Dressed in Fine Linen

For the fine linen she wears is the righteous acts of the saints. Berean Literal Bible And it was given to her that she should be clothed in bright, pure, fine linen.
Table of contents

• Clothed with Fine Linen and Purple
• Most Relevant Verses
• Revelation tell us that clothing of fine linen is symbolic of the righteousness of the Saints

Consider that the marriage analogy carries right through from the Old Covenant into the New. Under the New Covenant, the church is seen as a bride preparing for marriage. There is a major difference, however, between the Old and New Covenant marriage analogies. In the Old Covenant, when Israel agreed to God's proposal, and Moses performed the ritual described in Exodus 24, they were married.

When we enter into the New Covenant, we are not married yet. We are like a bride preparing for marriage, even though we have already agreed to the New Covenant. God has made this change to resolve the weakness of the first covenant, which will be eradicated before the actual ceremony and union take place. Revelation 19 is the announcement that the bride is now ready and the marriage can take place. There are four things that a marriage relationship must have to really be successful:. The two become one. This will be a natural result if love exists in the marriage. The joy of loving and being loved is like nothing else.

Most Relevant Verses

The weakness of the first covenant will be resolved—eradicated—before the actual ceremony and union take place. This time, Christ will be married to a wife who has already proved that she loves Him, that she is capable of intimate communication, that she is happy with Him as her Husband, and that she is faithful in every aspect of her life.

Notice how attention is drawn to her preparations, as well as her righteous acts. Could her righteous acts have anything to do with the preparation? Could it have anything to do with her being qualified?

Works—her righteous acts—are represented here. We should not be misled into thinking that her deeds, her righteous acts, have earned her salvation. All through the Bible, it maintains a delicate balance between grace what is given and obedience the proper response. Here, that balance is shown by the wife's garments being granted to her. She has worked, but the gift is still given. It takes work to make a marriage successful. It takes work to make our relationship with God successful.

If we do the right kind of works, there is no doubt that the relationship will be successful, and God will be well pleased with us. The Scriptures say it does: Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Here we can see that Jesus said that the Pharisees, who wore purple and fine linen were "within full of dead men's bones" and that they "appeared like unto whited sepulchers," or tombs.

Then in Luke chapter 11 Jesus again said to the. Jesus is saying to the Jewish scribes and Pharisees, "you are spiritually and morally dead and buried in your graves, but people do not know it even as they walk among you. Water in the New Testament is symbolic of the Word of God: Then again we find: But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: The man was rich, he ruled over the people, he was spiritually dead but physically alive, he wanted only a touch of the water [Word of God] but not enough so that it would have made him "alive," yet he griped about his condition.

Thus we can see clearly that throughout, the parable, Jesus was using a "certain rich man" as symbolic of a certain PEOPLE, and that Jesus' description of the "certain rich man" fits only the Jewish scribes and Pharisees. Usually this passage is used to "prove" that when wicked people die, they suffer the "fires in hell.

Edition New World Dictionary of the American Language, page 2 , he was degraded, he was brought low, he went to the bottom. It does NOT mean he suffered physical pain in hell, as most "Ministers" teach. They stretch the Word for their own purposes. Their torment, like that of the rich man in "Hades," was one of mental grievance, dejection, or sorrow.

And in every case except that of the rich man in Luke 16 the word "fire" is added, in order to make it mean "flame of fire" or "flaming fire. However, "Minister" after "Minister" preaches about how this rich man was in the "fires" of a burning hell, and that he will suffer physical torments forever. But this is an error, he is dejected and sorrowful in his base, or low, condition, he is suffering "flame.

In order to understand the Bible's teaching as to how the rich man suffers from this "flame," we must first identify the rich man's "five brethren" who were destined for the same suffering. The rich man said: I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Genesis 36 tells the story of a man who had five brethren.

As we read this genealogical account, we shall see how this fits the description of the five brethren of Luke So Esau clearly fits this description of having five "brethren" in his house. Esau's grandson, Amalek was the father of the Amalekites, who were the first enemies to attack Israel after they came out of Egypt. God said of the Amelikite branch of. I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: He accused Edom of coming against Jacob and Judah in the day of their calamity; he accused them of trying to conquer Jerusalem.

In other words, God said, the thing you are attempting to do will turn and destroy you. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Joseph a FLAME, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them That this is a prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled at the end of the age is shown by the last verse in Obadiah, which reads: In Luke 16 the rich man appealed to someone in authority, "Father Abraham," and asked him for a little water.

