Remembering the Sabbath
Posted By Jacque on May 2, 2009
Exodus 20:8-11
8 “Remember the day, Shabbat, to set it apart for God. 9 You have six days to labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Shabbat for ADONAI your God. On it, you are not to do any kind of work -not you, your son or your daughter, not your male or female slave, not your livestock, and not the for eigner staying with you inside the gates to your property. 11 For in six days, ADONAI made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. This is why ADONAI blessed the day, Shabbat, and separated it for himself.
I have had many people ask what we are doing to celebrate the Sabbath and the Hebraic Holy Days or if we are Jewish. We are not Jewish. We are believers in the One True God and followers of Jesus the Messiah. We have been grafted into the vine because of his sacrifice, and have become part of God’s People. Because of this, we are celebrating Shabbat/Sabbath and the Biblical holidays.
Following God’s commandments is one of the greatest ways to honor him, so today I am going to honor and praise him by sharing some information and replies to questions or studies about Shabbat.
LEARNING ABOUT THE SABBATH AND HEBRAIC HOLY DAYS
This has been a great journey already. We have searched the Scriptures and scoured websites. We are still learning. I started out reading about our Hebrew roots as Believers in the HOW Teaching Approach by Robin Sampson. Her book, A Family Guide to Biblical Holidays, co-written with Linda Pierce, is also an invaluable resource to learning and teaching about the Shabbat and the Biblical Holidays to Believers.
Here are a few things you can do to familiarize yourself in the Hebrew Roots to start with:
1. Robin Sampson and Heart of Wisdom products go back to Hebrew Roots. She has designed several sites that will be helpful to you.
I love her HOW Teaching Approach book, as it is explanatory of the difference between the greek and hebrew methods of teaching and geared towards home schooling. I am sure you can find this info somewhere on her site: http://heartofwisdom.com
http://biblicalholidays.com is also a very good site and contains info that is quite useful.
Our Hebrew Roots Community, is a community of Believers seeking and living out their Hebrew Roots. It is a community with forums, your own page, blog posts and other information that will help you if you are interested in growing as you seek out your Hebrew roots and answers to some of the tough questions and ideas. This is also created and moderated by Robin Sampson and HOW.
2. A FABULOUS book that should be required reading for every Believer, whether they think they should get back to the Hebrew roots or not is called Sitting At the Feet of Rabbi Jesus by Lois Tverberg and Anne Spangler. Jocelyn was given this very wonderful book to review. I have been so blessed by it. We have sat up late into the night several times for the past month reading and studying and discussing it and our Saviour, and oh! how blessed and sweet the time has been!
This book is not just for Believers who want to get back to their Hebraic roots. It is about our Saviour, Yeshua/Jesus, and gives so much valuable information about him and what he meant and how he lived that I believe it should be mandatory reading for every person who claims him as their Messiah.
3. You can get a free Torah Portions at http://torahportions.com Be sure to read their front page about Jesus/Yeshua and how jewish practices fit into the life of a Believer and follower of Jesus.
4. Messiah Fellowship in Howe, IN http://messiahfellowshiponline.com This is a site that is full of info about how they were led to become Biblical and Hebraic and gives good insight into their journey. I would encourage you to at least read their front page.
5. Other sites I have used to look up different information on Hebrew practices and info:
http://www.mishpacha.org/indexholidays.shtml – You can find info on Sabbath and the meal, candle lighting, prayers – in English and Hebrew -, the Kiddush, Challah, and the Saturday night Havdalah, in detail here. Follow the links on the bottom of each page. This is a Jewish site, and I think it may include Kabbalah, which is a pagan mystical religion, just fyi.
OUR SABBATH
We have been asked what we do for the Sabbath. We observe the Sabbath hours Fri.to Sat. eve. This starts from about 6:30-45 in our time zone. We have a Sabbath meal and are learning prayers. We read the Torah Portions on Sabbath and throughout the week. We have our Sabbath meal on Friday night. If you read what a Sabbath meal includes, you will find that it ends on Saturday night with the Havdalah.
There are many other things to do or not do on the Sabbath, and we are still learning what to do. We are doing this to honor our God, not to make it a legalistic burden. We keep this in mind as we learn more and celebrate Shabbat.
Genesis 2:1-3
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, along with everything in them. 2 On the seventh day God was finished with his work which he had made, so he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 God blessed the seventh day and separated it as holy; because on that day God rested from all his work which he had created, so that it itself could produce.
We celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday, as the last day of the week to rest on, as it was created in the beginning in Genesis and in the ten commandments, not the first day, Sunday, as it has been changed to by man. God commanded the Sabbath on the last day for us to rest. This is something that we often have been led to dismiss and not make a big deal out of, but yet, Shabbat is a commandment from God.
