Mishpatim: Ordinances, Judgments, Rulings
Shemot (Exodus) 21:1 – 24:18
YirmeYahu (Jer) 33:25-26; 34:8-22
MattitYahu (Matt) 5:17-42; 15:1-20; 17:1-12; 26:52; Luke 6:35; 19:8; John 5:22-24; 10:30,38; Acts 1:9; 2:1; 7:38; 20:16; 23:1-11; Ya’aqov/Jacob/James 1:27; 2:5-6; 1 Peter 1:2; Ivriym (Hebrews) 8:7-13; 9:15-22; 10:28-39; 2 Corinthians 6:14-15; 1 Timothy 6:14-16; Revelation 4:2-6
Spiritual gifts – what do we need spiritual gifts for? For what purpose should we seek the Father in Heaven to grant us spiritual gifts to manifest in our midst? Why do spiritual gifts seem to be a mystery to many Messianic and Hebrew Roots believers?
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I would not have you ignorant.
1 Corinthians 12:1
Hebrew Roots folk especially do not want to be ignorant of the Word nor the ways of YHWH. We’ve inherited lies from our Father and we want to know the truth! Yet because we focus so much on getting back to the Torah, many have lost touch with the spiritual gifts. Why? Is it because we question all doctrine that comes out of Christianity? We don’t find them that much in the Torah. But what does it teach about spiritual gifts?
Gifts of the Spirit Manifested in the Torah
On the surface, the literal text of the Torah offers little teaching on the gifts of the Spirit. But we have read about the spiritual gifts of prophecy (Numbers 11:25; 24:2), of the spirit of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge (Exodus 31:3, Deuteronomy 34:9), and of the laying on of hands transferring the honor of Moses upon the next leader, Joshua (Numbers 27:23).
Moses operated in many gifts of the Spirit. The two signs Yah gave him demonstrated to the children of Israel that he had spiritual gifts of miracles and healing. He’d throw his staff on the ground, it became a snake; he’d grab the tail and it would turn into the staff of authority. He’d place his hand in his bosom, brought it out leprous, put it back in and out – his hand was healed! Because he was given those signs, he operated in those gifts. He had the gifts of administration, prophecy, faith, and more…
From Heavens to the Great Deep
For ordinary folk like you and I who don’t talk to YHWH face to face on a mountain, what are the fundamentals of the spiritual gifts in the Scriptures? What do we need to know about them before the Father would entrust His children to operate in spiritual gifts?
Hebrew Roots teachers believe every doctrine has its roots and foundation in the Torah. In this case, we see the need to go deeper into the Torah, to learn the heart of the Father, and to learn His purposes for empowering His people with the gifts of His Spirit.
What purpose does Abba have for us to learn from our Torah portion – Mishpatim?
A ‘mishpat’ is defined as a judgment, manner, right, cause, ordinance, lawful, order, custom, discretion, law, or measure. (Strong’s #H4941) These terms describe what is needed to make important decisions in life. The mishpatim of this Torah portion gives us the underlying bases for making decisions and rulings among relationships in the community. Deep beneath the literal ordinances is an underlying spiritual reality:
Your loving kindness, YHWH, is in the heavens.
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God.
Your mishpatim (judgments) are like a great deep.
YHWH, You preserve man and animal.
Psalms 36:5-6
Here David praises YHWH Elohim for His attributes to extend from the heavens to the depths of the sea. One of His attributes is that His ‘mishpatim are like a great deep.’
Far above all mishpatim, far above all the judgments and all the decisions we ponder deep in our hearts, first and foremost is the lovingkindness and the faithfulness of YHWH in the heavens (Psa 36:5). Despite our unfaithfulness and our doubts and unbelief regarding His Word, our Father in Heaven is merciful and faithful to His children.
Because His mercy triumphs over judgment/mishpat (James 2:13), so should all our judgments be tempered with mercy towards those who have been unfaithful to His Word.
For Elohim has shut up all in unbelief so that He might show mercy to all. Oh, the depth of riches, and wisdom and knowledge of Elohim! How unsearchable His mishpatim (judgments) and untraceable His ways!
Romans 11:32-33
Paul also connected mercy and love with the depths of wisdom and knowledge and the great deep of His mishpatim. He also attributed the love of YHWH with height and depth:
…nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord. Romans 8:39 (TLV)
Oh, the depth… To whet our appetite for the Torah portion, David declared that the mishpatim, the ordinances or judgments of YHWH are “like a great deep.” Selah.
