Teaching the Next Generation – Ve’Etchanan – August 20

When I was 23 years old I attended a local community college in the state of New Jersey as part of my university education (I was on the seven-year plan!). During that year I heard about the opportunity to join the college tennis team and tried out. I was not a very skilled tennis player but I enjoyed hitting the ball around with friends and wanted to learn more skills. Thankfully, hardly anyone else tried out for the team that year and the coach was desperate for players, so I made the team.

Our coach was a professional tennis player and I had determined to learn all I could from this man. Our team was made up of a few excellent players and a few like me who knew the basics. The coach was an amazingly humble man who worked with each one of us at our level. He taught each one of us various techniques and drills to fine tune our skills and each of us progressed at our own rate.

Even though I wasn’t the best player on the team, by any stretch of the imagination, the coach taught me to react well to the ball as it came to me and to do my best to keep the ball in play. His philosophy was that if I was able to keep the ball in play I was constantly giving my opponent the opportunity to make the mistake. This is what I did and it drove my opponents crazy. I won several matches that season not because I was the more skilled tennis player but because I learned well from my coach. I kept the ball in play and let my opponents make the mistake.

During that season of tennis I learned well what it means to be a good disciple of my tennis teacher. I had the right attitude and was hungry to learn. I did my best to apply what I learned and improved my tennis game by mastering basic skills.

We are all called to be disciples and disciple makers in this world in a spiritual sense. Having the right skills and attitude are important components to successful discipleship. There is an important aspect of discipleship that is taught in this week’s Scripture reading.

The Word of Life

In this week’s Torah Portion Moses continues to remind the Israelites again and again of the importance of keeping the Law with all of its statutes and ordinances:

Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. – Deut. 4:1-2

Moses told the Israelites that they must listen to the Word of the LORD and perform it. This was the only path to life and success in the Land of Promise. There was no room for adding or taking away from the commandments but rather, full adherence to the Word of the LORD was the only option.

The Ten Commandments Repeated 

Moses also provides a full repetition of the Ten Commandments in this week’s Scriptures. In the introduction to the Ten Commandments, Moses states that it was on the basis of these commandments that the LORD made a covenant with the people:

The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of us alive here today. The LORD spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire, while I was standing between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. – Deut. 5:2-5

Immediately after these verses Moses continued to reiterate the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments were written on two stone tablets as the representation of the Law of God to the people (Ex. 34:27-28). It was according to this Law that God made a covenant with the people to be their God and for them to be His people. The people agreed to keep all of the Law of God as Moses had dictated to them.

The Foundation of the Law: Relationship with God

The Law that God gave through Moses was a very detailed contract regarding a specific people, the Israelites, and a specific territory, the Land of Canaan which would become the Land of Israel. The Law, the Covenant, and the Promised Land were a package deal that the people accepted from the LORD by his servant Moses (Deut. 6:1-3).

There was a Law to keep but more importantly there was the living God to serve. In the prelude to the Ten Commandments, both in Exodus 20 and in Deuteronomy 5, we are given this statement:

I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. – Deut. 5:6

Above the Law and above all of the commandments and ordinances, God is! It is only because of the LORD God that the nation of Israel exists. God had chosen Abraham 400 years before the nation of Israel was birthed out of Egypt. God had then brought them out of Egypt, the land of slavery, to Himself in order to serve and worship Him.

The Heart of the Law: Loving God

In what I would term as the “climax of the Torah,” Moses combined a strict obedience to the Law with an intimate love of God:

Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. – Deut. 6:4-9

In this famous Jewish creed, commonly referred to as “the Shema,” loving God and keeping His word are united in one decree. The Law was never meant to be a rule book devoid of relationship, but rather an intimate covenant based on relationship with the Holy God of the universe. To read more about the Shema, click this link: The Shema

The Summary of the Law

The Shema is the same Jewish creed which Yeshua quoted when answering a question by a scribe who asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Yeshua replied with the following response:

The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. – Mark 12:29-31

Yeshua took this quote from Deuteronomy 6 and proclaimed it as the foremost commandment, to “love the LORD your God.” He then continued to declare that loving one’s neighbor (Lev. 19:18) was intricately tied to this first commandment. I believe Yeshua was stating that we can’t love God without loving our neighbor as well.

The New Testament is filled with quotations from the Old Testament which provide explanations of how we are to interpret and live out the complete Word of God. This clarification from Yeshua of what is the greatest or foremost commandment is the very heart of God for us today. We need to do our best to love the LORD our God with all of who we are, to love one’s neighbor as one’s self, and to live out all of the Word of God. I would like to focus the remainder of this week’s commentary of the Torah Portion with a more detailed look at what it means to completely live out the Word of God and to teach it to others.

