THE GOSPELS: THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: BEATITUDE 4, BLESSED are those who HUNGER and THIRST for RIGHTEOUSNESS, for they will be filled, Part 3

29 May 2026

God day everyone, We are proceeding to study the SERMON of YESHUA on the MOUNT.

We are mainly reading from the Complete Jewish Study Bible – insight for Jews and Christians. We use the Hebrew letters for the name of God, YHVH (Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh) where the word LORD in English is indicated in capital letters in the Scriptures. The reason being that the Jewish writers removed the vowels in God’s name out of fear of transgressing the third Commandment of taking His Name in vain. And today there is a lot of controversy about the pronunciation of His Name.  We also refer to Him as Abba Father and use the Hebrew Name Yeshua the Messiah instead of the English Name Jesus Christ translated from the Greek.

We are still studying the fourth BEATITUDE in Matthew 5:6 where Yeshua taught: “How BLESSED (meaning happy and fortunate) are those who HUNGER and THIRST for RIGHTEOUSNESS! For they will be FILLED.”

We are focusing on what the WORD teaches us on RIGHTEOUSNESS.

So far, we have learned that:

• YHVH our GOD is a RIGHTEOUS and JUST GOD; and
• He CALLS believers to live in RIGHTEOUSNESS conforming to His principles, laws and statutes and to DO JUSTICE by practicing and maintaining what is good and right and uphold what is just and fair in accordance to His Word, thereby doing no harm to other people; and
• How a RIGHTEOUS man and a RIGHTEOUS woman are defined in the Word serving as examples to us.

And today we are going to learn more about HOW we BECOME RIGHTEOUSS men and woman of God.

We are told in Genesis 6 that NOAH was a RIGHTEOUS MAN. We read in verse 9: “In his generation, Noah was a man RIGHTEOUSS and WHOLEHEARTED (committed, loyal, devoted, faithful); Noah WALKED WITH GOD (Noah therefore lived his live in a personal relationship with God and in obedience to God’s ways).” And we read in verses 7-8, God wanted to wipe out mankind in Noah’s time due to their hearts and minds that were only filled with evil, but Noah found GRACE in the SIGHT of YHVH, due to his RIGHTEOUSNESS and WHOLEHEARTED faithfulness and devotion to God. We then see God instructed Noah to build an ARK since He was planning to bring about a FLOOD on the earth that will DESTROY EVERYTHING on earth, except that which Noah brings, according to God’s instruction, into the ARK.

And we read in verse 22: “This is what Noah DID; he DID ALL that GOD ORDERED him to DO.” It is therefore clear, Noah BELIEVED what God told him He was going to DO and therefore Noah, ACTED in OBEDIENCE to what GOD INTRUCTED him to DO. And God counted it (reckoned it) as RIGNTEOUSNESS. And that is how FAITH works. If we BELIEVE something, we WILL ACT in accordance with what we believe. James explains this in James 1:21-22 “So rid yourselves of all vulgarity and obvious evil, and receive meekly the WORD implanted (embedded) in you that can SAVE YOUR LIVES. Don’t DECEIVE YOURSELVES by only hearing what the WORD says, but DO IT!”

The same is applicable to ABRAHAM. God promised him many descendants at a time when Abraham had no children and his wife Sarah was barren, and we read in Genesis 15:6 “He BELIEVED in YHVH, and He credited it to him as RIGHTEOUSNESS.” And in Genesis 18:19, God says the following about Abraham: “For I have made Myself known to him, so that he will GIVE ORDERS to his CHILDREN and HOUSEHOLD after him to KEEP THE WAY OF YHVH and to DO what is RIGHT and JUST, so that YHVH may bring about for Abraham what HE HAS PROMISED.”  And in Genesis 22 we read, God TESTED Abraham’s OBEDIENCE to Him in accordance to COMMANDMENT 1-4, whether Abraham LOVED HIM above all else, therefore MORE than he LOVED his only son ISAAC. And we see Abraham passed this TEST by WILLING OBEDIENCE to GOD’s instruction and God saved Isaac’s life by providing a ram as offering in his place.

