Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - When to Judge (And When to Not) | Torah | Deuteronomy 17:8-13

Episode Date: October 13, 2022

Is it true that only God can judge you? Are Christians too judgemental? When is it okay to judge others? What happens when you misjudge someone? In today’s episode, Patrick looks at God’s guidelines in Deuteronomy 17:8-13 about Israel’s court system. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Deuteronomy 17:8-13

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. A few years ago, there was a Jeopardy contestant named Kelly Donahue, who held up a rather awkward-looking number three after he won his third victory at Jeopardy. Later that night, an elite group of ex-Geopardy contestants in a private Facebook group, they closely analyzed the image of Kelly Donahue holding up his number three. and they came to a shocking conclusion. Kelly Donahue was actually holding up a racist handside used by white supremacist groups. They began to post the image online in demand that Jeopardy kicked Kelly Donahue off the show. Kelly Donahue, for his part, he came out and said unequivocally

that white supremacy is wrong. He condemned white supremacy as evil. And then he explained that he was just holding up a three for his third victory. The group scoured Donahue's page because they didn't believe him. They found what they believed, what they knew was incontrovertible proof that he was in fact a racist. He had posted pictures of Frank Sinatra. They reported the incident to the Anti-Defamation League, which is normally pretty quick to file a lawsuit if there's even a hint of anything that could be construed as racist. And the Anti-Defamation League, or the ADL, they looked over the case and they wrote back to the Facebook group this. This is a quote, Thank you for reaching out regarding your concern over a Jeopardy contestant flashing what you believe to be a white power hand signal.

We have reviewed the tape and it looks like he is simply holding up three fingers when they say that he is a three-time champion. They went on to explain that the gesture he was holding up was not actually a racist gesture at all. They were wrong about the gesture to begin with. So the ADL, they declined to prosecute him. The Facebook group, they were incensed. One member wrote that Kelly Donahue, Jeopardy, and the Anti-Defamation League were all gaslighting them. Nothing could convince this group that they were wrong. That story isn't just a sad story because in many ways it ruined Kelly Donahue's reputation and welfare.

It's also a sad story because it's such a microcosm of our moment. Sometimes it feels like we're living in the most judgmental age of modern history. And unfortunately, we aren't very good judges. When we misjudge people or situations, we often steal things from them that we can never restore. When you misjudge someone behind their back, you steal their good reputation. When you misjudge a situation and react poorly, you steal peace and goodwill from the room. When you misjudge someone publicly, you may cause them to lose a job, a relationship, or maybe even their mental health. In the last five years, I've read multiple stories of professors and professionals

who were misjudged in public and took their own lives as a result. Why do we misjudge? Well, it's often because we don't have all the facts. It's often because we've only heard one side of the story. Proverbs 1817 says, In a lawsuit, the first to speak seems right, until someone comes forward and cross-examines. When you only hear one side of the story,

it should never surprise you that only one side seems right, which is why it's so important to get all the facts before you jump to conclusions. But there's another reason that we misjudge. We misjudge because of prejudice. Have you ever noticed how it's easier to presume bad behavior when someone isn't like you? When they aren't a part of your family? When they aren't a part of your political party? When they go to a different church, when they work for that business, when they're friends with those people,

when they believe those kinds of things, when they do that in their life, A wise judge doesn't show preference to people who are like her and doesn't show prejudice against people who are different than her. Proverbs 31.9 says this to a judge, a king, it says, speak up and judge fairly. Judge fairly. The Bible says a shocking amount about judgment, perhaps because we all love to judge. In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses is laying out the blueprint for Israel's society, including their court system. Now, a small agrarian society like Israel couldn't afford to have a complex bureaucratic justice system like what we have in the U.S. or most other nation states. But America's legal system and many other legal systems around the world are modeled after Israel's in at least one way. Our courts have layers.

In America, for example, we have trial courts, and that's where cases are first tried. If that case is appealed, they go up to an appellate court. And if they're appealed again, they go to a court. of last resort, so a state or federal Supreme Court. Something similar happened in Israel. The leader of the family was the first layer of judgment in Israel. Above that was the elders of a town or city. And above them were the priests who were experts in God's law and could therefore adjudicate the most difficult cases. But here's what I find so interesting. Well, I'm sure that cases could be appealed. That's not why Moses says that a case moves from one court to a higher court. that a case moves up to a higher court, catches because the judge in the lower court,

acknowledges that a case is too difficult for him. He acknowledges that there's something that's too difficult for him. Catches. Deuteronomy 17.8. If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge, whether bloodshed lawsuits or assaults, take them to the place, Yahweh your God will choose, go to the Levitical priest and to the judge who is in office at that time, inquire of them and they will give you the verdict. Isn't that fascinating if cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge? You catch that? God expects his people not just to judge, but to be wise judges who know when they're out of their depth. A wise judge knows when he's compromised by bias or prejudice. A wise judge knows when he doesn't have enough information from both sides

to make a good judgment. A wise judge knows when a case is too complex. And ultimately, and most importantly, a wise judge takes cases before those who were most familiar with God's word. There's two big takeaways here. First, maybe we should all humbly confess before God that we aren't as wise as we think we are. We've all misjudged things from time to time. We've taken things from others in that misjudgment. We've all been too quick to judge and we've all hurt other people as a result of our judgment. We are not wise judges. Is there someone that you need to confess to right now, whom you need to ask for forgiveness because of the way that you've judged them? If there is, I want you to reach out to that person, but here's a second takeaway. Do you trust the wise

judges God has put in your life? Do you listen to your elders with more life experience and wisdom than you. Do you listen to your spiritual leaders and pastors who had invested themselves in understanding God's word? Later, in Deuteronomy 17, Moses gives incredibly stern warnings and punishments for those who don't abide by the judgments of the priests. This isn't because he wants the priest in control. It's because he wants what's best for God's people. And what's best is sitting under wisdom. What's best is sitting under wise judgments. Do you do that? Are you willing to sit under wise judgment? Are you willing to suspend your own judgment?

Are you willing to admit when you're wrong? Are you willing to submit to those with more experience and knowledge than you? Above all else, God gives us himself as our judge. He is a good judge. He is the judge that we can perfectly trust. He is the judge who we can perfectly and totally submit our lives to. Will you submit to him? Or will you be like that Jeopardy, Facebook?

group that refused to listen who thought that they knew best, you thought that they had all the right answers, even though they were terribly, terribly wrong. Today, I want you to pray for the humility to submit yourself to God and to submit yourself to the wise men and to the wise women he's put in your life. It may be a parent, it may be a small group leader, it may be a pastor, it may be all of these. Learn the joy of judging less and judging well. Before you forget, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that's going to help you beat that midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.