“The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as He did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the wilderness. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.” — Deuteronomy 1:30–31

The Torah portion for this week is Devarim which means “words,” from Deuteronomy 1:1–3:22, and the Haftorah is from Isaiah 1:1­–27.

As a man who started out his career by saying “I’m not very good with words” (Exodus 4:10 NLT), Moses had certainly come a long way. In this week’s Torah reading, he began his last and very lengthy speech. Much of what Moses had to say was a recap of the people’s history. The Sages use the following analogy to explain the purpose of Moses’ replay of the last 40 years:

There was once a king with a very ill son. “We must get him to the doctor before he dies!” exclaimed the king. He set out by carriage toward a faraway land where a great doctor lived. When the carriage broke down, the king and his son travelled by foot. When the son could no longer walk, the king carried him on his shoulders. Along the way, the king lovingly tended to his son’s every need. He climbed trees to bring him fruit and drew water at every well. Eventually, they made it to the doctor who saved the boy’s life. The king nursed his son back to health until, at last, he was strong enough to make the journey home.

As they travelled back, the king kept pointing out places from their past experiences. “Here was our camp, you can see the fireplace . . . here you had a high fever and we had to rest . . . here you can even see our footprints.” The son took great interest in these landmarks. He realized how much his father had cared for him and how much he was loved. However, as he examined the footprints, something seemed wrong. “Father!” exclaimed the boy, “At this point I see both our footsteps, but later on I only see yours. Why did you abandon me when I was ill?” His father, with tears streaming down his face, explained to his beloved son: “That was when you couldn’t walk and so I carried you!”

This ancient tale may sound very familiar to those who know the modern-day poem “Footprints in the Sand”; with either version, the message is timeless. We go through our journey in life together with our Father, the King. Although it might feel as though we are abandoned at times, it is precisely at those moments that God is carrying us.

However, the message of Moses’s speech is more than just that. Moses also was teaching the Israelites and us that it is important to stop and take a look back on our lives once in a while. Where have we been? How has God brought us through tough times? The answers to these questions will both fill us with appreciation for God’s providence and give us the confidence that He will continue to carry us through.