The Torah portion of Mishpatim lays the groundwork of a biblical justice system, with many different laws and punishments. One such law, the law of the Hebrew slave, his six years of labor and his freedom in the seventh year, points towards the Messianic Era, and our dedication to God.
In the Messianic Era, the Messiah will be king over the whole world. In Isaiah 11:3-4 it says that he will, “not judge after the sight of his eyes, Neither decide after the hearing of his ears; But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the land; And he shall smite the land with the rod of his mouth, And with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” And in Isaiah, 9:7 it says, “That the government may be increased, And of peace there be no end, Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, To establish it, and to uphold it Through justice and through righteousness From henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts doth perform this.”
Believers in Yeshua are already acting underneath the authority of that future kingdom. As we study the Torah’s commandments, we learn about the rulings of King Messiah, the ultimate champion of justice. It is as it says in Isaiah 56:1, “Thus saith the LORD: Keep ye justice, and do righteousness; For My salvation is near to come, And My favour to be revealed.”
In Exodus 21:2 it says:
“If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.”
The six years of labor a Hebrew slave must go through symbolizes what is happening to the Jewish people in the world today, with affliction, subjugation, and exile. The release of the Hebrew slave in the seventh year symbolizes the end times and the final redemption.
The freedom that’s received in the seventh year corresponds to the seventh day of the week, as it says in Exodus 23:12, “Six days thou shalt do thy work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest.” This also corresponds to the Sabbatical cycle of years in Exodus 23:10-11, “And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and gather in the increase thereof; but the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie fallow.” This pattern of time reflects the very beginning of creation, where God created things for six days and rested on the seventh day. Some sages in the Talmud viewed the seven days of creation as a broad outline of the history of humanity, as it says in Psalms 90:4, “For a thousand years in Thy sight Are but as yesterday when it is past.” According to this view, each day referred to a different millenium of history. Different rabbis had different opinions, but they generally agreed that the seventh day referred to the seventh millennium, the thousand year Messianic Era.
The early believers in Yeshua held a similar view, the books of Hebrews speaks of the Shabbat as a taste of the Messianic era. The book of Revelation speaks about a coming millenium of peace.
The Epistle of Barnabas reveals early traditions of the followers of Yeshua, including one about Shabbat and the thousand years of the Messianic Era:
“My children, attend to the meaning of the expression: ‘He finished in six days.’ This implies that God will finish all things in six thousand years, for a day with him is as a thousand years. And He Himself testifies, saying, ‘Behold, “today” will be as a thousand years.’ Therefore, my children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, all things will be finished. ‘And he rested on the seventh day.’ This means that when His son, coming again, shall destroy the time of the wicked, and judge the ungodly, and change the sun, and the moon, and the stars, then He shall truly rest on the seventh day.”
If a Hebrew slave didn’t want to go free after six years of labor, for his master had treated him well, and had given him a wife and children, the Hebrew slave was to say, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out as a free man.” The slave forfeits his right to go free after six years, and his master takes him to a doorpost, and pierces his ear with an awl. The Torah literally says, in Exodus 21:6, “And he shall serve him for ever.”
This passage alludes to the Messiah, to the Messiah’s devotion to God, and our devotion to the Messiah. The numerical value of the words “Hebrew slave” in Hebrew have the same numerical value of the Hebrew word, “Messiah.” It is as if the Messiah said, in Psalms 40:6, “My ears you have pierced.”
The case of the permanent slave also speaks to our own servitude to the Messiah, and the Torah.
If we are to love our families, our children, and our spouses in the proper way, we must first love our master. This is why the servant says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children,” in that order. Yeshua alludes to this idea in Matthew 10:37, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” Rabbeinu Efrayim, in Malkut Moshiach, has something to say about this topic as well:
“The slave plainly says in the world, ‘I love my master, so I engage in the Torah from the love of the Holy One, blessed be He, and I love my wife, that is to say, I love the Torah, and I love my children, that is to say, I love my disciples. I will not depart from my master even in the grave.’ Thus the rabbis of blessed memory said that the disciples of the sages do not rest [because they serve God forever], even in the world to come, as it says [in Psalms 84:7], ‘They go from strength to strength.’”
God commanded us to put a Mezuzah on the doorposts of our homes, in which there’s a scroll with the words of Deuteronomy 6:4-9. When a slave was taken to the doorpost, he entered into covenant under the words, in Deuteronomy 6:5, “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” Rabbeinu Ephraim said, “His master shall pierce his ear with an awl so that he will not turn away from hearing the words of Torah.”
We too give our lives in service to God forever. Rabbeinu Efrayim says:
“(In Exodus 21:6 it says,) ‘And he shall serve him forever.’ This refers to the resurrection of the dead, for it is a world without end, as it is written [in Isaiah 66:22], ‘“for just as the new heavens and the new earth which I shall make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “So your offspring and your name shall endure.”’”
The Torah portion of Mishpatim, specifically the law of the Hebrew slave, has multiple connections to the Messiah and the Messianic Era.
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