Thought for the Week:

The exodus from Egyptian slavery culminated with the giving of the covenant to a new nation of ex-slaves. The people of Israel carried on their bodies and souls the indelible marks of their former brutal and harsh slavery. The people of Israel were free men, and their relationship with the Torah was to be one of voluntary compliance, not forced compulsion.

Commentary:

If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment. (Exodus 21:2closeExodus 21:2 2 When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. (ESV) )

It seems that by offering laws regarding slavery, the Bible is condoning it. Slavery is ugly. Slaves in North America were kidnapped, maltreated, bought and sold, subjugated to all sorts of cruelties and denied basic human dignities. Why does the Torah give laws about slavery?

The Bible’s laws about slaves are meant for the protection and well-being of the people enslaved. The Israelites had just left slavery. They had experienced it in its ugliest form. It is only natural that God would address that institution and lay out rules to prevent the perpetuation of the maltreatment of slaves. God did not want the Israelites to treat their servants the way that they themselves had been treated.

This can be compared to an abusive home in which a son is beaten by his father. When the boy grows up, he beats his own children because that is the manner of parenting he learned from his father. The Bible’s laws of slavery are meant to break that pattern of the mistreatment of other human beings.

Slavery in the ancient world was a normal part of the entire economy. In those days, there was no standard of currency, and people did not ordinarily work jobs like we do. People lived primarily off the land. This meant that if you were not a landowner or independently wealthy with your own flocks and herds, you probably had no secure means of supporting yourself and your family. The concept of work for hire was risky, short-term and had no guarantees. There were no labor laws, minimum wage requirements or retirement plans. For the landless lower-class, servitude was an attractive option. It offered the acquisition of meaningful skills, lifelong employment and food and shelter for a person and his dependents.

However, in most societies, slaves had no rights. The Torah changes that. According to the laws in this Torah portion, slaves were to be treated as servants for hire rather than property. After six years of service, they were to be given the option of going free.

The Bible’s laws of slavery were designed to prevent the type of enslavement experienced by many black Americans in North America prior to the Civil War. In the Torah, kidnappers face the death penalty (Exodus 21:20closeExodus 21:20 20 “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged.” (ESV) ). If a man seriously hurts his slave, the slave is to be immediately released (Exodus 21:26-27closeExodus 21:26-27 26 “When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. 27 If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.” (ESV) ). If a slave is killed by his owner, the man faces the death penalty (Exodus 21:16closeExodus 21:16 16 “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.” (ESV) ).

Nevertheless, one might say that since slavery has been abolished, the Bible’s laws of slavery are irrelevant to the modern world. That is not the case. If we remember that slaves in the biblical period were roughly equivalent to the concept of employees in today’s economy, we can learn several things about God’s heart for how we treat our employees. The Torah would have us treat them fairly, with dignity and worthy compensation.

–FirstFruitsofZion.com

Skip Moen.com
Luke 7:9closeLuke 7:9 9 When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” (ESV)   NASB

And when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”  Luke 7:9closeLuke 7:9 9 When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” (ESV)

Not even in – The centurion exhibited something Yeshua didn’t find among His own people.  Even He was surprised (the word is thaumazo – to wonder, to marvel).  We think we understand His amazement.  After all, this man was a Gentile, a Roman soldier.  We think Yeshua’s wonder comes because He doesn’t expect Gentiles to embrace His teaching so quickly.  We think He marvels that the man trusts Him.  Because we believe that having faith is a matter of declaring correct beliefs, we see the astonishment in the declaration of the centurion, “Just say the word, and . . .”  Then we conclude that we would have done the same thing since we know who Yeshua is.  But this train of thought sends us in the wrong direction.  A closer look at the comparison will put us straight.

“Not even in” is the Greek oude en.  Oude must be set in opposition to mede, just as ou and me must be distinguished.  Oude is the combination of ou (not) and de (and), but this is the stronger not, the not of “no exceptions,” as opposed to the conditional not (me), the not of “it might not be.”  This means Yeshua is saying that He has never seen this kind of faith among His own.  That’s an amazing statement considering all of His encounters with Israelites.  If faith only means asserting the truth that Yeshua is Messiah, the Son of God, then there are certainly others who qualify.  How about Peter?  He is the first to declare Yeshua to be the Son of God.  Doesn’t his “faith” equal that of the centurion?

