The Three-Hundred-Fifteenth (Be Real)

This week, we’re going to ask ourselves what does it mean to be real? It’s a question for us regarding every single aspect of our life, not just related to scripture. In fact, when we get to the end, I hope you come to the conclusion, if you haven’t already in life, that there shouldn’t be some sort of separation of “things related to scripture” in our lives. All aspects of our life should be wholly intertwined with scripture.

Sadly, from what I’ve seen, this is not the way the majority of professed Christians live their lives. Scripture is an afterthought, a chore, a task to be completed but sometimes gets put off for other things. It certainly was for me early in my life. The bottom line though, is that this is not a strong, sustainable, and resilient foundation on which to live our lives, not just as believers but as a person, in general.

To answer the question of what does it mean to be real, we need to ask what actually is real. As I have done in the past, I will not tell you what is real but I will tell you what I believe is real. Me telling you what is real is just someone telling you what they believe. You need to test everything yourself and determine what is real. Otherwise, it’s not real to you, and therefore it is meaningless.

What I believe is real, at least the only thing that can be counted on as being real, is what’s written in scripture. Too many times, I’ve seen things that I thought were real proven to be false. Things that I grew up learning and knowing to be true were actually not true at all, despite being presented as truth.

Yet, time and time again, I have seen scripture proven to be true. People and events recorded in scripture were dismissed actively, meaning actual statements of their disbelief, by historians and anthropologists because they had no secular proof that they existed or happened. Over and over, I’ve seen new scrolls and tablets, or other physical evidence, discovered that prove undeniably that what’s written and who was written about is the truth.

On the other hand, I’ve seen well established scientific theories proven false; theories that were presented as facts. I’ve seen even historical events and the circumstances surrounding them taught in history books being proven false. I’ve seen present day events and the circumstances surrounding them presented as facts yet subsequently being proven false.

When you see this happen enough, you have to ask yourself how do you decide how to live your life. It’s no longer what do the doctors say, what do the scientists say, what do the dieticians say, what do the therapists say, etc. It becomes, what do I believe is real and how do I live my life accordingly.

When it comes down to it, this is how it always should have been. At least for me, and you might have the same experience, that’s not the way it was, though. I was taught and was convinced that the experts have way more knowledge on what’s true and real, so I should just listen to them and live my life according to what they say, and believe it when they make claims on what’s true. Come to find out that they are just as clueless on what is real and true as I was, only they’ve convinced themselves, and society in general, that their processes, procedures, and training/education has made them more knowledgeable on truth, in their area of expertise, than the general public.

However, it doesn’t just stop there. We have to ask ourselves if we really want to spend our time, focus, and energy on what we clearly know is not real. For example, I think we all can agree that while the players and games are real, sports, in and of itself, is not real.

That might be confusing initially, because sports are such a ubiquitous thing throughout the whole world, but let me explain. We know that real people join real teams to play against each other according to certain rules and determine who comes out on top. What I’m saying is that despite all that reality, in the end, sports are what today’s generation would call a “side quest.” Yes, people make careers out of it, but it’s a made-up thing that, in reality, affects nothing in the world other than updating a competition bracket and some recorded statistics.

Don’t get me wrong, that’s not to say sports are bad, nobody should do them, and they should all end. All I’m presenting is a consideration for what we should be prioritizing in our lives. Should we prioritize something like that, which is not real in the grand scheme of things, or should we prioritize what we know is real?

If you can memorize player stats and which team won what championship with what score in addition to memorizing YHWH’s Word, His commandments, and how to live by them, that’s great. Personally, I’ll be the first to admit that I have trouble with rote memorization. Not to mention, I have found out through experience that no matter if I can memorize something, the memorization in and of itself does not transfer to how I live my life, or just life application in general. For example, I can memorize the algebraic equation for a line, but if I come to a real-world problem that needs that equation for whatever reason, it doesn’t just come to mind that I need it in order to solve the problem.

If you can play on a team and still follow YHWH’s commandments, the way He wants His people to live, that’s great, too. There is some merit to not only enabling others to see how you act, which might spur conversation on your beliefs, but also learning how to work with others in a team dynamic. The challenge though, is if there becomes conflicts between what the expectations and requirements are in order to be on the team and how YHWH has commanded us to live.

Are we going to prioritize what the Most High says? Or are we going to prioritize requirements that man imposes in various scenarios? To put it another way, are we going to live according to what is real, which is YHWH, or are we going to live according to what is made up?

I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about it that way, but that’s what it really comes down to. As already mentioned, I hadn’t thought about it that way until recently, as in the last five to six years. When you look at things from that perspective, it makes you think about things differently and, as intended, it influences you to make different choices in life.

Living that way is, in fact, what YHWH expects of His people. He doesn’t want His people to say that they are His people and then go out and live like the rest of the world. He doesn’t want His people to say they’re believers but then not even know what His Word says and what it’s all about. Most of all, He doesn’t want His people to be indistinguishable from those that are not His people, both in word and deed, yet still claim they are His.

