Passage: Exodus 21:1-6
The Judgments:
“1 Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.”
(Exodus 21:1).
God’s “Judgments” (Yaweh’s Laws) are what Yaweh (God) has decided is
the right thing to do in various situations. The judgments are His Divine Laws
for individuals and for collective Israel. The judgments include Yaweh’s Ways (customs,
traditions, style) for His ceremonies (His Sabbath of Rest on the 7th
Day, His Feasts, His Sabbaths, His Seasons, His Holy Days, and His Holy Years).
They include ordinances that show the act, place, suit, crime, and
penalty. These judgments show rights and/or privileges. They show what the crimes
are, the just lawful manner to charge the person(s), the measure of the crime,
due order (due process) in determining guilt or innocence (the verdict), and
the sentence to which the person(s) is worthy of for their wrong doing or the
reward they will receive for their right doing.
“Judgments” = a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced
judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (divine law, individual or
collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the
penalty; justice, including a participant's right or privilege (statutory or
customary), or even a style, ceremony, charge, crime, custom, desert,
determination, discretion, disposing, due, fashion, form, to be judged,
judgment, justice, justily), manner of law, lawful, measure, due order,
ordinance, right, sentence, worthy, wrong (Strong’s Concordance).
Yaweh’s Judgments for those who have fallen on hard times:
In the time this was given, if a fellow Hebrew fell on hard times and
needed help paying a debt he would borrow the money (usually in the form a some
sort of goods or animals) from another Hebrew (brother, fellow Israelite) and
then work for him until the money was paid off. This is the definition of the
term “servant”.
Exodus 21:2-4
“2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the
seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
3 If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were
married, then his wife shall go out with him.
4 If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or
daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out
by himself.”
Verse 2 shows us freedom for the individual. Those who “bought” a
servant (agreed to help a fellow Israelite in exchange for them working for
them) were not to oppress them because they are his brother (fellow Israelite).
They were to allow them to leave after 6 years of service (vs.2). It could be
less than six years depending on when the Sabbath year would be.
Verses 3-4 shows us the servant would leave with what he came with and
nothing more.
Devotion to, and love for, their “master” (“owner”, employer, one in
control):
Exodus 21:5-6
“5 And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and
my children; I will not go out free:
6 Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring
him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear
through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.”
If the debtor came by himself (without a wife) and the one he owed gave
him a wife (and they had children), then the wife and children were to remain
with the one he owed. But if the debtor loved his wife and children and didn’t
want to leave them, and if he loved the one he owed a debt to, then he could
choose to stay with him. In this case, the debtor would be considered his
forever. The debtor would stay voluntarily out of love for the one he owed and out
of love for his family. His debt would be forgiven but he would stay with the
one he owed out of love and respect for him and the debtor would continue to do
what he commanded him to do.
Does this sound familiar?
Yaweh gives us our physical life:
Genesis 1:27-28
“27 So God created
man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female
created he them.
28 And God blessed
them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
Yaweh gives us the breath of life, and we became a living soul:
Genesis 2:7
“And the Lord God
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life; and man became a living soul.”
Adam was given Yaweh’s Torah (instructions to follow in his life):
From the following verses we can see that Yaweh gave His Torah orally
to Adam even before He gave it to Moses to write down for us in Exodus:
1 John 3:4
“Whosoever
committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the
law.”
Romans 5:12
“12 Wherefore, as
by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned:”
Noah obeyed Yaweh’s Torah:
Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations, who walked with Yaweh…
so Noah found favor in Yaweh’s eyes.
Genesis 6:8-9
“8 But Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord.
9 These are the
generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and
Noah walked with God.”
Abraham obeyed Yaweh’s Torah:
Genesis 26:5
“5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my
commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
Yaweh gives us spiritual life:
Through studying Torah we see what sin is. Through studying Torah we
see that Yeshua is in every word of Torah. When we see we have sinned in
transgressing Yaweh’s Torah, when we see we need salvation from our sins, when
we repent of those sins and realize the Torah tells us only Yeshua can save us
(see Deuteronomy passage below), when we accept Him as our Perfect Sacrifice
for our sins, we are forgiven and saved. Following Torah leads to Salvation through
Yeshua.
Deuteronomy 18:13-22
“13 Thou shalt be
perfect with the Lord thy God.
14 For these
nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto
diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
15 The Lord thy God
will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like
unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
16 According to all
that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly,
saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see
this great fire any more, that I die not.
17 And the Lord
said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
18 I 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.
19 And 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.
20 But 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.
21 And if thou say
in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?
22 When a prophet
speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass,
that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken
it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”
Yeshua is the Word (Yaweh’s Torah) made flesh and by Him we were all
made:
John 1:1-4, 9
“1 In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in
the beginning with God.
