Mishpatim/Laws
Exodus 21:1-24:18
Jeremiah 33:25-26,34:8-22
What can I say that could possibly do justice to the way I feel after reading the torah and haftorah portions this week…between my heart being so full of potential things I could communicate, and just a general fear of the Lord. I am so thankful for both! I will not even attempt to do justice to the riches for our hearts that reside here but hopefully create either hunger or even curiosity to ‘enter in’ to this week’s readings.
On the surface we have a bunch or ‘rules’ and regulations for responding to the things in the people’s daily lives called ordinances…but there is this incredible encounter with Moses and some of his leaders and the Lord of Glory on the sea of glass (ps: it’s not only in the New Testament). Wow! Spend some time there and let your heart ponder what that must have been like! Wow! Dear holy brethren (male and female), through the blood of Jesus, this is part of your inheritance as the household of God (Ephesians 2:13)! Let your mind be blown, to know what His precious blood has accomplished for you, beyond just being rescued from hell! You have been “brought near” to the Living God; Jew and Gentile, a mystery that He wants to make known….and yet as we read in Jeremiah this week; there are responsibilities and consequences to being “a holy nation; a royal priesthood; a people set apart for Him”. Seems like an easy thing to renege on; when the children of Israel treated slaves in a demeaning way; treating them as not being as important to the God of Israel as His first born…sorry not so fast! By finding it ‘inconvenient’ to value people the way God does; by finding it ‘inconvenient’ to value God’s word and intentions, Israel was led into captivity! Isn’t it interesting that He cares about liberty and freedom!
So today, without resorting to condemnation as something to hide behind and become passive…let us beware that we may not be allowing for liberty of those in our lives; or maybe even ourselves. He is the God of freedom, but not lawlessness. I think the bible says something like: “where the Spirit of God is, there is freedom (liberty)” and I don’t think He means just jumping around to a lively song…Go forth in the liberty of the Lord and His word today! by john e
Leave a Reply