Songs are an amazing venue to communicate heartfelt messages which are documented at a particular time, in a particular culture, and with a certain audience in view. When music and lyrics come together to produce a finished work of art, the song which has been birthed has the ability to affect generations to come. This week’s Torah Portion is unique in that it contains a song that God gave to Moses to teach to the children of Israel.
The song which the LORD wrote for the children of Israel is crafted in beautiful poetic Hebrew, however, it is not a “feel good” song. This song of the LORD, which is recorded in Deuteronomy chapter thirty-two, was written for a very specific purpose which God communicated to Moses:
Now therefore, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it on their lips, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel. – Deut. 31:19
God wanted the Israelites to memorize the words of this song and have it ready on their lips because it would serve as a witness against them before the LORD.
Why Does God Need A Witness?
God is the Creator of the universe and of all that exists. He has all power and He is the ultimate Judge of all of creation. Why does God need a witness against His own nation, the people of Israel?
When I first pondered this question, I thought about the necessity of always having business agreements clearly written out as a sort of witness. In a business transaction, one person can say something and the other person may say yes in agreement but the two people may have two totally different expectations in mind. It is always good to write out expectations for any agreement so that there is a source document to refer to in the case of a misunderstanding.
I recall when I took a job in Israel a few years ago and I had to negotiate the details of the salary and all of the expectations from the new company as well as sharing with them my own expectations. We signed a contract with all of the details and I started to work for that company. In the course of the year I took a certain number of vacation days which was considered paid leave but when I went to talk with the office administrator, he told me that I had taken too many days. I asked him how that could be and he told me that I only had ten paid leave days per year but that I had taken twelve. I responded to him that I did indeed have twelve paid leave days per year. He them informed me that as a new employee I was only granted ten paid leave days per year. He also talked with the boss of the company and the boss agreed with the administrator but I informed them both that we had agreed in my contract that I would have twelve paid leave days per year in accordance to the number of days I had with my former employer. They reread the contract that we had both signed and they agreed that I did indeed have twelve paid leave days per year. It is good to have a written witness to the things that we discuss in conversation.
The Demand Of A Witness
Just as it is good practice to always write down agreements between people in business and other important matters, God understood that He needed to have a written testimony which would be a witness to His relationship with the nation of Israel as they were on the edge of entering into the Promised Land. God knows human nature and He knew how the Israelites would eventually turn away from the agreement between them and Himself, as God explained to Moses:
For when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and are satisfied and become prosperous, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and spurn Me and break My covenant. Then it shall come about, when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify before them as a witness (for it shall not be forgotten from the lips of their descendants); for I know their intent which they are developing today, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.” So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the sons of Israel. – Deut. 31:20-22
The words of the song that God wrote for the Israelites was to be a constant reminder of the covenant between the two parties and would hold Israel to account when they strayed from being loyal to the LORD and worshipped other gods.
In a sense, God was protecting Himself against false accusations from the Israelites. When they would eventually stray from worshipping the One True God and looked to the work of their hands instead, God wanted to make sure there was no place for blaming Him when calamity and judgment fell upon them. The song that Moses taught to the Israelites would bear witness to their own misdeeds and to the broken covenant with their God.
The Witness Of God’s Word
The song, as recorded in Deuteronomy thirty-two, is less than one chapter in length and only one small supplement to the Torah. Beyond the song itself, the entirety of the Torah is God’s Word which is a continual witness against the nation of Israel. Moses confirmed this after he finished writing the Torah which is in the same context of Moses writing down the Song of the LORD in Deuteronomy chapter thirty-one:
It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, “Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may remain there as a witness against you. For I know your rebellion and your stubbornness; behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the LORD; how much more, then, after my death? – Deut. 31:24-27
The first five books of the Bible were complete and Moses asked the Levites to keep safe the record of this Torah so as to be a continual witness against them.
The Law of God is perfect and holy. No one person, except the Messiah, has ever been able to keep the Word of God without fault. The Law shows us what sin is and continually reminds us of our need for forgiveness and redemption. Although the Torah and the song of Deuteronomy thirty-two focus mostly on the relationship of God with the nation of Israel, the Torah is really a witness against all of humanity and against all of creation. Everyone who breaks God’s standard of holiness becomes guilty before God.
The Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, are an amazing source of history of God’s relationship with humanity from creation until the days of the Messiah. The Scriptures have been preserved for all of this time and serve as the Living Word that brings life but it is also a written witness against all of creation.
Every one of us is without excuse before God because He has provided a written witness against us. We can either accept His written agreement and live according to it or reject it and suffer the consequences. Yeshua testified to this truth in the New Testament:
“…You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” – John 5:39-47
Yeshua testified that He came in the name of His Father in heaven and that His life was in keeping with the very words of Moses, the written Torah and the very witness of God against His people. Whoever claims to know God and keep His Word must also know the Son and keep His Word for the two are in agreement.
The Words Are Life
It is not that God simply wants to be proven right in the end while condemning all of mankind because they have broken His holy Law. It is actually the opposite, God truly wants all of humanity to know Him, walk in His ways, and to experience life in its fulness and He knows that this is only possible by obeying His Word. Moses confirmed this after teaching the Israelites the song of the LORD:
Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he, with Joshua the son of Nun. When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he said to them, “Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law. For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.” – Deut. 32:44-47
God’s Word is life to those who heed it, hide it in their hearts, and do it. Although the song in Deuteronomy thirty-two served as a witness against the Israelites, it also served as an encouragement for them to seek life and to achieve the fullness of life which God has for His people.
Just as the LORD gave His Word to the Israelites to be a witness against them and to remind them of the true path of life, so too the Father in heaven sent His very own Son into this world to be a Witness to the truth and to reveal to us the path of life:
Therefore many other signs Yeshua also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. – John 20:30-31
God’s Word and His Son Yeshua are either a witness against us or they are our very life. The choice is ours. Choose life!
Shabbat Shalom!
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Torah Portion: Deut. 32
Haftara: 2 Samuel 22
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