מִּשְׁפָּטִים
Mishpatim / Judgments
Exodus 21:1-24:18
HafTorah portion Jeremiah 34:8-22
Brit Chadasha Matthew 5:20-42

     Mishpatim begins with instructions for the Hebrew servant. Exodus 21:6 ‘If the servant does not wish to go free then the master ‘shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl Then he will be his servant for life.’  This is repeated in Deuteronomy 15:12-17.
   The concept of a doorpost and an ear are found throughout Scripture. When we think of doorframes/doorposts in the Bible, we immediately think of these last Torah portions of the Exodus. This was the moment when the Israelites were released from bondage and slavery into freedom to worship God, His way, (from something for something), and to enter into a covenant with their God, to be able to follow His commandments. 
     Blood on the doorframe is one of the most famous and visual images of this transfer from slavery into following a new Master into freedom. The blood of the Messiah from His pierced flesh on the stake, the blood of the Passover lamb, and the blood on the doorpost of the slave who for love agrees to serve his master willingly.
    This concept of staying with a master must be voluntary. Just like the Exodus, it was voluntary to place blood on the doorposts. Yeshua presents us with that opportunity. He is that portal – He is the door to the Kingdom of Heaven. It is no accident or mere matter of convenience that the servant is brought to a door for this ritual.
     John 10:7-9 ‘Then Yeshua said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.’
   Ears play an important role through-out Scripture, from anointing the priests, to the command to listen/Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. 
   Exodus 29:20 ‘You shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the lobes of his sons’ right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar.’
       Leviticus 8:23 ‘Moses slaughtered it and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot.’
    Isaiah 55:3 ‘Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, according to the faithful mercies shown to David.’
    Matthew 13:16-17 ‘But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.’
     Revelation 3:22 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
     Exodus 21 continues with laws regarding personal injuries such as scheming to kill, attacks on parents, kidnapping, and injuries due to animals. Exodus 21:17 is the consequences for not obeying the fifth commandment of Exodus 20:12. 
     Exodus 22 contains the instructions for protection of property, social responsibility and instructions regarding sorceresses and sacrificing to other gods. Chapter 23 contains laws of justice and mercy, and the importance of Shabbat with repeated instructions regarding about other gods. Exodus 23:13.
     Exodus 23:14-19 contains the three annual festivals; Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering.  These are the shalosh regulim.  
     Exodus 23:20-23 instructs His people to listen and obey the Messenger that He will send.  Other translations use the word hear or listen instead of obey. This difference in the English word comes from the Hebrew word: Na’aseh. It means, “we will do.” It is about action, behavior, and intent of deed. But the word nishma could mean “we will hear”, or “we will obey”, or “we will understand”, suggesting that there is more than one way to interpret na’aseh ve-nishma.  
       Hearing is a passive, involuntary, and sensory process in which we perceive sounds. It is a response that involves our perception of sound. It does not require focused attention, like the television, the sound of traffic, water running, or a dog barking.   Listening is an active and intentional process that involves making sense of the words and sounds you hear; it requires your attention.
      We can hear the voice of God, but we have to ‘listen’. It is common to hear His voice and then interpret the instructions the way we ‘heard’ it. But we have to teach ourselves to listen. When we ‘hear’ the voice of God we can go to the Scriptures, the Torah as a second witness to what we heard, or what we think we heard. By doing this we make sure that what we interpret of what we heard is truth.
       Exodus 23:21 states: ‘Beware of Him/obey His voice/do not provoke…for My Name is in Him.’ The Name Yeshua contains the name of God, and the meaning: salvation from Yah. Yeshua also stated in John 8:58 that ‘He Is’ in that declaration of ‘I Am’. ‘Yeshua said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”  This is from Exodus 3:14; ‘And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ 
     In Exodus 23:31-33 God repeats His warning about staying set-apart.  Mishpatim ends with the confirmation of the covenant. In Exodus 24:8, Moshe takes the blood, sprinkles over the people and states that this is the blood of the covenant. How clear this is that Yeshua is the continuing of the covenant of Elohim. He is the voice that we obey and listen to, He is the Great I AM, He is the Living waters and the Living Torah.
     Zechariah 9:11 ‘As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you, I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.’
Matthew 26:28 ‘…for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.
Mark 14:24 ‘And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.’
Luke 22:20 ‘And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the Brit Chadasha in My blood.’
1 Corinthians 11:25 ‘In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the Brit Chadasha in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
Hebrew 13:20 ‘Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Yeshua.’