Paul refers to this in Romans 4:3 saying: “Abraham put his TRUST (faith, belief, hope) in GOD, and it was credited to his account as RIGHTEOUSNESS.” And although Paul explains in Romans 4 that it is only through FAITH and not WORKS that righteousness is obtained, we must remember that he spoke with the Pharisees in mind who thought they were righteous because of their physical circumcision and legalistic observance to the LAW (the Torah) without showing any fruit (proof of faithfulness to God). They therefore relied on their own self-righteousness and did in fact not obey God. We also read this in the words of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:7-12. And in Luke 11:42 Yeshua our Messiah told the Pharisees: “…woe (despair, misery) to you Pharisees! You pay your tithes of mint and rue and every garden herb, but you IGNORE JUSTICE and the LOVE of GOD. You have an obligation to do these things (giving your tithes) – but without discarding the others (therefore without discarding JUSTICE, fairness, impartiality and LOVING GOD above all else and LOVING other people as yourselves).”

James helps us to understand the connection between faith and obedience to God in James 2:14-24 saying “What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to HAVE FAITH but has no actions to proof it? Is such FAITH able to SAVE him? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food, and someone says to him, Shalom! Keep warm and eat hearty, without GIVING him what he needs, WHAT GOOD DOES IT DO? Thus, FAITH by itself, unaccompanied by ACTIONS, is DEAD…You BELIEVE that God is ONE. GOOD for you! (but) The demons believe it to – the thought makes them shudder with fear! (James points out here that demons believe but are still not saved!)…do you want to be shown that such (so-called) “FAITH” apart from actions is barren? Wasn’t Abraham our father DECLARED RIGHTEOUSS because of ACTIONS when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?   You see that his FAITH worked with his ACTIONS; by the ACTIONS the FAITH was made COMPLETE; and the passage of the Tanakh (the Old Testament) was fulfilled which says: Abraham had FAITH in God and it was credited to his account as RIGHTEOUSNESS. He was even called GOD’s friend. You see that a person is DECLARED RIGHTEOUSS because of ACTIONS and not because of FAITH alone.”

In Isaiah 53:11 it is prophesied that God the Father’s RIGHTEOUS SERVANT (Yeshua, His Son) will MAKE MANY RIGHTEOUS; being willing to suffer and die for their sins.

In Isaiah chapters 62-63 we read prophecies about the NEW JERUSALEM and God’s vengeance on His enemies and prayers for the MERCY of YHVH. And in chapter 64 Isaiah expresses his longing for the time of RESTORATION (the SECOND COMING) when YHVH will come down and shake the mountains and destroy the wicked and he explains the connection between what is expected from us in terms of RIGHTEOUSNESS and JUSTICE, and what God offers us in Isaiah 64:4-7 saying “No one has ever hear, no ear perceived, no eye seen, any God but You (meaning there is no other God, the only God is YHVH). You WORK for him (acts on behalf of those) who WAITS for You. You favored those who were GLAD to DO JUSTICE, those who REMEMBERED YOU in YOUR WAYS. When You were angry, we kept sinning, but IF WE KEEP YOUR ANCIENT WAYS, WE WILL BE SAVED (this is what James also told believers in James 1:21, saying: “…rid yourselves of all vulgarity and obvious evil, and receive meekly the implanted WORD in you that can SAVE your LIVES). (But unfortunately) ALL of us are like someone UNCLEAN (impure, polluted, filthy), ALL our RIGHTEOUS DEEDS (everything we try to do from a fleshly position, the old sinful self, are like) menstrual rags; we wither, all of us, like leaves; and our misdeeds blow us away like the wind (our misdeeds will lead to everlasting death). No one CALLS on YOUR NAME or bestirs himself (make a physical or mental effort) to TAKE HOLD of YOU (no one recognize that they NEED GOD’s HELP to live according to His RIGHTEOUSS WAYS, and therefore no one calls out to Him in repentance and humility and grasp onto Him for SALVATION, helping them to LIVE RIGHTEOUS and FAITHFUL LIVES leading to everlasting LIFE with Him), for You have HIDDEN YOUR FACE (His presence) from us and caused our misdeeds to DESTROY us (He has given them over to their own sins, because they chose it above His ways. This is what Paul also explains in Romans chapter 1). The Jewish Study Bible explains: RIGHTEOUSNESS had departed from them, their expression of FAITH were therefore discarded or rejected like a woman will throw away her menstrual rags after it had been used. God therefore REJECTS FAITH if we persist LIVING in SIN! Only God as our CREATOR, REDEEMER and SAVIOUR gives us hope for RESTORATION/ RENEWAL from our fallen and sinful nature.

