One of the many excellent resources on line, Moedministires.com, offers a study called "Shadows of the Messiah in the Torah". In their study of the Sabbath, they offer some wonderful insights into this weekly meeting with Adonai. (The Torah is the first 5 books in the Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy.) The Sabbath isn't about what day your worship God, as we can worship
Him every day. The Sabbath is the day that is set apart for rest but so much more.
Here are some thoughts from the study:
Like all of His appointed times, the Sabbath is both a remembrance and a promise/prophecy.
The Sabbath is a Remembrance:
It is a remembrance that God is the creator of all; that He created the heavens and the earth in 6 days.
(Genesis 2::1-3)
It is a day to re-enthrone God in our lives (Ex 20:8-11)
It is a remembrance that God is our King and our Redeemer. He brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt. God redeems us from our slavery to sin bringing us new life. (Deuteronomy 5:15, Romans 6:22-23)
Sabbath means intermission, to repose, rest. In Hebrew the word is Shabbath, reading from right to left: Sheen-Beit-Tav
Beit ("B") Sheen ("S")
Beit-Sheen, "Shuuv": repent or return
The Sabbath calls for us to return to the cross.
The Sabbath is a Promise of Provision:
He will take care of us if we honor His Word. God used the provision of manna in the wilderness to show the Israelites that He would provide. The manna was provided for 6 days with a double portion on the sixth day to provide for the 7th day as well, the day of rest. (Exodus 16:4-5)The Israelites were undergoing training in faith. Isaiah promises that if we put aside our own will and hold the Sabbath in delight, we will find joy in the Lord and be provided for. (Isaiah 58:13-14) Yeshua (Jesus) tells us in Matthew 6:25-34 not to worry about what we eat or what we wear, but to look to our Heavenly Father to provide and to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. The Sabbath was made for us to learn to trust in God's provision.
What did Yeshua do on the Sabbath? He attended Synagogue, healed and did good deeds, ate and fellowshiped. The Sabbath is a day to love and show love to each other, fellowship together and learn about God.
We are promised God's Rest
God promised rest to the Israelites in the wilderness. That rest was to be found in the Promised Land. The promise to us is to enter God's promised land, the salvation offered to us through faith in Yeshua. (Hebrews 4:1-3)
As we rest on the Sabbath, we are reminded that salvation does not come by our own works but by faith. Salvation only comes from God. (Psalm 62:1, Ephesians 2:8-9) The Sabbath is a time to rest in our salvation.
The Sabbath looks ahead to the Rest we will have in His Eternal Kingdom
We have a Sabbath rest to look forward to.
Hebrews 4:9-10 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.
Revelation 21:3-4 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be His people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
The Sabbath is a time to look forward to and rejoice in the eternal kingdom to come when God will live with men.
Ezekiel 20:20: Hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God"
http://moedministries.com/
Ezekiel 20:20: Hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God"
http://moedministries.com/
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