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This week’s
Torah portion follows the awesome events connected
to the giving of the 10 Commandments on Mount
Sinai. The 10 Commandments are a summary of the
Sinai Covenant, but they are not all of the Sinai
Covenant. There are others laws that must be obeyed.
This part of the Torah starts out with the Lord
speaking to Moses, great teacher and mediator:
These are the mishpatim - ordinances, judgments,
rules which you (Moses) are to set before them
(Israel).
The great
Creator God is not only awesomely powerful, but
He is also good and always does what is right.
Human beings, like God, are moral beings, and
are expected to know the difference between right
and wrong.
Making
proper moral judgments is very important.
Personal
responsibility is very important.
Treating
every other human being properly is very important.
Each individual
is to be treated properly. There are rules for
slaves because slaves are to be treated fairly.
We might have control over them, but they ultimately
belong to the Creator, and they are made in the
image of God, and they must be treated properly.
There
are rules concerning personal injury. It is important
that proper restitution is given. The punishment
must fit and not exceed the crime. It must be
an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
The great
Creator God is wise and subtle, and looks not
only on our actions about also at our hearts and
motivations. And, He expect us to act the same
way. People are to be treated fairly if they didn’t
intend to commit a crime. A distinction is to
be made between manslaughter and murder; and the
consequences for the two are very different.
The property
of each individual is to be respected. There are
laws concerning proper restitution for theft or
damage due to negligence or property damage, like
when a man digs a pit but does not cover it, and
an ox or donkey falls into it.
The personal
safety of others is to be respected. Serious punishment
is to be meted out as a result of gross negligence,
as when an ox that previously was in the habit
of goring, gores another man so that he dies.
In that case of gross negligence the ox and the
owner are both to be put to death.
Young
women are to be respected. There are laws about
taking responsibility for immoral actions, like
when a man has sexual relations with a young woman
who is not married. He must pay a dowry to her
father and marry her if the father finds him acceptable.
Foreigners,
widows, orphans and the poor must be respected
and treated fairly.
The Lord
is to be respected. Leaders the Lord raises up
are to be respected. Those who serve the Lord
are to be supported by the gifts and offerings
of the community.
Even our
enemies are to be respected. If our enemy’s ox
or donkey wanders away, we are to return it to
him.
Justice
and law, which are a blessing to all of the people,
are to be respected and must not be corrupted
through bribery or lies.
The land,
which belongs to God and supports the people,
is to be respected, allowing to rest during the
seventh year.
The slaves
and foreigners, and even animals, are to be respected
by allowing them to rest on the Sabbath.
If we
respected the Lord and followed these good principles,
He would reward us with blessings and victory
and success and prosperity. We would enter the
land of Israel and have victories over the corrupt
Canaanites. Our boundaries would be enlarged to
fulfill the land promises made to the fathers.
Moses
wrote down these rules and read them to the people,
who responded: Kol ah-sher dee-ber Adonai nah-ah-seh
v’neesh-mah! All the words which the Lord has
spoken, we will do and we will be obedient!
The people accepted their responsibility to fulfill
all of the Sinai Covenant in its entirety. Fantastic!
Animals
were sacrificed. Moses took some of their blood
and sprinkled it on the altar and on the people.
The covenant was firmly established by words and
commitments and by blood.
To celebrate
this great agreement between God and Israel, Moses
and Aaron, and Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu and
seventy of the elder of Israel, went up Mount
Sinai and were able to see God revealing Himself
there in a human-like form! They actually saw
a visible manifestation of God, and enjoyed a
meal celebrating this agreement in the presence
of the Creator! How cool is that! And, if He could
take on a human-like form, what is to prevent
Him from fully joining Himself to humanity by
Incarnation, and make a New Covenant with the
House of Israel and the House of Judah?
Afer they
went down Mount Sinai, the Lord asked Moses to
go back up and get the stone tablets of the 10
Commandments, which are a summary of the Sinai
Covenant. A cloud covered the mountain, and God’s
magnificence presence, which was like a consuming
fire, remained on Sinai for six days; on the seventh
day the Lord called to Moses from the midst of
the cloud. Moses went up the mountain, and entered
the cloud, and remained there for 40 days, getting
instructions about building the Tabernacle and
other laws from the Creator.
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