Where is the Reverence for YaHuWaH?
A son esteems his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My esteem? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence? said YaHuWaH of hosts to you priests who despise My Name.” – Mal’aḵi (Malachi) 1:6
This piercing question resounds across generations. YaHuWaH, the Elohim of Abraham, Yitsḥaq, and Yaʽaqoḇ, is not casual. He is qadosh, set apart, wholly other, utterly distinct. Yet, His people often treat Him as if He were common, handling His Torah, His Sabbaths, and even His Name with a casual disregard.
We will walk through the Scriptures to show:
What reverence for YaHuWaH truly means.
How Yisra’El repeatedly profaned what was set apart.
The consequences of irreverence.
The prophetic call for the remnant to restore reverence.
What Reverence Truly Means
The Hebrew word for “fear” or “reverence” is yir’ah (יִרְאָה), from the root y-r-ʾ (ירא).
Brown-Driver-Briggs: “fear, awe, reverence.”
Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon: not simply dread, but reverential awe of a king.
Klein’s Etymological Dictionary: connected with the idea of seeing and perceiving, one who truly “sees” YaHuWaH is filled with awe.
Thus, yir’ah is the heart-response of one who beholds the greatness of YaHuWaH. It is not terror of punishment but the trembling awareness that He is Elohim and we are dust.
The fear of YaHuWaH is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Set-apart One is understanding.” – Mishlĕ (Proverbs) 9:10)
To revere Him is to recognize His qadoshness, His utter set-apartness.
Shachah (שָׁחָה)
Meaning: to bow down, to prostrate oneself.
Brown-Driver-Briggs: “to bow down, prostrate oneself, before superior in homage.”
Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon: a posture of deepest submission, often used of homage to kings, rulers, or deities.
Usage in Scripture: This verb is used for both human and divine contexts, men bowing before kings (Bereshith (Genesis) 43:28) and Yisra’El bowing before YaHuWaH (Shemoth (Exodus) 34:8).
Thus, shachah is not merely inward awe but the outward act that demonstrates it, placing oneself physically lower as a visible testimony that YaHuWaH alone is exalted.
Profaning What Is Set Apart
Torah Foundation: Distinguishing Between Qadosh and Profane
The Hebrew word qadosh (קָדוֹשׁ) means “set apart, consecrated.” Its opposite is ḥol (חול), “common, ordinary.” To profane (ḥalal, חלל) means “to make common what is sacred.”
Her priests have done violence to My Torah and they profane My set-apart matters. They have not distinguished between the set-apart and profane, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean. And they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned in their midst.” – Yeḥezqĕl (Ezekiel) 22:26
YaHuWaH gave His Torah to teach us to distinguish, to draw lines between what belongs to Him and what does not. To blur those lines is to despise Him.
Examples in the Wilderness
Naḏaḇ and Aḇihu (Wayyiqra (Leviticus) 10:1-3): they brought “strange fire” before YaHuWaH, treating His altar as a place for experimentation. They died instantly, for YaHuWaH declared: “By those who come near Me let Me be set-apart!”
Qoraḥ and his company (Bemidbar (Numbers) 16): they sought to level the priesthood, treating the set-apart service as something anyone could seize. Their rebellion brought fire and the earth opening to swallow them.
The Golden Calf (Shemoth (Exodus) 32): the people said they were worshipping YaHuWaH, but they used a profane image and a pagan festival. Their irreverence led to slaughter and plague.
Each example reveals the same heart: the casual spirit that treats YaHuWaH as common.
The Consequences of Irreverence
YaHuWaH does not overlook irreverence, it brings judgment.
The House of Eli (1 Shemu’ĕl (1 Samuel) 2-4): Eli’s sons treated the offerings with contempt. They despised YaHuWaH’s set-apart things. YaHuWaH declared: “Those who esteem Me I esteem, and those who despise Me are lightly esteemed.” The Ark was taken, Eli’s house cut off.
Yisra’El in the Land: They profaned His Sabbaths, mingled with the nations, and turned worship into ritual without heart. Through Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah), YaHuWaH cried: “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baʽal, and walk after other mighty ones whom you have not known, and then you came and stood before Me in this house which is called by My Name, and said, ‘We have been delivered’ – in order to do all these abominations?” Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 7:9-10
Here is the same spirit we see today: claiming His Name, yet treating Him with irreverence.
Call for the Remnant
In the last days, YaHuWaH is restoring reverence. Mal’aḵi says a remnant will rise who fear His Name:
Then shall those who fear YaHuWaH speak to one another, and YaHuWaH listen and hear, and a book of remembrance be written before Him, of those who fear YaHuWaH, and those who think upon His Name. ‘And they shall be Mine,’ said YaHuWaH of hosts, ‘on the day that I prepare a treasured possession. And I shall spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.’ Then you shall again see the difference between the righteous and the wrong, between one who serves Elohim and one who does not serve Him.” – Mal’aḵi (Malachi) 3:16-18
Yahusha and Reverence
Even Yahusha taught us to pray:
Our Father who is in the heavens, let Your Name be set-apart.” – Mattithyahu (Matthew) 6:9
The first petition of prayer is reverence for the Name. His talmidim (disciples) were not to treat the Father as casual, but as qadosh, exalted, wholly set apart.
The Shofar Call Today
We live in a generation where irreverence abounds, where His Name is spoken carelessly, His Torah argued about, His Sabbaths disregarded, His Word mixed with vulgarity, His people treating what is kadosh as common.
But the remnant must stand apart. We are called to restore reverence by:
Guarding His Sabbaths.
Honoring His Name.
Treating His Torah with fear and trembling.
Distinguishing between what is qadosh and what is profane.
Approaching Him with awe, not casualness.
YaHuWaH is not casual. He is qadosh. To treat Him lightly is to profane His Name. But to walk in reverence is to walk in covenant.
And now, Yisra’El, what is YaHuWaH your Elohim asking of you, but to fear YaHuWaH your Elohim, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve YaHuWaH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your being, to guard the commands of YaHuWaH and His laws which I command you today for your good?” – Deḇarim (Deuteronomy) 10:12-13
The question remains: Where is the reverence for YaHuWaH? May it be found in us, the remnant of His people, who honor His Name, guard His ways, and tremble at His Word.
But to this one I look: to the poor and bruised of spirit, and who trembles at My Word.” – Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 66:2
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