The topical series, delivered in April through June of 2014, was created according to the requests of Beth Sar Shalom congregants and explores what the Bible has to say on a variety of subjects.
Each message can be downloaded for offline listening by right clicking on the title and selecting Save Target As or Save Link As.
This in-depth series provides an overview of the covenants HaShem made with Israel and how through them he gradually revealed His specific plan of salvation – all pointing to Messiah Yeshua. Also explained are several passages of Scripture that are commonly thought of as covenants but don’t actually fit the biblical description.
This series, delivered by Ryan Tyson in June 2013 through January 2014 at Beth Sar Shalom, uses Tim Hegg’s book “The Biblical Doctrine of Salvation” as its main source material.
Each message can be downloaded for offline listening by right clicking on the title and selecting Save Target As or Save Link As.
NOTE: Message 5 is intentionally missing from the playlist since there were errors in the recording.
The Intro to Torah Living series is a perfect primer for someone new to the Messianic Torah lifestyle. Covering topics such as Shabbat, holy days, kosher, synagogue liturgy, rabbinic literature, and much more, there is something in there for everyone to learn.
This series, delivered in September through November of 2012 at Beth Sar Shalom, uses Tim Hegg’s “Introduction to Torah Living” book as the primary source material.
Each message can be downloaded for offline listening by right clicking on the title and selecting Save Target As or Save Link As.
The Amidah (or Shemoneh Esrei, “Eighteen”) is one of the most well-known and central Jewish prayers in the siddur. Much of the prayer dates back to period of the Men of the Great Assembly in the 1st century BCE. Although liturgical prayer can be intimidating to some due to its formality, there is great benefit in using it to guide your prayer time.
This series, delivered in January through April of 2014 at Beth Sar Shalom, explores the history and biblical basis for each of the 19 parts (as well as why it’s called “Eighteen” and not “Nineteen”!)
Each message can be downloaded for offline listening by right clicking on the title and selecting Save Target As or Save Link As.
English: the 4th Commandment on Nash Papyrus “Remember the Sabbath” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the L-RD your G-d. On if you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates, for in six days the L-RD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the L-RD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11
A few years ago a friend telephoned with an urgent request. “I’m calling to ask a favor. I need the most precious thing you have.” Can you guess what he needed? He was asking for my time, of course.
As the Rabbi of a Messianic Community, and the International Ministries Representative for a large mission board I need time. I need time to study, to work, to pray, to think, to worship, time to rest, time to play. I need time to spend with the L-rd. I need time to prepare messages and meet with people. I also need time to love my family. It all takes time, and there never seems to be quite enough.
Many people have the same frustration. We often feel rushed. We never seem to have time for work and leisure, for family and ministry. So we complain, “If only I had one extra day this week; then I could get all my work done.” Or we say, “You know, I could really use some time off.” Or,”If only I had more time to study the, and serve the L-rd.” Yes, we grumble about being overtired and overworked. It’s all part of the frustration of living as finite creatures in a fallen world.
Out of His great mercy, HaShem has provided a remedy: one whole day out of seven to rest in His grace. He has given us a rhythm of work and rest, with six days for labor and one day for leisure. And He grants us our leisure specifically for the purpose of His praise. The Sabbath is a day for worship, a day for mercy, and a day for rest.
Keeping the Sabbath holy may not seem very productive. In fact, sometimes it keeps people away from the Messiah. They would rather do something else – anything else – than go to congregation on Shabbat. When billionaire Bill Gates was asked why he didn’t believe in G-d, he said, “Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There’s a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.”
Devoting a whole day (that would be 24 hours) to G-d may not seem very efficient, but it must be important, because G-d has commanded it:
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Exodus 20:8
This is the longest commandment, and it comes in three parts. Verse 8 tells us what to do, verses 9 and 10 specify how we are to do it, and verse 11 explains why. What HaShem wants us to do is to “remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8).
The word remember has a double meaning. For the Israelites, it was a reminder that they had heard about the Sabbath before. On their journey to Mount Sinai, G-d provided manna six days out of seven. The seventh day was meant to be “a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the L-RD” (Exodus 16:23). So when they reached Mount Sinai, G-d commanded them to “remember” the Sabbath.
This was something they needed to remember not just once, but every week. It is something we need to remember, too, so the fourth commandment calls us to a weekly remembrance of the Sabbath. We are prone to forget. We forget the great work of G-d in creation and redemption. And when we forget, we fail to praise Him for making us and saving us. But the fourth commandment is also a reminder. It is G-d’s memorandum to His people, reminding us to give Him glory for His grace.
Remembering involves more than our memories. It demands the total engagement of our whole person in the service of G-d. Remembering the Sabbath is like remembering your anniversary. It is not enough to say “Oh, yes, I remember: It’s our anniversary.” It takes dinner and flowers – maybe even a gift. In much the same way, remembering the Sabbath means using the day to show our love for G-d in a special way. It means “keeping it holy.” Literally, we are to “sanctify it,” to set it apart for sacred use.
How are we to do this? The fourth commandment gives explicit instructions for keeping the Sabbath holy. G-d begins by telling us what He wants us to do with the rest of our week: “Six days you shall labor and do all your work” (Exodus 20:9). Although this part of the fourth commandment is often overlooked, it is our duty to work. This does not mean that we have to work all day, every day. But it does mean that G-d governs our work as well as our rest. He has given us six whole days to fulfill our earthly calling.
People generally have a negative attitude about work. Work is treated as a necessary evil. In fact, it is sometimes thought that work is the result of sin. In a column for Time magazine, Lance Morrow claimed that “When G-d foreclosed on Eden, he condemned Adam and Eve to go to work. From the beginning, the L-rd’s word said that work was something bad: a punishment, the great stone of mortality and toil laid upon a human spirit that might otherwise soar in the infinite, weightless playfulness of grace.”
