This week Moses speaks about justice all throughout this week’s Parashat. We begin with these verses:
Deuteronomy 16:18-20
““Appoint judges and officials for yourselves from each of your tribes in all the towns the Lord your God is giving you. They must judge the people fairly. You must never twist justice or show partiality. Never accept a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and corrupt the decisions of the godly. Let true justice prevail, so you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”
I find it amazing that we are hearing about court cases dealing with out the highest office in the USA. We hear about Presidents Trump’s law suits dealing the 2020 election and January 6, 2021. On the other end of the spectrum we hear about law suits dealing with President Biden and his son Hunter Biden. This shows me the Bible is relevant today. Everything we deal with day to day the Word of God has already predicted it and shows us the right thing to do.
Moses tells the Israelites to never put a person to death over the testimony of one person. He says there must be two or three witness. When a Judge declares a verdict you must carry out exactly the way they declare it. It cannot be altered in any way. Anyone who thinks they are above the law and does not comply that person must be put to death.
Moses then transitions into talking about selecting a King over Israel. This applies to anyone you choose to rule over you. This would include our election process. This is what Moses had to say about rulers:
Deuteronomy 17:15-20
“If this happens, be sure to select as king the man the Lord your God chooses. You must appoint a fellow Israelite; he may not be a foreigner. “The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself or send his people to Egypt to buy horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You must never return to Egypt.’ The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the Lord. And he must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself. “When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel.”
A ruler should care about his people not lining his pockets. He should not enter office poor then leave a millionaire. He should not make deals with other nations to build anything for himself A ruler should come closer to God by reading His Word. He should not be listening to world. He should not be showing favoritism to foreign nations. He should not have sexual immorality which will lead him away from God and his people. When reading this it appears we have a Leader in office who is not qualified to be there according to the Word of God.
Moses transitions again to talk about the people and how they are to conduct themselves when they enter the land:
Deuteronomy 18:9-14
““When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there. For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you. But you must be blameless before the Lord your God. The nations you are about to displace consult sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the Lord your God forbids you to do such things.””
We are called to set a standard of Holy Living. We have been set apart. We cannot kill our babies. We cannot condone any form or witchcraft. We cannot ask psychics or mediums for advice. We cannot turn away and pretend fortune-tellers and sorcerers don’t exists.
Moses moves back to justice with these words:
Deuteronomy 19:14-21
““When you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession, you must never steal anyone’s land by moving the boundary markers your ancestors set up to mark their property. “You must not convict anyone of a crime on the testimony of only one witness. The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. “If a malicious witness comes forward and accuses someone of a crime, then both the accuser and accused must appear before the Lord by coming to the priests and judges in office at that time. The judges must investigate the case thoroughly. If the accuser has brought false charges against his fellow Israelite, you must impose on the accuser the sentence he intended for the other person. In this way, you will purge such evil from among you. Then the rest of the people will hear about it and be afraid to do such an evil thing. You must show no pity for the guilty! Your rule should be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
Now we have seen a political party came against one man. We have seen them throw everything imaginable to stop him from running for President again. They are using the court system to tie up his time and finance to prevent him from being able to run his campaign. They have used one single witness to accuse him of things he didn’t do. In court case after court case he has been proven innocent. Now according to the word of God, his accusers should have what they tried to do to him be done to them. That is true Justice. We are in a new election cycle. You have now seen for yourself what the word of God says about Justice and how our leaders should act. What will you do with this information?
