Tag Archives: Sabbath

Did Yeshua Break the Sabbath?

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John 5:18, [Yeshua]… broke the Sabbath. Listen to an interesting and sad, but true story. Many years ago, I was in a meeting where a Christian Bible teacher was giving a message on the end times. In the middle of his teaching and totally out of context, he quoted this passage from John and claimed that Yeshua broke the Sabbath. There was a rustle in the audience of about 300 people. A little later, he made the same statement again and began to deride the Sabbath. This time there was an audible moan from some in the audience — many of whom were Sabbath keepers. A feeling of being hit in the gut went through me. A little later, he made the same statement again, and continued to bash Sabbath observance. This time, I could hold my peace no longer, and I stood up and challenged him in the middle of the meeting. I told him that to say that Yeshua had broken the Sabbath was to call Yeshua a sinner, and that Yeshua had not broken the Sabbath, but some Jewish legal traditions (or halakhah) pertaining to the Sabbath. The speaker was flustered and had no response, and the host of the meeting decided to take an intermission.

A year later, it was announced that this Bible teacher had suddenly and unexpectedly dropped dead in the pulpit while preaching. One can’t help but wonder…

Yeshua didn't come to set men free from the Sabbath. He came to set the Sabbath free from men's unbiblical traditions.

Yeshua didn’t come to set men free from the Sabbath. He came to set the Sabbath free from men’s unbiblical traditions.

Had this false teacher simply pulled down a concordance from his bookshelf and looked up the word broke in the Greek, and had read John’s statement in verse 12 in the context of verses 8–10, he wouldn’t have been teaching this blasphemous heresy about our Master and Savior!

Here is the explanation of this passage: The word broke Continue reading →

 

What Can I Do on the Sabbath?

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What can I do on the Sabbath? This is a  question that many people have—especially our children. The Sabbath can be a joyful and exciting day.

The Sabbath can be a joyful and exciting day.

The Sabbath can be a joyful and exciting day.

As we look to the Bible for answers to this question, we find many wonderful possibilities to make this day not only enjoyable, but spiritually meaningful and edifying.

As we study the Scriptures, we see that certain activities were viewed to be within the perimeters of the purpose of the Sabbath, which is to draw humans closer to Elohim, their Creator, and to one another. These activities include…

  • The Scriptures were read and taught to the people on the Sabbath day (Luke 4:16; Acts 13:14–15, 27,44; 15:21; 17:2).
  • The Word of Elohim could be taught on the Sabbath (Mark 6:2; Luke 4:16-27,31; Acts 13:15–48; 15:21; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4).
  • Preaching occurred on the Sabbath (Acts 13:42; 15:21).
  • Exhorting (or strongly encouraging or urging) one another occurred on the Sabbath (Acts 13:15).
  • The gifts of the Set-Apart Spirit of Elohim were practiced on the Sabbath in the congregation (1 Corinthians 12 and 14).
  • Work connected with religious service was lawful on the Sabbath (Num 28:9; Matt 12:5; John 7:23).
  • Good deeds and works of mercy are lawful on the Sabbath such as healing the sick (Matt 12:11–12; Mark 3:1–5; Luke 6:6–10; 13:10–13; 14:1–4; John 5:8–16; 9:14).
  • Acts needed to sustain life could be performed on the Sabbath such as feeding farm animals, pulling an ox out of a ditch or performing a circumcision (Matt 12:1–5; Mark 2:23–26; Luke 6:1–4; 13:15; 14:5; John 7:22–23).
  • One is not to go out of one’s dwelling place on the Sabbath to gather food (to work, earn a living; see Exod 16:29–30), but attendance of religious meeting is acceptable (see below).
  • Yeshua attended synagogue on the Sabbath (Mark 1:21; 6:2; Luke 4:16; 6:6; 13:10).
  • Paul attended synagogue on the Sabbath and taught or discussed the Scriptures (Acts 13:14, 42; 17:2 and 18:4).
  • The apostles encouraged believers to attend synagogue on the Sabbath (Acts 15:21).
  • Traveling a short distance to get to the Sabbath services is acceptable (Acts 1:12).
  • Sabbath services could be held outdoors in a beautiful setting even if it was necessary to hike there on foot (Acts 16:13).
  • Gather together to worship YHVH on the Sabbath (Lev 23:3; Isa 66:23; Ezek 46:3; Acts 16:13; 18:4).
  • It was acceptable to heal the sick on the Sabbath (Matt 12:9–14; Mark 3:1–6; Luke 6:6–11; 13:14; John 5:9; 9:14)

Most of these principles apply to the seven biblical feasts as well.

Now a question for you the reader: What are some Sabbath activities that you do that not only honor YHVH and the Sabbath, but bring you into a closer relationship with him and our fellow redeemed Israelites? How about for the kids? How can we keep them excited about the Sabbath?

One possibility of a Sabbath activity is our Torah Explorers Torah study guide for young people available for free at http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/parshiot.html. My adult Torah study guide is located at this link as well. Enjoy!

