80 The fear of YHVH | nazareneisrael2house

The fear of YHVH.

In a recent Torah portion we read about a command that Moses gave the children of Israel during the pep talk that he gave them, prior to his death and them entering the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 31: 10 – 13, saying: ‘Then Moses commanded them saying, “At the end of every seven years (the year of the land Sabbath), at the time of the year of remission of debts, at the Feast of Booths (or Tabernacles), (11) when all Israel comes to appear before YHVH your Elohim at the place which He will choose, you shall read his law in front of all Israel in their hearing. (12) Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and the alien who is in your town, in order that they may hear and learn and fear YHVH your Elohim, and be careful to observe all the words of this law. (13) And their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear YHVH your Elohim, as long as you live on the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess” Those of us who attended previous Feast of Tabernacles, understand that the reason for attending the Feast, is to learn to fear YHVH our Elohim throughout our lives, as is also witnessed in Deuteronomy 14: 22 & 23, as follows: “You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. (23) And you shall eat it in the presence of YHVH your Elohim, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the first-born of your herd and your flock, in order that you may learn to fear YHVH your Elohim always.” From this it is abundantly clear that we are required to keep the Feast days of YHVH, so that we may learn to fear Him always.

Mankind in general does not want to be prescribed to what they should or should not do, even knowing that it is for your own benefit. The only people who were specifically chosen by YHVH to be His people and remained loyal to Him are our Jewish Brothers, who have been persecuted for the past two thousand years for obeying YHVH most of the time and as a result, know that if they for any reason disobey Him, the laws of cause and effect that He put in place and warned all Israel about in Deuteronomy 28, will cause them to be punished severely. As a result they have especially during the past century learnt to obey YHVH to what most outsiders consider to be a Pharisaical extend. The reason for their extreme fear of YHVH is because He has kept them from following their sister nation, the house of Israel whom He divorced because of idolatry, by writing their sins on their hearts to remind them what happened to them and their forebears in the past when they disobeyed Him, as witnessed by the Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 17, but especially in verses 1 – 4, in this way: ‘The sin of Judah is written down with an iron stylus; with a diamond point it is engraved upon the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars. (2) As they remember their children, so they remember their altars and their Asherim by green trees on the high hills. (3) O mountain of Mine in the countryside, I will give over your wealth and all your treasures for booty, your high places for sin throughout your borders. (4) And you will, even of yourself, let go of your inheritance that I gave you; and I will make you serve your enemies in the land which you do not know; for you have kindled a fire in My anger which will burn forever.’ It is because the Jews know that they are punished every time they live contrary to what YHVH teaches that we may trust their Judgment regarding the timing of the Feast Days of Elohim, which the Levites among them are responsible to declare in their season every year.

But let’s go back to the recent Torah portion where Moses told the Israelites how to ensure that they and their children remain Torah observant throughout their lives, by reading the book of Deuteronomy where YHVH renewed the covenant that He made with their forefathers, when He lead them out of Egypt into the wilderness to receive the original covenant at Mount Sinai. Imagine for a moment the sight every seventh year when the Israelites gathered before YHVH at the Feast of Tabernacles, all the men, women and children to listen attentively as their leader or king reads the book of Deuteronomy in their hearing for the entire seven day period during the feast. Picture hundreds of thousands of Hebrews dwelling in tents around Jerusalem at the Temple site. Imagine the crowd quiets as their king approaches the podium upon which the Torah scroll that he wrote himself is placed. Then the king starts reading aloud from the beginning of the book of Deuteronomy. Think what would have happened if the united nation of Israel obeyed this command given them through the hand of Moses, forever. But history shows that that was not to be. The transliterated term ‘Hakhel’ refers to a biblical commandment of assembling all Israelite men, women and children as well as strangers to hear the reading of Torah by the king of Israel once every seven years. Originally this ceremony took place at the site of the Temple in Jerusalem during Sukkot in the year following the Seventh Year. According to the Mishnah the commandment to assemble was performed throughout the years of the second Temple era starting from Ezra, Nehemiah and Zerubbabel and, by inference, during the First Temple era as well. The Scriptural command of assembling every seven years (the mitzvah of Hakhel) is only in effect when all twelve tribes of the nation reside in Israel. In the 20th century the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Schneerson, encouraged all Jews to utilize the command of assembly every seven years to assemble men, women and children and encourage each other to increase in Torah observance, and study and foster an environment of fear of Elohim. Through this the shortest Torah portion of the year (YHVH)’s divine wisdom revealed the secret of gathering; or the secret of Hakhel. Hakhel is a secret because it has not been told to other people.