This is just not true. Work is a divine gift that goes back before the Fall, when “The L-RD G-d took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15). We were made to work. The trouble is that our work has been cursed by our sin. It was only after Adam had sinned that G-d said, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:17). But it was not that way from the beginning. The fourth commandment reminds us to honor G-d by doing an honest week’s worth of work. We find G-d’s blessing in doing what He has called us to do.
According to the Puritan historian Thomas Watson, having six days to work is a divine concession, and thus a sign of G-d’s favor. G-d would have been well within His rights to make every day a Sabbath. Instead, He has given us six days to do all our work. Watson thus imagined G-d saying, “I am not a hard master, I do not grudge you time to look after your calling, and to get an estate. I have given you six days, to do all your work in, and have taken only one day for Myself. I might have reserved six days for Myself, and allowed you just one; but I have given you six days for the work of your calling, and have taken only one day for my own service. It is just and rational, because of this; you should set this day apart for my worship.”
Watson was right: six days are for work, but the seventh day is for worship. How do we keep the fourth commandment? By worshiping the L-rd on His day. To “keep something holy” in the Biblical sense is to dedicate it exclusively for worship. Whereas the other six days of the week are for us and our work, the Sabbath is for G-d and His worship. This is the positive aspect of the fourth commandment, as emphasized in verse 10: “the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God” (Exodus 20:10). Elsewhere G-d refers to the seventh day as His Sabbath – the day that belongs to Him: “You must observe my Sabbaths. I am the L-RD your God” (Leviticus 19:3). The commandment was worded this way to remind the Believer that their relationship with G-d was special. No other people could claim that the L-rd was their G-d, so no other people kept the Sabbath. There were some other ancient civilizations that divided their time into periods of seven days. However, they generally associated the seventh day with misfortune.
Two braided Shabbat challahs(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Only the Believers in the G-d of Abraham, kept the Sabbath as a day for worshiping the one true G-d as their Redeemer and L-rd.
To keep a Sabbath “to the L-rd” is to give the day over to G-d, setting it apart for Him and His glory (which, remember, was the whole point of the exodus). The book of Leviticus calls the Sabbath “a day of sacred assembly” (Leviticus 23:3), meaning corporate worship. Yeshua endorsed this practice by attending weekly services at the synagogue (Luke 4:16). This focus on worship led the Puritans to refer to the Sabbath as “the market-day of the soul.” Whereas the other six days of the week are for ordinary commerce, this is the day we transact our spiritual business, trading in the currency of heaven. “This day a Believer is in the altitudes,” wrote Thomas Watson. “He walks with G-d, and takes as it were a turn with Him in heaven.”
We meet with G-d by prayer and the ministry of the Word. We meet Him by proclaiming His praises and presenting Him our offerings. We meet Him by celebrating his grace and sharing fellowship with other Believers. The result, according to Watson, is that “The heart, which all the week was frozen, on the Sabbath melts with the word.”
The Sabbath is not only a day for worship, but also a day of rest. It is a day for ceasing from work, and especially from common labor. Here we need to notice that the fourth commandment is stated both positively and negatively. It is the only commandment to do this explicitly. The positive requirement comes first: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8). Then there is the absolute prohibition: “On it you shall not do any work” (Exodus 20:10).
The English word Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word meaning “to cease or to rest.” It is not a day for “business as usual.” It is a day for relaxation and recuperation. It is a day to step back from life’s ordinary routines in order to rediscover G-d’s goodness and grace. To quote again from Thomas Watson, “To do servile work on the Sabbath shows an irreligious heart, and greatly offends G-d. To do secular work on this day is to follow the devil’s plough; it is to debase the soul. G-d made this day on purpose to raise the heart to heaven, to converse with Him, to do angels’ work; and to be employed in earthly work is to degrade the soul of its honor.”
To see how strict this command was under the Law of Moses, consider the man who gathered wood on the Sabbath (Numbers 15:32-36). He was stoned. Or to take a positive example, consider the women who wanted to prepare the body of Yeshua for burial. “They went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment” (Luke 23:56). Gathering wood was such a small thing to do. What was the harm in doing it on the Sabbath? Taking spices to the tomb of the Messiah was so noble. Why not go ahead and do it? The answer in both cases was because G-d has commanded a day of rest.
This rest was for everyone to enjoy: “On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates” (Exodus 20:10).
Here we see that the fourth commandment has profound implications for the whole community. When it comes to work and leisure, parents are to set the agenda by teaching their children how to worship and rest. The Sabbath really is a day to spend with the family. By including servants, the commandment also teaches that employers have a responsibility to care for their workers. Some commentators have thus described the fourth commandment as the first worker’s bill of rights. In the ancient world there was a sharp division between masters and slaves. But here is a new social order, in which work and leisure are not divided along class lines. Everyone should work, and everyone should rest, because everyone should be free to worship G-d. This teaching extended right to the gates of the city, including everyone in the whole community. It even applied to beasts of burden. G-d wanted all His creatures to get some relief from their labor. Imagine what the world would be like if everyone kept this commandment in the biblical way. Imagine the whole creation at rest. Once a week people all over the world would stop striving and turn back to G-d.
What are we commanded to do? Keep the Sabbath holy. How do we do this? By working six days and then by dedicating a day to the L-rd for worship and rest. This is summarized in Leviticus:
“There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD” (Leviticus 23:3).
