YHWH and the TORAH

State employment officials in Tucson, Arizona, posted an interesting sign over a full-length mirror. Directed to all job hunters, it read, “Would you hire this person?” In another office a mirror and sign posed this question: “Are you ready for a job?”

The problem most have in the world of religion is that they have decided that the Torah which is found in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy is some old archaic set of guidelines that don’t apply to them.  The problem with that is unless you are schooled in the Torah, you never know what sin is.  If you don’t know what sin is, you will never be able to evaluate yourself honestly.  Honest evaluation must be based on the litmus test of the Torah and without its guidance a true evaluation can’t be done.

Self-evaluation was what Paul called for in 1 Corinthians 11. Believers in the Messiah need to judge themselves, he said, to avoid being judged by the LORD as unfit for His service. In the Corinthian assembly, the “appearance problem” was especially serious. They “looked” awful. They were actually getting drunk and quarreling among themselves while going through the motions of celebrating the Passover. So Paul said, in effect, “Look at yourselves. What a mess! If you don’t get your lives straightened out, the LORD will have to do it for you.” Then Paul added the sobering fact that 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 (God) had already begun to cleanse the assembly by sending some of them to an early grave. This is a hard truth, but one that assemblies need to hear today.

This warning, however, also carries a message of hope. If we judge ourselves and repent of our sins, we will not be judged by 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 (God).