Imagine life’s journey as a cable car. We are trams, and what we ultimately depend on in life is the cable. Moshe (Moses) in the Torah reading ואתחנן Va’etchanan (“and I pleaded,” Deut. 3:23–7:11) appealed to the second generation post-Exodus to remember the One Who carried them patiently from their life in bondage to freedom. Moshe called born-again Israel to forsake all the pretender gods of the Promised Land, to learn the love the LORD has for them and to leave a legacy so their descendants will turn back from foolishness apart from God — even enslaved again in exile.

This same message of faith, grace and mercy communicated through the Torah is what Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ) proclaim with power and bring to ultimate reality.

The inspiration for this modern parable of life’s journey into the Kingdom of Heaven for ancient Israel and us today is the Anberlin song “The Unwinding Cable Car,” with the cable as a metaphor for the stability of God and His Mashiakh (Christ) as Savior.

Big picture of  Va’et’chanan

* As we saw through the travelogue of post-Mitzraim stops in Matot/Massei (Numbers 33):

* Remember where we came from and where we’re going.

* Remember why we left our way of life outside the Kingdom.

* Remember Who took us out of the house of bondage and Who takes us into the Kingdom of God.

* Cling to the LORD with all our hearts, lives and resources.

* Pass on the importance of this connection to the Creator (Deuteronomy 6).

* Remember what it means to be a holy people, how that happens and why (Deuteronomy 7:1–11).

Isaiah 40:1-26:  Shabbat Nachamu

This is called Shabbat Nachamu, and the haftarah (parallel) reading for today is in Isaiah 40:1-26. In English, it is called the “Sabbath of comforting.” It is the first of seven parallel readings on comfort traditionally read leading up to Yom Teruah (Rosh haShanah).

Isaiah speaks these words of comfort to the children of Israel in a time of exile. Those who paid attention to the words of the Lord knew that such a thing was coming and were not caught off guard by the impending exile. 

‘Speak kindly to Jerusalem’ (Isaiah 40:2)

I like this because God is speaking to the לב lev (“heart”) of the people.

Imagine what these words would have felt like to a people

who thought they were forgotten and forsaken by God?

It goes on to say,  “her warfare [צבא tzevah, or ‘hard service’] has ended” and the LORD’s discipline that resulted in exiles has ended and “her iniquity has been removed [רצה retzah, ‘propitiated’ (HALOT lexicon)].”

This is a foretaste of the work of the LORD’s ultimate Comforters (John 14:15–17). Helper (NASB) is translated from παράκλητος parakletos, a translation for מְנַחֲמִים Menakhamim in the Septuagint (LXX).

The Lord is not leaving the people of Israel high and dry. So just as you saw before the picture of people in exile, they aren’t going to be left without support.

‘Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness’ (Isaiah 40:3)

This is another prophecy of the coming Menakhem of Heaven, fulfilled in the Mashiakh’s herald, Yokhanan (Matt. 3:1–12), and this quote from Isaiah 40:3 is actually included in all four gospels, which is unusual. Very few stories are included in all four gospels.

Access to the Kingdom of Heaven is not given to us as an inheritance from our parents or grandparents but it is give to us by God Himself as we are in communion and fellowship with Him. 

‘Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD’ (Isaiah 40:13–14)

We see another prophecy of the Messianic era in the role...