מִּשְׁפָּטִים
Mishpatim / Judgments
Exodus 21:1-24:18
HafTorah portion Jeremiah 34:8-22
Brit Chadasha Matthew 5:20-42

       Mishpatim is an interesting Torah portion as it continues with slavery right after freeing the people from slavery. We witness slavery, freedom, and then slavery again.  The Israelites in Numbers 11:5 speak of ‘no cost ‘- “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.”   The commentary from Rashi points out, the phrase “at no cost” [chinam] cannot be understood literally. They paid for it with their labor and their lives. “At no cost” means “free of mitzvot,” of commands, obligations, and duties. Freedom carries the highest price, namely, moral responsibility.
      In the Brit Chadash there are examples of slavery, servanthood, and freedom.  Romans 6:15-23 is a good example of this    In James 1:1 James refers to himself as a bondservant of Yeshua as he explains who he serves.
      Regarding the Hebrew servant, if the servant does not wish to go free then the master ‘shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl Then he will be his servant for life.’ Exodus 21:6, which is repeated in Deuteronomy 15:12-17.
   The concept of a doorpost and an ear are found throughout Scripture. When we think of doorframes/doorposts in the Bible, we immediately think of these last Torah portions of the Exodus. This was the moment when the Israelites were released from bondage and into freedom to worship God, His way, (from something for something), to enter into a covenant with their God – to follow His commandments. Blood on the doorframe is one of the most famous visual images of this transfer from slavery to following a new Master in freedom. The blood of the Messiah from His pierced flesh on the stake, the blood of the Passover lamb, and the blood on the doorpost of the slave who for love agrees to serve his master willingly.
    This concept of staying with a master unlike other concepts of slave and master relationships, must be voluntary. Just like the Exodus, it was voluntary to place blood on the doorposts. Yeshua presents us with that opportunity. He is that portal – He is the door to the Kingdom of Heaven. It is no accident or mere matter of convenience that the servant is brought to a door for this ritual.
     John 10:7-9 ‘Then Yeshua said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.’
   Why ears? The ears play an important role throughout Scripture, from anointing the priests to the command to listen/Shema.
   Exodus 29:20 ‘You shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the lobes of his sons’ right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar.’
    Leviticus 8:23 ‘Moses slaughtered it and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot.’
    Isaiah 55:3 ‘Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, according to the faithful mercies shown to David.’
    Matthew 13:16-17 ‘But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.’
    Revelation 3:22 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
    Deuteronomy 6:4-5 ‘“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.’
      In Exodus 21 are laws regarding personal injuries such as scheming to kill, attacks on parents, kidnapping, and injuries due to animals. Exodus 21:17 states: ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ This is the negative concept of the positive fifth commandment in Exodus 20:12. One is to die, the other is granted long life.
     Exodus 22 contains the instructions for protection of property, social responsibility and instructions regarding sorceresses and sacrificing to other gods. Chapter 23 contains laws of justice and mercy, and the importance of Shabbat with clear instruction regarding, again, other gods. ‘Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.’ Exodus 23:13.
     Exodus 23:14-19 lists the three annual festivals; Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering. ‘“Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.’ Exodus 23:17. These are the shalosh regulim.  This is one of the major focal points of the Brit Chadasha. These three pilgrimages bring further clarity and importance to the city of Jerusalem.
      Exodus 23:20 instructs His people to listen and obey the Messenger that He will send.  Exodus 23:21 continues: ‘Beware of Him/obey His voice/do not provoke…for My Name is in Him.’ The Name Yeshua contains the name of God, and the meaning: is salvation from Yah. Yeshua also stated in John 8:58 that ‘He Is’ in that declaration of ‘I Am’. ‘Yeshua said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”  This is from Exodus 3:14; ‘And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ‘Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. 22 But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.’
     Hearing and doing is part of the walk with God. The Israelites repeat this in Exodus 24:7 ‘Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do and be obedient.”
     Other translations use the word ‘hear’ instead of obedient. This difference in the English word comes from the Hebrew word: Na’aseh. It means, “We will do.” It is about the action, behavior, and intent of the deed. But the word nishma is anything but clear. It could mean “We will hear.” But it could also mean, “We will obey.” Or it could mean “We will understand.” These suggest that there is more than one way of interpreting na’aseh ve-nishma.  This verse contains an amazing revelation concerning Yeshua Messiah. It is His voice we are to hear and obey.
     Mishpatim ends with the confirmation of the covenant. In Exodus 24:8, Moshe takes the blood, sprinkles it over the people, and states that this is the blood of the covenant. How clear is it that Yeshua is the continuing of the covenant of Elohim? He is the voice that we obey and listen to, He is the Great I AM, He is the Living Waters and the Living Torah.
   Breaking chains of disobedience, breaking chains of idol worship, breaking chains of bondage, and immersing ourselves in the freedom of the awl into our ear is a remarkable experience, happening only through the Living Word, the Living Torah.  Isaiah 61:1 "The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.".