The Bible says in Mark 2: 27
“Then he said to them, ‘Shabbat was made for mankind, not mankind for Shabbat; 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of Shabbat.‘ “ It also says in Matthew 12 and Luke 6 that Yeshua/Jesus is Lord of the Shabbat. Man is not, yet man changed the Sabbath to Sunday. We are simply allowing Yeshua to be Lord of the Shabbat and keeping to the Biblical command as given by God.
We have taken great time to learn on sites and in the WORD what we now know, though I feel as though we are just at the beginning. We have so much to learn about Our Saviour and His ways. We have been so overwhelmed in our spirits. It has been wonderful. It is overwhelming the love and the truth I am finally learning about after 20 years of not knowing these things of him. I have truly loved getting to know Jesus – Yeshua – as the Messiah and Rabbi that he was/is.
blessings,
Thank you for joining me for Saturday Psalm & Praise. If you would like to read others’ thoughts, Psalms and Praises this week, please follow the links below. If you would like to join us for Saturday Psalm & Praise, we welcome your praises and blessings to the Lord!
All I ask if you participate is that you link your direct link here and use the icon, linked back to Walking Therein. Please sign the Linky below with a direct link to your Sat. Psalm & Praise this week so we can find it!
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18 Responses to “Remembering the Sabbath”
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Excellent explanation of Shabbat! It has really been amazing to learn about Shabbat and what the Bible says. Its awesome that we can learn something different and have our eyes opened to something new everytime we read the Bible! Love it!
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I totally agree with Amanda’s comment that “we can learn something different and have our eyes opened to something new everytime we read the Bible!”
Our family used to daily pray that God would open the eyes of understanding of our unsaved loved ones. We still do that, but now we also pray that God would CONTINUE to open the eyes of understanding of those who have trusted in Him as their Saviour and that He would give them (and US) a deeper understanding of His truths each day.
Christinas last blog post..A NEW Entry!!!! -By Her Beautiful and Tallented Daughter!
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Thank you for sharing. We are just beginning to honor the Sabbath here as well and have so much to learn. Thank ever so much for the links! I also want to thank you for being so lovingly patient with me as I am sure I annoyed you with my endless comments about today’s Christianity. You helped me so much. My mom asked me how I came to know what I know now and I said, “From my ever so patient friend Jacque as she plainly asked me time and time again. “Where is that in the Bible”. lol I am so thankful you have remained my friend through all this. I will have more questions for sure. :O)
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May 7th, 2009 at 1:22 am
Surely God has brought you on this path for his purpose, and I am just thankful to be a part of it. Love you and blessings!
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WOW, Thank you so much for all this wonderful info. You and your beautiful family are such a blessing!!!
Micheles last blog post..The Woman at the Well!
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I can’t wait to click on those links – thanks for the great info.!
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I just realized – I now know where the saying “Thank God it is Friday” came from : ))
Thank you for taking the time to post this – there are many of us around this point in our spiritual lives. I believe it is our Father’s will. I do not deserve His Grace nor His many blessings…
Thankful,
Michele
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I love this! I have always wanted to know more about our Hebrew roots and these
“Jewish” based events which we can learn about to honor and glorify our Lord. I was
raised Baptist… Presbyterian…. Methodist…. and Pentacostal! So I have many view
points… but believe basically that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. I have often
wondered why man has changed the Sabbath day to Sunday. It bothers me.
One other thing: PLEASE PRAY FOR MY CHURCH! I may have to leave it… and it
breaks my heart…. but today, instead of a Library… the church has opened a book store
and had it open on a Sunday during services…. selling tickets to Christian Comedian coming
on a Friday night… selling books… other things… and I was soooo angry that I wanted to
turn the tables over like Jesus did. Our church has been turned into a market place over
night… so many people are leaving…. I have no idea where to go right now. My heart is
broken over this….
Kathy
Kathys last blog post..The Weather is sooo nice…
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God bless you! I made the transition about 4 years ago to trying to keep the Sabbath and I have been very blessed as a result. It IS a special day to Him and a sign of our covenant with Him (among other things).
I found an additional resource listed below that was very foundational for me.
http://www.herealittletherealittle.net/index.cfm?page_name=Sabbath
I look forward to pouring through the sites you provided. After a cursory overview I was quite impressed with what I saw.
Thank you and God bless.
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It is a blessing to see how God is reaching out to his people, grafted into the true vine, to put in their hearts the true meaning of “the Law” – his Torah. We are so thankful for the love he has written throughout it to us and the hope he gives to us still, even as Gentiles grafted in.
