Rabbi’s Reflections – Saturday, June 1, 2024
Shabbat Shalom,
Day 35 of counting the Omer
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹֽמֶר
Baruch Atah Adonai Elohenu Melech Ha-Olam, Asher Kid’shanu B’mitzvotav, Vitzivanu Al Sefirat Ha-Omer.
Blessed are You O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by his commandments and commanded us about the counting of the Omer. Today is five weeks and no days of the counting of the Omer.
Follow up that prayer by remembering a blessing from the Lord and give Him thanks. Jonah 2:10 But I, with a voice of thanks will sacrifice to you. What I vowed, I will pay. Salvation is from Adonai.”
Sworn Chesed
By David Harwood
Adonai swore to do chesed-חֶסֶד to Israel. Let’s visit Deuteronomy 7:12
“Then it will happen, as a result of your listening to these ordinances, when you keep and do them, that Adonai your God will keep with you the covenant and the chesed-חֶסֶד that He swore to your fathers. (Deuteronomy 7:12 TLV)
He swore chesed-חֶסֶד to the Patriarchs. Not in so many words, but the promises and prophecies God gave illustrate chesed-חֶסֶד. The intervening mercy the Patriarchs experienced is also the expectation of their descendants. Moses said that God would guard (keep) the covenant and chesed-חֶסֶד He swore to Israel’s forefathers.
Commenting on this verse Keil and Delitzsch’s commentary states:
חֶסֶד was the favour displayed in the promises given to the patriarchs on oath
Displayed favor. I like that.
Earlier in these meditations we went through each time chesed-חֶסֶד was mentioned in Genesis. Usually, it was done between people. However, Adonai’s acts were described as chesed-חֶסֶד by Abraham’s servant when he went to get Isaac a wife. Jacob attributed his protection and prosperity to God’s chesed-חֶסֶד. But we don’t find God, Himself, taking an oath to show chesed-חֶסֶד. It was not in His words, it was in His actions we find chesed-חֶסֶד exemplified.
Chesed-חֶסֶד would be the result of the promises of blessing, descendants, and land. The Lord would keep His word.
Back to Deuteronomy 7:12…
Here’s a question: What was the content of these promises, this sworn chesed-חֶסֶד? What would be the result of this oath that Adonai would faithfully keep?
Here’s the description:
He will love you, bless you and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the produce of your soil, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that He swore to your fathers to give you.
From all peoples, you will be blessed—there will not be male or female barren among you or your livestock. Adonai will remove all sickness from you, and He will not inflict on you any of the terrible diseases of Egypt that you knew, but will inflict them on all who hate you. (Deuteronomy 7:13–15)
First of all, it is prophesied that Adonai would love them. Every aspect of the covenant and chesed-חֶסֶד God guards proceeds from this promise.
What He loves, He will bless.
He will bless His people and multiply them. He will also bless their children and resources. He will do that in a specific location: the land He swore to give to the Patriarchs’ descendants. Not only will He bless, but He will bless Israel in a way that sets them apart from the rest of the nations. All this has to do with multiplication, but blessing also looks like the removal of that which would weaken or destroy.
In these verses we see that there is often a close relationship between covenant and chesed-חֶסֶד. Practically every time we read of chesed-חֶסֶד it is within the framework of God’s relationship to the nation of Israel or individuals who were Israelis.
That is why throughout the Scriptures we continually read of chesed-חֶסֶד within the context of covenant relationships. That is where the misunderstanding occurs. Chesed-חֶסֶד is not the result of covenant. Covenant is generally initiated by love and chesed-חֶסֶד. However, a person can take an oath to show chesed-חֶסֶד.
Chesed-חֶסֶד is generally expressed within the framework of a loving relationship. It is often an act which is merciful, intervening on behalf of someone who needs help. It may also be revealed in freely blessing the objects of love beyond the recipients’ capacity to secure those blessings for themselves.
That is what we read in Deuteronomy 7:12-15.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
24 Iyar Shabbat 1-Jun-24 Parashat Bechukotai 35th day of the Omer
Leviticus 27:29-34 Jeremiah 16:19-17:14