Shabbat Triptych [125/366] (Photo credit: timsackton)The reason for this commandment is very simple. We are called to work and rest because we serve a working, resting G-d. Why should we remember the Sabbath? Because “in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the L-RD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:11)
In a way, keeping the Sabbath is the oldest of the ten sayings, because it goes all the way back to the creation of the world. There are many additional reasons for keeping the Sabbath holy. It promotes the worship of G-d. It restores us, both spiritually and physically, so it is for our benefit. As Yeshua said, “The Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27). It is good for children and workers; it can even be good for animals. But our fundamental reason for obeying the fourth commandment is not practical, but theological: G-d made the world in six days, and then He rested. His activity in creation thus sets the pattern for our own work and leisure.
We serve a working G-d, who has been at work from the beginning. The Scripture says that “By the seventh day G-d had finished the work He had been doing” (Genesis 2:2). Part of the dignity of our work comes from the fact that G-d is a worker. We work because we are made in the image of a working G-d.
We also serve a resting G-d. Once His creative work was done, G-d took His divine leisure. The Scripture says that “on the seventh day He rested from all His work” (Genesis 2:2). To mark the occasion, “G-d blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done” (Genesis 2:3). The first time that G-d blessed anything, He blessed a day for us to share in His rest. We keep the Sabbath because G-d made it holy. Like work, leisure is “something that G-d put into the very fabric of human well being in this world.”
There is one further reason for keeping the Sabbath. Although it is not mentioned here in Exodus, it is mentioned in Deuteronomy, where the ten sayings are repeated. There the first part of the commandment is virtually identical (Deuteronomy 5:12-14), but the reason is different: “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the L-RD your G-d brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the L-RD your G-d has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:15).
There is no contradiction here. The Sabbath looked back not only to creation, but also to the new creation. It reminded G-d’s people that they had been delivered from slavery in Egypt. One of the benefits of their rescue was that now they didn’t have to work all the time. Back in Egypt they had to work seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year, without ever getting a break. But now they were set free.
The Sabbath was not a form of bondage to them, but a day of freedom. It was a day to celebrate their liberation by giving glory to G-d. Sadly, the L-rd’s often forgot to remember the Sabbath. And when they did, they inevitably fell back into spiritual bondage. There is a story about this in the book of Nehemiah – the story of the governor and the salesmen.
G-d’s people had returned from their captivity in Babylon to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. Under Nehemiah’s leadership, the whole community was restored. They rebuilt the city walls. They reestablished their homes. They started gathering again for public worship, to read the Torah and keep the feasts. They repented of their sins and promised to keep covenant with G-d. They reestablished the priesthood. The Levites were serving, the choirs were singing, and G-d was blessing the city in every way. Then the governor went back to Babylon. When Nehemiah returned, he found that the people were failing to keep G-d’s covenant. In particular, they were breaking the Sabbath by using it as a day to conduct commerce. They had promised, “When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day” (Nehemiah 10:31).
Yet here is what was happening:
“In those days I saw men in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. Men from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah”. Nehemiah 13:15-16
Shabbat Table (Photo credit: vidalia_11)
These businessmen were not residents of Jerusalem. They were traveling salesmen. To them, one day was no different from the next, so they assumed that the Sabbath was a day for business as usual. This proved to be a source of temptation for the people of G-d. Many of the people in Jerusalem were genuine believers. They attended public worship. They supported G-d’s work with their tithes and offerings. They knew G-d’s Torah, including all ten of the sayings (see Nehemiah 9:14-15). Yet they were breaking the Sabbath. Frankly, they were like many Believers today. They were basically committed to following G-d, but under pressure from the surrounding culture, they treated the Sabbath pretty much like the rest of the week.
Nehemiah needed to take strong action. First he spoke out against their sin:
“I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, ‘What is this wicked thing you are doing – desecrating the Sabbath day? Didn’t your forefathers do the same things, so that our G-d brought all this calamity upon us and upon this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath.’” Nehemiah 13:17-18
Nehemiah had a good point. When G-d explained why He sent His people into captivity, He often mentioned their failure to keep the Sabbath holy (see Jeremiah 17:19-27; Ezekiel 20:12-13). As the city’s governor, Nehemiah knew that keeping the fourth commandment was a matter of public safety.
Nehemiah did more than preach, however. The governor also enforced public laws for keeping the Sabbath special:
“When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day.” Nehemiah 13:19
It didn’t take long for the salesmen to take the hint:
“Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. But I warned them and said, ‘Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will lay hands on you.’ From that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.” Nehemiah 13:20-22
We need to be careful how we follow Nehemiah’s example. G-d is not calling us to establish the Sabbath by force. However, there is a principle here that we can apply. In order to preserve a day of worship and rest, we need to bar the gates against the clamor of our culture. Otherwise, we will end up mixing the business of this world with the pleasure of spending time with G-d. What does the fourth commandment mean for the Believer today? Like the Israelites, we are made in the image of a working, resting G-d. We still need to work, we still need our rest, and we can still receive the creation blessing of G-d’s Holy Day.
What has changed is that we have received a new and greater deliverance. We look to Yeshua the Messiah, who accomplished a greater exodus by dying for our sin and rising again. Yeshua is the reason for the fourth commandment, and the other nine. He is of all the rest. The weekly Sabbath is but a taste the full and final Sabbath that can only be found with Him, both now and in the Kingdom.