I pray our eyes will stay open to receiving him and his Word as he gave it and as Jesus came to explain and live it as an example to us.
Blessings to you, and may he continue to keep you on his path.
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I am so happy I found this! I keep seeing you, Amanda and Jocelyn “tweeting” about preparing for the Sabbath and I have been so interested in knowing what and how you do it!
I know that we need a day of rest, yet sometimes find it HARD to submit, believing to have so many demands. I also am glad to realize the Sabbath should be on Saturday rather than Sunday. Unfortunately, with the way the work force is, my husband works every other Saturday. It’s required and no, we don’t like it. That’s a whole other issue, though.
Anyways, I will have to definitely look into getting that book! I appreciate it. Thank you for sharing, and please, if you find you have learned more about this, don’t hesitate to share it.
Finally, it is good to see other Christians who believe in the Law. The modern church has so easily dismissed this and written it off as “Old Testament” and “not relevant”.
Christins last blog post..Important Announcement!!!!!!!!
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May 15th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Christin~
I have 2 posts typed up about Sabbath and the Law, and signed in to post one of them, but wasn’t sure if I should. Then I saw your comment.
Glad to find others who believe in the God of the Old and New Testament. The same yesterday, today and always.
The book is wonderful. I hope you get to get it.
blessings~
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[...] In our study of Shabbat, we have found that there are many things to do or not do on the Sabbath, and we are still learning what to do. We are doing this to honor our God, not to make it a legalistic burden. We keep this in mind as we learn more and celebrate Shabbat. [...]
Jacque,
i was wondering if there is a particular church or denomination that you attend on the Sabbath?
Michelle´s last blog ..Welcome!
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There aren’t many choices if you want to worship Jesus (Yeshua) and keep the Sabbath. Messianic Judaism and Seventh day Adventist are all that I know of. I recommend Messianic Judaism but worship can vary based on the local congregation. You can also get a good understanding of the Hebrew roots in this denomination as well which really unlocks the teaching of our Messiah. Shalom!
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Jacque,
Just found your blog and must say I love it. We’ve been keeping Shabbat for over 2 years now and can’t understand how we did without it! We even have friends from various churches join us on a regular basis. We attend (as of this past May) a Torah Observant Church (Rabbi calls it a Nazerite Church, not to be confused with Nazarine….)
It’s been amazing to us how much easier our week is now that we celebrate Shabbat. Even Little Critter (our 9yo son) looks forward to and enjoys Shabbat!!! And he has to stay semi quiet for up to 3 hours at Sabbath Services!!!! LOL! Great post and I look forward to reading more of your posts. We also use Robin Sampson’s Heart of Wisdom in our homeschooling and her Biblical Holidays to help us teach Little Critter more about them. Robin’s wonderful!!!
I also have and adore ‘Sitting at the feet of the Rabbi Jesus’. It’s a wonderful book! May YHWH bless you on your journey and may you and your children’s children be blessed. Shalom, Spitfire
PS. There is another blog folks may want to check out who are new to Hebraic Roots. It’s called Sarah’s Tent. It’s managed by Hadassah and is for folks wanting to know more about what it means to be Torah Observant. Her website is http://www.sarahstent.info.
If it is against your rules to post other people’s blogs, feel free to cut this part out. I just thought it might be helpful.
Spitfire´s last blog ..One of my favorite parts of Psalm 27
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September 5th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Spitfire~
Thanks bunches for your comment! I think I saw you on one of the communities I belong to… Hebrew Roots or Messianics KAH… I haven’t been around there much.
Yehovah had spoken to us last year, as we studied the end times in Revelation, Jeremiah and Daniel, and Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus really changed us and caused us to seek the truth in the Scriptures about so many things that are misunderstood in the Bible.
Another resource that I recently discovered is a video by Nehemiah Gordon. I posted it in our Bible Study blog: The Hebrew Yeshua vs.The Greek Jesus: http://jacquedixon.com/torah/?p=192 I don’t have the book, but we may consider getting it.
I truly appreciate the encouragement! Thanks~
And thanks for the link. I will check it out. I do have a list of sites I frequent in the sidebar.
Jacque´s last blog ..Family Notes and Scriptures
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Jacque,
I am so grateful to you for sharing what you are learning. It is a blessing to those of us following along, that are new to following the one truth, G-d’s Word.
As you already know, I am new (in the last year or so) to FULLY submitting to G-d and His will for my life, and that of my children. That you are sharing as you learn, is very much a help to me. The websites are fabulous! There is so much out there, that is seems very overwhelming at times. But one step at a time, one day at a time, in His time.
Be blessed
Stephanie´s last blog ..Faith Is An Exciting Adventure
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