The Hebrew word for ‘deep’ is ‘t’hom’, which in Paleo Hebrew pictures a man beholding a large body of chaotic water with surging waves and a tumultuous surf. Who knows what precious things that the upheavals of the waves of water can pull up from the deep! What will the waves send out to the beach to be revealed to those who seek them? Finding those precious little stones in the sand can make walking on a beach more delightful and rewarding. Spiritual gifts may come forth from those who come out of tumultuous trials, soul-searching, and seeking YHWH for the deeper things of the Spirit.
Arching high in the heavens above the surging sea is His lovingkindness, His covenant love, His chesed. YHWH our Elohim sits upon the throne of Heaven and mercifully orchestrates all the affairs of our lives, to faithfully preserve those who put their trust in Him. How much more should His love and mercy arch over our hearts and minds – over every thought and judgment we make in our relationship with one another?
From His throne and for His good pleasure, He works out everything for the good of those Who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28)
Whatever YHWH pleases, He does, in Heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. Psalms 135:6
The Spiritual Gift of Wisdom
The words of a man’s mouth are like deep waters, the fountain of wisdom like a flowing stream. Proverbs 18:4
The spiritual gift of wisdom is what makes a person’s mouth like deep waters, a fountain of wisdom flowing like a stream. Wise words spoken with mercy and love refresh the souls of those who hear wise words. Wise words come from deep within the soul of a merciful heart of wisdom – full and overflowing with the Holy Spirit and the Word of Yah.
The Torah of YHWH is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of YHWH is trustworthy, making the simple wise.
Psalms 19:8
The Holy Spirit can draw from the Torah that’s in the spiritually-gifted heart of the righteous:
The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom and his tongue speaks mishpat (justice). The Torah of his God is in his heart. His steps do not slip. Psalm 37:30-31
The Spiritual Gifts of Prayer Language and Prophecy
The gift of tongues is like a deep, vertical deep calling unto deep. The prayer language prays unto YHWH from the well of the Spirit with utterances that no man can understand. It’s kind of like the waterfalls in the mountains I worked in for 37 years.
Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me. YHWH will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; and His song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life. Psalm 42:7-8
Intellectuals who want to be able to understand everything with the mind claim that the ‘gift of tongues’ must only be spoken in understandable, known languages – not an unknown tongue. But those who operate in this gift know that it is a way to pray vertically to the Father in Heaven with no dependence on the intellect. The fruit of the Spirit, primarily mercy and love, prove that the use of this spiritual gift is not of the devil.
The purposes of praying in the Spirit are two-fold: for building yourself up in the faith, and to remain in His love. Here’s Jude 1:20-21 (TLV):
But you, loved ones, continue building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Ruach ha-Kodesh. Keep yourselves in the love of God, eagerly waiting for the mercy of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah that leads to eternal life.
For those who struggle with understanding the gift of the unknown tongue, please consider Paul’s exhortation on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians Chapter 14. Here, he starts with the purpose for the gift – the highest attribute of YHWH – to agape love:
Pursue agape (love), yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.
But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation. One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but one who prophesies edifies the church. 1 Corinthians 14:1-4
Love was what Eldad and Medad were all about when they were prophesying in the wilderness camp (Num 11:25-29). Like Joshua questioning what they were doing, so religious leaders do today. But the meanings of the names ‘Eldad’ and ‘Medad’ characterize hearts in the right place – ‘God has loved’ and ‘loving and affectionate.’
Prophesy should come from a heart full of the love of Yah for His people with an affectionate attitude. Isn’t that to whom YHWH entrusts the true gift of prophecy? Operating in the true gift of prophecy results in building up the body of Messiah in love.
But zealously strive after the better gifts. And yet I show to you a more excellent way. 1 Corinthians 12:31
What ‘more excellent way’ is that?
What is 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 all about? To walk in the way of agape love – the Yah kind of love! The beautiful Greek word ‘agape’ means ‘brotherly love, affection, goodwill, love, benevolence.’ (G26)
Every time Paul went deep into spirituality, he went into the depths of the mercy and love of Elohim. Gifts or no gifts, to love YHWH and our neighbor is what all the Law and the prophets hang on (Mat 22:40). But to love YHWH with all my heart, and with all my soul and with all my strength, don’t I need spiritual help to do that?
