THE TORAH FOR TODAY...from portion MISHPATIM (Ex 21:1 - 24:18)

"Now these are the ordinances which you are to set before them."
Exodus 21:1

This eighteenth portion of the Torah translates as judgments, beginning in Exodus 21:1 where we read, “These are the rulings (mishpatim) you are to present to them.” Three of the four chapters to follow within this section speak concerning the legal codes of the law Moses was to share with Israel, while the final chapter of this section speaks concerning the people’s response.
To understand the Law, let us take a minute to define what it is and what it is not. First, the Torah includes a total of 613 commands, ranging from topics such as prayer, work, divorce, diet, intimacy, idolatry, and leprosy, to name but a few. Breaking these commands down further, we find that 248 of the laws relate to things we should do, while 365 relate to things we should not do. And of all the laws, 261 can no longer be done as the Second Temple no longer exists, and 26 apply to those only living in Israel. This alone should give us a hint of hope.
But what is the big deal about the Law, especially if it is nothing more than a list of don’ts. In order to answer this, however, we must be honest and realize that the Law is not a list of don’ts. In truth, the Law is a list of expressions of love. Allow me to explain it this way. Parents have the ability to tell their children where they can and cannot play. I know this firsthand both in being a parent, and in being a child. Growing up, my family lived on one of the busier streets in town. It was for this reason that my parents told us to play in the backyard. There was safety in the backyard. Potential for danger waited in the front yard, be it chasing a ball into the street, being kidnapped, or a host of other things. But in the backyard there was safety within the fences.
My parents did not forbid me to play in the front because they were mean, but because they loved me. They cared enough for me to place me within safe boundaries. I could have pitched a fit and cried about their law of not playing in the front, and I am sure at times I did, but playing within the fenced off areas is where all parties found safety. And this is very much how God works in relation to the Law. Because He loves us, He has given us the fence of His law. It is not His way of keeping us from life, but rather His way of keeping us from danger. His law is love.
The term TORAH literally means instruction. In many cases, instructions are not a bad thing. As I was putting together our new entertainment center recently, I followed the instruction manual. Now even though I consider myself to be a pretty wise guy, I have to admit, in using the instruction manual I still managed to mess up at one point. Can you imagine the mess I would have made without the instructions? And can you imagine the mess we would be in without God’s instruction manual, the Torah?
So many are consumed with the passage that we are not under law, but under grace (Rom 6:14). But let us look at that verse in context. “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace” (NIV). The passage that we just reviewed states that sin shall not be our master. And the grace it refers to is God’s forgiveness of sin. But the verse following reads, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!” Just because God forgives sin does not mean that God allows sin. And if we read on we find in verse 17, “But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.” What is this form of teaching to which you and I have been entrusted? It is none other than the Torah.