Category Archives: Christian Life

SEEING JESUS IN THE FEASTS OF ISRAEL – LESSON 2 Conclusion

Christian Life, ,

CONCLUSION

Although the Sabbath is not strictly part of the seven annual feasts, it sets the tone for our relationship with our bridegroom. It teaches us about the spiritual rest into which we enter through His completed work on the cross so that there is nothing for us to do to achieve acceptance with Him. He had done it all and all He requires is that we believe in Him and accept what He has done as a finished work.

The Sabbath as a creation ordinance of six days of work to one day of rest still stands and we must obey it for our own health and wellbeing. The Sabbath as part of the Law has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ and there is no longer any obligation to observe the Sabbath as a specific day of rest.

There is a stream of Christianity that insists that we observe the Jewish Sabbath as our day of rest. The Emperor Constantine in the 4th century AD, changed the day on which Christians were to rest from the Jewish Sabbath to the pagan Sunday and they regard this as the mark of the beast!

Those who still make Sabbath observance obligatory are part of a group of believers whom the Apostle Paul regards as immature and have weak consciences. He said to the Galatians who were listening to false teachers who taught that they needed to be circumcised, “You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.” Galatians 4:10, 11.

“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” Colossians 2:16, 17.

“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.” Hebrews 4:9-11.

Sabbath is to be a daily experience of resting in Christ’s finished work on the cross. We have been forgiven, cleansed, filled with God’s Spirit and accepted in Christ. We are no longer slaves but sons. We have the witness of the Holy Spirit in our spirits that we are children of God so that we cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Jesus, our Messiah, is the perfect fulfilment of the Sabbath.

SUMMARY AND PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. The weekly Sabbath is a compulsory day of rest to celebrate His finished work of creation on the seventh day. We need to rest for one day in seven.

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work…for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11.

  1. The spiritual Sabbath into which we have entered celebrates His finished work of salvation and the new creation which He accomplished on the cross.

“Therefore, since the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it…For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His.” Hebrews 4:1; 8-10.

SEEING JESUS IN THE FEASTS OF ISRAEL – LESSON 2 cont

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  1. THE FULFILMENT OF THE SABBATH

Firstly, why don’t we, as Christians observe the seventh day as our day of rest, as God commanded in Genesis 2:2? How did Sunday observance originate?

In the 4th Century AD, during the reign of Constantine, he tried to eradicate the Jewish roots of Christianity including the Sabbath as the Christians’ day of rest.

“Sunday actually made very little headway as a Christian day of rest until the time of Constantine in the fourth century. Constantine was emperor of Rome from AD 306 to 337. He was a sun worshiper during the first years of his reign. Later, he professed conversion to Christianity, but at heart remained a devotee of the sun. Edward Gibbon says, “The Sun was universally celebrated as the invincible guide and protector of Constantine.”

Constantine created the earliest Sunday law known to history in AD 321. It says this:

On the venerable Day of the sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits: because it often happens that another Day is not so suitable for grain sowing or for vine planting: lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.

Following this initial legislation, both emperors and Popes in succeeding centuries added other laws to strengthen Sunday observance. What began as a pagan ordinance ended as a Christian regulation. Close on the heels of the Edict of Constantine followed the Catholic Church Council of Laodicea (circa 364 AD):

Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday (Sabbath), but shall work on that Day: but the Lord’s Day, they shall especially honour; and as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out from Christ.”

(http://amazingdiscoveries.org/S-deception-Sabbath_change_Constantine)

Did Jesus keep the Sabbath and why?

This is a very broad subject which we cannot deal with in detail here. The gospels make it clear that Jesus fulfilled every requirement of the Law, including the Sabbath, but not the requirements of the religious leaders who made the Law burdensome by their petty additions.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.” Matthew 5:17. His intention was to show His people how to interpret and live by God’s teachings so that the world would see what God is really like.

He resisted their attempts to force their legalism on Him. He lived by His yoke – His way of interpreting the Torah, by practicing mercy, not judgment. And He could say:

“Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?” John 8:46.

Then why did He keep the Law when believers are no longer under the Law?

