This weeks parasha is Shoftim, or Judges comes from the word shaw-fat' and it means to judge, or to pass a sentence.

In the beginning of the portion we read, Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment1. I appreciate what the Etz Hayim commentators have to say about this verse, In all the settlements, [l]iterally, at all your gates. We must set guardians at the gates of our soulsour mouths (that we do not lie or speak malicious gossip), our ears (that we not be eager to hear malicious gossip), and our eyes (that we not form the habit of seeing the worst in others) [Shnei Lubot Ha-Brit]2. Later in this same Torah portion we read about the consequences of a malicious witness, but its here at the start that I want to draw our attention to the connection between honesty and truth which essential in making a right ruling during any controversy within the corporate body, but on a
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Dev.16:18 Etz Hayim Torah and Commentary, Shoftim comm. V.18 p.1088.

personal level we must first be willing to uphold and take responsibility for being accountable unto ourselves, because as children of YHVHs covenant we have been instructed repeatedly Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.3 In the King James translation we read that a judge shall judge the people with just judgment. In Stones Edition Tanach we read the translation as righteous judgment or better still, righteous rulings because as we read a few verses later, appointed judges are prone to temptation and influence just like any individual and so judges are not to be offered bribes. Do not distort right-ruling. Do not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous 4. In fact, as it is used in the verse, pursue as it is used here comes from the Hebrew word raw-daf' and means to pursue with a hostile intent, with justification, or to strive eagerly. Have you ever pursued someone with a hostile intent? Growing up as a youth I was a target of ridicule at times and recall a few occasions where I abandoned fear and pursued my aggressors with hostile intent, perhaps you may relate. The fact is, its that kind of unhindered, full-on fervent pursuit The Father is instructing judges to acquire when resolving a controversy between parties in dispute. The question still lingers though. In a perfect world we would work things out between ourselves and there would be no need for the appointment of judges and officers to enforce the law, but YHVH being the God of order He is understands there will be times when we require assistance to bring resolution to our tangled messes. But personally shouldnt we strive to live righteously in our own life? And not to condemn, because we know there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus5, but because if we are to live as Yeshua did, then our lives should be modeled after Him right? Doesnt the Brit Chadasha say For, let this mind be in you which was also in Messiah .6
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Exo 20:16 Deu 16:19 5 Rom.8:1 6 Php 2:5

I would like to share with you a word picture that I believe will encourage you today. We say that an appointed judge, and also for us to live righteouslywe must understand and pursue Right Rulings in our lives. First of all I want to look at the word used for Right. It comes from Strongs #H6663 tsaw-dak' and it means to be (causatively make) right (in a moral or forensic sense): - cleanse, clear self, (be, do) just (-ice, -ify, -ify self), (be, turn to) righteous (-ness). Its the same word repeated in the following verse: You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt. You shall thus observe all My statutes, and all My ordinances, and do them: I am the LORD7. As defined in the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon, this three letter word means straight, and righteous: One who is upright or righteous is one who walks a straight path. There is a 2-letter root word found in the first two letters of the Tzadi and the Dalet, pronounced Tsad. Its meaning is to hide, and a side. Interestingly, it also means a stronghold. Justice must be a stronghold in order to be effective. If it compromises its borders, allowing the boundary markers to be moved much in the same way as we read in this weeks parasha Thou 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 the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it 8

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Lev 19:36-37 NAS Deu 19:14

we miscarry justice, we are now guilty of having wronged one another, we become guilty then of having our neighbors blood on our own hands which will result in bringing a curse not only upon us personally but upon the body of Messiah as a whole! If you recall from last week s study in Reeh, we examined what a curse is and what it means. The word is kaw-lal' from Strongs #7043. A Kuf-Lamed-Lamed, and what we discovered in the Paleo Hebrew was that it means to choose to lessen the voice and authority of our Shepherd Yeshua! If you need examples, go back to Exodus and reacquaint yourself with the ten plagues brought down upon pharaoh and all of Egypt due to his choice to harden his heart against YHVHs Word9. But when we receive YHVHs word and trust in Him to judge us and follow His example we read, So 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 LORD10. The word right as it is used here in this last verse of the Torah parasha is yaw-shar'. It is also used in defining Tsadawk, or Righteousness in the Paleo Hebrew. Yawshar means upright, and a cord as a tight rope is straight. A righteous one is one who is straight and firmly holds up truth just as the cord is straight and firmly holds the wall of the tent upright11. According to Hirsch it also translates as being faithful to duty, and possesses a gradational variant known as a related root that means to save12! In the Paleo this word also means Remnant! Who is the remnant? We are! Beloved, listen, when we conduct our lives according to YHVHs definition of justice, we become upright and are rebuilding the tent of David like strong, straight cords used to hoist and hold up the walls of The wilderness tabernacle. When we conduct our lives in this way together we then raise the house of YHVH on earth that invites the lost to come
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Shemot (Exo.) chapters 7-11 Deu 21:9 11 Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of The Bible, Jeff Benner, #1480L, p.286 12 Etymological Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, Matityahu Clark, para. 3, p.112
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home and become found! We see this word repeatedly in Torah, and especially if we expect to worship YHVH and be in His presence. Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence13. TZADDI. Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright (yashar) are thy judgments (mishpatim, from where we get shaw-fawt/judges)14.

Mishpatim, or judgmentsthese are what we are to obey in order to live upright and to establish justice in our lives and communities. Too often we treat Torah as a buffet, because Yeshua paid it all we can pursue a life of comfort, of pleasure, and concentrate on building our little sand castles here right? We know that s foolishness, but oftentimeswould we not all agree if we were ruling rightly, that we say one thing and do another? We have His mishpatim in order to have upright lives, but also to do so much more; that relationships can be restored, that disease will flee, that salvation will enter a softened heart and a tame neck so everyone can experience the peace and freedom that comes from walking in The Truth of Torah as demonstrated by our Messiah Yeshua. Beloved we read in the Brit instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you 15.

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Psa 140:13 Psa 119:137 15 Tit 2:10-14 NAS)

For

you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls 16.
Do

you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?17 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law 18. If we are going to judge, let us judge righteously, not apart from God s Word. He says to prepare the way for the cities of refuge19. I am convinced that one of the most powerful reasons why we do not see the physical healings as recorded by the first century apostles is that too many within the body want to play the part, but have reserved justice for themselves. Why do I say that? Because whether or not one is willing to admit it, we all have a measure of immaturity. There are times I want to go to my own corner and just be alone. And its during those times that I have to be careful because its easy to assume, to move the boundary markers of justicetaking onus off of self and putting unrealistic expectations upon others that I myself am unable to carry. Meanwhile we continue to behave like parted waters rather than a congregation gathered together at the sea side singing the song of YHVHs praises.

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1Pe 2:21-25 NAS Rom 6:16 NAS 18 Rom 3:31 19 Deut.19:3

A Final Word
And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: That 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 20. That 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 ; the heart of this message is about humility. Humility leaves room for forgiveness. Humility restores relationshipand fosters mutual respect for one another. Humility gives grace when truthfully, we really deserve the stocks. If we allow YHVH to write His Word upon our hearts we will rule righteously, because a King first and foremostis a servant unto all. Look at Yeshua. To rule, we must learn how to serve, and when we serve one another in love, we then are able to move into the presence of YHVH and experience that intimacy that transforms us out of one-dimensional doom-sayers, into who we were created to be all alongUpright, Righteous Over-comers. Right on.

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Deu 17:19-20
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