Shoftim-Judges (שפטים) - Audio Podcast August 19, 2023

18 “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

Just = righteous

justice, the standard by which the benefits and penalties of living in society are distributed.

The same basic meaning of justice is found throughout the different books and writings of the Bible despite the differing spheres to which it is applied.

The pervasiveness of the concept, however, can sometimes be veiled from English readers, because terms approximating justice are often translated in English as “righteousness” or “judgment.”

Justice is a chief attribute of God, who is just

Psalm 145:17 NKJV

17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works.

Justice is also fundamentally a relational concept: it exists when things are in their right or proper relationship.

This concept underlies the affirmation that Abraham believed the Lord, and “the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness [justice].”

When Abraham trusted in God’s promise, his relationship with God was as it should have been, and when relationships are as they should be, there is righteousness or justice.

Bible Dictionary

We cannot be righteous outside that relationship

To be righteous I must do what He says, and bear His image.

What is the problem?

Ignorance

Distorted information

Limitations in abilities

Overestimation of own information and abilities

Resistance to new information

Failure to consider the perspectives of others

Belief/ assumption of superiority

Denigration of others (Defamation)

Unwilling to learn/be taught

Rebellion

Complacency

Ra-ah - unable to see, or even learn

They cannot respond in righteous deeds, as we spoke about righteousness before

Thick headed

We end up not doing righteousness but wickedness

Comes from unbelief

Picture of righteousness and wickedness

What seems to be the issue?

Deuteronomy 16:19 NKJV

19 You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

This is the reason He commands to follow righteousness

To make righteous judgments

As soon as [the judge] accepts a bribe from [a litigant], it is impossible for him not to be favorably disposed towards him.- Rashi

Deuteronomy 16:20 NKJV

20 You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

We need to stay in the covenant - no other gods

Deuteronomy 16:21–22 NKJV

21 “You shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a wooden image, near the altar which you build for yourself to the Lord your God. 22 You shall not set up a sacred pillar, which the Lord your God hates.

Deuteronomy 17:1–4 NKJV

1 “You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God a bull or sheep which has any blemish or defect, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God. 2 “If there is found among you, within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing His covenant, 3 who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded, 4 and it is told you, and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination has been committed in Israel,

This is followed by prohibitions again idolatrous trees and monuments, and offering a blemished animal to God.

Idolatry is to be punished by death, but as with all crimes, a conviction is to be brought only upon the testimony of two witnesses.

Deuteronomy 17:6 NKJV

6 Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness.

2 or more witnesses

Cannot judge on your own

Do not judge alone, for no one can judge alone but the One.

(Ethics of Our Fathers 4:8)

The witnesses testify of you choosing blessing or cursing

they testify of your being trustworthy

To have love for God

To be under a Vassal Treaty -Picture

Vassal Treaty - A person under the protection of a feudal Lord to whom he has vowed homage and fealty (intense faithfulness) a feudal tenant.

One in a subordinate position

Deuteronomy 19:15–21 NKJV

15 “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. 16 If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, 17 then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. 18 And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, 19 then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you. 20 And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. 21 Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Cannot judge on our own

The courts and judges are also invested with the authority to interpret and decide all matters of Torah law (Sandhidren):

Deuteronomy 17:8–9 NKJV

8 “If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God chooses. 9 And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment.

Mishpat

A dabar of judgment = dabar ha mishpat = דבר ה משפט

Deuteronomy 17:11 NKJV

11 According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you.

A judgement from Kingship

Deuteronomy 17:14–17 NKJV

14 “When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ 17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.

This is directed correlated to Israel wanting their own king - Saul:

1 Samuel 8:1–22 NKJV

1 Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. 8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. 9 Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.” 10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king. 11 And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. 12 He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14 And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. 16 And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. 18 And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.” 19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the Lord. 22 So the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed their voice, and make them a king.” And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.”

Perverted Justice - the spread out distortion of the righteousness of God under a different tree - Asherah tree

‌

Tree of Asherah picture

The tree this verse is referring to is a pagan tree - Asherah

‌He told them not to do it

Deuteronomy 16:21 NKJV

21 “You shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a wooden image, near the altar which you build for yourself to the Lord your God.

So in order to rule, the king must know the Torah and adhere to the Torah

The king should have two copies of the Torah scroll made for him,

one of which should accompany him constantly to apply it to himself,

the other to rule over the people

Deuteronomy 17:18–20 NKJV

18 “Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.

If the ordinary person needs one Torah scroll, a king needs two: because of his greatness, he has a greater need to be reminded of the higher authority to which he must submit.

