Spiritual gifts in keeping the shabbat

[visionary]

Exodus 16:29 See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.When discussions are brought up regarding the shabbat, it is about one keeping it and then how and sometimes why. Maybe we should look closer and see if we can find the blessings in it from the Lord. Time has been set aside, made holy. What does that mean? To me anytime holy is mentioned that means the presense of God is near. :thumbsup: We have an opportunity to be in the presence of God like no other.:clap: Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.Notice we are not the ones making it holy we are just to keep it that way. So how do we do that? May I make a few suggestions. The focus of our minds, from the world to those things of the Lord, those things that are inviting to the Lord to come and spend time with us.Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.Have any of us taking the time to find the blessings hidden in the sabbath? Often we are so caught up in the keeping, that we forget to stop, slow down, listen for the Lord's presence, and see Him. Exodus 31:14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.Entering in His rest....This is a spiritual rest, that can only come with resting the mind on Him, and allowing Him to be the speaker of the day. Resting on Him and allowing Him to be our honored guest in this date He set aside to be with us. Leviticus 16:31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.Now why in the relationship would one need to afflict the soul on any sabbath? Because we need to be aware of just how much the world is in us. We need to know just how much has come between Him and us, so that we are humbled and will turn from those things that have come between us and our relationship with the Lord. We need a closer relationship with the Lord. We need to be in His temple, we need to be in His presence. Leviticus 19:30 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.So often we get caught up in the goings on here on earth that we lose sight of what is going on, or maybe we have never been in the presence of the Lord, in His heavenly courts, and do not have a clue as to what is going on at the throne of God. Shouldn't that be the most important thing? How can we understand God from an heavenly point of view if we have never been in His presence? We talk a good game, we pat ourselves on the back for what we believe is important, but we haven't even desired nor asked to be in His presence. Isn't that strange? What is the point if you haven't done the first thing, which should be to go see Him? Leviticus 23:37 hese are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day: We do do a lot of proclaiming, offering time, energy, effort, thought, into all the acts of keeping, but I think we are missing the mark. Not that any of these are bad, but that they too can be distracting from what they were meant to acheive, which is a cleansing of the heart of carnal selfishness, and recognising of who is the giver of all gifts, and the acknowledgement that it was Him all along. We do not worship Him with the activities, but in the quietness of the soul.Deuteronomy 5:12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.Think about it, how do you sanctify the shabbath? Try pushing out all the world's busyness from crowding in on your thoughts that day. Try to dedicate the day to the Lord and your personal relationship with Him. Try to see that your guest for the day is truly welcome in your home, in your mind for the entire time, no matter what is before you. Deuteronomy 5:14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.I know that one of the biggest reasons that others do not keep the sabbath, is because they are not interested in the biggest challenge the Lord has ever given His people. For those of us who have accepted the challenge, I am challenging you to draw even closer into the presence of the Lord. Deuteronomy 5:15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.How much of Egypt is out of us? Sabbath has a way of showing us, when we dedicate this time to Him.2 Kings 11:5 And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you that enter in on the sabbath shall even be keepers of the watch of the king's house; Now what would be some of the blessings for entering in this type of sabbath rest with the Lord? How many of us even know what keepers of the watch of the king's house means to us spiritually? What would those responsibilities entail? 2 Chronicles 23:4 This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the doorsFor a lot of people, they do not even know where the door is. Nehemiah 13:19 And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.There has been way too much burdens brought in on the shabbath, filling it up with earthly needs, so that there is not time enough to rest. Someone needs to shut the gate, to keep the shabbath from being polluted. profaned, broken, and a burden. Nehemiah 13:21 Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath.We need to rebuke this spirit of business from lodging against the edges of the sabbath even. Nehemiah 13:22 And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.What I am afraid is happening is that in our shabbath busyness, we missed the purpose and lost out on the reason for the season as they say. God could easily wash His hands of our efforts. Isaiah 1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.Start this week thinking about the coming shabbath. What is the real purpose? What does God want for me on this day? How can I arrange and set this time apart for this holy experience He has promised me? Isaiah 56:2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.Even when you have people over, what will they experience, for they are truly wanting to see? Isaiah 56:6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;Can we not only prepare but rest in the shabbath, sharing it with others, in a manner pleasing to the Lord? Isaiah 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:If you do all that I believe you will be blessed beyond measure.:bow:

[Torah]

As my kids some time say! “Sweet” Very well said visionary. :thumbsup:

[Wags]

Leviticus 16:31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.

Now why in the relationship would one need to afflict the soul on any sabbath? Because we need to be aware of just how much the world is in us. We need to know just how much has come between Him and us, so that we are humbled and will turn from those things that have come between us and our relationship with the Lord. We need a closer relationship with the Lord. We need to be in His temple, we need to be in His presence.

This passage is specifically refering to Yom Kippur - not to the weekly shabbat.

[visionary]

This passage is specifically refering to Yom Kippur - not to the weekly shabbat.
We know that but in the context of the Lord's sabbath, there is the spiritual meaning we should be carrying with us throughout the year. How can you rest if your spirit is vexted with sin, it just makes sense that to truly rest in the presence of the Lord, you must first be cleansed. Since this is about the blessings of the sabbath, whether weekly or annual, the implication is there.;)

Think of it this way, we clean the house on a regular basis, and then there is the spring cleaning. Same with our spiritual life, there is the preparation for the sabbath and then there is the complete thorough house cleaning that needs to be done. So while the passage is specific to Yom Kippur, the concept is there.