3 All things were
made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life;
and the life was the light of men.”
“9 That was the
true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
By the Spirit of Yeshua that resides in us all, we have the power to
become the sons of God, but we must receive Him into our hearts and be born of
Him and follow Him as He followed Yaweh. Yeshua is the fullness of Yaweh’s
grace.
Yaweh gave us His Torah which was written down by Moses, and through
grace Yaweh gave us Yeshua our Messiah (the Truth of Yaweh’s Torah). Through
Yeshua, Yaweh’s Torah is made complete, made full:
John 1:12-14, 16-17
“12 But as many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name:
13 Which were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was
made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
“16 And of his
fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was
given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
If we don’t follow Yaweh’s instructions (if we transgress His Torah =
sin), we owe Him a debt we can never repay (our death). Yaweh will use everyone
to work His Will both in our lives and in the lives of others.
For those who do not follow Torah, there is both a physical and a
spiritual death. They will leave this world with what they came into it with
(the Breath of life will be taken away, their body will return to the dust it
came from, the Spirit that resides in them will return to Yaweh, and their soul
will be condemned to hell for eternity).
Ecclesiastes 12:7
“7 Then shall the
dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who
gave it.”
James 2:26
“26 For as the body
without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
Think of Pharaoh and how he didn’t follow Yaweh, but followed pagan gods
and ways. He was used of Yaweh to work His Will in the lives of His children
(Israel). Pharaoh paid the debt he owed for transgressing Yaweh’s Torah with
his physical death and then with his spiritual death because of not accepting
Yaweh’s Salvation.
For those who follow Torah, there is still a physical death, but there
is also a spiritual life eternal in Heaven. Yaweh gave us His Son, Yeshua, to
pay the debt we owe by dying on the cross for our sins (transgressions against
the Torah of Yaweh). If we accept Yeshua’s Sacrifice for our sins against Yaweh’s
Torah, repent and ask for forgiveness from Yeshua, we are forgiven of that debt
because Yeshua paid it for us. We are given our freedom from our debt of our
death for our transgressions of Yaweh’s Torah.
Think of Naomi and her two daughters-in-law Ruth and Orpah. After Naomi’s
husband and two sons died, she heard Yaweh had visited His people in giving
them bread during the famine (Ruth 1:1-6). Naomi told her two daughters-in-law
to go back each to their mothers’ house (Ruth 1:8). Orpah kissed her
mother-in-law and left to go back to her own people, but Ruth clung to Naomi
and would not leave her (Ruth 1:14). Orpah received her physical freedom.
For those who truly love Yaweh and ALL He has done for them, they will
never leave Him and will be marked as His forever. This mark is Yaweh’s sign
for us… the sign of being set-apart for Him by obeying His Torah (instructions
for our life in every area) and following His Ways in it (His Holy Days, His Sabbaths,
His Feasts, etc.). The one who follows Torah and receives Yeshua as his
Salvation leaves this world with more than he came into it with (his body
returns to dust, the Spirit returns to Yaweh, his soul resides in Heaven
forever having inherited the Kingdom of Yaweh).
Ruth received her spiritual freedom in that she vowed to stay with
Naomi and follow her God:
Ruth 1:16-17
“16 And Ruth said,
Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for
whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people
shall be my people, and thy God my God: 17 Where thou diest, will I die, and
there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death
part thee and me.”
Ruth is found in the lineage of Yeshua:
Matthew 1:5
“5 And Salmon begat
Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;”
Following Torah is a sign we are set-apart for Yaweh:
Exodus 31:13-14
“13 Speak thou also
unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it
is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that
I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.
14 Ye shall keep
the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it
shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul
shall be cut off from among his people.”
Yeshua Himself tells us Torah is the Truth:
John 17:17
“17 Sanctify them
through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
Yeshua tells us to keep His commandments. Yeshua is the Torah
(commandments). Yeshua is saying if we love Him we will keep Yaweh’s Torah:
John 14:15-18
“15 If ye love me,
keep my commandments.
16 And I will pray
the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you
for ever;
17 Even the Spirit
of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither
knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
18 I will not leave
you comfortless: I will come to you.”
Have you accepted the love of your Master Yaweh?
Do you love Yaweh so much for all He has done for you that you have
voluntarily stayed with Him?
Have you truly been freed from the bondage of sin (death for your
transgressions against Yaweh’s Torah) by repenting and accepting His Salvation,
Yeshua, as your Sacrifice for your sins?
Have you been marked by Him as being set-apart for Him by follow His
commandments (Torah), thereby receiving the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaChodesh – the Comforter)?
Are you truly free from bondage today?