To help us UNDERSTAND how we are made RIGHTEOUS through FAITH and ACTIONS we have the TABERNACKLE PICTURE and the FEASTS of YHVH the Father, clearly explaining the following steps:

1. The BRONZE ALTAR, representing the CROSS of YESHUA our MESSIAH and the FIRST FEAST of YHVH namely PASSOVER (PESACH in Hebrew).

The PRICE for DISOBEDIENCE to GOD (called SIN) was DEATH from the very beginning in the Garden of Eden. the FIRST BLOOD SACRIFICE had been performed there and the PROMISE was made of a REDEEMER that would set mankind FREE from the slavery, the bondage to sin that resulted that day through Adam and Eve’s transgression of GOD’s COMMAND not to eat from the tree of good and evil (read Genesis 2:16-17 & 3:1-21).

Since then, GOD taught His people how this work through animal sacrifices until the time was ready for the FIRST COMING of YESHUA, the LAMB of GOD that would be the PERFECT, BLAMELESS (sinless) sacrifice for mankind once and for all, paying the price of DEATH for sin.

2. The BRONZE LAVER/ WASHBASIN represents WATER BAPRISM as well as DAILY REPENTANCE and the SECOND FEAST of YHVH namely UNLEAVENED BREAD represents the BURIAL of Yeshua the Messiah and the burial of the old sinful flesh of believers in HIM in the water of baptism. Thereafter DAILY REPENTANCE will be required since all believers will still commit unintentional/ accidental sins in the process of being taught the WORD and PRACTICING to LIVE in accordance to ABBA FATHER’s WORD and WAYS. Therefore James 1:21 instruct us to “… rid yourselves of all vulgarity and obvious evil,” This is a lifelong process. We will only be made perfect after being RESURRECTED from DEATH with the SECOND COMING of YESHUA our MESSIAH.

3. The GOLDEN TABLE of SHOWBREAD, representing the EATING of BREAD at the TABLE of YESHUA our MESSIAH (being taught HIS WORD DAILY) and the THIRD FEAST of YHVH namely FIRST FRUITS and representing the RESURRECTION of MESSIAH YESHUA and the SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION of believers in Him as new men and woman, already sitting with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6) and learning from Him directly and therefore now being able to understand the WORD and to WALK in RIGHTEOUNESS. The WORD is BEING WRITTEN, WORD-BY-WORD, DAY-BY-DAY in our MINDS and HEARTS exactly as James 1:21-22 says “… receive meekly the WORD implanted (embedded) in you that can SAVE YOUR LIVES.” And we must also REMEMBER his warning: “Don’t DECEIVE YOURSELVES by only hearing what the WORD says, but DO IT!” It is therefore a DAILY process of ridding ourselves of unintentional/ accidental sins through repentance, receiving forgiveness, hearing (eating) the WORD (with our eyes and ears) and IMPLEMENTING it. This is in effect what it means to be CLOTHED with the RIGHTEOUSNESS of YESHUA our Messiah.

4. The GOLDEN SEVEN BRANCH LAMPSTAND (the MENORAH in Hebrew), represents the BAPTISM of BELIEVERS with the HOLY SPIRIT and with FIRE and the FOURTH FEAST of YHVH namely PENTECOST (SHAVU’OT in Hebrew) represents the HOLY SPIRIT being POURED out on believers and empowering them to SPREAD the GOOD NEWS of GOD (the GOSPEL) without fear as well as being clothed with the ARMOR of GOD and able to do spiritual warfare and to LIVE in DAILY VICTORY while assisting to BRING in the HARVEST of the KINGDOM.

5. The GOLDEN ALTAR of INCENSE represents PRAYER and the FIFTH FEAST of YHVH namely TRUMPETS to be fulfilled as part of the SECOND COMING of YESHUA our Messiah and entailing the FIRST RESURRECTION of RIGHTEOUSS BELIEVERS.

6. The GOLDEN ARK of the COVENANT, represents the THRONE of GOD with its FOUNDATION being the LAW (the TORAH, Genesis to Deuteronomy, summed up in the TEN COMMANDEMENTS) of GOD according to which HE REIGNS and we as BELIEVERS live according to it with the HELP of the WORD and the GUIDANCE and CORRECTION of the HOLY SPIRIT in us. And it represents the SIXTH FEAST of YHVH namely the DAY of ATONEMENT also forming part of the SECOND COMING of YESHUA our MESSIAH and entailing the JUDGEMENT SEAT of MESSIAH YESHUA, during which the BODY of MESSIAH’s faithfulness and service to the KINGDOM will be evaluated and rewarded and the ENEMIES of GOD will be destroyed during the WAR of ARMAGEDON.

