Besorah min ha-Tenach [Good News from the Tenach]

 

So now that you’ve seen the Days of Moshiach for yourself and know all about Yeshua and the Geulah [redemption], it has come down to a choice. We must not ignore the Geulah he came to bring us. You see, no matter how pious we are and how many mitzvos [commandments] we do every day, we cannot fulfill our obligation to honor the Ribbono shel Olam and to love him “b’chol levavacho uv’chol nafshecho, uv’chol meodecho” [with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might]. As Dovid ha-Melek [King David] expressed in Tehillim perek יד psukim ב-ג :

 

ה' מִשָּׁמַיִם הִשְׁקִיף עַל־בְּנֵי־אָדָם לִרְאוֹת הֲיֵשׁ מַשְׂכִּיל דֹּרֵשׁ אֶת־אֱלֹהִֽים: הַכֹּל סָר יַחְדָּו נֶאֱלָחוּ אֵין עֹֽשֵׂה־טוֹב אֵין גַּם־אֶחָֽד:

 

“Hashem looks down from the heavens on the sons of men, to see if there is anyone who understands, who seeks after G-d. All have turned aside; they have become corrupt together. There is no one who does good, not even one.”

 

From Ha-kodesh Baruch Hu’s perspective, all our mitzvos [good deeds] are chevel [a waste] because it is obscured by our sins and our tumah [impurity] that separate us from true devekus and connection with him. Yeshayohu ha-novi [the prophet] declares that Ha-kodesh Baruch Hu’s hester ponim [hiding his face from us] that prevents our devekus with him is because of our sins and that our good deeds are chevel [futile] in Sefer Yeshayohu perek סד psukim ה-ו :

 

וַנְּהִי כַטָּמֵא כֻּלָּנוּ וּכְבֶגֶד עִדִּים כָּל־צִדְקֹתֵינוּ וַנָּבֶל כֶּֽעָלֶה כֻּלָּנוּ וַֽעֲוֹנֵנוּ כָּרוּחַ יִשָּׂאֻֽנוּ: וְאֵין־קוֹרֵא בְשִׁמְךָ מִתְעוֹרֵר לְהַֽחֲזִיק בָּךְ כִּֽי־הִסְתַּרְתָּ פָנֶיךָ מִמֶּנּוּ וַתְּמוּגֵנוּ בְּיַד־עֲוֹנֵֽנוּ:

 

“All of us have become as unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. We all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and caused us to waste away because of our sins.”

 

Hashem is hiding his true face [hester ponim] from us, which prevents our connection [devekus] with him.

 

Similarly he says in Sefer Yeshayohu perek נט posek ב , “But your iniquities have separated you from your G-d, and your sins have hidden his face from hearing you.”

 

כִּי אִם־עֲוֹנֹֽתֵיכֶם הָיוּ מַבְדִּלִים בֵּֽינֵכֶם לְבֵין אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם וְחַטֹּֽאותֵיכֶם הִסְתִּירוּ פָנִים מִכֶּם מִשְּׁמֽוֹעַ:

 

No matter how hard we try to cleanse ourselves, we cannot do it. But the Ribbono shel Olam is rachum v’chanun [gracious and compassionate] and was not willing to let our sins hide us from him forever. So he sent his son, Yeshua the Moshiach of Yisroel, to bring us Geulah from our sins and to bring us true devekus with him. His sacrifice brought us Geulah because he was totally sinless, and his resurrection brought us new life in Ha-kodesh Baruch-Hu. As Yeshayohu ha-novi prophecies of Yeshua ha-Moshiach in perek נג psukim ה-ו and ט-י :

 

 וְהוּא מְחֹלָל מִפְּשָׁעֵנוּ מְדֻכָּא מֵֽעֲוֹֽנֹתֵינוּ מוּסַר שְׁלוֹמֵנוּ עָלָיו וּבַֽחֲבֻֽרָתוֹ נִרְפָּא־לָֽנוּ: כֻּלָּנוּ כַּצֹּאן תָּעִינוּ אִישׁ לְדַרְכּוֹ פָּנִינוּ וַֽה' הִפְגִּיעַ בּוֹ אֵת עֲוֹן כֻּלָּֽנוּ:... וַיִּתֵּן אֶת־רְשָׁעִים קִבְרוֹ וְאֶת־עָשִׁיר בְּמֹתָיו עַל לֹֽא־חָמָס עָשָׂה וְלֹא מִרְמָה בְּפִֽיו: וַֽה' חָפֵץ דַּכְּאוֹ הֶֽחֱלִי אִם־תָּשִׂים אָשָׁם נַפְשׁוֹ יִרְאֶה זֶרַע יַֽאֲרִיךְ יָמִים וְחֵפֶץ ה' בְּיָדוֹ יִצְלָֽח: מֵֽעֲמַל נַפְשׁוֹ יִרְאֶה יִשְׂבָּע בְּדַעְתּוֹ יַצְדִּיק צַדִּיק עַבְדִּי לָֽרַבִּים וַֽעֲוֹנֹתָם הוּא יִסְבֹּֽל:

 

“But he was pierced for our transgression; he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way, and Hashem has laid upon him the iniquity of us all... He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was Hashem’s will to crush him and to cause him to suffer, and though Hashem makes him a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of Hashem will prosper in his hand.”

 

We need to have the courage to have faith in Yeshua to forgive our sins, as our Moshiach, whom Hakodesh Baruch Hu sent to bring us Geulah. Trying to merit Geulah ourselves through tzeduko and good deeds is only pride and arrogance, although it is admittedly easier than to accept the challenge that our Moshiach has already come to bring us Geulah and that we have been missing him all this time. Avraham Avinu [our father Abraham] was made righteous by his faith according to Bereshis perek טו pasuk ו , and according to Havakuk ha-novi perek ב pasuk ד , וְצַדִּיק בֶּאֱמוּנָתוֹ יִחְיֶֽה “the righteous will live by his faith,” which means that also for us, trust in him is the one thing that will bring us into a righteous connection with Ha-kodesh Baruch Hu. As one of Yeshua’s talmidim [disciples] asserts about him to a group of frume yidn [religious Jews] in the Bris Chadasho, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” ( די מעשים פון די שליחים -Di Ma’asim fun di Shlichim, perek ד , posek יב ). Yeshua says in the Bris Chadasho in Sefer Yochanon perek ח , posek יב , “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life.” Only Yeshua has the power to cleanse our sins. Believe in and follow Yeshua, the Moshiach of Yisroel, who fulfilled what our novi’im predicted about Melech HaMoshiach [the King Messiah], and find the satisfaction of a true life of devekus and connection with Hashem!