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Sabbath: A shadow of things to come

6/28/2019

The first time that we come upon the concept of rest in Scripture is in Genesis 2:3. We read: "Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that he had done." After six days of His work of creation, God rested. Now the question that comes to mind first should be "Why would God rest?" We know that God did not need rest, so clearly there was something deeper...

In Isaiah 46:10 God Himself said "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.' You see, this rest in the very beginning is telling us of what awaits mankind in the end.

The Sabbath and Israel

When God made the covenant with Israel, He told them: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. 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, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 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. "(Exodus 20:8-11)

The Sabbath was to serve as a reminder of creation, it was to be a time of corporate worship, and it was also to serve as a reminder to them that they were a set apart people. However, the prophetic picture or "shadow" of the Sabbath, had to do with a time when they would enter into God’s rest. He also told them that the Sabbath was to be a perpetual sign of the covenant with them.

However, Israel broke covenant with God and in His anger He swore that the generation that came out of Egypt would never enter into His rest. (Psalm 95:11, Hebrews 3:11). That Generation died in the wilderness and only their children were allowed to enter into the Promised Land - the place in which they were to experience rest.

Yeshua - Lord of the Sabbath

One of the things that Yeshua promised to those who would follow Him is rest. He said “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28 ) This rest that Yeshua spoke of had to do with a restored relationship with God through the forgiveness of sin; something that could only be attained by grace through faith in Him. He opened the way for mankind to enter into God's rest. Every person that has come to God through faith in Yeshua has entered into rest; He is Lord of the Sabbath! But there is more. In Hebrews we read:

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

The Sabbath - a shadow of things to come

Although as believers we have entered into rest from our works, there is still a rest to come. This Sabbath rest will take place when Yeshua Jesus returns and sets up His Kingdom on the earth and rule for a thousand years. At that time there will be peace on the earth and mankind will enter into perfect conditions; even the earth itself will rest and there will be peace among animals (Isaiah 11:6). At this, as believers we rest in God, but we still deal with sickness and death, and sin is still in the earth. However, the Bible tells of a time when those things will be things of the past. It is at that time when all of mankind would have entered into our ultimate rest in God. Sabbath is not only for the Jews, it is for all of mankind; all who will, by faith, come to God. (See Isaiah 56:6-7)

God's rest in Genesis 2:3 is a picture of the Day (1000 years) of complete rest that mankind will experience in the end. When we keep God's Sabbath holy, we are not doing it because it saves us, we do it because God has commanded us to. It also says that we are looking forward with great anticipation to the rest that is yet to come. Isaiah puts it this way concerning that time in the future "From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me," says the LORD. - Isaiah 66:23

Shabbat Shalom!

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Covenants and the story of the Bible

6/18/2019

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How often have you heard the statement "God is a covenant keeping God"? How many times have you found assurance in this truth? Covenants not only teach us about the love of God, they teach us about His immutable (unchanging) Nature. They also provide keys to understanding the unified story of the Bible. let's take a look...

What is a Covenant?

In Scripture covenants are contracts or agreements between God and mankind in general, specific individuals and with the nation of Israel. These agreements were either conditional or unconditional. A conditional covenant is an agreement between two or more parties where certain terms/conditions ought to be met. If those conditions are not met, there are associated consequences/penalties. The unconditional covenants on the other hand, have no stipulations that need to be met. Unconditional covenants were made solely upon the grace of God. The following covenants are found in Scripture:

The Edenic Covenant - The Edenic Covenant can be viewed as twofold. First, God made a conditional agreement with Adam. He promised Adam life and blessings if he kept His commandment and not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen. 2:16-17). When Adam and Eve transgressed God's commandment, they suffered the consequences of both physical and spiritual death. While not explicitly called a covenant in the book of Genesis, the Prophet Hosea later wrote in Hosea 6:7 "But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; There they have dealt treacherously against Me" (NASB)

Although the first human pair sinned, God by His grace made a new unconditional covenant with them. We read in Gen 3:14-24 where God promised that through the Seed of the woman, He would crush the head of the serpent, triumph over sin and death and restore the rule that was originally given to them. This is also known as the Covenant of Redemption.