[BarbB]

visionary - great post.

Well, fellow observers, I managed to make it almost the whole Sabbath honoring the Father and the Son, reading Scriptures, studying and worshipping. I started with a whimper as I had my candlesticks, my candles and had NO MATCHES - not even a grill lighter. :D But I shrugged that off as the enemy trying to steal my peace and sought and found great peace even without the candles. I'll be properly prepared next Sabbath!

What a wonderful day it was also. I think it is important to get all the worldly things out of the way so that the Sabbath is all for Adoni! :bow:

[visionary]

What a wonderful day it was also. I think it is important to get all the worldly things out of the way so that the Sabbath is all for Adoni! I believe you just summarized what a long winded person like me was trying to say.

[BarbB]

vis - you're not long winded. You are scholarly! :hug:

I needed those scriptures and your list. In fact, I'm going to print them out in preparation for this coming Sabbath!

I do want to thank all of you for the way you encourage new believers! :hug: It's a joy to post in this forum!

[Wags]

We know that but in the context of the Lord's sabbath, there is the spiritual meaning we should be carrying with us throughout the year. How can you rest if your spirit is vexted with sin, it just makes sense that to truly rest in the presence of the Lord, you must first be cleansed. Since this is about the blessings of the sabbath, whether weekly or annual, the implication is there.;)

Think of it this way, we clean the house on a regular basis, and then there is the spring cleaning. Same with our spiritual life, there is the preparation for the sabbath and then there is the complete thorough house cleaning that needs to be done. So while the passage is specific to Yom Kippur, the concept is there.

Well since you were highlighting the "afflict your souls" potion - which is a reference to fasting I was a little concerned that onlookers might think it was advocating fasting on the weekly shabbat, which is not the case.

It is always good to examine one's heart and make teshuvah.

[BarbB]

Wags - You owe me a keyboard. I sprayed my iced tea all over it when I read about fasting on the weekly Shabbat! :doh: We get together and have an absolute feast - not a fast! :D

[Wags]

Wags - You owe me a keyboard. I sprayed my iced tea all over it when I read about fasting on the weekly Shabbat! :doh: We get together and have an absolute feast - not a fast! :D

Sorry Barb!

Thats why I wanted to point out that the verse is specifically refering to Yom Kippur - didn't want any one to stop with the extended onegs. :yum:

[stone]

:amen: wooohooo :clap:

[visionary]

Ezekiel 20:20
And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.Hallow... make holy... what do you do to make your shabbat a holy experience? Share with us, those things you do to make shabbat special between you and the Lord. Here is a spiritual thought, I want to share with you....

Ezekiel 46:1
Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.The Lord opens the gate of the inner court... think about Rev 11:1 and those who find their way in and worship from within and the difference from those who are in the outer court and having a totally different experience.

[jgonz]

I know from a practical "lived through it" viewpoint, that for us, keeping the Sabbath Drastically changed my family.

About 15 yrs ago, during a Shavuot/Pentecost luncheon that our church was having (we had started doing the Feasts about a year before this), the L-rd impressed upon me the need to give Him Friday evenings (I didn't really understand the whole Sabbath concept at that point, so Friday evening was just a start. ;)) I told DH that we were going to start doing Sabbath dinner together with the candles, challah bread, and wine, and he said "well, I don't know if I'll be home from work when you want to start". I was upset, but didn't say anything. I planned all week, got my challah made, set the table, had dinner all ready, the kids all were sitting at the table, and DH rushed in the door and sat down. I gave him the Messianic Sabbath booklet I had gotten that had the order of the blessings, etc. Except for the blessings over the candles, he read all of them (including the explanations for each thing). There was never another discussion about whether to "do" Sabbath dinner again. :)

What it did to our family though, was amazing. I had only 3 kids at the time and was pregnant with my 4th (I have 8 now). The L-rd had just impressed on us the need to homeschool our oldest 2, and starting keeping the Sabbath (Friday evenings at first) pulled our family together like nothing else could have. Family became first priority for Everything. Our whole lifestyle changed to home. I can't tell you how many people over the years have told us that they love how my house feels... how our family functions so differently than anyone else's they know... how they are amazed at how family oriented we are.... I know it's ALL the L-rd. I can look back and see specifically that our whole lives shifted when we started celebrating the Sabbath. :amen:

[visionary]

Amen jgonz....

How about the rest of you ..... how many other blessings is there in celebrating the shabbat? What happens when you re-arrange your week to prepare for the shabbat, how did that change your experience with God and the world around you?

[visionary]

SO how was the sabbath for you this week... How much of the worldly stuff cluttered up the rest in Yeshua you were seeking?

[ramblin_ag02]

Before I kept the Sabbath, I always thought I was a lazy person. No matter how much I rested or took days off, I never felt refreshed. It was an effort to muster the energy necessary to fulfill my obligations. Since celebrating the Sabbath, I have realized that this was the rest I was searching for all along. Not just time off or downtime, but a day that did not belong to me or the world. A day where I could forget the world and abandon my worries. A day that revolves completely around family, friends, and, most of all, God. And I get to have a day like this every week!

I also think that my observance of the Sabbath has made me a better person on the other six days of the week. It makes it easier to handle the world when you can give everything you have to the world for six days, and then you can rest in God's graces until the next time around.

[Sephania]

Excellent post Vis!