Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Two people stand in conflict. Each one is certain justice is on their side. The Torah says their case must be brought before God. But how does that work in the real world? And who decides when God has spoken? Let's explore this idea together in this week's five Minute Torah.
[00:00:23] Shalom and blessings from Shalom Macon, the place where disciples of Yeshua learn to connect and grow. I'm Darren and before I get into the five minutes of my five minute tour commentary, I wanted to give a shout out to all of the amazing people that I got to meet last week down at a gathering in Orlando. I want to send a big thank you to everyone who took the time to say hi. Now let's cover a few quick facts about this week's Torah portion. This week we are studying the 18th portion and the 6th portion of the Book of Exodus. We are in the portion of Mishpatim, Exodus 21:1 through 24:18 and here are the three things that you need to know about number one holistic and inclusive Civil, Criminal and Religious Law this Torah portion is called Mishpatim for a reason. It begins with the words now these are the laws or maybe judgments, the mishpatim that you shall set before them. Last week we read about God giving the Torah to the children of Israel from atop Mount Sinai. This week we begin to see what that covenant actually looks like when lived out. Mishpatim contains a remarkable total of 53 commandments, nearly 10% of the Torah's 613 mitzvot. That alone tells us how central this portion is to understanding Torah life. But what truly sets the Torah as a whole apart in its scope is Unlike other legal systems, the Torah does not divide life into secular and sacred categories. It speaks to every aspect of human existence. When? Why? Because it flows from a God who views human beings holistically and desires to rule over our entire lives, not just what we do one day a week. Number two Righteous Slavery the Torah's Unique Perspective to modern ears, the phrase righteous slavery can sound contradictory or maybe even offensive. But to understand this topic, we must recognize the historical reality the Torah addresses. Slavery was a widespread and deeply embedded institution long before the giving of the Torah, yet no leg protections existed for those enslaved. The Torah radically altered this reality, especially in the case of Hebrew slaves. Servitude was limited to a maximum of six years. The Torah mandated humane treatment and imposed strict regulations that prohibited abuse or cruelty. See Exodus 21, verses 20 through 21. Slaves were no longer treated as disposable property, but as human beings with dignity and with rights, and this represented a dramatic ethical shift from surrounding cultures. Rather than endorsing oppression, the Torah constrained and transformed an existing system, revealing God's concern for the vulnerable and his commitment to justice even in imperfect circumstances and Number three Shalosh Regalim the Three Pilgrimage Festivals Embedded within the laws of Mishpatim is the commandment of the Shalosh Regalim, the Three Pilgrimage Festivals the Lord instructs Israel Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God. This is Exodus 23, 14, and 17.
[00:03:37] These festivals are Pesach or Passover, Shablot or Pentecost, and Sukkot or Tabernacles. Here, however, they appear under alternate names the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering. Because of this, they can be easily overlooked. This passage is also notable for its language. It uses the title Ha Adon Hashem, often rendered the Master Hashem. This phrase appears only one other time in the entire Hebrew Bible and in a similar context in the Book of Isaiah. Its rarity adds weight to the commandment, emphasizing the significance of appearing before the Lord at these appointed times. The Five Minute Torah series is your guide to uncovering Messianic connections within each week's Torah portion, pulling together the Torah and the teachings of the apostolic Scriptures in just five minutes, you'll discover how the Torah connects to your life as a disciple of Yeshua, with insights that are both practical and deeply spiritual. The Five Minute Torah books are the weekly Torah portion with a Messianic connection in just five minutes. Don't wait. Order yours today.
[00:04:40] This week's Torah commentary is called Acting on Behalf of God and comes from a book, Five Minute Torah, Volume 1. Although the Torah portion of Mishpatim is just over three chapters in length, it contains over 50 of the 613 commandments of the Torah. It is densely packed with various commandments, particularly those involving civil issues. There's a problem, however, with the application of these commandments if we are attempting to follow a literal reading of the text. Here's an example for every breach of trust, whether it is for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a cloak, for for any kind of lost thing of which one says, this is it, the case of both parties shall come before God. The one whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor. This is Exodus 22:9. A literal reading of this passage poses numerous problems. How do disputing parties come before God. Where is this to take place? Also, according to this passage, the one whom God condemns is liable to the financial penalty. But how do we know the verdict? What if both parties believe that God is judged in their favor? How is this resolved? The problem with this passage revolves around translation. In this passage, both parties are to be brought before Elohim. The problem is that this Hebrew word has a wide variety of meanings. It can literally mean God or gods, but can also mean the God. It can mean powers, judges, mighty ones, etcetera, etcetera. Although it's used frequently throughout the Hebrew Scriptures to refer to the Creator, it has numerous other uses. For example, consider Psalm 82. God has taken his place in the Divine council. In the midst of the gods he holds judgment. How long were you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah this is verses 1 and 2. Who is this Divine council? Who are the gods among whom the Creator sits to hold judgment? These are the judges of Israel. Only they are able to judge with both justice and injustice and show partiality to the wicked. The angelic host is incapable of injustice and is therefore not being referred to. In this passage. These judges are admonished, give justice to the weak and the fatherless maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and needy, deliver them from the hand of the wicked. This is verse 3 and 4. God is rebuking the judges of Israel for failure to deliver true justice. Just a few verses later, God tells them, you are gods, or Elohim, sons of the Most High, and all of you nevertheless like men, you shall die and fall like any prince. Verses 6 and 7 this is the passage Yeshua quotes when defending his claim to be the Son of God. In John 10, Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law? I said you are all gods. If he called them gods to whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken, do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world? You are blaspheming because I said I am the Son of God. This is John 10, verses 34 through 36. Yeshua uses this argument to show that just as God has called the judges of Israel by his own designation of elohim in Psalm 82 because they act on his behalf, his accusers should not be upset with his claim to be the Son of God, since he was acting with full authority from his Father. In the Torah portion of Mishpatim, we hear God conferring full authority upon his representatives to make rulings among the children of Israel on his behalf. The Amplified Bible renders this in a way to help us understand the children of Israel are to bring him to God and parentheses that is to the judges who act in God's name. This is Exodus 22:9 from the Amplified Bible. The only way a case can be settled is through a system of judges that has authority to interpret Torah and make judgments for Israel. Yeshua also confers this authority to his apostles, saying, truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. This is Matthew 18:18. In each case, the authority acts on behalf of the issuer of that authority. The Torah portion of mishpatim is filled with the number of cases in which those authorities would need to mediate between the involved parties. Through his agents, God extends Himself into the realm of mankind through righteousness and justice. This week we talked about authority and judgment. Last year, mishpatim forced us to ask who we really are when our identity is challenged. If you want to wrestle with one of the Yeshua's most controversial statements and how it affects us on a personal level, check out last year's five minute tour entitled Are Gentiles Really Dogs? Just click the link right here.
[00:09:44] Sam.
