RELATIONSHIP WITH YHWH

WALKING BEFORE YHWH

1. Deut.4:39 Know today, and establish it in your heart, that YHWH is Elohim in heaven above and on earth below – there is no other.

2. Deut.7:9 Know therefore that YHWH thy Elohim, He is Elohim, the faithful Elohim, who keeps covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations. And repays them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack to him that hates Him, He will repay him to his face. Thou shall therefore keep the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which I command thee this day, to do them. And it shall come to pass, because ye hearken to these ordinances, and keep, and do them, that YHWH thy Elohim shall keep with thee the covenant and the mercy which He swore unto thy fathers. 

3. Deut.13:4 After YHWH your Elohim shall ye walk, and Him shall ye fear, and His commandments shall ye keep, and unto His voice shall ye hearken, and Him shall ye serve, and unto Him shall ye cleave. 

4. Deut.6:13 You shall reverently fear YHWH Elohim and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name.

Mtt.4:10 “Away with you, Satan!” Yeshua told him, “For the Tanakh (Scripture) says, ‘Worship YHWH your Elohim, and serve only Him.”

5. Deut.4:9 Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, especially concerning the day you stood before YHWH your Elohim in Horeb, when YHWH said to me, “Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.” Deut.10:20 You shall fear YHWH your Elohim. You shall serve Him and cling to Him, and by His name and presence you shall swear. He is your praise. He is your YHWH, Who has done for you these great and terrible things which your eyes have seen.

Lk.12:5 “My friends, I tell you: don’t fear those who kill the body but then have nothing more they can do. I will show you whom to fear: fear Him Who after killing you has authority to throw you into Gei-Hinnom (Gehenna)! Yes, I tell you, this is the One to fear!”

Mtt.10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are powerless to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Gei-Hinnom.”

1Pet.1:17 Also, if you are addressing as Father the one who judges impartially according to each person’s actions, you should live out your temporary stay on earth in fear.

Act.2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul.

2Cor.5:11 So it is with the fear of YHWH before us that we try to persuade people.

1Tim.5:20 Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.

Phil.2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Hebr.10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living YHWH Elohim. 

6. Ex.23:25 So you shall serve YHWH your Elohim, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. 

Josh.24:15 And if it seems evil to you to serve YHWH, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve YHWH.

7. Deut.8:2 You are to remember everything of the way in which YHWH Elohim led you these forty years in the desert, humbling and testing you in order to know what was in your heart – whether you would obey his commandments or not. He humbled you, allowing you to become hungry, and then fed you with man, which neither you nor your ancestors had ever known, to make you understand that a person does not live on food alone but on everything that comes from the mouth of YHWH. 

Mtt.4:4 But he answered, “The Tanakh (Scripture) says, ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of  YHWH.'”

1Pet.1:7 Even gold is tested for genuineness by fire. So that the genuineness of your faith may be tested, your faith which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fire. This proving of your faith is intended to redound to your worthy of praise, glory and honor at the revealing of Yeshua the Messiah.

Jam.1:2 Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

8. Deut.8:5 You should know in your heart that as a man chastens (disciplining) his son, so YHWH your Elohim chastens you.

Prov.3:12 For YHWH corrects those he loves like a father who delights in his son.

Hebr.12:6 For YHWH disciplines those he loves and whips everyone he accepts as a son.

Rev.3:19 As for me, I rebuke and discipline everyone I love.

9. Deut.8:10 So you will eat and be satisfied, and you will bless YHWH your Elohim for the good land he has given you.

1Thess.5:18 In everything give thanks, for this is what YHWH wants from you who are united with the Messiah Yeshua.

Col.3:17 That is, everything you do or say, do in the name of Yeshua, giving thanks through him to YHWH the Father.

Eph.5:20 Always give thanks for everything to YHWH the Father in the name of Yeshua the Messiah.

ABOUT BEING CHOSEN 

10. Lev.19:2 You shall be holy for YHWH your Elohim. I am holy. Lev.20:7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy for I am YHWH your Elohim.

1Pet.1:14 Live as children of obedience to YHWH. Do not conform yourselves to the evil desires that governed you in your former ignorance. On the contrary, following the Holy One who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

Mtt.5:48 Therefore, be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Rev.3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before YHWH.

