Shoftim (Judges)
D’varim (Deuteronomy) 16:18 – 21:9
YeshaYahu (Isaiah) 51:12 – 52:12
Yochanan (John) 1:19-27; 1 Cor 5:9-13
“Judge not!” It’s one of the most commonly quoted words of Yeshua in our day, especially by young people. I know, I heard it a lot from young people when our daughter was a teenager. If you, like me, don’t like confrontation or conviction, that’s an easy idea to slip into – usually quoted as “Don’t judge.” (Matthew 7:1)
To go by “judge not” is about like going by another two words Yeshua said, “Think not…” (Matthew 5:17) That would make life ‘easy’ too. Let’s just think not and let the religious leaders do all the thinking for us. Or even easier, just don’t think about the Scriptures at all and go on our merry way in life thinking about whatever we want to think about.
Of course, that’s not what the Master intended. What did He mean by these words?
Not to Abolish but to Fulfill
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets! I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.” Mathew 5:17, TLV
That Yeshua came to start a new religion abolishing the Torah and the prophets is exactly what Yeshua said not to even think about! It’s amazing to me how I used to think that the word ‘fulfill’ included the idea of ‘abolish.’ After all, that’s what my Bible teachers taught me in Christianity. But if to ‘fulfill’ meant to ‘abolish,’ then Yeshua would sound like a crazy man saying “I did not come to abolish, but to abolish.” It may be a hard pill for some to swallow, but Yeshua wants us to keep the Torah and the Prophets in mind, even what those hypocritical scribes and Pharisees taught, for He then said a few verses later in the same context:
For I say unto you, ‘That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ ” Matthew 5:20, TLV
Keep in mind that Yeshua was not discounting what the scribes and Pharisees taught, but that we are to exceed their righteousness. In what way do we do this? Yeshua later explained to a multitude of people and His disciples:
“The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. Matthew 23:2-3
Yeshua did not do away with what the scribes and Pharisees taught when they sat in the chair of Moses. The Messiah upheld those teachings. How we are to exceed their righteousness is by doing what they did not do, for they taught Moses, but did not do what Moses said. Yeshua was dealing with their hypocrisy, not the validity of their Torah teachings from the chair of Moses.
Take note that the scribes and Pharisees as bodies of religious authorities did not accept Yeshua as their Lord and Savior, although many individuals within their sects did believe in Him. Paul addresses this relationship conflict in his epistle to the Romans in chapters 3 and 11. These words I’m pondering a lot lately.
Not only did the Messiah not abolish the Torah and the prophets, but the Master did not abolish the teachings of the scribes and Pharisees, that is when they sat in the chair of Moses. My question is, have many Ephraimites abolished the teachings of the Jewish scribes and Pharisees of Yeshua’s day? Are we dismissing the truth about the purpose YHWH has for Brother Yehudah in the Kingdom of Israel? Why would YHWH create offspring and preserve a seed today for this tribe? What purpose does Yehudah have in His Kingdom? In our lives?
Judge Not
Now let’s consider what Yeshua meant by “judge not.” Again, context is essential in understanding the Master’s instruction.
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1-2, NASB
Before I am to judge anyone in any matter, Yeshua wants me to first stop and consider if I can measure up to the same standard to which I hold another person. In other words, Yeshua does not want me to be a hypocrite, like the scribes and Pharisees, who held up the standards of the Torah but could not keep them themselves. Hypocrisy is one of the same themes, it’s in the same context, as when Yeshua said:
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets!”
Other portions of the Scriptures say we should judge and need to make judgments on important matters within our assemblies, such as found in Paul’s epistles. Think about these four critical questions for the Corinthians by Paul:
Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters in this life? 1 Corinthians 6:2-3
In this context, Paul said individuals having disputes between them are to judge matters themselves, and not take them to secular courts. But what about larger matters, matters of controversy, that affect all of Israel throughout the world?
Who is to Judge on Matters of National Importance?
Our reading in the Torah portion, Shoftim, answers this questions and lays out the principle for how to settle matters of controvery of national importance:
Suppose a matter arises that is too hard for you to judge – over bloodshed, legal claims, or assault – matters of controversy within your gates. Then you should go up to the place YHWH your God chooses, and come to the Levitical kohanim (priests) and the judge in charge at that time. And you will inquire, and they will tell you the sentence of judgment.
You are to act according to the sentence they tell you from that place YHWH chooses and take care to do all that they instruct you. You are to act according to the instruction they teach you and the judgment they tell you – you must not turn aside from the sentence they tell you, to the right or the left. The man who acts presumptuously by not listening to the kohen who stands to serve there before YHWH your God, or to the judge, that man must die. So you are to purge the evil from Israel. Deuteronomy 17:8-12
Levitical priests were not appointed but were born into the priesthood. The beginning of this Torah portion declares:
“You shall appoint judges and officers for yourself in all your gates which YHWH gives you, tribe by tribe.”
