Study Guide
to Parasha
Shoftim
Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9
Isaiah 51:12-52:12
Mathew 3:1-17
The Torah Portion at a Glance
Moses instructs the people of Israel to appoint judges and law-enforcement officers in every city; "Justice, justice shall you pursue," he commands them, and you must administer it without corruption or favoritism. Crimes must be meticulously investigated and evidence thoroughly examined -- a minimum of two credible witnesses is required for conviction and punishment.
In every generation, says Moses, there will be those entrusted with the task of interpreting and applying the laws of the Torah. "According to the law that they will teach you, and the judgement they will instruct you, you shall do; you shall not turn away from the thing that they say to you, to the right nor to the left."
Shoftim also includes the prohibitions against idolatry and sorcery; laws governing the appointment and behavior of a king; and guidelines for the creation of "cities of refuge" for the inadvertent murderer. Also set forth are many of the rules of war: the exemption from battle for one who has just built a home, planted a vineyard, married, or is "afraid and soft-hearted"; the requirement to offer terms of peace before attacking a city; the prohibition against wanton destruction of something of value, exemplified by the law that forbids to cut down a fruit tree when laying siege (in this context the Torah makes the famous statement "For man is a tree of the field").
The Parshah concludes with the law of Eglah Arufah - the special procedure to be followed when a person is killed by an unknown murderer and his body is found in a field - which underscores the responsibility of the community and its leaders not only for what they do but also for what they might have prevented from being done.
(adapted from chabad.org)
The Messiah in the Torah Portion Since the invention of the printing, the Bible has been the most widely produced manuscript. More Bibles have been sold than any other book and more books have been written about the Bible than any other subject. A recent Google web search revealed some 22 million web sites with the word "Bible" in them.
Throughout the Internet is countless information on all types of religious subjects. There are also literally millions of books written by Christians, Jews, and others who all have their "say" on what the Scriptures really mean. TV preachers, rabbis, and local pastors each have their own personal interpretations. And, people love to read the writings of everyone from Max Lucado to Baal Shem Tov.
But who reads the Bible anymore?
Honestly...do you spend more time reading about the Scriptures or reading the scriptures?
How many hours a week do you spend on web sites or in books about the Bible? Now compare this to how much time you actually spend in the Word.
Do you get more out of a commentary on the Torah portion or reading the Torah portion itself?
It is within the Torah that true and undefiled inspiration can be found. "And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his chayim: that he may learn to fear YHWH His Elohim, to shomer all the words of this Torah and these chukim, and do them," Devarim 17: 19.
Don't take this wrong, there is much that can be learned from ministers of the faith who present encouragement. Yet, books, web sites, and commentaries (like this one) are just secondary sources. Reading these writings should never take the place of reading the Torah. Surfing the web for the latest revelation or insight should never take precedence over studying the Word itself.
Our current parasha is titled "Shoftim" and speaks of the judges of Torah that were established for the nation of Yisr'ael. These chosen officers were held to a high standard of knowing the Torah and establishing judgment within the community. "According to the sentence of the Torah that they shall teach you, and according to the mishpat that they shall tell you, you shall do: you shall not decline from the ruling which they shall show you, to the right or to the left," sefer Devarim 17:11. The shoftim helped Moshe interpret the Torah and decide on issues. For a time, the common Hebrews relied only upon the shoftim to establish halakhah, or the way to walk Torah. The words of YHWH were passed down from Moshe to the seventy leaders of Yisra'el onward to their students and the nation as a whole.
As time passed the word was written on scrolls. But everyone did not own a Torah scroll nor could the majority read Hebrew. Teachers or rabbis who had studied the Word developed their own perspectives on the Scriptures. These Rabbis presented their teachings at synagogues and gave the community at large a chance to choose which Rabbi to follow. This is how the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the school of Shammai, and the School of Hallel all came about. Each group was trying to follow the prophet Moshe and His revelation from Horev. Each group was literally trying to walk in the standard of these original judges. A time was prophesied though in our same Torah portion that YHWH would raise a navi or leader who would be the righteous judge that all of Yisra'el should follow.
"YHWH your Elohim will raise up to you a Navi from the midst of you, of your brothers, like me; to Him you shall listen; according to all that you desired of YHWH Your Elohim in Horev for 'I will raise them up a Navi from among their brothers, like you, and will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak to them all that I shall command Him. And it shall come to pass, that whoever will not listen to My words that He shall speak in My Name, I will require it of Him,'" Devarim 18:15-19.
