Thought on the Torah Portion... by Sarah

Shabbat Shalom!  This is Sarah and I have the Mishpatim | משפטים | "Judgments " Torah portion!  I was about to say how it seems like it was just last week that I wrote and how time flies, when I glanced over the last post and I realized Tommy had said the same thing!

Once again, I have a wonderful, beautiful portion that shows YHWH's love and care for His people, the children of Israel.  My portion is:
Torah: Exodus 21:1 through 24:18
Prophets: 2 Kings 11:17 through 12:17
Gospel: Luke 7:1 through 8:3

I will not be able to cover all of those portions in this post so I hope that each of you will go through and read them for yourself.  But I will get started with some of the things that stood out to me. 

This Torah portion is talking about the different laws and or commandments of the land. 

• The law concerning slaves,
• violence,
• property,
• restitution,
• social and religious laws,
• justice for all,
• sabbatical year and Sabbath,
• the annual festivals,
• the conquest of Canaan promised
• the blood of the covenant
• and then Moses on the mountain with YHWH.

First... in chapter 21:1-11 of Exodus it is talking about a servant and the things concerning that.  It was saying that if a man bought a Hebrew slave, how he must serve him 6 years and then he has a choice whether to go free or not.  It reminded me of our relationship with Yeshua.  We were bought with a price.  We have the choice whether to serve him or not.  If we choose to give Him our life and serve Him, then He has pierced our heart with His life and we now are his servants forever.  If we choose not to serve Him than He will have still paid a price for us and we would go out with all of our sin with us.

Second...  Exodus 23:9 says, "Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." 
I think that most of us can relate to this.  I have noticed over the years how if a new person comes to someone's congregation, the youth may be greeted, but it does not seem to be often that the new person is "welcomed" by the youth of the congregation and spent time with.  Please do not hear that I am trying to put ANYONE down for I have been in both places my self... the stranger and the youth of the congregation.  It is somewhat hard to welcome someone you do not know and to make them enjoy their time, BUT... have you thought about what it is like when you are a stranger at some place?  If you do not know anyone, it can be pretty lonely. 
So, what should we do about it?  When I see a new girl[s] at our congregation I have started to go up to them and introduce myself to them and converse with them.  Believe me, they will not feel lonely and you will feel a lot better.

Third... Exodus 23:25 says, "And ye shall serve YHWH your God, and He shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee."
This kind of stood out to me when I read it.  Most of us have probably not seen starvation and no water (all though there are some people who do), but most of us have faced sickness.  Do you think that maybe we are not serving YHWH with our whole heart?  Maybe we had some fear?  I do not know, I just thought that it was an interesting thought.

Fourth... Exodus 23:13 "And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth."
This verse reminded me of the verse from Deuteronomy 4:24, "For YHWH your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."  I also thought that is was neat how this portion in the Torah lined up with the prophets portion (2 Kings 11:17 though 12:17) because it is talking about Jehoiada making a covenant with YHWH and them going into Baal's house and breaking it down ... breaking down the altars and the images and they even slew Baal's priest Mattan.

I hope you have a great Shabbat.  Blessings, ~Sarah