Parasha Shoftim

Since the invention of the printing, the Bible has been the most widely produced manuscript. More Bibles have been sold than any other book and more books have been written about the Bible than any other subject. A recent Google web search revealed some 22 million web sites with the word “Bible” in them.

Throughout the Internet is countless information on all types of religious subjects. There are also literally millions of books written by Christians, Jews, and others who all have their “say” on what the Scriptures really mean. TV preachers, rabbis, and local pastors each have their own personal interpretations. And, people love to read the writings of everyone from Max Lucado to Baal Shem Tov.

But who reads the Bible anymore?

Honestly…do you spend more time reading about the Scriptures or reading the scriptures?

How many hours a week do you spend on web sites or in books about the Bible? Now compare this to how much time you actually spend in the Word.

Do you get more out of a commentary on the Torah portion or reading the Torah portion itself?

It is within the Torah that true and undefiled inspiration can be found. “And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his chayim: that he may learn to fear YHWH His Elohim, to shomer all the words of this Torah and these chukim, and do them,” Devarim 17: 19, Restoration Scripture Version.

Don’t take this wrong, there is much that can be learned from ministers of the faith who present encouragement. Yet, books, web sites, and commentaries (like this one) are just secondary sources. Reading these writings should never take the place of reading the Torah. Surfing the web for the latest revelation or insight should never take precedence over studying the Word itself.

Our current parasha is titled “Shoftim” and speaks of the judges of Torah that were established for the nation of Yisr’ael. These chosen officers were held to a high standard of knowing the Torah and establishing judgment within the community. “According to the sentence of the Torah that they shall teach you, and according to the mishpat that they shall tell you, you shall do: you shall not decline from the ruling which they shall show you, to the right or to the left,” sefer Devarim 17:11. The shoftim helped Moshe interpret the Torah and decide on issues. For a time, the common Hebrews relied only upon the shoftim to establish halakhah, or the way to walk Torah. The words of YHWH were passed down from Moshe to the seventy leaders of Yisra’el onward to their students and the nation as a whole.

As time passed the word was written on scrolls. But everyone did not own a Torah scroll nor could the majority read Hebrew. Teachers or rabbis who had studied the Word developed their own perspectives on the Scriptures. These Rabbis presented their teachings at synagogues and gave the community at large a chance to choose which Rabbi to follow. This is how the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the school of Shammai, and the School of Hallel all came about. Each group was trying to follow the prophet Moshe and His revelation from Horev. Each group was literally trying to walk in the standard of these original judges. A time was prophesied though in our same Torah portion that YHWH would raise a navi or leader who would be the righteous judge that all of Yisra’el should follow.

“YHWH your Elohim will raise up to you a Navi from the midst of you, of your brothers, like me; to Him you shall listen; according to all that you desired of YHWH Your Elohim in Horev for ‘I will raise them up a Navi from among their brothers, like you, and will put My words in His mouth; and He shall speak to them all that I shall command Him. And it shall come to pass, that whoever will not listen to My words that He shall speak in My Name, I will require it of Him,’” Devarim 18:15-19.

This navi, or leader, who is spoken of in the Torah is Yahshua HaMoshiach. “He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me,” said the Messiah in Yochannan 14:24. Yahshua came in His father’s Name to properly interpret the Torah. He appeared to act as the shoftim and navi of Devarim. Part of His ministry was to teach students His Torah interpretations and commission them to teach others. In doing so the Father’s will would be spread throughout the world, and all throughout time. The sheep of Yisra’el were to look to their Shepherd for halakhah. “Yahshua answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do YHWH's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from Elohim or whether I speak on my own,” Yochannan 7:16.

