Post by Questor on Jul 6, 2014 17:55:34 GMT -8
This post is VERY long...my apologies up front. Most of it is just the supporting texts for what I want to say, and not the entire contextual verses.
In my struggles as a Messianic Gentile from a pagan background (no Churches, either) to stir the commandment of keeping the Sabbath into my life, I have found that if one simply looks at what was originally said in the
, and think of it from the viewpoint of someone that has just come out of Egypt, it makes it easier to understand.
First, think of what a family does, living in a tent, in a desert...there is not a great deal to distract someone. Then think of what the people were used to doing, back in Egypt when they were slaves, and worked every day...sick or not.
Mostly, the Israelites worked from dawn to dusk, building things. They walked, probably a long distance to the building site. Then they mixed clay and straw, beat it into bricks, and laid the bricks to dry in the sun. Then when dry, they filled baskets with them as heavy as they could carry, and lugged them to where they were needed. The bricklayers took mortar, and had to fetch water, then mix it, then lifted the hundreds of bricks, one at a time, but continuously making more mortar, and using it before it coulld dry in the hot sun as they laid the bricks. They lifted large loads with ropes and pulleys. And when it finally got dark, they were allowed to go home, and eat by lamplight what was allowed them by the Pharoah.
Women presumably were watching the children, teaching them their customs, washing their clothes by hand at the edge of the Nile, then dragging back huge loads of soggy material to lay out on the roofs of their reed roofs, went to stand in long lines for food rations, then brought them back, prepped them by hand, kneaded the dough for bread, baked it, and cooked other dishes of what was available.
So, when Shabbat was given as a command, look at how simple the rules were:
Exodus 16:23 (CJB)
23 He told them, “This is what Adonai has said: ‘Tomorrow is a holy Shabbat for Adonai. Bake what you want to bake; boil what you want to boil; and whatever is left over, set aside and keep for the morning.’”
Exodus 16:25 (CJB)
25 Moshe said, “Today, eat that; because today is a Shabbat for Adonai — today you won’t find it in the field.
Exodus 16:26 (CJB)
26 Gather it six days, but the seventh day is the Shabbat — on that day there won’t be any.”
Exodus 16:29 (CJB)
29 Look, Adonai has given you the Shabbat. This is why he is providing bread for two days on the sixth day. Each of you, stay where you are; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day.”
Exodus 20:8 (CJB)
8 ד 8 “Remember the day, Shabbat, to set it apart for God.
Exodus 20:10 (CJB)
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 foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property.
Exodus 20:11 (CJB)
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.
Exodus 31:13 (CJB)
13 “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘You are to observe my Shabbats; for this is a sign between me and you through all your generations; so that you will know that I am Adonai, who sets you apart for me.
Exodus 31:14 (CJB)
14 Therefore you are to keep my Shabbat, because it is set apart for you. Everyone who treats it as ordinary must be put to death; for whoever does any work on it is to be cut off from his people.
Exodus 31:15 (CJB)
15 On six days work will get done; but the seventh day is Shabbat, for complete rest, set apart for Adonai. Whoever does any work on the day of Shabbat must be put to death.
Exodus 31:16 (CJB)
16 The people of Isra’el are to keep the Shabbat, to observe Shabbat through all their generations as a perpetual covenant.
Exodus 35:2 (CJB)
2 On six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is to be a holy day for you, a Shabbat of complete rest in honor of Adonai. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death.
Exodus 35:3 (CJB)
3 You are not to kindle a fire in any of your homes on Shabbat.”
Leviticus 16:31 (CJB)
31 It is a Shabbat of complete rest for you, and you are to deny yourselves. “This is a permanent regulation.
Leviticus 19:3 (CJB)
3 “‘Every one of you is to revere his father and mother, and you are to keep my Shabbats; I am Adonai your God.
Leviticus 19:30 (CJB)
30 “‘Keep my Shabbats, and revere my sanctuary; I am Adonai.
Leviticus 23:3 (CJB)
3 “‘Work is to be done on six days; but the seventh day is a Shabbat of complete rest, a holy convocation; you are not to do any kind of work; it is a Shabbat for Adonai, even in your homes.
Leviticus 23:32 (CJB)
32 It will be for you a Shabbat of complete rest, and you are to deny yourselves; you are to rest on your Shabbat from evening the ninth day of the month until the following evening.”
Numbers 15:32-36 (CJB)
32 While the people of Isra’el were in the desert, they found a man gathering wood on Shabbat.
33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moshe, Aharon and the whole congregation.
34 They kept him in custody, because it had not yet been decided what to do to him.
35 Then Adonai said to Moshe, “This man must be put to death; the entire community is to stone him to death outside the camp.”
36 So the whole community brought him outside the camp and threw stones at him until he died, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
Deuteronomy 5:12 (CJB)
12 ד 12 “‘Observe the day of Shabbat, to set it apart as holy, as Adonai your God ordered you to do.
Deuteronomy 5:14 (CJB)
14 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 ox, your donkey or any of your other livestock, and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property — so that your male and female servants can rest just as you do.
Deuteronomy 5:15 (CJB)
15 You are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Adonai your God brought you out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore Adonai your God has ordered you to keep the day of Shabbat.
The only verses I have left out in the are regarding what the King of Israel does, or the Priests when there is a Temple, and the Shabbat's for the land when you live in Israel.
Shabbat is about rest. Anything that was at all like the work and duties of a normal day were not to be done. Don't walk long distances, and don't carry or lift heavy things. Don't cook, or clean, or bake, or mend.
And the day is seperated to YHVH as a day of REST. Nothing fancy...just rest. Gathering together for rest is a holy convocation...a seperated gathering...TO REST.
