Tag Archives: robes of righteousness

Shabbat Shalom from the Snowy Pacific Northwest

Posted on by
1

Please enjoy these snow photos from my backyard. Quite a contrast from the warm, sun-drenched Mexico we just returned from a couple of weeks ago.

When you view these photos, think of the robes of the righteousness in which YHVH has clothed his repentant and righteous saints thanks to the blood of Yeshua!

My lone palm tree bedecked in white.

“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says YHVH, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.” (Isa 1:18)

I will greatly rejoice in YHVH, My soul shall be joyful in my Elohim; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isa 61:10)

He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. (Rev 3:5)

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

 

Being Cast Into Outer Darkness Versus Being Cast Into the Fire

Posted on by
Reply

Matthew 22:13, Outer [or exterior] darkness. This is likely not a reference to destruction in the lake of fire, which is the fate of the wicked, but rather the place where those who will be least in the kingdom (Matt 5:19) will reside.

In this same parable, Yeshua alludes to the lake of fire in verse seven where he mentions the fate of the wicked who refused the invitation to the wedding of the king’s son. This refers to those who refuse to respond favorably to the gospel message.

Those who are invited guests to the son’s wedding, but who weren’t properly attired, are those saints who will be in the kingdom of Elohim, but who will not have attained the higher reward of being the bride of the king’s son (i.e. the bride of Yeshua). They will not be living in close proximity to Yeshua as his bride in the New Jerusalem, which is a place where there is no darkness or night, for Yeshua who is the Sun of Righteousness (Mal 4:2) and whose face shines like the suns (Rev 1:16) will be the light of the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:23; 22:5). Rather, the place of reward for those who weren’t properly attired in robes of righteousness (Matt 22:11) will be to live further away from the New Jerusalem somewhere on the New Earth. These immortalized saints appear to those who Yeshua refers to in Matt 5:19 as “the least in the kingdom.”

Moreover, light is a biblical metaphor referring to the knowledge of YHVH’s truth or being able to see spiritually, while darkness is an obvious and universal metaphor for ignorance or spiritual blindness. It is possible that these who will be least in the kingdom, though possessing eternal life, will be living in a state of not possessing as much divine revelation or spiritual light as a commensurate reward for their rejecting the fuller spiritual light while they were mortal humans. They have reaped for eternity what they sowed as physical humans. This is because they failed to properly prepare their robes of righteousness to be the bride of Yeshua as the lesson of the previous parable teaches us. The reward of these people who will be to be the least in the kingdom and to abide in a place on the new earth that is further away from the New Jerusalem that has less spiritual light shining on it.

Outer darkness being a lower position in the kingdom of Elohim as opposed to being cast into the lake of fire seems to be more consistent with Yeshua’s usages of this phrase elsewhere (e.g. Matt 8:12; 25:30). In the verbal imagery of Yeshua, being cast into outer darkness seems to be in direct contrast to being cast into a fiery furnace, which is a reference to the fate of the wicked. This fate is final and refers to eternal damnation in the lake of fire (Matt 13:42, 50 cp. 3:12; 25:41; Mark 9:43–49; Rev 19:20; 20:10, 14, 15; 21:8).

 

Let our robes of righteousness speak louder than our words!

Posted on by
2

Exodus 39:1, The holy garments for Aaron. The vestments of the high priest (kohen hagadol) are symbolic of the robes of righteousness that saints should be wearing in preparation for the return of the Messiah.

Gold symbolizes purity of heart. Blue symbolizes heaven and spirituality. White linen pictures robes of righteousness. White symbolizes purity and sinlessness. Red represents blood—the blood of Yeshua that cleanses from sin. The high priest wore a belt that represents truth, according to Paul (Eph 6:14). White linen pants represented sexual purity. The white turban represented purity of thought and humility (the opposite of conceit). He wore a gold crown inscribed with the words, “Kadosh l’YHVH” meaning “Set-Apart to YHVH.” The dangling pomegranates represented the fruits of the Spirit of Elohim, which should be manifesting in the life of the saint. The golden bells jingled when the priest walked. As we walk through life, people should hear and see our good spiritual fruits.

All of our actions speak loudly and clearly as to who we are and what we believe. Also, Yeshua said that our words reveal the true condition of our heart (Luke 6:45). How do people really view us? What are we really like when we are alone—our thought life and our words—our secret life? Is there a discrepancy between our secret and public lives? If so why? How set apart and righteous are we … in reality?