 

 

Sabbath Glue

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The Glue That Holds a Family and Spiritual Community Intact

As a Jewish saying goes, even though the Jewish people have been keeping the Sabbath for thousands of years, it’s not that the Jews have been keeping the Sabbath, but rather that the Sabbath has been keeping the Jews. As a weekly rallying point, the Sabbath acts a spiritual glue that helps to hold the family and religious community together.

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The joy, peace, timelessness and eternal nature of the Sabbath is felt no more than on Erev Shabbat (the eve of the Sabbath).

Preparations in the home have been made all week for this family and community event. Expectations are high. It is as if a curtain suddenly drops between acts in a theater and the curtain lifts to reveal a completely new set and scene. “Suddenly, the frenzied pace of life is slowed; the concerns of the outside world recede; and all doubts and worries are set aside” ( Abraham B.Witty, Exploring Jewish Tradition, p. 153). It’s a whole new world, a whole new feeling. Time stops. It is time to focus on those things which are of the greatest meaning in life and which are of enduring and eternal value: one’s Creator, one’s family, and spiritual orientation and instruction.

At this point, if the reader happens to own the movie Fiddler On the Roof, I suggest that you play the part at the beginning of the movie where the Jewish society prepares for the Sabbath and then ushers in the Sabbath over the Friday evening meal. After viewing this, one will have a better idea of the idea of the sanctity of the Sabbath and the central role it plays in the Hebrews’ life. As one author notes, “A[n] … important principle concerning the stability of the Jewish family is seen in the description of the Sabbath observance that is given in Fiddler [on the Roof]. In the small village of Anatevka in pre-Communist Russia, there is a sense of joyous anticipation as the Sabbath draws near (see Isa 58:13). The seventh day of the week is a dramatic symbol of community. It may be summed up in the word holiness. For Tevye and his family, holiness means an act of separation from many of the routine and mundane affairs of life. From the moment Golde, his wife, lights the Sabbath Eve candles until the first star appears in the sky some twenty-four hours later, there is a sense of wellbeing and spiritual satisfaction in the midst of their seething society. The Jewish community of Anatevka is in constant threat of another Russian pogrom. Yet we catch a snatch of this spiritual serenity as, around the Sabbath table, Tevye and Golde sing “A Sabbath Prayer” to all five daughters. The song concludes, ‘May YHVH protect and defend, may YHVH preserve you from pain. Favor them, O Lord, with happiness and peace. O hear our Sabbath prayer. Amein’” (Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith, by Marvin Wilson, pp. 223–224).

The Sabbath has helped the observant Jew to refocus, sustain serenity and regain divine perspective in the midst of the weekly pressures of life, so ought “the Lord’s Day [Sunday] for the Christian ought … provide renewal in similar ways” (Wilson, pp. 223–224). Although a nice thought, the comparison between Sabbath and Sunday is without scriptural precedence or mandate. Such thinking ignores the divinely revealed truth and reality of the Sabbath and its uniqueness and sanctity as compared to any other day of the week, including Sunday for the Christians—a day which never has been, nor ever will be sanctified by the Creator of the Universe as a day of rest from our work and a time for special communion with him.

 

Shabbat Shalom Preparedness

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YHVH Commands Man to Work for Six Days

One can’t fully appreciate the Sabbath unless one has worked during the previous six days, and, in turn, has a need for and, hence, a reason to rest. In fact, YHVH commands man to work for six days and bring in or to gather all his food. No gathering of food is to occur on the Sabbath.

Six days ye shall gather it [manna]; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. (Exod 16:26)

After one has labored intensely all week, one is ready to rest, and happily so! It’s time to “kick back” and to enjoy the fruits of one’s labors, and then to lift one’s spiritual sights above the mundane plain in order to discover (or reconnect with) the greater and higher meaning life, which should involve loftier aspirations than merely slaving away for transitory material necessities and wants.

The Preparation Day: Preparing for the Sabbath

Prepare food for Shabbat on the six day (Friday).

Prepare food for Shabbat on the sixth day (Friday).

The Creator not only commands man to work for six days as a precursor to resting on the seventh day, but to fully enjoy the peace, rest and sanctity of the Sabbath, the Scriptures instruct man also to prepare ahead of time for this day.

And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily … And he said unto them, This is that which YHVH hath said, To morrow is the rest of the set-apart Sabbath unto YHVH: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. (Exod 16:5, 23; see also Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:31)

Not only should food preparation be on our “to do” list for the sixth day, but consider doing the following as well to insure one’s full enjoyment of the Sabbath:

  • Have clothes washed and clean for the Sabbath.
  • Fill the car with gas if you have to travel to be with a congregation.
  • Do all your shopping, so that no buying or selling has to occur on the Sabbath.
  • Prepare your own personal “Garden of Eden” by cleaning the house, mowing your grass.
  • Think and plan ahead what activities you might want to do on the Sabbath that will edify you and your family spiritually and bring you closer to Elohim.

Once all your work is done, and you’ve prepared for the Sabbath, now sit back and enjoy!

Shabbat shalom from my family to yours!

