- there are 70 faces to 
Post by alon on Aug 18, 2018 6:44:06 GMT -8
From Mark:
This week’s readings: Par’shah 48
Date of reading: 18 August 2018/7 Elul 5778
Name of Par’shah: Shof’tim (Judges)
Par’shah: D’varim 16:18-21:9
Haftara: Yesha’yahu 51:12-53:12
Brit Chadashah: Mattityahu 5:38-42; 18:15-20; Acts 3:13-26; 7:35-53; 1 Corinthians 5:9-13;
1 Timothy 5:17-22; Messianic Jews 10:28-31
D’rash:
D’varim 19:16-21—If a malicious witness comes forward and gives false testimony against someone, then both the men involved in the controversy are to stand before Adonai, before the cohanim and the judges in office at the time. The judges are to investigate carefully. If they find that the witness is lying and has given false testimony against his brother, you are to do to him what he intended to do to his brother. In this way, you will put an end to such wickedness among you. Those who remain will hear about it, be afraid and no longer commit such wickedness among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
In this passage we see that false testimony against an innocent brother is a serious matter in G-d’s eyes, where it is described as “such wickedness.” Mishlei 12:17 explains the reason for this in simple terms:
“He who tells the truth furthers justice, but a false witness furthers deceit.”
Mishlei 6:16-19 lists seven things that Adonai hates and detests, one of which is “a false witness who lies with every breath.” In essence, if a false witness is heeded, evil is rewarded and righteousness punished. Both parties were to come before the judges who were to investigate carefully, so that accurate judgement would be assessed and neither party would be falsely accused in any detail of the case. If the witness was found guilty of lying, he was to be punished accordingly. According to messianic-revolution.com, the phrase life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot was not to be taken literally but is a Hebrew idiom meaning that proportional punishment was to be administered according to the seriousness of the crime. A witness found guilty of false testimony would likely have to compensate his brother with monetary or other physical resources. Mutilation was not a practice in Hebrew culture except for possibly the rare case when two men were fighting and a wife would help her husband get away by grabbing the private parts of the other man, in which case her hand was to be cut off (Deuteronomy 25:11).
If the judges or leaders themselves were incompetent or corrupt, then justice against false testimony would fail. Examples of individuals executed because of false testimony were Naboth, whose vineyard was confiscated by king Ach’av through the efforts of his wife Izevel, who had two good-for-nothing men give false testimony accusing Naboth of cursing G-d and the king, and consequently having him stoned to death (M’lakhim Alef 21:1-16); in the book of Acts, some men were secretly persuaded to accuse Stephen of blasphemously speaking against Moshe and G-d and set up other false witnesses at his trial (Acts 6:11-14). He was ultimately executed for speaking the truth (Acts 7:1-59); Yeshua himself suffered the same treatment: in Yochanan 2:13-22, when He drove out the money changers and the sellers of animals (for sacrifices) because they were turning the Temple area into a market place, the Judeans inquired what gave him the right to do this; Yeshua answered, “Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.” The passage directly states that He was talking about the Temple of His body. However, at the end of His earthly ministry when He was on trial and much false evidence was spoken against Him, this statement regarding the Temple was also used against Him (Mark 14:57-58). Even though the words were spoken accurately the scripture still described it as false testimony because it was twisted in such a way so as to wrongly convict Him.
Though this subject of a false witness is mainly applied to a judicial setting, the same principle occurs, unfortunately, quite often in the everyday world through gossip and slander, especially in the political arena and social media. An incomplete testimony, a photograph, or an edited video clip that leaves out important context skews the public’s perception of a situation or individual and can do irreparable damage to one’s character or reputation. It is a fact of life that the enemies of G-d, His righteousness, and His people will work tirelessly, even if their lies comes back against them, to remove any and all godly values and influences.
In spite of these obstacles, “…whoever is righteous, let him go on doing what is righteous; and whoever is holy, let him go on being made holy.” (Revelation 22:11b), and let the Judge of all the earth have the final word.
