The Righteousness of God is the Place Where Obedience and Faith Intersect-Part 2-The Righteous Shall Live By Faith

The Righteousness of God is the Place Where Obedience and Faith Intersect-Part 2-The Righteous Shall Live By Faith

by | Nov 3, 2021 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

This is “The Place Where Obedience and Faith Intersect.” It is Part 2 of our Series Within a Series and I’ve entitled this particular post: “The Righteous Shall Live by Faith.” 

In part one of this series within a series, we lightly examined Romans 3:21-22. In that examination, we Biblically defined what the Righteousness of Elohim consist of; what the Righteousness of Elohim means from a Biblical perspective. And if you by chance did not get the opportunity to either read or listen to that discussion, here is the link for the transcript and audio for your convenience.

Picking-up from where we left off in Part 1 of this series within a series, I want to really drill down on what it Biblically means for one to live by faith.

 

The passage that will launch our discussion is Romans 1:17, which reads:

 

“For in it is revealed the righteousness of Elohim, from faith to faith; as it is written, “The righteous by faith, will live”” (AENT).

 

Now, we discussed the meaning of the first half of this verse in our discussion post entitled, “The Righteousness of God Revealed From Faith-to-Faith-It’s True Meaning and Reality for God’s People.” If you’ve not had the opportunity to listen to or read that post and you are so led, simply click the title hyperlink.

 

Today we will examine the second half of this verse and determine what living by one’s faith is supposed to look like from a biblical perspective.

 

As I’ve mentioned on a few occasions throughout this Paul and Hebrew Roots Series, Shaul was a product of his impressive formal rabbinic education. Which is to say that Shaul was a brilliant apologist and Torah scholar. Which is also to say that in his own right, Shaul was not so much the originalist that denominationlists might think and suggest he was. And I’m saying this not to diminish the man’s intelligence and mastery of the Tanach for he was indeed brilliant in terms of his understanding and application of the Words of Yehovah. And that my friends are a good thing and certainly a important example for all of us who teach and expound publicly on Yah’s Word. We must base all our work on Yah’s Word. The Work of the Kingdom is not a place for originalists, although it can certainly entertain talents, skills and giftings of the Body.

 

And so, we find here in Romans 1:17 that Shaul expounds upon how the Righteousness of Yehovah is revealed in the Gospel of the Kingdom, to include Yehovah’s righteous judgment and wrath upon unrepentant humanity. But then he takes this somewhat odd turn in his line of reasoning by introducing the element of faith into the equation here. In so doing, the apostle quotes the latter portion of Habakkuk 2:4.

 

Why would the apostle quote Habakkuk at this point in his writing?

 

Looking at this from just a rote, mechanical reading of Romans 1:17, it would appear like so many other passages that this is just another “hard to understand” Pauline passage (2 Pet. 3:15-16).

 

But not to panic. If we read further along in the same chapter, we get a clue as to why he quotes Habakkuk.

 

“For the wrath of Elohim from heaven is revealed against all the iniquity and wickedness of men who hold the truth in iniquity…” (Rom. 1:18; AENT).

 

The key to this curious conundrum turns out to be the first part of verse 18 where the apostle addresses the issue of the wrath of Elohim coming down from heaven against the wickedness and iniquity of humanity. And then he spends the remainder of chapter 1 detailing why Yah’s wrath will be leveled against humanity and what constitutes humanity’s iniquity and wickedness.

 

But even though we can make out that the apostle is preaching a Besorah (aka Gospel) that is based in part on the coming wrath and punishment of Elohim upon humanity, the question of why he quoted Habakkuk is still not fully unpacked.

 

Well, it’s not until we actually step back almost a half a millennium prior to this Romans writing and contextually examine the prophet’s writing can we make better sense of Romans 1:17.

 

 

A little background on the Cepher of Habakkuk is in order before we get into the whys and wherefores of what the prophet meant by the righteous shall live by [his] faith.

 

This Cepher was written by the prophet Habakkuk to Judah (c. 612-589 BC). And so, by the time of the prophet’s writing, House or Kingdom of Yisra’el (more widely known as the 10-Northern Tribes and ultimately the 10-Lost Tribes of Yisra’el) had already been decimated and dispersed by the Assyrians, the reigning world power of that era, sometime between c. 740-722 BCE. This devastating conquest of the Assyrians over the Northern Kingdom is popularly referred to by a few titles: The Assyrian Captivity; The Assyrian Exile; The Israelite Diaspora. This 20-year campaign is documented in the Cephers/Books of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles.

 

But Assyria was replaced by Babylon—specifically the Chaldeans—as the dominant world power of that day (c. 605 BCE). And because of Judah’s pervasive sins and iniquity, and her refusal to learn from what happened to the Northern Kingdom, she would soon experience Babylon’s overwhelming power.

 

Like the Assyrian invasion of the Northern Tribes previously, the full story of the Babylonian Invasion and Captivity of the Kingdom of Judah is a long and convoluted one with many twists and turns that we won’t get into too much to be mindful of our time together.

 

Prior to Habakkuk being called to be a Prophet to Judah, Josiah reigned righteously over the Southern Kingdom (c. 640-609 BCE).

 

The 23rd chapter of 2 Kings documents Josiah’s time as king over Judah as one where the nation was called and led back to Torah-living after the two previous kings, Manasseh, and Amon, promoted and led the nation into lawlessness (2 Kin. 21). This shameful reality took place despite the common knowledge of Judah’s kinsmen in the North having been dispatched/decimated/exiled/captured by the Assyrians a century before because they refused to keep covenant with Yehovah.

 

Well, turns out that the four kings that succeeded Josiah took Judah backwards into lawlessness and covenant breaking. And despite Yehovah sending His prophets to warn the nation that Yah’s patience was wearing thin, and that punishment was coming to Judah if they did not Teshuvah, the nation persisted in its dishonoring of Torah (Jer. 22:13).

 

The Prophet Commences His Ministry During the Reign of King Jehoiakim (2 Kings 23).

 

And it is during the reign of Jehoiakim that violence, injustice, and oppression was rampant just to sum up the lawless state of Judah. Nevertheless, despite the pervasive lawlessness and sinful state of the nation, there existed a righteous remnant. Consequently, it was this righteous remnant that seemed to suffer especially under the nation’s pervasive lawlessness.

 

 

And so, we find in Habakkuk 1:1-4 that the prophet questions-or for that matter complains to Yehovah as to why He had not taken action to quell the lawlessness, oppression, violence, and injustice that was tribulating the remnant. Abba responds to Habakkuk’s complaint or inquiry—however one views such things—by revealing to the prophet His plan to punish Judah through the brutal Chaldean armies.

 

Now, some contend Habakkuk spoke to Yehovah on behalf of this righteous remnant. Nevertheless, one could also interpret the prophet’s work as involving his own, personal internal struggles with Yehovah’s handling of the nation’s affairs, and when you read for understanding that which the prophet wrote, you can certainly get a sense of this.

 

 

Thus, in response to Habakkuk’s Inquiry Yehovah introduces him to the Chaldean menace as the tool He would allow to take care of Judah’s iniquity.

 

By Habakkuk’s day, Chaldean and Babylonian were synonymous.

 

Father describes the Chaldean military prowess as an irresistible fighting force that easily and swiftly overcomes her enemies. The Chaldean’s brutality and strength Father likened unto predatory animals such as leopards, wolves, and eagles (1:5-11).

 

A little more background on the Chaldeans. 

 

They hailed out of the NW Persian Gulf. They rose to world power status rapidly around 630 BC. By 605 BC, the Chaldeans had conquered both Assyria and Egypt. The Chaldeans, like their counterparts the Assyrians, were a wicked people. These became renown for taking nation peoples captive; possessing superior warfare tactics and skills; and their entire existence and drive was built on their military prowess. The nation-Babylon—was immensely proud of their military might. These had little to no regard for humanity. They mercilessly plundered the nations they conquered.

 

And thus, Judah would fall victim to the Babylonian onslaught as punishment for her (Judah’s) iniquity. 

 

And the fact that Yehovah would use such an iniquitous, evil, pagan-nation as Babylon to punish Judah, seen as significantly less iniquitous in comparison to Babylon, shocked the prophet.

 

Habakkuk in turn challenges Yehovah’s wisdom in using a morally inferior peoples to chastise His supposed Chosen-Peoples (Habakkuk 1:12-17)

 

The prophet reasoned that this scheme of Yah to cause judgment to befall Judah by the hands of the Chaldeans was inconsistent with Yehovah’s goodness. For as one commentary noted:

 

“As bad as the Jews were, they were more righteous than the wicked Babylonian invaders…How could a just God allow Babylon’s merciless slaughter of the nations, much less their triumph against His people Judah” (HCSB Commentary)?

 

Obviously, the Chaldean’s reputation had preceded them, the prophet being quite aware of their brutal ways and capabilities. I guess news even in those days traveled far and wide. Regardless, the prophet was hard-pressed to understand Yah’s mind on this critical situation.

 

And it is this very thing—that, the prophet’s struggle to understand what it was that Yah was doing and going to do with His people-that sets the stage for this very foundational statement that our Elohim makes to Habakkuk and that Shaul uses to elaborate on his teaching on the Righteousness of Elohim: “The Righteous shall live by faith.

 

So then in chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, after the prophet for a second time challenges or queries Yehovah as to what He’s going to do about Judah’s situation, that Yehovah responds with the instruction for Habakkuk and the remnant.

 

“I (Habakkuk speaking here) will take my stand at my watch post and station myself on the tower and look out to see what He (the prophet referring to Yehovah here) will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint (the Hebrew for complaint being “towkechah” {to-kay-khaw}, which holds meanings of rebuke, correction, reproof, punishment. So, the language here describing Habakkuk’s behavior towards Yehovah seems pretty intense. But in terms of the demeanor of the ancients in this regard, this behavior in no way places the prophet’s relationship with Yehovah at risk. We will find Yah seems to almost invite the prophet’s challenge to His plans to punish and judge Judah.) (Continuing-verse 2) And Yehovah answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. (In other words, I want you Habakkuk to put down everything I’m about to reveal to you so that there is no ambiguity in what I’m going to tell you here today regarding Judah’s pending punishment and judgment and where My mind is regarding you, the remnant, Judah, and the Chaldeans. Because I expect some type of action from those who hear this revelation that I’m conveying to here.) (Continuing-verse 3) For still the vision awaits its appointed time and it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. (In other words, despite your pious protestations as it relates to the Chaldeans rendering judgment against Judah on Yehovah’s behalf, the invasion and devastation of Judah is going to happen. Judah’s coming judgment may not manifest in a manner and time that you approve of, but it’s going to happen and it’s going to happen sooner than later. It is in fact going to happen in My timing according to My permissive Will.) (Continuing-verse4) Behold, his soul (referring to Chaldea-Babylon) is puffed up; it is not upright within him…(In other words, the Chaldeans are bad hombres, but their badness will be the very thing that brings them down in the end. Oh, Chaldea will get their just deserts. They are arrogant—that is they are puffed up; and they are wicked—that is they are not upright. The Chaldeans, because of their guilt—their evil—they would be held accountable. Most egregious to Yehovah is the fact that the Chaldeans worshiped their military prowess, even over that of their patron god Marduk.They cannot nor will not stand for long. Their day is coming.) (And here’s the kicker) …but the righteous shall live by his faith” (ESV with personal commentary).

 

Hang in there with me. We’re going to get into what Abba meant by “The righteous shall live by his/her faith in just a few.

 

 

The Babylon’s pride would ultimately result in her downfall.

 

 

Judah ultimately fell to Babylonian control in 604 BC. Babylon occupied Judah from 604 BC. Judah’s king at the time, Jehoiakim, rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, leading to the brutal invasion of Judah by Babylon from 598-597 BC. Jehoiakim was deposed as Judah’s king and ultimately executed. Judah’s last king, Zedekiah, too rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, leading to Judah’s complete devastation by Babylon in 587-586 BC, and most of the people of Judah were taken into captivity.

 

The central questions of this prophesy are: (1) Why does the Eternal allow injustice to persist, especially when it involves His chosen ones? (2) Why did the Eternal use wickeder nations to punish less wicked Yisra’el? (3) How long will the lawless dominate the world? (HCSB Commentary)

___________________________________________________________

 

Violence was the punishment Judah would receive for its own violence (1:2,3,9)—violations of the rights of others (Psa. 72:14; Isa. 53:9; Jer. 22:3; Mic. 6:12); injustices; oppression; lawlessness. The idea that Yehovah would use the Chaldeans to punish Judah, as wicked and ruthless as they were, rewarding the Chaldeans in the form of their devastating the comparatively less evil/wicked Judah, did not make sense to Habakkuk. And thus, the righteousness/justness of Yehovah is unwittingly brought into question by the prophet and no doubt some of the righteous remnant.

 

Yah’s response to the prophet’s objection to Him was that the Chaldean invasion was going to happen despite the prophet’s outrage or not. And as evil/wicked as the Chaldean’s were, it was the job of the righteous remnant to trust-have faith in Yehovah’s righteousness (cf. Job 38-41). Yah does not by any stretch of the imagination have to justify Himself to humanity. He is sovereign. His Ways are not our ways. We know only what Yah chooses to reveal to us, His beloved as He is omniscient. (We spoke extensively on this very theme in our post entitled: Let God Be True and Every Man a Liar–A Messianic Discussion of Romans 3:3-4 (themessianictorahobserver.org).

 

In fact, Yehovah is still on the throne (2:20).

 

Indeed, Babylon would reap that which she’d sewn, as Yah pronounces 5-woes upon them. This ultimately came to fruition when Persia conquered Babylon in 539 BC.

 

And thus, Habakkuk’s perspectives is corrected and he determines to wait on Yehovah to accomplish His Will for Judah (3:16). (Not unlike what we have before and around us in our country today.) But come what may, the prophet determines to trust in Yehovah, and to find strength through his faith (3:17-19).

 

In the end, Yehovah will deliver-yeshua-His righteous remnant, and He will right all wrongs and fulfill His righteous Will in the earth (3:8).

_______________________________________________________

 

Some interpret this clarion call or instruction from Yehovah that His righteous ones live by their faith or live by faith, in a number of different ways. But the two prominent perspectives is:

 

  1. The righteous ones of Yehovah are to live according to the halachah of their faith, such as the case of the Qumran Community living in accordance with the Community’s strict rules and way of life. It’s all about halachah. And it was believed by these souls that if they kept the community’s halachah—strict way of life—they would achieve righteous standing before Yehovah.

 

  1. The righteous ones of Yehovah are to trust and believe in their Elohim. And by their believing and trusting Him to do all that He promised He would do, they would be deemed as righteous and they would, in the end, be saved.

