If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible.
Exodus 21:28
This law contains two. On the one hand, it was necessary to get rid of the dangerous animals and all that was obviously harmful and having already caused damages. On the other hand, their consumption and use for other purposes was forbidden.
Nothing that is spiritually harmful and mortal is fit for the ministry of Yahuwah and cannot be brought to his altar.
We shouldn’t use old musical rhythms or adapt old popular tubes, most of them encourage debauchery and drunkenness. Adding biblical words to make them a tool of praise will not clear them but at the contrary it is the Word that will be soiled. It is unclear and unfit for spiritual use.
“If anyone gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep or any other animal to their neighbor for safekeeping and it dies or is injured or is taken away while no one is looking, the issue between them will be settled by the taking of an oath before Yahuwah that the neighbor did not lay hands on the other person’s property. The owner is to accept this, and no restitution is required. Exodus 22: 9-10
Here we are in a so called dead end. As with the law regarding the wife accused of adultery by her husband, there are cases where there is no evidence or witness that could confirm the charges. In this kind of situation no one is able to announce a fair verdict, should he be judge or king.
The Almighty Himself intervenes to judge the guilty in such a case. Yahuwah defends the innocent, unmasks calumniators and calm down the hearts of those who have suspicions. He also soothes and compensates the ones having been damaged by false accusations provided that he/she has made good and faithful use of his property.
Sometimes we are falsely accused both by non-belivers but even often by belivers themselves. Something happens and everything suggests that you are the culprit. In some extreme cases, it happens that you almost would agree with your accusers so the clues are all pointing at you. In this kind of situation, it is useless to look for causes, evidence or getting into endless discussions. We must go before Yahuwah so that He will clean you in the eyes of all. You possibly won’t be among them for a long time and many years will have passed, but if you are innocent, you will be rehabilitated, compensated and your honor will come out purified. If your accusators, may they be believers, refuse to go before the Almighty with you, do it alone, you have no other choice. The law will be effective anyway and the sentence will be announced sooner or later.
But if, in fact, it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to the owner of it. If it is torn to pieces by a beast, then he shall bring it as evidence, and he shall not make good what was torn.
Exodus 22:11-12
Theft can be avoided. By taking a few precautions, with a little attention we can avoid being robbed of our property and that of others. In the case of predators devouring the animals entrusted to us, the situation is quite different. Indeed, the predator also puts our own lives in danger. Opposing or attempting to confront it would be far too risky and could lead to our death or mutilation. The case of the armed thief is similar to this. He is willing to kill in order to get what he wants. These will not run away from our mere presence. Human life prevails. In these cases, we cannot be held responsible for the losses.
Yahuwah has entrusted time to us. The time of our ministry can be stolen by many things. We are most often the main kidnappers of our own time, when we use it illegitimately for purposes that are not those of Yahuwah. In these cases too, we must pay the costs of our carelessness and suffer the consequences. In this case, the owner is the one who gave us time or those to whom we should have brought the Gospel. Yahuwah’s Word was not promulgated at the time and place agreed upon. In such a case, we suffer in ourselves the spiritual consequences of our misdeeds. Our vision goes down, our relationship with Yahuwah loses its intensity, our time flees and the fruits do not ripen.
Sometimes a spiritual attack is the cause of my weakening and thus the slowing down of my ministry. This case belongs to the category of the animal torn apart by a predator. My ministry and my time are killed by a spiritual predator. I am not responsible in such a case, but a victim as well.
If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.Exodus 21:2-4
Something here seems to contradict the will of Yahuwah regarding marriage. The order according to which they leave father and mother to become one flesh seems to contradict the law cited here. Marriage is a threefold union, a covenant between man, woman and Yahuwah. How can a third human party have anything to do in such an institution?
Did he have a wife when he entered? Let her leave with him. The marriage having been sealed outside of his service at the master’s house, this one has no right in this union. But if he married during his stay at the master’s house, it then only could happen with the agreement of the latter. In this case, he has a say in their relationship. Thus, the wife and any children resulting from this alliance also belong to him.
A similar situation appears in the case of the dead brother, when the Jew has the duty to generate offspring for his deceased brother and must sleep with his sister-in-law by taking her as a wife, in order to make her pregnant, in the case the deceased brother did not have children with his wife. Here also, the child resulting from such a union is not attributed to his biological father, but is considered the son of the deceased one.
