Va’etchanan – ואתחנן : “And I besought”
Torah : Deuteronomy 3:23–7:11
Haftarah : Isaiah 40:1–26
Gospel : Acts 3-5

Thought for the Week:

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)

Commentary:

In the recitation of the Shema (Hear O Israel), the Torah speak in the future tense when it says, “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:6). This means that we are to endeavor to keep the commandments by placing them on our hearts, but it could also be read to imply an assurance of the future. Jeremiah 31:33 promises that in the new covenant, God will write his Torah upon our hearts. He says, “I will put My Torah within them and on their heart I will write it” (Jeremiah 31:33). This means that God will actually change our nature, circu...