“But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights as sons.” Galatians 4:4. Jesus did two things: He showed us how to interpret and live God’s best way according to His teachings (torah/law); and He obeyed the Law perfectly so that He could be a perfect sacrificial lamb to pay the price for our failure to keep the Law.

How does the Law apply to believers?

Jesus fulfilled the Law for us and gave us the free gift of His righteousness because we cannot obey the Law perfectly. The Law was given to expose our sinfulness and our inability to save ourselves.

“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21.

Jesus cancelled the Law by His death on the cross. That means that we are no longer obliged to try to keep the Law because Jesus kept it perfectly for us and then tore it up so that it no longer becomes the standard by which we are to live.

“He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross.” Colossians 2:13b-15.

We no longer need the Law because the sin that the Law was intended to expose has been forgiven and removed.

“For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit to death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law, so that w

We serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.’” Romans 7:5-6.

We are motivated by another law, the law of love.

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellow man has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8.

“The key to understanding this issue is knowing that the Old Testament law was given to the nation of Israel, not to Christians. Some of the laws were to reveal to the Israelites how to obey and please God (the Ten Commandments, for example). Some of the laws were to show the Israelites how to worship God and atone for sin (the sacrificial system). Some of the laws were intended to make the Israelites distinct from other nations (the food and clothing rules). None of the Old Testament law is binding on us today.

“When Jesus died on the cross He put an end to the Old Testament law (Ephesians 2:14, 15).

“In place of the Old Testament law, we are under the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2), which is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and to love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). If we obey those two commands, we will be fulfilling all that Christ requires of us: “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:40). Now, this does not mean the Old Testament law is irrelevant today. Many of the commands in the Old Testament law fall into the categories of “loving God” and “loving your neighbour.”

“The Old Testament law can be a good guidepost for knowing how to love God and knowing what goes into loving your neighbour. At the same time, to say that the Old Testament law applies to Christians today is incorrect. The Old Testament law is a unit (James 2:10). Either all of it applies, or none of it applies. If Christ fulfilled some of it, such as the sacrificial system, He fulfilled all of it.

“This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).

“The Ten Commandments were essentially a summary of the entire Old Testament law. Nine of the Ten Commandments are clearly repeated in the New Testament (all except the command to observe the Sabbath day). Obviously, if we are loving God, we will not be worshipping false gods or bowing down before idols. If we are loving our neighbours, we will not be murdering them, lying to them, committing adultery against them, or coveting what belongs to them.

“The purpose of the Old Testament law is to convict people of our inability to keep the law and point us to our need for Jesus Christ as Saviour (Romans 7:7-9; Galatians 3:24). The Old Testament law was never intended by God to be the universal law for all people for all of time. We are to love God and love our neighbours. If we obey those two commands faithfully, we will be upholding all that God requires of us.”

(http://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-law.html#ixzz2wrzUdtAJ)

How did Jesus fulfil the Sabbath?

“Is there a Sabbath after Calvary? Yes! Hebrews 4:9-10 says, “There remains then a Sabbath-rest to the people of God. For anyone that enters God’s rest, he also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.” There are two words not found in those verses, “Sabbath” and “day.” It is because our rest is no longer a calendar day each week, but every day, which includes the seventh, and thus we keep the Sabbath by living a godly and blood-washed life every day. For we have ceased from our old works.

“Some people who haven’t come to an understanding of what covenant they are under will point out that Paul often went into the synagogues on the Sabbath. If we look at those incidents, however, we see that it was to bring those who hear out of the synagogue and that system of death. Here is what Paul the Apostle said about the seventh day as found in Romans 14:5-6: “One man considers one day more sacred than another, another considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does do to the Lord…”

“We know that the Sabbath law is fulfilled in Jesus Christ and He abides within us. The seventh day Sabbath was not eliminated but fulfilled, and our Saviour added six more days to that rest and gave us the timelessness of eternal life. Thus, the seventh day is kept holy with all the other days. We can worship our Lord any day and every day. We know that Sunday is not the Sabbath but rather one of seven days, any of which can be used for worship.

