~ Featured Inside ~

Shalom Aleichem,
    Peace be unto you through our Father in heaven, and His Son, Yeshua HaMashiach, May you be blessed in your calling as children of the Living God and as the Bride of our Savior, Yeshua.
    This is the seventh issue of Hebrew Roots. When we started this publication a little over one year ago we did not know whether there would ever be more than one or two issues produced. But the subscription list continues to grow and many Brothers and Sisters in Yeshua have written to express their interest in, and appreciation for, the material being covered.

~ Bi-monthly Schedule? ~

    As you might have noticed, we are attempting to get back onto a bimonthly schedule for publication. Due to a number of factors the last two issues were quarterlies. Our goal is to produce at least a twenty-four page issue every two months, and to offer two taped messages with each publication.
    As the mailing list continues to grow, more and more mail needs to be processed. Also, there are more and more readers sending us letters and other material for our review. Many of those letters should receive a personal response. All we can say is that we will do the very best we can to respond where it seems appropriate. However, our responses may not come quickly. If we become too involved answering questions and corresponding with readers, it leaves too little time to do the research necessary to produce a quality publication. In the last analysis it seems to us that it is more important to research and write articles that will be read by several hundred people rather than to spend a large amount of time answering personal letters that are read by very few people. We pray that those of you who have written, hoping for a personal response, will understand if we are unable to reply, or if the reply does not come promptly.

~ Distractions ~

    In addition to our publishing efforts, we are trying to finish a room above our garage so that the Hebrew Roots office can be moved there. We are a bit weary of living in our office, which is where we find ourselves at this time. Our house is quite small and it seems that we can never get away from work. Also, it will not be long before school begins and part-time teaching duties will again resume.
    All of these things hamper the writing and production of Hebrew Roots. Of course, they are really nothing more than distractions. ft seems that one of life’s greatest challenges is to overcome the constant distractions that come one’s direction, and that get in the way of accomplishing those things which are of prime importance. It is so easy to work a little longer on the office, in order to finish a particular segment, and then find that we have short changed ourselves in the amount of time we had hoped to put into researching, writing or answering letters.
    Distractions can also become a form of procrastination. If an impending project seems to be too large or too complex to handle, it is easy to find a million little things that need to be done, and expend our energy on those things at the expense of what we should be doing. Sound familiar?
    It is our belief that the Bride of Messiah is currently in this same type of situation. The wedding is drawing close, very close, and the wedding gown is still not ready. Likewise, the bride has still not learned how to correctly apply her cosmetics, nor is her trousseau prepared. (Est. 2:12).
    What do we mean by this statement? Well, consider what the Bride of Messiah will be wearing for her wedding.

    "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints."
(Rev. 19:7-8)

    What exactly is the wedding gown that the Bride should be working on? It is the "...righteous acts of the saints." What is the Bride spending her time doing? According to a lot of the mail we receive, she is spending an awful lot of time bickering with herself over a myriad of issues, many of which she is just not in a position of correctly resolving by herself at this time. Many of these issues will have to wait until Her Husband Yeshua, returns for her and instructs her by word or example. In the meantime, the Bride should be focusing her attention on preparing for the wedding instead of being distracted by irresolvable issues.

~ Dissecting the Body ~

    It would be bad enough if the Bride was merely neglecting her wedding gown of righteousness. To make matters worse, she often engages in heated discussions with herself that sometimes become nearly violent to the point where various parts of the Bride begin casting off other parts. The hand may say to the foot; "You are blaspheming and therefore you are not of the Bride. Get away from me." Or the eye may say to the ear; "You are not keeping the Passover on the correct day. Be gone, you hearer of iniquity."
    Of course this all sounds a little foolish, but it is not a new problem. The apostle Paul (Shaul) saw the very same thing happening in his day.

