Ekev - How to Walk With God
“You are to remember everything of the way in which Hashem led you these forty years in the desert, humbling and testing you in order to know what was in your heart — whether you would obey his mitzvot or not.” (Deuteronomy 8:2)
In Ekev, this week’s Torah portion, Moshe tells the people of Israel that the forty years of wandering in the wilderness wasn’t just a punishment. It was also a device God used to refine the people of Israel. God humbled them by teaching them to rely solely on God, When they were hungry, they could only rely on manna, when they were thirsty, they could only rely on the water God gave them.
The exile in the desert can relate to our current exile. Just as God used the forty years in the desert to give Israel an opportunity to repent for their mistakes, God is using this time to encourage us to turn to him and to test our hearts. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some people think of slowness; on the contrary, he is patient with you; for it is not his purpose that anyone should be destroyed, but that everyone should turn from his sins.” (2 Peter 3:9)
“He humbled you, allowing you to become hungry, and then fed you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had ever known, to make you understand that a person does not live on food alone but on everything that comes from the mouth of Hashem.” (Deuteronomy 8:3)
Moshe reminded the people of Israel that since leaving Egypt, God had provided them with everything they needed. Even their clothes and shoes had miraculously survived. It’s easy to assume that we need material things to survive, like food, water, and shelter, but we have to realize, God is the one that gives us these material things. As Yeshua said in Mathew chapter 6, verses 25 and 32:
“Therefore, I tell you, don’t worry about your life — what you will eat or drink; or about your body — what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?” Then he says in verse 32, “For it is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all.”
When you fix your attention on attaining material things, you will take up all of your time in getting those things. But when you realize that everything comes from God, and you fix your attention on serving God, and getting material things after, God will give you the things you need, without you having to chase after it.
In Deuteronomy 9:4 it says:
Don’t think to yourself, after your God has pushed them out ahead of you, ‘It is to reward my righteousness that Hashem has brought me in to take possession of this land.’ No, it is because these nations have been so wicked that Hashem is driving them out ahead of you.
We, the people of Israel, are supposed to be blessed above all the nations, but this doesn’t mean we deserve this blessing. Moshe warned the people of Israel specifically not to feel prideful about their success, because their success was a blessing from God, not something they earned. In order to prove this, he reminded them of all of the mistakes they’d made on the way to the promised land, the most memorable being the golden calf. Then, in Deuteronomy 9:5, Moshe says:
It is not because of your righteousness, or because your heart is so upright, that you go in to take possession of their land; but to punish the wickedness of these nations that Hashem your God is driving them out ahead of you, and also to confirm the word which Hashem swore to your ancestors, Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov.
It is easy for some people to believe that they deserve something because of how religious they are, or how generous they’ve been, but the truth is, God blesses people out of grace, not because they deserved it.
So now, Isra’el, all that Hashem your God asks from you is to fear Hashem your God, follow all his ways, love him and serve Hashem your God with all your heart and all your being; (Deuteronomy 10:12)
To walk in God’s ways means to follow the Torah. Yeshua walked in God’s ways so perfectly that in John 14:9 it says, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” A passage from the Talmud gives insight on how to walk in God’s ways:
And Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: What is the meaning of that which is written: “After the Lord your God shall you walk, and Him shall you fear, and His commandments shall you keep, and unto His voice shall you hearken, and Him shall you serve, and unto Him shall you cleave” (Deuteronomy 13:4)? But is it actually possible for a person to follow the Divine Presence? But hasn’t it already been stated: “For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24), and one cannot approach fire. He explains: Rather, the meaning is that one should follow the attributes of the Holy One, Blessed be He. He provides several examples. Just as He clothes the naked, as it is written: “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21), so too, should you clothe the naked. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, visits the sick, as it is written with regard to God’s appearing to Abraham following his circumcision: “And the Lord appeared unto him by the terebinths of Mamre” (Genesis 18:1), so too, should you visit the sick. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, consoles mourners, as it is written: “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son” (Genesis 25:11), so too, should you console mourners. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, buried the dead, as it is written: “And he was buried in the valley in the land of Moab” (Deuteronomy 34:6), so too, should you bury the dead. (b.Sotah 14a)
Just as the L-rd is called "merciful and gracious," you, too, be merciful and gracious, and give gratuitously to all. Just as the Holy One Blessed be He is called "righteous," viz. (Psalms 145:17) "Righteous is the L-rd in all His ways and saintly in all His acts" — you, too, be righteous. Just as the Holy One Blessed be He is called "saintly," — you, too, be saintly. (Sifrei, Deuteronomy 49)
Yeshua also exhorts us to walk as Hashem when he said in Matthew 5:48, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The parable that Yeshua said in Matthew 25:31-46 also echoes the words of our Talmudic Sages:
“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. “All the nations will be gathered before him; and he will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and he will put the sheep on his right, and the goats on the left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see you a stranger, and invite you in, or naked, and clothe you? ‘When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me.’
“Then he will also say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite me in; naked, and you did not clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me.’ “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ “Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
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