Yeshua gives a whole new meaning to work, and a whole new meaning to rest. He came into the world to finish the work of His Father (John 4:34), and on the basis of that work, He is able to give rest to our souls (Matthew 11:29). There is no need to strive for our salvation. All we need to do is repose in the finished work of Yeshua the Messiah. David said, “My soul finds rest in G-d alone; my salvation comes from Him” (Psalms 62:1). The way for us to find that rest is by trusting in Messiah Yeshua alone for our salvation, depending on His work rather than our own. The Scripture assures us that in Messiah,
“There remains a Sabbath-rest for the people of G-d; for anyone who enters G-d’s rest also rests from his own work, just as G-d did from His.” Messianic Jews [Hebrews] 4:9-10
This is the primary purpose of the fourth commandment. Keeping the Sabbath holy preserves the Sabbath principle of resting one whole day out of seven. The commandment is perpetual. Like the rest of the ten sayings, it was written in stone.
The Sabbath was never and is not now a way to salvation but remembering it to keep it Holy is a result of G-d’s salvation. G-d is honored when Believers celebrate the Sabbath. However, we need to be on our guard against legalism in all its forms. We do not base our relationship with G-d on how we keep the Sabbath. However our fellowship with G-d is dependent on the effort we make to honor the Sabbath. We must also be careful about the man made fences (regulations) for guarding the Sabbath. We must be very careful when developing our own Halakah (guidelines) to stay within the teachings of Scriptures. These fences can become so elaborate that the true purpose of the Sabbath may be lost entirely.
The call to freedom, like the one we are given in the fourth commandment, is never an excuse for seeking our own pleasure (see Isaiah 8:13). However, the freedom we have in Messiah does mean that for the Believer, the Sabbath is not a strait jacket.
Keeping the Sabbath holy begins with working hard the rest of the week. In America some say that we work at our play and play at our work, but G-d has given us six days for the ordinary business of life, and we are called to use them for His glory. Believers ought to be the most faithful and diligent workers. Our industry is an important part of our piety, while sloth is a very great sin. To waste our time is to squander one of the most precious resources that G-d has given us. The duty to work is for everyone, not just for people who get paid. It is for housewives, for retired people, for the disabled and the unemployed – all of us are called to do something useful with our time. Even if we don’t need to earn an income, we need to glorify G-d in whatever work we do. Today many Americans assume that they will work for the sixty years of their lives, and then take the rest of their lives off. They “retire” move to South Florida and “keep Shabbat” at
Dunkin Donuts. That’s not the biblical view of work and leisure, because the Bible calls all of us to maintain the rhythm of work and rest that is essential to our humanity.
The work week ends and also begins with the Sabbath. This is the day for worship, mercy, and rest to give us strength for the next six days. A major purpose of the Sabbath is to refresh us in the joy of our Creator. It is a day to “catch our breath,” which can include G-d-centered activities.
The Sabbath is for worship. It is a day for attending corporate worship, for enjoying fellowship with the people of G-d, for catching up on our spiritual reading, and for spending the whole day in ways that really make it a day with the L-rd. In order to worship well, we need to be prepared. Therefore keeping the Sabbath holy means that you have a plan that leads up to Erev Shabbat every week. We also need to plan for Shabbat evening to be ready to enjoy Havdalah together. Evening preparation is like the tuning of an instrument, it will prepare your heart for the duties of the coming week.”
Yeshua (name) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Sabbath is for mercy. Yeshua said it was a day for mercy, which is why He performed so many miracles on the Sabbath. He was not violating the fourth commandment – as the leadership thought – but fulfilling its true purpose. We follow His example whenever we use the Sabbath to welcome the stranger, feed the poor, or visit the sick.
Finally, the Sabbath is for rest, for stopping from our labor. The fourth commandment teaches us to have a leisure ethic as well as a work ethic.” The businessman should rest from his business, the housewife from her housework, the student from his studies. Of course, Believers have always recognized that some work is necessary. Workers that provide medical care or preserve public safety need to do their jobs, as do Rabbi’s, Elders and other servants in the congregation.
There are basic daily responsibilities need to be done but this is a day to close the calendar, go off the clock, and put away the “to do” list. It is a day to step out of the frenzy, stop buying and selling, and quit worrying about the profit margin. Because we live in a culture that treats Sabbath like any other day of the week, thereby turning what is sacred into something secular; we need to resist the tendency to let our work enslave us. Keeping the Sabbath holy is the biblical answer to a workaholic lifestyle.
At this point many Believers still want to know what they can and cannot do on the Sabbath. They need a list of rules, they need to have righteousness legislated to them.
Can I watch TV? Can I play Frisbee? Can I go to a restaurant? Can I catch a flight back home? Can I play Monopoly, or do I have to stick to Bible trivia games? The danger in making universal applications is that we are prone to judgmental attitudes, it so is easy for us to slip back into “I’m doing it better than you” mindset. In keeping the fourth commandment there is room for the wise exercise of godly judgment.
However, when we start asking these kinds of questions, it is usually because we want to know what we can get away with. We want to know how far we can go without actually breaking the Sabbath; it’s a heart attitude. But if we are looking for a loophole in the Sabbath, then we are missing the whole point of the fourth commandment, G-d is calling us away from our own business to transact the most important business of all, which is to glorify Him. And when we try to make as much room as we can for our own pleasures, then we miss the greatest pleasure of all, which is fellowship with the living G-d.
Our problem is that we find it so hard to take genuine delight in the sanctified pleasures of G-d. Sometimes, in our “drive through” world G-d bores us. We are willing to spend some of our time worshiping Him, but then we feel like we need a break, and so we go right back to the world’s lesser pleasures. But the more we learn to delight in G-d, the more willing to keep His Sabbath. And then we discover that we are able to answer the questions that once seemed so vexing: Can I take a job that will require me to work on the Sabbath? Is it okay for me to catch up on my work? Should we let our kids play Little League on the Sabbath? Is it a good day for watching commercials? Most of the practical applications are easy when we want to honor the L-rd. The strain and struggle come when we want to use it to do our own thing. So what? What have I said? I said all this to say, “When you get Shabbat, you’ll get it all.”