    "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. ... For in fact the body is not one member but many.
    "If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them in the body just as He pleased. ... And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you;’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. ... there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another."
(1 Cor. 12:12,14-18,21-22,25)

~ Preparing the Bride ~

    It is our firmly held belief, that the Bride of Messiah must put aside the distractions, stop procrastinating, and especially stop her vain bickering, and get on with the business of preparing herself and her gown for the soon coming wedding. If she does not do so she may find herself in the unhappy position of the five foolish virgins of Matthew 23.
    The bulk of the first six issues was primarily directed towards laying groundwork about the Torah, and the Festivals. Now it is time to focus more heavily on material that can be used by everyone who is a member of the Bride, so that we can begin to work toward the completion of our precious gown of righteousness. Needless to say, our finished garment will not look very good if we do not know the first thing about sewing. Therefore, understanding is also, very, very important.

~ This Issue ~

    The two lead articles of this issue fall under the heading of Preparing the Bride. The first is entitled Our Dress of Fine Linen. It focuses on the importance of understanding what the wedding dress of Rev. 19:7 is, so that we can all be active in its preparation.
    The second article; The Season of Return, addresses the season called Teshuvah. It is an annual period of time during which we should focus on returning to God and repenting of our wrong doings. This year we enter into this season in early September.
    Food for Thought explores the Scriptures relating to God’s love and how it manifests itself in His children.
    Our other standard features; Jerusalem: A Cup of Trembling, Iron Sharpens Iron, and Endnotes are also included.
    With this issue we are offering two new tapes. The Wedding of the Messiah series continues in Part IV with a tape entitled; Yeshua Returns for His Bride. The second tape is a continuation of The Roots of Our Faith series with a message which explores the fascinating story of Yaccov (Jacob) and how his life is a microcosm of the Festivals. It is called; Jacob’s Appointed Times. We hope you will find both tapes worthwhile for your study. If you wish to receive them please complete and return the coupon that has been provided.
            May the peace of God
             be with you always,

            Dean & Susan Wheelock

Linen

     The modern wedding is usually quite an event. It requires large amounts of planning, time, energy and money. A date is set, a church or hall is rented, a person is contracted to officiate, invitations are printed, reception plans made, a guest list is prepared, flowers and decorations are selected, tuxedos and dresses are ordered for the attendants, and a wedding gown is chosen. It can be an extremely busy, and sometimes frustrating, experience to say the least. Then there are the various roles played by the parents of the couple. The chief duties fall to the mother of the Bride. She is responsible for assisting the Bride in all of the many plans and preparations. The father of the Bride is also quite involved for he gives the Bride away at the ceremony. Also, he is usually the one who provides the funds needed for the wedding celebration. Meanwhile, the mother of the Bridegroom may assist to some degree with the wedding plans, while the father of the Bridegroom is expected to provide funds for a rehearsal dinner, show up for the wedding, and not cause any trouble.

~ The Ancient Wedding ~

     Ancient Hebrew weddings were quite different. First the couple was matched. The parents of both the Bridegroom and Bride were intimately involved in this process, which could take place long before the couple were of marriageable age. Then, when the prospective couple came of age, the Bridegroom would go to the father of the prospective Bride to make the necessary arrangements. However, these were not the kinds of arrangements common to a modern wedding. Rather, they worked out a marriage contract or covenant, called a Ketuvah (Keh-two-vah). Once the details were agreed upon, the father of the prospective Bride called his daughter into the room. A cup of wine was poured and the Bridegroom offered it to her. If she accepted the cup, and drank from it, they were officially betrothed. In the eyes of Hebrew law they were then considered married and only a legal divorce could separate them.
     However, they could not yet live together as husband and wife. Instead, the Bridegroom went back to his father’s house to prepare a wedding chamber for his Bride. This chamber was called a Chuppah (Who-pah). It was located on the property of the father of the Bridegroom, usually within the father’s house. It was the responsibility of the Bridegroom to prepare the Chuppah in a way that would be pleasing to his Bride, and it was the responsibility of his father to examine it at regular intervals and make suggestions on how it could be improved. Also, it had to be well stocked with provisions, for once the couple entered the Chuppah they remained in it for seven days.
     The wedding was not announced ahead of time. In fact, only the father of the Bridegroom knew the day or the hour in which the wedding would take place because it was his responsibility to determine when the Chuppah, his son, and the bride were ready. When the father felt all was in order, he would say to his son; "The hour has come, go and get your Bride."
     The time span between the Betrothal and the final wedding ceremony was usually about one year. It could be longer if circumstances demanded, but it was usually not shorter unless the Bride was a widow. During the betrothal time the couple (although officially married) normally did not see one another. One can only imagine the anticipation that must have existed in the hearts of both the Bride and her Husband, as they awaited the final approval of his father. When that day and hour finally came, the couple would enter the Chuppah to consummate their marriage. Then they would truly be able to say:

