Yirah

By Kyle Blackwell

As I am being redeemed from a time in my Christian walk where I felt as though Christ was so distant, my Jesus has pulled me back into an understanding of Him I believe truly needs to be brought to light. Often times, when the Old Testament is preached, we hear how relatable the ancient people of God are in their sinful nature to our own lives, Also, the OT is about the Law, and that we are no longer living in the Law. This is true. We are no longer living in the Law. However, Jesus stated that He came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.

(Disclaimer: As you read this please realize that I have my own issues and I need this teaching just as much as you.)

Back to the task at hand:

Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. -Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬

What did Jesus mean by saying He came to fulfill the law and not to abolish? When the law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai, there were many demands which followed. However, as we were once dead in the sinful nature caused from disobeying the given Law, and by cancelling the record of debt and legal demands which stemmed from the law, Jesus made us alive again through His death on the cross. So, what does all this mean?  We are living in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and not our own. Jesus makes right where we make wrongs.

Do we then cancel the law through faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary, we uphold the law. -Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭31‬

This verse in Romans is probably the best place in the Bible that corroborated the teaching of Jesus in the verse above. I rest my case.

Furthermore, Jesus wants our heart. When the famous Sermon On The Mount was delivered, many thought Jesus was delivering a new teaching. However, this could not be further from the truth. When Jesus taught hatred in your heart is equal to murder, He was explaining that living a Godly life is more than just actions seen by man, but it is also about the heart which is seen by God. When Jesus gave the example of the rich making their tithes known to the public, while the poor woman quietly gave all she had, which was not much, what do you think He was teaching? He was preaching true reverence toward God and the importance of our heart. What is your motivator? Being seen? Or, your love for God?

I do want to circle back to reverence, but one last thing about the Law, it was given in order for us to realize we need a savior; we cannot be present with God in our own power. And from the beginning of Genesis God had shown us He would deliver us a savior. The writers of the Old Testament also knew both these truths.

Now, back to that word reverence. The word for reverence in Hebrew is Yirah. Very few translations actually utilize reverence; they use fear.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; All those who follow His commandments have a good understanding; His praise endures forever. -Psalms‬ ‭111‬:‭10‬

I’m no Hebrew scholar, but I believe it would be more appropriate to say that reverence of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom, even though fear is also a translation for Yirah. Even more convincing, Yirah is where we get our English word for awe. And being in awe of something means you take time to appreciate its existence. For instance, I have been in awe of Ana from the first time we met. Therefore, I try my hardest to make her happy, even though I fail…. alot.  However, the majority of “Christians” do not have any awe, or feelings of reverence, for God.

The problem is that most church goers are just merely “Sunday Christians”. By the way, that term was not one I came up with on my own. This came from a self proclaimed gangster I was witnessing to a couple weeks ago. With this writing being a couple weeks in the making, you could say that he truly struck a nerve inside me. This man is no theologian, but his remarks resemble those of Jesus when He said not only is the gate narrow, but so is the path.

Living the Christ-like lifestyle is impossible without the presence of Holy Spirit. I now see people differently ever since I surrendered my life to Jesus. There is more love and understanding within myself, which I never really had before Christ. Where I used to be ok with sin, Holy Spirit now convicts me of my wrongdoing. That being said, I’m not perfect. However, God has a higher calling for those who have been redeemed by the Blood of Jesus. Our Heavenly Father wants to see our reverence for the Creator and that means His laws as well. Being fully sanctified is not something we will see on this Earth, but we should be seeing a constant yearning to be closer to God, which will also drive us further from sin.  Back to the part about fear.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. -1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭18

God created the Law because He loves us. And we, as Christian’s, choose to follow His commands because of the love He has for us. When we disobey God’s commands, we distance ourselves from Him. And when we live unrepentant from those committed sins our hearts become callused and hardened. Furthermore, choosing not to follow God’s commands leads us out of the will of God, and it also makes us less effective in the Kingdom of God as others are able to see the life we live. In doing so, our testimonies are diminished, which is satan’s goal for anyone who proclaims Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

If you love Me, you will keep My commands. -John‬ ‭14‬:‭15‬

One last thing, our true love for God is shown in the way we keep His commandments. Or, at least that is what Jesus said. In order to tie everything back to the start, which talks about the Old Testament Law being just as relevant today as it was when Moses read Deuteronomy to the Israelites before crossing the Jordan, we must realize the commands Jesus was speaking of are actually the Law. Because of His teachings, we are able to understand the Law with renewed light, by the guidance of Holy Spirit, of course. We must not cherry pick passages in order to tickle ears. We must preach the entire Bible, and not disregard the importance of the Old Testament laws.

As Christians, we need to get back to a reverence of God. He has so much love for us that He sent His only Son to die on the cross so that we may live. Like Paul said, we must persevere toward the prize, and run the race to win.

-My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge - Hosea 4:6