One Torah For All

One Torah shall be to him that is home-born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.
Exodus 12:49

Are You Willing to Seek Him?
Repent of All Wickedness
A closer look at 2nd Chronicles 7:14

Divre Hayamim Bet (2nd Chronicles) 7:13-14
13 “If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people;
14 if My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

This passage is being put forth a lot these days by those who are pleading and begging others to repent and to seek our Creator for the sake of our nation (the USA). However, there are some problems with what is going on in this instance. Let us carefully and prayerfully consider what is being said in this verse and who is saying it.

The person speaking in the above passage is YHWH our Elohim. And it is at this very point that the difficulty begins to be seen. His name is not “the LORD.” There is no logical or generally accepted means of translation or transliteration by which one can get from His name, spelled yod (י), hey (ה), waw (ו), hey (ה)(rendered as YHWH throughout this study), to “the LORD.” It just is not possible. Simply put, “the LORD” is a substitution and is used in place of His name throughout Scripture, His name being hidden as a result.

We are not going to deal with the etymology of the word “lord” in this study. The truth is that it really does not matter where this word came from or what it means, because it is not equivalent in any way to “YHWH.” The word “lord” is a substitution of His name, nothing more and nothing less. Furthermore, using it is a breaking of at least three commandments.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 4:2
“You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish from it, that you may keep the commandments of YHWH your Elohim which I command you.”

The substitution of His name with “the LORD” and sometimes with “GOD” is breaking both the prohibition to add to His word and the prohibition to diminish or to take away from His word.

Shemot (Exodus) 20:7
“You shall not make void the name of YHWH your Elohim; for YHWH will not hold him guiltless that brings His name to oblivion.”

YHWH explicitly commands us that we are not to make void His name. When His name is taken away and something else is substituted in its place, this is breaking this commandment. YHWH states that He will hold such a person accountable for doing this.

Now the question becomes: who is one serving, YHWH or “the LORD”? And do not think that one can reason this away by saying that they are the same thing! Let us recall the incident with the golden calf. Israel made this image and even called it by His name-YHWH and offered sacrifices to this image. But one will object: “We have made no such image.” While there may be no physical image as with the golden calf, there is in fact an image connected with “the LORD” that has nothing to do with YHWH our Elohim. That image has to do with the removal of His name. Furthermore, using "the LORD" in place of His name (YHWH) is a substitution, which is exactly what happened with the incident with the golden calf. YHWH is not pleased with this action!

So, who one serves will in large part determine how one understands the passage in 2nd Chronicles 7:14. If one is in fact serving “the LORD,” then there is most likely nothing that anyone can say or do to show him the error of his ways. However, if one is serving the Creator of the universe and his desire is to please Him, then he should be open to receiving His truth concerning this matter.

His truth is this: If His people who are called by His name call upon Him, that is, call upon His name, then He will hear. However, if a person or group of people do not call upon His name, but upon a substitute name, will He hear? That, at best, is debatable. At worst, YHWH will not answer and any answer will come from another source and those receiving it will be deceived. But then, why would a person want to call upon the Creator of the universe in such a fashion that the results received may not be as desired? It simply does not make any sense!

If we need something from YHWH and we belong to Him then we need to call upon Him in the manner as He has prescribed, namely by calling upon His name, “YHWH”. It must be realized that “the LORD” is not His name, never was, and never will be! Using that substitution in place of His name is not calling upon Him, but calling upon another. Will He answer? I would not want to bet my life on it, would you? Yet this is exactly what millions are doing: betting their lives upon this name: “the LORD.”

Now many will argue that the Creator knows what we mean when we say “the LORD.” But whether He knows what one means or not is not really the question or the issue here, is it? It is a matter of obedience. YHWH clearly states in the passage of 2nd Chronicles 7:14 that there are conditions upon which His blessings will come upon His people for healing and restitution. What are those conditions? YHWH states that they first have to be called by His name. That name is “YHWH.” Being called by the name of “the LORD” is failing to meet this condition. Failing to meet any of the conditions YHWH lists simply means that He is under no obligation to hear and respond. Then, those who are called by His name must call upon His name. Once again, His name is YHWH.

