Shoftim (Judges): D’varim (Deuteronomy) 16:18 – 21:9; Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 51:12 – 52:12; Yochanan (John) 1:19-27; 1 Corinthians 5:9-13
During the phases and chapters of life, many times we need to submit to different earthly authorities. Most importantly for a child of God – how do we submit to the authority of our Lord and Savior Yeshua in every area of our lives?
How Does Yeshua Become Lord of All?
When I was a child, I submitted to my parents; and as a student, I submitted to my school teachers as authorities over me. When I grew old enough, I made a poor choice by registering for a liberal arts college, when I didn’t know what ‘liberal’ meant. But Abba had mercy on me and saved me out of the kingdom of darkness and brought me into the Light of His Kingdom. When I heard the Gospel, by His Spirit, my God, and Savior delivered me from the bondage of evil spiritual authorities over my soul. For that, I owe my life to Him!
By His grace, I received on the throne of my heart the highest of all authorities on earth, the Lord Jesus Christ. Although I submitted to federal authorities in my 37 years with the Forest Service, there was One Ultimate, Mighty Authority over them and me. I served well because I worked for the gracious Adonai Yeshua with an identity in Him that transcended my identity as a ‘hydro tech.’ Like any other believer in the Messiah Yeshua, I’m still learning what it means to submit to Adonai Yeshua as Lord in every area of my life.
For Yeshua to be the Lord of my life, I must not deny Him but confess that He is Lord, and believe the Gospel message in my heart. By the words out of my mouth, from a heart of faith, I was saved and am being saved, by my Lord and Savior Yeshua the Messiah.
That if you confess with your mouth Yeshua as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Romans 10:9-10
If a soul does not confess that Yeshua is God, then how can He be Lord of all in his life? Why would anyone submit to the authority of the Messiah as Lord of all, unless he believes that He is Divine? God in Hebrew is El – the Mighty Authority, Strong Controller. How could Yeshua be Lord of all, my ultimate, Mighty Authority, and not be God?
Neither the Jew by keeping the Torah nor the Gentile by doing good works can be saved from their sins and will be found standing righteous before the Judge on judgment day. Only by faith in the heart and by words of confession that Yeshua is Lord are we saved.
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him. Romans 10:12
Anyone in any position of authority, whether Jew or Greek, should be sure to submit to the Lordship of Adonai Yeshua above any other authority if they are to be considered righteous rulers in the Kingdom of God. It must be clear that a righteous authority has a transcendent identity under the lordship of Adonai Yeshua. Without exception, our King Yeshua must be held in the highest regard as Lord of all to the glory of God the Father.
What May Be Scriptural Qualifications for the Judges of Israel?
With that in mind, let’s begin our study of this Torah portion. Moses commanded the people of Israel with this first: “You (Israel) shall appoint judges and officers for yourself in all your gates which YHWH gives you, tribe by tribe.” Deut 16:18
Israel selected Levites to be judges and officers (Deut 17:9), and they selected and appointed qualified and competent men out of the other tribes as well. Who would they be?
From my Biblical perspective, anyone who is seated as judge over us should pass an acid test of how their rulings relate to the tribe of Judah and the role YHWH ordained for this tribe in His Kingdom. But if there’s ‘neither Jew nor Greek’, what do the Jews matter?
There is neither Jew nor Greek in Messiah, we are one, only in our transcendent identity.
For by one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:13
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. Galatians 3:28
And have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him – a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Messiah is all and in all. Colossians 3:10-11
In the context of Paul’s writings to the Romans on the subject, you will find Paul was talking about how to become part of the family of God in the unity of the One Spirit, by being born again by the One faith, the One Lord of us all. Our identity in the Messiah transcends all other identities we may have in this world; it’s the only way to have unity.
However, the apostles did not expunge tribal identity any more than they erased gender identity. I’m more of a man after being born again than I was before I accepted Yeshua as my Lord and Savior. No woke-ism here! Our subordinate identities in this world need not divide us if we all identify with our supreme Adonai and submit to Him as Lord of all.