This navi, or leader, who is spoken of in the Torah is Y'shua HaMoshiach. "He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me," said the Messiah in Yochannan 14:24. Y'shua came in His father's Name to properly interpret the Torah. He appeared to act as the shoftim and navi of Devarim. Part of His ministry was to teach students His Torah interpretations and commission them to teach others. In doing so the Father's will would be spread throughout the world, and all throughout time. The sheep of Yisra'el were to look to their Shepherd for halakhah. "Y'shua answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do YHWH's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from Elohim or whether I speak on my own," Yochannan 7:16.
Y'shua is our Rabbi, our teacher, and our judge of Torah. He is Messiah. He is the One who has set the pattern for living out the Bible. Not Chuck Swindoll. Not Billy Graham. Not even Rambam. Y'shua, haNavi. Y'shua alone. Have you been guilty of looking to others for inspiration before looking to the Messiah? Do you surf the net more than you spread open your Bible? This teaching on the Torah could go on and on about this subject. When it comes Torah study, you could discuss everything from Moshe's hairstyle lent to the sacrificial Red Heifer. Why not let the Torah speak for itself. Here's the Torah reading from the King James Version with the Sacred Names added. Try reading the Torah a little more this week. Pray for the Ruach HaKodesh for inspiration. Let Y'shua, your Rabbi teach you. The idea of "justice" is a lost theme in today's world that once restored can bring about a spiritual revival the size of a tsunami. The book of Micah says, "What does YHWH require of you? But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with YHWH." By doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with Him, you're going to fulfill the commandments, the mitzvoth; however, it begins with doing justly.
The Hebrew word often in the Scriptures for justice is mishpat, and it comes from a root word, shophet. Mishpat means ordinance or custom or manner. The root word, shophet, means to judge or to govern. A Hebraic understanding of justice is to right the wrong, to provide truth for the offended, to give balance to prevent anything else bad from happening, to declare good or bad. Justice means to restore. It means to restore a set of relationships to the community, to acquit the innocent, and to sentence the guilty.
It is not justice if you just sentence the guilty. It is not justice if you just acquit the innocent. Justice is both. The Hebraic concept of justice includes a conquering of the world's injustices. You experience an Injustice if you face punishment for something even though you are innocent. When you face a problem, when you are persecuted for righteousness sake that is called an injustice. It tells us in the Scriptures, "Learn to do well, seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, and plead for the widow." (Isaiah 1) Learn to do well. Seek justice.
In the Scriptures, we have the Book of Judges, right? This isn't people who just wore this long robe and had the curly hair and the gavel. A judge in the Torah is a person who knows Torah, who understands Torah, and when someone comes to them with a problem, a scripturally based problem, then they are able to discern good from evil, right from wrong. Remember Moshe? They would come to him, and he would discern for them. He would make judgments for Israel. Then he set up judges over tens and twenties and fifties and hundreds and thousands or such.
Solomon understood that there is a judicial system in the heavenlies and that YHWH is all about law. Let's just make that clear right now. YHWH is all about law. You could call Him a legalist if you wanted to. He's not about man's law. He's not about "Oh, you've got to do this this way, and how high can you jump?" But He's all about law and a system of law because He set up the universe with checks and balances.
There are physical and spiritual laws. These are guidelines that are in place. One law is the law of gravity. If you walk off the top of a building, you are going to fall, and you are probably going to die. That is a law of gravity. YHWH does not violate His laws. Justice is a spiritual law as well as mercy and grace.
By focusing on mercy and grace, we as believers have forgotten about justice, and the scales of justice have been tipped over. There has to be justice. There are spiritual laws in place to enact justice. "Whatsoever you reap you shall sow." YHWH is not made a liar. He's not mocked by this. You reap what you sow. That is a spiritual law.
Did you know that justice is something Y'shua called a weightier matter of the Torah? Matthew 23:32 he said, "You scribes and Pharisees, because you tithe to the nth degree, but you leave behind the weightier matters of Torah, being love, justice, and mercy."
We THINK we keep the weightier matters of the Torah. We begin to learn what kosher eating is. We begin to eat more kashrut. We begins to wear tzitzit, and we begin to keep the Sabbath, but it's time also we learn about mishpat. Rabbi Paul said, "When I became a man, I put away childish things." It's time to put away our doctrinal discussions and complaints over these other issues and move on to the weightier matters of Torah, being justice.
