There’s an ancient story that the Romans required bridge builders to stand underneath their completed bridges when the supporting scaffolding was removed. The reason is obvious—it was an incentive for them to show that they had done the job correctly, that they had “skin in the game.” Otherwise there would be some consequences for them. It is clear that God has a lot of skin in the game in the story of our people.

This week’s portion opens with a legal code regarding the treatment of prisoners of war that can seem remote from life today, until we set it against the catalogue of wartime horrors compiled over the past century. Read against that record, the distance collapses.

As we remember our need for restoration during this season of reflection and repentance, we are thankful for the One who stands before God on our behalf. But can we also look beyond our own need for restoration and share in the burden that Messiah Yeshua carries for the restoration of all Israel?

Scripture reminds us that before we ever inherit anything from God, God chose us as his inheritance. He delights in his people. We are our beloved’s inheritance, and he is ours. The One who gives rest. The One who dwells among his people.

Our parasha includes a famous passage: “So you will eat and be full, and you will bless Adonai your God for the good land He has given you” (Deuteronomy 8:10). This verse displays a specific order: we are commanded to eat first, then be satisfied, and then bless the Lord for all the good land, Eretz Yisrael, He has bestowed upon us.

Tisha B’Av (July 22–23 this year) is a day of fasting on which we commemorate the destruction of the two Temples and many other calamities that have befallen our people over the centuries. I am sometimes asked why Messianic Jews should still observe this day since we have the risen Messiah.

Whatever our pasts, whether we leave the depths of Egypt or the heights of Mt. Sinai, we are offered a new beginning of our own – a chance to turn and get moving toward the future God has prepared for us.

The Torah restrains vengeance and establishes justice. The Prophets call Israel to embody righteousness with compassion. Messiah carries that same calling into the hidden places of the heart, where anger, pride, bitterness, and hatred first take root. God’s purpose has always been to form a people who bear his likeness.

As we see throughout our texts, zeal can take on a wide variety of forms. It does not mean one must go and pick up a spear . . . consult your local rabbi before doing this! Every moment of every day is a great moment to ask how we can take a stand for Hashem through our actions.

All of us would benefit from understanding the way Moses and the people employed negotiations during their journey across the land. Two different sections of land, two different communities, two different responses from the occupants of the land, and two very different outcomes.