7. The GOLDEN MERCY SEAT on top of the ARK of the COVENANT, covered by two cherubim (protecting angels) represents the THRONE of GOD with its LID COVERING the LAW (TORAH, summed up in the TEN COMMANDEMNTS) of GOD and on which the precious BLOOD of the LAMB, YESHUA our MESSIAH was sprinkled for us, to PROTECT us against the power of the LAW of GOD to condemn us to death for our sins. Yeshua our Messiah therefore acts as Advocate on behalf of BELIEVERS who confess their sins and walk in the WAYS of GOD the Father through the help of the WORD and the GUIDANCE of the HOLY SPIRIT. And it represents the SEVENTH FEAST of YHVH namely the FEAST of TABERNACLES also forming part of the SECOND COMING of YESHUA our Messiah and entailing HIS THOUSAND-YEAR REIGN of PEACE as the RIGHTEOUSS BRANCH of David and HE is called YHVH our RIGHTEOUSNESS (read Jeremiah 23:5-6).

And in Micah 4:1-3 we read during the thousand year kingdom of peace “Many gentiles (people not descending from the tribe of Judah and Benjamin, therefore non-Jewish people) will go and say, ‘Come let’s go up to the mountain of YHVH to the house of the God of Jacob (ISRAEL)! He will teach us about HIS WAYS, and we will WALK in HIS PATHS. For out of Zion will go forth TORAH, the WORD of YHVH from JERUSALEM.’”  And at the end of the thousand years of peace Satan will be unbound for a short while to TEST humanity for the last time and it will result in rebellion against the Kingdom of Peace and the FINAL WAR of GOG and MAGOG will take place, followed by the FINAL WHITE THRONE JUDGEMENT, the FINAL DESTRUCTION of the LAST enemies of GOD namely, death and hades (the underworld, the place of the unsaved dead) and then ETERNITY will follow.

So from this we can understand that our RIGHTEOUSNESS DEPENDS on the acceptance of the price paid for our sins by YESHUA our MESSIAH, dying to our old sinful self, being resurrected as a new person in HIM, willing to be taught the WORD of GOD and WILLING to OBEY it by DOING IT, living according to it and being FILLED with THE FIRE of the HOLY SPIRIT of GOD to become fearless, unstoppable servants and children of God the FATHER, using our GIFTS and implementing and fulfilling our PURPOSE received from Him. 

So perhaps with this in mind Paul’s explanation in Galatians 3:1-9 can be understood more clearly namely:

• YESHUA the MESSIAH was put to death as a criminal (the Cross, Feast One: Passover/ Pesach) (Verse 1).
• You received the HOLY SPIRIT by TRUSTING (believing, having faith) in what you HEARD (the WORD of GOD) and BEING FAITHFUL (obedient) to it (implementing the WORD/ DOING it). God supplies you with His Spirit and works miracles among you (He gives you the gifts of the Spirit to become powerful witnesses for Him) because you TRUST (believe have faith) in what you HEARD and are FAITHFUL to it (the Table of Showbread & Seven Branched Menorah, Feast Three and Four of YHVH: First Fruits & Pentecost). (Verses 2-5).

• And then Paul says in verses 6-9 “It was the same with Abraham: he TRUSTED (believed, had faith) in God and was FAITHFUL (obeying the WORD of GOD, doing what HE SAYS) to HIM, and that was credited to his account as RIGHTEOUSNESS (so please take note of the TWO IMPORTANT ELEMENTS: FAITH and FAITHFULNESS – meaning if you BELIEVE, you will RESPOND in FAITHFULNESS in your THOUGHTS, DEEDS and WORDS to what you BELIEVE). Be assured, then, that it is those who LIVE by TRUSTING (having FAITH, BELIEVE) and being FAITHFUL (obeying the WORD of GOD, doing what HE SAYS) who are really children of Abraham. Also the Tanakh (the Old Testament) foreseeing that GOD would consider the GENTILES (people not from the Tribe of Judah and Benjamin/ the Jews) RIGHTEOUSS when they LIVE by TRUSTING (believing, having faith) and being FAITHFUL (obeying the WORD of GOD, doing what HE SAYS), told the GOOD NEWS to Abraham in advance by saying: In connection with you, ALL the nations WILL BE BLESSED. So then, those who rely on TRUSTING (believing, having faith) and being FAITHFUL (obeying the WORD of GOD, doing what HE SAYS) are BLESSED along with Abraham, who TRUSTED and was FAITHFUL.