Rabbi Shaul or Paul said that justice should be one of the things we think about. "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things ore just, whatsoever things are pure, think on these things." Here's the problem. We like to think about our pain and our injustice. I can speak for myself. I do. I like to wallow in it. I like to have pity parties; however, Paul tells us to not dwell on that but to think on things that are just. He's telling us here, "Believers, learn what justice is, and when you learn what it is, don't just learn it but think about it and do it."
There is a judicial system set up, and it's in the heavenlies. First of all, there's YHWH, and He is the judge! Wipe the sweat off your brow. You are not the judge. You are not the judge. You are not the judge. YHWH is the judge, because only YHWH can be just and fair.
Here's the good news about YHWH being judge. He's not moody. Amen to that? He's not temperamental. He doesn't wake up on the wrong side of the bed. YHWH is fair. YHWH is just. YHWH is holy. YHWH is awesome. He has set the laws into effect by His Word, and He never has and He never will violate His Word. YHWH is the judge, and in the Scriptures, He's actually called YHWH Mishpat, YHWH Elohe Mishpat, which means YHWH, the mighty one of justice. He never has, and He never will violate His Word, and He seeks justice for His children.
Turn to Psalm 37:2. It says here that YHWH loves justice and does not forsake His saints. T'hilim 37:2. He says, "YHWH loves justice and does not forsake His saints," which would tell us that if justice was not available for us, that it would be like YHWH leaving us. If justice, if making things right that were wrong, was not available, that it would be like YHWH forsaking us. Psalm 37:2 is a good verse to memorize.
Psalm 97:2 says, "Righteousness and justice are the foundations of His throne," and actually, that's about 4 places in the Psalms, where it says that the foundation of His throne is justice. Without justice, could we have a throne of YHWH? Think about that. The foundation of Heaven is His righteousness, is His justice.
Deuteronomy 32:4 says, "All His ways are just." Who is the judge? YHWH, and He's perfect. He's a just judge. It tells us in Exodus 34:7, "YHWH will by no means leave the guilty unpunished." Zephaniah 3it talks about the restoration of the Hebrew language. It says this there, "Every morning, YHWH brings justice to light." Now we know in Lamentations it says, "His mercies are new every morning." Here it says, "Every morning He brings justice to light." What that means is if you take this verse, and then you take the verse Exodus 34:7 that says, "YHWH will by no means leave the guilty unpunished" then - every morning, what is done in the darkness, those deeds in the darkness, those deeds of sin, He's bringing to light, and He is judging because He is a just judge.
Hebrews 10:30 says, "YHWH will judge His people." It says that it's a scary thing to fall into the hands of an angry Elohim because YHWH will judge His people. We have the judge.
We also have an accuser, the prosecuting attorney. This prosecuting attorney may look like our friends or our family or people we thought were our friends. But who is the prosecuting attorney? None other but the adversary himself, in Hebrew, Ha'satan. In Hebrew, the words Ha'satan literally means 'the accuser'. Ha is the prefix meaning 'the,' literally the accuser. The Bible calls him 'the accuser of the brethren.'
The brothers and sisters are always fighting, always have problems with each other, and many times the world will come against us, but even worse, our brothers will come against us, and we think they're the enemy. They may be the ones speaking the words or doing the actions, but who is behind them? It is the accuser, the adversary, pushing them along. He's trying to get them to do that, to bring the case against us.
Now here's the issue. The prosecuting attorney, the adversary, Ha'satan, he knows our weaknesses. He knows our areas of sin, and he often attacks us to bring a legal case against us. What's more, he knows the Torah better than we do. He knows the Bible inside and out. He understands it, and so when we violate a mitzvoth, or when we fall into sin, guess what he's doing. He is building his case against us.
He knows the spiritual laws, and he also knows the physical laws. If he can tempt you to walk out in front of that 18-wheeler and say, "You know what? I'm tired of life." Take these pills or slit your - do whatever. He knows the physical laws, and he uses those against us.
He knows the Scriptures better than we do, and he twists it, and he turns the Bible in order to form a case against us. Our problems and our sin that we do, puts into motion certain effects. "The wages of sin is death." The accuser can't be everywhere at one time, so what he has done (he's smart) is he knows these spiritual and physical laws, and he uses them against us. He is sly. He is sleek. He is cunning. He is evil. He is a sleazy attorney.
He knows that the wages of sin is death, and he knows this: He knows that we have sinned. He accuses us of things that we've done. And he accuses us of things we've not done! He uses other people to accuse us of things too. He uses people to build a case against us. The Word tells us, "We war not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and authorities in this world's darkness."
Behind the attacks, are these shadim, these demons, and the prince of the power of the air, the god of this world, the accusing attorney. His goal is to render us powerless and unfruitful, dead in our sins. That is his number one goal. He has accused us and will continue to accuse us.