(Yalkut David)

Regarding possessing your vessel

There is a Hebrew saying:

The human body is a city with seven gates—seven portals to the outside world:

the two eyes,

two ears,

two nostrils and the mouth.

Here, too, it is incumbent upon us to place internal “judges” to discriminate and regulate what should be admitted and what should be kept out, and “officers” to enforce the judges’ decisions . . .

(Siftei Kohen)

Govern ourselves

1 Corinthians 7:4 NKJV

4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

1 Thessalonians 4:4 NKJV

4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,

2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Galatians 5:22–23 NKJV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

James 1:21 NKJV

21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

James 1:25 NKJV

25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

But in the meantime, before He comes back

Deuteronomy 18:1 NKJV

1 “The priests, the Levites—all the tribe of Levi—shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and His portion.

Deuteronomy 18:5 NKJV

5 For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons forever.

Do not judge alone, for no one can judge alone but the One.

(Ethics of Our Fathers 4:8)

Deuteronomy 18:5 NKJV

5 For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons forever.

9250 שָׁרַת (šā·rǎṯ): v.; ≡ Str 8334; —1. minister, serve, attend, i.e., serve deity by doing various commanded religious practices, especially rites and ceremonies 2. serve, attend, i.e., render assistance or help, usually as a lower status person

serving a superior

But there will be a greater Minister - a Prophet you will hear

Picture of Messiah

Deuteronomy 18:15–19 NKJV

15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, 16 according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’ 17 “And the Lord said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. 18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. 19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.

But until He comes back:

a Hebrew commentary goes:

Judges and policemen will be given to you, etc. Until he finds among you a prophet, etc.

To be the order of knowledge from the general things to the private matters.

Therefore, the Lord of the prophets saw in the remembrance of the unleavened bread and in their explanation to remember first the general unleavened bread and then the individual unleavened bread.

And here the total unleavened bread came in two orders.

Because here are the unleavened bread that refer to the house of choice and to all Israel in order

And after that came the unleavened bread that refer to the leadership of the people, which includes order.

And it is known that the leadership of the nation was of two types of human leadership and they were found in it lower levels two and three.

Because here they will find the small court that is in every city and city that is the smallest step, as they could not judge on their own

And the great God who was in Jerusalem in the Chamber, which is a step higher than the first one.

And the king above them, who is the greatest step above them all.

Here is the order of these three leaders, I want to say a small court and a large court and a king.

Also second and third lower steps near them was God.

And the prophet was above them in spirituality and closeness and holiness .

as per the work of the Temple and their proximity to God.

And the prophet was above them in spirituality and closeness and holiness .

You had these two types of leadership in Israel. Humanity and divine spirituality, and in them and in the sentences relating to them,

the whole order was included as it was explained in news given to them.

God is related to the arrangements and their affairs and apart from this the judges and the great court relied on Him, upon for the pilgrimage.

According to their own name, they would ask the voice of the Sanhedrin about the miracle of them in the matter of the law and as I remembered.

And so God started here by appointing the first level of the human leadership which are the judges who were in every city and town.

And it is appropriate for us to know that in every city in which there were 100,000 from Israel there was a court of 23 to judge the laws of souls.

And a court of three to judge the laws of appointed people and in Jerusalem there were two courts of twenty-three.

“Judges and policemen shall you provide for yourselves in all your gates;”

this paragraph has been inserted in the Torah at this point in order to tell you that although you are obligated to travel to the place where the priests and Levites reside all year three times a year

and you can submit all your legal problems to them on those occasions, this is not sufficient,

but you must have judges and enforcers in all your towns (Ibn Ezra)

Example of Judge and officer

2 Samuel 8:15–16 NKJV

15 So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered judgment and justice to all his people. 16 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;

Picture of word formation explaining the differences

Judge = shaphat - שפט

Judges = shoftim = שפטם (shin, pe, tet, mem soffit)

Judgements = Mishpatim = משפטם

Another way of having self control

Boundaries:

Deuteronomy 19:15 NKJV

15 “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.

picture of boundaries - man with marker

Boundaries start with ourselves

Not others

Saying no to our lustful desires

This is how you possess your vessel

Proverbs 23:10 NKJV

10 Do not remove the ancient landmark, Nor enter the fields of the fatherless;

Deuteronomy 27:17 NKJV

17 ‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’

Exodus 23:31 NKJV

31 And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.

Proverbs 22:28 NKJV

28 Do not remove the ancient landmark Which your fathers have set.

Goshen in a bubble picture

Acts 17:26 NKJV

26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,

Boundaries for War - even

A kohen (called the mashuach milchamah, “anointed for battle”) is appointed to the task of preparing the people for war.

