How Do We Learn From God’s Judgements?

As I wrote last week’s post about “Seeking and Learning Righteousness,” I kept mentioning the connection between learning righteousness and paying attention to God’s judgements. The key scripture we looked at in that post reads, “Yes, with my spirit within me I will seek you earnestly; for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness” (Is. 26:9, WEB). 

It’s clear from this and other verses we looked at last week that we can learn righteousness from God’s judgements. But how? That was a question I thought of while writing, but didn’t really have the time to address. To answer this, we first need to understand what Isaiah means by God’s judgements.

More than Simply “Judgements”

The word translated “judgement” in Isaiah 26:9 is the Hebrew mishpat (H4941). Common translations include “judgement, justice, ordinance” (Brown-Driver-Briggs). This word is not confined to what we think of as the judicial function of government. The root word shapat means “to exercise [all] the processes of government” (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament [TWOT], entry 2443). Furthermore, ancient understanding didn’t really separate the law from the lawgiver–“the centering of law, rulership, government in a man was deeply ingrained” (TWOT 2443). This makes perfect sense when we think of God as the Lawgiver and Ruler. The Bible treats His Law as an extension of His character.

For mishpat specifically, there are “at least thirteen related, but distinct, aspects of the central idea, which if to be rendered by a single English word with similar range of meaning ought by all means to be the word ‘justice'” (TWOT 2443c). These 13 meanings include “the act of deciding a case of litigation,” “a sentence or decision issuing from a magistrate’s court,” “an ordinance of law,” and “one’s right under law,” among others.” One other key meaning is “sovereignty, the legal foundation of government in the sense of ultimate authority or right.” People today expect this to be centered in laws and governing documents, but in scripture “The mishpat is God’s” (TWOT 2443c; Deut. 1:17). He has all authority, and when He exercises judgement/justice He does so as head of everything (not just a single branch of government).

When we speak of learning from God’s mishpat, that includes learning from His sovereign authority, His ordinances of law, and His just legislative rulings. Mishpat appears 421 times in the Old Testament so obviously we can’t look at every verse right now, but we can look at some examples of how God expected people to interact with His mishpat.

• God chose to share His plans about Sodom and Gomorrah with Abraham before it happened because “I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice (mishpat)” (Gen. 18:19, WEB). One of the reasons the Lord trusted Abraham is because he kept Yahweh’s mishpat and would teach the people under his care to do so as well.
• The laws/rules/ordinances/commands revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai are called mishpat: “Moses came and told the people all Yahweh’s words, and all the ordinances(mishpat); and all the people answered with one voice, and said, ‘All the words which Yahweh has spoken will we do'” (Ex. 24:3, WEB). (See also Lev. 18:4-5; 20:22; 25:18; 26:46).
• The people of Israel had to keep all the Lord’s mishpat if they wanted to inherit the promises He made. They were warned not to add to or take away from God’s commands, nor to forget them. They also had a responsibility to pass on the mishpat to their children, as Abraham did to his. If they kept the mishpat, God would give them great blessings (Deut. 4:1-14; 5:1-22, 31-33; 7:12-13; 11:1; 26:16-19).
• David, whom God described as “a man after my heart, who will do all my will” (Acts 13:22, WEB), said, “I have kept Yahweh’s ways, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his ordinances (mishpat) were before me. As for his statutes, I didn’t depart from them” (2 Sam 22:22-23, WEB).
• We often say Solomon asked God for wisdom, but the specific wording when God responds is, “Because you … have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice (mishpat); behold, I have done according to your word. Behold, I have given you a wise and understanding heart” (1 Kings 3:11-12, WEB).
• Judgement came on ancient Israel because they forsook God and stopped keeping His judgements/ordinances (1 Kings 11:31-33; Neh. 1:4-7; 9:28-29; Ezk. 5:5-8; 11:10-12; 20:11-24; Dan. 9:4-5). Notice that not keeping God’s mishpat is a sin and is linked with forsaking God Himself.

Lessons from Ancient Israel’s Relationship With God

I want to spend a little more time looking at ancient Israel’s relationship with God’s mishpat. When God instituted the Sinai Covenant with Israel, it was like a marriage ceremony. The laws and ordinances that He delivered are like the marriage vows that couples make. Both God and the people bound themselves together in a formal relationship–a covenant–and agreed to live by His mishpat (Ex. 24:3). As co-inheritors with Jesus Christ of the covenants God made with His people in the past, His mishpat are still relevant for us today and we can learn from the ways that God’s people in the past related to Him and His justice/ordinances.

There’s a passage in Ezekiel where God summarizes His relationship with the people of Israel thus far, and He pays particular attention to how they related to His mishpat. Ezekiel records that “some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh,” and Yahweh responded by telling Ezekiel, “Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers” (Ezk. 20:1, 4, WEB). As we read the history of Israel from the Lord’s perspective, keep in mind that He uses the word “abominations” to describe what the people did. The actions they took against Him and His mishpat were very serious.

