Shining A Light In The Darkness

Why? OK, but WHY?
by Sis YahChannah

Mama was always saying we had to do what Daddy told us to do and we were always asking why. Very often her answer to us would be something like ‘because, your Daddy said so.’. Many conversations ended that way with us still thinking, ‘Why?’.

Of course, my Mom and Dad are long since gone but I can still hear my Mother saying, ‘Because your Daddy said so’.

This questioning of ‘why?’ can be very good and lead us to searching for answers or it can be very bad when, ‘your Daddy said so’ is not ever good enough for us.

From the very beginnings of humanity, we see this in play. YHWH told Adam and Eve that they were free to do as they would in Eden ‘except’ for one thing.

The man had been given the description of the consequences of eating of the forbidden tree in the statement:

Gen 2:16-17

16 And YHWH Elohiym commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat:

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die (become mortal, face death).

Did the man pass this on to the woman? Did she ask why? I do not have record of the conversation but he must have shared the information, because:

Gen 3:2-3

2 And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohiym has said, You shall not eat of it, ‘neither shall you touch it’ (added by Eve), lest you die (face death).

Her Creator said ‘NO’ but did not answer her question of ‘why’ to her satisfaction so she became easy prey for the first temptation, the first lie that came her way.

Was that YHWH’s fault? Of course not! He is the ultimate judge, arbiter and lawgiver. We may say, ‘why’ but if He has said to do or not do something, we are still bound by His edict.

For example, He tells us:

Exod 20:3

3 You shall have no other gods before Me.

WHY? A simple statement of a ‘don’t do it’. So if we only obey when He tells us why.. We can trash can this law.

Exod 20:4-5

4 You shall not make for yourself any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5 You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them: for I YHWH, your Elohiym am a jealous Elohiym, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me;

Well in verse four He just says don’t but redeems Himself in verse five by telling us He is a jealous Elohiym. That gives us an excuse though to toss this one too because we can say, ‘why are You jealous?’.

Exod 20:7

7 You shall not take the name of YHWH, your Elohiym in vain; for YHWH will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.

There we go again. Folks tell me this means, ‘don’t curse, don’t use foul language’, so I can ask WHY?

Of course, when we look at what was said in reality, we find we are being told to not use His name in an empty, useless or worthless manner. Sometimes it is very good to explore to find the accurate translation so you are blessed with the ‘why’.

Exod 20:8

8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Why? This one He explains to us right in the context of the decree. He set apart this seventh day because He finished creation in six days and on the seventh day He rested. Perhaps this tells us we are to strive to emulate His ways.

Even with the why answered many people say it is not good enough so they set apart their own day... Sunday. WHY?

Exod 20:12

12 Honor your father and your mother: that your days may be long upon the land which YHWH, your Elohiym gives you.

A why answered somewhat... if you want to live a long life or would that just be considered a promise in stead of the giving of the reason why?

Exod 20:13-17

13 You shall not do murder.

No reason given... we can then toss this one!

14 You shall not commit adultery.

WHY? No reason given here either. What the spouse don’t know won’t hurt them.. Right?

15 You shall not steal.

Not only are we not given an answer to our question of why, the term ‘steal’ is not made clear so can we get rid of this one too?

16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Why? Does this mean, don’t lie if you have to got to court?

17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.

Why not? Seems that just urges us on to make more money, to buy more things... Ah, maybe that is a good reason. We have been ‘keeping up with the Jones’‘ forever.

After we have read these, there are many more in the following verses that we may question with the word, ‘WHY’.

We, my dear friends, are obligated to obey Him. He is NOT obligated to explain Himself to us.

On this website, we have short write-ups about the pagan holidays and QB’s reasoning as to why we should avoid them. I have been told by a number of people, ‘And as with any celebration, it's how you celebrate and your focus that matters... and that America is a great melting pot of traditions’.

I agree that America is a ‘great melting pot of traditions’ but does that make it right? When the Roman Catholic Church was born, Constantine created a conglomerate of ‘christian + pagan’, customs, holy days in order to bind together the ‘converts’. They still allow folks to bring in their customs to the RCC.

If a holy day for the Xtians and a holy day of the sol invictus crowd conflicted they were simply melded together.

Was this what YHWH had said to do? What does He say about the pagans and their feasts and celebrations? And why?

Exod 23:24

24 You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but you shall utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

My gracious... WHY?

Lev 26:1

1 You shall make you no idols nor graven images, neither raise up a standing image, neither shall you set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down to it: for I am YHWH your Elohiym.

Josh 23:7

7 Do not become a (melting pot) among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves to them:

Does that include the ‘holidays’ and symbols or emblems of these nations? WHY?

II Ki 17:35

35 (Israel) With whom YHWH had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, You shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:

What methods of behavior today could show fear, obeisance, service or sacrifice? WHY?

We may go right on, if we wish, and keep the pagan days. We can get away with all we can. We can question every clear, plain and simple word that comes from the mouth of YHWH. Or, on the other hand, we can say if what I do today seems to go against His viewpoint, I will cast it aside.

If we do things our own ways, if we keep His Set-Apart Days but also keep those that are not His but others gods’, what does He say? 

( for a list of these go to http://qumran.com/table_of_contents.htm )

Amos 5:21-26

21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

22 Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

23 You take away from Me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your viols.

24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

25 Have you offered to Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

26 But you have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun (an idol) your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.

Decide For Yourselves.