Fearing the Almighty: Balancing reverence and love in our walk with Messiah (Deuteronomy 3–4; Isaiah 40)

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How is the glory of the Almighty and His words connected? What does it mean to add to or subtract from his words? If Moses couldn’t enter the Promised Land, what does that mean for us? Join us as we dive into the Torah reading וָאֶתְחַנַּן Va’etchanan (“and I pleaded,” Deut. 3:23-7:11) and parallel passages to explore answers to these questions.

When our prayers become an ‘abomination’

1. Avoid adding to or subtracting from God’s words (Deut. 4:2; 12:32). Pray according to God’s revealed instructions and commandments, not based on our own preferences or interpretations.
2. Make sure we are truly listening to God’s voice and obeying His teachings, rather than just speaking words. Closed ears make our prayers an abomination (Is. 1:15; Jer. 6:10; Isa. 6:9; Psa. 66:18; 109:7; Prov. 15:8; 21:27; 28:9).
3. Examine our own lives and behaviors to ensure we are living righteously, not just expecting God to answer our prayers while we continue in sin or disobedience.
4. Be willing to submit to God’s will, even when it differs from our own desires, like Messiah Yeshua’s praying “not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42; Matt 26:39).
5. Persist in prayer, but not to the point of annoying or disobeying God. Know when to stop asking if God has clearly said “no” (Deut. 3:25-26).
6. Teach God’s words faithfully to the next generation (Deut. 6:7), passing on a legacy of obedience and reverence, not just personal requests.

The key is aligning our prayers with God’s character and commands, rather than using prayer as a means to get what we want while ignoring His will. This helps ensure our prayers are pleasing, not abominable, to Him.

5 steps to avoid adding to and subtracting from God’s words

1. Carefully study and obey the decrees and ordinances that Adonai passed through Moses, without trying to modify or reinterpret them.
2. Communicate God’s words accurately to your children and future generations, passing on the teachings without embellishment.
3. Be cautious about making claims that God has said or instructed something that is not directly supported by Scripture. Avoid adding your own interpretations or speculations.
4. If you don’t fully understand God’s words, humbly acknowledge that rather than trying to explain or change them.
5. Regularly examine your own life and behavior to ensure you are aligning with God’s instructions, rather than comparing yourself to others or making excuses.

The key is to faithfully adhere to and transmit God’s words as given, without trying to add, subtract or redefine them based on your own preferences or understanding. This helps maintain the integrity of God’s revelation.

5 ways to balance love and fear of the Almighty

1. Recognize that fearing God provides wisdom and motivates us to obey His instructions, even when we don’t fully understand them.
2. Understand that the “fear of the LORD” is not about being terrified, but about having reverence, awe, and a deep respect for God’s power, holiness and sovereignty.
3. Focus on cultivating a love for God that casts out irrational fear, as the Bible suggests. Love and trust in God’s goodness can overcome excessive anxiety or dread.
4. Strive to stay in a “good standing” with God, not getting too distant from Him (which can lead to consequences) but also not presuming to be too close (which can also be dangerous).
5. Remember that God disciplines those He loves, so His correction or refusal of our requests may be an expression of His care, not rejection.

The key is to maintain a healthy balance, where we revere God’s greatness and authority, but also wholeheartedly love and trust in His character. This helps us walk the line between obedience and intimacy with Him.

God is a God of action; He is not passive. He speaks to us, but His words are always followed by actions. His words matter to us just as much as what He has done in the world.

“I also pleaded with the LORD at that time, saying, ‘O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours? ‘Let me, I pray, cross over and see the fair land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ “But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me; and the LORD said to me, ‘Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter.” (Deuteronomy 3:23-26 NAS95)

Moses pleaded with God to be able to step into the promised land, but God said no and even told Moses to stop asking after a while. Moses wanted to hear God’s voice even if he didn’t like what God said to him, but later the children of Israel did not care to hear God’s voice and strayed into idol worship.

God tells us that there are certain things we should not pray for. Once God says no to something, that is His final decision, although it’s in our human nature to ask repeatedly for what we want. We may ask our mom for something, and she says no, so we try asking our dad to see if he will give us what we want, pitting our parents against each other. But God is not a fallible parent who can be gamed or manipulated.

“Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.” (Luke 11:5-10 NAS95)

On the other hand, there are times when God says that we should pray for our needs to the point of annoyance because He appreciates persistence. How can we know which situation requires persistence and which requires acceptance? When does a prayer cross a line?

First, is what we are praying for adding to or subtracting from God’s words?

““Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. “You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” (Deuteronomy 4:1-2 NAS95)

Will what we are praying for blend the worship of God with the worship of demons? Are we, in either a small or significant way, changing God’s instructions in a way that will confuse ourselves or others about what is right or wrong? Are we altering His words to change their meaning or perspective? If we add or subtract from God’s instructions, it is idolatry and akin to adultery. We are worshiping a deity of our creation.

This was the sin that the Israelites committed with the Midianite women at Ba’al Peor. They blended the worship of God with the worship of demons. They put their hopes in and clung to the wrong god, and they suffered judgment because of their actions.

In the Shema, we say that we are to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength.

We must understand our responsibility not to add or subtract from God’s words. This is why James warns us not to aspire to be teachers of the Bible.

If we want God to answer our prayers, we cannot add or subtract from His words.

“See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. “So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him? “Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?” (Deuteronomy 4:5-8 NAS95)

The second point is that God answers our prayers when they are informed by obedience to His ordinances and decrees.

Moses tells us that his goal was to teach and follow God’s words exactly without deviation. He taught the people exactly what God told him. Did Moses do this perfectly? Of course not, but he strived for it. Did that mean Moses never made mistakes? No, he did. And as a result, he still had his prayers unanswered.

““Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons.” (Deuteronomy 4:9 NAS95)

Moses had great wisdom and understanding because of his obedience to God’s decrees and ordinances. We should not be tweaking God’s words but obeying them. We can understand and gain wisdom from God’s words when we read them and speak of them as often as possible. We are particularly encouraged to teach them to our children, to the next generation. If we can accomplish that, God will hear our prayers and respond to them.

God will not always answer our prayers the way we want Him to, but when we are obedient to God, learning and teaching His words, our prayers will be full of wisdom and knowledge.

The voice of God and how He speaks to us is how we can understand Him. Hearing God and His voice matters. God used words to create the universe and everything in it.

““Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons. “Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when the LORD said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words so they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’” (Deuteronomy 4:9-10 NAS95)

It’s in God’s words that we truly know who He is. Humans are known primarily by our actions because it is through our actions that we affect the world. God created the world from scratch with only His words, so His words are the most accurate revelation of His personality and His glory.

The same thing that can scare us to the point of death can also comfort us and bring us life. We should cling to His words with all our might. The fear of God and the love of God go together. It’s not easy to blend the fear of God with the love of God in ourselves. We don’t walk away from what we love, but we do walk away from someone we do not love. We walk closer to what we love deeply. When we walk too far away from God, sometimes He has to do something to remind us of the holy wisdom of fear, and we remember why we should love God. We should be scared to disconnect ourselves from the experience of God’s love.

When we pray for something good for someone else, God is more inclined to answer us. We are called to pray until the answer is obvious. If we are purposefully living in complete contradiction to God’s words, in active rebellion, we should have no expectation of His answer. And if we are in rebellion, our ears will be too closed to hear His answer, particularly if His answer contradicts what we are asking for.

Our motives in prayer always require self-examination to be effective in bringing us closer to God and to those we are lifting up in prayer.

“Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matthew 13:24-30, NKJV)

God did not need to wait until the tares grew up to discern the wheat from the tares. But if you are a sprout of wheat and you are surrounded by tares, you’re held to a higher standard of thoughts and actions than the tares. We do not compare ourselves to the tares but to the wheat. We need to look at ourselves rather than compare our walk to the walk of others. We are held to a higher standard than our neighbors, and although that may seem “unfair,” God tells us that those with more knowledge also have more responsibility, just as parents will treat and discipline a 17-year-old differently than a 2-year-old.

When Moses saw God’s glory on the mountain, it wasn’t the light that was his main takeaway, but the words that God used to describe Himself. Moses often repeated these words when he was teaching God’s words to the Israelites. 

Summary: Tammy