Repeat That

Parashat Devarim, Deuteronomy 1:1–3:22

Rabbi Aaron Allsbrook, Ohev Yisrael, Springfield, VA

Many of us who are parents know that we have to repeat things a lot. This is summed up well in the all-too-familiar question, “How many times have I told you that?!” It seems like every time you say it is the first time you’re saying it. It can become very frustrating and make you feel like your children aren’t listening. Then there’s the follow up question, “How many times do I have to say this until you get it?!”

Well, the fact of the matter is, we have to say things a lot, and we have to keep saying them, and this is not something new to us. This has been a struggle since the beginning of the Jewish people. Moses knew this very well, as did God (and still does). The very book we begin this week is called—in the transliteration of its Greek name—Deuteronomy, meaning, “repetition of the Torah.” Moses gives a holistic recall of all that Israel has endured from leaving Egypt to standing at the threshold of the land of Canaan, the land of promise. He repeats what they’ve been through and what they’ve been taught, so that when they do enter, they will know how they got there, who got them there, and how they’re to live once they’re in there. He repeats all of it because it’s really important.

The fact is that we all repeat things that are really important. Think of actors or musicians: how many times must they repeat their lines or their music so they not only know them by heart, but know what they mean, how to interpret them, how to make them their own? Repetition is a good thing, a necessary thing. Repetition can also offer security, solidity, confidence. How many times must an athlete perform certain movements, certain plays—the fundamentals? John Wooden, the famed UCLA basketball coach, said, “I believe in learning by repetition to the point that everything becomes automatic.” He certainly knew what he was talking about. He did win ten NCAA championships along with boasting of four perfect seasons. Repetition is a good thing.

What happens if we don’t repeat, if we ignore repetition? Well, let’s turn to the biblical text. Moses recalls to the people how, when they came to Kadesh-Barnea, the people wanted to send in spies to check out the land they were about to inhabit. Moses had no problem with that, so he complied. When these spies came back, they reported just how big the people were, how big the cities were, even how big the fruit was! The people, however, did not respond well. Moses recalls,  

Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of Adonai your God. In your tents you grumbled and said: “Because Adonai hates us, He has brought us out from the land of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites, to destroy us! Where are we going? Our brothers have discouraged our hearts saying, ‘The people are greater and taller than we are! The cities are great and fortified up to the heavens! Besides, we have even seen the children of Anakim there!’” (Deut 1:26–28)

 Moses is frustrated and responds,

Then I said to you, “Don’t tremble or be afraid of them. Adonai your God, who goes before you, He Himself will fight for you—just as He did for you in Egypt before your own eyes, and in the wilderness, where you saw how Adonai your God carried you as a man carries his son, everywhere you went until you came to this place.” Yet for all this you did not trust in Adonai your God—the One who goes before you on the way to scout out a place for you to camp and to show you the way you should go, in fire by night and in the cloud by day. (Deut 1:29–33)

In other words, he said to them, “Had you repeated to yourself what God has already done for us, you would know that this is not going to be a problem!” The people needed some repetition in their lives.

Moses recalls when Israel was about to engage in war against King Og of Bashan. This guy was huge, even bigger than Goliath! In the natural, the people surely had something to fear. Through repetition, however, God encouraged the people through Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have handed him over and all his people and his land. You will do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon” (Deut 3:2). King Sihon was no joke, and King Og was something even greater, yet God had proved that, through him, the people could overcome.

Now, standing at the River Jordan, ready to enter the land of promise for which they’ve endured 40 years in the wilderness, the people hear Moses repeat to Joshua virtually the same thing God had said to him: “Your eyes have seen all that Adonai your God has done to these two kings. Adonai will do the same to all the kingdoms you are about to cross into. You must not fear them, for it is Adonai your God who fights for you” (Deut 3:21–22). Moses learned the lesson of repetition and taught it to Joshua. This empowered Joshua in faith to overcome an enemy that once frightened an entire nation.

The fact of the matter is that we all need repetition. We constantly need to be reminded me of what God has done, which is a lot! We live in a world where everything is transient, everything is changing; old is bad, new is good. While innovation and change have their value, the historical faithfulness of God is what anchors us in the storm.

We certainly do live in a tumultuous time, so it is incumbent upon us to repeat to ourselves what God has done to our people, what he has done for us as individuals, and how he took his Son out of the grave, which brings us to the ultimate statement of Messiah we need to repeat, “In the world [we] will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33). Just as God encouraged Moses and Joshua by repeating what he had done to kings greater than they, Yeshua encourages us that he has indeed overcome all things on this earth; therefore, we too can overcome. I’ll repeat that, he overcame, so we can overcome!         

All Scripture references are from the Tree of Life Version (TLV).