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Haftarah Mishpatim

“Free to Believe in Blood Covenants!”

Jeremiah 34:8-22; 33:25-26

excerpted from TorahScope Haftarah Exhortations

The lengthy list of ordinances which is outlined in Mishpatim (Exodus 21:1-24:18), involves Moses delivering important instruction to Israel, and we see the people openly declare their intention to obey God. In an elaborate sacrificial ceremony, Moses took blood from the burnt and peace offerings, and sprinkled it first the altar, and then the very people who promised to obey the words of the Lord:

“Moses came and told the people all the LORD’s words, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, ‘All the words which the LORD has spoken will we do.’ Moses wrote all the LORD’s words, then rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the base of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to the LORD. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, ‘We will do all that the LORD has said, and be obedient.’ Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you concerning all these words’” (Exodus 24:3-8, WMB).

This dramatic sprinkling exercise affirmed previously established patterns (Genesis 15:10), that in order to ratify a covenant, there must be a blood sacrifice associated with it. Over a thousand years later, the author of Hebrews made reference to what is seen in this week’s parashah, comparing and contrasting it to the atoning blood sacrifice of Messiah Yeshua:

“For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Torah, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you’ [Exodus 24:8]. He sprinkled the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry in the same way with the blood. According to the Torah, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission. It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these” (Hebrews 9:19-23, WMB).

In the narrative of the Holy Scriptures, beginning in Genesis and into the Apostolic Writings, the message is consistent—in that there is a distinct spiritual connection between blood sacrifices and covenants, established with the chosen people of God.

As this week’s Torah teaching begins, the first ordinance detailed after the Decalogue has been given, deals with the provision to emancipate Hebrew slaves from bondage.[1] The theme of setting the captives free from slavery, as epitomized in the miraculous physical escape from Egyptian slavery, points to the ultimate deliverance from spiritual human bondage to sin. God communicates some profound truths to the Israelites about slavery, and the commandments given to slave owners required them to release their slaves in the seventh year, after six years of service to them. It is mirrored by a pattern of working six days followed by the Sabbath day, or working the soil for six years and then giving it a rest in the seventh.

Slavery, in and of itself, was not being condemned, because selling oneself into slavery was simply a part of the Ancient Near Eastern economy, similar to what indentured servants experienced in colonial American times. It was very much like taking on debt today. Since sophisticated financial instruments were not in use at the time, instead, a man would basically sell his services to a slaveowner, in order to slowly gain some financial wherewithal. The one unique aspect of Hebrew slavery, was the requirement to release the slaves every seventh year. Emancipation, so that a man could choose to live free of the constraints of bondage, was the commanded goal. This is elaborated upon as the portion commences:

“Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them: ‘If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything. If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. But if the servant shall plainly say, “I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;” then his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever’” (Exodus 21:1-6, WMB).

Some of the particulars about how to handle preexisting marriages, and those arranged during the time of service, are delineated. Without getting into all of the specifics, suffice it to say, that when someone was in bondage, all which was near and dear to the man was under the same service to the slaveowner.

Hebrew slavery, being a mutually beneficial economic system for both the slaveowner and the slave, did not have the physically cruel aspects, often associated with different types of slavery most have read about in different cultures. In fact, note how the choice was given to the slave who was being offered his freedom, and the response regarding his love for his master. In this opening ordinance description about slavery, the concept of willingly becoming a permanent bondservant is stated. The offer of freedom would come to the slave, as the choice to leave was given. If the slave loved his master and his wife and children, whether preexisting or given during his tenure, then upon the slave’s desire to serve his master, he could willingly state and make a total commitment to his master. A ceremony where the master brought the slave before God, and would pierce his ear with an awl to the doorpost of the master’s house, would be performed. This marked the slave and symbolized permanent service to his master.

The slave could willingly choose to be a bondservant to his master. The transference of one leaving bondage from Egyptian masters, to Hebrew masters to ultimately serving the Holy One of Israel, is vaguely outlined. In some respects, one can almost see the progress of going from the bondage of sin, obeying God like being trained by a tutor, until recognition that perfect human compliance to His laws is impossible. Paul communicated this to the Galatians:

“Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could make alive, most certainly righteousness would have been of the law. But the Scripture imprisoned all things under sin, that the promise by faith in Yeshua the Messiah might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, confined for the faith which should afterwards be revealed. So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Messiah, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all children of God, through faith in Messiah Yeshua” (Galatians 3:21-26).

It is not until the Apostolic period, when one is more familiarized with the concept of being a bondservant to the Holy One of Israel. The process of being set free from the bondage of sin, is responded to by making a total commitment to serving the One who set a sinner free. Obviously, the most perfect example of a bondservant to the Most High, is the Messiah Yeshua:

“Have this in your mind, which was also in Messiah Yeshua, who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5-8, WMB).