 

 

Shabbat Shalom—The Creator’s Gift to Weary Man

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New Video Release

The Sabbath is one of the Creator’s greatest gifts to mankind, and this free gift is still available to all who will receive it.

Learn how the Sabbath intimately connects you to your spiritual heritage and to the Creator, as well as how it prophesies about your spiritual destiny.

In this video, Natan Lawrence warmly and passionately discusses the joy and blessings that are yours when you celebrate the Sabbath—a day that YHVH Elohim consecrated for man’s spiritual enrichment.

 

Some Nuggets from B’reisheet

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Genesis 1:1, In. In Hebrew, the preposition in is written as the letter bet (corresponding to our letter b). This is the first word in the Torah. Interesting, the last word in the Torah is Israel (Deut 34:12). In the Hebrew language, the letter bet is a picture of a house (or a tent) with the front door open. From this, some commentators have correctly reasoned that the Torah was written to the house of Israel whose spiritual doors are wide open for all nations to enter therein in order to enter into a spiritual relationship with the Elohim of Israel.

Genesis 2:2, The seventh day. Sabbath. Though this is not a direct command to keep the Sabbath (Heb. Shabbat), YHVH was leading his people by example when he sanctified the Sabbath and then rested from his work on this day. In Hebraic thought, one leads by example, without necessarily stating the command to do so. YHVH blessed the family first, then Sabbath next. Sabbath keeps the family together that keeps the Sabbath. The imperative command to keep the Sabbath is first found in Exodus 16–30 and then repeated in Exodus 20:8–11.

Genesis 2:3, All his work which he had made. Setting man an example of how to rest on the Sabbath, Elohim ceased all his work, workmanship, occupation, or business (Heb. melawkaw) and that which he did, produced, prepared or made (Heb. asah).

Genesis 3:23, To till/work [Heb. abad] the ground [Heb. adamah] from which he was taken. Adam means “man, mankind, ground, land, and is a cognate to adom meaning “red,” and relates to the ruddiness of man’s complexion. According to the TWOT, this word has to do with the man as being created in Elohim’s image, the crown of his creation. In this verse, Elohim commissioned Adam to work or to serve the earth/adamah. In a homiletic sense, this command of YHVH could be construed to mean that Adam/man who is spiritually rough and ruddy, yet who is created in the image of Elohim, has been commissioned to work on himself to work on and to conquer his [base] sin nature and to bring himself into conformity with the image of YHVH. Another facet of this idea could be that through the experiences and struggles of hard work, man will learn to overcome his fallen sin nature and rise to the higher calling of becoming like Elohim in nature. In a sense, hard work is part of man’s redemption process.

Genesis 4:10, Cries unto me from the ground. The earth not only witnesses against man because of his sins, but reacts adversely in judgment against man (Gen 4:12 and 3:17–19; Lev 26:19; Deut 28:23). If a man obeys YHVH, then the earth will bless man (Lev 26:4; Deut 11:14; 28:12; Isa 30:23; Joel 2:22–24). If man fails to praise YHVH, then even the stones will cry out (Luke 19:40). See also 1 John 5:8 where the earth along with the water and the Spirit bears witness to YHVH’s plan of redemption for men.

The earth has also acted as a witness against Israel when they have sworn a covenant with Elohim (Deut 4:26; 30:19; 31:28; 32:1).

Because the earth has been a witness to so much sin and bloodshed, and to Israel’s unfaithfulness to YHVH, this is why the earth has to be first cleansed (by the blood of wicked men to atone for their sins, Rev 14:20) and then by fire (2 Pet 3:7,12), and a new heaven and earth will arrive that has not been a witness to man’s sin and rebellion.

 

On Gathering Sticks and Misuse of the Tongue

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Numbers 15:32. A man gathering sticks. The man gathering sticks on the Sabbath is an example of intentional sin, for which there is no sacrifice (atonement or forgiveness; Num 15:30–31).

Furthermore, the act of gathering sticks on the Sabbath teaches us something else. Sticks are used to start fires, something that the Torah commands us not to do on the Sabbath—especially if it relates to our work, business or secular activities such as building the tabernacle (Exod 35:3 cp. vv. 4–35 or cooking food, see Exod 16:23).

A fire is a biblical metaphor for strife and division, which is usually caused by the misuse of the tongue (Prov 16:27; 26:20–21; Jas 3:5–6). Those who stir up the fires of strife and division must be put out of the camp, even as the man who was gathering sticks on the Sabbath to build a fire had to be put out of the camp of Israel.

Paul gives instructions about putting individuals who misuse their tongues outside of the camp of Israel (or congregation of redeemed Israelites) in several places (Rom 16:17–18; Tit 3:10 cp. 1 Cor 5:9–11 in reference to a reviler).

Why should such individuals be treated as a pariah to the congregation of the righteous? Simply this, with smooth words and flattering speech they will deceive the hearts of the simple (Rom 16:17–18) and destroy the congregation. Paul calls such individuals who use their tongues to draw a following grievous or savage wolves and perverse men (Acts 20:29–30).