 

So which perspective was Shaul referring to here? Contextually, he would have been referring to the second one: He/she, who would seek right-standing before Yehovah, are to live a life of trusting faith in Y’shua Messiah—believe in His atoning sacrifice; believe that He will do exactly what He said He would do. And in that believing, we obediently do that which we’ve been instructed to do.

 

Circling back to Romans 1:17, we find Shaul no doubt hearkening back to Habakkuk’s critical situation in comparison to what he believed was about to take place in his day.

 

If we pay close attention to the tenor of the apostle’s writings, we get a sense that the apostle truly believed that the End Times were upon him and the believers he oversaw. And so, he seems to carry around this heavy mantle of doing everything he possibly could to prepare a people that would be presented unto His Master, Yahoshua, who would be without spot or wrinkle, and who would escape the wrath and judgment that would be leveled upon unrepentant humanity:

 

“(1) I would that you could bear with me a little, that I might talk foolishly: and indeed, bear with me. (2) For I am jealous over you, with a righteous jealousy: For I have espoused you to a husband as a chaste virgin whom I would present to the Mashiyach” (2 Cor. 11:1-2; AENT).

Indeed, it was as if Shaul was the nervous mother of a bride who was desperately seeking to have her daughter betrothed to a well-qualified man. In this analogous paradigm, it is the fear on the apostle’s part that both he and the one he sought to have wedded would fail to meet the exacting expectations of the groom. And thus, in failing to meet those expectations, both he and the body would meet utter disgrace and shame (Rev. 21:2).

 

And so as was the case with Judah’s remnant during the nation’s wickedness and iniquity, facing judgment via a brutal Chaldean invasion, Shaul like Habakkuk is counseling his Roman readers to live by their faith ahead of coming judgment and wrath.

 

The key here was for Yehovah’s people to not second guess Him on how and when His wrath and judgment would hit the world around them. Instead, it was their job to live in accordance with His Ways, and simply let Him do his job.

 

Yah knows what He’s doing. In fact, Yah asserted through the Prophet Isaiah:

 

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My Ways, saith Yehovah” (Isa. 55:8; KJV).

 

The apostle echoed this very sentiment in the same letter he wrote to the assemblies of Roman Messianics:

 

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of Yehovah! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His Ways past finding out” (Rom. 11:33; KJV).

 

In other words, we have to recognize that Yah has the 50,000 foot view of things here on the ground, while His beloved, if he/she have any understanding at all, have just a standing view of what He is doing in the earth.

 

Therefore, it is the job of Yah’s elect to do what they were hired to do: Live in accordance with the covenant stipulations of their faith, and then let Yah do what He’s going to do. For what Yah must do is really none of our business. He knows what He’s doing.

 

It’s not like Yah is somehow going to forget His beloved remnant, even though His set-apart ones may endure some hard times leading up to and even during the times of judgment. Indeed, such times engender refinement and growth and testing of Yah’s set-apart ones. Those times are certainly not pleasant times for anyone to have to endure.

 

And so beloved, that’s why it is so important that we take advantage of the blessed and free times we have in Messiah; grow in our relationship with the Eternal at all levels; and prepare ourselves for the dark days ahead.

 

It is our sole responsibility as children of Elohim to keep our hand to the plow-focus-be in Yehovah’s presence-and live blamelessly in accordance with His perfect will and Ways for us.

 

Master Declared: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of Elohim” (Luk. 9:62; ESV).

 

Abba was not only informing the worrisome prophet and Judah’s righteous remnant to trust that He knew what He was doing. But rather, Abba was demanding that they “double-down” in their commitment to walk in obedient covenant relationship with Him even in turbulent, perilous times; and to do so as a powerful testimony to His great power, authority, righteousness, and holiness.

 

A simple cognitive belief in God doesn’t cut it when it comes to this Torah Commandment of the Righteous having to live by their faith.

 

It was James the Just, the half-brother of our Master Yahoshua who so poignantly declared:

 

“Thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well: the devils also believe and tremble” (Jas. 2:19; KJV).

 

True biblical faith must always be backed up with actions, plain and simple.

 

But the other aspect of the righteous shall live by their faith equation also requires a great amount of trust in the Holy One of Yisra’el.

 

Practical Messianic Halachah and Closing Thoughts

 

Yes, our baseline faith drives us to keep Torah-to keep His commandments. So, we keep Yah’s Torah because we trust that this is what Abba requires of us to do and that it is the right thing for us to do.

 

But what about the faith that transcends this baseline faith of Torah-keeping/Torah honoring. Do we have the faith during our Torah-keeping that trust Abba will heal us; provide for us; keep us; deliver us; protect us even in the time of trouble?

 

You see, the righteous remnant; the one that Habakkuk was championing, was keeping and walking Torah. That’s why they are the righteous remnant. Yah comes along and says: Okay, you who are my righteous ones, trust in me to do what I will do and that I will deliver you; that I got you; that I know what I’m doing and that I will never abandon you, if we remain in His holy presence.

 

Many of us today find ourselves in a seemingly terrible place, not unlike the remnant of Habakkuk’s day.

 

Some of us are having to endure significant financial and family hardships because we know that taking the vaccine bioweapon that the globalist demand we take is not Yah’s Will for our lives. And so, the so-called power brokers of this world endeavor to take away our jobs and basic benefits that our jobs provide our families. All done in order that we fall in line with their wicked agenda and place our trust in them and believe that ancient lie that goes back to the Garden of Eden.

 

Still others of us are having to endure being canceled by the so-called woke society many of us are living in because we obediently declare what saith Yehovah. You see, that which Yah says and requires of humanity diametrically conflicts with the woke’s agenda. And because of the woke endeavoring at every turn to cancel Yah’s elect, many of us are losing access to income sources; losing ministry opportunities and platforms; losing critical relationships; and even losing our freedom and even our lives for the sake of Mashiyach.

 

Others of us are being isolated or separated from family, friends, and acquaintances because we dare reject the satanically infused liberal, woke mindset of our present-day society and community. We dare reject their LGBTQ and Critical Race Theory agendas that serve only to destroy the innocence of our children and foster lawlessness in society.

 

And so, many of us turn our attention towards heaven and question Yah as to why He is allowing such injustice to overshadow His people. Many look beyond this nation and see the looming dangers that this nation faces from belligerents beyond our shores. These nations endeavor to destroy this nation from the inside out by importing their satanically infused ideologies and causing a generation of the ignorant to deny Yehovah and His Word.

 

And so many of us challenge Yehovah as to whether He knows what He’s doing. Many of us may be losing hope. Many of us may be doubting whether our covenant relationship with the Eternal is even worth the pain and agony we’re having to endure by affiliating ourselves with Him.

 

 

Shaul defined or described faith being the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of that which is not seen (Heb. 11:1).

 

 

Yehovah has always required from those who would be His, to live by their faith. And these are to live by their faith by trusting that Yah will remain true to His Word and by doing that which Yah requires of them to, despite the mess; chaos; oppression; injustice; evil; lawlessness and outright foolishness that may be going on around them at any given time. He says to them,

 

“I Am Yehovah—I Am your yeshuah. Trust and believe in Me. My Will and Purpose shall be fulfilled in the earth. I am your strong tower, into which the righteous run into it and are safe” (Pro. 14:26; 18:10; Psa. 18:2; 61:3; 91:2; 144:2; 2 Sam. 22:3).

 

Beloved, I implore you to read and meditate on each of these verses as they embody the very essence of Yah’s righteous ones living by their faith during the time of trouble.

 

I’m telling you: Regardless how confident and powerful the enemy may appear to us, in the end, all will have to do things Yehovah’s Way, or they will have to do things Yehovah’s Way. Yah’s Words will come to pass regardless the lie humanity tells itself.

 

For indeed, Yah’s righteous judgment and wrath is coming upon this world and we, the elect of Yah, must be at our spiritual posts, living out our faith in holy and righteous testimony of Him and His Will.

 

 

I encourage you to listen to or read our post entitled: “Let God be True and Every Man a Liar” where we discussed this very thing.

 

 

The Place where we find Torah and faith intersecting is the place where we find righteousness; The righteousness of Yehovah; where we find salvation; where we find life. And thus, it is impossible to please Yehovah without faith.

 

And yet, I’m afraid that many in our faith have placed too much emphasis and focus on Torah and not enough on trusting faith. And yes, I’m guilty of that. Because as I’ve said in previous installments of this program, I can keep Torah all day; I can walk, teach, preach, live and love Torah all day.

 

But Yehovah is asking in the midst of my keeping Torah: Rod, what about your trusting faith? Is your trusting faith in Me sufficient to please Me in conjunction with your obedience to My Word? Is your trusting faith in association with your obedience to My Word strong enough such that you would be willing to die for the sake of My Kingdom?

 

Yes, our trusting faith without works or visual and physical manifestations of our faith, as James the Just wrote, is dead (Jam. 2:18, 20, 26). 

 

 

And I’ve known a lot of folks in my life who have had remarkable trusting, cognitive-based faith and belief in Jesus Christ their savior. But their works were absence. They were still their nasty old selves. They were still sin-ridden, lawless entities that Father could not possibly be pleased with.

 

So there has to be that critical equal balance when it comes to trusting Faith and Obedience. First must come trusting faith. Then comes obedience. From there, the two work in the life of the elect harmoniously, even in perilous times such as these we’re living today.

 

The tragedy of denominationalism in part contends that everything will work out to their members’ benefit in the end.

 

To these, they don’t have to do or change anything in their lives. Indeed, to these, they “possess a form of godliness, but they dramatically deny the power thereof” (2 Tim. 3:5; paraphrased).

 

But do these manifest that which Father meant by His righteous ones living in their faith?

 

If Avraham’s faith was not backed up or manifested by his obedience/his works, one must ask, would his faith have been reckoned unto him as righteousness as Shaul aptly noted (Rom. 4:9)?

 

 

And the answer is no. Because again, there’s a lot of folks out there with amazing faith, but they don’t do what they’re supposed to do. They don’t do what Abba tells them to do. They in fact do what they themselves want to do, but oddly enough, they hold on to a hope that somehow, someway, Abba will deliver them and save them in the end.

 

Beloved: Our Master/Teacher of Righteousness has revealed to us through the written account of His chosen and anointed apostles of the amazing times we’re living in and the times to come. So we are aware of that which must come upon the world, and to some degree, upon us, His anointed, set-apart ones.

 

As Yah declared unto Habakkuk in response to His inquiry, He also declares to us today:

 

 5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. (Hab 1:5 KJV)

 

And so, our Master taught us to have our lamps filled and trimmed, awaiting His return. Which means we are to utilize the Comforter that He has provided to us to remain steadfast and longsuffering in His Word and to do that which He has instructed us to do (Mat. 25:1-13). And know that we know that in the end, He will deliver us from our tribulations, and we will reign victoriously and gloriously with Him in His Millennial Kingdom (Rev. 20:6). For this is the place where obedience and trusting faith intersects.

 

In so doing, the Righteousness of our Elohim is lavished upon us (I.e., Yah’s goodness) as well as upon unrepentant humanity (I.e., Yah’s judgment and wrath); while at the same time, we (as Yah’s elect) are reckoned as righteous/justified before our Holy and Just Elohim by the Court of Heaven.

 

Praise Yah!

 

 

 

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by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer's Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections

 Torah Reading this week is found in Genesis 6:9-7:24.

 

It is a very familiar passage of Torah that bears a good many themes, concepts and spiritual applications. But for us today, I want us to focus on just one central theme, if you will. And that theme has to do with pleasing Yehovah in perilous times. How do we make it through difficult times while staying in—while successfully operating in Yah’s Will?

 

And it is the example of Noah that we find here in our Reading today that I believe provides us an excellent understanding of how we are to operate in perilous times as people of Elohim.

 

So, in order that we remain within the confines of our theme, we will read just select verses of the overall parashah and then discuss in detail the likely meaning of those verses and identify those spiritual principles that will enhance our walk with Messiah.

 

As in previous discussions, I will be reading from the Robert Alter Translation and we will also consider content from related biblical and extra-biblical references. And as always, I encourage you to take what we discuss here and if you are so led, conduct your own study and allow the Ruach haKodesh to guide your understanding. Always.

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(6:9) This is the lineage of Noah–Noah was a righteous man. He was blameless in his time. Noah walked with Elohim…

 

Alter’s rendering of the Hebrew term “towledah” {to-led-aw} here in the first part of verse 9 is lineage, but in most English translations the term used is “generations.” One could spend a great deal of time pondering what this actually means. But the most accurate interpretation of “towledah” as used here in the first part of the verse is “this is the story of Noah.” Its use here is that of a marker, as it conveniently establishes the start of a new addition to the overall pre-flood story line.

 

As it relates to Noah being described as a righteous man, the conservative, orthodox perspective on this is simply that Noah maintained good relationships with his fellow humans (J.H. Hertz). 

 

Now, who am I to argue with a renowned rabbi? All I will say in regards to this rabbinic understanding of righteousness, as used here in our text, is that it lacks in terms of the role Yehovah plays in the granting of Noah’s stated righteousness. In other words, it is Yehovah who declares someone righteous. And it is, as we discussed in our last installment to the Paul and Hebrew Roots series entitled “The Righteousness of God is the Place Where Faith and Obedience Intersect,” our trusting-obedient faith is the thing that causes Yehovah to confer upon us righteous or right standing before Him.

  

Now, I guess it can also be said that, outside of one’s trusting-obedient faith leading to him/her being deemed righteous by Yehovah, that one’s behaviors or the way one carries or conducts themselves may be described as righteous or righteousness as well. And to some degree this is true. Certainly, Noah carried himself in the place and time he lived in a righteous manner. But as far as I’m concerned, Yehovah is the one who confers righteousness upon an individual. And in this case, Father asserts that Noah walked with Him and was blameless in the time or generation he lived. And all of what Noah did to be deemed righteous by Yehovah can be summarized or packaged as a result of Noah’s faith.

 

With the second use of the English term “generations” in this 9th verse, Alter renders it as “in his (his being Noah’s) time.” The Hebrew term as used here is not “toledah” as was used earlier in the verse. This time the Hebrew term used is “dowr,” which means period of time; generation; or age.  So, in this sense, Moshe is telling us that Noah was uncorrupted, unspotted and morally untainted, as the rest of humanity had become in that age; in that time period. 

 

Noah’s name in Hebrew is Noach. Noach means to rest or for one to take a rest. And thus, a lot may be entertained and considered as it relates to the applicability of the meaning of Noah’s name as it relates to this great story. But for our purposes, we will save discussion of the meaning of Noah’s name for another time.