What about neither slave nor free? Just because I’m not a slave to an employer being retired nowadays, doesn’t mean a brother who has to daily submit to the authority of an employer has any less liberty in the same Messiah Yeshua. That’s pretty obvious.
My brother in Messiah, a welder, supervised by his employer, still maintains the identity of a welder in his life. An even better welder he is because He does have Yeshua in his heart! He’s also an excellent husband and father because of Him. Then why would he submit to any authority that would undermine or degrade his lesser, but true identities and roles?
Messianic Jews often say they are ‘completed Jews’ after receiving the Jewish Messiah in their hearts and lives; not any less, but more truly Jewish. But do we treat them that way?
Sure, just like the goyim do, the Jews should expunge all things pagan, and whatever is not holy and not true to the Word of God. Spiritual discernment is critical in this regard.
On the other hand, no one should make rulings that Messianic Jews should expunge all Jewish sayings, customs, and traditions that are part of their identity as Jews.
If Jews and Gentiles had become secure in our transcendent identity in the Messiah, we would not feel threatened by the other across the pond. Knowing and believing we have different roles and identities that YHWH Elohim has ordained for His Kingdom bridges us.
Do the rulings of today’s ‘judges’ on the Jews pass Scriptural tests? Do they teach that our identity in the Messiah transcends tribal identity, but does not erase, nor expunge their identifying characteristics and their role in His Kingdom? If Abba did not erase our identity as a male or a female, why would He erase the identity and role of the tribe of Yehudah? How we need spiritual discernment! Sharing a transcendent identity, authority leaders should be careful not to take the phrase ‘there is neither Jew nor Greek’ out of context.
The Transcendent Identity of the Twelve Tribes
Although the twelve tribes were in dispersion with lesser national identities as goyim, their tribal identities were not lost in Yah’s eyes, but enhanced and completed by their transcendent identity in the Messiah, Adonai Yeshua. Remember, our Savior said that He came to seek and save the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matthew 10:6; 15:24)
The lead apostle Jacob greeted the twelve tribes who were dispersed abroad. James 1:1
The apostle John had a revelation of 144,000 in twelve tribes, 12,000 per tribe; Judah was listed first (Rev 7). Could their first-place listing mean that Judah was to be appointed as leader of the twelve tribes? Yeshua is coming back as the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
Because of their transcendent identity in Yeshua, the twelve tribes will arise as the redeemed overcomers in the Great Tribulation. Their transcendent identity in the Name and characteristics of Adonai Yeshua will be given to them by the Messiah on Mount Zion:
Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Name and the Name of His Father written on their foreheads. Revelation 14:1
Of all the twelve tribes, among the 144,000 listed in Revelation Chapter 7, who is missing and why? Dan and Ephraim do not make the cut. The name ‘Dan’ means ‘judge.’ Ephraim is known as the double-fruitful superpower of the world – many believe to be the good old USA. But since we are in the Torah portion ‘Shoftim,’ why would the tribe Dan be missing who bore the eagle standard as a judge of the snake?
Adonai Yeshua is coming back as the Judge of heaven and earth and as the superpower ruler of the world. The 144,000 of the twelve tribes, given their identity in His Name on Mount Zion, represent the ruling body and the place of authority with whom the Messiah will rule and reign with a rod of iron. All twelve tribes will be subordinate to Adonai Yeshua – King of kings and Lord of Lords – Lord of all.
My takeaway from this Scripture is that Yeshua will transcend all authority and will be Lord of lords in all realms. We must take on the Name of His transcendent authority and identity, or we will not make the cut in the end days. One day every soul will have to stand before only one Judge – Adonai Yeshua. At the end of the day, that is what matters to me.
The Transcendent Identity Counterfeit
The UN globalists are terrified of Trump according to Worthy News (8/30/24). Why?
Paoletti (a leading globalist) dreads Trump’s “America First” policies interfering with the U.N.’s globalist agenda. On behalf of all the globalists, he said, “One of the objectives of the U.N. is to create an identity of a global citizen, someone who shares an identity, a political identity, with everybody on this planet.”