The Hebrew slave was someone who had made a mistake, having stumbled and thus lost his fortune and all the goods he owned. The institution of slavery was an opportunity for him to get back on his feet and start a new life. He was given the opportunity to be hosted by someone where work, food and shelter were assured for him and his family. He therefore had a job, bread and a roof for a period of 6 years during which he could raise the necessary funds, in order to start a new life at the end of this period.
The master was not a slaver and the slave was not a slave in the sense we know it today and in our feudalistic rooted regions.
It was rather a servant to whom the service of not being thrown out into the street or even from among the people was granted to him. The master was a member of the people on whom the blessing of Yahuwah was visible and who had enough goods to be able to share with others, not for free, but in exchange for well-defined work. It was practically a duty to help those who had paid their debt to society, but had nothing left, in order to prevent them from continuing their decline and finding themselves on the street or worse, banished from the people. A single man finding himself in such a crisis situation must be careful not to want to get married when he does not even have the means to provide for his own needs. His only goal in such a situation must mainly be to regain his autonomy and freedom. Let him just limit himself to raising the funds necessary to be able to start a new life and be latter able to found a family. If, despite everything, he cannot hold on without a partner even during this period of six years, so be it, let him get married. Yahuwah does not forbid marriage even in these cases. But he must know that as long as he is not free, he himself does not belong entirely to Yahuwah. Thus any alliance made between non-free persons will also remain under the power of the man to whom the spouses belong. This law is nothing other than security, in order to prevent people unsuitable for marriage from uniting unconsciously.
This law is still in effect today and in the Messiah. When we search for a soul mate as young, newly converted and born again believers, we must ask ourselves the question before Yahuwah whether or not we are fit to marry.
Are we completely free, or do we still have ties to our past?
Are we still under the yoke of the family, of our dear mother, of our ancient traditions, as religious they may be, do we still have our good ideas to which we cling, our tastes which we would not get rid of for anything in the world? In a word, has the transfer of power to the hands of the Messiah been complete in all areas of our lives? Can we wait, or do we instead give way to the hormones raging within us? How free are we from our own expectations? Because we have a very precise idea of how our companion should be, inside and out. How many degrees should he/she have and what should his/her culinary or musical tastes be? Because a hasty union can have very serious consequences. An alliance under the yoke of a foreign power always brings an avalanche of problems. Indeed, the master, who in this case is not a brother from our people who gives his helping hand to us, but an evil spirit wanting and knowing how to do us harm, will not fail to assert his rights over such a couple. He will do anything to destroy and reduce this union to ashes. The best will in the world can motivate our act, wanting to fulfill one of the fundamental laws of Yahuwah, a hasty union will be a path strewn with pitfalls for us.
Of course grace can be obtained in such circumstances as well. Because Yahuwah forgives our faults committed unconsciously, it is therefore possible to implore liberation from the clutches of the false masters who hold us hostage to emerge free and purified like the Jewish people delivered from the hands of Pharaoh. But it is better to take precautions and heed the warnings offered to us, particularly through the Law.
Voluntary subjection
But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free, then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life. Exodus 21:5-6
Wearing earrings is a pagan tradition very foreign to Jewish thought. As with tattooing, all current forms of piercing are none other than the skin-deep seals of idols and other foreign spiritual currents which govern those who wear them. Many voluntarily carry on themselves the labels of the demons that govern them. Skulls, snakes, scorpions, spiders and other creatures prefigure and prepare the world for the arrival of the Beast in a sort of Advent of the antichrist.
Elohim never forces anyone. He goes so far as to allow us to choose something other than Him and the freedom that He offers us. You get aware that you need Salvation from this fallen world. Then, you get a chance to catch up and start all over again by being evangelized by the member of a certain church or assembly. This rehabilitation is a pre-established process with its precise stages. If you still decide to act differently, if you want to be content with what you have during your rehabilitation and remain under the power of a man, you have the right to do so. But you should know that
you will be nothing more than a ringed bird that will never be able to fly by its own wings again.
You will not have a ministry and your wife and children will not be yours, in the spiritual sense. You will remain a simple worker in the service of someone else whom you will help in a ministry that will never be yours. This is how many believers find themselves stuck under the person of the pastor, the preacher or any community and churches. In the best case, the latter are themselves the faithful disciples of the one and only Shepherd , because then your life as a believer will not be entirely in vain. You will be a good assistant to their ministries which will have their seeds, but you will not enjoy their fruits. By choosing this path, you will never accomplish the work that Yahuwah wanted you to do. He will thus be obliged to find other servants who have chosen freedom, in order to accomplish the mission that should have been yours.