Please note that in this passage it is YHWH Himself who has caused these things to come to pass with the express purpose of getting the attention of those who are His people. He simply wants them to repent and turn to Him. It is YHWH who has shut up the heavens. It is YHWH who has commanded the locust to devour. It is YHWH who has sent the pestilence among the people. The people are being severely disciplined because of sin. The only remedy is to turn to YHWH. Turning to “the LORD” will not suffice.

Ya’aqov (James) 2:10
For whosoever shall keep the whole Torah, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all.

Many today are busy pointing their fingers at others trying to show why the sin of those others is the cause of the world being in the condition that it is in. However, many of these same people seem to fail to realize that the condition of the world in part rests right at their doorstep. Some are willing to admit this partially, but rarely fully. One of the things that the above passage teaches us is that if a person makes any excuse whatsoever for any sin whatsoever, then he is actually making excuses for every sin and breaking of His commandments. And when a person makes an excuse for any sin, whether that is his own or another’s sin, then he is actually contributing to the propagation of sinful darkness in this world. If healing is going to be secured, then nothing short of full and complete repentance needs to be forthcoming by the person calling upon His name.

One of the wicked ways that His people must forsake is calling Him by any substitute names and titles. We should only call Him what He calls Himself. We should call Him what He has told us to call Him and that is “YHWH.” Any name not given by Him is wickedness and He will not hear. He has never told us to call Him “the LORD.” This is something that man has come up with in the same fashion that man came up with the golden calf. If we are truly going to seek Him, then we must do so according to His ways. Making an attempt to seek Him by man’s ways and man’s design will not get us what we need. If we seek Him according to His ways and repent of our sin, one of which is calling Him by a substitute name, then He will come and forgive us and heal our land.

This is also a problem and a difficulty. His people are Israel. His people keep and do His commandments. When His people who are called by His name fail to do this, then this is sin and this is what we need to repent of not doing, of not obeying His commandments. How can He answer us with blessing and healing if His people refuse to obey His Voice and obey His commandments? He cannot and He will not answer with healing!

Now the question some may ask is: “Who is Israel?” Israel consists of all those who will hear and obey His Voice. Israel does not consist of a certain bloodline. Now those who are born to Hebrew parents have an advantage because they grow up knowing their heritage and being taught to know, keep, and do His commandments, which is a very big advantage indeed. However, each person still has to make the choice to hear and obey His Voice for himself. Only in this way will he be a part of Shema Yisrael. This is who YHWH is calling to in the opening passage.

One last point: that of the land. YHWH states that if His people who are called by His name will repent then He will heal their land. The land that He is referring to here in this passage is the land that YHWH gave to Avraham, Yitzchaq, and Ya’aqov, and to their children forever. He is not referring to any other land.

Now if you are like me and are ready to go home to the land that YHWH gave to our forefathers, then pray this prayer in all earnestness!

However, if one is not willing to be honest with this passage and allow it to say and mean what it has always meant, then stop calling others to pray this in a misapplied way! If one persists in going ahead and using this passage in a manner that was never intended by YHWH, then most likely he will get an answer to his prayers, but it will not be from YHWH our Elohim, the Elohim of Avraham, Yitzchaq, and Ya’aqov. The answer he will receive will be a deluding influence sent from YHWH to deceive him because he did not love His truth so as to be saved!

2nd Thessalonians 2:10-11
10 and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause Elohim sends them a deluding influence, that they should believe the lie.

It is your choice. Only you can make this choice. Call upon His name “YHWH” today, before it is too late.

ABBA YHWH, thank You for Your faithfulness to us, and forgive us for our double-mindedness and unfaithfulness to You; in the name of Yeshua our Mashiach we pray.

Amein and Amein.

Shabbat Shalom
Zerubbabel ben Emunah
www.onetorahforall.com