Paul therefore explained it in line with how RIGHTEOUSNESS is defined in Deuteronomy 6:24-25 namely: “YHVH ordered us to OBSERVE ALL these LAWS, to FEAR YHVH our GOD, always for our own good, so that He may KEEP us ALIVE, as we are today. It will be RIGHTEOUSNESS for us if we are CAREFUL to OBEY all these mitzvoth (all the COMMANDMENTS) before YHVH our GOD, just as He ordered us to DO.” And in Ezekiel 18:5 we read: “Consider someone who is RIGHTEOUS, who DOES what is LAWFUL and RIGHT (therefore who DOES in accordance with the LAW/ the TORAH of God summed up in the TEN COMMANDMENTS).” Also read Psalm 15:1-6 and Isaiah 33:15-17.

Yeshua our Messiah explained it in Matthew 7:12-13 as follows: “ALWAYS treat others as you would like them to treat you; that sums up the teaching of the TORAH (Genesis to Deuteronomy) and the Prophets. Go in through the narrow gate; for the gate that leads to destruction is wide and the road broad, and many travel it; but it is a narrow and a hard road that leads to LIFE, and only few find it (this narrow road leads us to God the Father through our Messiah Yeshua as depicted in the TABERNACLE FURNITURE and the SEVEN FEASTS of YHVH the Father as already explained). Paul confirms this in Romans 13:9-10 after naming commandment 6 to 10 and including all the other commandments and then saying all the commandments “…are summed up in this ONE RULE: LOVE YOUR NEIGBOUR AS YOURSELF. LOVE DOES NOT DO HARM to a neighbor; therefore LOVE is the FULLNESS (completeness, the fulfillment) of TORAH (Genesis to Deuteronomy).

So think about it, if someone tells you we as believers in Messiah Yeshua, who we know is ONE with GOD the FATHER, do not have to keep the Old Testament (excluding of course the sacrificial law for sin since Yeshua our Messiah fulfilled this as the PERFECT, sinless LAMB of God paying the full price for our sins on the cross, once and for all), but if a person tells you, you do not have to keep the rest of the Old Testament, neither the summary of it as depicted in the TEN COMMANDMENTS, it in effect means that that person is telling you we no longer have to LOVE GOD the FATHER above all else, neither LOVE other people as ourselves! And therefore we can go ahead and harm them just as we like! That could never be true, do you agree?

But let’s look at what Yeshua our Messiah said about this:

He told the Pharisees in Luke 16:15-17, He said to them: “You people make yourselves look RIGHTEOUSS to others, but GOD KNOWS your HEARTS; what people regard highly is an abomination (a disgrace) before God! Up to the time of John (the Baptist) there were the TORAH (Genesis to Deuteronomy, summed up in the Ten Commandments) and the PROPHETS. Since then the GOOD NEWS of the KINGDOM of GOD (REPENTANCE and SALVATION through YESHUA the MESSIAH) has been proclaimed, and everyone is pushing to get in (to the Kingdom). But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the TORAH to become void (cancelled, annulled, invalid). And in Matthew 5:20 He said: “For I tell you that unless your RIGHTEOUSNESS is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and Pharisees, you will CERTAINLY NOT enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

RIGHTEOUSNESS is therefore accredited to a person WHO BELIEVES what GOD says, and therefore ACT FAITHFULLY in accordance to WHAT HE SAYS in HIS WORD.