I knew a man who found himself in a difficult situation after being born again. He was in fact married to an unbelieving woman. His marriage was sealed under a foreign yoke, before his conversion. His marriage thus found itself in danger. He said he couldn’t bear it if his wife would leave him. After a time, the woman remained in the initial spiritual state without any positive change in the sense of faith. The man disappeared and was never seen again. He abandoned the path of disciple undoubtedly to put an end to domestic conflicts, in order to preserve his marriage. A similar thing happened to him. His relationship with the woman was more important than his spiritual freedom. He returned to his former master where he had his earlobe pierced, so that everything would continue as before. He may not have denied the Messiah, but he did deny his power. He was unable to wait for the outcome and accept a possible divorce or the conversion of his wife, although there was nothing to suggest that she would one day submit to the divine Will. He did not have faith that Yahuwah could perform the miracle of converting his wife or freeing him from the lack of her if separation would have happened after what he possibly could have been given someone else instead her.
According to the commandment of the Messiah, he acted well by not abandoning his unbelieving wife, so that she could be sanctified through her spouse. The fact that he disappeared and abandoned all contact with his brothers and sisters in spirit is a problem depicted by this commandment.
Slaves of churches and assemblies
But it is clear that the most important message that this law conveys to us is the phenomenon that we can observe in churches and assemblies and that we just discussed a few seconds ago. Maintaining a state of spiritual infantilism is not only the sin of illegitimate slave traders. Just as there are no macros without prostitutes, only the person under whom people are consciously willing to take refuge and accept their spiritual authority is capable of controlling others. Whether they do it out of self-interest or spiritual weakness it doesn’t change a thing.
Being under the supervision of a teacher, pastor, or spiritual father is necessary until one passes from death to life and then into adulthood.
Conversion – Rebirth – Process of sanctification
All this is symbolically included in these 6 years of slavery in the good sense. In the visible world, even according to the timeline of physical time, no one should ever exceed this time frame and limit. It is not normal for people to continue to be spiritually dependent on other men and never become fathers and teachers to others. After these 6 symbolic years, which in the visible world should represent a much shorter period of time, people should continue their path in freedom and independence.
In short, people who languish in churches, who never become spiritual fathers/mothers themselves, who live off the sermons of the same teachers for years, may not even realize that in their minds, they went through the final implementation of this law, the one that is not recommended but still being an option. By accepting the spiritual authority of a pastor, teacher or other spiritual father in a fixed and indeterminate way, their ears have been pierced and many have thus chosen the state of permanent slavery.
The good news is that Yeshua, if you already know him, can still get you out of this type of slavery as well if your eyes end up being opened through this law that speaks to us even today, so that you finally recognize in what spiritual state you are. If you are still in this kind of situation: rush to pray, fast, ask forgiveness for your weakness, renew your conscience and surrender yourself definitively and completely to the power of your Master, your legitimate Owner, the Shepherd Yahushuah and then set foot on the water and finally start to walk by yourself.
…and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit…
Exodus 23:3
In the eyes of Elohim,
positive discrimination is such as a hateful thing as negative discrimination.
In a humanistic society like ours, influenced by socialist, communist, liberal, etc. ideals, the application and love of work tends to become something despicable and shameful. The resulting fruits are also seen as being the exploitation of those who in many cases simply refuse to work. The man blessed by both his hands’ work is less respectable in the eyes of public opinion and is no longer considered an example to follow. Modern man has only one idea in mind, get rich as soon as possible by working as little as possible. As many resign themselves, seeing that they have no chance of getting rich in this way, they choose poverty and refuse to work. Hard workers are thus quickly plagued by all kinds of slanders as to the questionable origin of their wealth. Jealousy, coupled with laziness, is a merciless enemy.
Of course, there are many rich people who owe their fortune to all kinds of sins, but here I would limit myself to analyzing the cases where people receive what is due to them, when it is Yahuwah who blesses men, regardless of whether they are believers or not and according to of the labour they achieved.
Many poor people are sinking because of their laziness, their withdrawal and their refusal to fight for a living. It is clear that poverty today became a real lifestyle which is often consciously chosen. This stems not only from laziness but also from a frenzied self-esteem preventing people from accepting someone’s orders or being told what to do. It is in fact the violation of Commandment 77, the of respect of the rulers. It is unfair to favor someone simply because he is poor. Even in their case you can’t judge a book by its cover. The rich man can sometimes be right in the face of a poor man. It is not always the poor who is right.