Acts 20:7 says, “On the first day of the week, we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.”

(http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract8.html)

SEEING JESUS IN THE FEASTS OF ISRAEL – LESSON 2

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LESSON 2

THE SABBATH

“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.

“There are six days when you may work, but the seventh is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the Lord.” Leviticus 23:1-3.

  1. THE MEANING OF SABBATH

Although the Sabbath is not strictly part of the annual feasts which rehearse the work of the Messiah in His first and second comings, they are prophetic of the overall work He did to take His people out of slavery in Egypt into the rest of the Promised Land. The Sabbath is a sign of the Mosaic covenant, just like the rainbow was God’s sign of His covenant with Noah, and circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign me and you for the generations to come, that you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy.’” Exodus 31:12, 13.

“The origin of the Hebrew sabbat [t’B;v] is uncertain, but it seems to have derived from the verb sabat, meaning to stop, to cease, or to keep. Its theological meaning is rooted in God’s rest following the six days of creation (Gen 2:2-3). The Greek noun sabbat [savbbaton] translates the Hebrew noun sabbat [t’B;v]. The noun form is used primarily to denote the seventh day of the week, though it may occasionally refer to the Sabbath week (Lev 23:15-16) at the end of every seven Sabbaths or fifty days, or the Sabbath year (Lev 25:1-7) in which the land was to be at complete rest.”

(http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/sabbath/)

  1. THE PURPOSE OF THE SABBATH

 “In the Torah, the purpose of Sabbath observance is to remind the Hebrew people of two very important events in history: the creation of the world (Ex. 20:11) and the deliverance from slavery in Egypt (Deut. 5:15). Both highlight the central Jewish religious belief: that there is one, powerful creator God who cares for his people. Jews also believe that God commanded the Sabbath to ensure that his people stopped every once in a while to be a human being instead of a “human doing.”

(http://www.religionfacts.com/judaism/holidays/shabbat.htm)

SEEING JESUS IN THE FEASTS OF ISRAEL – LESSON 1 Concl

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3. THE MARRIAGE SUPPER

After the consummation of the marriage, the bridal couple would be escorted by the wedding attendants to the marriage feast to celebrate their union.

Jesus told a parable about the ten virgins who were waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom so that the wedding banquet could begin. “But while they were on their way to buy oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.” Matthew 25:10. (More about this later).

Then the angel said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ And he added, ‘These are the true words of God.’” Revelation 19:6-9.

THE DIVINE ROMANCE ACROSS TIME

  1. God loved and chose Israel to be His bride

God showed His love for Israel by choosing Abraham, growing a family and finally delivering them from slavery in Egypt. He wooed them by protecting, caring and providing for them in the wilderness and by leading them to the same place where He had appeared to Moses as He had promised.

  1. He proposed to them at Sinai

He declared His intention to “marry” them at Mount Sinai and gave them His “ketubah” to show them what kind of a husband He would be and what He expected of them. They refused to hear Him and to respond to His proposal. They showed their disdain for His covenant by demanding and worshipping a golden calf while Moses was on the mountain receiving the written ketubah.

  1. The betrothal period started at Sinai

Israel was to reciprocate by separating herself from all other gods, and by making herself ready for her marriage by her righteous acts. Although God continued to woo His bride, she persisted in being unfaithful to Him by her spiritual adultery with the gods of the surrounding nations.

She also failed to keep her side of the covenant by her injustice to the poor and oppressed.

  1. Divorce

God was forced to break off His engagement (tantamount to divorce) to Israel because of her unfaithfulness. She lost her land and her freedom and returned to the status of slaves in Babylon, just as she had been in Egypt.

  1. Jesus came in person to woo His bride

Jesus came in person to pay the bride price for His bride and to redeem her from slavery. Once again He wooed her by His love by showing her who He really was.

  1. He proposed to her again at Pentecost

On the anniversary of the day on which He proposed to Israel, the Day of Pentecost, once again He proposed marriage to His people with the same phenomena, a trumpet blast, fire and voices, and this time they responded by speaking back to Him. Jesus had found His bride.

