Yahweh Provides Wisdom And Knowledge For Judging His People

2 Chronicles 1:1-13 reads,

1:1Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and Yahweh his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly. 1:2Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every prince in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ houses. 1:3So Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of Yahweh had made in the wilderness. 1:4But the ark of God had David brought up from Kiriath-jearim to the place that David had prepared for it; for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem. 1:5Moreover the brazen altar, that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was there before the tent of Yahweh: and Solomon and the assembly sought to it. 1:6Solomon went up there to the brazen altar before Yahweh, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered one thousand burnt offerings on it. 1:7In that night did God appear to Solomon, and said to him, Ask what I shall give you. 1:8Solomon said to God, You have shown great lovingkindness to David my father, and have made me king in his place. 1:9Now, Yahweh God, let your promise to David my father be established; for you have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. 1:10Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this your people, that is so great? 1:11God said to Solomon, Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of those who hate you, neither yet have asked long life; but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge my people, over whom I have made you king: 1:12wisdom and knowledge is granted to you; and I will give you riches, and wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had who have been before you; neither shall there any after you have the like. 1:13So Solomon came from the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem; and he reigned over Israel.

Yahweh Judges His Servants

2 Chronicles 6:22-23 reads,

6:22If a man sin against his neighbor, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before your altar in this house; 6:23then hear from heaven, and do, and judge your servants, requiting the wicked, to bring his way on his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

Administration Of Justice In Judah In Jehoshaphat's Reign

2 Chronicles 19:4-11 reads,

19:4Jehoshaphat lived at Jerusalem: and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill-country of Ephraim, and brought them back to Yahweh, the God of their fathers. 19:5He set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, 19:6and said to the judges, Consider what you do: for you don’t judge for man, but for Yahweh; and he is with you in the judgment. 19:7Now therefore let the fear of Yahweh be on you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with Yahweh our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes. 19:8Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites and the priests, and of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel, for the judgment of Yahweh, and for controversies. They returned to Jerusalem. 19:9He charged them, saying, Thus shall you do in the fear of Yahweh, faithfully, and with a perfect heart. 19:10Whenever any controversy shall come to you from your brothers who dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and ordinances, you shall warn them, that they not be guilty towards Yahweh, and so wrath come on you and on your brothers: this do, and you shall not be guilty. 19:11Behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of Yahweh; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all the king’s matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and Yahweh be with the good.

Relationship Between Priestly Judges And Non-Priestly Judges

Jehoshaphat's organisation of judges during his rule over Judah should be noted. There were two distinct and separate lines of judges in Judah, the priestly line and the non-priestly or kingly line. The chief priest headed the priestly line, while the ruler of the house of Judah headed the kingly line.

It should be noted that the Levitical judges were stationed only in Jerusalem, where Yahweh's temple was located. For they attended to their priestly and temple duties. It appears to me that their domain with respect to judgement concerned those areas that Yahweh had brought under their authority. Those areas not specifically or impliedly brought under their authority were under the king's authority.

The kingly judges were spread over the land of Judah, for his subjects dwelt over all the land of Judah. These judged in matters outside the domain of the priests.

Women Can Teach Yahweh's Word To Men In Yahweh's Assembly

Going back to Deborah's case it should be remembered that she dwelt in the land of Ephraim (Judges 4:4-5), implying that she was of the tribe of Ephraim, at least by her marriage. She was therefore not of the priestly line and could therefore not judge on matters that had been given to the priests to judge. Nevertheless, judge in Israel she did, in matters not given to the priests to judge. And in these non-priestly judicial matters it was a requirement upon her to dutifully teach the people of Yahweh his word and law. It therefore seems to me that Yahweh's handmaids can indeed teach Yahweh's word outside the domain of priests, or any domain specifically excluded to them, to both men and women. For Deborah taught those aspects of Yahweh's law that had not been reserved for the priests to all Israel, both men and women.

Ezra Was The Chief Judicial Officer Over Judah During His Time

Ezra 7 reads,

7:1Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, 7:2the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, 7:3the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, 7:4the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, 7:5the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest; 7:6this Ezra went up from Babylon: and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which Yahweh, the God of Israel, had given; and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of Yahweh his God on him. 7:7There went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinim, to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. 7:8He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. 7:9For on the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon; and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God on him. 7:10For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of Yahweh, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances.

7:11Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, even the scribe of the words of the commandments of Yahweh, and of his statutes to Israel: 7:12Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect and so forth. 7:13I make a decree, that all those of the people of Israel, and their priests and the Levites, in my realm, who are minded of their own free will to go to Jerusalem, go with you. 7:14Because you are sent of the king and his seven counselors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your hand, 7:15and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem, 7:16and all the silver and gold that you shall find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill-offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem; 7:17therefore you shall with all diligence buy with this money bulls, rams, lambs, with their meal-offerings and their drink-offerings, and shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. 7:18Whatever shall seem good to you and to your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do you after the will of your God. 7:19The vessels that are given you for the service of the house of your God, deliver you before the God of Jerusalem. 7:20Whatever more shall be needful for the house of your God, which you shall have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king’s treasure-house. 7:21I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers who are beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done with all diligence, 7:22to one hundred talents of silver, and to one hundred measures of wheat, and to one hundred baths of wine, and to one hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. 7:23Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven; for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons? 7:24Also we inform you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, the singers, porters, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll, on them. 7:25You, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God who is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people who are beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God; and teach you him who doesn’t know them. 7:26Whoever will not do the law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed on him with all diligence, whether it be to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

7:27Blessed be Yahweh, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of Yahweh which is in Jerusalem; 7:28and has extended lovingkindness to me before the king, and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. I was strengthened according to the hand of Yahweh my God on me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

It is indeed the duty of judges of Yahweh's people to teach Yahweh's people his laws.

