Rest

      From the beginning of the creation, the LORD has incorporated the idea of the Sabbath, a holy day of rest, a day dedicated to rest in and with the LORD our God: "Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished (kala - end, finish, accomplish, done, determined, be completed, bring to an end, fulfill, bring to pass, wholly reap; destroy, exterminate, cause to cease, put to an end, utterly destroy, expire, quite take away, perish, make clean riddance). And on the seventh (Hebrew root words seba/saba - seven as the sacred full one/to swear, charge, bind by an oath, to charge solemnly, seven sacrifices, seven witnesses, seven pledges) day God ended His work (meleka/malak - service, work prescribed to any one, workmanship/angel, messenger of God, ambassadors, representative, a prophet-priest-teacher, king) which He had done, and He rested (shabat - cease, rest, celebrate, put an end to, to cause to desist from exertion, be completed, sit down) on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed (barak - bless as an act of adoration, praised, kneel down, congratulate, make to kneel) the seventh (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) day and sanctified (qadas - sanctify, hallow, dedicated, holy, consecrate, purified, appointed, to be separate, to show oneself sacred-majestic-honored-holy) it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Gen. 2:1-3).

     God celebrated not only what He created, finished, accomplished, completed, fulfilled, wholly reaped and determined, as well as the appointed message contained within it, but He also destroyed the previous condition of the earth: deep, thick darkness, ruin and emptiness. I can imagine the LORD giving a shout of "Hallelujah!" over the completion of all things. The seventh day represented the greatness of rejoicing as if our New Year, Christmas and Thanksgiving were combined together! It is no wonder that the LORD told mankind to remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy. It must create sadness in the heart of God to see that mankind has lost the true and glorious meaning of the Sabbath.

     Those who are believers in Jesus, will recognize the Sabbath in the words of Jesus and in His accomplishment on our behalf. Jesus said that the Son of Man, referring to Himself, is Lord of the Sabbath (Mt. 12:1-2, 7-8). Jesus removed religious oppression from the Sabbath by proclaiming that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (Mk. 2:27-28). Jesus was also an ambassador carrying the message (see meleka/malak, above) of the Sabbath when He declared: "Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest...and you will find rest for your souls...for My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Mt. 11:28-30). Jesus walked in the message of the Sabbath when He miraculously healed many on the Sabbath to the condemnation of the religious rulers. He challenged them and asked them: "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" (Lk. 14:1-6). It is obvious from that conversation that the Jesus had the perfect understanding of the Sabbath. When Jesus gave up His spirit on the cross, He said in what we find in the meaning of the Sabbath: "It is finished." (Jn. 19:30). Jesus had completed His work to provide salvation and atonement for sin, and at the same time, He had, with His resurrection, destroyed the power of the deep darkness and ruin of death for those who would believe in Him. The Name given to Jesus by His heavenly Father incorporates the blessing of the Sabbath, as it causes all creation to kneel before that Name and take an oath (Isa. 45:22-25, Phil. 2:5-11).

     Our understanding of the Sabbath will help us with this week's Sabbath reading portion titled CHOL HA-MO'ED SUKKOT, meaning "The interim days of the Feast of Sukkot, or Tabernacles." This feast lasts seven days with the first and eighth day, called Simchat Torah, or "Rejoice in the Torah," being observed as a special Sabbath: "It is a holy convocation/sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it." (Lev. 23:33-36). So the Feast of Tabernacles is book-ended by days that are treated as Sabbaths, with no work. Within the days of the Feast occurs a regular Sabbath as well, so three Sabbaths are involved with this Feast.

     This Feast is also known as Sukkot, meaning "booth," because temporary shelters are constructed in which the people are to dwell or commune together for the seven days of the Feast. This Feast is also called the Feast of Ingathering in scripture, referring to the joyful harvest of the fruits of the trees and the vines. (Ex. 23:14-16). 

     We see the scripture reference from Exodus 23 noted above. This chapter from Exodus is also part of this Sabbath's reading portion. It shouldn't surprise us to find that the LORD also has a command regarding the Sabbath: "Six years you shall sow (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) your land and gather in its (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) produce/fruits, but the seventh year you shall let it lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove. Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest (shabat - see above), and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed (napas - refreshed, take a breath, to breathe, to breathe upon, refreshed as if by a current of air, cease from working, take a breath when wearied)." (Ex. 23:10-12). 

     We see the LORD making provision not only for a Sabbath Day, but a Sabbath Year, and both are meant to be a blessed benefit for man. As Jesus's Words are still teaching us: "Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man." It is a day or year for celebrating, and for giving profound thanks and love to our God who provides everything to us, even our rest and refreshing, our breath. Please let us give the LORD the highest glory, honor and praise that He deserves for providing His beloved creation with a Sabbath day or year, as we come to understand what He meant the Sabbath to be to us. It is not about observing a day on a calendar from which we have removed all divine love and provision, but about freedom from need. The LORD also said in Exodus 23: "So you shall serve (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the LORD your God, and He will bless (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) your bread and (vaw-aleph-tav: "the Lord, the First, Adonai nailed to the cross") your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land. I will fulfill (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the number of your days..." (v. 25-26).

     We do not worship the Sabbath, but we worship the LORD who provided the Sabbath for us out of joy, love and care.

     The Tabernacle or Booth which is associated with this Feast, reminds us of the shelters that the LORD provided for His people in the open wilderness when He brought them out of Egypt. It is today constructed with an open roof covered only with leafy tree branches (see Isa. 11:1-10, Jer. 23:4-6, Zech. 6:11-13), and as a three-sided shelter with the fourth side left open as a welcoming and easy door (Jn. 10:7-10) of entry. When I consider the structure of the "booth" or tabernacle used to observe this feast, the open ceiling, covered only by living greens, allows for the connection between heaven and earth. The open fourth side of the booth, not only welcomes people into the booth, but to me it represents the door to enter into the presence of and communion with God, as the LORD says, "Enter into My rest." (see Heb. 4:9-10, Mt. 25:21). To me, the booth built to observe the Feast of Tabernacles is made of living matter because the true Tabernacle is the Prince/Originator of life. (see Acts 3:14-16, Jn. 15:4-8).

     From another reading portion of this CHOL HA-MO'ED SUKKOT Sabbath, we read that the temple of God became the place where forgiveness dwelt for God's people, just as the Tabernacle in the wilderness was the place for the atonement for sins. As Solomon prayed to the LORD in order to dedicate the newly-built temple in Jerusalem, he specifically prayed that the temple would serve as a place for the forgiveness of God for those who came to Him with a repentant heart: "And may You hear the supplication of Your servant (King Solomon) and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive....When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is; whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people, Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart, and spreads out his hands toward this temple: then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act...that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers." (1 Kings 8:30-40, excerpt).

     King Solomon concluded, saying: "Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest (menuha - comfortable, ease, quiet, resting place, marital abode) to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses." (1 Kings 8:56).

