Shalom rory,
Although there are many verses in the OT that speak about the nations joining in the festivals of Adonai and observing the
the best way to reach a persons heart is through what they are familiar with, so reach your Christian friends with the New Testament Scriptures. Here are a few I like to use.
16Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Colossians 2:16-17In these verses it would appear that Rav Shaul is saying that we should not celebrate the Feast days and be bothered by others who would judge us namely the Judiazers. However in these verses it is actually the opposite. The key is in the word
respect in verse 16. This Greek word should be better translated as "share" or "portion", something alloted to you. If you have a Strong's concordance available to you look up the definition of this word its number is 3313.
I believe that people turning to Yeshua from all the nations were persecuted by both the Greeks and the Jews at the time for celebrating the feasts and so the context of the verse is one of encouragement.
The interesting part of these verses is that they are shadows of things
to come. Some Bible versions translate this phrase as
were to come meaning that the feasts are obsolete and done away in the past. In this verse however the KJV stays true to the original meaning. Namely that the feasts are shadows of things that we will share in the World to come.
Another verse that I like to use is this:
7Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
8Therefore
let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Notice how Rav Shaul says
let us keep the Feast. He doesn't say now that we have Christ let us abandon the Feast but let us keep the Feast. The old leaven here refers to the leaven of yeast that is prohibited in the
. In using the word "neither" he includes the old leaven as a prohibition and adds the spiritual wisdom of the removal of malice and wickedness from our hearts.
Now what I am about to share with you is very important but may be somewhat difficult to explain. I will do my best.
The Ten Commandments are mentioned in 2 places in the
, in the 5th chapter of the book of Deuteronomy and also in Chapter 20 of the Book of Exodus where they first appear. Now concerning the fourth commandment The Shabbat, the
uses two distinct ways of observing this Mitzvah
command. In Deuteronomy the word used is
Keep The Sabbath Day... which is the Hebrew word
Shamar. This word means to keep or guard. It's kind of like when we treasure something or someone we keep and guard them in our hearts and thoughts. In Exodus however the word used to describe the Mitzvah of Shabbat is
Remember. Which is the Hebrew word
Zakar.
Zakar et Yom HaShabbat L'Kadsho. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy. Exodus 20:8
How do you
Remember something to keep it Holy or to Sanctify it?
Well the same question was pondered centuries ago by the men of Israel and what was decided was that in order to remember this Holy day and sanctify it or set it apart from the rest of the days of the week, they would count up to the day of the Shabbat in Remembrance of the Shabbat. For example Sunday would be called
one of the Sabbath, Monday
two of the Sabbath and so on with Thursday being
five of the sabbath and Friday being
Erev Shabbat or The Eve of the Sabbath.
In doing so the Children of Israel would always Remember the Sabbath and sanctify it in their hearts by setting it apart and recalling it daily.
The reason that this is so important is that in the New Testament deep beneath the layers of the Greek we see Hebrew thought and obedience to the Commandment.
In Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2, 16:9; Luke 18:12, 24:1; John 20:1, 20:19; Acts 20:7; and 1 Corinthians 16:2 where the word
week appears is the exact same word that is used in the Greek as Sabbath #4521 in the Strong's.
What is even more interesting is that in the gospels and in 1Corinthians where the scriptures mention
First day of the week in English The Actual rendering in the Greek is literally
one of the Sabbath! Wow. So the actual rendering should be
On the One of the Sabbath! What this shows me is that the writers of the gospels honored and remembered the Shabbat even in their writings by remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy. They didn't use the pagan names of the week days but honored Gods Sabbath by referring to the resurrection of our LORD as being on the one of the Sabbath. Even Luke who is thought to be a gentile uses the phrase one of the Sabbath in his account of the gospel in the Greek.
One more thing I find very interesting and I also like to bring up to people (in love) who ask me why I keep the Sabbath. In the book of Isaiah chapter 66 the Word speaks about the world to come:
22For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
23And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
24And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
In see in this that for all eternity in the world to come we will be celebrating Shabbat and the New Moon with our God, and not only Jews but
ALL FLESH will be celebrating.
sorry that the post is so long
God Bless and Shalom,
Jesse
was only given to the Israelites and not to Gentiles. there is much that I have discussed with them to no avail.