Administration Of Justice In Judah During Ezra's Time

Ezra 10:10-17 reads,

10:10Ezra the priest stood up, and said to them, You have trespassed, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel. 10:11Now therefore make confession to Yahweh, the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women. 10:12Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, As you have said concerning us, so must we do. 10:13But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand outside: neither is this a work of one day or two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter. 10:14Let now our princes be appointed for all the assembly, and let all those who are in our cities who have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges of it, until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, until this matter be dispatched. 10:15Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them. 10:16The children of the captivity did so. Ezra the priest, with certain heads of fathers’ houses, after their fathers’ houses, and all of them by their names, were set apart; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter. 10:17They made an end with all the men who had married foreign women by the first day of the first month.

Legal Stipulations For The Administration Of Justice In Israel

It should be noted that in judicial matters the priests sat together with the heads of fathers' houses to determine or judge the various matters brought before them. Deuteronomy 17:8-13 and 19:15-21 shows that the priests and the non-priestly judges were stationed at the place that Yahweh had set his name to dwell there. In 2 Chronicles 19:4-11 it is noted that Jehoshaphat obeyed the law by setting both priests and the heads of father' houses as judges in Jerusalem.

Composition Of The Highest Judicial Court In Israel

It therefore appears that the highest court was made up of both the priests and the heads of fathers' houses, and sat at Jerusalem, the place that Yahweh had chosen to place his name to dwell. The judges appointed in the various habitations of the people throughout the rest of the land handled the less difficult matters that could be dealt with without necessity of going up to Jerusalem for final determination of a matter.

How Yahweh Judges His People

Job 36:26-37:13 reads,

36:26Behold, God is great, and we don’t know him.
The number of his years is unsearchable.

36:27For he draws up the drops of water,
Which distill in rain from his vapor,

36:28Which the skies pour down
And drop on man abundantly.

36:29Yes, can any understand the spreading of the clouds,
And the thunderings of his pavilion?

36:30Behold, he spreads his light around him.
He covers the bottom of the sea.

36:31For by these he judges the people.
He gives food in abundance.

36:32He covers his hands with the lightning,
And commands it to strike the mark.

36:33The noise of it tells about him,
And the cattle also concerning the storm that comes up.

37:1"Yes, at this my heart trembles,
And is moved out of its place.

37:2Hear, oh, hear the noise of his voice,
The sound that goes out of his mouth.

37:3He sends it forth under the whole sky,
And his lightning to the ends of the earth.

37:4After it a voice roars.
He thunders with the voice of his majesty;
He doesn’t hold back anything when his voice is heard.

37:5God thunders marvelously with his voice.
He does great things, which we can’t comprehend.

37:6For he says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth;’
Likewise to the shower of rain,
And to the showers of his mighty rain.

37:7He seals up the hand of every man,
That all men whom he has made may know it.

37:8Then the animals go into coverts,
And remain in their dens.

37:9Out of its chamber comes the storm,
And cold out of the north.

37:10By the breath of God, ice is given,
And the breadth of the waters is frozen.

37:11Yes, he loads the thick cloud with moisture.
He spreads abroad the cloud of his lightning.

37:12It is turned round about by his guidance,
That they may do whatever he commands them
On the surface of the habitable world,

37:13Whether it is for correction, or for his land,
Or for lovingkindness, that he causes it to come.

Yahweh judges his people, effecting his various judgements on them, through his natural creation.

Yahweh's Judgements Are Not To Be Annulled

Job 40:6-14 reads,

40:6Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,

40:7"Now brace yourself like a man.
I will question you, and you will answer me.

40:8Will you even annul my judgment?
Will you condemn me, that you may be justified?

40:9Or have you an arm like God?
Can you thunder with a voice like him?

40:10"Now deck yourself with excellency and dignity.
Array yourself with honor and majesty.

40:11Pour forth the fury of your anger.
Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low.

40:12Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him.
Crush the wicked in their place.

40:13Hide them in the dust together.
Bind their faces in the hidden place.

40:14Then I will also admit to you
That your own right hand can save you.

The Wicked Shall Not Stand In The Judgement

Psalm 1 reads,

1:1Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the way of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers;

1:2But his delight is in the law of Yahweh;
On his law he meditates day and night.

1:3He shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also does not wither.
Whatever he does shall prosper.

1:4The wicked are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

1:5Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

1:6For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked shall perish.