If we are called to be a set-apart priesthood then hadn’t we better get busy cleaning up our act and start acting like one?

Jewish tradition tells us that a rope was tied to the leg of the high priest in Second Temple times so that while ministering in the innermost sanctuary of the temple if he was impure and YHVH struck him dead (as happened to Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, when they offered up strange fire) the corpse could be dragged out by the rope. Doesn’t all this show us that we should take being righteous and set apart seriously? Remember Hebrews 12:14: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man will see the Master.”

 

What Is Righteousness? Righteousness Vs. Pseudo-Righteousness

Posted on by
2

AdobeStock_69295865

Righteousness is one of those biblical words that can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. Often righteousness is defined more by the traditions of the churches or religious movement we are a part of (e.g., don’t lie, steal, commit adultery, drink alcohol, dance, play cards, smoke, etc.) than by what the Word of Elohim actually teaches. Have you wondered what the word righteousness really means?

In this study, we have attempted to look up nearly all 297 references in Scripture to righteousness, then list the main scriptures that capture the quintessential meaning of righteousness and then categorize them topically. By this means, we hope to let the Bible itself define righteousness instead of men’s traditions and religious philosophies.

It behooves us to know what righteousness is, since Yeshua declared that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled, and that those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake will inherit the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:6 and 10). Additionally, he commands us to “seek first the kingdom of Elohim and his righteousness” (Matt 6:33). Elsewhere the Scriptures tell us that “the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of Elohim” (1 Cor 6:9). Yeshua also taught that it was necessary for the righteousness of his disciples (and us) to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matt 5:20). What did he mean by this? And finally, in Revelation 19:7–9 the bride of Yeshua is described as wearing “fine linen, clean and bright” garments which is “the righteous acts of the saints” (NKJV). Notice it doesn’t say “righteous beliefs,” but righteous acts.” What are the righteous acts of the saints?

The Etymology of the Word Righteousness

Let’s first define the word righteousness.

It is the Hebrew word tsedawkaw (Strong’s H6666 and is derived from H6663; TWOT 1879b) and means “justice, truthfulness, ethically right” or “morally straight.” The KJV translates tsedawkaw as follows: righteousness (128 times), justice (15 times), right (9 times), righteous acts (3 times), moderately (1 time), righteously (1 time).

Tsedawkaw derives from tsadak (a primitive root; Strong’s H6663) meaning “to be just, be righteous, to have a just cause, to be in the right, to be righteous in conduct and character, to be put or made right or justified, to make someone righteous, to do or bring Continue reading →

 

Put on you holy under and outerwear

Posted on by
Reply

Exodus 39:1, The holy garments for Aaron. The vestments of the high priest (kohen hagadol) are symbolic of the robes of righteousness that saints should be wearing in preparation for the return of the Messiah.

High Priest

Gold symbolizes purity of heart. Blue symbolizes heaven and spirituality. White linen pictures robes of righteousness. White symbolizes purity and sinlessness. Red represents blood—the blood of Yeshua that cleanses from sin.

The high priest wore a belt that represents truth, according to Paul (Eph 6:14).

White linen pants represented sexual purity.

The white turban represented purity of thought and humility (the opposite of conceit).

He wore a gold crown inscribed with the words, “Kadosh l’YHVH” meaning “Set-Apart to YHVH.”

The dangling pomegranates represented the fruits of our lives be they good or bad.

The golden bells jingled when the priest walked. As we go through life people hear us and see us. Our actions speak loudly and clearly. Also, Yeshua said that our words reveal the true condition of our heart (Luke 6:45). How do people really view us? What are we like in secret when no one else is around—our thought life and our words—our secret life? Is there a discrepancy between our secret and public lives? If so why? How set apart and righteous are we … in reality?

If we are called to be a set-apart priesthood then hadn’t we better get busy cleaning up our act?

Jewish tradition tells us that a rope was tied to the leg of the high priest in Second Temple times so that while ministering in the innermost sanctuary of the temple if he was impure and YHVH struck him dead (as happened to Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, when they offered up strange fire) the corpse could be dragged out by the rope.

Doesn’t all this show us that we should take being righteous and set apart seriously? Remember Hebrews 12:14: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man will see the Master.”