 

The descriptor of Noah being “blameless (in the KJV the English term used is “perfect“) in all his ways in his day/time/generation” lends to and even supports Yehovah’s declaring of Noah to be a righteous man (i.e., found or declared to be in right-standing before a holy and righteous Elohim; found innocent of guilt by the Court of Heaven). Blameless is the Hebrew term “tamim.” Tamim means to be complete, whole, entire, sound.

 

Tamim or perfect is next used in Genesis 17:1 to describe how Yehovah wanted Avraham to behave and walk before Him. But it’s not until we get to Leviticus 22:21-25 that we get a better sense of what Yehovah means by one being perfect/blameless/tamim:

 

(21) “And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto YHVH to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accept; there shall be no blemish therein. (22) Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto YHVH, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the alter unto YHVH. (23) Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted. (24) Ye shall not offer unto YHVH that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land. (25) Neither from a stranger’s hand shall ye offer the bread of your Elohim of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they shall not be accepted for you” (KJV)

 

Later on in Torah we find Yehovah instructing Yisra’el to not take on or live according to the ways of the Canaanites as it relates to spiritual or religious matters, but rather, they were to “be perfect with YHVH” (Deu. 18:13).  Yehovah instructs Yisra’el to use perfect and just weights and measures in the conduct of their business transactions (Deu. 25:15). And lastly, Moshe describes the Work and Ways of Yehovah as perfect (Deu. 32:4). Thus, there is a sense of the people of Yehovah and their offerings being free from defects.

 

Thus, blameless or “tamim” within the context of our reading here today has to do with the wholeness of the man: That being Noah’s character; His behavior; His attitude and the state of his heart (that being, His will bending to the Will of the Eternal–6:22; 7:5; His relationship with the Most High; and I would go so far as to suggest that even his genetic make-up (spiritual and physical)—everything about the man was pure; he was faultless in comparison to the general state of creation in his day. Genetic-make in contrast to the corruption that had overtaken the whole of creation. We know that Genesis 6 talks about the sin of the Watchers and how a breed of creatures emerged from the union of the Watchers and human females. And that the creatures that emerged from that union (aka Nephilim) corrupted the natural order. And if Mashiyach, the seed of the woman, was to ultimately come onto the human scene, He would have to be pure and undefiled as would be required for any Yehovah-sanctioned sacrifice.

 

Tim Hegg–Messianic author, teacher and commentator–sees perfect/blameless/tamim as used here in our Reading as having more to do with the man’s halachah than anything else.  And given that Mr. Hegg tends to lean towards the conservative Jewish mindset in much of his Torah analyses, I can see how he would arrive at such a conclusion. But I believe Abba is pointing us to a greater reality as it relates to Noah and by extension us through Y’shua Messiah, being blameless/perfect/tamim. Tamim for us must transcend our keeping the elements of Torah perfectly, however that is supposed to look like or manifest today in any given instance. Our tamim must incorporate, on top of our keeping of Father’s instructions in righteousness, a pure and malleable heart; our talk should be pure and holy; our relationship with the Eternal must be founded upon Spirit and Truth; our health must be good; our thoughts pure and holy; even our faith must be unshakable. And I say all this because we have a lot of folks within and outside our Faith community that do a pretty good job keeping rote Torah commandments, but they lack in a great many other areas of their lives. So, for one to be truly “tamim,” his or her blamelessness must incorporate their whole being. Can we truly conclude that one is “tamim” who keeps Torah perfectly, but has a terrible disposition and has no faith? Just asking.

 

As it relates to Noah walking with Elohim, we’re talking more of an intimate (that is a “yada” level) relationship with the Almighty. Both Enoch and Noah possessed or dwelt in such a relationship, in contrast to the dire state of humanity in their respective day. And it seems reasonable to conclude that for either of these men to have such a relationship with the Eternal, Abba would find favor in them (6:8). And we discussed in last week’s Torah Reading that Abba searches the hearts of men and He turns towards those who have the right heart. And thus, Yah will invite the one who possesses a circumcised heart to come in and enter into a covenant relationship with Him, and thus that one begins the journey of walking with Yehovah. There is an agreement between Yehovah and His would-be child. We covered all this in detail in Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections 4. I would again invite you to familiarize yourself with the concept of “walking with Yehovah” by either listening to or reading that discussion posting.

 

I will say that I really appreciate Mr. Hegg’s sentiments regarding Yehovah’s desire to walk with humanity. Hegg states that it is “the goal to which everything proceeds…to walk with God.” Yah wants a substantive, personal relationship with those who would be His. That relationship must, however, transcend any other relationship known to humanity. Thus, the purpose of the Messianic Torah Observer is not to promote Torah Living as the end all to be all to a would be Netzari or set-apart one. But rather, the purpose of MTMO first and foremost is to promote a faithful-obedient covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe. Our Master, who is the fulcrum of all Creation, came primarily to point fallen humanity to Yehovah, and to re-establish that “cool of the day walk” that Yehovah once enjoyed with “adam.” Tragically, that relationship opportunity is inhibited by the scourge of sin, which Yehovah sent His beloved Son, Yahoshua, to deal with once and for all. And so it is, because of the Person and Personal Ministry of Yahoshua that directly dealt with the sin issue that stymies that relationship–humanity now has the opportunity to truly teshuvah and enter into that covenant relationship with Yehovah.

 

(6:11) And the earth was corrupt before Elohim and the earth was filled with outrage. (12) And Elohim saw the earth and, look, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways on the earth. (13) And Elohim said to Noah, “The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with outrage by them, and I am now about to destroy them, with the earth…”

 

The orthodox understanding of “the earth,” which in the Hebrew is “‘erets” as used here in this verse, is not talking about the whole of Yehovah’s living creation. Instead, the rabbis see “the earth” or “’erets” here as referring specifically to the earth’s human inhabitants, which are described as having become “grossly immoral;” in open defiance of Yehovah which proved to be offensive to Yehovah. 

 

The phrase “filled with outrage” most likely means that Yehovah’s human creation had become iniquitous–lawless. The elongated lifespan of humans during this period made for a very tenuous situation. The longer an iniquitous soul lives, the more refined the iniquity within and around that soul becomes. That soul’s iniquity doesn’t just affect that individual over the course of his/her lifetime. But that individual’s lawlessness also directly affects others in his/her sphere of influence (e.g., spouse; children; relatives; friends). So, as far as iniquity is concerned, by its very nature, it spreads; it proliferates. We sometimes talk about the “Mystery of Iniquity” that Shaul wrote was already spreading in the world, and this spreading is an intentional spreading of lawlessness in the earth by both man and the enemy. 

 

The orthodox understanding of the English term “violence” as used here is that of the weak being overrun in every way by the strong. There was blatant disregard for justice and the least in society were left helpless and doomed to being destroyed by those who were stronger then they were. 

 

 

The state of the world (i.e., humanity and the whole of Yah’s natural creation) in Noah’s day was one of utter and complete corruption and violence, according to the text (6:11). The Hebrew term for corrupt used here by Moshe is “shachath” {shaw-khath}, which means destroyed; ruined; decayed; marred; spoiled; rotten; perverted.

 

Now, when we consider humanity from a state of corruptness as described in verse 11 of the 6th chapter, especially in light of the use of the Hebrew term “shachath,” we’re talking not only about rampant and pervasive sin having taken over the whole of humanity (with the exception of Noah), we also must think about the physical state of all of Creation.

 

If the extra-biblical, apocryphal writings are to be even remotely believed, it is indeed conceivable that even the very genetic make-up of Yehovah’s natural creation–human, animal and plant–had been altered to some degree. (Not unlike the situation we’re seeing around us even today.) And so, Noah’s life–His existence–his relationship with the Creator of the Universe was certainly the rarest exception. For Mashiyiach, by absolute necessity, would biologically have to come into existence through an undefiled, uncorrupted line. (Bear in mind, I’m talking only from a biological perspective. Sin is not the issue in question as it relates to Yahoshua’s lineage, for every member of His line sinned–everyone of them. So, the concern here, at least for me, is the biological purity of Mashiyach’s line.)

 

This question of the whole of Yah’s creation being “shachath”–corrupted–in Noah’s day, seems to me to be more than a question of the sinfulness of creation. Indeed, all of humanity had become sinful beyond any conceivable level up to that time in human history. But when we look at the wording of 6:9, we find Yehovah describing Noah as being “perfect in his generations” or “tamiym dorw” in the Hebrew. The Hebrew suggests a more precise meaning of Noah was complete/whole/entire/sound in the days/age/time period he lived.

 

 

In most English translations of this passage, the world of Noah’s day is described as being violent (6:11). The Hebrew term used here for violence is “chamac” {khaw-mawce}, which means violence, but also means wrong, cruelty and injustice. When we consider the English term violence from our 21st-century western way of thinking, most of us would probably see Noah’s world as being filled with murders and acts that caused people physical harm. But the Hebrew expands this definition just a bit by suggesting to us that Noah’s world, in addition to murders and injurious acts being inflicted against one another, humanity engaged in, as though it was part and parcel of its character, wrong-doing of every kind; cruelty to one another; and injustice. It was morally, physically and psychologically a danger time and place to live. (Not unlike some of the major cities of our nation today, huh?)

 

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were not destroyed for the sole reason that its citizens were practicing homosexuality. The Prophet Ezekiel declared the following as it relates to this issue:

 

“Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread (i.e., abundance of food without giving thanks to the One who provided that food; and careless ease was  in her and in her daughters (that is, they were careless and complacent); neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy (or rather, they flagrantly ignored the wellbeing of the forgotten in their societies)” (16:49; ESV).

 

So, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for being morally corrupted and completely obtuse towards the provisions and Ways of Yehovah. And a similar environment existed in Noach’s day, although the moral fabric of society in Noach’s day was probably far worse if one can imagine that.

 

Nevertheless, Noach had overcome all these horrendously negative variables and was “walking” blamelessly and righteously with Yehovah. And it was Noach who Yehovah selected to carry forth the seed line that would bring about The Seed that would ultimately crush the serpent’s head. 

 

(6:22) And this Noah did; as all that Elohim commanded him, so he did.

 

(7:1) And Yehovah said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, for it is you I have seen righteous before Me in this generation…”

 

J. H. Hertz in his Torah and Haftorah provides a very interesting perspective here as it relates to Yehovah seeing Noah as righteous “before” Him in that generation/dowr–that time period or day. Hertz provides for us the following moral rabbinic principle:

 

“Utter only a part of a man’s praise in his presence (which is what we see described here in this verse on the part of Yehovah towards Noah), but thou mayest speak the whole of a man’s praise in his absence.” And Hertz goes on to add to this thinking a truth that it is human nature for people to talk about another’s personal deficiencies in an individual’s absence, but will scarcely mention any of that individual’s deficiencies while in their presence.

 

So here, if we are to use this rabbinic rubric as sort of a moral guide, Yehovah through Moshe extols throughout our reading Noah’s many virtues (I.e., blameless; righteous; walked with Yehovah), but chooses to utter directly to Noah just a portion of those many virtues. In other words, Yehovah chose not to blow up Noah personally. Such personal over praise of an individual may lead to, of course, a big head, which may lead to a great fall.

 

This is one more testimony from Yehovah that Noah was a righteous man (6:9) and that he was blameless in his day.

 

(7:5) And Noah did all that Yehovah commanded him.

 

 

Scriptural Analysis

 

Ezekiel 14 offers an interesting perspective as it relates to Noah; in particular his righteousness. The prophet reveals the mind of Yehovah by Yah’s contrasting what He will do to a people who grievously sin against Him and His Ways with what will happen to His righteous ones such as Noah, Daniel and Job:

 

(13) “Son of man, when a land sins against Me by acting faithlessly (“ma’ al” or trespassing to a grievous level), and I stretch out My hand against it and break its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, even if these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they would deliver by their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Yehovah…(16) even if these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Sovereign Yehovah, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate. (17) Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Let a sword pass through the land, and I cut off from it man and beast (18) though these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Sovereign Yehovah, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be delivered; (19) Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off from it man and beast, (20) even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Sovereign Yehovah, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness” (Eze. 14:13-20; ESV).

 

The sins of a people will ultimately lead to Yehovah’s judgments against those people and their sin (from both an individualistic and a nationalistic perspective). This becomes all the more evident and manifested when a people’s sins reach the level of it becoming a way of life for that people–even epidemical; gross; universal; heinous.  Because Yehovah is righteous and just, He must respond accordingly. (I would recommend, if you are so led, to read or listen to our post entitled “Let God Be True and Every Man a Liar” where we discuss Yehovah’s righteous and just character that compels Him to judge humanity accordingly.) Yehovah’s judgments may not come about when and how we, Yehovah’s set-apart ones, feel they should. For Yah sets the time and manner of His judgment. But judgment will inevitably come. And the judgment will be extended vigorously and openly, to all who are connected, and for heaven and earth to witness it accordingly. His judgment will be in proportion to the extent of the peoples’ sins.

 

Later on we find that despite Yehovah’s wrath and judgments decimating the greater population of a sinful people, He will inevitably reserve some remnant as an attestation to His mercies that He extends to humanity (verses 22-23). Furthermore, we have seen where Yehovah will, in accordance with His perfect Will and Righteousness, spare a nation from judgment for a given amount of time for the sake of His righteous remnant (Eze. 5:11). We have even the example of Yehovah’s willingness to spare Sodom for the sake of ten-righteous ones (Gen. 18:27-33).

 

But as it applies to our Reading here today, we see all these elements played out. Yehovah’s wrath and judgment ultimately would be poured out upon the whole of the earth, but His mercies extended to humanity by His saving of righteous Noah and his immediate family. Despite all of creation having become corrupted in all its ways in Noah’s day, Noah found favor in Yehovah’s eyes. How did Noah find favor in Yehovah’s eyes? It was Noah’s trusting, obedient (CJB) that caught Abba’s attention and which caused Abba to make provision for Noah and his family to escape the Creator’s wrath:

 

“By faith Noah, when he was told of things not seen, feared; and he made himself an ark for the life of his household, whereby he (Noah) condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (Heb. 11:7; AENT).

 

As it relates to one receiving the righteousness of Elohim which is faith-based, I invite you to listen to or read our discussion entitled: “The Righteousness of God is the Place Where Obedience and Faith Intersect-Part-1-What is the Righteousness of God?“

 

Noah provides us an example as to who will ultimately prevail in the midst of Yehovah’s wrath and judgment. When the righteous live by their faith, they will be saved, one way or another (Hab. 2:4). We know that given the terrible state of humanity today, especially in light of the signs of the times we’re presently living in, Yah’s judgment and wrath are indeed at humanity’s front door. We’re starting to see evidence of this, I believe, in the form of unprecedented natural disasters around the world; diseases; financial ruin; increased natural and unnatural deaths of individuals; and the like.

