1.Exodus 21:1, “And these are the judgments which you shall set before them.” The very first two words of our Torah portion are the Hebrew words, Va’eleh, which means “and these.” It is followed by mishpatim or judgments. Why are these first two words important?
In Hebrew the two words, Ve’aleh, are always used to connect thoughts or subjects. Last week the Torah portion covered the Ten Commandments. So these words connect the Ten Commandments with the Judgments.
In this Torah portion we read more than fifty laws covering a wide range of subjects. Have you ever heard, “Why study all these laws, we as believers are under grace now. Laws are the opposite of grace. Since we are believers in Yeshua there is no reason for us to be concerned with all these laws we read in the Torah.”
Interesting story I read this week:
On a flight, Rabbi Manis Friedman found himself sitting next to a devout Christian. The woman confidently explained to the Rabbi, “Because Jesus atoned for our sins, we no longer have to keep all the 613 commandments of the Torah – we can get to Heaven through G-d’s grace alone!”
He responded “Wow, and do you keep kosher?”
She looked at him quizzically, then restated her original explanation. Rabbi Friedman pressed on “Ok, but do you keep kosher?”
Bewildered, she stammered, “Why would I keep kosher?”
“Well, it seems like you really love G-d. Don’t you think it would be good to do what He likes even if it doesn’t help you get to heaven?”
Rabbi Friedman’s brilliant response illuminates a profound paradigm shift: The woman saw commandments purely as a means to an end – following them only made sense if they helped achieve salvation. But Rabbi Friedman revealed a deeper truth: each commandment offers us the chance to express our love for our Creator. This understanding transforms commandments from obligations into opportunities for relationship.
As the Rambam teaches, “One who serves G-d out of love occupies himself in Torah and walks in the paths of wisdom for no ulterior motive: not because of fear that evil will occur, nor in order to acquire benefit. Rather, he does what is true because it is true.”
G-d’s Love Language
Keeping G-d’s commandments is an opportunity to connect with G-d by following His will with passionate enthusiasm, now and for all time. The deepest purpose of commandments is to build our relationship with G-d.
Each commandment is another opportunity to express our love and strengthen our relationship with G-d. To put it simply, the commandments are G-d’s love language!
I challenge you if there is a commandment that comes to your mind that you have neglected or ignored in your life take it on, apply it to your life, for no other reason than an expression of your love for G-d.
Grace is G-d’s free gift of salvation for those who believe in His Son. Law is His loving instruction for how His people should live. Grace and Law are not opposed to each other. They are meant to work hand in hand.
This can be compared to a man who adopted a son. After he had brought the boy home, he told him, “In our house, we have certain rules. One of them is that you must always clear your dishes from the table after eating.” The boy began to fret. He reasoned to himself, “If I do not clear the dishes from the table, I will no longer be adopted. I will be an orphan again.” Foolish child. The rules of the house were not meant to earn his place in the family. His obligation to the rules resulted from his already being made a part of the family.
As soon as we start to discard commandments, we have begun editing G-d and reshaping the Almighty into an image which we deem more appropriate. To declare a commandment irrelevant or obsolete denies the eternal and unchanging nature of G-d.
It is also incorrect to believe that we must keep God’s Law in order to be saved. Instead, we should keep God’s Law because we are saved.
These judgments should be understood in the same way as what proceeded them. Both were given to Moshe on the mountain. We could look at the Ten Commandments as being the outline and the Judgments this week as being the details on how to keep the commandments.
2.In Exodus 24:12 G-d told Moses to, “come up to Me on the mountain, and be there.” It seems repetitive to add the words, “and be there”. Why do you think the last three words were added?
G-d wanted Moses’ undivided attention, for him to be completely there, only interested, only moved by G-d, not thinking about anything else. This reminds me of our lives and how hard it is to be totally present, free of distractions, when we are spending time with the Father or even with our spouse, children or friends. Even when we are talking to someone we have the urge to check messages on our phone or our mind is off somewhere thinking of something else.
3A.Exodus 22:21-24 gives us clear direction on how to treat the powerless. If mistreated who will defend them?
Exodus 22:21-24, “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner,for you were foreignersin Egypt.
“Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless.If you do and they cry outto me, I will certainly hear their cry.My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.”
Unlike other offenses that might come before a court and settled, G-d was the defender of the stranger, the powerless.
If we go back and read Exodus 3:7-10 we can see how important it was to G-d to rescue the Israelites when they too were helpless and powerless. He heard their cries and came down to rescue them.
Exodus 3:7-10, “TheL-rdsaid, “I have indeed seenthe miseryof my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concernedabout their suffering. So I have come downto rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land,a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivitesand Jebusites.And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressingthem. So now, go. I am sendingyou to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
Evidently this is important to G-d. He expects His people to reach out to people who are hurting or in need, people who have no power and are at the mercy of others.
We have a natural tendency to band together in like-minded groups. We are more comfortable with people who are like us, socially, economically, ethnically, or religiously. The problem comes when this bond becomes so deep that we see “the other” as a threat or not important because they are different.
G-d expects and scripture teaches that His people are to reach outside of themselves to empathize with people who may be different. We must invest ourselves in others who are in need. G-d expects His people to do, not to just talk.
3B.Where in the Messianic scriptures do we find similar instruction to those given in Exodus 22:21-24? What is pure and undefiled religion? What does scripture say is the opposite of pure and undefiled religion?
James 1:27 says, ”Pure and undefiled religion before G-d and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble.” It stresses what should be the conduct of us all. The true test of a civilization is how it treats its elderly, poor and orphaned.
The widows and orphans in James’ time would have been the most marginalized in society without protection, without power. So James is using them as an example of a part of our society that is largely ignored.
James is telling us we must become the kind of people who move towards those who have been cast out, marginalized and pushed aside. And when we do – when we step towards the hard and broken, and not away – it puts the heart of G-d on display to those that are hurting. In doing this we are choosing to say, “I see you. I see where you are and I care!”
To paraphrase James 1:27 it would read: “One of the purest and most undefiled demonstrations of the gospel is to move towards hard places and broken people, not away from them.
The opposite of pure and undefiled religion is found in James 1:26, “Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.”
Our life as G-d’s people must be marked by our concern for the oppressed, the stranger, the widow and orphan, simply for those who are at the mercy of the world.