The Shema and Sabbath Keeping as Covenant

We have four letters left: Koph, Resh, Shin, and Tav. These are four powerful letters as we close out the Aleph-Bet. We will cover them in four weeks. We will not have a Hebrew letter teaching next week due to my schedule, but we will resume with Koph the following week. We hope you have seen the trajectory of these beautiful letters and that they have impacted your reading of the scriptures. Understanding the Hebrew letters, their meanings, numbers, and relation to biblical scriptures provides deeper insight.

Before we go to the Q&A, let's say the Shema together. This is during the month of Av, the month of hearing.

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command 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. In the name of bloody Yeshua. Amen."

Shabbat is a holy day, sanctified and set apart by Him. Exodus 20 outlines the fourth commandment: the Sabbath. The Sabbath has never changed. The Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, under Emperor Constantine, changed the Sabbath to Sunday. No one had the authority to change the Sabbath from its original intent.

Moses commanded us to remember the Sabbath day and do no work on it, just as Yahweh rested on the seventh day and made it holy. Hebrews 4:9-13 states: "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall short through the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account."

Apostle Paul says there remains a Sabbath keeping for God's people. The one who has entered God's rest has rested from his works. Let us be diligent to enter that rest so no one falls short through disobedience. The word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart. The Torah is the word of God. It offends everyone because people think they have the right theology but do not. The Sabbath is a covenant, part of the new covenant. Jeremiah 31 includes the Sabbath. The word of God cuts to the soul, spirit, joints, and marrow, judging the inner reflections and attitudes of the heart.

We must render an account to the King of Israel. We will stand before Him alone, not with a rabbi or pastor. We will account for how we worship Him, whether according to Torah, His word, or through replacement theology. Matthew 22 speaks of being cast out if we are not wearing the proper garment.

Isaiah prophesied to the Gentiles: "Keep justice, and do righteousness, for my salvation is about to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold of it, who keeps from profaning the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, 'The Lord will surely separate me from His people.' Nor let the eunuch say, 'Behold, I am a dry tree.' For thus says the Lord: 'To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, to them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial and a name better than the sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name which shall not be cut off.' Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants—everyone who keeps from profaning the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant—even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar. For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations."

This is during the millennial kingdom. The Sabbath is crucial. It is a covenant. The new covenant does not replace the Sabbath; in fact, the Sabbath is part of the new covenant.

We must be in alignment with Him. The Sabbath is crucial. Isaiah says that even foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh, keep His Sabbaths, and hold fast His covenant will be brought to His holy mountain and made joyful in His house of prayer. Their offerings will be acceptable on His altar. His house will be a house of prayer for all nations.

We are all God's people, so we must observe the Sabbath. There still remains a Sabbathkeeping for God's people. It is a covenant. The new covenant does not replace the Sabbath.