 

We who are Yah’s set-apart remnant in the earth must learn and strive to live by faith. That faith transcends that of a simple cognitive understanding that Yehovah exists. James, the half-brother of our Master Yahoshua, provided a sobering perspective on such base-level faith:

 

“Thou believest that there is one Elohim, thou doest well: the devils also believe and tremble” (2:19).

Indeed, this base-level faith does not lead to one being conferred right-standing before a holy and righteous Elohim. It certainly cracks open the door a little to a greater faith that leads to righteousness. That level of faith that leads to the Righteousness of God is an action-based faith–I define it as more an obedience-based faith (Rom. 16:26).  (I would invite you to listen to or read our discussion related to the topic of an obedience-based faith, entitled: “Obedience Versus Faith–Paul and the Book of Romans Series.“)

 

This greater or greatest level of faith is the faith that Abel, Enoch, Noah and Avraham all walked in  (i.e., halachah’d in). Yes, this level of faith begins with the cognitive belief that Yehovah exists and is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:4). But the Righteousness of God level faith that these patriarchs all walked in is a trusting faith that encompasses one walking in obedient covenant relationship with the Eternal. It is comprised of a true, and substantive–even intimate (yada) relationship with Yehovah. It requires a circumcised heart–a will that subordinates itself to the Will of Yehovah (Deu. 10:16; Jer. 4:4) . And thus this one readily obeys Yehovah’s instructions/commandments because he/she both fears and loves Him:

 

“…Fear Elohim, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecc. 12:13).

 

The one who would be righteous must also love Yehovah:

 

“And thou shalt love Yehovah thy Elohim with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deu. 6:5; Mat. 22:37; Luk. 10:27).

 

For if we love Him, we will keep His Commandments (Joh. 14:15; 15:10).

 

Because Noah was faithful, righteous, blameless, and walked with Yehovah, he established a covenant with him (Gen. 9). When we walk in faithful obedience, Yehovah establishes a covenant us. Under the renewed covenant, He comes to live within us, in so doing, He inscribes His laws into our hearts and in our minds. And most importantly, He will no longer remember our sins and iniquities (Heb. 10:16). And so it is, in His not remembering our sins and iniquities, we receive His righteousness–we receive right-standing before Him.

 

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The Apocryphal Books

Jubilees

 

The writer introduces Noach to the reader as a man dwelling in a world dominated by the Nephilim–the Nephilim being the products of the union between the Fallen Ones (i.e., the Watchers) and the daughters of men. And from this abrupt incursion into and disruption of Yehovah’s natural creation, the writer describes the world of Noach’s day as being “corrupted” in all its ways and with increasing “lawlessness.” Lawlessness is also described in English as iniquity, in the Hebrew, “‘avon {avown}, which means: perversity; depravity; iniquity; guilt. And this corrupt condition applied to “all flesh” according to the text:

 

“…alike men and cattle and beasts and birds and everything that walketh on the earth–all of them corrupted their ways and their orders...” (5:2).

 

And it was that “every imagination of the thoughts of all men (was) thus evil continually” (5:2b).

 

Now, in all fairness to the Jubilee version of the Noach story, the corruptness of humanity cannot be entirely blamed on the Watchers. Indeed, the Watchers, according to the books of Enoch and Jubilees, have tremendous culpability as it relates to the corruption of all aspects of Yehovah’s creation. And thus, the sins of the Watchers, in the eyes of Yehovah, was unforgivable and required the destruction of all things living in order to correct (to some degree) their evil influences. But certainly, the heart of humanity had strayed so far from the Ways and Will of Yehovah, that its “every imagination of its thoughts was evil continually.” This was over and above the physical corruption of Yehovah’s creative order that was blamed on the sin of the fallen ones.

 

And we’ll see just how bad the hearts of humanity had become in the Ancient Book of Jasher’s rendition of this story.

 

The Ancient Book of Jasher

 

The writer here states that Noach followed in the footsteps of his grandfather Methuselah, who the writer described as “perfect and upright with Yehovah” (4:13).

 

Now, a very interesting point to be understood here is that Jasher completely ignores the whole Watchers’ story as told in Genesis 6 and the Book of Jubilees. The writer of Jasher blames only humanity for creation’s corruption:

 

(16) “And all the sons of men departed from the ways of Yehovah (implying that humanity once followed in the Ways of Yehovah) in those days (i.e., in the days of Noach) as they multiplied upon the face of the earth with sons and daughters, and they taught one another their evil practices and they continued sinning against Yehovah. (17) And every man made unto himself a god (this being the first time in the record of people actually worshiping other gods; engaging in paganism; worshiping idols), and they robbed and plundered every man his neighbor as well as his relative, and they corrupted the earth, and the earth was filled with violence. “

 

And here’s where the disparity comes into play as it relates to the meaning of Genesis 6:2 where Moshe writes that “the sons of Elohim saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose…and there were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of Elohim came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men of old, men of renown.”

 

Jasher makes clear that those sons of Elohim were:

 

(18) “And their judges and rulers went to the daughters of men and took their wives by force from their husbands according to their choice.”

 

Interestingly, Jasher accuses the sons of men in that day of:

 

(18) “…taking from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other (i.e., crossbreeding)), in order therewith to provoke Yehovah…”

 

Now, in connection to humanity in some way having prior to this time walked in the Ways of Yehovah, the writer makes note that the corruptness of the earth came about after “all men who walked in the ways of Yehovah” had died off in those days (i.e., that generation or that period of time in human history (4:20a)). And it would thus appear that Methuselah and his grandson Noach were the last of that generation of humanity that “walked in the ways of Yehovah” (5:6).

 

We would be remiss in our not giving any serious attention to the Jasher notion of humanity, at some point prior to and leading up to Noach’s day walking, in the Ways of Yehovah, because we have that mysterious, but powerful little statement at the second-half of Genesis 4:26 that asserts that when Seth begat his son Enos:

 

“…then men began to call upon the Name of Yehovah” (KJV).

 

Furthermore, if you recall, the 3rd chapter of Jasher regales the life of Enoch whereby the reader is told how some segment of humanity turned to and walked in Yehovah’s Ways as a result of Enoch’s righteous example; his leadership and his teachings on Yah’s Ways. (We discussed this in some detail in our post entitled: “What it Means to Walk with God? A Messianic Discussion of Parashah 4–Genesis 5:1-6:8“).

 

Well, the Jasher account goes on to add a substantive flavor to the whole Noach story, that seems to support the Apostle Kefa’s (aka Peter’s) description of Noah as “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Pet. 2:5), who apparently during the 120-years he was building the ark, he preached repentance or Teshuvah to humanity:

 

(7) “Speak ye, and proclaim to the sons of men, saying, Thus saith Yehovah, return from your evil ways and forsake your works, and Yehovah will repent of the evil that He declared to do to you, so that it shall not come to pass. (8) For thus saith Yehovah, Behold, I give you a period of 120 years; if you will turn to me and forsake your evil ways, then will I also turn away from the evil which I told you, and it shall not exist, saith Yehovah” (5:7-8).

 

It goes without saying, according to the Jasher account, humanity refused to hearken to Noach’s call to Teshuvah. The text emphasizes, in a sense, that Yehovah’s grace prevailed for those 120-years.

 

And the Book of Jasher does agree with the Book of Genesis account that Noach was a just (aka righteous) man who was perfect (aka blameless) in his generation. But the writer also emphasizes that Noach was chosen of all the peoples of the earth at that time for purposes of “raising up seed from his seed upon the face of the earth because Yehovah saw Noach as righteous in that generation or in that day” (5:13-14).

 

Some have attributed an eschatological meaning to the quote: “Yehovah chose him (Noach) to raise up seed from his seed upon the face of the earth” (5:13b)–the raising up of seed from his seed, that ultimate seed being Yahoshua. And that interpretation does appear to be reasonable to me, presuming we believe the Jasher account. But the author’s original intent could have just as easily been a pragmatic one, that Yehovah chose righteous Noach to preserve humanity–preserve human seed from the coming wrath and judgment–and carry on the instruction to humanity to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:22, 28). 

 

Josephus’ The Antiquity of the Jews (Chapter 3)

 

It’s interesting to find Josephus’ accounting of the Noach story to align in some areas with both the Jubilees and Jasher account.

 

Josephus asserts that the line of Seth leading up to Noach’s day, was righteous; for 7-generations  he asserts. He then states that as time progressed, that is, coming in to Noach’s day, humanity became perverted, forsaking the ways of the fathers, paying no honor to Yehovah, and living iniquitous lives absent any justice.

 

 

Josephus makes mention of the fact that Yehovah loved Noach for his righteousness, which none of the other accounts even mentions Yehovah having love for Noach. (Yes, it is given that Yehovah loved Noach. It’s just not stated or mentioned in our Torah Reading.)

 

A couple interesting perspectives are introduced in Josephus’ account:

 

  1. Yehovah intended to make another race to replace that wicked one that He intended to destroy. That race would have their lives cut short to just 120-years. That race would be pure from wickedness.
  2. Noach’s building of the ark was not a commandment but rather, a suggested contrivance and way of escape for Noach and his family.

 

Practical Netzari Halachah

 

 

Noah pleased Yehovah—or rather, Noah found favor in Yehovah’s eyes in the midst, arguably, of the most wicked period of human history. And scripture records that Yah’s wrath and judgment would ultimately destroy all life on the earth in response to the unprecedented wickedness and corruption to His natural order. And most importantly, it was that blessed favor that saved not just Noah and his immediate family from physical destruction, but also us from eternal spiritual destruction. For from Noah’s line would emerge our Master-Yahoshua Messiah—and His personal ministry would bring to all humanity the opportunity to escape eternal damnation.

 

Noah’s story is ultimately one of grace: Yehovah’s grace being shed upon His human creation despite His human creation being convicted and found guilty in the Court of Heaven for its sinfulness and lawlessness.

 

Yehovah’s love overshadowed the regret and anger He had towards humanity because there was a man walking in the midst of this corrupt, wicked and damned world who refused to take the path of least resistance. And that path of least resistance—that is, simply giving in the corruptness and wickedness of the world—would have no doubt made Noah’s life so much easier, at least up to the day that Yah’s wrath and judgment would be unleashed upon the world.

 

Conventional wisdom would have us believe that Noah was some kind of super, bigger than life, perfect in every way, patriarch hero of the Bible who could do no wrong. And thus it is universally reasoned that he found favor in God’s sight because he was Noah. He was a paradox; an enigma; a fluke of the universe if you will. And indeed, in a sense he was. But he wasn’t all these amazing things because he was somehow made or drawn that way. He was all these amazing things because he made a decision to not take the path of least resistance. He decided at some point in his life not to choose the world, but instead, choose Yehovah.

 

And I would submit to you that Noah’s decision to choose Yehovah—to enter into a covenant relationship with Him and to walk in Yah’s Ways was no doubt met with a great deal of opposition. Although not mentioned in our bible, we get a sense from at least one apocryphal writing that the world vehemently opposed Noah’s righteous living and his call for humanity to Teshuvah and escape the wrath to come (Josephus).

 

The writer of the Book of Hebrews highlights Noah’s faith in Yehovah and His Word as “putting the world under condemnation” while the Apostle Peter highlights Yehovah’s patience—Yah’s grace being extended upon humanity “while the ark was a preparing” (Heb. 11:7 and 1 Pet. 3:20 respectively).

 

Now, whether or not we choose to believe Josephus’ assertion or deduce from the apostolic record that Noah preached the unpopular message of Teshuvah to the corrupt society of his day, it cannot be denied that he ran an arduous race of faith in his life that led to him and his family being saved from the wrath that was to come. That life-race that he ran provides us a critical example, and dare I say, a spiritual mandate as it relates to our being able to please Yehovah in such perilous times as we’re living today.

 

The days we’re currently living are not too unlike the days of Noah leading up to the Great Flood. We can all agree that the entire world has corrupted itself to such a point that all that remains is the coming Great Tribulation and our Master’s return.

 

Master told us that in the last days, there would be deceiving spirits operating in the world; there would be wars and rumours of wars with nations rising up against nations; that Yah’s elect would face tremendous persecution and tribulation at the hands of society and even at the hands of those who would appear to be set-apart ones. For those seemingly set-apart ones will set out to betray the true Body of Mashiyach with intense hatred and resentment. Lawlessness or iniquity will abound, not just in the world, but even within the Body of Mashiyach, and people’s genuine sensitivity towards one another will fade to a point where folks just no longer care about other people; care about their families; care about the brethren; choosing instead to care only for themselves.

 

But even in the midst of all this chaos and turmoil, Master prophesied that the Gospel of the Kingdom (aka the Besorah) will be proclaimed in all the world as a witness unto all nations (Mat. 24:4-14).

 

Folks, isn’t the state of our world very close to that of Noah’s day? Isn’t the wickedness and corruption of the world, as in Noah’s day, folding in and around Yehovah’s people? Aren’t Yah’s people having, in many cases, to live exclusively by their faith?

 

The violence is so bad in virtually every area of our nation that people no longer can place their faith in law enforcement to protect them. Yah’s people are having to now learn to trust Yehovah for their safety.

 

The erosion of our civil liberties and constitutional rights have led many of Yah’s elect to be “canceled” in our society. Some have lost the ability to provide for themselves and their families. Many of us who belong to Yehovah each day run the risk of being physically harmed or incarcerated because we choose to walk in righteousness and not take the path of least resistance. Many of us are now learning to trust Yehovah exclusively for our wellbeing; our income; our substance and sustenance; our careers; and so forth.

 

As it relates to the world today, very few are interested in hearing Yehovah’s Word. The world is not interested in having a blessed covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe, which in and of itself defies the very makeup of the human soul. The human soul was designed to yearn for; to seek out; to grasp hold of a relationship with their Maker. But that desire; that yearning; the intent is all but dead within the average individual today, as it was in Noah’s day. Instead, the overwhelming, vast majority of souls on this planet simply want to live and let die; they want, instead, to have relationships with other gods. But those gods are that of government; of pharmakeia; of sex and perversion; of entertainment; of liberalized education; of fame and fortune; of possessions; of religion.

 

Yehovah’s righteousness and justice cannot allow humanity’s corruption, evil, wickedness and lawlessness to go unabated indefinitely. He must respond with righteous and holy judgment and put down the chaos once and for all.

 

But for Yah’s people—His elect—His set-apart ones, He has called us, as was told to Habakkuk regarding the remnant Jews of his day who were living in the midst of similar corruption and having to deal with abject persecution and tribulation in the Land of Judah, those righteous ones (the remnant if you will) are to live by their faith—to live by faith (Hab. 2:4).

