August 16, 2025: Torah Portion Parashat Eikev - "On The Heel Of, Because"
- Front Lines
- Aug 16
- 10 min read
In this study, we will explore the Torah Portion Eikev - "On The Heel Of, Because"
Torah Portion: Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25
Haftarah: Isaiah 49:14-51:3
Brit Chadashah (New Testament): Hebrews 11:8-13; Romans 8:31-39
📜Torah Portion Eikev - "On The Heel Of, Because"
In Parashat Eikev, Moses continues his final speech to the Israelites just before they entered in to the Promised Land.
It begins:
"And it will be (v'haya) because (eikev) you heed these judgments, and guard and do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers." Deuteronomy 7:12
In other words, as long as the Israelites obey the commandments of the Torah, they will prosper in the land they are about to conquer, just as the LORD promised to their forefathers.
Eikev comes from the root word akav: to "take by the heel", as does the name Ya'akov (Jacob), who had "grabbed the heel" of his twin brother Esau while still in the womb of Rebekah.
Ya'akov was later renamed Israel in commemoration of his struggle with MALACH ADONAI (the Angel of YHVH) at Peniel. The LORD then declared to him,
"Your name shall no longer be Ya'akov ("supplanter") but Yisrael ("Israel"), for as a prince (sar) you have struggled with GOD and with men and have prevailed."
Genesis 32:28
The first occurrence of the root word appears in Genesis 3:15, where the LORD prophesied that even though MESSIAH's heel would be bruised, the very head (rosh) of the nachash (serpent) would be crushed. HalelluYah!! YESHUA is our serpent slayer!
In this parashah, the nation of Israel is called to grapple with the mitzvot (commandments) and to perform them diligently, lest they themselves be supplanted from the land.
The parashah begins with the call to listen (shema) and guard (shomer) the judgments (mishpatim) given in the Torah. As a reward, the LORD will likewise guard (shomer) the covenant (ha-brit) and loving-kindness (chesed) that the LORD gave to our fathers; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Obedience to the commandments will yield blessings: plentiful children, harvests, livestock, and other material blessings in the land.
Indeed, the Israelites would be "blessed above all peoples," free of every type of sickness, living in victory in the Promised Land:
"You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor will any of your livestock be without young." Deuteronomy 7:14
But the Israelites were not to live in fear, especially of the seven nations of the land of Canaan. Instead they were to exercise faith, recalling what the LORD did to Pharaoh in Egypt, and Who delivered the people:
"So will the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid" Deuteronomy 7:18
"You shall not be in dread of them, for the LORD your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God." Deuteronomy 7:21
The people were to have no tolerance for idols of any kind. They were to "devote them to utter destruction", burning them with fire and eradicating them from the land. The gold and/or silver used for the idols were also not to be used for anything "lest it become a snare" but was to be considered an abomination.
Remembering God's Care:
Moses continued his speech by reminding the Israelites how the LORD had taken care of them throughout their wandering in the desert. For nearly 40 years, the LORD humbled the people, feeding them with manna and giving them water from the miraculous Rock:
"And all drank the same spiritual drink—for they were drinking from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the Rock was MESSIAH." 1 Corinthians 10:4
Even the Shechinah glory miraculously kept their clothes fresh! Moses said that the LORD did this in order to teach the people to rely on Him alone to meet all their needs. The hardships there had disciplined them to learn that "man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD." Deuteronomy 8:3
YESHUA used this very verse when He was lead by the RUACH Ha'KODESH (Holy Spirit) for 40 days and nights into the wilderness, thereby rebuffing the temptations of the devil (Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4)!
And now the Promised Land lay before the people, a land famous for bikkurim (fruits) referred to as shivat ha-minim, the seven species of crops native to the land of Canaan, namely: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates or honey made from dates (Deuteronomy 8:8).
As long as the people of Israel would trust in ADONAI as evidenced by obeying His voice, He would give them this good land and continue to care for them, just as He did in the desert.
Note that the obligation to bless the LORD after eating comes from the verse, "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
For this reason, the Birkat Hamazon (grace after meals) is recited after the meal has been eaten.
However, all this blessedness would come through only in walking by faith. Moses warned the people not to forget the LORD by ignoring His commandments (mitzvot) and His judgments (mishpatim) and His statutes, especially after they had settled the land and become prosperous.
If the people forgot their supernatural deliverance and origin, turning to idols or believing that their own ingenuity gave them their wealth, they would soon perish from the land, just like the seven Canaanite nations before them.
The Warning against Pride:
Moses then reminded Israel that they were to be given the land, not because they were better than other nations or more righteous, NO, but because the LORD was using the Israelites as a rod of judgment upon the seven Canaanite nations living there! And also because the LORD had earlier promised to give the land to the descendants of Avraham:
"4 “After ADONAI your God has driven them out from before you, do not say in your heart, ‘It is because of my righteousness that ADONAI has brought me in to possess this land.’ It is because of the wickedness of these nations that ADONAI is driving them out from before you. 5 It is not by your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you are going in to possess their land. Rather, because of the wickedness of these nations, ADONAI your God is driving them out from before you, and in order to keep the word ADONAI swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 6 So you should understand that it is not because of your righteousness that ADONAI your God is giving you this good land to possess—for you are a stiff-necked people." Deuteronomy 9:4-6
To make his point, Moses then recounted to the people a list of their recent sins. Even after directly hearing the Voice of ADONAI at Sinai, their fathers provoked the LORD with the sin of the golden calf, disobeying the very Ten Commandments they had promised to keep. Then, upon leaving Sinai, the people complained about the lack of meat.
