The Three-Hundred-Fifth (Walk with YHWH)
- Rob
- Jul 4
- 7 min read
One of the things to recognize about Yeshua and His teaching is that He always pointed to His Father, YHWH. It was never about Him, it was always about YHWH. Yes, He was here on earth for a reason, and He did what He did during His ministry for a purpose, but He was always saying He only does the will of the Father, and He even taught His disciples to pray to YHWH, not to Himself.
This week, we’re going to take a look at what scripture says about the relationships we are to have with YHWH and Yeshua. It’s important to ground ourselves in that, because there is a lot of talk in Christianity, both in subtle and not so subtle phrasing, which is not in line with what scripture shows is a distinction between Them. It’s not to say that neither of Them will listen if you pray or talk to one over the other, but recognizing the distinction and reminding ourselves of it periodically helps us to deepen our relationship with each of them.
The most obvious thing in scripture that shows Yeshua and YHWH are distinct and each have their own role in creation is the prayer Yeshua taught His disciples, and the one that every believer knows by heart (Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4). We’ve got two slightly different versions of this prayer in the gospels in which it is recorded, but in neither of those versions does Yeshua tell His disciples to pray to Him. He tells them to pray to YHWH and to ask Him for the things in the prayer; things like food to sustain them and not leading them into testing or temptation.
This wasn’t just a lesson in prayer for Yeshua’s disciples, it was what Yeshua Himself practiced. There was no different expectation or requirement between Him and His disciples. He prayed often to YHWH, and the most recognizable prayer to us is the one in the garden, which He prayed just before being arrested, starting the process that resulted in His crucifixion (Matthew 26:39-42, Mark 14:36-39, Luke 22:42-44).
Yeshua prayed in the garden that YHWH’s will be done, just as He taught His disciples to pray. At that point, besides being the Son of YHWH, He was no different than His disciples, and therefore us, in terms of His interactions with YHWH. In fact, He called Himself a Son of Man throughout His ministry (Matthew 12:8, Mark 8:38, Luke 9:22, John 8:28, etc.), just like other relatively ordinary men were called throughout scripture. I say relatively because the most recognizable use of this phrase is as a title that was attributed to a significant prophet with a very close relationship to YHWH (Ezekiel 2:1 and throughout).
The thing is, this exact Hebrew phrase is used over a hundred times in scripture while not being attributed to a specific person. It’s clear that the use of this phrase is not meant to give the impression of a man being special or unique. In fact, it’s quite the opposite as it’s meant to refer to mankind, in general, not placing one person above any other.
For example, Job calls the son of man a worm (Job 25:6). David wrote in one of his psalms about YHWH looking down on the sons of men to see if any seek Him (Psalm 14:2). Solomon wrote his proverbs to the sons of men to try and give them wisdom and understanding (Proverbs 8:4).
There are over a hundred examples of this phrase being used, so are we to assume that because Yeshua used it for Himself that He is the worm Job is talking about? That He is one of the sons of men that YHWH is looking to seek Him? That He is who Solomon was trying to give wisdom?
The answer to all those questions is: in a way, yes, and in a way, no. Yeshua was certainly connecting Himself to the prophet Ezekiel based on one of His roles being a prophet of YHWH. Ezekiel is definitely a prominent historical figure in scripture. However, Yeshua was also emphasizing that He was a man just like any other man; just like all the other uses of the term son of man in scripture.
This fact was one of the main principles involved in Yeshua’s temptation by Satan in the wilderness. Not only does Yeshua quote YHWH’s Law in that only YHWH shall be worshipped and served (Exodus 20:3-5, Deuteronomy 6:13, Matthew 4:10), when Satan tempts Him to jump off the temple to prove His status as the Son of YHWH, Yeshua uses the same Law to rebuke him (Deuteronomy 6:16, Matthew 4:7). In fact, the psalm that Satan quoted in that temptation was a psalm for man, in general, not one of the psalms that’s clearly referring to Yeshua as the Messiah (Psalm 91:11-12).
