Verses 1-3 –  “the righteous declared righteous and the wrongdoer declared wrong.” This is an immutable law in YHVH’s Kingdom. As some of you know, one of my favorite characters in Scripture and especially extra-Biblical Scriptures, is Abraham’s faithful servant Ela’zar. In one tale Ela’azar was sent on an errand and went to Gomorrah and upon entering through the city gate a man threw a rock and hit El’azar squarely between the eyes and blood began pouring from the broken skin. The man walked up to him and demanded payment for his services, which was to let out the bad blood so that El’azar would feel better. Naturally, El’azar said “No” so the man dragged him to the magistrate to decide the case. The magistrate listens to the rock thrower’s complaint and after hearing his side of the story tells El’azar, “Pay the man.” El’azar cannot believe what is going so, after a monents thought he bends down and picks up a rock and throws it and hits the judge between the eyes and tells him, “Now, you pay the man the money you owe me and we are even.”

The sexual depravity of Sedom is well documented but it appears that Gomarrah was guilty of unjust courts that allowed the oppression of strangers, widows and fatherless children. I have said it many times because it is recorded many times in Scripture, even the angels will be tried for treating strangers, widows and orphans unjustly (Psa. 82). This is why Sha’ul admonishes the Corinthians for their poor judgement: 1Co 6:2 Do you not know that the set-apart ones shall judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

1Co 6:3 Do you not know that we shall judge messengers? How much more, matters of this life?

1Co 6:4 If then you truly have judgments of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are least esteemed by the assembly?

YHVH is a righteous Elohim and gave us His Torah that we might be righteous too, so that we can fellowship with Him like Adam and Havvah in the Garden.

Exo 23:7 “Keep yourself far from a false matter, and do not kill the innocent and the righteous, for I do not declare the wrong right.

Mal 3:18 “Then you shall again see the difference between the righteous and the wrong, between one who serves Elohim and one who does not serve Him.

Pro 17:15 He who declares the wrong right, And he who condemns the righteous, Both of them are an abomination to יהוה.

Besides the sexual immorality that is rampant here in America today, we hear daily about one unjust court decision after another.

What about the punishment? The wrongdoer is to be struck 40 times: Num 14:33 And your sons shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your whorings, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness.

Num 14:34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days – a day for a year, a day for a year – you are to bear your crookednesses forty years, and you shall know My breaking off. ((40 strikes!!!))

Yes, there are so many ways this is a foreshadowing of the Messiah that it is impossible to ignore. Now let me give you just one more hint at how this relates to the coming of Messiah: and the righteous declared (H853) righteous and the wrongdoer declared (H853) wrong.

Verse 4 – Much has been written about this verse: 1Co 9:9 For it has been written in the Torah of Mosheh, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it about oxen Elohim is concerned?

Sha’ul asked a very good question: does YHVH say this because He is so concerned about oxen? Treading the spiritual wheat from the spiritual chaff is and is the job of every born again believer. Many would say, “No, this is for preachers and pastors only. Others would say this is a task just for prophets.

Mat 3:10 “And the axe is already laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, then, which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Mat 7:17 “So every good tree yields good fruit, but a rotten tree yields wicked fruit.

Mat 7:18 “A good tree is unable to yield wicked fruit, and a rotten tree to yield good fruit.

Mat 7:19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

It does not say only big trees or, old trees it says every tree. Now, in the next passage it does talk about leaders, elders: 1Ti 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double respect, especially those who labour in the word and teaching.

1Ti 5:18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and “The labourer is worthy of his wages.”.

Most people cannot afford to be a teacher, elder, but like Sha’ul, some can. From what we know about Sha’ul he was probably the wealthiest of Apostles so he could continue his missionary work with a minimum of support. Others required more support than he did and he was not criticizing those who did.

