More Than Laws: A Covenant of Love and Lifelong Devotion

13 Feb 2026

Mishpatim "Judgements"

TORAH: Exodus 21:1 - 24:18 | PROPHETS: 2 Kings 12:1–17 | GOSPEL: Matthew 17:22-27

What if Gods covenant with Israel was more about romance than rules?

This week’s Torah portion is called Mishpatim — rules meant to establish right order flowing from a covenant relationship.

Moses is receiving this Torah on the mountain. We can easily translate it as “laws,” but a better way to understand it is as God’s instructions to safeguard the relationship of love that He and Israel were entering into.

It’s similar to when my wife and I entered into covenant marriage. We exchanged wedding vows to guard our relationship — choosing one another exclusively, to the exclusion of all others — with the ultimate purpose of reflecting Yeshua to the community around us.

As this covenant relationship was forming, God was asking Israel to say “yes” to Him and “no” to the gods of the nations — especially as they were about to enter the Promised Land He had prepared for them. That land would be surrounded by other nations, and God clearly said,

“You shall make no covenant with them and their gods.”

 One powerful instruction in this portion is the servant who, after six years, could choose freedom. But if they say,

“I love my master,”

they could choose to remain with his master and his family. His ear would be marked, and he would stay in that household for life.

It’s a picture of choosing — because of love — to serve and remain exclusively devoted to one Master: God.

We also read in Exodus 23:15,

“None shall appear before Me empty handed.”

God’s people should never enter relationship with Him expecting to be served rather - to serve.

This covenant of love was sealed when Israel declared,

“We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”

Moses then took the blood of the covenant and sprinkled it over the people as a testimony that this relationship was sealed. Then Moses took Aaron, Hur, Joshua, and the seventy elders part way up the mountain, and it says -

“they saw the God of Israel.”

What a majestic sight that must have been. Then before Moses going higher,  he said,

“Wait here until I return to you.”

Yet sadly, only days after beholding God’s glory, Aaron led Israel into breaking covenant through the idolatry — and adultery — of worshipping the golden calf. When Moses returned, he broke the tablets of the covenant, symbolizing what had already been broken in their hearts.

Question for us is:

When our Messiah returns, will we be found living fully in obedience within our new covenant relationship under the blood of our bridegroom Yeshua — actively waiting and preparing for His return? Will we say, “I love my Master,” serving only Him?

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NEXT PORTION Feb 20 2026 Terumah "Judgements"

TORAH: Exodus 25:1-27:19 | PROPHETS: 1 Kings 5:26-6:13 | GOSPEL: Mark 12:35 - 44