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It's sad
that in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina there
is so much finger-pointing. Local officials blame
federal agencies, federal agencies blame the local
officials. Some blame the President. Some blame
the mayor, some blame the Governor, some blame
the citizens. No one comes out looking good, and
no one seems ready to accept responsibility for
dereliction of duty.
I say
this because the parsha for this week, entitled
Shoftim (translated judges) includes
the command to appoint judges - local officials
- in every one of our towns upon entering the
land. These were to be responsible to decide civil
disputes and criminal cases. Moses told them that
if any case was too difficult, it could be brought
to the Priest or Judge who would be in office
in those days. In that sense, Deuteronomy 17 was
prophetic - anticipating the days of the Judges.
There were other particulars. For example, no
one was to be convicted of a capital crime on
testimony of just one person (17:6, 19:15). Also,
if anyone brought what was proven to be a spurious
criminal charge against another, once proven false
the accuser would suffer whatever the punishment
was due for that offense. Can you imagine how
much more efficient our own judicial system would
be if false charges would yield the very punishment
due those charges?
Deuteronomy
17 also anticipated the days of the Kings (17:14-20).
God permitted us to establish kings over us, but
it was a sign of our unbelief. Moses knew that
our people would eventually clamor for the respectability
the other nations enjoyed on account of having
visible, powerful monarchs. But there were to
be specific requirements of the king.
-
He must be a fellow Israelite
(there was to be no division of loyalties)
-
He must not collect horses
(otherwise he'll end up trusting his armies
and not God)
-
He must not acquire horses
from Egypt (we were never to return there!)
-
He must not hoard gold/silver
(otherwise he'll end up trusting his wealth
and not God)
-
He must not collect wives
- (otherwise his heart might turn away from
God)
-
Upon ascending the throne
he must write his own copy of Torah (to remain
humble)
Centuries
later, the writer of Chronicles would demonstrate
how Solomon's systematic violation of these principles
led to his downfall, and the eventual rift in
the Kingdom of Israel.
In this
parsha we're reminded that Levites would have
no land inheritance in Israel. The Lord would
their portion! That doesn't, however, mean that
they would be homeless. We already saw that cities
and lands were to be set aside within the boundaries
of each tribe for the Levites. And in chapter
18, the people are reminded not to neglect the
Levites, but rather to bring to them the first
fruits of all their increase. That meant you tithed
the first fruits of your grain, your new wine,
your oil and your flocks. A natural reading of
the Torah yields the sense that the Levites were
neither to be impoverished nor wealthy. Either
condition might easily distract one's attention
from service to Adonai.
In this
parsha we are reminded to establish cities of
refuge so that no one may unjustly put to death
for manslaughter, as opposed to premeditated murder.
We are also reminded not to move the boundary
stone between adjoining properties. Those properties
were determined by the will of God, and thus were
sacred and were to remain constant. Centuries
later, even powerful King Ahab could not persuade
his neighbor Navot to sell his ancestral property.
If you went into debt, you might sell yourself
into servanthood, but only under the most dire
of circumstances would you sell your property.
At the Jubilee year, regardless your financial
condition, your land was to be restored to you.
Meanwhile, there was to be no incursion upon your
neighbor's property.
In chapter
18 we find a repeat of the prohibitions against
spiritism and pagan forms of worship. It was on
account of these very practices that God was driving
out the Canaanites, and on account of our imitating
those practices He would eventually drive us out
- for a time. But hasn't mysticism always held
an attraction for people? Every day in our otherwise
sophisticated world, millions of people refuse
even to venture out of their homes without first
consulting their astrological forecast, or dialing
a 900 number to get advice from their favorite
medium. Some of that is borne out of loneliness:
Awill I meet the girl of my dreams this week?@
Some is borne out of greed: AAre the planets positioned
correctly for me to get rich this week? Some is
borne out of fascination with the future: AWhat
is going to happen in the world today, tomorrow,
this month, this year?
God may
have forbidden us to patronize mediums and sorcerers,
but that didn't mean He was going to leave us
Ahigh and dry@. If we were intent on knowing the
things to come, there was an approved way. In
chapter 18 God promises that He will raise up
a prophet from among us, one like Moses, and one
to whom we must give our obedience. I will
raise up a prophet from among their countrymen
like you (Moses), and I will put My words in his
mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command
him. And it shall come about that whoever will
not listen to My words which he shall speak in
My name, I Myself will require it of him (18:18-19).
This is nothing less than a prophecy of the coming
Messiah! Concerning this very thing, Yeshua said,
He who rejects Me, and does not receive My
sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke
is what will judge him at the last day. For I
did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father
Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment,
what to say, and what to speak (John 12:48-49).
Consequently,
if we will not acknowledge Yeshua as the Promised
One, the Messiah, and not listen to and perform
His words, we will be held liable to the Heavenly
Supreme Court, whose decision is of eternal consequence,
and against which there is no appeal.
Shalom,
Rabbi Glenn
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