It is late on Friday afternoon and soon it will be Shabbat. In the last post, I wrote about the importance of preserving Jewish identity as the Remnant of Israel. There is no greater mark of Jewish identity than the observance of Shabbat. As someone once said “More than the Jewish people have kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jewish people.” This is similar to the statement of Yeshua when he said that the Sabbath is made for man and not man for the Sabbath. As Messianic Jews who are always in danger of assimilation and as Gentiles who are called to the Messianic Jewish community Shabbat is our anchor. Shabbat keeps us moored to the Jewish world. We may “float” in a variety of places but the anchor brings us back each week. There are many commands in Torah to keep the Sabbath – including this week’s Torah portion. However in Exodus 31 we are told that Shabbat is more than an observance – it is a sign of covenant relationship between Israel and God. It reminds us of our calling as Jews, Messianic Jews and as anyone called to messianic Jewish community. While there are many commands to keep Shabbat there are only a few places in the entire Bible that explain exactly how to keep Shabbat. We read that we are not to kindle a fire, (Exodus 35:3); carry a load, (Jeremiah 17:27) or conduct business as we read in Nehemiah 13. Overall, the command to observe Shabbat is to refrain from work and to rest. There is much rabbinic discussion about what defines “work” on Shabbat. There are 39 categories of work that the Sages derived from the description of building the Tabernacle. No one knows exactly when Shabbat observance included gathering together for services. Perhaps it was in the time of Ezra. We have a hint that it was quite early because Psalm 92 is called a “Song for the Sabbath Day”. The New Covenant describes Jewish people gathering together for Shabbat Services (Luke 4:16, 31; Luke 6:6; Luke 13:10; Acts 15:21; 18:4). These texts reveal that people came together to sing praises to God, to read the Torah and the Prophets and to give a d’rash. Shabbat is a wonderful time to enjoy what God has made and what he has done. It is a time to enjoy family, friends, nature and God himself. In the midst of choppy waters, Shabbat is an island of time that in its most perfect setting is a glimpse of what life will be like in the world to come. We profane Shabbat when we make it “common” when we engage in the activity that we do on the other days of the week, such as our livelihood. We make the day holy when we separate it from the other days. But it is more that simply engaging in different activity. It is experiencing the day differently. The prophet Amos (Amos 8:5-6) reminds us that it is our attitude on Shabbat that matters most. Abraham Joshua Heschel expressed this well in the introduction to his book called The Sabbath. He describes the importance of Shabbat as the essence of the day – not the activities of the day nor the place where we spend the day. It is the time of Shabbat that is holy. What is the essence of Shabbat? It is that on Shabbat we dwell in the abode of God. The nature of Shabbat is dwelling in His presence. Wherever we may be, we dwell with him on Shabbat. He writes, “The Sabbaths are our great cathedrals; and our Holy of Holies is a shrine that neither the Romans nor the Germans were able to burn.”(p.8). He refers to the traditions and activities of Shabbat as the “architecture of time”(p.8). No matter where we may be, what our situation in life may be, even if we must work on Shabbat – when we realize that it is the day of Shabbat we can experience the essence of the day. We can think differently on Shabbat. We can take Shabbat with us wherever we are. In the New Covenant book of Hebrews we read that in Messiah we experience the essence of Shabbat perpetually. In Messiah we dwell in the abode of God all the time. It is always Shabbat. This should make the weekly Shabbat even more meaningful as we gather with the rest of the Jewish community in remembering, observing and rejoicing in all that God has done and for us as a people and as a messianic Jewish community rejoicing in Yeshua the Messiah and the unique fellowship we have with God and with one another. Well the sun is setting and it is time to welcome Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom!
Yeshua Matters 