References: messianic-revolution.com, scriptures taken from The Complete Jewish Bible by David H. Stern, copyright 1998
MRD
This week’s readings: Par’shah 48
Date of reading: 18 August 2018/7 Elul 5778
Name of Par’shah: Shof’tim (Judges)
Par’shah: D’varim 16:18-21:9
Haftara: Yesha’yahu 51:12-53:12
Brit Chadashah: Mattityahu 5:38-42; 18:15-20; Acts 3:13-26; 7:35-53; 1 Corinthians 5:9-13;
1 Timothy 5:17-22; Messianic Jews 10:28-31
D’rash:
D’varim 19:16-21—If a malicious witness comes forward and gives false testimony against someone, then both the men involved in the controversy are to stand before Adonai, before the cohanim and the judges in office at the time. The judges are to investigate carefully. If they find that the witness is lying and has given false testimony against his brother, you are to do to him what he intended to do to his brother. In this way, you will put an end to such wickedness among you. Those who remain will hear about it, be afraid and no longer commit such wickedness among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
In this passage we see that false testimony against an innocent brother is a serious matter in G-d’s eyes, where it is described as “such wickedness.” Mishlei 12:17 explains the reason for this in simple terms:
“He who tells the truth furthers justice, but a false witness furthers deceit.”
Mishlei 6:16-19 lists seven things that Adonai hates and detests, one of which is “a false witness who lies with every breath.” In essence, if a false witness is heeded, evil is rewarded and righteousness punished. Both parties were to come before the judges who were to investigate carefully, so that accurate judgement would be assessed and neither party would be falsely accused in any detail of the case. If the witness was found guilty of lying, he was to be punished accordingly. According to messianic-revolution.com, the phrase life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot was not to be taken literally but is a Hebrew idiom meaning that proportional punishment was to be administered according to the seriousness of the crime. A witness found guilty of false testimony would likely have to compensate his brother with monetary or other physical resources. Mutilation was not a practice in Hebrew culture except for possibly the rare case when two men were fighting and a wife would help her husband get away by grabbing the private parts of the other man, in which case her hand was to be cut off (Deuteronomy 25:11).
If the judges or leaders themselves were incompetent or corrupt, then justice against false testimony would fail. Examples of individuals executed because of false testimony were Naboth, whose vineyard was confiscated by king Ach’av through the efforts of his wife Izevel, who had two good-for-nothing men give false testimony accusing Naboth of cursing G-d and the king, and consequently having him stoned to death (M’lakhim Alef 21:1-16); in the book of Acts, some men were secretly persuaded to accuse Stephen of blasphemously speaking against Moshe and G-d and set up other false witnesses at his trial (Acts 6:11-14). He was ultimately executed for speaking the truth (Acts 7:1-59); Yeshua himself suffered the same treatment: in Yochanan 2:13-22, when He drove out the money changers and the sellers of animals (for sacrifices) because they were turning the Temple area into a market place, the Judeans inquired what gave him the right to do this; Yeshua answered, “Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.” The passage directly states that He was talking about the Temple of His body. However, at the end of His earthly ministry when He was on trial and much false evidence was spoken against Him, this statement regarding the Temple was also used against Him (Mark 14:57-58). Even though the words were spoken accurately the scripture still described it as false testimony because it was twisted in such a way so as to wrongly convict Him.
Though this subject of a false witness is mainly applied to a judicial setting, the same principle occurs, unfortunately, quite often in the everyday world through gossip and slander, especially in the political arena and social media. An incomplete testimony, a photograph, or an edited video clip that leaves out important context skews the public’s perception of a situation or individual and can do irreparable damage to one’s character or reputation. It is a fact of life that the enemies of G-d, His righteousness, and His people will work tirelessly, even if their lies comes back against them, to remove any and all godly values and influences.
In spite of these obstacles, “…whoever is righteous, let him go on doing what is righteous; and whoever is holy, let him go on being made holy.” (Revelation 22:11b), and let the Judge of all the earth have the final word.
References: messianic-revolution.com, scriptures taken from The Complete Jewish Bible by David H. Stern, copyright 1998
MRD