But, what is this belief that has been so secret for many years? My fellow believer, the secret of Hakhel is that spiritual energy is released and imparted when we gather to hear the word of YHVH. Amazing things happen as the Torah is studied and spoken, miracles manifest, our spirits ascend, the Shekinah descends and the adversary flees when (YHVH)’s word is studied and applied, as Rav Yaa’cov wrote in James 4: 7, saying: ‘Submit therefore to Elohim. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.’ Most are also familiar with the popular teaching from Rav Shaul concerning this subject in Romans 10: 17, saying: ‘So faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Messiah.’ Without knowledge of truth (the word of Elohim) we cannot have faith, since we need to become aware of the Gospel of the Kingdom of Elohim, preached to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, namely that their descendants the twelve tribes of Israel will live eternally in the Promised land, provided they trust that YHVH will deliver what He promised and obey the constitution or the renewed covenant that He made with their children of all twelve (thirteen if we add Levi) tribes of Israel in the Book of Deuteronomy meaning ‘Words’. It is for this reason that Hosea wrote specifically to the house of Israel in Hosea 14, the Haftarah portion we read with Deuteronomy 31, saying in verses 1 & 2: ‘Return, O Israel, to YHVH your Elohim, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. (2) Take words (study the book of Deuteronomy transliterated as ‘Devarim’ in Hebrew) with you and return (or repent transliterated as ‘Teshuvah’ in Hebrew) to YHVH. Say to Him, ‘Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips.’ But, not many Israelites are familiar with the section from Torah portion Vayelech found in Deuteronomy 31: 10 – 13 quoted at the beginning. In these few verses we see the secret that the Hekhel or assembly of all the people of Israel to learn Torah, results in the nation learning to fear YHVH their Elohim.

The fear of YHVH is not something that we are born with. It is something that has to be learned. Those who claim to have had a ‘salvation experience’ are not zapped with the fear of Elohim. Fear is an emotional trait that must be acquired. Babies are not naturally afraid to fall out of their cribs. Neither are toddlers scared of running across a busy street. Small children have to be taught not to run with a scissors or to play with electrical outlets. Adults are also not naturally afraid of Elohim – since we have to learn to fear Him by hearing and studying His word. The Torah is the only road a person can follow if one seeks to acquire the fear of Elohim. This is illustrated by the instruction given to the kings in Israel in Deuteronomy 17: 18 - 20, as follows: ‘Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. (19) And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear YHVH his Elohim, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, (20) that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left; in order that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.’ Many amongst us will immediately say: ‘Fortunately we are not kings in Israel, so we do not have to worry about such a laborious task.’ But, if they do they are missing the point completely. The whole reason that YHVH is busy calling you and I to return to the covenant relationship we had with Elohim, together with Brother Judah, is so that we will one day at Messiah’s return become a royal priesthood, to serve Elohim under Messiah our High Priest and King of kings, during the millennium and beyond. So, yes, since you and I are being trained for positions of rulership in Elohim’s future government on earth, this is actually also applicable to each one of us. Verse 19 of Deuteronomy teaches us that fear of Elohim is only learned by uninterrupted learning of Torah – a word some in Christianity have come to hate. Note in verse 18 (quoted above) that the Torah must be written, so ‘that he may learn to fear YHVH his Elohim.’ The underlying idea is that fear is not naturally attainable, and is far removed from us, because of the physical nature of our senses and can be acquired only by studying Torah.

Few realize that to fear YHVH is actually commanded in the Scriptures. It is one of the 613 commandments of the Torah teachings of Elohim, for our good! We read accordingly from Deuteronomy 6: 13 & 14: “You shall fear only YHVH your Elohim; and you shall worship Him, and swear by His name. (14) You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the people who surround you.” Now that we are entering the last few Set-apart Days that YHVH commanded us to keep, let us truly take time to learn about fearing YHVH. To fear YHVH is to possess an emotional trait similar to what a leash has on a dog. The fear of YHVH allows us to go and do as our Master allows us in His word. If we go a little too far on our own, the leash is pulled back, especially when we do not see the impending danger of our actions, or if we cross a dangerous line. But to truly understand what it means to fear YHVH, we have to consider what we are told in Deuteronomy 10: 12 & 13, as follows: “And now, Israel, what does YHVH your Elohim require from you, but to fear YHVH your Elohim, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve YHVH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul.” In this summary statement of what YHVH requires of us, the fear of YHVH (i.e., ‘yirat YHVH) is mentioned first. First we must learn to properly fear YHVH and only then will we be able to walk in His ways, to love Him, and serve Him with all our heart (belief system) and soul (the way we live our lives). Yes, the requirement to fear YHVH takes place first in the list! We need to understand that the fear of YHVH means to respect the results of life’s decisions. It is directly related or connected to our acts of service and the devotion of our faith. When we fear YHVH we are acknowledging the laws that He has set in place to govern the universe. We are seeking Him to be the King of the Universes and understand that sin displeases Him and warrants His wrath upon us. The first aspect of fearing YHVH is to be afraid of punishment and suitably adjust our actions. The second aspect of fearing YHVH is acknowledging His Kingship and standing in awe of Him. The third aspect of fearing YHVH is to fear sin.

