Parashat Ki Tavo תבוא כי
Parashat Ki Tavo — תבוא כי
[When you enter in]
Torah: Deuteronomy 26:1–29:9
Haftarah: Isaiah 60:1–22
A Comparison between Moshe’s and Yeshua’s Blessings and Curses
General Overview
We arrive now to another major division in Deuteronomy, the section of the “Blessings and the Curses.” We remind the reader that the content of this section is in keeping with the standard covenantal format of the ancient second millennium BCE treaties/covenants. This is a critically important literary point. The very fact that the curses spoken of in this parasha have happened to Israel is not to be construed, as some do, that Israel is now accursed by God forever and that the Church has replaced Israel as the covenanted people of God. On the contrary, as the curses of the covenant have happened, that is ample evidence that it is still effectual! At the end of the curses, a re-gathering and revival is predicted (the next parasha!).
There are many parallels between the life and ministry of Moshe and Yeshua. Both, of course, were Torah teachers par excellence. As they taught the Torah, both of them saw a need to stress the blessings rewarded to those who follow the Torah and the woes promised to those who were unfaithful to the covenant.
Exposition
We thought it would be interesting to devote this week’s commentary to study one aspect of their similarities. Parashat Ki Tavo describes Moshe’s blessings and curses to Israel and Matthew chapters 5 and 23 reveal those of Yeshua to the same nation. The thrust of our comments in this parasha will be to compare both sets of blessings and curses. In doing so, we will follow this outline:
I. A Summary of Moshe’s Blessings and Curses
II. A Summary of Messiah's Blessings and Curses
III. A Comparison between Moshe’s and Yeshua’s Blessings and Curses
In this excerpt from Parashat Ki Tavo, we will focus on section III.
III. A Comparison between Moshe’s and Yeshua’s Blessings and Curses
Let us see if there is any comparison between the way Moshe blessed and warned his people and the way Messiah did the same to the same people, the children of Israel.
A. A Comparison Indeed!
The first thing to note is that there is, indeed, a comparison to make! Professor Lachs, an Orthodox Jewish scholar on the Renewed Testament, confirms this for us when he writes,
The arrangement of the Beatitudes in Luke in contrasting verses, i.e., 6:20–23 and 24-26 with the contrast of makarioi [Greek for blessing] and ouai [Greek for woe or curse] is reminiscent of several Biblical passages (cf. Deut. 27:1 ff. et al.).[i]
It is important to note this comparison. If the first Moshe saw fit to warn the Israelites of spiritual or physical benefit or harm, how much more should the One who is greater than Moshe, Yeshua, so teach His people.
B. To the Covenanted People
Secondly, both Moshe and Yeshua addressed the same people group — the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As such, they were then, addressing those who were part of a covenanted nation. This was especially evident in the days of Moshe. He spoke frequently of the covenant that God made with them.
However, it was not so evident by the time of Yeshua. It was a completely different historical context when Yeshua lived. The Romans ruled the Land. The nation was split, having experienced a great civil war after King Solomon died, centuries previously. There was a Diaspora, a destruction of the First Temple, an exile to Babylon, and a fracturing of the people within the Land. The people of Israel bore very little semblance to the covenanted nation that followed Moshe. Nevertheless, these were still the children of Jacob. God had never removed or revoked any of His covenants that He had made with them.
The very words “blessing” and “curse” (“woe”) were covenant words in the days of Moshe. When the people of Israel heard Moshe speak the blessings and the curses in Deuteronomy, they would have known that Moshe himself was not giving the blessings. God had already given these to Abraham. Moshe was merely telling them how to experience the fullest enjoyment of the Abrahamic blessings.
Likewise, when Moshe warned them, he was not indicating that if they did not obey God then God would no longer be their God and continue with the covenant. On the contrary, he was assuring them that if they did not follow the Torah, they would experience great trouble. All of the problems they would face would be continual reminders that God was keeping His covenant with them — He was acting just as He had promised, an indication that the covenant was still in force.
It was in the same vein that Yeshua spoke His blessings and curses. As we have indicated above, Yeshua promised blessings to those who would believe in Him through faith (just like the Abrahamic covenant). This was the essential thrust of Matthew 5:3–5. Beyond that, however, Yeshua guaranteed to the same covenanted people, the absolute enjoyment of their inheritance by their walk with Him and His Torah.
The same could be said of the curses, or woes. When Yeshua was pronouncing woes upon some segments of the Jewish society that existed in His day, He was not cursing the whole nation to an eternal damnation. He was doing two things. First, to those of the nation who rejected Him, thereby rejecting a personal relationship with God, Yeshua said essentially the same thing Moshe would have said to such members of the Israelite community — they would suffer eternal separation from God. An example of this would have been concerning those who participated in the worship of the Golden Calf or sided with Korach.
However, both Yeshua and Moshe had other kinds of warnings. Both of them also spoke to the true remnant of Israel, the true heirs of Abraham’s promises. Both teachers warned the remnant of the troubles they would face if the people did not walk according to the Covenant, the Torah. They would face untold problems, hardship, and heartache.
Therefore, in our opinion, we need to understand many of Yeshua’s blessings and curses in the same covenantal context as Moshe’s. We are not saying that these were still covenantal words in Yeshua’s day. We do not know whether they were or not. However, since both Moshe and Yeshua were teachers of the Torah to the same national people and mediators of covenants with the same, then it would only make sense that when Yeshua spoke by using such covenantal words, that He was using them the same way Moshe used them.
C. Israel and Israel
The above explanation sounds rather confusing. The key to understanding it lies in what Paul says in Romans 2:28–29, “A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly…No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly…” In other words, not all Israelites are Israelites. There is, and always has been, a remnant within the nation who are the genuine heirs of Abraham because they have received the promises of God through faith. To such, the blessings that God gave to him, (as a free gift) can be enjoyed through obedience.
To those who are part of the physical nation, but are not part of the spiritual remnant, the nature of the blessings and the curses changes slightly. When both Moshe and Yeshua pronounced blessing, it was to teach them that they were not to attempt to earn or merit their blessings. Rather, they were to come to God by faith and receive their portion of God’s promises, both spiritual and physical. When Moshe or Yeshua uttered the curses or woes, it was to wake up these unbelievers to their dead spiritual condition and move them to believe in God as God has directed.
1
[i]Samuel Tobias Lachs, A Rabbinic Commentary on the New Testament, 70.