For the rich man has not necessarily enriched himself at others’ expense, and the poor are often their own oppressors.
The little money they have, they spend it on alcohol, cigarettes or games instead of investing it step by step in order to go up the slope.
Appearances are deceiving more and more in this sense nowadays.
We can often witness the way some people are able to use their defaults, should they be corporeal, monetary or spiritual, to make life difficult for those who have received more than they did. I have seen hysterical little sisters screaming all day long so that her elder brother was constantly beaten by their parents without even asking questions about what happened. He was automatically held responsible for her sister’s shoutings since he was the male, the taller and the stronger among the children.
This kind of injustice can be observed between men and women, between adults and children, between weak and strong, young and old, old and young, majorities and minorities, and of course in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Bad faith and jealousy cause many to slander the other in order to appease their frustrations and inferiority complex.
In the past, it was the poor who suffered injustice in the vast majority of cases. Today, the balance begins to weigh more and more in the opposite direction, at least in the so-called developed world.
There are also suicidal nations that allow masses of people to live off the taxpayer under the pretext of belonging to disadvantaged social or ethnic groups, thus preventing these people from recognizing their illness in order to be cured since the money falls into their pockets every month and thus do not feel the need to tear themselves away from this evil and destructive cycle. We must remember the commandment that invites us to help our neighbor lift his donkey when it falls on the side of the road and not to lift it up in his place, but by lending him a helping hand. A famous saying also reinforces this law, when it is said: “Do not give a fish to the poor, but rather a rod and teach him to fish with it.”
But I have already seen such cases in a Christian environment too. When brothers bicker among themselves and younger believers are simply not able to accept their elders. I know spiritualy elder people who have been forced to abandon their community because this law was not respected by those who were in charge of the judgment, the leaders. The blind and excessive defense of the little ones did not even allow him to assert his rights and to be listened to. They simply wanted to make him confess sins he had not committed and was thus forced to leave and make his talents grow elsewhere.
The message of this commandment for us today remains simple: Let us always put ourselves on the side of the one who is honorable in the eyes of the Eternal, of the one who respects His Word. Just as it is forbidden to accept money so as not to divert our judgment, we must at all costs avoid basing ourselves on appearance and outward signs of wealth, or even poverty! Our spirit of compassion and empathy – although being very noble qualities that must absolutely be preserved and maintained – can nevertheless easily lead us astray if they are not under the control of the Holy Spirit and if we let them function as they please according to our human feelings.
Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death.
Exodus 21,12
These words concerning the death penalty that we meat so often while reading the pages of the Old Testament are generating a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding in the minds of today’s faithful. Apart from the increasing libertinism promulgated in the world around us – which unfortunately greatly influences our way of seeing things and our relationship with Elohim –
these ruthless laws seem to contradict the words of our Lord, the words of the Savior.
However, this tension and frustration is like a cry of divine alarm that is resounding in the ears of all those who really seek to know Yahuwah and who are moving on the path of submission. Some might call it “good conscience,” but for my part, I would limit myself to the expression of Holy Spirit.
When we read in John 8: 1-11 the story of the adulterous woman,
Yahushua’s words do not replace or overwrite the sentence
according to which this woman would have deserved is the capital sentence by stoning. The only thing our Lord says here is: He who never sinned, throw the first stone at her.
It is through this Word that Yahushua declares the supreme and unique authority, the absolute power of the Sovereign Messiah. Through this Word,
Yahushua HaMashiachdecreed and brought into force the jurisdiction of the unique and absolute power of the High Priest
which is Yahushua himself, henceforth the only one authorized to make judgments. By declaring this, Yahushua took up this legitimacy from the hands of men.
Before the Messianic era and according to the Commandments promulgated by the Father, he charged the wise men of the community to judge and assert the truth among men. However, and already in those times, it was in no way an arbitrary judgment according to the thoughts and desires of the judges, but it was a very serious ministry made in full knowledge of the Commandments of Yahuwah, in perfect impartiality. The title of judge was granted by Yahuwah and implied putting aside all our convictions, all our personal and human opinions to be able, if necessary to apply and execute the deserved sentence according to the Will of the Eternal.
Just like at the time of the first two Sanctuaries, the legislative order did not change under the third. But since
the Third Temple, the Body of the Messiah functions as a spiritual sanctuary,
in which the only High Priest, the only Cohen, is Yahushua HaMashiach himself, he is now the only one having the right to judge and condemn anyone according to the Commandments of Yahuwah.