“So I caused them to go out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances (mishpat), which if a man does, he will live in them. Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.

“But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They didn’t walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances (mishpat), which if a man keeps, he shall live in them. They greatly profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them. But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.  Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;  because they rejected my ordinances (mishpat), and didn’t walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn’t destroy them. I didn’t make a full end of them in the wilderness. I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Don’t walk in the statutes of your fathers. Don’t observe their ordinances (mishpat) or defile yourselves with their idols.  I am Yahweh your God. Walk in my statutes, keep my ordinances (mishpat), and do them.  Make my Sabbaths holy. They shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God.'”

“But the children rebelled against me. They didn’t walk in my statutes, and didn’t keep my ordinances (mishpat) to do them, which if a man does, he shall live in them. They profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness. Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out. Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; because they had not executed my ordinances (mishpat), but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.”

Ezekiel 20:10-24, WEB

This tragic story is not just ancient history. Paul told New Covenant Christians in Corinth, “These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come. So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall” (1 Cor. 10:11-12, NET). We need to learn from the lessons of Israel’s history in the Old Testament so that we don’t make the same mistakes, such as rejecting the mishpat of our God. Then and today, God wants people who have a relationship with Him to live in and walk in His justice/ordinances/judgements. We’re supposed to become holy as He is holy, and doing what He tells us to is part of that process.

Trained in Righteousness Today

Talking about the ordinances of God from the Old Testament makes some modern Christians uncomfortable. This is due to misinformation about how New Covenant believers relate to God’s laws. For example, Paul is often misread as doing away with God’s law. He preempted that reading by asking and answering a question: “Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! No, we establish the law” (Rom. 3:31, WEB). This sentiment echoes something Jesus Himself said.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place. So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!”

Matthew 5:17-20, NET

The scribes, or “experts in the law,” and Pharisees were a group of people that Jesus called out for putting on a righteous show while neglecting the true spiritual meaning of God’s laws and leaving “justice, mercy, and faith” undone (Matt. 23). Jesus wants His people to follow His words faithfully from the heart, not to put on a righteous show. Aligning ourselves with Jesus is how we become truly righteous.

That’s how the mishpat of God help us learn righteousness. The Law is an expression of God’s character, and keeping it aligns people with Him. Paul compared the Law to a “tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24, WEB). Even today, the mishpat of God (which we’re to keep on a spiritual and literal level as New Covenant believers with the law written in our hearts) point us to our Savior and help us learn righteousness.

You, however, must continue in the things you have learned and are confident about. You know who taught you and how from infancy you have known the holy writings, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:14-17, NET

When Paul wrote these words to Timothy, the “holy writings” and “scripture” he refered to are what we now call the Old Testament. Over and over in those scriptures, we learn that righteousness and justice are something that God loves and that those who love Him will keep His mishpat (Deut. 11:1; 30:16; Ps. 33:5; 37:28). God pleads with His people to walk in and follow His mishpat and practice righteousness because that’s the way to life (Lev. 18:5; Neh. 9:29; Ezk. 18:9). Then, just as today, God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4, NET; see also 2 Pet. 3:9 and Ezk. 18; 33).

There are no human beings who can claim to be perfectly righteous on their own, “for all have sinned” (Rom. 3:10, 23, WEB). It is Jesus Christ’s act of righteousness that makes it possible for us to really become righteous (Rom. 5:17-18). Now that He has called us, we are obligated to obey God our Savior as servants of righteousness (Rom. 6:12-23). We’re not justified by our own righteousness, but having been justified by Jesus we must choose to live according to His righteousness. God’s mishpat train us in how to do that.

Called To Holiness

Like Timothy, we need God’s word “for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” so that we who are “dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17, NET). God has called us for a purpose, which involves becoming part of His family. We’re literally supposed to become like Him. This is a process that won’t be completed until Jesus Christ’s return.

When Paul tells his readers they are “called to be saints,” the word translated “saints” literally means a holy thing/people (Rom. 1:7; G40 hagios). Peter expands on this idea when he says we must be “obedient children” who, “like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct, for it is written, ‘You shall be holy, because I am holy‘” (1 Peter 1:15-16, NET [bold italics a quote from  Lev 19:2]). God expects holiness and righteous conduct from those He calls into a relationship with Him.

The simplest way to put this is that we’re to follow Jesus’s holy and righteous example (Acts 3:14; 1 Cor. 11:1; Eph. 5:1-2). Expand on it a little more, and you get the two greatest commandments–love God and love your neighbor (Mark 12:28-34; Rom. 13:8-10). For more detailed instructions on how to be holy and righteous, we go to the Lord’s words, laws, ordinances, and teachings (those mishpat we’ve been talking about). God’s word shows us what people who are becoming holy do and do not do. As we obey His commands out of love for Jesus and the Father, we are training in righteousness and becoming holy like He is holy.

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