Spiritual gifts are for the humble who lean entirely on YHWH’s mercy. The things of the Spirit fill the souls of those whom Yeshua said,
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6
What is Yah's Purpose for Spiritual Gifts?
What do we need spiritual gifts to accomplish as a body of believers? Why would YHWH grant the gifts of His Holy Spirit to imperfect human beings? How about – to equip and empower us to do ‘the greater works’ that Yeshua called us to do?
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My Name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My Name, I will do it.” John 14:12-14
Greater works come first by believing in Yeshua, not first by keeping the Torah. By faith we ask Abba to do His works in and through us. Just what works should we ask Him to do? Keeping His commandments takes work; it’s not natural for the flesh to do.
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (Yeshua) John 14:15
What commandments was He talking about? The Messiah said that He didn’t come to abolish the Law (the commandments), but to fulfill them (Mat 5:17). He expects us to keep the same commandments that He kept here on earth as the Son of Man.
He expects us to keep them – like the servant who chose to not go free and do his own thing but to serve his master under the Torah of the house. Why would he do that?
Because he loves his master and his family too much to want to leave –
“I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go out as a free man.” Exodus 21:4.
To observe ‘like the great deep’ the mishpatim, the judgments, ordinances, and rulings of YHWH, it takes performing them out of a deep love for the Master by the gifts of the Helper, the Spirit of Truth. It takes a deep love for a man’s family as well.
Spiritual Gifts Empower BondServants
The first deep mishpat, judgment or ordinance, in the Torah portion ‘Mishpatim’ regards servants. Rather than taking freedom from the master, the Hebrew slave would rather choose to stay in the master’s house and serve him, because he loves his master.
The deep things of Elohim are heard by His servants, who willingly purpose in their hearts to go to the place of the threshold covenant – the Door Way. The servant allows his hearing to be pinned to the doorpost, mezuzah, by an awl through the ear where the mitzvot (commandments) are written, for that is where the mezuzah is nailed with commandments written on it. The clenched nail points to the cross. The blood then flowed from the ear down the mezuzah onto the threshold, the place where covenants were made. This pictures the servant of Yah joined to Yeshua by the power of the cross under the New Covenant in His blood. This action pictures hearing and committing a bondservant’s life to the Gospel message of the Master Yeshua, the Messiah.
What are spiritual gifts and prophecy for? For what purposes would the Father grant us gifts of the Spirit and reveal prophecy to us? Why would we seek Him for these things?
Spiritual Gifts Empower the Great Commission
Yeshua gave His servants a Great Commission to make disciples of all nations; to baptize them and to teach them to do what He commanded them (Mat 28:18-20). Are not these the purposes for spiritual gifts and prophecy for His bondservants today?
Bondservants of YHWH need to be equipped and empowered by the Holy Spirit with prophetic direction, to spread the Gospel and to make disciples. Because we have so little faith or motivation to go ‘to the Jew first’ (Rom 1:18) with the Gospel, I wonder how much our Gospel has ‘the power of God unto Salvation.’ For that reason, do you see a great need for spiritual gifts and prophecy to operate about our Gospel message, the return of the exiles, and the re-uniting of the two houses of Israel?
Bondservants baptize in water; Yeshua baptizes in the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8, Acts 11:16). The baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Shavuot (Acts 2) released many spiritual gifts on the disciples for 3,000 souls to be saved by the preaching of the Gospel. Unity of the Spirit and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit were necessary for the Great Commission to be carried out in their day. Yeah, how much more in our day?
Then we can teach new converts how to observe to do what Yeshua commanded us to do, including keeping mishpatim by the Spirit, not merely by the flesh and the intellect.
What does Yeshua offer to give to us to help us keep those commandments, to observe the mishpatim, and to do the greater works that He said we will do?
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” John 14:16-17
Nowhere in Yeshua’s teachings do I find a commission to campaign to condemn or to delegitimatize a government, a nation, or authorities; nor to overthrow a government or a religious establishment. When we render mishpatim, judgments, on other people groups, what’s our purpose for that? Are we truly in line with Yah’s will for our community of faith?
Yeshua came for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to seek and to save that which was lost. If we see sin in someone else’s camp, then the Good News that Yeshua saves sinners is the answer. The selfless love of the Savior is what should compel us to bring the Gospel message to them.
May the Father of Lights, the Giver of all good and perfect gifts, bless your spirit, soul, and body!
David Klug