You have today declared the LORD to be your God, and that you would walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His ordinances, and listen to His voice. And the LORD has today declared you to be His people, His personal possession, just as He promised you, and that you are to keep all His commandments; and that He will put you high above all nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a consecrated people to the LORD your God, just as He has spoken.
Deuteronomy 26:17–19

“You have today declared the LORD to be your God.”

For many people today, this declaration has become the goal. There is so much emphasis on making a decision, saying a prayer, or declaring that we believe in God that we can easily treat that moment as though we have reached the destination.

I believe Scripture presents it very differently. Declaring the LORD to be our God is not the end of our journey with Him. It is where the journey begins.

Moses does not separate the declaration from what comes next. Israel declared the LORD to be our God “and that you would walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His ordinances, and listen to His voice.” None of us does this perfectly. We fail, we make wrong choices, and there are times when we do not listen as we should. However, our inability to walk perfectly before God should never become an excuse not to desire to walk according to His ways.

If I declare that the LORD is my God, then that declaration should affect the way that I live. I should desire to know His ways, listen to His voice, and obey what He asks of me. My obedience does not make Him my God, but if He truly is my God, then my life should reflect that reality.

In the same way, my obedience cannot earn my salvation. Salvation is something that only God can provide. However, obedience should be a natural result of truly understanding the salvation that I have received. When I understand what God has done for me, my desire should be to walk according to His ways, not because I am trying to earn something from Him, but because I belong to Him.

Only then does Moses speak about the incredible privilege that comes with being His people.

And the LORD has today declared you to be His people, His personal possession, just as He promised you, and that you are to keep all His commandments; and that He will put you high above all nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a consecrated people to the LORD your God, just as He has spoken.

There is both privilege and responsibility in belonging to God. Israel was not chosen simply to receive His blessing. We were chosen to belong to Him and to be a people consecrated to Him.

Only a short time later, Moses gives Israel words that show just how serious this calling is.

“Cursed is one who does not confirm the words of this Torah (Instructions) by doing them.” And all the people shall say, “Amen.”

Deuteronomy 27:26

The people responded with “Amen.” In doing so, Israel acknowledged the seriousness of what had been spoken and the consequences of turning away from what God had instructed.

We know from Scripture that our people did not always live according to the declaration that we made. Israel repeatedly turned away from God, and the consequences that Moses warned about eventually came. There was judgment, destruction, and exile. Israel did not remain faithful to everything that we declared before God, which raises an important question. Did our failure change what God declared concerning us? Did God stop considering Israel His people and His personal possession because Israel failed to walk faithfully with Him?

The words of Isaiah in this week’s Haftarah help us answer that question.

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you. 

Isaiah 60:1–2

These words are spoken to Zion. They come after generations in which our people failed to walk faithfully with God and experienced the consequences of that disobedience. Yet God still speaks of Zion’s future. He speaks of her sons and daughters returning from afar, of her restoration, and of His glory rising upon her.

Israel’s unfaithfulness did not change God’s faithfulness. This does not mean that our disobedience did not matter. God did not ignore Israel’s sin, and the consequences He warned about were real. However, His discipline of Israel did not mean that He had abandoned Israel.

This is one of the reasons I believe the connection between Deuteronomy and Isaiah is so important. Deuteronomy shows us both the privilege and responsibility of belonging to God, as well as the consequences of turning away from His instructions. Isaiah shows us that even after Israel failed, God remained faithful to what He had promised.

Toward the end of Isaiah 60, God gives another incredible promise.

Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified. 

Isaiah 60:21

I believe there is something here that is especially important for us in Israel today. Isaiah does not only speak about our people returning to the Land. He speaks about a time when our people will be righteous before God. I am incredibly thankful that after generations of exile, we are once again living in the Land of our forefathers. However, our physical return to the Land cannot be the end of the story. We also need to return to the God who gave us the Land.

This brings us back to the problem that we saw in Deuteronomy. Israel declared that the LORD was our God and that we would walk in His ways, yet our history shows that we did not perfectly live according to what we declared. Making another declaration cannot solve that problem, and trying harder cannot erase what has already been done. We need redemption, and redemption is something that we cannot provide for ourselves.

This is why the Father sent His Son, Yeshua our Messiah. He did not come because God had rejected Israel or because God had changed His mind about His promises to our people. He came because of God’s faithfulness to His promises and as the fulfillment of His plan of redemption. Through Yeshua, we receive forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

Recognizing Yeshua as our Messiah is also not the end of our journey with God. Just as declaring the LORD to be our God should lead us to walk in His ways, receiving salvation through Messiah should produce within us a desire to live for the One who saved us.

Our obedience does not purchase our salvation, but our salvation should affect our obedience. I believe this is something each of us needs to consider. It is possible to speak about faith, salvation, and belonging to God while living as though those things have very little influence over our daily lives. Scripture does not separate what we believe from how we live.

God’s faithfulness to Israel should also not give us an excuse to remain far from Him. His faithfulness should cause us to recognize His mercy and return to Him.

As an Israeli, this is my prayer for my people. I am thankful that we are once again living in the Land of our forefathers, but I long for the day when our physical return will be accompanied by a spiritual return to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I long for the day when our people will recognize Yeshua, our promised Messiah, and when the words spoken through Isaiah will be fully realized.

Isaiah describes Israel as “the branch of My planting, the work of My hands,” and then gives the reason for what God will accomplish, which is “that I may be glorified.”

Ultimately, everything should lead back to God and bring glory to Him. Israel’s restoration is not about Israel receiving glory, our salvation is not about us receiving glory, and our obedience is not about showing others how righteous we are. Everything God has done, is doing, and will do should bring the glory back to Him.

Israel did not remain faithful to everything that we declared before God, but He has remained faithful to what He declared concerning us. His faithfulness should not cause us to become comfortable in our disobedience. It should cause us to return to Him, listen to His voice, and desire to walk in His ways.

May we never be satisfied simply with declaring that the LORD is our God. May that declaration be the beginning of a life that reflects that He truly is.

Shabbat Shalom,
Moran