  1. The betrothal period

The betrothal period began at Pentecost and will continue until Jesus comes to “catch up” His bride and carry her into the bridal chamber to consummate His spiritual union with her, after which they will celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Then the angel said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ And he added, ‘These are the true words of God.’” Revelation 19:6-9.

SEEING JESUS IN THE FEASTS OF ISRAEL – LESSON 1 Cont

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2. HEBREW COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE

Step 1 – The Choice – lachah

The first step for the prospective bridegroom was to choose his bride-to-be and to declare that he had chosen her. The word he used to alert her that he had chosen her was lachah – “I want to make you mine.”

Before God delivered Israel from Egypt He spoke to the Israelites through Moses, informing them that He had chosen them to be His own people – wedding talk!

“I will take you as my own people and I will be your God.” Exodus 6:7

Step 2 – The Declaration of Intent – segulah

The next step was the declaration of intent which followed a period of courtship. 

When the Israelites reached Mount Sinai, God declared His intention to marry them in the words used by every Hebrew man who was courting a young woman – segula – “I want to make you my treasured possession.”

God courted them during their sojourn in the desert. He was with them, He covered them, provided for them, led them and showed them His love in every way possible. Now He indicated His desire to marry them.

“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession.” Exodus 19:6

Step 3 – The Preparation – mikvah

The third step was to prepare for the betrothal. This took place in two parts: mikvah – washing; ketubah – the marriage covenant.

Two days before the betrothal, the bride-to-be was required go through the ceremony of ritual purification by washing – mikvah – in preparation for the setting up of the marriage covenant and the proposal which would take place on the third day.

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and have them ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.’” Exodus 19:10.

Step 4 – The Marriage Covenant – ketubah

What is a ketubah? “A Jewish legal marriage document with a legacy spanning two thousand years. It is typically signed before the wedding ceremony by the couple and at least two witnesses.

(http://www.interfaithfamily.com/life_cycle/weddings/The_Jewish_Marriage_Contract_(Ketubah).shtml)

“The content of the ketubah is in essence a one-way contract that formalizes the various requirements by Halakha (Jewish law) of a Jewish husband vis à vis his wife. The Jewish husband takes upon himself in the ketubah the obligation that he will provide to his wife three major things: clothing, food and conjugal relations, and also that he will pay her a pre-specified amount of cash in the case of a divorce. Thus the content of the ketubah essentially dictates security and protection for the woman, and her rights in the marriage.”

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketubah)

God’s ketubah was recorded on two tablets of stone and written by the finger of God. It provided the boundaries within which the marriage relationship would be carried out, which we call the Ten Commandments. The Hebrew meaning is “Ten Words” which is a technical term for covenant stipulations. The rest of the Law found in Leviticus is a fleshing out of these ten words. 

After the signing of the ketubah, the bridegroom would formally propose to his bride and she would reply in these words, “When will you come for me?” He would respond, “I go to prepare a place for you and when my father approves of the bridal chamber, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, you may be also.” Does this sound familiar?

Betrothal

This was followed by the betrothal period. Both bride and groom had preparations to make for the wedding. The bride was to prepare herself by separating herself from all other men to belong exclusively to her husband and by preparing her wedding gown (her righteous deeds). The bridegroom was to prepare the bridal chamber for the consummation of their marriage.

Once the ketubah was signed, betrothal was as legally binding as marriage itself.  Hence Joseph decided to “divorce” Mary for her apparent unfaithfulness although they were not yet married.

Step 5 – The Consummation

When the bridal chamber was complete and met with his father’s approval, the bridegroom would return to claim his bride and take her back to his home where the wedding ceremony would take place.

The wedding ceremony would be conducted under a canopy called the chuppah. After the ceremony was over, the bride and groom would be escorted to the bridal chamber. The bridegroom would pick up (rapture) his bride and carry her over the threshold of the bridal chamber where they would consummate their marriage under a canopy which was a talith – prayer shawl – mounted on poles over the bed, symbolising the presence of God.

“Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of the Lord answered him…And God spoke all these words…” Exodus 19:18, 19; 20:1.