Yahweh Is A Righteous Judge

Psalm 7:6-17 reads,

7:6Arise, Yahweh, in your anger.
Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries.

Awake for me. You have commanded judgment.
7:7Let the congregation of the peoples surround you.
Rule over them on high.

7:8Yahweh administers judgment to the peoples.
Judge me, Yahweh, according to my righteousness,
And to my integrity that is in me.

7:9Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,
But establish the righteous;
Their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.

7:10My shield is with God,
Who saves the upright in heart.

7:11God is a righteous judge,
Yes, a God who has indignation every day.

7:12If a man doesn’t relent, he will sharpen his sword;
He has bent and strung his bow.

7:13He has also prepared for himself the instruments of death.
He makes ready his flaming arrows.

7:14Behold, he travails with iniquity;
Yes, he has conceived mischief and brought forth falsehood.

7:15He has dug a hole,
And has fallen into the pit which he made.

7:16The trouble he causes shall return to his own head.
His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.

7:17I will give thanks to Yahweh according to his righteousness,
And will sing praise to the name of Yahweh Most High.

Yahweh Sits On His Throne Judging Righteously

Psalm 9 reads,

For the Chief Musician. Set to "The Death of the Son." A Psalm by David.

9:1I will give thanks to Yahweh with my whole heart.
I will tell of all your marvelous works.

9:2I will be glad and rejoice in you.
I will sing praise to your name, you Most High.

9:3When my enemies turn back,
They stumble and perish in your presence.

9:4For you have maintained my right and my cause.
You sit on the throne judging righteously.

9:5You have rebuked the nations. You have destroyed the wicked.
You have blotted out their name forever and ever.

9:6The enemy is overtaken by endless ruin.
The very memory of the cities which you have overthrown has perished.

9:7But Yahweh reigns forever.
He has prepared his throne for judgment.

9:8He will judge the world in righteousness.
He will administer judgment to the peoples in uprightness.

9:9Yahweh will also be a high tower for the oppressed;
A high tower in times of trouble.

9:10Those who know your name will put their trust in you,
For you, Yahweh, have not forsaken those who seek you.

9:11Sing praises to Yahweh, who dwells in Zion,
And declare among the people what he has done.

9:12For he who avenges blood remembers them.
He doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted.

9:13Have mercy on me, Yahweh.
See my affliction by those who hate me,

And lift me up from the gates of death;
9:14That I may show forth all your praise.
In the gates of the daughter of Zion I will rejoice in your salvation.

9:15The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made;
In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.

9:16Yahweh has made himself known. He has executed judgment.
The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands.

Meditation. Selah.

9:17The wicked shall be turned back to Sheol,
Even all the nations that forget God.

9:18For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
Nor the hope of the poor perish forever.

9:19Arise, Yahweh! Don’t let man prevail.
Let the nations be judged in your sight.

9:20Put them in fear, Yahweh.
Let the nations know that they are only men.

Selah.

Yahweh Destroys The Wicked And Blots Out Their Name Forever And Ever

9:5 notes that Yahweh destroys the wicked and blots out their name forever and ever. From where are the names of the wicked blotted out, from the book of life?

The Wicked Shall Be Turned Back To Sheol

9:17 notes that the wicked shall be turned back to Sheol. To be turned back to Sheol implies that these wicked actually come out of Sheol before being turned back. This implies that the wicked in Sheol will indeed live again, but will eventually be returned back to Sheol. In other words, those who live and do wickedness go to Sheol. They eventually live again, being raised from the dead and being removed from Sheol. But as they persist in wickedness they will eventually be returned to Sheol, where they had been after their deaths.

When the wicked are returned to Sheol, do they remain there forever? Or is there a mechanism by which they are destroyed in Sheol after being returned to it?

Yahweh Judges The Fatherless And The Oppressed

Psalm 10 reads,

10:1Why do you stand far off, Yahweh?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

10:2In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak;
They are caught in the schemes that they devise.

10:3For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings,
He blesses the greedy, and condemns Yahweh.

10:4The wicked, in the pride of his face,
Has no room in his thoughts for God.

10:5His ways are prosperous at all times;
He is haughty, and your laws are far from his sight:

As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them.
10:6He says in his heart, "I shall not be shaken;
For generations I shall have no trouble."

10:7His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression.
Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.

10:8He lies in wait near the villages.
From ambushes, he murders the innocent.

His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.

10:9He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless.
He catches the helpless, when he draws him in his net.

10:10The helpless are crushed, they collapse,
They fall under his strength.

10:11He says in his heart, "God has forgotten.
He hides his face. He will never see it."

10:12Arise, Yahweh! God, lift up your hand!
Don’t forget the helpless.

10:13Why does the wicked condemn God,
And say in his heart, "God won’t call me into account?"

10:14But you do see trouble and grief;
You consider it to take it into your hand.
You help the victim and the fatherless.

10:15Break the arm of the wicked.
As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none.

10:16Yahweh is King forever and ever!
The nations will perish out of his land.

10:17Yahweh, you have heard the desire of the humble.
You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear,

10:18To judge the fatherless and the oppressed,
That man who is of the earth may terrify no more.

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