Vezot Ha'Bracha - Yeshua in the Torah
In the Torah portion of Vezot Ha’Bracha, we learn about Moshe’s final words to the children of Israel. We learn about how Moshe blessed each of the tribes of Israel before he went up the mountain to find his final resting place. Moshe wrote the Torah before his death,and in it he describes the wondrous things that happened in his life and before he was born, going all the way back to the beginning of time. Moshe is a precursor to the Messiah, and the miracles he wrote about are precursors to the miracles that Messiah will perform in the end of times.
Before Moshe died, he called the people of Israel together, and gave each tribe a blessing, in the same way that Yitzchak and Ya’akov blessed their sons before they died. It says in Deuteronomy 33:1, “Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel before his death" (Deuteronomy 33:1). In imitation of Moshe and the patriarchs, the sages blessed their own disciples before dying. It says in the Talmud that when Yochanan ben Zakkai fell ill, his disciples came to him asking for his blessing. In this same way, Yeshua blessed his talmidim (disciples) on the night before his death and told them of the good things in the Messianic Era. He also blessed them when he ascended to heaven.
In the future, Yeshua will return to earth and perform miracles even greater than those of Moshe. It says in the Midrash Rabbah that the miracles that will occur in the Messianic Era will surpass even the miracles of Moshe’s time. The midrash lists ten amazing wonders that will occur in the future:
We find ten things which the Holy One, blessed be He, will make new in the age to come.
The first is that He will cause a light to shine on the whole world, for it says [in Isaiah 60:19, “No longer will you have the sun for light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give you light; but you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, and your God for your gloy.”
The second thing is that He will make living water flow out from Jerusalem which will heal the sick, as it says [in Ezekiel 47:9], "It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live ... for these waters go there and the others become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes."
The third is that He will cause trees to bear fruit every month, and when a man eats of their fruit he will be healed, for it says [in Ezekiel 47:12], "By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food ... They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing."
The fourth is that all the mined cities will be rebuilt so that there shall not be one desolate ruin left in the world. Even Sodom and Gomorrah will be rebuilt in the age to come, as it says [in Ezekiel 16:55], "Your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to their former state, and you with your daughters will also return to your former state."
The fifth is that He will rebuild Jerusalem with sapphire stones, as it says [in Isaiah 54:11], "Behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires." These precious stones will shine like the sun, and the nations will come and see the glory of Israel, as it is said [in Isaiah 60:3], "Nations shall come to your light."23
The sixth is that "the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox" (Isaiah 11:7).
The seventh is that He will call all the wild creatures, birds and creeping things and make a covenant with them and with all Israel, for it says [in Hosea 2:18], "In that day 1 will also make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds of the sky and the creeping things of the ground:24
The eighth is that there will be no more weeping or crying in the world, for it says [in Isaiah 65:191, "And there will no longer be heard in her, the voice of weeping and the sound of crying."25
The ninth is that there will be no more death in the world, for it says [in Isaiah 25:8], "He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people."26
The tenth is that there will no longer be any sighing, crying or sorrow, but that all will be rejoicing, for it says [in Isaiah 35:10], "And the ransomed of the LORD will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away."27 (Exodus Rabbah 15:21)
Before his death, Moshe wrote the Torah. The Torah ties together the entire Bible, from the very beginning to the very end, the Torah is the part that gets reflected upon and is the foundation for every book that comes after it. We can sum up the entire Bible in five simple words: "The LORD reveals His Glory." These five words can also describe Yeshua our Messiah, of whom it is written, in John 1:14, "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." In the Messianic Era, we will be graced by the presence of Messiah, and the Glory of God will be revealed once again. In that day, no one will have to teach his neighbor about God, because all will know him. Isaiah 11:9 says that In that day, "The earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea."
Maimonides says in the Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim 12:4:
“And in that time there will no longer be famine or war, not even jealousy or competition. Instead, goodness will spread over everything. And all life's delights will be as common as dust. And the whole world will have no other occupation but only to know the LORD. And therefore the people of Israel will be renowned as great sages, as knowers of secret things, and they will attain a knowledge of their Creator to the full extent that human capacity allows, as it is written [in Isaiah 11:9], ‘For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.’”
In Vezot Ha’Bracha we learn about the death of Moshe, and how his final words and writings point towards the future. We learn how the Torah, Moshe’s final work, is a revelation of the Glory of God, and how that same Glory will be revealed again in the Messianic Era.
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