     The temple or tabernacle represents more than just a physical building, however. Warfare would see the destruction of the temple that Solomon built and dedicated, because Israel sinned against the LORD by worshipping other gods, terrible gods. The temple that was later built and then enlarged and beautified by Herod would also fall to the destruction of the Roman army, as Jesus warned. It would be part of the destruction that would come because Jerusalem had rejected the (Atonement) covering in the Person of the Messiah/Christ. (see Mt. 23:37-39, Mt. 24:1-2). The physical building is a pattern or shadow of the reality of the glorious tabernacle that God will bring down from heaven to the earth: "And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away (exaleipho - anoint or wash, besmear or cover to whitewash, blot out, pardon sin) every tear from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.' Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' And He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.' And He said to me, 'It is done! (ginomai - made, finished, come into existence, be fulfilled, be ended, performed. see also kala and shabat, above). I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be His God and he shall be My son." (Rev. 21:3-7).

     The fulfilment of the meaning of mo'ed "tabernacle" is shown to us above. Our tabernacle is not limited in meaning to a physical building, but it is the presence of God with mankind and the total Sabbath resting place that exists for us with Him.

     If you would like to learn more about the resting place in God, you can join me in my prayer: "LORD of the Sabbath and my Tabernacle, You have created a resting place for me where all of Your work regarding me has been completed. At this time of year, especially, when the Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated, teach me about the fulfilment of this feast in the earth. I do not need to wait for a physical building to be built in order to dwell in the house of the LORD forever. You are my Tabernacle. Your Son returned to You, Father, to prepare this living place for me in His Father's house, so that I may be with Jesus where He, Lord of the Sabbath, is. You have filled Your Feast with three Sabbaths for a reason. Fill me with Your Spirit so that I may also enter into this special rest. I ask this in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

WarfareFeasts

      "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts." (Lev. 23:1-2).

     These verses above are the beginning of this week's Sabbath reading portion titled Emor, meaning "Say." In the verses above, there are three different words that express a spoken communication. Each of the three words has a distinct and important meaning. By using three different Hebrew words here, what the LORD desired to communicate to His people must carry great importance. However, in many ways, the subject of that importance, the feasts of the LORD, remain a mystery to us. The LORD must want us to search them out.

     First, we can look at the Hebrew words and meanings used above to express spoken communication:

• "Speak" is the word dabar in Hebrew, meaning "speak, utter, declare, command, promise, warn, sing, appoint, commune, pronounce, rehearse, teach." The Hebrew letters used to make up the word dabar are daleth, beth, and reysh. The individual meanings of these three pictographic letters could be joined together to mean "The door/way of life to the tent, house, family or body of the Highest."
• "Say" used above is the Hebrew word amar, from which we get the title of this week's Sabbath reading portion, Emor. Amar means "said, speak, answer, command, tell, call, promised, intend, to be called, avow, publish, to be or make prominent, to bear forth, to bring light, to think, to will." The Hebrew letters used to create the word amar are aleph, mem, and reysh. These letters placed together form the idea "The gentle Lord, Adonai, teaches a thousand the source (the beginning) of the waters of the Highest."
• "Proclaim" is the Hebrew word qara which means "call, cried, read, proclaim, named, guests, invited, bidden, preach, utter with a loud voice, summon, call and commission, appoint, call and endow, give name to, be called out, be chosen, encounter, cause to meet." Qara is made up of the Hebrew letters qoph, reysh, and aleph, and these letters when joined together could have the meaning "The last, the back, the final (the end) is the head, the Highest, the gentle Lord Adonai."

     Each of these three words in these verses that express spoken communication of some kind contain three letters. There is a kind of trinity being expressed here.

     Both of the Hebrew words amar, "say", and qara, "called, named" are present throughout Genesis Ch. 1 as God (Elohim *aleph-tav, see also Jn. 1:1-5, 14) created the heavens and the earth. These same two words are used in the other reading selections from the Torah for this week's Emor Sabbath: Lev. 23:23-38 and Lev. 24:1-9 when giving God's commands regarding the feasts of the LORD.

     Jesus also embodied the meaning of these three Hebrew words in one example from the New Testament: "Then Jesus cried out (krazo - cry out aloud, speak with a loud voice, call aloud, scream, shriek, see also qara: proclaim, above) and said (eipon - speak, say, command, grant, answer, bid, tell, see also amar: say, and dabar: declare, promise, pronounce, above), 'He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come as a light (see amar: to bring light, above) into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness." (Jn. 12:44-46). Jesus also gave a dabar warning in v. 47-48: "And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him - the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last days."

     Elsewhere in scripture, the LORD says: "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey (sama- hear, obey) My voice and keep (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is mine." (Ex. 19:5). The LORD expects us to hear His voice and obey it.

     Jesus also said: "...blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" (Lk. 11:28).

     In another reading portion from this Emor Sabbath, the LORD cries out to His people to repent and return to Him: "Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to Me!....Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways." (Ps. 81:8, 13).

     The LORD, the Great God, has a voice! However, sometimes we have "selective hearing".

     The appointed feasts of the LORD, which He spoke to Moses in Lev. Ch. 23, include the Sabbath, Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of First Fruits, the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost, the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah/Rosh Hashanah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and finally, the Feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day called Simchat Torah: Rejoice in the Torah.

  

     In reading of the feasts of the LORD, the Sabbath is a foundational component of each of them. While for some, the feasts are observed by rote in a religious fashion, to others, there is an understanding that the feasts also incorporate a prophetic timeline. Books have been written about the connection of the Feasts of the LORD to Jesus Messiah/Christ. Each feast proclaims the mighty salvation work of Jesus, some Feasts fulfilled through his first appearing, and some to be fulfilled by His prophesied and eagerly awaited soon return.

     I would also like to present an additional meaning to the Feasts of the LORD for us to consider.  The spiritual victories accomplished by the Lord through these feasts are so massive in importance that these spiritual victories affect the natural world and future generations.

     Where there are spiritual victories, there has been spiritual warfare. The spiritual warfare of the Feasts is so intense that life and death may hang in the balance, including the Sabbath observance on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:30). How do God's people become collateral damage from the spiritual warfare of the Feast? We will see.

     When we look at the Passover, for example, the Israelites were warned to put the Lamb's blood on the doorposts and lintels of their houses. They were to go into their houses, shut the door, and not come out of their door until morning. That night, death would move throughout the land of Egypt, and the only safety provided for God's people was to be found in following His instructions completely. (Ex. 12:21-24). It was on this night that God judged the gods of Egypt and those who served them. (see Ex. 12:12). This kind of spiritual warfare was not limited to this night. The Passover was to be observed as an ordinance forever. 