"I am my beloved’s,
And my beloved is mine."
(Song of Songs 6:3)

~ The Bride’s Preparation ~

     During the time while the Bridegroom was preparing the Chuppah, the Bride also had some important things to accomplish. She needed to begin collecting those items she would need to run the household once they were fully married and living together. This would be the trousseau which she would bring to their permanent home once the seven days in the Chuppah had been accomplished. The Bride also had to prepare her wedding dress and other appropriate articles of clothing. In addition it was an ancient custom for the Bride to learn how to make herself physically beautiful for her husband through the application of cosmetics and perfumes. So, it was during this year of preparation that she learned these arts as well. This practice is mentioned in the book of Esther, the beautiful young Jewess who became the Queen of Persia.

     "Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months’ preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women. Thus prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the women’s quarters to the king’s palace. In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who kept the concubines. She would not go in to the king again unless the king delighted in her and called for her by name."
(Est. 2:12)

     It must be remembered that each of these women who came to King Ahasuerus’ chamber became his legal wife. They were called concubines and were considered to be of lower status than a full wife. Esther was not relegated to the status of concubine, rather, she became the highest ranking wife, the Queen of Persia.

~ The Betrothed ~
~ Bride of Messiah ~

     At this very moment in time, the Bride of Messiah (the Church of called out ones) finds herself in the same situation as the ancient betrothed Bride. She is in a state of full betrothal to Yeshua, her legal Husband. However, instead of the normal one year wait, the Bride of Messiah has now been waiting almost two thousand physical years for her husband to return and take her to the Chuppah for the consummation of their marriage. We can be assured that Yeshua will come for us, for He promised to do so at the Last Supper when He made His typically Jewish betrothal speech:

     "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where 1 go you know, and the way you know."
(John 14:1-4)

     Right now Yeshua is at His Father’s house in heaven, awaiting word from His Father as to when He can come back to this earth for his beloved Bride, the Church. Meanwhile the Bride is on earth, waiting for Her Betrothed to return and take her to the Chuppah. (For more complete information on the ancient Hebrew wedding write for the tape series; The Wedding of the Messiah.)

~ Our Wedding Preparations ~

     What should we (the Bride) be doing while we wait? Prepare ourselves for our wedding, of course. Since the wedding ceremony itself requires no preparation on our part; (i.e. we need not worry about securing a minister, reserving a hall, ordering flowers, etc.), we need only concern ourselves with becoming a beautiful and acceptable vessel for our Husband, Yeshua.
     All analogies begin to break down to some degree at some point. The ancient wedding is no exception, for the Bride of Messiah consists of a multitude of ‘called out ones.’ Many members of the Bride have already lived their lives and died in the unwavering faith that their Savior--Husband Yeshua will resurrect them from their graves when He returns. Also, the Bride of Messiah will not require a physical wedding gown, or a trousseau of household items for setting up housekeeping. Rather, the preparation for our wedding must be of a spiritual nature.
     As it is written:

     "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’
     "And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints."
(Rev. 19:7-8)

     Three important points, concerning the Bride, leap out from these verses: 1.) "... His wife has made herself ready." 2.) She is; "... arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright..." and 3.) "... the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints."
     The Bride of Messiah is to be doing a work while she awaits Yeshua’s return. That work is; 1.) to learn what constitutes righteousness, and 2.) to perform righteous acts. In other words, we must learn to live righteously, for it will be the righteous acts of the Saints which will form the Bride’s proper wedding gown. Surely, none of us wishes to attend the greatest wedding of all time without a suitable wedding garment, for that could be dangerous, as we can see from the following parable:

     "‘The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.
     "‘Again, he sent out other servants, saying, "Tell those who are invited, ‘See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.’"
     "‘But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.
     "‘But when the king heard about it, he was furious, and he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then he said to his servants, "The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding."
     "‘So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, "Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?" And he was speechless.
     "‘Then the king said to the servants, "Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." For many are called, but few are chosen.’"
(Matt. 22:2-14)

     How we are dressed is very important, since we will not be allowed to participate in the wedding if we do not come wearing our gown of righteousness.

~ What Is Righteousness? ~

     Before going any further we must come to an understanding of what constitutes righteousness. We can determine the nature of righteousness by looking at a number of verses that tell us about it.

     "‘And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day, Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.’"
(Deut. 6:24-25)

     It is clear from this passage that in order to be righteous it is necessary for one to be "... careful to observe all these commandments ..." that have been given in the Torah. This concept is confirmed by the Psalmist in the following verse:

"My lips shall utter praise,
For you teach me your statutes.
My tongue shall speak of Your word,
For all Your commandments are righteousness.
(Psalm 119:171-172)

     All of God’s commandments are considered to be righteousness. Not just the big Ten. Not just those which have to do with how we should relate to each other, but also those which teach us how we should relate to God in all facets of our life. All of God’s commandments are righteousness.
     The Hebrew word translated as commandment is mitzvah (meets-vah, Strong’s #4687). It is; "a command whether human or divine." The word can also mean a ‘good deed.’ In other words, to help someone in need is not only a command, it is also a good deed and to perform any of God’s mitzvaot (meets-vah-oat = plural form) is also to perform good deeds.
     The Hebrew word for statutes is chok (hohk, Strong’s #2706). It means; "an enactment; hence an appointment (of time, space, quantity, labor or usage)." Thus, it can also be a reference to the ‘appointed times’ or festivals set forth in Leviticus 23.
     The two previously mentioned verses (Psalm 119:171,172) are a prime example of what is known as ‘Hebrew parallelism.’ The first line of each verse refers to the willingness of the Psalmist to speak about the glory of God:

"My lips shall utter praise,"
"My tongue shall speak of Your word,"

     These two introductory lines are then followed by phrases in which the Psalmist tells us why he is so willing to praise God and teach His word:

"For You teach me Your statutes."
"For all Your commandments are righteousness."

     Hebrew parallelism is used to add emphasis to a thought or concept. In this case the thought being emphasized is the greatness and righteousness of God’s statutes and commandments, in other words, the greatness of His instructions (Torah) on how to live a righteous life. The Psalmist proclaims his desire to praise God publicly because God’s commandments and statutes are so completely righteous,.
     Not only are God’s commandments and statutes righteous, His judgments are as well. As the Psalmist says:

"I will praise You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments."
(Psalm 119:7)

"I have sworn and confirmed
That I will keep Your righteous judgments."
(Psalm 119:106)

     The apostle Shaul (Shaw-ool = Paul) taught us that the Torah was righteous when he said:

     "Therefore the law (Torah) is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good."
(Rom. 7:12)

     That which the Psalmist called righteous in Psalm 119 (God’s commandments) is now called "holy and just and good" by Shaul. In fact, Shaul went so far as to equate obedience with righteousness when he said:

     "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?"
(Rom. 6:15-16)

     According to Shaul, not only must we, as Believers, be obedient to God’s commandments, we must become actual slaves to righteousness:

     "And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."
(Rom. 6:18)

     In other words, we must continually practice righteousness, for a slave must always do what his master bids.

     What then is righteousness? Deuteronomy 6 and Psalm 119 tell us that the commandments, statutes and judgments are all righteous. Therefore, when we perform them in the manner in which they were intended, we become righteous because we are living righteously through them.
     Now, in order to learn what the commandments, statutes and judgments are, we must turn to the Torah. Therein are contained the 613 mitzvaot (commandments), the chok (statutes), and the many judgments. The Writings,* and the Prophets** also instruct us in the ways and desires of our righteous God, as they contain many applications and amplifications on the instructions of God given to Moshe.

