Ever seen God in action?

Not too long ago, Bill and I literally experienced the raw anger of YHWH at a filthy-mouthed intruder at one of our Weekly Torah studies.

It happened during our Pacific Coast vacation last July where Bill and I decided to hike up a steep mountain trail near San Francisco to do our Weekly Torah reading beside a babbling brook.

It all began when three very loud people (what appeared to be a mother and her teenaged-son and daughter) came huffing and puffing up the trail and decided to stop and do their picnic just yards away from where we had been enjoying the quiet beauty of that particular setting.

Bill had been reading the Bible to me for approximately half an hour, and during that time we could literally feel the Ruach all around us. We could FEEL the spiritual realm all around us, and it truly seemed as though we were on Holy Ground.

And then those loudmouths arrived to ruin it all.

They were so noisy, Bill had to stop reading, and we just sat there, perched on the rocky outcroppings, watching the raucous trio (who clearly SAW that Bill was sitting there reading the Bible outloud), laughing and carrying as if they were only ones there.

This went on for at least a couple of minutes, and we figured our Bible reading had come to an abrupt end, and we should think about leaving because “the enemy” was clearly trying to ruin our Shabbat shalom.

But then, quite out of the blue, the girl – while peering up into one of the trees – loudly proclaimed, “WHAT THE F---!!!”

And then, a miracle happened because, as soon as she uttered that filthy word, it was as if an invisible hand knocked her HARD onto her rear end. I mean, we didn’t even have time to be shocked over that “f-word” when we witnessed her 200-pound bulk simply collapsing into a bone-jarring heap onto the huge rock on which she stood.

We could tell it HURT as she sat there in stunned silence for a few seconds, legs splayed out in front of her. It hurt so badly, she began to cry, because that fall had NOT been a gentle one!

Bill and I looked at each other, knowing with every fiber of our being that we had just witnessed YHWH’s anger at someone who dared to “step onto holy ground” and desecrate it….

Anyway, things quieted down considerably because the Mom broke out their lunch and they basically all sat there, munching on Granola bars and talking in hushed tones. The girl seemed to be glued to the spot because she never moved and ate her lunch right where she fell.

So … we took the opportunity to finish our Torah reading, and then we gathered up our things and proceeded to hike back down the mountain, feeling we had just experienced a “behind-the-scenes spiritual battle” – and one that YHWH (as always) had clearly won!

Deuteronomy 6: 16 Do not put Adonai your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. 17 Observe diligently the mitzvot of Adonai your God, and his instructions and laws which he has given you. 18 You are to do what is right and good in the sight of Adonai, so that things will go well with you… (CJB)

Matthew 4:7 Y’shua said to him, Again it is written that you will not test Master YHWH your Elohim. (AENT)