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Post by alon on Jun 30, 2013 21:52:52 GMT -8
Exo 31:16, "The people of Isra'el are to keep the Shabbat, to observe Shabbat through all their generations as a perpetual covenant."
Is there a difference in keeping and observing Shabbat?
I "keep" Shabbat, in the sense that I set it apart to keep it holy. However one huge reason for the modern Messianic movement is to set the standard back to God's original plan. That could (or maybe should) mean that we are to "observe" it the way God said. There is a difference.
It is a question I struggle with. How do you keep Shabbat? How do you see the issue of "keeping vs. observing" the weekly Sabbath?
I realize that the concept of the Sabbath includes the feasts and possibly even holidays, but for simplicity let's try to just stick to the weekly Sabbath. Later it might be good to talk about the "extended" meaning of the term in another thread.
Dan C
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Post by Frank T. Clark on Jul 1, 2013 5:47:05 GMT -8
Semantics... My understanding would be that we "keep" by "observing".
Sometimes we can examine a thing so closely that it becomes distorted. I am reminded of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. Consider that if we examine a "smooth" surface too closely, we see that it is no longer smooth. Looking beyond the surface is good but don't get stuck in the mud.
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Post by alon on Jul 1, 2013 14:01:36 GMT -8
Semantics... My understanding would be that we "keep" by "observing". Semantics, like customs, are not always bad. When those irregularities we find by looking closely are things God said to do one way but we've deviated, we might consider using a finer grit sandpaper!
But I do see your point. Sometimes we have to accept that we're doing all we can at the moment. I've been trying to sand my wife down a bit, but that is getting pretty hazardous!
Dan C
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Post by Frank T. Clark on Jul 3, 2013 4:05:41 GMT -8
Sometimes a little smoothing is needed and sometimes a little rough is OK... :-)
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Post by alon on Jul 3, 2013 11:18:43 GMT -8
Sometimes a little smoothing is needed and sometimes a little rough is OK... :-) LOL, yeah, but she is rougher than I am!
Dan C
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Post by alon on Jul 3, 2013 11:32:40 GMT -8
I guess the distinction between keeping and observing is in what we miss in just "keeping" Shabbat.
I keep it, in that I try to do no "common" work, or work for personal gain. I will do a mitzvah, or I'll help family. I'll have family over and fire up the grill. And I confess that sometimes I'll "gather a little firewood." But I keep it, set it aside for study in the Word, prayer (admittedly not like I ought to) and I generally try to behave (which I should be doing any way, but let's just say I try harder to work on my sinful nature on Shabbat).
Observance would be preparing meals ahead of time, lighting the candles at sunset Friday and having family and maybe guests all sit down to a meal. It would be reciting prayers, saying PERSONAL blessings to family and friends, going to services Sat and worshiping God all day. It would be a day of total rest, except that mitzvoth are always acceptable if they can't wait. In a word, it is a time of COMMUNITY. A time with family, with friends, with fellow believers. And in all a time with God.
This is what I get from reading those who do keep and observe Shabbat. I've never really experienced it, but honestly (if it is possible), I miss it.
Dan C
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Post by Yedidyah on Jul 6, 2013 15:58:19 GMT -8
Shalom! I think when it comes to Shabbat we need to be doing it as biblical as we possibly can. We need to take what it says literal and act upon the literal with action. If next year I am still doing Shabbat the same then I have let myself and my family down, we need to be growing continually. The Shabbat is only a rest to those who enter into it. Dan sometimes a rough sandpaper is needed to smooth down the large areas before polishing it down to a stainable surface. It sounds like you have a good idea of what the Sabbath is meant to look like but have trouble getting to that point. I would say it does not matter what those around you are doing, you must do what you know is right. Do you think Daniel and Yoseph didn’t keep the because they lived in another land surrounded by those who didn’t understand? Hashem places these questions in front of us to see what direction we will choose. We must be a light that reflects Messiah in everything we do and we need to mimic him, right? So how do we mimic him by not doing as he did? Just some ideas. Bless and Keep!
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Post by alon on Jul 10, 2013 21:33:04 GMT -8
... I would say it does not matter what those around you are doing, you must do what you know is right. Do you think Daniel and Yoseph didn’t keep the because they lived in another land surrounded by those who didn’t understand? ... Well, thx, but "those around me" is mostly my wife. She does understand, and she's absolutely against anything that resembles Judaism. Except that we did Channukah candles instead of a Christmas tree the last couple of years. But she's still angry with me about that, even though there were benefits. No pine needles, and the dogs didn't get sick drinking the tree water.
We'll see. I'll just have to keep working on her, slo-o-o-w-wly. She is hard headed German, English Bull-dog and Jewish to boot! Now that's a woman only a Texan could love!
Dan C
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Post by Yedidyah on Jul 11, 2013 17:55:24 GMT -8
... I would say it does not matter what those around you are doing, you must do what you know is right. Do you think Daniel and Yoseph didn’t keep the because they lived in another land surrounded by those who didn’t understand? ... Well, thx, but "those around me" is mostly my wife. She does understand, and she's absolutely against anything that resembles Judaism. Except that we did Channukah candles instead of a Christmas tree the last couple of years. But she's still angry with me about that, even though there were benefits. No pine needles, and the dogs didn't get sick drinking the tree water. We'll see. I'll just have to keep working on her, slo-o-o-w-wly. She is hard headed German, English Bull-dog and Jewish to boot! Now that's a woman only a Texan could love! [img src=" .gif" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.synagoguechm.com/images/.gif"] [/img] Dan C[/quote] I understand you are trying to keep shalom in the home There is that saying if the women is not happy then the family is not happy Keep doing your best Dan and thanks for your honest posts. Shalom
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