Apparently not.  This means we need to reconsider what “faith” means in this verse.  It is the centurion’s great “faith” that creates the amazement.  It can’t be his declaration since others make declarations that are even more significant.  What is it that makes this centurion so unusual?  The answer is his complete, unhesitating obedience.  That’s the point of the centurion’s example of those under his command.  He speaks.  They do.  No questions asked.  The centurion’s distinctive characteristic is his immediate, unqualified acceptance of Yeshua’s authority and his instantaneous commitment to that authority.  Faith isn’t his words.  It’s his deeds.

What makes the centurion so unusual, so different from even the Jews Yeshua taught and healed?  His unquestioning obedience.  This is the essence of faith.  To hear is to do.  The great distinction of this soldier is that he knows what it means to carry out the word of an authority.  When Yeshua marvels at his unquestioning obedience, He sets the bar for all of us.

Do we instantly obey?  Do we hear God’s word, and without doubt, without wavering, without stalling or reluctance, do exactly what God asks as soon as He asks?  Perhaps if we weren’t so much like the disciples who spent three years wavering, delaying and hesitating, perhaps if we were a bit more like this soldier, we would respond with a faith so great Yeshua would remark, “Not even in Israel have I seen such as this?”

Thought for the Week:

The Apostle Paul explained, “All things become visible when they are exposed by the light…” (Ephesians 5:13closeEphesians 5:13 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible. . . . (ESV) ) This is what happens when light shines into the darkness. The deeds of darkness are exposed.

Commentary:

Sometimes when believers study the laws of Torah, they are surprised at the types of things discussed. Murder, abuse, parenticide, slavery, bestiality, incest, etc. How can this be a holy, godly revelation of the Infinite Light?

The Torah was not given to angels. Instead, the Torah is given to flawed and imperfect human beings. It is spoken directly and practically into human society with all of its wrinkles. The Torah speaks in the language of the flawed and imperfect in order to infuse godliness into the world. It has descended from a very high place (God) to a very low place (man), yet it has still retained its Godly essence. That Godly essence is often wrapped in garments of human concern (such as the laws of slavery or compensation for negligence). Yet if one takes the trouble to unwrap the commandment, it will blaze forth in his hands with the brilliance of heaven.

This dichotomy of the Holy concealed within matters of the profane is well illustrated by a passage from Paul’s first epistle to Timothy. In 1 Timothy, Paul tells Timothy that the Torah is good if one uses it “lawfully,” that is in the administration of justice.

But we know that the Torah is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that Torah is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are Torah-less and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching. (1 Timothy 1:8close1 Timothy 1:8 8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully. . . . (ESV) –10)

Paul’s point is simple. If everyone were perfectly righteous, there would be no need for laws forbidding sin. If no one ever murdered, there would be no need for a law forbidding murder. Thus the Torah is meant for the wicked in as much as it reveals wickedness and condemns it. Apparently some within Paul’s communities wanted “to be teachers of the Torah,” even though they didn’t know what they were talking about. (1 Timothy 1:7close1 Timothy 1:7 7 Desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. (ESV) ) These novices were mishandling the Torah, wielding it against the righteous and using it to create division among believers. Before we assume to be teachers, we need to spend time as students. Before we assume to be judges, we need to sit quietly and learn. We should always consider the traditional interpretation as we study. We are to use the Torah lawfully. We are to shine its light into the darkness and allow it to expose the evil hidden therein, beginning with the evil hidden within ourselves. Our job is to unwrap the garments under which the pure revelation of God is clothed and discover that the Torah is Holy and Good!

–First Fruits of Zion, Inc.

The Torah Portion, Mishpatim/Ordinances, contains the commands of God for governing a covenant community. Within Mishpatim are mitzvot (good deeds). The primary etymology of the word “mitzvah”  is “connection”.  In other words, the mitzvot (the Torah commands and the performance of them) are the connection point between heaven and earth; the connection of the spirit realm with the physical realm on the earth. Whenever these connection points come together, it is called the Ma Ha K’vod – the Glory of God!