The Feast of Tabernacles is a very good time to learn what it means to fear YHVH. Let’s therefore consider a few Scriptural verses giving us more detail about the fear of YHVH, as follows:

Job 28: 28, “And to man He said, ‘behold, the fear of YHVH, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”
Psalms 111: 10, ‘The fear of YHVH is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.’
Proverbs 3: 7, ‘Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear YHVH and turn away from evil.’
Proverbs 8: 13, “The fear of YHVH is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way, and the perverted mouth, I hate.”
Proverbs 16: 6, ‘By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of YHVH one keeps away from evil.’
Jeremiah 5: 20 - 25, “Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah, saying, (21) ‘Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not; who have ears, but hear not. (22) “Do you not fear Me?” declares YHVH. “Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, an eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it. (23) But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and departed. (24) They do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear YHVH our Elohim, who gives rain in its season, both the autumn rain and the spring rain, who keeps for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.” (25) Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have withheld good from you.’

In summary this tells us that:

The beginning of wisdom is found by fearing YHVH,
Fearing YHVH is obtained through wisdom of Torah,
To fear YHVH is to hate evil,
The fear of YHVH keeps one from evil.
Knowing the wonders that YHVH put in place make us realize His power, resulting in us having the proper respect and fear of Elohim.

These Scriptures clearly show that the function of fear brings wisdom – as we turn to YHVH and away from evil, we are made wise and fear sin. It is by fearing sin that we also fear YHVH. Think for a moment – if YHVH could be afraid, what would He fear? Perhaps the fear of YHVH is what He fears. What would cause YHVH the Creator and Sustainer of the universe to fear? If YHVH could be afraid of anything, it would be separation caused by sin. The one thing that could make YHVH recoil in shock is the idea of being separated from His creation. With this in mind, we understand that to have the fear of YHVH is to actually have His fear – to personally fear what He fears, i.e., the consequences of sin. The fear of YHVH is to dread what He dreads; to be upset by what He gets upset. It is clear therefore that to have the fear of YHVH is to have a fear for sin, which separates us from Him and His love for us. We read suitably again from Proverbs 8: 13: “The fear of YHVH is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way, and the perverted mouth, I hate.” But, what does it mean, Hebraically to sin? To be able to fear sin, we need to understand what sin is, and how it affects us. Isaiah gives us a better understanding of the effects of our sin upon us in Isaiah 59: 1 & 2, saying: ‘Behold, (YHVH)’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; neither is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. (2) But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your Elohim, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.’ Let’s now consider how sin is as defined in the Scriptures. Because a large percentage of those who claim faith in Messiah do not often read the first five books of the Scriptures any longer, let’s find a definition of sin in the Renewed Covenant (or as they refer to it, the ‘New Testament) in 1 John 3: 4, as follows: ‘Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.’ The opposite of lawlessness is obedience to the law, which is religiously referred to as the law or commandments of Elohim, meaning Torah. When we break a Torah commandment we also break our connection with YHVH. Just think about what happened to Adam and Eve. After Satan deceived Eve to partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and she also gave to her husband, Adam knowing right from wrong sinned when he also ate of the forbidden fruit. After Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, he hides himself from Elohim. Why would he be hiding? Adam knew he did something wrong and his obedience brought about a sense of fear. Adam was terrified of the consequences of his actions and he and his wife lost their chance to eternal life, by going against Elohim’s command not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. By their disobedience to the commandments of Elohim in the Garden of Eden, our forefathers implied that they wanted to decide for themselves what is right and wrong.