[* The Writings include: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, The Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecelesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, I & II Chronicles.]
[** The Prophets include: Joshua, Judges, I & II Samuel, I & II Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Twelve Minor Prophets. Taken together, the Torah, the Writings and the Prophets make up the ‘Old Testament, which the Jews call the Tanakh.]

     But let us not forget the Brit Chadasha (Renewed Covenant or New Testament) which is said to contain over one thousand commandments, most of them reiterations or amplifications of those found in the Torah. Combined together (codified), we have a complete body of instruction (the Bible) which teaches us the righteousness of God.

~ Who Is Righteous? ~

"As it is written:
‘There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all gone out of the way;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one."
(Rom. 3:10-12)

     We must understand that what mankind considers righteousness does not hold a whole lot of weight with God.

"But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
We all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.

"And there is no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself up to take hold of You;
For you have hidden your face from us,
And have consumed us because of our iniquities."
(Isa. 64:6-7)

     The expression "filthy rags" literally means "menstrual cloths." (See Strong’s #5708). The righteousness of men, apart from God, and as contrasted to God’s righteousness, is like the difference between the menstrual cloth and the wedding gown.

     While man is inherently unrighteous, God, on the other hand, is completely righteous. The scriptures abound with verses which speak about the righteousness of YHVH. For example:

"The LORD is righteous in all His ways,
Gracious in all His works."
(Psalm 145:17)

"For the LORD is righteous,
He loves righteousness;
His countenance beholds the upright."
(Psalm 11:7)

     The Scriptures also teach about the righteousness of the Messiah:

"‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD,
‘That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and prosper,
And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell safely;
Now this is His name by which He will be called:
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS’"
(Jer. 23:5-6)

"And I heard the angel of the waters saying:
‘You are righteous, O Lord,
The One who is and who was and who is to be,
Because You have judged these things."
(Rev. 16:5)

~ Unequally Yoked ~

     This presents us with a dilemma. if God the Father is righteous, and His Son, Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) is righteous, but the Bride is unrighteous (because she is made up of sinful people); how can Yeshua ever even begin to think that He can marry her? Can righteousness be yoked to unrighteousness?
     This was the very same problem that occurred when God married the nation of Israel at Mt. Sinai. The Bridegroom was perfect and righteous, while the Bride was imperfect and unrighteous. She proved that very quickly while they were still in the Chuppah at Mt. Sinai, when she went whoring after the golden calf. The results were disastrous. After the bride (Israel) divided into two warring parts (the house of Israel, and the house of Judah), God divorced the house of Israel because of her unrighteousness, and consequent unfaithfulness, through her acts of spiritual idolatry. The only reason He remained married to the house of Judah was so that the prophesied Messiah could be born of that lineage and into their culture, which was primarily derived from God through Torah, Temple Avodah (ah-voh-dah service) and the Synagogue system established by Ezra.
     Idolatry was not a major problem during the period of the second Temple. Neither was the breaking of the Sabbath, for the vast majority of the foundational values of Jewish culture were primarily based on Scriptural values, although the Pharisees tended to teach traditions with an over zealous strictness. The primary sins of the house of Judah, during the second Temple period, had to do with uncharitable attitudes toward the poor and downtrodden of their society. Thus, the rules of tradition became more important, to many of the religious leaders, than did expressions of love and charity for those in need.
     Yeshua addressed this problem when He said:

     "... they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers."
(Matt. 23:4)

~ Can Men Become Righteous? ~

     We have already shown from the scriptures how man’s righteousness is nothing more to God than ‘filthy rags. Yet the scriptures also abound with passages that extol the virtues of the ‘righteous’ man, such as:

"Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful."
(Psalm 33:1)

"The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry."
(Psalm 34:15)

"The wicked borrows and does not repay,
But the righteous shows mercy and gives."
(Psalm 37:2 1)

     "... The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."
(James 5:16b)

     It is obvious from these verses that man can be considered righteous if he performs righteous acts. However, this can only be accomplished by correctly understanding and practicing the righteous commandments, statutes and judgments of God as found in the Scriptures. Man’s righteousness, on the other hand, can never make a man righteous in the sight of God.