     Nations of the earth were warned by the Prophet Zechariah that if they failed to come to Jerusalem to worship the King (Messiah/Christ), the LORD of hosts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, there would be no rain upon their lands. (Zech. 14:17-19). Come into the safety provided by the LORD in His Feasts or suffer the dangers that await outside of it.

     Jesus, who inhabits the Feasts of the LORD, looked out over Jerusalem and wept because He knew the terror that was coming their way. He said: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!" (Mt. 23:37). This was said by Jesus two days before He observed the Passover with His disciples and was crucified. (see Mt. 26:1-2). His invitation was not accepted. Jerusalem observed the Passover and the other Feasts of the LORD religiously and traditionally, but ignored the messengers and the prophets, including John the Baptist (Jn. 1:29-36), who clearly identified Jesus Messiah/Christ with the Feasts. Salvation (yesua [Jesus' Hebrew name]/yasa - salvation, deliverance, health, saving, welfare, prosperity, victory, safe/savior, preserved, defend, rescue, avenge, safe, victory) doesn't come through religious rituals but by only one name under heaven: Jesus. (see Acts 4:10-12).

     I mentioned above that the Feasts of the LORD are associated with the Sabbath as well. (see Lev. 23:7, 11, 15-16, 21, 24-25, 32, 34-35, 39) The Hebrew word for sabbath, which is sabat, means as we expect to see, "rest, cease, be completed." However, sabat also means at the same time, in the same breath, "put an end to, to destroy, to remove, to cause to fail, rid, take away, cut off, interrupt." Here is the warfare of the LORD incorporated into His Sabbaths, and therefore, also into His Feasts.

     As God's people understand this meaning connected to the Feasts of the LORD, they will view the Feasts, not as a religious obligation or tradition, or as something meant only for the Jewish people, but as a haven of safety while the LORD goes into battle against the spirits of evil.

     The Feasts of the LORD are set at appointed times or seasons, and so is warfare. There is a time when kings are to go into battle. (see 2 Sam. 11:1). Spring is specifically mentioned as the time of kings' warfare, and there are Feasts of the LORD designated for the spring season. There is another mention of an appointed time/season for war: "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven...A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." (Eccl. 3:1, 8). Jesus incorporates the purposes of the Feasts of the LORD, and we view Him as Peace and the Giver of Peace, and so He is. However, we cannot forget that as the Son of God and as the Son of the warrior king, David, Jesus is also well acquainted with great spiritual warfare and victory. (see Rev. 19:11, 15-16). Jesus didn't deliver us from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light, and from the kingdom of death into the Kingdom of eternal Life without warring against and defeating these spiritual kingdoms of darkness and death. (1 Pet. 2:9-10, 1 Cor. 15:24-26, Rev. 1:17-18). Jesus goes to war and has overcome the world so that we may have peace. (Jn. 16:33).

      The depths that the LORD has hidden in His appointed feasts will impact the whole earth, and His desire to reveal those depths to His people is greater still. However, many ignore His invitation (see qara, above) to come to His appointed feasts, or they come to the Feasts but ignore the prophets and messengers who revealed the prophetic and holy knowledge of the Feasts. Jesus told a parable of a king who invited guests to his son's wedding feast, but many gave excuses not to come. The king said, "The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy (axios/ago - to know the weight or value befitting a thing/to pass a day, keep or celebrate a feast, etc.)." Others then were invited to fill the wedding hall, but one who attended "did not have on a wedding garment" (the garment reflects the understanding, honor, acceptance and preparation due the king's feast). The king said to his servants: "Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen." (Mt. 22:1-14, excerpt). Properly weigh the value of the invitation sent to us by our King.

 

     We are called to understand the weight of importance, "the worth", that is contained within the Feasts of the LORD, and the habitation of the Savior, Jesus Messiah/Christ within them. The Feasts that have been given to us by God by special invitation are not for His benefit, but for ours. In the appointed time of cataclysmic spiritual warfare, we will be urgently seeking that safety and victory that the LORD has provided in His Feasts.

     

     If you would like to know more about the victory achieved by the LORD in His Feasts, and the provision of safety that He has given for us within them, you can join me in my prayer: "Heavenly and loving Father, how can we know the heights, depths and breadth of the love and provision that You have created for us as expressed in Your Feasts? Your Son, Jesus, was sent to the world to overcome the works of darkness on our behalf, and to deliver us into Your arms of safety. Help us through Your Word and by Your Holy Spirit to enter into Your Feasts understanding the weight of their value to us. Lord Jesus, the warfare and victory that You have fought and brought forth on our behalf is beyond anything that the world can provide for us. You are our song, and our salvation, our place of safety, and our victory, and we meditate upon and deeply consider the price that You paid in the battle, and we celebrate the supernatural victory that You achieved for us. Let me not look at the Feasts in the same way as before but let me hear what You say to teach me and enter into the depth of meaning that You have placed within the Feasts. I bless and thank You in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.

     

SabbathMystery

      The title of this week's Sabbath reading is Va-yakheil, which means "And he assembled". This comes from the first verse of this week's reading portion in Ex. 35: "Then Moses gathered (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said to them, 'These are the words which the LORD has commanded you to do: Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath (sabat - produce of the Sabbath year, to cease, to rest, exterminate, destroy, remove, cause to fail, desist from exertion, be completed, day of rest of heart as in the propitiation of the Deity [meaning to appease and gain the favor and good will of God as by the atonement sacrifice of Jesus Christ], intermission) of rest (sabaton - Sabbath observance, Day of Atonement, Feast of Trumpets, Great Sabbath, solemn Sabbath) to the LORD. Whoever does (asa - execute, work, maker, accomplish, bring about, appoint, institute, bruise, provide, prepare to build) any work on it shall be put to death (mut - slay, dead, kill, die prematurely by neglect of wise moral conduct, perish, be destroyed). You shall kindle (ba'ar - burn, brutish, fierce, barbarous, burn up, consume by fire, God's wrath, be stupid, dull-hearted, unreceptive, to feed upon, eat up, de-pasture a field or a vineyard, remove, exterminate) no fire (es - fire, burning, fiery, flaming hot, God's anger, the fire of God, any destruction, conflagration destroying or endangering crops) throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day." (v. 1-3).

     This is the fourteenth and last mention of the LORD's law dealing with the Sabbath day in the Book of Exodus only. The Sabbath, to me, is a mystery that is not satisfied with the religious rules of men that have surrounded it, obscured it and smothered it. The heavy emphasis that the LORD places on the Sabbath throughout all of the scriptures, and especially in the Book of Exodus, tells me that there is more here concerning the meaning of the Sabbath than meets the eye, and I seek here to have my understanding of that meaning deepened.