We are no different today, knowing what is right and what is wrong. The same problem that faced Adam and Eve faces all of us as Rav Kepha warned in 1 Peter 5: 8, saying: ‘Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.’ Now that Elohim has called us from the lost ten tribes to return to the covenant relationship they together with the house of Judah made with Elohim at Mount Sinai, we need to decide: Do we want to be in Elohim’s Kingdom or not? We need to remember that when our Messiah returns, He will reward each one of us according to our works; the fruits resulting from a positive attitude and righteous character developed over time will be rewarded with a position of rulership in the coming kingdom of Elohim. Let’s turn to Hebrews 11: 7 where we read about the faith and fear of our fathers in the faith, to see how they qualified to be in Elohim’s everlasting kingdom, as follows: ‘By faith Noah, being warned by Elohim about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.’ Noah had a fear of YHVH and translated his fear into action, through faith. He feared when YHVH told him to build an ark, despite his neighbor’s mocking and trying to persuade him to disobey YHVH. Other than most people today, he was not concerned with what the people think or say – he carried on doing what YHVH told him to do.

We read further from Genesis 22: 10 - 12 how our father Abraham translated his fear of Elohim into faith, as follows: ‘And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. (11) But the angel of YHVH called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” (12) And he said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear Elohim, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’ We see from Hebrews 11: 17 that this fear of Abraham came through faith, in this way: ‘By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac; and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son.’ We all know that true fear involves trembling – almost like we shiver on a very cold day, or when we are cornered by a fearsome dog, we shake like paper in the wind. But, we see YHVH declaring in the second part of Isaiah 66: 2, saying: “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.” Yes brethren, fear for YHVH our Elohim involves trembling: Fear and trembling at the thought of disobeying Elohim. We see further from the first part of Psalm 147: 11, that: ‘YHVH favors those who fear Him,’ We need to stand in awe of Elohim; we need to have a finely tuned conscience; we need to have fear that will motivate us to change for the better.

We know that YHVH is patient towards us, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (as per 2 Peter 3 the second part of verse 9), but we are also warned in Hebrews 10: 26, in this way: ‘For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” A second witness to this is found in Acts 17: 30 & 31 as follows: “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, Elohim is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, (31) because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” We also know that there will be two resurrections after Messiah’s, as is confirmed in first Corinthians 15: 23 & 24, in this way: ‘But each in his own order: Messiah the first fruit(s), after that those who are Messiah’s at His coming (first Resurrection), (24) then comes the end (second Resurrection), when He delivers up the kingdom to Elohim and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.’ It is true, each person who has ever lived has a day fixed, when they will get their chance to repent; those who have never heard or known about Yahshua during this age, will get their only chance after the second resurrection. But, those of us called during this age need to know that this is our only chance, and we are being judged now as recorded in first Peter 4: 17. This tells us that we need to be very careful how we live, because we could because of reckless living, still lose our salvation.

Brethren this should make us fear enough to change our evil ways and start obeying YHVH for our own good. But, fear does not mean a lack of faith, or to be fearful, cowardly or insecure. Being fearful is certainly not the fear that Elohim requires, as we read from James 2: 19 as follows: ’You believe that Elohim is one, you do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.’ We read further from Revelation 21: 7 & 8: “He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his Elohim and he will be My son. (8) But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” The fear of Elohim stirs to action – it inspires us to want to obey YHVH from the bottom of our hearts. King David tells us in Psalm 60: 4, saying: ‘Thou hast given a banner to those who fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of truth.’ But, according to Psalm 36: 1, ‘Transgression (or active sin) speaks to the ungodly (sinner) within his heart; (saying) there is no fear of Elohim before his eyes.’ The process of sinning starts with Satan (Isaiah 14: 12). Satan lost the fear of Elohim and therefore sinned. Satan weakens the people – by getting them to lose their fear of Elohim. We see from Genesis 3: 1 - 3 that Eve feared Elohim at that time. Satan’s tactic is to destroy that fear of YHVH our Elohim, and by the time we get to verse 6 of Genesis 3, we see that he destroyed Eve’s fear of wrongdoing. We need therefore be very careful of Satan and his human agents, who teach against Torah obedience in an effort to destroy our fear of wrongdoing.

