‘PARSHA MISHPATIM’ – OBEDIENCE TO G-D; PROVOKE THE JEWISH PEOPLE TO SALVATION
Exodus 24:3-8: “So Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the LORD has said we will do.” And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.” And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words.””
The ‘parsha’ (‘Torah’ portion) this week, ‘Parsha Mishpatim’ (Laws), is found in Exodus 21:1 – 24:18 and is the eighteenth weekly ‘Torah’ portion in the annual Jewish cycle of ‘Torah’ reading. The corresponding ‘haftorah’ (reading of the prophets) is found in Jeremiah 34:8-22 and 33:25-26.
‘Parsha Mishpatim’ begins with the words: “Now these are the laws which you shall set before them…”
Following the revelation at Sinai, when the people of Israel committed themselves to upholding the ‘Torah’ and received the Ten Commandments, G-d proceeded to communicate to Moses the rest of the ‘mitzvoth’ (commandments) of the ‘Torah’. The greater part of ‘Parsha Mishpatim’ consists of this communication containing 53 of the 613 ‘mitzvoth’ --- 23 imperative (very important and crucial) commandments and 30 prohibitive commandments.
These included the laws of the indentured servant; the penalties for murder, kidnapping, assault and theft; civil laws pertaining to the redress of damages, the granting of loans and the responsibilities of the “Four Guardians”.
Our ‘parsha’ also includes the rules governing the conduct of justice by courts of law.
Moreover, ‘Parsha Mishpatim’ includes laws warning against mistreatment of foreigners; the observance of the seasonal festivals; the agricultural gifts that were to be brought to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and the prohibiting of cooking meat with milk.
Finally, our ‘parsha’ includes the law of the ‘mitzvah’ of prayer.
G-d then told Israel that He would send an angel before them to guard them on the way, and to bring them to the Holy Land. G-d also promised to destroy all Israel’s enemies.
G-d set their boundaries “from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the river”, and He instructed Israel not to make a covenant with their enemies nor with their gods. He also commanded Israel to drive all their enemies out of the land so that they would not dwell in their land, lest they made Israel sin against Him; for if Israel served their gods, it would be a snare to them.
In the closing verses of ‘Parsha Mishpatim’, the ‘Torah’ returns to the revelation at Sinai, completing its description of G-d giving the ‘Torah’ to the people of Israel.
Moses built an altar at the foot of Mount Sinai upon which the people offered sacrifices to G-d. Moses then read “the book of the covenant” to the people who said: “All that God has spoken, we will do, and we will hear.”
Moses then took the blood of the sacrifices and sprinkled half on the altar and half on the people, as a sign of their covenant with G-d.
G-d then called Moses up to the mountain, telling Moses that He would be there and that He would give him the tablets of stone and the commandments which He had written, saying that Moses should teach them to the Children of Israel.
Moses rose up with Joshua and Moses went up onto the “mountain of G-d” telling the elders of Israel to wait for them until they returned.
‘Parsha Mishpatim’ concludes with Moses going up into the mountain, which was covered with a cloud, the ‘Torah’ telling us that the sight of the glory of G-d was “like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain before the eyes of the children of Israel”. Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
In ‘Haftorah Mishpatim’, found in Jeremiah 34:8-22 and 33:25-26, Jeremiah describes the punishment that would befall the Jewish people because they continued enslaving their Hebrew slaves after six years of service - transgressing the commandment discussed in the beginning of this week's ‘parsha’.
King Zedekiah made a pact with the people according to which they would all release their Jewish slaves after six years of service, as commanded in the ‘Torah’. Shortly thereafter, the Jews reneged on this pact and forced their freed slaves to re-enter into service.
G-d then dispatched Jeremiah with a message of rebuke telling them that, because they had not listened to G-d and proclaimed freedom to their slaves, He would make Israel “an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth”. The ‘haftorah’ then vividly depicts the destruction and devastation that the Jews would experience.
‘Haftorah Mishpatim’ then concludes with words of reassurance: “Thus says the LORD: ‘If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them.’” (Jeremiah 33:25-26)
What lesson can we learn from ‘Parsha Mishpatim’?
