Sermon Tone Analysis
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What does Yirah mean?
The Hebrew word translated into ‘awe’ in the Bible is yirah (יראה, pronounced yir-ah).
It also often directly translates into fear, like “fear of the Lord,” but it can also mean respect, reverence, and worship.
But, make no mistake about it, yirah is strongly connected to ‘trembling’.
What comes to your mind when you think of awe?
Photos of Grand Canyon
Perhaps you think of nature, the expanse of the Grand Canyon, or the rolling green of Swiss Alps.
You may think of the majesty of the night sky on a quiet night.
Or perhaps an architectural wonder, such as the pyramids in Giza, the only remaining ‘wonder’ of the original Seven Wonders of the World…
What can we learn from Yirah?
1. Yirah calls us to behold and worship.
Yirah calls us to worship—the psalms are full of David’s wonder at the natural world and God’s majesty, wisdom and power.
Just a few examples:
“In whose hand are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are His also.
The sea is His, for it was He who made it, and His hands formed the dry land.”
–Psalm 95:4-5
In Psalm 25, David describes the voice of the LORD as powerful, majestic, it hews out flames of fire and shakes the wilderness.
He writes,
“the God of glory thunders, the LORD is over many waters.”
And continues with: “The voice of the LORD makes the deer to calve and strips the forests bare; and in His temple everything says, Glory!” (Psalm 25:3-9).
The Psalmist goes on in 104:24-26
“O LORD, how many are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions.
There is the sea, great and broad, In which are swarms without number, Animals both small and great.
There the ships move along, And Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it.”
–Psalm 104:24-26
Job also speaks of Awe of God
The Yirah awe brings Job healing from his grief.
In response to Job’s laments, God, in true Jewish fashion, answers Job’s question with a question:
“Who is this who darkens the divine plan by words without knowledge?Now tighten the belt on your waist like a man, and I shall ask you, and you inform Me!
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” (Job 38:1-4)
In what many consider some of the most beautiful passages of Hebrew poetry in the Tanakh, God continues to question Job.
He asserts His creation of the entire cosmos Job 38-39 and the entire earth.
To God’s “virtual tour” of the universe and the planet, Job says:
“Behold, I am insignificant; what can I say in response to You?
I put my hand on my mouth.
I have spoken once, and I will not reply; Or twice, and I will add nothing more.”
(Job 40:4-5)
It was through Jobs Awe that he began Being at Peace
Job was awestruck and knew his place in relationship to God.
He dared not argue, it was the
God of the entire universe he was speaking to after all!
Then, in chapter 42, Job answers the Lord:
“I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted…I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; therefore, I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.”
(Job 42: 2, 5-6)
Job was comforted in the fact that the God of the Universe did not forget and did not fall asleep.
Nothing was out of His control or foreknowledge.
One can surmise that Job’s loss and grief did not go away.
But Job’s encounter with the God of the Universe changed him and made him strong enough to not be bitter about his loss and to worship God still.
Questions to ponder:
Is there anything in my life I am not properly seeing, which is taking away from my awe and worship?
Is There anything in modern Christianity that takes away from our Awe?
What should the Church change to regain a healthy Awe of God?
What can I look at and mediate upon to renew my yirah – my awe?
Are there painful (Think Job) areas in our world that a healthy sense of Awe can speak to?
Is there a painful area of my life that I am not letting God speak into—how can God restore my Yirah in Him?
2. Yirah challenges us to be wise and obey.
Just as Job was chastened when he experienced the power and might of God firsthand, we are too.
That is, when we come to the profound knowledge that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways
Isaiah 55:8 “8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.”
Proverbs tell us that the beginning of all wisdom is fear – yirah – of the Lord…not just fear and trembling but Awe, respect and overall sense of Trust in Gods Wisdom.
Our wisdom is gauged by our awe of God and the world He created.
It is safe to say that “We are a generation that has been stripped of our awe”.
But Scripture tells us that having yirah toward God is the beginning of wisdom.
Proverbs 9:10 “10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
This means we have to regain our sense of awe and reverence toward God.
The best way to do this, according to Scripture, is to follow His instructions (1 John 5:3), and to meditate upon His word.
1 John 5:3 “3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands.
And his commands are not burdensome,”
Jesus boiled these instructions down to two simple things: Love God, and love your neighbor.
Matt 22:37-40 “37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.””
Do this… and we can regain our awe in God.....SO WHAT ARE THE:
Results of a Lack of Awe?
ABSOLUTLY......
God’s design gives sanctity, purpose, and dignity to the rhythms of life and the creation therein.
Not having yirah – the fear of the Lord – strips all such sanctity and meaning away.
We can see the effects of this in our culture everywhere.
Men and women demean each other, children do not respect their parents, and parents exasperate their children.
Excessive consumerism and materialism have whittled down individual worth.
It is reduced to “social capital” and “net worth” and “likes” and social media clout.
We are driven by being a somebody to everybody, but in our busyness and the rush, we lose our awe.
Having a yirah type of awe gives us the wisdom to pause and slow down.
When we slow down we get to examine the motives of our heart.
And perhaps to think of people and areas of our lives that simply need more time, care and attention.
The Lord is not hasty and His timing and care is well thought out.
He has called us to be stewards of our time, our talents and those in our care.
Good stewards think about their actions and have patience.
They understand the weight of their responsibility and the dignity of their task.
Pausing allows us to be better worshippers – we love better when we can see our love through with patience.
Questions to ponder:
In what Areas of the life does the modern Christian assume she knows everything?
In what areas of my life do I assume I know everything—where am I rushing in where angels fear tread?
What needs to change in order for modern Christians to Change its course?
What do we need to think about more—my routine?
My parenting?
Personal
How I am spending my free time?
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