     I can start with the verses above. First, I can see that the repetition of the LORD's command regarding the Sabbath is for ALL of the people who are identified with Messiah/Christ, both Jew and Gentile, as indicated by the presence of the Aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega identity of Christ (see note below). This is borne out by Jesus when He taught that the Son of Man, speaking of Himself, is LORD of the Sabbath, because the Sabbath was created by God for the benefit of man, and not man for the benefit of the Sabbath. (see Mk. 2:27-28). We also see the identity of the Messiah/Christ in the fact that the Hebrew meaning of Sabbath includes the rested state of the heart/soul because atoning propitiation has been made (By Jesus Christ) to appease the wrath of God and turn it into His favor towards us instead. With this favor through the propitiation blood atonement also comes the right to be called sons/children of God because they have been born anew by the will of God (Jn. 1:10-13) and to receive eternal life as promised in scripture (Jn. 3:14-17). We can then also understand why death comes to those who do not receive the Sabbath and its holiness in the eyes of God, who gave His beloved Son for this atonement purpose. 

     We see this again in the Book of Hebrews, chapters 3 and 4, where the belief in the Son of God allows the believer to enter into God's rest, His Sabbath, while God had previously told His people that they could not enter His rest because of their unbelief. (Heb. 3:16-19, Heb. 4:1-3, Ps. 95:6-11).

     The Apostle John revealed this: "He who believes in Him (the Son of God) is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned (krino - pronounce judgment, to be judged, summoned to trial, examined and to have judgment passed, to separate, put asunder, to contend at law) already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." (Jn. 3:18-19). Here is the death that God referred to in the verses above from Ex. 35. It is the death that comes from the condemnation of unbelief. The rest of the soul has not been entered because of the rejection of the atoning blood of the Messiah/Christ Jesus in rebellion against God.

     Next in our journey of understanding the Sabbath, we can see from the Hebrew meaning of the word Sabbath its connection to "produce", specifically the produce provided not by man but by God during the Sabbath. In fact, man's work to "produce" is strictly forbidden. Not only is there an appointed physical produce represented by this definition, but also a spiritual produce, which the LORD creates in His Sabbath.

     The Sabbath provision of "produce" by the LORD is ample, even a double portion, and we will see this ample provision that comes after Moses declared the law of the Sabbath for this fourteenth (7 X 2) time in Ex. 35:1-3 above. This reminder of the importance of the Sabbath comes just before the people of God begin to bring their offerings forth for the building of the tabernacle. They brought forth so much that the master builders who had been given (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) all of the offerings had to come to Moses and asked him to command the people to stop bringing the offerings: "So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, 'Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.' And the people were restrained (kala - restrict, restrain, withhold, shut up, keep back, forbid) from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done - indeed too much." (Ex. 36:2-7, excerpt). The Word of God also says that the LORD is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us..." (Eph. 3:20).

    In God's command to Moses in Ex. 35 to give to the people of Israel, God includes a new thought into the observance of the Sabbath as we see above: "You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings (mosab/yasab - habitation, dwelling, seat, assembly, situation, location, territory, habitable places of the land/dwell, abide, inhabit, sit, to marry, seated on thrones of judges and kings, seated at the King's right hand) on the Sabbath day." (Ex. 35:3).

     The Sabbath rest of God produces more than enough for what is needed. Do we understand the real meaning of the Sabbath? Or do we think that it is just a particular day of the week? The Sabbath is not fulfilled with religious rules created by men, but the Sabbath reflects the character, heart and purpose of God.

     We see above that one's "dwelling" can extend from far beyond the personal dwelling and into the wider territory beyond. One's "dwelling" also includes the concept of being seated at the right hand of the King, and having the authority of a king or a judge seated on a throne. There are many references in scripture to the fact that the resurrected Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father (Ps. 110:1-2, Heb. 1:3-4, Acts 2:33, Acts 7:54-56, Rev. 3:21, Mt. 22:41-46, 1 Pet. 3:21-22). Not only does Jesus occupy the right hand of God, but we do also as we are in Him. (Col. 3:1-3, Rev. 3:21).

     The idea of kindling a fire within a dwelling may, or course, be taken literally, as many do, but if we look at the meaning of the words in Hebrew, we will discover a very important principle of the Sabbath. The word "kindle" in Hebrew is ba'ar, which means "burn, brutish, fierce, barbarous, burn up, consume by fire, God's wrath, be stupid, dull-hearted, unreceptive, to feed upon, eat up, de-pasture a field or a vineyard, remove, exterminate". Who would have thought that these extremely destructive thoughts and behaviors would be associated with this word?! God's Sabbath includes the blessing of produce, however, thus kindling consumes those pastures and fields of produce by fire.

     Included in the meaning of "fire", which is the Hebrew word es, is "fire, burning, fiery, flaming hot, God's anger, the fire of God, any destruction, conflagration, destroying or endangering crops". We can see how this kindling of fire would be everything opposite of what is intended by the Sabbath of God.

     One way that we kindle this kind of fire is with the words that we speak. The Apostle James wrote: "Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell....no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God." (James 3:5-9). How awful and pervasive is the absence of the Sabbath in our mouths!

     Even the great prophet, Isaiah, when gazing prophetically upon the glory of (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the Lord, the Messiah/Christ in His (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) temple, cried out, "Woe is me, for I am undone (dama - cut off, cease, perish, destroy, cut down, ruined, made silent in death)! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the King, The LORD of hosts." (Isa. 6:1, 5). Here also is the "death". Then one of the angels came to him with a coal from the altar and touched the lips of the prophet to cleanse them. (v. 6-7).

     When Jesus was rejected by a Samaritan town because He intended to head to Jerusalem, His disciples asked Him in pride of their spiritual authority if they should command fire to come down from heaven and consume them. Jesus rebuked them saying: "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them." (Lk. 9:51-56). We carelessly kindle fires of destruction with our words thinking that we are doing God a favor, but the Lord of the Sabbath rebukes us as being of another spirit.

     Isaiah wrote the Word of the LORD concerning His Sabbath: "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken." (Isa. 58:13-14).

     This is one of the mysteries of the Sabbath revealed by the LORD in order to deepen our knowledge in Him. If you would like to learn more about the depths of the Sabbath, you can pray with me: "Our Father, You sent Your Son to be Lord of the Sabbath for us, and You called us to walk after Him and to be seated with Him in heavenly places. By Your Holy Spirit, help me to understand the depths and blessings of Your Sabbath which You have commanded us to keep holy. By that same Spirit, help me to guard the words of my mouth, not kindling the consuming fires of destruction, but bringing forth instead the fire of Your Spirit, with which I was baptized in the name of Jesus. Let the Lord of the Sabbath be pleased with the words of my mouth, and His Spirit within me. Let the words of my mouth lead others into the rest of God. I ask this in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.

