The Obsolete Man
By and far my favorite episode of The Twilight Zone is The Obsolete Man starring Burgess Meredith. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend you dedicate 25 minutes to seeing what would be become of a society that decides “Logic is an enemy, and truth is a menace.” (Plus. the ending is sooooo worth it.) Our current world has a difficult time not swinging the pendulum to either the far right or the far left when it comes to judgment versus love when the balance of judgment and love is the real truth.
In today’s reading from Deuteronomy 16:18 through Deuteronomy 17:13, we begin a new portion and a new week. Parashah 48 is titled Shof’tim in Hebrew and means “Judges” in English. It begins with Moses’ instruction from God to Israel that they are to appoint judges for the people. These judges will rule city by city and tribe by tribe, and they are assigned to offer righteous judgment that does not show favoritism or pervert justice. This assignment even comes with the warning that bribes and gifts blind even the eyes of the wise and twists even the words of the upright.
As the portion continues, God’s words of warning move into sacrifice and worship. No one should plant a tree or sacred pole beside God’s altar, and no one should set up a standing stone because God hates these things. They should never sacrifice anything defective because it would be an abomination to God. And then the warning gets really strong. If a man or woman is found doing anything that is wicked in the eyes of God, such as worshiping the sun, the moon, or anything in the sky, the judges first and then the community is to stone whoever worships that which is forbidden by God. Moses tells them this is how to put an end to any wickedness among them.
We all know of issues where we find it difficult to judge, especially with sins being under the blood of Yeshua and Scripture that warns us that if we judge, we will be judged. Apparently, this is not a new thing. As our reading comes to a close, God tells the city judges what to do when a matter becomes too hard for them to make a judgment. The higher court will give a verdict, and the tribal judge must act on it exactly, not turning to the right or left of the judgment. If that judge acts presumptuously and does not obey the word he has been given, God says he should die to put out all such disobedience from the community.
I can say that I would not have wanted the task of being a tribal or city judge back then, but I also understand how a society can move from presumptuousness to becoming devoid of all truth and logic. We need pure judgment. God is the Supreme Judge and Justice who represents perfect truth. If we do not use His holy word as a guide to determine light from darkness, we become a society with boundaries determined by a godless majority. Instead of seeing darkness for darkness, they will put us in a world of gray that men refuse to see as gray but declare only as different levels of light and truth. But there are no different levels of truth and light, and gray is a lukewarm condition that Christ will spew out when it is presented before Him to judge.
What are we to do when we see someone who claims to serve God walking in what the Bible calls sin? If we bring up the Bible, the sinner may thank us for loving him enough to point out the truth, and he will repent. That’s the best-case scenario. Sadly, however, too many are defensive and resistant to change. They will just accuse us of being judgmental. The Scripture that warns “because of sin, the love of many will turn cold” is talking about agape or “Christian” love. The Complete Jewish Bible says it this way…
“…and many people’s love will grow cold because of increased distance from Torah.”
It’s a hard truth, but because people want to remain comfortable instead of confronted, we are allowing the enemy of our souls to succeed in making men of conviction obsolete–even in the church.
The Heart of a Righteous Judge
Torah Breastplate by Flickr User MagnesMuseum aka The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, CC License = Attribution, Noncommercial, Share Alike
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I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been greatly affected by the admonition from Romans 12:1 to not judge because when we do, we must beware of doing the same thing. Even when directing my nephews for the short time I raised them, I always thought about how I could be accused of doing the same things I was now disciplining them for, so I would try to tell them that discipline did not mean I was judging them. People who do not serve God might call it “karma” or some other word, but I guess I’ve always felt that if I passed judgment over others, I was risking putting myself in a position to be tested by that very thing.
Unfortunately, what I’ve just described is not the effect God wanted that admonition to create. To the contrary, He actually wants us to judge, but to do so in righteousness and not with pride as if we’re better than others, or as if we don’t commit our own sins in our own ways. In today’s reading from Exodus 28:13 through Exodus 28:30, we read about an important piece of the garment for the High Priest of God. This piece is called “the breastplate of judgment” and it has some pretty cool aspects to it that can help us avoid the condemnation that follows in the other verses in Romans 2.