My, it is simple when you just look at the simplicity of.
Just rest.
In my struggles as a Messianic Gentile from a pagan background (no Churches, either) to stir the commandment of keeping the Sabbath into my life, I have found that if one simply looks at what was originally said in the
, and think of it from the viewpoint of someone that has just come out of Egypt, it makes it easier to understand.First, think of what a family does, living in a tent, in a desert...there is not a great deal to distract someone. Then think of what the people were used to doing, back in Egypt when they were slaves, and worked every day...sick or not.
Mostly, the Israelites worked from dawn to dusk, building things. They walked, probably a long distance to the building site. Then they mixed clay and straw, beat it into bricks, and laid the bricks to dry in the sun. Then when dry, they filled baskets with them as heavy as they could carry, and lugged them to where they were needed. The bricklayers took mortar, and had to fetch water, then mix it, then lifted the hundreds of bricks, one at a time, but continuously making more mortar, and using it before it coulld dry in the hot sun as they laid the bricks. They lifted large loads with ropes and pulleys. And when it finally got dark, they were allowed to go home, and eat by lamplight what was allowed them by the Pharoah.
Women presumably were watching the children, teaching them their customs, washing their clothes by hand at the edge of the Nile, then dragging back huge loads of soggy material to lay out on the roofs of their reed roofs, went to stand in long lines for food rations, then brought them back, prepped them by hand, kneaded the dough for bread, baked it, and cooked other dishes of what was available.
So, when Shabbat was given as a command, look at how simple the rules were:
Exodus 16:23 (CJB)
23 He told them, “This is what Adonai has said: ‘Tomorrow is a holy Shabbat for Adonai. Bake what you want to bake; boil what you want to boil; and whatever is left over, set aside and keep for the morning.’”
Exodus 16:25 (CJB)
25 Moshe said, “Today, eat that; because today is a Shabbat for Adonai — today you won’t find it in the field.
Exodus 16:26 (CJB)
26 Gather it six days, but the seventh day is the Shabbat — on that day there won’t be any.”
Exodus 16:29 (CJB)
29 Look, Adonai has given you the Shabbat. This is why he is providing bread for two days on the sixth day. Each of you, stay where you are; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day.”
Exodus 20:8 (CJB)
8 ד 8 “Remember the day, Shabbat, to set it apart for God.
Exodus 20:10 (CJB)
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 foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property.
Exodus 20:11 (CJB)
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.
Exodus 31:13 (CJB)
13 “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘You are to observe my Shabbats; for this is a sign between me and you through all your generations; so that you will know that I am Adonai, who sets you apart for me.
Exodus 31:14 (CJB)
14 Therefore you are to keep my Shabbat, because it is set apart for you. Everyone who treats it as ordinary must be put to death; for whoever does any work on it is to be cut off from his people.
Exodus 31:15 (CJB)
15 On six days work will get done; but the seventh day is Shabbat, for complete rest, set apart for Adonai. Whoever does any work on the day of Shabbat must be put to death.
Exodus 31:16 (CJB)
16 The people of Isra’el are to keep the Shabbat, to observe Shabbat through all their generations as a perpetual covenant.
Exodus 35:2 (CJB)
2 On six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is to be a holy day for you, a Shabbat of complete rest in honor of Adonai. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death.
Exodus 35:3 (CJB)
3 You are not to kindle a fire in any of your homes on Shabbat.”
Leviticus 16:31 (CJB)
31 It is a Shabbat of complete rest for you, and you are to deny yourselves. “This is a permanent regulation.
Leviticus 19:3 (CJB)
3 “‘Every one of you is to revere his father and mother, and you are to keep my Shabbats; I am Adonai your God.
Leviticus 19:30 (CJB)
30 “‘Keep my Shabbats, and revere my sanctuary; I am Adonai.
Leviticus 23:3 (CJB)
3 “‘Work is to be done on six days; but the seventh day is a Shabbat of complete rest, a holy convocation; you are not to do any kind of work; it is a Shabbat for Adonai, even in your homes.
Leviticus 23:32 (CJB)
32 It will be for you a Shabbat of complete rest, and you are to deny yourselves; you are to rest on your Shabbat from evening the ninth day of the month until the following evening.”
Numbers 15:32-36 (CJB)
32 While the people of Isra’el were in the desert, they found a man gathering wood on Shabbat.
33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moshe, Aharon and the whole congregation.
34 They kept him in custody, because it had not yet been decided what to do to him.
35 Then Adonai said to Moshe, “This man must be put to death; the entire community is to stone him to death outside the camp.”
36 So the whole community brought him outside the camp and threw stones at him until he died, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
Deuteronomy 5:12 (CJB)
12 ד 12 “‘Observe the day of Shabbat, to set it apart as holy, as Adonai your God ordered you to do.
Deuteronomy 5:14 (CJB)
14 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 ox, your donkey or any of your other livestock, and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property — so that your male and female servants can rest just as you do.
Deuteronomy 5:15 (CJB)
15 You are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Adonai your God brought you out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore Adonai your God has ordered you to keep the day of Shabbat.
The only verses I have left out in the
are regarding what the King of Israel does, or the Priests when there is a Temple, and the Shabbat's for the land when you live in Israel. Shabbat is about rest. Anything that was at all like the work and duties of a normal day were not to be done. Don't walk long distances, and don't carry or lift heavy things. Don't cook, or clean, or bake, or mend.
And the day is seperated to YHVH as a day of REST. Nothing fancy...just rest. Gathering together for rest is a holy convocation...a seperated gathering...TO REST.
My, it is simple when you just look at the simplicity of
.Just rest.
