Parashat Shoftim, A Prophet like Moshe a Messiah Figure

681

In this week’s reading from Parashat Shoftim (Devarim / Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9) Moshe writes on the establishment of offices of administration, judges, and officers and the necessity for justice saying כ   צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה וְיָרַשְׁתָּ אֶת-הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר-יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ: “16:20 ‘Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you.” (NASB)  Based on the Hebrew text, to judge with justice is to judge righteously (מִשְׁפַּט-צֶדֶק) here the word for justice is synonymous with righteousness (צֶדֶק) in the English language (see 16:18-17:20). In the Parashah, Moshe continues writing to describe the portion to be given to the children of Levi (18:1-8), what the nations do is forbidden and detestable (כְּתוֹעֲבֹת ,תועבה) (18:9-14), the establishment of the cities of refuge (19:1-22), to not move your neighbor’s landmark and to not bear false testimony (19:14-21), what to do when going out to battle (20:1-20), and the expiation (how to make atonement) for a crime (21:1-9).  In the midst of these instructions, Moshe declares that God will rise up another prophet, one whom the Lord God will place His Word in His mouth, one who stands as an intermediary on behalf of the people because of their fear of the fiery voice of the Almighty was more than they could endure (18:15-16).  Based on this text, the promise of a prophet like Moshe, there developed some measure of Messianic overtones based on these verses within the first century that is revealed to us in the Ketuvei Shelachim (Apostolic Writings) (Devarim / Deuteronomy 18:15-22). Read More here.

Previous articleParashat Re’eh, Hearing His Voice and being Devoted to Him
Next articleParashat Ki Tetze, Weights, Measures, and Salvation
Duane D. Miller received his Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. Degree in Chemical Engineering from The University of Akron Ohio. He is currently a Chemical Engineering Researcher. Duane’s research expertise has focused upon functional materials development for the control, conversion, and release of process gases in Energy production technologies. His R&D interests include computational chemistry, developing novel technologies for converting biomass to fuels and studying their fundamental interactions during the chemical conversion process. His past experience includes sorbent development for pre- and post-combustion CO2 and SO2 capture, selective absorption of H2S from methane streams, O2 capture for oxy-fuel combustion, photocatalytic reduction of alcohols, NOx reduction catalysis, the development of oxygen carriers to combust fossil fuels (CH4 and coal) for the chemical looping combustion processes, and the extraction of rare earth elements using patent pending sorbents. His research expertise has focused on operando-characterization using Infrared, Raman, and UV-Vis spectroscopy to observe the nature of the catalytic active sites and reaction intermediates under realistic reaction conditions, allowing direct correlation of molecular/electronic structures with catalyst performance during Gas-Solid / Liquid-Solid Adsorption and Photocatalytic Processes with real time online analysis of reaction products using ICP-MS and mass spectrometry. His current work involves a multi-disciplinary approach to developing, understanding, and improving the catalytic gasification of coal and methane, high temperature chemical looping combustion, and the catalytic decomposition and gasification of biomass and coal using novel microwave reactor.​ He has been studying the Hebrew Scriptures and the Torah for 20+ years and sharing what he has learned. The studies developed for MATSATI.COM are freely to be used by everyone, to God be the Glory!