11. Lev.11:45 For I am YHWH who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your YHWH. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. Lev.20:26 And you shall be holy to Me, for I am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.

2Cor.7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of YHWH.

Col.3:12 So, chosen by YHWH for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe YHWH picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline.

12. Deut.18:13 You shall be blameless and absolutely true (be completely loyal) to YHWH your Elohim.

Lk.1:6 And they were both righteous before YHWH, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of YHWH blameless.

Lk.2:25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout (cautiously and carefully observing the divine Law/Torah), and looking for the Consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

Lk.23:50 Now there was a good and righteous man (tzaddik) named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish (Judaean) high council, but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he had been waiting for the Kingdom of YHWH to come.

13. Ex.19:5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.

1Pet.2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, YHWH own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

14. Deut.9:4 Do not think in your heart, after YHWH your Elohim has cast them out before you, saying, “Because of my righteousness YHWH has brought me in to possess this land” but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that YHWH is driving them out from before you. It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that YHWH your Elohim drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which YHWH swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore understand that YHWH your Elohim is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people (stubborn people).

Rom.11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works. Otherwise grace is no longer grace.

TEMPTATION

15. Deut.6:16 You shall not tempt YHWH your Elohim as you tempted Him in Massah (Exodus chapter 17). Вт.24:9 Помни, что ЯХОВА Элоим твой сделал Мирьям на пути, когда вы шли из Мицраим.

1Cor.10:9 And let us not put the Messiah to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes. And don’t grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the Destroying Angel. These things happened to them as prefigurative historical events, and they were written down as a warning to us who are living in the ends of the ages. Therefore, let anyone who thinks he is standing up be careful not to fall!

Hebr.3:8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, “They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.” So I swore in My wrath, “They shall not enter My rest.”

Mtt.6:31 Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?”

Mtt.4:7 Yeshua replied to him, “But it also says, ‘Do not put YHWH your Elohim to the test.”

OATHS. PROFANING THE NAME OF YHWH

16. Ex.20:7 You shall not take* (misuse) the name** of YHWH your Elohim (not swear Him) in vain***, for YHWH will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. Deut.5:11 You shall not take the name of YHWH your Elohim in vain, for YHWH will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. 

* ‘take’ – in Hebrew: נשא (nasa) means ‘to lift’, ‘lift up’, ‘bear up’, ‘carry’, ‘take off’.

** ‘the name’ – in Hebrew שֵׁם (shem) – also means ‘character’, ‘reputation’.

*** ‘in vain’– in Hebrew: שָׁוְא (shav) – means ‘falsely’.

Based on these facts, this commandment can also be translated as follows: ‘Do not represent Elohim’s character falsely’, or, in other words, ‘Do not spoil his reputation’. Knowing that man was created in the image of Him or, literally, as His ‘shadow’ (in Gen.1:27 the word ‘image’ צֶלֶם (tselem) also means ‘shadow’), one can see that this commandment actually has a much deeper meaning.

17. Lev.19:12 And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your YHWH.

18. Ex.22:28 You are not to curse (not revile) YHWH, and you are not to curse a leader of your people.

Jud.1:8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “  YHWH rebuke you!”

Rom.2:24 For “The name of YHWH is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you”,  as it is written.

19. Lev.22:32 You shall not profane* My holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. 

* ‘profane’ – in Hebrew: חָלַל (khä·lal) – also means ‘pollute’.

CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART (SPIRITUAL) 

20. Deut.10:16 Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.

Jer.4:4 Circumcise yourselves to YHWH, and take away the foreskins of your hearts.

Ezek.44:6 Now say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says YHWH Elohim: “O house of Israel, let us have no more of all your abominations. When you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to defile it – My house – and when you offered My food, the fat and the blood, then they broke My covenant because of all your abominations.

Rom.2:28 For he is not a real Hebrew who is only one outwardly and publicly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. But he is a Hebrew who is one inwardly, and true circumcision is of the heart, a spiritual and not (only) literal matter. His praise is not from men but from YHWH.

Col.2:11 Also it was in union with him that you were circumcised with a circumcision not done by human hands, but accomplished by stripping away the old nature’s control over the body. In this circumcision done by the Messiah, you were buried along with him by being immersed.

Acts 7:51 You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.