MishpatimJudgments

      The title of this Sabbath's reading portion is Mishpatim, which means "Judgments, ordinances". That reference comes from the first verse that we read in this Sabbath portion in which the LORD says to Moses: "Now these are the judgments (mispat/sapat - judgment, manner, right, ordinance, law, lawful, order, fashion, custom, measure, procedure, justice, rectitude, verdict/to judge, a judge, plead, avenged, execute, defend, deliver, punish, to rule, govern, judge) which you shall set before them." (Ex. 21:1). Often when we think of the judgment of God, it carries a negative interpretation. However, the judgment of God is not only to punish the guilty, but to defend us and avenge the innocent or the victim of evil, as we can see by the Hebrew meaning of the word above. As the LORD gave Moses the details of His law in the chapters of Exodus related to this Sabbath, we see that the LORD is most concerned about justice for the most vulnerable members of the Hebrews: Hebrew servants and slaves, the poor, the victims of crime and attack, and women. Even the Sabbath is mentioned as a benefit for the less powerful, including the animals who labor: "Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed (Ex. 23:12)...Six years you shall sow (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) your land and gather in (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) its produce, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove. (v. 10-11). Jesus also taught the Sabbath, not as a religious burden or obligation, but as an opportunity for God to minister to those who are suffering, and to be a blessing to His people in general. (see Lk. 13:10-17, Mk. 2:24, 27-28). If God's law shows concern for the just treatment, comfort and well-being of animals, how much more does He concern Himself with the same for His people? Jesus said the same: "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Mt. 6:26). Are not all people of more value? We also know that Jesus advocated for the most vulnerable in society, the children. (see Mk. 10:13-16).

     The Lord's care for the vulnerable in His law is seen in another reading portion from this Sabbath. The enemy, the king of Babylon and his army was at the gates of Jerusalem. The king of Judah, Zedekiah, initiated a(n) (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) covenant to proclaim liberty to the Hebrew slaves. The (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) people who entered into this covenant let their (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) slaves go but then changed their minds and brought them back into slavery again. This action prompted the prophetic word and mishpatim judgment of the LORD through His prophet Jeremiah: "...you recently turned and did what was (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) right in My sight - every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor; and you made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name. Then you turned around and profaned (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) My name, and every one of you brought back his (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) male and (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) female slaves, whom you had set at liberty, at their pleasure, and brought them back into subjection, to be your male and female slaves. Therefore thus says the LORD: '...Behold, I proclaim liberty to you...to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine! And I will deliver you to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth...I will give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life...I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant." (Jer. 34:8-22, excerpt). We see here how the LORD carried out the full meaning of mishpatim above. He enforces justice and right, especially for those who are vulnerable. This is not about the world abusing His people, but about His people abusing their vulnerable brethren, and thereby profaning the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) name of the LORD.

     The LORD's prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel, Amos, also spoke of the Mishpatim judgments and ordinances of the LORD against those who harm the vulnerable: "...they abhor the one who speaks uprightly...you tread down the poor...afflicting the just and taking bribes; diverting the poor from justice at the gate....Seek good and not evil, that you may live...Establish justice at the gate. It may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph." (Amos 5:10-15, excerpt).

     The Mishpatim Sabbath reading selection which covers Ex. 21 through Ex. 24 follows the giving of the Ten Commandments in Ex. 20. All of the specific ordinances that follow stem from those Ten Commandments, and those Ten Commandments and all of the Law and the prophets stem from two commandments. When Jesus' knowledge of the Law was tested by a lawyer among the Sadducees and the Pharisees who asked Him what the greatest commandment was: "Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." (Mt. 22:34-40, also Deut. 6:5, Lev. 19:18). All of the law encompasses these two truths.

     While the readings for this Mishpatim Sabbath involve specifics of the Law (of Moses), this Sabbath is also significant because it is the Sabbath of the new moon, Rosh Chodesh, signifying the beginning of a new month. This coming new month will include the observance of Purim, when the plan to destroy the Jews of Persia was exposed and destroyed (see the justice, avenging and deliverance meaning of the word Mishpatim above) as told in the Book of Esther. This special Sabbath also includes some supernatural events and prophecies as part of the assigned reading that takes the precepts of the Law to the next level.

     Isaiah 66 from this Mishpatim Sabbath portion is read for this Rosh Chodesh, the new moon of the new month. While specific days are set aside for observance, like the Sabbath and each Rosh Chodesh , the LORD promises to use those days to expand the knowledge of Him throughout all of the earth, including the creation of new heavens and a new earth: "For as the new heavens and the new earth which I shall make shall remain before Me,' says the LORD, 'So shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,' says the LORD." (Isa. 66:22-23). The Sabbath is the first day of the new week, and the appearance of the new moon occurs on the first day of the new month. Both the Sabbath and the new moon are "new beginnings" that the LORD will expand and extend to their ultimate creative meaning: new heavens, new earth, new but perpetually continuing worship by all flesh. How have such powerfully meaningful occasions to both God and man been reduced to empty religious practices?

     Isaiah also wrote the word of the LORD regarding the empty observances and sinful ways of God's people: "Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies - I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them...Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; Seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow." (Isa. 1:13-17, excerpt). Thye LORD wasn't looking for empty rituals from empty hearts, but He was looking for what they truly represent: mishpatim judgments.

     Those who observe the Sabbaths and the Feasts must understand and enter into the eternal, the creative, power and presence of the LORD in them. If we choose to ignore their true meanings, then the LORD says to us as He said to His people in Isaiah above, "Don't bother!" And their true meanings, according to Isaiah, above, are wrapped up in Mishpatim judgments - the kind of Mishpatim judgments and ordinances exhibited by Jesus as He inhabited the Feasts, and fulfilled the Feasts, including the Sabbath. He is the substance of them. (Col. 2:16-17). If scripture tells us that we dwell together with and within Messiah/Christ (Col. 2:6-7, 9-10), and He revealed that He is Lord of the Sabbath (see Mt. 12:7-8, Mk. 2:27-28, Lk. 6:5), then we must understand the measurement of eternity and the Kingdom of God that the Sabbath and the new moon represent as Isaiah revealed above. Jesus also said: "For indeed, the Kingdom of God is within you." (Lk. 17:20-21).

     Paul wrote the following to the church expounding upon the mishpatim judgments and ordinances of God: "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful...Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing also that you have a Master in heaven." (Col. 3:12-15). Paul also said: "I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak..." (Acts 20:35). 

     Paul, a master Torah scholar, knew that the mishpatim judgments and ordinances of God and Christ must also be reflected in the Church of believers.

     If you would like to learn more about the judgments of God, you can pray with me: "LORD of all, help me to understand and live the mishpatim judgments and ordinances of Your Word, which Jesus taught and fulfilled. Help me to understand the wonders and power built into Your Sabbath and new moons, and Your appointed Feasts. Forgive me when I limited their true meaning to a day of the week, or a custom or tradition. Forgive me when I created my own judgments and neglected to follow the Spirit and depth of Your judgments. I ask this in the name of Your Son, Jesus, Messiah/Christ. AMEN."

 *NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.

