Parashat Ha'azinu (Listen)
D’varim (Deuteronomy) 32:1-52
Haftarah: Hosea 14:2-10, Joel 2:11-27, Micah 7:18-20
Shabbat Shuvah – “A Time to Return”
This Shabbat is unique. It is called “Shabbat Shuvah,” which means “Shabbat of Return” or “Repentance.” It falls between Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), and it takes its name from the reading in Hosea:
“Return, Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your wrongdoing. Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, ‘Take away all guilt and receive us graciously, so that we may present the fruit of our lips.’” Hosea 14:1-2
The call is to return to the LORD, and as we read through the portions this week, we see this message repeated. We are reminded of who God is, what He has done, how easily we can turn away from Him, and His willingness to receive those who return to Him.
In a world with so many distractions and so many things constantly calling for our attention, it is easy to lose focus on what is truly important and what ought to be at the center of our lives. Therefore, I love the reminder we find in Deuteronomy 32:1-4:
Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; let the earth hear the words of my mouth! May my teaching fall like rain, my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He. Deuteronomy 32:1-4
Before Moses speaks about Israel’s failures or their turning away from God, he reminds them of who God is. He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and His ways are just. He is faithful and upright, and He does no wrong.
These verses remind us first of who God is. He is faithful, just, and perfect in all His ways. When we truly understand who He is, we also need to examine our own lives and ask ourselves whether we are living according to His will. Just as Israel was called to remember God’s faithfulness and recognize where they had gone wrong, we also need to look honestly at our lives and recognize the areas where we have turned away from Him.
Moses then tells Israel to remember what God has done:
Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. Deuteronomy 32:7
Moses continues by reminding them of the way God cared for them:
In a desert land He found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; He guarded him as the apple of His eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft. The LORD alone led him; no foreign god was with him. Deuteronomy 32:10-12
Moses reminds Israel where they came from and of all that God had done for them. He delivered them from Egypt, protected them in the wilderness, provided for them, and led them along the way. They experienced His faithfulness again and again, yet they still turned away from Him. As we read these words today, we should also remember the many ways God has been faithful to us, even during the difficult seasons of our lives.
How often do we call upon God when we are going through a difficult season, only to become less dependent on Him when things are going well? When we are struggling, we pray for His provision, direction, healing, and protection. However, once the situation changes, it can be easy to move on and forget how dependent we were upon Him.
This is why it is so important to remember. Just as Moses told Israel to remember who God is and what He had done for them, we are called to do the same. We also need to remember what God has done in our own lives. We need to remember the prayers He answered, the times He provided for us, the situations He brought us through, and even the times when His answer was different from the one we wanted.
Remembering God’s faithfulness can also help us recognize when we have begun placing our trust somewhere else. Later in the chapter, after speaking about Israel’s rebellion and the false gods they followed, the LORD says:
See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides Me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of My hand. I lift My hand to heaven and solemnly swear: As surely as I live forever.
Deuteronomy 32:39-40
When the LORD says that there is no god besides Him, He reminds Israel that the other gods they had trusted could not save them. Israel had turned to other gods and looked elsewhere for what only the LORD could provide. In the end, those false gods were shown to be powerless.
We may not worship idols in the same way Israel did, but we should still ask ourselves where we place our trust. We can place our trust in our careers, money, relationships, possessions, status, or even in our own ability to control what happens around us. These things are not necessarily wrong, but they become a problem when they take the place that belongs to God. During this time of repentance, we should ask ourselves whether there is anything in our lives that we have allowed to become more important than our relationship with Him.
This connects directly with the words of Hosea:
“Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount warhorses. We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in You the fatherless find compassion.” Hosea 14:3
Israel had placed its trust in military power, alliances, and idols made by human hands. Hosea calls the people to recognize that these things cannot save them and to return to the LORD. God then tells them what He will do when they return:
I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for My anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily.
