Torah Portion: Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9

Shoftim (‘Justice’)

The key word in this week’s portion is justice. Among the commands in this passage is that when a king is appointed over Israel he will write a book of the law and read it all of his days (Deut 17:18-19):

When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees.

This task would help the king discern how to rule the people of God, so that all could live under God’s justice and blessing. What is true for the kings of Israel is equally true for all leaders. Imagine the order and blessing that would be across the entire earth if leaders followed this principle whole-heartedly today!

Solomon, the third king of Israel, wrote that of the writing of books there is no end (Ecc 12:12). Indeed, so many books have been written today that no one library could contain them all. The majority of these books follow ideas other than is found in the Torah. This means that most people, from rulers of nations to ordinary citizens, do anything but study God’s law. Nations are ordered instead by the fallible principles of human philosophy. Today the weakness of governments is being shown up precisely because of this. The truth of Psalm 2 is very evident to all that will read it.

King Jesus Writes the Torah

But what about disciples of Yeshua? He is King of the Jews and King of all who are grafted into believing Israel – so as King, did He copy out the Torah and read it all the days of His life? We can imagine that He might have done, as a child growing up in Nazareth under the guiding hand of His parents, themselves under the guiding hand of God.

More than this, however, we know that all things were made through Him (John 1:3), so the Torah originated through Him and was fulfilled in Him. How then does He fulfil the law’s instruction to write a copy of the Torah?

The answer is that He writes it on the hearts of His disciples (Jer 31:33). This means that our lives are to be living evidence of the Torah of God. This was what Paul wrote to the Corinthians (2 Cor 3:2) when he called them living epistles – as if they were letters written to the world by their actions under the motivation of the Holy Spirit.

Witnesses to the Nations

Once the kings of Israel ruled by the written precepts of the Torah that had to be followed meticulously day by day. Today the Holy Spirit writes the teaching of God on our hearts, if we are willing. Israel of old was to be the living witness of the Living God through their outward obedience to the Torah’s precepts. It is the same for us - but we are witnesses of the Living God because of His working within us.

In that sense our responsibility to those around us in this failing world is no less than that of the kings of Israel to their own nation (and also as witnesses to the Gentile nations). Are we allowing the King of Israel to write the Torah on our hearts?

Author: Clifford Denton