Righteousness -- Part 1

After I posted on the paths of righteousness and wisdom, I got stuck in the concept of righteousness. Looking into the ancient Hebrew understanding of certain concepts or words sometimes opens up a new world. This is definitely the case with righteousness and I find it fascinating. This paper by Margaret Barker introduces this concept and its background. Here is the essence:

The Bible is full of words that describe the creation as a web of life, the role of human beings in guarding and preserving it, and why things went wrong[...] the Bible writers said that God had bound all creation into one system. This was how people talked about it, and thought about it, and so this was how they lived. Human society and all the natural world belonged together. Everything had its place and its boundary[...] These bonds of creation formed the great covenant - the word means binding together - and as long as the bonds of the covenant remained in place, people could live in peace and prosperity. The bonds were called the covenant of peace, or the covenant of life and peace (Numbers 25.12; Malachi 2.5). Peace did not mean simply ‘absence of conflict’. The Hebrew word shalom implies far more: rest, balance, harmony and completion - we might nowadays say ‘a sustainable state.’ The story of the creation in the Bible says this was achieved when everything was very good and at rest. There is no mention of maximum production. Resting was an essential part of the system; enough was enough. The bonds and boundaries maintained everything as the Creator intended it to be, and human beings had to live in such a way that the covenant was not broken. The storyteller said that Adam was put in the Garden of Eden to serve it and to preserve it (Genesis 2.15). The English versions say something like ‘to till it and to keep it’ but this does not make clear what Adam had to do: he had to be the Servant and Guardian of the creation, not just a gardener. The Servants of the LORD had to maintain the covenant of peace. When it was threatened or damaged, they had to do whatever was necessary to restore it. And here we come to the word that forms the title of this talk; righteousness, tsedaqah. Righteousness describes both the action needed to restore the broken covenant, and also the result of that action. Righteous people had been restored to their intended place in the creation, and they then had to work to restore other parts of the covenant system. Righteousness meant the activity of making righteous, protecting and maintaining the covenant.

In other words, the term "righteousness" ties neatly into the creation-covenant connection. Righteousness is what preserves or restores the bonds of creation. This adds context to the "paths of righteousness". In that post, I showed some examples where God himself was described as righteousness. He is the originator of the covenant and the creator of this harmonic system. His paths lead to this peace and "rest" that Barker mentions. (See previous posts on "enter into His rest"). But He also wants Adam ("man" or "mankind" in Hebrew) to be righteous as He is - a servant and guardian of creation.

I don't really know Hebrew, but I have seen that some nouns have both a masculine and a feminine version. This is the case with righteousness. Tsedeq is the masculine form and tsedaqah is the feminine form. They carry the same meaning but there is disagreement among scholars if these words can be used interchangeably or if there in fact are differences. Some claim that tsedeq signifies the right order of things (think God as the creator and preserver of the creation-covenant connection) and tsedaqah is the human behavior (think the servant who guards the "garden" or creation).

I studied some scriptures that give deeper meaning with this background knowledge. In Moses 7 we read about the establishment of Zion. This is where righteousness has overcome the unrest, the broken covenant, and brought back the initial "shalom" and bonds of creation. "Righteous" and "righteousness" are mentioned 11 times in this chapter. For example:

And it came to pass that Enoch looked upon the earth; and he heard a voice from the bowels thereof, saying: Wo, wo is me, the mother of men; I am pained, I am weary, because of the wickedness of my children. When shall I rest, and be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone forth out of me? When will my Creator sanctify me, that I may rest, and righteousness for a season abide upon my face? (Moses 7:48)

The earth, the creation, is pained because of wickedness (which is the common word used as the opposite of righteousness). The creation mourns and longs for rest; the harmony that only the covenant bonds can give through righteousness. I also highlighted "my face" since Lord Wilmore previously speculated that "face of the earth/land" is another covenant symbol, which I agree with. 

When I posted about the concept of "heaven and earth" previously, it was triggered by a verse in this same chapter, in Moses 7. 

And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem. (Moses 7:62)

I believe that heaven and earth is an allusion to the very first verse of the Bible and the creation, including the "web of life"/bonds/covenant that comes with it. When righteousness comes from heaven and truth from the earth, they meet and are united. This is the setting for the establishment of Zion. This same idea is found in Psalms.

11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

12 Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.

13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps. (Psalm 85)

In this case, righteousness looks down from heaven and gives another example of the personification that I wrote about in "paths of righteousness and wisdom" post I linked. In verse 13, the path of righteousness is established when righteousness goes in front and creates a way for us to follow. Another example:

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it. (Isaiah 45:8)

As in Moses 7, righteousness is sent from heaven. Avraham Gileadi comments on this verse:

Jehovah’s sending down righteousness out of heaven alludes to blessings flowing as a consequence of covenant keeping by his elect.

In this case, righteousness also springs up from the earth. Whereas the righteousness from heaven in both the quoted verses from Psalms and Isaiah is the masculine, tsedeq, the rightousness from earth in the same Isaiah verse, is the feminine tsedaqah. I interpret this as an allusion to the covenant concept of a symbolic marriage between heaven and earth, between Jehovah and his bride, Israel. This is the establishment of Zion.

Righteousness springing up is also reminiscent of the righteous branch that the Book of Mormon mentions. This aspect and a few others found in the Book of Mormon related to "righteousness" will be the topic for part 2.

But there is also one more verse in Isaiah related to this that I'd like to include:

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. (Isaiah 5:7)

This is Isaiah's song of the vineyard that tells of wickedness, covenant-breaking and scattering, the very opposite of the establishment of Zion through righteousness. God expected to find righteousness in the vineyard (creation) and the plant springing up, but found "a cry" instead. The Hebrew word means an outcry, a cry of distress. Consistent with the other quoted verses, "righteousness" in this case is the feminine, tsedaqah. Isaiah is engaging in a word-play here by applying similar words with opposite meaning.

and he looked for judgment (Hebr. mispat), but behold oppression (Hebr. mispah)

for righteousness (Hebr. tsedaqah), but behold a cry (Hebr. tseaqah)

Brilliant poetry! My take from all this: The initial bond that keeps all creation in balance and harmony is established by the Creator, the righteous one. Man has been assigned to serve and guard it, but has broken the covenant and caused disruption through wickedness. In order to establish Zion and restore the covenant of peace, God sends righteousness (tsedeq) from heaven and calls on righteous people from all the face of the earth/land to walk on His paths and gather. The righteousness from heaven was sent in the form of his Son a couple of millennia ago. In the latter days it has been in the form of a glorious restoration, including priesthood power from heavenly messengers and revelations. At the same time, the Book of Mormon has been coming forth from the earth and righteous (tsedaqah) people are participating in the gathering of Israel.

In the next part we will see how the Book of Mormon is particularly concerned with the establishment and preservation of a righteous people.