PHYSICAL CIRCUMCISION – THE SIGN OF THE COVENANT

21. Gen.17:10 This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male child among you shall be circumcised. And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people he has broken My covenant. Lev.12:3 And in the eighth day the flesh of his (man-child) foreskin shall be circumcised.

The Book of Jubilees Chapter 15 And YHWH said unto Abraham: ‘And as for thee, do thou keep my covenant, thou and thy seed after thee: and circumcise ye every male among you, and circumcise your foreskins, and it shall be a token of an eternal covenant between Me and you. And the child on the eighth day ye shall circumcise, every male throughout your generations, him that is born in the house, or whom ye have bought with money from any stranger, whom ye have acquired who is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house shall surely be circumcised, and those whom thou hast bought with money shall be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an eternal ordinance. And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin on the eighth day, that soul shall be cut off from his people, for he has broken My covenant.’ And Elohim said unto Abraham: ‘As for Sarai thy wife, her name shall no more be called Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. And I will bless her, and give thee a son by her, and I will bless him, and he shall become a nation, and kings of nations shall proceed from him.’ And Abraham fell on his face, and rejoiced, and said in his heart: ‘Shall a son be born to him that is a hundred years old, and shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bring forth?’ And Abraham said unto YHWH: ‘O that Ishmael might live before thee!’  And YHWH  Elohim said: ‘Yea, and Sarah also shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I will establish My covenant with him, an everlasting covenant, and for his seed after him. And as for Ishmael also have I heard thee, and behold I will bless him, and make him great, and multiply him exceedingly, and he shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to thee, in these days, in the next year.’ And He left off speaking with him, and YHWH went up from Abraham. And Abraham did according as YHWH had said unto him, and he took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and whom he had bought with his money, every male in his house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin. And on the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and all the men of his house, and those born in the house, and all those, whom he had bought with money from the children of the stranger, were circumcised with him. This law is for all the generations forever, and there is no circumcision of the days, and no omission of one day out of the eight days; for it is an eternal ordinance, ordained and written on the heavenly tablets. And every one that is born, the flesh of whose foreskin is not circumcised on the eighth day, belongs not to the children of the covenant which YHWH made with Abraham, but to the children of destruction; nor is there, moreover, any sign on him that he is YHWH’s, but (he is destined) to be destroyed and slain from the earth, and to be rooted out of the earth, for he has broken the covenant of YHWH our Elohim. For all the angels of the presence and all the angels of sanctification have been so created from the day of their creation, and before the angels of the presence and the angels of sanctification He hath sanctified Israel, that they should be with Him and with His holy angels. And do thou command the children of Israel and let them observe the sign of this covenant for their generations as an eternal ordinance, and they will not be rooted out of the land. For the command is ordained for a covenant, that they should observe it forever among all the children of Israel. For Ishmael and his sons and his brothers and Esau, YHWH did not cause to approach Him, and he chose them not because they are the children of Abraham, because He knew them, but He chose Israel to be His people. And He sanctified it, and gathered it from amongst all the children of men; for there are many nations and many peoples, and all are His, and over all hath He placed spirits in authority to lead them astray from Him. But over Israel He did not appoint any angel or spirit, for He alone is their ruler, and He will preserve them and require them at the hand of His angels and His spirits, and at the hand of all His powers in order that He may preserve them and bless them, and that they may be His and He may be theirs from henceforth forever. And now I announce unto thee that the children of Israel will not keep true to this ordinance, and they will not circumcise their sons according to all this law; for in the flesh of their circumcision they will omit this circumcision of their sons, and all of them, sons of Beliar, will leave their sons uncircumcised as they were born. And there will be great wrath from YHWH against the children of Israel. Because they have forsaken His covenant and turned aside from His word, and provoked and blasphemed, inasmuch as they do not observe the ordinance of this law; for they have treated their members like the Gentiles, so that they may be removed and rooted out of the land. And there will no more be pardon or forgiveness unto them (so that there should be forgiveness and pardon) for all the sin of this eternal error. 

Lk.2:21 Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, He was given the name Yeshua, which is what the angel had called him before his conception.

Lk.1:59 On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child and were calling him Zachariah after his father. But his mother intervened: “No. He is to be called John.”

Phil.3:4 If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, by birth belonging to the people of Isra’el, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, concerning the law, a Pharisee.

