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| ...believing the Word of YHVH |
by haRold Smith
a citizen of the Commonwealth
(Ephesians 2:12)
"But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of YHVH, even to them that believe on His Name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of Spirit." John 1:12-13
"Thus you are nullifying and making void and of no effect the authority of the Word of YHVH (John 1:1) through your tradition, which you, in turn, pass on. And many things of this kind you are doing." Mark 7:13
And YHVH said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward." Exodus 14:15
The Seventh Day of Passover, (Shvi'i shel Pesach), is the anniversary of the crossing of the Sea of Reeds by the children of Israel as they fled before Pharaoh and his army. There is a midrash from the Talmud (the Hebrew oral legend) that tells of the time when this people of YHVH, newly redeemed from the bondages of Egypt, were confronted with the need to make a choice. With the Egyptians bearing down on them from behind and nothing but the sea before them, Nachshon ben Aminadav, an ardent believer in this One True Living Elohim, after hearing YHVH's instruction to Moses simply walked into the sea up to his nostrils - not hesitating for a moment. Facing east to the distant land promised by Elohim to the children of Israel, Nachshon knew exactly what he was doing. To the others watching from the shoreline, his actions may have appeared suicidal, but YHVH immediately took action and the sea split before him. Nachshon did what no one else had dared to do: He took his belief in the Father and put it to the ultimate test for, if the Father had not shown up in that moment, he and the other Hebrews would have become food for the fishes. There is a time for praying and there is a time for moving forward - first hearing, then moving. For most of us, we want to wait on the shore and pray that the sea parts before we move across it or, out of fear, we pick up a sword and attempt to fight an enemy we have been given no power or authority to defeat - all in the prayerful Name of Yeshua, of course. This is not moving in Faith over what He has spoken, it is 'crying' to Him to further our own interests - it becomes a vain prayer (the definition of vanity is to appropriate for selfish purposes - Exodus 20:7 click on hightlighted words to view content). By praying vainly, we can actually find ourselves praying in opposition to His Plans and Purposes - at which point we will not be held guiltless, meaning that we place ourselves in a position to become subject to a spirit of deception (see what it means to live in Deception).
The English word believe is translated from the Hebrew word 'aman, which means to support, confirm, to trust in, to be faithful to; and from the Greek word pisteuo, meaning: to be persuaded of, to place confidence in, to trust in, to adhere to. Notice that in the passage from the first chapter of John above, it is only those who receive YHVH for Who He Says He Is that are given the power to become a 'son of YHVH' - only to those Who believe, that is, only those who are faithful through adherance to His Name. Whose Name is that verse speaking of? The Name of YHVH found in Exodus 34:1-17 and that passage begins with the giving of the Ten Words that constitute the Nature of the Name of YHVH. Here we can see how replacement theology has extended its reach beyond merely replacing Israel with "the Church", but goes so far as to replace His Name, YaHoVeH, which appears over 6,500 times in scripture but never once in any modern translations. As seen in the first verse of Exodus 34, it has been replaced with "the LORD" - a name more friendly to the doctrine they wish to cultivate. We can even see where Strong's Concordance acknowledges the change from the original in Exodus 34:6. The Greek word translated as the English power used in John 1:12 is exousia, the same word which is used for the translated word authority in Luke 9:1 and means - power of choice. It is only those who exercise their '"power of choice" (meaning the choice given them to exercise their belief in the Name of YHVH) that become sons of YHVH. The authority of choice we are given is the power to choose to exhibit our faith, our belief in His Words to be Truth in the face of obstacles that are, seemingly, overwhelming.
Matthew 14:25-31
records how Peter, like Nachshon, exercised his power of choice by leaping into the waves to join the Master walking on the sea - but it was at Yeshua's behest. Yes, his faith waned a little later on when he looked down and realized where he was, but it should not be overlooked that he WAS walking on water. Before making a choice to exhibit faith, like both Peter and Nachshon's example, we need to wait to hear what Spirit is saying - otherwise, we find ourselves in a place of 'making up' choices. Faith is not straining to believe something into existence we desperately want to see happen. Faith is not giving lip-service to a dogma or tenant we feel will be useful to us. Faith is
see first hearing
the Voice of the Father
(John 12:50)
then, subsequently, moving in the direction He illumines - regardless of what we see, what we hear, what we feel or what we think. Faith is exhibiting confidence, by our actions, that He will do everything we have heard Him say He will do
(Hebrews 11:1).
Believe is found in
Genesis 15:6
in the Hebrew to be 'aman' and means to stand firm in, to be found reliable in, to be faithful in doing. As the father of our faith, Abraham exhibited his belief in what the Father was saying to him by causing his actions to adhere to the words YHVH had spoken the very day he heard them
(Genesis 17:23).
