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Does the Torah promote vigilantism? Are its instructions backward and obsolete? If not, what do these instructions mean to me today?
In the Torah reading מִּשְׁפָּטִים Mishpatim (“Judgments,” Exodus 21–24), we see an explanation of each of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5). By keeping the words of Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ) in our minds (Matthew 22:36–40) while reading the Torah, we can start to understand how the instructions teach us as much about the character of the Father as they do about Heaven’s goal for our treatment of other people.
The term Mishpatim is an excellent name for this reading. This entire section is a reading of various judgements and rulings that God gave to Moses while on Mt. Sinai. This is all a part of the covenant that the people promised “What you say, we will do.”
We need to look at the overall context of these judgements and then we will drill down into some of the minutia of some of the more confusing judgements. We will look at the big questions before we dive into the details. We could spend all day in the details and never actually see the big picture.
Everything we read today is an expansion of the 10 commandments. If we are not actually getting the answers to some of these questions, such as that regarding “an eye for an eye.”
One of the common themes people bring up today is that this section appears to justify vigilantism. Are these laws and judgements “ignorant” of how the wold really works? Are the obsolete because they talk of donkeys and other agricultural practices that mean nothing to us in our post-industrial age?
One of the things we encounter today is when judges or interpretation of laws, we sometimes have a hard time seeing how they went from point A to point B to their final conclusion. Much of it depends on the intent. If the intent was bad to begin with, maybe it needs to be discarded but if the intent was pure and noble, we need to realign our views of the Law.
What are the 2 words that come from the 10 words? In Matthew 5, Yeshua told us to love God and to love each other.
Widows, orphans, servants and slaves, who are the most vulnerable are often ignored in ancient societies but they are often ignored in our society as well. Despite these difficulties, their concerns do often rise to the top to the ears of the judges and the powerful.
This phrase starts the “Book of the Covenant” (Ex. 24:7), which runs from Exodus 21–23. God’s directions are often referred to as מִצְוֹתָיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו וְחֻקֹּתָיו mitsvateiv umishpateiv v’khuqoteiv (Deut. 8:11, His commands, His statutes and His ordinances).
The word משפט mishpat throughout the entire Tanak can be understood to mean judgment, decision or case. The term is a reference to a government in the broadest sense, but there are 13 different uses for the word mishpat. It is about things that are just and right. It’s about choosing good and bad. We see that theme all the way back to the Garden and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad. These are statements of what is right governance that is a testimony of who God is.
Who brings a case to a judge? An aggrieved party. American law, which is based on British common law, is divided between civil law and criminal law. God’s law also has a mix of judgements regarding criminal matters and civil matters.
The other question is where are these cases decided? In Torah, just as now in our modern age, cases were brought to a specific place where the judge or judges would be delegated to make decisions.
- The act of deciding a case of litigation brought before a civil magistrate (Deut. 25:1; Josh. 20:6).
- The place of deciding a case of litigation (1Kgs. 7:7).
- The process of litigation (Isa. 3:14; (Job 22:4; Psa. 143:2).
- A case of litigation (1Kgs. 3:11; Job 13:18; 1Kgs. 8:59).
- A sentence or decision issuing from a magistrate’s court (1Kgs. 20:40; Jer. 26:11, 16).
- The time of judgment (Psa. 1:5; Eccl. 12:14).
The Torah tells us not to curse several categories of people: our mother and father, the leaders of our people and our God. Cursing is about belittling that person, to make them nothing or to lower their stature. Torah commands us to be respectful of authority.
“Deut 1:17 warns Israel’s judges not to show partiality in judgment, for in executing their office, they are acting on God’s behalf: ‘judgment belongs to God’ (cf. Zech 7:9; 8:16). … Absalom succeeds in undermining his father’s authority by acting as a judge over civil matters (2 Sam 15:2, 4, 6). … Failure to maintain high standards of justice brings upon Israel dire punishment (Amos 5:7, 15; 6:12; Mic 3:1, 9; Hab 1:4).” Peter Enns, NIDOTTE
Absolom didn’t like how the leadership of Israel were performing their duty so he fomented a rebellion. God did not bless his efforts and things didn’t end well for him.
We talk about different reasons for the Shabbat and even for the Shemitah. All of it is about giving rest to the servants. When God stopped, we are to stop, too. When we stop, we are to let those who serve us stop, too. We need to be careful not to narrowly define who is “in our gates.” We also have to be careful about extending our walls or gates out into other people’s gates and wall and to try to fence them into our fences.
Judges should judge justly. God tells us in Torah that we are to bring our cares to Him but we are also told to bring our cases to the judges. Most of the judges at the highest levels came from the ranks of the priesthood. This Torah reading is directed to the community, not to individuals.
Does the Torah promote vigilantism? No! Offenses were to be heard אל/עד האלוהים el/ad ha-elohim, translated as “before [the] God or before the judges (Ex. 22:8–9; cf. Deut. 17:8, 9; 19:17).”
God gave these judges authority over life and death. God gave them authority to execute criminals in certain cases, but it is a community that makes the decision. The judge should be at-one with God. If the judge is not at-one with God, he should be disbarred. It is only when we are connected to and walking with God that we make good decisions. They can’t let the guilty go free but they can’t allow the innocent to be put to death.
