D1-8: What Are The Dire Consequences Of Teaching The Torah Has Been Done Away With?

“At that time I told you, ‘You are too heavy a burden for me to carry alone.  Adonai your God has multiplied your numbers, so that there are as many of you today as there are stars in the sky.  May Adonai, the God of your ancestors, increase you yet a thousandfold and bless you, as he has promised you!  But you are burdensome, bothersome and quarrelsome! How can I bear it by myself alone?  Pick for yourselves from each of your tribes men who are wise, understanding and knowledgeable; and I will make them heads over you,’”-Deuteronomy 1:9-13

Verses 18-19 deal with Moses explaining how he established a hierarchy of government and leadership.

We are given a different slant of this process than how we are told it occurred in the Book of Numbers.

In the Book of Numbers, we were told that Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, saw how overwhelmed Moses was by all the complaints and concerns the people were bringing him.

So in response, Jethro advised Moses to set up a system of delegating authority. 

However, here in Deuteronomy, Moses is saying that HE WAS THE ONE who set up the leadership hierarchy of justice that involved organizing hundreds and hundreds of men from every tribe.

Take a look at verse 13.

Moses recounts he said…

“Pick for yourselves from each of
your tribes men who are wise,
understanding and knowledgeable;
and I will make them heads over you.”

If you ever wanted to know whether Scripture supports a democratic or representative system of government in the Bible, well there you have it.

Deuteronomy 1:13 is your verse.

Let’s take a look at the next set of verses.

“Hear the cases that arise between your brothers; and judge fairly between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is with him.  You are not to show favoritism when judging, but give equal attention to the small and to the great. No matter how a person presents himself, don’t be afraid of him; because the decision is God’s.”

At every level, the leaders were to be upright men who were to carefully and respectfully hear out a case that was brought to them and then judge wisely.

In addition, they were not to be swayed by the status of the person being tried, whether he was rich or poor or a native-born Israelite or a foreigner.

Take a good look at verse 17, because buried within this verse is one sentence containing implications of gargantuan proportions. 

The Complete Jewish Bible says…

…don’t be afraid of him;
because the decision is God’s.

However, a more popular rendering of this verse is…

“Fear no man,
for judgment is God’s”

Whichever verse you use, the implication remains the same.

It is HASHEM alone who is the Lawgiver.

This means two things to those who are called to serve as judges.

FIRST, you are not to be concerned about the consequences of what will happen to the one who follows or breaks the law.

That is in God’s hands.