The name of the Parshah, "Eikev," means "because," and it is found in Deuteronomy 7:12.
In the Parshah of Eikev (“Because”), Moses continues his closing address to the children of Israel, promising them that if they will fulfill the commandments (mitzvot) of the Torah, they will prosper in the Land they are about to conquer and settle in keeping with G‑d’s promise to their forefathers.
Moses also rebukes them for their failings in their first generation as a people, recalling their worship of the Golden Calf, the rebellion of Korach, the sin of the spies, their angering of G‑d at Taveirah, Massah and Kivrot Hataavah (“The Graves of Lust”). “You have been rebellious against G‑d,” he says to them, “since the day I knew you.” But he also speaks of G‑d’s forgiveness of their sins, and the Second Tablets which G‑d inscribed and gave to them following their repentance.
Their forty years in the desert, says Moses to the people, during which G‑d sustained them with daily manna from heaven, was to teach them “that man does not live on bread alone, but by the utterance of G‑d’s mouth does man live.”
Moses describes the land they are about to enter as “flowing with milk and honey,” blessed with the “seven kinds” (wheat, barley, grapevines, figs, pomegranates, olive oil and dates), and as the place that is the focus of G‑d’s providence of His world. He commands them to destroy the idols of the land’s former masters, and to beware lest they become haughty and begin to believe that “my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.”
A key passage in our Parshah is the second chapter of the Shema, which repeats the fundamental mitzvot enumerated in the Shema’s first chapter, and describes the rewards of fulfilling G‑d’s commandments and the adverse results (famine and exile) of their neglect. It is also the source of the precept of prayer, and includes a reference to the resurrection of the dead in the messianic age.
Learn: Eikev in Depth
Browse: Eikev Parshah Columnists
Prep: Devar Torah Q&A for Eikev
Read: Haftarah in a Nutshell
Play: Eikev Parshah Quiz
"Moses also rebukes them for their failings in their first generation as a people"
Has the second generation outperformed the first generation? But isn't it logical that the first generation sinned? After all, everything was new to them.
Good point,
but they also had just stood by Mt. Sinai where Hashem told them not to make or serve any metal images.
That's right. But wasn't that an overwhelming event, so that they were thrown off balance and in a confused state of mind began to make mistakes? How would you react if Hashem spoke (in)directly to you? The prophets who were later approached by G-d were completely bewildered when Hashem spoke to them in dreams.
I don't want to argue comma I'm just trying to clarify. This was the most Clear Revelation. This made Jews what we are until today. Torah followers. Never before or after die a whole nation see. There were no questions then.
The test came later on day 39 they thought was day 40 and Moshe didn't down- THAT is when they got scared- and in the moment panic, was the confusion and they fell back on Egyptian idolatry.