~ Man’s Righteousness ~
~ vs. God’s Righteousness ~

     Man’s righteousness is a mixture of good and evil. It can be found in the laws and traditions of all races, nationalities and cultures. Sometimes it is more good, sometimes it is more evil. It is the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that our first parents partook of in the Garden of Eden, and which each of us has partaken of in our own individual lives. This is not the righteousness God is referring to in the passages above.
     The righteousness of God, on the other hand, is defined in the pages of the Torah. However, even if a person was able to keep all of these instructions (laws) of God perfectly, he still would not attain a righteousness that would make him eligible for eternal life by his own merits, for that is impossible. These instructions were set forth to give great blessings and an abundant life to those who would observe them. Even so, it was an impossible goal for anyone to expect to be able to keep all of the instructions perfectly for an entire lifetime.
     It was because of this impossibility, that the instructions took on another, even more important function, They now became a ‘schoolmaster’ or ‘tutor’ to lead men into the realization of their deep need for a Redeemer; one who could save them from their inability to live totally righteous lives before God.

     "But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law (Torah), kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law (Torah) was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus."
(Gal. 3:23-26)

     One (and only one) of the benefits of the Torah was to bring us to an understanding that we need to have our Husband’s help in order to keep all the instructions of the Torah. Once we have that understanding, we no longer need to keep learning that fact. This is not to say that, as the Betrothed Bride of Messiah, we are to throw out the Torah, for that document is also our Ketuvah or marriage covenant, now written on our hearts.
     The instructions of the Torah teach us how live. To follow them is to "choose life."

     "For this commandment which I command you today, it is not too mysterious for you nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
     "But the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.
     "But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess.
     "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give them."
(Deut. 30:11-20)

     While it is possible for a man to be considered righteous according to the standards of man’s righteousness, no one can ever be considered fully righteous according to God’s standard of righteousness through their own merits. For to do so would require the attainment, of the lofty goal of keeping all of God’s commandments, statutes and judgments perfectly throughout one’s entire life, never slipping up even once. It is just plain impossible, for sinful, fleshly man to accomplish, for as it is written:

     "... all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
(Rom. 3:23)

     "If we say they we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."
(I John 1:10)

     "Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness."
(I John 3:4)

     To be ‘lawless’ is to be without law, or outside of the law; in other words, an ‘outlaw.’ When one is following faithfully the ‘law’ or instruction of God, he is within the law and is ‘law abiding.’ So people can and should do their very best to abide by the law (Torah or instruction) of God.

     "Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked."
(1 John 2:3-6)

     Yeshua HaMashiach, our Beloved Husband, walked faithfully and completely perfect in all the commandments, statutes and judgments of the Torah. He was fully righteous in God’s sight. Thus, every time we succeed in ‘keeping the law’ we too are righteous in God’s sight and are walking just as He walked. Once again, this is not the same as performing man s righteousness, since what we are speaking of here is the very instruction of God, or God’s righteousness as practiced by His people.
     In our own flesh we cannot maintain this level of righteousness day in and day out for an entire lifetime. However, this fact should not deter us from making every effort to live righteous lives, for as we practice righteousness we become more proficient and therefore more righteous. Thus, righteous acts build upon righteous acts to become a way of life; a ‘righteous lifestyle.’
     Shaul’s epistle to Titus expressly instructs the Believers to live, good, honorable and righteous lives. In other words, to live according to the instruction book of God.