 

Despite all that was going on around them and despite the gloominess of their individual and collective situations, Yehovah directed Habakkuk to tell the remnant that Yehovah is sovereign and He knows what He’s doing. But as for them, the blessed remnant, they are to simply go on living by their faith. They are to continue to walk in covenant relationship with Him; to walk exclusively in His Ways; to obey Him and love Him and love one another.

 

Shaul echoed this same sentiment to his Messianic Roman readers in Romans 1:17. For Shaul, it was the Besorah—the Gospel—the Good News of the Kingdom of Yehovah—that revealed unto the world Yehovah’s Righteousness. The Righteousness of Yehovah is not only about the Coming Kingdom of Yehovah, but it is also about Yehovah’s coming righteous and just wrath and judgment to be pour out upon corrupt and wicked humanity. Just as in the days of Noah. And just as it was with Noah, we are compelled and even commanded to live by faith. For it will be our faithful living that will ultimately save us from Yehovah’s wrath and judgment. And it will be our faithful living that will curry us favor with Yehovah and credit us as righteous before Yehovah.

 

The writer of Hebrews unequivocally stated that faith is absolutely required to please Elohim (Heb. 11:6). Faith is absolutely required for one to find favor in Yehovah’s sight. Faith is absolutely required for us to escape the coming judgment and wrath of Yah.

 

Yah takes great pleasure in the faith—the faithful walk—the faith-based covenant relationship He has with His set-apart ones. So much so that He rewards those whose faith leads them to diligently seek out and walk in His ways (Heb. 11:6). Noah was rewarded for His faith. And it was Noah’s faith that pleased Yah and caused Yah to save Noah and his immediate family.

 

Of this very thing, the writer of the Book of Hebrews penned:

 

35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. 37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. 38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. (Heb 10:35-39 KJV)

 

Beloved, the only way to find favor in Yehovah’s sight is for us to live by faith—to walk faithfully in His Ways—to enter into and remain steadfastly in an obedient covenant relationship with Him. In so doing, we not only please Yehovah, especially in perilous times such as these we are living, but we will ultimately be saved from the wrath and judgment to come, as was Noah and his family.

 

But there’s an additional benefit to our living in faith in these perilous times. We will ultimately live and reign with our beloved Master, Yahoshua Messiah in the coming Kingdom. Of this Master Yahoshua stated:

 

41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Mat 13:41-43 KJV)

 

So, I say to you in closing my dear brothers and sisters in the True Faith Once delivered, let us build our own arks of safety in fear and trembling; obedient to Yehovah’s instructions in righteousness, with unshakable trusting faith in Him and in His Words. How do we build our own arks of safety? Walk in Yehovah’s Ways and do His Will—follow His commandments for us—trust Him and His Words. Do not take the path of least resistance by conforming to the demands and enticements of this world. Instead, let us follow in the footsteps and example of Yahoshua our Messiah. Let us not be intimidated by the assertive nature of the world us, but instead trust that Abba has our backs and that He will deliver us in the end. Let us love Him and love the brethren with a pure and unselfish love. Let us die to self and do the work of the Gospel while it is still day, for the night cometh—the flood is coming—when no one can work (Joh. 9:4). 

 

Until next week’s Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections discussion, Shabbat Shalom—Shavu’tov—May you be most blessed fellow saints in training. Take care.

 

How to Correctly Keep Yom Kippur

by | Sep 30, 2017 | ,

How to Correctly Keep Yom Kippur Believers Want to Know How to Keep Yom Kippur Correctly We have brethren in our Faith Community who are seeking Truth and want to understand when and what Yom Kippur is and how to properly observe and celebrate the day. As mature Torah...

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Overcoming the Cares of Life–STAR-94

by | Sep 16, 2017 | ,

    The Cares of Life—For Some a Daily Challenge; For Others A Frequent Distraction   From a general, let’s say, secular standpoint, the cares of life (or cares of this world as interpreted by some Bible translations) are the many elements of everyday...

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Forbidden Messianic Titles and Roles for the Body of Messiah

by | Oct 26, 2021 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

 

 This is “Forbidden Messianic Titles and Roles for the Body of Messiah.” And this discussion is within the purview of the central theme for this ministry: “Yeshua-focused Torah Living.” We are all about promoting the Netzari Faith that was once delivered to the first century saints.

 This Was Not a Planned Post

And just so you know, this topic was not a planned one. I did not plan in advance (over several weeks and days like our other series and reading discussions) to discuss this topic or issue. It came to me while recently surfing some of the Messianic Assemblies and teachings platforms. And what I found in my surfing of these sites and platforms are a lot of religious traditions being propagated by the organizations’ leaders and teachers and so forth, which I generally do not have a dog in their fight so to speak. If these groups want to hang out and worship in religion, have at it.

 Blatant Violations of Yeshua’s Commandment

But then, I ran into a roadblock with these groups when I saw and heard members of their fellowships all but worship their leaders, calling them rabbis and such. For me, it’s one thing for brethren in our Faith Communities to want to adopt rabbinic traditional worship practices and wear the associated garb or attire. But it’s an entirely different thing when brethren see themselves as believers, but then violate the Master’s commandments. For Master stated unequivocally to His disciples:

 

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (Joh. 14:15). And “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love” (Joh. 15:10).

 

Too many folks in our Faith Community violate Yahoshua’s instructions by taking unto themselves titles and positions of authority that should be reserved only for Yehovah and Yahoshua Messiah.

 

 Yeshua Contrasts the Religious Leaders of His Day with the Ways of the Kingdom

Matthew 23:1-36–In speaking to a gathered crowd of followers, Y’shua contrasts the ways of the scribes and Pharisees with the ways of the Kingdom. And in the midst of His pointing out the deficiencies of the scribes and Pharisees (which no doubt many of Y’shua’s followers revered and feared), He turns his attention to His disciples and followers instructing them not to take on the character traits of the Jewish religious leaders of His day. In particular, Master instructed:

 

(8) “…you should not be called “My Great One” (virtually every English translation of the Greek manuscripts use the official title “Rabbi“) for there is only One Who is Great and you are all brothers. (9) And do not call yourself Father for your Father is One who is in heaven. (10) And you should not be called leaders (most English translations of the Greek texts use the title Masters), because One is your leader, the Mashiyach. (11) But he who is greatest among you, let him be a servant to you. (12) For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (AENT).

 Yeshua Condemns the Religious Leaders’ Intent

And then of course Master goes right into the various levels or mentions of woes that He levels towards the scribes and Pharisees because these defy the established spiritual rules and ways of the Kingdom. As Master states before going into His commandments forbidding the assumption of certain titles of authority and leadership roles in the Body, He exposes the true nature, character and hearts of the religious establishment.

 Is Yeshua’s Prohibition Against Certain Titles and Roles a Matter of Simple Obedience or an Exercise of Meaning?

Yet many folks within our various Faith Communities, resist this commandment. They see no reason to not elevate certain members of our Faith Communities to positions of authority with the titles to go with it, such as Rabbi, Master  and Teacher, and what not. These argue vociferously that Master did not mean we are not to elevate people to positions of authority and grant them titles , such as that which is common among various Jewish Messianic sects. These have no problem calling their leaders Rabbi and Master–even Nasi, which is a Jewish title meaning “prince.”  Nasi was one of the most revered titles rendered to some of the ancient sages such as Hillel, Gamaliel, etc. in the Mishnaic period of Jewish history.  The title “Rabban,” which is a higher title than that of “rabbi” supposedly rendered unto certain Jewish sages or even Nasi’s beginning with Gamaliel the Elder, beginning around the middle of the first century–around the time of our Master’s ministries.

 An Analysis of the Title Master

Master in the Greek is “kathegetes,” which means a guide; a master or teach. Master in Hebrew is “adon,” which means lord; master. It is generally a reference to men. It is typical to superintendent of household or of affairs. It has been used also to reference a king or even Elohim. Adon is clearly the root of the title “Adonai;” a title that we are all familiar with in our Faith Communities. Contrary to conventional teaching and wisdom, Adonai is in fact NOT the Creator’s Name. It is in fact a title that was rendered or given by our ancient cousins for Yehovah.

 People Choose to Apply Titles to the Creator Instead of Referring to Him by His Personal Name

So, in general, when Jews come across the tetragrammaton in Scripture, because of the universal rabbinic banning of the pronunciation of the Eternal name, instead of pronouncing the actual Name of the Creator as far as they may or may not know it, will instead  refer to Him as either LORD (all caps) or Adonia. This ban has deep, even dark ramifications associated with it. Not that the term or title Adonai is dark or evil, for I do not believe it is. It is just a title. The problem, however, is that Scripture promotes the declaring and praise of the Eternal’s Name (not His title) throughout the earth (Psa. 22:22; 102:21; Exo. 34:5; Isa. 12:4; Heb. 2:12; etc.).  When Yah’s people are prohibited from uttering-praising-declaring the Eternal’s Name as they know it, the Eternal is not being honored and properly worshiped in all the earth. To deny the Creator His Name, that He Himself declared throughout the Tanach, is satanic at its very core. The simple fact that we are encouraged to promote His Name (not His title) throughout the whole of Scripture, by Yah Himself, as well as His prophets; Yahoshua Himself; and the apostles, yet certain entities have covered up the true pronunciation and use of the Creator’s Name, clearly shows how the enemy has successfully over the centuries, has promoted blasphemy of the Creator’s True Name. (If you are interested in learning more about what it means to blaspheme the Name of Yehovah, I would encourage you to listen to or read our post entitled: “Blaspheming the Name of God–Part 2 of the Series A Question of One’s Jewishness“).

 

Master in the Greek is “didaskalos,” which means a teacher; one who teaches concerning the things of Yehovah. It was used to refer to Yahoshua, which He endorsed and encouraged:

 

“Ye call Me Master (didaskalos) and Lord (“kurios,” meaning the one who has the power of deciding on matters of the Faith and of an individual’s life): and ye say well; for so I am” (Joh. 13:13; KJV).

 The Focus Must Always Be Yeshua

The focus must always be that of Yahoshua. And Master here, as in other places of the apostolic writings, recognized that He was at any given time competing with men who took unto themselves such titles as Master, Lord and Rabbi, garnering unto themselves recognition, power and authority over humanity. Yahoshua, on the other hand, was the only one who was granted authority and power over humanity by His Father, Yehovah Elohim.  Thus, no human has any right to take on these titles. We, members of the Body of Messiah, are instructed by Yahoshua, to simply refer to those who find themselves in oversight or teaching positions in the Body of Mashiyach as brother or brethren. Titles of authority and notoriety are contrary to the ways of the Kingdom of Elohim.

 Followers of Yeshua Called Yeshua Master and Rabbi

We find in John 1:28, 49; 3:2, 25-26 where certain individuals referred to our Master as Rabbi or Master (“kathegetes”), the title of which Yahoshua did not reject or discourage, because He in fact would be the individual’s Rabbi, and by extension, He is ours.

 

Now today, particularly in certain sects of our Faith Communities, the tradition of conferring such titles and authority continue despite Y’shua telling us not to.

 

Why do so many of us ignore or reject our Master’s instructions regarding this?

 Excuses for Violating Yeshua’s Title and Role Prohibition

The reason given by those who oppose the general, raw understanding to be derived by our focus passage is that Master Y’shua did not mean or say we cannot refer to our leaders as Rabbi or Nasi or Leader or such. These contend that Master was actually referring to the meaning behind these titles, such as that of one being deemed as “Great.” And these will go into a whole lot of discussion justifying their understanding by describing the purpose behind the Master’s instructions as opposed to the commandment Master gave to not call any individual their Rabbi, Father (father not from a biological or relational standpoint but from a ecclesiastical standpoint) or Master. These draw our attention, correctly so I might add, towards addressing the central problem of elitism; of hierarchies; of man-made governments running the Faith once delivered.  But I strongly differ from these as it relates to the direct commandment: Yahoshua commanded us NOT to call any man Rabbi, Father or Master. We can justify doing so all we want, but at the end of the day, our Master, Yahoshua told us not to.

 

 Interesting Story Justifying Violating the Title and Role Prohibition

I came across a teaching by a Messianic Group I look into from time-to-time, the flavor of the group being very rabbinic, which I do not necessarily oppose with a qualifying reason. The qualifying reason I refer to is that, as long as the rabbinic traditions do not supersede the teachings of our Master Yahoshua and the primacy of Torah (i.e., the rabbinic traditions subordinate Torah or outright replace Torah; the rabbinic traditions cause Yah’s people to stumble or send the wrong message to the world that the group in question places their trusting Faith, not in Yahoshua and His sacrifice for their salvation, but instead, in their traditions and the order of their services and in their Jewish-based halachah).  Well, the leader of the group, who has taken on the titles of Rabbi and Nasi, reasoned that this commandment given by Yahoshua to not call any man Rabbi is misunderstood, but instead applies to the meaning of the title, don’t call any man O’ Great One. He went on to assert that the people of his congregation want to have over them a person who they can refer to as their rabbi. Thus, why would anyone seek to deny these individuals that blessing of having a rabbi operating in their lives.

 

Really? Really? Even if this gentleman was completely right in his assertions, why would any true, covenant walking man or woman choose to have over them–over their lives–a human Rabbi as opposed to Yahoshua Mashiyach, who should be their Rabbi. You can’t have two Rabbis, right? And if Yahoshua is anything like His Daddy, He is jealous. I can’t imagine Yahoshua is content with members of His Body referring to certain brethren as their rabbi, with all the authority and privileges that title brings with it.

 

 What About the Gifts Given to the Body?

Now, some might introduce into this argument the roles or ministries given to the Body by Mashiyach:

 

(11) “And He (the He being Yahoshua) gave some Shlichim (aka apostles); and some prophets; and some preachers; and some shepherds (aka pastors) and teachers (12) for perfecting the Set Apart believers for the work of the ministry, for the edification of the Body of the Mashiyach. (13) Until we all become one and the same, in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of Elohim, and one complete man according to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Mashiyach. (14) And that we might not be children uprooted and turned about  by every direction of wind by the wrong doctrines of men who plot to seduce their cunning, (15) but that we  might be established in our love; and that everything in us might progress in the Mashiyach who is the head…” (Eph. 4:11-15; AENT).

 

Mashiyach, who is the head is key here in this Pauline passage, for this is the point that Master was conveying to the gathered followers and disciples as recorded in our focus passage. He, Yahoshua, is our Rabbi and our Master, while Yehovah is our Father. So then, there is no room to call or refer to those individuals in the Body who should be brethren as Rabbis, Masters and Fathers. These are titles and roles reserved only for Yahoshua and Yehovah.