Wholistic Spirituality

Moses strongly emphasized to the Israelites that they needed to keep all of the words and ordinances of God throughout the Torah. In the Shema, found in Deut. 6:4-9 above, Moses also commanded the people to fully teach their children all that God has commanded them:

You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. – Deut. 6:7

The ordinances, commandments, and statutes of God were not just to be read or talked about on the Sabbath, the day of rest, but rather they were to be a part of everyday life. The command to teach God’s words to the next generation was to include all aspects of life, all times of the day, and all the days of the year. God desires wholistic spirituality from His people.

The verse quoted above, which gives a very wholistic challenge to teaching God’s word to others, begins with a very unique verb. The Hebrew word for the phrase “You shall teach them diligently” is “ושננתם” – “veshinantam” which is literally translated as “and you shall sharpen them.” It is a very unique use of this particular Hebrew word “שנן” – “shanan,” which means “to sharpen” or “to whet.”

The Sword of the LORD

This word “שנן” – “shanan” is only used nine times in all of the Old Testament and in every instance, except for Deut. 6:7, it is used literally in the sense of sharpening an arrow or a sword (Deut. 32:41. Is. 5:28. Ps. 45:5. 64:3. 73:21. 120:4. 140:3. Prov. 25:18). We see this illustrated in another section of Deuteronomy:

If I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand takes hold on justice, I will render vengeance on My adversaries, and I will repay those who hate Me. – Deut. 32:41

This word “שנן” – “shanan” is also used figuratively in a couple of places, however, it still carries the meaning of a sharpened object. For example, we read this in the book of Psalms: “When my heart was embittered and I was pierced within,” (Ps. 73:21). The emotional anguish of the psalmist is illustrated by the piercing of one’s internal organs, as with a sharp object.

Going back to our verse in focus (Deut. 6:7), it is fascinating to understand what this word fully means in this context of teaching the next generation. This word “שנן” – “shanan” is not used in the context of teaching in any other instance in the Bible. Why is this word used in the context of teaching in Deut. 6:7?

When I consider the action of sharpening a sword or an arrow, I am reminded of the skill, concentration, and precision demanded for such a task. The work of sharpening tools and weapons is also an ongoing process. Swords and arrows are continually used and sharpened again and again.

Sharpening the Next Generation

Understanding this word “שנן” – “shanan” in context challenges us to take seriously this task of teaching the next generation. I believe this particular word was specifically used in order to exhort the Israelites, as well as us today, to precisely, accurately, and continually teach the Word of God to the next generation.

Children, or disciples in general, are constantly growing, changing, and hopefully maturing. Those who are being discipled will need to be taught different things at different times. Those who are mature in the faith must constantly teach God’s Word to others in an effective way so as to properly sharpen and prepare those under their care and tutelage.

The command to accurately and effectively teach the Word of God to the next generation is being compared to properly sharpening and preparing a weapon, making it ready for the action for which it was designed. This is the meaning of “ושננתם” – “veshinantam” – “You shall teach them diligently.” Each generation is unique and we must understand the generation with whom we are responsible for.

Paul & Timothy

There is an excellent example in the New Testament of a more mature believer sharpening and training a younger disciple through the lives of Paul and Timothy. The first and second letters written by Paul to Timothy are written examples of Paul sharpening Timothy in different areas of his spiritual walk at that time in Timothy’s life and according to the circumstances which he faced.

Teaching the Next Generation

In Paul’s second letter to Timothy we see a detailed description of what it looks like for Timothy to be a sharpened weapon in the face of the spiritual battles of life. These are the words of Paul to Timothy:

But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in the Messiah Yeshua. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. – 2 Tim. 3:13-16

Paul taught Timothy that there is deception and there is truth. The truth must become so ingrained in a person that one can discern the difference.

Paul exhorted Timothy to take the Word of God, to teach it to others, to train them in righteousness, and to sharpen others for every good work that God has prepared for them. This is a perfect picture of sharpening the next generation. Paul sharpened Timothy and Paul challenged Timothy to sharpen others with the Word of God.

Have you personally been sharpened by others in your spiritual life?

Are you actively involved in sharpening the next generation? 

The charge of the “Shema” given to the Israelites 3500 years ago to love God, to obey His Word, and to teach His Word to the next generation is still a valid charge to us today. We must be humble enough to be sharpened by others and courageous enough to be actively involved in sharpening others as well.

Shabbat Shalom!

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Torah Portion: Deut. 3:23 – Deut. 7:11

Haftara: Isaiah 40:1-26

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