The Festival of Shavuot (Pentecost) is traditionally held as the anniversary of the giving of the Torah as well as the giving of the Holy Spirit. As part of the commemoration, the Ten Sayings (Commandments) are often read publicly in the Assembly on the Feast of Shavuot.
According to the traditional reckoning, the first commandment is simply: “I am the L-RD your G-d who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Exodus 20:1-2)
The first of the Ten Commandments is to believe in G-d and to accept His claim of ownership over us. Unless we accept the basic premise of G-d’s existence, no number of commandments will have any authority or meaning for us. The need for such a command demonstrates the incongruity of ascribing to morality without believing in a moral authority. If we accept the premise of objective morality, we must accept that there is a higher authority issuing that objective standard.
We also learn from this that redemption must precede commandments. Before we can receive the Torah, we must already be “redeemed.” Israel’s salvation from Egypt was not accorded to her on the basis of her obedience to the commandments. She was already redeemed (on no merit of her own) before the Torah at Sinai were given to her. Thus, the first declaration at Sinai is a reminder of her redeemed status. Only because she is already redeemed is she able to receive the commands of God.
True legalism continually attempts to reverse this process by claiming that one’s obedience to certain commandments (or all the commandments) is the mechanism by which salvation is earned. The first of the Ten Commandments directly contradicts this notion. Salvation and relationship with G-d precedes the Torah. We obey His Torah because Yeshua has first redeemed us, not the other way around.
Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the L-RD brought you out of it with a mighty hand.” Shemot / Exodus 13:3.
Passover plate (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Passover is the story of a people – a people of destiny, called by G-d to be a blessing to the entire world, yet trapped as slaves in Egypt. G-d had promised to their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that they would become a great and blessed nation in their own land. But eventually they found themselves in a most impossible and oppressive situation. Finally G-d sent Moses to confront Pharaoh, King of Egypt, demanding the release of his people. Pharaoh’s stubborn refusal resulted in G-d’s demonstration of power through destructive signs and wonders. Yet Pharaoh still refused to let the people of Israel leave.
Even though the celebration of Passover recalls the various elements of this story, the name of the Holy Day focuses on one particular event. While every detail contributed to the eventual release of the people, it was the last plague that made the difference, and it is this that is most essential to remember.
Death of the First Born Masks (Photo credit: Scott Robbin)
When G-d told Moses how to prepare for the final plague, there was no doubt that it would be this that would ensure Israel’s freedom. G-d determined that every firstborn human and animal of Egypt would die. The act of judgment was going to be applied to all Egypt. The only way that Israel would be unaffected would be if they would follow G-d’s specific instructions. Every household was required to take a lamb, slaughter it, and apply its blood to the doorframes of their homes. If and when the L-rd would see the blood on a house, he would pass over it. Thus the name “Passover.”
So year after year we remember the Passover Lamb. During the days of the Temple, the people were to travel to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. Each family would offer a lamb and eat it along with bitter herbs and matzo (unleavened bread) in order to remember what G-d had done for us. In the modern celebration we have two things that are reminiscent of the annual Passover sacrifice. One is a lamb shank bone and the other is a special piece of matzo, called the afikomen, which is eaten following the meal.
Through all this we see that it is essential to not only remember what G-d did, but also how he did it. Even though G-d determined to rescue us from bondage, and even though he provided a way of escape from oppression, if our ancestors had not applied the blood of the lamb to the doorframes of their homes, we too would have experienced the same judgment as the rest of Egypt.
So year after year we were required to commemorate this great miracle of deliverance, but we also realized that our deliverance from physical slavery was not sufficient. While we were free in body, we remained bound in spirit. Called by G-d to be his special people, we were not up to the task. It became clear that we required another more profound deliverance. A deliverance from those things that prevented us from being the people G-d called us to be.
We read in the Hebrew Scriptures that through the centuries a new hope in Israel emerged – that there would be another deliverer – greater than Moses – who would rescue us from our spiritual bondage. That person became known as the Messiah.
365/106 Lamb (Photo credit: justmakeit)
It should be no surprise therefore that when Yeshua came on the scene he would be called “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). For there is another judgment coming, not only upon one nation, but upon the whole world. But just like the Passover of old, so today we too have the opportunity to see that judgment pass over us, if we apply the blood of G-d’s lamb to our lives.
The death (and subsequent resurrection) of Yeshua the Messiah, foreshadowed by Passover is our protection from G-d’s judgment and our guarantee of eternal life. But like Israel of old, we need to apply what He did to ourselves by trusting in Him, our Passover Lamb.
English: Esther and Mordechai writing the second letter of Purim. Oil on canvas. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Purim, the Feast of Lots, is observed on the fourteenth day of the Biblical month of Adar (usually February or March on the Gregorian calendar). This is a celebration of the deliverance of the Hebrew people in the Persian Empire over one of the most dastardly plots in history to exterminate them. The biblical book of Esther tells the story of how the beautiful Hebrew woman Esther (Hebrew: Hadassah) and her cousin Mordecai thwart the evil Haman, who plots to massacre the Hebrew people in a jealous rage.
