What Is Meant By Respecting, Honoring, Fearing, Tempting, and Testing the Father

Hi Dan,
Can you please explain a bit more what you mean by respecting and honouring God as Father. I also get confused with what fearing God means and tempting vs testing the Lord. Thanks a lot!

Wat
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Wat,

Let's start with fearing YHWH, as in "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10a). I always thought that in this case the use of the word 'fear' actually meant fear. Like, "God has an agenda, a goal he is working towards, and if you are a ball off course, he can kick you back on course real hard." But look at Alexander's translation of 9:10a from the ancient Aramaic: "At the head of wisdom is the submission to Maryah." Nothing about punishment or God being vindictive. "Fear" is poor translation of recognition of his existence and submission to his will. It’s respect of God unto submission to him that’s the beginning of wisdom.

Thank you for the question, because you made me look up 'tempt' and 'test.' No form of 'test' is found in the King James Bible. It is 'prove,' and this only in Malachi 3:10 and 15. Bachan in Hebrew, Strong's 974. It does mean to test, as in investigating a metal by trying it, proving its qualities. Like I said, this word occurs only in Malachi (as far as I know), AND MALACHI AT THIS POINT IS COMPLETELY MISTRANSLATED. According to Alexander, as I read him, what God said actually means completely the opposite of what we have in the King James and all its kids. See below.

Tempt (nacah, Strong's 5254), on the other hand, basically means to attempt. You try to get your way around what you know is right and is God's will. I.e., to be a jerk. You do what you should not do to see if God whacks you for it. Or you don't do what you should. Or rig a fleece to go your way. This is certainly not of faith, and I have got news for you, God doesn't whack you for anything. You do that to yourself. But the consequence of tempting YHWH like that is you get to come here again to learn to not do that. Don't do that. If you are going to fear anything, fear being a jerk.

Let's move back to proving YHWH. Thanks again for the question. In Malachi, the King James sounds like God is offering a free trial: "Put me to the test and see if I can do what I say." That is kind of there, but not like that. And here is where Law of Attraction advocates maybe should really fear: God says to the Israelites during the Season of Grace that they are performing the Law by bringing all the tithes into the storehouse, and he is blessing them and protecting them according to his word--it is working--AND YET THEY DO NOT RESPECT HIM OR HONOR HIM AS FATHER.

It isn’t that God is saying they may prove him; it’s that they have proved him—they have all the evidence—and still they do not honor nor respect him. In their hand is their tithe; in their heart is their idol. And God is like, "Are you kidding me? You think I do not know your thoughts and the intents of your hearts? I've got news for you, kids: you're all coming back here, and it won’t be this Season of Grace."
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From Victor Alexander's translation of the Ancient Aramaic (parentheses and bold emphases mine). My main interest is in chapter three:

Malachi 1
1. A vision of the Lord's oracle regarding Israel by Malachi.
2. "I have had mercy on you," said the Lord. And you say, "By what have you had mercy on us?"
"What then, was not Esau the brother of Jacob," said the Lord, "that I had mercy upon Jacob but* denigrated Esau?"
3. "I made his mountains [a place of] toil and his inheritance into abodes of the wilderness."
4. And if the Edomites say that we have become impoverished, 'Let us go back and rebuild the ruins' -- thus said the Lord, "they shall build and I shall destroy." And they shall call them the dynasty of sin and the nation that the Lord shall be angry towards forever.*
5. And your eyes shall see, you then that say that the Lord shall rule* above the territory of Israel.
6. "A son honors his father and a servant his Lord. If I am the Father, how are you honoring me, and if I am the Lord how are you submitting to me? To you, high priests, I say you have usurped my name," said the Almighty Lord. "And if you say through what have we usurped your name?
7. "In that you offered defiled bread on my altar. And if you say, 'Who did we defile?' you shall be saying, 'It is that which bedeviled the surface of the Lord's altar.'
8. "And as you offer the blind* upon the altar, is that not evil? And as you offer the lame or the sick, is that not evil? When they are offered to your authorities, are they not going to look and see the difference?*" said the Almighty Lord.
9. Thus pray [on your knees] that the Lord may have mercy on us; it is in your hands that this happened. "I shall not make differences between you on face value,"* said the Almighty Lord.
10. "Who among you is locking my door, that you should not make offerings on my altar -- which is free? I am not satisfied," said the Almighty Lord, "and I have not accepted the offerings from you."
11. "Because from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name is praised* among the nations,* and in all the countries they consecrate the incense* and offer to my name pure sacrifices, because great is my name among the nations," said the Almighty Lord.
12. "But you who have defiled it say that the offering surface [of the altar] has been defiled and that these foods are bedeviled."
13. And you say that this is on account of our demons and that the Almighty Lord has said he has blown at them, that you shall die on account of the seized offerings that were lame and sick. "I shall not accept them from your hand," said the Almighty Lord.
14. "And cursed is he who has a male in his [domain of] circumcision and [yet] offers as sacrifice that which is sick to the Lord, for I am a great king," said the Almighty Lord, "and my name is feared among the nations."*
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*Lit. Aramaic word: "My angel."
*1:2 Lit. Ar. id.: "And."
*1:4 Lit. Ar. id.: "To the end of the universe."
*1:5 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "He shall be Lord."
*1:8 Lit. Ar. id.: "Hypocrisy."
*1:9 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "Take by your faces."
*1:11.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Magnified."
*1:11.2 NB! Reference to the Jews among all the nations, such as at Nineveh, Capital of Ashur, at the time of Jonah the Prophet.
*1:11.3 Lit. Ar. id.: "Incenses."
*1:14 NB! Again a reference to all the Jewish tribes that had made Judaism a significant religion of the nations of the world a few centuries before Jesus arrived at Jerusalem. Moreover, this reference to the "nations" does not mean that the pagan nations of the time honored the Lord as pagans and made worthy sacrifices or offerings to his name -- as has been implied by all the other translations.


Malachi 2
1. Thus this commandment is meant for you, high priests,
2. "If you do not listen and if you do no put* it in your hearts to honor* my name," said the Almighty Lord, "I shall send against you curses, and there shall be cursed your blessings, for you will not have put it in your hearts to do so." (We do it to ourselves, for the onus is on us.)
3. "Behold, I rebuked the offspring of the earth, and I shall cast dust* upon your faces and ashes* upon your holidays, and carry you with them.*
4. "So* that you shall know that I sent this commandment, so as it shall become my testament for Levi,"* said the Almighty Lord.
5. "My covenant* was with him, I gave him the life everlasting* and peace, as for fear, he did fear me,* and on account* of my name he did tremble.*
6. "The Law of Righteousness* was his on his mouth and no abomination could be found on his lips;* he walked in peace and wholesomeness with me, while many walked with abomination.
7. "Because the lips of the high priest are to protect the knowledge, and they are supposed to ask about the Law from his mouth, for he is the messenger* of the Almighty Lord.
8. "You, however, strayed from the path and misled* many from the Law and twisted Levi's Covenant," said the Almighty Lord.
9. "Also I gave you to be scorned and humbled among every nation, on account you did not [guard and] protect your ways and you made differences between people* in the Law."
10. Why, did we not all have the same Father? Or was it not one God who creates all? Why does a man lie about his brother and defile the covenant of our ancestors?
11. Judah has lied and he has brought defilement into Israel and Jerusalem, because Judah defiled that which was made hallowed for him by the Almighty Lord; [Judah] was kind to and worked for foreign gods.
12. The Lord shall wipe* out the man who does this, his son, and his son's son from the Tabernacle of Jacob, and he shall have no one to offer the sacrifices* to the Almighty Lord.
13. And this offering that you do, covering the house of the Lord with tears, weeping and sighing, because he did not come back for your offerings and did not receive that which was acceptable from your hands.
14. And if you say, "On account of what?" On account of the Lord has testified between you, the wife of your youth, regarding whom you lied, and she was your partaker and the wife of covenant.
15. Why, then, was it not one [person] who gets married? And the rest of the spirits* are his, though he wanted one offspring from God? Therefore, be cognizant in your spirits,* let no man* lie regarding the wife of his youth.
16. Thus has said the Lord, the Almighty God of Israel. "And the abominable cannot be covered up through its own scraping," said the Almighty Lord.
17. You have [aroused] the passion of the Lord through your manifestations and if you say, "How have we [aroused] his passion?" It is by your saying that whoever has done badly,* has done well in the eyes of the Lord, and it is by them that he is satisfied -- and if [it is not so,] where is the God who renders justice?"* (Don't be a jerk.)
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*2:2.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Consecrate."
*2:2.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "To give honor."
*2:3.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Sawdust," or "ashes."
*2:3.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "Sawdust," or "dust."
*2:3.3 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "... and take you with it."
*2:4.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "And."
*2:4.1 Lit. Ar. id.: Or: "Covenant with Levi."
*2:5.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Standing."
*2:5.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "Life."
*2:5.3 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "Submission he submitted to me."
*2:5.4 Lit. Ar. id.: "Before."
*2:5.5 Lit. Ar. id.: "Quake," or "move."
*2:6.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Moral uprightness."
*2:6.2 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "In his mouth."
*2:7 Lit. Ar. id.: Also: "Angel."
*2:8 Lit. Ar. id.: "Made them stumble."
*2:9 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "Put in according to faces."
*2:12.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "[Make] extant."
*2:12.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "Offerings."
*2:15.1 Lit. Ar. idiom retained: "Souls," or the other children born to him.
*2:15.2 Lit. Ar. idiom retained: "Souls."
*2:15.3 Lit. Ar. id.: "Human."
*2:17.1 Lit. Ar. id.: Worldly success.
*2:17.2 Lit. Ar. idiomatic construction: "And if not where is the God that judges the judgment?"


