The Sabbath

To begin with Sabbath is the 7^th day, Shabbat is the Hebrew word for Rest.  When Jews meet each other or when they leave each other on Friday night or Saturday they will always say Shabbat Shalom “have a peaceful rest”.  Gen. 2:1-3 God made a memorial to His Rest, in fact, God felt it so important that He included it in His Ten Commandments.    And we should read it: Ex. 20: 8-11 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:  but the seventh day is the sabbath day of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, or thy son, not thy daughter, thy manservant, not thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 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.  And we read again in Deut. 5:12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee.

There are two words that help us to understand the meaning of keeping the Sabbath.  Remember and Observe.  “Remember” speaks to our inner thoughts of love and devotion.  And “Observe” becomes the avenue by which we express our feelings toward God. So in the Sabbath we have love and law, feelings and observances, and devotion and obedience.  One of the first things one notices in Israel, is that the Sabbath is observed with delight, it is a great time of family and fellowship with friends and neighbors.  You will see more smiles on the faces than any other day.  It’s not a burden; it’s not “Oh I have to go to Church.” Mark  2:27 “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

Yeshua declared himself “The Lord of the Sabbath,” He kept the Sabbath he was an observant Jew, He in fact was the only one who lived a perfect life according to Jewish Law.  No one else was able to do it.  He fulfilled the Law, He was perfect.   He “Yeshua” Jesus the Holy One of Israel kept the Sabbath, not the Sun day.  But He was unhappy with the misguided teachings of many of the Rabbis of that day, and would be today as well.

There is a simple answer to all of this.  We should just do what God says and forget what some Denomination say we should do.  After all it is God we worship not the Baptist or Methodist Church or any other Church for that matter.

Yeshua or Jesus?

Before going on with the Shabbat, I want to speak about “The Name”, and what I have to say may surprise some.  As you noticed in my Newsletters I use the name “Yeshua”.  But do I have a problem with the name “Jesus”?  Absolutely not, I was saved under that name, I’ve seen God do great miracles under that name, and you most likely have as well.  But, if your name is Jack or Joe in English, when you get to Israel your name does not change to Yockov or Yoseph.  (The Jewish equivalent). God can speak all known and un-known languages.  God knows if you’re talking to Him, He knows your heart and every thought.  So who are we trying to impress, each other?  We must get past all this superficial, spiritual pride look at me attitude.  Just get real with God, and yourself.

But to close this subject, I want to say this, surely God is pleased when we reach out to Him in truth, and when we know the Messiah’s Name was Yeshua and we use it, I know that pleases God.  So it’s between you and God, not you and me, or you and anyone else.  It is like accepting God’s Holiday that He set aside, instead of the pagan ones, like Christ-Mass, or Easter.  You somehow must realize this, without Jewish Roots there is no Christianity, only a pagan form of it.

Now back to the Sabbath

Our lives are full of hurry up, and stress, bills, the need to succeed, to have more of everything, and family problems.  I have heard it said that life is about 10%, 10% & 80%, 10% is the pits, 10% great joy, and 80% humdrum. And not full of God, as it should be.  I don’t know if I agree with those numbers, but they could be pretty close for most people.  But my point is God knew we needed a weekly time out, a time to rest “Shabbat” a time to reflect on God and to worship and praise Him.  A time for family away from the other six days that do us so much damage.  The Sabbath is a gift from God, it is a way to keep your sanity, and too keep your values in their proper perspectives.   It is a gift that leads us to a closer walk with our Creator.  It is a way of ushering peace into our homes.  It is your responsibility to celebrate and preserve it.

How to celebrate the Sabbath

It seems that some “Christians” Have problems with such things as the lighting of candles, these same “Christians” have no problems with a Christ-Mass Tree, or the Easter Bunny with a Basket full of Eggs.  But let’s take a look at this custom of the women of the house lighting the Candles just before the Sabbath begins.