     

Statutes

      This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled B'chukkotai which means "In My statutes". The title comes from Lev. 26:3-4: "If you walk in My statutes (huqqa/haqaq/hoq - ordinance, prescribed, appointed, manner, enactment, right or privilege/laws being cut into stone, engrave, to beat, strike, cut into or on, sceptre, lawgiver, appointed time, that which is established/limit, portion, statute, boundary) and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will..." Let's consider the Hebrew root meanings behind the word huqqa, or statutes. Scripture says that the LORD cut His statutes into (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) tablets of stone (eben - includes the meanings head stone, plummet stone, foundation stone, sling stone) with His own hand (see Ex. 24:12). Believers in Christ can find the image of Messiah/Christ in these Hebrew root meanings. Jesus said that the scriptures, including the LORD's huqqa statutes and the prophets, testify of Him (Jn. 5:39). Huqqa statutes, according to the Hebrew root word, also set limits and boundaries, not just for man, but for rulers and spiritual powers, and for all creation: "...the hidden wisdom of God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory..." (see 1 Cor. 2:6-10). The crucifixion: the beating, striking, cutting and engraving of God's huqqa statutes in Messiah/Christ's body, set unshakeable boundaries forever for death and hell (see Rev. 1:18, 1 Cor. 15:54-57, Hos. 13:14) that no other powers in heaven or on earth can change. 

     We see a great example of the limiting or boundary power of the statutes of God when the LORD told Job: "Or who shut in the sea (yam - from the root meaning "to roar, boiling, foaming") with doors, when it burst forth and issued from the womb; when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band; when I fixed My limit (hoq -root for "statute" see above) for it, and set bars and doors; when I said, 'This far you may come, but no farther, and here your proud waves must stop!" (Job. 38:8-11). When the people of God despise the statutes of God, we are removing the limits and boundaries that He has set that hold back destructive power. Aren't we seeing the results of that today?

     In Lev. 26, the LORD decreed that the keeping or breaking of His statutes would bring about either blessing or destruction. The LORD speaks of His consequential actions by stating, "I will...". For those who do walk and perform His huqqa, statutes, the LORD promises:

• "...then I will give you rain...the land shall yield its produce...the trees of the field shall yield their fruit." (v. 4-5).
• "I will give you peace in the land...I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword..." (v. 6).
• "...I will look on you favorably..." (v. 9)
• "I will set My tabernacle among you..." (v. 11).
• "I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people." (v. 12).

     However, if His people despise the LORD's huqqa statutes, the LORD says:

• "I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever..." (v. 16).
• "I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies." (v. 17).
• "I will punish you seven times more for your sins." (v. 18).
• "I will break the pride of your power...I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze." (v. 19).
• "I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins." (v.21).
• "I will also send wild beasts among you..." (v. 22).
• "I also will walk contrary to you..." (v. 24).
• "...I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant." (v. 25).
• "...I will send pestilence among you..." (v. 25).
• "I will destroy your high places...incense altars...idols." (v. 30).
• "I will lay your cities waste...your sanctuaries to desolation." (v. 31).
• "I will bring the land to desolation..." (v. 32).
• "I will scatter you among the nations..." (v. 33).
• "I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies." (v. 36).

     These are terrible consequences, but if we reject the huqqa statutes, we are also rejecting the limits and boundaries that keep these things from overrunning us - "all Hell breaks loose" when the LORD turns His face away from His people because of their sins of despising. However, the LORD also promises to turn back again and remember His covenant if His people will sincerely humble themselves and confess their unfaithfulness (v. 40-42, 45, see also 2 Chron. 7:14). Those who know Jesus Christ may think that these are "Old Testament" penalties, but we need to remember that Jesus identified Himself with these scriptures saying, "...these are they which testify of Me." (see Jn. 5:38-40). He also said that they would never pass away (Mt. 24:35). John Ch. 1 tells us that He is the Word (of God) that became flesh (Jn. 1:14). As we look at the Hebrew meaning of huqqa statues, we can see that Jesus became our grace as these statutes were engraved upon Him, cut into Him and beaten into Him for our sakes as He took upon Himself the penalty for our despising of the huqqa statutes of God (Isa. 53:3-6). These huqqa statutes are supposed to become written within us, on our hearts as we know the LORD and walk in His ways (Jer. 31:31-34).

     From another of this week's Sabbath reading portion from B'chukkotai, or "in My statutes", we see the consequences of despising the LORD's statutes as they fall upon His people, and the land. Amos 8:2b-3 says: "The end has come upon My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore. And the songs of the temple shall be wailing in that day', says the Lord GOD - 'Many dead bodies everywhere, they shall be thrown out in silence." His people despised the feasts and the Sabbath, cheated to gain a profit and preyed upon the poor and needy (v. 5-6). The LORD said to Israel (the northern kingdom): "Hear this, you who swallow up the needy, and make the poor of the land fail..." (v. 4). The LORD said that He would also remove His Word from them in this time when they would need it the most (v. 11-12), for they despised the prophets like Amos whom the LORD sent to them and forbade him from prophesying in the king's sanctuary and court (see Amos 7:10-13).

     It is interesting as we read the above from Amos 8 that in this assigned reading chapter of Leviticus 26, the LORD brings up three specific statutes:

• "You shall not make idols for yourselves...for I am the LORD your God." (v. 1).
• "You shall keep My (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Sabbaths..." (v. 2).
• "...and reverence (yare - fear, revere, be afraid, honor, respect, be in awe, to tremble, wonderful illustrious deeds, terrible acts) My sanctuary: I am the LORD." (v. 2).

     For the last two Sabbath reading portions, we have studied the powerful, prophetic and miraculous aspects of the Sabbath that perhaps we had not considered before. Here in Lev. 26:2 is the mention of the Sabbath again. Truly, I cannot help but think because of its prominence in the Word of God, that the foundation of the LORD's relationship with man and the rest of creation is based upon the Sabbath, and Jesus, the Son of Man, is Lord (even) of the Sabbath (Mt. 12:7-8). The true meaning and observance of the Sabbath results in benefits and blessings for us, as well as for all creation: our own delight in the LORD, our own spiritual elevation in the LORD, and our own inheritance in the LORD (see Isa. 58:13-14). We can see from the above reading from Amos 8 that Israel (the northern kingdom) was judged in part for despising the Sabbath.

     Another statute that the LORD brings up in Lev. 26:2 is to "reverence My sanctuary." The word "sanctuary" is the Hebrew word and root miqdas/qadas, and means "hallowed part, holy place, sanctuary, asylum/hallow, dedicate, prepare, set apart, purified, clean." We often view the LORD's sanctuary as a physical place only. However, part of the meaning of miqdas sanctuary is "asylum". The definition of asylum is "a place of refuge and protection, a place providing care and protection to the needy." In the verses from Amos above, we can see that the king had his own miqdas sanctuary, but the poor and needy were left to be victims of the greedy (see Amos 8:4-6). Israel did not reverence the miqdas asylum sanctuary of the LORD, neither the physical place nor the spiritual place, according to His statutes. 

