Light In Torah

  Ki Tetzei —which means "When you go out"—describes a situation of going out to war: "When you go out  (tetzei)  to battle against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take them away captive, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman  [Yefat Toar],  and have a desire  [chashak]  for her and would take her as your wife..."  (Deut. 21:10–11) To modern ears, this passage may sound harsh or outdated. But from ancient times until today, conquering armies have routinely raped the women and children of their foes. Israel, however, was not to give in to such beastly behavior—even in wartime. What this passage describes is what modern Judaism would recognize as a conversion process. After a month of mourning, in which her hair is shaved, her nails left unmanicured, and her beautiful eyes red and swollen from weeping, the Israelite warrior may find her more of an annoyance—always underfoot, yet untouchable. Ancie...

This is your mission, the very reason you have been entrusted with the sacred gifts of life, breath, thought, speech, and influence at such a time as this. Do not let fleshly desires entice you. Do not let temporal distractions derail you. Do not let fear freeze you. Do not let flattery seduce you. Do not let rejection wound you or trauma harden your heart. Instead, take everything—physical, material, and spiritual—that He places in your hands, and use it wisely, honorably, unselfishly, enthusiastically, and responsibly to fund and further this calling. In all things, at all times, whether coming or going, let this one overriding instruction ring in your ears:  You must not hide yourself. Invisible people make poor role models. Wallflowers bear no fruit. Sleeper cells are for terrorists—not for light bearers. Stealth is not a Kingdom tactic. The Most High has prepared a table for you in the presence of your enemies (Psalm 23:5). So come out! Come out from your safe rooms. Come out ...

  The summer has just about come to an end. The fall is right around the corner. We're entering into the sixth month of the biblical calendar, of God's calendar, which means we're a month away from Yom Teruah, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as Sukkot. In this week's Torah portion, Shoftim, we have the topic of judges and officers that should be at each gate. And that's important because in our lives, we need to have judges and officers. Judges are the ones who lay down the laws—the shoftim. And shotrim are the officers, the ones who enforce. The challenge in life is that we know what is right and what is wrong, but enforcing it and enforcing it without prejudice, without bribes, without secondary agendas—that's not quite as easy. Judging is probably the most overstated doctrine anywhere in the Bible, at least in the lives of believers. And the crazy thing about it is that though everybody talks about it, and everybody talks abou...

The plane is going down. Each seat has a flotation device. Each seat has a parachute provided. Who among us would jump from the plane without a parachute? Who would ignore the flotation device? I am pretty confident the answer would be none of us.  Each day of our lives we follow a series of instructions ( torah ) that have been passed down from parents, bosses, legal administrations, political systems, coaches, advisors, and those in the "know." For the most part, these laws are given for our protection and benefit. And for the most part, the majority of people trust those laws and have learned by experience that the majority of those instructions are for their benefit (e.g., traffic laws, the Constitution, etc.). And when they are followed, society functions smoothly and purposefully. If they are not followed, anarchy, rebellion, and disaster await. In the Torah portion,  Shoftim  (Judges), we are given judges ( shoftim ), officers ( shotrim ), kings ( melech ), priests...

  Very few individuals who believe Jesus/Yeshua is the Messiah would ever question that He fulfilled the Torah regarding His mission and first coming. But what about the Scriptures fulfilling His second coming? In the midst of the Torah portion  Shoftim , the instructions of who can go to war and the second coming of the Messiah were discussed. Let me share with you some highlights and see what you think about them. Your opinion is valued :-) There are four individuals who cannot go to war (Deut. 20:5–8). One of the four groups benefits the entire platoon, while the other three only benefit the soldier sent home. The "sent home" ones include someone who has built a new house and hasn't dedicated it. Another is a man who has planted a vineyard and hasn't eaten of its fruit. The final qualification is a man who is betrothed to a wife and hasn't consummated the relationship. The fourth category of disqualifying a soldier for war is a fearful man. Later, Moses tells u...

Last week's Torah portion,  Re'eh  ("to see"), continued the thought of blessing from the previous week's study of  Eikev  ("because"). This week's Torah portion,  Shoftim  ("judges"), presents the method Yahweh uses to ensure the blessing continues in the lives of the nation of Israel. Just as the seventy elders Moses chose had to possess specific qualities to judge (Ex. 18:21), so too these individuals had a list of self-qualifying traits (Deut. 16:18–17:1). If we could summarize the six qualities mentioned in this week's Torah portion, we could say that these individuals needed to be selfless! Selfishness describes a person who will do whatever it takes to get what they want (2 Cor. 12:20; James 3:15). Selflessness, on the other hand, is demonstrated by the individual who works to fulfill his calling as a productive member of the community. Throughout history, selfishness has often been associated with prostitutes and politicians who...

Many of us are familiar with Revelation 1:6 and 5:10, which tell us of God's plan to make us "kings" and "priests." In this week's Torah portion,  Shoftim , the Torah teaches us a fascinating commandment concerning every king (Deut. 17:18–19): to make two copies of the Torah—one that goes with him everywhere and one that stays before the priests ( kohanim ). Why does the Torah give a separate commandment for the king to do this? Should we all do it as potential kings? And as kings under the King of kings (1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 19:16), will we? Whether he goes to battle, enters the palace, sits in judgment, or sits down to eat—he has a copy with him. Everywhere, except the bathroom. But why two? Inquiring minds want to know. On one hand, the Torah represents unwavering truth that remains unchangeable, unbendable, and unfazed by the flux of time, space, and history: Shabbat, prayer, unleavened bread, the shofar, the sukkah, baptism ( mikvah ), the mezuzah, the tex...

There are five individuals mentioned in this week's Torah portion,  Shoftim  (Judges). Four of the five are mandatory, yet all five should be displayed in our daily lives if we want to make an impact in this world. For each one, I will give you a descriptive word to help evaluate our lives: Judge  – discernment Officer  – boundaries Priest  – devotion King  – guidance Prophet  – intuition Within our Torah portion, there is a unique command for the king: "And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand or to the left, to th...

This week's Torah portion is  Shoftim  / "Judges" (Deut. 16:18–21:9), a topic often viewed as taboo in today's society. Within the text, we are commanded to appoint judges—those who determine justice—and officers—those who enforce justice—at each of the gates (Deut. 16:18). This was not only applicable to walled cities with multiple gates, but also implies that we should place judges and officers at every "gate" of our lives (the gates of the eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth). Hence, the more time we spend boldly approaching the throne of grace to find mercy and help (Heb. 4:16), the more we are seeking the foundation of His throne—justice and judgment—and relying on His determinations, which are saturated with mercy and truth (Ps. 89:14). The Apostle Paul reiterates the command for us to have judges and officers at every gate of our lives when he instructs us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Messiah (2 Cor. 10:4–6). This is directly connecte...