Tonight many people around the world are celebrating, and many of those will celebrate with much gusto, putting their hearts and souls into welcoming what is generally recognized as the New Year.
This blog post will not go into great detail regarding what YHVH's Word says about celebrating the New Year. You can read that in my blog post from January 1, 2010. Basically, I won't be celebrating YHVH's New Year until the spring...around April - the time around Passover (see Exodus 12).
Okay, so January is not the month that Adonai chose and commanded for the beginning of each year.
But it is the time chosen by much of the world to begin each year.
So the question remains:
Why don't I celebrate with my friends and family?
Why do I choose to treat this day like any other day?
Why won't I attend the parties and say the traditional greetings?
The question can continue further:
Why don't I celebrate the holidays that Christianity has promoted as times to commemorate Jesus and His life on earth (e.g., Christmas and Easter)? Why won't I participate in those?
Why won't I "fellowship" with my fellow believers by participating during these special times of the Christian year?
This question can become a paragraph and even a small booklet of questions:
Why do I insist on using YHVH's and Yahshua's Hebrew names?
Why do I celebrate the Feasts of the Old Testament rather than the Christian holidays?
Why do I follow Adonai's menu rather than the commonly accepted menu of the people around me?
Why must I be so different?
And then that last question frequently leads to the underlying (and sometimes openly hinted at) questions of:
Why must I be so difficult?
Why must I be so rebellious against Christian tradition?
Why do I alienate the people around me by making these choices?
The answer to all of these is quite simple - profoundly important to me, yet simple...
I don't want to pour all my energy, my passion, my heart and soul into something that is not what Adonai wants from me, into some tradition that goes against His Word. Rather I want to pour all that I am, my heart and soul, into who HE IS, what HE says to be and do, what His Word commands. My greatest desire is to know, to love, and to live in relationship with YHVH, the King of the Universe, my Creator, my Redeemer, my Adonai, through Yahshua the Messiah!
Do you know how many times our Adonai tells His people to do something with all of their heart and soul...with all of their very being?
Let's take a look at some of the familiar places in YHVH's Word.
1. Moses, in Deuteronomy, constantly reminded the Israelites of YHVH's words and commands:
Deuteronomy 6:1-6
And this is the command, the laws and right-rulings which יהוה (YHVH) your Elohim has commanded...so that you fear יהוה your Elohim, to guard all His laws and His commands which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life....Hear, O Israĕl: יהוה (YHVH) our Elohim, יהוה (YHVH) is one! And you shall love יהוה (YHVH) your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your might. And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart...
Deuteronomy 10:12, 13
And now, Israel, what is יהוה your Elohim asking of you, but to fear יהוה your Elohim, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve יהוה your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being, to guard the commands of יהוה and His laws which I command you today for your good?
Deuteronomy 13:1-4
When there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he shall give you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder shall come true, of which he has spoken to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other mighty ones – which you have not known – and serve them,’ do not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for יהוה your Elohim is trying you to know whether you love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being. Walk after יהוה your Elohim and fear Him, and guard His commands and obey His voice, and serve Him and cling to Him.
Deuteronomy 30: 5-11
And יהוה your Elohim shall bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. And He shall do good to you, and increase you more than your fathers. And יהוה your Elohim shall circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed, to love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being, so that you might live...And you shall turn back and obey the voice of יהוה and do all His commands which I command you today....For יהוה turns back to rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, if you obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim, to guard His commands and His laws which are written in this Book of the Torah, if you turn back to יהוה your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being. For this command which I am commanding you today, it is not too hard for you, nor is it far off.
2. When Joshua blessed the tribes of Israel, he also reminded them:
Joshua 22:2-5
And [Joshua] said to them, “You, you have guarded all that Moses the servant of יהוה commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. You have not left your brothers these many days, up to this day, but have guarded the Charge, the command of יהוה your Elohim. And now יהוה your Elohim has given rest to your brothers, as He promised them. So now, return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of יהוה gave you beyond the Jordan. Only, diligently guard to do the command and the Torah which Mosheh the servant of יהוה commanded you, to love יהוה your Elohim, and to walk in all His ways, and to guard His commands, and to cling to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your being.
