When you have come unto the land which Yahovah your God gives you, and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein; and shall say: I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me; you shall in any wise set him king over you, whom Yahovah your God shall choose; one from among your brethren shall you set king over you;…And it shall be, when he sits upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites. And it shall be with him and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Yahovah his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left; to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel. (Deu. 17:14-20)

This Torah portion section–parashah 48 section 1–defines for us how a king—a human king—would be selected and placed to rule over us. According to Hertz’ Pentateuch and Haftorahs, “It is legitimate to have a king, but he must be a native Israelite and be a constitutional monarch who governs in accordance with Torah. He was to have no standing cavalry to keep his people in subjection, nor establish a harem; and he was himself to study and obey the laws of the realm.” As with divorce or the dissolution of a marriage union, Yahovah would permit the appointment of a king over us, but with stipulations and governing rules to that effect. In fact we saw earlier that Yahovah required that we have judges to properly dispense justice and the rule of law over us. But at the end of the day, Yahovah was to be our King—that was Father’s preference from the beginning. History bears out that the surrounding nations all had monarchies governing and controlling the peoples of their nations. This set up of having a man over us was never a good idea and Yahovah knew that. But again, like divorce, because of the hardness of our hearts, Father permitted a monarchical system to exist over our nation. (cf. 1 Sam. 8) But again, there was to be stipulations related to the selection of the king, the foremost requirement was of course, that Yahovah would select our king for us and the most brilliant example of this coming to fruition can be seen in the selection of the first king placed over us, Saul, as recorded in 1 Samuel 10:24. In this particular case, Yahovah used Samuel as the agent by which the selection of Saul as king over Israel would be made. Of course, this practice of king selection did not remain in accordance with Torah and it all pretty much came to a bad end, so to speak, especially when the Romans made Herod and his kinsman—”who were of Edomite descent”—kings over Judea. (Reference Hertz) And continuing with Hertz’ treatment of this Torah-based kingly selection process, he notes that the Talmud records an incident involving Herod Agrippa I, who as king over Judea, read this Torah portion and is recorded to have wept and “deemed himself unworthy of kinghood on account of his alien ancestry; whereupon the people reassured him with the words, ‘Thou art our brother, thou art our brother.’” And certainly the books of Kings and Chronicles document how the various kings of Israel and Judah failed to properly adhere to the Torah-based stipulations of kinghood, many of these kings being deemed as evil in the sight of Yahovah. Again, Yahovah knew the problems associated with having men placed over us as rulers while abandoning Father’s perfect rule over us.

The timing of this portion is not entirely spot-on, but timely enough. In the United States, we have entered the 2016 presidential race. Already we’ve endured a number of debates between the candidates of both parties. I’ve heard many commentators and talking heads in and around the national discourse about the 2016 presidential race thus far, bemoan the selection and caliber of candidates we have to choose from this election cycle, with the exception of the democratic party which seems to be bent not only upon ensuring a Hilary Clinton democratic nomination victory; but also ensuring that Hilary Clinton becomes the next president of the United States.

Having mellowed a great deal and more importantly, having left the Churches of God system, I’ve moderated my views on the whole concept of voting and elections. This Torah portion does so much to establish my views on voting and elections–or for that matter, dictate my views on politics as a whole. As a Torah Observant Believer in Y’shua Messiah, I strive to be obedient to the commandments and laws and precepts of Torah, as much as I possibly can. Those areas of Torah that I am unable to obey or keep (especially those connected to the Temple and to the Levitical priestly system), I seek Father’s Spirit to reveal to me the spiritual lessons to be learned from those “static Laws” (my phrase for those areas of Torah that cannot practically be kept by us today). For me, the whole thought behind me participating in the election process falls within this “static law” arena.

We Netzari-Americans (Hebrew Rooters) do not live in a “theocracy” nor do we have a God-appointed king over us. A Torah-based political system does not at all mesh with our national constitution and political system, thus we who are living in this country and in many nations of the west are unable to properly keep this mitzvah. However, for me, I do believe there are tremendous spiritual principles to be gained from this mitzvah related to the selection of a ruler over us.