Circumcision is a sign of the covenant (outer evidence) of Abraham and his descendants with YHWH Elohim. According to the commandment, it is the duty of the parents to arrange for the circumcision of their male child. On this day, through circumcision, a child is introduced into the sacred society of Israel. However, there were some cases when this commandment was not followed and YHWH was giving a second chance to his people so that they could still fulfill it: Ex.4:20-26; Josh.5:1-8. When the apostle Paul (Shaul) was talking about circumcision, he obviously did not mean the very commandment of YHWH, but rather the traditional rite of circumcision: ‘b’rit-milah’. In Paul’s opinion, this traditional religious ceremony is not what makes a person ‘a real’ Hebrew (according to the outer evidence). Circumcision is a person’s intention to follow the commandments of YHWH. If a person underwent circumcision in childhood, it should not be a source of pride, as circumcision represents one’s intention to follow the commandments and strive to live in accordance with them as they grow older:

Rom.2:25 For circumcision is indeed of value if you do what Torah says. But if you are a transgressor of Torah, your circumcision has become uncircumcision!

1Cor.7:18  Was someone uncircumcised when he was called? He shouldn’t undergo b’rit-milah. Being circumcised (according to the traditional ceremony) means nothing, and being uncircumcised means nothing. What does mean something is keeping commandments of  YHWH.

Rom.2:28 For you are not a true (real) Hebrew just because you were born of Hebrew parents or because you have gone through the Judaic ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with YHWH. And true circumcision is not only external and physical. On the contrary, the real Hebrew is one inwardly; and true circumcision is of the heart, spiritual not literal (not only according to the ceremony); so that his praise comes not from other people but from YHWH.

It is interesting to note that nowadays the same thing can be said to Christians. They have undergone the religious rite of Baptism and consider themselves “true Christians”, yet at the same time they neglect the commandments of  YHWH Elohim.

Also, a situation is described in the book of Acts where the Pharisees, who believed in Yeshua but were still under the influence of traditional Judaism, were continuing to impose special rites on Gentiles. This rite included religious rules, regulations, and orders, as well as a mandatory undergoing of the “giyur” procedure (גיור‎ in Hebrew):

Act.15:1 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Act.15:5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses (additions to the Law).”

Act.15:10 Now therefore, why do you test  YHWH by putting a yoke* on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

* It is a clear evident that the word ‘yoke’ here means teachings and traditions (man-made rules and doctrines) and not the Law of  YHWH (Torah)! It is in this way that they were ‘troubled’ for the believers in Messiah about laying ‘heavy burdens’ (Mtt.23:4; Lk.11:46) on their shoulders. Instead, they should have given them an opportunity to follow the commandments in simplicity, or without religious instructions. True Torah was preached in messianic synagogues on Saturday (Sabbath) for ALL the believers:

Act.15:19 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble (annoy and disturb) those from among the Gentiles who are turning to YHWH,but that we write to them (to begin with) to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. For the Law of Moses (Torah) has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.

Let’s consider another statement by Paul:

Philippians 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the name of Yeshua. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you, it is safe. Beware of dogs (Judaizers, legalists), beware of evil workers (beware of false circumcision), beware of the mutilation (beware of those who mutilate the flesh!). For we are the circumcision, who worship YHWH in the Spirit, rejoice in the name of Yeshua, and have no confidence in the flesh.

It is important to understand that circumcision, given as a command by YHWH (His Holy Word) to Abraham and his descendants forever, is not related to “mutilation of the body” and “evil workers and dogs”! In this context, it is not about circumcision itself, but about the procedure of “giyur” – a Pharisaic interpretation (Judaic/Pharisaic heresy), claiming that salvation is impossible without this religious rite (Acts 15:1).

Understanding that circumcision is a command for a born son, not for the father himself, we can now grasp the meaning of the words of the apostle Paul in the right context: “beware of dogs, evil workers, and those who bring you into religious bondage.” Circumcision is not a religious-Jewish ritual; it is a covenant sign that must be on a person’s body alongside a circumcised heart.

Physical circumcision is a pledge given to a person from birth, who must then prove their true spiritual circumcision in practice – living according to the commandments of YHWH, or affirming their spiritual circumcision with a mark on their body if it was lacking for some reason. Circumcision by itself has no intrinsic value.