The book of Esther has been referred to as “a monument in the history of anti-Semitism.” The anti-Semitism shown in the book of Esther is ethnically and religiously based, in contrast to the type that is shown in later Hellenistic-Roman literature through to today which is purely ethnic hatred. The Hebrew people have faced elimination as a group many times through ancient, medieval, and modern societies. They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.” (Psalm 83:4B)
A symbol that Messianic Jews believe was used to identify the first Messianic congregation, led by Yeshua’s brother Jacob in Jerusalem (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Many people are unaware of this, but Yeshua (Jesus) celebrated the feast of Purim! In John 5, the Lord Yeshua is in Jerusalem for an unnamed feast. Scholars have debated whether the feast was Passover, Purim, Sukkot or even Pentecost. Some have objected to Purim because it is referred to as a “minor” feast and not one of the three “major” pilgrimage festivals (Deuteronomy 16:16). However this argument is irrelevant because Yeshua also celebrated another “minor” holiday, Hanukkah (English: Dedication), as referenced in John 10:22.
Chronologically, the only feast that makes sense is Purim in 28 CE. The feast of John 5 fell on a Sabbath (vs. 9). The only feast day to fall on a Sabbath between 25 and 35 CE was Purim of 28 CE. Some speculate that the Spirit of G-d intentionally left out the name of the feast because G-d’s Name was deliberately left out of the Book of Esther. In John 5, Yeshua healed a man who had an infirmity for 38 years near the Pools of Bethesda (John 5:1-9). It is also the first time in His public ministry that He declared, “G-d was His Father, making Himself equal with G-d” (5:18). He also said that He was the “Son of G-d” (5:25) and the “Son of Man” (5:27).
Chanukah originated over 150 years before Yeshua was born. The Hebrew people had fallen to hard times; a clear warning that their relationship with God was not well (see Deut 28). Israel’s enemies to the north attacked and took control of the Hebrew state. The invaders made it illegal to worship the one true and living God. If anyone was found studying or even obeying the Torah, he would be executed. Many people were even forced to worship idols. When the evil soldiers came to the town of the Hasmoneans, now known as the Maccabees (“Hammer”), to force this idolatry on the people the town’s patriarch, Mattathias (Matityahu in Hebrew), refused to offer sacrifice to the false god. There was a volunteer from the crowd however, who worked his way forward to offer sacrifice. In holy indignation Mattathias killed him.
English: Mattathias and the Apostate (1 Macc. 2:1-25) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Mattathias and his sons then killed the soldiers and fled to the mountains. From there they gathered together a brave company of men who decided it was time to reclaim their heritage and land. The Maccabees realized that it was the sins of the nation of Israel that resulted
in their conquest: so they earnestly sought God in repentant prayer. They sought HaShem and HaShem heard them.
Though they were terribly outnumbered, they chose to fight. Backed by their faith in the Covenant God of Israel who had promised through Moses that: “…five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.” They fought and they won just as God said they would. The small Judean army was victorious in battle after battle. They even retook the beautiful Holy Temple. While they are not canonized scripture it is nonetheless beneficial to read the historical books of 1 and 2 Maccabees for the details.
Remembering the Holy Days
A model of the second Jewish Temple in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Because they rededicated the Jerusalem Temple and returned to the Torah in the winter and due to the fact that up until this time they were unable to celebrate the Holy Days, they then returned to the last Holy Day they missed which was the eight-day festival of Sukkot. (Feast of Tabernacles, see Leviticus 23). This holy time is all about the Messiah dwelling with His people in the coming future. Even today generation after generation of Torah-believing people light miniature menorahs (chanukiahs) on Chanukah to celebrate and remember HaShem’s gift of deliverance. Chanukah honors two types of salvation: physical deliverance from oppressors and the spiritual deliverance from sin.
It should be noted that the Temple was the most sacred place in the Hebrew world. It was at the Temple where HaShem promised to meet with the people and fellowship with them. Each and every day Bible-believing people would sacrifice offerings and draw close to HaShem at the Temple.
Chanukah and the Messiah
The last night of Chanukah; (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
About 150 years later the Hebrew people were again under foreign domination, but this time to Rome. Israel had again fallen into a spiritual malaise. They cried out for God to send them the promised deliverer, the Messiah. Many of the Judeans, (some of the progeny of the Maccabees) believed that a humble stonemason named Yeshua might very well be the Messiah. They tried to make Him King but He refused. It wasn’t until after His execution and resurrection that His followers realized the He did provide deliverance. It is important to note while the history of Chanukah is given outside of scripture it was predicted by the Prophet Daniel and the celebration is confirmed by Yeshua Himself in John 10.
He didn’t provide the Maccabeean style of deliverance from Rome they had hoped for, but deliverance from an even more evil and powerful enemy, sin. In addition, Yeshua promised to return one day to deliver His people from their mortal enemies as well. We eagerly await that promised return.
The Feast of Tabernacles is a week-long autumn harvest festival. The Feast of Tabernacles is also known as the Feast of the Ingathering, Feast of Booths, Sukkoth, Succoth, or Sukkot (variations in spellings occur because these words are transliterations of the Hebrew word pronounced “Sue-COAT”). The two days following the festival are separate holidays, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, but are commonly thought of as part of the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Feast of Tabernacles was the final and most important Appointed Time of the year. The importance of this festival is indicated by the statement, “This is to be a lasting ordinance.” The divine pronouncement, “I am the Lord your God,” concludes this section on the holy days of the seventh month. The Feast of Tabernacles begins five days after Yom Kippur, on the fifteenth of Tishri (September or October). It is a drastic change from one of the most solemn holy days in our year to one of the most joyous. The word Sukkot means “booths,” and refers to the temporary dwellings that followers of the Torah are commanded to live in during this holy day, just as the Jews did in the wilderness. The Feast of Tabernacles lasts for seven days and ends on the twenty-first day (3×7) of the Hebrew month of Tishri, which is Israel’s seventh month.