As it stands and as far as we know, we do not have a current leader—nor do we have a presidential candidate—who adheres to God’s Word or His Torah. Essentially, every candidate and political leader has effectively vowed to the public that any religious or spiritual convictions they possess will not influence their governing decisions and practices–maybe with the sole exception of Ben Carson who is an avowed 7th Day Adventist, but not a Torah Observant Believer in Y’shua Messiah. If you ask me, this would disqualify every would be presidential candidate and current world leader from ruling over us from a Biblical perspective. Thus, for me, I have elected (no pun intended) to not participate in the election process.

Now, this is not to say that Father has not placed them in their political or seats of power to serve His purpose in the earth. Father has made it clear that the earth is His and all it contains. (1 Corinthian 10:26) And we, His elect, have been placed here to inhabit this world and live for Him in the midst of the authorities that He—Yahovah—has set in place. Paul writes to the Messianic Assembly in Rome: “Let every soul be subject to the authorities of government. For there is no authority which is not from Elohim: and the authorities which exist are established by Elohim. He therefore who opposes the authority, opposes the establishment of Elohim; and they who oppose them will receive judgment. For judges are not a menace to good deeds, but to evil deeds. Would you then not be afraid of the authority? Do good, and you will have praise from it. For he is the minister of Elohim; but it is to you for good. But if you work evil, be afraid; for he is not girded with the sword in vain; for he is a minister of Elohim and an avenger of wrath to them that do evil things. And therefore, it is necessary for us to be obedient, not only on account of wrath, but likewise on account of our consciences.” (Romans 13:1-5 AENT)

Now many in Churchianity would use this and other like verses to advocate believers in Messiah get in lock-step with this country’s democratic processes. What this verse is NOT saying, however, is that we are to support and condone evil, be it in our homes, our work-places or even our governments. Our governments throughout this nation have persistently shown that they are evil: they advocate gay and lesbian unions; they support and fund abortions; they stand for social injustice for the sake of societal peace and the personal advancement of the political power brokers that have authority over us. Yet Christians are encouraged by their leaders and teachers to participate in the democratic and political process. The argument from those who advocate our participation in the democratic process is that by our not participating in the process—by our inaction—we facilitate the seating of those who do not share our values and beliefs. Of course, this mindset is debatable to say the least. In fact, the traditional leaning of Christians in the United States tends to be that of Republican, while the secular and non-believing public tends to be Democrats. Certainly, this is a generality. I know for a fact that black-Christians tend overwhelmingly to vote Democrat. Why? One could argue that blacks in this country, be they Christian or non-Christian, feel that the democratic party has their best interests at heart—for some it’s their pocket books; for others it’s their rights and opportunities as members of impoverished communities; for others it’s their close affiliation with members of their race. That being the case, then, these individuals tend to place their Faith secondary and even tertiary to that of their personal interests. And certainly, this same principle goes for the White, Hispanic, Asian and Middle Eastern in our society who chose their personal preferences and interests over their Faith and religious convictions.

What Paul is saying in this letter to the Roman Assembly, however, is that we as Torah Observant Believers in Y’shua Messiah, must be a peaceable people who obey the laws of the land and show due respect for those individuals who have been given authority over us in society. That deference and respect goes only as far as that which doesn’t cross the line into the realm of evil. In other words, we are not to be lemmings who subordinate the tenets of our Faith to the common practices and traditions of our society and the whims and rulings of evil men. Father taught us: “You shall not fall in with the many to do evil…” (Exodus 23:2)

Thus, when we’re presented with participation in our nation’s political process and are faced with electing a candidate to rule over us, we must think clearly about the spiritual impact that our participating in such a process might impose upon us as Believers in Y’shua Messiah and our nation. If our selection of candidates do not mesh with our beliefs and our Faith, why would we go out to participate in a process that we hope will put them into positions of leadership over us? If these individuals do not follow Torah; if they advocate or endorse evil practices; if they seek to fulfill their own personal agendas and interests by becoming our leaders, why would we participate in such a process that would potentially lead to their being placed into office and rule over us? Would there ever be a chance that we’d be shooting ourselves in the foot? Of course there’s such a chance. In fact, we may be facing that type of situation in the not so distant future as a result of those who’ve already been placed in government leadership positions.