In ancient times, before clocks, they would blow the Shofar to say it is time to light the Candles for the Sabbath just before dark on Friday night.  As it is forbidden to start a fire on the Sabbath. So the Women of the house has been chosen to light the candles, why you may ask?  Because Eve, the first mother, extinguished the light of eternal life by disobeying God’s command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Gen. 2:17 this tradition of lighting candles has continued through out all the generations.  There are two candles (White) should be lit.  One represents “Creation” the other “Redemption” they may also be symbolic of “Remember” and “Observe”.  It is also good to remember that God chose another mother Mary to bring forth the Light of the World. John 8:12.

The women of the house closes her eyes and covers them with her hands after lighting the candles, when she opens them, her eyes are blessed by the lighted candles.   By this we remember the separation of darkness and the light of Creation. Gen. 1: 3-4 the candles are left to burn until the go out by on their own.  To the Believer this is a beautiful celebration setting on the Sabbath table each week, It’s symbolic of Creation, which Sabbath celebrates, and Redemption – Yeshua the Light of the World…

WINE

Well I guess for all the good Baptist, this is where you get off.  A goblet of wine is placed near the candleholders on the table.  The wine symbolizes life! The wine also symbolizes joy!  And the goblet is full. But more important it represents the shed blood of Yeshua.  At this time a prayer called the Kiddush is said, I will add this Kiddush at the end of this report.

BREAD

Sabbath bread is called “Challah” (pronounced hal-la with a gutteral “ch”) that is a term used in the Tenach (Old Testament) for new dough.  Which was a requirement to be represented as a “gift unto the Lord” (Num. 15:17-21) The bread is braided, like folded arms, meaning you can’t work with folded arms, you are at rest.  In Leviticus 24:5-9 you will discover the law that loaves of bread be placed on the Alter before the Lord.  According to verse 8 this was to be done on the Sabbath as a sign of an everlasting covenant between God has His people Israel.  In the Tabernacle the twelve loaves were called face bread, meaning that it bought us to a face to face relationship with God.  It meant fellowship with the Almighty.  There are two loaves placed on the table, symbolic of the double portion of manna which God provided every Friday Night in the 40 years in the wilderness.

The bread is covered under a special covering, it is symbolic of the dew the Israelites had when they woke in the desert, and were reminded again that God always provides. This all comes home to Believers when we realize that the Messiah said; “I am the bread of life” John 6:48.

Well I could go on and on, but I will just enclose the Kiddush, it is a short abbreviated one  but one easy for a beginner to follow.

Friday Night Kiddush

I have been asked to help in putting together a Friday Night Kiddush (Friday Night Service) that is preformed in every Jewish home in the world.  So what follows is a basic one that anyone could follow.  It might be interesting to note that all the early Believers did this as well, until the Catholic made it illegal to do it.

The Lady of the house lights the two candles, they represent Creation and Redemption.  She recites the following.  (This is the Messianic Version)

Baruch ata Adonai Elahainu Melech Ha-Olam Asher Kidshanu Votav,  Vtzibanu  L’hiyoht Or Lagayim V’natan Lanu Yeshua Mishikanu Or La Olam.

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe Who sanctified us by Your commandments, and commanded us to be a light for the nations and gave us Yeshua our Messiah, the light of the world.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We now sing the                           “Shema”

Sh’ma Yisreal, Adonai Elohainu, Adonnai Achad.

Hear O’ Israel the Lord, God is One God.

Sing it three times

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blessing over the wine, or if you prefer grape juice.

Baruch Ata Adonai Elohainu Melech Ha-Olam Borai Pri Ha-Gafin.

Blessing over the Bread

Baruch Ata Adonai Elohainu Melech Ha-Olam Ha-Motzi Lehem Min Ha-Aretz.

Blessed art Thou, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth.

The Lady covers her head with a scarf when lighting the candles, with her eyes closed, the Jewish men wear a Kippah,  (Yamake)

The Rabbi says, the Sabbath does not begin until the women opens her eyes.  Legally it begins when you can count three stars.  But, when the sun goes down it is Sabbath (Saturday)

For those who do this, they will notice it pleases God.  The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  So there is no bondage in doing this, it is an act of love towards the Creator.  It says to God, thank you for the Sabbath Father.

Shalom, jerry golden