 

But what about the 5-titles or roles listed by Shaul in Ephesians 4:11-15? Don’t these, when exercised or put into operation by brethren in the Body of Mashiyach, accomplish the same missteps and infractions as referring to individuals in the Body as Rabbi, Master and Father? Well, yes and no. For when these roles or titles are used to create hierarchical systems in the Body, they are accomplishing the same thing as having rabbis, masters and fathers operating in the Body.

 

Now, I won’t go further  into this subject because there is a teaching out there that was delivered by my beloved brother and friend, Robert Bills, of highpursuitministries.com, the host of the Way of Spirit and Truth podcast and webcast, that thoroughly addresses this conundrum. Robert lays out all of the concerns and realities to be understood in these often referred to entitles as offices, of which he in his 5-installment series, brilliantly puts to rest the thinking that these roles should be viewed as hierarchical offices in the Body of Messiah. If you are so led, I would humbly refer you to this content rich and important series.

 

 Humans Naturally Categorize and Label People

It goes without saying that humans prefer to place individuals in categorical boxes in order for them to understand where in the society or community an individual belongs. Thus, it is also human nature for humans to apply titles to those that they place into categorical boxes, for the ease of quickly and conveniently identifying them.

 The Economy of the Kingdom Stands in Opposition to that of Human Kingdoms

But the economy and operation of the Kingdom of Elohim does not adopt such practices or thinking. There is One God–One Elohim–Who is our Father. Then there is Yahoshua–the Mashiyach–Who is our Master and Great Teacher. Then there’s the Body of Mashiyach that consists of brothers and sisters, all of whom are undergoing the lifelong sanctification process. We, who are of that Body are all equal. It just so happens that Abba, through Yahoshua, has seen fit to equip certain members of this Body to serve in the capacity of apostles,  teachers (not Great teacher for this one gets his learning from Yahoshua and the Ruach haKodesh); prophets; evangelists; pastors and teachers (Eph. 4:11) as well as those who possess certain gifts that benefit the Body of Mashiyach (1 Cor. 12:28-31). As much as it is a temptation for us at times to elevate those fulfilling these roles or possessing such gifts to hierarchical positions in the Body of Messiah, it behooves us to resist that urge. There’s nothing wrong with honoring those who operate in any of these capacities. But no one is to be esteemed above another. For Master taught:

 

“Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but Yehovah knoweth your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of Elohim” (Luk. 16:15; KJV).

 

In another place, Yahoshua taught this fundamental reality of the Kingdom Way of Living:

 

“So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen” (Mat. 20:16).

 My Refusal of Titles and Roles

Many over the years have attempted to confer unto me titles of deacon, elder, teacher, even rabbi, all of which I never felt comfortable with and I often went out of my way to resist and discourage. I much prefer that which my friend and brother in the Faith Robert Bills refers to me by: My brother in the Faith; or my dear brother. This provides for a sense of relationship while also garnering respect for one another.

 

Now, from time to time I will refer to individuals I am referencing in my discussion by their names, along with their various professional and academic titles so as to facilitate you, the readers and listeners of this ministry, in tracking down their reference materials. Nevertheless, as much as I respect them as gifts to the Body of Messiah, and as much as I honor their achievements in the academic world, let’s say, I have no interest in elevating them in the Body as Rabbis, Masters or Fathers.

 Closing Thoughts and Reflections

The conferring and granting of titles of any type, apart from titles such as brother, sister, child of Yehovah, elect, set-apart one, and the like, serve only to incite hierarchies and vanities in the Body of Mashiyach. Master told us simply not to call any man rabbi, master or father. So instead of trying to find ways and reasons for skirting around this direct commandment, why don’t we simply do that–not call any member of the Body rabbi, master or father? And those of us who may find ourselves in the blessed positions or roles of expounding upon the eternal truths of Yah’s Word, why don’t we point those who Abba has given unto us to teach, to Yahoshua as being their one and only Rabbi and Master, and Yehovah as their One True Father and Elohim? If we can do that, we will have stripped the enemy of one more thing that it uses to diminish the Name and Image of Yehovah in the earth.

How to Correctly Keep Yom Kippur

by | Sep 30, 2017 | ,

How to Correctly Keep Yom Kippur Believers Want to Know How to Keep Yom Kippur Correctly We have brethren in our Faith Community who are seeking Truth and want to understand when and what Yom Kippur is and how to properly observe and celebrate the day. As mature Torah...

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Overcoming the Cares of Life–STAR-94

by | Sep 16, 2017 | ,

    The Cares of Life—For Some a Daily Challenge; For Others A Frequent Distraction   From a general, let’s say, secular standpoint, the cares of life (or cares of this world as interpreted by some Bible translations) are the many elements of everyday...

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What it Means to Walk with God? STAR-4

What it Means to Walk with God? STAR-4

by | Oct 22, 2021 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer's Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections

 

Today’s discussion is entitled: “What it Means to Walk with God;” it is a Messianic Discussion of the 4th Parashah in the 3-year Torah Reading Cycle. Our discussion text for this Shabbat will be Genesis 5:1-6:8.

 

I will be reading and commenting from the Robert Alter Translation of Torah (”The Five Books of Moshe”).

 

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Well over half of our Torah Reading this week consists of begats or “toledot,” which is essentially a genealogical listing of the “pre-flood” (aka antediluvian) Sethite patriarchs (I.e., descendants of Seth).

 

Now, if you recall last week’s post, roughly the last quarter of our Reading delineated Cain’s lineage, which pretty much turned out to be the darker side of Adam and Eve’s family.

 

Our Reading this week deals exclusively with Seth’s side of the family. Although Seth’s line would ultimately bring about the seed of the woman that would crush the serpent’s head (I.e., Yahoshua Messiah), most of humanity that derived even from this line fell into iniquity.

 

Despite this reading consisting primarily of the pre-flood patriarchal genealogy, there is enough content contained within this chapter and a quarter to keep us busy for a few hours.

 

Key events, subjects and themes to be found in our Reading include, but are not limited to:

 

  • The prophetic sanctity of Sethithe lineage.
  • The lifespans of the antediluvian patriarchs.
  • Enoch’s controversial life-story.
  • The Story of the Watchers and the Nephilim.
  • The corruption of Yehovah’s natural order.
  • Noah finding favor in Yehovah’s eyes.

 

So as to not hold you all for too long this Shabbat, especially given that we posted an installment of the Paul and Hebrew Roots Series, I would like us to avoid the controversial elements of today’s Reading, and simply focus on a Genesis 5:21-24, which reads as follows:

 

“(21) And Enoch lived sixty-five years and he begot Methuselah. (22) And Enoch walked with God after he begot Methuselah three hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters. (23) And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. (24) And Enoch walked with God and he was no more, for God took him.”

 

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Enoch would seem to have been a “giant” (no pun intended) of the pre-flood patriarchs, despite there being only 6-verses attributed to his entire life, the 5th and 6th verses found just a few verses back in chapter 5, verses 18 and 19, that simply address his birth.

 

Much of the intense interest and controversy surrounding Enoch’s life, as it relates to the Genesis accounting of his life, has to do with the entirety of verse 24: “And Enoch walked with God and he was no more, for God took him.”

 

The first-half of this verse suggests that Enoch enjoyed a very close, if not intimate life and relationship with Yehovah. Then the second-half of the verse entails the greatest mystery and controversy: Enoch being taken by Yehovah and being no more.

 

Beyond these 6-verses in Genesis, Enoch is mentioned only in 3-other passages of scripture, all 3 of which are found in the Brit-haDashah. From these 3-biblical passages, we gain a little more information about the great man that was Enoch.

 

  1. From Luke 3:37 we learn that Yahoshua Messiah descended from Enoch.
  2. The writer of Hebrews 11:5 details how Enoch’s faith led to him not experiencing death, but instead being “translated” (the Greek term being “metatithemi” which means to transpose; to transfer; to change; to go or pass over).
  3. And the half-brother of Yahoshua, Jude, mentions in Jude 1:14, a very mysterious prophesy that Enoch rendered that is no where to be found in our 66-Book Special. So there would seem to be other writings out there that the apostles recognized as authoritative as it related to Enoch. We’ll briefly mention a few extra-biblical or apocryphal books in our discussion here today that may contain the information about Enoch that Jude alludes to in this verse.

 

So, let’s discuss for the remainder of our time here today, the issue of Enoch walking with Elohim; what walking with Elohim means Hebraically; and what walking with Elohim looks like for us today, especially as it relates to the Enoch model of walking with Elohim.

 

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Before we tackle what “walking with Elohim” means and looks like, let’s take a look at the extra-biblical record to see what the writers of those books thought of or had passed down to them traditionally about the man Enoch.

 

Jasher 3:1-11,17-38

 

Enoch is described as one who:

 

  • Despised the evil ways of men.
  • Served Yehovah.
  • Whose soul was wrapped up in the instruction of Yehovah; in knowledge of Yehovah and His Ways; in understanding of Yah’s Word.
  • Possessed a God-like awe that sat upon his countenance, invoking righteous fear of him among his people.

 

Enoch is recorded to have retired from humanity into seclusion for a number of years.

 

An angel is recorded to have called Enoch out of his seclusion for purposes of teaching humanity “the Way in which they should go and the work which they must accomplish to enter in the Ways of Elohim,” which Enoch did to a goodly amount of success.

 

The author states that the Ruach haKodesh was upon Enoch.

 

In time, Enoch is said to have become a ruler over the portion of humanity that desired to walk in the Ways of Yehovah. During Enoch’s reign, it is recorded that peace reigned over both Enoch and the entire realm that Enoch ruled over. And this reign spanned some 243-years.

 

Also during his reign it is recorded that Enoch taught the people the knowledge and Ways of Yah until the day he was taken up “in a whirlwind with horses and chariots of fire.”

 

Book of Jubilees 4:17-25

 

The author of Jubilees described Enoch as:

 

  • Learned in writing and knowledge and wisdom.
  • As one who wrote down the signs of heaven according to their months or seasons.
  • Who received much of his learning from Yehovah’s messengers (I.e., angels), of which he is said to have spent much of his secluded time with.

 

It is written that he testified to and against the Watchers (I.e., the fallen ones) in response to their iniquitous acts with the “daughters of men.”

 

Ultimately, it is recorded, Enoch was “conducted into the Garden of Eden” where he recorded the “condemnation and judgment of the world, and all the wickedness of the children of men.”

 

It is further recorded that he routinely offered incense of the sanctuary before Yehovah.

 

The Book of Enoch Chapter 6

 

The Book of Enoch is best known for it’s detailed telling of the Watchers story. According to the Book of Enoch, 200-angels, otherwise referred to in the text as Watchers, descended onto Mount Hermon in the days of Jared. They were all bound by an oath to choose and take unto themselves “wives from among the children of men and to beget children.”

 

From that union of the angelic and the human, giants were born and they proliferated upon the earth. These are described as horrific creatures that consumed all the available food stocks, which when those were exhausted, led to them consuming humans and ultimately one another.

 

The Book of Enoch describes these giants, which some refer to as Nephilim, as having “sinned against birds, and beasts, and reptiles and fish.” I guess this means that somehow, the Nephilim discovered ways to corrupt Yehovah’s natural order.

 

And so, it is recorded, that the fallen ones corrupted humanity also by teaching them forbidden knowledge or arts such as warfare; cosmetics; vanities; sexuality; ungodliness; witchcraft and sorcery; astrology and astronomy.

 

These propagated and promoted violence in the earth, which prompted the angels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel to petition Yehovah to intervene. Each angel is given an assignment by Yehovah to directly address the situation, which ultimately led to the Watchers’ imprisonments in the earth in anticipation of their final judgment.

 

As far as Enoch was concerned, he was recruited (I believe by Yehovah through the angels) to testify to the fallen ones of the wrath and judgment that is to be brought against them by Yehovah because of their transgressions. The fallen ones in turn recruit Enoch to intercede on their behalf to Yehovah for mercy, the plea for mercy of which Yehovah rejects.

 

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Getting back to our canonical record of Enoch, we find that Enoch is the first patriarch to be described as having “walked with God” (Gen. 5:22). And this mention of someone having walked with Yehovah might cause one to think back to Moshe’s mentioning of Yehovah walking in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day.

 

That record of Yehovah walking in the Garden in the cool of the day/evening certainly hints at the likelihood of this being a routine thing (Gen. 3:8). In other words, it would seem likely that Yah routinely walked in the Garden to meet and converse with Adam. To me it screams of Adam having a “yada” relationship with the Eternal, part of which was frequent walks and talks with Adam, possibly in the cool of the day.

 

And so we have here, some 7-centuries or so removed from this Garden scene, a man who enjoyed a similar relationship with the Creator. And this Enoch story is not only a historical marker for humanity, it serves as a sign that Yehovah did not completely abandon His human creation after the fall. Indeed, given the right heart, Yehovah was more than willing to engage humanity in an intimate, covenant relationship. It shows that there were individuals, although rare, during some of the darkest periods of human history, that were willing to die to self -bend their will to Yah’s Will, and live a covenant-based life with the Creator of the Universe. Noah seems to the other notable human to have been identified as having “walked with God” in humanity’s early days of existence (Gen. 6:9).

 

As much as it intensely interests me, we will not examine the spiritual elephant in the room as it relates to Enoch: What happened to Enoch. The apocryphal books of Enoch, Jasher and Jubilees provide some accounting, and I also have some thoughts on what happened to Enoch, but that will have to be a subject matter for another discussion I’m afraid.

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Our Torah reading records Enoch as having “walked with Elohim.” This fact is mentioned twice (Gen. 5:22-24).

 

We will find in our next Torah Reading that Noah as well is recorded to have “walked with Elohim” (Gen. 6:9).

 

Throughout scripture we find this concept of “walking with God” mentioned and described:

 

  • Yah instructs Avraham at 99-years of age, to “walk” or “halach” before Him or in His presence and be blameless ( 17:1).
  • It is recorded that Yitschaq (aka Isaac) “walked before Yehovah” ( 24:40; 48:15)—the term “before” as used here to describe the “walk” being the Hebrew term “paniym,” which means in the presence of or in the face of Yehovah.

 

A sister term is also used throughout scripture to signal Yehovah’s people walking in association with His Ways: “yalach.” We find in Exodus 16:4 where Yehovah tests the Hebrews in the Sinai Wilderness to see if they will “yalach” in His Torah. And so we find that “yalach” is used throughout the Tanach in terms of Yehovah’s people walking in His prescribed Ways—His instructions in righteousness. Leviticus 18:4 talks about walking in Yah’s ordinances. Leviticus 26:3 talks about walking in Yah’s statutes. Deuteronomy 5:33 and 8:6 talks about walking in Yehovah’s Ways.