This holy day has a dual significance: historical and agricultural (just as Pesach and Shavuot). Historically, it was to be kept in remembrance of the dwelling in tents in the wilderness for the forty-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert. It is expounded in Leviticus 23:43, “That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”
What were they to remember?
1. The meaning of their beginning, and the low and desolate state out of which God advanced them.
2. The mercy of God to them, that, when they dwelt in tabernacles, God not only set up a tabernacle for Himself among them, but with the utmost care and tenderness imaginable, hung a canopy over them, even the cloud that sheltered them from the heat of the sun. God’s former mercies to us and our fathers ought to be kept in everlasting remembrance. The eighth day was the great day of this festival, because then they returned to their own houses again and remembered how, after they had long dwelt in tents in the wilderness, they came to a happy settlement in the land of promise, where they dwelt in goodly houses. And they would more sensibly value and be thankful for the comforts and conveniences of their houses when they had been seven days dwelling in booths. It is good for those that have ease and plenty sometimes to learn what it is to endure hardness.
They were to keep this holy day in thankfulness to God for all the increase of the year; however, the emphasis is that Israel’s life rested upon redemption which in its ultimate meaning is the forgiveness of sin. This fact separates this holy day from the harvest festivals of the neighboring nations whose roots lay in the mythological activity of the gods.
Was the first Thanksgiving a Feast of Tabernacles Celebration?
Many Americans, upon seeing a decorated Sukkah for the first time, remark on how much the Sukkah (and the festival generally) reminds them of Thanksgiving. The American pilgrims, who originated the Thanksgiving holiday, were deeply religious people. As they were trying to find a way to express their thanks for their survival and for the harvest, it is quite possible that they looked to the Bible (Leviticus 23:39) for an appropriate way of celebrating and based their holiday in part on the Feast of Tabernacles.
Note: celebrating Thanksgiving on the third Thursday of November was established by the American government and may not necessarily coincide with the pilgrim’s first observance.
Sukkot, The Festival of Booths
Four days after Yom Kippur, we join together to celebrate Sukkot. The holiday is celebrated from the 15th of Tishri through the 21st or 22nd of Tishri, depending if you live in Israel or in the Diaspora. Sukkot usually falls in late September or early October.
After the harvest from your threshing floor and your vineyards, you shall celebrate the Feast of Booths for seven days. (Deuteronomy 16:13)
You shall live in booths seven days in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. (Leviticus 23:42-43)
Historically, Sukkot commemorates the wanderings of the Israelites, which began with the exodus from Egypt (Passover) and continues with the giving of the Torah at Sinai (Shavuot) and ends with the wandering in the desert for the full 40 years as punishment for the sin of the golden calf. A major agricultural festival, Sukkot is also the third of the shalosh regalim, or three pilgrimage holidays, when it was the custom of Jews everywhere to converge onto Jerusalem every Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot. Sukkot also marks the end of a long harvest, the time of year when farmers finish their work. Traditionally, this was the time for grapes to be gathered and made into raisins or wine; for olives to be picked and pressed into oil; and fruits to either ripen, or be eaten or stored.
To celebrate their hard work, the farmers and their families would go to the temple in Jerusalem to offer thanks. They built Sukkot, or booths, to remember how the children of Israel built booths in the desert. The pilgrims lived in them for seven days while they, and the families they brought to Jerusalem, celebrated.
This is also why Sukkot is known as hag-ha-asif, the festival of ingathering.
You shall celebrate the festival of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field. (Exodus 23:16)
In addition, because of its strong agricultural elements, some scholars believe that the current custom of building your own Sukkah stems from the harvest when workers would live in temporary huts in fields. They argue that our Sukkot with their open roofs bear more resemblance to the harvester’s huts than they do with the dwellings the Jews lived in the desert.
Sukkot is a happy festival. In biblical times, Sukkot was considered to be the most important festival. It was actually referred to as ha-chag, The Festival (Kings 12:32). King Solomon chose Sukkot as the holiday during which he consecrated the first temple. It was also the occasion every seven years for the ceremony hak’heil, the public reading of the Torah before the whole people (Deuteronomy 31:10-13). Sukkot is also said to be the festival of the future, when in the messianic period, all nations will come to Jerusalem and celebrate.
The only time celebrating Sukkot was suspended was during the Babylonian exile since the festival was so connected to rejoicing at the temple and harvesting the land. During the next century, when the Jews returned to Israel under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah, they were ready to embrace the Torah’s commandments. The Jews, ecstatic to be reunited with the land, built Sukkot out of olive, pine, myrtle, and palm branches. The importance of Sukkot continued during the second temple era, with pilgrims coming to Jerusalem from Jewish communities all over. They participated in praying and singing and joining in the religious processions.
The etrog and the four species- palm, willow and myrtle, which are bundled together to make a lulav – became part of the ritual.
Arba Minim: The Four Species
On the first day, you will take for yourselves a fruit of a beautiful tree, palm branches, twigs of a braided tree and brook willows, and you will rejoice before the L-RD your G-d for seven days. (Leviticus 23:40)
Another observance during Sukkot involves what are known as the Four Species (arba minim) or the lulav and etrog. We are to take these four plants and use them to “rejoice before the L-rd.” The four species in question are an etrog (a citrus fruit similar to a lemon native to Israel; in English it is called a citron), a palm branch (in Hebrew, lulav), two willow branches (aravot) and three myrtle branches (hadassim). The six branches are bound together and referred to collectively as the lulav, because the palm branch is by far the largest part. The etrog is held separately. With these four species in hand, one recites a blessing and waves the species in all six directions (east, south, west, north, up and down), symbolizing the fact that G-d is everywhere. Detailed instructions for this ritual can be found under Sukkot Blessings.