It troubles me to think that millions of Americans went to the polls in 2008 and 2012 and placed our current–sitting president into office. He has never truly espoused so-called Christian values; he has advocated a reduction or even elimination of our rights to practice our Faith; he has gone out of his way to subordinate Christianity to that of Islam; he has stomped upon several Christian values such as the Christian belief in upholding the rights of the unborn and rejection of gay and lesbian unions. To add insult to injury, these same so-called Christians elected a Congress that has gone out of its way to support the policies and platform of our current president. Why? Why would we, who claim to be the elect of God, ignore that which we’ve dedicated our lives to—the furtherance of the Gospel and being disciples of Y’shua Messiah—and beat feet to the polls to elect such individuals to positions of rule over us? And if all remains as it is today—at the posting of this episode of Torah Living Daily Challenge—we will see a repeat of this very thing in 2016 when our nation will elect Hillary Clinton or someone else of similar political leanings to the highest office in the land.

But I’ve said all that I’ve said, not to advocate that we overtly oppose our governments. I’m just questioning the spiritual prudence in participating in a democratic process that serves only to put into office those who do not share our Faith. I know this will sound off-base and foolish to many of you listening to this episode. But bear in mind Saints, my whole purpose in this ministry in part is to call all who would claim Y’shua as their Messiah, to embrace a life of Torah and reject compromise in all it’s forms—be it in our day-to-day walk with Messiah or in our spiritual Torah-based beliefs. Traditional Churchianity has shown that she is not afraid to compromise—and why should they think any differently? When you, as a Christian, believe that you have no responsibilities as it relates to your Faith because of a misconception you have related to the hijacked doctrines of Grace, then it’s certainly not a stretch nor is it an effort to subordinate the tenets of your Faith to that of your personal comforts and preferences.

But on another level, Peter comments on the believer’s responsibilities as it relates to how we are to deal with those who are placed in positions of authority over us: “And be submissive to all the sons of men, for Elohim’s sake; to kings, on account of their authority; and to judges because they are sent by him for the punishment of offenders, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of Elohim, that by your good deeds you may stop the mouth of the foolish who do not know Elohim: As free men, you are not like men who make their freedom a cloak for their wickedness, but as the servants of Elohim. Honor all men; love your Brothers; fear Elohim; and honor kings.” (Reference 1 Peter 2:13-17 AENT)

Contrary to what churchianity and others may advocate, this Petrine passage does not in anyway stipulate that we are to participate in the election process. Peter advances to us Messiah-like behavior that we should exemplify as a course of normal Torah Living and general behavior as Torah Observant Believers in Y’shua Messiah. Essentially, Peter instructs us that we are to respect those who are placed in positions of authority over us and to behave in a Messiah-like manner before them. This is contrary to some of the radical, so-called Christian groups out there that have taken it upon themselves to do the exact opposite of what this Petrine passage instructs. I recently viewed a video online, of a charismatic-Christian group, the name of which escapes me for the moment, but if I knew it I wouldn’t reveal it as I was disgusted by their behavior. The members of this group in this particular video, numbered somewhere around seven. It turns out that these members went into a department store and incited a disturbance over a really stupid issue I believe was related to the use of a restroom by one of the members and a staff member of the department store. The disturbance in the store resulted in the the physical assault of a department store staff member. The group departed the store and congregated in the store’s parking lot. Now you should know, that this particular group of so-called Christians have essentially declared war upon the governing bodies of this nation and have been known to assault police officers and threaten to harm other government personnel. These individuals have used the judicial system to their personal advantage through a number of well orchestrated law suits, all the while advocating that they are believers in Jesus Christ and their Faith is first and foremost in their lives.

