IYAR 11
Bribe
“Her heads judge for a bribe …” (Mic 3:11)
We clarified several days ago that ‘heads’ referred to those who were
the individual leaders, or chiefs, of their tribe or clan. These men were acting in the capacity of a
lawgiver, judging and executing judgement in circumstances and situations that
were brought before them for arbitration.
However, what sentence and punishment that was being given out was not righteous, nor was it according to
Torah, as we find from the instructions in Deu 16:18-19:
“Appoint judges and
officers within all your gates, which יהוה your Elohim is giving you, according to your tribes. And they
shall judge the people WITH RIGHTEOUS RIGHT-RULING. Do not distort
right-ruling. Do not show partiality, NOR TAKE A BRIBE, for a bribe blinds the
eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.”
Noah Webster has a very complete definition of the
word ‘bribe’, and it is ugly. “1. A price, reward, gift or favor bestowed or promised with a view to pervert the judgment, or
corrupt the conduct of a judge, witness or other person. A bribe is a
consideration given or promised to a person, to induce him to decide a cause,
give testimony, or perform some act contrary
to what he knows to be TRUTH, justice or rectitude. It is not used in a
good sense, unless in familiar language.
2. THAT WHICH SEDUCES”[1]
(emphasis mine).
There is a personal application to be examined through our opening
Scripture. No, not all of us are in a
position of leadership or authority. And
no, most of us would not accept any sort of monetary compensation for declaring
something right that should be wrong, or vice versa. However, bribery comes in many different
forms. What of the husband who knows the truth of the Saturday Sabbath,
yet never says a word when his wife decides to hit all the garage sales on Saturday
morning, because she always brings something home for him? What of that friend that offers to bring you
lunch, arriving with a BLT (made from pork bacon), all the while assuming you will be grateful because,
after all, you didn’t have to pay for it?
And what of the grandchildren who show up at your house on Christmas
Day, bearing gifts for you and your spouse, expecting you to celebrate the day
with them?
Anything that ‘seduces’ us to compromise our Torah observance is a
bribe. Our Elohim commands, and demands, that we be kadosh – set apart – in every
area of our lives, with no excuse (see Lev 19:2; 2Pet 1:16). When we begin to allow any form of bribery to
affect our judgement, especially when
it concerns our own lifestyle, we
have strayed from the path of righteousness (see Deu 13:5; Pro 19:27).
“Blessed is the man
who shall not walk in the counsel of the wrong, And shall not stand in the path
of sinners, And shall not sit in the seat of scoffers, But his delight is in
the Torah of יהוה, And he meditates in His
Torah day and night.” (Ps 1:1-2)
©2021
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