At Massah (also called Meribah) the people complained about the lack of water. At Kivrot-hattaavah they lusted for meat. Finally, while at Kadesh-Barnea, right before they were to take possession of the Promised Land, the people rebelled against the commandment of the LORD and did not believe Him (the sin of the spies), thus forcing the nation into 40 years of exile.
Moses concluded his speech with these words:
"You have been rebellious against ADONAI from the day that I knew you." Deuteronomy 9:24
Circumcise Your Heart:
In light of all this -- the chesed (covenantal love) of the LORD and His mercy upon Israel, Moses appeals to the people by asking them a rhetorical question:
"And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your ADONAI, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?" Deuteronomy 10:12-13
Circumcision is a sign of covenant between YHWH and Israel. It was first mentioned in Genesis 17:10-14 where YHWH made this forever covenant with Abraham and his offspring after him.
The fear of the LORD, yirat ADONAI, means practicing the Presence of the LORD at all times in our lives! It is the conscious realization that the LORD sees us and is profoundly concerned with our lives.
The LORD is the Creator of heaven and earth, and He has set His jealous love upon those who fear Him. Therefore we are called to "circumcise our hearts", by removing the thickening or hardheartedness, and be no longer stubborn or a "stiff-necked people".
“Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart; and don’t be stiff-necked any longer!” Deuteronomy 10:16
The Apostle Paul (Rabbi Shaul) taught that the ritual act of circumcision was meant to be the outward sign of what is invisible, namely, a thorough commitment to ADONAI:
"28 For one is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something visible in the flesh. 29 Rather, the Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—in Spirit not in letter. His praise is not from men, but from God." Romans 2:28-29
Paul makes the point that you can physically be circumcised and not have a circumcised heart, and you can also be circumcised in the heart and not physically.
Which is more important to ADONAI, the outward show or inward reality? Loving ADONAI in the Truth is the circumcision of the heart!
As New Covenant believers, the circumcision of the heart is not something new to us. Through the circumcision of our hearts, we are being set apart for the Kingdom of ADONAI. True circumcision, which is done by the SPIRIT and not by hand, will bring us closer to the LORD, which will in turn help us to deny our flesh and carry our own crosses to follow YESHUA!
“In HIM you were also circumcised with a circumcision done not by hand, in the stripping away of the body of the flesh through the circumcision of MESSIAH. You were buried along with HIM in immersion, through which you also were raised with HIM by trusting in the working of GOD, who raised HIM from the dead.” Colossians 2:11-12
Paul's metaphor of “heart circumcision” is therefore not an image of Torah abandonment, but rather of Torah obedience!
📜 Haftarah: Isaiah 49:14-51:3
The Haftarah for Parashat Eikev (Isaiah 49:14-51:3) is called the "Second Haftarah of Consolation," which begins with a lament from Zion, the City of Jerusalem:
"But Zion said: “ADONAI has forsaken me, ADONAI has forgotten me.” Isaiah 49:14
The LORD responds with a beautiful metaphor of His love for Israel. Even if the unconditional love a mother has for her child should somehow fail, God's love for the Jewish people would not.
No, the LORD has "engraved Jerusalem upon His palms":
"Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands. Your walls are continually before Me." Isaiah 49:16
Despite the calamity of the exile and the destruction of the Temple, Jerusalem will be rebuilt and overflowing with Jewish people. In that day, the nations will "carry the sons and daughters" of Israel upon their shoulders and give homage to the Jewish people:
"Thus says ADONAI ELOHIM:
“Look, I will lift My hand to the nations, and raise My banner to the peoples!
They will bring your sons on their chest, and carry your daughters on their shoulders." Isaiah 49:22
If those nations refuse this homage, the LORD will vanquish them and make them "drunk with their own blood."
All the world will know that the LORD is the redeemer and Savior of Israel: the Mighty One of Ya'akov.
In chapter 50, the LORD responds again to charges of abandonment. Where is the "get" or divorce document? The divorce (mentioned in Jeremiah 3:8) was initiated on account of the sins of the Jewish people; but should they repent, the decree will be null and void:
"8 I noted that when backsliding Israel committed adultery I sent her away and gave her a certificate of divorce. Yet, unfaithful Judah, her sister, did not fear. Instead she also went and committed adultery." Jeremiah 3:8
The remainder of the haftarah is prophetic of MESSIAH YESHUA, who "gave his back to those who strike, his cheeks to those who pull out the beard; and did not hide his face from disgrace and spitting" and "set his face like flint" in order to be the Redeemer of Israel.
"Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God." Isaiah 50:10
Israel is then told to remember Abraham and Sarah, the original parents of the Jewish people. Just as they had given up hope of having a child - and yet miraculously were given Isaac as the child of promise - so the exiled people of Israel should keep hope that one day the redemption of Israel will be fulfilled!
In the end, the LORD YESHUA the MESSIAH will indeed comfort Israel, blessed be He! HalelluYah!!
Brit Chadashah Overview:
The reading from the book of Hebrews is linked to the Haftarah.
Just as Abraham is described as:
"looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God," Hebrews 11:10
Sarah is described as conceiving Isaac through faith, so we too, as followers of MESSIAH YESHUA, are strangers and sojourners upon the earth - eagerly anticipating the revelation of the LORD at the end of days.
We, too, await the future glory of Jerusalem, when the LORD YESHUA will reign as the King of Israel during the millennial kingdom, and all the promises given to national Israel are fulfilled!
The passage from Romans 8 is a triumphant chorus of confidence in the LORD to fulfill His word and keep His promises.
Nothing in all of hell, earth, or heaven can separate us from the love and purposes of the LORD, who works all things together for good to those who are called out to be His own am segulah (treasured people).
May His great Name be praised forever and ever! Amen and Amen!
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