Parshas Eikev: Expect Miracles!

Moses finishes reviewing events of the last 40 years in this week's powerful Torah portion, Eikev: Devarim (Deuteronomy) 7:12 - 11:25.  In Eikev, God promises His loving protection. He promises his blessings for high birthrates, Jewish prosperity and safety. In return, God requires that the Israelites fulfill His vision of a Heaven on earth by showing mercy as He shows mercy, by being kind as He is kind, to love Him and to serve Him completely and unconditionally, and for their own benefit to keep His laws and commandments.

Moses reminds the people of all the times in the past 40 years when he intervened on their behalf to soften God's wrath over egregious offenses to His authority and assistance. He warns them that in the future he will not be there to plead for them when they abandon Torah and morality. 

He foresees them reverting to intellectual pride, self reliance in battle, secular humanism, materialism, ingratitude and wickedness. He tells them of the dire consequences and advises them to take responsibility for their waywardness.  Only repentance will save their nation.

Our Haftarah this week, Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 49:14 - 51:3, describes a time in Jewish history when the people of Zion accuse God of abandoning them to obliteration by foreign powers. The prophet explains that the people under the rule of King Ahaz abandoned God by dispensing with virtue, thereby causing their own misery. As a result, his son, Hezekiah, inherits serious religious, cultural, and international problems.

To resolve border disputes, he asserts national independence and provokes an Assyrian siege of Jerusalem. Isaiah encourages King Hezekiah to repent for his nation's adoption of idol worship and child sacrifice. The King does, and the siege of Jerusalem ends miraculously with an overnight catastrophic death event of Assyrian forces surrounding the city.

It's worth mentioning that in chapter 49 verses 1 and 5, Isaiah establishes his prophetic credibility by attributing his formation in the womb to God’s design and intention. Thank you, Isaiah!

40:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! Pay attention, you people from far away! The Lord called me from the womb; while I was still in my mother’s body, he pronounced my name.

49.5 And now, the Lord, Who formed me from the womb as a servant to Him, said to bring Jacob back to Him, and Israel shall be gathered to Him, and I will be honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God was my strength.

Modern cultures that replace morality with depravity face serious trouble. Because every human being has intrinsic worth and a God given destiny, nations that legalize killing children in the womb face really serious trouble. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, over the past 30 years, more than 60 countries and territories have liberalized their abortion laws. 

Only four countries have limited abortion in the recent past: The United States (where the number of abortions is rising despite limits in some states), Nicaragua, Poland and El Salvador. In these countries, pro abortion legal activists continue efforts to overturn abortion bans.  

According to Moses, the remedy is clear. Acknowledge that our situational ethics and virtue signaling cause our own misery. Repent. Embrace a new ethos by showing mercy as God shows mercy, a mercy that saves innocent babies in the womb; by being kind as God is kind, a kindness that gently cares for the baby in the womb; by loving God and serving Him completely and unconditionally, and for our own benefit, keep His laws and commandments.

In Isaiah 51:1-3 of our Haftorah portion this week. the prophet echos future  promised blessings that Moses promised 700 years earlier. Hearken to Me, you pursuers of righteousness, you seekers of the Lord; look at the rock whence you were hewn and at the hole of the pit whence you were dug. Look at Abraham your father and at Sarah who bore you, for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him and made him many. For the Lord shall console Zion, He shall console all its ruins, and He shall make its desert like a paradise and its wasteland like the garden of the Lord; joy and happiness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and a voice of song.

Please share this post on your social media to amplify our message in this troubled world. Thank you.

Cecily Routman 

May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.

Cecily Routman is the founder and president of the Jewish Pro-Life Foundation. She opposes abortion homicide in general and among Jews in particular and laments secular policy making in Israel that results in loss of Jewish life and delays the messianic redemption. She envisions a Torah based holy Land of Israel and a world that respects the life of every human being from conception.