3. David spoke these words to his son Solomon:
1 Kings 2:3-4
And guard the Charge of יהוה your Elohim: to walk in His ways, to guard His laws, His commands, His right-rulings, and His witnesses, as it is written in the Torah of Moses, so that you do wisely all that you do and wherever you turn; so that יהוה does establish His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons guard their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their being,’ saying, ‘there is not to cease a man of yours on the throne of Israel.’ 4. King Josiah and King Asa both turned the people back to the commands of YHVH:
2 Kings 23:2-3, 25
And the king [Josiah] went up to the House of יהוה with all the men of Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the House of יהוה. And the king stood by the column and made a covenant before יהוה, to follow יהוה and to guard His commands and His witnesses and His laws, with all his heart and all his being, to establish the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant....And before him there was no king like him, who turned back to יהוה with all his heart, and with all his being, and with all his might, according to all the Torah of Moses; and after him none rose up like him. 2 Chronicles 15:12-15
And they entered into a covenant to seek יהוה Elohim of their fathers with all their heart and with all their being; and whoever would not seek יהוה Elohim of Israel would be put to death, from small to great, from man to woman. And they swore to יהוה with a loud voice, with shouting and with trumpets and with rams’ horns. And all Judah rejoiced concerning the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their being. And He was found by them, and יהוה gave them rest all around.
5. It is the cry of Psalm 84:2
My being has longed, and even fainted,
For the courts of יהוה;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
6. Yahshua confirmed that this is the greatest command of YHVH:
Matthew 22:36-40
“Teacher, which is the great command in the Torah?”
And יהושע (Yahshua) said to him, “ 'You shall love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great command. And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commands hang all the Torah and the Prophets.”
I would like to give an example of why I want to follow the Word of YHVH rather than just depending on and following tradition. This example is something that at first glance seems simple and unimportant, but upon deeper understanding and reading of the Word of YHVH becomes so deeply significant.
The word "HALLELUYAH."
It is also commonly spelled Alleluia and Hallelujah and sometimes Halleluia. I have even seen it spelled as Halaylooyah. I guess it can be a tricky word to spell just by sounding it out!
I, too, have had difficulty remembering how to spell this word and never really knew which form to use...until I actually read enough of God's Word to realize how important this word is.
We throw it around as a "catch-all" religious phrase. We use it casually, without even thinking about it...
"Hey look, there's a dollar on the ground! Hallelujah!"
"The store had my favorite kind of ice cream...hallelujah!"
"Today is supposed to be sunny and warm. Hallelujah!"
We alternate saying Hallelujah and PTL (stands for Praise the Lord, which is what Hallelujah is translated to mean in our English Bibles).
Why is this word so important? Why am I making a seemingly "big deal" out of this?
Let's break it down...
Obviously (I hope it's obvious), it is a Hebrew word.
Hallel ( הלל) means to boast about, give glory to, give praise to.
YAH (YH or יה) is the shortened name of YHVH (יהוה), the first two letters of His four-letter name!
Remember, Hebrew is read from right to left. Compare the first two letters of YHVH with the spelling of YaH.
So Hallelu YaH means praise (to) YaH. הללו יה
This is different than saying "praise the Lord" because "Lord" is just a title that has been used to replace the NAME of YHVH for centuries!
And do you notice that YaH is also the beginning of Yahshua's name (יהושע)?
This is because Yahshua (also Yeshua) means "YHVH is salvation." Pretty important, I think, to keep the name of YaH where it belongs...in His Name!
This is why I use the Name above all names when I am referring to Yahshua, and the Name our Adonai said to use for Him, YHVH.
And do you know that the names of many people in the scriptures included the name of Yah?
We miss so much when we translate these important names into "anglicized" names!
Eliyahu (Elijah) means YHVH is El (God).
Yesha'yahu (Isaiah) means YHVH is salvation ...notice how close it is to Yahshua.
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) means YHVH will exalt.
Tz'Fanyah (Zephaniah) means YHVH has hidden.
Z'Kharyah (Zechariah) means remembered by YHVH.
Yoshiyahu (Josiah) means YHVH will deliver.
These are only a few examples of the many names in the scriptures that incorporate the name of YHVH and part of His character. Can you imagine if you knew the Hebrew names of these people, and every time you read that name in the scriptures you were reminded of the meaning, and therefore reminded of who YHVH is?!?
Do you see why I want to know and use the proper names of YHVH, and why HalleluYaH is such an important word to me?
Do you see why I don't want to use the spelling of Alleluia? It has no meaning...it replaces the Name of Yah with "ia." It is yet another tradition of man that has changed YHVH's Word (and Name) and therefore has lost part of the depth of understanding of who He is and how we are to live in relationship with Him!
Perhaps it still seems to you that I'm making a big deal out of a small thing. I hope not. I hope you can see my point. I hope you can see the beginnings of a much deeper understanding of our YHVH and His Word with this one simple example.
I have said before in these blog posts, and I will say it again now...
the more I take YHVH's scripture at face value and the more I read it literally (and try to see the original language rather than the translated language), the more I understand that I have been embracing so many man-made traditions and understandings and beliefs that actually go against what YHVH says!
All I want is to know, love and obey Yah!
Gina
FYI...do you know about www.e-sword.net ? You can download various translations of the Bible for free. One of the free translations available is the Hebrew Old Testament (Tanach) with Strong's Numbers. I use this frequently as a helpful way to get back to the original language, and it is always available for me on my laptop!
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