Do you remember what the third commandment is? “You shall not take the name of YHWH your God in vain” ( Exodus 20:7). The verse continues, “for YHWH will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.”

Now that is sobering, isn’t it? We should probably know what that commandment means and live by it, right? The problem is that most believers don’t know what it actually means, which means there’s no possible way they could live by it.

Let’s start with the second half of the verse so we can see how important it is to follow this commandment. The Hebrew word for “leave anyone unpunished,” is naqah (Strong’s H5352), and it means, “to be (or make) clean.” In other words, YHWH will not cleanse, clear, or acquit anyone that takes His name in vain; they will receive the punishment due for that action.

That’s serious! So, what does it mean to take His name in vain? The vast majority of Christianity, including myself for a time, believes it means using His name verbally in inappropriate ways. In fact, if you read the New International Version, it actually translates the verse that way outright: “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.”

That’s actually not what it means at all, though. “Take” is a more accurate word, but even that doesn’t get down to what that Hebrew word means. The Hebrew word is nasa (Strong’s H5375), and it means “to lift.”

The first occurrence of this word in scripture is when it’s used by Cain after he receives the punishment from YHWH for killing his brother Abel. He states that his punishment is, “greater than I can bear ( nasa)” ( Genesis 4:13). His punishment? That he would live according to what YHWH decreed: he would be unsuccessful in his life’s work of growing and harvesting crops and that he would wander the earth as a vagrant.

The next occurrence is a few chapters later, when the waters rose and lifted the ark with Noah and his family in it ( Genesis 7:17). Are you starting to get the picture now? This word means to literally or figuratively carry something. In the case of the commandment we’re talking about, it means to figuratively carry the name YHWH, to claim we are His.

The next thing we have to figure out is what “in vain” means, because that’s where we’re going to get ourselves in trouble. For this, the Hebrew word is shav (Strong’s H7723), and it means falsely. It’s associated with words like evil, idolatry, emptiness, worthlessness. It’s used in another commandment to prohibit bearing (yes, that’s nasa again!) a false ( shav) report ( Exodus 23:1).

So, what does that mean when we put it all together? The true meaning of the third commandment is that we do not say we are YHWH’s but live like we’re not. If you say that you’re one of His people, whether that means calling yourself a Christian, a believer, a follower of Yeshua, a follower of His way, or anything of the like, you better not look, act, talk, and live like those that are not.

I cannot emphasize this enough: there are plenty of non-believers that are “good people,” which just means they live according to a generally accepted moral code. They don’t claim YHWH’s name, but they look a lot like believers in the way they live and act. If we, as those who profess to be YHWH’s, are indistinguishable from them other than the fact that we bear His name, then we are not living our lives as one of His people and are therefore violating the third commandment.

That’s a hard pill to swallow, isn’t it? But those “good people,” are still lost sheep! They are not saved! How can we say that we are saved if our lives are indistinguishable from those that are not? How can we be a witness of YHWH’s glory and salvation if we look like the unsaved but just call ourselves His?

To put it plainly, YHWH wants us to be real when we bear His name. He wants us to be set apart from everyone that does not bear His name. So, what is the next level then? If being a “good person,” and then just adding His name to it is not how we set ourselves apart, then how do we do that? How do we “be real” when we bear His name?

It’s actually not that hard. We just have to follow His commandments…all of them. And, contrary to popular belief, they are not burdensome ( 1 John 5:3). The other thing that helps us be real is making scripture the thing we live by.

That might seem redundant, but in reality, there are a lot of things that aren’t commandments which help us figure out how to bear YHWH’s name with meaning. The biggest of these is the examples given in scripture. I mentioned last week that I’m currently rereading through David’s life, and while he did plenty wrong, he sought YHWH and His direction regularly for things in his life. I just read through him asking YHWH not only if he should move to Judah but what city he should move to there ( 2 Samuel 2:1-3), for example.

It’s things like that, that in addition to YHWH’s commandments we should be following if we really are one of His people. This week, think about what sorts of things need to be changed or even completely removed in your life in order for you to truly live as one of YHWH’s people. He wants you to be real with Him about what your priority is and who you actually serve, and you should want that, too!

We hope you have a great week! Shabbat shalom and YHWH bless you!

-Rob and Sara Gene

The Gospel

We are born sinful as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin ( Genesis 2:17, 3:6, 1 John 1:8)

The consequence of sin, which is unavoidable through our own works, is death ( Romans 6:23)

Yeshua, the Son of YHWH, lived sinless and was put to death ( Hebrews 4:15)

His death, therefore, cleanses us of sin that would have required our death ( 2 Corinthians 5:21)

He rose on the third day ( 1 Corinthians 15:4)

Because of His resurrection, we are confident in our future resurrection and eternal life ( 1 Corinthians 15:17-18, John 3:16)