Deuteronomy 20:2–4 NKJV

2 So it shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people. 3 And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; 4 for the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’

Boundaries as to who participates in war:

A man who built a new house

Deuteronomy 20:5 NKJV

5 “Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying: ‘What man is there who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it.

The order in which the Torah lists these actions teaches us that a person of character should first find work that earns him a livelihood,

then build himself a house, and after that marry. . . . [Not like] the fools who first get married;

then, if they can afford it, buy a house; and toward the end of their lives start looking for a job or live off charity . . .

A man who has planted a vineyard

Deuteronomy 20:6 NKJV

6 Also what man is there who has planted a vineyard and has not eaten of it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it.

A man to be married

Deuteronomy 20:7 NKJV

7 And what man is there who is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man marry her.’

And a man who is fearful

Deuteronomy 20:8 NKJV

8 “The officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘What man is there who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of his brethren faint like his heart.’

Boundary to Let the enemy know you will attack

Deuteronomy 20:10–12 NKJV

10 “When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. 11 And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you. 12 Now if the city will not make peace with you, but war against you, then you shall besiege it.

CLOSING

Shofetim

Deuteronomy 16:18 NKJV

18 “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

Brit Hadasha

How do we then find the appropriate understanding of judging or not judging others in the New Covenant?

Is judging a thing of the OT?

Or are we called to exercise judgment in the Brit Hadasha?

What kind?

Anticipating our semantic analysis, we may make the general statement that the vb. špṭ denotes an act of ruling or the exercise of authority, with further differentiation depending on the context.

Consider this:

Acts 19:38 NKJV

38 Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a case against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another.

Proconsuls = shofetim

A proconsul - Roman senate

Ruler

Does not depict the entire meaning of the word

1 Corinthians 5:12 NKJV

12 For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?

According to Paul, we are called to judge

Krino

James 2:4 NKJV

4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

A biased judge

We already talked about a judge who accepts a bribe

Krino

Matthew 7:2 NKJV

2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

vb.; ≡ DBLHebr 8189, 9149; Str 2919; —1. LN 30.75 decide, come to a conclusion (1Co 2:2); 2. prefer, to judge one thing better than another (Ro 14:5); 3. evaluate, judge based on correctness of something (Ac 4:19; 1Co 10:15); 4. hold a view, have an opinion (Ac 15:19);

8190 II. רִיב‎ (rîḇ): n.masc.; ≡ Str 7379; —1. contention, strife, disputes, i.e., conflict between two or more parties, often with a focus on the feelings between the parties (Ge 13:7); 2. hostility, i.e., open opposition to another, with a focus on the actions of the parties (Isa 41:11); 3. quarreling, disputing, i.e., an express difference of opinion or perception, with a focus on hostility and strife in the exchange (Pr 15:18; Pr 17:14); 4. legal dispute, lawsuit, grievance, i.e., a legal action taken in court as a contest between two parties for justice (Ex 23:2; 1Sa 24:16[EB 15]), see also 8191; 5. taunting, insulting, i.e., verbal mocking and ridicule 6. fighting, i.e., physical combat between two persons or armies, with a focus on the hostility and strife between the two parties (Jdg 12:2); 7. accuser, prosecutor, i.e., one who makes a legal accusation against a party (Job 31:35); 8. court, i.e., the area where legal disputes are held, in a public meeting place, such as a city gate (Pr 25:10); 9. pain, distress, i.e., be in physical discomfort (Job 33:19)

The Lord is reported to use KRINO in:

Luke 12:57 NKJV

57 “Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right?

it is the same as Krino

Acts 17:31 NKJV

31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

To Judge in Righteousness

Through the Gospel

Romans 1:17 NKJV

17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

So He is going to judge in righteousness

Psalm 9:8 NKJV

8 He shall judge the world in righteousness, And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.

Shapat

The same word used for three different meanings

We hear people say: do not judge me brother

And they use verses like:

John 5:22 NKJV

22 For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,

Krino

John 5:30 NKJV

30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

Krino again

So it is not a guilty judgment, or is it?

John 9:39 NKJV

39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

Krima from Krino

But

John 12:47–50 NKJV

47 And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”

Krino - Krino -Krino

Which is in Hebrew Shaphat

Where it occurs, as a verb. špṭ has as its subject an official or the king;

it denotes an exercise of authority.

With a personal direct object, šapāṭum means “give someone an order”; the same notion is expressed by the formula šipṭam šapāṭum.

