Yielding the Right (of) Way

What follows after the 10 Commandments is fascinating. It might not appear as such when you read the opening verses, but once you dig in, you will not only find nuggets of godly wisdom, but you will also recognize Yeshua moving throughout these verses.

What follows is the practical application of the Ten Words. So far, these laws are fairly easy to understand; do and do not, you shall not commit murder, you shall not covet, but now how do we apply these laws to our everyday lives?

We have seen how Yeshua taught us the depth of at least two of these laws; how He brought murder down to the level of hate, where it begins and how adultery begins in our imaginations and thoughts. We are called to look at these laws and be careful to identify any of these disturbing roots so that we can apply and live by the law of God.  This is what the first verse suggests to us: see Exodus 21:1 Now these are the ordinances which you are to set before them. There is a hint here, a word in this verse which tells us that what follows is the exercising, or the administration of the law: It is the word ordinances, mishpat (from the word sapat meaning to govern or to judge) which speaks of the practical outworking of the law.

The word mishpat is often associated with the word righteousness, as in the words righteous ordinances found repeated 147 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. When the LORD asked the Israelites to execute ordinances, He does so 25 times throughout the Torah. And because some cases turn out to be so complicated to judge, the High Priest was asked to wear the Breastplate of Judgment, or the Breastplate of Mishpat. It is here where we encounter the case laws which are characterized by the conditional if-then.

So, at first, we were given the easier apodictic laws, found in the 10 Commandments which are direct commands. It is like the stop sign which is easy to understand; it tells you to stop no matter what. But then we have the case or casuistic laws which require application of life circumstances. These two sets of laws can be compared to two road signs we often encounter: the stop sign and the yield sign.

Do you make a distinction between the two? Apparently, many drivers seem to have different interpretations of our driving rules, and a few have forgotten what the yield sign is there for. The message of the stop sign is easy. It requires us to stop, no matter what the circumstances are. Even if it is 3am and no one is on the street, the law requires that we stop. When it comes to the yield sign however, things are different; it requires thinking. According to the road rules, when you see a yield sign, you should drive very slowly, about 5mph or 8km an hour, in order to be prepared to stop should there be pedestrians wanting to cross. They have the priority and we are required let them go first. This sign also gives you the choice to stop or not.

So, this yield sign which requires discernment, is similar to the case laws that we are about to encounter, laws which form the majority in the Torah. There is, in fact, a great advantage in studying these laws: it is as if God says, “Come and sit next to Me and let us decide this case together”. These ordinances bring man to the level of a thinker and not merely a follower.

So then, let us see what laws we are dealing with which come right after the 10 Commandments.

When you first read it, you will ask what that has to do with us? The answer is, much! If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment. Exodus 21:2

Our first question is: what are the chances that I would have a Hebrew servant in my home?

“None”, you would say, but let me suggest that you may already have One. After listing some preliminary principles, the text will bring us to see the love and dedication of this servant and this will slowly lead us to consider the ultimate Hebrew servant, that is, the Messiah Himself. He was a Hebrew and He was the Servant of Jehovah who came to give His life for us and to us. Didn’t Yeshua say that the Hebrew Scriptures speak of Him?  And here He is!

But before we get there, what are some important principles laid down here and why is the law about the servant given right after the Ten Commandments? It is to emphasize the fact that every human being belongs to God. In fact the whole law was written to raise man to the level of one created in the image of God and so the Lord focuses much on the protection and high value of the human being. He protects him from abuse, mistreatment, and exploitation. It is not because one works for you that he belongs to you. Besides which, being a master over a slave/servant carries so many responsibilities. So much so that the rabbis have concluded that he who buys a Hebrew servant is like one buying himself a master (Sarna, in Kiddushin zoa). The law required that the servant is to be set free from owing any further debts after 6 years of labor and it says at the end of the verse that he goes without payment; that means he has nothing further to pay.

But see how the Lord is so considerate: at the end the servant does not leave empty handed. In another passage of the Torah, we are told that when he is let go, the owner is supposed to give him material goods, as much as he can carry, that would help him to start a new life.

This commandment is found in Deuteronomy 15:13–14  “When you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. “You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you.

See the word liberally. It is the same word used for neck (ranaq), that is, he is supposed not only to carry as much as he can, but you need to make sure to add items even up to his neck; that is, as much as he can carry. And to make it even clearer, the word ranaq is mentioned twice; it literally says: you shall furnish him around the neck, around the neck, from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat… these are things from the best of all that the owner has. See how the Lord takes good care of man?

In other passages dealing with the same subject, in Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 15 for example, the servant is called your brother reminding them that they also were slaves in Egypt and were freely delivered

Click Here for the Teaching: Exodus, Sermon 23: Our Hebrew Servant