Everything Else is Commentary

Within each person are two opposing forces that seek control. One leads men toward good works and love for our fellow man (good inclination), while an opposing force leads men toward the sinful acts of self indulgence (evil inclination). God created Adam in balance between both inclinations, spirit and flesh, giving Adam freewill so that in his imperfection Adam might seek God by choice and not by nature. In the Garden, Adam and Eve succumb to the flesh as the appeal of the fruit was “pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom” (Gen 3:6). The consequences of Adam’s actions were death and descendants born in the image of Adam (Gen 5:3), no longer with balanced inclinations, but tilted toward a sin nature.

As the descendants of Adam committed sin, each succeeding generation became more sinful until the thoughts of their hearts “was only evil all the time” (Gen 6:5). It took 2000 years, but only ten generations, for man to go from being created in the image of God to total depravity and wickedness. In His mercy, God saved the world through the righteousness of a single person, Noah (Gen 7:1)(Ezek 14:14). Although wickedness was removed from the earth by the flood, the evil inclination remained in the descendants of Noah. Without the intervention of God, the repeated destruction of the world was assured to occur every ten generations or so.

For this reason, the LORD gave the Law through Moses to illuminate the world by revealing the nature of God through His word (Rom 7:14) to swing the balance of the world back toward righteousness. The obedience of the nation of Israel elevated the righteousness of the entire world so that the world would be sustained until the appointed time of the final redemption spoken through the prophets. By complete obedience to the law, the nation collectively and men individually can reach the state of perfection required to merit life in the world to come. However, few, if any, achieve this level of perfection on their own.

Therefore, God established, from the time of Noah, the principle that individuals can become righteous (Noah’s sons), not because of their own righteousness, but because of their close association with a righteous person (tzaddik). On this basis, the descendants of Jacob were saved from the famine and became as numerous as the stars because they drew near and believed that Joseph and Moses were righteous men of God. The ultimate fulfillment of this principle is seen through the Messiah, the tzaddik who became more highly perfected than any predecessor through His own suffering (Heb 2:10) so that He is capable of perfecting both His community and the entire world.

Yeshua ha Mashiach (Jesus the Christ in English), came as the highest tzaddik, the Living Word, who both suffered for righteousness sake and taught men from the commandments saying, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…And…Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22:37). Through His own sacrifice, Yeshua has perfected for all time those who are drawing near to Him (Heb 10:14). To paraphrase the words of Hillel, everything else in the Tanakh and the Greek text is commentary. Therefore, go study and draw near to Yeshua.