The noun šipṭu means “command, order, edict.” It refers to authoritative pronouncement of the king or a governor.

Consider:

Romans 2:16 NKJV

16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

Krino = shapat again

Romans 14:10 NKJV

10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Krino again\shapat

The use of Assyrian and Babylonian derivatives of the root špṭ. The vb. šapāṭu appears primarily in Old Babylonian and Assyrian texts, with the meaning “determine, decide” and “rule.”

The title šāpiṭu is found mostly in Old Babylonian texts, where it refers to a high official or a ruler.

As a term meaning “judge,” the title šāpiṭum appears only with reference to the sun god Shamash, who is “judge of gods and men.”

Discussion of the semantics of the vb. ṯpṭ in Ugaritic literature moves between the poles of “reign” and “judge.”

The vb. ṯpṭ has the meaning “judge” in the sense of “do justice” in several texts, where it always parallels the vb. dn, which clearly points to a forensic setting.

The object is always a term denoting the one suffering of oppression - the oppressed.

One text uses the parallel terms yṯb, “sit enthroned,” and ṯpṭ, “reign,” to describe Mlk (Moloch), the king of the netherworld.

This interpretation is based on the understanding of Ashtaroth and Edrei as the seat of King Mlk’s (Moloch)’s rule

Another interpretation of the vb. ṯpṭ in this passage takes it as an epithet of the god Mlk (Moloch).

Since Mlk is viewed as an answerer of questions through oracles, here ṯpṭ would mean “give a decision through an oracle, decide.”

Judge (v)

Judge. The meaning “decide”

2 Timothy 4:8 NKJV

8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Revelation 19:11 NKJV

11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.

Krino

Righteous living requires Krino - contensious judgement / רִיב‎ (rîḇ)

Specially against Moloch

In terms of ruling a city:

The functions of a šāpiṭum include granting a trial, ordering an arrest, and administering a province.

Deuteronomy 25:2 NKJV

2 then it shall be, if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that the judge will cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence, according to his guilt, with a certain number of blows.

As a verb:

Rule

Rule. the vb. šāp̱aṭ in the syntagm šāp̱aṭ ʾeṯ-yiśrāʾēl refers to the exercise of a leadership office

it should be translated “lead” or “rule.”

Proverbs 8:16 NKJV

16 By me princes rule, and nobles, All the judges of the earth.

Deuteronomy 1:16 NKJV

16 “Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the stranger who is with him.

If we do not learn to judge = discern, decide, shapat - with the Law of God/ His righteousness

Then we are left to our devices

We will have a skewed perception w/o the Torah:

Once the Torah has been removed from our perspective, this causes us to do our own thing. Our perception is skewed

Romans 12:16 NKJV

16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

Do not be wise on your own (self)

1571 ἑαυτοῦ (heautou), ῆς (ēs), οῦ (ou): prn. (reflexive in the 3rd person) [see also ἑαυτῶν (heautōn), just below]; ≡ Str 1438—LN 92.25 himself, herself, itself

Jeremiah 5:30–31 NKJV

30 “An astonishing and horrible thing Has been committed in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?

Jeremiah 7:1–11 NKJV

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord!’ ” 3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. 4 Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these.’ 5 “For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, 6 if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, 7 then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. 8 “Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, 10 and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? 11 Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the Lord.

Matthew 21:13 NKJV

13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

Jeremiah 17:5 NKJV

5 Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord.

Jeremiah 17:7–8 NKJV

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

Make a righteous judgment of yourself

And assess others with the righteousness of God, when you are in leadership

Apply it to yourself first - to be able to help others

If you are the Lord’s, you will be able to do it

If He made righteous

You are given the tools to do it - but not away from the Torah

If you don’t follow the Torah, you will rely on your ignorance

John 7:24 NKJV

24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

In other words: Judge righteously, as the Lord commands

Choose Life

Choose the Lord

Choose the Torah to learn righteous judgments

He will establish boundaries when He returns:

Deuteronomy 32:8 NKJV

8 When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, When He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel.

Psalm 104:9 NKJV

9 You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, That they may not return to cover the earth.

Proverbs 8:29 NKJV

29 When He assigned to the sea its limit, So that the waters would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth,

Jeremiah 5:22 NKJV

22 Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord. ‘Will you not tremble at My presence, Who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea, By a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it? And though its waves toss to and fro, Yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.

Judge righteously

Keep the covenant of the Lord;

Don’t judge by appearance

But judge righteous judgment

Don’t rely on your understanding/ perception

Remember His Torah/ Live the Torah/ Teach the Torah

Shabbat Shalom

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