The Noahic Covenant - After the flood, God made a covenant with Noah and by extension all of humanity that he would never destroy the earth and its life forms by flood waters again. He gave the the rainbow as the sign of the covenant to humanity. (Gen. 9:11)

The Abrahamic Covenant - In the covenant with Abraham, God promised to bless him, make him the father of many nations, bless his descendants and bless all of humanity through him. God's promise to Abraham also included land; namely the land of Canaan, now Israel. This was a unilateral unconditional covenant. (see Genesis 12:1-3, 6-7; 13:16, also Deut. 30:1-10)

The Mosaic Covenant - After Israel's redemption out of Egypt, God entered into a covenant with them (Exodus 20). Unlike the covenant made in Eden as well as that made with Abraham, God's agreement with Israel was conditional. If they obeyed His commandments, then they would receive the covenant promises. However, Israel breached the condition of the covenant. Did that cause God to cancel the covenant and totally reject them as his people? In Romans 11:17-24 the Apostle Paul response to this question is "absolutely not!". For one, God's unconditional blessing upon Abraham was extended to Israel, and two, As Paul says, they are "Gods sovereign choice." So, what did God do? He made a Renewed/New Covenant with them; one that would be established on better promises according to Hebrews 8:6

The Davidic Covenant- God's covenant with David amplifies aspects of the Abrahamic Covenant. God's promise to David was that he would never cease to have a man sitting on his throne. In other words, the house of David would be established forever and one of his sons would reign for all eternity. There is another covenant which is connected to the Davidic covenant that is often missed - God's eternal covenant with the Priesthood. Just as there will never cease to be a King on David's throne, there will never cease to be a priest to minister before the Lord. (See Jeremiah 33:17-18)

The Messianic/New Covenant - God had promised through the prophet Jeremiah (31:31-34) that a time would come when He would make a New Covenant with the House of Judah and the House of Israel. It would be different from the Covenant that was made at Mount Sinai, in that God's laws would not be written on stone tablets, but in their minds and written on their hearts. Under this renewed Covenant, they would have their sin removed and God would put His Spirit in them and cause them to be able to live by His rules. (Ezekiel 36:27 ). There would also be universal knowledge of Him. In other words, God would create a new humanity! What would be even more amazing about this New Covenant is that it would make it possible for others outside of the nation of Israel to have access to God and become partakers in the promises God made to Abraham!

The key to understanding covenants

Now, here is the key to understanding biblical covenants. In Scripture, a new(er) covenant does not remove or nullify a previous covenant. So, when God entered into an agreement with Abraham, in no way was the previous covenant with Noah nullified. God's agreement with Israel did not make his covenant with Abraham invalid and neither does the New Covenant nullify any of the previous covenants. The New Covenant was not made with the Gentile Church who has somehow replaced Israel as God's chosen people, as many have taught. However, it is the New Covenant that gives Gentiles (non-Jews) access to the covenant promises that God made with Abraham, but Israel will never be rejected by God.

The Story of the Bible

Every covenant in Scripture is connected and forms part of the story of God's ultimate plan of redemption. Yeshua is the Mediator of the New Covenant. His blood has ratified the New Covenant but it is at His second coming when we will see the full enactment in the Millennial Kingdom. Yeshua is the promised Seed of the woman that has crushed the head of the serpent by taking away its power over sin, hell and the grave. Yeshua is the Seed of Abraham through whom God has blessed the nations of the world. It is through Him,that man can have his sin removed and have everlasting life. Yeshua is the Son of David that will rule the world from Zion. It is Yeshua who will lead us into eternity and what was lost in Eden will finally be restored. That is the beautiful story of the Bible!

Shalom!

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Law versus Grace

6/12/2019

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During the season of Shavuot/Pentecost, I was reading a few comments on a particular teaching video. The discussion was centered around the fact that as Christians we should not be observing feast days because “we are no longer under law but under grace”. Those comments served as the inspiration for this week’s blog. As believers, we have been taught that law opposes grace but what does the Bible really say?

What is Law?

When God redeemed Israel out of bondage in Egypt, God gave them his righteous standards by which they were to live. We find these recorded in the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, known as the Torah, and it constitutes civil, ceremonial and moral rulings. These instructions/laws/rulings were not given as a means to redeem or “save” Israel; they were already redeemed out of bondage to slavery. Torah was given to reveal God’s holiness to the people and also to serve as a guide as to how they were to live as His holy people. It covered how they were to worship God and how they were to relate to their fellowman. Without the law, they would not have known what sin was (Rom. 7:7). However there was one challenge; There was no provisions under Torah to deal with certain categories of sin (e.g intentional sins) and the only penalty was death, remember, the Bible teaches us that the 'wages of sin is death.' (Romans 6:23)

There was also another aspect to Torah that Israel did not understand at the time; embedded in it was God’s prophetic blueprint of how He would save mankind from the curse of sin and death, and how the plan would unfold all the way to eternity (Revelation 22)

what is Grace?

The Apostle Paul defines it this way ““For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” and "But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (Eph 2:8-9, Romans 11:6 ). Grace simply means that one does not get what one deserves (death).

At the beginning of Yeshua’s (Jesus) ministry, John the Baptist announced his arrival with these words “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29-34). In essence, John was saying to the people that Yeshua would become the atoning sacrifice that would remove sin. It was now time for the prophetic blueprint that was previously hidden in Torah to be revealed. It was a free gift but there was one condition; man could only have his sin forgiven by faith. Put another way, there was nothing “works” based that man could do to attain salvation, it was purely by the grace of God through faith in Yeshua.

