The text which we know as the
, the Law of Moses given to the people of Israel does not begin with the book of Exodus. This seems like a fairly odd statement, totally and unnecessarily obvious; but, I think that most of the time we forget to read it that way. The book of Genesis was given to the people of Israel, by the hand of Moses: just as was Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers….
When our God, the Creator of all things, blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it, He did more than just sit back and say to Himself, "That’s a good job." Because there is context in the Hebrew Scriptures, because the
is a collection of five distinct books that were given as a single unit, the Jewish people understand this. The Greco-Christian perspective that divides and isolates the texts completely misses what this blessing and sanctification really means.
Most of us choose to worship on Saturday as opposed to Sunday because it is the day that is commanded in Scripture for us:
You have six days when you can do your work, but the seventh day of each week is holy because it belongs to me. No matter where you live, you must rest on the Sabbath and come together for worship. This law will never change.
(Leviticus 23:3 CEV)
That should be good enough, but there’s more. The evidence is overwhelming that the original Christians met, studied and worshipped along side their Jewish brothers in the synagogue every Sabbath day:
After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders sent someone over to tell Paul and Barnabas, "Friends, if you have anything to say that will help the people, please say it." Paul got up. He motioned with his hand and said: People of Israel, and everyone else who worships God, listen!
(Acts 13:15-16 CEV)
We must remember that the Law of Moses has been preached in city after city for many years, and every Sabbath it is read when we Jews meet.
(Acts 15:21 CEV)
This ought to be overwhelming; but there is more. Paul, the apostle to the gentiles, repeatedly encouraged the gentile believers to identify with the Judaic heritage and foundations of their faith:
Remember that once you were not Jewish physically. Those who called themselves "the circumcised" because of what they had done to their bodies called you "the uncircumcised." Also, at that time you were without Christ. You were excluded from citizenship in Israel, and the pledges God made in his promise were foreign to you. You had no hope and were in the world without God. But now through Christ Jesus you, who were once far away, have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
(Ephesians 2:11-13 GW)
But… there’s more. And what brings the Jewish people to hold tenaciously to this sacred day is absolutely dismissed and rejected by most of the Christian Church, utterly to their loss.
The guarding of the holiness of the Sabbath day is participation in our covenant relationship with the Most High.
And the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations-- it is an everlasting covenant. It shall be a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever; for in six days Adonai made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
(Exodus 31:16-17 Darby)
"Take fine flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using about four quarts of flour to a loaf. Arrange them in two rows of six each on the Table of pure gold before GOD. Along each row spread pure incense, marking the bread as a memorial; it is a gift to GOD. Regularly, every Sabbath, this bread is to be set before GOD, a perpetual covenantal response from Israel.
(Leviticus 24:5-8 MSG)
And I will remember the foreigners who have joined the LORD to worship him, to love the LORD'S name, and to be his servants. All of them will keep the day of worship from becoming unholy and will faithfully observe the conditions of my promise. Then I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them happy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, because my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. The Almighty LORD, who gathers the scattered people of Israel, declares, "I will gather still others besides those I have already gathered."
(Isaiah 56:6-8 GW)
Those of us who came out of the Christian Church and the Greek understanding of our faith need to take a few moments to change our thinking about the Sabbath day. It is not simply the preferred or instructed will of God that we meet together on Saturday. It’s not simply doing the same thing the right way. We need to approach the Sabbath day with an altogether different understanding of what it means: we need to understand that this practice of worshipping and hallowing and sanctifying the Sabbath day is in fact entering into the perpetual covenant of the Most High God with His special people.
It ought to be noted that the Sabbath was made holy before Abraham and before Moses. It was made special from the beginning, thus it’s sacredness must extend to all peoples of the earth. How we are inclined to reject Adonai’s personal imvitation to us, though His Word is beyond all sense of reason.
(Genesis 1:1). It may be best understood that brisheet places emphasis and focus upon the Creator or the commencement of a thing while bikkurim focuses on the result or product of that creation.
...I really dont understand something important here. As I said before, the Rabbi said Eve did not sin since she was decieved....but if I am decieved(or you) it is still sin if it breaks one of G-d's commands which she clearly did do. I'm not understanding the "covering of Adam" thing since I am not "covered" by my husband! (and she wasnt even placed under Adam until after she sinned and recieved the curse.) I am missing something I know since this is an obvious inconsistancy, but I have not been taught this. I am sorry if Im making you go back to the ABC's, but there is a foundational understanding under this that I need to grasp if anyone is able! ;D
