- there are 70 faces to 
Post by alon on Aug 21, 2020 11:24:24 GMT -8
Name of Par’shah- 48.3a Shoftim- Judges
Par’shah- Deu 16:18 – 19:13
We are continuing to break up the parashot into more manageable sections as we continue in Deuteronomy.
Justice
Deuteronomy 16:18a (ESV) “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, … This is one our nation would do well to heed today.
Deuteronomy 16:18b-20a (ESV) they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, … Pretty straightforward concerning conduct of those judges and officers; another one we’d do well to heed.
Forbidden Forms of Worship
Deuteronomy 16:21-22 (ESV) “You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God that you shall make. And you shall not set up a pillar, which the Lord your God hates." Some of the shrubs, Christmas trees, and even the altars of Christian churches are seen by God as idolitry, regardless of their intent.
Deuteronomy 17:1 (ESV) “You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep in which is a blemish, any defect whatever, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God." Give only our best to God.
Deuteronomy 17:2-5 (ESV) “If there is found among you, within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing his covenant, and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden, and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abomination has been done in Israel, then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones." An argument could be made this only applies to ha’eretz, Israel. And at any rate we cannot stone people today. However we can remove such a person from our fellowship.
Deuteronomy 17:6 (ESV) On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. A death sentence requires at least two witnesses, three if for some reason one of the two is in any doubt.
Legal Decisions by Priests and Judges
Deuteronomy 17:11-12 (ESV) According to the instructions that they give you, and according to the decision which they pronounce to you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the verdict that they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left. The man who acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. Again, a good argument can be made that this applies only to those in Israel. However we are not prohibited from enacting this into law as well. And if the lawyers and judges stood to loose substantially, up to and including their lives, there would be a whole lot less frivolous appeals.
Laws Concerning Israel's Kings
Deuteronomy 17:14-15a (ESV) “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose." We elect our “kings,” but we’d do well to elect Godly politicians to public office. We’ve for the most part failed miserably in this.
Deuteronomy 17:15b (ESV) One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. We recently failed at this one in the US, and we’ve paid a heavy price.
Deuteronomy 17:16-17 (ESV) Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. Politicians should not get wealthy while in office.
Deuteronomy 17:18-20 (ESV) “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by [from before] the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel." Yet another that could apply only to Israel, however it too would be good to adopt into our laws.
Provision for Priests and Levites
Deuteronomy 18:3-5 (ESV) And this shall be the priests' due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. The firstfruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for all time. We are to take care of our synagogue officers.
Abominable Practices
Deuteronomy 18:9 (ESV) “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations." This is evidence that just because it says “when you come into the land” it does not necessarily mean only in Israel. Few would argue we should adopt “abominable practices” just because we are elsewhere.
Deuteronomy 18:10a (ESV) There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, None in your congregation may offer his children up to evil.
Deuteronomy 18:10b (ESV) (There shall not be found among you) anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, None in your congregation may use magic to tell the future.
Deuteronomy 18:10c (ESV) (There shall not be found among you) a sorcerer None in your congregation may be a witch.
Deuteronomy 18:11a (ESV) (There shall not be found among you) or a charmer None in your congregation may cast enchantments.
Deuteronomy 18:11b (ESV) (There shall not be found among you) a medium None in your congregation may channel spirits.
Deuteronomy 18:11c (ESV) (There shall not be found among you) a necromancer, one who inquires of the dead, None in your congregation may communicate with the dead.
A New Prophet like Moses
Deuteronomy 18:20 (ESV) But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ Again, we can’t kill a false prophet, but we can evict him from our fellowship.
Deuteronomy 18:22 (ESV) when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. We are not to fear the false prophet when we do evict him.
Laws Concerning Cities of Refuge
Deuteronomy 19:11-13 (ESV) “But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that it may be well with you." The penalty for premeditated murder is death, and the judge must not show pity.
Par’shah- Deu 16:18 – 19:13
We are continuing to break up the parashot into more manageable sections as we continue in Deuteronomy.
Justice
Deuteronomy 16:18a (ESV) “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, … This is one our nation would do well to heed today.
Deuteronomy 16:18b-20a (ESV) they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, … Pretty straightforward concerning conduct of those judges and officers; another one we’d do well to heed.
Forbidden Forms of Worship
Deuteronomy 16:21-22 (ESV) “You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God that you shall make. And you shall not set up a pillar, which the Lord your God hates." Some of the shrubs, Christmas trees, and even the altars of Christian churches are seen by God as idolitry, regardless of their intent.
Deuteronomy 17:1 (ESV) “You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep in which is a blemish, any defect whatever, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God." Give only our best to God.
Deuteronomy 17:2-5 (ESV) “If there is found among you, within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing his covenant, and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden, and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abomination has been done in Israel, then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones." An argument could be made this only applies to ha’eretz, Israel. And at any rate we cannot stone people today. However we can remove such a person from our fellowship.
Deuteronomy 17:6 (ESV) On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. A death sentence requires at least two witnesses, three if for some reason one of the two is in any doubt.
Legal Decisions by Priests and Judges
Deuteronomy 17:11-12 (ESV) According to the instructions that they give you, and according to the decision which they pronounce to you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the verdict that they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left. The man who acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. Again, a good argument can be made that this applies only to those in Israel. However we are not prohibited from enacting this into law as well. And if the lawyers and judges stood to loose substantially, up to and including their lives, there would be a whole lot less frivolous appeals.
Laws Concerning Israel's Kings
Deuteronomy 17:14-15a (ESV) “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose." We elect our “kings,” but we’d do well to elect Godly politicians to public office. We’ve for the most part failed miserably in this.
Deuteronomy 17:15b (ESV) One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. We recently failed at this one in the US, and we’ve paid a heavy price.
Deuteronomy 17:16-17 (ESV) Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. Politicians should not get wealthy while in office.
Deuteronomy 17:18-20 (ESV) “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by [from before] the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel." Yet another that could apply only to Israel, however it too would be good to adopt into our laws.
Provision for Priests and Levites
Deuteronomy 18:3-5 (ESV) And this shall be the priests' due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. The firstfruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for all time. We are to take care of our synagogue officers.
Abominable Practices
Deuteronomy 18:9 (ESV) “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations." This is evidence that just because it says “when you come into the land” it does not necessarily mean only in Israel. Few would argue we should adopt “abominable practices” just because we are elsewhere.
Deuteronomy 18:10a (ESV) There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, None in your congregation may offer his children up to evil.
Deuteronomy 18:10b (ESV) (There shall not be found among you) anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, None in your congregation may use magic to tell the future.
Deuteronomy 18:10c (ESV) (There shall not be found among you) a sorcerer None in your congregation may be a witch.
Deuteronomy 18:11a (ESV) (There shall not be found among you) or a charmer None in your congregation may cast enchantments.
Deuteronomy 18:11b (ESV) (There shall not be found among you) a medium None in your congregation may channel spirits.
Deuteronomy 18:11c (ESV) (There shall not be found among you) a necromancer, one who inquires of the dead, None in your congregation may communicate with the dead.
A New Prophet like Moses
Deuteronomy 18:20 (ESV) But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ Again, we can’t kill a false prophet, but we can evict him from our fellowship.
Deuteronomy 18:22 (ESV) when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. We are not to fear the false prophet when we do evict him.
Laws Concerning Cities of Refuge
Deuteronomy 19:11-13 (ESV) “But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that it may be well with you." The penalty for premeditated murder is death, and the judge must not show pity.