First, the design of the piece includes twelve beautiful stones. The artists are told to engrave one name of each tribe of Israel into each stone. Basically, these are the children of Israel’s birthstones. These stones, sewn into the breastplate and laying over the top of the vest of the high priest’s garment, will always be above the heart of the priest when he goes into the holy of holies to minister to God. This will keep the tribes of Israel over his heart, so he will judge with righteousness.
Beyond the breastplate, we have a couple extra pieces called the urim and tumim that will be covered in detail later, but these stones that rest on the shoulder of the high priest will help him in determining the truth for God’s children, so he can judge correctly.
As with the priests, it is God’s will that we judge, and that we do so correctly in righteousness. If we seek His help and direction, we can keep the right thoughts on our hearts when we are required to pass judgment. God has to judge between good and evil because evil cannot dwell with Him. We must judge between good and evil if we want to keep ourselves from evil, so we can dwell in the presence of God. That is why judgment begins at the house of God–our house/temple of God’s Holy Spirit. May God place His heart–the heart of a righteous judge–within us all that none of us would judge in pride or arrogance but only in obedience and righteousness in Christ.
Supreme Court Justice
Supreme Court by Flickr User Envios, CC License = Attribution, Noncommercial, No Derivative Works
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There are two words that often make me feel frustrated when I hear them … fair and deserve. We read in Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:12 that because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. In other words, because people refuse to do things God’s way, the justice that God (as Love) brings to the human heart will be reduced. This means that it is because of sin that life is unfair, and people either get things they don’t deserve or don’t get things they do deserve. But for every person who cries out for fairness, there is an unfair moment on the cross where Our Savior took what He did not deserve, so that we would not receive what we did deserve. Trusting Him to recompense our afflictions is trusting in real justice.
In the meantime, we’re all still human, and we will all feel at times as if we have not been treated with justice in this life. In today’s reading from Exodus 18:13 through Exodus 18:23, we find Moses being called on to settle disputes, and we find so many people lining up to get his advice that people surrounded him from morning until evening. That’s a lot of work for one person, and Jethro notices the same thing. He asks Moses what is going on, and Moses explains that the people come to him for God’s guidance. He tells Jethro that when the people have a dispute, he judges between them and then explains God’s laws and teachings to them.
Jethro begins to explain that it’s not a good thing, and that Moses will wear himself out if he doesn’t learn to delegate. (Boy do I understand this part.) Jethro suggests that Moses should represent the people before God and bring their cases to Him. He adds that Moses should teach them God’s laws and show them how to live. But when it comes to judgment, Jethro tells Moses to choose men to govern the people in groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. Whatever size group each leader should govern, these leaders should be competent, God-fearing, honest, and incorruptible.
Can you imagine if every person in a leadership position had to qualify with these characteristics? We have plenty in charge–of our country, our cities, our courts, our churches, and even our homes, that cannot qualify by even one of these characteristics, let alone all four. What a pleasant environment we would live in if all men and women in power were–at the least–honest. If they were also incorruptible, we could have a taste of fairness and equity. And if all were competent enough to make God and His word their true and supreme court, we could know real justice.
Jethro goes on to explain that if these leaders solve most of the disputes and only bring the difficult cases to him, Moses will have help with his heavy load, and life will be a bit easier for him. Jethro closes his advice-giving by telling Moses that if he does these things, and if God directs him to do these things, he (Moses) will be able to endure, and the people he is leading will make it to their destination peacefully.
