Exodus 21:1-24:18, Mishpatim, “Judgements”
As I started preparing for where I felt God was leading me with this message, I had a lot of thoughts as to where I would ultimately go with this. At the core is the concept that we tend to approach things from how they appear to us in the physical. From there, I started contemplating how mankind has been conditioned by the concepts of bartering, trade, and exchange. True love does not barter, it does not keep track, and it does not trade itself for anything in return. True love is an open hand, an open heart, and simply an extension of ourselves.
What I am describing here is the Love of God. You see, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob wants to extend His love to us in such a way that it simply sets us free. In this freedom we become His friend, and in that relationship, we can experience and spread “life” and “life to the fullest” as we love others in the same way He loves us.
On the other hand, the pagan or demonic gods tend to use our flesh desires to lead us into bondage so that we serve them and in so doing, they can experience and spread “death” through us. They are demonic, self-serving, and care about nothing except their desire to manipulate us through their false promises so that they can use us for their own purposes.
Sadly, we are so conditioned by these types of relationships that we tend to approach God in the same way and even repeat the pattern with our own families, friends, and those that God has entrusted us with. The pathway to true intimacy, love, and relationship must go through the self-reflection of investigating the real motives behind our every action.
Ultimately, this self-reflective journey will reveal to us what we are truly focused on. Are we looking at what we are going to get? What we want? Or, our own feelings? The concept of seeing what we are focusing on and how we approach the relationship ultimately dictates what our relationships will end up being. When it comes to our relationship with God, these principles dictate how rewarding the relationship will be, and ultimately how much freedom and life it delivers us into. This ultimately dictates how well He can use us to spread his Light, love, and life to others. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 6:25 NASB)
I believe this is what Paul is addressing in Romans chapter 9. When speaking of the Children of Israel he says. “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone (Yeshua). (Romans 9:30-32 NASB)
I really like how Paul worded this. Notice that he is saying that the gentiles “did not pursue righteousness” where as Israel, “pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law”.
From what I am seeing, our entire relationship with God comes down to what it is that we are putting our focus on (pursuing). In this, I am going to use an example. I do a lot of driving. One of the first things that my dad taught me when I was learning to drive was that I would drive the car toward what I was looking at. In this example, it doesn’t matter that our desire might be to keep the car on the road, if we let our gaze move off to the side of the road and don’t return our eyes back to the road in front of us, sooner than later, we will be driving the car off the side of the road.
This is exactly what I believe Paul is getting and, and sadly is still so common within the family of God’s people still to this day. Here are some questions to consider:
- What do we want our relationship with God to look like?
- What do we believe will be necessary to lead us into that relationship?
- What are we “focusing” our attention on as we seek that relationship?
As I read these words, I feel like there is an emphasis on the “words” or judgements. Although what Moses is saying is fully accurate, I believe John is saying basically the same thing in 1 John 4:7–5:3 in a much better way. Ultimately, John connects the honoring of God’s commandments to the blood of Yeshua, but the presentation comes across as focused on the Love of God more than the commandments themselves.
Before I share these words, I want to add one more scripture. ‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.’ (Leviticus 17:11 NASB) Because Yeshua is the way, the truth, and the life, I would argue that He is the life force that is within the blood of the clean animals. If I am correct in this, it is the “blood by reason of Yeshua that makes atonement” for us.
With that said, let’s take 1 John 4:7-5:3, reduce it down a little, and change the wording to go back to Moses sprinkling the blood on the people and connecting that to the covenant and the words that the Lord had given him to share with the people that day.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has given of Himself in this blood that I sprinkle on you this day so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and offered Himself in this blood [to be] the propitiation for our sins. …………… We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. ………………… We love, because He first loved us………………Whoever believes that this blood is given of God is born of God, and whoever loves the Father sees the life that is in this blood and that through that life our sins are atoned. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
What I am getting at is this. When we approach the commandments of God and say “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” as our primary focus, we tend to move into a position of attempting to please God through the keeping of His commandments. This is what I was talking about in the opening paragraphs of this message. Our tendency is to focus on the ticks and tacks because they are tangible and physical. We must remember that He is spirit, and it is His love that truly is at the center of the covenant. The only thing we need to receive that love is to accept it in the way He is offering. It truly is that simple. When Moses was speaking these words, His love was manifest in the blood of sheep and goats. In this dispensation, His love is manifest in the blood of His only begotten son. These are His only terms and there is no barter. It is simply an offer from Him that we are free to accept or reject. In accepting, His Spirit moves into us and He grows us into the image of the covenant. It is not something that we do to earn anything.
In this, we approach the blood knowing that it is being given specifically because we CAN NOT fully keep His commandments, and this frees us to approach the covenant from a completely different perspective. This is the perspective that keeps us on the road toward a deep and meaningful relationship with Him. It keeps us on a path that avoids a spirit of religion, and keeps us on the path where His love inspires us and motivates us to walk more and more in His word each and every day.
There is no doubt that He does have a way of life that He has given us. It is truth. It is holy. And it is righteous. There is no doubt that He wants us to grow into it. To walk in it. And to live in harmony with all that it is. At the same time, the heart of the covenant is not found in our ability to do these things. The heart of the covenant is His heart. It is a heart that is full of love, grace, understanding, and compassion. It has always been this way and it will forever be. When we accept His invitation to come under His blood, to enter into the family, to become a part of the “nation”, we step into relationship with Him. In and through this relationship He will pour out His love on us and mature us into the children that we were created to be. In and through this He will give us new hearts and set us free from the ways of this world. In His love, He will transform us, make us holy, and set us apart. Our part is listening to Him, allowing Him to do what He is doing, and let Him make us into all that He has called us to be.
I pray that in and through this message we have been challenged to take a deep look into how we go about relationship in general. Are we open to accept the love that others extend to us? Or, are we always on guard wondering if someone is attempting to manipulate? Are we truly open handed in our expressions of love? Or, are our own desires and needs truly at the center of what we want to believe is an expression of “love”? As we work our way through these questions, I have to fall back on those verses I shared from 1 John. We are only able to love when we finally embrace the love that He has for us. His love teaches us to love others in the same way He loves us and it transforms us into beings that are capable of doing it. If any of us are struggling in how we are accepting and extending love in our human relationships, maybe it is time to investigate what is at the center of our relationship with Him. If we focus on the love, we will move toward it. On the other hand, if we are focused on anything else, that is where we will ultimately go. I pray that his has been a blessing. Amen Amen
This was actually the perfect message leading into Shabbat... I dearly needed this~ a true blessing!
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Shabbat Shalom, S/
So glad that this has blessed you. Thank you for your continued support. Always a blessing to get feedback.
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