We know the water represents the Word of God, and that according to the Scriptures, if anyone asks for the Word of God, that God will pour out His spirit upon them and give them understanding of the Word. If he was in such a flame, why did he want just a tiny drop of water on his tongue? The scribes and Pharisees had the Scriptures at their disposal, but they did not want more than a tiny bit of it.

They preferred to follow the "tradition of the elders. He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. This, while only believing and teaching a tiny portion of the Scriptures. This, the rich man, who called Abraham "Father," can be identified with both the Esau and the Pharisees.

How can the rich man represent both at the same time? The answer is found in Jesus' own words, as recorded in John:. Therefore, since they were never "in bondage to any man. What people could be "Abraham's seed," yet not be in the Egyptian bondage? The descendants of Jacob's brother, Esau, of course! Although Esau was Abraham's grandson, as was Jacob [they were twins], neither he nor his descendants went into Egypt with Jacob and his children. After Jesus confirmed the Pharisees'.

If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. In this passage, by Jesus' own words with the Pharisees, we find that the Jewish Pharisees could claim descent from Abraham, but could NOT [ever] be called "the children of Abraham. For example, Paul excluded Ishmael and Esau with these words:.

We know, from historical sources that nearly two centuries before Christ, the Judeans conquered the entire Edomite nation and forced. So the Edomites ruled over all of Palestine]. The Edomites were called "Ioudians," translated "Jews," in the King James Bible, but Jesus bitterly denounced the Edomite — chief priests, elders, scribes and Pharisees at every turn. In the story Jesus relates that Abraham told the rich man: From this it would appear that the descendants of the people represented by the rich man are totally prevented from coming to Abraham or "Abraham's bosom. Now, if this is, as our "Ministers" would have us to believe, is a real "burning hell," would not every single one, without exception wish to escape?

This phraseology fits the future state of the Pharisee descendants of the Esau for he lost the Abrahamic Birthright when he sold it to Jacob Genesis The New Testament verifies this in Hebrews Esau's act of despising the birthright and selling it to his brother Jacob [Israel] "fixed" the "great gulf" between his progeny and Jacob's progeny who would inherit "Abraham's Birthright promises.

This was put into words by the Jewish writer, Maurice Samuels in his book "You Gentiles," on page 9 he writes: This total inability of the Edomite Jews to become Christian inheritors of the Abrahamic promises is what Jesus was revealing when He related what Abraham told the rich man. That the Edomites [Jews] did not even believe Moses and the Prophets, let alone a risen Christ, is clearly revealed by Jesus in Abraham's answer to the rich man, after the rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus to his five brethren: And he said, Nay, father Abraham [the rich man knew that his brethren, The Jews, did not then, nor would they in the future believe Moses and the Prophets]: In John chapter 5, Jesus spoke to the scribes and Pharisees, whom we have already identified as fitting the description of the rich man.

They hated Jesus and were plotting to kill Him. So He told them: Then if that were not enough, Jesus again says they will NOT believe: Jesus said that the scribes and Pharisees did have the Scriptures, and they claimed to believe the writings of Moses. The rich man of Luke 16 also claimed Abraham as his father, and that his brethren had the writings of Moses. Therefore, one must conclude, that the rich man of Luke 16 is NOT just some wicked person, who died and then was tortured in a literal fire.

In the parable, Jesus related that the rich man said in verse 30 that his brethren [Edomites — Jews, as we have seen] would repent "if one went unto them from the dead. Evidence abounds on every hand that their descendants have continued to hate, ridicule, malign, murder [when provided with the opportunity to do so], and secretly made and do still make war against the followers of Jesus for almost years; That there has been no repentance by the Edomite Jews and this parable taught by Jesus teaches quite plainly that.

Their father Esau sold his, and their, birthright and they cannot regain it, though the seek it with many tears! Thus, because this parable is not taught correctly in our churches, most Christians are totally deceived about the modern Jews and their true place in Bible Prophecy. Now let us turn to Lazarus and identify him. Eleazar means "God is helper," and before Israel was divorced, she used to be able to say of God: However, after Israel's divorcement Jeremiah 3: Not necessarily poor monetarily, but one in a subservient state before another. Lazarus was not necessarily poor monetarily, but he was in a subservient state.

Now this "beggar," Lazarus, had to beg for the crumbs from the table of the rich man.