     The spiritual miqdas sanctuary of the LORD, His asylum for the poor and needy, is very precious to Him. We see this as Solomon honored the idea of the miqdas sanctuary as asylum for his wayward brother, Adonijah, who had had himself crowned king, and then took hold of the horns of the altar in fear of repercussions from the rightful (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) King, Solomon. He asked Solomon to swear that he would not put his (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) servant to death. Solomon had his brother removed from the altar and promised him safety if he proved himself to be a worthy man (1 Kings 1:50-53). When there is nowhere left to run, we can run into the asylum sanctuary of the LORD.

     In another example of miqdas asylum sanctuary, Isaiah the prophet had been threatened and hated because of the prophetic Word that he had obediently brought to the people. The LORD said to Isaiah: "...nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. The (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow (qadas, see above); Let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. He will be as a sanctuary (miqdas, see above)." (Isa. 8:12). The LORD added that while He would be an asylum sanctuary for Isaiah, He would also become "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense" to both of the houses of Israel (v. 14). The terms "a stone of stumbling" and "a rock of offense" are also used to refer to Jesus in scripture (see Mt. 21:42-44, 1 Cor. 1:22-25, 1 Pet. 2:6-8). While it is a gracious God who will be our asylum sanctuary when we are in times of need, the idea of it is often offensive to others and causes them to stumble, because that sanctuary may be extended to those who, like Isaiah, are not accepted by the self-righteous. Jesus was criticized because He ate with "tax collectors and sinners". Jesus answered them saying, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (see Mk. 2:13-17, Mt. 9:9-13).  The huqqa statute of the LORD commands us to reverence His miqdas sanctuary. The miqdas sanctuary cannot help but change the life of the one being saved from destruction. Jesus didn't join the others in their sin, but His presence brought them into the miqdas sanctuary of the Lord, their only hope. The miqdas sanctuary is not just a holy physical place, but a hallowed Person, the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) LORD. There is a song called "Lord Prepare Me to be a Sanctuary". We cannot lose the truth of the miqdas sanctuary of the LORD, and our being that asylum in His image and walking in the statutes that He has written on our hearts for those who are in need.

     In a final example of the miqdas asylum sanctuary of the LORD, He promised the Israelites whom He had dispersed among the Gentile nations: "...yet I shall be a little sanctuary (miqdas/qadas - see above) for them in the countries where they have gone. Therefore...I will gather you from the peoples...where you have been scattered, and I will give you the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) land of Israel." (Ezek. 11:16-17). The people were scattered by the LORD, but He still offered to be their little sanctuary while they were in exile. Part of that little miqdas sanctuary carried the promise of "return".

     If you would like to know more about keeping the LORD's statutes, you can join me in my prayer: "Dear LORD of all, write Your statutes and all of Your Word in and upon my heart, even as the Living Word, Jesus, dwells within me. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit whom You have sent to guide me into all truth and to declare to me what is the Lord's. Help me to walk in Your statutes and to love Your Word. Let them become my manner of living because You have exalted even them above even Your own name (Ps. 138:2) for my sake. Forgive me when I have not observed Your statutes, and cleanse me from sin. I ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN."

*NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as Α Ω , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.

     

SabbathTiming

           The title of this week’s Sabbath reading portion is B’har, or “On the Mount”. This reading portion comes from Leviticus 25, and the title is taken from verse 1: “And the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai (meaning "thorny"), saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD…in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD…” (Lev. 25:1-2, 4).  Why is it important to know that these words were spoken to Moses “on the mount”? One reason may be that it was on Mount Sinai, one of three summits in this range, that the LORD established the foundational precepts for His people to know and follow including the Ten Commandments. It is from the high place that the LORD delivers His truth with power.

  Last week, we saw the LORD reveal the secrets of the sabbath day. This week, the LORD again begins His discourse about the sabbath. This time, the sabbath becomes the foundation for a longer time period and those longer time periods provide specific works, blessings, benefits, miracles, and far-reaching prophetic implications. The Sabbath has now been incorporated into a group of seven years. The seventh year of rest for the land was to restore and strengthen the fields and vineyards so that they would yield even greater produce, but also even more. In the Spirit, we see other things associated with the seven-year grouping of time. There is fruit that is produced during the six years before the seventh year sabbath rest for the land (v. 3). However, the Hebrew root word for sabbath year, sabat, also contains the meaning “produce of the sabbath year.”. There is a kind of produce that is associated only with the seventh or sabbath year that is different from the fruit of the six years before. This seventh-year produce, or increase (v. 7) is called tebua/bo in Hebrew, and means: “income, gain, revenue, profits, result, gain resulting from wisdom/enter into, come in, bring near, gather, place of entrance, of a bride entering the house of a husband, intimacy, to be brought into the barn, entering future times.” As we can see in the root meaning, the “produce” of the seventh year has a prophetic meaning for a time in the future, and also refers to the bride entering the house of her husband. Believers in Messiah/Christ are called “the Bride of Christ” and are waiting to be joined to Him for the marriage supper of the Lamb of God, who is Jesus (Rev. 19:7-9, Rev. 21:1-2). This is connected to the meaning of sabat Sabbath as we see above. We will see more about this later.

We can also see the prophetic importance of Israel keeping this seventh year sabbath rest for the land. In Hebrew, the word for “land” is eres (see above), which can mean a local field, or extend to nations, and then extend further to the land of all living, and then extend even further to encompass the world. This seven-year sabbath that some consign to a religious ritual, and others ignore completely, when obediently observed by the people of God, can have world-wide impact. The seventh-year sabbath is so important to the LORD that, in order to counter the doubts and reservations of His people, He made this promise: “And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?’ Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years.” Lev. 25:20-21).

Can we begin to see why the sabbath is such an important foundational principle to God that He commands us to keep it holy?      

In this same chapter of Leviticus, the LORD reveals another spiritually powerful block of time based upon the Sabbath and the Sabbath year described above: “And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. Then you shall cause the trumpet (sopar/sapar - trumpet, ram’s horn, clear sharp sound/to be pleasing, be beautiful, goodly, comely, be bright, glisten, shine forth as the dawn) of Jubilee (yobel/yabal - ram’s horn, trumpet, cornet, the signal of silver trumpets, loud noise, joyful sound/to lead away, to be brought, to carry away, to flow)  to sound (abar - pass over or through, pass beyond, to emigrate, to leave one’s territory, to die, to depart, to go over to someone’s side)…on the Day of Atonement…throughout all your land (eres - see above, includes “the world”. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee (see above) for you;  and each of you shall return (sub - turn back, return, go back, come back, restore, refresh, renew, repair, out of a place, to anyone or place) to his possession (ahuzza - includes the meaning of a possession by inheritance), and each of you shall return to his family (mispaha - family, tribe, nation, clan, kind, genus)…For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce (see the meaning of tebua/bo above) from the field.” (Lev. 25:8-10, 12). We who know Jesus Christ as Savior have an inheritance in Him, and we have been made part of the family of God (Jn. 1:12, Gal. 3:26-29).