Well, continuing on with this story, two police officers were dispatched to the scene of that department store to investigate the assault that the store manager had called in to their dispatch. Upon arrival, the assault victim was questioned by responding police and upon concluding their in-store inquiry, they turned their sights to the gathered group, still hanging out in the parking lot. As the two officers approached the group—which I should tell you was composed of both men and women—two to three of the males and one of the women in the group as I recall, became belligerent towards the officers and their questioning. The two officer, grossly outnumbered by this group, seemed to attempt to sequester two or so members of the group to question them about the assault incident. Now, all of this was caught on the officers’ dashboard cams and the video has been viewed by thousands on the internet. The group as a whole resisted the efforts of the officers to get to the bottom of their investigations and began to surround the two officers in a threatening manner. As the officers attempted to gain control of this diminishing situation, at least one of the male members of the group, spurred on by a female member of the group, began throwing punches at the officers. Immediately the situation turned to pandemonium and the officers suddenly found themselves in a fight for their lives. As the fight ensued—bear in mind, these two officers had no other back-up and the suspects essentially numbered about three-times their numbers. One of the suspects got a hold of one of the officer’s side arms. Bear in mind that the officers had not drawn their weapons at this juncture in the deteriorating situation. So this suspect was somehow able to wrestle the weapon from the officer’s holster. Now the officer not only had to physically fight off the assailants, but also attempt to regain possession and control of his now stolen weapon. At some point, the suspect that grabbed the officer’s weapon, shot the officer, seriously wounding him. The shot-officer’s partner, still attempting to defend himself from the part of the group that was attacking him, then realized that both him and his partner were in a dire situation. Despite the wounded officer being shot, he was able to hold on to the shooter, still trying to regain possession of his stolen weapon. The shot officer’s partner then managed to draw his weapon and shoot the individual who shot his partner. I believe the shot officer was then able to regain possession of his stolen weapon. At this point, the group was shocked into reality that one of their members had been mortally wounded. The uninjured officer pointed his weapon at the crowd and at the same time pulled his wounded partner—who did by the way survive his shooting—away from the carnage. By then, several responding police units began arriving at the scene and quickly took control of the situation. The wounded officer quickly received treatment, but the so-called Christian fellow who had been shot by the unwounded officer, died on scene.

I told this story because I found it to be a vivid commentary on the jacked-up state of Christianity today. Christianity is all over the place, more so in the United States, than any other region of the western world. What I mean by that is that we have passive Christians who live rather well-to-do lives in their communities; we have moderate Christians who are dedicated to their religion and attend church every Sunday and maybe even participate in various Church activities during the week; other segments of Christianity are violent and cold and callous and are in complete opposition to the tenets of proper Christian behavior that is denoted in the Bible, and these groups hate all levels and forms of government. And of course, there are groups of Christians that fall out along this spectrum: from the passive to the violent aggressive.

In Hebrew Roots, we tend to be conservative, if not ultra-conservative in our political and social views. Many of us have developed a complete distrust and even disdain for our government, the legal system and law enforcement. Many of us have taken to a life of prepping—for lack of a better term—squirreling away food and stocking ammunition and other provisions for the inevitable apocalypse that is certain to come—when that apocalypse will come, only Father in heaven knows (Matthew 24:36) I am not for and I’m certainly not against “prepping” as I see great value in preparing for the hard times ahead. However, I see a downside to having such an anti-government—anti-system mentality as has grown to disturbing numbers in recent days, within and around our Faith. That downside is a loss of perspective; a loss of faith—that is faith in Father’s will for our lives and His provision; a loss of love and a rise in hatred and bitterness. You see, I believe Paul and Peter inherently and spiritually knew that we as believers in Y’shua Messiah, run the risk of falling into a spiritual malaise if we take to a mentality and stand that is anti-government and anti-society. We lose the ability to be effective witnesses for the Faith. We lose the opportunity to effectively evangelize. We become pariahs of society and once that happens, we become enemies of the state and of society. And of course, when that happens, we are doomed to destruction and complete marginalization. Behaving as this group of so-called evangelical Christians that I described above, serves no practical purpose and goes against the teachings of Master’s anointed apostles. Paul wrote to Titus: “admonish them (speaking about Titus’ followers) to be submissive and obedient to princes and powerful leaders; and that they are ready for every good work; and that they speak ill of no man; that they will not be argumentative, but mild; and that in everything they manifest generously towards all men. For we also were formerly reckless and disobedient, and erring, and serving divers lusts, and living in malice and envy, and were hateful and also hating one another. But when the kindness and compassion of Elohim our Life-Giver was revealed, not by works of righteousness which we had done, but according to his mercy, he revived us by the washing of the new birth and by the renovation of the Ruach haKodesh which He shed on us abundantly by Y’shua the Mashiyach our Life-Giver, that we might be made righteous by His grace and become heirs in the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:1-7 AENT)