The Sanhedrin rarely voted for the death penalty. “A Sanhedrin that executed a person once in seven years was called murderous.” (m.Makkot 1:10)
Authority and sovereignty are one and the same thing. It isn’t about doing what you want to do but about following the guidelines of the Creator. If we refuse to listen to Him, life can go downhill quickly.
Ps. 36 and Ps. 37 tells us that God will act justly. Justice is an attribute and testimony of God. By extension, the mishpatim of God are just.
We should be as merciful as the Lord. When we say that we love the Lord with our hearts, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves, we should treat our neighbors better than we are treated.
Do we want to be ruled with an iron fist? The book of Revelation tells us that Yeshua will rule the world with an iron rod when He returns to earth. The iron rod is not for those who overcome. We are saved from the iron rod when we accept Yeshua and live Torah in the here and now.
In the Book of Acts, Paul had to confront a high priest who was evil, he acknowledged that the high priest’s authority came down from God and the office deserved respect, even if the person occupying the office is less than righteous. If you knock down the parents, the family falls apart, which causes the community to fall apart. This even effects the judges. Our judges are only as righteous as the community they spring up from.
Judgement belongs to God but then God also delegates judgement down to the elohim below Him. When Yeshua says Don’t judge lest you will be judged, He isn’t implying that we need to live lacking in discernment but there is a great burden placed on the shoulders of those who God set ups as judges. Don’t take that on. If its delegated to you, that’s fine but don’t strive to be a judge.
When we look at the mishpatim, we should see the attributes of God. We should see what Yeshua taught us in the Beatitudes. Our righteousness needs to exceed that of the scribes and the pharisees. The scribes copied and taught God’s word. God’s righteousness is above the Torah. When we love the Lord with our hearts, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves, our behavior is above the Torah. The scribes and pharisees had the words of God, but not the heart of God.
We have a “hook” to see that what we read related to slaves in Ex. 21 is that we don’t want to treat our servants worse than we were treated. God warns us not to treat our servants as we were treated Egypt.
We are to have as much mercy on those needing mercy as God had on Yisrael in Mitsraim, as the people cried out to the LORD for mercy from that bondage.
The laws regarding selling one’s daughter to someone else is so foreign to us, but the young girl sold is supposed to be treated with respect. In the story of Ruth and Boaz, Boaz had a choice to make Ruth’s life better or to make it more difficult. Boaz chose to be a kinsman redeemer to her.
We also see Abraham sending his “slave” Elieazar to Aram to find his son a wife. Elieazar was in a treasured position. He was not Abraham’s whipping boy.
If we don’t understand the themes of scripture, if we don’t understand the big picture, it will be difficult for us to understand the small details. We could just dive into the details, talking about archaeology, etc., but if we don’t see the overarching themes, we do ourselves a disservice. The Torah is written thematically, not chronologically.
This section immediately follows the 10 commandments. It’s there to show us how to follow the “big 10.” Messiah said that our righteousness has to be beyond what is on the written page. Our hearts must long to be poor in spirit and to be peacemakers. We have to be willing and even desire to be persecuted. In the book of Acts, they rejoice when they experienced persecution. Why did they rejoice? They were suffering because of the Messiah’s name and their suffering was proof of their affiliation with Him. It was a witness and testimony of their love of the Messiah.
American Christians are spiritual lightweights compared to our brothers and sisters in places like North Korea and the Middle East. If a group of armed people came into my town and said “Either sing a different tune or you and your whole family will die” would I still be willing to have a mark of the Messiah on my door or would I be happy that someone got the message that I am a servant of the Master. The Arabic “nun” on the door was a badge of honor for our brothers and sisters in Iraq, even as they faced execution.
The phrase “human trafficking” is a just a euphemism for slavery so we still have slavery in our day. It is by no means gone.
If you take a life, it is a serious matter, even if it was done in self-defense. That’s why God told the Israelites to carefully investigate any causes of violent death. The Sanhedrin rarely voted for the death penalty because in their investigations, they were careful to find any excuse to extend some mercy. “A Sanhedrin that executed a person once in seven years was called murderous.” (m.Makkot 1:10)
““If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall surely be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished. If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. If a ransom is demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is demanded of him. Whether it gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same rule. If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his or her master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.” (Exodus 21:28–32 NAS95)
The “avenger of blood” can spare the life of the owner of the ox. He can exercise mercy. In this matter, the owner of the ox exercised what we would call “criminal negligence.” The avenger of blood can call for the man’s blood along with the blood of the ox or he can extend mercy by asking for a ransom instead.
The Messiah is merciful, forgiving, slow to anger and we should be the same.
The fact that Torah set up cities of refuge shows that God intended that the rules that He set up were not to be adjudicated by individuals but within a community.
When God gave us the 10 commandments, He didn’t stop there and leave us to figure them out. He gave us these mishpat so we can grown in knowledge of how to practically apply them and be righteous.
The mishpat gives us tools of how to acknowledge when someone is injured or killed by someone’s anger or negligence.
Banner Photo: Cyrus interrogates the King of Armenia. Painting by Noël Coypel from the Château de Versailles currently housed at the Musée de Grenoble. Photo by Wikimedia Commons.
Summary: Tammy