – Oct. 8

Trust and faithfulness are key qualities that we all look for and value in relationships. When we consider our life of faith in God, we want to know that the God in whom we believe is trustworthy and faithful. Is God faithful? Can we trust Him?

Va’yelech – “וילך”

As we near the end of the yearly reading cycle of the Torah, the weekly Torah Portions become shorter. This week’s reading is only one chapter and it is called “וילך” – “Vayelech,” which means “and he went,” referring to Moses going to speak to the Israelites (Deut. 31:1).

Moses was 120 years old at that time and the LORD reiterated to Moses that his time to die was near. Moses understood the times and spoke to Israel about how he would not cross over the Jordon River to enter into the Promised Land, however, God would be with them:

Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. – Deut. 31:6

Moses was a good shepherd to the people of Israel and cared for them as his own. He encouraged them to be strong and to not fear the inhabitants in the Land.

The Testimony of Moses

The reason that Moses could exhort the children of Israel with such courage to not be afraid was that he knew that the LORD Himself was going with them. Moses made it clear that God could be trusted; “He will not fail you or forsake you.” (Deut. 31:6) Moses knew the character of God as he personally experienced the hand of God in his life for 120 years; from the time that he was rescued out of the Nile River until that very day when God spoke to him to go up to Mt. Nebo. Moses knew that God was faithful and that He could be trusted.

Immediately after Moses charged the Israelites to be strong and courageous, he spoke to Joshua and charged him with his new responsibility:

Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” – Deut. 31:7-8

Moses spoke to Joshua in a very similar manner as he appointed him to lead the Israelites into the inheritance which the LORD was giving to them. Moses also reminded Joshua that he was not alone for the LORD would go before him.

God is Trustworthy

Moses understood what it meant to be a leader. Moses knew that it is natural to feel alone as the leader of the people and that is why he emphasized to Joshua that the LORD would go ahead of Joshua and that He would be with him. Moses also told Joshua, “He will not fail you or forsake you” or in Hebrew “לא ירפך ולא יעזבך” – “lo yarpecha ve’lo ya’azvecha.” (Deut. 31:8) These are the exact same words that Moses spoke to the Israelites in verse six above. Moses clearly highlighted the unfailing character of God in both instances. God is trustworthy!

At the beginning of this article I posed these questions; Is God faithful? Can we trust God? These are fundamental questions that need to be addressed in one’s belief system. Our human nature has natural instincts that relate freely in a trusted environment but withdraw from unsafe and untrusted environments.

In order to walk with God, a person must know that God is trustworthy. This is why Moses repeated these words to the Israelites and to Joshua, “He will not fail you or forsake you” (Deut. 31:6,8). The LORD Himself spoke these exact same words to Joshua when He commissioned Joshua to lead the people: “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). These words of comfort regarding the steadfast character of Almighty God provide peace amidst the storms of life. The knowledge that God is continually with us and will not fail us or forsake us allows us to persevere under trial and to rely on the hope that God will bring us through whatever circumstances that we may face in life.

The verses from Deuteronomy 31 and Joshua 1 are such a powerful testimony of who God is that they are quoted in the New Testament book of Hebrews:

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” – Hebrews 13:5

The knowledge that God will never forsake us gives us the ability to be content in any and every situation. The more that a person understands and believes in the trustworthy character of God, the more a person will fully abandon him or herself to the God whom they have come to believe in.

Is God faithful? Can we trust God?

As we continue to study this week’s Torah Portion there is an interesting pivot of the LORD from a position of absolute steadfastness and never forsaking the Israelites to a position of abandonment:

The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?’” – Deut. 31:16-17

The LORD stated clearly that a day would come when Israel would break the covenant with Him and worship other gods. As a result, the LORD would forsake the people of Israel and leave them abandoned. The Hebrew word for “forsake” – “לעזוב” used here is the same Hebrew word used in the earlier quoted verses.

The verses above seem to contradict the verses earlier quoted from Deut. 31:6-8 and Joshua 1:5. On the one side it seems that God is incapable of forsaking His people, however on the other side, the LORD Himself clearly states that He will forsake the Israelites when they break His covenant with Him. Does God forsake His people or not? Is God trustworthy or not? Does God’s Word contradict itself regarding the faithfulness of God to His people?