     "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age ...“
(Titus 2:11-12)

     The Bride must be clothed in "...the righteous acts of the saints."
(Rev. 19:8b)

~ What Happens ~
~ When We Sin? ~

     But what happens when the Bride (or a member of the Bride) sins? According to Scripture
a lifetime of righteousness can be wiped out in a single act of unrighteousness.
     A rather extensive passage in the book of Ezekiel clearly lays out the grave problem
which each human being faces when he or she acts in an unrighteous manner. This passage
follows, quoted in it’s entirety:

     "‘Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: "Thus you say, ‘If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live.’"
     "‘Say to them: "As I live," says the Lord GOD, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?"
     "‘Therefore you, O son of man, say to the children of your people:
     "The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins."
     "‘When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die.
     "‘Again, when I say to the wicked, "You shall surely die," if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
     "‘Yet the children of your people say, "The way of the LORD is not fair." But it is their way which is not fair! When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it. But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it.
     "‘Yet you say, "The way of the LORD is not fair." O house of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his own ways.’"
(Ezek. 33:10-20)

     According to this passage one act of sin, one act of rebelliousness, one wrong motive, can blow an entire lifetime of righteousness. On the other hand, a lifetime of sinfulness and wretchedness can be obliterated by true, heartfelt repentance and by turning from that life of sin to a life of living according to the instruction book of God; in other words, turning to a life of righteousness. Obviously, those who are already practicing righteousness do not need to repent for their righteous acts.

     "‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: "I desire mercy and not sacrifice." For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.’"
(Matt. 9:12b-13)

     This does not mean that Yeshua does not call people who are already practicing righteousness into the Bride. What it does mean is that He also has a way in which sinners can become righteous.

~ A Crucial Question ~

     Is it really possible that a lifetime of sin can be wiped away and forgotten completely by God?
     Certainly if it were left to the ‘righteousness’ of men (the ‘filthy rags’) it could never be so. For men do rarely forgive, and certainly do not forget. If it were left to men, the sinner (by their definition) would be made to pay every last penny he ever earned and then still have to give up his life in additional payment. Even after all of this had been done, people would still remember his sins and relish talking of them after he was gone.
     But the ways of God are far greater than the ways of man and we can rejoice, for God has a plan; He has called, and is yet calling, a body of people to be a righteous Bride for His Son, Yeshua HaMashiach.

~ God’s Plan for Righteousness ~

     What a marvelous plan. God the Father sent this same Son (His only begotten Son) to earth to negotiate a Ketuvah (wedding covenant or contract) for His Bride. The Bride price that was named in the Ketuvah of Messiah was that He would take upon Himself all the unrighteousness (sins) of the Bride and die because of them, thereby removing those sins from her, thus making her righteous before God and a fitting mate for Himself. All of those sins, which had previously cut the Bride off from being worthy to be Yeshua’s wife, are removed. Now there is really only one thing that the Bride has to do in order to be brought into the betrothal state with Yeshua. That is to display the single most important character trait exhibited by her great forefather Avraham (Ahv-rah-hahm = Abraham), the trait of FAITH!

     "Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness,’ Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that - God would justify the nations by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham."
(Gal. 3:6-9)

     Once we transgress one of the instructions (laws) of God, that instruction remains broken. It cannot be repaired by any act we do, no matter how good or righteous that act may be. Once we have committed idolatry it is a done deal. No amount of true, spiritual worship can undo the idolatrous act which has been committed. Only the sacrificial blood of Messiah, Yeshua can remove that stain from our record through the forgiveness of sins.

     "Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses."
(Acts 13:38-39)

     The law of Moses (Torah) did provide a method for the covering of sins. This was accomplished through the blood of bulls and goats. However, those sacrificial elements, while efficacious when performed as proscribed with a contrite heart, had to be continually repeated. Neither could one gain eternal life in spiritual form through the animal sacrifices, for those who practiced them are all dead (asleep) in their graves. These sacrifices were merely a type and shadow of the perfect sacrifice that was yet to come, that of Yeshua HaMashiach, the author and finisher of our Faith.

     "And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest ‘according to the order of Melchizedek.’"
(Heb. 5:9-10)

     No longer must we look to a temporary salvation, now we have a permanent one.