So we have the prosecuting attorney which would be the accuser. We have the judge. Who is the accused? You and me. We are the accused. Here's a tough thing: We're guilty. Unless you are sinless, you're guilty. We have been caught, and we are deserving of punishment, and because YHWH is just, because YHWH is an Elohim of justice - then justice always requires punishment for the crime. Nobody gets away with anything with YHWH. For the sins that we have committed, justice requires punishment.
The truth is, we're guilty, and what Ha'satan does is takes our guilt and heaps more and more accusations upon us. He accuses us of things. He lies to us. He lies about us, and he uses anybody he can, right? He'll use other believers. He'll use the world. He'll use our ex's. He'll use our bosses. He'll use our y's, our q's, our p's, our families, whoever else, to hurt us, to steal from us, to bother us, to try to trap us, confuse us, and bring about pain. The enemy wants us to settle with him. Just like an attorney, the enemy wants us to settle!
He wants us to admit defeat. The enemy wants us to settle with our "sinful ways" and "consequences." He wants us to settle where? Not in court, but where? Outside of court. He wants us to be so beaten down that we don't bring our case before the judge. We are the accused. We have YHWH. He is the judge. He is faithful. And we have us.
We are the accused. We are the victim. The judicial system grants us what? Even today, we have a right to what? You have the right to remain silent. Some people don't have the capacity to do so, but we do have the right to remain silent. We ALSO have the right to a what? To an attorney. The Scriptures are clear. We have a right to an attorney.
Now, we have a couple of choices. We can be our own attorney. We can fight ourselves, and it is a vain effort. There is an old saying, "He who has himself for an attorney has a fool for an attorney," because we have the accuser coming against us. We have YHWH, the judge, who is always just, and we have ourselves, and we try to fight off ourselves. We try in a vain effort to defend ourselves, maybe to excuse our actions.
YHWH is the judge and guess who He appoints for us? From the law firm of Y'shua Ha Moshiach and Associates, none other than the master Yah, Y'shua. He is our defending attorney, but if we don't repent, we remain guilty. Y'shua Ha Moshiach is the one the court system has allowed to represent us. We have an attorney who stands for us, and His defense is pretty simple.
Now this is going to surprise you. Y'shua is our defending attorney. Ha Satan is the accuser. YHWH is the judge and Y'shua our attorney actually acknowledges that we are guilty! When our case is brought before the judge and he asks, "how do you plead." Our attorney says, "Guilty as charged, Your Honor." Our sin causes us to be guilty.
The Torah tells us if we've committed one offense, we've broken them all. And because we're guilty, we deserve what? The judgment. Because YHWH is just, we deserve the judgment. But then, because our attorney says we're guilty as charged, He then stands to His feet and says, "I will step forward to pay the price." Justice always requires a penalty for sin, and Y'shua accepts that penalty for sin for us.
It tells us in 1 Corinthians 5, "Y'shua became sin so that we might become the righteousness of YHWH." Many times, when the word justice is translated in our Scriptures, it is the same Hebrew word for righteousness. Y'shua took our place. He took our sin, and therefore, it is just as if we have never sinned, when we repent, when we do teshuvah. What happens when we don't do teshuvah? We are there defending ourselves, and we're bad attorneys.
So, after Y'shua steps forward to receive our penalty, the judge accepts our attorney's plea. He bangs the gavel, you could say, dismisses the charges, and He says, "You are released and set free to go."
The penalty is paid, however the attorney keeps working. Every minute, every second, every hour, every day, every week, every month, every year, the enemy keeps dragging us to court. Think about it. Today, if you live in a major city, you can't go in and have a lawsuit in a matter of a couple weeks because there are all these frivolous lawsuits bogging down the judicial system, right? That's what the enemy does with us.
He keeps dragging us back to court, accusing us, 'Well he did this, and he did that, and he said this, and he went there - " He accuses, he threatens, and he uses people to slander us and hurt us and steal from us and cheat us. His constant attacks are attempts to make us weary and to weigh us down so we're too weary to walk. He knows that the judge's decision is final, yet he also knows that he can render our life and our faith ineffective, if he can wear down the saints. Satan keeps dragging us to court.
"The enemy seeks to steal, kill, and destroy," John 10:10. He keeps us in court with frivolous lawsuits, false charges, all the time. He keeps us away from our settlement, because the enemy knows that justice not only calls for wrongs to be righted, but it calls for a settlement. If you break into my house, and you steal from me, you may go to court, and you may also be found guilty. You may also have to repay to me what you've stolen. That is called a settlement, because an injustice was done to me.