While many believe that grace is a New Testament concept, a closer look at Torah will reveal the opposite. At the core of Torah is the grace, love and mercy of God, or else all of Israel would have died for violating His holiness. They would have had no idea how to approach or not to approach a holy God; but that is for another discussion.

With that said, does God’s grace stand opposed to God’s righteous standards and instructions? Does it mean that those of us who have come to faith in Yeshua no longer need to walk in obedience to God’s law? The grace of God, His unmerited favour towards us, should fuel our desire to obey God's commandments, not because they save us, but because we love Him. In the words of Yeshua, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

Admittedly, there are certain aspects of Torah that we are no longer able to keep, especially as it relates to ceremonial and civil laws. However there are commandments that we are able to uphold and we should. We read in Psalm 19:9-11 that “God’s laws are pure, eternal and just... for they warn us away from harm and give success to those who obey them”

So, what should our response be to God’s commandments concerning feast days, or anything else for that matter? Does grace stand opposed to or does it remove the laws of God? No. Grace simple means we who are in Messiah are no longer condemned to the punishment of death when we break God’s law. Does this mean therefore that we can continue to sin and live as we please? In the words of the Apostle Paul, “absolutely not!" Instead we uphold God's standards. Also, let's remember the prophetic blueprint embedded in Torah. There are events that are yet to be fulfilled at Yeshua's return. When we observe feast/holy days in obedience to God's commands, we are prophetically anticipating those things which are yet to come!

Shalom!

Paul said concerning Torah “the law is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good” (Romans 7:12).

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The Alephbet: The Letters of Life

6/4/2019

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Hebrew is not only a fascinating and potent language, It is holy. In today's blog, I will share with you from a personal experience that has brought even more clarity to the Word of God.

A few weeks ago I had a dream. In this dream, It was night and I was standing outside. I looked up into the night sky and in some strange way, I was able to see beyond the skies. I stared in awe as I watched Hebrew letters floating around in the universe. As quickly as I saw it was as quickly as the dream ended. Supernaturally, I understood the meaning of what I was allowed to see.

There are twenty two (22) letters in the Hebrew Alephbet (Alphabet), beginning with Aleph א and ending with Tau or Tav ת. Every letter has a meaning, as well as a pictorial and a numerical value attached to it. The Aleph for example has a numerical value of 1 and the picture associated with the Aleph is the Ox. It means, strong, leader, power and yoke, and it also speaks to oneness. It is often used to speak of God as Head, Leader and Father and it also speaks to His oneness. The Tav has a numeric value of 400, which is pictured by crossed sticks which mean sign, seal and covenant.

In Hebrew, letters are the essence of the word they form. One word can tell an entire story! It is for this very reason that names in the Bible were so deeply connected to to the individual's destiny. God renamed Avram, Avraham because he would become "Father of a multitude, many nations". (See Genesis 17:5)

With that said, what was the meaning of my dream?

In Genesis 1:3 we read: And God said "let there be light", and there was light. God created reality from the spoken words; the combination of Hebrew letters. These Hebrew letters are the building blocks of the universe. They are the atoms, molecules and the mathematical formula that make up all created things. Not only are the Hebrew letters the building blocks, but they hold everything together. Interestingly, the Jewish Sages and Rabbis teach/hold this view but until my dream, I was not aware.

So, Scripture teaches us that the universe was created by the spoken word of God. However, we also know that the "Word took on flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). With that said, Let's take a look at the Living Word or the Living Torah - Messiah Yeshua (Jesus)

The Apostle John says of Yeshua "In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made". (John 1:1-2 NIV). According to the Apostle Paul, "He (Yeshua) existed before anything else and he holds all creation together" (Colossians 1:17 NTL). Finally, in Rev 1:8, Yeshua himself declared "I am the Aleph and the Tav..." or the "Alpha and the Omega" in Greek; the first (letter) and the last (letter), the beginning and the end.

Yeshua is the Living Word, by and through whom all things were created. Not only that, it is He who holds all things together. It is he who came in the strength and power of the Father (Aleph) to seal the Covenant (Tav). Actually every Hebrew letter points to Him! At this time, our finite minds may struggle to understand it fully but when Messiah returns, He will teach us all things.

The Hebrew language is deep and supernatural. Not only is it the DNA of all creation but it is the language that will be spoken by all men one day to come. What happened at Babel will be reversed and the holy language will be restored. This is the promise of God:

"For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve Him with one consent' (Zephaniah 3:9)

Shalom!

NB. If you would like to learn more about the Hebrew Language, feel free to visit www.holylanguage.com or www.wildbranchministry.com. You can also purchase the 5 disc "Alephbet; The Building Blocks of Life", by Bradford Scott.

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Sabbath: A shadow of things to come

Covenants and the story of the Bible

Law versus Grace

The Alephbet: The Letters of Life

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