The idea of Jubilee in the fiftieth year, based on multiplications of the sabbath, is to cancel debt, and to return/restore all property that was sold in debt back to the debtor. If one of the brethren sells himself to another brother because of a debt obligation, he cannot be treated as a slave, but as a paid servant. He can only serve the owner until the year of Jubilee when he then can return to his own family and his property which he inherited from his fathers. (Lev. 25:39-43). Jubilee sets free, cancels debt obligations, and restores inheritances and families that money/debt has encumbered. Jesus taught us to pray a prayer to our Father that included the idea of Jubilee: “And forgive us our debts (opheilema/opheilo - that which is owed, justly or legally due as a debt, offense, sin/owe, be bound, be guilty, be indebted, to fail in duty), as we forgive our debtors (opheiletes - one who owes another, a debtor, held by some obligation, one who has not made amends to an injured party, penalty, punishment, a sinner, a transgressor).” (Mt. 6:12). The idea of monetary debt and forgiveness of debt extends to spiritual debt, or sin, as well. So we should not be ignoring the Jubilee.

As the spiritual stronghold of Mammon (mamonas - of Chaldee origin, the personification (idol) of riches, wealth and the confidence in them in opposition to God - see Mt. 6:24) began to rule the economy of the world, the command of a Jubilee Year faded away from practice (we are a people of debt, greed and unforgiveness), although men have tried to restore the idea of a Jubilee year according to scripture. In another reading portion from this sabbath, the prophet Jeremiah prophesied the Word of the LORD against this Mammon idol: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD…Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD.” (Jer. 17:5, 7). The sins or debts of Judah had been engraved deeply with a pen of iron with the point of a diamond on their hearts, the LORD said, and the LORD promised to give their wealth and all of their treasures in which they trusted as plunder to others, and His people would “let go of your inheritance (nahala - possession, property, inheritance) which I gave you.” (v. 1, 3-4). The idea of Jubilee also carries a deep prophetic meaning according to the Hebrew words used above, and we will begin to seek out that prophecy.

The numbers involved in the Day of Atonement announcement of the coming Jubilee Year, have a meaning to reveal to us. In the 49th year, when the announcement is made, the Hebrew letters that represent the number 40 + 9 are the letters mem (“chaos, massive waters”) + teth (“a snake, to surround, to twist, to coil”). By the 49th year God's people have become wrapped in the chaos and destruction of the coiled snake of debt/sin and the bondage to debt/sin and unforgiveness. That snake is constricting us more and more tightly. Then, on the Day of Atonement a mighty sound rings out, a trumpet blast in that 49th year that announces the liberty of Jubilee to come in the 50th year. That atoning blood (of the sacrificed Messiah/Christ) sprinkled on the heavenly mercy seat achieves the redemption of our debt to God and to each other. The Day of Atonement, which is treated as a Sabbath, in this case in the 7 X 7th Sabbath Year, brings the warfare that is part of the meaning of “sabbath/sabat which includes the meaning “put an end to, exterminate, destroy, remove, cease to be”. The number 50 connected to the Jubilee year is represented by the Hebrew letter nun, which means “offspring, multiplying life, descendants, the Heir to the Throne”.

In another portion from this Sabbath’s reading from Jeremiah 32, the prophet Jeremiah, knowing that the LORD has already prophesied that the Babylonians would conquer Jerusalem, which had been under siege for 18 years, and take its inhabitants captive, became the kinsman redeemer of his cousin’s land. The LORD promised Jeremiah that this would not be a waste of his money, but would be part of a prophetic restoration. The inhabitants of Jerusalem would be returned to the land from captivity (this would be according to a timetable based upon the Sabbath), and the land that Jeremiah had paid to redeem would once again be returned to the possession of his family, and all of the land would be inhabited again. He placed the redeemed deed in an earthen vessel to be preserved until that future time (see 2 Cor. 4:7-10).

 

This was a Jubilee prophetic promise. Paul wrote of our Jubilee promise in Christ: “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” (Rom. 8:16-17). Here is the Jubilee assurance of our eternal inheritance with the Heir to the Throne, Jesus, the Son of God. It is vital to us that Jesus is both the Son, and the Heir because our inheritance comes through Him. He is also our kinsman Redeemer, like Jeremiah, Who bought back with His own body and blood our lost inheritance, which we lost to debt/sin. The debts were canceled in the Jubilee of the Messiah/Christ, and the inheritance was restored as in Jubilee. That coiled snake of chaos that binds us has been exterminated in this extension of the power of the Sabbath.

Before we leave the prophetic meaning of the Jubilee of God, we saw above in Lev. 25, that on the Day of Atonement, which is a sabbath, the trumpet is to sound in order to announce the coming Jubilee. As we saw above, "sound" is the Hebrew word abar, which includes in its meaning "pass beyond, to emigrate, to leave one's territory, to depart, to go over to someone's side." Those who are in Jesus Christ know of another great departure from our present territory to go over to Another's side. Paul wrote: "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord...the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thess. 4:15-18). In another place, Paul wrote: "...we shall all be changed...for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Cor. 15:51-52). The sound of the trumpet signals the change of our form and our location in order to join Christ's side. This is also a Jubilee for us as we are liberated from the bonds of earth and flesh and into an incorruptible form.

There is more that could be said about the meaning of the Sabbath year, and multiplications of the Sabbath year that impact the fulfilment of the prophetic word of the LORD, particularly in Daniel's timetable of the Messiah/Christ. However, let this be a call to return to the true meaning of the Sabbath and its importance to us in every way. To reduce this powerful tool of God, used to restore His people, to a set of religious rules, or to ignore its meaning altogether in order to substitute our own thoughts and desires is a great shame. Isaiah wrote: "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken." (Isa. 58:13-14).

If you would like to know more about the sabbath day, sabbath year and Jubilee year, you can join with me in prayer: "Our Father, I want to have a deeper and true understanding of Your Sabbath, which you gave as a blessing to us. Forgive me when I have chosen my own pleasures to pursue on Your Sabbath instead of praying, believing and standing in the miraculous promises of the Sabbath not just for myself and my family but for the eres world. Your prophetic timeline and end time events, including the return of Christ, revolve around the Sabbath. Fill me with Your Spirit and teach me Your Word so I can walk in Your ways. Jesus, You are Lord of the Sabbath, and Your Lordship is of great and mighty things. Show me, great Lord, the great things of the Sabbath, in Jesus' name I pray. AMEN."