Romans 4:12
says Abraham is the father of all who 'walk in the steps of that faith' he exhibited in haEl haNaAman (Hebrew for 'the Faithful One'). To 'believe' requires an alignment of our life to the Words of YHVH found in
Exodus 20:1-17.
It is in the dual action of sealing our confession before men with our lips and then a follow-through of the evidentiary embrace of the Life of Yeshua He exampled before us in scripture. To those who exhibit this belief, to them are given the power to BECOME the sons of YHVH
(John 1:12-13).
To say "I believe in God, therefore I am saved" is to be ignorant of scripture. Most reading this article would give no credence to the statement, "I believe in evolution, therefore, it exists." There has to be proof of its existence before belief can be validated. "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe - and tremble!" James 2:19. To simply 'believe' is not sufficient to warrant validation, there must be an evidentiary exhibition of that belief in order for it to be valid (see "Becoming Vulnerable"). To be 'saved' or 'to save' in the Greek is 'sozo' and means to save one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health. This word 'sozo' is used in Matthew 9:21 as 'whole' and in Romans 10:8-9 as 'saved'. There is an action associated with salvation - it is not a verbal undertaking. Even in Genesis 47:25 the Hebrew word for 'saved', chayah, means: to live, have life, remain alive, sustain life, live prosperously, be quickened, be alive, be restored to life or health. Is it any wonder, fifty days after this glorious fulfillment of scripture with His Resurrection at the feast of Pesach (Passover), on the day of the festival of Shavuot (translated into Greek as 'Pentecost', meaning 'fiftieth day'), why 3000 abandoned their lives immediately and were added to the church and a few days later, another 5000? It wasn't because of Peter's preaching. Before their eyes, they witnessed an extraordinary manifestation of restoration in the physical lives of those 120 who had waited on Him as He had instructed. As these few were being filled with the Presence of YHVH, so extraordinary was this occurrence in the physical that it created a desire in those watching to want some of that. (Romans 8:11, John 17:3).
So, then, why do we not see that same powerful restoration fall upon people today as they, too, give their lives over to the Holy One of Israel? Yeshua said in the passage from Mark above, that it is due to the 'tradition of men' that has been handed down to us that nullifies the power of YHVH and that, because of our embrace of those traditions, we pass them on - "and many things of this kind" we do. The English word tradition comes from the Greek word
paradosis
and means: 1) giving up, giving over a) the act of giving up (it should be noted that "tradition" does not appear anywhere in scripture before the Messianic Writings). When we 'believe' in the tradition of men, we relinquish our authority in the Spirit. It is in our 'giving up' of the authority, the 'power of choice', He has given us to embrace the virtue in His Life found resident within us BY our adherence to the 'tradition of men' that "brings to none effect' the power of His Word in our life
(John 1:14).
Instead of living a life of Faith displayed by an action of hearing His direction and then walking into tumultuous events 'up to our nostrils' with an expectancy of seeing Him show up, we settle for an illusion of security along the shoreline where the multitude are gathered, hoping and praying for a miracle - not comprehending that the miracle is already within us
(John 4:48).
If our hearts and minds are set upon the things of the Spirit rather than the things of this world, then we are to BE the Kingdom here in this earthly realm - today
(Matthew 6:10,
1John 4:17).
There are far too many of us who are wanting to 'use' scripture to justify what we want in order to satisfy our carnal desires rather than learning of Him and, consequently, embodying the essence of Who He Is so that our lives become an enticement for others to reach to His Standard
(John 12:32).
Revelation 19:10b tells us that the Spirit of Prophecy IS the testimony of the Life of Yeshua. His Life is the benchmark by which all things are measured - even other scripture. If it is not found in His Life as chronicled in scripture, regardless of the importance men have assigned to it - it is probably borne of 'tradition'. Not what we 'think' it says - just what is recorded and revealed by ruach hakodesh (Hebrew for the spirit of holiness). When we seek anything other than to follow Him the Way He followed the Father, we are praying selfishly - what WE would like to see happen as opposed to what HE wants. What He wants has been made very clear in the Book, from cover to cover - He wants a Body arrayed in fine linen (1Samuel 15:22, Revelation 19:7-9). That linen is the righteousness of the Life Yeshua exampled that the saints have 'chosen' to be clothed in. He is coming for the faithful who have been fashioned as He Is - without spot or wrinkle or 'any such thing' (Ephesians 5:27).
Numbers, chapter 1, consists mainly of the names of the heads of all the tribes and how the counting of the first census in the desert took place about a year after the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moshe on Mount Sinai. It tells us that this fellow, Nachshon ben Aminadav, the first of the children of Israel who leapt into the Sea of Reeds believing what YHVH had spoken, was the head of the same tribe of Israel that produced Yeshua - the tribe of Judah. Isn't that interesting.
| "Conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Messiah, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 1Peter 1:17-19 |
Please feel free to email me at harold@hethathasanear.com. While not claiming to have all the answers, it would be an honor to partake with you of what the Spirit is uncovering.