In the context of Deuteronomy 31, Moses was reassuring the people of Israel and Joshua as their leader that the LORD is trustworthy and that He would go before them into the Land in order to assure them victory in attaining the inheritance which He had promised them. Moses emphasized that God would not forsake them, however as the LORD Himself said, this promise of not forsaking them would hinge on the people’s commitment to keep His covenant. If they would break the covenant of God, He would forsake them.

What does it mean for God to Forsake His People?

When God said that He would forsake the Israelites if they would break His covenant with them, He explained how He would do this:

Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?’ – Deut. 31:17

The LORD stated that He would forsake them and “hide My face from them” or in the Hebrew, “והסתרתי פני מהם” – “ve’histarti panai me’hem.” By hiding His face from the Israelites the LORD was removing His protection from them and allowing them to be open to the attacks of their enemies. The presence of the LORD is protection, security, and blessing. The absence of His presence brings a curse and vulnerability to the enemy.

The Blessing of God’s Presence

After King David was confronted by Nathan the prophet regarding his sin with Bathsheba, David prayed to God as recorded in Psalm 51: “Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” (Ps. 51:11) David had experienced the power of God’s presence and knew that he couldn’t live if God took His presence from him. David also implored the LORD for the following request: “Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.” (Ps. 51:9)

David understood the significance of the presence and face of God towards him. He knew that God could not look upon his sin and asked God to hide His face from his sin. God’s presence brings protection, security, and blessing. David knew that he could not obtain these by any human means, but rather, they were found in the presence of God alone.

David had asked God to hide His face from his sins but not to remove His presence from him. Our sin repels the face of God. God’s face toward us brings life and blessing. This is the message of the Aaronic blessing:

The LORD bless you, and keep you;

The LORD make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you;

The LORD lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace. – Num. 6:24-26

We need to always seek the face of God and to walk in His presence. There is life, blessing, and security when His face shines on us.

Does God Forsake His People Today?

As I pointed out earlier, the promise of God to not forsake His people is quoted in Hebrews 13:5. What does it mean for us today that God will not forsake us or desert us? Is this promise conditional under the New Covenant as it was under the Old Covenant?

Yeshua addressed this issue directly when He was teaching about what it means to be a disciple of His:

Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. – Matt. 10:32-33

The New Covenant that we have with God today is through Yeshua the Messiah. As we walk with Yeshua and confess Him before others He promises to confess us before the Father in heaven. If we deny Him, however, He warns us that He will also deny us before the Father in heaven.

The protection, security, and blessing that we have in God are bond by the covenant that we have through Yeshua. If we choose to deny the very One through whom the New Covenant was manifested, we will risk being denied in the presence of the Father in heaven. How can we pray for blessing and protection in the Name of Yeshua if we deny His Name before others? The power in our daily walk with God depends on our faith to confess Him before others.

God is Faithful

The seeming contradiction of God’s actions by forsaking those who break His covenant or deny Yeshua is balanced with an understanding that God must always be faithful to who He is. God is holy and He cannot ignore sin. God provides a way for His people to repent from sin and be forgiven from sin and we must continually seek to walk according to His holy covenant. If we who believe in Yeshua ever choose to deny the Lord who saved us from our sin, we will turn our greatest Advocate from defending us before the Father in heaven.

Even though our prayers may be hindered from reaching the Father for a time, He will never cease to be faithful, for this is who He is. The Apostle Paul wrote the following words to his disciple Timothy:

It is a trustworthy statement:

For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;

If we endure, we will also reign with Him;

If we deny Him, He also will deny us;

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. – 2 Tim. 2:11-13

Our eternal life is based on our faith in Yeshua’s life, death, and resurrection. Our reigning with Him is based on our persevering in Yeshua. Our access to the Father is based on our relationship with Yeshua. If we confess Him, He will confess us before the Father, but if we deny Him, He will also deny us (Matt. 10:32-33). After all of this, if we are faithless, He still remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

We serve a faithful God who promises to never leave us or forsake us. Our relationship with God is based on a covenant and we are responsible to live our lives in such a way that enables Almighty God to bless us in every possible way. It is comforting to know that His faithfulness does not depend on us. He is faithful even when we are not faithful to Him. He will remain faithful until the end.

Shabbat Shalom!

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Torah Portion: Deut. 31

Haftara: Hosea 14:1-9. Micah 7:18-20. Joel 2:15-27

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