This Shabbat is known as “Shabbat Shekalim,” a Shabbat of new beginnings because it is the first of the four special Sabbaths leading to Passover, but in our case it is also a Shabbat of endings because it marks the last Shabbat of this month of Shevat that will lead into the new month of ADAR (lamed) the month of Purim. You can find out more from the section in my book, “Romance of the Hebrew Calendar” for the 11th month of ADAR under “Mazzaroth.”
One reason I am sharing this with you is because today marks the beginning of a new season in a new venue for our Mekudeshet Fellowship here in Pennington.
During Temple times each Jew contributed an annual half-shekel to the Temple. This itself is a teaching we have no time to go into today except to mention that this was an annual tax levied to every Israelite male aged 20 years or older known as“machatzit ha’shekel”, (מחצית השקל half a shekel) due on the 1st of Nissan. One month earlier, on the 1st of Adar, the rabbinic courts began posting reminders to everyone about their Biblical obligation.
Shabbat Shekalim reminds everyone of the upcoming holiday of Purim scheduled this year on 6th March. In Jewish tradition, Haman’s decree was averted due to the mitzvah of machatzit ha’shekel.
Parasha Yitro – Ex.18:1 – 20:23; Isai. 6:1-7:6; 9:5-6); Matt. 5:8-20
There are many significant and vital points in last week’s Torah portion, parashat Yitro and most of you would have received the mekudeshet notes with various key things to reflect upon which I hope you have accessed?
God is so attentive to and concerned to meet our deepest needs, but very often that is conditional to how well we listen and respond to Him! This was a key issue facing Moses.
The Midianites were descended from Abraham and his concubine, Keturah and for the most part have been antagonistic towards Israel throughout their history. But Jethro, a Midianite priest, blessed Moses by offering him safe refuge for 40 years after he fled the Egyptians, and also blessed him with a wife, Zipporah his very own daughter, displaying honour and favour according to the culture of the times. And now see how God’s blessing upon Jethro was reciprocated. Moses embraced him into the family of God where Jethro discovered a place of belonging and honour among God’s chosen people. His past as a pagan priest was behind him, the promise of a sure hope and future lay before him! The Egyptians who cursed Israel were destroyed, but Jethro who blessed Israel received blessings that were beyond his imagination!
And yet, ironically shortly afterwards when Moses is commissioned by God to receive the stone tablets of the Law, he appointed his brother Aaron to deputise for him during his 40-day absence without seeking the counsel of God beforehand with disastrous results because Aaron did not have the ability and influence to guide the people in righteous living. He was called as a priest not as a leader unlike Moses and consequently was lured by the people into creating an idol, a golden calf, with all the trimmings of pagan worship expressed in its lowest form: “The people offered sacrifices and then engaged in pagan rituals, including orgies (Ex.32:25) to worship this new god.”
Only three days before, God spoke from the mountain peak to the nation as a whole, including the mixed multitude of Gentiles. Everyone heard God’s voice and saw the mountain shake with smoke and the fire – a whole nation of 600,000 men between the age of 20-50, their wives and children, their handmaids and servants, the Gentile nations that accompanied them out of Egypt heard God audibly in the flames of fire, each according to his own language.
Moses received the Torah of God during his 40-day period communing with God on Mt. Sinai. During that period, God made a promise to him: “Now if you will pay careful attention to what I say and keep my covenant, (listen well – shema) then you will be my own treasure from among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you will be a kingdom of cohanim for me, a nation set apart.” (19:5-6)
If the people of Israel would simply listen and and keep covenant with Him they would be appointed as a kingdom of priests to the nations, set aside for Him. During that period, God made told Moses: “This is what you must say to the descendants of Jacob. Tell the Israelites, 4 ‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to my mountain. 5 If you carefully obey me and are faithful to the terms of my promise, then out of all the nations you will be my own special possession, even though the whole world is mine. 6 You will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.” (19:3-6)
God’s love and care was demonstrated for Israel as described that He would bare them on ‘eagle’s wings’. An eagle doesn’t carry her young in her claws like other birds but the eaglets attach themselves to the back of the mother eagle so are protected as they are carried. Any arrow from a hunter must pass through the mother eagle before it could touch the young eagle on her back.
God’s intention was for Israel to be a special treasure unto Him, above that of being a people with a unique place in His eternal purposes, but those who experienced the riches of His glory from walking in obedience to His commands.
Paul longed the same for every believer that they would know what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints (Eph1:17-18). “17 I pray that the glorious Father, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know Christ better. 18 Then you will have deeper insight. You will know the confidence that he calls you to have and the glorious wealth that God’s people will inherit. 19 You will also know the unlimited greatness of his power as it works with might and strength for us, the believers.”