Verses 5-10 – This is called the Law of the Levirate Marriage. The word Levirate is a false congate word. When you look at it you immediately see L/e/v/i thinking that this means Levitical. This is false. The word Levirate actually comes from Latin and levir simply means “husband’s brother”. Alright, you will find those who love to argue over what they truly don’t know. Recently, I read a scholarly paper written by a very smart “Bible Scholar” telling how this verse proved that the premise behind the Book of Ruth was fiction and just a nice story. Unfortunately, looking at Scripture through the lens of English doesn’t work. Remember how we have talked about Daniel Chapter 5 and Balshezzar’s mother telling him that his father Nebuchadnezzar. Many scholars see this and say, “That proves Daniel is wrong.” Yes, the word literally means father but it can mean grandfather or ancestor. The word used here is H2993 – Yabawm and rightly means brother-in-law, husband’s brother or kinsman.

In Exodus 1:8 we see this phrase: Exo 1:8 Then a new sovereign arose over Mitsrayim, who did not know Yosěph,

This is the very well known Hebrew word “yada” and yes it simply means “to know” but it also means kinsman or kinfolk. So, what is being conveyed is that this particular pharaoh was not related to Joseph like the earlier ones were. (At least 3 generations of Pharaohs were the descendants of Joseph and practiced monotheism in Egypt making them very unpopular.) For those of you who were not with us when we went through this Scripture and broke it down, it takes a great deal of time to trace all the elements of this one line of Scripture but thanks to modern archeology and forensic analysis of mummies it is possible to see the line of Joseph.

Verses 11-12 – We have already discussed this. We there are two men, they arre going to fight and the wife of one intervenes on her husband’s behalf by grabbing the genitals of his antagonist this is evil intent to prevent the other from having children. This brings shame on the husband as well as his antagonist. That is why the woman’s hand is cut off, because of intent.

Verses 13-15 – Unequal weights and measures. This is an abomination spoken of many times in Scripture. Pro 11:1 A false scale is an abomination to יהוה, But a perfect weight is His delight. False = “mirmah” – H4820 = false, treachery, deceit, falsehood.

Pro 20:10 Differing weights and differing measures, Both of them are an abomination to יהוה.

Verse 16 – Yeshu’a is YHVH’s Word. We are told that He is the same yesterday today and forever, except when it is inconvenient for the “church” to keep the Word. Nope. It is very simple, if you do these things you are an abomination to YHVH. His Word is eternal and never changing.

Verses 17-19 – What? Amaleq? He was defeated by Yehoshua in the Valley of the Rephidim when Aharon and Hur held up Mosheh’s arms to accomplish YHVH’s commands. So why is Ameleq appearing here at this time? There will always be an Amaleq that we must be ready to battle: Exo 17:16 for he said, “Because a hand is on the throne of Yah, יהוה is to fight against Amalěq, from generation to generation.”

H6002 – עמלק – ‛ămâlêq –  BDB Definition: Amalek = “dweller in a valley”. Now we can see why Amalek is so dangerous. He lives in the valley, you know, where the topsoil is 10 feet deep and the grass will almost cover the sheep and the goats. There is no strife, life is easy and the easier life is the less we concentrate on YHVH and where He wants us to be: Isa 2:2 And it shall be in the latter days that the mountain of the House of יהוה is established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills. And all nations shall flow to it.

Psa 24:3 Who does go up into the mountain of יהוה? And who does stand in His set-apart place?

Psa 24:4 He who has innocent hands and a clean heart, Who did not bring his life to naught, And did not swear deceivingly.

Amalek is the worst enemy imaginable. We are fat, happy, no problems. This is beside the point but let me say it here: There was a line in the movie Sgt. York where his mother says, “Isn’t it queer how the people who live at the bottom of the mountain look down their noses at the people who live at the top of the mountain.” Living on the top of a mountain is hard work, everyday. Just walking and breathing are hard work at 8,000′ or 10,000′. Regardless of how much physical exertion we do, we will lose at least 10 pounds per month the whole time we are at our home in the mountains. YHVH wants those that were willing to work hard for His Kingdom. Is it easy? No! Life is easy down in the valley. He wants those that are willing to toughen up and put forth the effort to live at the top of the mountain. Another aspect about living on a mountain top is that you can be seen from miles away. He wants those whose light will shine for Him.

Beware Amalek.