Israel, of course, selected Levites to be judges and officers, but they also selected and appointed qualified and competent men out of the other tribes as well.
Judges came not just from Levi, but from different tribes of Israel in the days of the Judges. YHWH raised up judges (Judges 2:18) that Israel appointed as leaders over them from different tribes, such as from Judah, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulon – Othniel, Gideon, Tola, and Elon respectively. Is there a specific tribe that YHWH ordained to ‘hold the gavel’ and to make the laws for all of Israel?
Man inclines to mix his own ‘righteous’ standards with Yah’s righteous standards and then try to impose them upon others. It’s what the ruling body of judges was supposed to prevent. When thinking about what Yeshua taught in the Torah and the prophets and what judgments I am to make from those standards, I must consider whether I am coming up with a judgment that would be in keeping with other similar rulings in the Kingdom. Or am I coming up with standards to gain a personal advantage somehow? We should all be held accountable.
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?’
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 in His tribe ‘until Shiloh comes.’ Therefore, Yehudah would hold on to these tokens of rulership until the Messiah of the tribe of Judah came. Once He came, did He remove the scepter or the lawmaker from Yehudah? Remember Yeshua said:
‘“Do not think that I came to abolish the Torah or the Prophets!”
So wouldn’t He have come to fulfill this prophecy of Yehudah, and not abolish it? If that’s the case, what scepter and lawmaker does Yehudah still have?
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?
Reading the verse before, Paul states:
‘from the standpoint of the gospel, they are enemies for your sake (most think – the Jews), but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.’ Romans 11:28-29
Any student of Paul, especially those reading Romans chapters 3 and 11, knows Paul was talking about Israel who stumbled over the Chief Cornerstone, those gifted people primarily known as the Jews. But, about brother Yehudah, we should be thankful, humble, and not conceited for:
I say then, they did not stumble to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be! Romans 11:11-12
Praise Yah for salvation has come, although ‘by their transgression!’
Here’s another question by Paul that we all should come to terms with:
Then what advantage has the Jew? Romans 3:1
Could there be an advantage for us that Yehudah is still holding ‘the scepter’ and ‘the lawmaker’?
In Israel’s blessing on Yehudah (Gen 49:10), the Hebrew word ‘the lawmaker’ – ‘chuqaq,’ means in ancient Hebrew (Jeff Benner’s AHLB):
Inscribe, (abstractly) Custom: The appointment of a specific time, function, or duty. A custom is something that is appointed.
A Ruling of the Lawmaker Acted on for Two Thousand Years
‘The lawmaker’ was ordained by YHWH in this blessing from Father Israel to accomplish what? How about an example of inscribing the appointment of specific times? What has Yehudah done with appointing times (mo’edim) ‘from that place YHWH chooses,’ the place widely understood to be Jerusalem? Let’s read the commandment on doing what the judges have rendered in its context:
You are to act according to the sentence they tell you from that place YHWH chooses and take care to do all that they instruct you. Deuteronomy 17:10
Why would YHWH command for us to act accordingly to a body of judges from one central location, Jerusalem? Think about it. If separate tribes of Israel were to go by their own, different rulings on an issue that all of Israel could act upon in the same way, wouldn’t that mean the Torah would become fragmented among Israel?
An important purpose for one ruling body of judges in Jerusalem was to keep the judgments on matters of controversy as united for all of Israel as possible, not fragmented – not just in the land, but throughout the world. Israel is to be a united shining light of the Torah to all nations. If the world sees disunity and division over subjects, this becomes a stumbling block for them and a bad witness. Isn’t it better that we could all agree upon controversial matters (such as the calendar) according to a body of judges? Don’t you think it would be the will of the Father for us to be united and uphold those rulings? And this is what our Torah portion, Shoftim, this week teaches us (Deuteronomy 17:8-11).
What have many Jews and other tribes of Israel throughout the world acted upon carefully, according to the sentence of the last ruling body of judges in Jerusalem? If Yeshua or the apostles, never told us how an important ruling of the judges of their day added to or took away from the Torah, on what grounds do we have to dismiss it? Made by the last Jewish Sanhedrin, seated as ‘the lawmaker’ for Israel in the seat of Moses, what appointment of times has been kept for almost two thousand years and is still being kept?
How about the Hillel calendar?
Think about it. Pray about it.
BaShem Mashiyach Ben David
In the Name of the Messiah, the Son of David, the Lion of Judah,
I Cor. 2:15