 

Conversely, “halach” seems to take onto itself a somewhat different texture. Halach seems to denote more than one simply obeying or living in accordance with Yehovah’s instructions in righteousness. It goes somewhat further to insinuate and even call for a relationship with the giver of those instructions in righteousness. It seems to clearly denote the one who will walk in Yehovah’s Ways to actually have a relationship with Yehovah; what we routinely refer to as “Covenant Relationship.” A relationship that is intimate—somewhat akin to the concept of “yada”—having an intimate knowledge of Yehovah and His Ways.

 

Yehovah promises to walk or “halach” among His people if they keep covenant with Him (Lev. 26:12) and don’t “halach” after other gods (Deu. 8:19).

 

Now, the Greek counterpart to “halach” is “peripateo” which the translators of the Brit haDashah drew from the Hebrew concept of “to live; to regulate one’s life; to conduct one’s self, such as those who questioned Yahoshua as to why his disciples refused to “peripateo” in the ways of the sages.

 

But Master instructs His disciples (and by extension us) to  “peripateo” not in darkness, and in so doing, they will possess the light that gives life (Joh. 8:12).

 

Master later instructed His disciples to walk in His Ways while they had His light with them, because those that walk or peripateo in darkness have no idea where they are heading (Joh. 12:35).

 

And it was the Apostle Paul who instructed the Ephesian Messianics to peripateo as children of light (5:8) and in love (5:2); to peripateo circumspectly. In other works, to guard their walk in such a way that they always behave wisely and appropriately. Along that line of thinking, the apostle instructs the Messianics of Colossae to peripateo in Mashyach—or rather, live according to the manner in which they were taught and shown (Col. 2:6). To also walk in wisdom (Col. 4:5). And to the Messianics of Thessalonica, to walk honestly, such that they would gain the respect of those outside the Faith (1 The. 4:12).

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Benner on Walk or Halach

 

“Halach” literally means to walk, as demonstrated in 2 Sam. 2:29. But in a figurative sense, which is what we’re focusing on in our Reading here today, the term “halach” is used to provide the hearer and reader something of a clear, concrete concept to demonstrate or describe a rather abstract thought or concept. In this case, we’re talking about taking something like the simple act of transporting ourselves on our two-feet, and applying it to our relationship with Yehovah and His Ways. For the Hebrew tends towards more concrete words such as “halach” to convey such concepts so that the one who would be a Child of the Most High will better understand what is expected of him/her and set out to do that which they are supposed to do.

 

One of the best descriptors of the Hebrew term “halach” is found in the example provided in 1 Kings 3:14:

 

And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” (1Ki 3:14 ESV)

 

Here, Solomon is asked by Yehovah to “walk in the footsteps” of his father David, who walked in the footsteps of Yehovah. And so we have introduced here in this passage the concept of a “son walking in the footsteps of his father” in order that he will fair well in his life.

 

In other words, Solomon was asked of Yah that he enter into a covenant relationship with Him just as David did with Yehovah. David lived in accordance with Yah’s Ways (yes, he did have a few slip-ups, but he repented of those transgressions). But just as important, David had a personal, deep, “yada” intimate relationship with Yah. David is described as having a heart after Yehovah (1 Sam. 13:14). David loved Yehovah with his whole heart. And thus, Yehovah was asking Solomon to enter into the same level of relationship with Him as his father David had.

 

Along this line of thinking, Yisra’el was instructed to walk in the footsteps of Yehovah, not in the footsteps of other gods. In other words, Yah required of His people that they give unto Him their whole lives, live according to His instructions in righteousness, and enter into a personal relationship with Him—that is a covenant relationship with Him. In so doing, they would not take on the ways of the pagan nation peoples around them.

 

In terms of our 21st century understanding of such a principle as “halach” or “peripateo,” it may be best understood by us from the standpoint of “culture:” One sets out or chooses a culture and that culture’s principles in which to live by. And of course, there are an almost inexhaustible number of cultures by which one may aspire to live within and by, ranging from nationalistic to ideologies to religions—each of us chooses one or more cultures adopt. Some of us adopt cultures that appeal to us; appeal to our preferences and interests. Others of us adopt cultures that are foisted upon us because of our particular stations in life. And still others of us are chosen to adopt and live out a culture, such as Abba did with Solomon, and Yahoshua is doing with us. We are called, and many of us are chosen to walk—halacah-peripateo in Yehovah—to Walk in Messiah.

 

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We find in scripture that Yah’s people are called to walk in the ways of faith; in Torah; in love, peace, and truth.

 

But in order that we find favor in the eyes of Yah, we must catch His attention. And scripture tells us that Yah turns towards those who possess a right heart and tremble at His Words. And it is this one—the one who possesses a right heart and who trembles at His Words—who Yah will save (Psa. 34:18; Isa. 66:2); draw near to (Psa. 34:18); accept their worship (51:17—Listen to or read our post entitled: The Heart of True Worship-STAR-3); dwell with (Isa. 57:15). These are things we all desire from our covenant relationship with Yehovah.

 

And so, there must be agreement between us and Yehovah. After Yah choses us because we fear/revere/love Him and His Words and we have the proper heart (such that of a circumcised heart—a will that will subordinate itself to Yehovah’s Will—that is die to self), will make for the optimal condition of walking with Yehovah.

 

There must be an agreement—a “ya’ad”, which means to fix; appoint; assemble; to meet; to set; to betroth (Amo. 3:3).

 

But we must first circumcise our hearts such that we die to self—we turn our lives over to Yehovah to do His work in us—to ultimately turn us into His sons and daughters. And so, we must stop sinning; stop resisting Him; not grieve His Ruach (aka His Spirit) (Deu. 10:16; Jer. 4:4; Col. 2:11). And then, He will circumcise our hearts further by inscribing His Words/His Ways upon it such that we love Him with our whole being and we walk in obedience of Faith (Deu. 30:6).

 

This is all part and parcel of our entering into and maintaining that crucial obedient, covenant relationship with Yah that you hear me talk and write about incessantly.

 

For us, halacah with Yehovah is simple. In fact, for us, its the only way to be in a right-relationship with Abba. We must “walk” (aka halach; peripateo) in Mashiyach (aka Messiah). And we walk in Messiah by imitating Yahoshua in every conceivable way (Col. 2:6). We effectively abandon entirely doing things our way, and do only that which we see Him do (just as He described the relationship He had with Father—He did what He saw Father do; and taught and preached what Father told Him to teach and preach; to act as Yehovah instructed Him to act).

 

This, according to Paul, pleases Abba (1 The. 4:1).

 

So, in the midst of our Creator’s kindled wrath and determination to destroy His creation because it had become so corrupted, He takes notice of Noah. Noah attains favor in Yehovah’s eyes. But we find in next week’s Reading that Noah walked with Yehovah.

 

Like Enoch, Noah not only walked in Yah’s Ways, he had a relationship with the Almighty (Gen. 5:9).

 

Our God/our Elohim, is an Elohim of relationships. He desperately desires to have a relationship with us, His human creation. He, in fact, desires to adopt us to be His sons and daughters.

 

Thus, it behooves us to work on our halacah; not from the standpoint of a mechanical, rote-keeping of Torah and the tradition of the sages that so many of us in this Faith community do. But more so, focus on our relationship with the Almighty. We are to seek Him and His strength (1 Chr. 16:11); His Kingdom and His righteousness (Mat. 6:33); His face (Psa. 105:4). And we do this through the Person and Personal Ministry of our Master Yahoshua Messiah. For He taught us how to walk in Yehovah. He left us His Words; His teachings and His example:

 

“For to this have you been called (called to endure for Messiah), because Messiah also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps” (1 Pet. 2:21).

 

Halacah—True Messianic halacah my friends—is not about becoming Jewish and living under the framework of Judaism. It’s about following in the footsteps of Yahoshua. Our halacah is taking Yahoshua’s yoke upon us and ultimately transforming into His image (Mat. 11:29). And to assist us in doing all this, Master promised us that gift of the “paraklete”—the Ruach haKodesh—whom Abba sends to us; to teach us/to help clarify for us; to bring to our remembrance all that Yahoshua has taught and modeled for us (Joh. 14:26). Thus, the Ruach—the Comforter—will confirm to us that which we do—our walk—which is pleasing unto Abba (Joh. 15:26).

 

So, like Yahoshua, we are called to be “echad” with Yehovah. This is what true “halacah” is all about: becoming one—echad—with Messiah and Yehovah our Elohim (Joh. 10:30; 17:21).

 

 

 

 

 

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The Righteousness of God is the Place Where Obedience and Faith Intersect-Part 1-What is the Righteousness of God?

by | Oct 20, 2021 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

This is “The Righteousness of God is the Place Where Obedience and Faith Intersect—Part 1—What is the Righteousness of God?”

 

  1. Pose the Central Questions

 

Inevitably, the central question facing Messianics is how does one balance a life of Torah-honoring with that of Trusting Faith in Yahoshua Messiah.

 

Denominationalism, for instance, vehemently rejects any attempt by God’s people to be Torah-honoring. Messianics, on the other hand, tend to place much of their day-to-day focus on being Torah-honoring, paying less attention to matters of faith.

 

Secular dictionaries define faith as that which one has complete trust or confidence in. When used in connection to things of faith, we’re talking about a strong belief in Elohim or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.

 

The writer of the Cepher of Hebrews defined faith as:

 

“The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (11:1).

 

The Greek word in the Brit Hadashah for faith is “pistis,” which means having a conviction of the truth of anything, belief; conviction or belief respecting one’s relationship to Elohim and set-apart things; the conviction that Elohim exists and is the creator and rule of all things, the provider and bestower of salvation through Mashiyach; a conviction or belief that Yahoshua is Mashiyach, through whom one obtains salvation (Heb. 11:6).

 

In the Hebrew, the term for faith is ‘emuwn {ay-moon}, which means trusting, faithfulness; to be certain or to believe.

 

As members of the true Faith once delivered, one of our core understandings is that one must be Torah-honoring or obedient and possess faith in the personal ministry of Yahoshua our Mashiyach. Unfortunately, due to inherent difficulties associated with some of the Apostle Shaul’s writings, it would appear on the surface that the great apostle to the Gentiles rejected Torah-keeping by the elect of Yah, while promoting faith as the only means by which he/she is to live (Rom. 3:27; Gal. 2:16; 3:2-13). Now, these are critical passages that when read out of context, would certainly lead one to believe that Torah-obedience by Yah’s elect has been done away with. And we will certainly tackle these and other similar passages as we progress along in this Paul and Hebrew Roots Series.

 

Conversely, we have the Apostle Ya’achov (aka James) come out strongly in favor of Torah-keeping which he describes as works (Jas. 2). The half-brother of our Master, goes even so far as to ask whether one is saved by faith alone, absent works (Jas. 2:14). And we find later on in the apostle’s reasoning he declares that faith without works is dead (2:20)  and that one is justified by his/her works in addition to his/her faith (2:24).

 

Who’s right here? Paul or James? Or maybe, both are right, but each is seeing this thing from two different perspectives.

 

And the answer is both. James is quite easy to follow in his explanation of the critical balance that exists between faith and Torah-living. Shaul, on the other hand, tends to be a bit more focused on proving his point that works of the Law/Torah won’t save an elect. However, we will find later on in this very letter that he he does affirm the centrality of Torah in a believer’s life in association with his/her faith (Rom. 3:31).

 

In this first installment of our series within a series, which I’ve entitled, The Righteousness of God is the Place Where Obedience and Faith Intersect, our focus passage being Romans 3:21-22, we will discuss how Yehovah’s righteousness is the fulcrum of the elect’s believing/trust faith and his/her obedience to the terms of their covenant relationship with the Almighty.

 

 

 

  1. Rehash Point of Last Post and Tie into This Discussion

 

Context is the heart of most, if not all of my scriptural studies. And as I’ve mentioned throughout the many installments of this Paul and Hebrew Roots series: Because Shaul is, in so many places in his writings, hard to understand (2 Pet. 3:15-16), it is imperative that we read and study his writings within framework and context of the letter the passage of interest is contained, as well as within the framework and context of all his letters and the whole of scripture.

 

Failure to read and study Paul’s writings in its proper context, again, because of the apostle’s challenging writing style, may lead one to inaccurately interpret the content of his writings, which in turn will lead one to “…wrest [or twist his writings], as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. (2Pe 3:16 KJV)

 

And so we strive to avoid such misunderstanding and the potential to twist the apostle’s divinely inspired writings by framing our focus passage(s) within its proper context.

 

So let’s conduct a quick context review of Romans, leading up to our focus passage of 3:21-22.

 

  • The Gospel (aka, the Besorah) that Shaul was sent to preach was to both Jew and Greek (1:15-16). That Besorah or Gospel reveals the Righteousness of Elohim, which we will discuss in our discussion today. And now, as in the past, the one who would be righteous is called by Elohim and by the apostle here in this letter to the Romans, to live by faith (1:17).

 

  • As Yah revealed to Habakkuk, the wrath of Elohim is leveled against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. All humanity stands guilty before Yehovah because it inherently knows Yah exists and knows the difference between right and wrong, but still insists on living lives of sin (1:18-32).

 

  • Thus, Yah’s pending judgment against wicked humanity will be righteous, as He will judge all according to their deeds and the workings of their hearts, irrespective of them being Jew or Gentile. Yah is no respecter of person. And the apostle writes about Yah judging humanity according to where each individual falls out. Each will be judged either within the framework of Torah or outside the framework of Torah (2:1-16). [Listen to or read our related post entitled: “What Did Paul Mean by Being Under the Law?”]

 

  • Then Shaul levels a rather harsh criticism of some of his kinsmen, who we described as religious Jews. The apostle makes the earth-shattering statement that a Jew is one who is a Jew inwardly as opposed to one outwardly (in particular attacking the Judaizers’ ferocious enforcing of physical circumcision mandates on those Gentiles entering the Faith—similar to what we’re seeing out there in the secular world today with mandates, heh?). We discussed extensively the realities associated with Shaul putting into a proper perspective one’s Jewishness (I.e., the religious Jew’s reliance on their heritage, biology, their religion, and traditions) as it related to their salvation. [Listen to or read our related series within a series entitled: “A Question of One’s Jewishness.”] According to Shaul, the Jew is no better than their Gentile counterparts, especially when it comes to questions of one’s eternal security or right-standing before Yehovah. Therefore, the Jew must not place their trust in their Jewishness (2:17-3:8).