The enemy perpetrates injustices against us, day after day, minute after minute. It tells us in Exodus 32 that YHWH will not allow the guilty to go unpunished. And He will allow us to receive a settlement back. As justice calls for a settlement or payment to the person who has had an injustice done to them, YHWH longs to give us justice. He longs to avenge us of our enemy.
Isaiah 30:18 says, "YHWH longs to show you mercy, and to rise up on your behalf." You see, the accuser accuses, but our attorney is ready to win. YHWH longs to give us justice. He longs to avenge us of our enemy, and our attorney is there waiting, but we many times don't keep our court date! We never show up for court. How many times have you prayed for justice this week? How many times this past month have you said, "YHWH, avenge me of my enemies! I seek justice for how I've been wronged, how I've been lied about, how I've been cheated! My boss has let me down. My boss promised me this, and now I've been lied to." We never show up for court by never asking for justice!
One reason why is because we don't understand the heavenly judicial system, or we're too boggled down by our problems. We're too hurt to think about justice. All we want to think about is revenge or our problems. We never show up for court and, in essence, what happens? The accuser wins.
Here's what the Bible says in Colossians 2, "As you have received Y'shua Ha Moshiach, so also walk after Him." So if we've received justice at salvation, what are we to do? We're to walk in that justice. If we receive salvation by grace through faith, what are we to do? We are to walk by grace through faith. We've been saved by judgment, by YHWH's justice. We are to experience life, abundant life through that same power. YHWH has provided justice from our eternal enemy.
If we've been promised then He is faithful to deliver. The curse of sin has been dealt with. The curses and the lies and the actions of others have been dealt with. They do not have to defeat us. Matthew 12:20 is one of these verses that is spoken when you go into counseling, something bad happens. It says, "A crushed reed He shall not break. A smoking flax He shall not quench." Haven't we heard someone say, "Oh brother, I know you're going through this. It's hard. But God won't break you."
But what does this verse really say? Read it in context. "A crushed reed shall He not break. A smoking flax shall He not quench until He brings forth justice, mishpatim, to victory." The context of this is victory is justice. Yes, you may feel like you are burning out. You may feel like you are already burnt out. You may feel like you are a crushed reed, but this verse tells us that your justice is going to come, and it is not just coming, but it is going to lead you to victory. No matter what we face, no matter how bad it gets, it is going to lead us to victory. Victory is ensured by the judicial process.
There are two ways to receive justice. The first is for the guilty. The guilty receives justice for their punishment. They did something wrong and will face the consequences. The second type of justice is for the not guilty, the innocent. We call that an injustice. Evil intruded upon your life. You didn't invite it. You didn't ask for it. It invaded you. If there has been no invitation. If you are innocent as charged or if you are innocent by repentance (teshuvah), then you are due justice and settlement.
That's good because what that tells us is yes, we might have wronged someone, and we might be requiring justice and judgment and punishment, but by teshuvah, we don't receive that punishment. All the curses are broken by the blood of the Lamb. "Sin, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory?" We don't have to reap what we sow. Why? Y'shua took it when He died for us on the Tree.
You might not have asked to be forgotten, to be forsaken. You might not have asked to be molested or fired or the door slammed in your face or to have the problems you are going through in your life. If you didn't ask for that, then do you know what that means? Justice is waiting for you. There is a settlement kept in heaven waiting to be received. It is in the escrow account waiting for you to reach out and grab it.
If you are living the faith, if you are walking in truth, if you're loving others, if you're trusting people - trusting them, loving them, shepherding them, guiding them, befriending them, and they turn their back on you, that is an injustice that requires a settlement. YHWH will restore what the enemy has taken.
It tells us, "I will restore to you all the years the locusts have eaten, the cankerworm, the caterpillar, the palmar worm," All the years wasted before you were born again and the years since then, when you've been attacked by the enemy, He is going to restore to you.
YHWH's scales of justice are balanced. He is good. He is balanced. That means if you get a small attack, you get a small anointing. When you get a bigger attack, you get a bigger anointing. When you get a large attack, guess what? You get a larger anointing. We all want anointing without attack, but what does that do? It causes the scales of justice to be imbalanced. We become prideful, and when pride sets in the enemy goes crazy. Justice provides settlement for our pain and injury.
YHWH is YHWH Mishpat. He is YHWH of justice. He is the judge. Those who do evil bring a mockery to His name. Here is the key, though, you have to catch the thief. You have to bring him before the judge.
