Eikev

1. Eikev
Introduction
Let’s keep in mind that we’ve encountered in our earlier study much of what
Moses is telling the people in this book. So, we want to look here at a) why
Moses brings these matters up again and in the orderhe does, b) how
what he says differs in detail from what we’ve already read, and c) the
ways in which the narrative is important to listeners (including us!) who did
not live through the events and lessons that Moses is discussing. Having
our antennae up on all this will help us better understand what’s being said
and why, and what it may mean for us.
I. Read 7:12-13.We saw this idea at the end of Vayikra. Indeed it was a
major element of the sermon that Mark and Sandy co-delivered at
worship services that day. So, it’s not something we have had a chance

2. to discuss in class. Let’s do so today. Is this covenant promise of
blessing upon living as God expects one that manifests itself in physical
and material ways, as the language suggests on the surface? Or is this
about a deeperor spiritual sort of blessing, a richness of contentment
and shalom, if you will? Or perhaps both?
(This should be a good opportunity for the class to get into a good
discussionof different views here. Mark and I left it that it mostly seems
true at the deeperspiritual level, where the gift of God’s blessing actually
seems mostvaluable. That is to say, what material gift, whether wealth or
length of days, is of greater value than the gift of contentment and God’s
nearness and presence? This is fundamentally the meaning of being
blessed.
Yet, there seems to be some truth intended at the material level. What is it?
Is it that if we live according to God’s wisdom, say, in sync with these
instructions (such as those in Proverbs),we might be inclined to share in
these blessings?Or at least be more content with what we have?
But, yet again, aren’t there very good and Godly people who die young or
are without resources?How do we square that? We see a mighty struggle

3. with this in Job and some of the Psalms where the “quid pro quo” notion we
see here seems far less clear.
Or is it that this text does not purport to speak for each and every human
circumstance, but rather more broadly about the consequencesfora
community that is true versus one that is wicked?
Or, perhaps, more deeply, does this text address only, or mostly, a narrow
and specific range of life’s circumstances? Maimonides teaches in this way:
there are several causes of suffering - natural, social, and those brought on
by our own doing (wrongdoing). The Bible is addressing only the latter
cause here in that these chastisements are not related to, nor amount to a
response to, the other causes. Indeed, one must be careful in seeing, and
indeed avoid too easily seeing, God’s chastisement in human suffering. For
one might be wrong far more often than one is right.
This is one of the toughest sets of issues in the Bible; so, I’m glad the class
is in Mike’s capable hands, and I’m safely in Colorado!)

4. II. Read 8:3. We’ve seen this verse many times before and likely heard it in
many a sermon. The sense has clearly evolved from Exodus where it
seemed to be simply a miracle of food.Do you see a fresh meaning upon a
close read?
(One shouldn’t go too far in concluding that food is no longer necessaryfor
sustenance or that the material no longer matters. Yet, we do go to the
fundamental idea here that basically it is God that sustains us, in whatever
means the Divine chooses.
Consistent with the theme in the book, we live and flourish because of
God’s word. In other words, the type of food through which we are
nourished is really the outer layerof the story. The deeperlayer is that our
lives and souls are in God’s care.)

5. III.A. 8:12-20.A. What do we find here, and why is it emphasized?
(We’ve studied this idea before as well - that we must always understand
that our well being and success are not due principally to our own doing,
and, more precisely, that our heart should not grow so haughty that we
forgetthat God’s saving hand is why we make it to and flourish in the land.)
B. Yet, why is Moses emphasizing this teaching here?
(Surely, he has the view that this bloated sense of self - this human
tendency to self-adulation, virtually a worship of the self - is a dangerous
form of idolatry that is responsibleformany of the ways we stray. He’s
seen it on the journey as one of the greatest flaws in the people,a source
of huge danger, and something that must be understood and strongly
resisted by the people in the land.)

6. C. Let’s look back and read the verse that precedes what we just read -
verse 10. This has becomethe basis for the Jewish practice of saying a
blessing after the meal (in addition to the short blessings beforehand).
Given what we’ve just discussed, why does mention of this blessing come
just before the teaching we just discussed?
(Perhaps it’s after we’re sated when we feel least dependent, more assured
of our own satisfied needs, that gratitude to God is most in order. Wouldn’t
it be then that we might most want to rememberthat God is the source of
our sustenance, just as we might want to be sure to be grateful as we see
our abundance laid out before us.)
IV. Read 9:7. A. Here begins a long account of the many ways the people
strayed, beginning with what must have seemed to Moses in retrospect the
most stunning and disappointing - the making and worship of the golden
calf. Why the lengthy treatment of this waywardness at this point in the
narrations?

