Shalom Friends,
Join us as we continue our series and journey of Elohim's twenty-two letters called the Aleph-Bet. Just as we discovered the first letter Aleph, which represents the Father, this week we will explore Elohim's second letter, the Bet, as it will provide us with deeper knowledge and understanding of the Son, Yeshua.
In Psalm 33:6, it is written, "By the Word of Yah, the heavens and earth were created." In other words, "Yah breathed the universe out of His mouth." Since that is the unequivocal case, then the words from our Creator's mouth were created by His holy and divine letters, which makes the impact of learning them that more intimate with Him. It is pretty amazing to think about and thus the reason we are discovering them in this series. We hope to see you on the journey!
Many Blessings,
Chadwick
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Shabbat shalom, friends. my name is Chadwick Harvey, and you have reached Faithful Performance. Thank you so much for joining us today as we continue our journey through Elohim's aleph-bet by discovering the second letter, the beit — which symbolizes Yeshua the Messiah.
Before we commence, a few announcements. If you would like to join us for a live Shabbat service, we gather every Friday night at 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time via Zoom. Send me an email and I will send you the link, which will remain the same each week. It runs about an hour to an hour and a half and includes blessings, scriptures, communion, and fellowship. My dear friend Del, with Elm Community Fellowship in the Cayman Islands, and I have joined together to offer this Shabbat service. Each week we go through the Torah portion along with blessings and other elements of worship. We would love to see you there.
Second, we are going on a trip to Israel, May 5th through the 15th, with Tava Journeys. A dear friend of mine, Marty Baker, has organized a wonderful tour. We will travel through Israel from the northern battlefront through Jerusalem to the southern battlefront — which is why we have called it the Day of the Lord Tour. The itinerary takes us from Megiddo and the Galilee region, the northern point of the battle of Armageddon, through Jerusalem — the great city of the great King — and then down into the southern Jordan Valley to understand the 180 to 200 miles of blood up to the horses' bridles described in Revelation 14. We will visit all of those locations, tie in the relevant scriptures, and see the historical sites of Jerusalem and Galilee. What is more, those historical sites will become prophetic sites. If the Lord is leading you, we would love to have you join us. Send me an email and I will forward the link with all the details for the May 5th through 15th journey.
Lastly, we are holding a Hanukkah celebration for all eight nights, beginning tomorrow night. Each evening's video will run about an hour to an hour and a half. We have prepared wonderful topics for each night: Yeshua's birth, worshiping in spirit and in truth, the new moon of Tevet during Hanukkah, the glory of the New Jerusalem on the eighth night, and more. If you are not yet familiar with the significance of the festival of Hanukkah, we invite you to enjoy it this year, wherever you attend, and to look at it through the lens of Yeshua. We remember the Maccabean victory, Judah Maccabee, and the miracle of the oil — but everything points to Yeshua the Messiah and his second coming. We hope to see you for all eight nights.
Now, Shabbat shalom to everyone. We are grateful for each of you joining us — in the States, across the seas, in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Whether you are watching live or on replay, we truly appreciate you being here.
As we always do on the Shabbat, we will begin with a few scriptures to remind us how important this day is and to set our hearts in the right alignment — a day of rest, a day of worship, a day that belongs to Yah and to Yeshua. We begin with Deuteronomy 6:4–9, which is recited at every Messianic congregation and in Orthodox synagogues as well. This is the creed — the heart posture — we must carry into the Shabbat and into the ways of Yah.
*Hear, O Israel: Yah is our God, Yah is echad. You shall love Yahweh your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your might. These words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.*
This is our creed. Every Shabbat this is what we must hold in our hearts. And we are all part of Israel — when we cross over, we become part of Israel. Paul makes this plain in Galatians 3:26–29, telling us that if we are the seed of Christ, then we are the seed of Abraham and heirs according to the promise — the Abrahamic covenant. If we are the seed of Abraham, then we are also the seed of Isaac, and the seed of Jacob, who is Israel. So wherever Scripture says "tell the children of Israel," we are those children — sons of Israel, daughters of Zion. It is very important to cross over into that Hebrew understanding. With that in mind, we recite the Shema once more:
*Hear, O Israel: Yah is our God, Yahweh is echad — He is one. You shall love Yahweh your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your might. These words which I am commanding you today shall be on our hearts. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your home and on your gates.*
This is why, when you are around Orthodox Jewish people, you see them wrapping the tefillin around their arms and placing the head covering — they are fulfilling these words during the morning, noon, or evening prayers. If you have ever been to Israel, or to New York, or on a plane bound for Israel, you may have seen Jewish people stand at the hour of prayer, put on their head covering and wraps, and say the prayers. That practice comes from this passage and others in the Torah.
In Genesis 2:1–3 it says: *"Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their host. And on the seventh day Elohim completed his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. Then Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it — set it apart — because on it he rested from all his work which Elohim had created in making it."*
He set apart one day, and that day is the Shabbat. The other six days are common days. Yes, worship Yahweh on all of them — but this is the set-apart day, the one he designated for rest and for going deeper into what he wants to speak into us. Those small words — "set it apart" — matter greatly.
Moving to Exodus 20:8–11, the fourth commandment, we read what the prophet Moses said:
*"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath of Yahweh your Elohim. In it you shall do no work — you, your son, your daughter, your male or female servant, your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."*
Notice how Moses circles back to Genesis 2 at the close of that commandment. We cannot set aside any of the ten commandments, including the fourth. And in Hebrews 4, which most believe Paul authored...