~ Faith and Good Works: ~
~ The Perfect Man ~

     So, dear brethren, we are saved from our transgressions (sins) by one method and one method only:

     "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
(Eph. 2:8-10)

     This same scripture, that so profoundly teaches that we are saved by grace and grace only, also teaches that we are to be performing good works as well, and even gives us the definition of those good works: "...good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
     What good works were "prepared beforehand?" Why none other than those written in the Torah, the Instruction Book of God, for it is within the Torah that we learn what the "good works of God" truly are, So, once again we are brought back to the Torah as being the foundation upon which we are to conduct our lives, not as a method of salvation but as a guidebook on how the Bride is to conduct her life while she waits for her Husband. Yes indeed, Yeshua HaMashiach is the true foundation stone, the Rock on which we are to base our Faith, and it is only by His shed blood that we are saved. But He expects us to go on and perform good works, and in order to fully understand what those ‘good works’ are, we must study, learn and apply the instructions found in the Torah.
     Yes Brethren, we must strive to become perfect men and women. Doing so does not earn us one nickel’s worth of salvation, but it is a commission that each of us has been given as a member in the Bride of Messiah, the Body of Christ. Each time we perform one of the instructions of God, as found in the Torah, we are adding one more stitch to the beautiful gown that is being prepared for the Bride’s wedding. Each time we transgress against the instructions of God, we are removing a righteous stitch from that gown. Therefore, we are to strive to become perfect, speaking the truth in love.

     "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ--from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."
(Eph. 4:11-16)

     We are to be ‘Perfect and Complete Men and Women’ through the practice of perfection:

     "Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God."
(Col. 4:12)

     We are to strive to make our faith perfect by doing good works:

     "But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
     "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?
     "And the scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God.
     "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. ... For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
(James 2:20-24,26)

~ Summary ~

     Let us review the ‘problem’ which the Tanakh (Tah-nahkh = Old Testament) presents for those who would look to it as a source for salvation:

• Keeping the instructions of God grants blessings in this life but does not gain a person eternal life.

• The blood of bulls and goats covers sins, but only until the next time one sins.

• Committing even one sin for which repentance has not been made and/or is not covered by sacrifice requires the death penalty.

     As you can see, there is no permanent redemption possible in this order of things, only temporary relief from sin. However, the Messiah Yeshua has taken care of the problem, by shedding His blood and dying in our place:

     "‘For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.’"
(Matt. 26:28)

     Therefore: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
(1 John 1:9)

     The Bride of Messiah (the Church of the Living God, the Body of Christ) is right now betrothed to this same Yeshua HaMashiach who shed His blood so that our sins could be taken away. The Bride is His legal wife in every sense of the word. However, we (the Bride) do not yet dwell where Yeshua dwells, for we have not yet come to the fullness of the wedding process. The culmination or consummation lies yet before us.

     While we wait for Yeshua to return for us, we need to be preparing our wedding gown of righteousness so that we can be properly clothed for the great wedding that is to take place in heaven. We make those preparations by learning righteousness and (even more importantly) living righteous lives. The wedding dress will never be completed through the arguing of doctrine or striving over scripture, but only through righteous acts of loving concern for our Brethren and our neighbors.

     "Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a Worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings, for they will in-crease to more ungodliness, and their message will spread like cancer."
(II Tim. 2:14-17a)

     "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
(John 13:35)

     We desperately need to be fervently working on our wedding dress, adding righteous stitches to it each and every day, as long as we still have the breath of life within us. Let us resolve, through the power of the Holy Spirit of God which indwells us, to do our very best to follow His Spirit into all righteousness so that each of us can add beautiful stitches to our beautiful gown of righteousness.

     "Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."
(Heb. 13:20-21)

DEW

~ Sources ~

Berkowitz, Ariel & Dvorah, Torah Rediscovered, 2nd ed., First Fruits of Zion, Littleton, CO, 1996.
Green, Jay P., The Interlinear Bible, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA, 1985.
The Open Bible, The New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN, 1965.
Strong, James, STO., L.L.D., Strong’s New Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, World Bible Publishers, Inc., Iowa Falls, IA, 1966.