The Torah is comprised of several types of commandments including Statutes, Testimonies and Judgments:

 Statutes:  Laws which transcend our understanding and which we obey simply because they are the Word of God.

Testimonies:   Laws not necessitated by human reason.  Had God not decreed them, man would not have thought to do them.

Judgments: Laws which reason would have compelled man to devise even if they had not been Divinely revealed.

“Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them:” (Exodus 21:1closeExodus 21:1 21:1 “Now these are the rules that you shall set before them.” (ESV) NKJV)

Why are only the “judgments” singled out to be set before the people? The whole Bible is divided into two realms, the realm of life, represented by the yetzer hatov (the good inclination), and the realm of death or yetzer hara (the evil inclination). When you walk in the yetzer hatov, you will prosper. When you walk in the yetzer hara, it will drain you physically, financially, spiritually and emotionally.

The yetzer hara does not start by telling you to do something against the Torah. The impulse cannot begin with a deliberate enticement to a forbidden act. The yetzer hara tells you to do something that is in the Torah, but to do it half-heartedly. It bids you to perform a judgment, because this instruction can be reasoned through the intellect, which involves the ego. Even though obedience to a judgment is designed to lead a man into the mitzvot, a half-hearted observance of one of the judgments of the Torah engages man on an intellectual level. Because the judgment appeals to the “religious” component of his being, without engaging the “relationship” nature of the mitzvot, the act itself will not bring him into closeness with God.

A person who brings their whole heart (i.e. action, emotion, reason, and inwardness) into the performance of a judgment – that which can be understood by reason, will be drawn into the obedience of the statutes and testimonies – that which cannot always be understood by reason. These whole-hearted acts become the mitzvot (good deeds). By obeying a mitzvah, or deeds of the good inclination, a person recreates Sinai – the meeting place of man and God. This is the difference between an act that is reasonable (judgment) and an act which is a mitzvah.

In Mishpatim, God commands that His judgments be set before the people. The evil inclination, both then and now, would operate through the intellect and the ego, to lead man into a complacent religious observance of these judgments. Those yielding to the yetzer hatov would embrace the judgments with their whole person, and be drawn by the intimacy of relationship, beyond human reason and intellect, into the timeless embrace of mitzvah, the connective link, where the knowledge of God enters the innermost (heart) being of man.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5closeDeuteronomy 6:4-5 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (ESV) NKJV)

Conference Details: This year’s main event. Featuring: Brad Scott, Bill Cloud, Rico Cortes, Eddie Chumney, Tony Robinson, Valerie Moody, Daniel Botkin, Hollisa Alewine, Ed Harris, and Scott Diffenderfer. As well as worship artists: Mason Clover, Elisha, Steve Manning, Ross, and The Hidden

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Soldiers Praying:
IDF Ethical Standards
Israel has a principle that weapons and force can only be used for the purpose of a military operation and not to harm human beings who are non-combatants or who are prisoners of war. This involves avoiding at all costs damage to human life, dignity and property. Enemy troops and civilians in areas under the control of the IDF have to be treated with the letter and spirit of the law. Soldiers have to show respect for the beliefs, values and historical sites of all civilians and military personnel… If a commander is accused of violence he can be instantaneously removed from his command.

View Additional Pictures:
www.mahal-idf-volunteers.org

Author: Skip Moen

“Therefore whatever you want others to do for you, do so for them; for this is the Law and the Prophets.”  Matthew 7:12closeMatthew 7:12 12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (ESV)   NASB

The Law and the Prophets –  Jacob Neusner, one of today’s experts in Judaism, makes the following observation:

“What marks Judaism apart from the other monotheist religions?  Judaism recognizes no other revelation than the Torah, the Teaching, set forth by God to Moses at Mount Sinai, and encompassing the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve minor prophets).  The Torah, broadly defined, contains the exhaustive account of God’s plan for creation and humanity.”[1]

Once again we realize that the issue of Torah, not the issue of Yeshua as Messiah, is the distinguishing factor between Christians and Jews.  At the same time, we must notice that the gospel authors take great pains to portray Yeshua as the prophet foretold by Moses, the prophet who would come later, finishing the work that God first revealed to Moses.  This means that the gospel authors would not object to Neusner’s distinction.  They would claim that Yeshua was indeed a proclaimer of the final authority of Torah in that He embodied everything Torah was meant to accomplish in the lives of God’s people.  That Yeshua is the Messiah is not a condition in addition to Torah, but rather a statement of the purpose and fulfillment of Torah.  Yeshua is Torah incarnate.