Malachi 3

(Behold, like Robert Young of Young's Literal Translation of the Bible, I prefer to remove the shalls and wills and read like the Hebrew says, without a future tense:)

1. "Behold, I send my angel* and he dries* out (lays out; see Isaiah 40:3-5) the path before me, and out of the calm he comes to the Lord's temple, that which you hold on to and the resurrecting angel* that you yearn for, behold, he comes," said the Almighty Lord.
2. Who can predict* the Day in which he comes?* Or who can reveal it before he actually comes? Because he is like the fire that purifies and like the sulfide that whitens. (My impression is that 'day' refers to brightness, glory of revelation, rather than date.)
3. He then returns to forge and purify* like silver, and he purifies* the sons of Levi, and he chooses them like gold and silver, and they are offering the sacrifices* to the Lord in righteousness.
4. And the offering of Judah and Jerusalem is [once again] acceptable* to the Lord, as of the Days of Eternity* and as the years of old.*
5. "And I bring judgment to bear* against you, and I am a swift witness against sorcerers, adulterers, and those that swear by lies, and those who rob* the wages of the hired hand and the immigrant,* of the orphan and the widow, and they go down against those who turn to me, and they are not afraid of me," said the Almighty Lord.
6. "For it is I* who is the Lord and I do not change, and you are the Children of Jacob that do not cease* their abomination.
7. "From the days of your ancestors* you have strayed from my commandments and you have not heeded them; [therefore,] return to me and I return to you," said the Almighty Lord. "And if you ask, 'How do we return?'"*
8. "Why, does man exploit God as you have exploited me? And if you say, 'How have we exploited you?' In tithing and in first fruits.
9. "By curses you are cursed, and to me you are exploiting.
10. "All the nation brings its tithes into my stores and there is food in my house, and they test (prove!) me with this," said the Almighty Lord, "and I open a window for you in heaven and shower you with blessings until you say, 'this is more than enough.'
11. "And I cry out against the pestilence so as it may not destroy the fruit of the earth, and not one of the earth's vines is ruined," said the Almighty Lord.
12. "And all the nations glorify you, as you become the land of my desire," said the Almighty Lord.
13. "Your words [weigh] heavily on me," said the Lord. "And if you say, 'What did we say against you?'
14. "You said, 'It is in vain working for the Lord, and what wealth did we gain by guarding his treasures* and walking meekly before the Almighty Lord?'

