Romans 10:3-4

Peace to you my brothers and sisters.

I am probably going to lose many friends over this one. Probably many in the Hebrew Roots movement will depart. So be it.

Today’s Bible Verse: [Romans 10:3-4 KJV] 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ [is] the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

So who are they?

Paul was writing to the Christian churches in Rome, so it is not them.

[Romans 10:1-2 KJV] 1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

This says that Paul is talking about Israel; specifically, the Jews.

Knowledge here is the Biblical, intimate knowledge. In other words, they have a zeal for God but do not really know who He is.

In verse three we see that they have established a righteousness of their own. They have made the rituals a means to righteousness; that is, they are accepting that the blood sacrifice of animals can atone for sin. They have also placed a hedge around Torah and added things to it. They have also made Torah an idol. This sounds remarkably familiar to things happening today.

In verse four we see that Jesus is the end of the law for righteousness for believers; the elect of God. This means that the death and resurrection of Jesus means that the elect of God does not keep the law for righteousness but keeps the law because the righteousness of Jesus has been given to them. And just what is the law?

[Matthew 22:36-40 KJV] 36 Master, which [is] the great commandment in the law? 37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The first is the first four of the ten and the second is the last six of the ten. Know the gospel and know Jesus intimately; that is, who He is and what He did, and the Holy Spirit will guide your life.

Many say that Torah is the law. Look at verse 40 above. Torah and the prophets hang on the two commandments cited by Jesus. Torah and the prophets give more detail and instructions on how to handle things, but they are not the whole of the law; the ten commandments are.

If you are among the elect of God the Holy Spirit guides you through the application of the ten commandments.

[Galatians 3:24-25 KJV] 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

In Jewish tradition the schoolmaster led the child to the school. Torah leads us to Jesus but when we have Him we no longer need the schoolmaster; His righteousness becomes ours.

Now let us take a look at Daniel 9:25-27 to see why the rituals are over.

[Daniel 9:25 KJV] 25 Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

The clock actually starts ticking at the dedication of the rebuilt Jerusalem in the twenty third year of Artaxerxes.

[Nehemiah 12:27 KJV] 27 And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, [with] cymbals, psalteries, and with harps.

[Daniel 9:26 KJV] 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall be] with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

After the 70 weeks from the dedication of Jerusalem we come to the crucifixion.

Within a generation of the crucifixion, we come to 70 AD.

The people of the prince are the Romans, and the prince is Titus. Titus was the son of Vespasian and Vespasian left the Jewish war and went to Rome to become emperor. When he became emperor his son, Titus, became the prince.

The forces under General Titus destroyed the temple (the sanctuary) and Jerusalem (the city) in 70 AD.

[Daniel 9:27 KJV] 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

The “he” is the Messiah. The week is seven years and the midst or middle of it is three- and one-half years: the ministry time of Jesus. The covenant confirmed was the coming of Jesus.

Since Jesus is the true and perfect sacrifice; the only one that can atone for sin, the sacrifice and oblation in the temple was to cease but since the Jews rejected Him, they continued to perform the rituals. Because they continued, He used Rome to desolate (destroy) the temple and Jerusalem.

The temple and all in it were completely burned. This included the genealogies that allowed for the continuance of the Levitical priesthood. Because those genealogies are lost the Levitical priesthood can never be reconstituted and no ritual or feast that requires a priest or the temple cannot be done.

Folks, this is history, and it meshes with scripture. Please check it out for yourself. All of this has been fulfilled and we do not need to perform the rituals or the feasts. The feasts were a shadow of the things to come and that shadow has become reality in Jesus.

Passover showed us that a blood sacrifice was needed to atone for our sin. This happened with Jesus.

Unleavened Bread showed us that we are to get sin out of our life. When we are reborn the Holy Spirit convicts us and allows us to repent; keeping sin out of our life.

Pentecost showed us that we need the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we are reborn, we receive the Holy Spirit.

Trumpets shows us that we need to be joyful for the coming true and perfect sacrifice. When we are reborn, we are joyful.

Atonement showed us that we need an atonement for our sin. The true and perfect sacrifice of Jesus gave us that atonement.

Tabernacles showed us that we must be clothed in the Holy Spirit. Rebirth gives us that clothing.

[1 Corinthians 11:26 KJV] 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

For as often means that we can do the Lord’s Supper as a dedication as often as we wish.

We must turn our attention to the spreading of the gospel.

We all have a job.

[Matthew 28:18-20 KJV] And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen.

All of the disciples of Jesus are to spread His word and the gospel.

This is the gospel:

[1 Corinthians 15:1-6 KJV] Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

[Acts 2:22-24 KJV] 22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

Go forth and spread this good news.

I pray that God has revealed Himself to you and that you have salvation.

I hope this has been a blessing to you. May the rest of your day be blessed. Peace.