King Solomon wrote, “The fear of the LORD adds days [to life], but the years of the wicked will be cut short” (Prov. 10:27). The sages have said that these “added days” of life include the appointed times and seasons (i.e., the moedim) when the veil of “everydayness” is lifted and we can glimpse the sacred. Living in dissonance with God’s will yields days that are shortened – by vanity, by dissipation, and by despair. And what good are length of days when they are filled with emptiness and illusion? As Solomon also concluded in his great scroll of Kohelet, fearing God and keeping his commandments is the “end of the matter” (סוֹף דָּבָר) and the “whole duty” of our lives (Eccl. 12:13).
Hebrew Lesson:
“The fear (anxiety) of man (חֶרְדַּת אָדָם) sets a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD will be made safe” (Prov. 29:25). The fear that mankind engineers is a trap intended to shorten life, but the fear of the LORD (yirat Adonai) is life-giving and healing. Every day God makes miracles for people of which they are unaware. God didn’t create the universe and then remove Himself from its care: Yeshua sustains all things by the Word of His power and in Him all things “subsist” – τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν (Col. 1:17). Living in the light of God’s Presence reveals the daily bread that comes from Heaven, but those who refuse the truth find no lasting sustenance for the world to come… We all must believe that God is making miracles for us to live and grow in this age; otherwise we are not living in faith.
Hebrew Lesson:
