Shoftim - שפטים : “Judges”
Torah : Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9
Haftarah : Isaiah 51:12–52:12
Gospel : Acts 10–12

Thought for the Week:

The commandment for the king to write a copy of the Torah demonstrates the work of Messiah. He Himself is the Word made flesh. He is the copy of the Torah in human form. Furthermore, He writes a copy of the Torah as He writes the Torah upon our hearts. The Torah of King Messiah is “written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:3).

Commentary:

You shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman. (Deuteronomy 17:15)

The title Messiah (Christ) is an ancient Hebrew title for the King of Israel. The Torah commands Israel to set a king over them from among their countrymen—in other words, a fellow Jew. To be a true king of Israel, the king must be Jewish. In the days of the Apostles, men like Herod the Great, Herod Antipas and Herod Agrippa all took the ...