Neusner goes on to document the fact that during the time of the rise of Christian theology (after 200AD), the various schools of Jewish thought eventually coalesced into what became rabbinic Judaism, the foundation of the Judaism we know today.  But this was not the case in the First Century.  Yeshua was part of an historical period that evidenced many different views of Israel’s legacy and destiny – and He added His commentary and instruction to that stream of thought.  His role as Messiah, recognized by thousands of Jews who clearly understood the crucial role of Torah, provided the authority for His declarations.  His teaching is the official divinely-given interpretation of Torah, not a replacement for Torah.  To read of Yeshua’s teaching without Torah in the background is to strip away His very existence.  What remains is a shell of God’s anointed, not the fully embodied representation of God’s design for humanity.

Neusner adds a crucial fact to our exploration.  Judaism did not exist as a monolithic religious block in the First Century.  Yeshua lived at a time when great transitions and conflicts were a part of Israel, both politically and theologically.  He rose as a prophet in the same vein as the earlier prophets, someone set apart by God to call God’s people back to their assignment at Sinai, to return to the Torah of the ancients.  Yeshua’s affinities with Akiva, Hillel and others is not an accident.  During this period, great ideas were being hammered out in the religious thinking of the community.  Yeshua was a vital part of all of this, a lightning rod and a polarizing factor in a society under worldview pressures.

That’s why a verse like this one in Matthew has such clear parallels to statements of Akiva.  The entire corpus of Jewish thinking was being sifted and men like Akiva and Yeshua were strong voices of stability in a world in flux.

Of course, Yeshua is more than a prophet.  He is the Messiah.  But if we do not first recognize Him as prophet, as reformer, as spokesman of the Most High God, called to exemplify the pathos of God in the midst of Jewish humanity, we will never explain who He is as the Anointed sacrifice, the Messiah ben Joseph.

Perhaps you have embraced Him as Savior, perhaps even as Lord, but you have never considered Him as prophet to God’s people, as the incarnation of Torah in all that Torah implies.  Perhaps your view of Yeshua is just as truncated as the contemporary Jew who rejects Him because he thinks Yeshua abandons Torah.  First prophet, then redeemer, then king.  Perhaps it’s time to rethink who He is as those who knew Him on earth would have thought.

Author: Skip Moen
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6closeIsaiah 9:6 6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (ESV)
Prince of Peace – The last title in Isaiah’s name for the child is the most startling of them all.  Today, we are so used to the “Prince of Peace” appellation for the Messiah that we no longer see how out-of-place this translation really is.  We don’t realize that the Hebrew word sar (in sar-shalom) is almost always a designation for a vassal king or a subordinate authority.  Isaiah does not want us to make this mistake.  In fact, this is the only place in all Scripture where the combination sar-shalom is used.  That should tell us to be very careful about how we translate this title.  It is not to be translated in the usual way.  This child is not a subordinate or lesser official in the Kingdom, as are all the rest of the sarim in the Old Testament.  When Isaiah coins the title, sar-shalom, he is not thinking of Yeshua as a subordinate god.  Isaiah is thinking of the further purpose of the Messiah, and that further purpose is not just about “peace” or about who has authority over peace.

How do we know that Isaiah doesn’t think of sar in the typically Hebrew way?  Because Isaiah has already given us two other titles that can only be ascribed to God Himself, el-gibbor and abi-ad.   The same child who is “mighty God” and “eternal Father” is also sar-shalom.  So, “prince” cannot be correct.  Some other translation is required.

