The Torah parashah (portion) Mishpatim (“judgments”) covers Exodus 21:1-24:18.
Are “white lies” covered by the Torah prohibition on lying? What does it mean to curse your parents? Does the Torah really contain a time bomb for human slavery? How is that connected to the LORD’s warning about oppression? And was the Angel of the LORD during the Exodus a manifestation of the Messiah? How does this angel compare with Yeshua (Jesus)? These are topics covered in the Torah reading מִשְׁפָּטִים Mishpatim (“judgments,” Ex. 21:1–24:18).
Does the Torah promote vigilantism (taking the law into your own hands)? Some years ago, those who were against Torah would ask facetious questions like, “If I see my neighbor mowing the lawn on the Shabbat, do I have permission to kill him?” This ridiculous line of argument even ended up as an episode plot for a popular show (“The Midterms,” The West Wing, October 2000).
Are these judgments ignorant and obsolete? For example, in this section of the Torah refers to daughter literally as their father’s silver. Are daughter just the property of their fathers freely passed around and bought and sold?
We just read the “Big 10,” the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). Torah reading מִּשְׁפָּטִים Mishpatim (“judgments,” Ex. 21:1–24:18) covers case law results from the Ten Commandments. It covers how to live them out in a world of idolatry (yes, it’s even a modern problem), cruelty, oppression, selfishness, disrespect for authority, apathy and envy.
Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ) taught that God’s second-greatest commandment is “love your neighbor as [you love] yourself” (Matt. 22:39; Mark 12:31; quoting Lev. 19:18).
Parashat Mishpatim is one of the most uncomfortable chapters in the Torah. It has rules about what we would call indentured servitude as well as how to deal with victims of infanticide. However, the overarching theme in today’s Torah study is how God holds us to keep our own covenants, even if they go above and beyond the covenants He has placed on us Himself.
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.
Last time, we discussed lashon ha-ra (evil tongue, i.e., gossip, slander and divisiveness) and how it is one of the latter-day plagues among God’s people.
In this excursus, we will explore a related principle taught in Torah by Yeshua and His apostles: proportionality. A number of Christians often consider “eye for an eye and tooth for tooth” an example of the “old covenant” not to live by anymore and quote Yeshua to that effect.
Rather, we’ll see that “eye for an eye” is a Bible parabolic idiom teaching proportionality. The point of justice is to restore the offender to the community, not extract a pound of flesh.
In Exodus 24, we read that after the revelation of the 10 Commandments, God wanted to reveal more information to Moshe (Moses) but for part of that journey, he brought an entourage. God told Moshe to appear before Him but God also called for Aharon (Aaron), Nadab ben Aharon, Abihu ben Aharon, and 70 of the elders of Israel to meet with Him on the mountain first for a seven-day feast, and they did meet Him. They saw Yeshua (Jesus), the Word, the Logos of the Father. That’s why Abraham as well as Moshe, Aharon, Aharon’s two oldest sons and the 70 elders could see God, eat a meal with Him, yet live to talk about it.
The judgments that God gave Moshe (Moses) to teach the Israelite people tell us a lot about God’s character and personality. We learn how God sees us as well. It’s a difficult section to go through because these judgements cover so many issues that aren’t related directly to one another but these things have been written down for us to learn. These judgements are written for us so we can avoid incurring them on ourselves.