PARASHAT HA’AZINU (LISTEN)
DEVARIM (DEUTERONOMY) 32:1–52
Our weekly portion opens with the word, “הַאֲזִ֥ינוּ” “ha’azinu”, which means “listen or give ear to”. This is a word that I believe we need to pay close attention to, especially in the following verse:
Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak; and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
Deuteronomy 32:1
As I was reading the verse above, I thought of the first verse of the Bible,
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
We can understand from these two verses that God wants His entire creation to pay close attention to what He says, especially since Yeshua is the Word made flesh.
In my previous two blogs on this parasha, Parashat Ha’azinu (Listen) and Parashat Ha’azinu (Listen) I wrote more on the latter part of the chapter, but in this blog I would like to pay closer attention to the first verse. As I wrote, in the first verse, God speaks to His creation. This is found in other places in God’s Word. For instance:
Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; for the LORD speaks, “Sons I have reared and brought up, but they have revolted against Me.”
Isaiah 1:2
Hear, O peoples, all of you; listen, O earth and all it contains, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, The Lord from His holy temple.
Micah 1:2
Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their plans, because they have not listened to My words, and as for My law, they have rejected it also.
Jeremiah 6:19
In each one of the examples above, we see that the portion of Scripture refers to God’s judgment against His people for their disobedience. He proclaims a warning, which many in the believing world seem to think only refers to Israel. However, I believe that we as His followers — both Jew and Gentile — ought to pay close attention to these warnings. Yes, we are saved by grace and grace alone, but once we are saved, we are new creations living by the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, leading us in the LORD’s ways… we have no excuses to live in disobedience!
With that said, it is important to note that when we read the entire books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Micah in context, we see that these Scriptures ultimately point to the Messiah as our only hope to be saved from the wrath of God. They also show that God’s faithfulness and grace toward Israel is endless and that there will be a point when all of Israel will receive the New Covenant that God made with them through Yeshua as their Messiah!
God’s blessings always come with warnings to walk steadfast in Him; there is no such thing as cheap grace. Our redemption through Messiah Yeshua came at a heavy price and we would do well to not take it lightly.
Are you heeding the LORD’s warnings in your walk with Him? He loves you and seeks to bless you; please do not take His grace in vain.
This article originally appeared on Hope for Israel and is reposted with permission.