Sabbath

Josh made this cross for me by hand.  He chiseled the word "Tetelestai" "It Is Finished".

Today is our Father's Sabbath day.  He instituted this day "for man", all men, from the beginning.  It is a day holy, set apart from the other 6, special, consecrated and sanctified.  Not because we make it so.  He made it so.  We are told to "remember" the Sabbath and "keep" the Sabbath.

For 50 years of my life, I disregarded these words.  Do you know why?  I sat in church on Sunday listening to the reasoning that "Christians" worship on the "lord's day".  And what have us Christians determined to be the "lord's day"?  Sunday.  I guess you could say that we just decided to choose this day, not because there are instructions in the bible and not because the example set for us by the Disciples warranted this change, but simply because we differentiate ourselves from Jews.  As well, there is in every history book, the fact that Sabbath became illegal in the 4th century as a way to separate from the Jews.  Man changed it..............and we follow man.

Ok, I get it.  We have all had mixed emotions when it comes to what we believe are the differences in Christianity and Judaism.  But if we could just take off our 21st century lens and put on a 1st century lens, we would find that the only difference between Peter, Paul, James, Jude, Titus, Timothy, John, all raised as Jews (even though Titus & Timothy had one gentile parent), all of them now believed the scriptures declaring Messiah's arrival had been fulfilled.  He had come.  They met Him (most of them).  And upon meeting Him, His identity was undeniable.  He did the things that the scriptures declared He would do...........at least some of them.  No, He didn't "come with a flaming sword" to rule but they understood He would return in that role.  But what these Disciples did NOT do, was declare a new way to salvation, a new religion, a Torahless doctrine.

So, I have been diligently trying to keep my 1st century glasses firmly in place while studying scripture so that I do not make assumptions that would render the text to be saying something it does not say.  For instance, when Paul says not to let anyone judge you about Sabbath, he is actually encouraging those of like mindedness, to be strong and courageous to follow YHVH's commands even when those around you do not.  Now, I used to think just the opposite was true.  I used to think Paul was telling us that we can judge which day is holy.  I used to think he was giving us freedom to change things or do them the way we want them to be done.  I used to think a lot of things that are not true.

I found myself heartbroken over how arrogant and ignorant that position is/was.  When I began to read Genesis though Deuteronomy over and over, I realized something quite profound.  When did YHVH allow anyone to change what He said or do it the way that person wanted it done?  When did YHVH's word not stand as truth?  When did He decide that He would do away with it or parts of it or allow another to do those things?  The answer is obvious.  He didn't.  We've just taught people that He did.

Once you really decide that you want a deeper relationship with the Father, He will lead you to where He has led me.  He will open your eyes to what is really going on in scripture.   It is one seamless book that does not contradict itself or change what is written.  To be in a covenant relationship with the Father, you choose.........."your people will be my people, your God my God".  There is no other way.  There is not a new religion that came on the scene.  There was a promised Messiah and He showed up.

What happened when He defeated death?  Well that is where we've all made great assumptions that are as inaccurate as they are ignorant to the truth.  He defeated sin.  He did away with it's hold over us.  We are no longer captives to sin.  And now we can follow our Father's instructions without the bondage that held us.  Why, why, why, have we created a new doctrine?  Why have we said that our Father's Torah is "nailed to the cross"?  Is it because we refuse to read the context of Colossians?  Because it clearly is talking about "man's" ordinances, "oral law" (Talmud), NOT the eternal, perfect Torah from heaven above.

Yet, many reading this and many hearing this will still not desire to know for themselves.  They will rest comfortably in their church doctrine that teaches a false message.  They will say that Paul wrote all sorts of things changing an old covenant to a new covenant.  They will read into the text what is not there and ignore the text that actually is there.  But even Paul, himself, declares he lives and teaches the Torah.  He even tells us that all covenants are binding and built upon and cannot change or are not abolished.  He even restates the new covenant of Jeremiah exactly as Jeremiah stated it.  And if we would simply pay attention, we would realize the location of the Torah, from stone tablets in a Tabernacle are now on flesh tablets in our temple bodies.  We house the Spirit of YHVH who teaches us His Torah.  We follow, as the house of Israel and the house of Judah, the covenant with our  forefathers and our example is Messiah's life.  Yehoshua was a Torah keeper, not a Torah breaker. He is the living Torah who stepped from the pages of scripture and now resides in us.  If Torah is done away with, then the Savior is done away with.

When will we surrender so that we can have the scales removed?