The four species are also held and waved during the Hallel prayer in religious services, and are held during processions around the bema.
Why are these four plants used in this service? It can be said that they represent different parts (or Believers) within the body of Messiah. The etrog, which has both a pleasing taste and a pleasing scent, represents those who have achieved both knowledge of Torah and performance of mitzvot. The palm branch, which produces tasty fruit, but has no scent, represents those who have knowledge of Torah but are lacking in mitzvot. The myrtle leaf, which has a strong scent but no taste, represents those who perform mitzvot but have little knowledge of Torah. The willow, which has neither taste nor scent, represents those who have no knowledge of Torah and do not perform the mitvot. We bring all four of these species together on Sukkot to remind us that every one of these four kinds of Believer is important to G-d, and that we must all be united as we grow together in Him.
Sukkot changed little following the destruction of the second temple. However, in its memory, Rabbi Yokhanan ben Zakkai, a leading rabbinic authority at the time, instructed that ceremonies using the four species be performed every day of the week except on Shabbat, even though the Torah only commands to use them on the first day of the festival (Leviticus 23:40).
Sukkot Berachot (Blessings)
Stand facing the east (or whatever direction is toward Jerusalem from where you are). Take the etrog in your left hand with the stem (green tip) up and the pitam (brown tip) down. Take the lulav (including the palm, myrtle and willow branches bound together) in your right hand. Bring your hands together and recite the blessing.
Barukh atah Adonai, Elohaynu, melekh ha-olam
Blessed are you, Lord, our God, king of the universe
asher keedishanu b’meetzvotav v’tzeevanu
who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us
al n’tilat lulav (Amein)
to take up the lulav (Amen)
After you recite the blessing, turn the etrog so the stem is down. With the lulav and etrog together, gently shake forward (East) three times, then pull the lulav and etrog back in front of your chest. Repeat this to the right (South), then over your right shoulder (West), then to the left (North), then up, then down.
Hoshanah Rabbah
“L-rd Save, with great (power)!”
The seventh (and last) day of Sukkot is called Hoshana Rabbah. Tradition records that the heavenly decrees made on Yom Teruah/Rosh Hashanah (and sealed on Yom Kippur) are actually sent out on Hoshana Rabbah. Our sages taught us that the nations of the world are judged on this day.
“Yes! I tell you that there are some people standing here who will not experience death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom!” Six days later, Yeshua took Kefa, Ya‘akov and his brother Yochanan and led them up a high mountain privately. As they watched, he began to change form—his face shone like the sun, and his clothing became as white as light. Then they looked and saw Moshe and Eliyahu speaking with him. Kefa said to Yeshua, “It’s good that we’re here, Lord. I’ll put up three shelters if you want—one for you, one for Moshe and one for Eliyahu.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them; and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the talmidim heard this, they were so frightened that they fell face down on the ground. But Yeshua came and touched them. “Get up!” he said, “Don’t be afraid.” So they opened their eyes, looked up and saw only Yeshua by himself. As they came down the mountain, Yeshua ordered them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” The talmidim asked him, “Then why do the Torah-teachers say that Eliyahu must come first?” He answered, “On the one hand, Eliyahu is coming and will restore all things; on the other hand, I tell you that Eliyahu has come already, and people did not recognize him but did whatever they pleased to him. In the same way, the Son of Man too is about to suffer at their hands.” Then the talmidim understood that he was talking to them about Yochanan the Immerser. (Matthew 16:28-17:13)
(See also Mark 9:1-13 and Luke 9:27-36)
For when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, we did not rely on cunningly contrived myths. On the contrary, we saw his majesty with our own eyes. For we were there when he received honor and glory from God the Father; and the voice came to him from the grandeur of the Shechinah, saying, “This is my son, whom I love; I am well Pleased with him!” We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. (2 Peter 1:16-18)
The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Yeshua was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:
“Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ The King of Israel!”
Then Yeshua, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:
“Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.”
His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him. Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!” (John 12:12-19)
Shemini Atzeret
The day following the seventh day of Sukkot, called Shemini Atzeret (The Eighth Day of Assembly), was reserved for a special set of sacrifices for the benefit of Israel and for a special prayer for rainfall. Not completely understood, Shemini, meaning eight, and Atzeret, meaning solemn assembly; referred to an extra set of rituals performed at the close of the holiday. A midrash, or allegory, explains that as the children of Israel are about to take leave of G-d after having rejoiced with Him since the beginning of Rosh Ha Shanna. G-d, like the parent of a child about to end a cherished visit, says, “It is difficult to have you leave me. Stay another day.”
Simchat Torah
As life in the Diaspora continued, it became customary on the second day of Shemini Atzeret, to remove Torah scrolls from the ark and circle around the bimah, the traditional stage located in the center of the synagogue where the Torah is read. The timing of the celebration is significant in that the cycle of Torah study begins anew at the following Shabbat. The celebration marks the completion of a whole year of Torah study and the anticipation of what HaShem will teach is as we begin again.
Named Simkhat Torah, “rejoicing with the Torah”, the custom became its own holiday, especially for children, with dancing and singing in the synagogue and festive meals at home. In Israel, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are celebrated together on theday after the seventh day of Sukkot.
In modern times, the custom of building Sukkot was reestablished in the early 1900s. Since then, Jews everywhere celebrate the seven or eight days of Sukkot, (depending where you live) including Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah from the Diaspora and from Israel.
![Shabbat Triptych [125/366]](http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7277/7006888830_8e840039b4_n.jpg "Shabbat Triptych [125/366]")
