What the World Needs Now is Hope
Parashat Mishpatim, Exodus 21:1–24:18; Haftarah: Jeremiah 34:8–22; 33:25–26
Rachel Wolf, Congregation Beth Messiah, Cincinnati
We need hope today more than ever. But in what do we hope?
Some think of our hope as going to “heaven" when we die. But this is not the biblical hope.
The biblical hope, in short, is the future establishment of God’s Dwelling Place, God’s “tent,” on earth, on his holy mountain in Jerusalem. The earthly city miraculously becomes one with the heavenly Temple, the heavenly Jerusalem. This act of God also transforms the earth and God’s human creatures. This is the ever-present theme of Torah, which is brought out more explicitly by the prophets.
God will bring the whole of creation from a state constantly subject to death and sorrow into his glorious presence. This event, in my interpretation, transforms even the physical laws of the universe, from its current state that tends toward corruption and death (entropy), to its permanent state that is directed toward life and increase (cf. Rom 8:21). God will, once and for all, unify earth and heaven under the government of his Holy One, the just and righteous Son of David, King of Israel. I am not clear on all of the chronology and details, but the astounding plan is very clear.
In case you haven’t noticed, this has not happened yet!
But in today’s portion, Mishpatim, there is an unusual celebration that serves as a brief prelude of things to come.
Mishpatim means “judgments” or “rulings.”
After we read about the voice of the God of Israel speaking from Sinai in chapter 20, this portion opens with three chapters (21–23) of down-to-earth rulings. There are many specific rulings about various types of theft or damage of personal property, including animals; personal injury; money lending; even kidnapping. There are rulings about lying, false reports, and also the shemita year. Here we find the first listing of observances of the Jewish feasts, as well as the repeated theme: “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you (pl.) know the feelings of a stranger, since you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (my translation).
But after these pragmatic and important civil laws, chapter 24 suddenly turns the focus toward the heavenly realm. It describes one of the most unusual events in the bible. We get to see a preview of the heavenly dwelling —which is mysteriously connected to Horev, the Mountain of God. Here, however, it is not the frightening place out of which God’s voice thunders, but it becomes the unexplained setting for a heavenly celebration feast.
What is the occasion for this heavenly celebration feast? It is none other than the ratification of the Sinai Covenant, the covenant in which God anchors his own Holy Name to the earth, by eternally joining his Name to a people of flesh. Henceforth, the God of all creation calls himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exod 3:15) and is known as the God of Israel. Here in chapter 24, we glimpse, as through a powerful telescope, the hope of eternal history.
The Historic Covenantal Altar
After writing out the first scriptures (24:4), Moses gets up early the next morning. At the command of God, he builds a large altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve pillars, one for each tribe. He then sprinkles half the blood of the offerings on the altar, and reserves the other half in basins. What happens next reverberates throughout history:
Then he took the [newly written] book of the covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.” (24:7–8)
It is very unusual that the blood of an offering is sprinkled on living people. The only related instance I can think of is when Moses is commanded to sprinkle some of the blood of offering (mixed with anointing oil) on Aaron and his sons, and their holy garments when they are consecrated into the priesthood (Exod 29:19-21). In this week’s portion, it is the whole people of Israel that is consecrated and sealed into the covenant.
God took seriously the oath that the Israelites pronounce: “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” This is their corporate response to the Voice they heard at Sinai, and it is at this point that the blood is applied to them in perpetuity.
Sprinkling the blood of an offering makes holy the object on which it is sprinkled. From this day forth, the People of Israel, past, present, and future, is set apart for God. Neither disobedience nor any other sin can change this reality. That is why God saw fit, in his timing, to cut a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah (Jer 31:31–35).
God’s covenant with Israel is as sure as the laws of the universe. This week’s haftarah portion says,
Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them. (Jer 33:25–26)
Celebration Supper of the Covenant
What happens next in Exodus 24 is remarkable. God calls Moses, Aaron, his sons, and the seventy elders up to a heavenly banquet that apparently God and his host have prepared for them. It appears to be in celebration of the covenant that God has just cut with the people of Israel. Perhaps it is a prelude of sorts to the “marriage supper of the lamb” (Rev 19:9). Twice, it says “They saw the God of Israel.” “So they saw God and they ate and drank” (24:9–11).
The Divine Presence is in view as these representatives of Israel dine in celebration of the Sinai Covenant. This unusual picture anticipates the eventual fulfillment of these things at the end of the age. Though we are beneficiaries of the heavenly fulfillment of Jeremiah’s new covenant, yet, we still wait in hope for the marriage of heaven and earth, when the promised new covenant will find its complete fulfillment on earth. Until then, we wait for our salvation to be made manifest, along with the “great cloud of faithful witnesses” of Israel (Heb 12:1). “To those who eagerly wait for him, he will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation” (Heb 9:28).
What is the connection between hope and faith? The Book of Hebrews was written to encourage the Jewish believers to have hope —to press on during very hard times. It is by faith in the Hope of the heavenly vision, that we work the works of God. Over and over in Hebrews 11 we read by faith our forebears did the works of God. Faith in Scripture is not a “thing”—not an end in itself. We don’t “have” or “own” faith as an entity.
“Seeing” this real hope
Vision, seeing (חזה in 24:11) is both our engine and our fuel for doing the works of God. So, let us lay aside every weight, and the discouragement that so easily unsteadies us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto (seeing) Yeshua (Heb 12:1–2), enthroned in the heavenly vision God has given us as early as Exodus 24! Let us keep that biblical hope alive in our minds and hearts that we might be lighthouses of hope in this increasingly dark world.
Scripture references are from the New King James Version, NKJV.