We all say, "Oh, the enemy has been attacking." Right? "He's been getting me." And we don't even like to profess that because we don't want to give him any glory, but yet we know that we've even said, "Well, if the enemy is attacking, we must be doing something right." That is fine, but do you understand that is just slapping him on the wrist? That is saying, "Yeah, he is guilty. There he goes. He's attacking me some more." We have to bring him before the judge.
It tells us in Exodus (Shemot) 22, "If you catch a thief, he shall repay you." This is one of those chapters that we skimmed over yet it contains a powerful principle. If you catch a thief - a demon - stealing from you then he shall repay you.
For some instances, it says he is going to repay you two times, sometimes four times, sometimes five times, and sometimes seven times. Y'shua talked about a hundredfold return. It tells us very clearly according to the offense, that thief has to pay you back. If he has stolen your health, he has to pay you back, but you have to bring him before the judge. If he has stolen your future, your life, your feelings, your family, your ministry, then you can get repaid spiritually BUT you have to bring him before the judge.
Here is an interesting verse, Exodus 22:6, "If a fire breaks out and spreads to thorn bushes so that stacked grain or the field itself is consumed, he that started the fire shall make restitution." Yet we know in the Book of James, what is the tongue called? "A fire set aflame by Hell itself that cannot be quenched." So let's put the two verses together. "If a fire breaks out, if evil speech breaks out, if words break out against you, and they spread to thorn bushes or people on the outskirts, so that stacked grain (something stored for later) is consumed then he that started the fire shall bring restitution.
Just saying you are under attack is not enough. We have to bring the thief before the judge. Here's the great part: to the degree that we are innocent, YHWH is able to act on our behalf. Part, and part of our settlement is greater wisdom, is greater anointing, is greater understanding, is greater favor, is greater blessing, but we must accuse the accuser instead of slapping him on the wrist and say, "I rebuke you, Devil." Repent first to remove judgment from ourselves, and then pray for justice.
Turn to Luke 18 and have the way you pray changed. Luke 18:1 says, "And He spoke a parable to them saying this, 'Men are always to make prayer and not to faint. There was in the city a judge, a shophet / judge, who feared not YHWH, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city, and she came to him saying, 'Do right to me according to my adversary.' And he would not for a while, but afterwards, he would. He said to himself, "Though I don't fear YHWH, nor regard man, because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her lest her continual coming to me wears me out." And Y'shua said, "Hear what the unjust judge said, hear this, and shall not YHWH do good to His own elect who cry day and night to Him though He bear long with them."
This parable is a story of contrast. This is NOT speaking about YHWH the Father. Y'shua is not saying YHWH is that mean old judge who won't grant you what you need. Y'shua is contrasting YHWH to this judge. He is saying, "This judge is bad. He doesn't even fear YHWH, and he won't even do what is right unless he is begged. How much greater will the heavenly judge, Abba YHWH, who sits on the throne, whose throne is made of justice do for you when you come to Him the first time."
We don't have to beg Him and beg Him and beg Him and wear Him out for justice. We come one time, and we say, "Avenge me of my adversaries." If you've been hurt, if you've been ripped off, if you've been lied about, stolen from, talked about and you, feel like YHWH isn't doing anything then it is probably because you've not asked Him to do anything. Yeah, we've said, "Rebuke the enemy." Yes, we've said, "We bind those words," but YHWH says, "Ask for justice."
Job chapter 22 verse 21 says "agree with Him and serve Him and be at peace (be at shalom) thereby good shall come to you."
So what does that say? "Agree with YHWH and serve Him." What is that called? That is called repentance. That is teshuvah. Agree His way is right. Turn from your wicked ways, and good will come to you. You may have some hard times, but good will come to you. Verse 22, "Receive, I beg you, the Torah from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart." Now again, what is Torah? How do we usually translate Torah? Law. So what is he telling us? He says here, "Agree with Him and serve Him. Receive; I beg you, the law, the judicial system, from His mouth. Lay up His words in your heart." Verse 23, "If you teshuvah to the Almighty, you shall be built up." Get this! When you trust YHWH and ask for justice "you shall be built up and you shall put away iniquity far from your tents." Praise YHWH!
When we take a stand for justice, when we take a stand for righteousness, YHWH shall put iniquity far from our tents. Job 22:24, "Then you shall lay up gold as dust. And the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. Yes, the Almighty shall be your defense, and you shall have plenty of silver. For then shall you have your delight in the Almighty and shall lift your face to Elohim. You shall make your prayer to Him, He shall hear you, and you shall pay your vows to Him. You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to you. And the light shall shine on your ways."