(If I am not mistaken, God stops speaking, and the voice of the submitted, faithful Israelites enjoying God's grace begins:)

15. "'And henceforth are we to give blessings towards the abominable, and the sinners* will restore* us, and we are to tempt* God and he [still] delivers us?'" (I.e., Heavens forbid!)
16. Thus they spoke, those who feared the Lord, each man saying [thus] to his companion; and the Lord listened and heard, and he wrote in the Scrolls of the Offerings* before him, [he wrote] regarding those who feared him and regarding those who glorified his name.*
17. "And they are mine," said the Almighty Lord, "on the Day that I make up the Congregation* and I embrace* them, as the man embraces the son who works for him.
18. "And you turn back and see [the difference] between the righteous and the abominable, between those that worked for God and those that did not."*
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*3:1.1 Lit. Ar. id.: Also: "Messenger."
*3:1.2 Lit. Ar. idiom retained: "Rub out," or "lay out."
*3:1.3 Lit. Ar. idiom retained: "Messenger ..." or "Angel of the Covenant."
*3:2.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "[Preach] the Hope."
*3:2.2 NB! Prophecy regarding the Coming of Eashoa (Jesus).
*3:3.1 Lit. Ar. id.: Or: "Cleanse."
*3:3.2 Lit. Ar. id.: Or: "Cleanse."
*3:3.3 Lit. Ar. id.: Or: "Offerings."
*3:4.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Healing," or "pleasing."
*3:4.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "The days that from the universe."
*3:4.3 Lit. Ar. id.: "From old," or "from before."
*3:5.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Near."
*3:5.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "Exploit."
*3:5.3 Lit. Ar. id.: "Settler."
*3:6.1 Lit. Ar. idiomatic: "In-nah-nah Mar-yah," or "I am I, the Lord."
*3:6.2 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "Pass from..."
*3:7.1 Lit. Ar. id.: Also: "Parents."
*3:7.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "By what shall we return?" or "how shall we turn back?"
*3:14 Lit. Ar. idiomatic expression: "Guarding his guardeds."
*3:15.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Performers of sin."
*3:15.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "Build."
*3:15.3 Lit. Ar. id.: "Test."
*3:16.1 Lit. Ar. id.: Or: "Scriptures of Memorial Offerings."
*3:16.2 NB! These are the two types of faith: those who worship out of fear and those who worship by glorifying the Lord out of a desire to honor him and out of love.
*3:17.1 Lit. Ar. id.: Or: "Assembly."
*3:17.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "Stick to."
*3:18 NB! Prophesy regarding those who followed Eashoa (Jesus), like the Disciples, the Apostles, and the early Churches, when Eashoa (Jesus) came to the World.


Malachi 4 (also sans shalls)
1. "Because, behold, there come days and my anger burns like a furnace, and all the workers of abomination and the committers of sin are like stubble which I burn on the following Day," said the Almighty Lord, "and I do not leave them a root or branch.
2. "And there arises for you the sun of righteousness, and the healing [power] is upon your* tongues, and you go out and prance about* like the calves of the herd.
3. "And you trample on the abominable, because they are ashes under the stretch of your feet, on that Day that I bring about,"* said the Almighty Lord.
4. "You recall the Law of Moses my servant, whom I commanded at Khoriv, over all Israel -- the commandments and the judgments.
5. "Behold, I send you Elijah the Prophet before there comes the Day of the Lord, great and awesome as it is;*
6. "And the heart of the parents turns back towards [their] children and [likewise] the heart of the children [towards] their parents [once more] -- until I come to strike the earth forever."**
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*4:2.1 Lit. Ar. id.: "Your."
*4:2.2 Lit. Ar. id.: "Be joyous."
*4:3 Lit. Ar. id.: "Make."
*4:5 NB! Eashoa's (Jesus') First Coming.
*4:6 Lit. Ar. id.: "Never-again."
*4:6.2 NB! The Second Coming of Eashoa (Jesus.)
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Back to me:

I address respecting and honoring God as Father and enjoying his presence as part of a causative imagining prayer technique. These are attitudes you take with you into the silence. Neville and all his cohorts believed in God. They knew God to be something other than the church says he is, but exactly what the Bible says he is. God is consciousness, imagination. That has become us, so that we may become that. We are sent from and of that, so of course we honor and respect our providing and protecting Source and enjoy Its presence, Its love. Go into the silence with warm fuzzies. It's home.

Dad is God, imagination, the action of the Ineffable. It is conscious and has all the characteristics of personhood. The Kingdom of God, i.e. Its powers, has to do with attitudes. Repentance from this world, forgiveness, love, joy, praise, thanksgiving, respect, honor, humility, and faith are all items we take with us into the silence: "Isn't it wonderful!!" We should bleed warm fuzzies and concern for others.