Our lesson comes from the ‘haftorah’ and deals with the consequence of disobeying G-d’s instruction.
We read in ‘Haftorah Mishpatim’ that, because Israel had not obeyed G-d and had reneged on its pact to release their Jewish slaves after six years of service, G-d said that He would make Israel “an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth”.
Let’s look at an example of a certain person in the Old Testament who disobeyed G-d’s instruction - King Saul.
G-d, through the prophet Samuel, told Saul to attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they had and not to spare them but to “kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey”. Saul attacked and defeated them, but Saul and the people spared “Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them.”
The result of this disobedience to G-d’s instruction was that, because Saul rejected the word of the L-rd, the L-rd rejected Saul from being king over Israel.
1 Samuel 15:35 tells us that “Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.” In fact, from then onwards, Saul never won another battle.
When one looks at the Hebrew wording, it’s not that the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel, He regretted what Saul had become as the king of Israel.
How about you? Do you obey G-d’s instruction, or do you from time to time disobey G-d? Is there anything about your life that G-d would regret?
Racism; unforgiveness; lying; not keeping your word; looking at pornography; lusting after women – even with your eyes; covetousness; judging and gossiping; attacking G-d’s anointed (Rabbis, Pastors, Preachers, Ministers of the word); doing things in your own strength instead of committing situations to G-d; not taking the gospel to people in your sphere of influence and t the world; not fulfilling the G-d-given mandate to provoke the Jewish people to salvation - These are just some examples of disobeying G-d’s instruction.
In fact much of the church disobeys G-d when it comes to the command in Acts 1:8 and Romans 11:11-15 regarding the G-d-given mandate to take the gospel to the Jewish people, the only people mentioned by name in the Bible that Jesus Himself commands us share the gospel with. These people are either ignorant of this command, don’t bother with this command, or blatantly disobey this command. And this is one area of the church that I believe G-d regrets.
Please examine yourself: Are you obeying or disobeying G-d’s instruction?
Obey G-d’s instruction; live righteously, blamelessly and holy before Him and obey his specific instruction to you. If you don’t, like Israel and like King Saul, you, too, may experience the consequence of disobeying G-d’s instruction.
One way of obeying G-d’s instruction is to call upon the name of the L-rd for salvation – Joel 2:32: “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved”… and the name of the L-rd is Yeshua!
I mentioned earlier that we must live righteously, blamelessly and holy before Almighty G-d. As a born again believer in the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua, righteousness and holiness is imputed to you by grace. Apart from Yeshua, it is impossible for anyone to live righteous, blameless and holy lives…only Yeshua Himself was able to do this.
I now address anyone who is not a born again follower of Yeshua, including my Jewish brothers and sisters: G-d is extending an invitation to you accept Yeshua as your L-rd and Saviour which will bring about your ultimate redemption (or salvation), guaranteeing you eternal life in heaven.
Will you accept G-d’s invitation? Will you commit your life to Yeshua, who lovingly and faithfully endured the cross for you and for me, accepting Him as your L-rd and Saviour?
This is the only way to salvation, as only through Yeshua can one’s sins be forgiven and one’s soul be atoned for.
To accept G-d’s gift of the forgiveness of sin, salvation and everlasting life in heaven, all you need to do is confess your sins, repent of them and ask Yeshua to come into your life as your Messiah, your Saviour.
And you can do this by praying the Prayer of Salvation found at the end of this article.
Finally, obey G-d’s instruction so that you won’t have to face the consequences of walking in disobedience to His instruction.
We love you.
Shalom.
Scriptures of the week: 1 Samuel 15:3-35
SALVATION PRAYER
Thank you Yeshua for Your love for me.
Thank you for giving up Your life on the cross for me and for taking my sins upon Yourself.
I confess that I have sinned.
I repent of my sins and I turn from everything I know to be wrong.
I invite You to come into my life as my Messiah, my Saviour.
By Your grace I will serve You all the remaining years of my life.
