Mishpatim (Judgments)

(This commentary on Torah portion Mishpatim was originally posted in my previous blog on 02/18/2007.)

TORAH: Shemot (Exodus) 21:1-24:18

HAFTARAH: YirmeYahu (Jeremiah) 34:8-22; 33:25-26

KETUVIM NETZARIM: MattithYahu (Matthew) 5:38-42; 17:1-11

This Torah portion is right after chapter 20, where the Ten Commandments are given. It begins with the instructions regarding Hebrew servants (21:2-6). A servant who is a fellow Hebrew is to be set free during the seventh year, but if he doesn't want to go free, his ear is to be thrust through to the doorpost with an awl. Upon first glance, this seems to be an odd 'reward' for a loyal servant who loves his master so much.

What helped me to better understand this was first looking at the corresponding instruction in Debarim (Deuteronomy) 15:12-17. This verse is significant because YHWH gives the reason for the instruction:

Deu 15:15 "And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Mitsrayim, and YHWH your Elohim redeemed you. Therefore I am commanding you this word today.

He wants both master and servant to remember that He is their Redeemer, and so He instructs that the servant is to go free in the seventh year, and the servant who refuses His redemption is to be given a permanent reminder.

Also helpful was reading the Haftarah for Parsha Mishpatim. This section reveals how YHWH was displeased with Judah because of their failure to listen to and obey His voice in regard to slavery.

Jer 34:13 "Thus said YHWH the Elohim of Yisra'el, 'I Myself made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Mitsrayim, out of the house of bondage, saying,

Jer 34:14 "At the end of seven years each one should set free his Hebrew brother, who has been sold to him. And when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you." But your fathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear.

He does not want His people enslaved. He set us free from the house of bondage so that we could serve Him only and not another master. He is our Redeemer, and He does not want us to reject His redemption.

The symbolism of this instruction is important--

The ear is thrust through with an awl to the doorpost because it failed to hear YHWH when He said:

Exo 20:2 "I am YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, out of the house of slavery.

Exo 20:3 "You have no other mighty ones against My face.

The doorpost is where we are to write His Word:

Deu 6:4 "Hear, O Yisra'el: YHWH our Elohim, YHWH is one!

Deu 6:5 "And you shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your might.

Deu 6:6 "And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart,

Deu 6:9 "And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The doorpost is also where the blood of the Passover lamb goes:

Exo 12:23 "And YHWH shall pass on to smite the Mitsrites, and shall see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and YHWH shall pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you.

Yeshua Messiah is the Passover Lamb that was slain, and it is His blood that redeems us from the house of bondage.

Even more understanding came from my reading for today, which was MattithYahu/Matthew 9-12. Yeshua Messiah makes it clear what our priorities are to be:

Mat 10:37 "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

Mat 10:38 "And he who does not take up his stake and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

The slave who loved his human master, his wife and his children more than YHWH and His redemption was not worthy of His redemption and so remained a slave in bondage forever.

May we remember to thank Him every day for redeeming us from the house of bondage, and may we follow Him and never look back.