Yahshua is our Rabbi, our teacher, and our judge of Torah. He is Messiah. He is the One who has set the pattern for living out the Bible. Not Chuck Swindoll. Not Billy Graham. Not even Rambam. Yahshua, haNavi. Yahshua alone. Have you been guilty of looking to others for inspiration before looking to the Messiah? Do you surf the net more than you spread open your Bible? This teaching on the Torah could go on and on about this subject. When it comes Torah study, you could discuss everything from Moshe’s hairstyle lent to the sacrificial Red Heifer. Why not let the Torah speak for itself. Here’s the Torah reading from the King James Version with the Sacred Names added. Try reading the Torah a little more this week. Pray for the Ruach HaKodesh for inspiration. Let Yahshua, your Rabbi teach you.

Just Read It!

“Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which YHWH your Elohim giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment. 19Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. 20That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which YHWH your Elohim giveth thee. Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of YHWH your Elohim, which thou shalt make thee. 22Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which YHWH your Elohim hateth.

Deuteronomy 17

1Thou shalt not sacrifice unto YHWH your Elohim any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the YHWH your Elohim.

2If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which YHWH your Elohim giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of YHWH your Elohim, in transgressing his covenant, 3And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; 4And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and inquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel: 5Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die. 6At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. 7The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.

8If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose; 9And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment: 10And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which YHWH your Elohim shall choose shall show thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee: 11According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. 12And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before YHWH your Elohim, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. 13And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.

14When thou art come unto the land which YHWH your Elohim giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; 15Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom YHWH your Elohim shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. 16But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as YHWH your Elohim hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. 17Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. 18And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: 19And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear YHWH your Elohim, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: 20That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

Deuteronomy 18

1The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of YHWH made by fire, and his inheritance. 2Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: YHWH is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.

3And this shall be the priest’s due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw. 4The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him. 5For YHWH your Elohim hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the name of YHWH, him and his sons for ever.

6And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all Israel, where he sojourned, and come with all the desire of his mind unto the place which YHWH shall choose; 7Then he shall minister in the name of the YHWH his Elohim, as all his brethren the Levites do, which stand there before YHWH. 8They shall have like portions to eat, beside that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony.

9When thou art come into the land which YHWH your Elohim giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12For all that do these things are an abomination unto YHWH: and because of these abominations the YHWH your Elohim doth drive them out from before thee. 13Thou shalt be perfect with YHWH your Elohim. 14For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, YHWH your Elohim hath not suffered thee so to do.

15 YHWH your Elohim will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; 16According to all that thou desiredst of YHWH your Elohim in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the YHWH my Elohim, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. 17And YHWH said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. 18I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. 19And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. 20But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. 21And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which YHWH hath not spoken? 22When a prophet speaketh in the name of YHWH, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which YHWH hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

Deuteronomy 19

1When YHWH your Elohim hath cut off the nations, whose land YHWH your Elohim giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses; 2Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the YHWH your Elohim giveth thee to possess it. 3Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of thy land, which YHWH your Elohim giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither.

4And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past; 5As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live: 6Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past. 7Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee. 8And if YHWH your Elohim enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers; 9If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love YHWH your Elohim, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three: 10That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which YHWH your Elohim giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.

11But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities: 12Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. 13Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.

14Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that YHWH your Elohim giveth thee to possess it.

15One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

16If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong; 17Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before YHWH, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days; 18And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother; 19Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you. 20And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. 21And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 20

1When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for YHWH your Elohim is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 2And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, 3And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; 4For YHWH your Elohim is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

5And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. 6And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it. 7And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her. 8And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart. 9And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.

10When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. 11And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. 12And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: 13And when YHWH your Elohim hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: 14But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which YHWH your Elohim hath given thee. 15Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. 16But of the cities of these people, which YHWH your Elohim doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: 17But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee: 18That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against YHWH your Elohim.

19When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man’s life) to employ them in the siege: 20Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.

Deuteronomy 21

1If one be found slain in the land which YHWH your Elohim giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: 2Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: 3And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; 4And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley: 5And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them YHWH your Elohim hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of YHWH; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried: 6And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley: 7And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. 8Be merciful, O YHWH, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel’s charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them. 9So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the YHWH.