Shoftim (Judges) Deut. 16:18-21:9 HafTorah: Isaiah 51:12-52:12
This Torah portion is always read on the first Shabbat of the Hebrew month of Elul.
Today is the 6th day of Elul.
This month leads up to the High Holy Days
Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot.
It is a perfect time to reflect on our lives.
A time to consider those things that need to be set straight with the G-d of the universe.
We have the avenue of repentance and renewal available at any time.
However this month brings our lives front and center for an extended period.
I pray we each will take this time to lay everything open before the Throne and renew our relationship with our Father and anyone we might have issues with in our lives.
1.In Deut. 21:1-9 we have a strange passage describing an elaborate process the elders of the closest city had to perform if a dead person was found in a field near their city. Why do you think this process was important? What was the point being made here? Why did they have to offer an atonement sacrifice?
In our portion in D’Varim 21:1-9 we read about the stranger found dead in a field
the elders of the city closest to the dead person must do certain things.
They must swear that they had no part in the death
They must swear their hands were clean.
They then had to offer an atonement sacrifice. Why?
This commandment was to remind the people how important human life is,
To remind them that each person is made in G-d’s image.
The elders of the nearest city certainly had not directly killed this man.
However, maybe they had not provided food or shelter for him.
So he found himself alone and either died on his own or was killed by someone.
It teaches us that each life is important.
We as G-d’s children have a mandate to do what we can to help those in need
They have value in G-d’s eyes and must also in ours.
Matthew 25:35-45 speaks to this principle
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘L-rd, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘L-rd, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
One last question.
Who was Yeshua talking about in verse 40?
I believe he was talking about the Jewish people.
G-d has commanded us to support and stand with His Chosen People.
That is not to say these verses rule out helping others but as scripture says, to the Jew first.
2. Here the children of Israel are about to go over the river and enter Israel. Up until now they had been a collection of tribes. Now, they were to be a nation. A nation requires a different kind of leadership. As we read this Torah portion look at all the laws and regulations Moses was laying out on how the nation would be run. What is different in these passages on how they were to function as a nation and how most other countries are run? After crossing over the Jordan who would be responsible for keeping order?
Moses’ goal was to teach the Israelites self-restraint and love for G-d.
Gave them laws and rules to live by such as, Rules for judges, prophets, punishment for sins, roles for the priests and Levites, warned to avoid the sins of other nations.
He wanted them to remember G-d’s words.
The goal was not to live with the fear of government.
The goal was all about living with the fear of G-d.
There are only two ways to create order,
1.by force from outside – police, army, etc.
2.or by self-restraint from within.
You can have external forces keeping order
or you can have a nation of people who are committed to keeping the law.
How do you have a nation of people committed to knowing and keeping G-d’s law?
You achieve it by building strong families that teach their children what scripture says.
You have parents living by Deut. 11:19,
“Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
The first century historian writer Josephus wrote about this goal, “Should any one of our nation be asked about our laws, he will repeat them as readily as his own name. The result of our thorough education in our laws is that they are, as it were, engraved on our souls.”
What an amazing sight it would be if Israel or our nation had all of scripture engraved on their souls and lived by it.
3.In our Torah portion we read Deut. 17:14,,”When you enter the land the L-rd your G-d is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” Then the qualifications are listed. Do you think G-d wanted them to have a king? Most countries had kings. What scripture can we find to show why this might be a good or bad decision for Israel? How does it apply to us?
G-d’s ideal plan was for the people of Israel to be governed directly by Him,
with the help of judges, priests and prophets.
G-d had also provided laws and prophecies for future kings.
But His plan was to do it in His way and in His time.
Let’s read what G-d said to Avraham and Sarah.
Genesis 17: 6 says, “I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.”
Genesis 17:15-16 “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
Let’s read I Samuel to see what went wrong?
I Samuel 8:6-9, “But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the L-rd. 7 And the L-rd told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”
By asking for a king at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons they were rejecting G-d.
I Samuel 8:19, “But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said no, but we will have a king over us. That we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
Israel wanted a king to judge them
despite the fact that G-d was their judge.
Israel wanted a king to fight their battles,
despite the fact that G-d fought their battles for them.
Israel rejected G-d as their king.
They desired worldly power rather than trusting in G-d’s leadership.
So G-d gave them exactly what they asked for.
Their king would take their sons and daughters, their produce, their servants and their flocks. ( I Samuel 8:11-18) A King would require a tithe of their goods.
I Samuel 8:17, “He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
So they would end up being like other nations, being servants to a king instead of servants to the Most-High G-d.
All this brings me to these questions to think about:
What things do we cling to for security instead of leaning on our Heavenly Father?
Do we find ourselves serving other things or people instead of our Abba?
Who do we trust to fight our battles?
4.In D’Varim/Deuteronomy 19:15 it says, “one witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.” Of course these witnesses are supposed to be truthful. What example do we find in scripture where two witnesses testified falsely against an innocent man and the innocent man was stoned to death?
I Kings 21:1-3, “Sometime later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth. But Naboth said to Ahab, “The L-rd forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you.”
I Kings 21:11-19, So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them. They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both G-d and the king. So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.” As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.” When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard.
17 Then the word of the L-rd came to Elijah the Tishbite: 18 “Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it. 19 Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property? ’Then say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”
I Kings 21:20-24, “ Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have found me, my enemy! I have found you,” he answered, “because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the L-rd. He says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you. I will wipe out your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free.[a] I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have aroused my anger and have caused Israel to sin. And also concerning Jezebel the Lord says: ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of[b] Jezreel. Dogs will eat those belonging to Ahab who die in the city, and the birds will feed on those who die in the country.”
I Kings 21:27-29, “When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly. Then the word of the L-rd came to Elijah the Tishbite: Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.”
First of all, notice Naboth’s reply to Ahab.
He refused to sell or trade land
He was committed to keeping God’s law regarding ancestral land,
Also, evidently Jezebel knew the law that there had to be two witnesses and not one as she planned her scheme to get rid of Naboth. She had two men to sit on each side of Naboth ready to accuse him falsely.
Another example would be Stephen
Acts 6:8-11, “Now Stephen, a man full of G-d’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke. 11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against G-d.”
12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Yeshua of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”
Acts 7:56-58, 57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.”