05/04/2026
Good word!
Derekh: There Is a Way That Seems Right… …And It’s Killing People
Counting of the Omer – Day 29
We have been talking about hearing. Not casual hearing, and not just nodding along.
Shema.
Hearing that responds. Hearing that moves the feet.
Then we moved into guarding.
Shamar.
Not just receiving truth… …but protecting it, watching over it, keeping it from being lost, diluted, or replaced.
Then remembering.
Zakhar.
Not passive memory, but active recall that shapes how you live. Calling His words to mind so they direct your steps.
And then teaching.
Z***r.
Calling His words to mind in a way that shapes how you live and shows others how to live.
And then the result.
Shalom.
Not surface peace… …but a life brought into alignment. Complete. A soul set in order under the authority and goodness of YHWH.
But here is the question all of that leads to:
What does your life actually look like?
Because hearing, guarding, remembering, teaching… …all lead somewhere.
Or at least, they are supposed to.
This is where we step into the next word.
Derekh (דֶּרֶךְ).
The way.
The path.
The road you walk.
Scripture does not present faith as a concept. It presents it as a way of life.
A path worn by repeated steps. A direction chosen daily.
Genesis 18:19 says of Abraham:
“For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way (derekh) of YHWH by doing righteousness and justice…”
Notice that.
Not just believe in YHWH.
Not just know about Him.
Keep the way.
And how is that defined? By doing righteousness and justice.
Psalm 1 opens the same way:
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked… …but his delight is in the Torah (instructions) of YHWH…”
Two ways.
Two paths.
Two derekhs.
One leads to life.
One leads to destruction.
There is no third category.
Psalm 119:1 says: “Blessed are those whose way (derekh) is blameless, who walk in the Torah of YHWH.”
There it is again.
The way… …is defined by the walk.
And the walk… …is defined by His instruction.
This is where the Western mindset starts to strain.
Because we have been trained to separate things that Scripture never separates.
Belief over here.
Behavior over there.
Faith in the mind.
Life doing its own thing.
But Hebrew thought does not allow that split. Your derekh reveals your allegiance.
Proverbs 14:12 says: “There is a way (derekh) that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”
That should stop us cold, because it means sincerity is not enough.
Feeling right is not enough.
Even believing you are right… …is not enough.
There is a way that feels right… …and still leads to death.
So how do we know the right way?
Isaiah 30:21 answers it: “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”
Do you hear the echo?
Shema → Derekh.
You hear… …and then you walk. One way.
Jeremiah 6:16 says: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way (derekh) is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.”
But then comes the devastating response: “But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”
That is the real issue.
Not lack of information.
Not lack of access.
Refusal to walk.
And this is where it begins to collide directly with what Yeshua teaches.
Because when He says in Matthew 7:13–14: “Enter by the narrow gate… ...for the gate is wide and the way (derekh) is easy that leads to destruction… …and those who find the narrow way are few…”
He is not introducing a new idea. He is standing firmly inside the Hebrew understanding of derekh.
Two paths.
One narrow.
One broad.
One aligned with the Father, with Yeshua. One aligned with self.
And then He says something even more direct.
John 14:6: “I am the way (derekh), the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
This is often quoted… but rarely understood in its full weight.
He is not saying, “I will show you a new way.”
He is saying: I am the derekh.
I am the embodiment of the path you were always meant to walk.
He is the only way to get to the Father. Not a different way with different instructions.
The way. The narrow path. One.
Which means following Him is not just believing in Him.
It is walking as He walked.
1 John 2:6 makes that explicit: “Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.”
Walk.
Derekh.
This is not optional language.
How did He walk? In Torah.
And this is where Matthew 24 becomes impossible to ignore.
Because Yeshua warns: “Because lawlessness (anomia) will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.”
(Matthew 24:12)
Lawlessness is not random rebellion.
It is stepping off the derekh.
It is choosing a different path than the one defined by the Father.
So when love grows cold… …it is not an emotional issue, it is a directional one. People have left the one path.
Psalm 119:105 says: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (derekh).”
Not a lamp to your ideas.
Not a light to your opinions.
A lamp to your steps, because this is about walking.
And this brings us full circle.
You can shema… …and not walk.
You can shamar… …and still not walk.
You can zakhar… …and still not walk.
You can zakar… …and still not walk.
And if you are not walking… …you are not on the derekh.
This is why Deuteronomy 5:33 says:
“You shall walk in all the way (derekh) that YHWH your God has commanded you…”
ALL the way.
Not curated.
Not selective.
All.
And suddenly the question is no longer theological, it is personal.
What path are you actually on? Because there is only ONE.
Not what do you believe.
Not what do you say.
What are your feet doing?
Because Scripture does not measure faith by confession alone. It measures it by direction.
By consistency.
By the path worn over time.
And this is the mercy in it, because derekh is not a single perfect step. It is a direction.
A life aligned, corrected, returned again and again… …but you still have to walk it.
And the invitation has not changed.
“This is THE way… …walk in it.”