Hosea 14:4-5
God does not only call Israel to recognize its sin. He also promises restoration to those who return to Him. This is something we should remember when we think about repentance. Repentance is not only acknowledging what we have done wrong, nor is it simply saying that we are sorry. True repentance requires us to turn away from sin and turn back to God.
Joel makes this very clear when he writes:
“‘Even now,’ declares the LORD, ‘return to Me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.’ Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.”
Joel 2:12-13
The LORD’s words, “Even now,” remind us of the urgency of repentance. We should not wait for a better time or assume that we can deal with our sin later. While God has given us special appointed times to stop, reflect, and examine our hearts before Him, repentance is not something that should be limited to those times. God is calling us to return to Him now and to do so with all our heart.
We often think that we will deal with something later. We tell ourselves that we will make a change when the timing is better, forgive someone later, deal with a certain sin at another time, or spend more time with God when life becomes less busy. However, Scripture repeatedly reminds us that the time to respond to God is now.
Joel also tells us, “Rend your heart and not your garments.” His words remind us that repentance cannot only be something we show outwardly. God is concerned with what is happening in our hearts, and He desires a sincere return to Him rather than an outward appearance of repentance.
Yeshua addressed the same issue when He said:
These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.
Matthew 15:8
It is possible to say the right things and still have a heart that is far from God. It is also possible to go through religious traditions while avoiding the things God is asking us to surrender. Therefore, this is something each of us needs to examine personally. We need to ask ourselves whether we are only honoring God with our lips or whether our lives truly reflect what we say we believe.
Micah also reminds us of God’s willingness to forgive those who return to Him:
Who is a God like You, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Micah 7:18-19
God is just, but He is also merciful. He calls His people to repentance and holds us accountable for our actions, but He is willing to forgive those who genuinely return to Him.
For us who believe in Yeshua, we know that forgiveness and reconciliation with God have been made possible through His Son. John writes:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
John describes God as “faithful and just,” which are the same characteristics that Moses emphasizes at the beginning of Ha’azinu when he says, “He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong.” The God whom Moses spoke about is the same God whom Hosea, Joel, and Micah called Israel to return to, and He is the same God whom we are called to return to today.
As we approach Yom Kippur, these readings should cause us to examine ourselves. Have we forgotten what God has done for us? Have we allowed something else to take His place in our lives? Are there things that we know we need to confess and turn away from? Are we honoring Him only with our words, or are we allowing Him to change the way we live?
Throughout these readings, we see the same call expressed in different ways. Moses tells us to remember who God is and what He has done. Hosea calls us to return to the LORD. Joel reminds us not to wait, but to return to Him with all our heart. Finally, Micah reminds us that God is compassionate and willing to forgive those who return to Him.
As we enter this time of repentance, may we not simply go through the motions or allow another Yom Kippur to pass without honestly examining our hearts before God. May we remember His faithfulness and all that He has done for us. May we also recognize the areas where we have allowed our hearts to wander and be willing to surrender those things to Him.
The LORD says through Joel, “Even now… return to Me with all your heart.” May we not wait for another time or another opportunity, but respond to His call now by returning to Him with sincere hearts and allowing Him to be at the center of our lives.
During these days leading to Yom Kippur, it is customary to say “G’mar Chatimah Tovah,” which means, “May you be sealed for a good year.” Personally, when I say these words to someone, my prayer goes beyond the traditional greeting. My desire is that their name will be eternally written in God’s Book of Remembrance through faith in His Son, Yeshua, whom He sent as the eternal offering for our sins and through whom we can truly return to Him.
Yeshua said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).Therefore, when I say “G’mar Chatimah Tovah,” it is not simply a wish for a good year ahead. It is my prayer that each of us will recognize our need for God’s forgiveness, receive the gift He has given us through His Son, and truly return to Him.
May we all have a G’mar Chatimah Tovah, and may our lives reflect a sincere return to the LORD.
Shabbat Shalom,
Moran