7. (This generation cannot lose knowledge of this, nor can any subsequent
one. We have the instinct ourselves to stray. When acted upon, it was and
always will be destructive, not only of us and our community, but also of our
relationship with God and our presence in the land of promise.
Yet, they (we) must be on guard and vigilant, beyond being merely
knowledgeable.
Like a caring parent and teacher, Moses has the greatest anxiety about this
risk for the people;so he warns about its degree of seriousnessand lays
the foundation for teaching about how to avoid it in the future.)

8. V. Read 10:12-13.What does God require of the people?
(In answering, keep in mind Micah 6:8 - What does the Lord require of you?
To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. These are
very similar in that both involve walking in God’s ways. Micah emphasizes
justice and mercy, which could be seen as his basic sense of what keeping
the mitzvoth entail. Moses emphasizes love of God as well as awe, which
Micah could mean by walking humbly with God. Moses uses a verb
meaning “asks,” and Micah uses a verb meaning “requires.” Is there a
differencehere, in that one suggests more of a matter of choice, and one
connotes being commanded?
Other thoughts about why Moses comes to this language here?
Moses clearly wants to keep returning to theme of what it means to live in
covenant with God. This is a guide to blessed living and an antidote to
rebellion and apostasy. This is his basic purpose in the orations: his plea to
the people to be true and show fidelity to God as they enter and live in the
land. These short accounts of what’s required are memorable and give the
listener a good benchmark against which to plan and act in life.)

9. VI. Read verses 16-19.What does it mean to cut away the thickening about
one’s heart? How actually do we thicken our hearts, and what’s wrong with
it?
(Isn’t this pride, self-centeredness, stubbornness, acting like all good things
are a result of our own doing, a selfishnessto the requirements and needs
of God and each other, an imperviousness to God’s call to us, a dullness to
the spirit, a blocking of the heart to God’s wisdom and teaching, etc. These
verses teach us that we must unblock obstructions we’ve allowed to build
up to a sensitivity to God’s concerns, such as the Divine interest in the
fatherless, the widow, and the stranger, as well as in fair play, especiallyin
judging.)

10. VII.A. We will not stop at 11:1, but note that Moses repeats the paramount
virtue of loving God and staying true to God’s ways. This is said again not
because it’s new, but rather because it’s so crucial it bears repeating.
Likewise, we won’t review 8-17, which emphasize and describeonce again
the wonderful land of promise into which we will enter in covenant with
God, the obligations we bear there and the consequences forus if we
neglect our obligations. I encourage your reflectionon what this means at
its deepest level, what this land is in all of its dimensions, why Moses
discussesit yet again, and what it meant to his listeners as well as to us.
B. In that vein, let’s read verses 11-12.This is a good occasionto share
further ideas on what is meant by the promised land. Thoughts?
(Note and reflect upon what the text means as to the “strength” needed to
“possess”the land and “endure.” And always keep in mind that this is land
looked after by God.“From the rain of the heavens you will drink water - a

11. land that the Lord your God seeks out perpetually, the eyes of the Lord
your God are upon it from the year’s beginning to the year’s end.”
First, what do we associate, at least in part, with water? The spiritual level
of reality, no?
Second,while we must always acknowledge the physical level at which this
operates, we must also search for the truths through which it operates
within the spirit. One could make much of this text by simply exploring it
deeplyas the land of living within the spirit and expectations of God.)
VIII.Let’s read verses 18-21.This is a piece of liturgy that is an important
part of Jewish worship. We’ve discussedit before, and, while we should
appreciate all the elements of these lovely and powerful verses, let’s look
specificallyat the words in 21 that promise length of days in the land. The
text goes even further to elaborate that these will be like days “of heaven
on earth.” What does that mean?

12. (Lots of possibilities. If we live as God expects, life here has a touch of
heaven to it. This could suggest a path from earthly life to heaven. Or it
could be translated as if to say in a somewhat different vein that living this
life has the blessing of heaven and is a promise that will be fulfilled so long
as there is a heaven, in other words, forever.)
I
X. Conclusion. Read verse 22. We’ve talked about following the mitzvoth;
we’ve talked about loving God; and we’ve talked about walking in God’s
ways. Now we get an additional notion, some say of cleaving in them, or
better, cleaving unto God. If translated that way, what does this mean?
(Ramban says it means to rememberGod’s ways and love always, so as to
never separate oneself from Him in any phase of living. It’s certainly worth
our while to strive in this direction, to where one’s soul “shall be bound in
the bundle of life,” where one’s being becomes“a residence forthe Divine
Glory.” Ramban speaks spatially, which leads us to this wisdom: we go into
a land designated for us by God to make it and ourselves “a residence for
Divine Glory.)

13. Next week: The foundation of the teaching is now laid. Moses is ready to
open the eyes of the people (and us, too) to see how to live as God
expects. You can’t miss that! See you next Sunday.