Even Yahushua declares in this verse that He Himself does not condemn the sinner, since as Yahushua (Savior) he has not yet returned to his position of judge when having received all powers on heaven and earth, the Messiah will return as the Anointed King to judge the world. Even Yahushua does not condemn her, since the time of Mercy has not yet passed. But the day he comes back, it will be to judge the world according to the laws that Yahuwah gave through the Torah.
Let the one who never sinned throw the first stone at her
With this statement, Yahushua sent away the angry crowd from the scene and saved the woman’s physical life. But what really happened here? Was there really no one there who never sinned? None of the people standing there were truly innocent, since no man is sinless. But there was also standing Yahushua himself, who we know was sinless. With this statement, he referred to himself and as the Son who obeys the Father perfectly, with this statement he obliged himself to observe this law and execute the sentence.
It was Yahushua who threw the first stone at the adulteress
As we have just mentioned, not in a physical sense, but in spirit. As a result of the encounter with the Savior, the woman’s heart was inflamed to repentance, which allowed the Messiah Yahushua to stone her, that is, to kill the old (wo)man in her.
This woman still had to experience the crucifixion of Yahushua so that the substitutionary sacrifice could really take effect through His Blood. Chronologically, the crucifiction happened afterwards when Yahushua our Savior died for our own sins in our place, taking our old man with Him so that we can be born into a New Creation in Him.
But what really happened here was the true and perfect execution of the death penalty as given in the Torah of Moses. This time once and for all, executed in the spiritual, thus at the most perfect level and by the High Priest Yahushua himself.
What do we have to think and do with the concept of death penalty?
Sin exists and has a huge impact on us. Only
the Law is able to reveal and judge sin by the action of the Holy Spirit – the Ruach HaKodesh.
Receiving Grace is also only possible after having received the verdict. Yes, the one who is in sin is the son/daughter of death. It is through the knowledge of the commandments that the spirit of death can be perceived inside the individuals. At the same time, this spirit is the proof of their state of death. This spirit does unfortunately have the right of life and death over the one it holds captive. We must know that if we are sinners, the Law is not only valid for us, but without judgment and without our execution, we cannot receive Grace.
If I do not die as an old man, I can never be resurrected as a new creation
that only the Messiah is able to bring back to life in me. Of course, this does not imply my physical and bodily death, but the old spirits that ruled over me must really die so that I can be born again as a new creature, a member of the Body of the Messiah. (However, perseverance and conscious stagnation in sins may sooner or later lead to physical death as well).
We must know according to what specific command we deserve death or some other punishment, so that knowingly, we are able to prostrate ourselves before the High Priest and plead for His Forgiveness.
Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12: 24
This is what Yahushua did. He suffered physical death for us. He was the seed who rose from the death as the firstfruit. And whoever believes in Him and is baptized in His name becomes a New Creation with Him, and the old ones have passed away.
How to teach the Commandments and convey judgement without judging others?
I must know with whom I can be in spiritual community according to the sensitivity and the vision received from Yahuwah. The person carrying the spirit of death or any other sin is likely to contaminate me if I am too tolerant and humanist, saying that it is not my business, that I have nothing to do with it, that “it does not matter my dear brother”.
I can and must acknowledge sin by the knowledge of the law of Yahuwah,
which the Holy Spirit engraved in my heart of flesh through the fulfilled prophecy of Shavuot/Pentecost. This is how we are able to protect ourselves and those who have been entrusted to us from these unhealthy and murderous spirits. Nevertheless, the ministry towards others and the love of my neighbor, forbid me to judge, to condemn and damn anyone, but for my part I have the obligation of proclaiming the Law by always adding the possibility to get Grace.
My door must always keep a certain openness for ministry, however I must be careful how far I allow the given person to get into my spiritual and vital space. I have to wash his feet before I let him getting in my tent, my brotherly community, but I must avoid washing his head and body, because it is the exclusive right of the High Priest to perform this ministry. (Jn 13: 4-10)
Christian Pharisaism knows the Commandments (partly) with which it attacks and judges others in the place of the Father and the Messiah. At the other end we find the worshipers of the “sweet Jesus” who forgives everything and who tramples the law of the Father who for their part are incapable of exhorting people to true repentance and therefore to the true rebirth.
Commandments must be known as a whole
in order to know where can I serve, what Word to use so that person gets touched in order to be saved. That is how judgment takes effect in spirit so that the Grace of the Messiah and the possibility of salvation is immediately offered to them as a life buoy.