To determine what sar means, we must think about the word shalom.  Of course, shalom does mean “peace,” and the alliteration “Prince of Peace” has a pleasant sound.  But “peace” is far too limited an understanding of shalom.  Shalom is a word that really means well-being in all aspects of life; physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.  When one Jew greeted another with the word “Shalom,” it need not mean, “Have a nice day.”  It meant, “May all that you need for your well-being today come to you this day.”  That’s shalom.  This child is the official in charge of all shalom.  This child is the “well-being authority.”  If you really want shalom, then you must come to him, for he is the one divinely ordained to give it.

Of course, this means that Yeshua grants peace with God.  But that is not the limit of His authority.  All that is necessary for men to find well-being is under His care.  When Jesus said, “Without me, you can do nothing,” He meant it.  No effort toward well-being is accomplished without the expressed authority of  Yeshua, even if no one ever acknowledges His power over this effort.  All that I need for a life well-lived is to be found in Him.

No, “Prince of peace” is not enough.  His authority is much bigger than that.  John tells us that His authority extends to all creation; that everything came into being through Him.  This is no subordinate ruler.  This is no prince.  This is the King of glory, the absolute monarch of the ages, the Alpha and Omega of all that is.  This child is Pele-yoez-El-gibbor-Abi-ad-Sar-Shalom.  Quake before Him!  Kneel in submission!

Greek – Aleph and Omega … (Hebrew – Alef and Tav)

In another 1 Corinthians 11:3close1 Corinthians 11:3 3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. (ESV) " href="http://skipmoen.com/2006/11/03/commentary-on-1-corinthians-113/">Commentary on 1 Corinthians 11:3close1 Corinthians 11:3 3 But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. (ESV) , Skip says:

Sar and melek have one unique distinction.  A king has authority in and of himself.  He is ruler by his own right.  But a sar is someone who has authority bestowed upon him by another.  He is a ruler, but a ruler by appointment, not title-designation.  This difference is absolutely critical.  The Suffering Servant, the Messiah, Emmanuel, is not a self-appointed ruler.  He is the One Who comes in the name of the Father, granted authority by another.  When we think of Yeshua as king, we must not get confused.  Isaiah understood.  The Messiah came as sar, not melek.

Author:  Skip Moen

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6closeIsaiah 9:6 6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (ESV)

Eternal Father – Did you think that Jesus was the first to call God “Father”?  Were you taught that the God of the Old Testament was a stern, fearsome and unapproachable monarch?  If you are under the impression that Jesus was the one who changed our view of God from Lawgiver to Sin Forgiver, then you never really understood the meaning of abi-ad.  In the middle of this child’s name, the Hebrew word combination abi-ad signifies more than Eternal Father.  It tells us about the character of God and about the Messiah who comes as the fulfillment of these qualities.

Abi-ad combines the word ab (father) with the word ad (perpetual, continuing, eternal).  Often this second word (ad) is found in conjunction with olam, meaning “forever and ever” or “everlasting.”  Behind this designation is the theological idea of trust in the character and promises of God.  Ad is the context for trusting God.  I can trust Him forever because His promises are irrevocable.

Followers of the Messiah proclaim God’s eternal promises.  We put our hope in what God says will come to pass.  We believe His word.  But often the circumstances of life seem to deny God’s claims.  Often we are left with the question, “Why should I trust you, God?”

The name abi-ad gives us the answer to this important question.  Abi-ad tells us why we can trust Him.  In ancient Semitic cultures, the father’s responsibility for the welfare of the family and all those who depended on him included provision, protection and promises like inheritance and destiny.  God as Father insures that all of these requirements will be accomplished eternally.  The abi-ad is more than a figurehead or a propagator.  The abi-ad plays a crucial role in the continuation of the entire family line, and, of course, with God that line goes on forever.  Of His kingdom there will be no end.

When Isaiah uses the term abi-ad, he is not employing a special, technical, theological term.  He is using a word combination that anchors God’s actions and promises in the center of family life – right where the Child is born.  This Child, the one who is the Abi-Ad, comes to us in the most ordinary way.  But He comes with the mantle of the Father Forever, with all the consummate responsibilities, obligations and abilities that belong to the Father of all Mankind.

This Child is the namesake and, consequently, the exact identity of the Father Forever.  He secures the irrevocable promise of the Father by bringing that promise to its fully revealed existence.

Worship is the only appropriate response.