Parashat Mishpatim - ‘Judgments…’

Saturday 14 February 2015                 Shevat  25  5775

Parashat Mishpatim   -   ‘Judgments…’                              by Shelley Wood Gauld
Ex 21:1024:18, Jer 34:8-22, 33:25-26, Matt 5:38-42, 17:1-11

“I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you on the way and bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay attention to him, listen to what he says and do not rebel against him; for he will not forgive any wrongdoing of yours, since my name resides in him…” (Ex 23: 20~21)

So there was Sinai… the great blast of the shofar, thunder, lightning, fire and billowing smoke on the shuddering mountain ~ and then the terrifying voice of HaElyon. When He made the covenant with Israel, they earnestly responded: “Everything Adonai has said, we will do.” (Ex 19:8) Moses then received from HaShem 53 of the 613 mitzvot featured in the Torah. These mishpatim (ordinances) included various civil, criminal, ritual, financial and family laws; some of which carried the death penalty ~ premeditated murder, cursing one’s parents, kidnapping, practicing sorcery, engaging in bestiality and offering sacrifices to animals.  

The Lord then promised that ‘the Angel of the Lord’, ‘Malach Adonai’, would be with Israel daily to protect and guide them, even into the Promised Land. They were told to ‘pay attention to him’, to ‘listen to what he says’, and not to ‘rebel against him…’ It thus appears that He made himself known to the Israelites…? The Exodus narrative begins with Malach Adonai appearing to Moses in a fire blazing from the middle of a bush, saying, “Take the sandals off your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Later, in Joshua 5:13, we meet this angel again as a man of war ~ “the Commander of Adonai’s army” ~ saying almost exactly the same thing: “Take the sandals off your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy.” Ramban teaches that the pillar of cloud that led the nation by day was HaShem ~ and that the pillar of fire by night was His heavenly court. Eben Ezra, quoting Numbers 20:16, refers to the pillars as being an angel; “But when we cried out to Adonai, he heard us, sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt.” Chizkuni states that whenever the term ‘V’HaShem’ is used (‘The HaShem’), it refers to the Angel Gabriel. So intrinsic to the overall wilderness account is the concept of the presence of angels, in particular Malach Adonai, in guiding and guarding the nation… We must not gloss over this, because many believe Malach Adonai to be a pre-incarnation of Yeshua HaMashiach; meaning that it was He who commissioned Moses, led and protected the children of Israel, and gave them victory in the Promised Land.

The Sinai revelation reverberates in the phenomenon of Yeshua’s Transfiguration, recorded in Matthew 17:1-11:

At the end of six days, Yeshua took Petros, Ya’akov, and his brother Yochanan, and they climbed a high mountain alone. (Matt 17:1) The Israelite slaves arrived at the ‘Mountain of God’ on 1 Sivan and six days later, on 6 Sivan, after three days of preparation, HaShem met with them…  As HaShem had  appeared to Israel in great glory on Mt Sinai, so Yeshua appeared in glory to His talmidim on the Mount of Transfiguration: “He [Yeshua] was changed before their [His talmidim’s] eyes. His face shone like the sun and His clothes became white as light.” (Matt 17:2) And as ‘keren’ (radiance) emanated from Moses’ face at Sinai, so it did from Yeshua’s face on that mountain…

In the next verse are two biblical figures strongly associated with Mashiach: Moses and Elijah. (Matt 17:3) We believe that Yeshua is the ‘Prophet like Moses’ referred to in Deut 18:15~19. And firmly entrenched in Jewish tradition is the expectation that Eliyahu (Elijah) will come to prepare the way for Mashiach. Yeshua made it clear to His talmidim that Yochanan the Immerser had been His ‘Eliyahu’, the ‘preparer of the way’. But it was only after His meeting with Eliyahu and Moshe that Yeshua began prophesying regarding His suffering and resurrection.

And then Petros said: “Let us make three sukkot [shelters]: one for you, one for Moshe and one for Eliyahu.” We strongly associate the number three with the Trinity and with Yeshua’s resurrection ~ and the image of a sukkah (makeshift shelter) with Yeshua’s humble birth in a stable and the Festival of Sukkot (“The season of our rejoicing”). Sukkot are associated with HaShem’s provision and protection during the wilderness period…

Finally, notice the similarity between the following references to Yeshua and Moses: “While he [Yeshua] was still speaking, a cloud of light overshadowed them and a voice from the midst of the cloud said: “This is my dear Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matt 17:6) And in Exodus 19:9 we read, “Adonai said to Moshe, “See I am coming to you in a thick cloud, so that the people will be able to hear when I speak with you and also to trust in you forever.”  Our God is the God of history and wonderful are His ways… “I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you on the way and bring you to the place that I have prepared”.  Yes, indeed… Baruch HaShem….

“I, the Lord – with the first of them and with the last – I am he.” (Is 41:4)