What does that mean? You don't really see dust until it accumulates, do you? What this means to me is that gold or righteousness or all of our needs will be met. We might not see it as this big a million dollar check in the mail, but continually, every day as we bring the thief before the judge, He is going to meet our needs over and over and over. We're going to have everything we need. Not only that, but we're going to be blessed more abundantly. Why? Because the enemy has come against us. To the degree that he has come against us and accused us of injustices, we have settlements.
When others accuse you, when they hurt you, when they use you, then the judge can and will act on your behalf. The greater the injustice, the higher YHWH will raise you up, and it says here that He will make you shine. It's time we understand justice. Solomon said, "Give me wisdom of heart that I may understand justice."
It says this in Psalm 146:7-8, "YHWH executes justice." Who executes justice? Not you! YHWH does it! The Bible states, "YHWH executes justice for the oppressed. He gives food to the hungry. He sets the prisoner free." Do you feel oppressed sometimes? Are you hungry for righteousness? Hungry for food? Feel like you're a prisoner, that all you do is battle off the adversary sometimes? It says, "YHWH executes justice for you."
Jeremiah 21:12, "Oh house of David,' thus says YHWH, 'Execute judgment in the morning and deliver them that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor.'" Here, YHWH says to execute judgment on the behalf of others. Your actions, your prayers, on behalf of the poor, the sick, the needy, is a way to execute judgment for another person. When we reach out to others, when we give money, when we minister to them physically, when we pray for them, we are enacting justice for that person. We are getting them help.
Greater than that, we are understanding the judicial system. We have a better understanding of it now - mishpat. That is what YHWH wants for us, that we should decree a thing and it should be established, that we should decree justice, bring the enemy before the judge and allow YHWH to render His judgment.
Psalm 97:2 reminds us that "righteousness and justice are the foundations of His throne." If YHWH does not bring justice to you in your circumstances and situation, then there is not a throne in heaven. How have you been hurt? How have you been lied to? How have you been misled? If YHWH doesn't bring justice for you and a settlement, then His throne tips over, and we have no Mighty One.
Pray this prayer:
"Father YHWH, right now, we come before your throne in order to receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. We are guilty of sin. We are guilty of hurting others, of speaking evil about others, of doing evil to others. We acknowledge that. Not only do we acknowledge that, but we turn from that. We pray that you would remove that sin as far as the east is from the west, throw it into the sea of forgetfulness so that when the enemy comes against us and says, "Oh, you're doing this again," or "Remember what you did back when," that we will accept that, and we'll rejoice because now there is a settlement for us because that is an injustice that has taken place against us.
Father, we come to You and ask for the blood of Y'shua to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Father, we have come to You as judge. We acknowledge that we've been stolen from. We've been trapped by the enemy. We've been lied to. Our past has been stolen from us. Our family has been ripped apart. Our future, Father, has even been destroyed, or that is what the enemy would tell us. We ask right now that You would render a decision and render a settlement for the injustices that we have faced in our lives. "A bruised reed He shall not break. A smoldering wick He shall not snuff out, until He brings justice to victory."
Father, we know that every time the enemy attacks us that it is just going to bring more justice to victory, that every time someone speaks against us, You are exalting us greater and higher and more and better. Yet, it's hard. We've cried tears. We've lamented. We have seen a lot of pain over what others have caused us. They've let us down. They've sinned against us and against You. Yet in doing so, Father, we have been hurt also. We know that You've been hurt. It is not your will that any would suffer or any would perish, but that all would come to eternal life through You. We believe that that eternity starts now.
Father, right now, we bring the thief before You, that accusing attorney, we accuse him. Your Word calls him an accuser of the brethren. Now, we are accusing him of how he has ripped us off and used others to push us down and to hurt us. He has used others to stomp out our hope. He has used others to cause our bodies to have sickness and stress.
Father, the enemy has come against us physically and spiritually and mentally, emotionally. He has come against us in all these ways. We don't say that to bring glory to him, but to accuse him of what he's done and ask You to render a decision and a settlement. We cry out for justice now. We ask You to avenge us of our adversaries, physical and spiritual.
Father, right now, show us a few areas, just one or two areas where we can ask for justice, and we pray that you would avenge us. Take up our cause and show forth your glory. Through Y'shua we pray. Amein."
from various sources
- The Hebrew name for this portion is "Shoftim." What does this name mean?