This is in effect what it means to be CLOTHED with the RIGHTEOUSNESS of YESHUA our Messiah. Old Testament writers understood GOD to be this RIGHTEOUSS REDEEMER. Like Job saying in Job 29:14 “I clothed myself with RIGHTEOUSNESS, and it clothed itself with me; my JUSTICE was like a robe and a crown.” And we read this same language in Isaiah 61:10, a prophecy about Yeshua the Messiah’s FIRST COMING as confirmed by Him in Luke 4:17-21, and Isaiah saying: “I am so joyful in YHVH! My soul (heart, mind and free will) rejoices in my God, for He has CLOTHED me in SALVATION, DRESSED me with a ROBE of TRIUMPH (victory), like a BRIDEGROOM wearing a festive turban, and a BRIDE adorned with her jewels (also pointing to the SECOND COMING of YESHUA the MESSIAH as the BRIDEGROOM of the BRIDE, the NEW JERUSALEM, read Revelation 19:7-9, where the BRIDE is clothed with fine linen, representing the RIGHTEOUS DEES of God’s people.” And in Revelation 21:1-2 we read, the New Jerusalem is described as a BRIDE coming down from heaven, and we know the RIGHTEOUSS, who accepted Yeshua as their REDEEMER and SAVIOR, will live in this city and therefore fill it with their RIGHTEOUSS DEEDS, (their thoughts, words and actions) in accordance to GOD’s WORD and WAYS.”

Paul was a Pharisee before he me with Yeshua the Messiah on the road to Damascus and became a RIGHTEOUSS BELIEVER, and therefore he was well versed in the Scriptures, and he also later explained it to the congregation of believers as follows in Romans 13:14 “For in UNION with the MESSIAH, you are all children of God (the Father) through this TRUSTING (believing, having faith) FAITHFULNESS (obedience to God’s Word); because as many of you as were IMMERSED (baptised) into Messiah have CLOTHED yourselves with the MESSIAH, in whom there is neither Jew not Gentile, you are all ONE.  Also, if you BELONG to the MESSIAH, you are seed of Abraham and heirs according to the promise.” Also read Galatians 3:26-29.

And in Ephesians 4:17-24 Paul says: “Therefore I say this – indeed in UNION with the Master (Yeshua) I insist on it: do not live any longer as the pagans (the unbelievers) live, with their sterile (unfruitful) ways of thinking. Their intelligence has been enshrouded in darkness, and they are estranged from the life of God, because of the ignorance (unawareness, obliviousness) in them, which in turn comes from resisting God’s will. They have lost all feeling, so they have abandoned themselves to sensuality, practicing any kind of impurity and always greedy for more. But this is not the lesson you learned from Messiah! If you really listened to Him and were instructed about Him, then you learned that since what is in YESHUA is TRUTH, then, so far as your former way of life is concerned, you must strip off your old nature, because your old nature is thoroughly rotted by its deceptive desires; and you must let your spirits and minds KEEP BEING RENEWED, and CLOTHE yourselves with the NEW NATURE created to be godly, which expresses itself in the RIGHTEOUSNESS and HOLINESS that flow from the TRUTH (and then Paul gives us an explanation of the new godly nature, which clearly is in line with the commandments of God, saying in verses 25-32):

• Therefore, stripping off falsehood, let everyone speak truth with his neighbor, because we are intimately related to each other as parts of a body.

• Be angry, but don’t sin – don’t let the sun go down before you have dealt with the cause of your anger; otherwise, you leave room for the Adversary (the Accuser, Satan).

• The thief must stop stealing; instead, he should make an honest living by his own efforts. This way he will be able to share with those in need.

• Let no harmful language come from your mouth (this includes no gossip, no foul language, no slander, no lies), only good words that are helpful in meeting the need, words that benefit those who hear them.

• Don’t cause grief to God’s Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit), for He has stamped (marked) you as His property until the DAY of FINAL REDMEPTION (the Second Coming of Yeshua the Messiah).

• Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, violent assertiveness and slander, along with all spitefulness (vindictiveness, meanness, nastiness, unkindness).

• Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted; and FORGIVE each other, just as the MESSIAH GOD has also FORGIVEN you.

We see this right through the SCRIPTURES from beginning to end – we NEED BOTH GOD’s TORAH (HIS WAYS) and acceptance of the LAMB of GOD, YESHUA our MESSIAH’s once and for ALL PAYMENT for our sins. We read in Revelation 12:17 the dragon will fight against those who: “OBEY God’s COMMANDEMENTS and BEAR WITNESS to YESHUA (the Messiah).”

And we read in Revelation 14:9-11 about the third angel warning about people receiving the mark of the beast on their forehead and hand who will indeed drink the wine of God’s fury poured undiluted into the cup of His rage and they will be tormented by fire and sulphur before His holy angels and before the Lamb and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest, day or night, those who worship the beast and its image and those who receive the mark of its name. And then we read in verse 12: “This is when PERSEVERANCE is needed on the part of God’s people, those who OBSERVE HIS COMMANDS and remain FAITHFUL to YESHUA (the MESSIAH).