So what does all this have to do with this Torah Portion and the Torah Observant Believer in Y’shua participating in the political-election process? It has to do with the mindset and spirit behind this Torah portion. We as Torah Observant Believers in Messiah have a tremendous responsibility to uphold. We must be first and foremost obedient to Father and His Torah. Secondly, we must walk in the manner that Y’shua Messiah demonstrated and taught us. Thirdly, we must be obedient to the great commission that Master conferred upon us: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19,20) And let’s face it, in order to fulfill all these requirements and responsibilities, we have to get along with others and be able to move about freely in our society and communities. We must be accessible to the world for the sake and mission of Messiah and His Gospel. And we can not in any way do this without playing well with others and realizing our place in the world. We are a special people living out unique and special lives. We stand for only that which is good, righteous and holy. We abhor and reject all that is evil and unholy and carnal. Thus, we must maintain lives of purity, unsullied from the carnality of the world in which we live. We must live in this world, but we must not be of this world. Paul wrote to Titus that we must be trained to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:12-14) In other words, we can not compromise our convictions and the tenets of our Faith. Thus, when we have set before us politicians who seek to rule over us, we must ask ourselves, would my support of this candidate indicate a compromise of my Faith. Should we adopt a mentality of “the lesser of evils,” whereby we feel we should simply put in the least evil of the lot? Or should we simply realize that these individuals do not believe or hold to a Torah-based life as we’ve chosen to live. And because of that, why would we beat-feet to a poll to cast a vote for someone who does not possess the same values that we possess? Why would we participate in a political and electoral process that is steeped in carnality and selfishness and evil?

Yahovah, nevertheless, is in control. He places into power those he deems will serve His ultimate purpose and glory. Recall the interaction between Pilate and Y’shua, just after Pilate had our Master scourged in response to the peoples’ demands that Pilate execute/crucify Him. After the scourging was over, Pilate went out to the people and presented our beaten and marred Saviour to them. Pilate formally announced to the heart-hardened Jews that composed that belligerent crowd: “Behold, I bring Him to you (talking about Y’shua) that you may know that I do not find even one cause against Him.” The crowd regardless demanded the death of Y’shua, at which point Pilate literally washed his hands of the situation. But in one last feeble attempt, Pilate attempted to engage Y’shua—out of fear of who He was—a holy man—and reason with Y’shua to renounce His mission and ministry. The conversation went something like this: “…Where are you from? (Pilate speaking to Y’shua). But Y’shua did not give a reply to him. Peelatos (Pilate) said to Him, “You do not speak with me. Do you not realize that I have authority to release you and I have authority to have you executed on the stake?” Y’shua said to him, “You would have no authority over me whatsoever if it had not been given to you from above.” (John 19:10, 11 AENT)

Who are we, then, to get in the middle of that? Frankly, I strongly believe that we have no business getting involved in the political process at any level. Father places those in power whom He choses and we as Father’s elect have nothing to do with that process other than to flourish and thrive in the midst of their—the politicians and power brokers and people of power—and present a holy presence and pay respect to whom respect is to be given. All the while as Y’shua was being scourged and beaten, He did not challenge the power brokers of His time. He endured and showed amazing restraint and holiness. His behavior during the period of His Passion is wondrous at so many levels and is the reason why so many lives from that incident alone were no doubt profoundly affected for the better. We are called to imitate our Master. And there is coming a day when we may have to actually show forth our elect status before men as we are taken and persecuted and tribulated for our Faith. This will be a time of great reckoning and our Messiah-like response to this tribulation and persecution will be the difference between our being the witnesses that Master requires us to be in the earth, or the defiant and self-reliant poor witnesses that Master rejects.

I realize this will not be a popular message to many of our listeners and readers and I’m okay with that. I’m being true to the leading of the Spirit in my life. I’m not here to tell you to vote and I’m certainly not here to tell you NOT to vote. That is a decision that rests between you and Yahovah. I’ve only given you my perspective, based upon my understanding of the Word of Yahovah–His Torah–and Y’shua Messiah’s example to us, His elect.

In any event, we should absolutely stay abreast of what is going on in the political realm, as the ultimate outcome will affect each of us in some way or the other. Being prepared is certainly not a bad thing at all. It’s the wise and prudent thing to do.

Until next time fellow Saints in Training, I bid you Shalom Aleichem.