As mentioned earlier, we see further from Genesis 3: 9 & 10 that the result of sinning lets a different type of fear enter us, as follows: ‘Then YHVH Elohim called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” (10) And he said, “I heard the sound of Thee in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” This is the exact opposite of what the fear of Elohim will get us to do. The fear of Elohim encourages us to be brave. However, every man is tempted when he draws away from Elohim, as witnessed in James 1: 13 & 14 in this way: ‘Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by Elohim”; for Elohim cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. (14) But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.’ The opposite of the fear of Elohim is being fearful – an attitude which gives up before it starts, as also witnessed in first Samuel 3: 11 – 18 as follows: ‘And YHVH said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. (12) In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. (13) For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them. (14) And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.” (15) So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of YHVH. But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. (16) Then Eli called Samuel and said,” Samuel my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” (17) And he said, “What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May Elohim do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you.” (18) So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is YHVH; let Him do what seems good to Him.” A very good example of right fear can be found in Matthew 25: 14 – 16 as follows; “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves, and entrusted his possessions to them. (15) And to one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. (16) Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents.” In verse 18 of Matthew 25, we see an example of wrong fear (fearfulness), as follows: “But he who received the one talent went away and dug in the ground, and hid his master’s money.” Right fear brings about happiness and the wrong fear brings about unhappiness.

Continuing with this subject, we read from Hebrews 4: 1 & 2: ‘Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. (2) For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.’ We also read about the condition of the world in Romans 3: 18 as follows: “There is no fear of Elohim before their eyes.” The world lacks the fear of Elohim and the fear of any authority today. Do we also lack the fear of Elohim? I believe most of us do. Every time we lose our temper, we show a lack of fear of Elohim. The way we talk show our fear or lack of fear of YHVH our Elohim. Holding on to grudges is indicative of a lack of the fear of Elohim. The way in which we keep the Sabbath shows how we fear YHVH our Elohim. In John 4: 18 we see paraphrased, that love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment and the one who fears is not perfected in love. Perfect love casts out fear and results in obedience to Torah and commandment keeping - the fear of Elohim never involves torment. No, it is just the opposite, as recorded in Proverbs 2: 5, as follows: ‘Then you will discern the fear of YHVH, and discover the knowledge of Elohim.’ We read similarly from Ecclesiastes 12: 13, in this way: ‘The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear Elohim and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.’ King David who was also fully aware that the fear of YHVH does not come naturally and has to be taught, wrote in Psalm 34: 11, saying: ‘Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of YHVH.” If we study the Psalms and indeed the entire Word of YHVH we will learn to fear YHVH our Elohim.

YHVH has put a system of cause and effect in place to control how the universe operates. Every time we sin, it has an adverse effect on something or someone else in the universe and only real teshuvah can stop what has been decreed. When we from the lost ten tribes are reconciled to YHVH through Abraham’s one seed Yahshua, He paid the penalty for past sins, but now that we have returned to the covenant relationship we made with YHVH at Mount Sinai, we need to continue to obey the Torah commands of YHVH our Elohim. Every time we sin, as we do daily, we need to repent from breaking Elohim’s Torah teachings else we could lose our positions in the coming kingdom of Elohim. The way we approach Yom Kippur we need to continually purify ourselves through prayer and meditation upon our actions. The problem that if we neglect to repent from our sins and return to Elohim, it is impossible to tell the consequences we will face for each of our sins. When we violate Torah through small or big sins, we really do not know what the effects will be. As humans, we tend to categorize sins. We tend to imagine that the punishment for stealing a single dollar to be less than for robbing a bank. But, we need to remember that the same Torah prohibition has been broken. We can’t see which sin will cause the big earthquakes in our lives. Yet, as we fear YHVH and fear sin, we will in essence sin less. We will understand the results of our actions. It is because of a lack of the fear of Elohim that people sin. What happens if at times we neglect to ensure that we do not eat or cook meat and milk together, or if we work on the Day of Atonement or the Sabbath, or if we fantasize about someone of the opposite gender, or disrespect our elders, or spend money on the Sabbath? Do we really want to find out? Especially if we ourselves forget about it and it eventually becomes habitual without us ever repenting or stop doing it?

We need to fear sin and fear YHVH our Elohim until the fear does not depart from us. Then we need to return to full Torah observance and depart from our evil ways. If we fear YHVH enough, each one of us will examine the Scriptures to determine what YHVH requires of us, for ourselves. Yes, we will listen to what our teachers say, but will also do what the Jews in Berea did, as witnessed in Acts 17: 10 & 11, as follows: “And the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea; and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. (11) Now these were more noble minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.” Let’s make that our motto for this feast! Since we are not keeping the Feast of Tabernacles in Israel and not all the people from both houses of Israel will be present at our feast site, let us at least also read the song of Moses aloud one day during this Feast. Think about it!