The Mystery of Shabbat

Mystery or fear of Shabbat?

Over the years there has been a major debate over Shabbat. But not just Shabbat but over what day weworship. This has caused many divisions in the Body of Yeshua/Jesus.Both camps present great arguments. But they both use the wrong back ups when they try and justifytheir doctrines.I want to get to the root of the debate. This is normally for me a place I do not go. I detest debates, asthey always leave both sides hurt and broken.The day we worship primarily is based on our background, when in fact it should be based on factualscriptural backing. Adonai should be worshiped daily.The main controversy is over Shabbat. On the one side we have those that would have us believe thatG-d changed Shabbat to first day worship. On the other side we have those that say Shabbat is theaccepted tradition. Then we have what the WORD of G-d says.The first thing I want you to understand is that the WORD of Adonai, was given first to the Jews, toYisra'el. The concept is not Jewish, or Non-Jewish, it is not about race, it is not about geographiccountries. It is about what G-d wanted for mankind. It is about what He expected from us in return for all that He had done and was doing for us.Before you go any farther in this writing, I ask that you set aside any preconceived notions or thoughtsabout Shabbat, and pray. Ask the Most High to open your mind and heart to His WORD.We all to often look at the commandments as “laws for the Jews” when in fact they are our laws aswell. We who are grafted into the Olive Tree have the right and responsibility to observe Adonai'sordnances. We often describe the the Feasts of our Lord as the Feasts of the Jews or Yisra'el. Whenthey are truly the “Feasts of the Lord”.I want to share with you the Feast of Sabbath. This is a blessing that many in the Body of Christ or “Christians” if you will have been missing since around 300 AD (CE).

Origins of the Sabbath

In the beginning...”the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventhday God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work.And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done”(Gen. 2:1-3). Many teachers claim that Shabbat is not mentioned in theTaNakh, prior to the 10 commandments this is incorrect, when it was in-fact what mentioned inGenesis/Bereshit 2:2 ;

יו השע רא ותכאלמ יעיבה םויב םיהלא לכיותבותכאלמלכמ יעיבה םויב

־

׃השע רא

As Shabbat Shin, Bet, Tov (

תב

)

means rest, to cease, to complete. Adonai, did in fact as scripturetells us, REST.

This was the first Sabbath ever observed. On the seventh day God RESTED. Adonai gave us themodel for the sabbath long before He gave Moshe the Ten Commandments.Adonai commanded the children of Yisra'el and their decedents to observe the Sabbath and keep itHoly or sacred.The Sabbath is a set timetable, consisting of a weekly pattern of a day of rest every seventh day andthis is repeated as Adonai commanded his people not to till their fields every seventh year [shmitta, theSabbatical year] to let the field go to fallow and rest.

Shabbat, A Day of Rest

In Hebrew, the Sabbath is called Yom Shabbat, the seventh day of the week (Saturday). Now here is where Shabbat becomes clear. I will try and help you filter through the myths that havehad Believers at odds over this most precious day.It is one of the best known, yet some times least understood observance. The majority of the non-observant Jews and non-Jews think that Shabbat is a time filled with restrictions and rules. Lets look atwhat Shabbat actually is all about.Shabbat is very important if not the most important 'ritual' observance in Judaism and Christianity asit is the only one instituted in the Ten Commandments. Now understand that this Commandment is for ALL believers, both Christian and Jew. It is a day that brings the family together to honor andremember Adonai and to love one another. It is a time when the world is locked away from our families and from Adonai. It is important because the congregants are called up to read the TORAHand makes a positive impact on their lives.What is Shabbat? It is primarily a day for the family for rest and spiritual enrichment. The Word“Shabbat” comes from the Hebrew Root letters, shin-bet-tav (

tk#

), meaning to

cease, to end, or to

rest. It is actually a gift the Most High gave us each week. Even tho the Jews pray considerably onShabbat and spend a lot of time in the Synagogue praying, Shabbat is not specifically a day of prayer.Prayer is not the distinguishing focus of Shabbat, Jews and Non-Jews alike pray daily. The primaryfocus of Shabbat is rest, but it is not the only focus. The word shabbat itself means rest as we sawabove.G-d commands us in scripture to complete all of our “Work”. Work is the labor's of our week suchas gathering food, which in our day and time means working at our daily jobs to provide for housing,and food, clothing etc., it is when we do our cleaning, sewing, building, repairs. Those thingsnecessary to provide for our wellbeing. This is a key point in understanding scripture. G-d saidREST. Cease all your labors. Not just for you but for your household, which included your servants,and those in your household. It was not a suggestion. It was a command.As we see in Bereshit/Genesis G-d set down the example for us to follow. He labored for 6 days andupon completion of those labors He rested. He ceased those labors and rested, and looked upon all Hehad done.Now this was not enough for man to follow, just because G-d had rested, man needed direction. SoHe gave us His example from the very beginning. In

Exodus/Sh'mot 16:23 And he said unto them,This [is that] which the L-RD hath said, Tomorrow [is] the rest of the holy shabbat unto the L-RD:bake [that] which ye will bake [today], and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

We see that even before the 10 Commandments were giventhat that Shabbat was set aside as a Holy day unto G-d. And that all work was to be done BEFORE

Shabbat. So this adds to G-d taking rest/Shabbat after the 6 days of creation. But it adds an additionalstipulation, Shabbat is sanctified and set apart as Holy unto G-d.Now let us look a little closer at this;

Exodus 16:25 And Moses said, Eat that today; for today [is] a sabbath unto the LORD: today ye shall not find it in the field.16:26 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, [which is] the sabbath, in it there shall benone.29 See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day thebread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.

Now not only does G-d tell them that Shabbat is Holy unto Him but also that they were to gather thefood on the 6

day as there would be NO food on the seventh, even G-d Himself would rest.Now we move on to Mt. Sinai and the receiving of the ten teachings/commandments of Adonai. Now the Most High has already taught us to rest on the seventh day, and taught initially by example,then when providing bread/manna in the wilderness on the sixth day provided two days ration so as notto “gather” on the seventh, and that G-d Himself rested on the seventh, commanded that they were toeat part and set part aside for the next day. And in doing so reminded us that the seventh day was holyunto HIM. The Most High has set down HIS laws/teachings for all mankind. Specifically the fourthcommandment.

Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exodus 20:10 But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do anywork, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates: Exodus 20:11 For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is],and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

When G-d gave Moshe the Ten Commandments, He sealed in stone His requirement for us toremember Shabbat and to Keep it Holy unto HIM. But not only did He tell us to remember and to keepit, but He specifically commanded that it be a day of rest from our labors. And confirmed in Exodus31:14, Exodus 31:15, Exodus 31:16, Exodus 35:2, Exodus 35:3. But Adonai does not stop there, hecontinues when giving us the laws/teachings by which guide our lives. Which we see inVayikra/Leviticus 16:31; 23:3, 11, 15-16.

Leviticus 16:31 It [shall be] a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. Leviticus 23:3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day [is] the sabbath of rest, an holyconvocation; ye shall do no work [therein]: it [is] the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. Leviticus 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrowafter the sabbath the priest shall wave it. Leviticus 23:15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that yebrought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16 Even unto the morrowafter the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.

Now it plain to see that Shabbat was to be for all times as stated in 16:31. But we also see that it isto be a Holy Convocation.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

Convocation