In other words, Satan was trying to use a scripture referring to ordinary, faithful believers like you and me to say that based on Yeshua being the Son of YHWH, YHWH would most certainly protect Yeshua if He was to come to any harm. If YHWH would do it for those that are not directly His sons, He would absolutely do it for Yeshua. Yeshua did not take the bait, though, and by quoting the same Law that those ordinary, faithful believers were to follow, He re-asserted that He was the same as them.
Now, as we covered last week, when Yeshua’s ministry progressed and it came to the time of just days before His death, He did become elevated among the people. He was hailed and welcomed as their King, and it was done in a manner of welcoming back a King from a battle in which He and His troops were victorious. Obviously, kings were also just ordinary men historically, so this didn’t elevate Yeshua in terms of making Him different physically. The Messiah was always interpreted among Israel as being a man just like any other man. This act by the people only elevated Yeshua in terms of His social status among the people and made Him the representative of them.
It wasn’t until His death and resurrection that He was truly elevated among the entirety of beings in creation. At that point, He was seated at YHWH’s right hand as King over all of creation, being subject only to YHWH (Mark 16:19, Romans 8:34, 1 Peter 3:22, Hebrew 1:3, Colossians 2:10, etc.). In the future, that power and authority that He currently has will be transferred back to YHWH for Him to be the sole King in all of creation (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).
Yeshua’s Kingship does not mean we now go to Him for our prayers, though. His Kingship means He is our mediator to YHWH in those prayers (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 4:14-16). We still pray and have a relationship with YHWH, but we do that through Yeshua, based on the blood of His sacrifice allowing us to approach YHWH in that relationship.
As we learned previously when looking at the sacrificial system, the way the ancient Israelites had to approach YHWH in relationship with Him was through animal sacrifice. The blood of the animals, while being a representation of what Yeshua would eventually do, was the medium by which the space of the tabernacle/temple and the land of the people was spiritually covered to allow YHWH’s presence and therefore the approach of His people to Him. Now, through Yeshua, we are able to approach YHWH without those animal sacrifices.
What do we approach Him for, though? A better question is, what does YHWH desire us to approach Him for? We see a hint of it in the prayer Yeshua taught His disciples, but where we really get to understand it is through the words used in reference to some very prominent men of YHWH.
Yeshua taught to pray to YHWH for providing us with normal, daily bread to survive on. He also taught to pray for forgiveness of the sins that we commit day-to-day. These days, many believers, myself included, tend to focus on approaching YHWH for just the big things in our lives: help with a major problem at work, a request for help with financial challenges we’re experiencing, or comfort through a troubling time, for example.
YHWH wants a day-to-day relationship with us, not just a big event or challenge relationship. He wants us to approach Him and talk to Him about everything in our lives. Nowhere is this more obvious than when we see in scripture that an individual “walked with YHWH” (Genesis 5:22-24, 6:9, 17:1, 48:15). He reiterated His desire to walk with His people daily (Leviticus 26:12), and Paul emphasized this in His letters as well (1 Corinthians 6:16).
Have you ever gone on a walk with someone? I’m sure you have at some point, and maybe you still do regularly. When, in all of those walks, have you ever just been completely silent the whole time? While I’m definitely not one to just talk to avoid silence, when I’m on a walk it’s almost as if the movement, intimacy, and isolation of the situation invites conversation.
It doesn’t even have to be conversation about big things. In fact, most of the time it’s not! Those big things usually get talked about throughout life because they’re just that, big!
No, most of the time these walk conversations are about things that we just never seem to have time to discuss through the hustle and bustle of life, or the things that we don’t necessarily think are important enough to interrupt someone or “bother” them with as they’re doing something. When you’re on a walk, these conversations are never considered a bother. Nobody says, “why are you talking to me about this,” on a walk. They’ve got nothing else to do to be bothered from! They’re on a walk!
A lot of conversation can happen on a walk, both deep and shallow. Everything from what you did that day to things you’ve been struggling with for a while are discussed. These are the conversations YHWH wants to have with us, His people. Sometimes, we are able to have these conversations as we go about our day, but sometimes, we actually need to go for a literal walk with Him! Take time this week, and going forward, to dedicate time to have these conversations with your Father, YHWH. I know I certainly need to do better at this myself!
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
He rose on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:4)
Because of His resurrection, we are confident in our future resurrection and eternal life
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