- Read Isaiah 51:12-52:12. How does this relate to the story of Exodus this week?
- Consider the words found in Mathew 3:1-17. What did you learn from studying these passages?
- How does this Torah portion speak of the Messiah Y'shua?
- Describe two ways that you can apply this week's Torah portion to your life.
What is it about the story, a verse, a word that seems to resonate with some aspect of your life?
- Is there something about the story that rings a bell?
- The parsha begins: "Shofetim and Shoterim". Who were the shoterim and what was their job?
- What is the role of shoftim? What is the role of shotrim?
- We are familiar with the phrase: "justice, justice, thou shall pursue". What are the rewards for following this mitzvah?
- This parsha tells us about four kinds of leaders among the Hebrew people. Who were they?
- B'nai Yisrael was told that when she came into the land, she was to have a king. Who was to choose the king and who was automatically eliminated from consideration?
- What were 4 things the king was forbidden from doing?
- The Levites were to have no portion. To what does that refer and what was their inheritance?
- Why did we have prophets among the people from time to time?
- At least 4 categories of males were not required to go into battle. What were they?
- What was the difference in how B'nai Yisrael was to treat those defeated enemies who lived within Eretz Yisrael and those living outside the Land and why did YHWH differentiate?
- If a person was murdered and the murderer was unknown, who decided which city had to take responsibility? What were the elders of the responsible city to do?
- What qualifications should one look for when appointing a judge?
May a judge accept a bribe if only for the purpose of judging fairly?
What is the source for the concept "seek out a good beit din / house of judgment"?
- "You will come to...the judge who will be in those days." It's impossible to visit a judge living at a different time, so why must the Torah add these apparently extra words?
- What does YHWH promise a king who doesn't amass much gold, doesn't raise many horses and doesn't marry many wives?
- How many Torah scrolls must the king have?
- How was King Shaul punished for disobeying a minor command of the Prophet Shmuel?
- Certain kosher animals are not included in the laws this week. Which ones?
Families of kohanim served in the Beit Hamikdash on a rotational basis. When was this rotation system implemented?
- Which three categories of false prophets are executed?
- What does it mean to "prepare the way" to the cities of refuge?
- How many witnesses are meant when the Torah writes the word eid (witness)?
- "Through the mouth of two witnesses...." What types of testimony does this verse invalidate?
- If witnesses in a capital case are proven to be zomemim (false-conspirators) before their intended victim is executed, how are they punished?
- Why does the section about going to war follow the laws governing witnesses?
- The Hebrew army is warned of four "scare-tactics" the enemy might employ. What are they?
- When a murder victim is found in a field, who determines which city is closest?
- What happens if the murderer is found after the calf's neck was broken?
- Do you think it is difficult to remain impartial when you are a judge? What happens in your family when a parent has to be a judge and decide who is guilty or innocent in a particular family incident? How is a decision made?
- Have you or a sibling ever exclaimed "that's not fair!" ? Under what circumstances has this happened? Did you think the judge, in this case your parent, was not impartial? What affected their judgment? Why?
- Have you ever done something wrong which required a fine or restitution?
- Describe the incident and the resulting punishment. Was the incident concluded with the payment or did it continue to have an impact on you? Why might a fine or restitution be a good idea?
- Much of Shoftim describes the punishment fitting certain crimes. What is the purpose of punishment? How do you think punishments should be chosen and given out in your family? By the civil and criminal courts of your state and the United States?
- What do you think of the guidelines for the King of Israel? Are guidelines important for our leaders? Why? If so, what kinds of guidelines should we have for our leaders? Who should establish those guidelines? Could everyone agree on the same guidelines? Why or why not?
- Explain sorcery and soothsaying. What would be the possible dangers of being involved in these activities? Can you give some contemporary examples of soothsaying? What might be the negative or positive effects of paying attention to a prediction? How might it affect your life and the lives of people around you? How could a false prohet be harmful? Can you think of any modern day examples of a false prophet?
- What are some of the important words found in this portion?
- Who are the primary actors in this parasha and what role or roles does each play? What is the significance of each role? Who are the secondary actors and what roles do they play? What is the significance of their roles?
- What did you learn from this Open Bible teaching?
The Open Bible is a teaching series written by Daniel Rendelman of Emet Ministries. Find more teachings, audio messages, videos, and music at www.emetministries.com. Daniel Rendelman is the founder and leader of Emet Ministries and the author of the book "Finding the Truth." He, his wife, and their five children live in Newberry, South Carolina. He can be reached at emetministries@gmail.com. 7
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