 

  • Shaul then puts forth the fundamental notion or premise that humanity, on its own accord, is inherently unrighteous in all its ways, while conversely, Yehovah is righteous in all His Ways. [Listen to or read our related post entitled: “Let God be True and Every Man a Liar.” The apostle goes so far as to assert that not even the works of the Law or the works of Torah (we’ll discuss what works of Torah or the Law likely means in this context) will not save a person. At the time, this was no doubt shocking to the converted religious Jews of his day. But Shaul corrected this erroneous belief by asserting that one’s faith in Yahoshua and His Personal Ministry saves a person. It is the chosen one’s faith that results in his/her having righteousness or right-standing imputed unto them by Yehovah (3:9-20).

 

Pretty cut and dry, heh?

 

Contrary to denominationalism conventional wisdom, the apostle was not thrashing or rejecting Torah or Torah-keeping by Yah’s elect. Nor was he rejecting his kinsmen and their religion; just their hypocrisy and their flagrant rejection of a faith-based, obedient covenant relationship with the Eternal, and their stubborn reliance on their Jewishness as the basis for their right-standing before Yehovah.

 

The apostle was simply introducing his Messianic Roman readers to the fundamental realities and application of Yehovah’s righteousness in light of humanity’s (all of humanity) desperate need of a savior. All-in-all, the apostle extols the crucial role an elect’s faith plays in his/her being justified before a holy and righteous Elohim.

III. The Righteousness of Yehovah Manifested Through Faith and an Obedience of Faith

 

Our focus passage reads:

 

“But now, the Righteousness of Elohim without Torah, is manifested; and Torah and the prophets testify of it; even the righteousness of Elohim, which is by faith in Yahoshua the Mashiyach, for everyone and on every one that believes in Him: for there is no distinction…” (3:21-22; AENT).

 

The Righteousness of God Manifested

 

The phrase “But now” in verse 21, separates out for the apostle’s readers, at least two-historical-time-periods in human history where the Righteousness of Elohim was manifested. [Read or listen to our related discussion entitled: “The Righteousness of God Revealed From Faith to Faith.”] The first go-round was via or in the Torah. But now, in Shaul’s day, it was being manifested through faith in the Person and Personal Ministry (that is, in the atoning work) of Yahoshua haMashiyach.

 

I want to examine the concept of the “Righteousness of God/Elohim” in greater detail later on in our discussion here today. But for now, let’s continue analyzing the various components of verse 21.

 

“Without the Law” is Misleading to Modern Readers

 

The KJV’s rendering of “without the law” (”choris nomos”) is terribly misleading to modern readers. It certainly feeds the anti-Torah monster of denominationalism. For the ancient Greek phrase “choris nomos” should not be interpreted from the standpoint of Torah having no purpose or role in the “Righteousness of Elohim.” But rather, and more accurately I might add, “outside the confines of Torah” or the Law.

 

 

Torah and the Prophets Attested of God’s Righteousness

 

Torah attested to the Righteousness of Elohim by defining what sin is, revealing how depraved humanity was because of sin, and humanity’s dire need of a savior whom Yehovah Himself would provide. Simply recall Avraham’s prophetic pronouncement to his son Yitshaq:

 

8 My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: (Gen 22:8 KJV).

 

Torah, along with the whole of Tanach, attested to this reality. It just so happens that Yehovah, in Shaul’s day, officially and fully revealed this prophesied reality in the Person and Personal Ministry of Yahoshua haMashiyach. And this explains what Shaul meant by the phrase “without” or “outside of Torah.”

 

Torah Alone Does Not Bring One to Righteousness

 

Contrary to Jewish conventional wisdom of Shaul’s day, Torah in and of itself was not the complete vehicle or means for one to be deemed or imputed righteous by Yehovah. Obedience to Torah was a piece of the equation for Yah’s people to realize the Righteousness of Yehovah. The missing component was always alluded to by both the Torah and Yehovah’s prophets of old.

 

God’s Salvation Imputed in Response to a Trusting Faith

 

And with the advent and personal ministry of Messiah, the fullness of true salvation was manifested and in full operation. Praise Yah! So both Torah and the Prophets preached salvation—that is the conference of righteousness or right-standing to Yehovah’s chosen ones–through faith.

 

Abraham’s Example of the Righteousness of God

 

Again, we have before us the fitting example of Avraham, who by his unshakable faith in Yehovah as His Elohim, was credited or imputed righteousness by Yehovah (Rom. 4:3, 9; Gal. 3:6; Jam. 2:23). In all these testimonies, it is recorded that Avraham believed Yehovah and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

 

Torah-Keeping In and Of Itself Saves No One, But…

 

Christian commentators use this passage, as they do several others of Shaul’s writings, to disparage Torah-keeping/Torah-living by Yah’s people. These choose to focus on the fact that Torah-keeping/Torah-living in and of itself does not bring one into right-standing before Yehovah. Which is not entirely true.

 

What most, if not all, Christian commentators—who are in most cases, operating from an anti-Torah perspective—are ignoring is the fact that one’s trusting faith must naturally lead to one’s obedience to Yah’s instructions in righteousness; all of which is part and parcel of a covenant relationship with Yehovah. [Listen to or read our related discussion entitled: “The Righteousness of God Revealed From Faith to Faith.”] Like Avraham, one’s true faith will compel him/her to walk in obedience to Yah’s instructions in righteousness.

 

Keep My Commandments if you Love Me

 

Our Master’s plea was quite compelling:

 

“If you love me, keep my commandments” (Joh. 14:15; KJV).

 

In other words, the Master was saying to His disciples: “If you are truly my disciples and you’ve given your all to follow me (that is, you love me over anything and anyone else in your life by comparison), then keep my instruction; My commandments.” And since Master did only that which He saw His Father do and preach only that which He received from His Father, one can logically conclude that Yahoshua’s commandments were the very same commandments as Yehovah’s (Joh. 5:19). Indeed, Master was the walking, talking Torah.

 

Denominationalist Commentators See No Room For Obedience—Just Cognitive Trusting Belief

 

 

These promote a cognitive recognition that Yahoshua Messiah died for our sins, but deny the requirement for us to die—despise our own will, but esteeming only Abba’s Will. Many recognize that Yah’s Ruach haKodesh-His Holy Spirit—inscribes Yehovah’s Torah on the fleshly tables of the convert’s heart as a critical part of the sanctification process. But these see no role for themselves beyond their confession of faith in their understanding of Yah’s sanctification process. These possess no skin in the game. They see no need to die to self and walk in obedient covenant relationship with the Almighty.

 

Works Must Work in Conjunction With Faith

 

But wasn’t it the half-brother of our Master, James the Just, who emphatically asserted that:

 

“Faith without works is dead” (Jas. 2:18).

 

Is Paul Off or What?

 

But wait: Isn’t Shaul saying here in our focus passage that Torah-living/Torah-keeping has no role whatsoever in one receiving right-standing or imputed righteousness before our holy and righteous Elohim?

 

What Shaul is saying in part here is that, just possessing or having knowledge of Torah will not put anyone in right-standing with Yehovah. (Again, we dealt exclusively with this premise in our 4-part series entitled “A Question of One’s Jewishness.”)

 

In fact, one can be blameless in their keeping of Torah, but still not in right-standing before Yehovah. This is due to one placing their trusting-faith in their Torah-keeping alone and not in their trusting-faith-based relationship with the Eternal through the provisions brought about by Yahoshua’s and His Personal Ministry (or rather, Yeshua’s atoning sacrifice).

 

Recall, this is precisely what the religious Jew of Shaul’s day was doing, and it took Shaul to call them out on it—Romans 2. We in fact dealt with this reality in our series within a series entitle: “A Question of One’s Righteousness.” I would encourage you, if you’ve not already done so, to reference those discussion as you are so led.

 

Torah-Keeping/Torah-Living is Still a Requirement—Don’t Be Fooled

 

Now, [this in no way means], and mind you, this is where denominationalism tragically goes off the rails so to speak in regards to Yah’s people obeying His instructions in righteousness, this in no way means we are not required to obediently walk out Torah in conjunction with our trusting faith in Mashiyach.

 

We did a post entitled “Is Torah-Keeping Required for Salvation” where we determined that Torah-keeping is necessary for one’s salvation despite denominationalism’s conventional wisdom to the contrary. Again, Torah-keeping or works of the Law/Torah, alone will not earn one salvation or right-standing before Yehovah. He requires a trusting faith in Him and His Mashiyach first and foremost. But then Yah requires His chosen ones walk in obedience to His instructions in righteousness. I would go even so far as to say that our Faith and our covenant relationship with the Eternal compels us to seek higher heights and deeper depths in our keeping of Yah’s instructions in righteousness, not the opposite.

 

Humanity Judged Either Within or Outside the Framework of Torah

 

 

Remember, Shaul himself asserted that every un-converted soul would ultimately be judged either within or outside the framework of Torah (Rom. 2:12—Listen to or read our discussion on this very premise entitled: “What Did Paul Mean by Being Under the Law Part 1). So, no matter how the denominationalists spin this critical issue, one cannot get around the fact that Torah-keeping/honoring/living are essential to an elect’s walk with Messiah and ultimately being justified before Yehovah.

 

Another Example of Shaul’s Hard-to-Understand Reading Style

 

Unfortunately, I identify, as did the Apostle Peter/Kefa, Shaul’s writing style as the basis for a great deal of confusion as it relates to questions surrounding the delicate balance that exists between one’s faith and one’s obedience to Yah’s instructions in righteousness. For on the surface it would seem the apostle is stipulating that one’s obedience to Abba’s instructions in righteousness has nothing whatsoever to do with the elect of Yah being saved or justified and that one’s justification comes only as a result of his/her faith.

 

This which the apostle writes concerning faith being the only element by which one receives righteousness conflicts with that written by James the Just who wrote that faith without works is dead (Jam. 2:18-26)? It certainly seems to be the case; at least on the surface it does.

 

Recall that Shaul informed his Roman Messianic readers that Avraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness (Rom. 4:1-16). And further along in this 3rd chapter the apostle wrote:

 

“…it is by faith a man is being made righteous, and not by the Works of Torah” (Rom. 3:28; AENT).

 

The Works of the Law Introduced

 

What does Shaul mean by the phrase “Works of Torah/Law?” Well, as we progress further along in our discussions in this series within a series, we will closely examine what Shaul meant by works of the Law/Torah. And we will find that this phrase may not mean what it appears to mean on its raw surface. (This discussion will be forthcoming in a few weeks.)

 

But suffice to say, by the time we get to the end of this series within a series, we will find that Shaul was not in the least saying that one’s obedience to Abba’s instructions has no role in his/her being saved or justified. In fact, as a sneak peak, we have somewhat of a clarifying passage that proves the opposite: That Torah-Living is required of Yah’s people:

 

“Do we then nullify Torah by faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish Torah” (Rom. 3:31; AENT).

 

Boom! Drop the mike! The apostle has left the room! 

 

 

Contextually Understanding What Paul Means by the Righteousness of God

 

As Yehovah is righteous in all His Ways—righteousness being a prime character trait of His—He extends forth or bestows or imputes righteousness to those who would be His chosen ones in response to their faith (Listen to or read our related post entitled: “Let God Be True and Every Man a Liar”). The elect one’s faith, by its very nature, leads or compels this one to walk in obedient covenant relationship with Yehovah: an obedience of faith if you will. This is what Shaul was sent to do as an apostle: to call the world to an obedience of faith (Listen to or read our related post entitled: “Obedience Versus Faith”).

 

 

The Righteousness of God Understood in Context.

 

In order to gain a better understanding of the phrase, the “Righteousness of Elohim” in context to our focus passage, we should step back to Romans 1:17, which reads:

 

”For in it is revealed the “Righteousness of Elohim, from faith to faith; as it is written: “The righteous by faith will live.” (AENT).

 

“For[in] it” in the Greek is “gar auto.” It links to the apostle’s explanation of the gospel he was commissioned to teach and preach by Yahoshua Messiah.

 

The Gospel Stands at the Heart of the Righteousness of God

 

It is the gospel that provides humanity the means—the wherewithal—to receive right-standing before his Creator. Other than the gospel, there is no other means by which humanity may gain access to the Righteousness of Elohim! Shaul explained that salvation comes about firstly through the preaching and then the hearing of the Gospel (Rom. 10:17).

 

Misplaced Focus Among Some Messianics

 

We here in the Messianic/Hebraic Communities tend to forget this critical reality, our focus often being on the rote keeping of Torah, or as we will discuss later, the “Works of Torah.” We often go about our walk in rote commandment-keeping as if we are purchasing our salvation or that somehow, our Torah-keeping in and of itself will somehow bring us into right-standing before the Creator. I’ve noticed little in the way of references to the role that the gospel and faith play towards the elect’s access to the “Righteousness of Elohim.”

 

Righteousness Defined

 

Our English term “righteousness” in the Greek is “dikaiosune,” which as demonstrated by the LXX’s use of the term, is related to the Hebrew term “tzedek.”

 

Tzedek describes those acts or actions that fulfill the divine mandates or obligations of or that are contained in Torah for Yah’s people. Those divine mandates or obligations underscore one’s covenant relationship with the Almighty.

 

The sister-Hebrew term of “tzadik” is descriptive of the one or ones who are deemed “innocent” or “justified” by the Court of Heaven.

 

Tzedek and Tzadik Crucial Terms Undergirding the Righteousness of God

Now, these two terms, “tzadik” and “tzedek” are crucial to our understanding of the concept of “Righteousness.” In concert, both terms express the divine standards by which Yehovah requires His chosen ones to live—which all of humanity fails to meet on their own–and thus the dire need for a savior that would facilitate his/her being deemed justified or righteous before their holy and righteous Elohim. For without the “Righteousness of Elohim,” one is condemned to wrath, judgment and punishment.

 

Understanding the Righteousness of God One of Two Ways—Depending on Context

 

Now, there are at least two-ways of understanding the phrase “Righteousness of God”:

 

  1. One of Yehovah’s character traits is that He is righteous, which by extension means the one who seeks to be conferred a right-standing before Him, benefits by the His righteous acts of salvation toward them.

 

  1. Yehovah declares or bestows righteousness upon those who would be chosen of Yah, which comes only through the chosen one’s trusting faith in His Son Y’shua Messiah.

 

Contextually speaking, the Righteousness of Elohim that is mentioned by Shaul here in our focus passage, is the objective form or the second understanding: Whereby one’s trusting faith in Y’shua is credited as righteousness to Yah’s chosen.

 

The phrase “from faith to faith” must be understood from the perspective of the apostle’s recitation of Habakkuk, that a “righteous one by his faith will live” (1:17; cf. Hab. 2:4).

 

And that, beloved, is where we will pick-up in the next installment of this series within a series—”The Righteousness of God is the Place Where Obedience and Faith Intersect-Part 2-The Righteous Shall Live by Faith.” You don’t want to miss that discussion.

 

 

 

Invitation to Discipleship—to live, not just in Torah, but to also live by faith and by our Faith.

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