Since I’m a bit like Moses in trying to do everything myself rather than delegating things to others, I can understand his need to hear this advice from Jethro. I’m certain they prayed for God to show them what leaders held the qualities that would make Moses able to trust them as his delegates of authority. I know that, even in the small scenario of my writer’s group, having officers and workers I can trust with group tasks brings us to a peaceful destination together. My helpers may never know just how much their work means to me, but from a leadership position, I can tell you it is priceless. If you are the type of person who works to help others, never judge your service by the size of the job but only by the sincerity of your motivations.
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Judgment and Transformation
Repent, Then, And Turn to God by Flickr User Sharon of Art4TheGlryOfGod, CC License = Attribution, No Derivative Works
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The Hebrew word Yom means “day” in English, and the Hebrew Kippur means “to atone” in English. This is the “Day of Atonement,” and is the precursor to the atonement we now receive through Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ). This day began Friday (Oct 3rd) at sundown and continued through sundown Saturday (Oct 4th). If you want to read the Torah reading that goes with the holiday, read through Leviticus 16.
This day gives us an opportunity to examine ourselves and repent from anything that may separate us from our Creator and Lord. So, what is repentance? I found a great definition that said, “Repentance is the willingness to allow God to judge and transform you.” I love that. It gives me reason to repent on a regular basis.
The word repent is used in some armies to say, “About face.” It literally means, “Go in the opposite direction.” But how can we turn around and walk in a new direction without acknowledging the current direction we’re heading? We need that repentance that allows God to examine our direction if we want to be sure we’re walking according to God’s will. It’s like looking at a satellite map to make sure we’re on the right path. Who better to tell us we’re lost than the One who can see all the way to the end of our road?
Just receiving judgment is not the end of the things. If we used our GPS to see where we were going, but we failed to turn as instructed, we might hear the GPS voice say something like, “At the next intersection, make a u-turn.” If we still don’t turn, we might hear the voice say, “Rerouting,” as the GPS tries to find a new way for us to get to our chosen destination. If we want to get to the right destination, we must reroute, make a u-turn, do an about-face, or in some way repent. Just hearing that we need to change routes will not get us where we want to go.
I think most of us fear judgment because people use it as an excuse to make us feel less than them. People also tend to stop with judgment, and that leaves us feeling hopeless with the permanence of it. However, until the final judgment, what God finds in His examinations of us is not permanent and definitely not hopeless. He doesn’t tell us something like, “So sad, you’re on the wrong path. You might as well give up and stay there.” No, instead He says (in Acts 3:19 NKJV), “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Be converted could just as easily say, be transformed.
When we repent, it’s like a trip to a diagnostician (doctor who diagnoses troubles). Imagine this doctor finds a cancer that needs to be removed. That’s judgment. You agree to let him do surgery because you trust that he knows better than to just slice it off and leave you bleeding. And you’re right. He medicates and binds up the wound to bring healing and comfort. That’s the beginning of your transformation from sick to healed. It continues until you are fully back to health.
Just like we don’t have only one lesson to learn in life, we don’t repent only one time. We do best if we allow God to judge and transform us as often as possible. Remember, Moses was the only man who talked with God face to face, as a man talks to his friend. And yet, the time came when Moses did not allow God to transform him. He hit the rock to bring forth water instead of being transformed and speaking to the rock. That disobedience and distrust cost him dearly. It didn’t stop God from loving him, and we know he is with God because he was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Yeshua, but he missed blessings God longed to give to him.
So, what about you? Are you willing to come before the cross to allow God to judge and transform you either again or for the first time? Comment below if you would like me to pray for you and with you as you walk through this repentance to your deliverance. Like Paul, I often feel the need to repent multiple times in a day, so I gratefully accept your prayers for me as I seek God for my own judgment and transformation…today and in the future.
And enjoy this video of the song Search Me, Lord by The Heritage Singers. There is one incorrect lyric where it says “holed” instead of “whole,” but the music is great…
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October 4, 2014 Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) | Bible Study, Nonfiction | atonement, Bible Commentary, Bible study, conversion, examination, judgment, repentance, Scripture, sin, spiritual healing, Transformation, u-turn, Yeshua HaMashiach, Yom Kippur | Leave a comment