Sadly, following the episode of the golden calf, the entire nation of priests became whittled down to a tribe (the Levites). And this same tribe fell short of their calling by making idols out of the ‘traditions of men’ so that in the fullness of time the priesthood as also replaced through Yeshua our Great High Priest by Jew and Gentile (1 Pet.2:9: “You are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.”
(Rev.1:6): “(He has) formed us into a kingdom (a royal race), priests to His God and Father – “to Him be the glory and the power and the majesty and the dominion throughout the ages and forever and ever. Amen (so be it).”
The Israelites initial response to the words of God and His condition for blessings upon them had been so positive and enthusiastic! “Everything Adonai has said, we will do!” (19:7) So what went wrong? The Hebrew word “Shema” means “hear and do” is active not passive and it is in this context that we come to this weeks parasha, “Mishpatim (Laws).“These are the commandments (Mishpatim) that you are to set before them.” (Ex.21:1)
Israel received from God the list of laws to govern their lives so they could build a close and holy relationship with God and live in unity together. The Laws that are laid out in this parasha cover a wide range of things including murder, kidnapping, physical assault, theft, and mistreatment of foreigners: to instructions for the celebration of the Feasts, freewill offerings, the kosher dietary laws, and justice by the courts of law.
The Sages tell a story how God went to all the 70 nations of the world asking them if they wanted a copy of the Torah to adopt and implement. “What does the Torah contain?” they asked. “Thou shalt not…” said God and this was met with a “no-thank-you” almost before He could finish the sentence.
So why did the Jews accept it? It was because they understood that God’s laws give Life and protection from the evil that seeks to destroy us. But to understand something with our minds alone is not sufficient until we heed and translate them into practice.
God has provided us with His ‘laser beam’ ‘which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path’ through Yeshua our ‘laser beam ‘ who searches the deepest recesses within us. All of us hate the darkness yet we besiege the Lord not to shine His searchlight too brightly in our lives that exposes the intents of our hearts and the festering wounds of sin, fear , rejection, betrayal and every other form of darkness lurking within! But unless allow the Master Surgeon to perform His Divine surgery in us we will never walk in the healing and redemption that sets the captives free.
Following His resurrection Yeshua performed a health check on Peter and three times asked him: “Do you love Me?” because to love God (Deut 6:5) is the fulfilment of the Law. Do you want to know how much you love Him? Yeshua told His disciples “If you love Me you will obey My commandments.” But to obey the commandments without any desire to love God, (I.e., outside of relationship) will become relegated to a meaningless gesture and a legalistic stranglehold.
God has provided us with rules to guide our lives because He loves us so much. It is not so much a question of how perfectly we do this but rather a heart issue. David demonstrated this beautifully when as a consequence of gross sins that many would point accusatory fingers against and pronounce as unforgivable – in his weakness and utter wretchedness in a spirit of repentance, he cried out loudly to God: “According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.” (Ps.51:1-2) “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” (v.7) “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (v.10) “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.” (v.12) “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.” (v.17)
God is searching for a broken people who are unreservedly committed to serving Him wholeheartedly. In Scripture such people are referred to as servants – those with a servant-heart (Abraham – Gen. 26:24; Num. 12:7; Joshua – Josh. 24:29; David – 2 Sam. 7:5; and Isaiah – Isai. 20:3. Even Yeshua Himself is referred to as God’s Servant in Isai 53:11. In all cases the term servant carries the idea of one who is yoked to the Master.
Throughout the NT the word slave, or servant is used metaphorically to someone absolutely devoted to Yeshua. Paul, Timothy, James, Peter, and Jude all describe themselves as “servants of Yeshua” (Rom 1:1; Phil 1:1; James 1:1; 2 Pet 1:1; Jude 1:1).
So when Yeshua spoke to His disciples about friendship in John 14 “I no longer call you servants, but friends,” He said something that was staggering. To be a friend of Yeshua means that He trusts and has confidence in us; He confides in us because friends share secrets. Friendship is greater than servanthood because a servant serves but a friend lays down his life… and completely distinct from servitude.
We become a friend of God when we simply choose to place Him first in our lives. It means embracing the ‘fellowship of His sufferings’ and not just His resurrection power; trusting Him with all our heart not just those parts that are safe and convenient; walking in His ways in the midst of perplexity when everything is crashing around us.
Yeshua is available as our friend for those who are hungry enough and thirsty for a deeper relationship with Him. To be known in eternity as one who counted it worth everything to be known as His friend. As Paul wrote:
“7 Yet all of the accomplishments that I once took credit for, I’ve now forsaken them and I regard it all as nothing compared to the delight of experiencing Yeshua as my Lord! 8 To truly know him meant letting go of everything from my past and throwing all my boasting on the garbage heap. It’s all like a pile of manure to me now, so that I may be enriched in the reality of knowing Yeshua and embrace him as Lord in all of his greatness.” (Phil. 3)
