HaShem’s Timing

Devarim {1:29} Then I said to you, Do not dread, neither be afraid of them. {1:30} HaShem your G-D who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Mizrayim (Egypt) before your eyes, {1:31} and in the wilderness, where you have seen how that HaShem your G-D bore you, as an ish (man) does bear his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place. {1:32} Yet in this thing you did not trust HaShem your G-D, {1:33} who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day. {1:34} HaShem heard the voice of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying, {1:35} Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the good land, which I swore to give to your avot (fathers), {1:36} save Calev the ben (son of) Yephunneh: he shall see it; and to him will I give the land that he has trodden on, and to his children, because he has wholly followed HaShem. {1:37} Also HaShem was angry with me for your sakes, saying, You also shall not go in there: {1:38} Yehoshua (Joshua) the ben Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there: encourage you him; for he shall cause Yisrael to inherit it. {1:39} Moreover your little ones, whom you said should be a prey, and your children, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there, and to them will I give it, and they shall possess it. {1:40} But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea. {1:41} Then you answered and said to me, We have sinned against HaShem, we will go up and fight, according to all that HaShem our G-D commanded us. You girded on every ish his weapons of war, and were forward to go up into the hill-country. {1:42} HaShem said to me, Tell them, “Do not go up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest you be struck before your enemies.” {1:43} So I spoke to you, and you did not listen; but you rebelled against the Mitzvah (command) of HaShem, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill-country. {1:44} The Amorites, who lived in that hill-country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah.

There is a lesson to be learned in every paragraph of Scripture. And this section of Parsha Devarim is no exception. What is it that we can learn here?

In this Parsha, Moshe (Moses) is recounting to the new generation of bnei Yisrael (children of Israel), a generation now poised to attack the Canaanites, about their fathers’ refusal to enter the land of promise. He is telling them that they had believed the evil report of the ten spies and as a result it caused them to fear. He goes on to say that after the fact, after they had already turned HaShem down and rebelled against Him by not entering the land, they changed their minds and then decide to go up and fight against HaShem’s enemy. They did this he goes on to say despite the fact that HaShem had now warned them, through him, not to go up and fight with them. If they did HaShem would not be with them therefore they would be defeated. In other words they had missed their window of opportunity, it was now too late!

Moshe had been a faithful teacher; he had properly instructed bnei Yisrael in the Mitzvot (commandments) for the past forty years. Not only that, they had witnesses with their own eyes the curses of disobedience and the blessings of obedience. Take note of the exact devarim Moshe uses in speaking to them. First, I would like you to note that he is speaking to a new generation, a generation that was not involved in the decision making at that time, yet he is speaking to them in the first person.

Devarim {1:32} Yet in this thing you didn't trust HaShem your G-D.

This I believe is very significant, because what HaShem is telling us here is that these devarim are for all generations of all times to hear. Moshe was not speaking to any particular generation of any particular time. Yes this generation’s lack of trust, thousands of years ago, even speaks to you this very day. You see when bnei Yisrael finally made up their minds to trust HaShem and do what He said, it was too late, they missed the moment, they failed the test and instead of blessings they received curses.

It was not like this past generation of bnei Yisrael, now all dead and buried in the wilderness, was new and inexperienced believers. They were saved by the blood, went through an exhaustive process of sanctification, and saw more signs, wonders and miracles in a year, than you will ever see in a lifetime. Bnei Yisrael had no reason not to trust HaShem, not to believe their teacher Moshe. Yet they did not trust and it resulted in them missing an opportunity of blessing. What can we learn from bnei Yisrael’s experience?

How long have you been a believer? How long have you been following HaShem? The fact is it does not matter! You too have been saved by the blood and have experienced the sanctification process, that is, I am sure you are not the same person today that you were when you first came to know Yeshua as your Mashiach (Messiah). You also I am sure, have experienced miracles in your life, even though they may be nothing like bnei Yisrael experienced. Your salvation alone was a miracle! In addition, for those who have been following the d’var Torah’s I have been writing over the past three years and reading the articles on our web site and of course actively participating in your congregation, then you have no excuse not to trust HaShem. Yet many of you when HaShem speaks to you, either through me or through his word and He instructs you to do something, you do not trust, you do not do it, you miss the moment, you miss HaShem’s timing. G-d will not wait for you! Sure He is longsuffering, patient and merciful but He also has his timing. HaShem does not work on your timetable. You must be ready, when He gives instructions, to immediately act upon them, otherwise instead of a blessing you might find yourself ending up with a curse.

Timing is everything, in life, in business and with HaShem. You have everything you need to trust, do not miss the call.

Rabbi Jack "Yaacov" Farber is the spiritual leader of Congregation Melech Yisrael in Toronto, Canada.

Copyright 2004