The Redeemed Walking out a Redemptive life style Weekly Torah Portion Shoftim – Judges “A Judge to Deliver Us Now” Torah Portion: Deuteronomy 16:18 – 21:9, Haf Tarah: Isaiah 51:12 – 52:12 Brit Chadashah: 1 – 3 John “Shoftim” translated from the Hebrew means “judges” or “deliverers”. This Torah Portion is an excellent guideline for establishing government and appointing qualified leaders. As believers, it is more important than ever that we live a Godly lifestyle – His Kingdom lifestyle. While the teachings of the New Testament reveal the identity of Messiah, they are not a sufficient foundation by themselves, for instruction in a Kingdom lifestyle. God’s Kingdom lifestyle was established in the Torah. These Scriptures – Genesis through Deuteronomy – were not abolished, but were fulfilled by Yeshua – Jesus Christ. Yeshua didn’t come to do away with the law – the Torah – but to bring it to a greater understanding. To walk in the lifestyle God intended for us, we need to look also to the writings of Moses. “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.” (John 5:46 NKJV) Yeshua intentionally points us to Moses because the instructions to live and walk out a redeemed lifestyle were given through Moses. In order to identify what God’s Kingdom lifestyle is, we must turn back to the instructions He gave to His established leaders: •Abraham, the father (and teacher) of many nations •Isaac and Jacob, the continued carriers and leaders of God’s promise •Moses, the deliverer of God’s people and His instructions (the Torah) Today we are in need of deliverance from a Hellenistic mindset. The majority of those in the nations have never been exposed to the Torah. They have been in a state of assimilation into the Hellenistic, Greco/Roman culture. This assimilation can be traced as far back as 721 BCE when the Kingdom of Israel was divided. The Greco/Roman culture in the nations has pervaded and overshadowed our ability to see Scripture from a Hebraic Biblical viewpoint. Hellenistic assimilation is a major reason for the spiritual decline in America. Our forefather’s assimilation into the nations and our own subsequent assimilation to Hellenism, brought a spiritual exile within Israel as a people. Jesus came as our deliverer from death and today He is our deliverer from a Hellenistic mindset. When we obey His Torah, we are delivered. Yeshua tells us that those who teach others to uphold His teachings (the Torah) will be considered great in His Kingdom. "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19 NKJV) From the earliest times, God gave His people “Shoftim – Judges – Deliverers” to bring His People back to Him. As He did for His people then, He will do for us today. He comes to deliver us through His Word. His method was and still is to send Hebrew messengers to teach and thereby, deliver His people. You are part of Israel – His Chosen People. God speaks His Word by the “still, small voice” of His Spirit within you. He speaks through His disciples, His messengers, His prophets, His “Shoftim – Judges – Deliverers”. Yes, He will speak through you. "Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" says your God. "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned…The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." (Isaiah 40:1-5 NKJV)
Posted on: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 03:01:27 +0000
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