The globalists want every human being on the planet to have their transcendent identity to be a global citizen, not a national, not an American, not an Israeli, Jew, or Zionist, and definitely not a believer in Adonai Yeshua. Thank God, His Kingdom is not of this world, His Kingdom transcends the ‘United Nations’! YHWH Elohim is still the Sovereign God!
The Lawmaker?
As far as making judgments or rulings for all of Israel, which tribe was prophesied and ordained by YHWH to be ‘the lawmaker?’ What is their role in the Kingdom of Yah today?
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the lawmaker from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and the obedience of the peoples to him. Genesis 49:10, NASB
This is a prophecy of the Messiah, but notice that Judah would have the scepter, and the lawmaker would come from between His feet under His control, ‘until Shiloh comes.’ Therefore, Yehudah would have the token of rulership not only when, but until the Messiah of the tribe of Judah came. Once He came, did He remove the scepter, or the lawmaker, from Yehudah? Remember, our Jewish Messiah said:
‘“Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets!” Matthew 5:17
Our Master said of Jewish religious authorities:
“all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds.” Matthew 23:3
So wouldn’t Yeshua have come to fulfill the prophecy of Judah by Jacob, but did not come to abolish it? If that’s the case, what scepter and lawmaker does Yehudah still hold? What does that look like today?
For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. Romans 11:29, NASB If you study the context of this statement by Paul, you’ll find that he’s talking about those in Israel ‘that a partial hardening has happened to.’ Who would that be? The tribe of Judah answers the question of who God irrevocably called and gifted. Therefore, the tribe of Yehudah was irrevocably gifted with the scepter and called to be the lawmaker. Period.
Here’s another question by Paul that we all should come to terms with: Then what advantage has the Jew? It’s great in every respect. First of all, they were entrusted with the oracles of God. Romans 3:1a,2 Could there be an advantage for us that Yehudah may still have holding ‘the scepter’ and carry the sayings of ‘the lawmaker’?
Can we learn something about the first and second comings of the Messiah from Jewish sayings on what the Messiah will be like and what He will do? Are there other sayings and rulings they made that are of YHWH Elohim? What else can we learn from them?
Judgment by The Word and Spirit
A more important qualification is that under the transcendent authority and identity in Adonai Yeshua, today’s rulers should make all judgments based on the Word of Yah, not man’s; judging by the Spirit, not merely by man’s intellect. Yeshua is our guiding Light:
“And if anyone hears My Words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come that I might judge the world, but that I might save the world. The one who rejects Me and does not receive My Words has that judging him: the Word which I spoke, that will judge him in the last Day.” John 12:47-48
I shall raise up a Prophet to them from among their brothers, one like you; and I will put My Words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I shall command him. And it shall be, whoever will not listen to My Words which He shall speak in My Name, I will require it at his hand. Deuteronomy 18:18-19
The Spirit of YHWH will rest upon Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of YHWH. And He will delight in the fear of YHWH, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear. Isaiah 11:2-3
From these verses, we learn that Adonai Yeshua is the greatest example of submission to the highest authority in all His judgments. All judgment is by the Heavenly Father. Not even the Messiah judges by how He sees it, by His opinions, nor by His intellectual understanding only; He only judges by the Word the Father gives by the Spirit of Truth.
How should we be appointing judges today? How do we identify them? We can start by the confessions of their mouths that Yeshua is not only the Messiah and Savior of the world, He is Lord of all, and He is Divine. They must be unified by our transcendent identity in Yeshua, but not by degrading the identity and role of other tribes, especially that of Judah.
They must be no different in rendering judgment than Adonai Yeshua Who said that His Words will judge us all in the end. Shouldn’t we be using His Words today to make righteous judgments by the Spirit? Since He is the Word become flesh, His words start at the beginning of the Torah to the End of the Revelation of Yeshua. Worthy is the Lamb! All glory and honor be to Him!
In the Name of Messiah Yeshua, the Lion of Judah,
David