7. Torah: The Light Unto The Nations

Every religion is primarily concerned with two things:

1. Salvation

2. Redemption

And the means by which both of those occur.

Salvation:

When considering Salvation, we must ask the question, saved from what?

In many other religions the idea of salvation is based off of the idea that a person must be saved from sin and the wrath of their god.

In Judaism, the promise of salvation is the eternal salvation of the globe from all forms of evil. Put another way, it is the promised and blessed hope for the entire globe to be restored back to Hashem's original design. This original design is the Gan Eden-like state where sin did not exist, death did not exist, and there was a loving relationship between man and G-d. There in Gan Eden, the Tree of Life was the food that provided eternal life. Elsewhere in scripture we know that the Torah is indeed the Tree of Life. Thus, when the world is restored to her natural state of being, then Torah will become one of (if not the only) the main food sources, allowing righteousness and blessing to reign as well as love and peace with Hashem to be cultivated.

Redemption:

When considering Redemption, Torah teaches us clearly about the system of redemption. In this system, when a person wishes to buy back something of theirs that they have sold, the person must bring a redemption price to the one to whom they sold the object to in order to buy it back. A kinsman redeemer may also pay a price on behalf of the one who wishes to buy back a sold object.

With regards to spiritual redemption, we can consider that when we go astray from Hashem and Torah, we thereby sell our souls to a false god or a false religion. When we perform teshuvah, we begin the process of redemption and "buying back" our souls from the evil gods that we sold ourselves to.

The price of teshuvah (repentance) is a contrite heart and a grieving spirit over our sins. Hashem takes this "payment" and returns our payment with the payment or credit of forgiveness. Hashem also acts a redeemer pays the price of wrath against the false gods of false religions, which helps also to buy back our souls.

In Judaism, another aspect of the redemption price are animal sacrifices. When the fat of our offerings turn to smoke, all sins are forgiven. This system is the system that was pictured to Abraham in Genesis 15, which we discussed in point #5 of this series. Again, through animal sacrifices, Hashem takes ownership and pays the price for our sins. The cost to Him is the life of other beings of His creation so that He does not have to take the life of His beloved Jewish child.

Finally, a common theme we like to teach on this website regarding Jewish Redemption is the fact that Hashem has promised to take back His beloved Jews "like Negev (desert) Land". The Hebrew indicates that to be "like Negev Land" is to be like a bride who has no bride price. She is dirt poor and has nothing to offer. Spiritually, this is the state of the Israelites in the Book of Hosea. Steeped in sin and idol worship, yet even then, Hashem promises to take His people back as dry desert land. In Hosea 2:20-25, Hashem promised to pay the redemption price in order to buy back those Jews who spiritually had nothing to bring. The price Hashem promised to pay was not His own "life." Rather, He promises to act as Redeemer and to pay with "grace, mercy, loving-kindness, forgiveness, and faithfulness." Then, the people who were called "Not His people" will be called "His People" and He will be called our God.

Final Salvation & Redemption:

If you have made it this far in the series, hopefully you have read the previous six sections, which will provide a greater understanding to the key points we have already discussed about the final salvation and redemption. But, suffice it to say, historically there have been periods of national salvation and national redemption for the Nation of Israel. These periods included national teshuvah, and resulting national salvation of exiles through the redemption price of mitzvot keeping.

The eternal Salvation and Redemption will be global.

Though global, the salvation and redemption will sprout forth from the Jewish people and the Jewish Torah. We see proof of Hashem's promise for salvation to come from the Jewish Israelites and spread to the nations in prophets such as Isaiah wherein Hashem promised and prophesied that Israel (the Jewish Nation and the Jewish people) will be the light unto the nations. According to passages such as Isaiah 42:5-7 and Isaiah 49:6, this light of the Jewish people extends from the Torah and Hashem Himself (The Shekinah, which we discussed in #6 of this mini series) as the spark of holiness that radiates Holy Wisdom.

The Jewish people radiate this light when we live by, share, study, and otherwise keep the Torah. This light is physical and manifests as a real glow. It is truly the radiance of Hashem, The Shekinah, that is revealed from the Jew outwards. This phenomenon occurs because within the Jewish people resides a spark of Hashem (The Shekinah). When we engage with the Wisdom of Hashem (Torah), we engage with the Shekinah (the Divine Glory Presence of Hashem). This interaction ignites the spark within our souls and fans the spark to a flame of radiance that mirrors the radiance of the Divine. This radiance then shines like a light into the darkness.

This light of the Torah-keeping Jewish people, then will be the necessary means that Hashem will use to draw people of the nations to Himself. As the gentiles, or people of the other nations, are drawn to the light of the Jews, Hashem promises to work by opening their eyes, hearts, and spirits to His Torah. When the people of the world keep Torah, they receive the promised blessings of Hashem that are tied to the mitzvot keeping. The beautiful thing is that the people of the nations do not even need to officially convert to Judaism to receive these blessings. The conversion process, however, adds the added blessing of becoming part of the Jewish Nation.

Rather, a person can remain outside of the Jewish Nationhood and still practice the Jewish faith by following the Jewish Torah. Often this is simply known as remaining as a Noahide. Though the Noahide laws are less in number than in the Torah of Hashem, so some Rabbis do not consider all Noahides to be Jews, unless the person truly practices all of Torah. Thus, just like the Jewish people, the Torah and the keeping of the mitzvot is the means by which a covenant can and will be made between Hashem and ALL people on earth.

When a person from the nation converts to Judaism and unites his or herself with Hashem by keeping the marital vows of the Torah, Hashem promises to write upon their arm His surname Israel (Isaiah 44). This idea of inscribing a surname on one's arm was common practice among slaves. They would write the name of their master on their arm to denote to whom they belonged. We have mentioned elsewhere that it is a very blessed thing to be a slave of Hashem because when we become His slave, He treats us like royalty, not as a slave!

For the ger, Hashem too inscribes the “stranger” (ger = convert to Judaism) on the palm of His hand just as His native-born child of Israel. As it is written in Ezekiel 47:20-25, Hashem will treat the "convert" as a native-born Israeli. For, when we truly think of Genesis, that is how all mankind was made: to be in a close, loving relationship with Hashem, keeping Torah, and living eternally (which, at its essence, describes a Jew!).

Thus, since Hashem is the only ONE True G-d, the only ONE way to Him is the same for both Jews and Gentiles: keeping the mitzvot of Torah. 

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​Therefore, there is one way out of the bondage darkness and way into Hashem’s kingdom of light: grab hold of the Tree of Life, the Torah, which was planted as the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden and handed down to Hashem’s chosen Jewish people, as a seal and covenant for eternal life. For just as Hashem states in Genesis 3, if we would reach out our hand and grab hold of the Tree of Life, we will live forever!