The Apostles of the Messiah consistently referred to themselves and one another as bondservants.[2] These followers of the Messiah Yeshua were totally surrendered to the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, and they had each, effectively, allowed their ears to be pierced to the execution-stake and the truths communicated by the atoning work He had accomplished. How critical is it that humanity understand how everyone has to be a slave to something? You are either going to be a slave to sin—or a slave to the righteousness, only available through belief in the redeeming work of the Messiah. These are the only two options, and God in His mercy toward humanity attempts throughout His Word to illuminate this critical reality, right from the beginning of His list of ordinances, following the giving of the Decalogue. In many ways this initial ordinance, being described so soon after the Ten Commandments were given, allowed one to conclude that part of God’s plan for His people, is that they relinquish their bondage to the Egyptians, and instead willingly migrate to become bondservants to Himself.

Clearly by the time of Jeremiah’s generation, the Haftarah passages which the Sages chose to reflect upon—as they dealt with all of the ordinances instituted in the early weeks of the wilderness sojourn—it was understood that these slavery ordinances had not been followed by Israel for many generations. In fact, Jeremiah reminded those of his generation, about the very blood covenant which spoke initially about the release of the slaves from bondage in the seventh year. His admonition was that the succeeding generations did not obey or incline their ears to this ordinance:

“Therefore the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD, the God of Israel, says: “I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying: At the end of seven years, every man of you shall release his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years. You shall let him go free from you. But your fathers didn’t listen to me, and didn’t incline their ear”’” (Jeremiah 34:12-14, WMB).

The consequences of disobedience were going to be devastating. Jeremiah described a brief time of revival or return to the ordinances by King Zedekiah, as the threat of Babylonian attacks approached:

“The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them, that every man should let his male servant, and every man his female servant, who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free, that no one should make bondservants of them, of a Jew his brother. All the princes and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his male servant and everyone his female servant go free, that no one should make bondservants of them any more. They obeyed and let them go, but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids whom they had let go free to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids” (Jeremiah 34:8-11, WMB).

This act of desperation did not last long. In short order, the willingness to set the slaves free subsided, and they were brought back into subjection. The concluding verses of Jeremiah 34 detailed the horrific consequences of not obeying God’s ordinances, regarding the release of the slaves:

“‘You had now turned, and had done that which is right in my eyes, in every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor. You had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name; but you turned and profaned my name, and every man caused his servant and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return. You brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.’ Therefore the LORD says: ‘You have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim to you a liberty,’ says the LORD, ‘to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. I will make you be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts: the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf. I will even give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth. I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hands of their enemies, into the hands of those who seek their life and into the hands of the king of Babylon’s army, who has gone away from you. Behold, I will command,’ says the LORD, ‘and cause them to return to this city. They will fight against it, take it, and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant’” (Jeremiah 34:15-22, WMB).

Instead of releasing the slaves per the ordinances detailed in Mishpatim, the Lord said how He would release the sword, pestilence, famine, and terror upon the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Eventually, those who were fully aware of the covenant which required the sacrifices, would be given into the hands of their enemies. Their dead bodies would be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the Earth. Ultimately, Jerusalem would be burned and the land would become desolate without inhabitants. This is not a very pretty picture of the penalties incurred as a result of disobedience!

The scene of devastation to reflect upon—as one considers the lack of obedience to just the slave emancipation ordinance—is not what the Sages want readers to dwell upon. In order to end this week’s Haftarah on a more upbeat note, a reference to God’s ultimate restoration of Israel directs one’s thoughts back to Jeremiah 33:25-26:

“The LORD says: ‘If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, then I will also cast away the offspring of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his offspring to be rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for I will cause their captivity to be reversed and will have mercy on them’” (Jeremiah 33:25-26, WMB).

Lamentably, God’s chosen people have a tendency to disobey His rules. The consequences of disobedience are described in great detail in the Tanakh and Apostolic Writings. While there is comfort in knowing that God will eventually restore Israel and demonstrate great mercy to His people—how much more significant is the knowledge that a blood covenant has been completed, which gives all who believe an assurance that His promises will be kept? The fact that God the Father was willing to sacrifice His Son, our sacrificial Lamb, in order to pay for the penalty of our sin, is very reassuring. But do not take it for granted! Denying it has severe consequences, especially if you have believed upon it and then despised it as ineffectual:

“How much worse punishment do you think he will be judged worthy of who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, ‘Vengeance belongs to me. I will repay,’ says the Lord. Again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:29-31, WMB; cf. Deuteronomy 32:35; 32:36).

While we might proclaim that we have become bondservants of the Most High, following in the footsteps of the Apostles—the fact remains that none of us, despite our protestations, loves the Lord perfectly. We all fall short of His glory and sin. As the Apostle John wrote, we all continue to sin regardless of our professed desires. But in case we think all hope is lost, he did give a prescription for cleansing oneself when a person does sin:

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10, WMB).

Praise God that the Word—from Exodus to Jeremiah to the Apostolic Writings—is in us! Praise Him that He has given us His ordinances, so that these great tutors will lead us to the conclusion that we need a Savior. And above all of this, praise God that He sent His Son, the perfectly sinless Bondservant, whose blood, sprinkled upon the altar and covering our sin, continues to intercede for us and His people. Thank God we are free to believe! To Him be all the glory!